Outpost 2: Divided Destiny

Outpost 2: Divided Destiny is a real-time strategy computer game developed by Dynamix, released in 1997 by Sierra Entertainment. It reuses and refines some of the concepts from the original Outpost, but there is no direct continuity between the storylines or the gameplay.

Storyline

The plot is revealed through a combination of the game's mission briefings and a novella which was written by J. Steven York and included with the game. The novella follows two characters: Axen Moon of Eden, and Emma Burke of Plymouth, who were childhood friends and lovers.

Main plot

A massive asteroid called "Vulcan's Hammer" causes an extinction event on Earth. A handful of engineers and scientists escape in the starship Conestoga. The ship travels in interstellar space with the passengers in stasis. After many centuries, the ship's onboard supplies begin to run out and its A.I. is forced to awaken the captain and some colonists. They give orders to touch down on the most habitable planet in range, though it is still quite harsh to human life. They name it New Terra and establish the colony of Eden. After many years orbiting New Terra, the Conestoga eventually crashes due to orbital decay.

Blight (play)

Blight: The Tragedy of Dublin is a play by Oliver St. John Gogarty. One of the earliest Irish "slum dramas", it focuses on the horrific conditions prevalent in Dublin's tenements and the ineffectuality of the medical and charitable institutions set up to combat them. The message of the play reflects Gogarty's belief that only a complete overhaul of the Dublin housing system, coupled with a more effective campaign of preventive medicine, were capable of producing positive change.

Gogarty's friend Joseph O'Connor, though not involved in the actual writing process, contributed some anecdotal material to the play, and when it was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in December 1917, the name of the author was given as "Alpha and Omega", a joint pseudonym referring to Gogarty and O'Connor.

Background

Urban decay

Urban decay (also known as urban rot and urban blight) is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. It may feature deindustrialization, depopulation or changing population, restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and a desolate, inhospitable city landscape.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, urban decay has been associated with Western cities, especially in North America and parts of Europe (mostly Britain and France). Since then, major structural changes in global economies, transportation, and government policy created the economic and then the social conditions resulting in urban decay.

The effects counter the development of most of Europe and North America; in countries beyond, urban decay is manifested in the peripheral slums at the outskirts of a metropolis, while the city center and the inner city retain high real estate values and sustain a steadily increasing populace. In contrast, North American and British cities often experience population flights to the suburbs and exurb commuter towns; that is, white flight. Another characteristic of urban decay is blight—the visual, psychological, and physical effects of living among empty lots, buildings and condemned houses. Such desolate properties are socially dangerous to the community because they attract criminals and street gangs, contributing to the volume of crime.

Conrad II of Italy

Conrad II (12 February 1074 – 27 July 1101) was the Duke of Lower Lorraine (1076–87), King of Germany (1087–98) and King of Italy (1093–98). He was the second son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and Bertha of Savoy, and their eldest son to reach adulthood, his older brother Henry having been born and died in the same month of August 1071. Conrad's rule in Lorraine and Germany was nominal. He spent most of his life in Italy and there he was king in fact as well as in name.

Childhood

Conrad was born on 12 February 1074 at Hersfeld Abbey while his father was fighting against the Saxon Rebellion. He was baptised in the abbey three days later. After Henry's victory against the Saxons, he arranged for an assembly at Goslar on Christmas Day 1075 to swear an oath recognising Conrad as his successor. After the death of Duke Godfrey IV of Lower Lorraine on 22 February 1076, Henry refused to appoint the late duke's own choice of successor, his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon, and instead named his two-year-old son Duke of Lower Lorraine. He did appoint Albert III of Namur, the deceased duke's brother-in-law, as his son's vice-duke (vicedux) to perform the daily functions of government. He also allowed the march of Antwerp to pass to Godfrey of Bouillon. The total absence of Conrad from his duchy caused or abetted the decline of ducal authority in it. In 1082, while Conrad was in Italy, the peace of God was introduced into the diocese of Liège.

Conrad (comic strip)

Conrad was a comic strip about "America's favorite frog prince". Written and illustrated by Bill Schorr, the strip was launched November 8, 1982. Syndicated by Tribune Media Services, it had a run for over three years, ending June 7, 1986.

Characters and story

The frog Conrad, needing money to pay his bookie, convinces the fat, dim-witted fairy tale princess that he is an enchanted prince who can be turned into a human by a kiss.

Other characters include the princess' father, the King, who is skeptical that Conrad is a prince, and resident witch Aggie, who grants spells and potions to the princess. Fido, the princess's pet alligator, thinks he is a dog.

More by Schorr

The strip did not catch on and was dropped in the summer of 1986. The award-winning editorial cartoonist Bill Schorr, however, went on to create three more comic strips–The Grizzwells (1987–present), Phoebe's Place (1990-1991) and Lunchbucket (1993, with Rex May).

Books

Two Conrad book collections were published in 1985.

Conrad (bishop of Sodor and Man)

Conrad, O.Cist. was a pre-Reformation cleric who was appointed the Bishop of Sodor and Man in the early 15th century.

A Cistercian monk, he was appointed the bishop of the diocese of Sodor and Man by Pope Boniface IX on 9 January 1402. Conrad can have only served for a few months, because his successor Theodore Bloc was appointed on 16 April 1402.

See also

References