To the long list of predicted consequences of global warming—stronger storms, methane release, habitat changes, ice-sheet melting, rising seas, stronger El Niños, killer heat waves—we must now add an abrupt, catastrophic cooling. Fjords are long, narrow canyons, little arms of the sea reaching many miles inland; they were carved by great glaciers when the sea level was lower. A lake surface cooling down in the autumn will eventually sink into the less-dense-because-warmer waters below, mixing things up. Define three sheets in the wind. It has excellent soils, and largely grows its own food. It was initially hoped that the abrupt warmings and coolings were just an oddity of Greenland's weather—but they have now been detected on a worldwide scale, and at about the same time.
Another underwater ridge line stretches from Greenland to Iceland and on to the Faeroe Islands and Scotland. That's because water density changes with temperature. All we would need to do is open a channel through the ice dam with explosives before dangerous levels of water built up. Or divert eastern-Greenland meltwater to the less sensitive north and west coasts. Term 3 sheets to the wind. When the warm currents penetrate farther than usual into the northern seas, they help to melt the sea ice that is reflecting a lot of sunlight back into space, and so the earth becomes warmer. There is, increasingly, international cooperation in response to catastrophe—but no country is going to be able to rely on a stored agricultural surplus for even a year, and any country will be reluctant to give away part of its surplus. A brief, large flood of fresh water might nudge us toward an abrupt cooling even if the dilution were insignificant when averaged over time. Nothing like this happens in the Pacific Ocean, but the Pacific is nonetheless affected, because the sink in the Nordic Seas is part of a vast worldwide salt-conveyor belt. Things had been warming up, and half the ice sheets covering Europe and Canada had already melted. Berlin is up at about 52°, Copenhagen and Moscow at about 56°.
Unlike most ocean currents, the North Atlantic Current has a return loop that runs deep beneath the ocean surface. A remarkable amount of specious reasoning is often encountered when we contemplate reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. That might result in less evaporation, creating lower-than-normal levels of greenhouse gases and thus a global cooling. The sheet in 3 sheets to the wind crossword puzzles. And in the absence of a flushing mechanism to sink cooled surface waters and send them southward in the Atlantic, additional warm waters do not flow as far north to replenish the supply. Even the tropics cool down by about nine degrees during an abrupt cooling, and it is hard to imagine what in the past could have disturbed the whole earth's climate on this scale. If blocked by ice dams, fjords make perfect reservoirs for meltwater. Eventually that helps to melt ice sheets elsewhere. Coring old lake beds and examining the types of pollen trapped in sediment layers led to the discovery, early in the twentieth century, of the Younger Dryas.
This would be a worldwide problem—and could lead to a Third World War—but Europe's vulnerability is particularly easy to analyze. It's the high state that's good, and we may need to help prevent any sudden transition to the cold low state. We have to discover what has made the climate of the past 8, 000 years relatively stable, and then figure out how to prop it up. Temperature records suggest that there is some grand mechanism underlying all of this, and that it has two major states. Stabilizing our flip-flopping climate is not a simple matter. In places this frozen fresh water descends from the highlands in a wavy staircase. Surprisingly, it may prove possible to prevent flip-flops in the climate—even by means of low-tech schemes. Futurists have learned to bracket the future with alternative scenarios, each of which captures important features that cluster together, each of which is compact enough to be seen as a narrative on a human scale.
This scenario does not require that the shortsighted be in charge, only that they have enough influence to put the relevant science agencies on starvation budgets and to send recommendations back for yet another commission report due five years hence. Thermostats tend to activate heating or cooling mechanisms abruptly—also an example of a system that pushes back. In almost four decades of subsequent research Henry Stommel's theory has only been enhanced, not seriously challenged. But we can't assume that anything like this will counteract our longer-term flurry of carbon-dioxide emissions. By 1971-1972 the semi-salty blob was off Newfoundland. Present-day Europe has more than 650 million people. Another precursor is more floating ice than usual, which reduces the amount of ocean surface exposed to the winds, in turn reducing evaporation. Recovery would be very slow. To stabilize our flip-flopping climate we'll need to identify all the important feedbacks that control climate and ocean currents—evaporation, the reflection of sunlight back into space, and so on—and then estimate their relative strengths and interactions in computer models. The Great Salinity Anomaly, a pool of semi-salty water derived from about 500 times as much unsalted water as that released by Russell Lake, was tracked from 1968 to 1982 as it moved south from Greenland's east coast. Scientists have known for some time that the previous warm period started 130, 000 years ago and ended 117, 000 years ago, with the return of cold temperatures that led to an ice age. North-south ocean currents help to redistribute equatorial heat into the temperate zones, supplementing the heat transfer by winds. Oceanographers are busy studying present-day failures of annual flushing, which give some perspective on the catastrophic failures of the past.
Its effects are clearly global too, inasmuch as it is part of a long "salt conveyor" current that extends through the southern oceans into the Pacific. The system allows for large urban populations in the best of times, but not in the case of widespread disruptions. Because water vapor is the most powerful greenhouse gas, this decrease in average humidity would cool things globally. Greenland looks like that, even on a cloudless day—but the great white mass between the occasional punctuations is an ice sheet.
Three scenarios for the next climatic phase might be called population crash, cheap fix, and muddling through. Twice a year they sink, carrying their load of atmospheric gases downward. A quick fix, such as bombing an ice dam, might then be possible. Suppose we had reports that winter salt flushing was confined to certain areas, that abrupt shifts in the past were associated with localized flushing failures, andthat one computer model after another suggested a solution that was likely to work even under a wide range of weather extremes. Implementing it might cost no more, in relative terms, than building a medieval cathedral. Abortive responses and rapid chattering between modes are common problems in nonlinear systems with not quite enough oomph—the reason that old fluorescent lights flicker.
In 1970 it arrived in the Labrador Sea, where it prevented the usual salt sinking. Pollen cores are still a primary means of seeing what regional climates were doing, even though they suffer from poorer resolution than ice cores (worms churn the sediment, obscuring records of all but the longest-lasting temperature changes). When there has been a lot of evaporation, surface waters are saltier than usual. History is full of withdrawals from knowledge-seeking, whether for reasons of fundamentalism, fatalism, or "government lite" economics. So could ice carried south out of the Arctic Ocean. It would be especially nice to see another dozen major groups of scientists doing climate simulations, discovering the intervention mistakes as quickly as possible and learning from them. The only reason that two percent of our population can feed the other 98 percent is that we have a well-developed system of transportation and middlemen—but it is not very robust.
Water falling as snow on Greenland carries an isotopic "fingerprint" of what the temperature was like en route. Europe's climate, obviously, is not like that of North America or Asia at the same latitudes. Judging from the duration of the last warm period, we are probably near the end of the current one. In Broecker's view, failures of salt flushing cause a worldwide rearrangement of ocean currents, resulting in—and this is the speculative part—less evaporation from the tropics. That, in turn, makes the air drier. Because such a cooling would occur too quickly for us to make readjustments in agricultural productivity and supply, it would be a potentially civilization-shattering affair, likely to cause an unprecedented population crash. We can design for that in computer models of climate, just as architects design earthquake-resistant skyscrapers. We might create a rain shadow, seeding clouds so that they dropped their unsalted water well upwind of a given year's critical flushing sites—a strategy that might be particularly important in view of the increased rainfall expected from global warming.
Twenty thousand years ago a similar ice sheet lay atop the Baltic Sea and the land surrounding it. Volcanos spew sulfates, as do our own smokestacks, and these reflect some sunlight back into space, particularly over the North Atlantic and Europe. In late winter the heavy surface waters sink en masse. Greenland's east coast has a profusion of fjords between 70°N and 80°N, including one that is the world's biggest. It could no longer do so if it lost the extra warming from the North Atlantic. The last time an abrupt cooling occurred was in the midst of global warming. Counting those tree-ring-like layers in the ice cores shows that cooling came on as quickly as droughts. Broecker has written, "If you wanted to cool the planet by 5°C [9°F] and could magically alter the water-vapor content of the atmosphere, a 30 percent decrease would do the job. Another sat on Hudson's Bay, and reached as far west as the foothills of the Rocky Mountains—where it pushed, head to head, against ice coming down from the Rockies. A stabilized climate must have a wide "comfort zone, " and be able to survive the El Niños of the short term. It has been called the Nordic Seas heat pump. If Europe had weather like Canada's, it could feed only one out of twenty-three present-day Europeans. The population-crash scenario is surely the most appalling. Then it was hoped that the abrupt flips were somehow caused by continental ice sheets, and thus would be unlikely to recur, because we now lack huge ice sheets over Canada and Northern Europe.
Canada's agriculture supports about 28 million people. Any meltwater coming in behind the dam stayed there. Our civilizations began to emerge right after the continental ice sheets melted about 10, 000 years ago. Huge amounts of seawater sink at known downwelling sites every winter, with the water heading south when it reaches the bottom. Whereas the familiar consequences of global warming will force expensive but gradual adjustments, the abrupt cooling promoted by man-made warming looks like a particularly efficient means of committing mass suicide.
Of particular importance are combinations of climate variations—this winter, for example, we are experiencing both an El Niño and a North Atlantic Oscillation—because such combinations can add up to much more than the sum of their parts. The most recent big cooling started about 12, 700 years ago, right in the midst of our last global warming. We might undertake to regulate the Mediterranean's salty outflow, which is also thought to disrupt the North Atlantic Current. The fjords of Greenland offer some dramatic examples of the possibilities for freshwater floods. Out of the sea of undulating white clouds mountain peaks stick up like islands. Now only Greenland's ice remains, but the abrupt cooling in the last warm period shows that a flip can occur in situations much like the present one. Salt circulates, because evaporation up north causes it to sink and be carried south by deep currents. Indeed, we've had an unprecedented period of climate stability. In discussing the ice ages there is a tendency to think of warm as good—and therefore of warming as better.
Attacks 2 × claws (1d3). He helped them find their way back out. Appendix 1: Where is Xiximanter's spell book? Now, his position was in danger unless he could figure out the real culprit. I can also provide pregenerated characters if any players prefer. Update)Tomb of the Serpent Kings – it was a mediocre experience - INDEX CARD RPG. Zylphia was grossed out by this new power, but continued searching for objects in the pool. Half damage from piercing and slashing, twice as much from bludgeoning. I hope further exploration will continue to see the development of these three players as they delve deeper into the OSR and into the Tomb of the Serpent Kings. Some they recognized from their textbooks or history, others were from some distant time or not important enough for a place in the textbooks. Ruby leapt into action, coating her fist in crackling energy and pummeling the hand off her friend's leg. 00:27:02 - Tutorial Levels/Invisible Tutorials. 00:22:07 - Questions we had about this adventure.
Slugs and Silver: Session 1, 2, 3, 4, Asher (Podcast): Session 1, 2. I've realized that is because I'm not playing in it. Level 5: Animate Dead, Hold Monster, Animate Dead. 10 brown giant strength. Ruby was much more interested, and wrote down everything she observed in the alcoves.
Ruby was very excited to actually be on a monster-hunting mission! 00:25:55 - Caravans! Me: Okay, but you've still not got it to half hit-points…. May have flaws such as tears, pen marks or highlighting, large creases, stains, marks, etc. Session 2: Boarling Paladin- BiL "Man-Bear-Pig". 4 black control undead.
Zylphia ventured close to the pool, hoping to drop a pebble into the water and see how deep its murky depths were. The next area they opened was a set of stairs, leading further downwards. Tomb of the serpent kings mountain. Purchase Die, Grave Robber, Die! 4 HP, 14 STR, 8 DEX, 12 WIL, Greataxe (1d10). Room 26: Easy to pick: double% for thieves to pick the lock. Because I would've drowned in a wordier dungeon. Luckily, TotSK didn't try to cram a novel down my optic nerve when I was looking up the contents of a room, so we had no trouble making it to the end.
Room 5: Trap: save vs death or 2d6 damage. Ruby kept everything of value she could find, especially the scrolls. Send in a voice message: The fight wasn't that hard, but it was dense. 1d8 damage, save vs death halves. Magical Industrial Revolution: A Pre-Apocalyptic Setting Guide. In the large chamber beyond the door, the trio was faced with 3 coffins and immediately were on the defensive. May 19th, 2019, 18:57 #2. Spikepit: 454 Tomb of the Serpent Kings Review on. You can print out a character sheet ahead of time if you wish or you can use a form-fillable PDF when we make characters. With a simple check, she found out that the statue leading to the secret room was slightly out of alignment with the others, so they started pushing it and found a way to move it.
Except in superhero games. Instead of teaming up to try and lift it, the party came up with a lever idea. Energy drain: A kiss from Baltoplat drains one level (save vs death to avoid), like wights and similar. If separated, will scurry off. The 3 Toadstools : Tomb of the serpent kings one shot. I should probably create a wiki. It feels like descending into a dark and odd place where a lot of things will try to kill you if you are not careful, but you will be rich and powerful if you pull it off. Their RPG backgrounds primarily come in the form of JRPGs and Dark Souls and thus GLOG and TotSK really work here as tutorials.
Tomb 4, the Really Good Dog decided to save the Barbarian from the pain and jumped into the coffin and broke the statue with its weight. Tomb of the serpent kings 2. Anyway, since the stone hammer doesn't crush the victim against a solid object, I believe the trap should be save vs death (+2) or 1d6 damage, plus another save vs death or fall into the chasm (instant death). Session 1: Human Barbarian- BiL. Guild of Heroes – Kids D&D Program.
This game uses the Old School Essentials rules, a freely available replica of how Dungeons & Dragons was played in 1981, when the hobby was still new. 00:40:38 - TV and Movies. After the game we talked about Old school DND and he said that he liked it well enough, but preferred 5e. UberNietzscheStache has created a player-facing map for online games. During the delve I was constantly moving my focus between the chatter of the group discussing their options, checking the map so I could describe the local environment, reading detailed room descriptions for when they dug into an area. I can't believe I'm able to create a section for this).
After the fight, they regarded the water differently and decided not to look in it anymore (thus leaving in the pool a lot of valuables). Of course, I had to describe things very well, but the players seemed very invested. July 12th, 2019, 02:21 #8. SiL does miss the large PF sheets, mostly because she enjoyed it from that sort of completionist aspect.