Pangea (mainland): formation and separation of the supercontinent. Terrestrial land

The death of the orc god Aziraal put an end to the offensive of his troops on the lands of Antalor. The crushed orcs fled south. The victorious people refused to give the enemies the corpse of their leader. Instead, they promptly sealed the deity in an enchanted tomb. With the death of Aziraal, Corruption filled the entire continent. And a strange new magic came to these lands...

About the combat system and enemies

During fights, you can use melee weapons, bow and magic spells.

At the initial stage of the game, all characters will have to resort to the help of conventional weapons, since mages and shooters cannot yet effectively destroy all enemies at a distance. For obvious reasons, in close combat, the character loses the most hit points. Jumping will help to avoid this. Jumping forward will give you the opportunity to get out of the environment, back - will allow you to get away from any attack, the main thing is to catch the moment. This is how you can kill any enemy one on one, if he does not use magic. True, it takes a lot of time. The side step, combinations of strikes and parry control are not directly provided, which greatly limits tactics. Run around a group of enemies until one of the opponents stands out from it, then focus on it.

Archery is simple. The character spends time drawing the string; the damage dealt depends on the force of tension. You can hit any enemy as long as it is within a certain distance set by the characteristics of the bow. The arrows in the game are endless. If the string tension is greater than the minimum, the shot thwarts the attack, so the archer also has no particular problems with one-on-one fights. Groups of enemies become easy to deal with after learning the Multi-Arrow Shot skill.

It is important: even if you are not going to use a bow, carry a quiver with you - many of them give a significant increase in performance.

The tactics of playing as a magician are very diverse and depend on the choice of spells (the corresponding chapter is devoted to this). This may be a bug, but the effects of many auras, as well as buffs and debuffs, stack without any restrictions. This allows you to create real indecency on the battlefield. For example, how do you like this: we take a spell from the first circle of the fire school that enhances magical attack, cast it on ourselves four times and kill the most powerful level 35 golem with a single lightning bolt. And this is not the limit. Imagine what you can do with mass action spells!

According to the combat qualities of enemies can be divided into three types.

• close combat. They run to you as soon as they see you. No cunning tactics or active skills are trained (although there are some individuals who can splurge). Usually there are a lot of them, and this is where the problem lies. It is best to destroy such enemies from a distance. If you just run past them close, then they will not hurt you, even if they try very hard. This can be used in a brazen way in various situations.
• Magic combined with melee. While the player is at a distance, such enemies shoot some kind of "magic arrow" at him, which is easy to dodge. The characteristic sound that accompanies her approach is unmistakable, so it is not necessary to keep the magician in sight. Unfortunately, they did not give other spells to local magicians. As soon as you get close, the enemy will move into close combat. These enemies should be killed last.
• Arrows. They need to be eliminated first for a number of reasons. Dodging arrows is very difficult, especially if there are several archers. They will constantly disrupt your attacks. Arrows rarely get hit by a hot hand: as soon as you get close enough, they will start to run away. At such a moment, it is very difficult to hit them with conventional weapons.

About interacting with characters

All characters are divided into five types; when you try to start a conversation, the corresponding icons appear.

To put something on the character, you need to drag the item from the inventory to the "doll". In addition to the slots for armor, weapons and rings, there are places for a quiver, a dagger and two additional types of weapons - they will allow you to change them on the go (by default, the R and T keys). At the same time, only the weapon that is currently in the main cell gives an increase to the characteristics.

Identical items of equipment can be connected together and thus improved by dragging one of them onto another. This allows you to get the most powerful things: with weapons of the tenth-twentieth class, you will surely kill most enemies with the first blow.

Items can give an increase to characteristics, skills, protection from various types of physical attacks and magic. You can easily do without the last property: it is very easy to dodge the few spells of enemies.

A weapon can deal one of several types of magical damage. For this, special stones are used. It is useless to enchant a weapon for poisonous damage - its effect is stretched over time, which does not play into the hands in close combat. The rest of the species - "to taste and color." In combat, their influence is almost indistinguishable.

Skills and characteristics

Each time you level up, you will receive five points to increase one of four stats:

• Vitality increases the character's hit points.
• Agility affects some skills and the likelihood of inflicting and reflecting attacks.
• Force Increases melee damage.
• Strength of will increases the amount of mana.

Skill points are given for killing monsters and people, opening locks, activating teleports and stealing. As soon as one of the requirements indicated in the statistics is met (reputation menu, F5 key by default), you will receive one point. You can also improve skills by completing quests.

At the beginning of the game, skills cannot be pumped to the maximum - there is a level limit. The formula is simple: [player level] - 1 = [max skill level]. It is relevant up to level 11 for most skills and up to 16 for magic schools.

To gain access to new skills, you need to be trained by trainers. They are in many major cities. (see table No. 1) . It is better to do this from the very beginning, because as the level increases, the price for their services increases. And if up to the fifth level training costs 100 gold, then from the eighteenth level you will have to spend as much as 10,000.

For convenience, all skills are divided into groups. Let's talk about each of them separately, bypassing magical schools. A separate chapter is devoted to magic.

• Horse riding. Allows you to fight without getting off your horse. Each hit deals additional damage (max +200%).

Quite a useful skill, but at first you should not take it. If you want to save time and do not intend to collect loot, this will come in handy.

• Swimming. Increasing this skill will increase your water movement speed.

You can go through the whole game without ever swimming, so this skill is a waste of points.

• opening locks. The skill is used to open locks on doors and objects.

Locked crates and chests are ubiquitous and often contain useful items. If loot from corpses seems scarce or insufficient to you, upgrade this skill. It is not necessary to invest points in it to the maximum, the sixth or seventh level is enough to open any lock with several attempts.

• Stealth movement. Allows you to sneak, which reduces the possibility of being noticed by enemies (reducing the radius of hearing and visibility by up to 25%). Required for the Mortal Strike skill.

In the game, this skill can hardly come in handy, and playing a silent killer, although interesting, is not effective: it’s easier and faster to walk through the ranks of enemies in the open.

• Theft. Gives the ability to search the pockets of the characters. In them, they are used to carrying various elixirs, potions, master keys and stones that increase the magical damage of weapons. It's worth it? In my opinion, no. In the last levels, you can steal up to five things at a time, but this rarely happens. By the way, standing behind the victim during the theft is not necessary.
• Setting traps. Allows you to place traps, bombs and other similar devices on the ground. As the level increases, it makes it possible to use more effective traps, increases the damage they cause (up to +300) and the time the enemy is kept in a trap (up to 20 seconds).

This skill is best left at the first level. At the beginning of the game, traps perfectly cripple and delay enemies, but then only traps remain useful. Although many magic spells are much more effective.

• Alchemy. Increases the quality of crafted potions. In the absence of a skill, the ingredients lose up to 40% of their useful properties. At the last level of alchemy, all effects are doubled. The increase is more than significant.

The choice of combat skills depends entirely on your tactics and style of play. Choose, experiment, and sooner or later you will find the combination of skills that suits you best.

• Parry. Grants the ability to parry an enemy with a shield or off-hand weapon. Depends on skill. Triggered if the player is not moving or attacking.
• Equilibrium. Reduces the chance of the hero falling during combat. The maximum rate is 50%.

This is a bug: at the time of writing, this skill worked exactly the opposite: the more points invested in it, the more likely it is that a fall will occur. The developers promise to fix this in patch 1.4.

• strong hand. Increases melee damage dealt up to 3 times.

Mandatory skill for all warriors.

• Critical hit. Allows you to deal 5x damage on impact. The maximum probability is 43%. In combination with the previous skill, it makes a killing machine out of a warrior. With good equipment, of course.
• double blade. Allows you to hold a weapon in each hand. As the level increases, the probability of a hit increases, which is not so important. It is not worth investing more than one point in this skill.
• Knockdown. Gives the ability to knock down the enemy on impact. At the maximum level, the probability is 50%. If you confidently kill opponents with two or three hits, then this skill is unlikely to be useful to you.
• stone skin. Increases protection against all types of physical and magical damage (except spiritual magic). An increase of 240 units at level ten is very noticeable and can be compared with good forged armor.
• Fury. Berserk Mode: Increases damage dealt (up to +400%) and makes it impossible for enemies to stop attacks with blows. The hero takes twice as much damage, remains without armor and almost cannot hit an enemy with a shield (hit chance is 5%),

The skill is effective if the enemies deal low damage, and your survivability parameter is quite high.

• Fight from defense. The complete opposite of berserk. Allows you to enable a special combat mode with an emphasis on defense. At the maximum level, the damage taken is reduced by 77%, the chance of a critical hit is increased by 3.3 times (therefore, for 100% chance, you need to raise the corresponding skill to level 7), the chance of parrying an attack increases by 5 times. The attack power is halved, the hero's blow can be stopped by the simultaneous blow of the enemy.
• Dirty trick. The hero blinds the enemy by throwing dust in the eyes. The enemy takes twice as much damage, and the chances of Critical Strike, Stun, Sword Break, and Shield Break skills to trigger are quadrupled. Depends on skill. The maximum duration of the effect is ten seconds. Does not affect enemies with shields.
• Stun. Works pretty much the same as Dirty Trick. The probability of successfully using the listed skills is increased by 6 times, and when stunned, damage is also inflicted. Only works with maces and hammers. Does not affect helmeted enemies.

This skill has one big disadvantage - too long animation. Due to enemy attacks, the stun is constantly interrupted and in combat it is ineffective.

• The blow that breaks the sword. When using a special blade (sword breaker), it allows you to break the swords of enemies. Broken sword deals 5% damage. Skill depends on dexterity.

This strike takes a long time to land, but the beauty is that it cannot be interrupted by enemies wielding swords. Just don't get too close to them.

• Kick knocking off a horse. Gives the ability to throw the enemy off the horse. Can only be used with long weapons (halberds, spears, etc.). Depends on skill.

Everything would be fine, but in a single player game there are no opponents riding horses...

• Shield Breaking Blow. Allows using an ax to pull the shield out of the enemy's hands. Depends on skill.

Enemies do not suffer much without a shield, but it can interfere with the use of other skills. Not the most important skill.

The animation of this skill is a little off, and the shield falls out of the enemy's hands before the hit occurs.

• Death blow. Deals a huge amount of damage (up to + 700%) if you sneak up on the enemy from behind with a dagger or knife in your hands.

Only works on humanoids and creatures that used to be humanoids, so to speak.

• Deadly pirouette. Circular attack with two-handed weapons - deals up to 600% damage. Extremely effective against groups of enemies.
• Burn. Allows you to set fire to the skin of the enemy's face with a torch. Depends on skill.

Another variation of the Dirty Trick. The indicators are exactly the same, but nothing can prevent the use of this skill.

• Fake attack. Allows you to slow down the enemy in the presence of a shield. Lasts up to ten seconds. Depends on skill.

This skill can come in handy against archers.

The remaining eight skills are responsible for archery. The first four deal with the shooting itself, and they are all quite useful. Although I would advise investing points in the "Initial tension" and "Precise shooting" in the first place. The first one will help you a lot at short distances, when there is no time for a powerful shot, and the second one is just good in itself - the ability to deal critical damage never hurts.

Among the four skills related to arrows, only one can be active. Undoubtedly, the most versatile and effective is the "Multiple Arrow Shot".

• Quick pull. Increases the speed of string tension. At the maximum level, the increase is 500%.
• Initial tension. Increases the initial string tension up to 50%. In other words, to deal maximum damage with a shot, you will have to spend half the time.
• Reinforced tension. Increases damage dealt (+100% maximum).
• Precise shooting. "Critical hit" for archers. Chance to deal 5x damage when shooting (30% at level 10).
• Disarming Arrow. Gives a chance to knock the weapon out of the opponent's hands. Does not work on monsters and animals. Depends on skill.

This skill is useful against archers and large groups of enemies if you are not able to deal with them quickly. The fact is that an enemy who has lost a weapon is a living corpse. He is unable to pick it up. Here is such an interesting feature of the local artificial intelligence.

• Shot with multiple arrows. Allows you to shoot up to five arrows at a time. Reduced accuracy.

At the maximum level, this skill can increase the effectiveness of your shooting by three times. It will also allow you to deal with several enemies at once at once and will significantly complicate the approach of opponents.

• piercing arrow. Allows you to pierce up to ten enemies at a time with an arrow (oh how!).

This skill just asks for comparison with the previous one. Why not? But against groups of enemies, shots with several arrows are still much more effective. The fact is that not all enemies run one after another, there is always someone on the sidelines. It is unlikely that you will ever get the opportunity to break through ten at once. In addition, piercing arrows are of no use at short distances.

• Blinding Arrow. Exactly copies "Dirty Trick". It is completely useless for archers, because because of this dubious improvement, you will have to give up the ability to fire several arrows at once. Forget about this skill like a bad dream.

Magic

Spells in the game are cards that are placed in a special book. Like any other items, they can be found on monster corpses, in various containers, and from merchants.

If you have multiple cards of the same spell, they will be placed in the same slot and the effect will improve.

All spells are divided into five schools: air, earth, fire, water and necromancy. Further, they are divided into five circles according to their power (the first row in the magic book corresponds to the first circle, the second - to the second, etc.). Access to each new circle appears after increasing the corresponding skill to a multiple of three. Also, the development of skills strengthens spells and increases mana consumption.

It is important: the staff of the archmage adds 1000 mana, which corresponds to a hundred points invested in willpower. It is not necessary to use it as a weapon, but it is very useful to hold it in your hands while casting spells.

Apparently, the developers strongly dislike mages: only three spells can be used at the same time. You have to go into the book right during the battle to change them. If you do not want to spend time and nerves on this, then you need to think carefully about the choice. Consider the most useful spells of each of the schools.

• School of Airbending is, first of all, "Treatment" and good buff spells. For example, "Help" restores health and temporarily increases the maximum number of hit points. The cards of this spell are very common, which only increases its value.

Mages who do not disdain close combat will appreciate "Power of God", which adds 60% to the corresponding parameter. Many people will like "Magic Shield", which absorbs damage at the cost of mana.

Unique spell "Resurrection" allows you to return to life any creatures, after which they become friendly towards you.

• fire magic school good for its attacking spells that act on the area. Can be considered the best "field of fire": It is great at delaying enemies, has a large area of ​​effect and deals good damage. But you can inadvertently burn yourself if the enemy gets close. In that case it will help "Meteor": It won't damage you, but will deplete enemies' health. It is impossible to run away or dodge from this block, and this is all its charm.

In the first circle there is one curious spell - "Power". It significantly increases magical damage and will be useful for adepts of all schools. There is a similar spell in the school of air magic, but it adds less damage and costs more.

• School of water magic includes the best paralysis spell in the game called "Freezing Wave". It immobilizes all enemies nearby and allows you to hit them with impunity for a long time.

"Ice Beam" will be an excellent alternative to elementary attack spells-arrows (bolt): it reaches the target instantly, flies far, hits painfully.

And finally "Blizzard"- just a good offensive mass action spell.

• School of Earthbending cannot boast of good offensive spells. It is based on ineffective defensive and weakening magic. Although a couple of spells still stand out against the general background. "Blessing the Earth" Increases protection against all types of physical damage, as well as cold and fire by 1000, and "Reflective Shield" returns 40% damage to the enemy. Agree, this is a lot.
• Necromancy- the only school of magic that gives "vampiric" effects. "Necro Power"- one of the most effective spells in combat. And heals, and causes rather big damage, and always hits the target. "Bloodsucker Aura" would be a great addition to it.

Each of the schools has its own "arrow" spells, which form the basis of attacking magic at first. Their choice depends solely on the number of cards for each of them - whichever deals more damage, then choose.

I did not draw your attention to the basic defensive and weakening spells. There is too little use for them to keep them constantly at hand. I also bypassed the summoning spells. It makes no sense to use them: summoned creatures cannot be given commands, and on the battlefield they behave extremely stupidly. And it is unlikely that this will be fixed in one of the next patches.

For each of the large spell slots, there are three small ones. They are intended for amplifiers - a separate category of cards that improve spells. They can also be stacked one on top of the other. In this case, the effects will stack directly.

There are five types of cards:

• Damage Booster. Adds 20% to spell damage.
• Duration Booster. Increases the duration of the spell by 20%.
• Mana saving. Reduces the mana cost of the spell by 20%.
• Spell Amplifier. Increases spell level by 2.
• Summon Booster. Increases the level of the summoned creature by 2.

Traveling fast

At the very beginning of the game, you can get acquainted with the teleport system and get a horse. To do this, you will have to complete a couple of quests near the starting location. You definitely won't miss them.

Teleporters are scattered throughout the continent in large numbers. But first, each of them must be activated. This happens automatically if you have the corresponding item in your inventory. You'll also get a portable teleporter variant that functions in exactly the same way.

The horse not only speeds up movement, but also allows you to carry a huge amount of items with you (F2 key if it is standing next to you). There are no restrictions on volume, and in order to fully load the animal by weight, you need to try very hard.

Horses tend to get stuck wherever they can, even in the smallest objects and on the smoothest roads. A whistle (button H) will help to get out of this situation: an animal without a rider behaves much more adequately and overcomes any obstacles without any problems.

Horses vary in appearance and in the maximum weight they can carry. The speed is unchanged.

Walkthrough

So we got to the passage of the storyline of the game. Many problems have alternative solutions. If possible, I will indicate the easiest ways to complete quests.

There are only two endings, but our actions are not able to influence the choice of one of them. On the way to the final, nothing will stop you from cutting out even entire cities - do as you see fit. All the same, everything will be decided by the last words ...

On a note: if you did not see the introductory splash screen, then you most likely do not have the appropriate codecs installed. They can be found on the game disc. If the video still does not play, you will have to view the videos directly - they can be found in the Two Worlds \ Video folder (wmv files). The standard Windows Media Player is best suited for playback.

Corrupted Blood

The law of meanness: it is worth leaving someone who needs to be closely monitored for a couple of minutes, as this someone disappears. And so it happened: while the hero was inspecting the room for the night, Kira - his sister - was kidnapped by a suspicious type.

A few months later, the hero receives a letter: “Your sister is alive. Be in Talmont in the second week of harvest. Wait for us there, we will come to you." And indeed, they will come.

The difficult fate of a mercenary brought you to Komorin. The elder of the village has an assignment: in the ruins to the north of the settlement, a gang of thunders lurk, which do not give the locals peace. They had already killed some of them, and took two more with them. Well, it's time to clean up. One of the peasants will show the hero the way.

Here you will be taught the basics of character control. The temple is very small, and you will immediately see the very thunders that are to be punished. They are not able to inflict serious injuries on the character, so you can safely get used to the sword, bow or magic. Do not forget to collect trophies, look into the box and take a torch - the nights in Antalore are dark, and you will need it more than once.

Waiting outside is a local who led you to the temple. He will bring to your attention that menacing warriors came to the village and were looking for you. One of them stayed to await your return.

On a note: on the road leading to the village, you will come across two corpses. Near them lies a few useful things that it makes sense to take yourself.

As it turned out, this is a messenger; his name is Gandohar, but he is not going to say anything except that Kira is alive. However, where to go next, he will still tell you: his owner is waiting for you in the Goat's Cave.

On the way you will not meet serious enemies: only a few wolves and a bandit camp at the fork. At the descent into the cave there is no one at all.

Meet Raist Tungard. He, of course, will not just release Kira or say where she is. First you need to complete some mission for him. Details are with Gandohar, he is waiting for you by the fire outside.

Gandohar will try to ingratiate himself with you. He seems to remain loyal to Raist, but at the same time, he owes something to Kira. Therefore, he will make sure that after the mission is completed, the sister really returns to her brother. But the hero still does not trust this difficult messenger.

Kira and the hero are twins, and as children they were able to communicate freely regardless of the distance separating them in places called "knots". Gandohar will tell you about one of these places.

The narrow path leading to the knot was chosen by little animals called reapers. They bite low-level characters very painfully - they can swallow half the hit points at a time. It's not easy to kill them. But it is not necessary to engage in battle: further, the glade serving as a "node" is empty.

You can immediately see that the place is not easy: the ground is shrouded in thick fog, the colors fade. Here's Kira! After a warm welcome, she will tell you something. She is constantly transported from place to place, and she has no idea where she is. She also knows nothing about Gandohar's intentions, so you have to be on the lookout. So what kind of mission awaits the hero? Oh, Raist and company are looking for what legends say belonged to the hero and Kira's family. But the hero does not believe in stupid fairy tales. Although it doesn't matter. According to the sister, the relic must be destroyed regardless of your opinion. What it is and where to look for it, you can find out by asking Gandohar. Kira does not want to attract the attention of the guards once again and therefore brings the conversation to an end. You can meet her again at the site of another "node", south of Talmont.

Gandohar can be found in the same place as before - by the fire. He will refresh the legend in the memory of the hero, according to which, after the secret burial of the orc god Aziraal, his ancestors received a relic - the key to the tomb. For several decades it was kept in the family, until it was decided to break it into several pieces and take it to hell. Raist wants you to bring him the relic and open the tomb. He knows where to look for its parts, but he can’t get their hands on them himself - the curse interferes, to which only your kind has immunity. In other words, only Kira can do it - or you. If you manage to do this, then your sister may be released, but there are no guarantees. Most likely, after the completion of the ritual of opening the tomb, both of you will simply be killed. Though Gandohar has an idea. You can simply threaten Raist to destroy the relic during the ritual if he refuses to let Kira go. For this, the dwarven forge in Kudinar is suitable - only in its forge it will be possible to destroy an unusual alloy.

It remains only to meet with Raist, discuss the details and put forward his demand. He is waiting for you in the same place as before - in the Goat's cave.

So, he wants you to bring the relic and perform the ritual - summon Aziraal's tomb. The villain agrees to make a deal in Kudinar.

No, these two are definitely kidding! Reist will send you back to Gandohar for instructions.

So, the relic consists of five parts: a frame and four elements. The approximate location of the first two is known, but about the remaining three you need to ask Ho, a man who also works for Reist. I suggest that you do this right away, and at the same time see your sister. Meetings in the "nodes" do not affect the plot, but it will still help to find out some details.

Now you know where to start looking:

• Frame belongs to the head of the Karga clan - Ultar.
• earth stone kept in the burial mound of King Satria. The search should begin in the village of Windbreak.
• fire stone openly kept on the altar in the city temple. But not just anywhere, but in Gor Gammar - the capital of the orcs.
• water stone can be found in the Ashos Dungeon.
• Air stone hidden somewhere in the Drak'ar Desert. Its guardian is a dragon.

You can search for elements in any order. But let's start with the frame.

Karga and Skelden

The frame of the relic is kept in the treasury of the Karga clan. But just like that, no one will let you in there. There are many ways to get to the treasury. It all depends on your likes. Who is closer to you in spirit? House Skelden, who does not disdain the most dirty methods to strengthen their well-being, or the rebels from the Karga clan, who are forced to hide in the mountains and think about how to expose House Skelden?

Let's say you trust Ebrat Skelden more. In this case, go to visit him: his house is located in the excavation area to the east of Tarbakin. Go straight to the headquarters gate. The guard will say that Ebrat does not talk to just anyone and first you need to earn a reputation in the House. For details, the soldier will send you to Sano Moon, the head of the excavations. He, in turn, will indicate where you can find tasks. However, Ebrat is quite friendly, and you can look at him immediately, ignoring the guard. He lives in the second house on the right behind the headquarters gate.

The purpose of the task that he will give you is quite obvious: to deal with the Karga clan, while there is still such an opportunity. They've gathered too much evidence to harm the House. But Ebrat cannot just pick up and send troops to their camp, they have too many supporters among the locals. Ulthar and his brethren will hide in the mountains before the soldiers of House Skelden reach the clan base.

Ebrat has a plan. He keeps a spy in prison. She has a husband, and he knows exactly who is informing the Karga clan about the advance of the House troops. You can probably shake out the necessary information from him if you threaten to kill his wife.

Travel to Covengor and inform Erin Kalvo of the situation. He is ready for anything for the sake of the release of his wife, even for betrayal. After a short conversation, the frightened peasant will agree to stop the informant, who will have to deliver a message about the attack on the clan's camp.

Tell the good news to Ebrath. He will send his soldiers to attack, and this time Ultar and all of his minions will not be able to escape.

When you get to the camp, it will already be empty, and a priceless relic frame will be waiting for you in the treasury.

If you are loyal to the Karga clan, then go to the upper camp and take a task from Ulthar. You are required to find irrefutable evidence that House Skelden is undermining the King. Rumors reached the head of the clan that the head of the excavation, Sano Moon, was visited by a former apprentice of the royal mint, who was supposed to have died five years ago. This is no accident, isn't it? It's entirely possible that items found in Sano's residence would confirm the House's involvement in counterfeiting. Time to check it out.

Sano never leaves his house, and picking the lock of the door without attracting attention is quite difficult.

This is a bug: sometimes the door does not respond to attempts to open it. But you can use the alternative method described below.

If you are a magician, then one trick will help you get inside without negative consequences. Stand facing the door and summon some not too massive creature. It must be inside the house. Now blindly attack him with any area of ​​effect spell (like firefield). Don't forget to step back a little if necessary. The summoned creature will become enraged and will try to get to you. At the same time, of course, by opening the locked door. The main thing is to have time to run inside. You will have to get out in the same way.

What carelessness! What you are looking for is not hidden anywhere, but simply lies on the floor against the far wall of the room. Take the evidence and take it to Ultar. He will be impressed with the work done. Still would! After all, you got hold of molds for casting coins and samples with a portrait of Lord Skelden on them. It was hardly possible to find anything better than this. Now House Skelden is doomed: very soon these things will fall into the hands of the court.

For such a service, Ultar will offer you to choose any item from the clan's treasury. You will have to take, of course, the frame.

There are three more ways to get the required artifact.

• Killing Ulthar. The treasure chest will open as soon as you deal with the leader of the Karga clan.
• Ebrat's assassination. After dealing with the head of House Skelden, go to the Karga camp. Ultar will meet you at the gates of the lower base and say that although this was not the best solution to the problem, it still deserves a reward.

It is important: you should only release the spy from the Skelden prison if you decide to kill the leader of the House. And you need to start with her: she disappears from her cell immediately after the death of Ebrat.

• Pick up the frame. To the north of the lower camp, you can climb a mountain range from which you can jump into the treasury. In order to get out of it later, you will have to sacrifice one of the portable teleporters. If you are not playing on the highest difficulty level, then you can simply kill yourself to resurrect at the nearest shrine.

earth stone

First of all, you need to get the key to the tomb. Go to the village of Windbreaker west of Catalon and find Mayor Gordar (usually you can meet him at his house, near the well). He has a couple of errands for you. First, he will ask you to kill a lone ogre who has chosen one of the three mills. Then - to clear the local cemetery of evil spirits, so that the villagers could fearlessly go there. These tasks do not cause any problems and are performed literally on the spot, you won’t have to run far.

The third time Gordar will turn to you with a personal request. In Satria Mound, in the valley of the Grave Hills, there is a precious crown, which the mayor would very much like to get his hands on. Quite by chance, the key to the tomb fell into his hands, which he will give you.

Finding the mound is not a problem if you know where to go. It goes around the road leading to the Thunder Tower from Kudinar. This place is not marked on the map, but the square-shaped structure itself is immediately visible. If you still can't find it, just mentally draw a vertical line from Ashos. Where the line meets the road is the tomb.

The entrance to the mound is not guarded by the undead in the best way: only a few skeletons and ghouls. Inside, go straight down the corridor, and before entering the main room, kill all the skeletons in the room on the right. The earth stone and the crown can be found directly at the coffin in the center of the round hall. It is guarded by a whole crowd of skeletons, which can serve as a good source of experience and useful things. If you can’t cope with them, just pick up the necessary items and return to the exit. The skeletons forgot to leave a couple of guards at the entrance to the hall, so by the time you stomp down the corridor on the way back, they will only realize that you do not look much like a ghoul or zombie and you do not belong here.

By the way, the crown is actually fake, and it is unlikely to help the mayor escape from the city. But a deal is a deal, you got the Earth Stone, and that's the main thing.

fire stone

You already have all the information you need to search for the stone of fire. It's time to go to Gor Gammar. On the way to the city you will have to face a great variety of enemies. First of all, these are, of course, orcs, but there are many other monsters here. Giant insects, strange toothy skulls with tentacles, and golems live here. Perhaps the most dangerous can be considered a lava dragon - near his attacks are very strong, and at a distance he can launch a fireball at you. The dragon has fairly thick armor, but is not so immune to magic.

It is important: try not to go off the road. Because of the smoke, darkness reigns here, and this dramatically increases your chances of falling into a lava lake.

The main gates of the Gammar Mountains are, oddly enough, closed. We need to look for another way. Turn left off the road and follow the wall. Very soon you will find a descent to the Path of the Doomed. A whole crowd of orcs lives in the main hall of this dungeon. Destroying them isn't difficult if you have area-of-effect spells. The corridor leading to the room is very convenient for defense. Lure the orcs in small groups and shoot them with a bow. However, this dungeon is also well suited for close combat. You can easily lead the attackers to the previous hall or follow the arriving fighters and archers from around the corner.

So you have infiltrated Gor Gammar. You can easily sneak up to the temple and steal the stone of fire quietly and unnoticed. If it's not your style, it will be more difficult. There are a lot of orcs here, believe me. And as soon as someone notices you, half of the green-skinned warriors will rush in your direction. During the battle, do not move away from the entrance to the dungeon, set traps on the passage, prepare bottles in advance that restore mana and health. If it becomes too difficult to contain the orcs, go down into the dungeon and take a breath. Sooner or later they will all be dead.

Once you have the Stone of Fire, get out of the Gammar Mountains along the same path.

water stone

This part of the relic is stored in the underground temple of the city of Ashos. The problem is that the temple is closed to visitors, and to get inside, you need to get a key.

One of them is kept by a local blacksmith, Uchinao Sakamoto. Hoko, who is looking for her sister, will tell you about him. He is not going to give away the key just like that - only for a return service. Uchinao cannot share the forge he inherited with his sister. And really, what can a woman know about blacksmithing? But Hidee says that she is well versed in this, and Uchinao is not a man, but a soulless beast who kicked his old father out of the house. However, this should not worry you. After all, they asked to deal with the greedy sister. No sooner said than done. A couple of swings of the sword, and you can go get a reward.

Another key can be obtained during the tasks for the guard, who stands southwest of the gate. Nothing complicated: first you will be asked to run around the city and find out who the contraband goods taken from the courier were intended for. Then you will be sent to a scientist who needs help. He suggests that giant insects, which have become a serious problem outside the city, breed under the temple of Ashos. You will be asked to check this and on such occasion will be given a key.

What awaits us inside the temple? Fight with humanoid snakes. Although you can simply run past them and grab the Water Stone, since they all prefer close combat, they are not trained in magic, and there is nothing to counter them with such “tactics”.

Remember, the townspeople talked about the eye of Yatalen, protecting Ashos from the attack of the orcs? Now, that was true. Draw the appropriate conclusions and guess what happened while you were in the dungeon.

Air stone

Where to find the stone of air, no one knows for sure, but it is known for certain that it is located in the Drak'ar Desert. According to Ho, he is somehow connected with the not-quite-simple white dragon.

You can ask a couple of questions in Nahat - this settlement is easy to find if you keep going straight when the road ends. Talk to Prantax there. He will tell you about the albino dragon that dominates this desert. You can summon him by collecting five sulfur crystals and placing them on an altar in the creature's lair. In parting, the desert dweller will advise you to see Ari Aldamore. It is not for nothing that the locals call him the Dragon Whisperer: he knows a lot about dragons, if not everything. Go straight to him and go.

You learn from Ahri that the Great White controls other dragons by stealing and hiding their eggs. And since dragons lay only one egg in their entire long life, they are very important to them. If you find the loot, the albino will weaken, and others will not stand on ceremony with him for a long time and will immediately take revenge in the most cruel way.

It is said that the great white dragon took advantage of the powers of a rare magic crystal by swallowing it. Isn't it about the Stone of Air? Although these are all rumors, and you should not particularly trust them.

An albino hides dragon eggs in his nest, but no one knows where it is. It comes to the desert from behind the mountain range in the south, so the nest is most likely located somewhere there. If you find it, Ahri will be able to inform the dragons and send them to collect the eggs.

To get to the nest, you need to find a path in the mountains. Go south from the east end of the dragon's lair and you won't miss it. If you see a sand dragon - know that you are on the right track.

This is the advice: leave the horse below, do not lead him to the mountains. First, get terribly tired, overcoming places where you can get stuck. Secondly, on a narrow winding path, the chances that the animal will be killed increase dramatically.

Follow the path, fighting off stone golems, octogroms and other evil spirits along the way, until you see a thick stream of air rising up ... Oh! Yes, it's the Air Stone! Another part of the relic found.

At the same time, you completed the task of finding the nest. Report your progress to Ari. He will pass the information to his dragon friends, and they will go to beat the albino. It must be a very exciting sight - the battle of dragons. Can you watch?

The relic is finally put together. It remains only to report this to Gandohar and hope for the salvation of Kira.

Castling

Everything is ready for the exchange. It's time to meet Raist and save your sister by handing over the relic and participating in the call. Raist asked you to wear linen robes. He, you see, wants to protect you from lightning, and in such clothes it will be safer. However, Gandohar, Raist and their assistants calmly wear metal armor.

It is interesting: in fact, such an absurd request is explained very simply. The subsequent events are not a scripted scene, but a video. And they give you a robe so that there are no inconsistencies in the appearance of the character.

So, you asked Gandohar to bring Kira to you during the exchange. The mercenary promises to do just that.

The fateful meeting over the dwarf forge begins. The hero shows the relic and waits for Gandohar to bring his sister to him. "Take the relic, and we'll go." - "You forgot something." “Aziraal doesn’t bother me anymore. Do what you want".

"Well, if so..." The ritual will begin against your will. It turns out that Aziraal's grave is located here. Gandohar only pretended to be a friend so that you yourself chose this place for the transaction. In fact, he is not a mercenary, but the head of an organization. Gandohar simply switched roles with Raist to make it easier to ingratiate himself and harder to figure out who Raist is getting his orders from.

As for Kira, she will give new life to Aziraal. While the hero is exhausted, Raist, Gandohar and Kira will leave to prepare for the transformation. Just in case, you will be left alive until Kira receives the power of a deity.

Paladins vs.

What to do now? Balor will answer this question. You must have seen his people - strangely speaking strangers in white robes and masks. They followed you and Raist, but they could not stop the villain at the right time.

To get to the enemies, you will have to take care of the magical barrier. It works thanks to a huge fiery pentagram in the sky. This unusual structure is supported by necromancer towers. On their tops dwell the guardians of the pentagram. It is worth killing one of them, and the castle of Gandohar will lose its protection.

If you spent a lot of time in the world of Antalore, then you probably approached these buildings out of curiosity. They, as before, are guarded by a crowd of necromancers and undead, Gandohar did not strengthen their defenses.

Head to the Tower of Death if you want to save time spent on the road. You can get to its top with the help of a teleport, to which two stairs lead. The Keeper is a simple opponent, he can not boast of either strong armor or strong attacks. Finish him off and go towards your fate - to Gandohar's castle.

The path to Oswaro will surely remind you of the road leading to Gor Gammar. Yes, the landscapes here are just as gloomy, but the local monsters won't cause much trouble.

Quite dangerous dead knights live on the territory of the castle. If you are not confident in your abilities, try going to the entrance to the main building through the east street. There are not many of them.

Raist will meet you in front of the gate, who is clearly not going to give way in a good way. After the conversation, he will demonstrate his demonic form to you. In this form, Raist cannot use spells, and he will only be able to get you at a short distance. In addition, traps act on this six-meter monster, so that magicians and shooters will lay it down very quickly. Fans of close combat will also have no problems: his attacks are strong, but very long, it is easy to catch the moment and jump back. Now the path is clear.

It is important: after the final battle, the game ends. If you still have unfinished business, you will not be able to return to them.

Here is the final meeting with Gandohar. He will not only try to change your mind about the fate of his sister, but also talk about the Ancients and the interaction of the two worlds. Gandohar will give you a choice: to side with the Ancients, join Gandohar and Kira and destroy this world - or stay true to your beliefs and save him, and at the same time rescue your sister. Depending on your words, either Gandohar or Balor and his paladins will attack you. Both fights are unreasonably easy for the final. Opponents do not stand out for extraordinary abilities, and the spacious hall is an ideal place to fight, especially when there are no archers on the enemy's side.

* * *

So, the world is saved or, on the contrary, is about to be destroyed. But we will certainly return to Two Worlds, because there is still a lot of interesting stuff left behind the scenes.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Artemy Kozlov and Stanislav Stepanchenko for their help in researching the game. See you soon!

Nature itself divided Africa into two unequal parts. In the northern part, adjacent to the Mediterranean and Red Seas, centers of civilization arose from ancient times. Here the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines succeeded each other. In the 7th century, the Arabs captured the entire coast of North Africa to the very Atlantic, subjugating the local tribes of the Berbers. The Arabs called the lands to the west of Egypt Maghrib, that is, the western lands. Huge cities flourished there, such as Fes and Tangier, wonderful monuments of Muslim architecture were created.

From the Maghreb to the south, through the Sahara Desert, ancient caravan routes led to Tropical Africa. The Arabs called it Bilad as-Sudan (Country of Blacks) or simply Sudan. In those parts lived Negro peoples who spoke many different languages.

Courtyard in the house for students ez-Zhar in the city of Fez (Morocco). 14th century

The Africans were faced with the most difficult task: to master the vast spaces, little adapted for a normal human life. Most of Africa is occupied by deserts, savannahs, tropical forests. In vast areas, people are threatened by malaria, and domestic animals by the tsetse fly. Both people and animals suffered from the sweltering heat.

Being in different natural conditions, the peoples of Africa developed in different ways. The inhabitants of the rainforests, such as the undersized pygmies, were hunters and gatherers. And to the north and south of them, in the savannas, lived farmers and pastoralists.

At the turn of our era, many peoples of Tropical Africa learned how to produce iron. Iron tools and other innovations made it possible to obtain higher yields. There are more opportunities for craft development.

Pangea is the mainland that we know about, relying only on the hypotheses and assumptions of scientists. This name was given to the mainland that existed since the birth of our planet, which, according to the hypotheses of the geological past of the Earth, was the only one and was washed on all sides by an ocean called Panthalassa. What happened to our planet? And how did the continents known to us arise? You will get acquainted with the hypotheses of scientists answering these questions later in the article.

Why are continents falling apart?

Everything in this world is changeable - even the continents, which, it would seem, are firmly frozen in place, can change their location.

The word "pangea" in translation from ancient Greek means "all land". According to scientists, Pangea is a continent that broke up and was divided by ocean waters about 180 million years ago.

There are suggestions that before this phenomenon, the continents were different. Scientists argue that under the influence of certain factors, the location of land and water masses on Earth is inexorably changing. This means that after a certain amount of time, the location of modern continents familiar to us will also become different.

The age of existence of the continents, according to experts studying the geological past of our planet, is about 80 million years. Over time, the continents, under the influence of heat emanating from the red-hot and the rotation of the planet itself, necessarily break up and form in a new way. This is a cyclical process that is necessarily repeated.

The emergence of Pangea

Huge areas of continental crust formed on the planet about 2.7 billion years ago. merged into a single supercontinent, forming the first continent - Pangea. This was the first formation of the mainland, where the thickness of the earth's crust was almost the same as in modern continents - 40 km.

During the Proterozoic period, the structural plan of the Earth began to change. About 2.3 billion years ago, the first Pangea broke apart.

The new (second) Pangea was formed at the end of the early Proterozoic, about 1.7 billion years ago. Then the separated areas of land again merged into one supercontinent.

Under the influence of various factors, the continental crust again began to change its location. The Pacific Ocean appeared, the outlines of the North Atlantic began to take shape, the prototype of the Tetris Ocean was outlined, which divided the continents into southern and northern groups. And during the Paleozoic period, the formation of the third Pangea was completed.

Laurasia and Gondwana - who wins?

There is a version that Pangea is a continent that arose during the collision of the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia. At the site of the collision, two of the most ancient mountain systems were formed: the Appalachians and the Urals. This did not end there, they continued to move towards each other, as a result of which the plume of the former southern continent moved under the part of the land that was in the north. Scientists call this process self-absorption.

The collision of two powerful supercontinents caused great tension in the very center of the Pangea they created. Over time, this tension only intensified, which caused another break. Some scientists put forward the version that Pangea did not exist - it was Gondwana and Laurasia that grappled with each other for as much as 200 million years, and when the surface could not stand it, they broke up again.

Features of the Paleozoic period

It was during the Paleozoic period that Pangea became a single supercontinent. The duration of the period is about 290 million years. This period was marked by the appearance of various living organisms, and ended with their mass extinction.

All rocks that were formed at this time are assigned to the Paleozoic group. This definition was first introduced by the famous English geologist Adam Sedgwick.

Pangea is a continent with a low temperature, because the processes that occurred during the period of its occurrence led to the fact that the difference in temperatures between the poles and the equator was significant.

The emergence of living organisms

The main part of living organisms inhabited the seas. Organisms flooded all possible habitats, capturing fresh water and shallow water. At first, these were herbivorous organisms: tabulates, archaeocyates, bryozoans.

During this period, many classes and types of different living beings arose. At the very beginning, all living organisms lived in the seas, and the most developed among them were

When the last - Permian - period of the Paleozoic began, primitive mammals already lived on land, which was abundantly covered with forests. It was at this time that warm-blooded animal reptiles began to emerge.

The period of the greatest extinction of living organisms

In the end, the final stage came - the Permian period. It was at this time that the extinction occurred, which scientists consider the largest in the history of the Earth.

Prior to this, the Earth was inhabited by bizarre life forms: the prototypes of dinosaurs, sharks and reptiles of enormous size.

For unknown reasons, about 95% of all living species of organisms became extinct. The most important consequence of the formation and collapse of Pangea was the extinction of hundreds of species of invertebrates, which gave rise to changes in the population of the Earth with various new species of plants and animals.

Division of Pangea

250 million years ago, Pangea once again split into two continents. Gondwana and Laurasia appeared. The split occurred in such a way that Gondwana united in itself: South America, Hindustan, Australia, Africa and Antarctica. Laurasia included the current territories of Asia, Europe, Greenland and North America.

All the continents familiar to us from the geographical map are fragments of the ancient supercontinent. For millions of years, the land split has inexorably continued to grow, which led to the formation of the continents of our time. The resulting space was filled with the waters of the World Ocean, which over time was divided into the Atlantic and Indian.

The whole piece of land was divided into North America and Eurasia, and between them lay the Bering Strait.

Geographic puzzle

If you take a closer look at the globe, then the continents on it form, as it were, fragments of an entertaining puzzle. Visually, you can see that the continents in some places are ideally connected together.

The hypothesis of scientists that the continents used to be one whole can be tested using simple manipulations. To do this, it is enough to take a map of the world, cut out the continents and compare them with each other.

When you add Africa and South America to each other, you will see that the contours of their coasts are almost everywhere compatible. You can observe a similar situation with North America, Greenland, Africa and Europe.

In 1915, Alfred Wegener, a meteorological scientist who had studied and analyzed paleontological and geographic data for many years, concluded that the Earth had previously been a single continent. It was he who named this continent Pangea.

Wegner's hypothesis remained unaddressed for many years. Only 40 years after the death of the German scientist, his assumptions that the continents were constantly drifting were recognized by official science. The supercontinent Pangea really existed and, under the influence of external and internal factors, disintegrated.

Scientists' predictions for the future

Recall that, according to the existing theory of scientists, every 500 million years, all existing continents form one continent in the process of connection. It is estimated that half the time since the change in the location of the continents has already passed. And this means that in about 250 million years the Earth will change again: a new Pangea Ultiam will appear, which will include: Africa, Australia, Eurasia, both Americas and Antarctica.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that the history of the formation and collapse of the ancient continent is one of the most important and most significant stages in the entire history of the existence of our planet. This cyclical process repeats every 500 million years. We must know and study the history of the existence of the first continent of Pangea in order to have an idea of ​​​​what the future holds for the Earth.

A continent is a large landmass surrounded by seas and oceans. In tectonics, continents are characterized as sections of the lithosphere with a continental structure.

Mainland, continent or part of the world? What is the difference?

In geography, another term is often used, denoting the mainland - the continent. But the concepts of "mainland" and "continent" are not synonymous. Different countries have adopted different points of view on the number of continents, called continental models.

There are several such models:

• In China, India, as well as in the English-speaking countries of Europe, it is customary to consider that continents 7 - Europe and Asia, they consider separately;
• In Spanish-speaking European countries, as well as in the countries of South America, they mean the division into 6 parts of the world - with a united America;
• in Greece and some countries of Eastern Europe, a model with 5 continents is adopted - only those where people live, i.e. except for Antarctica;
• in Russia and the countries of Eurasia adjacent to it, they traditionally designate 4 - continents united into large groups.

(The figure clearly shows different representations of continental models on Earth, from 7 to 4)

Continents

There are 6 continents in total on Earth. We list them in descending order by area size:

1. - the largest continent on our planet (54.6 million sq. km)
2. (30.3 million sq. km)
3. (24.4 million sq. km)
4. (17.8 million sq. km)
5. (14.1 million sq. km)
6. (7.7 million sq. km)

All of them are separated by the waters of the seas and oceans. Four continents have a land border: Eurasia and Africa are separated by the Isthmus of Suez, North and South America - the Isthmus of Panama.

Continents

The difference is that the continents do not have a land border. Therefore, in this case, we can talk about 4 continents ( one of the continental models of the world), also in descending order by size:

1. AfroEurasia
2. America

Parts of the world

The terms "mainland" and "continent" have a scientific meaning, but the term "part of the world" divides the land on a historical and cultural basis. There are 6 parts of the world, only unlike the continents, Eurasia differs by Europe and Asia, but North and South America are defined together as one part of the world America:

1. Europe
2. Asia
3. America(both North and South), or New World
4. Australia and Oceania

Speaking of parts of the world, they mean the islands adjacent to them.

The difference between the mainland and the island

The definition of the mainland and the island is the same - a part of the land washed by the waters of the ocean or seas. But there are significant differences.

1. Size. Even the smallest continent, Australia, is much larger in area than the world's largest island, Greenland.

(Formation of the Earth's continents, a single continent of Pangea)

2. Education. All continents have a tiled origin. According to scientists, there was once a single continent - Pangea. Then, as a result of the split, 2 continents appeared - Gondwana and Laurasia, which later split into 6 more parts. The theory is confirmed both by geological surveys and by the shape of the continents. Many of them can be put together like a puzzle.

Islands are formed in many ways. There are those that, like the continents, are located on the fragments of the most ancient lithospheric plates. Others are formed from volcanic lava. Still others - as a result of the activity of polyps (coral islands).

3. Habitability. All continents are inhabited, even Antarctica, which is harsh in terms of climatic conditions. Many islands are still uninhabited.

Characteristics of the continents

- the largest continent, occupying 1/3 of the land. Two parts of the world are located here at once: Europe and Asia. The border between them runs along the line of the Ural Mountains, the Black and Azov Seas, as well as the straits connecting the Black and Mediterranean Seas.

This is the only continent that is washed by all the oceans. The coastline is indented, it forms a large number of bays, peninsulas, islands. The mainland itself is located immediately on six tectonic platforms, and therefore the relief of Eurasia is incredibly diverse.

Here are the most extensive plains, the highest mountains (the Himalayas with Mount Everest), the deepest lake (Baikal). This is the only continent where all climatic zones (and, accordingly, all natural zones) are represented at once - from the arctic with its permafrost to the equatorial with its sultry deserts and jungles.

¾ of the world's population lives on the mainland, 108 states are located here, of which 94 have the status of independent.

- the hottest continent on Earth. It is located on an ancient platform, so most of the area is occupied by plains, mountains are formed along the edges of the mainland. Africa is home to the longest river in the world, the Nile, and the largest desert, the Sahara. Climate types presented on the mainland: equatorial, subequatorial, tropical and subtropical.

Africa is usually divided into five regions: North, South, West, East and Central. There are 62 countries on the mainland.

It is washed by the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The result of the movement of tectonic plates was a heavily indented coastline of the mainland, with a huge number of bays, straits, bays and islands. The largest island is in the north (Greenland).

The Cordillera Mountains stretch along the western coast, and the Appalachians along the eastern coast. The central part is occupied by a vast plain.

All climatic zones are represented here, except for the equatorial one, which determines the diversity of natural zones. Most rivers and lakes are located in the northern part. The largest river is the Mississippi.

The indigenous people are Indians and Eskimos. Currently, 23 states are located here, of which only three (Canada, the United States and Mexico) are on the mainland itself, the rest are on the islands.

It is washed by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Along the west coast stretches the world's longest mountain system - the Andes, or South American Cordillera. The rest of the mainland is occupied by plateaus, plains and lowlands.

This is the rainiest continent, since most of it is located in the equator zone. Here is the largest and most abundant river in the world - the Amazon.

The indigenous people are the Indians. Currently, there are 12 independent states on the territory of the mainland.

- the only continent on the territory of which there is only 1 state - the Commonwealth of Australia. Most of the mainland is occupied by plains, mountains are located only along the coast.

Australia is a unique continent with the largest number of endemic animals and plants. The indigenous people are Australian Aborigines, or Bushmen.

- the southernmost continent, completely covered with ice. The average thickness of the ice cover is 1600 m, the largest is 4000 m. If the ice in Antarctica melted, the level of the world's oceans would immediately rise by 60 meters!

Most of the mainland is occupied by an icy desert, life is glimmering only on the coasts. Antarctica is also the coldest continent. In winter, temperatures can drop below -80 ºC (record -89.2 ºC), in summer - up to -20 ºC.

Jacob Chair Cleveland USA "Two Worlds. Two Systems" There was such a headline in Soviet newspapers. In this section, journalists wrote about how capitalism "rots" in America and how socialism "flourishes" in the USSR. Years have passed. The economic systems of Russia and the United States seem to have drawn closer. They are market .. But for some reason, the level and style of life of the population of these countries is different. This is the proposed article. I'll state the facts, just the facts. I have no doubt that you, dear readers, will draw the right conclusions based on them. Compare family budgets. A favorite pastime of many is to look into someone else's pocket. I am guilty of this as well. I will try to summarize the results of my pocket research. In Russia in the 80s and 90s I was a professor. I received, as far as I remember, 450 rubles a month. My wife earned less, but not much .. Of course, we did not need . But still they could not afford anything beyond a pre-compiled list of necessary products, goods and services. Years have passed. We left Russia. The situation in it has changed significantly. My friends from Russia write to me that the Russian assistant professor now receives about 10 thousand rubles a month (400-500 dollars), the professor, doctor of science, is twice as much - 20 thousand (800-1000 dollars). Russian mathematicians, physicists, chemists, biologists are highly rated in America. Therefore, they are often invited to work in the United States. At the same time, their income increases immediately by 4-5 and even more times. The average pension in Russia now is 3-4 thousand rubles. (150-200 dollars). Not much. Especially if you keep in mind that the prices for food and services in Russia and America have converged. My wife and I did not work in America. Therefore, we are not entitled to an American pension. For a category of Americans like us, social benefits are provided. For two, it is $956 per month. This is much lower than the living wage calculated in America. Therefore, the state pays us more in the form of various kinds of subsidies and compensations, approximately $1,000 more. The market price of our 3 room apartment is $870. We pay -270. (by the way, the cost of electricity and water is included in this amount). The relevant agency pays the owner $600. Our treatment and medicines are covered by state health insurance - Medicaid and federal - Medicare. We are partly provided with food by the Agency for the Care of the Elderly. Doctors recently advised my wife and I to drink several glasses of pomegranate juice and dry red wine "Glen Ellen" daily. These "drugs" are quite expensive, but, as it turned out, we can afford them without, so to speak, budget strain. In America, it is not customary to ask, "what is your annual income?" But, as far as I know, even people of the same profession earn differently. Depending on qualifications. Doctors 200-300 thousand per year. The incomes of lawyers, athletes, surgeons and dentists are especially high. True, much depends on the popularity of the specialist. Ordinary university professors receive a relatively small remuneration of 60-70 thousand dollars a year. But those of them whose names are well-known may stipulate in their contract a rate of hundreds of thousands of dollars, or even more. The hourly wage for a woman who helps us clean the apartment is $8. This money is paid to her by the same agency for the care of the elderly. By the way, our assistant comes to us 3 times a week in a Toyota car. In my opinion, Decent remuneration of workers and pensioners is one of the conditions for the successful development of society. On the 13th floor on foot. Recently called a countrywoman from Chelyabinsk . We talked about the weather, health. She spoke about her difficulties. It has been a month since the elevator stopped working in the 14-storey building where she lives. In the morning, to work. She walks 13 floors down. In the evening, the same amount up. And, if you need to leave the house 2 times, then 52 floors "down-up". But the countrywoman is 75 years old. Why was the elevator turned off? She didn't really explain to me, or I didn't understand her. It seems that they can not find parts to replace the broken one. We have been in America for 15 years now. During this time, changed 3 apartments. But wherever we lived, all life support systems worked without interruption. It would be wrong to say that the leaders of the USSR, of modern Russia, do not deal with the problems of communal services. At 60 years old. N. Khrushchev promised each Soviet family a separate comfortable apartment by 1980. Did not work out. Now President V. Putin and his replacement-successor D. Medvedev declare that all domestic and economic difficulties will be overcome by 2020. As they say, wait 12 years and see. .In America, Presidents do not deal with housing and do not promise anything. Everything in this area is solved without them. And not bad. Why, even with significant efforts by the leaders of Russia, it is not possible to provide all citizens with decent housing ? .The answer to this question is unknown to me. . Almshouse American style. Our house is, by Russian standards, a kind of almshouse. Only elderly and disabled American pensioners live in it. I have been living in this house for 8 years and have the opportunity to observe the lifestyle of the residents on a daily basis. All have a separate subsidized apartment of one or two bedrooms. (In America, only the room where they sleep is considered a room. In the same place where guests are received, it is not supposed to sleep). All apartments have standard high-tech household equipment: air conditioning, a mechanism that grinds food leftovers thrown into the sink, exhaust ventilation. In many apartments, I also saw a device that humidifies and purifies the air. The vast majority of residents - about 70% - have their own cars of Japanese and American production - Jeep, Honda, Ford, Toyota, Mitsubishi, .... (By the way, I have not seen Russian cars in America. Ya.S.) Grandparents who they can hardly walk, sitting in their car, they seem to be transformed. As they say "hit the gas." Nurses visit chronically ill people. Their apartments are cleaned by assistants (Homeaid). Special small buses deliver patients to hospitals and doctors' offices for a small fee. These buses have lifts for patients in wheelchairs and scooters. . Our and many other apartments have a system called "life line". Users of this system wear a special bracelet with a button. By pressing it, they are immediately connected to the ambulance service. We have used this service several times already and there was no case that the waiting time for help exceeded 10 minutes. Arriving doctors make a cardiogram, perform various other studies, and the results are immediately reported to the hospital. They prepare accordingly for the arrival of the patient. By evening, the inhabitants of the house, as it were, are transformed - they try to forget about their ailments and have fun. Favorable conditions have been created for this. Bingo games are organized 2-3 times a week in the hall of the house (lobby). It also hosts general meetings of residents, meetings with artists, a pastor, Bible studies, family and general banquets. (A well-equipped kitchen adjoins the hall). The hall is equipped with upholstered furniture, large-screen TV, DVD, piano. There is also a winter garden here: a lot of plants in tubs near the glass wall of the hall. By the way, we transferred our ficus to this garden when it grew to the ceiling of the apartment. Before the start of meetings and all sorts of other meetings, the American anthem is played, the star-striped flag of the country is unfurled. There is no sense of falsehood and hypocrisy in this kind of ceremony. American films are shown on Saturday. In Russia, this kind of houses for the elderly, as you know, often burn. In American "almshouses" fires are rare. They have a multi-level fire protection system: smoke detectors are installed in all rooms. Smoking in the house is prohibited. Finally, the fire alarm system is checked almost every month. Popular in America are special health centers for the elderly. Such a center - "Menorah Park" is visited by both my wife and I. At 9 o'clock in the morning the bus comes for us. By the time we arrived, the tables had already been set. After breakfast, classes in the swimming pool. At 12 lunch. Then work on simulators. An experienced specialist teaches 80-year-old grandparents how to use a computer. At 3 pm the same bus takes us home. Menorah Park, we were told, has 1,200 employees. The number of patients is about the same. So you don't have to worry about the level of service. How much does such a service cost? The fee depends on the level of income. Wealthy older Americans pay for their stay at the Wellness Center. They, on the slope of life, generously donate to him millions acquired in their youth .. For recipients of social benefits, the payment of $ 60 a day is also transferred by the agency for working with the elderly. Agree everything described is similar to communism, as the creators of this doctrine portrayed it .. Originally, that. we built it in the USSR, but it originated in America. I would also like to add that the word "communism" in America has acquired a completely different meaning than in Russia, an abusive meaning. Me and power. The Russian government has a remarkable ability to create the appearance of democracy. I will state the facts that, in my opinion, confirm this idea. In Russia, once, in the 80s, I was appointed chairman of the district election commission. I do not remember who and where we chose. I remember something else. When we were drawing up the documents at the district executive committee of the Central District of Chelyabinsk, I was told that the figures in the final protocol should be written down not in ink, but in pencil. Why? As you can see, in order to make them convenient to manipulate. President Vladimir Putin regularly held meetings with journalists and answered questions from the population. But even with the naked eye it was clear that these questions had passed a certain censorship. Inconvenient questions for the leader were never raised at such meetings. In the 90s, I came to America and only then did I understand what real democracy means. Since I became an American citizen in 1997, I do only what I choose: judges, sheriffs, treasurers, police chiefs, commissioners, legislators, presidential candidates, and the presidents themselves. Each of the potential candidates for the position sends me colorful postcards that outline their strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. For example, from Hillary Clinton's headquarters, voters were told that her rival Barack Obama did not have sufficient political experience and therefore they should vote for her, and not for him. The postcard also says that only H. Clinton has developed a plan to save the property that banks want to take away from those who are unable to repay their debts. Elections in America are often also a referendum. Usually in each state, local issues are discussed. In Cleveland, voters are being asked to vote for increased spending on medical care for children and the elderly, as well as the development of a library network. If the majority votes "yes", then the state budget will be revised towards an increase in the corresponding taxes and expenditure items. Summing up what has been said, let me make an assumption. Perhaps the relatively low standard of living of many Russians is due to their lack of political freedom. This material was previously published in one of the Russian Internet forums. I will reproduce a few remarks which seemed to me interesting. "We live in fear that a corrupt bureaucracy will destroy Russia."