![]() ![]() Similarly, most playground elements should not require auditory components to enjoy. Advanced structures may also use lights or other components to provide signals. One way of addressing deafness is using visual cues to get attention, such as waving large flags while calling for people to return. ![]() People with partial or total deafness may be focused on specific toys or puzzles and may not notice anyone calling for them to come back. The primary time this matters on a playground is when you’re trying to get all children to stop playing and return to the area’s entrance. These don’t affect someone’s ability to use a playground as much as other things can, but there are a few times when hearing is crucial. Hearing loss can range from being unable to hear noises that are too soft to difficulty hearing from specific directions. People with aphantasia cannot use their mind’s eye to make enjoying a playground easier, so people with both aphantasia and total blindness may see literally nothing.Īddressing loss of vision may require creating raised signs or putting bumped areas in pathways that can navigate to exits. This isn’t as easy to solve as teaching a route that people can duplicate in their imagination, either. Some people may have trouble seeing anything too far away, while other people may be completely blind. The severity of vision loss can vary in its impact on playgrounds. More importantly, they may not be aware of gaps or cliffs in the structure until they reach them. People with visual limitations may have trouble navigating a play area without a physical guide. Partial or total loss of vision can affect someone’s ability to see some or all of a playground. Access Board and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) documentation. Here are the main groupings, which we verified and researched via the U.S. However, we can consolidate most functional needs into several categories based on how they affect someone’s ability to use a playground. Making playgrounds inclusive is significantly more challenging than making play areas accessible, and here’s why: there’s a variety of different needs, and it’s challenging to account for all of them. Inclusive playgrounds are those with toys, games, and segments that appeal to people with different needs or capabilities. While this is not an official term, anything that’s accessible to people using wheelchairs is as accessible as any reasonable designer can expect to make things. Some people refer to this as the wheelchair standard. Anything a person cannot reach along these paths is not accessible. To put it another way, accessible playgrounds are those with reasonably wide footpaths through the entire area. This means having ramps between areas of differing heights, no gaps that a child must jump or climb over, and no areas that are too narrow to fit a wheelchair through. In most cases, a playground is accessible if someone using a wheelchair can navigate the entire area independently. This means that all children playing there should be able to reach play sections in the area, regardless of height (more on minimum requirements later). Who can help you with ADA compliance What Is an Accessible Playground?Īn accessible playground is physically accessible to as many children as possible.Where to find accessible playset equipment.How to make your playset or playground accessible and inclusive.Playground and playset accessibility standards.If you want to skip down to a specific section, just click one of the links below: We’ll start off by covering some basic definitions, then get into the legal standards for playsets, how to set up a playground for all children, how to find accessible and inclusive playground equipment, and finish up with some tips on financial assistance for local communities and who can help you get everything set up. If you’re a planner for your local community, hopefully this is a great head start to transforming a new area into an accessible and inclusive play space for all children. If you’re a parent looking to set something up in your backyard, this guide should give you a great head start on how to find the right equipment and make an accessible setup. Today though, we want to expand our focus to include local playgrounds and how to make them accessible and inclusive for children of all abilities to explore and have fun.Īccessible and inclusive playgrounds are becoming the new standard across the country, whether they’re in public parks or your backyard. At the Backyartisan, we love covering the latest and greatest in backyard playsets. ![]()
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![]() Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter, or enter your email address in the box in the left sidebar or at the bottom of this story. Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. A breathable, polyester stretch-mesh lining (same as in OR’s Superlayer Jacket) wicks moisture from the inside when you’re producing excess heat that moisture passes through the Alpha insulation and the breathable and highly durable, weather-resistant, nylon stretch-woven shell on the exterior. Water-resistant, highly compressible, Polartec Alpha Active synthetic insulation breathes well while trapping warmth. On long days of alternating between sweating and rapidly cooling down in sub-freezing temperatures, that’s a game changer.Ī few components explain the Uberlayer’s performance. So I pulled the Uberlayer on over a middle layer (that had also gotten damp on the climb) for the 20-minute descent by the time I reached my car, my base and middle layers were as dry as when I put them on that morning. One example: After ski touring steadily uphill for more than an hour in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, on a mostly sunny day around 20° F with some wind-breaking trail at times-I reached the top of my climb with a wet shirt. Sign up for my FREE email newsletter now. But the secondary benefit is how this jacket traps heat to keep you from getting chilled after you’ve sweated hard (most likely not wearing the Uberlayer, but in shirtsleeves when pushing hard uphill), while it moves moisture out so efficiently that wearing it over a sweaty base layer allows your body heat to dry out that base layer quickly.įind your next adventure in your Inbox. In cold temps, on the go, this jacket lived on my back. The first and most obvious measure-and benefit-of puffy jackets with breathable insulation is how much time you spend wearing them rather than carrying them in your pack. I wore OR’s new Uberlayer Hooded Jacket for numerous days of backcountry skiing-including, at times, as an outer layer while skinning uphill-and as a middle layer skiing downhill both in the backcountry and for hours at a resort And I wore it in temperatures ranging from around freezing to wind chills below zero Fahrenheit, and came away convinced this is a jacket you could legitimately use into the backcountry every month of the year. But in an increasingly crowded field, some jackets still rise above. ![]() The explosion in breathable-insulation garments has changed the way we think about insulation in the backcountry. ![]() ![]() ![]() When discussing properties that helped boost its Q3 performance in 2019, Netflix noted, "Last year we had new seasons of Money Heist and Stranger Things in Q3, which were not planned for this year’s Q3." Even without an official release date from the streamer, the Season 3 finale may give us some clues for when Stranger Things Season 4 will take place: Before Joyce, Will, Jonathan, and Eleven move away from Hawkins at the end of the episode, Mike and Eleven discuss visiting each other for Thanksgiving and Christmas of that year.Ħ3 Images While the events of Season 1 technically happened in November (and prominently featured Christmas lights) we have yet to see the show tackle Thanksgiving or Christmas - and a Christmas setting could pave the way for some awesome '80s homages to the likes of Gremlins, Die Hard (again!), or Silent Night, Deadly Night. ![]() We can’t wait to see what the Duffer Brothers have in store when they step outside the world of The Upside Down.” When Will New Episodes of Stranger Things 4 Release on Netflix?In its Q1 letter to shareholders, Netflix dropped a small clue about when we might see the release of Stranger Things Season 4, which is looking more and more like it will debut in winter (either late 2020 or early 2021). The news came with a statement from Netflix's Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos: “The Duffer Brothers have captivated viewers around the world with Stranger Things and we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with them to bring their vivid imaginations to other film and series projects our members will love. Netflix officially renewed Stranger Things for a fourth season back in September 2019. ![]() ![]() Remove your shirt and bra, then look at your breasts in the mirror.Don’t choose a day too close to your menstrual cycle, as hormones can affect the way your breasts feel. Examples include the first or last day of every month, or the same number as your birthday. Pick a specific day to conduct the exam every month.Comander offers these step-by-step instructions for breast self-examination: For example, a lump that changes location or feels different when you push it around, raise your arm, or lie down is less likely to be a tumor.ĭr. “If something is more fixed in place, that would be more of a concern, as opposed to a lumpy area that is more mobile,” she explains. Comander suggests trying to move it around. We like it that way-when we pick up cancers when they’re tiny, we can have a better chance of curing our patients and using less aggressive treatments to achieve that,” she says. “Most breast cancers in the United States are detected by mammograms, and they’re usually quite small. It’s harder to feel breast tumors smaller than a centimeter in diameter. ![]() ![]() In order for you to feel a cancerous lump, it probably has to be rather large and closer to the surface of the skin. ![]() And it often has angular, irregular, asymmetrical edges, as opposed to being smooth, Dr. A cancerous lump is usually hard, not soft or squishy. Shape and size of a breast lumpĪ tumor may feel more like a rock than a grape. Pain in the breasts may indicate an ingrown hair, clogged milk duct, cyst, swollen gland, or other issue. Most breast tumors do not hurt, although some might. But it’s important to seek medical attention if you notice them, Dr. So these symptoms are not necessarily signs of breast cancer. Many things can cause skin changes, including infections, eczema, and allergies. Look for any skin changes on or around the breasts, such as: She describes several important characteristics to consider about your breast tissue. People don't really know what they’re looking for, and they’re afraid they’ll find something that will make them panic,” Dr. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding and anxiety about performing a breast self-exam. But if you have any doubt or questions, make an appointment for a physical exam and mammogram.įactors to consider if you notice a lump in breast tissue Comander suggests you consider several specific factors, such as shape, size, whether there is skin involvement, and whether the lump causes pain. ![]() The breast self-exam is another tool we can use to take charge of our own health.” “But it’s important that we are aware of our own bodies, so if we notice a change, we know what to do about it. The majority of breast lumps are actually benign,” she says. Many people do have lumps in their breasts, and that can sometimes change with their menstrual cycle. “Every person’s breast tissue will feel different. Comander is medical director of the Mass General Cancer Center at Mass General Waltham and director of the Breast Oncology Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Most turn out to be benign (noncancerous) issues.Īmy Comander, MD, an oncologist, encourages people to check their breasts regularly and understand what to look for in their own unique bodies. But if you notice a lump or change in your breasts, don’t panic. Breast self-examination and body awareness are important to your health and wellness. ![]() ![]() ![]() Unfortunately there is a lot of spam search requests and this allows us to block them. We also save the searches we receive to filter spam. This allows us to gather data about how our users interact with Ecosia products in a secure and anonymized way. We might, for example, use it to decide which new feature to build next.įor this we use a self-hosted, secure and encrypted in-house analytics system. We collect data and do statistical analysis to understand user behavior and trends, how people use our services, and to monitor, troubleshoot, and improve Ecosia. That means, for example, if you are located in Germany your search traffic will remain within Germany and will fall under strict German privacy regulations.Īt Ecosia, we want to make sure our users have the best search experience possible. However, when you perform a search on Ecosia, your request will generally be routed to the server that is geographically nearest to you. We use Digicert, one of the largest and most trusted SSL certificate authorities, to generate and manage our SSL certificates.Įcosia’s servers are located around the world in order to provide a fast response no matter where you are. This way no one between you and Ecosia can secretly listen in on your searches. We only allow connections to our search engine over a secured SSL/HTTPS connection. Most other websites ignore this setting - we think users should have a choice. If you have "Do Not Track" enabled in your browser settings we do not collect any analytics data. We only keep fully anonymised search data after 7 days.We store all analytics data in an highly encrypted database.We send all data collected from Ecosia services over an SSL-secured connection.We do not use unique event fingerprinting.We remove parts of the IP address when we store it so they become anonymous. ![]() Also, no third party that is not directly involved in answering your search request will ever have access to your search data.įor all data we collect ourselves, we take data protection very seriously and take many steps to ensure it is safe and anonymous. We do not, and never will, share or sell any data we collect ourselves with any third party. On Friday, January 24, Ecosia will announce how many trees that they will plant, all thanks to your searches.We only collect the data we absolutely need and do so with a self-hosted, secure and encrypted in-house analytics system. This is because the trees will increase rainfall, lower temperatures, clean the air, sequester some of the carbon emitted by the fires, and provide much-needed habitat for wildlife. To do so, they’ve teamed up with a local NGO called ReForest Now.īy planting 100+ different tree species, Ecosia aim to plant not just what has been lost but also to make the area more resilient against future fires. They will use 100% of their profits to help regenerate the country’s ecosystem by planting native, subtropical trees in the Byron Bay area, which is a biodiversity hotspot that has been badly affected by wildfires. What’s not to love about Ecosia!įollowing the devastating fires in Australia, Ecosia have announced that on Thursday, January 23, all searches will plant trees in Australia. By publishing monthly reports, you are able to see exactly where the income from your searches goes. Servers run on 100% renewable energy and every search removes around 1 kg of CO2 from the atmosphere. So far the Ecosia community have planted millions of trees in Ethiopia, Brazil, Spain, and in many other biodiversity hotspots. Ecosia use their profits to plant trees all over the planet, benefiting people, the environment and local economy. Ecosia is a search engine like Google but with a twist. ![]() ![]() ![]() You can book on line and pay through a secure gateway, or just E-mail us about the Fast Track service you need.Ī | Faster Service. See all the airports in Africa that we serve. Our dedicated Burkina Faso team will ensure a quick and safe VVIP experience at the airport and will help protect your well being, privacy and security inside the terminal. So whether you are a VIP, a performer, a celebrity, a visiting official, a business traveller or private tourist, if you want some special airport assistance, our professional Fast Track meet and greet team will assist you and take care of everything. Transfer or connection between two flights (international and/or domestic) is also fully supported involving different terminals as needed. Special lounge access on departure may arranged for a fee. There are air side departure lounges (Executive, VIP and VVIP) the airports which are equipped with showers and facilities. Porters in Burkina Faso are available for hire, but baggage trolleys are provided free for passengers to push their bags past customs and through security. VOA and e-Visa assistance can be arranged and given for an additional charge. ![]() Airport assistance options in Burkina Faso.Īrrival and departure service is fully supported and staff contact and liaise with in bound or waiting drivers (licensed Taxi and limo services are available and there are app based or private hire & car rental services). ![]() Internationally one can fly with Air France, Turkish Airlines and Royal Air Maroc. This airport is used by several regional airlines including Air Senegal, Air Burkina and Ethiopian Airlines. The commercial district of the city is only 1.5KM away. Originally it was built on the outskirts but over the years the city has expanded and now it surrounds the airport. Ouagadougou Airport, Burkina Faso (IATA: OUA) is located inside the city of Ouagadougou. They are familiar with the airport layout and know the fastest way to get you from A to B without any unnecessary delays if time is tight. ![]() They will help smooth the way if there are any language issues, assist with your Visa on Arrival or baggage retrieval and can use try to their Airport security clearance to Fast Track you through immigration & border control process, making it all smooth and quick.Īnd if you are connecting or are in transit, our greeters will meet you and assist in any way possible as they accompany you through the airport to your next flight. Your Burkina Faso Meet and Assist greeter will be waiting to assist you from the airbridge or kerbside and will guide you through the fastest channels all the way between air and ground transportation. We offer a full range of help for those arriving or departing. Arrival, Departure, Connection or Transit They will be met at the gate or kerbside, and guided all way though the airport for a real VIP airport experience. The airport assistance service is available in all Tanzania international airports including Ouagadougou OUAįast Track’s Meet & Assist service in airports is helpful for any traveler passing through one of Africa’s international or local airports and who wants some personal help and VVIP assistance. Burkina Faso Airport VIP Meet and Greet staff will meet you at your arrival gate and escort you all the way to your next flight or to your driver, or the other way around. ![]() ![]() At this point, it feels like reaching even if those modes offer competitive charm for small online groups. There’s still the three-way free-for-all mode Ones too, pitting trios of players against each other and a single goalie in a half-rink contest. ![]() In NHL’s case, that’s led to the brash Threes, filled with fireworks, goofy stadiums, and open three-on-three play. Both found a workable, near-flawless formula to replicate their core on-field/on-ice play some five or six years ago now the challenge comes from finding the “new” in what was hard to improve upon. If there’s a fair comparison to EA’s recent NHL struggles, it’s MLB: The Show. This season also brings the expansion, the Seattle Kraken, into the mix, and the resulting expansion draft – which is nice because it’s the only addition to a mode that’s effectively identical to last year’s. Having a successful scouting run means gaining those abilities for your team, although it matters more when those players are rated higher in general. And yes, progression is designed to push them toward gaining their X-Factor for what it’s worth, although the earned experience points have greater impact.įranchise mode hides X-Factor players in the free agent/scouting pool, making the hunt for them secondary to winning the Stanley Cup. That certainly feels like a step down in quality compared to what other sports games have done. Other sports games mimic movies with characters and spoken dialog, but here, it’s all silent other than Cybulski’s fictional podcast narrating the events while text boxes determine the created star’s personality and team synergy. Once on the ice itself, Be A Pro is fine, if stunted. Yet, the focus of NHL 22 isn’t on real-world stats, but rather these game-ified skills. EA is selling this as augmented reality, and nothing here is completely out of bounds when you consider how networks now use ever-increasing computing power to mark up hockey rinks with lines and graphical stat displays that aren’t really there. Chase Becotte, OctoScore: 6Ĭompound that with hyperactive screen overlays before face-offs, icon identifiers, and other visual noise (which, mercifully, are customizable to a degree), and NHL 22 looks less like a broadcast than it does an arcade game trying to call your attention. ![]() With that in mind, I would probably wait for the new season to start and the sale price that would hopefully come with that before giving NHL 21 a look. On top of that, there is still no roster share feature, so there’ll be no fixing the fact that NHL 21 already feels out of date due to the lack of a real 2020 season until the real NHL season kicks off in January. However, it’s aggravating that during this whole console generation EA never managed to move past legacy issues like ping-pong passing, a lack of creativity in the offensive zone, and a narrow set of player ratings make that the gameplay feel stagnant. The new Be A Pro additions are also significant and help to get that single-player experience more in line with other modern sports games. NHL 21 is at its best when I’m playing the wacky modes in World of Chel or the new HUT Rush where I can just go end-to-end while trying to pull off skill moves. Crosby’s beautiful backhand ability is that wicked shot he uses to score.” That’s jarring next to James Cybulski and Ray Ferraro’s commentary, since they’re calling the game straight (if stiffly). During a faceoff between the Blackhawks and Penguins, she states, “Patrick Kane’s puck on a string zone ability is how he manufactures offense. Supposedly a rink-side reporter, Carrlyn Bathe is relegated to hyping X-Factor abilities as if speaking on a promo reel that runs incessantly at GameStop. The bigger issue with NHL 22 is mostly superficial. Being able to deke without a speed penalty is a nice bonus to have here and there, but nowhere near the superpower that NHL 22 makes it out to be. For all the integration, however, their effectiveness feels awfully insignificant in execution, and in some cases, invisible all together. Those X-Factors seamlessly blend into the NHL’s modern playstyle and NHL 22’s still-exquisite right analog stick puck handling control scheme the latter’s precision gets better with each annual game. The impact of those abilities is kept in check by the fact that each team only has a handful of such stars, so it’s not as if every player on the ice has a special ability. The idea being that these videogamey skill boosts represent a player’s specific skillset. ![]() Some star players gain speed boosts, others better shot accuracy after a deke, or shot power while skating. Instead, the changes are mostly those X-Factors, which do make rational sense in context. ![]() ![]() ![]() As an example – on our second visit to the tomb we were tasked with decoding a secret message in the correspondence of the American founding fathers that outlined the roles of the Demon Wendiga and Great Kraken in the American War of Independence, a truth excised from our historical texts by an order of Freemasons. Taunted by the malevolent spirit of an ancient Egyptian God as you seek to decipher a Rosicrucian riddle penned in cuneiform whilst dodging poison darts? SLEDGEHAMMER.Īfter you’ve finished arguing about who gets to be Kevin Dusi, you’ll select one of a number of scenarios from the core set or one of the many expansions, each complete with their own objectives, victory conditions and rules additions/exceptions. Is that Boy George in the middle next to Tim Brooke Taylor? But wait, check out this dude:Īnd he’s armed with a Sledgehammer. Ripped straight from the finest of pulp serial era derring-do, they’re as informative as any other aspect here when it comes to telegraphing the world that Everything Epic are seeking to evoke, and leave me torn between wanting to either don a wifebeater singlet and oil up my muscles, or wrap myself in a smoking jacket whilst I surreptitiously fondle a looted antiquity. From Neptune to Nazis, Sphinxes to Samurai, The Holy Grail to the Great Kraken – they’re all here, and what is more, you can don a comically oversized moustache and then shoot them in the face with an elephant gun.Ī picture is worth a thousand words so it’s at this point I think you need to cast an eye over the rogues gallery of protagonists on offer. Inside this pandora’s box lies possibly the most fulsome collision of classic myth and mystery tradition archetypes to ever cohabit cardboard. This is not the time nor place for subtleties, and it is in its embrace of the ludicrous that SOTLT most stridently displays its genius. ![]() ![]() To make the most of the possibilities inherent in, and mindset required to enjoy this type of experience, the theming is critical. Randomness creates dissonance, insane story beats twist and turn in erratic loops, the Troll is immune in the Crags, and swinginess conspires to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and vice versa on the turn of a fickle spinning dime. Players enter, stuff happens at them and they strap themselves in for the ride. Victory Points? I don’t have time to count them, I’m way too busy hurling fümfty seven proprietary dice at a guy with a flamethrower. Nuance? Hey Poindexter, go back to your weird game about trains. The beauty of a big box Amerithrash romp has always been the ability to go hog wild with shit. With those arcane stars aligning, it seemed like the perfect time to ready my whip, tilt my fedora, and dive into that beguiling first edition box to plumb the depths in search of answers, nazi gold and starched jodhpur trousers.Īrizona Smith and the Raiders of the Tomb of the Lost Crusade ![]() So much so that 2021 is set to see the emergence of a long-awaited third edition (that will probably still look like it fell out of a time vortex from 1996). If one was looking to submit an example of the latter to the Smithsonian for future historians to signpost an era in the history of the hobby, then Secrets of the Lost Tomb by Everything Epic might just be the quintessential selection.Ĭoffin-boxed and stuffed to the gills with cards, tiles and tokens (oh so many tokens), Secrets of the Lost Tombhearkens back to a bygone era that recalls both the heady adventure and the fiddly excess of the 90’s- an era where the storytelling potential of the medium was evolving in a bubble far removed from the streamlined settlers that would go on to dominate the European (and eventually world) stage.Įmerging in 2015, bolstered by a succession of expansions and followed by a slightly revised second edition, the game has garnered a fervent cult following amongst a certain subset of gamers who relish the gonzo narrative beats of games like Warhammer Quest, Arkham Horror and even Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Systems vs Theme, Elegance vs Excess, Wood vs Plastic, Mediterranean Trading Routes vs Zombie Hitler. As the tabletop design ethos continues to evolve in a cross-continental dance of pollination, systems may morph and intermingle, yet the once binary delineation of Euro vs Amerithrash still often rings true. ![]() ![]() Both Cortez and Benrime Salmin tell April she is important and 'strong in the Balance'.īenrime also claims that April is strong in Magic, and that she could become a powerful Artisan with the proper training. She fulfils many of the prophecies held by the magical races, and is told by Vestrum Tobias that she is the Thirteenth Guardian. Voyaging from the bottom of the ocean to the depths of space, April learns that she is vitally important both in Stark and Arcadia, though for much of her journey she does not know why. She also meets the wisecracking, kindhearted Crow, who acts as her sidekick and becomes her close friend. which also becomes a journey to confront the demons from her past. Under his guidance, April learns of Arcadia, passes through the Divide on her first Shift, and begins her quest to restore the Balance. The only person who seems to know what's happening is a local man named Cortez. "I didn't really have that much to drink.did I? No.but I did travel through a Shift into a parallel universe, which would explain this weird compulsion to curl up into a fetal position and go back to sleep." ―April Ryan Īt this point, with a secure job and a place at VAVA, April begins to suffer bizarre dreams and notice corresponding strange goings-on in her neighbourhood. April arrived at the Border House soon afterwards - Fiona remembers seeing her come in, dragging her suitcase - and, after becoming a student at VAVA, eventually got a job waitressing at the Fringe Cafe to cover her student bills and rent. The first person she met upon arriving in Venice was Charlie, who eventually became one of her best friends. April packed everything she could carry (including her childhood drawings), withdrew all her money and, during a final argument with her father, pushed him down the stairs causing him to break his arm. ![]() Meanwhile, her home life was growing more and more unbearable. In her final year of school she began planning to stay with her friend Sarah who had moved to the city the previous year. There was a pond behind her house that she tried fishing in several times (unsuccessfully) as a "wee lass". Life was not all doom and gloom for April, however, and in many ways her upbringing was typical for a country girl. She forgot about them over the years, but kept her love of art and began dreaming of studying at VAVA in Newport. She produced many colourful sketches, which she kept hidden under a loose floorboard in her room so her father wouldn't berate her for "wasting her time". It is possible that her years of disability caused a withdrawal into her imagination. ![]() She also began making detailed diary entries at the age of 5, and perhaps around the same age discovered her love of drawing. She had no knowledge of her biological parents, and her new family raised her Catholic, although April admits she hasn't been to confession since 2206/7. However, April's resilience began early, and she slowly recovered, which actually made her father more resentful. ![]() The day she was adopted, April's new father accidentally dropped her because he was drunk, and for many years it looked like she would never walk. She was also portrayed by Katja Koopmann in the pre-release promotion for TLJ.Īpril Ryan in The Longest Journey The Country Girl īorn on the 14th of April 2191, April spent a short time in an orphanage before she was adopted at an early age by the people she thinks of as her family - her father, mother, and brothers Danny and Owen, living in the countryside somewhere near Greenvale. When strange things begin happening in her neighbourhood, events soon sweep her away on a dangerous and exciting journey, where she must use her wits and courage to survive, friend can turn foe, and not everything is as it seems.Īpril discovers that not only is she a Shifter, one able to travel between the twin worlds of Stark and Arcadia through the Divide, but that she is also a key figure in the prophecies of many of the magical races, and a force against Chaos.įor a detailed account of April's journey, see Chapters of TLJ. April is troubled by vivid dreams and suppressed memories from her difficult childhood, when she had to deal with her abusive father. There are things happening, yes, and I came here because I thought - maybe you're crazy enough to believe me, to help me." ―April Ryan Īpril Ryan is the heroine of The Longest Journey, an 18 year-old art student who recently moved to the big city, Newport, to study at VAVA. "You talk about art, and truth, and dreams, and illusion, and I still don't understand what it all has to do with me. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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