Thunder Oak
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Thunder Oak
''Thunder Oak'' is a 1997 heroic fantasy novel written by British author Garry Kilworth. It is the first novel in the '' Welkin Weasels'' series. The novel follows a group of anthropomorphised weasels in their quest to restore balance to their home after the disappearance of humans leaves a power vacuum, which has been filled by aggressive stoats. Plot summary The main introduction introduces Sylver's band of outlaws: Icham, Dredless, Mawk, Bryony, Alysoun, Miniver, Wodehed, and Luke. Sylver has heard that the sea defences around the island of Welkin are crumbling and will soon collapse completely, allowing the ocean to flood Welkin if the animals of the island don't act soon. With the help of Lord Haukin, a sympathetic stoat, who understands Sylver, Sylver decides to start out on a quest to find the missing humans who abandoned Welkin long before Sylver was born. None of the weasels know why they have evacuated, but Lord Haukin suspects, thanks to a diary left by a girl call ...
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John Howe (illustrator)
John Howe (born August 21, 1957) is a Canadian book illustrator and conceptual designer, best-known for his artwork of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. One year after graduating from high school, he studied in a college in Strasbourg, France, then at the École des arts décoratifs in the same town. Howe and Tolkien artist Alan Lee served as chief conceptual designers for Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' movie trilogy. Howe illustrated the ''Lord of the Rings'' board game created by Reiner Knizia, and re-illustrated the maps of ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''The Hobbit'', and ''The Silmarillion'' in 1996–2003. His work includes images of mythological material such as the Old English epic poem ''Beowulf'' (including Knizia's board game '' Beowulf: The Legend''). Howe illustrated many books in the fantasy genre, such as those by Robin Hobb. He also contributed to the film adaptation of ''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'' by C. S. Lewis, ''The Chronicles of Narnia ...
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Crypts
A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a church, such as at the Abbey of Saint-Germain en Auxerre, but were later located beneath chancel, naves and transepts as well. Occasionally churches were raised high to accommodate a crypt at the ground level, such as St Michael's Church in Hildesheim, Germany. Etymology The word "Crypt" developed as an alternative form of the Latin "vault" as it was carried over into Late Latin, and came to refer to the ritual rooms found underneath church buildings. It also served as a vault for storing important and/or sacred items. The word "Crypta", however, is also the female form of ''crypto'' "hidden". The earliest known origin of both is in the Ancient Greek '' κρύπτω'' (krupto/krypto), the first person singular indicative of the verb "to conce ...
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Jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. During the Middle Ages, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences. Etymology The modern use of the English w ...
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European Rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, often with devastating effects on local biodiversity. Its decline in its native range due to myxomatosis, rabbit calicivirus, overhunting and habitat loss has caused the decline of the Iberian lynx (''Lynx pardinus'') and Spanish imperial eagle (''Aquila adalberti''). It is known as an invasive species because it has been introduced to countries on all continents with the exception of Antarctica, and has caused many problems within the environment and ecosystems; in particular, European rabbits in Australia have had a devastating impact, due in part to the lack of natural predators there. The European rabbit is well known for digging networks of burrows, called warrens, where it spends most of its tim ...
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Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used Black magic, malevolent magic against their own community, and often to have communed with evil beings. It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by Apotropaic magic, protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by cunning folk or folk healers. Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked or killed. Often they would be formally prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. In some regions, many of those accused of witchcraft were folk healers or midwife, midwives. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enl ...
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Mouflon
The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, the Caspian Sea, Caspian region from eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds. Taxonomy ''Ovis gmelini'' was the scientific name proposed by Edward Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in the Middle East. In the 19th and 20th centuries, several wild sheep were described that are considered mouflon subspecies today: * ''Ovis ophion'' by Blyth in 1841 for wild sheep in Cyprus; * ''Ovis laristanica'' by Nikolai Nasonov in 1909 for wild sheep in Lar, Iran, Lar in southern Iran; * ''Ovis orientalis isphahanica'' by Nasonov in 1910 for wild sheep in the Zagros Mountains. Subspecies Five mouflon subspecies of are distinguished by Mammal Species of the World, MSW3: * Armenian mouflon (Armenian red sheep), ''O. g. gmelini'' : nominate subspecies; native to northwestern Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It has been introduced to Texas in the U.S. * Esfahan mou ...
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Bounty Hunter
A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outside the legal constraints that govern police officers and other agents of the state. This is because a bail agreement between a defendant and a bail bondsman is essentially a civil contract that is incumbent upon the bondsman to enforce. As a result, bounty hunters hired by a bail bondsman enjoy significant legal privileges, such as forcibly entering a defendant's home without probable cause or a search warrant; however, since they are not police officers, bounty hunters are legally exposed to liabilities that normally exempt agents of the state—as these immunities enable police to perform their designated functions effectively without fear—and everyday citizens approached by a bounty hunter are neither required to answer their questio ...
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Wild Boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is now one of the widest-ranging mammals in the world, as well as the most widespread suiform. It has been assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide range, high numbers, and adaptability to a diversity of habitats. It has become an invasive species in part of its introduced range. Wild boars probably originated in Southeast Asia during the Early Pleistocene and outcompeted other suid species as they spread throughout the Old World. , up to 16 subspecies are recognized, which are divided into four regional groupings based on skull height and lacrimal bone length. The species lives in matriarchal societies consisting of interrelated females and their young (both male and female). Fully grown males are usually solitary ...
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Empathy
Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, cognitive, and emotional processes primarily concerned with understanding others (and others' emotions in particular). Types of empathy include cognitive empathy, emotional (or affective) empathy, somatic empathy, and spiritual empathy.Rothschild, B. (with Rand, M. L.). (2006). ''Help for the Helper: The psychophysiology of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma''. Etymology The English word ''empathy'' is derived from the Ancient Greek (''empatheia'', meaning "physical affection or passion"). That word derives from (''en'', "in, at") and ('' pathos'', "passion" or "suffering"). Theodor Lipps adapted the German aesthetic term ("feeling into") to psychology in 1903, and Edward B. Titchener translated into English as "empathy" i ...
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Dart (missile)
Darts are airborne ranged weapons. They are designed to fly such that a sharp, often weighted point will strike first. They can be distinguished from javelins by the presence of fletching (feathers on the tail) and a shaft that is shorter and/or more flexible. Darts can be propelled by hand or with the aid of a hand-held implement such as a blowgun. They can be distinguished from arrows because they are not used with a bow. Darts have been used since pre-history. The plumbatae were lead-weighted darts thrown by infantrymen in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Darts can be propelled by a number of means. The atlatl uses leverage to increase the velocity of the dart, the kestros increases the range of propelled darts using a sling, and the exhalation of a person's breath through a blowgun propels small stone points or poisoned needles with pneumatic force. In the modern era, darts have been used for recreation; in lawn darts and the game of darts. History Pre-history Some of th ...
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Trapping (Animal)
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic hunters, including the members of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture of Romania and Ukraine (c. 5500–2750 BCE), used traps to capture their prey. An early mention in written form is a passage from the self-titled book by Taoism, Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi (book), Zhuangzi describes Chinese methods used for trapping animals during the 4th century BCE. The Zhuangzi reads, "The sleek-furred fox and the elegantly spotted leopard ... can't seem to escape the disaster of nets and traps." "Modern" steel jaw-traps were first described in western sources as early as the late 16th century. The first mention comes from Leonard Mascall's book on animal trapping. It reads, "a griping trappe made all of yrne, the lowest barre, and the ring or h ...
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European Polecat
The European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), also known as the common polecat, black polecat, or forest polecat, is a species of mustelid native to western Eurasia and North Africa. It is of a generally dark brown colour, with a pale underbelly and a dark mask across the face. Occasionally, colour mutations including albinos, leucists, isabellinists, xanthochromists, amelanists and erythrists occur. It has a shorter, more compact body than other '' Mustela'' species, a more powerfully built skull and dentition, is less agile, and is well known for having the characteristic ability to secrete a particularly foul-smelling liquid to mark its territory. It is much less territorial than other mustelids, with animals of the same sex frequently sharing home ranges. Like other mustelids, the European polecat is polygamous, with pregnancy occurring after mating, with no induced ovulation. It usually gives birth in early summer to litters consisting of five to 10 kits, which become ...
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