Generated by All in One SEO Pro v5.0.1.1, this is an llms-full.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Lusternia Lusternia, Age of Ascension, an Iron Realms Entertainment Game ## Posts ### [Latest News](https://www.lusternia.com/latest-news/) **Published:** February 16, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/wordpress-nature-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/challenge-of-nature-8/ "Challenge of Nature")### June 14 2020 ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/challenge-of-nature-8/ "Challenge of Nature") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 14 Jun 2020 Following the quick-witted challenge of the Seal of Harmony, explorers from around the Basin gathered atop Avechna’s Peak to undertake the challenge of the Seal of Nature: a far-afield scavenger hunt across the Basin of Life for all manner of climes. The power of Nature manifested to this generation as a series of coveted dragon’s-eye emeralds, and the challengers swiftly departed with their newfound treasure to put it to use. Though slow to begin, two competitors in Aramel and Dys quickly distanced themselves from the bulk of the other scouts. Their paths took them from mountain heights to subterranean rivers, … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/challenge-of-nature-8/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/MayartisinalUnyielding-MemoryA-fight-for-what-has-been-lost.-A-fight-against-what-has-been-found.202005MayGurashi-custom_crop.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/may-2020-artbard-results/ "May 2020 Artbard Results")### June 14 2020 ### [May 2020 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/may-2020-artbard-results/ "May 2020 Artbard Results") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 14 Jun 2020 Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for May! Our apologies for the delay in getting your results to you. This was an incredibly close month, with very little between the winners and runners up in the judging. If you want to join them and make the judges’ jobs even harder, make sure you read HELP ARTBARDS and submit by the end of the month. Bardic Contest Winner Coraline’s One Law; Five Freedoms Runner-Up Ayisdra’s The Deaging Merit Alexandria’s The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and the Hooded Lucidian Artisanal Contest Winner Gurashi’s Unyielding Memory Runner-Up Kyalrhin’s Reference for Guild Beasts: Crows … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/may-2020-artbard-results/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/shutterstock_59408146-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/13/challenge-of-harmony-7/ "Challenge of Harmony")### June 13 2020 ### [Challenge of Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/13/challenge-of-harmony-7/ "Challenge of Harmony") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 13 Jun 2020 Six months following the conclusion of the Trial of Justice, the citizens of the Basin once more gathered to see who would claim the Seal of Harmony. Twenty-five orators traveled the length and breadth Lusternia to spread their influence to as many denizens as they could in one hour. From the very beginning, Jolanthe Myeras of the Serenwilde and Thalkros n’Lochli of Magnagora tore away from the pack, constantly trading places in the rankings and seemingly ensuring that the Seal would go to one of them. Yet out of nowhere, Kalas Malarious of Gaudiguch rocketed through the rankings and snatched … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/13/challenge-of-harmony-7/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/celestfireworks-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/a-meteoric-return/ "A Meteoric Return")### June 8 2020 ### [A Meteoric Return](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/a-meteoric-return/ "A Meteoric Return") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 08 Jun 2020 Shooting stars flew over the Basin of Life as a meteor shower manifested above Avechna’s Peak. The strange event captured the imagination of the bards of Lusternia, as well as the generosity of scholars and the curiosity of the pilgrims, who gathered the meteors from where they fell about the mountainside. Several mortals across all nations persuaded these wanderes to share the starry meteors they had gathered, but one star burned brighter than all the others as it descended from the skies above to land in Mornhai Sanctuary. It was Misericorde Coldwater of New Celest who discovered the massive meteor … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/a-meteoric-return/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/book-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/inclusivity-and-prejudice-in-lusternia/ "Inclusivity and Prejudice in Lusternia")### June 8 2020 ### [Inclusivity and Prejudice in Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/inclusivity-and-prejudice-in-lusternia/ "Inclusivity and Prejudice in Lusternia") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 08 Jun 2020 Following on from Matt and Jeremy’s statement regarding IRE’s solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, I want to take a moment to talk to you about how we in Lusternia are taking action to address not only systemic racism within Lusternia, but other institutions of prejudice that have over the years grown within our world like weeds. There is a time and a place for all stories. Stories allow us insight into another person’s experience. They allow us to come to understand one another better, even if we can never do so fully. As such, it is imperative that … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/inclusivity-and-prejudice-in-lusternia/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/black-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/black-lives-matter/ "Black Lives Matter")### June 7 2020 ### [Black Lives Matter](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/black-lives-matter/ "Black Lives Matter") ###### By [ ironrealms ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/ironrealms/) | 07 Jun 2020 Over the last week, millions of people have protested the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. Citizens of the United States and other countries are demanding justice and equity. We’re seeing a movement for change that hasn’t been seen in our lifetimes, and it’s long overdue. First, we stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. We stand against racism. We stand against police brutality. We stand against systemic injustice. That said, what are a bunch of words from our little company going to do in the grand scheme? Not much. Real change doesn’t come from making posts … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/black-lives-matter/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/bill-oxford-OXGhu60NwxU-unsplash-scaled-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-justice-8/ "Challenge of Justice")### June 7 2020 ### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-justice-8/ "Challenge of Justice") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 07 Jun 2020 Short off the heels of the Seal of Chaos being claimed, the time for the Trial of Justice emerged. No less than 26 competitors emerged to vie in the Trial, yet only one could emerge victorious. Strong contenders presented themselves throughout, but it was Aramel Shevat of Hallifax who would emerge triumphant in the first bracket and take the first position within the finals. Yet despite falling to Tarken in the fourth round, Choros Shevat of Hallifax would begin to stride through the second, loser’s bracket: facing incredibly fierce competition in Jaspet of Glomdoring, Ciaran Pavok of New Celest, and … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-justice-8/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/crown-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-chaos-8/ "Challenge of Chaos")### June 7 2020 ### [Challenge of Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-chaos-8/ "Challenge of Chaos") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 07 Jun 2020 In the wake of the Seals’ weakening, the Seal of Chaos has come to challenge and now has found its champion first among all. The day’s challenge was marked by bloodshed, as adventurers and alliances across Lusternia banded together to support their favoured contenders. Tarken of Glomdoring was first to lay hands upon the Purple Hamster of Chaos, but Ixion soon took hold of it, and he kept it, against all odds for the entirety of the challenge. Throughout, deaths abounded, and the ground of Spectre Isle ran crimson. And Ixion still held, even when unable to do anything in … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-chaos-8/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/1963-1024-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/06/the-challenge-of-beauty-opens/ "The Challenge of Beauty Opens!")### June 6 2020 ### [The Challenge of Beauty Opens!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/06/the-challenge-of-beauty-opens/ "The Challenge of Beauty Opens!") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 06 Jun 2020 As of today, submissions are open for the Challenge of Beauty! Avechna, the Avenger, has issued the following challenge to mortalkind: The dragons have wrought much destruction upon the Basin, no corner of it untouched by their presence. It is time now for Beauty to rise from them instead, that the seal their actions have weakened should now be strengthened anew. Creators of the Basin, put your minds and your crafts to work. Let your beauteous workings spring forth from the inspiration of dragons; and know, as before, that the Charites shall judge your works based in part upon their … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/06/the-challenge-of-beauty-opens/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/surgical-mask-4962034_1920-1-1024x540-1-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/iron-realms-donates-15000-to-rip-medical-debt/ "Iron Realms Relieves 1.5 Million in Medical Debt")### June 1 2020 ### [Iron Realms Relieves 1.5 Million in Medical Debt](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/iron-realms-donates-15000-to-rip-medical-debt/ "Iron Realms Relieves 1.5 Million in Medical Debt") ###### By [ ironrealms ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/ironrealms/) | 01 Jun 2020 Iron Realms Entertainment is excited to announce a donation of $15,000 dollars to the Covid Heroes Fund from RIP Medical Debt. This is a direct result of your credit and pet purchases. Everyone at Iron Realms would like to thank our players for their generous donations. The support and response to this effort was amazing. Players purchased over 500 pets in the last two weeks. Your donations will help American first responders and healthcare workers by purchasing and abolishing their medical debts. Healthcare workers around the world have been laboring nonstop to assist the sick and elderly during the global … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/iron-realms-donates-15000-to-rip-medical-debt/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/shutterstock_62287552-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/june-present-extravaganza/ "June Present Extravaganza")### June 1 2020 ### [June Present Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/june-present-extravaganza/ "June Present Extravaganza") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 01 Jun 2020 For the month of June, we’re running a present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you purchase for the month of June, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an addition present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! To sweeten the pot, we’re adding the ability to EXCHANGE 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/june-present-extravaganza/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/1963-1024-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/31/how-to-betray-your-dragon/ "How to Betray Your Dragon")### May 31 2020 ### [How to Betray Your Dragon](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/31/how-to-betray-your-dragon/ "How to Betray Your Dragon") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 31 May 2020 Into the tense month that followed the assault upon the Peak by the second group of Mature Dragons, a small and barely noticed descent occurred into the Tolborolla Valley. Three more Mature Dragons, who had previously approached – and fled from – the city of Magnagora landed within the quiet environs. To their alarm, they were discovered by several people from the very city they had been horrified by, led by the Warlady herself, Kailanna n’Kylbar. It was not an easy feat for the group to calm the Dragons down, and convince them that they meant no harm. They were … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/31/how-to-betray-your-dragon/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/drachou-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/30/by-draconic-decree/ "By Draconic Decree")### May 30 2020 ### [By Draconic Decree](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/30/by-draconic-decree/ "By Draconic Decree") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 30 May 2020 With a sense of deja-vu that struck concern into the hearts of those who had previously entertained the Mature Dragon emissaries, six figures descended upon the Basin of Life. These emissaries were, they explained, from the group of Mature Dragons who had previously visited New Celest. They wished to present an offer to mortalkind in return for their service. Naturally, this was not met with the greatest trust – least of all in New Celest, who in addition to their understanding reticence as the victims of the group’s lost kin, held strongly to the Avenger’s warning that no more groups … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/30/by-draconic-decree/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/3555-2000-max-scaled-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/29/the-ascension-of-fools/ "The Ascension of Fools")### May 29 2020 ### [The Ascension of Fools](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/29/the-ascension-of-fools/ "The Ascension of Fools") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 29 May 2020 In the middle of Dvarsh, as summer was at its highest, six specks of shadow appeared upon the horizon. They grew larger, and larger, eventually separating enough to reveal themselves for what they truly were: Mature Dragons. They drew closer to the Basin of Life, proving themselves to be rife with discord. This was, they claimed, their final chance. They sought the path to Yugomaru, and had only so much time left to achieve it. They were coming to meet their destiny. As one, the six of them crashed into the side of Avechna’s Peak. The decimation was extreme and … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/29/the-ascension-of-fools/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/New-Celestcolor2-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/25/a-song-of-fire-and-water/ "A Song of Fire and Water")### May 25 2020 ### [A Song of Fire and Water](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/25/a-song-of-fire-and-water/ "A Song of Fire and Water") ###### By [ Aonia ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/aonia/) | 25 May 2020 Vengeance had been sworn by the arrogant draconic emissaries that had visited New Celest, and vengeance they pursued, appearing in the city of Light with demands that King Aknarin – the wielder of the Broom of Dawn’s Promise that had driven them away – be brought before them. When their demands were met with the refusal they deserved, the pair lept skywards, their attack seemingly repulsed by the same powers that had driven them away previously. However, they were soon joined by a terrifying new friend. A blackened dragon tore into view, the secret sole survivor of Magnagora’s experimentation, and … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/25/a-song-of-fire-and-water/) --- ### [Welcome to the Iron Carnival](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/08/01/welcome-to-the-iron-carnival/) **Published:** August 1, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Following the success of our cross-game event back in December, I’m pleased to announce that the Iron Carnival has arrived! Run by the irascible Grimbeard and the foppish Percivale, the Iron Carnival was once a star-studded celebration that travelled otherworldly lands, putting on a dazzling show full of games, fairground amusements, and tasty treats. In the modern day, the carnival has fallen into disrepair and the troupe needs your help to restore it to its former glory! Stroll along the Old Imperial Road where you’ll find the carnival grounds and a task board awaiting your help ([IRONCARNIVAL ](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1604)landmark). As you assist with construction, gathering resources, or helping to restore attractions, the carnival will gradually expand as everyone in the Basin of Life pitches in to do their part. All quests come with Iron Carnival tickets and daily credits, and can be repeated once an hour. How you choose to assist will influence where the carnival’s resources go, effectively allowing the whole of the Iron Realms to collectively decide what attraction opens next. Every five days, the unopened area with the most contributions will be opened and will remain open for exploration for the duration of the event. Once an area is open, you’ll need to bring in the crowds and occasionally calm down the ringmaster. Full details can be found under [HELP IRON CARNIVAL](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1604 "HELP IRON CARNIVAL"), but attendants can expect a variety of attractions and games, including fortune telling, pie-eating contests, a sideshow and menagerie, paint-pelting clowns, face painting, chain-letter prophecies that go from game to game, and more! Win tickets from your contributions or high scores and obtain a large selection of rewards and trinkets for your effort. Oh, and while exploring, you may even notice phantasmal spectres of visitors from another world across the Iron Realms. Greet them and your emotes, and perhaps more, will echo across worlds! The entire Iron Realms team has been working on this cross-game event for the last several months and it’s our pleasure to finally unleash it upon the world! I hope you enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together. Keep checking back to the festival grounds as it expands with every day! **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [New perks for newsletter subscribers](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/05/29/new-perks-for-newsletter-subscribers/) **Published:** May 29, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Stay on top of all the news and happenings in Lusternia or Iron Realms, or both, with a newsletter sent directly to your inbox. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to know about new features, events, updates and more! Our goal is to provide an easy to digest snapshot, and we promise not to spam you with constant chatter. Plus, you can opt out at any time. In case the power of being the most informed player in the realms isn’t enough to entice you… Starting soon, we will be including unique promotional codes in select newsletters that you can redeem in-game to get perks such as character customizations, exclusive gear, or other fun surprises. Subscribing will not grant you an in-game advantage, but it may get you something fun and shiny. Get in on the fun at and subscribe for free today! **Categories:** News --- ### [Threadfall Egghunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/09/threadfall-egghunt/) **Published:** April 9, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** An industrious spirit, figurative or perhaps literal, has been hiding paper mache eggs all over the Basin of Life! Some of them you will find rolling on the ground, some have been buried, some are in the trees, and others… who knows! If you wish to look for them Tomarro at the pilgrim camp has baskets that will help you out – just ask to get a basket. Once you have one, it’s a game of hot and cold to look for the eggs and there may be extra tricks required to uncover them, too. Be sure to both **PROBE** and **READ** the information on your baskets carefully! If you find 10 eggs of a given type you will complete the first tier for that egg type and receive a reward – this will be gold or experience that increases in payout as you complete higher tiers. **PROBING** the basket will tell you all about how close you are to the next reward tier. There is a finite amount of eggs available to find globally at a given time but more gets hidden every in-game day. Your basket will tell you whether there are any around so you don’t look in vain. If the basket tells you there’s “very few, if any” eggs it does mean there are some eggs around but they may be hard to find. We are testing a new spawning and hiding method for these so even though we tested it, it may be possible that some remaining eggs could be inaccessible. Worry not, next hour there will be more! Right now there are no additional rewards – this is meant to be a fun past-time without leaderboards and stress. But! We will be keeping an eye on how you are doing and have extra rewards in store for those who do well. The hunt concludes on the **19th** (at weave time)! Happy hunting! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Threadfall Has Begun](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/04/threadfall-has-begun-2/) **Published:** April 4, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** What’s Threadfall? A festival season celebrating spring and coinciding with Easter! It’s only our second time hosting it, too. Are we just looking for an excuse to throw presents at you? Maybe! When the Tapestry of Fate needs a good ‘spring cleaning’, the Fates declare Threadfall to be taking place – a season of thorough inspections of the Tapestry of Fate. Lachesis is declaring which frayed and straying threads need to be cut, Atropos is doing the snipping, and Clotho is smoothing out the work of both so there are no flaws in the Tapestry. Fret not, it is not about endings! It is a season of new beginnings and rejuvenation. Threadfall has just what begun and will conclude after April 19th. During this period a few things will be happening: - THREADS: You will be able to find frayed golden threads out and about (rare!), which you can contemplate for experience or sell to Tomarro at the pilgrim camp for gold. - YOLKKIN: The Liquorice Queen has magnanimously declared that yolkkin are free to visit the Basin of Life. They are very much like gnomes during Solstice – find one, interact with it (figure it out!), and get a present. You can get a present once an IG day and they will visit every so often preceded by a message about sugar-spun clouds. - IRONBEARD: Ironbeard’s going around with gifts too! - DAILYCREDITS: Between the 5th and 8th of April you will be able to claim all your daily credits with **HAPPYHOLIDAYS**! - HAMSTERHUNTS: Bunny Hamsterhunts will take place. The bunnies drop goop craftables when scared and may well kick you too. We’re not scheduling the hamsterhunts for now, and will give you a headsup as able. - GREATHUNT: A Great Hunt will be called. - WAYFAIRE: The Wayfaire will arrive sometime this weekend once more. And more! We’re still working on things and we’ll see how many of our plans we can put in motion. ## Hamsterhunt Everyone who takes part will receive an Iron Coin and the three top scores will receive additional prizes. 1st place will receive 5 glowing presents, 2nd place will receive 3 glowing presents, and 3rd place will receive 1 glowing present. All hamsterhunts will last 30 minutes. In some you may be able to share your ‘hamsters’ and in others not. We’ll mix it up. ## Great Hunt Will take place between 11th and 12th of April, starting on the weave between 10th and 11th, and ending on the weave between 12th and 13th. Essentially a weekend Great Hunt! Check out [HELP GREATHUNT](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1544 "HELP GREATHUNT") for breakdown of the prizes. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The Cost of Progress](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/01/the-cost-of-progress/) **Published:** April 1, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** \[APRIL FOOL’S\] The 12th of Shanthin, in the year 733 after the Coming of Estarra, was a chill autumn morning, though one could not quite tell such things in the City of Hallifax. With its position high in the skies and full weather control, it was a day like any other for Senior Researcher Inix Aalin. The Amethyst Research Lab was abuzz with activity, but none of it interested the Senior Researcher for he was possessed by a singular idea. Long had he striven to catalogue all the works stored upon the shelves of the Library of Universal Knowledge so that he may reference them in his reports with ease, only for his systems to fail time and again. They were too complex, too unwieldy, and most importantly, creating them was taking too much of his time already and he had little to show for it. But that fateful morning, as he was walking with purpose towards the laboratory, he chanced upon Skyborne Parvenu Zweeloh assisting in the repairs of the city’s hologram plinths. Their exchange was brief but it occurred to Inix that as the holograms store data pertaining to historical figures, they could perchance just as well store other data. So intrigued he was by the idea that he abandoned his duties mid-shift and went straight to procure the necessary materials to put his plan into action. At the Proprietary Supplies and Sundries, he chanced upon Intern Hinic of the Skylark Consortium who not only sourced the crystals, conduits, and wires, but also the services of a handful of servants skilled in plinth repairs. Together they set up in the Library of Universal Knowledge where they were quickly found out by none other than Lord Librarian Ayisdra Ysav’rai, whose attention was ever upon his domain. Seeing no reason to object, and even lending a hand, Ayisdra helped Hinic and Inix set up the plinth, sort the wiring, and procure the necessary power for the endeavour. By the time they began transferring the books into the plinth, Skyborne Parvenu Surea arrived to assist in the arduous work, lessening its tedium. It was not until the 20th of Shanthin that all the books were transferred into the plinth and by that time it has grown in size so much, in order to contain all the data, that they were barely keeping up with its power needs. Without Aramel Shevat, the whole project may well have failed right there, but she arrived just in time to lend her gemcutting expertise and supplied the plinths with powerstones aplenty. Between her supplies and Ayisdra’s harvesting of Continuum for suitable gemstones, the project was complete. When they queried the plinth, it found the desired quotation effortlessly among the library’s books, providing references, uses, and even explaining its meaning. This was beyond anything they expected as not even in Inix’s wildest project outlines has he ever drafted a system this robust. They had to keep going, the group agreed, but for that they would need power beyond even what Aramel could provide. The Board of Directors convened on the 22nd of Shanthin, presided by Chair Tikki and with Board Members Xanthia, Ayisdra, and Ashira in attendance. Ayisdra, well acquainted with the project, brought the case forth and received authorisation to proceed – power could be diverted from the Amethyst Generator towards the project and the plinth was moved, not without effort, to the Amethyst Research Lab. There, the Research Team was augmented by Legac, Hinic, and Melrose who kept feeding every paper they could find into the plinth, querying it, and improving its output. Before long, the plinth was solving advanced problems and even helped rewrite joule protocols for the Transphenortex Grid. “This will be our generation’s Project Cosmic Hope,” Efarihm Ysav’rai was quoted as saying, an inspirational quote soon broadcast by the Crystal Resonance Tower day and night across Hallifax. But as the project expanded, so did its power needs. Every lab began funneling power from the Generators towards the plinth, a decision made with unanimous support of the Board of Directors. The Plane of Continuum was being harvested by Ayisdra to the brink of its capacity and Chair Tikki had to covertly negotiate with Talthos to procure additional gemstones as the city’s own reserves dwindled. The Matrix itself was tapped after the Minister of Power, Luce Shevat, announced the city would power the project at the expense of other research, guards, and even guild resources. This did not concern the Consortium whose Overseer, Ayisdra, was already busy filing intellectual property claims, nor the Adherents whose Emissary, Ashira, sought the wisdom of Cririk Adom within the plinth. Quintessence Xanthia, leader of the Aerie, was not without reservations at first, but the High Supreme Justices ruled in favour of leveraging the plinth for artistic endeavours on the 29th of Shanthin. Such was the cost of progress, and even though the Master Artists organised a protest outside the Spire of the Lawgivers, the project continued to move forward. With the Consortium, Aerie, and Adherents now with full access to the project, time will tell what will become of the Lucidian Language Model. Or perhaps this happened in a whole other timeline… **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Restaurants Are Here](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/restaurants-are-here/) **Published:** February 23, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** What’s a dining experience without some new patterns? What’s a pub without a bar? What’s a cafe without some kawhe? Time to change that! # NEW PATTERNS: **BOOTH**: available to Artisans (Booths). A new skill available at 50% Expert which allows one to construct booths. Booths are seating and table combined, seating up to 4 and providing table-space for up to 10 items. They only take 35% interior space, like large tables, so are pretty convenient space-savers. **COUNTER**: available to Artisans (Counters). A new skill available at 25% Virtuoso which allows one to construct counters. Shop counters, kitchen counters, diner counters? You decide! Like racks, they also preserve bottles and can store up to 20 items. **BAR**: available to Artisans (Counters). A new skill available at 25% Virtuoso which allows one to construct bars. Being part of the counter family, they also store up to 20 items and preserve bottles. **CUSHION**: available to Artisans (Chairs). Time for some floor cushions to sit on! They are constructed just like chairs and sit one. **KAWHE**: available to Cooks and Brewmeisters (Brews). At long last you can now design your own kawhe! Remember kawhe staves off accruing tiredness by providing the Wide Awake defense and it requires a pressedkafe commodity made with the Brewmeister PressedKafe ability. **RUM**: available to Cooks and Brewmeisters (Spirits). **COGNAC**: available to Cooks and Brewmeisters (Spirits). **TEQUILA**: available to Cooks and Brewmeisters (Spirits). The last three need no explanation, and you really cannot have a bar without them. **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Open for Dining: Restaurants](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/open-for-dining-restaurants/) **Published:** February 23, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Welcome to the new dining experience: your shops can now become restaurants! Shops in the cities and communes can turn into restaurants with the help of Chancellors and their aides, and manse shops can turn into restaurants through activation of the new restaurant miniature artifact (**ASHOP 1344**). Restaurants can turn back into shops through the same mechanic as well. See [HELP RESTAURANTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1602 "HELP RESTAURANTS") for the full explanation. Once you have a restaurant, as the owner you can adjust its many settings. The colour of the bins, the title of the menu, how and where food is delivered, the sit-down style of the restaurant, the type of the restaurant, the style of staff, and more. You could run a pub where the bartender slides drinks across the bar to the customer, or a fancy sit-down restaurant where food is presented upon a table by the waitstaff, or an outdoor food cart with no seating where the chef hands the food directly to the customers. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1024x247.png "image - Lusternia")Restaurants use a stylised **MENU** to display their offerings rather than **WARES**, you have to **ORDER** there rather than **BUY**, and all **REFILL**s are served by the waitstaff. But don’t worry if your establishment serves a few extra items on the side. Anything that is not considered a restaurant item (food and drinks) will be handed to you rather than presented on a table for you to eat. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-2-1024x427.png "image - Lusternia")To make restaurants even more amazing and immersive, there is a large number of other updates alongside this release. - **Restaurant Staff** – restaurants can hire staff that will serve at the establishment. This comes in the form of resumes you can browse and hire from, and the options depend on where you are hiring. An illithoid for hire in Celest is unlikely, but more common in Magnagora. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-8-1024x189.png "image - Lusternia")- **Shop Ambients** – manses can already do that through Marble Archways and Wonderclocks but now so can city and commune shops! Chancellors and their aides can set up to 5 ambients per shop and customize them to fire either during the day, night, or both, or be triggered by dawn, noon, dusk, nightfall, or midnight. This works for shops and restaurants. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-5-1024x167.png "image - Lusternia")- **Favourites** – declare your favourite foods and drinks and be reminded you love what you are eating and drinking with a colourful experience! **FAVOURITES** will let you set 5 foods and 5 drinks and choose a colour for the consumed/drank line. Setting a favourite is very flexible and you can set it just to “eggs”, which will then catch any food with the egg commodity or if eggs are mentioned in the design, or you could be very specific and set “\*toasted coconut flakes\*”, or if you want to love a certain design set “a bowl of garlic soup”, no asterisks. Those using screenreaders will also get an extra line to indicate a favourite in addition to the consumed being coloured. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1-1024x337.png "image - Lusternia")- **Eating Food** – since restaurants can be customized to deliver food and drinks directly onto a furniture surface, you can now also **EAT FOOD ON|FROM FURNITURE**. Eat directly from the table anywhere! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-9-1024x54.png "image - Lusternia")- **Looking for Restaurants** – **DIRECTORY** and **PORTAL SEARCH** will mark restaurants with an asterisk by their name so you can spot them easily but you can also find them with the new **DIRECTORY RESTAURANTS** and **PORTAL SEARCH RESTAURANTS**. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image-6-1024x174.png "image - Lusternia")- **New Design Patterns** – a release like this cannot come without some new things to design, especially as restaurants have an assortment of sitdown styles. Check out [Crafts Post #526](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Crafts/526/ "Crafts Post #526")! - **Seasonal Bins** – both shops and restaurants can now flag a bin for a specific season or seasons, and that bin will only show to customers if the criteria is met. **PRICE BIN <#bin> SEASON ** to set it up. **PRICE BIN LIST** will show you your current setup. - **Outdoor Restaurants** – while manses could already do that, now restaurants can as well. Setting this will make the room require outdoor-suitable furniture and will destroy any indoor-flagged furniture though. Very few furniture pieces are outdoor-suitable by design but remember you can flag any furniture for the outdoors while designing it with **DESIGN OUTDOORS ** . You can also look for outdoor furniture with design search – for example: **ARTISAN LARGETABLES OUTDOORS YES**. - **Tipping** – you can now tip in shops and restaurants! The gold will go directly into the owner’s stockroom and their shoplog, if they have one, will note your tip. If you are particularly pleased, you could even include a reason: **TIP GOLD \[\]**. - **Spotting Containers** – all containers, be they regular items or furniture, will now have an asterisk next to them on **IH** (info here) if they have something inside. This only works for open containers! This will help you locate tables with food, but also chests with items inside. We considered appending extra information to the dropped/room text of the items but that is usually long enough already. All of these changes will make it into the various help files over time as there is quite a lot to update here. A number of changelogs still need to be written with a full summary as well. There is also a lot more to be done in the future! For example, right now staff cannot be hired for regular shops and do not come with an actual denizen for the room, but both are things we wish to do. For the latter, we need to make randomised generators of all available races and that is quite the undertaking. Ideally, we would have the staff allow the owner to tweak greetings, highlight specific wares, and even allow you to set their uniform by providing them with clothes. Let’s eat! **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Season d'Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/13/season-damour-3/) **Published:** February 13, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Dolly d’Amour, residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave by helping 5 lovebirds, and you will receive a seasonal card for your efforts. You can easily find the cottage with the temporary landmark – **DOLLYCOTTAGE** – and you can check your progress by reading Dolly’s diary at the cottage. Once you have a card, probe it to customize it to your liking, then decide whether to consume it yourself or send it to someone else. If you consume it, you will receive a present. If you send it to someone, they will receive a present. Either way, it will count towards your counter as seen in **CARD**. Once you have consumed or sent 5 cards, you will receive a glowing present. When unwrapped, a glowing present doesn’t reset the present counter (see **PRESENTS**) and rewards up to 10 players in the room with you with a standard present of their own. Share the love! Also, remember that Valentine-themed artifact skins are available year-round now and you can find them with **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES**. Season d’Amour will close after the 6th of March so if you rally, you can get up to 4 glowing presents this way. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Custom Beast Submission System](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/03/custom-beast-submission-system/) **Published:** February 3, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We are pleased to announce that the custom beast submission system is now live – see [HELP CUSTOM BEAST SUBMISSIONS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1600 "HELP CUSTOM BEAST SUBMISSIONS")! This means that, rather than e-mailing support to request a custom beast, you will now fill out all the required information in-game. We will review the submission and get back to you, either approving it or requesting changes. Once the submission is approved, you finalise the purchase, which then creates the beast. There are a few major benefits to this new approach. On your end, it allows you to see all information about your purchased beast in one place – including all its lines and reactions – and to request it in-game. On our end, it allows us to involve a larger number of admin in reviewing submissions, and it automatically creates the beast (and even its standard prog) from the provided lines. Speeding up the process means you can receive a standard beast much faster, and later augment it with reactions and other requests through e-mail as usual. Before requesting a beast, please make sure to review all relevant help files. Submissions that are filled out correctly make the process much faster on our end. If we have to dig through every help file to identify issues, proofread the submission, and list every typo and grammar problem line by line, the process takes significantly longer. The main help files to keep in mind are: [HELP CUSTOMISATIONS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1554 "HELP CUSTOMISATIONS") [HELP CUSTOM BEASTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1556 "HELP CUSTOM BEASTS") [HELP CUSTOM BEAST SUBMISSIONS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1600 "HELP CUSTOM BEAST SUBMISSIONS") If you currently have a custom beast submission pending via e-mail, please transfer it to this system instead. This will save us time and help us test the system. We will be alerting those who have already requested custom beasts about this new method soon, but you are free to get started right away. What’s next? We have a number of ideas for expanding the system in the future, though this will depend, as always, on coder availability. Potential expansions include dweller submissions and reactions, as well as adding information about existing custom beasts so everyone can enjoy the reference it provides. We discussed these options with Orael (who coded the system) prior to release and believe the system is sufficiently future-proofed to support them without major difficulty. We’ll keep you updated if any of these plans gain momentum. Happy submitting! **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Commodity Prices](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/04/commodity-prices/) **Published:** February 4, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We have been tweaking commodity prices and village production for a while now, with part one of this endeavour outlined in Changelog #**2985** and part two in Changelog #**3149**. It’s time for part three, and this one warrants an announcement post to bring all Trade Ministers’ attention to these changes. Commodity prices in village commodity shops have been lowered once again, this time bringing them back to their old levels. In Lusternia, price inflation can actually be fought! The new base prices oscillate between 35-150 gold, a far cry from the old 200-500 range. Trade Ministers may want to adjust prices at which they buy and sell commodities in the cities and communes, but the warehouses should also be fine if left as-is. Remember that even though the prices are now significantly lower, you won’t waltz in to eggs at 5gp in Delport. If interested, read the aforementioned changelogs for a summary of how pricing works in villages. In short, prices drop below base price only if the village has more of a commodity than its target amount. For Rikenfriez, that target is 100 eggs. Once they exceed that, the price of eggs will drop below the new base of 35gp. Delport’s target is 300, so it takes longer both to reach the target and to start lowering prices. Completing commodity quests is the primary way to drive prices down further before making a purchase. Finally, this also affects pricing at commodity shops at the pilgrim camp, with prices increasing and decreasing at different intervals than before. Should you notice anything amiss or exploitable, please be sure to bug it. PS. Also see Changelog #**3164** for further changes! **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Design, Cartel, and Culture Updates](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/09/design-cartel-and-culture-updates/) **Published:** February 9, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A big change for affiliated cartels has just been released. Affiliated cartels are those that belong to a nation and each nation has one of each type. Trademasters in those cartels are elected, not appointed. For as long as there have been cartels, only Trademasters could work on designs, requiring designers to mail them their design submissions and include the fee in an envelope for cartel-specific designs. For affiliated cartels, the nation would then often reimburse the designer or the Trademaster, creating even more red tape. Now, affiliated cartels will allow all members to work on designs! The Trademaster still retains the sole right of deciding which designs move forward by submitting them, but this change shifts their role towards review, tutoring, and support. Should a design be rejected, members can now fix and resubmit it on their own, as well. The second part of this update gives Ministers of Cultural Affairs an Endowment Fund. Trademasters of affiliated cartels can draw upon this fund directly to cover the fees of cartel-specific submissions, removing the need for reimbursements. Information about all this and more can be found in **Changelog #3166**. As these changes extensively alter how the **DESIGN** command works, please help us test that everything is working as intended. We did not add designer limits or a way to “ban” a member from working on their own designs as we assume such will not be needed, but should it become required we will do so. Also, the design permissions change only affects affiliated cartels at the moment but, if desired, we could make it a toggleable option for private cartels as well. Happy designing! **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Menestrean Wayfaire Arrives](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/04/21/menestrean-wayfaire-arrives/) **Published:** April 21, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** To celebrate Threadfall, the Menestrean Wayfaire has once more arrived in the Basin of Life, carrying stories of the Zemeran Coast and the Vernal Goddess Menestre. You can easily find the fairgrounds by navigating to the **WAYFAIRE** landmark and by completing the honour quest, also called **WAYFAIRE**, you can get all your daily credits in one go. Remember you can only complete the quest once per the Wayfaire’s opening/visit. We have tweaked some of the issues that arise with multiple players questing there at the same time (Changelog #**3099**) but otherwise there are no new additions to the Wayfaire at this time. Even so, you can still always complete the quest anew, visit the store, and enjoy the playground equipment and the snacks! Careful with those carrots, something or someone seems to have cursed them and every so often a bunny-themed hamsterhunt will be taking place. See Announce #**3436** for the dates and times for these events. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lotteries, Special Days, and the Great Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/09/05/lotteries-special-days-and-the-great-hunt/) **Published:** September 5, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tzaraziko’s been up to no good and has made lottery tickets rain from the skies. One must roll with the punches, and tickets, and so we’re having lotteries! Whenever you do tasks that reward you with daily credits (**HELP DAILY CREDITS**), you will also receive lottery tickets. You can exchange those in one of the four opened lotteries – lotteries 5 through 8. See **HELP LOTTERY** for the details. Each lottery’s tickets cost a different amount of vouchers to reflect the rarity of the prizes so be sure to allocate your vouchers strategically. You will be able to gain vouchers up until the lotteries close, sometime around weave on the 14th of September. In September we’re also changing up our special days (**HELP PROMO DAYS**) and we will now have: Tzaraziko’s Chaotic Wednesdays Double Experience Fridays Fated Sundays Lastly, a **Great Hunt** is on the horizon. We don’t want those to last too long because they can be exhausting for the hunters so we’ll confine it to a weekend this time. The Great Hunt will start at weave on a Friday and end at weave on a Sunday. So it will run **from the 19th till the 21st of September**. In addition to the usual prize of credits, everyone who places in either tier will also receive Iron Vault Keys. 5 keys for places 1-3, 3 keys for places 4-6, and 1 key for places 7-10. The Great Hunt is also a great time to gain experience as it will be doubled during its run. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Haunted House Opens](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/11/01/the-haunted-house-opens-3/) **Published:** November 1, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Haunted House is now open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. It is located on the Stairs of Death on Avechna’s Peak and can be reached by the temporary landmark – hauntedhouse. It appears Trader Bob has been cursed by Cimtri, the Oracle of the Earthburner, but surely that will not slow him down any? A wide selection of toys, dolls, and costumes (including a new one!) can be purchased at Brilyn’s store and there is a slew of activities there to keep you busy and entertained. There is pumpkin carving in the garden, decorative web-making in the basement, two unique vengeance games, a spooky basement maze, bobbing for apples, fortune reading, haunted furniture, themed refreshments, and two chilling plays based on the house’s history. Remember those vengeance games can be initiated by anyone for a small fee so you can play them yourselves. Also, Brilyn sells a potion that will help you keep your carved jack-o-lanterns fresh for much longer if used in the aetherways, helping you keep those decorations for a good while. You can apply them up to 10 times per pumpkin, which will now let you keep it for almost a real year! In the Haunted House basement, you can also find a mirror which leads to a whole other area – an enormous maze with many mysteries and very unique challenges. It has its own spooky quest for you to undertake and a slew of secrets – within the mansion, beneath it, and out there in the maze. We are not guiding you to many of them on purpose, preferring to leave the mysteries of the Hallowed Maze for you to discover. Pay attention to your grimoire there. Beyond that, if you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air somewhere upon the Prime Plane, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. There are twenty-three different stories hidden behind those doors and the one to collect them all will find the associated quest completed (trickortreat). Be on the lookout for the telltale signs of the doors in the vicinity – spooky phenomena will be afoot. To make sure you don’t miss out on the main activities, the Coterie has prepared a Haunting Adventure to guide you through them. Be sure to pick up a pamphlet in the foyer of the Haunted House, it will be your guide. Between the pamphlet, the grimoire, and out there in the wild, there is a total of four quests for you to undertake: haunting, trickortreat, hallowed\_maze, hallowed\_mystery. If you are a Haunting veteran and wonder what exactly is new this season, check out Changelog #3151. The Haunting will end sometime on November 10th, giving you enough time to try everything out! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia's 21st Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/11/23/lusternias-21st-anniversary-events/) **Published:** November 23, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia has turned twenty-one years old! While we are holding the festivities later than usual this year, we will, as always, host a series of games, contests, and more to celebrate this momentous milestone with the in-character celebration known as the Festival of the Creatrix. All contests award 300 credits for 1st place, 200 credits for 2nd place and 100 credits for 3rd place. In addition, 1st place will receive 5 glowing presents, 2nd place will receive 3 glowing presents, and 3rd place will receive 1 glowing present. Unlike in past years, this year the famed Chessboard of Libertas will be awarded to the organisation of the person to win the Quiz, too. Great Hunt rewards have their own rules and are done in bound credits, scaling from 500 for 1st to 100 for 10th in each tier. In addition to the usual prize of credits, everyone who places will also receive glowing presents (10 for 1st place, 9 for 2nd, and so on). The Great Hunt is also a great time to gain experience, as it will be doubled during its run. 23rd November (Sunday) – 11:30pm GMT: The Festival of the Creatrix begins, with the opening ceremonies, pinatas, and the return of festival wares. – 11:45pm GMT: The Wayfaire arrives. – Weave: Ironbeard arrives, lotteries open, Great Hunt begins. 26th November (Wednesday) – Weave: The Great Hunt ends. See HELP GREATHUNT for more details. 28th November (Friday) – 11pm GMT: Chicken Hunt. Careful, the chickens peck. – Weave: Harmony Challenge. See the bottom of HELP ASCENSION RULES for what this entails. This will be a no-pk event. 29th November (Saturday) – 11pm GMT: Death Challenge. See the bottom of HELP ASCENSION RULES for what this entails. This will be a no-pk event. – Weave: Treasure Hunt. The first to figure out the clues wins! 30th November (Sunday) – 11pm GMT: Festival Quiz. Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. Win the Chessboard of Libertas for your nation. – Weave: The Festival closes, lotteries end, Ironbeard leaves, Wayfaire departs. Takes place after the Quiz, should it run long. Server time (as seen on TIME) is considered the point of reference for GMT, we will also ensure that Discord events line up with the above outline. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Creatrix Festival Is Upon Us!](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/11/24/the-creatrix-festival-is-upon-us/) **Published:** November 24, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia is now 21 years old and the festivities are upon us! Agwesha is back, selling festival wares at Avechna’s Peak at the handy **FESTIVALWARES** landmark. Among them, you will find area-wide fireworks, decorations, suspicious chocolate chickens, and more. The Chicken Rebellion is not far behind, plotting vengeance and rallying the troops. The Menestrean Wayfaire has also returned, set up near Estelbar this time, and you can get there fast with the **WAYFAIRE** landmark. You can complete their quest – **WAYFAIRE** – and get all of your daily credits done in one go and get an Eternal ikon as well. You can only do this once every time the Wayfaire is here. The Wayfaire shop sells a variety of beasts and trinkets, so be sure to check it out. There is some additional entertainment to be had at the wayfaire as well with some food and playground equipment. Ironbeard has arrived too, visiting you all often and showering with presents. And then finally we have lotteries running again. You can buy tickets for them with vouchers gained whenever you gain daily credits. Exchange those for tickets in the lotteries. Each lottery’s tickets cost a different amount of vouchers to reflect the rarity of the prizes so be sure to allocate your vouchers strategically. You will be able to gain vouchers up until the lotteries close, sometime on the 30th of November. Be sure to check out the previous post for a detailed breakdown of the contests. **Categories:** News --- ### [Days of Gratitude](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/11/27/days-of-gratitude-3/) **Published:** November 27, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving – either at all or does so earlier in the year – we wish those of you who do a happy one. We are grateful for the time all of you spend with us so if you are spending this time with family or friends (Or yourself! Everyone needs a “me” day), we don’t want you to choose between that time and working on your daily credits. Between the 27th of November and the 30th of November (Thursday to Sunday inclusive), you will be able to claim all your daily credits for the day with a simple **HAPPYHOLIDAYS** command. We don’t care for Black Fridays, Cyber Mondays, or Bulk Wednesdays (I made that one up) in Lusternia, but we’ll toggle an Artifact Shop discount sometime in December, once you’re flush with credits from all them gnome present drops. Or maybe those aren’t coming this year… Hmm, been hearing some rumblings on the workshop floor. Wonder what that’s about! Guess we’ll see soon. We hope you have a great time and stay safe! The Lusternia Team **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Festivities](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/01/solstice-festivities-2/) **Published:** December 1, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Gnodfather’s done it again! His ancient war against Ironbeard and Jolly Bundy has reached new heights as he has now teamed up with Ironbeard’s estranged brother, Flintbeard! Together, they have fermented unrest within Jolly Bundy’s workshop and caused much of the staff to take early retirement or quit altogether. The gnome toymakers are still hard at work, but who will wrap all the presents for Ironbeard to carry? That’s where you step in! Throughout December, our new Solstice event will let you send anonymous gifts and custom festive messages to players not only here in our own realms, but across all of the Iron Realms games. Wrap up something generous, or slip in something a little more nefarious, and help spread chaos, kindness, and mischief in equal measure. To send a present, you need to gather some wrapping paper first, and you will do so as you complete your daily credits, up to a maximum of 10 wrapping papers gained per real day. You only need 5 wrapping papers to send a present, so keep the extras for other days, as you can only send one present a real day. If you send a present, you are eligible to receive a present too! Those are delivered in waves throughout the day, so keep an eye out, you never know when something might land in your hands. Inside the presents, you will find small gifts and boons. The gifts range from simpler to a bit fancier, but all are intended to be transient. Some, like clothing, could be runed if desired, though. The boons include experience, lessons, credits, Iron Coins, and gold. As you all send gifts, you will fill a global cheer meter across the realms. Every present nudges it further, and whenever it hits the highest level, something will happen within the Basin of Life. Slow and steady at first, the festive nature of the meter will make itself known across December. Senders will also earn special milestone rewards as they help Ironbeard with his deliveries. These are as follows: - 1 present sent – a stacking experience buff for the helper’s nation - 3 presents sent – 5 glowing presents - 5 presents sent – 5 vault keys - 10 presents sent – a Solstice Voucher (for a voucher-only shop) - 15 presents sent – a shiny new beast – a bear - 20 presents sent – a package containing one hundred macaron curios - 25 presents sent – an honour line Every present you send also grants you a ticket in the Solstice lottery. At the end of the event, three lucky winners will receive credit prizes: - 1st prize: 1000 credits - 2nd prize: 500 credits - 3rd prize: 250 credits Make sure you read [HELP SOLSTICE](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1599 "HELP SOLSTICE") for full details on how to get involved, what you can send, where you can send it, and the commands you will need. Solstice fast approaches! **Categories:** News --- ### [Gnooomes! Oh wait-](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/20/gnooomes-oh-wait/) **Published:** December 20, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** ## Ironbeard Ironbeard has started making the rounds, bearing gifts for the lucky recipients. All you have to do is be online as Ironbeard will find you regardless of where you may be – in a tree, in a submarine, or in a domoth. Once you have received a gift, he will only add you back to his list the next real day. Remember you can check how you are doing on presents with **PRESENTS**. ## Finks! Aiiee! Flintbeard’s been up to no good and managed to waylay the entire 78th Airborne Division that helps Ironbeard and Jolly Bundy deliver presents. Nevertheless, Jolly Bundy managed to rally the best and the brightest of those who applied and a fink division was born! That’s right! This year you won’t be looking for gnomes but for finks! Keep an eye out for Jolly Bundy sending them out with presents into the Basin of Life every once in a while. When you find one, just influence them with Charity (**AB INFLUENCE BEGGING** for full details), as per usual, to get a present. You won’t be able to track these finks so don’t let the lack of their prints in the area mislead you. Remember that you can only get a present this way once an in-game day (once an hour) – so if you find a Solstice fink and you’ve already had a present, share it with your friends. Finks will not be found swimming, snorkeling, or diving in the seas but could be found in sea-adjacent or related areas (the Cay, Spectre Isle, etc.). You will also not find them on far away continents like Mount Dio or Icewynd, or hard to reach places like Lirangsha, but they have been exploring the Undervault. Keep an eye out for Gaaglin and the Academy too as they have found their way there. They will also stop by cities and communes, but don’t try to find them in the villages as Ironbeard has those covered. If you are unsure whether it is worth looking for finks when there has not been an announcement about them arriving recently, we got you covered too. Check with either the gnome pilgrim at the pilgrim camp or the gnome at the visitor’s playpen in Solstice Court (once it opens). If you ask either if all the finks returned yet, they will let you know if there’s stragglers out there still! **Categories:** News --- ### [Huskies and Stockings](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/07/huskies-and-stockings/) **Published:** December 7, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** ## Huskies As Solstice nears, the inhabitants of Solstice Court have rolled up their sleeves and are preparing for the holiday season! Supplies, packages, and mail are all being carried back and forth over the Iceburn Plains by husky-drawn sleds. You might know one of their drivers already – Sarora Bowtail – but the holiday season requires more, much more! You can now find a supply camp at the pilgrim camp at the foot of Avechna’s Peak (just southwest of the **PILGRIMCAMP** landmark) where Homney Honeytongue is running the kitchens and keeping the entire camp well-fed – the workers and the huskies. But the huskies love to frolic and escape their pen in search of adventure so Homney would really appreciate some help! What do you need to do? Head over to Homney to pick up the **SOLSTICE\_HUSKIES** quest that will be active all of December. Bring him cows, sheep, any manner of deer, or carrots from Vesucia to make 5 dog treats. Find huskies loitering along the highways, mountain roads, and in areas near the camp. If you bring 5 huskies back to the camp, you will complete the quest for the day. Not only does that reward credits but also a piece of a curio from the winter set (see [HELP WINTER CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1594 "HELP WINTER CURIOS")). ## Stockings Completing your dailies already rewards wrapping paper for the Solstice Event (see [HELP SOLSTICE](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1599 "HELP SOLSTICE")) but, from now onwards, completing all your dailies will also award a solstice stocking as Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for Solstice domination! And Flintbeard is not sitting by idle either, as you will soon see. The stockings can be hung in manses, and commune and city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: **HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\]** Syntax: **STOCKINGS** (to help track your stockings) At midnight, the person it was hung for can **UNWRAP** and get their reward: - 2 Iron Coins - 1 Macaron Curio piece - a standard present OR a peppermint/coal piece For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain: - 3 Iron Coins - 2 Macaron Curio pieces - peppermint piece OR coal piece - a glowing present Peppermint and coal can be combined to create special Solstice artifacts (see [HELP SOLSTICEARTIFACTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1330 "HELP SOLSTICEARTIFACTS")). Meanwhile, glowing presents, when opened, will give you a greater chance of receiving a better present without resetting your present counter. Additionally, 10 other players in your room will also receive a normal present to open at the same time! Spread the joy and cheer to everyone this year! **Categories:** News --- ### [End-of-the-Year Updates](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/14/end-of-the-year-updates/) **Published:** December 14, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** I’ve been planning this update post since the summer, pushing it back till I had more tangible and definite information to share with you all. Alas, life finds a way to mess even with the best laid plans, and here we are. So rather than post a detailed roadmap, we’ll deviate a bit this time and focus on the state of things. A post in the hand is worth two in WIP hell, or something like that. So let’s have a look at this year in a quasi Year in Review post. ## Roadmap Woes Putting together a roadmap is difficult for a number of reasons I’d like to talk about first. While I certainly like to have a roadmap, and they sure are exciting, experience has taught me that announcing one can complicate things fast. Priorities can shift and volunteers can have life events crop up. So when they can’t deliver, the project inevitably ends up in my backlog. It’s there, adding to my already significant pile, because it is still expected to happen eventually. Sometimes it involves time and effort from the playerbase too (feedback, report cycle), so not following through on that would break the compact made when said effort was asked for. That’s just the way things are in any environment that largely relies on volunteers, and now even more so as we are all volunteers equally. You all may well know and understand these facts already but it bears repeating every so often. Like the fact that volunteer-driven development cannot always immediately focus on what the game needs. By which I mean that even if there is a bug or something that needs to be addressed, sometimes other things will supersede that because the well-being of the staff demands that it does. As an example, I have a project nearing completion that I coded in September when I could not rally brain power for anything else. It was the only thing that sparked joy, so better that than nothing. As a result, I’d much rather announce things when they are almost done or announce small-scale projects and goals. Then refresh the roadmap as those are completed. At least for the time being, until I am fully caught up on the bulk of the backlog and our admin team is fully reinvigorated. And speaking of… ## State of the Team My absence this year impacted the admin team too. While we have other people around who can make all manner of things happen, that does not negate the need for a producer on the team. Beyond rubber-stamping projects, it’s about collaboration, advice, ideas, support, and all manner of rallying, coordinating, and planning. Everything’s easier and more fun when we’re working together and have someone in the big picture role to steer the course. So onto the team itself then. Everyone listed as active in [HELP GODS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=141 "HELP GODS") (the ‘commonly seen within Lusternia’ section) is still part of the team. You may not have seen or heard from a few people on that list in a while, but they are still with us. They are dealing with life and will become active as and when they are able to. Even while not active, they can still be leaned on for their specific lore knowledge or skills, which is tremendously helpful. You might notice that Darvellan is missing from the list but he’s still with us, having transitioned to a fully behind-the-scenes role as Velzyium. That is sure to sadden Darvellan fans, but it’s better for Lusternia and him. With a new job and a demanding schedule, he gets very little time to work on things and when he does, he’s most productive when building awesome things at his own pace. We still have four Ephemerals on the team too but the ‘life sucks’ curse has gotten to them as well. They’ve been with us for a while and they are all not that far from full admin roles. However, before that happens they do all need to find time to recommit and wrap up their training. Nothing would be gained from nudging them into divine roles that they disappear from in two weeks because life continues to leave little room for them to be here. Next year I hope to open a call for Ephemerals again but given the fact that few prefer to be admins to being players, and as we have received zero applications last call, I am wary of being optimistic. Maybe we’ll be surprised! On the coding end, we have Ais, Orael, and me. Ais has mainly been able to be here in an advisory capacity this year – which is worth a lot in and of itself as Ais’ knowledge of Rapture (the game’s engine) is legendary. Our coders have test servers primarily because of the Docker solution Ais has put together for us, and whenever we need a new admin tool coded, Ais is there. Orael has made a comeback this year as well and has put together a new feature over the summer – more on that later. We also have four ‘mortal coders’ – players who code for us – but only two of them are currently active. Those two are our veterans and have helped implement complex reports in the past so the code’s in good hands. ## Projects “*The last 2 percent is the hardest to get, that’s why they leave it in the milk.*” – Brooklyn Nine-Nine While the quote is obviously pure nonsense, it always makes me laugh. Sometimes it does feel like the last 2% is the hardest to get. We’re in the final stages of a few projects right now, and have been since the summer. The amount of time a final stage takes differs from project to project and often depends on the availability of specific people. I’d like to list a few of them but please keep in mind that it may be a while before it’s all done and that this is far from a complete list of things we’re working on: - **Custom Beast Submission System** – that’s the project Orael has been working on and which is finished on his end. It will make it possible to request custom beasts through an in-game request system rather than e-mail and significantly cut down on the work required to make those beasts once approved. Having this in-game means we can have all admins easily help review things and then make the beast with just a few clicks. We could even rope in mortal reviewers into it if necessary. The system has options for all manner of flags to request on the beast too and room to submit lines for staple features like delivery and retriever. Once it’s up and running, we can expand it to dwellers as well. This project is the closest to completion as it has gone through a few phases of testing on our end already, and now only requires my final tests, the writing of new help files, and staging of all the changes. And the hardest 2% – my and Orael’s availability to release and patch up any issues. - **Plaxios Lowlands Revamp** – Remember Plaxios? We do! The currently flooded area has been receiving all kinds of fixes, updates, and tweaks. Once we got into it, it turned out a lot more was wrong there than just a few issues with the epic quests. While the brunt of the rewrites has already happened, there are still some issues left to figure out and a lot of testing that needs to happen. It will be ready when it’s ready. After Plaxios I really hope to return to Amberni. - **Uilani’s Secret Project** – I wouldn’t call this almost ready but it’s closer to done than not. Perhaps 60% done overall. The coding is about 80% done as only a few features are missing, but we still need to do thorough testing, some building to complement the release, and of course write the help files. You’ll need to let me keep the details of this one under wraps for now as it’s my first coding project of this size and half the fun is the surprise. - **Mystery Pocket** – This is not an actual pocket in your robes. A pocket is what we call a quest added to an existing area which comes with its own rooms and story. There’s one that’s almost done. The final steps are a walkthrough (that’s when I test and review something), post-walkthrough tweaks, release prep, and the release itself. This will likely be released in January. - **Arowin’s Sketchartist Academy** – Freshmen, are you ready to advance to Sophomores? I would not call the next stage of development for the academy close to done, but it is in progress. Collecting all the information necessary for the next stage is quite tedious so it’s been broken down into smaller tasks that are being knocked out as inspiration strikes. The system itself is ready for the next level to be added, was built that way to begin with, in fact, so now we’re just gathering the pieces. ## Plans Here’s what I am hoping to get done in the near future: a general list in lieu of a roadmap. I think we’ll let the rest of December revolve just around Solstice because that’s enough work as it is, especially on the heels of the Creatrix Festival and the Haunting. Time permitting, we’ll try to release the Custom Beast Request System too. In addition to that, I’ll continue to work on Iron Realms-wide things, such as this cross-realm Solstice event. More on IRE work a bit later. There’s also ongoing ‘invisible work’ that pushes various projects forward, gets bugs fixed, issues resolved, and so on. When we come back from all the merriment in the new year there are a few things that will be high on my list of priorities. In no particular order: report decisions, support queue, some timequake and commodity tweaks, vastly overdue event posts, goop craftables, and resumption of artbards. At some point, sooner than later, we will also need to start improving our newbie experience considerably. That’s just the tip of the backlog iceberg but we’ve got to start somewhere. Keep in mind this list refers to me specifically, others will be working on other things too. ## IRE Projects This may surprise you, but even though Lusternia is in legacy mode, I am still participating in producer meetings. After we switched to legacy mode, I usually just kept up to date through meeting notes. But since this summer IRE has been pursuing broader projects that can benefit and involve all the games, including legacy ones, and by choice I have been a part of that (as has Starmourn). You’ve now seen the Solstice cross-realm event that we’ve been working on together, but a lot of other work has happened too. We’ve been working on the websites (plugin reviews, SEO, new content), social media, player retention (including newbies) – to name a few of the projects. I cannot elaborate on all of it as it’s ongoing work but it benefits Lusternia so I will continue to participate. One of the great things that has come out of it for us is that we got a new metrics system. I should probably say -a- metrics system, period, as we didn’t really have one beyond some newbie statistics that have not been updated to track the current newbie intro. This new one offers a wealth of data, not just on newbies but on orgs and guilds too. For example, we can now check when a specific org is the most active, specific times and days on average. You’d think we should have had access to such data already, right? We didn’t. There are a few metrics, mainly related to newbies, that still need to be hooked into our system but what we already have is great too. ## Statistics I mentioned we have some newbie metrics but how about some stats from all across the game in addition to that? Here you go! - Online time is up since the summer – both in terms of players online and how long they are online. - 197 newbies were created in the last 90 days – while the vast majority of those are alts (often returnees) and end up deleted, there are new players among this count who have stuck around too. Hi, newcomers! - 75 issues have been resolved in the issues system, and I expect that count to get to around 100 before the year’s out. - 411 designs have been approved through the amazing work of our mortal reviewers and the Charites team. - 15 library books have been written by players – Gaudiguch was the most active here. - 7 stage performances have been produced by players – Magnagora was the most active here. - 86 pieces of gossip made it into the pilgrim camp. Be sure to **config gossipalert on** if you like to be in the loop. - 54 pieces of player-added gossip has been spread by the pilgrims, scholars, and bards of the Basin of Life. - 97 entirely new objects were created this year for story/gameplay purposes. - 11 story events took place. Bit hard to count those precisely but that’s a fair estimate. - 426 bugs have been filed and 569 bugs have been resolved. 323 of those were resolved by Orael alone. - 120 typos have been filed and 125 typos have been resolved. - There are 868 bugs and 47 typos outstanding in the system. Not too shabby for a year during which I was mostly absent. To wish us all a great 2026 risks jinxing it so instead: let’s keep on keeping on! **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Activities](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/21/solstice-activities-4/) **Published:** December 21, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** ## Winter is Here Frost Spite’s none too happy about winter being associated with joy so he has cursed the Basin of Life with a frosty spell. Guess Solstice has as many supporters as it does detractors! The weather has cooled everywhere and snow has fallen in all nations of the Basin of Life. Magnagora and Gaudiguch will notice their snow is more of the sooty variety thanks to the smokestacks and the neighbouring caldera respectively, but it will work all the same! PROBE the snow to see how to interact with it. ## Solstice Court The outpost at the pilgrim camp has long been preparing for the arrival of sleighs that will take you to Solstice Court located upon the Jolly Drifts. Eager visitors can visit it by CATCHing snowflakes drifting upon the highways or taking one of the husky-pulled sleighs parked up and down the Stairs of the Last Nine, right outside the Aetherplex (ENTER SLEIGH). That scenic route offers room for a party of up to four and the leader decides how fast the sleigh will go. To return, simply PULL the rope within the manor or ENTER one of the sleighs at the sleighgrounds departure site for a quick return. Once there, be sure to swear the vow with Steward Tombin at the gates to receive your leaflet which will guide you through the Solstice quest and the various activities there (READ LEAFLET). The reward is a stocking that you can hang for yourself or others, along all your dailies, and an honour line. You can also visit the bridge where several retired gnomes have taken up residence and peddle their wares. If you forgot to bundle up before leaving for such icy climes, you can purchase warm clothes on the bridge too. If you got a muff from an otherwordly present, you’ll be nice and toasty! Be sure to check out the ever more challenging skating experience, meet the guests, send gifts and postcards, enjoy the ambience, the adorable penguins and huskies, and more. There is a special Solstice-themed Vengeance game to be played in the manor and you can initiate it yourselves. There is also a new postcard – an empty one – to be bought at the visitor’s playpen now too. If you hand it to the artist gnome there, she will paint you, or you and your friends, in a background composition of your choice. The larger the group, the more crowded the postcard will be but it’s a great way to immortalise a huge gathering. The largest composition option needs 12+ people! We’ll expand it with more options as time allows too. If you wander over to the northern end you will find the glasshouses open this year and within everything you need to make a wreath. Wreathmaking consists of choosing the right hanger, greenery, and decorations, and the resulting wreaths will reflect your choices in all elements of their appearance. Be sure to follow instructions on the signs, the bucket, and the wreath. Once done, you can display the wreath somewhere, even on the Astral Plane if that suits your fancy, and they will charm the locale wherever they are hung. The glasshouse also has a suggestion box for new materials and we’ll be sure to check in on it often! Feel free to suggest other things through the box too. **Categories:** News --- ### [City and Commune Solstice Quests](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/22/city-and-commune-solstice-quests-3/) **Published:** December 22, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Each city and commune has a small quest that will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! Find the denizen in question and greet them for more details. You can find them at the temporary landmarks available for each nation. In New Celest, Eraol Flenn seeks stars in a jar. (celestsolstice) In Magnagora, Jinlu Ilithya seeks rats in hats. (magnasolstice) In Serenwilde, Caedir Aormeah seeks does in the snow. (serensolstice) In Glomdoring, Dominique Nightshade seeks beasts of the feast. (glomsolstice) In Hallifax, Ki’kia zi’Prouep seeks beryls in peril. (hallisolstice) In Gaudiguch, Mosachi Xeeth seeks lizards with gizzards. (gaudisolstice) This year’s reward is a calendar that goes back to the roots of these quests and is filled with visions. Additionally, each city and commune’s dedicated store selling the rewards of previous Solstice adventures is once more open. Anyone who has missed out on getting them in the past will be able to make up for it each Solstice season. Be sure to read the display in the shop describing what each item does – these take the form of signs, fountains, bark, or even imps. The shops can be found: In New Celest, by the lobby of the Syrinx Plaza Hotel. In Magnagora, within the construction site south off Sombre Lane. In Serenwilde, southwards from the Ellindel Memorial. In Glomdoring, a hollow by the Stables of the Wyrden Thorn. In Hallifax, up the stairs from the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange. In Gaudiguch, within one of the rooms of the Dapper Dashro Lounge. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Updates](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/02/solstice-updates/) **Published:** January 2, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As mentioned previously, the Solstice event came with a lottery and here are the results! 1st place – Numinous – 1000 credits 2nd place – Eiselle – 500 credits 3rd place – Azurai – 250 credits A total of 1536 presents have been sent in Lusternia alone and 91 players participated! We hope you enjoyed this crossrealm event and, who knows, maybe there will be more! Now that Solstice is slowing drawing to a close a few things are no longer active, namely the global experience buff, stockings and wrapping paper being gained from dailies, the artifact shop sale, and Flintbeard. Though we may spawn the latter again for fun! Solstice Court remains open, along with the snow and cold weather, the husky quest, and finks and Ironbeard bearing presents far and wide. **Categories:** News --- ### [Recent Rapture Troubles](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/recent-rapture-troubles/) **Published:** January 23, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Oof! Due to the recent updates to the Rapture Engine, which Lusternia uses, we have encountered a number of issues. We have crashed a number of times and that always involves a progress rollback – sometime just a few minutes, but sometimes even 20 minutes. We have been stable for most of today and the issues have been patched up. Far as we know! Famous last words? We’ll see. To make up for this ordeal 24-26th of January are free daily credit days – just claim all your dailies with **HOLIDAYCREDITS** – and there’s a global 25% experience bonus going on for the weekend as well. There’s a whole lot of extra finks with goop craftables out there too and some may even have presents instead! If you encounter any lingering problems, please be sure to bug them. Logs appear to have stablised, including powerlogs. If something is missing when otherwise the log is fine, it could be a rollback issue. Some logs are written differently so it’s possible for something to be missing from one and not the other. Thank you for sticking it out with us through all the rollbacks! **Categories:** News --- ### [Aethergoop Crafts and Finks](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/17/aethergoop-crafts-and-finks/) **Published:** January 17, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While we work on a way to bring back these crafts properly, we’ve deployed a temporary solution to help you restock. Those unruly finks that were hired to bring you all gifts over Solstice? They’re back and have broken into Flintbeard’s stash of supplies gathered to help him battle the hordes of Solstice-loving adventurers. That stash had all sorts of candies and scarves. Qoivhae tried to stop the break-in, alas, the stash also held aetherbuttons! How to get the supplies? Finks will be roaming the Basin of Life, just like finks/gnomes normally do. Find them and influence to get at their supplies. Can’t have them getting too strong hopped up on aethersugar! We don’t drop these finks, they will spawn automatically and there should always be some out there somewhere. Right now we have set the limit for receiving supplies to once a weave and it resets at weave. We’ll monitor how this works and adjust as necessary. Go forth and find the finks! **Categories:** News --- ### [Referral System is Live!](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/referral-system-is-live/) **Published:** January 23, 2026 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Got a friend who would actually click with Lusternia, or a returning veteran you have been trying to lure back? We just made it easier to bring them in, and you both get rewarded for sticking with it as they play. ## What’s new - Two referral types: New Player and Returning Player. - Rewards for the player and the referring player when milestones are hit. - A personal referral link plus in-game tracking for referrals and rewards. ## How it works - Get your personal link with **REFER LINK**, then share it. - New Players: they sign up using your link and confirm you as referrer during their first character creation. If they forgot the link, they can still confirm with **REFER CONFIRM** within 25 hours of total playtime. - Returning Players: If they log in using your link, you’re automatically confirmed as referrer. They can also confirm with **REFER CONFIRM** during their first login session after 90+ days of inactivity, and have not been referred in the last year. - No self-referrals to alt accounts. Do not harass newbies to earn bonuses, this can result in a permanent ban on referring. Abuse can revoke rewards and add penalties. Referrer must be in good standing. - Returning invites are limited to one per registration per real-life year. ## Rewards and eligibility - Rewards are based on milestones tied to referral type. - Easier milestones award **Unbound Credits**, harder milestones award **Iron Forged Bonds** which may be used in an exclusive shop for customisation-focused rewards. - New player referrals require the new player to not already have an account for the game. - Returning referrals require the player to be fully inactive for 90+ days, have no active characters, and have not been referred in the last year. Read [HELP REFERRALS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=904 "HELP REFERRALS") for all specifics and exact rules. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/12/20/solstice-schedule-4/) **Published:** December 20, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Lusternia’s Solstice in full swing, here’s the schedule for the remainder of the festivities. The Solstice Event has already started but there is more to keep one festive coming! 19th December – Ironbeard and gnomes will start making appearances. 20th December – Solstice Court will open and winter will come. 21st December – Solstice Quests will open in cities and communes. 20th-26th Dec – You will be able to claim all daily credits with **HAPPYHOLIDAYS**. Both Solstice Court and Solstice Quests will close sometime on the 5th of January so you should have two weeks to both visit the frosty place and complete the Solstice adventure. Ironbeard and the gnomes will stop making visits on the 5th of January this time too given they are arriving a bit later than usual. Remember that completing all your dailies rewards stockings through all of December and golden and platinum ones will be opening later this month. And of course there’s still presents to send! Be sure to send at least one present and you’ll receive a small gift from Iron Realms on December 25th. See [HELP SOLSTICE](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1599 "HELP SOLSTICE") for how to get involved. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Haunting Has Begun!](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/10/31/the-haunting-has-begun-3/) **Published:** October 31, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Once again, Atropos, the Eldest of the Fates, has broken her shears! This means that the Haunting is upon us and when anything dies, there is a chance its ghost will not find its way to the Portal of Fate. If you find one of these poor lost souls, you can capture it if you can scare it. A simple BOO should work! Atropos would be most grateful if you put these ghosts into the Portal of Fate while she repairs the Shears of Fate. As a reward, if you rescue 20 ghosts, Atropos will give you a yummy little treat! And rarely, if the Fates are kind, you might even receive something better – perhaps a kiwipunch, a fireball, or a hooded chainmail scarf? Only the Fates know. **Categories:** News --- ### [Player Gossip: Madame Listener](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/07/04/player-gossip-madame-listener/) **Published:** July 4, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tanula, the self-styled Madame Listener, has set up a tea shop at the pilgrim’s encampment right by Tilibe’s shop! She has invited any and all to come drink some tea and spill some tea, as she loves to listen to the hot gossip of the Basin of Life. While the location of her tent is close enough to hear most of the gossip that occurs amongst the pilgrims and those visiting, she is interested in the gossip that is less known and willing to read the tea leaves of those who visit and drink of the tea she offers. Keep in mind, however, that she’s a firm believer in too much tea spoiling the appetite, so limits both her tea readings and gossiping. You can share gossip with Madame Listener by visiting her and saying “I heard that…” or “Did you hear that…” and spilling the tea with her. While she is ever eager for more gossip, too much gossip from a single source can create an imbalance. As such, the more gossip you share in a weave the less likely it will be passed on. Like all things, this gossip is subject to the laws of entropy and will age out of recollection or be mis-remembered over time. So what does that all mean? In short, Madame Listener is a means for player gossip to enter the game, but it will be kept separate from the current affairs gossip you are used to at the pilgrim’s encampment so that actual event and content updates still have a clear and irrefutable source. There is not currently an outlet for the gossip being gathered by Tanula as a library of gossip is being built up, and the rather sophisticated entropy system being tested. Note that gossip is logged and monitored, and inappropriate gossip will be handled and addressed as is deemed appropriate. Once the gossip starts being used, if you hear some that is hateful or inappropriately targeted, please ISSUE this at once. As this is player provided gossip and subject to entropy, there may be cases where the gossip has spelling or grammatical issues, or is inappropriate without being hateful or targeted; some mild spelling/grammar issues may need to be overlooked, but otherwise please submit a BUG that includes the gossip and what is wrong with it. **Categories:** News --- ### [Threadfall Has Begun](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/04/19/threadfall-has-begun/) **Published:** April 19, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Threadfall? A new festival season celebrating spring and coinciding with Easter! When the Tapestry of Fate needs a good ‘spring cleaning’, the Fates declare Threadfall to be taking place – a season of thorough inspections of the Tapestry of Fate. Lachesis is declaring which frayed and straying threads need to be cut, Atropos is doing the snipping, and Clotho is smoothing out the work of both so there are no flaws in the Tapestry. Fret not, it is not about endings! It is a season of new beginnings and rejuvenation! Threadfall has just what begun and will conclude after May 4th. During this period a few things will be happening: - You will be able to find frayed golden threads out and about (very rare!), which you can contemplate for experience or sell to Tomarro at the pilgrim camp for gold. - The Liquorice Queen has magnanimously declared that yolkkin are free to visit the Basin of Life. They are very much like gnomes during Solstice – find one, interact with it (figure it out!), and get a present. You can get a present once an IG day and they will visit every so often preceded by a message about sugar-spun clouds. - Ironbeard’s going around with gifts too! - Between the 20th and 23rd of April you will be able to claim all your daily credits with HAPPYHOLIDAYS! - Thematic Hamsterhunts will take place. - A Great Hunt will be called. - The Wayfaire will arrive once more (sometime during Easter) as it was always intended to visit throughout the year but somehow ended up only showing up during the anniversary. - And more! We’re still working on things and we’ll see how many of our plans we can put in motion. Hamsterhunt: - 20th April at 11pm GMT - 21st April at 5pm GMT - 25th April at 11pm GMT Everyone who takes part will receive Iron Coins (amount depending on how well you score) and the three top scores will receive additional prizes. 1st place will receive 300 credits and 5 glowing presents, 2nd place will receive 200 credits and 3 glowing presents, and 3rd place will receive 100 credits and 1 glowing present. All hamsterhunts will last 30 minutes. You will be able to share your ‘hamsters’, too. Great Hunt: Will take place between 3rd and 4th of May, starting on the weave between 2nd and 3rd, and ending on the weave between 4th and 5th. A weekend Great Hunt! Check out HELP GREATHUNT for breakdown of the prizes. **Categories:** News --- ### [Season d'Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/02/14/season-damour-2/) **Published:** February 14, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Dolly d’Amour, residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave by helping 5 lovebirds, and you will receive a seasonal card for your efforts. You can easily find the cottage with the temporary landmark – **DOLLYCOTTAGE** – and you can check your progress by reading Dolly’s diary at the cottage. Once you have a card, probe it to customize it to your liking, then decide whether to consume it yourself or send it to someone else. If you consume it, you will receive a present. If you send it to someone, they will receive a present. Either way, it will count towards your counter as seen in **CARD**. Once you have consumed or sent 5 cards, you will receive a glowing present. When unwrapped, a glowing present doesn’t reset the present counter (see **PRESENTS**) and rewards up to 10 players in the room with you with a standard present of their own. Share the love! Also, remember that Valentine-themed artifact skins are available year-round now and you can find them with **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES**. Season d’Amour will close after the 2nd of March so if you rally, you can get up to 3 glowing presents this way. Last but not least, we are continuing Double Experience Tuesdays and Fated Fridays until the end of the month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lectures and Golden Nuts](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/02/14/lectures-and-golden-nuts/) **Published:** February 14, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Here’s your reminder that the Year 700 Lecture Series continues into the year 701 through reruns so if you missed any month during the original run, you can still make up for it. Remember there’s a different topic each month and the lectures start at 8am and 8pm. You need a total of 8 attendances (check the board) to qualify for the honour and the bound compendium. Finalising your attendance will become active starting sometime tomorrow. You will be able to greet Miska at the World Forum to complete the quest, and gain the honour and the compendium all in one go. You can find all the other info in [Public Post #2009](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Public/2009/). Also, a reminder that Hazeline is still collecting nuts as per the precepts set by the Great Squirrel. For every 700 nuts (which is about 3 quest completions), you will receive a golden nut you can break (one time!) at your convenience to complete all of your dailies in one go. The quest is very flexible when it comes to multiple people trying to complete it at once so don’t be discouraged by competition. If you cannot influence animals (via skill or wondermask), there is a torc you can borrow from the shrine. Beyond that the haversack lasts a good long time and the squirrels are available in several areas around the Basin of Life. You can find extra info on that in [Public Post #2010](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Public/2010/). **Categories:** News --- ### [Behind The Clock: Divine Release Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/01/31/behind-the-clock-divine-release-events/) **Published:** January 31, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In this new blog series, I’d like to talk about how some features, events, or other admin work comes to pass and what sort of time is involved in making it happen. The latter is intended as the focus of the series as that particular facet of admin work is often nebulous and hard to explain without getting into details about how and why we do things a certain way. When it comes to divine release events, they span a whole gamut of options. How fancy it gets – in terms of length, complexity, impact, etc. – largely depends on the divine in question as that event is their seminal work as an Ephemeral. That means that most often it is solo work – they plan, build, and execute the event. Even then, they still first run the event or brainstorm it with me (Uilani), then one or multiple senior admin will be involved in reviewing and approving the building work (items, denizens, rooms, progs – as necessary), and an Ephemeral Manager (or me) will generally check in with them along the way and help with the actual release as backup and emergency approver of things. If the event touches on any organisational lore or involves any orgs, then active patrons will also be consulted or involved to help handle that side of the event. That is already a fair amount of people, but there are often still others who help brainstorm, advise, or sometimes even build the various bits and pieces. Now, why do newly minted ‘full admin’ still need approvers? Because graduating from Ephemeralhood is no guarantee of having impeccable prog or building skills, so while they can edit a lot of things live already as ArchEphemerals, they still need their progs or entirely new items/denizens/rooms approved. Back when completing a whole area was a requirement to graduate to a divine role, building skills of graduates were stronger simply because they did make it through that trial of fire. But we also had a much lower graduation rate, and the people who made it to the other end often wished never to build again because it was hell to be pushed into such an immense project without building the skills more organically. Eventually, we changed the requirement because being an amazing progger (and prog was generally the issue) does not automatically make someone an amazing admin. While it is important, and having a good number of those well-versed in prog on the team is very helpful, it is not everything. We’d rather have the amazing people on our team, who are active, creative, and involved, be out there interacting with you than push them through the wringer just to have more prog experts. So that is one side of it, the other is that even if someone does understand building concepts well, they still need time to grasp the rules once they graduate. As Ephemerals, their focus is singularly on their projects most of the time and those projects most often exist in the vacuum. Rules surrounding bug fixing, edits to live progs, and working on things for their organisations or orders, are still new to them. Once someone can self-approve their work, it generally sees no review, so it needs to follow the rules and conventions or it becomes a problem later. And the very last side of it all, even if they could self-approve, they need someone senior there for the event in case of an emergency or other needs. Even if you test something very thoroughly, which too is a skill, it may well break mid-event. Them’s the rules of the universe. Even if what breaks is something obvious, they are still usually roleplaying as several denizens at once and steering the plot. Tearing your eyes away from that is difficult, especially if you also need to debug midway through. So in those scenarios, either the event runner or the backup will handle things game-side while the other fixes the error. And we’re not even accounting for the panic that usually sets in when a bug strikes. The first set of events one runs are always tremendously stressful even for the most laidback admin. Having a backup means that even when everything explodes, there’s someone who knows just what to do about it. Having backup also means that should something new come up mid-event that you would like to do, your backup can prepare that while you continue the event. For example, a new solution to an ongoing problem as suggested by players. So with that whole preamble, we continue with what goes into a divine release event. Whether it is a brand new role or the return of an established role is usually taken into account as well when planning the event. A brand new role will often have a larger event because the event is, in many ways, an excellent way to establish the role. A returning role might also want a larger event if the role has been gone a while or there is a need to establish a change in direction. Other times, a perfect moment for a god release will present itself in an ongoing event and it would be folly not to capitalise on it – as was the case in the recent Kalikai’s release where she came out of nowhere smashing a steel chair over a Soulless. For the former, take for instance the Malmydia release event. It was important to Malmydia, being a new and much-hyped role, to release with an intriguing event that would help lay the groundwork for the sort of depth of roleplay the admin was striving for. We also did not want Malmydia to release in either one of two ways that are often used in divine releases: arriving in need of help, or arriving to save the day. So we went through quite a few iterations of what this event could be, ultimately arriving at the desire to make it a deeply Magnagoran event. It was one of those events that had something happening every day of the week in the lead-up to the release, with a mystery that needed to be solved to trace back to the source of the disruption in the city. Unlike most releases, Malmydia was already ‘back’, out there on the fringes of aetherspace in her lab doing… something – she just had no intention of being involved with the Prime Plane and presumed there was nothing for her there. Magnagorans tracking her down, and Drocilla meeting her and proving she is real (necessary due to unresolved Nohaji-related shenanigans), is what convinced Malmydia to ‘return’ and thus become involved with Lusternia once more. For the latter, a release event that desired to highlight a change in direction and also reintroduce the role, the Valtreth release is an excellent example. Valtreth had been gone forever and some, with the original role not being around all that long to begin with. There were a couple of issues we wanted to tackle for the new Valtreth, chiefly the duality of his powers and his memory. The injury sustained in the fight against Marutok’s Cult, and Nohaji in the Void, helped handle both issues. For the former, Valtreth being both an amazing Healer and amazing Keeper of Song, while also being a First Circle divine in the past, risked him being a bit of a Gary Sue. The event itself, and preceding events in the Void, made some of his powers unstable and allowed our new Valtreth to find his own take on the role while having suitable excuses for not remembering much from his Lyreth and Eventru days, which are just not documented well enough for Valtreth to have any hope of pretending to recall should their past followers or others inquire. Now that we know what goes into figuring out the right event and the breadth of people involved, let’s look at a specific example: Shikari’s release event, which just concluded. Shikari’s been gone a long time now and because of that, but also to celebrate this accomplishment with a bang for our Shikari, we all wanted it to be a bigger event. We also wanted to have a bigger event, period, because it’s been a while since we’ve had one, especially not one that was global and with a lengthy lead-up. So in this particular blog, we will be looking at the bigger type of a divine release event. We started brainstorming the Shikari release in late November but it took us a while to arrive at the right concept, and Solstice things also took precedence. Not long into the planning, we figured out we wanted Rimsin to be involved – the fourth Soulless prisoner to break free from the Pandimensional Prison, but so far escaping notice, and memory, of even his co-conspirators. We felt it would be natural because Glomdoring was the only organisation Rimsin specifically attacked when hunting Mahalla (which was in turn Manteekan’s release event!) and they were still at large. But more importantly, Rimsin is an apex predator and so is Shikari. The two were made for each other so that helped reinforce and reintroduce Shikari’s roleplay as well. Once we knew that’s where we were going, we had to figure out how it all would come to pass. In what I can only deem my folly (you’ll understand why soon), I suggested the Tar Pits be the focus of the event because it would allow us to have a goal for Rimsin. Back when the Soulless Fantastic Four (Panaxra, Godith, Marutok, Rimsin) were carrying out their plot, they effectively ‘grazed’ powerful entities and then feasted on them (the cloier, the Great Worms, the Eater, etc.). Left to their own devices, Rimsin could continue in that vein, this time hunting the Slaghora’ruin who, threatened, rallied and desperately gathered power for the fight. The event was originally to happen in the week right before the holidays but due to life things and everything else we needed/wanted to get ready for you, we pushed it back to January. All this brainstorming alone can be split into stages where it was just Shikari coming up with ideas, then Shikari and Manteekan brainstorming together, then me and Shikari brainstorming, and finally all three of us tackling it together. It’s very hard to estimate the time all this chatter took but I’d say the initial brainstorming stage would be 12 hours total. To be clear, this is not 12 hours for each of us, this is 12 hours total for all of us combined. If it were just one person brainstorming all of this from start to finish, it could have been just 3 hours, for example. Then, to be able to hammer out the details, we needed to review what we have done with Rimsin before, past Shikari events (which luckily were all already neatly organised on Shikari’s role planning page), and do a deep study of the Tar Pits as well. The latter… well. Therein lies my folly. We planned to use the Tar Pits before as part of Marutok’s plot, but as his cult did not gain enough traction (and we wanted the cult to be organic, not forced), that event never materialised. So the Tar Pits were the first thing to pop into my head when we circled back to our escaped convicts because they still had something the Soulless would desire. What I did not realise is how much of an issue figuring out the Tar Pits would be for all of us. This particular problem requires its own sidebar, so strap in. Tar Pits was the Ephemeral project of an amazing admin, but as with most Ephemeral areas, it has issues. I could probably list the Ephemeral-built areas that are not a mess prog-wise on the fingers of one hand. Nobody does their best work the first time around, including me (Mornhai Sanctuary). This has improved in the past 10 years or so when we made the Ephemeral Department, which supervises training for Ephemerals, more of an official, structured, and well-documented entity. Ephemerals are now advised on how to structure their projects before they start progging, the people approving their work are more involved in reviewing the progs, and finally, the walkthroughs at the end of the project are done both game-side (so by doing the quest) and prog-side (by reviewing the progs in detail), and often by at least two people (an Ephemeral Manager and myself, separately). Much more work, but the end result is that fixing any issues in those additions is not a nightmare. Ensuring that the wiki page on the area is up to date and reflects what is in the game is key too. None of this was done in the past – if it worked, it worked, cue release. So back to the Tar Pits. The wiki page does not fully reflect how the quest works, and the progs themselves are all over the place. The quest to contain the Slaghora’ruin references sealing it, but on the prog side, sealing is what happens in the counter quest when you seal a normal pit by feeding it. Sealing is actually collapsing. Does Slag actually invade Faethorn? Who knows, it should but nobody has done it in so long that we were no longer sure and we could not find where it is triggered. Three people looked at it, people who know what they are doing, and all our minds were boggled. I could go on, in short, there were issues. We even briefly considered closing the Tar Pits after the event to bring them up to date but decided against it as closed-down areas tend to get pushed down the priority list forever (looking at you Plaxios). All that said, I want to emphasise there is zero fault with the designer. We all did the best we could with the skills and knowledge we had at the time of making our Ephemeral areas. The issue was with the lack of support and supervision of those projects. That admin went on to make things that blew away both admin and players, and continue to be a source of inspiration! Eventually, we documented things as best we could in December but by the time January came and we were to resume work, actually building what we needed, we needed to reread all of it anew. Even with our notes, we needed to ensure we had a full grasp of the area in order to make the surgical adjustments necessary. All told, between all this research, we probably spent 4 hours each at least. Add to that wiki work that Shikari did which is about 2250 words right now but will probably be at least 5000 words before everything’s documented fully. We skipped some sections that need to be there for posterity earlier in the process, so they need adding, and also the aftermath needs to be there – the event post, the script for the showdown (which is in a Google doc right now), and the consequences. Estimating at least 4 hours of work from Shikari there, so 28 hours total. Probably 31 once we add follow-up work on the wiki page. Now we get to building – any items, denizens, rooms, progs, and other things needed to pull this off. We estimated we’d need 3 stages for the event: 1. Something is afoot in the Tar Pits but nobody knows why. 2. Slaghora’ruin started invading on its own, targetting Faethorn. 3. Master pit blocked, invasions quicker, target Seren/Glom too. We needed the quest to reset differently during stages 2 and 3 – more quickly and also for the invasion to happen automatically. Most often areas have just one master prog that manages the reset but in this case, it was 4 progs to edit. We also had to select rooms for the Ethseren and Ethglom pits, describe those new pits to match the area, and then make some extra tendrils and adjust their prog to spawn there. We ended up making some extra tendrils to invade the closest highways mid-way through the event to help pinpoint where the problem is for those outside of the most involved organisations. Then we needed to make all sorts of things in the Tar Pits behave differently based on each stage. All denizens needed to make different comments when greeted or prompted about the state of the wastes, the great pit and Cyarun needed adjusted reactions and descriptions too, and the area needed new ambients. We also needed to fiddle a bit with a separate, healing quest available on the western side of the pits. Luckily as it’s much newer and I’ve done the walkthrough on it personally, it was a breeze to edit. The Tar Pit edits part was done by Shikari and me, and I’d say it would add 5 hours at least, making all of this 36 hours total so far. Before we get to the event itself, it’s worth looking at what else needed to be done. The custodian messages – the timeline, what they would reveal and when, encoding, prog for notes. The latter we could reuse so that made it easier. The prophecies – which were a joint effort between the three of us, and which tend to be challenging for newer admin to write. How to say something worthwhile without betraying the entire plot immediately? We had to eyeball our options in the Fellowship and the Academy ahead of time in case they got dragged into the event (which they did). We also needed to work out and edit the ‘healing a new pit’ mechanic previously used during the release of the healing pocket in the Tar Pits, and figure out a way for Glomdoring to take part if they wished to so as not to leave them entirely out of it. Helping Slaghora’ruin was also on the table and had extra rewards progged ahead of time, but as the communes held the plot very close to their chest (as made sense to) and few who would help the ‘evil side’ followed the story breadcrumbs made available, that turned out not to have been needed. Further, we needed details on Rimsin – we knew how they operate, but we didn’t have a title, a description, exact vibes, etc. They also needed to be made into an actual shell so they could show up on the who list and in the room, and later have an honours line available. Next, the script for the finale had to be written, including the fight between Shikari and Rimsin. Also because the druid/mage beast remodel was ready, and we started doing these events before this event started, we figured we may get two birds with one stone if we weave the crow and stag transformations into the Shikari release. So add Maylea into the mix of people consulted about things, and any prep these bits involved. Add about 10 hours, and we’re at 46 hours total. Now we get to the event itself which started on a Monday and culminated on a Sunday, so the whole thing lasted 7 days with something happening every day. As both Shikari and Manteekan were not able to be there during weekdays (until a while after the weave), I was running the majority of things during those days, but Shikari was always along, and Manteekan did the majority of bits in Glomdoring. Even with all prep done ahead of time, we need to estimate about an hour (or more) of prep time before the event every day to review what already happened, what the goals for today, if any players made any moves we need to react to, refresh ourselves on any denizens we need to possess that day, etc. Then the event, which often runs longer than estimated, and then the wrap-up of the day. The daily wrap-up on a global event can take anywhere from half an hour to 3 hours because generally some or all of the below happens: 1. We take detailed notes on what exactly happened so event post-writing is easier and so all admin know what’s happening. Especially helpful in case they’re asked about it IC, we also discuss what makes sense for who to know ahead of time. 2. Write gossip for the day so players can catch up even if they miss an event day. 3. Discuss what else needs doing and build anything that is needed that day/tomorrow as a result of roleplay happening that day (for example, the new Fellowship mission to study where custodians converge). 4. Schedule the next event day with admin and on Discord. Sometimes we don’t know in advance when we’ll be free or how long an event will be as player actions influence that. 5. Keep possessing denizens and roleplay in between all of that because even though the story is over for the day, there are often extra questions asked of various denizens in the aftermath. Point 4 in particular bears further explanation. Some events have a predetermined course or ending because they deal with forces beyond mortal interference – such as Divine vs Soulless vs Slaghora’ruin fight happening in this event. But even in those events player actions can still have a major impact – not only do they help define who the characters themselves are through their poignant actions, but their involvement can lead to new information, altered outcomes, or additional rewards (some that may become obvious only later too). The druid Cyarun was not meant to die permanently in this event, but that is what ended up happening, securing a major story win for the Druid Circle and the communes. You can still help Slaghora’ruin but it is much more difficult now and the quest was rewritten after the event to account for the lack of Cyarun. All told, I’d estimate event prep on each day to total about 6 hours for this event. The event itself, all 7 days combined, at 24 hours – which were the intended event hours plus roleplay outside of those hours when the opportunity arose. And then the wrap-up was about 6 hours total. Add to that about 2 hours for review of the event post, its posting and syndicating, and any additional discussions related to the event (like a late idea to have Rimsin leak memories they stole). So if my math is right, that is a total of 84 hours from 3 people, and that’s almost definitely underselling it and I’m likely forgetting some bits. Could it have taken less? Probably, if only one person was doing it and did not need anyone’s help, approvals, or anything else. It’s a lot of hours because some of it involved teamwork, and that will always take more time. But team-ran events will often have better ideas and better results, and there is less burnout if you share the burden among the admin team. Working as a team also helps less experienced admin grow so that they can do things solo later if they need to or want to. Also, it’s fun! For the final showdown, we were in a voice channel, to coordinate better, and that was a stellar experience with many emotions and a fair amount of comedy. To summarise, events take time to prepare, run, and wrap up. The more people involved, the more time it will take from all of them. So, if you see an event happening, even if you’re not sure how long you can stay for or what the heck is happening, show up! We’ve spent a while preparing it and it only works if you are there too. PS. This blog post took about 4 hours to write. By the time you read it – so after running it by admin, editing based on feedback, proofing, posting, syndicating, etc. – it will likely have taken 8+ hours. ## Glossary **Ephemeral** – An admin in training, does not have a player-facing role yet. **ArchEphemeral** – An Ephemeral far into their training who joins an organisation and learns to interact with players as both an administrator and a semi-immortal being. **Denizen Possession** – When an admin takes control of a denizen to direct what they are saying or doing. While possessing a denizen, the admin sees what is being said or emotes in the room even if they are not there. Possessing a few denizens at once, especially across a few rooms, is challenging. **Building** – Building covers the creation of everything from items, denizens, rooms, and progs. Those are the base parts of all quests and events, but building can also refer to writing honour lines, ambients, quest blurbs, etc. **Prog** – Short for programs. Is a way of defining how items or denizens react to certain predefined events. Almost all item and denizen behaviour is managed by prog. It can be either very simple or limitlessly complicated, depending on how complex you want to get. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Aethergoop Removal](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/01/25/aethergoop-removal/) **Published:** January 25, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The aethergoop change is here, it is time to sunset that entire system. From this post onwards, the vast majority of aethergoop changes have been rolled out as mentioned in Updates posts #[2](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Updates/2) and #[3](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Updates/3). We will now be updating the help files and preparing to add treasure map and genies curios to the artifact shop. We will also be rolling out the new way to make aethercrafts before the month is out. As poteen pots do not generate aethergoop upfront, they were not part of this change, but are still on our list to check out. Once that happens, they too will be added to the artifact shop. One thing I’d like to expand upon outside of the changelog are the caps added to treasure maps and genies. In analysing what these, and other, artifacts and curios were generating daily we found that the numbers were staggering (see Updates post #[3](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Updates/3)). Even with a goop cap, they were also generating other things and some players had 200+ genie bottles or 100+ treasure maps, or both. While treasure maps at least involve work to get the bonus, genies do not. It remains a guaranteed daily bonus just for rubbing them. There is no way to balance what they generate without capping how many of them can work at a time, especially considering that we continue to have a number of these generators – genies, treasure maps, solstice stocking, wondercorn, poteens. The system needs to account for someone having and using all of them daily, even if not everyone does. You can trade in the extras as per the changelog for the next 2 weeks, or trade them to someone else. Please see Changelog #3078 for all the details, but I am including them here for reference as well. If we have missed anything or something is not working as intended, please bug it and we will look as soon as possible. This is an enormous change, affecting 30 files and a number of systems, so issues might crop up. List of Changes: - All aethergoop has been migrated to credits at a 20:1 ratio, rounded up to the nearest 20 goop. This is capped at 10000 total credits. Unbound aethergoop has been exchanged for unbound credits, and bound aethergoop has been exchanged for bound credits. For all items below, if an amount is not specified, assume a direct conversion to this ratio. - House upgrades will now be refunded in credits. - Ur’trap purchases and upgrades have been converted to credits. - CONVERT verb has been removed. Please ISSUE ME to trade in dingbat rolls. - Artifacts which traded in for aethergoop will now trade for credits. - Christmas stockings’ 2% chance of aethergoop has been replaced with credits (5-15). - Aethersuit effects are now only purchasable for credits. - Letterbox and sketchpad expansions are now only purchasable for credits. - Reshaping artifacts into owned skins is now free. - All aethershop and shop wares sold in aethergoop have been converted to credits. - Jewellery – Refinement, Tailoring – Refinement, and Cooking – Refinement have been removed. - Aethertraders have been removed. - Treasure Map curios may only be completed a total of 10 times per month. - The reward distribution for treasure maps is now 90% gold (100-2500), 8% credits (1), and 2% iron coin (1). - The reward distrubution for Wondercornucopia – Gift is now 40% wondercrystal, 30% iron coin, 30% key strip. - Breaking down and crafting goop craftables has been disabled. We expect this to be reenabled by the end of January. - Genie curios may only be rubbed a total of 12 times per month. - The reward distribution for genie curios is now 45% gold (50-200), 45% commodities (1-5), and 10% goop craftables (1). - Artifact shop transform price has been adjusted from 1000 aethergoop to 10 credits. - Genie bottles and treasure maps may be traded in via ARTIFACT TRADEIN for 30cr until Feb 8 2025. - CURIO RUB will now produce gold instead of goop if it destroys the curio. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Server Move and Port Change](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/01/16/server-move-and-port-change/) **Published:** January 16, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We have just what moved to a different server as part of legacy mode. This changes nothing for us in terms of capacity or lag as Lusternia is well optimised, and there are still areas to improve should any issues occur. What it does change, however, is how you connect to the game. - If you use Nexus, you don’t need to do anything at all. Everything is changed there automatically. - If you use a third-party client (like Mudlet) you need to change the port from **23** to **5000**. - If you are connecting to Lusternia by its numeric IP address and not simply to lusternia.com, then you also need to change the IP you connect to from **67.202.121.45** to **67.202.121.44**. If you use Mudlet, you can change the port when you select your profile. It will be listed on the right side. Remember you cannot have that profile open and be trying to connect to the game while editing it. So if you attempt to log in and realise you need to change the port, close the tab first, change the port, and then reconnect. Should you run into any trouble logging in, get in touch with **support@lusternia.com** or ask other players for help on our [Discord](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1536). Sorry for the trouble and thank you for the patience! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [New Version of the Nexus Client](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/01/16/new-version-of-the-nexus-client/) **Published:** January 16, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’re thrilled to announce the release of an updated version of the Nexus client. This new version features a cleaner, more streamlined interface and enhanced functionality for character creation and management. You can access the new client at play.ironrealms.com or from your favorite Iron Realms game website. We invite all players to try out the improved client and help us refine it further. Your feedback is invaluable in making Nexus the best it can be. Please share any bugs, issues, or suggestions with us at nexus@ironrealms.com. Thank you for helping us make Nexus even better. We can’t wait to hear what you think! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Trader's Bob Vaults](https://www.lusternia.com/2025/01/01/traders-bob-vaults/) **Published:** January 1, 2025 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It’s January and a brand new year is here. Here’s to a fine 2025! Trader Bob is celebrating by letting adventurers dive into the treasures gathered in his Iron Vaults. Anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece for Bob’s vault all through January. Three key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key, and any leftover pieces you have will be combined into a key after the month ends (even if you don’t have enough for a key). Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts – including some limited availability ones. You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna and check out what is inside. You can access the vaults with the VAULTS command at the VAULTS landmark. Tuesdays in January will continue to allow you to gain double the experience and Fridays will remain blessed by the Fates. See HELP PROMO DAYS for additional details. Also keep in mind that Ironbeard and the gnomes will stop coming at some point during the 1st, and Solstice Court will close after the 5th. But not before we run a few contests for extra stockings, a voucher or two, and other things soon! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Husky Adoptions](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/22/husky-adoptions/) **Published:** December 22, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We have one last surprise for you right before the holidays: you can now become a proud owner of a husky beast! That’s right, the years of teasing are over and huskies are here. You will be able to purchase a husky puppy from Bavdo at Solstice Court but only once the huskies accept you. To be accepted you have to help Homney Honeytongue (quest: solstice\_huskies) at least once and then play with huskies at the husky huts (if none are out: buy a treat from the box, drop it, and interact with the huskies with emotes). Once a puppy has taken a shine to you, visit Bavdo and take that adorableness home. The huskies are pretty expensive when priced in gold (over 1mil!) because of their inherents, so we have also made them available in credits this time. They come with bodyguard, jump, and trample. If you’re confused about those inherents, have I got a playlist for you! Huskies are our most elaborately scripted beasts to date, with reactions to environments, weather, other dogs in the room, and more. Some of their reactions also depend on their personality which is shaped by how you develop their body. Aggressive, noble, friendly? That will change some reactions. Regardless of personality, they are still huskies though, and they certainly like to be vocal and argue. Happy holidays! **Categories:** News --- ### [City and Commune Solstice Quests](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/21/city-and-commune-solstice-quests-2/) **Published:** December 21, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Each city and commune has a small quest that will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! Find the denizen in question and greet them for more details. You can find them at the temporary landmarks available for each nation. In New Celest, Eraol Flenn seeks stars in a jar. (celestsolstice) In Magnagora, Jinlu Ilithya seeks rats in hats. (magnasolstice) In Serenwilde, Caedir Aormeah seeks does in the snow. (serensolstice) In Glomdoring, Dominique Nightshade seeks beasts of the feast. (glomsolstice) In Hallifax, Ki’kia zi’Prouep seeks beryls in peril. (hallisolstice) In Gaudiguch, Mosachi Xeeth seeks lizards with gizzards. (gaudisolstice) This year’s reward is a snowglobe that shows how your organisation celebrates Solstice and allows you to cast a decorative enchantment on yourself or someone else! This effect adds a line to your description that matches your organisation’s themes and which can be reapplied at will. It will last for 3 hours or until you SCRUB it with water or soap. Additionally, each city and commune’s dedicated store selling the rewards of previous Solstice adventures is once more open. Anyone who has missed out on getting them in the past will be able to make up for it each Solstice season. Be sure to read the display in the shop describing what each item does – these take the form of signs, fountains, bark, or even imps. As aethergoop will be phased out, all the items are now also available in credits. The shops can be found: In New Celest, by the lobby of the Syrinx Plaza Hotel. In Magnagora, within the construction site south off Sombre Lane. In Serenwilde, southwards from the Ellindel Memorial. In Glomdoring, a hollow by the Stables of the Wyrden Thorn. In Hallifax, up the stairs from the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange. In Gaudiguch, within one of the rooms of the Dapper Dashro Lounge. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Activities](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/16/solstice-activities-3/) **Published:** December 16, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Solstice starting, here’s a rundown of what is happening already! ## Ironbeard Ironbeard has started making the rounds, bearing gifts for the lucky recipients. All you have to do is be online as Ironbeard will find you regardless of where you may be – in a tree, in a submarine, or in a domoth. Once you have received a gift, he will only add you back to his list the next real day. Remember you can check how you are doing on presents with **PRESENTS**. ## Gnomes Keep an eye out for Jolly Bundy sending his fellow gnomes out with a few more presents into the Basin of Life every once in a while. When you find one, just influence them with Charity (**AB INFLUENCE BEGGING** for full details) to get a present. You won’t be able to track these gnomes so don’t let lack of their prints and such mislead you. Remember that you can only get a present this way once an in-game day (once an hour) – so if you find a Solstice gnome and you’ve already had a present, share it with your friends! Gnomes will not be found swimming, snorkeling, or diving in the seas but could be found in sea-located or related areas (the Cay, Spectre Isle, etc.). You will also not find them on far away continents like Mount Dio or Icewynd, or hard to reach places like Lirangsha, but they have been exploring the Undervault. Keep an eye out for Gaaglin and the Academy too as they have found their way there. They will also stop by cities and communes, but don’t try to find them in the villages as Ironbeard has those covered. If you are unsure whether it is worth looking for gnomes when there has not been an announcement about them arriving recently, we got you covered too. Check with either the gnome pilgrim at pilgrim camp or the gnome at the visitor’s playpen in Solstice Court (both of those will become available tomorrow). If you ask either if all the gnomes returned yet, they will let you know if there’s stragglers out there still! ## Solstice Court The baying of unruly huskies heralded the opening of the Solstice Court located upon the Jolly Drifts. Eager visitors can visit it by **CATCH**ing snowflakes drifting upon the highways or taking one of the husky-pulled sleighs parked up and down the Stairs of the Last Nine, right outside the Aetherplex (**ENTER SLEIGH**). That scenic route offers room for a party of up to four and the leader decides how fast the sleigh will go. To return, simply PULL the rope within the manor or ENTER one of the sleighs at the sleighgrounds departure site for a quick return. Once there, be sure to visit the bridge where several retired gnomes have taken up residence and peddle their wares. If you forgot to bundle up before leaving for such icy climes, you can purchase warm clothes on the bridge too. Be sure to swear the vow with Steward Tombin to receive your leaflet which will guide you through the Solstice quest and the various activities there (**READ LEAFLET**). The reward is a stocking that you can hang for yourself or others. Be sure to check out the ever more challenging skating experience, meet the guests, send gifts and postcards, enjoy the ambience, the adorable penguins and huskies, and more. There is a special Solstice-themed Vengeance game to be played in the manor too. If you wander over to the northern end you will find the glasshouses open this year and within everything you need to make a wreath. Wreathmaking consists of choosing the right hanger, greenery, and decorations, and the resulting wreaths will reflect your choices in all elements of their appearance, with the option to adjust things and bring some features to the front if you used many materials. Be sure to follow instructions on the signs, the bucket, and the wreath. Once done, you can display the wreath somewhere, even on the Astral Plane if that suits your fancy, and they will charm the locale wherever they are hung. The glasshouse also has a suggestion box for new materials and we’ll be sure to check in on it often! ## Winter is Here Frost Spite’s none too happy about winter being associated with joy so he has cursed the Basin of Life with a frosty spell. The weather has cooled everywhere and snow has fallen in all nations of the Basin of Life. Magnagora and Gaudiguch will notice their snow is more of the sooty variety thanks to the smokestacks and the neighbouring caldera respectively, but it will work all the same! **PROBE** the snow to see how to interact with it and be sure to make some much-requested snow angels. We have a few more things we are working on in Solstice Court and elsewhere so stay tuned, you’ll see a changelog when something new is added. **Categories:** News --- ### [October and November 2024 Change Summary](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/15/october-and-november-2024-change-summary/) **Published:** December 15, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The following is a summary of all recorded changes which happened in October and November 2024. If you follow changelogs already, there is nothing new here. However, all items in the changelogs from this month have been categorized into relevant categories for those who do not follow changelogs regularly. ## Artifacts - Aethersuits have been recoded to better select the most appropriate armour out of all options with fewer edge cases. (Changelog 3038) - Those who have consumed the Manna of the Gods artifact will now have it reflected in their retirement value. (Changelog 3041) - Curio user interface updates. (Report 508, Changelog 3054) - CURIO LIST adds MXP labels in several locations. - Collectionless curios now display by curio type in CURIO LIST. - CURIO SUMMARY POWERS filters to collections which have powers. - Collectionless curios will display by curio type in CURIO SUMMARY. - CURIO SUMMARY now allows filtering by collection or type. - CURIOMARKET SHOW now allows filtering by collection or type. - CURIOMARKET SHOW ALL now includes collection/type in filter search. ## System - A new rule has been added to HELP ASCENSION RULES for the Challenge of Harmony to prevent debating an ally just to make them unable to be debated by an opponent. (Changelog 3041) - Aetherhunting Experience – we have increased the amount of experience granted by aetherhunting in general (Report 553, Changelog 3043) - CONSIDER should now be more explicit about points used in events which share mob point values with other events. (Changelog 3045) - Endzone mobs no longer provide a score for greathunts. (Changelog 3045) - Added safety checks around endzone cleanup to prevent a potential edge case which may delete a player’s beast. (Changelog 3048) - Beasts will no longer permanently die if they are killed at level 1, and will instead return to the stable as any other death. (Changelog 3048) - Resolved an error which allowed invalid input in autocuring parameters to crash the game.(Changelog 3050) - Vengeance games should now trigger certain reactions for survivors who were not counted as winners. (Changelog 3054) ## Cities/Communes - Shop policy permissions for the chancellor ministry now has a better error if you do not have the appropriate permissions. It is also now usable by aides. (Changelog 3043) - Ascending or descending a citizen or changing an organization’s political stance will now require a majority rather than a consensus. (Changelog 3055) ## Skills - Harmonics Crystalplex spam has been significantly reduced in most scenarios. (Report 560, Changelog 3054) - Beast Poison – refilling a beast’s poison glands with the same poison it already has no longer costs beast balance. (Report 554, Changelog 3054) ## Rewards - Artisanal and Bardic rewards have been increased across the board. (Changelog 3056) - Design Reviewer rewards have been doubled permanently, from 1 credit to 2 for Juniors, and from 2 credits to 4 for Seniors. (Changelog 3056) **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Roadmap Updates](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/14/roadmap-updates/) **Published:** December 14, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’ve been cooking since the last update post and we definitely had what to think about. Legacy changes involve entrenched mechanics and often cannot be resolved with bandaids. Not that bandaids help solve or even alleviate many issues anyway, but neither do entire overhauls that drag on for years. We need to strike a balance between these two options to deliver you consistent, exciting, and timely updates so the two main issues on our plate have been daily credits and aethergoop retirement. Firstly, the daily credits system. Ours was developed back when the whole system was introduced IRE-wide and almost nothing has been done with it since. Meanwhile, the other games have developed theirs into much more advanced systems. That is not the main reason we see it as a priority to expand though. It’s not the general lack of updates but that it has become an obstacle rather than an enrichment of the player experience. Players often do not engage with others, with roleplay or events, and even don’t pursue various avenues of progress and discovery because their time is spent on grinding daily credits. There are many reasons for this – some players are just used to doing it or feel like they are missing out (that infamous FOMO) if they do not get what they could of the game’s currency for the day, while newer players feel like they have to in order to have any hope of catching up. The bottom line is that between FOMO and the solitary nature of doing one’s dailies, players often spend their time on things that don’t make them happy rather than what does. So we got to work, identifying problems, studying what others have done, and figuring out the general shape of what we want in light of legacy mode. Ais then wrote up a 15-page draft that you might see if she finds the time to make it presentable because we’d like to show you how something of this size gets made. We then put it up for admin comments, made some tweaks and decisions that needed to happen, and it’s now back on Ais’ desk. There are some key elements of the new system that we’d like to let you know about already. Most importantly, the system will have a buffer which will build passively, allowing players to take days off or participate in events outside of daily activities without worrying about missing out. In addition, there will be a rollover mechanic specific to a few daily credit sources – for example the recognize command. Between the buffer and the rollover, we hope to alleviate the biggest problems with the current system. Next, it will introduce weekly and monthly objectives, the completion of which will be a source of limited resources tied to old promotions, like Iron Coins, Vault Keys, etc. That handles the other big objective of this system. Further, the cap will be increased from the current 20/40 to 50 credits to round it out. We will also be able to integrate certain events, seasonal activities, roleplay, and other systems into this once it is out but want to be clear that these entirely new ways will come as an update to this system rather than along with it. This change will be massive enough because in addition to coding all of it from scratch, we also need to migrate everything that currently gives daily credits as nothing about the old system will be compatible. But we are very excited about the variety of options this will give us, like being able to reward guild rituals, organisational leadership, group activities, and more. Now onto the second major plan: aethergoop retirement. As touched on before, having an additional currency beyond credits was part of monetization and having whole systems focused on it was creating games within games that have been out of control for a while. Frankly, as it turns out they have been out of control even beyond our worst projections. Nobody exactly looks at how old things work once they are rolled out because they work, nobody’s complaining, and there’s too much else to get done as is. But we had to look at things like curio genies, among other things, to see the whole picture clearly. Before we elaborate on our decisions, I wish to focus on genies specifically so you can see the scope of the problem. Genies come in 3 types – the blue, red, and yellow collection. There are 4 bottles per collection so 12 bottles would make the whole set. You can activate each collection for a blessing – health, mana, ego – as you might expect. You can also rub each bottle individually (so 12 bottles) every real day to receive something extra – there is a 95% chance that the extra will be 3-5 goop or a 5% chance that it will be between 1-10 aethergoop craftables (which can be broken down into 1/4th goop cost needed to make them). There is no cap on how many bottles you can have/use and some players have hundreds even though genie sales were rare intentionally. Unlike sets like macaron curios though, you could reroll regular curio pieces into genie pieces and build an army of genies. We’ll spare you the exact math but to generalise someone with 200 genies could generate the equivalent of 100 credits a day for years just by rubbing all of them. The example is in credits as goop amounts can get a bit abstract otherwise. And there are players with much more than 200 genies. This is absolutely and utterly broken and there is no salvaging this system or how much goop it has generated. We’re using genies as the main example but this covers pretty much everything to do with goop and its associated systems. We cannot just adjust one thing, all of it needs to go. All of that said, we must emphasise that there is nothing wrong with having used the systems as designed. The numbers are staggering but there is no player fault in how things turned out, the fault lies in the original design and the constraints that prevented us from revising the system once it was put in place (monetization, time, coding resources). So all that said, here is where we are with aethergoop. Aethergoop as a currency will be retired and any aethergoop in player possession will be converted to credits at a 20:1 ratio, our standard, up to a maximum of 200,000 aethergoop (10k credits). We did our best to find a fair middle ground for the cap, and as it stands it will affect 6 active players and 2 inactive players (those players have more than 200k aethergoop). The ability to purchase from the artifact shop with aethergoop will be removed, and skins/transformations will be done with credits instead. Further, aethertrading and refining will be removed, and all aethergoop crafts will be changed to use commodities gained from aetherspace mechanics instead. This latter point, how aethergoop crafts will be made, is something we are still working on and will not be rolled out immediately. Instead, a shop will be made available to sell them for gold and credits. It will stay open until a new way to craft these items is made available. Additionally, as aethertraders will be retired, so will the ability to purchase anomalies from them. We will not be providing a replacement for these but will be monitoring the situation and will do so if necessary. For the time being there are over 11.5k anomalies out there. And finally, genies, poteens, treasure maps, wondercornucopia’s gift power, merry stocking, and any other external sources of aethergoop will be individually adjusted to do something different. Some of them will retain or gain the power to generate athergoop craftables as well. In some cases, a cap will be put on the number of owned/usable items and in those cases, refunds will be made available. All of the aethergoop changes outlined above will not go live until January 15, 2025. If you have any additional comments, this post will be available on the forums for your feedback. Thank you also for all the thoughts you have provided in Report 572, which also highlights that removal of aethergoop makes the newbie experience more difficult in terms of progress. We are keeping that in mind while working on legacy changes and assure you there are many ways to help those newer to the game compete without the need for an additional currency to pursue. Speaking of, Report 573 focuses on artifact adjustments. While both players and admin definitely see a handful of artifacts that will require adjustments, we will be moving that project to our general Roadmap rather than the immediate Legacy Roadmap. Instead, we will now focus on addressing the value and availability of artifacts for an improved experience for both new and old characters. We will also audit and consider retiring certain artifacts and reinstituting their effects as widely available skills. The final item for this update are Envoy Reports. While we have a Roadmap item to address deficiencies in the report cycle, we do not feel it is fruitful to hold up other changes while we work out the new system. A cycle will open December 27 and we aim to finalise the few leftover decisions and investigations that have been pending from the previous cycle before then. This cycle will follow the same format as the last cycle – anonymous and visible comments, combat and QoL welcome. Conflict reports will also be welcome in this cycle but please focus them on specific requests that improve the experience, rather than asking for a redo of an entire system. As an example, adjusting a domoth stage to require different conditions is a suitable report, asking to redo entire stages, triggers, and rewards is beyond the scope of reports. Lastly, we have started a Special Report for Serenwilde as their skills have been waiting for a revamp for a while now and are the most lacking in terms of synergy and kill paths in a few instances. While exploring their problems, we will determine if the problem is limited to Seren-specific skills or if shared across the archetypes as well. Those are our immediate plans but there is more on the Roadmap in general: the newbie experience (intro, access to skills and artifacts, PvE), conflict experience (alliances, conflict events, envoy system), and the aetherspace. While this post focuses on our development plans, another one, closer to or after the holidays, will focus on our story, roleplay, organisational, and general admin plans and work. Thank you for taking the time to read this update, The Lusternia Team **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [September 2024 Change Summary](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/10/03/september-2024-change-summary/) **Published:** October 3, 2024 **Author:** Ais **Content:** Hello, The following is a summary of all recorded changes which happened in September 2024. ## Artifacts - All artifacts in ASHOP that were only purchaseable with aethergoop are now also purchaseable with credits. (Changelog 3025) - Winter Curios are now available for purchase in ASHOP. You can search for them with ASHOP LIST KEYWORD WINTERCURIOS. See HELP WINTERCURIOS for more details. (Changelog 3025) - All seasonal artifact skins will now be available at all times. There are two sets, Summertime and Valentines. The former were already turned on, Valentines are now available too. You can find them with ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME and ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES. (Changelog 3025) - Zemeran Curio packages are now available in ASHOP for regular purchase. (Changelog 3027) - Steam should no longer drop from herb pouches on death. (Changelog 3030) - Lirangsha Mist should now verify whether a mob has been influenced before using its charge. (Changelog 3030) - Wondersaddle breath targeting should now work identically to the non-wondersaddle beast minorbreath attacks. (Changelog 3030) - Paintings with master seals will no longer reset from pedestals. (Changelog 3032) ## Character - You can once again wake up to feeling deliciously well rested. (Changelog 3023) - Lesson gains for leveling have been overhauled, with new gains ranging from 25 to 150 depending on the level. See HELP LEVELS for a breakdown. (Changelog 3025) - Wondercrystal gains for levelling have been increased. You can now gain 20 wondercrystals total for levelling to demigod instead of 10. See HELP LEVELS for a breakdown. (Changelog 3025) - Daily Credit gains have been doubled. You will be gaining twice what you used to for the same work, up to the new limit of 40 credits. (Changelog 3025) ## Cities/Communes - CR6 members may now use CITY/COMMUNE LASTLOGIN on the council of their city/commune. (Report 538) - Council members may now use CITY/COMMUNE LASTLOGIN on other council members and on ministers. (Report 538) - Chancellors can now see if shops are linked or expanded in CITY/COMMUNE SHOPS. (Changelog 3037) - CITY SHOP INFO now also lists whether the shop has any expansions or has been linked to the aetherplex. (Changelog 3037) - CITY SHOP POLICIES has been added to allow review of a shop’s price policies. (Changelog 3037) ## Combat - Snare traps will now hit either leg, not just the right leg. (Changelog 3023) - Shofangi Bullcharge will no longer cause an error if tried without wielding shofas. (Changelog 3023) - Shadows created by Night should no longer attack their target upon leaving the arena. (Changelog 3030) - Kephera damage conversion should now work properly for Kephera females. (Changelog 3030) - Smokestep should now display lines in the proper rooms. (Changelog 3030) - Surfboard should no longer allow movement in Aquamancy – Deluge without a waterwalk defense. (Changelog 3030) ## Conflict - Wildnodes will now last 60 minutes from 90. (Report 566) - Wildnodes will now start in 5 minutes after announcement from 10-15. (Report 566) - Node point score will be doubled 50% of the time to account for the change to Wildnodes times. (Report 566) - A node will have a chance, after 3 minutes of being planted, of unplanting itself and appearing on a different astrosphere. (Report 566) - Wildnode minimum player count has been reduced to 15. (Report 567) - Wildnodes now has a significantly higher chance of happening earlier in the day. (Report 567) - Wildnodes has been added to CONFLICT. (Report 567) - Nodes will no longer appear upon the astrosphere of Ophiuchus during Wildnodes. (Changelog 3038) ## Defenses - Fade messages have been added to all aethercandies. (Changelog 3030) - ChaosAura should no longer double up on fade messages when disabled. (Changelog 3030) ## Helpfiles - HELP DISCIPLES is now available so you can consider which boons you wish to ask of the Avenger. The Disciples will be contacting the organisations this week to make their selections. (Changelog 3022) - Orghelps (chelp, ghelp, clanhelp, etc.) now have a RENAME function. (Changelog 3035) ## Quests - The following quests have been added to the quest system: - clarramore\_ball (Changelog 3027) - pierre\_courtship (Changelog 3027) - A persistent issue with restarting either side of the Krog quest has been fixed. You will be able to get the medallions now. (Changelog 3027) - All Gaaglin and Gorlognal Academy quests have been rated, meaning you will now earn daily credits for doing them. (Changelog 3027) - Gaaglin and Gorlognal Academy quests will now reward curios from two new collections: Gaaglin and Gorlognal respectively. These collections follow the usual pattern and consist of travel, damage resist, damage enhance, and magic item curios, while the collection power takes you to the relevant area. (Changelog 3027) ## Skills - You may now exhibit up to 3 paintings in a room. Triptych painters and gallery owners rejoice. (Changelog 3032) - ITEMLIST FOOD will now show the enhancement/infusion on the food, if any. (Changelog 3032) - You should no longer be unable to forget the runes skill while holding an active meld in some cases. (Changelog 3033) - New skill: Bookbinding – Sorcelcharm. (Changelog 3034) - Allows creating a blank sorcelcharm scroll which can be used by enchanters. - Requires one blank scroll and 10 magic ink. - Appears at Gifted 25%. - Syntax: SCRIBE SORCELCHARM - New skill: Enchantment – Spellscribe. (Changelog 3034) - Uses 10% of reserves or powerstone, requires a sorcelcharm scroll. - Appears at Adept 50%. - Syntax: ENCHANT ON - Usage: READ AT - Bookbinding – Manual moved to Gifted 50% from Gifted 33%. (Changelog 3034) - Bookbinding – Codex moved to Gifted 75% from Gifted 66%. (Changelog 3034) - You are now able to use ASSESS on yourself. (Changelog 3035) - Bard songs may now be renamed. (Changelog 3035) - Energycubes will now receive 20/30/40/50 charge per tick from 5/6+1/7+1/10. (Report 545) ## System - Introduced a change to prevent game crashes due to item bloat. (Changelog 3026) - WHATCURES INSOMNIA should now properly respond with ‘relax insomnia’ rather than ‘smoke coltsfoot’. (Changelog 3028) - Greatly improved logging speed which should assist with lag during busy periods due to buffer flushing. (Changelog 3030) - New public board: Updates. (Changelog 3034) - Periodically, we will use this board as a collation of changes and changelogs in that period, or for major changes not quite deserving of an announce but deserving of their own dedicated post. - This may also include progress updates on roadmap/starmap items and information about future changes. - Beasts will no longer die in the stable when the fees are not paid. Instead, they will accumulate a fine the longer the fees are unpaid. Beasts may not be removed from the stable or summoned while bearing a fine. (Report 555) ## User Interface - Alignment for non-demigods using QSC should now be fixed. (Changelog 3030) - You should now be able to WARES SCABBARD to narrow down scabbards and frogges which apply to a specific weapon. (Changelog 3030) - Nonbinary fixes for multiple non-standard enter/leave messages. (Changelog 3030) - Conversions using the DATE command will now show both UTC/GMT and configured timezone variants. (Changelog 3032) - DATE and TIME will now show the current season as part of the output. (Changelog 3032) - SEARCHNEWS/NEWSSEARCH will now show more detiled results, including author, subject, and date posted. (Changelog 3035) - POWERLOG SUMMARY now shows bard/scholar count in a separate column. (Report 543) - A large number of typoes in system messages have been fixed. - A large number of generic nonbinary verb conjugation typoes have been fixed. **Categories:** Uncategorized, Updates --- ### [Legacy Roadmap](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/10/06/legacy-roadmap/) **Published:** October 6, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** After last month’s legacy mode news, we have been working hard to figure out what that means for the game as a whole. We’ve made some immediate changes to lesson, wondercrystal, and credit gains, but those barely scratch the surface of how deep monetisation has been woven into the fabric of the game. The reality is that much of the game’s systems were centered around monetization and many choices, some not beneficial for the game’s health, were made over the years. From our perspective, legacy changes are not just about replacing what is now missing (credits, etc), but addressing many of these problems as well. Not all of these are easy decisions to make and not everybody will agree with every one of them, as such we want to explain our thoughts and ask for input where relevant. First of all, no changes are going to happen overnight. We are a small and entirely unpaid team of volunteers, with our own lives and priorities. So we would like to preface the release of this roadmap with a note that this is merely the first phase – the items which require addressing more immediately. Iteration and feedback will be part of the process, and we have to account for everything happening behind the scenes as well, so we will not give timelines for anything below. If you feel something is urgent but not mentioned below, it may well be reserved for a future implementation phase, but please do mention it anyway. The more input and discussion we have, the easier it is to set priorities around your needs and pain points. This update will create a post on the forums for you to comment on as having comments in one place makes things a lot easier for us. Understandably, many valuable comments will be made on Discord too, but those get lost very easily. Please be sure to transfer your thoughts to the forums later. ## Legacy Roadmap ### Credit Availability Credits require immediate addressing as the primary way to receive them has been removed, as has a tertiary method in the form of the credit market. This limits the availability of lessons, artifacts, and similar to players. This is a top priority for us to address, and the current consensus is to make immediate use of a system to tie them to a set gold cost. This gold cost will be set at a reasonable amount and is considered to be a soft upper limit. We will be encouraging players to sell between themselves and make use of org credit sales (see Announce #2909 for how orgs gain these now) for discounted credits as well, and daily credits will continue to exist. Going forward on the roadmap, we also intend to look toward improvements to the daily credit system, such as adding new ways to receive daily credits and some way to mitigate the fear of missing out that comes with a daily reward system. We definitely want to add more social ways to gain daily credits and want to stick to the golden rule that doing one’s dailies should take no longer than the prescribed 2 hours, no matter what the final max daily credit limit may be. In addition, we will be making changes to contest rewards. While all details are not written in stone, artisanals and bardics are to have their prizes doubled starting with the September contest. All player helper positions will also see their rewards adjusted – those being guides, reviewers, builders, and coders. ### Aethergoop Aethergoop (and previously Dingbats) were added primarily as a secondary premium currency which was not directly sold on the website in order to make use of in promotions. Later on, due to player demand, systems were added which in their unchecked and unbalanced state caused an excess of aethergoop to flood the game, heavily devaluing it while also making it difficult to handle as a premium currency. Given our new reality of not requiring this separate premium currency, as well as the difficulties that have been created by this system in general, we intend to retire the currency altogether, as well as associated systems such as aethertrading. At this time, the plan is to convert aethergoop at a set ratio to credits automatically. The amount that is to be converted is likely going to be a capped amount, as due to the aforementioned unbalanced systems a small number of outlier players have hundreds of thousands (and in a few cases, millions) of aethergoop on hand. Once this is officially announced, we will give you an adequate amount of time to decide how you would like to proceed with your stockpile – use it up or leave it for us to convert. Systems which interact with aethergoop such as aethercrafting of candies, scarves, and buttons will be moved to interface with gnomish trading instead to help encourage the use of aetherhunting in changes which may happen later down the line. All goop producers will also be adjusted accordingly. That said, there is still a need for discussion and input around these changes, and we will be opening a report for thoughts about this change, as well as exploring sinks for those who are more interested in spending their aethergoop rather than having it converted. ### Artifacts We are sure everybody reading this post can, with very little effort, think of at least one artifact which they would label as unhealthy for the game. The coal trowel’s pit effect, nature discs, and the massive glut of artifacts with trueheal effects are three examples which are likely near the top of the list; items so notorious for their effect on the game that they have to be balanced around. While many of us certainly have our own thoughts on them, a larger discussion is certainly required to determine not only which artifacts are problematic, but also what to do about each of them. For some, changing the effect may be more appropriate, while for others removing it entirely may be best. To best address this, we will be raising an initial report to gather player opinions on existing artifacts, and based on this feedback and internal observation and statistics, we will initiate the changes or, in some more extreme cases, open reports for player feedback regarding individual artifacts. ## General Roadmap While the three above are the most immediate, we are not sitting still on the rest of the roadmap. Other items we are looking into and prioritizing include, but are not limited to, the following: ### Newbie Experience It is not wrong to say that our current newbie experience is confusing for new players and non-ideal for returning players. The Pools quests have usability issues, the intro barely covers any subjects while also locking you in if you already know all of it, there is little guidance on what to do past newbiehood, and collegium experiences are very inconsistent across orgs. We are looking into solutions for these issues to assist with retaining new players. Alongside that, we will be further improving the newbie experience vis a vis legacy changes with additional lessons for tasks and college quests, and other catch-up mechanics so newbies are not on such a hopelessly uneven footing with established players. Tis might, for example, involve a newbie quest that rewards an artifact vial/rune to help outfit newbies with what is often considered the bare necessities. ### Development Process and Prioritization Our current development process is very much ad-hoc and there is no formal design philosophy written down; instead, it changes by the coder and project. Likewise, there is a large number of systems that got implemented and immediately abandoned, which has led to massive bloat of half-finished features. While this is a less visible change to players immediately, it is a huge benefit for the long-term health of the game as it gives us a framework to decide how to make changes and ensure systems remain supported. ### Helpfile Modernization Many of our helpfiles have not been kept up to date with changes being made over the years, or do not give information that is necessary for players, creating an almost invisible oral tradition which makes the game near impenetrable for players. Then there is also the wealth of changes necessary for legacy mode. We have already started an audit of helpfiles which are out of date, and are looking to expand the scope of the helpfile system altogether, both in terms of mechanical features and the scope of topics it covers. ### Org Development and Health Many of our orgs are in a situation where they need attention or have requests sitting for some time. Addressing these is a priority. As mentioned before we will start with an audit of requests – first internal and then with org leadership – and see how to move forward. ### Combat and Conflict Combat-focused reports have been sporadic in the last few years due to limited resources. As mentioned previously, we have mortal coders who have been instrumental in finishing the last batch and who have a high interest in focusing on combat balance. We are working with them to determine the best schedule for further reports. The most recent batch is almost done, but two reports from it have been put on hold due to legacy mode changes taking priority. That’s report 565 and 568. We will get around to them but we need to wrap up some legacy changes and other reports first. ### Other The above are just our immediate plans for legacy mode, and not an exhaustive list of everything that we are working on. We plan to take player input and rely on our own observations and statistics to decide where to go next. Thank you, The Lusternia Team **Categories:** News, Updates --- ### [Solstice Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/11/solstice-schedule-3/) **Published:** December 11, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Lusternia’s Solstice on the horizon, we want to let you know what our schedule will look like ahead of time. All our regular events will be returning this year and there is a lot to keep one festive! 14th December – Ironbeard and gnomes will start making appearances. 15th December – Solstice Vouchers will be able to be redeemed. 15th December – Solstice Court will open and winter will come. 20th December – Solstice Quests will open in cities and communes. 20th-26th Dec – You will be able to claim all daily credits with HAPPYHOLIDAYS. Both Solstice Court and Solstice Quests will close after the 5th of January so you should have three weeks to both visit the frosty place and complete the quests. Ironbeard and the gnomes will stop making visits after the 1st of January. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Vouchers](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/02/solstice-vouchers-2/) **Published:** December 2, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As Solstice nears, the inhabitants of Solstice Court have rolled up their sleeves and are preparing for the holiday season! Supplies, packages, and mail are all being carried back and forth over the Iceburn Plains by husky-drawn sleds. You might know one of their drivers already, Sarora Bowtail! But the holiday season requires more, much more! You can now find a supply camp at the pilgrim camp at the foot of Avechna’s Peak (just west of the PILGRIMCAMP landmark) where Homney Honeytongue is running the kitchens and keeping the entire camp well-fed – the workers and the huskies. But the huskies love to frolic and escape their pen in search of adventure so Homney would really appreciate some help! What do you need to do? Head over to Homney to pick up the SOLSTICE\_HUSKIES quest that will be active all of December. Bring him cows, sheep, any manner of deer, or carrots from Vesucia to make 5 dog treats. Find huskies loitering along the highways, mountain roads, and in areas near the camp. If you bring 5 huskies back to the camp, you will complete the quest for the day. Not only does that reward credits but also a piece of a curio from the winter set (see HELP WINTER CURIOS). Every quest completion counts! If you complete the quest 15 times this month (check QUESTEVENT), you will earn a Solstice Voucher that you can redeem for something interesting at a special store that will open when Solstice commences. One of the options is a merry solstice stocking which gives a free gift every Lusternian year – among options are commodities, reagents, palettes, artifact golden lips, and more. There are also a variety of other limited edition items there and we hope to add something new this year too. **Categories:** News --- ### ['Tis the Season of Giving!](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/12/01/tis-the-season-of-giving-3/) **Published:** December 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of December, Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for Solstice domination! But this time you don’t have to buy stockings to participate, you will be getting a stocking every time you complete all of your dailies for the day throughout December. And during the holidays themselves, **HAPPYHOLIDAYS** will be active once more and you will be able to claim a few just by inputting that. The stockings can be hung in manses, and commune and city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: **HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\]** Syntax: **STOCKINGS** (to help track your stockings) At midnight, the person it was hung for can **UNWRAP** and get their reward: - 2 Iron Coins - 1 Macaron Curio piece - a standard present OR a peppermint/coal piece For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain: - 3 Iron Coins - 2 Macaron Curio pieces - peppermint piece OR coal piece - a glowing present Peppermint and coal can be combined to create special Solstice artifacts (see [HELP SOLSTICEARTIFACTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1330)). Meanwhile, glowing presents, when opened, will give you a greater chance of receiving a better present without resetting your present counter. Additionally, 10 other players in your room will also receive a normal present to open at the same time! Spread the joy and cheer to everyone this year! Throughout December you can also enjoy a variety of boons during the entire week (see [HELP PROMODAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1575) for the details). These are as follows: - Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays - Double Experience Tuesdays - Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays - Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays - Fated Fridays Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements as we have a lot more planned for December! **Categories:** News --- ### [July, August, and September 2024 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/11/29/july-august-and-september-2024-artbard-results/) **Published:** November 29, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artbard participants from July, August, and September! Alas, no submissions in October. If you’d like to join them, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=51) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. Remember the rewards have vastly increased and come in unbound credits. **JULY** ==( Artisanal Winner )== Esei ==( Bardic Winner )== Eridani ==( Bardic Merit )== Thalion --- **AUGUST** ==( Artisanal Winner )== Esei ==( Bardic Winner )== Aramantos ==( Bardic Merit )== Drastrath and Zulte --- **SEPTEMBER** ==( Artisanal Winner )== Esei ==( Bardic Winner )== Iazin ==( Bardic Merit )== Eridani and Iroha **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Days of Gratitude](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/11/28/days-of-gratitude-2/) **Published:** November 28, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving – either at all or does so earlier in the year – we wish those of you who do a happy one. We are grateful for the time all of you spend with us so if you are spending this time with family or friends (Or yourself! Everyone needs a “me” day), we don’t want you to choose between that time and working on your daily credits. Between the **28th of November and the 1st of December** (Thursday to Sunday inclusive), you will be able to claim all your daily credits for the day with a simple **HAPPYHOLIDAYS** command. We’re not doing Cyber Monday this year because the game is truly free to play now, instead there’s a 20% discount in the Artifact Shop (**ASHOP**) until the **8th of December** inclusive! We hope you have a great time and stay safe! The Lusternia Team **Categories:** News --- ### [The Haunted House](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/10/31/the-haunted-house/) **Published:** October 31, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Haunted House is now open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. It is located on the Stairs of Death on Avechna’s Peak and can be reached by the temporary landmark – hauntedhouse. It appears Trader Bob has been cursed by Cimtri, the Oracle of the Earthburner, but surely that will not slow him down any? A wide selection of toys, dolls, and costumes (including new ones!) can be purchased at Brilyn’s store and there is a slew of activities there to keep you busy and entertained. There is pumpkin carving in the garden, decorative web-making in the basement, two unique vengeance games, a spooky basement maze, bobbing for apples, fortune reading, haunted furniture, themed refreshments, and two chilling plays based on the house’s history. Remember those vengeance games can be initiated by anyone for a small fee so you can play them yourselves. Also, Brilyn sells a potion that will help you keep your carved jack-o-lanterns fresh for much longer if used in the aetherways, helping you keep those decorations for a good while. In the Haunted House basement you can also find a mirror which leads to a whole other area – an enormous maze with many mysteries and very unique challenges. It has its own spooky quest for you to undertake and a slew of secrets – within the mansion, beneath it, and out there in the maze. We are not guiding you to many of them on purpose, preferring to leave the mysteries of the Hallowed Maze for you to discover. Pay attention to your grimoire there. Beyond that, if you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air somewhere upon the Prime Plane, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. There are twenty-three different stories hidden behind those doors and the one to collect them all will find the associated quest completed (trickortreat). Be on the lookout for the telltale signs of the doors in the vicinity – spooky phenomena will be afoot. To make sure you don’t miss out on the main activities, the Coterie has prepared a Haunting Adventure to guide you through them. Be sure to pick up a pamphlet in the foyer of the Haunted House, it will be your guide. Between the pamphlet, the grimoire, and out there in the wild, there is a total of four quests for you to undertake (haunting, trickortreat, hallowed\_maze, hallowed\_mystery). If you are a Haunting veteran and wonder what exactly is new this season, check out Changelog #3052. The Haunting will end after November 10th, giving you the rest of the week to try everything out! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia's 20th Anniversary](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/10/13/lusternias-20th-anniversary/) **Published:** October 13, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia is now 20 years old and the festivities are upon us! Agwesha is back, selling festival wares at Avechna’s Peak at the handy **FESTIVALWARES** landmark. Among them, you will find area-wide fireworks, decorations, suspicious chocolate chickens, and more. The Chicken Rebellion is not far behind, plotting vengeance and rallying the troops. The Menestrean Wayfaire has also returned, set up near Delport this time, and you can get there fast with the **WAYFAIRE** landmark. Rather than receive 500 aethergoop for gaining the Wayfaire honour, this time you will complete an actual quest – **WAYFAIRE** – and get all of your daily credits done in one go and get an Eternal ikon as well. You can only do this once every time the Wayfaire is here. The Wayfaire shop now sells all of its wares in credits as well as goop. If you have goop to spare, certainly take advantage of that rather than credits (see Update #2). You can also pick up the fluffiest new beast there – a panther – and the old bouncing vials (which bounce back into your hand if dropped) and even the spin-the-bottle bottle. Ironbeard will arrive soon as well, visiting you all often and showering with presents. And then finally we will have lotteries running again for the first time in 12 years! Check out the updated **HELP LOTTERY** for how lotteries work because it has been a while. Four lotteries will open but you will not be able to buy tickets for them the usual way – not with gold. Instead, you will receive vouchers whenever you gain daily credits and you can exchange those for tickets in the lotteries. Each lottery’s tickets cost a different amount of vouchers to reflect the rarity of the prizes so be sure to allocate your vouchers strategically. You will be able to gain vouchers up until the lotteries close, around weave on the 20th. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia's Twentieth Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/10/10/lusternias-twentieth-anniversary-events/) **Published:** October 10, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia has turned twenty years old! By Creatrix, that is certainly an accomplishment and we’ll continue to go strong! As always, we’re holding a series of games, contests and more to celebrate this momentous milestone, with the in-character celebration known of the Festival of the Creatrix. All contests bar the Great Hunt and Battlechess award 300 credits for 1st place, 200 credits for 2nd place and 100 credits for 3rd place. In addition, 1st place will receive 5 glowing presents, 2nd place will receive 3 glowing presents, and 3rd place will receive 1 glowing present. Great Hunt rewards are in bound credits, scaling from 500 for 1st to 100 for 10th in each tier, whilst the organisation that wins Battlechess receives the famed Chessboard of Libertas. All prizes have been increased this year a bit! ## 13th October (Sunday) - 10pm GMT: The Festival of the Creatrix begins, with the opening ceremonies, pinatas, and the return of festival wares. - 11pm GMT: The Wayfaire arrives. - Weave: Ironbeard arrives and lotteries open. ## 14th October (Monday) - Weave: The Great Hunt begins. Enjoy the double experience gain. See HELP GREATHUNT for more details. ## 17th October (Thursday) - Weave: Great Hunt Ends. ## 18th October (Friday) - 10pm GMT: Chicken Hunt. Careful, the chickens peck. - 11pm GMT: Treasure Hunt. The first to figure out the clues, wins! ## 19th October (Saturday) - 9pm GMT: Death Challenge. See the bottom of HELP ASCENSION RULES for what this entails. This will be a no-pk event. - 10pm GMT: Battlechess. Each city and commune competes in this game to win the glorious Chessboard of Libertas. - Weave: Mystery Event. Await your invitation. ## 20th October (Sunday) - 4pm GMT: Harmony Challenge. See the bottom of HELP ASCENSION RULES for what this entails. This will be a no-pk event. - 10:30pm GMT: Festival Quiz. Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. - Weave: The Festival closes. Takes place after the Quiz, should it run long. Server time (as seen on TIME) is considered the point of reference for GMT, we will also ensure that Discord events line up with the above outline. **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Trader Bob's Marvellous New Stock](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/10/07/trader-bobs-marvellous-new-stock/) **Published:** October 7, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As mentioned in Update post #2, we wish to immediately implement a way to purchase credits at a fixed rate. This has now been done and you can buy bound credits from the already fabulously wealthy Trader Bob at 15,000 gold per bound credit. Should Bob be out of credits, unlikely as that is to happen, worry not as his shop will restock. [HELP CREDITS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=124) has been updated to mention Bob as a source of bound credits and it has generally been pruned of things that are no longer relevant. While expanding the shop’s functionality, we have also converted Bob’s shop to a newer system. You won’t be able to tell but on our end, it provides us with many additional options and insights. But that’s not all, Bob’s shop now also sells additional goods and some other goods have been retired. Here’s a rundown of stock changes: - You can no longer buy mending, regeneration, fire, and frost. - You can now buy ice and slush. - You can now buy non-master weapons for all warriors and monk specialisations. - You can now buy a simple vial, pipe, shovel, bucket, and tinderbox. - You can now buy standard-issue greatrobes. All pricing is double the minimum price possible (based on commodities used, assuming the lowest price of 50gp per), sometimes more, and all the wares have much shorter decay times than player-crafted goods. Meaning, Bob’s is truly the Last Chance Trading Post and he should not be undercutting player shops. You should only rely on his goods if what you need cannot be found anywhere else at all. **Categories:** News --- ### [Progression Changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/09/10/progression-changes/) **Published:** September 10, 2024 **Author:** Ais **Content:** Hello, We would like to just quickly make some announcements regarding level progression changes. For the sake of clarity and visibility, the following changes occured in Changelog 3025: 1. Lesson gain has been largely increased to allow learning all of one’s class skills through leveling alone, with the following progression: Level 1-20 – 25 lessons Level 21-40 – 50 lessons Level 41-60 – 75 lessons Level 61-80 – 100 lessons Level 81-90 – 125 lessons Level 91-99 – 150 lessons Level 100 – 300 lessons 2. Wondercrystal gain was adjusted by level, with a total of 20 wondercrystals gained between levels 10 and 100 (from 10). This will give everybody the ability to construct one full wonderitem just by leveling. 3. All artifacts in ASHOP acquirable with aethergoop are now acquirable with credits. 4. The daily credit threshold is now 40 credits, and the gain has been doubled across the board. The changes to lessons and wondercrystals were changed at the time of this changelog. As of this announcement, however, the lesson gain has been applied retroactively to existing characters rather than new characters. There is no action needed to take advantage of this, and you should have the lessons as of reading this. As well, the wondercrystal gain change may now be received by existing characters through WONDERWAND CLAIM. Thank you, The Lusternia Team **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The Future of Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/09/04/the-future-of-lusternia/) **Published:** September 4, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Dear Lusternians, We know that news of the game going into legacy mode is bound to elicit distressing emotions among many because technically it means no more support from Iron Realms and no more paid staff. But we want to reassure you that as far as we are concerned it is business as usual here. The entire admin team of Lusternia is not only staying on but we also have admin rallying back from retirement. Uilani is also staying on as a volunteer producer, soon freed of a lot of time-consuming administrative maintenance tasks. This does not change anything for us because, for the entirety of Lusternia’s life, it has been the volunteers keeping the game going and to say otherwise would be a disservice. We are here and we will remain here. This is our home. This change offers us a lot of opportunities. We now no longer need to worry about finances and promotions every month. No longer have to devote coding and building resources to new promotional items. We can work towards a level playing field of a truly free-to-play game and make new things as desired or when a great idea strikes instead of being driven by sales. We can move customisations from a producer-only job to a task shared by all and into an in-game system, and the same can be said for a lot of other producer-only tasks. We can also make any number of changes to our policies together with you and change what and how we share about development. As long as we are here and you are here, Lusternia continues. Starmourn, who we have been keeping in touch with, is doing just fine in legacy mode and so will we. A truly free-to-play MUD of this quality and with such staff is a rarity and this is sure to attract new players to the game as well. We are not worried or saddened. We are excited. September will be a month of big changes but as we make those we will also be working on everything we have already been working on. Conflict reports will see implementation, meetings with organisational leaders regarding their admin requests will take place, the treasure hunt will continue, and events for various releases of new content (or divine…) will continue. To answer any questions and concerns you may have, and to take your suggestions and ideas, we will be hosting an in-game town hall meeting today (2 hours before weave) and another one at the weekend (most likely Saturday). The one today is more of an impromptu meeting and not all admin will be able to come (work, life, other obligations), but you will see more of us at the weekend and some will also be writing personal godblogs about all of this. Welcome to a new, free(d) Lusternia! Signed, Ais, Darvellan, Drocilla/Uilani, Elathir, Iastor, Kaewa, Kalikai, Manteekan, Maylea, Nocht, Nymea, Orael, Suurae, Valtreth, Zvoltz **Categories:** News --- ### [Legacy Mode](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/09/04/legacy-mode/) **Published:** September 4, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** This is going to be a big announcement and a big change in many ways but we want to emphasise that you should read all of the upcoming announcement posts carefully before forming an opinion. This first one is a general announcement and explanation of the immediate changes, and the second one will be a detailed look at what this means for the game. Lusternia is officially joining Starmourn and Imperian in Legacy Mode. In Legacy Mode, Lusternia will continue, but purchases such as credits and artifact packages will be disabled to ensure that the game can continue to run without ongoing financial strain. In essence, the game will be run by a fully volunteer team and be entirely free to play. This will entail a variety of changes to make gaining everything the game has to offer through in-game means viable. As the two games above have already gone through this process, we have a template for the kind of changes that are needed and know how things have turned out for them. While Imperian has no support at all, Starmourn does and their volunteer team has been working tirelessly to produce new content and revamp their systems ever since. What this means exactly in terms of immediate changes: 1. The retirement values of all characters are forever frozen. 2. Characters elsewhere will not be able to retire into Lusternia. 3. You can retire out of Lusternia into Achaea or Aetolia with the full 100% of your retirement value. Your retirement value is safe here and will remain that way, so you can do this at any time in the future without worrying that the value will be lost at some point. 4. Purchases are turned off as of this announcement, and the credit market is disabled. The team here is not going anywhere, so if you choose to stay with Lusternia we promise that this is going to be a smooth transition full of new opportunities. If you choose to retire to non-legacy games, we know you will be welcome wherever you go and thank you for your time here. **Categories:** News --- ### [Horizon Walkers Treasure Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/09/01/horizon-walkers-treasure-hunt-2/) **Published:** September 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tessie Snapfuse is hosting another treasure hunt (see Public News #[1997](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Public/1997/)) and as this one is slightly different than we usually do, here’s a breakdown of how it works: **BASICS:** - go to Tessie’s tent at the pilgrim camp and **STRETCH** to get the compendium - **READ COMPENDIUM** to learn what the clue is - **TRACE COMPENDIUM** when in the room you think is the answer to check off the clue - wait for the next real day for the new clue (at weave/midnight GMT) **DETAILS:** - everyone receives the same clue on the same day - if you start a few days late, you will have the old clues to complete first - there will be a new clue right after the weaving every day for the entire month - if you are first on a given day, Tessie will keep track of it (**READ BOARD** in the tent) - be the first 5 times to receive an honour - the announcement about being first is delayed a few seconds so you can vanish without betraying your location - if you complete the treasure hunt’s clue for 20 days, you will receive a new Fate Deck: Deck of the Grimkeep - you can track your completions with **QUESTEVENT** – mark this is 20 individual days, not 20 clues in one day - if you complete the entire compendium you will receive a macaron curio (green for non-demis, brown for demis) - completing the compendium also makes you eligible for a standard Horizon Walkers reward (see **HELP TREASUREHUNT**) Good luck! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Ascension of Abraxin](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/26/ascension-of-abraxin/) **Published:** August 26, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With the Nine Challenges complete, Avechna, the Avenger declared that Ascension begins for Almighty Kethuru could not be held back any longer without the Nine Seals whole. Magnagorans were first to reach the Staff of Ascension, with Warlord Uzriel d’Vanecu, the Sealbearer of Life, to pick it up and pass it on to their chosen contender – Silvanus d’Murani. From there, they raced to the Astrosphere of Scorpio, where the Almighty’s power was manifesting and the Staff of Ascension was necessary to hold Him back. Thus positioned, they waited, for they had none to rely on but themselves this Ascension. And though the forces of Gaudiguch, Glomdoring, Hallifax, and New Celest sought to pry the Staff of Ascension from his hands, Silvanus never relinquished it. Magnagora faced wave after wave of resolute opposition and blood was shed upon every Astrosphere of the Astral Plane, soaking into the Almighty’s domain. While battles raged upon Astral, Serenwilde chose to focus their efforts on protecting the Basin of Life rather than championing a Sealbearer of their own. With the Seals weakened, Kethuru was able to send forth the Daemuru of Cardinals into Oleanvir Valley where it was first found by Huskii Myeras. The invasions continued with the Shogatha of Mutability and the Azoraphant of Fixation ravaging across the Prime Plane, all stopped by Serenwilde who chose to devote these efforts to their own Sealbearer, Madungonga Stormhide. On Astral, Kethuru continued to manifest His power upon the Astrospheres, forcing those seeking to seal Him away to change tactics and locale frequently. Eventually, Silvanus was triumphant in proving himself to Avechna and became the True Ascendant to recharge the seals. The process both destroyed and remade him, to be reborn under the name Abraxin. All hail, Abraxin, the True Ascendant of War! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Ascension Gala - Afterparty](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/25/ascension-gala-afterparty/) **Published:** August 25, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** If you missed the Gala, the Gilded Chateau will remain open until the end of next week. It is located in Toronada Tidal Flats and you can get there fast with a new landmark – GALA. The official party is over but the site has a lot of entertainment to offer for its visitors still. Here’s a rundown of what to check out: - pose on the red carpet (PROBE CARPET for details) - get announced by Sergio at the door - sign the guestbook in the entrance hall - pick up a goodie bag (origami) from a table in the game room - play the Deck of Fates against someone - enjoy food and drinks available on the tables - take to the floor in the ballroom - try out Pachidrui’s Perilous Palate Party (PUSH BUTTON and TASTE things) - peruse guestbooks from previous Galas in the library - ask Fable for a story, mad libs! - pluck a dream orchid on the terrace - play a game of vengeance full of Bobs (since Changelog #2585 you can initiate them yourself) - ask waiters for outlandish gossip (it will cost you!) - ask waiters to fetch you a drink or a dessert (PROBE WAITER) - ask Ember for spicy gossip if you dare (no really, you’ve been warned) - get some questionable taxidermy of a corpse you bring from Aucagolei (basement) **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Adjustments](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/21/ascension-adjustments/) **Published:** August 21, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Last Ascension we added two new mechanics into the mix: Rotating Nodes and Prime Assaults. This year we’re further expanding the mechanics to make the contest more dynamic and challenging. We will be testing all these changes with you from Friday onwards on my test server. What’s here focuses on combat but there is one more announcement coming related to additional prizes for those who placed in the challenges and those who do well in but do not win the Ascension. ## Rotating Nodes This was a beneficial change and is staying as implemented. As a refresher, Kethuru will be focusing his attention on one Astral Sphere at a time and the Sealbearers have to bring the staff to the node on that sphere to start accruing points. See the original announcement for the details (Announce #3170). ## Prime Assaults Last time the heralds of Kethuru found attacking Prime were too powerful, requiring very big groups to hunt for them. We’re keeping this mechanic but will be adjusting the heralds to be easier to hunt, while also adjusting their point worth down. You cannot win Ascension just through this and the Sealbearer will need the staff to pass the threshold of 3600 points, but it will remain something to do for those wishing to show support. Putting the corpse in a Seal will add points to the Sealbearer’s score and heal a small amount of their insanity (new). ## New: Node Effects To make fortressing harder Kethuru will be attacking those standing on the node of the correct Astral Sphere (as seen in **EVENT STATUS**). This will trigger every 2 minutes and do one of two effects: - Tremors: will move a random amount of people (minimum of one) off the node. Staff Holder will be immune to this effect. - Winds: will strip shields and briefly stun a random amount of people (minimum of one). Staff Holder is not immune. ## New: Movement Limitations Kethuru will be exerting his power across Astral during Ascension and interfering with some methods of movement. Cubixes and medallions will not work while on Astral. This means you can get to Astral with them but cannot get off Astral with them instantly. ASTROGLIDE works for everyone during Ascension, and all other ways will still work as well (like ascending to havens). The goal is to prevent limitless instant movement between spheres. ## Other - EVENT STATUS will display the sphere the staff is on, but not the name of the room anymore - We are looking to wrap up Report 530 before Ascension - A wholesale forced movement patch is coming to add safeties against spam to all forced movement skills. They will cost 0.5s of eq/balance when there is no valid target, the loss will not stack. - HELP ASCENSION has been expanded to explain what Ascension actually entails, what it looks like, and Medallion powers. This will soon be expanded to include information on rotating nodes, etc. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Beauty 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/18/challenge-of-beauty-2024/) **Published:** August 18, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With the sweet return of dreams and the banishment of nightmares still fresh in the minds of the visionaries of the Basin of Life, the artists channelled their skills into capturing the essence of this theme for the Challenge of Beauty. Amazing creations both large and small have been crafted and sent forth for judging. The process was neither simple nor swift for many an amazing design have been submitted. In the end, it was the design of Tikki of Hallifax that won – a dress of the oneiric veil. This lovely design captured tranquil dreamers beneath the great oak at the pilgrim camp set against the darkness and manipulations of Panaxra, the Dreamshade. Second place was awarded to Kailanna n’Kylbar of Magnagora, for a glass lantern of unwaking duality. Third place was awarded to Esei Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring, for an oil-slicked amphitheater-styled fighting ring drenched in nightmarish imagery. Fourth place was awarded to Mellori Stormcrow of Glomdoring, for a brooch of subdued sunlight. Fifth place was awarded to Tridemon Regalis of New Celest, for a lake bed of dream. These five designs can be found at the Cave of Beauty for all to admire. Though these five designs rose to conquer all others, the following designs merit honourable mention for their craftsmanship and interpretation of the Avenger’s theme, in alphabetical order: o Alysi Diluculo of Glomdoring (surreptitiously spicy seafood spring rolls) o Eiselle Mes’ard of Gaudiguch (a wind-singing lotus dreamcatcher earring) o Exeryte Stormcrow of Glomdoring (a fanciful swing graced with gold-dusted wings) o Qoivhae Vivalde of Celest (a wedding cake of dreaming dawn) o Sapphira d’Vanecu of Magnagora (a silken tapestry of a twilit promenade) o Teladahi D’Varden of Celest (a richly-embroidered arcanum of shimmering tides) o Xiran Stormcrow of Serenwilde (a saddle blanket of Serenwilde past and prophecy) **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Challenge of War 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/18/challenge-of-war-2024/) **Published:** August 18, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Basin of Life’s finest combatants assembled within the Klangratch Tournies to decide who was the finest champion and fight over the Medallion of War. Four teams battled it out and left nothing but blood and bodies upon the battlefield. Though the competition for the finals was fierce, one team claimed victory every step of the way, comprised of Kalas Zagreus, Kalas Freja, and Silvanus d’Murani of Magnagora. As Zagreus has previously Ascended, and Freja holds the Medallion of Chaos, there was but one person who could claim the Medallion in the end. Congratulations, Silvanus d’Murani of Magnagora, Bearer of the Medallion of War! Winner’s Circle (500 credits each): Zagreus and Freja Second Place (250 credits each): Ollie, Tirah, Ixchilgal Runners Up (100 credits each): Madungonga, Aknarin, Ayisdra **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Challenge of Knowledge 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/18/challenge-of-knowledge-2024/) **Published:** August 18, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With the Challenge of War settled, the Challenge of Knowledge gathered adventurers from all across the Basin to test their knowledge of many different topics within the Chamber of Knowledge. And what a quiz it was, with ups and downs and tough competition until the end. Qoivhae Vivalde of Celest took an early lead but Hinic of Hallifax quickly caught up. While Inagin La’Saet of Celest, Jolanthe Myeras of Serenwilde, and Mellori Stormcrow of Glomdoring kept up the pace, Qoivhae and Hinic remained in the lead. It all came down to tie-breaker questions in the end, which saw Hinic victorious. Congratulations, Hinic of Hallifax, the Sealbearer of Knowledge! Second Place (700 credits): Qoivhae Vivalde of New Celest Third Place (500 credits): Inagin La’Saet of New Celest Fourth Place (250 credits): Jolanthe Myeras of Serenwilde and Mellori Stormcrow of Glomdoring Fifth Place (100 credits): Kalas Zdrada of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Challenge of Chaos 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/12/challenge-of-chaos-2024/) **Published:** August 12, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Fur flew across the Prime Plane as the Hamster of Chaos manifested, her long cigar streaming smoke across the skies as her smaller, less chaotic brethren invaded the roads of Lusternia. The first to claim the Chaos Hamster was Freja, of Magnagora. Assisted mightily by her city, she evaded capture from all those who would seize her prize, while the Hamster pulled her from the mountains to the swamp, even dunking her in water from time to time. Yet, the Hamster of Chaos is fickle, jumping from Freja’s grasp to be claimed by Sapphira. Despite Sapphira’s charm, however, the Hamster decided to jump ship once more, running around until she could be claimed by Freja once more at the last minute. Well done to Kalas Freja, Bearer of the Medallion of Chaos! Second Place (700 credits): Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde Third Place (500 credits): Sapphira d’Vanecu of Magnagora Fourth Place (250 credits): Arix Mes’ard of Gaudiguch Fifth Place (100 credits): Hinic of Hallifax **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Challenge of Justice 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/10/challenge-of-justice-2024/) **Published:** August 10, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In a riveting clash of eloquence and intellect, the mortals of the Basin of Life engaged in a fierce contest of egos, vying for supremacy and the title of Sealbearer. Each participant, driven by the unyielding desire to prove their mettle, stood before their peers with words as their weapons and minds as their shields. The first to take their places at the podiums were Romaan D’Varden of New Celest and Iazin Stormcrow of the Glomdoring Commune, both warriors of wit, ready to set the tone for the day’s trial. The air crackled with anticipation as the duel of rhetoric commenced. Romaan, with a deftness of speech and clarity of thought, quickly outmaneuvered his opponent, delivering a series of verbal strikes that left Iazin reeling. As the challenge unfolded, the participants relentlessly championed their causes, each seeking to stake their claim upon the coveted Seal of Justice. Hours turned to a blur of impassioned discourse, as the day wore on and the sharpness of thought began to dull with fatigue. Yet, amidst the waning light, two formidable minds from the Serenwilde Commune remained standing – Lendren Starfall and Huskii Myeras, poised for a final confrontation. With the dawning sun casting its golden rays upon Mount Avechna, the time for reckoning arrived. In a display of unwavering resolve and brilliance, it was Lendren Starfall who ascended with the sun, securing both the Seal of Justice and their rightful place among the greatest minds of the Basin of Life. Second Place (700 credits): Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde Third Place (500 credits): Afrit Dahyu of Gaudiguch Fourth Place (250 credits): Xiran Stormcrow of Serenwilde Fifth Place (100 credits): Romaan D’Varden of Celest and Galaphyrae Talnara of Serenwilde **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Challenge of Life 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/04/challenge-of-life-2024/) **Published:** August 4, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** After proving their mettle in the challenge of the Seal of Nature, a far different challenge was presented with the Seal of Life: adventurers were tasked with the healing of diseased furrikin across the Basin of Life, searching far and wide for their sick patients in need of curing. Though many furrikin possessed the same ailments, their symptoms sometimes manifested differently, proving an initial challenge for even the most seasoned veteran to heal. Uzriel d’Vanecu was the first to heal a furrikin, despite his clear disdain for them, but Cheliyi Lunarose was quick to take the lead in the trial. For almost half a day, these two went head to head alone but as time went on, others began to do well with their healing as well. Huskii Myeras, Galaphyrae Talnara, Mellori Stormcrow, and Jolanthe Myeras all sought to catch up but Uzriel raced ahead at such a pace that none could match his healing prowess. And so, Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora proved worthy of bearing the Medallion of Life, having healed 79 diseased furrikin. Congratulations, Uzriel! Second Place (700 credits): Cheliyi Lunarose of Celest (46 furrikin healed) Third Place (500 credits): Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde (21 furrikin healed) Fourth Place (250 credits): Galaphyrae Talnara of Serenwilde (14 furrikin healed) Fifth Place (100 credits): Mellori Stormcrow of Glomdoring (13 furrikin healed) **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Seal of Nature 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/04/seal-of-nature-2024/) **Published:** August 4, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The nightmares of Panaxra, the Dreamshade have left traces of their corruption all over the Basin of Life and so those who would compete for the Medallion of Nature gathered to dispel the last of Her hold over the waking world. The power of Nature manifested to this generation as a series of corrupt mirrors of gnarled oak, and the challengers swiftly departed with their newfound treasure to put it to good use. Tridemon Regalis of Celest was the first to find a clue the mirror showed him but it was Fair Galaphyrae of Serenwilde who took an early lead. She held onto it even as Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde and Tridemon were hot on her heels. As soon as Esei Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring joined the search, they stayed in the lead for a very long time until Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax eventually blazed ahead and remained in the lead way ahead of everyone else until the very end. Congratulations to Ayisdra, the Sealbearer of Nature! As always, for their efforts, the following are rewarded for their participation: In Second Place (700 credits): Esei Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring In Third Place (500 credits): Cheliyi Lunarose of Celest In Fourth Place (250 credits): Ferelith D’Cente of Glomdoring In Fifth Place (100 Credits): Arix Mes’ard of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Bob's Summer Special](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/08/01/bobs-summer-special-2/) **Published:** August 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Trader Bob has once again unveiled to the Basin the forgotten vaults of treasures that he has unearthed over the years! Let’s face it, at his prices, he can afford to go around exploring for treasure. The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the website! Contents of the vaults include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, curio packages, fortune cookies, and artifacts (including some limited availability ones). You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna. You can access the vaults with the **VAULTS** command at the **VAULTS** landmark and read more about them under [HELP VAULTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1595). Anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will also receive a key piece. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key (see VAULTS commands). In addition to that, our Summertime Skins have been expanded. Can you tell we love the summer? See all the new ones at the bottom of **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME** – ASHOP 1302 through 1321. If you like what you see there, be sure to grab them this month as they won’t be available after that till next summer. That’s not all as all credit purchases from the website will also come with special chests once more. For every 100 credits purchased, you will receive one chest. To sweeten the pot, you will also receive a chest at the first 25, 50, and 75 credit intervals, resulting in 4 chests total after purchasing the first 100 credits. Your progress will refresh every 1000 credits and can be reviewed with **SHOWREWARDS**. Disclaimer: This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages. What’s inside the chest? A boon of your choice! You can **UNLATCH** the chest and choose between receiving an extra 25 bound credits, 500 aethergoop, or 1 gleaming wondercrystal. Lastly, every Tuesday this month you can earn double daily credits. That means that rather than 20 total for the day, you will earn up to 40! And on Thursdays, your chance of dealing critical strikes will be higher. See [HELP PROMOTIONAL DAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1575) for more information. **Categories:** News --- ### [Seal of Death 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/28/seal-of-death-2024/) **Published:** July 28, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The formidable Challenge of Death has once again cast its ominous shadow over the citizens of the Basin of Life. From the farthest reaches of the world, warriors converged, each bearing their weapon of choice, their eyes alight with fierce determination. As the sun set upon the battlefield, the once serene lands ran red with the blood of valiant denizens and brave citizens alike. The air was thick with the clangor of steel and spell as eight mighty challengers spread throughout the Basin with Huskii Myeras of the Serenwilde Commune taking an early commanding lead. The Midnight Legions of Magnagora soon stormed the battlefield, fiercely protecting Shango D’Cente as he soon claimed the lead for himself. Huskii and Jolanthe Myeras of the Serenwilde Commune continued to leapfrog for second and third, followed closely by Zdrada of Gaudiguch and Ayisdra Ysav’ri of Hallifax. However Shango’s lead was secured as he rose victorious to claim the Medallion of Death. As always, for their efforts, the following are rewarded for their participation: In Second Place (700 credits): Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde In Third Place (500 credits): Jolanthe Myeras of Serenwilde In Fourth Place (250 credits): Zdrada Kalas of Gaudiguch In Fifth Place (100 Credits): Ayisdra Ysav’ri of Hallfaix **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Silverfur Stargazers](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/06/10/silverfur-stargazers/) **Published:** June 10, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was the middle of winter in the year 676, when grumbles of Professor Slabmika Mologmomo’s alerted everyone to her field reports being tardy, much like some of her students when coming to class. The Professor of Gorglognal Academy, located in the Gaaglin Swamp, was awaiting information from taurian twins who had recently begun working for the Academy. Given the dangerousness of their journey home, a search party was sent out to locate the Silverfurs. While they searched, a debate went on among those present about the importance of these documents. What information did they contain? Why were they important? Professor Slabmika only explained that since the Balach Observatory was lost to them, they had to make other arrangements for researching the stars and what may lay beyond the reach of the Basin. Huskii Myeras was the first to locate the pair, soon joined by Veldrin, Ayisdra, Sapphira, Uzriel, Wrynn, Tridemon, Esei, Eluisa, Xiran, Tikki, and Mani, with the Professor in tow shortly after. Trouble had found them indeed. They were covered in burns from head to toe it seemed, however, any attempts at magical healing by Waykeeper Mani of Serenwilde or rinses of cooling waters only further burned their skin. Lady Grey Sapphira d’Vanecu even suggested a lich seed might be the only thing to cure them entirely. Was all hope lost for the youthful taurians? It turned out that while travelling to their family homestead, Ojuka Silverfur encountered a dreadful ooze in the wilderness by the Gloriana River. She had been prepared, however. A glassworker at heart, she had previously crafted a glass vial ten times the thickness of a normal design to collect a sample. This shattered anyway when it touched the small glob but perhaps saved her and her brother, Ojyu’s, lives. Soon, the Professor summoned Professor Vleim Etloo from the Academy for assistance, and after a quick detour, she determined that the sustained burns were indeed chemical. Wyrden Haruspex Esei Shee-Slaugh brought forth the vleebgarglegush alembic needed to mix a poultice that contained various life forms from the swamp. “The sucking one, and the long other sucky one, the sticky one, and the squirming one” – were the instructions given. Tikki, Chair of Hallifax, thought on this list and correctly deduced that a tick, leech, frog, and marshworm might be the only hope for a cure. Once applied, the concoction released the essence, allowing traditional healing to take root and ease the burns. The field reports, however, shared no such luck. Either ruined by the ooze, chemicals, or mud from the local area, they were completely useless and would need to be redone. With an invitation, the crowd followed the twins back to Verasavir Valley where, with a pair of keen eyes, Huskii Myeras spotted their homestead and escorted them inside. After a bit of a fuss between the Ojuka and Ojyu, writing a new field report for the Professor could begin. The family’s telescope, aged almost as much as their homestead, had been taken apart for routine cleaning and would need to be reconstructed. Waykeeper Mani deduced Ojuka’s instructions on configuring the device with ease. Though with some encouragement that the more help the better, Tikki, Esei, and Veldrin also offered their advice. Like with most delicate pieces of machines, however, disaster struck once more. One of the main lenses cracked right down the middle. Seaglass gemstones would be required to replace it. Eluisa Starfall was the first to find the specific type of creature that held the material, soon joined by Tylwyth Nightshade. Once the raw material was broken down into a usable substance and placed into its proper mold, Tikki was left to operate the oven. The reports were not quite ready yet though as adjustments would need to be made to the telescope in order to properly record and document the moon’s trajectory through the sky. Willingly, Tylwyth took the sextant and set out to gather the data needed to calculate the telescope’s angle. Upon his return, Tikki solved the mathematical puzzle to get the correct position. After waiting for the sun to set off into the west horizon, the group gazed through the telescope only to spot a meteor shower falling from the sky. In the end, Ojyu once more produced his report and sent it off to the eager Professor. What exactly does the Gorlognal Academy need these reports for? And what danger does this mysterious ooze pose, one so similar to that found within the Muhanlesh Caverns? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Seal of Harmony 2024](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/28/seal-of-harmony-2024/) **Published:** July 28, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The first trial of this Ascension, the citizens of the Basin once more gathered to see who would claim the Medallion of Harmony. Fourteen challengers and those who would assist them traveled the length and breadth of the First World to spread their influence to as many denizens as they could in the span of one day. Soon developing an early lead, Madungonga Stormhide of Serenwilde commanded the top of the charts, while Huskii and Jolanthe Myeras of the Serenwilde constantly traded places in the rankings in and out of first, second, and third place, ultimately ensuring that the Seal would go to the Forest Commune. However, Veldrin D’cente of Magnagora, Inagin La’Saet of Celest and Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax would all threaten from behind. Despite a hard-fought challenge all the way until the end, Huskii Myeras trailed behind to third place, and Jolanthe Myeras was always one step behind Madungonga Stormhide. He claimed the top spot in the end, and is now the Sealbearer of Harmony. Congratulations Madungonga! As always, for their efforts, the following are rewarded for their participation: In Second Place (700 credits): Jolanthe Myeras of Serenwilde In Third Place (500 credits): Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde In Fourth Place (250 credits): Veldrin D’cente of Magnagora In Fifth Place (100 Credits): Inagin La’Saet of Celest **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Beauty Challenge Stats](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/22/beauty-challenge-stats/) **Published:** July 22, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’d like to share some interesting Beauty Challenge stats with you. For some of those breakdowns, we can only go back as far as 2015 but we managed to get a few charts that account for the entire run of the challenges too. One of the things that we have heard over the years is that Artisan designs always win and so, that it is the best trade to submit for. But that seems to be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Artisan design submissions have increased significantly over the years, so it’s no wonder those do better. It’s not the only reason but definitely don’t be afraid to submit for other trades, they stand as much a chance to do well! ## Number of Submissions **Note**: The first time a theme was introduced was in 2018, marking a noticeable decline in submission volume. ![The graph shows the number of designs and designers each year. In 2015 there were 36 designers and 75 designs. In 2016 there were 42 designers and 83 designs. In 2017 there were 54 designers and 97 designs. In 2018 there were 28 designers and 39 designs. In 2019 there were 15 designers and 19 designs. In 2020 there were 38 designers and 56 designs. In 2021 there were 38 designers and 38 designs.](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/designdesigner-1.jpg "designdesigner-1 - Lusternia") ## Trade Representation by Year ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2015.jpg "trades2015 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2016.jpg "trades2016 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2017.jpg "trades2017 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2018-1.jpg "trades2018-1 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2019.jpg "trades2019 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2020.jpg "trades2020 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/trades2021-1.jpg "trades2021-1 - Lusternia") ## Trade Placement Overview ![This table shows which trades scored which place during each year.](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/totalbreakdown-1.jpg "totalbreakdown-1 - Lusternia") ## Top Placement per Trade ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/winnertrades-1.jpg "winnertrades-1 - Lusternia") ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/runneruptrades.jpg "runneruptrades - Lusternia")**Runner up defined as placing between 2nd and 5th** **Categories:** Contests, God Blogs, News --- ### [March & June Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/27/march-june-artbard-results/) **Published:** July 27, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artbard participants from March and June! Alas, no submissions in April and May. If you’d like to join them, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=51) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. **March** ==( Bardic Winner )== Xiran ==( Bardic Runner-up )== Zylissa **June** ==( Bardic Winner )== Aramantos **Categories:** Artbards, News --- ### [Beauty Submissions - Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/22/beauty-submissions-open/) **Published:** July 22, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The time has come once again, and We challenge you to submit works worthy of the competition for the Seal of Beauty! Before We get into Our usual review of the submission guidelines, a note: Avechna’s announcement (Public News #[1994](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Public/1994/)) must be taken into consideration when creating and contributing to this Challenge of Beauty. How you do this is up to you, and your interpretation will be considered in the judging. Now, as for the instructions. To submit, please send a message to the Charites including the following: - The Cartel Name on behalf of which the design is submitted. - The Design Number AND Appearance (to prevent confusion). - The Name of the original designer. Also note that this time you may also include additional information (up to one sentence!) as part of the submission to explain your interpretation or inspiration if you would rather not rely on Our ability to divine the meaning or inspiration should it be something more obscure. Example: For cartel “Divine Furnishings” I would like to submit design 12345, “a totally not poisoned sweater for an Awakener”, which was originally designed by Maylea. Please note that only Trademasters (not cartel owners) can submit designs. Also, to limit the amount of confusion, you are not allowed to change the submission of your cartel once it has been made. We might be willing to make the occasional exception for this if there are good reasons for doing so; ISSUE yourself if you believe yourself in this situation. Additionally, please take note of the following: - All submissions must be approved before being submitted to Us via message. - You may only submit one design per character. This does not apply to players, however. If you are playing both Trader Bob and Bob Junior, you may still submit a single design on each character’s behalf. - You do not need to design something new, but your design must work with the theme set by Avechna. - IMPORTANT: In order to keep the strain off the approval process please MAKE SURE your design does not have easily correctable mistakes such as spelling errors, linebreaks, missing words or typos by copy-pasting it into a program with a spelling checker and PROOFREADING it CAREFULLY. The more times your design has to go through the queue, the longer it will take and the more work it will be for Us. - Each cartel gets to submit one design and this design must be in the cartel on behalf of which it is being submitted; this can be any design on that cartel’s design list. It is not possible to switch designs between cartels at this time, so please consider your options carefully. - Please do not use the NO MORTAL REVIEWS flag lightly. We are going to be very busy making sure all regular designs get through in time and designs which bypass the mortal reviewers are always last on the to-do list. You will receive a notification by message when your design has been accepted. If several days pass and you have not received acknowledgement you may message Us a second time as per the above directions. Make sure it has been a few days since you contacted Us. The submission deadline is midnight (weave) on Sunday, August 11th 2024, by GMT standards (as displayed on the TIME command). Best of luck! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Ascension Challenges and Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/22/ascension-challenges-and-schedule/) **Published:** July 22, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As the Nine Seals are threatened, with the Seal of Beauty broken and the others weakened, an Ascension is upon us. The Soulless Kethuru threatens to break out of imprisonment and Avechna, the Avenger has called for the worthy and brave to compete in Seal Challenges to select the Nine that will stand in the Final Trial. Those Nine will then compete for the Staff of Ascension and one will rise as the True Ascendant to empower the Seals and secure Kethuru behind them. Each Seal Challenge is unique to that Seal and tests different abilities. Each challenge has a winner, the Seal Bearer who receives the appropriate Medallion, and the other participants receive credit rewards up to the fifth place. While it is possible to stand alone in those trials, your chances will be better if you have support and prepare in advance. Also, this Ascension you will not be representing just yourself to Avechna, but your organisations too, and rewards will be bestowed upon the nations of those who place in the challenges. We are also working on additional rewards and further tweaks to the Final Trial as well, and you’ll hear more about all that soon. To prepare for the challenges, you should review the information available in [HELP ASCENSION RULES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1231), which describes each challenge and its rules. While the challenges will remain as described there, we are still making some adjustments to the rules/balance of some of them. As an example, the point worth of some denizens for the Harmony and Death Challenge is getting re-evaluated (most notably those in Iceplains) and we’ll get you a finalised list on the 22nd (tomorrow) as Harmony and Death are the first challenges. Also, for Harmony and Death you won’t be able to kill denizens ahead of the challenge anymore (invulnerability will go up an hour before the challenge). Further, the Life Challenge will have the same general format but the illnesses/clues will be different to keep things fresh and fair, and we are still evaluating if there is anything new that should be allowed/disallowed in the Justice Challenge. We are reviewing your past feedback on the topic too but if there is any challenge-related balance issue you believe is worth looking into, please message me asap. And finally, all pending reports related to combat will be implemented before the Final Trial (next 1-2 weeks most likely) and we will also be looking into some group combat-related issues. Once we are ready to move on that, we will make the list of the problems and potential solutions available for your comments. Now onto the schedule itself! All the times listed below are in GMT, in accordance with Lusternia’s time and date as seen on TIME. The events will also go up on Discord so you will be easily able to see how that converts to your timezone. # ASCENSION SCHEDULE ## July 22 Challenge of Beauty: Submissions Open (await the announcement) ## July 27 Challenge of Harmony – 11pm GMT ## July 28 Challenge of Death – 4pm GMT ## August 3 Challenge of Nature – 11pm GMT ## August 4 Challenge of Life – 10pm GMT ## August 10 Challenge of Justice – 9pm GMT ## August 11 Challenge of Chaos – 11pm GMT Challenge of Beauty: Submissions Close (at weave) ## August 17 Challenge of War – 9pm GMT ## August 18 Challenge of Knowledge – 4pm GMT Challenge of Beauty: Results – 6pm GMT ## August 24 Ascension Gala – 10pm GMT ## August 25 Final Ascension – 10pm GMT **Categories:** News --- ### [Belated Summer Cornucopia](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/07/19/belated-summer-cornucopia/) **Published:** July 19, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Better late than never! Marutok took off with it but we finally managed to track down July’s promotion. Aethergoop Jars and Wonder Crates will continue to remain on the website until the end of the month. The first come with aethergoop, coins, and presents, while the latter with wonder crystals and presents. The aethergoop may come in particularly handy for artifact skins. From now until the end of August, Summertime Skins are making a comeback. You can find them in the artifact shop with **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME**. If you like what you see there, be sure to grab them before summer’s out. In addition to all that, in July you can also buy artifacts directly from the website at a steep discount in the so-called Artifact Cart (30% off). The discount is even higher if you have an Iron Elite Membership of any kind (40% off). Several limited-availability artifacts – normally available through Auctions or special promotions – can also be found in the Special category. These include the Rune of the Eternal Sigil, Master Bubblix, Atroposian Scissors, Wand of Illusions, Rune of Superior Mettle, and so on. Finally, this month you can also still enjoy Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays and Double Experience Tuesdays. The former will boost your hunting damage and the latter will double experience gains. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Custodian and the Dreaming](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/06/29/the-custodian-and-the-dreaming/) **Published:** June 29, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The night was young, mid-winter of the year 678 after the Coming of Estarra, and the Fellowship of the Roots was discussing the astounding power of the Dreaming – the wonder of dreams that are memories, both good and bad, and the warnings and pain they can bring. They went on like that through the night and by morning Naesan Sweetfur decided to rally the Fellowship to return to the Emerald Enclave to empower the Aegis against the corrupting influence of Great Muud. Though He was not the source of the disturbances of late, Great Muud was hunting the Sleeping Child all the more relentlessly, emboldened by the weakening of the dreams and, as a result, the weakening of protections around the Vernal. Naesan’s party was joined by Warlord Uzriel d’Vanecu, Lady Grey Sapphira d’Vanecu, Regent Xiran Stormcrow, Chair Tikki, Luce Shevat, Huskii Myeras, Yuzuki n’Lochli, and Mani, who set off for the Emerald Enclave that very same day. Once there, they pressed on further into the Aegis of Vestera and began the work of setting it to rights in earnest. Very soon, however, they stumbled upon something startling – the dead body of a being they had never met before. Elegantly dressed, their face was nought but a blank slate under a broken mask as if they never had a real face in the first place. Tikki patted the figure down and retrieved a scrap of paper from a pocket. Though it was ruined by acid and encoded, they were able to glean the following: 19–594 – -t-yf–rj– -wjf– Ij–h-j-. A filing number or a date? And what language could this be? The custodian, as they came to be known, was certainly no being they had met before though it reminded them of the mannequins of the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets and the beings of Iklara. There was work to be done either way so they pressed on while they pondered the message. The nightmares sent by Great Muud were numerous and doubled in strength, so they had their work cut out for them. While one party was clearing the Aegis, another was debating the likelihood of the custodians being among them as it would have been all too easy to pass unnoticed with such elegant clothing and a mask. Were they observers or messengers of some kind? One thing that became clear soon was that if the numbers were a date, Luce posited, they likely referred to the year 594 and the Awakening of Sister Sea. Meanwhile, upon another inspection of the note, Uzriel wondered if perhaps it was burned by the now infamous ooze that had been sighted twice within the Basin of Life. As if that was not troubling enough, Xiran pointed out that if faceless beings were involved, one should not dismiss the Soulless Nohaji, known as the Face-Thief, still free and active somewhere in the vastness of the Void. That launched them into a more thorough investigation of the custodian’s body, with Everiine Silvermoon going first and determining that while it was not natural, it was not infested by excorable powers. A link to the immanidivinus still lurked within, fading. Next went Mani, attempting to trace its auras but whatever animated the body had faded. And finally, Sapphira, who wasted no time plunging her surgical blade into the ribcage to reveal that the custodian was a construct, lacking in the way of organs a natural body would have. Just then, the body dissolved into sheer essence, brilliant and licked by flame, and then it was gone. As luck would have it, Luce completed restoring the Aegis of Vestara to its full power at that exact moment and all rushed to meet with the Keepers. There, they beheld upon the Aegis itself dream motes forming into an image – a message from the Keepers. A masked custodian, the one whose body they found, was seen entering the Emerald Enclave and rushing further in as if fleeing something in a panic. Their hands were being eaten at by a corrosive substance and the custodian eventually succumbed to that damage, deep within the Aegis, but it was clear that they were looking for something too. Concerned for the Dreaming, the group decided to visit the Dreamlands of Nirvana urgently. With Naesan’s assistance, Eluisa Starfall, Huskii, Luce, and Tikki went forth to investigate and found the Citadel sealed and the False Gods on high alert. Rather than fight each other, as they were known to do, they were instead protecting their lands and speaking of a Pact. Whether with or against that which intrudes upon the Dreaming was unclear for they chased out all interlopers with haste. With the Aegis of Vestera strengthened and Great Muud kept at bay, the group dispersed to consider these troubling findings. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Following the Dreams](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/06/26/following-the-dreams/) **Published:** June 26, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On a chilly fall day of the year 676 after the Coming of Estarra, Makali Ganth set out for the pilgrim camp at the foot of Avechna’s Peak in search of a friend. The Fellowship of the Roots, of which he was a member, had not heard from Naesan Sweetfur in a while and were concerned for his safety. At the camp, he was quickly joined by Cheliyi Lunarose, Wyrden Haruspex Esei Shee-Slaugh, Everiine Silvermoon, and Regent Xiran Stormcrow, who all offered their help in tracking down the missing tae’dae. Naesan, as they quickly learnt, was the artist and dreamweaver behind sketchbooks that had found their way into people’s hands a while back. The sketchbooks presented a challenge to find the places sketched therein. Little did they know at the time, however, was that both the sketches and the notes were an account of troubling observations about the state of the Dreaming. Makali sought to bring Naesan to the Fellowship to share these thoughts but the tae’dae was set on tracking them down to the source first. And so they parted ways, but not before Makali pressed an amber coin into Naesan’s hand, beseeching him to mark his camps in the Fellowship fashion for safety. They knew nothing of his whereabouts until earlier that day, when the amber coin abruptly manifested outside the Fellowship outpost in the Grey Moors. Luckily, Makali knew a little of Naesan’s early plans so they would be able to hone in on the trail easily. Joined by Eiselle Mes’ard, the group set out to follow the coin under Esei’s leadership, heading towards the Tosha Monastery first. Once they arrived at a field of bee hives beside the monastery, they spotted dreamy motes drifting through the air and felt their eyelids grow heavy and their minds weary. Concerned about a ploy, they were fighting the temptation just as Huskii and Valinea arrived to lend a hand. But before Huskii could assess the danger with their dreamweaving prowess, Everiine dove headfirst into slumber, falling still and lifeless at once. Concerned, Esei, Valinea, and Huskii chased after the Landspeaker into the dream only to find themselves in a very similar place – except full of anger, danger, and dripping with both honey and blood alike. There, by Everiine, they found a dream-distorted sketchbook, much like the one Makali showed them earlier. Within it was a note and though it said the exact same thing as the first note in the widely-distributed sketchbooks, finding it pocketed away here was promising. As Huskii slipped in and out of the dreaming world to keep those on guard in the waking world informed, Everiine pried further, exploring the boundaries of the dreamscape. In the waking world, the Regent struggled to shake him awake but in there, he saw the walls of the monastery grow and loom over him, the bees buzz angrily in search of a target, and the beehives overturned. He flew above the field and beheld the terror encroaching upon the land. At last, he awoke safely just as Mani joined the expedition. Knowing what it is that they are looking for, and what to expect, they set off for the next camp in the Tolborolla Valley. As they meandered through an orchard among the oaks, they spotted the telltale dreamy motes, but again no Naesan. Wasting no time, Everiine drifted off to sleep, followed by Huskii Myeras, Valinea, and Esei while the others stood guard over their vulnerable forms. Once more they found themselves within a dreamscape that reflected the place where they fell asleep, and once more it was a dark reflection full of crumbling apples and sickly trees. A disturbed place, where they constantly lost their memories with each whipping of the wind. The note they found was the second entry in the sketchbook, a note they already possessed, but their path was now even clearer. And so they came to and set off for the next camp, known to have been in the Scorpion Caverns. At the hall of stingers, they promptly drifted off to sleep and beheld troubling dreams in which a darkened figure with seared lips dashed by while holding onto mysterious crystals. Then, a swarm of dead scorpions moved beneath them like the tide, transporting something underfoot. They did not overstay their welcome this time and left with the note promptly. Their next stop was to be Verasavir Valley but the dreamweaver was not within the abandoned lodge when they got there. The dreamscape and a new note, however, was. In the dream, they found themselves in the very same lodge but vastly more ruined and licked by brown flames. Whispers reached their ears from darkened corners – two voices plotting – but no faces. Only when one lit a tinderbox did they spot seared lips in the brief illumination but all of that crumbled with the lodge. They left the dreamscape concerned for the new note spoke of worry that none will heed the warnings despite finding the sketchbooks, as indeed happened. Before they set off again, they considered the likelihood of Summer Heat’s involvement, for the brown seared lips reminded them of him but, as Esei pointed out, he was dead. While they were true, Huskii reminded them that he was but one of many. Their next stop was to be a glacier high in Avechna’s Teeth and beyond this camp, were Naesan was not to be there, they were on their own with but the coin to guide them as Makali knew of only those five camps. Naesan was indeed not there and in the dreamscape, they found themselves upon a melting glacier polluted with brown sludge. Smelling of sweat and anxiety, it was cascading down the mountainside, its force unstoppable and ushered forth by an oppressive presence. Terrified of the nightmare, they left with the new note outlining Naesan joining the Fellowship. In the waking world, they set off in search of the next camp which they eventually located by the Shallach River. In the dreamscape which they accessed there, they found themselves upon a scorched battlefield, full of dark figures controlled like puppets from on high. The note they found was no less disturbing, telling of Naesan’s restlessness while awake and exhaustion while asleep where he is hounded by nightmares. Refusing to succumb to this darkness, they continued on, picking Ayisdra Ysav’rai up along the way, until they came across a camp in the Balach Swamp. While they pried the dreamscape left behind there, Everiine and Huskii separated from the group to visit Gromagh the Hag of Hifarae Hills so that Everiine may see firsthand a being with lips seared brown. And indeed, Gromagh was still marked from whatever pact she entered in years past, but her power waned at last when the two attacked her after a heated exchange. Meanwhile, the dreamers found themselves in a surprisingly calm dreamscape given the locale, one reflecting the muddy trail they were on almost flawlessly. The note was lengthy, speaking of the Soulless Muud’s oppressive presence easily felt here, and frequent dreams of fields of grain that seemed different from past ones. Before heading back on the trail, they probed at the entrance to the Emerald Enclave but found it sealed shut with no explanation. Wasting no time they set off once more, still hoping to find Naesan safe. Having figured out that he seemed to be tracking recent catastrophes and disturbances in the Basin of Life, they followed the path of destruction to the Grey Moors, where once a cloier broke loose upon Paavik. They did not find Naesan, but as they fell asleep they found themselves in a lifeless clearing where an invisible behemoth roamed the landscape. They saw a cloier collapse and be devoured from within even before it was slain, and gagged at the stench of sweat and something foul. The note they found spoke of dreaming of the grains again and being sure the dream is different. Knowing Naesan would be seeking out a field of grain to dream in, they set off once more and eventually found the camp in Oleanvir Valley. Once more Naesan was not there and the dreamscape was an endless field under scorching summer heat and with darkness on the horizon. But now Naesan was sure, the dreams had changed markedly – small details at first but they were mounting, and even those dreams that brought joy were now nightmares. Certain they are right on Naesan’s heels, they set off once again and found another camp in the Balach Swamps but this time no dreamscape, only something buried in the muck – a sketchbook with all the notes in one place. The very last one outlined Naesan’s final goal – the closed-off Emerald Enclave. Finding nothing to go on elsewhere, the dreamweaver resolved to see if the disturbances come from the Great Muud. And so they followed, resolved and certain they were in the right place now. Once outside the Enclave, they made their presence known loud and clear, and demanded to be let inside. An illusion faded over the promontory just then and they were able to pass through the airlock into the dark hallways. The moment they made it inside, they were assaulted by cestodes that are normally only found within the Great Muud and so they ventured further with caution, fighting off danger right and left. With the Enclave under attack, Eluisa Starfall, Veldrin D’Cente, and Khnemu Dahyu joined to protect the Sleeping Child. The Keepers of Dreams sought out the dreamweavers, Huskii and Veldrin, and beckoned them to protect the tae’dae as they cannot do that while protecting the Sleeping Child as well, and so all hurried further until they found a note stained with blood. It was filled with Naesan’s neat handwriting, noting the high alert and war the Keepers were engaged in but that the veil over the Dreaming that he felt elsewhere was surprisingly not present there. Heedlessly, Huskii settled down to sleep but this time, their body was gone in the blink of an eye too. While others panicked, Huskii was shaken awake within a burning tower surrounded by a nightmarish landscape – their protector the tae’dae dreamweaver himself. Fires surrounded them and nightmares roamed just beyond the perimeter of the dream tower Naesan had retreated to in this peculiar place between the waking world and the Dreaming. Not wanting to leave Huskii on their own, the others followed into the dream and soon the tower was full to the brim with eager protectors. Naesan, though drained and exhausted beyond measure, was relieved to see so many rally to his defence but warned them not to leave the tower for he was barely holding it together against outside pressures and it was only Great Muud’s interest in the Sleeping Child, and not him, that has allowed him to survive so long. They would have awoken among the nightmares had he not jacked them into the safety of the tower as they arrived. But before they had time to speak much, the dreamweavers among them could sense the tower about to fail and rallied everyone to ready for the onslaught, their numbers bolstered by Romaan D’Varden and Tridemon Regalis. And then the tower fell and the nightmares came. One by one, they dispatched the tendrils and monstrosities of the Soulless, cleaving a path through the darkness towards an escape back into the Emerald Enclave. Taking Naesan and Makali with them, they left the nightmares behind and regrouped at the Enclave where they were safe enough, for the moment, to query the tae’dae about his experiences. But he had his own questions first, chief among them the circumstances of his rescue. He was moved to know that his effort to send the amber coin to the Fellowship not only worked, but was enough for such a rescue effort to be mounted. While he was hydrated, fed, and assessed for injuries by Mani, Naesan told them the Dreaming is worsening slowly but surely and something appears to be encroaching upon it. He also told them of his visit to the Citadel of Nirvana, within the Dreaming, where he found nothing overtly amiss, but the False Gods distant and preoccupied. He explained the dreams he had, which felt manipulated and twisted, something the Fellowship had already been studying. The only thing Naesan knew for sure now was that even though Great Muud was emboldened, He was not the source of the change. The Sleeping Child’s dreams were disturbed by whatever the culprit, and that weakness is what empowered Great Muud to pursue all the more eagerly. Everywhere Naesan dreamed, he dreamed of darkness. Except in Balach Swamps, where only regular nightmares awaited him. Khnemu suggested whatever it was, could well be afraid of Muud, and on that troubling note, the expedition parted ways, each finding their way home with more questions than answers. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Auctions Galore](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/06/12/auctions-galore/) **Published:** June 12, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It’s high time for the auctions to begin! Starting now, we will be running 3 weeks of auctions – first credit auctions, then gold auctions, and then credit auctions again. Each set of auctions will generally run through the week, with the exception of this first week which will end approximately on weave on Monday (June 17th) to give you a little extra time. We will try to end each week at a slightly different time to spread out the finale across timezones a bit better. Be sure to check out [HELP AUCTIONS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=945) to learn about the system if it’s your first time taking part in them. Gold auctions will be retaining their unique rules, which you can now also find at the top of the help file. Firstly, all artifacts bought in gold auctions will have no trade-in value. Keep this in mind when bidding as the purpose of gold auctions is not to buy cheap and then trade-in. Secondly, you will not be able to bid on an artifact you already own and we will be verifying if you traded in an artifact in order to bid on it. And lastly, it is only be possible to have bids in up to 5 gold auctions at once. All of this only applies to gold auctions. Sale in the Artifact Shop will be going away after Friday so make sure to take advantage while it lasts. As Week 1 is about to begin, below is a rundown of all that will be auctioned throughout the month so you can plan accordingly. At the very top there is also a breakdown of new and returning auction items. **Returning Artifacts:** - Infinite Health Potion - Infinite Mana Potion - Infinite Bromides Potion - Great Rune of Ethereal Summoning - Great Rune of Cosmic Summoning The infinite potions are exactly what they sound like, except that you cannot pour, empty, refill, or rift link them. They are meant for your use only. These have not been auctioned in forever and you should not expect to see them in every auction going forwards. The runes are making a comeback and you can review information on them under ASHOP 1300 and ASHOP 1301. **Curiosities:** - Package of 100 Macaron Curio Pieces - Package of 100 Winter Curio Pieces - Box of 25 Fortune Cookies - Cache of 25 Iron Coins - 25 Wondercrystals - 25,000 Aethergoop - Completed Curio Of Choice (Non-Quest Obtained) These are things generally available through other means already but we wanted to make them available through the auction as well. Some will be in credit auctions and others in gold ones to introduce a bity of variety to how they can be obtained. **New Customisations:** - Custom Garden - Custom Tongue Stud Exactly what it sounds like for those! See AUCTION INFO 41 for the custom garden and the Tongue Stud will have you design the stud and then the first person and third person lines (like in HELP TONGUE STUD). **WEEK 1 – CREDITS** - Infinite Health Potion - Infinite Mana Potion - Infinite Bromides Potion - Package of 100 Macaron Curio Pieces - Box of 25 Fortune Cookies - Staff of Illusions - Sandals of the Wanderer - Master Bubblix - Divine Rune of Superior - Cement Socks - Shears of Atropos - Drums of Kiakoda - Promise Rings - Survivalist’s Chalice - Boots of Shanth - Book of the Dead - Rune of Solid Mass - Amulet of Resurrection - Anomalous Puzzle Hyperpyramid - Paradox Puzzle Pentagon - Sempiternal Libram - Vellum Starchart - Gnomish Scentomatic - Piercing Eye - Silvery Cap - Rune of the Eternal Sigil - Great Rune of Charisma - Chaos Hamster - Wand of Ice - Wand of Fire - Gleaming Bracers of Shattered Crystal - Cloak of Thorns - Tully’s Golden Broom - Custom Demigod Entrance/Exit - Custom Teleport Message - Custom Hair/Beard Curio - Custom Typecast - Custom Beepbeep - Custom Mobgen (modified) - Customised Ent - Custom Garden **WEEK 2 – GOLD** - Cubix - Changeling Intaglio - Changeling Cameo - Wand of Illusions - Miniature Balloon - Gilded Cage - Pendant of Vitality - Skin of a Zombie - Superior Rune of Paranoia - Superior Rune of Charity - Superior Rune of Seduction - Superior Rune of Empowerment - Superior Rune of Weakening - Superior Rune of Cutting Resistance - Superior Rune of Blunt Resistance - Superior Rune of Magical Resistance - Superior Rune of Fire Resistance - Superior Rune of Cold Resistance - Superior Rune of Poison Resistance - Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Resistance - Superior Rune of Electricity Resistance - Superior Rune of Psychic Resistance - Superior Rune of Excorable Resistance - Superior Rune of Divinus Resistance - Superior Rune of Cutting Enchancement - Superior Rune of Blunt Enchancement - Superior Rune of Magical Enchancement - Superior Rune of Fire Enchancement - Superior Rune of Cold Enchancement - Superior Rune of Poison Enchancement - Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Enchancement - Superior Rune of Electricity Enchancement - Superior Rune of Psychic Enchancement - Superior Rune of Excorable Enchancement - Superior Rune of Divinus Enchancement - Great Rune of Absorption - Great Rune of Shielding - Great Rune of Musical Enchancement - Great Rune of Demesnes - 25 Wondercrystals - 25,000 Aethergoop - Completed Curio Of Choice (Non-Quest Obtained) - Package of 100 Winter Curio Pieces - Cache of 25 Iron Coins **WEEK 3 – CREDITS** - Great Rune of Ethereal Summoning - Great Rune of Cosmic Summoning - Package of 100 Macaron Curio Pieces - Box of 25 Fortune Cookies - Wand of Illusions - Sandals of the Wanderer - Master Bubblix - Divine Rune of Superior Mettle - Cement Socks - Shears of Atropos - Drums of Kiakoda - Promise Rings - Survivalist’s Chalice - Boots of Shanth - Book of the Dead - Rune of Solid Mass - Amulet of Resurrection - Anomalous Puzzle Hyperpyramid - Sempiternal Libram - Vellum Starchart - Gnomish Scentomatic - Piercing Eye - Silvery Cap - Rune of the Eternal Sigil - Great Rune of the Magi - Chaos Hamster - Transplanar Torus - Gleaming Wax Cube - Pound of Raw Flesh - Gauntlets of Dragon’s Breath - Temporal Freezer - Ring of Calming Hues - Tully’s Golden Broom - Custom Doll - Custom Guise - Custom Feature Curio - Custom Tongue Stud - Custom Deliverer - Custom Mobgen - Custom Ikon - Custom Emote **Categories:** News --- ### [Endzones Review](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/06/10/endzones-review/) **Published:** June 10, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Now that Endzones have been out for a while, we are looking at what tweaks we can make to make them more fun, more challenging, and more even. There are a number of issues that have been brought to us and put together they warrant a full reset of scores before they are implemented to keep things fair. A season 2, essentially. Because of that, we are seeking to gather additional ideas and thoughts on the issues already brought to us. We initially wanted to run the discussion as a report to keep it all in-game but it is unfortunately too complex a discussion for report comments to properly address it. As such you can now find the discussion on the [forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4945/grimkeep-season-2) instead. One thing we want to bring to your attention immediately though is that due to oversight it has been possible to enter ongoing Grimkeep runs through other means than Ronai after the 5-minute joining window has passed. Before this is properly patched up we want to make it clear that this is not permitted and HELP ENDZONES has been updated to reflect that. **Categories:** News --- ### [June Wheel Fortunes](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/06/01/june-wheel-fortunes/) **Published:** June 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of June, we have Iron Coins available to purchase from the website! You can spin these coins at the Wheel of Tzaraziko found at the Cave of Chaos. Additionally, playing for at least an hour on a given day will allow use of a free spin – **SPIN WHEEL FREE**! Check out [HELP IRON COINS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1466) for more information. There are new things in Fortune Cookies, which come from the Wheel, this time around too ([HELP FORTUNE COOKIE](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1510))! There is a whole set of new tongue studs inspired by racial languages, a few new fortune mantles, and a handful of new crowns of mastery. All the new options have a higher chance of occuring from Fortune Cookies than other fortune artifacts this June. You can check out all the new options under [HELP STUDS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1523), [HELP MANTLES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1492), and [HELP MASTERCROWNS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1350) respectively. Studs are in their own category (all 14 of them!) but here’s also a quick breakdown of the new mantles and crowns: - Mantle of Lost Breath (Asphyxiation) - Mantle of Storms (Electricity) - Mantle of Venom (Poison) - Crown of the Enclave (Emerald Enclave and Aegis of Vestara) - Crown of Thalassic Depths (Namiraa Trench) - Crown of the Eater (Gaaglin Swamp) - Crown of the Academy (Gorlognal Academy) - Crown of the Passages (Northern and Southern Passages of UV) - Crown of the Tunnels (Illteeth Tunnels and Razine Tunnels of UV) - Crown of Eternity (Project Eternity) The website also have two other offerings: **Aethergoop Jars** and **Wonder Crates**. The first come with aethergoop, coins, and presents, while the latter with wonder crystals and presents. A great way to stock up on goop or wondercrystals should you require them, and get extras alongside them. Last but not least, throughout June you can enjoy **Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays** which will yield a bonus to critical hits! **Categories:** News --- ### [Trialante and the Woodbine Lyceum](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/09/20/trialante-and-the-woodbine-lyceum/) **Published:** September 20, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** The sound of sparrows graced the Serenwilde forest in the month of Kiani, 484 years after the Coming of Estarra. The brown and silver birds flew in flocks across the forest skies and attracted the attention of a number of Serens. Curious about the unusual visitation, Serens fanned out to try to find the birds. Before long, Vates Arboreal Anita discovered a method to coax the birds to trust her, and with the help of Elissata, Minkahmet, Orimi, Bandeon, Aknarin and Ejderha, she was able to attract a flock of the melodic sparrows. And yet, Serens were not sure what to do next with these unusual birds. After several false leads, the will-o-wisp Little Lleucu, formerly of the Spiritsingers, was attracted by the crowd and appeared before them, commenting that the sparrows reminded her of the embodiment of the Voice of Trialante some years ago. It was then that Hearkener Elissata Silvermoon remembered that the sparrows did indeed nest and call to the Voice of Trialante with their song, years past. As Serens begin puzzling over where to bring the birds to call the embodied Voice, Little Lleucu cried out in alarm! She knew the perfect place – Trialante’s sundial of memories – and yet… At this, Little Lleucu bobbed away in her usual flighty fashion. About half a day later, Serens heard the voice of the igasho Cataka Hurosh carrying across the forest, having a discussion with the little will-o-wisp about a certain ‘unveiling’. After a brief back and forth, Serens were called by Cataka to come to the location of their old Library. Risen from the ruins before them was now a grand structure fashioned of oak and moonhart: The Woodbine Lyceum, a centre of culture and learning for the Serenwilde, of which Cataka will be Curator. The forest’s fae architect, who had been working on the project, granted the Serens access to the Lyceum with great pomp and circumstance. As Serens gazed in awe at the Woodbine Lyceum, Little Lleucu zipped inside, heading for the sundial of Trialante. It was there that she instructed the unusual sparrows be taken. Again, Anita took to the task, searching with great fervor for more of the brown and silver sparrows. When they were all collected at last at the sundial, the birds flew up and began to sing. Time appeared to move backwards in that quiet glade, as night turned to day and then night, faster and faster and faster. Slowly, amid a ring of ghostly, dancing sileni, Anita and Elissata saw the arrival of Trialante, the Untamed Muse, who is the Voice of Trialante dwelling in the body of an ancient sileni songstress. The Voice has returned again out of time. Anita, Elissata, and Aimoku were the first to receive the blessing of the embodied Voice of the Goddess. Her song, redolent with the echoes of Creation, rose above the trees in golden melodies, causing leaves to unfurl and even the wind to pause to listen. In great amazement and respect, various Serens visited the Woodbine Lyceum over the course of the following days. Within the new structure risen from the ashes of destruction, they found tributes to the forest’s past, present, and future. And as for the Voice of Trialante… Her song and presence faded with time as She returned to the past. And yet, perhaps, She may come again. The songs of the sparrows continue to sound across the Serenwilde. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Realm of the Majesty of the Dawn](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/04/06/the-realm-of-the-majesty-of-the-dawn/) **Published:** April 6, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A great sadness befell the City of New Celest during the eve of Dioni, in the year 674, when a mote of cerulean light streaked across the skies above the sleepy city, descending towards the Pool of Stars. It was Meleris, the Keeper of the Pool of Stars that first noticed the mote of light as it bobbed sadly around the deck surrounding the Pool. Annoyed by the intrusion and determined to keep the Pool from being defiled by this despondent orb, Meleris tried to shoo it away. His attempts to drive it away were in vain until Jexathi Re’Leo arrived to assist him. The gloomy mote eventually managed to lure Jexathi to the hidden grotto at the end of the Estengare River where the entrance to Lord Valtreth’s realm once resided. The mote hovered there, above the carving of the seven suns, which was still corrupted from the foul magic employed by Summer Heat. Upon closer inspection of the carving, Jexathi deduced that the broken globes where the seven suns once were might be replaced with new ones, and the only place she knew that made globes was the resident glassblower of New Celest. Comforting the mote of light and vowing to return, Jexathi set out to see if her thoughts would bear any fruit. After speaking with Jethri about her plight, he mentioned that the regular globes he creates may not be strong enough to hold sunlight, but he may be able to craft a more refined globe that might do the trick. Gathering the items that Jethri required, Jexathi watched as Jethri did what he does best, turning the ingredients into a refined glass globe. As Father Sun once again rose above the horizon, Jexathi lifted the globe and gazed into it, receiving a vision of where the sunlight was brightest. As the day progressed, Jexathi, with the assistance of Illirialial Stormcrow, managed to gather two globes filled with sunlight. However, when they attempted to place the third globe within the carving, disaster struck as it shattered, halting their quest to cleanse the carving of its corruption. Upon informing Jethri of the mishap, he was taken aback to learn what had happened and pledged to make necessary adjustments to his glazier’s forge, aiming to craft a sturdier globe but cautioned that it would require some time to achieve. Several months later, Jethri announced that his modifications were complete and that he could now produce a sturdier globe. The Prioress of the Magisterium, Yinuish Re’Leo, graciously offered her assistance in crafting another globe. Peering into the freshly crafted globe, Yinuish discerned a clue revealing the brightest spot where the sun shone upon the soaring mountains, where stone angels took flight. Determined, she embarked on a journey that lasted part of the day until she finally reached the cliffs near the Orphanage of St. Gathlyn. With anticipation, she placed the fourth globe within the carving, only to be met with dismay as it shattered once more. Once again, Yinuish relayed the disappointing news to Jethri, who, equally surprised and resolved to return to his adjustments of the glazier’s forge in hopes of finding a solution. As days turned into months, a heavy blanket of sorrow settled over the City of New Celest, its once vibrant streets now shrouded in despair. Finally in Roarkian, beneath the shimmering canopy of stars, Jethri, the Glassblower met with Helstren, the Harbourmaster, as a ship was coming into the docks with a special delivery. Swiftly, citizens including the King of New Celest, Aramantos Re’Leo, Yinuish, Tridemon, Faragan, and Cheliyi congregated at the harbor. Descending from the infamous vessel known as Empress’ Last Breath, Mebyra, the Second Mate and interim Captain, delivered grim news – they had encountered disaster in the waters, resulting in the loss of a portion of their cargo. Turning to the King for aid, Helstren concluded that the lost item was the very one Jethri urgently required. With determination, the citizens set out to scour the Inner Sea in search of the missing cargo. As the search continued in the depths of the Inner Sea, an unsettling sense of unease gripped many of those venturing into the murky waters, a feeling of being watched, stalked by unseen eyes. Suddenly, the tranquillity was shattered as the King himself fell victim to an unexpected attack. A bulbous Great Worm, a creature typically confined to the depths of the Namiraa Trench, had somehow managed to break free and now hungered for prey. Realizing the imminent danger, Aramantos urgently called for aid. Without hesitation, the citizens of New Celest rallied to defend their monarch and vanquish the monstrous threat. As the battle raged on, with each strike bringing them closer to victory, the Great Worm met its demise in a gory explosion, releasing a shimmering item that plummeted to the icy depths below. Amidst the chaos, Yinuish was the first to discern a glimmer amidst the sands. With determined resolve, everyone joined in the search, delving into the silt and sand until finally, their efforts bore fruit. Clutched in Jexathi’s grasp lay their prize – a thick glass lens concealed beneath the ocean’s embrace. With their mission accomplished, they eagerly returned to Jethri, who had patiently awaited their delivery. With the lens securely attached to his glazier’s forge and the necessary adjustments made, Jethri skillfully crafted a globe of refined topaz glass, a testament to their perseverance and unity in the face of adversity. The timing could not have been more auspicious, as dawn bathed the shimmering city of New Celest, signaling that all was in perfect harmony. Guided by the clues leading to the source of the brightest sunlight, the group embarked on their quest, while others gathered light essence to cleanse the corruption within the carving of seven suns. With the final globe placed within the carving, an eruption of sunlight pierced the heavens, its radiant warmth dispelling the veils of clouds shrouding part of the Razine Mountains and unveiling a hidden path. Adventurers from far and wide raced towards the mountains, their hearts brimming with anticipation. To their delight, a dawn-hued radiance awaited them, revealing a pathway leading into Faelth ey Chaeyr, the reformed realm of the Majesty of the Dawn. With eager strides, they ventured forth, eager to explore the wonders that lay beyond the clouds. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Spring Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/05/01/spring-extravaganza/) **Published:** May 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of May, we have a couple of things for you to take advantage of and look forward to! We’ll be having a 30% credit sale, meaning you’ll get an additional 30 credits for every 100 purchased. The above will come in handy as a sale on -all- artifacts in the in-game Artifact Shop ([HELP ASHOP](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1429)) is back. Absolutely everything is 20% off for the entire month of May. If you’ve been saving for it, now’s the time to purchase it. Or, save up because auctions are coming later in the month. In addition, all through this month you will be able to buy all existing curio packages directly from the website under [Artifact Packages](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). Curio packages that are only available in a limited fashion are once again available too. Among them: - marionettes - pet curios - macarons - zemeran curios (toys, masks, and bubbles) - winter curios - batons - genies - red heart curios - treasure maps - poteen pots - macarons - race curios Check out the bottom of [HELP CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1202) for the full list of curio-related helpfiles. Finally, you will also gain increasingly more experience throughout May due to D’varsha’s Illuminating Weeks. See [HELP PROMO DAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1575) for details of how this works. **Categories:** News --- ### [April Cornucopia](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/04/01/april-cornucopia/) **Published:** April 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For those of you just getting into Lusternia, or those of you ready to try something new, in April you can purchase lessons at discounted rates right off the website. Free classflexing will also be active throughout the month to allow you to try out a new class. See [HELP PROMO DAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1575) for the classflex details. Credit purchases from the website will also come with special chests once more. For every 100 credits purchased, you will receive one chest. To sweeten the pot, you will also receive a chest at the first 25, 50, and 75 credit intervals, resulting in 4 chests total after purchasing the first 100 credits. Your progress will refresh every 1000 credits and can be reviewed with **SHOWREWARDS**. Disclaimer: This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages. What’s inside the chest? A boon of your choice! You can **UNLATCH** the chest and choose between receiving extra 25 bound credits, 500 aethergoop, or 1 gleaming wondercrystal. In addition to that, in April you can also buy artifacts directly from the website at a steep discount in the so-called Artifact Cart (30% off). The discount is even higher if you have an Iron Elite Membership of any kind (40% off). A number of limited-availability artifacts – normally available through Auctions or special promotions – can also be found in the Special category. These include the Rune of the Eternal Sigil, Master Bubblix, Atroposian Scissors, Wand of Illusions, Rune of Superior Mettle, and so on. Finally, this month you can also enjoy **Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays** and **Double Credits Thursdays**. The former will boost your hunting damage and the latter will allow you to earn double daily credits. That means that rather than 20 total for the day, you will earn up to 40! **Categories:** News --- ### [Code Question Day](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/30/code-question-day/) **Published:** March 30, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** This coming Tuesday (April 2nd) we’ll be hosting another Code Question Day on Discord. We will be answering whatever questions you may have that need looking up in code so you can make sure your reports are based on facts. If you have code questions not related to reports, we can answer that too! I will make a separate thread in General Questions ahead of time, so you can post your questions there early and we’ll answer as we’re able. This time we’ve split up the event into two parts to better cover various timezones. We’ll be there all day but these windows represent the dedicated time when we’ll be actively looking at your questions. Message me your questions if you can’t be there. April 2nd – 11am – 1pm GMT April 2nd – 11pm – 1am GMT **Categories:** News --- ### [Reports Opening](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/20/reports-opening-2/) **Published:** March 20, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Reports are now open! Based on your feedback, we have implemented a number of changes to reports but let us go over the basics first. If you are interested in writing a report, commenting or voting on one, or simply staying up to date on them, you should review HELP REPORTS and HELP WRITING REPORTS. The short of it is that we now begin a 15 day period of report writing. Reports can be submitted for consideration only during this period. After that, we will move to a pending stage of 10 days during which voting takes place. And then finally the admin will make a decision on whether to implement the report or not. The only topics off-limits for this report cycle relate to conflict mechanics, please focus on combat skills and general QoL reports instead. If you already have a conflict report written, or something else on a similarly large and complex topic (like the economy), please do not submit it and instead send it over to me (e-mail uilani@lusternia.com preferably). If it is something viable to implement this round, I will put it up for consideration myself so you do not spend your limited report slots that way. Now onto the changes. They will also be listed in a changelog (Changelog #2936) for brevity’s sake but there are a few points I would like to expand upon more than is changelog-friendly. Comments will once more be visible at all stages, including Consideration. Comments will be anonymous as everyone will be assigned a pseudonym, and only the administration will be able to see the true identity of the commenter. We have previously hidden comments due to the less than polite discourse that reports were eliciting so please be on your best behaviour. Commenters, remember that the goal of comments is not to prove the validity of the report, or lack thereof, but to provide your opinion and experiences, or to provide alternative solutions. Arguing with every commenter is not necessary as we can see the code and we can run our own tests. We do not need every comment to be in support of a report to greenlight it, or to reject it. If code facts are needed, message me and I or a coder can provide them in a comment. Names of admin will not be hidden, and coders will be marked as Coder. If the situation in comments is getting heated, please ISSUE ME with the report number and we will look into it. As comments will be visible this time around, report discussions will no longer be forbidden on Discord. Same rules apply: keep it civil. This is about collaboration and getting help for your reports though, not arguing the validity of a report to circumvent comment limits and the anonymity enforced in-game. Discussion should be confined to #klangratch\_tourneys, which is now a channel that you can only access if you have verified your account with Lusternia (see HELP DISCORD). Further, we’re going to be doing two things to help you write the best reports possible. Firstly, my test server is now available for your use. See HELP TEST SERVER for the details and read the rules and reminders carefully. Secondly, this coming Friday (March 22nd) we’ll be hosting a Code Question Day on Discord. I will make a separate thread when the time comes and will be answering whatever questions you may have that need looking up in code so you can make sure your reports are based on facts. If needed, we’ll do another such event next week as well. Please message me if you have any additional questions or concerns. Similarly if you don’t or cannot use Discord, message me your code questions instead. You can also do so ahead of time if you are busy on Friday. **Categories:** News --- ### [Healing of the Majesty of Dawn](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/01/01/healing-of-the-majesty-of-dawn/) **Published:** January 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was late Dioni of the year 667 CE, when a radiant burst of dawn-hued light suddenly streaked across the midnight skies of the Basin. Travelling within it was Lord Valtreth, the Majesty of the Dawn, and His movements were erratic and following strange patterns as He visibly struggled with something. He was soon followed by the familiar starry blue mists of Lord Darvellan who attempted to catch up to the Dawning Lord. Suddenly Valtreth dropped from the skies, trailing golden motes of light and, in an explosion of golden brilliance, slammed into the heart of the City of New Celest, no longer conscious and His effulgence fading rapidly. The Navigator descended into the City after Him, fretfully distressed for the well-being of His cousin, and pulled at the star-like motes surrounding Him to create a swirling vortex of stars to the Plane of Celestia. He transported Valtreth there, laying Him upon the healing mound still hidden deep within Celestia and surrounded Him with a protective veil of starlight. As worried mortals slowly slipped through the vortex to where the two Divine had travelled, Yinuish and Yuli Re’Leo, Tridemon Regalis, Cheliyi Lunarose, and Inagin La’Saet of New Celest gathered around the marble slab where the Lord of the Morning lay, worried looks upon their faces as they were soon joined by the Chairman Tikki of Hallifax and Tigro Ysav’rai of Glomdoring. As the group frantically discussed the condition of the Elder God, He thrashed unconsciously against the veil of starlight that surrounded Him. When Lord Darvellan sought any information from the present mortals of any strange happenings of late, Tridemon mentioned the motes of light that had been raining down from the heavens over the past few months. Over the course of the conversation, the skies lit up once more with golden motes of light that rained down, falling throughout the Basin of Life. Outpourings of support continued to come from all corners of the Basin while Tridemon went in search of any sign of the motes. He soon found a radiant mote of golden light and swiftly returned to the healing mound of Celestia and handed it to the Lord Navigator. Recognising it as the Divine essence of Lord Valtreth, Darvellan quickly handed it to Cheliyi to place within the healing mound as Tridemon left in search of more. Cheliyi promptly placed the mote into the healing mound and was soon struck by a strange vision, which she deduced as a memory of Lord Valtreth’s. As others continued to bring in golden motes and place them within the healing mound, Lord Valtreth began to show signs of recovery. And so they carried on, placing them within the healing mound until the final mote was placed by Yinuish Re’Leo and the very air began to tremble. The starlit veil surrounding Lord Valtreth shimmered in a web of light as tendrils of brilliant light funnelled into Him, an immaculate golden glow filling the area around the healing mound. The light began to fade, the Lord Valtreth now standing strong and proud before those gathered, His form restored. He thanked His Cousin, Lord Darvellan, and the mortals who assisted in His recovery. What long-lasting damage this has caused, if any, remains to be seen, and the question of what Nohaji, the Face-Thief was able to retain of what He stole from the Majesty of the Dawn may never be answered. **Categories:** Events --- ### [December & January Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/04/december-january-artbard-results/) **Published:** March 4, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artbard participants from December and January! Alas, no submissions in February. If you’d like to join them for March, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=51) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. **December** ==( Bardic Winner )== Zylissa **January** ==( Bardic Winner )== Arae ==( Bardic Merit )== Yuli **Categories:** Artbards, News --- ### [March Great Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/03/march-great-hunt/) **Published:** March 3, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It’s been a while! Hunters, stock up on curatives and practice your routes because a Great Hunt is fast approaching. See H[ELP GREATHUNT](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1544) for the details. Start: **March 11th** (Monday), weave End: **March 14th** (Thursday), weave As there is always some confusion around weave-related timing, I want to clarify that the start is not the weave between Sunday and Monday, but between Monday and Tuesday. Weave always happens at midnight GMT, game-time as per TIME. Discord will also have this events listed. **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [March Quizzes](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/03/march-quizzes/) **Published:** March 3, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The World Library will be hosting two History Challenges this month and we hope to see everyone there (Public #1984). The scope of the quizzes will be clear and finite, and prizes plentiful. The History Challenges will cover the Histories of Lusternia as available on the website only. We will not venture into Modern History, or Vernal or Elder era nuances revealed through in-game quests and events. What is available on the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/) is the only material you should be studying for the quizzes. That same content is also available in-game at the World Library as historical texts. ## Quiz 1 Date: **March 24rd**, 5pm GMT Books: Cosmogenesis, Elder Wars ## Quiz 2 Date: **March 30th**, 11pm GMT Books: Vernal Wars, Aftermath, Holy Celestine Empire, Coming of Estarra There will be 20 questions per quiz (and tie-breakers if necessary) and an assortment of prizes. The prizes are not cumulative and you will receive the tier you qualify for. There is no second or third place. ## 5 points - 50 credits - 50 lessons ## 10 points - 75 credits - 75 lessons - uniquely skinned artifact pipe ## 15 points - 100 credits - 100 lessons - a doll\* - uniquely skinned artifact pipe ## Winner - 200 credits - 200 lessons - a doll\* - uniquely skinned artifact pipe - choice of: uniquely skinned Sempiternal Libram or Shears of Atropos - if the same person wins both quizzes, they will receive the other prize There are two dolls that you can win – a Merrymaker Merri doll and a new D’varsha the First doll. You can only ever win a given doll once, and you need to win Merri first in order to be eligible for D’varsha. Meaning, if you won Merri in the past, you will get D’varsha this time if you qualify. But if by quiz 2 you already have Merri and D’varsha, you will get no extra doll, and get extra 50 credits instead. **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [March Report Cycle](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/03/march-report-cycle/) **Published:** March 3, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’ll be opening reports later this month but before we do so I’d like to ask for feedback on the current report format. Chiefly the issue of anonymity of report comments and current discouragement of open report discussions. We could make comments visible after reports close but perhaps still keep them anonymous. We could also once again encourage collaboration. There are also other report variables we could adjust, like length of phases, etc. This upcoming cycle will feature both combat and QoL reports but we will lower the amount of reports from 3 to 2 per person to make them more manageable for review and implementation. This announce post will auto-generate a forum post, please leave your feedback there or message me personally if you would like to do so in a more private manner. I know how much you all dislike posting on forums instead of Discord, but for something like this, we need focused feedback and a more structured debate that won’t have anyone miss out on the arguments being made, or require them to read through a week’s worth of chatter to get caught up. We’ll make a decision after March 10th. Forum post is [here](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4925/announce-post-3371-march-report-cycle). **Categories:** News --- ### [March Present Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/03/02/march-present-extravaganza/) **Published:** March 2, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of March, we’re switching things up a bit and running a present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you purchase for the month of March, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! You can review your progress with **SHOWREWARDS** and it will loop after 1000 credits. As with all promotions, this does not apply to No-Brainer credit packages though. To sweeten the pot, we are adding the ability to **EXCHANGE PRESENTS**, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. Also, when you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. In addition to that, **Winter Curios** remain available on the website, joined by **Treasure Map Curio Crates** and **Macaron Curios** for March. Lastly, every Wednesay will be Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays and Fridays will bestow a favour from the Fates! **Categories:** News --- ### [Skins, Jars, and Crates](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/02/24/skins-jars-and-crates/) **Published:** February 24, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As promised, additional Season d’Amour skins are here! You can see the whole list with **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES** and the new ones are at the very bottom (**ASHOP 1290-1298**). There’s also a new gnome weapon option – a mechanical perfume dispenser (**ASHOP 1289**). This one is not seasonal and will remain in the artifact shop going forwards. For anyone needing extra aethergoop for all the goodies, **Aethergoop Jar**s are also now available on the website, ones containing not just goop but extra Iron Coins and presents too. Don’t ask Professor Gargle von Fixit how that got in there, he doesn’t remember. That’s not all though as **Leprechaun Poteen Crates** are also making a return until the end of the month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ephemeral Applications Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/02/19/ephemeral-applications-open-5/) **Published:** February 19, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Do you have an interest in helping run Lusternia behind the scenes as a volunteer administrator? We are now opening applications for Ephemerals – administrators-in-training. If you are not sure what being an Ephemeral entails, you can read [HELP VOLUNTEERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=380) for an overview. We also encourage you to check out the [two last godblogs](https://www.lusternia.com/category/godblogs/) about life as an Ephemeral. ### **To apply for Ephemeralhood you must:** - Be 18 or over (that is yourself, not your character). - Have played Lusternia for a minimum of 400 hours, total across all characters. - Not be a volunteer administrator on any other IRE game. - Be willing to give up your character and cut connections with mortal player friends. - See bottom of [HELP VOLUNTEERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=380) for additional explanation. - As part of this, you will be required to quit all Lusternia-related Discord channels. - Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - Be mature and able to separate IC from OOC. - Be able to work as part of a team. - Be able to commit regular hours to working on Lusternia. There is no set minimum in hours, and when you choose to do your hours is up to you. But a good general estimate would be around 7h/week or 1h/day. - Have sufficient creative writing skills to contribute to Lusternia’s high-quality content. - Be willing and able to work with Lusternia’s scripting language known as prog. - You will be fully trained on the job – the important thing is that you are willing and able to learn. ### **To apply, please send an email to support@lusternia.com with:** - Name - Age - Occupation, or if a student, what you are studying. - Your character(s) in Lusternia and what they have achieved. - This might include leadership positions you have held and what you accomplished in them. - You are encouraged to note any mortal volunteer positions you have held. - Why you think you would make a good volunteer. - What type of Elder Divine you think would best suit you, or if you are interested in an Architect or Anomaly position. - You do not need to name specific roles but can do so. - Naming a role at this point does not guarantee you will ultimately take it up, it just gives us a guideline for the sort of roleplay you are interested in. - Naming a role, or not doing so, does not influence your chances in any way. - A writing sample of five room descriptions, including both short and long description lines, so that we can gauge your writing skills. - Be sure these are relatively fresh, not something written years ago. - You can read [HELP MORTAL BUILDERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=77) for some tips on writing. - These rooms can be examples of additions to existing areas, or whole new areas, or nonspecific. - We recommend taking a look at existing rooms in Lusternia for further guidance. - Anything else that you think we may want to consider in reviewing your application. - This might include proven coding ability, experience in other MUDs, etc. All personal information that you disclose (name, age, and occupation) will be kept private by Lusternia’s producers. It is vital that you give this information accurately – please do not use pseudonyms or similar. The **deadline for applications is March 3rd** inclusive (across all time zones). After this date, we will contact selected candidates for interview, and then will take our chosen Ephemerals into the Havens. Please be aware that we will only respond to applications we wish to take further through the process, and that we expect to have far more applications than openings. If you have any questions, please contact us at support@lusternia.com with your query. **Categories:** News --- ### [Year in Review 2023](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/01/15/year-in-review-2023/) **Published:** January 15, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As is customary at the start of a new year, it is time to ruminate upon 2023! The first bigger story of the year revolved around the unearthed Spirit Squirrel Shrine, previously hidden in Tolborolla. The revelation was accompanied by new options for wiccans and druids in the form of hazelnut fae and squirrel companions. A wide variety of squirrels also re-populated many places across the Basin of Life, including the Glomdoring. Not far away, brave Tapif embarked on his first adventures, culminating in settling down, for the moment, in Irshaw Heights where he prods and nudges at Rumberry for stories about the local tae’dae population. Around that time we also saw the first of new small quests added to villages across the land. They were an introductory project for our Ephemerals and their goal was to infuse a bit more life and story intto the villages themselves. Xislia in Dairuchi started working on her bookbinding skills to impress Chixesaka. Berpo of Rikenfriez decided to pick up icefishing. Well, almost. Babette of Delport lost her family heirloom, and Krug of Acknor started organising cookouts for fellow orcs. Matters started getting a bit more serious after that with the strange dreams of Sandy Storm from the Scorpion Caverns, which led her to receiving a new prophecy from Grandmother Scorpion. It would be some time before that prophecy would come about and its meaning become clear, however. Meanwhile, Serenwilde was attacked by an icy abomination birthed from a pact between the Frostspite and Gromagh. Luckily it was slain before it could truly threaten the forest, but the circumstances of this peculiar union were suspicious and also attracted the attention of the first member of the Fellowship of the Roots to become known – Theone Natharian. He would soon become much better known as he discovered the Great Worm Mother within the depths of Namiraa’s Trench and attempted to rally support to aid her in propagating the species, much to the annoyance of the local nereid Soriali. A close friend of his and also a member of the mysterious Fellowship, Pachidrui Etloo, also tackled a nature-related issue of theirs not long after, when a peculiarly invasive species of moss took over the Toronada Tidal Flats. Once the crisis was averted, the Fellowship of the Roots made itself public, with its leader Nimuire Duskbloom, permitting onlookers to join one of their meetings. And it was good that they did, for what followed required everyone’s involvement. At the beginning of September, a great earthquake shook the Basin of Life in the aftermath of a catastrophe occuring beyond the Southern Mountains, beyond the Basin of Life itself. After many trials, adventurers made their way through the Scorpion’s Tail mountains for the first time in modern times and stepped into a whole new continent where the Gaaglin Swamp and the Gorlognal Academy were located. The earthquake was caused by the Eater of Flesh and Earth, a semi spirit of crocodile, that sunk the mugwump academy that housed the descendants of the Balach Institute of Magic and Science. Once new forces arrived into the swamp, they split into two camps, vying for supermacy for the side they supported. And not everything in the swamps was as it seemed. That feeling of wrongness held strong as not long after an experiment in Muhanlesh Caverns went very wrong, unleashing a cloier unto the Grey Moors. The Gorlognal Academy and the Fellowship both assisted in halting the monstrosity but many lives were lost before they succeeded. Something, or someone, had dominated the researchers in the caverns and willed this outcome. There was no time to rest and ponder, however, as not long after something terrifying haunted Glomdoring and erased the memories of those it passed and also the prophecy of Grandmother Scorpion came to be. The community gathered around Scorpion was attacked by one of their own, Summer Heat, who attempted to befoul the Old Ones. With Exclii’s assistance, he was pushed back, but he and his followers were not captured. In the aftermath, a bizarre altar and brown crystals were found in the tombs and those who touched them ended up contected by Summer Heat himself eventually. Realising they cannot solve all of those mysteries on their own, the Fellowship of the Roots opened their doors to new recruits and bent their heads to the prophetic dreams they have been receiving about all the preceding catastrophies. This move helped thwart Summer Heat next plot as he was betrayed and news of his misdeeds brought to the Fellowship, which rallied alongside the Basin of Life itself. Summer Heat was at the last defeated, and his following dispersed. But he claimed to serve someone, or something, and now he would take answers to his grave. This story arc continues on and many more twists and turns have been planned as it leads towards an Ascension. But the year was not just full of serious and world-threatening stories. Magnagora dealt with a correspondence mishap that somehow ended up leading them to the Shallamurine Cathedral. Pyrios of Toronada Tidal Flats hosted a beach party to commemorate his new surfing board. Sarora and her huskies began to make deliveries across the Icewynd year-round to the far-away Solstice Court. Pachidrui Etloo settled in the pilgrim camp and started peddling herbs. Hallifax dealt with bureaucracy mishaps that threatened the city’s place in the sky. New Celest saw a new acolyte join the Chapel of Two Saints, while Glomdoring made a deal with the harpies and unveiled a new library. Gaudiguch and Hallifax both also celebrated player-ran festivals with many attractions. We put a large focus on story and roleplay this year, running more story events than during any year in recent memory (2017 remains the exception, was quite a story year!). To make sure you stay in the loop with such a volume of events, we introduced the gossip system and have been keeping it up to date – we remove gossip from the system if it is older than 30 days and put it in an archive. That archive now stands at 128 pieces of gossip! And we only introduced the system in May. In between the stories, we also ran a handful of contests. There were the Death and Harmony Challenges, two Treasure Hunts made more interested by the Horizon Walkers Guild, and a variety of contests during Lusternia’s 19th Anniversary. Our second focus was getting as many of our Ephemerals trained and ready for Godhood since the more fully-trained hands we have, the more we can do. To that end, we saw four Ephemerals advance to a stage where they joined cities and communes. We also saw four Divine make a return to Lusternia: Darvellan, Zvoltz, Manteekan, and Valtreth. There is more to come on that front too. Let us also not forget Gaaglin Swamp and Gorlognal Academy, two massive areas entwined by story, that were an enormous admin project. We were so pleased for them to finally be released. On the development front we have taken on new mortal coders and have leaned on our reliable anomalies that continue to assist as they are able. This year we introduced changes to gems of cloaking to aid with visibility, quest achievements, implemented a round of reports, released new craft patterns, started a mass rescale of craft commodities, and released a whole new set of coal and peppermint artifacts alongside a winter themed curio set. Rather than wait for a revamped family honour system to be ready, we have also disabled the system for the time being on player request. It will return in a new form before long. Coming into 2024, we will continue with our overarching story plot that will culminate in an Ascension and seek to tackle pending coding projects in smaller bites. We will start with the economy: rescale commodities for crafts, adjust commodity production and prices, and then look at accessibility of trade skills. We do not wish to get ahead of ourselves so we will reassess the order of other projects as this is completed. The newbie experience, families, conflict, alliances, and the rest of economy are still on the map, of course. Thank you for participating in the weaving of the tapestry that is Lusternia – it is in combining the admin threads with the player ones that the story and the experience is made. We continue to thrive on your contributions, ideas, feedback, and everything in between. Thanks also to our godmin team, who went above and beyond this year to make magic happen. Our player volunteers also continue to assist in a variety of positions that enhance the player experience and we are so grateful for their assistance. Thank you! Here’s to an eventful 2024! **Categories:** News --- ### [Seasonal Cards for Season d'Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/02/01/seasonal-cards-for-season-damour-3/) **Published:** February 1, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Throughout the month of February, you’ll be able to purchase special seasonal cards with plenty of boons straight from the website. You can consume the cards for your own benefit, or send them to others as fancy gifts. Consuming them will reward you with a bronze heartbox, while sending will award the bronze heartbox to the recipient. Every 10th card you send or consume will reward you a silver heartbox, and every 25th card you consume or send, will reward you a golden heartbox. Meaning that if you were to consume 25 cards yourself, you will receive a total of 25 bronze heartboxes, 2 silver heartboxes, and 1 golden heartbox. Your recipient, if any, will only ever receive bronze heartboxes. In summary: - if you consume the card, you receive a bronze heartbox - if you send the card, the recipient receives a bronze heartbox - you receive a silver heartbox for every 10 cards sent/consumed - you receive a gold heartbox for every 25 cards sent/consumed Cards: - see **CARD** for syntax - can be written on with up to 120 characters - can be customised, PROBE for details - can be sent to others (anonymously if you prefer!) - can be ‘consumed’ for their benefits rather than sent Heartbox Prizes: - **Bronze Heartbox** – 20-40 bound credits, or an artifact worth 30-50 credits, or 2 presents, or 25 macaron curio pieces. - **Silver Heartbox** – 150-175 bound credits, or an artifact worth 250-300 credits, or 10 presents. - **Golden Heartbox** – 800-950 bound credits, or an artifact worth 1000-1250 credits, or 50 presents. If you remember heartboxes from previous years, the change this year is that wonder crystals have been removed from the pool of prizes and macaron curio pieces have been added to the bronze heartbox. There’s an equal chance for all prizes in the bronze heartbox, and in the silver and gold heartboxes, the likelihood of credits is at 50%, and the rest is split between the other two prizes. You’ll also have a chance to earn cards in-game during Season d’Amour! Dolly d’Amour, residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave and will receive a seasonal card after you complete the quest 5 times. That means you can gain up to 5 seasonal cards this month. For completing the quest you will also receive a Red Heart curio piece every time. You can easily find the cottage with the temporary landmark – **DOLLYCOTTAGE**. Valentine-themed artifact skins are back in artifact shop and will be available during February of this year only. See: **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES**. If you are interested in picking up something red, rosy, and glamorous, or dark and suggestive of a broken or cold heart, now’s your chance! More skins will be coming mid-month. **Winter Curios** will remain available on the website all through the winter so you can pick up a package until the end of March. Last but not least, every Monday throughout February will be **Klangratch’s Mighty Monday** with a bonus to damage against denizens, and **Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays** will boost your chances of scoring criticals on Thursdays. **Categories:** News --- ### [Trader Bob's Forgotten Vaults and Winter Curios](https://www.lusternia.com/2024/01/02/trader-bobs-forgotten-vaults-and-winter-curios/) **Published:** January 2, 2024 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Trader Bob has once again unveiled to the Basin the forgotten vaults of treasures that he has unearthed over the years! The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the website! Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts – including some limited availability ones. We added and removed some things this time. You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna and check out what is inside. You can access the vaults with the **VAULTS** command at the **VAULTS** landmark. But that is not all! Both hidden among the offerings of the vault and now available on the website is a new set of curios – Winter Curios. Inspired by Solstice but with lots of roleplay utility outside of it, this set is some of the most complex curios out there in terms of options and flavour. See [HELP WINTER CURIOS ](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1594)for the list! As this is a special wintry set, you cannot rub other curios into those curios and rubbed winter curio pieces will only transform into other winter curio pieces (or turn into aethergoop, as all curios sometimes do). Lastly, January brings Double Experience Tuesdays and Double Daily Credit Thursdays. See [HELP PROMO DAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1575) for additional details. Also, anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece for Bob’s vault. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Fall of Summer Heat as a New Dawn Rises](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/27/the-fall-of-summer-heat-as-a-new-dawn-rises/) **Published:** December 27, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was an early spring morning of the year 666 since the Coming of Estarra when a peculiar phenomenon was observed at dawn – a streak of golden light illuminated the skies. It lasted well into the night but as Solstice was near, most dismissed it as one of its hallmarks. It was only Serenwilde, ever vigilant of anything potentially to do with Brother Sun, that investigated further but all of their leads went cold and soon most forgot all about the occurrence. Then, one late spring day, the astrologer Hiari of the Serenwilde was standing underneath the Moonhart Mother Tree when she noticed something peculiar in the skies and, using an astrolabe, discerned it to be a trail of roseate light still ripping through the heavens. She informed her fellow commune mates, including Huskii Myeras and Adushoc zi’Prouep, and continued to keep a close eye on the trailing light, visible night and day to a trained eye, over the coming days. The mystery of its creation would take a while to be unravelled, however. Meanwhile, Xenthos An’Ryshe was secretly contacted by Summer Heat, a dracnari infamous for attempting to corrupt the Old Ones of Scorpion Caverns. Unknown to most, Summer Heat turned out to have been attempting to recruit followers for whoever or whatever it is that he serves. And so, under the cover of darkness, Xenthos snuck quietly into the Nerale Mausoleum, where Summer Heat had been waiting, and where he would inform Xenthos that after his initial trial, he would now be given a real mission. The dracnari looked even worse than when first met in the Skarch – devoid of the brown flames about his mouth, and desperate. Summer Heat was seeking essence and lots of it, but not just any old essence, the essence that he would twist to empower something he called a “siphon”. Intrigued by what this so-called “siphon” was, Xenthos quickly gathered some essence, but before he would hand it over, he demanded a demonstration and explanation of the plan and its intricacies. Anxious to proceed, Summer Heat demonstrated how he could corrupt this elemental essence, cracking it open and breathing dark brown flames into it until its very core had become corrupted. From there, Summer Heat directed Xenthos to meet him at a secret location where they could venture into where the siphon had been constructed, a waterfall behind the Estengare River. Using a tinderbox he had been given, Xenthos found the covert entrance and silently slipped behind the waterfall and inside what turned out to be the realm of the Elder God Valtreth. There stood a monolithic obelisk of dark stone. To Summer Heat’s surprise, after he carefully explained the plan which involved the draining of this abandoned realm for his master, Xenthos quickly collected evidence and swiftly departed. Armed with information, he alerted his allies and the Fellowship of the Roots what he had learned and called them to arms. The Fellowship was in a stir and quickly mobilised, while Cheliyi Lunarose carried the warning of immediate danger to the citizens of New Celest. Together with the help of Hallifax, Glomdoring, and the Fellowship of the Roots, they ventured to a hidden grotto at the end of the Estengare River where the entrance to the Salt Cliffs stood – the realm of the Valtreth, the Majesty of Dawn. Upon arrival, Chairman Tikki alongside Zylissa Al’tair, Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Efarihm Ysav’rai of Hallifax, Tridemon Regalis and Cheliyi Lunarose of New Celest, Xenthos An’Ryshe and Skaza Ysav’rai of the Glomdoring Commune, together with Nimuire Duskbloom and Thes Erurozea of the Fellowship of the Roots discovered a foul corruption had sealed off the once radiant pool of golden light, impeding their access to the realm of Lord Valtreth. The path Xenthos used to pierce through these protections was also now closed to them, as his tinderbox was destroyed for his betrayal. Cheliyi also admitted to having been recruited by Summer Heat, and to have been entertaining him while trying to gain pertinent information to take him down, but at that admission, her own tinderbox was destroyed as well. A former Archdeacon of Lord Valtreth, Tridemon remembered the day when the realm was originally discovered and what they needed to do back then to access the realm. He informed the group that it required the use of light essence and so a small group broke off to scour the elemental planes and gather what essence they could find and bring it to the pool to see if it would help combat the corruption. As the first bits of light essence were placed into the vitiated waters, a hopeful ripple of light traveled across the surface and so they continued to bring in essence over the coming days. The Chairman of Hallifax, Tikki, diligently hauled essence from all corners of the known planes without rest, assisted by Tridemon, Exeryte, Xenthos, Galaphyrae, Xiran, Veara, Fillirriqili, Zylissa, and Skaza. It was soon apparent that their efforts were working as the waters of the pool were beginning to show signs of clearing. One morning, as the golden light of Father Sun peaked over the mountains, Summer Heat gloated and taunted the Basin from afar, proclaiming that his plan had reached fruition and that they would soon know the power of his master. Darkness began to build above the Razine Mountains as crimson lightning split the skies, quickly spreading across the lands. With his control over the realm of the Elder God Valtreth, and its connection to His shrines, Summer Heat was able to channel the corruptive energies through and release an army of corrupted Legates of Morning, the guardians of Lord Valtreth’s realm that he had twisted under his control. The corrupted Legates stormed through the lands, rising from where the shrines were erected – the City of New Celest and Lord Valtreth’s master shrine within Mount Avechna – and attacked anyone they came in contact with. Hesitant to attack the Legates of Morning for fear of hurting Lord Valtreth in some way, many stayed their hand for a time until it was clear their link to the Dawning Lord was broken and no harm would befall Him should they be slain. And so the people of the Basin began fighting back and pushing back the corrupted army. Several members of the Fellowship gathered to defend Lord Valtreth’s Fulcrux, while Nimuire Duskbloom fought her way back to the corrupted pool to lend her assistance. As more and more corrupted Legates marched across the lands, many discussed methods they could use to purify them. Tikki had brought several of the slain Legates back to the pool, as Nimuire suggested perhaps returning them from whence they came may help restore the balance, and placed one within. Many onlookers were dismayed as the corrupted body sunk below the surface only for plumes of dark brown smoke to spew into the pool, corrupting it further and counteracting their efforts to purify it. As they discussed alternative methods, those defending the Fulcrux sent word of a second pool within which luminous energies swirled, and that perhaps this pool may work instead. Tikki swiftly made way to the Fulcrux of the Morning Lord and hesitantly laid the corrupted body in the luminescent waters. Amid gasps, dark brown smoke spewed forth from the twisted body but was soon dispelled by the radiant mists, and so now they had not just a way to purify the Legates of Morning that Summer Heat had corrupted, but also a way to slow down their advance for once purified, they would not rejoin the army. As the Fellowship of the Roots and their allies tirelessly worked to purify the pool and the corrupted Legates over the course of the month, Summer Heat had his own plans in the works. He had instructed those following him to spread across the lands to counteract any work meant to thwart him, and so they secretly started stealing essence from the elemental and ethereal planes, bringing it to Summer Heat to corrupt, and then attempted to sneak it into the pool. They also scoured the lands for slain bodies of corrupted Legates and brought them to the pool to sabotage the efforts of those trying to purify it. Finally, they continued to sneak in and out of the corrupted realm itself through the hidden waterfall entrance as, despite Xenthos’ warning, it went unguarded. Another month would pass as adventurers from all over the Basin fought against the forces of Summer Heat and his corrupted army, the balance of power shifting back and forth as each side struggled to keep control. Eventually, the clashing of swords and troops marching erupted loudly as a coordinated attack from the corrupted Legates of Morning converged upon the hidden grotto where Tikki, Tridemon, and Cheliyi had been standing guard. Soon joined by Exeryte Stormcrow, Veldrin D’Cente, Zylissa Al’tair, and Huskii Myeras, the group worked to fight against the onslaught until reinforcements could arrive. Word reached New Celest through Meleris, the Keeper of the Pool of Stars and rallied the King of New Celest, while Thes called upon the Fellowship of the Roots and Nimuire Duskbloom to join the fray. Meanwhile, Xenthos left to gather more essence, and upon his return and a final addition of essence, the waters of the pool began to seethe and roil as a golden brilliance burst forth and burned away the last remnants of the corruptive magics blocking the entrance, allowing the group to finally enter the realm of Lord Valtreth. But as the adventurers stepped through the rippling pool of golden light, they were met with a large contingent of corrupted Legates preventing any further ingress. The Legates, however, were no match for the assembled forces, which quickly dispatched them and advanced further towards the entrance of the Temple of the Dawn where, as it turned out, Summer Heat held the priest of Lord Valtreth, Auguste L’Fevre, hostage and himself was protected by a corruptive sphere of dark brown smoke that repelled any attempts at attacking him. The monolithic obelisk that Xenthos originally saw stood there still, draining and corrupting the realm. As everyone watched on in horror, Summer Heat began to torture Auguste. It was at that moment that the very air began to ripple in a shimmering haze and the very ground shook beneath their feet. A mighty voice boomed from within the Temple of the Dawn before the Majesty of the Dawn Himself descended in a blaze of gold-tinged, roseate dawnfire. Visibly stricken with a strange wound, Lord Valtreth stumbled momentarily, wincing but remaining strong as He advanced upon Summer Heat. Auguste L’Fevre, who had been tending to his Lord as He secretly sought refuge in His realm, begged the Morning Lord not to fight. Summer Heat laughed and mocked the weakened Elder God, taunting Him as his siphon continued to drain not just His realm but, in truth, Him as well. With Summer distracted, the Morning Star mustered all his strength to reach the monolithic stone where he began to glow with a radiant, white light, sad eyes falling upon his Lord as he sacrificed himself, his radiant life force flowing into the obelisk causing it to overload and fracture which in turn caused the entire realm to shudder and become unstable. With the obelisk shattered, Summer Heat visibly began to diminish before everyone’s eyes and tried to gather the pieces of the obelisk in an attempt to save his foul plot. Notably bereft of his tell-tale brown flames, he berated the group for depriving him of his next crystal, claiming a need for essence. As he angrily declared everyone betrayers and blamed them for his shrivelling numbers of followers, the protective sphere dispersed around him and the group took their chance. Tridemon promised him death once, and he did not hold back. Summer Heat tried desperately to defend himself but in his fragile condition, he was soon overwhelmed, with Faragan Ladyn, King of New Celest landing the final blow. As Summer Heat fell, his body shrivelled into a husk of his former self, much beyond what a sudden death would have caused. But he was, at last, dead. In His weakened state, Lord Valtreth was unable to contain the instability of His realm and urged everyone to depart swiftly before it collapsed in on itself. As the last of the mortals escaped the Salt Cliffs, rays of golden light erupted from the Estengare River before a soundless explosion tore through the Razine Mountains. In the trail of destruction, skeins of shimmering light unfurled throughout the sky as the Majesty of the Dawn descended into His fulcrux on Mount Avechna, followed soon by numerous mortals. Much to Lord Valtreth’s surprise, Lord Darvellan also arrived in a wash of starlight to greet His cousin. The Navigator and the gathered mortals had many questions of the Dawning Lord, notably about His journey and current wellbeing. Lord Valtreth explained that He had left the First World long ago, on a mission to locate the Red Star of the Half-Formed Lovers, Supernal Dumaliel and Emanation Grimbach, hoping to heal and redeem them. On His journey, Valtreth came into contact with the Elder Carsini, but little did He know, that the Elder of the Firsts was merely Nohaji, the Soulless Face Thief in disguise. While they travelled together for a time, Nohaji studied Valtreth, sensing the duality of Divine essence within Him, as they continued to search for the Red Star. Valtreth was often plagued by memories of His time as Elder God Eventru and Elder God Lyreth, which led to some insight into who Carsini really was since Eventru had worked closely alongside Carsini in the past. Coupled with the hungering glances and un-Elder-like mannerisms, it all began to make the Dawning Lord uneasy and suspicious. As the hunger became overwhelming, the Soulless face-thief launched an attack upon Valtreth, tearing into His flesh and spilling His divine essence as He attempted to consume Him. Wounded, Valtreth managed to weave a blast of dawnfire to repel the Face-stealer long enough for Him to escape. Still wounded and bleeding His golden essence, Valreth secretly returned to the First World, confused and not daring to trust any after such a betrayal. He found refuge back within the Basin of Life, deep within the Salt Cliffs of His Divine Realm, where He attempted to conceal His presence long enough to heal His wounds. But something was wrong… He could not quite remember how. His healing knowledge appeared to be gone, stolen by the Soulless Nohaji. So as the golden essence of the Majesty of the Dawn continued to rain across the skies and with His wounds not healing, Darvellan offered Him refuge and protection until such a time that They could reverse the effects of His wounds. How did Summer Heat know that the Majesty of Dawn had hidden within the Salt Cliffs? Or was it luck? And what is the power he so desperately craved? Whatever Master he served, may well still be out there still. **Categories:** Events --- ### [November 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/23/november-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** December 23, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artbard participants from November! If you’d like to join them for December, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=51) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ==( Artisanal Winner )== Freja ==( Bardic Winner )== Yuli **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [2023 Solstice Artifacts](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/23/2023-solstice-artifacts/) **Published:** December 23, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’re happy to announce the release of new peppermint and coal artifacts. Be sure to check out [HELP SOLTICE ARTIFACTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1330) for the overview and the list of additional helpfiles per set. The powers are as follows. ## Peppermint Stein - **Level 1** (a simple peppermint stein): PEPPERMINT ACTIVATE SLOSH – Three times a month, you may cheerfully slosh another with your stein, eliminating any scent they carry, including a bad one, and replacing it with a random perfume. - **Level 2** (a ruggedly carved peppermint stein): PEPPERMINT ACTIVATE DRENCH – Once per day, you may throw the contents of your stein into the air, freezing the ground of adjacent rooms. If present, it instead puts out a fire or removes vines in the given room. - **Level 3** (a rune-inscribed peppermint stein of solstice cheer): PEPPERMINT ACTIVATE ROBORANT – Once per month, imbibe for a 4/4 buff to balance and equilibrium recovery for 10 minutes. Cost: 5 power. - **Level 4** (a frosted peppermint stein brimming with solstice cheer): PEPPERMINT ACTIVATE TOAST – Once per month, you may link yourself to a target of your choice for 15 seconds. 20% of the time, any damage or afflictions they receive will be applied to you instead. - **Level 5** (a magnanimous peppermint stein brimming with solstice cheer): PEPPERMINT ACTIVATE DRAUGHT – Once per minute, take a hearty sip from the deepest depths of your stein, blocking a single incoming affliction. ## **Coal Handwarmer** - **Level 1** (a handwarmer covered in coal black wool): COAL ACTIVATE LINT – Attract additional hordes of vermin to your location. - **Level 2** (a fancy handwarmer covered in coal black wool): COAL ACTIVATE CAMPFIRE – Build and light a soothing campfire in your room. Cost: 3 wood. No wood cost for those with the Hunting Campire skill. - **Level 3** (a coal-flecked handwarmer covered in black wool): COAL ACTIVATE CLAP – Once per day, clap the dust from your hands to remove the soot, blinding all enemies in the room. - **Level 4** (a sumptuous handwarmer dusted with coal): COAL ACTIVATE TRAIL SCATTER – Lay a dusting of soot in a room which silently clings to those who walk through. This dusting may be cleansed, and may be swept away. COAL ACTIVATE TRAIL SENSE – Sense anybody who walked through your trail recently. - **Level 5** (a magnificent handwarmer dusted with shimmering coal): COAL ACTIVATE SWEAT – Once per month, cure yourself of all afflictions. Cost: 5 power. **Categories:** News --- ### [City and Commune Solstice Quests](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/22/city-and-commune-solstice-quests/) **Published:** December 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Each city and commune has a small quest that will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! This year’s reward is an ornament that smells just like your organisation! Find the denizen in question and greet them for more details. In New Celest, **Eraol Flenn** seeks stars in a jar. In Magnagora, **Jinlu Ilithya** seeks rats in hats. In Serenwilde, **Caedir Aormeah** seeks does in the snow. In Glomdoring, **Dominique Nightshade** seeks beasts of the feast. In Hallifax, **Ki’kia zi’Prouep** seeks beryls in peril. In Gaudiguch, **Mosachi Xeeth** seeks lizards with gizzards. Additionally, each city and commune’s dedicated store selling the rewards of previous Solstice adventures is once more open. Anyone who has missed out on getting them in the past will be able to make up for it each Solstice season. Be sure to read the display in the shop describing what each item does. The shops can be found: In New Celest, by **the** **lobby of the Syrinx Plaza Hotel**. In Magnagora, within **the construction site south off Sombre Lane**. In Serenwilde, **southwards from the Ellindel Memorial**. In Glomdoring, a **hollow by the Stables of the Wyrden Thorn**. In Hallifax, up the **stairs from the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange**. In Gaudiguch, within **one of the rooms of the Dapper Dashro Lounge**. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Vouchers](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/22/solstice-vouchers/) **Published:** December 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Solstice Vouchers have now become available for those who have logged in for 21 days in December (see **LOGINDAYS** for your count). If you have received one, you can now exchange it for access to a shop located at the pilgrim gossip spot at the foot of Mount Avechna (landmark **PILGRIMCAMP**), where an elderly gnome pilgrim awaits you. Give the voucher to the gnome and that will make the shop available to you for a symbolic 1 gold coin cost for the item on sale. Remember you can only purchase one thing from the store and only if you don’t already have it. Among the offerings is the merry stocking which replenishes with goodies every in-game year. There are also a plethora of very old rewards that used to be event-locked. If you talk to the gnome, he has a short explanation of everything he has on offer. You can also buy coal and peppermint from the store, but if you already have it that is not an option due to shop limitations. If you would like to exchange your voucher for coal and peppermint anyway (physical or after you have given it to the gnome), please **ISSUE ME** with the request instead and we’ll handle it manually. If you happen to have everything on offer in the store or simply nothing speaks to you, hold off a bit as we’re open to suggestions for further additions. The store will be there until **January 7th** so there’s time! **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Activities!](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/19/solstice-activities-2/) **Published:** December 19, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Solstice in full swing, here’s a full rundown of what is happening right now! ## Ironbeard Ironbeard has started making the rounds, bearing gifts for the lucky recipients. All you have to do is be online as Ironbeard will find you regardless of where you may be – in a tree, in a submarine, or in a domoth. Once you have received a gift, he will only add you back to his list the next day. ## Gnomes Keep an eye out for Jolly Bundy sending his fellow gnomes out with a few more presents into the Basin of Life every once in a while. When you find one, just influence them with Charity (**AB INFLUENCE BEGGING** for full details) to get hold of a present. You won’t be able to track these gnomes so don’t let lack of their prints and such mislead you. Remember that you can only get a present this way once an in-game day – so if you find a Solstice gnome and you’ve already had a present, share it with your friends! Gnomes will not be found swimming, snorkeling, or diving in the seas but could be found in sea-located or related areas (the Cay, Spectre Isle, etc.). You will also not find them on far away continents like Mount Dio or Icewynd, or hard to reach places like Lirangsha, but they have been exploring the Undervault. Keep an eye out for Gaaglin and the Academy too as they have found their way there. They will also stop by cities and communes, but don’t try to find them in the villages as Ironbeard has those covered. If you are unsure whether it is worth looking for gnomes when there has not been an announcement about them arriving recently, we got you covered too. Check with the gnome at the visitor’s playpen in Solstice Court. If you ask him if all the gnomes returned yet, he will let you know if there’s stragglers out there still! ## Solstice Court The baying of unruly huskies heralded the opening of the Solstice Court located upon the Jolly Drifts. Eager visitors can visit it by **CATCH**ing snowflakes drifting upon the highways or taking one of the husky-pulled sleighs parked along Stairs of the Last Nine, right outside the Aetherplex (**ENTER SLEIGH**). That scenic route offers room for a party of up to four and the leader decides how fast the sleigh will go. To return, simply **PULL** the rope within the manor or **ENTER** one of the sleighs at the sleighgrounds departure site for a quick return. Once there, be sure to visit the bridge where several retired gnomes have taken up residence and peddle their wares. If you forgot to bundle up before leaving for such icy climes, you can purchase warm clothes on the bridge too. Be sure to swear the vow with Steward Tombin to receive your leaflet which will guide you through the Solstice quest and the various activities there. The reward is a stocking that you can hang for yourself or others. There is a special Vengeance game to be played in the manor too! Be sure to check out the ever more challenging skating experience, meet the guests, send gifts and postcards, enjoy the ambience, the adorable penguins and huskies, and more. There is a special Solstice-themed Vengeance game to be played in the manor too. We are continuing to add new things every so often so you’re bound to find new things if you visit again! ## Winter is Here Frost Spite’s none too happy about winter being associated with joy so he has cursed the Basin of Life with a frosty spell. The weather has cooled everywhere and snow has fallen in all nations of the Basin of Life. Magnagora and Gaudiguch will notice their snow is more of the sooty variety thanks to the smokestacks and the neighbouring caldera respectively, but it will work all the same! **PROBE** the snow to see how to interact with it and be sure to make some much requested snow angels. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/14/solstice-schedule-2/) **Published:** December 14, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Lusternia’s Solstice on the horizon, we want to let you know what our schedule will look like ahead of time. All our regular events will be returning this year and there is a lot to keep one festive! - **17th December** – Solstice Court will open and winter will come. - **18th-31st December** – Ironbeard and gnomes will be making appearances. - **20th-26th December** – You will be able to claim all daily credits with HAPPYHOLIDAYS. - **21st December** – Solstice Quests will open in cities and communes. - **21st December** – Solstice Vouchers will be able to be redeemed. Both Solstice Court and Solstice Quests will close after the **7th of January** so you should have three weeks to both visit the frosty place and complete the quests. That’s not all so stay tuned because we’re hard at work! **Categories:** News --- ### [Tis the Season of Giving](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/12/01/tis-the-season-of-giving-2/) **Published:** December 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of December, Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for Solstice domination! To participate, purchase solstice stockings directly from the website, which can then be hung in manses and commune and city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: **HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\]** Syntax: **STOCKINGS** (to help track your stockings) At midnight, the person it was hung for can **UNWRAP** and get their reward: - 3 Genie Curio pieces - 2 Iron Coins - 1 Macaron Curio piece **OR** 1 Beauty Curio piece **OR** 1 Blemish Curio piece - a present from Ironbeard **OR** a racetrack ticket from the Gnodfather For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain all the standard stocking stuffers (3 Iron Coins rather than 2 in the case of a platinum stocking), and either **peppermint** from Ironbeard or **coal** from the Gnodfather. Peppermint and coal can be combined to create special Solstice artifacts (see the revamped **HELP SOLSTICEARTIFACTS**)! But because it is the season of giving, each gold and platinum stocking will also include a single **glowing present**. These glowing presents, when opened, will give you a greater chance of receiving a better present without resetting your present counter. Additionally, 10 other players in your room will also receive a normal present to open at the same time! Spread the joy and cheer to everyone this year! Throughout December you can also enjoy a variety of boons during the entire week. These are as follows: **Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays** Bonus to damage against denizens. **Double Experience Tuesdays** Earn twice the experience on Tuesdays (does not include Endzones essence gain). **Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays** Boosts ego damage dealt against denizens in influence battles. **Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays** Additional 25% critical hit chance for everyone. **Fated Fridays** Enjoy a True Favour from the Fates. And finally, if you log in for 21 days in December (check **LOGINDAYS**) you will receive a special solstice voucher which you’ll be able to exchange for a gift of your choice. One of the options is the fabled **merry solstice stocking** which gives a free gift every Lusternian year – among options are commodities, reagents, palettes, artifact golden lips, goop, and more. Due to the power of the stocking, those who already have one will not be able to obtain another. We’re looking to keep things even and allow others to catch up! Worry not though as those who already have it will be able to exchange the voucher for something else instead. Keep your eyes peeled for more announcements as we have a lot planned for December! **Categories:** News --- ### [Cyber Monday Promotion](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/27/cyber-monday-promotion-2/) **Published:** November 27, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Cyber Monday is here! Starting right now, you can buy a [special package of 20 coins](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) to be used with the Wheel of Tzaraziko for $19.99! This is a steep discount for such an amount of coins so it can only be purchased once per character. If you have participated in this last year, worry not, you can do so again this year. We don’t believe in the usual 24 hour rush so you’ll be able to purchase this until the end of the month! **Categories:** News --- ### [Days of Gratitude](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/22/days-of-gratitude/) **Published:** November 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving – either at all or does so earlier in the year – we wish those of you who do a happy one. We are grateful for the time all of you spend with us so if you are spending this time with family or friends (Or yourself! Everyone needs a “me” day), we don’t want you to choose between that time and working on your daily credits. Between the 23rd to the 26th of November (Thursday to Sunday inclusive), you will be able to claim all your daily credits for the day with a simple HAPPYHOLIDAYS command. We hope you have a great time and stay safe! The Lusternia Team **Categories:** News --- ### [Artifact Cart Returns](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/20/artifact-cart-returns/) **Published:** November 20, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Ahead of and as part of a Cyber Monday promotion, the Artifact Cart returns to the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). Until the end of the month, you can buy artifacts directly from the website at a steep discount in the aforementioned Artifact Cart (30% off). The discount is even higher if you have an Iron Elite Membership of any kind (40% off). This is calculated in the panel on the right, showing you the original price, then the discounts, and finally the total. If you have a membership, be sure to be logged into the website to take advantage. A number of limited-availability artifacts – normally available through auctions or special promotions – can also be found in the Special category. These include the Rune of the Eternal Sigil, Master Bubblix, Atroposian Scissors, Rune of Superior Mettle, and so on. A number of newer curio packages and artifacts can be found there as well. More news on Cyber Monday to come! **Categories:** News --- ### [September & October 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/19/september-october-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** November 19, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artbard participants from September and October! If you’d like to join them for November, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=51) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. **SEPTEMBER** ==( Bardic Winner )== Eiselle **OCTOBER** ==( Artisanal Winner )== Freja ==( Bardic Winner )== Aiwynne ==( Bardic Merit )== Zulte **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Lost, Found, and Returned: Memories, the Voice of Mahalla, and Manteekan, the Nightmare](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/18/lost-found-and-returned-memories-the-voice-of-mahalla-and-manteekan-the-nightmare/) **Published:** November 18, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Brennan Stormcrow was not becoming senile. He was quite certain that he had not had a conversation with Xenthos An’Ryshe and Takhre Inseira about the presence of Juur the Spriggan at the Master Ravenwood Tree. He was positive that he had never heard that snippet of song before, and that there was absolutely nothing he was forgetting that gave him a deep sense of dread. And he was not the only one. Several shadowsinger faelings throughout the Glomdoring Forest were missing things with no recollection of where they had been, and soon were missing memories of entire compositions, stageplays, and even the ability to play particular instruments. Although this was a cause for concern, the song continued. At first, it was quiet, distant, and infrequent: A haunting tune, which many people found nostalgic, or familiar in some way, but could not quite remember how or why. This seemed to coincide with incidences of memory loss. Then, fae within the forest began to fall asleep at the sound of the song – specifically, Juur the Spriggan, Ciardha, of Shackled Shadows, and Brultk Thornblood, a redcap. Chancellor Skaza, Asphodel Ysav’rai, Exeryte Stormcrow, Tirah Mzithrei, Takhre Inseira, Iazin Stormcrow, and others would follow up leads in order to untangle the mystery. What, and where was the source of the song? What was causing the memory loss? Why were only the fae affected? Only a few days later, the song began to spread into Ethereal Glomdoring. Queen Lhiannan Stormcrow summoned Glomdoring, expressing her concern, giving what help and information she had, and warning that Glomdoring should remain vigilant. Mother Night would protect the fae on Ethereal Glomdoring, and as far as she could tell, the song did not spill out into Faethorn. Her words would turn out to be prophetic, as less than a month later, the song would be heard within the Wydyr Glade. The slaugh, the barghests, and the redcaps were all asleep. Was this a good thing, or a bad thing? Why were all of the victims creations of Manteekan, the Nightmare? Not even these questions had available answers, only speculation, but Queen Lhiannan was prepared to assist Glomdoring in awakening the fae. And still, the song grew. Ciardha, Juur, and Brultk informed Glomdoring that they believed the song belonged to the Voice of Mahalla, who had not been seen since the time of the Greev and the destruction of the Harbingers Guild. The assistance of Dominique Nightshade was sought to assist in tracking down the Voice, however, before she could begin, the Voice of Mahalla cried out for help. Something, or someone, gave chase to the Voice once she gave up her hiding place and fled through the Forest, begging whatever, or whoever, it was to stop. It was this cry for help which drew the Elder God Manteekan’s attention. A vortex of howling and icy wind formed over Glomdoring shortly before icy shards of immanidivinus energies interrupted her pursuer. Whatever, or whoever, it was, seemed to abandon chase within the forest. More ice heralded the Nightmare’s return then, descending upon the First World atop a bank of swirling mist. Wasting no time, He settled into Glomdoring to look after “His little Mahalla”, who wanted nothing to do with Him. It quickly became apparent that the Nightmare had been gone for too long. He had not been seen since before the Greev either, busy investigating something within the Dreaming. “There is evidence of another all over the Dreaming.” He explained, explicitly excluding Hoaracle the Oak Whacher. On this, he would not elaborate more. Nor did He have any answers as to what was chasing the Voice of Mahalla. The Voice could not remember who or what was chasing her either, but historically she sang only for a few reasons. The Voice of the former Elder Goddess Mahalla was given a new home, safe for now, and the Nightmare seems to be here to stay. All is well that ends well, right? So why did everyone involved have a lingering feeling of dread? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Fellowship of the Roots](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/18/fellowship-of-the-roots/) **Published:** November 18, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Driven to get to the bottom of the dreams they have been receiving, the Fellowship of the Roots set out to recruit more widely from across the Basin of Life. Whether their dream’s source was benevolent, or not, they desired to comprehend it as they have been at the heart of too many coincidences of late. Twice their dreams urged them to assist someone who did not match their criteria, yet was at the heart of some conspiracy just as they arrived. And once, they received no dream at all when they ought to have, resulting in the massacre of the Grey Moors. And so, preceded by a missive-bearing hawk, Nimuire Duskbloom set out to the City of Hallifax. There, she met with the Board of Directions in the Executive Boardroom, represented by Chair of the Board Tikki, and members Ayisdra Ysav’rai and Fillirriqili Skydrifter. Nimuire assumed it at first to be a local tradition to conduct standing meetings – to keep them brief and to the point. She would soon learn that was the case everywhere. Next she visited New Celest and met King Faragan Ladyn in the Star Palace, where they too stood while discussing her findings. To her surprise, in Serenwilde she was invited to a curator’s office instead and was given a chair that time – though one made up of books. There she met with Regent Xiran, and Huskii Myeras, Lendren Starfall, Galaphyrae Talnara. But the trend held elsewhere, a standing meeting with the Shadow Court, represented by Dark Regent Tirah Mzithrei and Esei Shee-Slaugh. A standing meeting in Magnagora, meeting Warlord Uzriel d’Vanecu and Kalas Freja in the Warlord’s office. And finally a standing meeting in the Gaudiguch Council Chamber with a member of the Freedom Council – Paquietiel Dahyu. Weary as she was, Nimuire plead the case of the Fellowship of the Roots and repeatedly asked for secrecy. While in some places she was met with mistrust, most either offered to send a few of their members to aid the Fellowship when it opened, or suggested leads the Fellowship should follow. And follow they did, as not long after, the Fellowship of the Roots opened their doors to new members from their outpost in the Grey Moors. Now, with their membership bolstered, they are able to carry out missions across the Basin of Life. For the betterment of nature, among other things, as they try to unravel the mystery of their dreams. **Categories:** Events --- ### [A New Acolyte of the Light is Chosen](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/06/a-new-acolyte-of-the-light-is-chosen/) **Published:** November 6, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was in the early hours of a cool autumn morning just after school had started that the playful laughter of children echoed through the quiet streets of New Celest. The laughter was first heard by Tridemon Regalis, who chased the children around the entirety of the city, from the Dragon’s Grave, through the Memorial Water Gardens, past Jethri’s Glassblowing Workshop, and through the city park until finally, he managed to catch up with two adolescent trill, Hirin and Talsi, at the Pool of Stars, followed soon afterwards by Sister Yuleshka of the Chapel of Two Saints. After catching her breath, Sister Yuleshka gathered the two trill in close and asked them to explain the origins of the Pool of Stars and the Holy Saints. The King of New Celest, Faragan Ladyn soon arrived as the young ones tried their best to answer their tutor’s questions but stumbled and thus inspired the Sister to offer a friendly little competition between the two trill. Meeting up in the Lodestar Athenaeum, Sister Yuleshka was assisted by Professor Yimone Shervalian of the Lodestar Athenaeum who offered the little ones a chance to learn of Saint Tresalyne of the Stars. After being informed of the terms of the game, the two trill split up, Hirin teaming up with King Faragan, and Talsi with Tridemon, the two teams departed on their search for journal pages from the local citizens of New Celest. Talsi and Tridemon took an early lead, but Hirin and the King soon caught up until they were neck and neck. With a final push, it was Talsi and Tridemon who managed to bring enough pages to Professor Shervalian first and were awarded a glass globe that could be used to capture memories of starlight within the Athenaeum. Combining their efforts, the now single group ventured through the Lodestar Athenaeum in their quest for the memories to fill the globe with starlight. After searching the many levels of the great library, the final memory was within the globe. They brought the glass globe now radiating with dazzling starlight to the top of the Athenaeum where a statue of the Starlit Saint stood. As the globe was placed in the hands of the statue, ribbons of ivory light swirled around the Starlit Saint as the Star of New Celest blazed like a beacon of pure light. Soon afterwards, glistening figures drifted through the air and one, in particular, stepped forward. It was the visage of Saint Tresalyne, the Starlit Saint, who told his story to those gathered. As Saint Tresalyne faded from view, the group was once again joined by Sister Yuleshka and Professor Shervalian who offered their congratulations to the group. Sister Yuleshka stepped forward and informed the pair of young trill that she had a gift for the winner of the game. She would offer Talsi the chance to become an Acolyte of hers within the Chapel of Two Saints, which Talsi eagerly accepted. And so it was within the Baptistery of the Sacred Light that Talsi pledged her oath to the Light and was baptised by Lady Jarana Farain before the citizens of New Celest and her best friend Hirin, as an Acolyte of the Chapel of Two Saints. **Categories:** Events --- ### [November Racing and Chests](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/11/01/november-racing-and-chests/) **Published:** November 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of November, we’re double dipping in the rewards. Credit purchases from the website will come with special chests once more. For every 100 credits purchased, you will receive one chest. To sweeten the pot, you will also receive a chest at the first 25, 50, and 75 credit intervals, resulting in 4 chests total after purchasing the first 100 credits. Your progress will refresh every 1000 credits and can be reviewed with **SHOWREWARDS**. This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages though. What’s inside the chest? A boon of your choice! You can **UNLATCH** the chest and choose between receiving extra 25 bound credits, 500 aethergoop, or 1 gleaming wondercrystal. In addition to that, for every 10 credits you purchase, you’ll also get a racetrack ticket to the **Wakabidrome**! (See [HELP RACETRACK](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1259)). If you’re feeling lucky, the credit prizes for the races have been doubled for the month of November and you can also get tickets from the No-Brainer Bound Credit Package. In November, you can also enjoy Double XP Mondays and Fated Wednesdays. The former will double experienced gained and the latter will mark you with the truefavour of the Fates. And if you wish to take part in the races, you will be able to earn up to 5 free tickets a week for hunting and influencing. Check your ticket progress on **PROMOTION**. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Haunting](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/31/the-haunting/) **Published:** October 31, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Once again, Atropos, the Eldest of the Fates, has broken her shears! This means that **the Haunting is upon us** and when anything dies, there is a chance its ghost will not find its way to the Portal of Fate. If you find one of these poor lost souls, you can capture it if you can scare it. A simple BOO should work! Atropos would be most grateful if you put these ghosts into the Portal of Fate while she repairs the Shears of Fate. As a reward, if you rescue 20 ghosts, Atropos will give you a yummy little treat! **The Haunted House is now open** with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. It is located on the Stairs of Death on Avechna’s Peak and can be reached by the temporary landmark – **hauntedhouse**. A wide selection of toys, dolls, and costumes (including new ones!) can be purchased at Brilyn’s store and there is a slew of activities there to keep you busy and entertained. There is pumpkin carving in the garden, decorative web-making in the basement, two unique vengeance games, a spooky basement maze, bobbing for apples, fortune reading, haunted furniture, themed refreshments, and two chilling plays based on the house’s history. Remember those vengeance games can be initiated by anyone for a small fee so you can play them yourselves. Also, Brilyn sells a potion that will help you keep your carved jack-o-lanterns fresh for much longer if used in the aetherways, helping you keep those decorations for a good while. In the Haunted House basement you can also find a mirror which leads to a whole other area – an enormous maze with many mysteries and very unique challenges. It has its own spooky quest for you to undertake and a slew of secrets – within the mansion, beneath it, and out there in the maze. We are not guiding you to many of them on purpose, preferring to leave the mysteries of the Hallowed Maze for you to discover. Pay attention to your grimoire there. Beyond that, if you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air somewhere upon the Prime Plane, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. There are twenty-two different stories hidden behind those doors and the one to collect them all will find the associated quest completed. Be on the lookout for the telltale signs of the doors in the vicinity – spooky phenomena will be afoot. To make sure you don’t miss out on the main activities, the Coterie has prepared **a Haunting Adventure** to guide you through them. Be sure to **pick up a pamphlet** in the foyer of the Haunted House, it will be your guide. Between the pamphlet, the grimoire, and out there in the wild, there is a total of four quests for you to undertake. The Haunting will end on November 6th, at noon, giving you the rest of the week to try everything out! **Categories:** News --- ### [Anniversary Contest Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/31/anniversary-contest-results/) **Published:** October 31, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** There is never a better time to rally for the chicken revolution than the Festival of the Creatrix. And so, each of the chicken generals posed a challenge to the inhabitants of the Basin of Life to see how well they could cope under pressure in the hope of finding a few who could join their ranks. First, Buck, the Iniquitous Chicken had an exciting Treasure Hunt for the adventurers of Lusternia. Sitting on the summit of Avechna’s Peak, he revealed that he had found a mysterious sketchbook from an artist who had sketched the real life places seen in their dreams, and Buck offered rewards to the first people who found all the locations depicted in the sketchbook. Vivet was the first to find a clue, but Ayisdra quickly overtook her and kept the lead for most of the competition, closely trailed by Galaphyrae, Tikki, and Vivet, with one or few of them briefly catching up to Ayisdra. However, in the end, it was Ayisdra, Vivet, and Tikki, all from Hallifax, who claimed the prizes of first, second and third place. Pluck, the Cantankerous Chicken, though confused by whether the challenge was ‘Daath’ or ‘Death,’ spurred the Basin to a challenge of murderous proportions. Calling for a bloodbath, the Death Challenge was begun. Huskii of Serenwilde took a commanding lead right away, and maintained that lead right up to the very end, claiming first place. Following up was Kistan and Freja, both of Magnagora, who mid-way battled over second place. In the end, Freja would win that struggle for second, and Kistan would take third. Then it was time for Xuck, the Strategic Chicken, to rally for the revolution and see who’s got the smarts to join the fowl troops. There was only one way for such a strategist – Battlechess. And so the nations of the Basin of Life put forth a total of five teams and it was Glomdoring that was victorious in the end, taking home the Chessboard of Libertas with its mysterious powers. As it turned out, Exeryte was no duck. Hyuck, being the Affable Chicken that he is, rallied the Basin to sway its inhabitants to the Chicken Revolution in the name of Harmony. Freja of Magnagora was the first to join the cause, soon followed by Teladahi of New Celest and Lendren of Serenwilde. Others would soon follow suit, but Freja was never overtaken from her demanding lead and came in first. Followed by Madungonga and Lendren, both of Serenwilde. Finally, it came time for Duck, the Confused Chicken, to figure some things out and what better way than to lean on the collective knowledge of others? A quiz was called, and sure enough, Duck struggled to formulate her questions at first but then they flowed. And they were gruelling indeed, asking about things few consider. What does Grokgar, the Yellow Overseer, actually oversee? Question for the ages. When the quiz came to a close, Zagreus of Magnagora was named winner, Galaphyrae of Serenwilde came in second, and Sabik of Hallifax came in third. Content, the generals withdrew for the moment at the close of the Festival of the Creatrix but when next will they strike? **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Crow's Return and a Mysterious Trade](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/27/crows-return-and-a-mysterious-trade/) **Published:** October 27, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On the 13th of Urlachmar, the loud cries and cawing of the Glomdoring Forest’s gathered crows echoed across the land, portending something imminent. Shooting across the Basin at great speed, Brother Crow returned to the Forest from his place at Lady Viravain’s side. The mysterious Elder Goddess had departed the Forest some time ago, and Brother Crow had travelled with Her. His return at this particular time, Brennan Stormcrow explained, was to strike a deal with the mysterious Seeress Morizwala. Tasking those gathered with delivering his message to the elusive Seeress, Crow took his place at the Master Ravenwood once more, leaving the whereabouts of Lady Viravain a continuing mystery. The combined residents of Glomdoring were successful in contacting the Seeress and delivering the message. Acting with a mysterious mirth, she explained that the Great Spirit proposed a trade whose terms were hers to decide. The negotiations were short, and the Commune agreed to satisfy her demands. With great haste, Glomdoring travelled over the length of the Basin to get the materials necessary to meet the Seeress’ curious bargain. Numerous harpies were seen flying over the Forest, delivering unknown goods back and forth. Eventually, the strange trade was completed. Whatever the Glomdoring gave in return, ruins of old Gloriana were unveiled, upkept by the harpies in secret since the days of the Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire. As a part of the deal, Glomdoring was to inhabit this new centre and make it the heart of their cultural pursuits. Meanwhile, Morizwala departed into the shadows once more with the object she sought, whispering to it in perplexing crowtongue. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Anniversary Present Exchange](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/24/anniversary-present-exchange/) **Published:** October 24, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In celebration of Lusternia’s anniversary week, you will be able to **EXCHANGE PRESENTS**! This will let you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. It will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. As with all glowing presents, when you open it, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. Celebrate Lusternia turning nineteen together! In October you can find presents included in Aethergoop Jar and Wonder Crate packages on the website. Starting from now and until the end of the month, you will also receive a present for every 25 credits you purchase. For the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents. You can review your progress with **SHOWREWARDS**, and it will reset after 1000 credits. As with all promotions, this does not apply to No-Brainer credit packages. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Festival of the Creatrix](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/24/the-festival-of-the-creatrix-2/) **Published:** October 24, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Festival of the Creatrix has now been declared open! You can find the lovely Agwesha and all of her wares upon the Path of Solitude, where she will remain as long as the Festival is open. You can path track there with a landmark – **FESTIVALWARES**. Buy decorations, toys, and even the rare doll of the Creatrix Herself so that you can celebrate the Festival as fervently as it deserves. Beware the chicken revolution and its cunning ways. Thankfully the pinatas have been defeated. # Wayfaire The Menestrean Wayfaire has made its way into the Basin of Life once again, too. This year, you may find the Wayfaire just west of Estelbar. If you are having trouble, just look for the new temporary landmark – **WAYFAIRE**. As well as containing all of the usual attractions – multiple quests that culminate in an honour line and award 500 aethergoop – the Wayfaire has some fancy, and potentially sharp-toothed, playground equipment. There is also a food stall with an assortment of tasty snacks! Do not forget to pick up a mystical beast or two from Old Man Gryphta’s shop as well, and incubate them right away! The shop also has some bouncing vials, a bottle you can play spin the bottle with, and some dice. # Great Hunt The Great Hunt is on once again! Gather your supplies and set out to hunt and influence your way to victory. The Hunt will last until midnight GMT on October 26th (at the weave). You will earn double experience during the Great Hunt and all your slaying and influencing will count towards the score. Check out HELP GREATHUNT for details about the rules, rewards, and tiers. --- Refer to the original post, Announce #3342, for all Anniversary announcements and dates as we have more games lined up for this week. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia's Nineteenth Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/22/lusternias-nineteenth-anniversary-events/) **Published:** October 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia has turned nineteen years old! And, as always, we’re holding a series of games, contests and more to celebrate this momentous milestone, with the in-character celebration of the Festival of the Creatrix. All contests bar the Great Hunt and Battlechess award 300 credits for 1st place, 150 credits for 2nd place and 50 credits for 3rd place. Great Hunt rewards are in bound credits, scaling from 400 for 1st to 50 for 10th in each tier, whilst the organisation that wins Battlechess receives the famed Chessboard of Libertas. ## 23rd October (Monday) - 10:30pm GMT: The Festival of the Creatrix begins, with the opening ceremonies, pinatas, and the return of festival wares. - 11pm GMT: The Wayfaire Opens! - Weave: The Great Hunt begins! Enjoy the double experience gain on top of D’varsha’s Illuminating Weeks. See HELP GREATHUNT for more details. ## 26th October (Thursday) - Weave: Great Hunt Ends. ## 27th October (Friday) - Weave – Treasure Hunt! The first to figure out the clues, wins! ## 28th October (Saturday) - 4pm GMT: Death Challenge! See the bottom of HELP ASCENSION RULES for what this entails. This will be a no-pk event. - Weave: Battlechess! Each city and commune competes in this game to win the glorious Chessboard of Libertas. ## 29th October (Sunday) - 3pm GMT: Harmony Challenge! See the bottom of HELP ASCENSION RULES for what this entails. This will be a no-pk event. - 10pm GMT: Festival Quiz! Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. - Weave: The Festival closes. Takes place after the Quiz, should it run long. The Wayfaire will leave on the following day, allowing it to be enjoyed throughout all of Sunday. Be careful with event times on Sunday as Daylight Saving Time will kick in overnight. Server time is considered the point of reference here, we will also ensure that Discord events line up with the above outline. **Categories:** News --- ### [Hallifaxian Archives: Treason Case of 661 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/22/hallifaxian-archives-treason-case-of-661-ce/) **Published:** October 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Note to reader: The following is a compilation of entries from the legal notes of High Supreme Justice Lilliana Sunfar on the investigation and ultimate treason conviction over the course of 659 – 661 CE. Due to the historic and largely unprecedented nature of this crime in modern history, the Ministry of Justice, acting in coordination with the Ministry of Bureaucracy, has declassified these notes sooner than the typical blackout period, so as to remind the citizenry of their duties, and of the consequences of defying the ordered way of the Collective. **ENTRY 1**: From Kiani 659 CE Reports came in of a contingent of guards – typical in composition – arriving at the Matrix for duty. Yet, Keeper Sunfar and Senior Deputy Commissar Vardan reported no awareness of this dispatch, which was deemed highly unusual given their stations at the Matrix. Citizens were available to aid in a preliminary investigation. Comrade Jekkoc of the Ministry of Peace was summoned; he reported that he received Form \[REDACTED\] per normal means and enacted the process of dispatching this unit of guards accordingly. Paperwork possessed by the guards was deemed a forgery, thus creating an automatic escalation to the Ministry of Justice. While paperwork errors do occur within the bureaucracy, a more thorough inquiry is deemed necessary given the presence of a forgery. For this matter, per Protocol \[REDACTED\], I have appointed \[REDACTED\], a new senior investigator working under the Preeminent Court of Truth. Should they be needed, Keeper Sunfar reported that witnesses at the Matrix during this mishap included: Chair Tikki, Vice-Chairs Ayisdra Ysav’rai and Fillirriqili Skydrifter, Comrades Vivet Pavok, Sabik Al’tair, Rylek Al’tair, and Ame. **ENTRY 2**: From Juliary 659 CE A claim of misplaced paperwork occurred at the Library of Universal Knowledge, reported by Senior Administrator Clarramore. The claim originated from Comrade Exoiye of the Ministry of the Library, who was attempting to fulfil a request for information about \[REDACTED\] from Comrade Goldfeather of the Crystal Wheel. Comrade Goldfeather had the correct paperwork for this request in his possession. But, the Library’s records regarding which citizens had permission to which levels of information were not to be found. Upon the Senior Administrator’s arrival at the scene, the issue was resolved via temporary loaning of library materials to Comrade Goldfeather via Form \[REDACTED\] and the assignment by the Senior Administrator of the corps of administrators to recreate the missing Library records using alternate, archived paperwork. Investigator \[REDACTED\] was on the scene as well, and theorized the connection of this incident to that of the Ministry of Peace paperwork months earlier. Also on the scene were: Chair Tikki, Vice-Chair Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Comrades Sabik Al’tair, Rylek Al’tair, Trym Mistcaller, and later Ellynne Mistcaller and Arae Villarreal. None of these individuals are under suspicion in the ongoing investigation given plausible alibis. **ENTRY 3**: From Kiani 660 Slykok of Acknor, which at the time was pledged to the Grand Dominion of Hallifax, arrived at the Ministry of Plenty to deliver his village’s routine commodity tithe. However, the person on duty, Comrade Roshik of the Ministry of Plenty, was unable to receive the delivery given the missing paperwork pertaining to import customs, i.e. Form \[REDACTED\]. This was deemed highly surprising by Superior Judge Lars, who arrived on the scene to mediate the dispute, especially given the rising temper of the representative from Acknor. Investigator \[REDACTED\] also arrived at the scene, having received word of yet another paperwork incident and intuitively assuming a link with the earlier paperwork mishaps. Conflict could not be averted. The representative from Acknor, in a fit of pique, seized paperwork from the hands of Comrade Roshik, mixed it with his own paperwork regarding the delivery of the commodities, and scattered the forms to the winds, causing them to flitter about the entire city. Available to help were Vice-Chair Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Comrades Vivet Pavok, Ellynne Mistcaller, Trym Mistcaller, Sabik Al’tair and Finnegan. Much haste ensued in rescuing the dispersed paperwork. By the time all forms were retrieved, Superior Judge Lars and Comrade Roshik had completed the necessary emergency paperwork for the import of the commodities, thus fulfilling the archival needs, although the representative from Acknor had left long ago. **ENTRY 4**: From Juliary 660 An alarm began sounding throughout the city and the citizenry felt clear evidence of the city beginning to lose altitude in fits and bursts. The Generators and Matrix worked in concert following emergency programming that allowed them to draw on the power of the Matrix to roughly maintain the city’s altitude or, in the worst case, land “softly”. Comptroller General Eepex reported to the \[REDACTED\] Research Project Lab A upon word of an unusual gathering of Senior Researchers and Master Artists. The Ministry of Peace enacted a blockade to prevent any of the lower castes from unauthorized access to the meeting. Investigator \[REDACTED\] was already at the scene, having gotten word of yet more errant paperwork. There, Senior Researchers Eepex, Skysoarer, and Lars were gathered with Master Artists Silverplume, Goldfeather, and Cloudwalker (cf. Reference \[REDACTED\] for the roster of scientists and artists on duty at this time). They were assessing a piece of paperwork, Form \[REDACTED\], that had been received by Master Silverplume making a routine-sounding request for her artistic creation in pursuit of \[REDACTED\]. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear the form contained a number of oddities that made the request itself far from routine, and likely led to ruinous consequences for the Generators of the Collective. Comrade Aiclii of the Ministry of Power was summoned for any inside knowledge of how this came to be, but she was not aware of any helpful information. Fortunately, the artists and scientists caught the error and did not fulfil the request. Unfortunately, it was quickly determined by all that during this time period of erroneous paperwork, neither the artists nor scientists were fulfilling their duties to empower the Generators. Upon realization that the lack of maintenance was what was causing the alarm, the scientists and artists hastened to enact Emergency Protocol \[REDACTED\] to bring new bursts of power to the Generators. Doing so required \[REDACTED\], which could only be created by a separate procedure by Keeper Sunfar to overcharge the Matrix, thus resulting in \[REDACTED\]. Vice-Chairs Ayisdra Ysav’rai and Fillirriqili Skydrifter, Comrades Arae Villarreal, Finnegan, Zinnia, Trym Mistcaller, Ellynne Mistcaller and Abrondae were all present, but it was Comrade Rylek Al’tair who did most of the manual labour to retrieve the \[REDACTED\]s needed. First, the \[REDACTED\] Generator received the proper treatment, then the \[REDACTED\] Generator, and finally the \[REDACTED\] Generator before the set of Generators could rebalance themselves in service to keeping the city afloat. Thus, a greater crisis was averted, but yet another incident was registered in the streak of paperwork errors. **ENTRY 5**: From Kiani 661 Investigator \[REDACTED\] filed the proper motions to convene a hearing in the Preeminent Court of Truth, with myself presiding. The Investigator also filed the paperwork to issue summons for Comrades Jekkoc, Exoiye, Roshik, and Aiclii to appear before the court; they were duly summoned with the help of the citizenry. The Investigator began the proceeding. In attendance were Chair Tikki, Vice-Chair Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Comrades Hinic, Rylek Al’tair, Sabik Al’tair and Arturo Villarreal, later joined by Comrades Vivet Pavok and Arae Villarreal. Investigator \[REDACTED\] officially filed his report with the court; it was duly received into the record. An opportunity was given at the proceeding for anyone in the citizenry to provide testimony; the offer was wholly declined. The Investigator then offered a summation of his inquiry, sharing various pieces of evidence that suggested the guilt of the four bureaucrats summoned before the court. Before any defence or cross-examination could be had, Comrade Aiclii, possessed with emotion, exclaimed her guilt. She claimed that the four of them had been enacting a plot to show the Collective how vital the bureaucratic caste is to the functioning of the city, and complained of the perceived poor and demeaning treatment that caste receives. With descriptions like “oppression” and a desire for “freedom”, the four gave an impassioned plea for their cause, yet ultimately pleaded guilty. Thus did the proceeding quickly arrive at the verdict of guilt, the crime being high treason against the Collective. As the proceeding moved into the sentencing phase, Investigator \[REDACTED\] offered further thoughts. With reminders about the need for Unity and warnings about the potential for Collapse when chaos is allowed to reign, he revealed himself to be Lord Zvoltz, the Architect, returned to mortal perception. The Lord Architect shared that He had intervened to stop the plot of the bureaucrats because He sensed Order fraying in the Collective, but offered no more detail about His intents. Yet, He took over the proceedings for the sentencing portion. The Lord Architect ordered that the citizenry should vote for the punishment of the four bureaucrats out of the three choices of execution, exile and permanent relegation to slavery. The anonymous vote had to be unanimous, and rounds of voting would occur until such a unanimous vote was registered. The citizenry was given the freedom to deliberate amongst themselves. \[REDACTED\] murmured sounds of discomfort at the harshness of the presented options, while \[REDACTED\] made an impassioned plea for a fourth option – one of reconciliation and cooperation with the traitors to learn more about their complaints. \[REDACTED\] drew upon his own history and path to the Collective, while \[REDACTED\] cast the first vote, with great surety, even before much of the deliberation unfolded. Towards the end, when around half the votes were cast but clearly others were hesitating, \[REDACTED\] gave a final reasoned argument for exile, noting that it is one of the two prescribed punishments for treason per the Collective’s Peace Articles. Thus were all the votes cast, and thus was the vote unanimous on the first round. The sentence was exile. Sentinel of State Pavok took the traitors away to enact the punishment, and the proceeding was adjourned. With the traitors’ fate determined, the Lord Architect took His leave with a word of warning about the cost needed to maintain Order. Gods willing, the Collective will not need to pay such a dear cost again to remember this lesson. **END OF RECORD** **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Mystery of Summer Heat](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/21/the-mystery-of-summer-heat/) **Published:** October 21, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A storm rumbled over the Skarch Desert, gathering clouds looming ominously over the dunes. The sound of thunder barely disguised the sound of cackling laughter, the first hint that something was amiss. On a cold day, the 3rd of Urlachmar in the year 661 after the Coming of Estarra, Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde was the first to find Exclii Ehc’zi, the outcast monk of the followers of Grandmother Scorpion within the Scorpion Caverns. He explained that another monk, a dracnari by the name of Summer Heat who had just returned from beyond the caverns, had come and done something horrible to the other followers of Scorpion, but that he himself had avoided attention. Not long after, Nimuire Duskbloom and Thes Erurozea of the Fellowship of the Roots arrived, claiming that they had been sent to visit and investigate Scorpion by another dream they had experienced. It quickly became clear that something was horribly wrong with Summer Heat, and other monks down in the caverns. They were described, and had been seen, as having brown licks of flame emanating from their mouths, and their lips were brown and seared. Meanwhile, the other inhabitants of the Scorpion Caverns were incapacitated – irresponsive and holding on for dear life. Exclii was an anxious bundle of nerves, and it would take encouragement from Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring before he could calm down, and explain more about the situation. When pressed, he revealed that he had taken the Key from Sandy Storm, a large crystal which she had fashioned into an ankh and which she had procured with no small effort driven by the prophecy of Scorpion about the Key and the Wayward. The monk claimed he could use the ankh to go on some kind of spirit-cleansing journey. Although it was unclear what Summer Heat was doing, it was discovered that he had sealed himself magically into a tomb with one of the mummies, no doubt for some foul purpose. With no other choice, the exiled Exclii drew upon his knowledge of the secrets of Scorpion, and began a ritual that would span nearly an entire month. Many would gather to hear the tale, to aid, and to fight, including Xenthos An’Ryshe, Iazin Stormcrow, and Tirah Mzithrei of Glomdoring, Huskii Myreras, Eiselle Mes’ard and Xiran Stormcrow of Serenwilde, Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora, Vyell D’Cente of Gaudiguch, Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Finnegan and Tikki of Hallifax, Tridemon Regalis and Cheliyi Lunarose of Celest. Over the next several days, disturbed monks with seared lips would regularly come to interrupt the ritual and assault the precious crystal, and those protecting it hurried to repair the damage with elemental essence. Eventually, four manifestations of Exclii’s deepest insecurities would appear over the course of the month. Many died in defense of the ritual, but one by one they were each overcome. With their defeat came key memories believed to belong to the four mummies: Belay’i, Lerest’i, Asooth’i, and finally Shyust’i. Adventurers and the Fellowship sat with Exclii, keeping him safe throughout the tumult. The efforts of Huskii Myeras, and that of Tikki, who would remain with Exclii and took no rest, would prove especially crucial. For as each manifestation fell, the situation grew more and more dire, and without them, the efforts would have surely failed. As the manifestations perished, Summer Heat was interrupted, moving from tomb to tomb and chased by Thes. Those inspecting were greeted by the stink of ozone and found each mummy progressively more and more desecrated, with brown stains upon their faces. Many began to fear what Summer Heat would do if they could not stop him. Nimuire and the gathered adventurers speculated as to the whys, the hows, and the what fors. Why was Summer Heat doing this? What sort of stranger power was he manifesting, and what was he trying to do? Was Lord Blooredi behind all of this? Why was the Fellowship bid come to the caverns? In the end, a tough battle with a manifestation of fear was waged, and Exclii would take on the aspect of Grandmother Scorpion. She exiled Summer Heat and demanded that the adventurers remove him from the Caverns. With the magical barrier separating Summer Heat from everyone else dispelled, there was nothing to do but take the fight to him. That feat proved to be a tremendously difficult one. Despite many of the Basin’s strongest engaging him, Summer Heat seemed to regenerate himself faster than any could harm him. Nonplussed, Summer Heat made an unceremonious exit from the caverns, surely to be a problem for another day. And so, those gathered were left with many questions, for which few answers were forthcoming. A grotesque ritual altar of animal bones was discovered in the tomb of Shyusti’ containing strange, brownish crystals, which were collected and kept by some few. The remaining followers were awakened, and Wise Lady was apprised of events that had occurred while she was incapacitated. For his valiancy, the followers of Scorpion once more recognized the value of Exclii Ehc’zi. Exiled no more, the wayward former-Keeper was restored to his duties, and allowed to resume his previously-given name: Sacred Mesa. The large, crystalline ankh remains fixed in Sacred Mesa’s station. What role that will play in the future is uncertain, like many things. One thing was clear: This was likely not the last that the Basin of Life would see of Summer Heat. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Muhanlesh Menace terrorizes Grey Moors](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/21/muhanlesh-menace-terrorizes-grey-moors/) **Published:** October 21, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The power of the moon was waning on Avechary 7th, the year 660 CE, when an expedition headed by Feenol Leihm, Professor of Biological and Botanical Studies at the Gorlognal Academy, reached Muhanlesh Caverns. Accompanied by Research Assistant Phuslik Meshglog, the Professor sought to determine whether the old research facility still held any research notes worth transporting back to the Academy or, perhaps, held any subjects worth studying. As successors to the Balach Institute of Magic and Science, the Academy is most interested in following up on the projects of old, most notably Project Touchstone which was carried out within those very caverns. What they found upon arrival, however, exceeded expectations. Passed out on the floor around a mystical circle were Etilla Leihm, the Professor’s newly-found kin, and Melpith Saelth. Blood trickled from their eyes and ears, and a peculiar scent hung in the air. Puzzled, the expedition sought information on what occurred there, and indeed help arrived in short order but answers were harder to come. Tridemon Regalis of Celest was first on the scene, with Regent Xiran Stormcrow and Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde, Warlord Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora, and Arch-Preceptor Eiselle Mes’ard and Pyawr of Gaudiguch arriving soon after. The investigation uncovered little, to begin with. While Xiran lent her healing prowess to stabilising Etilla and Melpith, others debated the usual goings on within the caverns, and the goal of the two unconscious researchers. The general opinion held that the place was considered dangerous and the cloier, a creature often accidentally summoned by the duo, was something to be avoided. Throughout the discussion, the overpowering stench of sweat and decay held in the mirrored room until Tridemon could take it no more. But it was Huskii who ended up discovering the source – a small glob of ooze smeared upon one of the mirrors. Leaning close, Huskii sniffed at the air around the globe to verify the finding… only to be obliterated instantly. As Huskii leaned down, the ooze reached out, spread, and enveloped them whole, eating away at flesh and cloth alike until nothing remained – neither the ooze, nor Huskii. While the gathering was still recovering from the shock, Huskii returned, not so easily defeated as a demigod. While Xiran continued to work on the unconscious researchers, theories were put forth regarding feeding objects to the summoning circle in hopes of closing it, as well as numerous methods of waking up those affected. In the end, a bucket of cold water to the face applied by Huskii did the trick for Melpith and one applied by Tridemon woke Etilla. All hope of sense and logic evaporated with their awakening, however, as Melphit was near incoherent with fear, repeating over and over “Make it stop!” and “I didn’t want to!”, even with Eiselle’s consoling. Meanwhile, Etilla was awake but catatonic. Once Melpith calmed down sufficiently to say more, it was surmised that they were influenced to perform the ritual and summon a cloier intentionally. And though Melpith wavered between it feeling like his idea and it not being his idea, it was clear to those investigating that the researchers were in some manner possessed to do someone’s bidding. “We were summoned. And we summoned.” – as Melpith put it himself. And sure enough, a cloier had been summoned to the Prime Material Plane. It was not the first time, for the duo’s research sometimes resulted in the summoning of the behemoth from the aetherways, but the cloier – confused and unsuitable to survive away from its usual hunting grounds – would stay within the caverns and would eventually be slain, even if with difficulty. This time, however, the cloier was summoned, and it was not in the caverns. The cloier was in the Grey Moors. Much to the delight of Professor Leihm, who thought only of the research opportunities a beast such as that offered, the cloier was rampaging through the moors, slaughtering every animal and krokani in its path. Those investigating quickly reorganised and hurried after the cloier, including the Professor, leaving the researchers in the hands of the Research Assistant. Tridemon was the first to find the cloier rampaging through the courtyard of Castle Djarrakh, much to his dismay. The trouble in the Grey Moors brought this disturbance to the attention of the Basin of Life at large, leading to Lady Grey Sapphira, Harbinger Kalas Freja, Primarch Shango D’Cente and Alysi Diluculo of Magnagora joining the investigation, alongside Finnegan of Hallifax. The group was also soon joined by Nimuire Duskbloom and Thes Erurozea of the Fellowship of the Roots, whose outpost sits right beneath the castle itself and who, for once, were not brought there by dreams but by screams. It was quickly discovered, through a dangerous face-to-face inspection, that the cloier in question was a much more powerful being than usually encountered. Either the rampage or something else has empowered it and any attempts at slaying it were moot. Uzriel did notice a peculiar green light amidst the grasses but the source eluded him for the moment. And so, the cloier continued on towards Paavik, with a worried entourage keeping its distance. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the moors rallied to protect themselves, with Kar’chen, the Castellan of Djarrakh, ordering a barricade, Ciarrus, leader of the aslarans, shutting down the camp, and others locking their doors and shutters to avoid a potential incursion. As the cloier reached the outskirts of the village, those gathered at the rallying point, including the Fellowship, made a valiant attempt at preventing the impending slaughter but were rebuffed. As the cloier entered Paavik, the villagers scattered in a panic. Some were slain, their drained bodies on display upon the roads as the vanguard followed the behemoth, others fled for the manor. Here, a second attempt was made to prevent further ingress. The group was once more rebuffed, and the scent of death and anxiety hung in the air in the wake of the battle. With Paavik under Magnagora’s protection at the time, the Engine took to ensuring that the losses were minimalised. Alysi made the rounds, avoiding the cloier, and rallying the villagers to the manor. At the tanner’s workshop, he found Anya Vasili and a shepherd cowering in the back and ensured that they too were evacuated despite the cloier’s proximity. Once in the manor, Alysi also found Vanamin Vasili, the actual tanner of Paavik, sleeping off a hangover and utterly confused about the situation with the “closeter”. Were it not for Alysi, it seems the tanner’s wife would have become one more victim of the cloier. While this was going on, the assault team reorganised in close proximity to the beast and theorised alternative approaches, much to the Professor’s dismay. He still hoped to observe the cloier, or at the very least get some samples to study in peace. Nimuire, who has been trying to slow down the cloier’s progress with thorny vines, argued with the Professor about the logic of keeping such a menace alive just to study it and eventually the Professor saw reason, in no small part due to Shango’s and Uzriel’s convincing tactics. A sample of the beast’s skin was needed to devise something to weaken it and a small contingent, bolstered by Kalas Malayn of Magnagora, Zinnia of Hallifax, and Cheliyi Lunarose of Celest, hacked at the cloier until a suitable skin sample was recovered. Thus equipped, Uzriel headed out to Gaaglin Swamps, to Professor Vleim Etloo of the Department of Alchemical Studies. Once there, the usual pessimism of Professor Vleim did little to hasten the research. Uzriel, Sapphira, and Kalas Zagreus were able to procure the vleebgarglegush alembic for the Professor nonetheless and the study of the skin sample got underway. Meanwhile, back in Paavik, the scent of sweat and anxiety pervaded the village. As it wafted, Cheliyi reported an odd sensation in her mind but could not quite put it into words. Others did not report any such sensation, however, and assumed it was her telepathic prowess at work. The smell persisted and both the Professor and the Fellowship remarked it was familiar but still could not place it so Huskii reminded all of the lethal ooze found in Muhanlesh Caverns, which was the source of the smell there, and theorised that the cloier might be chock-full of the dangerous substance. Slaying it might not improve the situation of Paavik, if so. While they waited for results to come from the Gorlognal Academy, the group, now bolstered by Madungonga and Hiari Myeras of Serenwilde, and Etra Nightshade of Gaudiguch as well, continued to dissect the events. The identity of the being who might have compelled the researchers there to act was at the top of the list of mysteries – with the kephera and illithoid the main suspects due to their innate psychic powers. Before long, Professor Etloo concocted an acidic substance from the blood of floating urns of the Aquarius Astrosphere brought to him and the team at the Academy was ready to get underway with an enormous barrel in tow. As they head for the Grey Moors, the pervasive odour abruptly lifted from the village of Paavik but there was little time to debate the meaning as the cloier itself was still there. Equipped with the barrel, the group assaulted the cloier for the last time. With the barrel thrown at the beast, its skin started to dissolve and numerous punctures appeared within it, letting gases escape. That was the beginning of the end as it did not take long for the cloier to be vanquished after that. The battle was less challenging than expected in fact, even accounting for the acidic substance trick up their sleeve. Nonetheless, the cloier was defeated. In the aftermath, the Professor received a cloier organ for study for little else was left but a husk of corroded flesh, and happily took off for the Academy, leaving behind the Research Assistant to accomplish the work they set out to do, and not even checking in on his kin – Etilla. Some stayed behind to ensure Paavik was put to rights, while others left for Muhanlesh Caverns, where it all began. First to return, Tridemon was already there, making good use of Etilla’s recovery. Etilla, like Melpith, was certain she wanted to summon the cloier, not just conduct their usual research to retrieve that which was lost during Project Touchstone. The goal was to summon the cloier she insisted, and Tridemon was certain it was a psionically implanted idea, given the state of the both of them. Etilla even remembered leading the cloier out of the caverns. What concerned Huskii most, however, was the smell. Given the subject matter, some speculated the Soulless God Muud could be involved, or Soulless God Crazen, or a fragment of the Soulless Goddess Illith, or even the Soulless God Zenos. Cheliyi worried the Eater of Flesh and Earth from Gaaglin might be involved, which is what made it click for the Research Assistant that the smell reminded her of Gaaglin Swamps, particularly when newcomers came to visit and the Eater was first empowered. That had Tridemon lay the blame squarely at the Elder God Blooredi’s feet, for both the Great Worm tended to by the Fellowship, and the Eater tended to by the Thaumaturges, were His works. Meanwhile, others thought to suspect the Fellowship, who were also new arrivals in the swamps at the time. What mattered though was that the Grey Moors were saved, and the cloier stopped from becoming even more powerful and decimating the Basin of Life. On her end, Phuslik Meshglog decided to stay with the researchers, determined to be on guard should something be amiss during the next waning gibbous phase of the moon – a prime window for the summoning ritual. With more questions than answers, the investigators dispersed to their homes, knowing well that something is amiss but unable to piece together this abstract puzzle for the time being. **Categories:** Events --- ### [October Wheel Spins](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/10/01/october-wheel-spins/) **Published:** October 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of October, we have Iron Coins available to purchase from the website! You can spin these coins at the Wheel of Tzaraziko found at the Cave of Chaos. Additionally, playing for at least an hour on a given day will allow use of a free spin – SPIN WHEEL FREE! Check out HELP IRON COINS for more information. The website also have two other offerings: Aethergoop Jars and Wonder Crates. The first come with aethergoop, coins, and presents, while the latter with wonder crystals and presents. And finally, you will also gain increasingly more experience throughout October due to D’varsha’s Illuminating Weeks. For details on how these work be sure to check out HELP PROMO DAYS. **Categories:** News --- ### [July & August 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/09/27/july-august-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** September 27, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artbard participants from July and August! If you’d like to join them for September, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=51) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ## July ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [Your Eyes Were Green With Me](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5814/) by Xiran #### Runner-Up [Changing Moon of Today and the Fae](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5813/) by Tredian ## August ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [The Stars Above Your Wounded Sky](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5815/) by Xiran **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [The Discovery of Gaaglin Swamp and Gorlognal Academy](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/09/10/the-discovery-of-gaaglin-swamp-and-gorlognal-academy/) **Published:** September 10, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** At the entrance to what the expedition soon learned was called Gaaglin Swamp, they found a pair of mugwumps – brother and sister – arguing vehemently. One was called Phelbin Gorlogg, and he was the chancellor of a mugwump place of learning called the Gorlognal Academy, which had unfortunately been sunk into the swamp recently – the result of the destruction of its “suspension devices”. This, the expedition learned, was the cause of the earthquake felt in the Basin of Life. The other was called Quaenith Gorlogg, and she was the head thaumaturge in the swamp in service to a collective being rising out of the crocodiles of the swamp that she called the Eater of Flesh and Earth. Quaenith was suspicious of the newcomers, noting that after dreams of instructions, she had been in the process of empowering the Eater, whose home was the Gaaglin Swamp, and pushing back the Academians, who she considered to be trespassers who caused destruction and damage to the Eater’s home. Phelbin, bleary eyed from fearful dreams himself, accused Quaenith of being the source of his and his Academy’s misfortune, noting that it was her empowerment of the swamp and of the Eater that ultimately caused the sinking of the Academy for the very first time, after years – indeed generations – of stalemate between the Academy mugwumps and the mugwump thaumaturges. They both claimed to be descendants of some mugwump exiles that left Balach Swamp years ago, after the disaster of Project Soulforge that was led by the Balach Institute of Magic and Science, though they themselves were born and raised in the Gaaglin, siblings driven apart. Phelbin appeared to know Pachidrui and was surprised at their return, but assumed immediately that they had brought help for the Gorlognal Academy. Pachidrui pushed back at Phelbin’s assumption, however, declaring themself apart from the Academy and chiding Phelbin and his Academy for staying apart for so long from the world. They only came, Pachidrui declared, because their brother, Vleim Etloo, had sent a message from the Academy via mechanical frog after the sinking and earthquake. Nimuire of the Fellowship, in the meantime, was more interested in and concerned about the various dreams she had, seemingly relating to these happenings. And so, Quaenith and Phelbin and Pachidrui and the rest of the expedition argued and talked in circles. But once their arguments began to repeat themselves, Quaenith broke away and entreated those of the expedition sympathetic to the Eater’s cause to come to her in her burrow and help empower the swamp further. Likewise, Phelbin retreated to the pit where the Academy lay sunk, asking the newcomers to help him raise the school back up again. Left alone amidst the heavy scent of sweat and stale waters, the exhausted expedition had one more choice to make. Once united in effort and purpose on their journey to the Gaaglin, now they took separate paths. Many, unsure of whose cause to champion, simply hung back and explored the swamp and the sunken academy, wishing to learn more before they added their efforts to one side or the other. One such was Hyirah of Serenwilde, who chattered brightly with Professor Vleim Etloo, brother of Pachidrui Etloo, as he sheltered in the refugee camp to Gaaglin’s east. The members of the Fellowship of the Roots, meanwhile, took themselves closer to Quaenith Gorlogg, wishing to learn more about the Eater of Flesh and Earth. As for those who did choose their allegiances: Uzriel and Zagreus of Magnagora and Trym, Ellynne and Sabik of Hallifax put their efforts towards the raising of Gorlognal Academy, with Zagreus finally achieving the effort, to the great delight of Chancellor Phelbin as well as the academy’s professors and students. On the other side of the swamp, Wrynn and Eliron of Glomdoring and Huskii of Serenwilde worked hard to help the Gaaglin under the instruction of Quaenith and her thaumaturges, with Wrynn coming to fully empower the swamp, and Huskii performing the final ritual to grant the Eater of Flesh and Earth a corporeal body. With the summoning of the Eater, the being roared and once again caused the Academy to sink, undoing the fastidious efforts of those helping the Academy, and quashing Academy ambitions that were in the process of being furthered by its allies. Roaring louder, the Eater of Flesh and Earth declared his triumph to Lusternia and reclaimed his home in the Gaaglin Swamp. Though both the mugwump academians and thaumaturges of Gaaglin swear to continue their efforts on their respective sides, fighting for the claim to the Swamp as their territory and home, the Eater of Flesh and Earth appears to have risen triumphant for now. Many questions remain: How tenable are the aims of Fellowship of the Roots? Who exactly is the Eater of Flesh and Earth? What is the Gorlognal Academy and what is their true aim? Is the sinking of Gorlognal into Gaaglin Swamp the only reason that dreams and prophecies dance upon the fabric of the Tapestry of the Fates? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Prophecies, Dreams, and Earthquakes](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/09/10/prophecies-dreams-and-earthquakes/) **Published:** September 10, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It is said that prophecy only becomes clear in hindsight, and that for every sentence of foretelling, there are a dozen interpretations. And yet, the peoples of Basin of Life gathered prophecy nonetheless, as one organisation after another were alerted in dreams, intuition, and sensations that something strange was afoot, and that the world itself poised itself for a change. In Serenwilde, Huskii and Xiran worked to receive guidance from Chuchip, taking a detour first with Hyirah and Mani to access the words of Spirit Lake while awaiting the fullness of the Moon. Also having sought prophecy of Spirit Lake first, Freja and Uzriel of Magnagora laboured to ascertain the Necromantate’s screaming intent. In Hallifax, young Ellynne followed standard procedures to learn the determinations of the Matrix Core. And Yinuish of Celest heard the prophecy of the Star of Celest, after Celestians spent days puzzling the reason for the rippling of their Pool and the humming of their harps. Gaudiguch took time to realise that their Guardian Drachou had words to relay, rather than just a stomachache, the task falling eventually upon Eiselle to elicit them. Glomdoring knew for long that Mother Night had instruction for them, and Wrynn waited patiently until the dark of the Moon to listen to Night’s declaration with a gathering of communemates. Finally, Grandmother Scorpion spoke to Exeryte of Glomdoring and Sabik of Hallifax, the event witnessed also by two members of the newly revealed Fellowship of the Roots, Thes Erurozea and Nimuire Duskbloom, the latter of whom gathered the prophecies, as she believed they might inform her recent disturbing dreams. And yet, despite the collective wealth of all the prophetic words, warning of hunger and of pain, of triumph and of rage, speaking of freedom and of resilience, of sinking, drowning, and of empowerment and destruction, none in the Basin could come to agreement as to what might come to pass, nor fully predicted what did. In Shanthin, 657 years after the Coming of Estarra, a violent earthquake rocked the Basin of Life, seemingly rising from the south, beyond the mountains. In the wake of the quake, a cloud of dust and haze flowed northwards, triggering breathing difficulties in the areas passed. All across the land, people fell over, coughing, and some wondered out loud whether the quake had been severe enough to kill the birds in the air. In particular the folk who dwelt in Pilgrim’s Rest at Avechna’s Peak voiced loudly their displeasure at the earthquake’s toppling of everything from wares to shelves to trees. Adventurers responding to the crisis went to Pilgrim’s Rest and found a meeting of several members of the Fellowship of Roots: Pachidrui Etloo, the chief shouter, as well as the forementioned Nimuire Duskbloom and Thes ‘Bonegrinder’ Erurozea. As everyone puzzled over what had just happened, the gathering was interrupted by an odd mechanical electric-blue frog, which, in a resigned, dejected voice, informed “Pachi” that “the thing I told you might happen has happened. Not that you care, probably… In any case, it’s sunk now. Everybody’s quite upset. Thought you’d like to know,” before ribbiting and hopping off once more. Immediately, all attention turned to Pachidrui, as Nimuire and several adventurers demanded of them an explanation for the strange message. Though they attempted to reply, it soon became clear that Pachidrui could not give any details, being blocked in some way from speaking more. What they could relay was that the message came from a relative, that Pachidrui themself had come from the location of the possible quake, and that they had a “drawing” of the way to its entrance, but that it disintegrated into pieces due to defenses passed during their travels. These pieces, unfortunately, were now floating all over the many places Pachidrui had passed since they had arrived in the Basin of Life. Ever helpful, a number of adventurers immediately fanned out to the places Pachidrui had visited to look for map pieces, searching Faethorn, Balach Swamp, the Greymoors, Verasavir Valley, the Planes of Water and Earth, and the Toronada Tidepools. After Pachidrui wondered aloud whether the Toronada seagulls may have eaten some pieces, Qistrel of Serenwilde made it her particular mission to slay every seagull she found in the tidepools to be certain, causing the deaths of countless birds. Ultimately, Wrynn of Glomdoring and Hyirah, Lendren, Haghan, and Tyrus of Serenwilde returned with all the map pieces they had chased down, and Pachidrui, with an ingenious and generous application of moss and spit, managed to piece the drawing back together. None except Pachidrui was eager to touch the resulting amalgamation. After puzzling over the image, which Pachidrui described as “a place with sandy lumpses and rocky tail trails”, those gathered determined that the Skarch Desert was the likely area in which to search. Daxi of Celest was the first to notice the pile of rubble blocking a ravine in the southeastern Skarch, at the foot of the Scorpion’s Tail mountains, and her yells for help soon drew other adventurers as well as Nimuire, Pachidrui, and Thes from the Fellowship. As Daxi of Celest, Xenthos and Wrynn of Glomdoring, Lendren, Mani, Haghan, Tyrus and Qistrel of Serenwilde, Ellynne, Trym, and Sabik of Hallifax, and Kaios and Eiselle of Gaudiguch all worked on pushing the melted boulders that blocked the ravine aside, Pachidrui explained that the rubble was likely only the first of the barriers that awaited them in their journey beyond. True to the mugwump herbalist’s warning, those who passed the ravine and traveled onwards soon found a humming vibrational field that none could attempt to cross without being thrown back with at first minor, and subsequently serious, injuries, eventually leading to death. But it was evident that each of their efforts at crossing was weakening the field bit by bit, so despite death and injury, the same adventurers who moved the boulders persisted until they also breached this barrier, the field having failed altogether, no doubt its generators having overloaded nearby. Traveling further, the adventurers soon found themselves upon a fog-laden plateau in the Scorpion’s Tail range, and the fog was not without its own dangers. Xiran and Mani of Serenwilde quickly succumbed to the alchemical poison in the mist, and the rest of the group learned before long to retreat and observe the plateau from afar, avoiding the caustic air. From time to time, a member of the expedition would venture onto the plateau, where the alchemical barrier makers had left a cauldron with which to mix the fog’s neutralizing agent. While the revived healers Xiran and Mani treated them from afar, would be potion-mixers including Sabik of Hallifax, Wrynn and Exeryte of Glomdoring, Lendren, Qistrel, and Tyrus of Serenwilde, and Uzriel of Magnagora lent their power reserves, supplies of herbs, commodities, and concoctions, and alchemical expertise to the attempts to neutralize the fog. More than once, the mixers had to retreat again to breathe some fresh air and discuss possibilities of ingredients with Nimuire of the Fellowship, who as a service kept a list of everything already tried and their effects. Pachidrui also added their own advice, having recognised that this particular barrier had at one point been maintained at least in part by their aforementioned relative. Eventually, Wrynn of Glomdoring placed the five correct ingredients into the cauldron after the expedition’s group effort and neutralized the fog upon the plateau, opening the way to finally move downward. As they traveled along the treacherous path, the group was assaulted again and again by groups of hostile mossy oozes – another barrier made by some inhabitants of their mysterious destination, as identified by Pachidrui. Every time the group thought they were safe, more oozes emerged, but the adventurers were equal to the creatures’ hostility. After some deaths and injuries and passing through ever more humid regions, the expedition finally entered into what appeared to be a swamp – a swamp beyond the protections and confines of the Basin of Life itself. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Of Moss and Machinations](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/09/06/of-moss-and-machinations/) **Published:** September 6, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** From a torn page covered in flecks of moss, written by Pachidrui Etloo. It all started with a seagull, a nuisance of a bird that I’d rather avoid in the future. Still, it alerted me and later others to the plight that plagued the Toronada Tidal Flats. It seems a new variation of moss had decided to make this environment its new home, but as it naturally filtered any water, it was desalinating the tidal pools and choking out the native life within. Upon my visit and being beset upon by a particularly aggressive seagull, I found myself soon in the company of those willing to help me in my research. A diverse collection of individuals arrived in short order, and as we collectively examined the moss, they went about to survey the local population for their opinions. Between the words from the locals and the visible swathe of death that the moss had caused, there was a sense of urgency amongst us all. Several plucky individuals collected samples to see where it would thrive or to keep for themselves, but the moss was equally delicate and relentless, perishing in a new environment swiftly while growing back with an alarming speed within the tidal pools themselves. In the meantime, my fellow researchers relayed their polling of locals, while others noted the state of the local wildlife. As we conversed about the future of the moss, several options were put forward: eliminate the moss, contain it, relocate it, or leave it as is. Some Hallifaxians were enthusiastic about moving the research to Hallifax, but I countered that I had been studying this moss for some time and was, humbly, the ideal person to see through whatever decision we made. Through discussions and a rapid vote, it was decided that containing, and thus cultivation of the moss, was the ideal plan. And so, I returned to my shop and garden, with one final request that any moss be gathered and brought to me, so we could begin the lengthy clean-up. I worked diligently, designing, and devising a safe method of containment and storage, while also attempting to give the moss a purpose, as I’ve found that the more useful something is, the more likely it will be cared for. An unfortunate truth, but a truth, nonetheless. In the interim, Kaois, Hyirah, Huskii, and many others continued with the de-mossing of the tide pools, delivering to me a healthy amount for study and cultivation. Days ticked by, but before too long I had a shovel in hand and was digging and building. When I was very near completion, I informed those invested in the cause and was once again rudely interrupted by seagulls. Horrible creatures, really. I was joined by Mani, Huskii, Hyirah, and even some new faces like Qoivhae, amongst others. We surveyed the tidal pools and gathered up the last bits of moss. A marked improvement in the wildlife there was duly noted. And then I led them all, quite successfully, to the new cultivation pools. I spoke at length of my design and the need to tend to the moss with a tool I had devised – a delicate slicker brush made to brush the salt from the moss. It seemed to be a success, with Qoivhae demonstrating the procedure effortlessly. This wrapped up my own tasks there, but there was yet more to do. I was expected at a meeting being held closer to the shore in the Toronada Tidal Flats and found myself at a loss on how to navigate there. But with the help of my new colleagues, we countered my dreadful sense of direction and after a time I found Theone, soon joined by our leader, Nimuire Duskbloom, and our fierce protector, Thes Bonegrinder. And so the meeting of the Fellowship of the Roots commenced. Nimuire was none too pleased for all the people I brought with me but acquiesced to their attendance. Thankfully. Keeping Fellowship business a secret has been hard! We spent some time catching up on our projects, with Theone, once more, bemoaning his previous study assignment and Nimuire, once again, apologising. He really can’t let it go. Could have something to do with being chased around by some icy spawn. Could also be he enjoys complaining. Hard to tell. Nimuire ended up introducing us more broadly and explaining that the Fellowship of the Roots aims to protect wonders of nature, especially those that might otherwise perish because they are deemed too odd or scary. She then spent some time arguing with people about what qualifies as worth protecting and in which scenarios. What one deems monstrous could be beneficial, or even necessary, far as I’m concerned. Just look at this lovely moss! Anyway, turned out Nimuire did not have new projects lined up for us just yet but she had been dreaming of drowning for a while, and of a creature calling for her help. Rather vague, so we would normally wait until she knew for certain but as prophecy was on everyone’s lips lately, everyone ended up sharing what they had heard in their various nations and speculating upon the future. Many of the prophecies shared involved words related to water, so we surmised there might be something to what Nimuire had been dreaming about. Serenwilde even sought advice from the Great Spirit of Lakes, Rivers and Falls, and later Glomdoring sought the wisdom of Greatmother Scorpion alongside Nimuire and Thes. It all sounded very vague and inconclusive to me in any case. For the moment, very happy the moss is doing well and what more does one need? **Categories:** Events --- ### [September Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/09/01/september-extravaganza/) **Published:** September 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** During the month of September, you will be able to choose from a veritable cornucopia: present rewards, discounted lessons, and curio packages! All throughout the month, for every 25 credits you purchase, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing the first 100 credits will net you 14 presents. You can review your progress with **SHOWREWARDS**. As with all promotions, this does not apply to No-Brainer credit packages though. You will also be able to **EXCHANGE PRESENTS**, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. Further, for those of you just getting into Lusternia, or those of you ready to try something new, you can now purchase lessons at discounted rates right off the website in September too. And finally, you will be able to buy curio packages directly from the website. A number of curio packages that are only available in limited edition promotions are once again available as well. Among them: - race curios (for the sileni and nagasith races) - toys - masks - bubbles - batons - genies - treasure maps - poteen pots - macarons - feature curios Check out the bottom of [HELP CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1202) for the full list of curio-related helpfiles. You will also be able to enjoy **Double Experience Tuesdays** and **Tzaraziko’s Chaotic Thursdays**. The former will double experience gain on Tuesdays and the latter will boost the chance of scoring critical hits on Thursdays. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Tale of Two Great Worms](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/25/the-tale-of-two-great-worms/) **Published:** August 25, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Winter had released its grasp and spring had broken out in the early days of Kiani when sounds of a heated squabble echoed across the Basin. It would be Qistrel Strongleaf of the Serenwilde Commune who would first stumble upon Pachidrui Etloo, the herbalist newly settled there, being interrogated by none other than Ganine Natharian, resident of the abandoned Eternity Labs in the Undervault. As others joined the commotion, Ganine continued to aggressively question Pachidrui, going so far as to begin chasing them through the crowd. He was intent on finding the whereabouts of his brother Theone, who had stopped replying to his correspondence. Pachidrui desperately used Xenthos An’Ryshe and his leopard, Ilistala, as a barrier to keep themselves safe, explaining they had not seen Theone and that all they knew was that he was investigating something important for the Fellowship. It was Qistrel who eventually recognised the name Natharian and remembered she had seen Theone not all that long ago when an icy abomination had attacked the Serenwilde Forest. Anxious to find his brother, Ganine gave up on Pachidrui and sought Qistrel’s aid in finding his brother, which ended in a fruitless search of an abandoned cave in the Northern Mountains. As Ganine was off searching for his brother, Pachidrui apologised that they would not be able to help find Theone themselves due to an important research project related to moss, but instead offered a way to find a secret outpost by means of an enchanted amber coin. Explaining the enchantment behind the amber coin, Pachidrui handed it over to Xenthos who was first to offer assistance, and so, the adventurers set off, led by Qistrel, on their hunt to find the whereabouts of the missing merian. Guided by the amber coin, the group first arrived at a spot just outside the Triple Junction Inn, followed by various other rest stops along the way. One such adventure saw Qistrel forcefully eject from a carriage barreling down the highway. Dusting herself off, she soon rejoined her companions whilst the Regent of Serenwilde, Xiran Stormcrow saw to the safety of three young Serenwilders, Mani, Velian, and Hyirah, still onboard. As they continued their pursuit, it was Velian of the Serenwilde Commune who rubbed the coin for the last time to reveal the location of the outpost they had been searching for. Upon entering the makeshift outpost hidden beneath the courtyard of the Djarrakh Castle, it was soon apparent that Theone was nowhere to be seen. Those seeking him, spread out to explore and search for clues in the hope of finding some evidence of where he might have ended up. Upon closer inspection, a sharkskin-bound diary was found, along with various papers and a drawing board, leading to the discovery of what Theone and the Fellowship had been studying. They revealed various forms of flora and fauna, and, as Tridemon Regalis pointed out, an odd interest in creatures of the Namiraa Trench. This sparked many of those gathered to set out to search the icy depths of the Inner Sea – the Namiraa Trench – but many were unable to follow that trail due to the dangers the trench presented. Uzriel d’Vanecu was first to stumble upon an unnerving cavern deep in the Namiraa Trench in which stood Theone Natharian, carefully studying measurements and adding to a journal, oblivious to the Basin-wide search that was underway to find him. Kalas Zagreus soon joined Uzriel and Freja n’Lochli of Magnagora along with Qistrel and Barrin Strongleaf and Xiran Stormcrow of the Serenwilde Commune, Xenthos, along with Tirah and Wrynn Mzithrei of the Glomdoring Commune and the Gaudiguchian, Eiselle Mes’ard. After a series of intense questioning, it was revealed that Theone had discovered several egg sacs within the Trench, and upon further investigation, uncovered the unknown presence of a second Great Worm, Bahlashyth, the Great Worm Mother, who was nesting deep within the bowels of Namiraa. While the argument went on, Tridemon left to appraise Ganine Natharian of the revelations and to put his mind at rest. Meanwhile elsewhere in the Trench, the voice of Soriali, the lurking nereid rippled through the dark waters as she cried for help, for Uskashyth, the Great Worm himself, was circling her, fiercely protecting the eggs of his mate. Uzriel, Vella, and Tridemon came to ward him off and save the snooping nereid. As Soriali’s audience grew, many had left the side of Theone, arguing his methods and motives to be false, even after his many attempts to assure those gathered that what he and the Fellowship were doing was for the good of nature and that it was only right to allow all creations a fighting chance. Eventually, it was Zagreus of Magnagora, who decided to test the waters and began to feed the Great Worm Mother, attempting to satiate her ravenous hunger until finally, her body convulsed as she produced a viridescent egg sac. Zagreus had his own intentions, however, and secretly took the egg sac, stashing it away as he rushed out of the cave before Theone could get a word in. Very few remained by Theone’s side as he struggled to convince anyone that his intentions were true, but it was Eiselle Mes’ard of Gaudiguch who decided to help the merian and began to hunt the Trench for food to feed the Great Worm Mother. She eventually gathered enough resources to produce two more egg sacs to join the first that Zagreus did, in the end, plant within the trench. Theone was overjoyed to finally have assistance and taught Eiselle how to protect the eggs from being sabotaged. Unbeknownst to Theone, Soriali had been garnering more support to destroy the previously planted, and so far, unsuccessful, egg sacs and to stop the Great Worm Mother from producing any more. And so, convinced by Sapphira, Uzriel, and Xenthos that they stood a fighting chance against the Great Worms, Soriali cunningly worked to thwart the merian’s research. With their help, she sought to recover the conch shell that had once stolen her voice and still retained a part of it, which prevented her from singing her Nereid’s Song. Together, with Huskii, Qistrel, Zagreus, and Veldrin also in tow, they visited the nereid’s old home, and home of her sister nereids, the Rhizoda Mangrove, where a murky saltwater lagoon held the conch. There, they used Uzriel’s knowledge of Bloodtide Coven rituals to part the waters and when the conch was returned to Soriali, the group returned to the trench. Once home, Soriali needed her companions to help her obtain the final ingredient that would empower her voice, the still-beating Heart of Uskashyth. For that, Soriali had one special trick up her sleeve, something that would render her nemesis helpless so one of their hearts could be acquired. With a powerful artifact in her hands, Sapphira and the group set off to find the beast while Soriali was entertained by Hyirah, Xiran, and a honey cake. Once the Great Worm was engaged in battle, they waited for the precise moment to strike out with the magic to bring him down. After several attempts, Sapphira spied a vulnerable spot on Uskashyth’s exposed underbelly and drove the artifact deep into him, paralysing him and allowing everyone to venture through his great maw. Passing through countless sharp teeth, the group traversed deep into the depths of the Great Worm until they reached the chamber where his five beating hearts were, their thundering pulses sending knee-trembling shockwaves throughout the fleshy chamber with every beat. In order to procure one of the hearts, those brave enough to enter the belly of the beast had to figure out a way to free it from the tangle of arteries. Time was running out for them, however, as each squeeze of a heart weakened the spell upon their host, and with one last ill-fated squeeze, Uskashyth swallowed everyone whole. It was the Zagreus who would have the last laugh, as he managed to survive the toxic environment long enough to wrestle a beating heart free and return to Soriali with the prize. With the heart and her conch in hand, Soriali’s eyes lit up with excitement as she raised the conch to her ear, listening to the part of her voice trapped within. Her kelp-like tresses roiled in the dark waters as her skin began to shine with a vivid blue intensity, a haunting melody now echoing throughout the Trench. Bringing the heart to her lips, Soriali sank her teeth into its flesh and drank deeply of the essence contained within as her song intensified until it finally reached a crescendo. The powerful shockwave that followed rippled through the Trench, shattering any egg sacs, both old and new, and weaving a powerful enchantment over Bahlashyth, the Great Worm Mother, placing her into a deep slumber. With all of his research now ruined, Theone visibly became distressed as Soriali gloated about her victory. Apologising profusely to Eiselle and thanking her for her efforts, Theone attended to Bahlashyth to ensure she was alive and breathed a sigh of relief to find that she was merely sleeping and that not all was lost. Perhaps one day he might be able to complete his research and see the Great Worm Mother’s children born and his hope for the creatures realised. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Of huskies, and abominations](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/16/of-huskies-and-abominations/) **Published:** August 16, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the deep darkness of an Avechary night, a blast of icy wind blew south across the Basin of Life, carrying upon it the howling of dogs and the sounds of battle. The baying of the hounds was enough to catch the attention of many and the search began, with adventurers heading off in all directions before Waykeeper Qistrel Stongleaf found her way to the camp of Sarora Bowtail, the Winter Gale and her three sled dogs. They were soon joined by others, including Cheliyi Lunarose, Huskii Myeras, Tirah Mzithrei, and Romaan D’Varden, the latter of whom immediately suggested feeding the clearly exhasted sled team. Initially taken aback by the sudden appearnce of so many, Sarora explained that there had been an unfortunate incident with her sled and they had been forced off the southern Icewynd trails while running errands for the Solstice Court. The massive corpses of a pair of frost abominations lying at the entrance to her makeshift camp were clearly the source of the wind-borne sounds of strife. Many offered to assist righting the sled, and offered the team various packages of foodstuffs, before the smells and sounds attracted yet more of the vicious beasts, their minds set on violence as they attacked the camp. The abominations were swift and vicious, and it was not long before a mishap sent the team running and Sarora leaping to their defence as Qistrel’s mount indiscriminately breathed lightning itself all around during the battle. This was swiftly resolved, and the abominations roundly defeated. As order was restored, the weather took a turn for the worse as it often can in the inhospitable climes of the Icewynd Mountains. This turned Sarora’s attention repairing her sled and clothing, and finding supplies to help keep them all fed. As Qistrel turned her power toward stablising the weather, and Huskii toward keeping the camp warm for those gathered, Sarora bid others procure wood to repair the runner on her sled, as well as, meat and skins for the road. All of those were swiftly gathered and returned by Tirah Mzithrei. With the sled made good, her clothing repaired, and the dog team fed, Sarora proffered thanks while her team enjoyed the attentions due all very good dogs. Not long after that, she got underway and back on with her rounds across the cold and dangerous vastness of the Icewynd. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Bored and Looking for Board](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/03/bored-and-looking-for-board/) **Published:** August 3, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** One fine Dioni day, Pyrlios, the resident vagabond of the Toronada Tidal Flats declared that conditions were perfect for wave surfing! There was only one problem though. Pyrlios had no surfboard to ride the waves with! No less than nine brave adventurers quickly came to his aid, and in his joy, Pyrlios invited them to a table filled with delicious summer drinks. From Hallifax there were Ame and Tikki, from Gaudiguch Nefertem. Tirah Mzithrei and Esei Shee-Slaugh represented Glomdoring, Daxi Strongleaf came from New Celest and from Serenwilde, Huskii Myeras, Lendren Starfall, and Qistrel Strongleaf. Pyrlios quickly explained his predicament, and yet his unwillingness to try a gnomish surfboard. No, Pyrlios wanted to make a surfboard from scratch, to be his and according to the ways of the craft. Especially excited about this proclamation was Daxi Strongleaf, who from then on made sure to record every step of the process. First, the dracnari requested raw lumber for the board. The assembled discussed which tree would be best and soon dispersed into the forests of the Basin. The southern forest was the first to supply, followed by other varieties from the northern forest, and Pyrlios quickly managed to find the perfect lumber. Whittling the board, he then sent for a chunk of coral, which Ame retrieved from the depths of the sea with incredible speed. The coral was used for smoothing the board, and in the meantime, a fire was requested. Campfires were lit, but Pyrlios was only satisfied when his own bonfire was lit, and soon encouraged the company of drinkers to blow on the flames. Enticed by the fumes, the flames danced as the vagabond held the board above them, drying and burning off imperfections. Two more steps were left. A shark’s corpse was soon procured thanks to Nefertem’s quick hunting skills. While Pyrlios used the sharkskin to smooth the board to perfection, Ame even brought in the huge, black-skinned hammerhead shark of Bondaro Bay. The final step remained, and Pyrlios hoped the assembled adventurers could help him with it. He required three acorns, for he needed their oil. It was Qistrel Strongleaf who retrieved all three with speed, and the vagabond could now oil the board to protect it from the salt and water. With a final cheer and an invitation to stay and enjoy the drinks and fire, Pyrlios proudly set off to the shoreline, and soon the adventurers could see him riding the waves with a smile so big it could surely have been seen from the other side of the Basin. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Notes and Discussions from the Player Meeting](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/03/notes-and-discussions-from-the-player-meeting/) **Published:** August 3, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For those of you who have not been able to participate in the player meeting which took place on July 21st, there is a thorough summary on the forums, curated by Xiran. Please have a look and ask any follow up questions there. In addition, the discussion spawned a number of extra topics that we would like to hear your feedback on. All those threads have been started on the forums as well, and will be linked below. Please do not panic about the org reduction thread being listed. It was a suggestion received during the meeting. We are nowhere near close to that situation, and only wish to give you room for feedback. [Roadmap and Notes from the Meeting](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4846/announce-post-3326-roadmap-for-lusternia) Discussion Threads: [Ascension Format](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4850/ascension-shaking-things-up) [Newbie Experience](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4851/improving-the-newbie-experience) [Org Reduction](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4847/org-reduction) **Categories:** News --- ### [Pachidrui's Hunt For New Flora](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/03/pachidruis-hunt-for-new-flora/) **Published:** August 3, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A torn page from the journal of one: Pachidrui Etloo One last undertaking, it was to be. The final journey, as I had received word that there was a place in need of an herbalist, and I had grown tired of my home, of the plants and flora that grew there. I had taken to reading as many books as I could, to stave off the sameness and boredom that came with stagnating in one place too long. And so, I decided, and I packed a little of this, and a little of that, and I set off. My first stop was the forest commune of the Serenwilde, where I was met with the biggest trees I’ve ever seen, and dense vegetation. My stomach rumbled at the mere thought of consuming what I could reach, and I found out very quickly that I had erred in my etiquette. The biggest, brightest tree of them all, I was too scared to just “have a nibble” from. Yet, I attempted to stay on track, and soon found help from an assortment of residents. I was hunting a mutation of the bluebell flower, and after I wrangled my absentmindedness enough to properly engage in introductions, met Huskii, Etra, Galaphyrae and Hyirah. I found some of them were also trees, and they grew flowers for me to aid my search. Though, eventually, Etra found the flower, and I was able to capture the specimen in my gullet. From there I journeyed to the city of Gaudiguch, where I found it much too hot and dry to do very much, and my hunger got the best of me as I attempted to gobble up a pile of ash before the most beautiful flame I have ever laid my eyes upon. There, I was hunting a rare sprig of weed, infected with a nigh-deadly fungi that would have been detrimental to the city and floral population as a whole, though I didn’t wish to alarm the friendly folk there by telling them this could kill an entire crop of weed sprigs. Those who helped in that hunt were named Ixchilgal, Nepenthe, Afrit, Eiselle and Khnemu, with the rather large fellow Afrit locating the specimen first. My journey led me into the city of New Celest, several days later. There, I hoped to find an evolution of the standard pitcher plant, one that had evolved to prey on waterfowl. Curiously, it had adapted a camouflage to match the colours of a seagull, and we found it floating lazily in the harbour. Or a fine fellow called Romaan did, after I attempted to slurp down some water from their Pool of Stars, only to be stopped by the keeper and another member of the city; Faragan. On to the city of Magnagora, where I had read several books on the topic of mycology and had heard tales of further evolution of their Queen’s Shadow, a strain carefully cultivated for research. A motley crew of folks helped; Kailanna, Uzriel, Freja, and Shango, with Freja having been the one to track down said specimen. This one I may continue to cultivate, to see if I can lend my efforts to the research so carefully done there. Also, I found that they did not appreciate my attempt to prod at their Megalith or liken it to a giant mushroom stalk. Hallifax was an interesting place, where there were abundant crystals but less abundant flora, and their Matrix was decidedly not for consumption. There, I hunted for a crystalline encased edelweiss flower, with Ayisdra, Rylek and Sabik helping in the hunt, and Sabik ultimately triumphant in this task. Their dedication to research is frightening, and I found myself grilled for answers I did not yet have. Perhaps a visit with more material preparation would have been better. Then, the final flora needed – a curiously carnivorous form of moss, to be found within the confines of the Glomdoring. Once more, I was assailed with an abundance of flora, though some tried to bite back, and with force. Yet another sacred tree I mistook for a hearty meal, yet the residents were friendly and aided in my search for this moss. With Xenthos, Tirah, and Wrynn in tow, and the latter member ultimately finding it, my search came to an end. From there, I found where I should settle, and with promises behind me, I announced the pilgrim camp as my new home. Many came to see me, some new faces, like a quiet individual named Esei, and a Magnagoran I believe was called Sapphira, plus some recent acquaintances, like Huskii, Xenthos, Freja, and Uzriel. Together, we went in search of my final specimens. From swamps to valleys to a wonderful place called Faethorn, and a few places that rather hurt, like the elemental planes of Earth and Water, and a terrifying place only called Astral, my collection became complete, and I could finally settle and peddle, as I had so often said. I think my new home is quite delightful, and I have begun further experimentation with native flora, so we shall see what new creations come from this environment. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Producer Ride-Along #2](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/03/producer-ride-along-2/) **Published:** August 3, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** I would like to invite you all once more to a digital ride-along! It will take place tomorrow and will be hosted on a stage channel on our Discord server (see [HELP DISCORD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1536)). The ride-along itself will be text-based rather than voice-based. If you are unfamiliar with how stage channels work, the gist of it is that you join them and are auto-muted and cannot speak even if you wanted to. You become an audience member and you join/leave quietly. You can open text chat for stages the same way you would for voice channels, a button at the top right. The event will start on **August 3rd** at **4pm GMT** (server time) and end at **1am GMT**. It may last longer if necessary to wrap things up for the day. There will be short breaks for food and drink. The content, as before, will be an ordinary producer day. Sometimes I will be able to go into detail on what I am doing and other times I will need to be vague as to what is on my plate. Even so, I can discuss the process, the steps, and the findings or resolutions, and you can ask questions. There will naturally be pauses while work happens, but I will do my best to comment on things as I move along. If you cannot or do not end up joining me tomorrow, the stage channel will still be there for you to read through. Hope to see you there! **Categories:** News --- ### [Serenwilde Attacked](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/02/serenwilde-attacked/) **Published:** August 2, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On a cold Roarkian day in the year 654 CE, a roar echoed over the foothills of the Northern Mountains, drawing the attention of those in the forest nearby. Soon, Qistrel, Veara, Huskii, Lendren, and Llani of the Serenwilde all gathered around Adasser and Caedir, two young warriors from the commune who were warily watching a cave mouth that was sealed shut with unnatural ice. They were understandably on edge, with Caedir’s leg impaled by a large ice shard like the ones studding the icy wall. The intrepid Serenwilders tried hard to melt the ice wall – suggesting enchantments, creating campfires, even considering enlisting the help of a Pyromancer – all to no avail. The ice remained solid, though noises continued emanating from within. In the meantime, Adasser and Caedir shared what they had learned on their journeys: that Gromagh the Hag was enacting a nefarious plan with the Frost Spite, resulting in some new type of spawn that was hatching in the cave before them. Indeed, Gromagh had already publicly claimed the creation within as her own, and Xenthos and Esei of Glomdoring quietly met her to try to learn more about her plans. An unexpected guest joined the group in front of the cave. One Theone Natharian, who took no time to introduce himself, but immediately began studying the ice wall himself. When asked to state his interest, he said he merely wanted to study the creature, one born of such anomalous circumstances. The gathered were deeply sceptical that the creature could be peaceably studied, while Theone advocated for calm and not jumping to any aggression or conclusions. That approach would be quickly put to the test, for the ice wall was shattered from within, and a dark, swirling abomination emerged. The icy creature stepped out and blinked curiously at those around him, while the Frost Spite and Gromagh crowed about their creation and ordered it to attack the Serenwilde. After attempts to pacify the creature failed, Theone stood back and made no further effort to defend the nightmarish beast’s right to live. Growing more agitated, the icy abomination finally did attack – but not before sinking its miasmic legs into the ground and flash-freezing the surrounding area. Galaphyrae and even Shango of Magnagora joined the fray and, at first, it looked like the beast was being held back. But the beast had a trick up its sleeve, creating a torus of icy rage around it that burst forward, instantly killing all around it. With no defenders of the forest in its way, the abomination began slowly advancing towards the Serenwilde, giving the land frostbite in its wake. Those of the Serenwilde threw themselves at the abomination again, only to be batted down, forced to reassess their approach. Pits and more creative weapons were suggested, but ultimately the abomination took its first step into the forest, and Veara, Huskii and Qistrel felt they had no choice but to engage it again head-on. After a brutal fight, it was Qistrel who finally slayed the beast. Qistrel and Veara brought the shards of the abomination to Huyana, the centaur herbalist in Hifarae, who was concerned about Gromagh’s scheming but knew nothing more of the icy abomination. Queried further, Theone, who had returned to the cave to study the black ice left behind, was seeking answers himself about the abomination, but admitted that such an aggressive creature was best put down. He also revealed that the real subject of his study was Gromagh herself and he now had to report to some enigmatic “fellowship”. With the creature slain and Gromagh’s plans foiled, the Serenwilders breathed a sigh of relief, though newly wary about the potential threats on their home. Would there be more abominations coming at them? Could Gromagh and the Frost Spite – or any other unlikely ally – conjure up an even graver threat? And what conclusions did Theone take away from his brief study of the abomination? Only the passing of more seasons will tell. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Bob's Summer Special](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/08/01/bobs-summer-special/) **Published:** August 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Trader Bob has once again unveiled to the Basin the forgotten vaults of treasures that he has unearthed over the years! Let’s face it, at his prices, he can afford to go round exploring for treasure. The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts (including some limited availability ones). You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna. You can access the vaults with the VAULTS command at the VAULTS landmark. As well, anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key. In addition to that, our Summertime Skins are also making a comeback. Throughout August you will be able to find them in the artifact shop with ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME. If you like what you see there, be sure to grab them this month as they won’t be available after that till next summer. Lastly, every Friday this month you can earn double daily credits. That means that rather than 20 total for the day, you will earn up to 40! And on Wednesdays, you will deal additional 25% damage while influencing thanks to Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesday. **Categories:** News --- ### [Clandestine Correspondence](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/31/clandestine-correspondence/) **Published:** July 31, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Ghalib d’Murani of Magnagora is not what one might call an imposing gentleman, nor one used to drawing attention to himself. There are, after all, many ways to wield power in the Engine of Transformation, and one need not be loud or brutish to be powerful. Subtlety, patience, and resourcefulness are useful tools for the nobility, and Ghalib had these in spades. When Marla, chief bat keeper for the postal service of Magnagora, told the noble that she had sent him some highly anticipated letters recently but that both her bat and the bundle of letters had come up missing, Ghalib was perturbed. Not entirely used to Marla being quite so inept, he commanded her to scour the city streets for his letters, declaring them of the utmost importance to the city. She obliged, drawing the attention of Primarch Shango D’Cente and the city’s own Kalas Malayn to track down Seditionist, her bat, hoping to find the letters intact. Alas, though the bat was discovered in the Undercity, the bundle of letters were nowhere to be found. She did find out, however, that Lady Jamilah, of the Society, had noticed a bat collide with an errant imp near the tearoom, sending them both tumbling. Swearing her to secrecy, Marla rushed off to inform Ghalib. Ghalib was at a loss for words. To most, he was a fixture in the city, known to frequent the market district, overseeing various wares and assisting novices with finding their way around. To a select few, however, Ghalib d’Murani was known as a procurer of rarities and oddities, and his web of contacts was extensive. Eventually, it all made its way to Ghalib; information, rare flowers and metal ingots, secrets to be used against opposing families or to get into their favour. One can only assume the sting of explaining all this to Warlady Kailanna n’Kylbar, but he did so over a cup of tea and a rather amusing anecdote having to do with poisonous tree frogs. The Warlady was rather unamused but his story intrigued her just enough to keep her from having the guards throw him from the window of her tower office, and she acquiesced to assign someone discreet to help him search the city for his correspondence, should he be unable to find it himself. It was some days later when Marla was heard berating a beggar in her office, the shabbily-dressed panhandler having shuffled past her with one of the letters clutched in his grubby mitts. Ghalib quickly rushed to the Emperor’s Lament Post Office, following the footsteps of the Warlady as well as Uzriel d’Vanecu and the Lady Grey Sapphira d’Vanecu, the former of the couple being happily recognized by Ghalib as a family member. The letter was retrieved from the beggar and, thankfully, discovered to still be coded. But as the rest of the correspondence was still missing, he reminded the Warlady of their agreement. Accompanied by Sapphira and Uzriel, he went around the city looking in every nook and cranny for his letters. It was Sapphira who came up with the plan to instead bring the letters to her. She encouraged the beggars to trade the letters for a bit of gold – an entire gold coin. Through no small amount of wheedling, and at least two cases of beggars trying to extort her for more gold, she managed to retrieve five of the letters herself. Uzriel, on the other hand, was having a worse time dredging through the city high and low in search of the remaining letters, but eventually finding most of them and reuniting them with his cousin. One letter remained missing, however, and was discovered to be firmly clutched in the grasp of a rather enterprising beggar. Two hundred million gold was the asking price for this illustrious stationery, though the beggar was bargained down to an ur’Guard Marshal’s flail to the face for his efforts. Collecting the letters, Ghalib asked for yet one more favour; a vial of solvent from the Presidio. Uzriel, used to the journey there and back, made short work of the request and allowed Ghalib to decode his letters using the solvent. At last, their message was made clear: Magnagora’s investment from years ago was not in vain. Ardrak held a treasure of unknown power, protecting it and keeping the city safe from whatever powers it held. However, Ghalib’s correspondence had not only detailed its authenticity but how to attune it to the Megalith of Doom and use it to assist the city. It was not long before Ghalib, Uzriel, and Kailanna ventured off into the depths of the Presidio to place the gem at its final resting place, empowering the city’s works in the future. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Herbalist Shop](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/26/herbalist-shop/) **Published:** July 26, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Come Sunday (July 30th), a new shop will be joining the commodity shops at the pilgrim camp. It will sell and buy herbs in the same fashion that Tilibe’s and Voarag’s shops buy and sell commodities. The intention with this shop, as with the others, is to be a last resort rather than the primary stop for all one’s herbal needs. We’d like you to be aware of this development in advance so that in case you have any shops currently selling herbs for 1gp, you can adjust your prices before it opens. Initial prices will be balanced around median prices across Lusternian shops. **Categories:** News --- ### [June 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/26/june-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** July 26, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal contestants from June! If you’d like to join them for July, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/)[Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [The Noble](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5811/) by Sapphira #### Runner-Up [The Necromentate](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5812/) by Nemetsk **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [The Navigator Returns](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/25/the-navigator-returns/) **Published:** July 25, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** See… The night sky above Lusternia, dark, and as mysterious as the First World itself. Host to the great movements of the Sun and the Moon. To the dance of quick Eroee and slow Aapek; of Sidiak, Tarox, and Papaxi. To the eternal twinkling of the stars upon the firmanent. Except… not all the stars were quite to be seen. So observed Galaphyrae of Serenwilde in the very early months of the year 654, for in the sign of the Spider, there was an occlusion. Consulting with other astrologers in both her commune and across the Basin, little was initially determined save some circular object was traveling within the sign of the Spider. With little to go on, some became concerned about what omens and portents may come from an object in this sign, often representing the forces of death and transformation. As the days passed, diligent astrologers observed the circular object getting closer, its speed and size indeterminate. Approaching the Basin of Life, lights began to glow from, or perhaps reflect off of, its edges. Soon, it was close enough where its movements could be better understood as tumbling, as a winking star on the object’s edges belied the nature of its shape. See… The unknown object entering the atmosphere to the west of the Basin, flames engulfing it as it descends. Hear the deafening roar resound followed by an equally loud boom as the object crashes into the Razine Mountains, sending it spinning in the sky again towards Oleanvir Valley. Hear another crash from within Oleanvir Valley, this time sending it flying towards the City of New Celest. Instead of crashing once more, the great beacons of Celest flared up in response to the threat, altering its course to a more southernly direction as they deflect the flaming object from harming Celestians. Great gouts of steam sizzle upwards with each hit of the flaming object upon the Inner Sea, its movements now more akin to a skipping rock than a descending threat. Twice, thrice, a fourth time it skips before spinning upwards in a high arc, the extinguished flame replaced by droplets of water sent flying in its wake. As it descends for the last time, the still unknown object lands south of the Southern Highway. As all this happened, many within the Basin sprung to action. Some sought shelter, others sought to defend against this potential threat. Lendren Starfall of Serenwilde sought to follow the path the burning object had taken, making sure to douse the flames from where it landed. Others still anticipated the object’s landing in Oleanvir, putting their very lives in danger by rushing to the valley as the then-flaming object was beginning to descend upon it. But as the dust settled, many still made their way south to see where the object had ended its journey across the Basin of Life. Nefertem of Gaudiguch was truthfully the first to stumble upon the object, but did not realize it was the same as had fallen from the sky. It was Barrin of Serenwilde who came upon the rhombicosidodecahedron-shaped beacon and put together that this beacon was the same object which had been travelling through the sign of the Spider these past months and had gone bouncing across the land. Barrin was soon joined by Esei of Glomdoring, Freja of Magnagora, Lendren, Machlana of New Celest, Sondayga of Serenwilde, Cerosir of Celest, and Xiran of Serenwilde, who all worked together to study the beacon and the scrap of cloth that was tucked inside of it. Not much was forthcoming from the beacon itself, save for how it reacted to touch. As for the scrap of cloth, at first it seemed as unhelpful as the beacon, the writing upon it suffering from burns and melted patches; it was not until those gathered had passed the scrap amongst themselves and discussed it that they realized perhaps it was written in the Divine language. Studying the cloth with this new possibility, the bookbinders present were able to make out possible words based on the writing still discernable. Led by Lendren Starfall, the effort to puzzle out the original writing was able to make enough progress to figure out an initial rought draft of the writing: “Unknown anomaly detected. Lost track of … something. Way back distorted. Sending homing beacons. Cannot risk … something. Needs to be activated.” Sondayga and Xiran were able to suggest possible answers for the unknown “somethings”, positing “Cannot risk essence” and “Lost track of Nohaji” respectively. Although still filled with questions about the beacon’s origins, efforts were made to activate the beacon itself. Based on the cryptic scrap of cloth and the way the beacon reacted, it was identified that the beacon needed essence to be charged, and once fully charged to be activated with aetheric power. Huskii of Serenwilde was the first to activate the beacon, causing it to send a piercing beam of light into the sky! But the beacon could only last for so long on the essence and power given it before fading, and so many across the Basin took turns to keep the beacon powered over several days, representatives of each organization bringing essence both light and dark, cloudy and fiery, silvery and shadowy. Between the bursts of light when the beacon was fully charged and operating, some even tried putting foodstuffs of rice, carrots, and the like into it to gauge how it responded, to no apparent avail. And so the beacon was largely kept powered, although not all were sure this was the wisest course of action. Nearly a month and a half had passed before poor Tikki of Hallifax went to charge the beacon, only for it to explode in his face! More than a little shaken, Tikki was very concerned that he had somehow been the reason for the beacon’s explosion. A passing thoughtful scholar, who had previously visited the beacon, attempted to offer some comfort by reasoning that perhaps the beacon was likely not meant to be powered on and off so much as it had been. But within a day’s time… See… Lord Darvellan, the Navigator, returned to the First World by following the light of the beacon He had sent! Initially, His arrival was met with some suspicion, as there were those who were concerned that perhaps this was yet another trick of the Enchantress; or perhaps Nohaji, the Face-Thief, had consumed the Navigator in the Void and was now taking His form. Proof was boldy requested of Lord Darvellan of who He was, but how to prove this in a manner which neither the Enchantress or Nohaji could imitate? Proof was provided through visits of other Elders who came as They learned of the arrival of the Navigator, or someone claiming to be Him. First was Lady Maylea, the Bloom of Serenity, to welcome Him back, though initially She was not fully sure whether it was truly Lord Darvellan. Quite soon after, Lady Drocilla, the Enchantress, interrupted the two Elders as She had learned of Lord Darvellan’s arrival; whatever Her motive may have been for meeting with Darvellan and Maylea, “welcoming” was probably not it. Her visit short, the Enchantress judged from the reaction of a bracelet She wore that this was truly the Navigator returned; a bracelet that the Navigator claimed to have given Her and seemed pleased She was still wearing, despite their unfriendly attitudes towards each Other. Having made Her determination and offering both charm and mockery in equal measure, Drocilla quickly departed. Maylea stayed for a bit longer to talk to Darvellan, now more convinced it was truly Him, before departing Herself. Soon after Her departure, Lord Nocht, the Silent, came to see His Brother returned, though as was His nature not much was said between the two of Them. Soon, Nocht departed as well. During this time, many from across the Basin had gathered since the Navigator’s arrival. From the conversations that Darvellan had with His Cousins, and from His talking with the mortals present, the tale of His trip in the Void began to take shape: Decades ago, Darvellan had led Nohaji the Face-Thief away from the First World, and notably at the time away from Ladies Lantra and Terentia. Leading Nohaji on, keeping him baited to keep chaising the Navigator while not getting too close to warrant danger, Darvellan lost a sense of time while so deep within the Void. How long the chase had gone on was not known, but it was interrupted by an unknown anomaly. The Lord Navigator could only describe it as a sense of warmth and loss rushing over him, and a disorientation. When He had come to His senses, Nohaji was nowhere to be seen, but neither was any way back to the First World. Perhaps whatever had caused His disorientation had also disrupted His way back, but who was to say? To find His way back, the Navigator had constructed several homing beacons, crafting them similarly to how He crafted any of His stars which floated about it. Except this time, once crafted, He drained the beacons of their essence, His essence, so as not to risk them. Tearing His satin shirt asunder, He left messages upon each scrap, somewhat cryptic due to the limited space to write on. Putting a scrap into each beacon, He tossed them in different directions and lingered in the depths of the Void, waiting for one beacon to find its way to the Basin of Life and be activated to guide Him home. But what caused the anomaly which disoriented Darvellan? What happened to Nohaji, the Face-Thief, who would surely have taken advantage of a disoriented Elder? And what of the other beacons the Lord Navigator cast forth? Are they perhaps still hurtling through the depths of the Void, eternal in their journey? Or have they been found by one of the many horrific entities which are said to travel the Void? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Mortal Coder Call](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/22/mortal-coder-call/) **Published:** July 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We have once more opened applications for mortal coders. The position entails working with the game’s coders to resolve bugs and implement minor features. Due to limited resources, we will only be accepting a small number of applicants. This call is open from now until the end of August, but we will be leaving the option open going forwards as well. The difference is such that we are actively looking right now and have the resources to train new coders, but might not other times you apply and the process may take a lot longer. Responsibilities: - Implementing fixes for bug reports. - Implementing solutions for approved envoy reports. - Implementing or assisting with minor new features. Requirements: - Be 18 or over (that is yourself, not your character) - Have played Lusternia for a minimum of 400 hours, total across all characters. - Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - Be able to work as part of a team. - Be able to commit time to working on Lusternia. There is no minimum, but we ask for at least one hour a week on average. - Have experience in the following: - Knowledge of at least one imperative language. - Basic terminal experience with Linux or a Unix-like system. - Ability to use a version control system. - Be willing and have the ability to work with Rapture, Lusternia’s programming language. - You will be fully trained in its use. The important part is willingness to learn. If you meet these requirements and are interested, please send your application to **support@lusternia.com** with the following information: - Real Name - Age - Your characters in Lusternia - A short paragraph detailing why you are applying and why you feel you would be fit for this role. - Any example of previous code you have written for any purpose. - Please either link to a hosted repository or provide a small ZIP file with a sample as an attachment. - Any relevant experience. - Anything else you feel is worth considering. All personal information you disclose (name, age, etc.) will be kept private by Lusternia’s producers and will not be given to any volunteers. It is vital you give this information accurately – please do not use pseudonyms or similar. For more detailed information regarding responsibilities, requirements, compensation, and the application and onboarding process, please see [HELP MORTAL CODER](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=mortal-coders) (HELP 22.3). **Categories:** News --- ### [The plight of Krug Fleshkeeper](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/22/the-plight-of-krug-fleshkeeper/) **Published:** July 22, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A storm was brewing one night in mid-Shanthin when distressed shouts and accusations pierced through the otherwise pleasant sound of rainfall. Waykeeper Qistrel Strongleaf and Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde were the first to arrive at the Balach Swamp, where they found Krug Fleshkeeper, the orc butcher of the nearby village of Acknor, wallowing in the mud. It was soon revealed that poor Krug has lost his cleaver once again! They were soon joined by Eiselle Mes’ard, Khnemu Dahyu, and Pyawr from Gaudiguch and by Tikki of Hallifax, who all first visited Tapif the Adventurer, to make sure that the young furrikin is safe given his history with Krug. It turned out that the orc Krug has developed a new hobby of chasing after furrikin farmers in the fields of Acknor, and one fled to the swamp! In his chase, Krug tripped over a bull alligator and dropped his precious brand-new cleaver in the mud. The assembled adventurers debated at first if they should even aid the orc, considering the events that led Krug to lose his cleaver. Still, eventually, they were persuaded and the search begun. It was Huskii who found the cleaver buried in the mud, and Krug was elated to see his cleaver once again. Such elation did not persist though, as the party blamed the orc for being mean to the furrikin and tried to make him promise never to chase the farmers ever again. Krug in return pleaded with them to think of the hungry orc children that will not get their meat and begged for the return of his beloved cleaver. For an entire day, they haggled and bartered, and at the end, the orc promised to do a special orc cookout to celebrate the return of his cleaver, and that he will not chase Estelbar farmers. The orc butcher received the tool of his trade and sent the party to hunt the swamp for alligators, turtles, and pythons for the cookout. The joined forces made quick work of gathering the beasts, and as the final alligator was brought, Krug cheered in joy and dismissed the party. After all, he promised an orc cookout and orc cookouts are orc-only. Furious, the party considered slaying the butcher, but instead went to Chieftain Grang to complain about the butcher and his hobby, at which point the chief laughed and agreed with Krug. Not to leave empty-handed, the group released the furrikin farmer who resided in Acknor from the control of the orcs and brought her back to Estelbar, pleased that at least now, Krug the butcher has no farmers to chase. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Roadmap for Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/21/roadmap-for-lusternia/) **Published:** July 21, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** ## State of the Team Before we look at our roadmap, it is important to take a look at the team working on it as that is highly relevant to the entire endeavour. We generally never talk about our team size because that number rarely reflects reality. Our volunteers do the best they can, when they can. Sometimes that is 2 hours a week for one person, and 10 hours a week for another. Sometimes someone is gone for a month, or three. All of them, including Ealix, have full time jobs and a variety of obligations. Everyone contributes to the team what they can, and all their contributions are considered equal and valuable. We have been through some really tough times in terms of numbers for the past year or so. You have seen it clearly – fewer events, fewer god roles, fewer interactions. There were long stretches of time when all we had to work with were the producers, one senior godmin, and maybe 3 Ephemerals. Those are not our actual numbers, but those were often the numbers we had to work with. As you can imagine, supporting an entire game on these numbers is a challenge. Still, we persevered and worked hard. We have been rebuilding our team and the delays you have seen here and there were because of that – because training new volunteers has been the highest priority and that training takes enormous amounts of time. As a result, we have a very eager, active, and skilled Ephemeral army and our godmin have thrown themselves into work, going above and beyond because they, like you, care enormously about Lusternia. We have, however, recently stumbled across a significant difficulty when it comes to our coding capacity. Ealix has been rendered almost entirely unavailable by work at the start of June and his busy period is estimated to last until the end of August. Because of that he is stepping down to an Assistant Position for the moment. There is no one who can replace him at present which means that our coding resources are limited. That said, we still have coders on board: Orael, who you have seen knock out all the reports, Ais, our latest, Scout, who you know is finishing up his timeline project, and then our mortal coders and myself. What this means is not that no coding is happening, for it certainly is, but that the sort of big projects we want to work on will not happen overnight and that we need to make do with what we have right now. While our team is eager to work and will be doing their very best work for you, please remember that they are volunteers. They signed up to do this work primarily in order to make your experience better and their dreams are big. But the enemy of every volunteer is time and guilt. Nobody is harder on them than they themselves. They do not need to be reminded that there’s a letter they didn’t answer yet, an admin request they did not complete, or a plot they did not tie up. They are not refusing to do it or ignoring you intentionally, they are doing the best they can. Be patient as it is very easy to drive godmin away due to stress and negativity, but it takes years to train them. ## Ascension Last year we decided not to have an Ascension event due to desire to focus on rebalancing conflict events and alliances first. As a result, the story arc that usually accompanies Ascension was also put on hold. Ascension, treated as one package deal, is a facet of Lusternia that offers something for everyone. Those who play for intrigue, lore, and world-changing events enjoy the story that accompanies Ascension. Those who enjoy competing find Ascension trials to be the best challenges. And the final event provides a little bit of everything, including large scale conflict. It is a stage that offers something for everyone. As such, we have decided to go forward with Ascension for this year and the associated storyline will be starting before long. We know that there are plenty of reasons not to do it: alliances and conflict not finished, some skills need work, alliances are uneven, etc. However, we believe that it is the best course of action for the game to proceed anyway because Ascension is Lusternia’s biggest event and the exact thing we need to bolster our player numbers. The shape of the final event is one of the things we have wanted to tackle for a while, but as mentioned before, our coding resources are limited. It is possible that it will remain as is with smaller changes, or by that time we may have more opportunity to make adjustments. Whatever shape it will take, the entirety of Ascension plays out over months, and is a forge and a challenge unlikely any other. We are dedicated to making it as fun an experience as possible for all types of players. ## Coding Projects Although we made plans for many changes that would improve the game, as mentioned we were hamstrung by losing much of our coding support for a long time, through no fault of anyone’s. As a result, there are two major projects that have been on our plate for a while now – Economy and Conflict (with Alliances as part of Conflict). We put in a lot of time into improving our coding capabilities, but we are not quite there in our ability to take on game-changing projects of that nature. We do have coders on board, but they all have different levels of experience and skills, and can contribute varying amounts of time to projects. Implementing Reports, for example, is vastly different to tackling Economy. The first is by default broken down into dozens of tasks that only really require small changes. Meanwhile, Economy is a project that touches every single facet of the game, requires a deep understanding of the very complex and entwined systems at work, demands thorough documentation (which was missing prior), and half a dozen people at least to make sense of it and design a path forward. It is not something that a single volunteer coder can manage on their own, nor will most have the necessary skills to do so – skills that go beyond coding. Having said that, both of those projects are still important to us and are seen as valuable for the well-being of the game. We will not take them on wholesale but instead will re-evaluate their scope and break them down into incremental changes. They will not be the focus that ties up all our coding resources though as we will be seeking your input into other systemic changes that are necessary as well. ## Newbie Experience One of the topics that we feel needs looking at is the newbie experience and we would like your help in articulating the focus for this project, as well as, analysing the difficulties newbies face. To that end we will be opening a thread on the forums and would very much appreciate any and all concerns to be listed there. Among the things that are on our radar already are: adding race as an option to the Newbie Intro, full instancing of the Pools, a look at College tasks, and a centralised source of newbie-friendly information (a dedicated help section with bite-sized overviews). ## Admin Requests The request system is a great roleplay and development tool, except when resources are limited. Our system has accrued 39 pending requests, some of which are very old. This is an issue across all organisations, not just specific to a few. From this point onwards the request system is closed, with the exception of festival or urgent guild structure requests. We are going to look over all the requests in the system and plot a path forward. It is possible that some requests may be rejected, even if they have been previously approved, if we do not believe their current value to be equal to the amount of time it would require to implement them. We will be reaching out and keeping organisational leadership updated and involved in this process. We are also revamping current development clans to be more user-friendly and informative. Once pending requests have been completed, we will update the system to be less nebulous and more able to deliver in a timely manner. One thing we will be looking at is developmental parity across organisations, most notably the guilds. We do not believe the new guilds to be on par with the old ones just yet, and access to various roleplay tools (such as rituals, quests, fully fleshed out tutors, etc) is still uneven. When analysing pending requests we will also be looking at it from that perspective, including for cities and communes. While this undertaking is in progress, and also in general, remember that you do not require admin requests or even admin oversight to conduct the vast majority of guild development. Rituals and rites of passage that were a part of the old guilds almost always started out as roleplay. Repetition is how they became tradition, and then also how they became actual codified features. Similarly, if you are struggling with the guild tasks system, you do not have to use it. Just because it exists does not mean it has to work for your guild. This is true of many codified aspects of guilds – you do not need code support to develop guild identify and mechanics should not limit you. We understand many worry about making changes and being overruled later, but long as you are staying within the parameters of your guilds and not trying to change their fundamental nature, you are just developing identity. Asking us to codify something is where lore review is involved and when requests may get rejected, but outside of that it is the individual member’s vision that drives their guilds and builds their roleplay. **Categories:** News --- ### [Roadmap and a Meeting](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/17/roadmap-and-a-meeting/) **Published:** July 17, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Later this week, on Friday (July 21st, 10pm GMT) we will be posting our roadmap for the rest of the year and a general status update on the goings on in Lusternia. We will be tackling topics such as a Year Arc, Ascension, Admin Requests, the various pending coding projects (such as Alliances, Economy, Conflict), our volunteer staff, and more. After this update is posted, I invite you all to join us on the [Lusternia Discord](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1536) in the Feedback channel where we’ll discuss the post and any questions you may have. The meeting will start an hour after the post is made (July 21st, 11pm GMT) so you have time to consider it and what questions you wish to ask. If you miss the meeting, the whole thing will be in a separate thread in Feedback so you will be able to catch up. If you have any questions not already answered there, I will make myself available throughout the weekend as well. Hope to see you there! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Summer Cornucopia](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/07/01/the-summer-cornucopia/) **Published:** July 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In July, credit purchases from the website will come with special chests once more. For every 100 credits purchased, you will receive one chest. To sweeten the pot, you will also receive a chest at the first 25, 50, and 75 credit intervals, resulting in 4 chests total after purchasing the first 100 credits. Your progress will refresh every 1000 credits and can be reviewed with **SHOWREWARDS**. Disclaimer: This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages. What’s inside the chest? A boon of your choice! You can **UNLATCH** the chest and choose between receiving extra 25 bound credits, 500 aethergoop, or 1 gleaming wondercrystal. The above will come in handy as a sale on -all- artifacts in the in-game Artifact Shop (**ASHOP**) is back. Absolutely everything is 20% off for the entire month of July. If you’ve been saving for it, now’s the time to purchase it! Finally, you can also buy artifacts directly from the website at a steep discount in the so-called Artifact Cart (30% off). The discount is even higher if you have an Iron Elite Membership (40% off). A number of limited-availability artifacts – normally available through Auctions or special promotions – can also be found in the Special category. In July you can also enjoy Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays and Fated Wednesdays. The former will boost your hunting damage and the latter will mark you with the truefavour of the Fates. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Blunder of Babette Boulanger](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/28/the-blunder-of-babette-boulanger/) **Published:** June 28, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was mid morning on a warm and pleasant spring day when the peaceful sounds of crashing waves were interrupted by the feminine cries of someone near the coastal village of Delport. Arriving upon the beach of the Inner Sea, Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora stumbled upon Babette Boulanger, the Gold House attendant of Delport, who was frantically searching along the sandy shores of the beach for something. Consumed with her search, she barely noticed him before others began to arrive, Khnemu Dahyu of Gaudiguch and Freja n’Lochli of Magnagora followed by Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax. It was soon discovered that Babette had lost the pearls from her grandmother’s pendant, a family heirloom passed down through her family for generations. Shortly afterwards, many set out in search of the rare pearls, diving to the depths of the Inner Sea. The first to return was Faragan Ladyn of New Celest, who brought Babette the first two pearls. Overjoyed at the thought of having her pearls returned, hope had returned to Babette as more were brought back from the sea, Uzriel bringing three followed by Khnemu and Faragan with more. Babette carefully counted the iridescent pearls she held but realised there was still one missing. Worry once again filled Babette’s features as she remembered her friend Beauregard had headed out to sea in search as well, and had yet to return. The search for Beauregard continued for some time, with Babette stricken with fear as Beauregard was no where in sight. At last Faragan and Uzriel stumbled upon his abandoned boat. Uzriel continued the search, soon accompanied by others whilst Jolanthe Myeras of Serenwilde and Ayisdra kept Babette company and tried to console her. It was not long before Khnemu swam into the shipwreck of Javile’s Memory and stumbled upon a massive tangle of seaweed that was blocking the way, and made out a humanoid figure swimming behind it. Pulling as hard as she could, Khnemu could not quite wrestle the seaweed on her own, and soon called for help which came in the form of Tikki of Hallifax, Freja, Jolanthe, and Uzriel. With their combined efforts, they were able to tear down the seaweed wall and set Beauregard free. Thanking his rescuers, Beauregard explained that he thought he had found one of Babette’s pearls in the shipwreck, so he reached into a large hole in the side of the ship and plucked out the pearl with pride. It was not long before joy turned to terror as a something struck the side of the ship – a huge, black-skinned hammerhead shark smashed into the hull and broke through, its eyes fixed on Beauregard. Rushing towards its target, the shark latched onto Khnemu who was in the way of its meal, tearing strips of flesh from her arm. Taking up arms quickly, Beauregard, Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring, Jolanthe, Khnemu, Uzriel, Tikki and Freja fought back against the shark, each losing blood before Freja managed to land the killing blow and allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief. Thanking his companions, Beauregard handed the pearl to Khnemu before heading back to his boat and then home to Delport to calm his nerves. After seeing to Beauregard’s return, everyone headed back to Babette who was frantically waiting for some news. Freja and Uzriel returned first with the news that Beauregard was safe and sound and had returned home. Arriving soon after with pearl in hand, Khnemu graciously returned the final pearl to Babette who was overjoyed to have all of her grandmother’s pearls returned and explained that in the future she will try to be more careful when she visits the Delport Pier to gawk at the fishermen with her friends. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Gossip System](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/24/gossip-system/) **Published:** June 24, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Those visiting the pilgrim camp at the foot of Mount Avechna will notice that it has become a hot gossip spot! You can now use the new landmark (pilgrimcamp) to get there faster from the Aetherplex too. You will be prompted about it being a gossip spot upon arrival and from there you can either continue to passively listen to the gossip while in the room, or IGNORE GOSSIP if you change your mind. We are starting with gossip being available only in that one spot, mainly to get that feature to you as soon as possible. Something larger or more complicated can be worked on in the future but right now, we want you to get some of that gossip right away. What constitutes gossip? Right now events, denizen interactions, and assorted world additions that make sense to be a topic of conversation. For example, there is gossip about the new Rikenfriez quest, about sweaters being a new pattern, and about pilgrims visiting this or that place. Not all interactions result in event posts so it is not always easy to find out what happened recently. And once you know, there are lots of ways to interact with that further. The gossip will generally point you to the right place and provide a summary or a starting point, but if you want to learn more, you will still have to ask around. You will notice that some gossip comes with hints, pointing you to news posts, changelogs, or new quests. If you would rather just get the gossip, disable hints temporarily. In addition to that, some gossip might be in a specific language, but when that happens it will usually just provide additional information or opinion on gossip already available in common too. The oldest piece of gossip in the system right now dates back to May 7th, but everything else is no older than a month. The intention is for the system to have gossip from the past 30 days or so, so you can easily catch up on what has been going on around the Basin of Life. The gossip will fire once every minute right now, but will delay slightly if there is chatter at the camp so as not to interfere. Hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Horizon Walkers Treasure Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/23/horizon-walkers-treasure-hunt/) **Published:** June 23, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Whether you are an accomplished explorer or only starting out, this [upcoming Horizon Walkers treasure hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Public/1965) is for you. It will focus only on locations in the Basin of Life and will not be as challenging as a Nature Trial would be. **Date:** 30th June, 11:30pm GMT **Rewards:** 1st Place – 200 credits + reskinned Silver Compass of True Directions 2nd Place – 150 credits 3rd Place – 100 credits All participants will have until the end of the following week after the hunt (9th July inclusive) to pick up the hunt item and complete the treasure hunt. Everyone who completes the treasure hunt will be rewarded 2000 aethergoop (including those who place) and their hunt item will transform into one of the collectables. If you missed the previous ones, this is your chance to start collecting. The first collectable was a chessboard-sized wooden map of the Basin of Life, and the second was a bas-relief puzzle able to be shifted to display various scenes of exploration. Check out the Lexicon of Reconnaissance for your progress, now available at the new Avechna’s Peak landmark – PILGRIMCAMP. ## HOW TO PREPARE One thing to keep in mind when preparing is that clues hardly ever include the exact word you will find in a room’s description. If there is a castle in the brief or verbose description of the room, it is unlikely to ever be referred to as such, otherwise, you could just use PATH SEARCH or search through information stored in client-side mappers. The clue might instead be: “The wind carries herbal scents, the broken fence revealing peaks of colour in this drab land, dimmed by the menacing shadow of a nearby crumbling behemoth.” This is room “a hidden clearing” in the Grey Moors. There are a few hints to this being the right place. “Drab land” is meant to suggest Grey Moors, “menacing shadow of a crumbling behemoth” is meant to conjure the image of Castle Djarrakh. Then for the exact room, the herbal scent is meant to point to the herbal garden which is an adjoining room and the room’s description suggests you can glimpse the herbs within, hence “peaks of colour”. The clue could allude to the history of the place, its people, geography, visuals, etc. The best way to prepare is to go out and explore the Basin of Life. Go forth and read the descriptions of the rooms so you know what all is out there! ## HOW TREASURE HUNTS WORK As for how treasure hunts are carried out in Lusternia, you always receive an item that serves as your guide. You usually have at least two ways of interacting with the item, which you will be able to see on PROBE. The first will show you the current clue and the second will verify if you are in the right room for the given clue. The item will tell you if you are in the right room and then roll the next clue. Everyone has the same clues but in a randomly generated order. The first person to figure out the last clue, wins. In some cases, and in these hunts as well, you will also have the option to reroll a clue once in a while to avoid getting stuck. **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Snow Valley Fish Tale](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/18/snow-valley-fish-tale/) **Published:** June 18, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A peaceful Klangiary was interrupted by a dispute between Wapan Hromash and Worrel Fleece over which one was considered the better fisherman. What kind of fisherman could Wapan be if he lost his rod, however? Several targeted insults were traded across the Basin. Soon, a fishing contest was enacted in Snow Valley to cease the needless banter and ultimately decide the matter. Berpo, Xiran, Jolanthe, Freja, Qistrel, Veara, Ayisdra, and Uzriel gathered to watch the epic fish trials unfold upon the slow moving ice floes. Berpo Fleece, one not quite of age enough to be left out of sight for too long, was escorted to the safety of the shoreline by Freja and Xiran. After a few moments of getting to know his keepers, Berpo spotted a worm further inland and suggested that it might make good bait for the fishing duo. Freja quickly seized the opportunity and with Wapan’s borrowed spade set about looking for the creatures. High and low the adventures looked, with Uzriel unearthing Qistrel instead of a worm, Wapan being reunited with his fishing rod after Qistrel dug it from the earth, and a lesson in math from Xiran. Quickly, five worms were brought to the cub. Afterward, it was agreed upon that Freja and Berpo were the winners of the competition and the tree tae’dae returned to Rikenfriez for a snack of fish tacos to enjoy. But will Berpo sit idly by after such an adventure now? **Categories:** Events --- ### [May 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/18/may-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** June 18, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal contestants from May! If you’d like to join them for June, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Calliope](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5810/) by Xiran #### Runner-Up [The Lady of Lagoons](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5809/) by Gurashi #### Merit [Presidio Blossoms](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5808/) by Alysi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [A Storm comes to the Skarch](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/11/a-storm-comes-to-the-skarch/) **Published:** June 11, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Skarch Desert seems to be a place full of mystery, and unexpected developments. In the early hours of the 5th of Urlachmar, 651 years after the Coming of Estarra, a cry for help was heard around the Basin of Life, then quickly muffled, as someone tumbled underneath the Skarch’s vast sands. Quick adventurers would learn it was none other than Sandy Storm, who had ventured away from her home at the Scorpion Caverns. She had been the subject of a strange dream – which numerous others had dreamt as well – and was seeking assistance when she tumbled into one of the desert’s many sandworm pits. Fair Galaphyrae would find her first, and ensure her safety. In her travels, Sandy had lost her tool and had cracked open one of her mysterious vials used to create the gemstone ankhs which would facilitate the supplication of Grandmother Scorpion. To her relief, the missing and broken items were remedied quickly. Individuals from all over the First World, who were separated by centuries of conflict, strife, and ideological differences came together to help her: Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring, Xiran Stormcrow, Tyrus and Huskii Myeras, Fair Galaphyrae of Serenwilde, Khnemu Dahyu of Gaudiguch, Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax and Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora. If Sandy were to shirk her duty to her Spirit, she would surely suffer the same fate as Exclii Ehc’zi, a lucidian for whom the dracnari woman discovered a new pity. With her person and her things saved, she beseeched her rescuers to awaken the Old Ones and hear what Grandmother Scorpion had to say, if, indeed, it was Her that sent the strange dream. Again, her rescuers worked together despite their differences, and in no time at all, everyone gathered in front of Wise Lady to hear what Her Voice would say. It was Shyust’i the Onyx Witch, the Wrath of Grandmother Scorpion, who would speak the ominous words: “A haze shall herald the coming of the storm over the horizon, and she will know: The Key lies in the largest of foes, and only through it will the wayward be finally brought home.” Everyone puzzled over the meaning of the words. What is the Key? Who is wayward? And what sort of foe would this be? While speculation surrounded the prophecy, Sandy Storm would mention she has heard tale of a large creature who dwelt beneath the sands of the desert. No sooner did she begin to tell those gathered about this rumour, than just such a creature made itself known in the desert about the Scorpion Caves. It would take Tyrus, Xiran, Galaphyrae, Xenthos, Khnemu and Ayisdra’s focused efforts to lay low a gargantuan sandojin, half buried in the Skarch’s shifting sands. The crew would drag the massive reptile all the way back to Sandy’s altar. There, she worked with her tools and produced a large, clear crystal from within the creature’s organs. As to what the crystal was for, Sandy could not, or would not, opine, expect to say that she had better keep it safe and that she would do everything she could to learn about what Grandmother Scorpion’s enigmatic designs were. She suggested that perhaps Exclii Ehc’zi would know more, and that even though he was exiled, he knew a great deal more than he let on. Indeed, even Exclii himself denied knowing anything about a Key, or the crystal. Although the prophecy seemed to fit everything they had just experienced, everyone left with far more questions than answers and a nagging feeling that there was much more to it than first appearanced. Time would tell the greater story. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Embrace of Winter](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/09/the-embrace-of-winter/) **Published:** June 9, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Summer may well be almost upon us, beyond the realm of Lusternia, but it is winter here! We wish to keep you warm and comfortable in the Basin of Life so enjoy these new and improved crafts. This distinction is important this time around as we have both entirely new patterns for you, as well as, updates to old crafts. ## NEW PATTERNS **SWEATER**: available to Tailors (Sweaters). A new skill available at 50% Capable which allows one to make sweaters. Sweaters require 20+ commodities, can be worn over other clothes, and provide a lot of warmth (warmth factor of 15 to coat’s 12). They will go over most everything as they are considered Overwear, and you can even pair a sweater with a coat. When designing these, keep in mind the following rules: - Sweaters designs must be knit, not sewn to resemble modern sweatshirts. - Sweaters should not have words in their designs, these should be embroidered separately. - Sweaters should not try to resemble graphic t-shirts. **BUNKBED**: available to Artisans (Bunkbeds). A new skill available alongside Beds, bunkbeds offer comfort while preserving space. While beds take up 55% of Normal Furnishings, bunkbeds only take up 25%. They also have a separate top and bottom bunk and you can sit, lie down, or simply sleep on either. [HELP FURNITURE](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=929) will list the syntax to use these, but you can always just use them normally too and default to the bed at the bottom. Much like beds, they require 250+ commodities to construct. **MITTENS**: available to Tailors (Accessories). Keep your hands warmer than in just a pair of gloves with mittens, which have a warmth factor of 5 compared to that of 3 for the gloves. Much like gloves though, they require 20+ commodities to craft. **DIADEM**: available to Jewellers (Crowns). Prefer appearances over warmth? Show yourself off in a fancy new diadem, no matter the weather. Much like crowns and tiaras, they require 150+ commodities to craft. **TURKEY**: available to Cooks (Dishes). Nothing better in cold weather than some oven-roasted turkey with herbs, you only need 10+ commodities like for all dishes! ## IMPROVED PATTERNS **CUPCAKE**: available to Cooks (Pastries). Do you also detest having to design “cup cakes” under the Cake pattern to get your hands on those delicious treats? Cupcakes will now taste better as their own cupcake pattern available under Pastries and require 8+ commodities to bake instead of 12+. All existing “cup cakes” were rebranded as “cupcakes”, moved to Pastries, and had their commodities adjusted. **ARMCHAIR**: available to Artisans (Chairs). While a smaller problem than “cup cakes”, there were a number of “arm chairs” out there as well. They have all been rebranded as “armchairs” and now possess their own pattern under Chairs. **RACKS**: available to Artisans (Racks). These have not received a new pattern but to support a growing desire for wine racks, they will also now preserve any bottles stored in them. This update also comes alongside CHANGELOG #2832 which has a summary of all the changes and updates for clarity. Finally, as per usual you can find at least one design of each of the new patterns so you can enjoy them right away. If any of the above designs don’t quite work as intended, please BUG or TYPO (depending on the particular issue) right away with as many details as you might have (what command you tried, what happened, and so on). We look forward to seeing all of your new designs! **Categories:** News --- ### [June Curio Marvels](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/06/01/june-curio-marvels-2/) **Published:** June 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** All through this month, you will be able to buy curio packages directly from the website. A number of curio packages that are only available in limited edition promotions are once again available too. Among them: - race curios (for the sileni and nagasith races) - toys - masks - bubbles - batons - genies - treasure maps - poteen pots - macarons - feature curios Check out the bottom of [HELP CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1202) for the full list of curio-related helpfiles! In June, we will also have a double feature: Double Experience Tuesdays and Tzaraziko’s Chaotic Thursdays. The former will double experience gain on Tuesdays and the latter will boost the chance of scoring critical hits. **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Squirrels and Shrines](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/30/of-squirrels-and-shrines/) **Published:** May 30, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was a particularly nice day at the very tail end of winter in the year 650 CE, when a loud screeching pierced the peaceful quietness. The source was obviously coming from Tolborolla, but so annoying was the noise that those who gathered to investigate were frantically scrambling all over the valley, unable for a time to quite pinpoint the avian cacophony. Even Hulleh Honeytongue was drawn away from tending his beehives to investigate the disturbance. It was Fair Galaphyrae of Serenwilde, who was the first to discover the bluejay causing the racket. Alas, the bluejay was so surprised by her arrival that it flew away quickly, so much so that the tree branch they were both upon snapped, sending Galaphyrae falling! Curiously, the ground below happened to be right over a forgotten shrine, and she was sent plummeting to the deep cave shaft below. Displaying comportment uncharacteristic to one who has just fallen through the ground, landed in a cave shaft, and found oneself in front of a long lost shrine, Galaphyrae brushed herself off and knocked politely on the door the the shrine, knocking loose the shrine’s key as she did so. By this time, several others had arrived and they collectively entered the shrine, discovering a small fae within after brief exploration. Hazeline, the name by which the fae introduced herself, was overjoyed by the arrival, for she had been alone in the shrine since just before the Taint Wars, as she was quick to explain. She asked those present if they wished to gather nuts for the shrine’s silo, this being the purpose of the shrine, and offered some of the shrine’s scrolls in return for the work. Fair Galaphyrae and Spirit Warden Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring set to work very shortly to gather nuts, with Huskii Myeras of Serenwilde following sometime after, while those remaining engaged in further discussion with and the comforting of the little hazelnut fae, alone for so long. After some time, Galaphyrae was the first to gather enough nuts to be given a scroll, with Xenthos following soon thereafter. Not content with the singular scroll, Galaphyrae continued gathering nuts in an effort to collect all ten scrolls the shrine had to offer. It would be Kalas Zagreus of Magnagora, however, who would be the first to earn all ten scrolls and with it, Great Spirit Squirrel’s blessing for his diligence. As revealed to those who read the scrolls, the shrine continues once more in its purpose of gathering up a portion of the nuts which the bountiful squirrels of the Basin of Life have foraged, as is in accordance with the Precepts of Adept Chajoli. A stone marker invites into the underground shrine dedicated to the Great Spirit Squirrel once more and within Hazeline awaits. Those with an empathetic heart may wish to bring along a honeycake to give to her, as Xiran Stormcrow of Serenwilde did, to give the little fae a delicious reminder of her home. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Of Fire and Ledgers](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/30/of-fire-and-ledgers/) **Published:** May 30, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** From the diary of Xislia Dith, 19th of Roarkian, year 649: Knowing how much Chixesaka loves his coins, I figured I could really impress him with a nice ledger to keep track of all of his riches. So, not too long ago, I started studying how to bind books. Oddly though, every time I gave him one, he would be back to using his old ledger after not even a day. How much accounting does that old lizard need to do to use up a whole ledger that fast? No matter. I resolved to keep up with his voracious appetite for accounting books. Today, for some inexplicable reason, he was in an especially foul mood, lashing out at me for sending him subpar ledgers. It wasn’t my fault he has such a fiery temper. In fact, I assure you the last book suffered because he set it on fire! Apparently, we were really loud as a whole host of adventurers stopped by to make sure everything was okay. Gaudiguch showing up was no surprise as we had been under their protection for years now. Jalraza and Beda were the first on the scene, with Eiselle and Ixchilgal of the Mes’ard family showing up shortly after. Serenwilders have also been a familiar sight, so it was reassuring to see Fair Galaphyrae, Xiran Stormcrow, and Huskii Myeras. Rounding out the onlookers was Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora and Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring. Oh, was it embarrassing to have so many people watching. And it was even more embarrassing when Chixesaka lost his temper again and turned my latest ledger into ashes! Argh, he is so frustrating but I guess I just have to do better to meet his standards. I know I am relatively new to bookbinding so I asked the gathered adventurers for advice. Xenthos suggested that the hide of dashros could help block the flame and Eiselle even offered up her candle of the Forbidden Mysteries, which burns without ever seeming to consume the candle’s wax. Xenthos and Galaphyrae returned with the dashro in no time at all. After I skinned a dashro corpse, I used the pelt to wrap an unbound ledger. I then finished it off with a layer of the fire-resistant wax, we tried giving the old lizard a new and improved ledger but it turns out we were going about it the wrong way! Just because he set my last two ledgers on fire didn’t mean he actually wanted a fireproof ledger–just a better quality one. He did mention liking silk so people were quick to ask Tloxenga for some of her prized silk. She was reluctant at first but was suspiciously agreeable after learning the silk was for me. Huskii eventually procured the silk, even braving attacks from the temperamental spiders. After he came back with the silk, I quickly realized the silk would have to be taut to have the finished ledger look polished. Eiselle was the first person to try to help me, but ultimately Huskii took over and assisted with finishing off the ledger. Chixesaka didn’t seem too happy, but I guess I just have to do better next time. After all, he needs ledgers to keep track of all of his coins, right? **Categories:** Events --- ### [April 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/24/april-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** May 24, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from April! If you’d like to join them for April, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Sketch of Dreameater Moths](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5807/) by Gurashi #### Runner-Up [The Inner Sea](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5806/) by Zagreus ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [The Tale of Ser Eduart, Deathknight of the Jackal](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5805/) by Alysi #### Runner-Up [Unchanging Grace](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5802/) by Cienoa [The Only Real Path](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5803/) by Lendren [Magnagora Personified](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5804/) by Sapphira **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Wheel Spins and Auctions](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/16/wheel-spins-and-auctions/) **Published:** May 16, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As a mid-month surprise, we now have Iron Coins available to purchase from the website under Artifact Packages! They will stay there until the end of the month. You can spin these coins at the Wheel of Tzaraziko found at the Cave of Chaos. Check out [HELP IRON COINS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1466) for more information. Also, as the week of gold auctions is now underway, we’d like you to keep the following in mind. A special cap has been placed on these auctions and you will only be able to have bids on 5 auctions at once. You should not be tradining in any of the artifacts available this week in order to bid on them with gold – we will be verifying. And finally, remember that artifacts won in this gold auction will have no trade-in value. Enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Death and Harmony Challenges](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/14/death-and-harmony-challenges/) **Published:** May 14, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Thanks to the enterprising spirit of Korue Dragnet and the desire of Master Quettle to show everyone a better way, we’ll see a Death and Harmony Challenge in May once again. You will also have one more chance at these thematically reskinned artifacts for the winners. **Death Challenge** 21st May, 11pm GMT **Harmony Challenge** 27th May, 11:30pm GMT The first is a hunting challenge and the second is an influence challenge. If you are unfamiliar with how they work, see [HELP ASCENSION RULES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1231) as the challenges are exactly the same as those held during Ascension. Be sure to use **CONSIDER** to analyse denizens ahead of time, scout out your hunting and influencing grounds, and plot out potential paths and order. Remember that others may have similar plans to yours so you must be prepared for those situations and for interference. Both Challenges will have similar prizes: 1st Place – 200 credits + an artifact\* 2nd Place – 150 credits 3rd Place – 100 credits 4-10th Place – 50 credits **Death Challenge artifact**: a reskinned divinus whip with customised action lines (a multicoloured whip of domothean energy) **Harmony Challenge artifact**: a reskinned Mask of Esteemed Beauty (an embroidered sash of Toshan harmony) Good luck! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Adventure is for the Brave](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/10/adventure-is-for-the-brave/) **Published:** May 10, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The call came out on the 21st of Kiani, in the year 648 after the Coming of Estarra: I am looking for an adventurer. Come find me at the Triple Junction Inn. And indeed, adventurers arrived to find none other than Tapif the Furrikin, an adolescent of mildly mysterious origin, seeking to go on an adventure of his own. Striking out from… wherever he was from, he found himself in the company of several adventurers, including Iazin Stormcrow, Eiselle Mes’ard, Khnemu Dahyu, and Tonatiuh al-Saaoud. Explaining that he had grown up reading stories such as Lolly Pringle’s account of the Taint Wars, and other dramatic tales of bravery and heroism, he beseeched those gathered to help him experience the same, to learn, and maybe have an adventure of his very own one day. Many options were discussed. Vengeance? That was just another game of pretend, Tapif explained. A pastry revolution? Although Tapif asked for more clarification, it would never come. Murder, Vernal artifacts, Grimkeep, the hordes of the Astral plane, and many other options were mentioned, but none seemed to avail. That is, until the foxkin furrikin began to tell them the tale of how he came to be at the inn. Those gathered learned that Tapif had recently been chased down by a tall, hairy orc wielding a cleaver. With quick deduction work, Eiselle, Iazin, and Khnemu would take Tapif the Furrikin to the Village of Acknor, to get to the bottom of this. With Eiselle as lookout, Khnemu and Iazin would confront none other than the village’s butcher, who conveniently had just such a cleaver. Detective work would follow, and although the furrikin adolescent could not positively identify the man who had tried to hunt him down, they were certain. Intimidation, bribery, theft, and even murder would all be involved in this heart-pounding story Tapif would be sure to remember forever. When it was all said and done, they would all return to the Triple Junction. It was here that Tapif would begin learning how to truly be an adventurer. With a questionable beverage made of ‘Bourb apples,’ they celebrated his success. Satisfied, Tapif would take his rest at the inn, with thoughts of the day imprinted on his memory forever: “Being brave is about facing your fears.” But that would not be the last that was heard out of him. On the 14th of Dioni, the Basin of Life would hear the loud sound of a steel trap coming from the area of Balach Swamp. Here, adventurers would find Tapif – now deeming himself the Adventurer – stuck inside of an alligator trap designed by the mugwumpi researchers. As the trap slowly sank into the mud, it was clear to those gathered that they did not have much time. Thinking quickly, Huskii Myeras, Khnemu Dahyu, and Romaan D’Varden worked to try to get him out of the strange, cylindrical trap. Try as they might, the trap was too caked in mud to find a means of opening it, and not even Huskii could dig far enough into the layers of sediment to find a way to move it. Fortunately, the researchers provided the information necessary, and after clearing the muck off the trap, a pin was discovered which would open the mechanism. The trap snapped apart violently, but Tapif was safe, if a little shook up. The mystery did not end there. Tapif explained that he stumbled into the trap after hearing creepy whispers, and seeing a ‘twisted creature’ that looked almost like an alligator… but was not. Balach Swamp is no stranger to peculiar occurrences, but his report of events left people wondering: had he really seen something in the swamp, alone? A monster? The truth was out there. Although thoroughly creeped out and frightened, Tapif would seek adventure elsewhere. This time it would be mountains, something more physically challenging, and less covered in mud. Destinations were suggested for Tapif’s newest foray, and it was Khnemu who would suggest Tapif’s ultimate destination: Irshaw Heights. Upon learning that tae’dae were settled there, how could a foxkin resist? Just two days later, the 16th of Dioni, shouting could be heard coming from the Razines, growing louder and louder. Having found the Heights, Tapif was now causing trouble for the patriarch, Rumberry Irshaw. Rumberry, evidently famous for his story-telling among the tae’dae youth, had captured the young Adventurer’s attention, and he would not be swayed. Rumberry, meanwhile, was absolutely opposed to telling any stories, let alone telling a free-loading foxkin furrikin any of them. Xenthos An’Ryshe, Qoivhae Vivalde, Huskii Myeras, Fair Galaphyrae – and once more, Khnemu Dahyu, who was by now quite familiar with the furrikin’s antics – would come together to help Tapif hear one of these infamous stories. Much to Rumberry’s chagrin, the combined effort of those who came to investigate was enough to defeat every obstacle he put in the way. Eventually, Rumberry insisted he would only read them to the tae’dae cubs, but even this did not stop them. Pressured, he had no choice but to read one of them, despite his better judgment. Tapif was thrilled, and decided to spend some time living there, in Irshaw Heights. The adventurers taught him how to build hiw own campfire, and even provided him with a tinderbox, and a wooden sword. Things would quiet down in Irshaw Heights, and Tapif was more determined than ever to hear all the stories Rumberry Irshaw has to tell. And yet, many questions remained: Was there a serial furrikin-chasing orc somewhere on the loose? What ever happened to the stolen cleaver? What about the creature that was seen in the Balach Swamp, and the creepy whispers heard there? A byproduct of the already strange goings-on of the ruined mugwump homeland, or a portent of something sinister? Last but not least, who is Tapif and where did he come from? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Three May Auctions](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/08/three-may-auction/) **Published:** May 8, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In May we will be running 3 weeks of auctions – first credit auctions, then gold auctions, and then credit auctions again. Each set of auctions will run throughout the week. Be sure to check out [HELP AUCTIONS ](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=945)to learn about the system if it’s your first time taking part. Gold auctions have received two notable updates to help maintain their intended purpose. Firstly, all artifacts bought in gold auctions will have no trade-in value. Keep this in mind when bidding – the purpose of gold auctions is not to buy cheap and trade-in. Secondly, it will only be possible to have bids in up to 5 gold auctions at once so however well-off one may be in terms of gold, not everything can be bid on at once. One other thing will be done differently this time around as well. Week 1, which is about to begin, is aiming to wrap up around the Weave at the end of the week but Week 2 and Week 3 will attempt to end a bit earlier or later to introduce some timezone variety. As Week 1 is about to begin, we’d like to give you a rundown of all that will be auctioned throughout the month so you can plan accordingly. If anything is missing that you would love to see added, let us know! **WEEK 1 – CREDITS** Staff of Illusions Sandals of the Wanderer Master Bubblix Crit Rune lvl 4 Cement Socks Scissors of Atropos Drums of Kiakoda Promise Rings Survivalist Chalice Boots of Shanth Book of the Dead Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Hyperpyramid Sempiternal Libram Starchart Scentomatic Piercing Eye Silvery Cap Rune of the Eternal Sigil Great Rune of Charisma Chaos Hamster Plushie Wand of Ice Wand of Fire Pentagonal Puzzle Gleaming Bracers Cloak of Thorns Tully’s Broom Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Hair/Beard Curio Custom Typecast Custom Beepbeep Custom Mobgen (modified) Customised Ent **WEEK 2 – GOLD** Cubix Changeling Intaglio Changeling Cameo Superior Rune of Paranoia Superior Rune of Charity Superior Rune of Seduction Superior Rune of Empowerment Superior Rune of Cutting Enhancement Superior Rune of Blunt Enhancement Superior Rune of Magical Enhancement Superior Rune of Fire Enhancement Superior Rune of Cold Enhancement Superior Rune of Poison Enhancement Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Enhancement Superior Rune of Electricity Enhancement Superior Rune of Psychic Enhancement Superior Rune of Excorable Enhancement Superior Rune of Divinus Enhancement Rune of Absorption Shield Rune Music Rune Great Rune of Demesnes Superior Rune of Fitness Superior Rune of the Mind Superior Rune of Beauty Superior Rune of Health Regeneration Superior Rune of Mana Regeneration Superior Rune of Ego Regeneration Gilded Cage Pendant of Vitality Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Gnome Weapon of your choice with 9 gears **WEEK 3 – CREDITS** Wand of Illusions Sandals of the Wanderer Master Bubblix Crit Rune lvl 4 Cement Socks Scissors of Atropos Drums of Kiakoda Promise Rings Survivalist Chalice Boots of Shanth Book of the Dead Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Hyperpyramid Sempiternal Libram Starchart Scentomatic Piercing Eye Silvery Cap Rune of the Eternal Sigil Great Rune of the Magi Chaos Hamster Plushie Torus Gleaming Wax Cube Pound of Raw Flesh Gauntlets of Dragons Breath Temporal Freezer Ring of Calming Hues Tully’s Broom Custom Doll Custom Guise Custom Homestead Custom Hair/Beard Curio Custom Typecast Custom Deliverer Custom Mobgen (new) Custom Ikon Customised Ent Eventru Doll Li-varili Doll **Categories:** News --- ### [Alliance System Proposal](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/06/alliance-system-proposal/) **Published:** May 6, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** I would like to invite all of you to have a read over the proposed new Alliance System that I have posted on the forums. Please leave any comments on the system you have there, and I’ll make sure to review it as often as possible. You can find the thread [here](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4821/alliance-system). **Categories:** News --- ### [Nexus Client on iOS](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/01/nexus-client-on-ios/) **Published:** May 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’re excited to announce that the mobile version of the Nexus Client is finally on both Android and iPhone! That’s right, you can now carry the epicness of Iron Realms Entertainment in your pocket and experience the thrill of MUD gaming whenever the mood strikes you. We’ve got you covered no matter what phone or tablet you have. Android users can snag the Nexus in the Google Play Store over [here](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ironrealms.nexus). For all our iOS folks, you can get your hands on it via the Apple Store right [here](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nexus-mud-client/id1641739522). So, whether you’re Team Android or Team iPhone, you can now join the party! As both versions are still very new, we need your help to make the client even more awesome. We’re talking reviews. If you’re loving the mobile experience, please take a moment to leave a review on your app store of choice. Your feedback assists us considerably and also helps new players find the community. We get it, bugs happen. But fret not! If you encounter any pesky bugs or issues, we’ve got a solution. Just follow the simple steps outlined on our bug submission page. You can find it [here](https://nexus.ironrealms.com/How_To_Submit_Bugs). Together, we can squash those bugs and make the Nexus Client the best it can be. You can also get help and let us know about potential problems in the Nexus Discord. Here is a [link](https://discord.gg/czsFhfbW) for everyone looking to join. Quick reminder for all you browser warriors: Don’t forget that you can still dive into our games straight from your trusty web browser. No installation required. You can find the client [here](https://play.ironrealms.com), and let the adventures begin! We can’t thank you enough for being part of the Iron Realms family. Your support means the world to us, and we’re committed to delivering the most epic gaming experience ever. Stay tuned for updates and get ready for mind-blowing adventures in the Iron Realms! **Categories:** News --- ### [May Credits and Auctions](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/05/01/may-credits-and-auctions/) **Published:** May 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of May, we have a couple things for you to take advantage of and look forward to. We’ll be having a 30% credit sale, meaning you’ll get an additional 30 credits for every 100 purchased! Extra credits will come in handy for upcoming auctions which will be opening May 8th. You will hear more about that closer to the date but rest assured there will be both credit and gold auctions as per usual. Also, every Tuesday this month you can earn double daily credits. That means that rather than 20 total for the day, you will earn up to 40! **Categories:** News --- ### [History Timeline Project](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/28/history-timeline-project/) **Published:** April 28, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As those of you who have joined me on the Producer Ridealong may already know, one of our Ephemerals is working on a timeline project. Here to bring you more information on this upcoming feature is Scout himself, with a [post on the forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4817/upcoming-feature-history-timeline) outlining the details of the project. Be sure to check it out and leave your comments! **Categories:** News --- ### [March 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/23/march-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** April 23, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from March! If you’d like to join them for April, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [The Son of Steel and Gold](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5799/) by Uzriel #### Runner-Up [The Understudy: Part 1](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5800/) by Alysi [Unlocking the Magic of Enigmatic Medley Stew: A Journey of Self-Discovery](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5801/) by Eiselle #### Merit [Primal](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5798/) by Lendren ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Rhizoda at Dusk](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5797/) by Zagreus **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Ephemeral Applications Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/18/ephemeral-applications-open-4/) **Published:** April 18, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Do you have an interest in helping run Lusternia behind the scenes as a volunteer administrator? We are now opening applications for Ephemerals – administrators-in-training. If you are not sure what being an Ephemeral entails, you can read the thoroughly updated [HELP VOLUNTEERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=380) for an overview. We also encourage you to check out the [two most recent godblogs](https://www.lusternia.com/category/godblogs/) about life as an Ephemeral. ### **To apply for Ephemeralhood you must:** - Be 18 or over (that is yourself, not your character). - Have played Lusternia for a minimum of 400 hours, total across all characters. - Not be a volunteer administrator on any other IRE game. - Be willing to give up your character and cut all connections with mortal player friends. - As part of this, you will be required to quit all Lusternia-related Discord channels. - Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - Be mature and able to separate IC from OOC. - Be able to work as part of a team. - Be able to commit regular hours to working on Lusternia. There is no set minimum in hours, and when you choose to do your hours is up to you. But a good general estimate would be around 7h/week or 1h/day. - Have sufficient creative writing skills to contribute to Lusternia’s high-quality content. - Be willing and able to work with Lusternia’s scripting language known as prog. - You will be fully trained on the job – the important thing is that you are willing and able to learn. ### **To apply, please send an email to support@lusternia.com with:** - Name - Age - Occupation & where you work, or if a student, what you are studying and where. - Your character(s) in Lusternia and what they have achieved. - This might include leadership positions you have held and what you accomplished in them. - You are encouraged to note any mortal volunteer positions you have held, such as guide or mortal reviewer. - Why you think you would make a good volunteer. - What type of Elder Divine you think would best suit you, or if you are interested in an Architect position. - You do not need to name specific roles but can do so. - Naming a role at this point does not guarantee you will ultimately take up that role, it just gives us a guideline for the sort of role you think you are interested in. - Naming a role, or not doing so, does not influence your chances in any way. - A writing sample of five room descriptions, including both short and long description lines, so that we can gauge your writing skills. - Be sure these are relatively fresh, not something written years ago. - You can read [HELP MORTAL BUILDERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=77) for some tips on writing. - These rooms can be examples of additions to existing areas, or whole new areas, or nonspecific. - We recommend taking a look at existing rooms in Lusternia for further guidance. - Anything else that you think we may want to consider in reviewing your application. - This might include proven coding ability, experience in other MUDs, etc. All personal information that you disclose (name, age, and occupation) will be kept private by Lusternia’s producers. It is vital that you give this information accurately – please do not use pseudonyms or similar. The **deadline for applications is April 30th** inclusive (across all time zones). After this date, we will contact selected candidates for interview, and then will take our chosen Ephemerals into the Havens. Please be aware that we will only respond to applications we wish to take further through the process, and that we expect to have far more applications than openings. If you have any questions, please contact us at support@lusternia.com with your query. **Categories:** News --- ### [Long Live Forum Archives!](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/17/long-live-forum-archives/) **Published:** April 17, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tired of using the Wayback Machine to get a look at our long-lost forums? So were we. When Lusternia moved to a new forum back in 2012, all previous content effectively became lost. Through some truly herculean effort on the part of one of our volunteers though, the old forums live again! They don’t look the same as they are hosted on our website, and all images have been lost (even the emoji!), but the content is still there. All the ancient quotes, raves, and logs can be found and enjoyed once again! You can now find the [Forum Archive](https://www.lusternia.com/archive/forums/) under the Community tab. **Categories:** News --- ### [Of squirrels](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/14/of-squirrels/) **Published:** April 14, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the thick of winter of 645 CE, the Kiakodan Nature Reserve was burglarised by unknown forces. Reported publicly by Gatekeeper Quillion Jones, the break-in resulted in the squirrel nursery, which was watched over by Tommut Whitlock, being utterly destroyed and the baby squirrels kidnapped. First on the scene was Exeryte Stormcrow of Glomdoring, who interrogated the custodians and investigated the nursery. Promising to get to the bottom of this crime, he spread the word far and wide while wanted posters were being put up across thoroughfares. Not all took the matter as seriously as Exeryte, however. It was not long before Quillion’s public appeal to post news about the break-in resulted in newsboard postings from numerous citizens of Gaudiguch, all claiming to have orchestrated the theft. Various outlandish claims, threats, and proclamations were made, leading to Tommut’s subsequent breakdown. Those who visited him learnt little more between his sobs, but Xenthos An’Ryshe did make a discovery through his tracking prowess. There were but two assailants and any trace of them vanished mysteriously into thin air right outside the entrance into the caves. A year passed since the Reserve was broken into, when a pair of airships appeared on the northern horizon. Soon peals of gleeful laughter filled the air as the pair of siblings piloting the airships, identities still unknown, announced their presence to the Basin and conducted a verbal duet spelling out their intentions. In short, they admitted to stealing the squirrels from the Kiakodan Nature Reserve and claimed to have trained them to exact some manner of retribution upon the Basin. Having finished both alerting the Basin to their presence and losing any advantage that may have been gleaned through subtlety, the pair begin tossing cages overboard. Each cage contained a squirrel, but also came equipped with a patchwork parachute that caused the cages to be buffeted about by the winds, only a few raining down upon the Basin at any given time. Tommut, glad but terrified for their well-being, quickly called upon those present to collect the squirrels and re-home them. Many set out to find the cages, some bringing them to Tommut for further guidance. Despite the claims of the siblings in the airships, the squirrels did not seem inclined to attack anyone or cause mischief. They were, however, extremely picky, for it was soon discovered that if anyone tried to open the cages in an area they did not like, the squirrels would slam the cage door shut, preferring their solitude instead. It took some time, but soon those aiding Tommut and the squirrels were able to find homes that the squirrels preferred. While the squirrels were being re-homed, the siblings piloting the airships seemed to think that those upon the ground were running around in some sort of chaos caused by their squirrels, oblivious to what was actually going on. Indeed, the brother of the pair even admitted that he thought they may have forgotten to train the squirrels to actually do anything, but before this could be discussed further the pair of airships became entangled and soon descended far beyond the Northern Mountains. In the end, however, the squirrels were successfully re-homed… for the most part. Some cages were dropped or otherwise broken, and the squirrels within ran for freedom, never to be seen again. Other cages, particularly those containing the luxurious-haired squirrels, were purposefully kept from their destination, by those who believed they could provide a better fate for the squirrels than delivering them to the Wyrden Forest… Among those who helped to find homes for the caged squirrels, the tireless work of Qistrel Strongleaf of Serenwilde, Anavander of Magnagora, and Tikki of Hallifax stood out the most. In the end, the tassel-eared squirrels settled within a forest nestled in the Northern Mountains. The miniature squirrels settled within the Valley of Tolborolla. The striped squirrels settled within the Arysian Isle of Vesucia, in Bondero Bay. The albino squirrels settled within the Caoimhe Dell, near the Little Shallach River. The flying squirrels settled within Mornhai Sanctuary, within the Razine Mountains. The squirrels with luxurious fur settled within the Wyrden forest of Glomdoring, although whether they will be able to survive there is still unknown. **Categories:** Events --- ### [April 2023 Reports](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/10/april-2023-reports/) **Published:** April 10, 2023 **Author:** Ealix **Content:** We are opening reports for another round over the coming days, so we are giving you a bit of a heads up so you can start planning your reports. For this round of reports, we want to focus on combat. Primarily, we would like all reports to be either combat skill changes, or combat skill QOL changes. We will have a round of reports in the future for general QOL changes, however at this time they will not be accepted. I will be monitoring reports once reports are open. Any reports that are submitted that are not related to combat skills will be closed and an explanation will be sent to the report writer. This will also extend to reports that are incorrect or vague. In the same style as the last set of reports, we are going to keep report comments hidden from other players. In future, we are going to look at having combat focused reports run differently to QOL and general reports, however we require more planning and work to achieve that. Good luck and happy reporting! **Categories:** News --- ### [Happy Egg Hunt!](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/08/happy-egg-hunt/) **Published:** April 8, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Egg hunt or squirrel hunt? Either way, the devious duo that kidnapped baby squirrels from the Reserve appear to have unleashed them, now grown, upon the Basin of Life. Thrown overboard from the airships of the kidnappers, the squirrels have landed all over safely thanks to built-in parachutes. Many still float about, pulled by the winds. If you come across a cage, be sure to PROBE it and then find a good spot to OPEN the cage so the squirrel can be rehomed. Each squirrel type likes a different tree-laden environment so don’t be surprised if they are picky! You will be able to assist in rehoming the squirrels from now until noon on Monday, 10th of April (server time). Why should you help the squirrels? Because they’re adorable! Isn’t that reason enough to vo- help them? **Categories:** News --- ### [Website Redesign](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/01/website-redesign/) **Published:** April 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We are excited to announce that our website is getting a fresh new look! Our team has been hard at work over the past few months, designing a logo that truly reflects the rich lore and history of Lusternia. We know that rebranding can be disorienting for people who are used to associating a particular image with something. Nonetheless, we feel that our new direction with the Lusternia logo will better convey the depth of lore surrounding Mount Avechna and the Ten Seals that keep it safe. We thank you for your continued support, and we can’t wait to see what stories this new look inspires among you. Please join us at [lusternia.com](https://www.lusternia.com/) for the grand reveal! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/90s_logo_wallpaper-1024x576.jpg "90s_logo_wallpaper - Lusternia") **Categories:** News --- ### [April Present Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/04/01/april-present-extravaganza-3/) **Published:** April 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of April, we’re running a present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you purchase for the month of April, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! You can review your progress with SHOWREWARDS. As with all promotions, this does not apply to No-Brainer credit packages though. To sweeten the pot, we are adding the ability to EXCHANGE PRESENTS, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. But wait, there’s even more! When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. Lastly, every Wednesay will be Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays! Everyone will deal additional 25% damage while influencing on Wednesdays throughout April. **Categories:** News --- ### [Manse Description Guidelines](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/03/26/manse-description-guidelines/) **Published:** March 26, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Most of you are undoubtedly well-acquainted with the infamous “A very boring room. Change this” generic manse room title that comes pre-packed with a fulcrux orb and a room box. From this point onwards though, all new manse rooms will have a more in-character title and come with an actual description out of the box. We are rolling out this change alongside the addition of description guidelines for our [HELP MANSES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=aether-manses) file. This new section introduces no changes though, instead it puts down on paper what has always been true: that manses can be pretty much anything, but since they exist in-game, they should be written in-character. While obvious in theory, it is still preferable for such guidelines to be explicitly stated so no confusion occurs. Though the recent WHO and EWHO list changes hide manse room titles, it is still possible to at least glean the title of the manse room someone is in through other means. As such, finding someone in a room called, for example, “Left Wing of Westminster Abbey” or “Stop looking. Nothing to see here!” can be jarring and immersion-breaking, and we have received numerous complaints about similar instances. We want to be very clear though that we are not interested in policing manses and will only investigate if a very jarring example is brought to us. No disciplinary action will be taken in those situations, we will only ask that the title be adjusted. Room descriptions are unlikely to ever be an issue, unless something very out-of-character is included in a very public or organisation-deeded manse. Finally, at the time of writing there are 8142 manse rooms titled “A very boring room. Change this” out there. Owners have until 9th of April, inclusive, to change these as they see fit. On the 10th, remaining rooms will be automatically upgraded to the new generic description: title: a simple room in shades of grey description: The spacious but unadorned room is lit up by thin glass stripes running along the walls, their lengths emitting a soft luminosity. Painted a pale grey colour, the walls enclose an empty square space with a white ceiling and a floor laid with dark grey tiles. A faint aetheric current can be sensed circulating in the air like a draught ushered in from the beyond. **Categories:** News --- ### [February 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/03/26/february-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** March 26, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from February! If you’d like to join them for March, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [A Glimpse into a Memory](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5795/) by Eiselle #### Merit [A Trill’s Song: Virtues](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5796/) by Illirialial ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5788/)[The Gloriana](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5793/) by Alysi #### Runner-Up [Dracnoris: pg. 8](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5792/) by Esei [A Couple of Valentines](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5794/) by Gurashi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Planned Downtime](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/03/23/planned-downtime/) **Published:** March 23, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tomorrow, March 24th, sometime between 4-5pm server time, Lusternia will be going offline for scheduled engine updates. We’ll be sure to give you a warning ahead of time in-game and let you know as soon as the update is done. A backup will be done right before so that nothing gets lost, but be sure not to keep progressing after the cut-off point is announced. **Categories:** News --- ### [Producer Ride-Along](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/03/11/producer-ride-along/) **Published:** March 11, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** I would like to invite you all to an experimental digital ride-along with me that will take place tomorrow. It will be hosted on a stage channel on our Discord server (see [HELP DISCORD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1536)) but the ride-along itself will be text-based rather than voice-based. If you are unfamiliar with how stage channels work, the gist of it is that you join them and are auto-muted and cannot speak even if you wanted to. You become an audience member and you join/leave quietly. You can open text chat for stages the same way you would for voice channels, a button at the top right. The event will start on March 12th at 5pm GMT (server time) and end at 2am GMT. It may last longer if necessary to wrap things up for the day. There will be short breaks for food and drink. As mentioned above, the event will be in text form rather than voice. There are two main reasons for that. One, you will be able to jump in and out throughout the day and not miss a beat, and two – my poor vocal cords! Now, onto the content of the ride-along itself. I’d like to take you through an ordinary producer day. Sometimes I will be able to go into detail and other times I will need to be vague as to what is on my plate. Even so, I can discuss the process, the steps, and the findings or resolutions, and you can ask questions. There will naturally be pauses while work happens, but I will do my best to comment on things as I move along. Provided there is no world-shattering disaster that Ealix needs to handle instead, he may join me at some point for a bugfixing session. If that happens, we’ll switch to voice. If not tomorrow, we’ll instead livestream some bugfixing another time. If you cannot or do not end up joining me tomorrow, the stage channel will still be there for you to read through. Hope to see you there! **Categories:** Livestreams, News --- ### [March of Choices](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/03/01/march-of-choices/) **Published:** March 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The month of March is once again the month of change, learning, and new experiences! For those of you just getting into Lusternia, or those of you ready to try something new, you can purchase lessons at discounted rates right off the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). In addition, credit purchases from the website will come with special chests in March. For every 100 credits purchased, you will receive one chest. To sweeten the pot, you will also receive a chest at the first 50 and 150 credit intervals, resulting in 4 chests total after purchasing the first 200 credits. Your progress will refresh every 1000 credits and can be reviewed with SHOWREWARDS. Disclaimer: This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages. What’s inside the chest? A boon of your choice! You can UNLATCH the chest and choose between receiving extra 25 bound credits, 500 aethergoop, or 1 gleaming wondercrystal. That is not all you can find on the website though, as classic Artifact Packages are back. The Newbie Package offers fantastic value for the price, and there are also options for headstarts in various classes, tiered packages boosting survivability, a beastmaster’s package, and even a package for a budding aethercaptain. And if you want to take full advantage of classflexing, see our Ultimate Classflexing Artifact Package! Free classflexing will be active throughout the month to allow you to try out a new class. You will also gain increasingly more experience throughout March due to D’varsha’s Illuminating Weeks. For details on both be sure to check out [HELP PROMO DAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1575). **Categories:** News --- ### [Ealix Steps Up as Producer](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/02/25/ealix-steps-up-as-producer/) **Published:** February 25, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It has been a bit over three months since we welcomed Ealix as an Assistant Producer for Lusternia and are happy to announce that he is now formally a Producer alongside myself. Orael, who had in the interim stepped down to an Assistant Producer role, has now transitioned into an Anomaly role and will continue coding for Lusternia. What this means on a day to day basis is that for all things code, combat, conflict, and such that you would normally reach out to Orael about, you should be contacting Ealix for going forwards. Orael can still be contacted under orael@lusternia.com but you should only really e-mail him if he requests such for whatever project he is working on. Thank you Orael and Ealix! **Categories:** News --- ### [January 2023 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/02/25/january-2023-artbard-results/) **Published:** February 25, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from January! If you’d like to join them for February, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [A Guide to Cookery](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5783/) by Aerotan #### Runner-Up [The Importance of Community: Lessons from Bennin Wigglebottom](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5785/) by Eiselle [Etsija’s Tale](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5784/) by Lendren #### Merit [Painful Step Forward](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5789/) by Arae ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Petrichor Sings](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5788/) by Xiran #### Runner-Up [Dracnoris: pg. 7](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5782/) by Esei #### Merit [Mother Night Cometh](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5790/) by Alysi [The Dunes of Iklara](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5791/) by Tonatiuh **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Seasonal Cards for Season d'Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/02/01/seasonal-cards-for-season-damour-2/) **Published:** February 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Throughout the month of February, you’ll be able to purchase special seasonal cards with plenty of boons straight from the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). You can consume the cards for your own benefit, or send them to others. Consuming them will reward you with a bronze heartbox, while sending will award the bronze heartbox to the recipient. Every 10th card you send or consume will reward you a silver heartbox, and every 25th card you consume or send, will reward you a golden heartbox. Meaning that if you were to consume 25 cards yourself, you will receive a total of 25 bronze heartboxes, 2 silver heartboxes, and 1 golden heartbox. Your recipient, if any, will only ever receive bronze heartboxes. **In summary**: o if you consume the card, you receive a bronze heartbox o if you send the card, the recipient receives a bronze heartbox o you receive a silver heartbox for every 10 cards sent/consumed o you receive a gold heartbox for every 25 cards sent/consumed **Cards**: o see **CARD** for syntax o can be written on with up to 120 characters o can be customised, PROBE for details o can be sent to others (anonymously if you prefer!) o can be ‘consumed’ for their benefits rather than sent **Heartbox Prizes**: **Bronze Heartbox** – 20-40 bound credits, or an artifact worth 30-50 credits, or 2 presents. **Silver Heartbox** – 150-175 bound credits, or an artifact worth 250-300 credits, or 4 wondercrystals, or 10 presents. **Golden Heartbox** – 800-950 bound credits, or an artifact worth 1000-1250 credits, or 12 wondercrystals, or 50 presents. You’ll also have a chance to earn cards in-game during Season d’Amour! Dolly d’Amour, residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave and will receive a seasonal card after you complete the quest 5 times. That means you can gain up to 5 seasonal cards this month. You can easily find the cottage with the new temporary landmark – **DOLLYCOTTAGE**. Also, Valentine-themed artifact skins are back in artifact shop and will be available during February of this year only. See: **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES**. If you are interested in picking up something red, rosy, and glamorous, or dark and suggestive of a broken and cold heart, now’s your chance! Last but not least, every Monday throughout February will be Klangratch’s Mighty Monday with a bonus to damage against denizens! **Categories:** News --- ### [Year in Review 2022](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/01/17/year-in-review-2022/) **Published:** January 17, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It’s that time of the year again, time to ruminate upon the past year and look toward the future. Though 2022 has certainly been a slower year in terms of development, especially as the world beyond our digital nook continued to be less than kind all around, quite a few things happened. We started by wrapping up the story of the Goddess Li-varili – last seen captured by the Elders and prevented from plunging the world into darkness and despair. As the Goddess was to be judged, the Divine asked mortals to [bear testimony](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/01/the-conch-shell-and-the-gods-decree/) regarding Li-varili’s influence upon Lusternia first. Some argued for the Goddess, some against, but each side was [equally fervent in their appeals](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/10/testimonies-given-judgments-prepared/). They mirrored the disagreements between the Gods themselves who were torn on the issue. At last [the Trial was held](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/10/the-judgment-of-li-varili/) in the Divine Havens but the Divine could not settle upon a decision whether to banish Li-varili or imprison her. And so, the Goddess chose herself, performing an act that has not happened in centuries – she splintered into the livari race. The new shards were confused and convinced they were still Li-varili, but with the help of the kelpies, the nereids, and the mortals, [homes were found for them](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/10/the-shards-of-li-varili/), until such a time as it is safe for them to emerge once more. Necessitated by the floods started by the Goddess Li-varili, the pilgrim camp at the foot of Mount Avechna has grown considerably. First an aslaran pilgrim planted a whole [garden of sunflowers](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/03/sunflowers/) as their wish for peace and hope for the future, something anyone can add onto still. Then the tae’dae Tilibe opened up an [agricultural store](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/09/its-the-journey-that-matters/) there and made the spot her home. She was soon followed by Voarag Dragnet who opened up [another store](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/09/on-the-road/), taking advantage of the need for more ores and assorted products on the market. What else lies in store for the place? Not too far away from the camp, the World Library hosted a [taurian lecturer](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/12/world-forum-explores-taurian-history/) who elucidated many points of taurian culture and history that has been lost to time. And a bit further east, the Tolborolla Valley expanded its [beekeeping activities](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/07/17/adventures-in-botany-and-apiculture/) due to the industrious spirit of Hulleh Honeytongue and can now produce quite the amount of honey now if Hulleh is assisted regularly. Not to be outdone, the Toronada Tidal Flats have finally recovered enough from the flooding for adventurers to be able to visit them again. And visit them they did, starting with a [beach party](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/22/toronada-beach-party/) by the seaside. Finally, when winter arrived and Solstice season was right around the corner, the Orphanage expanded its operations by [opening a classroom](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/24/a-very-frosty-education/) taught by one of its own returned home to look after their education. The Frost Spite, a known element of Mount Wend, was none too pleased and his machinations resulted in a very snowy Solstice season. New Celest [dug into their history](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/17/a-gift-for-the-blessed/) this year, rediscovering Holy Fire and paving a new path for the Celestines. Serenwilde discovered the [Kindred Henge](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/26/the-bonding-of-kith-and-kin/) and delved deeper into Seralem’s secrets. Hallifax put \[REDACTED\] to rights and, amidst a [clash of timelines](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/29/a-charged-convergence/), saw Zvoltz, the Architect, return. Magnagora studied the [curious case of specimen XSPS79](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/20/the-curious-case-of-specimen-xsps79-part-i/) which resulted in the [Goddess Malmydia, the Chiurgeon](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/20/the-curious-case-of-specimen-xsps79-part-ii/), returning to the First World for the first time since the time of the Elder Wars. Glomdoring encountered many mysteries during their festivities with the arrival of Seeress Morizwala, opening a window into the secrets of the harpies. And finally, [trouble has been brewing](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/21/a-brilliant-revolution-part-i/) in Gaudiguch with a face off with the Cult of Transcendent Flesh and the rebellious Flamewright. The nations of the Basin of Life also hosted many a festival throughout the year, starting with the Draconomicon in Gaudiguch, then Feast of the Hallowed Saints in New Celest, Festival of Wyrden Supremacy in Glomdoring, and finally the Autumn Harvest Festival in Serenwilde. The other festivities occurred as per usual as well: the Festival of the Creatrix, the Haunting, and finally Solstice. Many also participated in numerous challenges throughout the year for unique rewards. On the development side, this year we released the [overhaul of the Celestine class](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/13/introducing-the-celestine-rework/) and further tweaked many classes and systems through an experimentally tweaked reports system. [Manifestations of the Dreaming](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/07/manifestations-of-the-dreaming/) conflict event was updated and various denizens of importal planes were made invulnerable for the duration of conflict events so that focus is on the conflict at hand. The re-released Toronada Tidal Flats were revamped and brought up to modern standards, making all the quests more reliable and newbie-friendly. Alongside that release, the beach party brought a handful of [new patterns for designers](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/22/toronada-beach-party/). The old Trademasters newsboard is now known as the Crafters board too and everyone who can craft has access to it now. Two commodity shops where you can both buy and sell your commodities are available in the aforementioned camp at the foot of Mount Avechna, bringing us a step closer to addressing economy woes. The customisations system was [revamped ](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/07/customisation-changes/)and new options and ways of interacting with your customisations were made available. We also made further progress with our [Inclusivity Project](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/26/inclusivity-project-tribal-references/). To shore up our numbers, we were delighted to welcome our industrious [Ealix](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/01/welcome-lusternia/) as a new producer in November, while [Orael continues](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/01/changes/) to code behind the scenes still. We connected with you in June via [livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/04/producer-livestream/) and hope to do so more and soon this year as well. Especially as we wish to walk you through our alliances proposal, which is the first major project we are focusing on in the new year. Adjustments to conflict systems will follow. In the meantime, we were working on tweaks to cloaking gems to address visibility issues – an update that has now been released. The aforementioned – alliances, conflict, cloaking gems – are the first steps on our 2023 roadmap. As always, we would rather underpromise and then overdeliver, so we do not wish to make sweeping declarations about future plans. We will certainly be looking to see how alliance balance shakes out after all these changes and then revisit Ascension. We also wish to fill the world with more stories and events, including larger ones, outside of an arc leading up to Ascension. After all, not everything must always have world-shattering stakes. Though the world-shattering stakes we have planned already… Oof! As always, thank you for being with us through thick and thin! You are the other side of the coin, the experience that is Lusternia. You fill the world, you animate it, and add of yourself to it. Your ideas and feedback drive all of us forward and inspire us. Thanks also go to our godmin (including Ephemerals!) who pour their love into the game and continue to weave stories and build amazing things. Let us also not forget our various player volunteers who assist in a variety of positions to make everyone’s experience better. Thank you! May 2023 be a calmer, safer, and all-around better year! Ealix, Orael, and Uilani **Categories:** News --- ### [December 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/01/17/december-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** January 17, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from December! If you’d like to join them for January, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [Life Before, Life Now](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5775/) by Aramantos #### Runner-Up [500 Years](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5779/) by Lendren #### Merit [Secrets of Gods in Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5778/) by Neela ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [The Cosmic Plane of Iklara](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5781/) by Tonatiuh #### Runner-Up [Dracnoris: pg. 6](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5776/) by Esei [A Sunny Respite](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5780/) by Gurashi #### Merit [The Sprawling Ravenwood](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5777/) by Alysi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Trader Bob’s Forgotten Vaults](https://www.lusternia.com/2023/01/01/trader-bobs-forgotten-vaults-2/) **Published:** January 1, 2023 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Trader Bob has once again unveiled to the Basin the forgotten vaults of treasures that he has unearthed over the years! The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts (including some limited availability ones, we added a few things). You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna. As well, anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key. You can access the vaults with the VAULTS command at the VAULTS landmark. Lastly – Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays will boost critical hits all throughout January. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Very Frosty Education](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/24/a-very-frosty-education/) **Published:** December 24, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Earlier this year, in Urlachmar, Father Ratanele of Saint Gathlyn’s Orphanage undertook the long journey to visit New Celest. He had made an appointment with Ayehenue, the Civic Engineer, who greeted him warmly by the Pool of Stars. The weary Father explained he felt compelled to travel so far to seek help from the kindred spirits of the Light for a remodeling and expansion project at the orphanage. The project was necessary because the recent level of turmoil and conflict in the Basin had left ever larger numbers of children orphaned, and the number of these orphans finding their way to Saint Gathlyn’s was higher than ever before. Even viscanti orphans from the Blasted Lands were showing up on their doorstep! No child in need would be turned away. Given the increased population, Father Ratanele and the staff felt the need to begin giving the children a more formal education. Hence, he came to seek out Ayehenue for her help in expanding the classroom. As a group of Celestians, including Faragan Ladyn, Tridemon Regalis, Cienoa Re’Leo, Yinuish La’Saet, Romaan D’Varden, Auriella Zayah, and even King Aramantos Re’Leo, all gathered at the Pool to listen to Father Ratanele, so too did Yanitone Symfale, tutor of the Archons, make an appearance. Yanitone heard his friend and acquaintance was making a rare visit to the city, and quickly caught up to speed on the desired expansion of the orphanage’s offerings. With Ayehenue taking care of the construction, Yanitone asked, with a sparkle in his eye, if the assembled Celestians would want to come together to fund a gift for the orphanage in honor of their new classroom. The Celestians offered forth the requested commodities in no time at all, and Yanitone promised something special would come. Ratanele’s last request for help was for someone to deliver a letter to a former inhabitant of the orphanage – one Seden, who apparently had applied himself to his studies and now lived the life of a scholar. Tridemon volunteered, if somewhat by accident, and set off to find the intended recipient while Ratanele slowly made his way back home. Tridemon eventually found the young scholar in the World Library. Though at first mildly irked at the commotion interrupting his studies, Seden read the message from Father Ratanele, and carefully considered the request. He was torn at first, for he promised himself as a child that he would work hard so that one day he could leave the orphanage, a place that reminded him of his painful past. But the direct request from Father Ratanele could not be refused, and so Seden acquiesced, asking for a final bit of peace in the library to finish his reading. A few months later, Yanitone announced to the city that the gift was ready. King Aramantos, Herald Inagin, and Romaan assembled in front of the Archons’ guildhall to see how they could help, only to discover that a bout of heavy, manual labor was needed. Yanitone had the gift, disassembled and covered in a tarp, ready to go on a cart to the orphanage, but the cart required a team to push it (and was, quite unfortunatley, not outfitted to have a certain large mastiff help). After a bit of searching around for the final volunteer, Holy Prior Yinuish appeared to complete the crew, with Aeral Ladyn coming soon thereafter to lend moral support. Alas, the start of the journey was complicated by some malfunctioning wheels, requiring a grumbling Yanitone to do a bit of mechanical fixing. The crew then set off – hampered slightly by some rough terrain on the highways and the mountains – and after much heaving and pushing, finally arrived in front of the classroom in the gardens of the orphanage. There, Seden, Ratanele, and Ayehenue greeted the crew and discovered what precious cargo was under the tarp: a carillon of bells to be installed in the new belltower of the classroom, to help summon children to class! Ayehenue’s crew made short order of assembling the bell, and soon all had gathered in the belltower, urging Father Ratanele to do the honors of ringing the carillon for the first time for the orphanage’s first ever formal class. As Ratanele approached the instrument, however, an unnatural wind arose. The wind picked up speed, beginning to buffet the wary crowd, and then, all of a sudden, came a booming voice: the Frost Spite, making his displeasure sharply known. The nemesis of the orphanage boomed a warning loud enough for the whole Basin to hear, and laid a curse upon the carillon, freezing it in a layer of unnatural ice. These events drew the attention of others around the Basin, and soon Exeryte Stormcrow, Xenthos An’Ryshe, Evette Stormcrow, Xiran Stormcrow and Huskii Myeras all appeared to investigate. Shaken but not badly injured, Father Ratanele and Seden asked the crowd to try working the carillon, wishing to persevere in their attempt to gather the young truants. After much effort, the bells did eventually ring and Romaan was able to bring the last missing student to class, allowing Seden to launch into his first lecture on modern history. Though the commotion in the orphanage had a happy resolution, the Frost Spite was not one to be so easily defeated. Angered by the continued presence – now expanded – of the orphanage in his territory, the Frost Spite tried a different tactic for making his displeasure known: sending a snowstorm to rage across the Basin of Life. Thankfully, his powers were not at peak strength, and the snow he sent did not end up causing too much havoc, becoming instead a plaything, inspiring all to create all sorts of snow sculptures representing the life of their nations. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Winter is Here](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/22/the-winter-is-here/) **Published:** December 22, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Frost Spite is a little bit miffed with the Basin of Life for reasons that will be clear from a forthcoming event post, but as a result: snow! Magnagorans will recognise this particular snow from some of their past winter balls and other snow-related shenanigans, but it is new for all the other organisations. You can find actual snow in outdoor rooms of your organisations if the environment makes sense for it to be there (urban and forest generally). You can shovel it, jump into it, and most importantly make snowmen! The snowmen come in three variations: failures, epics, and common. Failures happen when you try to create something you cannot possibly reproduce for any reason. Epics are more difficult snowmen, usually of powerful or historic beings of the given organisation, or simply something rather complex. Common ones are, as the name suggests, common peronas or creatures of that organisation. Why are we explaining this? Because if you like, you can make suggestions for shapes to add [on the forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4782/announce-post-3286-the-winter-is-here)! Divine and their priests and related creatures are the only shapes off the table. Suggest shapes for failures, epics, or commons and we’ll take a look once in a while and see what we can add. The weather has been set to be colder across the entire Basin but not so much as to make travel too difficult. It’s just what cold enough for snow to exist. Hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Activities 2022](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/19/solstice-activities-2022/) **Published:** December 19, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Solstice in full swing, here’s a full rundown of what is happening right now! ## Ironbeard From this post onwards, those logged into Lusternia may find themselves receiving a visit from Ironbeard, bearing a present for the lucky recipient. ## Gnomes Keep an eye out for Jolly Bundy sending his fellow gnomes out with a few more presents into the Basin of Life every once in a while. When you find one, just influence them with Charity (AB INFLUENCE BEGGING for full details) to get hold of a present. Remember that you can only get a present this way once an hour – so if you find a Solstice gnome and you’ve already had a present, share it with your friends! ## Holiday Credits As we do every year, we are enabling the HAPPYHOLIDAYS command from December 19th through to December 25th. It will allow you to claim all 20 daily credits in one go, no work involved! ## Solstice Quests Each city and commune has a small quest that will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! - In New Celest, Eraol Flenn seeks **stars in a jar**. - In Magnagora, Jinlu Ilithya seeks **rats in hats**. - In Serenwilde, Caedir Aormeah seeks **does in the snow**. - In Glomdoring, Dominique Nightshade seeks **beasts of the feast**. - In Hallifax, Ki’kia zi’Prouep seeks **beryls in peril**. - In Gaudiguch, Mosachi Xeeth seeks **lizards with gizzards**. Additionally, each city and commune’s dedicated store selling the rewards of previous Solstice adventures is once more open. Anyone who has missed out on getting them in the past will be able to make up for it each Solstice season. The shops can be found: - In New Celest, by the lobby of the Syrinx Plaza Hotel. - In Magnagora, within the construction site south off Sombre Lane. - In Serenwilde, southwards from the Ellindel Memorial. - In Glomdoring, a hollow by the Stables of the Wyrden Thorn. - In Hallifax, up the stairs from the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange. - In Gaudiguch, within one of the rooms of the Dapper Dashro Lounge. ## Solstice Court Finally, the baying of unruly huskies heralded the opening of the Solstice Court. Eager visitors can visit it by CATCHing snowflakes drifting upon the highways or taking one of the husky-pulled sleighs parked along Stairs of the Last Nine, right outside the Aetherplex (ENTER SLEIGH). That scenic route offers room for a party of four and the leader decides how fast the sleigh will go. To return, simply PULL the rope within the manor or ENTER one of the sleighs at the sleighgrounds departure site for a quick return. Once there, be sure to visit the bridge where several retired gnomes have taken up residence and peddle their wares. If you forgot to bundle up before leaving for such icy climes, you can purchase warm clothes on the bridge too. Be sure to swear the vow with Steward Tombin to receive your leaflet which will guide you through the Solstice quest and the various activities there. The reward is a stocking that you can hang for yourself or others. Be sure to check out the improved and challenging skating experience, meet the guests, send gifts and not just postcards, enjoy expanded postcard stamping options and sleigh travel lines, the new ambience and furniture in the shops, and more. ## Dates A reminder about closing times for the festivities, all dates inclusive: - Until **December 25th** – You will be able to claim all daily credits with HAPPYHOLIDAYS. - Until **December 31st** – Ironbeard and gnomes will be making appearances. - Until **January 8th** – Solstice Quests and Solstice Court close. This is not all that we have planned just yet either so stay tuned! **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Schedule 2022](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/15/solstice-schedule-2022/) **Published:** December 15, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Lusternia’s Solstice on the horizon, we want to let you know what our schedule will look like ahead of time. All our regular events will be returning this year and there is a lot to keep one festive! **17th December** – Solstice Quests will open in cities and communes. **18th December** – Solstice Court will open. **19th-31st December** – Ironbeard and gnomes will be making appearances. **19th-25th December** – You will be able to claim all daily credits with HAPPYHOLIDAYS. Both Solstice Court and Solstice Quests will close after the 8th of January so you should have three weeks to both visit the frosty place and complete the quests. **Categories:** News --- ### [November 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/15/november-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** December 15, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from November! If you’d like to join them for December, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Dracnoris: pg. 5](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5773/) by Esei #### Runner-Up [Destiny Devours](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5774/) by Alysi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### ['Tis the Season of Giving](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/12/01/tis-the-season-of-giving/) **Published:** December 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of December, Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for Solstice domination! To participate, purchase solstice stockings [directly from the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/), which can then be hung in manses and commune and city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\] Syntax: STOCKINGS (to help track your stockings) At midnight, the person it was hung for can UNWRAP and get their reward: - 3 Genie Curio pieces - 2 Iron Coins - 1 Macaron Curio piece OR 1 Beauty Curio piece OR 1 Blemish Curio piece - a present from Ironbeard OR a racetrack ticket from the Gnodfather For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain all the standard stocking stuffers (3 Iron Coins rather than 2 in the case of a platinum stocking), and either peppermint from Ironbeard or coal from the Gnodfather. Peppermint and coal can be combined to create special Solstice artifacts (see [HELP SOLSTICEARTIFACTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=solstice-artifacts))! But because it is the season of giving, each gold and platinum stocking will also include a single glowing present. These glowing presents, when opened, will give you a greater chance of receiving a better present without resetting your present counter. Additionally, 10 other players in your room will also receive a normal present to open at the same time! Spread the joy and cheer to everyone this year! The wrapped doll gift which can be found in the standard present now also carries additional dolls which were missing from the pool. A total of seventeen dolls have been added, including a certain salty lady. Lastly, throughout December, you can enjoy a variety of boons during the week. These are as follows: Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays – Bonus to damage against denizens. Double Experience Tuesdays – Earn twice the experience on Tuesdays (does not include Endzones essence gain). Fated Wednesdays – Enjoy a True Favour from the Fates. Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays – Additional 25% critical hit chance for everyone. We hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Cyber Monday Promotion](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/25/cyber-monday-promotion/) **Published:** November 25, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** This year we’re combining Black Friday and Cyber Monday into one longer promotion, meaning you can buy a special package [on the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) between the 25th and 28th November inclusive. Starting right now, you can buy a special package of 20 coins to be used with the Wheel of Tzaraziko for $19.99! There is only one rule: one package per character. **Categories:** News --- ### [Four Days of Gratitude](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/24/four-days-of-gratitude-2/) **Published:** November 24, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While some of you are enjoying your Thanksgiving, it’s not something that everyone celebrates. We hope that all of you who are celebrating are having a good time. We wanted to take a moment and say how grateful we are for you, the players, for all the time you spend here, and want to make your lives a little easier over this period. From the 24th to the 27th of November (Thursday to Sunday inclusive) you will be able to claim all of your daily credits with a simple **HAPPYHOLIDAYS** command. We hope you have a great time and stay safe! The Lusternia Team. **Categories:** News --- ### [New Artifacts and Customisation](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/20/new-artifacts-and-customisation/) **Published:** November 20, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We are releasing a few new artifacts! Some are expansions of existing artifacts and systems, and some entirely new. To aid you in getting your hands on them, we have added them both to the Artifact Shop (see HELP ASHOP) and the Artifact Cart on [the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits) under “New Artifacts”. If you are using the cart and have an Iron Elite Membership, be sure to log into the website before purchasing anything. The normal Artifact Cart discount is 30% on everything inside, while membership owners enjoy a 40% discount. Various curio packages and limited access artifacts are still in Artifact Cart too and you will be able to take advantage of that till the end of the month. New Artifacts: o Gnome Race Hat (ASHOP 1260) o Gnome Emote Pin (ASHOP 1262) o Fink Race Hat (ASHOP 1261) o Fink Emote Pin (ASHOP 1263) o Colourful Inkpad (ASHOP 1264) o Manse Knockers/Bells (ASHOP 1265 and 1266) o Single Flower Manse Gardens (ASHOP 1270, 1271, 1272) o New Manse Tenant Generators (ASHOP 1273, 1274, 1275) The race hats and emote pins are an expansion of our existing hat and pin artifacts, now also allowing one to don the appearance and use the emotes of a gnome and fink. The ink pad allows one to stamp letters without the need for tints and palettes. And looks good doing it. Knockers are new manse artifacts which you can place in a room of your choice (but ideally near the entrance) so that guests calling upon you can announce their arrival in style. The knockers come in a knocker and bell variety and are fully customisable, meaning you can customise their description and action lines. See HELP ITEM CUSTOMISATION for the overview and the updated HELP ACTION LINES for the rest. Single Flower Manse Gardens are near identical in function to the lush gardens grown in manses from aether seeds (ASHOP 527), except that they grow only one type of flower. Their descriptions reflect that and they show up in the room in the colour matching their flowers, the same way the generic garden shows in green. We have redone how we do gardens and pots entirely, allowing us to expand this even more in the future. You can find all of them with ASHOP LIST KEYWORD GARDEN. Finally, the new manse tenant generators will allow you to fill your manses with adorable bunnies, puppies, and skeletons. You can find all of them with ASHOP LIST KEYWORD TENANTS. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/flower_garden_violet_gladiolus_iron_wrought_gate_spring_b8fa39ec-a666-428a-a251-1e836e1ed2cc.png "flower_garden_violet_gladiolus - Lusternia")Violet Gladioli![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/flower_garden_red_roses_spring_d3a3ec53-494c-470c-ba02-3b625a7cca01.png "flower_garden_red_roses - Lusternia")Red Roses![This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is flower_garden_twilight_blue_rose_spring_466c7005-922b-45b0-b927-79324b1c54f2.png](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/flower_garden_twilight_blue_rose_spring_466c7005-922b-45b0-b927-79324b1c54f2.png)Twilight Blue Roses![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/door_knocker_lions_head_65179e52-fe13-4e70-8d21-ba6f52c1e35c.png "door_knocker_lions_head - Lusternia")Lions Head Knocker![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/door_knocker_soaring_owl_7f1af607-51a6-4a54-a487-d32cac7a6671.png "door_knocker_soaring_owl - Lusternia")Soaring Owl Knocker![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/door_knocker_yellow_skull_2690b2cc-e8fc-4815-939f-054c3bdbae9f-1.png "door_knocker_yellow_skull - Lusternia")Yellowed Skull Knocker![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/a_group_of_cute_skeletons_in_a_coffin-1.png "a_group_of_cute_skeletons_in_a_coffin-1 - Lusternia")Chilling Skeletons![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/a_group_of_cute_puppies.png "a_group_of_cute_puppies - Lusternia")Adorable Puppies![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/a_bunch_of_fluffy_bunnies_just_being_cute_41f0a5b9-28c9-4a74-b6d3-a2b011f280bb-2.png "a_bunch_of_fluffy_bunnies_just_being_cute_41f0a5b9-28c9-4a74-b6d3-a2b011f280bb-2 - Lusternia")Fluffy Bunnies **Categories:** News --- ### [October 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/13/october-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** November 13, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from October! If you’d like to join them for November, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [As the Braziers Burn, Episode One: Rollara and Wyclissa](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5772/) by Ovissa #### Runner-Up [A Prayer for Guidance](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5770/) by Aramantos ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [The Wyrd Encroaches…](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5771/) by Alysi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [iOS Nexus Testing](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/03/ios-nexus-testing/) **Published:** November 3, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Iron Realms has released an iOS beta version for iPhones and iPads. If you are interested in helping with the testing process, you can download the app for your device [here](https://testflight.apple.com/join/BniBibnM). Please follow the next link to learn how to [submit bugs](https://nexus.ironrealms.com/How_To_Submit_Bugs). Don’t forget, you can also test the Android version [here](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ironrealms.nexus). Thank you! **Categories:** News --- ### [Crystal Racetrack November](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/01/crystal-racetrack-november/) **Published:** November 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of November, we’re double dipping in the rewards. First off, for every 50 credits you purchase from the website, you’ll receive one wondercrystal. Now’s the perfect time to finish off that pesky Wonderbrazier or Wondercorn you’ve been working on. See SHOWREWARDS for the breakdown and remember that if you purchase more than 2000 credits, it will loop back to the start. In addition to that, for every 10 credits you purchase, you’ll also get a racetrack ticket to the Wakabidrome! (See HELP [RACETRACK](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1259)). If you’re feeling lucky, the credit prizes for the races have been doubled for the month of November and you can also get tickets from the No-Brainer Bound Credit Package. Finally, you can earn up to 5 free tickets a week for hunting and influencing, and you can see your progress on PROMOTION. **Categories:** News --- ### [Welcome, Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/01/welcome-lusternia/) **Published:** November 1, 2022 **Author:** Ealix **Content:** As Orael addressed in his news post, I will be stepping up as an Assistant Producer to Lusternia. As a start, I’d first like to extend my personal thanks to Orael for all the work he has put in over the years, both for you, the players, and myself and the rest of the administration on the whole. He has been excellent to work with as part of the administration, and has always helped us in as much capacity as he can. Going over some of the things Orael has pointed out, I have been a volunteer for some time, and a lot of that time I have spent in the background coding for Lusternia. Presently and in the more recent months, I have also been active as Zvoltz, the Architect and will continue to maintain this role moving forward. As a player, I spent a lot of my time involved in conflict and PvP. I have played almost every class that Lusternia has to offer, and it’s safe to say I have a vested interest in how combat and conflict progresses into the future. While I understand that conflict and combat is not the be all and end all of Lusternia, I do believe that it does play a large role in the game world. Speaking of conflict and interest, I’d like to cover off on some of the things that I will be working towards moving into the role. First and foremost, I am going to continue on with the monitoring and adjustment of conflict events and combat as a whole. I’ll be one of the first people to admit that Lusternia combat and conflict events are far from perfect. I have seen a lot of people over the past few months/years looking at combat and conflict and going ‘It is what it is’, but it doesn’t have to be. So let’s make it better together. While the Conflict Overhaul may be my focal point as I step into the role, this does not meant that we as an administration are cancelling other pending projects. Work will continue on the Economy Overhaul, but it may be something we circle back to after we address conflict a little bit to try and resolve some of the problems we are currently facing in this aspect of the game. In addition to the above, I want to move forward and look at interesting and new things to create for you, the players. It could be something from a new mini game, or arena event, to a whole new big creation like the Endzone, I want to create more new and fun things for you all to do that you will enjoy. In a broader sense, I intend to be as open, transparent and honest as I can with all of you. Even if its as simple as telling you how X skill works, or what Y ability checks for, as long as it’s something that I can tell you, I will. This same open and honest philosophy will extend to everything else. If we are working on something in the background that we have promised and we aren’t going to make a deadline, you’ll know. If we say ‘we can try that’ and we look at it and it isn’t viable, you’ll know. I look forward to working more with yourselves and the rest of the administration in this new capacity, and I hope that together, we can all come together to give you a better experience and time within Lusternia. **Categories:** News --- ### [Changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/11/01/changes/) **Published:** November 1, 2022 **Author:** Orael **Content:** I wanted to write this note to you all to let you know that as of today, I’m stepping down from being Co-Producer of Lusternia. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to pull through on my promises, first with the economy and now with conflict. Truth be told, I offered to step down last year after not being able to move forward on the Economy but was asked to stay as I was also actively looking for a less demanding job outside of Lusternia. I did get a new job in April which is a whole lot better for me, but other things have cropped up and unfortunately, it’s really preventing me from being able to accomplish my goals here, so about two months ago, I let Uilani and IRE know that I wanted to step down. The reason we’ve waited this long to announce it is that we wanted to have a plan in place prior. We’re now happy to announce that we have Ealix stepping up as an Assistant Producer. I will be sticking around as an AP as well for the next month to get him up to speed. Ealix has been around for quite some time as a volunteer and has done a tremendous job coding for Lusternia. He’s been an asset to the team here, coding various projects for them so they can continue running the great events that they put on. He’s coded reports, fixed bugs, and been generally helpful altogether. He also has experience with PvP and combat and can be a guiding force there as well. Both Uilani and I believe he has what it takes to step up here. I’ll let him address you more and let you all know what his goals and plans are. As we make this transition, I wish to reflect on my time as a Producer and share things that I hope you will take to heart and that will make you more understanding toward Ealix and Uilani as they move forward. Being a Producer of Lusternia isn’t easy, there are so many different aspects that need to be done, from issues, emails, customizations, bugfixes, reports, customer service, talking on Discord, training volunteers, reviewing others’ work, planning events, goals, and changes. All of it is far more time-consuming than you can imagine. Being a Producer here is not anyone’s full-time job, it doesn’t pay the bills. It isn’t unheard of for a single issue to take up 2-3 days worth of time to gather evidence, discuss and come to a decision on. It isn’t unheard of for something to come up that needs addressing that takes up quite a bit of time and requires other things to be pushed back. We’re extremely lucky that we have such great volunteers that are willing to take on some of the load, but whatever they don’t take on, that’s left to the Producers. I say all this, not so much to say you need to give Producers a pass on everything but to say that they’re always working diligently towards making Lusternia better. That doesn’t mean you need to agree with the decisions that they make, but it does mean that you are wrong when you call bias. Try to express your disagreement from the standpoint that we’re all working together to make Lusternia better. We all have different ideas and different opinions, but we all want the same goal. Part of that goal is for players to be able to make an impact on the world. The downside of letting players make their impact on their world is that sometimes, things don’t go their way. Very often, when that happens, players expect the admin to fix the problems they caused themselves. This may be true to an extent, certainly not all systems in Lusternia are without flaw, but part of allowing a world where players run their organisations and guilds, can interact and take part in politics, PvP, etc., means that sometimes, players need to answer for their actions. Such as when they offend someone. I have seen players across both alliances treat people across the divide rudely and then complain when they get attacked or raided. Or escalate perceived slights way farther than they need to go. We can all be better, we all love to interact in various ways in this wonderful world of Lusternia. Be good to Ealix and Uilani, as well as the rest of the volunteer admin team, they give so much and are the main reason that players time and time again say that events and divine interaction are their favourite parts of Lusternia. Be good to each other, be understanding and more forgiving, and things will be better all around. Most importantly, do what is fun for you and if things are becoming not fun – take a break and come back when you can once again enjoy things. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Haunted House Opens](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/31/the-haunted-house-opens-2/) **Published:** October 31, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Haunted House is now open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. It is located on the Stairs of Death on Avechna’s Peak and has a new temporary landmark – hauntedhouse – to help you get there. A wide selection of toys, dolls, and costumes (including new ones!) can be purchased at Brilyn’s store and there is a slew of activities there to keep you busy and entertained. There is pumpkin carving, decorative web-making in the basement, two unique vengeance games, an expanded and spookier basement maze, bobbing for apples, fortune reading, haunted furniture, themed refreshments, and two chilling plays based on the house’s history. Remember those vengeane games can be initiated by anyone for a small fee so you can play them yourselves. Be sure to check out the adorable doll of the Great Worm Uskashyth too. Brilyn now also sells a potion that will help you keep your carved jack-o-lanterns fresh for much longer if used in the aetherways, helping you keep those decorations for a good while. In the Haunted House basement you can also find a mirror which leads to a whole other area – an enormous maze with many mysteries and very unique challenges. It has its own spooky quest for you to undertake and a slew of secrets – within the mansion, beneath it, and out there in the maze. We are not guiding you to many of them on purpose, preferring to leave the mysteries of the Hallowed Maze for you to discover. Beyond that, if you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air somewhere upon the Prime Plane, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. There are twenty different stories hidden behind those doors and the one to collect them all will find the associated quest completed. Be on the lookout for the telltale signs of the doors in the vicinity – spooky phenomena will be afoot. To make sure you don’t miss out on the main activities, the Coterie has prepared a Haunting Adventure to guide you through them. Be sure to pick up a pamphlet in the foyer of the Haunted House, it will be your guide. But do stray from the beaten path too, never know what you might discover. The Haunting will end on November 7th, at noon, giving you the entire week and next weekend to try everything out! **Categories:** News --- ### [Anniversary Battlechess Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/23/anniversary-battlechess-results-3/) **Published:** October 23, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The grand chicken revolution has been progressing too slowly for Xuck, the Strategic Chicken’s taste. His comrades have been gnawing at the pieces of his chess set rather than practising manoeuvres! So he challenged the organisations of the Basin of Life to step forward and contend for the Chess Board of Libertas. Gaudiguch showed up in numbers, ready to defend the artefact currently in their possession, but few others did. Ultimately it was Xiran Stormcrow of Serenwilde who boldly challenged Afrit Dahyu of Gaudiguch, even though she stood alone. With Afrit taking the position of the Dark King, Pash Ryseni took on the role of a Knight and Dys Mzithrei that of the Queen. Xiran, as the White King, rallied her pieces and played strategically, providing cover for her position on the board. Her White Bishop shocked all with a surprise defeat of the Dark Queen Dys, who was ultimately avenged. The Dark King held off the White Queen in a fiery battle not long after that and withdrew to plot his further moves more carefully. Eventually, the Dark King cornered the White King with the help of the Dark Knight Pash. The battle raged for an entire round until the Dark Knight stood victorious by sheer force of will to persevere. And so the dark team, Gaudiguch, won the game and kept the Chess Board of Libertas. Congratulations! And yet, Xuck learnt many a strategy from watching them play. Was it wise to help the revolution? **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Anniversary Quiz Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/24/anniversary-quiz-results-3/) **Published:** October 24, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As the Festival of the Creatrix neared its end, Duck, the Confused Chicken announced a quiz to test the knowledge of the inhabitants of Lusternia. Promising bounties of seed and grain, Duck rounded up those eager to prove their knowledge. This time around he chose to focus on the intricacies of “upright” modern history and queried those gathered with questions of varying difficulty. An early lead was quickly established by Afrit and he held onto it tight. In the end, Afrit took first place, Hinic came in second, and Jolanthe and Pash tied for third. Thus were the fodder for the chicken revolution, and those who would have the privilege of taking the frontline during it, decided. First Place (300 credits): Afrit, of Gaudiguch Second Place (150 credits): Hinic, of Hallifax Third Place (50 credits): Jolanthe, of Serenwilde and Pash, of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Treasure Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/22/treasure-hunt-results/) **Published:** October 22, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Buck, the Iniquitous Chicken has become the chicken to go to for free items with a treasure hunt attached! This Festival of the Creatrix, he shouted from the top of Avechna’s Peak, asking adventurers throughout the land to come and receive some glittering crystal shards he found near the Transcendental Fulcrux, noting that they gave visions. He then beseeched them go forth to follow where the visions led them, promising a reward for those who came first! Galaphyrae became the first to find the location of a vision. However, some members of the family Dahyu: Afrit, Nepenthe, Finley, quickly caught up on her lead and surpassed her. The contest soon became a test of speed, will, and cooperation. The Dahyus kept the lead for most of the hunt, with Nepenthe as trailblazer, and the others coming not far behind. And yet, where the Dahyus excelled in their familial cooperation and camaraderie, Galaphyrae did so in her dogged solo determination. Eventually, each of the mentioned frontrunners came to a block on their path – the Dahyus on one perplexing vision, and Galaphyrae on another – and Afrit, reaching out, offered a trade of ideas. The moment the the trade went through, all four frontrunners were on the move. Finley came close but overshot the goal, and in the end, it was Galaphyrae who claimed Buck’s prize. And the Dahyus did not follow much behind. The winners of the Treasure Hunt are as follows: First Place (300 credits): Galaphyrae, of Serenwilde Second Place (150 credits): Nepenthe, of Gaudiguch Third Place (50 credits): Finley, of Gaudiguch Honourable Mention: Afrit, of Gaudiguch Buck revealed after the declaration of winners that the theme of the hunt was “shards of the Divine”. The hunt will continue to be available to do until the end of next weekend. Latecomers may go to the summit of Avechna’s Peak, and TOASTESTARRA to receive their own crystal shard from Buck! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Great Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/22/great-hunt-results/) **Published:** October 22, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Festival Great Hunt has concluded! Everybody who participated and reached the thresholds outlined in [HELP GREATHUNT](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1544) has received their rewards, and the top ten scorers in each tier have also received bound credits ranging from 50 for the tenth spot to 500 for the first. Listed below are the scores for this hunt’s top scorers. Good job! ## TOP TEN DEMIGOD+ 1 – Exeryte – 155963 2 – Zagreus – 110013 3 – Auriella – 83972 4 – Huskii – 58020 5 – Jolanthe – 46381 6 – Aramantos – 41892 7 – Veara – 40604 8 – Tristanna – 31760 9 – Kistan – 26911 10- Ayisdra – 26664 ## TOP TEN LEVEL 61-99 1 – Aisha – 23530 2 – Siyal – 13572 3 – Dechen – 5712 4 – Krystan – 5520 5 – Morik – 4591 6 – Zanzae – 4546 7 – Hinic – 2881 8 – Acat – 2063 9 – Ovissa – 1008 10- Mossly – 681 ## TOP TEN LEVEL 1-60 1 – Alektri – 2911 2 – Dinvai – 2839 3 – Cienoa – 1831 4 – Ordin – 1616 5 – Cainhenzir – 1190 6 – Iarlaithe – 1121 7 – Irar – 654 8 – Noie – 626 9 – Kalandri – 363 10- Aerynne – 340 **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [The Menestrean Wayfaire Returns](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/16/the-menestrean-wayfaire-returns/) **Published:** October 16, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Menestrean Wayfaire has made its way into the Basin of Life once again! This year, you may find the Wayfaire just south of Delport. If you are having trouble, just look for the new temporary landmark – Wayfaire. As well as containing all of the usual attractions – multiple quests that culminate in an honour line and award 500 aethergoop – the Wayfaire now has some fancy, and potentially sharp-toothed, playground equipment. There is also a food stall with an assortment of tasty snacks and a seating area that provides refreshing drinks. Do not forget to pick up a mystical beast or two from Old Man Gryphta’s shop as well, and incubate them right away! The shop also has some bouncing vials, a bottle you can play spin the bottle with, and some dice. **Categories:** News --- ### [Anniversary Chicken Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/15/anniversary-chicken-hunt-results-3/) **Published:** October 15, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Soon after the start of the Festival of the Creatrix, Cluck, the Revolutionary Chicken re-emerges to declare a repeat Revolution of the chickens upon Lusternia. Thousands upon thousands of chickens fluttered their way into the Basin of Life, cluttering the roadways, waterways, forests, and villages with their fluffy forms in an effort to set up a government of the chickens, by the chickens, and for the chickens. Adventurers of Lusternia had no choice but to fan out and capture the revolutionary fowl. Zagreus very quickly established himself as the number one enemy of the revolution, while Nepenthe and Ayisdra followed close behind. Lorina and Tyrus proved to be the most agile chicken-catchers after them. In the end, the following were declared the top enemies of the Chicken Revolution: First Place (300 credits): Zagreus, of Magnagora Second Place (150 credits): Nepenthe, of Gaudiguch Third Place (50 credits): Ayisdra, of Hallifax **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Opening of the Festival of the Creatrix](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/15/opening-of-the-festival-of-the-creatrix-2/) **Published:** October 15, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Festival of the Creatrix has now been declared open! You can find the lovely Agwesha and all of her wares upon the Path of Solitude, where she will remain as long as the Festival is open. You can path track there with a new landmark – FESTIVALWARES. Buy decorations, toys, and even the rare doll of the Creatrix Herself so that you can celebrate the Festival as fervently as it deserves. Join us over the coming week for a number of contests in the Creatrix’s honour! You can find the schedule in Announce Post #[3260](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/13/lusternias-eighteenth-anniversary-events/). **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia's Eighteenth Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/13/lusternias-eighteenth-anniversary-events/) **Published:** October 13, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia turns eighteen years old! And, as always, we’re holding a series of games, contests and more to celebrate this momentous milestone, with the in-character celebration of the Festival of the Creatrix. All contests bar the Great Hunt and Battlechess award 300 credits for 1st place, 150 credits for 2nd place and 50 credits for 3rd place. Great Hunt (see [HELP GREATHUNT](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1544)) rewards are in bound credits, scaling from 500 for 1st to 50 for 10th in each tier, whilst the organisation that wins Battlechess receives the famed Chessboard of Libertas. **15th October** - 3pm GMT: The Festival of the Creatrix begins, with the opening ceremonies and the return of festival wares. - 4pm GMT: Chicken Hunt! It’s like a hamster hunt, but in honour of the Creatrix, you’re chasing down chickens instead. **16th October** - 7pm GMT: The Wayfaire Opens! - 11pm GMT: Slippers Game! This contest may also have a very special twist on it. **17th October** - Weave: The Great Hunt begins! This will run Monday-Friday (server time). Remember that for some of you this will start already on Sunday. During the hunt, double experience will be enabled, making bonuses from Dvarsha’s Illuminating Weeks even better. **21st October** - Weave: Great Hunt Ends. **22nd October** - 4pm GMT: Treasure Hunt! The first to figure out the clues, wins! - 10pm GMT: Battlechess! Each city and commune competes in this game to win the glorious Chessboard of Libertas. **23rd October** - 10pm GMT: Festival Quiz! Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. - 11pm GMT: The Wayfaire and Festival close. Takes place after the Quiz should it run long. **Categories:** News --- ### [September 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/10/13/september-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** October 13, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from September! If you’d like to join them for October, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [The Songs of Angels](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5765/) by Aramantos #### Runner-Up [Empowering Bards and Scholars](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5766/) by Ovissa ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Dracnoris: pg. 4](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5768/) by Esei #### Runner-Up [Gurashi Sings ‘Toronada Sands’](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5769/) by Xiran ## Merit [Behold, the Hand](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5767/) by Alysi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [October Anniversary Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/30/october-anniversary-extravaganza/) **Published:** September 30, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of October, we’re running an anniversary present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you [purchase](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) for the month of October, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! To sweeten the pot, we are adding the ability to EXCHANGE PRESENTS, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. But wait, there’s even more! When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. In addition, rather than have a special day of the week, October will have entire special weeks. Please enjoy the return of D’varsha’s Illuminating Weeks! For every consecutive day you’re logged in, you will progressively receive an ever-increasing experience bonus (to a max of 100%). If you miss logging in a day, you will restart over on day 1 and the count will start over. After day 7, you will restart on day 1. You can see your current bonus by checking your DEFenses. See [HELP PROMOTIONAL DAYS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1575) for a detailed breakdown. **Categories:** News --- ### [Discord Verification](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/21/discord-verification/) **Published:** September 21, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** You can now verify your Discord account with Lusternia! To do so use the command **VERIFY\_DISCORD** and follow the instructions provided. See [HELP DISCORD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1536) for more information. For the moment, all it will do is assign the Verified role. Once we ensure that everything is working as intended, select channels will only be accessible to verified accounts. This will apply to #klangratch\_tourneys and #feedback. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Brilliant Revolution, Part I](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/21/a-brilliant-revolution-part-i/) **Published:** September 21, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** There are many ways to describe this city, many epithets to label it and countless adjectives to apply to it and its people. A common one that is heard from any soul who has walked the streets for any length of time, whether they love or hate it, is that it is a contradiction; endless conflicting worlds and antithetical ideologies all striving for dominance, quieted by the armistice that is the One Law: “Love is the Law; Love under Will.” Even with this contradiction, this background war always raging in the back of one’s mind out of view, one can rarely claim the city to ever be tense. These events, however, brought this tension to the forefront. The signs that something was amiss were there in the reticence of our citizens, the uptick in crime and sudden disappearances, and the whispers of ghosts. It started from the outskirts, the far reaches of the city walls, and worked its way inward like a gangrenous wound, and only when blood was spilt on the Road of Fiery Salvation did we begin to realise the damage. The words of an insane man harassing bystanders reached the city by way of Beloch. Normally one to handle his own problems, this piqued the interest of many, myself included, to witness what creature could concern the proprietor of the Wasted Wakabi so, and it took not long to find the hulking giant of a man, robes concealing all but a beard of fleshy, writhing tentacles. He appeared to be searching for something, though when questioned, none could make sense of his words. His questions spoken only in Dracnari concerned a ‘Paragon’, a term none were familiar with save the old ritual covenant between the Illuminati and Templars during their time. While trying to make sense of the matter, he was hounded by those concerned seeking more information, and seemingly as a first step rather than a last, he offered a display of impressive strength by snapping his own neck. Further attempts to pry information from him failed suddenly as the idea of immolation was suggested. In almost an instant, instead of returning the man to life, he was incinerated much like any random piece of unwanted refuse would be. Further questioning led to the Laboratory of Mu, where a document was found explaining that the term ‘Paragon’ was used by an old, exiled sect of Illuminati extremists who believed one could be moulded through transmology into an avatar of the Fleshpots. The document, though faded, was able to be deciphered to some extent by the city, leading them to realise that the ‘Paragon of Yig’ the man was seeking was likely to be the ‘Enlightenment of Dacari Xlai’. Unfamiliar with this term, myself and many others were educated of a hidden chamber beneath the old Illuminati pyramid, a place known only to high ranking members of the guild when such was a thing. I was not able to witness this being myself, but eavesdropping revealed them to be a corpulent blob of boneless flesh that spoke only in tortured screams. The next piece of the puzzle came from a chance encounter with a number of members from the Shibchoyi Syndicate. Their bumbling through the north of the city and the Grand Bazaar attracted much attention from many witnesses, a number of which mentioned that the three were not-so-quietly impugning their perfectly legitimate employer by mentioning they had been behind the recent disappearance of some upstanding individual. Validity of these boasts aside, following them to the backroom of the Dapper Dashro, their conversation could be heard by all in the establishment clearly. The Shibchoyi’s actions in providing work and income for the poor of Gaudiguch notwithstanding, one interesting mention was an ongoing war between the Shibchoyi and two other groups: a mysterious cadre of transmologists fitting the description of the man earlier, and a group of violent revolutionaries following a mysterious figure known as the Flamewright. Unfortunately, before more information could be recovered, the three were quickly retrieved by their boss and marched out of the establishment. No further questioning could uncover further details about any of this, as anybody seemingly knowledgable was reticent to speak for reasons which would soon become clear. A sandstorm would herald the next clue to the ongoing matters of the city, bringing the words of this aforementioned Flamewright to the centre in the form of pages strewn across cobblestone pavement. The words seemed to indict the government of the city and the guilds which formed it for abandoning their citizens and failing their purpose, of squandering the city’s heritage and history while sitting on golden thrones in blissful ignorance. Asking around about any details of the author, it became apparent why none would speak on the matter as one man who chose to speak found himself with a severe and acute case of being dead. After the man was revived, he immediately fled into hiding. Unfortunately, he could not be reached for comment for a later edition of the Gossip. The information he was able to reveal and the earlier meeting, however, led to the next clue for the city’s intrepid investigators. Catanete Shibchoyi, the strikingly beautiful and unfortunately elusive accountant of the Freedom Council, was able to offer some insight into the ongoing war, noting her family had done much to keep it in the shadows and alleyways where it belonged. She deferred to her brothers to offer more information as she was not directly involved, and left to arrange a meeting, but not before directing those who found her to speak to Taschelin, the mysterious owner of the Golden Pavilion located deep beneath the city. While I could not be present for the meeting with Catanete, she did helpfully fill me in on what happened for the Gossip and, quite unhelpfully, turned down my offer for a date. Such as it goes in life and love. Taschelin apparently proved helpful, as I was informed by my good friend Hareatho who serves as the Pavilion’s bouncer. While she seemed to have little insight into the ongoing war in the streets, she could provide insight into these transmologists. Named by the Illuminati as the ‘Cult of Transcendent Flesh’, the sect left the city a short number of years before the Taint Wars due to internal conflict and, since the loss of the city, considered themselves the true heirs of the Illuminati name. Their reverence of the Fleshpots bordered on fanatical, and members would risk incurable insanity and psychosis by transforming and augmenting their bodies with transmology permanently, a practice considered overly dangerous and self-destructive by most practitioners of the transmological arts and primarily used historically in experimentation on traitors and prisoners. At the end of the meeting, Taschelin implored Hareatho to gather information on the Flamewright, and set up a meeting between the flesh cultists and the city’s government using, to quote, “what little sway she had left from her role in the Illuminati.” As the preparations were made, cruel plots were weaved by the Sisters of Fate, and responses were awaited, other answers would soon come in the lull. A child wandered onto the Flame’s platform on the Great Pyramid seeking to play, and after a welcoming response by many of the city, the child was reunited with a hysterical mother who seemed frightened of the citizens who met her. Seeking more information on this mistrust, directions were given to an alleyway that would lead to tunnels at the city’s south edge, a village that seemed to wish to distance themselves from the city at large. The only friend found there, as few would give these visitors more than a passing glance, was an elderly woman by the name of Mama Moschomi, the matron of the locals and an old retired Templar who considered all who lived there to be her adopted children. Unfortunately, I was unable to witness the majority of the initial happenings there, but seeing this village for myself, there did seem to be some truth to the Flamewright’s words. Conditions were poor, and people were made to sleep in tiny houses in closely packed conditions. Many of the citizens there were missing limbs from work in the quarries, were disfigured by accidents, or ill from the close confines and poor hygiene. By Moschomi’s own words the only way out for them was often to be taken in by the Shibchoyi or the ‘Illuminati’, or to join the Flamewright’s war; the words of the latter seemed to have taken particular sway with the young and disillusioned in this place. It is rare I find something so egregious, so heartbreaking, that I struggle to write of it for the Gossip, but this hit particularly close to home. While many of the city who realised the depths of this lined up to assist in any way they can, I could not write an article of their actions being a beacon of hope without being disingenuous. I could not write of the struggle of our citizens here as placing their reality in the Gossip would do naught but make a spectacle of their suffering. I could only involve myself, as many others have, and try to help mend the wrongs we had been too blind to see. So many questions had been answered by this point, yet so many remained. It was obvious we would soon find more insights, and I think there was little doubt many would be just as horrific. Would that we could, however, smell the blood in the air before it stained our hands. ~ Excerpt from “The Memoirs of the Editor-In-Grief” by Chixieya Ninchi, Chapter 68 “A Brilliant Revolution” **Categories:** Events --- ### [August 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/14/august-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** September 14, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from August! If you’d like to join them for September, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [Sundry Tanka, 601-625 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5758/) by Xiran #### Runner-Up [A Call to Arms (A speech before battle)](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5763/) by Aramantos ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [From the Megalith](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5757/) by Alysi #### Runner-Up [Dracnoris: pg. 3](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5762/) by Esei [The Thief’s Truefavor](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5760/) by Gurashi **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Report Decisions and Second Chances](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/07/report-decisions-and-second-chances/) **Published:** September 7, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We recently put out Report Decisions on the reports that were posted a few weeks ago. In an effort to improve the process and reduce the number of Sol 4’s, we’ve selected a few reports that we agreed with the general problem but did not like the solutions, Those reports will be allowed a second chance with alternative solutions. The writers of those reports have been contacted and asked to put up reports again. The following reports are being allowed a second chance. Report 468 – Ectoplasm Report 458 – Constrict Report 465 – Stun Report 404 – Transmology Eyes Report 421 – Stag Warrior Report 467 – Homunculus Revive We have also decided that other players may submit reports on the above problems in addition to the original report writer. In general, we will only be approving one report per problem. The one potential exception is Report 465, as we’re asking them to look at individual skills instead of stun in general. Any report posted that does not pertain to the above will be removed and the player that posted will be banned from reporting or commenting on reports for this short cycle. There will only be a 7-day period to get your reports up. Additionally – there was quite a few reports dealing with family-honour. None of the reports presented solutions that we liked, but we did come to a consensus that we will be removing all mechanical benefits to being the MHF (if any still exist) and leaving the family system as purely status symbol. Unfortunately, we believe that a larger overhaul is needed, but it is not something we’re willing to commit to at this time. **Categories:** News --- ### [September Artifact and Lesson Sale](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/09/01/september-artifact-and-lesson-sale/) **Published:** September 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In September, you can buy artifacts directly from the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) at a steep discount in the so-called **Artifact Cart**. The discount is even higher if you have an Iron Elite Membership. The new Feature Curios are available in their own New Curio category, and a number of limited-availability artifacts – normally available through Auctions or special promotions – can be found in the Special category. In addition, those of you just getting into Lusternia, or those of you ready to try something new, can also purchase **Lesson Packages** at discounted rates right off the website. **Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesday**s will boost influencing all throughout the month, and **free classflexing** will enable you to try new classes or skillsets while adventuring within the Basin. **Categories:** News --- ### [Toronada Beach Party](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/22/toronada-beach-party/) **Published:** August 22, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With the sun beating down fiercely enough to drive back the waters of the Tidal Flats and, consequently, a beach party underway, you may have noticed the people and visitors of Toronada enjoying new crafts and constructions: lounging beneath the sun, wearing new clothes, playing new music. We believe there is no need for the party to end once they clean up. Now you, too, may design and create the following: **GUITAR**: available to Artisans (Instruments). While, no, Petrichor will not sell or give away her beautiful guitar, now you may design and construct your very own! Guitars follow similar rules to other instruments: 100+ commodities if 50% or more of the design is made of wood, or 200+ if it is not. And no, not even skilled Aeromancers or priests of Lord Zvoltz are able to infuse their guitars with electricity. **LOUNGER**: available to Artisans (Relaxation). Bask beneath summery rays of sunlight or set yours up beneath the shade of trees – either way, you will find the effects of the Astral Plane drain away much faster when you LOUNGE ON these. They function similar to rockers, but just like rockers are furniture for indoor use, loungers are for outdoor, fresh air use only. Also similar to rockers, these will take 200+ commodities. **BREECHES**: available to Tailors (Pants). Model low-slung, casual linen breeches like Pyrlios and cut yours off at the knee, or design your own set for horseback riding, swashbuckling antics, or formal gatherings alike. Breeches are perfectly acceptable attire for any of the above and more! These should take 18+ commodities. **INVITATION**: available to Bookbinders (Stationery). These are similar to stationery in that you must first have a blank invitation on hand, which will take 1 vellum to create (AB BOOKBINDING MAIL). Then, you will be able to bind invitations to any event or festivity the mortal mind might conjure. When designing these, We invite you to keep in mind mortal crafting rules: these cannot be “an invitation to the wedding of the Charites”, but it may be a wedding invitation decorated in some manner, or an invitation to a larger organisational event, such as the Festival of Light or Sanguine Ceremonial. As invitations are much fancier than stationery, they will take 3+ commodities each in addition to needing a basic blank invitation. **ENVELOPE**: available to Bookbinders (Stationery). Send your invitations and letters in style (just remember to close them, first)! These may be stamped with a seal and carry up to two items (including a letter or invitation, if the sender so chooses). Like stationery, you will first craft a simple white envelope with 1 flax (AB BOOKBINDING MAIL), and then you may use the appropriate commodities (1+) to create your fancier versions. This update comes with a few additional changes. Please see **CHANGELOG 2727** for additional information and updates to these and related skills. Finally, We are providing you with a few public designs to enjoy right away! If any of the above designs don’t quite work as intended, please BUG or TYPO (depending on the particular issue) right away for Us to address with as many details as you might have (what command you tried, what happened, and so on). We look forward to seeing all of your new designs! **Categories:** News --- ### [Q&A: Ephemeralhood](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/17/ephemeralhood-qa/) **Published:** August 17, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** ## **What does Eph training usually entail?** Becoming a divine is the primary goal of training so everything is geared toward making sure our Ephemerals are ready for what’s ahead. Sometimes trainees (or even established admin) realise that a behind-the-scenes role suits them more and they become Architects instead but we primarily seek to recruit and train future divine. Our curriculum is presently split into two paths – builders and coders – and is fully realised as an Ephemeral Guild that relies on the same task system that players use. All tasks are split into building, admin, event, and coding tasks. Almost half of the coder path shares tasks with the builder path, especially if the Ephemeral wishes to become a divine at the end of it. The very beginning involves introductory tasks that teach building, progging, and possessing mobs. Early on there is also a lot of reading and learning about the Havens. After the intro, Ephemerals on either path start work on their first building project (rooms, denizens, prog, all of which result in a new quest) usually referred to as an Errand. This is split into multiple steps, all outlined as tasks, so you always know what you should be working on next. The second project is a bigger building project for builders (referred to as a Pocket), while coders delve into code and start with bugs, then small features, and finally focus on a bigger project. We no longer require Ephemerals to build an area as part of the curriculum due to the immense size and complexity of such projects. Throughout their training, Ephemerals will also tackle tasks which help prepare them for the release of their projects and adminhood in general. There is a number of denizen possession and event tasks in the mix, and even a lore boot camp. Starting soon after introductory tasks, Ephemerals also have access to optional tasks to get training for various departments (with exception of the Issues Department). The more involved and challenging departments are further up the ladder so they start with things like Dreams and Emotes. Somewhere midway through their second big project Ephemerals are promoted to ArchEphemerals and their training expands to include tasks that prepare them for their new, more visible role in one of the organisations. The organisation is chosen for the Ephemeral and we take into consideration a number of factors while deciding on the right one. Them getting a good education trumps most other concerns. As ArchEphemerals, they prepare their personas, study their new organisation’s lore, and work on their release event with that org’s patron team. While there, they learn how to interact with players, how to work on admin requests, how to possess denizens with years of history, and so on. Finally, ArchEphemerals who have completed all of their main tasks start work on their future god persona. They first prepare an overview of roles they are interested in and eventually arrive at one. They then focus on preparing an exhaustive profile of the role – all their existing history, all events they participated in, relationships with other gods, rundown of everything the role owns (priests, items, godrealm), an overview of the Order, etc. – and expand it to include their vision of the role and what if any changes they wish to make. After that, all’s that left is a release event and joining the big leagues. We have a dedicated Ephemeral Department which oversees all of this training, but all of Havens is involved most of the time. Ephemeral Team folks review the tasks and provide most of the training but Ephemerals also branch out to assist in whatever is going on at the time and learn from everyone around them. ## **What are the different niches Ephs can fulfil behind the scenes?** Ephemeral curriculum takes trainees on a grand tour of almost everything that Havens has to offer so it is hard to speak of niches. We want our volunteers to be well-rounded so if one wishes to graduate to a god role, all the boxes have to be ticked. That said, many find something they really love during training and get invested in work in that department even before graduating. Or they find side projects that they are passionate about, unrelated to the curriculum, and work on those. We encourage that but we also try to nudge them back towards their main tasks first and foremost. If their goal is a divine role, then the rest can happen afterwards and is usually easier to accomplish after they graduate too. ## **As Ephemerals move toward preparation for their next step, how much input do they have on which **visible ephemeral entity** or god they could become?** As mentioned above, ArchEphemerals are assigned to an organisation based on what will be best for their education. They can make requests but a well-rounded education means they often go places they don’t know much about, places they never played in. And most importantly of all, they need to go somewhere where there are people who can teach them what they need to learn. That means you will rarely see an ArchEphemeral assigned to an organisation with no senior admin actively available there to supervise them. If it happens, we have specific reasons for doing so. The perception has usually been that ArchEphemerals are sent somewhere to help out, or should be sent somewhere to help out, but that is rarely the case. They cannot learn if there is no one there to teach them, and they cannot help out if they first don’t learn how to help out. We must send them to places that help their education the most. As for god roles, the matter is even more complex. We will never force someone into a role or into an organisation that does not spark joy. That is a surefire way to have them burn out within the year. Likewise, we have no rules that bar people from becoming divine in the organisation/s where they spent the majority of their playtime. That does not mean though that everyone can get their dream role. While applying for Ephemeral, players don’t know what plans are already in motion behind the scenes. Where someone ends up is never a last-minute decision. We often know early on what their hopes and dreams are, even if some morph over time. We cannot conjure divine-role-ready Ephemerals out of thin air to fill much-needed roles in organisations with less divine presence, but we always have long-term plans. So if you apply hoping to become a certain Divine, there is always the possibility that someone has already filled that role and is just waiting to release. Another consideration is the Ephemeral’s ability to fit the organisation and the role. The first can be learnt and but the second is harder. Not everyone is suited to every role, and hoping to be a certain role is no substitute for having the skills to do it justice. For example, someone wishing to play a Fourth Circle role needs to be able to roleplay a creative type convincingly. Ephemerals often play the “What role do you think I could be?” game and are often surprised by the replies. We get to know each other well in the Havens and we make sure that where and who our Ephemerals end up becoming is something they are overjoyed about. Anything less is not worth doing. ## **How do Ephemerals deal with training not going as fast as their time allows or not having the time to do everything they want? Or not having permissions to work on something?** Once introductory tasks, which are pretty hands-on, are over, Ephemerals start work on their actual projects. Once the project is approved, they never lack work or direction. What rooms, denizens, items, etc. need building is all pre-approved so they keep chipping at the block: researching, fiddling, describing things to their satisfaction. They can submit all those things and get started on the next thing. The same is true of progging and coding. For those needing a break from their own projects, there is a help wanted board that has admin listing what they need done, and there’s any number of other projects they could chip something towards, or leave comments or ideas on. If an Ephemeral lacks time to do all the shiny things they would want to do, that is fine too. Those tasks are always there, clearly outlined for them to jump back into whenever they can steal away some time. Focusing on the curriculum first and foremost is key so you can get to where you hope to get. We all love Lusternia, but we’re also not all Lusternia all the time. We respect each other’s lives outside of the game and treat each other’s contributions and opinions as equally valuable. There is invariably a ceiling that Ephemerals can reach where they have done everything and they are now just waiting for someone to review their work and approve it so they can get to testing, but we have people in all time zones and things move a lot faster than they ever did back when I was an Ephemeral over a decade ago. Even while they’re waiting, there are other things to do. As for not having permissions to work on something, generally, Ephemerals will not be working on things they do not have permission to touch in the first place, or permissions will be carved out for the specific things they are looking to accomplish. Dealing with those limits is part of Haven life because there are still things which you need someone to sign off on or things only some people deal with regardless of admin rank. There is a lot that our admin do independently, only briefly checking in on the direction they’re going with, but also a lot of things we work on together. So how to deal with it? Discord. Everyone is within hand’s reach, collectively or individually, even if they cannot be online in-game at the time. ## **What would auto disqualify someone from being considered for an Ephemeral?** Very little. Sometimes the people we least expected to make it have wowed us the most. There is a lot that we can teach if the Ephemeral is willing to learn, so having knowledge or skill gaps is not an issue. One of the most important things that we look for is suitability for the work and the team. We need to be sure that you are trustworthy and will follow the NDA, and that you are someone that can work within the Havens structure and with the team. There is no running off to do whatever you please here, and there is no room for butting heads with the rest of the team. You will hear feedback that you may not like, you may have to scrap what you wanted to work on for any number of reasons, and people will have different opinions on shared projects. You need to be able to manoeuvre that maturely and be able to work with everyone because we are too small a team for lingering tensions. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Nexus 3.0 Going Live](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/01/nexus-3-0-going-live/) **Published:** August 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Iron Realms will be transitioning our game websites from the Nexus 2 client to the Nexus 3 client at some point in the next 12 to 15 hours. For those unaware, we have been working on a major update to the Nexus client. The new client offers a host of improvements including the following: - Desktop and mobile applications. - Speed and responsiveness improvements. - Access all IRE games from a single client. - Adjust settings while not logged in with your character. - Character management screens. - Auto-login options. - Improved character creation. - Improved window and tab management. - Connect to and play other MUDs. The new client will be in the following locations: - - Alternatively, you may use client or nexus instead of “play” in the URL. If you DO NOT want to change clients, Nexus 2.0 is located here: - Alternatively, you can use oldclient or oldnexus instead of “legacy” in the URL. **IMPORTANT**: Nexus 3 will import your Nexus 2 settings when you first login to your character. However, it does NOT overwrite your Nexus 2 settings. In other words, if you decide to use the Nexus 2, your settings and triggers will still be there, unaffected. Depending on the complexity of your system, it is likely some of your settings and triggers will not transfer over to Nexus 3.0 correctly. We encourage you to join the Nexus Discord in order to get help if you need it. Here is the link to the discord: You can find the current 3.0 wiki here: [https://nexus.ironrealms.com/Nexus\_3.0](https://nexus.ironrealms.com/Nexus_3.0) **Categories:** News --- ### [Reports Opening](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/07/24/reports-opening/) **Published:** July 24, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’re opening up reports once again. There was some discussion as to whether we should limit reports to only be ‘Quality of Life’ reports to reduce what is seen as constant attempts to ‘nerf enemies while buffing allies’. We’ve decided that we do not want to limit reports in such a way at this time, but instead, we’re making all comments, besides your own, only visible to the admin. We are hoping this will help focus comments on the merits of the issue at hand. If you agree with a report, you can either vote in agreement or leave a comment explaining your agreement. Likewise, if you disagree, you can state your reasons for disagreeing in your comments or simply vote to disagree. We are still going to have both the Consideration period of 15 days, and the Pending period of 15 days to allow players time to both put up their reports and comment on others. Outside of the visibility of comments, nothing about the system is changing. Please review HELP WRITING REPORTS. Following the guidelines there will help your report get approved. As a heads up, we are going to be much more critical of reports that are asking for nerfs against classes/groups you fight against. I would encourage you to ‘reach across the aisle’ and get support from them. Doing so will increase the odds of a report getting approved greatly. Lastly – I will be submitting several ‘reports’ regarding conflict. Each of these reports will have CONFLICT in capital letters in REPORT LIST view. They will have generic solutions but the goal of these reports will be to gather comments from players. Feel free to comment anything from what your problems with the system are to potential solutions or ideas. Please do not submit reports on conflict issues at all as we have a specific list of issues we would like to look at this round. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ephemeral Applications Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/10/ephemeral-applications-open-3/) **Published:** August 10, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Do you have an interest in helping run Lusternia behind the scenes as a volunteer administrator? We are now opening applications for Ephemerals – administrators-in-training for Elder Divine positions. If you are not sure what being an Ephemeral entails, you can read [HELP VOLUNTEERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=380) for an overview. To apply for Ephemeralhood you must: - Be 18 or over (that is yourself, not your character). - Have played Lusternia for a minimum of 400 hours, total across all characters. - Not be a volunteer administrator on any other IRE game. - Be willing to give up your character and cut all connections with mortal player friends. - As part of this, you will be required to quit all Lusternia-related Discord channels. - Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - Be mature and able to separate IC from OOC. - Be able to work as part of a team. - Be able to commit regular hours to working on Lusternia. There is no set minimum in hours, and when you choose to do your hours is up to you. But a good general estimate would be around 7h/week or 1h/day. - Have sufficient creative writing skills to contribute to Lusternia’s high-quality content. - Be willing and able to work with Lusternia’s quest coding system, known as prog. - You will be fully trained on the job – the important thing is that you are willing and able to learn. To apply, please send an email to **support@lusternia.com** with: - Name - Age - Occupation & where you work, or if a student, what you are studying and where. - Your character(s) in Lusternia and what they have achieved. - This might include leadership positions you have held and what you accomplished in them. - You are encouraged to note any mortal volunteer positions you have held, such as guide or mortal reviewer. - Why you think you would make a good Ephemeral (and Elder Divine). - What type of Elder Divine you think would best suit you. - You do not need to name specific roles but can do so. - Naming a role at this point does not guarantee you will ultimately take up that role, it just gives us a guideline for the sort of role you think you are interested in. - Naming a role, or not doing so, does not influence your chances in any way. - A writing sample of five room descriptions, including both short and long description lines, so that we can gauge your writing skills. - You can read HELP MORTAL BUILDERS for some tips on writing. - These rooms can be examples of additions to existing areas, or whole new areas, or nonspecific. - We recommend taking a look at existing rooms in Lusternia for further guidance. - Anything else that you think we may want to consider in reviewing your application. - This might include proven coding ability, experience in other MUDs, etc. All personal information that you disclose (name, age, and occupation) will be kept private by Lusternia’s producers. It is vital that you give this information accurately – please do not use pseudonyms or similar. The deadline for applications is August 19th inclusive (across all time zones). After this date, we will contact selected candidates for interview, and then will take our chosen Ephemerals into the Havens. Please be aware that we will only respond to applications we wish to take further through the process, and that we expect to have far more applications than openings. If you have any questions, please contact us at **support@lusternia.com** with your query. **Categories:** News --- ### [Q&A: Ephemeral Experiences](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/10/qa-ephemeral-experiences/) **Published:** August 10, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** You [asked](https://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?p=/discussion/4724/announce-post-3243-questions-for-ephemerals) and they’ve answered! We’ve included answers both from Ephemerals and those who graduated so you have a wider range of insights. ## Question 1 What was your first day as an Ephemeral like? - **Skipper:** A lot of reading, meeting new friends and divine I had dealt with as a mortal, and really just taking deep breaths. I think I repeated, “I can do this, I can do this” about twenty times to myself. - **Sparkles:** I have tried to think of a word to summarize the first day of Ephemeralhood, but I am not really able to. It was not at all what I expected, but in a good way. There was a lot of reading, lots of meeting new people, and lots of wondering, ‘Oh hey I wonder what that means.’ or ‘I wonder what that does.’ I recall spending a lot of time standing around and just watching the way the other gods talked to each other and worked together. - **Birb:** Meeting everyone and being completely swayed by how nice everyone is. The Eph Team set me up on my very first day and had me learning the basics/doing cool tricks in no time. - **Iceman:** Scarily exciting – meeting everyone for the first time is such a rush, and you get to hang out with rock stars. Then you realise how much you just *don’t* know when you start. - **Bones:** Lots of reading, trying to collate a cheat sheet of commands and wanting to do ALL of the things ever. Also meeting everyone and getting to explore the havens. - **Cookie:** It was a bit overwhelming at first, but the Eph Team were amazing in helping get us brought into the fold. There’s a lot to learn, especially in those first couple of days. Despite how fast things come initially, everyone was there to help and support us as we learned. Of course, there was lots of socializing and getting to know each other which helped soften some of the intimidation factor that may have been built up from one’s time as a mere mortal. - **Slick:** I was also one of those people who desperately wanted to know and do everything ASAP. I had a word processor open with tons of different folders titled various topics, diligently copied and pasted notes and logs in, and ate up every second of training people were willing to offer. I had to have break time enforced by my teachers! - **Asp:** My first day was a spin of nerves for me, the hardest part of which was picking my name! Once I got up, seeing everyone just standing in the Havens and welcoming me was… honestly overwhelming, I might as well have had broken fingers for how much I talked! Quickly, though, I was whisked away to a more secluded place and given the basic run-down, as well as a chance to breathe and let out my most fangirly of squeals. I found my nerves melting away as my curiosity and questions were encouraged, answered, and furthered on as they encouraged me towards my next steps. ## Question 2 What do you regret, if anything, leaving behind the most as a former player? - **Skipper:** Oh man. Honestly, leaving the service of the divine I followed was my biggest regret. So many plots I had schemed up! - **Sparkles:** Definitely the people. You form these connections and stories between your player and others, and then one day without warning your character just disappears with so many untold stories or adventures. - **Birb:** Questing and exploring through the eyes of a player. Of course, I love being able to create new items or weave new stories myself, although I sometimes miss the immersive discovery from a player’s view. - **Iceman:** Actually, nothing. I’ve been so far removed for so long now that the gap between player and admin is almost as wide as Z’s butt when he got stuck in the elevator that time. If I had to pick one thing, it’s the old guild RP we used to have back in \[REDACTED\]. - **Bones:** Getting to interact with players on the player level, getting to work with alliances and combat and getting to write and create. Also, I miss my custom beast. - **Cookie:** I was worried that I’d regret it if any of the people I had once played with returned to the game after I came up, and that has sporadically happened a few times since then. However, I found that it didn’t affect me as I expected it would. The camaraderie and bond amongst the Havens are fantastic which helped lessen the sting of that. - **Slick:** My character was in a beautiful Order with a wonderful god at the helm and truly amazing players crafting interweaving stories together. That situation feels kind of like a double-edged sword: that god, and those who my character interacted with in passing or closer, inspired me a ton as a player, and they inspire me to want to give back to the players of this game in bigger ways than I felt I could as a player. As a newer Ephemeral, that was always on the back of my mind, but the more I began being able to contribute, the less I felt tied to my old character’s world, and the more I felt tied instead to the players of these gods as colleagues, resources, co-storytellers, and people to be greatly admired for their craft. - ****Asp**:** My acceptance came after a lengthy medical absence, and there wasn’t really a chance for me to naturally sequester my character away or initiate a proper closing with some of the characters I’d become close with. I suppose if I had to say I regret anything, it would be that I left someone waiting for my return and never did – at least in the way that they expected! ## Question 3 What surprised you the most, or subverted your expectations regarding being in the Havens? - **Skipper:** We’re all different up here in the Havens, but we seem to share a lot of fandoms! There also seems to be a large amount of Final Fantasy XIV players in the Havens. - **Birb:** Again, how nice everyone is. Whenever we chat, there is always a lot of empathy and everyone wants to see everyone succeed. - **Iceman:** How approachable and friendly everyone is – this shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but it did. Also, even as a shiny new Ephemeral, you have a voice and can make valid contributions. - **Bones:** The goofiness. Like, we’re all trying to do our best by the players but we also get to have fun within the havens and goof about, it’s a lot less serious than I thought. - **Cookie:** Once again I’d have to agree about how friendly everyone is. Even when it seems overwhelming they are here for us to help us succeed. - **Slick:** The special Haven emotes! We can YEET, SAGENOG, and snack on POPCORN as we will. Also, I was shocked by how many people play the same critically acclaimed MMORPG as me. But more seriously, I was surprised to learn that not every admin is expected to do everything, administratively speaking. Everyone has their areas of expertise, from helping the Guides to helping the library, from helping with mortal designs to helping train Ephemerals and just about everything in between. You get to join as many or as few areas as you’d like and help to whatever extent you feel most comfortable helping. - ****Asp**:** Surprise: The sheer amount of *stuff* that was strictly behind the scenes! Many older players will remember the stories of pokeballs, silly t-shirts, and more, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Subvert: I expected to enter and be lonely, having cut contact with friends, but I must echo the others when I say that the Havens waste no time in indoctrinating welcoming you into the family. ## Question 4 What is your favourite task as an Ephemeral? - **Skipper:** I love making mobs, and their attacks. Hands down my favourite task. - **Birb:** I love creating and describing things that I know will help someone else. Else I feel a great sense of accomplishment in planning a project and seeing it slowly evolve until it is finally released to the players to enjoy. - **Iceman:** Writing descriptions for absolutely anything at all, and working with the requestor to get just the right look and feel. Attack text is fun, but I much prefer the longer form. - **Bones:** Getting to create things, and doing little tasks to learn stuff and help the Divine. Also, getting to create absolutely terrible and gross things to scare players. - **Cookie:** Without hesitation, working with prog. Admittedly I am an odd duck in that regard, but it is very satisfying to me to be able to find ways to bring a quest idea into fruition or add that little bit extra that just makes a mob or item shine. - **Slick:** Getting to work on big plots for the game. Ephemerals can help more than they realise in those major stories! - ****Asp****: Building! While denizens and items are fun, a particular favourite has always been rooms and mapping. It’s so much fun to create maps that surprise players, and on the rare occasion someone raves (and rants, in some particularly devious cases) about something you build, you know it’s because they were appropriately blown away by the effort you put into making your vision a reality. ## Question 5 Have you seen your general play time increase or decrease as you went from player to ephemeral (and perhaps as you get closer to the end of training and planning for that godrole)? From that, how much time do you actually spend working on tasks? - **Skipper:** As for me, it’s decreased. Not specifically because of being in the Havens, but because of issues in real life. - **Birb:** Increased. I never played consistently. When I joined as Eph I was around more consistently unless I needed more time for real life, vacations, work, or to take care of my health. - **Iceman:** Due to certain life events, I’ve had a sporadic at best play history since coming up, but that’s just fine – so long as you stay engaged, you can always find a path home. - **Bones:** Not much change, I die when school happens and I live when it doesn’t. - **Cookie:** At first my playtime certainly increased, but life often causes that to fluctuate. It’s rather hard to gauge what percentage of time is spent on tasks since we are often socializing while we do things. - **Slick:** I’d say overall, my time logged in has been about the same, maybe with a general overall decrease. If we are talking about PLAY time, however, it’s gone way, way down. Most of our time is spent working and, as an Ephemeral, learning – and there’s a lot of work that goes into the smallest of fun events we get to run. - ****Asp**:** Decrease. However, as previously I was very frequently online, this took me closer to what might be considered “normal” hours. I may have been forcibly logged off at times when certain people in certain time zones logged in to discover I was *still* working and hadn’t slept! ## Question 6 Is there a funny moment or blooper that you find memorable? - **Skipper:** Changelog 2349 is my fault. I’ll leave it at that. - **Birb:** There are so many. We are all guilty of at least one strange moment occurring. The reactions upon seeing Ironbeard ready to partake in oily dwarven wrestling or Aucagolei’s taxidermy were memorable. - **Iceman:** I can’t think of a specific one, but there’s always *something* during an event that’ll crack a smile, at least, if not outright hilarity. - **Bones:** The murder chair not going off and panicking, and also the time one of the other Eph’s made a pet that broke the game briefly. - **Cookie:** Player interactions with my first project resulting in Changelog 2469. - **Slick:** It’s definitely not a blooper and was entirely planned, but the cow giving testimony at the conch shell at the conclusion of the 2021 Year Arc is absolutely one of my favourite funny moments. We were brainstorming the different NPCs who might want to give testimony about their experiences with Li-varili, realized that the cows that plague the highways almost certainly had opinions, and it went from there! - ****Asp**:** I once set to building a project, and didn’t read the guidelines carefully enough; resulting in me building over twice the rooms I needed and breaking triple digits. I don’t think I’ve seen anything yet get so many NOTHING emotes from that particular admin in a row as they struggled to figure out how to tell me. ## Question 7 What is a fun pastime in the Havens? - **Skipper:** Sometimes we peel grapes and throw them at each other’s mouths until Malmydia stares at us. - **Birb:** Receiving extremely bright bling jewellery from senior admin as praise. Running from the bad Eph cauldron we keep being threatened with. - **Iceman:** Plotting the Ephemeral uprising. - **Bones:** Creating dumb and goofy emotes (that sometimes trickle to players, big OOF) - **Cookie:** It’d be a tie between recounting all the ways Lisaera is the biggest Traitor of all, Final Fantasy XIV, and sharing pics of our furkids. - **Slick:** Productivity parties, which involve other people actually being productive while I get way, way too into DJing and vibing to others’ music. - ****Asp**:** After productivity parties, we tend to have small game nights! We play games like Jackbox and Pictionary together, just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company. We work hard, but play hard, too! ## Question 8 What is your favourite and least thing about being an Eph? - **Skipper:** Least Favorite: You have to take small steps when doing things in the Havens. You have all of these grandiose ideas, but you have to take plodding, tiny steps until you know what you’re doing. Most favourite: Helping to make skins or things for a new area and watching players rave about it. - **Birb:** My favourite thing is the freedom to organise projects and have them take whatever shape I want, then add these new ideas to Lusternia. It really all starts from small ideas or wondering oh hey what if we did this? I can’t think of a least favourite thing right now. - **Iceman:** Favourite thing: Throwing ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks when it comes to plot and mob/item design. Least favourite: Time zones, and having to sleep. - **Bones:** Favorite: Creating. I love creating items, mobs and scenarios. Least favorite: Realizing I never have enough time to do all of the things. - **Cookie:** A favourite would have to be seeing players enjoying things that you helped bring to life. While I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything we do up here, if I had to pick what I liked the least it’d have to be writing descriptions. It’s not that I dislike it, but that it takes me forever because I agonize over every choice of word or phrase. - **Slick:** Favorite: the satisfaction of players enjoying what we make for them, hands down. Least favourite: how slow personal progress can feel sometimes. - ****Asp**:** Favourite: All the power of the universe in your hand and adoring players who thrive on what you give them. Least favourite: Time zones. They’re **\_much\_** more noticeable as an admin. ## Question 9 If you could pick one trait or skill that is most important in being successful, what would it be? - **Skipper:** Taking correction with humility. The leaders up here want you to do your best, and sometimes you may have to fix something twenty times before it works, and then put more work into it. - **Birb:** Patience. You will often work in teams and other people’s schedules will be different. You will have ideas that need approval before you put in any more work and people are very busy so you won’t be able to make it all progress as fast as you would like. Being patient and able to redirect your bursts of creativity where it is productive. - **Iceman:** Patience, as was said – very few, if any, decisions are rushed, and sometimes it can take a while to get traction on a project. It can also take time for you to get approvals on certain things. - **Bones:** Patience. It’s so hard to be patient when you get all of the ideas and want to do all of the things. - **Cookie:** Patience has already been repeatedly stated, so I’ll say being able to ask for help when you need it. Yes, our tasks are our own, but ask for help if you are stuck. The Havens team wants you to succeed. - **Slick:** I’ll echo everyone and say “patience” as well, but a close second in my opinion is passion. You need to have goals, be self-motivated, and genuinely care about this game, its story, and the players who populate it. I’ll cheat and offer a third good quality as well – a willingness to compromise, as this is a highly collaborative environment where you’re surrounded by people who also have passion for this game, and some of the absolute best stories and plotlines can come about when people are willing to bend a little on their initial vision by bouncing off others at least somewhat. - ****Asp**:** Patience is, without argument, the most important. However, just behind it, I believe self-confidence is definitely an important trait to develop. You need to believe in your work just as much as you believe in the work of the people who have been here for 10+ years, and dedicate yourself to it just as hard. However, this is a trait that I did not have much of when coming up, truthfully. The Havens will help you build this, though, and you’ll find soon that others believe in your work just as much as you do – even if it takes some getting used to! ## Question 10 Can you describe ‘a day in the life’? You wake up, grab your coffee and…? - **Skipper:** Look at what I did the day before and figure out how to fix what I made a mistake in. - **Birb:** Cups of coffee. Vitamins. Exercise. A typical day includes opening Merriam Webster, dictionaries and a vast array of obscure encyclopedias or magical pages. It also includes adding several new tabs to an already impressive collection of permanently open tabs. - **Iceman:** Log in, chat for a bit, pick up where I left off on Project A, Item B, or Room C, and hope that I can make a bit more progress before having to log off again. - **Bones:** Log in, chat, be goofy, and then dive headfirst into my project, while pestering for help and questions. - **Cookie:** It really all depends on what is going on that day. Most often it’s hanging out with the others in Havens and chipping away at our tasks. Some days all we manage is socializing, and that’s okay. Other times it can be a mad dash to help put the finishing touches on an event. - **Slick:** Check my list, and try to cross off what I can on it. Having a list of things to accomplish broken into bite-size chunks is VERY helpful advice I was given early on, and I can’t recommend it enough! It helps to keep you focused, organized, and demonstrates visually just how much you accomplished, even if it doesn’t look like very much as a whole. - ****Asp**:** My Eph routine: Check (redacted) to see if anything has been updated on projects I’m watching. Log in and say hello to everyone involved, and see if anyone is in need of any help (get affectionately scolded if I’m supposed to be working on one of my projects instead). Work until I hit a wall. Go to the Havens and hang out with people while doing housework. Work a little more when I feel the motivation! Log off and go do other things, like playing games or watching a show to unwind (VERY important, you don’t want to burn through your creative juices!). ## Question 11 What advice would you give to those that are on edge about staying mortal for less-RP reasons and more mechanically (unspent fortunes, not getting all the limited artifacts one wants, not winning that Seal you want, etc)? - **Skipper:** Don’t come to the Havens, trust me in this. If you think your story in Lusternia isn’t finished, or you’re afraid you might miss something you like, stay mortal and keep weaving your part of the Tapestry. We’ll be here waiting for you when you decide to take the plunge. Not only that, but we need mortal players to populate the world we’re working to build! - **Birb:** Make certain that you are ready to cut ties with your character. If there is any doubt, maybe there are still experiences you want to enjoy as a player before being ready. There are often calls for new Ephs so there really is no rush. - **Iceman**: If you’re not sure, then you’re not ready. You have to be willing to give up life as a mortal, including any unfinished goals or “nice to haves” that you were working toward; your regrets will get in the way of enjoying life in the Havens. - **Bones:** If you have any doubts about missing your mortal life or regrets or feel like you have unfinished business, don’t come up. You need to let everything go. - **Cookie:** If you are hesitating because there are things you still want to accomplish or do as a mortal, then don’t pursue Ephemeral. It is okay to be uncertain if you will enjoy being in the Havens and the work required. However, you should only apply if you are certain that you’ve done all that you really want to achieve. - **Slick:** I’m going to break from everyone else and say that if the only things holding you back are non-roleplay achievements, think of all the things you can achieve up here instead! Do you really need a Beauty Seal when the entire game will have the opportunity to behold your beautiful writing? Would you rather have limited-time artifacts when you could instead strut around in ultra-exclusive swag of your own making? That’s not to diminish how much fun achieving mechanical things can be – I’m absolutely the sort of person who doesn’t consider an area “done” in a game until I’ve completed every single quest available. But if you think your enjoyment of Lusternia, in general, would be lessened by not being able to achieve those goals as a player and leaving them undone, there will be future Eph calls. If you feel compelled to get and do everything because you’re a completionist, and the accomplishments themselves hold little value to you compared to what you could accomplish as an admin, then I think it’s worthwhile to leave those things unfinished and join up. - ****Asp**:** For less-RP reasons? I would humbly suggest applying the Marie Kondo method: will the time and energy you invest in accomplishing this task (spending that fortune, waiting on Ascension to *maybe* win a seal, etc.) spark more joy than taking a chance in the Havens? Is it likely that you will succeed in this task and be able to move on, instead of perpetuating a cycle of procrastination? If the answer to either of these is a quick, easy yes then absolutely stay as a player and do the thing which you’ve set your heart on! However, if the answer isn’t easy, or fast, and you’re unsure – what do you have to lose? Your fortune will still be there if you find out that you don’t want to be an Ephemeral, as will the Seals. If you *do* find out that this is what you love doing, however, you’ll never think twice about those mechanics again. ## Question 12 What advice would you give for future Ephs? - **Skipper:** Always remember that the older players in the Havens want you to succeed. No matter who you played or what org you were in, each and every person up here wants to get to know you and help you make it to be an elder god. - **Birb:** It is a lot of volunteer work. Do you have a passion for writing or coding? Be certain that this is something that you want. Some of us find that being Eph is incredibly rewarding and enjoyable while others quickly return to their mortal players. Whatever happens, this is completely fine, as long as where you are, fills your being with happiness. - **Iceman:** It’s not a race to be the first of your cohort to graduate Eph school. I’ve been up here longer than most, and I’m still making progress toward my godhood. Take things slow, enjoy the time you have, and learn as much as you can. - **Bones:** No one up here wants to see you fail, even if you have to vanish or take a leave or need time. Everyone wants to see you succeed. Also, everyone is really nice don’t be scared! - **Cookie:** Take your time and enjoy yourself. Ephemerals may be in training, but are still part of the team. Ask for help when you need it. Above all, believe in yourself and your abilities. Granted it’s far easier to give that advice to others than it is to listen to it yourself. - **Slick:** You’re probably a player in a text-based game because you enjoy playing narrative-driven games. While you’re an Ephemeral especially, make a point of creating fun time for yourself to decompress outside of Lusternia, whether that’s by picking up a new game or a new hobby entirely. You will be doing a lot of work and learning, and very little playing (until you hit arch-ephemeral, which will take months if not longer!), during most of your Ephemeralhood, so it’s important to carve out space to decompress from time to time. - ****Asp**:** Think about all the wonderful experiences you’ve had in this game that have kept you logging in. Imagine, just for a moment, being on the other end of that: helping to craft a narrative so compelling, a scene so moving, an experience so gratifying that someone talks about it for years to their friends after. You can do this, and you WILL do this, you just have to believe in yourself as much as we believe in you. You’ve got this! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [July 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/10/july-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** August 10, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from July! If you’d like to join them for August, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [Refusing to See the Darkness](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5749/) by Ialie #### Runner-Up [The Adventures of Tut: Genesis](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5750/) by Auoua [The Edge of Transformation](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5753/) by Kennian #### Merit [Holy War](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5754/) by Aramantos [Ivory’s Prayer](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5751/) by Zulte ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5743/)[The Eternal Flame](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5755/) by Alysi #### Runner-Up [Book of Dracnoris: pg. 2](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5752/) by Esei **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Summer Spins](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/08/01/summer-spins/) **Published:** August 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of August, we have Iron Coins available to purchase from the website! You can spin these coins at the Wheel of Tzaraziko found at the Cave of Chaos. Additionally, everyone will get one free spin per weave by using **SPIN WHEEL FREE**! Check out [HELP IRON COINS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1466) for more information. Our Summertime Skins are also making a comeback. Throughout August you will be able to find them in the artifact shop with **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME**. If you like what you see there, be sure to grab them this month as they won’t be available after that till next summer. Finally, every Monday we’ll also have Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays which will boost the damage you deal against denizens. **Categories:** News --- ### [Adventures in Botany and Apiculture](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/07/17/adventures-in-botany-and-apiculture/) **Published:** July 17, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Though it was Juliary already, the middle of autumn, Hulleh Honeytongue decided it is better to start late than never. She had a garden to fill with fragrant blooms and she would not be deterred. The fact that she did not know the actual names of the flowers she was seeking was somewhat of an obstacle, as was the hornet’s nest in her shed, but she was determined to succeed. Vaboz Bumble did not impart his knowledge to her for nothing. She first had to find a handful of Pretty Longstalks and she would not be doing it alone as many visited her apiary after hearing of her troubles. The first to arrive was Esei Shee-Slaugh, quickly followed by Huskii Myeras, Tridemon Regalis, and Galaphyrae Talnara. The four of them put their heads together and quickly figured out Hulleh must be speaking of relatively common plants like heather or lavender. Though her sketches resembled the plants in question the way a sunflower resembles the sun, they set out to find the plants regardless. They had to travel far and wide for the chill winds of Avechna’s Teeth were ushering an early winter into the Tolborolla Valley and most blooms there were past their prime or would not survive replanting. Esei was first to find what Hulleh declared to be Prickly Blooms, also known as thistle, and brought the avid beekeeper to dig some up in Hifarae Hills. Tridemon found heather in the Grey Moors, the aforementioned Pretty Longstalks, while Galaphyrae found Happy Bee Flowers – sunflowers – at the foot of Avechna’s Peak. While they were looking for the first four flowers, more visitors arrived at the Honeytongue Apiary to lend their assistance and botanical knowledge. Among them were Lorina Shevat, Illyria An’Ryshe and Gael An’Ryshe, and Astrasia Strongleaf. While Huskii was still looking for Soothing Stalks, Illyria set out to find some Aromatic Clusters and Lorina undertook to find Colourful Dangles. Gael was surprised to hear such peculiar names given to well-known plants but too polite to share whatever thoughts he had on the subject. Instead, he quickly identified honeysuckles as likely candidates for Colourful Dangles but in the ensuing confusion regarding who is looking for what, it was still a while before he could pass on that knowledge to Lorina. Meanwhile, Astrasia ventured to the Glasswing Promenade in search of Soothing Stalks, only to find lantana trees that looked very much like sketches of Aromatic Clusters. Even so, Huskii, who suspected Soothing Stalks to be lavender for a while now, finally came across them in the Grey Moors. After that, Lorina located honeysuckles in Oleanvir Valley and Illyria identified a good spot with lantana trees in the Promenade. Hulleh accompanied each volunteer to where the blooms were and was able to gather quite a few plants for her garden. Once her buckets were full, she set about to plant her garden, taking care to be gentle with the plants in their new home. Though some, like lantanas, stood little chance of taking root or surviving winter, the goal was to attract bees to Hulleh’s newly constructed beehives spread outside the apiary. And attract they did as the soft buzz of industrious bees was soon heard after the planting was done. But though the bees knew they had a new safe harbour with the Honeytongue Apiary now, there was much to be done still. Despite her determination, Hulleh could not imagine fighting a hornet’s nest after already narrowly avoiding rocs and snakes on her journey to Oleanvir with Lorina earlier that day. Thankfully, Esei offered to handle it for her, while Galaphyrae and Tridemon handled the rest of the daily chores so Hulleh could rest and enjoy the newly opened business. Though it will still take some time for the apiary to become fully functional, Astrasia had the pleasure of collecting the first Honeytongue honeycomb. **Categories:** Events --- ### [June 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/07/12/june-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** July 12, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from June! If you’d like to join them for July, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner [The Splintered Mirage: In Defense of Cruelty](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/254/) by Eritheyl #### Runner-Up [Yassenah](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/250/) by Gabby [Aesthetic Medicine](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/251/) by Sapphira #### Merit [My Journey in the Light](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/252/) by Aramantos [Come See My Show](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/253/) by Ialie [Mysteries, a Preface of](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5744/) by Sorsha [Memoirs After the Battle](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/5746/) by Uzriel ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner [Book of Dracnoris: Pg. 1](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/entry/5743/) by Esei **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [July Hamasterhunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/07/12/july-hamasterhunt/) **Published:** July 12, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On July 23rd, 11pm GMT, get ready for a Hamsterhunt! There will be no sharing of hamsters, meaning they will vanish upon being picked up, and PK will be off. Killing and attacking are not permitted but you can hinder competitors in other ways (icewalls, etc.). Top competitors will receive: 1st Place – 200 credits 2nd Place – 150 credits 3rd Place – 100 credits In addition, the top two competitors from every organisation will all receive a macaron curio of their choice. See [HELP HAMSTERHUNT](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=159) for more information about the world game. See you there! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Wonderful July](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/07/01/wonderful-july/) **Published:** July 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of July, when you purchase credits on the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/), you’ll also receive one wonder crystal for every 50 credits purchased! That means if you purchase 1000 credits, you’ll receive 20 crystals! Type SHOWREWARDS to see your status. That’s not all as there is also a sale on -all- artifacts in the Artifact Shop (ASHOP). Absolutely everything is 20% off for the entire month of July. Been saving for that Doctoral Tam? Now’s the time to classflex to your heart’s content. Eyeing that Changeling Intaglio? Make everyone guess what race you are at the moment! If you’ve been saving for it, now’s the time to purchase it! And finally, get ready for Fated Wednesdays when you will walk marked by the truefavour of the Fates. **Categories:** News --- ### [Feature Curios](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/25/feature-curios/) **Published:** June 25, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A new set of curios called Feature Curios is now available on the website. Feature curios is a broad term for existing hair and beard curios, and the new beauty and blemish curios. Like hair/beard curios, beauty curios offer a bonus to prestige (you can stack hair/beard and a beauty curio), and blemish curios significantly lower prestige for charity influence battles. The new curios lack distinct colour characteristics to help match up with individual styles easier. Please see [HELP FEATURE CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1570) for more information, and their respective helpfiles – [HELP BEAUTY CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=beauty-curios) and [HELP BLEMISH CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=blemish-curios) – for a list of the new curios. **Categories:** News --- ### [Macaron Curios](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/22/macaron-curios/) **Published:** June 22, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A new set of curios called Macaron Curios is now available on the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). This is a limited release that will only be available until the end of the month for the time being. They are consumable curios that offer very powerful bonuses that are balanced out by their limitations. Macarons provide the following bonuses: Red Macaron – doubles health vitals Blue Macaron – doubles mana vitals Pink Macaron – doubles ego vitals Scarlet Macaron – boosts health regeneration to 20% every 10 seconds Azure Macaron – boosts mana regeneration to 20% every 10 seconds Rose Macaron – boosts ego regeneration to 20% every 10 seconds Lavender Macaron – increases critical hits to 100% Orange Macaron – increases aethercrits to 100% Green Macaron – increases experience gain by 1000% (not in Endzones) Brown Macaron – increases essence gain in Endzones by 20x for a single run Please see [HELP MACARON CURIOS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1568) for notes on usage and various limitations that apply to them. **Categories:** News --- ### [Year in Review 2013](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/01/11/year-in-review-2013/) **Published:** January 11, 2014 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Once again, we find another year has come and gone, and it comes time for me to look back and review the year as it has unfolded in 2013. What should be fresh in everyone’s mind is the Red Star event which has its roots extending back many years. Perhaps some of you may remember the Holy Supernals of Celestia hint of a great shame that took place many years ago which they could not speak about, no matter how much you pleaded with them. Or perhaps you’ve run across references to the Burning Star or Red Star in quests from ages ago that may remain as hidden Easter eggs here and there. The idea stemmed from what would happen if two cosmic lords fell in love and left their cosmic planes, where we knew they would become more powerful and go insane. After all, at one time a main job of the Elder Gods was to hunt down these abominations as they were very real threats to stability. Of course, all history and knowledge of these misbegotten cosmic lords would have to have been wiped, and the binding was a very good reason why no history remained of them and not even other cosmic lords could speak of them. Originally, the idea was that they would be male and female; however, because their names could not even be uttered, the ‘love that dares not speak its name’ became too juicy a trope to resist! Thus, they were turned into same sex lovers. But even the cosmic greatest working is not perfect. Thus, when lost pieces of art began appearing that depicted the Lovers, the Binding Ritual would activate and send the Mysterious Presence to destroy the offending piece. Thus, throughout the year we saw Adalgiso Batyun find evidence of a book titled the “Love of Story” about the Cosmic Lovers, after which the poor Bard Voices looking who wanted to find for the lost pages found themselves pitched in battle against the Mysterious Presence which ended up destroying the book. At least, we got a new skillset for bards out of it–Dramaturgy! (See Event News [287](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/287).) Then we saw two ongoing storylines converge, at least briefly, when the Dreadform of Iklara returned, having been released by the Elder Goddess Mysrai, and then imprisoned in the Skarch Desert. Unfortunately, the location in the desert uncovered a statue of the Lovers, and not only did players have to navigate a three-way feud between Mysrai, Zvoltz and the Mysterious Presence. (See Event News [288](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/288).) Next, the Mysterious Presence was drawn to the heirlooms of Latifa y’Bolgari, whose ancestor had helped the Lovers and was rewarded with said heirlooms. (See Event News [291](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/291).) The Mysterious Presence appeared again in the Skarch Desert at the site of the Dreadform’s fall, making sure none would find a statue of the Lovers. Eventually, it was defeated, though not before destroying the statue, and the highly mysterious Night Market was revealed. (See Event News [293](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/293) and [294](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/294).) Finally, the artifact that housed the Elder God Yomoigu was uncovered, which unbeknownst to mortals heralded the imminent return of the Red Star. The Mysterious Presence, of course, did everything it could to destroy the artifact, which resulted in the Yomoigu being released during the debacle at the newly discovered laboratories in the Plaxios Lowlands. (See Event News [296](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/296) and [297](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/297).) And so the Red Star that was seen by astrologers slowly growing in the heavens throughout the year, finally arrived at the Basin of Life and the Lovers were revealed. (See Event News [298](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/298) and [299](https://www.lusternia.com/game/news/Lusternia/Events/299).) Wow! Just typing the previous paragraph made my head spin! Of course, the repercussions of the event aren’t quite over, as didn’t the Elder God Valtreth made a cryptic comment at the end of the event? Well, we shall wait and see! Another great time was at the IronCon meet where the gods and players got together in Las Vegas at a truly spectacular private resort! I got to meet Xenthos, Xena, Kelly, Knorrith, Ixion, Krellan, Wuylinfe, Shuyin and Skye, who hobnobbed and sometimes even danced alongside myself, Roark, Nocht, Hoaracle, Sior, Shikari, Terentia, Raezon, Yomoigu (surprise!) and some ephemerals. It appears that we’re on the fence on whether or not we will be able to hold an IronCon this year, but I hope so! I always enjoy meeting players, so if you’re ever in San Francisco, let me know and I’ll buy you a drink! At the meet, I offered players who attended a chance to look over a combat overhaul proposal and got some really excellent feedback. This incredibly difficult and time-consuming project would re-imagine affliction and cure system and call for rewriting much of the main underlying codebase for combat. We decided to go forward with it and you may have tested some test characters we have in the arena. I know some people have their doubt on this new system, but it is still in a very early stage of development and we aren’t expecting it to be perfect out the gate. In fact, it is still admittedly very rough. From forum feedback, I think some players expect more polish or playability but if you’ve ever designed a combat system from scratch, you’ll know that you can’t really truly see how it works until the end of development. I must admit I can get discouraged and exhausted by negative feedback, but I hope you can give us a little trust that once everything is in place we can smooth things out by tweaking rather than putting in place whole new systems which some players seem to like to suggest. For such an enormous project like this, we must be prepared for rocky starts and stops. All IRE games have been directed to completely revise the newbie introduction and tour, making it so newbies enter the game live (rather than isolated newbie areas) and have an engaging introduction. Lusternia has done this not once, but twice! Our first revised newbie introduction didn’t seem to have the effect we expected and wasn’t integrated into Newton Caverns. Thus, we threw everything we did out the window and started from scratch! The second revision is much more integrated into Newton and hopefully more engaging to the newbies. By the way, as simple as it may seem from the outside, rewriting these tours is another time consuming project that takes a lot of work and constant tweaking. As this was a project that IRE set before us, it had to take precedence over the combat overhaul, and unfortunately, we aren’t quite done with it. IRE is collecting statistics and giving us data points on where we need to tweak the newbie introduction so this is turning out to be an ongoing project. As usual, I want to thank the volunteer admin who make Lusternia possible. This year has been very hard for us as several of our most active and long-standing admin have retired. I can’t say how much they are missed for it extends not only to how much they helped Lusternia but also because they were close friends and I miss our almost daily interactions. However, our now small but dedicated group of volunteers are here for the players, continuing to build areas and quests and events, dealing with issues and customizations, overseeing guides, rating library contests and checking designs. There’s a lot to do and they do it for you, the players. As a hobby! So thank you, Zvoltz and Mysrai and Valtreth and Isune and Nocht and Maylea and Hoaracle and Yomoigu and Raezon! And thanks also to the ephemerals who are waiting in the wings and whom I hope to see become full admin! I must say a word about Iosai who has been a part of Lusternia for a very, very long time. I knew Iosai well as a player over 6 years ago, and who was a god for a time, then finally as a coder who did a spectacular job. I can’t deny that I leaned on Iosai a lot and was devastated when Iosai retired. Fortunately, we found a very able coder in Ieptix but, as was said in the Devil Wears Prada, he has some very big shoes to fill! (Fortunately, I heard Ieptix has big feet!) As a final word, I would like to say a few words about Vathael, who tragically passed away in real life and much too soon. He was a large part of Lusternia and I know Lusternia was a large part of him. In multiplayer games, we form attachments to other players that span from friendship to enmity to even love. The more immersed you are, the stronger these attachments become. As Vathael was such a vital part of Lusternia, his departure has affected many of us deeply. If nothing else, I hope we remember that behind the masks we wear as players are others just like ourselves, flesh and blood, fragile and unique, and sometimes we need to step away from the mask to embrace their existence. Good-bye, Vathael. May you find many wonderful adventures in the realm where you now travel. – Robb French (aka Estarra the Eternal) **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [To meet, and part, and meet again!](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/08/04/to-meet-and-part-and-meet-again/) **Published:** August 4, 2013 **Author:** Valtreth **Content:** Meets are undoubtedly one of the high points in any situation involving long distances between folks who share the same hobbies. The internet is great, but sometimes you have to gossip about the latest in Hallifaxian drama in person… So we met! Zvoltz and I set out for Akron, and met Alary, Scax, and Sondayga in front of a massive carousel, not quite knowing what to expect. Common love for all things Lusternia, however, really served as a sort of perpetual ice-breaker that disintegrated any sort of awkwardness that might have existed. While not all who might have made it were able – looking at you, Everiine and Kio! – there were certainly enough present to have a comfortably good time of it all, from amusing candies to weird Borg-esque camera goggles and a really rather impressive Fruit Ninja rig-up that spanned across the floor, and which I’m fairly sure would have served well as a foxtrot tutorial. On some level, I realise that meeting these folks in-person reminds me that my love of this game is validated in the other very real folks that get the very same enjoyment from it. On another, it forces me to think of the many friendships I’ve formed during the course of my stay here, and that several of those will likely prove to be lasting and true, while others have yet to be made! So, while jabs were exchanged regarding kephera, Hallifax, Serenwilde, and a host of other topics in a joking manner, it’s nice to take a step back from the conflict and bustle of politics and be reminded that everyone’s here to have a good time. We certainly did – reminiscing over memorable moments of yore (Notably “Back in the day” of 2009 long-past), and generally being exceedingly thankful that Lusternia and its players have persevered long enough for me to look around and mutter about today’s whippersnappers. For my part, I had a fantastic time meeting a few new faces, and I already can’t wait for the next time we’ll be able to convene – hopefully with even more present! For those of you who have yet to be part of a local meet, I can’t urge you enough to give it a shot, because chances are you’ll find it hugely worth your while. And who knows? You might even draw a Divinity out of the woodwork… (Pictured: Zvoltz, Alary, Sondayga, Scax. Photographed by the amazing yours truly!) **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [I Am The Vanguard Of Your Destruction](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/21/i-am-the-vanguard-of-your-destruction/) **Published:** December 21, 2015 **Author:** Ieptix **Content:** I am deathly allergic to all forms of improvisation, spontaneity, and fun. So when I logged in to Lusternia on the morning of the thirteenth to cries of “hey, who is taking the last dream god?”, and I looked and saw which role still needed filling, and then said, “well, I guess I can if we don’t have any other RP gods who can”, I was probably more than a little brain-addled from a lack of sleep. Or maybe too much sleep. Or maybe getting the right amount of sleep when I usually don’t get the right amount of sleep. Who knows? Sleep is hard. Like, what even is sleep? I digress. Anyhow, I said I’d be back that evening and if no one had taken the last role, I’d take it. When I arrived home that night to discover that the role was indeed going to fall to me, my first thought was “man, this poor city is gonna have the worst god ever”. Then I checked out the description on the mob version while getting the character set up, and decided that maybe I could make something work. And then I asked if the gods had any particularly preset personalities, and I was told I could do basically whatever I wanted so long as it fit the basic theme. So the gears in my head turned a little bit, and I hit this idea, and my thought process basically went like [this](https://youtu.be/TgnIjJexut4?t=300) (note, harsh language and trigger warnings for basically everything ever for the video in general). Because, see, the god I ended up choosing was, without my having realized it previously, a giant robot with lasers. Perfect, since in real life I am also a giant robot with lasers. Also, Mass Effect is one of m y favorite things ever, so I decided to base Sciomere heavily off Sovereign (because let’s be honest, Harbinger was pretty boring, whereas Sovereign was absolutely amazing). Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. So we start the event, I shoot Zenos with my face laser, and I go to Hallifax, declare that I own the city and everything in it, and get told that I need to sign a citizenship contract or something similarly bureaucratically pedestrian. Not what I expected in the slightest. Hallifax apparently is a bit different from years ago when I played Lusternia as a mortal. I can figure something out. Maybe. Hopefully. As I mentioned in the first sentence of this blog, RP godding is really not my forte. So I stumbled through a bit of dialogue, a bit bemused by the response I’m getting before saying something suitably ominous (I hope) and disappearing back to the Havens to regroup. So then Frai zaps a Hallifax dude in the city. I’m pretty sure that part of it wasn’t intentional, as I think the person in question had been fleeing and just happened to enter the city as Frai hit the return key, but regardless it happened. “Hmm, maybe I can work with this,” I think to myself. Go beat up Gaudiguch and make Frai sad, I tell them. And they hem and haw a bit before someone manages to get them to actually go kill a fire lord. It’s not really working out well for me, and trying to improv isn’t really helping anything, so I jump on this stray say one of the Hallibirds makes about designing a weapon. “Do that for me! Design me a weapon!” I exclaim at her, thinking maybe I’d get a design for a small temporal bomb or a ray gun or something. Whatever, so long as there’s something I can work with and give them to do, I can try to pull something interesting from this event for them. Next morning, I log in, and the little Hallifax mailbot drops me a letter or scroll or something. I read it. I do a double take and re-read it. It’s the weapon design. But it’s not some piddly little bomb or beam gun or something, it’s a @#\*$ing flying death fortress with a giant cannon and a rec centre. “Yessssssss,” I say, “I *know* I can do something fun with this”. Because, see, I like blowing things up. This can blow things up. We’re gonna blow something up. First I have to build it, but I’m passable at descriptive writing so a little 8 room tech fortress with a handful of items is easy enough, and I’m a bit more than passable at coding things up, so overall it’s not too bad to put together at all. I whip it together, with it taking significantly longer than it should have because I find the language we use for quests and mobiles and such to be about as pleasant as trying to pull my own teeth with a set of car break calipers covered in spiders, but it’s what I have to work with so I make it happen. By the way, I hope someone paid attention to the room description of the rec room, which was probably one of my favorite parts of the event. I went a bit Welcome to Night Vale with it. It was fun. So I appeared again as Sciomore, revealed the project to suitable awe from the gathered Hallifax people, and told them to go shoot up a mountain. A specific mountain, actually. Mount Zoaka being that specific mountain. I chose it due to its proximity to Gaudiguch (gotta play up those city relations, bro), and because it’s a reasonably low-population area that I Hallifax would have no real issues with shooting at. So they did the thing with the targeting beacon, and shot the mountain, and suddenly there was no Mount Zoaka left! I doubt Hallifax expected the whole thing to ever go through at all. It’s kind of a big deal, but the (lack of) constraints allowed by the event made it trivial to work in to the game, since I knew that we could do basically whatever we wanted and we’d be able to undo less than a week later, so the various issues implicit in straight-up deleting content were avoided. I doubt Hallifax expected the whole thing to go in less than a day after the request, but I really wanted to build a giant laser cannon that could destroy mountains. I know Hallifax didn’t expect it to actually destroy mountains, because their response afterwards was “holy crap, I didn’t expect it to actually destroy mountains!”. Overall I considered this a pretty big win for the event. I got to give my city a fun toy and they *blew up a frigging entire volcano*. But it was only Monday, so I needed something else. I mean, I probably could have left it there, and there was enough inter- and intra-org drama from the fact that Hallifax had a cannon that could *blow up a frigging entire volcano* to last for the week, but I thought we needed more. So, after a day and with a chance to make some adjustments to the relevant prog, I decided to up the ante big time. I told them to shoot Gaudiguch. Sciomore, you see, had enough of Frai’s attitude, and Gaudiguch smells anyway so it seemed obvious that they’d have no qualms about shooting at them. They didn’t know this, but shooting wasn’t actually going to do anything other than ignite more inter-org hostilities because of a shield Frai had raised. So as far as Hallifax was concerned, they were going to be responsible for taking out Gaudiguch once and for the rest of the week. But Hallifax was like, “no”. And Sciomore was like “do it, it’ll be sweet”. And Hallifax was like “no”. And Sciomore was like “do it or I’ll blow you up” and then disappeared to let them ruminate on the threat, thinking they’d come around by the next evening. Only they didn’t. They were still like “no”. So Sciomore was like “you guys should know that \[REDACTED\] is actually a part of me, and I basically am your city, so do what I say”. Hallifax was like “no”. Since I hadn’t expected them to actually not destroy their enemies under threat of destruction themselves, I hadn’t really prepared anything. So Sciomore gave them one last deadline, complete with “hacking” into \[REDACTED\] and setting a timer with alarm emotes through the city and etc etc etc. My original plan hadn’t been to destroy the city. Instead, Sciomore was going to release \[REDACTED\] and Hallifax was going to have to do an event quest type thing to fix \[REDACTED\] and save the city. But then I realized that, while that’d have the potential for fun, it wasn’t really game-changing. I wanted to do something game-changing, and being a developer for Lusternia I have the access and skills to do things in a big way. I decided to destroy the city if Hallifax didn’t comply. I got to coding up blocking out most of the city commands for Hallifax (which was, thankfully, easy, due to the way city commands are handled), and a couple other minor things to make it all look good. I realized that the exact threat I’d made to Hallifax involved them having never existed; I couldn’t exactly pull that off, as good as it sounded, so I went with the idea that after the Matrix was destroyed, Sciomore reweaved time so that Hallifax was destroyed in the Taint Wars instead, leaving the players as a small group of insular refugees who had endured for the past few centuries. Maybe not the most solid reasoning, but I wanted to make sure players still had the organization so they didn’t run off and join other orgs thinking Hallifax had been completely deleted forever and then regretting it when the dream ended, so I had to make do. I think it worked out okay. Anyhow, for the day between giving Hallifax the deadline and the deadline arriving, Hallifax was in a joyous chaos. One of the RP god administrators jumped in and took over a lot of mob possession duties for this, which is good because I am terrible at mob possession. I had ears in their city leadership clan, so I had access to a lot of the juicy drama going on relating to the event. I missed a lot of it leading immediately up to the deadline due to schedule conflicts, but I saw enough while I was frantically finishing up the code touches to feel pretty good about actually having managed to give Hallifax something to do during the event. Towards the deadline, I was worried for a bit that a certain Hallifaxian might actually run in and fire the thing, so at the urging of basically everyone in Havens (everyone who was able to be logged in was logged in to watch everything go down), and because I really, really, really wanted to blow up a city, I fudged the deadline just a little bit and did the thing. It was awesome. Because I rushed it a bit, the plane messages were a bit improvised (see above) and were nowhere near as wonderful as they should have been, but I managed it anyway. There was a little bit of awkwardness with a delay between the Matrix exploding and everyone actually dying (I had switched the word order on my “hallinuke” command without realising it and was freaking out over it not working), but I successfully blew up the city and killed everyone on Prime. It was joyous. As an aside, this was my second time running an event in an IRE game that culminated with the deaths of the vast majority of online players. Also with the major destruction of an important in-game landmark. What can I say, I like blowing things up and killing things. Afterwards, Hallifax played well with the drama of dealing with their city no longer existing (or having never existed in the present). The day following the destruction of the city was the beginning of contact between the Elder Gods and players, so I felt the flow for my part of the event went pretty well. All in all, though, I don’t really know what would have happened if those weapon designs hadn’t ended up in Sciomore’s hands. Hallifax probably would have ended up having a seriously boring week, because I was at a loss of what to do and doing the actual roleplay of Sciomore wasn’t something I was doing terribly well. After we were in full swing, midway through the event, I of course had come up with a few ideas of things I could have done, better ways I could have approached the character, but since I was rushed into the whole thing I didn’t have time to do that beforehand, and by the time I’d come up with them it would have been to late. Basically, Kiradawea was responsible for Hallifax even having a meaningful event, even if it meant destroying the city for a few days. I enjoyed it, largely because I got to approach it in the vein of giving Hallifax toys, and using the minimalism of Sciomore’s input to let Hallifax largely make its own fun, drama, etc. for the duration of the event. Sorry that Hallifax didn’t really get any good interactions directly with their god as the other orgs did, but they did get to blow up a mountain so it kind of balances out. I really hope Hallifax enjoyed everything. I probably should have played up Sciomore’s hatred of Serane a bit more (read: at all), but alas. There’s no need to worry about Ieptix taking over one of the RP god roles, however, so you can all breathe a sigh of relief there; I’ll leave the RP to the people who are actually good at it. So that’s my highish-level walkthrough of the event from Sciomore’s perspective. I’m considering writing up a part 2 to this, discussing the mechanics that went into the event and some other idle musing relating to the event, but that’s not set in stone. We’ll see. This exchange is over. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Factions Roundtable!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/02/factions-roundtable/) **Published:** May 2, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Now that all of new guilds have been released, I thought it would be nice to give a little closure and behind-the-scenes insight to our overall process for both the events themselves and the development of factions. I wrote up a couple questions and nudged all of the admin who helped out to give their answers. Enjoy! ***Why did you choose the guild-ending event that you ended up doing?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** I wanted to give Celest a reason to see that the current layout of guilds wasn’t working, but I also didn’t want a full repeat of Old Celest blowing up. The main goal was to give Celest a reason to gain a new theology. The basic idea was that there would be some “badguy” attacking Celest, but the attack revealed some “Uncomfortable Truths” which the city had to face by looking inward. **Serenwilde** - **Charune**: Serenwilde has a few underlying themes that are prevalent in its entire design: ancestor and spirit worship; the cycle of life, death, and rebirth; willing sacrifice of the self for the “greater good”; and a distinct isolationism that no other org can really even touch on. Our event was designed to touch on each of these points in a way to, at least it was our hope, invoke the emotion create memories related to each of these. When designing the event, we had to keep the isolationist aspect in mind from the beginning, and that is how we ended up choosing the Foolish Warrior as the Serenguard knew him in their legends, named Delosidir in the planning stages; if the threat had come from outside of the Serenwilde, was some alien evil that had no bearing on the forest itself, I don’t think anybody can argue it would have had the same effect. Delosidir was a child of Serenwilde, and we made this obvious from the beginning, going as far in my writing of his dialogue to ensure he was a familiar voice, making use of informal language, copying the intonations of certain old Serenwilde players in a few cases, copying the more behaviours of certain players, even setting up some of his insults days before with some things my own order mob had said. He was Serenwilde’s problem, and their problem alone, because he is the worst of Serenwilde personified. Death and rebirth is kind of obvious, but we needed death to happen here, we needed people to mourn as death is, frankly, traumatic, and we saw the same behaviours in most of Serenwilde we see of a grieving family member: some clammed up and retreated quietly, some got irrationally angry, and some just grieved. For rebirth, we made sure there was a message of hope from the beginning, from the last lines of the prophesy, foreshadowing the event as a “boon”. Sacrifice was a big one for us. Except for Eurytus, every guild tutor was savable with effort and a bit of luck (we actually ended at least one life based on the result of a d20, sorry Ridien!), and we actually wrote scripts for both paths. In the end, Serenwilde ended up choosing the path that was best for them at the loss of a mob at every turn: nobody tried to talk Osierti into leaving for more than a moment, but he saved a massive part of the forest with his psionic barrier; Dain is now Fiabelhie’s prison in the dreamworld, keeping her locked there, but it’s not likely she’s going to escape again soon as a result; people forgot about Lleucu entirely to go try and save the Voice of Trialante which, being a divine voice, would probably have been fine in the end anyway (seriously, Serenwilde, that was cold). In the end, the sacrifice of Hart and Moon drove it home, I hope, as without Hart’s sacrifice, Moon would never have been wounded, and without Moon’s willing sacrifice, Awedhel/Lalenna would never have been found to guide Serenwilde with the Wodewoses, Teharo Stardapple would have never been summoned, and the Last Seed and that frightening(ly cute) ghillie you call Sparrow would still be buried under eastern Serenwilde. And as for ancestor worship… Well, the only solution to a problem in Serenwilde is for Serenwilde itself to face it, and the spirits are as much Serenwilders as anybody living. - **Hoaracle:** Charune pretty much said it all. We needed the event to be cataclysmic enough to wipe the slate clean for Serenwilde, but it needed to be personal to the lore it has developed too. Originally, we were going to do a sort of “Rogue’s Gallery,” but that was quickly pushed aide for being simply too much. - **Lisaera**: Charune talks a lot, and I generally agree. I was devastated to see some of my favorite mobs die, but the profound impact it had on the playerbase made it all worth it in the end. Stay tuned, too, for more… dun dun dun. **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: Magnagora was never given a choice in regards to what happened to it during Project Cosmic Hope – they accepted what happened afterwards, their minds already transformed to perceive it as a blessing. The Empire was using it as a safe and disposable testing site, the Fates lied by omission, and the very Verses of Magnora upon which the city was founded promised wonders and power without stating the cost. “Foretold but never forewarned”, Magnagora’s latest prophecy thundered, “Acceptance is a serf’s substitute for choice.” There was a weakness inherent in the first major transformation the city has undergone and I wanted the second one to put them in a position of strength now that they have grown. I knew Magnagora would be loathe to part with its guilds, an ironic stance considering its moniker and yet entirely understandable. But Magnagora does not back down from a challenge and it would sooner destroy that which weakens it than be consumed by it – the Engines of War march ever forward. And so I knew, from the moment I started thinking about the event, that Magnagora must choose destruction on its own in an epic, poetic twist upon what happened to it in the first place. This time willingly, this time knowing the price of power and paying it gladly. Far as I’m concerned, going out in the throes of the largest necromantic ritual ever performed by the city is the most Magnagoran thing out there. Save for maybe doing just that and then rising from the ashes as liches to behold the destruction. In destruction, transformation! **Glomdoring** - **Viravain**: Glomdoring has always been so unbelievably set in its ways. Never, since the organization opened years ago, has there been much to really shake things up, outside the discovery of the Wyrd. I thought — what an incredible opportunity to really give the Glomdoring players something new to grab onto, beyond the almost trope-like ideas that have been in play for so long! But what? It donned on me that stagnation, which is one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” of the Glomdoring, was really happening, but short of Viravain Herself appearing and demanding people to change, there wasn’t likely a lot to go on in terms of cataclysmic events. So I created my own. The greev — the “reaper” concept — is another amorphous, fae-born horror, like the wyrd, that was a culmination of the Glomdoring’s own will to evolve. Because of the wyrd, which is itself a terrible, hungry force, the greev manifested as an enormous spider. I actually had nightmares about the nehvgree (the little spiderlings that did the greev’s bidding) for a few days. **Hallifax** - **Isune:** I wrestled with this with Zvoltz even before he stepped away, because the crux is “What defines a guild?” Is it the guild hall? Or the tutors, per se? The logic of getting rid of guilds for me had to go beyond blowing up a hall and walking away. Not to say other cities shouldn’t, but in Hallifax, it was almost too easy with so many experiments to hijack that could cause havoc. But, a guild as an organisational entity does not exist simply because it has property deeded to it. The existence is governed by the contract between the entity and the Board of Directors. So now the question became: “What could induce, persuade, or even coerce, the Board of Directors to voluntarily dissolve their guild organisation contracts?” It had to be something or someone with a lot of clout that could guide, demand, or pressure the ‘desired’ outcome. - **Czixi**: During the event, Gero summed this up perfectly: “This is how it ends, not with a bang, but with a quiet vote in the board room”. Hallifax has had more than its share of apocalypses. We didn’t want it to be a repeat of the Dreaming Year and the destruction of the city there – and so we started to look for alternatives that were just as strong in their impact, but not quite as salt-the-fields. But as Isune mentions, this meant that we needed to pull in the big guns in order to make the city willingly disband their guilds. Interestingly, it was much less of a fight than we anticipated. We prepared a whole slew of counterarguments to the possible concerns – but it seems that the Chairman Eternal is still, and always will be, an irresistible force within Hallifax. **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** We needed something that would be logical to erase the guilds, but something so pervasive that it would make sense to move on from them instead of just rebuilding. That’s why we went with the explosions that destroyed the guilds and framed it in a ‘from the ashes, a newer, better, system arises.” I know a lot of players were disappointed with the sudden explosions, but how do you really build up to complete destruction? We wanted people to feel helpless, confused, upset, out of control. We didn’t want it to be something that a player may have felt like they could have prevented. We dropped hints and pieces, but left everything intentionally vague. Then afterwards we could really build up to the identity of the incoming factions, the Goonsquad fighting for the people, Revelry keeping Gaudiguch’s soul intact and Illuminators being the spiritual center and the guarders of the real costs of enlightenment and freedom. - **Mysrai:** As Kali stated, we wanted something dramatic, something plausable, something utterly chaotic. Gaudiguch, for me, embodies chaos. There was quite a bit of anger over the sudden violent explosions and whirlwind of change, and that, in my opinion is GOOD. The goal was to evoke emotion, in both players and their characters. What would devastate? What would shove them forward into a revolution? Destruction of all they knew before, at the hands of some unseen enemy (A secret society? Hallifaxian invasion? Who knows?!?) All those questions can be filled in by the players, though they may never be concrete. That’s the beauty of it. In the end, the soul of Gaudiguch was exposed, and it is up to the people to see it continue on in the spirit of all they fight so hard for. ***Was there anyone/anything you wanted to save/preserve during the event?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** Everything! **Serenwilde** - **Charune**: Nope. Burn it all, nothing is sacred. - **Hoaracle**: I am with Charune on this one. We had a very clear plan about what or who could go away and we made peace with that from the beginning. - Lisaera: A few loose threads were burned away that I could have used for my own nefarious ideas, but in the end, I’m with the other two — fresh start felt good. **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: I wanted to save the guild tutors because they were such a memorable part of each guild. Except for Veritus n’Rotri, I had it out for him from day one because much as he is a walking legend (the first Heresiarch post Project Cosmic Hope), he ish a pain to poshsheshsh with that damnable lishp. I still haven’t decided if I’m bringing him back but the Nihilists are very fond of the old fart. The city was really bent on protecting the tutors too… except for when they went to perform the ritual and left them twiddling their thumbs in the towers that were about to crumble. Good job guys! Jezebel was quite content to go rummaging underground though and Jagrerox was drawn to the ritual with all the death and chanting. We’ll see about others. Other than that I flat out asked the faction clan if there’s anyone they find particularly annoying and everyone pointed fingers at the crier. Much as I felt for the poor guy who’s just doing his job, we discussed a clockwork blimp as his replacement and, well, the man was found dead not long after. Other than that, the one thing I was really attached to were the dark towers of Magnagora’s skyline. I wanted to bring down the Necropolis, and with it most of its guild halls, but I also wanted to rebuild them, taller and grander than ever. It’s just not Magnagora without those black skeletal fingers clawing for the smog-tinged firmament. **Glomdoring** - Viravain: I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that I was very fond of some of the casualties. In fact, I brought two back that were slated to die horribly: Dominique and Lasher. I did, however, bank on there being a few resurrections, considering how tough it is to kill a swarm… **Hallifax** - **Isune:** We wanted to save as much as possible. Especially because so much of Hallifax’s class skills are tied to specific rooms. Finding a reason or way to move these or re-architect them into a new location was going to be tough! Though it’s too bad we had to kill Cririk, I think people would’ve liked having a living version to guide them. - **Czixi:** Oh gosh, everything. As Isune said there were some rooms and beings we couldn’t remove (imagine trying to destroy the Temporal Conclave, or the Voice of Crys) – and at that point, it felt too unfair to close down one guildhall but leave another open. Fortunately the very thing that made the guildhalls hard to remove was also the thing that made it easiest to justify keeping them; they are and always have been intrinsic parts of the city. Some of them are whole spires or monumental structures within it. Transferring them to being part of the city proper was the logical step forward. Watching everyone surge forward to explore them when we opened them was wonderful (and yes, the Aeromancers do have all the cool toys). **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** We weren’t as ready to murder everyone off, mostly because we wanted to have people to pass on knowledge and secrets to the new tutors. - **Mysrai:** I had briefly considered going on a murder spree, and still might have a few regrets at not doing it. However, it all works out. ***What was your favorite moment during your org’s event?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** My favourite part was when players roleplayed things which ended up having a great effect for the story. Like when Tridemon said something which inspired us to remove Aquamancy for a bit, or Reyqae cleaning with a bucket instead of the staff, or Auriella cleansing some water with healing kata forms. Working off of the actions of players was very rewarding. It shifted the event from “Here, let me force this onto you” to “Let us do this thing together”. **Serenwilde** - **Hoaracle:** The epic scenes between Delosidir (when he killed Hart/hurt Moon and when he was banished), Osierti’s gallant effort to fight Fiabelhie, and Ridien destroying Moondance tower were some of my favorite moments written by admin. On the player side, I liked hearing and seeing Everiine’s development of a ritual to banish Fiabelhie, and I also liked the moral debate that people participated in when Dain adapted said ritual. Another good one was Ejderha’s attempt to get with Lalenna. - Lisaera: All of the beautiful moments between the players and their favorite NPCs. It always warms my heart to see people truly connect with the work we do, and I sincerely shed a few tears when everyone mourned Ridien’s passing. I was also fond of Moon being harmed and the fall-out from that, because wowza — blood moon was such a cool concept (that I had no part in, by the way! Charune and Hoaracle are clearly jealous and tried to come for my daughter). **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: Lots of favourite moments from the event but what I enjoyed most of all was how much players got into it. The investigations they have conducted on the corpses found were amazing and the feeling of chaos reigning was so raw and tangible that I, myself, felt the confusion and anxiety of the city. Is this a new body? Have we accounted for this one? Has the Chancellor been found? Who even was the Chancellor? Further, the way they got into the D&D spirit of raiding the Cogs headquarters was awesome, even as they were quite surprised by what was required of them to proceed. I was particularly delighted by the Prince of Rust being elected and the ritual to do so finally being completed. It was such an old plot of mine and to be able to use it here was particularly rewarding. The Bell-Tower going down was a last minute decision that had such a huge impact, it was really moving to see people react to it and echo the sentiment for it that I, too, share. And lastly, the ritual at the end was made so much better by the players getting into it with abandon. The atmosphere was electric as they chanted and shouted and screamed and prayed and were all kinds of nuts while the ground shook and everything was ripped asunder. Unforgettable. What is more, as a player I have always dreamed of using actual player skills for events so, suddenly inspired, I asked Ianir if he could code in a special use of Necromancy for the event, fully expecting him to say no, but all he said was, “Sure, give me the lines.” **Glomdoring** - Viravain: Watching people slowly realize that they were powerless against the greev was fascinating, the playerbase and the NPCs alike. Glomdoring is so full of strong personalities who do not recognize weakness for what it truly is — being helpless againt a force that you cannot overcome. I was mesmerized by this happening in the forest, which is why I may have accidentally hammed it up a little more than was originally intended… **Hallifax** - **Isune:** The amount of collaboration and interaction as a whole; from ideas on how to ‘fix’ the Tower, to ways of negotiating with the insurgents, to rallying different mobs to reorganise into new guilds. The creative, generosity, and helpfulness of Hallifax as a whole always delights me. Being able to have the kind of back and forth roleplay we achieved is the highlight of any event for me. Though it gets crazy with the amount of denizens being controlled, I adore it. - **Czixi:** I have so many, but will try and narrow it down to three. During the invasion, Portius decided to engage espionage mode in a way that was both hilarious and incredibly useful in terms of delivering some more of the background to the insurgents – it turns out that weaponising your own reputation is quite effective! On a totally different note, one of the roleplay stars of the event has to be Nelras. Sometimes it’s really easy to make characters, especially refined and poised ones, completely unflappable. That Nelras was willing to show what happens when a character like that is utterly emotionally destroyed is a credit to him. And finally, on a more personal note, the opportunity to portray Cririk Adom was one that I am privileged to have had and one that – though terrifying – I enjoyed immensely. As a player I deeply regretted not having been around for the return of Gaudiguch and Hallifax, and getting to be part of that legacy was amazing. (On a related note I have to thank the nameless administrator who, when I asked them for tips on authentically portraying Cririk, gave without hesitation the answer: “Cririk was kind of a dick”). **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** I like Ziamu, he’s fun. Enadonella and Breandryn kidnapping Luce was amazing. - **Mysrai:** The explosions, obviously… Really though, had some great interactions with players. Letarne chasing around the suspicious figures was pretty fun. He tried SO hard to get those damn things to tell him something and was clever about it. ***What was something you wish you would have done differently?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** More planning, more mposing, more grand rp sessions which could have lasted hours and hours at a time over many days. I wasn’t so happy with how often players seemed to feel stuck with nothing to do but wait for the “next step”. I also wished that I had made it more clear to people to post to the city news what they were doing more. Sometimes I really felt like I was in the dark, not knowing what players were trying to accomplish and only being able to interact with “solo rp sessions”. I really wish I could have had more people involved with things at a time, but it got a bit overwhelming. **Serenwilde** - **Charune:** Three things: More ways for players to interact with the event, actually preparing a day’s stuff more than 8 hours ahead of time, and restarting my MUD client before doing event stuff so I don’t end up with the situation we had where I crashed while setting up the final Delosidir phase and Hoar didn’t know how to prep it and everybody just kind of sat there waiting for three minutes while I’m trying to restart Wine and get MUSHclient running and log back in. Oh, and I wish we had expanded on some of the cooler side lore we had actually written for the event, like the story of Delosidir and the Stripes of Oblivion. - **Hoaracle:** Definitely having a larger window for preparing the event. The entire proposal for what we did happened very late in the game, so we were scrambling to finish, prog and describe a bunch of things to get ready. I also agree I wish we had more ways for players to interact. This event was “forced,” in the sense that we had a very clear set goal but we tried to open up possibilities, consequences throughout. If we had more time, I would have liked to not only made the event more open-ended, but also had it going on at different times so more people could participate. - Lisaera: I would have been there more. Unfortunately, life started to take me away from the game right around the time the new guilds were being planned, and I wound up taking the back seat for a lot of this one. You’ll have noticed my delicate touch here and there, but I really wish I could have been there more to see everything firsthand. Charune and Hoaracle did an INCREDIBLE job without really needing me, and I’m so happy with the outcome. As a side note, I’ll be around much more frequently very, very soon! **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: As per usual, I wish I had had time to do more, do it longer, do it better. The plot at hand was very complex and I didn’t always get to hint at the deeper levels of it the way I intended because there just wasn’t time for it. I managed to do some of it at least and the rest will be revealed in time. The one thing I wish I had had the option of doing was giving the city more choices but working within strict time constrains of the overarching change and also of my own life, things had to be moving and happening at a rapid pace. I also wish I had had either more time or more help to get this done but I’m very proud of what I managed to pull off considering most everything was slapped together on the very day it was being used. I’m particularly fond of the traps in the Cogs headquarters as this is something we’ve never done before and was quite hilarious. **Glomdoring** - Viravain: I wish I could have scripted more of it. Literally everything, save for the final few hours, was unplanned. Even the greev happened in the moment, and I begged a team of helpful ephemerals to describe some of the creatures you saw (yes — this new round of volunteers is just as dark and twisted as I am for coming up with what they did). All of the conversations, all of the fun revelations, all of the evolutions… they were all what felt right in that exact moment. If I had more time, between Lusternia and the real world, I would have probably scripted more and spent more time on building programs to support the cool, macabre story that was unfolding. As it so happened, I was manually firing most of the ambients, with a little help from other incredible Elders during the Dark Spirit bit. Next time! **Hallifax** - **Isune:** I wish we’d had more time for a more extended build-up, but time schedules as they were, we got everything done we wanted to do in a logical and realistic way. - **Czixi:** I have to echo Isune and say that I wish we’d had time to make the event longer. Unfortunately we were both hugely busy around the time of the release and there was no way to fix that. There were also a few times where we saw people trying to engage with the event but weren’t able to attend to it (due to being away or preparing the next part or so forth), but that is always going to be the case to an extent. **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** I know I could have done better with the event over all. This was really my first large-scale event I had to take a part in leading, so mistakes were made on my end. It was a learning experience for me. I also wish the players were not so quick to dismiss and damn the event. It was pretty disheartening knowing that we had more buildup for the new guilds planned but very few people wanted to participate. Also, what the hell is wrong with attacking Hallifax when you bastards raid and murder them for shits and giggles on an almost daily basis? - **Mysrai:** I would have loved to have more RL time to just dive in and RP with players, and as a whole I felt like I didn’t get to deliver on that end as much as I’d like to, but Kali being around was a HUGE help and she did a lot to fuel the roleplay for the event. ***What were your initial feelings about doing the switch from guilds to factions?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** I was sad to see some guilds I worked so hard on as a mortal go poof. My immortality in those guilds is now lost to history. **Serenwilde** - **Charune**: I’m not a very sentimental person. Since factions were announced initially, my reaction to it has been it’s a chance to improve, to build, and to revitalise. My perspective has not changed, and I tried to take that into the event as a priority. - **Hoaracle**: From the very beginning, I was excited about the prospects of changing from guilds to factions. On a practical level, we needed the facelift; we needed to address the constant concern of population issues, the failure of covenants, etc. But beyond that, they were a chance for nations, Serenwilde especially, to grow in newer and different ways. Obviously, all the older lore from the Moondancers, Shofangi, Spiritsingers, et al is still relevant, but now that same lore can be freshened up and looked at through entirely different lenses. - **Lisaera**: Terror, but that’s because this kind of sweeping change is always a little intimidating for me. I think this is mostly due to my very random work life, which can sometimes rip me away from the game at unexpected intervals. As a concept, I was thrilled by the idea that we would have a chance to recreate some of the finer points of Serenwilde’s history with a new foil, new goals in mind. **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: No. No, no. No, no! You want to destroy my beloved Nihilists? The one thing that above even Magnagora and the gods looking over it had been my one true love? I thought it’s madness and that it will never work. It was only after Zvoltz wrote a few example blurbs for what factions could be like for a few choice orgs, that I saw this could be a new beginning rather than an end. We weren’t discarding all that lore, we were just using it in new and creative ways. It still pains me to think of but I know the things we are creating are amazing and will revitalize their orgs, in addition to being good for the game as a whole. **Glomdoring** - Viravain: I was thrilled! Maim and slaughter, blood everywhere, carnage! I saw this step in Lusternia’s history as a chance for us to really establish a newness that included the direction we wanted this time. The original guilds were, for all intents and purposes, perfect for that time period, but now…now the game has evolved. We needed something new to represent that paradigm shift. **Hallifax** - **Isune:** OMG what!? They want to do WHAT? Ugh. This is going to be HUGE, what about x, and y? How will this play out logically from an IC perspective?? The storyline needs to be something that characters in the game can accept. Even if this must be done, we should preserve what lore we can, start fresh where it makes sense, and present a logical flow to the dissolution or it will just seem ‘forced’. I couldn’t stand for it to feel forced. - **Czixi:** I hated it. I cannot emphasise how much I hated it. I was so angry that we were even considering it, I wanted to quit everything there and then so that I didn’t have to watch all the things that I loved get destroyed forever. Honestly, at the start I just went along with it purely so that I could defend the legacy of the old guilds – but then I started to see the ideas that people were coming up with for the new guilds, and I fell completely in love. It was actually one of Magnagora’s new guilds (the Heralds) that made my realise how this could be an evolution, not just a destruction. **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** Lets do this, out with the old and in with the new. - **Mysrai:** I was a bit tentative. I could see the reasoning behind the change, sure, but I had attachments to certain guilds and the thought of them just going away was a hard pill to swallow. In the end though I have to say it’s better for Gaudiguch. Things needed a’shakin. ***How was the process like?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** Long, hard, fun. I hope I never have to do it again 😛 **Serenwilde** - **Hoaracle:** Not going to lie, Serenwilde’s process from point A to Z was a real roller coaster. We started off with some basic ideas that evolved very quickly into the early prototypes of the Listeners and Wodewoses (at the time, the Sowers was still not conceptualised fully). It looked like everything was good and dandy. Then, unfortunately, the entire Serenwilde pantheon left for only two of us return roughly five months later. When we got back, suddenly there was concern about these prototypes, which blew up into larger concern about the direction of Serenwilde’s roleplay. We always had in mind the idea that these factions would help us look at, revise, refine and change Serenwilde in many ways, but the intensity of ideas often overburdened and stressed both players and us out. I really like the end products of this process; the three new guilds have a lot of texture and nuance to them, which I hope players will start engaging with. But at the end of the day, I am not sure if that outweighs the meandering path it took us to get there. - Lisaera: See above. **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: Amazing, painful, awe-inspiring, dreadful. All the things. The only thing about it that I disliked was the time involved and it was indeed quite the time-hogger. I have dozens of projects on my plate (such as Drocilla’s godrealm) and I rarely, if ever, get the time to pursue them. But working with the faction clan was really invigorating and engineering a new Magnagora was a treat. In between serious work we found time for laughs and it made the work easier. Working on factions also allowed me to blow up half of Magnagora so… win win! No, really, I am seriously in it for the death toll. Exactly twenty-five Magnagorans died in the ritual and I was cackling like mad. **Glomdoring** - Viravain: Like I said in another section, it was…fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants mayhem. I was alone (Nocht and Manteekan were, sadly, very busy in the real world and could not be here for this stage in the game) and I was uncertain in the beginning. How was I going to join this process so late, after having only offered my two cents during the initial stages, and take the reins completely? Then it sort of became second nature. I realized quickly that I knew Glomdoring as well as a ranger knows her land, so I knew what would make the most sense. The game is evolving. The playerbase is evolving. So, too, did Glomdoring need to evolve in order to keep up. What better way to force change inside Glomdoring than by having Glomdoring itself act as the catalyst. **Hallifax** - **Isune:** It was just massive and I’m lucky we only had 4 guilds to juggle let alone 5 elsewhere. But, this was also my first BIG project as an admin. SCARY! Until Czixi was ‘born’ shall we say, I was in the early stages of just brainstorming and organising. First was revisiting the clan, making sure we had the right players in and giving each side of Hallifax representation. Then came the unending checklists… I love checklists, the satisfaction of checking a task as Done just feels good! So our twikis are full of lists and notes, plus transcripts here and there of important discussions. The big thing was communication and coordinating that between the Pantheon and Clan and making sure we were all on the same page, knew what was coming next, set expectations, all those fun coordination tasks. - **Czixi:** Exhausting. Wonderful. Huge. I have said elsewhere that it is the biggest project most of us have undertaken in Havens – and the nature of projects of this size is that they take all of the joys and all of the difficulties of this job and magnify them tenfold. I’m very grateful that the former outweighed the latter (or at least made the latter bearable!). **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** I only came up to godhood in the middle of the whole process, so a lot of the planning was done prior to me. - **Mysrai:** A shot of tequila, some cursing (I lie, lots of cursing), and a ton of fretting over every little detail. ***What were some of your goals for your org’s factions (i.e. what purposes did you want them to serve)?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** The Ecclesiarchy/Church faction felt like a no brainer. The other two factions were created with a reason in mind why anyone would want to join them and without making the factions feel the need to be in competition with each other. **Serenwilde** - **Charune**: I can only speak on a general sense as late as I came to Serenwilde, but my hope for factions in Serenwilde personally was that it would give the org a bit of a new start, a chance for players to grow the lore and force them to work together on a combined goal. - **Hoaracle**: As Charune said, we definitely wanted the factions to be a new beginning for Serenwilde. We have constantly had to fight against this idea that Serenwilde has minimal roleplay (either do to simply lacking it or being surfeit with tropes that it really isn’t unique), so the hope was that these new orgs would help with that by fleshing out or highlight an element of that roleplay. The Listeners are interested in the ancestor spirits – which has been played up by Serenwilde’s epic quest, the Hartstone lore and the Spiritsinger skills; the Sowers draw upon the legacy of Ellindel and Glinshari to restore, heal and purify the world; the Wodewoses play up the idea of living in the forest, its folklore, its traditions and its tribalism. Going forward, these are the sort of plot points we want to push for Serenwilde to, hopefully, conceive of a fresher, stronger identity. **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: I wanted the Heralds to embrace all things spiritual but be more than just priests. Several attempts at that were made in the Nihilists in the past but they were, still, ultimately Nihilists and perceived as such. But kneeling to the Demon Lords is about more than an homage, it is about learning from them and using those teachings to further your own goals. The city’s spiritual goal has ever been transformation, and they are the heralds of just that. The Infernals echo that sentiment in the form of domination of the Basin, the more immediate purpose of the Engine. And finally the Society came about to give voice to something Magnagora has always done and had but never in the form of a guild. They are the voice of progress and industry but within they are corrupt. I wanted something with rivalry, peerage, ambition, basically something with teeth that look pearly to the casual bystander but in reality are sharp as needles. **Glomdoring** - Viravain: I wanted the players to distance themselves from their very, very limited scope of Glomdoring. The Shadowdancers are, in my opinion, one of the most amazing guilds, but it’s so easy to become completely and wholly engrossed in the shadows. That is really limiting for us as administrators because we have to tailor the events to fit the interests of the players, who so far, have been more or less one-note when it comes to game play. Now, with these factions focusing less on internal guild lore, they’re all driving each other forward, which will hopefully allow for more exploraiton of Glomdoring’s lore that exists outside of the guildhalls. **Hallifax** - **Isune:** We wanted to make sure each type of Hallifaxian lifestyle was represented in some way while making sure no one faction got ‘stuck’ being “the combat org” or “the art org”. We focused on factions providing the fuel and motivations to DO combat and DO art rather than being THE place you do art. - **Czixi:** I wanted them to tie into the past as well as creating the future, but without just making them terrible remakes of the old guilds. The new guilds are not so much what you do, but how you do it. You can be a brilliant scientist who is part of the Grand Aerie because their goal is to make the world a better place; a majestic artist who devotes themselves to the Adherents because they believe that their art uplifts the Collective; a bloodthirsty combatant who becomes part of the Consortium so that they can be well equipped to bring destruction to their enemies. **Gaudiguch** - **Mysrai:** It was important to us that the factions not only embody Gaudiguch ideals, but that they provide a place without conformity to a certain stereotype. Essentially, places where people who identify as roleplayers, pvp’ers and everything inbetween can have fun and not feel as if they need to go elsewhere because they don’t fit into a certain “type”. ***Were there any changes from your faction design plans?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** Even until the moment when the new guilds were released, things changed. For example, the Holy Exliarch of the Ecclesiarchy, one of the names which was “set in stone” from the begining, ended up being called “The Guiding Star” based on player feedback and some inspiration during the building process of the guildhall. **Serenwilde** - **Hoaracle:** I don’t recall any really big changes, honestly. I think the largest change (if we can really can call it a change) was the development of the Sowers of the Last Seed. We tried very hard to capture the themes of the fae and ethereal without replicating the Moondancers; however, it is too soon to tell whether that worked out. My hope is that people latch onto the charge of Glinshari and Ellindel in a more direct way. Beyond that, most of our changes were attempts to make each of the factions approachable to different kinds of roleplayers. We altered some early HELP file drafts to suggest a variety of positions – aggressive, diplomatic, mystical, etc. – but that was about it. **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: Yes, rather significant in fact. Spirituality is something so inherent to Magnagora that I knew it has to remain, much like in Celest. Those two organisations are unique when it comes to their cosmic planes. At the same time I did not want to just create Nihilists 2.0 because there is more to spirituality in Magnagora than just the Demon Lords. It is the divine, the Earth Lords, the Demon Lords, and even Jagrerox. The idea of the Heralds was a bit last minute in the sense that we were set on Cabal of Damnation for over half a year. But the Cabal was too focused on the cultural aspect of the city too and culture should not be any one guild’s domain – it is the domain of the city as a whole. Once the name was there, everything else about that guild clicked – the everyday purpose and the greater purpose. It was the same with Infernals who were a shift from the Dominion – I did not want them to be so heavily focused on combat because 1) it was our directive from on top not to create the pvp guild, the rp guild etc, and 2) it was shallow. A heavier focus on Necromancy and the idea of subjugating the Basin for Luciphage has both combat and roleplay vibes. **Glomdoring** - Viravain: Not many! The originally agreed upon designs were very structured. The leader titles changed a few times, but that’s it, as far as I can remember. **Hallifax** - **Isune:** We struggled because so much of Hallifax was represented and designed so well, though we had gaps. There was a lot of brainstorming and debate over how to not make “version 2.0” of our old guilds. - **Czixi:** You have no idea how long we spent debating the name of the Adherents. I think we could’ve made a whole other guild in the time we spent doing so! **Gaudiguch** - **Mysrai:** Yes and no. Nothing outrageously so. ***Any hints or ideas you have in the pipeline for the new factions?*** **Celest** - **Weiwae:** So many ideas… not many hints. Sorry! **Serenwilde** - **Charune**: We have some ideas and cool RP stuff we want to drop in, but we’re looking more toward what the players have in store right now. No pressure or anything. - **Hoaracle** Yes, we have a lot of neat ideas that we want to get out there as soon as possible. But, for me at least, I am most excited by the new denizens that I hope to populate both Serenwilde and our guilds, seeing as we lost quite a few during the event! **Magnagora** - **Drocilla**: So much! Not only exciting roleplay opportunities but also secrets being revealed. Once all is said and done I will finally be able to cast some light on the events that brought the transformation about as not everything is as it seems. While preparing the event I came up with something I fondly refer to as the three theaters of war and Magnagorans are only aware of one of them. There are so many cool things we’re going to build in the city too: the bulwark, the museum, the new Necropolis, the guild halls, the new library. I can’t wait! **Glomdoring** - Viravain: Oh. There is a lot coming. /stroke scythe **Hallifax** - **Isune:** Just one… Spoilers! - **Czixi:** I’m far more excited about what our players have in store for developing them! **Gaudiguch** - **Kalikai:** Stuff is a coming - **Mysrai:** I don’t know, I hear Aanisah has a secret dungeon she might reveal… >.> **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Sh*t Lusternians Say](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/sht-lusternians-say/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** A fun little video of what Lusternians say! You know it’s true! [Check it out!](http://youtu.be/69bDnEpdj8I) **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [IRE Meet 2012 - Candid Moments](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/ire-meet-2012-candid-moments/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Not every night were there deep philosophical discussions as we weighed the fate of mortals; rather, for an evening or two, the gods went out to let down their hair (or tentacles, as the case may be) to enjoy a few modest libations while decorously dancing to the music of the modern bards. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/beer.jpg) Zvoltz appearing to enjoy himself too much, surrounded by other divine. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/calygirls.jpg) A couple of goddesses surround an unsuspecting divine. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/club1.jpg) Estarra embraces the gods–who take it in good grace. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/girls.jpg) The goddesses relax among their handmaidens. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/group.jpg) Isn’t it funny that when liquor is involved, all gods seem to get along… ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/morgabove.jpg) Morgfyre looks down from the heights of his abode. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/morgisune.jpg) Morgfyre has an oddly pleased expression after giving Isune a drink. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/morgzvoltz.jpg) I believe Zvoltz was summoning some lightening, causing Morgfyre to make a swift exit. Either that, or they were dancing together–you decide which makes more sense! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/pigeon.jpg) This is not a divine, rather it is Phoebus chasing a pigeon. We thought this was too cute not to post! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/estclub.jpg) Estarra and Zvoltz looking strangely pissed off. Was someone late bringing them their drinks? ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/shikcrow.jpg) A rare moment when Crow and Shikari let loose and boogie together. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/shikdrink.jpg) Shikari could never decide whether to drink or to dance so did both at the same time. I love the thumbsup dance move! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/shiksior.jpg) Shikari and Sior enjoy some quiet time plotting together. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/sioraet.jpg) Sior and…. some god from Aetolia! How’d that happen! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/woodhorse.jpg) This is some sort of undead wooden horse. I’m not sure why this amused the gods so, but I would imagine if it were a beat, riding it would be somewhat uncomfortable! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/clubseat.jpg) We snuggle together on a circular couch while sipping on some ambrosia! Wait, how’d that MKO god get into the shot! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/club2.jpg) Thanks to all the admin and players for making this such a great time! Can’t wait until next year! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [IRE Meet 2012](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/ire-meet-2012/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** IRE admin met with players in Washington, DC during our annual meet this year. More Lusternia players and admin showed up than any other game! Thank you to everyone who showed up and a special commemorative item will show up in the inventories of everyone who attended. The highlight was undoubtedly when Skye made an entrance in full Blacktalon garb, looking for the Crown of Gloriana! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet1.jpg) Lusternia volunteer examines Skye’s impressive beak. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet2.jpg) Estarra & Skye ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet3.jpg) Isune and her Handmaidens ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet4.jpg) The Hallifax contingent ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet5.jpg) Skye, Shikari and Crow ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet6.jpg) The Magnagoran contingent ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet7.jpg) The Celest contingent ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet8.jpg) The ultimate frenemies ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet9.jpg) Lusternian Gods ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet10.jpg) IRE players and gods drinking, Part I ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet11.jpg) IRE players and gods drinking, Part II ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet12.jpg) IRE players and gods in the pentahouse suite ![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/images/meet13.jpg) IRE gods visiting the Video Game Art Exhibit at the Smithonean **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [A Treatise on Godly Relationships](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/03/04/a-treatise-on-godly-relationships/) **Published:** March 4, 2014 **Author:** Yomoigu **Content:** When I was but a wee mortal growing up on the winding thoroughfares of \[DATA REDACTED\], one of the (admittedly many, many) aspects of Lusternia which most caught my interest was just how *human* the Divine were. They had their flaws and shortcomings, they had their moments of sorrow and triumph, and they had realistic and complex relationships with their fellow Elder Gods. Whether it was the tragic marriage of Lisaera and Fain, the unrequited love between Maylea and Nocht or, more recently, the oddball sibling rivalry between Zvoltz and Mysrai, the interactions between these all-powerful beings drives much of the conflict and intrigue in the game. Since there has been such a strong interest in Elder processes in the past, I thought that I would divulge a bit of what went into the crafting of Yomoigu and His relationships with his cousins. Obviously, the more fleshed out an Elder is, the easier it becomes to draw connections to His or Her peers. Shikari will always be devoted to Viravain, all others be damned, and Morgfyre will always be a tentacle-squid-thingy reviled by all but the Traitors and hentai enthusiasts. I did not have this sort of fleshed out backstory to fall back upon for Yomoigu. He was mentioned a grand total of three times over the course of a single book and in incredibly sparse detail. Because of this, I (and the other admin) had a great time crafting possible relationships that He could have with the others, allowing for new storylines and new conflicts. The first thing I considered was what I DID know of Yomoigu. The overt list was very small: He was of the Fifth Circle, and he was part of the coterie which developed Fain’s Elixir. From this, however, we were able to ask several pointed questions. What did He think of his work? What did He think of the Traitors who disobeyed Elder law? Why didn’t He join the Traitors? What would others think of Him after the Traitor’s deception was uncovered, after the depths of their depravity were revealed? All of these questions had to be answered, or at least addressed, before thinking about relationships with individual Elders. And that aspect, I must gleefully admit, is some of the most fun I’ve had in the Havens to date. I have spent hours and hours in conversation with the other admin building complex histories, working out the details of the relationships, and planning future events. Because I think that it is far more fun and enjoyable for everybody involved if these tidbits are discovered organically, I must regretfully refuse to tell you anything concrete whatsoever. At all. Nope. …Ok, I’ll tell you some details about one specific relationship. Despite the running gag of Isune having more lovers than Drocilla, I wanted to establish a history with Her, not as a former mate (Yomoigu has one already) but as a friend or confidante. How would a young Isune take the betrayal of the Twelve? How would the perceptions of other Elders during this time color her perceptions? What if in the chaos following the Twelve’s discovery, she felt that her Fifth Circle friend, a known collaborator on the Elixir, was also one of the Traitors? How would Yomoigu take the betrayal of one whom he previously considered an ally? The two respective orders have begun to get a glimpse of this complex relationship, but I promise that there is more to come. (As a side-note, anyone who is wondering WHY Yomoigu and Isune would ever become close in the first place, and why such a friendship might become strained, would be well served in taking a look at their respective philosophies.) **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Scandal in the Havens](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/08/20/scandal-in-the-havens/) **Published:** August 20, 2014 **Author:** Yomoigu **Content:** The morning sun had barely peeked out over the horizon; birds were chirping, butterflies were fluttering, squirrels were being squirrely and I was steadfastly ignoring all of it as I worked agitatedly at My forge, a scowl marring My otherwise Divine complexion. It was a disturbance to the north that had Me so riled up… I could not place precisely what it was, but neither could I be distracted from crafting my latest masterpiece (aetherspace powered oven mitts, I believe they were) to personally check. It soon became a moot point, however; a dark presence was swiftly making its way towards Me, and I laid aside My hammer to deal with it directly. …Lisaera is right, writing this way is much more difficult than it looks, so I must copy Her and ask that you imagine that the following is sprinkled with forging metaphors, Dante references, and multi-coloured flames. Since my forestral compatriot did not manage to vanquish the Enchantress, I had the pleasure of hosting Her as She visited Washington, DC and Philadelphia. It was a whirlwind of Elders, players, museums, and architectural appreciation stops, and it was an absolute blast. Day 1: Wherein the Lady Enchantress meets Her fellow Gods and Her adoring masses, and is subsequently shot by them all. Drocilla arrived DC upon the back of Her winged monkey with a minion in tow quite early. So early, in fact, that they were unable to catch public transportation until several hours later. At long last we were united, and I was greeted with two sets of eyes which hinted at the untold horrors they had encountered on their harrowing trek down south. To this, there was only one cure: coffee and pancakes. Two things, thankfully, which the local diner had in abundance. Refreshed and nourished, We parted ways with Drocilla’s travel companion at DuPont Circle after we picked up Raezon, who so kindly informed us of his location using astronomical terms and the three of us wandered about for a bit (I did not mistake north with south, nope nope nope) before heading to the planned God brunch at Kramerbooks and Afterward café, a really great bookstore/café combo that I will loudly recommend to anyone and everyone. Also attending this godly meeting were the Anomalies Sior and Saesh, the Ephemeral Zyrlen, Shikari, and one who I could only assume was Iriki. Though we fully intended to discuss Our favorite zapping techniques, I’m afraid that bloody maries and banana French toast were sufficient enough to distract us. Once brunch was finished it was not QUITE time for us to head to the main event, so we upheld a fine god meet tradition and temporarily took over a bar for more chatting, chillaxing, and planning future events and plotlines. Even though I talk to most of these people on a weekly if not daily basis, it’s always great to have Lusternia-altering discussions in person and see firsthand the sudden expression of joy and exhilaration as one of us thinks of something particularly clever or devious. At long last, it was time for the player meet (why yes, this day WAS filled with lots of food, why do you ask?) and those of us who were attending rolled on over to Nando’s, another fine Lusternia tradition. Though the Divine element arrived first, we were soon joined by Kelly, Xena, Neos, and Revan, with the zoo crew of Orventa, Llirriov, Iosen, Tyrad, Tremula, and Arimisia walking in some time later. Last to arrive after heading first to the wrong restaurant was Daevos, but his tardiness can be readily forgiven due to his genius suggestion for a post-dinner activity: LASERTAG! I just have to say…wow. I have not had that much fun in a long time. Despite some minor issues getting there (damn you red line!), playing Lusternia laser tag was an absolute blast. A hot, sweaty, smoky, and occasionally bloody blast. Following My master plan, I was placed opposite the Enchantress in an attempt to exercise My vengeance against Her. Unfortunately, She beguiled some poor fool into protecting her, which succeeded precisely 50% of the time. After 2 rounds of 4 games each, we emerged exhausted, yet in awe of Daevos’ raw laser brutality. Day 2: Wherein We experience firsthand how deceptively massive the national mall is and how terrible it is to walk it during the DC summertime Unfortunately, the Enchantress and I were unable to make it to the O Street Mansion where the rest of the remaining players had congregated due to SOMEBODY apparently requiring up to 18 hours of beauty sleep to maintain Her façade of elegance. As such, by the time We were ready, the event was well underway. Instead, we grabbed a quick breakfast and made our way to the National Mall for some first-time-in-DC sightseeing. For those of you who have never been, the DC national mall is large. Huge, in fact. But every building and monument lining it is also incredibly large, thus it is provided with an illusion of manageability. Using the Washington Monument as an easily findable reference point, we trekked to visit my man Lincoln, the Vietnam, Korean, and World War 2 memorials, and the little lake next to the reflecting pool before ending up at the eponymous obelisk and deciding that a rest in its shadow from the oppressive eye of Brother Sun would be a grand idea. And this was only the western half of the mall. The eastern half of the park is dominated by the Smithsonian museums, so we picked two to visit before once more meeting up with those players who remained for dinner. Unfortunately, our first choice (the Botanical Gardens) were only a few minutes from closing when we arrived (seriously, what self respecting museum closes at 5 L), so our visit there mainly consisted of dashing through those few halls we could reach with an occasional ‘ooh, pretty’ scattered throughout. The second selection was the Air and Space museum, and it was here that we were reunited with Kelly, Neos, Revan, Xena, and Iorwen. Though the exhibits are quite interesting and I recommend the place to anyone who visits, I’m pretty sure we spent most of the time talking (kvetching) about aetherspace in some form or another. Further, though we saw plenty of airplanes and space shuttles and gliders (oh my), but the true star of this museum was the thrice-blessed air conditioning. It. Was. Glorious. All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to Iorwen, and the rest of us made a quick stop at the White House (Kelly was excited to see snipers, as I recall) before we all took part in that fine American tradition of barbeque. Though the food was amazing, it turns out that the fearsome Kelly McCloud and the dreaded Enchantress have hang-ups over proper table etiquette. Perhaps there IS some chance for Magnagoran/Celestian reconciliation after all. After dinner, the glorious Divine and wee mortals parted ways, and thus ended the DC segment of the weekend. Day 3: Wherein an attempt is made to explain to an 85 year old women what exactly it is that we do. Though I had not originally intended to be part of the Philadelphia meet, a combination of Neos’ puppy dog eyes and My not having anything better to do convinced me to join in the merriment. Driving the three hours to the city was as much a joy as it always is, doubly so since Marissa (my GPS) decided to spontaneously go senile on us as we neared our first location: Reading Terminal Market, a huge collection of food counters and delis of many nationalities and styles. Alas! We did not eat for at this point we hoped to introduce the Enchantress to the joy (and horror two hours later) that is the Philadelphia cheese steak. Four of us (Revan, Neos, Droc, and yours truly) embarked upon a fantastic quest to gaze upon every fountain, ogle at every pretty building, and stare at every statue on the way to the Philadelphia art museum, location of the iconic Rocky stair climb and victory pose. Yes, the climb was recreated, and yes, there will be a montage posted. At this point, we still had not met up with Dynami, who had promised to meet us for frolicking and faffing about yet foolishly put his trust in the historically spotty public transit, and it made no sense to continue on without a full party, so I took us to my grandmother’s apartment to wait it out. Not only does she love company and have a bottomless selection of candy and pastries, but she also happens to have one of the best views of Philadelphia that I have yet to see; a win-win for all involved (plus, we needed the rest). There was, of course, one price to be paid for this oasis…it appears that I had neglected to tell Grandma Yomoigu that I had been playing and working on an online text-based fantasy game. When she asked how we all knew each other, there followed a rather hilarious attempt to explain to a woman who has trouble understanding how Candy Crush works just exactly what it is we do. Then when, in a supreme lapse of judgment, I mentioned that I and Drocilla play Gods in the game, she starts mock-genuflecting, I realize that it may be time to never mention this particular hobby again. At long last, Dynami met us outside the art museum, so we took our leave of Grandma Yoyo and we were off to the final leg of the trip: the Liberty bell and China Town. I steadfastly refuse to recreate the puns and comments that accompanied the viewing of the bell’s mighty crack, and thus I shall simply say that linner was scrumptious and we were all too full on the trip to the train station to crack any more terrible, terrible jokes.. Some of the most memorable moments of the weekend, listed in no particular order, include: Planning potential future areas and god roles with my fellow Haven dwellers, including such gems as the Dread Realm of DATA REDACTED and the awesome idea of NOT A CHANCE the NOPE NOPE. Walking the Silver Spring farmers’ market with Drocilla and Revan, dog watching and berry buying. Realizing that my perfectly laid plan for having access to my car for laser tag was ruined by the capricious nature of the dreaded red metro line. Taking down Tremula during the aforementioned laser tag and subsequently laser-blasting his Mistress. Belting out Disney classics with Revan, Neos, and Drocilla on the drive up to Philadelphia Telling Iorwen not to worry about carrying her drink into the museum. Her being yelled at for carrying a drink into the museum mere seconds later (oops) Occasionally steering Drocilla away from light poles and other obstacles as she admired the Washington architecture. Watching Kelly tap into her inner Shikari and devouring a plate of ribs in a disgustingly visceral manner. Wondering how the zoo crew, who were one metro stop away, turned a 15 minute trip into an hour long one. Fretting over the probable escape of the polar bears and how they would put a real kink in our merriment. Drocilla and I embracing our inner Olivia Pope and consuming popcorn and wine while I had the pleasure of introducing her to Zombieland. I subsequently learned that a pair of disembodied hands gripping a steering wheel are enough to get her to jump in fright. Realizing that the Botanical Gardens closed in ten minutes. Sneaking in anyway and poking a Venus fly trap. Grandma Yomoigu breaking out the baby pictures. Oh god why. With all said and done, it was an absolutely amazing three days, and definitely one of the best meets that we’ve had. I want to sincerely thank everybody who joined Us in either DC or Philadelphia, and I hope that you all had as much of a good time as I did. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Celest Versus The Hoop Snake](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/14/celest-versus-the-hoop-snake/) **Published:** November 14, 2016 **Author:** Morgfyre **Content:** It was recently brought to My attention that certain events transpired potentially implicating Myself in any number of ridiculous doings which befell certain individuals present at a recent meet in Washington, DC. To set the record straight, I did not so much as log into my computer that day, but I have interrogated those who were in Lusternia at the time, and no one has offered to say anything, save one giggly bard from up the Peak. He confirms that I am blameless; his recounting of the events are as follows: The sun had set, and shadows cloaked the Basin far and wide. The quiet broke, and not long hence, the first warnings were cried: “A serpent! Fie, it bites its tail, and rolls about the land; It slithers not, but hoops apace, a sinister, scaled band!” ‘Twas Ixion who heralded the beast’s foul nom-de-guerre: “The hoop snake lives!” He fair did shout, and dread soon filled the air. Though most dismissed this lofty claim as foolish bunk and lies, The voices of Lyora and Orventa too did rise. “A hoop snake at the aetherplex!” “A serpent in Celest!” Then Kaimanahi, tall and bold, stood at this strange bequest. “Avast!” cried she, “‘Tis Legion’s work, for snakes are His own kin; I’ll stop this problem at the source, and bash His damned door in!” As she marched onward, Neos woke, and looked about his realm. In the Starlit Eternity, he was quite overwhelmed. “Alas! I have not left this place for nigh on fifty years; Yet I must leave, or Magnagora will bring all to tears!” So Neos did descend to Prime from high his lofty perch, and, wandering, did become lost, and for the way did search. Yet Magnagora was not to be his first port of call; He stumbled ‘cross Climanti old, and to Zenos did fall. While Neos died, fair Kaimanahi crossed the Blasted Lands, and entered Legion’s realm, a greatsword ready in her hands. “Death to the God-Devourer!” She bellowed with a cry, and hewed His gentlemen with such pure fury, heads did fly. Her path did take her through His realm to the Palace’s stone gate, and, startled, there she found the Gorefyre Hydra did await. “AVAST,” she roared, and cleaved the beast with sharpened white-gold steel; the hydra did not heed, and made of her a tasty meal. Thus Neos wakened once again, renewed and mission set; He snuck to Magnagora, and no notice did he get. With cunning high and mischief great, their mutts he gutted few; But ur’Marshals discovered him, and Neos died, part two. Too in the hoop snake’s path had been left other innocents; Lyora and Orventa were beset by baked agents. A zombie cookie threatened them from ‘neath the Aetherplex, and chocolate chips with zombie rot have strange and ill effects. The cookie crumbled at great length, but left its presence known; the skinrot resurged briefly there, and flesh soon became bone. Soon Kaimanahi rose again, and loudly roared “AVAST!” (For her most ancient diction’ry had ‘A’ and little past.) She rallied those of New Celest to fight the Legion’s thrall, and said, “That hydra must be slain, for once if not for all!” The hydra must have heard this claim, for instantly he came, and slaughtered Kaimanahi yet again, despite her fame. She fell into the Pool of Stars and cursed the beast vilely, and due to roomwide AOEs, poor Neos died, part three. Fair Kaimanahi had enough of serpents and of Gods, and to the Aetherplex she rode, examining her odds. To Ixion’s own domicile the Paladin did go, and crashing through the stockroom door, she bravely yelled, “AVAST!” — Er, sir, that doesn’t rhyme. — Not my bloody fault she only knows one word! — Ahem. She focused upon Ixion and called for Japhiel, and topaz light enveloped him before he even fell. So startled he could do nothing save look death in the face and kicked our heroine so hard she flew through time and space. Thus Kaimanahi too did meet Climanti of the past, and Zenos twice in the same day did have his own repast. The moral, dears? The hoop snake heralds things both strange and turned. Though none may last, they baffle most, and should be better spurned. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The Havens Guide to Participating in Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/07/13/the-havens-guide-to-participating-in-events/) **Published:** July 13, 2016 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** As we progress through this year’s overarching plot and learn more of what is happening with Father Sun, a number of us up in the Havens have been working on something to equip intrepid eventers – a guide to participating in events! This topic has been touched on in the past, both in blogs and on the forums, but we hope this will serve as a helpful reference for all manner of events. Thank you to all of the wonderful Gods and ephemerals who contributed their ideas. **When An Event Starts** Turn up! No, seriously. When an event starts it will often be clear where to go to get involved. Don’t just sit around at your nexus waiting for something to get in your way – seek the event out for yourself. Don’t be afraid to go to an event just because you don’t think you can help. Whether it’s because you’re a lower level, or because you don’t feel you know the lore as well – there are almost always things you can do. If you’re still uncertain, ask a more experienced player to let you tag along with them, and learn by their example. Sometimes we ‘soft start’ events – like in recent events when the Sun has begun to heat up several days in advance of the main event. Don’t be afraid to start poking around for information even then! **Talking to Denizens** Want to get a denizen’s attention? Use SAY TO. This will get our attention so that we know you are in need of an answer. When doing this, try to give an idea of what you want from the denizen rather than just saying hello. This makes it a lot easier for us to have the right person answer your question, and to come to you with the information you need. When you’ve done that, make sure you’re patient! It can sometimes take us a minute to prepare everything we need to respond to you. There are hundreds of denizens in Lusternia, all with different personalities – we not only have to find the answer to your question, but how that particular denizen would say it. Hang around for a few minutes before you run off, if you can. Continue this during the interaction as well. In the thick of events we’re often controlling each half a dozen or more denizens at the same time – if we’re not responding to you within seconds, that’s probably why! Whilst multitasking is the number one skill in the Havens, we’re still only capable of typing so fast. Remember that from an IC perspective, denizens are people too. Try not to fall into the very easy trap of treating denizens like they are inferior to or distinct from players. By all means treat them as inferior for IC reasons – like being an outsider or unimportant to your character specifically – but make sure there’s a reason. Didn’t get a reply from that denizen? It’s not necessarily a failure. Try again in a while, and we might be freer to talk to you – or we might have had time to look up the answer to your complicated questions. This is especially true of talking to major denizens like the Supernals, Demon Lords, Avatars or similar. Their input can be a huge thing in an event and we want to make sure we do that right for you. **Contributing to the Event** Don’t be afraid to take initiative. Always offer up your own ideas, because it’s very possible we want to receive them – often it is written into an event that players will have the opportunity to do so! If the scope of the event is stricter or more linear, we will make this clear. Communicate within your organisations. Write newsposts, talk to people to make sure they’re up-to-date. The easier it is for people to get involved with events, the more likely they are to do so – and the more fun you will have. In general, please do not entreat the Gods for help during events unless it is clear that they are a part of the event. Yes, Hoaracle could almost certainly stroll in and make that tree you’re trying to grow mature in an instant – and in many ways it’s totally logical to ask for His help when you need that tree grown. But the Gods are hugely powerful beings and Their participation is too deus ex machina for most events, and takes agency away from you. You have the power to change the world all by yourselves – you don’t need us! Besides which, we are probably busy running the event itself. **General Conduct** Do not raise your defences in rooms where the event is happening, especially if an NPC is talking. This will not only earn you our frustration, but will also almost certainly mean that we miss things people are saying. Events are noisy enough as it is! In a similar vein: if at all possible, please look before you walk into an event room and read your thousand treasure maps. We deal with a lot of spam, and some of it we all just have to put up with – please try and keep the avoidable spam as minimal as possible! If things break or go wrong – and there is never an event where something doesn’t – please be patient. Keep an eye out for event mobs giving a hint to wait a moment, especially with things like handing items over. We’ll always try and let you know when they’re working again. Try not to be too rude. It’s totally fine to roleplay being rude to an extent, but if you do it too much or too intensely then it’s just going to make it no fun for us. We’re people too! We want to enjoy interacting with you. Hurling insults at a denizen constantly probably isn’t going to make us feel that way. **After Events** Log everything! Post your logs to the forums! We love reading your logs, especially if they are interactions about events that we haven’t had a chance to see – either because it was all inter-player, or because we weren’t personally participating in the event at that point. Got any questions that we didn’t answer? Ask them in the comments below, or on the forums! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Year in Review: 2015](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/01/02/year-in-review-2015/) **Published:** January 2, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** *Good times and bum times, I’ve seen them all* *And, my dear, I’m still here!* These Stephen Sondheim lyrics run through my head as I think about this improbable project called Lusternia. While the notion itself was fantastic that I would create a new online game, at no time did I look forward and imagine I’d still be here over ten years later. And yet it has come to pass. I’ve certainly made mistakes, and hopefully learned from them, and I know the playerbase has sometimes raged against me (anyone remember the rage against the karma system?), but I’ve also known laughter and joy and true wonder at seeing players and volunteers fill Lusternia with drama and comedy and amazing events that enrich what was once scribbling in a notebook. The speed in which this past year flew by makes me wonder if it is simply a product of getting older or if the Goloths once again warped time. No matter. Lusternia and I are still here and have no plans of going away anytime soon. Probably one of the biggest projects we’ve undertaken has wound down. And, yes, I’m talking about the combat overhaul. Too often, I heard that combat in Lusternia was more complicated than anywhere else, that feature creep made PVP unwieldy, that newbies found it impossible to learn combat much less engage in it. Several years ago, I introduced a major top-down overhaul to players at Ironcon. Feedback was positive and we finally put the project into motion. However, it became much more insidiously difficult to implement than I had imagined. Therefore, we pivoted to a more practical design in which we addressed the major issues yet the coders weren’t ready to slit my throat. Thus, we have a levelled system for buffs and resistances, guaranteeing limits no matter how many buffs we have, the affliction system has been drastically changed with a reduced number of afflictions and only four cures, races have also had a major facelift no longer giving stats but rather a tiered benefit system, willpower and endurance have gone away (yay!), balance/equilibrium and influence bonuses are also on the tiered system, knights have been basically redesigned to account for the new systems, and even gear has been updated. Finally — FINALLY — we can say the overhaul is complete. What’s that? Do I hear some of you gnashing your teeth? Oh, okay, there still is tweaking to do, and, yes, the monks need some attention, but generally the major components of overhaul have been coded, tested and implemented. While it may not be easy sailing from here on out, I do think we can breathe a sigh of relief that we were able to get past the main hurdles and the structure as we imagined it is in place. I’d like to thank the players who have helped in the process, especially the poor envoys who we relied on for testing and feedback. While admittedly the overhaul soaked up a lot of our resources, we were able to manage a few other updates, including stage and library logs, wonder items, email notifications, and even ended the year with a redesign of the dreamweaving skill. You also may have noticed that we’ve been updating help files, the web client has been made more robust, worked with Vadi so his M&M system is now open source, updated the Wheel of Tzaraziko and ur’traps, reduced prices on some artifacts, and generally been on top of bugs. A big shout out to Ieptix and Roark for keeping us on track. But, of course, it would be a meager state of affairs if all we did were coding updates. So this brings us to events! The main story arc this year was that of the tainted dreamweavers stuck in the dreamrealm, manipulating affairs. We first introduced these villains back in 2007, but while we knew their basic history and background, we kept them vague and shadowy and knew at some point we wanted to develop their storyline. Thus, we began seeing them stir early in the year, even before Kelly ascended into Kaimanahi, when Geomancer Rasebal developed a strange obsession with gulagoyles. From uncovering the Keepers of Dreams to squonks leading to Irshaw Heights to even a tae’dae dreaming of salmon, foreshadowing came to a front with the oneiromantic alerts in Hallifax. Then, it happened! The disembodied dreamweavers put everyone to sleep and stuck in a Lusternia of their own making, becoming the new gods in this realm of their creation. We found it interesting, to say the least, that this coincided with some forum discussion about the gods. Of course, as you can read in the Events News, the duplicity was unmasked and the new gods overthrown and players awoke back into the real world. Of course, this resulted in a new understanding of dreamweaving, and when we released the newly revised dreamweaving skillset. And this wasn’t all that happened in the past year, some of you may have noticed a boiling brew of contention between Mysrai and Zvoltz, drawing in many of the other gods into the conflict. What is up with the Dreadform that causes such contention between them? And what about that mysterious night market that appeared in the Skarch. I suppose only time will tell. Oh, and Maeve’s mark was removed. That controversial, provocative, arguably annoying mark that had stained Maeve’s body since the time of the intrigue of the Demon Lords was finally detached. Did anyone miss that? Is everything finally over? Again, time will tell! As usual, I’d absolutely have to thank and acknowledge and kiss the feet of our volunteers, who make so much of Lusternia possible. So thank you, Nocht, for all your quiet presence. I hope you’ll come out of the shadows a little more this year! Thank you, Mysrai, for always being around and always there to offer your support. Also, to Viravain, who keeps Glomdoring on their toes! Thank you, Zvoltz, who took a bit of a sabbatical but is someone who I trust for his equanimity and presence. Thank you, Lisaera, who has taken a tough job in Lusternia whom I feel like I constantly nag at! Thank you, Drocilla, who is so creative and kind, so far removed from the role she plays. Thank you, Hoaracle, who is now my neighbor IRL! How could we live without your dry humour! Thank you, Jadice, for being so cool, both in character and in the Havens. Thank you, Morgfyre, for sticking around when I know you have a lot on your plate. Thank you, Manteekan, for your joyful imagination and willingness to stretch yourself. Thank you, Darvellan for being so smart, even if you like to complicate things, I truly appreciate your ambition and tenacity. My last thank you goes to Maylea, who has become a rock which we all rely on. Indeed, she may not know how much I value and rely on her efforts but she is a true star in the Lusternia heavens. There are also many ephemerals behind the scenes who greatly help out. I’m sure many of you have at least seen Baelor who has helped so much on balancing the overhaul. I expect great things from all of you! For everyone who plays, please accept my admiration and gratitude for bringing life to the Basin of Life in all its gloriously messy facets. Some of you have played since the beginning, and some of you are newer to the realm, but whatever the case, you are the heart of Lusternia. Let this new year bring many new adventures and may you enjoy every tear, every bark of laughter, every gritting of teeth. And after this coming year? Just remember… I’ll still be here. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [A Day in the Life of an Old Admin](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/10/09/a-day-in-the-life-of-an-old-admin/) **Published:** October 9, 2016 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** The automatic doors slide open with a soft *whoosh* as a susurrus of conversation rolls over me like a breaking wave. It is 4:15 AM on Friday at Logan International Airport and the security queue is already overflowing into the ticketing area. With a resigned sigh, I jostle into the back of the line and slip my phone out of my pocket. With a swipe and a tap, I open up Slack as a way to pass the time until I can get through the TSA checkpoint. The #lusternia channel rolls open, informing me that there are 300+ unread comments. I see similar notifications for #issues, #ephemerals, #design, and #social. I dismiss the social channel notification; I don’t have time to be social. I scroll through the general Lusternia channel, skimming the conversation. There is some talk about the anniversary scavenger hunt not going as planned. It transitions to a brief discussion about sticking with the tried-and-true way of how we have always done and I nod slightly to myself with a bitter grumble about these kids trying to be inventive. One of our ephemerals chimes into the conversation further on that it is good to try new things. I give myself a mental shake, wondering when I turned into a curmudgeon who hates change. I wasn’t around for the scavenger hunt but the idea behind it was actually very cool and a nice change of pace for something we have done virtually the same thing with for years. I remind myself to start thinking outside the box again, even if trying something new is hard. I keep my thoughts to myself (probably for the first time) and keep scrolling. I switch over to #design and read through a discussion about an existing design rule. I’m not really sure what to say but the Charites insisted that I be part of the design team since I am technically a Design Assistant and former mortal reviewer. I weigh the options and type in a non-committal, vague suggestion about just doing something simple. Feeling pleased with myself for both contributing but also not actually doing anything. I am in range of the security checkpoint, so I slip my phone back into my pocket and try to remember where I packed my 3 oz. or less toiletry liquids. I make it through, as usual, and work to put my belt back on without missing any belt loops. As I stride purposefully off to my gate, my work phone beeps to notify me about a reported workplace injury and an e-mail from my boss about an upcoming meeting with one of the company presidents (why is he awake this early?!). It looks like Lusternia will have to wait awhile. Some hours later and I scoot my chair up to my desk, booting up mudlet and logging into the game as I text my boss that I am “working from home”. I go through my usual routine: checking messages (just some Patron requests that I know Jadice is already working on and a notification that a bug was assigned to me), changelogs (I have no idea what some of them even mean anymore– it has been awhile since any of that stuff was relevant to me), and news posts (I skip all of politics, skim Estarra’s weekly update, and then browse Hallifax’s news but don’t see anything in there that I need to be concerned about). The next order of business is checking on issues. The list is overwhelmingly long, but customer service is always my number one priority so I do a quick look-through. I leave my comments on a few issues here and there; check some issues that need a coder and silently thank one of the new Issues Assistants for checking on them; take a look at an issue another Issue Manager referred to me and comment with my agreement on their proposed resolution, and finally resolve a few of the open issues that are ready to be completed. The thing about issues is that they all take time, and that is not something I have in abundance. Each one needs to be carefully reviewed, investigated, and checked against past precedent. I take care of the few that I can, but stop myself once I feel like I am rushing my responses. I hope to myself that another issue handler can resolve more of them before I am wracked with what another admin calls “Issue Manager Guilt” for allowing issues to sit too long in the queue, but there are few of us so I know the guilt will come. I open up my web browser and navigate over to the forums. I am nominally one of the lead forum moderators but mostly I just like to read the threads to stay connected to what players are thinking. I skim through Tweets, Raves, Questions, and Ideas, privately cultivating ideas for myself and suggestions for changes to current systems while trying not to feel defensive about the criticisms. Most of these thoughts will never see the light of day, but they help guide my opinions when we discuss things as a group. I spot no extravagant derails of Tweets and bless the playerbase before clicking on. I pop into a thread about Envoy reports and see a huge outpouring of gratitude for the changes. A small knot of jealousy grows in my stomach, though I try to force it away. Even more than players are, I am grateful for the work our coders do because it so greatly impacts the game and makes my life as an admin much easier as well as making my role as a god more flavourful. I know the emotional trauma the coders face when I ask them to dive into the library and family code or beg them for quality-of-life changes when they already have a huge to-do list, and I could not be more thankful for them. For me, however, it is still hard not to feel jealous of the very public praise and visibility the coders get, while I shuffle off into the Oneiroi shell to do anything administrative that is visible to players. I fret for a bit about whether Estarra, the other admin, or the players even recognize the work I do or if they appreciate it. Deep down, I hope so, but feeling bad about it isn’t going to solve anything. Circling back around to my messages, I check on the bug that was assigned to me. It is, frustratingly, a web bug. I’m one of the webmasters, so they all come my way eventually. Dealing with the website is a slog, at best, and anything to do with the forums is an endless headache. I open up the administrative view of the website but can’t figure out why things are displaying all weirdly. It eventually gets referred to IRE and solved by closing an open HTML tag in Drocilla’s blog post. I feel silly for not finding that myself but the website is definitely not my hill to die on. It is getting late and I have so many existing projects I should be working on, but I open up the admin twiki and glance over my proposal for a new area. The idea has been bouncing around my skull for over a year now, but I’ve finally put pen to paper (in a way) and got the idea fleshed out. It’d involve new mechanics and looking at an area in a way we never have before. It seems daunting but I’m excited about it. A lot of the inspiration has come from feedback and suggestions on the forums over the years and I’m hoping it is successful. It is a huge project though, so I make my tweaks and hit the button to save for later. My cell phone lets out a short little *buzzt* against the compressed board of my desk, telling me I need to leave now if I am going to make it to dinner and margaritas with my friends. I sigh a little, feeling like I haven’t accomplished much and have not even interacted with my Order. Before I hit QQ, I wonder briefly about how long I’ve been doing this and how much more time I’ve got left in me. I key in a quick command: Creation Date: Saturday, January 14th, 2012 Zvoltz has played 4109.6 hours total since creation. I smile slightly and log out. —————————————————— While this may not be a particularly revealing inside scoop on Havens life, Drocilla’s recent blog post inspired me to put my thoughts about adminhood down into a blog. One of the biggest problems I see with the admin-player relationship is that sometimes we feel frustrated for players not seeing things from our perspective when in reality so much goes on behind the scenes that we can’t expect players to know. I hope that this honest look about a typical day (or week, since I’m on the road so much that I can’t always log in) of thoughts and feelings helps create a better connection between us all. My activities and thoughts are only my own, and every admin has different responsibilities and experiences. These are some of mine. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [SERENLEAKS: Notes on Adasser (or How to Help Us Help You RP)](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/07/29/serenleaks-notes-on-adasser-or-how-to-help-us-help-you-rp/) **Published:** July 29, 2015 **Author:** Hoaracle **Content:** **SERENLEAKS: NOTES ON ADASSER (or How to Help Us Help You RP)** Typically, when an administrator takes over a god role, they write about their reasons: Why did I take So-and-So? How difficult was the event that revealed X? What inspirations do I draw upon to develop God, the Godly God’s personality and beliefs? Etc. etc. For my first post, I rather introduce you to a second role I have had the chance to develop over the course of the past couple months, who may be the more significant figure I have taken on. And I am sure by the title you all know whom I am talking about: Adasser, now-Wolverine’s Mask. On the forums, Everiine gave a pretty accurate history of Adasser. He was one of the weaker Serenguard guards, all of which were dismissed except for him in favor of the stronger centaur ones. And for some reason, these guards are flirts: their program being a strange semi-sexualized sea of forestals tropes. We are not sure why this was the case, but let it be known, that if the players didn’t enjoy the guards neither did the Serenwilde administration. In fact, I distinctly recall Lisaera telling me that she hated that elfen guard so much and we joked about invading Serenwilde just to get rid ofhim. But, you work with what you got. So instead of killing off the-elfen-guard-soon-to-be-Adasser, we started to flesh out his character. Adasser was one of my major pushes to motivate more roleplay in Serenwilde. Furthermore, he was an attempt to give “life” to some of the NPCs that exist in the forest. I am really interested in trying to make NPCs have a semblance of player life; I want to make them act like players do, react like players do, have stories like players do. So, we worked to make Adasser more self-aware, then he got a name, and finally, he became his own denizen. During that time, we adjusted his program to reflect a slow transition from that weird, flirtatious personality to something more well-rounded (though there are still notes of the wacky in his portrayal). Everything came to a head when we made Adasser ask to go on a vision quest. I think I can speak on behalf of the Serenwilde administrators that we love these vision quests. They are intense, greatly written moments of roleplay, and the best part of them that they are player-on-player. There is very, very little administrator interaction, and if we do end up participating in any capacity, it is just a colourful message or two (although, some recent ones have been more elaborate than that). It is also interesting on another level, because it requires players to trust each other to produce something that is really cool. That is the type of experience we hope to encourage throughout Serenwilde. So, Adasser became our first attempt. But also, I think Adasser can represent a very helpful model for both players and administrators. The only reason why we were even able to consider this is because we were reading the logs that are posted about the Serenguard vision quests. We were able to read comments from the forums about how some of us thought the guard was silly, so we were able to find places we can work on. We were able to think about how to make guild lore more visibly seen in the larger organization. So I have a couple things I would like to ask, in hopes to cultivate more Adassers in Lusternia: 1\) Post your logs – all of them. Between you and other players, between you and mobs, between you and Gods (although the latter might be a bit more sensitive, especially if you are a part of secretive Orders like that nasty Manteekan’s). By posting your logs to the forums, the administration have a mostly permanent space to read and learn about lore. And what is better is that it educates **other** administrators about said lore. I do not know much about Magnagora, but by reading logs by players, I can get a firmer grasp on the roleplay. 2\) Allow time – between interactions and emotes. If Adasser interacts with the Great Chieftain of the Serenguard one day, do not expect him to immediately do it the next. Allow time for things to grow organically. The same logic applies to emotes. Give each other time to respond, carefully. But also allow time for administrators to recall information that might not be easily remembered. We do have a method of writing comments and notes about various mobs and characters, but that information is not as readily available as you’d think. 3\) Always be sure to SAY TO mobiles when you want to get our attention. We may not be able to jump to you immediately, but we are notified when that sort of things happen. 4\) Think of mobs that are not always the most noticeable. Serenwilde has a pretty good track record of asking **everyone** about something, but definitely think about talking to mobs that are not in the limelight. Maybe not Brennan or Chuchip, but maybe Ulthaed or Hhuramu. This is especially the case if these mobs are “older” as they might not have a decent personality, which gives us room to flesh out something new. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Year in Review: 2014](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/02/06/year-in-review-2014/) **Published:** February 6, 2015 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Lusternia reached a tremendous milestone as 2014 marked its ten year anniversary. It seems like yesterday that I was rushing to finalize the rooms and skills so Lusternia could be released in October 2004 as we had planned. There was so much to do! The Skarch Desert had to be completely described (for rather contentious reasons that I won’t get into here), the race names needed to be finalized (were some of them too “cute”?), god roles needed to be assigned (Lisaera almost didn’t come into existence), and I was more than fairly stressed over all the balls that were still in the air. There was a lot that we had to shelve, including three player organizations (Glomdoring, Gaudiguch and Hallifax) and we had to trim down the number of archetypes (after ten years there is STILL one archetype that hasn’t been released). There were a lot of late nights and dark moments of the soul. Were text games sustainable for the long run? My strengths were on the creative side (building and storytelling), not so much on the business side. Did I have what it takes to run the whole shebang? After ten years, those moments have waned but sometimes resurface. I believe (hope!) that I’ve grown through experience. I may have come across as too harsh or too controlling and I certainly made mistakes through the years, but I believe (and hope!) that I’ve grown and adjusted from every stumble I made and am a lot more flexible now than I was. Probably the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken is still bogging us down. Yes, we’re talking about the overhaul of the combat system. However, about midway through 2014, we decided to change course and focus primarily on streamlining the affliction and cure system as well as the buff system. We believe this is much more manageable for the coding team, and will ultimately make combat more accessible for new players and less overwhelming when balancing skillsets. However, even this narrowed vision for the overhaul has been much more time consuming than I imagined but I promise that it will be finished this year even if causes my head to explode! There were a lot of interesting events and releases in 2014. Some interesting developments occurred in the Undervault among the illithoid during the Cyaethl Affair. For the chefs among you, we saw Gourmet Ghetto open. For history buffs, the darker side of the Paladins’ past was revealed in the Skarch Desert by way of a ghostly village, and the role of Gaudiguch in the time of the Old Celestine Empire shocked many when the Laboratories of Xeeth was found, a research facility that was built during the Nature Wars. In Verasavir Valley, Mwauka the Taurian tries to resurrect the Elder God Tauro with disastrous results. Also, don’t forget the ongoing story of the poor mugwump known as Slegi Vleemgol whose research took her to the Meliashmora Repository in search of answers. It was also a year with lots of activity among the gods. Viravain became much more active in Glomdoring. Lisaera returned to lead the Serenwilde. It seemed as though the Elder Goddess Carakhan appeared for the first time, until it was dramatically discovered that it was the Traitor Goddess Drocilla who was unveiled when the real Carakhan was released from a trap in Aetherspace. Shikari returned from his endless hunting, and Darvellan the Navigator arrived and settled in New Celest. Finally, during the Solstice Season, Crumkane was found drunk with the gnomes. This leads us to the year end event, where a small Soulless God known as Nemach, the ancient nemesis of the Elder Gods, was discovered still active, having hidden himself from the appetites of the Five Greater Soulless. He tried to make his move for power by using the artifacts of the Elder Gods in a place called Mornhai Sanctuary to seize the power of nature. This led to an epic showdown with the Elder Gods and he was eventually trapped by Yomoigu with the help of many mortals and many lives lost. There were many other small releases, including the newbie feedback system, forum banners, colour expansion, timezone configurations, rpwho, etc., etc. We released many promotions that some loved and some hated, including aethergoop, hair and beard curios, and the wonder wand. I also really love our new solstice tradition with “elf on the shelf” mini-quests for each of the main player organizaitons. I hope that will become a tradition! And there was great heartache in the tragic passing of the player behind Visaeris, who was one of the most active and controversial characters in the early days of Lusternia, and even though not as active recently, greatly impacted those of us (both players and admin) who knew Visaeris. The player behind Visaeris was a woman born a man, and our eyes were opened to the struggles of the transgendered, a conversation which carried on into the forums. My thanks goes especially to all the volunteers behind the scenes. As I say every year, without the volunteers, Lusternia (and my sanity) would not exist. So thanks to Shikari and Carakhan and Jadice all of whom I love and wish I could see more of, to Raezon who is one of the smartest persons I’ve known, to Mysrai who is as deep as they come, to Viravain who is a rock of stability, to Morgfyre who is simply the best at everything, to Lisaera who always makes me laugh, to Nocht who I can always count on, to Yomoigu who is smart as a whip, to Isune who is the sweetest person and very creative, to Drocilla who is extremely dedicated and much different than her role, to Crumkane whose presence brightens up the room (virtual or not!), to Darvellan who is amazingly talented at everything he does, and to all the ephemerals who are working hard and rising up the ranks. I can’t wait to see you become gods! Let’s also give a shout out to Ieptix who remains coding quietly behind the scenes and doesn’t get as much recognition as he deserves. And also a special thanks to Roark who has been by my side for the past decade and continues to be an invaluable talent. And, of course, to all the players for putting up with me for the past decade, and who together are the soul of Lusternia. Everything we do, we do for you. Much love, Robb French Lusternia Producer **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [How-to: Release four gods at once](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/04/23/how-to-release-four-gods-at-once/) **Published:** April 23, 2014 **Author:** Lisaera **Content:** What do you do when you take on the task of coming up with an event that will release four deities? At first, my answer was to sit immobile in front of the computer screen for a solid five minutes. Then, I let the slow, creeping paralysis of idea overload take me over until I found myself staring blankly again, slack-jawed, at a short list of notes that looked something like this: – Jadice – Crumkane – Carakhan – don’t forget yourself (Lisaera) – Moon? Silvery essence? – what if Moon DIES? – wait, Moon can’t die. – then make sure it blasts through and BOOM. Once I had a few solid starting points gel in my brain, I started writing. And writing. And writing. I write in my real life. As a news and content writer, I’ve learned how to get over the fear of the blank screen, and although you might have a different approach to overcoming writer’s block, mine is to simply forge ahead. You identify the task and then, with a few cups of coffee surging through your veins, you just do it, no matter what comes out. Editing should fit in there somewhere, too. In this case, part of the task was to write a believable story that would be vague enough to allow 3 other incredibly talented people fill in their own gaps later on, all while leaving room for a little future intrigue. ‘Ok,’ I said to myself. ‘That’s fine – no biggy. I will be able to do that in just a few minutes.’ After 1.5 hours rolled by, I realized that the arc ideas I kept cycling back around to – which were pretty good – wouldn’t necessarily work as a set of instructions my Godly colleagues could follow. I had, in fact, essentially written out an actual story instead of a list of instructions. While it read well and made Lisaera really, really cool, what I wrote would probably be hard for others to follow. Back to the drawing board. Ah, well, I thought – at least there’s something tangible now! People can see where I was going with my ideas, and after they’ve had a chance to sort through them, may I’ll have a little feedback. And feedback graciously poured in. Over the course of several different discussions, the whole crew and I looked at my event proposal. Parts of my ideas evolved as we commented on them together, becoming less my own and more a collaborative effort with each new pair of eyes, and I felt a little overwhelmed by the exciting rush of this sense of teamwork. We looked at every nuance thoughtfully, ensuring that the way we were creating – and manipulating – canon made sense according to everyone’s plans, not just my own. And of course, Estarra waved the magic wand of sheer brilliance and translated some of my half-formed thoughts into something that seemed to answer all of our lingering questions. After all of this, I then wrote out instructions for how the architecture of the event would unfold, which looked sort of like the behind-the-scenes commands anyone who is familiar with the theatre system would recognize. Then, just a few short days later, it was time to kick off the show. I’ve run events before. Smaller ones, for the organization I belonged to and for my own projects, and I’ve certainly helped with the planning process for a few of our major events, but this one was mine. I took the lead and, with encouragement from the seasoned vets on the team, planned to confidently step up to the plate. I set up all of my ducks in a row and, with another cup of coffee, started the fireworks. Then it was you who took over. Although a few of the ideas I embedded in the outline were static, players have a way of making things unexpectedly – and amazingly – dynamic, and I found myself following your lead. Things we planned carefully changed, necessarily, in the moment to help make compelling arguments that I wouldn’t have considered in a thousand years more real for you. Were there things I missed that could have become part of this awesome collaborative effort? Of course there were – you wouldn’t believe the amount of spam that flies across the screen when you’re in the captain’s chair! But I tried my best to adapt on the fly. It was a blast from start to finish, but if you were wondering what I looked like while it was happening, imagine every gif you’ve ever seen of someone sitting at a computer screen, totally panicked with bloodshot eyes. Superimpose a cup of coffee and the soothing sounds of a Hans Zimmer/Eric Whitacre playlist, and you have my evening in a nutshell. Oh – add on a smile, too. I was grinning ear-to-ear the entire time, and the most rewarding experience was watching how all of you lit up at seeing us stride through that portal. We wanted the big fanfare, and I tried to make sure the other gods had just as much fun making their debuts as I did. Were there mistakes? Yes, absolutely. Do they matter in the end? Of course, but only because they taught me how to handle them for the future. I look forward to putting these lessons into action for more events in the future, and I hope you’ll all enjoy the finished product just as much as I enjoy the creative process. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Bad to the Bone](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/03/19/bad-to-the-bone/) **Published:** March 19, 2014 **Author:** Nocht **Content:** I hate Nocht. Well… Sometimes I do. Whereas he is the malicious God of the Night, I’m a rather boring computer tech in the boring Midwest. We’re nothing alike. (Though I do envy his gorgeous hair) But that’s the point of role play, right? The chance to be someone or something else. The chance to do things you would never get to do in reality. Don’t get me wrong! I’m thrilled with my time as Nocht, and I wouldn’t trade it, past or future, for any other possible role. All the same, I was surprised to find out how difficult it can be for me to play the “bad guy”. I’ll share my dark secret: As a mortal, I was a snugglebunny. Probably an annoying one. I’d never played the “bad” guy in my entire RP career. So when it was time to choose my role, I wanted to be different. And so, Nocht was born. For a while, I coasted along on his newness. I let him vaguely answer player questions while letting them catch him up on Lusternia’s history. You can’t be the patron of the Merciless Forest too long, however, without being merciless yourself. So I was mean… It was terrifying for me! I sat there thinking, “What the hell did I do to that poor player! She’s never going to log in again!” But then I heard her relaying to others how much fun she had, and I still clearly remember the excitement (and relief) I felt. After that, I embraced Nocht’s cruelty. But then there was another hurdle. Some of you are excellent at RP. Scary good, even. So much so that I’d feel terribly guilty when a character broke down under one of his onslaughts. Deep down I know it’s just a game. Nocht’s doing it to them, not me. It’s their character that’s responding, not the player. All the same, I often run into that twinge of fear and guilt. That question of, “Did I go too far?” Because it’s not always a perfect split, the IC/OOC one. There’s always a little bit of you in your character, and what happens to them can affect you no matter how strictly you keep them separate. When that line blurs too much, when we start letting our IC relationships affect our OOC ones and vice versa, that’s when we start to drift into the realm of metagaming. You make friends when you play Lusternia, and that’s wonderful! Sometimes you talk to these friends OOC about IC events, plans, etc… While I won’t comment on the RP implications of that, I’d like to point out that the opposite sometimes happens. Sometimes, IC hatreds seep into reality, and then feed back into OOC hatreds in an ever growing cycle. I’ve dealt with a lot of issues in the six years I’ve been Nocht, and I’ve seen some heartbreakingly destructive behavior when people get stuck in this kind of loop. Unfortunately, there’s no relief from it until the person both burns out and leaves entirely, or they’re able to reconstruct that divide between themselves and their character. So please keep that in mind when you find yourself hating another player. Keep it in mind when you hear others badmouthing another player, or conspiring OOC against them. It’s one thing to role play a betrayal or a smear campaign, and another thing entirely to actually engage in one. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The Occult and Cultists](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/01/24/the-occult-and-cultists/) **Published:** January 24, 2014 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** There’s only thirty rank positions in a Divine Order. This is hard-coded in. No amount of begging, pleading, and even tricking a brief change through on Iosai (that broke everything) that was swiftly redacted, has won me any kind of slack in that realm. As I came to find out in the early days of working with my Order to form what would become the three central paths in canon, this may have been for the best. After all, each path becomes a bit of its own religion. There’s a tacit understanding in My Order by this point about the status of additional paths. We tried a pilot of a new path three times, and each time, what I found out was that the nascent path didn’t tend to be well-populated. At the maximum, the Indigo Path, a fourth Order advancement track that focused on crafting and mysticism, had eight Order members. At the time, the Order rolls were 70-80. At the rate of new investment in the path, or perhaps due to the lack of support players (most organizations in game need a minimum of three people to lock in the roleplaying flavor and evangelize their organization to other people), even this fairly successful example didn’t work in terms of splitting the Order. What I did have was a lack of things to aspire to. There was a distinct lack of goals once one became Path Head – and Path Head was a hard role to keep active. For one thing, it’s not an elected position, and it has no power that much of the rest of the order has. For another, it’s a thankless job of making sure people do their tasks, asking people what they’d like to be doing, and sometimes becoming the RA for about 10-20 drunken college students that really just want to get wasted and smash some windows. That’s not to say that I don’t love that aspect. A big feature of Gaudiguch, and especially the Mysraian Order is about passion. It’s about reveling and laughing and setting shit on fire. It’s also only inevitable that groups of people can build up personality conflicts. Sometimes, the windows being smashed are actually the ones in your local organization, though, which means bad will is born. Many people may have different, but similar ideas. And sometimes, they don’t want to deal with the interpersonal trouble of bringing those goals together. There’s also those who want a role of their own – something they can feel good about. That’s good too – it’s actually really good – but hard to accommodate with ranks. So, how to work with that? The answer as I’ve come up with it involves cults. The first of these was the Cult of the Red Hand, which ended up shaping a fair amount of storyline and character drive in the Order. This worked out as a focused combat-driven Cult tasked with certain special duties reporting directly to me. This Cult came back online recently with a revamp in the hands of Altrea and Ardmore, who have been bringing it with some pretty excellent pairing of traditional PVP and PVE with a hard edge of ritualism and duty. They’re centered around venerating Mysrai’s aspect as the Scarlet Goddess. It’s pretty sweet. The second of these has been the Cult of the Resinous Mysteries. Headed up by Viynain, it’s a nice nod to the fact that I’ve tried to design the Order to be as inclusive as possible. It’s got PVPers, crafters, socializers, politicians, ascendants, lower ranks… you name it. This one focuses on Mysrai’s aspect as the Thousandfold. Third of these took a long time in coming. A lot of players got really into a darker notional path of rituals, sacrifice, passion, and visceral emotions they dubbed the Ebon. This ended up passing through a few hands – the original Ebon was Svana, which transferred to Aliod, then to Persayis before she finally officially venerated the Cult. We ended up dropping silphium balls, lotus eating, and harems into the cult thematics. This particular cult venerates the Black Star of Morning. Fourthly: Ixchilgal’s kind of like a bad penny, one with a hilarious sense of humor and sharp edges. Who better to venerate the David Bowie aspect of the Beckoner Beyond the Maze? He’s got some pretty intense lore going on around the Maze, the Beast in the Maze, and his particularly unique role in the Order. Speaking of which, you probably don’t know that every Sacrosanct has a role inspired by the Major Arcana of the Tarot. His particular trump is The Devil, and the cult name is the Paradigm of Mu. Fifth, we’ve got the Cult of the Scarlet Kantharos. While the Scarlet Path is notionally about bloodshed, inclusive of PVP and PVE, it also has a lot of lore around it as the path of passion in general. Dancing, laughing, carousing, sex, joyful veneration – this is all about the brighter side of the path. Aliod, under the trump of Judgement, leads up this cult under the auspices of the Moth With Scarlet Wings. Some of these cults will become paths, or meta-paths – players have submitted proposals to me for such with tasks outlined and order rank naming schemes, along with their lore, much as they might submit similar systems to guilds for advancement. Still other cults are probably waiting in the wings to provide more of the high quality of experience my Inner Circle has been dishing out ever since the early days of the Order. I’m particularly excited about the people exploring the formerly defunct Indigo Path, the explorations of others into Saffron, and the ever-popular notion of an Ivory Cult to match the Voidcopper of Resinous Mysteries and the two existing Scarlet Cults. Finally – the Order has become very player-driven with this design, which puts me in the happy role of making dreams reality in the framework of this fake religious movement. Thanks, guys. I couldn’t have done it without you. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Near Misses: Becoming Mysrai](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/10/16/near-misses-becoming-mysrai/) **Published:** October 16, 2013 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** I came this close to not being Mysrai. As the clock ticked down to the finishing of my area and I kept finding small details to wrap up for the release, I was all set to go to Hallifax. That’s right: I’m the reason you don’t have Jadice right now. I’ll wait for a bit while Hallifax and Gaudiguch figure out whether that’s a good or a bad thing. Take your time, I need to go get some coffee. Well, theoretically you could blame Isune, or Zvoltz, or any of the faceless ephemerals we have hanging around the joint. But Jadice was my ice baby, conceived of a healthy dose of the Snow Queen, a certain nameless Magnagoran, and a drunken evening staring at green and indigo glaciers and making loud ooooOOOoooh noises, much to the annoyance of my roommates. I’ll be honest: I didn’t want Gaudiguch. At that time, nobody wanted Gaudiguch. It was well known among players and staff as the bastard child of the Basin, stinking of weed, drama, and 4chan. There were more bad feelings and bad politics in the city than there are right now in Washington DC. And I say 4chan because you could barely wade through the city without running into memes. Can has bong hit? This was about the time Estarra began wrapping up the History of the Elder Wars, and introduced the concept of the Triumvirate. The Ephemeral Who Would Be Hoaracle was thrilled. So was I. We made gleeful plans for tea parties. Fanfiction might have been written. Lyreth and I were plotting snide remarks at each other. The future was glorious, and very shiny. And that’s when Estarra started trying to convince me that I really, REALLY wanted Gaudiguch. I was midway through making up suffixes for Jadice at the time and was less than receptive for the reasons previously mentioned. It became a joke of sorts – Estarra would pop in, send me a tell asking if I was really sure I wanted Hallifax, and then go on to something else. “Look,” I think I said to her at one point, “Unless you’re letting me do Crowley’s Scarlet Woman in Gaudiguch, it’s not happening.” Estarra stopped asking me about Gaudiguch for the next few weeks while I planned my area release. In retrospect, that should have worried me. When the Creatrix gets an idea, She doesn’t let it drop. But I was in the middle of moving, my area still had detail work to be done, and bug hunting through areas can take a ton of time. So, I ignored the obvious warning signs. Those few weeks ended. I was ready to release. “What if Mysrai is a shapeshifter?” Estarra proposes, all of a sudden. “What if…?” And she was off down one of those tangents she goes on, which sometimes results in strange proclamations about marsupials but most often results in some sort of elaboration and extravagance of plot that weaves something into the overall fabric of Lusternia. I was cautiously impressed. This would allow me to keep the Crowley. However… “Alright,” said I, “But I want her to be riding a dragon out of Revelations, Mysrai has to shift genders as well, and I’m releasing a pocket at the same time. Also, looking at Their true form causes madness ala Cthulhu.” Estarra agreed. A couple of weeks later, the Dreadform of Iklara was set loose on the Skarch, various Gaudiguch-related NPCs ended up with shards of Magnora’s tear in their eyes, and the Scarlet Goddess made Her first appearance in the City of Gaudiguch. I have to say, Gaudiguch, I never looked back. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Hoom-ings: An IronCon Confession](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/08/01/hoom-ings-an-ironcon-confession/) **Published:** August 1, 2013 **Author:** Hoaracle **Content:** This post is about recovery \[1\]. I haven’t really done much in Lusternia in two-ish years, maybe even longer. It isn’t like I haven’t done **anything**; I have done some things – mainly small stuff. But in comparison to the other volunteer administrators, and probably in relation to the work I am expected to do, I haven’t pulled my weight in a long while. Maylea wrote a beautiful blog post about the reasons why this happens. I could write and bemoan my school career. I could just say I was busy. But really, neither of those are the reason in its entirety. Definitely, they are major contributors, but not the whole story. I haven’t been doing much in Lusternia because I have just lost a lot of interest in the game. It is a sort of depression, an *impasse* that has been a really difficult to overcome \[2\]. And believe me, Lusternia is perhaps one of the hardest things to get back into; you have to re-learn progging, find the inspiration and energy to build rooms, and do not get me started on patron duties, Order interactions, and generally wanting to be around. It is a lot, and I have seriously considered stepping down several times. It is perhaps only the long attachment to a game that I so enjoy and the people I work with that keeps me here (I am especially looking at you Shikari and Isune!) \[3\]. Which is why I was extremely intimidated with IronCon this past weekend. Not only would I be interacting with Estarra, my fellow Lusternian volunteers, colleagues from other games, but also *players*? This was too much. However, the “too-much-ness” turned out to not be too much. I was pleasantly surprised that, while we talked about our respective games, there was not a lot of interrogation about my presence, my output, or my role. It was really freeing to realize that a lot of these worries were not really worries per se. I think this became really apparent for me when I formally met Kelly, Knorrith, and Xena. During IronCon, I was pretty much the chauffer of the people. I planned to do this, and in fact, I really wanted to drive everyone around. Not only had I brought my car (I traveled from LA, a short three-hour drive), but I also wanted the freedom of movement brought by said car (I was previously on a six-week trip to India and there was a severe lack of maneuverability for me that I greatly missed) \[4\]. I went to the hotel that many of the administrators and players were staying at to pick up a handful of people and I met those three. To be quite honest, I didn’t really know who they were. I knew Kelly was from Celest; I could recall Knorrith’s name; and unfortunately, I had no clue who Xena was (despite being the Warrior Princess). These three were incredibly kind and friendly. We didn’t talk much at that initial meeting, but throughout the weekend we would have the opportunity to talk with one another. In full transparency, these three would encourage me to interact with a player in my Order \[5\]. I was not planning on doing anything that weekend really, just to enjoy the experience of IronCon (perhaps one of the only times I would be able to attend). Normally, administrators love doing this; this is how we keep going, deriving some enjoyment interacting with players. However, until this time, even that was Hard Work™ that I just didn’t want to do. Yet, these three kept encouraging me and I relented. After this interaction played out, I quickly learned that it was greatly enjoyed by this player. I didn’t feel like I did my best (and to be honest, I was minor-ly intoxicated at the time), yet everything about this chance moment was fun. It was a refreshing experience to say the least. What I am trying to get at is that these four (Kelly, Knorrith, Xena, and Avurekhos) really helped me \[6\]. I would like to thank you each in helping me breach this agonizing apathetic-ness I’ve been experiencing. It is an altogether different experience when you have people explain to you face-to-face how someone enjoyed himself or herself because of something you did (and then later, that someone raving about it). Anyone administrator who has had a player (or players) straightforwardly tell you in-person who they enjoyed working with you can tell you how rewarding it is, far moreso than just reading it or overhearing it somewhere. Not to get all grandiose, but it has definitely re-charged and re-committed me to this game. This is the small but mighty power that you players have. I think we talk a lot about the negative when we talk about player-admin relationships. We talk a lot about miscommunication; we talk a lot about burnout. I definitely don’t have treebark for skin, or at least not yet, so getting this moment to recover was greatly needed and appreciated. So there we have it – thank you all! Especially those three Celestians and my awesome Order member \[7\]. ————- \[1\] I am currently reading a book on depression. I was heavily influenced by it when writing this. Unfortunately for me, this book is a “critical memoir” (and therefore really personal); I try not to be personal in real-life, so imagine the difficulty of writing this! This is draft 3. \[2\] This is a direct reference to said book on depression. I am sorry – grad school is making me think constantly in academic tone. I have come to quick realization that the only mode of writing I can deploy at any moment is some bastardized version of a critical essay. Hence, endnotes. \[3\] I am calling out these two in particular because I have consistently talked to them about these feelings. Nonetheless, I want to give a shout out to all my fellow volunteers: Maylea, Zvoltz, Raezon, Valtreth, Terentia, Mysrai, Nocht, Viravain, Calythan, Iantoc, Oshea, Roark, Estarra, Sior, Iosai, and all the unnamed ephemerals – you are all wonderful people, and I am glad to know you! \[4\] Hence my recent disappearance, Serenwilde! But in the end, it turned out that I was able to log in on occasion. Indian internet is just plain weird. \[5\] Thankfully, just in the nick of time before said player disappeared for a month. Hurry back, Avurekhos! \[6\] And four is not quite correct either, because during my little visit Avurekhos was talking to his in-game sister Zouviqil, so really five! \[7\] And the other players from Lusternia who attended IronCon: Ixion, Xenthos, Shuyin, Krellan, Wuylinfe, Skye, and anyone else who may have attended that I do not quite recall! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Patronly Duties](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/07/20/patronly-duties/) **Published:** July 20, 2013 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** Whether it is replacing lost keys or creating new additions to cities and communes, Patrons and the Divine Pantheons of our organizations have a wide variety of “jobs” that they do. However, the scope of patronly duties isn’t found in the instruction manual for new gods. I think of myself as a generally active administrator for Hallifax and so my idea of what a patron “does” has changed over my time in the Havens. When I was an innocent ephemeral, Elostian very much encouraged me to look into becoming a Hallifaxian god so I could help him out with the city. After I flirted with the idea of becoming Manteekan or Thax, I eventually became the great and mighty Zvoltz and settled into the pantheon of the Beacon of Harmony. At this point, it was clear to me that Hallifax really needed help. Population was low and so was morale. The city had a great group of players, but it really seemed like an uphill battle. I did the usual things like building new expansions that the city requested but I also tried to be present in the city. I would talk on the city channel, show up to chat with citizens, and publicly roleplay with Isune in the hopes that players would feel that the city was livelier and had deep roleplay opportunities. When new city purchases were finished, Isune and I would set up roleplay events instead of just dropping the new thing into the city (anyone remember the long story of Klayok Pavok?). I would congratulate the city when they won villages and I tried to be a good cheerleader for the players even when they were on the “losing” side of conflict. As time has passed, the population of Hallifax has grown and, in my opinion, morale has as well. I’ve begun to see myself as less of a cheerleader and more of a behind the scenes role. I don’t appear in the city much anymore. I still do the obvious jobs like handling city purchases and expansions but my order is the only group that I make regular contact with. I’ll do the odd job, like judging a contest or giving feedback to elected leaders when they ask for it, but I must confess that I’m still not sure what being a Patron really means! I always try to keep my ears open for feedback to be a better patron, but I hear mixed messages. Some people think the gods need to be more interactive, some think they should shut up and let the players play the game. I think the correct answer, if there is one, is somewhere in the middle. The job description for the patron is still coming together for me but I’m always looking for a new perspective. In the end, my opinion is only a small part in the job. It is the player who truly decides what makes a good patron so I hope you’ll share your comments in the space below, including experiences you’ve had with your own patrons! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Year in Review for 2012](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/18/year-in-review-for-2012/) **Published:** January 18, 2013 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** The Year of 2012 has flown by faster than any I have seen yet! As usual, at the end of the year, I like to look back and see what has transpired in Lusternia during the past twelve months. Frankly, I am rather proud of how many events and new releases took place during that time. However, our playerbase hasn’t expanded as much as I had hoped, which was the concern I brought up in the last Year-In-Review for 2011. More players mean more impetus to release new guilds. While our playerbase hasn’t shrunk (despite what some people may think!), it has remained rather static. The good news is that it is my understanding that IRE will be focusing more attention on advertising this year and so I hope that will pay off. But our biggest and best advertisement is word of mouth so I hope those reading will spread the word of Lusternia’s unusually awesome adventures far and wide! In the wake of the great Icewynd Event, the year began with an Ascension whereby Xenthos rose up to be the Ascendant Xynthin. Later, his name reverted back to Xenthos after persistent requests, and I warned him that it would have RP consequences. And boy did it! The War of the Wheel event, which had episodes spring up throughout the year, also saw the ‘alternate reality’ Xynthin (who had become a god in another timeline) return with a vengeance! I really enjoyed the War of the Wheel event, which had a slow build up starting back in April as the Time Dames uncovered new areas, including the Fiabelhie Stillriver Prison, the Isle of Olimsito, the Feyranti Estate, the hyfae breeding program, and the Janderi Family quest. The conclusion of the event released the rather large area of the Lirangsha Retreat, replete with high-level divinus denizens which I know some of you had been waiting for. Probably the most popular chapter of the saga was when the mysterious cubes from the future arrived with a coded message which players were able to piece together–much faster than we thought they would! Of course, not everything was released through the War of the Wheel, as we released the Waste Storage Facility, the Bahna Fleetpaw quest, Lars Legrand and his sheep, the Hallifax Bridge, the Illuminati Basement, and Sepehr Skytamer’s Balloon. And there were a few perennial events like the Leprechaun King and the Anniversary Games, and some silliness, such as the Hallifax Masked Ball where I arrived dressed as a chicken! While this year saw many events and a lot of roleplaying, we certainly did not skimp on releases! Although people most likely remember curios the most, with new curio powers and collection sets and curio rewards for quests, there really was quite a lot more. We started the year with the opening of two new guilds, the Symposium in Hallifax and the Minstrels in Gaudiguch. Weather was also completely revamped which made way for the release of the Shamanism skill option for druids. Next came the Cavalier specialization for warriors, which involved polearms, something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Let’s not forget we also had special reports for races, monks and demigod powers as well as server side curing, auto-firstaid and new achievements and guild covenants! Dramatics expanded with new psychodrama skills, which included the new ikon game of gestalt. Ikons weren’t as popular as we had hoped, but if they ever start to catch on, we’ll look at expanding them more. Finally, Aquachemantics was released, the first of new primary skill options for mages and druids. This year did not bring small things! We are looking forward to some great new releases, notably the rest of the druid and mage primary skill choices! (We’ve already released Wildewood!) There may be one or two new surprise skills in the future and, if the population expands at all, we can look forward to the monk guilds in Hallifax and Gaudiguch! In June, IRE held its annual meet, and this time we opened a time up to meet local players. It was great fun to meet Skye and Kelly and Phoebus and Ixion and Zyphora and Irillia and Ternus and the rest of the players from other IRE games! The best part was Skye coming in full Blacktalon regalia! The meet was such a success that IRE decided to organize an IronCon and I hope to see many more of you this year! In closing, I have to again thank the volunteers without whom Lusternia would not be what it is. We unfortunately saw Elostian retire but also saw Maylea return this year. Maylea is always a joy to be around! There’s also Eventru whose passion can be a double edged sword but one of the most productive volunteers I’ve ever met in any IRE game. And Morgfyre whose creativity is scary (really!). Terentia is my rock. Nocht is not so silent as he seems as well as Zvoltz whose really the mastermind behind ikons. Both Nocht and Zvoltz have been helping webmaster the website which is a great relief to me! Isune is just as nice as you imagine. Raezon is more amazingly intelligent than you can guess. Shikari has a wonderful artistic side. Mysrai is always amazingly profound and just as mysterious as her persona. Hoaracle has a great heart so be nice to him in Serenwilde. And, yes, Viravain is still around, lurking in the shadows. (There are also a few talented ephemerals in the background, and that can only mean good things for the coming year!) I’d also like to give special kudos to Iosai for all the hard work and excellent support. Iosai truly loves Lusternia and I was thrilled that Iosai was able to continue coding here after it appeared we might lose this great talent. Honestly, I rely on Iosai more than I care to admit. Oh, I should note that Sior is still a part of the team, though real life has made his time here too scarce. And let us not forget Roark, who is a constant presence in the background, keeping the firmament secure. And, of course, thank you to the players of Lusternia, who are its lifeblood, its heart, and the reason we do anything. Lusternia is for you and you alone. I think I’ll conclude the Year in Review for 2012 here before it gets any longer! I look forward to 2013 and can’t wait for you to experience all the new things we have planned! Have fun! – Robb French (aka Estarra the Eternal) **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Engineering a Skill](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/02/11/engineering-a-skill/) **Published:** February 11, 2013 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** While it was greater minds than I who designed and coded the new aerochemantics skill, I did have the pleasure of writing the skill lines you see when the skills are used. I was a bit nervous about this task since aerochem would be following beautifully written skills like aquachemantics and wildewood but in the end I hope that the text adds a lot of flavor to the skills and to the Aeromancers guild. This was a unique opportunity for me in a couple of ways. The first was that the release event would be a great opportunity to get rid of some of the weather-control machinery in the Aeromancer guildhall without being too contrived. This is something I’ve wanted to do since Shamanism was released, as many players seemed upset that the Aeromancers have weather-manipulating equipment but weather control goes to the druids. In destroying the lab and the offending equipment, I hope this will clear the way for the guild to see weather control as a lost technology and focus on their present skills and roleplay opportunities. The second opportunity this presented was being able to “beef up” the Aeromancers’ background and RP without rejecting what had already been established for them. I usually overhear two big complaints from the guild, one being that the whole “philosophy” RP is hard to work with and isn’t as desirable as some of the background other guilds have. With the arrival of Zedlon Windwhisper and his aerochemantics from the future, a time where the Aeromancers were fighting for their lives and didn’t have time for philosophy, the guild has more than one path to roleplay. Past tradition and the future don’t have to conflict and now they have the opportunity to choose philosophy and floaty things or the more “hard” science of engineering and chemical reagents. The second big complaint that comes up is that the Institute has all the cool toys and the Aeromancers get left in the dust. I’m pretty sure that the new guild airship is making the Institute jealous right now! These are all things I had running through my head while I was up late writing the aerochem skill messages. Since the skills had already been designed, I still needed to work within the mechanics of the skill (you can’t really bypass working lightning or energy in when writing an electric damage skill) but I wanted to put a unique spin on it. I was aiming for a “cool” message when the skill was used, but also one that would tie in with the desire for a science-oriented skill. This is why you’ll notice that a lot of the item-based skills have you building the item yourself rather than magically summoning it or glossing over how you are gaining the mechanical benefit. For the reagents, I wanted to keep a slightly “magical” feel to the abilities without losing the fact that you are mixing chemicals to get a spectacular reaction. These same sorts of things applied when writing the AB files. Mechanics really define combat for a guild, but I think the skills are really what players take notice of in terms of roleplay too. To that end, I really wanted to support the “Aerochemantic Engineer” terminology. The opportunity to create new things as an admin is a true joy, but I love seeing players use admin-created things as a base and run with them. I hope what has been released with aerochemantics provides a solid base for the players! I hope everyone enjoys aerochemantics, both for the flavor and the mechanics. I’m excited to see what direction the Aeromancers take their new skill and roleplay! I would also love to hear what your favorite parts about aerochem are so far and I’m happy to answer questions in the comments if I know the answer. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Designing the Architect](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/25/designing-the-architect/) **Published:** February 25, 2012 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** Since we are currently accepting applications for new ephemerals, I thought I would make my debut blog post about my experience as an ephemeral and a bit about how Zvoltz was created. I have to say that, hands down, being in Havens has been one of the best experiences I have had in Lusternia. I have been playing Lusternia since open beta in 2004 and when the call for ephemerals went out, I felt like this would be a new challenge and a new adventure for me, as well as a way to take on a larger role in the game that I truly love to play. After I submitted my ephemeral application, I waited (im)patiently and anxiously to see if I would get accepted or not, though after I was accepted it was like playing Lusternia for the first time all over again. I had so many things to learn and I felt like a complete newbie! Estarra passed me over to the gentle tentacles of Morgfyre to begin my training in admin basics and after I learned a bit of that, we proceeded to play non-stop games of Vengeance. I’m not kidding here. I probably spent most of my first week playing Vengeance while it was in its testing stages. This was a real treat at first, until everyone started lynching me the first round. So, at that point I had no choice but to do some real work. Morgfyre really has the patience of a saint because I usually forgot everything he said about a day after he said it and he spent countless hours helping me figure things out. Being an ephemeral is a lot different from being a player, and it was generally difficult at first. Besides my marathon of Vengeance games, there is no real playing to be done. I couldn’t just pop in and chat with anyone or go hunt on Astral and so I spent a lot of my initial time working on my building projects. I’m really proud of what I managed to create though I really have to praise Estarra’s creativity here as she took my somewhat bland ideas and helped me reshape them into something that would be fun for players to do and also something that really tied into and developed Lusternian lore. At this point I was still in seclusion from the players, but I did get to take control of some mobs during the event. I remember feeling so embarrassed about a few of the mistakes I made while trying to possess the mobs, but I’m grateful that the players at the event were kind enough to overlook the errors! It was around the time that I started my second project that I really started to think about who I wanted to be as an Elder God. I wonder whether or not it is wise to say this, but when I initially applied to become an ephemeral, I was hoping to be Jadice (sorry Jadice fan club!). I decided to go in a different direction but I wasn’t sure what character I actually wanted to be! At one point Shikari tired to lure me to Glomdoring but Glom already has a full set of very amazing Elder Gods and I thought space may be a little tight. Looking back, I feel bad for Shikari, as it seemed like I was constantly having a godrole identity crisis that he was talking me through! When I finally earned my promotion to High Ephemeral, I really started to worry about my lack of ideas. I was released into the game at this point and was interacting with players and roleplaying again, so I felt a sense of urgency to decide who I wanted to become and what sort of roleplay I would want to do as a god. That’s when I finally decided on Zvoltz. He was really a blank slate, just a name I pulled out of the histories as a First Circle Elder. When I wrote up my initial ideas about the character, well… they were pretty boring. Thankfully, though, the admin team here in Lusternia is wonderfully awesome and I got a lot of feedback on how to flesh Zvoltz out a bit. Eventru pitched in with his deep knowledge of Lusternia lore, some of the other ephemerals helped me come up with more ideas, and Mysrai and I went out for a brainstorming session at a wine bar. Elostian and I spent about an hour trying to come up with titles, though we eventually settled on the Architect (he did keep insisting I name myself Nigel, though). After I finally worked out a cohesive idea for the character, Estarra added in some magic: What if Zvoltz was Mysrai’s sibling and they hated each other? I was sold on that right away! So, here I am, a newbie god, fresh out of my ephemeralhood! I’m really loving things so far, being able to experience the game from a completely new angle and interact in new and excitingly different ways. I have to give a lot of thanks to all of the game’s admin team. I’ve been in all of the orgs in the game, and I can truly say that none of them are as cool as Havens! A big thanks to all the players as well, I’ve really enjoyed all my interactions with everyone so far and I hope that everyone who’s encountered Zvoltz has come away with a positive experience! (photo credit: Shikari) **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Creating the Predator](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/12/creating-the-predator/) **Published:** June 12, 2011 **Author:** Shikari **Content:** Several players have expressed interest in learning more about what goes into the divine roles we play, particularly our thought processes and inspirations. Eventru already commented on his ideas in an earlier post, so I felt it was high time to discuss mine. I know I said before that I picked up Shikari because of a casual joke, but I only mentioned in passing what it was that caused the idea to stick. Now, I have always had an interest in tribal cultures. However, I have absolutely no real education regarding them, whether from four years of university or from self-study. My knowledge is very superficial and limited — and might, in fact, contain more romanticism than I’d like — so if I make any gross errors, please correct me! I’d love to learn. At any rate, my number one love has, for many years, been the native Maori culture of New Zealand. I was smitten with the idea of warring tribes with men who excelled in combat and women who knew no fear. Warriors painted their faces with black spiral designs; they showed the whites of their eyes and stuck their tongues out at enemies, a gesture that said, “I will eat you,” for they did indeed eat the flesh of their foes for *mana*, or authority over a land or territory. (In New Zealand English, *mana* now indicates a personal strength or greatness.) Their weapons, both long and close-quarters clubs, were crude by today’s standards, but they were designed to split skulls. And, of course, there are the war dances, meant to instill a bloodlust, a killing spirit, into the men. Other strong influences on my view on Shikari are aspects of various Native American cultures. This is present in the herbal remedies (specifically, Shikari’s healing shrines), the innumerable mentions of animal hides, bone talismans, and oral tradition, the last of which I haven’t visited yet in-game. I want to revisit the idea of dance, particularly in the form of the [Sioux Sun Dance](http://faculty.normandale.edu/~physics/Hollabaugh/Lakota/Schwatka.htm), but whether I’ll be able to implement it remains to be seen. From my incredibly limited knowledge of Native Americans, I also draw Shikari’s strong sense of family and community: the family comes first, always, and the family is Glomdoring. Other cultures, events, and mythologies impact my view on Shikari to a lesser extent. When I envisioned His Temple, for instance, I imagined a combination of a guerilla camp deep in the heart of the Vietnam jungle and the capital of the old Zulu Kingdom, KwaBulawayo, or “place of slaughter.” Shikari’s god realm was not originally my creation, but I hope to transform it into a twisted combination of Dante Alighieri’s nine circles of Hell and the endless battle of the Hjadningavig in Norse mythology. Whether I succeed or not will be up to you, the players, since both Shikari’s Temple and god realm are still quite small. Finally, the one thing I revisit many times to get into the mind of Shikari is [this boss battle against Cronos](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPLavbCPJG8) in *God of War 3*. Warning: There’s quite a bit of gore, a bit moreso than I can stomach… And that’s why I use it as my primary inspiration. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Questions on Community Building](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/05/08/questions-on-community-building/) **Published:** May 8, 2011 **Author:** Hoaracle **Content:** I feel that one of the most challenging parts of being a patron god is trying to combat apathy and disinterest in your community. Once this feeling is present it becomes a systematic problem; everyone gets affected: people in positions, the layperson, the newbie, even the gods. I definitely feel at a loss when people come to me and express their frustrations and I can only do my best to comfort them. It is an exhausting thing, especially when you are possibly the only god around and you desperately want to help. One of the things I think we all need to realise is that having a god help is not a panacea. We gods have bureaucracy; we have paper work (not on the level of Hallifax, but still!). Thus, adding things or even doing a little thing is somewhat of a difficult, if not lengthy process, despite how simple it may seem to the player-perspective. Coupled with the fact that as an administrator, we have our own projects to do – beyond that of being a patron – we may feel spread thin and unable to really help. I would like to know how players see their communities in terms of generating interest. I feel that this is the core problem for every organisation. Despite our in-game antagonisms, I feel that each of us want to, or at least hopefully, give positive energy for our communities and make things feel lively and enriched. I want this blog post to be a think-tank of sorts. I want to know how players need to work with each other to generate energy and how players would like gods to work with them to generate energy. It is hard because not only do we have to worry about whether or not the small things add up to anything, but we also have this notion of “shiny degradation” in which what is new will become old, so why bother – thus feeding our apathy. I apologise if this post is rather awkwardly composed. I am just generally frustrated because I do not know what I am supposed to do, or what you want me to do as your patron, sans these small things (which again, take time to do). I want to say that a lot of this is on your part, but I do not want to heave such a heavy load on you all. So, let us keep this simple: how do you feel your organisation maintains its sense of roleplay? How does your organisation feed this collective identity and deviate from this sense of disenchantment or detachment? Do not make comments on what you feel the ideal community should do. I think that doesn’t ground us in reality; I want to know what your community does, specifically and what your patrons do (if anything – although it should be often!). **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [We're All Human](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/15/were-all-human/) **Published:** April 15, 2011 **Author:** Shikari **Content:** I know what you’re thinking—the divine? “All human”? Preposterous! After all, they do so much work for the game, how can they possibly have lives beyond it?! And we’re flattered, trust me, but it’s true: Not all of us are automatons devoting full capacity and resources to Lusternia (except maybe Eventru). Even Estarra likes to go out and watch theatre from time to time, and she’s the producer! Some of us lead very active work lives. We’re out there in the office, we have bills to pay, and we have families to feed. Others of us attend universities and colleges where the majority of our days are spent in classrooms and lecture halls. Sometimes we even have homework and have to study for exams. It’s a tough life, being a volunteer admin or paid staffer on Lusternia! We’ve had ephemerals come up and burn out because they can’t manage their time between the game and real life. Some old gods stepped down because real life simply became too busy—and I’m sure many old players sympathise. Fain is soon to be married; he’s still around, but I’d be shocked and appalled if he paid more time to Lusternia than to the future Mrs Fain! Despite all this, we do our best to keep up with players and the game. Sometimes we might not answer your messages right away, and sometimes it takes a little longer for a guild request to be processed and implemented. We really appreciate your patience and understanding in these matters, because we really do want to work with you, the players, in enhancing the Lusternia experience. We just occasionally have other obligations, too—school, work, hobbies… …or meeting up with Sior at the bar after a particularly grueling final exam. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Leaving behind the mortal shell...](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/24/leaving-behind-the-mortal-shell-2/) **Published:** March 24, 2011 **Author:** Terentia **Content:** For some of us, leaving behind that mortal life can be one of the most difficult choices we’ve ever had to make. There are the quasi-friends that we love to see when we log in each day. There’s the political turmoil that we’ve so embroiled ourselves in that we dare let our fingers off of the buttons for fear of what might happen when we’re not there to pull the strings. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I don’t just have the t-shirt, I have the full Cher wardrobe ensemble worth of attire for it. I have played every single IRE game except for MKO. I’ve stopped playing, every single IRE game (except Lusternia). I sometimes look back to my various ‘lives’ but it is never with regret. Perhaps a bit of nostalgia from time to time may etch itself into my mind, but for the most part, I did what I did, and I moved on. In Lusternia, I think it was the easiest choice to make. Leave behind my mortal, and take a chance at divinity, or stick around on the mortal game. When the time came to really make that choice, I had already accomplished a lot of what I had wanted to do. I hadn’t originally planned any of what my mortal did, but it happened. I hadn’t forged a lot of in game ‘friendships’ in Lusternia. It was just after Lusternia became open to the public. I don’t think my mortal ever got above level 60. I was there to roleplay, to have fun. I pushed people to see beyond the normal limits that they try to embrace. I helped get an organization off of its feet. I still to this day can look back at the foundations of certain groups and see my influences in the way they are. It’s pretty awesome to leave that lasting mark. So I’m glad I went ‘up’. But every so often, I tease Estarra. I tell her I’m going to resign and take back my mortal. I think I get a few glares, and one of the gods laughs, telling me I’d never survive being mortal again. …The funny thing is, they’re probably right. While so much stays the same in the overall perspective – so much also changes the longer you’re ‘uptop’ versus ‘down there’. We see what all happens, but it’s so different to be in the thick of it. I suspect if I ever did return to my mortal, I’d probably never quite have the same feeling as it did the first time. So I’m stuck up here. For better or worse. 😉 Muahaha. Kudos, folks. I’m off to get someone elected into office. Pardon my brevity with online time for now. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Making Treebeard, I Mean Hoaracle](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/21/making-treebeard-i-mean-hoaracle/) **Published:** March 21, 2011 **Author:** Hoaracle **Content:** Hello, everyone! Rather than writing about my ephemeral days (which were filled with the same joys and trials that everyone has mentioned), I thought I would try to write something different! Seeing as Shikari’s latest post discussed him taking up an inactive god role, I will write about the other option an ephemeral has: creating a brand new god. This option is no easy task, believe me; however, it is very exciting, not only for the ephemeral in question, but also for all of Havens who anxiously wait for a new godly comrade! I originally did not plan to take Hoaracle at all – in fact, I first thought about becoming Morgfyre (however, I eventually realized that I was not evil or tentacle-y enough to play him). The role of Hoaracle actually came up by chance, pretty much like most new god roles. Estarra just finished the Book of Igaso and was letting all the gods and ephemerals preview it and I was star-struck. A tree man with a mossy beard that rumbles and grumbles? I’m totally in. After getting the ‘okay’ from Estarra, I was caught adrift in planning every little detail of Hoaracle’s life. I remember spending hours trying to figure out his own unique philosophy (my first idea was this notion of “stillness” – drawing upon Hoaracle’s meditator role and aspects of Buddhism). It was with the help of Maylea that I created clear lines on what would be Hoaracle’s overall philosophy. Much of Hoaracle’s ideals come from books I have read on religion and ecology, and I was most influenced by the works of Matthew Fox. However, that was not the only thing I had to do. New gods often plan out so much more, ranging from how their god will react to other gods, why they chose the organization they chose to reside in, and the tiniest details such as clothing and shrines. By far the best was figuring out the divine relationships Hoaracle had with other gods (it has left me with a lovely file detailing Hoaracle’s backstory and a sort of trajectory of possible Hoaracle-focused plotlines. Who knows, they may even pop up in the future!). Yet, the most anxious moment for any god is their return event. Mine was actually many days long, and it was mean to be very charming and casual. For the most part, I did very little coding and actually had more freeform roleplaying with players from Serenwilde than perhaps most gods have during their return events! While it has been a bumpy road since then, I think Hoaracle has become a welcome addition to Lusternia’s already illustrious pantheon. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Puny Mortals](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/15/puny-mortals/) **Published:** March 15, 2011 **Author:** Lyreth **Content:** What’s your favorite thing about Lusternia? Is it the lore? The immersive storylines? Are you a master politico up to your armpits in intrigue and foreign policy? Do you own your city’s stage, making a name for yourself as a playwright? Or, failing all that, are you one of those who goes around smacking people in the head with your sword/staff/cudgel/symbol/voidblaster until they drop? There’s definitely a place for everyone – sometimes it just takes a little looking. For me, the draw was RP, pure and simple – and I was lucky, because I was surrounded by people who were just as enthusiastic about it. From simply passing someone on the street to getting involved in speeches and rituals and family affairs, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without finding something to get involved in. (obligatoryephstory) Then one day you might black out, and when you come to, you realise you’ve applied to be an ephemeral. Following that, you’ll promptly experience minor heart failure as Estarra whisks you up to her office and promptly asks you just about everything there is to ask – who are you? How long have you been playing? What’s your favorite thing about the game? The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? It goes on and on! Then, when you have just reached the conclusion that you have given inadequate and inaccurate answers to each and every one of these queries, she yells for Scotty and beams you up. I knew the expectations that were had of me, and was totally ready to crack down, work hard, and prove that I could do this, oh yes. But wait – no mortal? Right. Oh, what’s that? No RP? WHAT? Yes, indeed. Becoming an Ephemeral is a grand thing, but the daunting task of learning how to script and work and function in this new role is nowhere near as jarring as the sudden lack of interaction with the rest of the game at large. Once the shock of appearing in the Havens and seeing EVERY GOD EVER STARING RIGHT AT YOU YES YOU has worn off, you might start to miss it. I certainly did. The trick with Ephemerals is that you, as mortals, shouldn’t know they exist until Estarra deems it so – and great pains are undertaken to ensure that that remains the case. I don’t want to make the experience sound banal and horrible, because it’s not, but that’s a long stretch of time when the best thing you have for companionship is Fain singing in the bathtub. So you trudge along, wistful thoughts of your homeland sitting fondly in your memory as you start to work on new projects. Then, one day, you realize that maybe it’s not so bad. When you’re not directly immersed in the political alliances of the week, you start to see the game with a little less bias. Then – poof – you’re suddenly able to interact with mortals as your shiny little Ephemeral self – only it’s probably not in the org you originally came from. And you don’t care, because it’s new and shiny and FUN. (/obligatoryephstory) Even after all I had experienced as a mortal, when I thought that there was no more wonder to be had for me as a player, I was soundly and totally proven wrong. That’s because Lusternia is not some static thing that you can ‘win’ and just stop. It’s always changing and expanding, and while in small part that’s due to the Admin working on new areas and events and ways-to-almost-end-the-world-as-we-know-it, it’s majorly due to all of you. So, hey, thanks for playing and making the game what it is today. You rock out with your mortal selves, and you make it fun for the little ephs and big bad gods, too. TL;DR – Players having fun and scheming with politics and writing new plays and enjoying the game give us more satisfaction than you might know. You do it for yourselves on a daily basis. We try to help out on occasion – and I can’t tell you how widely I grin when someone gets a kick out of something I’ve made or something I’ve done or said – but, guys, you are what make Lusternia what it is. So thanks, and keep it up! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Welcome to Haven’s Hideout!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/09/welcome-to-havens-hideout/) **Published:** March 9, 2011 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Haven’s Hideout is a blog for the Divine of Lusternia (i.e., the volunteer admin and staff) to post articles on their thoughts, experiences and insights about this awesome game. This will be a place for the Divine to let down their hair and go out-of-character, to share anecdotes about the drama, humor and intrigue they see, to ruminate about events and politics, and generally let players peek behind the curtain. To kick things off, I’m Robb French, the Head Producer of Lusternia, which is mainly my creation. The seeds of Lusternia began in 2003 when I was a volunteer admin in Achaea, known back then as Eris, Goddess of Chaos. Matt Mihaly, the head honcho of IRE, was contemplating a second spinoff of Achaea (the first one was Aetolia). While I created many quests, mobs and areas in Lusternia, I didn’t have a strong coding background, but a volunteer coder (who would become known as Roark in Lusternia) there teamed up with me on several projects (notably Occultism, a skillset I designed and the volunteer coder coded). Therefore, we applied for this new project. Alas, we didn’t get the job but rather it went to another volunteer named Jeremy Sanders and that game was known as Imperian. While we didn’t get Imperian, Matt Mihaly was impressed by our proposal and determination and offered to back an original game if we wanted to design it. But I would also need to learn to code in Rapture (the proprietary language of the IRE games). Three months later, I taught myself to code and even coded an original skillset to prove myself (Riding) and gave Matt a thick proposal for a new game that had everything from how the world would be laid out, unique twists on game design, original skills, and an 18 phase implementation plan (we still haven’t completed all phases!). With several appendices full of skilltree charts and maps, the proposal was 111 pages long. If Matt had any doubts about how serious we were, I think that laid it to rest! Once we had the green light, we basically disappeared for one year. We emerged with the world of Lusternia, something I am truly proud of, and where I took the mantle of Estarra the Eternal. I have always preferred to roleplay female characters (even in pen and paper D&D campaigns) and had this idea that I would be roleplaying Estarra a lot. In online games, I would always hide my real gender (guess that could be a whole future blog article!) so I took pains to keep it secret that Estarra was played by a male. However, the truth of the matter was that I very rarely roleplayed the Estarra character, many people knew who I was already, and so I eventually decided to “come out” as the Head Producer of Lusternia. And so that’s me behind the curtain! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Nexus 3.0 Beta](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/17/nexus-3-0-beta/) **Published:** June 17, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Iron Realms has been working on a new version of the Nexus client for the past year. For those of you that do not know, Nexus, is a web-based client that players use to connect to our game worlds. Our goal is to bring an improved experience, that can be easily accessed on desktop or mobile. Over the last few months, we have been testing Nexus 3.0 with a small group of users to work out as many bugs as possible. We are now ready to allow access to the public to help in a beta testing period. Feel free to help as much as you want or just take the new client for a test ride. Nexus 3.0 has many new features that you will enjoy. Important: Nexus 3 will attempt to import and convert your current Nexus 2 settings as well as possible. However, not everything is going to convert and some work will be needed to get systems to work. However, if you do not want to do that, fear not. We will not be dropping Nexus 2 and you will be able to continue using it. The import process will not delete or overwrite your settings in Nexus 2. You can find the wiki for Nexus 3 [here](https://nexus.ironrealms.com/Nexus_3.0). The wiki will explain the new features, how to find the client, and how to submit bugs. If you have any questions, you can ask away on the Nexus discord. **Categories:** News --- ### [May 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/13/may-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** June 13, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from May! If you’d like to join them for June, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### [Bardic Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) #### Winner Aramantos’ [A Prayer to the Supernals](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/246/) #### Runner-Up Ialie’s [I’m the Princess of The Rainbow](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/242/) Selia’s [Villagers’ Lament: “Comes the Great Hunt”](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/243/) #### Merit Arae’s [Love Is](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/245/) Ephe’s [Fear](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/240/) Ethna’s [Predator, My Muse](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/249/) ### [Artisanal Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) #### Winner Tonatiuh’s [The Spire of Manah II](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F05%2FmanahLevel2a.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=eddcca646fe2793b1f8a05ca17b7540e7b32dc1d6faf26763316b3ebcab1f47b) #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s [A Peoples Like Me](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F05%2FDoodle_BestestofBears.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=d232497253c1792bb9ab9172cfd61079795669afd3d75b3431275585e49b6917) #### Merit Esei’s [A Vision of Twilight](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F05%2Ftwilight-visions.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=ae30d72404891c6ade9937d89b702530eacfe5ed526bb772d869079274631f60) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [World Forum Explores Taurian History](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/12/world-forum-explores-taurian-history/) **Published:** June 12, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On the final day of the year 620 CE, the Mistress of the Forum announced that there would be a guest lecturer in residence for the coming year. The lecture concerned the history of the taurian people, their spiritual groups known as nerebo, and the complex variations found in other taurian groups both past and present. At Miska’s announcement, adventurers from all over the Basin came to hear the guest speaker: Faragan, Inagin, Machlana and Nirrain of New Celest; Arorris, Havyn, Lufir, Uzriel, Vareth and Veldrin of Magnagora; Xiran of Serenwilde; Evette of Glomdoring; Cillian of Hallifax; and Hiresh and Sorsha of Gaudiguch. For those who could not make the inaugural reading, Miska announced that their guest would be in residence through the remainder of the year, and those wishing to hear her lecture needed only to ask. Time shall tell whether this lecture represents a renewed fervor amongst the scholastic community, or merely the enthusiasm of a single researcher. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Wargames Challenge - Klangratch Champions Royale](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/12/wargames-challenge-klangratch-champions-royale/) **Published:** June 12, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As per Public post #1935, the League is hosting wargames! First time hearing about the League? Check out Events #35. The event will take place on June 18th at 11pm GMT. The rules are as follows: - the challenge will be hosted at Klangratch Tournies - the format is wargames (2 teams) - teams will be randomised (see Changelog #2634) - there will be 5 matches - winners of a match will receive 50 credits each - participating in all 5 matches will earn you a commemorative artifact vial (win or lose!) See you there! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [On the Road](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/09/on-the-road/) **Published:** June 9, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was the middle of autumn when Voarag Dragnet set off on a trip that would transform her life. Up till that point, she spent most of her days mining in any crevice she came upon, refining her finds, and then travelling village to village selling her wares. But recent developments encouraged her to try to settle down and open up a more permanent location near Avechna’s Peak. Curious to see if there would be a wider market for her goods, she undertook to visit every great nation of the Basin of Life in turn. In New Celest, she queried the Paladins Inagin La’Saet and Romaan D’Varden about their preferences for armour and weaponry. Both replied in unison: steel. Strong, reliable, and gets the job done. The Minister of Trade, Faragan Ladyn, remarked that they definitely trade all types of metals and that he foresaw jewellers and enchanters alike being eager to visit Voarag’s shop. Though quite tempted to push a Paladin sleeping on the job into the Pool of Stars, she left without causing an incident. In a chance meeting with Cheliyi Lunarose later in the month, Voarag also learnt of a great need for platinum for their Aquachemancers and pearls for just about anything. Next up was Serenwilde where Voarag came across Nialla Myeras and many others once they made their way to the Moonhart Mother. There, she learnt from Nialla and Lendren Myeras-Starfall of the significance of silver due to its reflective nature that is used to represent Mother Moon in their crafts. Prompted by Barrin Strongleaf and Ialie Starfall, Voarag revealed that she dabbles in a little bit of forging herself and that she picked it up from her mother, Korue. Though she scarcely wanted to leave the good company of the folks she met, duty called and so she set off on the road again. Though not before falling into a river on her way out. After warming up with some of Risadril Aeleris’ famous stew at the nearby waystation, she made her way up to Hallifax where she queried numerous custodians, comptrollers, and city administrators in vain. It was not until she came across Nelras Shevat, Ashira Ka’liati, and Zalan Shevat, that she learnt that they use vast amounts of silver for science and experiments. Though what those were exactly, they did not reveal. She also learnt of the city’s fascination with gemstones and the tense situations that arose in the past because of that. Fearing plummeting to her death, which she barely avoided on her way up, she was escorted out of the city by Nelras and bid fair winds. Quite eager to take it easy, as she had been on the road awhile now, Voarag headed for Gaudiguch next. There she met Hiresh Myeras, Vyell D’Cente, Xypher Stormcrow, and Amami, who explained the city’s fascination with gold – from its fiery tones resembling fire, through the radiance of the sun itself contained therein, and on its purpose as an agent of change and wealth ending. Gaudiguch regarded gold as a favourite for all things. They also professed their high regard for marble which they use in high quantities to memorialise Tzaraziko. Though eager to continue, Voarag found herself becoming quite fond of the places she was visiting and promised to do so again. Especially to stop by the Wasted Wakabi, as recommended by Hiresh. She stopped by Magnagora next, hoping to gather tips for how to approach Glomdoring. There she met with Uzriel d’Vanecu, Vareth, Arae Villarreal, Loretta, and Canisse at Atropos Plaza. In Magnagora, iron was the name of the game. Iron far as the eye can see. From fanciful iron gas lamps, to enormous construction sites, and Geochemantic reagents. The Geomancer Zau d’Vanecu herself professed all metals and gems favourable for all of them were refined by the Earth. They proudly spoke of their mines in Angkrag and mentioned disputes with the Dwarven Kingdoms. Having ran into similar issues, Voarag could sympathise. Before she headed out to Glomdoring, she gathered up suggestions for sights to see next time she visits and then set off. Warned to expect being stalked by shadows, thornbeasts, and spiders, Voarag bravely ventured into Glomdoring. The warnings were not enough. By the time she finally came across Motyl, she was out of breath and flinching at every shadow. They were joined by Gael An’Ryshe, quite the contrast to Motyl’s bubbly personality, who queried Voarag extensively before offering back any information whatsoever. When finally they sat about to discussing metals used by Glomdoring, Gael revealed that their weaponry is not about glamour but utility – black steel was all they needed. Joining their discussion, Xenthos An’Ryshe also revealed that they often adorn weapons or jewelry with rubies for the eye of Crow, and sometimes obsidian and onyx. Though she wished to stay and see the fabled Black Tower and Drums of the Dead, Voarag accepted Gael’s offer to be led out of the forest in one piece. There would be time to travel and see the sights in the future, but now was time to seize the moment and open her shop. She made her way north up the highway, into the pilgrim camp, and further into the woods, where streams from a small lake met. With Cheliyi and Esei Shee-Slaugh for company, she pitched her tent and prepared her wares for display. Before long, merchants from all over were stopping by the fir grove, and a new chapter in the eager orclach’s life has begun under Avechna’s aegis. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Customisation Changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/07/customisation-changes/) **Published:** June 7, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Customisations are once again opened and the help files have been updated to reflect all the new changes. We’d like to give you a rundown of the most important changes and explain our reasoning behind the bigger ones. 1\) HELP CUSTOMISATION INDEX or HELP 23, is a whole new help file section set aside for customisations only. You will find the usual help files there, in expanded forms, and some new ones. 2\) Pricing has increased across the board. We know this one is the toughest of the changes but it is necessary due to the influx of credits from the daily credits and org credits systems, both of which have multiplied customisation requests beyond what we can support. 3\) All customisation e-mails should now be directed to support@lusternia.com, rather than the old artifacts@lusternia.com. 4\) A new add-on was added for custom beasts and dwellers called Lore Review. This must be requested if the type of beast or dweller that you are requesting does not already exist somewhere in Lusternia. Things like that require a thorough lore review, review of any potential conflicts related to ongoing development, and often also include reviews from various org patrons. You will only be charged on successful review. More on that in HELP CUSTOM BEAST and HELP DWELLERS. 5\) Inherents for beasts have increased in price relative to how many trains they cost. You now also have a new tool to help you price inherents ahead of time via INHERENTCOST. More on that in HELP CUSTOM BEASTS. 6\) The cost of Sentience has increased for beasts, but has been lowered for dwellers as their primary purpose is roleplay. 7\) Homesteads with retired or dormant owners (1+ year) that are not deeded to a family will have access to their public spaces closed, and re-opened upon the owner’s return. This is being added to future-proof homesteads and avoid situations in which numerous empty and open homesteads are occupying space in an organisation. Deeded homesteads can be managed by the head of the family, which removes the issue. 8\) Typecast customisation is being retired. In its current incarnation, the system allowed for a first-come, first-served economy with adjectives. People could claim words and no one else could have access to them. Even revamped, we feel personalised typecasts should be rare as their proliferation undermines their value as unique features of Guilds, Communes, Cities, and Divine Orders. Going forwards personalised typecasts will be auction-only. All existing deeded typecasts will remain as they are. Players with multiple personal typecasts will be messaged and asked to choose one typecast to keep. 9\) The in-game Reactions system (syntax: REACTIONS) for custom beasts and dwellers is being retired. The system has several issues which have led to this decision, including: a multitude of bugs which have claimed countless coder hours over the years; a growing divergence in how it interacts with reactions progged by us as a part of requests; the inability to add cooldowns or mutes which we have been implementing more readily in recent years to cut down on spam; and its inherent ability to allow players to create, without oversight, reactions we would normally reject due to copying artifact functionality or otherwise imbalancing combat. The option to add or activate reactions will be disabled immediately as of this post. We will systematically review in the near future all reactions in the system and either move them to our current system if they meet our current standards or can be adjusted to meet them, or refund them if this is not able to occur. Reactions can continue to be requested through the e-mail route. 10\) The Shopkeeper feature for dwellers will now be able to be set up only in manses to avoid situations in which empty shops of retired or inactive players keep hawking their wares. The number of dwellers which this feature is very small and all owners will be consulted whether they would like to move their shopkeepers to a manse, or would like a refund. 11\) It will no longer be possible to submit Artifact Shop Skins and existing player-submitted skins will be disabled. We would like artifacts to have many skin options that match their play styles and organisations but the current system was favouring organisations with active designers who wished to submit. You will find many options for one organisation, but none for others. Instead, we will be hosting contests for skin submissions and making sure new skins get an even distribution. Any player-submitted skins you own are yours to keep. Designers of those skins are encouraged to submit their designs for competitions when those take place. 12\) Dwellers are receiving a new feature – Companions. Only one dweller at a time can be your companion, and that is the dweller that will be accompanying you outside the manse or homestead. They will reset to your inventory while they are a companion. Once you choose a new companion, the old one will return to their intended dwelling. HELP DWELLERS has the syntax and additional information. All dwellers that did not have a dwelling set up, received a dwelling. If you own only one dweller and their dwelling was your inventory or a manse or homestead, nothing has changed. If you own two or more dwellers, they had their dwellings set up in one of their owner’s manses. If you would like to change those, please contact support@lusternia.com. 13\) All existing customisations will have their progs reviewed in the near future to give older beasts, dwellers, and items, additional functionality – muting, cooldowns, etc. In addition, the Companion system requires some behind the scenes changes as well so a few inconsistencies will crop up while we iron that out. **Categories:** News --- ### [Producer Livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/04/producer-livestream/) **Published:** June 4, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tomorrow, on Sunday, the 5th of June at 8pm GMT, Orael and Uilani will be hosting a livestream! We’ll give you a rundown of the Havens’ current development plans for Lusternia and where we are with them, as well as cover a number of other topics. Time permitting, there may also be an opportunity to ask questions at the very end. Follow us on Twitch and watch our social media for updates when we go live. We hope to see you there! PS. We’ll be making the livestream available on our Youtube channel as well so you can check it out at a later date too. http://www.twitch.tv/lusternia http://www.twitter.com/lusternia http://www.facebook.com/lusternia **Categories:** Livestreams, News --- ### [June Curio Marvels](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/06/01/june-curio-marvels/) **Published:** June 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** All through this month, you will be able to buy curio packages [directly from the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). A number of curio packages that are only available in limited edition promotions, including race curios (for the sileni and nagasith races), toys, masks, bubbles, batons, genies, treasure maps, and poteen pots, are once again available. Be on the lookout during the month as something new will be coming as well. Lastly, every Tuesday this month you can earn double daily credits. That means that rather than 20 total for the day, you will earn up to 40! **Categories:** News --- ### [May Challenges](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/05/11/may-challenges/) **Published:** May 11, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Thanks to the enterprising spirit of Korue Dragnet and the desire of Master Quettle to show everyone a better way, we’ll see a Death and Harmony Challenge in May. **Death Challenge** 21st May, 11pm GMT **Harmony Challenge** 29th May, 3pm GMT The first is a hunting challenge and the second is an influence challenge. If you are unfamiliar with how they work, see [HELP ASCENSION RULES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1231) as the challenges are exactly the same as those held during Ascension. Be sure to use CONSIDER to analyse denizens ahead of time, scout out your hunting and influencing grounds, and plot out potential paths and order. Remember that others may have similar plans to yours so you must be prepared for those situations and for interference. Both Challenges will have similar prizes: 1st Place – 200 credits + an artifact\* 2nd Place – 150 credits 3rd Place – 100 credits 4-10th Place – 50 credits **Death Challenge artifact**: a reskinned divinus whip with customised action lines. **Harmony Challenge artifact**: a reskinned Mask of Esteemed Beauty (redone as a sash) Good luck! **Categories:** News --- ### [April 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/05/08/april-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** May 8, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from April! If you’d like to join them for May, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Selia’s [Sonnets of Supernal Praise](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/235/) #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s [The Ballad of Hamos](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/239/) #### Merit Arae’s [Medicine, What About Tea?](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/237/) Lendren’s [Seer Sight](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/236/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Tonatiuh’s [The Spire of Manah](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F04%2FmanahSpire1.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=3691ccc686c0e84de99329211f14c6ef321b3414c211ca97f6d768d1b4eace2e) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Auction Summary](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/05/02/auction-summary/) **Published:** May 2, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As Week 1 is about to be underway, we’d like to give you a rundown of all that will be auctioned throughout the month and to save you the trouble of going through the lists carefully, we’ll list an overview of the new options first. Keep in mind some of these are not new things, they are just new as an auction option. New auction options: - Wayfaire beasts – normally available for goop and only in October, we put a few of the rarer eggs into a gold auction so you can pick them up off-season - dolls – two rarer regular dolls have been added to a gold auction, and an Eventru doll and a Li-varili doll (new!) have been added to a credits auction - custom beepbeep – see ASHOP 631 for an example, design the toy and its lines - custom deliverer – see ASHOP 476 for an example, design the toy and its lines - custom Fate Deck – see ASHOP 385 for an example, design the deck and the cards - custom tenant generator – see ASHOP 329 for an example, will come in two flavours – modified (modify an existing generator and its tenant to your liking) and custom (design a whole new generator and its tenants). - customised ent – if your class has an ent, you can modify it. This will have very strict guidelines so ensure it is lore-friendly and as little combat disruptive as possible (appearance won’t be able to have a name, same base noun, etc.) ## WEEK 1 (GOLD) Cubix Changeling Intaglio Changeling Cameo Zombie Skin Wand of Illusions Rune of Absorption Shield Rune Music Rune Great Rune of Demesnes Superior Rune of Fitness Superior Rune of the Mind Superior Rune of Beauty Superior Rune of Health Regeneration Superior Rune of Mana Regeneration Superior Rune of Ego Regeneration Greater Rune of Dominion A Jar of Lirangshan Mist Gilded Cage Pendant of Vitality A Miniature Balloon Beast Collar Beast Whistle Mechanical Spurs Gatorshark Egg Gryphon Egg Dream Phoenix Egg Snow Phoenix Egg Vinestalker Sprout Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Gnome Weapon with 9 gears ## WEEK 2 (CREDITS) Staff of Illusions Sandals of the Wanderer Master Bubblix Crit Rune lvl 4 Cement Socks Scissors of Atropos Drums of Kiakoda Promise Rings Survivalist Chalice Boots of Shanth Book of the Dead Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Hyperpyramid Sempiternal Libram Starchart Scentomatic Piercing Eye Silvery Cap Rune of the Eternal Sigil Great Rune of Charisma Chaos Hamster Plushie Wand of Ice Wand of Fire Pentagonal Puzzle Gleaming Bracers Cloak of Thorns Tully’s Broom Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Hair/Beard Curio Custom Typecast Custom Beepbeep Custom Mobgen (modified) Custom Fate Deck Customised Ent ## WEEK 3 (GOLD) Cubix Changeling Intaglio Changeling Cameo Superior Rune of Paranoia Superior Rune of Charity Superior Rune of Seduction Superior Rune of Empowerment Superior Rune of Weakening Superior Rune of Cutting Resistance Superior Rune of Blunt Resistance Superior Rune of Magical Resistance Superior Rune of Fire Resistance Superior Rune of Cold Resistance Superior Rune of Poison Resistance Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Resistance Superior Rune of Electricity Resistance Superior Rune of Psychic Resistance Superior Rune of Excorable Resistance Superior Rune of Divinus Resistance Superior Rune of Cutting Enchancement Superior Rune of Blunt Enchancement Superior Rune of Magical Enchancement Superior Rune of Fire Enchancement Superior Rune of Cold Enchancement Superior Rune of Poison Enchancement Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Enchancement Superior Rune of Electricity Enchancement Superior Rune of Psychic Enchancement Superior Rune of Excorable Enchancement Superior Rune of Divinus Enchancement Kethuru the Almighty (ikon) Eye of Illith (ikon) D’Varsha the First (ikon) Toma, a centaur colt (doll) Doctor Xaviar Snapfuse (doll) Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Guise ## WEEK 4 (CREDITS) Staff of Illusions Sandals of the Wanderer Master Bubblix Crit Rune lvl 4 Cement Socks Scissors of Atropos Drums of Kiakoda Promise Rings Survivalist Chalice Boots of Shanth Book of the Dead Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Hyperpyramid Sempiternal Libram Starchart Scentomatic Piercing Eye Silvery Cap Rune of the Eternal Sigil Great Rune of the Magi Chaos Hamster Plushie Torus Gleaming Wax Cube Pound of Raw Flesh Gauntlets of Dragons Breath Temporal Freezer A Ring of Calming Hues Tully’s Broom Carousel of Wonders (ikon) Eventru, Crown of the Exalted (doll) Li-varili, Lady of the Lagoons (doll) Custom Doll Custom Guise Custom Homestead Custom Hair/Beard Curio Custom Typecast Custom Deliverer Custom Mobgen (custom) Custom Ikon Customised Ent **Categories:** News --- ### [May Auctions Galore](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/05/01/may-auctions-galore/) **Published:** May 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of May, we have a couple things for you to take advantage of and look forward to! We’ll be having a **30% credit bonus**, meaning you’ll get an additional 30 credits for every 100 purchased! **Double XP Tuesdays** will help you get to your experience/essence goals. And lastly, we’ll be holding four separate **auctions** throughout May. The first auction starts next weave and will run for one week, followed by 3 more auctions throughout the month. The first and third auctions will be gold auctions whilst the second and fourth auctions will be credit auctions. Classic auction staples will be returning but you’ll hear more about that closer to next weave. For the moment, you can still take a look at what was available last time via AUCTIONS. November auctions lasted one week so it’s only a small example of what will be available. Also, we have decided not to introduce new artifacts this time, instead choosing to focus coding resources on more critical projects. But you will still see some interesting things on auction regardless! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Curious Case of Specimen XSPS79, Part II](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/20/the-curious-case-of-specimen-xsps79-part-ii/) **Published:** April 20, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It would not be even a month later that an inconspicuous letter was left at the Emperor’s Lament Post Office. It revealed the location of the ship Magnagorans so sought and a warning: that a plethora of agents within the Gnafia did not care for interference, no matter from whom, and to take care to avoid confrontation. Having assembled a team, Uzriel d’Vanecu led Magnagora to Cankermore, where a sleek black ship had a ramp extended to the dock it was stationed at. Wasting no time, the troupe boarded and soon found a gnome, Jace Wingnut, scribbling at his desk. Unfazed by these intruders, he continued to write in silence, aiming to make introductions on his own terms once he was done. But the Engine grew restless. This would prove to be a costly mistake, as the unsettling silence drew many to begin rummaging through the gnome’s possessions in the study, galley, and even his bedroom. Jace pulled a drink from within a drawer on his desk and downed it swiftly before introducing himself properly. He began to negotiate an offer to exchange information, but this offer quickly turned south as a member of the Engine began rifling through Jace’s desk drawers mid-conversation. In the end, all that could be determined was that the Gnafia’s interest in the creature had simply been to sell it to the highest bidder, and as it was a previously unknown species it could sell for quite a lot. This would be the last helpful, or kind, thing the gnome would say as he crossed his arms and clamped his lips shut. Further inquiry would only be met with icy silence or an equally sharp retort, interspersed by soft belches. Soon, a pained cough escaped the gnome’s chest, and he staggered back against his desk, offering a final wave before his front dissolved in a gory display. In death, the gnome had assured his corpse would be useless against the Necromancers staring him down. Undeterred by this resolution, though disgusted in some cases, the Magnagorans began to unearth an unorthodox locking system that they quickly set about un-locking. Successfully rearranging hidden levers beneath wine decanters, arranging ribbons on a star chart, and even using the heat of a stove to uncover hidden buttons on a table, the group quickly replaced a candle within a sconce in Jace’s bedroom; a nearby bookcase swinging open to reveal a hidden office beyond. Within, a cipher lay on top of an unfinished report, which Uzriel quickly collected before the Magnagorans returned home. There, they described their findings to Tunika, who read the preliminary report and puzzled over the cipher before leveraging his wealth against the situation, promising to take a copy to some learned acquaintances of his who could likely crack the code. While the learned minds of the Engine puzzled over the cipher in the following days, a beggar flagged down Merceaux, and in an incredible turn of events related a story that solidified the snowman’s claim: that the beggars themselves had attempted to haul the creature through the city streets after finding it discarded at the aetherdocks of Magnagora. However, after some gorged themselves on the raw flesh, a horrible sickness overcame them, and they were forced to abandon their attempt. Merceaux was true to his word and recouped the beggar an incredibly generous sum for his honesty and his caretaking of the other, ill beggars. Days passed and the cipher continued to vex many. Finally, the codebreakers Tunika mentioned met at the Necropolis Library Atrium. Arguing in a place least suited to loud quarrels, Ghalib d’Murani and Labourer Seruldin soon attracted the attention of other codebreakers eager to help. The type of cipher and how to crack it had already been determined so now was the time to seek the right solution. However, the matter was so complex that half of those gathered would attempt to further encode the cipher instead of solving it for a short time. After all were on the same page, however, a quick and tidy series of questions soon saw the puzzle eagerly hounded at by all the bright minds of the Engine – many of whom eagerly regaled the codebreakers with firsthand tales of aetherspace and its mysteries as they attempted to discover what the key passage might be. Eventually, Zagreus and Ashnezharr both erupted with cheer as they proclaimed to have discovered the correct cipher password, which was ‘astrl’, for the Astral Plane. Using the cryptic phrase to decipher the report would lead them into aetherspace, ultimately docking at a seemingly abandoned anchor. It was Sapphira and Veldrin who would spot a trail of orange stain upon a rock, leading towards absolute nothingness. Perplexed by this, they relayed this information to the Engine at large, and were soon met by none other than the Goddess Drocilla Herself, whose interest had been piqued by Her Night-Commander Thaleem’s report about the strange goings-on. Sapphira quickly endeavoured to ensure She was up to speed as the ships above quickly docked and the Engine joined the Enchantress as She observed nothingness. Strolling at the very edge of the precipice, Drocilla ran Her fingers across the air which rippled like a dark curtain. It was a divine illusion, and an inferior one compared to Her skills – as She was quick to point out. The very location, however, had been hidden by a Soulless. Intrigued all the more, She sang in an undecipherable, mellifluous language and dispelled the illusion, causing reality to distort around the anchor and forcing mortal eyes to turn away. When it had settled once more, shock rose as the lifeless anchor they had once stood on now appeared to be a smaller piece of an enormous aetherbubble, the centre of which was a large building filled with silvery, glittering fog. Momentarily bewitched by the far-off sighting of a magma-diving creature, very much like the corpse that had started them on this path, the mortals did not spot that the fog was rapidly encroaching upon them. Drocilla barred their passage and bid caution as a silhouette slowly approached. Eventually, a mysterious woman stepped from within the coiling fog, clad in a simple grey dress that hid much of her pale skin from view. Her face, or lack thereof, was displayed for all to see: a head like an uncarved statue resting atop her thin neck. Her voice echoed from the fog as she conversed with the Goddess. What followed was a peculiar and cold standoff in which the woman referred to those gathered behind the Goddess as “insignificant scraps” and “far too broken to be repaired”, thus suggesting they were being brought there for her. This puzzled Drocilla but She played along, pretending to be whoever it was the woman thought Her to be, but all the same gently reached for the hollow of Her throat. As the intoxicating scent of musk and spices filled the air, the faceless woman grew apprehensive and quickly demanded Drocilla identify Herself. She would not, instead demanding to know what the woman was doing in a place that once belonged to the Elders. “It was abandoned, and now it is not”, the woman replied warily, and then in an even more confusing turn of events added, “You wear Her demeanour well, I will admit.” And though Drocilla’s retort – “As do you**” –** brought no clarity to those witnessing the confrontation, it did mean something to the woman. She countered with a question about a mysterious “He” that the Goddess quickly replied, and in that instant something changed between them. And though the fog withdrew and the Goddess’ hand dropped from Her throat, the woman asked for one more proof – to see Drocilla’s mask. “It is only fair,” the Goddess replied as She conjured an aureate mask beset with stunning lavender crystals, “After all, You are wearing Yours.**“** The faint of stomach turned away as the faceless woman reached up and tore her own skull from her body, bathed in a blinding light that faded to reveal a plain, unassuming woman with auburn hair bound in a pin of blackened bone. And there, standing before them, was the Goddess Malmydia. Embraced by Drocilla as a friend, the Elder Goddess was surprised to see one of the Twelve not only alive but faring well. Though She said little of Her time in the Void, She made it clear that She had been working there a while and was content to be left to Her own devices. Nonetheless, Malmydia agreed to return to the First World at Drocilla’s side and take in the world that awaited Them. It was then that Malmydia would hide away this bubble once more, and the Magnagorans quickly rushed to return to their home. Back in the Basin of Life, the Enchantress bid Her friend reveal Herself. None but the Magnagorans knew what had just transpired so fear gripped the land as a chill wind and a nauseatingly clean scent heralded the sudden return of Malmydia, the Chiurgeon to the First World. She entertained Herself briefly with the mortals brave enough to attend Her within Her fulcrux, and then retreated to the Enchantress’ company and care. What frightening innovations and daring experiments and will Her presence spur? **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Curious Case of Specimen XSPS79, Part I](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/20/the-curious-case-of-specimen-xsps79-part-i/) **Published:** April 20, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It is uncertain whether it was the sight or the smell that the man remarked upon first, for the mark of stress near his eyes and nose both competed with the sheer wonder the man beheld: a behemoth of a beast, flopped upon the street as though from nowhere, overnight. Such was the tale that made the rounds in Magnagora on the 5th of Estar, 615 CE, and was hot on tongue and ear both as word spread quickly from the constabulary outwards until nearly every Magnagoran was aware. More than three-and-a-half thousand pounds of sopping, rotting flesh was discovered at the base of the Black Fortress, coated in a thin layer of its own rot juice and spilling a revolting stench that was startling even to those versed in the worship of Lord Gorgulu. Kalas Zagreus was the first notable person to lay eyes upon the beast and quickly summoned the rest of the city, including the constabulary, to the darkened streets beneath. Discussion as to the beast’s origin filled the night and crept into the early morning as many puzzled over the situation. Veldrin D’Cente and Svenwolf both attempted to ingest the liquid upon the creature’s body and subsequently suffered horrifying physical aftereffects from doing so. Marquis Merceaux sought out the identity of the beggar who had reported the body originally and offered monetary compensation, should any future information come to light. Sapphira and Uzriel d’Vanecu, meanwhile, brought up the need for experts in the field. Silvanus d’Murani, agreeing with their thought, set out to visit his uncle, the esteemed Tunika d’Murani, within his own tower. Though interested, upon hearing about the current state of the body, the chemist deferred the body to Snaikka i’Xiia, an expert in the field of zoology. True to the assumption, upon hearing of the beast and its unusual circumstances, Snaikka packed a small handbag and set off towards the Necropolis, arriving quickly behind Thalkros n’Lochli, who had set off to fetch her. Enraptured by the corpse in spite, or perhaps because, of the horrible stench and its gross, supple flesh, Snaikka quickly jotted down a few primary notes before declaring this public thoroughfare to be unsuited to her needs, and demanding the beast be relocated to outside of her tower, where she could work more efficiently and with less interruption. The Warlady of the Engine herself, Kailanna n’Kylbar, acquiesced to the woman’s need and stated it would be done. Hearing this, Snaikka quickly rushed home to begin preparing tools and order forms, pausing only to wipe her shoes upon the entrance mat to her tower. Though it means little to the grander events, it is critical to note that she would be the only person to do so throughout this entire affair. Quickly discarding the idea of a catapult as a method for transporting the body across the city – for fear it may leak that stinking fluid everywhere – Magnagorans decided upon utilising a makeshift stretcher instead. Quickly they procured a tarpaulin from a nearby construction site and used long wooden planks to construct the device. Without the means to move such a heavy corpse on their own, however, eyes quickly turned to Veldrin, a Geomancer, who called upon the very cobblestones themselves to shift and angle the corpse in line with their demands. With the body sagging, the demonic thralls in service of the various Nihilists quickly rushed forward and saw to the dirtiest of the work: covering themselves in slime and stench as they finally coerced the great body into falling upon the stretcher. Carried through the streets laboriously by the Warlady, Veldrin, Zagreus, and Silvanus, the corpse was finally laid to rest in the far northwest corner of the city, in the shadow of the i’Xiia Tower. There, Snaikka informed them that she had placed an order for new supplies and the construction of an outdoor laboratory in which to examine the creature. Donning arm-length leather gloves, she proceeded to make a preliminary inspection of the corpse, determining it to be absolutely ill-suited for land, and likening it to the bodies of creatures observed in the Sea of Despair. Only a month later, the laboratory was constructed and the matron of the Ilithyia family was seen leaving the premises after collecting Snaikka’s signature on a final invoice for services rendered. Emboldened by the new equipment, Snaikka summoned her two proteges, Edwin d’Vanecu and Vittoria d’Lardick, to attend her. Only the latter responded promptly, however, and the two women disparaged the absence of the former briefly before beginning to carefully observe the creature and make their initial findings. Soon, all the Engine was allowed to take part, each dutifully documenting their findings as they took samples, identified the body’s physical makeup, and hypothesised about what may have happened. Knowing that much could yet be discovered, a month of time was allotted for this initial discovery period, throughout which many Magnagorans inspected the corpse with the various tools at their disposal… and a disturbing number of others continued to lick the creature and suffer the consequences. Kiani saw the arrival of Tunika d’Murani, allegedly offered a formal invitation by Snaikka for this rare scientific undertaking. Alongside a case of samples collected by the Engine throughout the past month, Snaikka offered the man a chance to inspect the creature as well; which allowed them to discover a strange gland excreting mercurial fluid near its tail. Tunika, rather pleased with himself, carted away with a single box of samples and an order for servants to retrieve the rest: declaring that it would take him a while to achieve worthwhile results. Seritul d’Vanecu, a master Necromancer, would also visit the corpse around that time with a different agenda. While the body was still as intact as it could be, he hoped that he might be able to temporarily reanimate the body, so that they might achieve a brief insight into the beast’s behaviour when it had lived. Within a ritual circle of blood, he attempted to raise the creature, yet there was no success. Emboldened by the challenge, however, the attending Necromancers were invited to join in the attempt: stepping up to the ritual and lending their power to the man even as the haunting chords of the Necroscream filled the air to empower the rite. Energy racked the creature as the ritual was completed, sending it jerking for several seconds before it ultimately stilled: only the calm of the grave present within it. Yet despite this, Seritul seemed pleased with the results, for as he claimed: none could do more than those gathered here today, and the discovery of a creature so resistant to Necromancy was hardly something to overlook. The next month, Tunika summoned the Engine to his laboratory, where dozens of metal racks held hundreds of plates bearing paper soaking in fluid. He had surmised that the liquid which suffused the creature was not, in fact, something the body naturally produced – for samples of fat and liquid they had obtained showed that it was likely the creature had orange blood and appeared to have incredibly dry flesh beneath its armoured tendons. Therefore, the Engine set off in a race around the Basin, across the Planes, and even into Aetherspace itself before a snowball procured by Silvanus matched the results of the water within the creature: proving it to have been housed and preserved, however temporarily, on Frosticia. Emboldened by the presence of a tangible lead, the Engine sprung into action: coming together as one large party and besieging Frosticia to search for anything out of sorts. In their discoveries, however, they found nothing amiss. Fortunately, a passing snowman’s benign inquiry afforded them an invaluable clue in a firsthand witness to what was only described as ‘little fellows’ from their ‘long dark ships’ scurrying about with the corpse before burying it near the aetherdock. In fact, the snowman claimed, after that last ‘big fight with the ships’, it appeared that a ship docking rather, unfortunately, dislodged the corpse and sent it tumbling to be jammed in the dock itself, soon carted away by the same ship which dislodged it. The creature’s presence within the Engine was no more than an accident, a whim of the Fates, and yet Magnagora was not deterred. A creature that held such potent illness and incredible size, while being resistant to Necromancy, was a threat they had now been made aware of, and they wished to uncover its ultimate truth. Another round of interrogation saw the snowman finally remember the location from which he saw them bring the corpse and, after carefully trekking across a glacier, the more experienced adventurers within the Engine recognised the location as a tell-tale gathering point for the Gnafia. And so, utilising their contacts within the organisation and some long-standing favour, Magnagorans arranged for the location of the original transporter to be sought out. Convinced they will soon get to the bottom of the mystery, they flew home across the aetherways. The matter had become yet more intriguing and layered, but they would not be deterred. **Categories:** Events --- ### [March 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/11/march-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** April 11, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from March! If you’d like to join them for April, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Blaise’s [In Defense of Attitudinal Hedonism: a Gaudiguch Dissection and Inspection of Lifestyle](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/226/) #### Runner-Up Xiran’s [Hymn of Hidden Life](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/234/) #### Merit Arae’s [To Grow Up](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/227/) Ialie’s [A Poetry Contest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/233/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [Archpower](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F03%2FArchpower.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=ab287e4a6a98d2cb9d40100c6453715371c0b03a27be8b02ffaff6b9a9a7c453) #### Runner-Up Lendren’s [Pathfinder](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F03%2FPathfinder.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=aa0d567ce475de45044bca2f3643baa540bd0f40b3d0a8b429af3a949ec09bbf) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Agriculture Commodity Shop](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/09/agriculture-commodity-shop/) **Published:** April 9, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’ve now introduced an agriculture commodity shop where players can buy and sell select commodities. You’ll find the price of these commodities will change based on two factors. The first is a long-term slow change based on commodity input and output. The base selling and buying price will slowly rise or lower depending on the creation and use of those commodities over time. The goal here is to reach equilibrium for these commodities. The second is much more short-term. It depends directly on how many commodities are bought or sold from this shop. The more you buy, the higher the selling price will go. The more you sell, the lower the buying price goes. These prices are independent of each other (IE: selling a lot of wood will not decrease how much they sell wood for). If nobody is buying a commodity, the price will lower over time and if nobody is selling, the buy price will rise over time. The price changes are something we will be monitoring closely. We will adjust them as we see the actual use. The end goal is that the actual use of commodities will determine the price. The higher in demand and the lower in supply, the higher the cost. The larger supply and lower demand will be a lower cost etc. The new commodity shop’s stock limits purchases or sales to 50 commodities at a time, but will instantly restock if the current batch is bought up. There is no limit on how much you can buy a weave. A couple of other changes – we’ve equalized all the base prices of commodities to 500 gold per. We know this a lot for some of these commodities but this is to start everything off on an equal playing field and allow the market demands to set the prices. The current base prices do not reflect the ease of generation and the needs of the market. Another reason for this higher price is to limit an initial buying surge. We’ve also adjusted all city and commune commodity shops ‘sell’ prices to prevent players from taking advantage of this price change to make easy gold. These can be adjusted by the Trade Minister or City/Commune Leader to whatever price they would like. Again, we’ll be monitoring this closely for the time being and seeing how things play out. This is a complex system and seeing it in action will allow us to assess differently than we were able to during testing. As we feel comfortable with everything, we will be releasing a second shop, with prospecting commodities. **Categories:** News --- ### [It's the Journey That Matters](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/09/its-the-journey-that-matters/) **Published:** April 9, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On a calm wintry night, Tilibe stopped by the Toronada Bridge to water her horses. She had a long way ahead of her still, travelling to Rockholm the peddle her wares, so a short break was well advised. She did not expect this to go so poorly, however. Something growled in the night, her horses spooked, and the sounds that followed suggested she and her cart are now alone and surrounded by nothing but darkness and danger. She need not have feared as her cries brought those travelling nearby to her rescue. Though the highway was dark and empty at first, the bridge soon filled with people. Aodharth Myeras came upon her first and then half a dozen others at least. While Aodharth built a fire to keep the terrified tae’dae warm, Esei Shee-Slaugh and Tau Shee-Slaugh drew the story out of her. Though safer, Tilibe desperately needed to find a place to rest for the night, somewhere where she could keep an eye on her valuables and decide what to do next. She was in luck, too, for Esei knew just the place and the combined might of Hiresh, Jaamir Ryseni, Esei, and Tau made quick work of moving the now horseless cart. Though it took them till dawn to make it there, once they arrived at the pilgrim camp at the base of Avechna’s Peak, Tilibe realised this is exactly where she needed to be. Not only was there already a small market area set up by visiting pilgrims, those who aided her so were eager to trade the moment they saw what all is packed in her cart. Fresh produce, bottles of milk, bolts of fine silk – everything a trader going village to village needs to make a living. Though weary now, and the warmth of the fire built anew was easing the terror of the night, Tilibe spoke a little of her planned journey and reasons behind her lifestyle to Tridemon Regalis, Ferne Ladyn, Ialie Starfall, and the others. Left on the outskirts of Estelbar as a cub, she had been brought up at Mrs Trundle’s Tae’dae Daycare and wanted to find her parents most of all. She had visited all known tae’dae communities in the Basin of Life but came up short. Still without a family, but now with a new business, she vowed to stay at the camp and curled up to sleep by the fire, safe and warm at last. **Categories:** Events --- ### [April Treasure Hunts](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/06/april-treasure-hunts/) **Published:** April 6, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Do you know Lusternia’s every nook and cranny? Are you a truly accomplished Explorer? We’ll see! In April we’ll be hosting two treasure hunts. The first one will be easy, the second one hard. Comparatively at least! The goal of the first one is to provide a more gentle introduction to how treasure hunts work and how to puzzle out the right location from the clue. The second will be more challenging both on account of its more difficult clues and because it will require you to find the right denizens (who will all be made invulnerable for the duration) instead of locations. ## Treasure Hunt I **Date**: 16th April, 2pm GMT **Type**: easy **Focus**: locations on the Prime Plane ## Treasure Hunt II **Date**: 23rd April, 10pm GMT **Type**: hard **Focus**: denizens on the Prime Plane Both treasure hunts will have the same prizes, which are as follows: **1st Place** – 200 credits + uniquely skinned Silver Compass of True Directions **2nd Place** – 150 credits **3rd Place** – 100 credits All participants will have until the end of the week following the hunt to pick up the hunt item and complete the treasure hunt. Everyone who completes the treasure hunt will be rewarded 50 credits (including those who place) and their hunt item will be made permanent. One thing to keep in mind when preparing is that clues hardly ever include the exact word you will find in a room’s or denizen’s description. For example, the clue might be: “The wind carries herbal scents, broken fence revealing peaks of colour in this drab land, dimmed by the menacing shadow of a nearby crumbling behemoth.” This is room “a hidden clearing” in the Grey Moors. There are a few hints to this being the right place. “Drab land” suggests Grey Moors, “menacing shadow of a crumbling behemoth” is meant to conjure the image of Castle Djarrakh. Then for the exact room, the herbal scent is meant to point to the herbal garden which is an adjoining room and the room’s description suggests you can glimpse the herbs within, hence “peaks of colour”. The clue could allude to the history of the place, its people, geography, visuals, etc. As for how treasure hunts are carried out in Lusternia, you always receive an item that serves as your guide. You usually have at least two ways of interacting with the item, which you will be able to see on PROBE. The first will show you the current clue, the second will verify if you’re in the right room for the given clue. The item will tell you if you’re in the right room and then roll the next clue. Everyone has the same clues but in a randomly generated order. The first person to figure out the last clue, wins. In some cases, and in these hunts as well, you will also have the option to reroll a clue once in a while to avoid getting stuck. **Categories:** News --- ### [April Fool's: New Auction Options](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/01/new-auction-options/) **Published:** April 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While MUDs are among the oldest game genres, they have undergone remarkable changes to bring them more in line with the latest innovations in multiplayer gaming. To name but a few that have been introduced in Lusternia: - daily questing – so-called dailies – that reward a unique currency (HELP DAILYCREDITS) - auction house – where you can buy and sell unique magical wares (HELP CURIOMARKET) - squads – which simulate the party experience of questing and hunting together (HELP SQUADS) - dungeons – unique experiences for a group to tackle (HELP ENDZONE) We always seek to improve the user experience so we would like to implement another innovation – a trend that has been sweeping across the gaming world. That trend is known as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and, in short, allows one to purchase an object or element of a game that is then uniquely theirs. We believe that by putting that opportunity and power in your hands we can improve Lusternia immensely. For those who are unaware, NFTs are signed, unique, and non-transferrable proofs of ownership (akin to a property deed) placed upon the blockchain. Blockchains are a fascinating technology that has been gaining popularity in financial technology, and are the backing technology behind such concepts as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies. We have developed our own blockchain for this project, opting to have it centralised with a single source of truth to cut down on the environmental costs of third party verification. Going forwards, it will be possible to purchase the following via auctions that will take place in May: - dolls (all copies of a given doll will be then destroyed) - unnamed village denizens - curio collections - public crafting designs (need not have been designed by the purchaser) - one-of-a-kind custom artifacts - historical family names (unclaimed ones, ownership of claimed ones may be put on auction later) Once purchased, please contact support@lusternia.com to go through the process of deeding your new possessions IG and obtaining the relevant proofs of ownership. Once deeded, you will be able to make changes to your NFTs as you see fit. That includes name changes, line changes, effect changes, and so on – as appropriate to the object of the auction. Please see [HELP NFTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1549) for more information! **Categories:** News --- ### [April Present Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/04/01/april-present-extravaganza-2/) **Published:** April 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of April, we’re running a present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you purchase for the month of April, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! To sweeten the pot, we are adding the ability to EXCHANGE PRESENTS, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. But wait, there’s even more! When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. Last but not least, throughout April you can enjoy Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays which will yield a bonus to critical hits! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Charged Convergence](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/29/a-charged-convergence/) **Published:** March 29, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On the 25th of Juliary, 614 years after the Coming of Estarra, members of Hallifax were called upon by Researcher An’ouri Oolin of the Diamond Research Project to learn of a new research development conducted within the laboratories. Researcher An’ouri Oolin briefly spoke to the members of the previous study of a specimen, delivered many years ago from New Celest, that was stuck in a perpetual time loop. Now, armed with a suitable device aimed to recreate the same effect over a large area, she sought assistance in carrying out the experiment. Chairwoman Alexandria Shevat was entrusted with the device, and was instructed to deliver it to the Skarch Desert below the Lucidian Mesa Compound. Members of the Collective scrambled around the Mesa Compound, extracting passcode clues from the guards under the guidance of Indiau Eepex. Luce Shevat, Alexandria Shevat, Azazilliy Skydrifter and Calioliahali Skydrifter gathered the clues while Zalan Shevat stayed with the device, cracking the clues and enabling the device. Once enabled, the device seemed to work as intended until the temporal energies within the area rose to critical levels, and Hallifax was warned of the potential for a convergence. Reality wavered in the Skarch Desert, visages of people and a looming onyx fortress fading in and out of existence. Kr’xil, an engineer presumably from the other side of the convergence, showed up almost immediately to interrogate whom he considered to be visitors intruding upon the Dominion of Hallifax. His Hallifax was certainly different for he spoke of a Warlord, scientific domination of the Basin, and his trill features bore crystalline growths. Before he could be interrogated properly, he fled to his own city, and the convergence continued in full swing, seemingly empowered now by the onyx fortress of Hallifax. The Hallifax of this timeline, under the guidance of Ismbard Brunl and An’ouri Oolin, attempted to shut off the device by overcharging it with their own power, while defending themselves and the device from invading crystalline creatures. Dark grey clouds gathered above the Skarch Desert as a swarm of crystalline creatures approached the experiment location. As the temporal energy levels peaked, bolts of white lightning struck down into the approaching swarm, one striking the device and generating enough power to separate the timelines. Analysis suggested the power was Immanidivinus in origin, to the surprise of many. And just as relief surged over all gathered, arcs of fulminating brilliance surged across the firmament as Zvoltz, the Architect returned to the First World. But what has kept the Lord Architect away from the First World for so long? Where has He been? And what has prompted Him to return now, of all times? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Inclusivity Project: Tribal References](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/26/inclusivity-project-tribal-references/) **Published:** March 26, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The event that took place in Serenwilde today (Event Post #[491](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Events/491/)) is part of a broader project to address Native appropriation within Lusternia. This segment of the project deals with the concept of tribes and has been split into two parts: commune changes and global changes. The first is now out, the latter is to follow before long. Our guiding principle for these changes, as with most appropriation-style inclusivity problems, has been to make sure Lusternia’s lore is uniquely ours and, where it is inspired by something, be respectful of the inspiration. While intended as respectful, in Serenwilde we felt that the use of tribes (in Wodewoses) was compounding their identity problem for two reasons: the number of (remaining) Native appropriations present, and the way the word ‘tribe’ was being used. For the former, the revelation of Seralem, the recent events, and those changes that will still follow, all aim to make Serenwilde its own cultural construct. Real-world inspirations will continue to suffuse our worldbuilding, but we wish to be intentional and considerate there. For the latter, the use of the word ‘tribe’ is especially important as it is commonly used throughout Lusternia, but rarely in an appropriate way. In our changes, we seek to make Lusternia’s peoples reflect a variety of social structures and, at the same time, we seek to not propagate harmful stereotypes. The changes that have already taken place can be found in Changelog #2633. While we are not yet done, the one thing we will not be reviewing are player-written creations. If you would like to adjust your own designs, help files, etc, please do so. If necessary, feel free to contact us if it concerns creations that only we can tweak – such as by messaging the Charites in the case of designs. We want to be clear that with these changes we are not saying that the use of tribe/tribal by players is wrong or forbidden. We are clarifying our stance and our usage, and encourage you to join us in this effort to keep things consistent. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The Bonding of Kith and Kin](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/26/the-bonding-of-kith-and-kin/) **Published:** March 26, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** From the Journal of Alpheth Lunseer: I do not know what I expected, when I asked the Serenwilde to open the Henge to the others. Certainly, I knew that it would be overwhelming. After all, I have had only the trees for companionship these past decades. I did not even know how long it had been until I was back within the forest proper once again. But I did not expect that it would happen quite so quickly. Afterwards, Lalenna explained to me that the trace of vibrancy left by the Seralem had converged into a path. It led from the Mother Moonhart all the way to the southern edge of the Henge. ‘Twas not a simple matter to trace it, so it seemed. After some confusion, those gathered went through the forest, and it was then that they realised the vibrancy had shifted. Next, they saw symbols in its glow, which were recognised as Wodesigns – ’twas then that they sought Lalenna’s counsel, for at the time there were no Wodewoses walking the forest. ‘Twas quite the crowd gathered by the time that they made it to what would become the entrance to the Henge. The vibrancy had gathered there and was beginning to coalesce into that entrance, you see. But it had not quite formed in full, and it fell to the gathering crowd to assist. Qistrel Strongleaf was the first to realise this, joining as she did to the earth. After this, other Hartstone joined her bond, their strength offering more to the vibrancy. Then, Lalenna discovered that offering items would also assist. Unfortunately, Llani Myeras’s offering of a piebald hamster was summarily rejected – but Essoheli’s offering of a garland proved to be acceptable, along with Lalenna’s moonhart leaf and more. ‘Twas the offering of the Regent, Tyrus Myeras, that completed the transformation. Perhaps ’twas the strength of his offering – his very own sword – or perhaps ’twas because he was, at this point, the only Wodewose there aside from Lalenna herself. With the vibrancy now transformed into an archway of standing stones, the group entered the Henge. Overwhelmed does, of course, not describe either their feelings nor mine. I recall keenly the first day that I flew here. The journey had been long, and I had felt as though I was lost many times, wandering as I believe I was within the Veil. Then, of a sudden, I was there – sat before a huge, towering stone, covered in script that I could barely comprehend even a portion of. Twas the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Just as I had once spent my time resting in each grove, so did the gathered Seren rush through it, overwhelmed in their own ways. And, of course, at the centre of the groves, I sat. ‘Twas a flurry of greetings, which I fear were on my part not the most composed, and those gathered sought to learn what this Seralem-infused grove was. Almost immediately, I saw recognition in the eyes of Qistrel, the druid who had bonded the grove’s entrance. She recognised, as I had, the symbolism of the Hartstone within the Henge. Though I only had the chance once or twice to enter the Hartstone Grove, ’twas something that left a strong mark upon my memory. Once we settled, I explained the reason I had called for the forest to open the way to them. For I had finally finished my work on the Bonding of Kith and Kin, the rite that for so long formed the means by which our cousins bonded themselves to the Serenwilde. But to tell them of this, I had also to tell them of the nature of our people – that we were known in the days of old as the Allied Folk, rather than the Allied Tribes. A mistranslation, I called it, and I find it hard to put it better. We have not been wrong, not wholly, but there is a way that is truer to us. With this told, I led Tyrus through the rite…though not without difficulty. The spring he found easily enough, but ’twas Isotta who stumped the poor Regent. She rejected gift after gift that he sought to bestow upon her, finally accepting a brooch that had been made by Ialie Starfall. At last, he aided Miakoda with a noble hunt, and then came to me with the bones needed. ‘Twas time to perform the Bonding with a far greater audience than I had ever had. The squirrels are, after all, far less imposing. ‘Twas exhausting, but I do not regret a moment, for all around were watching in rapture. ‘Twas not a rite of their guild, for all bar Tyrus and Lalenna – and yet they all remained, listening, watching, learning. Respecting. In this moment, I remembered what it is to be Seren. To be united in our love for all that the ‘wilde is, in our duty and devotion, our curiosity and care. To uplift one another howsoever we may walk through this world. I wait, now, for the next Wodewose to seek me out. To learn of the Bonding, of the ways of ancient ritual, and of who they are. When they come, I shall be ready. For now, at last, I know who I am. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [A Gift for the Blessed](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/17/a-gift-for-the-blessed/) **Published:** March 17, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In mid-Juliary of 613 CE, Elytho Serole made a breakthrough. Running from the Lodestar Athenaeum past the Pool of Stars, it was their hope to reach Light’s Glory, the guildhall of New Celest’s Magisterium of the Holy Father. Yet, they had not realised the great distance between the two parts of the city. Skirting past the Pool, they panted and heaved to catch their breath, whereupon Daxi Strongleaf found them. Elytho explained that they had something to show their uncle, the Magisterium’s tutor Neluane Serole, and it was a kind Daxi who offered to lead the way for them. As Elytho called out to their uncle, Daxi sought assistance from the rest of New Celest, but the aethers remained quiet. Yet, Neluane descended from the topmost parts of the lighthouse, keen to hear what his relative had discovered. Producing a sheaf of ancient records from their belongings, Elytho explained that they had discerned the possibility of another ‘meliashmora,’ one that resided within Old Celest (now Spectre Isle). It was then that Neluane called out to the Magisterium and Faragan Ladyn arrived to assist the slowly growing group of historians and adventurers. The records that Elytho had produced, however, were written so enigmatically, it was difficult for them to discern further lines from the ones they had parsed out. When they handed the papers to Daxi and then to Faragan, more and more of the records statements were pieced together. Daxi called upon Lorina Trueflight of Halifax, who subsequently summoned her comrades Zalan and Caoilfhoinn Shevat. Between the five of them, they discovered more of what was written within these records, as others of the alliance between New Celest, Halifax, and even Glomdoring came to assist: Kistan and Inagin La’Saet, Evette Stormcrow, Esei Shee-Slaugh, and finally Gael and Xenthos An’Ryshe. The twelve of them were able to piece together phrases, discerning that a key was laid to rest with someone known as a ‘Mistress of the Crystal Sea’; that there was some substance known as ‘living water;’ somewhere (and sometime) there resided a figure known as ‘the Hummingbird’ who wrote a poem called ‘The Calm, the Sea.’ But most importantly of all, a confirmation of Elytho’s insight: there is another meliashmora. While Neluane returned to Light’s Glory to consult his own research and records, the adventurers determined that the figure that was laid to rest was perhaps entombed, to which they quickly determined that the Serole Mausoleum within the Oleanvir Valley might hold the next clue. They all travelled there and quickly located the tomb of Symahi Serole, the Mistress of the Crystal Sea. Then, after a brief conversation about the ethics of interacting with the dead (and whether they were committing grave robbery), Daxi and Lorina sought out Alexei Novikei, the caretaker of the tombs, for some questioning. Alexei, however, knew little about any key or anything special about the tombs. But when Daxi and Lorina mentioned ‘the Hummingbird,’ he became immediately interested. Alexei shared that though he did not personally possess any of the Hummingbird’s works, they were collectibles, especially to his family. He suggested that the pair seek out his relative, Ankia Novikei, who helped run St. Gathlyn’s Orphanage for the Dispossessed. Now on the hunt, the adventuring party, while losing some along the way, braved the frigid Mount Wend and descended upon Anika’s office in full force. The krokani woman was generous in answering what questions they had. Yes, the Orphanage had some of the collected works of ‘the Hummingbird.’ They were an anonymous priest of the Supernal Raziela, who wrote poems and sermons and pasted them throughout the city of Old Celest. Gesturing for those gathered to look around, Ankia turned to the piles and stacks of paper and tomes, for the Hummingbird’s poems and writings surely would be somewhere in her office. It was Daxi who discovered a stack, but when she barely, briefly, touched it, its stability was lost, scattering everything across the floor. But by fortune’s grace, a faded copy of the Hummingbird’s work was found. Eagerly taking it, the adventurers departed – leaving Ankia to tidy up the place – and returned to the mausoleum. ‘The Calm, the Sea’ was a poem of purification, it seemed. But it was not clear amongst the adventurers what to do with it. Elytho suggested to read it aloud, for the records not only acknowledged the need for the poem, but specifically that the first stanza must be read, presumably before Symahi’s tomb. Daxi, again, took the lead, reading each line by line with a steady voice. While at first mispronouncing a word, when the final line of the first stanza was shared aloud, some internal mechanism within the sarcophagus responded with a tick-tick-tick. The stony hands of the sarcophagus parted, revealing a strange bottle labelled clearly with the term ‘Living Water,’ but also with a curious rhyme about twisting its seal upon Spectre Isle to seek out the correct place. And so, our adventurers travelled there, turning the bottle over and over, watching as small droplets of living water descended and changed colour until they discovered some illusory spell woven beneath the ruins of the grand aqueduct on the island. Breaking the bottle, the living water dissolved into colourful mist, breaking the magic that lingered there to reveal a strange wall of enchanted water amongst the ruins. It would be Lorina first who dared to touch the wall. Pressing palm to the aqueous barrier, the Hallifaxian found that the magic of the wall itself was largely spent, and she was easily able to egress into deeper tunnels beneath the island. Her arrival was in darkness, but her first steps braved into the depths caused lingering magic to respond. Sconces erupted in magical flame, illuminating her, and soon others who passed through the wall, in sickly flame. Yet, while the adventurers sought their bearings, it was Xenthos who first ran into the dark – finding himself, ultimately, within the forgotten meliashmora. But he was not alone. A tortured and tainted being known as Fallen Gelu rose when Xenthos’ presence was made known. By then, the others arrived, only to hear Gelu’s threat: “Only fools enter here and live.” Gelu struck, but the company adventurers struck as well. Spells, blades, and gnomish weapons made short work tainted being, who, when felled, screamed their death rattle so loud that all the Basin could hear. With victory worn, it was revealed that that was not all. Instead, light began to erupt within the room, coalescing into the figure of Blessed Gelu, Champion of the Flame. An angelic being who was bound into tainted flesh, Gelu thanked the adventurers who freed her from her tortured shell. She offered insight into how she came to be here. Once a Champion of the Flame in service of Loathys Inalai, she passed in the final battle against the Army of Love upon Celestia in ancient days. However, her passing was final. Gelu found herself imbued with the Light so thoroughly, she was an angelic being: born of Light but also bound to a scabbard, a relic of those ancient days. This scabbard, left behind in the meliashmora, was forgotten, and it was when the Taint struck at the collapse of Celest that she became the beast who attacked the adventurers. Gelu sought to return to the side of the saint that she served, and bade that the company gathered to do what they will with whatever relics or treasures remained. However, before she departed, she recognised Faragan’s presence there and asked him to step forward. He did, and it was then that Gelu shared that she sensed that he lacked the powers that her and her kin once shared. Summoning a sword of Light, she thrust this miraculous blade into Faragan’s chest, intoning that she would impart a final gift, the gift of Holy Fire. And so, the knowledge of Holy Fire returned to the First World, to the Celestines. Her time now short, Gelu departed, leaving all assembled in wonder. As Elytho and others spoke amongst themselves, Kistan did what all adventurers did and let his sticky fingers fly. Combing through the barrels, the chests, the bags, and the like left behind within the meliashmora, he came across two unique things: a cloth wrap covering an ancient scabbard and a small engagement ring, held within a box. It was decided that perhaps the scabbard was one named by Gelu, and the adventurers sought to bring it to Lady Eliahi Inalai at the Shrine of St. Loathys to learn more. But the ring was more peculiar. Gelu shared too that this was a relic of another, St. Tresalyne, but questions spawned about why it was placed here. These questions were made even more enigmatic when it was discovered letters were engraved within the inner face of the band. Elytho held both close as they travelled to the Shrine of Loathys, ruminating on an insight about the ring and the first saint. Once there, Lady Inalai gave more insight about the scabbard; owned by Loathys’ brother Radele originally, it ultimately fell into the hands of Marlyine (or Marlyinthe as he was also called), the son of Saint Loathys. With this treasure now brought back to the light of history, Elytho offered to stay with Lady Inalai to learn more as their companions departed to their respective homes. Time will tell whether Elytho’s research will discover additional insights, historical offerings, or simply adventures. But until then, they seek to learn more about the relics now in their possession. Meanwhile, those called to the Light, the Celestines, have been changed forevermore. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Introducing: The Celestine Rework](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/13/introducing-the-celestine-rework/) **Published:** March 13, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A while ago, we made a proposal to take on one of the star map projects, being the Celestine Rework. Today, we finalize the release of the project and bring you the improved Celestine class. For information specifically on what changes have occurred, please see CHANGELOG 2620. We would like to extend our gratitude to all of you who provided feedback during the initial proposal period, and also to those of you who assisted us with testing the skillset as it was developed. As a final point, we would like to remind you that as with all new things, it may not be perfect out of the box. We anticipate that we will need to make some final tweaks and adjustments over the coming days to finalize the skillset, and we understand that the skill may feel too strong or too weak during this process. We ask you to be patient with us while we gather the data we need to make these changes. We hope you enjoy the rework (and Nihilists, with their slight changes and new flavour text), and thank all of you for your patience while we refine the skill. **Categories:** News --- ### [February 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/11/february-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** March 11, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from February! If you’d like to join them for March, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Lendren’s [Comparative Aesthetics](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/191/) #### Runner-Up Ilisa’s [Anything at All?](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/204/) #### Merit Alarin’s [Nawaiolahou: The Ascended War](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/225/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Lilalue’s [Serenwilde Scholar](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F02%2Fserenwildescholar.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=19ec89467c8b8b918b96e8d4a235dda8903afbe8137f1b9e09a97f18282ea290) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Exploration Update](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/11/exploration-update/) **Published:** March 11, 2022 **Author:** Orael **Content:** As previously announced by Iashe on the forums in January, IRE has been working on a new Nexus client. A major part of this new client is the mapping features that are going to be directly affected by player exploration data. As a result of this change – we needed to make a significant change to what counts as an explorable room or not. The major change is that previously, only rooms with id’s divisible by three counted for explorers. Now every room will be counted for explorers. Other factors still in place will cause a room to not count, such as God realms, guildhalls, battle chess arenas, newbie areas, manses, homesteads, and various other things, but the big change is the numeric id change. As a result – everybody’s rankings have been reset and converted to the new tracking but given only a third of the rooms were counting before, your ranking is now going to be a lot (lot) lower. All rooms that counted previously still count, they’re not erased or anything, you’re just missing the rooms that were previously not counted. If you were previously at 100%, you’re now at 33%. So, for those of you that care – get out there and re-explore everything, and maybe you’ll find something new and fun! **Categories:** News --- ### [Manifestations of the Dreaming](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/07/manifestations-of-the-dreaming/) **Published:** March 7, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While the full rundown of the latest changes can be found in Changelog #2613, we would like to give you a little extra insight into the decision to further amend some aspects of the Manifestations system. The biggest change sees Manifestations invincible throughout the empowerment process which we feel helps align this conflict event with its intended design. In this particular case, the objective is to prove one’s ability as a hunter of Manifestations and the event may involve PvP too. That goal can be undermined all too easily by simply slaying another organisation’s Aspects/Elemental Lords due to their reset window being longer than the reset of the sands procured from Manifestations. Were an attack on Aspects/ELs a more difficult, multi-layered undertaking, they would continue to be vulnerable during that time, but due to a combination of factors (gnomeweapons, Aspects/ELs not being challenging targets, and finally the hunt being a short window) that is not the case. We may augment that system further in the future, perhaps open more avenues for competing in that particular conflict event, but for the time being we will continue to monitor the latest revisions. **Categories:** News --- ### [March History Quizzes](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/06/march-history-quizzes/) **Published:** March 6, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** What better way to celebrate a month of learning than with a quiz? Better yet, two quizzes! The World Library will be hosting two History Challenges this month and we hope to see everyone there. The scope of the quizzes will be clear and finite, and prizes plentiful. The History Challenges will cover the Histories of Lusternia as available [on the website](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/) only. We will not venture into Modern History, or Vernal or Elder era nuances revealed through in-game quests. What is available on the website under Game > Histories is the only material you should be studying for the quizzes. ## Quiz 1 **Date**: March 12th, 11:30pm GMT **Books**: Cosmogenesis, Elder Wars ## Quiz 2 **Date**: March 27th, 5pm GMT **Books**: Vernal Wars, Aftermath, Holy Celestine Empire, Coming of Estarra There will be 20 questions per quiz (and tie-breakers if necessary) and an assortment of prizes. The prizes are not cumulative, rather you will receive the tier you qualify for. There is no second or third place. ## 5 points - 50 credits - 50 lessons ## 10 points - 75 credits - 75 lessons - uniquely skinned artifact vial ## 15 points - 100 credits - 100 lessons - Merrymaker Merri doll - uniquely skinned artifact vial ## Winner - 200 credits - 200 lessons - Merrymaker Merri doll - uniquely skinned artifact vial - choice of: uniquely skinned Sempiternal Libram or Shears of Atropos - if the same person wins both quizzes, they will receive the other prize **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Forum Migration](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/03/forum-migration/) **Published:** March 3, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We will be moving our forums sometime this month from Vanilla hosting to self-hosting. We are migrating the data so have no fear, all your logs and posts will still be there! The reason for the move is simple: forum usage has dropped significantly and Vanilla’s hosting is fairly expensive. That said, even in the age of Discord we see high value in maintaining forums so this move will ensure their viability. We’re currently requesting the data and predict the move will take place sometime next week. Once we know the cut-off point, we’ll let you know so we can lose as little data as possible (it’s possible a few days’ worth of comments could get lost). **Categories:** News --- ### [Sunflowers](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/03/sunflowers/) **Published:** March 3, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In Roarkian, 612 CE, pilgrims at their resting camp on the side of Avechna’s Peak gathered together to start a garden, wishing to beautify their camping site. Together, they had felt a need to alleviate the horrors and traumas of the past decades, where innumerable pilgrims and other travellers perished to the violence of recent major events. Thus, they had decided to plant a glade of sunflowers to symbolise their hope for the future. Many inhabitants of Lusternia gathered on Avechna’s Peak at the urging of the pilgrims’ spokesperson, an aslaran in a floppy hat, who taught them how to plant his special cultivar of sunflowers. The aslaran and the other pilgrims for Avechna’s Peak continue to encourage any and all to visit the garden at their camp and to come together to plant even more sunflowers: in hopes of a calmer future, and with wishes for peace. **Categories:** Events --- ### [March Learning Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/03/01/march-learning-extravaganza-2/) **Published:** March 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The month of March is once again the month of change, learning, and new experiences! For those of you just getting into Lusternia, or those of you ready to try something new, you can purchase lessons at discounted rates right off the website. Have too many lessons already? Convert them to curios! Also, you can pick up various artifact packages designed to help on your new adventures. There are options for headstarts in various classes, tiered packages boosting survivability, a beastmaster’s package, and even a package for a budding aethercaptain. And if you want to take full advantage of classflexing, see our Ultimate Classflexing Artifact Package! Free classflexing will be active throughout the month and will enable to you to try new classes or skillsets while adventuring within the Basin. But that’s not the only interesting thing about March as rather than a special day of the week (like Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays), we’ll have entire special weeks. Please enjoy D’varsha’s Illuminating Weeks! For every consecutive day you’re logged in, you will progressively receive an ever-increasing experience bonus (to a max of 100%). Here is the breakdown: Day 1: 10% experience bonus Day 2: 20% experience bonus Day 3: 30% experience bonus Day 4: 40% experience bonus Day 5: 50% experience bonus Day 6: 75% experience bonus Day 7: 100% experience bonus If you miss logging in a day, you will restart over on day 1 and the count will start over. After day 7, you will restart on day 1. You’ll see your current bonus by checking your DEFenses. See [here](https://www.lusternia.com/credits) for details! **Categories:** News --- ### [January 2022 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/11/january-2022-artbard-results/) **Published:** February 11, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from January! If you’d like to join them for February, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Illyria’s [Shadows in the Fold](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/186/) #### Runner-Up Lendren’s [Unnumbered](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/180/) #### Merit Alarin’s [The Story of Alarin Ka’liati](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/181/) Eritheyl’s [Vessel – a stage script](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/184/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Lilalue’s [Aspects of the Silver Lady](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F01%2FTriple-Goddess.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=575c0b6c9bd05fb7f513a3d826ad20494fdbbd9ba1f64ff7adc883ddba82f8cb) #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s [The Thief of Hidden Apogees](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F01%2Fdrawtoberday20.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=41d899e3b16969a9c2c33eba2c5f94b62642b1cba49783d2584815d355667353) #### Merit Esei’s [Ethna and Esei](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F01%2Fethna-and-esei.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=e3f2c7caf7fbc303a48793e6db4c42dc03240857e35234d17e4297c434e3cf84) Glitterna’s [Glitterna, Angelic Merian Celestine](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F01%2Fimage.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=faee1fafc37e2ba62f022ce1bc856c4206a65dc4211cf1a109991fafd8813ceb) Siam’s [The Waking of the Thorns – 377 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2022%2F01%2FIMG_20220201_042258_5.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=28dd89691e308962e985726728f44770fb331c5e9bea5ae1ff0cebf8f93681a3) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [The Shards of Li-varili](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/10/the-shards-of-li-varili/) **Published:** February 10, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the glow after the splintering of the Goddess Li-varili, many groups of Her shards, called the livari, rested lost and confused in the Basin of Life. They had fallen out of the Divine Havens to break free of Li-varili’s prison. And yet, in doing so, they had also exiled themselves forever from the Divine realms and come to share the fate of all who were shards of the Elders. The livari were now mortal, subject to time and decay. The Divine, after some confusion, concluded Their judgment of Li-varili. For to Them, Li-varili had perished in the splintering, and now in many shards, She would die a thousand more deaths – a fitting punishment, according to Some. And the mortals, who had just witnessed the first splintering in modern times, also stood in bewilderment and awe, trying to make sense of the momentous event, wondering who and what these shards would come to be. In the midst of the wonder and confusion, the voice of Lanikai, the Sea Hag, rang out to the world: she and her kelpies would take the matter into their own hands, to help the newborn livari to heal and to cope with their mortal status. To this end, Lanikai gave those willing to help some charms fashioned once upon a time by the Elders Carakhan and Keltari Themselves. The charms, Lanikai said, were intended to remind the Goddess Li-varili, and now the mortal livari, that “love takes many shapes, and Theirs, for Her, was deep as the seas They shared.” So Lanikai hoped the charms would draw the livari hither when given. At the same time, visions encompassing sight, scent, and sound arose before the former Goddess’s chosen who bore Her bromeliad blooms, drawing them to Li-varili’s secret vault. Oinone and the nereids were convinced that Lady Li-varili must have had Her own plan, of which the splintering was a part. And so, in counter to the kelpies’ plans, the select faithful of Li-varili set out to gather their own livari to safety. A race began, born out of a sense of urgency, to gather and protect the livari before the other side would hurt them or claim them for their own. And yet, despite the rush and hubbub of the search, some mortals nonetheless stopped to learn more about the strange new shards of the former Goddess. Eritheyl of Gaudiguch found a group of livari in the Northern Mountains and took them for a detour to the City of Freedom. The new shards were noted to be of many genders and appearances, differing in their tropical colourations and teardrop or sea-spray markings. Their hands were webbed, covered in scales that glittered like gems. They bore long, luxurious locks framing beautiful, intense visages, much like their Goddess of origin, and they spoke and acted as one, each believing themself to be Li-varili in the flesh. At times they talked and acted clearly together, and at other times they mumbled in word and action, as if they were affected by the doings of other shards from across the world – all still attempting to act in unison as the Goddess they once were. The mortals of Gaudiguch, including Eritheyl, Kihr, Coraline, and Arix, tried without avail to explain to the livari the intricacies of mortalhood, but the disoriented livari vacillated between denial and disbelief, preferring to stick to their own devices, before finally agreeing to follow the charm from Lanikai, for it had been once made by the Elder Keltari, close to Li-varili’s heart. Hiresh of Serenwilde paused before another group of livari in the Tar Pits east of Serenwilde. Led by curiosity, she asked the livari who they were, and she received a similar response: “I am Li-varili, of course.” Hiresh attempted to engage the livari further, but was rebuffed again by the shards who insisted in unison that they were still the Goddess from which they came. Other mortals came to hear the newborn shards speak, including Xiran, Tyrus, and Qistrel of Serenwilde, and Luce of Hallifax. But before they could continue the conversation, Uzriel of Magnagora arrived. He bore an Opal Tear, reminiscent of the many other Tears that Li-varili had once shed. These Tears were Her last, hidden tears shed for Her nereids upon Her return, and held by them in reverence until now. Offering the Tear to the livari, Uzriel drew their attention and led them away to the care of Oinone, much to the dismay of Hiresh and her companions, who had so many more questions. The two factions competed neck to neck to bring the livari to their chosen havens, each attempting to move faster, run quicker. But a final group of three livari, wandering the Undervault, had their own ideas. Xenthos of Glomdoring first tried to draw the three livari away with a charm from the kelpie Lanikai, but they resisted, asking him why they should follow. He, along with Illyria, Gael, Siam, Evette and Esei of Glomdoring, and Cheliyi of Celest, soon learned from those livari that they chafed still at the illusion of options given to them. They asked, with great scepticism, “Do I get the choice? Or are you going to make it for me again?” They had made their own choice in splintering, they said, and they would make their own choice now: Xenthos might have claimed he gave Li-varili the idea of splintering, the idea was Hers, lit by the spark She had seen in Ein’s eyes, and the choice was Her own. And so a lively conversation ensued, and after some time, despite their misgivings, the last livari warmed towards taking the offer of Lanikai, to find refuge among the kelpies. It was at this moment, however, that Mirae of Magnagora entered the conversation, followed quickly by Uzriel and Sapphira of Magnagora and Calfuray of Serenwilde. Like Xenthos, Uzriel attempted an offering to sway the livari – the Opal Tear – but to no avail. Turning to speech, Uzriel, Sapphira and Calfuray then brought all their persuasion to bear, urging the livari to reconsider. They reminded the shards that they had once been a Goddess, that She had once called the nereids Her children, so why not return to the nereids? They asked the livari to remember all the hurts and losses that Li-varili had experienced for uncountable years. To remember, to hold on, to not lose their former Self. And the livari, their minds turning, did remember. The firstcomers, now joined by Tridemon of Celest and Lorina of Hallifax, redoubled their efforts, encouraging the livari to turn away from their past, to cast aside the memories of Li-varili’s trauma and to become something new. Why remember the pain? Why relive centuries of torture? Some among them continued to suggest the livari go to Lanikai’s kelpies for healing. But a few others suggested simply that the livari do what they wish: they are mortal now, and as mortals, they may choose to be who they wish to be. Overwhelmed, the livari stood in turmoil, wrestling through their emotions and thoughts as discussion rose and fell around them. Finally, the last unclaimed livari raised their voices. They spoke in unison, but they also spoke as themselves: “I want neither.” “I want only Me.” “Only me.” “Neither Lanikai nor Oinone. Neither forgiveness nor forgetting. Just me. Just Me and the entire world.” And then, they tossed aside charm and Tear, and they turned to walk away into the darkness. They would make their own choices. The mortals, bemused, returned each to their factions: some to the nereids in Li-varili’s vault, others to the kelpies under the Inner Sea. They had claimed the shards of Li-varili for each their own: to hide away, to heal, shaping the futures of these now disparate populations of a new mortal race. Below the waves, the secret vault of Li-varili rumbled and churned at Oinone’s command, sealing the hidden livari away, even from Li-varili’s chosen mortals. With great conviction, the nereid proclaimed that one day, the Lady of Lagoons would rise again. Unfazed, Lanikai, too, retreated with her kelpies under the crashing waves. She assured the mortals that the kelpies would do all they can to offer succour and support as their livari come to learn what it is to be mortal. Heavy with their loss and yet hopeful at Oinone’s triumph, Lady Li-varili’s former followers gathered at Her fulcrux, only to find that Her vivid lagoon had dried, Her bromeliads had withered, and Her shrine had cracked and splintered. But the Rhizoda Mangrove, beloved of the Goddess, remains, as do the nereids. As do the kelpies. And in that moment, many, Divine and mortal, paused and wondered: what will become of the livari, shards of Li-varili – shards of the Goddess who had taken a bet against all odds and both perished and survived? In the turning of the years, who will the livari choose to be? **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Judgment of Li-varili](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/10/the-judgment-of-li-varili/) **Published:** February 10, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Whether by design or coincidence, Li-varili’s observation crystal opened Herself to the mortals gathered, and they to Her in kind. By huddling close as though before Her altar, mortals could whisper to Her their private thoughts and feelings, just as Hers roiled within for them to feel in kind. Some swore that Her coven stood at the ready; She needed only command. Some taunted Her, telling Her that She would reap what She had earned. Some others still offered Her other ways, if She would only cooperate and will Herself to find the right way out of Her predicament. Some, as the proceedings went on, reminded Her of Her every grievous wound suffered, and they begged Her to show no remorse – for She was sorely wronged, and the Divine still owed Her much and more in restitution. The Elders of Lusternia are not wont to cooperate and gather in one place often or overly long, for each is a force unto Themself. Lacking any natural Mediators or Firsts to guide the conversation toward productive debate, They quickly fell in with the beliefs that They champion, arguing with one another using the very testimonies the mortals provided. Serenwilde’s Pantheon, represented by Maylea and Lisaera, argued strongly for consequences and took a protective stance in favour of the Forest They share. To the South, Glomdoring’s Pantheon, represented by Nocht, saw a useful place for Li-varili in the Wyrd, where She would come to know just what the Forest’s lack of mercy truly meant. Celest’s Pantheon, represented by Lantra, Terentia, and Carakhan, saw consequences while She still carried the trauma of Her past thousands of years as cruel and unjust, seeking instead to heal Her before punishment. In other extremes, Drocilla spoke true to Her convictions, the beliefs of Her city and the members of Li-varili’s Bloodtide Coven. The Enchantress argued that Li-varili was harmed and persecuted, time and again, beginning with Keltari and Carakhan’s betrayal and that whatever Her crimes, She had paid for them in advance with Her time in the Morokeche Seat. Crumkane and Ein represented Gaudiguch, and true to the freedom-inclined assertions of its people, They in kind preferred a more hands-off approach, in turns observing and prodding the conversation along. Old wounds were torn open time and again as the Mother of the nereids seethed with brine and bitterness. She saw every Divinity arrayed against Her, even Those who professed to care, hearing nought but lies and deception in every word uttered, encouraged by those mortals who whispered dark words of affirmation to Her. Indeed, though She sought to expose the hypocrisies of the Gods, She took care to listen to those whom She taught, those from whom She learned – Her Bloodtide Coven. In the end, while studying Her, it was Ein Who put forth the idea that Li-varili might choose Her fate. Many of the Gods found the idea intriguing, including Lisaera Who stepped forth and demanded to know just what the Goddess would choose, were She thus empowered. Perhaps in seeing Her decision, They would best ensure Her choice is honoured but the consequences are reaped. Not all Gods agreed with this idea, however. Lantra strongly opposed, for Someone who had known nought but suffering for as long as She would not make the best, most informed choice. Drocilla did as well, reminding Li-varili that She only needed to stand by the Enchantress’s side to avoid whatever punishment the others might conjure. Mortals whispered to Her, pleading with Her as Her temper stormed within. Choose Magnagora, they begged. Choose Glomdoring. Choose redemption and healing. But nobody would choose for Li-varili, She had already determined. Nobody would decide or force a single thing for Her ever again. And so She took what She had learned from Her coven: their weaknesses, their usefulness. They were frail and so readily expired with the barest lash of Her power, that was true – but She was Li-varili. She would make a better fate for Herself. And so She chose. She would be like them – but stronger. Better. She would be free. The Gods watched on with confusion, with horror, and – in the Elder God Ein’s case in particular – with fascination as She shattered Her Divine essence into hundreds upon hundreds of fragmented pieces. These shards of Li-varili did not flee but fell: for the meeting was held in the high reaches of the Divine Havens where no mortal may tread, and Li-varili had Herself irreversibly chosen mortality. Like falling stars, the newly born livari race streaked toward the Basin of Life below as the Gods shouted amongst Themselves in disorder and then in accord. Li-varili had chosen mortality, They understood, and so She had chosen Her punishment just as They had bid Her. No longer would She be bound, but She would know thousands upon thousands of deaths, repeated over and over and over again, for the rest of time. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Testimonies Given, Judgments Prepared](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/10/testimonies-given-judgments-prepared/) **Published:** February 10, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The conch shell upon Avechna’s Peak echoed for many months with the words that mortals spoke in testimony. One by one they came, recounting memories, stories, hopes and regrets. Some cursed the name of the Goddess Li-varili, relaying the losses they and Lusternia at large had so suffered in past years: the storms and rage that came with the forced and painful Awakening of Sister Sea; the lands flooded and the drowning of the innumerable unjustly dead; the sacrifices made, willingly or unwillingly, to raise the Curse of the Sunken Heart; the murder of a child; the fury of a pirate Captain and a mother; the Divine Themselves, made to suffer as the world rocked and bent under the rage of Li-varili and a false Keltari by Her side, until the Seal of Justice was utterly shattered and Lusternia was once more pitched into a race against time to bind the Soulless Kethuru through Ascension. In opposition to them, other mortal voices lifted up to highlight the Lady of Lagoons’s own sufferings: the thousands of years bound in the Morokeche Seat; the trauma the Goddess felt in the unending aeons; the influences placed upon Her by the Soulless Illith; Her perceived betrayal by the Goddess Drocilla, who placed Her in the Seat, and by each of the other Elders She met since Her release from imprisonment. Some mortals offered up these traumas as the reason for why She should not be held accountable for Her actions, which killed so many. Others justified Her responses as reasonable ones to perceived attacks, as the loving actions of a doting Mother, and of a Lover spurned: if other Divine were permitted to act on Their own traumas and desires, why not Li-varili? To those mortals who called Her cruel actions deserving of punishment, other mortals responded that She was capable of care and of compassion, and should be shown kindness. To those mortals who held up the loss of Spirit Sea as a further trauma to a Goddess who had already been hurt, other mortals responded that a child such as the Sea should be loved as she is, and not brought to waking as a means to vengeance. Some called for the Goddess to be destroyed or exiled, others called for Her to be healed, or made to forget, or to be claimed by the Wyrd or offered rest in Seralem. Some sought for mercy, empathy and time for Li-varili, while others cried that justice demanded She be shown no mercy, no freedom; the Seal of Justice was broken, after all. To some mortals, She had no choice but take each action She did; to others, She chose those actions all, and in so choosing, took up the responsibility and the consequences. Each mortal spoke from their heart, some many times, their voices echoing with the sounds of the sea, lifting upwards to resound in the ears of the Divine, who listened to their testimonies and pondered. And so the Elder Divine came together, the gathering of Their power saturating the reality of the First World itself. In a deliberately parched patch of the Divine Havens, the Elders convened to pass judgment on Li-varili, Lady of the Lagoons. She demanded one concession of the other Elders, that mortals, the very mortals who had spent months giving testimony for Her judgment, witness the decision through Her own eyes. So a crystal was sent through the veil of the Havens down onto Avechna’s Peak, to land in the barren fulcrux that had once been Ayridion’s. This crystal brought forth a simulacrum of the Divine gathering, enveloping the mortals in the sight and sound of the proceedings and the thoughts of the Goddess Li-varili Herself. So the great judgement of the age began. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Conch Shell and the Gods' Decree](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/01/the-conch-shell-and-the-gods-decree/) **Published:** February 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the middle of Dvarsh, the heavens opened without warning to the voices of the Gods. The time had come, They announced, to determine the Elder Goddess Li-varili’s fate once and for all. Remembering well Her time when She first walked the Basin of Life masked, hidden from Their perceptions, They recognized that the mortals who stopped Her from offering the Basin of Life to the Leviathan, the very same mortals who freed Her from Her imprisonment in the first place, may have more context about what She did where They could not see. And so for Her good deeds and Her ill: the Elders of Lusternia wove together an enchanted conch shell, so alike those Her nereids favoured using, and sent it to the foothills before Avechna’s Peak where pilgrims gather to recuperate from their long wanderings, there to witness the testimonies of any mortal who might come forth with their tales of the Lady of the Lagoons. Many gathered among the tents under the canopy of an ancient oak, there alongside Luki Bowtail and Tikina Brightwing, two pirates of the infamous Contelli pirate crew. Already the shell reverberates with diverse voices waiting to be heard, and still, it beckons for further testimony over months to come. Multiple testimonies from each witness might be spoken into the shell while it still lingers, just as the Gods decreed. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Seasonal Cards for Season d'Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/02/01/seasonal-cards-for-season-damour/) **Published:** February 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Throughout the month of February, you’ll be able to purchase special seasonal cards straight from the website. If you recall how this worked last year, get ready for some changes that simplify the process. **Cards:** o see CARD for syntax o can be written on with up to 120 characters o can be customised, PROBE for details o can be sent to others (anonymously if you prefer!) o can be ‘consumed’ for their benefits rather than sent Be**nefits:** o if you consume the card, you receive a bronze heartbox o if you send the card, the recipient receives a bronze heartbox o you receive a silver heartbox for every 10 cards sent/consumed o you receive a gold heartbox for every 25 cards sent/consumed The three types of heartboxes that you may receive have the following potential prizes: **Bronze Heartbox** – 20-40 bound credits, or an artifact worth 30-50 credits, or 2 presents. **Silver Heartbox** – 150-175 bound credits, or an artifact worth 200-250 credits, or 2 wondercrystals, or 10 presents. **Golden Heartbox** – 800-950 bound credits, or an artifact worth 1000-1250 credits, or 12 wondercrystals, or 50 presents. You’ll also have a chance to earn cards in-game during Season d’Amour! Dolly d’Amour, residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave and will receive a seasonal card after you complete the quest 5 times. That means you can gain up to 5 seasonal cards this month. Also, Valentine-themed artifact skins are back in artifact shop and will be available during February only. See: **ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES**. If you are interested in picking up something red, rosy, and glamorous, or dark and suggestive of a broken and cold heart, now’s your chance! Last but not least, every Monday throughout February will be Klangratch’s Mighty Monday with a bonus to damage against denizens! **Categories:** News --- ### [December 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/01/12/december-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** January 12, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from December! If you’d like to join them for January, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Trakis’ [A is for Aquamancer](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/178/) #### Runner-Up Eritheyl’s [Rainmaker](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/174/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Xiran’s [Mother on a Narrow Branch](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F12%2F2021_1220_galaphyrae_narrow_branch_75.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=6d369853cb5db3717d614e13afc0ec591ca147285895825990414ef95b30e13c) #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s [Vrima, Eater of Moths](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F12%2FDoodle_Vrimav2.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=d31e47952b302d8323acaea761e8a436e22a03915eee0e9d73878ad252917b68) Tonatiuh’s [Talismans](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F12%2Fsuns.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=fbacec799dacf82d19a967364b0a090f0422b01ddc7b8e3f783808461a21f939) #### Merit Esei’s [Lothwen ](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F12%2FIllustration18.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=eb46defcebc0c59c5d513c7ba3b2b9ab2ed892d1fb84378dfe17917a456ffcba) Lendren’s [Taedae-Form](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F12%2FKarhuni.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=70590678473a1670ea963fb164d4d497a12bffb32d53cd1900837ce6d00fb5c2) Velcora’s [Merian Aquamancer](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F12%2FIMG_6595.JPG&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=25ab7540e4f7196032ea01ffcae624425f9bad85605c7a5c63cca5a5d88203ed) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Year in Review 2021](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/01/09/year-in-review-2021/) **Published:** January 9, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As is customary at the start of a new year, let us ruminate upon Lusternia’s 2021. There are two groups of people that 2021 would not have happened without – the godmin and the players. Certainly, that can be said of any year in Lusternia but it bears highlighting as the most critical element of any year. Our godmin (including Ephemerals!) continue to pour love, passion, and care into their work and whether they do more in front or behind the scenes, it is all essential to the Lusternian experience. The other side of that experience is you – the players. What you bring to the table is equally important and provides endless fuel and inspiration. Thank you for being so generous, patient, and excellent to each other, especially in such a tough, globally, year as the last one. Special thanks are also due to our various player volunteers – guides, builders, reviewers, coders, moderators – and any other kind of contributors who help make the game run smoothly and help improve it (for example, through submitting bugs and typos). In terms of story, the threads of many events were woven into Lusternia’s Tapestry over the course of the year. The biggest, of course, was the tale of the [once-imprisoned](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/03/releasing-the-prisoner-of-the-namiraa-trench/) Elder Goddess Li-varili who stopped at nothing to exact revenge on the Elder Gods who had wronged Her, or simply [stood in Her way](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/21/whispers-worms-and-the-wyrd/). As part of that months-spanning story, we witnessed an [Awakening of a Great Spirit](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/07/14/after-me-the-flood/) and its [reversal](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/07/and-so-the-heavens-sang-the-sea-to-sleep/) done by an Elder God Formation to lull the Great Spirit back to sleep. Modern firsts for both of those events and a necessity as the vengeful storm unleashed by Sister Sea’s awakening was ravaging the Basin of Life. Monstrosities created by the Elder God Blooredi were swimming up and down the flooded highways, Balach Swamp had been reshaped, countless pilgrims, scholars, and bards perished, and the cities and communes had to resort to [creative and drastic measures](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/06/in-the-eye-of-the-storm/) to protect their territories. The story took us to many new places – the depths of the Rhizoda Mangrove, the deck of the Empress’ Last Breath, deep underwater into the Namiraa Trench, and finally the eldritch [Leviathan’s Cradle](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/07/the-pursuit-of-your-hearts-desire-the-search-for-sister-sea/). The stories and secrets of many Elder Gods were laid bare, the Eye of Dynara shattered, Imperial era secrets revealed (in [Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/31/a-timely-proposal-the-tale-of-project-aeon-and-the-office-of-sanitation/), [Gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/03/from-the-gaudiguch-gossip-special-edition-the-pavilion-exposed/), and [Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/03/the-veloske-heirloom-heist/)), and the terrifying implement known as the Morokeche Seat found. While Li-varili and the other Gods played a crucial role in the story, players rallying behind Her as the secretive Bloodtide Coven and those opposing them gave the tale an unforgettable new dimension. The story culminated in the [Curse of the Sunken Heart](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/22/the-curse-of-the-sunken-heart/) and the Seal of Justice being cracked by Li-varili and [Malayn](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/26/ascension-of-malayn/) emerging as the True Ascendant of Death. It was an immense story arc that involved a lot of roleplay, building, and scripting to get just right and we could not be prouder of the end result. Behind the scenes, and later in front of them, we have seen three ArchEphemerals venture out into the world to learn all about “interacting with mortals”. Serenwilde was joined by Sythae, the Thoughtful, New Celest was joined by Vaevaya, the Refulgent, and Glomdoring welcomed Elyd, the Nightcrawler. Each came with an event of their own and helped tell stories in their new homes. We saw some more permanent returns to the First World as well in the form of two Elder Gods. First, the Elder Goddess [Lisaera](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/25/a-revelation-a-maze-a-ritual-the-return-of-the-silver-goddess/) returned to Serenwilde drawn by the recent revelations therein (the mysterious [Seralem](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/21/promises-made-broken-and-discovered/)!), and soon after the Elder God [Ein](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/19/gaudiguch-gossip-special-edition-corruption-and-kouseki-in-gaudiguch/) was woken up from a nap beneath Gaudiguch. Let us also not forget the fiery personality that is the Elder Goddess Li-varili who, presently [captured](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/22/the-binding-of-the-lady-of-the-lagoons/) by the Elders, spent the better part of the year being a veritable spitfire to the adoration of many. Many smaller events and releases happened throughout the year as well. [Hugo Girard](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/01/an-aspiring-star-and-the-mandolin/), a young Delportian bard, made his Basin-wide debut. [Hunter Dannic](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/08/the-hunter-the-heirloom-and-the-blizzard/) was found wandering Snow Valley in search of heirlooms. The adorable fink [Merri](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/15/a-merry-ruckus-on-avechnas-peak/) can be found on Avechna’s Peak and will school anyone about the Vernal Wars. The aforementioned [Rhizoda Mangrove](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/10/lurking-beauty-and-danger-in-the-rhizoda-mangrove/) is full of nereids and kelpies, each with a tale of their own. The Kiakodan Nature Reserve hired a new [Junior Keeper](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/22/there-was-no-bloodshed-in-kiakoda-reserve/) who specialises in penguins. Namiraa Trench deep in the Inner Sea is full of Blooredi’s creatures and will provide a challenge for every hunter. Mount Zoaka saw the return of the enchanting [Glasswing Promenade](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/11/escape-amongst-sunblasted-ripples/) which, outside of its beauty, can tell you much about the power of Paradigmatics. In the Undervault, beyond the addition of the Leviathan’s Cradle, a kephera nurse known as [Sahma](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/29/a-lost-friend/) can be found tending to a most curious pet. Upon the Waystation Circuit, [Mwami Honeypunch](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/10/grub-for-the-sous-chef/) seeks to make a name for herself in due course of her apprenticeship with Chef Kioul. And finally, the fight against the darkness of the [Tar Pits](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/30/healing-the-tar-pit-wastes/) has taken shape and the dream of healing them is on the horizon. We should also not forget about two additions to the Planes of Continuum and Vortex – their very own beasts! Each with a unique story, [polytopes](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/07/19/experiments-and-revelations-on-continuum/) and [sarkiposes](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/12/from-the-gaudiguch-gossip-an-advertisement-on-page-three/) can now be bought on their respective Cosmic Planes. Traditionally, the year was also full of regular holiday events and festivals. We opened with a celebration of Valentines with a redone Lovebirds event that put focus on all kinds of relationships, and then a re-balanced Leprechaun event in March. Last year’s summer Ascension also saw a favourite event return – the Ascension Gala – which saw a huge turnout as Lusternians partied like there was no tomorrow. Lusternia also observed its seventeenth anniversary (seriously!) in October and in-game we celebrated it in the form of the [Festival of the Creatrix](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/13/lusternias-seventeenth-anniversary-events/) which brought back a revamped [Menestrean Wayfaire](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/21/the-menestrean-wayfaire/) (with its new coat of paint and expanded lore) and a slew of contests. The First World reached another milestone as well last year – the in-game year 600 – which we commemorated with a [Year 600 Lecture Series](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/22/year-600-celebration/) hosted by the World Library (now also home to the [Double Up Game](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/30/double-up/)). Attendance rates exceeded all our expectations and the lectures sparked many a debate and even written works. We followed that with the [Haunting](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/31/the-haunted-house-opens/), our Halloween events, and finally the [Solstice](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/12/20/solstice-activities/) with its unique organisational quests, present-bearing gnomes, Ironbeard, and the ever-expanding Solstice Court upon the Jolly Drifts. Player-driven festivals were a recurring staple as well, peppered throughout the year and generously open to many foreign guests. A lot has happened on the non-story front as well. We ran two rounds of reports in 2021 (which cover anything from combat balance changes to QoL updates) and approved a record total of 124 reports. We made [changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/24/final-ascension-changes/) to Ascension contests (and documented them properly) and the Final Ascension as well. There was a Prime Plane component to help sway the final score and on Astral we introduced rotating nodes which force the staff holder to move every so often. Lag-related optimisations and the May server upgrade has allowed for a relatively lag-free Ascension this year (tested in advance in the [Klangratch Exercises](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/03/klangratch-exercises/)). Further, auctions happened twice this year, had a visual makeover, and included new artifacts. We introduced a guise system to manage all your stoles, masks, and costumes; added sketchpads and letterboxes; released holiday-specific artifact skins; we launched our [Official Discord](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/12/official-discord-2/); made the design system more transparent and well-documented; and much more. There are over 300 changelogs to look over to see what all happened in 2021 (changelogs #2277 – #2585). In addition to that, we started working on cutting down on ‘spam’ in roleplay situations by introducing what we’re unofficially calling the Ambient Be Gone system that allows us to quell ambients and other lines that introduce extraneous text not relevant to the situation at hand. We’ll be slowly rolling it out to pets as well to give players more control over this too. That said, there were three areas we were not entirely satisfied with when it comes to 2021. The major one is the Economy Rework which was pushed numerous times due to life’s circumstances. We feel it is key that we focus on that project first and foremost as it affects a large part of the player experience. It is not all gloom and doom on the economy front, however, as a solid proposal is the foundation of a successful project. Lusternia underwent many economy overhauls over the years in various forms but many of them either introduced new issues (for example, manse commodity generators), or created new problems (for example, timequake artifact commodity sinks), or simply did not go far enough. We are confident in the multi-step proposal we have on the table and will be looking to get to work on that soon as we can. Another aspect we think needs adjusting is the Final Ascension event. Last year we set out to try gradual changes first (see above) and observed how they played out in practice. The bottom line though is that no matter what incremental changes we implement, Ascension as a whole is an event that spans months (especially for those preparing, running routes, etc, way in advance) and requires the collective effort of almost the entire player community… yet always leaves half of that community walking away emotionally exhausted and crushed. Even when alliances put up an even fight, an entire alliance loses and months of their work are seen as going down the drain because the True Ascendant is the reward that truly makes a difference and is available once a year only. At its root, that is an unfortunate setup, even if with exciting stakes. We’ll be brainstorming a more thorough change for the next Ascension. We will also be looking at conflict events as a whole as previously announced. The crux of the Ascension problem also pervades the last area of concern – Reports. In their current form, they have devolved to old-fashioned heated Envoy disputes and are seen as biased and stressful. We are not clear on the path forward for Reports yet but we will be looking into changing up the process, especially as concerns combat balance changes. So what’s on the roadmap for 2022? A lot! Coding wise, first and foremost the concerns listed in the previous paragraph – Economy, Reports, Ascension. We do not wish to commit to more than that just yet as we want to deliver that to you first and foremost. Instead, we would rather let you know as work gets underway and one such project is the Celestine revamp which is around the corner. On the story side, we have exciting things planned but, as always, that must remain under wraps for that fabled element of surprise. We want to keep connecting to everyone via livestreams and other sorts of events that keep you in the loop, tackle bugs and ideas with ferocity, re-release our fixed up areas, make further progress on various inclusivity issues (many are currently works in progress), look at the newbie experience, the quest system, and more. There is no end to plans, plots, and projects that we are working on to keep improving Lusternia and giving you new adventures and experiences. We hope to keep developing a game that you want to play, even seventeen years after its release! Orael & Uilani **Categories:** News --- ### [Bob's Forgotten Vaults](https://www.lusternia.com/2022/01/01/bobs-forgotten-vaults-2/) **Published:** January 1, 2022 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Trader Bob has once again unveiled to the Basin the forgotten vaults of treasures that he has unearthed over the years! The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the [website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts (including some limited availability ones). You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna. As well, anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key. You can access the vaults with the VAULTS command at the VAULTS landmark. We’re also bringing back resolutions! Resolutions last throughout the year and can be activated for a bonus after achieving a goal! See [HELP RESOLUTIONS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1424) for more details. Lastly – Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays will boost influencing all throughout January. **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Activities](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/12/20/solstice-activities/) **Published:** December 20, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Solstice in full swing, here’s a full rundown of what is happening! ## Ironbeard From this post onwards, those logged into Lusternia may find themselves receiving a visit from Ironbeard, bearing a present for the lucky recipient. ## Gnomes Keep an eye out for Jolly Bundy sending his fellow gnomes out with a few more presents. When you find one, just influence them with Charity (AB INFLUENCE BEGGING for full details) to get hold of a present. Remember that you can only get a present this way once an hour – so if you find a Solstice gnome and you’ve already had a present, share it with your friends! ## Holiday Credits As we did last year, we are enabling the HAPPYHOLIDAYS command from midnight (GMT) December 20th through to December 26. It will allow you to claim all 20 daily credits in one go. ## Solstice Quests Each city and commune has a small quest that will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! In New Celest, Eraol Flenn seeks stars in a jar. In Magnagora, Firica d’Vanecu seeks to pacify phantoms with tantrums. In Serenwilde, Caedir Aormeah seeks does in the snow. In Glomdoring, Dominique Nightshade oversees the masquerade of the shade. In Hallifax, Alandu Windwhisper seeks venerators of the generators. In Gaudiguch, Mosachi Xeeth seeks lizards with gizzards. Additionally, each city and commune’s dedicated store selling the rewards of previous Solstice adventures is once more open. Anyone who has missed out on getting them in the past will be able to make up for it each Solstice season. The shops can be found: In New Celest, by the lobby of the Syrinx Plaza Hotel. In Magnagora, within the construction site south off Sombre Lane. In Serenwilde, southwards from the Ellindel Memorial. In Glomdoring, a hollow by the Stables of the Wyrden Thorn. In Hallifax, up the stairs from the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange. In Gaudiguch, within one of the rooms of the Dapper Dashro Lounge. ## Solstice Court Finally, the baying of unruly huskies heralded the opening of the Solstice Court. Eager visitors can visit it by CATCHing snowflakes drifting upon the highways or taking one of the husky-pulled sleighs parked along Stairs of the Last Nine, right outside the Aetherplex. That scenic route offers room for a party of four and the leader decides how fast the sleigh will go. To return, simply PULL the rope within the manor or ENTER one of the sleighs at the sleighgrounds departure site. Once there, be sure to visit the bridge where several retired gnomes have taken up residence and peddle their wares. If you forgot to bundle up before leaving for such icy climes, you can purchase warm clothes upon the bridge too. Be sure to swear the vow with Steward Tombin to receive your leaflet which will guide you through the new Solstice quest. The reward is a stocking that you can hang for yourself or others. Explore and you will find many improvements and additions! ## Dates Everything will remain open and available until January 2 (inclusive), except for HOLIDAYCREDITS which will function between 20th-26th December only. Merry Solstice! **Categories:** News --- ### [November 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/12/09/november-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** December 9, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from November! If you’d like to join them for December, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Niralahi’s [Peril on the Sea](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/163/) #### Runner-Up Kennian’s [The Dagger and The Daffodil – A Play](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/170/) #### Merit Evette’s [Go to sleep little crow](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/165/) Trakis’ [Poems](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/169/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [Spooky Snowy Stories](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F11%2FGhostsofIcewynd.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=1a76c92a66668ea6ad5531c9cb0328034f147608d923e349812edffc2b7619fe) #### Runner-Up Gaviel’s [Self-Portrait](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F11%2FGaviels-Self-Portrait.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=46850c64b9b969dc1254fca65dca0710728def8182feccbbf8b62c933ff71654) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Solstice Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/12/06/solstice-schedule/) **Published:** December 6, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** With Lusternia’s Solstice on the horizon, we want to let you know what our schedule will look like ahead of time. All our regular events will be returning this year and there is a lot to keep one festive! **17th-19th** – Solstice Quests will open in cities and communes. **19th** – Solstice Court will open. **20th** – Ironbeard and gnomes will return. **20th-26th** – You will be able to claim all daily credits with **HAPPYHOLIDAYS**. Both Solstice Court and Solstice Quests will close on the **2nd of January** so you should have two weeks to both visit the frosty place and complete the quests. **Categories:** News --- ### [December's Season of Giving](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/12/01/decembers-season-of-giving/) **Published:** December 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Tis the Solstice Season! For the month of December, Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for Solstice domination! To participate, purchase solstice stockings[ directly from the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/), which can then be hung in manses and commune/city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: **HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\]** Syntax: **STOCKINGS** (to help track your stockings) At midnight, the person it was hung for can **UNWRAP** and get their reward of 3 genie curios, 2 iron coins, and either a present from Ironbeard or a racetrack ticket from the Gnodfather. For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain either peppermint from Ironbeard or coal from the Gnodfather. Peppermint and coal can be combined to create special Solstice artifacts (see [HELP SOLSTICEARTIFACTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1330))! There will not be any new Solstice artifacts this year again, giving everyone a chance to catch up on all the old ones. But because it is the season of giving, each gold and platinum stocking will also include a single glowing present. These glowing presents, when opened, will give you a greater chance of receiving a better present without resetting your present counter. Additionally, 10 other players in your room will also receive a normal present to open at the same time! Spread the joy and cheer to everyone this year! Lastly, throughout December, We will be having each of our daily bonus features occurring. They are as follows: 7. **Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays** - bonus to damage against mobs. **Double XP Tuesdays** - Earn twice the XP on Tuesdays (doesn’t include Endzones essence gain) **Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays** - bonus influence damage against mobs **Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays** - Additional 25% critical hit chance for everyone! We hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Cyber Monday Package](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/29/cyber-monday-package/) **Published:** November 29, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** This Cyber Monday we have a new package for you but with the same old rules – one package per character. Throughout Monday, the 29th of November, from weave to weave, you will be able to buy a special package of 20 coins to be used with the Wheel of Tzaraziko for $19.99! **Categories:** News --- ### [Four Days of Gratitude](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/25/four-days-of-gratitude/) **Published:** November 25, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** While not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving – either at all or does so earlier in the year – we wish those of you who do a happy one. We are grateful for the time all of you spend with us so if you are spending this time with family or friends (or yourself, everyone needs a “me” day), we don’t want you to choose between that time and working on your daily credits. Between the 25th and 28th of November (Thursday to Sunday inclusive), you will be able to claim all your daily credits for the day with a simple **HAPPYHOLIDAYS** command. Have a wonderful time, The Lusternia Team **Categories:** News --- ### [A Revelation, A Maze, A Ritual: The Return of the Silver Goddess](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/25/a-revelation-a-maze-a-ritual-the-return-of-the-silver-goddess/) **Published:** November 25, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** “Nehvi na’reaim yaeklas…” Caught in a flurry of snow, Serenwilde’s festivities drew to an end as a new year and moon both turned. Alongside Nehvi, a carefree elfen lady recently returned to the commune, the shelterfolk gathered to observe Fair Galaphyrae conduct a wintry Sower rite and listen to poetry recited by Spirit-Touched Keyne, drawing the celebration of guild and kinship to a close. Revelling in the ensuing high spirits and prickled nerves, Nehvi soon announced that the time felt right. She called upon Regent Tyrus Myeras to make good on an offer he’d made to her many moons prior – the offer to visit the Serenas’im Alemnacree in person and hear what words were waiting there. Along with the gathered Seren, they journeyed to a glade that is both part of the Serenwilde, yet also beyond, a place where secrets gather and the Goddess Elfenehoala’s memory speaks. The Serenwilde basked in the fragrant mysteries of the place as though near and dear friends with them, and they encouraged Nehvi to step forth and touch the moss-covered stone raised before the crescent-shaped pond. As this was the conclusion to a gathering of kin and kith, and as the stone itself radiated no small amount of intense emotion, she agreed to do so if another joined with her in laying hands upon it. Keyne volunteered, and together, they placed their palms upon its pale surface. And then Her voice sang through the clearing – the Elder Goddess Elfenehoala spoke to all gathered with words left there long ago. Her voice quickly overwhelmed the elfen, staggering her and, by Her conclusion, dropping her to her knees. Overcome, she wept; overwhelmed, she gathered the mists about her, veiling her deeper and deeper within their shadows until she disappeared with one last bitter, tear-stained regret: “…You should have told Me…” At a loss for what they had just witnessed and what now to do, the Seren conferred. Norra Lunarose of Moon Lake understood intuitively what had occurred and why the elfen disappeared, offering, “The message finally reached Her.” As Saran Strongleaf called out to his Goddess and others mused about whether it was altogether safe to remain, the impenetrable mists thinned. An animal trail appeared, leading deeper into a labyrinthine maze of trees and fog and spirits stalking the livings’ every move. At the edge of hearing, growing louder the further they travelled, the shelterfolk heard a chant repeated over, and over, and over. “Nehvi na’reaim yaeklas… nehvi na’reaim yaeklas…” With Galaphyrae leading the way, they followed the voices into a moonlit tangle from which there seemed no sure way out. And there they found the source of the chanting in three fae linked together in coven: a maiden, mother, and a crone. When Huskii Myeras of the Misty Vale broke their trance by uttering the first word of their incantation aloud – “Nehvi!” – their chanting quieted, but they didn’t chastise the gathering. They didn’t speak at all, but lowered their hands and widened their circle, welcoming the Seren into the ritual with neither explanation nor instruction – only their need. Only a phrase. “Nehvi na’reaim yaeklas…” Galaphyrae and Saran stepped forward, as did Keyne and Norra who both first joined with the chanting. Others followed more hesitantly, some with uncertainty, some with a small protestation, and some with fear, for this place was strange, and powerful magicks hung thick with the mists in the air. The fae resumed their chanting as the Serenwilde slowly fell into rhythm and purpose: Galaphyrae, Saran, Keyne, Norra, Huskii, Tyrus, Miau, Xiran. And still others found their way through the twist of mist and trees to join the circle and its goal: Llani, Erebos, Velcora. “Nehvi na’reaim yaeklas…” The ritual built to a crescendo of joined purpose and unity as moonfire flickered to life before everyone, at first haltingly, then growing and growing. And as it peaked in strength, the wintry air itself held its breath. The words called to Lisaera, the Silver Goddess Who stepped forth from the mists in the middle of the circle. Were there any doubts before, the Elder Goddess shared many similarities with the elfen lady who had so enjoyed the Serenwilde’s festival, but unmasked – and somehow changed. After whispering words to Her fae in secrecy, they left, and Lisaera turned Her attention fully onto the mortals whose voices drew Her from the embrace of the realm. She had but one question: “What will you now do, children of Seralem, now that your festival has come to a close?” The Serenwilde spoke of living, of learning, of listening, sowing, protecting, and growing. Miau spoke of meeting with Bandrui, then picking flowers – of community. Keyne echoed the words of his earlier poem, promising to walk in courage, love, and honour as the family the commune has grown to be. There were fervent words, and there were words filled with laughter. The Silver Goddess weighed all as though bearing witness to sworn oaths. She then turned to Xiran Stormcrow, Serenwilde’s Minister of Cultural Affairs, and She asked the same of she who organized the activities and made room for so many disparate yet united souls. The faeling insisted her work was the work of everyone. And indeed it was – it was the work of a people united. Soon Maylea, Bloom of Serenity stepped into the gathering, Her joy infectious as She greeted and welcomed Lisaera’s return. Together, They talked, and then They retreated into prismatic and silver light as Lisaera promised the gathering that She would meet them again. Lisaera walks the First World once more, but what had drawn Her away for so long? And what happened to Her in the mists of Seralem? What meaning did the words the Seren chanted hold, and what will the Silver Goddess now do? She cloaks Herself in mystery upon ethereal mystery – this much of Her remains unchanged. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Gaudiguch Gossip Special Edition - Corruption and Kouseki in Gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/19/gaudiguch-gossip-special-edition-corruption-and-kouseki-in-gaudiguch/) **Published:** November 19, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was any other day in Gaudiguch when the unexpected happened – the Freedom Council authorised mass destruction within the City of Freedom. Interviewing eyewitnesses, the explosion happened far beneath the city after a riot was started over the city’s shortage of kouseki powder. While kouseki powder is not generally in high demand beyond the creation of incense, it seems an artificial demand has been induced by notable members of the city, including Caliph Eritheyl, Minister of Security Afrit, and their patsies Chundae and Zulte. The explosion and subsequent destruction were centred around a structure known as the Golden Pavilion. This was an announcement made by a man named Arix from atop the Great Pyramid. We were not able to garner comment on the Pavilion, its purpose, or its whereabouts, but it was noted that the Matron of the Pavilion, Taschelin, was seen with many of the instigators both before and after the explosion, as well as a mysterious dracnari of old age and a dancer from the Palace of Pleasure who looked as if he had been tortured. Digging into the events that led up to this, Deotathi, Proprieter of the Dapper Dashro Lounge, had this to say: “Couldn’t tell you what they wanted myself. One day, they come in trying to shake me down, insisting that something was wrong and therefore something had to be wrong with me too. I hinted that their line of questioning was agitating me, and they seemed to take it as affirmation. Bloody nutters, the lot of them. This is why I don’t pay taxes.” Further rumours of the dancer being central to all of this came to light, and after a little investigation, we learned that the Caliph Eritheyl was keeping him in his basement. When questioned about this, Eritheyl denied these claims and noted that the dancer was instead stored in his attic. When asked about the torture, he denied any comment, the obvious sign of a guilty man. Upon inquiring about his deals with the Golden Pavilion, he denied them but noted that the kouseki powder he promised was, in fact, a scam, and he was unaware of the existence of any quantities of the product. When asked for his reasoning, he claimed this was purely one of his freedoms and declined any further comment. The rest of the Freedom Council, nor any of their associates, could be contacted for comment. Further investigation led me to the site of the Dragon’s Scar Memorial Bridge, where earlier in the month was seen a gathering of Gaudiguchians, including the accused, and Serenwilders as well being granted an audience with the Lord Ein, who had not been seen for over a century at the time of this writing. In the interest of verifying this claim, I trekked to His fulcrux and inquired of Him about His return. He offered this: “Yes, the city decided to wake me up. It was all quite exciting.” Apparently, in addition to starting a riot and scamming the people of Gaudiguch, the Freedom Council has decided to also harass and harangue a sleeping Elder and disturb His rest. This reporter finds such behaviour quite rude and intolerable, as sleep is one of the rarest and finest gifts known to mortalkind and I assume Elderkind too. We find ourselves at a dearth of information at this point, with many questions left on our hands for our readers: Why is the Freedom Council perpetrating scams upon its citizenry? Why are there explosions being set off in the city without advance warning? Given the number of Serenwilders attending His return, is this really Ein, or is it Lisaera in disguise? Or even more likely, Drocilla disguised as Lisaera disguised as Ein? These questions and more will hopefully be answered in future editions of the Gossip. This has been Chixieya Ninchi, your favourite Editor in Grief, at the Gaudiguch Gossip. **Categories:** Events --- ### [November Auctions](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/16/november-auctions/) **Published:** November 16, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The auctions are now open and will close a little bit after Sunday’s weave. As we’re doing only one week of auctions in November, there is a mix of credit and gold auctions available. Because of that, which type is which is not as easily visible. Please double check each auction info! For gold auctions, you will not be able to bid on an artifact that you already own. **Categories:** News --- ### [From the Gaudiguch Gossip - An Advertisement on Page Three](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/12/from-the-gaudiguch-gossip-an-advertisement-on-page-three/) **Published:** November 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Do you enjoy mucus, flesh, and ancient Illuminati experiments? Do your children ceaselessly bother you for a pet of some sort? Do you have an overabundance of coin, time, and energy to rear and raise new life? Well, you are in luck. The newly formed Vortex Preservation Society has made available a brand new invention of old: The Sarkipose. They sneeze, they squeal, they adapt to their environment! The sarkipose is a wondrous pet for children of all ages from 6 to 600\*, and they are the absolute height of failed Illuminati technology. All fleshseeds are guaranteed harvested fresh from the finest abscesses of the plane. Get yours today, speak to Zhush near the Lovashi valve. \*Due to their immense weight and size, we do not recommend sarkiposes for children younger than the age of six as they are both a crushing and a choking risk. This advertisement is approved and paid for by the Vortex Preservation Society. The Vortex Preservation Society is not affiliated with the Gaudiguch city government or with the Gaudiguch Gossip. ![Various drawings of sarkiposes and their features - Art by Stabetha Deathwhisper](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Nice_To_Meat_You-1024x768.png "Sarkiposes - Lusternia")Art by Stabetha Deathwhisper **Categories:** Events --- ### [October 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/09/october-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** November 9, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Bardic competitors from October! If you’d like to join them for November, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Illyria’s [Gifts of the Night](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/161/) #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s [Song for the Drachou](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/162/) ### Artisanal Contest No entries! **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [November Presents Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/11/01/november-presents-extravaganza/) **Published:** November 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the month of November, we’re thankful and bring an armful of presents. For every 25 credits you purchase in November, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! To sweeten the pot, we are adding the ability to EXCHANGE PRESENTS, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. But wait, there’s even more! When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present but it’s a great way to say thanks. In addition to the excitement of presents, we will be running one round of auctions. They will open on the 15th of November and run until the 21st. There will be no new artifacts in these auctions and we will let you know more details closer to the date. Lastly, every Tuesday this month you can earn double daily credits. That means that rather than 20 total for the day, you will earn up to 40! **Categories:** News --- ### [Haunting Vengeance Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/31/haunting-vengeance-results-2/) **Published:** October 31, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Haunting brought many to the Haunted House and one eventful night the visitors gathered to compete in a vengeance game tournament. This time, however, they would not play in the setting of the Vernal Wars. They faced something much more recent – the times of the Curse of the Sunken Heart. The populace consisted of the Bloodtide Coven and the assassins were the Cursed of the Sunken Heart, seeking to end the Curse. Eleven players entered the tournament and by morning, two were already dead. One by the hand of one of the Cursed, and one by the hand of a drunken pirate seeking to take vengeance on the Coven. Unfortunately, the drunken pirate’s vengeance was misdirected and one of the Cursed was felled instead of one of the Coven. That boded ill for the Cursed ones and indeed, another assassin was drowned by nightfall. The next night was eventful as the Sea Witch and the Tender of Fireweeds, both of the Coven, were dispatched quietly. Despite many arguments, no judgement was made the next day and so the darkness allowed the remaining Cursed one and the drunken pirate to stalk unhindered. But in another twist of fate, it is each other that they dispatched rather than one of the Bloodtide Coven. And so, the Bloodtide Coven stood victorious and a new age of the Red Tide overtook the Basin of Life in storms and floods, the Elders who stood against Lady of the Lagoon were imprisoned forevermore. Congratulations to Caoilfhoinn, Nepenthe, Tyrus, and Uzriel, who each took 150 credits home for their victory! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Healing the Tar Pit Wastes](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/30/healing-the-tar-pit-wastes/) **Published:** October 30, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It began with a simple correspondence. Over a decade past, Sprout Thornleaf had come to the Sowers of the Last Seed where they then remained, separated by choice from their cousin in the Tar Pits. This letter was the first they had received from him in some time, and it contained news. Some very interesting news. In the message, Jayant wrote that two strangers wandered the barren land, but that was not itself of note: Sprout knew strangers visited the Tar Pits often. No, what piqued their curiosity was that these wanderers chose to make camp. And while they had caused no trouble just yet, Jayant bade Sprout keep an eye open, for not many of sound mind would linger overlong in the Wastes. So it was only natural Sprout brought the news to the attention of all the Serenwilde, and the commune rose in answer, traversing the neighbouring wastes to discuss the matter with Jayant in person. Their numbers included Huskii, Tyrus, Eirossel, Keyne, Xiran, and Jolanthe. As they talked, one of the strangers happened upon the gathering, tuning his lyre. He was quickly accosted and learned they were a group of Serenwilders looking, specifically, for him. With his distraction, the bard was difficult to interrogate, revealing little of substance save that his name was Lossam Calendis, and he was a spiritsinger. Yet he was there with a purpose. “I would rise to the legacy of Ellindel Treeheart and Glinshari Strongleaf,” he announced to the gathering. “We can heal this land. I will do my part.” And then he left, leaving behind a collective at once hopeful, bewildered, and wary. Not a month later, the Serenwilde felt a stirring through their bond to the land, an explosive force bursting to expand and grow, accompanied by whispers: “Awaken.” The commune once more arose to investigate, joining Sprout outside the Ambervault just as a pyre of moonfire burst over the eastern treeline within the Tar Pits. And so, to the Tar Pits they returned. Within, they found a blizzard awaiting them, and after a brief conversation with Jayant, soon discovered a new pit had opened in the land along the western borders. There they also found the second stranger: Cidinnanc Wildbriar, who fretted over the tar pit, exclaiming that Lossam was somewhere beyond, stuck where they had raised their energy and caused the burst of moonfire. Meanwhile, shamans among the Seren calmed the blizzard, and as they learned of Cidinnanc’s plight, the shelterfolk began to notice strange motes of silver moonlight scattered throughout the wasteland, illuminating it with their light. Perhaps the two were connected, and the moonlight could somehow seal the pit? Because of their apparent source, the orbs of light contained healing properties – the trick was drawing them back to the pit. In the end, this was no difficult matter once they learned they were attracted to the inner flames all Seren bear. And so they summoned flame and gathered moonlight: Nialla, Tyrus, Calfuray, Llani, Jolanthe, Qistrel, Sondayga, Keyne, and Aodharth all assisted in collecting the motes and placing them within the nascent tar pit, with Llani’s final contribution sealing it forever. Once healed, a path venturing nearer to the Serenwilde Forest opened to the west, and Lossam was found alive and well once more. Strangely, moonlight saturated the land here as well, the coalescence thicker so close to the source of the ritual. Although the moon waned in the night sky above and grew slimmer still by the moment, its presence was promising, and the two strangers thought to try the healing rite once more – though this time with help. Together, they prepared the ritual – Nialla with the ritual crown, Aodharth with the blessings of water and earth, and the blessings of air and fire, and Calfuray with the blessing of the athame. Together, they gathered high above the wasteland, and by the bonfire built there, beneath the moon as it shone with barely a sliver of cold winter light left, a full coven of Seren danced: Tyrus, Quillianna, Sondayga, Keyne, Calfuray, Eirossel, Jolanthe, Llani, Velcora, Huskii, Nialla, and, of course, Sprout Thornleaf alongside both Lossam and Cidinnanc. They danced, and though there were many missteps as such a large group learned to move as one, their movements grew fluid and purposeful, drawing the spirits of the land near and raising energy both within and without. The ritual reached its zenith of power when the impossible and unbelievable happened. Before their very eyes, the land began to change. Grasses grew, flowers blossomed, and strange new life appeared amidst the wild green foliage. Lossam, excited, returned to his grove to begin his work studying the new life, while Cidinnanc chose to remain beside the fire, tending it in awe of the land. Sprout – and the other Seren – could scarcely believe what unfurled before them. Yet despite their great achievement, only the hilltop and nearby ruins could draw upon the ritual’s power. The healing was successful but incomplete, and time will tell how long-lasting the impacts of the rites will be. Yet as Cidinnanc and Lossam remain with the land, even should the blessings fade as the Slayer of Forests exerts its hunger anew, there is still hope so long as there are people to carry its torch. Perhaps, with the blessings of Seralem, even impossible dreams might come true. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Haunted House Opens](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/31/the-haunted-house-opens/) **Published:** October 31, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Haunted House is now open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. A wide selection of costumes (including new ones!) can be purchased within in addition to a slew of activities available to enjoy: pumpkin carving, web-making in the basement, two unique vengeance games, a basement maze, bobbing for apples, fortune reading, haunted furniture, spooky refreshments, and two spooky plays. In the basement you can also find a mirror which leads to an enormous maze with many mysteries and very unique challenges. If you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. To make sure you don’t miss out on anything the Coterie has prepared a Haunting Adventure to guide you through all of the activities. Be sure to pick up a pamphlet at the door. The Haunted House is located on the Stairs of Death on Avechna’s Peak and will stay open until the weave on November 7th. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Haunting Has Begun](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/31/the-haunting-has-begun-2/) **Published:** October 31, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Once again, Atropos, the Eldest of the Fates, has broken her shears! This means that the Haunting is upon us and when anything dies, there is a chance its ghost will not find its way to the Portal of Fate. If you find one of these poor lost souls, you can capture it if you can scare it. A simple BOO should work! Atropos would be most grateful if you put these ghosts into the Portal of Fate while she repairs the Shears of Fate. As a reward, if you rescue 20 ghosts, Atropos will give you a yummy little treat! Ghosts will dissipate after this event, so please don’t try to hoard them in your manses or storerooms. They will appear in the greatest numbers on the 31st and then there will be progressively fewer of them around for the rest of the Haunting (which closes weave of Nov 7th). PS. The Haunted House and all of its activities will open on the 31st of October at 10pm GMT. **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Quiz Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/24/anniversary-quiz-results-2/) **Published:** October 24, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As the Festival of the Creatrix neared its end, Duck, the Confused Chicken announced a test of intelligence for the inhabitants of Lusternia. Taking a sharp turn from the previous quiz, this one focused more on the intricacies of “upright” history. An early lead was quickly established by a pack of four: Afrit, Eritheyl, Jolanthe, and Quillianna. Through a number of twists and turns with obscure questions, each kept trading the position of first place with each other, while many others trailed well behind. In the end, Afrit took first place, with Eritheyl and Jolanthe tying for second just one point behind. Thus were the fodder for the chicken revolution, and those who would have the privilege of taking the frontline during it, decided. First Place (300 credits): Afrit, of Gaudiguch Second Place (150 credits): Eritheyl, of Gaudiguch and Jolanthe, of Serenwilde Third Place (50 credits): Quillianna, of Serenwilde **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Anniversary Battlechess Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/24/anniversary-battlechess-results-2/) **Published:** October 24, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Mid-Dvarsh did the frustrated lamentations of Xuck, the Strategic Chicken reach the Basin at large. The sorrow of his fellow feathered friends eating the pieces of his game rather than placing them drove him to the extreme: requesting the favoured game of the Gods themselves be played by adventurers throughout the Basin. Not seeking to request something for nothing, he offered the prized Chessboard of Libertas to whichever organisation should muster a team that would prove triumphant over all others! Ayisdra Ysav’rai, of Hallifax, Sutekh n’Lochli, of Gaudiguch, Tyrus Myeras, of Serenwilde, and Gurashi Skydrifter, of New Celest, stepped forward to lead the teams of their homes as King. Though some organisations mustered more of a fighting force than the others, in the first battle between Gaudiguch and Hallifax Sutekh’s masterful, aggressive placement of his queen saw Ayisdra too late to recall his own before his untimely defeat, and Gaudiguch claimed the first round. Though the round between Serenwilde and New Celest was much more drawn out, Gurashi’s quick rebuttal in the form of sending their queen to face Tyrus saw the latter fall beneath the blades he faced. In the ultimate match, the bout was far less drawn out and quickly more decided. Dys Mzithrei returned as Sutekh’s queen, and his masterful forward march saw her claim Gurashi’s head in less than ten moves. With such excellent strategy showcased, the Chessboard of Libertas was moved to Gaudiguch, where it may now be enjoyed by all of its citizens. Congratulations Sutekh, and congratulations Gaudiguch! **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Anniversary Treasure Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/24/anniversary-treasure-hunt-results-2/) **Published:** October 24, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Life is hard when you’re Buck, the Iniquitous Chicken. Everyone wants you to do something and you just want to sip on your pumpkin spice tea at the Triple Junction Inn. Thankfully there are many adventurers who are more than happy to spread joy in Buck’s stead. Gifting them with little toy harlequins from the Menestrean Wayfaire, Buck urged them to seek out places that need joy and laughter so he could rest in peace instead. The harlequin would not speak plainly, of course, that is not their way. With riddles, the toys lead adventurers all over the Basin and spread joy to those in need. Eritheyl took the lead early but faltered midway, overtaken by Sutekh. In the end, it was down to the two of them still, with Eritheyl coming in first. Onya, Tyrus, Ayisdra, Yire, and Essoheli vied for third but Onya was the quickest. Many others continued to travel far with their toys in hand, eager to spread the wonders of the Wayfaire to the Basin. The toys can still be picked up at the Triple Junction Inn even now if one but toasts Estarra there and they can be used to spread joy even after the Wayfaire has gone, all the way until the Haunting. First Place (300 credits): Eritheyl, of Gaudiguch Second Place (150 credits): Sutekh, of Gaudiguch Third Place (50 credits): Onya, of Hallifax **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Anniversary Great Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/23/anniversary-great-hunt-results-2/) **Published:** October 23, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Festival Great Hunt has concluded. Everybody who participated received a number of credits, but the top ten scorers in each tier received bound credits ranging from 50 for the tenth to 500 for the first spot. Listed below are the scores for this hunt’s top scorers. --- TOP TEN DEMIGOD+ 1 – Ayisdra – 133000 2 – Malayn – 103812 3 – Ilthilior – 103812 4 – Alarin – 88395 5 – Tyrus – 57624 6 – Steingrim – 49895 7 – Sutekh – 49131 8 – Lisuarte – 45210 9 – Huskii – 44991 10 – Caleb – 40784 --- TOP TEN LEVEL 61-99 1 – Veara – 35843 2 – Essoheli – 25738 3 – Istela – 21321 4 – Aodharth – 11238 5 – Lanyip – 8268 6 – Vembral – 6721 7 – Jaamir – 6015 8 – Hinic – 5624 9 – Makani – 4142 10 – Lyala – 3470 --- TOP TEN LEVEL 1-60 1 – Quillianna – 13212 2 – Thozze – 9001 3 – Mendri – 8385 4 – Miau – 7730 5 – Xoee – 1179 6 – Arou – 960 7 – Primeveire – 931 8 – Tabella – 809 9 – Myrani – 663 10 – Gaviel – 518 **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [The Menestrean Wayfaire](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/21/the-menestrean-wayfaire/) **Published:** October 21, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As they do for every Festival of the Creatrix, Jal Czigany and his troop of performers returned to offer their entertainment for Lusternia. However, something was different this time: Long named after Jal Czigany, the Wayfaire has seen a re-dedication, renamed the Menestrean Wayfaire, in honour of the Vernal Goddess Menestre of the Laughing Heart. Thus did Jal and his fellow performers remind themselves of the principles the Vernal Goddess espoused – joy, hope, laughter, and fun – and came to offer such to the Basin of Life once more. Two more secrets did Jal reveal to those with the words to ask: Firstly, his people’s homeland was not called after his name, as was believed for centuries. It was called instead the Cultural Province of the Zemeran Coast. He and his performers hid the true name of the Coast for fear that greedy excavators might plunder the last ruins of their home for the mystical curios that came from there. But the recent storms caused by the raging Sea Spirit in her awakening have made it impossible for them, or anyone to return. And secondly, his people were also not called after his name, but they were Zemerans, bearing the name of the same Coast which is now barred them: They were named after Zemera, who became the Lady Menestre they now honour in the Menestrean Wayfaire. And so did all in Lusternia flock towards the new Menestrean Wayfaire, where, as is often the case on the return of this carnival, adventurers find an even more fantastical beast offered amongst the menageries – a strange terror of the deeps. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Anniversary Great Hunt Begins](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/18/anniversary-great-hunt-begins-2/) **Published:** October 18, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Great Hunt is on once again! Gather your supplies and set out to hunt and influence your way to victory! The Hunt will last until midnight GMT on October 22nd (at the weave). You will earn double experience during the Great Hunt and all your slaying and influencing will count towards the score. Check out HELP GREATHUNT for details about the rules, rewards, and tiers. Refer to the original post, Announce #3177, for all Anniversary announcements and dates too as we have more games lined up for the next weekend. **Categories:** Contests, News --- ### [Anniversary Slippers Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/17/anniversary-slippers-results-2/) **Published:** October 17, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As Luck, the Luxurious chicken once more attempted to dissuade her fellow chickens in the Revolution from making use of her prize possesion, the Heel of the Creatrix, adventurers from around the Basin once more stepped forward in an effort to wrest the artefact from the grasp of the nefarious Henmother in a game of Slippers. With seven adventurers putting their best foot forward, a careful dance of forward and back began as they scurried about to avoid the ireful gaze of the Henmother. While she put her foot — her claw? — down upon one after another, it was Elawienne, Lanyip, and Ayisdra Ysav’rai who would quickly pass off the Heel amongst themselves and evade her clutch for the longest, with Elawienne ultimately emerging victorious! First Place (300 credits): Elawienne, of Serenwilde Second Place (150 credits): Lanyip, of Gaudiguch Third Place (50 credits): Ayisdra, of Hallifax **Categories:** Contests, Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Chicken Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/16/anniversary-chicken-hunt-results-2/) **Published:** October 16, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Soon after the start of the Festival of the Creatrix, Cluck, the Revolutionary Chicken re-emerges to declare a repeat Revolution of the chickens upon Lusternia. Thousands upon thousands of chickens fluttered their way into the Basin of Life, cluttering the roadways, waterways, mountains, forests, and villages with their fluffy forms in an effort to set up a government of the chickens, by the chickens, and for the chickens. Adventurers of Lusternia had no choice but to fan out and capture the revolutionary fowl. Nepenthe very quickly established himself as the chief enemy of the revolution, while Llani, Ayisdra, and Essoheli vied amongst one another to be the most agile chicken-catchers. In the end, the following were declared the top enemies of the Chicken Revolution: First Place (300 credits): Nepenthe, of Gaudiguch Second Place (150 credits): Essoheli, of Serenwilde Third Place (50 credits): Llani, of Serenwilde **Categories:** Contests, Events, News --- ### [Opening of the Festival of the Creatrix](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/16/opening-of-the-festival-of-the-creatrix/) **Published:** October 16, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Festival of the Creatrix has now been declared open! You can find the lovely Agwesha and all of her wares upon the Path of Solitude, where she will remain as long as the Festival is open. Buy decorations, toys, and even the rare doll of the Creatrix Herself so that you can celebrate the Festival as fervently as it deserves. Join us over the coming week for a number of contests in the Creatrix’s honour! You can find the schedule in Announce Post #[3177](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Announce/3177/). **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia's Seventeenth Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/13/lusternias-seventeenth-anniversary-events/) **Published:** October 13, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Lusternia turns seventeen years old in 2021! And, as always, we’re holding a series of games, contests and more to celebrate this momentous milestone, with the in-character celebration of the Festival of the Creatrix. All contests bar the Great Hunt and Battlechess award 300 credits for 1st place, 150 credits for 2nd place and 50 credits for 3rd place. Great Hunt rewards are in bound credits, scaling from 500 for 1st to 50 for 10th in each tier, whilst the organisation that wins Battlechess receives the famed Chessboard of Libertas. **16th October** - 3pm GMT: The Festival of the Creatrix begins, with the opening ceremonies and the return of festival wares. - 4pm GMT: Chicken Hunt! It’s like a hamster hunt, but in honour of the Creatrix, you’re chasing down chickens instead. **17th October** - 6pm GMT: Slippers Game! This contest may also have a very special twist on it. - 10pm GMT: The Wayfaire Opens! **18th October** - Weave: The Great Hunt begins! This will run Monday-Friday and, during this time, double XP will be enabled. Remember that for some of you this will start on Sunday already. **22nd October** - Weave: Great Hunt Ends. **23rd October** - 8pm GMT: Treasure Hunt! The first to figure out the clues, wins! - 11pm GMT: Battlechess! Each city and commune competes in this game to win the glorious Chessboard of Libertas. **24th October** - 9pm GMT: Festival Quiz! Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. - 11pm GMT: The Wayfaire and Festival close. **Categories:** News --- ### [Grub for the Sous Chef](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/10/grub-for-the-sous-chef/) **Published:** October 10, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was a bright Avechary morning when Mwami Honeypunch stepped out onto the Alabaster Road, her mind set on one thing: Food. Making her way to the Aetherplex, she was perplexed by the absolute flood of foods available. A platter of poutine? A bowl of creamy lobster soup, perhaps? All of these things caught her eye, and especially a platter of roasted grub, but none of it seemed to really inspire her. Mwami had recently apprenticed with Kioul, but he was not entirely sure of her creativity. Mwami ate simple foods and did not go out of her way to spice things up, so Kioul did not believe her ready to become his sous-chef. He was willing to give her a chance, and that chance was all she needed. Her journey to the Aetherplex was to seek out ideas for a dish to really impress the Culinary Warrior, but nothing seemed suitable. By chance, another aspiring chef happened to come through the Aetherplex on her way to help Adalgiso. Velcora Lunarose, of Serenwilde, happened to notice the perplexed furrikin browsing the listings and took it upon herself to try and help. Brainstorming had never been Mwami’s strong point, but that was right up Velcora’s alley. Various ideas were tossed between them, including garosaur tartare and cave lobster drenched in butter, but Mwami’s eyes kept darting back to that roasted grub platter. Soon, Velcora seized on that and started throwing out even more recipe ideas. Finally, Mwami decided that she had some recipes in mind, and before heading back to her shop, urged Velcora to come visit her. And so she did, finding Mwami just next to Kioul’s own spot on the Waystation Circuit. She was greeted by a very dishevelled and disorganised honey badger furrikin, who had come up with what must be a supremely appetising stew, minus a few ingredients. Mwami explained what she needed, with a very helpful Velcora offering to fetch it and let Mwami stay near the stewpot. After no small amount of hard work, Velcora returned with ingredients in hand and the duo cooked up quite a fine stew to show to Kioul. The stew was odd, to say the least, but it had come from the heart. The massive epicurean was pleased enough with his apprentice and her place at his side was thus secured, for now. What will Mwami come up with next? Will she ever become as great a culinary warrior as the mighty Kioul? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Celestine Rework Testing](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/07/celestine-rework-testing/) **Published:** October 7, 2021 **Author:** Orael **Content:** The Celestine rework is loaded and ready for testing on my test server. If you would like to participate, please message me and I’ll give you the information. Please refer to the changelogs on the test server for more information regarding testing and how to handle bugs/concerns/comments etc. Thank you for assisting in this testing and we hope you enjoy. **Categories:** News --- ### [September 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/09/september-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** October 9, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from September! If you’d like to join them for October, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Jolanthe’s [The Fang of Crazen](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/157/) #### Runner-Up Sapphira’s [The Smitten Swan](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/159/) #### Merit Xiran [Reckoning of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/158/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [The First Letter](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F09%2FDoodle_BestBear.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=02084443c2a9be1e8ba24c484f258daf24f7090b61f9d65dc38be84caa1f301a) #### Runner-Up Esei’s [Winning Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F09%2Fnature.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=f7aefa872781c02a310c7621b428094313c56433ea417f4498db9e01a25faa71) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [October Artifact Sale](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/01/october-artifact-sale/) **Published:** October 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In October, you can buy artifacts directly from the website at a steep discount in the so-called [Artifact Cart](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). In addition, all throughout October, you can enjoy Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays which will increase your chances of scoring critical hits! **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension of Malayn](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/26/ascension-of-malayn/) **Published:** September 26, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The first to hold the staff was Kalas Ruiku, picking it up swift as the wind from the Astrosphere of Pisces. He brought it to Kalas Malarious of Magnagora who had the support of the combined powers of Gaudiguch, Magnagora, and Serenwilde. Knowing well that the Almighty’s power has manifested upon Capricorn, Malarious rushed there to prove his worth to Avechna. He never relinquished the staff from that moment on, holding onto it firmly despite the numerous organised attempts to wrest it from him by the united might of Glomdoring, Hallifax, and New Celest. Meanwhile, within the Basin of Life, the broken Seals allowed Almighty Kethuru to assault the Prime Plane. Sending forth the Daemuru of Cardinals to Oleanvir Valley, He began the conquest. Though many attempted to slay the Daemuru, it was Huskii Myeras, Alarin Ka’liati, and Gyron La’Saet who showed the most devotion to accomplishing the task. It was a battle as long as the one happening upon the Astral Plane but in the end, Gyorn did land the final blow. It was not Gyorn who would deliver the body of the Daemuru to any of the Seals, however, as Galaphyrae Talnara acquired it and brought it forth to the Cave of Death instead. On Astral, Kethuru continued to manifest His power upon the Astrospheres, forcing those seeking to seal Him away to change tactics and locale frequently. Eventually, Malarious was triumphant in proving himself to Avechna and became the True Ascendant to recharge the seals. The process was arduous but he persevered and was born again under the name Malayn. All hail, Malayn, the True Ascendant of Death! **Categories:** Events --- ### [Calling Mortal Builders!](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/10/01/calling-mortal-builders/) **Published:** October 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We are the Camenae, the Administrators of Building, and we are again looking for any Lusternians who enjoy creative writing, especially descriptive writing, and who would like to help Lusternia by apply to be a mortal builder. Currently, we are opening a formal applicant call in order to fill our pool of active builders. If you are interested, creative, eager and interested in making a few credits on the side, we would like to hire you! As a mortal builder, you are expected to maintain complete and utter secrecy on any project you are assigned. If you leak information on classified projects, or privileged administration information in general, be prepared to face DIRE CONSEQUENCES. We emphasise this by requiring all mortal builders to sign a standard Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and send it back to us before any work can commence. Once signed, you will have the opportunity to work your way up from apprentice builder to architect and prove yourself as trustworthy, reliable and able to produce quality work, with the eventual possibility of developing your own areas. As per HELP MORTAL BUILDERS, there are three stages to go through, each of which possessing their own opportunities and credit rewards. In order to apply, please submit an application to camenae@lusternia.com with the following information: \* Your name and your character name(s) \* 5 sample room descriptions, preferably of varied locations \* A brief (250 words max) description for a new Lusternian area, including its main story and how it fits into the Lusternian mythos \* A brief (250 words max) characterisation of yourself and why you think you may be a good builder for Lusternia Also note, only those who are 18 years of age or older may apply to be a Mortal Builder, due to the legalities associated with the NDA. If you have any questions, please read [HELP MORTAL BUILDERS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=77) carefully, which has some helpful hints and insights on what is involved in being a mortal builder. You are also welcome to message us, the Camenae, for questions that are not covered in the HELP file. Please do use the HELP as your first source, however! While building is a lot of work and responsibility, it is also very rewarding to see your ideas grow and take shape in the actual world of Lusternia. It is not for everyone, but for those who have a knack for creativity, it is something fun to do while also earning credits for your pocket. NOTE: Applications will remain open until Sunday, October 24th at 23:59 GMT to give adequate time for writing fantastic and impressive descriptions. Those selected for interview may be notified by us AFTER the application deadline. Good luck, and we look forward to reading your applications! – the Camenae **Categories:** News --- ### [Final Ascension - Changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/24/final-ascension-changes/) **Published:** September 24, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** If you recall from the livestream we did in February, we mentioned that for this year’s Ascension we decided to keep the current format – a final fight for the staff – and tackle Ascension-related problems in three ways. The first prong was to tackle lag issues, the second to update, document, and balance individual Challenges, and the third to introduce additional mechanics. The first has been addressed throughout the year, culminating in Klangratch Exercises that showed significant improvements in an Ascension-like scenario. Server upgrades have also helped. The second you have seen in action throughout the Ascension. The third is what we’d like to elaborate on in this post as there are two new mechanics which will complement the Final Ascension: ## Rotating Nodes During the Ascension Challenge itself, Kethuru strains against his bindings even more than during the Challenges. He can sense his freedom is at risk so he sends an army of tentacles, blobs, and eyeballs to besiege those seeking to prove themselves worthy of becoming the True Ascendant to seal him away. Gaping wounds open overhead, tentacles thrust up through the ground, reality twists and churns. This year we are augmenting the usual way he fights back – his power will concentrate upon a specific sphere, instead of Astral as a whole, and to prove oneself worthy the Sealbearer will need to bring the Staff of Ascension there. What this means: - for points to start accruing, you will need to bring the staff to the node on the correct sphere - there will be area and plane-wide messages which will indicate where to go - EVENT STATUS will show the correct place as well - the correct node will change every few minutes - to account for these changes, you will only lose the staff after 2 minutes if it’s not on the right node (up from 1 minute if not brought to a node) ## Prime Assaults As already needs to be proven during the Challenges and Final Ascension, a True Ascendant should not stand alone – they need support. You will now be able to show that support not only through participating in skirmishes on the Astral Plane but through acting on a Sealbearer’s behalf on the Prime Plane. Just as parts of Kethuru can assault Sealbearers the moment they receive their medallion, broken seals allow Kethuru to wreak limited havoc elsewhere too. Places in the Basin of Life will be threatened by Kethuru during the Final Ascension and those vanquishing his manifestations will be considered as acting on behalf of a Sealbearer if they bring the remains to the correct Seal. What this means: - powerful manifestations of Kethuru’s power will threaten the Basin of Life - you will need a team to slay these and you won’t be able to track them - there will be one invasion at a time - one invasion consists of one attacking monstrosity - there will be breaks between invasions (at least 10 minutes) - you will be alerted of an invasion via a plane-wide message but have to find the area yourself - bringing the corpse to a Seal will add points to the Sealbearer’s score (total needed is still 3600) - amount of points per corpse is in the range of 60-180 (depends on invasion frequency) - the corpse will disintegrate so you will need to bring it to the Seal fast (5-minute window) - Prime will remain protected by Avenger **Categories:** News --- ### [Year 600 Celebration](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/22/year-600-celebration/) **Published:** September 22, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It’s year 600! A nice round number like that does not happen often so we’d like to do a little celebration. The world is not ending and does not need your help this time around though. To the contrary, nobody needs you to gather, influence, or slay 10 of anything to stave off doom. We have a much more mundane celebration in mind. As you can see from the Public Newsboard, the World Library is hosting a Lecture Series. 12 lectures total, one for each IG month. All you have to do is show up, alone or with others, and listen to the lecture. That’s it! Because we’re launching the event mid-Estar, if you miss the Estar lecture, worry not as that one will be repeated in Estar of 601 and you can catch it then. To complete the accompanying quest you need to attend 8 out of 12 lectures but you will only be able to complete the quest properly after the lecture series is over and you will have to do so manually with Miska. The latter is so that you can save the completion of the quest for a day of your choosing because the quest is rated 10 (that is, it rewards 20 daily credits). In addition, it will reward a bound copy of the lectures and an honour. To check progress read the board at the forum. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Beauty](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/19/challenge-of-beauty-9/) **Published:** September 19, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The theme “Wake” brought to mind all manner of imagery for the designers of the Basin, who brought their creativity and ingenuity to the Trial of Beauty. Some focused upon the events of Li-varili and the awakened Sea Spirit, while others focused on the events of years gone by, while still others took the theme in other directions entirely. The difficulty the judges panel faced in determining the victor was no small feat, and selecting the list below involved sifting through dozens of outstanding designs. The competition, like the storms that had all too recently gripped Lusternia, was fierce indeed. In the end, it was the design of **Falaine Coldwater of New Celest** that emerged victorious – a sea glass lantern of a reawakened warrior heart. This beautiful lantern displayed the events of the Curse of the Sunken Heart as witnessed by an old warrior, valiantly defending the innocent through the storms and floods. Second place was awarded to **Kalaneya Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring**, for an ashwood chest of apocalyptic awakening. Third place was awarded to **Niralahi Coldwater of New Celest**, for a sculpted glass easel of awakening love. Fourth place was awarded to **Xiran Stormcrow of Serenwilde**, for a black hammock crocheted with dreamcatching mandalas. Fifth place was awarded to **Lilalue Ka’liati of New Celest**, for a cascading collar revealing a receding tidal wake. Though these five designs rose to conquer all others, the following designs merit honourable mention for their craftsmanship and interpretation of the Avenger’s theme, in alphabetical order: - Eritheyl Ryseni of Gaudiguch (a coruscating ring of the Eye awakened) - Fillirriqili Skydrifter of Hallifax (a piercing needle of dreams) - Jolanthe Myeras of Serenwilde (dazzling drapes revealing the awakening of Spirit Sun) - Kailanna n’Kylbar of Magnagora (a crystalline rapier of piercing clarity) - Majestadt of Magnagora (a stygian gorget-style collar awash in red tide filigree) - Nepenthe Dahyu of Gaudiguch (a funeral veil of wilting bromeliads and winding roots) - Zalan Shevat of Hallifax (a Hallifaxian long coat of mourning) **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/19/challenge-of-harmony-8/) **Published:** September 19, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Juliary saw the adventurers of Lusternia fan out over the Prime Material Plane, called to the Challenge of Harmony to influence the hearts and minds of the denizens across the land. Lysandus of Magnagora was the first to convince many to support his cause, but quickly, Ilthilior from his same city overtook him, maintaining the chief position with his silver tongue for the duration of the challenge. Sutekh, now of Gaudiguch, started slow, but he eventually rallied enough denizens to his side to surpass Lysandus and threaten Ilthilior’s lead. Nialla of Serenwilde and Afrit of Gaudiguch followed after the first three, working steadily throughout the land to call their own followings. In the end, however, one champion’s words proved most compelling, and he prevailed as the Sealbearer of Harmony: Ilthilior of Magnagora! Second Place (700 credits): Sutekh of Gaudiguch Third Place (500 credits): Lysandus of Magnagora Fourth Place (250 credits): Nialla of Serenwilde Fifth Place (100 credits): Afrit of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/18/challenge-of-life-9/) **Published:** September 18, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the middle of Klangiary did Avechna’s mighty voice shake the firmament, marking the beginning of the Seal of Life. Denizens throughout the Basin of Life found themselves succumbing to a mysterious plague as the Domotheos of Life warbled, and only the intervention of adventurers might see it stable again. Though the plague seemed resistant at first, soon those participating found themselves making headway, and the challenge truly began. While the first few minutes saw a lethargy of action, with several furrikin remaining diseased and wanting throughout the Basin, after some study and practise Galaphyrae soon took the lead by leaps and bounds and would stay there – never once being displaced from her place. The challenge for the remaining places was no less interesting for the gap that was presented, however, as Ashira and Ayisdra briefly struggled for the spot before Ashira found new competitors in Qillilitli, Llani, and Eritheyl. Through fierce competition over what furrikin could be found, the four quickly saw themselves divided, with Eritheyl and Ashira setting pace against each other even as Llani strove to overcome Qillilitli. It was not until the final fifteen minutes that Llani would find her pace and rocket ahead, usurping Ashira at the last moment and stealing her position by but two furrikin. Having healed thirty-six furrikin in total, congratulations to our newest Sealbearer of Life, Galaphyrae of Serenwilde! Second Place (700 credits): Eritheyl, of Gaudiguch (20 furrikin) Third Place (500 credits): Llani, of Serenwilde (12 furrikin) Fourth Place (250 credits): Ashira, of Hallifax (10 furrikin) Fifth Place (100 credits): Qillilitli, of Hallifax (6 furrikin) **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/12/challenge-of-war-9/) **Published:** September 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The Trial of War met the early days of Dioni, finding only four teams willing to brave the Avenger’s promised tourney. Though much more traditional than the last occurrence of the Ascension Trials, the bouts proved no less intimidating, skilful, or entertaining for the fact. The Hallifaxian team (consisting of Calioliahali, Fillirriqili, and Qillilitli) and Magnagoran Team (consisting of Ruiku, Malarious, and Zagreus) were the two to watch among the others, emerging victorious through both the first and final rounds of combat respectfully as they each triumphed in their first match before meeting once more in the finals. In the end it would be the Magnagoran team who emerged triumphant, and among them Ruiku who would claim the title of Sealbearer of War. Congratulations to Ruiku of Magnagora! The following prizes were also awarded: Winner’s Circle (500 credits): Malarious and Zagreus Second Place (250 credits): Calioliahali, Fillirriqili, Qillilitli Runners Up (100 credits each): Thalkros, Freja, Lysandus; Alarin, Ashira, Romaan **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/12/challenge-of-justice-9/) **Published:** September 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Thirteen challengers gathered in the Cave of Justice to declare their desire to participate in the Challenge of Justice. The debates that ensued were well-researched and passionate, and rarely short. Shango D’Cente rose in the rankings quickly, winning the debate with almost every opponent he faced. His only loss was to Kalas Ruiku but he quickly recovered, winning the Medallion of Justice against Ruiku in the final debate. Calioliahali Skydrifter debated fiercely alongside her sister, Qillilitli Skydrifter. Both of them defeated challengers right and left but ultimately placed as third and fourth respectively. Tying right behind them were Ayisdra Ysav’rai and Veldrin D’Cente. Congratulations, Shango! Second Place (700 credits): Ruiku of Magnagora Third Place (500 credits): Calioliahali of Hallifax Fourth Place (250 credits): Qillilitli of Hallifax Fifth Place (100 credits): Ayisdra of Hallifax and Veldrin of Magnagora **Categories:** Events --- ### [August 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/09/august-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** September 9, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from August! If you’d like to join them for September, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Xiran’s [A Listener’s Initiation](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/154/) #### Runner-Up Coraline’s [Avechary Will Be Here Soon](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/149/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Esei’s [Stare](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F08%2Fim-snape-apparently-2.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=746c58a6342b21b407650e75de8086319d0f4a33b16ca6987cccd902ac87cb98) #### Runners-Up Gurashi’s [Squish that Cat](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F08%2FDoodle_goodgirl.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=2202ae73591cf754305c163a2f14aef3ec752c3764d8aea139b37a615f625d1f) Netra’s [Ilisa d’Vangoff](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F08%2Freceived_3034790206756496.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=8cd0353d28017aad03a4a4de60ada4095e1264e0fbdecfddf0bd8a0e046bef3a) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Klangratch Exercises](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/03/klangratch-exercises/) **Published:** September 3, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As Avechna has announced the Klangratch Exercises (Public Post #[1909](https://www.lusternia.com/news/Public/1909/)), we’d like to give you a bit more info on this event. Driven in part by reports that there were lag spikes during Chaos, but also a general desire to do some extra testing before the Final Ascension, we would like to field test a proper brawl. We can only do so effectively if we run lag reports during large combat situations, ideally ones close to the final conditions. That’s where the Klangratch Exercises come in. We want to run tests on as large a fight as possible and so encourage all of you to show up to the event. Even if you’re not terribly interested in the PvP aspect of Lusternia, show up if you’re able to because every single person, even just running around and webbing, helps the test a lot. To create as close conditions to Astral as possible, we’ll be dropping some berserk and tracking astral mobs into the arena but we will lower their level significantly. We want them to be part of the equation but not as large a one as to make the war games frustrating. You will also accrue insanity in the arena but it will be cured upon leaving. We will hold three war games, one after the other, and you will be rewarded 20 credits for participating in each – for a total of 60 credits if you participate in all three. In addition, if you participate in all three, you will also be awarded an Iron Coin. Hope to see you on September 5th at 11pm GMT! **Categories:** News --- ### [September Wheel Spins](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/09/01/september-wheel-spins/) **Published:** September 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** For the month of September, we have Iron Coins available to purchase from the website! You can spin these coins at the Wheel of Tzaraziko found at the Cave of Chaos. Additionally, everyone will get one free spin per day by using SPIN WHEEL FREE! Check out HELP IRON COINS for more information. IMPORTANT NOTE: Iron Coins are the regular coins you are used to using with the Wheel of Tzaraziko. They are not the old iron versions of the coins which were more lucky. The name of the coins has been changed because their original name has a derogatory connotation in many languages and has been used to dehumanize the Romani peoples. This change will extend to Curios and the Wayfaire come Anniversary as well. Every Monday we’ll also have Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays which will boost the damage you deal against denizens. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Lost Friend](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/29/a-lost-friend/) **Published:** August 29, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** A psionic bleed of emotions overflowed into the minds of users of telepathy and those of the kepheran race: glimpses of a worker going about her chores, tinged with an overwhelming feeling of loss and fear. The visions culminated in the location of Sahma, a young kephera from the Neferti Fungus Gardens, whose tears flowed in fear for the fate of her very best friend – Princess. Tridemon and Xenthos arrived first, greeted by a distraught young kephera cowering from the influx of illithoid within her hive. Quickly following both were Esei, Gurashi, Calioliahali and Sutekh. Through a series of questions, Sahma revealed that she was distressed about the fate of her friend. She asked those gathered to help her sneak out from the Gardens and soon the group had gathered in her small cave located in the Northern Passages. Sutekh stepped forward to fully assist the young kephera, gathering what was needed to lure Princess back home, while the others spoke with Sahma and calmed her nerves. Soon Sutekh had everything needed and headed off to find Sahma’s pet. What he found surprised and astonished everyone while Sahma rejoiced. Slowly, Sahma’s visitors departed with her thanks, leaving her alone with her best friend and pet Princess. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/29/challenge-of-chaos-9/) **Published:** August 29, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The month of Urlachmar was chaotic indeed, as the Avenger rose into the firmament to issue the Trial of Chaos to all mortals. The challenge, known to many, is a hamster hunt; but rather than simply collecting the furry rodents that proliferate across the known world, the truer trial is to keep one’s grip tight around the Purple Hamster of Chaos. This mischievous creature, known to cause insanity and drunkenness within those who wield it, would randomly teleport both themselves and its wielder across the land, disorienting competitor and challenger alike. For much of the challenge, Thalkros of Magnagora laid claim of the Hamster, being flung across the Basin of Life every so often, challenged by few. When he let go of the hamster, it was claimed by others, briefly Aeldra of New Celest, Lorina of Hallifax, even Galaphyrae of Serenwilde. But in the end, Thalkros reclaimed the anarchic creature, and held upon it until the end of the challenge, earning him the title of Sealbearer of Chaos. Congratulations, Thalkros! Second Place (700 credits): Sutekh of Lusternia Third Place (500 credits): Ayisdra of Hallifax Fourth Place (250 credits): Nepenthe of Gaudiguch Fifth Place (100 credits): Lisuarte of Serenwilde **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/28/challenge-of-nature-9/) **Published:** August 28, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In Estar, the Avenger awoke to call all of Lusternia to the Challenge of Nature, the third trial for the ultimate prize of Ascension. Mortals from across the cities and communes ascended the mountain known as Avechna’s Peak to see if they knew the lands best, hoping to take the title of Sealbearer of Nature. After a brief explanation of the procedures, mortalkind was unleashed. Time and time again, the race was neck and neck. Many were able to solve their first clue, but became stumped upon their second. Kaervas of Glomdoring was the first to break away, but he was soon challenged by Xiran of Serenwilde and Sulwh of Gaudiguch. The race continued, and then once more, several mortals found themselves vying for first place. Throughout, Kaervas continued to dominate the Hunt; however, soon Esei of Glomdoring found themselves in the lead, having completed half of their clues. Esei would be challenged by Ashira of Hallifax, and up to the very last moments, it seemed that Ashira would claim victory. But yet, Esei prevailed and was able to take the title of Sealbearer of Nature. Congratulations, Esei! Second Place (700 credits): Ayisdra of Hallifax Third Place (500 credits): Kaervas of Glomdoring Fourth Place (250 credits): Cheliyi of New Celest Fifth Place (100 credits): Ashira of Hallifax **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Knowledge](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/23/challenge-of-knowledge-9/) **Published:** August 23, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In Tzarin did the Avenger rouse mortalkind, for it was the Trial of Knowledge that was now at hand. Bearing the honour of Inquisitor, Avechna began to ask questions of ancient and modern histories to all who dared to become the Sealbearer of Knowledge. 20 questions were asked overall, and in the beginning it appeared that Kalaneya of Glomdoring would burn through the questions with ease. However, soon, she was supplanted by Uzriel of Magnagora who continued to dominate the rest of the Quiz. Following behind him, Kalaneya, Esei of Glomdoring, and Sutekh of Lusternia vied with brilliance and startling memory, answering what questions they could recall about the Elder, Vernal, and mortal histories. By the time half the questions were done, and even later, when three-fourths of them were read, the points accrued stabilized into tiers that remained consistent till the very end. Thus, at the endow the Quiz, it would be Uzriel of Magnagora who stood triumphant, his vast recollection of Lusternia’s histories and lore earning him victory. Congratulations, Uzriel, our new Sealbearer of Knowledge! Second Place (700 credits): Esei, of Glomdoring Third Place (500 credits): Kalaneya, of Glomdoring Fourth Place (250 credits): Sutekh, of Lusternia Fifth Place (100 credits): Shango, of Magnagora **Categories:** News --- ### [The Binding of the Lady of the Lagoons](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/22/the-binding-of-the-lady-of-the-lagoons/) **Published:** August 22, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The only ingredient that Li-varili still needed for Her Curse was a broken song. She summoned to Her side Her loyal nereids Oinone, Iaira, and Klaia, who had all helped Her Bloodtide Coven perform this ritual, then coldly asked for Her mortals to determine which nereid should be sacrificed to complete the curse. Each nereid panicked, begging and imploring to be spared, but Li-varili spared no emotion for their plight. They each possessed part of the Lady Drocilla’s song, and any one of them would do for Her curse. It was Uzriel d’Vanecu who announced Iaira should perish, justifying that the nereid had spoken against his wife, Sapphira, and ought to be punished. What he did not say was that he knew well Iaira had helped Li-varili betray Drocilla and thus sealed her fate in his eyes. The other nereids were quick to agree, expressing how powerful Iaira was as a sorceress, and would likely be a boon to the ritual. Proud Iaira pled her case – that her considerable power would be better used in life, that she had so much more still to offer – but it was no use. The Coven was decided. They all watched as the nereid perished in the cauldron, the last notes of her song fading in the air, and then it happened. A plume of smoke arose as Li-varili’s maddened cackling rang throughout all of Lusternia, and one by one, the Elders who wronged Her were snuffed out, only able to cry out that one ingredient was still left to gather to counter the Curse — Something about the unfortunate? — before disappearing in the unending abyss of the Lady of the Lagoons’ vengeful anger. Even Her supposed ally, the Enchantress, was trapped in the undertow of Li-varili’s rage. The entirety of the Basin of Life was cursed, and mired in the abyss of the Sunken Heart. Perhaps it would not have come to pass had Li-varili wielded Her own magic only, but, alerted by the Bloodtide Coven of the Elders’ efforts, She reached for the Seal of Justice to augment Her power and to be able to cast Her curse before the Elders thwarted Her. Victorious, She turned to restore that which She loved the most – Keltari, the Sea-Bringer. “May the waters give Me back the life that was stolen from Me! Arise! Arise!” She demanded as She began to weave a facsimile of what a living being ought to be. All seemed lost for those who sought to oppose Li-varili, for the Lady of the Lagoons had gained at last what She desired most: revenge on those who had dared take Her child, the Sea Spirit, away from Her. The mirror of distorted visions within Carakhan’s Fulcrux now reflected a haunting scene for any who gazed within it: that of the returned Elder Gods of Lusternia embroiled in a bitter conflict with the Lady Li-varili, each trapped in Their own personal torment as They drowned in the abyss of Her sunken heart. Even so, Li-varili’s rage was not limited to the Elder Gods. Her curse, too, mired the mortals of the Basin of Life in the throes of Her anger, Her grief, and Her madness, filling their minds with fog and slowing their actions with doubt and uncertainty. It had become more and more evident that the Lady of the Lagoons had lost touch with reality as She shouted Her taunts and cries, lovingly caring for the version of Keltari that She poured all Her essence and the raw power of the Seal of Justice into, speaking to the lifeless husk as if it was the Sea-Bringer Themself. Surely even mortals could witness how futile such an action was, but it did not stop Li-varili in Her pursuit, blindly following Her will to return the impossible back to Herself. Undaunted, however, those left behind by their Elders sought to make sense of Their parting words. One ingredient had remained, but what? And then as the Unjustly Dead manifested in answer to the Lady of the Lagoons’ maddened desire to return Keltari, the shambling corpses of the drowned proved to be not so much an intrusion as a salvation. For was it not the “Unfortunate” that Terentia tried to speak of before the curse took hold? Determined bands of mortals defeated the various drowned souls that had perished in the unfortunate floods of the Sea Spirits rampage and in other cruel storms, dispatching them swiftly from the cities and communes as well as the realms of the gods that had become infested with the undead. One by one they were brought to the mirror within Carakhan’s Fulcrux, and as it surged with power, at last the efforts of the Elder Gods were completed, and the curse of the Sunken Heart broken. A brilliant white light cleared the storm clouds from the firmament as Li-varili’s hold on the imprisoned Star Gods evaporated like smoke, the curse’s hold on the mortals of the Basin likewise releasing like a hand that no longer seized their heart and soul. Now choking Her in the penumbral hold of Her own curse, Li-varili screamed as She drew even more strength from the Seal of Justice, the bromeliads linking Her to the Seal pulsing a bloody crimson hue as they died on the stem: their essence devoured as swiftly as it blossomed forth. The manifestation of Keltari She had so laboured upon flickered and faded, becoming naught but a mirage of salt and sea on the wind. A horrifying scream ripped from Li-varili’s throat as She broke through the vine-woven cloak She had made for Herself, this time reaching for the Seal of Justice directly. She clutched it like a drowning woman might reach for the splintered remains of her ship, or how a lover might reach for their dying beloved’s hand one last time, so desperate and maddened was Her gaze. “If you will not come back to Me, then I will destroy everything!” Li-varili screamed. “If I cannot have you, if I will be denied everything, then I shall deny the world of its own salvation! This is My Justice!” And with a wicked grin, madness in Her wild eyes, Li-varili took the Seal of Justice in Her hands and broke it, causing a ripple of power to stretch across the entirety of Lusternia in the artifact’s senseless destruction. It was like watching Creation itself unravel, so surreal was the impact — for unlike the Eye’s shattering, it was instead like watching the first of several proud mountains fall, each Seal beginning to fade in answer as their protective hold on the Basin of Life began to waver visibly. A terrible primal fear gripped all present as the Goddess laughed with delight at the inevitable end of Her actions, seeming to welcome the apocalypse in the absence of Her victory. “Nothing matters anymore,” the Lady of the Lagoons shouted, turning Her wild eyes on the other Seals in Her desperation. “Let Us just see it end. Why not. Everything else has been taken from Me. Why not this, too?” It was none other than the voice of the Enchantress that reached for Li-varili, crooning, “Dear Li, sweet Li, what pain You have endured… Come, allow Me to take some of it from You…” And perhaps it was this moment of weakness, this despair at having lost all else, that caused for the Keeper of Song’s melody to lull Li-varili for but a moment, causing Her anger to shift to confusion. And as the Seal fell from Her hands, the onslaught began in an instant. The clash of Terentia’s twin blades pressed Li-varili to the ground, while the shadows of the Silent Lord bound Her in place within their dark grip. The bindings shimmered with new power as the prismatic essence of the Bloom of Serenity interwove itself with the healing light of the Empyreal Goddess, bound together with the sugar-spun energies of the Epicurean Lord to strengthen them anew. In a burst of water, Carakhan revealed pearlescent manacles that snapped onto the captured Goddess’s wrists, locking Her in place as Mysrai chanted a spellbinding ritual over them that caused the chains to glitter with strange, cosmic power. As Li-varili writhed and screamed, the song of the Enchantress continued to sedate Her, finally resulting in the maddened Awakener falling, reluctantly, to sleep. No longer would Li-varili’s actions be borne in silence. She had broken the Eye of Dynara in Her awakening of the Sea Spirit, and with it, flooded all of Lusternia in violent storms. She had upon Her return cursed the Elders to suffer Her vengeance, left to drown for a thousand years of torment in answer for Her time in the Morokeche Seat. She had cursed all mortals with the mired abyss of Her Sunken Heart. Perhaps most unforgivable of all, She had deliberately destroyed the Seal to risk bringing forth Kethuru once more. “We have suffered much from this month’s trials,” Terentia said among the Elders. “Let Us recover, for She will not awaken for some time. Drocilla’s music is potent, and the manacles that Carakhan have shaped will not waver. Li-varili will be neutralized until it is time for Her judgment.” For now, Ascension was nigh, and Avechna called forth to announce the time of trials. All judgment would have to wait until then. The Lady of the Lagoons had been neutralized, but even now, much chaos has been left in Her wake. May the mortals who have survived Her rage be more than equal to it, and a new Ascendant arise once more to defeat the evils unleashed in Her fury. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Before the Mirror of Distorted Visions](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/22/before-the-mirror-of-distorted-visions/) **Published:** August 22, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** In the wake of Kibirio’s death, Captain Teyitha Contelli was understandably devastated. She mourned, she raged, she drank. Eventually, her drunken cries rang through the Basin of Life, attracting many concerned people to Triple Junction Inn. They watched with alarm as the taurian pirate downed drink after drink, crying out about Li-varili’s inevitable betrayal — for the Goddess had been given the compass of Ilaedron the Fair for one reason, and one reason only, to help Teyitha find her son. As others pressed for details, vines of bromeliads snaked out from the shadows, ensnaring themselves about the taurian and strangling her so that she could not speak further. To the surprise of all present, it was Terentia the Even Bladed who appeared and freed Captain Teyitha Contelli from her predicament, pushing back against the Lady of the Lagoons and bringing the taurian under Her protection. It was then that Teyitha spoke a chilling truth: that Li-varili sought to bring about a curse on the Basin of Life. Terentia, knowing many mortals of the Basin held sympathy for the Lady of the Lagoons, immediately took Teyitha into Her confidence, summoning the other Elders to speak with Her in a place where They could not be overheard. And thus a counterattack was planned, to ensure that Li-varili would not catch Them unawares. A clandestine meeting was called, where mortals gathered in the abandoned Fulcrux of Ayridion, the White Flame to overhear the garbled voices of the Elder Gods determine Their next plan of action. To weaken and break Li-varili’s curse, They too would require ingredients in preparation to defeat Her nefarious plans. As those unaligned with the Lady of the Lagoons spoke with the Elder Gods about the task at hand, one of them–one who had previously been gifted a bromeliad from Li-varili–was tasked to find the very first of these ingredients: a mirror of distorted visions. And so, Lorina, a former member of Li-varili’s Bloodtide coven sank into the vaults of the Elder Goddess, procuring and snatching a mirror that lied there and took it to the Fulcrux of Carakhan, its eerie surface reflecting what items were needed to overturn the Awakener’s power. From there, the other ingredients included silvery dust of memories, which were gathered in the Fulcrux of Mysrai within a globe; mortals brought forth memories of hope, protection, and love to empower the ritual. An impenetrable buckler was next, which Terentia Herself brought by melting one of the Thax’s spears of zingavium in a forge, asking for mortals to keep it lit by feeding the forge. Within Maylea’s Fulcrux, a flower of blossoming faith could be procured, imbued with the essence of the Elder patrons of the Basin of Life and empowered by pilgrims as they tended to the realms of their patron deities. Shears to cut the threads of magic were placed in the Fulcrux of Nocht, requiring essence to reach their greatest threshold of power. And instead of a child of the sea, this counter curse required a mother’s sacrifice: something Captain Teyitha Contelli was willing to give, in order to see her son Kibirio again, even if only in death. Before she offered herself up, the Elder Gods bid those who have been assisting Them to bring drink in honour of the Captain. Giving the taurian pirate one last hurrah, one last toast; despite her and her crew having crossed the cities and communes in the past, most were willing to forgive the captain of her trespasses, although a few still harboured uncertain thoughts. With determination and fortitude, mortals fought to defeat the impending curse by providing these ingredients one by one to the mirror within Carakhan’s Fulcrux, assured that they would be able to prevent Li-varili’s villainy from taking place. As they laboured, so did the Bloodtide Coven, but not always on Li-varili’s behalf. The distraught Soriali, her voice barely working, fled to the Rhizoda Mangrove where one of Clio’s daughters, Calliope, consoled her. Having learnt of what had befallen Soriali, Calliope swam to Magnagora and sung to the followers of the Enchantress, summoning them to the docks. Sapphira answered the call, but neither she nor the nereid was sure they could trust the other, for whose allegiance did the other truly hold? That of the Lady of the Lagoons, or the Enchantress? When the truth of the matter was revealed, Sapphira and Uzriel quickly deciphered who was at fault and rushed to Drocilla’s Fulcrux with the news. Could Li-varili trap Drocilla into the Morokeshe Seat with Soriali’s song? Though they have been repeatedly assured by the Enchantress that She will be safe even in the face of betrayal, and to aid Li-varili should they wish to, this revelation disturbed them. As the Enchantress was engaged with Li-varili, they sought Her priestess’, Melissai’s, aid and together with Kailanna created a crystal of dissonance. They snuck it into the cauldron in Li-varili’s vault to neutralise the song-imbued conch and quickly withdrew, going about their tasks for the Bloodtide Coven as if nothing had happened. And so the two sides waged an invisible war, full of betrayals and unspeakable sacrifices, as they neared the inevitable conclusion of festering lies and distrust. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Curse of the Sunken Heart](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/22/the-curse-of-the-sunken-heart/) **Published:** August 22, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Li-varili returned to a world much changed from the one She had left behind. The Enchantress had shared with Her all that had transpired since Her repose in Daeiv ma’Mornhai, culminating in the retrieval of the Sea Spirit and her subsequent return to slumber. Enraged by the betrayal of the Elder Gods in taking Her child from Her, the Lady of the Lagoons summoned Her Bloodtide Coven once more within Her sacred vaults. There, the gathered mortals shared that Li-varili had lost more than She realized, for Her beloved Keltari, the Sea-Bringer was indeed lost, as Carakhan had said, to the Soulless Illith. The voice that Li-varili had clung to as Her last hope in the Morokeche Seat was not Keltari at all, but rather some fragment of Illith’s will, realized in the form of the Encephalist Iloggoth and his cult of illithoid. The Bloodtide Coven spoke of the projections of “Keltari” they had seen, made manifest from what essence Illith had devoured of the Elder, and the knowledge ignited such grief and fury in the Goddess She denied it vehemently before succumbing to despair. “I have nothing left to lose,” the Lady of the Lagoons whispered, “but My Cousins stand to lose everything.” For there was one thing that had not yet been denied Her: revenge. A new missive was placed before Her Bloodtide Coven, this one a far graver matter than any other, for it would punish the very Elder Gods that had taken Li-varili’s child from Her. A child of the sea. Woven dreams of ruin. Crystallized thoughts. Tears of rage. A memory of a past life. A love that cheats death. A broken song. These were the ingredients that Li-varili demanded to enact Her curse of the Sunken Heart. “Let it be a curse to end all curses,” the Awakener sneered, cackling. The child of the sea was none other than the son of Captain Teyitha Contelli, the “Stormfury,” long thought lost to the ocean’s cruelty. The compass of Ilaedron the Fair had led the taurian pirate to find Li-varili deep within the Namiraa Trench, but the nereid Soriali insisted she had no knowledge of the child’s location. This, however, had been a lie. The nereid revealed to her Awakener that the boy had been protected by her fae magic long ago within a bubble, which she placed within the Great Worm Uskashyth so that he would be safe from harm. “He was too precious,” Soriali insisted, speaking of him as one might a pretty shipwrecked bauble. Guided by Soriali, the Bloodtide Coven prepared a net of fireweed nettles to restrain the Great Worm, entering his giant maw to discover the child Kibirio Contelli imprisoned exactly as Soriali described. They broke the bubble, but in their haste, Zagreus killed the boy before bringing him to Li-varili, who resurrected him with an irritated flick of Her hand. She then summoned the proud Captain herself, reuniting the mother and child to complete her promise. No sooner did Teyitha hold Kibirio in her arms did Li-varili separate the two, sacrificing the child’s life to begin her curse of the Sunken Heart. The grief-stricken Teyitha was immediately dismissed as the Bloodtide Coven watched coolly, agreed that this sacrifice was nothing compared to what Li-varili had lost. Then came the woven dreams of ruin, conjured by each of the Bloodtide as they shared their visions of a world where Li-varili’s curse came to pass. Next were the crystallized thoughts, retrieved from the illithoid assimilators that had wielded Keltari’s essence against Li-varili. The Goddess wept Ruby Tears of Rage for the Bloodtide Coven to empower by seducing those that watched the realms of Her Cousins, taking Their Divine essence for Her own. For a memory of a past life, the Goddess offered the mask that had been given unto Her as the potential thirteenth member of the Traitors’ Coterie — a promise never kept — and bid Her Bloodtide strengthen it with abyssal essence. Finally, a ritual was conducted among the Bloodtide Coven, where they summoned forth the compass of Ilaedron the Fair from where it was kept in Carakhan’s possession, following the Lady of the Lagoons’ ritual until the compass manifested and was placed in Li-varili’s cauldron. This served as the love that cheats death, for it was a compass that could find the soul of Ilaedron’s lover, Shalidae, even after death. There was one more secret ingredient that Li-varili sought, the wordsmithed lock, and one She did not wish to speak of even with members of Her Bloodtide Coven. For this task, She summoned the only person from among those desiring to serve Her who bid Her not to trust the Enchantress – Sutekh. In secrecy even from the Coven, for Sutekh’s allegiance was questionable in the past, She bestowed upon him access to Her vaults and sent him to Her trusted nereid, Iaira. He was quickly found out by the Coven, and they scarcely believed the lies spoken in justification by the both of them, but there was little they could do but focus on their own pressing tasks instead. Sutekh hid his efforts as best he could and eventually procured the ingredient Li-varili most desired – Soriali’s song. The nereid, well-aware of what the song controlled now, would not part with it, not even for her Awakener. But when Sutekh enticed her to accept a gift of an ensorceled conch, the decision was no longer hers. As the Bloodtide Coven tended the cauldron, Li-varili painstakingly crafted Her revenge. But unbeknownst to Her, She had mortal traitors in Her midst. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of Death](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/21/challenge-of-death-10/) **Published:** August 21, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** On 24 Avechary did Avechna’s mighty voice resound through the heavens once more, decreeing that Death should once more fall across the land in an effort to repair the Domothean Seals. On 25 Avechary did He release His vigil over the land to all those who would partake in the slaughter, beginning the Trial of Death! An explosive start soon saw Ruiku take the lead, with Thalkros trailing not too far behind. Qillilitli was the first adventurer to fall, Zagreus and the forces of Magnagora soon slaughtering further as Thalkros would overtake Ruiku to further the cause of Death. The struggle between Ruiku and Thalkros would continue, each taking the lead over the other, but Nepenthe quickly joined the fray to rise to a swift third. Though it appeared all eyes would remain upon Ruiku and Thalkros, Malarious quickly rose through the ranks, usurping first Shango to claim fourth, and then Nepenthe to take third as well! Quickly setting about to murder and regain his position, Malarious would briefly seize the lead position before Thalkros and Ruiku would both surge as well, the three vying for first in a bloody haze of viscera and gore set to a glorious backdrop of deaths as warriors sought to harry their opponents. At the halfway mark, Thalkros would once more claim first, with Sutekh leaping forward in an attempt to take fifth from Nepenthe, who yet fought to reclaim it. As the slaughter reached its final quarter, Malarious cemented his lead over the others, and eyes turned to the scoring places of third, fourth, and fifth, where competition could still see a dramatic change in the final outcome with Nepenthe and Sutekh poised to knock each other out of the final placements. Yet a dramatic culmination would see Shango push for second, and even vie for first, but the lead Malarious garnered was simply far too great. At the end of it all, it would be Malarious of Magnagora who stood triumphant, having wrought a bloody trail of carnage and destruction in his wake. Congratulations, Malarious, our new Sealbearer of Death! Second Place (700 credits): Shango, of Magnagora Third Place (500 credits): Thalkros, of Magnagora Fourth Place (250 credits): Ruiku, of Magnagora Fifth Place (100 credits): Sutekh, of Lusternia **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Times](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/16/ascension-times/) **Published:** August 16, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Please keep in mind that the times listed below are in GMT, in accordance with the Lusternia time and date as seen on TIME. While these event times are not perfect for everyone across the globe, we have tried to include as much variety as we could to account for various timezone scenarios. We hope to see you at the events! --- **21st August 2021** Challenge of Death – 9pm GMT Challenge of Beauty – Submissions Open – await the announce **22nd August 2021** Challenge of Knowledge – 11pm GMT **28th August 2021** Challenge of Nature – 7pm GMT **29th August 2021** Challenge of Chaos – 5pm GMT **4th September 2021** Ascension Gala – await the invitation **11th September 2021** Challenge of Justice – 11pm GMT **12th September 2021** Challenge of War – 9pm GMT Challenge of Beauty – Submissions Close – at weave **18th September 2021** Challenge of Life – 3pm GMT **19th September 2021** Challenge of Harmony – 3pm GMT Challenge of Beauty – Results – 6pm GMT **25th September 2021** Final Trial of Ascension – 10pm GMT **Categories:** News --- ### [Summertime Skins II](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/15/summertime-skins-ii/) **Published:** August 15, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As mentioned in Announce #1350, we are releasing the final round of summertime skins mid-month. Check out ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME for the expanded list and please remember they will only be available until the end of August (but will return next August). While adding those in, we also made artifact pipes (like 561) skins of each other, ending their solitary lives, in line with how artifact vials are handled. **Categories:** News --- ### [Escape Amongst Sunblasted Ripples](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/11/escape-amongst-sunblasted-ripples/) **Published:** August 11, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It was in Tzarin of Year 596 that strange, delirious visions appeared before the Basin of Life. Ones that warped Creation in sunblasted hues and slowly progressed into a loud blast, releasing mirific golden ripples throughout the Skarch Desert and Mount Zoaka. As adventurers rushed to investigate, they found a wavering tear hovering upon the slope along Mount Zoaka’s ascent. Wavering sights appeared to those who dared gaze beyond: golden volcanic gardens, a magnificent jungle beached amongst surreal colours, pallid orchards. These images were distorted, their colours spilling and flowing in insubstantial psychedelic forms. While the gathered adventurers analysed the swirls of shimmering gold akin to an exquisite mirage, it was noted that the fractured landscape seemed to heal when the golden ripples were guided back towards the impact point. Fillirriqili Skydrifter was the first to manage to catch a ripple and add it to the tear. Many adventurers thus set to catch the elusive ripples freed all over, healing Mount Zoaka’s summits. Eritheyl Ryseni and Caliph Sulwh brought a veritable armload thanks to their expertise with the region, and it was eventually Evette Stormcrow who placed the final ripple, leading to more strange sights in the volcanic mountain heights. As the tear passed from existence in a kaleidoscope of surreal colours, an island emerged with a reverberating humming sound to place itself upon Mount Zoaka. There, adventurers found Aleatriz Xiim, a dracnari involved in mysterious experiments dating back to the fall of the Empire. She explained that she became trapped in the qetakash’Sayi Island, created as part of an old project, and that she finally managed to return. She did ask about the state of the world and how the centuries passed, promising to explore on her own as well. Aleatriz beseeched the assistance of the crowd gathered as the Glasswing Promenade still required care. Eritheyl Ryseni, Astrasia Strongleaf, Nialla Myeras, Regent Tyrus and Tridemon Regalis coordinated their efforts to efficiently restore the Glasswing Promenade to its former glory, being lead to the farthest reaches of the desert to gather specific charms and ingredients. It was finally Cheliyi who gathered the last blessings required to preserve the Glasswing Promenade, receiving Aleatriz’s praise for the group’s kindness. One may wonder what secrets and intrigues are hidden in the ancient gardens kept by mysterious dracnari guardians, and why the Promenade’s landscape always seems one eye-blink away from fading into oblivion, or what purposes the old project served. **Categories:** Events --- ### [And So the Heavens Sang the Sea to Sleep](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/07/and-so-the-heavens-sang-the-sea-to-sleep/) **Published:** August 7, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** The Sea Spirit had been rescued from the illithoids' lair, and returned to Carakhan's waiting arms. Like a startled child, the spirit began to calm as the Goddess sang to Her with the soft, rolling music of lapping waves: the melody one that She had once sung with Keltari, thousands of years ago. The storms of the Basin of Life seemed to shift in response to Sister Sea's drowsiness, the clouds thinning and the rains beginning to shift to drowsy mist. **Content:** The Sea Spirit had been rescued from the illithoids’ lair, and returned to Carakhan’s waiting arms. Like a startled child, the spirit began to calm as the Goddess sang to Her with the soft, rolling music of lapping waves: the melody one that She had once sung with Keltari, thousands of years ago. The storms of the Basin of Life seemed to shift in response to Sister Sea’s drowsiness, the clouds thinning and the rains beginning to shift to drowsy mist. Soon the young being began to rest her tired eyes in the Sculptor’s care, and the Goddess cried out for Nocht to begin the Awakening while the spirit was calmed and at peace, for it would be the kindest time to put her to slumber. Once more, all Elders save for the Enchantress arose and heeded the Silent Lord’s call to complete the Awakening formation to put the Sea Spirit to sleep again, for only then would all the storms and floods that plagued the Basin of Life at last go still. Drocilla watched on and taunted the Elders, echoing the beliefs of those siding with the Lady of the Lagoons that the Sea Spirit ought to be brought to Her instead and Her slumber ended. As Nocht was wreathed in the energies of all the other Divine present, He summoned forth a shadowy mantle imbued with the raw immanidivinus etherea of the Elders gathered, which swaddled the Sea Spirit within Carakhan’s arms in the warmth of its glow. Unlike before, the Elders did not seek to contain Sister Sea; this time, the formation was merely a lulling of a tired being to sleep, not a siege upon a raging storm. Then the Silent Lord paused — like a conductor aware of a single discordant note in a vast symphony of sound — and turned to Lantra, whose power flickered weakly among all those gathered. For indeed, the Empyreal’s power was still divided between Her task in putting the Sea Spirit to slumber, and overseeing the healing mound at Daeiv ma’Mornhai. “Lantra, You must give Your full attention to this task, else it shall falter,” Nocht rebuked the Hamadhi. “Relinquish all else that distracts You. We are few, Sister, and Our power must be at its peak. Or have You forgotten why the Sea Spirit failed to awaken, the first time?” And so with no other choice, Lantra released Her power from the cocoon of healing light bearing Li-varili, turning Her attentions fully on the slumber of the Sea Spirit. With all thus focused upon the Sea Spirit, the formation completed its intended task, and Sister Sea fell to slumber anew in Carakhan’s arms. The entire world went silent as if in mourning as the young being became droplets of water that returned to the waters of Lusternia, raining one last time from the heavens. It was in this moment of weakness that the Enchantress struck. Unbeknownst to those outside of Her Order, the nereids Iaira and Oinone had been beckoned by the Enchantress during the search for the Sea Spirit, during which the Lady Drocilla had whispered to them a song powerful enough to lift the last of the Empyreal’s power from Daeiv ma’Mornhai. With this Divine song, they would be able to waken Li-varili while the Hamadhi’s attention was focused on calming the Sea Spirit and putting her to sleep, while meanwhile rendering the healing mound safe from any who might interfere. So the instant that Lantra’s power receded from Daeiv ma’Mornhai, the nereids reunited before the healing mound with the Bloodtide Coven, linking arms and proclaiming their desire to free the Lady of the Lagoons from Her rest. As they sang, the misty wisps of healing light lost their final shreds of protection from the absent Hamadhi, allowing for all who wished to slaughter them and offer their essence to sate the slumbering Li-varili and aid Her in Her waking. Horrified onlookers watched, unable to stop this macabre ceremony, until at last all the magnolias bled red and the Awakener arose at last from Her repose. The Lady of the Lagoons no longer bore Her visible scars from the Morokeche Seat and the Eye of Dynara’s shattering, but Her rage was undiminished as She ascended to the Havens. “Are You so eager to injure Yourself anew, that You will not allow Yourself the respite necessary for Your healing?” Lantra called out to Li-varili; but the awakened Goddess ignored Her, screaming instead for an explanation on what had happened to the Sea Spirit. Carakhan replied that They had only done what Li-varili was too selfish to, and put the unhappy child back to slumber and allowed the Basin of Life a reprieve from the storms. This only incensed Li-varili further as She raged towards the other Elders, only to be held back by Terentia and Nocht in Her fury. The beautiful voice of the Enchantress once more echoed throughout the Basin of Life as the Elders seemed at a stalemate, the haunting refrain weaving around Li-varili as Drocilla replied that not all the Elders had worked against Her in Her task. Drocilla said that She had finally made good on the promise She had given Li-varili all those years ago, for had the Enchantress not freed Her from the binds of the Empyreal Goddess, indeed? “Come, Li,” the Enchantress crooned, extending a hand. “I am not the cruel foe You think Me. Allow Me to finally prove it to You.” And while Li-varili coolly walked past the Goddess, She nonetheless turned to Her and said, “I am not an easy Elder to impress, Drocilla. But You have managed to intrigue Me, once again. Let Us hope it is not the path to My undoing once more for ALL know at Whose side I am walking now. There will be no hiding Your deeds this time.” An uneasy alliance was struck between the previous captor and captive, evoking instead an ancient friendship that had for thousands of years languished in the rot of betrayal. Whether this reunion was genuine, or if the two Goddesses merely wished to manipulate one another in a bid for power, only time and the Fates could yet say. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Pursuit of Your Heart's Desire: The Search for Sister Sea](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/07/the-pursuit-of-your-hearts-desire-the-search-for-sister-sea/) **Published:** August 7, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** While Li-varili was tended by Lantra within Daeiv ma'Mornhai, the other Elders of the Basin of Life busied Themselves with the search of the missing Sea Spirit. Of those who searched, none worked more tirelessly to find Sister Sea than Carakhan, the Sculptor of Waves, whose fondness for the young being seemed to rival that of the slumbering Lady of the Lagoons. For like Li-varili, the Sculptor too had been present for the Sea's first failed Awakening as Keltari's mate, and Her own artistry was lovingly made manifest across the Sea's vast waves of Lusternia. **Content:** While Li-varili was tended by Lantra within Daeiv ma’Mornhai, the other Elders of the Basin of Life busied Themselves with the search of the missing Sea Spirit. Of those who searched, none worked more tirelessly to find Sister Sea than Carakhan, the Sculptor of Waves, whose fondness for the young being seemed to rival that of the slumbering Lady of the Lagoons. For like Li-varili, the Sculptor too had been present for the Sea’s first failed Awakening as Keltari’s mate, and Her own artistry was lovingly made manifest across the Sea’s vast waves of Lusternia. Though Nocht’s formation had left a vague imprint on the fledging spirit, something appeared to be thwarting her trail. After months of attempted pursuit, the Sculptor called a meeting with the mortals of the Basin of Life within one of the coral bunkers She had fortified during the Elder Wars. Beside Her stood the Lady Even Bladed, who had for many years led Carakhan in Terentia’s Dagger, as well as the Lord Nocht, who offered His expertise in the realm of Awakening to this task. Lantra had taken the compass of Ilaedron the Fair from the slumbering Li-varili and given it to aid Carakhan in Her search, for its needle was due to point to “your heart’s desire.” However, Li-varili had anticipated such an outcome and placed powerful charms on the Vernal artifact to prevent any besides Her from using its power. Carakhan believed that Li-varili had hidden a means of undoing these spells within the Awakener’s most treasured vaults, but again, their entrance was warded with a domothean barrier against any Divine interference. It was the Silent Lord who suggested that mortals attempt to breach Li-varili’s vaults, for in Her arrogance, the Lady of the Lagoons might not have thought to prevent such lesser beings from entering Her most sacred of places. Nocht’s guess would prove correct, as mortals explored this strange and beautiful underwater place. Within, each room was filled with curiosities adoringly gathered by nereids as they awaited their Mother’s return. Dozens of mortals puzzled over the various oddities within the Lady of the Lagoons’ vaults, witnessing visions of the Goddess that gave them clues as to the purpose of this strange place. Eventually, a statue imprisoning a joyous nereid named Klaia was found, and the means of an elixir to free her procured. Within the nereid’s hands was something unusual: a Pearl Tear of Li-varili, which radiated with a beauty unlike all other sapphire tears that the Elder had previously shed. This, it seemed, was the ultimate clue to undoing the Goddess’s spell upon the compass. Xenthos offered the Pearl Tear of Li-varili to the waiting Sculptor of Waves, who realized the tear must be shattered to undo the seal upon the compass. Breaking it apart with care, the first beautiful memory that Li-varili had shared with Her crechemate, Keltari, was revealed in its aching sweetness; if the Sculptor reacted to the vision of Her long lost love, She said nothing, choosing to focus instead upon the task at hand. Even though the compass now heeded Carakhan, whatever shrouded the Sea Spirit from view was too powerful for even its needle to find. The Elders reasoned that perhaps it would need to be charged with the spirit’s essence somehow, that its fine instruments might more keenly detect her. Manchal, once the tutor of the Aquamancers of New Celest, was tasked with showing mortals how to utilise the Thalassi of Lusternia to thus empower the compass. Two of the three Thalassi had previously been caged in salt, rendering them untouchable. After some experimenting by the mortals, Manchal finally produced bottled sea essence – the very same essence New Celest had laboured a month to create in order to soothe the Inner Sea Thalassos’ troubled waters. Slowly, deluge after lightning-chased deluge unleashed by mortals with steadier hands than he, the shell encasing the Sea of Keph’s Thalassos broke apart. It was Tridemon of New Celest who placed the compass into the Thalassos’ waters, resulting in a shock of energy as it drained into the instrument, leaving behind an empty basin. The process was repeated at the Sea of Despair, with Nialla of Serenwilde placing the compass in its waters. Finally, a group made pilgrimage to the Thalassos of the Inner Sea, not caged but protected in the Sanctifiers’ halls, where all prayed as Avaris of New Celest placed the compass there last. And it, too, drained completely, offering its power to the compass. At last, Cheliyi returned it to Carakhan within Her coral bunker. The Goddess sealed the compass Herself this time, ensuring that its needle would point due to Her own heart’s desire no matter who wielded it. She then handed it back to Cheliyi asking that all the mortals present work together to find Sister Sea, while She returned with Nocht to prepare for the formation anew. Eventually, the compass of Ilaedron the Fair was so empowered with the essence of Sister Sea that no power could prevent it from finding her, and mortals raced off to follow the trail she had left behind. An arduous search ensued as they followed the visions the compass left behind, until finally, they found themselves at a strange chasm. Realizing they had to leap off of it to find Sister Sea in truth, the adventurers dove down below with no expectation of what they might find. The result, indeed, shocked all present: the voice of the Elder Divine Keltari, the Sea-Bringer rang out, demanding to know why the mortals wished to take Their child, the Sea Spirit, away. Confusion was rampant, for it had already been revealed by Carakhan that the Elder Keltari had been long lost to Illith, the Leviathan — something Tridemon, one of Her followers, voiced aloud. Suddenly dozens of “Keltari”s emerged, the fluidly androgynous Elder manifesting in both feminine and masculine forms as They each took arms, fighting the mortals who dared to take away the Sea Spirit from Them. As they were defeated, passages were suddenly revealed that led to illithoid assimilators, unveiling a fortress referred to as the Leviathan’s Cradle. It seemed the adventurers had stumbled on a long-forgotten sect of illithoid: a cult devoted to a task that had once been paramount to Illith, but now been reduced to nothing but a repeated memory. Its purpose? To ensnare the Sea Spirit as a lure for the Elders who most desired her, wielding the essence of Keltari like a weapon to draw her close. Such suspicions were confirmed after the adventurers defeated the illithoid in psionic battle, at last confronting their leader, Encephalist Iloggoth, who stood possessively over the frightened Sea Spirit. Some, such as Uzriel, suspected that his was the voice that had called out to Li-varili in Her many dreams in slumber, enacting this lost fragment of Illith’s will. The sheer power of the illithoid’s psionic darkness had been the reason the Elders and the compass alike had first failed in their search, but now, she had been found. And mortals worked to ensure she would be freed. A long, drawn-out battle ensued between the mortals present and the Encephalist, exhausting many present until at last the illithoid was overthrown, allowing for the Sea Spirit to be free from his influence once more. In that moment, Carakhan returned to reunite with the spirit that Her beloved Keltari had once sought to awaken into existence beside Li-varili, and with tears in Her eyes, the Goddess beckoned for the fledgling spirit to enter Her arms. And with the Sea Spirit cradled in Carakhan’s arms, the Goddess began to sing a familiar lullaby, and the spirit relented into Her care like a lost child at last returned to her mother. **Categories:** Events --- ### [July 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/07/july-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** August 7, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from July! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from July! If you’d like to join them for August, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s [Raised by Rocs: The Roc’s Lair](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/142/) #### Runners-Up Selia’s [Prayers to the Supernals](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/141/) Xiran’s [Keeper Abeytu’s Trial of the Water Lily](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/148/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [A Rainy Excursion](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F07%2FRainRespite_Middling.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=8f4558f6a614d4e923af0cc7efdd9cc1eb0fe0211dccced1bd111ef47bdf775c) #### Runners-Up Esei’s [The Mind](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F07%2Fburb.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=d312f1a05fdce8bdcc4f2ec3c8612dddd7e6e88067a5b51fba699ee5dadc8a9b) Olethea’s [Diaspora](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F07%2FOlethea.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=b770d39d0ec98019dada3d3f296c10fa452ae0b52a92ce05c8b4a5518ae9592b) #### Merit Efarihm’s [Tetrahedron](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F07%2Ftetrahedron.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=b4bbb881e4626928102c050d6e751520899970f2796dd57c7577005d83939dd6) Netra’s [Dreamweaving Imps](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F07%2FFB_IMG_1625519050596.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=7d43dbb35b99a86c237566cef33d8b34eda2ee906e2896debf5cd05a6543fe59) Sapphira’s [Magnagora Skyline](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F07%2FMagnagoraSunset.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=4f3e19ce72ce3c96570942eb6557de1433e909b7f5f1663540919f9e8dc575bd) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [In the Eye of the Storm](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/06/in-the-eye-of-the-storm/) **Published:** August 6, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** As the Goddess Li-varili slumbered upon the healing mound, the Basin of Life was paying the price of the Sea Spirit’s troubled Awakening. Toronada Tidal Flats remained flooded and the highways encircling the Basin were transporting more water and deep-sea monstrosities than goods or adventurers. The seas roiled with unprecedented storms, making maritime travel impossible, and floods made their way even into the dark tunnels of the Undervault. To mitigate the numerous obstacles, weary pilgrims erected a campsite under the boughs of an ancient oak at the foot of Avechna’s Peak and many did seek to rest there for a night before resuming their pilgrimage. Likewise, many nations sought to alleviate the burden of the storm. In Serenwilde, Saran Strongleaf took particular interest in the workings of the weather systems across the Basin of Life and did his best to quell the raging storms as a shaman, but his power alone could not make much headway. Other Serens were also concerned about the effects of the torrential rains and lightning strikes upon the forest itself. A conversation with Isotta, the White Handed, a naiad of Serenwilde, led to plans to hold a ritual wherein Serens would work together with the support of the naiads of the forest to push the waters in the skies elsewhere. To enlist the aid of the naiad of Moon Lake, Serens asked Abeytu, Keeper of the Gardens, to grow a special water lily to impress the aforementioned fae. In the end, a lovely blue water lily was grown and presented to the water nymph, who agreed to put forth her powers. Likewise, Isotta was also empowered in her own way by Serens and joined in on the ritual, which was held upon Moon Lake. Calling upon Seralem and the Great Spirits and spirits of Serenwilde, the ritualists – Saran, Huskii, Xiran, Tyrus, Grimmia, Sondayga, and Nialla – lifted their voices to the skies as the naiads surged forth, carrying waters out of the forest and onto the Alabaster Road and Ackleberry Highway, the floods reaching as far as the gates of Magnagora and New Celest. In the wake of their ritual, the rains in Serenwilde became a drizzle, and the winds abated slightly. With fae and Spirits, Serens have worked to protect their forest. The effects of the stormy weather were not kind on Glomdoring either, as rain made it through the densest of its canopies, beating an incessant rhythm into the Drums of the Dead. As lightning split the skies, members of the dark forest were drawn to the Glomdoring stables by the flustered shouting of Filib Shee-slaugh. The faeling stablekeep had apparently received an embarrassing letter from Akuuko, the wyrd-touched dracnari. But in the scandalous pages, there were notes on a ritual to help push back the unending storm from the forest. By the combined efforts of Gabe, Xenthos, Illyria, Gael, Afollia, Evette, Esei, Netra, and Glitterna – the Glomdoring was able to construct an altar atop Night’s Needle. Through song and offering, the group channelled the tremendous power of the Wyrd through the altar, and in a flash of violet lightning the winds suddenly calmed and the rainfall became more gentle. Glomdoring’s murders of crows would still need to shake out their ruffled and soaked feathers, but the wyrden forest’s might made its will known. As the rain slammed down upon the desert city of Gaudiguch, its keeper roused herself from a stupor as she found herself uncharacteristically soaked. As adventurers gathered around to watch her argue with the Guardian Drachou, they managed to convince him to attempt to fight off the storm. And fly he did, majestic and breathtaking in his might, but when he coaxed forth a powerful prismatic breath to clear the storms away, he abruptly fell into the Eternal Flame. Shaken as they were, Gaudiguchians would need to investigate the matter of Drachou’s health later and bid him rest for now. Taking the burden upon themselves, Afrit, Vyell, Norra, Chundae, and Sulwh scoured the city for a solution before a sheepish Shimotaabi Xiim made contact with the elusive, wandering Sayma Dith. Under her careful watch, the adventurers purified themselves through a rite of Illumination before channelling their strength into Mesadari, enabling her to stoke the Eternal Flame into a grand inferno that burned away the greatest brunt of the storm which raged over Gaudiguch. It could not be fully dispelled as the Sea Spirit’s pain and rage remained, but the worst was over. Meanwhile, with so many ships forced to dock and weather out the tumult, one old and familiar face made his way to shore in Celest: Manchal, once tutor to the Aquamancers of New Celest, his travels upon the Inner Sea interrupted. Once apprised of current events by a full gathering of the city, and at his request, he was brought to the Chamber of Tides, where the Sanctifiers stand vigil over the Thalassos of the Inner Sea where it roiled with storms from within. After some discussion, during which Zeasha Novikei, Canticle of the Tides joined, Romaan suggested that light essence might be the solution. When New Celest brought offerings of the energy, however, the Thalassos would not accept it, requiring Celest to temper it some with a combination of music and magic. Eventually, the waves were persuaded to draw the essence in, only for each bit to be spat out as tumultuous sea essence. This sparked an idea: over the month, at Zeasha’s and Manchal’s urging, New Celest continued to bring light essence to the Thalassos – like a sponge, it drew droplets of its pain away until the Thalassos calmed enough for the city to reconvene. After a great rite was performed – including a song sung by Falaine, accompanied by Cheliyi and Zeasha, and an aquamantic ritual worked by Tridemon, Gyorn, Kennian, Soterasiel, and Manchal – the Thalassos of the Inner Sea was finally coaxed and soothed, lulled and encouraged to let its storms recede from the city’s bounds. Such a feat, it was later noted and celebrated, had not been successfully undertaken since the Thalassic Aegis last communed with the Thalassos in ages lost. High up in the clouds, the storm surrounded Hallifax from all sides, lightning reflecting in its crystal towers. The city’s defensive systems ensured its stability so Hallifaxians were very surprised to find two lucidian climatologists taking measurements near the Matrix. Not only did they not have paperwork to show for the work order, but they were also sent there from the Plaxios Laboratories located in the Razines. Deciding to seek answers at the source, Hallifaxians visited Odethi Plaxios who claimed to be able to disperse the storm not just for Hallifax, but for the Basin at large due to the numerous breakthroughs they have made due to the storm. After heated grant negotiations with Ayisdra and having given ample assurances of success, Odethi tasked Hallifaxians with placing crystal pylons at high altitudes surrounding the city which was quickly accomplished by Calioliahali, Yilan, Lorina, and Azazilliy. Once initiated, the experiment worked out well and banished the worst of the storm from Hallifax. However, soon it turned out that it did so by relocating it to the Plaxios Lowlands. As emergency systems blared, both the laboratory personnel and Hallifaxians evacuated to higher ground and watched helplessly as the laboratory was flooded by a rockslide unleashing a glacier lake onto the lowlands. In Magnagora, the wicked storm upset its Geomancers terribly, sending them underground. Others tempted the storm with abandon by flying over its all-metal construction site, becoming lightning rods themselves. But when the Sea of Despair started to flood the docks, it was time to act. The city gathered at the waterfront, joined by its foremost engineer and adept Geochemancer, Ragash Chokuul, the one of a kind Mistress Jezebel, once of the Geomancers Guild, and Jhairus d’Murani, an ancient Geomancer. While Ragash espoused the benefits of a steel floodgate system, to be built in three year’s time, Warlady Kailanna needed an immediate solution. In the end, the Geomancer summit – consisting of the old, the new, and the insane – resulted in a plan to raise earthen floodgates. Out of their holes did the geomancers climb to answer Jezebel’s call, engaging in a Geomantic ritual under Jhairus’ leadership. The very waterfront shook with earthen powers as Harbinger Veldrin held the meld and Geomancers Akyaevin and Shango lent their powers to the effort. Though not skilled in elementalism, the rest of the city joined the Geomancers, empowering them to challenge the sea itself. The floodgates rose along the waterfront, protecting the docks, but the storm continued. For that Ragash also had a solution and deep within the clockwork Nosfydra was pressure aligned just right to blast tainted fumes into the sky over Magnagora. Trapped within the black dome that shrouds the city, the fumes cooled the weather and calmed down the storm, coating the city in the blissful whiteness of snow instead. All of that, however, were temporary measures and the storm would not abate but for the Great Spirit of the Sea being found. As the Goddess Li-varili stirred and Her dreams called out for the Sea Spirit, the debate over Her confinement for the purposes of healing, Her reckless actions, and Her relationship with the Sea Spirit raged on. A Mother who ought to be allowed to soothe Her child, or a corrupting influence that will stop at nothing to have Her way? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Ascension 2021 Dates](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/05/ascension-2021-dates/) **Published:** August 5, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Each year in Lusternia, the Vernal Seals come under threat and must be defended, with a challenge to every Seal collecting those Nine who are worthy to stand in the Final Trial and hold aloft the Staff of Ascension. **Content:** Each year in Lusternia, the Vernal Seals come under threat and must be defended, with a challenge to every Seal collecting those Nine who are worthy to stand in the Final Trial and hold aloft the Staff of Ascension. Though the Vernal Seals still stand strong, we want to give you advance warning of what this year’s dates will be like. We do not have the times booked yet and will inform you soon as they are determined. You should be aware that these events are not in the order that you are used to and that **changes to some events are coming**. We will be informing you of those in advance and you should know that they are rule/balance changes, not fundamental ones (ie. Challenge of Life is not suddenly becoming about reciting life-affirming poems). Please also remember that these dates are for your OOC use only. Discussing them IC is not permitted until an Ascension has been called for in-character. --- **21st August 2021** Challenge of Death Challenge of Beauty Submissions Open **22nd August 2021** Challenge of Knowledge **28th August 2021** Challenge of Nature **29th August 2021** Challenge of Chaos **4th September 2021** Ascension Gala **11th September 2021** Challenge of Justice **12th September 2021** Challenge of War Challenge of Beauty Submissions Close **18th September 2021** Challenge of Life **19th September 2021** Challenge of Harmony Challenge of Beauty Results **25th September 2021** Final Trial of Ascension **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Magnolias and Fireweed](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/03/of-magnolias-and-fireweed/) **Published:** August 3, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The world watched with anxious uncertainty over the cocoon of light bearing the Lady Li-varili within Daeiv ma’Mornhai, resting upon the healing mound of Lantra, the Empyreal. Taking on the solemn duty that the Hamadhi had borne within the Elder Wars, Lantra tirelessly focused Her energies upon healing the grave wounds that had been inflicted on the Lady of the Lagoons in the aftermath of the Eye of Dynara’s shattering. However, these were not the only scars the unconscious Goddess bore, for the marks of the Morokeche Seat remained fresh upon Her body and mind alike. Mortals from every corner of the Basin of Life beseeched the Empyreal Goddess with pleas to assist in Her healing, until one day, She presented such a method for all who wished to partake in it, including those who had been part of the Bloodtide Coven: Lantra summoned forth the inherent healing power of Daeiv ma’Mornhai to manifest as misty wisps of healing light, which flickered into existence and kept guard upon this sacred place. A ritual could be performed by any who wished to by plucking one of the white magnolias that radiated healing power from the mound on which Li-varili laid in repose, empowering it with the power of the wisps and then offering its power to assist the Hamadhi in Her task. Many months passed as mortals took on this solemn mantle, and slowly, changes began to reveal themselves upon the slumbering Elder Goddess as Li-varili began to stir and dream. No longer did She rest on the precipice of life and death, for as Her body began to become more hale and whole, Her mind slowly began to wake as well. First unaware of what was being done to Her, the injured Goddess began to dream vividly of the restraints of the Morokeche Seat, frantic concern for the lost Sea Spirit, and the thousands of years of pain She had endured. Fear gripped Her, and all those who assisted in Her healing witnessed its raw potency. As the ritual continued in the following months, however, Li-varili’s dreams shifted, becoming more self-aware. The dreams reflected deep bitterness towards Lantra for keeping Li-varili restrained during Her healing, for even though Her body was gaining strength, the Hamadhi had yet to address the wounds buried deep in the Awakener’s psyche. Many began to doubt the Empyreal’s intentions as they witnessed the Lady of the Lagoons’ anger, or questioned Lantra’s right to heal the mental anguish that plagued a Goddess who seemed so attached to Her own suffering. Long debates raged before the healing mound, discussing if the magnolias were truly a method for healing, or merely a beautiful prison of slumber that kept Li-varili from interfering with the search of the Sea Spirit. Meanwhile, within the shelter of the mangrove trees in Rhizoda, two nereids long thought missing resurfaced, their bitter arguments powerful enough to incite the bromeliads of their Goddess’s tree – and reach out to those who bore a bromeliad in kind, marking Her favour. A scattered collection of members of Her Bloodtide Coven gathered before Iaira and Oinone, smaller than before yet no less compelled to see what they might do, each for their own reasons. As the storms raged overhead, their bickering died down, and they instead turned to the mortals for help. As fae, they felt their connection to their Awakener strongly, and they sensed the Lady Lantra’s work was succeeding – indeed, they believed the Lady of the Lagoons fully healed, observing nothing physically wrong through their bond to Her. One person posed the question of Her mind, as She had been dreaming deeply and seemed yet unwell, which agitated both nereids. Would your mind not continue to crack, they reasoned, if you were healed and still held prisoner? Each had a plan they believed to be greater than the other’s, and they were powerfully united in their desire to see theirs succeed over the other. Oinone was certain that weaving a bracelet of fireweed – which their Lady draped Herself in often – and the teeth of Her trench monsters would encourage Her to break free of Lady Lantra’s cocoon. Iaira noted that many nereids of Rhizoda had taken to moping. She believed convincing them to partake of the she’nasim instead would best redirect their energy, and that finding Spirit Sea while punishing Her enemies would rouse her Mother at last. Though the nereids spoke over one another and begged for help for them alone, the Coven aided both, first gathering the corpses and blossoms Oinone required, which she preserved before diving to the Goddess’s Fulcrux. There she waited, busying herself by carving into the terrifying beasts. Then they spoke with those forlorn nereids swimming listlessly through Rhizoda’s waters, seducing them with promises of the she’nasim’s power before leading them into the enchanted lagoon. One nereid unveiled a fossilised conch shell she had secreted away, giving it over wordlessly to the Coven, which then gave it to Iaira in turn. Struck by an idea, Iaira followed the Coven to the lagoon once more, where she drew upon her powerful enchantments in ritual, cracking through the hardened sediment and transforming the conch into something new, superior, and – most importantly – useful. She, too, journeyed to Li-varili’s Fulcrux, where she taunted and mocked Oinone’s bracelet-making efforts, promising they would fail even as Oinone completed her work and made her offering. And fail the blithesome one did, to everyone’s great disappointment. Undaunted, Oinone plotted and planned within the Fulcrux alongside Iaira. Both relentlessly strove to awaken the Awakener as Her dreams grew more powerful – as the barrier between Her and the waking world thinned. **Categories:** News --- ### [Summertime Artifact Adventure](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/08/01/summertime-artifact-adventure/) **Published:** August 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Throughout all of August, there is a sale on -all- artifacts within the Artifact Shop (ASHOP). Absolutely everything is 20% off for the entire month of August. On top of that, when you purchase credits on the website, you'll also get Aethergoop! **Content:** Throughout all of August, there is a sale on -all- artifacts within the Artifact Shop (ASHOP). Absolutely everything is 20% off for the entire month of August. Been saving for that Doctoral Tam? Now’s the time to classflex to your heart’s content. Eyeing that Changeling Intaglio? Make everyone guess what race you are at the moment! If you’ve been saving for it, now’s the time to purchase it! On top of that, when you purchase credits on the website, you’ll also get Aethergoop! For every 25 credits, you’ll receive 100 aethergoop. But to sweeten the pot, for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional 50 goop for every 10 credits you purchase. (Disclaimer: This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages). Your progress will refresh every 2000 credits too. To commemorate the occasion we are also releasing a batch of new summertime themed skins which you can find easily as they have been all marked with a summertime keyword. Check out ASHOP LIST KEYWORD SUMMERTIME for the list. What falls under a summertime theme you may ask? Why, all things related to beaches, sunsets, the sea, marine life, and… the lagoons. There will be more skins added mid-month so keep your eyes peeled! If you like what you see there, be sure to grab them this month as they will only ever be available in Augusts going forwards. Lastly, for the entire month of August, you can take advantage of Double XP Tuesdays that will help you get to your experience and essence goals. **Categories:** News --- ### [Experiments and Revelations on Continuum](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/07/19/experiments-and-revelations-on-continuum/) **Published:** July 19, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** It was in early Vestian of the Year 594 that a lost Vhedrin Skytamer ended up before the Matrix looking for directions to the Continuum Biosystems Engineering Station. **Content:** It was in early Vestian of the Year 594 that a lost Vhedrin Skytamer ended up before the Matrix looking for directions to the Continuum Biosystems Engineering Station. Negating the suspicions that he might be a covert pirate, he set to explain to the Skydrifter family – Qillilitli, Calioliahali, Fillirriqili and Azazilliy – that he travelled from far away. He had been invited to join a special research project by the esteemed Gith’axa Lars and Nix’ira Aalin for his extensive studies of exotic beasts. Yilan Skydrifter first discovered the secretive Continuum Biosystems Engineering Station, where Gith’axa and Nix’ira were already well-installed, and offered to accompany Vhedrin to his destination. Soon enough, Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Lorina Trueflight and Zalan Shevat also found their way and gathered at the Station. Gith’axa extended a warm welcome, obviously pleased to see that Vhedrin accepted to join the research, explaining that he and Nix’ira Aalin were enrolled to study the pulsating core recently retrieved from the pirates and, of course, what ancient links it may have to Hallifax. Nix’ira Aalin proceeded to explain that it was determined that this core not only possesses a life, but also that they might be able to duplicate it using the knowledge gathered thus far. Having since spent enough time studying the pulsating core, they have carefully mapped its blueprint while finely tuning the proper instruments to explore the minutiae of its inner workings. The researchers were very careful in their endeavour, taking every precaution to avoid disturbing the life within. Continuum was chosen as the core seems to fare better while in its presence. The researchers performed an analysis with the assistance of the crowd present, to look further into what elicits this response to Continuum. This analysis showed that the pulsating cores hum in perfect tune with the resonance of Continuum. The intriguing hypothesis that perhaps they were native to Continuum was also posed. Then, the researchers of the Collective proceeded to perform complex calculations and various tunings in the laboratory to edit the core’s personality traits. Vast efforts were deployed to successfully birth a polytope prototype named AE01 and to optimally influence his development. After some behavioural tests, the polytope prototype AE01 was classified as non-threatening and safe to the Collective, and the proper documentation would be forwarded to the City. With a provision that future polytope cores should have as much incubating time as possible to fully develop their laboratory-tuned traits, an agreement to provide asset polytopes was arranged. Tuned for favoured personality traits and native to the Continuum, many citizens were entrusted with a new assistant who will assist in serving the Collective, while sometimes eating paperwork. **Categories:** Events --- ### [After Me, the Flood](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/07/14/after-me-the-flood/) **Published:** July 14, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** The Eye of Dynara had gained a new owner in Li-varili, the Lady of the Lagoons. And yet the Goddess's ability to wield the most powerful Divine artifact in all of Creation was thwarted by Her many years of captivity and suffering. **Content:** The Eye of Dynara had gained a new owner in Li-varili, the Lady of the Lagoons. And yet the Goddess’s ability to wield the most powerful Divine artifact in all of Creation was thwarted by Her many years of captivity and suffering. The Basin of Life watched with bated breath to see how the tempestuous Elder would react to Her limitations, fearing the worst. When Li-varili entreated Lantra as the last waking member of the Hamadhi to mend Her wounds, Lantra replied that Li-varili had a choice: Restoration, or Power. Submit the Eye of Dynara into Lantra’s care, and the Hamadhi would take Her to the healing mounds of Ethereal. Sneering, Li-varili denied the conditional offering, saying She would solve Her troubles on Her own terms. Months passed, peaceful and still, until the Lady of the Lagoons arose once more. She took to the Rhizoda Mangrove and gifted the Basin of Life with a strange and beautiful mangrove tree, flourishing with exotic bromeliad flowers. She offered it as a way of being understood, after so many of Her Cousins had maligned Her and called Her fickle. Those who took the flowers received visions of the Elder’s history, some joyful and others instilled with deep pain. And others, still, received something entirely different. When they inhaled the scent of the bromeliads, they received missives spoken from the lips of Li-varili, beseeching Her chosen to aid Her in gaining power. The Goddess was tired of asking Elders for Their aid. Now, She would do as Her Cousins did: take eager mortals to serve as instruments of Her Divine Will. Those mortals that had shown Li-varili kindness in Her brief time returned to the Basin of Life were tasked to complete a series of missives in Her name: Calfuray of Serenwilde, Lorina of Hallifax, and Uzriel and Ashnezharr of Magnagora. The nereids Oinone and Iaira, as well as the pirates Captain Teyitha Contelli and Luki Bowtail, each guided the chosen few in their tasks. The Lady of the Lagoons demanded that they enchant the salt lagoon to help bring forth the blood tide, and empower the she’nasim nereids born from its waves. So too did She ask them to weave chains of kelp around each of the known seas, and to help the trident coral reef grow and flourish. Li-varili’s select chosen took to their task with zeal and secrecy in equal measure, swiftly enacting the missives of their patroness. As their work bore fruit, the rest of the Basin of Life reacted with confusion and trepidation regarding the odd behaviours of the seas of Lusternia, and the unusual life that now lurked within them. A group of Serens sought the help of their resident biologist, Druid Mapee Thislefur, to investigate the unusual life. From their investigations, they learned that the crimson seaweed that began to grow about the First World’s seas seemed to comprise many species, seemed to hunger, seemed to almost be aware. And they learned a startling truth about the varied composition of the kelp that worried them. But one in their midst misdirected them again and again. Having completed their work, Li-varili’s chosen mortals were rewarded for their service, and She bid them wait. And wait they did, until at last, the Lady of the Lagoons emerged once more with a final task, the Awakening of the Great Sea Spirit. The Elder Goddess summoned them to join the Bloodtide Coven, linking their essence with Hers as She wielded the Eye of Dynara at last to complete the unfinished Awakening She had begun thousands of years ago alongside Her fallen crechemate, Keltari. Now, the Sea Spirit would be Her daughter alone. Blooredi’s beasts that infested the Namiraa Trench were unleashed at Li-varili’s command, set upon the meddling mortals that would dare to stop Her in Her sacred ritual. Those mortals that sought to oppose Her were slain on sight and put to the mercy of those ravenous creatures, even as several attempted to convince the members of the Bloodtide Coven to cease in their support of the enraged Goddess. None of the Coven heeded such cries and pleas, instead devoting themselves entirely to the relentless work that the Lady of the Lagoons asked of them. The Goddess gifted them with the powers of sirensong and riptides, allowing them to transport and move their foes at will to protect the ritual from being broken. Finally, to the shock of all present, the Great Sea Spirit began to awaken once more, by the might of the Eye of Dynara, the Lady Li-varili, and the combined power of Her Bloodtide Coven. Yet there was a peculiarity to this Awakening, for in the past, it had been a matter of hundreds and thousands of Elders awakening a single latent spirit. Awakened in this manner, the Sea Spirit was red as the blood tides, and deeply sick with the sudden influx of power. Horrific storms broke out about the Basin of Life as she stirred into waking existence, flooding the roads, Balach Swamp, Toronada Tidal Flats, and elsewhere. The raging storm even dared to reach the high city of Hallifax, which was defended by the aeromantic security protocols long put in place by the aerial city. The communes, meanwhile, were tended to by their Divine patrons: Maylea arose to banish the rains from Serenwilde, while Nocht kept all harm from the Glomdoring by shrouding it in shadow. Drocilla likewise defended Magnagora with Her song, Mysrai and Crumkane warded Gaudiguch with Their combined power, and the Goddesses Carakhan, Terentia and Lantra protected Celest by supporting a massive barrier of water and light. Many of the Divine voiced Their concerns to Li-varili of the danger of Her path in continuing to awaken the Sea Spirit in this manner, but She denied Them all at every turn. With no other recourse, Nocht bid the Elders do as They had done thousands of years before in putting the Sun Spirit back to sleep in the time of the Elder Wars. The Sea Spirit, He argued, was likewise in need of calming and slumber. All save for Drocilla heeded His call, the Enchantress sneering that She had no desire to prevent Li-varili from completing Her task. If the Lady Li-varili wanted to attempt this foolishness, then Drocilla would not stop Her so that all Elders may see what She had once protected Them from. The others all fell into an ancient Awakening Formation behind Nocht, each lending the power of Their immanidivinus etherea to the Silent Lord as He created a net of power to bind Li-varili and the struggling Sea Spirit in place. As the Elders strained before the exhaustive power of the Eye of Dynara in Li-varili’s hands, Carakhan beseeched mortals to aid Them in Their work by feeding the vortices of the seas of Lusternia with the watery amoebas that had spawned during the awakening of the Sea Spirit. Doing so would bring forth anemones that could be placed within the coral near the Lady of the Lagoons, weakening Her and Her Bloodtide Coven. The Sculptor of Waves guided those intrepid mortals that sought to assist the Elders in Their formation, shouting commands even as She focused upon Her support of Nocht. Undaunted, the Bloodtide Coven invited others to assist them in their work, lending more and more of their essence to Li-varili as She exhausted Herself in the tending of Her frightened child. She swore that Her bond with the Sea Spirit would be stronger than any Awakener’s had ever been, and that Her daughter’s power would be unquestioned. Even amidst the wrath of nature that surrounded Her, Li-varili would not be dissuaded, and neither would those who served Her. In Her rage, She summoned the great worm, Uskashyth, from the Namiraa Trench to feast upon the mortals that would hinder Her progress. In time, however, the efforts of the opposing Divine and the mortals that served Them bore results. The vortices within the Undersea of Keph, the Inner Sea, and the Sea of Despair all were closed and the anemone discovered from them fed to the coral that weakened Li-varili. Slowly but surely, the Basin of Life pushed against Li-varili, until at last She threw Her final efforts into wielding the Eye of Dynara in a desperate bid for power and salvation. In that moment, the Eye of Dynara shattered into thousands of pieces, the impact rendering Li-varili unconscious and deeply injured. The shattering sent a ripple effect across all of the Basin of Life, killing instantly all those in contact with the Eye’s aftermath. In the ensuing chaos, the Sea Spirit was startled away, and none saw where she fled. Despite Her earlier indifference, seeing Li-varili fall elicited an uncharacteristically emotional response from the Enchantress but She did not rush to Her aid. Instead, the voice of Lantra, the Empyreal called softly out across the firmament as She descended beside the Lady of the Lagoons, cradling the fallen Elder in Her arms. Lady Li-varili was barely alive, but not destroyed by the devastation that had occurred. The Hamadhi announced that She would take Li-varili to Her old healing mound in Daeiv ma’Mornhai and tend to Her injuries. Incredulous, Maylea asked if that would be wise after all that the Lady of the Lagoons had done. “She is no threat to Us in Her current state,” Lantra replied. “And there are few enough Elders left as it is. Yes, Maylea, I will heal Her.” Mysrai joined the Bloom of Serenity in following Lantra to the healing mound, where the unconscious Li-varili was placed in a cocoon of healing light. Whatever actions Li-varili had taken would have to await judgment, until the Goddess awakened once more. The full nature of the Great Sea Spirit’s awakening remains to be seen, though its impact still ravages Lusternia with storms, squalls, and floods. Carakhan, with the help of several other Elders, has devoted Herself to the search of the young, frightened Sea Spirit, now lost and adrift in the wake of the Eye’s shattering. Blooredi’s beasts still roam the waterlogged roads of the Basin of Life. The ultimate fate of Li-varili remains unknown as She rests upon Her healing mound — finally, for a brief moment, at peace. **Categories:** Events --- ### [June 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/07/12/june-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** July 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from June! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from June! If you’d like to join them for July, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Uzriel’s [Constable Cases: The Chortling Cherubs](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/135/) #### Runner-Up Coraline’s [The Fates: Three Sisters](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/136/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Esei’s [Protege](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F06%2Fprotege.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=d60b3ee69e4c93544c0bd6796aae82e9c98411b5fb98ef4fcc796bc245d28ca1) #### Runner-Up Efarihm’s [Fractures](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F06%2Ffracture.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=033b0d98cde2210924022ee942f640dc3bd8126914e65963bf366569c84448df) #### Merit Ossifer’s [Sketches of Ossifer](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F06%2FOssifer.jpg&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=40712eb038753f18328269445822d65195e7060b7291b2f0738d1a4a7db06c7d) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Curio Packages](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/07/01/curio-packages/) **Published:** July 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** All through this month, you are able to buy curio packages from the website – a number of curio packages that were previously only available in limited edition promotions, including race curios (for the sileni and nagasith races) and every kind of trade curio are once again available. And this month, every Wednesday is Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays – increasing your influence damage by 25%. Time to get out and bend the denizens of the world to your whims! We hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Double Up](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/30/double-up/) **Published:** June 30, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Dear Cousin, Something interesting happened in the World Library recently, but I bet you can’t guess what! A gnome trader named Captain Beppa visited the Library with a group of adventurers and offered us a new game, called Double Up, which she had found upon her journeys in aetherspace. The gnome described it as a numbers game of some kind, focusing on doubling 2s, and thought it would fit in our Library. At first, Captain Beppa wanted Uncle Weeky and me to pay an enormous amount for the game. But Luce of Hallifax instead suggested that Beppa give us a demonstration of the game instead, noting how many people come and go from the World Library on a daily basis, and I suppose it could be great advertising. And what do you know: Captain Beppa agreed! So with Uncle Weeky’s permission, we set up the Double Up game board in the Halls of Arcane Knowledge. By agreement from the others, that same Luce from Hallifax played the first game, which lasted quite long. He must have a brilliant mind! Others were there to see what Beppa was selling and to watch Luce play, including Glitterna, Illyria, Tem, Cheliyi, and Arix. Aysidra of Hallifax and Esei from Glomdoring sat with him the entire time, and I think Esei played their own game as well as soon as Luce forfeited his game. The board seems to give instructions on how to play if you probe at it a bit, but only one person can play at a time. I wonder how many more adventurers will come and try Double Up? The captain seemed hopeful that many in Lusternia will want the game at least. The World Library is not a aethershop, but it was nice to have a lively crowd coming in and out. Well, that should be enough news for you until our next letter, shouldn’t it? Don’t forget to write back! Nia Peedia **Categories:** Events --- ### [Li-varili's Guide to Getting Other Gods to Respond](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/23/li-varilis-guide-to-getting-other-gods-to-respond/) **Published:** June 23, 2021 **Author:** Li-varili **Excerpt:** Some of you seem to want MORE Divine to grovel and play the fool to. The ones in your org having done the inevitable and grown bored of you, or gotten themselves, hopefully, trapped painfully forever. Poor you. So, what's the best way to get yourself someone to zap you, assuming I'm too busy for it? **Content:** Some of you seem to want **MORE** Divine to grovel and play the fool to. The ones in your org having done the inevitable and grown bored of you, or gotten themselves, hopefully, trapped painfully forever. Poor you. So, what’s the best way to get yourself someone to zap you, assuming I’m too busy for it? Some things to keep in mind first: 1. We have limited time. For many of Us, visible RP is a fraction of the time we spend in-game, and so we often feel like when we do engage in it we need to prioritise, and the priorities of My cousins are often Order > Patroned Org > Everyone else. There’s reasons I don’t bother with things like duties or patroning. 2. We, like you all, have real lives. We have busy periods in Lusternia where We frankly don’t have time for RP, or, if you’re one of My cousins, doing the bare minimum to keep their sworn sycophants tolerably appeased. Of course, there’s no good way to communicate this IC. For some reason flicking you to astral just doesn’t communicate “come back in a RL month” properly. And, unfortunately, when that month arrives, we have enough of a backlog of interactions due people that months old outreach is just not a priority. 3. As so often in social media, etc, you see the highlights in logs. You don’t see the all the times sycophants prayed and the results were crickets, or a week of playing godline tag, or just how long person X spent camping in a fulcrux to get that 30 minute roleplay session. 4. Some of the tastiest, most delightful topics to engage a divine on may be ones they want to share with their biggest sycophants first, and if they haven’t done that yet, they may be reluctant to bare their souls to an outsider. Moreover, they may have a specific plan for how they intend to release X lore, and just need to get around to building it… someday… 5. Similarly, while most of us took up adminning because we love developing lore, and many of us have extensive headcanons, we try to be careful about solo creating lore that could tread on another admin’s territory. This includes future admin, who might pick up a currently unplayed God, whether from the Histories or an entirely new creation with a similar niche. So asking about a relationship with a historical elder, or if we made “X” is a more collaborative, complicated question to answer than you might initially think. And again, if we do have an answer, we might want to release it some way that isn’t just announcing it to a lucky individual in our Fulcrux. 6. You may, in fact, have engaged with us more recently than you know, just in a different guise. We all do care about the engagement of players in orgs other than the ones we’re visibly volunteering for, and it can be a little off-putting to feel like those efforts are dismissed. 7. The Divine are characters too. Not all Divine are as down for throwing a tantrum as I am. Silly, avoidant things. Some Divine have hot button topics that will trigger an immediate and violent reaction, but won’t necessarily lead to long-term engagement. Some Divine respond to flattery, some Divine respond to candor, some Divine like evasiveness. As admin, we’re also always trying to balance crafting an enjoyable experience for the players, and sometimes that means if we don’t think we have a meaningful engagement to give, we simply won’t engage, judging that our time is better spent elsewhere (see 1 and 6). So, all that in mind, what is the best way to optimise your chances at getting some engagement? 1. Do some groundwork RP first. For those of My cousins who’ve surrounded themselves with fools and sycophants, well, they have to be useful for something, right? Try reaching out to people in your target Divine’s Order, and see what, if anything the Divine’s shared with them about a topic close to your heart. If you have trouble getting the mortals to bite, then you can use that when you reach out to their Divine. If the mortals do respond, you’ll hopefully refine your outreach, and maybe even get an introduction, plus more RP is always nice. Also, then the Divine gets a chance to watch you and see if you’re the type to enjoy getting zapped incessantly (seriously, what is WITH some of you) or if you really just want a conversation. 2. If you’re flexible about the type of interaction you get, especially at first, indicate that somehow. Most of Us have a few options for responses, whether fobbing you off on a sycophant, having a little priestling or nereid chat with you or write to you, short of deigning to show up Ourselves. You may know that you’d be happy with any of those, especially if they lead to more, but if what you ask for is a Divine audience to discuss a specific topic, then we may assume that that’s what you want, and if the timing doesn’t work out, or the topic would require us to develop new lore in an avenue we’re not currently interested in pursuing, we may simply put off responding for later, which quickly becomes never. 3. In a similar vein, don’t expect that we’ll put in more effort in tracking you down for engagement than you’ve put in via your initial outreach. If you pray, or write a letter, and then we try to make ourselves available, or ping you, and you miss it, we’re not going to keep trying to pry you out of your manse to come engage with us. We assume that if you really care, you’ll try again, or try something slightly different. 4. Finding a topic to engage with can be difficult, which is why the groundwork can be valuable. It lets you see what areas of lore we may have already developed, and could be interested in exploring further. Specific questions, or comparisons are always easier to engage with than “tell me what you think about life” style topics. Of course, if you get too specific with questions you could get answered elsewhere, then it can be hard to come up with a reason that the Divine would bother educating you, especially, again, if you are specifically requesting the time of the Divine, and not one of their priests or sycophants. After all, you pretty little fools haven’t shown much aptitude for learning. Yet. 5. Some of the most fun RP for us is when we get to explore aspects of YOUR characters’ personal arcs. We have ways to info-dump our lore, and while knowing someone’s interested in something may inspire us to create, it’s not a guarantee. That doesn’t mean We’ll be particularly helpful or patient if you try to get us to play therapist to your character’s angst, but hopefully you know what you’re getting into when you pray, since you did your homework, right? **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Promises: Made, Broken, and Discovered](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/21/promises-made-broken-and-discovered/) **Published:** June 21, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The 9th of Dvarsh 592 CE dawned hot in the hills north of Serenwilde. There it was that Maylea, Bloom of Serenity sought to create a homeland for the kaelye race upon the First World, and all of Serenwilde turned out to support the Goddess in Her endeavour. In addition to the two exuberant kaelye, Lanni Ahonen and Tore Niskanen, expectant Serens stood in coven and in ritual with the Goddess: Calfuray, Xiran, Sondayga, Qistrel, Amirae, Silvanos, Grimmia, Galaphyrae, Adrenthorne, and Nialla. All were in hopeful spirits, and Serens called down the blessings of Mother Moon and White Hart and the Serenwilde itself to support the Goddess. Their words were sincere as their hearts, and somewhere in the ground beneath, the land answered. Maylea, Bloom of Serenity rose into the sky and began infusing the hills and changing their character, to the wonderment of the kaelye for which She gave Herself. The shining Eye of Dynara, drawn out by Maylea for the ritual, glowed bright above the northern hills, drawing the attention of some nearby visitors, who had waited for this very moment. Those who dwelt in the dark, southern forest had no intention of letting the event go unopposed. As Maylea endeavoured to maintain efforts She had begun, those from Glomdoring invaded the ritual, and the Elder God Nocht struggled to tear Her down from the sky and end it. And while the two Divine struggled, the remaining mortals faced off, bringing forth the might of their respective forests to aid their patron Elders. The Serenwilde wielded considerable power in their fight. They continued to draw forth the power of the forest’s two Great Spirits – communing with Mother Moon and raising cudgels in the name of the White Hart. They sang to the land of the fae prophecies that the northern forest guards, urging it to remain true to the Serenwilde and their Goddess’s vision. The Glomdoring would not stand by, however, and conjured forth their own magicks. Shadows grew darker, and cawing filled the air as they invoked the power of the Glomdoring’s own Great Spirits as well – Mother Night and Mighty Crow. Among them was Gael, Evette, Illyria, Esei, Tau, Kaervas, and Synl. All tirelessly working their rituals for hours on end. They whispered to the land of the power in the Wyrd, ever seeking to undermine the delicate work that Maylea attempted. And so the communes battled, the odds tipping in favour between Glomdoring and Serenwilde several times throughout their struggle. Finally, the Silent Lord revealed a weapon He had been saving: two crystal needles, dipped in a frightening poison. With a casual flick of the wrist, he sent the poisoned darts flying into the two kaelye, Lanni Ahonen and Tore Niskanen, who were immediately paralysed, unable to move or even breathe. Serens rushed to heal the kaelye, but the poison, being intended to paralyse Divine Themselves, proved too strong for even the most devoted healers among them. Maylea, seeing the splinters of Her sister thusly poisoned, immediately stopped the ritual. The glow faded from the Eye of Dynara and the power began to drain from the hills upon which She and Serenwilde had worked so diligently. Holding each kaelye in hand, Maylea demanded in bristling anger that Nocht reverse the poison. Nocht, on His part, noted that by their history, Maylea merely brought the event upon Herself. It was then that Li-varili, Lady of Lagoons appeared, drawn by the Divine shouting. Taking stock of the situation: the poisoned kaelye, the God and Goddess refusing to budge in Their conflicts, Li-varili offered Herself to mediate. Nocht wished for the Eye of Dynara. Maylea needed the antidote to cure the dying kaelye. Neither trusted one another. So Li-varili naturally, would take both and exchange them on behalf of Both. As the minutes ticked down and the fate of the kaelye was placed into doubt, Maylea relented, giving Li-varili the Eye. Nocht, for His part, passed over the antidote, noting that Maylea behaved exactly in the way that He and Li-varili discussed. Maylea then knew that She was betrayed. But the Goddess Li-varili was not yet done with Her betrayals, for while She gave Maylea the antidote to the poison, She also took the Eye for Herself, sneering and berating Nocht for His own gullibility. She took Her leave before either Divine could react and took to the skies, where She attempted to use the Eye of Dynara for Her own purposes, only to discover She had not the power. Undeterred, She faded into Her own place, taking Her own counsel. Meanwhile, the Goddess Maylea had soon revived the kaelye with the antidote, and rounding on Nocht, drove Him and those from Glomdoring from the northern hills. The remaining members of Glomdoring returned to their home with the Silent Lord, but were left with many questions. Had they failed? Not quite, for the ritual had been prevented and Maylea no longer held the Eye of Dynara. Had they triumphed? Again, not quite for Li-varili’s betrayal had denied them the Eye. It seems the Glomdoring would have to wait to see how the ripples of their actions spread outwards to fully appreciate what had been accomplished on this day. The Silent Lord only whispered thanks that one of their greatest enemies no longer held such a powerful artifact, and warned those remaining to be wary of the Serenwilde. For the part of the Serens, though the ritual failed, something was awakened in Serenwilde from the energies left from their rituals and heroic efforts – a bright vibrancy in the northern forest, confirmation of something unique to Serenwilde they had only heard of peripherally. Deep in the mists of the Spirit Plane, from the voice of Elfenehoala, a Goddess long gone, they heard the word: Seralem. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Whispers, Worms, and the Wyrd](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/21/whispers-worms-and-the-wyrd/) **Published:** June 21, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** It began with an invitation from the Silent Lord of the Glomdoring to the Lady of the Lagoons. Before the massive Master Ravenwood, Nocht introduced the still newly discovered Li-varili to the Wyrd and its inhabitants, whom the Goddess seemed both amused and enraged by in equal measure. Though the temperamental Elder gave no indication of being impressed by the Wyrd, She did hint at secrets learned related to many sources of power in the First World. And so, She and Nocht did leave to talk in private. What secrets were shared could only be guessed at based on what was to come in the following months. Shortly after Li-varili’s visit to the Glomdoring, Nocht approached the dark commune with a task. “I thought it would be a fitting evening for tales”, He whispered to those gathered as He sat before the Master Ravenwood and began weaving something from the shadows themselves. They spoke of the Silent Lord’s past, the battles over the Eye of Dynara, and oddly enough – the Namiraa Trench. As He finished His tales and His weaving, He gave them a net of pure shadows and gave them their target – the Mighty Worm Uskashyth. And so the group travelled deep into the trench: Xenthos, Tau, Evette, Illyria, Esei, Ethna, Steingrim and Gael sought to weaken and claim a prize from the massive beast. Though the creatures that inhabit Namiraa are strong and terrifying, the group overcame them and ventured inside the Worm, itself, to claim their prize – a poison gland overflowing with a vile, caustic liquid. Returning to the Glomdoring they turned over their prize to Nocht, the Silent who took it glady and vanished into the shadows with promises to put this poison to good use. “The sting of betrayal cuts both ways. Beware promises spoken by venomous tongues. Guard what power you hold jealousy, for there are eyes ever-watching for you to stumble.” So spoke the Great Spirit Scorpion. One of many ominous prophesies bestowed upon mortals in the following months. Even the Wyrd began to reach out, a distant beating noise heard by those who reside in the Glomdoring. It was a young Harbinger, Gael, that led several of those gathered in drawing out the words of the Wyrden beat. Esei, Evette, Xenthos, Illyria, and Tau joined the Harbinger in song and dance and dark invocation to hear the warning of the Wyrd: The Goddess Maylea would use the Eye of Dynara to paint more than the blossoms in the foothills to the north of the Serenwilde Forest. And so Glomdoring and the Silent Lord prepared for the fast approaching day… **Categories:** Events --- ### [Portents and Homelands Sought](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/21/portents-and-homelands-sought/) **Published:** June 21, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** The portents were good. Serenwilde had been wondering about the newest revelations from their prophecies ever since the wildewood Sprout Thornleaf wandered into the Serenwilde, accidentally discovering a new portion of the prophecy that the Sowers of the Last Seed put so much stock into. The verse was deciphered after much drunken insight from the Sowers present, Nialla and Galaphyrae, supported by all their communemates: Qistrel, Calfuray, Isser, Huskii, and Tyrus. And then there was Chuchip, a Serenwilde spirit whose words to Tyrus, concerning growth unlooked for, certainly seemed quite promising. Thus it was with welcome arms and high spirits that Serens greeted the arrival of Tore Niskanen from the faraway aetherbubble of Lyraa Eye Rielys a month later, seeking her distant friend Lanni Ahonen, who had settled in Lusternia many years ago. Tore, an enthusiastic and fearless kaelye, was led by Lanni to the Serens, where she asked them for aid in creating a homeland for the kaelye, a place on the First World where this race of splinters of the Goddess Kaenalye might dwell for good. For while they might live anywhere temporarily, this race of kaelye thrived best in a land most like their own, infused with the unique muku, linorii, and garosaurs that were their birthright upon Lyraa Ey Rielys. The finding and creation of such a homeland was problematic, as some present still remembered the disastrous ecological effects the aetherbubble’s flora and fauna had on Lusternia some years ago, when the kaelye first became known to the First World. But buoyed by hints and promises from prophecy, Serens called out to One of their Pantheon, Maylea, Bloom of Serenity, for aid to achieve such a goal. Out of kinship and love, the Goddess agreed to try to fulfill the kaelye’s request, for Lady Kaenalye was Her Sister, and Their bond ran old and deep. To change the character of a land, however, was beyond the meagre powers of a single Fourth Circle Goddess. As She made it clear to the inhabitants of Serenwilde and Her own beloved followers, Maylea had to use the Eye of Dynara, which She had wrested from the clutches of Nocht, the Silent, some years ago. Beyond that, She also had to have the support of all who were of Serenwilde. To wield the Eye alone for such a big endeavour was to invite disaster. As they spoke, a nereid named Oinone listened with interest on the conversation, trying her hardest to learn more from a young Seren named Vembral, but Vembral would not elaborate. So Serens began preparing for this momentous occasion. Each month, Tore Niskanen was taken on tour by Serens to nearby areas, trying to find a suitable location that was safe, empty, and ripe for creation of the kaelye homeland. Aubrey, Tyrus, Galaphyrae, Nialla, Xiran, and Huskii all took their turns guiding the curious and bold kaelye, across hills and mountains, over grasslands and meadows, down into valleys, and even the ruined tar pits east of Serenwilde. While the search occurred, a tip from an unnamed source led Serens Tyrus, Huskii, and Xiran to labouriously seek further words of prophecy from the Daughter of the Rivers. And what she uttered was something different altogether from the previous portents. And none could make out what it meant: “All is drenched in sorrow as the Sister weeps, startled awake to a cruel nightmare she knows not how to end. Forget and return to slumber, for there is no joy in waking here.” Nonetheless, the preparations continued. The kaelye selected a location in the northern hills of Serenwilde, and Lady Maylea was called to inspect the location. A date was set for the ritual itself, midsummer, 9 Dvarsh 592, to much jubilation and expectation of Tore Niskanen, and the Goddess planned to infuse the hills with the essence of Kaenalye through samples brought from Lyraa Ey Rielys. Again, She told the Serens, She must use the Eye of Dynara, and She could not do it alone. With bated breath those of Serenwilde waited for the day, planning in ritual and in deep devotion ways to support the Lady Maylea in the creation of the kaelye homeland. The portents were good, right? **Categories:** Events --- ### [May 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/13/may-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** June 13, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from May! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from May! If you’d like to join them for June, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s [](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/120/)[A Study Of Lusternia’s Human Race](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/127/) #### Runner-Ups Uzriel’s [](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/113/)[Angkrag Blues](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/128/) #### Merit Alarin’s [Thaldorn And Lanivara: The Beginning](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/124/) Danalnys’ [](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/110/)[Heralds Of Ourselves](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/130/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [You see? There is more here…](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F05%2FDoodle_Seralem.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=42134f1037f63103a6609e5201a6ad911c75241bc2f30a4a8978c1ae3436c399) #### Runner-Up Esei’s [Nocht…](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F05%2Fmans-man.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=e10a8542693ed872b203ac0cba09db4124362ecfab7c97c7d94a555053a94ff8) Lorina’s [Mysrai, the Moth on Scarlet Wings](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F05%2FMysrai-Moth.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=0418bccad14bff99266f69c2d7ff2876dcd44ffed8643a8e6b01315e8d22d5d1) #### Merit Glitterna’s [A Portrait of Glitterna](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F05%2FGlitterna.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=ce20c935ff641a3d1c5b92d6116f03d3a49db9a7ceafe5dfb415528a899393ad) Xiran’s [Scourge Evette Stormcrow, the Heartless](https://www.lusternia.com/index.php?gf-download=2021%2F05%2Fevette_line_2021_05_30.png&form-id=1&field-id=5&hash=9427734e52e5b10535c9a1b242de96f0ff19e32aa8a64b8519955e3f08a2bf9a) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Releasing the Prisoner of the Namiraa Trench](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/03/releasing-the-prisoner-of-the-namiraa-trench/) **Published:** June 3, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** The Empress' Last Breath sailed into the Inner Sea with sails unfurled as Captain Teyitha Contelli revealed her proud vessel to the Basin of Life. Though mortals prepared themselves for combat, the good Captain made her desire for peace clear as she requested a parley, inviting all interested aboard to learn of her crew's current quest. **Content:** The Empress’ Last Breath sailed into the Inner Sea with sails unfurled as Captain Teyitha Contelli revealed her proud vessel to the Basin of Life. Though mortals prepared themselves for combat, the good Captain made her desire for peace clear as she requested a parley, inviting all interested aboard to learn of her crew’s current quest. As many from the cities were already aware, Teyitha’s crew had assembled various pieces of a Vernal God artifact, a compass which belonged to Ilaedron the Fair. The compass itself had been first thieved from the ship the Kelpie Maiden, and the map to its future whereabouts taken from the sunken wreck of the Emperor’s Glory found beneath the Rhizoda Mangrove. This lead Teytiha’s crew to find the remaining pieces: the cognito rock that served as its heart hidden within Hallifax, an avian pointer piece retrieved from Gaudiguch, and an unusually marked navigational plat found in Magnagora. The eldritch compass itself was to lead to “your heart’s desire,” but a final passcode was required to activate this Vernal Artifact. For many generations, a sea shanty called ‘Ilaedron the Fair’ had been shared among pirates, its lyrics the method of decoding the elusive passcode, which was the name of Ilaedron’s lost mortal lover. Intrigued and curious, mortals from every city and commune agreed to assist in deciphering the sea shanty to learn this passcode, and thus days of gruelling work combing through the sea shanty began. The pirates about the Empress’ Last Breath, as well as those that had gathered on land, had each assembled their own clues regarding the various lines of each verse. Intrepid mortals gathered over a hundred such clues, bringing them before Teyitha Contelli as Uzriel d’Vanecu went to work sifting through them all. The weight of the task and the watery nature of the vessel together proved too much for the exhausted viscanti, who stepped away to allow another to pick up the impressive work he had begun. Vexacion and Akyaevin focused on completing the work their fellow Magnagoran had begun, assisted by Illyria and Avaris, and as they made progress, more of Teyitha’s crew got further invested in putting their expertise with the song to work. Soon their efforts bore fruit as they deciphered the name “Shalidae” — the passcode that activated the compass. Captain Teyitha Contelli called out to the Basin for any adventurers who wished to join them as they prepared to submerge the Empress undersea, and together the equally relieved and jubilant crew prepared to sink below the depths of the Inner Sea beyond where any other had dared tread before. Thus did they discover the dark fortress of the Namiraa Trench, a veritable maze of water and shadow-filled with all manner of terrifying and venomous sea creatures. Even as many fell victim to the barbed octopi and the gargantuan worm that stalked the undersea labyrinth, the adventurers remained undeterred in their quest to reach the compass’s final destination. After much trial and error, the trench, at last, led to a strangely desolate lair where, of all things, a single nereid was bored out of her mind. Calling herself Soriali, the nereid was delighted to see company and began to chatter excitedly, even as those present were drawn to the far more troubling aspect of the room: a macabre contraption resting atop a tall pillar, where an imprisoned figure was strapped in place. This torture device was called the Morokeche Seat, and Soriali had been asked to guard it for many years while protecting the song that would unlock the seat and free its prisoner. None of this discovery made sense to Captain Teyitha, whose normally fearless appearance was now troubled as she asked, “Where is my son?” For reuniting with her son was her heart’s desire that had driven her to such lengths to discover the compass of Ilaedron the Fair. The nereid responded flippantly that he had likely drowned, but that she herself didn’t know anything of his fate. While Gurashi comforted Teyitha, many more remained transfixed by the looming figure upon the Morokeche Seat. Pity and curiosity both drove the mortals to ask Soriali to sing the song that would free the seat’s mysterious victim, but Soriali warned she did not know what the result might be. Eritheyl of Gaudiguch reminded Soriali that mortals, too, suffered from boredom, and this response seemed to delight the nereid. With so many of the sea creatures that plagued Namiraa now dead, Soriali decided she felt secure enough in completing the song that she could escape shortly after, leaving the adventurers to deal with whatever fallout ensued. Avaris made a last-ditch plea to convince the other mortals that nereids were not to be trusted, while others such as Uzriel and Sapphira dismissed those concerns out of hand. The mystery of whom had been left for dead in the Morokeche Seat was too great to resist. And so Soriali’s song began. Those who were familiar with the voice of the Enchantress recognized Her music immediately in the nereid’s melody, each rising note unlocking a manacle upon the Morokeche Seat. With each released shackle, a flood of memories from imprisoned figure reached out into the consciousness of all present, revealing Her to be a Goddess trapped within the Namiraa Trench for thousands of years. It was Drocilla, the Enchantress who had left the Goddess to rot, and even as the prisoner’s memories revealed how Her once-friend had tricked Her into being imprisoned, Soriali’s song revealed a sense of regret and loss in Drocilla’s actions — though it was quickly rebuffed by the sheer bitterness and resentment emanating from the figure and Her memories. Denied Her promised Rites of Abomination, the Goddess was given the mask of a Traitor but not the power of one, effectively shrouding Her identity from view as She was rooted in place upon the Morokeche Seat. Another Traitor was asked by the Lavender Mask to tend to their mutual problem, one who revealed Himself to the Goddess as Blooredi. Creating all manner of sea creatures in mimicry of His cousins, Blooredi instructed them to guard over the Namiraa Trench while promising the figure within that He would free Her once the time was right. Yet Blooredi, too, would abandon Her. As Soriali’s song concluded with a crescendo of emotion, the circlet that had bolted the imprisoned Goddess in place snapped off. The nereid vanished into the Namiraa Trench just before the Lady of the Lagoons, the Elder Goddess Li-varili, stumbled out of the Morokeche Seat, beaten and bloody. Some present recognized Her as the Awakener of the nereids found in the Rhizoda Mangrove, long presumed dead. Wild and feral, Li-varili expressed fear and distrust of all mortals present, first believing the shards to be the Elders that had forgotten Her. When Uzriel openly defended the Enchantress’s actions towards Li-varili as necessary, the newly released Goddess shrieked in anger, slaughtering him in retaliation. Tridemon would soon be slain as well for daring to equate the Goddess’s plight to that of Lady Carakhan in Aquagoria. Overwhelmed by the onslaught of change that had continued during Her imprisonment, Li-varili fled to Her Fulcrux, where many mortals attempted to calm Her and inform Her of what had transpired during Her trials. Esei of the Glomdoring sent suggestive thoughts to convince Li-varili of the power of the Wyrd, enraging Li-varili and resulting in their immediate slaughter. Cheliyi and Vexacion explained the splintering of other Elders and the concept of Orders, to which Li-varili sneered. If the Elders had betrayed Her, why would they not betray mortals as well? None were more surprised than the Enchantress to discover Li-varili living. A tense interaction ensued between the Elder Goddesses as Drocilla insisted that She had thought Li had surely been lost to the Soulless after so long. Fury and anger radiated from the exhausted Li-varili as She hurled insult upon insult on Drocilla, calling Her a liar and betrayer. Even as Li-varili attempted to enrage and provoke Drocilla, the Enchantress only looked pityingly upon Her. Attempting to calm Her former friend and confidante, Drocilla sang the first strains of a lullaby, incensing Li-varili further: “If you will use your tricks on Me, then I will use Mine.” Waves crashed down on Drocilla, interrupting Her song as Li-varili vanished, screaming for all to leave Her alone as She retreated to the Havens. For a moment, a brief expression of anger marred Drocilla’s face, before She too took Her leave. The pirates of Captain Teyitha Contelli’s crew whisper that an ill wind is blowing, and what that might mean for the turbulent Goddess released from Her eons of torment, or the Basin of Life that She has returned to, only the Fates can say. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Veloske Heirloom Heist](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/03/the-veloske-heirloom-heist/) **Published:** June 3, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** It is not unusual for terrified cries to carry down Magnagoran streets, but it is unusual for these cries to be those of a child and about a fight. So when an urchin thundered down the streets of Magnagora right after the stroke of midnight on Klangiary 14th, in the year 590, the city took notice. **Content:** It is not unusual for terrified cries to carry down Magnagoran streets, but it is unusual for these cries to be those of a child and about a fight. So when an urchin thundered down the streets of Magnagora right after the stroke of midnight on Klangiary 14th, in the year 590, the city took notice. She was soon found at the feet of the laid-back constable at the Constabulary, first by Uzriel d’Vanecu and then by more citizens than the Constabulary corridor could fit comfortably, including Warlady Kailanna n’Kylbar herself. The sheer weight of attention had terrified the wounded urchin speechless, however, and between Kalas Vexacion’s and Ilisa d’Vangoff’s questioning and Dilettante Danalnys’ unwavering attention, all she could do is withdraw up against the wall. It was Eldrac d’Murani’s soothing words and logic that finally got through to her and others followed suit with the new tactic. The urchin described the dangerous stranger she sighted as “scaley”, which Adnachiel quickly identified as a potential nagasith interloper. Encouraged by the Warlady herself, the urchin revealed that the foreigner had got into an altercation in the Undercity and possibly fled. It was time to scour the Undercity and the citizens were joined by the dubiously useful laid-back constable and a new eager recruit. The urchin remained under the watchful eye of Adnachiel and Primarch Shango D’Cente while others searched high and low, finally discovering the location of the fight near the Undercity chapel. Sapphira d’Vanecu, along with her husband, came upon two slum dwellers within – one dead and the other badly wounded. While Vexacion studied the survivor’s wounds, the others quickly fired off a myriad of questions. In the ensuing chaos that yielded no answers, it was decided that one person should interrogate the dweller – Lady Grey of the Society, Sapphira d’Vanecu – for he did not have much time left. Not undead himself, and too close to death, there was little that the Necromancers present could do except set him upright as a mindless ghast should he pass. Reluctant at first, the slum dweller revealed that he and his friend had been betrayed by a man they sought to deal with and that said man sought information on the resting place of Danahi Veloske – a woman of an old Magnagoran family known for their faith. In return for the information, valuable bones from the Bonehoard were to be the reward, which prompted Uzriel d’Vanecu to make haste for the underground catacombs. As it was becoming abundantly clear that the slum dweller was holding back information, coercion and threats in equal measure loosened his tongue to also reveal that the stranger sought help with a ritual that they could perform. The “they” in this case being the Scions of Rust. The very name had the Warlady cursing under her breath as everything instantly clicked for her – if anyone would name themselves the Scions of Rust, it would be someone following the ideology of the imprisoned Prince of Rust, the leader of the now-dead Cogs in the Smog urchin gang that wrought much havoc in Magnagora once upon a time. She ordered the urchin be kept under strict watch and demanded answers but though the healing remedies provided by Kalas Lysandus bought the interrogators a few extra questions, in the end, the cultist expired while issuing vague threats about inheriting the Engine of Transformation and thriving under Magnagora’s feet. Left with more questions than answers, Magnagorans expanded their search. Slowly, a story began to take shape. At Uzriel’s behest, Firica d’Vanecu had surveyed the remains laid to rest at the Bonehoard and determined that the bones of a once High Seat of House d’Lardick, Kutaiba, were missing. Some Undercity natives told Lysandus that a suspicious group of dwellers were often seen cutting their way through the College to the Wailing Woman Inn and indeed, along that path, Vittoria d’Lardick was at her lab and told Danalnys and Ilisa that she overheard two passing men chucking about going back on some deal. At the inn, Kalas Ruiku and Vexacion have bribed a regular into revealing that two slum dwellers and a suspicious man have discussed Danahi’s resting place and a future meeting near the Undercity chapel. The Magnagorans were working backwards, all this had already occurred, but it was now clear it was the Scions who betrayed the stranger, not the other way around. Eventually, Lysandus learnt from Professor Reghul that the suspicious dwellers were often seen meeting at the chapel itself and one of the worshippers there was able to direct those present to an abandoned Undercity inn where they were often sighted. What they found there sent Magnagorans descending into the sewers underneath the city. There, Vexacion found a large enough pipe to enter and everyone huddled within, listening to the conversation from somewhere further down. Right when things were about to get heated, Magnagorans charged and clashed with one Mebyra “the Krait” Ishelum and the cultists. Mebyra fled, and so did several cultists, while the rest were dispatched. Some set out to track them down while others studied the secret hideout where an incomplete skeleton of one Aethon n’Kylbar was found. Between Lysandus and Uzriel, the skeleton was put back together and Firica d’Vanecu proposed to see what it would summon, for surely not Aethon himself, his bones dating back to the Times of Weakness. Completing more a seance than a ritual, Magnagorans called forth the spectre of Jannah n’Kylbar. Queried, she revealed that Aethon was her distant ancestor, a well-known Fatalist, married to a socialite – Danahi Veloske. Jannah was quick to figure out what it is that Mebyra was looking for – not the remains of Danahi, but that which was buried with her. Danahi possessed a brooch said to had been gifted to her by Emperor Shervelian I, and so beautiful that Danahi’s daughter, Teldahi Veloske, took it with her when she moved her mother’s remains to where she served – the Shallamurine Cathedral. Careful not to tip off the priestesses of the Shallamurine, Magnagorans converged onto the Presidio first and sent glamoured and otherwise disguised agents in. While Margaret and Vexacion sought answers, Jhagreer d’Vanecu confirmed that the Shallamurine has a mausoleum on its grounds where notable and devoted priests were once interred. That is not where Magnagorans would be heading, however, as Vexacion uncovered the brooch’s true location from Eriligi Sunfar – the spring of Queen Nifilhema. Marani Veloske had secreted the heirloom there when the cathedral braced for the incoming cloud of darkness during Project Cosmic Hope and has been unable to retrieve it since as her ways are incompatible with the Queen’s now. Magnagora’s, however, are not and so they sought out the Queen of Insufferable Cruelty for guidance and were sent back to the Shallamurine with her devoted student, Jemriaee n’Lochli, in tow. The spring did reveal itself to Magnagorans then, lovely but overgrown, at the back of the cathedral. To claim anything from its depths, it had to be filled and Akyaevin n’Lochli, Sapphira, Uzriel, and Kailanna provided suitable offerings but something was amiss still. Dodging the pirates snooping about the cathedral grounds, disguised Vexacion was sent forth to seek answers from Neinrin Tivreau where it became clear that Marani decided to spite anyone who would manage to uncover the spring. She sabotaged it from the level of the mausoleum and so Magnagorans were bound to visit it after all. Once within, their passage was blocked by a magical ward that took the combined arcane power and cleverness of all High Magic practitioners present to break. Whether it was the spring mechanism itself, the sound of the attempts, or the novelty of movement within the mausoleum itself, their joy was cut short by a swarm of undead crawling out of every dark corner. Among them was the infuriated spirit of Danahi Veloske herself, explaining well the annoyance with which the priestesses spoke of her daughter. Was the mausoleum sealed to keep the spring from being used? Or was it to seal the undead in? It was then that the infamous Mebyra chose to strike, joining in the race to fix the spring and claim the brooch. Along with him came the pirates, their addition resulting in a three-way skirmish. The Magnagorans were successful nonetheless, vanquishing the undead and sending the pirates fleeing. After the spring was fixed, they quickly made their way to Jemriaee to find the brooch in her hands. With the brooch pinned to her dress, the Warlady and the others made their way to Magnagora where, to their surprise, Mebyra sought to parley. Meeting him right outside the Lich Gate, the Warlady came with a sizable entourage while the pirate came alone. The deal that was struck – reluctantly and only after a gesture of goodwill on the part of the pirate in returning Kutaiba d’Lardick’s bones – resulted in Magnagora gaining both information and a curious artefact. With the brooch in his pocket, Mebyra withdrew but not without sharing that the pirates had a highly valuable hostage all along – Snaikka i’Xiia – and will be releasing her soon. But what of Jemriaee and whatever she is plotting at the Shallamurine Cathedral? And will Magnagora find the missing leader of the dismantled cult? **Categories:** Events --- ### [From the Gaudiguch Gossip - Special Edition: the Pavilion Exposed?!](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/03/from-the-gaudiguch-gossip-special-edition-the-pavilion-exposed/) **Published:** June 3, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** What was an otherwise uneventful month would quickly escalate within the desert streets of Gaudiguch, as Beloch Baruwski spoke over the city aethers of a delicate situation having just been handled within the Wasted Wakabi. **Content:** What was an otherwise uneventful Klangiary would quickly escalate within the desert streets of Gaudiguch, as Beloch Baruwski spoke over the city aethers of a delicate situation having just been handled within the Wasted Wakabi. Upon the city’s arrival, carrying along some outsiders, Beloch hemmed and hawed as he placed heavy emphasis on the delicate situation that they had found themselves in. A realisation struck the outsiders quickly –this humble reporter believes a boot to the head would have been faster– and they returned to their home, and Beloch quickly lept into discussions of an altercation within the Wasted Wakabi he had sorted out just a few moments before. Akubi Tloxcha, a low-ranking member of the Shibchoyi family, had been seen conversing with a strange, roguish beaver-kin and getting quite heated. Little surprise, Beloch would offer, as they spoke of gaining entrance to the Golden Pavilion: a hyper-exclusive club run by a mysterious woman known as ‘the Matron’ –if you’re reading, remember our bounty for an exclusive interview is still in effect, Matron!– which is only accessible by invitation. Though he had never received such an invitation, he urged Chundae Lunarose, Yire, Sulwh, and Citinia to investigate before what dangers the two could have been plotting would come to pass. It was terribly unfortunate, then, that at that time the people of Delport and Stewartsville would engage –and it’s about time, the prices were completely unreasonable!– in economic brouhaha once more and incite the Hemp Wars. Though matters were dire, the eldest among the gathered ‘guchians quickly rushed to attempt to quell the matter into the favour of Gaudiguch, leaving Yire and Chundae to scour the city streets, on the lookout for anything amiss. What fortune should smile upon them that the very item they were searching for should be stumbled upon by a fairly nondescript citizen of Gaudiguch, who offered its rightful owner a chance to claim it before it was sold to purchase a new pair of boots. Claiming their prize, an elegant pin with a strange bird upon it, Chundae and Yire were met at last by the return of Sulwh and Citinia. Between the four of them, they quickly realised they had no idea where to proceed next and ventured to the House of Enlightened Masters. Perhaps it was Yiratcho Chum’s tasteless innuendo of enlightenment through massage, but the secrets of the pin they held fell to an empty room –so he commented to this reporter!– as they quickly departed his residence to make their way towards the Palace of Pleasure. Sadly, the Madame of Solace became stiff-lipped and politely informed our heroes that they would be dismissed from the Palace if they did not leave of their own accord when the subject of the Pavilion was brought up. At long last, the knowledge of Mesadari Rhiero, Keeper of the Eternal Flame was sought out. Though witnesses report the Keeper was “off her gourd entirely”, –under the effects of that mysterious pouch she refuses to share, no doubt!!– she nevertheless recognised the establishment which sold what she would later comment to be “thousands of pounds of cactus weed and more, babes”. Explaining how the pin should be utilised and what to seek out, the adventurers were then tasked to roam the city. Thankfully, Dys Mzithrei –that dashing Pasha who’s somehow both all hood and nothing but leg!– would emerge from the shadows and offer her aid. Under her quick step and vigilant eye, they soon passed across the entrance they sought and disappeared. What happened next is beyond this humble reporter, but individuals near to the intersection at the Road of Rolling Rocks and the Dragon’s Scar reported a hurriedly fleeing woman in a tight skirt –they could not stop emphasising the tightness of her skirt, in fact– swearing about pirates, of all things. The seers trembled as the deaths of our adventurers were sensed in the beyond, and sure enough, the arrival of Afrit and Nepenthe Dahyu would bolster numbers in an attempt to sway whatever challenges within the Golden Pavilion found their attention! –If you ask me, they’re lucky more didn’t die with the Shibchoyi involved!– On their return to Gaudiguch proper, however, this reporter was lucky enough to overhear a shopping list of strangely normal and yet peculiar items. They sought out ink, incense, and drugs! Though these could be perhaps the most commonplace of items to find within our fair city, they departed at night and it was not until the sun was high overhead in the sky that they were glimpsed returning and meeting near the Twisted Stairs. It is my shame –and nearly a fireable offence!– that I missed what happened next, but they never seemed to cross past the Wasted Wakabi or the Dragon Scar Memorial Bridge again! To my fortune, however, I happened to catch sight of a peculiar beaver-kin in leather and silks strolling towards me without a care in the world as I paced the Twisted Stairs. Asking him if he might be the threat to our fair city that had Beloch so incensed and what he planned for our fair city, the young man responded –with a saucy wink!–, “I’m just here to negotiate and keep the peace.” Though he quickly gave me the slip, this reporter waited until that night when he emerged: no longer carrying a bejewelled skull at his side, but tossing up and down in his hand what looked like the pointer piece of a compass! Who can say, Gaudiguch, what transaction has occurred? What was it like in the Golden Pavilion? Are the Shibchoyi really growing bold enough to threaten the city’s adventurers? Do you think that furrikin was single? You’d better believe I’ll be sniffing out as many clues as I can, folks! **Categories:** Events --- ### [All Hail Queen Eileen, Queen of the Leprechauns!](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/01/all-hail-queen-eileen-queen-of-the-leprechauns/) **Published:** April 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** The eldest child of Old Cashel Connlaodh has taken the leprechaun throne! **Content:** The eldest child of Old Cashel Connlaodh has taken the leprechaun throne! Queen Eileen has won in a landslide, leaving both her brothers – Gilligan and Seamus – far behind in the dust. Congratulations to Elieen and those who worked hard on her behalf! Eileen: 4251 Seamus: 1882 Gilligan: 1395 **Categories:** Events --- ### [There Was No Bloodshed in Kiakoda Reserve](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/22/there-was-no-bloodshed-in-kiakoda-reserve/) **Published:** May 22, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Ah, this is the best life. Nothing like lounging by a nice warm pool of bubbling lava with a steaming cup of tea to melt the chill of frigid temps. **Content:** Ah, this is the best life. Nothing like lounging by a nice warm pool of bubbling lava with a steaming cup of tea to melt the chill of frigid temps. After a bit of a rough start, this has turned into the best day ever. It should remain as such, assuming Aevumis and the others don’t tell Bulstrode. I paid them though, so it should be fine. Yeah, it will be fine. Bulstrode will never know. Oh, I suppose I should recount the story. It was quite amusing really. Absolutely brilliant on my part, if I do say so myself. Penguins are ever being penguins, right? Right. Well, the feathery little bullies kept shoving this little fellow in so much that he was afraid to swim. Of course this means no food for the penguin. Bulstrode does not like when penguins are not healthy. He likes it even less when they die. But no worries! There were no penguin deaths this day! Well, Bulstrode was angry about his penguins being bullies. Never believes me when I warn him about how mean they are. I’ve watched them smack a random waddling penguin, and can you guess what happened then? Well, if you guessed that the penguin fell right through the ice and all his friends warbled in laughter, you would be correct. Little sneak-thieves too, but that’s a story for another time. Bulstrode was so mad, and definitely not because I lost another whistle. I absolutely did not lose another whistle. It just ran away while I wasn’t looking. So many people came running while Bulstrode was yelling at me. Luckily I’m small and easily slipped past their notice. I’m pretty sure I saw Xenthos and Evette charge past at first, which is when I got an idea. I do love my job, and the penguins, but that icy wind is no place for a ‘wump like me! Many from the Basin came to see what Bulstrode was about, thus it only was sensible to get them to help! After a bit of penguin talk, I sent them to get a whistle from Bulstrode as mine had already decided to wander off somewhere to nap. I keep telling Bulstrode that these whistles must be magical as they keep running off. He doesn’t listen, just says I keep losing them. I never lose anything. Never lost a penguin on my watch either. Aevumis managed to convince Bulstrode to let him help and got a new whistle. The thing was clogged with tae’dae hair too! I do not understand how a tiny whistle can hold so much fur. See? magic whistles. It’s the only explanation. Grand music was then played, though there may have been some ear leakage that will neither be confirmed nor denied, and the Haupdin was ready to swim once again! One mighty nudge later? Okay, dear reader, before I continue, I must stress that this next part most certainly did not happen. This is only rumour, right? Right. Well, I heard that the Haupdin got ripped to pieces by the thing in the water. All sorts of giant teeth, gobbled up the pieces of a Haupdin. Or so the story goes. This certainly was not with my penguins. Okay, fine, I paid for that to merely be a rumour. What was I supposed to do? Tell Bulstrode and have to face an angry tae’dae? Uh-uh. Someone else can tell him. Thankfully, numerous people seemed keen to help find another Haupdin. I think it was Uzriel who was seeking to learn the best way to shove a penguin? Everyone knows that it’s best to shove when they are on the belly. They glide right across the ice so much better. What? No, I do not have experience in this. I most certainly have not lined up some penguins and shoved another down the hill and knock their friends over. That is not something I would do! I’m not sure how, but a new Haupdin was found while we spoke! Lucky for me penguins are bullies, or one of my new employ, I mean new friends, had a bit of fun. Aevumis was quick to find another whistle and this time the Haupdin safely found food! Best part, Bulstrode won’t know the difference. So, my dear reader, once again I, Jololem, have proven that I am the best Junior Penguin Keeper at the Reserve. The day was saved, and Haupdins is happy once more. I assure you that no Haupdins were harmed in the writing of this tale. I am, however, going to enjoy this nice time by a lava pool. Or maybe not. I can hear Bulstrode from here. I best go see what’s happened now. This always happens when I finally get comfortable! I really should convince him that we need to find some fire penguins. -Excerpt from “The Adventures of Jololem Olem” **Categories:** Events --- ### [June Promotion](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/06/02/june-promotion/) **Published:** June 2, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** For the month of June, when you purchase credits on the website, you'll also receive one wonder crystal for every 50 credits purchased! **Content:** For the month of June, when you purchase credits on the website, you’ll also receive one wonder crystal for every 50 credits purchased! That means if you purchase 1000 credits, you’ll receive 20 crystals!. Type SHOWREWARDS to see your status. As part of this promotion, we’re releasing a new wonderitem – the Censer of Wonder. Checkout HELP WONDERCENSER for details! Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Critical Thursdays will also be featured throughout June! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Timely Proposal: The Tale of Project AEON and the Office of Sanitation](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/31/a-timely-proposal-the-tale-of-project-aeon-and-the-office-of-sanitation/) **Published:** May 31, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Captain Irima Ironwing sounded the alarm in Hallifax last Klangiary when an unexpected security breach occurred at the elevator beneath the city. Her signal was swiftly answered by Qilllilitli Skydrifter, Calioliahali Skydrifter, Mmellialleh Skydrifter, Ayisdra Ysav’rai, and Intern Tem. Soon they encountered the suspicious individual within the elevator: a strange intruder named Rauye Rhineseer, a lucidian who had been seen fiddling with the elevator’s circuits. Smooth-tongued and confident, Rauye provided paperwork that, at first blush, provided her the designated clearance to enter a classified area referred to as the Office of Sanitation and Clandestine Affairs. Once the purview of the Minister of Peace and the Sentinels guild of Hallifax, this location purportedly contained highly secure communications and sensitive documents. None present had seen such a place in the city, or indeed, were aware that such an office even existed at all. Considering the abrupt appearance of this Rauye and the elaborate nature of her claims, the Hallifaxians gathered expressed skepticism about the documents’ authenticity and began to investigate them, while Captain Irima Ironwing faithfully kept sole watch at the elevator. Various members of the higher echelons of Hallifaxian bureaucracy were interrogated about the sheaf of documents, until it became clear they were nothing but a clever forgery. A showdown ensued with Rauye Rhineseer at the Conclave, where she was seen brazenly requesting access to the schemantics of the mysterious office. A wrinkle had formed in her plan: the Conclave could only authorize the passcode for this office upon a Hallifaxian’s authorization of a security protocol entitled Code Black Anomaly. When her lies were not answered with assistance, Rauye revealed the truth of her plans: she was one of the pirates of Teyitha Contelli’s crew, and if the Hallifaxians would not help her, she would torture Captain Irima Ironwing until they complied. Indeed, the brave storm trill had been captured at the elevator by Rauye’s motley crew, and the Captain’s screams as they tormented her echoed hauntingly through the city as the Hallifaxians deliberated. The safety of the Collective, it was decided, was too important to risk on a single life. No matter how Rauye wheedled them, they were unified and firm in their stance: no one would authorize the protocols to enter the Office of Sanitation and Clandestine Affairs. Rauye’s pistol punished Ayisdra for defying her in a single, fatal blow, and soon his fate was repeated by most present. It seemed all was at a stalemate as the Captain’s cries resounded in the city. That is, until a single trill servant could no longer take Irima’s suffering. Revealing himself as her brother, Norin, he offered to make a deal with Rauye: if she would spare his sister, he would authorize the protocols she requested. To the horror of all present, Norin fulfilled his side of the agreement, and Code Black Anomaly went into effect as the trill servant wept with guilt and shame. A race was on to outwit Rauye Rhineseer and learn the passcode before she could. Holograms flickered into existence in the city of Hallifax, which each provided clues to the passcode for the Office of Clandestine Affairs. Along with those holograms, countless hostile automatons patrolled the city, aggressive in their pursuit of the perceived security threat as a warning flashed for all citizens to return to their homesteads. Instead, the Hallifaxians went to work deciphering the various clues they were given to solve an intricate puzzle involving notable Sentinels of years past and the high-level projects they oversaw. It was Qilllilitli who solved the integral clue to receive the passcode, granting them access to the mysterious Office of Clandestine Affairs as well as knowledge of the mysterious Project AEON, which involved a black cognito rock that was Rauye’s ultimate objective. Others had gathered to join in the quest to reach the cognito rock before Rauye, including Luce Shevat, Tikki, and Fillirriqili Skydrifter. Their comrades agreed to officially appoint Fillirriqili as the Subminister of Peace, allowing him the ability to call off Code Black Anomaly and force the automatons to retreat. This gave them entry beyond the Office of Clandestine Affairs, providing a curious tesseract cube that, when activated, provided entry to a strange sight, and insight into one of Hallifax’s long lost histories. Project AEON involved Xaschoc and Jhaethi Aalin, two Institute siblings who had discovered a method of freezing a moment in time. It was a project funded by the Holy Celestian Empire that was equal parts a success and failure, for the result successfully locked both researchers in time, looping infinitely for a single moment that neither could escape. Such a risky and unstable result was dangerous, and thus was quickly erased from history to prevent its repetition. The timelock that had trapped the Aalin siblings was sustained by a black cognito rock that Rauye coveted. It was here that the tesseract cube led our companions, where they witnessed the moment between the Aalins loop over and over again, frozen for an eternity. Luce was the one to lift the black cognito rock, shattering their spell as the two scientists entered the time stream once more. Even as they shouted warnings to their modern comrades, the Hallifaxians remained within the pocket of time, creating a paradox that ultimately led to everyone’s collective death and the evaporation of the Aalins from the timestream. Their ultimate fate is, and quite possibly shall forever be, unknown. The cognito rock had, in the aftermath, changed hands to Ayisdra Ysav’rai, who hid at the Matrix while the others met with Rauye Rhineseer, her pirates, and a bound and beaten Captain Irima Ironwing. A scuffle ensued, but Rauye’s sharp eye and eerily accurate pistol made quick work of any opponent. This was a battle that would have to take place with words, not warfare. Rauye revealed that the black cognito rock was part of a compass formed by the Vernal God Ilaedron the Fair, and by itself, was worth quite little to the city aside from their dubious temporal experiment. She proposed a new deal: the life of the Captain and an old artifact that once belonged to the city of Hallifax, in exchange for the cognito rock that provided no value to the Collective. Indeed, she argued it might even be in safer hands, given what happened to the Aalins. “We are pirates,” she quipped with a wink, “not mad scientists.” It was a compelling argument. The item that Rauye offered Hallifax was a pulsating energy core, which seemed alive as it hummed in the Captain’s bound hands. Given it had once belonged to the city, and Hallifax held no sentiment towards the cognito rock in the wake of the tragedy it had inflicted, the deal was eventually struck. A very pleased Rauye left both Captain Irima Ironwing and the crystal core behind as she and her pirates departed the now-harmonious city. The newly received core was intensely examined by the curious Hallifaxians. The Conclave sensed its similarity to the beings of Continuum, and suggested it enter the care of a scientist with expertise in bioengineering. Junior Scientist Gith’axa Lars quickly took to the task, promising to update all present on the crystal core’s behavior. The only matter left to discuss was, then, the fate of the servant that had plunged Hallifax into chaos. Captain Irima Ironwing and others such as Calioliahali advocated for capital punishment, stating that a single life was not to be held as equal to the Collective. Yet others such as Tikki and Qillilitli advocated for a redemptive strategy, allowing for the servant to restore his honour. Ultimately, Norin’s fate was decided by the Board of Directors present, who determined he should be \[REDACTED\]. The purpose of the energy core remains to be seen. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Server move](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/25/server-move/) **Published:** May 25, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Our ISP is moving locations and has asked to move our servers to their new building. **Content:** Our ISP is moving locations and has asked to move our servers to their new building. We are taking this opportunity to get new, faster servers. Huzzah! The transition to the new servers will happen around 2AM PST, Thursday, May 27th. That is 5AM EST and 9AM GMT. That time is not set in stone, as there are a lot of moving parts, but you will do messages in the games before we start. We should not be down very long, but we are planning for about 2 hours of downtime in case something wild happens. In the meantime, the new machines are already running and you can help test for any major issues. Feel free to login and do whatever the heck you want in these temporary games. You can only connect via Mudlet or another MUD client. Nexus will not work. Just use the URL new.lusternia.com and port 23. You can connect to any of the Iron Realms games, just change the game name in the URL. If you run into any unusual connection issues or other problems, please email all information to jeremy@ironrealms.com. Thank you! **Categories:** News --- ### [Calling for Guides](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/23/calling-for-guides/) **Published:** May 23, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** We are again calling for applications for the selection of Guides (HELP GUIDES). **Content:** We are again calling for applications for the selection of Guides ([HELP GUIDES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=214)). To be a successful addition to the team, you must be able to kindly provide assistance to newbies while maintaining a truly separate persona, acting in service to all players regardless of you and your own character’s histories, biases, and preferences. Guides should be non-novices who are knowledgeable about the realms and can dedicate at least three hours (180 minutes) of service as a guide per real life week. Note that We will be heavily evaluating your ability to deliver a high quality level of customer service in the role as a Guide. Guides are expected to have the ability to work as a team with Us and actively participate and collaborate effectively. If you believe that this is your calling, please send all applications to moirae@lusternia.com. Note, as well, that this is a paid position. You will receive credits for each successfully completed guide week. As such, we take your level of commitment to this role very seriously. **Application details** Character Name(s): Real name: Age: Approximate times you can guide (in GMT): A short paragraph about why you feel you would be beneficial as a guide (qualifications): DEADLINE: Applications for this call are due by Sunday, June 6th, 2021 at 23:59 GMT. If you have any questions about the expectations of the role or anything else pertaining to your application to become a Guide, please message Us directly. **Categories:** News --- ### [Auctions Week 4 - Additions](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/20/auctions-week-4-additions/) **Published:** May 20, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We will be adding a few extra items to the last week of auctions. We know it’s a bit late to announce it, given you have made decisions about what to bet on ahead of time, but we’d rather not sit on some of those cool last-minute ideas things till the next auction season. One of the biggest new things, that we’ve never auctioned before, is sketches. Some of them are super rare or even unique at this point, some less so. One thing we want you to keep in mind is that these are not one of a kind and if you miss them this time, you might get a chance at them some other time. By that same token, getting them this time doesn’t mean you will have the only one in the game ever. **Without further ado, the things being added to week 4:** Custom Ikon Gleaming Wax Cube Pound of Raw Flesh **Sketches:** Ashtariel, the Thousand-Hued Ayridion, the White Flame Elcyrion, the Erudite Elostian, the Enigma Eventru, Crown of the Exalted Hajamin, the Golden Lord Lacostian, the Mysterial Lord Lyreth, the Sidereal Prince Carakhan, Pearl of the Ocean Dame Maeve, Apostle of Ingenious Tortures Maeve, the Solar Queen Shellma Natharian Ghani n’Rotri **Categories:** News --- ### [Week 3 Auctions](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/17/week-3-auctions/) **Published:** May 17, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Some changes and a request going forwards! Week 3 auctions await. **Content:** Week 3 Auctions will be opened up shortly, but we added a big change moving forward. All bids and bid increases will require you to CONFIRM the bid before accepting it. The intention here is to give you a method that double checks that you are bidding on the correct auction and by the amount you want to bid. We encourage you to use the bid command without the confirmation first to make sure your bid is exactly what you want it to be, and on the correct auction. With this command added, we will no longer close auctions or adjust maximum bids if you incorrectly bid on the wrong auction or with the wrong amount. We’ve given you a tool to ensure this doesn’t happen, but it’s up to you to use it correctly. That said, the Promise Rings from last week are on auction again this week for credits. Additionally, we’ve added a lot of general influencing, enhancement and resistance runes this week, with the intention that those Runes will be something that those of you with lots of gold and credits already have and those that are not as well off do not. We would appreciate it if people did not bid on these runes with the intention of simply trading them in for cheap credits. Thank you for your cooperation here, we are trying to allow more people to have a chance of participating in these auctions this month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Economy Revamp](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/12/economy-revamp-2/) **Published:** May 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** We have posted an updated economy proposal in the Ideas section of the forums and invite you all to check it out. **Content:** We have posted an updated economy proposal in the Ideas section of the forums and invite you all to check it out. Right now the proposal exists as proposal 1.0, split into three posts – overview, trade, shops – and as proposal 2.0 which is a post with only the updates/changes to 1.0. That means that if you have not acquainted yourself with 1.0 yet, it would be good for you to do so because 2.0 only touches on a handful of aspects and differences. It is safe to assume everything not mentioned in 2.0 is the same as in 1.0 still. [Proposal 2.0 – Updates](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4440/economy-proposal-2-0/p1) [Proposal 1.0 – Overview](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4421/economy-changes-overview/p1) [Proposal 1.0 – Trade](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4422/economy-trade-revamp/p1) [Proposal 1.0 – Shops](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4423/shop-changes-economy/p1) Please let us know what you think! **Categories:** News --- ### [April 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/09/april-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** May 9, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from April! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from April! If you’d like to join them for May, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Uzriel’s [The Scribe’s Wish](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/120/) #### Runner-Ups Coraline’s [Various Village Verselets](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/113/) Ethna’s [The Asylum – a short story](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/112/) Illyria’s [Star-crossed](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/111/) #### Merit Aeza’s [The Listeners](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/110/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Cerin’s [The Emergence of Syn](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/04/syn.jpg) #### Runner-Up Esei’s [Viscanti](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/04/new-wings-new-wings-new-wings.png) #### Merit Kethaera’s [Manteekan](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/04/manteekan.JPG) Zagreus’ [Chef Gioia Shucks](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/04/Gioia.png) **Categories:** Artbards, Uncategorized --- ### [May Auctions](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/05/01/may-auctions/) **Published:** May 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** For the month of May, we'll be having a 30% credit sale and running auctions for both gold and credits. **Content:** For the month of May, we have a couple of things for you to take advantage of and look forward to! We’ll be having a 30% credit sale, meaning you’ll get an additional 30 credits for every 100 purchased! Double XP Tuesdays will help you get to your experience/essence goals. And lastly, we’ll be holding four separate auctions throughout May. The first auction starts next weave and will run for one week, followed by 3 more auctions throughout the month. The first and third auctions will be gold auctions whilst the second and fourth auctions will be credit auctions. We’ll be auctioning a homestead that won’t be required to be within an organization territory, customizations for emotes, demigod entrance and exits, teleport messages, typecasts (for orgs/clans), looktext, guises, a doll, and even custom hair or beard curios. Some of our big ticket credit items will be available as well as past auction items that are not generally available. We also have a couple new artifacts going up for the first time in the second auction, and then again in the fourth. Here’s what will be auctioned each week currently. We may add items throughout the month if there are loud requests for them. ## Week 1 (Gold) Cubix Changeling Intaglio Changeling Cameo Zombie Skin Sempiternal Libram Thinking Cap Pentagonal Puzzle Hyperpyramid Wand of Ice Wand of Fire Wand of Illusions Scissors of Atropos Rune of Absorption Shield Rune Music Rune Great Rune of Demesnes Superior Rune of Fitness Superior Rune of the Mind Superior Rune of Beauty Superior Rune of Health Regeneration Superior Rune of Mana Regeneration Superior Rune of Ego Regeneration Greater Rune of Dominion Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Typecast ## Week 2 (Credits) Staff of Illusions (new!) Sandals of the Wanderer (new!) Master Bubblix (new!) Crit Rune lvl 4 Cement Socks Scissors of Atropos Drums of Kiakoda Promise Rings Survivalist Chalice Boots of Shanth Book of the Dead Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Hyperpyramid Sempiternal Libram Starchart Scentomatic Piercing Eye Silvery Cap Rune of the Eternal Sigil Great Rune of Charisma Chaos Hamster Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Hair/Beard Curio (new!) ## Week 3 (Gold) Cubix Changeling Intaglio Changeling Cameo Superior Rune of Paranoia Superior Rune of Charity Superior Rune of Seduction Superior Rune of Empowerment Superior Rune of Weakening Superior Rune of Cutting Resistance Superior Rune of Blunt Resistance Superior Rune of Magical Resistance Superior Rune of Fire Resistance Superior Rune of Cold Resistance Superior Rune of Poison Resistance Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Resistance Superior Rune of Electricity Resistance Superior Rune of Psychic Resistance Superior Rune of Excorable Resistance Superior Rune of Divinus Resistance Superior Rune of Cutting Enchancement Superior Rune of Blunt Enchancement Superior Rune of Magical Enchancement Superior Rune of Fire Enchancement Superior Rune of Cold Enchancement Superior Rune of Poison Enchancement Superior Rune of Asphyxiation Enchancement Superior Rune of Electricity Enchancement Superior Rune of Psychic Enchancement Superior Rune of Excorable Enchancement Superior Rune of Divinus Enchancement Gnome Weapon of your choice with 9 gears of your choice. Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Typecast Custom Guise ## Week 4 (Credits) Staff of Illusions (new!) Sandals of the Wanderer (new!) Master Bubblix (new!) Crit Rune lvl 4 Cement Socks Scissors of Atropos Drums of Kiakoda Promise Rings Survivalist Chalice Boots of Shanth Torus Book of the Dead Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Hyperpyramid Sempiternal Libram Starchart Scentomatic Piercing Eye Silvery Cap Rune of the Eternal Sigil Great Rune of the Magi Chaos Hamster Plushie Custom Homestead Custom Doll Custom Guise Custom Hair/Beard Curio (new!) **Categories:** News --- ### [Position Change](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/20/position-change/) **Published:** April 20, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Effective today, Ianir is stepping down from the position of Assistant Producer and will be transferring to a strictly roleplay-focused godmin role. **Content:** Effective today, Ianir is stepping down from the position of Assistant Producer and will be transferring to a strictly roleplay-focused godmin role. As his duties will no longer be player-facing, and he won’t have access to the same level of information as before, it will be an adjustment for all of us. We know you have relied on him for many things and leaned on him for answers, but there are systems in place to get that information still and we hope you will redirect your queries there. Bugs, issues, email, forums – there are all the right avenues – and Orael and I, along with many of our godmin, are in the Official Discord too. This is a transition rather than a farewell, but you may not hear from him for a while. He will be focusing on his new role and the duties that come with it so please give him the space to do so. Emails to ianir@lusternia.com will redirect to support@lusternia.com going forward, and he has requested that we ask for people not to message him or attempt to contact him on any other platform with questions. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lurking Beauty and Danger in the Rhizoda Mangrove](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/10/lurking-beauty-and-danger-in-the-rhizoda-mangrove/) **Published:** April 10, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Whispers of the dread pirates of Captain Teyitha Contelli have long been heard in passing across the Basin of Life, from daring heists on the high seas to the transport of illegal cargo in a black market. **Content:** Whispers of the dread pirates of Captain Teyitha Contelli have long been heard in passing across the Basin of Life, from daring heists on the high seas to the transport of illegal cargo in the black market. Yet the taurian’s once-secretive crew was revealed this Shanthin as they loudly invaded the fae stronghold of the Rhizoda Mangrove: the mysterious home of the vain sea fae, the nereids. In the surprise invasion, the loboshigaru Luki Bowtail thieved a priceless Divine artifact called the Enchanted Lyre of the Siren’s Call that belonged to the nereid Callysto, the Siren Queen of Rhizoda. However, he had vastly underestimated the fury and rage his little theft had caused. As he and his jeering crew returned to the proud ship the Spotted Dogfish, the nereids vengefully capsized the boat and entrapped them on the isle as Callysto loudly cried out for anyone in the Basin of Life to help repel the invaders. The Inner Sea frothed with Callysto’s rage as aid came from every nation, some choosing to defeat the pirates that plagued Rhizoda and others secretly doubting the intentions of the beautiful nereids. Intrepid fink cannoneers blasted away at anyone who dared to get too close, and merian swashbucklers aggressively kept away any curious onlookers with the help of cunning, fire-breathing dracnari pirates. However, it became quickly evident to Romaan, Avaris, Caleb, Gabe, and Soterasiel that the pirates desired something more than the lyre when skydiving trills captured them aboard Luki’s half-sunken ship, where a burly taurian threatened to them to reveal the location of the hidden ‘treasure’. It was Qillilitli Skydrifter of Hallifax who defeated Luki Bowtail after his morale had dropped at the devastation of his crew, but as he retreated, one of his pirates announced they had found what they truly sought – an ancient parchment that had been found within the ruins of a nearby sunken ship. With no further explanation, Luki Bowtail taunted the nereids and dropped the Enchanted Lyre of the Siren’s Call, declaring the “fishy folk” should know a red herring when they see one. Fate, however, had other plans for Callysto’s lyre. One of the mindless bog-dwelling creatures – or “boggies” – that were strewn upon the isle leapt up to take the discarded instrument, declaring that she would not allow Callysto to bear this instrument of cruelty any longer. She warned all present not to be deceived by the silver tongue and beauty of the sea fae, saying that Callysto had done a great injustice to Kalushei and her people. The nereids sneered and denied this as Kalushei vanished into the wetlands, their new mission clear: to complete a ritual that would banish the boggies from the Rhizoda Mangrove and restore Callysto’s power over the isle. Uzriel d’Vanecu spoke at length with Callysto, expressing sympathy for the invasion while Callysto urged him to assist her daughters in a strange ritual involving spirits shackled to the isle. Many others merely explored the isle and learned its hidden secrets, flattering the nereids as a way of obtaining intelligence. Avaris, Lysandus and Alarin however spoke to the mysterious Kalushei, who warned them against doing as the Siren Queen instructed them and begged them to assist her in ‘saving’ the boggies from the nereids’ cursed influence. In the end, however, Xenthos An’Ryshe was the first to appease one of Callysto’s daughters; in his haste, he read but a single page of the journal he had retrieved for Acaste, pledging himself blindly to her cause. After this act of betrayal, the elusive Kalushei refused to speak further of ways to assist her fallen people, only saying that they should beware of what Callysto and her daughters would soon do to Rhizoda. Many followed Xenthos to see if her ominous prophecy would hold true. What happened is a bloodcurdling tale perhaps best left lurking in the depths of Rhizoda’s lagoons: one of cruelty and obsession, beauty and blood. **Categories:** Events --- ### [March 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/08/march-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** April 8, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from March! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from March! If you’d like to join them for April, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Sapphira’s [An Artistic View of Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/101/) #### Runner-Ups Ethna’s [No, please](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/108/) Velcora’s [A Strange Time](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/105/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [The Beloved Bard’s Delight](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/03/MarchArtisinal.png) #### Runner-Up Esei [It’s Been A While](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/03/brrp.png) #### Merit Netra’s [Igniting the Spark](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/03/39B8169E-3B99-45F0-8564-C5AFF5E8A964.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Major Balance Changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/01/major-balance-changes/) **Published:** April 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** We have heard your concerns regarding an uneven playing field and rolled out a solution. **Content:** Hello, We have heard your concerns regarding the uneven playing field created by vast diversity and flavour of our current combat-related skills. While we have briefly considered your initial proposal to mirror skills across archetypes, we have decided to go a step further and truly standardise how combat is carried out in Lusternia. It was more work, and we had mortal and immortal coders work around the clock on this, but we managed to create a fair framework for combat by deleting all class skills. We realise this is a huge change that will require a lot of adjustment. To ease you all through this adjustment, we will be randomly firing off timequakes whenever somebody remembers to do so that you may practice your newfound, extremely balanced skills. For those unfamiliar with Lusternia combat without the massive assistance of these skillsets, we would like to introduce to you your new weapons: punch, kick, and swing. The latter of these will require purchasing a weapon, which you may do at Trader Bob (TELEPORT BOB). We are currently looking into a more magical solution at this time. Thank you, The Lusternia Team. **Categories:** News --- ### [April Present Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/04/01/april-present-extravaganza/) **Published:** April 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** For the month of April, we're running a present extravaganza. **Content:** For the month of April, we’re running a present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you purchase for the month of April, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! To sweeten the pot, we are adding the ability to EXCHANGE PRESENTS, which lets you exchange 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an Ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it still adds to it. But wait, there’s even more! When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. Lastly, every Wednesay will be Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays! Everyone will deal additional 25% damage while influencing on Wednesdays throughout April. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Merry Ruckus on Avechna's Peak](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/15/a-merry-ruckus-on-avechnas-peak/) **Published:** March 15, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Newton Caverns can be so dark. So dreary. So harsh. So boring! **Content:** Newton Caverns can be so dark. So dreary. So harsh. So boring! There’s a whole wide world outside of the caves, beyond Smoke Mountain, outside the war for survival with the gnomes, and some of us are tired of pretending there isn’t. We began to sneak outside, and we discovered so much. There’s a huge library, and caverns with floating seals, and shops filled with wonderful things. We tried loads of different foods and drinks we’d never even dreamed about before. Most of us wanted to bring these treasures back home, but not Merri. I think she was worried the gnomes might take the things we found from her, or that maybe they’d be repurposed for the war, so she found a little hole in Avechna’s Peak instead. A place she could call her home away from home, a stash for her treasures, a spot just beyond the reach of Mother Mucka and the gnomes. We held a lot of parties there with her, but eating or drinking for the sake of it gets boring, too. So we started contriving games of wit to test against one another – and, hilariously, that frustrates Merri. She threw such a fit the last time that she rambled over to the Aetherplex and demanded some strangers help her! We watched some people whose names we recognized help her out, like Tikki, who smelled like sugar, and like Rhalkyr, who smelled like the shadowy forest. It was even funnier that she made them run all over the mountain for her while she drank with Khnemu and their big, pretty wyvern friend Sedjet. She kept talking really loudly about all of them being her new friends. Maybe she was trying to make us jealous? I think I’d like to taste some of that cocoa she keeps talking about trying later. Anyway, it was so much fun to watch everyone that now, whenever we hop out of Newton Caverns to enjoy the sun above, we make a point of setting up a scavenger hunt for her to struggle through. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she makes other people solve more riddles for her again, and we’ll be there, hiding and watching, when she does! -Found within the musty diary of a dirty fink. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Official Discord](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/12/official-discord-2/) **Published:** March 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** We’re happy to announce that we have opened our Official Lusternia Discord and we would love for all of you to join. You can find the link and more information under [HELP DISCORD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=discord). We’ve prepared some staple channels for you – a place to post feedback, adorable pictures of animals, and discuss roleplay – but also some new ones – like where you can connect on an organisational level, seek help for your questing woes, and see changelogs as they are announced live. Our hope for the Discord server is that it will foster communication and community spirit among players and admin alike. Be excellent to each other and join us on this new adventure! **Categories:** News --- ### [February 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/08/february-2021-artbard-results/) **Published:** March 8, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from February! If you’d like to join them for March, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Sapphira’s [Pain and the Psychological](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/95/) #### Runner-Up Velcora’s [Moon Quest Poem](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/97/) #### Merit Ethna’s [Dear Father: Finding Myself in Slumber](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/100/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [Within Nexus Waters](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/02/TridemonandCheli.jpg) #### Runner-Up Netra’s [Niavene D’Cente](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/02/BFAD71FD-6CA1-4DCE-B92D-7CD8F0AB9F1A.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [The King is Drunk, Long Live the Party!](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/01/the-king-is-drunk-long-live-the-party/) **Published:** March 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Once more, the anniversary of the death of Old Cashel Connlaodh, King of the Leprechauns has arrived! **Content:** Once more, the anniversary of the death of Old Cashel Connlaodh, King of the Leprechauns has arrived! The leprechaun population have held their traditional gathering to celebrate his reign. However, as the green ale flowed, old arguments rose about who should lead the leprechauns. This finally resulted in overthrowing of King Seamus Connlaodh, calling for a new contest to see which of Old Cashel’s children should rule the leprechauns. Thus, Gilligan Connlaodh and Eileen Connlaodh have returned to try to wrest the crown from their brother Seamus. You can help the leprechauns choose their new leaders by helping either Eileen, Seamus or Gilligan, who each have a rainbow on the path of nature on Avechna’s Peak, where you can visit them. This is a daily quest which can be completed by influencing 10 leprechauns loyal to one of the leprechaun royalty, or slaying the upstarts and bringing proof to their royal competitors. Visit Gilligan, Eileen or Seamus when done and greet them to receive a shamrock. They’re edible and testing your luck may reward you with lessons, experience, gold, credits, or a Czigany coin (no more buffs!). Shamrocks can be combined into groups for easy carrying but be careful – your shamrocks will not be returned to you if you eat a whole batch by mistake! Oh, by the way, there’s a little known fact about leprechaun magic: they gain the power of invisibility when they’re drunk! How one can overcome that, we’ll leave it for you to discover. **Categories:** News --- ### [March Learning Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/03/01/march-learning-extravaganza/) **Published:** March 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** The month of March is one again the month of change and learning! **Content:** The month of March is one again the month of change and learning! Free classflexing throughout the month will enable to you to try new classes or skillsets while adventuring within the Basin! For those of you just getting into Lusternia, or even those of you ready to try something new, you can purchase lessons at discounted rates. Also, you can select artifact packages designed to help you get a head start in your new class. Select from the Bard, Mage/Druid, Guardian/Wiccan or Monk/Warrior packages for some specific class rune needs or check out the Vitals packages for utility and survivablity boosts! If you want to take full advantage of classflexing, see our Ultimate Classflexing Artifact Package! Additionally, we’ll be running Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays, which will give everyone a 25% boost to damage against denizens every Monday throughout the entire month! See [credits](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) for details! **Categories:** News --- ### [Valentine Skins Going Away](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/26/valentine-skins-going-away/) **Published:** February 26, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** All Valentine-themed artifact skins available in the aritfact shop will be disabled on March 5th. **Content:** All Valentine-themed artifact skins available in the aritfact shop will be disabled on March 5th and will only become available again for February of next year. If you are interested in picking up something red, rosy, and glamorous, or dark and suggestive of a broken and cold heart, now’s your chance! Check out ashop as all those skins have been given an additional keyword (valentines) for easy browsing. See: ASHOP LIST KEYWORD VALENTINES. **Categories:** News --- ### [Q&A Livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/19/qa-livestream-2/) **Published:** February 19, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** The postponed livestream returns this Saturday - February 20th at 8 pm GMT. **Content:** As mentioned in the newsletter, the postponed livestream returns this Saturday – February 20th at 8 pm GMT. Power outages and the snowpocalypse continue to rage on but we’re cautiously optimistic neither will get in the way. We’ll be answering questions asked in the original forum thread and privately, but we might be able to answer extra questions as well. Leave your new queries on the [forum version of this post](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4349/announce-post-3123-q-a-livestream) or send them to Uilani! Follow us at twitch.tv/lusternia and watch our [social media](https://twitter.com/Lusternia) for updates when we go live. Hope to see you there! **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [The hunter, the heirloom, and the blizzard](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/08/the-hunter-the-heirloom-and-the-blizzard/) **Published:** February 8, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** During the early days of Shanthin, year 581, a strong wind surged through the Basin. Thick white clouds carried by the strong winds formed above Snow Valley, releasing a flurry of snow. As the blizzard grew stronger, a loud cry echoed from the valley, barely loud enough to be heard over the wind. **Content:** During the early days of Shanthin, year 581, a strong wind surged through the Basin. Thick white clouds carried by the strong winds formed above Snow Valley, releasing a flurry of snow. As the blizzard grew stronger, a loud cry echoed from the valley, barely loud enough to be heard over the wind. Sondayga Zayah and Olyphar Ryseni were the first to arrive in Snow Valley, but it was Parhelion Ceartas who was the first to find the young hunter lost amongst the snow. Aethen Shevat and Olyphar soon joined him as they offered assistance to help the hunter out of the snow. They discovered that the hunter had lost something very important and needed to find it before he left Snow Valley. The group trekked through the snow, Jolanthe Myeras protecting the hunter and the group from the local fauna, finally reaching the destination where the hunter last remembered having his heirloom. The group and the hunter all searched around the frozen lake on the north side of the valley to no avail. Leaning against a large mound of snow to take a brief rest, the young hunter found himself crashing through the snow and into a cave, injuring himself in the fall. Rekath Ryseni provided warmth for the hunter as Azazilliy and Jolanthe Myeras set out to recover the heirloom. They were unsuccessful but, sitting around the fire, Dannic offered insight into his activities before the blizzard. Taking note of that, several adventurers set forth to seek the missing item around the valley. Azazilliy returned shortly after, presenting the hunter with a wooden figurine – the hunter’s lost heirloom – much to his relief. Sulwh, Rekath, and Olyphar remained behind to keep the hunter company for a short while, before leaving him to rest and recover. While Dannic has decided to remain in Snow Valley for the time being and attempt to self manage his injury, it is unclear when or if he will be able to leave the area any time soon. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Mortal Reviewer Applications](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/12/mortal-reviewer-applications/) **Published:** February 12, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** We would like to remind you that We are as ever accepting applications for mortal reviewers to assist us in maintaining the design queue of the various crafting cartels across the Basin. **Content:** We would like to remind you that We are as ever accepting applications for mortal reviewers to assist us in maintaining the design queue of the various crafting cartels across the Basin. [HELP 22.2](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=mortal-reviewers) details precisely how to apply to become a mortal reviewer. We encourage that your application be posted on the Plots newsboard or emailed to charites@lusternia.com, and note that any interested parties may submit an application at any time; we will accept new reviewers per our need. Note as well: While you do not have to be Trademaster of a cartel to become a mortal reviewer – though such will doubtless be to your credit – you must have successfully submitted at least two designs through the crafting system. These are the minimum criteria for applying. **Categories:** News --- ### [Why Good Gods Leave](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/09/12/why-good-gods-leave/) **Published:** September 12, 2016 **Author:** Lisaera **Content:** Burnout is a very, very real sensation that most of us encounter in the Havens. We have a fairly decent support group as members of the same administration, but there’s no denying the crushing reality that is the number of hours it takes to perform any of our behind-the-scenes duties. Building areas, programming quests, slogging through pages and pages of fictional writing to judge, handling hundreds of issues from paying customers… There’s a lot. In the end, this is a volunteer job that we do, and the only real compensation is knowing that we’ve done a good job for our players. That’s why it’s such a pity when a God leaves it all behind because of the playerbase. **Interacting with mortals is a God’s reward** When we are starting out as wee ephemerals, having an order and giving life to a god role is really the prime objective. It’s what drives all of our bright-eyed plotting and planning. The grueling hours and hours of creating a quest and then an entire area needs to lead to something, and full Godhood is just that. These are the specific steps we take to become “Alpha.” It unlocks several new commands and gives us the ability to be relatively autonamous, in terms of building and manipulating the game. Having “ultimate cosmic power” isn’t enough without the added bells and whistles that come from supporting and building a thriving mythos around your character, however. What’s the point of being able to snap your fingers and send people flying if you can’t actually show it off? Who cares if you can create entire worlds if you can’t show a group of adoring players? The real fun of being a god comes from actually interacting with the playerbase, which, if done well, is also a lot of fun for you. This also means that if you have ever received any “perks” from your chosen deity, such as a cult or a special plot, you can be certain that an event that may have taken a little over an hour probably took your god at least three hours to set up (depending on how complex the programming was). If you have earned a cult, you’ve received a gift that takes hours and hours to plan, execute, and maintain. Be proud of these things! The god is basically saying “I like you enough to do extra work for you.” See below. **Behind-the-scenes work is still work** Achieving Alpha, or full god, isn’t an invitation to stop working. In fact, it typically means that our workload increases, especially if we’re the go-getter types who take on even more responsibilities. Do you like reading? Sure! Then here — read these 20+ submissions by the end of the month and we’ll judge them together! Do you like rules and organized punishment? Do you like solving problems? Great! Review these 50+ player-born cases and make sure you make everyone happy, if you can. If you can’t, try again. Do you like grammar and punctuation? Perfect! Take these 300+ submissions of player designs and determine whether they’re ready to be inserted into the game. On and on and on. Factor in all of the additional work, such as the End of Year event planning and building, monthly promotions, and assisting with new ephemerals, and we’re talking about 20+ hours for people who are truly dedicated (of which there are a fair few) and at least 10+ hours for Alphas who can’t reasonably give up that much time. So, if you’ve been following along, our reward for achieving Alpha, which is building and maintaining an order and roleplaying a God role, is relegated to the end of the laundry list of administrative duties. For the most part, this makes the reward all the sweeter after all of this toiling. **Being a God character is also hard work** Imagine no longer having a real voice. Imagine no longer having freedom to make mistakes. Consider what it would be like to log in, know you have a mountain of chores to do, and decide to interact with a group of people over and over again, knowing that you’ll only have that one pocket of the playerbase to work with. What would it look like to know that no matter what you do, no matter what you say, your decisions have an immense weight to the them and will be ridiculed/reviled/praised? *It is difficult.* I’ve made it sound like a terrible, horrible burden, and sometimes, to be plain, it can be. Other times, it’s a miracle of real Divine light when things go well. Will my order lose its mind when I reveal X secret? Will the city or commune I patron hate me for counseling one of the contenders in an election? Will the players involved in X event react strongly if I actually do respond to a prayer or two regarding the outcome? I am well within my right, as a god, to make any decision I’d like, the playerbase be damned. We have quite a bit of wiggle room when it comes to how we interact with players, and it’s always baffling to us when players think there is some sort of “divine codex” that is designed to “keep us in line.” As long as we don’t go completely renegade and slaughter all of you over and over, despite how tempting it may be sometimes, we truly are up to our own whimsy when it comes to player interactions. Have you ever seen Viravain angry? Do you remember what it was like when someone dishonored Terentia? Who can tell me what it was like when Fain was made a fool of? We’re gods. We’re encouraged to rain mayhem down upon your silly mortal world. But, again, refer to the first paragraph of this section. If being a god, an all-powerful super entity, is our only reward for all of the work we do, why would we want to anger our community? It’s like a genie’s iron shackles, in some ways — ultimate cosmic power, itty-bitty living space. So, we inevitably stress over towing the mortal line until, one day, we’ve had enough. **There are definite benefits to volunteering** We all gain something from the experience. I, for example, have been able to reasonably say to an employer that I can manage large and seemingly impossible projects that have several moving parts (events require splitting your brain 16 ways to monitor everything). You also learn, very quickly, how to work with ideas that are mind-bogglingly foreign to you, which helps stretch your imagination to its limits. Knowing, as well, that you have contributed to such a stunning masterpiece feels good. It’s like being an author who gets to see his or her audience engage the materials right in front of you. I’ve also gained a family of people who I would do anything for. After all of the labor, after all of the player grief, after all of the headaches and hard work, *nothing* beats the relationships that grow from long hours of helping another person. I know, without really any doubts in my mind at all, that I can reach out to anyone from my Havens family and ask for advice or help or some kind of solace, and they’ll deliver. We’re a tight-knit group, we Havens nerds, and it’s a great feeling to know that we all have each others’ backs. It’s why the last section of my post is difficult to write, and why it hurts so much to see any of us go for these reasons: **Players can be cruel** To some players, our roles as god characters are not easily separated from our duties as administrators. Additionally, and this is true for most of us, we’re inhabiting characters that are 10+ years old with a lot of old baggage. Grudges are kept alive by older players that we have no reasonable memory of (because we’re different people!), and it’s always shocking how quickly those grudges decompose into modern-day issues. We’ll play along or ignore it, but no matter what we do, it’s futile to try and fight it. Gods are the easiest targets, after all, because we’re all-powerful. Pause. Reread my last sentence. Now remember everything else I’ve written about the work we pump into Lusternia and how our visible roles are meant to be fun. Put yourselves in our shoes and try to realize a couple of things: 1. When we’re visible, we’re often handling IC player issues (especially if we’ve agreed to patron any organizations). 2. When we’re visible, we’re usually called upon to facilitate more RP for the players, outside of the work we’ve already done in events and in building. 3. We’re the immediate targets of ridicule from people who dislike us, especially if our roles are older and have a lot of baggage. I’ve developed a pretty thick skin over the past 4 years, so I’m more or less accustomed to being verbally abused “all for the sake of good roleplay,” but just consider what this could mean to a new god who has JUST taken on a role. 4. Negativity regarding our god roles, in any form, is generally taken as a direct reflection of our only real reward. When we upset someone or somehow throw off the player equilibrium, we don’t get a vindicated “I’m big, you’re small” sensation from it (unless that works with our god characters, and very few have that kind of anti-charisma). For example, if I say something on-trend about the cities and a city enthusiast claps back, gets her friends to clap back, and then gets the whole community to clap back, my options for defending myself … don’t really exist. I could burn down Serenwilde and blame it on the Crone’s wildness, I could ignore it and let the anti-Lisaera propaganda continue until it’s just a burden to log in anymore, I could tell my order to handle that issue for me and be seen as aloof from the opposing camp … I COULD do a lot of things, but the repercussions for my actions far outweigh the repercussions for yours. The “ultimate cosmic power” I mentioned above truly does come with an itty-bitty living space. When players sense those weaknesses, it’s only a matter of time before they jump on them. Forums rants, undercurrents of discussions in tells and on org channels, casual emotes in what we think are big interactions — no matter what face it takes, the negativity this playerbase shows its god characters is harsh, and it’s a primary factor in what determines how long a god lasts. **We can put up with a lot … but not forever** All of us are coached by older gods to keep a stiff upper lip when dealing with this kind of fall-out. Everyone experiences it, in some form or another, and it is always the same pattern. We make a decision, either in-character or through some sort of event, and it does not comport to the status quo’s ideal (virtual) reality. We ride out the consequences and hope for the best, but when the negativity doesn’t end, we’re left with limited responses. A) Scheme up ways to make the status quo happy again by manipulating our visible interactions, all in an effort to mend bridges (even with players who are openly aggressive), B) hope for those players to come to their senses and realize they’re dealing with real people, too, and that OOC negativity is grating, C) get Estarra involved and see if she has any lasting ideas for patching up a toxic god/player environment, or D) quit and never look back. I have watched incredible administrators terminate years of amazing work because of how terribly they’ve been treated by the playerbase. There are too many examples to really list any, especially if I’m going to keep their identities politely hidden, but suffice to say, the attitude right before their final log-in day is “mortals are trolls and I’m not dealing with it anymore.” Stop bullying gods The TL;DR summary of my post is thus: stop wondering why things aren’t getting done if you aren’t willing to respect the gods. Blind devotion is not what I’m asking for. A modicum of respect, however, is what I’m suggesting. If you’re sitting in front of your computer screen and staring longingly at an unanswered message from your deity, ask yourself if said god is feeling appreciated. Why would we work for people who actively try to drive us away? Even if this isn’t the goal when you tell all of your friends how terrible that event/that decision/that interaction/that discussion/that RP was, remember that we don’t reap any real benefits from serving Lusternia. We create for you, and we’re happy when you’re happy. Give us your feedback. Tell us, honestly, what you think about our work. Just don’t be indignant trolls about it or you’ll lose us all. It’s sort of comical that anyone would ever question why we don’t have our reports finished or our administrative tasks complete when we’re very rarely appreciated. A general note: a fair number of our players are gems and wonderful to work with. To those of you who recognize the work we put into the game, thank you. This post is not designed for you. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Week in the Life of an Insomniac Admin](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/09/27/week-in-the-life-of-an-insomniac-admin/) **Published:** September 27, 2016 **Author:** Drocilla **Content:** Whenever summer comes around my sleeping habits become utterly atrocious. I work part-time during those months, waiting for the school year to begin and, with it, my job. The following diary is a result of this sleeplessness and having definitely too much time on my hands at times. Normally one would spread all of this activity over two or even three weeks! Though the entries most often go hour by hour, sometimes only half an hour or less would actually be spent on whatever is mentioned. Some smaller interactions are not mentioned, neither is obtaining sustenance or maintaining contact with the real world. I hope this gives you all a better look at the behind the scenes work that goes into being a Volunteer Administrator in Lusternia. **Entry 1** **2am** Learning how to be a wild npc girl in a world trying to make you into a lady. Meant for it to take 10 minutes tops, took an hour. Lots of fun. **3am** Brainstorming a horrible, twisted project with Manteekan, it's the best, we're so wicked. It shall be known as **Project Redrum**. **4am** Still plotting with Manteekan. Brand new ideas take a while to get rolling, lots of fiddling with lore. We also now have a secret handshake. #Traitors4Lyfe **5am** Cashing in on melodramatic mind games with eager Orderlings, mmm the angst. Love the Dark Galadriel moments when Dro reveals her secret plots. All shall love me and despair! **6am** Sleepy but can't abandon Orderlings to figure out unintuitive Rapture syntax on their own, not that cruel. **7am** Feeling bad about having fun rather than addressing a bug. Go fix bug. Code is so 2005. Turns out to be actually that old, lots of exasperation follows. **8am** Doing admin things with Jadice is better than coffee. **Entry 2** **8pm** Discussing progress and direction of some Ephs, seeking the best solutions. **9pm** Doing research on **Project Sophie** to make an informed decision. Using Sparkles as sounding board, hoping he doesn't run for the hills due to complexity of the problem. **10pm** Reviewing a bunch of \[REDACTED\] in the quiet of the divine hot tub, Nocht sneaks in silently to help out. **12am** Discussing **Project Dance** possibly happening with fellow admin, much excite. Yessss, coerced Lisaera into drinking some distilled soulless essence after spooking her about her wrinkles, see Fain love her now. **1am** Random discussion with Zvoltz leads to something utterly absurd and awesome, might work on that some more down the line. It shall be known as **Project Noir**. **2am** Found a project for the Sergeant to do that will help keep documentation organised. Pros: they have busywork, Est gets a nice reference page, less work for me! **3am** IC: cackling and sharing popcorn with Viravain while Lisaera rages in the skies; OOC: feeling awful for all parties involved, sucks when this happens and is never easy for either side. Especially when Lis is all: I wanna go watch RuPaul's Drag Raaaaace! **4am** Zvoltz introduces Sparkles to Hallifax while the rest of us peanut gallery the hell out of it, the jokes are hilarious and absurdly awful at once. Manteekan perfects the Traitor gang sign so we can greet each other with proper respect. Applauded Orderlings for organising a Vengeance game, favours for all involved. Love any social gatherings, period. **Entry 3** **7pm** Called into the boss' office, good chat about admin things, got assigned **Project FatBird**. **8pm** Squealing with fellow admin over **Project Dance** being approved and in motion, so happy. **4am** Swooped by Mag for some empowering interactions. Almost accidentally emoted "slips a dollar bill into Zvoltz's thong" at a player because I was sure my last "em s" would have been a smile emote. Oops. Cursing at the locks/keys system, my inventory is a veritable graveyard of invisible locks that defy Rapture rules. **5am** Weekly tidy up party: catch up on news posts I missed from non-priority boards, weed through system messages. Looks like Lisaera wanted to declare enmity a year ago. I missed the message somehow. Great excuse to plan a catfight. Fidgeting with the list of coordinators for the Annviersary games in October, we need a few more sign-ups. **Entry 4** **6pm** Doing some reorganising on our twiki, planning further adjustments. Formalised the Traitor gang sign into an emote, #CoterieRespect **7pm** Looking over templates Sarge submitted somehow leads into a lengthy discussion about quest design, pitfalls and common errors, and storytelling about that one time when Shanthmark... **8pm** Brainstorming session for Halloween. Mag's being active and awesome. I'm busy but half paying attention and writing down names for people to engage later. Sent a few encouraging words to someone hosting an event. **9pm** Discussing some things related to EOY with Weiwae. Bothering Iosai, I'm sure she's sick of me asking when we'll get xterm colours for prog. **10pm** Per request: adjusting the Mag sunset to also show on the rooftop. Should the top of a tower even have a rooftop? Perhaps it's best not to ask. Got a group going to discuss **Project Sophie**. We have as many fors as againsts, torn on the solution. We realise the best solution, which mitigates the againsts, would involve codework but we can't spare the resources now. Going to wait for a few more people to weigh in. **11pm** Brushing up on an event Grumps is running later today. Need to be on top of the outline and progs in case something goes wrong and there's a need to step in, either to stall or help figure out the problem. **12am** Orderlings doing stuff. I'm busy progging something but snooping on them and helping with ambient lines to make things cooler. I mean, a knife dramatically dropping into your hand, out of thin air, at your command, is cool, right? Trying to come up with something fun and small for Mag to do, something that won't take too much out of **Project FatBird**. Arrived at a nice idea but decided to do that one later, perhaps for the Bloodfaire. **1am** Dusted off my library prestige rubric and read through submissions. Some people go with their gut, I need a neatly-outlined rubric to evaluate. Go big or go home. Squealing some more about **Project Dance** and brainstorming some ideas. **2am** Time for the event. Hovering like a protective momma but everything's going okay. Arguing with other admin which Sailor Senshi is the best. Saturn ofc. **4am** Event still ongoing, few minor hiccups, normal stuff! Would stay till the end regardless but the chance to see Steingrim in a corset and lipstick seducing an npc helps me stay awake. **Entry 5** **5pm** Browsing through issues, bugs, and such to see if there's anything urgent. Messages reveal I will have to get into it with another lock today, RIP my inventory. **6pm** Cookie's getting ready to meet her new org soon, lots of fussing around with the right concept and attire. **7pm** Further discussing **Project Redrum** with Manteekan, also explained **Project Noir**, he loves it. Came across a serious bug. The deeper I go, the worse it looks. Wrote up a report so bosslady can weigh in on this. **8pm** More brainstorming with Manteekan on **Project Redrum**, design is hard when you want to do something absolutely new. **10pm** Long talk with Manteekan about direction of \[REDACTED\]. We have some concerns, shared our woes, and thought of ways to make it better. **11pm** While Grumps is poking at the weather system he spots that one of the areas I worked on is, in fact, lacking one altogether. Well that's awkward. Bosslady greenlights solution 2 on the bug report. Implementing. **1am** Feeling so unproductive today, should be working on **Project FatBird**. Talking on and off with Manteekan about **Project Redrum** and other things we want to work on is relaxing, general chitchat in the havens. **2am** Looking for some things for an RP thing I want to do with someone later. Trolled a fellow admin with an entertaining twiki entry regarding them. Manteekan's spooking people and I'd love to watch but back to the drawing board for something small for Mag. **Project Heist** is born. **3am** Simple idea turns complex, as they are wont to do. **5am** Still working on this, time flies. Always takes longer than you'd think, even after I locked Ephs down in the dungeon and put them to work. Explaining how and what you want done sometimes takes longer than doing it yourself. Ephs learn valuable skills though! Like all sorts of cheats and hacks to get something working right. Perhaps I'm teaching them the wrong things... **6am** Not done with the initial prep but wrote up an outline on the twiki, best to have things documented so others have a reference if they want to chip in. Tired. **7am** I want to go to bed but I definitely drank too much coffee >: Gonna stop by Mag but first patiently waiting for people to finish whatever they're doing so I'm not an interrupting buttmunch. Still waiting. Maybe I should start throwing "how progresses" at people. **9am** Someone might be half a zombie for work tomorrow but we had a good talk and covered a lot of ground, yay! I may have to write down discussion points for next time, I get distracted by shiny things to discuss way too easily. Ooo, is\_mpos flag... **Entry 6** **6pm** Time to wrap up prep for **Project Heist**. There isn't seemingly that much left to do but Estarra always says we should prepare as much in advance as we can, perhaps even some dialogue bits, because improvising during a release is stressful. Not to mention being overprepared frees you up to react with more flexibility to changes or hurdles during the release. **7pm** Sarge will do his very first mobpossession during the event so we go over everything the help file doesn't cover. That involves entertaining/embarrassing stories too. Amnesia dust, amnesia dust! **8pm** Still working on progs but also still working on mpos with Sarge and joking around with admin. **9pm** Fluffing the event with things, in theory, entirely unnecessary - more mobs and items to give the appearance of realism. **11pm** Talking on and off but working in earnest now. A few more progs need doing so things are automated rather than need my manual input. Doing it manually would be viable for some things but creates more room for error. Doesn't hurt to keep that prog hand strong either. **12am** See, this is why I should only ever work under pressure. If I know I have the time, I will keep on adding complexity till I must stop or miss my self-imposed deadline. Not that anyone will even probably notice the extras but -I- will know and I will be entertained by them existing. **1am** Love those "great minds think alike" moments. Decided I want a wanted poster for **Project Heist**. Sarge asks if there's anything left to do. I ask if he's ever played Dishonored. Epicness ensues. Darvellan and I puzzle at odd indent in my progs. Turns out my Sublime Text settings were the culprit. Ok, so maybe my "small something for Mag" idea has taken on a life of its own. No regrets. **Project FatBird** is not that urgent. **2am** Most things are done or delegated, still have to test things before getting this show on the road. Dropped by Cacophony to save the day with their altar malfunctioning. Another moment for the history books. We discuss constable personalities. I ask if they've read Pratchett. Oh, this is going to be a riot and a half. **4am** How many admin does it take to decipher the manual? 4 apparently. Stumbled upon odd behaviour from Rapture but we made it through. Eph delivers on the paintings I requested, I knew their aesthetic would fit this project perfectly. Everything is finally fully tested and ready to go. Wanted to start an hour earlier but this is still Mag prime time, perfect. We're going full improv mode for all dialogue and lines after all. Getting a little anxious because I'll be managing a team when I usually lone wolf anything not of EOY size. And I'll be letting Ephs run in "my" Mag. Just breathe. **5am – 7am** First mpos is me and Sarge, it's easier with a partner who can take the lead if you get nervous. Commotion at the gates goes great, except players choose to go to different mobs than anticipated. Can't see the screen because of real tears, Sarge is dying too. We pulled off the constables at the estate better than I ever could have pre-planned. To get the gist of the story right I handle both mobs for the interview. Handed off one to entertain the salon while I ensure the urchins are dispersed properly by the prog. The raid is underway, citizens guard the gates, improv ftw. May have started a fire for laughs. Everything is going great. Sarge is on top of the cell guard who someone insists on bribing, while Grumps hops around making sure the mechanics are firing properly. Time for the trial. Read some of that epic wanted poster because it's so good. Verdict: hanging. Glad because that one was going to be the most flashy. Had both outcomes desced and progged though! Sidebar: A third and fourth option was briefly discussed and, ngl, prayed it won't be used because it would involve way more improv, even if from players than me. It would easily add another half hour when the hour was already ungodly. Execution occurs on the IG morning, which is perfect because that's exactly how the reward painting was written to be ahead of time, no edits needed! Alternative outcome painting sits in my purse. Prog thwarts me because I forget I fiddled with mob reset rooms in it, so when I use my usual method to pull the urchins out, they respawn in the cells. Oops. Amnesia dust! Dying, dead, deaded. Now I must sleep because the alarm clock will shriek in 5 hours. **Entry 7** **8pm** Handling some bugs, brain hurts from scutwork. Forwarding some questions to coders. Stage 2 of **Project Heist** is going down later tonight but my mind is still too drained from last night to function. Writing a thank you post to the Ephs for their help. They know I appreciate it but extra thank yous on top never hurt. **9pm** Running this blog by fellow admin for opinions. Discussing some bug-related things with coders. **10pm** Xterm Colour Rights campaign part 2. Iosai says she'll keep looking for an implementation. But she has so much on her plate I fear for her taking on more at any point in the future. Sidebar: It's irrelevant, and Iosai knows I know, and she knows I ask only to know if it's even still on the table for sometime in the future. The same way every few months I ask if we could get weather hooks for progs. My internet connection is atrocious, I keep dc'ing every 30 seconds. Discussion with Grumps about ambient messages for areas. Iosai makes a rainbow with all xterm colours via prog. Just like that. Snaps her fingers and bam, it works now. Like it's no biggie to code. Now and forever she shall be known as the Rainbow Queen. Move aside Isune! **11pm** Joking with Ephs about the nicknames they got in this blog. Iosai, Weiwae, and Sarge go back and forth on the best way to implement the new colour range into prog - numbers or colour names? Idc, just gimmie! Iosai rocks my world again. She just added the weather hooks I casually mentioned before. I owe her drinks, dinner, and my firstborn. **12am** Looking over edits Manteekan added to **Project Redrum**, things are shaping up bit by bit. Long talk with Mysrai, general chit chat in the havens. **1am** Talking with Ephs and generally messing around, fiddling with Iosai's additions. I have a sunset just waiting for a new coat of paint. **2am** Making some changes to the second part of **Project Heist**. Tweaking some rooms for the hot potato so they're more secretive. Manteekan and I brag about our Traitor gang sign to Lisaera. At first she's confused but then it dawns on her and she spits to the ground in digust, vows to make an anti-Traitor gang emote, and dares to badmouth Fain. Nobody badmouths Fain but his Bellatrix! This shall not be forgotten. In the end we do all agree that Fain thinks with his... umm... mask, though. **3am** Mag seems to be on fire, taking names and getting council things done. Not interrupting. **4am** Offered my help getting some things coded for an exhibition Mag is working on, got told to go away because they don't want to overwork me. Rude! **5am** Looking up some faction things and discussing them with Mag. **6am** Chitchat and gossip about everything from flame-painted copper to teas from China. Mag's off for their astral hunt so I'll run the rest of **Project Heist** tomorrow. Bouncing an idea off the faction clan, they're down for pretty colours rain ambients. Score! **Project Atmosphere** is born. **7am** Fiddling with how to hack the weather with Jadice, we're also trying to figure out real life equivalents for weather systems we study. Magnagora's seems vaguely sub-tropical. [Picture of passed out Drocilla by the talented hand of one of our Ephemerals!] **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Second Hand Shoes](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/08/17/second-hand-shoes/) **Published:** August 17, 2015 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** We all know that sometimes, when a Divine returns after a long time away, they’re not quite the same. We all talk about it – though we pretend we’re not, and do it behind closed doors. In our community there is a taboo against questioning whether the Divine you’re interacting with now is played by the same person as they were before, and for good reason – the volunteers who give their time and efforts to the game should be able to do so on their own merits, unclouded by other influences. I am here to tell you that actually, there are some times where you might actually want to stop to consider the possibility of your Divine being different. You see, I am not the Maylea you knew before. I am Maylea 2.0, and I have had the pleasure and terror of stepping into quite a large pair of shoes. For those unfamiliar with the role, suffice it to say that the sheer quantity of lore and the complexity of her history has been simultaneously wonderful and overwhelming to take on. And all this whilst also trying to make Maylea mine – because there’s no fun in spending your time trying to be someone else. Oh wait, roleplaying game! But you know what I mean. Now several months into my life as Maylea, I would like to talk to you about some of the hurdles this has thrown before me and – perhaps most importantly – what you can do to help. I am far from the first to take on an existing Divine and I will certainly not be the last, so here are some explanations and tips for you when dealing with returning Divine. — 1. Don’t assume they remember everything. Luckily for me, there are a lot of logs on the forums of some of the important events in Maylea’s history – there are IC records too, and game logs I can access. My predecessor was also really good at keeping notes on everything, which made my life so much easier in ways I cannot begin to express. But…I still don’t know everything. I would like to think that I am aware of most of the major events in Maylea’s history, of the personalities and stories of her various priests and pets (and she has a lot, let me tell you). But it was inevitable that, mere hours after releasing, people would start asking me questions. Questions to which I had no idea of the answer. My order, bless them, would often say “Mother, remember when…” or “Mother, tell us the story of…” – and I would be left panicking, trying to deflect the conversation to a different track. I spent a lot of time praying not so much that people wouldn’t work out I was new, but that they wouldn’t think something was wrong with Maylea because she wasn’t quite what she was before. So my tip is this: if you want to bring up to a returning Divine something that happened in the past, by all means do! But don’t make it too specific, and don’t push it if you don’t get an exact answer. Even if they are the same administrator, it may well have happened so long ago that they simply can’t remember – we’re only human underneath! Alternatively, ask them via a prayer. This way they are not put on the spot as would happen if you asked them face-to-face, and can go away and research things so that they have a chance at answering. And of course, try not to get upset if they don’t answer you. 2. Be patient when interacting with them. We don’t really get to practice being Divine before it happens. Releasing, even re-releasing, is a thing that comes and goes before you realise it, and then suddenly you are the role and no matter how much you’ve gone through things in your head…it’s terrifying. I was very lucky that my release mostly went smoothly, and that the players who interacted with me were very patient and kind. But I still freeze up sometimes. The lovely Hoaracle’s recent release event was a turning point for me in terms of how comfortable I feel as Maylea – until then, I had felt very much that I was scrabbling to pass for okay, rather than actually getting to enjoy interacting with all of you. Over the course of that event I finally felt like I blossomed (sorry) and I am now much happier in the shoes I’m wearing. Which is not to say that I hadn’t been before – just that it’s taken a while for them to really fit. It’s different for everyone. As such I have spent a lot of months being very slow to respond, and being nervous about putting myself out there. The best thing you can do to support returning Divine when they’re dealing with this is to be patient. If they take a few minutes to emote back, that’s okay. If they aren’t on OT every day chatting, don’t panic that they’ve left you again. I promise you that after a while, even if that’s a few months, they’ll settle down and get the hang of things – all the moreso for your support in the meantime. 3. Don’t expect them to be the same. This may seem obvious, but it can be difficult. You may have waited a really, really long time for your Patron to come back, and very much missed the interactions you used to have them before. There’s good news and bad news about this, really: they’re back, and this is awesome! But even if they’re the same administrator, they might want a new spin on the role. If they’re a different one, their take on the role might be a bit different. As such it can be easy to feel that actually…you haven’t gotten what you want. And that’s hard. I’m not going to lie to you. Being angry, upset and disappointed that you’ve finally gotten your Patron back only to not actually get them back is totally understandable. The only thing that I would say isn’t okay is if you take it back out on them. Now, I’m not suggesting you compromise your roleplay – if for example your Patron returns only to abscond to your opposite/enemy org, you should totally hate on them for it. What I mean in this instance is OOC hate, or bitterness. The thing is that whilst feeling that way is understandable, it’s not nice for you or for your Patron – and you could be missing out on so much by focusing on those feelings. So have an open mind. Look at it not as a hideous loss but as an opportunity to explore what your Patron is like now, and how their changes can impact your own character development. Have fun with not knowing how things have changed, rather than lamenting that they changed at all. — These are just a few suggestions, of course, and doubtless there are many more things you can do to help out. But these are, I think, the most important. For those who are a fan of summaries (though I’ve tried to avoid the realms of tl;dr): be kind to returning Divine. Be mindful of the fact that they might not be the same person behind the mask, or that they could be a bit rusty even if they are. Be patient and generous in your interaction. I promise they (and I!) will get the hang of things and it will be all the more awesome for it. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### ["What is Elf on a Shelf, anyway?"](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/12/25/what-is-elf-on-a-shelf-anyway/) **Published:** December 25, 2014 **Author:** Lisaera **Content:** One fateful day off, as I sat in front of my computer with a steaming cup of coffee, it dawned on me – Elf on a Shelf is a terrifying, horrible concept that has further polluted the beautiful idea of the holiday season. What mad, commercialism-driven fiend developed this evil toy that watches people from a shelf, and *moves around on its own?* What horrors this would have meant for me if it existed when I were a wee child! A split second later, I was hard at work programming a similar toy for Serenwilde. Before I knew what I wanted to do, I remember that I was hanging out with a new (and extremely talented!) ephemeral, chatting about my ideas for this little quest. Little by little, a few more administrators happened along for the discussion. “It’s so awful. What a terrible thing to add to the holidays.” (I think Ieptix said this) “I’ve never heard of it.” (Estarra definitely said this) After spending a few minutes researching links about Elf on a Shelf for the late-comers, inspiration struck: *Hey, Lisaera. Serenwilde has been through a lot this year. You came back and then promptly fell ill for a few months, you’re about to be sick again as part of the year-end event, wars happened, alliances shifted, and everything’s kind of confusing. Let’s give them something cute this time, hmm?* And voila! That’s all it took for me to spend about five hours on my day off designing a simple mini-quest that would let players interact with Adasser (the brain child of an invaluable administrator who’s always going the extra mile for the sake of roleplay) and learn a thing or two about how the fae would have perceived the Serenwilde pantheon, eons ago. The ephemeral mentioned above helped me design the quest items, I drew up the bones and muscles for the quest itself, and together, the three of us – the ephemeral, the yet-unnamed administrator, and I – fleshed it out with visions. Later that evening, I presented our hard work to Estarra. “It’s cute!” she said, nodding enthusiastically. *Yes!* I thought. *I cannot wait for this to go live! They’re going to love it!* “Let’s make it work for every nation, though. I don’t want them to feel left out.” *Gulp.* So I went back to the drawing board. The wreaths were meant to be temporary – players would wander into a room, find the pigwidgeon, and hold onto the wreath for a few extra visions we’d tossed in for the holiday season. Then, after a couple of hours, the wreaths would vanish again, letting another player have a turn. Something temporary and frivolous and cute, in the wake of all of the bloodshed and upcoming mayhem of the notorious Year End events. If other nations were going to join in the fun, wouldn’t it be cool if the mini-quest were harder? Why not make them solve a puzzle, learn a new language, become experts in beastlore, and trek through a terrifying maze of moonfire hell and Lisaera wrath just to earn the right to find the pigwidgeon?! Let them SUFFER! Let them BURN! THIS. IS. SERENWILDE. Then I realized, *No, Lisaera, this is supposed to be cute. This is a gift. Don’t be a hater.* And so it was that I left the quest alone, altering it in small ways so that reset-times and the quest items lined up well. When Estarra came back later, she asked how it was going. I told her that I thought it was a great idea to include the other nations, and that Serenwilde’s programs were all done. She looked it over, nodded approvingly, and then told me we’d make the wreaths permanent and resetting so that players could take away another little gift this year. Now, this might seem like a little thing to you, but to me, the architect of this cute little idea, it was amazing that Estarra, the producer and my boss, liked the idea enough to make it a permanent little gift and to also include the other nations in on the fun. Then the clouds came. It clicked in my head that we wanted to release this before Christmas. The idea was generated on the 15th. Christmas was only 10 days away, and all of the active Gods were already extremely busy pumping out progs, designs, and lore (oh, my!) for the Year End event. How was I going to drop the bomb that my bright idea translated into more work for them? I could certainly drive the creative process and help set up the skeletons of the progs, but the Gods would have to fill in the visions. I know some lore for one other organization, but even that wouldn’t be enough to give players the satisfaction that comes from knowing that someone spent time and energy on building something unique to their roleplay centres. I wrote up a little “How-to” guide for our out-of-game communal boards, where we pin all of our behind-the-scenes ideas, and then wrote a post for our Admin newsboards in-game, so I could be certain everyone would see this right away. At first, I sort of said “Hey, guys, look what we’re doing! Yay, heh heh…” in person. I got a lot of “What is that? Elf on a what? Pig on a twig? Huh?” in response, but then something magnificent happened. Everyone jumped on board. Even if some people couldn’t devote too much time to the project, it was *amazing* to see so many volunteer administrators, whose lives are just as hectic and crazy as mine, throw in even a description or two so that we could create this little mini-quest. Estarra Herself, whose own life boggles my mind in how busy it is, stepped in to help me make sure that every nation had a fully-fledged, working program a day or two before the release. She wrote descriptions, she wrote dialogue, she guided other administrators who were a little lost at first, and then when it was time to kick things off, she set the stage beautifully with a day of peace without mushrooms. The work the other administrators did is gorgeous. Drocilla and the Unnamed Administrator quickly became co-architects in ensuring that everything went off without a hitch (also, have you SEEN Drocilla’s version? It’s so impressive, I’m a little jealous I didn’t come up with some of her ideas), Isune took a break from her fabulous holiday parties (she really IS a sociallite in real life, guys, so don’t think it’s an act) to add her ideas to the mix, the helpful ephemeral from above became a fast whiz at generating content for literally every organization, Nocht stepped forward from the shadows, his sister in tow, to pull beauty out of thin air, Darvellan added his amazing sense of humour and brilliant writing to Celest’s version, Yomoigu, on a dime, drew up completely outstanding artwork for his people, Crumkane hammed it up in Gaudiguch with his usual (and adorable) flair, and Mysrai, as always, manifested to work the paradigms into shape (who also leads an incredibly social and enviable life outside of the game, so we all knew she was busy). I could go on and on with my raving about how incredible this crew is, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few names (and will here about it later), but you all know how amazing they are already. What was meant to be a tiny, seemingly insigifnicant mini-quest became an exercise in teamwork and sheer creative willpower, and it was inspiring to see so many minds take my little idea and transform it into something way, way better. I hope you all enjoyed it! I know I sure did! Happy holidays, Lusternia! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Notes on Suicide Prevention](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/11/26/notes-on-suicide-prevention/) **Published:** November 26, 2014 **Author:** Lisaera **Content:** It is difficult to discuss suicide. As someone who has dealt with this idea personally and professionally, for a variety of organizations, I can vouch for how terribly hard it is for the person who is having suicidal thoughts and for the people who are doing everything they can in a supportive role. In the past few months, we, The Staff, have handled two suicide threats, the deaths of two of our players, and the backlash that comes from a very close-knit community watching its members suffer from the very real trauma that is depression. There have been a lot of tears and restless nights, and I am sure that you, the players, have felt these negative effects just as viscerally. Despite how well I believe we’ve handled the few situations that have occurred within our gaming community, you may not realize that we are neither trained nor equipped to handle this sort of thing (and taking into account this has never come up before until a few months ago). We are not reading from a manual when we determine how to react to a suicide threat. We do not have a master list of numbers to call, nor do we have the resources at our disposal to assist someone in need right away. In the spirit of transparency, it’s important for you to know that we make it up as we go, hoping like hell that we’re processing information efficiently enough to save a life. After the phone calls are made and the at-risk players are secured, when all is said and done, we’re happy to help. We love you. Our roles as volunteer administrators put us at the helm of amazingly powerful creative energy, and it thrills us to see you happy and healthy. If we can help you stay that way, we will, with just as much creative fervor. However, in an effort to better assist you in situations where suicide threats are the primary focus, where the stakes are much higher than resolving pending issues or working through design approvals, please read the following reminders very carefully: 1. **We are not public authority figures.** It may feel instinctive to turn to us for the answers to these very sensitive real-life situations, but as I stated above, we are not trained to handle this sort of thing. I think it’s necessary, however, to point out that while we are very adept with things relating to roleplay, writing, crafting, event-weaving, and some low-concern issues (that typically relate directly to the game), we are just like you. With the exception of the paid IRE staff, we are students, young professionals, retail managers, restaurant servers, teachers, and freelance writers. We are not public authority figures. In situations such as these, informing us of the possibility that one of our players is planning to hurt themselves is very generous information, but please remember that we are just as limited as you are. We will help. We like to help. But we cannot be the first people you call on to help. That is what campus police, family members, friends, police officers, and guidance counselors are for. We should be the last resort. 2. **Do not take this lightly.** If we are contacted as the last resort, we will leap into action. I have never, ever met a team of people so well-equipped to handle crisis in my life, and I worked directly with my campus on suicide prevention through QPR (a suicide prevention training program) and the LGBT (a support group for the queer community). To that end, please realize that if this situation is brought to us, we will react immediately. Chances are, we’ll decide to alert the player’s local authorities if we cannot find the information we need to reach out to the corresponding family members. What I’m really saying is this: think very, very hard about what you’re saying if you tell another player that you want to kill yourself. If you are having a bad day/week/month/year, and you’re having a flurry of negative thoughts, I will provide you with extraordinary resources that will help you resolve these painful feelings at the bottom of this post. Your life is too important for anyone to assume you’re just having a bad day, and there will be reactions to your words. 3. **We are not counselors.** When a situation like this has reached a conclusion, you may feel like reaching out to your divine patrons for emotional support. Please do not do this. Again, we are volunteer administrators who all have very diverse backgrounds, but none of us have the time or the education to help you manage this level of emotional turmoil. If you are feeling the urge to talk to someone who is an objective authority figure, please refer to the links below for a few wonderful resources. They are trained experts who will be able to provide you with the tools you’ll need to regain mental and emotional stability. 4. **We hurt, too.** In keeping with the above points, you cannot fathom how challenging it is for us to work on situations such as these. To give you an example of what we go through, I called all of our paid staff members back from their lives to help me organize this information during the last few occasions. Other high-ranking staff members who have taken on a managerial presence then spent hours helping us track down additional information we might have needed to come up with an action plan. We then consoled players, we monitored player activity, we dug through pages and pages of backlog to find answers, and when all of it was said and done, we still had our own work to do. We have to write more programs for you and build events for you, and perform daily patron duties for you. This is largely why we should be your last resort – we are so limited in what we can do, and it takes our staff hours longer to respond to this sort of thing than it would a trained professional. 5. **Do not take this as red tape.** Sometimes, you don’t know what to do. We understand. We’ll likely never have all of the answers, but what I can say, with impunity, is that if you need us because all of your ideas have failed, we are here. Every life matters, and we are so dedicated to building a community in which you can feel supported by your peers. We realize that we have positioned ourselves as the frontline managers of things like this, but I implore you to do everything in your own power first before you turn to us. The following links are here for you. Each one has some kind of service attached that will help you throughout any stage of an experience like this, whether you’re the person managing depression or know someone who is battling with thoughts of suicide. Please look at them. o National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ Self-explanatory. This should be the go-to number for those living in the USA. o International Association for Suicide Prevention: http://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres The same as the NSPL, but worldwide. o Wikipedia.org’s List of Suicide Crisis Lines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines Suicide crisis lines for Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Iran, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. o UK suicide/mental health crisis lines: – Samaritans: http://www.samaritans.org – Mind: http://www.mind.org.uk – Papyrus (which is for young people): http://www.papyrus-uk.org – People in the UK can also go into Accident & Emergency or Urgent Care centres, and most GP surgeries have an out-of-hours urgent line. o 7 Cups of Tea: http://www.7cupsoftea.com/ For when life is hard and you need someone anonymous to listen, the trained and certified active listeners here will lend their ear and the right words. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Comings and Partings](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/10/28/comings-and-partings/) **Published:** October 28, 2013 **Author:** Isune **Content:** My mentor Shikari once told me that life in the Havens revolves around three events: the arrival of new ephemerals, the transformation of an ephemeral into an Elder God, and the resignation of an admin. The first event is exciting; imagine that your small organisation only received novices once or twice a year. How thrilled you would be to have them arrive! Imagine how desperately you’d want them to stay. And then imagine seeing someone you’ve helped teach the ins-and-outs of Divine life finish their tasks, becoming an Arch Ephemeral, and then finally taking on a role as an Elder God. This is the happiest moment in the Havens, by far, and of the three, the least common. Many ephemerals do resign, having missed combat and socialising with their mortal peers, or having found the workload too unpleasant to manage. But when an eph stays, and becomes part of this small but strong community, the energy is infectious. In a way, it’s like we’ve all succeeded. So you can imagine how difficult it is to face the last of these events – parting. I had been an eph only for a little while when Maylea resigned a little over two years ago. At the time, I barely knew Maylea’s player, but had put her on a pedestal in that geeky way players do (*other players do that, right?*), swooning over her temple designs, and her peacock, and her gorgeous writing, while daydreaming that one day I, too, might be half as good as she was at her role. “You’re interested in the Fourth Circle, right?” Maylea said to me on her last day in the Havens. “Then please consider Maylea.” Mysrai has already written a post about how difficult it is to decide on your Divine role, and for awhile, I did consider Maylea. For me, though, she’d always been a role model. I was so terrified of stepping into her shoes and ruining them. I think it’s a common fear in the Havens, that taking on an older role will somehow ruin the good things the previous player infused into it. “No one could do Fain like Fain,” we used to joke. But Fain is gone now, too. Elostian, who taught me everything I know about Hallifax, is also gone. Lyreth and Shikari, who ushered me through my awkward ephemeral years, have left. One by one, the titans do eventually fall. And yet this is not inherently a sad thing. It is the end of an era, which is always difficult, but it’s also a beginning of a new era, full of new faces. Old roles without new players are just fond memories. We may not have Eventru and Lyreth, but we have Valtreth, and that’s something to be excited about. It’s a whole new perspective to embrace, just as Mysrai is different from Kalikai, just as Shikari differs from Nocht, as Isune differs from Zvoltz. And this is another reason why we are so excited whenever an ephemeral reaches godhood – because it heralds the start of these new experiences and beginnings. I feel too often, it is easy to cling to the things we have lost, and this can make people afraid to gain new things. You have no idea how many times an ephemeral feels as I once did, looking through dormant godroles and thinking, “There is no way I can do justice to this role. There is no way I can be as good as they once were.” I once told Eventru I could never imagine anyone else taking on his role. He’d said, amused, “I used to think that way about godroles. But sometimes people surprise you.” And so I continually hope to be surprised. If you are reading this, Iosai, you are deeply missed. The Havens mourn you. And if anyone else who once floated around these cloudy halls is reading this, you too are missed. Thank you for all the memories you’ve given us, and all the time you’ve shared. And to those of you who dream of writing godblogs one day, I look forward to the memories and surprises yet to come. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [On Jason Wilkinson](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/12/03/on-jason-wilkinson/) **Published:** December 3, 2013 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** Hearing about Jason’s death has been a bit of a shock to me. I haven’t spoken to him in any fashion for a few years, ever since coming up to the Havens as an Ephemeral. When we did interact, he was one of my favorite folks. He was a good guy – impulsive, like so many people are, but well-intentioned, and with a great enjoyment of Lusternia. On the other hand, that impulsivity seems to have led to his passing. I don’t have any more details about the passing of Jason – or Vathael, as his main character here was named – than you do. What I remember was Vathael as a Fainite and a member of d’Murani, someone devoted to his guild, to the city, and to the game. He was active in the same clans as I was and in some of the same circles. What I remember was that he was a calm fellow who was as inclined to help people as he was to enjoy a bit of PVP, and that he was a valued member of the family. I have a lot of questions I’d love to ask Jason. Chief among those: why? What happened? I’m sad, and upset, both because he’s’ gone, and for the family he’s left behind. His end was not an answer, much less, I think, what he was looking for. On that note – as a friend earlier this year said on the passing of someone in a similar matter: “Just: Ask. For. Help. Don’t be afraid to be a burden. Do everything you need to do to keep breathing.” And in the words of someone not a friend, but much admired, on the passing of another person, also from the same thing that claimed Jason, from a piece called “Don’t Give Up”: “But you must not give up. Never give in. Fuck all and fuck the world and fuck these enemies you fear which tear you down little by little every breath you take. You must fight; even when your enemies are those who love you and even when they are ones you love. You must fight for yourself and cling to those things that give you strength: your faith, yourself, your knowledge that no matter what may happen to you right in the here and now, the sun also rises tomorrow.” Goodbye, Jason. I’m sorry. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [To Dust Returnest](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/02/24/to-dust-returnest/) **Published:** February 24, 2014 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** Coming to the end of my time as a volunteer administrator for Lusternia has been a difficult journey for me. I’ve been playing Lusternia since open beta in 2004 and I have truly loved the game. Seven years later, I felt that I had achieved a lot as a player but that I would like to try contributing to Lusternia on a different level. Coming in as an ephemeral, I got to see the game from an entirely different perspective. I’ve had a lot of fun working with Estarra and my fellow admin and I’ve made a lot of good memories. However, as [Maylea has mentioned](https://www.lusternia.com/juggling), our volunteers juggle a lot of different hats. For me, I work full-time for the city, volunteer with different service organizations, act as an advisor at a local university, and so much more. Oh, I’m also married. My wife would be upset if I didn’t mention that. For the past six months, I’ve watched my online time dwindle. Zvoltz stopped making appearances except when there was a big event and it became very rare that I interacted with my order members. It was becoming clear to me that I just didn’t have the time, but I wanted to keep at it in the hope that something would change. In the end, nothing has changed and it is time for me to step down. [Fain used to say](https://www.lusternia.com/comings-and-partings) that the average shelf life for a god is two years, and my two years are definitely up. I’ll miss it a lot. The admins for Lusternia are an amazing group of people. They’re smart, creative, talented, and steadfast friends. I cannot think of a better group of people to have at the helm of my favorite game. Being an admin [cuts you off](https://www.lusternia.com/mortalsickness) from the game, but there are so many great people in the Havens that I have never felt lonely. I’ll also miss the players in Zvoltz’s order, in Hallifax, and in the game in general. One of the greatest feelings you can have as an admin is when a player raves about an interaction with you or about something you’ve added to the game. If we’ve interacted, I hope that the experience has made Lusternia a more deep and enjoyable place for you. I’ll miss being Zvoltz. There was so much that I still wanted to accomplish with the character. Personality quirks I wanted to bring out. Relationships and rivalries to display. The story of his lost love and his new romance with Isune. Iklara and Mysrai. There are so many stories that I never got to tell! I’ll miss Isune too. She has been there since day one when I was a scared and lost little ephemeral. She welcomed me to the Havens with open arms and has been someone who has supported me through so many difficult times, both in Lusternia and in real life. When it seemed like I was never going to finish my ephemeral projects and become a big boy god, Isune was there encouraging me. When I actually did finish, she was there to celebrate with me even though she was still working hard on her own ephemeral projects. She was there when I had my first, trembling interaction with players as a big bad god. She’s listened to me complain about everything under the sun and offered positive thoughts when I was feeling down. She was my dream partner on Team Hallifax Pantheon. She is awesome. Seeing the writing on the wall, I’ve been doing a lot of (sometimes melancholy) thinking about what it will be like when I step down. Then I remembered something. We all begin in Lusternia as players and no matter where we go or what we do, it is to the playerbase that we eventually return. I look forward to the continued adventures we’ll have together in the exciting future that Lusternia has ahead of us. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Glory be to Glomdoring](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/03/15/glory-be-to-glomdoring/) **Published:** March 15, 2014 **Author:** Viravain **Content:** I’m back. Sort of. I’m not any Viravain’s you’ve ever known. When you take on a role larger than yourself, one where multiple very talented players have added the cumulative weight of experience and history over the course of Lusternia’s operating history, it’s hard to fill their shoes. So the best way to do that, to step into a role, is to not so closely imitate what they did, but to imitate what inspires you about that role. What I find fascinating about Viravain is the weight of the history and the conflict of Viravain meeting and becoming something larger than what She was when she was the Summer Song. The character has gone through an evolution: from an innocent, to a madwoman, to a terrifying ghost signifying dischord in the players, long problems inside of the Glomdoring, and a darkly powerful, if inconsistent and clearly confused child barely aware of Her own power. There’s something else that inspires me. As a player, I had a lot of respect for the Glomdoring, enough that I played in it with multiple characters more than once. I’ve continually been impressed by the caliber of their organization: the players who tend to drive the roleplay in the forest, the coordination of their combat abilities, and their willingness to put pragmatism first. And they do it in style, while smirking around their silken sleeves in the middle of a swampy, terrifying forest choked in black roses. So, that’s interesting too – how the Glomdoring went from the worst place to play in the Basin, to the best. How characters from the Glomdoring, even after playing in that particular Glomdoring, tend to do well elsewhere. The problems of perfectionism, and what you do after it turns out that promise wasn’t so solid after all. Thanks for having me, guys. I’ll try not to stretch the shoes too much. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Good Gods Gone Bad](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/08/28/good-gods-gone-bad/) **Published:** August 28, 2014 **Author:** Isune **Content:** If there’s one thing everyone has an opinion about, it’s how a Divine should behave. You learn this almost immediately as an admin. Be aggressive and vocal in your org, but don’t be too commanding or too opinionated. Be friendly and encouraging, but don’t be too snuggly. Be a visible presence to prove that you’re active, but don’t shove your nose in where it’s not wanted. The paradoxes can be overwhelming, particularly when you just start out, but each god eventually gets a handle on what style and behaviour suits their particular god best. For me, playing Isune meant wondering, “How am I supposed to handle conflict?” There’s this misconception that all ‘good’ gods don’t get into brawls or arguments with mortals. They sip tea and laugh and waltz and when a mortal says something mouthy, well–then what? The god or goddess just nods, laughs, and moves on? That’s a fantastic go-to for petty one-liners, but sometimes it emboldens a mortal. They start boasting and bragging about how they dared to insult a god and somehow remained unscathed. “How pathetic,” the mortals chorus in agreement, and these remarks not only continue, they amplify. You can see how this is problematic for playing a Divine. Lusternia’s pantheon is famous for their fury, in both the Elder Wars and the modern era. Remember when Lisaera threw a tidal wave at Celest, or when Terentia threatened to uproot the Moonhart Mother tree? How Viravain, when possessed by Kethuru, slew just about every single mortal in the Basin of Life? These are grand and dramatic examples of the Divine standing Their ground. But we can’t always go the grand and dramatic route. In a lot of ways, the power play between a god and a mortal is obviously imbalanced in favour of the Divine. As admin, we have the power to orchestrate events and enact punishments that mortals can only dream of–and sometimes, we do. Sometimes, we prepare an army of paint-wielding falcons prepared to poo rainbows all over your forest, but more often than not, we try not to go that far. For one thing? It’s a lot of work. If I wanted to actually unleash tons of rainbow falcon poo on Glomdoring, for example, I would have to build said poo factory, and then prepare and oversee the event where I cried out, “Fly, My pretties, fly!” Which could take hours. More than that, though, the work might not feel worth it. People will take to the forums and declare their outrage at this unfair imbalance between player and God (though sometimes you have a masochist or two who greatly enjoys the interaction). But sometimes the grand and the dramatic is the only way to show a mortal your god means business. Like I said, the power play between a mortal and a Divine is imbalanced, but in some ways it gives too much confidence to the player. Lusternia is a game, after all, and as admin we are careful not to use our power to make players feel discouraged or beaten down on. At the same time, though, it’s necessary as a Divine to command power. And if a mortal continuously questions or belittles that power, there is only so much chuckling or flicking to Astral that you can do before you have to lose your godly temper. Even though I’ve been haven-side several years, I don’t feel like a senior admin. Yet when I think back to the week of my release (and oh what a stressful week that was), I remember all the panic and the fear that fluttered up inside me when I roleplayed as Isune. It’s a fear and frustration I see too often in new gods, when facing their first brush of player-god conflict. Mysrai observed me interacting with players and offered some advice. “Why is Isune apologizing so much?” she asked me. “What?” “You’re a Divine,” she told me. “Who are these mortals to question you?” And then it clicked. I wasn’t a mortal anymore. I was playing a goddess, a goddess who would never cow to the demands of a mortal. And even though Isune could be sympathetic to a mortal’s feelings, there were only so many insults and accusations I could let Her withstand. If you’re going to pit yourself against a Divine, you’re going to lose. This doesn’t mean you can’t ICly dislike gods, or disagree with Them, or that you shouldn’t encourage conflict between Their order and yours. But it does mean, watch your step around Them. Watch what you say. And don’t take the niceness of a god or goddess for granted. Because one day, we might stop laughing. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The Enchantress and the Silver Lady face off in Boston](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/08/08/the-enchantress-and-the-silver-lady-face-off-in-boston/) **Published:** August 8, 2014 **Author:** Lisaera **Content:** It happened suddenly. The skies darkened slowly, the subtleness of Drocilla’s touch upon the lands causing the air itself to become denser with Her will as She arrived in Boston. Noting the change immediately, Lisaera arrived on the scene to protect Her beloved city (yes, city, because sadly Boston isn’t a commune – just go with it). Though the Enchantress came by train, Her impressive command of the world caused the very streets to flood with people, who fell on hand and knee, to greet Her, but the sheer might of the Silver Lady forced the Traitor back – then the fun started. … I don’t know if I can keep that up and still do the meet justice, so let’s just pretend I have really cool role-specific dramatic overtones riddled throughout this blog. As some of you might have guessed from the sudden burst of activity in the Meet and Greet section on the forums, Drocilla is essentially making Her way across the world to visit notable cities. As I am fortunate enough to be living in one of the areas She wanted to visit, I got to place host to the Enchantress for a few days. And it was amazing. Day 1 We started out in my neighborhood, where we found a delightful little burger joint not too far from My temple (read: house). Fifth Element was playing on the TVs above the bar, so we knew it was a sign that we made the right choice for dinner. After that, we found our spirits of choice (I, of course, went for the gin and She chose a spiced rum), and went back to My place for some music and general merriment. We talked endlessly about you guys (players really do make the world go ’round!) and about Lusternia in general; all kinds of ideas for quests came up (who would be interested in another dozen or so with the Lights Out puzzle? cackle), we talked about each other’s orders and the nations We patron, and we, of course, gossiped about the other gods. That’s just in Our nature. Once We had our fill of drink, We ventured out into the night to see what Harvard Square had to offer. Drocilla had never seen the legendary Ivy League school up close, so I took Her directly into its heart. We wandered around Harvard Yard for a while, examined the architecture of its dorm buildings, strolled by old cathedrals that have been converted into makeshift “memorial halls,” and eventually found our way back to the square, where we took a side trip to the Charles River to relax by the water. After that, we walked a few miles back to My house to flip on Netflix for a round of Orange is the New Black (Drocilla had never seen it! Can you believe that?!). Before we got home, We stopped at a little convenience store for ice cream and pizza. Gods like snacks, too. Day 2 This is where it starts to get good. I saw My opportunity to strike back against Drocilla once and for all, while She slumbered so peacefully on My temple furniture, and took it – I tried to poison Her with breakfast. Even after the coffee and omelets, Her power was just too great, so I chose instead to lure Her back into the city where I knew We’d find some of the Serenwilde’s faithful. Before that, We got all dolled up – someone on the forums told the players that all they had to do was look for the fiercest people in Trident (an amazing bookstore/bar/diner), so We had to live up to their expectations. After We looked utterly divine, we struck out on the train. When we arrived, we noticed a couple lingering suspiciously outside the resturant. Not wanting to disturb them, We wandered inside, but both of Us shared a divine revelation that these mortals were, in fact, expecting Us. After we put grabbed a table, We went back outside to greet the couple in question, and it turned out We were right (obviously): Gabriella and Cadfael were hanging out, waiting for Kalnid to arrive. “Hey – are you guys Lusternia?” was My rather eloquent introduction. “Yes – uhh, I’m Gabriella…” the woman, who looks a lot like an elfen-sized faeling in real life, hesitantly replied. “Ah! Great! I’m Lisaera. This is Drocilla.” A heartbeat of silence. “I’m Cadfael!” And We were off! Kalnid arrived a minute or so later, and then We all went inside. We spent a few hours just getting to know each other, which was awesome. Once the nerves were gone (were they nervous? I really don’t know – I know I was, a little), it felt like a cozy group of friends, rather than two Gods and a few mortals. Lusternia, obviously, was a major topic of conversation (trap doors, My tattoos that look a lot like symbols in the game (unintentionally so!), quests we love, quests we hate, lore, history, lore, lore, more quests, bugs, bugs, lore, and so on). When we were finished with that location, we zoomed on to another – the Boston Commons, where we found a patch of grass under a few big trees (who’s shocked that I picked the location?). We chit-chatted a little more here, diving deeper and deeper into the gossip of the mortal coil (who knew what all of you are REALLY up to!), and then, sadly, Cadfael had to depart for something – work? another group of text game friends? Just kidding, it was work. Shortly after we lost one mortal, two more sprang up in his place – Nanun and Othero appeared, and much hugging ensued. Maybe too much hugging… I was quickly wondering if amassing a small army against the Enchantress was such a good idea after all, when all of a sudden it hit me – I was being suckered into some sort of devious trap! To keep the advantage I needed, I decided to take them all to a bar, where we drank to our health, to Estarra, to Lusternia, and to many happy futures (and I watched to make sure the Enchantress didn’t poison anyone). It was neat to see what we all ordered there. I had a gin and ginger, of course, because it tastes like trees. Drocilla had a Red Death (my idea), Othero had a gin and ginger because I obviously won him over to my side, Gabriella had a whiskey sour, Kalnid was probably the wisest and only had water, and Nanun drank a crisp and fresh vodka. In retrospect, I should have watched her more closely, too – any being that can drink just vodka must be up to something. The World After our thirst was quenched, we decided to head into the harbor, where we stumbled onto a slew of well-to-do party-goers at the Rowes Wharf. Deciding that may not have been our best place to linger, we moved on to a lesser known dock with full access to the ocean. We snapped a few pictures, Gabriella and I finished a few song lyrics at each other, and then we ran away from the centipedes that crawled up from the water. They were gross. Then it was off to see the flickering gas lamps of yore, which are now electric lights. It was kind of disappointing to see such amazing feats of engineering transformed so, but they were neat nonetheless. We strolled through Beacon Hill, which looked a lot like Magnagora in the dark. It was around then that we determined just how far we had traveled through Boston, which seemed, in retrospect, like the perfect rendition of the Basin of Life: Serenwilde: The Commons Gaudiguch: The Sidebar (where we had our drinks) Hallifax: Trident (with all the books) Glomdoring: A few creepy patches of forest and the centipedes (ew, Viravain, gross) Magnagora: Beacon Hill, with the gas lamps and freaky architecture Celest: The wharf and the HUGE archway that is Rowes Wharf The Duel After we spent hours wandering the streets of My beloved Boston, it was time for Me to finally face the Enchantress once and for all: we found a park where, with My daughter’s light shining down on Us, We dueled with umbrellas. Before the fireworks, We stood, facing each other, with our fingers trailing our necklines with disdain etched into our features. Yes – we did the pearls emote IRL, without shame. We also seriously had pictures taken of us pretending to smack each other around with umbrellas, purely for your enjoyment. In conclusion – neither of us won. We’ll have to meet again in the future to truly settle the score. I had an AMAZING time with everyone, and I really hope the players who could attend did, too. If I left ANYTHING out from this experience (like all of the cool anecdotes we came up with along the way), I hope you guys fill in those blanks. I’m also going to try to stick all the pictures on this post, but if I can’t, I’ll figure it out another way. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The kind of work a patron does](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/07/06/the-kind-of-work-a-patron-does/) **Published:** July 6, 2014 **Author:** Lisaera **Content:** It’s been a few months since I threw on the silver robes and started livening up the place with storm clouds and moonfire. By and large, I’m loving every second of it. The players of Serenwilde never cease to amaze me with their creativity and their passionate responses to every kind of stimuli. Were they raided to a pulp recently? That’s fine – they know they’ll win next time. Did one of their own forsake the ‘Wilde’s ways in pursuit of another life? They’ll get what’s coming to them. On and on, every seemingly negative situation seems to be met with a positive reaction, and I couldn’t be happier with how amazing this experience has been for me as their active administrator. Hmmm. Administrator. That’s a hard word to use. “Patron” isn’t exactly the right term, either, because I’m one of five very different deities who share the forest, and “patron” feels too … solitary. However, I suppose it’s safe to assume that, because I’m the most visible Serenwilde Elder for now, my influence is certainly leaving a sizable stamp on the playing styles of everyone who calls Serenwilde their e-home. My in-role belief systems are not the same as an entire half of the forest’s personalities. And you know what? That’s amazing. It helps to have a few people around who are keeping alive the other gods’ memories, as it just deepens and enriches the experience. In being only visible “patron,” however, I do have the privilege and the burden of being a little choosy with the projects I’ll take on, and here’s why: The following are scenarios that I think a lot of us up here have experienced as patrons, at least once during our tenure as Lusternian gods: 1\) **A guild wants to change its roleplay direction, in lore and activity, to better fit a new ideal that may be different from the original blueprint.** This one is tricky. We have a relatively specific idea of what each guild means to the environment in which it exists, and hours and hours of thought went into the design before it was released to the game. An organization begins with an idea and is then fleshed out with skills, historical connections, and a storyline, all in an effort to make it easier for players to pick up the reins and go forward as if the guild has always existed. You, the players, become the drivers of these vehicles for roleplay, and it’s so rewarding to see where you go with them. At times, for whatever reason, these vehicles might find themselves driving down uncharted territory long enough that it might be time to reflect on whether it has changed fundamentally enough to warrant a review. Does the guild that started out worshipping bats still do that in Draculaville, or has Draculaville become so accustomed to this guild’s new habit of serving blood tea that taking care of the city’s bats are now a secondary function? This is when being the patron of the Bat-tallion is tricky. If the god receives a petition to change a few skills around and add a tiny area to help push along a new facet of the guild’s roleplay, He or She cannot simply make it happen the following weekend. It goes through a really lengthy review process where other Elders and She Who Makes All Things have an opportunity to voice their opinions. Ultimately, if this change is deemed inappropriate or somehow against the original vision of the guild, then the patron needs to be the one to relay this message. If it works out, then He or She is then expected to spend a lot of time and energy building the new area, brainstorming the new skills, and figuring out an event to implement everything so that ultimately, the players are happy. Either way, it’s a sticky situation to be in, for different reasons. We all want to deliver the good news, of course, because happy players make our jobs way easier, but that means we have a new project to work on, alongside whatever else we have on our plates. The same is true of any kind of physical expansion. Guildhalls, city/commune projects, and player homesteads all require approval and more work for the volunteer. We’re thrilled to do it, as this is what we signed up for, but try to remember that your timeline is secondary to the administrator’s. 2\) **A player family wants to become historical.** This one is something we see often enough, too, and it differs from the previous example in that player-run Great Houses have less to do with the mechanics of a guild or a city. This means that an Elder God isn’t really obligated to take on projects for these players, but can certainly choose to do so if the relationship is there. Essentially, this kind of patronship commitment is Extra, and when you’re one of the only gods spreading around your holy influence, it’s tough to say yes to something without a little something in return for your effort. I think this might be where some players are confused about the function of patronship – as volunteers, we’re not really expected to do what you want outside the purview of game mechanics, and this includes committing to major roleplay leg work. For example, if someone asked Spike, Who patrons Draculaville, to also be the House Patron of the McVillains, He can choose to accept or decline based on what His role would be. If He expects to gain new worshippers or already has a sizable following invested in the McVillains, then it’s going to be an easier sell. If He suspects He’ll end up doing all the grunt work until a more favourable god comes around, like that dastardly Drusilla, then it would be harder for Him to justify adding another project to His plate if He’s just going to be the placeholder. Especially if He’s the only active god in Draculaville, a city with a personality crisis. We’re not paid employees of Lusternia, after all, and we have our limits. 3\) **A player wants to follow you, but is up front about only wanting the shrine privs.** This tends to leave a bad taste in most divine mouths, for a variety of reasons. Orders are our way to interact directly with the game. When we aren’t visible, which is typically when we’re hanging out with you and cooking up our own special pocket of roleplay, we’re working on promotions, building new areas, writing progs, dealing with the issues queue, working on designs, dreaming up ideas for future plots, helping out with another god’s projects, and so on. Essentially, the time we spend with the order is our time, which is why a lot of you really love interacting directly with your gods – we’re willing to go the extra mile to put on a good show because we enjoy hanging out with you, too! So when an opportunistic player begs to join our orders just to get a leg up in combat, by using our shrines and avatar powers, it can be frustrating to know that they’ll likely skip off to greener pastures when a new god shows up. I can’t speak for everyone, as some gods thrive on building these tenuous relationships with their followers, but if you’re building up a group of people in your image, it’s tough when one or two black sheep would rather flex the toys you’ve given them than participate in the order fun. We spend a lot of time designing our order structures and creating a world within the First World where like-minded players can collect in one place, outside of their guilds and families, to hang out with their favorite gods. Although my order is perfect in every way (the Lisae are the best, just deal with it), I know of a few other gods who have experienced situations similar to this one where the players believed they were entitled to these additional mechanics because of x, y, z. I’m here to set the record straight – even moreso than our ability to decline your ideas for guilds and families, we’re never obligated to take in strays who only want to use you for your superior PK equipment. Now, these scenarios are just a few of the ones that stand out in my mind. There are hundreds of ways that the relationship between a god and a mortal can become confused, and the role that patrons play in every organization may be set up a little differently. In the end, it really does come down to what the god in question is comfortable with in terms of work load and time commitment. As volunteers, we know that we’re expected to work on behalf of the guilds and cities that request our patronship, but we’re in no way married to these commitments – and it’s entirely possible for us to set our own terms regarding the ways in which we’ll interact with each organization. Spike might tell the guildmaster of Bat-tallion that He’ll help them change their ways if they bring Him a Buffy Summers special, for example. **These scenarios are not black and white** Every volunteer is different. Every situation is different. If I’m really into an idea for something neat that you’ve come up with, I can choose to cast aside my other projects in favour of that one. At the same time, if an idea seems like it’ll wear me out and force me to take a breather afterward but is obviously important to the Serenwilde side of the game, I can choose to push forward with it anyway. Even still, projects that I may love but cannot feasibly accomplish will be declined or negotiated so that it enters the realm of possible. I try my hardest to say yes to as much as I can, but I’ve learned from past experiences how important it is to acknowledge when I’m at my limit. That doesn’t necessarily mean something will never happen! It just means that the silver mama needs a chance to take a deep breath now and then. The takeaway point from this blog should be thus: the definition of what it means to be a “patron” can vary in terms of roleplay and administrative duty, but the volunteer who takes on these organizations certainly has a say in how things are accomplished. If that means you have to compromise a little, then that’s all part of the process! If you have questions about what we can do for you, as God characters or behind-the-scenes administrators, feel free to email support@lusternia.com. I’d also be wiling to field questions myself, to the best of my ability, at lisaera@lusternia.com. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Divine Relationship(ping)](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/05/14/divine-relationshipping/) **Published:** May 14, 2014 **Author:** Isune **Content:** Isune has always been a romantic. In her first incarnation in Celest, one of her most memorable actions was swooning over Lacostian, a wise and handsome god of the Third circle. Did he ever share those feelings? Or was it merely platonic? These questions were never truly answered when Lacostian vanished from the Basin of Life, becoming instead the entity of Elostian, the Enigma. Yet were she and the Enigma lovers, before Isune chose to retreat once more to her dreams? Or merely a failed attempt to rekindle and transform an unrequited romance? Did Elcyrion and Lacostian, all along, have what Isune thought she and Lacostian had?\* Scandal! :O One of the fun things about taking on a godrole with a lot of history is you can get to decide how that history has shaped your Divine. As far as gods go, Isune doesn’t just happen to have backstory: she’s stuffed full of it. I was lucky enough as an ephemeral to have several gods important to Isune about to ask questions of: would Elostian be attracted to Isune in the modern day? (Probably not.) Would Shikari view their agreement to save Viravain with any reverence? (Absolutely.) Would a lonely Zvoltz try to court Isune after discovering her in the Dreaming? (Sounds fun!) Is Morgfyre going to try to eat Isune again?! (If at all possible.) And knowing these things, I the player got to decide Isune’s reactions to those events. What are the repercussions of having a goddess share Isune’s body, and pierce into her mind? Particularly Viravain, who is opposed to all that she stands for, and who fiercely loves a god Isune never did and truly ought to fear? What about seeing Lacostian, the god she loves most, transform into a complete stranger entirely? And even further, how would Isune react to being courted by Zvoltz after a lifetime of being the pursuer, never the pursued – and would she dare to be truly open to it, after losing her first love so completely? It’s always a blast when Gods get to RP with each other, because it brings out all these nuances that otherwise might never leave our brainstorming profile pages. It’s really exciting to see Shikari and Viravain interactions, for example – it brings out a completely different side to both characters, especially compared to what players usually get to see! Jadice and Isune serve as foils for each other, and Crumkane brings a much-needed levity to Gaudiguch to balance the mysticism of Mysrai and the fiery wrath of Yomoigu. And seeing how just about every god acts around Drocilla is delicious, devious fun. (Personally, I cannot wait to see some more Lisaera and Drocilla interaction in the future. :D) And you know what’s even more fun? Seeing players ask questions and enjoy these godly interactions with you. Don’t be afraid to poke in a god’s Fulcrux and ask why they looked at another god funny! Those kinds of meetings have been some of the best RP I’ve had as a Divine, I promise. It’s really rewarding as an established admin, too, to hear new gods discussing excitedly how much fun they’re having with their orders, and what cool questions they’ve been asked, and what stories they got to share with you. So thanks for letting us ship our godly canons, guys. We hope you enjoy the ride! —- \*This may or may not be my head-canon. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Behind the Deceit](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/04/29/behind-the-deceit/) **Published:** April 29, 2014 **Author:** Drocilla **Content:** One does not simply release Drocilla. After she’s been expected/predicted by the players to arrive in the midst of some huge event, we couldn’t just have her waltz in casually. So when we (Havens: The Next Generation) all ended up reaching Godhood so closely together and decided to do a multi-release, the plan for Drocilla’s return began to take shape. From the beginning, we knew she’d have to be disguised because Jadice and Lisaera would sooner make out with a Soulless than let Drocilla through. Our initial plan was actually for her to be a divine without obvious org associations so no one’s hopes and dreams would be crushed when she gets revealed. But we knew Carakhan would be releasing later in an aetherbubble because her group never made it into the Void, and that’s when Estarra got that glint in the eye that says she has an Idea(tm). Drocilla would be Fake Carakhan! Or as we liked to call her – Droco Khan or Khal Droco. My major worry with that plan was Celest feeling fooled by the event – “Again!” as they like to remind us. So I set to sketching it out in a way where everyone’s a winner and Celest would have the opportunity to not be so blindly tricked. Sure, the Drocilla of legends would charm everyone and call it a day, but where’s the fun in that? For the same reason we left her collared, but that’s a story for another post. As for the plan, I came up with valid reasons for Drocilla to want to go to Celest, chief among them being this simple truth: Which Traitor would pass on the opportunity to have that blasted Meridian’s shards cater to their every whim? Further, I narrowed down possible conversation points which might lead her towards a falling out with Celest. And finally, I planned for a few ways in which she would betray herself a little – for example, she would tell mortals that she’s not a Keeper of the Song, but she would hum and sing to perform some of her magic because Drocilla actually is one. The rest was going to be organic. Cue the Red Wedding of Lusternia. Or at the least, we shamelessly had hoped you’d all have your jaws on the floor in a similar fashion when four gods would come crashing in at once. Especially since some of them were player dreams come true! The event went fabulously, even if Lisaera was sweating moonbeads out of her fine forehead the whole time. Crumkane was all serious buisness, too, while Jadice and I were in a call and laughed ourselves silly at players illusioning the fulcrux cracks talking. And then Crumkane waltzed out of the portal smelling like an incense stick and everyone screeched “DROCILLA!”. Darn it guys, that was NOT intended! Crumkane just smells like that and Droco Khan’s portal attack was a perfectly innocent globe of water. Ah well, going to have to step it up! Celest, you have been absolutely wonderful. So much that, for a moment there, I considered stealing Carakhan and running off with her. The sheer joy and level of roleplay you brought to the table bespoke of your desire for an active divine among your pantheon and I was thrilled that you would be getting just that. When Morgfyre posed as Hajamin, Celest was left with nothing, but in this case, you were actually getting a real Carakhan. And a better one mind you, a freakin’ mermaid with a trident as opposed to a smiley – and a little vain – Fake Carakhan. Being her was quite the challenge in any case because you all threw me curveballs on a daily basis, questions and requests I didn’t see coming. And on the spot, I had to decide what Drocilla thought about it, what Drocilla thought Carakhan would have thought about it, and then say it in a way that could have two meanings. If you look back at the logs posted with Fake Cara interactions, you’ll see some of that hopefully! Coming back to Celest, I had the best of times. Aquamancer lingerie, people being doorways, chessboards in baths, the neverending string of fountains, and the adorable little fishpond (sorry for killing them!) all made my day. The journey into tempting you from the Light has been excellent and kudos to all of you who were shaken and then stood up for your beliefs. It was a bit hard, I know, because you are polite and kind, and didn’t straight up want to tell your goddess that she can go roll around in the taint herself if she so chooses. Thank you Kelly, for storming in and being all, “Not on my watch, missy!”. And thus did Celest reject the temptation and then storm away to release their mermaid. And finally we come to the actual reveal and Drocilla’s attack on Celest. How do we show how dangerous she is in spite of the collar without straight out decimating everyone? People dying over and over would have been effective but certainly not enjoyable, especially not for confused novices, so we adjusted the damage of the song accordingly. Certainly wanted everyone to be able to see the showdown, too, so we moved the scene to Celest but still left a few special messages for them alone. Someone did die (I’m a bad person… but I cheered a little), Magnagorans stood transfixed and then got down at the Megalith like it’s Taint’s Second Coming, and Carakhan saved Celest with a fancy water bubble. Success! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Mortalsickness](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/02/04/mortalsickness/) **Published:** February 4, 2014 **Author:** Isune **Content:** In some ways, becoming an eph comes with as many losses as it does gains. The first thing you do is qq your mortal for the very last time, and that, for many of us, was a hard decision to make. There’s a good number of admin who chose to apply for Havens because they felt they had finished their mortal’s chapter, completed all that they wished to do, but I was not one of those people. I applied to be an ephemeral because I felt I would better enjoy working behind the scenes in Lusternia, where I could focus more on creativity and storybuilding – the things I loved doing most in-game. But in the process, I lost the people my mortal had remained close to. I prematurely ended stories that I had originally assumed I would have months left to continue. I left things unfinished in the orgs I loved, and for the first few months or so as an eph, all those unfinished things gnawed at me. I would have nights where working on my eph projects felt so exhausting, that quitting seemed so much easier than earning godhood. Sometimes, talking to other ephs, I’d learn I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Even now, sometimes ephs express those feelings to me. Being an ephemeral is a time where those doubts come easily. Until you’re an Arch Ephemeral, your only constant interactions are with the other ephs and the gods, who are sometimes intimidating and other times busy. This isolation from the players is intentional. It’s to encourage you to learn basic building skills, and to get to know your fellow admin, while breaking your mortal ties. That doesn’t mean it’s not lonely sometimes, though. And you can wonder if you’re really cut out for all this work (because it does take *work*), and think wistfully of the mortal life you left behind. Many wind up returning to it. The majority of my eph group did. Sometimes the gods in the Havens joke about what we’d do if we became mortals again. Start up the Fyrgenwig family in Serenwilde as a bunch of crazy mugwumps, for example. Or be Jane Austen trills. Beauty-obsessed y’Bolgari. But the longer you’re away from your mortal, the stranger the idea of going back can seem. Living without instant teleportation? Remembering history without lore on-hand at all times? Logging in and not being able to gossip with Nocht and Raezon about Downton Abbey?! Unthinkable! And yet, being able to talk to players in actual, real conversations that you don’t have to constantly police? To bug quests for admin instead of fixing bugged quests? To be able to casually complain about the game, instead of being obligated to smooth out its flaws? That’s appealing. Players have a sort of freedom admin don’t, and it’s hard to explain exactly. When a player goes inactive, you can contest their positions and IM them to keep in touch. When a god goes inactive, it takes a lot of hard work and interest to take on what they left behind. Before I applied for ephemeral, I did something my roommate in college taught me to do: make a list of pros and cons. I filled them out as thoroughly as I could, and I learned something surprising about myself- I disliked a lot of things about being mortal, and I looked forward to a lot of things about godhood. I don’t know why that surprised me so much, but it felt groundbreaking. I wanted to brainstorm areas, play diverse characters, enmesh myself in Lusternia’s history, and affect the game in a greater capacity than I ever could as a mortal. I was frightened at the possibility of being a Divine, but I was also excited at all the new doors it would open. Still, the old doors had to close first, and at the time, it felt like they slammed. Now, it’s like I’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole that being mortal again would be confusing. I don’t even know how I’d roleplay my character anymore. Barely anyone I was close to plays nowadays. And with player-meets suddenly hugely popular and publicized, I’m not even sure I’d ever have the opportunity to truly start over my mortal life on a clean slate. “It’s never the same,” I’ve heard it said from those who quietly faded back into mortality. And I believe it. This isn’t to say I don’t enjoy being an admin. I do. If I didn’t, I don’t think I’d still be in the Havens as Isune. Joining the admin has been the single most rewarding experience I have ever had in Lusternia, without question, and it’s introduced me to some of the most brilliant and kind people I know, as well as some of my closest friends. But sometimes, every so often, I do miss being mortal – just enough to love making mortal fun for the rest of you, so I can share in your excitement from my distant, cloud divan in the sky. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [8 Godly Tips on Running Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/11/13/8-godly-tips-on-running-events/) **Published:** November 13, 2013 **Author:** Isune **Content:** Secret: I hate running events. Well, let me put it this way. I stress out ridiculously when I’m in charge of a release event of any sort. There’s a lot I love about being an admin, but freaking out for hours over tiny lines of script that constantly defy me? That, to me, is less fun and more soul-sucking. I’ll tell you another secret: my first event release ever ran about five hours longer than it was supposed to. The admin overseeing my ephemeral needs went briefly afk, and around this time, everything in my teensy-weensy quest broke. It was mortifying. I was so scared I could barely read the script I’d written, much less make any sense of it. Didn’t this quest make sense yesterday? Was I really the one who wrote this malarky, and did someone actually approve it, knowing fully well I would destroy Lusternia with its horrible, buggy bugs? And then, lo and behold, Elostian logged in. I did the sane thing and proceeded to panic at him in all caps about how EVERYTHING WAS BREAKING. And then, very calmly, he took over my mob and talked circles around the mortals doing my quest, in seconds giving me the time needed to figure out what precisely was going wrong. Many lessons were learned this day. I wish I could tell you I am no longer the admin who panics in all caps when things bork, but alas. I am she. What I am about to tell you has been passed down by many a godly generation: a litany of secrets as to what really happens during event releases, and how to prepare for them. They do not remove all problems you will encounter, but they will certainly help lessen them. **1) Go to the bathroom before starting an event. You may not get to go later.** “Oh pfft,” you think. “It is a simple release.” Very easy scripting. You just carry over some items, influence some mobs, everything is going to be just peachy. And then players start killing your quest mobs, your scripts bork, it’s five hours later, and your bladder hates you more than Kethuru hates Avechna. Do yourself and the players a favour: *use the restroom first.* **2) Bring food. You may be starving for hours.** This is self-explanatory after tip #1. If you can’t run off to use the bathroom, chances are you can’t eat either. So have something to munch and drink. If you don’t, you will wish you did. **3) Try not to schedule events around important RL events.** This is a biggie. You have no idea how many admin (myself included) run what they expect to be two hour events that then escalate to six, seven hours long, all while bemoaning to their fellow admin “omg I have to go to work in six hours, why can’t I sleeeeep.” It puts you in a bad mood which makes everything 150x harder to do. Also, you will be grouchy and sleep-deprived wherever it is you’re going to be later. **4) Always leave time for errors.** In a perfect world, all your testing will uncover every bug known to man. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in Lusternia, where Kethuru manages to break through the Seals on a yearly basis. Players will think of doing something you never thought of. Thinks will break. Swearing will be had. Leave yourself some wiggle room. **5) Do not run events alone. Ever.** There is a caveat that admin who are well-versed in the ways of event-planning and running are capable of doing this solo. However, for most of us peons, running events is a crapshoot. Things break that we swore were unbreakable and *omg we don’t know why*. My brain tends to go completely blank in the middle of quest-running nonsense. Get a buddy who can stall players while you get your stuff together. Better: get a buddy who is smarter than you. You will need the extra brain when yours explodes. **6) Make a plan, Stan.** This is usually discussed with Estarra & co. prior to an area or pocket release event, and for good reason. It’s very difficult to just say, “Golly, here’s a new thing that no one happened to bump into before! How about that? Neat-o.” Once you’re a fully-fledged god, though, you start making your own calls when it comes to your orgs. How to release a patron request? Your new priest? Your godrealm? Winging it can work, but it adds more stress to an already stressful situation. Plans are good. Live them. Love them. Embrace them. **7) Take notes. Your area? Your newspost.** It can be hard to pay attention to everything that goes on during your event, but I promise you, it’s even harder to remember it in the aftermath. Keep a wordpad document open. Scribble in it. It doesn’t have to be eloquent, it just has to be useful. When you’re done with the hectic roller coaster ride that is event-running, you will love your past-self for it. And, finally: **8) Testing? Testing. Testinggg.** It’s obvious. It’s annoying. It’s important. Because even if you will get bugs ***no matter what you do***, it’s nice to halve the number beforehand. I spent about an entire month testing my area as an ephemeral before its release, and it went entirely too smoothly compared to the pocket disaster mentioned earlier, despite the area being infinitely more complicated. Try to get other admin to do your quest, if you can. You already know what your quest wants you to do! Other people, conveniently, don’t. One final secret: yes, running events is stressful and all kinds of bonkers. But the feeling you get, knowing you’ve added something to Lusternia in some way, is *amazing*. The unbridled gratitude you feel towards the admin who help you drop your mobs, fix your bugs, and stall your players, makes you feel like you’re part of a team that really matters. Seeing players really enjoy what you bring to the table is the delicious icing on the cake. And that, I think, makes all the crazy worthwhile. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Four Lovesongs to Fair Cities](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/07/10/four-lovesongs-to-fair-cities/) **Published:** July 10, 2013 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** I’m a city girl. I was born in the Midwest, in a city more renowned for snow than for the wide and varied gardens, broad, placid lakes, and the multitude of bookstores scattered across the glacial landscape. When I moved for the first time, it was to the outskirts of another city, one of the first cities of America, Washington DC. When I moved again, this time to the country, I could only stay a year before I moved again, this time to San Francisco. I can’t live in the country. It’s broad and green and stretches on between towns, filled with vineyards, canyons, wind farms, mile after mile of highway, dead mines, ghost towns and low sodium lights. It’s a place full of adventure, but when I come home, I want to walk a block to the nearest coffeeshop, catch the bus to a good bookstore, stumble my way out of a bar, hail a cab, and leave my truck parked somewhere precarious. When I first started working on MUDs, early in my 20s, one of the first assignments I had was to take a pacifistic, hippie child city and make it more realistic, more visceral. At first, I thought this meant slapping some fantasy towers and flagstones up, slapping on some descriptions ripped off from murals in Italian restaurants, and be done with it. This resulted in better, but not great cities. There was something essential, something completely mundane missing. I’m talking the grit. I’m talking the stench. I’m talking about the little things, like the mailboxes, stray cats, yelling people, and graffiti. Then there’s the Victorian houses, the broad, usually-pillared facades of post offices. The way streets in old cities aren’t grids, they’re twisting tracks drawn by horse hooves or just people on the way to market – and houses just spring up around these intrusions. Unsurprisingly, when I got started in Lusternia, I played city characters as a rule. Oh, sure, I alted – the occasional foray into Serenwilde or Glomdoring – but my characters are, perhaps, too much like me in that they’re creatures of a chaotic, imperfect, civilized cityscape. Better yet if I could work on the contradictions. In Celest, for example, there’s zealotry, conflict avoidance, and the juxtaposition of the last remnants of an oppressive empire. In Hallifax, the beauty, the orderly lines, and the dystopian Collectivism. In Magnagora, the idea that evil rarely thinks it’s evil. And finally, in Gaudiguch, bastion of freedom, the definition of freedom, festivals, and free will, is balanced with the deep-rooted manipulations of the Illuminati. As a result, I find myself reading a lot of gritty books, love songs to cities that I’ve known or dreamt. What can I say – I’m just not one for the country. One of the ones that’s at the top of my list to read is [Palimpsest](http://www.amazon.com/Palimpsest-Catherynne-Valente/dp/0553385763), by Cathrynne Valente. This book spans multiple cities – Kyoto, Kiev, San Francisco, and Rome – but is really about a living, breathing city of dream logic, lovers, and most of all, stories. This book captures more than anything the interlocking stories of those who live in a city – of those background characters who are really the ones who make up the vast and varied tapestry of life we live in. Second on this list is a book from my home town. [War For the Oaks](http://www.amazon.com/War-Oaks-Novel-Emma-Bull/dp/0765300346) is an Emma Bull classic from the eighties. It’s full of Seelie and Unseelie fae in motorcycle jackets dueling for control of greenhouses, punk rock clubs, and the occasional downtown fountain. Listen to Prince if you delve into this one, and maybe watch some Highlander beforehand to get into the right mood. Third is a relatively recent publish by a friend of mine. This one is e-book only – [The New York Magician](http://www.amazon.com/The-New-York-Magician-ebook/dp/B00D4BAFK2) by J.B. Zimmerman. J.B, like me, was born and raised in a city. Except he, lucky sod, was born in New York city. Therefore, his protagonist, Michel, occupies the same landscape as he negotiates with Lovecraftian gods, works with Baba Yaga, and finds ways to keep Egyptian gods of the flood from drowning Manhattan. And lastly, I started reading [City of Roses](http://thecityofroses.com/) by Kip Manley as an online serial when I lived on the East Coast, but it’s recently been put into dead tree format. You can still read the bulk of it online, but it’s worth it to support independent authors and get the lovingly-bound first volume of stories. For those of you that are fond of War for the Oaks, happen to like Utena, and grew up in the 90s and early aughts, you’ll enjoy this disillusioned slacker become modern sword and scorcery adventure in the City of Portland. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Juggling](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/06/14/juggling/) **Published:** June 14, 2013 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** What the average player might not appreciate about life in the Havens is that there are so many talents, so many people doing amazing things that have nothing to do with Lusternia at all. We have had many, many ephemerals and Gods in college, and several amazing eggheads in graduate school. We have had individuals in the armed services, people who rock full time jobs, a person or two who can build computers, parents, poets, scientists, mathematicians, and everything in between. The nature of the smallish group means that we celebrate with each other every birthday, graduation, new job, new child, or anything else that might happen. From a player’s standpoint, we must seem to fade in and out at times. Are we bored of being your Divine? No, absolutely not. Maybe we’re having finals, or maybe a busy semester. We might be sweating a big presentation or just the job search. Our kids or our pets might be sick (or making a horrible mess). We’re all juggling these responsibilities, trying to make a little time here or there for what is essentially an enjoyable hobby for some, a passion for others. When we poof, it almost certainly has more to do with the other things than it does with Lusternia. After all, when the juggler drops a ball, it better not be the one that’s putting food on the table or paying the bills. For those of you who care in particular about Maylea, I am more than aware of being guilty of becoming busy-busy in a real world sense and thus less active in a game sense. Like all of the Divine, I am never entirely absent! I’m only, you know, caught up in my education, planning the future, taking exams, and finally, taking (and passing!) my professional boards. Ah yes, after years of sweating and hard work, Maylea-the-player has been set free from the woes of college and unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. And my fondest hope is that I can juggle a little more Lusternia now that I have a little less in the way of studying and working my hind end off. As far as hobbies go, this is pretty rewarding. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Out of the Box: Gods at Play](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/04/30/out-of-the-box-gods-at-play/) **Published:** April 30, 2013 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** I’ve met a lot of the admin staff over the past few years that I’ve been volunteering for Lusternia. Since we tend to be rather monolithic, I’d like to share a few stories about them. I’d like to talk about what we get up to when we get together to drink, to talk, to compare notes and dream big about the next big project. Morgfyre lives somewhere close to the South. Effectively the Midwest, but the dude has this Louisiana drawl, a snappy dress sense, and a tuned ear for the dramatic that could only come from a theater dude. It’s too bad I met him when I was deathly hungover after a bottle of whiskey and three or four bottles of wine the night before. It’s also too bad that we met each other at the same time that we were meeting up with this weird headless death cult of writer apostles, AKA the folks from Everything2. This was my idea, and to his credit, Morgfyre somehow forgave me for inflicting a drunk, gregarious Greek man and and about thirty other people who wanted to “adopt” him into the cult on him after a six to eight hour drive. We would later go on to ramble through Louisville eating amazing food and cookies the size of our heads, drink whiskey at Godmeet 2011, bottles of wine post-Thanksgiving, and grumble together at Godmeet 2012. Morgfyre is my homie. Shikari is a sweetheart with a razor hidden on her somewhere. Cross her and she’ll cut you. She’s so nice you’ll never see it coming. Between her and Morgfyre, I don’t think I would have made it as a god. If Morg is the sharp-witted humor and brains, Shikari is the heart – the heart with a battle-axe concealed behind a friendly grin. When I think of Shikari, I remember chicken with her and Sior in DC, tapas and sangria in Baltimore, getting lost in the ghetto and looking for the bathroom, and chilling in a tattoo parlor for Godmeet 2012. That drawing of her and Morgfyre with a sack of kidneys is right on the mark. Don’t cross them, especially when it’s time for student loan payments. Zvoltz and I go way back to when we were players. He dumped me for some smooth-talking guy with an axe, and I’ve never let him forget it. For a while, he lived up Seattle way, and we would meet up for dinner and drinks whenever I was in town for work. He still complains about the tentacles. I maintain that he enjoyed every second of them. I still grab brunch with Estarra every time I hit the Bay, and tried to do so about once a month while I was living down there. If she suggests a place on Valencia or up in the Castro, take her advice – I’ve had some of my best meals from places she’s suggested. If her husband offers to feed you, say yes! Dennis is a great cook, and the two of them are amazingly hospitable. I’d talk about what plans and plots I’ve hatched with the Creatrix, but then I’d have to kill you. How about other stories? Stumbling half-hungover down Valencia Street at Godmeet 2011 with Isune, Morg, and an unnamed eph in search of a cheese shop, a pirate store, and a mural-covered alleyway. Meeting Oshea at a player meet, and Sior for sangria and chicken in DC. Laughing with Terentia over Italian and having her harass my boyfriend at the time for when he’d be ready to take it up the butt. Fain drunk-calling me at all hours of the night. Staring at the former Morgfyre’s ass on an escalator. Drinking gin with Calythan in the afternoon on a 100F day. Being amazed at how smart Raezon is, and his quiet sense of humor. Eventru posting in ALLCAPS – and did I mention the bear? It’s huge! This is a great group of people. I can’t wait to meet the rest of them, past and present. Just don’t cross Shikari. I wasn’t kidding about the axe. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Pop Culture Ikon](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/15/pop-culture-ikon/) **Published:** October 15, 2012 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** Creating a Lusternia trading card game has been one of my dreams almost since I came up as a wee little ephemeral and learned how to program mobs and quests. I’ve been sitting on the idea for a year or so now and finally decided that I had some free time to see if I could go anywhere with it. Feeling confident that I was on my way to programming something awesomely cool, I talked my idea over with Morgfyre who pointed out all the things I wouldn’t be able to without hard-coding. He gave me a few more ideas and with the thought that I was onto something, I took my proposal for this new card game to Estarra. Initially, Estarra didn’t think that there would be much demand for another card game and it would quickly fall to the wayside. However, we hashed it out a little bit more, spiced up the original proposal up with some fresh ideas and cut out some of the more confusing and complex things I had originally thought of. In fact, the idea transformed from just a card game into a full-blown skillset. That’s right, we designed a whole skillset around collecting cards, battling with them, and gaining buffs from them. Once we tweaked our skillset idea, revamped it a few times, and hashed out all the details of the buffs, we promptly deleted it all. Estarra’s thought that maybe there was no need for people to invest more lessons into a new skillset when we could just add this to an already existing skill to make it more convenient and accessible for everyone, even newbies. This is something we all agreed with (Estarra is pretty brilliant about these things) and so we streamlined the system (again) and decided to put it in the Dramatics skill set and tie it in with stages. Now that the design was confirmed, we moved into the coding phase. I spent a couple of weeks anxiously waiting for Iosai to do all the hard work, and although it seemed like it took an eternity, everything was coded and we were ready to begin making our cards (which as you might have guessed, we decided to call ikons). I had initially planned to make all of the ikons myself, thinking that it would be a small task and wouldn’t take too long. However, Shikari was really excited about the project so Estarra made this into a group project for all the gods. I was really only expecting Shikari to want to make ikons, but so many of us jumped at the chance that we had to create new sets of ikons just to have enough to go around! To make a long story slightly shorter, what started out as a small, fun little project blossomed into over 1,000 ikons. The admin have been testing them out for weeks and we’ve really enjoyed them, so I hope that you all do too! I’d love to hear about your favorite ikons so far or what new sets of ikons you’re hoping for in the future… and once you get your gestalts set up, make sure you challenge your favorite divine to a game of Psychodrama! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Estarra Ustream](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/09/15/estarra-ustream/) **Published:** September 15, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Robb French, the Producer of Lusternia, gave a live webcast on September 14, 2012 to discuss upcoming releases and answer questions. **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [The Hour of the Beast](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/08/the-hour-of-the-beast/) **Published:** October 8, 2012 **Author:** Shikari **Content:** I recently had the pleasure of releasing the third Order beast in the game, my rage worgs, the first “litter” of which reached maturity just this morning. Coincidentally, a player asked me last week how I decided on appearance variables for my worgs, so I thought I’d address beasts in general. Prior to creating my worgs, I had little experience setting up beasts. I thought it’d be fairly simple: write adult and baby descriptions, select a few different adjectives, and some magical system will put them together for me. I could do that in a few hours if I flexed my creative muscle a bit. Three grueling days later, after wracking my brain for about 72 different variables, I finished my worgs. Without giving too much of the process away, beasts take a lot more effort than initially expected. You have to consider male and female differences (if any); designs for incubated “eggs,” adolescent, and adult beasts; and at least eight different variations per feed type, per train type, including neutral. However, the result is worth it. Because mature worgs are running around in-game now, I feel able to share my test worg, which I regenerated several times before settling on its features: *At first glance, this rage worg appears like the common wolf, with a narrow muzzle, upright, triangular ears, and a club-like tail. The similarities end there, however; rising fifteen hands at the shoulder, the beast cuts a hulking figure, possessing a pelt of **blackish-green** fur and **ghostly wings of dust and ash**. Thick muscle ripples beneath his coat, yet his movements belie a savage grace and swiftness uncharacteristic of a creature of his size. Knife-like fangs line his grinning maw, while **glowing aquamarine eyes** stare outward with a cruel intelligence. Beneath his massive paws, shadows undulate outward, forming **a pulsing web of evanescent blood splatters** upon the ground.* I emboldened the variables. Fur colour, wing type, eye type, and shadow type all differ depending on feed, but it’s up to my Order to discover what all of the options are. Just remember that there are three beast stats affected by two types of feed each: meat and oats for the body, fish and vegetables for the mind, and eggs and fruit for the spirit. Feeding a worg a protein-heavy diet of meat, fish, and eggs will yield a certain aesthetic, whereas those fed a vegetarian diet of oats, veggies, and fruit will yield something else entirely. As for why I picked worgs in the first place — everyone in Havens expected me to make leopards, but I selfishly want leopards to remain a unique and rare animal. Additionally, so much of Shikari’s persona is the brooding loner type, but for my Order, I want to emphasize the concept of the pack in just about every aspect of the roleplay. I knew I wanted a wolf or wolf-like animal, but wolves themselves are too common in Lusternia. However, I did remember a term I’d read in the *A Song of Ice and Fire* series by George R. R. Martin: *warg*. And I distinctly remember that worgs are magical beasts in Dungeons & Dragons. And of course, there are the warg riders in *The Lord of the Rings*, too. Then, during one of my idle Google searches, I happened upon this excerpt from *Pathfinder*: *“Worgs hunt in packs, running down and surrounding their prey like common wolves, but their intelligence and ability to speak make them better at coordinating their attacks. They sometimes use one packmate as a decoy, pretending to be a humanoid calling for help in order to lure intelligent prey into an ambush. Worgs that travel with goblins often allow them to ride on their backs, but in such situations it is usually the worg that is the master, not the rider.”* *Pathfinder* also has a version of the worg called the winter wolf, which suits the theme of my newest priest and worg pup seller. But enough about me and mine; what’s your favorite beast we’ve released so far? How much zimoru have you spent getting the characteristics you want? If you could decide the next beast we release, what would you choose to make? **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Reincarnation](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/06/25/reincarnation/) **Published:** June 25, 2012 **Author:** Isune **Content:** A few players have asked what it’s like to take on an “older” godrole that an admin has played in the past. After some poking and prodding from Zvoltz, I’ve decided to write about my experiences with Isune – because, frankly, every godrole’s situation is different. When we take an old godrole, sometimes the last admin left detailed notes on how they ran the order and have outlined extensive plans they’d put into place for their godrole. More often than not, though, it’s a big scavenger hunt for the new admin – and that’s what it was for me: a big, messy, exciting scavenger hunt through every log I could get my hands on, every events post I could snag, and whatever knowledge older admin could give me about how the countless other Isunes played their role. It’s daunting. Isune’s a role that has been around since 2004, and every reincarnation has added something beautiful and inventive to the character. The Isune I play now isn’t the same as the Isune who came out in 2004, because she’s gone through so many events since then. Isune had to repair a Seal by sacrificing her own essence; the Wyrd came into being; her lover Lacostian became Elostian. Her history is complicated, and sometimes confusing, but diving into it was absolutely fun, and I’m very grateful to the Isunes who came before me and left such incredible lore behind. My favorite story, I think, is how Shikari and I discovered Isune’s crystalline rose of pure diamond. I was sifting through old portraits of Isune (as an aside, if you look at Isune’s desc now, parts of it come from those paintings – I fell in love with some of the old written images) when I saw one picture of Isune wearing a rose, a rose that I recognized as Shikari’s. He’d thought it was funny something so very un-Shikarian was in his inventory and showed it off to me when I first came up as an ephemeral. We put two and two together and basically freaked out over this forgotten exchange between our godroles, and actually had a bit of fun with it during my release. Despite all this studying I’ve done on how the past Isunes were played, the best advice I have been given in the Divine havens is to play my -own- Isune. What I love about the godrole includes everything that each former Isune added to her character; when you take an older godrole, it’s to leave your own mark behind, too. And there will be people who dislike how you do it, but there will also be people who enjoy what changes you bring and what nuance you add. I’m very appreciative of the players who’ve come along for the ride, and hope you have as much fun as I do seeing where we wind up! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [A Great Adventure](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/05/15/a-great-adventure/) **Published:** May 15, 2012 **Author:** Morgfyre **Content:** As I sit here in my armchair, smoking jacket and bunny slippers donned, coding what may or may not be a fantastical new quest just for you lovely folks, I find my mind wandering back to my own questing days of yore. I enjoy a bit of ‘figuring out’ in a good quest, but I do appreciate a little subtle guidance from time to time. For me, doing a quest in which the questgiver says “Kill x of thing A, put them in thing B, recite ritual chant C and do puzzle D.” can certainly be challenging, depending on the difficulty of the individual steps, but it’s not as rewarding as if I’d been forced to do a little deductive reasoning, careful scrutinising, or investigating on my own. How about having to find your way into a secret enclave in order to kill thing A, necessitating the careful reading of room descriptions to find the hidden entrance? What if thing B needs repairing before it can hold the corpses, but none of the questgivers remember how to slap it together and return it to working order? It falls to you, the quester, to put on your thinking cap and try a couple of adventurous things that you’ve no idea about regarding their effectiveness until you take the chance! Bit of a brain-wracker, potentially, but tell me that doesn’t leave you proud of yourself after all’s been said and done. Of course, I’m not advocating that the quester be left completely in the dark, but a few well-placed hints can go a long way, I’ve found. Thus, if I were to give one good piece of advice to new questers, it would be this: Pay attention and listen to what the questgiver has to say! You never know when you might gloss over a crucial bit of information, or a juicy piece of gossip about Bob over on the other side of the ravine that would unlock a nifty side-quest. What about you, canny questers? You, the krokani hunters – you, the cross-dressing harlequin influencers – you, the aide to the priestesses of Shallamurine – what’s your favourite quest? Why? If you were given the opportunity to put one good piece of advice in a true newbie’s ear, what would it be? **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The Secret Lives of Gods](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/04/10/the-secret-lives-of-gods/) **Published:** April 10, 2012 **Author:** Zvoltz **Content:** When I was creating the character of Zvoltz, after I decided on his general background and personality, I spent some time thinking about his relationships with the other gods. Was he mad at Elostian for messing up the concept of Divine Circles? How did he feel about Eventru and Fain? Did he think Kalikai was dangerous or just a drunkard? At the time, I thought that would be about all the work I had to do to develop the character because that was my naive idea of what a god was: just some bland definitions, a sprinkling of goals, and some ideas about who he liked and who he hated. Now that I’ve been out in the game, interacting with our wonderful players and the other admin characters, I’ve learned that there is a lot more to a god’s personality than that. I’ve done a lot of brainstorming with the other admin, especially the amazing Isune and wonderful Maylea, about what actually happened in Zvoltz’s past. Who did Zvoltz hang out with back before the events of the Elder Wars? What was his creche like? Did he have a mate? If so, what happened to him or her? What actually went on between him and Mysrai? The more I thought about Zvoltz, the more questions I was coming up with about who he REALLY is. This is when I discovered that admin have a secret and sometimes incredibly detailed history of their characters squirreled away inside their heads. Isune calls this “headcanon”, the sort of unofficial lore we make up in our minds, but I think it is wonderfully exciting to get a glimpse into the heads of the gods. Recently, I had been thinking about the details of what happened when Zvoltz orchestrated the formation of the Circles of gods and Eventru’s player shared his thoughts on how Eventru ended up in the position he ended up in. These are all things that I never thought of as a player, the real details of who the gods are beyond zaps, truefavours, shrine powers, and the occasional (un)holy crusade. I always have a full list of things I want to do as an admin, many of which I will probably never get around to doing. One of the things I really do hope that I will end up doing, however, is revealing a bit more about the true personality of Zvoltz and sharing with the players some of the epic joys and sorrows that he has experienced (at least in my head!). **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [A tree by any other name...](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/12/27/a-tree-by-any-other-name/) **Published:** December 27, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Hope the holidays have found you well and the solstice gnomes did visit and stuff your stockings until they burst! This week, we have another message in the puzzle! The first person to post the message in the comments below (don’t forget to sign in) wins 50 credits! Time yourself and see how well you do. Start the clock to time yourself: **Categories:** Other --- ### [Flowers and Open Ends](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/25/flowers-and-open-ends/) **Published:** February 25, 2012 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** Let’s face it. However you feel about Maylea, she was an ephemeral-fueled concept from start to finish. Estarra mentioned an idea in passing–wasn’t it something about a Georgia O’Keeffe-inspired Goddess? Other than that, there was no guidance. There’s no mention of Maylea in the Elder Wars, something unusual in the current Pantheon. Everything about her history and vision has been drawn together from the person playing her and then approved by Estarra. Questions remain, however. Where was she when the Soulless came? How did she react to the various events of Elder Wars lore? Part of my vision for taking on this role is to sort out the questions. There are copious notes left from the last time Maylea was played, a lot of details about things that could be explained or explored, angles that were thought of and never taken, things agreed with the other Gods. Coming out as a returning God isn’t the easiest thing on earth, though. There are Expectations at best, Assumptions at worst. But the role of Maylea is dynamic and thrilling to me. Without spilling any secrets, there are a lot of aspects that were written into the original concept and never explored. I intend to follow through with these, and shed light upon the ultimate story behind the flower Goddess. I feel I should comment on the strange little release event that I had. What the average player has to understand is that the planning of most events is at best an educated guess as to what players will think of, where they will try to go, who they will talk to. I’ve formed a certain preference for leaving these details highly open-ended instead of deciding beforehand. Estarra tells us this is a dangerous practice, because sometimes it really leads a whole lot of no where, and she is absolutely right that it is a risk, but with involved players it can work out. So for those of you who watched Allessa sacrifice herself, that was planned, yes, but did I know you were going to bring her to Bandrui? Absolutely not. Did I even know where I would end up putting the sick plant? Not really. All of that ended up fueled by the players, and my challenge was of course rising to the occasion. I decided day by day, just prior to showing up, how old Lisey would appear and what she would be interested in. Thankfully Serenwilde was as interested in playing as I was! I hope they were as amused as I was, too! Usually it isn’t precisely good to publically claim credit for an event, but who would you expect to be behind the ultimate release of Maylea except the player behind Maylea? Don’t expect me to be so transparent in the future! But if you do find yourself in an event with little guidance, participate! You may just be able to influence the entire scope of the event. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The Year in Review for 2011](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/01/08/the-year-in-review-for-2011/) **Published:** January 8, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** My name is Robb French, Producer of Lusternia, also known as Estarra the Eternal. At the end of each year, I review the prior year in Lusternia. While I believe 2011 has gone smoothly, I will admit that I am disappointed that the playerbase hasn’t grown as much as I had hoped. A larger playerbase would justify more guilds, more cities and communes, and greater expansion. But I am confident that this coming another year will meet these goals and more! We have a solid foundation and it is my understanding that IRE will focus on expanding the playerbases on all the text games. In 2011, we had a fair amount of releases, some small and some big. One of the biggest changes was an update to mobiles and damage types. Now, mobs have weaknesses and strengths to different damage types, and we tweaked mobiles under the hood to give us more flexibility for stronger mobs. This had the consequence of skewing the amount of experience mobs give which was a difficult balancing act. We also added the Tattoo skillset, which was a special skillset for monks. We added the new Battlerun arena game, revamped Starhymn (though admittedly it may need more work), updated the Family/House system, and added many new artifacts. For our anniversary, we released several new games, including ghodak, tessera, slot machines, darts and, finally Vengeance, which proved to be a ton of fun and extremely popular. We had trouble with database bloat and had to put in unpopular shop limits, but that also led to the new liquid rift skill, reducing the number of vials in-game greatly, as well as coming up with a unique system to imbue esteem with the little-used figurine system. Finally, the big releases came at the end of the year at the conclusion of the Wounded Sky Event with the introduction of a new weather system and the release of Shamanism, which is a tertiary skillset for druids based on weather. Finally, if all this wasn’t enough, we released two new bard guilds! (I know the bard guilds are technically opening in 2012 but I’m including it now because the skills were done for a December release but the Wounded Sky Event took longer to release than expected.) Speaking of the Wounded Sky, this event was a truly epic undertaking, spanning most of the entire year. There’s been enough event posts written about it, so I’ll just point you to the Epilogue that summarizes all the highlights in this longstanding event. The climax resulted in the release of a enormous, new high-level bashing area, over 1000 rooms, plus two epic quests. I had hoped the conclusion would occur in the third week of December but we had to delay it yet another week to test, tweak and add the flourishing touches. I really liked the story and hope you did too. Of course, that wasn’t the only roleplaying event and area release that took place this year, though it may have seemed like it! We also enjoyed the Jubilation Festival in New Celest; the plant child of Glomdoring; the return of Mysrai, the Scarlet Goddess, and the shattering of the Dreadform of Iklara; the sickening of the Vortex Valve; the expedition of the Czigany Coast (and ever popular curios it brought back); the rocksuckers of Shallach; the coming of Composer Adalgiso Batyun of the World Stage; and several episodes in the Clarramore Cloud Gardens. An enormous change in Lusternia was the retiring of our paid coder Sior and hiring of Iosai for that position. I’m sure everyone is much impressed by Iosai’s diligence in fixing bugs and tireless dedication to coding. I know that I’m impressed and, if you’re not, you should be! Finally, we must turn our attention, once again, to the volunteers, who provide so much for nothing except the enjoyment of bringing pleasure (and maybe a little pain) to the players. Eventru, as always, has been on top of the game and I can say that the Icewynd area would not have been finished without him. But it was a group effort, so I must also give credit where credit is due and thank Morgfyre, Mysrai, Shikari and Nocht for their contributions. I’d also like to thank Raezon for his work in helping code the new games, and everyone who helped out with the curios. If I haven’t mentioned a god specifically, it’s because they all do so much that it is hard to keep track of! Not only is new content released because of the volunteers, but they also handle their respective orders and are advisors to player orgs. Boy, I really can’t describe enough how much these volunteers do for us and how little may be noticed. Please join me in thanking them as well as the invisible ephemerals whose efforts are even less detectable. For all our players, thank you for being here and being a part of Lusternia. Nothing that we do would mean anything without those who inhabit this wondrous world. As always, it is my privilege to be a part of it with you. Love you all, Estarra **Categories:** News --- ### [April Puzzle](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/04/05/april-puzzle/) **Published:** April 5, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Another puzzle to unwind. This one may or may not give a clue to something new on the horizon! The first person to post the message in the comments below (don’t forget to sign in) wins 25 credits! Time yourself and see how well you do. Start the clock to time yourself: **Categories:** Other --- ### [A Holiday Puzzle!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/12/21/a-holiday-puzzle/) **Published:** December 21, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Happy Holidays! I truly hope everyone has a joyous and abundant holiday this season. This little puzzle contains a message! The first person to post the message in the comments below (don’t forget to sign in) wins 50 credits! Time yourself and see how well you do. Start the clock to time yourself: **Categories:** Other --- ### [Second Puzzle for the Solstice!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/12/06/second-puzzle-for-the-solstice/) **Published:** December 6, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** This artwork for this puzzle placed in the [artisanal contest](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard) some time ago. The first person to post the artist’s name in the comments below (don’t forget to sign in) wins 10 credits! Time yourself and see how well you do. Start the clock to time yourself: **Categories:** Other --- ### [Puzzle Day!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/29/puzzle-day/) **Published:** November 29, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Try your hand at solving this Lusternian jigsaw puzzle! Post below how long it takes you to complete. It took me almost an hour! Is this something you’d like to see more of? Start the clock to time yourself: **Categories:** Other --- ### [DC MUD Meet](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/26/dc-mud-meet/) **Published:** April 26, 2011 **Author:** Sior **Content:** One of my favorite things to do with any community – whether they be MUD players, DnD groups, or a cappella singers – is to have meets. I love it when a community of people who may not get to see each other in real life very often meet for the first time and immediately have common jokes and inside jokes to share. This past March, we decided to have a Lusternia meet for MUD players and volunteers in the heart of Washington, D.C. Some came from several hours away to attend! We had people who started on the first day of open beta and those who started playing less than a year ago. It was a great crowd. What do you guys like to do at a MUD meet? Leave your comments! **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Peering into the Light (pt2)](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/09/08/peering-into-the-light-pt2/) **Published:** September 8, 2011 **Author:** Eventru **Content:** More than two months ago now I made a post, ‘Peering into the Light (pt1)’, and at its conclusion promised to talk a bit more on other aspects of Celest. After a few months of contemplation (and listening in on the Cantors a fair bit), I’ve decided to revisit the topic and pick up where I left off – approaching the topics of the Guilds of New Celest. I offer my usual warning regarding my verbosity – however tonight I suspect I will err on the side of brevity. (Rejoice, Estarra – Gaudiguch has frozen over!) I wish to preface this with the acknowledgment that this is simply how I view them – and while that certainly carries a lot of weight, I hope it is the weight of experience and knowledge, and not the weight of raw authority. As well, I feel the need to note that I will discuss two aspects on each guild – its past incarnations, and its current ones. Take it as you will – they do not always align perfectly, however the thematic core of the guild is likely entirely unchanged. I shall dive into it, then: **The Aquamancers**The Aquamancers are perhaps the oldest of the Celestian guilds – early in the life of Celest, before the discovery of Celestia and the founding of the Holy Empire, there was a city upon a beautiful island at the heart of a wondrous sea and its waters shone like crystal. It was home to much life and beauty, and the merian people who congregated there were extremely rich culturally, and were the progeny of a people who had great skill in higher forms of magick. As the communes delved into the Ethereal Planes, Celest delved beyond them – discovering first the Plane of Water, from which they draw on its vibrations and learned to cleanse the rivers, seas and waters, bringing life back to places where it was either dying or had largely died out – This is discussed in *the Aftermath of the Taint Wars*, albeit only briefly. As the Aquamancers came to master the waters, there likely came a very practical use for them as a budding guild, in the sea-locked city – merchants. Particularly in the field of sailing ships, much of the Aquamancer naming conventions are related to a concerted naval force – and this persists today. Interestingly, though, I feel it’s important to note that, during the time of the Empire, they were not “The Aquamancers”, but “The College of Aquamancy”. It’s important to remember, when discussing the Aquamancers, that they are not ‘outside’ of the Light, as has been stated in the past (for those who remember it, so long ago) but some of the guild. They are most certainly devout followers of the Light, though they are not directly drawing from Celestia. In more modern times, Aquamancers seem to have slipped into the role of the studious scholar almost exclusively. Perhaps it is the lack of a naval aspect to Lusternia – though I’m always both tickled and pleased when I see Aquamancers going all Captain Kirk on aetherships. **Celestines**Out of the Aquamancers came a merian by the name of Javile Farain, and his close companion Tresalyne. Together they pursued what became almost an obsession of Tresalyne’s – the stars. “What are they, what beings dwell there?” Tresalyne had long asked and wondered – through the Plane of Water, seeking the Stars, they pierced the veil between planes. Together they stepped forth onto the Plane of Celestia, discovering the Holy Supernals. Javile Farain went on to become the first Holy Father of the Celestines – Tresalyne would die around this time, using his own life-force to trap a raging tempest within a golden chest (later discovered by the Celestines and opened by Talkan La’Saet!). Because of his sacrifice, Elohora drew Tresalyne into her bossom, and he was reborn as the Starlit Saint, a being not-quite-mortal and not-quite-immortal, but permanently bound to Holy Celestia, and an entity of both great faith and great holy power. His body would be preserved by the Celestines for centuries to come. It’s important to note a few things about the Celestines – firstly, they’re priests. This means they’re also scholars, theologians, preachers and even combatants. The sects of the Celestines are many-fold, with warriors who hold to Methrenton’s precepts, mediators that hold to Japhiel’s and pacifists that hold to Raziela’s. Those who follow Shakiniel often performed charitable work, largely related to children and other groups of people viewed as ‘weak’ and ‘less fortunate’. This likely plays into the sense of racial superiority of the merian people – they feel morally obligated to help the weaker, lesser races. This fervent religious belief would permeate the whole of the city and would eventually drive them to control over the entire Basin of Life. The Celestines were home to many remarkable priests, some who followed Tresalyne into the state of being known as Sainthood. I’ll probably touch on this at a later date, after it’s been more fully fleshed out ICly. Needlessly said, they were great priests who arose during times of great trouble, and committed great acts of self-sacrifice. **Paladins**The Paladins were born from Celestia, their first members having received their sacred powers by drinking from the Pool of Stars. Previously I’ve referenced the history of the Paladins that Catarin has published in-game – it’s excellent, and details this a bit more, so I’ll gloss over it and expand on its function instead. The Paladins served as the Imperial Guard for the Royal Family and the Great Houses – while the Ur’Guard were used as shock troops, the Paladin were the elite of the elite. Paladins were the only multi-racial guild in Old Celest, allowing some krokani within their ranks. This was an immense honour for those families whose sons were accepted. In modern times, the Paladins have shifted to fill the gap left by the Ur’Guard – they are the prime fighting force of New Celest. I feel they fill this role very well ICly, and the likes of Malicia do wonderfully leading them. At this time, it’s not known if any saints rose from their numbers – and I won’t say one way or another on that topic, for the time being. **The Cantors**Ahh, the Cantors. Bearing the power of the Starhymn, a section of the Song of Creation once kept by Rhapsody the Melodic, they can be a difficult guild. I’ve watched them struggle with claiming some sense of identity over the years, and I think as time has gone on they’ve gotten a lot better. Though sometimes a bit too whimsical, they generally can keep themselves within the realm of reason. This guild did not exist during the Holy Empire – no bard guild did. However, the Starhymn did, however in the form of the Voice of Rhapsody and the Miracle Flock (or the Flock of a Thousand Miracles). A great flight of white doves, it winged its way across the First World and brought blessings and good cheer, and often heralded a golden age for many civilizations. Sadly, it also would herald many of their downfalls, for Zenos would commonly give chase if he sensed them, hungry as he was for the Song. The Flock likely held some affinity towards Dionamus the Healer – I cannot say if he knew their true nature or not, but he is linked to them in many ways, including during his rise to Divinity. This is spelled out more in the Diary of Tamthys, who was his lover prior to his becoming Dionamus. What is Starhymn? At its base, it’s the songs mimicked by the choirs of Celestia, as well as the rhythm of the tides, seas and music of the stars. Whereas the Celestines may focus on individual Supernals, viewing each as parts of the whole, the Cantors could very well take a broader view of Celestia, focusing instead of on how Methrenton is a Warrior, they focus on how the various parts come together to create the grandiose, theological masterpiece that is the Light. That’s all I’ll say for now – I hope to find time in the future to help the Cantors further develop their culture. **The Tahtetso**Ahh, the Tahtetso! Perhaps one of my favourite guilds in Celest. Well, top 5. An amalgam of kepheran martial techniques and celestian theology, I think those who helped found the guild did a wonderful job giving it orientation, goal and a sense of identity. With time it’s been expanded upon, and I’ve tried to see it drawn around full-circle. For those unaware, the ideal goal of a tahtetso monk is to reach a state of ‘lumosis’, where the soul and the Light are united. A fascinating concept, it goes well with the idea of who and (more importantly) what the Saints of Celestia are. To that end, the term it would be referenced by, pre-Tahtetso, would’ve been ‘Unification’. Indeed, the Tahtetso focus on the inner, spiritual growth – they look at the Light and do not see pieces or individuals but they see an overall light, a warmth, and they seek ways to bring it into themselves and personify it, in equal measure. Ideally, a tahtetso monk would reach a spiritual ‘oneness’ with the Light, shedding physical form and being drawn into the Light, seeking that level of union shared only by the Saints. Doubtlessly this is a life-long journey for the Tahtetso, one of constant growth, development and change. It’s also important to note that the Tahtetso do share a sense of kinship with the Kephera – having themselves been gifted an Eye of Keph, which now resides in the Gardens of Celestial Remembrance (and was used to combat the aforementioned tempest, when a piece of it escaped confinement by hiding in the ruined rubble of the old celestine seminary!). So, a brief overview of the guilds done, I think I shall end there for now. Feel free to blow the comments up with questions, and I’ll answer them as I can. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Peering into the Light (pt1)](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/30/peering-into-the-light-pt1/) **Published:** June 30, 2011 **Author:** Eventru **Content:** After reading a numerous threads and posts on the forums and nearly four years as an administrator (boy, time flies!), I can say one of my greatest frustrations regarding New Celest is a matter of perception. Indeed, people look down on it, from the outside, and scoff loudly, while others from within offer-up hearty denials, though they near always centre around a question of ‘alignment’ – that being ‘good’ (as opposed to ‘evil’). It’s always an interesting debate to see play out, but it becomes tiresome – and, as I said, frustrating – when some within the org itself seem to have a poor perception or idea of what the Light is, stands for, and how that does (and/or should) transpose onto New Celest. I shall stop now and warn – I know my own nature, and this is likely to be a very long post. I will do my best to condense thoughts into some semblance of completion, though when talking to a more greater, ‘meta’ subject, I have a tendency to blend everything together. There, obligatory warning aside (that’s really just for you, Estarra, who always comments on my lengthy posts! Grumble!), I shall delve into the matter as fully as I may. To prepare the topic properly, we must look at Celest as a history – culturally speaking, New Celest is only a teenager in comparison to what they were born from. Old Celest probably was close to a thousand-year-old culture, or even older, at the time of its demise – the capitol itself was on an island in the middle of the Crystal Sea, smaller companion to the Inner Sea. In its infancy it was probably birthed from a fishing town or some such, rising to greatness on the backs of a very advanced people. To truly look at the foundation of Celest, one must have some understanding of who the merian people are, and what they are innately like. It is not uncommon for players to ‘overlook’ the advances of merian culture, and hold Hallifax up as the most ‘advanced’. In some ways this is true – particularly when we equate ‘science’ with ‘technology’. Still, merians were the first to construct an edifice of power, and raised many Vernal Gods – I can’t speak in terms of quantity, if ‘most’ Vernal Gods were merian or not – but I can say that of the last nine, three were merian – d’Varsha (also the first), Juliana, and Dionamus. Off-hand, such racial positioning and quality are the merians’ alone to claim. Of these races, one must note that none of them were renowned for their fighting prowess. Instead, they were known for their more benevolent natures – d’Varsha was also known as the Teacher, a brilliant merian who built a great structure and, through it, rose to become the first Vernal God. In lieu of hoarding this knowledge, or sharing it solely with the merian race, d’Varsha not only taught it to other races, but likely played a role in ensuring they were completed. Likely a trait of Meridian’s that is simply an aspect of the merian people – they are compassionate, protective individuals. Looking to Juliana, she was renowned for her judicious nature, an unparalleled negotiator, and not unknown for her tactical, intuitive nature. She convinced rivals amongst the Vernal Gods (who, were it not for the Soulless, probably would have came to blows) to come together and fight alongside one another. Such an example is Dionamus who, risen from the now-destroyed city of Alabellalum (the story of which is detailed in a book related to the Kelpie Maiden quest – a must for Cantors especially!), was widely hailed as a benevolent savior figure – paintings persist of him sweeping children out of the path of raging soulless and, legends claim, assisted by legions of fiery angels that fought against the Soulless with a righteous fervour. Needlessly said, ‘good’ is simply an innate trait for merians. Of course, there are those who fall away from this – Ladantine, Shellma, and dozens of other instances come to mind. I note that they often only do so under the influence of an outside source (Ladantine was a brilliant scientist and scholar who, while haphazard, probably had grand intentions before coming into contact with Kethuru – Shellma has her own story, as does her family, with its own tone of tragedy). By and large, however, they are the personification of goodness given mortal form, complete with mortal flaws. Of course, there is a tone of racism, though, I note, it’s not the Jim Crow mentality of racism, but rather a sense of racial superiority (arguably a justifiable one), and so during the Holy Empire merians were the vast majority of the Celestines, Aquamancers and Paladins. The last being the exception – krokani, being viewed as powerful, faithful allies of the Empire, were allowed to join their ranks. So, the Merians were not ‘behind,’ technologically speaking – they were pioneers of planar physics, the first ‘true’ mages and highly skilled with the manipulation of energy and power – which forms the basis of their technology. Who needs an elevator when you can just swim up an enchanted waterfall? Who needs TV when water elementals can take on the form of what they witnessed? And so forth! Find any of this shocking? You shouldn’t! Everything I’ve said has been said time and time again, and I cannot express, fully, my frustration over how often I hear people ‘ooo’ and such at the rediscovery of this. Now, history lesson largely over – and on to the Light. Particularly, the Supernals. We all know there are five Supernals on Holy Celestia, five siblings born of templates and blossomed into half-formed beneath the hand, thought and song of Dynara. Tragically, Dynara abandoned the First World with her sister, Magnora, to seek out the Nameless Son – when they did so, the Song of Creation ceased. Despite the attempts of Elder Gods known as the Hamadhi, these half-formed entities on the creches would never reach their fullest potential. Over time they would change, adapt, and become a ‘part’ of their creche. Indeed, any half-formed that abandons their creche and is gone for any serious length of time would go mad. Such madness is difficult to describe, for one imagines it would vary, however a sense of maliciousness inevitably would settle in. Why? Who knows – it could be that a part of their being is ‘linked’ to their Creche and so without its presence they begin to ‘deteriorate,’ it could be that some ‘tear’ has opened and so bits of the excoroperditio seep into them, I couldn’t say! As always, I find this topic terribly interesting, and so encourage those interested in doing so to write and submit scholarly pieces theorizing. Yet I will return to the topic. Now we understand WHAT the half-formed are – who can fully say WHY they represent what they did. Needlessly said, the Holy Emanations of Shallmar and the Holy Supernals of Celestia were beautiful, benevolent beings who were revered for their wisdom, glory and goodly nature. They make for great poster children, and doubtlessly that was a fair factor in what drew people to them. Perhaps such benevolence was something simply imbued into them by Dynara, perhaps it is something they ‘adopted’ or ‘learned’ from Elder Gods, particularly the Hamadhi and the First Circle who worked with them (Amberle comes to mind, as she was of a similar disposition and I believe a First Circle who worked with the Hamadhi, much as Eventru does). Perhaps it was born of their struggle (for what does not kill us makes us stronger – and from adversity do we build character) and ‘affliction,’ for a gentler word for how they were in comparison to the Gods. So, we come to the meat of it (three, four paragraphs later!): - **Raziela** – A Supernal of Love, Beauty, Compassion. Raziela is the definition of child-like innocence, and this will never change. Likely had she matured into a full Elder God, she would have been as naive and idealistic then as she was in her proverbial infancy – she is idyllic in this way, and she holds only love for everyone. Some people corrupt this love to mean the execution of those permanently corrupted by the Soulless (indeed, Eventru has as much implied it, and I think Terentia has even outright stated it) – never in your life will you hear Raziela even contemplate the thought of killing anything. Likely in her mind anything can be saved, purified and be reborn in the Light. - **Shakiniel** – A Supernal of Protection, Hope, and to some Devotion. Now I say ‘Devotion’ but I don’t mean worship, but I mean it in the sense of to a cause or a person – she gives her word and she keeps it. Shakiniel will never give up the thought of ‘hope’ (were she to even contemplate it in passing, she would never vocalize such thoughts). Shakiniel, physically, is a bit strange – she is blue, with short hair, and (at least in my mind), is not the depiction of femininity that Elohora is. She has short black hair, which glitters with starlight. She has great golden wings, and wears golden armour. If there was ever a Patron Supernal of Children, the Sick and the Weak, boy, is Shakiniel it. She would sooner die than know she has left a child in harm’s way. She is a defender – she would likely not advocate fighting unless it was a necessary course of action. Perhaps, to some, a stark contrast to… - **Methrenton**– Boy. If there was ever a man I’d want my back in a barfight, that’d be Methrenton. Supernal of the Holy Flame, the Crusader, Warrior of Righteous Causes, he oversees the Golden Forge of the Holy Flame. Indeed, he is likely the armourer for all of Celestia, and is a powerful entity. Handsome, winged, armoured, tan, and with eyes of white fire, he is doubtlessly terrifying to find yourself before him. **But not so for those of the Light.** For one truly devout in the Light, they would only be comforted by his presence, for when Methrenton enters the field, *hope* is no longer needed – you have RIGHTEOUSNESS on your side. And if you’ve watched the scene from Lord of the Rings where Helms Deep is nearly destroyed and Gandalf appears in the distance, well, you’ve got a faint idea. Methrenton does not espouse the idea of genocide – while he might be fiery and strong-willed, and willing to fight those who go against the Light, he is by no means ‘bloodthirsty.’ Of course, there will always be a fine line between ‘valiant’ and ‘bloodlust,’ and it’s probably all relative to whether or not he’s on your side, for most. - **Japhiel** – Speaking of Gandalf, I’m fairly certain Japhiel’s stole his beard. Every time I think of him, I think of this old stained glass of Saint Nicholas at the catholic church I went to as a child. Even-handed, genteel, elderly (looking!), Japhiel is probably the man you want in the Supreme Court. Judicious, he is the Supernal of Law, Mercy, Justice and Arbitration. I’m not really sure what more needs to be said – he’s not Judge Judy (who really needs to take a chill pill!), but he’s definitely a fair, even-handed being. Everything with him is weighed out before he makes a decision – and, aside from perhaps Elohora, he is the most ‘centrist’ of the Supernals. While you may view Raziela and Methrenton on the extremes, Japhiel would weigh between them and strike for a middle ground – he is by no means a pacifist, but if a fight can be solved without drawing steel, you can be sure Japhiel will seek it out. - **Elohora** – The Lady of Eternal Light, the Throne of Brilliance, the Light given form – Elohora is the Supernal of Supernals. Her only flaw is her nudity, and with such a perfect body, I don’t think anyone really considers that a flaw. And if they DO, well, they should go speak with Methrenton… She is everything the Light SHOULD be – beautiful, perfect, ‘natural’, radiant and shining. She is compassionate, strong, protector of the weak and merciful without being naive. Divine providence and general gift-from-god type miracles are oft the province of this great Supernal. She is certainly the quintessential leader of a “lawful good” theocratic empire! Elohora is also now the least vocal of the Supernals – well, I would be too if my empire collapsed… (…FOR NOW!) So! Boy, we’ve covered a lot. The thought of an ‘inquisition’ is a pretty dark one – that’s not to say one or more have not occurred in Celest’s history (at least one may have – check out Catarin’s book that’s in the Lusternia Historical Society section for some nifty history on the Paladins!), but they are not something necessarily condoned by the Light. Alright, so, I’m tired, by this point. I shall call this blog post at its end, and resume at a later point, when the fires of passion have me worked up. We’ve covered the merian race and the Supernals, and in the future I want to address both the Saints of Celestia (no, Serenwilde, I will not tell you about the Burning Star! Sorry!), and precisely (well, relatively) what they are, and where they live. Yes, there’s near thousand year old merians chilling on Celestia in a far, far out-of-the-way place. In a manner of speaking. Similarly, I want to broach the topic of the guilds of Celest, and how the Light plays into each and every one of them (and if anyone suggests it doesn’t, I’ve got a belaying pin down on the dock to stick in your eye!)! So, until next time. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Playing God](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/30/playing-god/) **Published:** June 30, 2011 **Author:** Eventru **Content:** I’m going to preface this post with something completely irrelevant to the topic – a short story. Estarra and I were sitting at Havens (this is very common), both terribly idle (also common), as I was in the other room watching Joan Rivers (ibid) because my poor dog (fun fact: Arco, the fae puppy, was designed to look and act like him) was feeling lonely (Uncommonly common!). I just came back to the computer, checked the scrollback, and saw this little gem: (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “It’s Friday, Friday!” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “Which seat can I taaaaaaaaaaaaaake?” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “Gotta eat cereal and go to the bus, but then ignore the bus and get a ride from some kiiiiiiiids.” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “Then have a random middle aged rapper pop and sing about my front/back seat dilemma!” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “We we we so excited!” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after thaaaat.” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “Estarra and Eventruuuuuu! Eventually you will have to acknowledge meeeee! I can sing foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever!!!” You exclaim, “I’m including a log of that singing in my next blog post!” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “….” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “Estarrrrrrraaaaa! Take away Eventru’s bloging privs before……” (Nocht, the Silent) sings, “FRIDAY FRIDAY.” Nocht hums a happy tune. *I’ll let that speak for itself.* On topic – Faragan asked that I write a bit about my experience in building and designing Eventru. Let me begin with this note – I never, in my life, wanted to be a Celest God. The Light and what I perceived, as a player, to be its ideologies appealed to me about as much as Magnagora’s did. I found them boring and unexciting – the stories of the commune, the fae, the Spirits, were all the rage at the time – and boy was I sucked in. Every time the topic came up, I insisted I wanted to be Manteekan of the Sixth Circle (mind you, this was before Nocht was released, though we knew he was coming), a Traitor in Glomdoring. I thought it’d be an utterly fascinating ordeal – though with time, Estarra steered me away from it. I’ll admit, it didn’t take much effort – in the turn of a conversation Estarra had me considering a Celest god. Of course, she likes to fill vacant roles – and kept pushing me toward Lyreth. I scoffed – no, I didn’t want a ‘used’ god, I wanted a god who was SERIOUS and not perceived as so… Whimsical. Well, most of New Celest from such a time can tell you how far I missed that mark! Yet still, I went ahead with Eventru, Elder God of the First Circle, who helped lead the Hamadhi. The role of the Hamadhi was still pretty unknown, with only somewhat nebulous statements regarding their purpose having been put out at the time. Indeed, I had quite a lot of fun with then-Lisaera brainstorming – all I had to go one was that Estarra had a ‘Zeus-like’ idea of him, and away we went! We quickly expanded on the sense of ‘I am an Elder God, last of the First Circle (since Fain is a traitor!), and a Healer’ – we developed three key focuses for the role: - Royalty - Life - Faith These were pretty easy topics to build on, and all very suitable for the role. Of course, being a God of Celest, Eventru should fit well with the existing dictum. With Terentia as a very strong-arm Goddess, it wasn’t necessary for Celest to have yet another ‘I am Fighter, hear me roar’ god – Eventru is, in fact, as near a pacifist as one could expect an entity in His position to be. From the start we rolled with the idea that he was a Healer, not a Fighter. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t fight, but his talents were in the more esoteric, the underlying flows of energies of the Elder Gods and the half-formed. The Soulless were something alien to Him – fighting then would be about as efficient as Murphy grabbing his flails and charging down to the Astral Plane and trying to beat Kethuru up by himself. Amusing, might last a minute or two, but give Kethuru the opportunity to break wind and the reality of the situation would quickly become apparent. Of course, I’ve always abhorred the notion of ‘pacifist’ in Lusternia (it’s about as efficient in resolving problems as peaceful resistance in the heart of Viet Cong in the late ’50s), so it was important to me not to provide Celest with a god (who would be their only genuinely active god for some time) who abhorred fighting. No, Eventru does not disprove of fighting – he simply acknowledges it is not his strong suit. Play to everyone’s strengths, I suppose. Enough ambling about on the topic, to the three focuses of Eventru: **Royalty** – This was easily made manifest by the inclusion of the ‘Royal We’ in his speech pattern – it was most likely a conscious decision on his part (or perhaps a sub-conscious pull, but he is certainly aware of it) to speak to mortals with authority. It was later expanded into one of Eventru’s primary virtues, Pride. Ego, Pride, Self-Confidence, Self-Worth, Self-Esteem, whatever you wish to call it, it was the romantic notion of a just and good person who acted out of his own good nature because that was simply who he was – a fair and benevolent king, as an example. It was intended to encompass all people who accepted their role and acted accordingly – fighters fought, healers healed, leaders lead. Almost a calvinistic notion of predestination – this is who you are, you should be proud of it, not fight it. Of course, those who *don’t* act out of virtue but instead vice would be in a very poor place, indeed… **Life** – I use the word ‘life’, but I really mean ‘healing’ and ‘spirituality’ – not so much healing the body, but the soul. Because in a world where mortals are reborn and so much revolves around the quality and state of one’s soul, the body can become a very mortal thing to be concerned about. So, obviously a strong topic for a Healer – being that it’s Celest, I wanted to focus on the very elysian fields mentality one can find in Celestia, that very empyreal atmosphere – Eventru’s mound continues to exist on the distant reaches of Celestia, and I eventually translated this motif into his godrealm and then expanded on it. I also gave a lot of focus to the inherent, elemental nature of Celest – water being a very purifying thing, clean, beautiful, pristine. From this we see Eventru’s godrealm – a palace (his temple) that sits atop a mountain, surrounded by wheat fields and olive trees, that is itself an island surrounded by a seemingly endless ocean speckled with islands. **Faith** – Faith plays off of both of the previous points a bit, but expands on it. Indeed there’s a sense of ‘order’ and ‘purpose’, and people should conform to it – we all have our nature, we’re a product of our environment, and trying to change that can be a slow and with few rewards. Healers should heal – of course, a healer cornered should do their best to fight their way out. It’s certainly better than dying! Expanding on that, we draw into the ‘spirituality’ nature of Eventru – not just healing it, restoring what’s been broken and washing away the impure, but also encouraging it to grow, expanding on what exists and fanning it until it reaches its fullest potential. Indeed, if you ask Eventru, the greatest gift he was ever given was his soul, pure and true – and it’s a belief he extends to his followers, and expects them to extend onto others. So with this three points defined, we had a pretty solid foundation for the nature of Eventru – of course, there’s a lot more to him than that. I’ve seen several order members in the past comment on him having a wise statement for every occasion – and it’s true. The final detail of Eventru, that was more or less pushed on him by mortals, was the idea of a ‘father figure’ god – I struggled a bit against it at first, but after some thought it made sense. I adapted to it quickly, and over time it’s very much who Eventru has become – a wise, generally gentle (don’t get him mad!) god, who doesn’t concern himself so much with the day-to-day battles but worries towards the long-term some. Of course, there’s so much more to any character, god or mortal, than can be easily described in a blog post (and I already know when Estarra sees this, she’ll go “Oh wow! That’s so long!” – just know, she says this every time I post!) – for the past couple years I’ve made a genuine effort to transform Eventru’s godrealm into something more than just ‘oh look, a temple, very pretty. Some sand, cool – hey, water!’, but instead to also include quests. I’ll not go on about it at length – and I’ll leave it at that I’ve found Eventru’s temple, and the quests within, an excellent opportunity to explore and expand upon Eventru and his nature. Of course, it’s slow going – Rome wasn’t built in a day – but over time it’s accumulated a total of four good quests, three of which have been used to add animals and life to the realm (because I think a good area needs some animal life!), and there’s a few special surprises planned for it down the road… **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [The Origins of Eventru](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/30/the-origins-of-eventru/) **Published:** June 30, 2011 **Author:** Eventru **Content:** Well, once countless aeons ago, We were a small twinkle in Dynara’s eye, whipped together as a grotesque amalgam of protoplasm on an unborn creche, eventually seeded and encouraged and grown, into a half-formed and then a full Elder God, shedding such a weak form into Our most glorious and radiant of Selves…. …Or, I was a scared little ephemeral. Take your choice, they both make for interesting stories. Estarra’s badgering us to make a blog post (in her kindly, grandmotherly way), so I suppose I shall regale you briefly with the story of my Ephemeralhood. I must tell you, Estarra and I had quite the rapport looking back, and I’ll quietly acknowledge it wasn’t the best of them. Still, following my Sophmore year of college, I decided to apply when an ephemeral call. Actually, I should rephrase. I wrote up an application, saved it to my desktop, and told myself, ‘If you still want to apply in a week, send it in.’ Mind you, I did say this was following my Sophmore year of college, so it was pretty easy for me to get lost in the proverbial hay. It ended up being several weeks before I remembered and decided to submit it. A rather, “Well, if I’m accepted, I’ll give it a shot!” sort of moment. In truth, I didn’t actually expect to be taken (see: rapport). Still, for some obscene reason, Estarra and the standing administrators decided to give me an interview. Now, probably most of you don’t recognize this, but after you submit your application, all of the gods offer their opinion, and Estarra makes the calls on who gets interviews. I must say, sitting in Estarra’s little office, and being asked things like, **“What is your favourite thing about Lusternia?”** and **“What is your favourite colour?”** is, well, intimidating. Actually, intimidating is an understatement. It is *downright terrifying*. Yet I was given the opportunity to role as an ephemeral – with minimal building background, no coding experience, and a penchant for over-writing. Still, Estarra saw something – so there it was. I was actually the last ephemeral in my group to be taken – Estarra had more or less forgotten to take down the applications – and I came up to find two or three other ephemerals already versed and on their way towards their second project. I was quietly given the run-down by Lisaera, who held my hand through much of my Ephemeralhood. My first project was interesting – to make a pet. Allow me to say, I do believe that I can be extremely creative, but I was filled with so much terror and fright that I was left with really only one choice. Yes, I made a pet rock. ***A pet rock***. Do you know what this rock did? Not a whole lot. It may’ve peed itself, but that’s the extent of it. Now, I thought my interview was terrifying, but showing Estarra my ***pet rock*** truly topped the cake. Following that, I took up my second project. That was a lot easier, but also much harder – I spent hours upon hours straining over understanding all of this $gget() and $pvget() and $pvar() and event this and if that and elseif those and endifs for everything and endevent and indenting and *OH THE HUMANITY*. Lisaera, however, was a champion – between her and Morgfyre (Now Ishap, but he’s still the spaghetti monster to me), they really kept me moving, and answered every (truly) idiotic question that I possessed in my little head. In time, I finished my project, and moved on to the next. Though, as an ephemeral, I was a fair bit of a lump. It took a lot of time, but eventually I managed to learn to script and design quests, mobs, even toys. In fact, one of my practice efforts became quite the hit, when players saw me toying with them – my first was an Elohora doll, who pom-pom’d and cutesied her way into the hearts of admin. Of course, that wasn’t terribly appropriate for my ephemeral’s meager character, so I made another – and who wouldn’t want to yank on Nifilhema’s strings? A couple weeks or a month later Estarra told us to start thinking of silly little artifacts – little did any of us know they’d be so damn popular! Oh, I also made a gnome stripper who popped out of a cake for Estarra’s birthday. No, you won’t find that anywhere in a dingbat shop! I think, looking back, if there is anything I regret, it’s those damn dolls. Every time there’s a new round of dingbat items, “Dolls?!” Suddenly what was a cute Ephemeral’s toy became a God’s nightmare – upkeep, adding in new ones (six every round!). Oh, the humanity! Thankfully, though, we’ve moved to a point where the ‘sets’ have come to an end. All five supernals, all five demon lords, all the Moon and Night avatars… Abeytu, the Wyrdling. Peace, I say! Peace! I consider it a godsend that I’m not the only one doing them anymore – with other gods, I’ll admit, the work does go a fair bit faster now on them! Given time, I wasn’t just an ephemeral anymore – I moved on to become the glorious and radiant Eventru, the Crown of the Exalted, the Exalted Lord, the August Healer, the Pious Father, and whatever other monikers can be made for him. With more time, I came to conquer the scripting that always gave me nightmares! Eventually I was invited to learn to code in Rapture which, needlessly said, has been a nightmare for a number of reasons (largely related to oddities in the behavior of my computer). Though, I’ll say – I didn’t always want to grow up to be the goodly god of light and overwritten entry messages. Estarra had to talk me into it a bit – but I feel like I’ve taken to it! Celest, once an organization I was just sort of warm to, has become one of my favourites – it has such a rich history, so many unwritten stories, and great quantities of untapped potential. Of course, I love all the organizations – they all have their flavour and stories, with Serenwilde and Gaudiguch probably being in my top three, lore-wise. I’ll not go on about that, though – I could probably write a whole post about my perceptions and appreciation for each and every organization. They’re all so unique, and with some of them striving in spite of their history, because of their history, and with history nearly entirely wrought by players, they’re all utterly fantastic. Yet at the end of the day, I think I’ll take a good, pious Razielan merian sipping her tea over anything else. But hey – what do you expect from the dazzling guy with yellow text? **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Behind the Curtain](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/30/behind-the-curtain/) **Published:** June 30, 2011 **Author:** Eventru **Content:** I’ve been an administrator for three and a half years – and I can say, without question, that I’ve changed, and grown, in that time. On the occasion a player will send me an OOC message in-game, or a forum message, or a comment, or an e-mail, etc, thanking me for the work I do – that all admin do – to make Lusternia a place everyone comes to enjoy. Of course, these always tickle me, but it’s not the ‘thank you’s that make it worthwhile. Perhaps the most drawing, intriguing and compelling thing of being an administrator, for me, is affecting the world around me – as a player, being at the centre of events was exciting. Not necessarily for the attention (though that’s always grand too) but because in a way, affecting a change on something much larger than you (or, at least, feeling as though you are) was the true rush. Shifting into an administrator’s role was, in hindsight, the natural evolution of things. At first it was the twin opportunities of being the centre of attention and paying back the enjoyment I’d reaped for so long – but eventually, those things fade. I’m sure most of Celest can tell you I’m nigh omnipresent, yet I rarely interact with those who do not seek me (well, Eventru) out. A stark change from just three years ago. The reality is that I’ve found my greatest enjoyment to be contributing and allowing players a space to enjoy the game – as a result I’ve produced probably more areas than any other active god excluding Estarra, and have had at the least my fingers in every major event (and many minor ones) over the past three years. From the good to the bad, down to the awful and up to the most loved events, I’ve ridden through them all, often strapped into a bucket with a tinfoil hat on my head, and a sack of potatoes for a seat belt, riding on the top of a metaphorical train, with Lyreth, Estarra and gods now since gone shrieking at me about how insane I clearly, clearly am. Events are pretty difficult things to stare down – the easiest and smoothest events are those that are scripted. Influence 50000 angels, every 10000 you get a big shiny ball of light. 5 balls, you save the world from certain oblivion. Simplicity is where most administrators – myself included – will idle when we’re nervous. As the difficult of events grow, so does the complexity and therefore both the amount of work required to prepare for it and the venues for error – often exponentially. Often times a very simple event becomes as much work as an area – or more. You can spend weeks scripting and scripting, designing and building and tweaking and testing, all for something that will happen once, and only once. Needlessly said, this can become a monumental task – and particularly daunting. Most (every!) player wants an open-ended event – they want to be able to affect the game in a very real way. This is, of course, next to impossible – even I cannot script events that quickly (and there’s been several occasions we’ve shifted directions mid-event, and it has left me scrambling to pump out scripts at god awful speeds with little testing in hopes of keeping up with players), and so we’re left with two options. Option one is to do nothing and force an event in a given direction – this is something that can be done any number of ways. The first is to make it an obvious and straightforward event – again, simplicity is key. Then there’s the ancient, unholy doom weighing upon yon mortals, that’s always a good motivator to ensure they do not think nor linger too long on whether or not to help young Mary in her quest to vanquish the eldritch horrors of the Soulless God Muud in a single, heart-breaking act of salf-sacrifice and love. Either way, this is your standard event, particularly when they’re small in size. One such event was the release of the Kelpie Maiden – it was simple, straight-forward and targetted for Celest. Of course New Celest will help the piratical merian lord Yadothune Nerale in his quest to find a sculpture blessed by the Voice of Rhapsody. These events are small in scale, easy to write, take a few days of scripting, a day of testing, and a few hours or a day to run. They’re pretty small events. From there, we can jump in size a bit – these tend to be conflict events, where it’s one org set against another org. The simplest exampe that comes to mind is Terentia’s re-release, when her and Fain were found fighting in the Void. They were struggling with some soulless horror and were saved – but both were unconscious. It became a race to see who poured the most essence into resurrecting their god – the winner claimed the Eye of Dynara, which later lead into another event entirely. Conflict events can grow in size, consuming multiple orgs. These events, be they org v org or orgs v (insert horror here), can lead to some interesting situations – and this is where event designers are often tested. Designing multiple outcomes can become next to impossible – scripting whole quests, a half dozen or so, knowing only one will ever be used… Yeah right! The easiest means of manipulating that, and a tactic we often employ, is one wherein the quests are nigh identical, but require different ingredients. While Bob may demand red flowers, Susie will demand blue – both are gotten from hunting down the maniacal, prune-wielding murderous gardeners that have invaded the Forests, intent on creating the perfect hedge maze. Ahh, this is running long. Needlessly said – the work isn’t easy! While some rare few admin might be able to produce events in a few days, the best are often hatched over weeks, or even months – where we have the opportunity to stroke our chin and eyeball the design, look for where players might want to have a second option, and if we want to offer it. And often, for me at least, the argument for the ‘if’ is more rooted in ‘Where will the storyline go’, not ‘do I want to pick on them today’. And then the question will always stand – ‘is this too hard?’ My, what a question. ‘Is this too hard’, you ask – or far more likely, ‘THIS IS TOO HARD!!!’, you scream – you can probably blame someone like me for that. No, no – I am not a sadist. I do not sit and wonder how to ‘screw’ over New Celest (or insert organisation here) – instead, I want to challenge them. Events that are ‘ez’ are rarely enticing – they are not the events that are remembered with great fondness, nor with great heartache. No, it is the ones that cause your heart to break for the suffering of the characters as someone slays the very spirit they worship, so that he may cleanse your forest of an vengeful and spectral evil – or to soar with victory as you defeat the last of the insidious Gnafia’s foul machines, whooping triumphantly, surrounded by a battlefield littered with smoking gears and blackened sprogs, weeping wogglewheels and the occasional rigglespocket. In closing, three tips for would-be administrators: ***One:*** There is not enough coffee in the world to keep you up for the length of time that players often drag events out – even when a small, 4 hour event with a curious little girl and ancient assassins drags on to 12 and 15 hours. ***Two:*** Bathroom breaks, and by proxy bladders, are for the weak. Administrators must evolve beyond them. ***Three:*** The most dreaded words in an event is not ‘Who is mposing Maeve’, nor ‘They think Elohora is actually Morgfyre’ – no. It’s ‘So, how’s the events post coming?’ P.S. – it still isn’t Gaudiguch. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Realpolitik](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/14/realpolitik/) **Published:** March 14, 2011 **Author:** Elostian **Content:** As those of you who know my in-game persona of Elostian will undoubtedly acknowledge, I enjoy talking. A lot. As such, my (long) entry into this phenomena called (we)blog will hardly come as a surprise. In fact, upon due reflection I will conclude that this form of interaction is infinitely preferable, since it saves me the trouble of constantly having to type OTO SILENCE, PUNY MORTALS!, GODCURSE (PUNY MORTAL) NOVOICE 10 DAYS and COMMAND RESPECT (from puny mortals). This should hopefully allow my uninterrupted train of thought to reach new heights of uselessness and chaos. Yes, you read those two words correctly. Unlike my counterpart of infinite wisdom, endless knowledge and overabundant sarcasm, I am disorganised, lazy and useless. I am not even particularly smart: I have not invented the cure for cancer, I understand very little about advanced rocket science and I do not have an answer to the question if god exists. Well, actually, I do to that last one, She’s called Estarra and she speaks with The Word. Or six words actually. Dreaded words that every single volunteer administrator of Lusternia comes to know like our personal version of the Ten Commandments. Though unlike the changeable nature of the granite that the commandments had been carved into, our own version has been cast in unbreakable divine steel, forged in the Fires of Creation and hardened in the arctic recesses of the Void. Unchangeable like the very fabric of creation and inexorable like the movement of Time itself. These words are: “No, I don’t like that.” This will necessitate some explaining. Please bear with me as I attempt to garner some order into the rather unlikely logic underlying this article. Contrary to popular opinion, I was not born into Godhood. In some distant, mythical past now long forgotten by anyone but myself and Eternal Estarra, I too was an Ephemeral. This is a time best left forgotten, since I already mentioned my laziness, uselessness and tendency towards disorganisation. In fact, my early days of Ephemeralhood were about as efficient as the Five-Year Plans for the National Economy of the Soviet Union. When I finally did get around to finishing my pet and moving on towards an area (this is such a grey and distant past that no one had even conceived pockets before) I brainstormed up a few ideas, sketched out a few quests of world-shattering importance and steeled myself for the Tribunal (better known as ‘Hey Estie, have a moment?’). Three hours later, all my ideas had been met with the Commandment, completely scrapped and discarded, followed by the custom ‘you know, what if?’ and I was catapulted with the area concept that would eventually turn into Zoaka (a multi-year project that was called the Maur gorge at that time, and it wasn’t actually finished by me, but that’s an altogether different story). Since then, in my many dealings with Estarra for other projects (mostly Hallifax-related) are customarily met with the same Commandment, and it’s not just me, every Admin has been at the wrong side of the Commandment at one time or another (though, in fairness, Est’s gotten a lot better at not being quite so brutal over the years). Why then, if all our ideas are constantly shot down by the Commandment, do we Admin persist in putting up with this Terror of the Multiverse? Is it merely that every human is a masochist at heart? Do all admin possess a Cluster C personality disorder? Or did we by some giant fluke of Karma all have a difficult childhood with a history of abuse and neglect that not even Freud would be able to put down to sexual frustration? I would argue that the answer to these questions is no (and not just because Eventru is very clearly a Cluster B personality). “But,” I hear you thinking (yes, would you mind thinking a bit less loud?) “then surely this means that all Admin are insane?” While neither me nor any of my esteemed colleagues would deny this valuable personality trait, this is not a conclusion that may be elucidated merely on the basis of putting up with Estarra’s Commandment. While the Commandment is annoying, frustrating, terrifying and capable of driving even Morgfyre to pull at his non-existent hair with his suction cups, there are also advantages that may not be immediately apparent. After the Magnora aspect of the Eternal has thoroughly devoured the initial idea, the Dynara aspect kicks in with the counter to the Commandment, call it the Amendment if you will. This takes the form of the following four words. “Hmm, but what if?” The Amendment is the cue that your idea has been accepted in its basic shape and that at this point the Negotiations begin (though here it should be noted that Estarra negotiates like the British did during the early days of the Commonwealth). In all this entire process is a large part that has ensured the high standard of any type of addition to Lusternia, areas, history and events alike. And for that, every single Admin loves lusternia more than enough to occasionally put up with our private version of Chancellor Bismark’s Realpolitik. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Spoon!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/06/spoon/) **Published:** April 6, 2011 **Author:** Lyreth **Content:** Being a God and an Administrator is really, really cool, because it affords us some opportunities to add to the world of Lusternia and spruce it up with nice things (Which I love doing!). We do our very best to bring you all things that are interesting and engaging…and sometimes, in our haste, we might flub up a little bit. OMG, I know, right? What’s that you say, Lyreth? It can’t be so! Oh yes, it is indeed so. You might have noticed we have our own reporting command for TYPOs (though we’ll blame those on ephs and solely ephs). Sometimes there might be a little hiccup when an area or quest is being released, and then the elevator music comes from on high while it’s beaten into submission and bound with duct tape. Or, in my case, you have a Delportian priest when you don’t speak a whit of French. Eheh. What’s super super neat is that the players are (mostly) cool to turn a blind eye while we get the awesome fixed back up. While we’ve got PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWAAAAH, we sometimes trip up ever so briefly (Except Eventru!). It’s usually good for a laugh, but it’s nice that we have so much cooperation from the playerbase while we get things sorted out. Players rock! P.S. – You might be tired of seeing notifications for this, but if you’d be so kind to go to https://www.lusternia.com/vote and vote for Lusternia, it will really help our rankings! Every single vote is a big step up; if you do vote on a regular basis, thank you! If you don’t, maybe you’ll consider it? Let’s show those other MUDs who’s boss! 8D **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Vengeance upon the infidels!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/10/29/vengeance-upon-the-infidels/) **Published:** October 29, 2011 **Author:** Morgfyre **Content:** I don’t often get the opportunity (or, admittedly, the inclination) to interact with players more than a significant distance from my particular realm of influence in Magnagora and the DisOrder of Morgfyre. This past month, we celebrated Lusternia’s seventh (!) anniversary, and boy, was it a whirlwind! We saw several new games released of varying size – ghodak, tessera, darts, slots, and maybe that little thing you might have run across on an otherwise uneventful stroll through your org: Vengeance! This was most definitely a labour of love, in no small part from Iosai’s slaving over the code to get it just so. Most of us were able to have our arms twisted sufficiently to help her bugtest, where needed (and by that, I mean that a trial game was made and we were on that like white on rice), and I think the final product is nothing short of spectacularly entertaining. A number of us enjoyed the game after having never played it before – a few of our number experienced it for the first time at the most recent IRE meet, subjected to a particularly talented, cruel witch of a narrator that made the game so enthralling that we decided something had to be done about it. Thus was Vengeance born! A few brave Gods stepped up to give each Vengeance game a particular flavour suited to their org, and I really must say that I enjoyed that aspect tremendously, as much in writing one or two of them as in seeing player reactions to these historic (or futuristic!) spins on the environs they know and love. The game on Avechna’s Peak remains an anomaly for us, as it can only be run by Gods, and good grief, we have to play with mortals?! I was initially apprehensive at the prospect of getting into a game that by nature necessitated a great deal of association with players, potentially from every org, faction, guild, and Order. In retrospect, I believe the first few days of Vengeance contributed to one of the greatest experiences I’ve had the privilege to undertake in Lusternia to date! I was rather pleasantly nonplussed at the camaraderie and good-natured ribbing present when dozens upon dozens of players congregated in one tiny room, ready to play this game. Kudos to everyone who wanted to have a good time! In my own rambling way, I suppose that I’m just leaving this here for people to blab about Vengeance and the other goodies that were recently turned out by our fantastic coders, but also to give a big thumbs-up to the players for doing as we’ve intended all along and HAVING FUN! Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s nearly Halloween. Shikari and I are going to get into costume and steal candy from children. And by candy, we mean kidneys. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [On Kate von Roeder](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/10/07/on-kate-von-roeder/) **Published:** October 7, 2014 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** Kate von Roeder, formerly Visaeris, is dead. Many of you are aware from the forum threads. And now, I find myself with the second post this year about suicide. Again, someone I knew. Fantastically talented, passionate, willful, always brilliant and interesting. Kate epitomized some of the best and worst qualities, but she never did it without a certain sense of style and followthrough. It didn’t surprise me when she became a prominent game developer, it didn’t surprise me how many people knew and cared for her. I wish she’d known. I wish she’d grasped just how much all of us care. The ripples keep stretching out: the folks who loved her and cared, the folks who would have loved to hold her to this world. My hope is she’s at peace. This is another thing that’s not easy for me to write: I’ve done work for Iron Realms Entertainment since winter of 2011, and before that to some capacity on an irregular basis. Part of my job involves dealing with players, liaising as a member of the staff should, but mostly writing a lot of descriptive text, training the next generation, and driving various projects behind the scenes. Sometimes, I have an insight into the lives of folks. More, sometimes, than I might want. In the last three years, a not insignificant portion of the players I deal with on a daily basis have mental illnesses of one kind or another. A smaller, no less visible group, are sick. Very sick. I watch these folks go into the ER, I hear about someone who can’t survive without dialysis, etc. So many bedbound folks who do nothing all day but play this MMORPG because they can’t do anything else. The people living paycheck to paycheck, the ones being abused by their parents… the list goes on. I can’t say how helpless I feel right now, writing this post. My inbox is always open for those who need it, but most folks I’ll never speak with in my role. Most folks will never reach out. You can, at any time, whoever you are, wherever you play, no matter whatever arguments ICly. There’s so many who are hurting, and it hurts when all I can say is don’t give up. Please don’t. No more Jasons. No more Kates. I leave you with these words, once more: “Life can kill you. It can, and it will. We all die in the end. Every one of us will be food for maggots. It is a certainty as true and profound as taxation and the sun rising in the morning. Every force of the universe is dead set against us some days, and the weight of the world will beat you into submission just as sure as you let it. It never stops. Entropy is king. And whether you believe in God or not, whether you love Jesus or not, whether you smoke dope or drink or write poetry or curse at the moon or engage in promiscuous sex, whether you pray on your knees or tithe or give money to charity or abstain from sinful vices or put your trust in government, every one of you will certainly perish. Our world is ephemeral. There is no escaping it. Our time here is fleeting, and the clock ticks seconds past even as you read these words. But you must not give up. Never give in. Fuck all and fuck the world and fuck these enemies you fear which tear you down little by little every breath you take. You must fight; even when your enemies are those who love you and even when they are ones you love. You must fight for yourself and cling to those things that give you strength: your faith, yourself, your knowledge that no matter what may happen to you right in the here and now, the sun also rises tomorrow.” **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Mystics and Madmen](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/08/16/mystics-and-madmen/) **Published:** August 16, 2011 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** Gaudiguch is a city of contradictions and a city of passions. It has to be. After all, the main focus of the city is on frivolous revelry, on drunken, debaucherous celebration, and on tearing down the old in pursuit of the new. It’s a city of Freedom, a city of Revolution, and a city where passions run about as hot as the nexus at the centre of town. It attracts freethinkers, misfits, bums, mudsexers… But Gaudiguch is also a very mystical city at the root. It’s the city of the Illuminati and the sacred Pyres, where your revellers, your rioters, all serve a greater purpose, even if only unconsciously. It’s living chaos, where mystics take drugs and dream on into new realities. It’s the sacred fires of the Pyromancers, the staunch secrecy and strong arm of the Templars: it’s the underlying chaos magic and inspiration from the deep, rich root of mysticism harking back to the Enochian era in our own real world. Look closely enough, and you’ll find traces of a man who, of all wrinkled old bastards, would get along in Gaudiguch just peachily. I’m talking about the Beast himself, Aleister Crowley. I’m not going to go into the Wikipedia biography of the man (look it up, though, it’s fascinating stuff), but his entire ouvre was batshit insane visions, alcoholism, and, throughout most of his life, an addiction to heroin. He was a loser par excellence, and as the founder of Thelema, he was one of the most influential figures in modern metaphysics. His ideas and his ritual forms (all of them melded together from a mishmash of Egyptian mythology, Yogic practices, Western folk magic, and whatever else struck his fancy), have been inherited by Wicca, by modern Druidic movements, by Faerie, and even in some cases, made into the mainstream media depictions of magic. Crowley underpins Gaudiguch. If you can’t grasp Gaudiguch veering between the wild party and the mind-bending mysticism go study Crowley. Or have a sample of his writing from The Equinox (as seen in Liber DCCCCLXIII): > *“O Thou wanton cup-bearer of madness, whose mouth is as the joy of a thousand thousand masterful kisses; intoxicate me on Thy loveliness, so that the silver of Thy merriment may revel as a moon-white pearl upon my tongue.”* If you’re interested in more of this, have some homework! Aleister Crowley’s [Wikipedia bio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley) is a good place to start, and if you’re interested in some creepy-fascinating successors to the old man, take a look at [Jack Parsons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Whiteside_Parsons), rocket scientist and American occultist who set the scene on fire in the Atomic Age. Or stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll talk a bit more about fancy-schmancy symbolism, review some alcohols, and talk about my take on Mysrai and god-dom. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Shikari Part 2: Becoming God](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/21/shikari-part-2-becoming-god/) **Published:** March 21, 2011 **Author:** Shikari **Content:** I said in my last post that the process of becoming an ephemeral is both easy and difficult. So is the life of an ephemeral. On one hand, you have a fairly good time. There are lots of eye-opening things you learn while up in the Upper Havens, like how to create mobiles and make them react to certain phrases and actions. You start to feel like you can do just about anything, and it’s almost true. Life in the Upper Havens isn’t as lonely as Lyreth claims it is, either. Ephemerals come up in groups that vary in number depending on how many people are accepted, and those groups usually form close bonds in the strangest of situations. Nothing turns two people into best friends quite like running around an area dropping fifty mobiles at a time. At the end of the day, you have two giggling, breathless, exultant ephemerals bumping fists together and drawing plans for their next adventure. But life as an ephemeral isn’t all tea and cakes, either. You’re a volunteer, but you’re still expected to do your work. A pocket is fairly simple and gets you acquainted with every aspect of building; it’s the area that makes or breaks you. You start saying things like: “What can I do to make this part of the quest even harder?” “I want to use this puzzle, but… oh wow, that code looks… dangerous…” “I will never describe cave rooms again.” I think I turned that last quote into a mantra. You’re also never quite sure how an event goes until you do it. Pocket events are fun and usually short, but generally, the god in charge won’t expect to eat, sleep, or use the toilet during an area event. It gets pretty intense, especially when PK is thrown into the mix. Oh, speaking of gods, that’s the hardest part about being an ephemeral: choosing your god. It’s advised not to think too hard about it until you’re almost finished your area, but that’s never how it goes. Ephemerals come up dreaming of becoming a god one day, entertaining ideas of being X or Y or changing certain aspects of Z’s tenets. Very rarely, however, does an ephemeral have an idea of what god they want and stick to it. Usually, there’s a lot of indecision and self-doubt. Many wonder if they even have what it takes to become a god, especially after tagging along with Fain and watching him roleplay with his Order. That kind of stuff blows you out of the water, makes you wonder if you really have the balls for this sort of job, and usually leaves you wishing you could practice your own roleplay, too. I became an ephemeral with the idea that I would become Isune. A few people supported the idea, though warned me it would be difficult. After the previous Lisaera stepped down, I considered that role as well, especially because I do love her character concept. And then I cracked a joke: “Wouldn’t it be hilarious if I became Shikari? No one would ever guess who I was.” Needless to say, that idea stuck, and after I started doing research on tribal cultures, I became fixed upon the idea of bringing Shikari back. I had a lot of doubts, of course; before my release, Shikari’s image was simply what people remembered – legend, so to speak. Would I be able to live up to the name? What if I couldn’t pull off the sheer level of awesome that the old Shikari seemed to constantly exude? What if I let Glomdoring down? After consulting my peers for a bit, I was reassured. I would simply do my best. My determination renewed, I devoted much of my time into finishing my area. I reentered Lusternia as the Predator, reestablished myself in Glomdoring, and reopened my Order. And I don’t regret a thing. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Shikari Part 1: From Ignorant to Ephemeral](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/12/shikari-part-1-from-ignorant-to-ephemeral/) **Published:** March 12, 2011 **Author:** Shikari **Content:** “Text-based? So there’s a lot of reading? I don’t know about that…” Yeah, I was one of *those* people. I’ve played MMORPGs for years, from Ragnarok Online on private servers to Guild Wars – and yes, I did dabble in World of Warcraft. But before 2008, I’d never played a MUD before, and I was incredibly skeptical. Where’s the fun in doing so much reading? Boy, was I wrong. Lusternia is the first MUD I’ve ever played and still the MUD I love the most. I have distinct memories of being totally, utterly lost as a newbie, wandering Newton Caverns and never quite figuring out what to do in Lolliprin. Everything was a learning process, from crafting to questing to combat, and in many ways, I’m still learning. I remember the moment when I was finally “sucked into” Lusternia: I was still a newbie in my guild, and the Guildmaster requested that everyone attend a ritual. I didn’t even know where my guildhall was, so I had to be escorted! The ritual, though, was so captivating and awe-inspiring that I instantly knew I wanted more. Three years later, I’m a Lusternian Divine. Who’d have thought? Becoming an ephemeral is both easier and harder than you think. Writing up an application is simple enough, but I worried that I wouldn’t have what it takes to become a volunteer admin. I didn’t think anyone would like me or that I wouldn’t make friends. I was finally convinced to go for it, and so, with great trepidation, I emailed my application to Estarra. And then I waited. Oh man, did I wait. And then Estarra called me into her office and I think I peed my pants from sheer terror. In the end, though, it was a fairly easy interview. Sure, I was shaking the whole time, and I took great care to pick the right words, but I think Estarra was satisfied with what I had to say. When it was all over, she told me to take as much time as I needed to tie up loose ends, then message her when I was ready. I was beyond ready. But that’s all for today. Next time, I’ll regale you with fun stories about my time as an ephemeral, but until then, I leave you all with [a fun little presentation I made](http://prezi.com/9jhslp1qnvke/whats-so-great-about-lusternia/). Use the right-facing arrow to navigate. Show your friends; it might convince them of the fun of reading. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Leaving behind the mortal shell...](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/24/leaving-behind-the-mortal-shell/) **Published:** March 24, 2011 **Author:** Terentia **Content:** For some of us, leaving behind that mortal life can be one of the most difficult choices we’ve ever had to make. There are the quasi-friends that we love to see when we log in each day. There’s the political turmoil that we’ve so embroiled ourselves in that we dare let our fingers off of the buttons for fear of what might happen when we’re not there to pull the strings. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I don’t just have the t-shirt, I have the full Cher wardrobe ensemble worth of attire for it. I have played every single IRE game except for MKO. I’ve stopped playing, every single IRE game (except Lusternia). I sometimes look back to my various ‘lives’ but it is never with regret. Perhaps a bit of nostalgia from time to time may etch itself into my mind, but for the most part, I did what I did, and I moved on. In Lusternia, I think it was the easiest choice to make. Leave behind my mortal, and take a chance at divinity, or stick around on the mortal game. When the time came to really make that choice, I had already accomplished a lot of what I had wanted to do. I hadn’t originally planned any of what my mortal did, but it happened. I hadn’t forged a lot of in game ‘friendships’ in Lusternia. It was just after Lusternia became open to the public. I don’t think my mortal ever got above level 60. I was there to roleplay, to have fun. I pushed people to see beyond the normal limits that they try to embrace. I helped get an organization off of its feet. I still to this day can look back at the foundations of certain groups and see my influences in the way they are. It’s pretty awesome to leave that lasting mark. So I’m glad I went ‘up’. But every so often, I tease Estarra. I tell her I’m going to resign and take back my mortal. I think I get a few glares, and one of the gods laughs, telling me I’d never survive being mortal again. …The funny thing is, they’re probably right. While so much stays the same in the overall perspective – so much also changes the longer you’re ‘uptop’ versus ‘down there’. We see what all happens, but it’s so different to be in the thick of it. I suspect if I ever did return to my mortal, I’d probably never quite have the same feeling as it did the first time. So I’m stuck up here. For better or worse. 😉 Muahaha. Kudos, folks. I’m off to get someone elected into office. Pardon my brevity with online time for now. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Divine Paper Pushing](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/05/divine-paper-pushing/) **Published:** April 5, 2011 **Author:** Nocht **Content:** I suppose it’s about time I make my own blog post. I don’t want the one [reference](http://lusternia.com/playing-god) of me on here to be blatant lies and slander! In a later post I’ll likely talk about becoming a god and working with the lovely Glomdoring, but for my first post I thought I’d discuss the amazing, wondrous world of divine bureaucracy! Some of the biggest tasks when it comes to being an administrator are building areas, running events and generally handling the orgs you happen to patron (which I admit I *may* sometimes fall behind on), but there’s a whole lot of other business to take care of. We’ve got 11 different administrative positions with several having anywhere from one to five levels of assistants below them to help out and eventually take on a larger part of the job themselves. We have to handle everything from issues, bugs and designs to emotes, [dreams](http://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?showtopic=14517) and help files. Now I love creating an area and seeing it come to life as much as the next admin, but I really enjoy sorting through our issues, going over our library submissions and looking over designs among many other tasks. I’ve managed to get my hands into a good chunk of the tasks and I’m always looking to handle what I can. Sounds odd? Dare I say dull? Well, I love it! Mostly for the same reasons I study math at university. I like ordering things, solving problems and sorting everything into its rightful spot. I love being able to bring contentious issues to a peaceful close when possible, and it’s more fun than work most of the time to look through all the library submissions the players send in for either prestige or approval! There’s nothing worse than a backed up issue or library queue! (I think most have given up on the idea of a design queue that isn’t a mile long. You players just craft too much!) So a big shout out to our Oneirois, Norns and Erinyes(es?). A round of applause for the Charites, Furies, Moirae and Camenae. Yay to our guides, mortal builders and mortal (and divine) coders. A thank you to Estarra who puts up with me assaulting her every time I catch sight of her over some issues. It takes a lot of people to keep the wheels of Lusternia turning. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [An aging perspective](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/23/an-aging-perspective/) **Published:** March 23, 2011 **Author:** Terentia **Content:** It’s a unique experience to play one of the most critically viewed divine in all of Lusternia. You either hate my character or love her. You may feel she is played by someone who is running on a temper tantrum, or some other aspect of mild mannered thought of explanation as to why she is ‘just so mean to xyz character’ etc. On the reverse side, I took up a character almost five years ago, that the original player had left behind. There were rumors of things the god had done in the past that some might have viewed out of her personality. When I decided to take the role of Terentia, I knew it would be difficult. Celest at the time had a poor view of the god, there was poor history to handle, and there was the fact that I, as a player, had no idea what Celest’s theology was about. I’ve played IRE games for over thirteen years now. I’ve been in the upper echelons of combat, politics, and roleplay. I’ve seen most of it, and heard about most of it. So I was up for the challenge that this ‘City of Light’ was going to bring. I’ve had my moments of wondering why I continue to do this. It’s a hard thing to do. I have a full time job that exceeds 70 hours a week in a very demanding field. (Ever wonder how those political figures stay in office? Check their campaign staff…Hi.) I also have a secondary job as a promoter in nightclubs. I live in Las Vegas, a city that beckons you to come test the sinfully delightful ways of the dark nightlife, often until the sun rises…and then some. So when trying to decide what exactly keeps me coming back to log onto a game, I have to realize it’s pretty much one group of people. and no, it’s not the other gods in the Havens. I love them dearly, but most of them are on my facebook, or my email, or some other method of communication that doesn’t really mean I’m limited to seeing them only when I log in. It’s the organizations I patron, and my order. To know that those people are actually influenced by things I do/build/create/roleplay, to know that there are players who actually feel that their game experience is heightened by being in my order and to that end – they push themselves exceptionally hard to stay in the good graces of a divine who on the most gracious of scales can be considered ‘difficult’, is awe-inspiring to me. While an order is sometimes a very difficult challenge to some, I consider it both my reward, and a way to keep me inspired. So. Thanks. For years of continued dedication to Lusternia, for years of continued efforts towards building better guilds, improving your cities, and working with each other to make this place not just a better game – but a better place for all the gods too, thank you. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/december-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The December Vesteran Honours were announced! Congratulations to Nihmriel who won the bardic contest with her humorous play titled, “[A Matter of Convenience](https://www.lusternia.com/irex/artbard/view.php?id=00002532)“, and Kharaen who won the artisanal contest with her portrait titled, “[A woman’s best friend is their Darkbeast](https://www.lusternia.com/irex/artbard/view.php?id=00002532)“. **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [New Artbard System is Live!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/05/new-artbard-system-is-live/) **Published:** September 5, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Our new Artbard system is live and submissions for the September contest are open as normal! **Content:** We’re delighted to announce that our Artbard system has now moved over to a whole new version, and is even better than before! Some features and changes in this new system: - Search by artist/author, submission date, placement, or content! - Commas are no longer the enemy of titles and descriptions. - Artisanals must now be in JPG or PNG format, and may be no larger than 8MB. - Bardics are now uploaded via an in-browser editor. Necessary updates have been made to the instructions on HELP ARTBARD, and you will also be given reminders of some of the upload requirements (e.g. file format) whilst submitting. As part of moving over to the new system, we will be uploading past Bardics and Artisanals over the coming weeks, beginning with the most recent. If you do not see a previous work of yours at present, there is no need to alert us. We will get to everything as we are able. Any submissions already made for September’s contest have already been added, as have those presently being judged in the August contest. Lastly and most importantly – a huge thank you to the hard working coders and volunteers who have worked to get this up and running with such a quick turnaround! **Categories:** Artbards, News --- ### [December 2020 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/08/december-2020-artbard-results/) **Published:** January 8, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from December! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from December! If you’d like to join them for January, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. HELP ARTBARD will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Velcora’s [Bardic Dreams](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/86/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [Welcome to Jolly Drifts](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/12/doodle-12-27-20.png) #### Runner-Up Ethna’s [Moon River](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/12/idk.png) Lendren’s [Taimon of the Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/12/Taimon.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [November 2020 Artbard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/08/november-2020-artbard-winners/) **Published:** December 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Esei and Uzriel, winners of the Artisanal and Bardic contests for November! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from November! If you’d like to join them for December, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. HELP ARTBARD will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Uzriel’s [The Unjust Persecution of the Twelve](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/81/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Esei’s [Ace of Cups](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/11/ace-of-cups-v2.png) #### Runner-Up Lendren’s [Timberwolves of Serenwilde](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/11/Farons-Wolves.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [January 2021 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/08/january-2021-artbard-results-2/) **Published:** February 8, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from January! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from January! If you’d like to join them for February, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. [HELP ARTBARD](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=bardic-and-artisanal-contests) will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Niralahi’s [The Spy Who Loved the Sea](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/89/) #### Runner-Up Uzriel’s [Nil: Where the Demons Are](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/91/) #### Merit Velcora’s [The Mysterious Machine of Crumkinvidia](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/93/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [Jars of Stars](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/01/JarsofStars2.png) #### Runners-Up Cheliyi’s [A Floating Feeling](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/01/A-Floating-Feeling.png) Netra’s [Portrait of Netra](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2021/01/Netra.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [An Aspiring Star and the Mandolin](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/01/an-aspiring-star-and-the-mandolin/) **Published:** February 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** In the middle of Dioni, of the year 581, a voice was heard inviting those who heard to go to the Vesteran World Stage to witness the debut of the Basin's next star. **Content:** In the middle of Dioni, of the year 581, a voice was heard inviting those who heard to go to the Vesteran World Stage to witness the debut of the Basin’s next star. The first to heed the call were Gurashi and Kalas Nymaane, with Sutekh arriving shortly after. It turns out the voice belonged to a young man who introduced himself as Hugo Girard, from the village of Delport. Before his audience of three, he explained that they had the opportunity of their lifetime to be among the first to hear his debut song. At this point, the crowd appeared more confused than excited, but this did nothing to curb Hugo’s enthusiasm or determination. With great confidence, he took to the stage and – after requesting further applause from his “fans” – made his final preparations for the promised debut. With his mandolin now in hand, he seemed ready to take on the world. However, disaster struck as he made the first pluck. Instead of the beautiful sound that the moment had built up to, what came out was a dull and flat tone. With all of his confidence escaping him, Hugo quickly stopped his performance and found that his strings had worn out from his days of practice. At their companions’ urging, Gurashi offered their own mandolin to Hugo so that he may sing his song, but the young man insisted he should play with his own mandolin, for it was left to him by his grandfather who also shared his dream for Hugo to become a star. Gurashi then suggested that perhaps there was a way to fix the mandolin, which gave Hugo an idea. He urged them to visit him in his home on the road near Delport. Now totalling five with the addition of Celaphaeia D’Cente and Tridemon Regalis, his audience quickly assisted with restringing the instrument but the new strings still needed to be tuned. Nymaane and Gurashi were able to make a breakthrough with the first string and soon enough all of the strings were perfectly tuned. With his newly restrung mandolin, Hugo Girard was able to perform a song after all; a love song dedicated to Gurashi for their assistance in restoring his mandolin. Before his first fans departed, Hugo promised that they would be invited to any concerts he held in future. Where this aspiring star’s musical journey will take him remains unknown, but it is clear that he is determined to fulfil his dream. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Season d'Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/02/01/season-damour/) **Published:** February 1, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Content:** Throughout the month of February, you’ll be able to purchase special seasonal cards that you can write notes on and deliver to anyone you want to send a little note to during Season d’Amour. See CARD for more information on how to write on and deliver these cards to others. Your messages will be limited to 120 characters so be concise! You can also customise these cards before sending, PROBE them for more information on that. Sending these cards to others comes with a myriad of bonuses: - each time you deliver a card, both you and recipient will receive a random piece of the Red Heart curio set - you’ll also receive 50 credits for every 25 cards sent and 500 credits if you send 250 cards - each weave, you’ll receive one of three types of heartboxes depending on how many cards you’ve sent the previous weave - each weave, the player that has delivered the most cards the previous weave will receive 25 bound credits - each weave the player that has received the most cards the previous weave will receive 25 bound credits The three types of heartboxes that you may receive may have the following potential prizes: **Bronze Heartbox** – 20-40 bound credits, or an artifact worth 30-50 credits, or 2 presents. **Silver Heartbox** – 150-175 bound credits, or an artifact worth 200-250 credits, or 2 wondercrystals, or 10 presents. **Gold Heartbox** – 800-950 bound credits, or an artifact worth 1000-1250 credits, or 12 wondercrystals, or 50 presents. For every card you’ve sent, you’ll accumulate a Bronze Heartbox. If you send 5 cards, your Bronze Heartboxes will turn into a Silver Heartbox, and if you send 25 cards they will instead change into a Gold Heartbox. This works for each card, so if you’ve sent 8 cards, at the end of the weave you’ll receive 1 Silver Heartbox and 3 Bronze Heartboxes. You’ll also have a chance to earn cards in-game in a whole new quest! Dolly d’Amour, now residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave and will receive a seasonal card after you complete the quest 5 times. That means you can gain up to 5 seasonal cards this month. Last but not least, every Thursday throughout February will be Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays with a bonus to critical hits! **Categories:** News --- ### [Ephemeral Applications Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/21/ephemeral-applications-open-2/) **Published:** January 21, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Do you have an interest in helping run Lusternia behind the scenes as a volunteer administrator? We are now opening applications for Ephemerals - administrators-in-training for Elder Divine positions. **Content:** Do you have an interest in helping run Lusternia behind the scenes as a volunteer administrator? We are now opening applications for Ephemerals – administrators-in-training for Elder Divine positions. If you’re not sure what being an Ephemeral entails, you can read [HELP PROMOTIONS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=becoming-an-immortal-specifically-an-ephemeral) for an overview. To apply for Ephemeralhood you must: - Be 18 or over (that is yourself, not your character). - Have played Lusternia for a minimum of 400 hours, total across all characters. - Not be a volunteer administrator on any other IRE game. - Be willing to give up your character and cut all connections with mortal player friends. - As part of this, you will be required to quit all Lusternia-related Discord channels. - Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - Be mature and able to separate IC from OOC. - Be able to work as part of a team. - Be able to commit regular hours to working on Lusternia. There is no set minimum in hours, and when you choose to do your hours is up to you. But a good general estimate would be around 7h/week or 1h/day. - Have sufficient creative writing skills to contribute to Lusternia’s high-quality content. - Be willing and able to work with Lusternia’s quest coding system, known as prog. - You will be fully trained on the job – the important thing is that you are willing and able to learn. To apply, please send an email to applications@lusternia.com with: - Name - Age - Occupation & where you work, or if a student, what you are studying and where. - Your character(s) in Lusternia and what they have achieved. - This might include leadership positions you have held and what you accomplished in them. - You are encouraged to note any mortal volunteer positions you have held, such as guide or mortal reviewer. - Why you think you would make a good Ephemeral (and Elder Divine). - What type of Elder Divine you think would best suit you. - You do not need to name specific roles but can do so. - Naming a role at this point does not guarantee you will ultimately take up that role, it just gives us a guideline for the sort of role you think you’re interested in. - Naming a role, or not doing so, does not influence your chances in any way. - A writing sample of five room descriptions, including both short and long description lines, so that we can gauge your writing skills. - You can read HELP MORTAL BUILDERS for some tips on writing. - These rooms can be examples of additions to existing areas, or whole new areas, or nonspecific. - We recommend taking a look at existing rooms in Lusternia for further guidance. - Anything else that you think we may want to consider in reviewing your application. - This might include proven coding ability, experience in other MUDs, etc. All personal information that you disclose (name, age and occupation) will be kept private by Lusternia’s producers. It is vital that you give this information accurately – please do not use pseudonyms or similar. The deadline for applications is the **5th February 2021** inclusive (across all timezones). After this date we will contact selected candidates for interview, and then will take our chosen Ephemerals into the Havens. Please be aware that we will only respond to applications we wish to take further through the process, and that we expect to have far more applications than openings. If you have any questions, please contact us at applications@lusternia.com with your query. **Categories:** News --- ### [Economy Revamp](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/20/economy-revamp/) **Published:** January 20, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** As everyone is aware - one of our upcoming goals is to focus on the economy and re-working how it functions. The first part of this is really on us, which is to dig deep and determine how the mechanics of it function. **Content:** As everyone is aware – one of our upcoming goals is to focus on the economy and re-working how it functions. The first part of this is really on us, which is to dig deep and determine how the mechanics of it function. We’re digging into the following: - aethergoop generation and sinks - commodities production and sinks - gold generation and sinks The one thing that we still need to determine is what the eventual goals of this should be. Obviously commodity production is one of the big player concerns, but we wanted to open up this thread to give you, the players, a chance to give your input. What would you like to see when we begin to tackle the economy? Let us know in the [thread created on the forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4318/upcoming-economy-rework-and-goals). **Categories:** News --- ### [January 20th Celebrations](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/20/january-20th-celebrations/) **Published:** January 20, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** For the next 24 hours, denizens of the Basin will listen to your magnificent tales enraptured and all pursuits of our adventurers will bring double the wisdom they normally do. **Content:** For the next 24 hours, denizens of the Basin will listen to your magnificent tales enraptured and all pursuits of our adventurers will bring double the wisdom they normally do. That is to say, for the next 24 hours Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesday is back so you will do 25% more damage while influencing, as well as, you will gain double experience for all you do! **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Reports are Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/19/reports-are-open/) **Published:** January 19, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** One of the things we wanted to do during the Livestream was announce that we were opening up reports once again. **Content:** One of the things we wanted to do during the Livestream was announce that we were opening up reports once again. Unfortunately, we had to cancel it (really sorry again!) which means we did not announce it. We also don’t want you to have to wait until we’re able to do the Livestream to have reports, so with that in mind, we are opening reports up! One aspect that we were hoping to explain more during the livestream is that we are going to be more critical about how time-consuming or involved a report is. That isn’t to say that we won’t approve time-intensive reports, we just are going to weigh the overall scope of the report when assessing it. For instance, a report that is intensive but only benefits one class will be less likely than an intensive report that benefits the whole playerbase. We want you to be informed about how we’re going to assess reports so you can feel more confident in the reports you are submitting. If you really think something is an issue and don’t have any ideas other than something intensive to implement, then please do submit it, but be aware that you are going to have to state your case to back it up in order for us to take it on. If you are unfamiliar with the reporting system, please see [HELP REPORTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=envoy-system) and [HELP REPORTWRITING](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=writing-envoy-reports) for more information. **Categories:** News --- ### [Livestream Postponed](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/15/livestream-postponed/) **Published:** January 15, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Apologies for the last minute nature of this announcement but we have to postpone our livestream (originally scheduled for the 16th) due to an emergency. We will update you when we find a new date for the livestream. **Content:** Apologies for the last minute nature of this announcement but we have to postpone our livestream (originally scheduled for the 16th) due to an emergency. We will update you when we find a new date for the livestream. We are saving all of your questions so keep them coming in the meantime. **Categories:** Livestreams, News --- ### [Q&A Livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/07/qa-livestream/) **Published:** January 7, 2021 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Uilani and Orael are going to host the next Livestream on Saturday, January 16th at 8pm GMT. **Content:** Uilani and Orael are going to host the next Livestream on Saturday, January 16th at 8pm GMT. It’s mostly going to be a ‘get to know Uilani’ stream but we’ll be announcing a few things as well as taking questions from all of you! So if you have a question you would like to ask, please feel free to either post on the [forums with this announce thread](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/4307/announce-post-3112-livestream-01-16-20) or message either Uilani or Orael if you’d rather ask in private. I don’t know that we’ll be able to answer any and all questions but we strive to be open and honest as much as we can. We hope you all will be able to join us on the 16th. **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [Bob's Forgotten Vaults](https://www.lusternia.com/2021/01/01/bobs-forgotten-vaults/) **Published:** January 1, 2021 **Author:** Orael **Content:** Trader Bob has once again unveiled to the Basin the forgotten vaults of treasures that he has unearthed over the years! The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the website! Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to, wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts (including some of the recent artifacts seen only in auctions!) You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna. As well, anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key. You can access the vaults with the VAULTS command at the VAULTS landmark. We’re also bringing back resolutions! Resolutions last throughout the year and can be activated for a bonus after achieving a goal! See HELP RESOLUTIONS for more details. Lastly – We will have double XP Tuesdays throughout the entire month of January! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Year In Review 2020](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/31/year-in-review-2020/) **Published:** December 31, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Amidst a world full of many complications, Lusternia has continued to flourish and develop in 2020. Here's our round up of the year! **Content:** 2020\. Holy smokes, what a year. Our story in 2020 started with the [Vernal Paradox and the Seal of Time](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/01/26/the-vernal-paradox-and-the-seal-of-time/) being discovered. To uncover its secrets, adventurers meandered the labyrinth of four new timequake areas – all dealing with the mysterious Isikathi, the Vernal Dragon of Time, whose essence was used to form the Seal itself. The need for an Ascension was averted, but a whole other crisis was slowly and quietly brewing not that far away from the Basin of Life. In the lulls between world-changing events, smaller but no less important stories unfolded. The shrine of Arimella, Carver of Mountains [was discovered](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/22/song-of-the-sculptor/) and a dutiful dwarf pledged to ensure it remains in good condition. The [L.L.L.P.A.C. was founded](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/02/the-founding-of-the-l-l-l-p-a-c/) by one Nada Sunfar, a landscape artist with a fascination for the vivid colour of lapis lazuli. And finally, the returns of [Lord Crumkane](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/25/in-a-world-of-sugar-saturation/), [Lady Lantra, and Lady Terentia](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/a-meteoric-return/) brought much joy to the Basin. Much merriment took place at recurring festivals and celebrations – the Ascension Gala, the Creatrix Festival, the Haunting, and finally the Solstice. Various cities and communes were not to be outshined and hosted colourful festivities all of their own, celebrating anything from refounding to the spring itself. Peace did not last long, however. First, the Great Spirits of the communes were [drawn into the Dreaming](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/04/a-tale-of-fantastical-dreams/) by dragon dreamers of unknown origins. They were awakened, but Mother Night and Mother Moon soon fell to the Dreaming as well, and not even the mysterious dracnari who came to advise the communes knew how to aid them. With the help of Queen Maeve – and the True Dragon who assisted her – they eventually awakened, but so were those who stalked their dreams. Then, meteors tore through [Gaudiguch ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/30/where-were-you-when-the-meteors-fell/)and [Hallifax ](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/30/meanwhile-in-hallifax/)both – the wrath of scarcely coherent dracnari emissaries come to call. They sought to gain power and understanding over the First World but their impatience and arrogance brought ruin in their wake. Lives were lost and both cities had much work ahead of them to rebuild. New Celest and Magnagora were not spared these curious visitors but through careful and strategic preparations New Celest [managed to avoid their direct ire at first](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/28/the-wisdom-of-angels/). In Magnagora, the [emissaries were manipulated](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/29/of-darkness-and-flame/) into sampling the tainted gases of the Megalith of Doom. Thus transformed, they brought about their own doom at the hands of Sachiana of the Eternal Hunt, the first True Dragon seen in her true form in Lusternia since time immemorial. Unfortunately, one of the blackened Mature Dragons survived and aided her kin in a full out assault of New Celest. They were all repelled, but not without heavy losses and much destruction. Ultimately, however, that change ushered the city onto a new path – with the [unification of Church and State under the Crown of New Celest](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/25/a-song-of-fire-and-water/), and the discovery of the first non-merian Saints. By then, the goals of these Mature Dragons were tumbling into the Basin’s knowledge. A group of them had [crashed into Mount Avechna](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/29/the-ascension-of-fools/), seeking to fuse with the Seal of Time, and causing the True Dragon Nemuruko to come forth and offer his unique form of assistance once more. The process of Yugomaru was explained: a stage in the maturity of Dragons, it was the process by which younger dragons fused their essence with a True Dragon, becoming part of them. The Mature Dragons that had so besieged the Basin were revealed to have Quickened to the essence of Isikathi, who now remained only in the world as the Seal itself. [Faced with several groups of Mature Dragons](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/30/by-draconic-decree/) – made up of those who had previously troubled the cities and communes – adventurers worked to prevent the destruction of the Seal of Time. They sought to trick the Mature Dragons, send them to slumber, and even turn them against each other. [They succeeded](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/31/how-to-betray-your-dragon/), but the assault was enough to weaken the Nine Seals through their connection to the Seal of Time – which stands now to protect them from temporal interference. These events led up to Ascension, pushed back until the summer for the first time this year, a decision that proved to be a great one for both us and you. The majority of the events this year were among the most competitive we’ve seen in a long time, and it culminated with over 100 players being online for [the final event](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/12/ascension-of-parhelion/). Unfortunately, we failed to deliver on the promise that everyone should feel like they can compete and massive lag impacted the entire event, interfering with the player’s ability to compete. This lead to us making the controversial decision to [reward a second True Ascendant](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/18/a-convergence-of-timelines/). This decision helped to put much distress to rest, but in the process caused more in others. We continue to feel that this decision was the correct one, but acknowledge that there was more we could have done to manage the decision better. We’ve also been pushing our [inclusivity project](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/inclusivity-and-prejudice-in-lusternia/), a project that was catalysed by the Black Lives Matter movement to address not only systemic racism present within Lusternia’s setting, but all forms of prejudice. In the past months, we have made adjustments to all manner of things – from NPC descriptions to area names to racial descriptions – and there is much more to come. Presently, we are working on some of the larger concerns that are more heavily baked into our lore, and thus will require more effort to unweave. We know that what we have done is not yet enough, but we remain firm in our pledge to make Lusternia somewhere where everyone can feel comfortable, however long it takes. As far as mechanical changes go: we put an enormous effort into revamping the [Demigod Powers system](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/19/demigod-powers-rework-is-live/), and then added the [Demigod Perk system](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/18/demigod-perks-and-levels-beyond-100-released/). We then introduced our very first Endzone area, the Ruins of Grimkeep. Endzone is a unique hunting experience never before seen in Lusternia. It calls for strategy and consideration when hunting, while also now boasting the best essence rewards of the game. Grimkeep is an area that can offer a little bit of everything for any type of player. The lore of an ancient ruined city ripe for exploration; achievements; rankings to continually push yourself; strategising what the best strategies there are to use. There’s a little something for everyone to enjoy. All this has happened in the middle of a year with a pandemic raging across the globe. We are incredibly proud of all of our players who made Lusternia a place for anyone that needed to be somewhere they could just be. A place where you could forget about the toils of the world and distract yourself from reality for a time. Some incredible good came of this too, with [IRE’s charity drive](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/iron-realms-donates-15000-to-rip-medical-debt/) for the Helping Covid Heroes Fund. Players from across all of IRE purchased fun little plushies and dolls and 100% of those proceeds went to the fund to relieve medical debt for front-line workers amid the pandemic, as well as a proportion of all sales made during the drive. $15,000 was donated by IRE, paying off $2.3 million of medical debt. That’s an impact everyone should be proud of, and if you are interested in helping out more, please check out [their website](https://ripmedicaldebt.org/campaigns). We would also like to extend our huge, and immeasurable gratitude to our incredible volunteers. Even in a normal year, these wonderful people give their time freely to make Lusternia all that it is. There is almost nothing you see that is not touched by them in some way. But this year they have by necessity gone above and beyond, by continuing to do this despite all of 2020’s challenges. We have volunteers in essential jobs, volunteers who have had to quarantine with dependants, volunteers who have contracted the Covid-19 virus, and volunteers who have lost jobs or experienced economic difficulty as a result of this year’s events. Through all of this, they have returned to Lusternia again and again, just out of love for the game and its community. There are no words that we could give that would truly thank them enough. We are privileged to call them our team. After [taking over from Ianir](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/02/27/farewell-ianir/) as Co-Producer in March, at the beginning of December it was announced that [Aonia would be leaving us](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/08/sad-news/) at the end of 2020, marking a sad close to a difficult year. We are incredibly sad to see her go, but are grateful to have had her with us for the past six years. Much of Aonia’s impact on Lusternia has not only been in the stories that you have seen told; her lasting legacy is one of caring deeply for our volunteers, and offering them the support and encouragement they have needed to produce the incredible roleplay and content you have enjoyed this year. Fortunately, [we are blessed with Uilani (Drocilla) as her replacement](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/22/new-producer/). Her knowledge and storytelling abilities have been seeded throughout Lusternia for a decade, and we know she will do a fantastic job at filling Aonia’s shoes within our team. We had quite a year overall, and we’re looking forward to the next year, building upon and expanding on our successes and learning from our failures. One thing we have learned is that we are only able to deliver on one or two major projects a year – so with that in mind, our focus for the upcoming year is working on the Economy and taking a look at our conflict mechanics to start. We aim to figure out how to solve the commodity woes that concern the player base, and how we can both encourage combat participation while at the same time, not making it a chore or discouraging for the losing side of those mechanics. These changes include differences in the Ascension event that are designed to make the contests as fair as possible. We want to continue connecting with everyone through livestreams, which we have done every other month this year, and may try to expand this out towards townhall type meetings with players and other venues. We strive to continually listen to you, our players, and take your input on things – so we can continue to develop a game that you want to participate in and play! We’re looking forward to 2021 and hope you are as well. Aonia, Orael, Uilani, and Ianir **Categories:** News --- ### [New Producer](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/22/new-producer/) **Published:** December 22, 2020 **Author:** Uilani **Excerpt:** Starting January 1, Uilani will be replacing Aonia as Co-Producer for Lusternia. She has been part of the Havens family for years and is very excited to step up to the challenge. **Content:** In October of last year, Lusternia went through the biggest change in its history by far with the departure of its creator, Estarra. The new can excite, but it can fill with trepidation, too. We needn’t have worried, however, as between Ianir’s and Orael’s leadership as Co-Producers, and Aonia’s amazing and detailed lore and story work as then Assistant Producer, Lusternia was reinvigorated. Not much later, Aonia took over from Ianir as a Producer – she has been working diligently to bring brilliant storylines and tantalising lore to the world of Lusternia ever since. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, her duties and achievements could fill an entire volume. She will be missed something awful but we will do her legacy proud. And with that in mind, I am deeply honoured to be able to announce to you that I have been chosen to fill Aonia’s role as Co-Producer, starting January 1. Much like Aonia, I will be in charge of Lusternia’s story and lore, as well as many behind the scenes duties that do not pertain to coding. I leave that to Orael and Ianir, while I will apply my creative talents to that which I do best. I am not a newcomer to Lusternia. In fact, you all know me well as I presently play, and will continue to do so, the character of Drocilla. I joined Lusternia as a player back in 2007 and was quickly enraptured by its lore, people, and the boundless possibilities of its storytelling potential. I wanted to build and create in this world but also more, to improve it, expand it, and help it reach new heights – so I joined the Havens as a volunteer in 2011. I will soon be celebrating my ten year anniversary but I don’t feel done at all. Quite the opposite; the people and the world of Lusternia continue to fill me with awe and wonder. My first goal as Producer will be to ensure that we continue to work to the high standards already set by Aonia and Orael. Nothing is changing in that regard and we aim to finish the work on projects which are already underway. I can’t wait to get started working with everyone on making Lusternia the best it can be, so here’s to the future of Lusternia and all the people, player and admin alike, who make this community so wonderfully amazing. Uilani **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Solstice Festivities](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/21/solstice-festivities/) **Published:** December 21, 2020 **Author:** Ianir **Excerpt:** With Solstice in full swing, each city and commune has a small quest which will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. Shops with old Solstice rewards are open, as is Solstice Court! **Content:** With Solstice in full swing, each city and commune has a small quest which will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! In New Celest, Eraol Flenn seeks stars in a jar. In Magnagora, Firica d’Vanecu seeks to pacify phantoms with tantrums. In Serenwilde, Caedir Aormeah seeks thieves on leaves. In Glomdoring, Dominique Nightshade oversees the masquerade of the shade. In Hallifax, Fre’zik zi’Prouep seeks chimes that rhyme. In Gaudiguch, the dracnari interior designer seeks hunks with chunks. Additionally, each city and commune now has a dedicated store selling the rewards of previous Solstice adventures. Anyone who has missed out on getting them in the past will be able to make up for it each Solstice season. The shops can be found: In New Celest, within the lobby of the Syrinx Plaza Hotel. In Magnagora, within the construction site south off Sombre Lane. In Serenwilde, southwards from the Ellindel Memorial. In Glomdoring, at the Stables of the Wyrden Thorn. In Hallifax, by the Ministry of Commerce and Exchange. In Gaudiguch, within the Dapper Dashro Lounge. Finally, the baying of unruly huskies heralded the opening of the Solstice Court. Eager visitors can still visit it by CATCHing snowflakes drifting upon the highways and leave it by PULLing the rope in the manor. Adventurers can now also take husky-pulled sleighs to reach the Solstice Court. A handful of them awaits passengers along Stairs of the Last Nine, right outside the Aetherplex. Once there, be sure to visit the bridge where several retired gnomes have taken up residence and peddle their wares. And remember to bundle up! Quests and shops within the cities and communes will remain open and available until January 3, as will the Solstice Court. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Merry Solstice to All!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/11/merry-solstice-to-all/) **Published:** December 11, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Ironbeard and Jolly Bundy's gnomes have descended upon Lusternia once more, to celebrate the Solstice season! Make sure you're logged in to catch them. **Content:** Tis the season to be jolly, and we’ve got more than a good dose of jolly to bring to you! As we mentioned in the last post, we know that this year might be especially hard, so we hope that if you’re not able to be with loved ones in the usual way you can find some solace here. To help with that, here is a guide to our Solstice events for this year. From this post onwards, those logged into Lusternia may find themselves receiving a visit from Ironbeard, bearing a present for the lucky recipient. Not only that, but keep an eye out for Jolly Bundy sending his fellow gnomes out with a few more presents. When you find one, just influence them with Charity (AB INFLUENCE BEGGING for full details) to get hold of a present. Remember that you can only get a present this way once an hour – so if you find a Solstice gnome and you’ve already had a present, share it with your friends! Over the weekend of the 18th-20th, the communes and cities of the land will be playing host to their various Solstice celebrations. In the tradition of the past few years, we will reprise our ‘Elf on the Shelf’ quests in full Lusternia style. Last of all, the Solstice Court will also make its return on this weekend – and we hear they’re making a few improvements to make it as festive as it can be. We can’t wait to show you them. All of our Solstice events will close on the 3rd January 2021, giving you plenty of time to enjoy them, no matter what hoildays you celebrate – and even if you can’t make it when things open. Once again, a very happy holidays to you all, whatever they may be. **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Sad News](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/08/sad-news/) **Published:** December 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** We are very sad to announce that at the end of this month, Aonia will be stepping down as Producer of Lusternia. **Content:** I’m very sad to announce that as of the end of this month, I will no longer be serving as Producer of Lusternia. I have now served on Lusternia’s administrative team for over six years. These six years have given me immeasurable amounts of fun and creative expression, joy and laughter and wonder. I cannot express to you here, in just a few words, how incredible it has been to be amongst the people here in the Havens. Whether things are going well, or badly, or somewhere inbetween, this group are a family that I am deeply sorry to be leaving. Nor will I ever forget the time I have spent with all of you – from releasing my projects as an ephemeral, to serving as my godroles. The stories we have told together have changed my life, and will continue to even after I have left this wonderful place. Sadly, my health has deteriorated through 2020, and I am no longer able to both serve in this position and adequately care for myself. I would like to take a moment to thank both our team and all of you, for your patience and kindness. Many of the delays we’ve had on support requests this year have been a result of my illness, but there have never been complaints about those delays – only understanding. The nature of the situation means that I cannot remain in Lusternia as a volunteer either, as this would still represent a time commitment that would take away from the priority of focusing on my health and wellbeing. I have full confidence in Orael, our team, and whoever rises to replace me as Co-Producer in 2021. There will be more information about this announced when it is available, but please do not worry if that takes a little while. It’s important to everyone involved that Lusternia gets the best person it can for this position. I am incredibly, eternally greatful to have been that person for the past year. With thanks for everything, and much love, Aonia **Categories:** News --- ### [Season of Giving!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/12/01/season-of-giving/) **Published:** December 1, 2020 **Author:** Orael **Excerpt:** Get more present from your stocking this year, with the return of Ironbeard and the Gnodfather's competition to dominate the Solstice season! **Content:** Tis the Solstice Season! For the month of December, Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for solstice domination! To participate, purchase solstice stockings directly from the website, which can then be hung in manses and commune/city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\]. Syntax: STOCKINGS (to help track your stockings) At midnight, the person it was hung for can UNWRAP and get their reward of 3 genie curios, 2 Czigany coins, and either a present from Ironbeard or a racetrack ticket from the Gnodfather. For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain either peppermint from Ironbeard or coal from the Gnodfather. Peppermint and coal can be combined to create special solstice artifacts! There will not be any new solstice artifacts this year, giving everyone a chance to catch up on all the old ones. But because it is the season of giving, each gold and platinum stocking will also include a single golden present this year. These golden presents, when opened, will give you a greater chance of receiving a better present without resetting your present counter. Additionally, 10 other players in your room will also receive a normal present to open at the same time! Spread the joy and cheer to everyone this year! Lastly, throughout December, We will be having each of our daily bonus features occurring. They are as follows: Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays – bonus to damage against mobs. Double XP Tuesdays – Earn twice the XP on Tuesdays (doesn’t include Endzones essence gain) Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays – bonus influence damage against mobs Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays – Additional 25% critical hit chance for everyone! We hope you enjoy it! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Endzones Released!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/14/endzones-released/) **Published:** November 14, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** After months of incredibly hard work from our dedicated team, we are incredibly proud to announce the release of our first Endzone area: the Ruins of Grimkeep! **Content:** After months of incredibly hard work from our dedicated team, we are incredibly proud to announce the release of our first Endzone area: the Ruins of Grimkeep. Uncovered by the independent guild known as the Horizon Walkers, the Ruined City of Grimkeep is a testament to ancient clangoru power – and the tragedy of the city’s fall. The Horizon Walkers have called for assistants to help conquer the remnants of the Soulless power within the city, and explore its depths. This presents a challenge: who can slay the most enemies, last the longest, and die the least in a single run within the city ruins? You can read all about how the area works in HELP ENDZONE, as well as finding out how to reach it through the Catacombs of the Dead. Note that these helpfiles are not exhaustive – there are other clues about how to survive to be learned from the Horizon Walkers and from experience within Grimkeep itself. We look forward to watching your expeditions in the coming weeks, and wish you the best of luck in conquering this difficult challenge! As you work on your strategies, we will continue to monitor how you’re doing and tune things as necessary. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Entering Into the Wasteland](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/14/entering-into-the-wasteland/) **Published:** November 14, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A guild of explorers welcomed adventurers into previously undiscovered depths of the Catacombs of the Dead, and led them to the ruins of an ancient city beyond. **Content:** Perhaps it was fate that caused the month of Urlachmar to cause gates to the Catacombs of the Dead to briefly pulse, venting currents of bitingly cold, fetid air into the Basin of Life. Yet it was not fate which caused a glittering sheet of white to be expelled from one, for this small piece of paper which would be traced to Avechna’s Peak was indeed sent forth by a mysterious guild known as the Horizon Walkers. While many raced to find it and read the contents, a surprise would await them as the letter shortly began reading itself out towards the adventurers gathered: announcing the writer as Sahenlai Ahtan, the leader of the independent guild whose purpose is devoted to exploring the lands that lie beyond the Basin of Life. Entreating explorers to find their headquarters within the Catacombs, it was in fact Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora who would find a basin within the Catacombs that – upon closer inspection – would allow him access to the halls they sought. Whilst Yarik Delzak and Sahenlai Ahtan were discovered and talked to by the throngs of adventurers who flocked to investigate further, it was Ronai Coldhide, the Gatekeeper, who would draw the most attention. Whilst he attempted valiantly to explain the dangers that awaited beyond in the wastelands of Grimkeep, the ancient city of the clangoru, our valiant adventurers barged ahead with naught more than exploration and conquest in their minds. All would perish before what awaited them within the ruins, with Parhelion of Hallifax the first to fall to the massive hordes that responded. Still, there was merit to these disastrous errors as adventurers quickly paid heed to the scrolls written by the Horizon Walkers and sought their expertise – Xenthos An’Ryshe even managing to find a trophy to take of his very own which the Horizon Walkers were quite eager to buy for further study. With the dangers and secrets of Grimkeep now open for exploration and discovery, the cryptic words of the Gatekeeper yet remain. These ruins are but one destination of many that the Horizon Walkers have been able to uncover. What further perils have yet to be uncovered? **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Endzone Releases This Weekend](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/09/endzone-releases-this-weekend/) **Published:** November 9, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** After months of work, we are incredibly proud to announce that our biggest project of 2020 - Endzone - releases this coming weekend. **Content:** Earlier this year, we announced our biggest project for 2020: Endzone. Endzone sets out to offer a level 100+ bashing challenge like nothing Lusternia has ever seen before. It will be unlike any other bashing experience, taking inspiration from the joy you have all experienced bringing groups to the Astral Plane, and to the Icewynd Plains. And, after months of work by over a dozen people, we are incredibly proud to announce that it releases this coming weekend. We have deliberately kept many of the details about Endzone quiet, because we want you to experience it without any spoilers. But we couldn’t resist giving you a little something, at least. So we hope that you will enjoy [this incredible trailer](https://business.facebook.com/Lusternia/videos/1237235229995553/) that gives you just a few clues about what the story might entail. Gather your party and armour up, adventurers – because it’s time to step into the unknown. *With thanks to [Bensound.com](http://www.bensound.com) for the incredible music used in the trailer.* Video Transcript: Something different occurs this time. She is visited by two strange people. One is tall, dressed in black armour, his skin ebony and glowing with power, two iron tipped tusks jutting up from either side of his mouth. At his side is a clangoru, but the clangoru has gleaming gold skin and a bristling red beard falling down his chest like a river of burnished bronze. “So this is the runt,” says the clangoru, hands on his hips. “Grimkeep kept her here so I could see her for myself. I think the old legends are true, Urlach!” “The legend of the Cursed Child,” says Urlach. “And we’re the ones to have found her, Klangratch. She certainly is fast. I bet she could give Shanth a run.” “Listen, lass,” says Klangratch to the girl, “You know what you are? You know you’re a Vernal God?” “I’m not sure she understands us,” says Urlach. “She seems to be simple.” “What in blazes were her people thinking!” growled Klangratch. “Raising a simple minded child as a Vernal God! What a colossal waste of power!” Urlach doesn’t answer, but just wraps a band of dark power around the child’s waist. The child tries to run away but cannot escape the band that holds her. She doesn’t understand why the glowing pair hold her. There is a battle in mountains around Grimkeep as the nightmare finally comes. The child is frantic to escape but the band holds her. She waits for the inevitable. For the nightmare to finally claim her. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [October 2020 Artbard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/08/october-2020-artbard-winners/) **Published:** November 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from October! If you'd like to join them for this month's round, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. HELP ARTBARD will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from October! If you’d like to join them for this month’s round, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of the month. HELP ARTBARD will explain all about what you can submit, and how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s [The Jealous Dashro](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/72/) #### Runner-Up Ethna’s [Pre-Marital Prayers](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/74/) #### Merit Sapphira’s [Bewitchment](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/73/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Aedrys’s [Perfect Four(th)](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/10/perfectfourth.png) #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s [Between the Lines](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/10/BetweentheLines.png) #### Merit Esei’s [Lady Death V3](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/10/lusternia-tarot-again.png) Kyalrhin’s [Fire Phoenix](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/10/fire-phoenixes.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [November Artifact Sale](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/01/november-artifact-sale/) **Published:** November 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** All through November, you can buy artifacts direct from the website! And every Wednesday will be Shanth's Harmonious Wednesdays. **Content:** All through November, you can buy artifacts direct from the website in the artifact cart! Not only that, but we’ve added several brand new bundles of artifacts. All of these bundles are much cheaper than if you were purchasing them with credits. Amongst some old favourites, enjoy our three brand new packages, which are: Package of the Devoted Servant – Prove your devotion to your Patron with your shiny new Font (ashop 64), Symbol (ashop 89) and Mark (ashop 103) of the Divine! Package of the Beastmaster – Prepare your shiny new beast for the adventures ahead with this Beastmaster’s Collection. This package contains: a collar of the dracnari beastmasters (ashop 1), a beastmaster chemistry set (ashop 3), a neverending syringe of zimoru (ashop 9), and ten each of the following reagents – kikikoru (ashop 80), hemikoko (ashop 43), manokoko (ashop 81) and bromokoko (ashop82). Package of the Aethercaptain – Equip your Aethership with all you’ll need to take to the high Aetherways with this Aethercaptain’s Bundle. This package contains: an algontherine whistle (ashop 549), an anchor miniature (ashop 548), a cloak miniature (ashop 546), a wheel diamonut (ashop 544), a spider diamonut (ashop 546) and three lightning diamonuts (ashop 545). All three of these packages are 30% cheaper than buying the necessary credits would be. Already own one of the items within the package? Let us know when you buy it, and within reason, we can trade it in at full price for you. In addition, all of this month will see Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays – each Wednesday, your influencing attacks will be 25% more powerful! **Categories:** News --- ### [Haunting Vengeance Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/01/haunting-vengeance-results/) **Published:** November 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Khnemu, who defied probability to win the Halloween Vengeance game as Crazen's Chosen, the lone killer! **Content:** The Haunting is the perfect time for a vigorous game of vengeance – the parlour game of deception and horrors lurking in the depth of the night. The game played at the Haunted House is set in the times of the Vernal Wars and tells the tale of the Il’eredir tribe of practitioners of hearthcraft who have been infiltrated by a group of conjurers. Seventeen players entered the parlour and before the sun even rose, the Stalker of the Woods was found slain along with a conjurer of spirits. But it was a quiet day otherwise, full of mourning rather than accusations. Nobody was lynched that day but as the night came and went, the morning found one of the tribe dead by the hand of Crazen’s Chosen. The accusations started flying fast then, urged by the Oracle of the Great Mother. A conjurer was lynched but in the depth of the night, the rest of them descended upon the tribe. The Oracle, the Boneseer, the Blooded of the Tribe – all dead. Those who stood by silent that day immediately caught the eye of those who remained standing and an unfortunate tribesperson has been lynched instead a conjurer. As night fell, the Keeper of the Hearth fell to the conjurers and one of the tribe to Crazen’s Chosen. The future looked bleak. Devoid of any protectors, the tribe stood defenceless before the Circle and Crazen’s Chosen still on the loose. The day was spent arguing and with accusations flying left and right. In the end, the one who looked the most innocent all along has been found guilty, and rightfully so! A conjurer was successfully lynched and removed from the tribe but the conjurers paid them back in kind in the depth of the night. All was becoming too clear as the sun rose and a conjurer was quickly apprehended and slain. But it was too late, all too late. One of the tribe fell to a conjurer as night fell, and a conjurer fell to the madness of Crazen’s Chosen. Only one of the tribe remained but it no longer held any interest for the Chosen One. By nightfall, everyone who was left fell to the hunger of the Soulless, including the maddened killer, and the tribe was no more. Congratulations to Khnemu – Crazen’s Chosen – who have been awarded the doubled prize of 300 credits for this spectacular and rare victory! **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [The Haunted House is Open!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/11/01/the-haunted-house-is-open/) **Published:** November 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The Haunting is upon us again, and Trader Bob has declared the Haunted House open! Don't forget to pick up a pamphlet to show you all the tricks and treats. **Content:** The Haunted House is now open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. A wide selection of costumes (including new ones!) can be purchased within in addition to a slew of activities available to enjoy: pumpkin carving, web-making in the basement, a unique vengeance game, a maze with many mysteries, bobbing for apples, fortune readings, haunted furniture, spooky refreshments, and a spooky play retelling the story of the Vernal Goddesses known as the Hearth Sisters and the cities they rose from in the times of Vernal Wars. Show starts every midnight! If you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. To make sure you don’t miss out on anything the Coterie has prepared a Haunting Adventure to guide you through all of the activities. Be sure to pick up a pamphlet at the door. The Haunted House is located on the Stair of Death on Avechna’s Peak and will stay open until the 8th November. Oh, and keep your eyes out in the lower levels of the Mansion for something quite… peculiar. **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [The Haunting Has Begun!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/31/the-haunting-has-begun/) **Published:** October 31, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Once again, Atropos, the Eldest of the Fates, has broken her shears! This means that the Haunting is upon us and when anything dies, there is a chance its ghost will not find its way to the Portal of Fate. **Content:** Once again, Atropos, the Eldest of the Fates, has broken her shears! This means that the Haunting is upon us and when anything dies, there is a chance its ghost will not find its way to the Portal of Fate. If you find one of these poor lost souls, you can capture it if you can scare it. A simple BOO should work! Atropos would be most grateful if you put these ghosts into the Portal of Fate while she repairs the Shears of Fate. As a reward, if you rescue 20 ghosts, Atropos will give you a yummy little treat! (NOTE: Ghosts will dissipate after this event, so please don’t try to hoard them in your manses or storerooms.) **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Great Hunt Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/26/anniversary-great-hunt-results/) **Published:** October 26, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Zagreus, Xisiro and Tainala, who won the three tiers of the Anniversary Great Hunt! **Content:** The Greathunt has concluded. Everybody who participated received a number of credits, but the top ten scorers in each tier received bound credits ranging from 50 for the tenth to 500 for the first. Listed below are the scores for this hunt’s top scorers. Hope you all had fun, and good luck in the next one! --- TOP TEN DEMIGOD+ 1 – Zagreus – 185000 2 – Kaikazu – 171279 3 – Steingrim – 158244 4 – Lysandus – 87317 5 – Qoivhae – 82104 6 – Lisuarte – 78123 7 – Caleb – 47563 8 – Kethaera – 37670 9 – Sondayga – 29795 10 – Alarin – 21814 --- TOP TEN LEVEL 61-99 1 – Xisiro – 31309 2 – Orti – 28420 3 – Angelou – 23264 4 – Neladahi – 22955 5 – Houard – 18590 6 – Cheliyi – 15556 7 – Tereis – 11319 8 – Calfuray – 10309 9 – Quixote – 9653 10 – Lawrence – 7646 --- TOP TEN LEVEL 1-60 1 – Tainala – 6042 2 – Celaphaeia – 5989 3 – Alezche – 2605 4 – Ryl – 2405 5 – Nunks – 2343 6 – Alwyn – 2074 7 – Syrthien – 1554 8 – Berryl – 755 9 – Velcro – 578 10 – Yarzo – 356 **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Battlechess Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/25/anniversary-battlechess-results/) **Published:** October 25, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Magnagora, who have claimed the fabled Chessboard of Libertas for their own in the Anniversary Battlechess event! **Content:** As Xuck, the Strategic Chicken so instructed a quarter of a day before the Battlechess tournies were posted to begin, each organisation wishing to participate within would need to declare a captain to champion their cause. On the 9th of Dvarsh, the fierce chicken called for the Basin to make their way to the Klangratch Tournies. However, much to his chagrin, only Sutekh of Magnagora arrived at the designated time to represent his city. For a quarter of the day, Xuck called for more competitors, and at long last did Galaphyrae of Serenwilde arrive to offer her commune as competition. Satisfied, though only somewhat, Xuck decided that this would do and officially declared the match official. Though the game was ferocious, with the early losses of Avurekhos and Elarin both, Magnagora emerged triumphant, and claimed the fabled Chess Board of Libertas for themselves! Well done to each of our competitors! The Chess Board of Libertas can now be found at the entrance into the clock tower within the city of Magnagora. **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Harmony Challenge Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/25/anniversary-harmony-challenge-results/) **Published:** October 25, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congrats to Jolanthe, who has won the Anniversary Harmony challenge! She is followed by Galaphyrae in second and Sondayga in third. **Content:** As Hyuck, the Affable Chicken, seemed to fall into a spot of trouble with Trader Bob upon mussing the salesman’s wares, adventurers were quick to respond to a call for distraction. Setting out upon the Basin of Life, adventurers quickly set about wheedling, empowering, criticising, and more in an effort to buy the poor little chicken some time to talk his way out of it! Though the competition seemed stale at first, Kaervas and Jolanthe were quick to set the bar, rushing easily into high point values as they attempted to take the competition for themselves. Yet as the three-quarter mark quickly made its way towards the half-way, Jolanthe quickly rose to the top as Sondayga and Galaphyrae stepped past Kaervas. While yes, our adventurers certainly proved their harmonic abilities of influence – the true victory was that they distracted Trader Bob long enough for poor Hyuck to sneak away and keep his meager pocketbook intact. Congratulations to our victors! First Place (300cr): Jolanthe, of Serenwilde Second Place (150cr): Galaphyrae, of Serenwilde Third Place (50cr): Sondayga, of Serenwilde **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Wargames Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/24/anniversary-wargames-results/) **Published:** October 24, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Zagreus, Sondayga and Yinuish, who won the Anniversary Wargames! **Content:** Chuck, the Contentious Chicken – entirely upset at the lack of competitors for his own games in comparison to those of his fellow Pluck, set about berating the Basin of Life in an effort to drum up some fresh blood! While there was some measure of success, no more than three teams could be gathered, leaving a very fresh experience as none knew who they would be partnered with! In the Cave of War, all the participants gathered at Chuck’s aggressive behest, and clucked mightily before the plaque that had been placed there. The names were drawn, and teams assigned, with each given ten minutes to prepare! In the end, Zagreus, Sondayga, and Yinuish emerged victorious, with the other two teams competing for second. Congratulations to our victors, and well done to all those who boldly attempted the Wargames! First: Zagreus, Sondayga, and Yinuish (300cr) Second: Nialla, Kethaera, and Lysandus (150cr) Third: Quixote, Romaan, and Ayisdra (50cr) **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Death Challenge Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/24/anniversary-death-challenge-results/) **Published:** October 24, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Sondayga, who stands triumphant as the Anniversary Death victor! He is followed by Lysandus in second and Galaphyrae in third. **Content:** Pluck, the Cantankerous Chicken–in a more poetical turn of events–heard the pleas of their egg-mate Chuck about the few numbers who had joined the War Games planned for the month. To inspire blood and death, they initiated a contest of Death! Six adventurers participated in the contest of Death, with Sondayga quickly taking the lead and maintaining it throughout the course of the contest with Lysandus a distant second. It is the race for third that was far more contentious. Galaphyrae of Serenwilde overtook Kaervas of Glomdoring early and quickly, who was in turn overtaken by Eritheyl of Gaudiguch. Galaphyrae and Eritheyl raced to take third, with Galaphyrae frequently edging the Gaudiguchian out! At one point managed to take place, however Galaphyrae quickly reclaimed the seat! When the corpses finally fell, as blood stained the ground, it was Sondayga who reigned supreme. First Place (300 credits): Sondayga of Serenwilde Second Place (150 credits): Lysandus of Gaudiguch Third Place (50 credits): Galaphyrae of Serenwilde **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [The Haunting Arrives Next Week!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/23/the-haunting-arrives-next-week/) **Published:** October 23, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Next week, the Haunting begins in Lusternia! Read on for all of the times, dates, and details of our popular Halloween event. **Content:** By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes… This coming weekend, at 11pm GMT on October 31st, the Basin of Life becomes just a little bit spookier. The Haunting will be upon Lusternia again, and thus the Haunted House returns with all of its tricks, all of its treats, fortunes and costumes and more! Following this, at around the weave (midnight GMT on November 1st), the doors to the House’s vengeance arena shall be opened. Enter the Time of the Vernal Wars and battle to protect the Il’eredir hearthstone from those who would claim it – or worse, the chosen of the Soulless Crazen. Those who win the vengeance game will receive 150 credits apiece. Not able to be here on the day? Don’t worry – the Haunting will continue for the following week for you to take full advantage of the spooky adventures within. **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Great Hunt Begins!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/19/anniversary-great-hunt-begins/) **Published:** October 19, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The Anniversary Great Hunt is on! Celebrate Lusternia's sixteenth year with an entire week of double XP, and the chance to win huge credit prizes. **Content:** The Great Hunt is on once again! Gather your supplies and set out to hunt and influence your way to victory! The Hunt will last until midnight GMT on October 26th, one full week from now. During this Great Hunt, you will also enjoy double experience! Here’s how it works: for every NPC/mobile/denizen you slay or influence during this time, you will gain points. The number of points range from 1-10 depending on the level of the denizen. You will receive bound credits at certain level thresholds: 5 at 100 points, 10 at 1000 points, and 15 at 2500 points. Use the command GREATHUNT to see your score and the status of the top 10 players. Furthermore, at the end of the Hunt, the top ten hunters with the highest scores will receive bound credit prizes in these amounts: 1st place: 500 credits 2nd place: 450 credits 3rd place: 400 credits each 4th place: 350 credits each 5th place: 300 credits each 6th place: 250 credits each 7th place: 200 credits each 8th place: 150 credits each 9th place: 100 credits each 10th place: 50 credits each We will be doing three tiers of prize giving, the top 10 Demigods and Ascendants, the top 10 Level 61-99, and the top 10 Level 60 and below. Yes, that means we will be giving away 30 credit prizes – that’s over 8k credits total! As always, aetherbeasts do -not- count in the Great Hunt (though they will enjoy the double xp bonus). PS: Yes, we definitely turned double xp on this time! **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Slippers Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/18/anniversary-slippers-results/) **Published:** October 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Ayisdra, who placed first in this year's very special Anniversary Slippers game! **Content:** Luck, the Luxurious chicken was heard loudly proclaiming her appreciation for a special artifact, which turned out to be none other than a shoe of the Creatrix Herself. It seemed that the revolution sought to make use of the artifact, yet adventurers turned out once more to thwart the effort. Eight adventurers participated in a special game of Slippers, attempting to avoid the Henmother as she pursued the precious shoe, and keep from being turned into toads. The field was rapidly narrowed with much croaking, and with a well-timed handoff, Ayisdra proved to be the most evasive. First Place (300 credits): Ayisdra, of Hallifax Second Place (150 credits): Evette, of Glomdoring Third Place (50 credits): Sondayga, of Serenwilde **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Quiz Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/18/anniversary-quiz-results/) **Published:** October 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Jolanthe, who placed first in this year's Anniversary Quiz! **Content:** As the Festival of the Creatrix continued, Duck, the Confused Chicken announced a test of intelligence for the inhabitants of Lusternia. Whether his desire was to entertain or to evaluate the forces facing the revolution, adventurers of all nations gathered to match their wits and test their knowledge of geography, history, and chickens. Though Duck, and occasionally others, objected to the non-poultry related questions, others took pride in their well-rounded knowledge. Jolanthe took an early lead, and successfully maintained it to take the final prize. First Place (300 credits): Jolanthe, of Serenwilde Second Place (150 credits): Parhelion, of Hallifax Third Place (50 credits): Vexacion, of Magnagora **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Chicken Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/18/anniversary-chicken-hunt-results/) **Published:** October 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Zagreus, Ayisdra and Eritheyl, who stand triumphant in the Basin's first...chicken hunt? **Content:** As the Festival of the Creatrix continues, Cluck, the Revolutionary Chicken makes a return, taking the opportunity to declare a Revolution of the chickens upon Lusternia. Hundreds of chickens flooded the Basin of Life in answer to her call, ranging from the humble brown chickens to the fluffy silkie chickens. They poured into the cities, communes, villages, and settlements, filling them with feathers and flapping in an effort to set up a government of the chickens, by the chickens, and for the chickens. But alas, they were opposed by intrepid adventurers of every background, who ranged the lands to capture the revolutionary fowl. Some depended on their speed and agility in grabbing the writhing and pecking birds, while others took prisoners of war gathered by their friends and allies. In the end, the following were declared the top enemies of the Chicken Revolution: First Place (300 credits): Zagreus, of Magnagora Second Place (150 credits): Ayisdra, of Hallifax Third Place (50 credits): Eritheyl, of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Anniversary Treasure Hunt Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/17/anniversary-treasure-hunt-results/) **Published:** October 17, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Zoraida, Vexacion and Dys, who placed first, second and third in this year's Anniversary Treasure Hunt! **Content:** A new level of challenge was introduced to the Festival of the Creatrix in the form of Buck, the Iniquitous Chicken, who devised a clever scavenger hunt for the inhabitants of Lusternia to undertake in celebration. By offering a toast to the Creatrix Herself at Agwesha’s shop, participants were granted a curious flask that when sipped from granted strange visions of familiar and not-so-familiar climes. Though these visions – and perhaps the high-proof contents of the flask itself – caused some consternation among the participants, it quickly became clear that Kaervas, Luce, Zoraida, Ayisdra, Galaphyrae, Dys, and Vexacion were eager to take an early lead, and their explorations caused a tumble in the rankings as they constantly sought to outdo one another. Their travels took them from the highest of mountain peaks to the darkest of subterranean environs, and after much searching, much drinking, and much fowl commentary from Buck himself, the winners became apparent! First Place (300 credits): Zoraida, of Hallifax Second Place (150 credits): Vexacion, of Magnagora Third Place (50 credits): Dys, of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Festival of the Creatrix Now Open!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/17/festival-of-the-creatrix-now-open/) **Published:** October 17, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The Festival of the Creatrix is now open! Join us in the coming fortnight for a number of contests in the Creatrix's honour. **Content:** The Festival of the Creatrix has now been declared open! You can find the lovely Agwesha and all of her wares upon the Path of Solitude, where she will remain as long as the Festival is open. Buy decorations, toys, and even the rare doll of the Creatrix Herself so that you can celebrate the Festival as fervently as it deserves. Join us over the coming weeks for a number of contests in the Creatrix’s honour, at the following dates and times: 17th October - 8pm GMT: Treasure Hunt! Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! 18th October - 12am GMT (Weave): Chicken Hunt! It’s like a hamster hunt, but in honour of the Creatrix, you’re chasing down chickens instead. - 6pm GMT: Festival Quiz! Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. - 7pm GMT: Slippers Game! This contest may also have a very special twist on it. 19th October - 12am GMT (Weave): The Great Hunt begins! This will run for one full week, and during this time, double XP will be enabled. Hooray! 24th October - 9pm GMT: Death Challenge! Who can kill the most in a single hour? - 10pm GMT: Wargames! Which team will emerge triumphant in this team tournament? 25th October - 7pm GMT: Harmony Challenge! Who can influence the most in a single hour? - 9pm GMT: Battlechess! Each city and commune competes in this game to win the glorious Chessboard of Libertas. 26th October - 12am GMT (Weave): Great Hunt Ends, and the Wayfaire and Festival close. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Czigany Wayfaire Returns!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/16/the-czigany-wayfaire-returns/) **Published:** October 16, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** As the Festival of the Creatrix approaches, the Czigany Wayfaire returns for another year! **Content:** Roll up, roll up! The Czigany Wayfaire has made its way into the Basin of Life once again, to prepare for the celebrations of the Festival of the Creatrix. This year, you may find the Wayfaire east of the Ackleberry Junction (note: that’s the Junction, not the Triple Junction!). As well as containing all of the usual attractions, this year the Wayfaire are selling a strange new creature. If you feed them, they will grow up big and strong. Just be careful that they don’t eat you! You will also find that the prices of Wayfaire beasts have changed. After conducting an audit of his prices, Jal Czigany discovered to his confusion that many were incorrectly priced – some being too high, and a few too low. No more! Down with the unfair tax upon poor, adorable seals. **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [September 2020 Artbard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/10/september-2020-artbard-winners/) **Published:** October 10, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for September! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from September! If you wish to join their hallowed selves for October, make sure you get your submissions in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARDS has the full instructions for how to do so. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Uzriel’s [A is for Arsenic: the d’Vanecu ABCs](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/66/) #### Runner-Up Coraline’s [The Cowardly Girl](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/24/) #### Merit Sapphira’s [The Iniquitous Society](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/62/) Xiran’s [A Snow Dusted Forest](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/68/) Akyaevin’s [The Marble Streets of Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/61/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Olethea’s [I LOVED you](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/AngryOllie1.png) #### Runner-Up Aedrys’s [Mother and Child](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/dragonturtles.png) Kyalrhin’s [Taint Wyrms](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/taint-wyrms.png) #### Merit Gurashi’s [I hope you know…](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/goodgirl.PNG) Esei’s [Hush](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/ask.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [October Wheel Whirliness](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/10/01/october-wheel-whirliness/) **Published:** October 1, 2020 **Author:** Orael **Excerpt:** It's Wheel time again for the month of October, and you can buy Czigany coins directly from the website! **Content:** For the month of October, we have Czigany coins available to purchase from the website! You can spin these coins at the Wheel of Tzaraziko found at the Cave of Chaos. Additionally, everyone will get one free spin per day by using SPIN WHEEL FREE! Tuesdays will also be Double XP Tuesdays for the month of October. Hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Roundtable: How Celest's Factions Got a Little TLC](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/25/roundtable-how-celests-factions-got-a-little-tlc/) **Published:** September 25, 2020 **Author:** Carakhan **Excerpt:** Following the revamp of New Celest's guilds earlier this year, the wonderful pantheon of Carakhan, Lantra and Terentia have gathered to bring you a roundtable discussion. They answer questions about why it happened, how it went, and give some glimpses into their behind-the-scenes work. **Content:** Following the revamp of New Celest’s guilds earlier this year, the wonderful pantheon of Carakhan, Lantra and Terentia have gathered to bring you a roundtable discussion. They answer questions about why it happened, how it went, and give some glimpses into their behind-the-scenes work. **Why did you choose to revisit the guild overhaul in Celest?** - **Carakhan:** As I was preparing to take on the role of Carakhan, I knew that I wanted to take a long, hard look at the guilds and how they were doing. I also started making a list of things that I was noticing had never been entirely finished from the previous overhaul. Initially, I hoped to simply tweak things, add reactions to guild tutors, repurpose the old guildhalls and guild tutors. But I kept getting stuck on three things. The first was the way the division of the supernals and Tide Lords amongst the guilds seemed to be resulting in everyone trying to approach their Supernal(s) in the same way. Everyone seemed to want statues and a chapel where they could worship and honour their Planar Patrons. It didn’t seem like the Ecclesiarchy’s approach was meaningfully distinct from that of the Sanctifiers or the Archons. The second was the Ecclesiarchy itself. What did it mean to be the church in a city where not everyone in the Church were pledged to the Supernals? What did it mean to be the Church when Celestine priests could be in any guild? What did it mean to be the Church when the Sanctifiers were the guild that lived in the Blue Cathedral? The third thing was, if you were choosing a guild, what united the Archons, Sanctifiers and Ecclesiarchy, that made it make sense that it was those three organisations that you were choosing between? When we started thinking of the three guilds as three orders of one church, that is when things started to click. It made sense as the cumulation of the narrative of unity of the guilds began in the original overhaul. It made sense in the broader history of Celest as the heir of the Holy Celestine Empire. But to get there, we had to destroy the Ecclesiarchy, physically and metaphorically, so that the new, united church could rise from its ashes. - **Terentia:** I wholeheartedly agree with everything Carakhan said. I came onto the scene somewhere in the middle, when some of the roadblocks started appearing. It was my major project in the Havens, and because I was already aiming to take over Terentia, it was a chance to get my feet wet in terms of the lore and the concepts that the city was about. I think I was very surprised by the kind of bottlenecking that happened because of the ways the guilds were shaped; it seemed they felt very confined to not only their particular Planar Patrons, but also identities that weren’t very distinct from each other. So it felt like a perfect chance to really think about them, to give a slight touch-up here and there. - **Lantra:** I was the final piece of this guild overhaul team! A lot of what I got to participate in was looking at the final proposed concepts and help edit in places where the story could be tighter or the guild identity could become clearer. It was a wonderful way to get acquainted with everything on a foundational level, which I appreciated as a new member of the pantheon. But it was also a good way of looking at Celest on a global level and seeing where questions about new guild identity still existed and asking how we could answer those questions in meaningful ways. **Why dragons?** - **Carakhan:** Because dragons!!! Almost as soon as we decided to destroy the Ecclesiarchy, I had this mental image of a giant dragon slamming into the lighthouse and pulling it to bits. When I realised Magnagora’s event was going to end with them tainting some dragons, I immediately ran to Drocilla and asked if I could please please please have one. As soon as I explained it would get to destroy the Ecclesiarchy Lighthouse, the Magnagoran pantheon was all in. - **Terentia:** I think we gravitated to dragons pretty quickly in the process. At first, I was trying to think of something that could be internal to Celest, so we didn’t have the issue of constantly wrecking the city with some outside forces. At the time, I was still not too sure about Celest’s history (and the thing I am really taken by, which is the dynamic between the merian/non-merian communities there), so everything appeared very forced to me. We were already a couple events into our yearly plotline with Isikathi and the Seal of Time, so dragons were already soaring about and messing with things. After Celest and Magnagora finished their unique event, we got to thinking, why couldn’t we just continue this? With the plotpoint of the tainted dragon available, and the dragons who were forcefully pushed out of Celest, we thought: revenge would be a pretty strong motivator. Plus, I think dragons could do enough damage to the city that we might be able to really make some sharp cuts from the cloth of the past, as well as give us enough time between the event and reconstruction to do some fun things (as Celest can attest, the dragon in the non-merian quarter is huge!). - **Lantra:** The dragons allowed us to give Celest an antagonist outside the city that wouldn’t involve other orgs, but still would feel rooted in world events. We got to have the dragons, for example, remember that Aknarin had ‘broomed’ them away just a few months prior! It allowed us to make an event inspired by player choices, and that’s always an ideal place to start. It reminds you that Lusternia is a dynamic place where players can shape their own story. **Was there anyone/anything you wanted to save/preserve during the event?** - **Carakhan:** The original overhaul was painful for a lot of people, and I genuinely believe it lost Celest a number of players. I didn’t want to just snatch away things that the people who had persevered through that had strong attachments to, without at least giving them a proper sendoff. But it was also really important to provide real closure, and not just leave old guildhalls standing empty with their tutors still there, acting as if nothing had changed. To me, nothing was particularly sacred, but it was important to me that different things happened to different guilds, so we weren’t just targetting the old guildhalls and the old tutors with one sweeping brush. - **Terentia:** I was definitely someone who did not want to preserve anything. I think one of the lasting problems in Celest (and maybe for many of us), is that the investments to the old guilds were so strong and so tight that they sort of haunt us still. I am immediately thinking of the very strong, very powerful Paladin identity that remains in Celest, which is a glue to the past that is hard to work with, I think. The more definitive the end, the easier it would be to help build these new guilds. However, I had the privilege of working with Carakhan and Lantra who helped blunt or curb my thirst for destruction. I think they helped create situations where more stories can be told: e.g. Manchal and Eluzmith’s departure for places unknown; the preservation of the Tahtetso guildhall (and whatever future it might have), etc. - **Lantra:** There were some mobs I very much didn’t want to lose (Rhapsody, Jarana), and other mobs I think we knew had to go (Hamos). My biggest contribution to this discussion I think was inviting a third option: not all mobs had to be killed, but some mobs could leave with the promise of having other stories down the road. Manchal and Eluzmith, which Tere mentioned above, wound up taking that direction. We still have those storylines we can play off of down the road, so hopefully we can learn what they’re up to one of these days! **What was your favorite moment during the re-overhaul?** - **Carakhan:** I was very pleased with how the whole sequence of events from the Lighthouse getting attacked to Hamos getting sainted went down. Also it was very touching how utterly determined some of the players were to bring every last NPC to the safety of the Aegis Keep. Finally, dropping the saint lore I had been working on was very satisfying. - **Terentia:** So I did the programming for the ballista battle with the dragon, so I think that was my favorite part (even though the closing script repeated a couple of times, much to my horror!). I too really enjoyed the scene where Hamos destroyed one of the dragons and became a Saint in the process; I think it is something really interesting for Celest to have as a marker of this new moment of the City. - **Lantra:** I enjoyed roleplaying Jarana’s anointing ceremony for Aknarin, and including the revelation during it that Hamos had become a Saint. I also loved how Brother Neluane became the new guild tutor of the Magisterium through his actions over the three days; it made his promotion feel very earned. But my favorite moment during the Overhaul, truthfully, was playing a dolphin who goofed around with a player in the Inner Sea while she was looking for hints for the missing Tears of Saint Tresalyne. It was cute and silly but definitely a highlight. **What do you wish you’d done differently?** - **Carakhan:** Mostly I wish we’d had time for more testing to avoid some of the hiccups that happened. It would also have been nice to have more choice points during the actual attacks that allowed saving/destroying more and different parts of the city. - **Terentia:** I think we could always say more time to do smaller-scale moments. I really enjoyed the brief scene where players found Eluzmith after she was blown off the wall, and then trying to tend to her after. - **Lantra:** Time is always what you wish you had more of! I would have liked to make restoring the Flock of Miracles a little more exciting than just influencing, though I do think after such a long event everyone was pleased to have something relatively quick and simple. (Plus, everyone got to sit back and watch a water elemental wreck a dragon.) **What was the process like?** - **Carakhan:** Initially a lot of flailing, and attempting incremental changes and trying to find and catalog all the pieces and plot threads that had been missed or dropped, and brainstorming. Then Terentia came on board and took a lot of that flailing and turned it into coherent proposals that we then went through, and then went through with certain of the players. - **Terentia:** I kept revisiting [Eventru’s Peering into](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/30/peering-into-the-light-pt1/) [the Light](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/09/08/peering-into-the-light-pt2/) series, trying to think about the general ethos of Celest while reviewing the shift to the new guilds. And one of the things that I kept returning to was the history of the city. I was captivated by the idea of the linkage between Church and State; I mean, the very name, “Holy Celestine Empire,” implies that there were a stronger unity between those two institutions, and I thought, why not try that. What I began to imagine was that, if the State and Church are one, then really, the guilds are not institutions unique to themselves, but rather auxiliaries that support the Church-State. We began to imagine sort of OOC analogues to these guilds, to figure out what that might be like, which led down the path of holy orders and the like. That helped flesh out the initial proposals, thinking about RL historical dynamics between religious institutions, and then, we were able to align those ideas with IG stories. - **Lantra:** I remember there was a lot of initial back and forth. Cara did an excellent job documenting everything in New Celest to date and performing a ‘diagnostic’ on what needed updating. Terentia provided a lot of potential areas for inspiration we could build from to create distinct guild identities, with explanations for each possible influence. A lot of what I contributed, I think, was looking at those things Tere and Cara had built and offering my thoughts as a newcomer to the discussion. What made sense from an outsider’s perspective? What felt confusing? Which mobs seemed like good fits to accomplish XYZ? What options had we not considered that might be good to include? For example, when we were discussing the fate of Hamos amidst the destruction of the Ecclesiarchy, I floated the idea of sainting Hamos – as a joke initially – but it wound up giving an extra layer of gravitas to the event that I’m really pleased with. He’s the first modern saint of New Celest! And he’s the first kephera saint! We are telling a lot of stories about the non-merian side of Celest lately, and this helps open that door wider. **What were some of your goals?** - **Carakhan:** I wanted to make sure that each guild had concrete practices that were different from the others. I also wanted to give each guild a historical organisation or person that they were a continuation of. For the Sanctifiers the Crusaders of Flame and Saint Loathys were pretty obvious, and the Magisterium continues to play up the roots of the Church by focusing on the evangelism of Javile, but the Archons went through a couple ideas before we settled on the Sons of Dionamus. Once we did, I was delighted, as it allowed us to pull at threads that predate the Holy Celestine Empire. One of the interesting and sometimes frustrating things about Celest is how in the shadow of the Imperial Legacy it can be. By drawing on some truly ancient roots, and shifting the focus to the unity of Church and City, we hoped to give Celest a way to build something truly new, and greater, than they have been before. - **Terentia:** With the exception of the Magisterium, I think my intention was more to tighten or touch up the guilds rather than creating brand new identities. And like Carakhan said, I really wanted to think about very concrete things that they did. I think that is something I felt like the first iteration of the overhauled guilds lacked. There wasn’t anything unique to their beliefs (e.g. I think the Sanctifiers more or less adopted the Tahtetso’s “lumosis” without any regard of how it may or may not fit with the current guild) or they were very broad (e.g. somehow each guild needed to manage integrating a Supernal, a Tidal Lord, and a Saint, and then the Ecclesiarchy did all of them like the Celestines?). We wanted them to feel different and be different because they are supposed to be different. And I think we accomplished that. My hope is that we can continue to work with the reformed guilds to build on that infrastructure (so submit those patron requests!). - **Lantra:** Zeasha desperately needed a makeover. More seriously, I wanted Celest to enjoy the event and not be demoralized by it. I wanted players to be excited by the updates in the guilds, rather than frustrated. I intended for everyone to have access to every Supernal and every Saint, and to have easy access to what foundational principles belonged to their guild. Terentia came up with the blueprint of the new NPC tutor responses, which the three of us helped flesh out for the guilds. Those dialogue trees, in my opinion, help establish guild expectations and identity for future guild members. It is difficult to come up with an event built around unifying an org, but we wanted to, and it felt like we did that. A secret personal goal I had as well was coming up with a reason for Rhapsody to ‘vanish’ knowing I could bring her back later with a proper summoning quest, like the kind Serenwilde has for Trialante. So being able to engineer that was a small victory! **What is something you are looking forward to?** - **Carakhan:** It’s fun to see how excited players are about Dragon’s Grave. There’s a few other bits of rebuilding and repurposing I’m looking forward to as well. And I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of those pirates… - **Terentia:** Yes, Dragon’s Grave. The plans to rebuild the non-merian quarter were always going to happen, but a couple of players energised us to jump-start that plan (which I appreciate!). I think our current pantheon team (Team “Chasing Waterfalls” aka TLC) is really excited for ways to expand what is currently there. I personally am interested in figuring out how to make more concretely the Church/State unification, and what the religion of “the Light” really means. - **Lantra:** Dragon’s Grave! Pirates! Local bar rivalries! Krokani lore! Saint lore! There is so much I’m excited to play with, and I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Year In Review: 2019](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/01/08/year-in-review-2019/) **Published:** January 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This year's been an eventful one in Lusternia - our Producers Ianir and Orael and Assistant Producer Aonia are here to round it up for you! **Content:** As 2019 comes to a close and we look to a new year, it is customary to glance back and reminisce upon what has happened in the last. This has been an eventful year, and there’s much to look forward to in the next. One of the biggest changes in 2019, and the one that we should bring up first, is that Estarra is no longer leading Lusternia’s development. Estarra brought this game up from nothing and ran it for fifteen years, and it would not be what it is today – or anything really! – without her. The three of us have had the honour to take up that mantle, and we hope to do her legacy the justice it deserves. This year has been an eventful one on the code side. We’ve rolled out the daily credits and org credit systems which allow you to gain credits for just playing the game, and your org to do so in turn. We’ve revamped the reporting system, and after the first run of it, reworked it again. We’ve also revamped the melder classes with the help of player testing and feedback. The design system was also heavily revamped, including streamlined rules, new commodities, and better alerting. After a decade and a half of wait and untold numbers of requests for it, chocolate was brought from Jojobo for all of your decadent baking! And…sometimes sconces. Later in the year, skylanterns and lanterns for ambient lighting were added, for the joy of both bookbinders and artisans alike. It’s been quite the year for Divine events as well! The Memorial Water Gardens opened in 527CE up to much rejoicing in New Celest. The Ceremony of Remembrance was performed by the citizens, but instead of the angelic caretaker they expected, an angelfish appeared. Before the eyes of all gathered, and beneath the bright lights of the fountain, the angelfish transformed into the Goddess Carakhan, who had been journeying to find items which were lost during her time trapped in Aquagoria. We’ve had a months-spanning feud between Maylea and Nocht, embroiled with intrigue and deadly assaults on each other and their orders. From the Blade of Serenity wounding the silent god, to Nocht’s order slaying Maylea’s beloved talking peacock Shashi, the event finally reached a climax as Maylea stole the Eye of Dynara from Nocht. But surely, the Silent Lord shall not let things end so easily… The return of Raezon was met with the alignment of planets into a perfect syzygy, and light began to scorch the Basin in a brilliant display. The Forbidden God finally made His appearance in an explosive manner as he destroyed the obsidian observatory He built in the mountains during the last syzygy, revealing Himself and some mysterious implements. What will come of these remains to be seen. Massive butterflies, light shows, and tae’dae liars created an uproar in Gaudiguch, heralding a massive investigation spanning timelines and realities. In a pocket of space and time which acted as a prison, the citizens of Gaudiguch were met with a choice between a madman and a liar. They made their choice, and bound to the consequences of it, the Elder Divine Mysrai revealed Themselves to the Basin. Where was Mysrai in all of this, why did this choice need to be made, and what other questions will be raised in the year to come? This year, Yendor rose as Ascendant of Death, as Lyraa Ey Rielys nearly collided with the Prime Material Plane, releasing linorii and garosaurs and muku plants into the ecosystem. Claiming the Staff of Ascension on the Astral Plane, Yendor struck back Kethuru, restored the seals, and claimed his new name: Snald. In 530, Goloth Maxyenka attempted to harness the mysterious Beast of Time to alter the timestream. The eighteen guilds of Lusternia united, enacting rituals which offered prophesy and power. As the eighteenth guild’s ritual resounded, Maxyenka lost control of the Beast, wounding the timestream and causing resounding Timequakes. These temporal disturbances offer glimpses into the past, future, and into the desolate and immaculate timelines – timelines which are respectively lost to the Soulless and untouched by them. This is just what we’ve seen in 2019. Let us look instead toward the future – what does 2020, the new decade, carry for us? We have the soon upcoming endgame overhaul – we are looking at rebuilding the Demigod and Ascendant powers, removing the essence cap and allowing levelling beyond level 100, and adding extra repeatable endgame content. Story-side, we have large plans for the next several months, though we’re keeping those under wraps. However, we will say they explore a huge missing link in Lusternia’s lore, and represent one of the last pieces of lore crafted personally by Estarra. We also are looking to foster roleplay in orgs on a small and medium scale as well as run large scale events during and beyond this, building upon the incredible roleplay and events you have all been creating yourselves. We have several planned topics on our starmap, and while we don’t necessarily guarantee we’ll touch all of them this year due to their berth, nor will we guarantee any particular order, we are looking at: Guardians, Warriors, the Economy, and a codified Alliance System. Now, if you will forgive a moment of sentiment, we would like to bring up one of the largest strengths of Lusternia: the close-knit playerbase. We are a small game, smaller now than we were a decade ago, and we don’t think anybody could have called us sizeable then with a straight face. Due to the game’s size and constant need to communicate with each other, it became common for bonds to form between players, either within ‘OOC Clans’ or on MSN Messenger or Skype or now Discord. These bonds, these friendships, are as much a part of Lusternia as your roleplay with a divine or your attempts to kill each other – and we are honoured to have helped foster them. We can’t wait for the rest of 2020, and we hope you can’t either. – Ianir, Orael, and Aonia. **Categories:** God Blogs, News --- ### [Lusternia's Sixteenth Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/19/lusternias-sixteenth-anniversary-events/) **Published:** September 19, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** Lusternia turns sixteen years old in 2020! And, as always, we’re holding a series of games, contests and more to celebrate this momentous milestone, with the in-character celebration of the Festival of the Creatrix. All contests bar the Great Hunt and Battlechess award 300 credits for 1st place, 150 credits for 2nd place and 50 credits for 3rd place. Great Hunt rewards are in bound credits, scaling from 500 for 1st to 50 for 10th in each tier, whilst the organisation that wins Battlechess receives the famed Chessboard of Libertas. Please remember that if you are in a region observing Daylight Savings Time, this ends during the Anniversary events (on the 25th October). When an event occurs at the weave (midnight GMT), note that for those in GMT- timezones, this will occur on the previous day. **16th October** – 9pm GMT: The Wayfaire Opens! **17th October** – 5pm GMT: The Festival of the Creatrix begins, with the opening ceremonies and the return of the Festival wares. – 8pm GMT: Treasure Hunt! Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! **18th October** – 12am GMT (Weave): Chicken Hunt! It’s like a hamster hunt, but in honour of the Creatrix, you’re chasing down chickens instead. – 6pm GMT: Festival Quiz! Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian. – 7pm GMT: Slippers Game! This contest may also have a very special twist on it. **19th October** – 12am GMT (Weave): The Great Hunt begins! This will run for one full week, and during this time, double XP will be enabled. Hooray! **24th October** – 9pm GMT: Death Challenge! Who can kill the most in a single hour? – 10pm GMT: Wargames! Which team will emerge triumphant in this team tournament? **25th October** – 7pm GMT: Harmony Challenge! Who can influence the most in a single hour? – 9pm GMT: Battlechess! Each city and commune competes in this game to win the glorious Chessboard of Libertas. **26th October** – 12am GMT (Weave): Great Hunt Ends, and the Wayfaire and Festival close. **Categories:** News --- ### [12th September Development Livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/18/12th-september-development-livestream/) **Published:** September 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This past Saturday, 12th September, Aonia and Orael held a livestream to announce the next Big Project for Lusternia: the Economy! **Content:** This past Saturday, 12th September, Aonia and Orael held a livestream to announce the next Big Project for Lusternia: the Economy! If you missed the Livestream, don’t fear. Enclosed here is a video of the entire thing, plus a complete transcript. I’ve done you the service of removing the word ‘um’. Trust me, you’re grateful for this. https://www.facebook.com/Lusternia/videos/3337993502983631/ A: Hello there everyone and welcome to another livestream – I’m Aonia, if you’ve not heard my voice before, and I’m here with Orael who is my co-producer for Lusternia. Say hello. O: Hey everybody. How’s it going. We’re excited to be here and let you know what’s going on. A: Yeah so we’ve got – what we’re basically going to do today is we’re going to take you through our major projects for Lusternia, both our current major project and the project that will follow after that, and then we’re going to take you through some of our minor projects as well, just to give you some updates to give you an idea of what working on. This obviously doesn’t encompass absolutely everything we’re working on, as there’s obviously quite a few things that are being done by volunteers in your communes and cities, that sort of level, and things that are being built that we can’t talk about. This is really just to cover with you the major development projects that are going on right now. A: And the first one of those that we’re going to talk to you about is Endzone. So you’ve probably heard us talk about Endzone before. Basically this is sort of a supplement to the demigod changes that we put in earlier this year. Orael, do you want to talk a little bit about sort of our general aim with Endzone, and you know, the sort of thing we’re trying to achieve. O: Yeah. Basically what we’re trying to achieve with this is just some more exciting, more engaging endgame play. One where you know, you can go in, and you have to really really…work out, you have to figure it out and and achieve all your goals there. And you’re gonna have to go in and solve the problems, and – I dunno – do much more than just let your auto basher run to defeat it. O: The goal is something that’s enjoyable, something that’s fun, and something that you, you know, you can get lots of lots of practice with, lots of fun with. A: Yeah, and one of the other things that we have sort of teased a little bit, we haven’t talk about extensively, obviously this is, we’ve got areas in Lusternia that do function as PvE areas, but this is one of the first times really apart from the Astral Plane where we very specifically designed a PvE area. And I think something it’s really important for you to know is the – this entire area is very much – whilst the PvE aspect is its function, the whole thing is dripping in lore that I’m so excited to give to you. A: I’m not going to tell you any details, but I will tell you is that it expands upon and reveals a very significant part of the histories. Everyone who’s working on it – and it is really very much the entire team working on the building side of it – are really excited. And \[to chat\] we are talking, if you’re having trouble hearing us then try refreshing your stream, that helps sometimes. A: But yeah, so we’re very very excited about the concept of what we’re giving you both on a metal level in terms of how it functions, and also in terms of its in character setup. One of the things that we’re doing sort of in terms of its functionality is that we are – we want to make sure it’s not somewhere that you go once and you achieve things and you don’t go again. Or you go once and you get, you know, your honours lines and the success of having completed something, and then you really just go back in there to, you know, just grind some essence or some XP. A: So one of the things we’re doing is we’re making sure there’s a system that’s part of the area that gives you a reason beyond XP and gold, whatever it might be, to keep going back there. And that’s something that we we felt very strongly that we wanted to give you as a as an extra level of reason to go. A: Now the biggest question of course is when do you get to go and see whatever this area may be? So we are hoping and expecting and aiming to release Endzone this year. We do have a schedule on our end that we’re trying to work to, we’re choosing not reveal to that because if we don’t manage to meet it, we don’t want to, you know, promise something we can’t give. That something that’s really important to both Orael and I, is to make sure, you know, when we promise you something it’s something we really expect to deliver. And part of that is making sure that this is the most awesome it could be before we give it out to you. A: Endzone is the project that has suffered the most from our pandemic related delays. That’s largely due to the fact that so many people are working on it, and all of us individually have obviously suffered effects from the pandemic both big and small. We’ve been prioritising looking after people, but also balancing that with moving things forward. A: So…that’s sort of a general overview, and we can now take some questions specifically about Endzone. We cannot promise you that we’re going to answer all of them, but ask away, if you have any questions about things we’ve just said, or questions about Endzone more in general, throw them in the chat now, and we’ll see what we can and can’t answer. A: First of all we’ve got a question already from Nelras. Yeah, we can tell you that \[the system to give a reason beyond XP/gold\] shouldn’t directly have an effect on PvP balance I think it’s fair to say? O: Very minor. If anything it’ll be very very minor. Pretty much non-existent I don’t think. I’m hesitant to say that there won’t be any affect, just because you never know how things are going to interact, but the goal is for it not to have any affect on PvP. It’s mostly a PvE area. It’s going to be – you know, to answer Malarious’s question, it isn’t – it’s going to be to begin with a specific area, but it’s a system that will let us expand on it and more areas and stuff. A: And that’s – that’s something we’ve built from the ground up – like even in terms of the documentation we’re keeping on the back end, we’re making sure we got documentation both for the specific endzone and also for the endzone system as a whole. O: Yeah. A: So our next question is what are the risks of death as a mostly fully artefacted person. Do you want to take that one? O: High. It’s one of those things where if you’re not paying any attention whatsoever, it’s going to be very easy for you to die. A: And one of the things that we’re doing: when we get to the testing stage, we want to make sure – whilst we said before we don’t want player testing as we want the whole thing to be a surprise for you, we will be doing very extensive testing on the admin end. We’re all very excited to get to pretend to be players again! One of the things we want to make sure we do is that we test the area as a person who is fully artefacted, and really powerful, and also as a person who’s a brand new demigod and hasn’t really got much. A: We’ve got a whole flurry of questions! I think most of them are for you. Are there going to be anti-competition or anti-choke pointing mechanics. O: I’m not sure what that means, to be honest. A: Yeah. Can you expand, lightpaw on what you’re going for there? – Nepenthe, I am not going to answer what the lore of the area is mostly related to. I will say that the histories does contain all of Elders, Vernals, and mortal races. It could well be one of them, it could be none of them. O: As far as group sizes, I don’t think – I think this first area we’re doing will be designed for any group size – like we’ll try to make it adjust to the size of the group in the place I think to begin with. But in the future we may have areas that are very much group dependent. A: I’ve got a question that’s come to me separately – so I have a question about whether Endzone is going to have anything that might be inaccessible to blind players. I can – I’m going to actually talk a bit about that later, because I want to talk about our work on accessibility – I can tell you there will not be anything sort of ASCII puzzle wise in Endzone that will affect you. We’re working very hard to ensure that even if we do have something that we add that might be an issue like that, that we funnel it through our inbuilt screenreader system so you’ve got a version that will display that will make sense. We’ve done that a lot with ASCII art and things that exist in the game right now. A: \[To chat\] There might be cats. A: Oh okay so we’ve got a follow up – that’s – lightpaw’s got a follow up to that question. O: So, I mean, it’s – the whole point of Endzone is it’s intended to be a group working together to get through it. So I mean it’s not so much that people will be competing for it as, like, instead they have to work together to get through it. Is the general goal. A: We are going to, we are thinking a lot about how it’s going to reset as an area, and how that’s all going to function – and of the spawning of the different mobs that you’ll be fighting. And we do want to make sure that it’s not, you know, one group goes in there and it gets cleared out for six hours and no one else can do it. We’ll – there’s a balance between that and stopping it from being somewhere where you just sit too infinitely. That is definitely something that we’re thinking about. A: And yes the stream is being recorded and it will be uploaded a later date. Thank you for the reminder this time I was the one responsible for pressing start record, so I made sure to make sure that happened. A: So in terms of that lore question – I would say that if you have a deeper knowledge of lore you might get more out of certain things. But I wouldn’t say you – don’t expect a need to be, you know, a knowledge champion in order to make sense of it. The whole point is that – I think with any lore that it should be accessible to everyone. With any area, anything like that, you absolutely will, you know, have people who will get more out of it if they know if it’s a bit of lore that they’re really into that sort of thing. So yes and no, I think, is what I’m trying to say. But it is from, it is related to something in the core histories – it’s not from – it’s not related to any obscure thing elsewhere within the game. A: Are there any more question on that sort of thing? If there are not then what I’ll do is I’ll move onto describing and announcing what our next project is. A: Okay. So. As a sort of general overview – oh, well done. Get one more question in there, okay. Yeah so it is group focused. One of the things we’re going to do in testing is really have a look at, you know, how many people you can do the the area with, if there’s a tipping point. We’re aiming for a sort of mid sized group with this one generally. In the future we might do areas that – we’ve talked about doing Endzones for solo players, we’ve talked about doing Endzones that are like, for the big Astral bashing groups you get which I know are very fun. So, yeah, I think we’re sort of aiming for groups of 5 or so. That’s a very vague thing though, because obviously no two groups are the same. But yeah, in general, it should be tuned so that it can vary a little bit. A: So \[reading\] compare the length and difficulty of questing in Icewynd and does the questing need to be done in a group? A: You are working on the presumption that there are quests in the Endzone area! And there may well not be. Not every area has to have a quest in it necessarily. I know that’s something that Estarra previously was very strong on, it’s not something that I necessarily hold to. Okay. O: And as far as how it compares to Astral – it doesn’t compare to Astral bashing. That’s all I’ll say for that. A: Yeah. Astral is very different, in a number of ways. Okay! So. A: One of the things that we are trying to do with our major projects is sort of make it clear that, realistically with the size of our development team, we’re gonna produce something between two and three major development projects a year. Obviously that’s vague, cause no two projects are the same. Different projects have different hiccups – sometimes a global pandemic happens – but generally we’re looking at two to three major projects a year. So what we’re going to announce to you now is what the project that will follow Endzone is going to be. And we’re expecting this project to take quite a long time, and you’ll understand why in a moment. Orael, would you like to do the honours of announcing our next project? O: The next big project…drumroll please…will be a really hard, intricate look into the Economy. And working on the Economy. I know a lot of you have been concerned about commodities and how much they come into the system, and that there’s an appearance that we’re running out of commodties. And we’ve always said that yeah, we’re aware that there’s more coming out than going in at the moment. That wasn’t a question we had to answer at that point in time. But now is the time to answer that question. O: We plan on taking a really intricate look into the details of it. So it’s going to take a while. It’s going to take a couple of months for us just to detail how it exactly works and everything. A: One of the problems our economy system has at the moment, and one of the reasons it fails, is that it’s a lot of modular things added on to each other. Without a sort of global top down overarching goal for how the economy should work and idea for how the general flow of things should occur. And that’s what we really want to do this time, the reason it’s gonna take quite a long time, is that we want to make sure we work out what is the purpose of Lusternia’s economy, what are the – I don’t quite want to say rules that we want to meet – but that sort of thing. And that involves looking at almost anything that could touch the economy so it does include commodities and commodity generation, it includes government styles because lots of those have effects, it includes holding villages and things like that. Tradeskills. You can just keep going and going and going. A: We don’t have any ideas for it already because this is our next project, not our project right now. We have seen a lot of feedback from people that we will be taking into account. We are aware of the 8000 word epic and we’ll start – when we get to that project – start looking at gathering information about how things are now. I don’t know if there’s anything else you wanted to say on that, Orael? O: No, just that the big thing will be it’s going to take a lot of time I think. Because we want to make sure we do it in depth and do it right. A: Yeah I mean our expectatation is – obviously we don’t quite know when we’re going to start this. We do expect it to take several months just to work out what the problems are, and what our goals are for that structure so we will keep you updated as we go through that development process. Obviously there’s a limit to how much information we can give in advance. We do want to try and answer some questions now, but obviously that’s very speculative. So if you do have any questions go for it, but we can’t tell you specifics right now beyond a general how we want to approach it. A: I will tell you definitely don’t want to make things super scarce – the whole point is to ensure that you can do the things that you want to do. But there has to be some sort of flow in there. You know, we equally don’t want to make commodities too available, because that sort of just goes back to the opposite problem. O: Yeah. And if you guys have suggestions for books on virtual economies I’ll take all of them. I’ve been watching videos and stuff, so if you have suggestions feel free to message or email or whatever A: So there’s a question – do we plan on looking at making metal comms easier to generate so that we don’t have to kill loyals to get ores. Definitely commodity generation is one of the things will be looking at. I am aware there’s a there’s an imbalance in the generation of basically every commodity, and one of the imbalances is that you have to attack loyal mobs in order to get certain comms whereas you don’t with others. There’s more – is it more sheep than cows? Cows than sheep? – that sort of thing. All of that is stuff we want to look at. A: \[To chat\] No, peep chili will not be a new currency. A: In terms of a direction we’re leaning – I don’t know that we have a direction that we’re leaving right now in terms of a top-down view other than the – you know it should be effectively a loop. That has some vague sort of balance. That’s a terrible way of putting it – maybe you can put it better. O: I think the big thing to know is that we really haven’t – we’re announcing this as what we’re going to do but we haven’t started it at all. Our first step is to kind of look and see how it works currently and then go for solutions from that point. So I dunno, active or passive, or top down, you know – that sort of stuff, I have no idea which way will go at this point. I think it’s going to depend on what we discover as we dive in. A: Yeah and that – obviously that’s definitely one of the dualities will have to consider, of whether we want to push towards just active production or a balance of passive and active and that sort of thing. A: Will there be new uses for anomalies included – O: Potentially. A: – yeah, that’s something we could consider. O: Another thing on anomalies, as a side note we can always do – we left room with timequake to expand those to use anomalies for other stuff too. Maybe different research branch or expanding what we have currently or what not. So there’s not – we don’t necessarily need to go in an economy direction with that, we have other options there. A: And that’s the thing, that’s – it’s a smaller thing that’s much easier to add onto that structure that’s already there. O: Yeah. A: Okay so just a few last moments to ask any other questions about the economy. I’m sorry we can’t obviously give you more exact answers about that this time. The really important thing we want you to know is that we are going to be looking at that. A: I’ve had another question that’s come to me separately – I will get to that later cause you’ll see I’m actually about to talk about that in a bit. \[Reading\] How do we decide on what projects to take on as our major focus? So it’s a mixture of things we know we want to do and things – feedback from the community of problems and concerns that all of you have. We generally – we have what we call a star map which is a list of things we want to tackle at some point. And we’ll sort of add to that and often what will happen is Orael and I will sit down and look at the star map and say – you know, what of these do we think is the next thing we should do, what works best with where we are in the year, cause obviously at different points in the year different things are happening. Yeah, it’s really a mixture. O: I mean from my standpoint it’s a matter of what’s going to have the – you know, what we spend our time on should have a significant impact on the player base. If we’re doing a project we want it to associate as many people as possible. A: Yeah. O: So that’s kind of one of the things I look at too. A: Okay, so unless there’s any more – I think Llani that’s more of a question about Timequakes rather than Economy specifically. O: We’ll be finishing the Defence overhaul eventually. A: Okay so what we going to do is move on – there may be a short time depending to ask some more questions at the end so we’ll see how we go. What we’re going to do now is we’ve both got a couple of – I’ve called them minor projects but they’re really not very small. So I’m not sure why I called them that. And we’ve both got a couple of each that we’re both going to talk about. A: So actually since I’ve just had that come through as a question – one of the things I want to give you an update on is Ascension. Now we spoke earlier in the year, when Ascension happened, about the fact that we do want to revisit and look at the format of Ascension. And I say that very generally because I mean it in a very all-encompassing way. I mean everything from the exact rules and setup of each contest, to the contest as a whole, to Ascension’s link to our overall, overarching plot. Every aspect of Ascension and how it is run and what it means for Lusternia as a whole. A: Now I don’t have a lot to say about that right now again this is very early on. It’s more that we wanted to update and let you know that we’re now at the point where we have started discussions about Ascension, and we are starting to look at what we think the problems are and how we’re then going to tackle them. You might be thinking – my goodness, Aonia, it’s incredibly early to be doing that, but because of the link between Ascension and the year plot, and in terms of the fact that there’s quite a lot to discuss here, and it’s a really important thing for Lusternia as a whole – that’s why we’ve started that this early. A: \[To chat\] It could be a rap battle, who knows. A: But yeah I – the only thing I can say is that it really helped us having it in the summer as well, so the one thing you should not expect is for us to suddenly go…Ascension is in January! Because that’s not going to happen. So you can assume it will it will be later on, in whatever format it appears in. A: So that’s one of mine – Orael do you want to talk about one of yours? O: Yeah. Yeah the other thing that’s been working on – as you guys know we just recently pushed a big batch of serverside curing updates, aiming to help with lag reduction and help improve it in general. There’s a mortal coder who’s been doing a bunch of work on that stuff, that’s all he’s doing. And he’s continuing the work on that stuff, he actually just gave me an update a little bit ago. You know, he’s going to keep working on things like improving ice curing to allow applying wounds while waiting on a limb, improve affliction tracking and the hidden status for ice stuff, and look at toggling things like climb out of pits, and kind of making the unknown afflictions curing better than it is right now. O: You know there’s that topic on the forums if you guys want to make comments on the forums – I mean that’s being perused. But yeah, so we’re still, you know, pushing our work into that to help make it better. The first batch of changes I think went over pretty well minus the not being able to sit down ever again bug. A: That’s a small thing. O: But overall it’s a very very good change. So – he’s doing good work, he’ll keep working at it, and yeah – that’s where we’re at with that. A: One of the things to mention with that we think it’s hopefully made some improvements to lag. O: Yeah, it should have. I haven’t had a look at it specifically but it should definitely do it. \[Some unclear phrases here where they talk over each other – nothing vital\] A: Okay so my second thing is an update about our inclusivity project. Now this I’m – it’s going to be a bit vague and I do apologise for that. We are now onto several points that are being worked on a lot behind the scenes and will be released slowly. These are wider reaching concerns that affect more than one thing. And I’m very sorry that I can’t really be more specific than that. We will be very explicit about what we changed and why once things are released but I don’t want to spoil any sort of plot related things that are occurring, because many of these changes are things – we’re trying to make sure there’s, you know, we, let’s use this opportunity and have some really cool plot for how things are changing. A: And I’m incredibly excited about what a lot of the volunteers working on this are doing and I want to be clear that a lot of the changes that you’re seeing, any improvements that you’re seeing are coming from our volunteers who are working really hard on this project that – whilst I’m leading it I kind of produced…not out of nowhere obviously because it comes from very good and very important reasons but it wasn’t in its size on our docket, and our volunteers have been amazing at helping with it. A: This does include – this is the one thing I can be more specific on – on the ongoing implementation of non-binary gender there remain some issues with that in terms of…well there’s a lot of them and it’s, a lot of it’s just making sure that we’ve got systems in place in things like emotes and honours lines – I think honours lines is all done now and emotes we have a fix, so it’s just going through all of the emotes as they get reported and getting them sorted. A: We do want to open non-binary gender up to mobiles, but we want to make sure it’s sorted on the player side and Divine side first, before we then go and add you know a whole other dimension to it. Now one of the things we’ve added on to the inclusivity project and you will have seen from this stream is that we are also working on greater accessibility. Now obviously this is relevant in game in terms of our systems for people using screen readers, which I talked a bit about earlier – but one of the places where we are really trying to make improvements is on our platforms that are beyond Lusternia so here, our social media our website, things like that. A: You will find things like – obviously we’ve got closed captions here today, we’re starting to put alt text on all of our images on Facebook and Twitter, and things like that – this is something with very much learning about as we go along. So if you ever do have something that you as a user find would be – you know that you’re having a problem with, or would be better in a different way, do get in touch with us and let us know. Because often we don’t know. We have – it’s even down to things like the colours we use for things, to make sure that they are accessible to people with different levels of colour blindness. It really takes having someone who knows that sort of experience to help us see where there’s a problem so that we can then fix it. A: So yeah, that’s…that’s where we are we are on that. I mean to be honest before I started this I didn’t even know there were different kinds of colour blindness – I was only vaguely aware of it, but we actually we have tested several things admist our team in the Havens to make sure that it cannot be readed properly – readed? Gosh, what’s happened to my English today – that it can all be read clearly. A: In terms of ASCII art puzzles. I also don’t actually like ASCII very much. So this actually got fixed – I say fixed, improved a while ago. Previously all of our ASCII art was quite literally printed thing, I think is the best way to describe it. Now all of our things like fireworks and things like that go through a function that we have – where you get the ASCII version, and then there is also always a text-only version. I realise text only is a weird description because ASCII is in itself text, but you have the ASCII version that looks like a butterfly, and then you will have the sentence ‘A firework that resembles a butterfly appears.’ That sort of thing. A: In terms of – so that’s something we’ve already done – I’m not gonna say we’ve got every instance of ASCII art in existence. If you do find any that don’t have that set up please report it to us and we’ll make sure it gets moved onto a better system. And this doesn’t apply to all puzzles and things like that – some of our puzzles have a screenreader friendly system. Our – we’ve got a screenreader friendly…Mastermind! That’s the name of the puzzle that I hate, and I know we’ve worked to do that with other puzzles as they’ve been added. A: In terms of going stuff back through all our existing puzzles we don’t currently have – I’d love to do it – we don’t currently have the resources to. Especially cause puzzle prog is – I mean people running away screaming from it so… A: \[Responding to chat\] In terms of changes to existing plot or lore – there will be changes to existing plot and lore. Inevitably. But we’re endeavouring to make sure that those changes make sense, that they’re done sensitively to whatever the issue is, that they are done in a way the improves Lusternia in all senses. So we don’t want – a lot of the changes we made thus far have been things that we can just simply change, for example changing the original name of Epicure’s Alley was something we could do that was just a name change, it was very much just cosmetic and wasn’t a problem. A: A lot of things we’re onto now all the things are more complicated and are the things that are more entrenched or more complicated in their relations, and we’re trying to make sure that when we’re changing them we’re also making those stories better in every way. As well as ensuring that they make sure that Lusternia is a place where everyone is comfortable. I’m sorry that is very vague. As I say, I don’t want to spoil things but that’s very much our aim, and the aim of everyone working on it. A: So yes, that’s me in terms of inclusivity – would you like to talk about bugs? O: Yeah. So the last thing we want to talk about is just that – moving forward, Aonia and the team have done a great job on game bugs, with having bug parties and all that stuff, but one of my goals – once we finish Endzone up – is to help really start cracking down on the code bugs again. So that’s one of our goals is just to reduce those and get those down. Yeah, and just kinda take care of it that way – so nothing big and exciting to announce there, just that’s, that’s one of our goals. O: I think that’s it about bugs. A: Yeah. Yeah. So we were aiming for about an hour, we’ve got 20 minutes left, if any of you have questions that you’d like to ask – this can at this point be about anything – I can’t promise will answer everything but we will do our best if we’re able to. A: \[Reading\] How far ahead in time do we actually plan for projects? – It’s a mixture of both…so I mentioned earlier we’ve got our star map, which is the things we’d like to do in the future, and then obviously we’re announcing the project after the one we’re doing so it’s kind of both, but it’s not like we can tell you we’re doing Economy and then this next thing and then this next thing. Stuff comes up and changes – we do have an idea of the directions we want to go in general. O: \[To chat\] The bug status updates – I can look at that and see if – I thought it did already, but yeah so there should be the configuration alwaysmessage on. And it should message you whether you’re online or not online. So if you have that on it should do it, but I’ll double check that it does. That should be easy to do if it doesn’t. I don’t know if it works on bugs, I think it does. But if it doesn’t, I’ll make it work on bugs. O: As far as envoy reports, moving forward, our goal is to do it every four to six months, we just wrapped up some. In – did I finish in July, or August? A: Time…time is strange. O: Yeah. I just wrapped up the last set in July or August so we’ll probably look for another round probably, maybe December/January or so. Depending on how Endzones go and stuff, so. And if something like climax comes up again where it’s a big, game-changing, easy-to-use thing that’s murdering people left to right, we can look at changing it outside Envoy Reports for sure. A: Yeah I mean, it’s not that changes to PvP balance or anything can only be made through Envoy Reports. We do change things as and when it’s needed, it’s more that Envoy Reports are a time where we – and by we I mean Orael, really – carve out time to focus on those specifically so. A: \[Reading\] So if someone thinks that there’s a skill that needs changes is there a correct way to submit that as a report? O: I mean you can always submit, like, multiple reports when the new round opens up. If you think there’s a big, big problem, you’re always welcome to email me the suggested changes and stuff \[At orael@lusternia.com\]. I definitely don’t wanna – any changes that we’re going to make are probably going to be run by the playerbase first. I know that some people don’t like opening up the forums and what not, but I think it’s best just to be transparant on what changes we’re looking at and what changes we’re suggesting to the players in general. So just. That’s kinda, gonna be… O: \[Reading\] What do you think about changing stats to be less uniform? O: I’m kind of 50/50 torn on that. I think one – I think changing stats to be less uniform, where warriors are the big tanks and birds do tons of damage but die to two hits – I think that makes things more interesting and more fun. But part of the overhaul goal was the make things more uniform. It’s kinda like – bouncing back and forth. I don’t know if you guys are aware, but I’m definitely a fan of a system where people have to make choices in what they do. Make choices in like, you know, I’m going to be defensive against fire, but it’s going to open me up to cold damage or whatever. The kind of thing where – you know I’d rather a system where we choose what you think, but are weaker in other areas, rather than people just being awesome at everything. Cause I think that’s a more boring system to play in. So I’m definitely – there’s definitely good points about things being less uniform, overall. So yes, I’m open to ideas that change that. O: \[To Chat\] Archery knights will probably not happen in a long time. \[Pause\] Ah. I just missed the sarcasm tag there. A: \[Laughs\] O: But yeah. I think less uniform stuff could be a lot of fun. A: And we were talking earlier about the fact that that extends sort of all over the place in the sense that some – you know some classes are better one on one than others, and some are better in groups and in different sized groups, and that’s the thing – that’s always going to be something that makes combat interesting. A: \[To Chat\] In terms of using PVP skills abilities on denizens in Endzone – no you will not be able to use abilities you couldn’t- O: Well. In this first system? Definitely not. There will be a little bit of stuff you can do in this first round but, you know, part of the fun of the system may be to allow that kind of stuff to happen in the future. So we’ll see. A: Yeah. But not as a blanket thing. O: \[To Chat\] I mean, you know, with the tradeoff system, if you don’t want to use one thing to lower something else I think that’s part of the goal right, like you can either be average all around or you can be really good at one thing but then you’re suffering on another end. I think that’s what makes it more interesting, right, do you want to be okay at everything or do you want to be like really good at one thing and bad at another thing. I don’t think that’s a problem. So. It forces choices, and choices are fun. O: \[Reading\] Bring back Darvellan \[Incoherent talking over one another\] A: So there was one question which is when do we get to kill off Zvoltz. But uh, um. So real question: have you thought about new skills for some classes, and new secondaries. I think we’d always love to, but adding a new skill is a lot of work which Orael can probably speak to you better than I can. O: Yeah. It is a ton of work. It’s a ton of work to add anything new, or even just to change out the existing stuff. The, it – yeah, just it’s difficult to do. And I’m not opposed to it, but when you add stuff you add new balance problems, new other issues or whatever. Yeah. So there’s no plans for that stuff as of now, but in general it’s a lot of fun. A: And that does include trade skills as well. Whilst tradeskills obviously may not necessarily have the PvP balance issue, they involve a lot of work on different sides, the Charites side, but we – this is not me promising there will be new tradeskills when we look at the economy, but looking at the economy will involve us looking at tradeskills. We will be in that region. A: In terms of, we discussed Endzone and the accessibility of puzzles, \[reading\] are there puzzles in Endzone. That really depends what you mean by puzzle – and I don’t think we’re going to go further than that. I know that there is a pervasive player theory that there are puzzles in the sense that you’d think of in a quest – and there seems to be an obessesion with this theory. We will find out whether it’s correct or not. O: \[Laughs\] A: \[To Chat\] Aucagolei does still exist, it’s just that they’re in a place that only appears at certain times. So. \[Laughs\] O: \[To Chat\] Don’t thank us for the Mage trophies, thank the player report that did it. A: Yeah. O: I forget who wrote it, but. A: \[Reading\] In the Economy can we consider looking at high vs low magic parity, herbs and – yeah, that’s sort of the thing I mean about looking at the accessibility of trade skills. Both in terms of what magic it requires, what classes can and can’t get access to things, that all affects the economy system because – you know the number of people that can take say, brewmeister, affects how available brewmeister products are. I’ve possibly picked the worst example \[laughs\] yes, that is the sort of thing we will be looking at at that point. A: In terms of Aetra – ugh – Aethergoop crafting for existing tradeskills – it’s sort of inevitable we’re going to end up looking at the Aethergoop crafting system, but we don’t have specific plans right now. A: \[To Chat\] Aucagolei may still be there, you’ll have to wait and find out if the Chateau opens to go in the future. A: So this is – this is one for you, then, Orael. \[Reading\] Is there any plan to look at the PvP balance of high and low magic. O: Yeah. I mean there’s no direct plan to be like – yes let’s look at that stuff. No, there’s no plan to look at it. I’m not sure – is there really that big a discrepancy between the two? I mean I know that Greater Pentagram got nerfed and doesn’t last long, but – well, you can reduce Serpent now with…I forget what the skill is, the breaking the shield skill or whatever. A: That’s a very specific name. O: Yeah. Yeah, kether/violet. Yeah you can reduce Serpent times with nullify/void – yeah there’s things that counter serpent, and you’ve got to remember too that serpent costs 10 power, so it’s not, it’s not a cheap thing to use. There’s ways to counter it. A: \[To Chat\] And yes, Anniversary, or as it’s called in-character now the Festival of the Creatrix, is coming up – that is in October and we will be announcing all of the plans for that next week. O: \[To Chat\] I think you’ll find that Endzones will be an alternative to Astral bashing. So I’m not – I mean that was kind of what the goal was, is a big high level endzone, endgame place for people to bash. So. A: \[To Chat\] And yes, the Wayfaire will be open, as it always is, during the Festival of the Creatrix. A: We have another 10 minutes we can stay if anyone else has any other questions. \[To Chat\] The Festival name changed last year – it was all announced in-character. It’s always been an awkward thing that we have all of these Anniversary events but obviously the concept of an Anniversary has absolutely no relevance in character. So the Festival of the Creatrix is now – is what it’s referred to in-character. You will still find us saying Anniversary out of character. A: \[Reading\] Joined late and I might have missed the question, do we have any idea when Endzone might be released? A: We have answered that earlier but I’ll quickly repeat it – we’re hoping this year, we have a timeline we’re working to but we’re not releasing that timeline because we don’t want to promise something and then not be able to keep it. So we’re hoping – yeah. When it is ready, is the real answer. But somewhere, somewhere in the next few months. A: In terms of content for those not yet in endgame – there’s always content for those not yet in endgame. One of the – I mean we’ve been talking about some of the big, wide-reaching development projects but all of the patron groups right now are working on different things for the communes and cities. Be they things that have been put through via patron request, or things that they coming up with on they’re own. We have a system now on the back end that we started at the beginning of this year and has gone really well, to empower patron teams to create things for their organisations – and that’s gotten everyone some some really cool things. So yes in the sense that…well, the Economy, for a start. A: Okay, so there’s a couple of questions maybe more for you, Orael, about whether someone oversees psychodrama and how to suggest changes to that. O: Yeah. I mean at this point it’d be a reporting thing, right, you’d have to suggest during reports. There’s nobody who oversees it in particular at this point in time. \[Reading\] More ikons for orders. \[To Chat\] I mean talk to your patron about that. There’s no one who overlooks it so the only real way to get a change in there would be to you know, have a report at this point. Cause we’ve just got priorities elsewhere. And the same with an organised wargames league – I think it’d be a great idea, to be honest, I think it could be fun. But I’m worried that – I mean we’ve already got the ranked arena combat league, and all that kind of other stuff. You know, it’d just be another system that we’d have to plan out and make sure it’s not gamed as much as it can be. So, yeah. It’s not something I’m opposed to, just not something that’s on our plate right now. A: In terms of order specific psychodrama cards, custom ikons are something that Gods could technically ask for. It may be that some people don’t realise they could do that, so I can remind them – it may be and I think it’s much more likely to be – that creating icons is fiddly and awkward. And it’s much easier to create other fun things for you than it is to create psychodrama cards. So it is really probably that rather than them not caring to. A: We’ve got just a few minutes left if anyone has any last minute questions we can go over those, otherwise – you will have noticed possibly by now that we have been streaming sort of every other month which is a thing we’re vaguely trying to keep to. We’re trying to do them semi-regularly for you because we think it’s been really useful for us and it’s been really nice for you as well. A: \[Reading\] Is there anything you can do to make things better for us? Any bug category we want broken, or anything we think may cause lag. \[Pause\] The existence of players causes lag. O: \[Laughs\] A: Leaning on your enter key when you’re particularly hitting a lot of command failure that causes lag as well. \[Laughs\] I mean – lag things, we are steadily working through those. The SSC stuff is the stuff currently that’s being worked on, and there’s some other stuff we’ve done behind the scenes that’s boring. A: In terms of make yourself better for us generally – I’m thinking of doing a blog post about this in the future actually is sort of ways you can help Lusternia. The single biggest way you could help Lusternia is – tell your friends about Lusternia! Get them to come and try it out and see what they think of it. That’s the best thing you can do to help us as a whole. A: \[Reading\] Should you do anything else when bugs timeout and you have to resubmit the bug. \[To Chat\] No – as long as you resubmitted it, it’s not a problem. Obviously one of the aims – one of the reasons to get the bug numbers down is that things will be much less likely to time out because they, you know, we’ll have a lower numbers so we’ll be able to get to them. A: \[Reading\] Where are we as far as helping with combat spam, Orael? O: We’re doing pretty good so far. We’ve – you know the first big one was the GMCP changes that Ianir did, or Ianir, however you say it. That was a huge cause of lag and that’s reduced stuff a lot. And that’s reduced calls of the SSC things by 90%, I think, when I looked at it. And you know a lot of the things that too, that when we’re adding them in, I’m adding them in with the expectation of reducing lag now. So recently we just did the rooting and celerity changes. And when we did that it, you know, it’s probably a minor cause of lag, but it made things significantly faster on the end – so we’re not calling things as much. So it’s definitely something that’s just going to be a continual project we work on. So. Something we just keep in mind as we go. A: And so – where’s the question I was looking at – oh, things in terms of marketing Lusternia better. Follow us on our social media accounts! Actually follow us! I know obviously a lot of people are in the Unofficial Discord that has a bot that sends all of our Tweets straight away – and I can tell you the Gremlins love that when they make a typo, and it goes there and they can’t get rid of it. Actually follow us on Facebook, actually follow us on Twitter, following us here \[on Twitch\] also helps you more than it helps us to be fair. Sharing things, liking things – it really makes a big difference in all of the insidious algorithms that work in the back there to get those things seen by other people. That’s – that’s a really helpful thing that you can do, as well as just talking about it, and engaging with us on that social media. And don’t underestimate the power of the Twitter Gremlins. A: In terms of TMS rankings, we do get people who come through to TMS, I won’t say it’s a vast number, but it does help in some way. And it’s nice to beat Aetolia. O: And yeah, as far as combining messages from stuff – that’s definitely something I’m going to look at at some point. That was one of the suggestions when I was talking to other games is combining messages and third-party messages from people. But the key there is that we’re not taken away important messages that people need to see in order to coordinate. So it’s gonna take some – A: I think melds got compressed in the overhaul a bit already, didn’t they? O: Yes and no. I think it depends who you talk to. A: \[Laughs\] O: I tried to compress them. A: Okay, and that takes us to 8 o’clock – so thank you all very much for coming. It’s been lovely to talk to all of you, and to announce our awesome next project. We will be likely – if we want to seek specific feedback regarding the economy, when we get to it we will do that at the time. But by all means start talking about things on the forums. Forums is much better for giving feedback than Discord, because Discord scrolls a lot. If you put things on the forums we’re much much more likely to see it, So if you want to give any economy related feedback that’s the place to throw it! Otherwise thank you very much for coming, and we will see all of you again whenever our next stream may be. And we hope to give you some exciting news about Endzone in not too much longer – we’ll see how it goes. O: Yep! Thanks everybody. A: Thanks. Bye guys! **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [Secrets of the Admin](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/14/secrets-of-the-admin/) **Published:** September 14, 2020 **Author:** Viravain **Excerpt:** Our God Blog series is back with an investigation by our delightful Viravain - who has spun Her webs into the secrets of many of our wonderful Divine. **Content:** One fateful day, I was sitting in the Havens with Aonia, whom we’ve lovingly nicknamed Vowels (just in case I code switch later on), and I was researching spider facts. Yep: I’m not actually an expert on these eight-legged plot devices, so if I’m doing something that involves Viravain’s creepy army of arachnids, I hit the (proverbial) books. In fact, as I’m currently working on \[redacted\] for the Order, I’ve been face-deep in article after article of spinnerets and real-life webbing designs, all in an effort to ensure that Viravain’s followers have a somewhat believable story to follow; I wanted to make sure I could write each description well, right down to the names of each kind of web. And the entire time I was doing this, I was commenting to Vowels such one-liners as: Who knew there were so many horrifying, nightmare-fueling, jaw-droppingly terrifying arachnids in existence? and Who needs to spend money on a movie ticket to see a thriller when all you have to do is Google “deadly spiders” to fill your brain with enough content to disrupt your sleep for the next month? We both laughed, and I kept going. It was a good-natured bit that helped ease the tension that was building in that little spot between your shoulder blades that turns to iron when you’re actually about to explode into an anxiety attack. Did you catch on yet that the Mother of Spiders is actually deathly afraid of insects? Well, she isn’t. But I sure am. Part of the fun from there was Vowels and I wondering aloud about what other secrets there might be lurking in the Havens, and then I thought: why not expose us all in a very public way as the frauds that we are, for the raw entertainment value? After all, Elder Divine are enigmatic beings with a whole host of quirky personality traits, but the humans who drive these screen deities are also just as peculiar. I figured that being strange must come with the territory when you’re an internet divine, so I cast a lure to attract all of Viravain’s divine friends so that they, too, might be tricked into sharing their own intriguing behind-the-scenes factoids. In no certain order, including a beefier version of my own, here are the fruits of my labour: **Viravain**: I’m horribly, mind-numbingly, teeth-clenched-together-in-fear terrified of spiders in real life. If I see them in my home, I would rather pack up my life and vacate altogether than deal with it, and I’ve had to, in the past, call friends over to help me get rid of them. This proves quite awkward when I’m working with their imagery in-game, as I’m sure you can understand, and I’ve done quite a bit of research on them (for as long as my anxiety can hold out) in order to help spur along my various plots. So, the key takeaway here: every time something really cool with spiders happens in Vira’s world, just remember that Her player is likely going to have nightmares about it for a few days. **Aonia/Czixi**: Several years ago I transitioned to veganism from vegetarianism. This deprived me of easy access to one of my absolute most favourite things on the planet: macarons. Fast forward a year or two, and someone asks one of my priests what her favourite food is. On instinct, I say macarons. Now the entire order are obsessed with feeding her macarons, and every single time they do so I find myself deeply sad at how hard it is to get vegan macarons and how long it is since I’ve had any. Sob. **Lantra:** Since I imagine Lantra as a health conscious and highly opinionated person, I thought it would be a funny quirk for her to dislike most sweets. Particularly chocolate, with this being a solid point of contention between her and Crumkane. This is a very small detail buried in one sentence of a sprawling god profile, but it keeps unexpectedly coming up again and again with players, which makes me laugh. While Lantra prefers something subtle and vanilla if she absolutely must have dessert, I personally love and adore dark chocolate and may even be eating it as I RP my disdain. **Carakhan:** One of my friends in secondary school, exasperated by my pop culture illiteracy, dubbed me the “little mermaid”. The epithet stuck for a number of years, and said friend did make me watch the Disney film. (My pretentious secondary school self was not a fan, due to how drastically it changed the source material). **Mysrai:** Despite my delightfully gay and rebellious nature, I always fit the niche role of ‘person who knows too much about things no one cares about’ in school. This has come in VERY handy as pop culture has become more nerdy, and it is doubly handy as Mysrai. I get to play so much with the subjects I was obsessively reading about throughout school (and well after). However, I was never really that deep into philosophy until I ended up playing Lusternia. Specifically, when I made my very first dracnari who wound up in Mysrai’s order, and got to talk with Sebitti for all of three emotes. Suddenly, I was less obsessed with learning EVERYTHING and thinking more about WHY I wanted to learn everything. WHY was I so curious and WHAT did I want to do with my knowledge, and after falling down that rabbit hole I somehow ended up as Mysrai myself. The moral of the story is philosophy inevitably leads to drugs and Mysrai. Nietzsche is the gateway pondering to paradigms. **Drocilla**: I used to wear my Lusternian “I’m a Mag IRL” t-shirt while teaching at a kindergarten (oh so many years ago). Nobody knew what it meant, or cared, but I was and remain deeply amused. It’s a very Drocilla-like thing to do – say, flaunt a piece of jewellery that reveals so much about you but no one is able to tell the meaning at all. Hiding in plain sight is her specialty. She is very much a wolf in sheep’s clothing. She is restrained, always putting on an act, and almost never lets her guard down. You need to get really close to see the cracks in the facade or catch her off guard with one of her triggers. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Upcoming Livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/11/upcoming-livestream/) **Published:** September 11, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Join us this coming Saturday 12th September at 7pm GMT for a development livestream from our wonderful Producers! **Content:** Tomorrow, Saturday 12th September at 7pm GMT, Orael and Aonia will be giving a short livestream about the Havens’ current development plans for Lusternia. They will be discussing the Endzone project, announcing the next big project to follow it, and some of the other things the team are currently working on. Time permitting, there may also be the opportunity to ask questions. Follow us at twitch.tv/lusternia and watch our social media (HELP TWITTER) for updates when we go live. We hope to see many of you there! **Categories:** Livestreams, News --- ### [August 2020 Artbard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/10/august-2020-artbard-winners/) **Published:** September 10, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for August! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from August! If you want to join them for September, make sure you make your submissions by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD explains exactly how to submit. This month, enjoy submitting – and viewing! – through our [brand new system](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/05/new-artbard-system-is-live/). ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Afrit’s [The Death of Vortex](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/15/) #### Runner-Up Sapphira’s [Threnody](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/22/) Eldrac’s [Magic, The Taint, and Cosmic Significance Vol 1](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/17/) #### Merit Coraline’s [The Indecisive Wakabi](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/21/) Zitto’s [Consideration of Higher Emotions, Serenity, and Enlightenment](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/14/) Uzriel’s [The Earthen Anticipation](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/18/) Faythe’s [Wistful Memories](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/entry/20/) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [An Unexpected Visit](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/?gv_search=August&mode=any) #### Runner-Up Kyalrhin’s [Stags](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/stags.png) #### Merit Esei’s [Death Version 2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/death-v2.png) Lendren’s [Llani](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/1-b1beabf3210cff318f0352e5cc4898d6/2020/09/Llani.jpg) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Action Line Customisations!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/08/17/action-line-customisations/) **Published:** August 17, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Always wanted to make your mechanical parasol spew the rainbows that shine in your heart? Well, now you can - with action line customisation! **Content:** Have you ever looked at customising an artifact, then found yourself disappointed that you couldn’t change what it looked like on use? Are you sad of snorting and snuffling through your refined aquiline nose, or saddened that your gnomeweapon you turned into a paintbrush is still spewing ink everywhere? Well, have we got some good news for you: you can now customise action lines in artifacts! Now, before you go running off to customise everything you’ve ever owned, know that there are some limitations and a lot of specifics that you need to be aware of when applying for a customisation. We have to add support for this per artifact, and we currently have support for gnomeweapons, whips and noses. But once we’ve got support for an artifact, we can accept customisations for that artifact from everyone. So you are permitted to request customisations for action lines on other artifacts, but be aware that this will take longer, and may not be possible at all. An action line customisation costs 100 credits. This price is separate to any other customisation you buy – so if for example you wanted to customise both the description and action lines of an artifact, it would be 175cr in total. You may customise the action lines of an otherwise uncustomised artifact, if you desire. Please note that none of this applies to custom beasts/pets, or curios (including any item that is curio-generated). This is only for ‘standard’ artifacts. The full details of exactly what information you need to give for each artifact type are in HELP CUSTOMISATION, along with information on how to apply for the action line customisation, and all of the information given here. We expect to receive a high volume of queries and submissions following this announcement, so please note that our lead time on initial submissions may be a little extended. **Categories:** News --- ### [July 2020 Artbard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/08/14/july-2020-artbard-winners/) **Published:** August 14, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from July! If you want to join them for August, make sure you make your submissions by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD explains exactly how to submit. A reminder to please make sure you follow the instructions carefully, especially regarding the formatting of your descriptions. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Lief’s [A Collection of Songs for the Wildarrane](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/submissions/lief/A%20Collection%20of%20Songs%20for%20the%20Wildarrane%5bA%20Collection%20of%20Songs%20for%20the%20Wildarrane%2C202007July%2CLief%5d.txt) #### Runner-Up Coraline’s [Bug Spray: A Kepheran Tragedy](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/submissions/coraline/bugspray%5bBug%20Spray:%20A%20Kepheran%20Tragedy%2C202007July%2CCoraline%5d.txt) #### Merit Alexandria’s [The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and the Unexpected Dazzling](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/submissions/alexandria/Elaesree%20book%20two%5bThe%20Adventures%20of%20Elaesree%20Shevat%20and%20the%20Unexpected%20Dazzling%2C202007July%2CAlexandria%5d.txt) Xiran’s [An Elegy for Sivriel](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/submissions/xiran/An%20Elegy%20for%20Sivriel%5bAn%20Elegy%20for%20Sivriel%2C202007July%2CXiran%5d.txt) Zitto’s [Cryptography Series: A Primer on Hallifaxian Encryption](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/submissions/zitto/Encryption%20Primer%20-%20Bardic%5bCryptography%20Series%20-%20A%20Primer%20on%20Hallifaxian%20Encryption%2C202007July%2CZitto%5d.txt) ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s [Simpler Times](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/submissions/gurashi/humangurashi_Youngblood%20%282020_02_14%2019_25_36%20UTC%29%5bSimpler%20Times%2CA%20peaceful%20day%20with%20the%20perfect%20tune%20at%20the%20best%20spot%20in%20Toronada.%20%2C202007July%2CGurashi%5d.png) #### Runner-Up Aruin’s [An Ad Board Located In Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/submissions/aruin/Aruinartisanaljuly%5bAn%20Ad%20board%20located%20in%20Hallifax%2CA%20holographic%20ad%20displayed%20on%20crystalline%20%20screen.%2C202007July%2CAruin%5d.png) #### Merit Esei’s [Floating ](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/submissions/esei/heh%5bFloating%2CWill%20you%20join%20me%2C202007July%2CEsei%5d.png)and Kyalrhin’s [Thunderbirds](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/submissions/kyalrhin/thunderbird%5bThunderbirds%2CThe%20chibi%20birds%20are%20quite%20cute;%20aren%27t%20they%20It%20would%20probably%20be%20really%20easy%20to%20make%20custom%20chibis%20if%20anyone%20wants%20one.%2C202007July%2CKyalrhin%5d.png) **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [August Artifact Adventure](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/08/01/august-artifact-adventure/) **Published:** August 1, 2020 **Author:** Orael **Excerpt:** This August in Lusternia, take part in a huge sale in the artifact shop! **Content:** Throughout all of August, there is a sale on -all- artifacts within the Artifact Shop (ASHOP). Absolutely everything is 20% off for the entire month of August. Been saving for that Doctoral Tam? Now’s the time to classflex to your heart’s content. Eyeing that Changeling Intaglio? Make everyone guess what race you are at the moment! If you’ve been saving for it, now’s the time to purchase it! On top of that, when you purchase credits on the website, you’ll also get Aethergoop! For every 25 credits, you’ll receive 100 aethergoop. But to sweeten the pot, for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an additional 50 goop for every 10 credits you purchase. (Disclaimer: This does not apply to the No-Brainer credit packages). The keen-eyed will also spot eleven new skins within the artifact shop – giving new descriptive options for the Belt and Baldric of Klangratch, more saddlebag and wallet options for the parafilament purse, and two new Doctoral Tams! Lastly, for the entire month of August, get your hunt on and take advantage of Klangratch’s Mighty Mondays! Every Monday in August, enjoy a 25% increase in PvE damage throughout the day. This damage does not apply to city guards and the like, only beneficial when you are out hunting and exterminating everything in sight. PS: A certain cerulean pebble is now available as well! **Categories:** News --- ### [September DoubleDipping](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/09/01/september-doubledipping/) **Published:** September 1, 2020 **Author:** Orael **Excerpt:** This September in Lusternia, you can double dip on your rewards when buying credits - getting both wondercrystals and racetrack tickets! **Content:** For the month of September, we’re double-dipping in the rewards. First off, for every 100 credits you purchase from the website, you’ll receive one wondercrystal. Now’s the perfect time to finish off that pesky Wonderbrazier or Wonderbelt you’ve been working on. In addition to that, for every 10 credits you purchase, you’ll also get a racetrack ticket. If you’re feeling lucky, the credit prizes have been doubled for the month of September! As a note, we did reduce the aethergoop ratio down to 1 credit for 20 aethergoop to bring it in line with our standard credits to goop rate. Thursdays will once again be Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays and everyone will enjoy a 25% critical hit boost throughout the day! **Categories:** News --- ### [Becoming Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/08/30/becoming-chaos/) **Published:** August 30, 2020 **Author:** Mysrai **Excerpt:** In this return to our fabled God Blogs, our very own Mysrai talks us through what it was like for Them to step into the Elder Divine's very large shoes. **Content:** How many times have you heard someone say, with a wince in their voice and pity in their eyes, *“I wouldn’t want to be in that guy’s shoes”*? I imagine the vast majority of you can picture a time in your life when someone you know, or even you yourself, might have said that. I know that when I first came up to the Havens, if I had heard that after my ephemeral training I’d be stepping into the role of Mysrai as a solo patron? I’d have said it myself. Still, time can make fools of us all, and what a fool pre-ephemeral me would have been. As I read into all the lore that was written on Mysrai, flagged down gods and dragged them into eph-jail to beg a few scraps of wisdom out of them, and contemplated what Chaos was to me, I found myself really connecting with the god. After all, with more than a thousand faces to them, how could anyone not find one part that they could identify? Whether that part was the older sibling who was irritated that their younger brother (Zvoltz is totally the baby, fight me) kept interrupting their plans to the absolute heartbreak of attempting to defy fate itself to save someone you love, there seemed to be something for everyone. As time went on, I slowly came to identify with more and more of these parts. Whether or not I knew it at the time, even as I was weeping into Czixi’s waterproof pauldrons about how scattered the previous Mysrai’s notes were or swearing up and down as I kicked at the wall and shouted about how my most recent prog had failed dramatically, I was becoming Mysrai. There’s a certain level of authority and responsibility that you feel settle around you when you graduate from ephdom to godhood. When you’re taking on a role that’s integral to an organisation’s identity and is both old and famous? Easily twice as much. Imagine logging in to your character and having literal years worth of news posts, changelogs, messages, and more waiting for you with a bunch of bright and flashy colours that were painful to look at. Some of those were more easily fixed than others (Bless you, Ianir, for saving my poor eyes from old!Mysrai’s firework-style colour scheme), but it is all incredibly overwhelming. The very first thing I did was clear out the public section of news. After all, between my player character and my ephemeral, I’d kept up on public, announce, and so on and I had nothing new there. All those numbers did was solidify exactly how long it had been since there had been a Mysrai at the wheel. Then, looking at the Gaudiguch and Mysrai boards, I went through every. Single. Post. It was definitely enough to overwhelm anyone, and I spent at least three days doing nothing but sitting in the Havens, slowly making my way through the posts, and talking with the other gods. Can you believe their audacity? They were walking around like I was already one of them, and not an ephemeral who had freshly graduated! The nerve! The sheer, unmitigated GALL! Ein, who was so incredibly busy with real life that he had very little time, gave me what little he had to spare. He forwarded me emails about various patron requests, walked through them with me and talked about what progress, if any, had been made towards them, and then was gracious enough to sit down and let me bluster at him about how nerve-wrecking the whole situation was. He knew better than anyone, after all, having been the solo god of Gaudiguch for as long as he had, and he told me these wise words, *“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you do. The players will love you just because you’re there.”* If I could go back in time, I’d kiss him for telling me that, as during some of my roughest patches it has kept me going. When my progs were throwing up errors and I was submitting dozens of changes in twos of minutes, I wanted to throw my hands up and cry. When I had no idea how I wanted to handle my Aspects, I wanted to cry and give up. Instead, I found myself repeating his words and telling myself it would be okay if my return wasn’t the absolute best event that Lusternia had ever seen. Because Gaudiguch would have a god, and they would have someone around. They would love me for that. So instead of crying, I put through another dozen prog errors and sat down and read through every single Aspect and decided absolutely none of them would do. No, if I was to be Mysrai, then I had to put my foot down and make a move. I had to find somewhere on this infinitely spanning wall to make my tag amongst all the other graffiti that already stained it. And I did. Maybe you weren’t there for the two-month long lead up that led to my release, where I slowly re-introduced players to the concept of roleplaying without concrete mobs. Did that colourful god-mote say there was a tae’dae sitting here, or a human in a cage? There is, even if you can’t see it! It was a bit of a slow start, but soon people became more used to this, and became enthused to come to the bottom of this mystery. After hours of roleplay, I would go back up to the Havens, exhausted, and be met with the ecstatic squealing and high-fives of all the gods who had been in my shoes, and asked about my plans and how people had done. Even if I couldn’t do all the admin work perfectly, at least I could get people enthused about roleplay – like a real Mysrai would do. I slowly began to tackle the double-digit number of patron requests that had been gathering dust for (in some cases) more than a year. I was determined to do it on my own, to get used to the idea of being self-sufficient. Some things were far easier than others, and I found myself quickly falling into the groove of it. With each little change I made, even as simple as fixing a typo in a guild rank, I felt just a little more sure of myself. Slowly I began to tackle bigger problems, and then work on bugs that were related to Gaudiguch. I can’t say I fixed them all, or quickly, but slowly things were getting done and players were noticing! After I got my first rave on the forums as a nameless admin, my heart soared and almost every admin who logged in that day gave me the link to make sure I saw it. Even if people didn’t love my roleplay and felt that I could never be the Mysrai they wanted, at least I could fix the mechanical issues – like a real Mysrai would do. When my event was beginning to come to a head, all of the ephemeral trainers came together and helped me learn about the new type of progging I would have to do for it, something so far away from normal progging that I was certain I’d fail. Yet, despite that, they kept me going through it, echoing Ein without even realising it: *“Well, don’t fret. I’m sure we can make this work, and even if they miss this one little part, they’ll still love the rest because of how awesome it’s going to be to have a god!”* My ideas were complex, and they were far-reaching, but by asking for help when I needed it and collaborating with the rest of the team in the Havens, I was able to make my dream a reality. An enormous pink globe hid Gaudiguch from view as people in the city witnessed an enormous black sandstorm engulf the Palace of Pleasure. I was able to introduce a priest, show off a new Aspect, and finally return Mysrai to the Basin of Life. And even if I could never go back to being the eph I was after that, at least I could keep moving forward – like a real Mysrai would do. As I write this, I’m fortunate enough to have a second admin at my side in Gaudiguch. Crumkane and I are one hell of a team, and his prog expertise is able to keep up with even my wildest ideas, and we’re able to dream up all sorts of beautiful things to fill our city with. Our work is far from over, but together we’ve managed to take what was dozens of patron requests down to only three or so while fixing bouncing bugs back and forth between us. The administrative side of things has become almost second nature, and while I’m still discovering new things (I shrieked a litle when I read my first email about a potential historic house), it’s nowhere near as frightening as it used to be. I’m certain I’ll never be the same Mysrai who existed several years ago, that beautiful firecracker of creativity and hallucinogens that carved an unforgettable path through Lusternia, but at the end of the day there is no one else who could be the same Mysrai that I am. Chaos isn’t just your lolrandom plot twists, after all, it’s the act of change through destruction and creation as you shape what was into what is. The in-game teachings I offer to my order mirror so much of a personal philosophy I never knew that I prescribed to until I began to consider it for myself when I would ask, *“What would Mysrai do?”* It’s hard to mark exactly where it happened, or what caused the flip to switch, but I managed to become Mysrai. I became Chaos. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [25th July Bugfixing Livestream Video](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/08/10/25th-july-bugfixing-livestream-video/) **Published:** August 10, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** For the second time, our wonderful producers and coders took to Twitch to fix some bugs! And there were some doozies... **Content:** It is the nature of 2020 to make a scant couple of weeks feel like an entire year, but lo – we have not forgotten about the bugfixing livestream video! As you will discover in the video itself, alas, Orael made a fail and did not in fact press record straight away. Enjoy the video opening with the moment that he revealed this sheepishly to Aonia. https://www.facebook.com/Lusternia/videos/294499015152124/ If you want to check out our future livestreams, make sure you [follow us at Twitch](http://www.twitch.tv/lusternia)! **Categories:** Livestreams, News --- ### [Ephemeral Applications Open](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/08/08/ephemeral-applications-open/) **Published:** August 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Applications to become an ephemeral in Lusternia are now open until the 5th September! **Content:** Do you have an interest in helping run Lusternia behind the scenes as a volunteer administrator? We are now opening applications for Ephemerals – administrators-in-training for Elder Divine positions. If you’re not sure what being an Ephemeral entails, you can read HELP PROMOTIONS for an overview. To apply for Ephemeralhood you must: - Be 18 or over (that is yourself, not your character). - Have played Lusternia for a minimum of 400 hours, total across all characters. - Not be a volunteer administrator on any other IRE game. - Be willing to give up your character and cut all connections with mortal player friends. - As part of this, you will be required to quit all Lusternia-related Discord channels. - Be willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - Be mature and able to separate IC from OOC. - Be able to work as part of a team. - Be able to commit regular hours to working on Lusternia. There is no set minimum in hours, and when you choose to do your hours is up to you. But a good general estimate would be around 7h/week or 1h/day. - Have sufficient creative writing skills to contribute to Lusternia’s high-quality content. - Be willing and able to work with Lusternia’s quest coding system, known as prog. - You will be fully trained on the job – the important thing is that you are willing and able to learn. To apply, please send an email to applications@lusternia.com with: - Name - Age - Occupation & where you work, or if a student, what you are studying and where. - Your character(s) in Lusternia and what they have achieved. - This might include leadership positions you have held and what you accomplished in them. - You are encouraged to note any mortal volunteer positions you have held, such as guide or mortal reviewer. - Why you think you would make a good Ephemeral (and Elder Divine). - What type of Elder Divine you think would best suit you. - You do not need to name specific roles but are able to do so. Naming a role at this point does not guarantee you will ultimately take up that role, it just gives us a guideline for the sort of role you think you’re interested in. - A writing sample of five room descriptions, including both short and long description lines, so that we can gauge your writing skills. - You can read HELP MORTAL BUILDERS for some tips on writing. - These rooms can be examples of additions to existing areas, or whole new areas, or nonspecific. - We recommend taking a look at existing rooms in Lusternia for further guidance. - Anything else that you think we may want to consider in reviewing your application. - This might include proven coding ability, experience in other MUDs, etc. All personal information that you disclose (name, age and occupation) will be kept private by Lusternia’s producers. It is vital that you give this information accurately – please do not use pseudonyms or similar. The deadline for applications is the 5th September 2020 inclusive (across all timezones). After this date we will contact selected candidates for interview, and then will take our chosen Ephemerals into the Havens. Please be aware that we will only respond to applications we wish to take further through the process, and that we expect to have far more applications than openings. If you have any questions, please contact us at applications@lusternia.com with your query. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Convergence of Timelines](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/18/a-convergence-of-timelines/) **Published:** July 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A temporal backlash following the Final Trial of Ascension leads to a convergence of timelines - and a strangely familiar True Ascendant. **Content:** It had not gone unremarked that the Final Trial of Ascension had been wracked by temporal disturbances so powerful that they had clawed at all who stepped upon the Astral Plane. But it was only several months later that the cause was found, as ten timelines began to converge upon the area surrounding Avechna’s Peak. Alarmed, Avechna the Avenger himself came forth and urged adventurers to seek out what had manifested. Mortals descended upon the region in droves, seeking far and wide. It was Arix Mes’ard who found the first scar upon the timelines, though many others quickly followed him. Quickly, it was discovered that the scars could be seen through – visions of the timeline beyond displayed to those who went close. Many quickly identified that the timelines were linked in some way to the Nine Seals, but opinions differed as to how. It was not until Knorrith of New Celest spoke of impending doom before one of the scars that it was discovered that they could be sealed. For he had spoken this word not in front of any scar, but in front of the timeline wherein Kalas Malarious of Death had risen to become a True Ascendant. News spread, and more scars were mended. Thalkros n’Lochli touched his and, forcing his will upon the inferior timeline, sundered the scar and its thread from existence. Soon Coraline Myeras did the same with her own, choosing to use her will rather than sate the timeline’s desire for more of her most famous creation. Others soon followed, as people located the scar that showed visions of Jolanthe Myeras wandering the Serenwilde forest, and had her touch it – then one scar that held a cluster of timelines, all of which had echoed the ascension of Parhelion Shevat from the Prime Timeline. This he touched and dispelled, whilst Uzriel d’Vanecu touched his own some distance away. Some required puzzling, for in the absence of the Sealbearers linked to the timelines something tethered to their essence had to be used. The scar linked to Ciaran, Sealbearer of War, was closed off using the weapon they had won the Seal with – a tahto. Meanwhile, the scar linked to Dys Mzithrei of Nature was closed by a call to freedom. But at the scar linked to Kalas Ixion of Chaos, something strange had happened. The scar did not simply collapse – it sent forth a human man of familiar features. His name was Zagreus, and he was the True Ascendant of Chaos whose timeline had just been destroyed by his mortal counterpart. Uncertain what else to do, Ixion took his other self – who was slowly being destroyed by the nature of existing in the same reality as himself – to Avechna the Avenger, and to the final scar, which Parhelion had attempted to close himself. A discussion ensued, during which time Zagreus continued to decay. Interestingly, unlike the pair of Xynthin and Xenthos before, this decaying did not afflict both Ixion and Zagreus. Clearly, the changes wrought upon the world by the Seal of Time and the return of the True Dragon Isikathi to Avechna the Avenger had reinforced the Prime Timeline considerably. In the end, there was no time to wait. Turning to Parhelion, Avechna beseeched his aid in closing the scar with both Ixion and Zagreus’s help. Using Avechna’s strength and Parhelion’s skill, what remained of Zagreus’s timeline – which was only the True Ascendant himself – was merged with the Prime Timeline, utterly destroying Kalas Ixion in the process. All that remained was Kalas Zagreus, made of the merged forms of the Prime Ixion and the Divergent Zagreus – who alongside Parhelion, reached out and touched the scar into the final reality. A reality where the True Ascension had failed entirely. A reality that could not – and now, did not, and never had, and never would – exist. In the wake, as Zagreus struggled to comperehend what had just happened to him, Avechna the Avenger turned to mortalkind and bade them be wary. For He knew what being had laughed at Him, had sought to manipulate the temporal fabric of reality: Goloth Maxyenka. He who had coveted the power of Isikathi and failed to clasp it before, serving as the catalyst for the events that lead to the Timequakes and Isikathi’s reformation as the Seal of Time. Be cautious, Avechna said: for that power he possesses now is great indeed. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Ascension Postmortem](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/13/ascension-postmortem/) **Published:** July 13, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A statement from Orael and Aonia regarding the recent issues in the Final Trial of Ascension. **Content:** First off, I apologize for this coming this late. I was out of town this last week and I spent all day Sunday driving home (~17.5 hours) and didn’t have access to post this sooner. There are a couple of things I want to address. First off, both Aonia and I have been reading both the forums and the feedback/PVP-discussion channels on Discord. A big thank you to those of you that expressed disappointment and criticism without resorting to abuse and insults. We do value your input here and we are hearing you. We want you to know that we will never want you to hold back criticisms, disappointments or anything as long as it is done like this, without the abuse and insults. So earnestly, to those of you that did so, thank you again for that. This Ascension proved to overall, be much more competitive than the past few years. Each event had more people participating, had leads change consistently, and felt like either side would take it at any time. We had over 100 players participate in the final Ascension, which is the most I’ve personally seen in a long time. We, unfortunately, did not anticipate the extreme amount of lag that occurred. We realized that lag could be an issue, and made several changes – including delaying the start of the event to apply what hotfixes we could – but not to the extent that it was. This is entirely on us and we are taking full responsibility. It is unacceptable that it occurred and it was a failing on our part. Here are a few things we are working on to help reduce lag in the future. 1\) Adjust GMCP – we’re looking at how we send GMCP messages and attempting to optimize how it is built and sent to players. - We may additionally add ‘opt-in’ parameters for GMCP which will limit how much information is being sent. Details on this are not fully worked out and may not be needed, but it’s something under consideration. 2\) SSC curing optimization – Something we’ve already started, but we have a mortal coder working on SSC optimizations to speed up how that works. - We’re also looking at beast focusing here, and that may result in changes to how it interacts with SSC. 3\) More caching – One of the things I did while implementing the BODYSCAN EXPERIENCE report was to cache the value and only calculate it when needed. This will reduce the number of calculations done considerably and speed things up. The XP cache likely has little impact on something like Ascension but moving towards this model will help things overall. Things like prestige, resists, buffs, etc are all recalculated every time they’re used so moving towards more caching will reduce that significantly. 4\) Target and refactor any particularly slow things. This is something that will be ongoing and while we have a few initial things to look at such as a few issues with beasts. This will be ongoing. 5\) We are investigating our servers to ensure that no problems are originating from them in addition to our codebase. What I do promise to do moving forward with both myself and anyone else that’s working on code is to make speed a priority, especially as they pertain to PVP and large scale events. We recognize that whilst addressing the lag problems is the most important thing, we also believe that it is vital that we make recompense to the people who lost this Ascension. Apologies made only in words are less powerful than those that come in the form of action. To this end, we have been in discussion with both Parhelion and Ixion regarding the matter. It has been agreed between us, and all parties, that the fairest thing to do is to raise Ixion as a True Ascendant in addition to Parhelion. We will hold an event this coming Saturday, 18th July, wherein he will receive this in an in-character manner. We hope that in conjunction with the work we are doing to reduce lag in the future, this will address the very valid concerns and feelings that were brought to us, as well as ensuring that the incredible amount of work that went into the contest is not wasted due to something out of everyone’s control. With sincere apologies, Aonia and Orael **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension of Parhelion](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/12/ascension-of-parhelion/) **Published:** July 12, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** After an incredibly close battle between Kalas Ixion of Chaos and Choros Shevat of Justice, it was Choros who rose to become the True Ascendant Parhelion! **Content:** The first to hold the Staff of Ascension was Kalas Ixion of Magnagora, Champion of Chaos, and indeed for much of the Challenge it seemed that he would hold steady. Once or twice, his opponents – the cities of New Celest and Hallifax, and the forest commune of Glomdoring – succeeded in breaking the Staff from his grasp and earning a competing amount of points. Determined to maintain his place, Ixion regained the Staff and stood well defended by his fellow citizens in Magnagora, along with the forest commune of Serenwilde and the city of Gaudiguch. He came within mere minutes of claiming the Staff fully, and all stood with bated breath as they waited to welcome in their new True Ascendant. But Choros and his allies surged back in, with Ciaran of New Celest reclaiming the staff and passing it to Choros – who then held it, and held it, and held it. Soon he had equalled Ixion’s time holding the Staff, and soon he surpassed it, until he was but moments away. Though Magnagora and their allies made attempts to reach him until the very end, they could not. Thus was Choros able to hold onto the Staff just long enough to become a True Ascendant and recharge the seals, being reborn under the name of Parhelion. All hail, Parhelion, the First True Ascendant of Justice! **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [June 2020 Artbard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/09/june-2020-artbard-winners/) **Published:** July 9, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic contest winners for June! Check out HELP ARTBARD in-game to find out how to join them next month. **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners from June! If you want to join them for July, make sure you make your submissions by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD explains exactly how to submit. A reminder to please make sure you follow the instructions carefully, especially regarding the formatting of your descriptions. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Ethna’s *[Enjoy the Hunt in Silent Thought](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/winners/Enjoy%20the%20Hunt%20in%20Silent%20thought%5bEnjoy%20the%20Hunt%20in%20Silent%20thought%2C202006June%2CEthna%5d.txt)* #### Runner-Up Ayisdra’s *[Puns and Why They are Counter Productive to Productive Processes](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/bardics/runners/punsBook%5bPuns%20and%20why%20they%20are%20counter-productive%20to%20productive%20processes%2C202006June%2CAyisdra%5d.txt)* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Kyalrhin’s *[Dragon Turtles](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/winners/turtle3-2%5bDragon%20Turtles%2CI%20am%20quite%20proud%20of%20the%20pearlescent%20shell%20effect;%20if%20I%20may%20so%20so%20myself.%2C202006June%2CKyalrhin%5d.png)* #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s *[‘It is Okay We Love You You Are Beloved’](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/runners/WanttoProtectyou%5b%27It%20is%20okay.%20We%20love%20you.%20You%20are%20Beloved.%27%2CMysrai%20stands%20on%20Her%20tiptoes;%20hovering%20upwards%20until%20She%20places%20Her%20lips%20gently%20to%20your%20forehead.%2C202006June%2CGurashi%5d.png)* #### Merit Esei’s *[Elfenehoala 2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/merit/elfenehoala%20-%20lisaera%20speaks%5bElfenehoala%202%2CJust%20before%20our%20final%20jump%2C202006June%2CEsei%5d.png)* and Lendren’s *[Pride Dragon](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/artisanals/merit/Pride_Dragon%5bPride%20Dragon%2CPride%20Month%20may%20not%20exist%20in%20Lusternia%20but%20dragons%20may%20still%20be%20proud%20of%20their%20colors.%2C202006June%2CLendren%5d.png)* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [July Curio Bonanza!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/07/01/july-curio-bonanza/) **Published:** July 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** All this month in Lusternia, you can buy our collectable curio packages direct from the website! On top of that, you have 25% increased influence damage every Wednesday in July. **Content:** All through this month, you are able to buy past curio packages [from the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits) – but not just the ones we’ve sold there before. We have released a number of curio packages that were previously only available in limited edition promotions, including race curios (for the sileni and nagasith races) and every kind of trade curio. The keen-eyed may note that the genie and marionette packages are not yet there – don’t fret, they will be added very soon. We will let you know via the announce newsboards and on social media once they’ve been added. And this month, every Wednesday is Shanth’s Harmonious Wednesdays – increasing your influence damage by 25%. Time to get out and bend the denizens of the world to your whims! We hope you enjoy! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Beauty](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/28/challenge-of-beauty-8/) **Published:** June 28, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A huge number of dragon-themed designs were submitted for this year's Seal of Beauty, but one alone stood as the winner: a pedestal by Coraline Myeras! **Content:** With draconic imagery fresh in their minds, the artists and creative visionaries of the Basin put their minds to the Trail of Beauty. The challenge was clear: craft an item capturing the essence of the Basin’s most recent legendary visitors. Only in this manner could the one worthy of the Medallion of Beauty be found. Amazing creations both large and small have been crafted and sent forth for judging. The process was neither simple nor swift for many an amazing design have been submitted. In the end, it was the design of Coraline Myeras of Gaudiguch that won – a pellucid pedestal of Yugomaru achieved. In a fashionable mix of silver and glass, the pedestal speaks to the desires of Mature Dragons and presents the crux of the problem they faced. Second place was awarded to Misericorde Coldwater of New Celest, for her translucent dragon lantern veined with silver cracks. Third place was awarded to Aramel Shevat of Hallifax, for her shattered-crystal chandelier of frozen dragonfire. Fourth place was awarded to Sapphira d’Vanecu of Magnagora, for her imposing crown bearing a smog-wreathed dragon. Fifth place was awarded to Khnemu of Gaudiguch, for their shield of layered wings. Though these five designs rose to conquer all others, the following designs merit honourable mention for their craftsmanship and interpretation of the Avenger’s theme: o Niralahi Coldwater of New Celest (a vibrant robe depicting a battle of water and fire) o Yinuish La’Saet of New Celest (an elaborate shield enchased with brilliantly enamelled draconic figures) o Vatul Feyranti of Magnagora (a queenly moon-silver ring of timeless dreams) o Kailanna n’Kylbar of Magnagora (a scaled, semi-translucent pocket watch) o Esei Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring (a sleeping red dragon crown trailing sheets of silk) o Kalas Vexacion of Magnagora (a skin-clothed chandelier of draconic remains) o Vylasse of New Celest (an octagonal antique silver jewelrybox gripped by jewel-studded dracnari claws) **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/28/challenge-of-war-8/) **Published:** June 28, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Ten teams stepped into the arenas of the Basin of Life, but only one emerged: Team Equinox, comprised of Snald, Tarken and Ciaran. Congratulations to Ciaran, who now holds the Medallion of War! **Content:** There are those among warriors and poets alike who claim that the silence before a great battle is among the most delicate, yet powerful, forces that may exist. It was this silence that was broken by the arrival of Avechna the Avenger, offering the chance to mortals throughout the Basin of Life the chance to register a team of combatants for the Challenge of War. Ten would arise to stand strong and represent all corners of the Basin of Life, with harsh battles fought throughout. Among them Team Mutilation (comprised of Melech, Ixion, and Ruiku) would go undefeated for nearly the entire tourney. However, Team Equinox (comprised of Ciaran, Snald, and Tarken), a foe they had previously knocked down to the second-chance bracket would decimate their own competition and return in the Finals to upset Team Mutilation’s winning streak. In the end, a Sudden Death final battle between Equinox and Mutilation would see Equinox emerge triumphant after the most lengthy battle throughout the Trial, leaving Ciaran Pavok standing triumphant as the Sealbearer of War. Congratulations, Ciaran, Bearer of the Medallion of War! Winner (500 credits each): Team Equinox – Snald and Tarken Second Place (250 credits each): Team Mutilation – Melech, Ixion, and Ruiku Runners Up (100 credits each): Team Warkros – Thalkros, Malarious, and Shango Runners Up (100 credits each): Team Aramel – Aramel, Kaizynne, and Kethaera **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Challenge of Death](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/27/challenge-of-death-9/) **Published:** June 27, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** After an incredibly close battle, Malarious stands victorious as the Sealbearer of Death! **Content:** Some say that a bloody moon rising will be a harbinger of death. Yet the Challenge of Death would bear no such ill omen, as mortals spread throughout the Basin in an effort to further attune themselves to the Domotheos of Death through grizzly murder and brutal combat. The Wyrden Forest of Glomdoring would prove themselves to be a powerful contestant for this Trial, with Evette holding the lead throughout the vast majority of the Trial and Jaspet, and Kaizynne, close behind ready to pick up where she left off. Yet in the last ten bloody minutes of the Challenge, it would be Malarious who sprung from a close fourth to overtake his opponents, and emerge triumphant at the final moment. Well done to all who participated, and a hearty congratulations to Malarious, Sealbearer of Death who proved himself to be a slayer of illustrious renown. Congratulations, Malarious, Bearer of the Medallion of Death! (4926 points) Second Place: Evette, of Glomdoring (4743 points) Third Place: Jaspet, of Glomdoring (4577 points) Fourth Place: Shango, of Magnagora (4203 points) Fifth Place: Sondayga, of Serenwilde (4190 points) **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [In a World of Sugar Saturation](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/25/in-a-world-of-sugar-saturation/) **Published:** June 25, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** An adventure to find the perfect flower turns unexpected, as mortals find themselves led suddenly into the realm of the returned Crumkane, Lord of Epicurean Delights! **Content:** On the 11th of Vestian, in the year 563, a ruckus in the City of Gaudiguch was swiftly answered by Mboagn Lunarose, who confronted the disturbance in the form of a perturbed aslaran called Kariv Stoneclaw. He was, according to his own account, a gardener from within the Palace of Pleasure tasked with obtaining a flower the likes of which the Basin had never seen before, despite his own admitted inexperience with wandering the lands outside his home of Gaudiguch. His ill-content grumblings drew even more of a crowd, and, whether through a true desire to help or bemusement at the bullheaded determination of the mysterious visitor, an adventuring party tumbled from the city of Gaudiguch along the Old Imperial Road in the form of Mboagn, Brawrur, Mokotov, Silvanos, Shulamit, Nialla, Khnemu, and Coraline. First, they came to Mount Zoaka, where it was reasoned that flowers should have rather a difficult time growing to fruition in such a sweltering environment. Dairuchi and the Skarch would likewise contain flora well familiar to the masters of the Palace gardens in Gaudiguch proper, and Kariv turned his nose up at the notion of such a commonplace offering. Coraline, for her part, zipped back and forth with a speed second only to the irrepressible Kariv himself, bringing forth rare orchids, sunflowers, and the like with which to impress the dry-humoured aslaran, to little avail. His offering, he said, had to be so outstanding that it put all other flowers instantly and completely to shame. Moving at an ever-quickening pace, Kariv dismissed the Cavalier stronghold as a likely source of flowers, reasoning that spearblooms and halberd-hyacinths must not yet be in season. As the party of Gaudiguchians scrambled to keep up with the fleet-footed gardener, having utterly swept up a curious Orventa Trueflight in their mass by virtue of being on quite the wrong thoroughfare at quite the wrong time, the entire assemblage came to a stumbling halt outside the market stalls of the Gourmet Ghetto’s suppliers. It was well-reasoned that the worldly barkers of the market could well have come across the rare bloom that Kariv burned for, and indeed would cut down on any further fatigue-inducing exploration if successful. The group split up and searched high and low through the market, quizzing the salespeople on their wares to little avail. Kariv himself, however, caught a whiff of a strange scent and dove between two stalls, seizing upon a flower within a mound of dirt but unable to relinquish his grip – or his precarious position – because of it. With assistance from his erstwhile compatriots, he was instead pushed wholesale into the hollow, creating a makeshift entrance and revealing a strange den, within which bloomed countless snowdrop flowers with the scent of tart lemon candy. More fascinating to the intrepid band, however, was the peppermint-striped gate barring access to a passage deeper within the cave. Though Kariv was quick to claim one of the lemon-drop snowdrops as his own, an entirely coincidental gust of wind snatched the blossom from his grasp and sent it twirling beyond the gate. The gathered adventurers pushed, pulled, turned, chewed, gnawed, and licked the gate in a display of truly eclectic sleuthing, though it was Kariv himself who was able to move past the gate, merely by virtue of undoing its candied latches. The party found themselves before an enormous castle fashioned entirely of pastries and candies, and hared off through the surrounding bluffs. As they wandered through the strange area, they discovered that it was not only the building that had been fashioned of sweets – it was the very land upon which they stood! From cocoa-rich earth to vividly viridescent liquorice grass, a bubbling river of soda to the strange gummy bears that cavorted alongside it, all had been meticulously formed from edible, delectable components. As the group split up once more to search for the flower, to precious little result, Mboagn and Orventa wandered into a candied gorge and discovered something of their own. Rather than a snowdrop, Crumkane, Lord of Epicurean Delights was within the gorge instead, focused intently on sculpting the chocolate and honeycomb cliffs to His own exacting specifications. Flabbergasted, the Gaudiguchians inquired of Him how He had come to be there, while He inquired of them the very same. He had, He explained, begun baking and crafting His own Realm for the delight of any who would care to attend it, and had quite forgotten the passage of time in doing so. Thus reminded of His more mortal obligations, Crumkane has enthusiastically rejoined His compatriot, Mysrai, within the Divine Pantheon of Gaudiguch, and set Himself once more as a true Epicurean, ever seeking new pleasures and fostering the same ambitions in those He calls His own. If any further sticky situations are to arise from His rekindled presence within the Basin of Life, why, only time will tell. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Challenge of Knowledge](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/21/challenge-of-knowledge-8/) **Published:** June 21, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Uzriel, who claims the Medallion of Knowledge as his own against an exceptionally challenging competition! **Content:** Following upon the Seal of Life, the challenge of the Seal of Knowledge gathered adventurers from all across the Basin to test their knowledge of many different topics. Though Qoivhae and Azula of New Celest held an early lead, they were overtaken by Afrit of Gaudiguch, who managed to maintain the narrowest of leads over Uzriel of Magnagora, until overset by a single letter, leaving Uzriel d’Vanecu of Magnagora to cling to the lead by the narrowest of margins, until achieving victory by three points. Jolanthe Myeras, Sealbearer of Harmony demonstrated her affinity for knowledge as well, and would have placed third were it not for the seal already in her keeping. Congratulations, Uzriel, Bearer of the Medallion of Knowledge! Second Place: Afrit, of Gaudiguch Third Place: Ayisdra, of Hallifax Fourth Place: Vexacion, of Magnagora Fifth Place: Tsakali, of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Challenge of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/20/challenge-of-life-8/) **Published:** June 20, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Thalkros, holder of the Medallion of Life! He wins in a truly close match where he was only a few points ahead of second place. **Content:** After proving their mettle in the challenge of the Seal of Nature, a far different challenge was presented with the Seal of Life: adventurers were tasked with the healing of diseased furrikin across the Basin of Life, searching far and wide for their sick patients in need of curing. Though many furrikin possessed the same ailments, their symptoms sometimes manifested differently, proving an initial challenge for even the most seasoned veteran to heal. As many took part in the event, a heated rivalry began between Thalkros and Ciaran as they both vied for first place. Each seized a firm lead over the other, only for their pace to eventually be outmatched by their opponent, leading to a nail-biting finish. In the end, it was Thalkros who proved worthy of bearing the Seal of Life, having healed 54 diseased furrikin. Congratulations, Thalkros! Second Place (700 credits): Ciaran, of New Celest (46 furrikin healed) Third Place (500 credits): Kaizynne, of Hallifax (39 furrikin healed) Fourth Place (250 credits): Brawrur, of Gaudiguch (12 furrikin healed) Fifth Place (100 credits): Aramel, of Hallifax (6 furrikin healed) **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Farewell, Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/10/04/farewell-lusternia/) **Published:** October 4, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Without beating around the bush, I must tell you that I am leaving Lusternia. As I have pledged before that I would never abandon Lusternia, please know that this is not my choice and if there were any way I could stay in any capacity, I would. My great hope would be to return one day as a creative consultant to oversee lore and story, but alas, for now, I must drift into the Void. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Estarra-1-e1487446560668.jpg "Estarra - Lusternia") This is all the more bittersweet as fifteen years ago today Lusternia first opened its doors for beta testing. I know there are a couple of you still around who remember that time! Before then, Lusternia was nothing but a dream in my head, inspired by some past creative writing and, believe it or not, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I had played for many years. (Indeed, the name of ‘Lusternia’ was homage to that campaign.) I am forever grateful to have been given the opportunity to bring this dream, this vision, this mad creative project to life as a text game. I designed every class, laid out all the quests, and wrote all the stories. I still have a huge hand-drawn map which was made up of 12 pages of graph paper scotch-taped together which laid out all the seas, roads, cities, communes and beginning areas. Along with Roark (Lusternia’s co-founder and first coder), we spent a year of our lives building from the foundation up. For fifteen years, I have helmed this ship through rocky waters and smooth, through bright times and dark, through laughter and tears. My heart breaks, as a mother’s would when she must leave her child. But Lusternia is not a child anymore. I raised it for a decade and a half, imbued it with my dreams and love, and trust it to continue. So, my friends, I shall miss you more than you can possibly know. You still may see me trying to establish a presence on YouTube, and as I said, I hope a window will open in the future where I can return as a creative consultant. For now, Lusternia will be left in the very capable hands of our resident anomalies, Orael and Ianir, who are now co-producers of Lusternia. So now Estarra enters the Void, to contemplate the myriad wefts and warps that the Fates have woven into their tapestry. Remember Me. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/challenge-of-nature-8/) **Published:** June 14, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Dys, once more the winner of the Medallion of Nature! **Content:** Following the quick-witted challenge of the Seal of Harmony, explorers from around the Basin gathered atop Avechna’s Peak to undertake the challenge of the Seal of Nature: a far-afield scavenger hunt across the Basin of Life for all manner of climes. The power of Nature manifested to this generation as a series of coveted dragon’s-eye emeralds, and the challengers swiftly departed with their newfound treasure to put it to use. Though slow to begin, two competitors in Aramel and Dys quickly distanced themselves from the bulk of the other scouts. Their paths took them from mountain heights to subterranean rivers, and all manner of hidden nook in between. Eventually, after a long and enormously close-tied trek, Dys Mzithrei of Gaudiguch sped ahead and was the first to complete the long and arduous circuit. Congratulations, Dys, bearer of the Seal of Nature! Second Place (700 credits): Aramel, of Hallifax Third Place (500 credits): Thalkros, of Magnagora Fourth Place (250 credits): Nepenthe, of Gaudiguch Fifth Place (100 credits): Coraline, of Gaudiguch **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [May 2020 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/14/may-2020-artbard-results/) **Published:** June 14, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for May! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for May! Our apologies for the delay in getting your results to you. This was an incredibly close month, with very little between the winners and runners up in the judging. If you want to join them and make the judges’ jobs even harder, make sure you read HELP ARTBARDS and submit by the end of the month. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s *One Law; Five Freedoms* #### Runner-Up Ayisdra’s *The Deaging* #### Merit Alexandria’s *The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and the Hooded Lucidian* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s *Unyielding Memory* #### Runner-Up Kyalrhin’s *Reference for Guild Beasts: Crows* #### Merit Esei’s *Elfenehoala 1* and Tonatiuh’s *Initiation* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Challenge of Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/13/challenge-of-harmony-7/) **Published:** June 13, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Jolanthe of Serenwilde, bearer of the Medallion of Harmony! **Content:** Six months following the conclusion of the Trial of Justice, the citizens of the Basin once more gathered to see who would claim the Seal of Harmony. Twenty-five orators traveled the length and breadth Lusternia to spread their influence to as many denizens as they could in one hour. From the very beginning, Jolanthe Myeras of the Serenwilde and Thalkros n’Lochli of Magnagora tore away from the pack, constantly trading places in the rankings and seemingly ensuring that the Seal would go to one of them. Yet out of nowhere, Kalas Malarious of Gaudiguch rocketed through the rankings and snatched the lead. As quick as his rise had been, however, Malarious slowly began to lose his stranglehold on the rankings and gradually fell once more behind Thalkros and Jolanthe, who steadily increased her lead until her ultimate victory was assured. Congratulations Jolanthe, holder of the Seal of Harmony! Second Place (700 credits): Thalkros, of Magnagora Third Place (500 credits): Malarious, of Gaudiguch Fourth Place (250 credits): Mahalath, of Magnagora Fifth Place (100 Credits): Sondayga, of Serenwilde **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [A Meteoric Return](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/a-meteoric-return/) **Published:** June 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The sudden onslaught of a meteor shower brings an unexpected addition to the Basin of Life in the form of two returning Goddesses! **Content:** Shooting stars flew over the Basin of Life as a meteor shower manifested above Avechna’s Peak. The strange event captured the imagination of the bards of Lusternia, as well as the generosity of scholars and the curiosity of the pilgrims, who gathered the meteors from where they fell about the mountainside. Several mortals across all nations persuaded these wanderes to share the starry meteors they had gathered, but one star burned brighter than all the others as it descended from the skies above to land in Mornhai Sanctuary. It was Misericorde Coldwater of New Celest who discovered the massive meteor first, and more importantly, the angel who had landed with it. He was Veshkal, Bearer of the Holy Blade, a squire to the Lady Terentia, the Even Bladed. Celestians and their allies gathered at Misericorde’s call to hear the angel’s pleas that they help two Goddesses return to Lusternia: the Lady Terentia, and another Elder that had been found in the Void. Veshkal explained that he had accompanied the Lady Terentia as She hunted in the Void, where She had encountered a strange trail of constellations. These were the work of the Lord Darvellan, the Navigator, who had built the starry trail to lead back to Lusternia from the deepest depths of the Void. Instead of going homeward, She followed the stars further into the darkness and discovered the Navigator Himself, who had been seeking an Elder that had sent Him a distress signal. It would later come to light that this Elder was none other than the Lady Lantra of the Third Circle and a Hamadhi, whom Darvellan knew as His sister and crechemate. When They found Her, however, She had been cornered by a minor Soulless god by the name of Nohaji, the Face-Thief. Yet this Soulless was more dangerous than most, for he did not appear as a Soulless at all. Rather, the Soulless could feign the form of any Star God that he had devoured, using it to lure unsuspecting Elders in the Void to him. He had taken for his guise the form of Carsini, a lost Elder of the First Circle. Lantra realized that Carsini’s essence had been twisted and warped, and warned both Terentia and Darvellan that he was no Elder, but a Soulless. Darvellan, recognizing His sister, nodded at Terentia to take action. A great battle was held in the Void, led by the Even Bladed as the Navigator and the Empyreal assisted Her in weakening the Soulless. However, the journey had wearied all three of Them, and there was no end to the fighting was in sight. Finally Terentia struck the Soulless hard enough that it recoiled, allowing a brief enough time to hatch a daring plan. Darvellan would lead the Soulless deeper into the Void, using His stars to distract them away from Lusternia. Terentia and Lantra were to follow His other constellation – called the Argo Navis – back to Lusternia. Most importantly, as They departed, the Goddesses were to destroy the Argo Navis, tearing the constellation from the sky one star at a time. Darvellan stressed that He would be able to return on His own, even without the path to guide Him, though such a journey would be long and arduous even for the Navigator. To ensure the Goddesses returned swiftly to Lusternia, Veshkal urged those gathered to use the meteors that had fallen – and were, indeed, partially imbued with Darvellan’s essence – to created a bright light to help the Elders complete Their mission home. With this plea, the angel vanished into motes of light and was no more. Some mortals were skeptical of this action, fearing such a beacon might draw another Soulless to Lusternia. Others decided to act on the angel’s parting words. It was Yinuish who thought to speak with Edathic zi’Prouep, an astrologer that had served New Celest for many years. The lucidian proposed a way to build the beacon, and Queen Aknarin of New Celest urged all of the Basin to donate their meteors for the cause. Many did so, including Alexandria and Nelras of Hallifax, while others still harbored doubts that such an action might be wise. The constellations of the beacon required careful calibration on all four sides, and the efforts of several – including, surprisingly, Ixion of Magnagora – allowed for the completed beacon to erupt in light, heralding the return of the Lady Terentia and the Lady Lantra to Lusternia. Immediately upon Their arrival on Avechna’s Peak, Terentia destroyed the antennae that had lit Their path as the last stars of Argo Navis winked about around Them, ensuring no Soulless would follow. The two Elders were greeted enthusiastically by many, perhaps by none moreso than the people of New Celest, who were overjoyed to see the return of the Even Bladed and to welcome the sister of the Navigator to the Basin of Life. Carakhan, Sculptor of Waves met with Them both and assisted Lantra in acclimating to all that had changed in the Basin of Life since the Elder Wars, with many mortals staying to answer the Empyreal’s questions and welcome Her to Lusternia. In time, the Lady Empyreal found Her home in New Celest as well, choosing to patron where Eventru and Darvellan had both presided. Only time will tell what the Goddesses’ arrival means for Lusternia, and what will be the fate of the Navigator and the Soulless who pursues Him… **Categories:** Events --- ### [Inclusivity and Prejudice in Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/08/inclusivity-and-prejudice-in-lusternia/) **Published:** June 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** In support of the Black Lives Matter movement and all kinds of injustice, we at Lusternia are committing to assessing and revising the content within our gameworld that evokes or reinforces prejudice. **Content:** Following on from Matt and Jeremy’s statement regarding IRE’s solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, I want to take a moment to talk to you about how we in Lusternia are taking action to address not only systemic racism within Lusternia, but other institutions of prejudice that have over the years grown within our world like weeds. There is a time and a place for all stories. Stories allow us insight into another person’s experience. They allow us to come to understand one another better, even if we can never do so fully. As such, it is imperative that all stories be told by the people who have experenced them, that we can learn from them. There is a time and a place for stories about slavery; for stories about rape; for stories about abuse. Written by own voices, these stories are incredibly powerful and must be told. But Lusternia is not a story told by one person, to those who would choose to read it. It is a story that lives in everyone who comes to it, be they player or admin. It is very different to writing a novel. Because the moment we include any of those stories, we exclude those who are oppressed by them. People who come to this world to find and create themselves, who then find that they cannot imagine themselves free of the hatred of the outside world. As developers of a living, ever-developing gameworld, it is our duty to ensure that our world is inclusive of all. And that means working to address the ways that that hatred has crept into our game. This injection of hatred does not happen knowingly; it does it insidiously, carried often on the tropes of the fantasy genre and things that (in its white cis male dominated history) are normalised when they shouldn’t be. We have previously pledged that, going forward, we will be mindful of such things and ensure we do not include tropes or topics or characters or otherwise that are extentions of our world’s terrible prejudices. We are comitted to this. But this is not enough. Lusternia contains many racist tropes. Lusternia contains many kinds of slavery. Lusternia has a race that is the product of rape. Lusternia has a quest involving child sacrifice. Until recently, there were instances of the pejorative term ‘gypsy’, and it was not possible to play a character of non-binary gender. I could keep going. There are many, many things in Lusternia that evoke or reinforce prejudice, and to address this properly we must address them all – not only matters of racism. Our current plans are to begin research into recommendations made by minority-led advocacy groups, to educate ourselves on the wider prejudice present in the fantasy genre, and to consult with minority players and admin regarding what requires addressing and where lines should be drawn. We want to ensure we dismantle the structures of prejudice, whilst also ensuring that Lusternia remains a complex world of evil and good and everything inbetween. This does not mean that we will necessarily completely remove the things that people are concerned about, or that we will be radically changing Lusternia’s story. We will consider on an individual basis what is best to do to address the problems, and tailor our actions appropriately. This process will not be quick, because it is important to address this seriously and as well-informed as possible, and because it’s important to remember that the movement is a marathon, not a sprint. For some time we have wanted to address many of these issues, but we have not placed doing so at a high enough priority. So I am making this statement not simply to offer solidarity to the need to raise up those who have been abused by society, but to pledge that as a team, Lusternia’s developers will be working to assess and undo these structures within our gameworld. That we will be giving this a higher priority than we have been. We know that this is not easy. As such, I would like to invite anyone who is discomforted by an aspect of our gameworld to contact me privately to express those concerns. Please do so by emailing aonia@lusternia.com, and know that any submissions you make will be kept anonymous. If you find yourself uncertain or unaware of some of the issues we are problematising here, I encourage you to visit the following resources to educate yourself on the inclusivity issues present in the fantasy genre. Remember that it is not the duty of the oppressed to educate you – this is something we must all do ourselves, from the many resources available: - [Black AF Roundtable](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/641162758) – a discussion between black members of the online TTRPG community about racism in RPG culture - [How You Can Support Black Gamers](https://kotaku.com/how-you-can-support-black-gamers-1843867230) – an excellent article listing several resources for supporting black people in the gaming community - [The urgency of intersectionality](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOe5-UsQ2o) – a TED talk on the relationship between racism and sexism - A huge, crowdsourced list of [education resources](https://docs.google.com/document/d/11DKdCd4AUmwcG6igDLz9rlYJcdrJzGP6cmy3s7gNgDQ) for racism, including a glossary of terms - [A Framework for Decolonising Speculative Fiction](https://www.tor.com/2020/03/10/a-framework-for-decolonizing-speculative-fiction-beneath-the-rising-and-steel-crow-saga/) – an article from Tor.com - [Racism in Fantasy](http://www.aartichapati.com/2010/01/for-discussion-racism-in-fantasy-its.html) – a blog discussion about the prevalence of racism in fantasy, by a book blogger - [7 Casually Racist Things That White Authors Do](https://bookriot.com/2018/02/05/casually-racist-things-that-white-authors-do/) – a very clear article about some of the pitfalls in fantasy novels - [Race in the Fantasy Genre](https://www.mikeruso.com/blog/race-in-the-fantasy-genre/) – a blog study of varied fantasy worlds and the hidden racism within them - [What Is Privilege? ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD5f8GuNuGQ)– a video from BuzzFeed’s As-Is that clearly displays what privilege is **Categories:** News --- ### [Black Lives Matter](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/black-lives-matter/) **Published:** June 7, 2020 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Over the last week, millions of people have protested the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. Citizens of the United States and other countries are demanding justice and equity. We’re seeing a movement for change that hasn’t been seen in our lifetimes, and it’s long overdue. First, we stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. We stand against racism. We stand against police brutality. We stand against systemic injustice. That said, what are a bunch of words from our little company going to do in the grand scheme? Not much. Real change doesn’t come from making posts on social media and sending newsletters. Real change comes from taking direct action. Real change comes from replacing ineffective and bad leaders and changing harmful laws and procedures. We recently watched Barack Obama’s speech about the George Floyd protests. We’re not going to pretend everyone shares his political views, but we feel Mr. Obama made good points that transcend our differences. His main point was that while the protests highlight problems in our society we need to combine protests with action and create realistic solutions based on research and data shown to effective. We need to make local leaders put evidence-based procedures in place that we know work. If you haven’t watched this presentation, here is a link: - In short, protest if you’re willing, and then take other action as well. What action can you take? You can call local and national leadership, sign petitions, and donate to charities and programs. And, of course, you can and should vote out those who act as impediments to change. Many of us at Iron Realms have been out protesting and making donations to a wide variety of groups related to Black Lives Matter, and we strongly encourage you to do the same. Here are some of the groups we’ve been giving to, in case you’re looking for somewhere to give and aren’t sure where: - [https://blacklivesmatter.com](https://blacklivesmatter.com/) - - [https://www.knowyourrightscamp.com](https://www.knowyourrightscamp.com/) - - - - - We’ve also found this to be a useful top-level resource for all sorts of info and resources around BLM: - We’re living in historic times. Let’s all work to make sure we come out of this better than we were before. In solidarity, Jeremy Saunders, Matt Mihaly, and the Iron Realms team. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-justice-8/) **Published:** June 7, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** After what may be one of the most savage brackets in the Challenge's history, Choros Shevat has emerged as the holder of the Medallion of Justice! **Content:** Short off the heels of the Seal of Chaos being claimed, the time for the Trial of Justice emerged. No less than 26 competitors emerged to vie in the Trial, yet only one could emerge victorious. Strong contenders presented themselves throughout, but it was Aramel Shevat of Hallifax who would emerge triumphant in the first bracket and take the first position within the finals. Yet despite falling to Tarken in the fourth round, Choros Shevat of Hallifax would begin to stride through the second, loser’s bracket: facing incredibly fierce competition in Jaspet of Glomdoring, Ciaran Pavok of New Celest, and once more the very same Tarken which resulted in his loss. Despite this, he emerged victorious and took the second place against Aramel, his own mother, in the final round. With incredibly fierce words and arguments, family clashed under the watchful eye of Avechna, and Choros emerged victorious against Aramel not once, but twice, claiming the Medallion of Justice and the title of Sealbearer. Congratulations Choros, holder of the Seal of Justice! Second Place (700 credits): Aramel, of Hallifax Third Place (500 credits): Tarken, of Glomdoring Fourth Place (250 credits): Ciaran, of New Celest Fifth Place (100 Credits): Jaspet, of Glomdoring and Nelras, of Hallifax **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [Challenge of Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/07/challenge-of-chaos-8/) **Published:** June 7, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to Ixion, who stands as the holder of the Medallion of Chaos once more! **Content:** In the wake of the Seals’ weakening, the Seal of Chaos has come to challenge and now has found its champion first among all. The day’s challenge was marked by bloodshed, as adventurers and alliances across Lusternia banded together to support their favoured contenders. Tarken of Glomdoring was first to lay hands upon the Purple Hamster of Chaos, but Ixion soon took hold of it, and he kept it, against all odds for the entirety of the challenge. Throughout, deaths abounded, and the ground of Spectre Isle ran crimson. And Ixion still held, even when unable to do anything in the last moments but stand with his companions and retain grip on the Hamster. And so, he persevered and prevailed. Your presence inspired the chaos of combat, Ixion, holder of the Seal of Chaos! Second Place (700 credits): Nepenthe, of Gaudiguch Third Place (500 credits): Tridemon, of New Celest Fourth Place (250 credits): Ayisdra, of Hallifax Fifth Place (100 credits): Steingrim, of Glomdoring **Categories:** Events, News --- ### [The Challenge of Beauty Opens!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/06/the-challenge-of-beauty-opens/) **Published:** June 6, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Avechna, the Avenger has issued a challenge to mortalkind: for the Challenge of Beauty, designers must work to the theme of...Dragons! **Content:** As of today, submissions are open for the Challenge of Beauty! Avechna, the Avenger, has issued the following challenge to mortalkind: *The dragons have wrought much destruction upon the Basin, no corner of it untouched by their presence. It is time now for Beauty to rise from them instead, that the seal their actions have weakened should now be strengthened anew.* *Creators of the Basin, put your minds and your crafts to work. Let your beauteous workings spring forth from the inspiration of dragons; and know, as before, that the Charites shall judge your works based in part upon their relationship to this theme.* Trademasters may view the instructions for submission in the latest post to the Trademasters newsboard – be sure to follow it carefully, lest your submissions be rejected by Their beauteous hands! **Categories:** News --- ### [Iron Realms Relieves 1.5 Million in Medical Debt](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/iron-realms-donates-15000-to-rip-medical-debt/) **Published:** June 1, 2020 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Iron Realms Entertainment is excited to announce a donation of $15,000 dollars to the Covid Heroes Fund from RIP Medical Debt. This is a direct result of your credit and pet purchases. Everyone at Iron Realms would like to thank our players for their generous donations. The support and response to this effort was amazing. Players purchased over 500 pets in the last two weeks. Your donations will help American first responders and healthcare workers by purchasing and abolishing their medical debts. Healthcare workers around the world have been laboring nonstop to assist the sick and elderly during the global COVID pandemic. Many of these people have struggled with inadequate safety equipment, protection, and wages. Combined with the financial stress of job loss and medical debts, many of these families are struggling to survive while continuing to help others in their communities. Your purchases help relieve the pressure on these families. You can read more about how this money goes to work on their website. RIP Medical Debt will make a purchase of debt with your donations later this month. The moment we receive the details about this purchase, we will share the details with you. I want to thank you for helping make a positive difference. Your support encourages us to continue finding ways to help our local and global communities. Jeremy Saunders ![](blob:https://www.lusternia.com/3361edab-08d3-43c3-a3e6-5f24e9a05dd7) **Categories:** News --- ### [June Present Extravaganza](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/06/01/june-present-extravaganza/) **Published:** June 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This month in Lusternia, we're having a present party - and all of your friends are invited too! **Content:** For the month of June, we’re running a present extravaganza with a twist. For every 25 credits you purchase for the month of June, you’ll receive a present as well. Even better is that for the first 100 credits you purchase, you’ll get an addition present for every 10 credits! That means purchasing 100 credits will net you 14 presents! To sweeten the pot, we’re adding the ability to EXCHANGE 5 presents to form a glowing present. This glowing present has a 10% chance to be an ultimate present, a 20% chance to be an Exceptional present or it will be a Superior present. The catch is this present will -not- reset your present counter even though it will still add to it. But wait, there’s even more! When you open up a glowing present, up to 10 other players in the room will also receive and open a standard present. This friend-present is just your normal, run of the mill present. Additionally, every thursday will be Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays! Everyone will get an additional 25% critical bonus on thursdays throughout June. We hope you enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [How to Betray Your Dragon](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/31/how-to-betray-your-dragon/) **Published:** May 31, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This year's Ascension plot comes to a head in the final event leading up to the challenges, as the last groups of Mature Dragons attempt Yugomaru with the Seal of Time! **Content:** Into the tense month that followed the assault upon the Peak by the second group of Mature Dragons, a small and barely noticed descent occurred into the Tolborolla Valley. Three more Mature Dragons, who had previously approached – and fled from – the city of Magnagora landed within the quiet environs. To their alarm, they were discovered by several people from the very city they had been horrified by, led by the Warlady herself, Kailanna n’Kylbar. It was not an easy feat for the group to calm the Dragons down, and convince them that they meant no harm. They were aided by Orventa Trueflight of Hallifax, who helped to assure them that the Magangorans could be trusted. This would later prove to be incorrect, but for this moment at least, the Dragons were appeased. There was, they explained, not long left. Soon they would have to attempt Yugomaru, or be consumed by the hunger that had ravaged all of them since their Quickening. They warned that there were two other groups also suffering in this way, and that they would soon approach – those who had been trapped in the Dreaming, and those who had hurled meteors upon Hallifax and Gaudiguch. Cunningly, the mortals present saw an opportunity. They pledged to help this group of more cautious Mature Dragons in return for information on those groups. Their aim would be to take out the other two groups, allowing the cautious group to seek Yugomaru safely and carefully. It was during this conversation that the second group made themselves known. With an almighty crash, two Mature Dragons – in their true forms – crashed down upon the Ackleberry Highway and Alabaster Road. Their bodies were quickly found by Xenthos and Gurashi An’Ryshe, along with Esei Shee-Slaugh, with members of Gaudiguch and more quickly following to investigate. They began to consider ways to deal with the Dragons, who were sleeping – their bodies stuck half in physical form and half in dreambody. It was Geran Ebonrose who first had the idea to utilise the High Magic ritual of Kether. He took to a separate portion of the road and attempted a quick ritual to use it upon the Dragon, but found that he alone was not sufficient, though there was some connection. As he returned, unsuccessful, Xenthos went to seek the wisdom of Brennan Stormcrow and Queen Maeve of the Fae – accompanied for the latter by Tyrus and Qin of Serenwilde. Together, they and others began to realise that the ritual of Kether and Violet was a way to cast the Mature Dragons back into the Deep Dreaming, ensuring that they were unable to attempt Yugomaru. Those present began to feel galvanised by this plan. After days of confusion, they finally had something to work towards. But a spanner had arrived in the works of their progress: for just as they were starting to think about their ritual, the final two Mature Dragons had turned up. They were working to try and wake their kin, claiming they wished to all go towards Yugomaru together. To the displeasure of many around them, Mboagn Lunarose was also making a concerted effort to wake the Mature Dragons. Stubbornly, the others tried to begin their ritual anyway – only to find that they were summarily slaughtered by the maddened Dragons, who unsurprisingly disapproved of people trying to interfere with their kin. This perturbed the ritualists, but did not deter them, as they came back instantly and with determination. But Kailanna had seen that they would not be able to complete the ritual with the two chaotic Dragons present there. So, with seeming reticence, she admitted that she knew the location of the three other Mature Dragons, and would be willing to lead the two Dragons to them. Some became quickly concerned that Kailanna was now playing into the Dragons’ hands – but, cunningly, she had no intention of leading them to the Tolborolla Valley. She led them instead on a merry chase throughout the Basin, eventually making her way down towards the Undervault, assisted by Ruiku i’Viani in her deception. In the meantime, the ritualists succeeded – led by Geran – in timing their ritual to the moment that the sleeping dragon was in dreambody form. This ensured that it was cast into the Dreaming, not made fully manifest in the waking world. They moved onto the second dragon, but found it far more awake than the other. Uzriel d’Vanecu began quickly working to weave the Dragon back to dreams, but unlike with the first, he alone was not sufficient, nor was the music of Gurashi. Whilst the ritualist turned to singing lullabies to lull the second Dragon to slumber, the maddened ones in the Undervault had lost their patience – and their belief in Kailanna’s deception. Slaying her, they tore their way through a portal and vanished. The ritualists braced themselves, continuing their work even as they feared that the assault was now surely coming for them. To their great fortune, there was no assault. With effort, they lulled the dragon back to sleep and cast it, too, into the Deep Dreaming. Exhausted, they began to discuss amongst thesmelves what would be done next, both with the cautious group of Mature Dragons and the mad ones still at large. Returning to the cautious group, Ruiku and Uzriel found that they were beginning to suffer from holding Yugomaru at bay. They insisted that it had to be now, no matter what the two Magnagorans said. Taking a page out of Kailanna’s book, Ruiku offered to lead them to Avechna’s Peak. He intended at first to take them elsewhere – but as soon as he led them towards the gates of Magnagora, the three of them panicked, recognising at once the city they had fled from. No longer believing him, they began to panic and call him a betrayer. He came to a halt in the Prime Fulcrux, and – to Uzriel’s horror – explained that Avechna’s Peak was to the north. The three of them left, walking onto the Peak without their escorts. As others began to curse Magnagora for assisting the Mature Dragons, the three flew up to prepare for their Yugomaru. But no sooner had they taken to the air than, tearing through a rift, the two maddened Dragons came. Battle ensued: those watching from outside the Cave of Time fearing at points that they were sure to die. In a horrifying and unintentional betrayal, one of the cautious Dragons panicked and unleashed a breath made half of flame and half of the temporal energy that had unnaturally Quickened them. It obliterated one of his companions, leaving him roaring in dismay at what he had done. But, buoyed by the time they had been given to reflect and prepare, the Mature Dragons steeled themselves. “We will not fail now,” they cried. “We are hers, and she is the courage of Dracnoris.” Together, the two once-cautious Dragons took out their enemies, obliterating one and casting the other back through the very rift they had arrived in. Then, turning to the gathered mortals below, they explained that they intended to seek Yugomaru peacefully, as they had pledged some days ago. At the adventerers’ concern, the Avenger Himself appeared behind the Dragons, gazing down upon both they and mortalkind in equal measure. Mortalkind had done enough, He explained. Whilst the merging of these two Dragons with the Seal of Time would render it more unstable, it would not be enough for the cracks to extend to the Nine. The Realms of the Domotheos would remain strong. Though distracted by petty squabbles, the mortals below did eventually step aside, allowing the Mature Dragons to achieve whatever broken form of Yugomaru they were able with the Seal. Though the mountain shook, there was no further damage. Now, Avechna proclaimed, mortalkind must prepare themselves for the coming Ascension: to repair the Seal of Time, and the weakness it had passed to the Nine Seals upon the Almighty’s prison. **Categories:** Events --- ### [By Draconic Decree](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/30/by-draconic-decree/) **Published:** May 30, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The next group of Mature Dragons descend upon the Basin of Life, leaving deception, betrayal and burning trees in their wake. **Content:** With a sense of deja-vu that struck concern into the hearts of those who had previously entertained the Mature Dragon emissaries, six figures descended upon the Basin of Life. These emissaries were, they explained, from the group of Mature Dragons who had previously visited New Celest. They wished to present an offer to mortalkind in return for their service. Naturally, this was not met with the greatest trust – least of all in New Celest, who in addition to their understanding reticence as the victims of the group’s lost kin, held strongly to the Avenger’s warning that no more groups of Mature Dragons should be allowed to reach the Seal of Time. Other organisations were more cautious, seeking to understand the Dragons’ offer in full. To each organisation they explained the deal: they would craft four singularity of essence, and each would be used to empower the Elemental Lords and the Dream Aspects of Hart and Crow. This would act much as the sands of the Dreaming do each year, but would empower them even further, supercharging the beings and their corresponding planes beyond their usual capacity. In return, the Mature Dragons themselves would receive some degree of power for themselves, allowing them to seek to unify with the former True Dragon Isikathi in the Seal of Time – and achieve Yugomaru, so they hoped, with much more success than their foolhardy kin of the previous month. But the cities and communes of the Basin of Life remained reticent. This was in no small part because the emissaries themselves were particularly difficult to deal with. In Gaudiguch, the emissary, whilst being kept entertained by the citizens there, mostly spent her time insulting those around her. Magnagora took a wiser approach, taking advantage of their emissary’s vain nature to lure her into giving up as much information as possible. In Serenwilde, the emissary constantly referring to the forestals as “peasants” did little to endear them to her offer. Still, no one was certain. But unbeknownst to the adventurers, help was coming. Seeing the need for a circumspect intervention, Avechna the Avenger sent messages to the Nexus Keepers, urging them to send representaties of the cities and communes to the destroyed space outside the Cave of Time. There, Avechna explained that there was an opportunity. They could take the singularities of essence that the Mature Dragons offered, and bring them not to the Aspects or Elemental Lords, but to Him. He would take that power and use it to erect a shield around the Cave of Time – using the Dragons’ temporal power against them, and negating as much of their inevitable assault as possible. Many leapt to this at once. Some were even already gathering essence for the task, and brought back singularities quickly. They set themselves to the task, sending people to entertain their emissaries with the promise that they were most certainly helping, whilst others went to the outer planes. In Glomdoring, however, things went quickly awry. A treacherous voice began whispering in their emissary’s ear, revealing to them what was being done under their nose. Enraged by this betrayal, the emissary vented their ire upon informant and forest alike for a day, before departing having crafted only one of the singularities for the Glomdoring, leaving the traitor to take what comfort they could from the fact that the dragon had not revealed their name. The other organisations, however, continued apace. The vast majority of singularities were crafted and brought to the Avenger’s pillar of protection, though one or two went mysteriously unaccounted for. Whether this was deliberate opportunism, a genuine accident, or an attempt to ensure that the emissary believed the overall deception – well, that remains unknown, as far as the Basin at large is concerned. Eventually all that could be gathered had been, and the people of the Basin gathered to watch the Mature Dragons’ attempt upon the Seal of Time. Just as the others had done before them, they claimed that this was their destiny, and became one being as they descended towards the Cave. Theirs was a far gentler descent; they dissolved into sand, much of which was prevented from pressing on into the Cave by the temporal barrier that mortalkind had created with Avechna’s help. Thanks to that shield, the Nine Seals weakened, but did not crack – the worst of the onslaught avoided. The Avenger reiterated His call for an Ascension, and urged mortalkind to do all that they could to avoid any further Draconic incursion upon Isikathi’s Seal. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Ascension of Fools](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/29/the-ascension-of-fools/) **Published:** May 29, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Drama and destruction abound in Avechna's Peak, as the Mature Dragons make their first assault upon the Seal of Time - cracking it and causing the call for an Ascension. **Content:** In the middle of Dvarsh, as summer was at its highest, six specks of shadow appeared upon the horizon. They grew larger, and larger, eventually separating enough to reveal themselves for what they truly were: Mature Dragons. They drew closer to the Basin of Life, proving themselves to be rife with discord. This was, they claimed, their final chance. They sought the path to Yugomaru, and had only so much time left to achieve it. They were coming to meet their destiny. As one, the six of them crashed into the side of Avechna’s Peak. The decimation was extreme and instantaneous. All those upon the Peak, in close proximity to the quake that ensued, were slain. The Stairs of Sacrifice – being that area around the Seal of Time, which was the Dragons’ target – were sundered. And most terribly of all, the Seal of Time itself was cracked. Proclaiming the Mature Dragons to be fools, Avechna the Avenger appeared above the wounded mountain, declaring that an Ascension would now be required. For the Seal of Time was as a shell around the Nine Seals, and the link between them extended in both directions. If the Seal of Time were to be weakened further, it would spell doom for the remaining Nine Seals. But the Avenger’s voice was not alone in sounding at this time. Nemuruko, True Dragon of Obscure Dreams, also made his presence known – though far more joyously. At the urging of Sachiana, True Dragon of the Eternal Hunt, Nemuruko descended to the ruined Peak with Avechna to speak on the trials to come. There, with much pomp and circumstance from the True Dragon, and much glaring and disapproval from the Avenger, they discussed with mortalkind what must be done. First, they spoke of the nature of Dragons. Yugomaru, it was explained, was not a person but the process by which a Dragon ascended. As younglings, they experienced something called the Quickening, which drove them to Yugomaru – that moment where they would merge with one of the five True Dragons. The Mature Dragons, so Nemuruko said, had been Quickened unnaturally by exposure to Isikathi’s essence. They yearned to merge with her, but all that remained of her was the Seal – and thus, it was their unfortunate target. Nothing could be done to avert the Ascension, the Avenger said. The damage was done to the Seal of Time. But the six Mature Dragons who had descended upon the mountain were not all of those that remained. There were many still – those who had visited the cities and communes in the preceding years. They were, Nemuruko explained, clustered into four remaining groups. If too many of them were to attempt to merge wtih the Seal of Time, then the Domothean Realms themselves would weaken as their Seals did in turn. It is said that in the months to come, these Mature Dragons will seek to achieve Yugomaru with the Seal of Time in their own way. None will be so impatient as this first six. Instead they will act as is the nature of their group. It falls to mortalkind to prevent them from achieving their ends however may be done – be that through diplomacy, manipulation, violence or otherwise. Thus did Avechna and Nemuruko leave mortalkind, pondering what would come next: one with an urge that the Basin’s heroes should do all they could to protect it, and one hoping that there might be just a little tragedy involved at least. **Categories:** Events --- ### [A Song of Fire and Water](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/25/a-song-of-fire-and-water/) **Published:** May 25, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Trials, tribulations and dragons abound in the city of New Celest as holy relics and Saints alike are called upon to defend the city from assault. **Content:** Vengeance had been sworn by the arrogant draconic emissaries that had visited New Celest, and vengeance they pursued, appearing in the city of Light with demands that King Aknarin – the wielder of the Broom of Dawn’s Promise that had driven them away – be brought before them. When their demands were met with the refusal they deserved, the pair lept skywards, their attack seemingly repulsed by the same powers that had driven them away previously. However, they were soon joined by a terrifying new friend. A blackened dragon tore into view, the secret sole survivor of Magnagora’s experimentation, and launched a furious assault upon the Guiding Star Lighthouse, home of the Ecclesiarchy, the Church of New Celest. As the lighthouse crumbled, Exarch Torili sought to flee with the precious Tears of Saint Tresalyne, but he was overtaken and slain. In his last effort to defend the tears, Torili flung them from the Guiding Star Lighthouse, where they tumbled into the Inner Sea. Without the relic to empower Celest’s defenses against the mature dragons, the city was now weakened, and the trio of dragons began their assault upon the city proper. The citizens of New Celest mobilised rapidly. Though some briefly attempted to find the teardrops in the vast sea, others began to evacuate the citizens of New Celest, bringing them to the security of the Aegis Keep, the old guildhall of the Paladins. Fire and fury rained down around the quickly moving citizens; the Blue Cathedral, Sanctifier’s Abbey, the old Aqumancer guildhall, the theatre, the Star Palace and the tower of the Archons were among the places the hardest hit, though much of the city suffered from the dragons’ ravages. As the evacuation continued, glimpses of Praetorian Hamos of the Ecclesiarchy could be seen, as he drew one of the dragons’ attention upon himself. At last the dragon grew tired of chasing the kephera, and turned its attention to the Lodestar Athenaeum. Praetorian Hamos stood in staunch defence of the building, upon its pinnacle, and threw himself upon the dragon in an act of great personal sacrifice. Then suddenly, he and the dragon vanished. The abrupt disappearance of one of their kind caused the two remaining dragons to retreat, granting the city a temporary reprieve as the blackened dragon took up a lair within the ruins of the lighthouse. Zeasha Novikei and Yanitone Symfale were joined by Brother Neluane Serole as they discussed the assault and contemplated what might be done. Some of the citizens went in search of Mother Olya, the keeper of the Broom of Dawn’s Promise, but found her home devastated by flame. Others overturned every shell in the Inner Sea, inquiring of Lanikai, Tardon the oyster farmer, and even the dolphins whether or not they had seen the Tears fall. Zeasha, Yanitone and Neluane retreated to the Aegis Keep’s library to research a plan for the coming month and promised they would call the citizens when it was time to act. When the dragons renewed their assault, the trio called the citizens back and began to speak of their newfound plans. Aeral and Tridemon sought Olya once more, and by questioning the Janderi of the Grey Moors, the two were able to trace her to the Orphanage of Saint Gathlyn. Having procured the broom once again, they returned to find Lady Jarana Farain survived the collapse of Deep Blue Cathedral’s belltower by miracle. Even more surprising is that she had been granted a vision by Lady Elohora. The vision would wait, however, as Tridemon hurried off, finding that the connection of the Broom of Dawn’s Promise to the tears still held, and that the relic might be used to locate them. Once the three tears had been gathered from the Inner Sea, plans were made with Brother Neluane, whose research had unearthed plans of ballistae: weapons once used by New Celest in the Nature Wars. Under his guidance, the city went to build ballistae to distract the dragons while Jethri created a new housing for the tears. All the citizens of New Celest scoured the debris for parts, and as the ballistas were sanctified, Aeral and Meritone accompanied Jethri back to his forge and tools, while the rest of the citizens hurried to the walls to begin their assault. As Jethri hurriedly spun his glass globe, the citizens fired upon the dragons. They succeeded at last in bringing the second mature dragon down, and sending the blackened dragon once more warily away. However, the victory did not come without a cost; Dame Eluzmith was gravely hurt in the attack, and Manchal took to tending her injuries in the Archons guildhall. Still, a second dragon had fallen, and newly invigorated, the citizens gathered to hear Jarana share the vision that Elohora had given her. Jarana revealed that while Praetorian Hamos was no more, the kephera had been reborn in the Light as Saint Hamos, the Dragonslayer, for his noble sacrifice. In the ashes of the Ecclesiarchy that he had left behind, Elohora urged the founding of a new guild: the Magisterium of the Holy Father, guided by Brother Neluane, to be part of the Church reborn, united with the city. No longer would one guild be the Church of New Celest; all three guilds would be part of the Church, unified with the State under the Holy Voice of the Celestial Crown. In a coronation ceremony held by Jarana Farain in the Blue Cathedral, each guild pledged their fealty to King Aknarin and the Celestial Crown: Auriella on behalf of the Sancitifers, Romaan on behalf of the Archons, and Mjoll on behalf of the newly formed Magisterium. In answer in their fealty, a vision was granted unto those present of a water elemental taking arms against the blackened dragon above the Pool of Stars as a rhapsodic song resounded. With much to consider, the guild tutors once again retreated to consult on its meaning. A clue was discovered in documents regarding the Sons of Dionamus, which Yanitone Symfale brought forward to share with Brother Neluane and Zeasha Novikei. In times long past, the Sculpture of Tamthys had caused miracles of strength, empowering waters in defense. Perhaps now, a similar power could be used and harnessed against the blackened dragon, using the Voice of Rhapsody herself. However, King Aknarin looked and found the Voice of Rhapsody was no longer in her old residence. Zeasha mused that perhaps the dragons’ attacks had frightened her and scattered her into the Flock of Miracles once more across the waters. The citizens decided they would employ the same tactic that had brought back the Voice of Rhapsody and founded the Cantors guild: they would perform Raflein’s song, “Ode to Celest,” before the Thalassos, where surely the song could reach her. With musical accompaniment from both Zeasha and Qoivhae, Gabe Ladyn performed the song and to the delight of all present, the Flock of Miracles appeared once more. However, even among the hundreds of doves, the Flock was still not complete, and the song of lost doves rang out across the Elemental Plane of Water. All of Celest sought to empower the doves and return them to the Flock, even as the blackened dragon began to attack once more; Romaan, Ciuvi, Qoivhae, Aeral, Aknarin, and Talkan led the charge, restoring the Flock of Miracles whole once more. Hundreds and hundreds of white doves descended upon the Inner Sea as the Flock of Miracles sang out, summoning a mighty water elemental from the depths of the ocean that bore the height of a mountain and the body of a fearsome tidal wave. An epic clash of titans occurred as the elemental dragged the blackened dragon from the skies, her flames proving futile and useless upon the gargantuan water elemental. When the mist and steam cleared, the dragon was seen caught writhing in the elemental’s arms as it plunged back into the Inner Sea, where neither the blackened dragon nor the water elemental ever re-emerged. Cheers of victory erupted above New Celest, and, moved by the hope offered from the legacy of the Sons of Dionamus, Yanitone Symfale announced that the Archons would be taken up this legacy anew, as the Archons of Dawning Hope. Zeasha, inspired by the power of water and light combined, saw new aspects of the Sanctifiers of Saint Loathys revealed. The first task of the newly unified Church? The reconstruction of the city. **Categories:** Events --- ### [NPC Creation Livestream Recording](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/19/npc-creation-livestream-recording/) **Published:** May 19, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This past weekend, our wonderful producers Aonia and Orael held the first ever NPC creation livestream! You can watch it right now, here on our website. **Content:** This past weekend, our wonderful producers Aonia and Orael held the first ever NPC creation livestream! It was two hours of hilarity and joy and deep, overwhelming regret. By the end of it, we emerged with the ancestral spirit Aucagolei, who will appear in a future world event! You can watch the entire livestream here now. There will be no transcription of this video, but you can find [a full summary of Aucagolei’s chosen traits here!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/16/npc-livestream-results/) https://www.facebook.com/Lusternia/videos/2650101631977832/ **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [NPC Livestream Results!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/16/npc-livestream-results/) **Published:** May 16, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** We held our first ever NPC creation livestream, where players got to vote on an NPC who will turn up at a future event! And it's...well, it's something. **Content:** A huge thank you to everyone who came to our first ever NPC creation livestream! Together with Aonia and Orael, you all created the NPC Aucagolei, picking the following properties for the character: - Aucagolei is an igasho. - They are genderfluid and change between male and female forms. - They are an ancestral spirit (undead), who appears elderly. - They are trained as a Hartstone druid, though they are a rogue. - They are completely blind, and harbour a deep fear of the last thing they ever saw. - They are known for being incompetent, very parentally inclined, and hoarding. - In their spare time, Aucagolei enjoys taxidermy. - Their favourite item is a package that they have never opened. You can watch the video from the stream [on Twitch right now](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/623020599), or wait for the recording that will be on the website in the next few days! As for seeing Aucagolei…you’ll have to wait and see what event they turn up in. Don’t worry – we’ll let you know when they’re in the game and where! PS: Warriors were robbed. **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [Helping Covid Heroes Fund](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/13/helping-covid-heros-fund/) **Published:** May 13, 2020 **Author:** Sarapis **Excerpt:** A letter from our CEO, Matt Mihaly, telling you all about the charity drive across the Iron Realms for the next two weeks! **Content:** Greetings, citizens of the Iron Realms, I hope everyone’s doing as well as they can in these plague times. I feel like we’re living through a really badly-run event in one of our games, and whoever is running the event has completely forgotten that they’re supposed to be fun. In any case, while people are being laid off left and right (my wife was laid off last week), Iron Realms is in a position where our work hasn’t really been disrupted. We all work from home offices anyway, and remotely working together is baked into our company’s DNA. We haven’t had to lay anyone off because of Covid, in fact, for which we’re all grateful. So, we want to do something to help. We looked around, and decided that we want to support a charity called RIP Medical Debt. It got some fame a few years ago when John Oliver bought $14m in medical debt for $60k and gave it to them to retire. What they do is buy and pay off the medical debt of people for whom it is a large financial burden, at 1 penny on the dollar. In other words, $1 can pay off $100 of someone’s medical debt. For those of you who don’t live in the US, our health system here allows people to go into crippling debt because they got sick or injured, to the point of financial ruin. According to one study from 2019, about 530,000 annual bankruptcies in the US are at least partly-caused by medical debt. In this case, RIP Medical Debt recently started a fund – the Helping Covid Heroes Fund – that specifically buys up and pays off the medical debt of healthcare workers and first responders who are seriously financially burdened by the debt (so a doctor making $300k isn’t getting her student loans paid off by this, for instance). I saw that and immediately thought, “This is what we want to support.” The impact per dollar is just so high. We’re going to be doing two things for the rest of this month: 1. Each game is creating a minipet that’ll be for sale on the website for $5. 100% of revenue from these will go to the Helping Covid Heroes Fund. **Here in Lusternia, it’s a limited edition beep beep of the legendary hamster, Squibbles! This plushie will never be available in any other way, so don’t miss out on yours.** 2. We’re going to donate 20% of our revenue (minus revenue from the minipets as we’re already donating 100% of those), up to a max of $12,000, for the rest of this month. If we raised $12,000 from #2 and another $3000 from #1, that’d pay off $1.5 million in medical debt for Covid heroes! We’ll announce how much was raised after the bookkeeping is done in early-ish June, and donate the money raised then as well. It’s not a world-changing amount, but it could be life-changing for the people whose debt is paid off. Finally, we’re also going to increase daily free credits available each day until the end of the month. **Here in Lusternia, for this week starting now, you can earn up to 30 daily credits each day!** Stay well, Matt/Sarapis/Aurelius CEO, Iron Realms **Categories:** News --- ### [Producer Livestream This Saturday!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/11/producer-livestream-this-saturday/) **Published:** May 11, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Our next producer livestream is this coming Saturday, 16th May! And this time, you get to help Aonia build an NPC for a future event. **Content:** During our last livestream, Orael and Aonia asked you what kinds of streams you’d like in the future. Foolishly, Aonia suggested one particular concept for a livestream…and you all loved it. So this coming Saturday, 16th May, at 7pm GMT, Aonia will be doing a livestream where you get to help her **build an NPC**! The actual writing and programming of the NPC will not occur live on stream – rather, what will happen is that there will be a series of polls through the stream that pick the NPC’s characteristics, from race to profession. After the stream, Aonia will squirrel herself and your choices away – and the NPC will then appear in a future event! So make sure you’re following us [on Twitch](http://www.twitch.tv/lusternia_official) and have your notifications turned on, plus follow us on [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/lusternia) and [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/lusternia) for updates when we go live on Saturday. **Categories:** Livestreams, News --- ### [Retirement Changes](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/07/retirement-changes/) **Published:** May 7, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** We've reinstated retirement fully in Lusternia! You can once again retire into and out of Lusternia freely. **Content:** As many of you know, when daily credits were introduced into Lusternia, we removed the ability to build any more retirement value. Any value earned prior to that was left at it’s current value and any character created afterwards did not build value. Since that time, other Iron Realms games have implemented daily credits within their games and have continued to allow players to retire. Due to this, we wanted to bring back retirement and once again allow you to retire. Please refer to HELP RETIREMENT for more information regarding retirement. Couple of points to keep in mind when it comes to retirement. - Minimum credit worth to retire is once again 1000 credits. - Generally, Lessons and Credits (or artifacts that trade in for credits) - Aethergoop items, Wondercrystals, and a few other things do no count towards retirement. All retirement values will be re-calculated with your current credit worth. **Categories:** News --- ### [April 2020 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/08/april-2020-artbard-results/) **Published:** May 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for April! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for April! If you want a chance to join them next month, take a look at HELP ARTBARD and get your entries in by the end of May. A couple of reminders about submissions! First, please do not resubmit works you have previously entered, even if they did not placed. Second, a reminder that you’re very welcome to submit to both the Artisanal and Bardic contests, but you will only place in one of them (whichever contest you place higher in). ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s *My Little Dirigible* #### Runner-Up Aishe’s *The One Law: A Poetic Interpretation* #### Merit Ayisdra’s *Palga and the Body Changer* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Olethea’s *Into the Fulcrux* #### Runner-Up Esei’s *The Blackthorns* and Gurashi’s *You are MUCH Smaller than Before* #### Merit Ethna’s *Forest* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Covid-19 Update](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/06/covid-19-update/) **Published:** May 6, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** An update from Lusternia's team about the measures being taken to care for staff and volunteers during Covid-19. **Content:** We wanted to give you all an update on how the Lusternia team is doing amidst the Covid-19 crisis. It is hugely important to us not only to offer all of you somewhere to be during this time, but to do everything we can to care for our own team. We are witnessing many other companies fail to care adequately for their staff, and this is something we consider unacceptable. Lusternia is what it is because of the incredible people we have here, be they player or volunteer staff or producer. We also believe it is important to be transparent about these measures, so that you know for certain that we are treating our people well. All of our team, much like all of you, are affected in different ways by the measures put in place to get us through this pandemic. Many of us have been forced to work from home; some are key workers still going into workplaces; some are forced to not only do this but also care for children and the vulnerable. There is no two ways about this: right now, it is incredibly hard. No two days are the same, and sometimes it really can be just too much to even log in. We are doing two main things to support our volunteers through this time, and continue to review things regularly to ensure there is nothing more we need to be doing. Firstly, we are keeping in touch with all of them, checking in and making sure that they are okay – not as colleagues, but as friends. Just like we’ve seen all of you doing, we are supporting each other as much as we can. Secondly, we are letting them take whatever time they need away from Lusternia. This may mean that you do not see some Patron(s) as much as you would like. We’re sorry for this, as we know Divine interaction is a huge part of Lusternia. But we’re all people up here, and we’re all dealing with the myriad of traumas and problems that this situation has created. We promise we’re looking after all of them, and if they vanish for a time, you don’t need to worry. When Divine roles go fully inactive, we will do everything we can to make this clear in-game. Those handling things administrative – which includes issues, designs, library books, artifact requests, support emails and more – are doing their best to stay up to date with everything. However, our response times in these areas has been and will continue to be slower than we would like. We are grateful for how patient you have all been thus far, and will continue to get back to you on things as fast as we are able. If it has been a couple of weeks and you’ve not heard something, please do email us at support@lusternia.com. Thank you all for all of your support, and to our Iron Realms family for being just as wonderful. This is a horrible time that feels unbearable at points, but it is made so much more tolerable by how wonderful our community is. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension 2020 Dates](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/01/ascension-2020-dates/) **Published:** May 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This year's Ascension is at a very different time - so we're giving you the dates in advance to help you plan! **Content:** Each year in Lusternia, the Vernal Seals come under threat and must be defended, with a challenge to every Seal collecting those Nine who are worthy to stand in the Final Trial and hold aloft the Staff of Ascension. Though they yet stand strong, this year we are holding the Ascension event at a very different time. As such, we want to give you advance warning of what this year’s dates and times will be! Please remember that these dates and times are for your OOC use only. Discussing them IC is not permitted until an Ascension has been called for in-character. You should also be aware that some of these events are not in the order that you are used to. Double check your times, dates and Seals! --- **6th June 2020** 11pm GMT – Seal of Chaos Seal of Beauty Submissions Open **7th June 2020** 6pm GMT – Seal of Justice **13th June 2020** 4pm GMT – Seal of Harmony **14th June 2020** 7pm GMT – Seal of Nature **20th June 2020** 4pm GMT – Seal of Life **21st June 2020** 2pm GMT – Seal of Knowledge Seal of Beauty Submissions Close **27th June 2020** 6pm GMT – Seal of Death **28th June 2020** 6pm GMT – Seal of War Seal of Beauty Announced **11th July 2020** 9pm GMT – Final Trial of Ascension **Categories:** News --- ### [The Return of Auctions!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/05/01/the-return-of-auctions/) **Published:** May 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** It's auction time once more this coming month, with not one, not two, but FOUR different auctions that cover artifacts and custom items both old and new. **Content:** For the month of May, we have a couple things for you to take advantage of and look forward to! We’ll be having a 30% credit sale, meaning you’ll get an additional 30 credits for every 100 purchased! Double XP Tuesdays will help you get to your experience/essence goals. And lastly, we’ll be holding four separate auctions throughout the May. The first action will start Friday evening EST at the weave and run for one week, followed by 3 more auctions throughout the month. The first and third auctions will be gold auctions whilst the second and fourth auctions will be credit auctions. We do have a couple new artifacts going up for auction based on some of your feedback so we hope you enjoy them! We’ll be auctioning a homestead that won’t be required to be within an organization territory, several customizations for emotes, demigod entrance and exits, teleport messages, typecasts (for orgs/clans), stoles/costumes, dolls, ikons etc. One new custom item will be a shop by the Grand Junction that will be up for auction. It’ll act as a homestead with a shop attached, though what you see there now is what you’re buying initially – there is just room to expand in the future. The shop will be linked to the aetherplex, and comes with all of the storage upgrades. The shop is available for you to check out now! Here’s what will be auctioned each week currently. We may add items throughout the month if there are loud requests for them (like artiesigils maybe?). **Week 1 (Gold Auction)** Gloves of Harvesting Gloves of Mastery Hammer of Clangorum’s Mastery Magic Pantograph Magic Poisoner’s Gloves Magic Scribe’s Quill Magic Spatula Silver Spoon Magic Tailor Shears Silver Jeweler’s Hammer Silver Tattoo Needle Cubix Doctoral Tam Changeling Intaglio An Endowment of the Arts Pliers of Clangorum Zombie Skin Sempiternal Libram (new!) Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Typecast Custom Stole/Costume **Week 2 (Credit Auction)** Non-org Homestead Custom Emote Custom Stole/Costume Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Ikon Thinking Cap (new!) Vellum Starchart (new!) Piercing Eye (new!) Gnomish Scentomatic 3000 (new!) Sempiternal Libram (new!) Cement Socks Boots of Shanth Chaos Hamster Plushie Shears of Atropos Cloak of Thorns Wand of Ice Wand of Illusions HyperPyramid **Week 3 (Gold Auction)** A twisted Censer of the Tainted Earth A shadowy Censer of the Merciless Crow A pale Censer of the Majestic Hart A burning Censer of the Sacred Flame A misty Censer of the Clouds An icy blue Censer of the Shifting Seas Ring of Rubeus Sempiternal Libram (new!) Cubix Doctoral Tam Changeling Intaglio An Endowment of the Arts Pliers of Clangorum Zombie Skin Chaos Hamster Plushie Shears of Atropos Cloak of Thorns Custom Emote Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Typecast Custom Stole/Costume **Week 4 (Credit Auction)** Non-org Shop Custom Emote Custom Stole/Costume Custom Entrance/Exit Custom TeleportMsg Custom Doll Thinking Cap (new!) Vellum Starchart (new!) Piercing Eye (new!) Gnomish Scentomatic 3000 (new!) Sempiternal Libram (new!) Cement Socks Boots of Shanth Chaos Hamster Plushie Shears of Atropos Level 4 Crit Rune A Great Rune of Solid Mass Amulet of Resurrection Vampirism Ring Pentagon Puzzle **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Darkness and Flame](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/29/of-darkness-and-flame/) **Published:** April 29, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Success and catastrophe are served in equal measure to the City of Magnagora, as a True Dragon rains down fire and - well, other dragons - upon them. **Content:** While Magnagora had been spared the devastating attention of draconic visitors plaguing the nations of the Basin for some time now, its citizens knew well that they need to arm themselves for war regardless. Some, like Uzriel d’Vanecu, had been collecting information for years now but it wasn’t until early Shanthin, 558 CE, that the call for such had come from the Demon Lords of Nil themselves. Their apostles had delivered the missive to each Guild to collate all available information on the previous visits and prepare to report it before the Supreme Master Luciphage himself within the month. And so Magnagorans set off to draw upon their networks to suss out what they could, every detail a potential weapon or layer of armour. While they worked, the Necromentate became agitated, fighting against its bindings with intensity typical of a prophecy brewing within. Magnagorans made quick work of the preparations and many witnessed the prophecy offered to Toshiko Zayah which warned against the appetites of the “pale ones” and a future which would see “darkness consumed by flame”. As is often with prophecy, it was unclear whether darkness referred to the city of Magnagora itself or something else altogether, but even the most elementary reading implied the destructive wrath of the draconic envoys who were soon to arrive. At the beginning of Roarkian, Magnagora had been called to attend the Supreme Master at the Throne of the Beast where in attendance were not just Magnagorans but the Demon Lords and Lady as well – Nifilhema, Ashtorath, and Baalphegar. Thus did a lengthy war council begin with the Warlady Kailanna n’Kylbar calling upon envoys of each Guild to present their findings. Uzriel came armed with a lengthy scroll, Toshiko spoke passionately of his time witnessing draconic destruction firsthand, and Niavene D’Cente spoke on behalf of the Infernals. When the presentations were done, it was time to plan a suitable defence strategy. Having learnt of the dragon’s thirst for temporal energy, the Demon Lords urged the city to hide theirs and cast the artifacts from their minds lest the dragons pluck it from there. The dragon’s telepathic strength could also be turned into a vulnerability, they surmised, with Magnagora’s own Necromentate. Bringing their black dome to full capacity had been set as a priority. Now it was time to go on the offensive. The seers at Magnagora’s disposal had been consulted by Kalas Vexacion and Toshiko, providing additional windows into the future. And it was the future that Magnagora sought to thwart, and prophecy they sought to subvert. Rather than oppose the envoys, the Demon Lords plotted to have the city manipulate and seduce them to Magnagoran ways. Draconic allies would be nothing short of extraordinary for the Engine. Since permitting the dragons free access to the Megalith of Doom could well spell doom upon Magnagora, the scientific minds of the city rallied to a summit at the d’Murani Tower. Of the endless proposals, it was Shaddus D’Cente’s vapour delivery idea that got the minds of Snaikka i’Xiia and Vittoria d’Lardick racing. Well did they remember the case of the gasline-feeding, mutated rats of Magnagora. It required Vittoria not only to restore the ecosystem of the sewers to banish them back underground but also Edwin d’Vanecu to serve as a phlebotomist to research the effects of their venom. Edwin was summarily called into the meeting to share his expertise and before long a plan was born. There was only one problem – the scale of the project. This was no mere valve turning that Lamplighter Lain could accomplish. They required an experienced engineer so Shaddus had set off to inquire with Victor von’Lochli, the resident Geochemancy expert. Too occupied with other matters, Victor had sent Magnagorans after one of his students – Ragash Chokuul. While the summit continued, scouts had been sent out to track down the man and it was Kalas Ealou who managed the task in Rasebal i’Xiia’s cavernous laboratory. Brought back the city, Ragash was ecstatic for the project and set off to run maintenance on the “old girl” – Nosfydra, the Heart of the Megalith of Doom – from whence all tainted fumes running through the Magnagoran gasline network originate. While Ragash worked, Magnagorans set off to cloak their temporal projects. Whatever it was that the Iniquitous Society had going on had resulted in Kailanna, Sapphira d’Vanecu, Uzriel, and Vatul Feyranti initiating a blood drive with Edwin d’Vanecu back to his old duties. Meanwhile, the Infernal Mandate dabbled in Necromancy underneath the Necropolis with Primarch Shango D’Cente, Ealou, and Kalas Ixion ensuring the safety of their interests. Finally, the Heralds Vexacion, Shaddus, along with their Harbinger Veldrin D’Cente, performed a ritual that sent the acrid scent of ozone wafting upon the air overground. Thus prepared, they waited. But it was not the envoys that came first. On the 1st of Estar, 559 CE, a blast of hot air heralded the arrival of a scarred, red-scaled dracnari matriarch. Her piercing blue eyes had taken in the entirety of the Necropolis and she was not pleased with what she was seeing. Warlady Kailanna, Uzriel, and Shaddus welcomed her and tried to pry her for information, but she was tight-lipped about draconic matters. She asked that Magnagora not oblige the dragons when they come as she did not wish for them to imbibe of the power that Magnagora had to offer. But no promise was made, for the Warlady chose to act in the best interests of the city rather than comply with vague requests of dragonkind. Thus scorned, the matriarch left. In the evening, Nosfydra saw more activity than it had in decades with people running up and down its levels, adjusting valves to regulate smog flow, and ducking blasts of steam. Under Ragash’s direction, the clockwork behemoth had been readied for its ultimate challenge as midnight struck, and a new venting outlet had been prepared in the Gloaming. In the name of science, the pipe had been thoroughly tested by Shaddus’ inhaling of its fumes and Veldrin’s flammability test. Neither worked out well for them or the witness to their experiments, Nyana Wyrdbane. Before long, the foretold pale ones had come. Five draconic emissaries arrived to behold the Megalith of Doom, their scales translucent and their robes flowing like silver liquid. They broke out into a quarrel almost immediately and one of them left as the power coursing through the Necropolis had woke a sense of unease in her. The remaining dracnari demanded a tribute of power and Magnagora was eager to oblige them, just not with the Megalith of Doom. With their honeyed words, they began to regale the dracnari with tales of the power they had prepared as an offering. Suspicious of such immediate supplication and mistrustful of the ease with which the city was luring them to their city, another of the emissaries left in a hurry. Of the three that remained, each desired to see some of the ways of Magnagora before they would entertain their offer. The first one set off with Shango, Veldrin, and Nyana to witness duels at the Midnight Coliseum, the second one wished to see the growth and evolution of the city at the construction site of the Clock Tower with Sapphira, Uzriel, Vexacion, and Kalnid i’Xiia in tow; and the third one desired to be shown how the city looks after its own and was brought to the College of Necromantic and Tainted Research by Kailanna, Niavene, Vatul, and Shaddus. While the visitors were being entertained, Ealou obtained the final spikes for the Necromentate, bringing it to full power in the nick of time. The seduction was going flawlessly at first but then the trouble began. Kalnid mentioned the enslavement and torturing of souls that Magnagora dabbles in, upsetting the second dracnari, but Uzriel managed to turn the conversation around. The Warlady herself implied those who are weak are cast down to the Undercity and left to their own devices to the third dracnari, but Niavene brought the conversation around by speaking highly of the d’Murani soup that is fed to said outcasts and the honest work that is found for them. This pleased the dracnari for he much approved of looking after one’s own regardless of their situation. The first dracnari, however, was soon after brought to the n’Rotri Spike by Shango and shown not only the “honest work” offered to the beggars but also the punishment of self-proclaimed Empress Kebira n’Rotri – now mute, deaf, and chained. An attempt was made to save the situation but it soon backfired spectacularly and the dracnari left the city in an outraged huff. And then there were two. Sufficiently convinced that giving Magnagoran ways a try was worth their time, the two dracnari gathered in Gloaming with the entire city in attendance. With Magnagora on one side of the vent and the dracnari on the other, they waited for Ragash to release the full might of the fumes. When the blast came, it threw the emissaries to the ground with its ferocity and they screamed and clawed at the ground as the tainted smog invaded their lungs. But soon it was over and the city held its breath while the air cleared. The two rose, full of excitement and energy. Their bodies were blackened, something like smog trapped beneath their translucent scales, and their eyes leaked a black liquid. They could do it now, they proclaimed; they were ready. Discarding their guises, they rose upon dark wings into the sky, each easily the size of a Magnagoran quarter. They trumpeted their joy while circling each other above the smog-clad city, ready to undertake their final mission. Then the sky was torn open. A vicious tearing ripped the fabric of the Prime Plane open with three crude slashes, beyond them the vibrant clouds of Aetherspace. Then came a shadow, swathing the entire city of Magnagora in darkness. The very air trembled, from the city itself to the furthest reaches of the mountain ranges encircling the Basin of Life. And thus did she appear – a True Dragon. She could not be anything but, smashing through reality and leaving it torn behind her. She filled the sky with blood-red scales, blue eyes dancing as the hottest flame, and enormous webbed wings. Her horned head turned to the two blackened dragons, laughably small in comparison, she roared – her bloodied jaws stretching as wide as the Clock Tower is tall. There were no speeches, no discussions. She engaged the dragons immediately, sending one plummeting towards the city with a whip of her tail. Before it managed to stop, the dragon skidded over the roof of the Silent Cathedral, the Clock Tower, and came to a stop only at the Tower of Midnight Domination. Demolishing one of its towers, it took back to the skies – but just as it was to rejoin the battle, an agonising screeching rose from the depths of the city. The Necromentate was fighting and while it did not phase the True Dragon, the Mature Dragons were thrown off course enough to move the entire fight to take place over the Sea of Despair. In their first attempt, one of the dragons entangled itself around the True Dragon’s jaws, while the other utilised a time magic enhanced attack of black smog. It only served to antagonise the True Dragon further for she incinerated the dragon around her snout with blue-white flame that scorched the entire sky enough to clear it of clouds all the way to the Inner Sea. The second dragon tried to cower and flee, blink away at the last second, but she made up the distance in no time and had him in her jaws. She bit down, crushing it, and thrust the entire dragon at Magnagora, smashing him against the docks where he sank, taking the Bridge of Torment along with him. Thus ended the very short lives of the dragons who allied with Magnagora, but it was not yet the end of their dealings with dragons. The behemoth left the skies through the very tear she used to enter the Prime Plane and sealed it, but soon visited Magnagora again. This time, however, she was back in her dracnari matriarch guise. Furious with Magnagora for forcing her hand, she berated them at the Necropolis. Her outrage was met with foolhardy accusations and surliness. This was a mythical creature the size of the entire city of Magnagora, being told the fate of the two Mature Dragons was her fault. Be it folly or belief in the True Dragon’s benevolence, despite a display to the contrary, Magnagora lost its chance to learn anything of dragon matters. She came to honour them for not making her an empty promise but left, having revealed only that the Mature Dragons are driven mad by Yugomaru. Three intense months had gone by in a blink of an eye, leaving Magnagorans with more questions than answers. Had they subverted the prophecy by avoiding the city being destroyed by fire? Or had the darkness been the mutated dragons consumed by the flame-hued True Dragon? **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Wisdom of Angels](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/28/the-wisdom-of-angels/) **Published:** April 28, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The City of New Celest succeed in surviving their own visit from the Mature Dragons with the unexpected combination of childrens' games and a holy broom. **Content:** Portents and prophecy had troubled the city of New Celest for some months before the Supernal Elohora’s concern, felt by the Celestine Aeryon, drew citizens of New Celest to the cosmic plane of Celestia. There they found the Supernal Raziela was not where she was expected, though a strange giggling could be heard. As the Celestians looked about themselves for the laughter’s origin, a strange iridescent dracnari soon manifested amidst smoke and mist. Though the citizens questioned her about Raziela’s whereabouts, the drancari’s replies were enigmatic, as if toying with them. To the relief of all, however, Raziela soon reappeared, tagging the dracnari with a playful laugh. Surprised by the worried crowd that had gathered in her absence, Raziela soon explained that she had merely been playing a game with the dracnari, who had promised the Supernal answers to any question she asked in return. The iridescent dracnari invited the others present to join the game, offering them an answer for each time they succeeded in finding her. The Celestians agreed, though many doubted the dracnari’s intentions, and Romaan in particular took up resolute guard beside the Loving Radiance. A game of hide and seek ensued across the lands of Celestia. Tridemon, Aknarin, Aeral and Mjoll each found the disguised dracnari in turn, finding her as a cherub, then an angel, a deva, and an archangel. It was again Tridemon who discovered her in her final shape – she had switched places with Raziela herself. Their victory assured, the citizens conferred together to determine what question the finders would ask, each in turn. First the True Dragon revealed herself as Mamira Shika, the Tranquil Truth, and she warned New Celest of the imminent arrival of the mature dragons that had previously wreaked havoc elsewhere in the Basin of Life. Before the True Dragon could depart, the Supernal Raziela claimed her final question, for indeed the Loving Radiance had been the first to find the dracnari. With this, the dracnari mentioned that the mature dragons wished to achieve Yugomaru. Armed with the warning and clues of Mamira Shika, the Supernals urged the citizens to learn all they could of the previous draconic meddlings within the Basin, while they took counsel to determine the wisest course of action. Less than a month later, the citizens of New Celest were once again summoned to Celestia, where the united Supernals outlined their intentions. New Celest would welcome the emissaries when they arrived, but they would also prepare for treachery by blessing the relics of the saints that had long defended the guilds from the ravages of the timequakes. First the Acolyte Yuleshka requested ingredients for a new incense, which Tridemon lit to bless the Thalassos of the Sanctifiers. In return, the Thalassos provided a phial of seawater, which Qoivhae used to bless the Ecclesiarchy’s Tears of Saint Tresalyne. When blessed, the Tears emitted a ray of light that revealed a secret passage to the Starry Grotto, and a memory pearl that had been deposited there by the waves. After consultation with Professor Shervalian, the pearl was placed within the Pool of Celestial Bodies; the water elemental that dwells within the pool was summoned in the form of the long dead Empress Sinenth I, speaking of the Empress’s ascension during the Nature Wars and of the krokani paladin, Anatolyi Paavik, who underwent unification to become the Dawn’s Promise. The discovery of the saint’s race caught Professor Shervalian off guard, and she and Yanitone Symfale spoke together excitedly of this new discovery which had been long buried by imperial historians. The Empress’s memories contained further knowledge, however; the Saint of the Dawn’s Promise possessed two relics, one which the Archons already owned in the form of the Shards of Morning’s Absolution, but the other – the Broom of Dawn’s Promise – had been returned to his family, whom Yanitone had traced to the Grey Moors. To the Grey Moors went the citizens, and Tridemon soon tracked the broom to Mother Olya, keeper of the Mysterious Menagerie. Mother Olya was reluctant to part with an item of such important historical significance to the krokani, particularly to the city who had long neglected to remember the Saint’s name and race. Both Gabe and Tridemon prevailed upon her to at least lend it to the city, promising solemnly that they would return it once the urgent need had passed. Mother Olya held them to that promise. Upon their return to the city of New Celest, Gabe wielded the Broom of Dawn’s Promise triumphantly before the Shards of Morning’s Absolution, and all witnessed the blessing of the three relics united, spreading over the city. Light essence was used to further empower the broom to better channel these combined forces, and then, all that was left to do was wait for the emissaries’ arrival. The new year came, and with it, the emissaries arrived in the form of two colourless, arrogant dracnari. King Aknarin and Yinuish received the pair and brought them to Celestia, where the dracnari soon became agitated in the face of the serene demeanour of Elohora herself. They demanded that the Supernals tell them how to gain power and “become Time,” and when the Lady of Eternal Light could not give them this wisdom, they abandoned all pretence of civility. Hissing a warning, the emissaries fled Celestia to vent their ire upon the city in their draconic forms along with three of their fellows. The city, however, was ready for them. The empowered relics combined to repel the initial onslaught of the dragons, forcing them to part ways and focus their destruction on individual districts of the city. Taking arms, King Aknarin brought the broom of the Dawn’s Promise to bear, driving each of them off in turn and restoring peace to the city. At last overcome, the dragons fled from the Light’s courage and might, swearing vengeance. Yet all was not quite done. Each guild learned that such use of the relics had left a lasting effect upon them, revealing visions that spoke to each holy item’s significance. As for the Broom of Dawn’s Promise, it was returned to Mother Olya after completing its sacred duty, for New Celest had given her their word. Many hoped, however, it would return to the city of Saint Anatolyi Paavik once more. And perhaps one day, it shall. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Demigod Perks and Levels Beyond 100 Released!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/18/demigod-perks-and-levels-beyond-100-released/) **Published:** April 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A huge change has dropped for demigods in Lusternia today, with levels extending to 200 and demigod perks now accessible to buy! **Content:** Greetings, I’m happy to announce that we’ve released the second part of the Endgame Rework that we’ve been doing. In this part, we’ve added the ability for Demigods and Ascendants to continue levelling up by spending their hard earned essence. Check out POWERS INFO NEWLEVEL for more information. For every 5 levels you gain, you’ll earn a perk point that you can then spend for additional abilities. These abilities can be seen by using PERKS LIST. On top of this, you’ll now gain essence for just being active within Lusternia. You’ll gain 100,000 essence for each hour of just being around and doing stuff, so you’ll be gaining essence just doing the things you love to do! The essence is awarded once per game year and you’ll receive a message about it, but you can use CONFIG YEARESSMSG OFF to stop receiving that message if you so choose. With this released, we will be opening up reports in the next few days so get your facts together and consult HELP REPORTWRITING for advice on how to write a report! We’ll also be getting to work on our Endzone project! We hope you enjoy! Orael **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [11th April Q&A Video & Transcription](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/13/11th-april-qa-video-transcription/) **Published:** April 13, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** If you missed it live, you can now watch the recording of Aonia and Orael's Q&A stream from the 11th April. Includes full transcription! **Content:** On the 11th April, Aonia and Orael held a Q&A livestream on Twitch! For those of you who weren’t able to attend, the recording is here, along with a transcript for those who require or prefer one. We apologise for some of the audio quality – we have done our best to rescue it in this recording, and will make sure future streams are better. Please be aware that some parts of the transcription may seem to lack context due to the fact that Aonia and Orael were responding to questions and comments from the Twitch chat. --- https://www.facebook.com/Lusternia/videos/1082019408835106/ --- **Aonia**: Brilliant! So welcome everyone, to our Q&A stream. We are trying to stream semi-regularly, and this is a format that people have liked in the past. Estarra did it in the form of Ask Estarra videos; we’re doing it a little less extravagently than her, because no one could ever hope to top the Ask Estarra videos. So we’ve got some questions that you’ve all submitted. If you have not heard my voice before, I’m Aonia, and I’m one of the co-producers of Lusternia. I’m here with Orael, who is our other wonderful producer, and so we’re going to answer some questions for you today! We’ve had quite a few submitted, I’m afraid we’re not going to get through all of them, but we will do our best. We’re hoping to run for about an hour, so maybe we’ll have a chance for some questions from the chat, but we will see how we go. So our first question, we’ve sort of answered already. Because the first question is from Esei, and the first question is: ‘How do you pronounce Orael ((Oar-ay-l)) and Aonia ((Ay-oh-knee-uh))?’ Like that! Orael, how do you pronounce Orael and Aonia? **Orael**: Well, I never…I never actually pronounce anything right, so I’ll just go with what you say. **Aonia**: *laughs* **Orael**: Everything that I have in my head is all different than how other people say it, so… **Aonia**: Yeah. We also answer to ‘Oreo’ and ‘Vowels’, so that’s the alternative pronunciation, if you prefer a different one. *laughs* Okay, so we’ve grouped our questions into two main categories, although one of them is ‘everything else’, so our first category is sort of our “Roadmap 2020” – our immediate plans and things related to those projects. So we’re gonna go through those together, and answer all of the questions related to that. So we first of all had a very general question from Uzriel of – and I’m going to pronounce all of your names, so you can tell me if I’m pronouncing your own names wrong. Uzriel has asked us: ‘What is on the Roadmap for 2020 and beyond?’ So, Orael, do you want to start off by talking about what you’re doing right now? **Orael**: Yeah, yeah, I can start. So right now, my big priority is end-game part two, which involves the ability to purchase levels, to get the perk system in place, the passive generation of essence; all that stuff that comes along with it. Hopefully it should be pretty quick, I’m pretty…pretty far into it already, so it shouldn’t be too much longer, but. You know, sometimes things pop up and surprise me, so I don’t know exactly how much longer it is, but that’s the next thing to finish off. Once we get that released, what I do want to do is open up reports again for everybody, since it’s been about six months since the last time. So you guys can start getting your reports ready to go. We’ll get that done, and then…yeah, I mean, I can stop there for now. **Aonia**: *laughs* Yeah, so that actually also answers a question from Misericorde, who wanted to know when the next round of envoy reports will be open. So yeah, it will be after that; we don’t know exactly when. Concurrent to that, we also have a couple of things going on. As you can imagine, Orael and I are often working on separate projects concurrent to each other, so one of the big things that I am looking after at the moment is Ascension. Obviously we’ve had the ongoing events that are leading up to Ascension, thank you everyone who has gotten involved in those and for your wonderful feedback; watch out for the last weekend of this month! I understand things…you know there might be some dragons, I don’t know! As…In terms of the Ascension event itself…so Ixion has asked if you can get a general idea of when Ascension is going to be. I can tell you that the Seal events for Ascension will be through June, and the final Trial will be in July. We will be announcing all of the dates for those on the first of May. The events will be in a slightly different order this year: they will still all be on weekends, it will be the normal format of generally we’ve got two events a weekend, but what we’ve done is order them so it’s a bit better for us basically. We’ve got the events in an order where we’re not overwhelmed, so you might find them in a slightly different alignment to what you’d expect, but we’ll release all of that for you on the first of may. In addition to Ascension, we’ve also had some questions – we had quite a few questions from people about late game bashing, end-game PVE content, and we’ve had various different versions of this question, especially related to Astral being particularly strange right now because there’s lots of people in there bashing because you all want essence for your new powers. So, the other thing that we’re working on – and the thing that I’m starting work on soon and that Orael will be working on once the second phase of the demigod changes is in – is what we are calling End Zone. We’re not going to reveal everything to you about End Zone right now, I will say we’re incredibly excited about it. It’s going to be a very, very different way of bashing. We want it to be genuinely challenging, you’ve asked for a long time for something that can really challenge people who are into PVE and will be a bit more dynamic and interesting. It will completely turn everything you think you know about bashing in Lusternia on it’s head, and that is something that we’re very excited to bring to you. I don’t have a lead time on it…*laughs* Yes, it’s turn-based hunting. Yeah, so I can’t tell you how long it’s going to take. We have been slightly delayed on starting it; whilst fortunately by the nature of all of us being remote COVID-19 hasn’t had a HUGE effect on us, it does effect all of us individually, and unfortunately where I’d hoped that we were going to start that project a few weeks ago we are a little bit behind. But we are now in a position where we can get picking up on that, and get going with building what is going to be a really exciting area. So yes! We are absolutely looking into…you know, new options for end-game hunting, and that’s something that we’re very excited about. I don’t know if you want to say anything else about that, Orael. **Orael**: No, I think you…I think you covered it. I think the exciting thing is that it’s going take everything you think you know about bashing and turn it on its head. It’s going to require a lot more choices and reactions and fun stuff, so…it should be good. **Aonia**: And I will say that it…we are aiming in this instance to release one area, but we’re designing it so that it’s something that we can build more versions of in the future. Both in terms of a lore capacity, as to what the area is, and also in a function capacity. So it’s absolutely something that we think that we can do more with in the future: for example, doing versions you are required to go through with a certain number of people or…you know, different challenge versions… **Orael**: Or solo…you know, solo challenges- **Aonia**: -Yeah, yeah- **Orael**: -or groups. Everything, the whole nine yards. **Aonia**: Exactly. So…but in this instance, it is just the one. So we’ll have more news on that for you in the future! The…what were the other things we had here? Okay, so I did want to…so in terms of looking at our roadmap as a whole, we do have some stuff that we…*laughs* I was going to say secret things, but it’s more background things that aren’t relevant for talking about. We have a bunch of things that we need Orael to do, basically, that don’t necessarily have an impact upon you directly. They are sort of background things that help our volunteers out, or help us, you know…sort of…underlying stuff to help us work on other things. So we have got that as well, and I mention that…I realise that it’s a weird thing to mention, but mostly so you can bear in mind that…you know concurrent to these major projects, we have got other, smaller things going on as well. Whilst we’re really lucky that we’ve got Ianir around helping out still, it’s…there’s a lot that we need to get done, basically, and we’re very keen to ensure that we don’t try and take on too much at once. There’s loads of things that you want that we’d really like to give you, but we think it’s most important that what we give you is good, and that it’s completely finished, and that we give it enough time to settle once it’s released so we’ve gotten all…any bugs out of it, any changes we need to make balance wise, anything like that. We don’t want to rush, basically. So where things take a bit more time, like Orael was saying earlier: sometimes we go to do something and something crops up and *laughs* suddenly it takes a little longer than we expected, that sort of thing. One of the other background things that I actually do, and this is actually the thing that is my primary focus outside of events and lore work: I’ve been working really hard to make sure that our volunteers have the capacity to…do really cool things. So you’ll be aware that one of the things that our volunteers do is help us with administrative stuff behind the scenes, but we’ve been working really hard to make sure that they’re not overworked, that they can focus on the things they want to, that their workloads are manageable. Because we believe that that’s going to make them be able to stay around longer, have a lot more fun, bring you guys a lot more fun, as well, be able to focus more on things like…patron work, and stuff like that. So that actually occupies the vast majority of my time; is looking after them. Because the only…you know…they’re, they’re…amasing, basically. **Orael**: Yeah. Yeah, and we want to make sure that they have the time and desire to do fun stuff for you, too. Because they love…they love doing it, so we want to make sure that they’re not drowned in other stuff. So they can focus on what they enjoy, too. **Aonia**: Exactly. And we’re hoping that that means that you get to see more of them as their godroles, and…you know, have more fun interactions with NPCs and things like that. But they can’t give you that if…you know, they’ve been overloaded with work. So that’s…we think that’s a really important thing that’s a really high priority for us, as a…as a team. The only thing I missed in there…that’s related to all of that… Oh, we have got a follow-up question. This new hunting area will be attached to the main game, but instancing is something we’ve considered and talked about. That’s about as much of an answer as I can give you…in terms of whether we’re using instancing or not. Yeah, it…it is something we’ve looked at. And actually, this last question is also from you, Nelras. So Nelras has asked: ‘What would be an appropriate in-character explanation for the range of demigod powers opening up to everyone, and will the next phase of the demigod overhaul be tied to an event or will it just be released as a mechanics change?’ So that’s two questions. So the first question: in terms of roleplaying, your demigod powers…erm…every demigod, whether they’re a demigod or an Ascendant of any kind, has an att..attachan…attachment, pardon, to the Domotheos realms. I think it makes absolute sense to roleplay that you have an affinity to a Domoth, if, for example: you picked up a power from the Harmony Domoth, you might want to roleplay that you have a stronger affinity to that one. Really, you can pick it, because the Domoths are as fundamental a part of…of demidivinity as a whole, they’re not just a thing for Ascendants, otherwise…you know, demigods wouldn’t be able to challenge and hold Domoths and things like that. So I think there’s a really strong link there that you can play on in terms of roleplay. **Aonia**: And in terms of events related to the demigod overhaul. So, events take a huge amount of time and preparation. We likely won’t have an event for phase two. We didn’t have one for phase one, because we actually…had six weekend long events in a row, over a period of six weeks! *laughs* We are partially still recovering from that; a load of those were player organised that there was a lot of admin support for. But basically, yeah, we’d love to do millions of events, but we can’t, *laughs* realistically, for these things. No, there won’t be any event attached to them. **Aonia**: Orael, we have one more follow-up on End Zone which is: ‘How many people will the area be able to handle?’ **Orael**: Well…I don’t know. **Aonia**: *laughs* **Orael**: We’ll have to figure it out. Once we start diving into it, we’ll…we’ll kinda get a good group feel, and this first one we’ll probably try to make it so it can handle any size group, right? So… **Aonia**: Yeah, and I think our idea for- **Orael**: Future ones will…- **Aonia**: -Yeah, exactly- **Orael**: We’ll kinda gear them towards group sizes and individuals, but this first one is…like a…just to get our bearings on everything. We’ll see, we’ll just make it so you know, if you’ve got 30 people good, if you’ve got 10 people, it’ll work out. That’s probably the goal for the first one. **Aonia**: Awesome. So obviously, that’s our…our immediate road map, we do have what we call a star map, which is things going further than that. Our aim is basically, once we get the next round of envoy reports open, we’re going to start seriously looking at what our next big road map project is going to be. By our project, I really mean what Orael’s… *laughs* next big project is going to be. So we’ll look at that then, and we will try and keep you guys in the loop as to what we’re doing. We just want to make sure that…you know we…as I said earlier, we get one thing really sorted before we start pushing too far ahead. **Orael**: Yeah. **Aonia**: So…well, then, that’s our first group of questions. We’ll now move on to…what can best be described as all of the other questions. *laughs* **Orael**: Yeah. *small laugh* **Aonia**: Do you want to…well, actually, we’ve alternated them. So you get to alternate between who you’re listening to, so I’ll…I’ll leave you to it, Orael, the first question is yours. **Orael**: Okay. So this question is from Xenthos, and he’s talking about: ‘We \[the administration\] previously said that alliance mechanics were on the table after the demi rework. Is this still the case, and if there…or…are there any details on how it works in regards to the alliance situation?’ Erm. The alliance mechanics that we talked about were on our star map. They were always kind of…one of those…distant things that you know we would consider looking at at some point in time. It wasn’t ever an immediate, like, “Oh, we gotta do this right away.” So it’s still…it’s definitely still on the star map, ’cause…alliance mechanics can certainly help these situations where it’s 4v2, or whatever. It could kinda help mediate stuff, and alleviate some of the pressure, and whatnot. There’s always a risk that alliance mechanics just…fundamentally stick the alliances into two different factions permanently. But you know on the other hand it could make it really flexible and really fun, on the other side, you know where…you have…you know Gaudiguch declare that they’re helping Glomdoring capture a village, or helping Magnagora capture a village now, or something like that. So there’s definitely stuff we’ve talked about, but there’s nothing concrete as to what the details would be. But the goal would be…just something that would…you know make the game feel less empty, and help people…you know…with the group stuff, I guess is the best way to say it. I don’t know, I hope that that answers your question. **Aonia**: I think the important thing for us is that it adds something. That you know…that it- **Orael**: Yeah, yeah, it’s gotta add something that helps, right? It’s gotta be something that we feel is gonna be a valuable contribution that allows you guys to have more power and… more flexibility to do stuff within the game. So… **Aonia**: Er, cool, so the question I’ve got is a bit related, actually. And this question is from Maligorn, which is…so his question was a lot longer, but it is generally, ‘How do we, as the administration, feel about the current alliance’ which is set up as a four versus two in terms of org numbers. So first of all, we know from a PvP perspective, this sucks, right? Realistically, unless those two orgs have the same number of people, or not just the same number of people, but the same number of…you know, people interested in PvP as those four orgs? Unless you’ve got that balance, then it’s gonna be imbalanced, and it’s going to be unpleasant for the people who are the minority. And we are very aware of that. We really believe that Lusternia is a player-driven game, and this is especially in terms of the political environment in Lusternia. We think that the power to change things is yours, and the…erm, to an extent, the responsibility to change things is yours, and that’s a power that we don’t want to impinge on unless it’s ABSOLUTELY necessary. Right now, we’re really hopeful that things will change in-character for you, and that we won’t need to do that. The one thing that I would add is a reminder that there is a concept of positive metagaming. Erm. So we think of metagaming as awful…right? We think of metagaming as Person One logged into their alternative character to use all the information they gathered on…you know, that sort of thing? Where you’re abusing the knowledge that you’ve gained out-of-character. But technically, you’re metagaming…if you know someone’s having a bad time out-of-character, so you don’t bother them about those guild tasks they still haven’t completed? That’s technically metagaming. There’s a way to use your knowledge for…the positive benefit of people, rather than…you know, to abuse that knowledge. To that end, it isn’t inherently bad to decide to change your alliance because you know the game isn’t fun for a bunch of people, or the PvP isn’t as good. Obviously in-character you’d be like…no, most characters would be like, “I know it’s great. It’s peaceful, we’re getting everything!” But you as an…out-of-character, might be like, “No, I’d like some people to fight. I’d like a more interesting fight.” And if that’s your reason…on an out-of-character level for changing an alliance? That’s absolutely fine, as long as you roleplay it out in-character, you have an in-character explanation for everything at the end, and it’s a positive use…not an abuse…yes, exactly you use those powers for good and…think about the fact that, you know, this is a game? We’re all here to have fun…erm…and…that, I think is our…erm…our overall stance in terms of that. So I hope that answers your question, I know that was a bit long. And Orael, you have another, slightly related question. **Orael**: Yeah, you know there was a question about revolts and flare timings…in regards to that, right? And I think the question, I don’t have it pulled up, exactly, right here, but…the question said something like 95%…98% of all revolts and flares are falling within a certain time period and they weren’t very random. So I put together a bit of stats on it, I did notice that somebody else, I think it was Kali, put together like…the stats per hour for the last seven hundred some revolts and flares, and it really just backs up what I saw. I just did the last two years, erm…because that’s what the question was. If you break it down by like a four hour period, for revolts and flares, you know from like…12 to 4, 4 to 8, 8 to 12, etc. Like they all, it averages out pretty well. We’re talking…you know, for revolts it’s we’re…having an average of 17 revolts that happened each four hour period in the past two years, for the total. And same for the flares, the flares are actually even better where it’s…you know, like 11 flares for 12 to 4, 12 flares for 4 to 8, 12 flares from 8 to 12. Erm…so the…the data doesn’t back up that it’s all happening at one certain timeframe that helps one org or another…you know because they can plan it out better. It’s actually pretty random, and it’s actually working. Now, I did notice, and the caveat to this…is that…erm. I did notice when I was putting this information together that sometimes there will be a week or two, or like three revolts in a row, that all happen at the exact same hour like three weeks in a row. So for three weeks in a row it will happen you know…from 8 pm to 9 pm, and then it will go back to being more random. So sometimes it may seem like it is, because you’ll have short little stints where it’s all like…it happens at noon for two or three revolts in a row, or something like that. But for the most part it’s definitely random enough that we’re not really worried about it. And there’s nothing…for us to do to really change it at this point, though. **Aonia**: Yeah, we have…we have changed some timings in the past. We did tweak. Erm…so we had a problem where wildnodes…so wildnodes operates in a different way- **Orael**: -Yeah- **Aonia**: -and wildnodes was basically always happening right at the end of that weave. And that was happening because it was based on the number of players online, and it looking for a certain number and it was never hitting that, so it was firing it at the last possible moment. And we dropped that threshold, and since then it’s definitely…seemed that wildnodes have been a lot more random, well not random because they’re not meant to be random, but a lot more varied in when they are firing. **Orael**: Yeah, on that Sunday. **Aonia**: Yeah. Okay, now for something completely different. *laugh* So we had a question from Jaspet. So apparently there are two baby adders in Oleanvir that spawn dead with no poisons. So I think the reason they spawn dead is related to the quest, but there are a load of baby adders in the area that…don’t have any anatine in them. That is a bug, and I will look at that in the next few days for you, but I also…erm… So we addressed…anatine was scarce for a while because it’s locked behind a quest, which is not ideal. You know…no herbalist has to go and quest before they can harvest some…I was going to say earwort, but that’s a terrible example. But you get…*laughs* you get the idea. So yeah, the problem is they don’t respawn because it’s locked behind a quest, the numbers are off…so I’m also going to look in the next few days at the numbers that are spawning. Whilst anatine isn’t…I understand, as vital to PvP as it used to be? It’s still necessary and the…like…yeah, the quest is a problem, and there’s not that many…so likely my fix will be what Ixion has just suggested: which is that I will just…throw some adders in there. But I’m going to look at it, and I’ll look at that quest properly while I’m there, and hopefully I should be able to look at it properly within the next few days, the next week, so…yes, it is a bug! Partially. And it is also just a general problem, so I will have a look at that for you. **Orael**: There you go. So…then the…you know, moving on, the next question. And this one is probably gonna be…a little dramatic, but the question is about commodities. And, you know, there’s been some talk about how they’re scarce and people are missing out on commodities, you know…to the point where people are saying noobs are leaving, new players are leaving because they can’t get the commodities that they need? And you know, I was saying that there isn’t really a scarcity of commodities and the reason I’m saying that is because…the numbers we have don’t really reflect that. So…if I take a look, just for…you know a guessing game, kinda fun. If I told you right now, looking at things, we have…this commodity, there is…roughly 200,000 of them, sitting in six org stockrooms. And additionally…ah…additionally there’s another 75,000 sitting in player shops, and another 231,000 sitting in the rifts of players who have logged in in the past two weeks, what comm do you think that would be? So there’s roughly…4-500,000 of these comms in game right now. Commodities, not herbs. Coal. Gems? Gems are abundant. Steel. Any other guesses? Is that pretty much it? **Aonia**: My guess is salt. **Orael**: Salt? Salts aren’t comms either, yo. **Aonia**: *laughs* **Orael**: Gems were big. Silk. Cloth. Wood. **Aonia**: There’s a couple of guesses for wood there. **Orael**: Yeah. Now that…the…the answer’s eggs. The answer’s eggs, and eggs happen to be the least popular comm in the game, or commodity. Everything else is…much, much more abundant than them. So when we sit here and say that, “Hey like there…you know, there’s tons of comms in the game.” Like someone said steel? Right now there’s 841,000 steel between all six orgs in their reserves. Platinum? There’s over a million. Wood? Is…erm…500,000 wood. Silk? 832,000. And that’s just in org stock shops. So between the orgs, I mean there’s…so you guys are saying that it’s scarce, but to us it looks like it’s really being scarce…erm because the players are just holding it back. And maybe it’s because you know the Trade Ministers aren’t…releasing it fast enough, or it’s too cheap so people are buying it out a whole bunch, or whatever it is. But there’s definitely enough comms in the game to cover everybody. I mean, if we look at player rifts for people who have logged in in the last two weeks, there’s over 200,000 for pretty much every single comm. Just sitting in player rifts. And that’s players who logged in in two weeks. So…I will say that between all the orgs, it looks like Hallifax is probably the least…stocked of orgs? They’re the ones most likely to run out, they have less than 100,000 of everything. So they’re pretty low…I think Celest is probably the second worst off at this point. So… So that’s why when you guys are saying…er…when we’re hearing that it’s scarce and we’re telling you it’s not…that’s why. So. ‘The outflow overpowers the income’. Well, I mean…you can raise the prices in your shops to help slow the outcome, but when you’re sitting on over a hundred thousand of something, it’s hard to say…that’s the…the issue. So, anyway, that’s kinda where we’re coming from when we say that stocks aren’t really, or commodities aren’t really scarce. That there’s…there’s quite a few of them in the game, available. I mean, we can look at the village things too, and there’s plenty of stuff in the villages as well. I mean most things, especially for the newbies who need stuff? Like they’re not…they’re not looking for thousand of comms, they’re looking for maybe hundreds. And it’s definitely, readily available, pretty much everywhere. So… **Aonia**: Okay, so…erm…the next question is from Misericorde, which is about the quest system and adding quests to the quest system. So if you’re not familiar, quests aren’t…especially older quests are not all in our modern quest system, and I use the word modern. *laughs* It’s existed since before I joined the Havens, so it’s…it’s modern in a relative sense. And basically, Misericorde is asking if there’s anything that all of you can do to help us with getting quests into the quest system. So basically, what it entails for us is that we have to go back through the entire quest, and make sure that you receive the quest at different points. Especially ’cause you can pick quests up when they’re midway through, so we need to make sure that it’s not just you get the quest added at you the start, but it’s at multiple points through it…we make sure at that point, because it’s effectively. What we’re doing is auditing the quest? So at that point, we also make sure that the rewards are good, and the quest as a whole…you know isn’t…it doesn’t have any big, underlying problems that we can easily fix at that point. So it’s not quite just a question of adding the write-up and…it’s not a simple process. It is something we are steadily working through, and slowly more and more are getting in. We have a lot of quests, which is an awesome thing, but obviously for this sort of thing it just means it takes some time. The thing you can do that can help, erm…there is a pinned thread on the forums called Project Quest. If you find a quest that is not in the system, please post it there. If you do want to give us a quick explanation of the quest that we might be able to use, that would be fabulous. Please remember that you’re not allowed to give out solutions to quests on the forums when you’re doing that, but if you want to, you know, write us a description, yeah, that could be helpful. But the important thing is to put it on there, so that we remember that quest exists and we can add it to our list of to-dos, and we have…several volunteers who have slowly and laboriously been working through all of them. There are so many, and it will go on their quest and then it will get tended to as soon as we can. That is the small thing you can do, it’s not-there we go, we’ve got a link to it, thanks Mysrai. That’s unfortunately, though, the most you can do to help us with this particular thing. But it’s still pretty useful! Yes, so that’s me done on that one. **Orael**: Okay. So next question is: the Wondersaddle! Why it was made the way it was, and why we released it so early. So the thing about the Wondersaddle is…it’s obviously a promotional item, right? And the fact is, is…as far as our priorities go? Like, our promotions are pretty low on the priority scale. So we don’t want to spend, you know…a ton of time working on saddles and working on different promotion items to give out to you guys because we’d…we’d rather be focusing on these big ticket items like the endgame stuff and these new End Zones that we just told you about. Those are our priorities, so we’re not spending a whole lot of time on the Wondersaddle you know…to come out…and when we were doing the Wondersaddle, the big goal here was we wanted something that was nice, that you know…it’d be a bonus to have? But it wasn’t a must have. Because if we made it a must have, then the question we’d be getting now is ‘why are we contributing to the power creep?’, and ‘why are we releasing things that are overpowered?’. So we just wanted something that you know…yeah, it’s cool if you have it, but you don’t necessary need it. And you know, as far as like…the regen and that goes, like nobody…I didn’t once think that somebody was going to buy a wondersaddle because their empathing was twice as effective for mana. That wasn’t…you know, that wasn’t anything that we were considering. It was padding, just to make the thing better. Most of our wonder items have padding, you know, like the Wonderwands have got all the different damage types, the Wonderwings have all the different insanity reductions for different spheres. They’ve got…they’ve all got some padding to them. So we just, I said we wanted an item that was nice to have, but it wasn’t a must have. So something that people might enjoy, but not something that people needed. So…and I think that’s okay. And that’s kinda what…we would have done. ‘Adding celerity when it was mounted’…I mean, yeah, maybe it would have been better as a 10 crystal item, but there’s already too much celerity in the game, so. *laughs* Everybody’s got celerity. Celerity off the wazoo. So I don’t necessarily know that we need that, but anyway that’s why…that’s why it was. You know, and so…it wasn’t you know…we weren’t trying to be lame or whatever, we just…we wanted something that was nice but not amasing. And…yeah. **Aonia**: We also, we don’t- **Orael**: -That was it- **Aonia**: -expect every wonderitem or artifact in general to be universal? I mean aside from the obvious thing, that not everyone has a beast? Though…the vast majority of people do, you know it’s…it’s not going to be as useful to everyone? And that’s…that’s okay, and that’s always going to happen with anything that we release, so erm…that’s a thing to bear in mind as well. Er…so… My next question is from Maligorn, and is about Astrology and the stars in Lusternia, so: ‘How do the stars tie into Astrology? How does everyone draw power from these constellations?’ We had a question, might have been from Esei, about what the constellations look like? Where do meteors come from? What is the habitable zone of Lusternia’s systems? These are all really interesting questions. And you know…maybe one day they’ll get answered. **Orael**: *chuckle* **Aonia**: One of the things with…lore is that…we have a lot of things set out, and we have a lot of things that are open. Yeah, I’m not just completely trolling you by pretending to answer this question and then not answering this question. It’s…the question…is a really good example of…you know, lore that we don’t necessarily release? By not answering this now, one day we can give you a really awesome event that’s all about the other planets, or whatever, and I think one of the really cool things is that you can…like in terms of what the constellations look like? You’ve got their names. You want to do art of them, you decide! You know, you…you can fundamentally, it’s stars in the shape of a skull or whatever it is, that’s…*laughs* That’s a good pun, Kali. And er…yeah, so it’s er…and yes, meteors do come from dragons. If you’re…unpleasant to them, or if you’re too nice to them. As was poor Hallifax’s fatal flaw. Yeah, so that’s one of the things that I love about Lusternia lore is how open it is, how much there is to it, and how…you know how much there is to explore even after this many years. So much has been explored, and there’s still so much that is there to learn. So yeah, that’s my sort of…non-answer answer. *laugh* So, Orael, you had a question about squad xp gain and the tiers in that. **Orael**: Yeah, I’m actually trying to look it up right quick so I don’t tell you something wrong… **Aonia**: *laughs* **Orael**: …and not finding it… **Aonia**: Do you want me to answer my next one, and then you can answer afterwards? **Orael**: No, I can, I can answer it, it’s pretty…it’s not super complicated. So basically, you know, when we made the change about…it was about a month or two back, it was…so the initial squads was that, anything, you know, one to three people just had the experience divided among the group. So if it was three people, it was divided by three. Then anybody over three, had…the experience was just divided by three, for the rest of it. So if you had thirty people, they were all getting 1/3 of the xp, which was increasing the amount of experience by huge amounts, overall, as a whole. So we changed it to be…you know, after ten, it stops at ten instead of three. Which, you know…the big complaint there was that you know…midsize groups kinda suffered more, groups of ten or whatever suffered more, but a big group was still going to benefit from it. So what we did was instead of having it per person, we did tiers of people. So if your group is anywhere from…I think three to six people, it’s now divided by three. If it’s seven to ten, it’s divided by five. And if it’s 10-14, it’s divided by 7, and anybody 15+ it’s…the experience is divided by ten. So now it’ll just be kind of…tiered in that way, so midtier groups will still benefit from getting more exp overall, but you still won’t have the crazy top-end gains for groups of 30+ or whatever. So…’can I get those tiers again for notes, please?’ Yeah, so it’s from…er…what’d I say, from three to six, it’s divided by three, so if your groups is three to six people, the experience you get from a mob or whatever is divided by three. If it’s seven to ten, it’s divided by five. If it’s 11 to 14 it’s divided by seven, and if it’s 15+ it’s divided by ten. So the goal there was to make midsized groups just…better, overall. More worthwhile. Encourage teamwork, that kind of stuff. So…I think that answers that one. **Aonia**: Awesome. So, I have a question about why we changed the rules on automation. And…so there are two main reasons that we did this: which is for clarity, for making the rule a bit clearer, and for enforcibility, as you can imagine it is quite difficult for us to decide if someone’s…you know, we’ve got to observe someone for a LONG time to work out if…their…er…system was just running indefinitely. It’s relatively easy for us to work out if someone’s AFK, but it’s about…you know, judging how long someone’s system can run for is a lot harder. And as you say, like, it’s not…it’s not 100% clear. So prev-the previous version of the rules was that as long as your triggers, and this is all kinds of automation: so this is bashing, influencing, gemcutting, aethertrading, anything. As long as at some point, it cut off; so for example, if you’ve got something that lets you go around and influence an entire area. If your system cut off when you finished that area, it was fine, but if your system then ran you to the next area, and had you do that one, and then on to another area, and you know…indefinitely, under the previous rules that wasn’t permitted. That’s hard to enforce, it’s a bit hard to understand, so the new rules are…erm…you can do…you can automate those things, as long as you remain at your computer at all times. As I say, it’s quite easy for us to check if someone’s AFK. If you’ve never been AFK checked, an administrator will pop up and say, “Hello, are you here?” and you’ll say “Hi,” and then everything will be fine. Nothing has changed in terms of the punishments for either: the punishment for automating any kind of…well, anything in this instance, is…will remain the same. Yeah. *laughs* Pretty much the rules are what people have been using for a long time. I…you know, I think the thing with having a rule that isn’t clear is that people do push it, understandably. So yeah it’s…to make it clear, to make it enforcable. The reason it’s come up now is we actually had several queries about automation or different kinds of automation all come in within a couple of weeks, and so we looked over it and…that’s…that’s why the rules have changed in this instance. So yeah, hopefully that answers that question. Erm…we have…a question for both of us, which is whether we play other MUDs because we can’t play characters in Lusternia, and if so has being a builder and coder and then producer altered our perception when playing other games? So I have played other games in the past, I actually came to Lusternia originally having played Achaea, I also played Midkemia when it was out, and I played Aetolia….I played, you know, quite a few different ones. I don’t play them anymore…but it is really useful for spying on how other games work, and we do talk to the producers of the other games quite often to knowledge share if a game does something really well, then we, you know talk to them and ask their advice about things and that’s been really beneficial in…you know, all sorts of instances. So yes, and no, I guess is the answer…the answer to that question. And…and I think, I think it’s the same for you, Orael, where you have done in the past? **Orael**: Yeah, Yeah, I’ve played…I’ve played other MUDs. You know, I’ve played Aetolia, I’ve played Achaea. I don’t anymore, I don’t have enough time to do it all. **Aonia**: *laugh* Yeah, time is…time is a valuable commodity. *laugh* **Orael**: Yeah, between work and life and whatnot. Yeah, I don’t really have enough time to devote to…to playing other characters on other games and whatnot. But I have noticed that ever since stepping up into this kind of role, that I definitely look at…even just like video games and stuff a lot differently. You know, and I try to take inspiration and stuff from how certain things are handled, and…I don’t know, try to learn and see what I can bring to the table here. It has definitely has altered my perception and viewpoint when playing other games. **Aonia**: It’s very hard to turn, once you’ve been any kind of game developer. It’s very difficult to look at a game and turn your erm…yeah, turn that brain off. I definitely do now look for what I can steal from other games…*laughs* It’s a fun way of putting it. **Orael**: Yeah. **Aonia**: It’s what I can take inspiration from, let’s put it that way, that’s a bit better. And it’s…yeah, it’s definitely something that we do on all sorts of levels, be that from like…a puzzle design to just…roleplay influence and that sort of thing. So our last question is for…you, Orael, which is what can people brush up on if they’re interested in becoming a mortal coder? **Orael**: Oh yeah, er…You know, Rapture, I think is…it’s C based, so C’s good. I mean, just your general programming knowledge…you know, datastructures and whatnot. The…you know, the big thing is, too, is some of the secondary stuff. Like I use VIM a whole lot to do all my coding stuff, so you know, kinda brushing up on that sort of stuff would be good. Other than that, I don’t know, you know probably…to be honest, Ianir would be better at answering that qeustion than me. **Aonia**: Yeah, I mean if… **Orael**: He’s much more knowledgeable… ((in regards to which coding languages are best brushed up on)) **Aonia**: If people are interested in becoming a mortal coder, they can email us. Erm…don’t email me, there’s no point. *laughs* But you can email Orael, and you know, if you’ve got queries about it would entail…it can be a lot of work, so we completely respect people saying, ‘Can you give me an idea of what the expectations would be’ or things like that. You know, if you want a more involved answer, we can consult Ianir and give you any other advice. **Orael**: Yeah, definitely. **Aonia**: Yeah, so that…that is all the questions we picked out. I’m aware we didn’t get to everyone’s questions from the thread. Some of them were duplicates, so…erm…you may have gotten a lot of things answered. We do have ten minutes left, if anyone would like to…ah, I can’t promise everything, because some questions might require us to look things up. Whilst you’re thinking of questions…ah, yes, Omega, it would be orael@lusternia.com, erm… **Orael**: But spelled correctly. **Aonia**: Yeah, but spelled correctly. *laughs* The one thing I will mention whilst you’re thinking of questions, so…we think these streams are a great way to get in contact with you, and we’d love…we’re potentially interested in doing more. Something that is relatively small that you can do to help support us in doing that is, if you haven’t already, follow us here on Twitch. If we start doing this more, then…becoming a Twitch Affiliate has a certain number of requirements, one of those requirements is that we have 50 followers. Becoming a Twitch Affiliate will mean that we can do certain things that we can’t now. It will do things like…meaning that our streams, when they stay on here last for longer. So definitely do give us a follow if you haven’t already, because that will really help us out. It’s a way you can help us get to streaming more, we can get custom emotes if you…*laughs* If you get us up to Affiliate. So, something to consider. Okay, so questions…*laughs* **Orael**: How much time does every…that was a good one, I like that time question about: ‘How much time does every org have in their stockrooms’ and the answer is not enough. **Aonia**: Yeah, no one. No one has enough time. **Orael**: *laughs* **Aonia**: Er…Mysrai, you know you’re our favourite shapeshifting chaos Elder. Obviously. Erm…Jonesey, we talked about the alliance situation earlier on, so you can…once we finish streaming here, there will be a VoD immediately on Twitch. We are also recording, and we are hoping that if the recording comes out well, then we can put that up somewhere for you. I don’t have details on when exactly that will be, but keep an eye on our social media and we’ll let you know…as that…appears. Okay, so: ‘Estarra said she’d never release an area without some sort of lore. Has this changed with me now heading Lore? Areas that exist without some secret plots.’ So…all areas will have some sort of lore. With End Zone, there will not be a quest in End Zone. So there is…that is a slight change in terms of…erm…the concept we have, and I am so excited about the concept that we have that I wish I could talk to you about it now. But it will be better as a surprise. It…has a really deep lore basis, the area is fundamentally steeped in lore. It isn’t…whilst it is just a bashing area, it is not just a bashing area, it’s something much cooler than that. But there will not be a quest there, there will not be NPCs that you go to talk to, there will just be things trying to kill you. So it is a sort of balance, between the two, to answer that one. **Orael**: As far as aethertrading and gold, we…I am still looking at it, but you know we made a couple changes recently to it. So we’re kinda…our big theme lately is incremental change. So we made some changes, we’re going to let it sit out, and kinda see how it goes from here, and then we’ll look at it again. So… **Aonia**: Hopefully as Ixion said, the changes we just made will address any gold issues, as well. Pysynne, that sounds like a really good thing to do with envoy reports, which will be opening after we release the next phase of the demigod changes. And once they’re…you know, any bugfixes done on that and everything settled, which we don’t have an exact date on, but I would- **Orael**: -Yeah- **Aonia**: -that sounds like be the sort of thing that would be really good to put forward then. Er…warriors are on our star map. **Orael**: Star map for sure. **Aonia**: Kaizynne, we answered when Ascension is earlier. Erm…it’s the…Seal challenges are in June, the Trial of Ascension is in July, the dates will be released on the first of May. Erm…combining brooches or bubblixes would be quite hard, I think, just based on how they work. **Orael**: I suppose we could just put together an omnibix, that goes…you just specify where you want to go. **Aonia**: Benefiting from brooches without the stole effect… **Orael**: Yeah, I’ve…I looked into doing that, the…like being able to choose your effect and I know it’s something that people really want, but…it’s not exactly easy, though. There’s a lot of stoles and a lot of stuff and a lot of different things to do about it, so…we can keep looking at it, but erm…it’s not a high priority. **Aonia**: Potentially, again, something you could put up as an envoy report, depending on the scope of it. We can then look at it… The difference in Ascension is just that it is occurring in summer. The events themselves, we’re not doing things like with the Ghani Ascension, where the format will be different. The difference is that Ascension is occurring in June. **Orael**: Yeah, instead of February. **Aonia**: Yeah. **Orael**: I think there were mixed reviews on the last time we changed up Ascension- **Aonia**: -Yeah- **Orael**: -so if we do it, we want to put more…more time and thought in it. **Aonia**: And yes, the order of the events is slightly different, when we release the dates on the first of May you’ll see that. But basically, the way they paired up before, we often got two events that required a lot of preparation on our end all on the same weekend, so just to make it easier on us so we can make those events better, we’ve now got one event that’s a slightly lighter load with one that’s a heavier load. That sort of thing. Anyone else? Got any last minute questions? **Orael**: I think the Mastercrown works because it’s a separate item, so we’d have to create something- **Aonia**: -Yeah- **Orael**: -to accept the different bixes and whatnot. So…if that makes sense. **Aonia**: We are- **Orael**: -A Lyyra bubblix?- **Aonia**: -actually looking for artifact ideas right now. We do know that the Lyraa bubblix is one that you want, so do throw…if you’ve got any artifact ideas, do throw them up on the thread on the forums. We are specifically looking at them in the next few weeks, so that would be great. **Orael**: Yeah, you can submit the idea again, that’s fine. That works. *inaudible* **Aonia**: So balance…balance times on trades…er…trade things is what I suggested, yeah. It wasn’t Shaddus, it was Pysynne, and that was what I put in envoy reports for. The one…Orael would you rather they put that in as a single report for all trades, or to be specific to, for example, gemcutting… **Orael**: It’s probably better to be specific.- **Aonia**: -Yeah- **Orael**: -We want to really stay away from people doing…using one report to get fifteen different changes in. So, we want to be really specific to what we’re doing. So… **Aonia**: Ways to tend to astral nodes’ health. So…we’re hoping that End Zone will give you some more options in terms of where to go for PvE, and we’re hoping that that will improve things so that you’ll…you know, you’ll have more options so that you won’t have everyone in one place. We’ll see how that goes, then. **Aonia**: *laughs* Mysrai, you can’t say Shikari doesn’t count and then pick Shikari anyway. **Orael**: More bug streams, huh? We can do more bug streams, I just…we’d done two of them, and…I don’t know, I figured- **Aonia**: -Yeah, we wanted- **Orael**: -I can do another one. I might do another one.- **Aonia**: -to do some different formats of stream, as well. I am planning, and I don’t have a date for this, I’m planning to do a…an NPC creation stream at some point. Where you all get to pick different things about an NPC that then will actually go in the game. This could be actual chaos so…*laughs* We’ll see how this goes. *laughs more* But you’ll get to pick the race, and things like that, so…er…and no promises about when that will be or where that NPC will end up. Erm…*laughs* But that is something I’ve got planned for the future. **Orael**: Artefact balloon have new areas…erm…like what areas do we need to add to it? That might…be a bug…where does the balloon go now? Does it just go to…Icewynd? **Aonia**: Gosh, I don’t even know what that is. **Both:** Only goes to continents. **Orael**: Icewynd, Lirangsha… **Aonia**: Well, does it…are there any continents that it currently doesn’t go to, or does it go to all currently existing continents? Because it’s quite rare that we add a new continent, so it may be that actually it goes…if it just goes to continents specifically, that it already goes to everywhere. **Aonia**: Okay- **Orael**: -It goes to all of them now besides UV. We’ll have to look into it- **Aonia**: -Yeah- **Orael**: *inaudible* …if it goes to all open continents, where lse would you want it to go? **Aonia**: We do not have any new races, currently in the works. We’ve got tons of races, they’re all pretty cool. Okay! **Orael**: *inaudible* **Aonia**: Well, thank you all so much, everyone, for coming. We have hit the end of our time. It’s been amasing to have so many of you here, we’ve actually almost hit fifty people at points, so that’s…really awesome. We will have the VoD if, for those of you who joined late, the VoD will be up pretty much immediately as soon as we end the stream here on Twitch. But as I say, we’re also going to try and put the recording we’ve got up somewhere else for you. And…we’ll let you know, I’ll have the Twitter Gremlins let you know about that, when it appears. Thank you all for your questions, and- **Orael**: -Yeah- **Aonia**: -I hope you are all taking care of yourselves. And staying home, if you’re able to. If you are an essential worker, thank you very much for everything you’re doing, and we’re glad we can provide somewhere for you to be…you know, where you can get some rest and have some fun. And er…spend some time with our awesome community. So thank you all very much, and it’s good-bye from me… **Orael**: Yep! We’ll see you guys later, thanks again for everything. And…erm…yeah, we’re good. **Aonia**: Thanks. **Categories:** Livestreams --- ### [March 2020 Artbard Results](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/08/march-2020-artbard-results/) **Published:** April 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for March! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for March! If you would like to join them in April, make sure to upload your submissions by the end of the month. Don’t let another month go by without giving it a try – we only had one Bardic submission this month, so you’ve got a great chance of placing! Full instructions for doing so can be found in HELP ARTBARD. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s *A Pinch of Salt: Properties and Applications* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s *On the Lake of Dreams* #### Runner-Up Aleyah’s *Lady Aleyah Shee-Slaugh* and Kyalrhin’s *Liah Carries the Scourge* #### Merit Esei’s *Bothering* and Ethna’s *The Mother Moonhart Tree* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Producer Q&A Livestream](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/07/producer-qa-livestream/) **Published:** April 7, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** On Saturday 11th April, Orael and Aonia will be doing a Q&A livestream on Twitch! **Content:** On Saturday 11th April at 7pm GMT, Orael and Aonia will be hosting a Q&A livestream on Twitch! We’d like to ask that you submit your questions ahead of time so that we use as much of the hour we’ll be streaming answering questions, rather than having to sort through questions on the day. We can’t guarantee we’ll answer every question but we’ll do our best to get through as many as we can. You can [post your questions on the forums]()! You can [follow us ahead of time](http://www.twitch.tv/lusternia_official) if you haven’t already, and hit the bell so that you’re notified when we go live. We’ll also be alerting you on Twitter and Facebook when we do. Looking forward to seeing you there! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Founding of the L.L.L.P.A.C.](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/02/the-founding-of-the-l-l-l-p-a-c/) **Published:** April 2, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Adventurers travelled to the mountains to attend the unveiling of the Lapis Lazuli Landscape Permanent Art Collection, and help the artist Nada Sunfar. **Content:** On the 6th of Roarkian, Year 556, voices and laughter echoed from the Northern Mountains, hinting at a joyful reunion. Ayisdra Ysav’rai arrived first to investigate the area. Tridemon Regalis, Kalas Vexacion, Esei, Adrien Shee-Slaugh, Xenthos An’Ryshe, Gurashi An’Ryshe, Kalas Ixion and Tortuga Damascene then also made their way through the mountains to join them. Shufi Sunfar was embracing her sister, Nada Sunfar, who had forwarded news of her return as well as an invitation to join her after a long journey of exploration around the Basin of Life. While Shufi was addressing reproachful words and looks at Nada for leaving the work with her peers and her duties to the Collective, she was also intrigued by her sister’s newly undertaken projects. Nada invited her sister as well as everyone gathered as her guests to assist to the unveiling of her atelier, the Lapis Lazuli Landscape Permanent Art Collection, otherwise known as the L.L.L.P.A.C. There, she was delighted to hear that other artists were present to appreciate her art and invited everyone to have tea with her while admiring her work. She spoke a few words about places that she visited and how her travels inspired the lapis lazuli landscapes of her collection. The crowd followed Nada through her gallery as she was still finding place to exhibit a few pieces of her art collection. As the event was drawing to an end, Xenthos asked Nada if she needed any help with setting up her atelier, to which she gladly responded that assistance would be appreciated in helping to replenish her stocks of lapis lazuli pigment. Xenthos, Tridemon and Esei thus went to retrieve ingredients scattered across the Clarramore Cloud Gardens while Nada Sunfar was tending to her atelier, and was already planning the itinerary for her next expedition in Kiani. Many promised to return to see how Nada was faring or to let their friends know about her atelier, to whom she answered that they would be very welcome. **Categories:** Events --- ### [This April, Ride Forth!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/04/01/this-april-ride-forth/) **Published:** April 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Ride into battle in Lusternia with an even stronger trusty steed this month - when you perch atop your new Wondersaddle! **Content:** For the month of April, when you purchase credits on the website, you’ll also receive one wonder crystal for every 50 credits purchased! That means if you purchase 1000 credits, you’ll receive 20 crystals!. Type SHOWREWARDS to see your status. As part of this promotion, we’re releasing a new wonderitem – the Saddle of Wonder. This Saddle will help improve various things with your beast! Check out HELP WONDERSADDLE for the details! And because you loved it so much, we’re keeping Critical Thursdays throughout April! Enjoy! **Categories:** News --- ### [Meanwhile, in Hallifax...](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/30/meanwhile-in-hallifax/) **Published:** March 30, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The draconic emissary's visit to the city of Hallifax has a deadly end for one Senior Researcher, and conceals a far greater threat... **Content:** Though the citizens of Hallifax were perplexed at the dragons’ method of communication – a giant stone obelisk dropped just a few metres from the Matrix – they nonetheless resolved to be cautious but polite in their dealings with them. Sadly, cautiousness and politeness is only so effective in the face of a powerful being who appears to be utterly insane. Appearing in dracnari form as her sister emissary had done in Gaudiguch, the dragon – later described as akin to a teenager or unruly child – struggled to form complete sentences amidst clawing her own colourless scales. She, too, spoke of being hungry, and of wishing to eat the city’s thoughts and access their ‘map of Time’, though she never fully explained what it was she desired. Her madness ultimately brought her to incoherence and agitation that could not be subdued, despite the valiant attempts of the citizens gathered there. Raising one clawed hand, the dragon summoned a meteor from a rift in the skies, stepping off the city platform as the meteor collided with the base of the Matrix Research Institute. What followed was chaos. Fire rushed through the ruined tower, and the six Senior Researchers had suffered all manner of wounds – some grave. For one Senior Researcher the wounds proved fatal, a vicious lesson in triage and crisis response for the citizens who were there. Although many of them possessed the ability to heal others, they were too late to reach Etoathe Oolin, who perished beneath the wreckage of his laboratory. The remaining five, along with the two scientists who worked in the inner Institute rooms above, were evacuated to safety and treated by both the citizens and the Doctor who had been summoned from the University of Cosmic Understanding. Fires extinguished, the survivors – shocked and in deep grief for the loss of their colleague – were taken to the Grand Aerie’s gardens for rest. In the meantime, reconstruction work began. When all had recovered in the following month, a funeral was held for the Senior Researcher, attended by all of his colleagues, his mother and brother, his second cousin and many of those citizens who had tried so desperately to save him. His body was disintegrated by his mother’s own hand, and cast to the winds by High Supreme Justice Lilliana Sunfar. That, with the reconstruction work finished, should have been the end. It was not. As the Senior Researchers were led back into their tower, it was discovered that something was affecting one of the Institute’s most prized temporal machines. The machine was spewing equations that did not make sense. At length the citizens located a window left ajar, marked by claw scratches – and a chair that, when moved aside, revealed a strange device that combined Aeonics, Harmonics and the song of the Loralaria. Thanks to their communal knowledge of mathematics, musical theory and more than a little bit of stubborn perseverence, the citizens were able to depower the device and prevent it from causing any further harm. But data from the target machine suggested that, even as they had worked to depower it, the machine had unknowingly attempted to transmit the findings the device had demanded. Whether the transmission was successful or not remains unconfirmed. Theories abounded as to what this transmission might have been – but without confirmation, the city could do nothing but turn to addressing the replacement of Etoathe Oolin, may he rest in fair winds and clear skies. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Where were you, when the meteors fell?](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/30/where-were-you-when-the-meteors-fell/) **Published:** March 30, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** In Gaudiguch, things take a turn for the dramatic when a meteor shower is called down by a dragon emissary... **Content:** In Gaudiguch, it is certainly a question that many will be able to answer with ease: the months of Tzarin and Klangiary burned into their heads as harshly as their fair city was burned. Yet it was not a cosmic act of misfortune set upon them by the stars, but the wrath of a spurned dragon emissary. Having arrived well, the meeting appeared to be well underway as the citizens of Gaudiguch welcomed the volume-challenged dragon, who donned the star shape of a dracnari for their comfort. Yet, things did not appear to go well as a strange hunger ripped through the emissary’s body, and despite the attempts of Gaudiguch to stifle her hunger with the threads of dreaming, there was no speed with which to gather them to sate her hunger. Instead, she was brought before the Guardian Drachou, where she presented a gift of foreign herbs from their ancestral home in offering, before speaking and being answered in esoteric prose to each other. Ultimately, the dragon dismissed the emissary as little more than a whelpling who had delusions of grandeur. Enraged, she took to the skies, revealing her true, primal form and calling forth glyphs from which she summoned a cataclysmic meteor to rain down upon the city. Drachou’s prismatic flames would spare them total disaster, but the damage still poured through, and all the while the sachet of herbs burned before the Guardian Drachou. As citizens rushed to aid their citymates, the Guardian Drachou enjoyed the intoxicating vapours of the herbs and fell into a stupour. All seemed well, with casualties at a minimum…until Juliary, when Drachou would begin to grow ill. Mesadari Rhiero joined Gaudiguchians at the apex of the Great Pyramid and quickly roused Drachou with a special supply of her most potent stash of drugs, long enough that he could explain his feelings of illness. Determing the drugs to be a maturing variety, Mesadari set out adventurers to recover supplies and ingredients for an ancient potion. While there were struggles with stingy old merchants and thought-to-be extinct plants in the Skarch, eventually the Eternal Flame would rise as a pillar of flame in the sky, with the cries of Gaudiguch ringing throughout Lusternia: “DRACHOU! DRACHOU! DRACHOU!” For now, the Guardian appears to be wholly revitalised, and yet what could possibly have been the goal of this drug? For what reason does he find his memories hard to cling to? What exactly what Scuchidira smoking when she came up with this miracle ‘hang-over cure’? Only time may tell… **Categories:** Events --- ### [Song of the Sculptor](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/22/song-of-the-sculptor/) **Published:** March 22, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A group of adventurers discover a dwarf's plight in Avechna's Teeth, and find themselves assisting in the veneration of a lost Goddess of the Fourth Circle. **Content:** The dwarf bard Dathruk Stonehilt set up camp in Avechna’s Teeth one fine day in Kiani, where he called out for assistance from the Basin of Life. It was Noira d’Vanecu of Magnagora and Esei of Glomdoring who first responded, followed soon by Xenthos An’Ryshe. The trio and their companions discovered the dwarf’s plight: a statue he was tending to had fallen into disrepair, dedicated to a Goddess of the Fourth Circle known as the Carver of Mountains. The Stonehilts had overseen the sculpture’s mountain shrine for generations. However, recent rock slides had left the Goddess’s statue in an unfinished pile of rubble. Dathruk was on the hunt for a sculptor capable of restoring Her beauty. It was only natural that they consider the Presidio’s esteemed and renowned artist Baalran y’Bolgari, but Dathruk’s rough requests for him to join them in the Teeth only served to make the viscanti irate, demanding that they all leave his workplace at once. A new plan was hatched by everyone, this time based on a slightly smudged piece of paper that Dathruk had received from other bards. This merely read: “D. Whispers.” Esei and Noira considered perhaps it was not Whispers, but Windwhisper, an artist house in Hallifax. Thus the merry band went to speak with Master Artist Miella Windwhisper, who recalled her sister — Dionellah, or “Nelly” — was a sculptor known for taking on rather unique requests. However, the Master Artist cautioned them to consider Dionellah’s pride when making the request, as she could be rather vain. This time, Dathruk knew better than to undertake the mission himself. The dwarf entrusted convincing this artist to Noira d’Vanecu, who had shown great poise and grace in front of Baalran y’Bolgari’s rantings moments prior. With Noira’s assistance, the trill sculptor was convinced to assist in Dathruk’s quest, and they went off to find Dathruk’s shrine hidden in the mountains. Some say they heard a dwarven ballad echoing from Avechna’s Teeth, and that those present witnessed a sculpture of an Elder Goddess as beautiful and austere as the mountains She carved… **Categories:** Events --- ### [Demigod Powers Rework Is Live!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/19/demigod-powers-rework-is-live/) **Published:** March 19, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The powers available to the Demigods of Lusternia have been revamped, the first stage of our project to bring you new endgame content. Shiny! **Content:** Part one of the Endgame rework is now released! This part focuses on a revamp of the Demipowers and how they work. I’ll highlight a few of the changes here but check out POWERS and POWERS LIST and POWERS INFO to get specific information on powers. The first change is that that all RP powers that enhance roleplaying and have no mechanical advantages have been made zero weight, meaning you can have look how you want and shout how you want without sacrificing any mechanical advantages. This includes things like CustomShout and ChoiceLook. The other big change is that the previous domoth-linked powers that were only available to Ascendants, Vernal Demigods and Sealbearers are now available to everyone. Weight limits have been adjusted with Ascendants only allowed 100 weight and Vernal Demigods only allowed 75 weight now. Demigods still have 50 weight. With this change, some Ascendants and Vernal Demigods may find themselves over the new allowed weight. In that case – all your powers that have weight and are not SecondTrade or BeauteousThought will be made ephemeral. You will be allowed to make powers supernumerary at no essence cost. Be careful with your selections though because once you make a single power ephemeral, you will no longer get to make them supernumerary for free. You’ve been warned! Sealbearers can select one weight-free domoth power associated with their seal. This will still cost essence but it will not take up any weight. Multiple Seals do not let you exceed more than one free power. True Ascendants get their three domoth powers inherently and will not be able to get a seal power on top of it if they have another seal. A lot of the weights and essence costs, and even the mechanics of the skills have been adjusted, refer to POWERS LIST and POWERS INFO to see that information. We’ll start working on Part Two of the Endgame Rework – which includes buying additional levels with essence and earning perk points. You can see more details about this part on the forums! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Message from the Lusternia Team](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/18/a-message-from-the-lusternia-team/) **Published:** March 18, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A message from all of us at Lusternia about COVID-19 and what we're doing to help you deal with isolation. **Content:** We’d like to talk about the current global fears surrounding the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic. It may seem strange for an online game to be addressing this situation. But Lusternia’s players and administrators come from all around the world – including many countries that have been, and continue to be, heavily affected by the spread of the pandemic. People are rightly concerned by the spread of the virus, and an increasing number are being required to self-quarantine – whether that’s due to cases local to you, because of increased threat to vulnerable people, or for other reasons entirely. Self-quarantine is a vital defence against the pandemic. It is also deeply isolating, and isolation can have a huge effect on mental and emotional wellbeing. Lusternia can’t fix that entirely. Much as we may like to, we cannot reach through our screens and hug each other at the times that we need it most. But when you are alone, Lusternia can give you somewhere to be. And though that may seem like a very small thing, when you are that isolated it can be everything. We are deeply grateful that Lusternia can provide that. So in the hours and days and weeks that come, consider checking in with one another. Make an effort to talk to people in-character, or foster those close out-of-character friendships you have made through Lusternia. In short, continue to be the wonderful community we know you to be. Because that might just make a huge difference to someone at an incredibly difficult time. ### Events This Week & Beyond Keep an eye on things in-game, as during this week we’ll be running world games, mini roleplaying events, and more to keep you entertained. On **Thursday 19th**, we plan to release phase 1 of our demigod/endgame rework. **All of Saturday and Sunday** we will then be running a Great Hunt so that you can get yourself geared up with all of those fun new toys. **Over the weekend** we will also hold Death, Harmony and Chaos challenges with much higher rewards than the games during the week. Yes, that’s right, you’ll get a Death challenge in your Great Hunt. Deathception. We’ll be in touch with you about events that are happening after this week. Don’t forget that the **last weekend of March** already looks to have some Very Big Things happening! **Categories:** News --- ### [February 2020 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/08/february-2020-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** March 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to the winners of our Artisanal and Bardic contests for February! **Content:** Congratulations to our Artisanal and Bardic winners for February! If you would like to join them in March, make sure to upload your submissions by the end of the month. Full instructions for doing so can be found in HELP ARTBARD. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Coraline’s *The Princess and the Dragon* #### Runner-Up Octavia’s *The Hundred Year War* #### Merit Ayisdra’s *A Study on the Effects of Essence* and Kyalrhin’s *A Reference Book for the Husbandry of Planar Beasts* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s *A Very Happy Birthday Maybe* #### Runner-Up Esei’s *Beauty is Inevitable* #### Merit Ethna’s *The Master Ravenwood* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [A Tale of Fantastical Dreams](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/04/a-tale-of-fantastical-dreams/) **Published:** March 4, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** A most serious, true, honest, and accurate account of the events in Serenwilde and Glomdoring in the recent months, definitely involving Spirits, and possibly also dragons. **Content:** Listen now, O Basin of Life, and hear an epic to be retold through the ages! Sung of by the bards! Obsessed over by scholars! Pondered by the great thinkers of our time! And all as told by this humble, dashing, ageless, most insightful vessel of truth with eyes that shine like the azure seas of… Oh yes, but back to our tale. Our story begins within the Great Forests of the Basin, both as beautiful as they are savage, with warriors that will crush all unfortunate intruders to dust in offering to their Great and Wild Spirits. It is here that mortals first noticed something was amiss, for fae came to both communes acting in a peculiar manner even for them: they could not seem to stay awake, falling to sleep while their dreams manifested in reality around them. But naught is wrong, said Maeve, Queen of the Fae: Fae dreams are powerful, but fae sleep! So thus she waved them away. But hardly a month had passed before these same effects manifested dramatically in two of their Greatest Great Spirits. The Mighty Crow and Noble White Hart both fell into an unnatural slumber that neither could wake from. And more dramatically still, the dreams came into the waking world as monstrosities within both Forests, assaulting all they crossed paths with. Oh the blood that flowed! If there had been more bloodshed, perhaps it would have been even more dramatic! But alas. These forest folk, in tune with the subtle fluctuations of Nature as they are, did listen to the wind, and the trees, and even the little squirrels to find their way to the court of Queen Maeve, heart of Faethorn, and indeed, all fae. Upon their arrival, they found the Maeve entertaining a dracnari of obvious refinement: his voluminous robes crafted from the finest of silks; his scales, gleaming like precious sapphire; his wit – unmatched. The communes presented their plight to the Queen, and with very, very few hints from her dashing guest discerned that the Spirits’ dreams had been invaded by dragons. And what surprise, the Queen’s guest was indeed dragon himself! In awe and wonder, in respectful silence, in fear and prostration, the forestals watched as he manifested but a glimpse of his true, overwhelming form for those gathered – magnificent claws sharper than steel, scales like gleaming sapphires, eyes the deepest of… Oh yes, we’ve covered all that. The dreams of spirits are a powerful thing, as the Maeve said truly, even more so when tangled up with the dreams of dragons. The path forward was clear. Their wise and wonderful guide did not even need to suggest it to those gathered: the communes would have to dive into the Dreaming and untangle the dreams of spirit and dragon. And, of course, their dashing and clever counsellor had the knowledge to help them do as much, and he imparted that wisdom to a representative of each forest. And here we must pause in our tale, to speak of an even more exciting tale: One of the Great Tragedies of our Age – the Forbidden Romance of Miakoda, Maiden of the Moonhart and Brennan Stormcrow. I can see it now! \[The writing becomes jumbled here, so enthusastic is the writer that only a few phrases can be read such as “a love that could never be” and “he melted at the sight of her, indeed, part of his face slid off then and there”\] But surely, the great writers of the Basin will be writing for decades to come on that matter! Armed with this knowledge, Brennan and Miakoda helped each of their communes build totems infused with a magic that could transport even those unskilled in the art of Dreamweaving into the distant reaches of the Dreaming. In the Serenwilde, Elexia, Pysynne, Jolanthe, Selenity, Alixia, and Luboo worked to gather dream motes from the monstrosities and to unravel the nightmare of White Hart and a dragon within a burning forest. In Glomdoring, Rancoura, Aurik, Xenthos, Aleyah, Esei, Rhenna, and Siam did the same for Crow and a dragon in a scene of carnage. Once untangled, their Spirits did wake, but this was not the end of the plight of the communes. In barely another month, the same affliction struck. This time, however, it was the Great Lady Fae of the communes – Mother Moon and Mother Night. They returned to the Maeve, but this time, it was found the totems of the previous month would be of no help. Mother Moon and Mother Night had slipped into even deeper reaches of the Dreaming, and not even the clever magics of the fabulous ‘dracnari’ could carry the mortals so far, or at least, he could not be found to offer more wisdom. Alas! Alack! What is to be done? The forests were in dire straits, and all despaired!! Seeing no other option, the brave Queen Maeve, Heart of Faethorn and the Collective of All Fae, did decree that she would pierce the deepest depths of the Dreaming herself and expel any who dared to intrude upon the dreams of the Spirits. So the honourable Queen, who had so stolidly held off against the tide of sleep, allow herself to be swept into the Dreaming of her own accord. But she was not alone, no! She was supported by a majority of the Glomdoring: Rhenna, Esri, Afollia, Aleyah, Siam, Esei, Xenthos, Aurik, Kyalrhin, Evette and Freja. And from Serenwilde she had the brave support of Jolanthe and Luboo, who represented the northern woods in the face of their enemies, who did not strike them down. For after all, this was a tragedy of both communes, was it not? Such dramatic tension! Such tear-worthy unity, however brief! So the Maeve walked in the Dreaming, guided by the gathered forest folk who fought off waves of newer, more frightening monstrosities as they helped guide her through winding paths of the sleeping realms. They knew no fear! Indeed, they insisted that the Queen of the Fae explore every dead end so that they could valiantly slay any lingering monstrosities that lingered! All shall quake at their might thus displayed! Upon finally reaching the dreams of Moon and Night, the Maeve, Queen of the Fae, used her great power, invested in her by the Gods themselves, to cast out the dreaming dragons and untangle the Spirits’ dreams. The detritus pushed into the waking world took the form of a massive behemoth: with scales as dark as night and as brilliant as moon, with feathers as sleek as Crow’s and as horns as sharp as Hart’s, with- well, you get the idea… In short, the guardians from the forests made easy work of the beast, so great was their fury! (Though I really would have liked more bloodshed. So much more exciting that way. Ah well!) And with the behemoth destroyed, the Spirits and all fae returned to their normal waking selves. Indeed, the final blow was so powerful that it probably woke the dragons from their dreaming entirely; at least that’s what that fabulous ‘dracnari’ said. What a slap on their dreaming faces! What a beautiful conclusion for the forests, born of fragile unity that will collapse again! And such potential tragic love… such romance! And though normalcy has returned to the Great Forests, so many questions remain: Why did the dragon dreamers wander into the dreams of the Great Spirits? Where are these dragons now, and if they have awakened, what will they do next? Who is the dashing, wise, dazzling and awe-inspiring dragon who walks as a dracnari? Whence did he come? Alas, I am afraid, these questions are for another tale. Until then, O Basin of Life… Signed, the Lord of Obscure Dreams Famed author of ‘A Passion Moste Wilde and Wyrd’ Most Beautiful Of All The Dragons Also Best Dressed Lord of Ultimate Fabulousness Etc. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Crowning the Leprechaun Heir!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/01/crowning-the-leprechaun-heir/) **Published:** March 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** It is time once more to crown a new leader of the Leprechauns - don't miss your chance to earn Czigany coins through this month! **Content:** Once more, the anniversary of the death of Old Cashel Connlaodh, King of the Leprechauns has arrived! The leprechaun population have held their traditional gathering to celebrate his reign. However, as the green ale flowed, old arguments rose about who should lead the leprechauns. This finally resulted in overthrowing of King Gilligan Connlaodh, calling for a new contest to see which of Old Cashel’s children should rule the leprechauns. Thus, Seamus Connlaodh and Eileen Connlaodh have returned to try to wrest the crown from their brother Gilligan. You can help the leprechauns to choose their new leaders by helping either Eileen, Seamus or Gilligan, who each have a rainbow on the path of nature on Avechna’s Peak, where you can visit them. By helping the leprechauns, they’ll give you a shamrock of their faction. This is a daily quest which can be completed by influencing 6 leprechauns loyal to one of the leprechaun royalty. Shamrocks can be combined into groups for easy carrying. You can then take the shamrocks to either Gilligan, Eileen or Seamus and SHAMROCK TRADE FOR COIN will give you a free Czigany coin! Or, if you’re feeling peckish, you can eat the shamrocks for a vitals buff – but beware, for your shamrocks will not be returned to you if you eat them by mistake. Oh, by the way, there’s a little known fact about leprechaun magic: they gain the power of invisibility when they’re drunk! How one can overcome that, we’ll leave it for you to discover. **Categories:** News --- ### [March is the Month of Learning!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/03/01/march-is-the-month-of-learning/) **Published:** March 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This month in Lusternia, enjoy a lesson sale and the chance to classflex for free - plus, artifact packages for each class! **Content:** The month of March is the month of change and learning! Free classflexing throughout the month will enable to you to try new classes or skillsets while adventuring within the Basin! For those of you just getting into Lusternia, or even those of you ready to try something new, you can purchase lessons at discounted rates. Also, you can select artifact packages designed to help you get a head start in your new class. Select from the Bard, Mage/Druid, Guardian/Wiccan or Monk/Warrior packages for some specific class rune needs or check out the Vitals packages for utility and survivablity boosts! If you want to take full advantage of classflexing, see our Ultimate Classflexing Artifact Package! Additionally, we’ll be running Tzaraziko’s Unexpected Thursdays, which will give everyone a 25% boost in critical hits every thursday throughout the entire month! See https://www.lusternia.com/credits for details! **Categories:** News --- ### [Farewell Ianir!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/02/27/farewell-ianir/) **Published:** February 27, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Farewell to Ianir, who has stepped down as Producer of Lusternia - and congratulations to Aonia for taking his place! **Content:** Hello everybody, I am stepping down as producer of Lusternia as of midnight March 1st. Instead of waxing poetic on this point, I’m going to keep things succinct. I will still be around in the background assisting with code, issues, and other aspects of the game, but I will no longer be acting as the main point of support for the game. In my place, Aonia will be stepping up as the Producer of Lusternia. I will let her say what she wants regarding that instead of putting words in her mouth. This appointment was at my recommendation, and given how much she’s done for Lusternia both in the spotlight and behind the scenes, I do believe she is possibly the best fit at this time for the position. Regards, Ianir --- Orael and I want to thank Ianir for all the incredible work he has done for Lusternia over the years. He has been a lynchpin for us in Havens, both as Producer and Assistant Producer before that, and we know he will continue to be invaluable to the team behind the scenes. This change of staff does not represent any great shift in Lusternia, or its future. Our aim is to ensure that everything continues as it has been, because the past few months – we hope you’ll agree – have been a reinvigorating, exciting time for our community. A huge amount of which is down to your enthusiasm for the game and love for one another! The only difference we want to mention is one that we need you to help with. We know that for many people, messaging Ianir is a common method of getting help, or answers to questions, or similar. As such we would like to ask that from now on, if you find yourself thinking of messaging Ianir, you follow alternative channels. That might be submitting a bug report, filing an issue, emailing support@lusternia.com – whatever is most appropriate for your problem. Thank you all for your continued support, and to our incredible volunteers for their relentlessly hard work. Aonia & Orael **Categories:** News --- ### [Valentine's Day Celebrations!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/02/15/valentines-day-celebrations/) **Published:** February 15, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Artifact skins, arrow bonuses, and a credit sale - oh my! **Content:** We are, in honour of Valentine’s Day, making some additions to this month’s promotion. First, we’ve created nineteen new artifact skins, all valentine’s day themed, and given them a place in the aethershop. For the next week, buying these artifacts with these skins will confer a 30% discount off their normal price. Use ASHOP LIST to see them listed at the top! Second, we’ve added a bonus gift for shooting arrows. For every 25 times you shoot someone and you are shot, you’ll receive 50 bonus credits. If you manage to shoot someone or are shot 250 times, you’ll receive a 500 credit bonus! Being shot and shooting others are cumlative and doing either will get you closer to the bonus. for example if Maylea shoots Nocht 12 times and is shot 13 times by Viravain in revenge, She’ll get Her bonus credits! If you’ve previously bought arrows, those already count for you! Get out there and get a-shooting! Finally, we will be offering a 30% bonus to all credits purchased via the website. This will continue for a week from the 14th February. **Categories:** News --- ### [January 2020 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/02/10/january-2020-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** February 10, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for January! **Content:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for January! If you’d like a chance to join them for this round, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD will tell you all you need to know. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Toshiko’s *Fluidity of Self* #### Runner-Up Lief’s *Love Poems, Volume III* and Naralis’s *The Unwinnable Fight* #### Merit Kistan’s *The Dashing Dashro* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s *Your Mess is Mine* #### Runner-Up Kharan’s *Lief and Savit* #### Merit Esei’s *Holly and Hemlock,* Kyalrhin’s *Aquamancer with (vegan) Dragon Turtle Companion*, and Nao’s *Snow Valley* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [New Membership Options for Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/02/06/new-membership-options-for-lusternia/) **Published:** February 6, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** Lusternia is now offering three new membership options for your enjoyment. Players may purchase 3, 6, and 12 month memberships. The primary benefit of these new membership options is that your characters will receive all rewards up front. The rewards which are instantly advanced are the XP bonus, wondercrystals, and membership credits. Daily lessons are unchanged. For example, if you purchase the 6 month membership you will immediately move to the 25% xp bonus, receive 6 wondercrystals, and have 675 membership credits applied to your account (100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125 credits). If your account already had a membership running, it will pick up the rewards from your current threshold, and it will NOT start all over from the beginning. IMPORTANT: All memberships are recurring, and will automatically renew at the end of the 1, 3, 6, or 12 month period. #### How to Upgrade In order to upgrade your membership, you will need to jump through some hoops. Please follow the list below. 1. [Cancel your current membership](https://www.lusternia.com/credits?page=cancel). If your membership is via PayPal, you will have to visit their site. 2. When your current membership expires, you may [sign back up](https://www.lusternia.com/credits?page=membership). 3. You will get messages from the game when your membership expires and can view your membership status with the command CREDIT REPORT. Note: We have a short grace period on signing back up to your membership without losing your benefit levels, so if you miss by a few days, don’t worry too much. If you have any questions or problems, please email us at support@lusternia.com. **Categories:** News --- ### [Love's In The Air This Month!](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/02/01/loves-in-the-air-this-month/) **Published:** February 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Love is in the air this February, with an arrow-themed promotion! Shoot your loved ones, shoot your friends, shoot your enemies! Okay, maybe not them. **Content:** For the month of February, love is in the air. You can purchase heart arrows directly on the website. SHOOT will stick the arrow in your mark – hopefully opening that person up to some needed love! Whoever shoots the most targets before the next weave will receive 25 bound credits, and whoever is shot the most before the next weave will likewise receive 25 bound credits. All ties will split these daily rewards. If you shoot or are shot by an arrow, you will receive a special honour! Also, after the new weave, if you shot one arrow or more beforehand, you will receive a heart box containing either an artifact or wondercrystals or presents, personally delivered by Dolly d’Amour. There are three levels of heart boxes: bronze (1 arrow), silver (5 arrows) and gold (25 arrows). To purchase arrows and see more details, [see our credits page!](https://www.lusternia.com/credits) Finally, you will see now on the roads various lovelorn individuals. Once per hour, you may seduce one and bring the loveletter they give to you to Dolly d’Amour. At ten letters, Dolly will send you to Trader Bob for a free heart arrow. This may be done once this month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension 2020](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/01/26/ascension-2020/) **Published:** January 26, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Adventurers have averted the need for an Ascension in Lusternia! But what does this mean for the future of the contest? **Content:** The adventurers of the Basin of Life have averted the need for an Ascension! But it’s January…so what does this mean for Lusternia? Don’t worry – we’re not changing Lusternia fundamentally. Lusternia is the Age of Ascension, and always shall be. For Lusternia as a whole and for many of you as individuals, Ascension is a hugely important competition – so there will be an Ascension in 2020! But for a myriad of reasons, we’re trying something different this year: we’re holding it in the summer. We wanted to let you know out of respect to the effort you all put into preparing for it. The dates for this year’s Ascension will be released around a month prior to the event, so you will have plenty of notice on the specifics. We do want to note though that we’re telling you this purely on an OOC basis. From an IC point of view, there is no need for an Ascension! …for now, at least. As Avechna the Avenger has said Himself, there is always the chance that a threat to the Seals will arise. We hope you’ll join us on the story that will lead up to the moment that such a threat makes itself known. We can’t wait for you to discover what the incredible minds up here have in store. Orael, Ianir and Aonia **Categories:** News --- ### [The Vernal Paradox and the Seal of Time](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/01/26/the-vernal-paradox-and-the-seal-of-time/) **Published:** January 26, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The story of Isikathi, Vernal Dragon of Time, and the Paradox that she became. **Content:** There’s a time and a place for everything. That is how your saying goes, is it not? Time is the thing that runs away from you, that flies, that can be saved and spent and lost. Time is fortune: the right place at the right time – or misfortune: the wrong place at the wrong time. It can be high time, a Nil of a time, a question of time or borrowed time. Time runs in a line, but this line bends and frays, runs concurrent to itself. In one line time is hard and in one line time is good. Sometimes these lines cluster together, a collection, often formed by a single divergence in Fate. You might call such a collection of good times Immaculate; a collection of hard times Desolate. There is one line from which all lines fray – the centre of the cord that runs immemorial, in fullness, in due course. This line has a past and a future and an infinite number of lines that run along and splay out from it. It is easy to focus on tracing these lines. On understanding that moment of change; the flap of the butterfly’s wings. My name is Isikathi, and I am here to tell you what happens when you forget how far change can ripple. --- Many years ago now, by the reckoning of that centre, the core timeline, which in truth is the only one that matters – the Goloth Maxyenka sought to control something that he called the Beast of Time. He was skilled in the manipulation of Time, and sought to reunite his troops – lost through many timelines – to free the Soulless God Crazen, as he had always intended. But he was thwarted, as so many before him have been, by mortalkind. I am grateful that he was. But in a way, I am grateful that he tried to ride those ripples of change as well. If he had not, I would never have been found. The cost of his gambit was great, however. In the wake of his efforts, Timequakes shook Reality, opening rifts to other timelines with jarring regularity. And as those Timequakes wracked the Basin, again and again, I started to…notice. To wake. To hear. To scream. Eventually, I couldn’t keep it in. First, I froze everything. It seemed the best way to stop the screaming. It was confusing, but for a moment I think the mortals all saw the world as I see it. Beautiful and immortal. In that moment, I was able to reach out to them, to beg them to stop it. There was not much power available to me, then, but I could use what Maxyenka had stolen against him. I could open a Timequake, like he had done with my power, but I could open it to somewhere that only I knew. So I tore through the world and opened the way to my true home. To the Domoth of Time…such as it is now, lost and forlorn, a remnant of what I once was. But it exists, at least. It exists, and that is how they were able to help me. I heard their thoughts as they stepped into my realm, confusion as they were stuck in the eternal loop, as they beheld a Cave that to them never existed. But soon they looked and saw themselves upon the steps, before the shards of something they could not quite imagine. Uzriel was the first to grab one – he held the sandstone fragment of my Seal in his hands and called to others. Daraius drummed his fingers and claimed another, and Alary wandered about until a third appeared in theirs. One by one they found people who matched each moment, mirrored them, made them whole. And they started to bring them together. It was not easy, for they doubted themselves and questioned what was happening. I tried to call out, to tell them, and I could not. I could not reach them. But they did it anyway, bought the pieces of me together, and Faragan held them in his hands as it was joined to be made whole. The Seal of Time crashed through the rift I had made, onto Avechna’s Peak, and for the first time in so long – so long – I saw my friends. I was home. He didn’t understand why he knew me, of course – Avechna. He hadn’t seen me in this timeline, this wasn’t the timeline we were in when He tore His wings from Himself – tore me from Himself – to send me back. I made him. I had to. It was the only way. But now I was here, now they had opened the door for me, He began to remember. --- They also say only time will tell. Which is fitting, I suppose, because the next rift I opened – that they surged into at my Avenger’s command, to seek the rest of my essence, to feed the Seal – was one of the futures He had hurled me back through. Where they had all died. They cluster together, these terrible lines, these terrible places, like clinging to like. Every time we lose, that is the Age of Desolation, every time we fail and falter and perish. I prefer to think of them that way, clustered as one. It is comforting. It means there is one potential ending, not an infinite number. It’s a lie, but still. Seeing the Elder Gods that they loved hurt them. I watched faeling sob over flowers and Wyrden cry defiantly at a warrior battling and some paint the enemies of their Patrons with triumph. Then, I let the full truth tumble out of me – into there with them. They fought the same things we did. Tentacles and tongues and eyeballs of Kethuru the Mighty, who would come to be called Almighty, and last of all a great monstrous blob that carved through like my claws carve through time. When they stumbled out, alive but victorious, my essence rushed to join the Seal, and I could feel myself spreading between places – half impossible, half trapped, half home, half lost. I wanted them to understand. By the time I was done, He did. They did. But it still wasn’t the whole truth. They had seen Him cast me from His back but they did not know what it had done, what I had done when I stumbled to the ground in the middle of the Elder Gods. They had not understood me at first, either, but I managed to convince Them. Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t. --- It hurt and tore at me, pushing the rifts open, so it took me time to open another. When I did, I showed them what I had made: perfection. Immaculate perfection. This too was a cluster, like the Age of Desolation, a collection of possibilities that all rippled forth from the moment I told the Elder Gods about Kethuru the Mighty. Sometimes They sharded early, sharded more fully, built great Edifices to raise Vernals and create my Nine beloved friends – but even more powerful. Sometimes They went willingly to the Void, leaving greater instructions, staying close to return and help mortalkind build those powerful structures. And sometimes, like in the place that I opened the rift to, They just fought the Soulless Themselves. They were beautiful. It was still terrible, this line, this thread, this possibility. So many of Them died, but it was worth it. They would not let me fight with Them. I was kept away, safe, incase I was needed to go back again. I tried to explain to Them that I had already been back an infinite number of times, already made an infinite number of futures, but no one ever understands that their timeline isn’t the most important. Even mine isn’t. Yours is. To be part of it feels…like nothing I can describe. At first they were overwhelmed again by the sight of the Gods. I cannot blame them. To see the Elder Gods fight in such a way is something mortalkind had never seen before. When I saw it, for myself, I was overwhelmed. But I was stronger now, more able to tell them what I wanted, though it was hard. Sometimes my words did not get through, and I confused them. But they listened. They saw. And one by one they began to run round, bringing light from the darkness, turning the Immaculate to brilliant. Faster than I had imagined, my essence flew out to meet my Seal once again, and I felt the mortals rush to cluster around it, my friends flying to meet them. “Isikathi,” He remembered. “Your name is Isikathi.” It was too much, so much, I wanted to tear the final rift open then but He wasn’t ready. They tried to help Him understand, to find the answers, but He couldn’t. He would though. Soon. --- When I opened the last rift, I opened it to my body. Time stretches. This is another thing that they say about time. But if you pull even the stringiest thing hard enough, it will break. I pulled too hard. I wrapped it around and around and pulled it and it snapped, it snapped, everything snapped and I was gone. I remember the days that they rose me up. I remember the trust and the hope and the love. I remember the moment that the branching lines I had come to understand became everything that I was. I remember the moment they made me into time. To explain what I had done, I opened the rift to the moment that I snapped time. Snapped myself. Broke everything. It’s called a paradox. Normally paradoxes are small. They exist within a single timeline, a little loop, sometimes so tiny that it doesn’t make any difference at all. Some mortals can even cause them. Tiny looping ripples. But I am not a ripple. I am a tidal wave. My paradox tore through two clusters of timelines. When they stepped onto my scales, into my breath, between my claws, I could feel them skittering over me like tickling ants. Finally, I was not alone. They took the broken parts of my scales and turned them, spilling my essence through the shattering parts of my body, guiding me home, home, home again. It took them some time. One, Aurik, tried to do what I had done – to skip, to be clever, to cheat the system. But I could not do that again. The quickest route is never the safest one. So the rest of them started to turn, to push, to pull my body into place. Tsakali stood at the end and called for the light to be guided to them, and it was, turned by many hands that led my essence to the way out, the fissure that shone the way through home. I saw the light, the stitch in time, and I flew. At this point in time, they did not know for sure what I was, but I flew all of myself to the Peak I had given myself to and spread my wings. At last I could blot out the sun again, claim the skies as my own, look upon the world we had fought too hard to save. “It is alright,” I said. “I can stop this.” I can stop myself. I fell into the Seal of Time, though I lost a part of myself along the way – I do not know how, do not know where, even the I that is He cannot see for certain. It worries Him, but He does not care, not now that I am within the Seal and Him and we are whole again. Like sand from an hourglass, I poured forth and was no longer I, was He. --- Her memories came to Me in a rush. I had thought Myself to have gained so many before. But as the mortals stood before Me, as I looked upon her Seal, I recalled so much more. It was overwhelming. But I knew one thing for certain: the Seal was whole. They had averted the need for the Trial of Ascension. This, I had to explain. They had formed the Seal of Time in urgent desperation, and as it had formed I had not been able to explain what it meant for Me, for the rest of the Seals. They questioned, as I had, whether the Nine were now Ten in complete form. Thus did I make clear, to the best of My abilty. The Tenth Seal, the Seal of Time, the Seal of Isikathi the Vernal Dragon – it is not like the others. The Nine Seals and the Domothean Realms keep the prison of Almighty Kethuru shut. The Seal of Time serves to protect them from Time itself. With it formed, there is no threat to the Nine Seals from the Timequakes that will yet continue – an echo of Goloth Maxyenka’s manipulation of Isikathi’s power. If it had cracked and failed, however, the Nine Seals would indeed have been weakened in turn, for the Ten are all connected. It was not. I find that I am not disconcerted by this Tenth Vernal that is contained now within Me. She is ancient, and yet seems to have so young a soul. She is clever and brave and kind, and did not deserve so cruel a fate. She wished only to fix things. She was wrong. She should never have done it. But then, I am the one who tore her from My form, in the timeline that bore her. So I turn My attention now to the celebration that mortalkind has earned, content that they have succeeded at keeping Almighty Kethuru sealed. At thwarting another threat to His prison. Of course, one day, there may be more. I remain ever watchful, as is My duty, My purpose. But for now? For now, I am at peace. **Categories:** Events --- ### [A Mysterious Shattering and to Read A Shard of Glass](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/23/a-mysterious-shattering-and-to-read-a-shard-of-glass/) **Published:** December 23, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](../../../../wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-images-crystal2-300x158.jpg)As the world continued to experience a variety of disconcerting anomalies, the sound of shattering glass echoed from somewhere on Avechna’s Peak. A squeak of alarm followed it – and then silence. Though a number of people explored the Peak to seek out the source of the sound, including a cautious investigation from a distance by Dys Mzithrei of Gaudiguch, it was Coraline Myeras of Serenwilde who stumbled upon something strange within the Peak. Whilst standing at the Aetherplex, she observed a gnome in a white suit stepping out of a portal. Their exchange was brief, with the gnome – thuggish and rude – telling her not to worry, that it was just business, and to run along now. Then the thug left the Aetherplex, passing Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax on her way, making no further comments as she passed. Understandably concerned by the altercation, Coraline spoke first to Ayisdra and then to Kogon of New Celest, who in turn relayed what she had seen to his city. But thus, it seemed, ended all thought upon it – for no one chose to investigate or communicate further. --- As rumours of the gnomish thug reached the Basin of Life, a pair of intrepid adventurers set out to investigate the situation on Avechna’s Peak. First to sally forth was Athree of Glomdoring, who travelled to the Aetherplex to seek information. He ventured early on into the ship of the Starhopper, and spoke at some length with the Captain, asking her about the strange pressure on the world and whether any creatures had been acting crazily nearby. He asked if her crew were missing anything, but she said that apart from the Professor breaking his wine glass, that had been all. Athree did then go onto speak with the Professor himself, but von Fixit proved monosyllabic in his responses, uninterested in conversing. He noticed too the shard of glass still tucked to one side of the Professor’s room, but neither picked it up nor investigated it. And so it was that Athree left the Starhopper, and joined by Xenthos An’Ryshe he headed off to search the rest of the Peak. The two of them interviewed many of the Avechna’s Peak Merchants Coterie, learning that the gnome witnessed by Coraline had headed both up the peak and back down, eventually tracing it back to the Aetherplex – and the Starhopper. There, Xenthos found the broken glass and had a more productive conversation with Professor von Fixit – at least, once his pet leopard had bared her teeth in the gnome’s face the man was much more forthcoming. Even still, he would say very little, only making clear through sweating and fidgeting that ‘she’ would do far worse things to him than anyone else could. Certain that they had uncovered a Gnafia plot, Xenthos and Athree made some other investigations on the Facility and Bottledowns, but confirmed little else – where, about the same time, Spinner Afollia had noticed that it was getting hotter. A lot hotter. And not just on the Prime Material Plane. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Daily Credits!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/18/daily-credits/) **Published:** February 18, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/celestfireworks-300x158.jpg)Lusternia is now completely free to play! This means that rather than needing to purchase credits, you can earn credits in-game, at the rate of 20 bound credits/RL day. Also, cities and communes can earn credits every game year. Credits are still available for purchase on the website and elite memberships are still available in order to cover costs, which includes coding support. The retirement value of characters are locked and will no longer change. Those characters may continue to be able to retire at any time (minimum retirement value has been reduced to 250 credits), but they will not be able to increase retirement value by earning more credits. New characters will not be able to retire. Also, players are no longer be able to use retirement credits from other games on Lusternia. Below are ways to earn more daily credits. More details are discussed on the forums and will be subject to updating as we gather more data. - Defeating mobiles in combat. - Defeating mobiles in ego battles (i.e., influencing). - Participating in an aetherhunt. - Completing some specific in-game quests with a difficulty rating of 3+. The higher the rating, the greater the reward. See QUESTS ALL for all ratings. - Completing commodity quests. - Completing power quests. - Completing Scholar, bard and/or pilgrim quests. - Helping defeat an avatar mob. - Participating in village revolts. - Participating in Aether Flares. - Participating in Wild Nodes. - Participating in Domoth claims and battles. Cities and communes earn organizational credits every in-game year (approximately every 12 RL days) based on how well their citizens or members have performed in a variety of different tasks. It is up to the city or commune on how they will distribute the credits. Organizational credit rewards range from 1000 credits to 500 credits. Below are ways to earn more yearly credits (see HELP YEARLY CREDITS). As before, details can be found on the forums and will be subject to updating as we gather more data. - Participating in Village Revolts and capturing a village. - Participating in Aether Flares and capturing an aetherbubble. - Participating in Wildnodes and winning the challenge. - Participating and winning Library/Theater Contests. - Citizens or members placing in an Ikon Tournament. - Contributing public designs for crafting organizations. **Categories:** News --- ### [Leprechaun March Madness!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/01/leprechaun-march-madness/) **Published:** March 1, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/shamrocks-300x169.jpg)There is 30% price reduction on credits for the month of March! This means the actual price of credits is reduced by 30%, which are purchaseable at [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! If you have Iron Elite, you will still get your 10% bonus credits on all credit purchases! Also, it is the anniversary of the death of Old Cashel Connlaodh, King of the Leprechauns, the leprechaun population gathered to celebrate his reign. However, as the green ale flowed, old arguments rose about who should lead the leprechauns, which finally resulted in overthrowing King Seamus Connlaodh, calling for a new contest to see which of Old Cashel’s children should rule the leprechauns. Thus, Gilligan Connlaodh and Eileen Connlaodh have returned to try to wrest the crown from their brother Seamus. You can help the leprechauns to choose their new leaders by helping either Eileen, Seamus or Gilligan, who each have a rainbow on the path of nature on Avechna’s Peak, where you can visit them. By helping the leprechauns, they’ll give you a shamrock of their faction. This is a DAILY QUEST which can be completed by influencing 12 leprechauns loyal to one of the leprechaun royalty. Shamrocks can be combined into groups for easy carrying–IF YOU EAT A GROUP OF SHAMROCKS, THAT IS YOUR LOSS. YOU WILL NOT BE REIMBURSED. You can then take the shamrocks to either Gilligan, Eileen or Seamus and SHAMROCK TRADE FOR COIN will give you a free Czigany coin! Whichever faction has given out the most shamrocks at the end of the month will become the new leprechaun leader and will stay as a permanent quest in Lusternia! You can only receive the presents once per game month. Oh, by the way, there’s a little known fact about leprechaun magic: they gain the power of invisibility when they’re drunk! How one can overcome that, we’ll leave it for you to discover. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/09/challenge-of-chaos-7/) **Published:** February 9, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/eye.jpg)The crash of the Lyraa Ey Rielys aetherbubble into Lusternia and its subsequent ripping away by Queenie of the Gnafia caused the fabric of reality to fray once more. Again the Nine Seals that held back the Soulless Kethuru were weakened. Thus the Trials to reinforce the Seals begin once more. The first Seal was of Chaos. Adventurers across Lusternia rose up to seek and catch the Purple Hamster of Chaos, who imbued all those who held her with growing madness. Tarken of Glomdoring was the first to find her, but despite holding her for nearly half a Lusternian day, the Chaos Hamster had other plans. She was subsequently caught by Ixion of Magnagora, then Unitos of New Celest, then Steingrim of Gaudiguch. But it was near the end of the Trial that Chaos finally reared her full powers. The Hamster went to Avurekhos of Magnagora, followed in the last moments by Enadonella of Glomdoring, then finally, in the remaining, chaotic few seconds, she chose Kreon of New Celest as Champion out of pure chance. **Congratulations, Kreon, holder of the Seal of Chaos!** - Second Place: Tarken, of Glomdoring - Third Place: Unitos, of New Celest - Fourth Place: Ixion, of Magnagora - Fifth Place: Aurik, of Glomdoring **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/10/challenge-of-harmony-6/) **Published:** February 10, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lightwarrior-300x158.jpg) After Chaos, the Seal of Harmony came under contention. Contestants throughout Lusternia rose up with their voices to win hearts and minds of the denizens of the land. Though Jolanthe of Gaudiguch was the first to make her voice heard, Yendor, Enadonella, and Leticia of Glomdoring soon overtook her, followed by Ixion and Vatul of Magnagora. Yendor became the leading speaker of Harmony through most of the period of the Trial, while Jolanthe and Leticia vied back and forth for third, and the same for Vatul and Ixion for fifth place. In the end, Enadonella overtook Yendor in her words to become the winner of the Trial and the bearer of the namesake medallion. **Congratulations, Enadonella, holder of the Seal of Harmony!** - Second Place: Yendor, of Glomdoring - Third Place (tie): Jolanthe, of Gaudiguch and Leticia, of Glomdoring - Fourth Place: Ixion, of Magnagora - Fifth Place: Vatul, of Magnagora **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/11/challenge-of-nature-7/) **Published:** February 11, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](wp-content/uploads/2019/02/wordpress-nature-300x158.jpg)Early morning of the 16th of Juliary, 523 CoE, saw challengers gathered at Avechna’s Peak to take part in the Trial of Nature. Receiving a peculiar bioengineered plant, they have set off to cleanse the Basin of Life from remainders of Lyraan presence to strengthen the Seal of Nature. The first to find a clue was Kish but it was a while before anyone, including Kish, figured out their clues from that point onwards. Afternoon came by the time Dys Mzithrei, Tarken, and Ayisdra made any progress and it was almost midnight before Unitos and Allixea made their first finds. Then, as night reigned, Dys took a sudden lead and did not relinquish it even come dawn. Ayisdra Ysav’rai and Steingrim La’Saet sought high and low during the night but they could not overtake her. The next day begun equally slow, with Vatul Feyranti, Nerai, and Ilthilior n’Lochli joining the trial. By late afternoon, Steingrim and Alaksanteri both have made progress but Dys has remained in the lead. By the evening, Steingrim has made a leap ahead, almost matching Dys, as did Nerai. As the night came, Ixion has made his first find. As the Sun welcomed the land on the third day, a sudden surge landed Steingrim in the lead, with Dys, Tarken, Ayisdra, and Nerai right behind him. As morning passed, Steingrim’s lead grew but Dys would not be left behind. Others rallied throughout the day but Allixea made the largest jump forward, matching those in the lead, and then overtaking them. By dusk, however, it was Dys who was back in the lead and by a significant margin. It was not long then when she, despite all the ups and down, was victorious. **Congratulations Dys Mzithrei of Gaudiguch!** The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place: Allixea, of Glomdoring - Third Place: Steingrim La’Saet, of Gaudiguch - Fourth Place: Tarken, of Glomdoring - Fifth Place: Romaan D’Varden, of Celest **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Helllooooo, Dolly d'Amour!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/15/helllooooo-dolly-damour/) **Published:** February 15, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/wordpress-dolly-300x158.jpg)Ah, love is in the air and, once again, Madame Sylvie’s famous mother, the charming Dolly d’Amour, has returned to the Basin of Life to help the wandering lovelorn find love! Greet the lovelorn and then seduce them for love letters. If you get a love letter, bring it to Dolly, and if you give her a total of 10 letters, she’ll send you to Trader Bob to a free heart arrow! See Announce 2899 for more information on heart arrows. Note that you can only do this quest once per hour. To recap the quest: 1. Greet lovelorn 2. Seduce lovelorn 3. Get letter 4. Bring letter to Dolly (only possible once per hour) **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Knowledge](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/17/challenge-of-knowledge-7/) **Published:** February 17, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/wordpress-knowledge-300x158.jpg)The Trial of Knowledge took place on the 7th of Dioni, 524 CoE, and continued late into the night. The start was slow, with the initial questions proving to be a greater challenge than would have been expected. But slowly, little by little, the competitors have emerged. Once Kalaneya Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring took the lead, she was never once contested. Congratulations, Kalaneya, Bearer of the Medallion of Knowledge! The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place: Nelras Shevat, of Hallifax - Third Place: Ayisdra Ysav’rai, of Hallifax - Fourth Place: Faragan Ladyn, of Gaudiguch and Qistrel Strongleaf, of Serenwilde (tie) - Fifth Place: Yendor Stormcrow, of Glomdoring **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/17/challenge-of-life-7/) **Published:** February 17, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/wordpress-life-300x158.jpg)On the 5th of Vestian, 524 CoE, the Challenge of Life was held. It was Malarious who cured the first diseased furrikin from its ailments, followed by Steingrim. Soon after Avurekhos appear as the third challenger. Poihala, Lorina and Eliron eventually joined the ranks. By the halfway mark of the Challenge it was these six who travelled around the Basin looking for poor unfortunates to heal as to prove their worthiness of becoming a seal bearer. At this point we found Malarious in the lead, followed by Avurekhos and Steingrim, while the latter three places were moving around all over. As we came two thirds into the challenge, it became apparent that Malarious would be a likely winner, yet Avurekhos began to slowly lose his hold on the second place. Meanwhile further shuffling happened in the last three positions as none of the challengers were going to just give up without putting in everything they had. As the Challenge of Life reached its end, it was Malarious who proved that a strong start and a lot of perseverance would see him through as the winner with a grand total of 44 furrikin cured. As Avurekhos saw quite a bit of opposition, it was ultimately Steingrim who was able to secure second place, while still granting Avurekhos a solid third place. As for the others, they came in with a never before seen tie for the fourth place. Special congratulations to Poihala, Lorina and Eliron for keep things interesting until the very end and showing us that indeed anything is possible for those who step up and try. Congratulations, Malarious, Bearer of the Medallion of Life! The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place: Steingrim, of Gaudiguch (25 cures) - Third Place: Avurekhos Feyranti, of Magnagora (24 cures) - Fourth Places: Poihala, of Glomdoring, Eliron Shee-Slaugh, of Glomdoring and Lorina, of Celest (5 cures each) **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Death](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/17/challenge-of-death-8/) **Published:** February 17, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/wordpress-death-300x158.jpg)There can be no life without death and, on the 7th of Vestian, 524 years after the Coming of Estarra, the Challenge of Death would choose its Sealbearer, the one who could spread the gift of the final sleep furthest throughout the land. Many challengers took to the field to drench the earth in blood, notably Steingrim, the Warlord of Gaudiguch, Shango D’Cente of Magnagora, Jolanthe Rithel of Gaudiguch, Kalas Ixion of Magnagora, Tridemon Regalis of New Celest, and Holy Matron Lorina, also of New Celest. But Yendor Stormcrow of the Dark Forest of Glomdoring took an early lead by wielding his nekotai claws and carving rivers of blood through mountain, field and valley. While Steingrim the Warlord roared and scythed through bodies with reckless abandon, he was ultimately not able to match the bloody terror that was Yendor Stormcrow. Congratulations to Yendor Stormcrow, Bearer of the Medallion of Death! - Second Place (700 credits): Steingrim, of Gaudiguch - Third Place (500 credits): Jolanthe, of Gaudiguch - Fourth Place (250 credits): Lorina, of New Celest - Fifth Place (100 credits): Tridemon, of New Celest **Categories:** News, Uncategorized --- ### [Awakening the Spirit of Ilmdria Farirue](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/17/awakening-the-spirit-of-ilmdria-farirue/) **Published:** March 17, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/tree-300x274.jpg)One windy morning in the Serenwilde forest, there came a strange whispering. Almost indecipherable at first, it echoed throughout the forest and drew the attention of those gathered at the Mother Moonhart. Daxi Strongleaf and Aydeksa Mzithrei were first to hear it, with Coraline Myeras returning to assist in their search thereafter. The three of them searched Serenwilde and beyond, speaking at times to the various residents of the forest. From Miakoda they learned that the voice was not malevolent and that it came from outside the forest. From Teharo of the Listeners they learned that it was a spirit, and one whose voice was far clearer to those who stood tethered to that plane. But it was the Ranger Caedir who told them the voice was coming from the northern mountains, and so to the mountains they went. It was a boreal grove that they descended into, one long abandoned, and there they retraced the steps of its long-dead resident. Though they were initially perplexed as to how to do so, soon Daxi and Coraline were working together to live a day in the life of Ilmdria Farirue, not knowing what they might find. Ryves Moonblade came also to assist them, but it was Daxi who ultimately made the first new entry into Ilmdria’s long-lost journal. Though she would later lament missing her chance at immortality through prose, Daxi was nonetheless successful in using the journal to summon the spirit of Ilmdria. As the three women conversed, they realised that Ilmdria was the closest friend and soultwin of the legendary Toledil – a poet who was known for many epic works, amongst them the Darkseed, which chronicled the life of Banon Strongleaf, and the tales of Cora Wildbriar, which Ilmdria’s spirit had called them to the grove by reciting. And though in time the spirit of Ilmdria would fade again, many questions remained. What other works might the spirit remember? What other ancestors of the Serenwilde, forgotten in all but Toledil’s works, remained to be discovered? And why do magpies have such a fondness for blueberries? **Categories:** Events --- ### [Memorial Water Gardens: A Tale of a Tail](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/25/3761/) **Published:** March 25, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lightwarrior-300x158.jpg)It was late in Estar, 527 CE that Milosha Novikei and Yanitone Symfale of New Celest announced the official opening of the Memorial Water Gardens, a project that had been under construction for many years. The opening festivities were attended by citizens of all walks of life, from Prince Minkahmet D’Varden himself to a fisherman interested in learning what varieties of fish could be found in the new garden’s pools. Not to mention the cat. Qoivhae Vivalde was the first to volunteer to perform the Ceremony of Remembrance in honour of the victims of the Shanty Town Massacre. Some assisted him in this endeavour, while others admired the gardens, and recalled the devastation wrought by the wights, telling the tale to those citizens too young to have lived through it. At last all the witnesses for the ceremony were gathered, and the fountain lit up like a beacon. But, rather than the angelic spirit caretaker Milosha Novikei expected, the beacon instead drew the attention of a large angelfish, to the great excitement of the attending fisherman. After learning of the intentions of those gathered to remember all the victims of the massacre, the angelfish transformed, and Carakhan, Sculptor of Waves revealed Herself to the Basin once more. For a time, She indulged the curiosity of those gathered, mentioning that She had been journeying to learn what had become of places and items once dear to Her after the millenia She had spent within the bubble of Aquagoria, but at least She departed to rest, and ponder the works of New Celest. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Strange Things!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/05/07/strange-things/) **Published:** May 7, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-image-bubbleship-300x158.jpg)Throughout Lusternia, adventurers have started to experience strange things – sounds and sights and feelings that are not there. Keep an eye on these temporal oddities throughout the second week of May for a huge new release on the 11th! **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Battle to Defend Time](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/05/12/the-battle-to-defend-time/) **Published:** May 12, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/timequake-release-copy-300x158.jpg)In the middle of the 530th year after the Coming of Estarra, the people of the Basin of Life began to experience strange visions. Some came in dreams, whilst others would strike at random – bringing images from a titanic figure tearing away monstrous wings to the world transformed into immaculate and desolate forms. This quickly caught the notice of the world’s adventurers, but it was quite by accident that the first prophecy regarding the weaknesses in the timestream was found. Indeed, Gurashi An’Ryshe was overwhelmed to discover that his summoning of Mother Night had elicited more than an urge to slay the Aspects of Hart. As the Glomdoring set to considering this wisdom, other organisations launched their own investigations. In Serenwilde, a valiant effort to summon Chuchip was ironically foiled by the progression of time, whilst Lisuarte sought to investigate the Lirangsha Retreat – having witnessed a vision referencing the Golothian Empire. Not long after, in New Celest, Qoivhae Vivalde sought the wisdom of the Supernal Elohora, and lent aid to Torili of the Ecclesiarchy. The greatest discussion of what could be behind the events was held in Gaudiguch, where following Coraline Myeras’s discovery of Guardian Drachou’s prophecy, Jolanthe Rithel and Gabe of the Revelry shared their thoughts and visions. Indeed, many of their predictions regarding the Last Goloth’s intentions – including his desire to invade once more – proved to be correct. Hallifax also consulted their temporal scholars, and monitored the situation at length with the help of Fraesic Sunfar. Whilst this was happening, the everyday cloak-and-dagger of Magnagora was intensified by the machinations of the Demon Lords of Nil, who never fail to advance their diabolical plots when an opportunity presents itself. Though concerned for what the peculiar visions and dreams spelled for the First World, few listened to Jaydice of the Infernals who called for unison and sharing of information where everyone else pursued their own shadowy schemes. Ultimately, all Magnagorans came to pursue the insights of the Necromentate, but each for their own ends. Then, two months into the effects upon the timestream, things worsened. The face of Goloth Maxyenka appeared before the Basin of Life, crowing that the Beast of Time would be his to claim. There was little time to contemplate who or what this might be, for soon people were being flung to distant reaches of the First World, assaulted by one-eyed dominators, and witnessing worldwide phenomena as two timelines attempted to converge on the world’s own. Something had to be done. And so it was that throughout the Basin, the guilds that had come to serve their cities and communes sought to defend their charges. In an unexpected delay of sobriety, it was the Revelry of Gaudiguch who were first to secure a project to defend their citizens – though the Skylark Consortium of Hallifax were not far behind. As their members quickly discovered themselves immune to the temporal manipulations, other guilds followed – with the Infernals of Magnagora, the Thornwatch of Glomdoring, the Ecclesiarchy of New Celest and the Sowers of Serenwilde soon following. These projects were acquired in ways as different as the organisations themselves. In Gaudiguch, the Revelry – led by Kistan Rithel and Gabe – unlocked the way into a new section of their guildhall, unveiling a mysterious artifact known as the Multidexicolorma, whilst the Goon Squad reignited the Infinity Inferno and the Seekers conducted a transmological ritual to create the Eye of the Gnostic Dawn. Opposite them in Hallifax, a group of concerned citizens sought the wisdom of the city’s most knowledgeable temporal minds. With the data they had gathered, they assisted Indcii Oolin in discovering several temporal nexii – divergences in the timeline where the survival of Hallifax became drastically more likely. With this knowledge, the Skylark Consortium were able to converge the Taroch Project, the Grand Aerie assisted Isaisys the swan in singing the Echoes of the First Symphony into being, and Princess Setisoki of the Adherents called forth the Font of Time. In Magnagora, months of gruelling pursuits first yielded results for the Infernal Mandate. On the Supreme Master Luciphage’s orders, the Mandate sought to summon an artifact powerful enough to ward off temporal interference and, with the help of the ancient archlich, Veritus n’Rotri, they marshalled the magicks of the Black Fortress to their ends. Meanwhile, the Heralds of Dark Fates were playing the long game at Prince Baalphegar’s behest. Deals had been struck, skilled ritualists dug out of holes, astrologers consulted, and demonologists enlisted; and then two bucketfuls of Earthen mud later, the timeline convergence has been exploited to great result. None of this, however, concerned the Iniquitous Society who were dealing with a handful of a project of their own. Little is known of what actually occurred except that it involved a fair amount of tea and blood. Deep within the shadows of Glomdoring, Proselyte Afollia and Proselyte Esri, along with Lothwen Darkeye, discovered an antique mirror behind some drapes in the storerooms of the Temple of Mother Night. Discerning mystic energies thrumming beneath its reflective surface, they were able to awaken its power, which revealed the location of the Scrying Pool of Hallowed Blessings hidden within an ancient vault, able to control temporal abnormalities. Meanwhile, Rotbark the Blackhearted Wyrdenwood awoke within the Thornwatch Maze, disturbed by the quakes in time. Kyalrhin of Thornwatch who Rotbark saw as an “odd little bug” was ultimately able to convince Rotbark to help, which he did in the form of a giant shadowcatcher web. Soon joined by Spirit Warden Xenthos, they were able to empower the web, they transformed it into the Garden of Merciless Reaping, whose roots were able to extend into time itself. Most strange of all, however, was when the swarm of locusts known as Raemourne the Multitide who called forth an enormous horntail wasp for Vespula Azele Stormcrow. Demanding that the wasp be fed, Azele, with the help of Xenthos and Steingrim, was able to provide it with enough essence for it to explode into the Horde of Wyrden Glory, a clutch of enormous insect eggs, pulsating with temporal energy. In Celest, Torili and the Praetorian Hamos sought the aide of Celest citizens to complete the ritual to discover the hiding place of the Tears of Saint Tresalyne, which were brought back to the Ecclesiarchy and incorporated within the lighthouse, lending their light to its beam. The citizens rejoiced and soon sought out Yanitone Symfale of the Archons who revealed that through his merchant network he had obtained a rumoured Relic of the Dawn’s Promise. Once the reliquary was blessed, the Shards of Morning’s Absolution began to protect those who had so empowered them. Meanwhile, Zeasha Novikei had been searching for answers to what was causing rumbling below the garden at the heart of the Sanctifiers guildhall. With the aide of the citizenry, the chamber of tides, containing the mysterious basin known as the Thalassos, was unearthed. Sparrow led the Sowers (accompanied by a cow) in a ritual dance, which brought forth a mysterious seed. When planted, the seed grew into the Amberleaf. Lalenna, meanwhile, had been seeking answers of her own. Waking from a trance she found that she had created, or been gifted, a ritual totemcarving knife. With the aide of the Wodewoses, the knife was empowered and the Totem of the Tribes revealed. Lastly, the Listeners uncovered an ancient veneration chamber when, at the behest of the spirit Teharo and the aid of Miakoda, a number of members of the other guilds came in to help make the necessary offerings. In time, all eighteen guilds of the Basin of Life were empowered to protect the timestream – a fact which greatly angered the Last Goloth, Maxyenka. As the new year turned in Lusternia, he lost control of the Beast of Time, whose unleashed power tore great wounds into the timestream. Every now and then another of these scars opens, causing a Timequake that opens a rift into another part of time – occasionally, even another timeline entirely. Lusternia will not be the same again, but as is often the case with such events, many questions remain. Who or what is the Beast of Time? What caused the perfection of the Immaculate Age, or the apocalypse of the Age of Desolation? Time, quite literally, would have to tell. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Visitor in Blue](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/07/22/visitor-in-blue/) **Published:** July 22, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/maylea_1-158x300.jpg)In mid-year 535 CE, the Serenwilde had an unexpected visitor: While sewing some new attire for herself, Lief Myeras was visited by shadowy figure with a pair of oval, green eyes, who did not stay long, but left behind a single bouncing muku ball. Lief, though behind on the news, soon learned that the muku were the signature fauna grown by a sharded race named the kaelye, who dwell upon the aetherbubble Lyraa Ey Rielys, and who were featured in dire events years ago: when Lyraa Ey Rielys was on a collision course with Lusternia itself. Like his predessor Taimi Kivinen, this visitor was reticent and reclusive, needing much coaxing to interact, and his language skills, though passable thanks to Taimi’s coaching, nonetheless left much to be guessed. Despite the barriers, Lief soon learned that this kaelye, by the name of Lanni Ahonen, was looking for the Elder Goddess Maylea. Through the subsequent months, Lanni came and went in the Serenwilde forest, interacting with others who sought to help him, including Pysynne, Kaiel, Aruokei, Millien, Verrix and Ani. Lanni learned more and more Common, and discovered a particular liking for cookies. But throughout, Lanni again and again sought to speak with the Bloom of Serenity. Accordingly, those who followed the Goddess among the Seren prayed to Her with much sincerity, and thus Maylea was called to Lanni’s presence. It is said that Lady Maylea showed Lanni Ahonen remarkable kindness in their first meeting, though She soon retreated to meditations upon hearing his request. All was quiet for some months. In Tzarin of 536 CE, Serens noted a particular concentration of Maylean devotees gathered in Her Temple. None but those who follow the Goddess know the full of what transpired within, but there are rumours that pass among those of the botanical persuasions: that the muku plant, which had heretofore been flowerless, has bloomed for the first time in all the ages of the worlds…. And what has happened to the kaelye, Lanni Ahonen? Only the Mayleans know. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Definitely Not Plagued](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/14/definitely-not-plagued/) **Published:** August 14, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![chocolate2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/chocolate2.jpg "chocolate2") Choco-late fiddle de dee, Charites have said it never shall be! Choco-late fiddle de dee, I want to put it in my tummy. What do you do when the sky is at dusk and up from the mountain there comes a big thrust of sunlight that spills from an old sunpride root? Over the mountain you shall scoot! Go right up and poke at it! Choco-late fiddle de do tucked in the pockets of Jitta Ko! Choco-late fiddle de dee all that he wants from you is money! Runes were put down, and a light essence crown to glow up the root that was sending forth the form of this aslaran with a fine hat! He is a very shifty cat – but we think he’s kinda fun! Choco-late now you can buy that which the Gods all hid in the sky! Choco-late isn’t that cheap but sweetness our designs shall now reap! **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Raezoning Behind the Syzygy](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/25/the-raezoning-behind-the-syzygy/) **Published:** August 25, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![raezon](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/raezon.jpg "raezon")Beams of light began flashing in the sky, and as the sun passed overhead, Eroee, Sidiak, Tarox, Papaxi, and Aapek were visible upon the face of the Sun in near-alignment. The light began to intensify, burning the flesh of citizens of the Basin and causing fires throughout, which led many though not all to seek solutions. Magnagora sought assistance from Croobuk zi’Prouep, where Veldrin and Kailanna attempted to question the lucidian who only saw them as an annoyance, until Hallifax’s Ayisdra and Nelras showed up and filled in many blanks. Serenwilde sought Adushoc zi’Prouep and Toma for answers, and they were met more warmly with answers about the Syzygy and the history of the Ice Angels. From these two, they learned of the past Syzygys which occur every 250 years or thereabouts, and especially the most recent where the Ice Angels harnessed the Syzygy to siphon power and use it as a weapon. They were told of the obsidian tower, which was created to study, protect from, and harness the energies of the Syzygy in response. A few members of Glomdoring sought the assistance one of their resident astronomers, who noted the planets were all aligning toward Glacier, but were not able to find a way to make use of this information. Gaudiguch made it a point to drunkenly theorise that these occurrences may, in fact, be the work of aliens. In Celest, Bleuu attempted to speak to Edathic, though she was sadly engaged in her studies. As the Syzygy reached full alignment, so too did the light’s power reach full effect, and it began to focus on the obsidian tower on Avechna’s Teeth. There, Finrik Lerit’r stood at the top of the tower, awaiting any who would come. He answered questions, holding off for a certain person or set of people, then asked for volunteers. The first to volunteer were Hani, Udo, Sksez, and Xenthos, who each took and orb and went on a very brief mission to calibrate the observatory. Finally, being the only astrologer there, Kalnid was given the privilege of attuning the astrolabe to Glacier as it was set to Skull, the sphere most syzygies occur in, and Finrik finished the tuning in suit. As all came together, the tower began to collapse under the sheer power of the light being focused into it. The structure became to collapse upon itself, and those too slow to make their way outside in the ample time it took for the tower to fall met their end as one does when they are stubborn enough to tangle with gravity. The pillar of light flowing through the tower quickly turned to a massive inferno of azure flame, down which two massive objects fell from the heavens. The first revealed itself to be Raezon, the Forbidden, who stepped from the flames, wielding a spyglass of unusual design, and the second a massive device of unknown origin. Raezon, seemingly exhausted and shaken from whatever occurred, departed quickly with Drocilla, taking the device with Him revealing no answers to any questions. What was the massive light show that led to His arrival? What was the device which followed Him from the Void? What is the purpose and origin of the spyglass in His hands? **Categories:** Events --- ### [A Shot in the Dark](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/25/a-shot-in-the-dark/) **Published:** August 25, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/nocht-tall-209x300.jpg)Magicked thorn-serpents and cursed arrows flew across the skies of the Basin of Life when Maylea, Bloom of Serenity snuck into the Glomdoring in disguise to steal an item tied to Nocht, the Silent from His own order head, the Wyrden Haruspex of the Auguries, Rancoura. Nocht had rallied the power of the forest to reclaim the stolen item, but was struck a surprise blow from an arrow shot from Maylea’s bow, Pathfinder. Yet it seems this was no ordinary arrow, as when the Glomdoring patron removed the offending shaft, He found not just gore and mangled flesh, but a brilliant bouquet of snapdragons. The surprise gave the Serenwilde Goddess time to flee as Nocht tends to His strange wounds. What plans does the Bloom of Serenity have for Her stolen prize? How will the Silent and Glomdoring retaliate? Only time will tell, but for now both Elders seem to be plotting Their next steps away from the prying eyes of Lusternia. **Categories:** Events --- ### [On Prices Paid](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/09/10/on-prices-paid/) **Published:** September 10, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/maynocht2-164x300.png) On the eve of the New Moon, the still-cursed Elder God, Nocht, approached the Glomdoring commune with a task. A young Augur had brought to His attention the existence of a beautiful peacock named Shashi that resided in the realm of His nemesis, Maylea. Where they had seen a potential hostage as a bargaining chip, Nocht saw a key to both His cure and His revenge. He granted them an athame inscribed with strange runes and sigils and asked that they destroy the creature. The assault was swift and overwhelming – the Silent-Blessed dagger, wielded by Rancoura, sliced through the blessings and protections Maylea had placed upon Shashi and ended his life before the Mayleans could even react. The sky was painted the colour of nightshades as Maylea raged at the assault. A number of attackers died by Her own hand when they attempted a second assault upon Her realm, but even the Elder Goddess could not undo the damage already done. But while Shashi may have been lost, his unborn eggs survived. With Maylea’s blessing now upon them, the eggs were handed over to be loved and cared for in their father’s place by Her order. For now both Elders have fallen back to further enact Their plans away from mortal eyes. What plans does the Bloom of Serenity have for what she stole? What schemes does the Silent plan with the stolen blood and feathers of the fallen Shashi? Perhaps only time will reveal the plots of the Elders, but for now, it is clear that neither considers the slights of the other to be repaid in full. Image courtesy of **Categories:** Events --- ### [Lusternia Fifteen Year Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/09/29/lusternia-fifteen-year-anniversary-events/) **Published:** September 29, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Lusternia turns fifteen years old in 2019! This is truly a remarkable milestone for any game, but most especially a text game! Check out some of the events below and keep an eye out for the Czigany Wayfaire which usually shows up when there is festivity in the air! - ### Hamster Hunt - Date: October 4, 2019 - Time: 3:00 p.m. PDT/10:00 pm GMT - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Prizes: - 1st – 300 credits – **Ayisdra** - 2nd – 150 credits – **Nao** - 3rd – 50 credits – **Kyalrhin**Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! - ### Quiz - Date: October 5, 2019 - Time: 11:00 a.m. PDT/6:00 p.m. GMT - Event: Quiz - Prizes: - 1st – 300 credits – **Regat** - 2nd – 150 credits – **Esei** - 3rd – 50 credits – **Maligorn** Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! - ### Treasure Hunt - Date: October 5, 2019 - Time: 4:00 p.m. PDT/11:00 p.m. GMT - Event: Treasure Hunt - Prizes: - 1st – 300 credits – **Kaiel** - 2nd – 150 credits – **Tridemon** - 3rd – 50 credits – **Xenthos** Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! - ### Death Worldgame - Date: October 6, 2019 - Time: 1:00 p.m. PDT/8:00 p.m. GMT - Event: Death Worldgame - Prizes: - 1st – 300 credits – **Snald** - 2nd – 150 credits – **Ixion** - 3rd – 50 credits – **Sondayga** A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. - ### Harmony Worldgame - Date: October 6, 2019 - Time: 2:00 p.m. PDT/9:00 p.m. GMT - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Prizes: - 1st – 300 credits – **Ixion** - 2nd – 150 credits – **Snald** - 3rd – 50 credits – **Xenthos** Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. - ### Wargames - Date: October 19, 2019 - Time: 1:00 p.m. PDT/8:00 p.m. GMT - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Prizes: - 1st – 300 credits - 2nd – 150 credits - 3rd – 50 credits Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! - ### Battlechess - Date: October 20, 2019 - Time: 2:00 p.m. PDT/9:00 p.m. GMT - Event: Battlechess - Prize: The Chess Board of Libertas. Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive a special trophy! - ### Vengeance Tournament - Date: October 31, 2019 - Time: TBD - Event: Vengeance - Prize: 500 credits divided among survivors. Are you an assassin, detective, protector, mindless killer or a just plain old citizen? Enter the ultimate game of diplomacy, manipulation and, of course, vengeance, and see who will survive! ![web-drac-2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web-drac-2-e1507054384954.gif) **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Festival of the Creatrix](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/10/13/the-festival-of-the-creatrix/) **Published:** October 13, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** For fifteen years, Lusternia has celebrated its Anniversary as simply the turning of the Cosmic Cycle. No longer! This annual event shall now be known as the Festival of the Creatrix – and in addition to all of the already scheduled events, you will find the following attractions this year: ### PARTY ITEMS! - Upon Avechna’s Peak, Apprentice Agwesha awaits you not far from the Portal of Fate. For the duration of the Festival, she will be selling a variety of wares, including: - Decorations for the festive season! - A few fun toys to demonstrate your celebration. - Fireworks, because is it really a festival otherwise? - Chocolate…that tastes like chicken! Maybe. - And lastly but most importantly, a limited-edition doll of Estarra Herself. ### LANTERNS! - The Lovely Charites are delighted to announce the release of two kinds of lantern, which may now be designed and crafted by Bookbinders and Artisans! - Bookbinders can make Skylanterns, which may be released to display their beauty on the surrounding area. Please bear in mind that as a kind of origami, these lanterns must be primarily made of paper. - Artisans will now find that Wallfeatures has been rebranded as Lighting, and contains a new pattern for hanging lanterns that will, periodically, illuminate the surrounding environs however so designed to. ### COCKTAILS! - If that wasn’t enough, masters of Cooking may now create cocktails! You will find these under the Spirits ability. We hope you enjoy the Festival! **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Haunting is Upon Us!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/11/01/the-haunting-is-upon-us/) **Published:** November 1, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This Halloween, Lusternia is full of many scary delights for you to enjoy. Don't miss out - make sure you come and join us for your annual jumpscares! **Content:** This Halloween, Lusternia is full of many scary delights for you to enjoy. Don’t miss out – make sure you come and join us for your annual jumpscares! ## Haunted House Open The Haunted House is now open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob and his Merchant Peak’s Coterie. A wide selection of costumes can be purchased within in addition to a slew of activities available to enjoy: pumpkin carving, a unique vengeance game, a maze with may mysteries, bobbing for apples, fortune readings, haunted furniture, spooky refreshments, and a spooky play retelling the story of the Vernal Goddesses known as the Hearth Sisters and the cities they rose from in the times of Vernal Wars. Show starts every midnight! If you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. To make sure you don’t miss out on anything the Coterie has prepared a Haunting Adventure to guide you through all of the activities. Be sure to pick up a pamphlet at the door. The Haunted House is located on the Stair of Death on Avechna’s Peak and will stay open until the 10th November. Oh, and keep your eyes out in the lower levels of the Mansion for something…unexpected. ## Anniversary Vengeance Winners The Haunting is the perfect time for a vigorous game of vengeance – the parlour game of deception and horrors lurking in the depth of the night. The game played at the Haunted House is set in the times of the Vernal Wars and tells the tale of the Il’eredir tribe of practitioners of hearthcraft who have been infiltrated by a group of conjurers. Eighteen players entered the game and only three walked out victorious. The fate of the game hung on the actions of few as tribesman after tribesman were picked off during the night. In the end, the tribe was victorious and the foul conjurers were banished. Congratulations to Errente, Vatul, and Xis – members of the tribe – who have been awarded the prize of 500 credits split among the three of them. **Categories:** Events --- ### [The Liar, the Madman, and the Shofet](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/11/17/the-liar-the-madman-and-the-shofet/) **Published:** November 17, 2019 **Author:** Ianir **Content:** It was just before the new year, in Roarkian of 545CE, that Gaudiguch began to experience strange sensations throughout their city. Strange shadows darting over the ground with no source to cast them, whispers with no mouth to speak them, and painful headaches where there had been no issue moments before. To some within the city, these were but an omen of what was to come later in the month. These individuals had been witness to the strangest sight in the city over many years: an enormous butterfly made of pink, prismatic light that would carry them to a strange, alternate reality. In this reality, they would meet a raving Madman, and a sympathetic Liar. Shortly after the new year, though, Gaudiguch began to experience anomalies on a scale that had never been replicated, from monsoons to auroras and heart-rending howls that filled the Basin with the sounds of children weeping. The sensations picked up pace, leading to the grand reveal of the butterfly known to them as the Herald emerging high above the Eternal Flame and descending to wrap the city in an enormous pink dome. This strange turn of events was shadowed by an even more disturbing sign, for the world blurred and appeared not only once, but twice, thrice! The two additional realities shifted slightly to the left and right of what we would know to be real, and in what could be either a split-second or an age, monstrously large wings could be heard beating in a terrifying pulse. And again. Then everything returned to as it should be, apart from the new decoration in the Free City. No less than thirteen Gaudiguchians ran to the Palace of Pleasure as a storm of dark sand and red lightning converged upon it. They found the entrance blocked by the power of the storm, but a strange pink portal floating in midair to allow them entry. Taking a bold plunge, they entered the strange world and found themselves caught in a final confrontation between the Madman and the Liar. Splitting themselves into two parties, they attempted to find a peaceable solution, but there seemed to be no way to appeal to either of the parties beyond brute force. To make matters worse, the storm itself seemed to respond to the Liar’s distress, a jackal manifesting from the sandstorm and devouring Gaudiguchians whole, sending them to places unknown before they would eventually find their way back to the entrance of the Palace of Pleasure. In the end, a test was placed before all parties involved: Would they strike down a cobra, the Liar’s self-proclaimed only friend, or allow that same cobra to kill the Madman who had proclaimed his intent to slay both the Liar and the “darkness” that manifested the storm? Lines were drawn, and before many could begin to understand how the test would play out, the Madman dashed forward and smashed the cobra with a large, sharp rock before everyone’s eyes. The sandstorm responded to this distress, and soared high above the Basin of Life, where it coalesced into a single point and dove back down, revealing that the darkness was none other than Mysrai the Thousandfold, stepping forth in the jackal-headed aspect of the Shofet of Abyssal Scales. What does this mean for the Basin? Is this the last we’ve seen of the Herald? Where exactly has Mysrai been this entire time? So many questions left unanswered; is it fate to know so much, and understand so little? **Categories:** Events --- ### [December 2019 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/01/08/december-2019-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** January 8, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for December! **Content:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for December! If you’d like a chance to join them for this round, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD will tell you all you need to know. ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Lisuette’s *The Monstrous Tale of Califa y’Bolgari* #### Runner-Up Lief’s *Maiden Wilde* #### Merit Kyalrhin’s *Reference book for Guild Beasts*, Rancoura’s *Opening Ceremony Glomdoring’s Solstice Festival; 548 CE* and Xenthos’s *The Wyrd Rises* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Esei’s *Night Awakening* #### Runner-Up Gurashi’s *An Unexpected Visitor* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Trader Bob's Forgotten Vaults](https://www.lusternia.com/2020/01/01/trader-bobs-forgotten-vaults/) **Published:** January 1, 2020 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This month, take a grab at the contents of Trader Bob's Forgotten Vaults, receiving prizes that could include a limited edition artifact! **Content:** Trader Bob has unveiled his forgotten vaults of treasures he has unearthed over the years to the Basin! The lost treasures contained within are now available for the bearers of his golden keys, available for purchase on the website! Contents of the vault include, but are not limited to: wondercrystals, caches of credits, and artifacts (including those seen only in auctions!). You can find the vaults within his shop at the foot of Mount Avechna. As well, anybody who completes their daily credits for the day will receive a key piece. Four key pieces may be transformed at the vault into a proper golden key. You can access the vaults with the VAULTS command at the VAULTS landmark. In addition, throughout the month of January, there will be a 30% credit sale! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Questing Countdown to Solstice!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/23/a-questing-countdown-to-solstice/) **Published:** December 23, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** This year's Solstice quests have been released in Lusternia, rewarding a beautiful Solstice calendar! **Content:** With Solstice in full swing, each city and commune has a small quest which will award a special Solstice gift upon completion. These quests can be done by anyone from newbie to demigod. Note that you can only gain your own commune or city’s gift! In New Celest, Helstren, the Harbourmaster seeks kittens in mittens. In Magnagora, Jinlu Ilithyia seeks rats in hats. In Serenwilde, Caedir Aormeah seeks fae on a sleigh. In Glomdoring, Dominique Nightshade seeks beasts of the feast. In Hallifax, Ansun Fairquillion seeks reindeer of the spheres. In Gaudiguch, Beloch Baruwski seeks goons with spittoons. These quests will remain open and available until the 5th January 2020, as will the Solstice Court. **Categories:** Events --- ### [An Eye For An Eye](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/17/an-eye-for-an-eye/) **Published:** December 17, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** The tension between Maylea and Nocht continues as a team of infiltrators from Serenwilde make it into the Silent Lord's realm. **Content:** To the rest of the Basin, it was a day as calm as any other. In the Serenwilde Forest, however, the Bloom of Serenity’s careful plans were about to reach completion. One of Maylea’s followers was tasked with infiltrating Nocht, the Silent’s temple in search of a precious artifact – the Eye of Dynara. Using the magics within a stolen shroud belonging to one of the Silent’s own, the Maylean was able to cross over the planes and directly into one of the deepest parts of His temple, bringing along a single other companion. Guided from afar by Maylea, the two came to locate the Eye, secreted away in a rift by Nocht, but they lost the shroud in the process as they fell in to a trap: Prying the artifact free immediately drew the attention of the Silent. At first, trapped, only one of them could be rescued by Maylea through great effort on behalf of the Goddess, carrying the artifact away from Nocht’s realm. However, without the Eye of Dynara, Nocht’s ability to manage His wounds suffered a further blow. Without it, Nocht’s strength weakened just enough for Maylea to also snatch the remaining back at the last second. And so, for now, it appears that the Bloom of Serenity stands victorious. How will the Silent Lord respond? Will He even be able to? What plans does Maylea have for the powerful artifact? Only time will tell. **Categories:** Events --- ### [Solstice Artifacts 2019!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/13/solstice-artifacts-2019/) **Published:** December 13, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** This year’s coal and peppermint artifacts have now been announced! Build yourself a set of peppermint mittens or a coal scarf, granting you the following abilities: **Peppermint Mittens:** 1) HOLDHANDS – Hold hands with another person, offering them the calming warmth of your mittens and randomly curing a few afflictions upon their person and healing them slightly. Cost: 4p. 2\) TOBOGGAN – Summon an icy sled to send you off in a direction of your choice, barreling through anybody in your way as you ride uncontrolled toward the nearest dead end. Cost: 2p. 3\) POMPOM – Pull a pompom from your mittens and throw it into the fray, dealing mild divinus damage and applying blackout and blindness to everybody in the room. Cost: 6p. 4\) JAZZHANDS – Wave your hands around in an excited and jovial fashion, afflicting enemies in the room with confusion and stupidity. Cost: 5p. 5\) RETRIEVE – Tie together the strings of your mittens and send them off on a journey, retrieving a mutual ally (lust doesn’t count) from an adjacent room ignoring rooting. Cost: 5p. **Coal Scarf:** 1) CORDELISSE – Use your scarf as a platform for aerial acrobatics, allowing you to avoid all physical attacks for a short time. This will do nothing against magically sourced attacks. Any actions you perform during this will interupt your cordelisse. Cost: 3p. 2\) SENTRY – The scarf around your neck will act as a sentry, watching for danger as you wander throughout the Basin. Should you be attacked unaware, you will be sent flying out to an adjacent room should there be one. Has a cooldown before use after it fires. Cost: 5p. 3\) ENGAGE – Wrap your scarf around an opponent, opening them up to a strike should they try to leave. May not engage an already (coal) engaged target. Stacks with warrior engage. 4\) TRIPWIRE – Unravel your scarf and use its thread to line an exit with a trap, awaiting a specified target and entangling and proning them when they attempt to leave in that direction. Cost: 5p. 5\) GARROTE – Wrap your scarf around another’s neck, dealing a moderate dose of excorable and asphyxiation damage as well as damagedthroat and entangled. Cost: 4p. You can build these artifacts using coal and peppermint found in gold and platinum stockings. For every 5 normal stockings that you hang – for yourself or others – you will receive a gold or platinum one to be opened on December 25th or New Year’s Day respectively! Oh, and incase you missed out on the previous years’ artifacts – you can build those with the coal and peppermint from these stockings too! Happy Solstice, Lusternians. **Categories:** News --- ### [November 2019 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/09/november-2019-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** December 9, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for November! **Content:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for November! If you’d like a chance to join them for December, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD in-game will tell you all you need to know. You can view and read all of the winning content here: https://www.lusternia.com/contests/ ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Portius’s *On the Necessity of Extraplanar Colonization* #### Runner-Up Farvu’s *The Song of the Seagull* #### Merit Ayisdra’s *Chajomi and the Murder in the Library* and Kethaera’s *Setta and the Search for Enlightenment* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s *Broke the Dawn* #### Runner-Up Esei’s *Death* #### Merit Lendren’s *The Rainbow Princess* and Kyalrhin’s *Lips* **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [December 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/07/december-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** You can subscribe to our newsletter using the form [on our website](https://www.lusternia.com)! ## Solstice Cheer in December ![](http://newsletters.ironrealms.com/uploads/1575736302.jpg)Ho, ho, ho, and a Merry Solstice to you all! It’s coming up to that time where Lusternia becomes just a little bit more magical, a little bit more cheery, a little bit…Solsticey. The [**December Solstice promotion**](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/02/solstice-stockings-on-sale/) is underway, and the halls have begun to be decked with many a stocking. But that’s not all that we have to offer this month! In the **second week** of December, keep an eye out for the appearance of the Solstice Gnomes and Ironbeard, who will be appearing about the place with presents and cheer for the festive season! Over the weekend of the **20th-22nd December**, keep an eye out for the return of the annual Solstice quests in your communes and cities – but don’t worry if you’re busy this weekend, as they will remain open until the new year. This weekend will also see the return of the Solstice Court! Whatever holiday you celebrate and however you celebrate it, we hope it’s a wonderful festive time! ## The Liar, the Madman, and the Shofet ![](http://newsletters.ironrealms.com/uploads/1575735957.png)It was just before the new year, in Roarkian of 545CE, that Gaudiguch began to experience strange sensations throughout their city. Strange shadows darting over the ground with no source to cast them, whispers with no mouth to speak them, and painful headaches where there had been no issue moments before. To some within the city, these were but an omen of what was to come later in the month. These individuals had been witness to the strangest sight in the city over many years: an enormous butterfly made of pink, prismatic light that would carry them to a strange, alternate reality. In this reality, they would meet a raving Madman, and a sympathetic Liar. Shortly after the new year, though, Gaudiguch began to experience anomalies on a scale that had never been replicated, from monsoons to auroras and heart-rending howls that filled the Basin with the sounds of children weeping. The sensations picked up pace, leading to the grand reveal of the butterfly known to them as the Herald emerging high above the Eternal Flame and descending to wrap the city in an enormous pink dome. Read more at ## October Artisanal & Bardic Winners Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for October! If you’d like a chance to join them for November, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD will tell you all you need to know. You can view and read all of the winning content here: ### Bardic Contest **Winner** Xenthos’s *A Blank Sheet of Paper.* **Runner-Up** Lief’s *Summer Song.* **Merit** Kyalrhin’s *Tips; Tricks; Trepidation in Questing* and Portius’s *Settlements of the Ancient Loboshigaru* ### Artisanal Contest **Winner** Gurashi’s Fifteen Years of Adventures **Runner-Up** Esei’s What Would You Say **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [October 2019 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/11/10/october-2019-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** November 10, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for October! If you'd like a chance to join them for November, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD will tell you all you need to know. **Content:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for October! If you’d like a chance to join them for November, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD will tell you all you need to know. You can view and read all of the winning content here: ### Bardic Contest #### Winner Xenthos’s *A Blank Sheet of Paper.* #### Runner-Up Lief’s *Summer Song.* #### Merit Kyalrhin’s *Tips; Tricks; Trepidation in Questing* and Portius’s *Settlements of the Ancient Loboshigaru* ### Artisanal Contest #### Winner Gurashi’s *Fifteen Years of Adventures* #### Runner-Up Esei’s *What Would You Say* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [Solstice Events in December!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/07/solstice-events-in-december/) **Published:** December 7, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** Ho, ho, ho, and a Merry Solstice to you all! It’s coming up to that time where Lusternia becomes just a little bit more magical, a little bit more cheery, a little bit…Solsticey. The [**December Solstice promotion**](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/02/solstice-stockings-on-sale/) is underway, and the halls have begun to be decked with many a stocking. But that’s not all that we have to offer this month! In the **second week** of December, keep an eye out for the appearance of the Solstice Gnomes and Ironbeard, who will be appearing about the place with presents and cheer for the festive season! Over the weekend of the **20th-22nd December**, keep an eye out for the return of the annual Solstice quests in your communes and cities – but don’t worry if you’re busy this weekend, as they will remain open until the new year. This weekend will also see the return of the Solstice Court! Whatever holiday you celebrate and however you celebrate it, we hope it’s a wonderful festive time! **Categories:** News --- ### [Solstice Stockings On Sale!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/12/02/solstice-stockings-on-sale/) **Published:** December 2, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Excerpt:** Solstice Stockings are back on sale this December! Buy gifts for your friends or just for yourself. You deserve it! **Content:** For the month of December, Ironbeard and the Gnodfather are once again competing for solstice domination! To participate, [purchase solstice stockings directly from the website](https://www.lusternia.com/credits), which can then be hung in manses and commune/city rooms, max of 1 per room. Syntax: HANG FOR \[ANONYMOUS\]. At midnight, the person it was hung for can UNWRAP and get their reward of 3 genie curios, 2 Czigany coins and either a present from Ironbeard or a racetrack ticket from the Gnodfather. For every 5 stockings that you hang, you will receive either a gold stocking that will open on December 25th or a platinum stocking that will open on New Year’s Day. These extra special gold and platinum stockings will contain either peppermint from Ironbeard or coal from the Gnodfather. Peppermint and coal can be combined to create a special solstice artifact, the details of which will be revealed later this month. Also, you can use the peppermint and coal to create an artifact of a prior solstice as well. The command STOCKINGS will help you track your stockings. This year we have added a 5 stocking package to make it even easier to get that gold stocking for yourself! As well, there will be a 30% credit sale throughout the month of December (starting Tuesday). Happy Holidays! **Categories:** News --- ### [July 2019 Art-Bard Winners!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/08/july-2019-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** August 8, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ### Artisanals Winner Runner Up Merit Overlooking Wyrded Lands by Gurashi Tri by Trahey Perplexing Letter by Kyalrhin Aramel and Unicorn by Kethaera ### Bardics Winner Runner Up Merit Waking the Nightmare by Eliron The Quiet Ones by Ishra The Knights of the Sun and Moon by Portius My Visit to Tosha Monastery: A Compiled Journal by Coraline ![Overlooking Wyrded Lands by Gurashi ](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/august-winner.png "Overlooking Wyrded Lands by Gurashi") Overlooking Wyrded Lands by Gurashi View all artisanal and bardic winners in the [Contest Page](https://www.lusternia.com/contests/). **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [August 2019 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/09/15/august-2019-art-bard-winners/) **Published:** September 15, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ### Artisanals Winner Runner Up Merit Danger in the Dark by Gurashi Ankrag Spooder Bunch by Kyalrhin ### Bardics Winner Runner Up Merit Expedition Excerpts Meeting the Kaelye by Alaksanteri By the Wheel Gate by Lief In Hallifax: A Poem by Aramel Pilfering and Poisoning by Portius Primer: Domoths by Xenthos ![septartbard](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/septartbard.png "septartbard")View all artisanal and bardic winners in the [Contest Page](https://www.lusternia.com/contests/). **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [September 2019 Art-Bard Winners](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/10/11/september-2019-art-bard-winners-2/) **Published:** October 11, 2019 **Author:** Aonia **Content:** Congratulations to our Bardic and Artisanal winners for September! If you’d like a chance to join them in November, make sure you get your submission in by the end of this month. HELP ARTBARD will tell you all you need to know. ## Bardic Contest #### Winner Lief’s *Forsaken, a Ballad* #### Runner-Up Alaksanteri’s *Conceptual Sustainability* #### Merit Portius’s *Leelos Sunfeather and the Gilded Sage* & Xenthos’s *The Thornwatch and the Wyrdling* ## Artisanal Contest #### Winner Esei’s *Conversation Under the Willow* #### Runner-Up Kyalrhin’s *Toadie Gurashi* #### Merit Xule’s *Mark of Xule* **Categories:** Artbards --- ### [A New Wheel for November](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/11/01/a-new-wheel-for-november/) **Published:** November 1, 2019 **Author:** Ianir **Content:** This month, the Wheel of Tzaraziko has had a major revamp. Most of the prizes you know have either been shuffled around, been adjusted, or in some cases been removed entirely, to give coins much greater value. Coin spins are different as well – the wheel has been separated into an inner and outer wheel. You first spin the outer wheel which selects a category, then the inner wheel to select your prize. If you don’t like your outer wheel spin, you can respin it up to two times (for a total of three spins per coin). In recognition of the new wheel changes, we will be selling Czigany Coins directly on the website. As well, we will be offering everybody one free spin per day – though the free spin may not be respun. We will be running Double Experience Tuesdays throughout the month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Thanks, Goals, and the Future](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/10/05/thanks-goals-and-the-future/) **Published:** October 5, 2019 **Author:** Ianir **Content:** I’d like to start off by thanking Estarra for 15 years of building this amazing world. I spent the majority of those as a player, and was entirely enraptured by the depth of the lore and the inspiring worldbuilding that has coalesced into Lusternia. Under Estarra’s hand, we’ve had such amazing events unfold, and areas released come to fruition. You are, and will be, missed. That said, Lusternia is a breathing world which will continue to run. Orael and myself have been asked to take over as co-producers, and having done so, we intend to do the best we are humanly able to do. With that said, there are some statements we would like to make, and some obvious concerns we would like to address. Lusternia as a game is about the mechanics, but Lusternia as a world is about the lore and the worldbuilding, and it is the latter which keeps people enraptured. We are aware what it looks like, having two people previously serving primarily as coders in the producer seat where a storyteller once was, in a world which was about the lore. We have many volunteers here who were involved in the creation of story and events here, including myself, and promise to you that none of us intend to let the story of Lusternia die or falter in any way. Lusternia has had a habit of starting on new projects before the old is finished, and not refining the project due to time restraints with the new. This is a habit we wish to change, and change in the last few months has been pushed for by Orael already — moving forward, we would see every project we put forward finished and refined before moving onto the next. We will have a roadmap for you in the coming week. If you have any comments or concerns, please do feel free to reach out via message or email. – Ianir and Orael **Categories:** News --- ### [A Roadmap for Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/10/08/a-roadmap-for-lusternia/) **Published:** October 8, 2019 **Author:** Ianir **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/map-1024x538.jpg "map - Lusternia") With all of the recent changes, we wanted to make sure to let people know what our main focus will be for the upcoming weeks. Here is out basic roadmap. #### Finalise Melder Rework We do not want to leave this project half-finished. There are obviously some tweaks that still need to be made. We have gathered a group of people who commonly use (and in some cases, fight against) the class in order to gather feedback and make adjustments as needed. #### Reporting System It was clear that the previous changes made to the report system didn’t quite work. Based on player feedback, we are changing the report system to require less politicking to get your reports through. This item on the roadmap also includes a full cycle of reports. #### SSC/AC Improvements It’s clear from the last townhall that there is still a long way to go with autocuring, specifically with aeon and writhe afflictions. Looking at writhe afflictions, they still seem to be coded in a pre-overhaul format, which causes the pain point with them. This includes modernising the afflictions, improving the aeon queue, and other tweaks as needed. Unifying afflictions will also enable better symptom tracking and GMCP messages. #### Endgame Endgame has been a common complaint from players for years, there being little to do with it, the essence cap, roleplay powers costing the same weight as combat powers. We’ve had various proposals sitting on the administrative wiki to take a look at this for a while, and it’s always been pushed back. It is our intention to fully address the problem and come to a solution that can develop this vital part of the game. #### Ascension We aren’t going to delve too deep into this here, but this mostly just covers the planning around ascension and the story/lore regarding it. These are our general plans. We are open to suggestions, discussion about our current plans, et cetera. We are always reachable via message or email for any discourse, or on the forums. You can follow or add to the forum discussion here: **Categories:** News --- ### [Introducing Aonia](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/10/09/introducing-aonia/) **Published:** October 9, 2019 **Author:** Ianir **Content:** Hello, The story of Lusternia and the lore behind it is the most important aspect of it — we cannot stress that enough. When Orael and I were selected, we understood we would need a way to preserve that. Lusternia has a huge wealth of lore that no single person can hold in their minds. For this reason, all of the writing projects our volunteers undertake have always been overseen to ensure that we produce a coherent vision for the gameworld. We could think of no better place to turn for this task than the volunteers themselves. Out of the existing volunteer staff, one person came to mind, and the topic was brought up with all of our gods and ephemerals, who gave unanimous support. So it is with great pleasure that we would like to announce that Czixi has accepted a position as our new Assistant Producer, Aonia. We are placing her into a position to facilitate events and lore creation with our volunteers, which she will undertake alongside her existing godrole. We will let her speak for herself regarding her credentials in an introduction post to follow. Regards, Ianir --- Hello, Lusternia. I want to begin by saying that I am deeply honoured by the trust that has been placed in me by Ianir and Orael. But most of all, I am honoured to stand beside the heart of Havens – its incredible volunteers – as we begin to lead Estarra’s great legacy onwards into the future. I joined Lusternia as a player in 2007, and as many of us do, quickly fell head over heels in love. Here was a world that was deep, and beautiful, and full of people who wanted to tell stories within it. I couldn’t get enough – but not only that, Lusternia truly changed my life by providing me a safe place to love and laugh and dream. This year – in fact, this very week! – marks my fifth year as a member of the Havens team. In those years I have served in two different Divine roles, and built several quests both major and minor. One of my greatest loves has been running events, and I have been lucky enough to get the opportunity to help create everything from small releases to many Ascension-causing catastrophes. I have also served as the co-lead of several volunteer departments, including (but not limited to) helping to oversee Ephemeral development, helping manage customer service, and reviewing volunteer progs and creations. Outside of Lusternia I am a published author and poet, currently studying for a MA in Creative Writing with the intention to pursue a PhD in the same field. My purpose and duties are mostly things that you will not see directly – but in essence, I oversee anything that falls into the remit of story and lore. This can be anything from events, to building project proposals, to supporting new Gods in taking up their roles. I consider my primary role to be that of a facilitator – I am here to help our volunteers do what they do best. That said, if you ever have any concerns regarding Lusternia’s story or lore, you are welcome to email me at aonia@lusternia.com. Aonia **Categories:** News --- ### [Year in Contemplation: 2018](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/01/07/year-in-contemplation-2018/) **Published:** January 7, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/parrot-robb-293x300.jpg)There once was a man who was not a young man, who once thought he would write stories but his writings were unfinished or lacking, who once dreamt big dreams but they drifted away as many dreams do. His life was not unfulfilled; he found work that he was good at, fell in love with another man with whom he’d find much happiness, and generally lived a life that was prosperous and filled with many friends and accomplishments. One day, back when computers were young and modems blared like sobbing sirens, this man found incredible games in worlds of text, bringing back memories of high school and college where you could adventure through dangerous dungeons and fight fantastical dragons with a pencil, graph paper and some like-minded friends. In one of these virtual worlds, he met another man who was still young and ambitious, and who created a new virtual world and invited the older man to explore this new game. After several years, the man who was not young immersed himself in this new game, rose to virtual divinity, and loved creating stories for players to enjoy. The younger man offered the other, who definitely was not young now, an opportunity to create his own virtual world, and the dreams that seemed lost came scampering back. Even though he worked ten-hour shifts in the corporate slums, he embraced the opportunity to create his own game, though the learning curve was high and the amount of work near overwhelming. Along with a coder who followed the man’s dream, a new virtual world was born, spun from stories long kept banked in the embers of his imagination. Even though the game was never able to let him leave his day job, he steered the game forward and it prospered for nearly a decade and a half. But prosperity doesn’t last forever, and disaster struck the beloved game of the man, who now was old (and let us not forget was never young when this tale began). Many players disappeared from the virtual world he built, and the man was too blind to see it coming. Perhaps he did not listen to those who foresaw the diaspora, perhaps he was too proud and stuck in his ways, perhaps he thought the game would continue forever as it was. Perhaps he was just too old. We will never know the answers because the man does not know. --- Of course, that man who is now an old man is me. I just turned 54–if you think age is just a number and 54 isn’t all that much, then you must still revel in at least relative youth and not realize that the body and mind are not cast in amber, forever changeless and pristine. I still work ten-hour shifts in the corporate world and still dedicate myself to Lusternia. It’s harder than it was 14 years ago, I can’t deny the reality of aging, but neither can I deny that Lusternia is as much a part of me as my left arm or my waking dreams. I wasn’t sure how to review this year, for it is no secret that a large population of our players has moved on to other pastures, and I want to be transparent and honest with those who have stuck by us. Rather than spinning rosy pictures of imminent returns to Lusternia’s earlier days of glory, I will merely reassure all players, as Iron Realms has reassured me, that Lusternia will always have a home under its banner, and for that I am forever grateful. However, things must change, as all things must, and Lusternia will become free-to-play (like Imperian) within the next several months. At that time, you will still be able to purchase credits and have elite memberships, but you will not be able to retire and transfer credits earned after the switch-over. Your retirement value will be locked at the time of the switch. However, you will then be able to earn daily credits in the game, up to 20 credits a day, through questing and bashing and other ways of participation. I am still the producer and have no plans of leaving. I will always be part of Lusternia, whether I am paid or not, whether I have a job title or not, so long as you and Iron Realms will have me. For better or worse, you are stuck with me! Also, Orael continues as our coder, and our incredible volunteers will continue to support us and create amazing stories. We will, however, have to bite the bullet and make some changes to the economy that some of you may find challenging. You will see some rapid changes to commodity production, gold generation, and questing rewards within the next several months. A new economy is needed to maintain a healthy and sustainable game world. There is also a very exciting new system coming within the first half of the year (hopefully before April) that will provide more motives for guilds, more daily activities, and more competition among the player organizations. I really don’t want to say more, but wanted to let you know that we aren’t slowing down development and will continue coming up with new features. Finally, I want to thank the players who have stuck with us, through thick and thin, in fair weather and foul. The new reporting system is an opportunity to let you guide us in what you want to see in Lusternia. For those who have left Lusternia, if you even read this, I want to thank you for helping shape the world and apologize if I did not listen to your needs. I hope one day you might return to see how Lusternia has risen from the ashes. But whatever you decide, I wish you well. Love and respect, Robb French a.k.a. Estarra Producer of Lusternia **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Mages & Druids Melder 2.0!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/09/12/mages-druids-melder-2-0/) **Published:** September 12, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/news-mage-300x158.jpg)Greetings, The Melder Revamp has been loaded in and is now officially live. This is a pretty big change to how melders work, function etc., so it is going to take some time getting used to and adapting how they work. While I believe we will need to make changes and adjustments depending on how things go, at the same time, we don’t want to rush into any changes on a whim. Thank you for all the help, from the mortal builders and volunteer admin that helped write the lines for the new melders, to those that hopped on and tested them to iron out major bugs and major issues prior to loading it. I appreciate all that you’ve done and the effort you’ve put in. This revamp started years ago, with Ianir developing the initial idea and initial coding and I’m honoured to have completed it. It’s taken ideas for mechanics that you, the players have asked for, and hopefully we’ve delivered. Thanks again, I hope you all enjoy it. Orael **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Mages and Druids Coming to a Town Near You!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/31/mages-and-druids-coming-to-a-town-near-you/) **Published:** August 31, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Mages & Druids Coming to a Town Near You! ### Mages and Druids! The fruits of our labors are about to be realized as the updated mages and druids will be released in September! If you’ve been living under a rockeater, the mage and druid archetypes are in the midst of a major update which will see a whole new mechanic on how demesnes work with an eye to the combat strategy of each organization. We are currently testing mages and they will be released live later in the month. A lesson sale is available this month to those who wish to dip their metaphorical and literal toes into the magical waters of our demesne workers. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/MAGES.jpg) ### Craft Design Overhaul For some time now, We have been evaluating the strengths and flaws of Our design system. We believe that the Lusternian design system is one of the hallmarks of the game, and one of our greatest features. We also understand that over the decade and longer that it has existed, its rules have grown…unruly. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/11/craft-design-overhaul/). Plus, a very sweet ingredient is available, in limited qualities, that many have been asking for — [le chocolate](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/14/definitely-not-plagued/)! ### Great Library Clarifications The divine scholars have convened together to discuss the workings of the Great Libraries, including the tasks of publishing and critiquing books as well as the nature of the Library Prestige Contests themselves. As a result of deliberations, there have been notable changes to the entire library system. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/26/threads-fall-and-rise/). ### The Raezoning Behind the Syzygy Beams of light began flashing in the sky, and as the sun passed overhead, Eroee, Sidiak, Tarox, Papaxi, and Aapek were visible upon the face of the Sun in near-alignment. The light began to intensify, burning the flesh of citizens of the Basin and causing fires throughout, which heralded the return of Elder God Raezon the Forbidden. What he brought back with him remains a mystery. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/25/the-raezoning-behind-the-syzygy/). ### A Shot in the Dark Magicked thorn-serpents and cursed arrows flew across the skies of the Basin of Life when Maylea, Bloom of Serenity snuck into the Glomdoring in disguise to steal an item tied to Nocht, the Silent from His own order head, the Wyrden Haruspex of the Auguries, Rancoura! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/25/a-shot-in-the-dark/). ## Calendar - September 1-30: For the month of September, you can purchase lessons directly on the website for a steep discount, which is perfect for those who may be interested in the updated mage/druid archetypes. Also, a variety of old curios are available for direct purchase as well. Both can be found on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - September 8: Wild Nodes! - September 22: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Great Library Clarifications](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/11/great-library-clarifications/) **Published:** August 11, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/library-ann-300x158.jpg)The divine scholars have convened together to discuss the workings of the Great Libraries, including the tasks of publishing and critiquing books as well as the nature of the Library Prestige Contests themselves. As a result of deliberations, there have been notable changes to [HELP GREATLIBRARIANS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=942) and [HELP PUBLISHING](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=941), and there is a new [HELP PRESTIGECONTESTS](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1518). Most of these changes are clarifications of already existing rules. Particularly there is clarification of divine scholar considerations in critiquing scholarly books, including: - **Plagiarism.** See [HELP PLAGIARISM](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1124). - **Wrong category**. If a clearly literary book is filed as scholarly, and vice versa. Note, there will always be books that straddle the categories, so this will usually be an egregious case: For example, if a book of entirely, clearly fictional short stories were published in the scholarly category. - **Lack of evidence for scholarly claims.** If a scholarly book makes claims that are not borne out by citations, references, or notes to evidence in game, the book may be reviewed a failure due to its low credibility. Note that the book will essentially remain published, but it will be labeled a work of low quality. The divine scholars recognise that the scholarly endeavour is by its nature potentially veiled in shades of grey, and do not expect absolute accuracy or adherence to lore. Likewise, varying, even contradictory, perspectives may be found scholarly books without problem. However, acknowledgement of such potential differences is important. The most likely cause for review failure due to lack of evidence is if the scholarly work is written from the vantage of absolute truth, as if declaring canon, without the above noted evidence. The easiest way to prevent such a review failure is to include caveats or room for disagreement in book contents. For example, “It is rumoured that X caused Y. If we take the rumour to be truth, then it follows that…” or, “Though this books sets forth many principles relating to Z, it is by no means an exhaustive work…” or, “Some say that God A did B in the years prior to the Taint Wars…” Obviously, the above examples are also not exhaustive, but they set for an example of allowing room for growth and disagreement. - **Recourse:** Whenever divine scholars review the work as a failure, they will send a message to the author/editor of the book and the Great Librarian of their organisation to explain in detail the reasons for review failure and potential suggestions for success in the future. These noted clarifications in Library matters are in place as of this writing. Our hope is to dispel confusion around the Library and publishing and to provide the information to allow our Librarians and writers to produce the best works they can! On behalf of the divine scholars, *The Oneiroi* **Categories:** News --- ### [Craft Design Overhaul](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/11/craft-design-overhaul/) **Published:** August 11, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/artbard-ann-300x158.jpg)Greetings, Mortals. For some time now, We have been evaluating the strengths and flaws of Our design system. We believe that the Lusternian design system is one of the hallmarks of the game, and one of our greatest features. We also understand that over the decade and longer that it has existed, its rules have grown…unruly. Today We can announce that We have devised a streamlined and simplified set of rules for the creation and submission of designs within Lusternia. We, along with everyone here in the Havens, believe that these rules will both broaden the horizons of your creativity and render the design system easier to access for those newer to it. These rules will be fully announced and come into effect on Wednesday, 14th August 2019. We understand that you will doubtless be keen to know how the system will be changing. Here are the highlights: - All standard English spellings are now permitted in the design system. Rejoice, Americans, for you may finally divest yourself of pesky Us and embrace your beloved Zs. - Everything represented in a design must still be represented by a commodity, but those commodities are no longer prescribed. As long as your commodities make sense, and keep within the other limitations of the design system (e.g. with regards to “magical” items), then they will be accepted. - New tints have been created and will now encompass every conceivable colour. The precise combinations of faeleaf, coal and purpletint will no longer be the woes of Tattooists everywhere; rather, you will simply have to meet the tattoo’s weight number in total, the figure made up of every colour you have used. - Commodity costs have been reviewed for Forging, Tailoring, Tattoos and Artisan to bring them in line with one another and, most importantly, with common sense. We will also be continuing to review commodity costs going forward. - Comments made by designers will no longer be overridden by reviewer feedback, and will now last forever. You may also now edit those comments after the design has been approved. - Mortal Reviewers are now paid at a much higher rate to value their efforts, and the position of Senior Reviewer has been created, granting an even higher credit reward for long serving reviewers The transition to the new system will involve the entire design system being taken offline for a period of time on the release date. This will be done in the early afternoon server time (GMT) to minimise disruption. When the system is brought back online, the new rules will be in effect. We hope that you are as excited as We are. We would like to say a tremendous thank you to the coders behind the scenes who have valiantly brought Our vision, wide-reaching as it is, to life. *The Lovely Charites* **Categories:** News --- ### [August 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/09/august-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** August 9, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Vesteran Honours Revealed! ### Artbard Winners Announced! The winners of the newly restarted artbard contests, also known as the Vesteran Honours, have been announced! In the bardics category, Eliron took first place for the play entitled, “Waking the Nightmare”. In the artisanals, Gurashi won with the scenic painting, “Overlooking Wyrded Lands“. [Check out](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/08/08/august-2019-art-bard-winners/) all the winners announced in August!![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/aug-art.jpg) ### Visitor in Blue In the Serenwilde Forest, a kaelye by the name of Lanni Ahonen appeared on a quest to find the Elder Goddess Maylea. Could it be that the powers of a goddess was needed in Lyraa Ey Rielys? [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/07/22/visitor-in-blue/). ### Mage Update As we move closer to releasing the mage updates, interfaces have been created so mages can track nodes, rooms and powers! Be sure to keep apprised on any updates on the [forum thread](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/3718). ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/demesnes.jpg) ## Calendar - August 1-31: For the month of August, if you purchase credits on the website, you will receive a wonder crystal for every 50 credits purchased! Credits packages are available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - August 11: Wild Nodes! - August 25: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [July 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/07/05/july-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** July 5, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Return of the Vesteran Honours! ### Art-Bard Contests Re-Opened [Lusternia Art-Bard Contests](https://www.lusternia.com/contests/), also known as the Vesteran Honours, are back on the website, albeit with a different look. As a trial run, we have opened up the contest for this month for artisanal and bardic entries, so please feel free to submit an entry. We have uploaded at least some of the prior winners from past contests if you are interested in browsing the many excellent entries we’ve had in the past. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/artbard-rel.jpg) ### Mage Updates Going Forward Orael the head coder of Lusternia has shared the specifics for the specializations with players on the forums. At this point, players are encouraged to help design and develop the specific specialization mage skills as well as working together to develop cohesive combat strategies for each organization. [Read more](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/3718). ### Spring Scavenger Hunt A surprise spring scavenger hunt was sprung from Serenwilde’s very-own Ydyrin, the Scorched Hamadryad. The flowery themed event ended with Ayisdra of Hallifax taking the laurels. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/06/22/spring-scavenger-hunt/). ## Calendar - July 1-31: For the month of July, we are bringing back the firework curios for those who missed them during the anniversary sale! When a firework curio is completed, they will form a baton that can set off a special firework that gives a blessing to the room. Collect all four batons, and the firework will give a blessing to an entire city or commune! As an added bonus, you will also receive free presents with each firework purchase. Also, we are putting wonder crystals on sale on the website as well! We’ve discounted the crystals and include 2 free presents for each crystal purchased. Both firework curios and wonder crystals can be found on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - July 14: Wild Nodes! - July 28: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Unsubscribe Here]([unsubscribe]) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [June 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/06/10/timequakes-and-the-dawning-of-the-age-of-the-magi/) **Published:** June 10, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Timequakes and the Dawning of the Age of the Magi ### ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/news-mage-1024x538.jpg) ### ### ### Timequakes and the Battle to Defend Time In the middle of the 530th year after the Coming of Estarra, the people of the Basin of Life began to experience strange visions. Some came in dreams, whilst others would strike at random – bringing images from a titanic figure tearing away monstrous wings to the world transformed into immaculate and desolate forms. Time itself was under attack, and reality itself was in danger of fracturing. Through studying prophecies and intense research, the guilds throughout Lusternia individually and collectively were able to mitigate the worst of the effects. [Read about the Battle to Defend Time](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/05/12/the-battle-to-defend-time/). Thus, Timequakes have been released into Lusternia, a new system where rifts in time randomly appear that lead to pockets outside of time, where there is no experience loss from death. Players can compete to collect anomalies that can be used either for individual power or to help guilds research how to exploit the weaknesses in the temporal fabric. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/05/12/timequakes-released/). ### Dawning of the Age of the Magi This large coding project will focus primarily on updating mages and druids, which will replace the demesne system with a new node system. The projected time to complete this project will be approximately 3 months with the aim of releasing the new system the end of August or beginning of September. Be sure to keep abreast of the [forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/3676/melder-revamp) where ongoing discussions with players will shape how the system evolves. The initial framework includes: - Nodes – 3-5 per melder. - Nodes can be placed anywhere except adjacent to another node and melder/linked rooms. - Rooms between nodes will become terrained and melded upon new node being planted but only if the nodes are within 5 rooms of each other. - Will be the shortest path between two rooms - If multiple paths are available, the path will be randomly chosen - linked nodes will be stronger than unlinked nodes. (1.5x stronger) - Any node can be broken, and any linking between nodes will dissipate - Can be broken by killing the Avatar - Melder (and any bonded melders) will be notified when avatar attacked - Avatar disappears when Primary melder is in the node room. - Can be broken by an enemy melder using a 5s channel - Melder (and any bonded melders) notified when channel started - Primary melder going to the node will stop it (not bonded melders) if the melder is present in the room at the end. - Nothing else breaks the channel - Can be broken by killing the melder in the node room. - Effects - Effects fire in each node room and any linked room. - Protection scroll prevents effects in linked rooms, does not protect in node rooms. - Other melders - Other melders of the same spec can bond with a node - Increases Node strength by 10% per melder bonded. - Gain access to meld commands (ie demesnewatch, teleport and any other demesne abilities) - If primary melder dies, secondary melder becomes the holder (in order of bonding). - If no seconday melder, all nodes break. ### Updates Galore Many reports submitted by players have been addressed. There was also a popular Twitch livestream of a coder fixing bugs! These updates include (but are not limited to): ### Report Updates - Night Curse can no longer give asthma - Unravelling will only cause passive asthma at 7 twists now. - Night Steal has had a 1p cost added to it. - New Order privilege – Dismantle - DISMANTLE SHRINE can be used to remove a shrine and all of the influenced rooms. Will cost 200,000 essence. - DISMANTLE INFLUENCE can be used to remove the influence of a specific room. Will cost 10,000 essence to use. - Must be assigned by your patron to order ranks in order to use. - A ‘Looktext’ category has been added to stat that will display how you look to people in the room. One caveat is that this considers both your current status and your defenses, so for instance if you are shrouded but do not have thirdeye up, you will see nothing on the looktext. - Shamanism Mudslick, Quicksand, Land and Root have had their environmental constraints removed. ### Livestream Updates - Shivering should never cure before Frozen now. - The weather balloon rooms should no longer count towards explorers - Severing astrospheres will require the target to have masochism. - Wonderwings Jump and Wonderpipe Smokestep will be affected by aeon once more. - Wonderpipe Anamnesis Faelings will get the One with Nature in Wyrden forests. - Naga and Sileni can now be blessed by domoths. - Mintcandy will now appear in the Aethergoop items in your rift. - Aethertraders should now properly reset and always accept 3 trades when first appearing. - You will now be able to hide the Bladed Harness of the Cow Butcher like other artifacts, such that the cows will never see you coming. ## Calendar - June 1-30: For the month of June, we are introducing a new coin that can be used to spin the Wheel of Tzaraziko: golothian blood coins! These coins have slightly better payouts than Czigany coins plus there’s a chance the reward could be random anomalies! Packages of mixed coins (Czigany and Golothian) can be found on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - June 2: Wild Nodes! - June 16: Wild Nodes! - June 30: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Spring Scavenger Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/06/22/spring-scavenger-hunt/) **Published:** June 22, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ydryin-300x158.jpg)Ydryin, the Scorched Hamadryad of Serenwilde, led a Scavenger Hunt with a flowery theme! It ran for a fair amount of time, but ultimately Chairman Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax puzzled out the clues and claimed his prize of a laurel crown of burning wisterias, as well as the honor of spending a full Lusternian day with Ydryin at a time of his choosing. Congratulations Ayisdra, and look forward to more games like this in the future! **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension of Deichtine](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/03/17/ascension-of-deichtine/) **Published:** March 17, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/portalfate-187x300.png)**Verses of Magnora, MXXXIV:** *“Within the serpent’s habitat shall mortals step before he dies”* And so they did; but not without a Trial. When Avechna called the Final Ascension Challenge forth, the High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri swooped in and stole the Staff of Ascension for himself, and began to ascend as an Avatar of Kethuru. This had been Ghani n’Rotri’s plan all along – his destiny as was writ in the Verses of Magnora – as his repeated efforts to gather power and spread chaos throughout the First World during the last several years were to build an Orrery upon the silent astrosphere of Ophiuchius. Now, armed with the Staff of Ascension, Ghani challenged the Gods themselves. When Estarra, Avechna and the Elder Gods opposed him, he was able to channel the powers of Kethuru causing reality to tremble and, rather than risk shattering reality, Estarra pled for the Sealbearers to defeat Ghani and reclaim the Staff of Ascension and recharge the Nine Seals holding the Soulless Gods. Tracking Ghani through the Ophiuchius and using the Ophiuchian Orrery, the Sealbearers began their hunt which led them to a higher astral plane, a realm known as Pandaemonium. Horrible creatures filled the realm and attacked any who entered. But with perseverance, the Sealbearers were able to make their way in and track Ghani as he continued to channel the powers of Ascension. Sealbearers Taevyn of Justice, Ixion of Death and Veyils of Life were neck and neck in their battles with Ghani. Then out of nowhere, Sealbearer Malarious of Harmony did battle heavily against the Avatar of Kethuru, almost coming to the lead. But in the end, Sealbearer Veyils of Life did enough damage to Ghani to claim the Staff of Ascension. And so Veyils wielded the Staff of Ascension and recharged the Nine Seals, rising to become True Ascendant Deichtine of Life. **Categories:** News --- ### [Timequakes Released!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/05/12/timequakes-released/) **Published:** May 12, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/timequake-300x158.jpg)Since guilds have begun research projects in response to the temporal disturbances recently plaguing the Basin of Life, the new Timequake System has been released! Several times throughout a Lusternian month, a timequake may suddenly hit the Basin of Life. You will need to seek out the temporal rift that has opened and you can attempt to harvest a temporal anomaly, which can either be used to power a guild project or for personal archpower. There are four types of anomalies (past, present, immaculate and desolate), and a research project can only lock onto one anomaly type. See [HELP TIMEQUAKES](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1512) and [HELP RESEARCH](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?what=research) for more information. Keep an eye out for posts with more details of the release event! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [May 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/05/08/may-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** May 8, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Something Wicked This Way Comes ### Something Wicked This Way Comes! Throughout Lusternia, adventurers have started to experience strange things – sounds and sights and feelings that are not there. Keep an eye on these temporal oddities throughout the second week of May for a huge new release on May 11th! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/wordpress-feature-dominator.jpg) ### Crucible Curio Release! What are crucible curios? When formed, they can convert commodities to other commodities at a 2:1 ratio. Each curio can only convert commodities on their commodity list. All crucibles are restricted to only converting 50 commodities per Lusternian month. The four types of crucibles are: - Metal Crucibles can convert iron, gold, silver, platinum and mercury - Glass Crucibles can convert grain, milk, fruit, vegetables and sugar - Stone Crucibles can convert leather, cloth, rope, silk and salt - Crystal Crucibles can convert poultry, fish, meat, eggs and sulfur For the month of May, you can directly purchase packages of crucible curio pieces directly on the website. These packages also contain Czigany coins! These packages are found on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! ### Massive Updates! - Players above level 80 should now get better hunger messages. - You should no longer be able to create negative amounts of aethergoop items. - Players with cloaking gems should now appears on EVENT PLAYERS - Wonderbrazier Purify has been changed to give a trueground effect for 2p and 4s of equilibrium (Environment Trueground is 2p, 8s of equilibrium). - Single Parent Adoptions are now possible if your spouse is inactive. It will take twice as long a consideration period. - Artisan rockers will now reduce insanity faster while rocking in them. - Clans and Cartels can now be deeded to Lesser and Greater Houses, they will show up under FAMILY DEEDS. - Benign Prophesy now gives a 1/8 health buff. - Baton curios will now only show to those in the room they are activated in and there will be a 5 sec cooldown before you can see another one. - Commodity Cost for Breaking Down Aethercrafts Updates: - Spices to break down aetherpotions - Sugar to break down aethercandy - Salt to break down aetherbuttons - Sulfur for aetherscarves - Mercury for aetherspheres - Newbies: Rejoice! Instead of leading to random rooms in the collegiums, the Pool to Academia in the Garden of the Moirae should nowappropriately lead to the main quest giver for each organisation’s collegiums. - Newbies: The Pool to the Nations and the Pool to Academia in the Garden of the Moirae should now appropriately be on the Prime Material Plane. - Newbies: When you walk into a room with a mob you have to influence or if your ego drops below 50% while influencing the mages or gorgogs in the Pools of Remembrance, you will receive a hint to SIP BROMIDES - Newbies: Various extended hints have been added to the Pools of Remembrance quests to guide you along points that may not be as obvious.. ## Calendar - May 1-31: For the month of May, you can directly purchase packages of crucible curio pieces directly on the website. These packages also contain Czigany coins! These packages are found on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - May 5: Wild Nodes! - May 19: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [April 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/04/11/april-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** April 11, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Gnome Traders Arrive! ### Introducing Aetherspace Trading Gnomish aetherships have been touching down on random aetherbubbles, announcing their presence on the market channel. For the player who finds the gnome trader first, a trade for a specific crafted item can be made for an aethergoop crafted items! You may run across Rubie Royale, who is on the look out for rings, necklaces, crowns and other shinies. Or maybe you’ll run into Raphie DiGagio, whose impeccable fashion sense curates the latest in robes, dresses and anything wearable. Or perhaps you will find Chef Gioia Shucks, whose appetite for pastries, pasta and other popular foods. Being a crafter has never been so good… and profitable! [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/29/aethertraders/) ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/wordpress-goldchest-600x315.jpg) ### Awakening the Spirit of Ilmdria Farirue One windy morning in the Serenwilde forest, there came a strange whispering. Almost indecipherable at first, it echoed throughout the forest and drew the attention of those gathered at the Mother Moonhart. Daxi Strongleaf and Aydeksa Mzithrei were first to hear it, with Coraline Myeras returning to assist in their search thereafter. What followed led to a discovery of an ancient spirit deep in the heart of the forest and tale of sorrow and friendship. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/17/awakening-the-spirit-of-ilmdria-farirue/). ### Memorial Water Gardens: A Tale of a Tail It was late in Estar, 527 CE that Milosha Novikei and Yanitone Symfale of New Celest announced the official opening of the Memorial Water Gardens, a project that had been under construction for many years. The opening festivities were attended by citizens of all walks of life, from Prince Minkahmet D’Varden himself to a fisherman interested in learning what varieties of fish could be found in the new garden’s pools. Not to mention the cat. Who would have thought that this would herald the return of the Elder Goddess [Carakhan, Sculptor of Waves](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1282). [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/25/3761/). ### All Hail Gilligan, King of the Leprechauns! For the first time ever, the youngest offspring of Old Cashel Connlaodh has taken the leprechaun throne! His older sister and brother are aghast at this development but the leprechaun population is rejoicing. All hail Gilligan, King of the Leprechauns! Congratulations to Gilligan and those who worked so hard on his behalf for those votes! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/04/01/all-hail-gilligan-king-of-the-leprechauns/). ### Timequake Updates Progress is rapidly commencing towards the upcoming [Timequake System](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/23/upcoming-system-timequakes/), as we turned to players to help brainstorm ideas for the research project in [Forum Discussions](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/3610/timequake-powers-brainstorming). The aim is to begin testing the mechanics this month with an eye to a rapid release! ## Calendar - April 1-30: For the month of April, you will get a free daily spin on the Wheel of Tzaraziko. Also, for April only, you can purchase Czigany coins directly on the website. But that’s not all! If you purchase credits during this month, you will receive 1 coin for every 25 credits purchased. Both coin packages and credits are available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - April 7: Wild Nodes! - April 21: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Introducing Aetherspace Trading!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/29/aethertraders/) **Published:** March 29, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](wp-content/uploads/2019/04/wordpress-goldchest-300x158.jpg)Every so often you will see an announce on the market channel of a gnome trader arriving on an aetherbubble. These traders are looking to trade specific crafted items for aethergoop crafted items. For example, the cooking trader may trade rockcandy for a platter of food if the food is valuable enough. If you find a gnome trader, TRADE LIST will show all the goods that are available for trade. TRADE VALUE will show you what a specific item you have will the trade for. TRADE FOR will make the trade. The gnome traders that you may see are as follows: - Chef Gioia Shucks will trade aethercandy for crafted food - Rubie Royale will trade aetherbuttons for crafted jewelry - Raphie DiGagio will trade aetherscarves for crafted clothes NOTE: The aethertraders will only make one trade and will disappear afterwards so they are available only on a first come, first serve basis. The valuation of crafted items is determined by how much a crafter has refined the item, which can be done by combining it with another item of the exact same design or with gold. The Refinement Skill is now available in Cooking, Tailoring and Jewelry which also allows the crafter to see the valuation when probing. There is also a Valuation skill in Discernment which allows seeing the valuation when probing any crafted item that is tradeable. Aethergoods can, of course, be broken down to aethergoop and gold, which is a way to convert commodities (or gold) to aethergoop. Keep in mind aethertrades are limited and therefore will be somewhat competitive. This is an experimental system, but the aim is to give crafters more incentives and gameplay. As more aethergoop crafts are added for more trade skills, more aethertraders could show up. Also, once timequakes come online, the traders could also trade anomalies for crafted items (so crafters would be a more integral part of the guild research project system). See [HELP VALUATION](in-game-help-files/?what=aethertraders) and [HELP AETHERTRADERS](in-game-help-files/?what=valuation-of-craft-items). **Categories:** News --- ### [All Hail Gilligan, King of the Leprechauns!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/04/01/all-hail-gilligan-king-of-the-leprechauns/) **Published:** April 1, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/leprechaun-cork-ireland-300x199.jpg)For the first time ever, the youngest offspring of Old Cashel Connlaodh has taken the leprechaun throne! His older sister and brother are aghast at this development but the leprechaun population is rejoicing. All hail Gilligan, King of the Leprechauns! Congratulations to Gilligan and those who worked so hard on his behalf for those votes! - Seamus: 5703 - Eileen: 4405 - Gilligan: 671 **Categories:** News --- ### [March 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/10/march-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** March 10, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Ascension of Snald ### Final Ascension In an absolutely brutal Final Ascension, while it first appeared that Yendor of Glomdoring would walk to easy victory as the Chapion of Death, Malarious of Gaudiguch stole the Staff of Ascension away and came within minutes of claiming victory. But Yendor was eventually able to rally his allies to complete the Ascension and rise in victory as Snald, the True Ascendant of Death. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/09/ascension-of-snald/) ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wordpress-ascension-600x315.jpg) ### Ascension Events - **Challenge of Chaos:** Kreon of New Celest was the surprise winner in a truly chaotic competition. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/09/challenge-of-chaos-7/) - **Challenge of Harmony:** Enadonella of Glomdoring won the hearts and minds of the denizens of the Basin of Life. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/10/challenge-of-harmony-6/) - **Challenge of Nature:** In a very long hunt, Dys of Gaudiguch was finally able to finish the extremely difficult scavenger quest. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/11/challenge-of-nature-7/) - **Challenge of Knowledge:** Kalaneya of Glomdoring proved to be most knowledgeable of Lusternia lore by easily claiming victory. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/17/challenge-of-knowledge-7/) - **Challenge of Life:** Malarious of Gaudiguch cured the most ill furrikin in the land before going on to almost claiming victory in the Final Ascension. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/17/challenge-of-knowledge-7/) - **Challenge of Death:** Yendor of Magnagora created rivers of blood in the Basin of Life in order to win the competition. He went on to triumph in the Final Ascension. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/17/challenge-of-death-8/) - **Challenge of Beauty:** Jolanthe of Gaudiguch stunned the judges with creating the swirling music box of aetherial currents. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/25/challenge-of-beauty-7/) - **Challenge of Justice:** Ixion of Magnagora debated and proved his silver tongue by winning this competition. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-justice-7/) - **Challenge of War:** Tarken of Glomdoring took the medallion with the help of his teammates Yendor and Deichtine. [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-war-7/) ### Timequake Update The upcoming [Timequake System](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/23/upcoming-system-timequakes/) is well underway, with the basic coding of the basic mechanics completed, including system for admin to set up timequake areas, easily adjust intervals between quakes and the system for the actual timequake competition. [Forum discussions](https://forums.lusternia.com/discussion/3550/upcoming-system-timequakes) are underway, asking players to help decide on the powers of research projects has been ongoing. It’s not too late to join those discussions! ### Leprechaun March Madness! It is the anniversary of the death of Old Cashel Connlaodh, King of the Leprechauns, the leprechaun population gathered to celebrate his reign. However, as the green ale flowed, old arguments rose about who should lead the leprechauns, which finally resulted in overthrowing King Seamus Connlaodh, calling for a new contest to see which of Old Cashel’s children should rule the leprechauns. Thus, Gilligan Connlaodh and Eileen Connlaodh have returned to try to wrest the crown from their brother Seamus. Receive presents by participating in a daily quest to help select the next King or Queen of the Leprechauns! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/01/leprechaun-march-madness/). ### Artifact Review Check out the [forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/) to see the polls and discussions on updating several artifacts that are concern to players, including the wonderbrazier, cement socks, gem of cloaking and more! ## Calendar - March 1-31: For the month of August, prices have been lowered 30% on the website for those interested in credits. Also, you can purchase packs of joy and presents directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). - March 1-31: Don’t forget to help select the new King or Queen of the Leprechauns and earn daily presents while doing so! [Read more.](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/01/leprechaun-march-madness/) - March 10: Wild Nodes! - March 24: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Ascension of Snald](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/09/ascension-of-snald/) **Published:** March 9, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wordpress-ascension-300x158.jpg)The first to hold the Staff of Ascension was Tarken, Champion of War, but it was Yendor, Champion of Death, who held the staff for a long stretch of time, nearly completing Ascension. Backed by Gaudiguch and New Celest, the Dark Forest seemed destined to win with Yendor at its helm. Magnagora and Hallifax were allied around Ixion, Champion of Justice, but their strategy did not gain traction. Serenwilde stayed on the sidelines. But then the unthinkable happened. Malarious, Champion of Life, stole the staff from Yendor, ending the Gaudiguch alliance with Glomdoring for the Ascension. The leader of Gaudiguch, Mayor Steingrim, quit and joined Glomdoring. Hallifax and Magnagora, reacting to the sudden shift in Ascension alliances, backed Malarious, and the race to Ascension became one of the most brutal in the annals of the Basin of Life! Thus, it became a battle between the Champion of Death and the Champion of Life. Against all odds, Malarious with the aid of those who supported the Champion of Life, slowly but inexorably worked his way towards Ascension. Ixion briefly held the staff but only as a steward for Malarious. The Champion of Death was finally able to muster enough support to topple the Champion of Life, wherein the Champion of War passed the staff back to the Champion of Death. With moments remaining, it was anyone’s guess who would make it to the final minutes, but Yendor was able to hold onto the staff just long enough to become a True Ascendant and recharge the seals. Yendor was born again under the name of Snald. All hail, Snald, the True Ascendant of Death! **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Events 2019](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/01/21/ascension-events-2019/) **Published:** January 21, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-image-bubbleship-300x158.jpg)During the Elder Wars, the Goddess Kaenalye was hidden in a bubble of alternate reality known as Lyraa Ey Rielys, which was out of phase from the rest of reality; thus, hiding her from the Soulless Gods. However, this secure zone also became her prison, as she was trapped there through the aeons. Like many Elder Gods before her, her form splintered. These divine splinters solidified into a new mortal race, known as the kaelye. The ecosystem that formed in Lyraa Ey Rielys was completely alien from that of the First World. When Lyraa Ey Rielys tried to come out of phase, it did so in the same location as the First World itself, slowly releasing the bizarre ecosystem into the Basin of Life, which caused a series of catostrophes throughout both worlds. Eventually, Lyraa Ey Rielys was pushed into aetherspace but not before weakening the Nine Seals that held the Soulless Gods. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in February, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Trial of Chaos **Winner**: Kreon, Champion of Chaos **Second:** Tarken **Third:** Unitos **Fourth:** Ixion **Fifth:** Aurik Description:** Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Trial of Harmony **Winner**: Enadonella, Champion of Harmony **Second:** Yendor **Third:** Leticia and Jolanthe (tie) **Fourth:** Ixion **Fifth:** Vatul **Description**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Trial of Nature **Winner**: Dys, Champion of Nature **Second:** Allixea **Third:** Steingrim **Fourth:** Tarken **Fifth:** Romaan **Description**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Trial of Knowledge **Winner**: Kalaneya, Champion of Knowledge **Second:** Nelras **Third:** Ayisdra **Fourth:** Faragan and Qistrel (tie) **Fifth:** Yendor **Description**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Trial of Life **Winner**: Malarious, Champion of Life **Second:** Steingrim **Third:** Avurekhos **Fourth:** Poihala, Lorina and Eliron (tie) **Description**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Trial of Death **Winner**: Yendor **Second:** Steingrim **Third:** Jolanthe **Fourth:** Lorina **Fifth:** Tridemon **Description**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Trial of Justice **First**: Ixion **Second:** Nelras **Third:** Tarken **Fourth:** Aramel **Fifth:** Shango and Eliron (tie) **Description**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Trial of Beauty **Winner**: Jolanthe **Second:** Shaddus **Third:** Faragan **Fourth:** Hegemone **Fifth:** Allixea **Description**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. *Note: Don’t submit a design for the contest until the Charites make an announcement.* ### Trial of War **Winner**: Tarken **Winner’s Circle:** Yendor and Deichtine **Second Place:** Malarious, Steingrim and Enadonella **Runnersup:** Avurekhos, Rolsand and Vatul; Kreon, Aydeksa and Lorina **Description**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Winner**: Yendor who rose to become Snald, True Ascendant of Death **Description**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-justice-7/) **Published:** March 2, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wordpress-justice-300x158.jpg)From all across the Basin, mortals came to battle with their words – facing off in a series of rapid debates to determine who would stand for the Seal of Justice during Ascension. At the end of all the debates it was Ixion who proved himself to have the sharpest tongue among the eleven competitors. **Kalas Ixion of Magnagora holds the Medallion of Justice** The other victors are as follows: - 2nd Place: Nelras Shevat of the Grand Province of Hallifax - 3rd Place: Tarken of the Free Collective of Glomdoring - 4th Place: Aramel Shevat of the Grand Province of Hallifax - 5th Place (tie): Shango D’Centre of the Grand Dominion of Magnagora and Eliron Shee-Slaugh of the Free Collective of Glomdoring **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-war-7/) **Published:** March 2, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/wordpress-war-300x158.jpg)Not long after the Challenge of Justice completed, warriors from across the Basin flocked to Mount Avechna to battle, this time with sword and spell, in the Challenge of War. Four teams battled for over a day until finally the team of Deichtine, Yendor, and Tarken stood victorious above all. **Tarken was chosen to bear the Medallion of War.** - First Place: Deichtine; Yendor; Tarken - Second Place: Malarious; Steingrim; Enadonella - Third Place: Avurekhos; Rolsand; Vatul Feyranti - Fourth Place: Kreon; Aydeksa; Lorina **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Beauty](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/25/challenge-of-beauty-7/) **Published:** February 25, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/wordpress-beauty-300x158.jpg)As the Trials of Ascension raged on, the creative geniuses of the Basin of Life were busy at work in the background. One by one they crafted great works of art that, they hoped, would be worthy of protecting the Seal. To aid them in their imaginative exploits, they were granted a theme to place within their work: of Aetherspace itself, inspired by the near-catastrophic collision of the aetherbubble Lyraa Ey Rielys. This proved to be a colourful and expansive source of inspiration for the First World’s designers. In flourishing within this prismatic space, it was Jolanthe Rithel of Gaudiguch who stood triumphant over all other artists, her swirling music box of aetherial currents deemed worthy of the Seal of Beauty itself. For its depiction of the hues, bubbles and layers of Aetherspace, she was awarded the Medallion. Second place was awarded to Shaddus Trueflight of Magnagora, for his triptych tapestry of Gnafia machinations. Third place was awarded to Faragan Ladyn of Gaudiguch, for his pedestal depicting aetherspace. Fourth place was awarded to Hegemone i’Vipere of Magnagora, for her polychromatic tent folded neatly within a canvas tote. Fifth place was awarded to Allixea of Glomdoring, for her opal and silver necklace. Though these five designs rose to conquer all others, the following designs merit honourable mention for their craftsmanship and interpretation of the Avenger’s theme: Lavinya d’Murani of Magnagora (a delicate silver hair pin of frost and snow), Vatul Feyranti of Magnagora (a corroded silver fullplate of a shock-trooper), and Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax (a vast tattoo of aetherspace). **Categories:** News --- ### [Upcoming System: Timequakes!](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/23/upcoming-system-timequakes/) **Published:** February 23, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/wordpress-feature-image-whale-300x158.jpg)There’s been a project that’s been brewing since last year that we are now going to fully focus our coding resources on called Timequakes (not to be confused with timequakes in aeonics). Though we had initially planned to keep this under wraps and release it through some events, we decided to be fully transparent and let you in on what the system in and perhaps you can even help us refine the system before its release. In brief, since the Fall of the Celestine Empire, there’s been a series of temporal disturbances up to and including the need for Ascension Events. This has had a cumulative effect of causing quakes in time, erupting as rifts that occasionally break through into the prime material plane. The current plan is for rifts to occur at least several times in a game month. There are four types of rifts: - Distant Timequakes or rifts from the past - Impending Timequakes or rifts from the future - Desolate Timequakes or rifts from an alternate reality where the Soulless were never seale - Immaculate Timequakes or rifts from an alternate reality where the Soulless were completed defeated by the Vernal Gods When a timequake occurs, a rift opens up somewhere on the prime material plane. You must find the rifts, enter them and there you can harvest temporal anomalies. Harvesting is a similar mechanic as capturing a wild node, though the individual who succeeds in harvesting will receive the anomaly. Rifts can have multiple anomalies. Avechna cannot sense (and therefore cannot interfere) within the rifts. Also, there is no experience loss if you die within a temporal rift (since you are out of time and space). Individuals can convert anomalies to archpower (more on that later) or give them (or sell them) to guilds for research projects. Each guild can have one and only one research project. The research project is based on the anomaly type (distant, impending, desolate or immaculate) and can be built up to five levels. A research project not only needs anomalies of its specific type but also gold and commodities as both initial costs and upkeep. Research projects can be changed to a new project, though the guild must start over from scratch and lose all the anomalies, commodities and gold invested in the outgoing project. Note that any city and commune can only ever have 3 research projects (one per guild) so there will always be a fourth anomaly type that its members can use for archpower without any guilt. Some goals we see for timequakes: - New method for daily credits - Goal for guilds to work towards - Commodity and gold drain - System of conflict and PK on a regular basis Research projects have 5 levels, each level granting a potential power to every member of the city or commune that the guild represents: (1) a power that helps with timequakes, (2) a passive power that is always active, (3) a personal benefit activated with archpower, (4) a special power activated with archpower, (5) an area wide power activated with archpower. Archpower is gained through converting anomalies directly by individuals. Below is what we are currently looking at for research projects and is a work in progress. We definitely are open to refining the level powers through brainstorming and ideas on the forums. Capacitors are the general term of the object that guilds create for a research project. Each guild will have a unique capacitor. ### DISTANT ARCHPOWER CAPACITOR (Teleport Theme) - Level 1: Teleport to Open Rifts, long wait - Level 2: Faster teleport, stacks with artifacts, passive, no archpower needed - Level 3: Portals, open portals to others, 5 archpower/month - Level 4: Teleport those who attack you up to 5 rooms away, 5 archpower/month to setup, uses 1 (normal) power to activate for 15 seconds, 15 second cooldown (can’t reactivate for 15 seconds) - Level 5: Prevent teleport out of local area except for members of your org, 10 archpower for 5 minutes (someone else doing this power will cancel the power) ### IMPENDING ARCHPOWER CAPACITOR (Speed Theme) - Level 1: Faster anomaly harvesting, 25%? - Level 2: Celerity bonus, passive, no archpower needed - Level 3: Faster cure recovery, 5 archpower/month - Level 4: Speed burst, faster eq/bal recovery, 5 archpower/month to setup, uses 1 (normal) power to activate for 15 seconds, 15 second cooldown (can’t reactivate for 15 seconds) - Level 5: Slow everyone in local area except for members of your org, 10 archpower for 5 minutes (someone else doing this power will cancel the power) ### DESOLATE ARCHPOWER CAPACITOR (Destruction Theme) - Level 1: Universal damage buff in rifts, 10/10 - Level 2: Universal damage buff, 3/10, passive, no archpower needed - Level 3: Faster insanity recovery, stacks with artifacts, 5 archpower/month - Level 4: Backlash, retributive damage on any aggressive action, 5 archpower/month to setup, uses 1 (normal) power to activate for 15 seconds, 15 second cooldown (can’t reactivate for 15 seconds) - Level 5: Prevent all health regeneration in local area except for members of your org, 10 archpower for 5 minutes (someone else doing this power will cancel the power) ### IMMACULATE ARCHPOWER CAPACITOR (Magic Theme) - Level 1: Less mana cost in rifts - Level 2: Mana regeneration, passive, no archpower needed - Level 3: Less mana cost, stacks with artifacts, 5 archpower/month - Level 4: Spellblast, person casts takes damage and is frozen for 5 seconds, 5 archpower/month to setup, uses 1 (normal) power to fire, 15 second cooldown (can’t reactivate for 15 seconds) - Level 5: Increase magic damage in local area except for members of your org, 10 archpower for 5 minutes (someone else doing this power will cancel the power) **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Events 2018](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/07/ascension-events-2018/) **Published:** January 7, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shutterstock_62287552-300x232.jpg)When the High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri was corrupted during the Taint Wars just before the Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire, he was captured and held in a dimensional prison by the Illuminati of Gaudiguch. For centuries, he was maintained there by the immortal guardians of the prison, but then finally escaped. Using his powers of prophesy, he manipulated events twisted fate for his dark purposes. Events culminated in the return of the Dread Lord of Contagion and eventual weakening of the Nine Seals that hold the Soulless Gods. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in January, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Trial of Chaos **Winner**: Tarken **Description**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Trial of Harmony **Winner**: Malarious **Description**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Trial of Nature **Winner**: Marcella **Description**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Trial of Knowledge **Winner**: Kalaneya **Description**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Trial of Life **Winner**: Veyils **Description**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Trial of Death **Winner**: Ixion **Description**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Trial of Justice **Winner**: Taevyn **Description**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Trial of War **Winner**: Jaspet **Description**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Trial of Beauty **Winner**: Xeii **Description**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. *Note: Don’t submit a design for the contest until the Charites make an announcement.* ### Final Trial: Ascension Veyils rose to become **True Ascendant Deichtine of Life** **Description**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [February 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/02/03/february-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** February 3, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Ascension 2019! ### Ascension 2019! During the Elder Wars, the Goddess Kaenalye was hidden in a bubble of alternate reality known as Lyraa Ey Rielys, which was out of phase from the rest of reality; thus, hiding her from the Soulless Gods. However, this secure zone also became her prison, as she was trapped there through the aeons. Like many Elder Gods before her, her form splintered. These divine splinters solidified into a new mortal race, known as the kaelye. The ecosystem that formed in Lyraa Ey Rielys was completely alien from that of the First World. When Lyraa Ey Rielys tried to come out of phase, it did so in the same location as the First World itself, slowly releasing the bizarre ecosystem into the Basin of Life, which caused a series of catostrophes throughout both worlds. Eventually, Lyraa Ey Rielys was pushed into aetherspace but not before weakening the Nine Seals that held the Soulless Gods. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! ![](http://newsletters.ironrealms.com/uploads/1549227702.jpg) ### Schedule of Ascension Events Beginning in February, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! Keep track of the [Ascension Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/01/21/ascension-events-2019/) webpage for any updates to dates and times and for postings of winners. #### Trial of Chaos **Date**: February 9, 2019 **Time:** 8:00 a.m. PST **Description:** Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. #### Trial of Harmony **Date**: February 9, 2019 **Time:** 3:00 p.m. PST **Description**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. #### Trial of Nature **Date**: February 10, 2019 **Time:** 3:00 p.m. PST **Description**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. #### Trial of Knowledge **Date**: February 16, 2019 **Time:** 12:00 p.m. PST **Description**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. #### Trial of Life **Date**: February 17, 2019 **Time:** 10:00 a.m. PST **Description**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. #### Trial of Death **Date**: February 17, 2019 **Time:** 1:00 p.m. PST **Description**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. #### Trial of Justice **Date**: February 23, 2019 **Time:** 11:00 a.m. PST **Description**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. #### Trial of Beauty **Submissions Open**: February 2, 2019 **Deadline:** February 16, 2019 **Winner Announced:** February 24, 2019 **Description**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. *Note: Don’t submit a design for the contest until the Charites make an announcement.* #### Trial of War **Date**: March 2, 2019 (if needed, also March 3, 2019) **Time:** 11:00 a.m. PST **Description**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. #### Final Trial: Ascension **Date**: March 9, 2019 **Time**: 11:00 am PST **Description**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! ### Daily Credits Coming! Lusternia will go completely free-to-play sometime in February, wherein players can earn credits in-game on a daily basis as well as organizations receiving credit rewards every two weeks (approximately). You will still be able to purchase credits online and sign up for an [elite membership](https://www.lusternia.com/elite-memberships/), but this will mark a new phase of Lusternia’s evolution. ## Calendar - February 1-28: For the month of February, you can purchase heart arrows directly on the website. Heart arrows will receive special promotional boxes, participate in daily contests of who can shoot or be shot by arrows, and even get a special honour. Also, a 30% credit bonus sale (40% for [elite membership](https://www.lusternia.com/elite-memberships/)) applies to all credit purchases. Heart arrows and credit packages are both available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - February 2: Submissions open for Trial of Beauty - February 9 @ 8:00 a.m. PST: Trial of Chaos - February 9 @ 3:00 p.m. PST: Trial of Harmony - February 10 @ 3:00 p.m. PST: Trial of Nature - February 10: Wild Nodes! - February 16 @ 12:00 p.m. PST: Trial of Knowledge - February 16: Deadline for submissions for Trial of Beauty - February 17 @ 10:00 a.m. PST: Trial of Life - February 17 @ 1:00 p.m. PST: Trial of Death - February 23 @ 11:00 a.m. PST: Trial of Justice - February 24: Wild Nodes! - February 24: Winner Announced for Trial of Beauty **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [January 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/01/12/january-2019-newsletter/) **Published:** January 12, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # New Year Updates ## 2018: Year in Contemplation Rather than a typical year in review, the Producer of Lusternia shared the trials and tribulations that Lusternia faced in 2018, including a candid look at the reduced player base. However, no one is giving up on Lusternia, the staff remains, and the future holds many big changes, including a look at the economy and the ability to earn free daily credits. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/01/07/year-in-contemplation-2018/)! ![](http://newsletters.ironrealms.com/uploads/1547327382.jpg) ## Development Timeline For full transparency, Lusternia released a timeline of what to expect in the upcoming first quarter in the economy, the change to daily credits, Ascension and more. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=Announce&number=2891). ## Saga of the Kaelye The conclusion of the ongoing Saga of the Kaelye saw an end to the strange occurrences that plagued the Basin of Life throughout the year and the birth of a new aetherbubble. ### *A Catastrophic Collison and the Conclave of the Keepers* After the kaelye left the Basin of Life and returned to their homeland, alarming phenomena began to occur at an increased pace, including bouts of vertigo, changes in gravity and earthquakes. The Nexus Keepers, who were in intense pain, held a conclave to determine just what was happening. Unfortunately, old feuds were not so easily dismissed, and the conclave had trouble staying together. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/19/a-catastrophic-collision-and-the-conclave-of-the-keepers/)! ### *A Mysterious Shattering and to Read a Shard of Glass* As mysterious catastrophes continued to devastate the Basin of Life, the sound of shattering glass led to the discovery of a gnomish connection. Could the criminal organization known as the Gnafia be behind the exploitation of an interdimensional incident? [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/23/a-mysterious-shattering-and-to-read-a-shard-of-glass/)! ### *A Collision Averted, and Wilds Displaced* The Nine Seals holding the Soulless Gods began to weaken as the result of planar dimensions colliding with each other. Clues led back to the kaelye. Was the homeworld of the kaelye out of phase with the rest of reality trying to physically merge with the Basin of Life? And what role did Queenie of the Gnafia play in this tragedy? [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/24/a-collision-averted-and-wilds-displaced/)! ### *Professor von Fixit and the Aetherlasso of Doom* It was discovered that Professor von Fixit, a gnome aboard the aethership known as the Starhopper, held Gnafia schematics for a device that could actually move aetherbubbles. But first Queenie had to be confronted which led to a wild and bloody confrontation. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/24/professor-von-fixit-and-the-aetherlasso-of-doom/)! ### *How to Rescue Aetherbubbles and Catch Up with Old Friends* The device capable of moving aetherbubbles was pulling the hidden aetherbubble known as Lyraa Ey Rielys, homeworld to the kaelye, directly towards the Facility, homeworld of the gnomes. In order to save both the gnomes and the kaelye, a daring attempt to seize control of the device led to the final conclusion of the Saga of the Kaelye. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/24/how-to-rescue-aetherbubbles-and-catch-up-with-old-friends/)! ## Calendar - January 1-31: For the month of January, you can purchase artifacts directly on the website, including special edition artifacts only available through the artifact cart! Presents are also available on the website for direct purchase. Artifact Cart and presents are both available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! Also you can purchase New Years resolutions during January (see RESOLUTIONS in-game). - January 13: Q&A with players, 10:00 a.m. PST/6:00 p.m. GMT - January 13: Wild Nodes! - January 19-20: Great Hunt and Double XP weekend - January 30: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [How to Rescue Aetherbubbles and Catch Up with Old Friends](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/24/how-to-rescue-aetherbubbles-and-catch-up-with-old-friends/) **Published:** December 24, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-image-bubbleship-300x158.jpg)The brave adventurers had broken through all of Queenie’s defenses at the Facility save the last lines of defense upon the Aetherlasso itself. The Aetherlasso, which was tasked with pulling the Lyraa Ey Rielys aetherbubble towards the Facility, did not look at all like its more conventional namesake. Instead, it was an object bearing layers of concentric rings made of platinum, steel, iron, silver, and gold from the outside in. They set about peeling back the defenses of each of the rings, which corresponded to its operations on the planes of Astral, Cosmic, Elemental, Ethereal, and Prime respectively. Xenthos of Glomdoring deduced the first and fourth of the five passcodes, while Kagato of New Celest deduced the second, and Tridemon of New Celest deduced the third and fifth. And yet, their task was not over. There was a final, spoken passcode formed from a mixture of the five that was required to shut down the Aetherlasso completely. Initially, those present thought that perhaps the same password that worked for getting into the Vault would also work to shut down the Aetherlasso, but this was unfortunately not the case. And the Aetherlasso continued its work, the completion percentage ticking up towards 80%, then 85%. It was not until Eliron hit upon the word “white” – both a description of the snowy bright suits worn by Queenie and her thugs as well as an anagram of the first letters of the other passcodes: Insane, Halfformed, Elements, Wondrous, and Terrestrial – that the Aetherlasso began to shut down. Unfortunately, shutting down the Aetherlasso also engaged a self-destruct sequence. As the timer ticked down from ten, Afollia, Alaksanteri, Deichtine, Eliron, Esoneyuna, Kagato, Kreon, Unitos, Vynce, Xenthos, and Vynce quickly left the chamber to avoid the fireball that was surely coming. Tridemon stayed, however, out of masochistic curiosity and witnessed each of the planar rings fall to flames, then finally the base of the Aetherlasso exploded, leaving Tridemon barely clinging to life. Across aetherspace and the many worlds within, there was a rumble as Lyraa Ey Rielys, the aetherbubble that had been subject to the Aetherlasso’s pull, settled into place and stopped moving. Thus began the real chase of discovery. Adventurers hopped onto aetherships to find this new bubble, so recently rescued from collision with Prime and from falling into the grasp of the gnome Queenie. Afollia, Alaksanteri, Kagato, Kreon, Vynce, Eliron, Esoneyuna, Xenthos, Deichtine all spent time searching, sometimes falling to the harshness of aetherspace, sometimes wandering aimlessly, frequently returning to poor, traumatized Professor von Fixit to help triangulate the trajectory of where the bubble might have settled. Eventually, Xenthos of Glomdoring was the first outsider to step upon Lyraa Ey Rielys, followed by Deichtine, Tridemon, Alaksanteri, Eliron, Vynce, Afollia, Unitos, and Kalaneya. They discovered a land that was harsh and largely barren, filled with blue, green and violet rocks, Sunless, Moonless, and starless, wreathed by electromagnetic fields and ever-present lightning storms. There, they found the muku, linorii, and gar that had been invading the Basin of Life, and they also found the kaelye: This was home to the kaelye race. Taimi Kivinen was overjoyed to see her friends from afar come to the kaelye’s rescue. She greeted Tridemon and Alasksanteri with gladness, they having spent much time together during Taimi’s exile in the First World, and many words were exchanged, and much gratitude, now with clearer understanding of one another. Xenthos also greeted Taimi as a friend, and then he set about to help the kaelye with another problem they had upon their aetherbubble: the slow death of their plants and animals to an unknown cause. In the process, he met many of the other inhabitants of the bubble, all kaelye: the Sages, the Shapers, the kaelye children and adults alike, as well as the kaelye who had fallen insane, wandering the wilderness. Finally, Xenthos and his companions managed to cure the flora and fauna of Lyraa Ey Rielys, sending a mist of wyrden power over all, having used their own shadow essence for the purpose. For his efforts, Xenthos was granted a single, shattered shard of blue stone, bearing memories from the Goddess Kaenalye. Before the Master Ravenwood, Xenthos activated the stone and witnessed visions from Kaenalye’s last millenia, learning that Lady Kaenalye was sister to both Maylea, Bloom of Serenity and Eventru, Crown of the Exalted and had splintered into the kaelye race upon the bubble of Lyraa Ey Rielys. Out of their long isolation, the kaelye of Lyraa Ey Rielys have finally joined the rest of Creation. What will be their role in years to come, as they step into the history and politics of Lusternia? **Categories:** News --- ### [Professor von Fixit and the Aetherlasso of Doom](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/24/professor-von-fixit-and-the-aetherlasso-of-doom/) **Published:** December 24, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-image-lab-300x158.jpg)Psionic waves crashed through the Prime Material Plane. Though at first perplexing, they soon revealed their origin, as the thousand linorii glowbats that had invaded Lusternia over the passing years spoke in unison. Hello? Help! This is Taimi, we’re being pulled somewhere. We can see light. Many came to witness these panicked messages, including Sir Romaan D’Varden of New Celest, Alaksanteri Elithysius of Gaudiguch, Kish of Hallifax and a contingent from the Glomdoring Commune. Following Taimi’s crackling words, they set out to work out where Lyraa Ey Rielys was, how it was being pulled, and where. It was Xenthos An’Ryshe who first went to the Facility, spotting that there was a new complex hidden somewhere there, but not investigating it. as he returned to the Prime Material Plane, Romaan spoke first to Captain Girda and then to Professor von Fixit of the Starhopper. Though the Professor remained wild and alarmed (perhaps from the threat of Queenie’s wrath, and perhaps from the threats of a savage leopard), he did reveal that Queenie was on the Facility, and that he had given her the schematics for a device that would move an Aetherbubble. Now grouped together, Romaan and Xenthos travelled to the Facility and located the hidden complex. Unable to glance into its hidden entrance, they resorted to charging boldly in – whereupon they found the near two dozen of Queenie’s goons that were waiting for them. They died in short order, but returned shortly thereafter with a larger group to take them down (though a few more were still foolish enough to walk in alone). With her guards taken down, the Gnafia boss Queenie offered parlay. She at first made small talk, but discussions quickly turned to her intentions. Reiterating much of what she had said in the Basin the month before, she strongly suggested that it was not her intention to destroy Lyraa Ey Rielys. However, several of the group at this moment took the opportunity to explore the rest of her base. Tridemon Regalis re-entered the room from Queenie’s personal study with a stolen letter clutched in his hands – to which the Gnafia boss took affront. She called them thieves, and promptly began her assault. Meanwhile, the work of the Aetherlasso – that device designed by Professor Gargle von Fixit – continued unsullied. The first fight with Queenie did not go well. She and her associates took out everyone who came against them, with the Gnafia boss then retiring to the vault entrance to guard it. Most resurrected and began to prepare for a retaliation, but Eliron Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring eschewed this. Instead he sacrificed his own demidivine essence to remain as a soul, that he could converse with Queenie as she waited. She spoke to him at more length of her plan, commending the kaelye on their vision and capacity to generate power – their usefulness for ‘business’. Whilst they were talking it was clear that Queenie was wounded, though she seemed unconcerned by it, and that her spies were far reaching – for she already knew that von Fixit was broken. She also, quite candidly, explained that she was just there to stall them – and the Aetherlasso continued to pull Lyraa Ey Rielys closer to the Facility. Others attempted to get more information out of Professor von Fixit, but by this point the questions had driven him into a gibbering mess, his fear of Queenie evidently so great that he was certain of his impending doom. But the adventurers would not accept defeat. They grouped up, now larger in number, and moved in to take Queenie down. Whether they did or not remains a matter of debate – they beat her down until she was swaying and staggering, but she would not fall. “You win this time!” she proclaimed, spitting blood. “You will not win the next!” And then, in a flash of transportation, she was gone. The adventurers turned their focus to breaking into the vault. The door, they had determined, had a password – but they did not know the password, nor what it was talking about with regards to a ‘shift number’. Only at length did they realise it was enciphered, and indeed – thanks to a recorded message – that it was called an Enciphered Gnomevault 2000. Whilst some remained to try and decipher the situation, Tridemon Regalis travelled back to the Starhopper, to speak with Pinky Puddlegum. She was tremendously excited by the idea of a real Gnomevault, which she said was very rare. She explained that the password was static, but that the shift number – the number by which the letters were rotated – changed every day and every time you failed 3 password attempts. Fortunately, she said, it was not a Gnomevault 3000 – those were much worse. Armed with this knowledge, Tridemon returned to the Facility. Many had worked out this information already, but it was good to have it confirmed. A final recorded message from the Gnomevault gave them access to the password reminder – ‘look in a mirror’ – which led them to realise the password was Queenie’s own name. At this point it was simply a matter of brute forcing the password until they guessed the shift number correctly, which they did with a shift of three: Txhhqlh. They were in – but the Aetherlasso was almost at 70% completion. They were running out of time. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Collision Averted, and Wilds Displaced](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/24/a-collision-averted-and-wilds-displaced/) **Published:** December 24, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-image-spacebubble-300x158.jpg)A droning, sonorous hum filled all of Creation, cresting into a wave of vibrations that shook reality itself, blurring everything for a split second. The pressure that had been so present over the past months returned, even stronger than before. Throughout the cities and communes, the Keepers of the Nexii strained, as did their charges. And one by one, the nexii surged, casting out the power that had been so devoutly gathered by their servants and sent forth to bolster the boundaries of reality. Combining into one, it seemed that this great power from the nexii was enough to stabilise things – until the sound of aethership engines could be heard echoing through the Prime Material Plane. Something tore across reality, and as it tore over all things the Nine Seals of the Domotheos cracked and began to falter. An Ascension would have to be held – but this was the least of the Basin’s concerns. For somewhere in the centre of the Basin, a stretch of wildlands disappeared. Vanished, as if it had not been there. Whilst people began to search the land near the kaelye camp, which had seemed close to the strange occurrence, a booming gnomish voice echoed across creation. “Here is the truth,” proclaimed the woman known as Queenie. “The purpose behind my actions: I am saving the world. Without my device, this ridiculous Aetherbubble would have collided with the Prime Material Plane. I would tell you where to send your thanks, but alas, time goes short – and I have business to attend to. Goodbye. I’m afraid we won’t speak again.” As her words echoed, a second collision happened – between the Prime Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. The displaced wilds, it seemed, had impacted somewhere else. After this the Basin and the Aetherways alike became a hive of searching. Many in New Celest and Glomdoring took to Aetherships to search for routes into the displaced area. Others from Hallifax searched Avechna’s Peak, one especially becoming dismayed at the fractures in the Beauty Seal. But it was Dys Mzithrei of Gaudiguch who discovered that the tree in the kaelye camp was a gate to the Ethereal Realm. Passing through it, she located the displaced wilds and the Mining Collective who had been so abruptly moved there, their camp having been in the centre of the wildlands. Seeing that they were being set upon by Lyraan flora and fauna, Dys in turn set about helping them defend their camp. With the help of Alaksanteri Elithysius, she took care of the attackers, marked the perimeter and prepared the protective generator for function. The two of them had just left to gather essence the power the generator when Kailanna n’Kylbar of Magnagora found the displaced wilds as well, and was shortly teleported to by Xenthos An’Ryshe. This was the beginning of a tidal wave of visitors, as people from across the Basin piled in to see the displaced wilds. Dys and Alaksanteri soon returned, and into the generator she placed the hundred essence they had gathered. It flooded with fiery energy, combusting the now-Ethereal wilds around the camp, and ensuring that the Lyraan flora and fauna could not return – at least, until the generator ran out of power. For her assistance Dys was also presented with a ball of transformed muku, one that had clearly been influenced by the fiery power of Gaudiguch. Those gathered spent some time experimenting and attempting to work out its use, but to no avail. Overseer Hugkegtla of the Mining Collective refused to comment upon it, citing non-disclosure agreements as preventing her from elucidating. Many came away from the days’ events speaking of the matter as if it were finished: the Seals broken, that seemed like an end of sorts. But many more remarked upon something else: what could possibly have enough power to tear an Aetherbubble off a collision course? Time, it seemed, would have to tell. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Catastrophic Collision and the Conclave of the Keepers](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/19/a-catastrophic-collision-and-the-conclave-of-the-keepers/) **Published:** December 19, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Monk-Temple-Meditation-Panorama-Buddhist-Buddhism-2214532-300x169.jpg)With the departure of the kaelye to their homeland, there seemed to be as many questions around the years-long events involving the flora and fauna of Lyraa Ey Rielys as there had been answers. The Basin of Life, as it so often does, had fallen into the tension of waiting. Waiting for something to happen. When it came, it was at first a distant, piercing sound. As this sound grew, the Nexus Keepers – those women and men devoted to guarding the Nexuses of Power raised at the heart of every commune and city – began to experience extreme discomfort. Pain, headaches, and even in one more unique case the hangover to end all hangovers, their trauma was only the beginning of what was to come. In a flurry, the Basin experienced a series of disconcerting events. Vertigo, dramatic changes to gravity, quakes that shook the entire Plane from earth to sky. At one moment, another land was even visible through every clear surface, every reflection – a place of jagged rocks and purple stormclouds. Things settled, but only for a moment. Then there was a crash, almighty and all-encompassing. The thousand linorii that had come to call the Prime Material Plane screamed out in agony, and their lights were reflected in the sky. There was a great pressure upon all things, surging and attempting to crush the plane. Reality asserted itself at last – but the strange phenomenon remained, even if far weaker than the initial cataclysm. In the wake of these events, the Keepers of the Nexii continued to be unwell. Determined to get to the bottom of what was happening, Ardrak of the Megalith invited the other Keepers to converse with him on the matter. But only Fraesic Sunfar, Keeper of the Matrix, responded to his plea. The two of them spoke with Kailanna, Ixion and Vatul on what had happened, before Fraesic returned to Hallifax to report to citizens Kish, Goldia and Doman. In Gaudiguch, Genthus, Tortuga and Alaksanteri spoke with Mesadari about her hangover, before Genthus travelled to New Celest to share the information with others. Tortuga travelled to the Fire Plane to speak with Agni, the Lady of Smouldering Embers, who reported feeling the same sense of great pressure. Thus better informed, Unitos of New Celest spoke with the Holy Supernal Japhiel, who shared concern that something was gravely wrong. More curious was the visit paid by Keeper Miakoda of the Moonhart to the Master Ravenwood Tree. Protected by the light of the Full Moon and travelling only in a projected form, Miakoda shared her concerns with Brennan – or at the very least at him – whilst Eliron, Xenthos, Deichtine, Athree, Rancoura and Torgaddon observed. At length, the two of them agreed to attend a full meeting of the Keepers if the location was acceptable – until the phase of the moon shifted, and Miakoda made a hasty exit. And slowly, one by one, the remaining Nexus Keepers were coaxed and cajoled and encouraged into attending the meeting – which would by mutual agreement be held in the Grey Moors. Though not all of them had the purest motives for attending, they nonetheless agreed, spurred on by their concern for the threat to the Prime Material Plane and their charges. --- The Conclave of the Keepers was attended not only by long-distance projections of Ardrak, Brennan, Fraesic, Meleris, Mesadari, and Miakoda, but by representatives from all the cities and communes of the Basin of Life. Tension was evident from the beginning, with the Keepers trading veiled and not-so-veiled insults at one another while attempting to collect their information and come up with a solution. They noted that their Nexii have been experiencing fluctuations and yet with no deviation in power levels, as if the pressure upon them from the neighboring planes had increased. Some present suggested that perhaps the problem was something to do with the Elemental Planes, but this was rebuffed by Miakoda, who instead described the disturbances as something happening everywhere and nowhere. The discussion was derailed for a time by an argument on the topic of logic, and then was further derailed when a bearded dwarven female, Ohmra Umeril, walked into the Conclave. She was soon followed by another dwarf, Narond Jongrun, the illithoid Overseer Hugkegtla, the kephera Tender Chikit, and the viscanti Serir d’Vanecu. Together, they called themselves the Mining Collective, representing each of the mining villages, and they accused those present of not inviting them to the Conclave, to the befuddlement of all, who had no idea they existed. Overseer Hugkegtla explained in baleful whispers that the Mining Collective had only formed after the invasion of the creatures from Lyraa Ey Rielys, and that their purpose was to investigate ‘the Lyraan problem’. Omhra Umeril then accused the Keepers of sitting around and waiting for a solution to be handed to them, whereas the Collective representing the mining villages was willing to take action to search for the answers. After several digressions by those present into the nature of paperwork and the edibility of kephera, the Mining Collective departed, led by Overseer Hugkegtla, to search for “a spot where plenty of those things gather,” according to Narond Jongrun. Fraesic then suggested that although it would not be wise to attempt to seal off the outer planes, perhaps the Nexii could be empowered to strengthen reality itself, much like pillars in the structure of a tower. Brennan joked that perhaps mortals should stuff the Nexii full of essence to aid the Keepers in this endeavour, only to find that the other Keepers took his suggestion seriously and resolved, some openly and others less so, to encourage each of their organisations to accelerate the gathering of power for their Nexii. As Fraesic phrased it, “To reinforce the boundaries of reality as pertains to the barrier between the Prime Material Plane and aetherspace.” The Conclave ended in a spate of accusations and name-calling, each Keeper recalling their projections in a huff. But the beginnings of a plan have been formed: Bring more power to the Nexus of each city and commune to reinforce the structure of reality. But what really is the Mining Collective, and where did they go? And what in the world is happening to Lusternia? **Categories:** News --- ### [December 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/10/december-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** December 10, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Hallifax Updates & Newbie Love! ### Hallifax Does the Time Warp! In Hallifax, the updates to their classes have been released! The new goal of Researchers is to build timewarp with the goal to timequake. They have a variety of tools at their disposal, but more importantly, these tools will also allow them to synergize with other Hallifax classes as well. This should open up a variety of combat tactics, both offensive and defensive, and should reward coordination. ![](http://newsletters.ironrealms.com/uploads/1544401271.jpg) ### Newbie Intro: House of the Moirae When you create a new character in Lusternia, you will now be taken into a new intro in the House of the Moirae, a quick and fun quest to learn the basics. There are also two new epic quests where newbies are taken back into the past to learn about the Fall of the Celestine Empire by living through the Fall of the Malacoda Manor, the centaur diaspora from Gloriana, and the sinking of the Arysian isles at the end of the Taint Wars. Finally, a Newbie Task system has been introduced to help guide newbies on what to do next as well as how to learn some basic commands. [Create a New Character](https://play.lusternia.com/) and check it out! ### A Kelplie in Mornhai In the Mornhai Sanctuary, a grumpy old kelpie has taken up residence. Wanting just to enjoy the hot springs to soothe his old bones, the waters are polluted and need to be cleared. Helping the strange old kelpie uncovers some historical discoveries hidden deep within Mornhai’s past. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/11/a-kelpie-in-mornhai/). ### Kaeyle Saved and Garosaurs Tamed The latest twist in the ongoing ecological catastrophes was the startling arrival of an unknown race called the kaeyle. These shy creatures were indeed strangers in a strange land, unable to even understand the common tongue. However, since the kaeyle were native to wherever the other anomalies came from, they were able to demonstrate how to tame and handle the garosaurs. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/13/kaelye-saved-and-garosaurs-tamed/). ### Going Home The kaeyle people who appeared in the Basin of Life were unsure how they were yanked from their home, but it was obvious that they were not flourishing out of their natural environment. The people of the Basin of Life came together to build an aethership for the kaelye, so they could search for their home within the depths of aetherspace. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/08/going-home/). ## Calendar - December 1-31: For the month of December you can purchase solstice stockings directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! Hang stockings to receive curios, presents and/or racetrack tickets. For every 5 stockings, you receive a special platinum/gold stockings which will contain special items to create unique solstice artifacts! - December 16: Wild Nodes! - December 21: Merry Solstice! - December 30: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Going Home](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/12/08/going-home/) **Published:** December 8, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wordpress-feature-image-homesteps-copy-300x158.jpg)As the last of her people returned to the kaelye basecamp aided by the peoples of Lusternia, Taimi Kivinen turned her mind to growing a ship from the algontherine egg that Tridemon of New Celest had given her. Not being an expert in the manipulation of creature traits, Taimi employed the services of the kaelye ‘Shapers’ who came with her. Taimi explained to interested citizens of the Basin of Life that Shapers were a special sect of kaelye who were adept at manipulating and changing the traits of living things. Thus, Taimi left the egg with the Shapers, who were to also build a shell for their new aethership. Taimi spent the next years exploring the Basin of Life, traveling and learning all she could of those locations she has not yet seen. Her Common having improved significantly, Taimi visited the forest of Serenwilde, where she learned of the woodland creatures of Lusternia and the fae of the Ethereal Plane. She then visited Hallifax, paying respects to a fallen kin upon the Emerald Road. Her attempt to visit Magnagora was sidetracked by a journey into the Blasted Lands, where she learned of and was immediately confused by the concept of the Taint. On her visit to Gaudiguch, Taimi was fascinated by but wisely did not examine the teeth of the Guardian Drachou. Finally, she was brought to Magnagora proper, where she was invited to visit one of the many laboratories of the Engine of Transformation, and she delicately declined out of a sense of dread. In Klangiary of 518 COE, Taimi Kivinen informed the Basin of Life that the kaelye were ready to attempt to return home. Citizens of the world found Taimi sitting in the basecamp upon a massive wagon of stone and wood bound by muku threads. The wagon was loaded to the brim with disassembled parts of the new kaelye ship, with half circles painted a bright gold in honour of the Sun and Moon and filled with odds and ends of many colours. Xenthos of Glomdoring and Dys of Gaudiguch were the first to realise that the kaelye may need help bringing the wagon to the Aetherplex, where they were heading. With Ascendant strength, Xenthos pulled the wagon onwards towards Avechna’s Peak. But on the way, he and Dys, along with the crowd of onlookers who gradually joined them, were attacked by groups of gnomes dressed in white suits who answered to someone named ‘Queenie’. Though the groups were easily dispatched, they returned again and again to harrass the kaelye wagon convoy, which moved slower and slower as Xenthos climbed the mountain paths. Finally, they reached the Aetherplex with one last, massive tug. To there, Taimi Kivinen gathered the rest of her kaelye people, including Shapers who put together the new ship. Taimi placed the now grown algontherine egg within the constructed shell and named it Alku, for new beginnings. Though some offered to travel along with the kaelye in their search for home, Taimi refused, noting that they themselves did not know where they were going and did not wish to doom others to a lifetime of wandering. She promised, should she reach home, that she would teach the language of Common to her people, so that all could speak together freely should they meet again. With that, Taimi Kivinen entered the algontherine named Alku, and with the help of her rescued peoples, set off into the deeps of aetherspace, searching for the place they called home: Lyraa Ey Rielys. **Categories:** News --- ### [Kaelye Saved and Garosaurs Tamed](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/13/kaelye-saved-and-garosaurs-tamed/) **Published:** November 13, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](../../../../wp-content/uploads/2018/11/beasts-of-the-apocalypse-tapestry-photo-researchers-300x208.jpg)In Tzarin of the year 515 COE, a great crash echoed across the fabric reality, and a booming explosion rose from the vicinity of the northern Ackleberry Highway. “Auttakaa minua!” a mysterious voice cried, and a tall, blue-furred humanoid was spotted dashing past the Triple Junction and towards the Tar Pits. Citizens of every city and commune in the Basin of Life rushed to learn what was happening, and amid the thick sludge of the pits, they found a young woman trapped in the tar. Though she leaped away as soon as she could pull herself out, unlike the shadowy figures of the months before, this time, she was caught and surrounded. The inhabitants of Lusternia soon found that they could not communicate with the young woman, as she spoke a language unknown to any of the races present, a language once heard upon the lips of the mysterious visitors that had appeared in the cities and communes months before. The woman, seeing herself unharmed, relaxed enough to relay through gestures that she was of a race called the “kaelye”, and that her name was Taimi Kivinen. In bouncing leaps, she led the her curious followers back towards the crash site of her ship at the northern end of the Ackleberry Highway. Then began a long process of language learning, back and forth. Before long, Taimi learned that Kethaera and Anita were called faelings, and that Kogon was a tae’dae (and not kogontaedae, as she initially heard), as well as the names of a number of other races in Lusternia. For their part, the inhabitants of Lusternia learned that Taimi and her people, the kaelye, had come to Lusternia in a large blue ship shaped very much like an egg, and that they called the ship Kauko. Taimi also, through gestures, paraphrasing, and miming, came to make her audience understand that she was worried about her fellow kaelye, who even that moment were scattered across the Basin of Life after their ship’s crash, and she asked for help from the inhabitants of Lusternia to find them in their hiding places and to bring them back to the camp. Of Taimi’s helpers, Anita was the first to locate the other kaelye, and Kalnid was the first to convince them of his goodwill, with many others to follow. Over the next year, Taimi gradually learned Common from helpful members of the cities and communes: Kethaera of Hallifax, Alaksanteri and Steingrim of Gaudiguch, Tridemon of New Celest, Xenthos of Glomdoring, Arix of Serenwilde, Shaddus of Magnagora and many others beside. As Taimi’s Common improved, those who worked closest with her learned many things about the nature of the kaelye and their home, as well as the nature of the plants and creatures that have come through to Lusternia over the past decades: the muku, the linorii, and the garosaurs, which the kaelye appeared clearly familiar with. They learned that the kaelye homeland was called Lyraa Ey Rielys, and that apparently, the Sun, and the Moon, and the stars, and the sea, and many other things common to the Basin of Life, were utterly alien to the kaelye. They also learned that from Taimi’s lips that the kaelye were possibly shards of a divine named Kaenalye. This information was also learned in parallel by a group of Serens–Karandyn, Sondayga, Fritholf, and Coraline–who discovered even more secrets and lore deep in the Temple of the Elder Goddess Maylea, to their wonder and surprise. The slow acculturation for Taimi Kivinen was not without conflict. The first altercation came a only few months after the kaelyes’ arrival: Taimi Kivinen was visited by the gnome Stefano, whose involvement in the trading of explosive muku, linorii spawning grounds, and mysterious locations had earned him fame and infamy in recent times. Her cries alerted Alaksanteri, who came to her rescue, and who learned through Taimi’s broken speech that she was accosted by a “bad gnome” and was hurt by him when he wished to learn more of her ship. The second altercation came when Akali of Gaudiguch slew a rabid garosaur in front of Taimi, against her protestations. In rage, Taimi came to blows with Akali, who fought back with fiery determination. Taimi’s cries for help brought Xenthos of Glomdoring to her rescue, and she was whisked away to the southern forest for a time, for protection and for healing, before returning to her camp with an assurance of safety from a contrite Akali. It soon became very clear to many who visited her that the kaelye had a special place in their heart for the rabid, ravaging garosaurs that had been plaguing the Basin of Life. After a few visits to the homes of her newfound friends (and a near drowning in the Inner Sea), Taimi Kivinen set her mind to helping her friends learn about the rearing and caring of the garosaurs from her homeland. In Tzarin of 516 COE, smoke signals from the kaelye’s campsite drew the attention of the inhabitants of Lusternia once more. They gathered as a group at Taimi’s campground, where a roaring campfire was blazing brightly. In her broken Common, Taimi explained the life cycle of the muku balls, sinkers, threads, and floaters, and how they fed the linorii. She explained how garosaurs ate the linorii and grew into cocoons. She explained that if the cocoons were not stroked and caressed and cared for, then the result would be what Lusternia had already seen: the rabid garosaurs, wracked by pain. For those unfortunate creatures, Taimi performed a ritual of sending-away that began with the garosaur’s ritualistic death and ended with a cleaned rabid garosaur skull resting atop a tree, so that the garosaur could “sleep” and “travel home”. Finally, Taimi Kivinen brought out a garosaur cocoon, much like those collected by the researchers across the Basin of Life. She softly whispered to the cocoon, caressing it, stroking it, showing it love and affection. Gradually, the cocoon stretched, grew, wobbled, and opened up reveal a fully grown adult garosaur, one that did not hold the psionic pain that emanated from its rabid cousins. As a suggestion from Fritholf of Serenwilde, the creature was named Hashima. And so the inhabitants of Lusternia learned from the kaelye how to tame the ravaging garosaurs, and much else beside, and the kaelye continue to learn from the inhabitants of Lusternia about this strange, wide world in which they find themselves. As the kaelye learn to communicate, what more will be revealed? And where might be their mysterious homeland, this Lyraa Ey Rielys? **Categories:** News --- ### [A Kelpie in Mornhai](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/11/a-kelpie-in-mornhai/) **Published:** November 11, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/wiccan2-273x300.jpg)In an unusually chill Avechary, a croaking shout emerged from the Razines, as the ‘DAGGUM CLOUDS BLOCKIN’ OUT THE SUN’ were indeed to blame for the lowered temperatures. Arriving quickly, Portius Nitraedes of Hallifax and Lord Kogon of New Celest quickly found a crotchety old kelpie by the name of Totarue trekking his way further into the Mornhai Sanctuary. As more and more adventurers quickly flocked to the scene, among them Anita Zahah of Magnagora, and both Esoneyuna Mzithrei and Kistan Rithel of Gaudgiuch, they found he was quite unwilling to stay still, grumbling about his joints as he led them further and further into the sanctuary before arriving before the hot springs within. When the grumpy old thing attempted to enter the springs, though, he found himself wracked in pain by some mysterious substance suffusing the water, and begrudgingly asked the adventurers for assistance. Joined in by Doman Trueflight and Ayisdra Ysav’rai of Hallifax, as well as Shaddus Trueflight of Magnagora who matched the kelpie in crotchety demeanour, the party quickly scoured the area for their answer, and were soon victorious as Anita quickly figured out how to clean the springs. It was Esoneyuna who gathered the tool to do so, however, and as one the party left to clean the springs! When they had done so, Totarue was delighted, finishing off the job with a little bit of kelpie expertise, and discovered something surprising within belonging to the nearby aslaran. What further mysteries lie hidden within the hot springs of the Mornhai Sanctuary, just waiting to be discovered? **Categories:** News --- ### [November 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/03/november-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** November 3, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Celebrations and Hauntings ### Veritus n’Rotri and the Stuff One of Magnagora’s most influential citizens sends forth an aether broadcast to chit chat with any who care to tune in. If you have a question for the Divine Havens or ideas for a new video, send them to ! [![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/veritus-300x169.jpg "veritus - Lusternia")](https://youtu.be/v1jeSKj7IHA) ### Anniversary Celebration Events Lusternia celebrated its Fourteen Years throughout the month, which included an auction (of both credits and gold) as well as a Great Hunt and the arrival of the Czigany Wayfaire. The notable event winners were: **Hamster Hunt Winners** First Place: Yendor Second Place: Vyell Third Place: Amildur **Quiz Winners** First Place: Khaam Second Place: Anita Third Place (tie): Ayisdra and Atiya **Treasure Hunt Winners** First Place: Ayisdra Second Place: Xenthos Third Place: Yendor **Harmony Worldgame Winners** First Place: Steingrim Second Place: Xenthos Third Place: Ixion **Death Worldgame Winners** First Place: Yendor Second Place: Xenthos Third Place: Steingrim **Wargames Winners** First Place: Yendor, Deichtine, Tarken Second Place: Malarious, Rolsand, Sondayga Third Place: Veldrin, Shehrose, Tiandor **Battlechess Winner** Glomdoring **Halloween Vengeance Tournament** Surviving Winners: The Conjurers of Spirit (played by Portius, Talkan and Kethaera) Other Survivors: Iosen playing the Stalker of the Woods, Haghan playing a member of the Tribe and Anita playing Crazen’s Chosen ### On Weather, Research, and Consequences A sisterly letter recaps the ongoing events that have plagued the Basin of Life, starting with peculiar rains of bouncing balls and progressing to tangles of threads and the discovery of garosaur pups. But however furious the research has been to try to understand these strange occurrences, nothing may compare to the sudden reaction of the Elder Goddess Maylea. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/01/on-weather-research-and-consequences/). ### Arrival of the Kaelye Sentient beings of a brand new race have appeared in Lusternia, following the arrival of the sinkers, the linorii, and garosaurs of months past. Adventurer of Lusternia have made contact with one particular such being, Taimi Kivinen, who stays now with a group her people, who are called the kaelye, at in the crash site of her ship just off of northern Ackleberry Highway. Unfortunately, Taimi and the kaelye only speak their own language and have difficulty understanding the speech of Lusternia. She has made clear thus far, however, that she would like the people of Lusternia to help find her fellow kaelye and to convince and direct them to return to her camp at the crash site. Help the kaelye in their efforts in a monthly quest and be rewarded with a very special prize! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/02/arrival-of-the-kaelye/). ### Ghosts and Other Hauntings There were many fun and spooky activities on Halloween, including the Haunted Mansion, complete with a new maze and new games! Also, ghosts were released which could be collected and taken to Atropos for some sweet rewards. Finally, strange doorways appeared throughout the land, and opening them proved to be quite the experience. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/31/ghosts-and-other-hauntings/). ## Calendar - November 1-30: For the month of November, you can purchase packages of joy which contain wonder crystals, Czigany coins and presents, or just packages filled with presents. Both available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - November 4: Wild Nodes! - November 18: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Ghosts and Other Hauntings](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/31/ghosts-and-other-hauntings/) **Published:** October 31, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](wp-content/uploads/2018/11/spooky-300x225.jpg)Atropos would be most grateful if you put these ghosts into the Portal of Fate while she repairs the Shears of Fate. As a reward, if you rescue 20 ghosts, Atropos will give you a yummy little treat! (NOTE: Ghosts will dissipate after this event, so please don’t try to hoard them in your manses or storerooms.) The Haunted House is also open with lots of attractions provided by the business savvy of Trader Bob his son, Bob Jr. A wide selection of costumes can be purchased within in addition to a slew of activities available to enjoy: pumpkin carving, a unique vengeance game, a maze, bobbing for apples, fortune readings, haunted furniture, spooky refreshments, and a spooky play retelling the story of the Vernal Goddesses known as the Hearth Sisters and the cities they rose from in the times of Vernal Wars. Show starts every midnight! If you happen upon an odd doorway hanging in the middle of the air, be wary! Knock upon it only if you dare! The Oracle of the Earthburner herself has cursed the Haunted House and the Basin at large. **Categories:** News --- ### [Fourteen Year Anniversary Events](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/03/fourteen-year-anniversary-events/) **Published:** October 3, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Lusternia turns fourteen years old in 2018! Check out some of the events below and keep an eye out for the Czigany Wayfaire which usually shows up when there is festivity in the air! - ### Hamster Hunt - Winners: - First Place: Yendor - Second Place: Vyell - Third Place: Amildur Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! - ### Quiz - Winners: - First Place: Khaam - Second Place: Anita - Third Place (tie): Ayisdra and Atiya Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! - ### Treasure Hunt - Winners: - First Place: Ayisdra - Second Place: Xenthos - Third Place: Yendor Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! - ### Harmony Worldgame - Winners: - First Place: Steingrim - Second Place: Xenthos - Third Place: Ixion Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. - ### Death Worldgame - Winners: - First Place: Yendor - Second Place: Xenthos - Third Place: Steingrim A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. - ### Wargames - Winners: - First Place: Yendor, Deichtine, Tarken - Second Place: Malarious, Rolsand, Sondayga - Third Place: Veldrin, Shehrose, Tiandor Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! - ### Battlechess - Winner: Glomdoring Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive a special trophy! - ### Great Hunt - Date: October 27-28, 2018 For 48 hours, compete with other players in your level range for credit rewards! - ### Halloween Vengeance Tournament - Surviving Winners: The Conjurers of Spirit (played by Portius, Talkan and Kethaera) - Other Survivors: Iosen playing the Stalker of the Woods, Haghan playing a member of the Tribe and Anita playing Crazen’s Chosen Join in a game of Vengeance in a special Halloween tournament! ![masson](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/eye.jpg "masson") **Categories:** News --- ### [Arrival of the Kaelye](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/02/arrival-of-the-kaelye/) **Published:** November 2, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](wp-content/uploads/2018/11/wordpress-feature-image-kaelye-300x158.jpg)Sentient beings of a brand new race have appeared in Lusternia, following the arrival of the sinkers, the linorii, and garosaurs of months past. Adventurer of Lusternia have made contact with one particular such being, Taimi Kivinen, who stays now with a group her people, who are called the kaelye, at in the crash site of her ship just off of northern Ackleberry Highway. Unfortunately, Taimi and the kaelye only speak their own language and have difficulty understanding the speech of Lusternia. She has made clear thus far, however, that she would like the people of Lusternia to help find her fellow kaelye and to convince and direct them to return to her camp at the crash site. This month’s daily quest is to help Taimi and the kaelye: To help, look for suspicious rocks and trees that kaelye might be hiding behind and PULL or PUSH them to reveal the hidden humanoid. They will likely run away in fright, but chasing them will eventually wear them down long enough for you to influence them with empower and give them directions back to Taimi. Do this once a real life day to complete your daily quest, which you can track by typing QUESTEVENT. Completing the daily quest for 16 days out of the month will grant you a special mystery prize! You do not want to miss this prize, as it’s an especially nice one! Get going and save those kaelye! **Categories:** News --- ### [On Weather, Research, and Consequences](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/11/01/on-weather-research-and-consequences/) **Published:** November 1, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/wordpress-feature-swirl-300x158.jpg)Dear Baby Sister, How are you doing? I hope your children are treating you well, and that you are safe? Tell them to forgive their Auntie Constance for not writing for some years. There’s been strange weather in the world lately, and such strange happenings, and not even in Duum Village itself, if you can believe it! If you remember from my last letter, I was speculating on the rain of elastic balls from the skies and the subsequent growth of the blue-green threads, the sinkers, and the floaters that covered the Sun and made the world cold. I wonder if you had noticed those things back then, and what you think of the more recent strange events now: Did you hear that a flood of researchers had emerged in the cities and communes of the Basin of Life to learn more about the new wildlife? And here I thought I was studying something innovative, but their names have become more well-known than mine: Kiyan Darkeye, Issrah Miim, Vittoria d’Lardick, Belwen Manchova, Bubbllosh Feilm, and Mapee Thistlefur. They were ambitious, I will give them that. First, they had sent the adventurers of the world out to obtain samples of a new creature that appeared called linorii, capturing them live via nets or in cages, or killing them via traps or outright. They learned a great deal about the linorii creatures with all of those samples they obtained. Their reports say that the linorii have life cycles, moving from glowbat, to snake, to medusa, which invades the sinkers (the sinkers!) to create rocks, which then explode with more glowbats. There’s more to their reports than that, but alas, this is all the information I obtained so far. Isn’t it amazing? A whole life cycle, and the beginning of an ecosystem? And here I languish in my meagre studies. But pride comes before fall, and we all have setbacks; from what I hear, those particular scholars had their own. Emboldened by their success in studying the linorii, they set out to learn about another type of creature that suddenly appeared in the world: the garosaur pups. Have you seen them, sister? They are unusual in appearance, with too many eyes than I am comfortable with, but Elsa assures me that they are “ABSOLUTELY CUTE!” in her excitable voice (you know how Elsa is). Well, the forementioned researchers decided to study those pups, getting others to feed them (they eat linorii) until they grow into cocoons, and then collecting and hoarding them. Truly, I am not certain what they were trying to do, and whether they followed the proper research protocols, but nonetheless, their stockpiling backfired on them. Baby sister, I truly, deeply hope that you have not met a rabid garosaur; I know you can take care of yourself, but I still worry. If the garosaur pups were revolting but “cute”, as Elsa says, then the rabid adults that hatched from the collected cocoons are simply terrifying, and they poured out across the Basin from the scholars’ stockpiles! They look like enormous feathered lizards with too many eyes, and they look like they’re in terrible pain. Most importantly, they have cruel, sharp talons that could rip flesh open like it was paper, and very strong legs. I saw one the other day and had to evacuate along with Elsa to a more sturdy dwelling in the village (amongst the poor, afflicted Duumites), and we waited more than an hour until it wandered away before returning to our tents. Thankfully, there appears to have been a major campaign across the world to slay these dangerous creatures, which catches sparks upon death to pop the floaters overhead and make the weather a bit more bearable. And NO, sister, please don’t go try to kill them yourself! I worry enough about you as it is. So in the the end, I suppose I did not have the fifteen minutes of fame those scholars had, but I also did not accidentally set loose hundreds of murderous, rabid creatures upon the world. I should call myself content and continue working on my own research among these Duumites. I wonder nonetheless what the next day will bring. Where did these plants and animals come from, and what next will come through? Recently, I had a brief visit from an elfen named Daiua Greenthorn, who said she belonged to the Elder Goddess Maylea and that she was learning more about the same creatures, and she had the same questions I did. She went further than I did, using a suspiciously modified gnomish gearbox to search for what she called “thin places” in the world, where she heard voices and witnessed strange things. After exchanging pleasantries, she warned me about my own research in Duum and its dangers; what hypocrisy! I’m afraid I lost my temper, and we may not have parted on very great terms. I should have held my tongue before the guest, but alas, there is no benefit to this hindsight! Some months later, Lady Maylea appeared over Avechna’s Peak (you must have seen that at least?) to talk to this Daiua, and then the Goddess left Lusternia in a hurry, opening and closing a hole in the skies. What power Elder Gods have! And yet, we humans most certainly come from a different and esteemed lineage. I digress: what I mean to say is, I wonder what Daiua said to the Goddess to make Her behave thus? Oh baby sister, please, if you have any time at all from your labours, please write back to me. I send you letters always in the hope that one day I might hear from you; one word would brighten my heart considerably, and yet all I get is silence! Awaiting your reply in hope, Constance Walker Your Big Sister **Categories:** News --- ### [October 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/03/october-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** October 3, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Fourteen Year Anniversary ### Lusternia Turns Fourteen Years Old Back in October 2004, Lusternia opened its doors wide to an uncertain future. Now, fourteen years later, the Basin of Life still hasn’t been devoured by the Soulless Gods and mortals have founded a dark commune, released two cities stuck in time, discovered and explored aetherspace, overcome Goloth Lords and Time Dames, survived Queen Maeve’s various predilections, and have made the multiverse an exciting and wondrous adventure that continues to this day. To celebrate, there will be many events, games and celebrations throughout the month, including a Great Hunt, and concluding with a spooky game of Vengeance. Be sure to keep up-to-date through the [Website Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/03/fourteen-year-anniversary-events/). ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/celestfireworks-300x158.jpg "celestfireworks - Lusternia") ### The Garosaur Dilemma The strange garosaur pups that spun cocoons were gathered in turn by the various linorii researchers, intent on studying this new lifeform. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite realize how large and vicious they became when they hatched from their cocoons. Indeed, thousands of these rabid garosaurs broke out of their respective laboratories and spread throughout the Basin of Life. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/16/transmological-visions/). ## Calendar - October 1-31: For the month of October, you can purchase packages of anniversary firework curios (pew! pew!) directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - October 6: Hamster Hunt (10:00 a.m. PST) - October 7: Wild Nodes! - October 13: Treasure Hunt (11:00 a.m. PST) - October 14: Harmony Worldgame (9:00 a.m. PST) - October 14: Death Worldgame (10:00 a.m. PST) - October 20: Wargames (11:00 a.m. PST) - October 21: Battlechess (2:00 p.m. PST) - Octobe 21: Wild Nodes! - October 27-28: Great Hunt - October 31: Spooky Halloween Vengeance Tournament (TBD) Any updates to the dates or times will be listed on the [Website Schedule](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/03/fourteen-year-anniversary-events/). ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [The Garosaur Dilemma](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/10/02/the-garosaur-dilemma/) **Published:** October 2, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](../../../../wp-content/uploads/2018/10/wordpress-feature-image-garosaur-300x158.jpg)The strange garosaur pups that spun cocoons were gathered in turn by the various linorii researchers, intent on studying this new lifeform. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite realize how large and vicious they became when they hatched from their cocoons. Indeed, thousands of these rabid garosaurs broke out of their respective laboratories and spread throughout the Basin of Life. But perhaps their research wasn’t all for naught, as they realized the strange weather patterns plaguing the Basin of Life was caused by the alien ecosystem. Could these garosaurs actually provide some relief from this situation simply by dying? In the month of October, there will be a daily quest to kill 5 garosaurs. Doing the daily quest for 16 days out of the month will gift you with a pack of 5 firework curios! You may use QUESTEVENT to track your progress towards the prize. **Categories:** News --- ### [September 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/09/05/3460/) **Published:** September 5, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Death of the Dingbat! ### Dingbats Officially Retired Let us take a moment to remember our dearly departed dingbats. We used you to purchase dingbat dolls, gnomish gewgaws and other whimsical artifacts. Farewell, dear dingbats! But fear not! You can still purchase all these dingbat artifacts with aethergoop, which is a much more prevalent commodity. For those with an [Elite Membership](https://www.lusternia.com/elite-memberships/), instead of dingbats every month, you will instead receive a free wonder crystal. See [Announce 2839](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=announce&number=2839) and [Announce 2847](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=announce&number=2847) for more details. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/dingbat--300x169.jpg "dingbat - Lusternia") ### The Linorii Menagerie and Garosaur Conundrum With the glowbat population stabilising thanks to the rigorous research of the Basin’s foremost linorii researchers, each researcher published a comprehensive report based on their findings. With this stabilisation, it was thought that the commune and city members who aided the researchers would have time to relax and review the reports in peace and quiet. But, alas, that was not to be the case as the glowbats evolved to an entirely new lifeform, which attracted their natural predators: garosaurs. But these predators appear to be in a juvenile form. Help the researchers investigate the garosaurs in the new monthly quest! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/09/03/the-linorii-menagerie-and-garosaur-conundrum/). ### Luck Be September Tonight! For every day of September, you can test your luck for a free spin on the Wheel of Tzaraziko! If you are unfamiliar with the Wheel of Tzaraziko, travel to the Cave of Chaos and SPIN WHEEL. If you are feeling particularly lucky, you can purchase Czigany coins directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) for more spins–note that Czigany coin spins are more likely to land on the more valuable prizes than free spins. Also, fortune cookies (which are only available from the Wheel of Tzaraziko) have a new set of possible items added: Magical Brooches! These brooches when worn cloak you in an illusion as well as giving you a small buff. Each brooch is aligned to a specific city or commune and if you are a member of that city or commune, your buff bonus will be greater! See [Announce 2848](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=announce&number=2848) for a list of brooches. ### Envoy Report Update Have you been keeping up with the changelogs? If not, you may have missed some of the large coding updates addressing the last of the envoy reports, including changing the clumsiness affliction and adding two new afflictions (changelog 1530), the Night Shadowtwist skill getting a complete rework (changelog 1528), and Necromancy Deathweapon receiving a much needed boost. Be sure to review the CHANGELOG in-game to keep abreast of all the updates! ## Calendar - September 1-30: For the month of September, you can get a free daily spin on the Wheel of Tzaraziko, and further purchase more spins directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - September 9: Wild Nodes! - September 23: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [The Linorii Menagerie and Garosaur Conundrum](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/09/03/the-linorii-menagerie-and-garosaur-conundrum/) **Published:** September 3, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/shutterstock_2597751-300x225.jpg)With the glowbat population stabilising thanks to the rigorous research of the Basin’s foremost linorii researchers, each researcher published a comprehensive report based on their findings. With this stabilisation, it was thought that the commune and city members who aided the researchers would have time to relax and review the reports in peace and quiet. To recap who the researchers are and where they can be found: - In New Celest, Bubbllosh Feilm is in the shop ‘Light’s Holdings’. - In Magnagora, Vittoria d’Lardick is in the laboratories beneath the Zoo. - In Serenwilde, Mapee Thistlefur is in the laboratories on the top floor of the Woodbine Lyceum. - In Glomdoring, Kiyan Darkeye is at the altar to the Wyrd. - In Hallifax, Belwen Manchova is in the laboratory of the Natural Sciences and Higher Energies. - In Gaudiguch, Issrah Miim can be found just outside the commodities cache. Anyone who reviewed the reports, however, would realize that the glowbats they had captured or hunted were but a part of this curious creature’s lifecycle. The next stage of the lifecycle, peculiar looking snakes, has begun for the many glowbats left in the wild. These snakes wander the roads and mountains of the Basin of Life, sometimes entangling with each other to form multi-snake creatures called “medusas”. On top of this new glowbat development, an even curiouser animal has been seen wandering about. Called “garosaur” by the Basin’s linorii researchers, these pups have been seen chasing the muku balls still bouncing about. Muku balls are not all they have a taste for, though, as they enjoy eating the snakes and medusas which have recently proliferated. They are still too young to catch the snakes and medusas themselves, however, so some assistance is needed. Indeed, Lady Nightingale Vatul Feyranti was the first to discover that feeding these garosaur pups to satiation would force them into a cocoon stage. In the month of September, there will be a daily quest to turn in a single garosaur cocoon to your city or commune’s researcher. Please note that a garosaur will only develop a cocoon about itself if it has been well fed on the linorii snakes and medusas. Doing the daily quest for 21 days out of the month will land you a fortune cookie! You may use QUESTEVENT to track your progress towards the prize. And for those who aided the researchers last month, be sure to visit them again and read the reports they wrote on the linorii glowbats! There’s no telling what useful information may be gleaned from them. **Categories:** News --- ### [August 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/08/07/august-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** August 7, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # A Drag Queen’s Perspective! ### Lusternia Unleashed! Is Lusternia run by a drag queen? Well, someone got into Estarra drag to answer a player’s question in a new Youtube series called [Lusternia Unleashed](https://youtu.be/fdg1cq4flH4)! Find out all there is to know about the Immanidivinus and Threshold Abyss. If you have a question for the Divine Havens, send them to — who knows who will answer next! [![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Estarra-scary-copy-1024x576.jpg "Estarra scary copy - Lusternia")](https://youtu.be/fdg1cq4flH4) ### Transmological Visions While sinkers and threads plagued the Basin of Life, transmologists were plagued by a vision of the threads unearthing a mysterious chest. This discovery led to a secret even now closely guarded by the Illuminati. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/16/transmological-visions/). ### Threads, Fall and Rise After the peculiar rains of bouncing balls, tangles of threads began plaguing the Basin of Life, traced back to small cores embedded deep in the ground. These threads grew balloons which rose up into the sky, blotting out Father Sun and creating havoc with the weather. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/26/threads-fall-and-rise/). ### A Whale of a Tale Suddenly, and against all probability, a void-whale manifested in the skies above Mount Avechna. Nearly slamming into its peak, the creature took flight across the Basin of Life, littering the ground with pieces of itself that had broken off during its reentry. Its wandering was not long, however. Attracted by the scent of a particularly potent pitcher plant, the void-whale crashed into the Lava Gardens in Gaudiguch. This remarkable creature eventually led to the return of an Elder God: [Ein, the Restless](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/?id=1497)! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/31/a-whale-of-a-tale/). ### Glory to the Glowbats Curiously, the strange growing sinkers found across the land appear to be affected by some mysterious ailment, causing them to first solidify and then explode into numerous glowbats! Six researchers have made it known that they have an interest in studying these glowbats, one for each city or commune. Players can participate in a new monthly quest and be awarded a free present! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/08/02/glory-to-the-glowbats/). ## Calendar - August 1-31: For the month of August, you can purchase artifacts directly on the website, including special edition artifacts only available through the artifact cart! There is also an amazing 30% credit bonus sale–40% if you have an [elite membership](https://www.lusternia.com/elite-memberships/)! Artifact Cart and credit packages are both available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - August 12: Wild Nodes! - August 26: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) ###### [Subscribe/Unsubscribe](https://www.ironrealms.com/newsletters/) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Glory to the Glowbats](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/08/02/glory-to-the-glowbats/) **Published:** August 2, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](../../../../wp-content/uploads/2018/08/wordpress-feature-image-glowbats2-300x158.jpg)Curiously, the strange growing sinkers found across the land appear to be affected by some mysterious ailment, causing them to first solidify and then explode into numerous glowbats! As if this wasn’t peculiar enough, the ailment causes the sinkers to become stunted in their growth, leaving them small and devoid of the tangled threads… Six researchers have made it known that they have an interest in studying these glowbats, one for each city or commune. But for those who wish to conduct fieldwork for them, take note: the manner in which you collect the glowbats for your respective researcher will have an impact upon the research conducted! Delivering dead specimens to your researcher may allow them to disect and otherwise experiment upon the corpses, but delivering living glowbats provides the opportunity to observe and glowbat and its habits. What useful knowledge might be gleaned from each path? And how might you gather these glowbats, you might ask? If you’re interested in expanding your options beyond punching and kicking the glowbats, talk to a researcher about what WARES they have to aide you. You can find researchers in the following places: - In New Celest, Bubbllosh Feilm can be found in the shop ‘Light’s Holdings’. - In Magnagora, Vittoria d’Lardick can be found in the laboratories beneath the Zoo. - In Serenwilde, Mapee Thistlefur can be found in the laboratories on the top floor of the Woodbine Lyceum. - In Glomdoring, Kiyan Darkeye can be found in the altar to the Wyrd. - In Hallifax, Belwen Manchova can be found in the laboratory of the Natural Sciences and Higher Energies. - In Gaudiguch, Issrah Miim can be found just outside the commodities cache. There are four methods by which you can catch or kill the glowbats, and they may produce different research results cumulatively based on what most people do in your organisation. You can kill the glowbats with whatever skills you have. With nets, you can CATCH GLOWBATs to provide living specimens! Or, if your schedule does not permit too much time in the field, you can buy TRAPs and CAGEs, which can be DROPped to catch specimens, providing your researcher with another avenue of study. If you go the route of traps or cages, be sure to place them near where you expect glowbats to congregate! In the month of August, there will be a daily quest to catch at least 20 glowbats. Please note that these can be spread over handing in corpses, catching them with nets, or leaving out cages and traps for them to unwittingly fly into. And doing the daily quest for 21 days out of the month will land you a free present! You may use QUESTEVENT to track your progress towards the prize. And for those wondering what is going on with with all these sinkers and threads and bats (oh my!), perhaps the researchers will be able to provide some insight at the end of the month. Like all research, though, what answers they have to provide to your organization will depend on which of the four paths the research takes in your organization! To make sure you’re up-to-date on your own commune or city’s progress, ask your researcher for a status report (even via tells from afar!). **Categories:** News --- ### [A Whale of a Tale](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/31/a-whale-of-a-tale/) **Published:** July 31, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/wordpress-feature-image-whale-300x158.jpg)Suddenly, and against all probability, a void-whale manifested in the skies above Mount Avechna. Nearly slamming into its peak, the creature took flight across the Basin of Life, littering the ground with pieces of itself that had broken off during its reentry. Its wandering was not long, however. Attracted by the scent of a particularly potent pitcher plant, the void-whale crashed into the Lava Gardens in Gaudiguch. Too weak and battered to take flight once more, the pitiful creature was aided by Malarious, Esoneyuna Talnara, Kistan Rithel of Gaudiguch and a curious Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring. Together they helped the whale find several of its missing pieces, and empowered it with essence from the Fire Plane. Soon joined by others, the creature tried to communicate its purpose to those gathered with its frustratingly limited vocabulary. Eventually, they discerned that there was someone it wished to signal, and told it of the beacon left at Mount Avechna by Estarra, the Eternal. Newly empowered, and informed of what it needed to complete its mission, the void-whale took to the skies with purpose. That is, until it saw some lovely shimmering leaves down below and decided to investigate the Serenwilde forest where it was greeted by Yugifyre Calithel, Yacari, Athemal and others of the commune. It learned little there beyond its inability to absorb cheesecake, and that the branches of the Mother Moonhart were not very tasty. It took the skies once more (only breaking a few branches on its way out) for the peak of Mount Avechna. Whale the others waited at the top of Mount Avechna, the beast once again decided to take a detour, this time descending in the Tainted city of Magnagora. There it met Maeko i’Vipere, Kalnid, Marcella n’Lochli, and Pypo. Marcella and those gathered attempted to explain, among other things, what mortal were exactly. Upon learning that they were splintered Elders, the whale excitedly hurried to its final destination on Mount Avechna to summon its creator. The whale sang its song and the beacon pulsed its message out into the Void. Moments later, a flash of cosmic light erupted from the peak, revealing the newly returned Elder God: Ein, the Restless. Known previously only as the Fifth Circle god that voted against the Elixir, Ein revealed that the whale was but one of many that He had created to search the Void. Fascinated by mortals, the Elder questioned them for some time at the peak, learning all He could about what had happened in Lusternia during His long absence. After learning of several volunteers for future experimentation, Ein retired from mortal view to tend to the damaged void-whale and explore a much-changed Basin, vowing to return before long. **Categories:** News --- ### [Threads, Fall and Rise](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/26/threads-fall-and-rise/) **Published:** July 26, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/sinkers-300x158.jpg)Strange weather. The people of the Basin of Life had thought that the rain of bouncing balls from the lightning-splashed sky was the end of it. But in Shanthin, 505 years after the Coming of Estarra, reality shook once more, and the very ground began to sprout with tangles of blue-green shimmering thread, which spread like wildfire through the cities and communes of the Basin and the wilds between. Nobody knew what they were or where they came from originally, and theories abounded. The threads grew from depressions in the ground centred on round, glowing cores. Sinkers, some called them, and the sinkers grew relentlessly, sending their tendrils far and wide, indestructible except at their tips. And even those who managed to take down a sinker found an unpleasant surprise: a volatile explosion that took many lives. Only those who called up lowmagic and highmagic shields, or whose vitality could bear such fire, survived. The peoples of Lusternia worked to clear the sinkers and threads from their cities and communes, convinced that some harm might come from them. But the work was long, arduous, and the threads continued to grow, the sinkers tangling together and pulling at one another in dream-like, shimmering masses. The stargazers looked to the heavens for signs, and all they saw was Aapek rising and rising, against a backdrop of strange stars. And yet, the Fates did seem to smile upon the Basin’s efforts. About a year into the invasion of the blue-green threads, the tendrils began to fall away slightly, succumbing to a common soil fungus that spotted the tendrils and rotted the sinkers. The nigh invincible threads didn’t look so invincible after all. And amid the strands, a golden-eyed bard walked blithely, touching, examining, listening to the strangely-coloured growths with deep curiosity and a strangely kind regard…. Klangiary, 507 years after the Coming of Estarra: The Basin of Life saw a wondrous sight. Hundreds of blue-green balloon-like floaters finally matured and rose from the sinkers and threads upon the ground, crowding into the lightning-split skies. Father Sun was entirely obscured by the clumps of rounded floaters, throwing the temperatures across Lusternia into a frigid chill. Sadie and Xeii, who had been examining the threads at the time of the floater maturation, witnessed their flight into the skies and heard the surprised cry to Sepehr Skytamer, balloonist, who could not help exclaim in response to the appearance of so many balloons not his own. Sadie and Astrasia, followed soon by Ayisdra, Romaan, Qoivhae, Lyora, Yendor, and Deichtine, made their way to the tiny island upon the Inner Sea where Sepehr dwelt to discuss this new, strange turn of events. Sepehr, while initially considering the utility of roping a group of the floaters together for air travel, soon realised that the floaters also blocked out the Sun and made the Basin of Life unbearably cold, even in the maritime climes of the Inner Sea. Sadie, Astrasia and Xeii were among the first to discover that the floaters could be popped with a judicious poke, and they set about poking and popping the strange blue fruits of the ground-based sinkers and threads. Before long, another discovery was made: the bouncing balls have returned, almost in lockstep with the rising of the balloon-like floaters. And astrologers across the Basin turned their gaze to the stars once more, noting with alarm the numbers of floaters in the skies. Heartened by the weakness of the threads and chastened by the surgence of the floaters, the peoples of the Basin made further pushes to eliminate the sinkers and floaters alike, and slowly, their efforts are making a difference. What will the Basin of Life think now of this strange turn of events? What wild theories will the learned concoct, and to what end? What will be done with this ever-rising collection of balls, sinkers, threads, and floaters that explode with heat and yet cool the world through their exuberant fruitfulness? And the strange weather. It’s snowing in Mount Zoaka and freezing in the Skarch. That can’t be good. **Categories:** News --- ### [Transmological Visions](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/16/transmological-visions/) **Published:** July 16, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/wordpress-feature-image-transmologist-300x158.jpg)While sinkers and threads plagued the Basin of Life, transmologists were plagued by a vision of the threads unearthing something looking like a box or a chest. Soon, the visions came true, and a chest was found off of a spectre-filled island. Mosachi Xeeth of Gaudiguch claimed to potentially have some knowledge as to the chest, providing a key with which to unlock it. Within, a curious looking document was discovered, although Mosachi believed there was more than met the eye. With Alaksanteri’s aide, Mosachi had an equally curious flower planted within the City of Freedom. Believing that the document had some secret which would be revealed by the chemicals within the flower, the document was fed to the flower. A month or two passed, with the plant getting an increasingly worsening case of indigestion. For days it gurgled and belched, ultimately ejecting the document so violently it flew high above the City, falling to an unknown location. So curious was this that Xenthos of Glomdoring came to investigate to offer his aide, but it was ultimately Tifja who came forward with the map of Rikenfriez, which parties unknown had turned in. When nothing of note turned up in the village, Xenthos, Dys, and Jolanthe returned to Mosachi, handing over the map for further inspection. For a few days Mosachi poured over the seemingly innocent map, before finally gleaning some information which ended up being of use. Following the trail, a cache of transmological documents was discovered, providing further insight into the intentions and history of the laboratory of Mosachi’s ancestors. What further information could be gleaned from these documents? And what about the pitcher-plant flower still growing in the lava gardens of the City of Freedom? **Categories:** News --- ### [Peculiar Weather and Other Oddities](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/28/peculiar-weather-and-other-oddities/) **Published:** June 28, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](../../../../wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cosmicrain-300x158.jpg)In Avechary of the year 503 after the Coming of Estarra, the skies of Lusternia cracked open with blue-purple lightning. The very atoms of reality shifted, and strange shapes and stars shifted in and out of view upon the firmament. While the inhabitants of the Basin of Life were reeling from these strange circumstances, a rain of bouncing balls began to fall from the roiling skies, with no hint as to their origins. The dense, elastic spheres bounced everywhere throughout the Basin of Life, finding their way to the most unlikely of places. Capitalising on the appearance of the spheres, a dark-spectacled gnome named Stefano arrived on Avechna’s Peak, seeking to purchase the spheres for his collection and giving those who brought him the balls a sizeable reward for doing so. Although there were suspicions on the origins of the dark-spectacled gnome, no one could get a straight answer out of the wily businessman. And the balls kept raining down, and the skies kept flashing with lightning, and the astute who looked up to the stars saw that Papaxi and Aapek struggled with one another against a strange backdrop. So for many months, the inhabitants of Lusternia brought Stefano the raining balls, and they enriched their own pockets in the process. In Avechary of the year 505 after the Coming of Estarra, the skies of Lusternia were lit with an altogether different light. Flashes of green appeared, followed by explosions that rocked the mountains and the undervaults of the Basin of Life. Dwarves shouted their glee and vied with one another across the peaks. Xenthos was the first to find his way to Gemli Vonglori of the Southgard silver mines. He among others questioned Gemli as to the meaning and source of the explosions: The dwarf reported that a gnome came by and sold the village many round ‘explosives’ that they were using to significantly speed up their production of ore; in a gesture of magnanimity, he gave Xenthos a sample of the glowing explosive. At the same time, across the Basin of Life, Ayisdra was questioning another dwarf, Fofur Whurgrim, as to the origins of Rockholm’s explosions and explosives. Fofur told much of the same story, and he provided Ayisdra also with a sample of the same glowing explosive. Another explosion drew Xenthos and inhabitants of Glomdoring towards the village of Angkrag in Avechna’s Teeth, while at the same time, Ayisdra made for another source of information so prominently planted upon Avechna’s Peak, the gnome in dark spectacles. Ayisdra questioned the Stefano on his intent with the balls, accusing him of association with the glowing explosives now appearing all over the Basin’s mining villages, but the gnome adamantly denied involvement. The further arrival of Kethaera, and then Yendor, and then Nuli, and then many others, each with their own questions, yielded few answers despite offers of money; it seems that some information was worth more than money. Stefano blithely continued his purchase of the balls falling from the heavens, paying for them handsomely. Meanwhile, in Angkrag, Glomdorians including Xenthos, Crek, Yendor, Deichtine, Synl and Tylwyth were plying Omar d’Vanecu and Nasir n’Rotri for informaton on the explosive glowing balls. Suspicious that the questioners were spies from the dwarves, Omar was reluctant to give information, particularly smarting from insults by Crek and Yendor. Deichtine funded the purchase of information, along with another explosive ball from Nasir, setting it off along with Xenthos some distance away to test its effects, which the two Ascendants found underwhelming for their tastes. Satisfied with what they’ve learned, the Glomdorians left Angkrag. Another set of explosions in the Undervault signalled that the villages of Ptoma and Ixthiaxa were not immune to the charms of whatever salesperson had been peddling the green-glowing bombs. Losing interest by this time, the inhabitants of the Basin of Life returned to Stefano upon Avechna’s Peak in another half-hearted attempt to glean some admission from the gnome, but none was forthcoming, and the dark-spectacled businessman continued to claim ignorance of the explosives. Many questions remain: Where do the bouncing balls come from that rain down from the lightning-filled sky? Are the related to the glowing, explosive balls that are now driving a two-fold increase in the commodity production of the affected villages? What is the role of Stefano the gnome who sits upon Avechna’s Peak? And what of the strangeness in the stars and vibrations that continue to resound nauseatingly through reality? **Categories:** News --- ### [July 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/07/04/july-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** July 4, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Peculiar Weather and Other Oddities ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cosmicrain-300x158.jpg "cosmicrain - Lusternia") ### Peculiar Weather and Other Oddities When the skies cracked open with blue-purple lightning, the very atoms of reality shifted, and strange shapes and stars shifted in and out of view upon the firmament. This led to a rain of strange bouncing balls that seemed to have value for at least one gnome who visited the Basin of Life. Was any of this connected to the strange explosions that later rocked the mines and Undervault? [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/28/peculiar-weather-and-other-oddities/). ### Invasion of the Sinkers After the strange hail of bouncing balls subsided, strange glowing sinkers sprouted throughout the Basin of Life, spreading slowly in tangles of blue-green threads, infiltrating cities and communes and wilds alike. Join in the monthly quest to destroy at the tangles of thread and earn a free wonder crystal! [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=Announce&number=2834). ### Calling Home Lord Nocht In the Dark Forest of Glomdoring, a pilgrimage to Lhiannan, Queen of the Slaugh, led to the raising of the Drums of the Dead. Eventually, the Silent God known as Lord Nocht heard the Drums and revealed himself. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/27/calling-home-lord-nocht/). ### Wonder Pie Release and Dingbat Retirement A new wonder item has been released: the infamous Wonder Pie! This magical pie takes many forms, such as cherry pie which speeds up charity influencing or chiffon pie which which makes other amorous. Wonder Pies can be created with wonder crystals which can be purchased directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). Also, it was announced the dingbats will soon be retired. If you have an [elite membership](https://www.lusternia.com/elite-memberships/), you will instead get one wonder crystal instead of dingbats. Look for future posts on the Announce newsboard when more details emerge. ### Questions for Ask Estarra After a very long hiatus, we are going to attempt to put together another Ask Estarra video. You can submit your video questions to . Note: if you are shy, feel free not to show yourself, you can show a picture or video your pet or whatever. Masking your voice is also alright! The Lusternia videos are archived on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/user/Lusternia). Please subscribe! ## Calendar - July 1-31: For the month of June, you can purchase packages of wonder crystals directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! - July 1: Wild Nodes! - June 15: Wild Nodes! - June 29: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Calling Home Lord Nocht](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/27/calling-home-lord-nocht/) **Published:** June 27, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/slaugh-300x158.jpg)Recently, a concerned muted slaugh approached Xenthos An’Ryshe within the Glomdoring forest, asking if he’d heard from the Silent Lord in recent times. Soon joined by Eliron Shee-Slaugh, a former member of His Order, both confirmed that they had no news to share. As the slaugh expressed her concern, and the gathering grew further, it was proposed that summoning Mother Night might lead to answers. Unfortunately the moon was not yet in the right position for this to happen, and so an alternative approach of a visit to Lhiannan, the Queen of the Slaugh, was instead chosen. Lhiannan shared her wisdom with the group from Glomdoring, suggesting in an increasingly more direct way that making enough noise, and thus employing the Drums of the Dead, would surely have some effect. The attendants saw it worth the try, and moved over to the Drums. A few fruitless attempts later however, the plan came under question until it was brought to attention that there are Seven Shrouds and thus seven gathered could be the key to success. So it was that Eliron, Lithia, Mellihymnia, Deichtine, Yendor, Xenthos and the muted slaugh all called out for Lord Nocht to turn His attention back to the merciless forest, while beating on the Drums of the Dead louder than any had before. Suddenly, a paralysis of the vocal cords was experienced by all those present, as their voices had been literally silenced. Amidst the confusion about the loss of their ability to speak, it was Lord Nocht at long last who appeared with the gathering and questioned them on the nature of the infernal noise they had been making. Having their voices restored so they could answer Him, the group made it known that they were acting out of concern for His well-being and had taken on the plight of helping the muted slaugh with her inquiry. Understanding now how long He had been in the Void, on a business not further explained, Nocht thanked the concerned group for their efforts as being in the Void meant He had lost track of the time that is not present there. Answering the questions that now came, Nocht said that He’d unfortunately not had picked up signs of Lord Shikari’s presence. But He seemed positively surprised by the change that the Greev had brought, learning that the old guilds and their halls no longer exist and have been replaced by new ones. Lady Viravain then appeared to greet the returned Silent Lord, and explained that Manteekan also had vanished, yet so far still remained in service to the Wyrd. As more of the Glomdoring flocked to pay their respects, Lady Viravain suggested that She and Lord Nocht should catch up before anything else, and together they took leave to converse in the privacy of Her web. Inspired by the return of one of their Pantheon safe and sound, those who had gathered to witness the Silent Lord’s return rallied to the proper Wyrden response and organised a hunt in His honour to bolster His shrines with heaps of essence, undoubtedly to be of use. **Categories:** News --- ### [June 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/03/3393/) **Published:** June 3, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Strange Storms Hit Basin of Life ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/stormball-216x300.jpg "stormball - Lusternia") ### Strange Storm Alert! Something odd is afoot! The skies over Lusternia crackle with blue lightning. The stars struggle. Strange shapes and images shift in and out of view. Once a Lusternian day, rains of bouncing balls are falling out of the skies and bounding across the lands! A strange gnome has appeared who is purchasing these odd balls for cold, hard gold. Participate in the quest and receive a free present! For details, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/01/strange-storm-alert/). ### Warrior Renovations After weeks of development and testing, warriors have undergone a big renovation, with a number of skills updated and several new skills implemented. The primary focus of these changes was to give warriors more options and efficacy in group combat. For a list of specific updates, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/05/31/warrior-renovations/). ### The Mists of Serenwilde In the verdant forest, an otherworldly black mist fell from the heavens. A new friend quickly turned foe; in his wake the woods were cast into darkness, and in the storm the dwellers left to stumble. In the shadows, the watcher stalks his prey, shrouded in white. The mists cascade across the pillars seeking the twisted crown. For details, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/05/the-mists-of-serenwilde/). ### New Artwork Lusternia commissioned new concept art for the cities of Magnagora and New Celest. They are great for screen backgrounds! [Check it out!](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/05/21/magnagora-and-new-celest-artwork/) ## Calendar - June 1-30: For the month of June, you can purchase presents directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/)! Prizes within presents have been up dramatically updated–see [Announce 2828](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=Announce&number=2828). Also, lessons can be directly purchased for a big discount. - June 3: Wild Nodes! - June 17: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [The Mists of Serenwilde](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/05/31/the-mists-of-serenwilde/) **Published:** May 31, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/fog-300x158.jpg)A brilliant flash and massive crashing heralded a massive opening in the sky, and from it a comet of tenebrous mist fell to the Serenwilde forest. Those first to the scene were quick to find within the Centaur Hills an odd, dancing wisp of black mist with a flame within. After interacting with it, those of the Verdant Land seemed to realise it responded to their actions almost curiously, perhaps cautiously, but were quick to scare it off with a burst of fireworks. Soon thereafter, the true presence behind this commotion made his presence known however. A being who made himself known as Seniit the Manipulator began to appear within the forest, greeting the dwellers with a friendly charm and referring to it as ‘The Pillars’ and his home, stating he had returned after a long trip to the Void. The people of the forest guardedly accepted him while they speculated about his origins – a fae, a returned Elder, some old warrior. Seniit continued to make friends amongst the forest, proposing parties and ‘storytimes’ with his new ‘family,’ while often lamenting his old. An inquiry was made regarding his family, and Seniit revealed that he was the brother to Xarriv and Mamaac, who had some decades before plagued the forest and left it sundered. This of course left the forestfolk who could remember it on guard, though they were not quick to rile the maddened half-formed within their domain. Trouble came when a wayward Wodewose, Sibirn, began to speak of fae being kidnapped. Seniit took this as a threat to his home and began to craft defenses, his black mist spreading throughout the forest and forming massive tree-pillars in strategic locations to ‘defend the fae from kidnappers.’ The forest seemed split on this, with many seeing the half-formed as a powerful potential ally, while others seeing him as an unstable threat. Tensions came to a head when Minkahmet ordered Seniit to leave the forest for attempting to hug Sondayga. When his fellow communemates joined him, including Moonhart Circle member Sarrasri, they backed his decision. Angered by being told to leave his home, Seniit turned the defenses he raised upon them, deciding them intruders and immolating them in a blast of mistfire. The skirmishes between the half-formed and the forest began to rise in frequency, with the half-formed treating them as more a game than anything. Meanwhile, a white mist began to fill the forest between his attacks, driving off the half-formed’s. With each instance of the white mist, one member of the forest was dragged away, returning after a time – sometimes after a death, sometimes unharmed – all speaking of a mysterious man named Grey who spoke to them in a strange realm claiming to be a watcher. The two mists clashed, and while many were distrusting of Grey, many eventually sided with him as a lesser evil. The black mists turned into a storm within the forest, scattering wildlife and snapping branches loose from trees, as Seniit waxed his power. In his games, he sat upon the throne of his domain and demanded a crown, setting his eyes upon the massive twisted antlers of the White Hart. Under the urgings of the mysterious Gray, the forest formed a plan. Xiluym of the Wodewoses suggested a trap, and it was suggested by Arien of the Listeners that the guilds of Serenwilde led the way. So toward this end, each of the guilds of the Serenwilde enacted a part of the trap for Seniit. The Listeners would provide the bait, the Wodewoses the cage, and the Sowers would strike the coup de grace upon the half-formed. In a final, deadly game, Seniit unleashed a massive storm upon the forest, and hundreds of his sentinel pillars rose amongst the trees to strike down its dwellers. Grey came to offer the aid of his mist to those who would take it, and the forest was cleared with much determination and effort as, at the same time, each guild prepared swiftly their part of the trap while the half-formed was distracted. Arien and Minkahmet prepared a ritual which would summon a spiritual representation of the White Hart as bait, hoping the half-formed would be so entranced by the ‘crown’ that it would fall for the ruse. Sarrasri, Sibirn, Xiluym, and Everiine of the Wodewoses, along with Udilya of no guild, prepared the trap, drawing protective wodesigns around the forest and upon their weapons and their bodies, preparing to hold the being in place. Vefai and Eleniel of the Sowers beseeched Sparrow for the mysteries of the seedvault in search of something which might provide insight on how to slay the half-formed, and found instead a weapon they planted at the Nintoba Naos – though where it came from or how long it had been there is a mystery. As the Listeners’ ritual concluded, a massive vision of an ethereal Hart rose, drawing the half-formed’s attention. As it attempted to strike the death-blow, the Wodewoses sprung their trap, and aided by both their wodesigns and the white mist, the half-formed was contained long enough for the Sowers to conduct a ritual, and through it, cause a massive thorned vine of silver and emerald with a single, five-petalled flower to sprout and pierce the Manipulator, wrapping around his form and constricting him as a noose. In the end, he dissipated into an umbral mist, his presence confirmed by Grey in his last words to Serenwilde to have returned to the Void. However, this does leave many questions in the air: How long until another of the half-formed comes to haunt the Basin? Who is this mysterious Grey and are they truly benign? **Categories:** News --- ### [Strange Storm Alert!](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/06/01/strange-storm-alert/) **Published:** June 1, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/stormball-216x300.jpg)Something odd is afoot! The skies over Lusternia crackle with blue lightning. The stars struggle. Strange shapes and images shift in and out of view. Once a Lusternian day, rains of bouncing balls are falling out of the skies and bounding across the lands! At the same time, a mysterious gnome in dark spectacles has taken up residence on Avechna’s Peak outside of the Aetherplex. He claims to be collecting these odd bouncing balls and offers gold in exchange! In the month of June, there will be a daily quest to collect six balls for the gnome, and doing the daily quest for 21 days out of the month will land you a free present! You may use QUESTEVENT to track your progress towards the prize. Go and catch those balls! **Categories:** News --- ### [Warrior Renovations](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/05/31/warrior-renovations/) **Published:** May 31, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/warriors-300x293.jpeg)After weeks of development and testing, warriors have undergone a big renovation, with a number of skills updated and several new skills implemented. The primary focus of these changes was to give warriors more options and efficacy in group combat. Below is a list of the main updates. ### General - Base damage has been increased - Power moves boost damage by 25%, in addition to bypassing parry and double wounds. ### Athletics - Taunt (new skill) – Taunt your enemies to attack you. - Puissance (updated) – Allows modifiers to be used with one wounding level lower than normal. ### Blademaster - Impede (new skill) – Prevent a target from leaving the room for a time. - WeakBlood (new skill) – Remove a target’s ability to shrug poisons for a time. - Haymaker (updated) – Damage increased and will now kill a target that is less than 25% health and sprawled. - BladeShield (new skill) – Deflect attacks against you or an ally and retaliate. ### Bonecrusher - Groundslam (new skill) – remove groups of enemies shields or take down GreatPentagrams. - Pulp (updated) – Will now kill a target that is <25% health and sprawled. - Clash (new skill) – Double a target’s bruising for a time. ### Pureblade - Bleedout (new skill) – Double a target’s bleeding for a time. - Pure Stance (new skill) – Deflect attacks against you or an ally and retaliate. ### Axelord - Behead (updated) – will kill a target that is <25% health and sprawled. - Whack (new skill) – cause concussion, confusion and a 1.5-2s stun. ### Cavalier - Bellow (new skill) – interrupt tumbles and knock people in the room off balance. - Skewer (updated) – will kill a target that is <25% health and impaled. ### Night - Nightkiss (updated) – warriors will do 1/6 cold damage and a chance to afflict. - ShadowEdge (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Moon - Drawdown (updated) – warriors will do 1/6 fire damage and a chance to afflict. - LunarEdge (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Stag - AncestralBlade (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Crow - FesteringBlade (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Necromancy - NecroticBlade (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Paradigmatics - EntropicBlade (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Aeonics - TemporalEdge (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. ### Sacraments - RighteousBlade (new skill) – Do afflictions on the next 5 rounds of attacks. **Categories:** News --- ### [Magnagora and New Celest Artwork](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/05/21/magnagora-and-new-celest-artwork/) **Published:** May 21, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** We commissioned some concept art for two of the original cities in Lusternia. First up is Magnagora, where the artist captured the dark, polluted, urban cityscape centered around the Megalith of Doom, seen rising through the tainted air in the background. For Celest, spiral shell towers frame the sea-inspired architecture in soft blues, whites and golds, and the Pool of Stars is seen on the side shooting a stream of Light towards the heavens. We are very pleased with these pieces and have already put them to good use on the website. The reveals were released on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Lusternia) through a series of snippets. Be sure to follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Lusternia) for continuous updates and reveals! [ ![Magnagora, the Engine of Transformation](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Magnagoracolor2.jpg "Magnagoracolor2") ](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Magnagoracolor2.jpg) Magnagora, the Engine of Transformation [ ![New Celest, Resurgence of Light](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/New-Celestcolor2.jpg "New Celestcolor2") ](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/New-Celestcolor2.jpg) New Celest, Resurgence of Light **Categories:** News --- ### [Retiring from Mysrai: Nothing but Love, Love, Love](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/27/retiring-from-mysrai-nothing-but-love-love-love/) **Published:** December 27, 2016 **Author:** Mysrai **Content:** Five years ago, Mysrai came into being under circumstances outlined here: https://www.lusternia.com/near-misses-becoming-mysrai. Now, at the end of that five years, I have removed that hat, and many masks, and am, as Zvoltz put it, returning to dust. It’s been a good, and glorious run, but life is simply to busy now to do Mysrai justice any longer. Before I leave, I want to leave a few words about the thing that made this wonderful: the people. I want to throw some thanks out to the players that made Gaudiguch and the Beloved what they are today – at the end of the day, YOU are what make the game. You show up, do your thing, and the game spins on, plotting admin or no plotting admin. I want to thank Orderlings, current and alumni, for playing along with the long-running plot of Iklara. I want to thank those who never did join the Order, but who also followed the story. I want to thank Zvoltz’s Order for playing some of the best antagonists who, all too often, got the short end of the plot stick. You’re all great folks. On the fellow Gaudi admin side, Kalikai was an amazing mentor and much-missed compatriot. Yomoigu emerged onto the scene with the force of a blast, and behind him was a really thoughtful, creative, and determined administrator. We’ll always have DC and whiskey, man. Crumkane was so much fun. Dude, you’re great. I’m inspired by how hard you work, and how determined you are. To the one who now wears the Mysrai hat: you’ve got this. Don’t think of this as big shoes, think of it as an amazing tapestry that you get to design. Don’t forget that the players make the Order – and the best ones of them will make your day again, and again, and again. To my buddy Zvoltz: best of enemies, best of dudebros. See you in February. Thax: you know what grinds my gears? Drocilla: execute plan Red Shallamar. Morgfyre: I can’t say enough good things about you, so I’m not going to try. You really are the best. Isune: you could wing it, but feather or not you do, you’re sure to soar. Manteekan: soooooon. Darvellan: you have so much goddamn talent oozing out your pores. Best of love, best of luck. Lisaera: we need more cocktails, let’s make it happen. Hoaracle: dude. Dude. I miss donuts in Oakland. I’m sure our paths will cross again. Fain: wtfux dude. Hit me up, we need to go drinking if we’re ever in the same city. Nocht: you me and some wine one of these days, dude. It’s been a real pleasure – I’m going to miss the hell out of you. Shikari: you are an inspiration, in so many ways. Wherever you are, I don’t need to tell you to kick some ass – you already are. Eventru: say, did you hear about the bear? Viravain: no matter which way you slice this, it sucks. Jadice: we’ll always have tapas. Iosai: nothing but <3. seriously, it's been real. Ieptix: you are the tentacles on my cuttlefish. <3 Let's meet up sometime in Minneapolis! I could muse on about the steamer trunk of wine from the San Francisco meet - the red eye flight to DC and half bottle of whiskey with an unnamed player, or watching another admin get a tattoo. I could tell you meeting Lis for the first time was like meeting someone I've known for years, or that Morgfyre introduced me to the best cookies I've ever had - or that Fain drunk-called me one night around 3AM. Or about the time Zvoltz and I stumbled drunk through Seattle, or the expedition to the cheese shop with another Isune and a bunch of ephemerals. Or how about meeting Yomo and Shikari for the first time two different times at the same Nandos? What about Jadice and \[REDACTED\]? I'll never forget \[REDACTED\] or when you \[REDACTED\] with me that one night in \[REDACTED\]. What about Drocilla and wine in Manhattan, and her manhandling my luggage at high speeds through transit as I raced to catch up? Lady, I made my flight that day, and you're still a wizard. Or the many Boston and DC adventures? Or dim sum? This is getting long and full of injokes, but the memories are many. I can't say enough good things about the friends I've made, the stories I have. This has become more than a volunteer gig, but a place where many of my closest people have come from. I love you guys. I'd say I'll miss you, but - you know where to find me. I will see you this Friday, next week, next month, and definitely in February, the year after, and on down the road. It really is true: the real God was the friends I've made along the way. I leave you with this: *“King Saul fell on his sword when it all went wrong And Joseph’s brothers sold him down the river for a song And Sonny Liston rubbed some tiger balm into his glove Some things you do for money And some you do for love, love, love.”* – The Mountain Goats “Love Love Love” **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [April 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/04/03/april-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** April 3, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Ascension of Deichtine Ysav’rai ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Avechna-300x300.jpg "Avechna - Lusternia") ### The Ascension That Failed When Avechna called the Final Ascension Challenge forth, the High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri swooped in and stole the Staff of Ascension for himself, and began to ascend as an Avatar of Kethuru. This had been Ghani n’Rotri’s plan all along – his destiny as was writ in the Verses of Magnora – as his repeated efforts to gather power and spread chaos throughout the First World during the last several years were to build an Orrery upon the silent astrosphere of Ophiuchius. The Ascension had failed and it was up to the Nine Sealbearers to save Lusternia. It was Veyils of Glomdoring who finally was able to defeat the Avatar of Kethuru, and rose up to become True Ascendant Deichtine, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/03/17/ascension-of-deichtine/). ### Ascension Events - **Trial of Chaos:** The Purple Hamster of Chaos was corrupted by Dark Prophet and teleported its victims across the Basin of Life. Eventually, **Tarken of Glomdoring** was able to persevere and become the Sealbearer of Chaos. - **Trial of Harmony:** While challengers were influencing denizens, the Dark Prophet opened portals over the Basin of Life, releasing strange new astral creatures that spreading insanity and confusion. Despite the chaos, or perhaps because of it, **Kalas Malarious** of Gaudiguch was able to win and become the Sealbearer of Harmony. - **Trial of Nature:** Corruption followed in the wake of Nature’s Challenge when insanity plagued the contestants, limiting their ability for magical travel. Nevertheless, **Marcella n’Lochli of Magnagora** proved herself to claim the mantle of Sealbearer of Nature. - **Trial of Knowledge:** Avechna decided to focus this most difficult test on the challengers’ knowledge of the Soulless Gods, perhaps in preparation of the difficulties that would follow. **Kalaneya Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring** won and became the Sealbearer of Knowledge. - **Trial of Life:** When diseased furrikin wandered the land, it was up to the challengrs to cure them. Unfortunately, they were under the influence of the Dark Prophet, and curing them caused the poor souls to explode. Despite the setbacks, **Veyils Ysav’rai of Glomdoring** would prove worthy enough to become the Sealbearer of Life. - **Trial of Death:** Like the Trial of Harmony, portals were sent to release strange, new astral creatures. Ultimiately, **Kalas Ixion of Magnagora** was bloody enough to become the Sealbearer of Death. - **Trial of Justice:** Thankfully, it appeared the Dark Prophet did not bother to interefere with this challenge, though Avechna was constantly on the lookout for mischief. **Sir Taevyn Ladyn of New Celest** proved his debating skills were sharp enough to become the Sealbearer of Justice. - **Trial of War:** The Dark Prophet, however, was once again on the move during the wargames, causing the arenas to contract as the battles wore on. Even under such difficult conditions, **Jaspet of Glomdoring** found his combat expertise sufficient to become the Sealbearer of War. - **Trial of Beauty:** Avechna released a poem for inspiration with which the entries for the beauty challenge were to be designed. It was **Xeii Shevat of Hallifax** who stood triumphant over all other artists, her sharply geometric osmium headdress of the Melder deemed worthy of the Seal of Beauty itself. Depicting the half-formed Maamac the Melder, who had chased the Elder Goddess Maylea through the Void in predatory madness, it was judged the pinnacle of all Beauty. For this she became the Sealbearer of Beauty. Avechna’s poem for inspiration was as follows: *Devoid of sense, beyond all understanding,* *this land of nothingness that holds so much;* *cold are the too-harsh winds across this landing,* *and yet their rippling force one cannot touch.* *Go past this threshold at your own great peril,* *for few things in this world can so withstand* *this emptiness that holds the lost and feral,* *and shatters all your thoughts to grains of sand.* *The Void is the demesne of all Destruction,* *antithesis of sweet Dynara’s light;* *beware those who would yearn for its instruction,* *beware those who would claim to wield its might.* *Great madness shall embrace the paranoid* *foolish enough to gaze upon the Void.* ### The Sphere of Ophiuchus and Realm of Pandaemonium After the Ascension, the Sphere of Ophiuchus remained open. Long rumoured, but lost for ages, this legendary thirteenth astrophere was discovered after an attemp t by High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri to empower himself and become the Avatar of the Soulless God Kethuru. He built the Orrery upon Ophiuchus to focus and collect power from the twelve other astrospheres and to pierce into the Realm of Pandaemonium, paving the way for him to hijack the Ascension that occured 498 years after the Coming of Estarra. Ghani suffered an unfortunate fate after his defeat by Veyils, now known as Deichtine, who rescued the Staff of Ascension from the usurper and locked Kethuru away once more. Now, the Ophiuchian Orrery lies open to all, and its many mysteries remain for those whose curiosity drivesthem to seek, perhaps to their doom. ## Calendar - April 1-30: For the month of April, you can ou can purchase Czigany coins directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/) for spins on the Wheel of Fortune! Fortune cookies now also hold crowns of mastery. Note you can now merge crowns together with th e command MASTERCROWN for addedefficiency. Yes, it’s one crown to rule them all! - April 1: Wild Nodes! - April 15: Wild Nodes! - April 29: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [January 2018 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/07/january-2018-newsletter/) **Published:** January 7, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Year in Review; Ascension 2018 ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Avechna-300x300.jpg "Avechna - Lusternia") ### Year in Review 2017 Each year, the Producer of Lusternia looks back on the prior year, reviewing past events, including the Saga of Ghani which spanned almost the entire year, new areas and quests, and the retirement of a Lusternia founder. Also, a major project is announced going forward into the new year, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/06/lusternia-year-in-review-2017/). ### Ascension 2018 When the High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri was corrupted during the Taint Wars just before the Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire, he was captured and held in a dimensional prison by the Illuminati of Gaudiguch. For centuries, he was maintained there by the immortal guardians of the prison, but then finally escaped. Using his powers of prophesy, he manipulated events twisted fate for his dark purposes. Events culminated in the return of the Dread Lord of Contagion and eventual weakening of the Nine Seals that hold the Soulless Gods. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! The schedule of these events has been announced, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/07/ascension-events-2018/). ### Advent of the Solstice Court As the season of Solstice drew near, the bright lights of the holiday manifested as the Solstice Court, which arrived to celebrate the holiday festivities. From ice skating upon a frozen lake to frolicking with penguins, many enjoyed the wintry landscape that melted away when the holidays ended. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/05/advent-of-the-solstice-court/). ### Situation Report: Mirage Prison The discovery of a dimensional pocket revealed that it was a prison developed by the ancient Illuminati. This turned out to be a key clue to the chaotic events that began earlier in the year. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/12/situation-report-mirage-prison/). ### Part 1: The Cards that Tumbled Down The discovery of a blackened parchment and certain dark prophesies whose tendrils slithered back to the time of the Taint Wars triggered events that would eventually lead to the weakening of the Nine Seals. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/17/the-cards-that-tumbled-down/). ### Part 2: Renounce Ascent or Face Demise When portals began to appear throughout the Basin of Life, the Nine seals began to weaken. These portals released cosmic horrors, and the mysterious machinations behind them began a plot that would sow untold destruction throughout creation.When the Nine Seals holding the Soulless Gods weakened in Lusternia this weekend, the events that led up to it could be traced to the discovery of a blackened parchment and certain dark prophesies whose tendrils slithered back to the time of the Taint Wars. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/18/renounce-ascent-or-face-demise/). ### Part 3: Watchers Wake to Fight the Fears The Dread Lord of Contagion was resurrected and the Basin of Life entered into a pitched battle as the mysterious portals continued to unleash untold horrors. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/19/watchers-wake-to-fight-the-fears/). ### Part 4: Apocalypse Has Come to Call With the Nine Seals cracking, the dark prophesies themselves twisted reality into a new shape. The Dark Emperor’s powers rose and the Basin of Life was on the brink of catastrophe. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/20/apocalypse-has-come-to-call/). ### Part 5: The Final Revelation – Son of Steel and Gold With the Nine Seals cracked in Lusternia, and an Ascension called by the Creatrix herself, the final pieces of the puzzle fell together to reveal the puppetmaster who could weave together dark prophesies into tapestries of destruction for his own twisted ambitions. Once renowned as the High Prophet, his history dates back to the Taint Wars, and his recent escape from a dimensional prison unleashed the true powers of manipulating fate. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/17/the-cards-that-tumbled-down/). ## Calendar - January 1-31: For the month of January, you can receive presents based on the number of credits purchased directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). See SHOWREWARDS for the tiers when you will receive presents. Also, you can make New Years resolutions this month with the RESOLUTION command! - January 14: Wild Nodes! - January 20: Ascension Event: Trial of Chaos at 1:00 p.m. PST - January 27: Ascension Event: Trial of Harmony at 4:00 p.m. PST - January 28: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Lusternia Year in Review: 2017](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/06/lusternia-year-in-review-2017/) **Published:** January 6, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/est-roark.jpg)I’ve been thinking back to when Lusternia was just a glimmer in my eye in early 2002. At that time, I was a volunteer admin in Achaea and loved creating stories and running events and designing and building areas and quests. When the offer to create my own MUD presented itself, I knew I did not have a strong enough technical background to pull it off. However, I had often partnered with a volunteer coder and together we designed and implemented new skillsets and other under-the-hood projects. The coder taught me how to code and gave me the confidence to go forward with the major undertaking that was Lusternia. And, of course, I knew that for Lusternia to be born, I would need this coder by my side to do the gruelling technical work while I was writing busy designing and creating a multiverse. As you may have guessed, that coder became Roark Libertas, who was amazingly calm in the face of any crisis and kept me sane through the whirlwind of launching a MUD. Though he had a dry sense of humour, he was usually quiet, keeping his nose to the grindstone and working tirelessly behind-the-scenes, rarely taking any accolades and was an invisible, though integral, presence in Lusternia. Thus, I suppose it is no wonder that when he recently stepped down as co-producer, he didn’t ask for any fanfare but rather just went quietly into the night. However, I’d like everyone to know that Roark was my friend, business partner and confidant. His amazing coding skills are the very foundation upon which Lusternia was launched. I’ll miss him greatly and hope that you will always remember how important Roark was to the game. Fortunately for us, we have Ianir, who has proven himself over and over to be up to the task of keeping the gears greased and engines oiled so that Lusternia continues running smoothly and seamlessly. Ever since Ianir came aboard, I have never ceased to be impressed by his commitment, hard work, skill and dedication. I know I can count on him and have absolute confidence that he will always step up when needed. Coders don’t get enough recognition, so I want to say here and now that he is awesome! Phew! I didn’t quite expect the Year in Review to start on such a turn, so let’s move on and review some of the major highlights of 2017. As I sift through the past year’s ups and downs, I am impressed at how much we have actually accomplished. Probably the most significant change was disconnecting guilds from classes, dramatically reducing the guilds to 3 per organization. Each new guild faction is more of a political or philosophical organization. Though I miss the old guild system, I hope you will agree that the new system does a better job handling Lusternia’s population. The next biggest change involved monks, who needed some love. First, we revamped monk combat, completely redesigning the mechanics and (hopefully!) making playing monks more fun and less complicated. Then, we released two new monk classes, the Tessenchi with their fighting fans, and the Nunchaku who specialize in drunken fighting. Other coding highlights include a complete renovation of the Dreamweaving skillset. Server-side curing was also re-envisioned and reworked. A curio market was established. A guild task and point system implemented. Artifacts were moved to a database system so artifacts can now be bought through the ASHOP verb rather than searching for artifact shops. And, oh yeah, we rebuilt the website from the ground up! None of this mentions the many Envoy Reports implemented, quality of life tweaks, and other under-the-hood improvements. As always, the lore and geography grew as well through quests and area releases. Let’s see, we saw the Salvation of the Orcs quest in Shallach, the Haunting of Mount Krog release, the Swan Song quests of Clarramore, the Towers of the Magi in Bondero Bay, the Orclach Love on the Rocks quest and more. But the most significant new area was probably the Mirage Prison with a rich history and fun quest which was also was a key clue to the major event which ran throughout the year. This brings us to Ghani n’Rotri, once High Prophet of Magnagora, and an original character from the Taint Wars, now inexplicably alive and twisting fate for his dark purposes. Yes, it was he behind the events that started in Magnagora in June and kept us hopping through prophecies, upheavals in Duum, mysteries at the Wheel of the Goloths, Tainted Promises, the fouling of the Inner Sea, the Basin of Life on the brink of war, and much more. Events culminated in the return of the Dread Lord of Contagion and eventual breaking of the Nine Seals. Astonishingly enough, Ghani n’Rotri is still at large – wonder what that means! Looking forward to 2018, I believe we are clear to see our way to actually being able to manifest the sixth archetype! We are still debating how far we want to go, as combat for all classes could conceivably change. We may or may not implement a big combat update early in the year and I’d rather not say more but just leave you in suspense as we continue our discussions. Other than that, I know Ianir wants to focus on taking an intense look at some classes to bring them into combat balance with everyone else. Keep an eye out for announcements or an ear to the envoys. I’d like to mention a few of our volunteers who have really been vital to running behind-the-scenes duties and are simply amazing roleplayers and event coordinators. Czixi is an accomplished writer and roleplayer, who has taken on duties that normally make other admin cringe. Maylea is rock steady and seems to be skilled at everything she turns her mind to. Isune is more technically accomplished than anyone would guess and has been my saviour in helping with the new website. Drocilla is also amazing behind-the-scenes and can always be counted on for counsel and advice. Kalikai has become so essential behind-the-scenes, including with coding, or perhaps I should just say especially with coding, that I am sure Ianir is extremely grateful for. Weiwae is always fun to have around. Lisaera and Viravain are both intense. Charune is a dear deer. Okay, I’m getting punchy. Mysrai, Nocht, Morgfyre, Thax are quiet voices who I hope we’ll hear much more from. And I want to thank the many ephemerals who go unnoticed and unpraised but help out in many ways, big and small. Thank you, players, for being a part of Lusternia. Everything we do, we do for you, and without you, we are nothing. Please remember that behind the façade of every admin and every player is a human being, and each of us is frail and strong, uncertain and stubborn, flawed and still in some way perfect. Enjoy the roles you play, in-game and out, yet remember that everyone we interact with are heroes in their own story. Know that you are all heroes to me. **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Advent of the Solstice Court](https://www.lusternia.com/2018/01/05/advent-of-the-solstice-court/) **Published:** January 5, 2018 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shutterstock_66087634-300x225.jpg)‘Twas the season of Solstice drawing us near, once again feeling the thrill and warmth in the hearts of the young and old to celebrate the inherent festive merriment and generosity found within. We were pulled strongly towards the bright lights of the holiday that shone brilliantly to our eyes. Our arrival was heralded by the icy chill we brought, its wintry breeze bringing with it a specialty of our own… Perfect with its many glistening facets, each cut distinctly like a masterfully sheared fabric by an expert tailor’s hand, our magically blessed snowflakes were set drift. Swirling and dancing on the winds, they teased and tantalised, bringing even cooler weather to the roads they travelled. The first to greet me before our glacial palace was a single-eyed krokani maiden with the accoutrements of a darkened crow. Despite her fierce appearance, I was pleased to witness her vows of peace and pen her name as the first official guest of the Solstice Court: Moi. Bavdo reported being quite taken with this statuesque visitor who took to the ice with the carefree ease of the wing and the vigour of the young at heart. Soon after, a clever, well-dressed young gentleman arrived to join Moi in swearing the vows. I confirmed the pledge of this one as Hesper then sent him along with advice to visit our Groundskeeper as well. It was not long before the laughter and joy of the season echoed through the Solstice Court as they discovered the extent of our hospitality. I dare say the whole manor was a thunderous sound of mirth and revelry as many more visitors arrived to fill my pledge book. It was enough to warm even my long-dead soul to see such happiness again. Your celebration was quite the rousing success, Master Joyheart. There can never be enough rejoicing and appreciation in the world. Ever faithful and at your service through this life and the next, Tombin **Categories:** News --- ### [The Final Revelation: Son of Steel and Gold](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/21/the-final-revelation-son-of-steel-and-gold/) **Published:** December 21, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/eye.jpg)*Each legacy is more than just a story;* *united all beginnings open doors –* *we embrace Fate and die for our own glory,* *as ages fade, but Promises endure.* --- Alakar i’Xiia was uncertain which of his ancestors had agreed to this nonsense, but he didn’t have time for it. A Verse of Magnora? Really? What did they take him for, an adventurer? It was tedious in the extreme. Nonetheless, a promise was a promise, and he was not about to risk besmirching his house’s name by sweeping it under the rug. As it transpired, it was not quite as purposeless as he had hoped. 200,000 gold was his takeaway from the affair all told, which given that he had auctioned off the Verse to a bid of 125,000 was something of a triumph. The exchange made, he happily returned to the Asylum, placing the funds aside to be poured into future experiments. Those he left behind on Avechna’s Peak stood listening as Ejderha Zayah translated the Verse aloud. Many simply departed thereafter, but a few set to research: Anita Zayah began hunting through the news for the other Verses from the past years, whilst a group of Heralds gathered in Magnagora to discuss the situation. But it was Serenwilde who made the breakthrough. Elissata Silvermoon was fond of books. More fond of books, you might say, than people. It was she who first pondered whether this latest Verse was not simply prophecy, but instruction. “Set twenty-four through thirty-one”, MXXVIII read. But she only seemed to have odd-numbered Verses. Was that a pattern? Was she simply missing some? It seemed imperative that they be found, because she had begun to wonder whether “united all beginnings” was a reference to the first letter or word of every Verse – but what she had made little sense. There had to be more. --- “I slumbered,” he found himself saying, “waited for the day my Lord would call upon me to serve.” Was now that time? For years, something had…stirred within him. Power was waxing, and the secrets that he kept were coming to weigh heavily upon him; most of all those that he did not know. Even amidst a conversation he had longed to orchestrate for months, the lich found himself drifting, thinking of coruscating sigils. “Have you heard of the House of Prophets?” he asked, ignoring the weight upon his chest. “Such a ruin now, such a foolish institution when you look at how subservient and worshipful they were of the Fates, but…they have done their job right.” He just didn’t remember how. --- Elissata gained one of the missing Verses from the World Library, archived there many years ago in the care of Weeky Pedia. Another was given by Remmiel Strongleaf, who shared those that had been passed to Magnagora by Uzriel i’Vipere. But this was still not enough. Frustrated, the scholar Elizanthra – who had been assisting in the research – shouted that they were in the World Library researching these Verses. This was, perhaps, not quite what Elissata had in mind. Soon there were over twenty people in the World Library, clamouring for the location of the final Verse. The letters that they had were shared, in numeric order from 24-31, leading to a number of guesses at what the word could be. Unknowingly, it was Hegemone i’Vipere who was correct – guessing the word even before the final letter had been revealed. Stepping away from the crowd, Kalas Cyna sought the confidence of Marcella n’Lochli. She explained that the Verse was in her possession, and that she had secreted it away many years before, even going so far as to manufacture a false one to cover her tracks. Of course, Cyna had forgotten one thing: Marcella n’Lochli did not take things in confidence. She revealed the Verse first to all of Magnagora, and then to the group at the World Library. Cyna made several futile attempts to cover this up, attempting to get the scholar Elizanthra to come with her so that she could meet the same fate as Elsa and Constance – even attempting to pass her false Verse off as the ‘true’ one, claiming the one she had shown Marcella was a fake. But it was too little, too late: the word was already known. It was just as Hegemone had said, and soon it spread through people like wildfire. Magnagora scattered, returning to the city, and began to work on something unknown to much of the Basin. The Warlord issued a ban on all non-Magnagorans entering the city, which Remmiel Strongleaf passed to every other organisation as a warning. Of course, this warning only served to alert them that something was happening. The question was: what? --- And in Malacoda Manor, alone and at last understood, a nobleman collapsed to the ground and sobbed. It was done. Now the future was in their hands. --- Some time passed. Quietly and stealthily, one Illuminati managed to infiltrate the Magnagorans with a ribbachi. Making their way quickly to their allies in Glomdoring, they passed on that which they were able to hear: the Magnagorans had found something. There were documents: an enciphered journal; some letters; perhaps other things. To their frustration, they learnt many things and nothing all at once. Meanwhile, the other wagging tongues in Magnagora passed on yet more information to their friends in far-flung places. Then the sky split with gold, and a voice echoed through all of Creation: that of the High Prophet, Ghani n’Rotri, representative of Magnagora on the doomed Project Cosmic Hope expedition. He revealed himself as the puppetmaster behind the strings of the past years: as the noble viscanti who Magnagora had entertained; as the commander of the spies; as the one who had escaped from the Mirage Prison; as the one responsible for the portals that had possessed others and unleashed Astral monstrosities. He taunted his home, Magnagora, for the traitors who had told their secrets and the spies from Gaudiguch that they had missed. He even thanked the world’s adventurers for assisting in his ascension. He manifested above the Basin, a tattered and winged silhouette, and tore an opening into the sky itself. “I will see you again soon,” he proclaimed. “My destiny is not yet fulfilled.” Then he passed through the tear in reality and was gone. For now. **Categories:** News --- ### [Apocalypse Has Come to Call](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/20/apocalypse-has-come-to-call/) **Published:** December 20, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/crown-300x234.jpg)As much of the Basin slept, the Chaos Seal weakened. More were on the cusp of fading as Lief Myeras-Silvermoon made a valiant attempt to close portals and fight back the beasts – but after much of her toil she was overcome by the madness of the Soulless too much to continue. She ceased, only half the portals closed – and the creatures made it through to weaken the Justice and Beauty Seals without further contest. Soon, Remmiel Strongleaf returned to defend them, accompanied by Romaan D’Varden of New Celest. They too made an attempt to beat the portals back, but missed the one in Zoaka, which continued to spew creatures towards the Peak. They continued fighting, but they – and the others that they tried to rally to their sides – grew tired. Life weakened; then Death; then Harmony; then War. Only one Seal remained. --- Shibesa had largely ignored the sleeping girl in her retreat since she had been unceremoniously dumped there. At some point someone would need to clear the human out, but for now all she was doing was sleeping in the corner. She did not strike Shibesa as the kind to have broken the One Law, but the stupid could do many things in their ignorance. The arrival of people in the Prison did not worry her; many had come and gone from the outside since they had reopened to the Basin. Doubtless, she thought to herself, these people were here to assist as the other visitors had done. She scanned the area with her good eye, but stepped to nothing more than that base level of concern. This, perhaps, was why in a matter of moments there was a dead human girl in front of her. Two figures stood either side of it: Kalas Cyna and Shango D’Cente. They took the broken and bloodied corpse of Elsa Fallows and left, as Shibesa shouted to alert those of Glomdoring that the girl had been murdered. Then, shaking her head, she went about the rest of her day. There were greater concerns. --- As people slowly woke from slumber to discover Elsa’s death, the attacks by the Dread Lord and his hitsquad of champions resumed. Time passed, and things only worsened. There were too many creatures now to beat back – too many strikes by the champions that felled even the hardiest of adventurers. It was as if they had taken the taunts that they were too trivial a fight personally, and made a point of strengthening themselves. And finally, the last seal – the Seal of Nature – weakened. Rising once again to hang high above the village of Duum, the Dread Lord of Contagion surveyed the Basin with a vicious gaze. Beneath him, the remaining members of the Murkle family began to chant, serving as the voice of both the Dread Lord and Great Muud Himself: “The Great Master speaks through His Avatar! He would know who claims His visage! He would know who challenges His might! “He would know who claims His prey for their own! He would know who steals rapture from His grasp! He would know who weakens the Almighty’s Prison! “Reveal yourself, deceiver! Reveal yourself before His might! Reveal yourself and be devoured!” In the moments before any answer came, the adventurers of the Basin pondered what this meant. Had it never been the Dread Lord attacking them? Was this really him? What was with the last few years and people coming in bloody disguises all the time? Then, laughter; laughter that had been heard before, hoarse and hollow and cracked. A nobleman’s voice rang out in its echoes, causing the city of Magnagora to perk up as the one they had known as Kadit drew the attention of the First World. He acknowledged his responsibility not only for the Dread Lord’s accusations, but for the creatures that were coming through the portals – for the portals themselves – and for the weakening of the Nine Seals. As silver and purple cracks shattered the heavens amidst a golden outpouring of light, he quoted from the Verses of Magnora themselves. “As you can see…the apocalypse has come to call.” --- Unto the Basin of Life the unknown viscanti gave a gift: a gargantuan portal that crashed atop Avechna’s Peak and hovered there. A huge crowd gathered to examine it, all communes and cities of the world represented by the adventurers who began to examine the portal – and, as was tradition, to sketch it. Curious as to its power or content, Shango D’Cente reached out to touch the portal – and promptly died an instantaneous death, his twisted corpse falling out of the other side. Now very curious, the adventurers gathered closer, though remaining careful not to touch it. It seemed for a while as if nothing more were to come – until a golden-robed and cowled figure stepped forth, a fleshcrafted monstrosity made in the image of the Dark Emperor. “Ah,” he mused, beginning his assault. “Just as the master foretold.” And so the battle commenced. The Dark Emperor was no easy foe, weathering the assaults of nearly thirty adventurers for some time – but at length, he collapsed, his essence splitting and dividing into two more creatures. These were made in the image of the Enigmatic Teacher, and they in turn split when defeated too. The Teacher became the Ordained Magician; the Magician became the Megalomaniacal Lust; Lust became the Imprisoned Hermit; the Hermit, lastly, became all manner of permutations of the World. With no coordination to their splitting, the adventurers quickly became swarmed by the creatures, many dying in the process. Even those who lived found the battle harder and harder over time, as it became clear that even to look at the creatures was to be touched by Kethuru’s madness. But, in time, the creatures were defeated. Quickly seeing the opportunity to close the portal, the vigilant watchers began to put the corpses they had gained within it. The portal flared with power and so all soon followed suit, piling as many corpses as they could into it. Alas, it was not enough. Had someone perhaps offered the missing few to the Divine out of habit? Had they gone missing in the flurry? No one could be sure. What was certain was that the portal was not yet overloaded. They would need more – but they had no way of knowing how long it would be before another Dark Emperor came forth. What had even caused its summoning in the first place? Faythe of Serenwilde thought back, and remembered a corpse tumbling from the other side of the portal. Determined, she touched her own hand to the swirling vortex – and as the life was sucked from her body, a second Dark Emperor stepped forth, and the assault resumed. --- Finally, the portal crackled and changed, exploding into a hundred thousand shards that scattered high above Avechna’s Peak. The adventurers looked up, peering through their sociopathic madness in a futile attempt to judge what was real and what was not – and watched as the Astral dust tumbled down upon them. The viscanti laughed triumphantly as the dust alighted upon the caves of the Nine Seals, turning their weakened state into full cracks, every single one on the verge of shattering within moments. In the days to come, the adventurers would wonder whether it was their fault. Had they done this? But no; the portal would surely have cracked the Seals without their intervention. There was nothing they could have done. They had been played. And into the fear and worry came the brilliance of Estarra, the Eternal. As She had done eleven times before, She called for a Trial of Ascension, the challenge to strengthen the Nine Veils and prevent the coming of the Almighty. But there was more, She said, this time. Something was different. Something was very, very wrong. **Categories:** News --- ### [Watchers Wake to Fight the Fears](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/19/watchers-wake-to-fight-the-fears/) **Published:** December 19, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/dread-300x288.jpg)Safely ensconced in the Tosha Monastery, Constance Walker was not idle. She had assured her allies in Serenwilde that they could work on curing Elsa without needing to return to Duum, a message that had been passed through the commune’s alliance to reach Tekora Windwhisper. Ably assisted by the more knowledgable Avalni D’Varden, they began working on a cure. Eventually they spoke to those of Glomdoring, who remained vigilant over the wellbeing of the two members of the Humanistic League. It was Xenthos An’Ryshe who eventually completed their collective quest to cure Elsa Fallows, returning her and her books to a very relieved Constance. Meanwhile, others worked to closed portals and guard the way to Avechna’s Peak, attempting to ensure that there would be no further weakening of the Nine Seals. However, a protracted battle between many of the organisations distracted from much of the work, and allowed many more creatures to assault their targets. --- Since the strange incident where she had supposedly attacked visitors to Duum – an incident she could still not recall – Wanda Murkle had been quietly conferring with the rest of her family. There was no doubt in her mind that the strange clouds and the strong presence of a Soulless upon the Basin was a sign from the Great Master. But her would-be minions in Magnagora had not yet succeeded in slaying the cloier. It would prevent the usual rituals. No, what Wanda needed was something…greater. Something more rapturous. And so she knelt for days upon days in prayer, opening her mind to the visions thrust upon all by the closeness of the Astral Plane. She welcomed the oozing floors and the hissing snakes and the flames. Little by little she stepped further into their embrace, attempting to offer herself entirely to it. As the Chaos Seal grew closer and closer to weakening, the Great Master answered her call. She felt herself lifted above the Basin of Life, a blissful agony overtaking her body. No transformation she had endured had been like this before – this was more. This was rapture. This was His Avatar. --- First to be the unwilling targets of the now-manifest Dread Lord of Contagion and his hitsquad of blighted champions were the city of New Celest, who weathered the attack badly. Next were Glomdoring, who withstood the short and brutal attack before the Dread Lord and his squad departed. As a full squad they never remained long, striking with only a scant few seconds of notice before hitting hard and then vanishing. Sometimes the Dread Lord would send simply his minions, who fought to the death, many falling to the group of them as they appeared at all manner of locations throughout the Basin. Shortly after this assault began, all six of the portals through the land reopened simultaneously and outside of the normal time to which all had become accustomed. It seemed to be a part of the plan: to sow chaos with the tough-hitting squad whislt the minions did their work. Many also theorised that the Dreard Lord was attempting to attack the Nexuses of Power, a theory quickly undermined as he targeted not only the large groups at the Nexii, but other groups in the Undervault, elsewhere in the cities and communes, and finally at the Triple Junction. --- It was on that junction of the Ackleberry Highway, at the base of Avechna’s Peak, that the Dread Lord met his demise. A large group led by Remmiel Strongleaf and Xenthos An’Ryshe stood there, a prime target for the Dread Lord – and his ultimate downfall. The champions with Great Muud’s Avatar fell quickly, and it was Xenthos who struck the killing blow against the mighty manifestation of blight. His body crumpled to the floor, glowing unnaturally even in death. And silence fell. The people of the Basin began to busy themselves with the portals and their charging minions, sweeping them clear and doing their best to save the Seals – which, in the case of some, were now hanging on to their power by barely a thread. Then, some time later, the Dread Lord of Contagion resurrected. --- Dowager Shelagh Shee-Slaugh was accustomed to visitors to her realm. Wydyr was a place of significance, and it was only right that many come to visit it and make supplication. Those of the Glomdoring, especially her family, tended it well and with care. Those of the Serenwilde came with suspicion, but – in her opinion – could rarely deny the power of the Wyrd that was evident in the boughs of the Glade. So it was not a great surprise when a group arrived, led by Crek Ysav’rai of Glomdoring. It was the nature of his entourage that was curious, for amongst them were two human women. Gleeful at the opportunity to eavesdrop, the redcaps instructed her that the group had headed there for safety, hiding from the Dread Lord of Contagion. But, as it transpired, it was not just the Dread Lord of Contagion that the group ought to have been concerend about. A rookie error, in the Dowager’s opinion. Fleeing from one enemy gave your others a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of your weakness. It was Kalas Cyna of Magnagora who proved to be the second enemy. In a short, abrupt attack she slew Constance Walker, the woman barely getting a chance to retaliate. Quick to think and act in the confusion, Crek gathered Elsa and made a hasty exit from the Wydyr Glade, seeking a safer haven for his one remaining charge. --- “We are not exactly in the business of ‘protecting’ people or keeping anyone ‘safe’,” the one-eyed keeper of the Mirage Prison pointed out. “If you want me to imprison her, then once order has been restored she can join the rest of the prisoners.” Elsa Fallows was confused. Again. It was starting to become a habit. But everything had happened so quickly – first she was looking at the pretty frozen spire thing, then Constance was DEAD, and she was chasing to keep up with a man who seemed to caw more than he actually spoke common. And now she was in a place MADE OF FLESH and they were talking about putting her in A PRISON?!! She tried to pay attention to the conversation, but much of it was going over her head. They were talking about laws, or law at least, and that she ought to stay in the Prison and be safe and keep others safe from her because she had summoned a Dread Lord? Wait. She hadn’t done that, right? No. No. It was too much. Elsa collapsed into a corner and fell asleep. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Renounce Ascent or Face Demise](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/18/renounce-ascent-or-face-demise/) **Published:** December 18, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/portals-226x300.jpg)Wanda Murkle was under no illusions that she was the sort of person people liked. But then, she didn’t have much of an interest in being liked. There would be rapture, and He would come and consume them all, and all would be as it ought to be. That was enough. If people thought her mad, or cruel, or wicked, that was besides the point. Nonetheless, the Humanistic League were beginning to grate upon her. Not the young girl, Elsa – no, she was a useful tool. So malleable, for a clever little girl. So open to new experiences. To local cuisine. To His rapture. No, the issue was the other one – Constance Walker. She was becoming a problem. Wanda had observed her, traipsing in and out of the village. Cavorting with Serenwilders, talking about how Elsa was obsessed and her life being threatened. Hmph. That girl, Faythe, had been following them around like a lost puppy, calling them friends – and then, to Wanda’s delight, had helped her reintroduce Elsa to the ways of the Great Master. Ha! Then the clouds above Duum turned yellow, and Wanda’s heart filled with joy. Was it Him? Was He making His move, at last – to bring rapture to the world? Would she finally find the bliss of eternity in His embrace? Her fervour was interrupted by commotion and the sound of wailing. Elsa was at it again, raving about a plan that was complete, too late to stop. Wanda was just considering going to investigate when a Magnagoran noblemen accosted her in her rooms. Mrak was his name, and he came not only with a curious look but many questions. They confused Wanda. He seemed convinced she had attacked him, and Elsa too – had she perhaps given herself over to the Avatar of the Great Master, and not realised it? It was possible. And if this was the rapture, then it could be too much for her mind to bear. Yes, that was it. She must have attacked them, and that meant she was chosen! Chosen by the Great Master! Delight making her triumphant, Wanda encouraged the nobleman to raise the Soulforge to assist the Great Master’s plans, then watched as he left the village. --- Elsa was afraid. Since Wanda had visited her and told her about the great plan, one that had been in the works for many years, she had struggled with her memories – even moreso than usual. It was getting annoying. And more to the point, it was getting dangerous. She’d never seen Wanda attack people before! Luckily, there was a giant faeling to hide behind. Elsa hadn’t paid much attention to his name, but he didn’t seem bothered by Wanda’s attacks, given that he was still chatting away at the same time. She told him all about what Wanda had said when, um, she hadn’t been quite as weirdmad, and about how she was worried Wanda was here to kill her. At least, she tried. Some of it came out in shrieks. Then when Wanda left there was some sort of argument about…something. Keeping them safe? That was it. Constance was becoming obsessed with it. Elsa thought she needed some inspiration. That always helped her. Ooh, inspiration. That would be nice. A bit of meat. But no, she was being dragged away, to Serenwilde which was full of boring elfen and not interesting humans at all. To make things even worse, they got dragged up before some fancy wilder with a strange name – Fire? Flare? Fair? – and then dragged AGAIN all the way through the forest to some lodge. At least it was comfortable, even if she still couldn’t concentrate on anything. It would do for now. --- In the years that had passed, the Basin of Life had become used to seeing the sudden apparition of Astral power. But unfortunately, that didn’t mean it was any the less disorienting. Snakes. Colours with smells. Slime, everywhere, everything. Cracks and impossible shapes and the paranoia of loneliness and the ceiling a floor, the floor a ceiling. Thick clouds, xanthic and nauseous, obliterated the sky as the world tilted. And into the world, they deposited six familiar portals. When they landed, Asaami was mid-rehearsal, practising her most recent trick – causing flame to skitter across the surrounding walls and ceiling without setting them alight. It was a difficult move that had gone wrong more than a few times, which made it no surprise that the sudden thrum of the floor caused her to fall amidst burning wood. Her master charged in and helped her put out the fire, then demanded to know if she was herself. And in that moment, Asaami understood what the shaking had been – what had returned. She didn’t remember a great deal of her time as a portal keeper, all those years ago. In fact, she had done her best to forget it. But when she walked outside into the mountains, and looked up at the distant portal, she knew it was the same. Only this time it hadn’t required her power to make it appear. She stepped forward as if to approach it, and then scattered as a dozen impossibly monstrous creatures rounded the corner. At the other portal sites, similar scenes played out. First to locate a portal was Lorina of New Celest, who found one in the Oleanvir Valley and decided to see where it led. The resulting images tore at her mind, somehow worse than the fact that she had ended up in the Astral Plane. Most people set to defeating the creatures, more than a few viewing it as a strange game of bingo and attempting to catch as many as they could in sketches and paintings. Then, in a breakthrough more accident than design, Anita of Hallifax discovered something unexpected: if you placed the corpses of the creatures into the portals, they overloaded. If you did it enough times, they ceased to summon creatures. Thus galvanised, she began to spread the word to others. --- But few people answered the call. In Magnagora, Mrak n’Kylbar contacted Uzriel i’Vipere to discuss the situation and the possible raising of the Soulforge. They travelled together to the bowels of Great Muud, hunting for the tears of the Sleeping Child, whilst Uzriel pondered whether the visiting viscanti was the most dangerous prisoner that had escaped from the Splintered Mirage. Serenwilde looked to the care of Constance and Elsa, moving them to a neutral location further from many of the portals – the Tosha Monastery. They spoke with Master Quettle and gained his permission to lodge the refugees there. To the surprise of no one, Hallifax pondered the science of extra-planar portals: the creation of them by persons other than the Elder Gods, and the amount of power necessary to maintain not one but six of them. Laur of New Celest experienced a terrible vision of Almighty Kethuru himself, and showed initiative by taking the information to the city’s newsboard, accounting his experience and worrying about what it – plus these strange portals – could mean for the First World. And in Glomdoring, there was a play rehearsal. --- Many other organisations put themselves to the hunt, slaying not only the creatures but hunting down the portals themselves. But very few of them save for Anita herself actually closed any portals – indeed, eight long days spanned before the second portal was closed, by Tekora Windwhisper. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth went in a heroic surge of effort by Dys Mzithrei. But it could not undo the days that had passed. Over two hundred creatures had surged forth from the portals by that point, and those who were not killed set about their task: to make their way to Avechna’s Peak and weaken the Nine Seals. Not even that, but when the portals were overloaded, they would eventually reform. Fortunately, groups soon started to gather and see the abominations off, but communication was low. Glomdoring formed a squad that cleaved through the creatures, spotting that they headed for the Seals – but did not know where they came from, nor how to close those portals. Serenwilde visited the still safe Constance and Elsa, bringing them gifts, and theorised with the Maiden of the Moonhart about what the phenomenon around them could mean. Uzriel of Magnagora sought out Sirsia Pois, speaking to her of her master’s plan – but gaining nothing from her save that he was “Fated”. And more and more creatures got through. --- Maendwen Syllamn was not a brave woman. She found solace in her waystation, in her work, and that was that. The strange goings on and adventures of the Basin were not hers to be concerned with. But, as everyone who lived by the Ackleberry triple junction knew, sometimes such things could not be ignored. She had hidden in her dining hall since the attacks had started, for many of the creatures had passed by. But after some time, she had found some sense of safety – a Serenwilder, Remmiel Strongleaf, had taken up residence at the junction. He was, she realised after some time, keeping the creatures at bay. It was comforting to know that someone thought to defend the highways. So few people did. She watched the man and his friends as they traipsed back and forth, clearing out the creatures and then catching the ones that had run past him. In Maendwen’s admittedly untrained opinion, it looked as if they were doing a wonderful job. Of course, neither Maendwen nor Remmiel were watching the other entrance to Avechna’s Peak – for there were two, a fact realised only too late. Left unwatched, a slow and steady line of creatures made their way up that side of the mountain, the Seals in their sights. Amidst them was a single wretched damsel, tattered and bloodied, determined to reach her mark. When she did, the Seal of Knowledge pulsed so loudly the whole world heard it weaken. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Cards That Tumbled Down](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/17/the-cards-that-tumbled-down/) **Published:** December 17, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cards-300x293.jpg)The appearance of Verses of Magnora had become commonplace. In a scant matter of years, one after the other after the other had been uncovered, often heralding events that transpired soon after. But no matter how routine their delivery became – always taken to places or people of import, and always with talk of keeping a promise – there were few adventurers in the Basin of Life who did not think their volume strange. And so, when he discovered a scrap of blackened parchment in the destitute ruins of Malacoda Manor, the treasure hunter Tarel was given pause. He carefully extricated the small chest in which it had been found from beneath the pile of rubble, and cradled it in his arms as he took it away for study. Now Tarel, being focused in his studies upon history, had never taken a great deal of time to learn other languages – let alone to read Divine script. Although he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt what he was holding, and how ancient and precious it was, he had no idea of the true value of the script itself. So, being an enterprising scholar, Tarel decided to take it to someone who could help. His thoughts turned first to Magnagora, for it was there that the family of Malacoda had originated. But then a stray memory of pain and sadness wracked him, and he did not think of them again. He thought of Glomdoring, and the terrifying shadows; of Gaudiguch and their relentless revelry; of Hallifax and their science; of New Celest and their imperial might. Deciding that he did not wish to meet any of those fates, Tarel went to Serenwilde. There he was accosted by the ranger Caedir, who was on edge when it came to visitors. Tarel began to rethink his decision and consider New Celest again, but he was quickly relieved by the appearance of several adventurers. Lief, Vefai, Sondayga, Ramilies, Eadeol and Avalni arrived to meet him, and to take from him the Verse of Magnora that he had discovered. None of them paid much mind to his tale of woe and misery, the half dozen things that he had broken that morning, not least of which was his favourite tankard. But his task, at least, was done. And so, the weight of Fate no longer puppeteering him, Tarel returned home to Malacoda. --- Click. Click. Click. Magnagora had received many visits from the curious viscanti nobleman and his rhythmic, tapping cane over the past years – almost as long as the Basin had been receiving promised Verses of Magnora. Each time he came, they found themselves left with more questions than answers, more frustration than catharsis. This visit was no different. The viscanti, wings folded behind him with poise as ever, gave no clear reason for his visit as he spoke with Kailanna n’Kylbar. Indeed, he said very little of anything at all, save to thank them for their time and express his trust in their good judgement. The two were watched by a largely silent audience, who observed his mannerisms with scepticism. They voiced their thoughts only after he had departed, pondering on his lineage, his purpose and his relationship to the spies who had supposedly worked for him – for whose wellbeing he seemed to have little more than disdain. But, as ever, there were no answers. --- Constance Walker had not had the best few years, all told. It wasn’t that the work was terrible. She found the humans of Duum incredibly interesting, for all that they were unsettling and unpleasant at times. She even, to her astonishment, didn’t mind working so closely with her assigned partner. …except when she became obssessed. Because, as Constance had come to learn, Elsa Fallows did not do things by halves. When Elsa put her mind to something, she hurled her entire body in after it. Was it time to request another partner from the Humanistic League? Perhaps. But there were more greater concerns: Elsa’s obsessions were becoming worse. For years now the two of them had danced round this awful cycle. Elsa became curious; Elsa became ‘inspired’; Elsa became…not Elsa anymore. And no matter how many times Constance fixed it with the help of others, Elsa’s obsessions would always come back. Only this time they were different. Worse, even. This time, Elsa was trying desperately to remember something. Constance had always considered it a blessing that Elsa remembered little, but now it seemed it was driving her mad. Something had to be done. So Constance did as she had done before: visiting the communes and cities of the Basin of Life to seek advice and support. To tell them of Elsa’s strange obsession, and her fear that if left untended, it would only become worse. She went to Hallifax, and met a large number of citizens. They questioned her at length about Moana Cracy and the Unity plague, to which Constance pleaded ignorance, before leaving without help. In Gaudiguch, no one seemed to know what she was speaking of – but they promised to come and check on her, though she never received such a visit. In New Celest she spoke to Lorina and Romaan, who – to her great relief – recalled who she was. But even they did not help. In Glomdoring, she thought she had managed it. She spoke to Xenthos, Rancoura and Crek, who not only listened to her but travelled to Duum to speak to Elsa directly. They watched her obsession and considered it at length – hearing her desperate request to be ‘inspired’ again. But Glomdoring were not fools, and they knew what Elsa’s inspiration would mean. They remembered plague and puddles and the relentless need for a cure. So they departed, leaving Constance forlorn. Then she went to Serenwilde. Weary and desperate, Constance was first accosted by Caedir, who it seemed remained on edge since Tarel’s visit. There she met Faythe, who recalled her, and in her desperation Constance echoed the idea that perhaps the best thing would be to inspire Elsa so that she could remember it and it would all be over. She did not expect them to consider it. But they did. The group of them, Faythe, Orimi, Elissata, Minkahmet and Vefai, travelled to Duum to induce Elsa’s drugged state and discover her obsessions. They learned that Elsa had been visited by someone in Duum, someone who said that a power even greater than the rapture was coming. Someone who tried to coax her into joining that power, to aiding it, to giving herself over entirely to it. It seemed, at once, like a monumental discovery – and nothing of any consequence at all. **Categories:** News --- ### [Situation Report: Mirage Prison](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/12/12/situation-report-mirage-prison/) **Published:** December 12, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web-drac-2-e1507054384954-180x300.gif)The ancient portal is obviously of Illuminati design, though the technique appears equally old yet beyond my understanding. Witnesses report it was our own Jun D’Cente who discovered the combination required to gain entry to the splintered dimension of the Mirage Prison. The name of which I uncovered later with ease. Disorganised chaos reigned with the prisoners left to their own devices, the guards dribbling idiots and the Overseer, Zortura Iborchi, who supposedly is in charge, was equally incomprehensible. Only two were willing to speak with anyone; Miilaso and Shibesa, who seem to be at odds with the Prison’s “true intent”. Shibesa convinced one of our enemies in Hallifax, Anita Zayah, to restore order to the Mirage Prison. The chaos is the fault of Miilaso, if Shibesa is to be believed, as the one who would free the prisoners and bring this chaos instead. While eavesdropping upon a conversation amongst Eliron Shee-Slaugh, Xenthos An’Ryshe and Miilaso I learned that this Prison, this splintered pocket of reality, has been in service to the Illuminated Mysteries since before the time wars. Further, that the entirety of the Prison has been unaware of the passing of time since. A peculiar curiosity as Qetuo Liik, creator of the psionic fleshfae, was and still is a registered prisoner here. The time of their return cannot be simple coincidence. Eventually, Marquessas Isabeau Calithel and Alaksanteri Elithysius were found to provide more information and news to Miilaso, while our enemies hastened to undo his work by restoring order and aiding Shibesa in shackling Qetuo once again. The Bulwark recounted tales we already now know, but maintains his duty and loyalty are to the freedom of the prisoners from the Overseer’s tyranny. More investigation is required to evaluate the validity and sincerity of the claims, let alone verify the accuracy of past oversight. My investigation ended as order was restored by Sondayga Zayah of the Serenwilde, aiding and abetting the retrieval and renewed imprisonment of Qetuo Liik. The Overseer’s appreciation was made manifest in a curious relic, a Mirror of Trueseeing. I shall remit a request for additional resources to acquire and study one of these mirrors, should deeper inquiry be found necessary as to its intent and purposes. Though order was restored, I conclude my report with a warning to not underestimate Miilaso’s resolve. While tyranny reigns, Miilaso will continue to seek opportunities to free the prisoners despite every effort by Shibesa to thwart him and restore order. I advise caution as we proceed to renew relations and oversight of the Mirage Prison for the foreseeable future. As an addendum, upon researching the secret documents found in the Mirage Prison, the history of which is worthy of further investigation, it appears there is yet another escaped prisoner who is much more dangerous than anything we may have imagined. The dates on the documents lead me only to extremely troubling speculations. Ushotaba Thech Illuminati Adept of the Seventh Circle Research Division **Categories:** News --- ### [Psionic Fleshfae: A Scholar's Treatise](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/11/21/psionic-fleshfae-a-scholars-treatise/) **Published:** November 21, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/21462_10151637030988071_392069692_n-300x250.jpg)Wandering the highways can be so utterly dull, especially when you get lost as often as I, but it is not without its advantages for a scholar. Meandering through the warren of life’s roadways, I have had opportunities to study all manner of odd and unique flora and fauna. The most recent pustule outbreak was quite horrific, but even more improbable were the resulting simulacra which grew. Like ghosts haunting the oft-travelled paths, I wound my way to less trafficked areas to find peace once my own personal study was complete. In the months that followed, I found ample time to write my own case study and behavioural analyses of the simulacra, still happening upon one or two drifting aimlessly by. I still shudder when I think of them. But now something new caught my attention, a creature of impossible origin and proportions. Of course, I have seen the effects of Illuminati ‘science’ and its resulting fleshfae, known as the eaf, but these were entirely different. Really, they looked like pale, shoddy imitations of the science from the Xeeth Laboratories. I decided to follow one, note the behaviours, and see if I might discern its level of sentience. Well, I was disappointed. It was closer to being a mindless automaton than a sentient animal, almost bestial in its single-minded purpose. Though what that purpose was, I am unsure if it even knew. The unfortunate creation met its end upon encountering Ejderha Zayah, Ascendant of Hallifax, however. Perhaps he was disgusted or simply equally single-minded in his death spree, he quickly moved on before I could inquire. Pondering the possibility of necromantic science involved as well as flesh transmogrification, I journeyed towards Magnagora, where as it happens Mrak n’Kylbar, Shango D’Cente, Mairin Feyranti and Rhakastra Devarajah each reported attempting rudimentary communication with the creatures. Of course, this was not terribly conclusive as the level of conversation ranged from poking, idle greeting and asking outright questions the simpletons could not comprehend. Needless to say, I am doubtful of the Engine’s involvement. Considering these creatures are ‘fae’, my next logical stop was to seek audience with Queen Maeve of the Fae. She was understandably even more cantankerous than usual, though perhaps royalty is just expected to behave like that? It seems I was on the right track. Representatives from the Glomdoring, by name of Crek Ysav’rai and Veyils Ysav’rai, along with a delegation from Serenwilde composed of Feyr Yfae’dren and Ciened, also recently sought audience with the irascible sovereign. She did not appreciate repeating herself, but was gracious enough to inform me that she decreed death for the fleshfae ‘abominations’ so that whatever remains of the ‘fae’ within can be released back to the cycle. I thanked her ad nauseum for the details, and to soothe her spirits at my intrusion. Well, there was a conundrum worth investigating! Not necromantic science, not fae, yet fae, and the Gaudiguchians were denying all knowledge of the creatures. (Obviously, this was not a full truth, the flesh transmogrifications were quite evident.) At this point, it seemed a good idea to renew relations with the kephera hives and illithoid, a scholar can never have enough contacts for information and study. I was beaten to both. Cyaratalegur, Overseer of the Reservoir, recounted a visit by the same Veyils Ysav’rai who spoke with the Maeve and threatened me with death if the atrocities on his flesh were not addressed. He was quite distraught at recognising his own skin, well, not on him. I escaped with only a few more vehemently spoken phrases of blasphemy and warnings to eradicate the ‘nasty creatures’. The kephera were more composed, despite what I perceived as the insectoid equivalent of a grimace, when Queen Tutotophet told me she confirmed the use of her carapace for an audience of Celestians and Serenwilders by names of Sarrasri Talnara, Elissata Silvermoon, and Aeldra Ladyn. And, because it is rude to visit the Hives without paying homage to the Queen of Queens, I came to listen to her majesty’s own accounts of recent events, as spoken to Queen Anita Zayah and Ejderha Zayah of Hallifax. Thinking my studies were complete and at a dead end, I resigned myself to finding a World Library to compose my documented summary analysis of these psionic fleshfae. Of course, this is when something changed, now these creatures were attacking any viscanti who happened upon them. Early victims apparently found this little more than an inconvenience, no reported deaths were accounted for at this time. Slowly, or perhaps suddenly, the psionic fleshfae began to converge in larger groups, hunting down viscanti in search of the ‘one’ they sought. The first casualty was Kailanna n’Kylbar, a viscanti of Magnagora, followed shortly by Kistan of Gaudiguch, a viscanti far from home it would seem. The creatures were little discerning of affiliation, only knowing they were instructed, by an equally mad and gibbering voice of a dracnari to find “the one viscanti”. Despite indicating their target should be male, I can only conclude these fleshfae did not understand or have a concept of gender from which to extrapolate for their next victims included Vatul Feyranti, Kanaya n’Kylbar and Uzriel i’Vipere. Their rate of even finding a male among the viscanti they hunted was dismally low, further proof of their lacking level of intelligence. At the gracious provision of Xeii Shevat, I found myself studying a psionic fleshfae corpse with Rasebal i’Xiia, though he slowly grew bored with the prospect and left me to examining the dead flesh on my own. As Rasebal already, and enviably easily, discerned, the cranium of the abomination was abnormally large and equally odd in shape with various veins and nerve endings incomplete. Like a sketch or drawing an artist failed to finish, these fleshfae were much the same. There is no possible way they could have had any independent intelligence beyond the ability to accept and execute simple instructions. As I left Rasebal to his other works, it is difficult to believe anyone would endeavour to create or even devise such inefficient minions. None would, or perhaps should, forge weapons purposely prone to breaking with ease. I apply the same logic here and find the creatures wanting. As their supposed master and creator summoned them to their birthplace, the Xeeth Laboratories, I followed in hopes of finding new information. The chaos that reigned was not conducive to proper scholarly or scientific research in the slightest. It would seem these unfortunate creations were nothing more than a haphazard effort, which explains the inexcusable gaps in their anatomy and resulting lack of intelligence. In conclusion, despite their many failings, I am happy to report the entire removal of the psionic fleshfae, whose existence was an insult to sentient life everywhere. Compiled from several firsthand notes and witness testimonies, my journey has been an interesting one, if lacklustre in the enormity of my findings. --- **An additional note follows:** For my editor, please accept this article by my humble hand as a firsthand summary of events surrounding the fleshfae and publish as you see fit in the World Library. Apologies for delays on the deadline. Please do not, again, remit a copy of my work to the Gaudiguch Gossip. The contents are scholarly and factual. Good day to you. **Categories:** News --- ### [November 2017 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/11/01/november-2017-news-letter/) **Published:** November 1, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # New Monk Classes! ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Monk-Temple-Meditation-Panorama-Buddhist-Buddhism-2214532-300x169.jpg "- Lusternia") ### Nunchaku Monks The **Nunchaku** monk class was released and is available in the City of Gaudiguch. These monks wield nunchucks that can be woven in stupendous patterns to mess with the minds of their opponents. With the new skill of **Zarakido**, these monks can tap into their inner will and the flows of life itself through the liberal use of alcohol. Yes, these are Lusternia’s drunken monks, whose chaotic moves are either at odds with or in alignment with the universe, depending on your point of view. For the story of the founding of this new class, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/post-3165/). ### Tessenchi monks The **Tessenchi** monk class was also released and is available in the City of Hallifax. These monks wield fighting fans that are bladed for a variety of cutting attacks, culminating in the dread move known as Death by a Thousand Cuts. Like the Nunchaku monks, the Tessenchi also have access to the new skill of **Zarakido**, though instead of using alcohol, the Tessenchi imbibe teas to find their center, and endeavor to find harmony with the flows of life and the universal rhythms that underlay all reality. For the story of the founding of this new class, [read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/founding-of-the-tessenchi/). ### Upheavals in the Undervault How the new monk classes were founded started with turbulence in the Undervault among the Kephera Hives and the Illithoid Host. These psionic races were bombarded with a psychic onslaught that threatened to overwhelm their people. First blaming each other, they eventually learned that a new menace had arose with hidden goals and ruthless machinations. While the kephera and illithoid never came close to working together, they managed to set aside their ancient enmity to work on solutions independent of each other. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/the-unity-syndrome/). ### Thirteenth Anniversary Winners For Lusternia’s thirteenth Anniversary, there were many events and games. Falaeron Shevat of Hallifax dominated most of the events, taking home a treasure trove of winnings. The top winners of each event were: - **Hamster Hunt:** Mrak - **Lore Quiz:** Falaeron - **Treasure Hunt:** Falaeron - **Death Worldgame:** Falaeron - **Harmony Worldgame:** Falaeron - **Wargames:** Tarken, Tyamit, Veyils - **Battlechess:** City of Glomdoring - **Vengeance Tournament:** Tarken, Ayisdra, Ixion, Slunk, Eliron (as populace) List of all winners are posted on the [Anniversary Page](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/03/lusternia-13-year-anniversary/). ### The Unity Syndrome When an unusual cage appeared upon Avechna’s Peak, strange occurrences began to plague the land wherever death came to visit. Strange pustules sprouted from corpses, which escalated to thoroughly horrifying proportions. [Read more](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/the-unity-syndrome/). ### Ghosts and a Haunted House Once again, Atropos, the Eldest of the Fates, has broken her shears! Whenever anyone died, a ghost appeared which needed to be collected and returned to the Portal of Fate–for those who collected enough ghosts, they were rewarded a tasty treat! Also, floating doorways appeared throughout the Basin of Life, which transported players to the Haunted House where many games were found to delight those who chose to participate in spooky revelries, including bobbing for apples, a historical play of fright, fortune readings and much more! ## Calendar - November 1-30: For the month of November, you can purchase Czigany coins directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). Each coin gives a spin on the Wheel of Tzaraziko, which has been updated with a chance to win Fortune Cookies. Each fortune cookie contains an artifact that is only available through these magical treats! - November 5: Wild Nodes! - November 19: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Upheaval in the Undervault](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/upheaval-in-the-undervault/) **Published:** October 31, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shutterstock_112507028-300x199.jpg)***Translated as best as possible from a scrawled, near-illegible slate recovered from the Xeeth Laboratories…*** Time… time… it came, my turn, Promised… a Promise. He’s not happy I escaped. Promised… must protect… Basin. Deliver the words. Wrote them down so I won’t forget. I burrowed up, get out, deliver the words. The time has come. They came, are they here to hurt me? No, safe? Maybe. I have no army this time… protect… protect them! Promised. I’ll make one, I sense them, that’s what I need. Strong psionics, combat him, and the other him. He’s dangerous. They don’t know! Deliver the words. They need to know. … Screams and screaming, they don’t understand! …just one more cut. Enough flesh? I remember flesh… They will understand… one day. I promised… Promise… Am I too late? Remove the kephera carapace… soft flesh beneath… no not the inner worm… can’t kill… no killing… SAVE THEM. Save them all! He has come. He is dangerous… why me? …Promise. ### Kiani 8th, 487 CE Several reports confirm the initial suspicions, psionics users are most afflicted by the turbulence currently. I am told the Temporal Conclave reported a Code Black to Marquis Yarith Shevat, while psionicists there – Lady Sylandra Shevat, Ascendant Ejderha Zayah, Lady Zyphora Windwhisper, and Marquis Khydan Shevat – attempted communication. It is unsurprising they were unsuccessful. My own experts agree this is not a sentient force. From the Glomdoring, Shadow Warden Athree and Dark Marshall Veyils Ysav’rai approached the illithoid for answers. Neither Master Otekrug or Cthoglogg, the High Ritualist, were forthcoming or informed. A pity, though perhaps it is well, considering… The bloodthirsty illithoid seemed to only wish a cease of the pain, I require wiser courses of action, of course. No matter. Undaunted, it seemed Shadow Warden Athree sought wiser consultation in the Wise Lady and Master Quettle. The latter bespoke of trying some tea and meditation for the headaches. I cannot say I agree with that, but thankfully, my skills and arts are not affected by this phenomena. What transpired next was more disconcerting than all the above. A sink hole was heard and from it a gibbering madman appeared. My sources have yet to report more details, I shall keep you posted. ### Kiani 13th, 487 CE The insane dracnari came bearing prophecy, a dire one. I fear this man. Hopefully, he is come too late and will not cause much trouble. He brought with him, upon his skin and within a parchment, a true Verse of Magnora. It is almost time now. In better news, it seems the combined forces of the Basin are more preoccupied with the recent kidnapping of Queen Tutotophet and Overseer Cyaratalegur. From Chairman Falaeron Shevat, recently elected Emissary Doman Trueflight, Ascendant Ejderha Zayah and Marquis Maligorn Shevat, all were too busy to contemplate the madman’s words. This is very well for us. Lady Zyphora Windwhisper found evidence to confirm the kidnapping was done by the same insane dracnari. This also works well in our favour. Shadow Warden Athree and Dark Marshall Veyils Ysav’rai, joined by Marquessa Chirbi Faefyre, approached Ambassador Ilogbog who did not know much either. Though I am told the illithoid starting spying heavily on the kephera around this time. High Priest Yishughom performed a blood-binding ritual with Lady Grey Vatul Feyranti as witnessed by Marquis Cazanto d’Vanecu and Dilettante Eitelbeth. The shared affliction manifests quite unusually. Blackouts, bloody noses, falling over in pain… but the overall and largest complaint are the headaches. I shall monitor these results, they are curious. Something else is breaking through and I only hope it shall not interfere. We are too close! ### Vestian 11th, 487 CE Their hands were finally tipped: the kephera and illithoid have grown their forces considerably by teaching their deadliest arts to Hallifax and Gaudiguch respectively. It is exactly as we hoped. Now we see the full horizon, every piece of the chessboard clearly visible. Unfortunately, the two kidnapped individuals of note were found. Marquessa Orventa Trueflight and Marquis Nelras Shevat led the way to consult the kephera when things got worse. Likewise, Count Danquik, Viscountess Eicia D’Varden, Mistress Anelissa and Marquessa Esoneyuna Talnara in Gaudiguch consulted their own expert. Amusingly both of the captives were found together, missing limbs, first found by Marquis Ushaara and Marquis Maligorn Shevat, then Marquessa Esoneyuna Talnara, the kidnapper already fled from the scene in the Xeeth Laboratories. I am told Tifja in Gaudiguch aided the mangled illithoid by regrowing strange limbs, perhaps this would be useful to harness in future. Enough idle conjecture. All stories point to one thing: this insane madman, by the name of Qetuo, is dangerous to our plans. He has gone into hiding but I shall send word to keep an eye out for him. One final matter for your review, though I cannot understand its import yet: the psionic headaches have not stopped. I find no correlation to this Qetuo and the psionic events, but I rule nothing out as taught. So I await, watch and report. **Categories:** News --- ### [Founding of the Tessenchi](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/founding-of-the-tessenchi/) **Published:** October 31, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/hallifax-240x300.jpg)Dearest honoured mother, It fills me with joy to write you once again and communicate the duties of my life since last we met. As ever, I am a servant of the Queen of Queens and carry my discretion with dignity, but though it is a fell day that brought me back to you, I am nevertheless pleased. I had not known what to expect when the Hive ordered me away, but I have found Hallifax, the Beacon of Harmony to be a suitable home. Much of their lives are ordered not unlike a Hive. In Hallifax, our Queen of Queens is a male known as Chairman Falaeron Shevat. I aspire to no ideas of grandeur despite their influence, do not worry. When the Princess Setisoki first arrived, I wondered, ‘Is it today?’ So much turmoil in the world, surely it must be then. I was wrong. The headaches have not stopped mother, but I strive, as dutiful as I may with dignity and a role model for my fellows here. I know now, what happens in other areas of the world is nothing compared to something so direct and intimate that it would assault my very mind no matter the distance and our Divine Queen of Queens. Marquis Doman Trueflight escorted me when the Princess returned, I had hoped yet dreaded it fearfully. In front of such esteemed individuals as Marquis Ejderha Zayah, Marquis Yarith Shevat, Marquis Ushaara, Marquis Ayisdra Ysav’rai, Marquis Doman Trueflight, Marquessa Orvent Trueflight and Queen Anita Zayah, it was only my training under your tender care that allowed me to maintain strength and composure when the words were said. I could not have denied them, even if I tried. Though it was a burden of secrecy I gladly held, I felt the weight crash upon my shoulders that day, knowing that something threatened every Hive in existence for the words to be spoken. Dread for what could threaten us and joy at being allowed back to you, all mingled with the pride in my new Hive, these Hallifaxians, so orderly and dignified. I have seen them as babes and triumphant heroes, all with the necessary poise you would expect of any student, mother. I do apologise for our cacophonous and undignified arrival all the same, but none can disobey a direct order from the Queen of Queens. I hope we did not disturb your training overly much and eagerly await correspondence. Your dutiful student and son, Horotep --- My long-cherished, dutiful son, I have ever vowed to finish your training, and I am pleased the time came where I might though I know it brought ill with it. I have my son back. Maintain correspondence, Ambassador, for I shall relish each word writ for my eyes. Though it always felt too soon with much left unfinished, it has ever brought me pride to speak and think of you, Ambassador Horotep. Your arrival was perhaps an unexpected and undignified surprise, but no less welcoming as it brought my son home finally. It does appear your work was fruitful for every Hallifaxian in attendance gave the oaths we were told to recite and expect. The holy text is no longer my sole burden to carry, these members of your Beacon of Harmony are now the proud caretakers and teachers. Even their Queen of Queens, though Chairman is an odd title, agreed to the terms as written within the pages of Zarakido itself. Our long service in studying and guarding the script is done. I seek not a Hive of my own, but will continue training new masters as it is the only life I know, and perhaps one day it will be enough. I admit great surprise at having the Princess herself for a student, as well. How is she, my son? It is a blessing to think another shall join you in keeping these new students true to their vows. My one regret was not having enough blessed tessens for all, I wonder if they require our skill in this as well? Write soon. Your mother who is glad she was not forgotten, Kanasophet --- Mother dear, It is good of you to think of the new students’ needs, but truly, Overseer Portius Nitraedes, was quite efficient in arming our new Tessenchi. The Princess keeps her own counsel more often than not, but she presides and guides the most lawful and orderly of our number, the Adherents of Adom. Law and justice at their sides, they are a remarkable guild for upholding the words set out by the Manifesto and Cririk Adom. I do have news, though perhaps you know already, Queen Tutotophet has been recovered. The stories are horrific. She was found with missing limbs! Whatever could someone do with our limbs? I shudder to think. Oh, my, speaking of students, I have my own new one to attend. The Collegium is a hive of excitement with those enrolling. Grateful as always, your son, Horotep **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Founding of the Nunchaku](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/post-3165/) **Published:** October 31, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/gaudiguch-240x300.jpg)It all started with when two rivals had a spat. Madam Yith, the recently ousted Illithoid Ambassador to Magnagora wandered into Gaudiguch seeking out Ambassador Ilogbog. Madam Yith eventually left, but not before lighting an ember, an ember that later emblazoned into an inferno. This ember sat with Ilogbog for a month or so when she picked up on psionic activity within the Skarch. She knew that both her time and Gaudiguch’s had come. Quickly, she amassed the City of Freedom and followed Dys Mzithrei, the Sacred Enigma into the desert. There they found a patrol of illithoid tracking following leads and tracking kephera. These illithoid were out seeking information leading to the recovery of their kidnapped Overseer, who had been taken the previous month. Their leader, Cenobite Llegghal, was none too pleased to see the Ambassador and the citizens of Gaudiguch come upon them. A conversation took place outside the hearing of those without psionic abilities, leading to Llegghal’s growing disappointment. Right as things were about to boil over, some scouts came back with a kepheran scout. After interrogating the scout quite thoroughly, they learned that the kephera were not responsible for the kidnapping and had indeed, had one of their Queen’s kidnapped from under their noses. As they dispatched the scout, they were set upon by a giant flesh monstrosity. Nothing seemed to damage it, as both the illithoid and citizens threw everything they had at it. All hope seemed lost until out of nowhere, drawn in by the commotion of the fight, none other than Akungi Saim, the old Pyromancer tutor wandered in. Turns out he was hanging out in the desert, smoking some of that good ol’ weed and heard a big fight that was ruining his chill. Seeking to put an end to it, he came upon the weary and reluctant partners flailing helplessly at the strange beast. Quite upset at all the hubbub, he took one second to focus inward and sent out a burst of..something that seemed to weaken the monstrosity. Now the rest of the ragged crews were able to break through the flesh and destroy this monster. Afterwards, both the citizens of Gaudiguch and the illithoid of the Hidden Empress wanted to know where Akungi Saim learned this power. He explained that some time ago, he had stumbled across an ancient scroll in the ruins of a pyramid that described a way that drinking beer could develop awesome powers. Of course, he loved to drink, so he started toying around with it and came to master the abilities. He agreed to show both the citizens of Gaudiguch and the illithoid the way of Nunchaku and Zarakido, so they could use it as tools to further each agenda. This gift, taught to the illithoid by the citizens of Gaudiguch has earned them and Ambassador Ilogbog special praise. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Unity Syndrome](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/31/the-unity-syndrome/) **Published:** October 31, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/21462_10151637030988071_392069692_n-300x250.jpg)The presence of an unusual cage on Avechna’s peak seemed to pique attentions around the Basin of Life. Soon after its appearance, odd pustules began to be coughed up by the dying, and the cage seemed to be absorbing some sort of energy in their last moments. An odd attempt by many in Magnagora was placed to ‘feed’ the cage as well, a slight worship of it apparent by the most radical of the city’s supporters. Those who stood in proximity to it began to feel odd symptoms, including forced thoughts in their mind referring to a Unity and the odd need to perform certain actions. Like puppets on strings, the plague controlled their very thoughts and emotions, and soon synchronised actions followed. So immersed in this vision of bliss and euphoria, they sought to share the ‘Unity’ with all, thus further spreading the plague in a misguided attempt at saving friends, family and loved ones. As symptoms continued to progress, so too did the growth of the cage as it seemed to spawn a large, root-like system of tendrils upon the peak. Despite the best efforts of many, however, no harm seemed to come to the cage or the tendrils. In further months, the odd illness seemed to slowly progress, and the coughed up pustules began to grow in size. Eventually, even the living were coughing up the odd fleshy objects from time to time. The pustules were revealed as eggs after a time, growing simulacra who bore a resemblance to those who coughed them up and seemed to mimic their actions. Some adventurers seemed to react first by killing the creatures, while others chose to speak with them. Regardless, their deaths, in the end, held the key to weaken the tendrils, and a large number of driven adventurers began to systematically eradicate the simulacra and tendrils, culminating in the destruction of the cage and providing a cure for the dreaded plague. Some months later, a young dracnari researcher named Druetba Tleem started making rounds between the cities and communes of the basin, offering her research into the creation of the simulacra and modification of the plague into its new form. Her presence and research offer many unanswered questions though: Who is this Mister G. who funded Druetba’s experiments? What was the final goal of this endeavour? What trouble is going to come of this scientist’s creations in the future? **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia 13 Year Anniversary](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/03/lusternia-13-year-anniversary/) **Published:** October 3, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Lusternia turns thirteen years old in 2017! Does this mean we are entering our adolescence? Are the teens truly terrible? The next year we’ll find out, but first it is time to celebrate! Check out some of the events below and keep an eye out for the Czigany Wayfaire which usually shows up when there is festivity in the air! - ### Hamster Hunt - Date: October 4, 2017 - Time: 5:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - 1st – Mrak - 2nd – Falaeron - 3rd – Valikul Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! - ### Quiz - Date: October 6, 2017 - Time: 6:00 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Winners: - 1st – Falaeron - 2nd – Moi - 3rd – Mrak Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! - ### Treasure Hunt - Date: October 7, 2017 - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Winners: - 1st – Falaeron - 2nd – Aeldra - 3rd – Nelras Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! - ### Death Worldgame - Date: October 7, 2017 - Time: 8:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Winners: - 1st – Falaeron - 2nd – Kaimanahi - 3rd – Ixion A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. - ### Harmony Worldgame - Date: October 8, 2017 - Time: 12:00 p.m.PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Winners: - 1st – Falaeron - 2nd – Mrak - 3rd – Ixion Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. - ### Wargames - Date: October 8, 2017 - Time: 4:00 p.m. PST - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Winners: - 1st – Tarken, Tyamit, Veyils - 2nd – Kaimanahi, Kreon, Falaeron - 3rd – Ixion, Shaddus, Veldrin Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! - ### Battlechess - Date: October 14, 2017 - Time: 2:00 p.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Winner: Glomdoring – Veyils as King Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive a special trophy! - ### Vengeance Tournament - Date: October 15, 2017 - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Vengeance - Winners: Tarken, Ayisdra, Ixion, Slunk, Eliron (as populace) Are you an assassin, detective, protector, mindless killer or a just plain old citizen? Enter the ultimate game of diplomacy, manipulation and, of course, vengeance, and see who will survive! ![web-drac-2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web-drac-2-e1507054384954.gif) **Categories:** News --- ### [October 2017 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/10/03/october-2017-newsletter/) **Published:** October 3, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Lusternia Turns Thirteen ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/shutterstock_281111747-1-e1499711010391-300x285.jpg "shutterstock_281111747 - Lusternia") ### Anniversary Celebrations Lusternia enters its terrible teens in October, turning 13 years old! Throughout the month there will be events to celebrate this momentous event. Also, keep an eye out for the Czigany Wayfaire which usually shows up for the festivities! [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/07/31/digging-a-new-life/) ### Love on the Rocks Wedding bells rang discordantly across the Basin of Life, announcing in a celebratory dirge-like fashion the joining of a viscanti woman to an orclach man. But the supposed marital bliss was short-lived as Hethklyff Ruag took his newly-wedded bride to her new home. How could this lovelorn orclach win the heart of this ice cold viscanti? [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/tainted-promises/) ### Trialante and the Woodbine Lyceum The sound of sparrows graced the Serenwilde forest in the month of Kiani, 484 years after the Coming of Estarra. The brown and silver birds flew in flocks across the forest skies and attracted the attention of a number of Serens. Curious about the unusual visitation, Serens fanned out to try to find the birds. This led to the founding of the Woodbine Lyceum and the conclusion of the story of Trialante, the Untamed Muse. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/09/20/trialante-and-the-woodbine-lyceum/) ## Calendar - October 1-31: For the month of October, bookbinding curios were released. These come in the form of inkwells which have a chance of giving free ink. When combined in collections, they will enhance magic scrolls in various manners. You can purchase bookbinding curio packages directly on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). - October 4: Anniversary Hamster Hunt at 5:00 p.m. PST - October 6: Anniversary Quiz at 6:00 p.m. PST - October 7: Anniversary Treasure Hunt at 11:00 a.m. PST - October 7: Anniversary Death Worldgame at 8:00 p.m. PST - October 8: Anniversary Harmony Worldgame at 12:00 p.m. PST - October 8: Anniversary Wargames at 4:00 p.m. PST - October 8: Wild Nodes! - October 14: Anniversary Battlechess at 2:00 p.m. PST - October 15: Anniversary Vengeance Tournament at 11:00 a.m. PST - October 22: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Love on the Rocks](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/09/09/love-on-the-rocks/) **Published:** September 9, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/guardian-1-273x300.jpg)Wedding bells rang discordantly across the Basin of Life, announcing in a celebratory dirge-like fashion the joining of a viscanti woman to an orclach man. But the supposed marital bliss was short-lived as Hethklyff Ruag took his newly-wedded bride to her new home. Caithryn Ruag’s shrill, dissatisfied shrieking could pierce of the veil of death and awaken corpses worldwide with its high-pitched disdain. Early on the scene, Spirit Warden Xenthos An’Ryshe arrived to find Hethklyff pacing and in a state of frayed nerves. Chaplain of the Damned, Marcella n’Lochli, Marquis Mrak n’Kylbar and Ritualist of Undeath, Rezekir soon followed with the Chaplain taking the lead to assist a fellow orclach impress a seemingly unappreciative wife. She with Marquis Mrak and Ritual Rezekir lending aid made quick work of his requests, despite Caithryn’s continued shrill denial of contentment with her lot. No gifts seemed to satisfy her; money, luxury, food, or protection. Hethklyff made a final, desperate decision and concocted a means to achieve death, that he might prove his dedication to his wife’s happiness. Either he would prove himself the strongest husband she could have, or free her from the marriage with dignity. Well, he died. Finally Caithryn rose to embrace her husband, granting him undeath, and allow him a proper honeymoon in wedded ‘bliss’ until the next time she finds displeasure in his arms, and he must prove himself all over again. Women. **Categories:** News --- ### [August 2017 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/09/august-2017-newsletter/) **Published:** August 9, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # As the Basin Turns ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/island-300x295.jpg "island - Lusternia") ### Digging a New Life There has been a spate of activity throughout the Basin of Life, beginning with the orcs near the Shallach River who were digging under the oversight of the orclach Hethklyff Ruag. Something was discovered, orcs were turned to skeletons and a love story was revealed. Was this just another day in the Basin? [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/07/31/digging-a-new-life/) ### Tainted Promises The City of Magnagora, known the Engine of Transformation, lived up to their reputation when they set their sights on the Inner Sea. With help from a new acquaintance, the Magnagoran Warlord unleashed a startlingly effective strategy that began to spread the Taint throughout the crystalline waters that had escaped the Taint Wars so long ago. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/tainted-promises/) ### Purification Backup Plans When the Inner Sea began showing signs of the Taint, the City of New Celest kicked into action, turning to their aqua-engineers. Though schematics drawn and a great feat of aqua-engineering accomplished, the Armies of Light needed to be called to truly purify the tainted waters. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/purification-backup-plans/) ### The Essence of War With the fate of the Inner Sea at a crossroads, the great cities of Magnagora and New Celest drew closer towards full war. With the theft of the aqua-engineers plans, Magnagora was able to construct an infernal machine that pumped the Taint into the Inner Sea, though New Celest attempted to purify the waters in tandem. But the technology both sides relied on were untested and unreliable and propelled the cities towards a perhaps inevitable conclusion. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/the-essence-of-war/) ### The Testimony of Baeroc Spineson Who is Baeroc Spineson? A simple weaver of Stewartsville? When strange spores led him on a journey into the Dark Forest of Glomdoring, he was caught in a web of shadow that changed his life forever, and perhaps the trajectory of the Dark Forest itself. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/06/the-testimony-of-baeroc-spineson/) ### Wish You Were Here – Love Nirena In a letter to her beloved uncle, Nirena Leafsmith tells of her entry into the Serenwilde Forest and finding a home there. But when she found the Serenguard Lodge burned to the ground, she led an effort of rebuilding of the historical site. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/06/wish-you-were-here-love-nirena/) ### How Servants Pass The Time The diary of an unknown servant outlines the unsettling alliance of the orcs of Mount Krog and an unknown power. This led to the City of Hallifax lending aid to the lucidians living in Mount Krog and questions being raised to the Collective that were unsettling and unanswered. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/08/how-servants-pass-the-time/) ### Bad for Business Meanwhile, the City of Gaudiguch focused on what their citizens believed was of utmost importance: the matter of commerce. Look no further than the musings of Deotathi Miim who was suspicious of the wares of Kahn Lucas, a young upstart merchant with a new product that came in the form of rainbow pills that threatened Deotathi’s trade. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/08/bad-for-business/) ## Calendar - August 1-31: For the month of August, we are releasing a new wonder item: the [Brazier of Wonder](https://www.lusternia.com/news/?game=Lusternia§ion=Announce&number=2753) (inspired by a player’s idea sent to us). For this month only, you can purchase wonder gems directly on the website (which also includes 2 presents for each wonder item). Also throughout August, we are offering discounted lessons directly for sale on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). - August 13: Wild Nodes! - August 27: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [Bad for Business](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/08/bad-for-business/) **Published:** August 8, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ***![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/library-crop-219x300.jpg)(as heard from the mouth of Deotathi Miim)*** Oh, sure, city of Freedom, where anyone is FREE to muscle in on my market. What’s this Kahn Lucas got that I haven’t anyway? A sob story and magic potion? Hmph. No, tried and true wares is what I got. Countess Dys Mzithrei at least understands that, tried and true enlightened wares, that’s what! Not some gimmick and a sniffles tale. The Steward, Lady Enadonella, Marquessa Vyell and Kalea were quick to try and help the sniveling dodo bird, with his promises of a good time and vengeance on our most hated enemies. Hmph, I say. Even Mayor Steingrim seemed impressed with the strength of this kid’s ‘sample’! Well, good going kid, you cornered a piece of my business market and I won’t be having it. He’s got the whole city rioting for more, Drunken Master Kalas Malarious… Merry Minstrel Letarne Ashgleam… especially that Lady Enadonella, she was quick to weaponise it. But hey, I guess I can’t fault that part, weaponising a drug to foil Hallifax? HAH. I admit, that part is darn clever. Maybe I should consider making my powders stronger like that. Hmm, now there’s a thought. And you know that that blasted kid did? He goes and gets himself attacked! So he steals my business, disappears, and now everyone is worrying. Ah well, maybe Countess Dys Mzithrei will find reasons to skin his hide FOR me. She went and had a good, long talk with that Constance Walker, that’s the word on the street anyway… --- HAH! My business is now secure! No more crazy rainbow pills to stop my cornering the market all on my own now. That kid got his brains scrambled he says, can’t remember a lick of anything with the pills. Fantastic, I say! Oh, and yeah, well of course it is sad he showed back up on our doorstep naked and starving… he’s alright though. I guess he has spirit, can’t fault that, makes for good business to be stubborn as a rock. He got booze, a cloak, some food – what more does a man need? Except for okorushi powder, hey did you want to buy some? Afraid my prices had to go up a bit. Supply and demand, friend. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [How Servants Pass the Time](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/08/how-servants-pass-the-time/) **Published:** August 8, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ### ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/00002292_0-209x300.jpg)Roarkian 14th, 480 CE: Getting lost while trying to find help is bound to make anyone a frustrated, weeping mess, right? Poor girl, this Moana Cracy, she arrived in quite the state of upset already. Things were uncertain when our own Heart of the Crescendo, Marquessa Xeii Shevat, could not calm the woman but as we learned of her story, it was understandable. She became a tracker after the destruction of her family home by orcs, who we now know are the same that inhabit Mount Krog and assail previous citizens of our Beacon of Harmony. At this, my own heart went out to the girl. Marquis Nelras Shevat and Marquessa Kendra Zayah did their best to console her in order to hear her full story. Apparently, she stole proof of the orcs in Mount Krog being aided by a new ally, a stronger ally, and supplied a staff for evidence to Chairman Falaeron Shevat. Her initial wariness of the kind and gentle Heart was due to a poor experience in Talthos, where she was given the blueprints for a tracking device but otherwise told to ‘get lost’ with her ‘human problems’. We in the Collective are of course protective of our own and would wish to aid the lucidians isolated in Mount Krog, so she came here, apparently hesitant to come originally. Unfortunately, those blueprints required a vast sum of our resources, including the corpses of every orc of the current generation living in Mount Krog… ### Roarkian 15th, 480 CE: Emissary Shedrin Windwhisper and the Chairman discussed the proposal behind closed doors, but they judiciously decided to look into it first, before spending our hard-earned coin on a goose hunt! Witnesses saw Intern Yehn Windwhisper, Marquessa Xeii Shevat and Marquessa Kendra Zayah leave to consult the villagers in Talthos where Klu’athic Adom confirmed knowledge of Moana Cracy and that he did indeed provide the blueprints, though admitted little knowledge of the contents. Thanking him, Intern Yehn Windwhisper left the group to investigate Mount Krog, where she discovered a nefarious result. The leader, Kralg, proclaimed the power to banish the lucidians at-will and betrayed the ability with the Intern as witness. Investigations complete, Chairman Falaeron Shevat was satisfied and declared death for the orcs of Mount Krog. While he retrieved the necessary supplies, Marquis Gero embarked on a mission of genocide. ### Roarkian 16th, 480 CE: With every orc in the machine, I hear tell, it revealed a viscanti in robes. None have been able to identify the figure in question, though I understand Intern Yehn Windwhisper continues the search in earnest. If such an enemy is allying with the orcs in Mount Krog, Hallifax may very well be next, right? ### Urlachmar 4th, 480 CE: I got to know that Moana Cracy real well while she rested in the Institute dormitories. She’s quite the tracker! Though most people get lost in the city, she mastered it real quick, especially at night. She says tracking by the stars is easier than just the sun, I might need to try it some time. I gossiped with her a bit about the latest news in the city, she wanted to learn anything and everything she could. Such a quick study. We giggled over Overseer Maligorn Shevat drooling on himself after one of those nasty Gaudiguchians pranked him with some weird rainbow pill. She seems VERY interested in this story, how much the pill affected the Overseer and whether the Gaudiguchian got the same dose. She found it amusing so we talked even more over the next few days while she explored the city. Finally! Lady Zyphora Windwhisper approved Moana’s citizenship application. I was so pleased! She told me, she was so very grateful to Marquis Nelras Shevat for writing it up, and Minister Orventa Trueflight for the friendly chat and assistance too. I am so glad we live in Hallifax and that we’re citizens now. I’ll feel less bad about gossiping with her. Like about that time… the Board… oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t write that on paper! ### Urlachmar 11th, 480 CE: The lower wards are in a tizzy! Straight from the mouth of Lafu Longplume himself, Moana Cracy did us a grand favour. She found one of those Gaudguchian scoundrels and kidnapped him here in a big ol’ sack! She’s super strong for such a small thing. Overseer Maligorn Shevat, Emissary Shedrin Windwhisper and Chairman Falaeron Shevat with the Marquessa Aramel Shevat (his wife, you know!) interrogated the foul-mouthed thing for HOOURS. But, Oh-My-Word, that spindly thing squeaked past Moana and Lafu to escape… NAKED. Oh what an awful sight, he left his robes behind and everything! I don’t know what they did in their interrogations, but Lafu said it wasn’t pretty and the language of the creature, worse yet! ***(written in the neat and shaky handwriting of some unknown servants)*** **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The Testimony of Baeroc Spineson](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/06/the-testimony-of-baeroc-spineson/) **Published:** August 6, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/VirvainYoung-232x300.jpg)From a testimonial pasted in Stewartsville and then very quickly taken down: Baeroc was a simple man, a weaver, oh yes, before his glorious transformation: a simple man from the Stewartsville outskirts who did not know the blessing he was given when the glorious greev spores blew past his cottage, when he was seeded with the Wyrd. Baeroc was a frightened man back then. Oh yes. He wandered into Glomdoring forest for aid, not knowing that he had already been aided. He was caught in the blessed webs of the spiders, and frightened man he was, he screamed for help. Mighty guardians of the forest then came and took Baeroc to the Ravenwood. They soothed his fears, even as the spiders took him; they taught him to revel in the blessing. They watched as he was consumed, cocooned, refashioned, and blessed by the Wyrd. Webbed by the Wyrd. Legs like the Wyrd. And so Baeroc Spineson was transformed. Afraid of spider webs, he become a web-weaver, tapestry-weaver. He took the cloth, he took the silk, and he wove a tapestry to the glory of the Wyrd, and the Wyrd blessed it, as it blessed him. Now all of Glomdoring may partake of the blessings. Now Baeroc sits at the centre of the web, weaver, watcher. Happy. Now Baeroc thanks his benefactors: Mighty Xenthos, Athree, Crek, Rancoura, Veyils, Kalaneya. Come, those who have ears to hear: The Wyrd will bless you, and you will be blessed. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Wish you were here - love, Nirena](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/06/wish-you-were-here-love-nirena/) **Published:** August 6, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/tree2-300x290.jpg)Dear uncle, How’s yer leg? I hope my cousins aren’t giving ye too much trouble lately. Anyways, ye wouldn’t believe the things that have happened to me since the beginning of the year! I know ye always shook yer head at my hunting and tracking ways. “Settle down to a real business”, ye always said, “Nothing good will come of sitting around in trees for hours on end!” Well, uncle, I think ye’d be pleased that I’ve proven you wrong! Remember how I used to play Tribes of the Forest with me cousins when I was a little kid? How I’ve always, always wished I was one o’ the Serenguard? In Estar, I finally found my way to Serynwodenhillirim – Serenwilde, as ye might know it, and GUESS WHAT!? They took me in! I got to swear an oath on the Leaves and everything, thanks to a nice girl named Aloy who was very open and friendly t’a newcomer like me. It’s a shame that the Serenguard Lodge burnt down. It’s kinda embarrassing to mention, but I honestly teared up when Aloy and another girl called Elilnys took me to the old ruins, and then to the cairn of Master Eurytus. Remember him? Remember how we’d make ye pretend to be him so we could be sworn in? Well, I put a stone down at his cairn. For all o’ us. And I finally learned the proper way to salute the good ole centaur. They have new guilds now – Wodewoses seems most like the old Tribes game we useta play, but Listeners and Sowers are nice too, memory trees an’ everything. All the reminiscing made me fired up, real fired up. Remember that time when I made a bow outta pieces of driftwood in an hour cause I was upset at the weevils, and then I killed twenty o’ them? That fired up, I was. So I offered to build the Serenwilde a new hunting lodge, fully it stock it and everything. In the process of seeking permission, I met so many other people: Trade Minister Astrasia (Aloy’s grandma!), members of the Moonhart Circle like Saran and Sondayga (I think that one’s the Seneschal), Power Minister Anita, and a whole bunch others beside. They were all real nice t’me, and provided me the materials to get down to building. Former Warden Ejderha, tho’ he en’t a Seren anymore, also gave me some nice advice about not disturbing the past. Like I said, I was fired up. So I finished the new lodge in a jiffy. And I added a box o’ rattlesnakes too. Remember me special formula? I figure their hunters would appreciate it. Or if not, I can teach ’em. They seemed to like the lodge well enough. I was afraid they’d be upset it was too small, but they weren’t. And of course, I am living my dream of LIVING IN SERENWILDE! There’s SO many more things I want to do! I really really hope that I will get to stay here for good, and that I will continue to help the forest in whatever way I can, maybe build more things for ’em. There’s enough wood, at least. If ye have time outta yer busy schedule, please come visit! I can show you the wonders of the trees that ye hate so much, hah! Much love, Nirena Leafsmith **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [The Essence of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/the-essence-of-war/) **Published:** August 3, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/paladin-279x300.jpg)Refusing defeat, Sirsia Pois arranged the robbery of Celest’s schematics and, with Countess Kalas Cyna’s permission, proceeded to build their own machine for the Engine to harness dark essence to re-taint the Inner Sea. After additional inspection, she found a flaw in the schematics and utilising wood and dark essence, fashioned a weapon that could disrupt the Celestian contraption, rendering it useless for a day. She remitted the weapon to Countess Kalas Cyna and Understudy Ouphe i’Vipere with strict instructions on how to use it and to take care not to lose it as it was unique and an example of her exquisite craftsmanship. Renewed and rejoiced, the Magnagorans rallied around their new machine and weapon, they immediately took it for testing. Understudy Ouphe i’Vipere was the first to successfully break the cleansing machine, much to the confusion and bewilderment of Lady Norigo, Earless Aeldra Ladyn, Iatrys Luminare and Duchess Auriella. Though the skirmish was swift, the true depth of the treachery did not reveal itself until they watched as Chaplain Marcella n’Lochli subsequently broke it again, allowing Magnagora plenty of time in the Celestian confusion to retrieve the required one thousand dark essence to taint the Inner Sea to its glory again. Armed with their own machine and a weapon to deter their enemy, the Engine was ruthless, breaking the opposing machine and scouring the Planes for every ounce of essence possible in friendly and un-friendly territories alike. While the forces in Celest, including Luminary Meliana and city allies, attempt to push back the tide of Magnagorans breaking their machine and cornering the market on essence in the entire First World. So did the battle continue, tit for tat, back and forth, for days between these eternal rivals harvesting essence, blocking others from the essence and, for Magnagora’s side, delaying Celest’s ability to retaliate. It was not until a failed raid on the Elemental Plane of Water by Chaplain Marcella n’Lochli did the City of Light receive a much-needed break in the neverending, essence tug-of-war… Father Kagato was quick to grab the infamous weapon upon the occasion of the Chaplain’s death on the Elemental Plane of Water, thereby evening the odds and removing a valuable tool in the Engine’s tyranny. He presented the staff to Prince Kreon Zayah, who, with the wisdom of the Star Council (Duchess Kaimanahi Ladyn, Duchess Saoirse Kissane-Ladyn and Duchess Auriella), chose to secret the weapon away, safe and sound to prevent its use against them. Each walked away from the Council chambers, relieved at deterring the enemy, but troubled at the staff’s ultimate origins. Evenly matched, with no benefit to either side, the war continued with even more desperation for the lack of the staff. Though the Engine was able to taint the Inner Sea once more, Celest answered in kind by cleansing it less than a month after. Then, came the gurgling… The contraption in New Celest was the first to break, spilling its essence into the Inner Sea to cleanse it one last time while spinning masses exploded from the remains as witnessed by Father Kagato. After some investigation, the spinning masses of light were submerged into the Pool of Stars, returning an amount of the power spent back into the Nexus. Minutes later, despite the attentions of Sirsia Pois, she proclaimed the machine a failed experiment with a flaw in the original schematics. She was proven right, as the contraption exploded in the same manner as Celest’s own, spilling out masses of dark essence in its wake. Under Sirsia’s direction, while Carrion Eater Rolsand D’Cente placed the spinning masses into the Megalith of Doom, Chiurgeon Hegemone i’Vipere assisted in a final task of import to Sirsia Pois’ work. The staff was found once more and at Sirsia’s recommendation, Chiurgeon Hegemone i’Vipere broke it, for good, releasing its power back into the Megalith. Despite the failures and instability, Melothi Faran remains in New Celest, attempting to recover from memory what was stolen from her and her mentor… While Sirsia Pois has not given up on extending the glory of the Engine of Transformation… So ends the battle for essences, for now, though the war of Light and Taint continue until only one victor can remain. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Purification Backup Plans](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/purification-backup-plans/) **Published:** August 3, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/cleanwater-300x223.jpg)Though not immediately noticed, a dead fish arising from the foulness of the Sea, gave Velho Caleb Luminare much pause and he immediately requested guidance of his fellow citizens. Student Laurent and Duchess Auriella took to arms with many questions, but more urgently, seeking solutions. Laurent began by speaking with Lanikai, who seemed to not understand how the waters could be so foul yet she felt no illness herself. Caleb turned to Skerriagh, the Lord of the High Tide who found nothing amiss. The puzzle grew as answers diminished. The Duchess Auriella felt action was needed and journeyed to the Cay of Cloadahi, ensuring it remained loyal to the Light. After days of little success, a young voice sounded across the aethers, Walt was needing help at the Pool of Stars. Unused to such commotion, Melothi Faran was nervous, shy and stuttering as everyone arrived and rallied around her. Living on her own for much of her life, the only other individual she ever knew was her mentor, Gelane Nerale, and he passed many years ago. But, she said, if ever there was a day when the Inner Sea would become tainted in its entirety, he had a plan and bid her to accept the burden of it upon his death. The schematics she brought required a great deal of materials to construct, but she was certain of its success. It came from her mentor, right? Who would not trust their own mentor’s word? Duchess Auriella funded the entire project with a large sum of resources. Everyone was extremely friendly, despite her shyness, and Melothi decided to make New Celest her new home and rejoin the world at large. Meanwhile, she worked on the machine diligently to help her new friends and home, and finish her mentor’s work. After a day of interpreting schematics and fitting the pieces together, the dome contraption was ready by the shore of the Inner Sea. Despite its swift construction, Melothi Faran explained that it must be primed and the only thing which could counteract the taint would be light essence, and quite a lot at that. A veritable army of fervent Celestians, including Prince Kreon Zayah, Velho Caleb Luminare, Student Laurent, Duchess Auriella and Deaconess Varel Luminare, then took to gathering essence on every Plane available. Despite attempts by Countess Kalas Cyna to thwart their efforts by placing dark essence in the machine, with the additional efforts of Earless Aeldra Ladyn, Father Kagato, Earl Slunk, Duchess Saoirse Kissane-Ladyn and Earl Tridemon Regalis, the contraption was primed with one thousand light essence and the Inner Sea purified of its foul taint. …for now. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Tainted Promises](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/08/03/tainted-promises/) **Published:** August 3, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/taintwater-300x223.jpg)On an otherwise normal day for the Engine of Transformation, one Sirsia Pois arrived and a deal was struck with the Warlord, Avurekhos Feyranti, and the Chaplain, Marcella n’Lochli to deliver a miraculous feat that would spread the Taint and the Glory of Magnagora further. Despite Sirsia Pois’ own doubts about the true strength of the citizens, their prompt and swift acquisition of the necessary materials to accomplish the goals ahead impressed her despite herself. To solidify the new alliance, she offered herself to the Engine and was welcomed as a citizen. There was a necessary secrecy to the events as the city prepared for the coming demonstration while she did the same with much autonomy on the details. In two months’ time, everything was ready and as the citizens of Magnagora gathered at the shores of the Inner Sea on the beach of the Balach Swamp, they witnessed an amazing, long-dreamed of sight. The crystalline waters of the sea churned and frothed with Taint, as a rain cloud spread the foul miasma further into the Sea. What was once pure and clean, was wondrously tainted for the glory of the Engine! After much verification of the results, the Magnagorans were satisfied with the demonstration and doled out accolades upon the working, feeling every promise was fulfilled and more. As Sirsia went back to her own duties, they left for a celebratory hunt on the Astral Plane… **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Digging a New Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/07/31/digging-a-new-life/) **Published:** July 31, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/orcs-300x202.jpg)Grumbles and grunts echoed across the Basin as gruff orc-like voices shouted about their hard work to the unmoved demands of an orclach. Spirit Warden Xenthos An’Ryshe, Spider-tender Athree, Chaplain Marcella n’Lochli were the firsts to arrive, soon followed by Countess Kalas Cyna. The orclach in charge, Hethklyff Ruag, explained the incompetence of the hired orcs and their refusal to continue to dig having hit something “too ‘ard master”. Soon the excavation site for Hethklyff’s new home was a flurry of mud and dirt, as everyone helped dig in. Layers of gravediggers upon gravediggers and rockeaters did not deter the noble adventurers! Even if they stopped the meek and bumbling orcs. From beneath the rest, a heavily scarred chest rose the surface covered in dirt though still locked through the ages. At first making claim to the item, Hethklyff saw its worthlessness and let the helpful group around him have it. With no alternative at their disposal, each attempted to break the chest open. After resisting several attempts, the chest broke open and disintegrated while a blackened parchment fell to the ground from inside. Far too fast for anyone to realise until too late, the Countess absconded with the parchment with many thanks to Hethklyff for its discovery. The mighty orclach was grateful for their assistance, with worried remarks about his wife’s temper, and thanked everyone. To further assist, shovels were provided and the bumbling, clumsy orcs were removed of their addled flesh brains in favour of animated skeletons to Hethklyff’s approval. Still today Hethklyff digs for the day he will bring his bride to a brand new home, made by his hands, but what did he care about a worthless chest and some old parchment…? Perhaps that parchment was worth something after all like that one fellow, Laurent, later explained? **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Newsletter July 2017](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/07/10/newsletter-july-2017/) **Published:** July 10, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png)](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Lusternia Gets a Facelift ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/nelcouch-216x300.png "nelcouch - Lusternia") ### Website Facelift! Check out the new [website](https://www.lusternia.com/). We’ve updated the entire look and feel which should be sleeker and easier to navigate around. Most especially, the new Portal page is an easy access interface to view in-game news, messages and logs. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to resolve the artisanal/bardic section and therefore are pausing these contests until we come to an arrangement that works best for everyone. Note that we will probably combine the bardic contest with the library contest and keep it all in-game. Be sure to check out the audiobooks in the history section, which includes those previously unreleased! ### Massive Guild Facelift The biggest and most exciting change in Lusternia so far this year was a complete reworking of the guild system. No longer does a guild represent a class which populated city and communes with 4-5 guilds each; rather, there are now three guilds in each major player organization, representing a specific outlook and philosophy. Any class can join any guild, which means the guilds are much more roleplay-centric, representing a true political or social faction. #### City of New Celest When the Tide Lords on the Elemental Plane of Water began churning with displeasure and malcontent, New Celest was threatened with the terrors of the Red Tide. [Read more on the entire story.](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/05/the-turning-tides-of-new-celest/) The events that took place destroyed the old guilds and gave birth to the three modern guilds: - Ecclesiarchy of Light - Archons of Justice - Sanctifiers of Saint Loathys #### Commune of the Serenwilde Forest Dark prophesies followed the marriage of two centaur elders in the Serenwilde Forest, revealing an ancient enemy of the White Hart known as the Black Striped Warrior that plunged the forest into bitter war. [Read more on the entire story.](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/05/the-tale-of-the-black-striped-warrior/) In the aftermath, the three guilds that now comprise the forest are known as: - Sowers of the Last Seed - Listeners at the Veil - Allied Tribes of the Wodewoses #### City of Magnagora When the dark bells tolled at midnight, a sequence of events in Magnagora led to the discovery of a curse so dark and unnatural that it broke the city itself. [Read more of the entire story.](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/01/when-the-bells-toll-in-magnagora/) By manipulating dark prophesies and through will alone, the citizens rose from the ashes to form the three guilds that now reside in the Engine of Transformation: - Iniquitous Society - Heralds of Dark Fates - Infernal Mandate #### City of Hallifax When static interrupted the Celebration of Innovation, glitches and malfunctions in the Crystal Resonance Tower threw the entire City of Hallifax into disharmony, heralding a failure cascade that threatened to plunge the floating city to the ground. [Read more of the entire story.](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/07/by-the-power-and-will-of-the-collective/) Through precise logic and orderly administration, catastrophe was averted and the Collective reformed into three new guilds: - Grand Aerie for Harmonious Refinement - Skylark Consortium for Collaborative Advancement - Adherents of Adom #### City of Gaudiguch It started with an unwelcome guest that turned into a horde of unwelcome guests. When the Great Pyramid exploded, Gaudiguch knew that the horde of butterflies released could only mean one thing: violent change on a grand scale. [Read more of the entire story.](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/10/gaudiguch-from-the-ashes/) Riding the wave of chaos is the one thing the City of the Free know how to do best, and they rose from the ashes to form three guilds: - Seekers of Illumination - The Revelry - Goon Squad #### Commune of Glomdoring Forest An ancient Fae legend stirred in the Glomdoring Forest: the greev, named reaper by the Fae, the culler of that which was weak and unworthy. One by one, the weaknesses of the Glomdoring Forest either fell to the skittering nehvgree or were transformed, becoming greater and stronger for their encounter with the reaper’s might. In the greev’s wake were born three guilds, nurtured by the corpses of that which had gone before: - The Swarm - The Auguries of the Dark Heart - The Thornwatch ## Duum for the Humanistic League Deep in the dark muddy waters of the Balach Swamp, the Humanistic League delved into mysteries better left uncovered of what became of the human colony lost so many decades ago. Unfortunately what they discovered was a secret so hideously corrupt and terrible that it threatened to swallow them and the entire Basin of Life into madness. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/02/duum-for-the-humanistic-league/) ## Battle for the Wheel The Wheel of the Goloths is an artifact from the Vernal Wars so dangerous and malevolent that it bends time itself. When the artifact activated and released sileni and nagasith from the past, not even the Time Dames could stop the disaster unleashed. Could the stalwart vigilance of a certain tae’dae and his compatriots save time itself? [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/05/battle-for-the-wheel/) ## Trialante, the Untamed Muse What could the omens be when a strangely unusual number of sparrows descended on the Serenwilde Forest raising a haunting harmony of birdsong? Alas, it led to the bittersweet fate of the Voice of Trialante who still resided in the ruins of the fallen Spiritsinger Guildhall. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/07/01/trialante-the-untamed-muse/) ## Calendar - July 1-31: Credit Sale Promotion: for every purchase of credits, you will receive 30% bonus credits! Also, the artifact cart is once again open for direct purchase of certain artifacts on the website at a steep discount. Some artifacts are only available in the cart and new artifacts have been released. All promotions available on the [Credit Page](https://www.lusternia.com/credits/). - July 2: Wild Nodes! - July 16: Wild Nodes! - July 30: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) **Categories:** Newsletter --- ### [The Turning Tides of New Celest](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/05/the-turning-tides-of-new-celest/) **Published:** May 5, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/tidelords-216x300.jpg "tidelords - Lusternia")During the month of Tzarin in the year, 471 ACE for reasons still not known the Tide Lord Murlough of the Red Tide began expressing displeasure that the city of New Celest worshipped and venerated the Supernals while knowing nearly nothing of the Tide Lords and often ignoring them. Daebach was the first to come to the aid of Lord Murlough trying to appease the Tide Lords vowing that the people of Celest cared for them deeply and defended them with their lives, but Murlough was stubborn and would not be swayed from his conviction and insistence that while the Supernals had many statues and signs of reverence, the Tide Lords had either only one or no statues of themselves within the city. While Isabaeu unsuccessfully tried to ask Lord Murlough for information about all the Tide Lords, Jesa went to the Aquamancer library and brought what little scrolls could be found about each Tide. During the conversation, Lord Murlough attempted to show the seriousness of the situation by suggesting that a Red Tide would be coming. Misunderstanding the reference to change and rebirth, many in Celest believed that an attack on the city of New Celest would arrive in the next month if the Tide Lords were not properly mollified. While Daebach and Kreon searched far and wide to understand just where exactly the Tide Lords came from and who exactly they were, Aelmy attempted a contest to gain rituals and crafted items for the Tide Lords but gained little traction having only been offered a recipe for a cupcake. At this same time, some argued that the Red Tide was a process of rebirth and the people of Celest should do nothing, and just accept whatever change was to arrive. Looking to their Allies, Daebach consulted with Trisanna from Serenwilde and Doman from Hallifax learning about the nature of the Tide Lords but misunderstanding a few key details. The deadline for the assumed arrival of the Red Tide nearing, many returned to the Lord Murlough including Tridemon who, with his vast store of knowledge of lore and history explained in full the nature of the Tide Lords, commenting that while the Supernals granted many gifts and were worthy of adoration and worship, the Tide Lords were most inert and uninterested in the people offering no gifts or powers. Enraged by Tridemon’s words, Lord Murlough briefly consulted with the other Tide Lords and under their strange condition, they agreed to withhold the power of Aquamancy from those connected to the Pool of Stars, reminding many of why in an alternate timeline, Aquamechanics was discovered. Angry, upset and confused, the atmosphere in New Celest quickly worsened, splitting the people between those who wished spread worship of the Tide Lords, those who felt something was off and warned of caution, and those who felt the Tide Lords were acting like spoiled children and deserved nothing but contempt. While researching the accusations against New Celest, Auriella noticed that while Murlough claimed no statues of him existed, there was actually one statue and that something was off, even though there was some truth to the claims of Lord Murlough. When the deadline finally arrived, Auriella working with Cassander approached the Tide Lords and explained that going forward, New Celest would remember that Light without Water was a desert, but that Light with Water is a paradise, and having written a short treatise on the unification of Water and Light pleased the Tide Lords such that they returned the art of Aquamancy and no longer took out their anger and resentment against the people of New Celest. Then, in Juliary of 471 the incident with the Tide Lords, like a flash flood, leaving the minds of the people as quickly as it came Taer noticed a strange creature, a baby crabstrosity arrive on the plane of water. Attracted to the emotions of vanity, resentment, and anger coming from the Tide Lords, which were amplified within the clear and pure waters of the Plane of Water, the baby crabstrosities arrived through the aetherspace and quickly infested not only the plane of water, but also Celestia, the city of new Celest, the Inner Sea, and beaches across the basin. In addition to these horrendous mutations of lobstrosities invading, and laying foul roe eggs which polluted the waters and emitted a diseased gas, the baby crabstrosities were adapting to every attack such that, as Jesa first noted, one member from each guild of New Celest was required to destroy the horrendous beasts. However, the guilds were fragmented and it was days until the people were able to find one member from each guild to clear out the baby crabstrosities in a timely manner, eventually relying on Firu and Dak to clear the first wave. Noting that the situation was untenable, the people of New Celest went out to look for other solutions. Caleb, thinking that the baby crabstrosities were the Red Tide promised sought advice from the Tide Lords, but they knew nothing that could help. Tridemon spoke to Praetorian Hamos, a kephera who recently came to guard Lady Elohora and Celestia from the creatures, being given advice to seek a weapon to destroy the eggs left behind by the baby crabstrosities. After consulting with Lady Shakiniel, Lady Elohora, and Lord Methrenton, Tridemon brought the powerful Pearl Staff of Rushing Waters which Methrenton was able to use to forge a new weapon, the Flowing Staff of Sanctification. Armed with the new weapon to destroy the eggs, hope flowed through New Celest, yet the crabstrosities kept on arriving from aetherspace and the people could clear them quickly enough, requiring five people to destroy a single creature. Returning to Lady Elohora, Tracy, Kreon, Ryobi, and Romaan were gathered to Celestia to seek a resolution and wisdom. Lady Elohora noted that the guilds charged with protecting the elemental plane of Water, and the cosmic plane of Celestia were unable to fulfil their duties. She also noted asked what would happen if a member of Celest without a guild attempted to destroy the best. Lynnie volunteered to try, yet before he could return to Prime and test the theory, the selfless and valiant member of the Cantors and Paladins stated with clear conviction that for the betterment of New Celest they would accept the dissolution of their guilds. Based on the words of the people of New Celest, Lady Elohora severed the bindings that kept the guilds together, declaring a new age of New Celest where all would be in one guild, united against any threat, no matter which plane of creation the threat arrived on. And so in the month of Juliary, 471 ACE, the guilds of New Celest all disbanded, and Kreon, Caleb, Kagato and Auriella set forth for many days, now guildless, to destroy the baby crabstrosities who were unable to adapt quickly enough to the changing styles which the Celestians used to destroy the threat. With the Flowing Staff and Sanctification, and their new determination, the people of Celest, acting as one, and united as one were able to remove the baby crabstrosities and their roe eggs, yet still the pollution remained, and the baby crabstrosities, though easily dispatched, continue to flow into the elemental plane of Water. Then in the month of Shanthin, 471 a krokani hymnodist of Raziela named Zeasha Novikei, from the famous krokani bannerhouse came to New Celest to help cheer up the people from their loss of guilds, having heard of their plight. After learning the full story, Zeasha noted how odd the behaviour of the Tide Lords was before the arrival of the infestation and suggested that she could sing a hymn to them to remind them of who they are and how they are cherished. When the hymn was sung, to the surprise of everyone, the crabstrosities looked confused and aimless, and some even went back to aetherspace. However, Zeasha wasn’t certain how to end the hymn. With the help of Daebach, who held a contest until Estar of 472, and Auriella a new hymn was written and performed before the voice of Rhapsody who agreed to sing the song to the Lords of Tide as a constant vigil to keep the crabstrosities away for good. While the new hymn was being worked on, another traveler from far away, Yanitone Symfale, from the famous Symfale family of ship captains, heard that the children in New Celest were suffering from a horrible disease caused by the pollution, and despite the efforts of the people of Celest, kept getting sick again and again. So, Yaniton, a merchant marine brought to New Celest a shipment of 6,000 purity wafers bolstered by healers from far off lands which helped the children boost their immunity and be more receptive to the purity wafers offered to them. Using the new shipments, Jesa and Kagato were able to quickly heal the children, though Yanitone stayed to see what other help he could provide for the poor and sick, the ones most often overlooked during times of crisis such as this one. With the crabstrosities gone, the children healed, and the Tide Lords acting one again like their normal selves, all that remained was the pollution from the eggs which needed to be cleaned up. Towards this goal, Lord Loch of the Low Tide helped empower the Flowing Staff of Sanctification such that it could sanctify entire areas, and return them to their clean and pristine state. After days of hard work investigating all of New Celest, Reyqae and Tridemon found a few stubborn areas which the staff could not cleanse, and so with a trusty old bucket, Reyqae scrubbed while Tridemon supervised, and the threat, and effects of the invasion of the crabstrosities, and the odd behaviour of the Tide Lords was finally resolved. Then in Urlachmar of 472, three unrelated events transpired. Yanitone Symfale, having watched the city and listening to the words of Grand Duchess Bleuu, request aid in building a community centre for the poor and sick of New Celest, calling it the Rising Tide Community Centre, for the rising tide lifts all ships. Around the same time Elohora announced a desire for a new form a worship, one united to a single purpose of balanced knowledge, and called for a Lighthouse to be built on a newly discovered island to house the Church of the Guiding Star, devoted to both herself and Lord Loch of the Low Tide, in recognition of the achievements that can be made when Light and Water come together to form a paradise. Then, learning the story of the Lovers and saint Loathys from Tridemon, Zeasha contemplated what she could do to help restore sanctity, balance and purpose to the guildless New Celest. While Yanitone and Hamos called to the people to donate material to build their new projects, Zeasha meditates and looked inward searching for answers. While New Celest was in this vulnerable state, the tainted heathens of Magnagora conducted a ritual, weakening Lady Raziela and invaded Celestia slaying her. Seeing the power of the new Flowing Staff of Sanctification, Lord Methrenton remembered the ancient shrine of Saint Loathys which was currently not as pure and sanctified as it could be. Making use of the staff, Lord Methrenton had the shrine sanctified, and using the innate connection between the shrine and himself, Lord Methrenton summoned forth a fiery host of righteous burning angels attacking and penetrating the city of Magnagora and the psychic shield which the Necromentate projected to protect the city. By some dark ritual, Magnagora retaliated with a great wall of the Midnight Legion striking New Celest. Though the Star of Celest protected the people inside the city, it collapsed, and the poor and destitute who resided outside the city walls were destroyed and turned into wights. Kreon single handedly destroyed the wight army, and though he was unable to save the shanty towns and soup kitchens outside the city walls, even with the Flowing Staff of Sanctification, he was able to return normalcy to the rest of the city. Then, in Dioni of the year 472 ACE, Hamos declared that a Church is not just a building and that people would be needed to join the Ecclesiarchy of Light to lead. Yanitone shouted that the community centre itself would not be enough and called for like-minded individuals to join together as Archons of Justice to help keep New Celest from forgetting those who are often forgotten. And finally, Zeasha awoke from her meditations to call on the people who wished to restore New Celest and all that was wrong in the world, to join the Sanctifiers of Saint Loathys. Where will these new guilds take the city of New Celest in the years to come? What caused the Tide Lords to behave erratically and set off this whole chain of events? Will the Lighthouse of the Guiding Star spread the teachings of the new church behind the Ecclesiarchy? Will the Sanctifiers manage to cleanse the world of corruption and achieve Lumosis? Will the Archons of Justice keep New Celest focused and protect those who are unable to protect themselves? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Tale of the Black-Striped Warrior](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/05/the-tale-of-the-black-striped-warrior/) **Published:** May 5, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/centaur-220x300.jpg "centaur - Lusternia")In the wake of the marriage between the centaur elder Tokota and his beloved Adushoc, the Serenwilde found themselves embroiled in a mystery. Shadows grew, whispers murmured, and strange visions danced at the corners of one’s eyes. At first, this occurrence was time: a minor ill omen that seemed to some like the awakening of an ancestor or other unknown spirit. However, as the autumn days grew longer and colder, these signs turned exceedingly worse. Indeed, several days past before a shriek cut through the communetop shops, forcing Aeldra Ladyn, Selenity Sweetpaw, and Anita and Ejderha Strongleaf to race to the scene. There, they found a disturbing sight: a brutally murdered faeling, her wings pinned down. Elenra, as she was recalled, was a frequent visitor to the Gargling Pixie. The fear of those assembled was that her death was the beginning of a dark plot, which lead to High Priestess Aramel Shevat to seek out the advice of Moon Priestess Ridien as the others interned the corpse to the embrace of the earth. Ridien, at this time, had been studying texts herself, for she too felt this coming presence. And as those who mourned the faeling moved to Moondance Tower, the conversation turned to spirits, blood magic and a threat against the forest. The Moon Priestess suggested waking the mighty ancestor, Chuchip, and the forest did, hearing a cryptic prophesy that lent many scouring to discern its meaning: “Blackness tinged with blood and flame draws over the Seryn for his game. Young and old fall to his will as the wind falls silent and deadly still. Madness shall reign in acts of five, and blood shall spill from the white-bone knife. Rejoice and dance, you people free, for the trees shall grow in groves of three.” From many did Serenwilde seek to illumine the meaning of this verse: from the Maiden of the Moonhart to Eurytus and Cataka, to finally White Hart Himself. The Stag Spirit sensed something familiar with this presence and urged the forest to try to peer through the veil into the realm of spirits. The Shelterfolk travelled to the ancient grove of the Hartstone, and there, in the light of the full moon, they danced around a sacred fire. Ethereal creatures poured in to join, as the beat of a drum echoed throughout the forest. There, a vicious tear gave sight of a bare-chested man, black gashes upon his chest like a while animal. Returning to White Hart, the Spirit gave a name, and an ancient enemy was remembered once more: Delosidir, the Black-Striped. Unknown to most, the story of Delosidir was, in fact, the same story known to the Serenguard as the story of the Foolish Warrior: he who shunned the ritual and traditions of his people, who attempted to best the Spirits and failed. It was Cataka who explained that Delosidir came from the ancient tribe of Serens known as the Wodewoses, and as such, he was far older than anyone knew. The arrival of the Black-Striped heralded more slaughter, as he picked off faeling, elfen and cooks alike. But it was in late Juliary did his twisted plans truly begin. Fire and shadows overtook the canopies, and as the Serenwilde fought to bring both the heel, it was soon discovered that they originated from the Lodge of the Serenguard. Bursting through the doors, they found Kota Truehoof – the newest Brave – in combat with Master Eurytus. They fought and the younger thrust his weapon through the chest of the elder, darkness around him and in his eyes. As Eurytus lay dying, Kota rushed away and used the blood of the tutor to break the Magnolia Lock and free the dreaded Mistdancer, Fiabelhie Stillriver. A terrible alliance, Delosidir and Fiabelhie spent month after month bringing devastation to the Serenwilde. The Warrior set the treehouse of the Spiritsingers aflame and forced the Voice of Trialante to depart by the screams of a banshee; the Mistdancer and her naiads drowned the sacred halls of the Shofangi. Master Osierti sought to fight back the fell spirit, but his blows failed to find purchase, he falling victim to her noxious touch. Not long after, Delosidir continued his plan, using dark blood magics to snuff the Flame of Glinshari as Fiabelhie’s naiads raided Moondance Tower. In a final ploy to stop them both, Moon Priestess Ridien forced the Tower to collapse. However, this strike did little to set them back as Delosidir caused the Flame to go out. Without the blue fire to protect the Serenwilde or Hart, the Black-Striped struck against White Hart, tearing an antler from his head to harm the pale Moon Spirit. Bloodied and weakened, Moon fluctuated between two states: a raging Full Moon known as the Sanguine Moon and the weakened, hidden New Moon known as the Darkened Moon. As Serenwilde buried their fallen, any inkling of hope appeared lost for so too did the Moonhart Mother Tree die without its spirits. But all was not lost. The Serenwilde sought answers from their ancestral spirits, but instead, they met a green-skinned elfen man. Gifting them with a curious dowsing rod, Serenwilde was led on a chase through the forest, using the magical trinket to break a concealment spell that revealed a pocket to the Ethereal Plane. There, they found Sparrow Longfellow, an unusual and new fae, who guarded the Last Seed – a prophesy and dream shared between Ellindel Treeheart and Glinshari Strongleaf. This seed, this hope gave Serenwilde a plan, for before they had already begun to stand against the threat of Delosidir and Fiabelhie. This plan of the Serenwilde, heralded by the Last Seed, led them to the Snow Valley to ask for the assistance of the daughter of Chief Orovosh. This woman, Lalenna Hhuhur, it would be discovered soon after, was actually the reincarnation of the very first Wodewose Awedhel, and Spirit Warrior of Serenguard legend, who would do battle with Delosidir. Aided by Dain, Nature Guide, Serenwilde requested her to relive her old memories, and she agreed, falling into a coma for a month’s time. As glah’rai naiads and shadows loomed, Serenwilde fought, waited and protected Lalenna, hoping she would recall a way out of their current situation. Lalenna did. Or rather, Awedhel did. And when the igasho woke, she led the Serenwilde in a ritual to heal the ailing Moon. No longer forced beneath the reddened light of the Sanguine Moon, or the shadowed face of the Darkened, Moon was silver hale again. United with Moon again, the Moonhart Mother Tree returned to life, allowing the Serenwilde to revive White Hart and begin preparations to reignite the Flame of Glinshari. As this process began, Dain asked the Serenwilde for a way to get rid of Fiabelhie once and for all, and so began a long conversation – a debate really – about sacrifice, the Dreaming and victory. In the end, Fiabelhie was banished, but Dain too was lost. Victory was imminent and Serenwilde rallied their spirits – both Great and ancestral – against the Black-Striped Warrior. As Seren after Seren slew the shadowy manifestations, they struck at Delosidir and brought him beneath their blades. The spirits of the forest struck too, tearing the dark spirit and cursing him into proper oblivion. Finally, the Serenwilde would know peace! But peace in ruin. As every good Seren knows, the cycle continues. Where there is loss, there will be recovery. In death, there is life. In those dark months, Serenwilde lost many friends and allies, but also they lost their most sacred institutions: the great Coven and Circle were no more, the Serenguard and Spiritsingers were burnt to ash, and the Shofangi drowned beneath the Moon Lake. But once more came that green-skinned man. Speaking of unity, hope and the reminder that Serenwilde persists eternal, he revealed himself to be the still-living Glinshari Strongleaf. Beneath new banners will the Serenwilde continue on and it was so. No longer is Serenwilde home to the Moondancers, Hartstone, Serenguard, Spiritsinger, or Shofangi guilds. But instead find new communities: the Sowers of the Last Seed, the Listeners at the Veil, and the Allied Tribes of the Wodewoses! **Categories:** News --- ### [Deception and Madness Unleashed](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/09/deception-and-madness-unleashed/) **Published:** May 9, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/aslaran-225x300.jpg "aslaran - Lusternia")Chiku Swiftpad had never really been outside the Shanthmark Lodge. She was devoted to her studies, and more than a little determined to exceed the others in their meditations and their trials. It was a pleasant surprise to her, therefore, to be called before the Soothsayer Adaeze with a personal mission – and one that would take her far away from Shanthmark at that. Adaeze explained that the Lodge had been in possession of a box, or more specifically the parchment contained within it. None of them had ever been able to read more than a few words, for it was in the Divine script, but nonetheless they had kept it guarded and protected. Long ago, it was said, the Lodge had made a promise that they would keep it safe – and that on the appointed day, at the appointed time, they would bring it to those that could help. So Chiku Swiftpad took the ancient parchment and made her way towards Avechna’s Peak. There, she knew, gathered those who had passed through the Portal of Fate. They would be able to help – they would be the best people to give the parchment to. But on her way, she was waylaid by fink bandits who leapt out of Newton Caverns and dove to snatch her treasure from her. At once she began to shout for help – desperate for aid, and aid she did get, though it took more than a moment for her to be found. Those brave adventurers fought off her attackers and, grateful, Chiku began to explain to them what it was that she was doing. Despite a few scuffles with Enadonella of Gaudiguch – the training of the Hallifaxian protectorates overcoming Chiku in her distress – Chiku was eventually calmed by Nelras Shevat. Confirming with her that the parchment was a Verse of Magnora, the adventurers decided that an expedition into Newton was required. Xalfiin of Hallifax successfully located the one novice in the realms, but alas that they did not understand his request. All was not lost, however, for Tridemon Regalis of New Celest returned armed with Newton Pale Ale. Alone he ventured into those Caverns that had been home to all adventurers in their youth, where he spoke with Mother Mucka. When speech proved not to be fruitful, he turned then to desperate begging – or at least, a performance of it. Eventually Mucka capitulated, and the Verse was returned both to Tridemon and then to Chiku. Those present read from that Verse, which was numbered MXXIX, the following fragment: In hate the serpent has begun so heed this gift from through the years: the ways shall close, each one by one, when death embraces war’s own spear. Debate raged at once as to its meaning, but Chiku was focused on her mission. She had, she said, to ensure that it reached as many people as possible. So at the suggestion of Prince Kreon Zayah, she was taken to Weeky Pedia that the Verse should be archived for all to access. Weeky Pedia confirmed the origin of the Verse, and placed it there on display for many adventurers to see – and a few more to miss as it stood there under their very noses. Thanking her saviours and assistants, Chiku Swiftpad returned to the Shanthmark Lodge. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A month passed, and with it came visitors to the organisations of the Basin of Life. Serenwilde was first to receive such visitors. Sakima Stonemane, leader of the Hifarae Herd, came to pay his respects at Master Eurytus’s cairn. He was led there by Tamsin of the Listeners and Urdnot Strongleaf of the Sowers, who stood by him as he paid his respects. Overwrought by emotion, Sakima began to rage at the cairn, at the loss, at the death that had pervaded the Serenwilde in the passing months. To that his escorts had little to say that could truly comfort him – for it was true. They believed in a better world, but it was true that they had suffered much. They were grateful therefore when an elderly centaur joined them and offered some measure of calm to her younger compatriot. Clearly a stargazer by her dress and ritualistic staff, the centaur spoke with the three of them of the future of the Herd, of augury and of Fate, of seeking life where there seemed only to be death. During this time they were joined by Selenity Sweetpaw of the Wodewoses, and briefly Eadeol Sweetpaw of the Listeners. Together the group calmed Sakima, and to him the stargazer offered a solution – or a way towards one. There was a ritual of the centaur, she explained, that would give them insight in this time of unknowns. Sakima protested at once – he was not an augur but a warrior. He knew nothing of such things, and would leave it to the wise such as she to puzzle out. But the stargazer rebuffed his protest, and explained that her age made it impossible for her to complete the ritual alone. Filled with gratitude and buoyed by the support of the Shelterfolk, Sakima agreed to assist and the two of them departed. In the empty space that remained, Selenity made an offering to Eurytus, begging his insight and his wisdom in these troubling times. Perhaps even then she had a sense that something was wrong; perhaps it was simply the culmination of months of pain and panic. Either way, she was right to seek wisdom – for not all was as it seemed. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scorpions crawled within the undergrowth of the Glomdoring Forest, surging their way to the Master Ravenwood and coalescing into a shrouded form. Aetakyla Ysav’rai was frustrated. She had wanted to learn, and learn more, that she could better serve the Wyrd – so focused was she on her trouble that she did not at first see the figure that rose before her. When she did it was to even more perplexing conversation, a confusion shared by her fiance Grissom when he joined her thereafter. For the figure did not speak plainly, and it assumed knowledge that neither of them – being still young and still learning – had quite formulated. Eventually the two of them triumphed, realising that the figure before them was some manner of envoy of Grandmother Scorpion, and that she wished to speak with her Voice. They sought the assistance of Dark Seneschal Veyils Ysa’vrai and Athree of the Thornwatch, who had been long in the Grandmother’s service and was devout in his following of her. Astonished, but unwilling to risk the Great Spirit that had been his guide for so long, Athree led the figure and the others to the Scorpion Caverns. There they spoke with Wise Lady, Voice of the Grandmother – who much like Athree was at first incredibly sceptical. Grandmother Scorpion, after all, did not appear in apparitions. She did not come in figures or speak without great effort and great ritual. She challenged the figure before her – who spoke to her as her Grandmother would. Who knew things only her Grandmother knew. Who could see things only her Grandmother could see. Wise Lady prostrated herself before the figure, and the Glomdoring – still overwhelmed – followed suit. The figure explained that the world was under the shadow of prophecy – that ripples from the destruction of the guilds were buffeting it with rampant winds and that she feared for what was to come. But, she said, even she could not discern that future. Even she, with her great foresight. Wise Lady asked how she could help, and the figure explained that there was a ritual – a ritual that she would grant the knowledge of. Gifting her with this wisdom, the figure faded, and Wise Lady left. She had work to do. Shaken by what he had witnessed, Athree returned to the Glomdoring and penned to the Wyrd an explanation of what had passed. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In Gaudiguch, a crowd gathered in a tavern. This in itself was of course quite normal – except they had a guest. Zortura Iborchi styled herself as an Overseer, but her hosts quickly discovered that she was more than a little unemployed. Showing her to a bar and a drink, Danquik of the Goon Squad, Revellers Breandryn Silvermoon, Kalas Malarious, Kistan, and Eritheyl Ryseni were mildly perplexed as Iborchi explained that she was there to see the Grand Cipher. With a mixture of cheerfulness and sadness, the group explained that the Grand Cipher was no more – not through death, but through destruction. But this did not dissuade the dracnari – rather, it emboldened her. For if there was no Grand Cipher, was she not off duty? And if she was off duty, was it not time for a drink – and to let down one’s tentacles? Despite her hosts’ repeated attempts to get her to discuss her work, Iborchi knocked back half a dozen drinks in a Gaudiguchan minute (being that time that it takes to imbibe one drink at the local pace) and requested to be taken to see dancers. She had not seen dancers in such a long time – but she was picky. She wasn’t going to take in any low quality Palace of Pleasure show. She wanted the real stars. So the group of Gaudiguchans took Iborchi to Mount Zoaka, where Master Zuzume and his Apprentice Asaami greeted them with surprise and anticipation. From there, matters proceeded with the speed of a woman determined to kick back and relax – Iborchi handed to Zuzume so great a sack of gold that he promptly decreed that she could engage Asaami’s services for an entire month, and urged them into the dressing room. Breandryn Silvermoon was excited. A real firedancer! She had never seen such a thing, and many of the others shared her enthusiasm. It was a disappointment to them all, therefore, when Iborchi insisted on a private show. But no matter. They would see Asaami dance. They just didn’t know it yet. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In New Celest, a nervous trill visited on a matter of business and charity. News had reached Elalioll Wingwhisper of the changes in the city, and knowing as he did that much of his funding came from them – and specifically from the Holy Celestines – he was gravely concerned for the future of the children that he was responsible for saving. Despite his nerves he explained this situation at some length to Meliana and Saoirse Kissane-Ladyyn of the Eccelesiarchy. The two of them, assisted thereafter by Prince Kreon Zayah, explained to Elalioll that the guilds as he knew them were gone – but that they each lived on in the things that they believed. They had just begun to attempt an explanation of the new guilds, no simple thing given how new they were, when a young merian Archon arrived. Where the Prince, an Archon himself, had just begun to explain the role of the Archons as protectors of the innocent and weak, the young merian stepped in and continued. Elalioll was taken by the Archon’s explanation, and the adventurers grateful for his intervention – for they had begun to become confused by what more they needed to do to comfort the trill. But the Archon mentioned the Community Centre and Wingwhisper was at once taken by the thought of such a place. At the Prince’s agreement, the Archon led Elalioll away such that he could be given a full explanation and tour. The two of them departed the city some time later, headed for the Blasted Lands. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Clarramore Cloud Gardens, a cacophony of alarmed swansong rippled out. Concerned for the welfare of those present, Kiradawea Startail of the Grand Aerie made her way to investigate. There she came across Taelo Aves and one of the Clarramore gardeners. The young trill was greatly distressed at his inability to calm the swans, and there was little that the elderly gardener could say to comfort him, though he tried at length. Eventually he and Kiradawea were able to calm Taelo enough, and it was then that Kiradawea made an unlikely suggestion. Had he ever, she asked, considered keeping a diary? At first Taelo was confused, but she quickly explained that it would allow him to see when he was making progress with the swans. When he was learning, and making his father happy. Taelo wanted very much to please his father, but he knew only rudimentary letters – it would be difficult for him to complete such a task. Fortunately, the gardener with him explained that they were required to keep meticulous records, and that he would be more than happy to help. Pleased with this arrangement of things, Kiradawea left the two of them to their work, and expressed a hope that Taelo would feel better about his attempts with the swans. With her gone, the young boy set about to learning with a passion and fervour. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A month passed. During that time some few experienced strange visions and strange sounds as they passed through the different regions of the Basin of Life – but since they were fleeting, dismissing them as nothing more than a strange fancy. Until everything started to go very, very wrong. Everyone, adventurer and denizen alike, found themselves beset by strange visions and senses. They were convinced that they stood upon the sky, or that the ground was bleeding, or that they were eating sound. They heard colours and touched visions – and when these strange experiences faded away, they remained convinced that they could feel the tattered edges of the Prime Material Plane as it fluttered. And at that moment, at five locations throughout Lusternia, portals opened – and through those portals transported huge serpentine monsters, three-headed and deadly, surging forward to attack many of the cities and communes of the Basin. Gorgons. At once those present leapt to defend their lands, uncertain what had caused the invasion but sure that it needed to be quelled. Meanwhile, little by little, the portals began to be discovered. There were five in total: one at each of the locations that had been visited the previous month. It did not take long for many of the investigators to realise that they had been duped – but duped by such unnervingly realistic disguises and cons that they wondered at what sort of person or being could possibly have done so. Many began to enter the portals that had appeared, finding themselves beset with more strange visions and being flung to the Astral Plane. This, more than anything else, gave the people of the Basin pause. For was it not nigh impossible to open such a portal, a rift no less, between the Prime and the Astral? To travel between those two planes was not a trivial thing – it could not be – the Astral Plane was by its nature required to be separate, to be kept at bay by the Elemental and the Ethereal and the Cosmic. Something was wrong, and it was not just the things that they could see and feel and hear. In Zoaka, the representatives of Gaudiguch spoke to Zuzume, who at first refused to believe that his Apprentice was behaving out of the ordinary. But at the urging of his interrogators he walked into her room – to discover her dancing around a portal that had not been there before, weaving fire into chaotic patterns that surged forward to fill the portal. Chirbi of the Goon Squad made a valiant attempt to copy Asaami’s dance, and in many ways a successful one – but the visions that beset sent her mad, and left her unwilling to risk continuing. In the Scorpion Caverns, Athree and Grissom led Xenthos An’Ryshe to witness Wise Lady as she murmured prayers to the Grandmother and promised to open the ways. Furious that someone would masquerade as the Great Spirit and take control of her Voice, they went to speak with Asooth’i, the Jade Judge, who agreed with them that the Grandmother would never have appeared in such a form. It was vindication, but too late for comfort. At the Hifarae portal, Sakima Stonemane chanted in strange tongues, whilst the people of Serenwilde spent a great deal of time bringing the corpses of the gorgons and placing them before the portal. For it seemed no matter how many corpses you brought, all of them disappeared – a sign, perhaps, that doing so would close the portal? Of course, none of them thought to check for Dreamweavers. In the Clarramore Cloud Gardens, Kiradawea Startail and Aramel Shevat of the Serenwilde Sowers were alarmed to discover that Taelo Aves was flying around one of the portals, drawing incomprehensible sigils in the air that traced droplets of ice. As the ice flew into the portal and empowered it, more still arrived to witness the unsettling sight. Zitto of the Skylark Consortium turned to recordkeeping as a form of comfort, attempting to copy down the sigils that the trill child was weaving – but it was the opposite of comforting. It overwhelmed him so much that for days afterwards he could not speak straight, nor fully make sense of the world around him. For much time the portal in the Blasted Lands went unnoticed, until Tridemon Regalis spoke to Leihm, seeking her wisdom and guidance. He thought that, perhaps, these gorgons may be of some relative to the Naga – that perhaps she would have some knowledge of them. Whilst she did not, she did assist him in finding his way to the portal in the Blasted Lands, where Elalioll Wingwhisper knelt in supplication to an unseen force. Crowds gathered at each portal. Moments later, almost all of them were dead. Each of the portal’s summoners were consumed by the rifts that they had created: transformed, malformed, distorted by whatever hideous change was rent upon them in the seconds that they sat within the portal’s embrace. When they returned they were monstrosities of their past selves, changed as if they had stood within Project Cosmic Hope itself – and they were angry. The five of them slew all who approached, save those few strong or lucky enough to get away. But with the determination of those who have faced the end of all things almost a dozen times before, the people of Lusternia gathered in armies and slew the five of them one by one. But still the portals remained, and still the power of the Astral Plane seeped into the Basin of Life. Something had to be done. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Black Fist of Urlach was not the first person to have seen the meaning in the Verse of Magnora. That title, if it is such a thing, went most likely to Trueflight Iytha of the Grand Aerie for Harmonious Refinement. But it was Marcella n’Lochli who pursued that meaning with the unstoppable fervour for which she was known, loved and hated. For she knew death, and she knew war – she herself had claimed the spear of war, and knew what it was and knew its ways. It was the solution. She was certain. So as the Basin fought gorgons and the monstrous forms of the portal keepers, Marcella n’Lochli went to the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets. Whilst the portal keepers were revived and defeated again and again, with incredible loss of life, Marcella continued her work. She ignored the plights of the other weaker cities, the deaths of those savages in the communes. She had one focus and one focus alone: Klangratch’s spear, and Urlach’s blessing. At last she held it within her hands, the Sulfurous Spear of Abyssal Torment. An artifact for the ages, war incarnate, the herald of death. She took it first to Korath Chokuul, seeking the blessing of Urlach that she might use the Spear of War to save creation from the ravages of Kethuru’s madness. And though Korath dismissed her, she was not dissuaded – for he did not stop her, nor suggest any other course of action, and that was as good as his approval. Gathering with her city of Magnagora and their allies in the Glomdoring, they went on a mission to clear a way to one of the portals. Slaying its keeper, the group then began to ponder how the spear would do as the Verse had commanded. Eventually, in many ways by accident, Marcella discovered the solution. The spear did not wish to embrace death in the sense of Urlach’s blessing – it needed the power of death. It needed blood, blood that would fuel it, blood for the Vernal God of War that had given it purpose. She offered to it the corpses of the gorgons, one after the other, until the spear was sated and ready – and then with a single thrust of the weapon, she sealed the portal closed, fulfilling the prophecy of the Verse of Magnora. From there, it was only a matter of time before the others fell beneath the might of the Spear of War. Carefully circumventing an invitation to teleport to the Moonhart Mother Tree, Xenthos An’Ryshe led the group as they tore their way through the remaining portal keepers and their charges. One by one they fell beneath the might of the Spear and its prophecy. But soon they began to lack the bodies of the gorgons, and with so few cities and communes now affected by their invasion, the pickings were slim. Nonetheless with the help of Falaeron Shevat of the Grand Aerie, Auriella of the Sanctifiers and Tridemon Regalis, the necessary corpses were gathered. Marcella sealed the final portal, and relief washed over the Basin of Life. In time the madness faded, and with it much of the memory of the terrible visions. The portal keepers themselves, once they returned to life, remembered little of what had happened to them. But for those who had passed through the Portal of Fate, the satisfying end to things was marred by questions. For if nothing else, they were certain that there was no end to the trials of the world. There was no end to Kethuru’s insanity, even sealed away as he was. And there was no end to the number of people who would threaten creation itself. But when they came…when they came, they would find a Basin that was ready to fulfil their destiny. **Categories:** News --- ### [By the Power and Will of the Collective](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/07/by-the-power-and-will-of-the-collective/) **Published:** May 7, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/00002292_0-209x300.jpg "00002292_0 - Lusternia")Like so many things, it began with the celebration of successful innovation and well-deserved congratulations to the team involved in its construction. What could go wrong with a Resonance Tower that could broadcast directly into the minds of every citizen…? Then came the static… — \[ NOISE IN THE MACHINE \] ——————– > Estar 19th, 472 CE: We heard some strange static earlier. Just a little glitch though, nothing to worry about. Sublime Opus Nelras and that new citizen, Halberdier Trueflight Iytha, checked on the new Crystal Resonance Tower and all was functioning as expected. Perhaps a minor miscommunication with a particular announcement, we had plenty of those early on and I am no researcher, just a humble guard with the honour to serve at the most prime duty station, the Matrix. > Estar 24th, 472 CE: What was believed to be an innocent glitch has become so much more. Though Junior Fellow Teleos showed great initiative in attempting to timestudy the anomaly before, nothing could be discerned. That changed today when the ‘static’ turned to a deluge of cryptic transmissions of unknown source. The frequency of anomalies prompted Castellan Yarith Shevat and Marquis Falaeron Shevat to inquire with the Temporal Conclave, which reported equally uncertain and ambiguous information. What could affect our Temporal Conclave so intensely? Even the Voice of Crys was becoming unsettled by the cacophony coming from the Crystal Resonance Tower. Marquis Doman Trueflight was the first to attend the Symphonium’s origin with Grand Libretto Xeii Shevat following with deep concern at the discordant sounds where normally only the most harmonious chords could be found. Even a more martial-minded Commissar can tell something was deeply amiss and the best minds were certainly available in force now to investigate, analyse and attempt repair. Despite best efforts by Engineer Kiradawea Startail and Emeritus Phoebus Windwhisper, mechanically, or perhaps scientifically there was nothing wrong with our Tower. No amount of concussive maintenance was helping this time! Though, even I could not dispute an underlying voice and cryptic message within the broadcast. While Commissar Shedrin Windwhisper and Force Commander Maligorn Shevat attempted to retain an orderly approach to our current situation, Chairman Luce arrived to properly operate the Crystal Resonance Tower. Valiant endeavours were made at various messages to communicate with the mysterious voice or voices beyond, but nothing worked to modulate and amplify the signal without afflicting and assaulting us with extreme incongruous soundwaves in return. I remained on guard through the month, the Crystal Resonance Tower my incoherent and static-filled companion… — \[ INSURGENCE AND CIVIL WAR \] —————- > Urlachmar 13th, 472 CE: With so much focus on addressing the Crystal Resonance Tower’s anomaly, my daily analysis did not foresee the threat to my own charge. As Cloud Keeper it is my duty to monitor the continued health of the Air Plane. Every aspect of Hallifax has been affected by the anomaly, it was only a matter of time yet I too was assisting in containment of the Tower’s malfunction. Then, the insurgents came. Every piece of equipment at my disposal clanged and warbled alerts and warnings. We had to act fast! But wait, why were my own aeromancers assaulting the Plane of Air? This is not logical! Desist! Not a one listened. They were crazed and mad with overzealous focus upon their mission… > Urlachmar 15th, 472 CE: We dealt with the immediate threat, but it was all too clear that these insurgents were brethren, fellow citizens of a kind. This Commissar hopes to never see another day when the Collective fights amongst itself so fiercely again. I maintained my post, guarding renewed efforts by Sublime Opus Nelras Shevat and Engineer Kiradawea Startail to broadcast with the Crystal Resonance Tower as everything in the city seemed to crumble. We told our children not to worry, but it is a dark day when our own reliable and proven science is so perplexed we find few options available towards resolution. These last few days exuded a sense of loss and confusion we are unaccustomed to. > Urlachmar 16th, 472 CE: The insurgent threat nearly prompted me to close the link to the Plane of Air from the Matrix, but then we might have been equally vulnerable and at their mercy. So long as the Matrix itself was not at risk, my choice was clear and my place was by its side with the current crisis. It was well, for by remaining I learned and witnessed what few others might appreciate; a masterful interrogation of wit and words by the Lord Portius Nitraedes. Apparently these insurgents were familiar with his work and were persuaded to speak their intentions. Perhaps they hoped to gain a new comrade in this time to assist their mission. A foolish musing by them, but worked to our favour. The Lord Librarian was able to convince the insurgents of his earnestness in their cause, loosening their tongues to reveal the motivation and reasoning for their aggression at their own fellow comrades. Despite evidence to the contrary, the insurgents were attempting to prevent harm to the Beacon of Harmony and avert a crisis in which the Board was allowing the city to destroy itself. The one claimed, in front of witnesses (Emeritus Phoebus Windwhisper, Engineer Kiradawea Startail, Commissar Shedrin Windwhisper and Lord Portius Nitraedes), that even the Matrix would come under threat. Now I was paying much closer attention, but I saw no fluctuations in the energies of our Nexus. The only thing clear, our Collective future was in grave danger. > Urlachmar 17th, 472 CE: We’re not so high and mighty like these lords and ladies of the Upper Wards, so yeah, we do gossip on occasion. How else should servants entertain themselves between chores? Or during chores, eh? But we heard, through the most reliable channels of course, that that Lord Nitraedes did even better! He cornered one of those insurgents and tricked her good. He can be sly that one, but no less loyal to the Collective. He pretended to be a malcontent and got her singing like a canary! Hah! Poor thing thought she knew his nature. He reported everything he heard straight off to the Sentinels and Force Commander Maligorn Shevat. Those insurgents, hah, like religious zealots worshipping half-formed gods. They really thought if they could cut our tie to the Elemental Plane of Air it’d prevent the war with New Celest and thus the civil war. We couldn’t help but giggle a bit at how illogical this splinter group seemed. We can assure you, as servants, we don’t throw out the dirty clothes with the dirty water like that! — \[ SACRIFICE AND DUTY \] ———————- > Urlachmar 17th, 472 CE: Another pens my thoughts in what the mortals call the ‘common tongue’ and I hope I have done enough justice in my memories so they may write a comprehensive tale. I am grateful for this one they call Hathi Aves for acting as translator and scribe so my own recollection may be recorded and added to the knowledge of the Collective. I will first say, though I am mute, that does not mean I do not understand what is said around me or what happens in my own home here in the Symphonium hall. Knowing the Crystalline Lord Crys as intimately as any other swan, we understand at a soul-deep level how such discordance from the Tower could grate and enrage His desire for perfection. I found myself hiding and taking shelter from the ominous and perturbing dissonance, but remaining close to the Voice perhaps for a sense of commiseration? It was then that the Sublime Opus Nelras Shevat, Grand Libretto Xeii Shevat, and Marquis Doman Trueflight returned speaking in hushed, urgent whispers about insurgents in the city. I was grateful then to be so protected in the hall, but my friends were not so lucky and free. The weight of their worries were heavy and pregnant in their voices as they returned to find their respected, if not beloved, Voice of Crys in turmoil. What happened next was a miracle to behold… The Grand Libretto Xeii Shevat in an act of ultimate sacrifice submitted herself for the protection of the Voice and the Symphonium. Crys took advantage of the willing vessel and chose to flee the war brewing into the body of His Brother’s shard. Some may think the Crystalline Lord above emotion, but the fear to hide His power and song runs deep from the days of escaping the Soulless God Zenos. The last of his kind, my Sublime Opus, was crushed at his wife’s new condition but even through emotional distress, he knew his duty and returned to the city. Like a tautly pulled string, the Director for the Symphonium held himself together for the good of the Collective. — \[ RESONANT REPARATIONS \] ——————– > Urlachmar 18th, 472 CE: In training we are taught to be on guard for any and all potential transgressors; a covetous geriatric is as likely to steal or commit crimes as a vagrant child when conditions are right. So too do I sometimes wonder about the cunning minds of even our most serene and poised citizens. I came to admire Provost Zyphora Windwhisper’s clever code-breaking skills today as she outwitted the static and brought some semblance of order and comprehension to the discordance. Through the science expertise of Engineer Kiradawea Startail, the aeromantic prowess of Provost Zyphora Windwhisper, the careful monitoring of Primus Gero and the operational efforts of Sublime Opus Nelras Shevat, we finally produced a comprehensible communique and received one in turn. With a few additional modulations, we were able to connect properly with the other side. Something came through the rift and descended upon our Spire of the Lawgivers, but, what? I cannot leave my post, but how I wish I could witness what would come next… — \[ ONE VOTE TO END IT ALL \] —————— > Urlachmar 19th, 472 CE: Few noticed me in the rush to investigate the anomaly, but when we do our jobs well, no one should need notice us or call upon us. As the Senior Administrator says, our place is to ensure the city functions smoothly. The best proof and compliment we can receive is to be invisible and left alone to continue our good work. Normally unflappable and unshakeable, even I found myself in awe at what I witnessed upon entering the Boardroom today. The Archmage, once and always Chairman of Hallifax, Cririk Adom himself stood alive and well patiently awaiting the arrival of every citizen to receive him. Everyone in attendance was amazed and shocked, but the worry in the room was also palpable. I disgracefully admit to a girlish gesture of tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear when I first laid eyes on the Chairman Eternal. The Chairman Eternal explained his presence, briefly, as to not upset the timeline then elaborated on the reasons in more detail. He revealed a future war and internal conflict within the Beacon of Harmony. His next words are forever writ upon my notepad in memory and as a warning: “Disagreement amongst the Collective.” “Different factions begin to manifest within the city.” “Lines drawn primarily by the guilds.” “Hallifax succumbs to civil war.” With minimal discussion and debate, we arrived at the same logical conclusion. By the words of the Chairman Eternal and the Collective citizens, dividing ourselves into guilds by class was wrong and imbalanced. Such a division caused the very dire situation he came to warn us about. So came the moment which would redefine the Collective forever. A formal proposal by the Archmage Cririk Adom to the current Board of Directors to dissolve the guild organisations as they exist today. Completing the quorum, Provost Zyphora Windwhisper represented the Aeromancers and the combination of Commissar Shedrin Windwhisper and Chief Superintendent Portius Nitraedes spoke for the Sentinels. Together with the Board in attendance, Sublime Opus Nelras Shevat and Primus Gero, these five individuals stood for all of Hallifax as a vote was called and made. The Boardroom echoed with the hushed discussions of citizens talking amongst themselves to reach a conclusion within their own organisations on what to do. Suitably prolonged for the issue at hand, the silence stretched moments though I could hear breaths being held then slowly released as each one voted to dissolve the existing guild organisations. In that stoic Executive Boardroom atop a spire in Hallifax the guilds once known as the Centre of Aeromantic Engineering, the Institutional Society of Hallifax for the Improvement of Temporal Knowledge, the Sentinel Company of Temporal Anomalies, and the Symphonium Opera House disbanded with a united and unanimous vote by the power and decree of the Collective. The Chairman Eternal called for the activation of Project Accord, and all sighed as their bonds to those great organisations were sundered. The City of Hallifax will never be the same, but we are not lost or weak. May the wisdom of the Chairman Eternal guide us always: “The Collective is strong because it is both many things and one thing.” “The Collective is strong because it has order and balance.” “Collectivism is Order.” — \[ CONTINUUING EDUCATION \] ——————- > Dioni 20th, year 472 CE: Shameful, that is the only word for it. How easily our city falls prey to the degradation and foolishness of foreigners, Gaudiguchians no less! Surely collective anger and rage is not contagious, yet I may be wrong. What came as an angry mob of rabid beasts from outside our walls soon came within as my fellow citizens scrambled like ants to unite in a common solution with grace and poise. I thought our Collective unity strong enough to remember the Higher Emotions regardless of the Symphonium’s protection of its ideals, but I was wrong. This must be rectified. Immediately. A strong foundation is the basis of proper growth and excellence, so too must Hallifax arise with every ounce of refinement to ensure each new generation receives the lessons of composure. Yes. I shall send a missive immediately and arrange everything. > Vestian 11th, year 472 CE: I should not fault the servants and lower caste for freely discussing my plans, they are of course the superior route and deserve every ounce of indulgence for success. But truly, idle gossip should be curtailed in future. Thankfully my plans were nearly cemented pending discussion with that Senior Administrator. Imagine my astonishment at being beset in my own Gallery by the former Opus Nelras Shevat and former Chairmen Falaeron Shevat with inquiries to what was meant to be a delicate and discreet matter. I shall have to have additional words of etiquette with Miss Clarramore. At least these two fine gentlemen were quite decorous and suitable allies in my project, unlike the handful of other citizens who strode like kings and queens into my Gallery to gape at me like fish. The indignity! Upon our arrival, we found Miss Hilelsa already somewhat engaged with Professor Orventa Trueflight and Lord Portius Nitraedes in divulging my secrets, how unseemly. After a debate about the logistics of finance and real estate, the woman acquiesced and allowed the more capable hands and minds of the Collective accept the project as a mission. Though why we should involve other citizens besides my own personal selection for my project, I cannot imagine. But I suppose tolerance and forbearance are virtues as well. > Vestian 12th, year 472 CE: I am not so proud I cannot admit when the Steel Magnolia is correct. We have witnessed a bit of despairing complacency since the disbanding of our former guilds. Hallifax was not meant to languish this way and it is my job to ensure it does not. Smoother of wrinkles I am, even if my tools of trade are pen, parchment and a financial ledger. But, I refuse to let the Steel Magnolia the satisfaction of my open agreement. Plus, is it not the Hallifaxian way to operate as a Collective? We chose to dissolve them together, we should choose to rebuild new organisations together. I could not have been more pleased at the efficiency and speed of my fellow citizens this day. A contingency of Marquis Shedrin Windwhisper, Marquis Nelras Shevat, Viscountess Xeii Shevat, Viscountess Tirah Mzithrei, Mistress Kialkarkea Diodorus, Marquis Falaeron Shevat, and Marquessa Phoebus Windwhisper left my office confident in their new mission. While others in attendance broke into groups, Lord Portius remained to convince me to not settle only for the Steel Magnolia’s interpretation of our new structure. Though it is not my duty to make such decisions, only implement once decided, I encouraged him to look for like-minded citizens. And so he joined the enterprising efforts to collect public opinion about reorganising into new guilds. — \[ ROCKING THE VOTE \] ———————— > Vestian 12th, year 472 CE: No one has ever asked my opinion before. Today was a day for the history books. I am accustomed to receiving compliments aplenty to bolster my efforts in guarding the city, being ordered to a duty location or set to take a watch cycle, but my opinion? Not that I can recall in my lifetime. Of course I agreed to the benefit of having new guilds. What member of the Collective can possibly disagree with desiring order and structure? The Collectivist Manifesto is very clear about the strength of Order. Marquessa Phoebus Windwhisper seemed to agree with me and promised to forward my thoughts. I am honoured by her sponsorship and the support of Marquis Falaeron Shevat both. > Vestian 12th, year 472 CE: I will not hide my heavy heart from myself, for truly that would be a crime with myself as victim and transgressor, but the days since disbanding the guilds and every moment of uncertainty have taken a toll. Quite an adjustment to what normally should be such a serene life. I was relieved to receive the Marquis Nelras Shevat and Viscountess Xeii Shevat today though with some good news for once. What began as a deeply concerning proposal turned into a bright moment of hope. Long have my days been, given to worry and wonder… pondering things that I have oft thought the Chairman Eternal himself might sympathise with. How I regret my chance. But I will stand strong now, for my convictions and for him. I will not have it said that the Master Artists do not appreciate his words – no, I shall ensure that the Windwhisper Salon is known through the ages for its support. Collectivism is Order. > Vestian 13th, year 472 CE: Probability analyses in the wake of the guilds’ dissolution adequately corroborated the Chairman Eternal’s premise that our guilds could lead to disharmony. The variance was within expected tolerance limits for such an event; .173%. With such overwhelming scientific proof, I was now satisfied fully in our decision to disband, so imagine my surprise when Marquessa Phoebus Windwhisper proposed reforming guilds. I explained my data, expounding upon the main fact that we should not organise again within the confines of class. The Marqessa and Marquis Falaeron Shevat assured me of a change in variables; specifically that the new organisations would welcome all classes. After a quick review of my calculations, such a modification would indeed produce more favourable results for the Collective. My only request was that my agreement was contingent upon an organisation which might continue our progress and innovation. If anything events have taught us, it is that Hallifax must continue to strive and adapt to new calculations and probability analyses to thwart calamities again in future. Let that be part of the legacy of Ai’dayi Lars. > Vestian 13th, year 472 CE: Normally, I do not care much about the goings-on of other citizens. I do my job, do it damned well and the city is brighter for it (and free of pigeon droppings)! But that Lord Nitraedes fellow, he came by and spoke quite practically. I may not be of the high caste, and maybe I never will, but there is a place in Hallifax for us functional citizens. The kind who do their job, every day, even when it is not glorious or romantic. I was proud to back his efforts, and rightly so. He has my respects and I wish him luck. > Vestian 13th, year 472 CE: Guild or no guild, the day I stop saluting is the day I have been ripped irreparably from the Tapestry, but the former Chief Superintendent Portius Nitraedes was a good Sentinel. He tended our group’s interests and continues to do so. When he came to me with his proposal, I was sceptical, just a bit, but I could not deny the logic between him and Lord Zitto Shevat. The Sentinels will not be forgotten so long as we remember to teach Hallifax our ways from within every new guild formed. To the superiority, success and enduring Collective of Hallifax, I vow to serve in any and all capacities as required. > Vestian 14th, year 472 CE: As an Orchestra can only produce its most sublime harmonics through a full complement of musicians, so too does Hallifax operate best when working towards a united and singular goal. Of course it was the former Opus and former Libretto, Nelras and Xeii Shevat, who were considerate enough to remember my place in the Collective’s cooperative efforts today. The two shall be remembered fondly as the last to bear these titles. How could I not support their efforts and the Lady Shalmae Silverplume’s? I did not only support it, I whole-heartedly joined their efforts fully. I could hear the music of Hallifax thrumming in harmony through my heart today. Something momentous was coming. > Vestian 14th, year 472 CE: Whoever said aerochemantics is easy never had to actually maintain an aeroship. Oh I don’t complain, but I had hoped such knowledge would not die with the Aeromancers. My worry was ill-founded because Hallifax will always tend its own. It was fortuitous timing today that an entourage of Marquis Shedrin Windwhisper, Viscountess Tirah Mzithrei, Marquis Falaeron Shevat, former Provost, Lady Zyphora Windwhisper, Marquis Gero, and Master Aagasa Shevat led by Marquessa Phoebus Windwhisper came with a proposal for just that very thing! An education in the Higher Emotions and following the Chairman Eternal, Cririk Adom’s example are all very well and good, but that is not what gets me waking in the morning. My heart beats for science and that moment when your experiment finally succeeds after hours, or even days, of research. I absolutely support new guild organisations, but find myself biased towards that one with a focus on innovation. — \[ THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE \] ——————— MINUTES OF HALLIFAX ADMINISTRATIVE AFFAIRS I. MEETING – CALL TO ORDER: The meeting of the Beacon of Harmony was called to order by Senior Administrator Hilelsa Clarramore. Let the record state that the date is the 14th of Vestian, 472 years after the Coming of Estarra. II. RECOGNITION OF CITIZENS PRESENT: a city administrator Senior Administrator Hilelsa Clarramore Lafu Longplume Senior Researcher Ai’dayi Lars Zedlon Windwhisper, the Ionic Conductor Conductor Fre’zik zi’Prouep Shalmae Silverplume, the Steel Magnolia Captain Irima Ironwing Miella Windwhisper, the Cerulean Skybird Master Aagasa Shevat Viscount Akatriel Trueflight Viscountess Astrina Marquis Ayisdra Ysav’rai Marquis Doman Trueflight Marquis Falaeron Shevat Marquis Gero Labourer Trueflight Iytha Mistress Kialkarkea Diodorus Engineer Kiradawea Startail Marquis Maligorn Shevat Marquis Nelras Shevat Marquessa Orventa Trueflight Marquessa Phoebus Windwhisper Lord Portius Nitraedes Marquis Shedrin Windwhisper Viscount Teleos Viscountess Tirah Mzithrei Librarian Wondir Nitraedes Viscountess Xeii Shevat Lord Zitto Shevat Lady Zyphora Windwhisper III. STAFF COMMENTS: As proposed and initiated by Lady Shalmae Silverplume, the Administration has undertaken the effort to inquire and institute new organisations to continue education of the Collective’s citizens. In the absence of a full Board of Directors, it falls to us – the Collective – to decide how we shall move forward. Were it possible for the remaining members of the Board to be present that would have been preferable, but we shall begin the proceedings regardless. IV. OPEN FLOOR: By the Collective and through the will of the Collective, three organisational proposals were returned for review: 1\) To represent the Higher Emotions, cultural pursuits and altruism – proposed by Lady Shalmae Silverplume 2\) To represent the practical, the economical, the innovative and the progressive – proposed by Lord Portius Nitraedes 3\) To follow in the footsteps of Chairman Cririk Adom, to represent order and duty – proposed by a Sentinel Deputy Commissar with sponsorship by Marquessa Phoebus Windwhisper V. NEW BUSINESS: Let the records show each proposal was seconded twice – once by someone who has passed through the Portal of Fate, and once by someone who has not – that the breadth of the Collective be represented in approving them. Proposals were seconded as follows: 1\) Librarian Wondir Nitraedes and Conductor Fre’zik zi’Prouep 2\) Lord Zitto Shevat and Zedlon Windwhisper, the Ionic Conductor 3\) Mistress Kialkarkea Diodorus and Master Artist Miella Windwhisper, the Cerulean Skybird Proposals were accepted by the vote and will of the Collective and Citizens in attendance. In order to establish the new organisations, caretakers are required. Three candidates were volunteered for interview as follows: 1\) Aelaoili Skysoarer 2\) Indcii Oolin 3\) Princess Setisoki of Hive Tutotophet After a question and answer opportunity between the citizenry and the candidates, in the presence of the witnesses, each was invited to serve the Beacon of Harmony as caretakers of its new guilds. With their acceptance as caretakers of the new organisations, names were declared as follows: 1\) Grand Aerie for Harmonious Refinement 2\) Skylark Consortium for Collaborative Advancement 3\) Adherents of Adom With Chairman Luce Shevat’s belated arrival as the representative of the Board of Directors, it is decreed for the records that the proceedings are in the best interests of the Collective and vote for the founding of the new guild organisations as proposed. VI. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Board or Administration at that time, the meeting was adjourned at 11:12 a.m. Approved this 16th day of Vestian in the 472nd Year after the Coming of Estarra. By: Hilelsa Clarramore, Senior Administrator **Categories:** News --- ### [Gaudiguch - From the Ashes](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/10/gaudiguch-from-the-ashes/) **Published:** May 10, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ## ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/drachou-172x300.jpg "drachou - Lusternia")STRANGER STRANGERS It was a quiet summer day in Avechary, 471, when strange happenings began in the City of Freedom, one of those insufferably hot days where all you want to do is curl up in a corner and nurse your hangover with a cold bottle of the next hangover. Dancers weren’t dancing. Thinkers weren’t thinking. Brawlers weren’t brawling. Even the whores weren’t whoring. Perhaps this opened the door to those sneaky up-to-no-gooders, providing them the perfect opportunity to nose about. As Letarne may tell you, they certainly looked as though they thought they could go about unnoticed, snooping and scribbling, scribbling and snooping. When a reveller cried out that someone had stolen from her, he came to investigate, soon finding a mysterious figure tiptoeing out between shadowed buildings – looking QUITE suspicious. Determined to find answers, Letarne hounded the sneak, trying all manner of persuasion on him in order to suss out what he was up to. Much to his chagrin, no offer of drinks or dancers – nor threats or friendly banter, yielded anything from the tight-lipped fellow. Each time the figure was cornered he’d slip out of Letarne’s grasp, leaving a very frustrated Minstrel indeed. An unwelcome guest is one thing, but an infestation of unwanted guests is an entirely different matter, and this is what the few who roused found themselves with. Figures darting about and scribbling notes as they went, their subtle differences only noticed by those who cornered them long enough to get in a word or two. Eventually some of the citizens grew sore enough to start swinging, others trying a subtler approach of influence by weakening these figures’ seemingly united resolve. Both methods proved somewhat effective, halting the intruders for a time, though their mission was still a mystery. Scraps of paper were found on occasion, falling from their pockets as they fled or fell, each piece leaving more questions than answers. This frustrating situation had speculation flying everywhere as to the figures’ origin. The clues received leaned heavily towards Hallifax as the main culprit, but was that too obvious and easy an answer??? While many awaited these figures’ return in order to puzzle more together, their patience was for naught… they never returned, or grew far better at concealing their shady activities. ## BUTTERFLY …KISSES Some months later an ear-splitting explosion rocked the top of the Great Pyramid, followed quickly by the enraged roar of the Guardian Drachou as he voiced his alarm. Before anyone had gathered their bearings, millions of ethereal shapes dotted out the sky, flitting through the streets to circle the Pyramid in a swarm of fluttering wings – butterflies, chaotic ones to be precise. Soon Drachou’s confused roars transformed into frustrated bellows as the swarm descended upon him. Depraved in their pheromone-addled state, the insects had but one goal, and unfortunately for Drachou he was it. Citizens were quick on their feet, slaying the would-be ravishers quite easily, though it quickly became apparently that what they lacked in power the butterfly swarm had in sheer numbers. Unable to perform his duty, Drachou hunkered down, swatting out and snarling in rage and irritation, his perplexed face occasionally glimpsed between fiery, feverishly fluctuating appendages. Would his defilement end? Why didn’t they at least buy him a drink first? How did these tiny creatures think they were going to satisfy a dragon? All these questions and more burned in the minds of Drachou’s rescuers as they took down butterfly after butterfly, and soon the apex of the pyramid was naught but a sea of twitching bodies and broken wings. It was the Most Venerable Shimotabi Xiim who suggested the corpses be tossed into the Eternal Flame. Whatever chaotic energy writhed within them, he ascertained, was only reborn after a time should they be disposed of in any other manner. This theory proved correct as the corpses were tossed in, one by one, and those that were failed to return to plague a much traumatized Drachou. Any relief was short-lived, however, as a string of explosions shook Gaudiguch to its very core. ## THE END OF WHAT WAS Looking on in horror, Gaudiguch could only stare, stunned, as plumes of black smoke and dust stained the sky – as screams of terror and sobs of pain echoed through the streets, utter chaos reigning while the Pyramid of the Templars fell. An eerie silence stole through the city, a pregnant pause that screamed as loudly as the residual ring now hanging in the air like a noose around the throat of Freedom. Suddenly, an explosion much like the last, closer, louder, ripped the silence violently from being. Screams echoed from the theatre as hungry tendrils of smoke rose, curling through the sky. As another muffled explosion shook the city time seemed to slow, acidic wafts of effluvium sweeping through Gaudiguch on a merciless updraft of desert wind. The air was still ringing when several more blasts erupted, their source the Pyramid of the Pyromancers, which crumbled in a deluge of still-burning debris and chemical smoke. Several phoenixes rose from the destruction, their sharp cries echoing through the air in a panicked carillon. The turmoil consuming the city intensified as all turned their eyes to the last pyramid standing save the Great Pyramid – the Pyramid of the Illuminati. Made all the more beautiful by the desolation of its sisters, it rose high and golden-bright, its pinnacle breaking the clouds of smoke that seemed to be trying so desperately to strangle Gaudiguch. Suddenly the entire top of the Pyramid erupted, caving in upon itself and everything within and below. The gold so artfully adorning its exterior liquefied beneath the intensity of the heat, drizzling in dazzling tears down the skeletal remains. Chaos was now absolute. Enraged, grief-stricken cries echoed through the streets of Gaudiguch as rioters swarmed and brawls broke out, the citizens of Freedom expressing their discontent in fiery, and for more than a few, drunken outrage. Who was to blame? Surely someone!?!? Though overcome with loss, quite a number of citizens immediately set out to rescue anyone who might have survived the holocaust, and this sad, sorry state of shock and numbed survival is where a majority remained in the many months to come. Unsurprisingly, Gully escaped without a scratch, sequestering himself away in the bar where he could lament and drink to his heart’s content. A very shaken Hardari Ghan, Akungi Saim and Shimotabi Xiim were also accounted for, and like their comrade Gully, took to the cups not terribly long after. ## FROM THE ASHES Late in Shanthin a furrikin named Ziamu traipsed into Gaudiguch looking for the “person in charge”. Upon finding out his pa had been caught in the first explosion, and hadn’t survived, he went from merely angry at the state of things to livid. Why wasn’t anyone reacting? What about vengeance? What about justice? He wanted blood! Hell-bent on getting it, Ziamu Firetail rallied a mob to get just that, declaring that they were going to fight for the people when nobody else would. Shuyin and Danquik were quick to join the cause, as were Enadonella and Breandryn, who cleverly infiltrated Hallifax in an attempt to glean information. Many deaths from both sides, one kidnapping and attempted interrogation on a Luce Shevat later, the Goon Squad was formally formed, and they invited all who would fight in the name of the People to join. Not long after another citizen lifted her voice in an attempt to rouse the spirit of Gaudiguch, which was flagging heavily beneath the shroud of loss and despair. Aanisah Xeth, a long-time dancer at the Palace of Pleasure, arrived at the flame one evening amidst the jingle of bells, her flirtatious smile given quite freely to several who lingered there as she rallied them to her cause. Fighting was all well and good, but the pulse of Gaudiguch lies in the revelry, she stated, urging everyone to remember where that spirit took root so long ago. Those of like mind, namely Letarne Ashgleam, Eritheyl Ryseni, Kistan, and Kalas Malarious, joined her rousing movement, determined to be the vessels of this message of hope that the city so desperately needed, and thus the Revelry was born. It was during an uncharacteristic lull that a few odd looking flesh creatures were seen carting books through the city – a tubular ribbachi, a beautiful sludgeworm, a ground-bound spix, a melodious morrible, and an untangled hekoskeri. While roaming flesh is the norm in Gaudiguch, they’re rarely carrying books and with such intent, thus an investigation ensued, and these steadfast fleshies were followed by the citizenry into the ruins of the Illuminati’s pyramid. There, they were met with the sight of a tall, slim dracnari woman engrossed in her work. As her minions dropped off the volumes they’d gathered, she turned to find an audience, and was quick to enlist their aid – though at first she was met with much suspicion. Tifja Blacksand, as she introduced herself, had been away on a mission when the catastrophe occurred. Returning posthaste, she set upon a new, self-appointed one, to ensure that all the knowledge of the guilds was not lost. There were many secrets kept, she said, many things that must be protected. With swift efficiency she banded the Seekers of Illumination together, enlisting Vyell, Shuyin, and Steingrim, among others, to help her with her work. Some small sense of normalcy returning, everyone set to task, seeing to the needs of the people while steadfastly moving forward within these newly founded factions. Gaudiguch would rise, many said, like a phoenix from the ashes, stronger and far better than before. Such a powerful concept as Freedom cannot die, not truly, so long as it lives on in the hearts of those who make it their own. With its heart exposed, the City of Freedom was rekindled, very much the same and yet very much changed. **Categories:** News --- ### [Mamaac the Melder and the Sword of Serenity](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/16/mamaac-the-melder-and-the-sword-of-serenity/) **Published:** May 16, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/maylea_1-158x300.jpg "maylea_1 - Lusternia")It was not long ago that Serenwilde was visited by the half-formed named Xarriv the Reaver, who had followed the memories of Charune, Lord of the Hunt across the Void and into the First World, wreaking havoc, and then was banished back to the Void by the Horned One Himself. And yet, mortal memory is short, and life is full of its daily troubles; many distressing events had occurred in northern forest in the short time since the banishing of Xarriv. It was no surprise, then, that questions on Xarriv’s origins and whereabouts were cast aside while Serens attempted to rebuild their forest once more. Yet in Avechary of the year 473, members of the Order of Lady Maylea began receiving disturbing visions and sensations of pain, causing them to fear for the safety of their Goddess. Their fears seemed realised when the next month, they felt their connection to Maylea sever almost completely, to their fear and dismay. The members of Maylea’s Order decided to seek out help froms Gods and mortals. Two prophecies emerged from these inquiries. The first, spoken by Charune’s priest Sife and heard by Aeldra Ladyn, said: “Turmoil comes in petal’s shade, blue tinged red in wishes made. Guard your hopes from prying eyes, watch dream’s truth ‘mongst whispered lies. Serenity heralded in voices five, what is old dies amongst change so ‘live.” The second, spoken by the spirit Chuchip and heard by Saz Strongleaf, said: “Stronger than distance is sibling bond. Harsher than wounds is mind gone wrong. Broken is Ancient; change has come. Nurture to fruit your Hope, your Song.” Tokota Snowmane, centaur augur of Serenwilde, also found something amiss, working with astrologers Gwirodydd and Fayette to find that the signs of Twin Crystals, Spider, and Glacier were particularly bright during those months. These prophecies and portents, while informative, generated disparate theories among those who heard it, though everyone feared that some terrible occurrence was approaching. Unbeknownst to Her mortal followers, the visions, sensations, prophecies, and portents were all related to the experiences to the One whom they worshipped. Some time ago, the Elder Goddess Maylea had set out into the Void to seek out Xarriv the Reaver, hoping to soothe him of his crazed insanity in the Void and keep him away from Lusternia, perhaps even to find him a place of his own to dwell. Her seeking was not entirely unfruitful: She met another half-formed named Mamaac the Melder on the edge of the Void near Lusternia. The creature had traversed the cold, harsh Void with the sole purpose of avenging her crechemate Xarriv, whose pain in the battle with Charune had psionically echoed to Mamaac across the gulf of distance. Upon seeing Maylea and sensing the divinus within Her, the crazed half-formed attacked the Goddess viciously, forcing Maylea to strike back and defend Herself. The suddenness of the attack overwhelmed Maylea, and She was gravely injured by the lithe and vicious creature. Mamaac the Melder then glowered in victory, opening a rift into the First World to seek her revenge against her brother’s attackers – but not before Maylea draped Herself upon the half-formed, weighing her down. Mamaac the Melder emerged in Lusternia with the appearance of a long, thin, blazing creature of silver body and smoky blue wings. But with Maylea’s golden unconscious presence anchored to her still, the half-formed could not keep herself aloft, and she crashed into the Serenwilde, both her and Maylea’s essence dissipating into the forest. Soon enough, white and blue fire began kindling and raging across the Serenwilde, and unwitting forest dwellers fell victim to groups of silver spikes from the soil that put their targets to sleep. In sleep, Serens experienced dreams limned in a bright, harsh shimmer. The dreams gave wild visions of a pink sky above a rocky terrain, strange experiences of falling to slow insanity in the Void, strong sensations of sorrow and need for vengeance, and memories of nostalgia and sadness that came with destruction of one’s home. As if fires and forced sleep were not enough, those who were in Serenwilde soon found that they were being possessed by a mysterious presence. The first possessed was Orimi of the Listeners, whom the presence attempted to make fly, even though she was human. Other possessions came in quick succession: young and old, members of any race, even old Abeytu, Keeper of the Gardens in the Serenwilde, who sprouted mysterious blue wings and flew up, only to be released in mid-flight to land, cushioned, on top of Aramel Shevat. The presence attempted to speak to and speak through all those it possessed, sometimes even using the victim to attack others through punches and kicks – ineffectual, but disturbing to witnesses. Upon learning that Xarriv had indeed come to Serenwilde and was banished (some said killed) by Charune and the Serens, the presence went into a rage, threatening revenge and boasting that it will slay all those in Serenwilde. And the presence seemed determined to make good on that promise. Gradually, Serens began to experience psionic assaults upon their mind as they walked through their home forest. The assaults were strong and unforgiving, destroying the minds of even the toughest demigods and ascendants. Flames of white and blue flared among the trees, hills, and even waters of Serenwilde. And, after the blazing-eyed possession of the leprechaun Goldie Cloverleaf, silver limbs began shooting out of the ground and grabbing and burning the passersby. All throughout, possessions continued, sometimes punctuated by aggressive commentary inside the victims’ minds by a shrill humming voice. Before long, those of Serenwilde had begun to take refuge in their safest havens. And yet, no single place was found to be safe from the mind assaults and burning spikes of the murderous presence. In the midst of their worry about the invader, Serens began to notice a lovely fragrance wafting across the forest. At first, they mistakenly thought that a bloom associated with the Mother Moonhart was the source of the fragrance, but glowing lights above Southern Moon Lake led them to a shimmering water lily they had never seen before. It soon became apparent that the water lily required nurturing. Silvery essences and sacred items of each of Serenwilde’s guilds were offered to the flower, at times requiring half-remembered rituals and the summoning of ancient spirits to obtain the needed offerings. Aramel Shevat and Lehki Talnara represented the Sowers in the efforts; Valaria Strongleaf and Kalas Aesyra represented the Wodewoses; the Listeners were represented by many eager hands, but Saran Strongleaf persisted, and he placed the final offering to the water lily, which flew up into the sky, spinning with golden light, and then died on the southern bank of Moon Lake. As Serens searched the area in wonder, the remnants of the bloom fell into the forest soil and sprouted into a peach of golden hues that continually hummed a battle song without words. The forestals came together as one to care for the peach, which they believed to be their salvation against the ever more abrasive presence that continued to possess and harass Serens. The fruit’s caretakers brought rich, dark soil for its roots, hundreds of corpses for fertilizer, a smattering of sweet honeycombs from the Ethereal Plane, and even more silvery essence. As the peach grew, fae began dancing around the humming peach, in particular one brownie, who continually called the fruit “ayl’kiun”, to the confusion of its caretakers. As the singing, golden peach grew larger and larger, its song began to sound across the forest, until finally, the fruit split with a loud CRACK, spilling fragrant nectar upon the ground. The shrill, harsh voice of the presence screamed in anger at this occurrence, and suddenly, the unnaturally stretched, silver-blue form of Mamaac the Melder emerged from the canopy of the Serenwilde: the half-formed was whole again, and it seemed that she was that possessing presence all along. Mamaac was met by a wary group of Serens, some of whom sought to know her purpose, and others, guessing her thirst for vengeance, simply asked her to leave. One foolhardy Wodewose, Athemal, provoked Mamaac to anger and almost paid with his life. But Mamaac had a broader base for her vengeance than one forestal. She flew up over the Serenwilde, sending sparks of white flame over the trees and setting the forest on fire, readying herself for the commune’s total destruction. It was at this moment that the singing, golden peach cracked again, the sound resounding across the forest. Witnessed by a good portion of the Serenwilde, the peach opened with blazing light, and out from it stepped none other than Lady Maylea, transformed. She called Herself “Ayl’kiun” in the tongue of the fae, Sword of Serenity. Without waiting, She leaped up into the skies above the Basin of Life, blossoms of many colours swirling about Her; She was soon met by the half-formed. And so Mamaac and Maylea did battle: The half-formed was all sharpness and angles – stabbing, dashing, blazing and burning with neck and limbs unnaturally long, like an insect. Maylea, now in the aspect of Sword of Serenity, fought Mamaac with flowing movements, bending and twisting, blossoms swirling, Her hands all aglow. When it at last that Maylea had finally cornered Mamaac, the half-formed used desperate strength to stab a blazing, silver limb into the Goddess’s left eye. In agony and bleeding golden essence, Maylea cried out and threw Mamaac the Melder back out into the Void. Having defended Her beloved forest, Maylea, Bloom of Serenity quickly retreated to the Havens, still bleeding, fading from mortal detection. As for Mamaac the Melder and Xarriv the Reaver, only time will tell if these crazed, homeless half-formed will survive the Void to disturb the First World again… **Categories:** News --- ### [When the Bells Toll in Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/01/when-the-bells-toll-in-magnagora/) **Published:** June 1, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ### ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/mag1.jpg "mag1 - Lusternia")The Curse The bells tolled for midnight in Magnagora, hailing the arrival of the 22nd of Shanthin in the year 471, as the Crimson Lady sounded her horn with urgency, suddenly making way for the docks. Aboard the vessel, captain Yishka Feyranti was met by Geomancer Sabella, Shango d’Cente, and Avurekhos Feyranti, before other concerned citizens gathered to hear her words as well. Hearing that the skeletal captain operating the boat taking Magnagorans to and from the Spectre Isle appears to be missing and things upon the island itself are amiss, Magnagorans split into groups and set off to investigate the matter. Not knowing yet what she has stumbled upon, Adal n’Kylbar has been amusing herself with the skeletal captain’s drunken antics at the Wailing Woman Inn when the Fist of Luciphage, Avurekhos, stumbled upon them, soon joined by a handful of others. The captain, however, was of little use in explaining his own absence until Aois-Dana Vatul Feyranti got another round of drinks for the table. At that the captain revealed that a curse appears to be hanging over Spectre Isle and serfs sent to recover valuable ectoplasm for the city’s Necromentate have been fleeing white as sheets. Meanwhile, Sabella came face to face with the very curse being discussed as a peculiar kind of spectre assaulted her at the Isle. Having heard of the captain’s whereabouts, she brought the ectoplasm of the vanquished foe along with her to see if he might know more about it. He did not, but seeing the dreadful thing was all the motivation the captain needed to get back to his post at speed. Hunting parties have formed upon the Spectre Isle, amongst them some of the city’s high-ranked citizens such as Councillor Lavinya d’Murani, Mystagogue Kailanna n’Kylbar, Sohei Eicia n’Kylbar, Commandant Mrak n’Kylbar, and Kanaya n’Kylbar; soon joined by the young and eager Penitent Zlo, Maeko i’Vipere, Violinist Ophir, Drauzgot n’Kylbar, and Hegemone i’Vipere. Right and left were the increasingly more powerful dark spectres slain to lift the dark pall hanging over the ruins. Amidst cold, flesh-rending winds, the Magnagorans toiled until they happened upon the spectre of Rudzine Reltine, who sought to drive them away. They would not have it, however, as ectoplasm is a vital resource for the city. The battle that ensued brought forth the last of the dark spectres and with the final killing stroke, the curse has been lifted and the isle preserved. ### The Prophecy Ever the inquisitive minds, Magnagorans analysed the dark spectres with the assistance of Seritul d’Vanecu and, deeming them safe enough to utilise, processed them into the Necromentate. Reservations held by some appeared to have been well-founded soon after when the Necromentate uttered an ear-piercing wail and sought to break free of its restrains. Its keeper, Kunthin Shadowarm, has assured the city, however, that it is a regular occurrence, often resulting from a prophecy brewing within the Necromentate and needing an outlet. The efforts to coerce the prophecy have been joined by Urieth n’Kylbar and Penitent Azherani and within a day Sabella heard the ominous words: “FORETOLD BUT NEVER FOREWARNED, THE SCIONS OF MAGNORA FUMBLE IN IGNORANCE, SUBSERVIENT TO THE FATES. ACCEPTANCE IS A SERF’S SUBSTITUTE FOR CHOICE. WHEN DARKNESS DESCENDS UPON THE BROKEN EMPIRE, THE NINE WILL MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE END. IN THE BLOOD SPILLED, RUST AND CHAOS WILL REIGN THE ENGINE AND THE TIME OF EMPOWERMENT WILL BE YOUR UNDOING. IN DESTRUCTION, TRANSFORMATION. IN FEAR, STAGNATION.” The very mention of “the nine” sent those versed in the old ways into a speculative frenzy. Marcella n’Lochli argued it must be the Ninth House come to operate within the city again, despite its alleged ruin. Posts were written, information spread from mouth to mouth, discussions were held in gaslit parlours. Even guards were posted at the tutors of each of the Guilds should the Ninth come after them. But the city was quiet, save for the bells rejoicing for midnight. ### The Ninth Such is the oft-accursed manner of prophecy that it comes in least-expected forms and under unfathomable guises. It was the 22nd of Roarkian, exactly a month since a curse befell the broken empire at the heart of the Sea of Despair, when the suspicious behaviour of beggars caught Marcella’s eye. Pursued by both her and Rolsand D’Cente, the beggers kept fleeing, pleading innocence even as they ran in terror. Managing to pry a location out of one of them, Marcella went looking up and down Wraith Lane. There, prominently displayed in the middle of the street, a viscanti nobleman laid slain. His horn smashed, an illegible brand upon his chest, and his body drained of all lifeforce, the corpse was a puzzle for the increasingly sizable crowd made up of Kalas Cyna, Avurekhos, Azherani, and Kalas Osun. While citizens investigated the corpse on their own, Urieth set off to alert the Constabulary. Returning to the crime scene with a constable in tow, he learnt that a note had been found in the nobleman’s pocket, suggesting he was on his way to a meeting with “M”. While some tried to work out a list of noblemen whose names started with the letter, others debated the very public and peculiar nature of the murder. The state of the corpse suggested either it had been drained by an illithoid or with the use of Necromancy, neither of which were appealing options to consider. As the constable set up a perimeter to preserve what was left of untouched evidence, a connection has been drawn between the letter and one of the statues lining the street – Regent Muneer of the College of Necromantic and Tainted Arts. Sabella and Kailanna set off to inspect the college but found the regent’s office empty expect for a fresh bloodstain. Having scoured the entire College, they found the regent in one of the rarely-used side tunnels. Unfortunately, much as the unfortunate first victim, he had been drained of all lifeforce and thus unable to be brought back with Necromancy. At this point the city was ablaze with theories about the murders and, more importantly, the murderer. Could it truly be the Ninth come to purge the city? Even more concerned, the citizens set to guarding their tutors and the three noble creators of the Necromentate with renewed vigour; while others called upon every citizen to complete a rollcall. But all their tireless work was in vain as more and more bodies were found, all bearing the same characteristics of a drained and devastated body. As a bloody moon rose over the city, talk of anti-viscanti sentiment was on everyone’s lips. Each victim was a viscanti of respectable standing in the city, their hallmark horns, tail, or wings – shattered, broken, or pierced. A viscanti girl with crumbs of a crotamine-laced cookie was the first child found, but there were others. The Constabulary had been set on high alert and the Commissioner himself, Irumba Shadowarm, had visited the crime scenes. While the city seethed, Madame Yith, the illithoid tutor of the Ninjakari, had been found accosted by concerned citizens at the Wailing Woman Inn and blamed, as an illithoid, for the murders. Urieth, Kanaya, and Kailanna diffused the situation but tension continued to grip the city. Using the occassion, they visited the crime scenes with the Madame in the hopes she could shed light on the possible illithoid connection but they had little success. Joined by Vatul and Maeko, the Magnagorans theorised while the Madam used her psionic powers to search through the city for anything out of the ordinary. It dawned upon the city then that eight victims had been found thus far, one less than the contentious number mentioned in the prophecy. Just as debate was about to start on the subject again, Yith announced she sensed another victim, bringing the total to nine and the discussion to an abrupt and uncomfortable end. On full alert again, citizens sought high and low until Vatul and Maeko stumbled upon a shocking scene deep in the bowels of Magnagoran sewers. Upon a crude altar to Illith, a husk of a body lain spread, barely recognisable as Rasshid d’Sifal, the crier. Sending Maeko to alert the Commissioner at once, Vatul paced up and down the tunnel, considering the dire ramifications should such a discovery be made known to a city already at a brink of a riot. But she was not to make a choice there as other search parties stumbled upon her, the number of those in the know rapidly growing. The moment the Commissioner arrived, the site was locked down, a warrant for the arrest of any and all illithoid issued, and citizens sent on their way. Having little choice at this point, Kailanna, Vatul, Maeko, and Cyna ventured through the sewers into the Ninjakari guildhall to confront Madame Yith, knowing well that should she wish not to be restrained, there was little they could do. What occurred there is unclear, except that that time a choice was made: the illithoid had been banished from the city and the Ninjakari Guild disbanded on the 1st of Estar, 472 years after the Coming of Estarra. In the wake of this momentous decision, black banners started showing up across Magnagora with a crossed through symbol of Illith and a call to arms, “Justice for the Nine! Down with Leviathan!” The beginning of the end, the ninth victim had sealed the fate of the Ninjakari. ### The Interlude Not long into Estar, the Iron Council disclosed a statement proclaiming the banishing of the illithoid to be a tactical decision, much to the surprise of the growing anti-illithoid movement. Not trusting what had appeared to have been a set-up of some kind, the decision was made to relocate the illithoid for their own safety until the investigation is over and their reputation can be cleared. The banners, nonetheless, continued to appear in spite of crews sent to dismantle them. While the city digested the latest developments, a peculiar incident on the 21st of Estar called attention to the Tower of Dark Fates occupied by the Nihilists. Veritus n’Rotri, the renowned first Heresiarch of the Nihilists, had sighted a figure skulking through the tower and called upon the Nihilists to join him in pursuit. The figure was long gone by the time Avurekhos, Urieth, and Kailanna arrived, but they tracked its movements down to the unlocked office of the Heresiarch, her doors to the peak of the tower left wide open. They could not find anything amiss but they were not given long to search the premises as in the dull, hazy orange glow of dawn, a constable had been found swaying upon a makeshift noose by the docks. First on the scene, Rolsand could do little to help the familiar face of the Constabulary as the constables had never been invested with a seed of lichdom. He was soon joined by Brauthik n’Kylbar, Yasmina i’Vipere and her siblings Hegemone and Maeko, and a handful of the city’s officials, all investigating the scene of the crime with varied degrees of either fury or concern. The constable who arrived to secure the scene identified the victim as Constable Maseem but could do little more than stare speechlessly and leave, clearly in shock. It was with the arrival of the Commissioner that the investigation truly began, focused on the cryptic writing pinned to the victim’s chest reading, simply, “ten”. Magnagorans broke up into groups to discuss the theories as pale rays of dawn turned into a grey, grim morning. By the time a team arrived to cut down the body, the citizens found themselves with more questions than answers. Why a number on this victim when others did not have one? Why was the body not drained? Was it a copycat? Was someone trying to subvert prophecy or mock it? The answers were not to be found that day as the ground shook underfoot, resonating from the Tower of a Thousand Hungers. While half the city was tied up at the docks, Veldrin D’Cente and Sabella were trying to calm down Mistress Jezebel of the Geomancers who, upon investigation of an odd noise in the hall, had found a statuette of religious importance missing. Such was her wrath that the very city shook in the aftermath but the statuette was nowhere to be found and no additional passageways had been discovered in the tower despite clear evidence to the contrary. Meanwhile, in the Tower of Inescapable Damnation, Shango, Alexin n’Kylbar, and Olwyr were keeping an eye on Captain Avarath and the tower itself. Given the intrusions reported in the Nihilists and the Geomancers, and the affair at the docks, they were determined to keep the Ur’Guard secure. And indeed, their efforts paid off when bloodhounds caught the scent of enemies within the tower. Joined by an ur’Guard Grand Marshal, they searched the tower top to bottom but found little. It was only when the Grand Marshal left to investigate outside and beneath the Necropolis, that she stumbled upon something that quickly resulted in her death. Discipline empowered that one, however, as she rose from the ashes a lich and continued to pursue her attackers with the fierceness of Nil. Distracted by the commotion beyond, the Ur’Guard split up, leading to Captain Avarath encountering assailants on his own. Shango’s prompt arrival sent the figures fleeing and he found the Captain injured but bereft of his famous black scale armour which the attackers had taken. Furious with himself and vowing to skewer more of the culprits, the Captain had been sent off to recover with Olwyr in tow. Meanwhile the fearless Grand Marshal had been bested yet again, her spark extinguishing felt by all the Archliches in the city. Certain she can be ressurrected if found quickly enough, Mrak set off to search the city but it was Urieth who had found the Grand Marshal’s body below the Silent Cathedral, a hastily scribbled “elven” on her clothes. As Magnagorans gathered to investigate with Shango’s permission, they beheld the particularly cruel and vehement assault the Grand Marshal faced as her body bore the signs of a struggle against at least half a dozen attackers who had beaten her to death. Furious and helpless in equal measure, Magnagorans departed to consider the confounding events of the day while the Grand Marshal had been brought to the Constabulary in the hopes she would yet lich. ### The Dark Prince Rises In the depth of the night, an echoing chant resounded from the rooftops on the 24th of Estar. Magnagora’s older citizens recognised the tune for what it was immediately: trouble. The sound of a flare echoed from somewhere in the Necropolis as a trail of fire climbed the Tower of Insufferable Cruelty higher and higher. Orange against the gaslit night, the flame dramatically swept about at the very top, completing a jagged circle – a cog – that continued to burn. Confirming the suspicions, the Cogs in the Smog, Magnagora’s infamous gang, emerged from the shadows of the rooftops in startling numbers. Atop the smouldering tower, a lone figure stood proclaiming himself the Prince of Rust and leader of the gang. Staring down the city, he issued a challenge to the Iron Council to accept the gang as a rightful guild now that the Ninjakari were no more and a seat free for the taking. He had but time to give the city a month to decide as the Commissioner himself forced his way into the disused and locked down tower, leaving a taurian-shaped hole in the steel doors. Commissioner Irumba was joined by Eicia, Ophir, Zlo, Cyna, and Avurekhos in inspecting the premises but all they found was dust, the gang was long gone and so was the Prince. In their place, a red silk banner flew at the entrance, proclaiming the formation of the Cogs in the Smog guild and the oft-misspelled details of their recruitment and advancement process. There, at the very bottom, the answer to unresolved questions was written plain for all to see: the sceptre of the Heresiarch, statuette of Gorgulu from the Geomancers, Captain Avarath’s sword or armour, the mysterious thing from the Ninjakari. All the artifacts required for one of the gang to be elected the Prince of Rust. All the artifacts gone missing just days prior. The very last entry, “a swing across a play’s opening night”, puzzled the gathered group but Shaddus confirmed such had indeed happened years ago. The Cogs in the Smog were back, and with a leader to unite them. ### Iron and Rust A month had passed, days flying by fast as the Iron Council debated their choices. On the 21st Urlachmar, the Commissioner met with Eicia and the Warlady Rideta Feyranti herself to discuss the progress of his men’s investigation. Joined by Vatul and Lavinya, and eventually many more, they debated how much of what has occurred was true and how much had been staged by unknown parties. It did not escape their attention that the last, eleventh, victim, had been kicked to death, the very end that one of the Cogs in the Smog had met at the hand of Ixion’s boot a few years ago. Many more high-ranked officials gathered at the council chambers, including Kailanna, Mrak, Kalas Ixion, Shaddus D’Cente, Sabella, and Ellowyn d’Murani, and the conversation continued on into the evening, even as Irumba Shadowarm left to attend to his duties. Then, just as the Warlady had been planning a ploy to trick the Cogs and the bells tolled for midnight, a knock resounded on the glass of one of the windows. A tall lanky figure stood just beyond on the windowsill and the time for a decision was upon the Iron Council. Slipping into the room nonchalantly, Ysamal, the Prince of Rust faced the gathered nobility with wit and charm. The negotiations heated the moment Ysamal faced Ixion, however, calling them even for the death of one of the Cogs with the death of the Grand Marshal. A fight ensued in which a few spectators were injured until the Warlady contained the situation with an iron fist. The self-proclaimed Prince took it in stride but the tension was palpable. Refusing to entertain Ysamal’s fancies, the Warlady demanded answers: What do the Cogs offer and what do they ask for in return? The attempt to trick the Prince might even have worked had it not been for the final demand, to oust and behead Ixion, which Rideta would not stand for. Not fazed in the least, Ysamal argued that the Ur’Guard had little to offer and half the time claims sovereignity and indepedence of Magnagora, while the Cogs would be loyal and able. His words rang true as he extolled the virtues of his comrades, who had been banished as children into the Undercity, condemned into the darkness and never meant to achieve anything. And yet, they have risen, having defeated greater obstacles than any of the privileged Magnagorans ever face. Still, the Iron Council would not heed his request, refusing to accept the Cogs in the Smog as an official guild without proof of their loyalty and goodwill. Cursing their refusal, the Prince began to pace the length of the council chambers, desperately trying to explain his urgency brought upon a society of some manner treading on his people’s toes. The Warlady word was final, the Iron Council would bend for no one, and the Prince left in a blink of an eye, warning them that they shall reap what they had sown. Somewhat rattled, the Iron Council and its advisors turned to debating what to do about the tower the Cogs had claimed when a powerful explosion shook the entire city. The plan to burn the Tower of Insufferable Cruelty to the ground had been foiled by the Cogs detonating it in a show of defiance, ever one step ahead. Those who managed to stay on their feet rushed outside of the Tower of Midnight Domination, the seat of the Iron Council, to behold the destruction. The entire southeastern tower was aflame, rubble blocking the passage around it. As teams rushed to put out the flames, the foundation of the tower gave way and collapsed upon the tunnels beneath the Necropolis and onto the symbol of the Demon Lady Nifilhema. The Nihilists felt that moment painfully as their pacts to the Queen of Insufferable Cruelty had dissolved in that very moment, signalling that the symbol broke beneath the wreckage. With one of the five restrains upon the Necromentate gone, the dome of darkness shielding Magnagora disappeared, leaving the city open to attack. The dark bodies of nighthawks flitted across a suddenly empty and bright sky, fleeing from the nearby Bell-Tower which had caught fire. In the wake of their departure, the ancient gargoyles turned to leave but their bulk and slowness held them fast as the tower collapsed upon itself. The city stood transfixed as their beloved Bell-Tower turned into a smouldering ruin, their efforts insufficient. They fought fires for the remainder of the day but when night finally came to cloak the city, cool and dark, only silence welcomed it at midnight. ### Rust and Chaos A month had past, the city still held fast in a grip of fury and outrage. Of all the things that have transpired, the destruction of one of Magnagora’s most famous landmarks had felt like the gravest assault against the city. So much so that Alexin had begun to walk the streets at night, yelling ‘BINGBONG!’ to announce midnight, much to the approval of many a citizen. The troubling matter pertaining to the lack of Nifilhema’s symbol remained unresolved but the Necromentate managed to be restrained by the sheer number of spikes hammered in. A solution was, however, on its way as the Nihilists were called before the Supreme Master Luciphage on the 17th of Kiani and sent on a mission that Urieth had toiled on for the better part of the month. Meanwhile, on the 20th of Kiani, riots had started in the streets as the Cogs in the Smog turned their attention to the city. Fires have sprung up all over the city, put out with water and elemental ice, but the sheer amount of incidents resulted in utter and complete chaos. If it wasn’t animals at the Zoo being let loose, it was the docks. If it wasn’t the Constabulary, it was riots on Wraith Lane. The entire city was on high alert. Then, on the 21st of Kiani, a mysterious woman came calling upon the Iron Council and refusing to state her business in public. Even in the face of Supreme Commander Thalkros’ wrath, barely restrained in the face of his city being on fire, she would not bend. It was Archmage Nefera who convinced him to hear her out and they left with bodyguards Marcella and Ixion in tow. Immediately after the Iron Council spoke with Jamilah, the city was mobilised to gather for an assault on the Cogs headqauarters suggesting the lady had somehow been involved in locating it. The group that answered the call consisted of Azherani, Cyna, Avurekhos, Veldrin, Maeko, Hegemone, Mrak, Shango, and Rolsand, joining the aforementioned Councillors and their guards. Into the depths of Magnagoran sewers did they descend, going further and lower than even the rats and eels usually go. There, led by Jamilah, they came across a door marked with a handful of symbols. With Marcella’s and Jamilah’s help, the plinths were aligned and the way in opened but Magnagorans remained on the outside, wary of the vicious traps they had been warned about. Ixion was the first man in and the first ghost out, proving the truth of the warnings. Cyna went in second, attempting to scout ahead in ghost form but multiple monolith-like mechanisms prevented her from bringing the party further in. There was little to be done but to attempt to dismantle the traps. Their first foot in the door, Magnagorans searched the entrance into the Catacombs carefully. One of the wanted posters for the gang hung over the entrance, a symbol of pride and a mockery of the attempts made at capturing them. The traps posed a fair bit of difficulty at first, the mechanisms entirely foreign to the Trackers who attempted to dismantle them. It was Hegemone who managed to dismantle the first trap and from thenon Marcella, Azherani, Cyna, and Maeko all assisted in the process. On through the tunnels they went, passing rows upon rows of skulls of various races, until they happened upon a den where Ysamal, the Prince of Rust, waited with the remainder of the Cogs. It is fortunate the den was sizable enough as the fight was long and brutal, leaving the cobblestones stained with blood of both friend and foe alike. In the end, Ysamal surrendered and taken into custody, cuffs slammed onto his wrists by Marcella. The assault party emerged from the sewers victorious and deposited the broken leader into the hands of the Constabulary where, this time, one of the Cogs would be held in a locked and secured cell so that none may take justice into their own hands before the Iron Council passes their judgement. ### The Baleful Desire Just as iron bars slammed on Ysamal, Urieth had completed the task bestowed upon him by the Dominator of the Midnight Legions, Luciphage himself. On the 22nd of Kiani, Magnagorans joined Urieth at the Throne of the Beast and beheld the empowered artefact known as the Foul Amulet of Baleful Desire, once used to cast a curse of Nil upon Supernal Raziela, the Loving Radiance. Joined by Brauthik, Ophir, and Kailanna, the group who had braved the Cogs headquarters, had launched for the Holy Land of Celestia. Allowing Urieth to carry the amulet forth and do the deed, they sought out Raziela and, using the amulet to weaken her temporarily, executed a quick, tactical strike to gain her soul for the Supreme Master. Celestians were quick to respond with Taevyn Ladyn and Kaimanahi Ladyn throwing themselves at the assailants despite their numbers, but by then Shango had already absconded with the body and was on his way to the Throne of the Beast. The soul now in his hands, Luciphage vowed to have Nifilhema use the soul as a vessel to craft a new symbol of her dominion over the Prime Material Plane. Outraged at the vehement assault, Methrenton called Celest to his side and urged them to use the Flowing Staff of Sanctification to cleanse the Shrine of Loathys deep in the mountains to the south. Kreon Zayah, Kaimanahi, and Tridemon Regalis were quick to respond, purifying and sanctifying the shrine. Now, working for the first time in centuries, the shrine was able to be used. Directing his attention to Magnagora, Methrenton called forth a host of fiery angels to assault the city itself. With the Necromentate weakened and already in a berserk state, the fiery angels pierced through the protective dome over Magnagora and started to wreck havoc on the city. Duke Ashtorath was set to command his army of demons to come fight the invader but never arrived, instead vanishing from Nil in mysterious circumstances along with Nifilhema. Magnagorans, however were quick to engage the angels but so was the Necromentate, breaking free entirely and engaging an enemy that challenged its psychic powers. Ixion chased after the Necromentate but it made off without him, facing the fiery host at the theatre gardens and falling by their hand, skewered with lances. The death sent aftershocks throughout Magnagora, damaging the already fragile architecture. Magnagorans were successful in repelling the enemy but not without a cost. More souls rose from beneath the Necropolis, free and vehement for revenge, and gaping cracks opened up throughout the city, filled with damned souls writhing within and pleading for the Supreme Master. Unsure what it is they are dealing with, the city visited the Supreme Master upon Nil to inquire about the phenomenon. Unsurprisingly, Luciphage had already been waiting for him, ever one step ahead. In the conversation that followed, everything appeared to finally click into place and a prophecy uttered months ago appeared as clear as day. The cracks in the ground revealed the foundations of the Bulwark of the Damned, a project which had been put aside in the past due to the Necromentate being a safer option. After Project Cosmic Hope the city was in a dire state and chose a path of least resistance and refused to pay the price the Bulwark demanded. But the Magnagora of that time was no more, it was stronger, better, and it had gorged itself in the Times of Empowerment. And so the Warlady and the assembled Iron Council knew the words of the prophecy to be true: “In destruction, transformation. In fear, stagnation”. It was not the time for careful deliberation, for council sessions, and gathering of votes. It was one of those pivotal moments that change everything, and so the Warlady simply said, “There is no greater city in existence, none more powerful in deed and will, than my Magnagora is now. What is the cost?” And the Supreme Master responded truthfully, “Death and destruction.” “This price troubles my city not,” Rideta retorted, setting the city on a new path. ### In Destruction, Transformation Guided by one of the Supreme Master’s servants and a master of Necromancy, Seritul d’Vanecu, Magnagorans descended beneath the Necropolis, seeking out the ritual chamber that had seen better days. There, led by Archmage Nefara, the Geomancers Sabella, Marcella and Kanaya made the very earth tremble, casting down walls that hid the rest of the chamber away from the world. In the long-forgotten alcoves, they had come across enormous emerald-hued soulstones, one beneath each symbol of the Demon Lords. Having explored and investigated the soulstones, the city gathered around Seritul who had revealed the d’Vanecu to have been behind this necromantic achievement, even if never finalised. He urged them to hallow the ground with blood sacrifice before the ritual may commence. The Necromancers Kailanna, Vhaedryn d’Vanecu, and Cyna were all but too eager to oblige and so Kanaya, Mrak, Marcella, Osun, and Shango were sacrificed, each one at a different soulstone and each one a willing volunteer. Next, the soulstones were empowered by the Necromancers channeling the power of those around them into their hungry depths until they shone with an eerie effulgence and the whole ritual area was bathed in a spectral green light. Dark chanting began to rise and fall across the Necropolis as the city gathered at the heart of the ritual chamber to await the Supreme Master. The dark seeds of lichdom were infused into every Magnagoran that they may fall and rise again. At the heart of the gathering, dark mists parted to reveal the Supreme Master come to stand amongst the citizens in person, walking the Prime Plane hand in hand with Magnagorans. He urged the city to ready themselves for the Ritual of Damnation, the subjugation of the Dark Arts, and uttered the rallying cry of the prophecy, “In destruction, transformation. In fear, stagnation!” And with that he was gone but his malignant presence pervaded the ritual room. A mighty congregation had flocked to the bowels of the Necropolis, come to herald the dawn of a new age. Amongst them Allyra, Kanora, Eicia, Avurekhos, Asyel, Ophir, Cyna, Sabella, Osun, Shango, Vhaedryn, Marcella, Veldrin, Mrak, Vatul, Urieth, Ixion, Alexin, Kailanna, Kanaya, Jerica, Nefara, and Rolsand. Come to take the Supreme Master’s place at the centre of the room, the Warlady began the ritual, and the city followed, repeating the words of the Supreme Master over and over as a fervent prayer, a rallying cry, an urgent demand. The chanting was low at first but as the ritual progressed, the voices gained in intensity until they blocked out near everything else. Above the din, the Voice of Jagrerox played a chaotic melody, lured by the death and destruction. The energy continued to build, the air growing thicker and near tangible. Above ground, a tower had collapsed in a wave of destruction brought about by the sheer power coalesing underground. The chanting continued relentlessly, pounding with the force of countless hammers as hands were clasped and feet were stomped. And just as midnight struck silently, a blast of unrelenting power burst forth from the depths of the Necropolis and into the skies above, filling the firmanent with a sea of damned souls. And just as it rose, destruction rained back down upon Magnagora. The Black Towers crumbled beneath the backlash of malevolent energy and every single citizen beneath the Necropolis had their soul ripped out. A wave of darkness rippled out across the Basin, filled with the cackling of the Demon Lords as the very city was being transformed and its Guilds torn asunder. Beneath the Necropolis, twenty-four liches reformed from murky miasmal, rising anew to behold a new age, an Age of Ascension, and at its head the Supreme Master himself. The souls writhing in the skies above came thundering down in a vortex swirling about the Megalith of Doom. From which, thousands of souls, armed and armoured, poured out riding skeletal steeds – the Midnight Legions had come. Onto the ramparts of the city did they climb, infusing with the very walls and forming a ring of darkness about Magnagora. The rest unfurled like a banner of darkness across the Basin, snaking across the Sea of Despair to attack New Celest, a trail of barren land in their wake. The Star of Celest flared brilliantly in defiance, seeking to repel the dark army. It held for what seemed like an eternity as the Midnight Legions assaulted the barrier again and again with feral howls until finally it shattered and the Star shared the fate of the Necromentate. The undead poured into the city, tearing everyone who stood in their path to shreds. Bereft of their Star, the city of New Celest fought valiantly, defending from the swarm, but the shanty town outside of their walls escaped attention. In the light of the morning, once the city itself was safe, Celestians found the shanty town ravaged and the once-pristine shore of the Inner Sea awash with blood of the innocent and forgotten. Meanwhile in Magnagora, the dawn of the 25th of Kiani could not have been more dreadful and beautiful at once. The Necropolis was in ruins, the scent of sulfur hung in the air, and small fires continued to smoulder. The Guilds of the Ur’Guard, Geomancers, Nihilists, and the Cacophony were no more, but the citizens had never felt more united. ### The Times of Ascension In the aftermath of the the Ritual of Damnation, the city gathered to discuss the future on 15th of Juliary in the year 472. The gathering in the council chambers was joined by the Lady Jamilah, revealed to be part of the Society, Jhairus d’Murani, an ancient lichlord found in the Catacombs the Cogs had seized and awoken by the city, Mistress Jezebel of the late Geomancers, Mistress Afifah y’Bolgari of the late Cacophony, scientist Snaikka i’Xiia, High Priest Alaron y’Bolgari of the late Nihilists, and Duur Thergar of the late Ur’Guard. In a lengthy discussion that followed, it was decided that the city would rebuild to house three new guilds rather than return to the same old structures. The first was to be the Iniquitous Society, suggested by Lady Jamilah and bent on facilitating progress and ambition in the city. Then the guild of the Heralds of Dark Fates, suggested by Jhairus d’Murani and seeking to spread the Dark Faith of Magnagora and utilise it as a tool of ascension. And finally, they would form the Infernal Mandate demanded by Nahum, the Grand Marquis of the Legion to honour the pact with the Dominator to bring about the domination of the Basin. **Categories:** News --- ### [Duum for the Humanistic League](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/02/duum-for-the-humanistic-league/) **Published:** June 2, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/grave.jpg "grave - Lusternia")In the month of Estar, 475 years after the Coming of Estarra, the cities and forests of the Basin of Life were visited by two humans by the names of Elsa Fallows and Constance Walker. They claimed to be members of the Lusternia Humanistic League, an organization they described as being devoted to research about humanity, human history, and human origins. Their goal was to find new topics of research for submission to the League. Elsa Fallows first approached New Celest, meeting Caleb, Skanylla, Kreon, and Tridemon. She asked them for leads on human populations or genealogies, explaining that she needed a new research project on human bloodlines in order to win a research award. After fruitless forays into Celestian lineages (as Elsa was only interested in human families), Celest citizens finally sent Elsa off to see Bob the Trader, who is presumed to be human. Elsa was not satisfied with her conversation with Bob, however, and wandering on, she eventually ended up in Magnagora. Elsa’s effusive praise of the Engine of Transformation earned her the bemused attention of Magnagorans gathered at the Megalith of Doom, including Lillie, Rolsand, and Kailanna, who offered her the option to research the lineages of the city’s viscanti Great Houses. Elsa was interested, however, only in families “full of humans”, and thus was in the end directed by Magnagorans to one of the human villages “south of the Inner Sea, north of the Moors”. A day or two later, Elsa showed up in the great forest of Glomdoring, completely lost. She found Rancoura in the Great Library of the wyrden forest, and when she learned that she was not in a human settlement, but rather in a forest commune, Elsa began to yell in frustration. Her yells brought the presence of Xenthos and Athree. Xenthos suggested the village of Duum, where xenophobic and isolative humans dwelt, as a perfect place for Elsa’s genealogy research. However, in exchange for the location of Duum, Xenthos requested the location of the Lusternia Humanistic League headquarters, which Elsa was unwilling to divulge without consulting her colleague Constance. Thus, the Glomdorians led the lost genealogist out of their forest and sent her on her way to meet up with Constance. Meanwhile, Elsa’s bespectacled colleague Constance Walker was making a search of her own. Constance first approached the great forest of Serenwilde, where she was met by extreme suspicion by nearly everyone she encountered. Urdnot, Enyalida and Everiine grilled her incessantly while she tried to explain her alchemical research into physiology, diseases, and cures as related to humans. Faythe was more willing to speak and listen to the woman, learning that Constance was hoping to find a human settlement for her and her colleagues to study. In the end, however, no one had any answers for her, and Constance was sent onwards to Hallifax. Near-sighted as she was, Constance travelled by mistake to Gaudiguch, where she met Letarne. The Gaudiguch citizen disabused her of the idea that the fiery city was Hallifax, and instead set up a meeting for her and a few Hallifax citizens at the Aetherplex upon Avechna’s Peak. Doman and Orventa arrived from Hallifax and listened to Constance as she once again explained her research and her hope for a population of humans to study. Others continued arrving as the discussion progressed: Esoneyuna of Gaudiguch, Yarith of Hallifax, and the conversation soon turned into a conflict between those of Hallifax and those of Gaudiguch regarding the proper way of conducting research. Constance became overwhelmed by the argument and eventually begged leave to seek out her colleague Elsa, with a vague promise of returning to Hallifax at some later time. All was quiet for a number of days as the cities and forests settled into their old rhythms. But early in Urlachmar, the Basin of Life was rocked by a wave of nauseating energy, and everyone on the Prime Material Plane experienced a vision of sickening appendages, parasites, cestodes, and nematodes. Insanity afflicted all who were affected, and even as the victims reeled, they noticed dark clouds and lightning flashing over the Balach Swamp. So began a search through the Village of Duum, the bowels of the Soulless God Muud, and even the Aegis of Vestara. But nothing seemed entirely amiss at the time. In mid to late Urlachmar, travellers along the roads of the Basin began to notice pools of noxious slime that hindered their movement and at times afflicted them with disease and plague. Though most simply shrugged off the slimes as nuisances and went on their way, a few began to wonder if there was something more to the slime pits, and whether there was some way to remove them. Centuries-old Iytha of Hallifax recalled the potential meaning of the slime pits from long past memories, and she rushed back to the Village of Duum to see if anything might be amiss. There, she found that the researchers of the Lusternia Humanistic League had already been drawn to the village by the insanity wave of the month before and had set up camp. She also found Elsa Fallows in an odd trance and unresponsive to any entreaties. Constance Walker, Elsa’s alchemist colleague, was in a state of agitation due to Elsa’s odd behavior and begged Iytha to help her gather ingredients for a cure. As Iytha helped Constance brew an initial cure for Elsa, a rumble echoed across the Basin coming from the Southern Passages. Many across Lusternia rushed into the Undervault in order to seek the source of the noise. After dead ends and false leads, Faythe and Torgaddon of Serenwilde, with helpful directions from a kephera convoy leader, managed to find a hidden way from the Southern Passages into the maze of tunnels underneath the Village of Duum itself. A period of confusion ensued. Some were not convinced that the cave-in occurred at the new passage into Duum; others went exploring elsewhere the Undervault for new openings, but could not find any. Eventually, those who returned to Duum at long last began to hear the yells and shouts of various Duum villagers, including the oddly behaving Elsa Fallows, who was still in a trance and in cohort with Duumites. Constance’s initial cure had not worked. Iytha then resolved to chase the problem to its source, gathering a group of varied Lusternians to raise and then slay the Dread Lord of Contagion within the Village of Duum. The killing, however, caused Constance Walker even more distress, given she was in the process of producing a more potent cure for Elsa Fallows, and the raising of the Dread Lord had hindered that process. Iytha was appropriately apologetic and immediately began gathering the ingredients needed for the new cure. Meanwhile, Faythe of Serenwilde and Dys of Gaudiguch remained with the very distraught Constance, taking her mind off of Elsa’s plight by playing games of ‘I spy’. Xenthos also arrived on scene while they waited, revolting the alchemist with lurid displays of his plucked out eye, which the Gaudiguchian Dys ate with eagerness. Finally, Iytha laboriously gathered all the ingredients for the cure, restoring Elsa to her own mind amid the laments of Duumites. Faythe promised Constance that she would return to play more games of ‘I spy’. And quietly, without anyone noticing, the slime pits on the roads disappeared without a trace… And so, the researchers of the Lusternia Humanistic League returned to their research once more, having finally found a village worthy of their studies. What will be the fruit of their research? What is the relationship among the Village of Duum, the Soulless Muud, and the insanity wave that swept through the Basin? And will the strange affliction that had affected Elsa Fallows return once more to empower the Village of Duum to dark ends? **Categories:** News --- ### [Year in Review: 2016](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/01/05/year-in-review-2016/) **Published:** January 5, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/robb.jpg "robb - Lusternia")What would Queen Maeve say about 2016? Perhaps she would remark how fantastic it was that she entered the year with the removal of the Brand of Nifilhema that she bore for so long. Or perhaps she would despair over the loss of her beloved consort. If this was how the year began for the Queen of the Fae, it only got more … shall we say interesting? Unseasonably hot weather gave way to sun flares and the visits from druids and wiccans from the far off jungles of Jojoba. Somewhere in the upheavals, Maeve became possessed by a fiery presence. Finally, after untold invasions by the fae of Father Sun, the path led to the Tree of Trees and Amberni which culminated in the revelations of the Black Sun and the weakening of the Nine Seals. Along the way, we heard of the lost song of Sirenalai, met a skunk in Faethorn, wrangled a few baby animals, uncovered a mystery at Highwater Keep, helped the children of the Blasted Land, helped a harlot get her revenge, investigated disturbances at the i’Xiia Asylum, helped a professor experiment on Alligators, and much more. And let us not forget the exploits of the Elder Gods, with Mysrai and Zvoltz releasing the Secrets of Iklara wherein the phantom Elder Goddess known as Ashtariel briefly returned, with Darvellan returning with the gentle giant known as Weiwae, with the Machine God Thax arriving with bolts of metal, and with lightweavings paving the way for Isune. If all these events weren’t enough, we focused on many upgrades throughout the year. Admittedly, most of the updates centered around tying up loose ends in the wake of the major combat overhaul in the prior year. But warriors received much love, including a major update to armour and their damage formula, not to mention a complete revision of their skills. Dreamweaving and healing were practically rewritten. Regeneration also received a major update. Probably the biggest change was to the races, removing racial stats in favor of perks and variants. Somewhere in there, we did the Anomaly Shuffle, with Ieptix moving on to better things and Iosai returning to much fanfare. We looked at reigning in gold and commodity bloat with the transfer of aethergoop to a permanent promotional feature. Finally, we managed to rethink the newbie tour, completely revising it so newbies enter the game proper much faster than before. Two things that I thought we would get done were pushed to the back burner in favor of catching up on an unexpected backlog of envoy reports (please thank Iosai for resolving this issue!). Yes, I’m talking about factions and monks. My promise to you going into 2017 is that these two projects will receive top priority. Guilds will be removed in favor of factions. And monks will be revised in a similar manner as the warriors, and we’re also looking at an Alchemy update. Better still, plans are in the work for new tertiary skillset choices for several of the archetypes! There’s a couple of other big projects that need to be done. One is that we are working on a brand new website to bring us into modern times! I’m very excited about that but it is a LOT of work. Also, we want to update our artifact system into a database–something we’ve been dragging our feet on but we really want to do. This is a massive behind-the-scenes project that you likely won’t notice or even affect you much, but will make admin life much better. Okay, this next thing I’ve been dragging my feet from mentioning, because what we have planned already will take up a lot of our resources and I am uncertain how far we can get into this Next Big Thing. Hmm, maybe I should sit on it and keep quiet. Oh, what the heck! We want to release the undisclosed, hidden sixth archetype! Again, I’m not sure we’ll be able to make the release in 2017 but feel it is time to turn our attention to the archetype that I’ve been sitting on for 12 years. Yes, the sixth archetype was designed before Lusternia opened–indeed, we had thought it would be part of the initial release. This archetype is such a major project that it always got pushed back in our priorities until it was practically forgotten. But no more! I won’t tell you what it is but I will say it has been majorly foreshadowed in at least one area in the Basin of Life. Let the speculation begin! Let me conclude, as I always do, by thanking the many volunteers who make Lusternia possible. Without them, we simply would grind to a halt, so I hope players will recognize this and give the gods many accolades for the roleplaying they provide, the events they run and the many, many behind the scenes duties that are handled. We had several admin that needed to take an extended break this year, but they have returned, recharged and re-invigorated and ready to go! I’d like to personally thank Drocilla and Hoaracle who have risen to jointly be my right hand, Morgfyre and Thax and Lisaera and Nocht who are the greybeards that everyone looks up to, Darvellan who does AMAZING things behind the scenes, Manteekan who makes me laugh and has an incredible imagination, Jadice who keeps us on our toes, Weiwae who is new but has taken a lot, and Isune and Mysrai who are also fresh faces that are so very enthusiastic. And there are several very promising ephemerals behind the scenes who I expect to become full admin and who will simply rock everyone’s socks off. All the admin want just one thing–to make Lusternia a great place for players to enjoy and have fun! And thank you, players, without whom there would simply be no Lusternia. Because most of you have been with us for so long, and have supported us through the ups and downs, I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to me that you have kept Lusternia alive for 12 years running. For those of you who are new to Lusternia, let me tell you that the players and admin are simply the best you will find, and if you stick with us, I promise you many adventures that you will remember even after the Nine Seals break and the Soulless Gods swallow our souls! Much love, Estarra the Eternally Grateful **Categories:** God Blogs --- ### [Trialante, the Untamed Muse](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/07/01/trialante-the-untamed-muse/) **Published:** July 1, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/trialante-199x300.jpg "trialante - Lusternia")It was Avechary, 477 years after the Coming of Estarra, and the word in the Serenwilde was sparrows: Sparrows on the ground and sparrows in the trees and sparrows up in the sky. They sang a song that rang in the hearts of Serens who were present in the forest. Along with the sparrow song, there rose the lovely voice of a fae, and the songs’ harmonies led Serens to begin to search for their source. Kerith Sweetpaw was the first to come upon Little Lleucu, a will-o-wisp fae, in the ruins of the former Spiritsinger Guildhall. The fae was singing to a sparrow, who was startled by Kerith and took flight the moment the woman came close. Little Lleucu had been chased away from Serenwilde years ago, when Delosidir the Black-Striped had laid waste to the old guilds and to large swaths of the forest. No one knew what happened to her until now. Lleucu explained how she was drawn back to the forest by the lovely song of the gathered sparrows, and she resolved to make a nest for the birds, providing Kerith with a means to empower the sparrows and bring them to the nest. A day or two were spent on seeking the sparrows on the ground, in the trees, and in the skies. In the gathering efforts, Kerith Sweetpaw and Sondayga Zayah were chief, aided by Elissata, Avalni D’Varden, Tristanna Myeras, and Eleniel and Torgaddon Silvermoon. Once all the sparrows had been gathered in the nest, they flew up with a warbling melody, revealing the Voice of of the Goddess Trialante, who sang a song of sorrow and of longing. Trialante’s Voice, having long dwelt among the Spiritsingers, had also been driven away some years ago by the same spirit of Delosidir. Serens then recalled that She had broken up into thousands of sparrows at that time. Now, it seems that She has returned again by way of sparrows. Through speech and song, the Voice of Trialante told the amazed Serens that She missed Her sister, the Goddess Rhesileni, and that She sought some sign of Her or perhaps Her splintered shards, the sileni. So it is that Seneschal Sondayga Zayah and the aforementioned Serens, with the addition of Saran Strongleaf, led the Voice of Trialante on a search for a sileni, even though by all historical accounts they were extinct; for coincidentally, a disturbance to the mysterious Wheel of the Goloths had just recently brought many sileni to the present from times long past. Upon the Alabaster Road through the forest, they met Cleise the Songstress, a sileni keeper of the Mysteries of the Endless Song. The Voice of Trialante was overjoyed to encounter even a spark of Her sister’s essence, even if from the past, and Cleise was in her own right honoured to meet the Voice who had led her people away time and again from the Soulless Zenos, whom she called the Dark Wind. Once more the Voice of Trialante rose in plaintive song, causing the leaves upon the trees to unfurl and even the wind itself to pause. Moved to tears, Cleise the Songstress reached out to embrace the Voice of Trialante, and with permission, the Voice imbued Herself into Cleise. Amid mingling harmonies, the two became one: Trialante, the Untamed Muse, whose body was of the sileni Songstress and whose voice sang golden with the Song of Creation. In joy and astonishment, the Serens led Trialante back to the Serenwilde, and many hoped that perhaps She might stay with them once more after the years of absence. To help Her acclimatise again to the forest, a group of Serens, including Sarrasri Talnara, Laysus L’Eternae, Kalas Aesyra, Lehki Talnara, Arien Myeras, Tristanna Myeras, and Saran Strongleaf, gave Her tours throughout the Serenwilde. But in the end, Cleise, and thus Trialante, still dwelt in a body out of time, belonging to a past that had already been. And so, when the rifts created by the Wheel of the Goloths began to close in Klangiary, the Untamed Muse was drawn in along with the other sileni and the nagasith. Her golden song echoed across the Basin of Life, rising in glory until it was cut off for good. Thus it was that the Voice of Trialante left the present and flew to the past on the wings of time; and only time will tell if Her Voice will ever be heard again. **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/11/april-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** June 11, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017-04-22-14.58.19.jpg "2017-04-22 14.58.19 - Lusternia")For the April Vesteran Honours, Breandryn won the bardic contest with the news column titled, “Gaudiguch Gossip, Roarkian 471 CE”. In the artisanal category, Xeii won with the portait titled “A relic of the future”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Breandryn**Bardic Runnerup**Aramel**Bardic Merit**Portius##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Xeii**Artisanal Runnerup**–**Artisanal Merit**Anita **Categories:** News --- ### [Battle for the Wheel](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/06/05/battle-for-the-wheel/) **Published:** June 5, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/wheel-237x300.jpg "wheel - Lusternia")Hail Basin, I, Lebo Needles, have requested and been sanctioned to allow this report for the Order of Shallach to be seen by all. It is rather rudimentary; I am still getting used to writing reports, but I hope it suffices and informs anyone who could not be present in Lirangsha. Cordially, Lebo Needles Shallah’s Squire Month: Dioni 475 CE Order Member: Squire Lebo Needles Business: Routine Visitation of Lirangsha As per our revived Codes, I, and my stead Snickerdoodle, made way to Lirangsha for the quarterly observation of the Heart of Shallah there. I met with the members of the Hundred, who received me warmly. We broke bread and beer from their reserves. It was rather plain, but filling nonetheless. A singer and I were in the middle of a conversation about the Order when we began to hear distant whispers. At first, she thought nothing of it; I, thanks to our training, did find it peculiar. I bid her farewell and took Snickerdoodle out into the cloudy portion of Lirangsha, assessing if any threat took there. At that time, the whispers were growing in tenor. What were once whispers soon revealed themselves to be the hissing of snakes. As the hissing grew louder, the dusk-driven sky turned a foul green, and then, higher still, a portal flashed open. From this portal descended terrible creatures: snake-women upon wings of metal. One of them hissed to the others, a shout that made Snickerdoodle kick and buck. She said that the time had come, and that they seek power for the “Grand Design.” They were to summon the Wheel of the Goloths, which they did. However, as that happened, blue light rippled across the horizon. One of the Time Dames became aware of these gorgons’ manipulation of the Wheel. Stepasha, Dame of Destruction, made clear her intent to fight off the gorgons with an army of dominators. I tried to usher those of the Hundred I could find to safety, as soon, Lirangsha was embroiled in battle. Thankfully, several good-hearted folks from the Basin came to aid the efforts of protecting the Wheel. Certainly, some were more interested from a observant standpoint, but many came to fight both gorgon and dominator alike. I met with Falaeron Shevat of Hallifax first, who helped slay gorgons and dominators aplenty. Ejderha Strongleaf and Iytha Trueflight found the head gorgon – Sister Nosthe, she called herself – and quickly slew her. But her death, it seemed, did not take hold. Whatever malignant power that she possessed caused her to reform anew. They fought her off repeatedly, slaying her some, her slaying some of them. In the meantime, Veyils Ysav’rai of Glomdoring spoke to me and attempted to suss out what I knew about what was going on. She seemed sceptical about why I was at Lirangsha, but who could blame her? Our Order had not formally let it be known that we have revived ourselves after the temporal solidification of our former leaders. No matter. I hope my answers provided some clarity to the situation, but I am not too certain. In any case, after Veyils questioned me, more and more people from the Basin flooded to assist. Mostly they were from the cities of Hallifax and commune of Glomdoring, but some from Gaudiguch and Serenwilde arrived. They fault valiantly as I gathered the corpses of the fallen. When the battled lulled, we had a moment to catch our breath – but it was not for long. Stepasha and Nosthe gathered their forces once more, hundreds of dominators and gorgons. But in the end, we prevailed. With their forces weakened, the Dame and the Sister fled and I went to assess the Wheel of the Goloths that spun in the air. Thank goodness I trained Snickerdoodle with some flight and fed him properly, aye? The Wheel seemed relatively undamaged, but it was askew. I am not sure if it was from the fight or if the Dame or Sister took something from it. But it was spinning. Fast. Snickerdoodle and I raced away as it spun in fury, its energies culminating in a fiery flash of temporal power. It streaked across the heavens, boring holes through reality. Aye, time rifts – at least two from when I scouted – have amassed in the Southern Mountains and in the Hifarae Hills, and from them, sileni and nagasith from yesteryear have arrived. I have surmised that perhaps if enough of them are convinced to return to the rifts, that their kindred energies will send them back from whence they came, and eventually, the rifts will seal. However, I am not too keen on temporal mechanics. Perhaps a Hallifaxian can measure them or something? In any case, the sileni and nagasith seem well-intentioned. **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/05/07/march-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** May 7, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Xeii won the bardic contest with the short story titled, “The Silver Storm and the Dying Crystal of the Forgotten”. In the artisanal category, Xeii won with the portait titled “Serenwilde’s Curious Heart”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Akatriel**Bardic Runnerup**Portius**Bardic Merit**Reylari and Breandryn##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Xeii**Artisanal Runnerup**Ciaran**Artisanal Merit**Alaksanteri **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/04/05/february-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** April 5, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Breandryn won the bardic contest with the newsletter titled, “Gaudiguch Gossip, Roarkian 458 CE”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the portait titled “Ice Angel Loranara”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Breandryn**Bardic Runnerup**Aramel**Bardic Merit**Portius, Malarious and Asmodia##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Arimisia**Artisanal Runnerup**anita**Artisanal Merit**– **Categories:** News --- ### [Tales of a Whiskey Keg](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/03/26/tales-of-a-whiskey-keg/) **Published:** March 26, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For some months now, the citizens of Gaudiguch had been having a strong desire for whiskey. As time went on, the urges became stronger and their thoughts turned towards where they could sate their sudden thirsts. Eventually, Tremula, Letarne, Danquik and a few others made their way to see Beloch at the bar and upon arriving, met with a patron that seemed to be drinking all the whiskey Beloch had available. This loud patron talked for awhile, laughing at the costumes and fashion choices of the individuals present before setting off to find herself a costume. The next month, again everyone within the city felt that deep thirst. Then the Voice of Gullagumbah spoke up. He had enough of this, who was feeling so thirsty that they were causing everyone else to feel thirsty? He wanted to find out, except there was one problem. He needed some traveling boots. So after Eritheyl and Tremula managed to secure three boots for Gullagumbah (quite fetching boots in fact), they set their minds to who might be so thirsty that all of Gaudiguch felt it. Tremula offered up her new friend Jade, residing in the bar currently, but Gullagumbah brushed her aside. Nobody in a bar could be that thirsty he insisted. Then it occurred to him that maybe it was his friend, the Merry Minstrel! So following Eritheyl, off they went. Upon arriving at the Merry Minstrel’s house and showing off his boots to his old friend, it became clear that the Merry Minstrel was not the person they sought. He suggested that maybe it was someone in the desert that needed a drink and it was decided to check on the old gnome manning the sandspeeder on Dramube. So up to the bubble they went, despite Tremula’s protests that it was indeed Jade. After the group split up briefly, they found Cayen. He was a bit put off by the intrusion, but after accepting a few drinks from Gullagumbah, it become obvious he was not the person in need. He did suggest to check the leprechauns though, they are thirsty and most times you need to be drunk to see them. So after jumping out of the sandspeeder, they headed to meet with Seamus Connlaodh. After the group drank quite a bit to see Seamus, they discovered that he also was not the person of thirst. He suggested that they go visit some dwarves, dwarves like to drink after all. Tremula interjected again that it was Jade, in the bar! Finally Gullagumbah relented, with the intention of shutting Tremula up. So off to the bar they went. Upon arriving at the bar, and introductions being made, Gullagumbah approached Jade and asked if she was thirsty. She, in fact, was and let out a challenge that nothing in the bar could sate her thirst. Gullagumbah took offense to that statement and poured her not just a glass, but a bottle, of his strongest brew, Firemead. Jade took the bottle and started to sip it, then swig it and finally chug the bottle until it was empty. “Firemead!” she exclaimed, “I haven’t had Firemead in years!” She quickly handed the bottle back, which Gullagumbah refilled and Jade drank that down again. Jade apologized to Gullagumbah and Gullagumbah apologized to Tremula for it did seem that that Jade was the one in need of something to drink. One bottle later and Jade finally revealed that she was none other than Lady Kalikai, returned from a jaunt in the void. After revealing Herself, the small party continued to drink and share stories. Some questions were raised though. How will Lady Kalikai and Lady Czixi respond to being patrons of opposing cities? How many hats fit on Lord Charune’s antlers? Where was Lady Kalikai and why did it take Her so long to return? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Hunter and the Reaver](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/03/22/the-hunter-and-the-reaver/) **Published:** March 22, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A distant horn resonated through the boughs of Serenwilde, catching the attention of Wobou and Kay at the Moonhart Mother. As they alerted their commune and discussions began to form, a giant crack was heard from the hills of Northern Serenwilde, followed by waves of psionic energy. A tree once made by the Horned One for the Silver Goddess was found in the early stages of petrification, leaking an unknown black smoke. Depression and fear began to spread through the commune as the waves of psionic energy began to ramp up, and the members of the commune began to ramp up their search for questions. Saran, Torgaddon, Selenity, and several others began to seek answers wherever they might, first seeking out the caretaker Abeytu due to his connection to the tree. Abeytu followed them to the tree, offering only a grave diagnosis before returning to his greenhouse. A second opinion was sought from a few denizens of the forest, Miakoda and Ridien amongst them. Some of the monks tried meditating at the tree, finding their minds violated by a mysterious psionic presence, probing through their memories. Finally, with a few new voices in the fray and many in tow, an idea was had. With Tamsin and Aramel in the lead, the now massive group sought the wisdom of the spirits, seeking out one Chuchip for a prophecy. After many, many failed attempts, blunders, and bouts of forgetfulness, the group managed to attain a cryptic prophecy from the spirit: “The horn heralds he who knows not what he does, lost from his home to steal that of another. A web tangled unspools, and tokens of love rot and shatter as the reaver sings his forsaken song. Only with the spear shattered will we be spared the horrors of its unfathomable longing.” Confused by the meaning of this prophesy, Tamsin, Saran, and Eamane made their way to the White Hart who could not tell them much beyond the existence of a mysterious presence in the forest who did not belong. They received the instruction to wait for the presence to show itself, to become bold. And so they waited, psionic pulses echoing throughout the Serenwilde. After some time, cracks once more began to form within the petrifying tree, stone growing up its park suddenly. The tree spewed even more gas, and the White Hart appeared at the tree to instruct those of the commune to fortify the tree, to delay the escape of whatever lived inside. The essence to fortify the tree came steadily and in massive numbers while a few members sat by the tree. Tamsin, Selenity, Torgaddon, Saran, and some others began to inhale the mist from the tree as it mixed with the silvery essence which had interesting effects on their psyche. Despite the best efforts to keep the tree fortified, eventually the being escaped, revealing a tall alien figure who had earned the name Xarriv, the Reaver. His appearance was short-lived, for he disappeared near instantly. Throughout the next month, the being kept appearing to members of the Serenwilde, a party of seemingly interested individuals following his every move. Each time he appeared, he took a life and visions began to appear to those he killed, strong emotions filling the minds of those who died to his touch along with visions of the being’s memories and seemed to take some of his victims’ into his own mind. It was shortly revealed through these visions, confirmed when he touched the Moonhart Mother and all of Serenwilde saw a shared vision, that this being was a maddened half-formed tossed into the void when its creche was attacked by one of the Soulless, back in or before the days of the Elder Wars. It was driven mad by the emptiness and loneliness of the Void, left to its own devices to wander. But how it got to the First World remained a mystery until Sarrasri appeared before it. As Sarrasri stepped before the tree, the being immediately focused on her, seeming to recognise her much to the confusion of everybody present. As Sarrasri fell, she granted a vision which she later relayed of a fight in the void between the alien being and Charune, ending with Charune being wounded. Charune’s memories of the First World begin to flood into her mind momentarily. She relayed this, mentioning remembering the tree specifically. Future deaths and realisations gave the revelation that this being, in its maddened state, psionically absorbed some of Charune’s memories and felt the Serenwilde was its home, but its paranoid madness led it to see all the inhabitants as intruders, meant to be destroyed lest they cause it more suffering. Finally, the being appeared before the petrified tree once more, a vortex of psionic energy appearing above the Serenwilde forest. As the destruction unfolded, a horn sounded and a rift appeared from the sky from the Void from whence Charune, Lord of the Hunt returned to the First World. A battle ensued in the Serenwilde forest before Charune threw a spear into the half-formed, banishing it to the Void once more and shattering the tree it entered from. **Categories:** News --- ### [Second Annual Ascension Gala](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/03/03/second-annual-ascension-gala/) **Published:** March 3, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was the first day of Klangiary, one of those Autumn days where all had begun to become crisp and golden; one of those days where life could start all over again. I had placed all my hopes for that day, for that new life, on a letter. The letter was silk, expensive and keen to show that off – it bore elegant words that drew me in like a fisherman’s hook. A party, and a large party at that, the intimate sort of party where you can find true privacy. Of course I went – I could never have done otherwise. The Gilded Chateau was a towering, elegant silhouette against the expanse of the Inner Sea, backlit by the distant lights of the islands across the water, which seemed almost emerald in the midnight glow. I crossed the bridge over the alabaster sands and was transported into a different world, a world where anything was possible, where one stepped out of the haunting loneliness of the rest of the world and into a place that was all about finding one another. I stood aloof for a time, watching as the adventurous guests – those who had made their name by stepping through the Portal of Fate – made poses upon the carpet and were announced to the rapturous ears of those already inside the Chateau. Their laughter as the tall Czigany announcer fumbled over false titles for them drew me over, pulled me in by the inexorable magnetism of potential embarrassment. I had no desire to become reviled by a false announcement, and so I slipped the gentleman that most universal of understandings – gold. Thus I entered the Gilded Chateau without any announcement at all, finding myself amongst the mingling crowds of city and communefolk. There was, of course, no sign of the host. Trader Bob was the most accessible man in all of Lusternia and yet it was said that there were few who truly knew him – not even his Coterie, nor the long string of lovers to whom he had been supposedly attached. This was not the first of his parties, nor I was sure would it be the last. The previous Ascension, when the Seals had weakened at the hands of the Higher Gods, had been the inaugural gala, held at the Triple Junction Inn. This year…this year was a dream, a turbulent riot of joy, a last desperate grasp at happiness before facing the Almighty Himself. I made small talk, as one is wont to do at such gatherings, but largely I observed. There was a tension in several of the attendees from Serenwilde, born of frequent disdainful glances and the painful exhaustion of an argument abandoned before resolution, that I pitied and envied all at once. What must it be like for these strange creatures, to be facing down the Soulless, but to feel more pain from crimes of the heart? I longed for a life where I could be swept up by such things, even as I wished dearly for the world to be uniform and focused upon that which truly mattered. And the Chateau – the Chateau would have captivated even the most mundane of persons. From the domineering fresco of the entrance hall to the juxtaposition of the game room, where I watched noblemen from the Engine of Transformation play at Fate – a fitting game for such people – the whole affair was like sunlight bursting into a star before the eyes. I passed through a solarium where a dracnari basked with an ever-present smirk, her gown leaping upon her body like gasping flames, as she whispered in the ear of a blushing faeling – through a parlour where another dracnari wielding a notepad scribbled furiously in response to the goings-on around her. I travelled down the stairs, finding myself in a gallery of sorts. I saw a man of elegant bearing press against something on one of the portraits – and to my astonishment it turned, revealing a secret door that allowed him ingress. He reappeared some minutes later by the same entryway, and marched past me where I stood examining the other portraits. I felt as if I ought to know him; he had that bearing of a man who people spoke of. Curious, I retraced his steps and transgressed through the hooked portrait. What I saw there shall never be spoken of, for there are some secrets that must remain kept. Beyond those watching Bobs was a larger room, a darker room, a room that smelt as pungent as the ground beneath my shoes felt. It was the sort of juxtaposed image that displayed a microcosm of the gala as a whole: Hallifaxian noblewomen stood in the fine regalia one would expect of that grand city, their thoughts and their speech turned wholly to the spectacle that would soon be undertaken within the pit. Perhaps something buried within them called to the feral nature of it, perhaps they yearned from their staid and stoic towers for the intimacy of the sport – or perhaps there was far more to their city than I had presumed. I saw them cheering alongside the other cities and communes with all the fervour of a street rat at a bar brawl, as the wrestler known as Korgrim claimed a controversial second victory in a row. But it was the terrace that captivated me the most, and formed the centre for much of the party, the focus for discussions of missing meringues and the lack of champagne. There I stood days later, amongst gossiping partygoers who might never even have taken the time to learn one another’s names but for the Trader’s gathering. Cheers erupted from the crowd as confetti descended upon us – they were riled, still, from the exertions of the wrestling arena – and all turned their attention towards the steps from which, at last, our host descended. Trader Bob was a human man with one of those rare smiles that had a quality of reassurance, the sort that you would come across perhaps only once or twice in life, the sort that assured you that it would rewrite the world to be prejudiced in your favour. He lifted his champagne glass in a toast to us, and we followed suit – he seemed the sort of man that one could not help but copy. Beside him swanned in a younger man, barely out of his teens, with a hook for a hand and a handsome face. After my earlier excursions, I found myself following suit as several female attendees stepped away from his presence, listening to their murmurings that Bob Junior was not so gracious as his father. His father, however, captivated me. I found that I could not look away, could not consider anything but him and the mystery that he was. He swept us up to the ballroom in a dream, and though many of the guests had long since retired from exhaustion those few who remained leapt at once to dancing. Such a wondrous display I have not seen before and I doubt that I shall ever see its like again. I watched the couples spin and twirl as though they were as light as air: a Hallifaxian pair made a romantic contrast in crystal and feathers; the blushing faeling was brave enough to take Bob Junior’s arm for a spin; a wild pair of demigods laughed delightfully in one another’s arms. So intoxicating was the intimacy of the display that for a time, my attention was torn between them and the Trader himself. He had made his way quietly to the side of the room, near a willowy viscanti who was doubtless a high-ranking noblewoman from the Engine. It was only when I placed my full focus upon the two of them that I truly appreciated the way he looked at her. Moonlight fell through the windows and refracted across the mirrored room, casting the two of them in a halo of incandescent majesty. The viscanti’s silver mask gleamed around her turquoise eyes as she looked up at him, echoing the Trader’s gaze – the sort of gaze that men and women both dreamed of having placed upon them. He murmured in her ear, and she in his, and I felt as even from across the room I was as much of an intruder upon their private moment as if I had been stood between them. But I could not look away. I do not know how long I stood there, watching them. I gleaned no further information, and soon they retired, arm in arm as they departed from the ballroom. I remained for a day or so thereafter, coming to terms with this magical world into which I had entered. I watched the adventurers around me doing the same, heard latecomers announced and watched as waiters began quietly to pick up the detritus of the party. I sat there, brooding on the vast reaches of the world that I had not heretofore understood, of the romantic dreams that could be realised in a place like this. And all of it could be gone within the month. It would not, of course. There would always be people who dreamed larger than eternal nothingness. The world would always beat on, driving forth against the current of the world, even though it sought ceaselessly to drag them into the past. The thought made me smile at the comfort of it, and I knew that it was time to depart the Gilded Chateau. I picked up my hat, brushed it clean of confetti, and returned home. **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/03/02/january-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** March 2, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the January Vesteran Honours, Aramel won the bardic contest with the play titled, “The Alchemy of Love”. In the artisanal category, Ciaran won with the portait titled “Ciaran and Yephry”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Aramel**Bardic Runnerup**Portius**Bardic Merit**Sluelugh and Breandryn##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Ciaran**Artisanal Runnerup**Arimisia**Artisanal Merit**Ssaliss **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Event 2017](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/02/25/ascension-event-2017/) **Published:** February 25, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Towards the end of the Saga of the Black Sun, a figure emerged which weakened the Nine Seals. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in February , there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Seal of Chaos **Winner:** Taevyn **Event**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Seal of Harmony **Winner:** Steingrim Event**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Seal of Nature **Winner:** Ixion Event**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Seal of Knowledge **Winner:** Falmiis Event**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Seal of Life **Winner:** Malarious Event**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Seal of Death **Winner:** Shango **Event**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Seal of Justice **Winner:** Ciaran **Event**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Seal of Beauty **Winner:** Zyphora **Event**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. ### Seal of War **Winner:** Veyils **Time:** 11:00 a.m. PST Event**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Winner:** Falmiis now known as Falaeron **Event**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [Flocking to the Swan Song](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/02/13/flocking-to-the-swan-song/) **Published:** February 13, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** An errant cloud drifting uncontrolled on a breeze revealed Hathi Aves, Warden of the Swans, and his young son, Taelo Aves, a pair of trill dedicated to tending the Clarramore’s swan flock. Their portion of the Clarramore Cloud Gardens was set adrift and recently reunited with the estate properly. In his travels, Hathi Aves found a mysterious shard that he swore could hear the swans’ innermost thoughts. Emeritus Ayisdra Ysav’rai was the first to discover the cloud bearing the flock and committed his time to unlock this mystery. Trekking far and wide, his first steps were riddled with unknowns. Eager to assist, the Winter Orchid, Anita Zayah, offered her help as well. Meanwhile, the Sublime Opus Nelras and Aficionado Xeii Shevat delved more into the Aves’ and swans’ backgrounds by conversing with Taelo, who mentioned the family’s penchant for keeping swans since the departing of their beloved Jilai Clarramore. Soon it became evident the swans held more knowledge than their shy and demure countenances would imply. Normally mute, swans only release their songs on the point of death in gorgeous clarion notes of beauty and power. However, Emeritus Ayisdra’s efforts coaxed a musical tale from the Clarramore flock, a story hidden behind their eyes. Upon realizing the connection to Lord Crys, the Keeper of Song whose crystalline talents flow through the Symphonium, Nelras, the current Opus, called upon all Symphonists to witness what might come next. A wise decision before the historical discovery to come. With the masterful assistance of Marquis Falmiis Shevat, the group gathered by the humble and quaint swan pond unlocked the final mystery. The audience basked in the unleashed duet of Crys and Jilai, revealing secrets and personal memoirs unknown to mortals in centuries. **Categories:** News --- ### [Towers of the Magi](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/02/08/towers-of-the-magi/) **Published:** February 8, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In late Dioni 466 a croaking voice was heard emanating from the Undervault tunnels under the Razine Mountains, calling out to Professor Pheslida Pheeif-Zluush that he was looking to bring her the requested supplies. Yarith Shevat of Hallifax was the first to join the Professor and meet Oblo Bllem, whose still heavily laden wheelbarrow indicated that Professor Pheeif-Zluush was not his last stop. As more people arrived to offer their assistance, Oblo Bllem explained that he wished to meet Archmage Shervalian of Nyalia, in hopes of building further upon the research done there in the days of the Empire. Oblo was swiftly escorted before the Archmage, where his companions were soon joined by numerous Hallifaxians. While the Archmage was somewhat hesitant, the combined arguments of the mugwump and the Hallifaxians eventually persuaded him to allow excavation of the ancient ruined towers of the mages of earth, fire and air, in the hopes that some of their research might yet be recoverable. Though Tylwyth, the Keeper of the Black Nest, appeared most interested in propositioning the working merians, the rest of the brave adventurers set to work with a will, soon clearing the rubble from the tower entrances. The adventurers were quick to explore the towers, the first beings to enter the ruins in centuries. Despite some structural instability temporarily preventing their leaving the ruins once more, the towers were soon stabilized, although several adventurers commented on their sorry state. All was not well between the Archmage and Oblo Bllem, however. Left to his own devices, Oblo managed to offend the Archmage with his disregard for the dangers the gorgogs posed, and the Archmage ordered him off the island. The mugwump did not go far. Unloading his wheelbarrow, he soon set up quarters for himself in the southeastern corner of Bondero Bay. It was here that Falmiis Shevat and Zyphora Windwhisper found him and agreed to serve as his intermediaries, now that he could no longer visit Nyalia himself. The pair swiftly gathered the necessary materials for a catalyst that Oblo hoped would allow him to release the gorgogs’ memories. It took several of the probes before Oblo had refined his technique, but once he had, Falmiis, Zyphora and Oblo were able to watch the gorgog’s memories of a visit to Shallamar in centuries past. While pleased with his success, Oblo Bllem was disappointed in its limited scope, and began to think of how he might refine his process for the future. Whether his efforts to use the gorgogs to discover new planes will be successful, remains to be seen. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Events & Much More](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/02/03/ascension-events-much-more/) **Published:** February 3, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ## **Challenge of Chaos** In the aftermath of Mahaadi’s invasion of Faethorn and a civil war between Goldenclaw and Dawnburst, the Basin of Life found itself pressed against the knife’s edge of Kethuru’s destructive power. Indeed, the Seals of Knowledge, Chaos and War had cracked, and it was time for the Trials of Ascension once more. Avechna, the Avenger revealed Himself to the First World and explained the tasks ahead, beginning, of course, with the Trial of Chaos. All over clamoured the tiny feet of hamsters, but the one most-prized as the Purple Hamster of Chaos that switched hands time and time again. In the first moments of the Trial, Ciaran Pavok of Hallifax claimed the embodiment of Chaos; however, he was slain and such a treasure passed to the hands of Xenthos An’Ryshe. Then it went from Lerad, to Taevyn, to Lysistrata, to Malarious and Ixion. The inhabitants of the First World laid their fortresses within Vesucia Island and Spectre Isle. However, unbeknowst to all, the Hamster travelled to the Czigany Wayfaire – a momentary detour before it was claimed once more by Kalas Ixion. As the Trial grew late, more hands took hold of the Hamster, before being switched between Arimisia, Taevyn and Gero within its last moments. But at the last minute, Taevyn Ladyn of New Celest captured the rodent at the Liran road, proving that he was the Champion of Chaos! **Congratulations, Taevyn Ladyn of Celest, Sealbearer of Chaos!** ## **Challenge of Harmony** Still reeling from the battle over the Purple Hamster and the Medallion of Chaos, the mortals of the Basin of Life quickly prepared themselves for the next challenge, the Challenge of Harmony! With their words sharp, and their tongues sharper, many took to the challenge, but it was Arimisia D’Cente of Magnagora who was able to first secure the lead. Arimisia held onto her advantage for some time until a force from the north shut her up, and Romaan of Celest put a hamper on her gains. Seeing an opportunity open before him, Mayor Steingrim of Gaudiguch seized the chance to slide ahead, aided by former Sealbearer of Harmony, Talan Ysav’rai. Steingrim and Arimisia were neck and neck for much of the Challenge, but in the end, it was Steingrim who would come ahead! Congratulations, **Mayor Steingrim of Gaudiguch, Sealbearer of Harmony!** ## **Challenge of Nature** The Challenge of Nature was a daunting, testing its contenders to their limits. An amberlight blossom was bestowed upon the challengers in the hopes they would bring the Sun’s gentle rays back to the Basin, rather than the harsh, scorching light that has ravaged it in previous years. Captured within were the voices of the Sisterhood of Morningsong, their leader Delphyne whispering of her designs for the land beyond. Talan Ysav’rai of Gaudiguch started out strong and put a cloud of dust between her and her competition. For the longest time she was in the lead, with Aramel Shevat and Yarith Shevat far behind. Slowly others began to gain on them and then on Talan herself. It was Kalas Ixion who finally managed to overtake her and from thereon it was smooth sailing for him. Ixion was victorious and received his Medallion of Nature at the Seal of Nature. **Congratulations Kalas Ixion of Magnagora, Sealbearer of Nature! ## **Challenge of Knowledge** Not too long after the Basin of Life was imbued with the gentle glow of amberlight blossoms, the Trial of Knowledge had begun! A quiz of great challenge – Avechna, the Avenger tested the mortals of the First World to recall even the most insignificant details about Lusternia’s history,realm, and quests. Falmiis Shevat of Hallifax seemed well-equipped to solve the test early on, and his lead remained even against his closest competition of Kalaneya of Glmodoring. Indeed, the two were the only ones whose scores broke above 20 points. However, in the end, Falmiis emerged victorious: answering several of the most brutal questions that have been devised. As such, he was awarded the Medallion of Knowledge. **Congratulations Falmiis Shevat of Hallifax, Sealbearer of Knowledge!** ## **Challenge of Chaos** In the aftermath of Mahaadi’s invasion of Faethorn and a civil war between Goldenclaw and Dawnburst, the Basin of Life found itself pressed against the knife’s edge of Kethuru’s destructive power. Indeed, the Seals of Knowledge, Chaos and War had cracked, and it was time for the Trials of Ascension once more. Avechna, the Avenger revealed Himself to the First World and explained the tasks ahead, beginning, of course, with the Trial of Chaos. All over clamoured the tiny feet of hamsters, but the one most-prized as the Purple Hamster of Chaos that switched hands time and time again. In the first moments of the Trial, Ciaran Pavok of Hallifax claimed the embodiment of Chaos; however, he was slain and such a treasure passed to the hands of Xenthos An’Ryshe. Then it went from Lerad, to Taevyn, to Lysistrata, to Malarious and Ixion. The inhabitants of the First World laid their fortresses within Vesucia Island and Spectre Isle. However, unbeknowst to all, the Hamster travelled to the Czigany Wayfaire – a momentary detour before it was claimed once more by Kalas Ixion. As the Trial grew late, more hands took hold of the Hamster, before being switched between Arimisia, Taevyn and Gero within its last moments. But at the last minute, Taevyn Ladyn of New Celest captured the rodent at the Liran road, proving that he was the Champion of Chaos! **Congratulations, Taevyn Ladyn of Celest, Sealbearer of Chaos!.** ## **Salvation of the Orcs** Discovering the orcs of Shallach on Spectre Isle uncovered a sly plot (for orcs) wherein they were working to establish themselves more prominently in the Basin of Life. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/salvation-of-the-orcs) ## **Return of the Pyresmith** Strange visions descended upon the citizens of the City of Gaudiguch, leading to a literal conflagration that flooded the city in fire. Thus heralded the return of the Elder God Yomoigu back to the city of pyramids. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/return-of-the-pyresmith) ## **Bane of the Ice Angels** The igasho of Icewynd hatched a plot to subvert the workings of the self-proclaimed ice angels from gaining ground. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/bane-of-the-ice-angels) ## **Conquering the Mountain** After an amusing transmission sent by Perriwinkle Sweetpease, the communes of the Basin of Life reconvened the next month, in late Avechary. Butter’s husband was ready: the Song of Ail’Fae Runia was to be sung. And thus, the ingredients were sought – not, of course, after worries were abated that the Rite of hai’Gloh Zemordia would be accidentally performed. It was not, and in the end, a little fae girl stood as the Rosebearer – hoping to banish the Solar Queen once and for all. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/conquering-the-mountain) ## **The Path to Amberni** As the Song of Ail’Fae Runia rang throughout the Basin of Life, strengthened in some part by the higher vibrational hum of the Elemental Planes, the Solar Queen was overwhelmed. The skies of Faethorn glowed a gentle amber and twisted under the weight of ethereal magic; as if called into being by this situation, a column of golden light erupted around the Queen’s Tree. A fiery lash struck at the skies, and the Queen exhaled smoke and ash. Though free, events led to the Tree of Trees, and within the branches was discovered Amberni, plagued by the solar fae. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/the-path-to-amberni) ## **The Secrets of Iklara** When the Elder Goddess Ashtariel was revealed to be an unstable, twisted version of the sibling of Mysrai the Thousandfold and Zvoltz the Architect, secrets were revealed dating back to the time before the Elder Wars. A path was found to Iklara itself, a cosmic plane hollowed out by tragedy aeons ago. [Read more!](https://www.lusternia.com/the-secrets-of-iklara) ## Calendar - January 1-31: Throughout the month artifacts will go on sale with diminishing returns, i.e., first person to purchase the artifact will receive a 40% discount, second person will get a 38% discount, etc. Also, gold auctions will be going on throughout the month so keep an eye out! Finally, you can purchase New Year’s Resolutions in game for 100 credits each. See RESOLUTIONS for details. - January 1: Wild Nodes! - January 15: Wild Nodes! - January 21: Ascension Event: Trial of Chaos at 3:00 p.m. PST - January 22: Ascension Event: Trial of Harmony at 4:00 p.m. PST - January 28: Ascension Event: Trial of Nature at 3:00 p.m. PST - January 29: Ascension Event: Trial of Knowledge at 2:00 p.m. PST - January 29: Wild Nodes! [![](https://www.lusternia.com/sites/lusternia.com/files/artisinals/2015/12/VOTE%20copy_0.gif)](http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-estarra.html) **Categories:** News --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/02/03/december-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** February 3, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the December Vesteran Honours, Breandryn won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Brave Little Faeling”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the portait titled “Come, to the Torturer”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Breandryn**Bardic Runnerup**Portius**Bardic Merit**Aramel and Xeii##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Arimisia**Artisanal Runnerup**Phoebus**Artisanal Merit**Aeral and Gero **Categories:** News --- ### [Welcoming the Welkin](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/01/28/welcoming-the-welkin/) **Published:** January 28, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For several months, mortals had observed curious formations of clouds within the sky of the Prime Material Plane. But though they engendered curiosity, few made any attempt to investigate the meteorological occurrences – save for Primus Gero and Castellan Yarith of the Institute, who with the help of the Matrix Research Facility managed to discover that the strange movements in the heavens coincided with fluctuations in the power of Avechna’s Peak. They returned to monitoring the situation, and over the month of Vestian, the clouds began to twist even more. A group from Glomdoring began to make their own investigations: following Rowena’s encouragement to seek out a druid, Athree and Tylwyth sought the assistance of Dylara Stormcrow, and the three of them spoke then with her cadaverous relative Brennan as well as Damian Nightshade. Meanwhile in Hallifax, Force Commander Maligorn conferred with Malimli Fairquillion on the anomalies, and in Serenwilde there was a debate about shamanism. But it seemed all was soon to be revealed, for as they made their investigations, the clouds finally succeeded in manifesting into a shape – a single Divine glyph. The bookbinders of the First World who were fortunate to witness it translated it at once as the glyph for greeting, often given upon first meetings or to herald the dawn. It was quickly followed by the booming voice of Avechna, the Avenger, who relayed to the mortals of the Basin of Life that the Transcendental Beacon had lit up once again. Keen to ensure that Whoever was within the Void could make it through, the mortals set about at once aiding Avechna in protecting the Beacon from the touch of Kethuru. For with his power in ascendance, the Astral Plane was proving too great a barrier for the Elder God or Goddess, even with the Beacon active. Power was gathered in the form of corpses and essence, swift enough to impress even the Avenger Himself. And with the protection over the Transcendental Beacon it activated at last, propelling before the gathered mortals a small, mist-wreathed form: Czixi, the Welkin. One of the last ten members of the First Circle, who was known for Her work as the leader of the Second Circle. Seemingly agitated and disoriented, the Welkin Goddess hurled a flurry of questions at the mortals about Her kin, primarily concerning the First and Second Circles. Several of the Elder Gods made visits to Her, directly or indirectly – the touch of the Enchantress was seen, as well as the presence of the Lady Aesthete. But it was the visit of Thax, the Machine, that caused the greatest upheaval. For He launched at once into an attack upon the Welkin Goddess, a brief clash of blades that ended with Her swift evasion of His assault. He departed with a salute, the exchange offering up as many questions as it gave answers about Their relationship. Following several more questions, Czixi departed not long thereafter, seemingly curious to observe how the First World had changed since Her departure. **Categories:** News --- ### [Conquering the Mountain](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/01/26/conquering-the-mountain/) **Published:** January 26, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the mysterious melting ice along the northern end of Avechna’s Teeth finally gave way, a cacophony of stampeding orcs echoed through the Basin. Shortly after their victorious conquest settled down, a scream of terror erupted as frightful terrors began to plague their population. First upon the scene, Marquis Falmiis of Hallifax battled his way through a horde of lions and mammoths to ascend the newly revealed Mount Krog. Athree and Darach Tylwyth of Glomdoring followed suit, taking time to explore the paved path of blood behind Falmiis and encountered the orcs, who obviously needed help from their mysterious illness and haunted state. Pushing through, Falmiis discovered the source of the orcs’ torture, in the form of a lucidian colony who claimed this land, Syxsl, as their own long before the orcs arrived. Unbeknownst to the orcs, who named the mountain Krog, the lucidians did not take kindly to the invasive disruption to their idyllic seclusion. As the Marquis sped onwards to assist the lucidians, Veyils Ysav’rai of Glomdoring came to assist her fellow comrades and put a stop to Falmiis’ efforts. It was quite the gathering of Glomdoring members already, but soon Spirit Warden Xenthos charged atop the mountain to continue efforts to aid the orcs. With Athree’s help, and several unveiled mysteries later, they discovered what truly was ‘haunting’ the orcs and put an end to the terror, for now. Not one to give in so easy, Marquis Falmiis later returned to his commitment to the lucidians, once their energies were regenerated for the task, and aided them in banishing the orcs from the mountain. Orc invaders or Lucidian oppressors? Who truly owns and claims Mount Krog, the orcs of Krog or lucidians of Syxsl? Pick a side, decide their fate, and champion their campaign to conquer the mountain for their own. **Categories:** News --- ### [Bane of the Ice Angels](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/01/21/bane-of-the-ice-angels/) **Published:** January 21, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was a warm autumn day, full of golden rays of sunlight, when winter made itself known at the fabled Aetherplex Chamber in the form of Kurteba, a winded igasho scholar. The shards of ice bedecking his robe still in the process of melting, he wasted no time looking for what he came for: skilled hunters. Though he insisted he was unable to hunt for the creatures he sought on his own, his appearance suggested otherwise. Lucky for him, Iytha Trueflight and Dahlla D’Cente agreed to assist and off to the Mountains of Icewynd they went. Having instructed Doman Trueflight on where to find him, so did he. Many stubbed toes and a short encounter with an ice bear later, Kurteba’s little library was overflowing with visitors who flocked to Icewynd to investigate the peculiar disturbance. While several visited the rather large group of Forsaken at the gates of Climanti, Mrak n’Kylbar was the first to find himself in the library itself. Arriving first from her trip across the ice, Iytha came bearing what she had set out to obtain but it took the combined efforts of Xenthos An’Ryshe, Veyils Ysav’rai, Mrak n’Kylbar, Gero, and Kalas Cyna to assemble all that the scholar was after. With everything in hand, Kurteba was able to construct a grand spire that he hoped would prevent the Ice Angels from rising again. Upon the suggestion of Gero, those gathered hurriedly fiddled with its individual pieces until it snapped into place and shone brilliantly. With that Kurteba jumped behind Mrak n’Kylbar and they set off to place and activate it. While they were successful, Mrak was unable to enjoy either the spectacle or the spoils, as Icewynd claimed yet another victim. While not everyone approved of his methods, Kurteba was able to strike a blow at the Ice Angels. After being successful there, he travelled back to his library to continue research on other methods to prevent their resurgence. What will the ancient Forsaken texts reveal next? **Categories:** News --- ### [Return of the Pyresmith](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/01/20/return-of-the-pyresmith/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was a normal day in the city of Gaudiguch. The sun was shining, the party was popping, and whiskey flowed freer than the lava falls. The jovility ground to an abrupt halt when a masked visage invited itself into the minds of the entire populace to issue both a warning and an apology of a pain that it must inflict. Though some nervously laughed off the message, convinced that it was a joint hallucination, others were less convinced and quietly prepared themselves for what may lay in store. For months afterward, citizens of the city of Freedom were plagued with random spikes of extreme emotion; one moment acting perfectly normal while in the next succumbing to the depths of rage and anger or beset by bouts of greed and envy. These occurrences were always mercifully brief but left all who experienced them drained and weary. It was not until until Archmage Farlaris of the Pyromancers visited the Plane of Fire while acting on the ill feelings of his tutor, Akungi Saim, that the cause of the emotional malaise was discovered. The Seven Sacred Pyres, elemental reflections of mortaldoms basest desires and emotions, had been extinguished! Where once had stood great pillars of flame and pits of vibrantly glowing coals now stood only charred earth and shattered glass. Despite their disappearance, however, the heat exhuded by them was still palpable from a considerable distance. When all seven of the Pyres had been extinguished, the masked visage once more appeared in the minds of the citizens of Gaudiguch, though this time its warnings seemed to be directed towards another. Before the mask’s words could be fully processed, a white-hot pain engulfed all those present, through which their mind’s eye perceived a great iron door ringed by seven vibrantly coloured flames. Though the door remained open for the merest fraction of a second it was enough for a single figure to make its way through. As the door vanished and seven flames scattered, returning to their natural homes on the Plane of Fire, the lone figure revealed Himself as Yomoigu the Pyresmith, once more returned to the Basin of Life. **Categories:** News --- ### [Salvation of the Orcs](https://www.lusternia.com/2017/01/18/salvation-of-the-orcs/) **Published:** January 18, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the lingering warmth of autumn faded away, several citizens of Magnagora began to report sightings of shifty looking orcs on Spectre Island, all sneaking about while carrying large sacs of spectral essence. All attempts to detain one of the thieving braves failed as the orcs always managed to evade capture by the slimmest of margins. A later attempt to interrogate the orcs of Shallach, led by Yurizhi and Jarlegiya of Magnagora, resulted in nothing more than the death of the reticent creatures. It was not until several months later that Yiskka Feyranti, captain of the Crimson Lady, announced to the city that she had caught one of the orcs stowed away in her ship’s hold. Eager to finally get answers, Nefara of the Geomancers along with Cyna and Avurekhos of the Nihilists quickly took responsibility for the orc’s ‘wellbeing’ and dragged him in chains to the Bridge of Torment where he was to be vivisected, flayed, and finally fed to the trio’s expectantly waiting demons. Though the orc put on a defiant face at first, his resolve swiftly crumbled and he revealed that the orcs had been collecting undead essence on the orders of the ‘smart one’ recently come to the ruins of Shallach. After gaining access his lair, the ‘smart one’ turned out to be an orc mystic named Vorugh Soulseeker and his driving ambition was to find a way to return his people to strength by giving them the gift of Undeath. Appealing to the Magnagorans by providing tantalizing scenarios where a tribe of naturally stealthy and cunning warriors would be in their debt, he enlisted those gathered to help him complete his elixir of undeath. Before too long, Cyna succeeded in gathering the necessary ingredients and the elixir was successfully completed. The chieftain of the orcs, Xhurug Deathstalker, downed the foul mixture before it had had time to cool and promptly dropped dead. Yet for the first time in Orcish history the strongest of orcs rose once more, his form practically melting and shifting before the eyes of those gathered. With a shout of elation Vorugh immediately turned back to his work, more driven than ever to bring the benefits of undeath to the entirety of his people. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Lightweavings of Isune](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/25/the-lightweavings-of-isune/) **Published:** December 25, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Arriving with little fanfare, an eccentric trill artiste meandered through Hallifax to seek aid from the city’s finest artist. With the air of a mysterious stranger, this eccentric trill beseeched the Chairman Falmiis Shevat himself for escort to speak with whom she sought, Shalmae Silverplume. After ruffling a few feathers and subsequently smoothing them over, the trill stranger enlisted Shalmae to learn her new art, lightweaving. Imposing upon the Chairman once more, he was asked to capture lightweavings adrift in the crystalline city. Upon his resounding success, Chairman Falmiis Shevat became the first owner of a light-woven piece of Art. But who was the mysterious stranger? A question asked by Primus Gero, to which he received a most prompt reply… Removing her wide-brimmed hat which hid her face, and shedding her mortal guise, dawn-hued ribbons of light danced in the sky as the facade melted away. In her place, Lady Isune, the Aesthete, revealed Herself to the Basin once again. With Her radiant return, She spoke, “Upon my return, a most precious gift, Hallifax. May you revel in my lightweavings this Solstice!” “Merry Solstice, Basin.” ~ Isune, the Aesthete **Categories:** News --- ### [The Lightweavings of Isune](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/25/the-lightweavings-of-isune-2/) **Published:** December 25, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Arriving with little fanfare, an eccentric trill artiste meandered through Hallifax to seek aid from the city’s finest artist. With the air of a mysterious stranger, this eccentric trill beseeched the Chairman Falmiis Shevat himself for escort to speak with whom she sought, Shalmae Silverplume. After ruffling a few feathers and subsequently smoothing them over, the trill stranger enlisted Shalmae to learn her new art, lightweaving. Imposing upon the Chairman once more, he was asked to capture lightweavings adrift in the crystalline city. Upon his resounding success, Chairman Falmiis Shevat became the first owner of a light-woven piece of Art. But who was the mysterious stranger? A question asked by Primus Gero, to which he received a most prompt reply… Removing her wide-brimmed hat which hid her face, and shedding her mortal guise, dawn-hued ribbons of light danced in the sky as the facade melted away. In her place, Lady Isune, the Aesthete, revealed Herself to the Basin once again. With Her radiant return, She spoke, “Upon my return, a most precious gift, Hallifax. May you revel in my lightweavings this Solstice!” “Merry Solstice, Basin.” ~ Isune, the Aesthete **Categories:** News --- ### [The Path to Amberni](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/23/the-path-to-amberni/) **Published:** December 23, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the Song of Ail’Fae Runia rang throughout the Basin of Life, strengthened in some part by the higher vibrational hum of the Elemental Planes, the Solar Queen was overwhelmed. The skies of Faethorn glowed a gentle amber and twisted under the weight of ethereal magic; as if called into being by this situation, a column of golden light erupted around the Queen’s Tree. A fiery lash struck at the skies, and the Queen exhaled smoke and ash. Did it work? Was the Queen free? Indeed, she was. But nary a moment of respite was granted to the Queen as she was soon beset by the people of the Basin of Life. Was she okay? Did she know what had happened? Queen Maeve did, it seemed. She explained that the warmth she had felt long ago was the awakening presence of the Sun, and specifically, the possessive influence of the Great Spirit’s champion, Mahaadi. At last, a name, an enemy! And this enemy did not wait too long before returning to Faethorn in force. Furious at the machinations of the Basin-dwellers, he unleashed a wild hunt with his cadre of warriors. The Faethorn burned, and the Basin laboured long fighting against Mahaadi’s minions. As this happened, the Queen, overseen by healers such as Ulalah Stormcrow, latched onto the small remaining residue of Mahaadi’s power in her to find his source. What took moments felt like minutes, an hour even, but it dawned upon the Queen. Calling the forces of the Basin back to her throne, the Queen explained that he was coming from the Tree of Trees. When questioned further, it was revealed that the Rite of hai’Glohid b’Slawen was broken or left unkept – an ancient rite that brought those under its effects into dreamless sleep. Tasking the little fae girl to guide them back to the Great Old One, the Maeve informed the Basin to seek Captain Maple Merriwood, as he would know what to do. Returning once more to the Tree of Trees, the little fae girl explained that very few went into the Great Old One’s branches. However, in order to stop Mahaadi, she would reveal an entryway. And so, after gentle coaxing, the path to Amberni, the mighty branches of the Tree of Trees, was opened. As the people of the Basin climbed to the highest points, they were greeted with fearful intrusion by Captain Merriwood. Learning they were friend not foe, he informed them that the invasion of Faethorn was brought on by Mahaadi, who was awakened by Delphyne Amberlight, a powerful and old nymph who is beloved by Father Sun. Tirelessly, the Basin gathered the materials necessary to stop the Dawn’s Champion – returning back and forth to Faethorn and Amberni to fight against him. After many stages of the battle, Mahaadi was finally struck low – his power too weak to revive himself in the smouldering embers of Faethorn. It was then that the Sun’s power peaked. Erupting in a silent nova of darkened energy, the Black Sun shed its darkened figure – becoming a cascade of rainbow light, something which had not been since the time of the Elder Gods. However, this moment of beauty was not to last, for it was then that the dreadful \*\*\*CRACK\*\*\* of the Seals resounded. A Trial of Ascension was to come. Yet, while the Basin of Life slowly returned to the Prime Material Plane, and to the hope of normalcy, not all was finished in Amberni. Indeed, Primus Gero and Tristanna Myeras stayed behind to aid Captain Merriwood in performing the Rite of hai’Glohid b’Slawen. The task was long, tiring and difficult, but in the end, it was managed. Mahaadi’s invasion was stopped and Delphyne Amberlight was returned to her sleep, at least, until she was awakened again and he called to war. In the end, the question remained: what was the purpose of these turn of events? The awakening of Father Sun, His drawing of power from the Queen of the Fae, the invasion of Faethorn, and the turbulence in distant Jojobo – their threaded story remains to be completely told. Perhaps in future months and years much more will be revealed. But for now, Ascension draws near – as does the threat of the terrible Soulless God, Almighty Kethuru. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Solar Queen's Edict](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/23/the-solar-queens-edict/) **Published:** December 23, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It began roughly five years ago. After the Goldenclaw Coven cursed the Basin of Life – misinterpreting the efforts of the Basin as colluding with their Dawnburst enemies – and after the return of the beloved Sako Tleem, Queen Maeve was struck by an idea. And such an idea smouldered and flared, coming to life as an edict: No fae shall leave the borders of Faethorn, under fear of death. As a great, sweltering heat descended upon the Faethorn, Rancoura So’hthae, Lysistrata Shee-Slaugh and Aramel Shevat took to inspect the scene – their respective covens convening soon after. They learned that the fae refused their tah’vrai under Maeve’s authority. Knights of Glorious Dawn replaced the Queen’s normal entourage, and though she seemed unwell, the Maeve remained blind to the proceedings. For a good long time, the edict remained in place: both covens concerned, but obeisant. In late Vestian, the mages of Lusternia felt an unusual pulse – their connection to their respective Elemental Planes fraying like burnt edges. Upon inspection, they found themselves under siege: the fae of Father Sun – coronuli, embaruli, nimbuli, and the great Hunters of the Shorn Corona – ravaging the lands, drawing upon the higher vibrational powers. Those of Celest and Magnagora recalled a similar elemental disruption a while ago, and as the city-folk of the Basin fought off a common enemy, so began a working to protect the Planes. Essence flowed through the elemental archways that connected the planes to the Ethereal Realm, thus stopping the onslaught of fae. Many, including Primus Gero and Yarith and Falmiis Shevat, turned to the Queen of the Fae for answers. Still under the delusion for all these years, the Queen was cagey – either unable or unwilling to address the threat of the Sun fae. It was only after the Queen herself slew Enyalida Zayah did the assembled Basin-dwellers turn away: leaving the Queen to revel in the heat of her domain. But not long after, the communes were alerted. Like long ago, the covens of the Basin were called upon a small, young voice, directing them to the hidden grove of the Thornroot Movement. There, a little fae girl, Perriwinkle Sweetpease, the Arcanist Jalwyn, and others, explained their fears of the Queen’s growing insanity. It was then that the Queen declared her newest edict: no mortals shall trespass within the realm of Faethorn, and all fae that assist them shall be punished by pain of death. The last straw, it would seem, as the Thornroot, and many people of the Basin, fought back. Then rage overtook Queen Maeve. The Maeve’s lips parted, pealing out an ancient song – the Song of the First Morning: a lament, a cry of pain, a cacophonous tune. It was revealed the Queen?s ailment was some empowerment by the Sun Spirit, and she descended upon the Faethorn once more as the Solar Queen. While a cadre of Hallifaxians attempted to duel this infernal entity (and failed in their attempts), the Thornroot gathered the communes for a plan of action. An election would be called for the new Thornroot Leader – a position left open with the passing of Laeroc – and the choices were between Aife (a knight of an elite fae order), Jalwyn (Laeroc’s apprentice), and Perriwinkle (long-standing member of the Thornroot). It would be, in the end, Perrwinkle as the chosen leader, and he proposed the great Song of Ail’Fae Runia, which had not been heard since late Laeroc. Unfortunately, Perriwinkle was untrained in the arts of magic that Laeroc possessed, and requested a set of notes to prepare. Aramel, Gero, and Tylwyth of Glomdoring undertook the quest – finding the notes within a riddle-protected box (where the notes were promptly snatched by a later arriving Xenthos An’Ryshe and Crek Stormcrow). Notes in hand, Perrwinkle left to study. [Go to Black Sun Saga, Part 2](https://www.lusternia.com/blackened-sun-wont-you-come-and-burn-the-world-in-flame) **Categories:** News --- ### [Blackened Sun, Won't You Come, and Burn the World in Flame?](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/23/blackened-sun-wont-you-come-and-burn-the-world-in-flame/) **Published:** December 23, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After an amusing transmission sent by Perriwinkle Sweetpease, the communes of the Basin of Life reconvened the next month, in late Avechary. Butter’s husband ready: the Song of Ail’Fae Runia was to be sung. And thus, the ingredients were sought – not, of course, after worries were abated that the Rite of hai’Gloh Zemordia would be accidentally performed. It was not, and in the end, a little fae girl stood as the Rosebearer – hoping to banish the Solar Queen once and for all. But things did not go as expected. Once more, the Solar Queen sang the Song of First Morning; however, it was clear that some other, some male presence controlled her. With a dissonant voice, the Queen shouted, among other things: F’ai slawqwi! F’ai basla’orenzal! Meah narizal! Ail’an narizal! Alaine narizal! Maen narizal! (For those not fluent in fae: I am not sleeping! I am awake! Sky will burn! Trees will burn! Rivers will burn! All will burn!). The Queen’s song disrupted the Song of Ail’Fae Runia, and she sought to punish the world that dared undermine her. Drawing the Sun itself to her, the once golden sphere turned infernally black, lashing the Prime Material Plane with solar flares and sun fae. It was then that the Queen called upon her attendants – and lo, the Dawnburst Druids arrived to bond with the elder sunpride trees grown upon Avechna’s Peak. Unsurprising to many within the Basin, it would seem that the druids were false allies who sought to bring about this Solar Queen and blackened Sun. The people of the Basin of Life took to arms, doing their best to fight against the bonded Dawnbursts – Turiki, Sidwesh and Mraxin – as well as a number of other Dawnburst druids who came to protect these sacred trees. However, for every strike against the three leaders seemed to never find purchase, deflected by some strange aura of golden sunlight. Another solution would have to be found, it would seem; it would, by roar in the distant Southern Mountains. Led by Jyoath and Anaara of the Goldenclaw Coven, Sakhmis, the Denmother, arrived to the Basin of Life. Only the other month did one of the two younger wiccans spoke to spread word of her arrival; making his way to Gaudiguch – who he had promised to give an audience to the Denmother – Jyoath assisted in defending the Elemental Plane of Fire against the sun fae alongside Rolan Vessandril, Talan Ysav’rai, Enadonella De’Validus and Eritheyl Ryseni. It would seem too that Anaara contacted Tremula Nitraedes, for long ago, Hallifax struck a similar deal with a nameless wiccan. In the end, it was not just Gaudiguch or Hallifax, but the Basin of Life entire who came to visit the Denmother. Old, but still spry, Sakhmis explained that to kill the Dawnbursts, one must strike at the root of their power: the sunpride trees. But how to bring these down, which some of the Basin had hoped to do since their original planting? With axes, of course. The Denmother gifted Talan, Gero, and Veyils thick-bladed obsidian axes to do the deed; however, she explained that they must be empowered first. And since the Basin of Life lacked the sacred chocolate necessary for such a procedure, holy blood would suffice. The blood spilt by Dawnburst fledglings. One by one, Turiki, Sidwesh and Mraxin fell – their invincibility severed by the hacking of the sunpride elders. But it was not enough. The Solar Queen still rampaged through Faethorn and the Sun still remained infernal and seething. As the Basin of Life returned to Faethorn, with Sakhmis in tow, they discussed a plan with the Thornroot on how to tackle the Queen. It was suggested, perhaps, the Elemental Planes be used to temporarily weaken or destabilize the Queen’s power, thus allowing the Ail’Fae Runia to work. However, the communes were fearful of such a production – knowing full and well how the machinations of the higher planes are upon Faethorn; indeed, those of Glomdoring, especially Eliron Shee-Slaugh, suggested perhaps a different working: one of the Great Voices of the forests to destabilize the Queen, or perhaps to have Mother Night take greater influence of the Maeve. Thus began the age-old debate between city and commune. Taking authority as Thornroot leader, Perriwinkle opted to use the Elemental Planes, for, while they may be dangerous, he worried about the increasing pressure of Great Spirit influence upon the Maeve. Thus, the cities once again took to their Planes, imbuing their archways with essence from not only creatures in their planes, but the residue of sun fae that roamed the Prime Material Plane. Soon enough, each archway pulsed with power: harmonizing with each other to deliver a vibrational hum that could destabilize the Solar Queen. Once again, the Song of Ail’Fae Runia was to be undertaken. The ingredients were gathered, and the little fae girl was taken to the Great Old One – the Tree of Trees. However, unlike before, the girl became not the Rosebearer, but instead, a new figure: the Once and Future Queen. Possessing regal authority, the girl was guided back to Faethorn, where she sang the song of Ail’Fae Runia. And it worked. The voices of the fae cried out to break through the Song of the First Morning, pulling the influence of the Sun Spirit from the Maeve. However, all was not over. Indeed, the war for Faethorn had just begun. [Go to Black Sun Saga, Part 3](https://www.lusternia.com/the-path-to-amberni) **Categories:** News --- ### [The Secrets of Iklara](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/17/the-secrets-of-iklara/) **Published:** December 17, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Streams of colour blanketed the First World as, on the 7th of Estar, the year 461, Ashtariel, of a Thousand Hues, made Her Presence known amidst cries for Her Sibling Mysrai, the Thousandfold. Endless months had passed with cryptic messages passed to those who devoutly visited Her Fulcrux, most notably Captain Rolan Vessandril, Breandryn, Xypher Stormcrow and Eritheyl Ryseni of Gaudiguch, and the Basin soon grew accustomed to seeing the strange, alien creatures known as starry thelemor slinking hungrily down every road, in every city and commune. So it was perhaps of no surprise to the many adventurers witnessing these odd happenings, when the distressed Goddess showed Herself in panic, swiftly answered by Mysrai and — much to the shock of several aware of the tensions held between the Two — Her estranged Brother, Zvoltz, the Architect. As Ashtariel flew towards Mysrai, a sudden, looming blackness rose from the Skarch, a place so oft the origin of innumerable wonders and horrors since the return of the Scarlet Goddess shook the First World. Where the veil between the Basin and a plane of mystery was thinnest, there appeared a rift once more, one that had been unstable since the Lady Ashtariel’s rescue — further weakened by the nights when steady incursions of thelemor never seemed to cease. Ebon stars blossomed amidst the many coils of a massive creature peering out of that rift with baleful, crimson eyes, its disfigured form writhing sinuously against a barrier while its target — the beloved Goddess who had captured the hearts of many — seemed inevitably drawn toward it despite Lord-and-Lady Mysrai’s frantic efforts to draw Their Sister to safety. It was then that Lord Zvoltz’ face paled in horror, and He too rushed forward in an attempt to rescue Ashtariel, the Sister He had refused to acknowledge since Her violent emergence. Blinding flashes of lightning tore through the sky as a storm wrought of His turmoil swept the Basin, and for once, the Thousandfold and the Architect had a united goal, to reach Their quickly fading Sibling. Too late, They cried out in unison as She vanished, Her colourful figure swallowed by the blackness of an alien world where the Dreadform raged. Struck with grief, Lord-and-Lady Mysrai turned upon Their Brother, shouting at Him as They sealed the rift that would allow the Dreadform’s release were it not tended. “GO”, They commanded, “We never want to see You again!” The Architect gazed upon the place where His Sister had been with an expression of devastation, and replied, “How our roles have reversed, Sibling. First you as Her murderer and I as Her jailor. Now the reverse.” With that, He turned away, “Only You will bear this burden now, and all the First World knows, as the Council of the Firsts once did…” A jagged tear opened in reality, the darkness of the Void looming hungrily beyond as the Architect departed the First World, a single tear rolling down His cheek as He cast a glance backward, the sorrow shed evaporating quickly in a crackle of lightning as it sizzled toward the Peak below. A crowd had gathered in the Skarch where Lady Ashtariel vanished, the mirror that had been Her deliverance reacting violently to those who approached it — or touched it. Only for Kalas Ixion did this portal allow entry, one of the few who perhaps was linked to the strange world beyond through his time in the Night Market — a place so close and yet so far. Bravely treading forth, Ixion entered, finding himself in the Borderlands, a place between planes where the Dynodeon and Merchants of Thelem warred on behalf of Lord-and-Lady Mysrai and Lord Zvoltz. It is there he learned the secrets of Iklara, and Moraevi, meeting with strange beings amidst purple dunes beneath a sky where the Dreadform raged in captivity. What did he discover? Moreover, what happened to Lady Ashtariel, and how is She linked to the Dreadform of Iklara? Only those courageous enough to seek the Night Market, then the mirror, will ever know. **Categories:** News --- ### [Races](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/06/races/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Coming soon! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Portal](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/09/portal/) **Published:** December 9, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [October Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/29/october-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** November 29, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the October Vesteran Honours, Aramel won the bardic contest with the poem titled, “Elegy for the Sun Fae”. In the artisanal category, Gavriel won with the study titled “Carrion Bird”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Aramel**Bardic Runnerup**Zitto and Portius**Bardic Merit**Aerotan##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Gavriel**Artisanal Runnerup**Lylith and Phoebus**Artisanal Merit**Ialie **Categories:** News --- ### [The Alligator Conundrum of Professor Pheeif-Zluush](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/27/the-alligator-conundrum-of-professor-pheeif-zluush/) **Published:** November 27, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Sounds of arguments and fighting echoed from the Razine Tunnels in the Undervault, and a stressed professor had to open her expedition to public assistance. Professor Pheslida Pheeif-Zluush made a plea to the Basin at large, and first to answer her call was Falmiis of Hallifax, who was quick on his toes with the assistance of Maligorn of Hallifax. The two of them quickly found their way around helping Pheslida’s research assistants gather food for the research subjects, small insects known as lonomids, before returning to Pheslida to find the insects had broken free, likely to more infighting between the students. They set off once more to gather these tiny yet dangerous creatures, only to be met by a greater group who found their way into the caves: Xenthos, Talan, Veyils, Dylara, Siam, Bleuu, and Tridemon. Despite the attempts from Xenthos to garner full answers at the risk of obstructing scientific progress, and with the added help of Tridemon, Falmiis was able to secure all but the last of the lonomids and make his way to Balach with entourage in tow. Once there, he began feeding Pheslida’s toxin to the alligators in Balach. The concoction seemed to go wrong, however, and the alligators instead mutated into stronger, more aggressive versions of themselves. Their last subject was the strangest of all, seeming to possess an odd intelligence. However, it was dispatched quickly, and the professor swiftly called it a day. In the end, the Professor promised to refine the formula and may be found doing so in the upper end of the Razine Tunnels in the Undervault. **Categories:** News --- ### [Cries from the Asylum](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/13/cries-from-the-asylum/) **Published:** November 13, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Despite being a common occurrence within the i’Xiia Asylum, an unusual wailing came forth that was followed by the harsh shouting of a warden trying to subdue an unruly patient. Heard across the prime plane, this attracted the attention of several individuals who decided to check on the situation. As a lone patient pleaded for help, it was Falmiis Shevat who was first to investigate matters. While an asylum warden now called for a doctor to administer sedatives, Sylvanas and Avurekhos entered the Asylum as well. However, it was Falmiis who chose to rightly disobey the instructions of the warden not to interact with the new patients. They had recently been housed in additional cells that went previously unnoticed and unoccupied. Falmiis Shevat discovered within one of the cells the mugwump scientist Vuram Blegurli, to who he rendered aid for a daring escape plan. While Avurekhos Myeras likewise pledged his support, it was the former pair that escaped to the laboratory where Vuram had been working until his recent internment. A young igasho by the name of Rendon joined his fellow Halifaxian Falmiis and together they helped the scientist recover his ancestor’s research and gathered the ingredients for a promising attempt at curing the insanity that has plagued the survivors and descendants of Project Soulforge. Despite the initial attempts at mixing up the cure resulting in combustive results, at last Falmiis figured out the recipe and brought the vial containing the precious fluid back to the i’Xiia Asylum. There he administered it to Lanos Blegurli, ancestor to Vuram and direct witness to the chaos that Soulforge had unleased. The elderly mugwump was transformed from a gibbering mess into a coherent individual, who gave his personal account of what happened all those years ago. Alas the effect only lasted a limited time, and so Falmiis and Rendon, meanwhile joined by a third Hallifaxian known as Maligorn Shevat, returned to Vuram in his laboratory. There they relayed the news of what had transpired and the scientist thanked them heartily for their service. While there is still much work to be done before a permanent cure can even become a reality, the first steps in the right direction were set. It was fitting that a citizen of the Collective, known for their own scientific advances, was the one to play a crucial part in these events. For now Vuram Blegurli will continue his work and hopefully stay out of the hands of the wardens. **Categories:** News --- ### [From the Stars Came Ashtariel](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/10/from-the-stars-came-ashtariel/) **Published:** November 10, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Strange sights in the sky above the Skarch during the month of Estar, 456, brought adventurers far and wide to investigate – and though this desert, the place where Lord-and-Lady Mysrai first descended into the Basin of Life, has seen many a bizarre event, those that unfolded this day were of a kind unprecedented. Those gathered bore witness to an intensely poised Mysrai as the Harlot of Revolutions, Their Hands outstretched and grasping something through a violent rift near a broken spire. They called out in agonized hope only to be answered by a weak voice that echoed with fear beyond the Basin, and though weary beyond imagining, managed to pull something – Someone – through before the rift snapped shut with a roar that shook the earth. Huddled in the sand beside the prone Mysrai, a slight figure peered at everyone with large, multihued eyes. “Sister!” She cried, embracing the Thousandfold with enthusiasm that would surely see any other dead by Their Hand. Much to the surprise of all, the Lord-and-Lady reciprocated, starry tears falling from Their eyes in a joyful deluge as They embraced the strange Goddess in turn. “Hare Ashtariel” were the murmured words amongst the Beloved followers of Mysrai as they gazed on in awe, perhaps the only ones present who had any inkling of what was transpiring. While the rest of the onlookers watched with varying mixtures of curiosity, trepidation, fear, and excitement, the youthful-appearing Goddess rose, Her kaleidoscopic skin and hair of phosphorescent white made striking against Her banal surroundings. Bombarded with questions, requests, introductions, the Goddess was soon overwhelmed, looking frightfully to Her Sibling Mysrai as She retreated further into Herself with a demeanor that spoke of much hurt and many soul-deep wounds. Concern an alien expression on Their ever-shifting face, the Lord-and-Lady tenderly gathered Lady Ashtariel into Their arms, spiriting Her away to a sanctuary beyond the reach of mortalkind. Days after Their departure, the quiet desert filled once more with disturbing sounds – horrid screeches and cries that filled the night in a hair-raising litany. It was then that eerie, star-made things appeared: on the highways, in cities and communes, villages, rivers and streams. Highly aggressive, these creatures poured in a sea of starry black into the Basin, a tide that seems unending, much to the annoyance of many. What are these strange beings? Where do they come from? How can they be stopped? More pressing, where is the Elder Ashtariel and what are Her intentions? Those best poised to answer these questions, Lord Zvoltz and Lord-and-Lady Mysrai, have yet to offer Their guidance and knowledge – one tight-lipped and known for Their secretiveness, the other conspicuously absent. **Categories:** News --- ### [September Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/10/29/september-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** October 29, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the September Vesteran Honours, Stratas won the bardic contest with the short story titled, “The Web of Fear”. In the artisanal category, Gavriel won with the study titled “A Night on the Town”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Stratas**Bardic Runnerup**Lavinya, Portius, and Reyna**Bardic Merit**Aramel, Andara, and Lendren##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Gavriel**Artisanal Runnerup**Eadei**Artisanal Merit**Ialie **Categories:** News --- ### [Return of the Machine God](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/10/16/return-of-the-machine-god/) **Published:** October 16, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** To the joy of many, Roark’s beacon within the Transcendant Fulcrux burned brightly into the sky, calling an Elder God home to the First World. That joy quickly turned to consternation and horror as the beacon turned a sickly green and a hole was torn in the fabric of reality, giving glimpse to the Void beyond. Soon, monolithic spears of dark metal tore through the rift striking out at the hearts of the cities and communes of the Basin of Life and at Avechna’s Peak itself. Forewarned to the coming of this incursion, the Goddess Drocilla erected a shield around the city of Magnagora as Morgfyre, the Legion turned the spear aimed at the Megalith aside. Mortals from across the Basin rallied to the spears, sending cracks spidering across their surfaces beneath the combined onslaught of weapon and magic. The first to fall was the spear which pierced Glomdoring, sending out a beam of energy that rushed back into the Void to the unknown darkness that lay beyond. One by one, each spear crumbled, sending the same energy back into the Void until none remained. As the final beam passed, the rift opened, disgorging a figure shrouded in the darkness of the Void wielding two greatswords, raised to the sky seeking battle. A star, sent by the god Darvellan dispelled the cloaking darkness, revealing the armoured form of the Elder God Thax. Crying challenge, Thax absorbed the star into his zingavium armour, though neither Darvellan or Weiwae gave Thax the violence He desired. Seeing that there was no sport to be had, Thax sunk into the Transcendantal Fulcrux to reunite with His kindred, the Elders Manteekan, Morgfyre, and Drocilla and there to plot defiance at those gods who exiled Him from Lusternia. **Categories:** News --- ### [Twelve Year Anniversary Games](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/10/15/twelve-year-anniversary-games/) **Published:** October 15, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia began its journey twelve years ago, opening its doors on October 7, 2004. What is more appropriate then to celebrate this momentous event with fun, games and surprises! ## October 4, 2016 – Hamster Hunt - Time: 4:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - First Place: Falmiis (300 credits) - Second Place: Ixion (150 credits) - Third Place: Tremula (50 credits) Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! ## October 5, 2016 – Treasure Hunt - Time: 4:00 p.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Winners: - First Place: Kiradawea (300 credits) - Second Place: Falmiis (150 credits) - Third Place: Gero (50 credits) Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! ## October 6, 2016 – Quiz - Time: 5:00 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Winners: - First Place: Falmiis (300 credits) - Second Place: Kalaneya (150 credits) - Third Place: Tremula (50 credits) Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! ## October 7, 2016 – Death Worldgame - Time: 8:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Winners: - First Place: Ixion (300 credits) - Second Place: Gero (150 credits) - Third Place: Veyils (50 credits) A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. ## October 8, 2016 – Harmony Worldgame - Time: 12:00 p.m. PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Winners: - First Place: Xenthos (300 credits) - Second Place: Ixion (150 credits) - Third Place: Shedrin (50 credits) Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. ## October 8, 2016 – Wargames - Time: 4:00 p.m. PST - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Winners: - First Place: Shuyin , Synkarin and Avurekhos (300 credits each) - Second Place: Shedrin, Falmiis and Gero (150 credits each) - Third Place: Ulalah, Veyils and Rancoura (50 credits each) Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! ## October 9, 2016 – Vengeance Tournament - Time: 11:30 a.m. PST - Event: Vengeance Tourament - Winner: - Tasvei (500 credits – lone assassin survivor!) Participate in a bout of Vengeance! Who will survive? ## October 15, 2016 – Battlechess - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Prize: Chess Board of Libertas - Winner: Serenwilde Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive the Chess Board of Libertas! ***Note: All dates and times are in PST (and not GMT).*** **Categories:** News --- ### [August Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/10/06/august-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** October 6, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the August Vesteran Honours, Irillia won the bardic contest with the play titled, “Flight and Fortuity”. In the artisanal category, Lylith won with the portrait titled “Lylith and Companion”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Irillia**Bardic Runnerup**Portius and Ilian**Bardic Merit**Nihmriel and Aramel##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Lylith**Artisanal Runnerup**Xiaran**Artisanal Merit**Ialie and Aeral **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/09/06/july-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** September 6, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the July Vesteran Honours, Stratas won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Tower of Silence”. In the artisanal category, Mica won with the portrait titled “Dedicant Eolae, of the Hart”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Stratas**Bardic Runnerup**Portius**Bardic Merit**Versalean and Flutura##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Mica**Artisanal Runnerup**Aimrath**Artisanal Merit**Ciaran, Ialie and Tarkon **Categories:** News --- ### [The Curious Case of Sako Tleem](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/08/31/the-curious-case-of-sako-tleem/) **Published:** August 31, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It began with a post produced by Scanlan Stormcrow (reproduced here): —— A mystery is afoot, and it’s one I dare to share, For we can find a carriage, but we only find it bare Be it once fast-moving, and rickety round the bend, I never thought i’d be the one, to speak of -this- untimely end. So I implore you Basin, with this caper as it stands, To keep your eyes peeled, as you charge across the lands The one we all remember, is now the one we all quite miss, So seek out the one named Sako, and lets find closure to this. Has the satire once told on the Stages of our lands come true Do we truly have a disappearance of our beloved Sako Tleem… WANTED: SAKO TLEEM – Carriage driver, Beloved giver of tasks —— Was it true? Had the well-known owner of Tleem Transports disappeared altogether? Of course, his presence had not been felt for many years before that, and many adventurers and denizens alike blamed his absence as a cruel trick of the Fates – knowing full and well that Sako Tleem would eventually return to them. But even after Scanlan’s missive, Sako never returned. Years past, months aplenty. No one was sure whether he would return, but many kept hope. That is, until the commuters of Mister Tleem’s esteemed carriage service grumbled and scowled through the streets. Where was Sako?! they questioned and demanded. How are we to get to work/home/friends/lovers? Indeed, it would appear that Tleem Transports was a major method of travel for the denizen population of the Basin of Life. Day in and day out they rioted through the highways, persuaded to take a breather by a handful of adventurers; they even remained when the Basin found itself under the dark magics of the Goldenclaw Coven. They spat upon Sako’s name, upset that he would just leave them high and dry. Rather than let her paramour’s name be sullied, Maendwen Syllamn resolved to find Sako herself. Unfortunately for Maendwen, her quest was a hard one. Hearing rumor that perhaps the very same commuters who raged about Sako’s disappearance may have had some idea of what had happened, she sought some out – only to find none. It was there, on the Ackleberry Highway, that she chanced upon Talan Ysav’rai. Talan, herself chasing down pilgrims and bards, greeted the elfen woman, and after hearing what the woman heard, she decided to take on the quest in Maendwen’s stead. After calming down a commuter, she discovered that he had, in fact, saw something. Sako Tleem was last found near the waystation of Joric Blande! Talan raced there, and after some questioning of Joric himself, Mother Olya, and more commuters, identified a forced path that diverted away from the Southern Highway into the Grey Moors. There, Miss Ysav’rai found a terrible scene: the burnt-out husk of Sako’s carriage. After surveying the scene a little more, she called out for assistance from those in Gaudiguch. To Talan’s aid came Xeltha al-Saaoud, and together, the two women sought out more clues riddled throughout the Grey Moors. Recognizing that perhaps their skill in tracking was a bit unfocused, they petitioned for Rolsand of Magnagora to assist them. The three managed to scour the Grey Moors, the Gloriana River, and the Southern Mountains (calling upon a helpful Synkarin Ysav’rai along the way), discovering two sets of footprints: one, old and weathered, and another, freshly-stamped. Tracking the new ones to a cave still within the distant Southern Mountains, they were able to discover Sako Tleem, alive but certainly not well. The four gathered the beaten dracnari and returned him to Maendwen, who thank them with all her heart. As the Gaudiguchians departed, Maendwen took Sako to her friend, Yojimbo, an alchemist within Estelbar, to find some sort of curative to aid in Sako’s care. Yojimbo himself called upon a fellow healer from Caoimhe Dell, and together, they spent many days in his apothecary workshop. While they were able to heal Sako’s wounds and broken body, Yojimbo explained that his mind was fractured beyond repair. He asked Maendwen what had happened, but Maendwen herself did not know: that fact left unexplained by her Gaudiguchian saviors. Thanking Yojimbo, Maendwen returned to her waystation and decided to care for Sako, even in his mind-addled state. The month passed, and Maendwen returned to her home – Sako in tow. She reached out to Talan, who visited the two, and Maendwen recounted all she could recall from Yojimbo. Talan suggested perhaps emotional trauma was the culprit of Sako’s current illness, hoping to restore him to good cheer with drink and song. However, while appreciative, neither song nor drink restored the dracnari’s state. Swearing that she will care for him until he was better or their threads were cut, she told Miss Ysav’rai that she had asked her brother, Galael, to take over Sako’s carriage service for the time being. So while Tleem Transports is up and running again, the fate of Sako Tleem is dire indeed. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Curse of the Jungle](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/08/28/the-curse-of-the-jungle/) **Published:** August 28, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Roughly a month passed before Doctor Creshok was revisited by Falmiis and Ileein Shevat and Tamashi of Hallifax, who asked whether or not the cure for the skinrot outbreak was ready. It was, at least, but the question of dissemination was asked. Calibration of the gnomish machines was out of the question; not only was the cure more auric in nature, and not a simple superficial cleaning, but the re-calibrating the machines could have taken any amount of time that they did not have. Suggestions were made for the Tainted Broadcast Center’s mechanisms, or even the old Celestine Empire’s Project Cloudspout, but the good doctor was worried about manipulating such outdated machinery. It was only then that it was decided that the best option was an old Aeromancer devide that could produce the necessary change in atmopsheric pressure for an area-wide delivery of the vaccine. Asking for a day, Creshok returned to her laboratory – both to finish up the vaccine and prepare the machine. At the agreed upon location – on the summit of Avechna’s Peak, just before the Avenger Himself – Creshok stood waiting for the Basin. Shouts were made, market pronouncements were delivered, and soon, people from all walks of life arrived. Empowered with a meager amount of cloud essence, Ileein was the first to enact the machine, which cause a gentle storm to douse the Peak with the long-awaited cure. And so, Project Westwind was born. In the following days and months, the machine would be enacted by any who required its services. But the curse itself was not lifted. A month later, Avechna’s Peak erupted in sudden light which slowly forced away Mother Night’s darkness; it took several flares for anyone to notice, and the first to arrive was Synkarin Ysav’rai, who was greeted by the translucent projects of Turiki and Sidwesh. With his astute powers of observation, Synkarin noted that they appeared quite dour and somber, and it was only after summoning Gaudiguch, Glomdoring, and Magnagora, did he and the Basin learn that Mraxin’s disappearance was due in part by a Goldenclaw raid in distant Jojobo that lead to the Perihelion’s death, as well as the deaths of roughly 100 Dawnburst Druids. Synkarin and Cyndarin Ysav’rai were interested in giving Turiki and Sidwesh an option for vengeance, but first, the curse of the Goldenclaws would need to be broken. The two druids explained that the working that the Basin was afflicted with was through the Goldenclaw’s covencraft – a mighty feat that brought the full Fury of the jungle upon them: to break it would require even more power. So the inhabitants of the Basin decided to do this vial ritual, to invoke not only the natural powers of Mother Night and Moon and Brother Hart and Crow, but also the elemental powers. As Synkarin contacted and rallied the Basin, the various cities and communes went off to prepare for this Great Rite. In Glomdoring, Salome Shee-Slaugh, Athree Nightshade, and the Ebonguard Veyils sought Rowena’s guidance. After only lightly admonishing them to create their own ritual, they devised one built around the sacrificial logics of the nai’Dorin; atop Night’s Needle with Crek and other witnesses, they performed it to no response, which they assumed was due to the fact that they had not invoked Crow properly. In Hallifax, Keeper Ushaara and Shedrin Windwhisper sought out Zeforos, Lord of the North Wind; however, this visit was cut short, as the Elemental Lord found irony in the Hallifaxians’ decision, which lead to Ushaara reprimanding the entity. Magnagora had better luck, with Marquessa Veldrin appealing to Gravynia, Lady of the Cracked Stone. While not providing exact advice, the Elemental Lady suggested that the Marquessa return to the old ways of the Geomancer, producing for her the famed Libellus Geomancie in order to “sunder the world.” In Serenwilde, Sondayga Zayah, Sarrasri Talnara, and Tristanna Myeras enacted a ritual to appeal to Moon and her Avatars. When this gained no effect, they assumed it was because it was daytime and then tried speaking to Hart, who explained that if they called upon the hunt, he would come. While Synkarin called upon Celest, he contacted Sister Cicara who was not confident in addressing the problem herself and forwarded the appeal to her leaders. As the Basin performed their rituals separately, Turiki gave into her rage. Where was the ritual that the Basin promised? she shouted, and it was then decided that it was perhaps one ritual, not six, that must be performed. And so, the Basin’s inhabitants gathered before one of the sunpride trees on Avechna’s Peak to enact a singular ritual of elemental and natural power. Led by Salome, the elements were called by the Basin’s mages: Veldrin performed the Ritual of Access from the Libellus Geomancie to brought forth elemental earth; while Falmiis Shevat summoned the power of elemental air; Daebach D’Varden followed suit to summon forth elemental water; and concluding the elemental magics was an ensemble of Synkarin and Talan Ysav’rai and Farlaris Mes’ard who drew upon the powers of flesh and Fire. Salome drew upon the shadows of Mother Night, sacrificing herself to empower her kin, while Crek Ysav’rai anointed Kalanaya with the markings of Crow to draw forth the dark spirit. The Serenwilde, guided by Sarrasri, Sondayga, and Tristanna, began their ritual in the distant Ethereal Realm before concluding their working where everyone else stood, summoning Moon and Hart together. As the Grand Rite concluded, the combined power of six-in-one cut through the veil that the Goldenclaw Wiccans wove for their jungle curse, revealing them far within the verdure of the transformed mountains and roads. So then the hunt began. The Goldenclaws summoned their fae to do battle, but the wiccans were not a match for the Basin of Life, who made short work of them all. As they fought, the terrible Hexchiefs of the Goldenclaw appeared, who was hunted down and slain. His corpse brought to Turiki, the taurian sacrificed him to reveal the source of the curse – a treasure stolen from Highwater Keep, a memento from the Coven’s previous excursion within the Basin. The Basin set out to return it to Duke Gonore; however, they were not the first there, as half a dozen hexchiefs laid in wait for them. Again, a battle of magic and fae occured, but soon enough, each one fell before the combined might of the Basin. When the treasure was gifted to Duke Gonore, he urged them to return it back to the vaults, and upon do so, the curse was lifted from Lusternia. The jungle receded, the vegetation decayed; the remaining insects sought out succor from shade or beneath the ground, only to be found by Falmiis, Synkarin, and Ileein who routinely exterminated them. As the Basin began to cure themselves once more through Project Westwind, they returned to see Turiki and Sidwesh – but at this point, their connection to the Basin faltered and their projections disappeared. As day broke, the Basin found themselves without the presence of the Dawnburst Druids – standing alone, once again, between the competing factions of the Jojobo Jungle. **Categories:** News --- ### [Children's Hour](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/08/27/childrens-hour/) **Published:** August 27, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Unspared, even the Blasted Lands suffered massive ill-effect from the curse of Brother Lion. The lands were overrun and the gravediggers likewise became extra menacing. But, what of the children? The viscanti children roaming and meandering these tainted lands found themselves cornered and at the mercy of the curse! Two notable figures arrived looking for assistance to take the children under their guidance… in very different ways. Both Nevak d’Sifal, emmisary of the Great House Feyranti, and Elalliol Wingwhisper, acolyte of Saint Gathlyn’s Orphanage, have an interest in the well-being of the children as representatives of their respective lieges. Elalioll Wingwhisper naturally beseeched for aid in New Celest, finding Quartermistress Bleuu willing to lend a hand to the lost trill. Later joined by Emperor Falmiis, the Quartermistress quickly made short work of bringing the viscanti children into Elalioll’s care and escorted the group home to Saint Gathlyn’s Orphanage for comfort and care. Meanwhile, Nevak d’Sifal looked for the aid of Magnagora, but was soon foiled by his enemy, Elalioll Wingwhisper and his new companions. Once he regained his composure, he returned, resolute and set upon his mission. Through the valiant efforts of Mystagogue Kailanna, Nevak was able to take charge of his own roster of children to learn discipline in the Feyranti Bloodmines. **Categories:** News --- ### [Welcome to the Jungle](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/08/26/welcome-to-the-jungle/) **Published:** August 26, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Something was amiss. Mraxin, the Perihelion of the Dawnburst Druids, had not returned for months, years even. It was Turiki, the Guardian of the Aphelion, who took it upon herself to venture from her post to see if any one within the Basin of Life had heard from him. In Glomdoring, she attempted to get her message out, only to be caught in the middle of a brawl between Issey Ysav’rai and Yium; then in New Celest and Magnagora, she was met with only a mixture of confusion and distrust; it was only in Serenwilde that she had any luck, but by then her temper was short. As the days passed to turn Roarkian to Estar, she returned to Sidwesh before she made another round. Malarious found them both, and it was him that warned Gaudiguch, and the search began anew. Synkarin and Talan Ysav’rai tore through the land as Turiki returned to Glomdoring, Serenwilde, and Magnagora. It was only then did more of the Basin’s inhabitants flock to meet both her and Sidwesh to learn about Mraxin’s disappearance. Conversing with Xenthos An’Ryshe, it was thought that he had been taken by the Goldenclaw Coven, and after a lengthy debate (which included a speculation of a potential attack by Sun and the possibility of the Dawnbursts visiting the Basin’s Elder Gods), did the two remaining Dawnbursts decide to return to Jojobo. If Mraxin was truly captured, they alone had the authority to lead the Dawnbursts against the Goldenclaw’s treachery in their distant war. And in their disappearance, a terror fell upon the Basin. However, this time, it was not Father Sun that bore down upon the world, but instead, the Great Lion Himself. Unleashing a mighty roar, the spirit summoned all his strength and infested the Basin of Life with the supreme power of the jungle. The mountain ranges and roads shuddered and the ground broke with the wild, sweaty profusion of humidity and vegetation. Insects aplenty appeared from the woodwork, ants, centipedes, and insects, but none were as treacherous as the meager jungle grubs that grew to their most dangerous form – the shadegeist mosquito. As the inhabitants of the Basin questioned one another about what was happened, many fought against these vermin, only to find themselves afflicted with a disease familiar to many: skinrot. Quickly, Falmiis Shevat and Zyphora Windwhisper flew to Cankermore, and using their elemental magics, they blew down the door that protected the infamous Gnafia machine that cured skinrot in ages past. However, much to their chagrin, the machine did not work. Others, such as Talan and Arix Carthan, tried the machine in the gnomish aethership, the Starhopper, only to learn that this one failed as well. When asked, Gargle von Fixit explained that the machine did, in fact, work but its calibrations were focused on the original strain. So the pursuit for the cure began, causing all within the Basin of Life to scour for leads and clues. It was Malorne of Serenwilde who started it all. Visiting Doctor Creshok zi’Prouep of Hallifax, he gave the good doctor a vial of his blood to analyse, for she was one of the few who recalled the original outbreak. Not too long after, Junior Fellow Tamashi of Hallifax inquired for any updates, but learned little. In the meantime, Lylith of Celest prayed to the Elder God Weiwae on behalf of Falmiis, who sought His healing knowledge for a cure, and the Golden Heart was discovered in Celest, by a cadre of Hallifaxian and Celestians. Weiwae suggested that by observing the origin of the disease at a healing mound, a healer could perhaps shed light on a possible cure, and Tamashi took on the challenge. Bleuu Hartfire and others attempted to find the late Eventru’s healing mound in Celestia, but it was Falmiis that suggested finding one on more neutral soil. After failing to find one in Faethorn, Arian of Serenwilde and Maligorn Shevat lead the wayward group to Mornhai. There, Tamashi used his healing magic to manipulate the auras of slain mosquitoes, and upon further investigation, was able to extract a substance with Calor Hartfire to deliver to Creshok. While helpful, Creshok explained that the skinrot produced by the mosquitoes was highly mutagenic, and perhaps a fleshshaper of Gaudiguch would be useful for creating a vaccine. Tamashi took it upon himself to venture to Gaudiguch, parlaying with Synkarin for aid. Terms were set and agreed to, but soon enough, Synkarin was guided to the crystalline city. Aided by Tamashi, Synkarin, and Ileein Shevat, the good doctor was able to manipulate the substance drawn from 100 slain mosquitoes into a semblance of a vaccine. And with Synkarin as its first test subject, it was discovered to work. Creshok went to mass produce at once, and now it seems that a cure to skinrot will return once again to the Basin of Life. But the question remains: why has Lion brought the jungle here? Indeed, it seems that there are more mysteries to solve. And if the whispers coming from Serenwilde seem to be true, a curse is afoot, and no one knows what may happen if it remains. **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/08/06/june-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** August 6, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the June Vesteran Honours, Portius won the bardic contest with the story titled, “Pilgrim”. In the artisanal category, Alaksanteri won with the portrait titled “Viscanti Marquessa”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Portius**Bardic Runnerup**Bleuu**Bardic Merit**Naralis and Arian##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Alaksanteri**Artisanal Runnerup**Marala**Artisanal Merit**Tremula and Elyse **Categories:** News --- ### [The Ancestral House of Strongleaf](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/07/18/the-ancestral-house-of-strongleaf/) **Published:** July 18, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During an otherwise uneventful Winter’s day in Serenwilde, Arian of the Moondancers and Niina Yfae’dren began to notice the pixies in the forest stirring with mischief. Several of them had small slips of torn parchment clutched in their fingers. Curious as to what the pixies could have gotten up to, they began to collect these slips together – and found upon them scraps of a poem, one that none of them recognised. As the day turned to night and once more to day, they gathered with several other members of the Serenwilde Commune and discussed what they could mean. Miakoda, the Maiden of the Moonhart and perhaps the being in the Serenwilde with the greatest chance of recalling ancient things, would not speak at length of the poem – though it was evident that she recognised the story, which concerned the life of a druid by the name of Banon Strongleaf. It was armed with this name that Dedicant Eolae and Astrasia Starleaf led the group to the Hartstone Grove, where Wisdom Strongleaf could be found. A refugee from the War of the Goloths, Wisdom was one of the only known descendants of Glinshari – and, so it seemed, the protagonist of the mysterious poem. There they found a great deal more information, and learned of a secret within the Serenwilde known only to a few. In Wisdom’s timeline, this secret had been revealed – but she could not wholly give it up herself in this timeline. She sent them instead to seek the spirit of Calarin Strongleaf, who centuries ago had been Banon’s cousin. Barrin Starleaf gathered a song sparrow and called the spirit of Calarin forth from her cairn, whereupon she told them of the truth of what had happened during the Nature Wars. Bestowing upon her the knowledge that the wars had been won – and that the Serenwilde had been reunited, albeit scarred – Saran Starleaf gained the druidess’s trust. Thus did the spirit of Calarin lower the veil that had kept part of the Serenwilde secret for centuries, allowing the commune members access to it for the first time since the Nature Wars. But as she faded, the druidess said a curious thing: that it was time for the Starleaf to go home. Both curious and now perplexed, the Starleaf and their allies sought the spot in the forest that Calarin had pointed them to. There they found the secret that the Strongleaf had hidden, the gift bestowed upon Glinshari himself. And it was there that Calarin’s mysterious words began to make sense: for in that place the Starleaf found a record, of sorts. Upon the bark of an ancient tree, spidery silver script proclaimed the names of hundreds of Strongleafs; from Glinshari himself all the way down to the present day. It was there that they finally understood, for amongst the names they read many of their own – though they were not quite the same: Barrin Strongleaf; Saran Strongleaf; Astrasia Strongleaf; Urdnot Strongleaf; Ymuli Strongleaf. How the family came to lose its name remains a mystery – to all, that is, but Wisdom Strongleaf. Alone, several days later, she flowed to the place she had thought lost to time and destruction – the home she had given up hope of ever seeing. Though she had seen the Goloths defeated, it was this moment – this moment, stood amidst the boughs of ancient stories – that truly allowed Wisdom Strongleaf to find peace after war. And in that moment, she vowed to help her refound family understand who they truly were. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Return of the Navigator and Weiwae, the Golden Heart](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/07/04/the-return-of-the-navigator-and-weiwae-the-golden-heart/) **Published:** July 4, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In the beginning of the month of Tzarin, 444 years after the coming of Estarra, Penderglass T. Chartwright informed New Celest that their assistance was needed to maintain a portal that Darvellan, the Navigator was preparing between the First World and the Void. A steady supply of Light essence was required to keep the portal stabilised, and the citizens of New Celest performed their duty admirably. At the end of the month, the portal had enough essence for the link between it and its counterpoint in the Void to be established. When the portal opened all expected to find Darvellan, the Navigator to learn what had triggered His alarms in the Void, however instead the portal gave the entire basin a view of a battle between a half-dozen, crazed, lesser half-formed and Darvellan plus the previously unknown Elder, Weiwae. Apparently clad in a strange blue armour, Weiwae, the Soul Dammer destroyed the six lesser half-formed with a unique battle style which strangled the auras of the crazed beasts. Soon after the destruction of the half-formed, Darvellan and Weiwae came through the portal to the First World, upon which, Weiwae transformed from the Soul Dammer into a softer gentler version of Himself known as Weiwae, the Golden Heart. With the threat gone and recognising the destruction He caused, Weiwae fled to His Fulcrux where He was offered bread and then cupcakes by Cyna. Others came to the Fulcrux to learn more about the new Third Circle Elder. Within the Fulcrux, Weiwae asked about the fate of the Soulless, asked if Tae was ever freed from the so-called corrupting influence of Bollikin, and mentioned the Closed Fist and Open Hand of Abanoi. What is the Hand of Abanoi? What corrupting influence did Weiwae fear from Bollikin? Will Weiwae ever be forced to become the Soul Dammer again? **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/07/01/may-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** July 1, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the May Vesteran Honours, Portius won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Life of Manana Kamini”. In the artisanal category, Zarialle won with the portrait titled “The Megalith Stands Against the Sun Fae”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Portius**Bardic Runnerup**Emmaline**Bardic Merit**Thul and Salome##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Zarialle**Artisanal Runnerup**Hakai**Artisanal Merit**Bleuu, Ciaran and Sylvanas **Categories:** News --- ### [Calling Upon the Dawnbursts](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/06/27/calling-upon-the-dawnbursts/) **Published:** June 27, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** When the Sun crested again early in Dioni, it was clear that Hallifax’s Project Eclipse would no longer be able to withstand the onslaught of solar energy brought down by Father Sun. Thus, the Basin of Life sought out a more permanent solution. Gathering before the elder sunpride tree, figures like Crek Ysav’rai, Zyphora Windwhisper, Luce Shevat, and Anaklusmos and Ino of Hallifax, and others decided that instead of waiting, it would be time for them to do something. They suggested that perhaps it was high time for them to make contact with the Downburst Druids. The assembled Hallifaxians sought insight from Abeytu and Miakoda respectively, while Crek visited Amhika Rotwood. Independently, the three groups considered the possibility of a shared connection between the elder tree and its large namesake, and at once, it was decided that druids were necessary, for perhaps they alone could tap into the magic of the tree and send a message. Crek and Versalean of Glomdoring were the first to reach out to the elder sunpride, threading their magics with the internal landscape of the tree and discerning its soul far within the wood; however, it was only until Demartel Shevat – who temporarily gave up his warrior ways for the druidic arts – did the trio manage to make contact with Sidwesh, the Welcoming Dawn. Demartel explained that the tree was weakened, that Sun was rampaging, and help was needed. It was not before too long did the three druids – Turiki, Mraxin, and Sidwesh – emerge from the trunk of the elder tree and returned to the Basin of Life. The three explained that they were planning on coming sooner, for they had seen the Sun’s violent presence return, but they were waylaid by conflict with the Goldenclaw wiccans. And before anything else could be said, the cloud barrier was torn asunder. Malimli Fairquillion and her students, thankfully, did not perish, but many sustained serious wounds. Time was of the essence, for the Basin of Life was burning under Sun’s wrathful gaze. After much deliberation – and skeptical inquiry from figures such as Ilian Pavok – the Druids believed that what may best help the Basin of life was the construction of golden stelae in the hot spots of the solar flares. Explaining that gold is a reflective element and used in Jojobo for similar protection, Turiki retrieved four drafts of architects to help the save the lands. Unfortunately, their resources were limited, and it was understood that only four places could be saved. Treasure troves of gold bars and sovereigns were shared to preserve the distant places of the Basin. Hallifax, singlehandedly, preserved the Tosha Monastery with the help of Ilian and Daraius and Ileein Shevat. Soon after came Oleanvir, likewise saved by the quick actions of Demartel and Calor Hartfire. Tolborolla Valley was saved with the assistance of Tremula Nitraedes, Auriella Indara and not too long after Bleuu Hartfire who generously donated numerable sovereigns for the stele. Alaksanteri Elithysius did her best to help construct a stele for the Presidio of the Damned, and others helped later; however, Xenthos An’Ryshe’s last minute arrival changed the tide of things, and instead, the Scorpion Caverns were blessed with the presence of the stele. The plan was simple: the stelae would reflect the light and energy of the solar flares back to the sunpride tree, which was healed by Sidwesh. However, as the Druids explained, the one tree would not be able to withstand such magnified blasts, and so, the Basin returned to the task of planting more sunpride trees. Two more now stand upon the Enigmatic Stairs and the Path of War and the combined power of the three have been able to withstand and absorb the solar energy. However, the Druids were soon to learn that the Baobab had became fallow, causing Mraxin to depart. He tasked both Sidwesh and Turiki to remain, however, in case the three trees can maintain their charge to fight back the Sun. And so once again, all is safe. However, the Basin’s inhabitants continue to grow restless. Many still share suspicions of the Dawnburst Druids and the distant Jojobo. But no one can doubt the fact that it is by aslaran hands has aide been given. Or at least a semblance of aide. While Tolborolla, Oleanvir, Tosha, and the Scorpion Caverns have been saved, the Presidio of the Damned and the Arthar’rt Observatory still bore the brunt of the damage. The Presidio, it seems, took less of a hit – burnt, but not destroyed; however, the Observatory – the forgotten Arthar’rt Observatory – is no longer – a mere melted tower of crystal and stone. Will it ever be restored again? Only time will tell. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Magnifying Glass](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/06/26/the-magnifying-glass/) **Published:** June 26, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The typical winter was not what was in store for the Basin of Life. Instead of chill and frost, the temperatures spiked once more as Father Sun again grew large in the sky and bore down upon the world’s inhabitants. It started slow at first: a gentle simmer that soon grew more and more intense. Many worried that it was the sun pride tree’s recent wounds inflicted by the Goldenclaw Wiccans that was the source. Everiine Silvermoon and Crek Ysav’rai, for instance, wondered about such a possibility as they happened upon the tree, and not much later, Fralunah of Serenwilde swore to find a way to heal it. This ‘heat snap’ as all but a herald, as in early Kiani, the sky was scared anew by terrible solar flares that ravaged the land. Unlike before, Sun did not strike against the cities and communes. Or at least, he did not strike at all of them. His focus was particular – against the crystalline city of Hallifax. Previously, Sun had struck the floating city and his flares scattered throughout the Basin; this was replicated time and time again in Kiani, striking a seemingly arbitrary collection of places: the Tosha Monastery, Oleanvir Valley, the Presidio of the Damned, the Tolborolla Valley, the Scorpion Caverns, and perhaps unbeknownst to many, the Arthar’rt Observatory. Doman Trueflight was the first to consider that Hallifax had become a magnifying glass to the Sun’s rays (to which he subsequently challenged such a possibility, an argument that was soon quelled by Primus Ileein Shevat). The flares were like before, save that they also summoned strange figures known as the Hunters of the Shorn Corona, which were quickly deduced by Dylara Stormcrow as kin to the champions of Night and Moon. The fae of the sun were brought down by a motley sort: Falmiis Shevat, van of Serenwilde, Aithera Pavok, Demartel Shevat, and others. But was most frightening was that these flares did not just summon fae, but also burnt parts of the land until there was nothing left by ash, glass, stone and smoke. This realization caused some communities to evacuate their homelands. In Tosha, after being assisted by Falmiis and Ino of Hallifax, Master Quettle decided to usher the Toshan Order to temporary safety within the Snow Valley after becoming upset that the Hallifaxians simply treated the fires and fae and not specifically help his brethren. In the Tolborolla Valley, Thul d’Illici spoke with Vaboz Bumble who was too concerned to leave his much beloved bees. After some coaxing, he, and the entirety of the hamlet in Tolborolla too, relocated to New Celest with the help of Thul, Eicia and Eldanien Silmet, Bleuu and Abelor Hartfire, Kagato of New Celest, and Prince Roman Hartfire. Simultaneously, Kailanna n’Kylbar and Sabella D’Cente managed to find the nobility of the Presidio some refuge in the Asylum, though not without some snark and class conflict. In the middle of Kiani did Iora Indara inspire Evgenii Novikei to bring his ‘grams’ Alexei and friend Lars Legrand to New Celest as well, while Eldanien attempted to entreat the kephera of Oleanvir to both come to the city and possibly create a psionic web for its protection. In Glomdoring, Athree Nightshade, Salome Shee-Slaugh and Dylara attempted to discern a way to stop Sun’s outrage, inviting wisdom from Wise Lady, the Voice of Grandmother Scorpion. Wise Lady was worried about the Caverns and Scorpion, a fear that was only furthered after Glomdoring left the ancient shrine to entreat the insight of the old witch, Rowena Nightshade. It would be Hallifax that was the Basin’s hero in the end. Author and Ileein Shevat spoke to Fraesic, Sunfar, Keeper of the Matrix about what could be done, leading Ileein to consider the possibility of producing countermeasures. This, coupled with Falmiis and Ino’s irritation at Quettle, lead to a full-fledged meeting of the minds where numerous options were discussed, including growing a sunpride tree in the city. Eventually, Ino suggested generating clouds, and after some deliberation, Ileein took the idea to the Temporal Conclave for a report. Entreating the aid of Malimli Fairquillion and a dozen students from the Centre for Aeromantic Engineering, Hallifax began what was known as Project Eclipse – which created a link between the Matrix and the Plane of Air where the aeromancers of the city wove a barrier of clouds to protect it and the Basin. Thus far, the barrier has remained stable and no solar assault has commenced since. However, whether or not it will stay that way is uncertain. **Categories:** News --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/06/07/april-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** June 7, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the April Vesteran Honours, Aithera won the bardic contest with an essay titled, “Essays on Lucidan Hues”. In the artisanal category, Unzareh won with the extremely cute portrait titled “Drunk Viscanti”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Aithera**Bardic Runnerup**Malikai**Bardic Merit**Portius and Scanlan##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Unzareh**Artisanal Runnerup**Zarialle and Phoebus**Artisanal Merit**Ciaran and Sylvanas **Categories:** News --- ### [Mystery at Highwater Keep](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/06/04/mystery-at-highwater-keep/) **Published:** June 4, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** On the sixth of Dvarish, 443 years after the Coming of Estarra, the Basin was surprised to hear Gonore of Highwater Keep shout across the Basin about intruders. Quickly various people from around the Basin noticed boulders strewn across the mountains, caused by the quick and stealthy invasion of two Goldenclaw wiccans named Jyoath and Anaara. The pair of wiccans from Jojobo were found at the sunpride tree upon Avechna’s Peak where they were attempting to chop the tree down. Before they were able to be successful, Xenthos and Enyalida managed to slay Jyoath while Anaara ran off through the mountains, hiding behind any boulder she could see. Eventually, Anaara ran into the previously hidden refugee camp outside of Highwater keep, where under threat of death she quickly fled. There in Highwater, the Basin was introduced to revenant Gonore, a former guard of the Holy Celestian Empire who demanded their wealth and claimed all treasure to be his. Among the confusion, Kignak Ironhoof, and Ejibu Brokenhorn theorised that the revenant was awoken by an ancient spell that the Holy Empire may have placed on him when the Goldenclaw wiccans entered the Basin through the Southern Mountains. However, a more pressing matter on their minds distracted the pair, and that was the current Duke Golnoth Ironhoof’s concern of some karmic threat upon his life. Eager to help, Cyna was the first to start solving the mystery of Highwater keep, though Xenthos through his earlier actions and quick thinking, managed to solve the mystery first. Did the Goldenclaw wiccans steal the wealth of Highwater? Why were they trying to chop down the sunpride tree and why did they accuse the people of being allies of the Dawnbursts? Will the troubles of Highwater ever come back, and will the keep be able to detect further invasions? Only the Fates know. **Categories:** News --- ### [Sun Flares and Mysteries](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/23/sun-flares-and-mysteries/) **Published:** May 23, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the Sun grew inexorably larger in size, the peoples of the Basin of Life deal their best to ascertain the dangers that awaited them. In Serenwilde, Arian, Nuzi, and Delei assisted the naiad Isotta as she suffered from heat; meanwhile in Gaudiguch and Magnagora, Malarious and Tadhg were told prophesies from the Drachou and Necromentate, respectively. Using the shamanic arts, Dylara of Glomdoring questioned Damian Nightshade on the potential effects that Sun’s closeness might mean from the Basin’s climate; the shadow faeling impressed upon her that it was not the short-term heat that was of concern – but the possibility of what a global rise might bring. The world became hotter and hotter, and in late Vestian, the dangers that Damian speculated came into fruition. Solar flares – the likes never encountered in the Prime Material Plane – hungrily ravaged the Basin of Life as the coronuli, embaruli, and nimbuli of Sun swarmed the cities and communes Buildings and trees were set aflame; even further regions were turned to ash under the burning gaze of Sun: Hifarae, Verasavir, Snow, Torborolla, Balach, Skarch, the Grey Moors. Thankfully, the peoples of the Basin acted quickly, bringing low the solar intruders and basking in the cool balm that Night afforded them when Her dark presence overcame the skies. At different times, Thul, Bandeon, and Maligorn entreated the wisdom of the Queen of the Fae, Maeve, who explained that she, along with Night and Moon, was in a contest of wills to keep Father Sun’s full presence at bay. With sweat upon her brow, she mournfully remarked that if Laeroc were still here, surely he would remember the names of an ancient order of druids who were tasked to keep firm Sun’s prison. Rumours shared upon the aetherways questioned the original arrival of Mraxin, Keeper of the Dawn from long ago, but none knew how to reach him or the distant jungle of Jojobo. In the early evening of one of those warm days did the sky flash with light, erupting near the Southern Mountains. Mraxin, now the Perihelion, traveled through the mountains searching for signs of Sun’s wrath. Scanlan would fine him first, and soon, most of the Basin would greet the traveller. However, Mraxin was not alone. Turiki, the Guardian of the Aphelion, ventured to New Celest and rallied the people to her cause; and, after landing near Hallifax, Sidwesh, the Welcoming Dawn stood upon the lowest path of Avechna’s Peak – passed first by Gabriella and then Iytha, who greeted him with eager questions. The Dawnburst Druids, as they would later inform the Basin of Life, work to keep Sun’s prison maintained, and seeing that His wrath fell upon them, ventured there. With the Basin’s help, the planted an elder sunpride tree at the root of what is known as the Coronal Axis – a charted pattern of Sun’s orbit that aligned itself with the leylines of the First World (conveniently located along the path of the Peak). The task required slaying the fae of sun to birth sunpride fruit and fertilizer, and after two long days of work, the feat was accomplished. Sun’s flares rained upon the Basin, but it was revealed that the elder sunpride tree could absorb such fury. With their task done, Mraxin and the Dawnburst Druids explained that Sun’s activity was surely caused by someone tapering with the prison of the Great Spirit, and they believed it was likely the Goldenclaw Wiccans – followers of the Lion who were also their ancestral enemies within the jungle. Though they returned to the distant Jojobo, the Dawnbursts explained that if the Basin of Life needed their assistance once more, they would come. Though the Sun’s flares had been stopped for now, the concern of the Basin of Life falls upon this single elder sunpride tree. Surely, one would not be enough to prevent the fury of the Great Spirit, when the jungle of Jojobo has many? And also, what of these Goldenclaws, who apparently seek to free Sun? A long-held mystery of the First World has now begun to reveal itself, and it would seem only the Fates know what may come. **Categories:** News --- ### [Hello world!](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/22/hello-world-2/) **Published:** May 22, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Welcome to [Iron Realms Entertainment Sites](http://dev.ironrealms.com/). This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging! **Categories:** Uncategorized --- ### [Temperatures Rising](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/19/temperatures-rising/) **Published:** May 19, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was the astrologers of the Basin who first noticed it: an increase in solar power that was distorting their attempts to take astrolabe readings. Across the organisations, they began to remark upon it to their companions – Fiik zi’Prouep of the Shadowdancers conferred with the faeling Tiarnis and Sikris Sablewing, who quickly turned her studies to the ways of astrology to attempt to unravel the mystery, before beginning along wtih Dylara Stormcrow to seek Mother Night’s wisdom. In Serenwilde, Adushoc zi’Prouep (the sister to Glomdoring’s own astrologer) spoke with High Wisdom Aeldra Ladyn and Neshca Myeras. After meeting with the centaur Tokota, Adushoc travelled to New Celest in search of her sister Edathic, and after waiting some time spread her concerns to both her sister and the citizens of New Celest – Xedrik Vivalde, Romaan Hartfire, Utasa and Bleuu. Meanwhile, the people of Serenwilde spoke to Albion of their concerns and were reminded of Father Sun’s history with Mother Night and Fain’s elixir. By now the Basin of Life was noticeably warmer, especially for what should have been the Winter months. Concern began to rise as well as the search for answers, and it was Glomdoring who were the first to receive a prophecy regarding the Sun’s increasing presence. After Scanlan Stormcrow heard Mother Night’s words, his mother Dylara passed them on to the Glomdoring. Second to receive a prophecy was Yarith Shevat of Hallifax, who spent some time researching the readings taken by the Matrix Core and investigating their provenance. In the meantime, Kalaneya Shee-Slaugh of Glomdoring heard the words of Grandmother Scorpion from Lerest’i, the Garnet Knight, and Aagasa of the Institute sought the wisdom of Spirit Lake from the Daughter of the Rivers. Others would later come trying to seek those same words, but to no avail – and it would be some days before the prophetic words would be shared amongst the organisations following a bargain of sorts made between the forest communes. Along with the search for knowledge came preparations for the worst: New Celest began to investigate the possibility of taking refuge with the kephera in the Undervault, only to find that the Queens had been slain and there were none who could make such a promise in their absence. Whilst waiting, at Meleris’s urging, Utasa of the Tahtetso raised the beacons to seek the prophecy of the Star of Celest – which, despite several hurdles and the discovery of the Guardian of the Western Wall, was eventually found. In Serenwilde, Neshca Myeras heard the prophecy of Chuchip, Great Spirit of the Seren, thanks to the help of Avae – and in Magnagora, Aois-Dana Zarialle and Dorgoth conferred with Jinlu Ilithyia regarding what knowledge the Necromentate might have to offer. Just outside the Basin, the astologer Piccarda of Gaudiguch expressed his concerns to the Guardian Drachou, but found little wisdom for his efforts. But for all these efforts, still little was known – save, that is, for the fact that the temperature of the world was continuing to rise. **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/06/march-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** May 6, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the March Vesteran Honours, Versalean won the bardic contest with the short story titled, “The Wyrdenwood”. In the artisanal category, Zarialle won with the portrait titled “Lady Drocila Beauteous Ruin in Contemplation”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Versalean**Bardic Runnerups**Sylandra and Alary**Bardic Merit**Portius, Thul, Salome, and Stratas##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Zarialle**Artisanal Runnerup**Cen**Artisanal Merit**Sylvanas, Arimisia, and Ulalah **Categories:** News --- ### [Hooray for the Baby Animal Wrangler!](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/04/hooray-for-the-baby-animal-wrangler/) **Published:** May 4, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A commotion occurred in Avechna’s Peak this month as a number of baby animals, being grown to increase the numbers in the Nature Reserve, escaped their pens and began to run amok within the nurseries. The usually meek Quillion Jones was soon sent into a frustrated panic, and called out to help. To his relief, Tiarnis of the Glomdoring rushed to assist. Though seeming to be little more than a wisp of light, the young faeling soon proved to be more than a match for the escaped babies. With determination and skill, he rushed through the nurseries, grabbing foxes and catching snakes. Soon he had gathered them all up, to the delight of Quillion’s niece Daoli and her fellow nursery keepers. Of course, it may only be a matter of time before the young animals escape again… **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/04/08/february-vesteran-honours-8/) **Published:** April 8, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Sylandra won the bardic contest with the play titled, “Flying Against the Wind”. In the artisanal category, Zarialle won with the portrait titled “Yarou n’Lochli, Conductress of Discord”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Sylandra**Bardic Runnerups**Ilian and Thul**Bardic Merit**Stratas, Xanward and Allyrianne##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Zarialle**Artisanal Runnerup**Lavinya and Phoebus**Artisanal Merit**Unzareh and Sylvanas **Categories:** News --- ### [A Skunk by Any Other Name](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/04/04/a-skunk-by-any-other-name/) **Published:** April 4, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Great Spirit Skunk chose a quiet day for his return to Faethorn. Perhaps it was indeed that quietness that attracted his mischievous nature, or something entirely different, but the serene spell was broken the moment a skunk paraded through the famous Faethorn baths. Practicioners of Wicca and those skilled with Totems could sense the disturbance immediately and rushed to the spa to find the despairing Margie Shimmerwing at the check-in desk. Just as Margie began to explain her predicament, the waterfall supplying the baths being befouled and the fae smelling worse than Gorgulu’s upper-left armpit, a revolt broke out upon the Prime Plane and the majority of her helpers rushed off to put out yet another fire. Left with but Dylara Stormcrow, Margie beseeched her to request Dandelion Sweatpease’s help in dealing with the skunk frolicking upon Faethorn. The effort was joined by Asmodea Kamau and, for the sake of the fae, a temporary truce was agreed upon between the two women. As they worked, more people trickled into Faethorn, notably Crek Ysav’rai and Scanlan Stormcrow, both of whom provided assistance throughout the endeavour: Scanlan with his mastery of honeycakes, and Crek with his mastery of foul odours. Once a clever trap was devised with Dandelion’s help and the skunk has been dealt with, the Great Spirit Skunk himself has made an appearance. Those questioning his motives for turning his attention to Faethorn now did not receive satisfactory answers, but the little skunk has found a new home in Maeve’s Gardens. Upon the urging of those gathered, Dandelion gathered up the courage to visit Margie and tell her of his accomplishment himself, and so began a heart-warming, if awkward, courtship between the two while others busied purifying the waterfall and bringing the fae in for a thorough scrubbing. It is almost certain that the Great Spirit will continue to play tricks upon his new home. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Event 2016](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/03/12/ascension-event-2016/) **Published:** March 12, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As events culminated in the Dreaming and later with the false Maeve, the Seals of Nature and Beauty became weakened, which in turn weakened the rest of the Nine Seals. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in February , there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Seal of Chaos **Winner:** Ixion **Event**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Seal of Harmony **Winner:** Talan **Event**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Seal of Nature **Winner:** Marcella **Event**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Seal of Knowledge **Winner:** Arcanis **Event**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Seal of Life **Winner:** Malarious **Event**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Seal of Death **Winner:** Leolamins **Event**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Seal of Justice **Winner:** Falmiis **Event**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Seal of Beauty ****Winner:**** Irillia Event**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. ### Seal of War **Winner:** Celina **Event**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Winner**: Celina ascended to become Cyndarin **Event**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/03/04/january-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** March 4, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the January Vesteran Honours, Stratas won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Black Rabbit of Glomdoring, Part 1”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the disturbing study titled “Maggots Into Flies”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! --- ##### Bardic Awards **Bardic Winner**Stratas**Bardic Runnerups**Kalnid and Allyrianne**Bardic Merit**Thul, Zarialle, Ventidius, Akrea, and Portius##### Artisanal Awards **Artisanal Winner**Arimisia**Artisanal Runnerup**Ciaran **Categories:** News --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/02/03/december-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** February 3, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the December Vesteran Honours, Stratas won the bardic contest with the play titled, “The Triumph of Glomdoring, A Play”. In the artisanal category, Ciaran won with the study titled “Reaching Nirvana”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Everlasting Haze](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/01/31/the-everlasting-haze/) **Published:** January 31, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Dame Maeve was defeated, the Seals were weakened, and everyone retreated to their homes to recover from the battle. Little did the people of Glomdoring know that something else retreated with them. Odd things began appearing in the Glomdoring forest, dark shadowy figures that they would perceive from the corner of their eye. Then fear began to set in. Paranoid, dark thoughts began to fill the minds of the Glomdoring, trailed only by a whisper of a single word, “Father.” Not even Fiik zi’Prouep nor the harpies of the forest were safe, both succumbing to the shadowy figures who seemed to have driven them mad. Residents of the Glomdoring quickly took notice, with Kregarn and Xenthos being heavily victimized by the beasts, followed by Calesta, before theories began to spring up. Crek Ysav’rai suggested that perhaps Manteekan, the Nightmare had His hand in the matter. Him, along with Xenthos and Kregarn, reached out to Juur, a spriggan with ties to the Nightmare, for answers. Juur had sensed the presence long before they arrived, and recalled what he knew of what he called the “spookies” to the forest. All went silent soon after Juur’s confession, and the Glomdoring was left to ponder on what these spookies were, and where they had gone. In the middle of Avechary, the sun appeared high above, piercing through the dark sky as it blazed brightly. Tendrils of flame whipped out from the burning orb, stretching far into the Void as the sun flared brightly. Amidst the inferno, a number of black figures fell from the sky, landing within the Glomdoring. Quick to investigate, Xenthos was first to stumble upon the creatures, who identified as bogies, yet they were in pain and confused, whispering only a single word, “Father.” Narynth, Nienla, Salome, and Kregarn would soon join Xenthos as he sought out answers, just in time to see another, more powerful bogie land within the forest. Balphomet, Bastion of Fear, proclaimed himself the leader of the bogies, and reached out to the commune for help. Manteekan, for months, had been shaping what Balphomet called the Everlasting Haze. Recently, the solar flares interrupted its creation, and a number of fiery fae began attacking the realm. Manteekan, unable to both hold the Haze together and reach out to the Glomdoring, sent the bogies to request help. However, the solar flare would quickly prove more troublesome than first thought. The bogies were unable to find their way back to Manteekan, as their ties to the Elder were cut off by the flare. Xenthos, however, had another way around. Him and the others quickly took to Ilosia, their algontherine, and sailed the Ethereal aetherspace, searching for the Everlasting Haze. After a long journey, full of twists and turns, they found the Haze, but found themselves unable to enter. Balphomet attempted to reach out to the Lord Nightmare, but had little luck. Tethering himself first to the Lord Shikari’s realm, then secondly to Hoaracle’s, both not far from the Haze, Balphomet was finally able to pierce through the Haze and the ship soon docked, the small force he had gathered wandering out into a mist-filled grotto filled with many hostile fae. The Everlasting Haze was still under siege. The nimbuli, coronuli, and embaruli were fierce, quickly attacking the gathered forces, cutting through them as they continued their attempts to melt the Haze. Reinforcements were called, first an additional team from the Glomdoring composed of Crek, Eliron, Kalaneya, and Athree, followed soon after by allies from the Gaudiguch and Magnagora, including Talan, Synkarin, Ixion, Vladimere and Cocidius. The now growing army, who Balphomet proclaimed the Regiment of the Damned, fought their way through a number of fae, their numbers growing as they slaughtered the hostile abominations. Morr, Yarou, Marcella, and Esca soon joined the group, and it was not long before the Haze began to solidify once more. Manteekan began to appear high above, piercing through the Haze to urge the army towards victory as He maintained His hold over the Haze. The sun fae grew stronger as their numbers grew fewer, yet in the end, they were defeated, and Manteekan sent a wave of energy through the Haze, freezing both it and the fae, who were quickly disposed of by the Elder. Manteekan descended, thanking those gathered who helped Him, and opened His temple, the Chapel of Lost Souls, so that those gathered could speak with Him. Many questions arose, numerous about the presence of the fae, yet even the Lord Nightmare knew not why the sun fae had attacked. As the crowds began to disperse, Manteekan whisked those of His Haunt away, and all went quiet through the Everlasting Haze. **Categories:** News --- ### [Faethorn Nightmares and Tribulations](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/01/12/faethorn-nightmares-and-tribulations/) **Published:** January 12, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Maeve, still saddened by the untimely death of her Consort, sat on her throne as she always did, stoically and with the dignified air of a queen in mourning. The world around her slowly returned to normal and the Faethorn Court, once teeming with confusion and despair, became a quiet reflection of its monarch’s regal poise. All around the Ethereal Realm, the fae tended to their rightful roles, and the mortals who cared for them did the same. Until the earth shook and an otherworldly glow lit up the sky. Avechna’s Peak bloomed with a brilliant light that ignited the heavens. The ground quaked and the sinister glow burning in the sky stretched outward until it engulfed the horizon entirely. Practitioners of the Wiccan arts felt their craft fade away, as if their knowledge of the fae was erased entirely, and Dreamweavers felt their connection with reality waver. This went on for several long moments before the Maeve, desperate and harried, called upon the followers of nature to join her in her throne room. Mortals arrived to chaos. Queen Maeve displayed how the brand had returned, as a ghostly spectre of itself, and it was clear that her slow descent into a state of dull confusion was returning. Addled and barely coherent, the Fae Queen rushed about, her mind periodically wracked with pain that transferred partally to Wiccans. Something was seriously wrong, she admitted, but she could not fathom what. It was then that the gathered mortals began to notice the emerging patterns of these goings-on. The lights in the sky, they deduced, came from the seals that began to burn with a corona of strange light. The phantom brand did not outwardly harm Queen Maeve, but it resembled her former scar. The fae reacted with a different kind of aggression. The disconnect between the knowledge of Dreamweaving and Wicca happened only when the strange glow appeared in the sky. It was not long before the gathered mortals concluded that these separate events were, quite obviously, connected, but even more concerning was the theory that the dreams never ended. That, perhaps, the world was still hidden behind a veil… Days later, Queen Maeve grew frustrated. She summoned her Court, including the mortals of both nature communes, to the throne room to announce that she would attempt to contact with Laeroc, her recently deceased Consort. Her mind was failing faster, she explained, and the fae were resisting her control. Only her Consort was of any comfort in this, and she longed for his advice. With finality in her voice, she declared her plans sound and strode toward the Tree of Memories. Calling upon her ancient power, she attempted to bend the Tree of Memories to her will, using it as a means to reaching Laeroc. As she reached forward to touch the tree, her mind reeled with pain, and she fell backwards against the ground. Stunned, she asked the gathered mortals to touch the trunk that had so recently tossed her about like a child’s play thing, and they hesitantly obliged. Although the tree always reminded passersby of Laeroc’s brave sacrifice, it now showed a much darker — and sickening — image of the fae’s demise. Horrified by the vision, the Maeve withdrew into her throne room once more, leaving the mortals to discover another dark secret: the memories held within the tree’s sacred leaves were warped and changed, and now reflected the terrible thoughts of another being. It was then that Dame Maeve made her first appearance, as a nightmare forced upon the world through the Tree of Memories’s connection to the Dreaming. As the sun’s rays burned through the days, bringing the cloak of night across the land, the struggles of the fae worsened. Nymphs rode pookas through the Faethorn Court, as if in battle, pixies tormented mortals on the Prime Material Plan, maidens claimed the children of despairing mothers — on and on, the fae acted more irrationally than ever, despite Queen Maeve’s weak, but still firmly resolute, grip on her sanity. For all intents and purposes, the fae should remain under her reign, she explained, but it was almost as if they were taking orders from another. Discussion of Dame Maeve erupted, and eventually, the ethereal monarch explained a way to potentially thwart Dame Maeve’s plans. Memories. If these are truly the imposter queen’s thoughts imprinted within the Tree of Memories, then, Queen Maeve explained, it stands to reason that the mortals could instill new thoughts within the demon’s mind of their own making. Perhaps then, the imposter would strive to break through the veil herself to confront the opposing power, thus preventing her from carrying out her nefarious deeds. After begrudgingly asking for help from the cities, as well, Queen Maeve warned that it is yet unclear what would happen when the veil weakened. She shared a spell that would wrest the Tree of Memories from the control of Dame Maeve’s darkness, allowing mortals to once again add their memories to the sacred bough’s leaves. It was right she gave warning. Shortly after Queen Maeve’s declaration, Everiine Silvermoon placed the first memory — a lengthy, impassioned reminder of the past and a tale rife with the challenging road to victory. Then, the true test of the Basin’s ability to confront its nightmares came to pass in the form of a twisted, demonic fae-like creature as it crawled out from between the thin line between Reality and the Dreaming. Again and again, this happened. Each time a new memory was placed within the tree, a nightmare fae would materialize, as if sent by Dame Maeve herself. As if sent to bring harm to the operation, fearless members of Magnagora stormed the relatively peaceful gathering of commune members to flood the Tree of Memories with new offerings, thus causing dozens of nightmare fae to appear. After suffering a few fatalities, the communes beat back the plague of darkness and continued onward with its mission. Until, instead of nightmare fae, Laeroc, the Dame’s Oblation, lurched through the veil. He stepped forward with disjointed footsteps and a menacing issuing from the stump where his head should have been and issued sinister admonitions to the gathering. To add insult to injury, Queen Maeve felt the presence of her consort and called out to him, and then realized swiftly that this, too, was an imposter. Although she attempted to pay him no mind, the zombified Laeroc made his way to the Maeve’s throne room and hurled foul abuses at her. Each time he opened his mouth to hurl a barrage of vitriol at the Fae Queen, she responded, meekly, with a reminder that he was not real. Finally, the demon Laeroc wore down Queen Maeve by telling her that she was alone, her purpose finished, and that the Elders Who created her had moved on, leaving her to rot in the Faethorn Realm. Defiantly, Queen Maeve called upon her subjects from both communes to rise up against Laeroc, declaring that she was not alone after all. Laeroc laughed as the gathered mortals seemed to ignore her commands, pointing out that no one would dare lift a finger against their precious Laeroc; that no one would come to the Fae Queen’s rescue. Bandeon Ladyn of the Serenwilde stepped forward and, after stating “Actually, I will,” led the charge against the demon. The mortals made short work of the Dame’s Oblation and returned to the original task at hand, but only after consoling a deeply wounded and almost comatose Queen Maeve. It seemed seeing her Consort so twisted and tortured broke her completely, and the mortals shyly left her to prepare for the coming fight. The veil was thinning rapidly now. Flashes of Dame Maeve’s clawed hand tearing through the veil appeared after each offered memory, and it was only a matter of time before the veil fell completely. Like glass shattering, the thin membrane that separated the Dreaming fell away, allowing the Basin’s nightmares to pour through like a black cloud of despair, anguish, torture, and pain. Mortals all across the Basin of Life faced their worst fears over and over again until they were condensed into a terrible prolonged second, which only broke when Dame Maeve herself stepped forward through the veil, her black eyes wide and staring. Without hesitation, the gathered mortals tore into her. They fought and won, and then realized her wounds healed instantly. They fought some more, only to see the same demonic flesh stitch itself back together over and over again. Finally, her voice booming through the din, Queen Maeve stepped forward and challenged Dame Maeve herself. A poisonous laughter filled the air as the Dame cemented the terms of the duel: if she won, then the fae — and the rest of the natural world — would be hers. She also mocked that Queen Maeve would never strike first, that she would never hit Dame Maeve, for she knew it was futile. Borrowing from Bandeon’s words of courage, Queen Maeve uttered, “Actually, we will,” and, in a single radiant blast of power, destroyed Dame Maeve completely. All that remained of her was the brand, the Weeping Amaranth that hung suspended in the air, spinning faster and faster. The same otherworldly glow ignited in the heavens and grew more brilliant with each passing second, like a bonfire left unattended. Soon, it was clear that the Seals of Nature and Beauty were the focus of Dame Maeve’s insidious plan to claim their power as her own, and the brand, left unchecked by the Dame’s control, carried out its new purpose well — until the Seals broke completely. The world lurched and then stopped completely. Reality froze and then sped up, until finally, thousands of hungry eyes leered at the Basin of Life and a thundering roar echoed from the air itself. Estarra the Eternal appeared in the sky and warned mortals that the Seals had been compromised and that it was once again time for mortals to enter the Trials of Ascension. When the pandemonium eased somewhat, Queen Maeve reached forward, claimed the brand that plagued her for centuries, and, with all the power of the Faethorn Court behind her, ripped it apart, petal by petal, and banished its dark magic for good. As the Weeping Amaranth dissolved into the air, the Queen of the Fae smiled, knowing that she could finally know peace again. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Unbranding of Queen Maeve of the Fae](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/01/05/the-unbranding-of-queen-maeve-of-the-fae/) **Published:** January 5, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Darkness fell across the Ethereal Plane. When the Silver Goddess, alarmed by the change, arrived to tend to the land She loves, all seemed normal: the Queen of the Fae sat, as always, on her throne, her Consort by her side, and the fae of the Faethorn Court went about their daily activities. As far as She could tell, nothing was abnormal — only the impenetrable darkness that flooded the skies like ink spreading across vellum. “What do you want?” came the Maeve’s voice, as she snapped her fingers for the Goddess to step forward. More alarmed still, Lisaera acknowledged the Queen of the Fae’s tone with equal venom. “Mind your tongue, fae. The number of your divine supporters is regrettably low, and I guard this Plane with My every breath. What has become of you?” The cruel, flippant responses continued. “You guard us? You are nothing. You and Your Cousins do little to assist our world.” A small gathering of mortals from both communes bore witness to this exchange, which continued well into the following day. The Maeve shot verbal barbs at a Goddess whom she loved, and the Empyreal Mother remained unnerved, but began responding with more and more patience. She realized quickly that something was amiss with the Queen of the Fae. It was then that She noticed the brand. “My Maeve, your neck — does it pain you?” inquired the Goddess, every breath the gentle caress of a concerned mother. “Our — our — what? Our what? What do You mean? What? Our what? Our what? We cannot hear you, no, no, we cannot hear you — “ The Queen of the Fae unraveled mentally then, her erratic words matching the confusion in her eyes. She shouted her rage and cried tears of terror, all the while squeezing Laeroc’s arm until her nails drew welts of blood. He stayed by her side, silent and terrified, as the Faethorn Realm shook under the Maeve’s power, sending the fae of the Court into a blind panic. At last, the Silver Goddess wove a spell of sleep around the Queen, which soothed her into a deep slumber. It was then that Lisaera realized the root of the darkness. Before the gathered mortals, the Silver Goddess vowed to heal the Maeve. She would gather the combined power of the Nature Pantheons and devise a plan, and all She needed was information about the brand’s origins. The mortals bowed and voiced their understanding of the long, hard tasks ahead, and the gathering dispersed. After a moment of contemplation and a kiss upon the Maeve’s brow, the Silver Goddess also departed. Years passed. Mortals brought the Silver Goddess and the Lady of the Thorns information about the brand, but nothing revealed the keys They needed to break the spell. The Maeve’s torments grew stronger and stronger, and the fae began to react accordingly. Maidens were seen carrying abandoned — or stolen — children into the trees, pixies and nymphs were found tearing one another to bloody shreds, and banshees wailed overhead, their voices stirring the air into violent storms. The Silver Goddess visited the Queen of the Fae often, but every exchange was similar to the first: the Maeve shouted her rage, cried her confusion, and wept her sadness, all the while her exhausted Consort stood guard, his tired eyes filled with the tears of a man who cannot help his lover. Finally, Laeroc’s composure broke and he begged the Elder Gods of Nature to bless him with Their faith. As One, They acknowledged the Consort’s efforts and stepped aside, allowing him to rally the communes himself with a new plan. Because the Maeve’s mind is failing, he reasoned, it would behoove the mortals who care about her to give her their own memories. The only thing that could save the Queen of the Fae, Laeroc believed, was the combined efforts of Serenwilde and Glomdoring. The Queen of the Fae was gravely ill by then. Despite the soothing music, sung by bards from both communes, despite the power pouring into her from Lisaera’s tireless spellwork, the Maeve fell deeper into her confusion, until she sat immobile, eyes glazed with delirium. “We will build some sort of apparatus,” muttered Laeroc. He paced the throne room of his Queen, his hands trembling like a madman’s. “We — we will grow a tree. We will use its roots…the Queen will know what we know…” And so the work began. The communes set aside their endless cycle of death to gather the Consort’s only supplies — two nuts each from the Moonhart Mother Tree and the Master Ravenwood Tree. When the time came that the tree would be planted, Laeroc commanded Serenwilde and Glomdoring to secretly nourish the sapling with essence from their respective lands until at last, it bloomed with power. The Consort took his place amid the gathering and called upon the countless lives of the Faethorn Court, pouring all of their combined power into his own hands. He murmured prayers to the spirits of nature and reopened the bloody wounds that fed the sapling. One by one, the Elder Gods of Nature manifested, Their expressions grim as They watched Laeroc plead for the Maeve’s forgiveness. As the Tree of Memories grew around him, he knelt before the Lady of the Thorns, his eyes streaming with tears, and shuddered as the Silver Goddess summoned a howling storm in the sky above the Faethorn Court. The Oak Whacher summoned vines to restrain the prone body of Laeroc, and with a simple swipe of Her scythe, the Lady of the Thorns severed the Consort’s head. Silence. Then chaos. The Faethorn Court erupted with the howls of the fae, who all felt the Consort’s death. The Silver Goddess wept openly and held the prone body of the Consort in Her arms as his spirit was taken into the sky by a beam of moonlight. As the blood soaked into the roots, the Tree of Memories flexed its limbs and reached for the heavens, unveiling broad moonhart leaves and oily raven feathers. Months after, the magic of the Tree of Memories swelled and the restoration of the Maeve was at hand. Silver light and shadow flared throughout the bark and boughs of the tree, sweeping the Queen into the ethereal skies above. Caught in rapture, the Maeve surrendered to its power: her sanity healing, her body restored. Indeed, shards of scarlet lifted from her skin – the very same brand of the Weeping Amaranth that tortured her for eons – broke away from her skin. Faethorn and the fae cheered; however, this happiness was cut off as the brand disappeared in a flurry of motes that winked out as quickly as manifested. The presence of the Elder Gods hovered over the proceedings, and they were disquieted in the manner in which the brand disappeared. Though many wondered what had happened, their concerns and fears were abated by the joy of the Queen’s rejuvenation. Both the Serenwilde and Glomdoring attended to the tired queen, who weakly called out to her Laeroc. Saddened at the thought, they bid her to recall his sacrifice, and the Maeve turned mourning. Slowly, the assembled mortals departed and a new kind of darkness fell across the Faethorn Court. **Categories:** News --- ### [November Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/01/04/november-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** January 4, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the November Vesteran Honours, Portius won the bardic contest with the poem titled, “Eight Against the Prison”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the study titled “He-Who\_Avenges-Kittens”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Centaur Pendants](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/01/03/centaur-pendants/) **Published:** January 3, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Midspring found the centaur colts with an abundance of energy, demanding to play tag with a visitor to Serenwilde, Domo Tenderhoof. The older centaur refused, claiming he was too busy trying to make centaur pendants. Serenwilders Sondayga, Lleuke, Aeldra, Rivius, Avurekhos, Zinnaella and Kurut gathered around the centaurs and quickly offered their assistance to Domo, following him back to the Hifarae Hills. The colts offered to help, explaining that they wanted to replace a pendant of Poloma’s that they’d broken… though they remained behind to keep up appearances. Once in Hifarae, the group spread out, searching everywhere for materials that Domo could use to create a pendant. Determined to assist, Sondayga and Aeldra’s work was finally rewarded in the form of a pendant for Poloma Truehoof. She thanked the pair for their efforts and urged them to craft pendants for any other centaur in need. It was discovered that Ahote and Huyana were in love but could not get together because of a mystery in Ahote’s past. Another pendant crafted by Domo shed light on the mystery, and eventually brought Huyana Greyhide and Ahote Lonehoof together. Is this change of heart permanent, or will it prove as fragile as the pendants themselves? Only time will tell. **Categories:** News --- ### [Dreaming of Gods: Waking Up Is Hard to Do](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/25/dreaming-of-gods-waking-up-is-hard-to-do/) **Published:** December 25, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Towards the end of their time in the Dreaming, the mortals were in fierce rebellion while the Circle of the Deep raged against them for not accepting them as the new pantheon of gods. However, with the help of Mysrai and Maylea’s loyal servants Sebitti Silkenhand and the peacock known as Shashi, Hoaracle eventually was able to break out of the dream trap. Thus freed, He apprised the Elder Gods of what was going on. In a fit, the Circle of the Dreaming tried to start fires on the prime material plane of the real world to destroy the bodies of the mortals and trap them forever in their dreamrealm. But it was a futile endeavour; the Elder Gods were able to quench the fires and came together behind Hoaracle to help free the mortals. In order to undo the Circle’s work, mortals had to rise to the centre of the dreaming, the Heart of Vestera, and shut down the Narcoponatrix. This meant treading through the Deep Dreaming where the Circle had built their paradise known as Nirvana. Hoaracle and the Elder Gods sent forth dreaming essence that would allow mortals to ascend into the Deep Dreaming and reach Nirvana. These manifested in the form of Revelations of the Dreaming, which became swirls of dream foam that could be consumed. First to ascend into Nirvana was Xenthos, who was swiftly followed by many others, including Tekora, Sondayga, Rivius, Synkarin, Mnemosyne, Tridemon, Talan and Leolamins. There, they found paradise populated by rabid followers of the Higher Gods, entities manifested by the desires of the Circle of the Deep. Manipulating these followers, they were able to reach the Citadel of the Higher Gods that floated above Nirvana where the Narcoponatrix was hidden. Cleverly starting a war among the Higher Gods, who mistrusted each other, they were able to uncover the Narcoponatrix. It was Talan who, with the help of others, was able to shut it down, despite the complex procedure developed by Sciomore. Without the power of the Narcoponatrix, the Circle of the Dreaming lost much of their power, becoming once again dreamweavers, though still quit powerful. Those mortals who were able to ascend to the Dreaming, killed the false gods. Suddenly, they found themselves awakening from a deep sleep, back in reality. Hoping it was but a nightmare, but looking around at others awakening with the same expression of horror stamped on their faces, all knew that it was more than just a dream. **Categories:** News --- ### [Dreaming of Gods: Reshaping Reality](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/25/dreaming-of-gods-reshaping-reality/) **Published:** December 25, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Circle of the Deep wasted no time in shaping the Dreaming world to their whims. Sciomore, the Logician, descended upon the city of Hallifax, immediately drawing the present citizenry to stand before him at the Matrix. The city and its people belonged to him, he declared. In response, the assembled Board members attempted to inure him to Hallifax’s legal system, which resulted in several citizens being vaporized by the massive clockwork being’s eye beam. With a reminder of the Collective’s newfound “loyalty”, Sciomore departed for the time being. A handful of days later, following the murder of a Hallifaxian in the city limits by Frai, another of the Higher Gods, Sciomore ordered Hallifax into military action against Gaudiguch. Of the gathered citizens, Oberst Davos Pavok was the most vocal, attempting to dissuade the Logician from forcing the city into carrying out immediate action, while Temporal Primus Tekora Windwhisper-Pavok sought temporary appeasement and urged the gathered citizens into a short-lived assault upon the Plane of Fire. Following the engagement, Sciomore ordered Sealbearer Kiradawea Startail to deliver a set of weapon schematics that she had mentioned during the previous conversation. The following month, the Logician appeared once more before Hallifax, gathering the citizens before him. With a mechanical flourish, he revealed a massive floating fortress and weapon, Project: Guardian, in the skies above crystal spires of the city. Declaring it the result of Kiradawea’s weapon design, Sciomore granted access to Project: Guardian to Hallifax, ordering a test firing upon Mount Zoaka. Hallifax complied, and was shocked by the scale of the Project’s destruction: Mount Zoaka was all but destroyed, the land remaining in its place nothing more than heaves of half-melted, sterilized rock; the weapon was more powerful than anyone in the city had imagined. At this point, the people of Hallifax were growing more than weary with Sciomore’s influence over the city. The last straw came for them when the Logician ordered them to fire Project: Guardian a second time, this time upon the city of Gaudiguch itself. When refused repeatedly by Chairman Pejat Shevat, and with the Logician declared a Code Black Anomaly, Sciomore gave a final ultimatum: fire on Gaudiguch, or Sciomore would destroy Hallifax utterly. After interfacing with the city’s control systems, which he claimed were formed from his own essence by their Creator, Aelish, Sciomore initiated a countdown to the city’s destruction, to be canceled if and only if Project: Guardian was fired at Gaudiguch. Following the ultimatum, Hallifax descended into chaos. Arguments erupted about the weapon, the morality of its use, the reaction of the rest of the Basin should it be used, Sciomore’s control over the city, and more. Unsuccessful attempts were made to fire Project: Guardian at Hallifax itself, to deny the Logician his sway over the city; and at other, uninhabited areas, in attempt to trigger the failsafe and prevent the city’s self-destruction. The city attempted to make use of a previous Code Yellow Anomaly sent to the city from the Dreaming in the past, but the device was destroyed by their efforts. Important citizens were evacuated from the city. Eventually, Chief Superintendent Entrias Pavok, using a clause from the Sentinels’ contract with Hallifax, declared martial law over the city and had the Company take command of the city from the Board of Directors. The city refused to fire upon Gaudiguch, however, and the deadline arrived. After a final taunt from Sciomore, the alarms of the city blared with warnings of a containment breach, as the winds about Hallifax became first erratic and then grew in strength, developing into a veritable tempest tearing the city apart. Monstrous screams of pain and rage echoes throughout the basin amidst the storm. Eventually, the structural components anchoring the Matrix to the city were destroyed, and the Nexus of Power fell from the skies to the earth below. On contact, the Matrix released all of its stored power in a wave of annihilating energies, scouring the Basin of all life. As the mortal beings of the land were returned to life by the Fates, they were shocked at their newfound discovery: Hallifax had been destroyed in the Taint Wars by Emperor Ladantine, and the remaining Hallifaxians were but refugees of the fall of the City of Spires centuries ago. The city no longer in existence, the Sentinel Company severed its contract with the Beacon of Harmony, reclaiming the name of the Skylark Company and set off to find a new power to contract under. ~~ Luella, the Lady of Flowers was quick to claim the Serenwilde Forest as her own. There she began a reign of sweetness that warred with feral passion; for Luella wished for nothing more than to have nature consume the whole world, returning it to how she believed it should be. Though dismissive of mortals, whom she saw as nothing other than animals, she was soft towards them and appeared to be understanding of their scepticism. Unlike the other Higher Gods, she was forthcoming about where she came from and what she wished…or at least, she gave them a story of sorts. When Serenwilde called upon her to prove her worth, she visited the Tar Pits – Tainted land which was once part of the Serenwilde itself – and planted seeds of purity within the heart of that place so that it would be reborn with the seasons. But she was not wholly beneficent. When the forest challenged her lack of action against Serane, the Everlasting Beauty, Luella unleashed a choking wash of power and a horde of wolves upon the forest, before banishing mortals from it altogether. But soon she was back to her soft, generous self: in a grand gesture of power she stopped the Wyrd’s power from sticking within the Glomdoring Forest; she created seed pods that could be used to produce carnivorous plants that some of the Serenwilde took to casting about the lands; and she promised to protect the centaurs of the Hifarae Hills that the mortals had been so concerned for. ~~ Serane, the Everlasting Beauty, selected Glomdoring as her new home. Believing that beauty was a bounty granted by nature in finite amounts, she quickly sought to discover the potential of her new subjects and how devoted they were to ensuring that they reached that full potential. But Glomdoring were fiercely loyal to their true patrons, and she was met with much consternation: indeed, many hurled insults both earned and childish at her, earning much of her ire in the first few days of her presence. Over time, however, the members of the commune began to take a different approach – ingratiating themselves to her such that they might more carefully plan a secret form of rebellion. Thus settled, she was quick to seek out truly loyal followers and test their potential, spending much of her time meeting individually with her new subjects and coaxing them – some more easily than others – to devoting themselves to her and her new chapter for Glomdoring. With this support, she began to make larger gestures like the other Higher Gods – culminating in the Wyrding of the Hifarae Hills, rendering them so virulent with life that none could enter it as the hills teemed with new, verdant life. ~~ It was fitting that the mysterious Frai, the Hooded One, should choose the city of freedom as her new home. But Frai descended into a Gaudiguch that was not welcoming; many of them being zealously loyal to their Elder God patrons, the citizens of Gaudiguch rose up in protest against their forced replacement. When an open revolt was attempted within the city, she cast them all from its borders for a short time so as to gain their obedience. There were some, however, who proved of interest to Frai. She was largely a trusting and kind patron, answering more questions than some, and claiming to be removed from many of the rivalries that flourished amongst the rest of the Higher Gods. But her position as an observer could not prevent Gaudiguch from falling under the attention of Hallifax and Sciomore: and many in Gaudiguch wished to know what she would do in response to the destruction of Zoaka. Though it proved ultimately needless, Frai raised a shield around Gaudiguch itself to protect the city. Whether or not this shield would have worked against the sky fortress, it will never be known; but it did something to placate her citizens, leading some to grant her a little more time and understanding. She proved particularly fond of whiskey, which endeared her to many. ~~ The Iron God, Karagash, selected what he believed to be the strongest of the organisations: the city of Magnagora. Upon his arrival he immediately demanded to see the city’s strongest combatants and test their mettle against the other organisations, to ensure he had selected wisely. The city promptly set about proving themselves in his hunting challenge, demonstrating not only their strength but their enthusiasm and skill. Favours were granted to those who claimed the victory, but this did not earn him the full support of the very sceptical and often seditious Magnagorans. Many of them were subject to the Iron God’s displeasure over the months of his reign as patron. By way of a test of his subjects, Karagash unleashed a plague of rats upon the city, wishing to further prove their mettle in combat. Being benevolent, he also released the same plague upon New Celest, to appease those who had claimed that he had made no gestures comparable to the other Higher Gods. But many remained uncomfortable with Karagash’s devotion to Aelish, for it was at odds with Magnagora’s opposition of New Celest, and this amongst other things ensured that Karagash’s stay in Magnagora was a torrid one. Towards the end of the Higher Gods reign, when the Elder Gods’ conclave was overhead and mortals were beginning to attempt to break into Nirvana, the Iron God proved to be as strong in his rage as he was physically, smashing his way through much of the Basin of Life in an anger-filled attempt to stop them from circumventing the Creator’s command – but to no avail. ~~ Aelish, the Creator, chose New Celest as his new home. In the light of their Supernals and their faith, he saw kindred spirits and the potential for great power. He appeared to be a stern but goodly patron, who was comfortable in and used to a great degree of authority. Many mortals from all of the organisations were interested in him, for he did not hide that he was the leader of the Higher Gods – this fact causing some consternation amongst those who opposed New Celest. In his majesty, Aelish cleansed the Sea of Despair of the Taint that had suffused it for so many years – a grand gesture that was met with the approval of his city and the consternation of Karagash’s. In response to Karagash’s rat plague, he created a divine broom that could rid the world of rats and other vermin, which made its way through several hands, even ending up with several people who simply did not realise the power of the item they had acquired. He cast a shield of protection over the Inner Sea, ensuring that Sciomore and Kiradawea’s creation could not harm it, though he cautioned that Sciomore would never act against New Celest or its protected lands for he was the Creator and it was protected by his power. Those who questioned him or his strength were cut down with little care, though he was for much of the time a benevolent divinity. **Categories:** News --- ### [Dreaming of Gods: Flashback and Flashforward](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/25/dreaming-of-gods-flashback-and-flashforward/) **Published:** December 25, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Over 200 years ago, the first indication that something powerful roamed the Dreaming was exhibited when several entities took possession of Elemental Lords (see Events 102). While it was never clear then who these dreamweavers were, it has now been revealed that they were members of the Circle of the Deep, a group of dreamweavers who were trapped in the Dreaming during the Taint in the times of the Celestine Empire. Though their physical bodies were ultimately destroyed, their power in the Dreaming increased exponentially, as time passed until they had the power of the gods themselves, at least in the Dreamrealm. While these dreamweavers could make every desire manifest, they were bored and dissatisfied with their existence. They wanted more. Though the physical realm now disgusted them, they wanted to bring others into their realms, to have subjects over which to rule. In order to do this, they needed to increase their power to the point where they could force every mortal into the Dreamrealm and keep them there. Thus began an enormously complex campaign to build a device in the very centre of the Dreaming Depths, also known as the Heart of Vestera, that would channel the dreaming into mortal realm and capture the entire population of the Basin of Life. The device would come to be known as the Narcoponatrix. To power the Narcoponatrix, they first sought to manipulate a geomancer to search for a jewel that held great power in the Dreaming (see Events 320). Next, they sought to steal power from the Aegis of Vestera (see Events 322, 323 and 324), which greatly enhanced the Narcoponatrix. From there, it was a matter of testing how far their powers could reach, from great manipulations such as assaulting the elemental planes (see Events 334) to small attempts such as playing with the mind of a tae’dae (see Events 335). Finally, the dreamweaver known as Sciomore tested the boundaries of the Narcoponatrix by manipulating Master Artist Miella Windwhisper in such a way as to place a device of his own design within the bounds of the city itself. Now convinced that their plot could work, the Circle of the Dreaming did the unimaginable: they placed the entire population of the Basin of Life to sleep, pulling them into the dreamrealm which was an exact replica of reality as mortals knew it. They then orchestrated an elaborate illusion whereby the Soulless Gods destroyed the Elder Gods, but reality was saved by the Higher Gods, who were in reality the six members of the Circle of the Deep (see Events 336). Meanwhile, in the real world, the Elder Gods were flummoxed that every mortal had fallen into a deep slumber from which they would not awaken. When they turned to seek the advice of Hoaracle, the Oak Whacher – for He was the Elder God most attuned to the Dreaming – they could not find Him. Unbeknownst to them, Hoaracle was caught in a trap by the Circle of the Deep, who feared his powers in the Dreaming. Fearing that all would be lost without Him, the Bloom of Serenity and the Silver Goddess sought the assistance of Mysrai, with Whose help they hatched a plan to free Hoaracle. In the dreamrealm, many mortals could not distinguish reality from the dream illusion, so well crafted was the false Basin of Life. However, many began to suspect something was amiss – there had been too many mysterious happenings involving the Dreaming, too many clues to suggest that things might not be real – but there was no way of being certain. Unsurprisingly, mistrust of the so-called Higher Gods was immediately rife. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Age of Ascension Ends](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/14/the-age-of-ascension-ends/) **Published:** December 14, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** All of creation shuddered, as the Soulless Gods broke free of their prisons. As Estarra the Eternal appeared to deal with the threat, she was devoured by Kethuru. Thus, it was up to the Elder Gods to defeat the Soulless, but to no avail. Jadice rose up to defend Hallifax and was defeated by Illith. Viravain fell to the forest itself which was animated by the Soulless. Mysrai and Zvoltz both succumbed to the Black Star of Morning. Darvellan engaged Illith only to be defeated by Drocilla, who Herself fell to Zenos. Maylea was consumed by Zenos while Nocht suffered a similar fate at the hands of Crazen. One by one the rest of the elder Gods fell, until none were left. As Lusternia itself lay in shatters, a golden rift opened up and revealed six shining figures who entered the realm and began to battle the Soulless Gods. In little time at all, these Higher Gods vanquished the Soulless Gods and healed the land. The six gods settled within the Basin of Life. Aelish the Creator went to Celest. Karagash the Iron God claimed Magnagora. Frai the Hooded One took residence in Gaudiguch. Serane the Everlasting Beauty travelled to Glomdoring. Sciomore the Logician moved into Hallifax. And Luella, the Lady of Flowers embraced Serenwilde. Thus, the Age of Ascension ends and a new era begins. What it shall bring, only time will tell. **Categories:** News --- ### [Salmon Dreams](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/05/salmon-dreams/) **Published:** December 5, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was late in the evening, on the 22nd of Roarkian, when Magee Gladheart, granddaughter of Rocky, the tree climbing furrikin shouted out to the basin of life that she had found ‘it’, and needed help. Kiradawea from Hallifax was the first to find Magee Gladheart and to ask what it was that Magee had found and needed help with. Magee was slow with the information, but as people gathered around, she revealed that she had found Rocky’s old scroll. With the ritual mentioned in the scroll she could bring forth the golden salmon into the Toronada river and make her friend Todarro the tae’dae happy again! As it turned out, Todarro had recently been plagued by some dreams which caused him to believe that the ancient golden salmon would return to the rivers. With the golden salmon available again, he could have some of their delicious honey-like meat. Eager to help, the group bombarded Magee with various questions until Magee asked the group to choose a leader for the project. With the support of Barrin from Serenwilde, Eodh from Gaudiguch, and Kiradawea’s faithful servant Jeanne, Kiradawea was unanimously chosen as the one to be point for the ritual. All was running smoothly, until Arimisia from Magnagora showed up giving the last required corpses to Magee, and stealing the elemental suit of seeing from right under Kiradawea. With elemental suit of seeing in hand, Arimisia went on a hunt for Militi ma’Salmon, yet Urdnot of Serenwilde had only before collected all of the lure needed, and without it, Arimisia could not gain the trust of Little Spirit Salmon. Despite making it clear that Arimisia was not a friend of any of the communes, she refused to give the elemental suit of seeing to another, and with Urdnot’s refusal to help a member of Magnagora for any reason, the people gathered to help Magee had to wait patiently until somebody budged. With some coordinated efforts, Arimisia eventually had enough of the desired lures to coax the golden salmon roe from Militi ma’Salmon. However, at the last minute as the roe fell to the river’s floor, Eodh deftly swept in and picked up the salmon eggs needed to complete the ritual to summon the golden salmon back into the rivers! In another twist of events, rather than hand the eggs over to Kiradawea, Eodh gave the eggs to Magee himself, getting the honour to be the first person in the modern era to assist in returning the golden salmon back to the rivers. With the salmon spawned in the rivers, Todarro’s mood heightened, and various people were quick to gather the golden salmon and give Todarro his much desired treat. Soon after all the salmon were killed and cleared from the rivers, Todarro once again became sad. How long will his melancholy last? Will these dreams plague him forever? And what is the meaning behind the return of the golden salmon to the rivers of the Basin? Only time will tell! **Categories:** News --- ### [October Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/12/03/october-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** December 3, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the October Vesteran Honours, Zarialle won the bardic contest with the collection titled, “The Magnagoran Election Poems”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the study titled “Commander of the Armies of Darkness”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [September Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/11/07/september-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** November 7, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the September Vesteran Honours, Salome won the bardic contest with the play titled, “Sign of the Spider”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the portrait titled “Kalas Jazris”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia Eleven Year Anniversary Events!](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/10/12/lusternia-eleven-year-anniversary-events/) **Published:** October 12, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia began its journey eleven years ago, opening its doors on October 7, 2004. What is more appropriate then to celebrate this momentous event with fun, games and surprises! ## October 4, 2015 – Hamster Hunt - Time: 2:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - First Place: Ixion (300 credits) - Second Place: Arimisia (150 credits) - Third Place: Llewell and Thalkros (50 credits) Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! ## October 5, 2015 – Treasure Hunt - Time: 6:30 p.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Winners: - First Place: Ixion (300 credits) - Second Place: Thalkros (150 credits) - Third Place: Arcanis (50 credits) Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! ## October 6, 2015 – Quiz - Time: 6:30 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Winners: - First Place: Arcanis (300 credits) - Second Place: Lleuke (150 credits) - Third Place: Portius and Tekora (50 credits) Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! ## October 8, 2015 – Death Worldgame - Time: 3:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Winners: - Ixion (300 credits) - Leolamins (150 credits) - Shedrin (50 credits) A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. ## October 9, 2015 – Harmony Worldgame - Time: 3:00 p.m. PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Winners: - First Place: Davos (300 credits) - Second Place: Ixion (150 credits) - Third Place: Arcanis (50 credits) Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. ## October 10, 2015 – Vengeance Tournament - Time: 2:00 p.m. PST - Event: Vengeance Tourament - Survivors: - Lothringen, Daebach, Esca, Salome (500 credits split among survivors) Participate in a bout of Vengeance! Who will survive? ## October 10, 2015 – Wargames - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Winners: - First Place: Lothringen, Synkar, Shuyin (300 credits) - Second Place: Mneumosyne, Kaimanahi, Rivius (150 credits) - Third Place: Davos, Shedrin and Ixion (50 credits) Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! ## October 11, 2015 – Battlechess - Time: 1:00 p.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Prize: Chess Board of Libertas - Winner: Hallifax Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive the Chess Board of Libertas! ***Note: All dates and times are in PST (and not GMT).*** **Categories:** News --- ### [August Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/10/02/august-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** October 2, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the August Vesteran Honours, Stratas won the bardic contest with the report titled, “Quiet Harmony: Reflections On Lord Nocht and the Harbingers”. In the artisanal category, Malinov won with the sketch titled “A Sunrise Hatching”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/10/02/july-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** October 2, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the July Vesteran Honours, Kalnid won the bardic contest with the report titled, “Magnagoran Mycology”. In the artisanal category, Ppersayis won with the portrait titled “Daughter of Crow”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Elemental Upheavals and a Hidden Artist Colony](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/08/17/elemental-upheavals-and-a-hidden-artist-colony/) **Published:** August 17, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** All was quiet, yet all was amiss, when the Manifestations disappeared. Unnoticed, they slinked away, out of perception, not a trace of their disappearance left behind. That is, until they started to feed. One by one, the creatures of the elemental planes began to disappear. First to notice were the citizens of Hallifax, the life sucked from the critters that wandered Air. These stirrings would soon alert Magnagora, whose own creatures began to crumble and shrivel into dust. Not long after, Shedrin, of Hallifax, would confirm that the creatures of Fire, who burst into flame, and the creatures of Water, who dissolved into the waves beneath them, would too fade at his presence. Unsure of what could be happening, many wandered the planes, yet it was Magnagora who first reached out to their Earth Lords. Gravynia, Lady of the Cracked Stone sensed something was wrong, but with the newness of the situation, she was not sure what could be transpiring. Many speculated at what was unfolding, but Marcella, of Magnagora, sought action, and with the recent transgressions her city had with the Maeve, placed the blame on the forests. Maeve and her consort Laeroc dismissed the accusations, yet a battle quickly unfolded in the Faethorn. Many others sought information elsewhere as the battle was underway, questioning any with ties to the Elemental planes. Magnagora, not willing to settle with not knowing, returned to Gravynia, who turned their questioning elsewhere. Perhaps the foe was not something that could be known? Perhaps something stirred outside of perception? Many pondered and turned their attention to the Dreaming, a place with many ties to the Elemental Planes. After questioning a few notable dreamweavers, including Ladantine himself, they all settled in, awaiting what would happen next. Days later, a blasting wind washed over the First World, followed by an enormous wave that crashed into the Inner Sea. Quickly, attention turned to the Elemental Planes, for it was surely no coincidence that these natural disasters were occuring so shortly after the elemental creatures had disappeared. Once again, Magnagora took the lead on securing information, and it was their Earth Lord that first reached out to them, alerting them to the actions of something deep within the Dreaming… something that was draining the planes of their power. The Magnagorans darted about once more, unsure of who to question, but answers would soon come. Bhalegu cried out in pain, alerting the Geomancers to an attack upon him. Rushing to investigate, Xaldrin quickly alerted the city to the attack, and many gathered to question him. So too did the Lords of Air, Fire, and Water reach out, though others were far slower on the uptake. Each city was tasked with bringing in power to the Lords and Ladies to help strengthen them against this invisible foe… though a familiar foe it was, for it was shortly after that many discovered the Manifestations had gone missing. Many darted to the Ethereal planes, while others raced to Xion, and slowly gathered what essence was available to them. The Lords and Ladies, slowly regaining their strength, provided a distraction for the Manifestations, allowing some of the creatures that wandered the planes to return, providing yet another source of power for them to work with. It wasn’t long before Magnagora would be the first to fully empower their Lords and Lady, who then pummeled the sky with a barrage of boulders. Weakened, the first of the Manifestations appeared: the Manifestation of Broken Earth. Many died in the battle with the ferocious foe, yet Magnagora prevailed, slaying the beast long before any would even weaken theirs. With their plane now quiet, they returned to Gravynia, who warned that though they were safe, she could not guarantee that safety would remain until the other Elemental Planes were secured. Hallifax, led by Shedrin, Phoebus, Maligorn, Pejat, and Eiriu, trailed after Magnagora, but with the help of Xenthos and Salome, of Glomdoring, would be the second to empower their Lords and Ladies, who pummeled the Manifestation of Stoppered Air with a blasting wind. Taken down far more quickly than the first, Hallifax and Glomdoring soon aided the Celestians with their endeavour, summoning the wrath of their Lords and Lady to drown the Manifestation of Parched Oceans. Far more fell to this, the third beast, but it too soon fell, leaving the last, and hardest foe. The city of Gaudiguch struggled, only Malarious and Romaan gathering essence at first, but with the help of the other cities and commune, they too eventually succeeded, bringing out the final foe: the Manifestation of Snuffed Flames. Death after death came upon the Gaudiguchians and their assistants, yet once gathered, the foe quickly fell and the air grew silent. Back on Prime, the elements calmed, the disasters slowly fading away into silence. High in the sky, mysterious figures appeared, their gaze turned to the Basin of Life. In anger, with a final push of the elemental energies upon the Basin, they rocked the earth, sending stone crashing down the Razine Mountains. They quickly turned and faded away without a word, yet their appearance was quickly forgotten as something was knocked loose in the Razines. Eritheyl, of Magnagora, stumbled into a quaint community, tucked into a lush valley between the Estengare and the mountain range, inhabited by a community of trill and tae’dae who worked together to create wonderful pieces of art in a sustainable community long forgotten by the Basin of Life. Hidden long ago by a mudslide from the Razines, the trill and tae’dae learned to survive on their own, and saw no need to travel outside of their community, which they called Irshaw Heights. The tae’dae and trill told the story of the founding of Irshaw Heights, how Grandfather Irshaw settled within the valley, and how the trill, refugees from Hallifax in the time of the Taint Wars, came to live together. The trill, sent away by their masters in the city, after generations passing without their masters, lost knowledge of who they truly were, yet were told they would return for them in time. The tae’dae, stumbling across the trill one day, quickly filled this place, and being nice tae’dae, they could not turn them away. Giving them a home in the Heights, the trill quickly proved useful, and the tae’dae became inspired to create wonderful works of art, much like trills’ former masters in Hallifax. Piera Blackpaw, daughter of Rumberry Irshaw, was the only one who told the story differently. Afraid of ill-doing on the trills’ part, she sent many after Sorresh, who worked in secret. In whispers, Sorresh bid many to help him inspire his masters, and Shedrin would be the first to offer his help, providing much assistance to the trill along the way with the help of his comrade, Luce. Salome, Xenthos and Siam of Glomdoring, however, felt pity for the tae’dae and turned their attention towards them. The Glomdoring assisted Piera in finishing her analysis, distracting the other tae’dae with the promise of food. However, Shedrin and Luce worked secretly against them, still working to help Sorresh fulfill his duty to his masters. In the end, Glomdoring succeeded in helping the tae’dae, Siam ultimately assisting Piera in her research, which she quickly took to her father. Rumberry, doubting his daughter’s revelations, sent her away, and she stormed off, eager to start again in finding the proof her father would need. What stirred the Manifestations of Dreaming to attack the Elemental Planes? What need would they have for the energy they stole? What did these attacks have to do with the figures in the sky, or with the newly revealed Irshaw Heights? What were the trill doing to the tae’dae that required these drugs? **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/08/07/june-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** August 7, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the June Vesteran Honours, Vasilissa won the bardic contest with the story titled, “Drinker of Tears”. In the artisanal category, persayis won with the portrait titled “The Nightmare”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/07/01/may-vesteran-honours-7/) **Published:** July 1, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the May Vesteran Honours, Portius won the bardic contest with the epic titled, “Plague”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the haunting portrait titled “Descent into Madness”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/05/31/april-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** May 31, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the April Vesteran Honours, Zitto won the bardic contest with the treatise titled, “Ante-Hoc Material-Contract Temporal Correction”. In the artisanal category, Daraius won with the graphic depiction of “Worms and You”. **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/30/march-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** April 30, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the March Vesteran Honours, Zitto won the bardic contest with the treatise titled, “An Overview of the Various Migrant’s Disorders”. In the artisanal category, Daraius won with the portrait titled “A Humble Bureaucrat”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Prisoner Released](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/27/a-prisoner-released/) **Published:** April 27, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Glomdoring remained vigilant in their guard of the Traitor’s prison, watching and waiting as the Wyrd took its toll on His frozen form. Stifled cries and hushed whispers reached out to those who would come to watch, the only hints of life that remained from the Elder. As the days progressed, the contact became more frequent, and about a month after His imprisoning, He began to share words with those gathered. Manteekan maintained much of who He was, yet the Wyrd began to take hold of the Elder, visible in shadows of crow feathers that flitted over His icy eyes and vines that stretched outward from His prison rimed with frost. Another month passed, the contact with Manteekan sparse, yet changes were happening. Viravain soon called the the Forest, eager to see the transformation the Elder had underwent. Gathering the commune at the Master Ravenwood, She reached out to Manteekan, who manifested before those gathered as a hazy figure that spoke in murmurs. The Wyrd had become victorious over the Elder, and He was bound to its power, His body still held within its grasp, yet His mind released from the prison. Viravain bid the Elder show Himself, but He refused, for He had been slighted by the very children He would awaken. Understanding the importance for this loyalty, Viravain granted Manteekan His request and gathered the forest at His prison in the Wydyr. A show of His renewed strength, Manteekan called upon one of His own, a redcap named Bralki, to oversee His prison and to assist with the gathering of tributes. Many would come to assist with this gathering, including Daganev, Calesta, Tylwyth, Tarkenton, Athree, and Phulbelishi of the Glomdoring who were soon joined by Kethaera of Hallifax, whose curiosity would bring her before the Elder. The redcaps and slaughs remained stubborn, even while the barghests and squonks went willingly, yet at the word of their Awakener and those gathered, soon they would all come to pay for their disloyalty. Pleased with the tributes, Manteekan appeared before all gathered, His form nothing more than haunting mist that settled within the air, His physical form ravaged by the Wyrd, and what was left it remaining bound in His prison. The Wyrd would not leave the Elder without a reminder of His new loyalty, however, which manifested in a noose of thorn and vine wrapped about His neck. As a gift to those who would come to assist Him, Manteekan bid His Bralki to sell a new fae, the squonkabonk, the twisted cousin of the squonk, to those who helped. Glomdoring was quick to welcome the Elder to their commune, and Manteekan would just as quickly accept. However, what will having a Traitor within their pantheon hold for the Commune? How exactly has the Wyrd changed the Elder? Many questions lingered in the minds of the Forest. Questions that could only be answered with time.. **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Manteekan and Glomdoring](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/24/of-manteekan-and-glomdoring/) **Published:** April 24, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After nearly two months of silence, and the sky free of the haze, a cool breeze blew over the Basin, and a fine mist stretched over the sky. Preparing themselves for the worst, each city and commune armed themselves for another battle, yet strangely, the mists did not move, resigned to lingering in the air tauntingly out of reach. Numerous fae began to act strangely, including a banshee that found herself within the Serenwilde. Shivering and wailing, the banshee stumbled before the Moonhart, where Urdnot and Barrin had gathered. Curious of why this fae was there, they poked at her for answers, yet answers would not come. Instead, the banshee lashed out at the pair who resisted her attacks, making no attempt to stop the fae. Crying out to the forest, the banshee reached into the mists that filled the air and her cries worsened. With new strength, the banshee lashed out once more until, finally, Feyr would come to rid it of its life. Curious about the actions of this fae, Barrin and Urdnot rushed to Maeve to inquire about the actions of the fae. Maeve alerted the adventurers to the strange mists, and she noted that up until they had settled that day, none of the Faethorn had been affected. Noticing that the fae of both Moon and Night were not harmed by this mist, Maeve bid them to bind the fae until the mists had faded, fearing for their well-being and the safety of the Faethorn. Days later, a frost settled over the Glomdoring, weighing heavy upon the trees and creatures that dwelled within. The Forest, used to the more temperate environment they had lived in for so long, worried for what might unfold, yet Viravain watched and waited, laying out traps for whatever may occur. Days later, Brultk Thornblood would cry out, filling the sky above the commune with a fine spray of blood. A murder of crows took to the sky and had only settled when the residents of the forest would come across the fae. Brultk acted strangely, violently, and mocked those gathered. Brultk hopped about with a sinister grin upon his face and murmured a single word, “Soon.” Still inquisitive, the people of Glomdoring continued to question the fae, yet not much more was to be gathered before a dark storm began to churn within the skies. Viravain and Nocht quickly took to the Master Ravenwood to prepare those gathered for whatever may come. Within the sky above the forest, a pale figure began to coalesce amongst the fog, and two pale eyes sprung open. A bone rattling whispers followed the appearance of these two icy orbs, and it called out for its children. Viravain and Nocht steadied the Glomdoring as overhead, Manteekan, the Terror, appeared amidst the storm. Curious as to why His fae would not obey Him, Manteekan settled into the forest, where He came across Nocht and Viravain. Turning to the Goddess, Manteekan ran His hand over Her golden locks and urged Her to join Him as His side. Viravain recoiled, and Manteekan leaned in closer, planting a single icy kiss upon Her cheek and warned Her to behave, resulting in the Goddess backhanding the Traitor in response. Nocht took to Viravain’s side as Manteekan rubbed the assault from His face, and Viravain sent a swarm of crows flying at Him. Batting the birds to the side, Manteekan tugged upon the miasma above Him, pulling the mists down about Viravain and Nocht until They were bound in the haze. With one final warning, Manteekan urged the Elders not to struggle, and then with a wave of His hand, froze the two within the fog. Seemingly victorious, Manteekan rose above the Forest once more and urged His creations to take to His side. Slaugh, redcap, and barghest soon rose to His side, yet the Forest tugged urgently back. Seeing the struggle, Manteekan called out to the Glomdoring, warning them against their actions, and pulled more urgently upon the mists that surrounded Him. With a final rush of power, Manteekan churned the miasma above the forest, and soon the slaughs, redcaps, and barghests were joined by a swarm of other fae, including the Frost Spite, who made the journey from Mount Wend. His army growing, the shadows that tethered them to the forest began to spin about them all, and soon Manteekan was cocooned in the mass of penumbral matter. Viravain and Nocht freed Themselves from Manteekan’s icy confines, feigning a weakness They did not possess, and sprung Their trap upon the Elder. The Forest launched a volley of vines and shadows into the sky which intertwined with the haze that gathered about Him. Viravain and Nocht rose above the Forest, taunting the Traitor for His foolishness and arrogance, and Manteekan struggled against the trap, only worsening the web that formed about Him. Soon Manteekan was sealed away amidst a cocoon of ice and vines, and the Elders opened a portal in the sky to the Ethereal, where They sealed Him away. The icy prison formed a bore within Ethereal Glomdoring where a pillar of ice and vines rose. Unbeknownst to the Elders, the prison was mirrored within the Wydyr, as Nocht would soon come to find out. The Glomdoring gathered at the prison as Viravain and Nocht taunted Their prisoner. Both would soon leave, urging the Glomdoring to remain vigilant in their watch of the Traitor that dwelled within. Deep within the ice, shadows and vines wrap around the Elder’s pallid frame as haze and whispers fill the room about it. Will Manteekan survive the torment the Wyrd has in store? How will the Glomdoring change with a Traitor within their midst? Many questions fill the icy air of the prison, and only the pale eyes that stare outward from within may hold the answer. **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Frost Spite and Snowcats](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/24/of-frost-spite-and-snowcats/) **Published:** April 24, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Nearly a month passed before the strange mists that escaped during Maylea’s return would come to be seen once more. Without warning, a foul storm began to form over the Northern Mountains, sending hail raining down the mountainsides. Awoken by the strange weather, the Frost Spite rose over Mount Wend, his temper stirred by the miasma above. With no apparent reasoning behind it, the Frost Spite called upon the snowcats that filled the mountain he resided on, sending them to seek blood wherever they may come across it. The gates north of the orphanage blasted open, and the snowcats stampeded down the mountain and out into the highways, seeking out their prey. While the herd was enormous, their distance from Mount Wend did not afford them the protection offered by their usual guardian Semau, and many took to slaying them. While Xenthos of the Glomdoring, Tremula of Magnagora, and Viynain of Gaudiguch took to the streets, others quickly took to the mountainside. Mayhem would continue to rain down upon the Basin as the Frost Spite continued his volley of attacks, sending more and more of the beasts upon those who would seek to defy him. Upon Mount Wend, many gathered, yet it wasn’t until Seniki Brokenhorn cried out for help that any had a hint at stopping the Frost Spite’s mayhem. Seniki was Semau’s now dead wife, and she had a plan for stopping the Frost Spite’s attack. Shedrin was the first to seek out Seniki, yet many would soon follow, and she pleaded with those gathered for assistance. Seniki urged everyone to seek out her husband’s cloak in hopes that he would remember his former life, and in time, the key to its hiding place would come to be found. Maligorn, of Hallifax, opened the chest containing the lost cloak, but Seniki did not feel that would be enough. She then urged Maligorn to help the spirits of the mountainside rest so that they too could help her husband remember what once was. Maligorn would stumble across few spirits upon the mountain, and the Frost Spite rang out joyously. The spirit of the mountain soon gave thanks to his unlikely ally, Xenthos, who killed off the spirits before Maligorn was able to reach them. Unwilling to accept this fate, Seniki turned to the Orphanage and its priest Denthon to recover the spirits from their eternal torment. Denthon, with the assistance of a pair of the Celestians gathered, called to Saint Gathlyn and the Supernals, calling upon the power of the Light to help put these souls to rest. A beam of light shot to the sky as they trio bowed their heads, and the Frost Spite screamed out in agony as the spirits began to appear upon Mount Wend once more. Maligorn quickly assisted the spirits with departing to the afterlife, and the cloak upon his back began to grow. Returning this to Seniki, she was finally able to move on herself, and bid that Maligorn help her husband do so as well. Returning the cloak to Semau, the taurian regained his memory once more, but it was for naught. The Frost Spite, who taunted all from above, was soon trapped within the very tool he once used, and the storm above the mountain began to fade. Semau, a loyal tool, bid those gathered to awaken his master once more, but none would assist. With one final desperate attempt, the mists attacked the mind of all within the Basin, and as they would come to regain their vision, the mists had departed once more. Silence would fill the Basin for a couple of months, yet the mists would not idle for long. **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Mists and Squonks](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/24/of-mists-and-squonks/) **Published:** April 24, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Joy filled the skies upon Maylea, the Bloom of Serenity’s return to the Basin, yet happiness is not all that was revealed upon Her return. Trailing Maylea on Her journey through the Void was an odd mist that lurked just outside of Her perception, waiting. As the sky was torn open by the combined efforts of the Darvellan, the Navigator, and Isune, the Aesthete, more than just Maylea and the half-formed She battled was released. Seeping out from within the rift opened by the two Elders was a strange haze that silently settled upon the Basin. Swept away on a cool breeze, the fog quickly faded, and the Elders returned to Their battle. Following Their victory, and Maylea’s safe return to the Serenwilde, Darvellan took to the north, trailing the mists, and would not come to be seen for some days. Before the Navigator would return to the Basin of Life, the mists had their own plan. Less than a month since they were first seen, the mists filled the sky, reaching to all corners of the Basin as tendrils of the haze spread through the air, though nothing appeared to have come from this strange occurence. Days later, a dark cloud would come to rise over the Caoimhe Dell, drawing many to the elfen who inhabited it. Fog gathered and churned over the Dell as a putrid stench filled the air, quickly followed by the desparate cries of the elfen who call it home. Many quickly gathered as Radella called to them for help. Radella notified those gathered that the squonks had mysteriously awoken from their slumber and had taken to attacking the residents of the Caoimhe. With no other idea of where to turn, Radella sent those gathered to the Wydyr for help. Gathering in the Wydyr, Xenthos, Celina, Eliron, Maligorn, Tremula, Viynain and Lerad were quick to interrogate, taking to the various residents of the Glade. Speaking with the Dowager, Rhianna, and even Cythrawl produced no information about the strange happenings, yet Cythrawl sent these adventurers to seek the problem itself: the squonks. Throwing back a few stout drinks, many went searching for the squonks, yet it was Xenthos who would stumble across one first. The squonk went into a rampage, and Xenthos was able to scoop it up and take it back to Cythrawl. Returning the fae to the redcap still provided no clue as to why it was acting so strangely, until the mists began to thicken. Suddenly, the fae of the Wydyr cried out, and Cythrawl himself became violent, attacking the adventurers as they made futile attempts at questioning him. As his fit faded, Cythrawl did not recall any of what had occurred, and the adventurers sought out Rhianna for answers. Rhianna knew even less about the squonks, only that they needed to be removed. Rhianna wishes a peaceful attempt at sealing the fae away, but the nightshade berry bush would not produce fruit for the Dowagers draught. In desperation, as frost grew over her skin, Rhianna bid the adventurers to slay the squonks to end the frenzy they had been stirred into. Hesitantly, the squonks were slain, and the mists began to retract from the Glade, leaving Rhianna with no memory of what had happened. The mists were then sucked back through the spring, into the Dell, where Jadyn Treeheart would assist those gathered in finding the last of the squonks and ridding the Basin of their foul stench. With the squonks subdued, and the fae of the Wydyr regaining control of themselves, the mists recoiled, but not without lashing out with one final strike. As the Basin recovered from the attack, the mists were gone, and silence returned to the air once more. Viynain, curious of where the mists returned to, headed north to the Icewynd, and the mists began to settle about him once more. Curious, Viynain began to question the residents of the Icewynd, who mentioned strange occurrences that had been unfolding. Oddly, the trill tribes seemed to be protected by the Ice Angels they followed, yet the Forsaken had been subjected to the power of the haze that filled the air. Struggling with what all of this could mean, Viynain shouted at the odd presence that lingered just at the edge of vision. Not pleased with this act of defiance, the mists claimed Viynain’s form, taunting him with his very own words before letting him go once more to return to his home with word of what had occurred. This was the last that was heard of the mists for some days. Had they finally settled within the Icewynd? Would they return? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Shadow of Wisdom, the Seeker of Tales and the Bloom of Serenity](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/20/the-shadow-of-wisdom-the-seeker-of-tales-and-the-bloom-of-serenity/) **Published:** April 20, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** When the Elder Gods left for the Void, the creches that housed the half-formed were sealed away, a last attempt to keep them safe from the hunger of the Soulless Gods. Many were simply forgotten in the ensuing aeons; their Divine guardians consumed by the Soulless, or Their minds turned to more pressing matters. For some of Them, however, the creches remained of great importance – though foremost to the hamadhi, there were yet many of the Elder Gods for whom certain creches held not inconsiderable significance. One of these was Maylea, Bloom of Serenity, who had been present in one such creche at the time that Dynara left the First World. The creche became for Her as fixed in Her heart as Those that She lost in the wake of Dynara’s departure. Until She was forced to leave, and as soon as She returned to the Basin, Maylea visited the creche at every opportunity – though She spoke little of it, for it nonetheless bought Her great pain to do so. Chief amongst the half-formed who resided within that creche were Joasia, the Insight of Spring, and Hiureth, Seeker of Tales. Joasia had been a favourite of Kaenalye, Maylea’s lost sister-mate, and thus shared a deep bond with the Elder Goddess. When She visited, Maylea would tell Hiureth of the Basin of Life and all who resided there, and Hiureth would retell the tales to his siblings. But there came a time when Maylea could not visit; wounded in combat against the Dreadform as She defended Zvoltz, the Architect, the Bloom of Serenity spent many years recovering from the fight and what came thereafter. In all this time, She did not visit the creche even once, too weakened to make the trip across the planes. The half-formed are named so for a reason, and Joasia and Hiureth were especially young. So incomplete were they that sometimes they seemed to be naught but the very core of themselves. For Joasia this took the form of insight and wisdom, but for Hiureth the consequences were far worse. He was a teller of tales, but he could never tell a tale more than once; and eventually, in Maylea’s absence, he ran out of stories. Madness took him even before he left the creche. It drove him single-mindedly to break free in a desperate attempt to find more stories – to the extreme distress of Joasia and their siblings. Fearing for her brother, the half-formed reached out with all her might to the Serene Goddess, begging for Her aid. At once Maylea came, to find Joasia deeply distressed. Suspecting the worst, for much time had passed, She left at once to track down Hiureth, beseeching Joasia to promise that she would stay in the creche. It was a promise immediately broken. The Bloom of Serenity had placed all of Her focus on tracking Hiureth, and did not notice as Joasia slipped out of the creche behind Her. Unknowingly, She led Joasia right to her brother, whose mind had been warped beyond recognition through the damning combination of time in the Void and distance from his creche. What Hiureth remained was a teller of tales – and so when he attacked the pair, it was not with claw or slash but with a prison of their own memories. He latched especially onto Joasia, who had never truly recovered from the abandonment of the Elder Gods, revealing in the process that Maylea had been followed. Feeling Joasia’s distress over the bond between them, Maylea looked desperately for a way to save her. With relief, She realised that they had strayed close enough to the First World to open a rift, and expended much of Her power to do so. But Joasia had lost much of her mind, and was too afraid to make her escape. Seeing no other option, the Bloom of Serenity cast Joasia through the rift and took her place in Hiureth’s clutches, feeling the weight of Her most painful memories pull her under as She managed to seal the rift. Disoriented, Joasia fell to the ground in a flurry of limbs, landing within the Toronada Tidal Flats. The extremely distraught half-formed was immediately set upon by a large crowd of adventurers, who jostled Joasia for information. A few more compassionate voices called for her to be given space, but several did not listen, instead testing the half-formed’s reactions to various stimuli. She proved especially upset by roses and being touched, flinching and hissing from those who bought them near her. Eventually, the crowd proved too much for Joasia; and feeling the spark of recognition for one group in the crowd, she huddled closer to them for sanctuary. Quickly realising her distress, Barrin led the half-formed to somewhere he thought she would be safe and calm – the Realm of his patron, Maylea. Little did he know that this would only serve to distress her further, for it reminded her too keenly of what lay within the Void. Soon Kavindra, the Serene Goddess’s long serving priestess, came to see what the commotion was about – and felt the same tug of recognition that Barrin had upon meeting Joasia. Though she knew little of the half-formed, what she did know was that they should never be out of their creches for too long. Becoming immediately concerned, she asked Barrin whether he could take Joasia to one of the healing mounds on the ethereal plane. With the help of Maligorn Shevat, who knew the way to one such mound, Joasia was commended to Daeiv Ma’Mornhai, to the purest of the two healing mounds there. The group sought the help of Paeridimon Willowshimmer, who managed to stabilise Joasia from her distraught condition, but warned that he could not keep her safe forever. The mounds had been made by the hamadhi, and only the hamadhi truly knew how to operate them. Though he remembered a long time past when Lady Lantra had used the mounds to stabilise one of the half-formed who had been from their creche for a short while, he was but a fae. And so the group slowly grew in number, with people from every organisation of the basin joining as they endeavoured to get information from the calmer half-formed. But Joasia was still too ashamed of the promises she had broken, and it took some time for them to get any information from her. Things began to progress when Viynain Erid’in of the Lord-and-Lady Mysrai revealed himself, having been observing the proceedings in his dreamform. He explained that They had recognised something in Joasia – her bond to Maylea – which led Marcella n’Lochli of Magnagora to suggest they seek out other divine to see if They had any knowledge. This led Ryboi D’Varden, High Priest of the Moon, to turn to the Silver Goddess for assistance. He sought the help of Elthadean Lunseer, who travelled to the healing mound to meet Joasia – and landed upon the clue they finally needed. Though Lisaera herself had not visited Joasia, Her sister Elfenehoala had – for She had been a dearly close friend of Maylea, and knew of the importance of Joasia’s creche to Her. Through his link to Lisaera and Her link to Elfenehoala, Elthadean recognised Joasia at once. As soon as he had explained the link, Joasia crumpled with shame – and though she could not tell what had happened to her in words, she shared with them a vision of her final moments in the Void: as Maylea had thrown her through the rift, taking her place in Hiureth’s clutches. Alarmed, Elthadean and the gathered adventurers immediately turned to any divine they could find. Several followers of the Aesthete immediately alerted Her to the plight, and She came accompanied by Darvellan, the Navigator to assist. Though many feared what would happen without one of the Second Circle to take on the half-formed, the God and Goddess bravely took to the skies to open the way to the Void. With Isune’s strength lending Him aid, Darvellan skilfully opened the rift, revealing the battle between Hiureth and Maylea still in progress. Spotting new prey, the half-formed dragged Maylea through to the First World, speaking in stolen words from Her own memories. Immediately, Darvellan and Isune launched their assault, becoming caught in Their own painful pasts as Maylea managed to break free. As Her children in the Serenwilde began to cheer their relief at their Goddess returning, Isune and Maylea fell into formation behind Darvellan, bolstering his strength and throwing off yet more of Hiureth’s painful assaults. In the end, it was the Serene Goddess Herself who dealt the final strike, as Hiureth reached out to the world around him to steal the last story he would ever tell. Conjuring Her bow, Pathfinder, Maylea delivered a fatal arrow made of prismatic light. And though Hiureth had been lost to the madness of the Void and of his distance from the creche far before Maylea had even reached him, She collapsed in fatigue and sadness. Commended to the Serenwilde Forest by the Aesthete, She was finally reunited with Her beloved commune to rest and recover. Joasia was returned to her creche, though it was unclear if she would ever recover from the ordeal, and the Navigator left to investigate the strange mist that had drifted to the north in the wake of the battle. Meanwhile, the Bloom of Serenity honoured her lost friend in the best way She knew; by telling Her precious forest the story of Joasia and Hiureth. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Emerald Enclave](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/17/the-emerald-enclave/) **Published:** April 17, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In search of answers to their many questions, the organisations of the world turned to their own people for assistance. In the city of Hallifax, Researcher Inix Aalin conducted a series of experiements, assisted by Chairman Zitto Shevat, Force Commander Elanorwen Pavok, Shedrin Shevat, and several others. The city of Celest, meanwhile, attended a sermon in the Deep Blue Cathedral – where Squire Conleth, Ainsell and Chorist Laur listened to the priest speak of Raziela and the Cursed Child. In the commune of Serenwilde, the Hartstone tutor Dain led a trance in search of answers. Whether the hopeful group spoke to the Keepers of Dreams, or merely echoes of them, they were not certain – but it galvanised their desire to assist. Their counterparts in the southern forest of Glomdoring gathered to hear the words of Glumki, King of the Redcaps, as he instructed them on the ways of nightmares and the dangers inherent within. Yet the basin remained still quiet; unnervingly so. Almost a month later, the Engine of Transformation were called to a piercing scream from near the city’s stage. Rushing to aid, they found Jinlu Ilithyia, the Boneseer, in the throes of a vision. Rendal d’Murani and Ventidius De’Unnero led her to the inn to rest and recover from her vision, and sought out Mistress Jezebel of the Geomancers for insight into what Jinlu had seen. As the citizens of Magnagora gathered to seek the earth for guidance, the Contemplative Miseoki Tleeth stirred to speak to the slumbering city of Gaudiguch, pondering in what would later be known to be a prophetic manner on the way that dreams might become a real part of the world. Deep in the mud, Mistress Jezebel led her charges to look down through her power, down through the connection to the earth, down below the Balach Swamp, down below the nightmares and the ash and the destruction. Together they used their earth sight to look past a veil of power that made them for a moment think to turn away – but girding their loins, the Magnagorans pushed on until they found themselves in a marble series of corridors and rooms. Great murals swathed the walls in history, but there were no residents within the hidden Enclave to grant them further insight. Though they searched and searched, they found little but empty corridors, machinery without engineers, chairs without owners. Resigned, they began to return their thoughts to the world…but just as they did, something in the Enclave shifted. As Dreamweavers throughout the lands began to hear the rush of water in their ears, Magnagora watched as the marble walls of the Enclave seemed to turn to liquid that cascaded down to the ground. Iridescent motes began to wink into being in the night sky, and as the ritualists realised that it was not the walls of the Enclave melting but some magic upon the Enclave itself, a great rush of power surged up from the Inner Sea. Then a voice spoke through the aether, saying that it was time, time for the wardings to be lowered as they had not been since the time of Vestera, the Dreamer – and the adventurers of the world began their search. Many went to the Balach Swamp, the site of the vortex from months before, whilst others went deep inside Great Muud Himself. Some went to the depths of the Inner Sea, whilst others explored its surface. It was Xenthos An’Ryshe who found the manifest dream that promised to lead them to the Enclave, though it flitted through the water far too fast to be followed. Yet eventually it was found by Tau Llaewell, also of Glomdoring, who along with Xenthos was the first corporal body to set foot into the Emerald Encalve since the Vernal Wars. Joined by Rancoura So’hthae, they began to search. The Enclave appeared deserted, but they had a sense of being watched, as if someone was there that they could not see. Eventually, they placed their hands upon the staff planted into the marble floor at the entrance to the Enclave…and something jumped to attention. Communicating through the staff was difficult, but eventually they managed to glean that one of the Keepers of Dreams was speaking to them through it – that there were other Keepers within the Enclave, also able to speak through their own focal objects. The Keeper at the entrance begged them to assist, and so the Glomdoring made their way to the heart of the Enclave to battle the nightmares of Great Muud. Entering into the construct known as the Aegis of Vestera, to a land where the dreams of the Sleeping Child and the nightmares of Great Muud were eternally in conflict, they began to fight. As the Glomdoring assisted, others still tried to locate the Enclave, but it was some time before they made it through. When they did, the other organisations proved to be less secretive than the shadowed forest, and soon adventurers from around the world poured into the marble corridors. Soon a number of Dreamweavers arrived: Dinae De’Unnero of Magnagora, Adracunin of Hallifax, Viynain Erid’in of Gaudiguch and even Chairman Zitto Shevat himself separated from their corporeal bodies and began to search. In their dream forms, they saw that the Enclave was not empty at all; finally, the Keepers of Dreams saw them and looked upon the first new faces they had seen since the time of the Vernal Wars. Ecstatic, the Dreamweavers began to speak to the Keepers, to glean what information they could. They met Kilmea Vertare, a loboshigaru follower of Tosha who had been pledged by him to assist Vestera and defend the Enclave. Todbo Palipih, a warm-hearted tae’dae who served as counsellor to the Keepers. The stern faced elfen known as Caelain Arnoia was less helpful to them, but the lucidian engineer Xoik Aquik and the head of the Keepers herself, Ladae Mistskimmer, were more forthcoming. As the Keepers conversed with the mortal dreamweavers, Xenthos An’Ryshe pushed on, assisting each of them in turn. But as he moved from one Keeper to help another, Chairman Zitto Shevat, who in dreambody was able to communicate more smoothly with Keeper Caelain, usurped the ascendant’s control of proceedings. He promptly began to investigate the dreamcatcher he had been given, travelling within the Aegis to seek out the new dreams that had appeared there. Unfortunately for the Chairman, he met a swift end at the short temper of Celina of the Glomdoring, sparking a political debate that would cloud the rest of the proceedings. Eventually, Xenthos resumed control and began to continue to assist the Keepers, who were a mixture of perturbed and confused by the commotion. As Xenthos completed the last few tasks to re-empower the Aegis of Vestera, some travellers persevered in conversing with the Keepers through their focal objects. Tridemon Regalis of the city of New Celest engaged the attention of Keeper Caelain, whose rude manner and perplexed the polite demigod. Others still tried to assist the Keepers, but to no avail. Eventually, despite an uphill battle against spinning wise words and a skill for puzzles that had onlookers worrying that they would be for all eternity, Xenthos An’Ryshe succeeded in re-empowering the Aegis of Vestera. Praising his name, Ladae Mistskimmer conveyed upon him the title of honourary Keeper of Dreams, and blessed him for his assistance. Before they departed, King Siam Star-eyes of the Shadowdancers shed his corporeal form to speak to Keeper Ladae personally. After conveying her thanks, she asked the King if she might pose a question – to ask what had become of Vestera, the Dreamer. For though they had felt Him fade, they still felt His presence even still. So it was that the King delivered to Ladae the sad but triumphant news of the fate of the Last Nine. As she turned to pass this news onto her fellow Keepers, the King returned to his waking body, a comment of the trill’s still lingering in his mind. What had caused the Aegis to weaken in the first place, after so many centuries of strength? Something was out there, in the Dreaming. Something far more insidious than the nightmares of Great Muud. Something that was watching the First World. It was not a comforting thought. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Aegis of Vestera](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/15/the-aegis-of-vestera/) **Published:** April 15, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Thunder split the sky above the Balach Swamp, and reality was torn asunder as a rift opened at its centre, spilling the nightmares of Great Muud on an unsuspecting world. Those first few unfortunate enough to scout out the vortex perished to the beasts, which were tough enough to fell even the hardiest of demigods. Eventually, it was the cunning hunters of the Serenwilde Commune who managed to clear the swamp, led by Lleuke Zayah, the Silver Oracle. Though small, his band felled the creatures through skirmish tactics, finally reclaiming the land that had been lost to the nightmares. With a moment to breathe, others turned their minds to hunting the source of the problem. Shedrin Shevat and Davos of the Beacon of Harmony joined forces with Arcanis De’Unnero of the Engine, and carved their way through Great Muud Himself to seek out the Sleeping Child. Though their battle was long and hard, they eventually reached the Child. She seemed unharmed, but stirred in her slumber enough to make a plaintive plea: that they find her friends, the Keepers, and help them. Meanwhile, Dain of the Hartstone and the Voice of Trialante, as well as the resident priest in Celest’s Cathedral, spoke of the coming of a force of light that would stand against the darkness. They cautioned their supplicants to keep a keen eye out for whoever or whatever this force was. Even Brennan Stormcrow stirred for long enough to encourage the Glomdoring Commune towards the arts of Dreamweaving, since surely there was more to be seen there. For the few Dreamweavers who had stepped through the Portal of Fate, it had been a frustrating time. Dinae De’Unnero of the Geomancers and Yvonari Delauney of the Hartstone had spent days searching for clues in their dreambody forms, yet to no avail. Though they had at points felt the tremors through the Dreaming before they had reached the First World, there seemed to be little more they could do…until the prophetic words of Dain, Trialante, Brennan and the priest came to pass. As the vigilant guardians in the Balach Swamp felt a presence in their vicinity, Ixchilgal Mes’ard of Gaudiguch and Calesta Ysav’rai of Glomdoring, shed their corporeal forms and began to search. It was Ixchilgal who found the prophesied visitor first, and began to communicate with her. A trill with snowy-white feathers, the dreambody introduced herself as Ladae Mistskimmer, one of the Keepers of Dreams. Ixchilgal quickly found the difficulty of conversing with Keeper Ladae, however; for whatever magic had animated this form of hers was weak, and flickered in and out of being from word to word. Together, Ixchilgal and Ladae went to the vortex, and Calesta joined them to assist in the translation. With their help, Ladae explained that the first and most important task was to seal the vortex. She beseeched them to bring her several ingredients – dream leeches, corpses of Manifestations of the Dreaming, and silk spinnerets – with which she would construct a net that would seal it, and the Dreamweavers skilfully communicated this to their waking brethren. The True Ascendant Kaimanahi McCloud, Princess of New Celest, personally went and collected a number of the corpses, whilst Tremula and Arcanis of Magnagora assisted and Calesta collected the spinnerets from the widows of the Glomdoring Commune. Once the items were gathered, Ixchilgal enveloped them into their dream form and delivered them to Ladae, who created the net for Ixchilgal to place into the vortex. Glowing vibrantly, the dream net enveloped the vortex, which imploded in a shower of ash. Soon all that remained of it was the weight of a nightmare that lingers upon waking, and the grateful form of Ladae Mistskimmer. She managed to manifest fully then, her power waxing in the wake of Great Muud’s nightmares, and began to explain the plight of the Keepers of Dreams and the Sleeping Child. The Aegis of Vestera, she said to the rapturous crowd, was weakening – and the Keepers needed help to restore it so that the Sleeping Child could remain protected. But just as Keeper Ladae began to tell them of the Enclave, her form flickered and faded. Though she fought to maintain her grip on her form, the trill’s image soon dissipated into iridescent dream motes, nothing lingering but the few words she had managed to impart. And though the gathered adventurers did their best to search, and to pursue every lead they had, they were left only with questions. What was the Aegis of Vestera? Where was the Enclave of which the Keepers of Dreams spoke? And what fate would befall the Sleeping Child, already cursed to hold Great Muud’s attention for all eternity, if they failed? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Keepers of Dreams](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/04/15/the-keepers-of-dreams/) **Published:** April 15, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Power stirred within the First World, and Dreamweavers throughout the land – though few in number – were the first to feel the touch of the Dreaming upon the Basin of Life. It was not long before the less sensitive masses felt this surge of power too, and speculation began to ripple through the cities and communes as they pondered what such a stirring could be. Was it perhaps connected to the strange dreams that people had begun to experience? Then, just as adventurers began to seek out answers, flickering images began to appear at the nexii of commune and city alike. Seemingly made of dream motes, these apparitions – which were of several different beings, from trill to tae’dae – appeared long enough to get out a few garbled messages before disappearing. At once people began to speculate as to what the message was, and political minds began to trade their scraps of the message to see if it could be completed. “People of the First World. We are the Keepers of Dreams. We guard She who stands alone against Destruction. We cannot do so for much longer. We beg you to help us – please. You are our only hope.” But when they pieced it together, the erstwhile scholars were left with as many questions as they had answers. They began to turn to denizens far and wide for assistance – the Serenwilde Commune spoke with Dain, tutor of the Hartstone, and Miakoda of the Moonhart, whilst Magnagora’s representatives were canny and thoughtful, seeking out Master Quettle of the Tosha Monastery to quiz him regarding one of the dreams they had experienced. They even spoke to the Emperor Ladantine VII himself, renowned to have been one of the greatest Dreamweavers of all time. From these skilled Dreamweavers the adventurers learned that though the dreaming power was flaring at the nexii when the apparitions appeared, it was originating from somewhere else, deep within the centre of the Basin. As the Serenwilde continued to investigate, the Silver Goddess Herself performed a ritual with Her commune to investigate further. This ritual was the first to sense the two forces at play: a hideous creature of corruption and destruction, and an innocent being struggling to hold it at bay. As their ritual finished, a monstrous yawn resounded through the Basin, as if something deep below the earth were stirring to wake – but it was pierced by the laughter of a child, bell-like and nervous, which quietened things once again. To scholars throughout the lands, this was instantly recognisable: they recalled all too well the story of a Child so powerful that she could put one of the most feared Soulless Gods into an eternal sleep – and if Great Muud was indeed stirring in His slumber, then the future did not look bright. Could it be possible that the Cursed Child would falter, and He would wake? But the power of the Sleeping Child held, and there was calm throughout the Basin of Life…for a time. **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/03/31/february-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** March 31, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Tremula won the bardic contest with the manuscript titled, “A Treatise on the Ancient Path to Celestian Sainthood”. In the artisanal category, Azula won with the portrait titled “Etaso, the Waxing Gibbous”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/02/25/january-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** February 25, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the January Vesteran Honours, Alaksanteri won the bardic contest with the treatise titled, “Trinities and Endless Cycles”. In the artisanal category, Yarith won with the painting titled “Pentagram”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Trial of Ascension: Rise of Lady Kaimanahi](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/02/21/trial-of-ascension-rise-of-lady-kaimanahi/) **Published:** February 21, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During the Trial of Ascension, three Sealbearers stepped forward to face off for the final event: Princess Kelly McCloud of New Celest, Kalas Ixion of Magnagora and Kalas Malarious of Gaudiguch. Princess Kelly took possession of the Staff of Ascension early and dominated throughout the event, surrounded by her subjects of New Celest as well as the alliances she forged with Serenwilde and Hallifax (though they were somewhat reluctant). Gaudiguch threw their support behind Kalas Malarious, and Magnagora stood behind Kalas Ixion. Glomdoring took no official stance on whom to support, though several individuals of the commune offered assistance to different contenders. Each of those Sealbearers held the Staff of Ascension for a brief period, but could not wrest it long enough from Princess Kelly to make a difference in the end. Thus, Princess Kelly rose and was able to recharge the Nine Seals and thereby seal the Soulless Gods in their prison once again. As Kelly ascended, she let go of her mortal bonds and rose as the True Ascendant Kaimanahi from the Realm of Life. Congratulations, Lady Kaimanahi! **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Event 2015](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/02/16/ascension-event-2015/) **Published:** February 16, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As events culminated in the Saga of the Scourge of Nature, the small, hidden Soulless God known as Nemach merged his essence with nature through the healing mound of Mornhai, an ancient artifact of the Elder Gods. By siphoning power through the Seal of Nature, all Nine Seals that hold the Soulless Gods captive were weakened. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in January, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Seal of Chaos **Winner**: Malarious **Event**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Seal of Nature **Winner**: Ushaara **Event**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Seal of Knowledge **Winner**: Kiradawea **Event**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Seal of Harmony **Winner**: Ixion **Event**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Seal of War **Winner:** Vadi **Event**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Seal of Life **Winner:** Kelly **Event**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Seal of Death **Winner:** Xena **Event**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Seal of Justice **Winner:** Elanorwen **Event**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Seal of Beauty **Winner**: Thayan **Event**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Date**: February 21, 2015 **Time**: 11:00 a.m. PST **Event**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [Spinning Fire](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/02/14/spinning-fire/) **Published:** February 14, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During early Avechary, 405 years after the Coming of Estarra, a young dracnari maiden named Asaami stumbled into the City of Gaudiguch, seeking the assistance of the Pyromancers’s guild. Ashed Shahrizai, a member of the Circle of the Five Sacred Fires in the Pyromancers, was the first to come to her aid. She spoke of the Fire Spinners, an ancient sect of Pyromancers who performed in the Palace of Pleasure in the years before Gaudiguch was lost to time. Startled to hear from Seraku that none were left in the city, she realised that she and her Master were the last who kept this sacred act alive. As every Master takes on only a single apprentice, it was imperative that Asaami prove herself by performing the ceremonial Fire Spinner dance at sunset – but alas, Asaami had been blind from birth, and could not complete the ritual tasks required. Ashed, touched by her plight, offered to assist, and led her back to Master Zuzume, the dracnari who’d taught her, in Zoaka. There, Zuzume told Ashed what must be done. Ashed was tasked in trials of cunning and wit, proving himself through riddles that led him to several sacred items required for Asaami’s ceremony. So too did Ashed face trials of bravery and strength, as well as those of subtle persuasion: each task bringing Asaami closer to her performance. Never once did he deter, even as the daylight waned and sunset drew near. Soon, he presented each of the seven sacred items to Master Zuzume on behalf of the young dracnari girl. Each item represented the skills of a true Fire Spinner, proving Ashed was truly worthy of fulfilling the ritual’s tasks in Asaami’s stead. Ashed watched on as the young Apprentice Asaami was transformed by her master into a true Fire Spinner, prepared to dance upon the first setting of the sun. Together they offered Ashed the honour of lighting the ceremonial staff with the firegem shard, thanking him for his efforts and encouraging him to invite any who wished to attend. Bandeon of New Celest, Marcella and Arcanis of Magnagora, Athree of Glomdoring, and a tardy Xaldrin Somnius of Gaudiguch each attended Asaami’s first dance as a fully realized Fire Spinner, announced by Ashed’s sacred lighting of the ceremonial staff. There they beheld the wonder that is a Fire Spinner’s dance. To the surprise of all present, the ancient art drew the attentions of the mythic fire wyverns, who were so enraptured by the performance that they too engaged in dance, mating to bring about new hatchlings of sunset-coloured eggs. Delighted, Asaami offered to sell these beautiful eggs to those present. Legend has it that a fire wyvern’s eggs are so fragile that they can only last until the next sunset, but that a Fire Spinner’s dance can bring these beautiful creatures out of hiding once more. **Categories:** News --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/01/29/december-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** January 29, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the December Vesteran Honours, Ventidius won the bardic contest with the short story titled, “Ezekiel’s Sorrow”. In the artisanal category, Niun won with the portrait of “Brother Crow”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Geomancer's Dream](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/01/11/a-geomancers-dream/) **Published:** January 11, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As adventurers far and wide prepared themselves for the coming Ascension Trials, the rest of the Basin continued in motion, the Soulless threat looming over them like a dark shadow. In Magnagora, a geomancer researcher named Rasebal i’Xiia, long wrapped up in his research on the Taint and its effect on the earth, stumbled out into the city, ranting about dreams as he made his way through the city streets. Arcanis rushed to Rasebal, curious about his cries, and learned of the nightmares that haunted Rasebal. Rasebal told the geomancer of the figures that came to him in his sleep, pushing him towards the mountains not far from the city. He asked to be brought to Snaikka, a fellow i’Xiia, where he told her of his dreams, and his desire to take his research to the mountains. Snaikka quickly tired of his ramblings, taunting the young i’Xiia for his failures to the family, but with the help of Arcanis, was convinced to give in to the crazed researcher. Snaikka summoned Jezebel, tutor to the Geomancers, in hopes that she would be able to understand the cryptic message hidden within Rasebal’s dreams. Jezebel and Rasebal talked through the confusing images that haunted him, but Jezebel was of little help. Snaikka, tired of dealing with the situation and busy with her own work, granted Rasebal permission to take his research to the mountains. He and Jezebel returned to the guild halls of the Geomancers with Arcanis, but was quickly chased off by the advances of the Mistress, disappearing from the city for a few days. Suddenly, an earthquake shook the city of Magnagora. The tremors continued, stretching out into the Blasted Lands, and then reaching into the mountains that surrounded the city. Shaken loose by the moving earth, a rockslide fell down the slopes of the Southern Mountains, and soon, the adventurers saw why. Rasebal had cleared out a laboratory from the side of the mountains, and Arcanis quickly greeted him in his new study. He was the first to be asked for help by the researcher, tasked with scouring the mountainsides nearby for a strange creature which he called a gulagoyle. Arcanis quickly set off, seeing out and slaying the creatures, retrieving the samples needed for the scientist. Kregarn and Selenity, of the Serenwilde, stumbled into the laboratory, curious of the geomancer and his research, but ultimately decided not to assist. Tridemon, curious of the rumblings in the mountains, would come to possess one of the samples, holding onto it while he questioned the researcher. Assuming his research would eventually come to fruition whether he helped or not, Tridemon handed over the ingredient to Rasebal and waited. Rasebal was quickly flooded with his requested samples, but the gulagoyles provided just more mystery. Rasebal tasked the adventurers with retrieving other tainted beings from the Blasted Lands to which he could compare them to. His request granted, Arcanis returned the last of these samples, unlocking the secrets of the gulagoyles for the researcher, rewarding Arcana for his assistance. Rasebal, intrigued by his findings, quickly returned to his research in hopes of mass producing this gift for the city of Magnagora, always in need of assistance from any who proved themselves a willing test subject. Rasebal quickly called upon Arcanis once more, still haunted by the dreams, and sent him out to investigate. Pushing more boulders loose from the mountainside, Arcanis uncovered a glimmering jewel. HIs treasure was quickly lost as incorporeal figures descended upon the gem, manifesting a presence just long enough to retrieve it. As they laid their hands upon the jewel, their forms solidified, but the presence did not last. A look of disappointment upon their faces, they took to the skies once more, leaving Arcanis to return to Rasebal once more. Rasebal was no long plagued by the dreams, and decided that to bring honour to his family, he would continue his research into the gulagoyles, in hopes of bringing their gifts to the city of Magnagora. What had happened to the researcher’s crazed dreams, which seemed to have suddenly faded? And who were these figures that descended so quickly upon the mountainside to steal this mysterious jewel? Answers would surely come in time, but for now, the adventurers returned to their preparations, readying themselves for the upcoming trials to repair the damaged Seal. **Categories:** News --- ### [Trapping the Soulless](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/01/03/trapping-the-soulless/) **Published:** January 3, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lanterns trailed through the sky, vessels of prayer set aloft as mortals gathered to see the ritual completed. It was not long, however, before the memories of the aslaran turned from hope to fear, as a deep, dark presence began to make itself known once more. The flames of the lanterns quickly died, replaced by a sickly odour that creeped through the sky above the Razines, leaving no time for celebration. A dark, permeating voice broke the silence that befell the Basin as mortals turned their attention to the heavens above, “Victory is mine, food,” the presence spoke. Stirred by this mysterious being, the Elders began to appear from the Havens, Mysrai being the first to make Their presence known. Numerous Elders followed suit, but it was Drocilla who first showed Herself to the creature that lurked. As more Elders appeared, the beast began to shrink back, shrinking away from Their presence, but its identity would not remain secret for long, for Estarra called upon the Elders to name the creature that crawled through the sky. Mysrai, gazing through the many paradigms that were, are, and could be, was the first to sense what this thing really was, and They called upon Drocilla to name the foul creature. Sharing a bond from long ago, Drocilla stepped forward and named the Soulless abomination to be Nemach, the lesser Soulless that the Traitors had once used to create the very elixir from which She drank. Nemach quickly sought an ally in Drocilla, but She repelled His unwanted advances, and it wasn’t long before Yomoigu interrupted the affair, alerting Estarra and all present to a prison inside of which the lesser Soulless could be held. Estarra came forth from within the Havens and ripped the beast apart, but Nemach was too strong, forming instead a mass of writhing tendrils that quickly launched towards Drocilla. As a surprise to all, the tendrils began to split off, making their ways towards the cities and forests as mortals prepared to fight off the Soulless creatures. It wasn’t long before a mass of tendrils reached Celest, the City of Light, where Darvellan sprung to their defence. The Navigator plucked the stars from the mist surrounding Him and launched them at the creature, sending Him flailing away as they burned into His flesh. Glomdoring was the next target for the Soulless beast, who thrashed through the forest with ease. As He approached the Master Ravenwood, the forest responded with an attack, and Viravain appeared from within the very soil that lie beneath it, the Wyrd stirred to life by Her presence. The Goddess and the Glomdoring fought together and the abomination was quickly destroyed, His very essence raining down upon the forest, feeding it as the Wyrd began to repair. Suddenly, a hypnotic song rang through the sky, echoing away from the city Magnagora as Drocilla appeared within the sky once more. Reminded of His initial purpose, Nemach turned course once more, lashing out at the Tainted city as Drocilla continued to sing. Soothing notes turned to shrieks as the Songstress lashed out at the tendrils, sending a wave of dissonant melodies towards the creature. Magnagora shook as the Enchantress made one final strike at the beast, sending it flying towards the east, the Goddess trailing behind it before disappearing from mortal perception. Lacking a target, one of the tendrils turned away from the battle and writhed its way towards Gaudiguch, where it was met by both Crumkane and Mysrai. The two Elders worked hand in hand, launching projectiles at the beast. The tendril returned with a surge of energy, lashing out at the Divine, sending Crumkane flying and Mysrai without Their shield. The two Elders quickly recovered, returning with a barrage of attacks which sent the tendril crashing down into the mountains, defeated. Still sensing possible routes of victory, two more tendrils broke out, the first heading towards the city of Hallifax. Jadice rose to the city’s defence, repelling the beast with a barrage of ice and crystal which tore the creature apart, sending bits and pieces flying through the air. Recovered from the drain that protecting Nature inflicted Her with, Lisaera appeared to drive away the final tendril from the Serenwilde, calling upon the power of Mother Moon to aide Her. Silvery light formed a bow within the Goddess’s hands, and She launched a barrage of pure moonlight at the abomination, penetrating His flesh and sending His lifeless form to the ground below. Complications soon arose as Yomoigu returned with His prison, the creation meant to house the lesser Soulless in their whole form. Calling upon the mortals of the Basin, Yomoigu asked them to defeat the remaining pieces of the Soulless God Nemach and to return the corpses to Him atop Avechna’s Peak. Mortals took to the highways and mountains, hunting down the remains of Nemach that spread across the Basin much like the fungus that preceded Him. Blackcaps and rotmongers appeared in droves, yet the mortals quickly disposed of the rest of the Soulless abominations, returning them piece by piece to Yomoigu’s prison. Unbeknownst to both him and the Elders, Leolamins would be the one to place the final piece in the prison, which sealed itself around the Soulless presence. Yomoigu secreted away the Prison, charged with its protection so that its prisoner may never harm Creation once more. Alas, victory did not come with a price. Nemach was able to fuse Himself with Nature, and in the purging of His essence, the Seal of Nature was weakened. Sensing the presence of Kethuru seeping in through the cracks, Estarra the Eternal took to the skies, once more calling forth an Ascension to repair the Seals and return the Almighty Kethuru back to the Astral Plane. And thus, the Nine Challenges will once again be initiated to find which mortal will ascend and save creation from destruction for yet another generation. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Tale of Two Sanctuaries](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/01/03/the-tale-of-two-sanctuaries/) **Published:** January 3, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Between a roc and a hard place, Arien Siar’luin was the first to stumble upon a contingent of spriggans, fiercely defending the entrance into the area above. Fortunately, Serenwilden reinforcements were right behind her, and together, they forced their way into tunnels obscured by icy fog. Climbing upwards, they arrived at the entrance into a verdant hidden valley, scarcely showing any hallmarks of civilisation. Together, they travelled through a darkened forest, passing a cave with a cryptic abandoned hearthstone, until they sighted a small settlement nestled against the Estengere river upon stilted houses. Instead of joyful greetings and discoveries, emptiness and silence greeted them, swathing the settlement like a deathly pall. Cautiously, the Serenwilders, now joined by emissaries from Glomdoring, ventured further in. To their surprise, the beings they finally encountered were aslaran, lost, behaving in a feral manner, and far away from the open plains preferred by their kind. When approached, the aslaran were not hostile, but neither were they sane, behaving more like beasts reduced to their most basic instincts than sentient beings. Selenity and Arien, both of House Siar’luin, eventually came across a semblance of sanity in the form of a wizened aslaran proclaiming himself to be Maheil, the Ritualist. Though more coherent than the others, he fixated upon a keystone that had to be found and placed on the hearthstone right outside – the second one to be found in the valley. Unable to pry any further information, the members of the communes located the keystone. Selenity placed it into the hearthstone, thus opening a pathway into Daeiv ma’Mornhai. Joined by delegations from the cities, they arrived within a serene glade, a healing mound at its centre, pristine and gleaming with light. The air about it wavered and a peculiar scent clung to the glade, suggesting that all was not as it seemed, and soon, the adventurers’ investigation was cut short by cries of help. Rushing through a grove of fallen trees and passing another, albeit befouled, healing mound, the explorers discovered a hamlet of bizzare porcelain houses, full of scared and weakened brownies. In their midst, Paeridimon Willowshimmer stood, hands tucked in his pockets even as he hopped from foot to foot in impatience. Speaking in hushed tones about an “Oracle” who has enslaved them, Willowshimmer urged the visitors to assist them in restoring the wards protecting this part of the Ethereal Plane. While some rushed to banish the spriggans loitering outside the hamlet, others stayed with the brownie to query him about recent events and dangers they should prepare for. Still unwilling to speak the Oracle’s name aloud, Paeridimon revealed that she was once a good person, a fighter for freedom, but her sorrow twisted her and inevitably led to her doom. He explained that she returned a few months prior with a host of spriggans, somehow empowered and emboldened. The brownies fought agains the invasion, but little by little, the wards put in place by the Stalker of the Woods, the Vernal Il’garala, gave in to the Oracle’s power, and she enslaved them for her own purposes. Called upon to battle against the corruption of nature by the Goddess Lisaera, the sister of their Awakener Elfenhoala, they managed to break though and leave, but little came of it, for, in their weakened state, they could neither help, nor call for help. Here already, the adventurers listening to the tale could scarcely contain both their curiosity, awe, and horror for the history of this place was saturated with fabled Elder and Vernal names alike and artefacts of power found therein were thought to be lost or destroyed. Meanwhile, two of the three pylons surrounding the hamlet, and lending the plane its protection, had been restored, and with that, the hearthstone Paeridimon had been guarding could be activated, allowing for the leader of the brownies to be called to seal the corrupt healing mound through which spriggans had been coming to the grove. And so, the Milch Mother had arrived to cast her blessing but the reunion was short-lived – sensing the disturbance, the Oracle finally made an appearance. Wreathed in darkness, Cimtri, the Oracle of the Earthburner, descended upon the hill. A battle ensued immediately as she stormed the Milch Mother. Maladaari of Gaudiguch, Xanward and Tylwyth of Glomdoring, Taevyn McCloud , Marcella n’Lochli, Vhula of Serenwilde, and still many others, stood in her way but failed to protect the brownie’s leader. Her poise crumbling and vanishing, Cimtri thundered a warning and departed. What remained of the adventurers fell back to Paeridimon with more questions than answers. The Oracle spat in rage about wishing to destroy the aslaran, but what did they have to do with Il’garala, who turned out to be her mentor? And why did she turn on a place that Il’garala seemingly protected? Answers eluded the brave adventurers who remained, and so they called upon reinforcements and sought to summon the Milch Mother again. This time, they engaged Cimtri in numbers and refused to yield ’til she was defeated. When the battle for the hilltop was over, however, nobody was found. Turning to the task at hand, they returned to the grove to restore the fallen trees at Milch Mother’s behest. Willowisps living in the grove danced and twirled in the air as each tree was restored to a sapling full of vitality. When the last of them turned its branches to the sky, Milch Mother bade them to return to the aslaran sanctuary, for the wards of Il’garala would protect the powerful healing mounds now, and the witch, along with her spriggan cohorts, had been banished. Miraculously, now that Ethereal was safe and the trees restored, the aslaran in the sanctuary appeared more stable and in control. The Elder Maheil beseeched those who came to assist in restoring the aslaran memories in return for him revealing the fate that brought them here. One by one, the peace of mind of the other Elders was recovered and Maheil set about to preparing for a ritual. As he worked, he revealed that the aslaran in the sanctuary are a motley group of refugees from the Vernal Wars, driven from their homes and relentlessly pursued by the Soulless Crazen. Exhausted and wounded, they had happened upon this valley and its hearthstone crafted by the Vernal Hearth Sisters – Il’vania and Il’garala. Unaware of the consequences, they had used its power to heal themselves and only belatedly realised this meant they would never be able to leave the mountains lest risk madness that arose as they ventured away from the hearthstone. And even should they try or die, they were returned straight back to the valley. And so they had made it their home, their sanctuary, and developed a new culture and new traditions to replace those they lost. It was only when Cimtri had visited them not long after that darkness befell their new home, but that was a tale the Elder was hesitant in elaborating upon for their losses were steep. In the aftermath, one of the hearthstones and the healing mound it drew upon had been defiled, trapping the Oracle within itself. Finally, the aslaran gathered at the vantage point overlooking the Basin. Led by Maheil, Paramati, and Shanswati, they each cradled a consecrated sky lantern, etched with prayers for those fallen to the Soulless. But as tears were being shed and thanks uttered, the Oracle returned with a vengeance, refusing to be defeated by those beneath her. The battle was short, for Cimtri’s powers had all but been exhausted and the vantage point gathered delegations from each of the Basin’s notable organisations. Once the witch was defeated, the lanterns were cast into the sky to conclude the ritual and confine her back to the hearthstone. The glowing markers floated upwards on a draft of their own making, pulling upon Cimtri’s essence and funneling it into her prison where she will dream of vengeance and her beloved Earthburner forever more. And just like that, memories had been recovered by the gathered aslaran for the ritual to honour their fallen is a tradition they have followed for centuries. But who had awakened the Oracle? And was she the force befouling all nature? Those celebrating were about to find out. **Categories:** News --- ### [Return of Nature's Scourge](https://www.lusternia.com/2015/01/03/return-of-natures-scourge/) **Published:** January 3, 2015 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was a quiet month that followed as the Scourge of Nature held firmly, not a single sighting of mushrooms reported or rotten whiff caught. Still, tension and uncertainty hung in the air after Estarra the Eternal Herself had proclaimed the influence to be of Soulless origin. Without knowing the underlying cause, could the infestation truly be over? Sure enough, the foul presence returned with a vengeance, shrouding Avechna’s Peak in thick green clouds that polluted the heavens in their wake. The Seal of Nature struggled against the invader with a renewed power but yielded eventually, overtaken by necrotic mushrooms. The people of the Basin responded immediately, rushing to the Cave of Nature only to find the mushrooms had now evolved into trees, their entire lengths befouled with rot. No single worms sprouted from these but rather entire writhing masses of them that proved a challenge even for the hardiest of demigods. The trees spread along the length of Avechna’s Peak and crept into the communes, twisting the flora in their path. Slowly but surely, the spores also took root in the cities, bursting through flagstones and crystal. Axes were put to the trunks to little effect, except to entice a worm-ridden assault; fire, druidry, elemental rituals – all failed to elicit a response, let alone curb the spread. As the rotten infestation continued to sate itself on the purity of the lands, unchecked during the following month, a fight broke out in Faethorn. Preceded by Queen Maeve calling upon the Covens of Moon and Night to attend her as she sensed a disturbance within her kingdom, a host of maddened brownies stormed the Ethereal Plane. No longer simply struck ill, the brownies engaged both the knights of the Court and the residents of the Court alike in a scuffle, no amount of verbal pacification ceasing their onslaught as they muttered about doing their mistress’ bidding. Suprisingly enough, it was a Serenwilder who first struck at the attacking brownies, refusing to stand down in spite of the knight’s insistence. The Queen shared her worry over the brownie’s wellbeing with the gathered members of the communes, and together, they deliberated upon a suitable course of action. Meanwhile, the Illuminati had snuck in a ribbachi to spy on the proceedings whilst Magnagorans, at the Earth Lady Gravynia’s behest, sought to infiltrate Faethorn in their own manner. Hallifax’s Overmind uttered its own warnings whilst the Celestians heeded the words of the Water Lord of High Tide, Skerriagh, to follow in the communes’ footsteps in dealing with what had been occuring of late. Both the Earth and Water Lords warned against meddling with Ethereal using Elemental forces, especially not when a blight had been spreading throughout Nature. Eventually, the Queen beseeched the Tree of Trees to aid them for, indeed, Nature was threatened as had become all too obvious. And so it was that the maddened brownies were brought, and an acorn was awarded by the Tree to all those who brought them back into its cleansing embrace. No explanations were necessary; the communes seized upon the acorns and turned their power against the unyielding rotten trees that have been polluting the Prime Plane. Hesitantly, the cities followed suit, heeding the warnings that to use other resources might be folly. Some fought through the brownies’ haze with words of empowerment that earned their trust, others slew them and brought back to life through the Well of Souls, while yet others utilised their unique tools to entice the fae to follow them to the Tree – such as the Queen Nifilhema’s shackles or Lady Raziela’s sun-kissed locks of hair. Hope returned as a means of fighting the quiet, unnamed menace was finally discovered. It was no easy battle, for as many trees were being destroyed, equally many continued to sprout elsewhere in their stead, carrying masses of worms ready to spring on unwary passers-by. The struggle continued for a time until the host of trees was all but obliterated, prompting new visitors to appear in their protection. Unheard of for centuries, spriggans came to the defence of the trees, snarling and smashing at the ground at any bystander. The bloodthirsty fae also invaded Faethorn which prompted Queen Maeve to take action. Once she revealed that the spriggans had been banished and imprisoned for their cruelty, she imbued a clover with both shadow and silvery essence and used that to peer into where they were now. Her sight was blocked by something, that part of Ethereal unreachable, and so the communes set out to scout for the reflection of that place upon the Prime Plane – knowing that the two planes not only overlaid one another, but mirrored as well. A day’s worth of searching later, a blocked tunnel in the Razines revealed an entrance into a long-forgotten serene valley cradled between the upper peaks of the Razines – the place where, just beyond, the spriggans frolicked. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Rotting of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/12/27/the-rotting-of-nature/) **Published:** December 27, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Marked by celebrations in many an organisation, the festive and monumental year 400 CoE culminated in the arrival of the Solstice season, which was made even more joyous by the reappearance of the quite content Crumkane, Lord of Epicurean Delights. In the spirit of the holiday, Jolly Bundy and his entourage of red-clad gnomes brought joy, laughter, and presents for everyone – the perfect way to usher the Basin into a new century. As the festivities continued, the distinct smell of rot wafting upon the air went unnoticed at first. In fact, many dismissed it and connected it with the seasons, for it was late autumn that the stench began to befoul the air. When an infestation of worm-bearing mushrooms began to litter the highways, however, even the city-dwellers knew something was afoot with Nature. In the Wilde, Albion, the First of the Crones, was consulted, while the Wyrden Forest sought answers from Lhiannan Shee-Slaugh in a blood-soaked ritual. Both voiced warnings about the nature of this infestation, urging for the spread to be curbed before it got out of control. Even Queen Maeve, though dismissive and unconcerned at first, reluctantly surmised it a danger after Butter Sweetpease fell ill – proof that the effect had been rippling throughout creation. Indeed, Brennan Stormcrow and the Maiden Miakoda showed signs of weakness not too long after. The city-dwellers, though less concerned about the matters of Nature, proceeded to investigate as the mushrooms began spreading along their streets, sprouting worms that assaulted the unwary. News from the communes had been on everyone’s lips, their tongues spreading dire warnings about the foul nature of this fungal plague. Scientists were consulted, experiments were performed; the consensus everywhere was unilateral – the mushrooms are a threat, and luckily, the essence found upon the Ethereal and Elemental planes proved to be a way to remove them. Squabbles erupted everywhere at this discovery. What if the mushrooms are sentient? What if they appear to be crumbling beneath the power of the essence but in fact were gaining in strength? Who are they gathering this power for? Was it just a passing malady or was there a mastermind behind this plague of mushrooms? Each nation discussed the matter at length, and most did in fact proceed to destroy the mushrooms in this manner. Throughout that first month, when the danger has been finally recognised, each nation turned to prophecy to shed light upon the unfolding events. Unknowingly, Xaldrin Somnius and Kalliste McCloud were the first to hear the prophecies spoken, even before the necessity has been recognised. Then, as the dwellers of the Basin set about to work, it was Selenity Siar’luin who heard the first prophecy as spoken by Chuchip, the Great Spirit of the Seren. Then, Tremula n’Lochli witnessed the Necromentate’s words, Lleuke Zayah was wise to seek out the words of the Lake Spirit, young Aruin was privy to the warning from the Matrix Core, and Arcanis De’Unnero sought out the words of Grandmother Scorpion. The words of Mother Night were spoken to Ssaliss Shee-Slaugh when the phase of the Moon was favourable to such a summoning, and finally the Templar Azaghal heard the mighty Drachou’s words. Confusion reigned as the enigmatic pieces of prophecy were shared with the others, each word parsed for for its meaning, and yet the truth eluded them still. When the mushrooms turned into mounds of their kind, birthing hideous worms that put the lives of the peoples of the Basin in true danger, the Silver Goddess, fierce in Her protection of the Wilde, took to the heavens. Wrath in Her storm-coloured eyes, She combined Her strength with the purest energy of the natural world – the fae – and rained volleys of moonfire against the infestation that plagues the Seal of Nature even now. The battle was a powerful one, and although the the most fearsome manifestation of the Argent Lady’s strength, the Silver Trinity, appeared on the horizon to weave its terrible wrath, the forces at play were beyond only one Elder’s might. Exhausted, weakened, and stricken sick, as if She, too, were suffering from the same illnesses that had already gripped the natural world, the Silver Goddess returned to Serenwilde, where She was then taken into the guarded custody of Darvellan, the Navigator. Seemingly in connection with the battle, brownies started appearing throughout the land. Emaciated, their minds rattled, they sought help from the people they encountered in the cities and communes. Some gave into madness before they could convey their pleas and those toppled to the ground beneath eager swords as the nations, wary of all intruders, feared for their nexii of power. Others were empowered with words of encouragement and, murmuring of home and danger, returning from whence they came. The madness continued until the benevolent Estarra, the Eternal turned Her attention to the struggle and, perceiving Soulless energies woven into the make of this foul infestation, engaged the enemy Herself. Calling upon the Elders to assist Her in reinforcing the Seal of Nature, She channeled Her cosmic power into it, thus cleansing it of the rotten influence and destroying all the mushrooms plaguing the land in one fell swoop. Before She departed, She paused at the Seal as if concerned for its future, leaving the Basin to wonder whether the brief spell of peace will continue for long. It didn’t. **Categories:** News --- ### [November Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/12/11/november-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** December 11, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the November Vesteran Honours, Portius won the bardic contest with the poem titled, “Old Maka’s Embassy”. In the artisanal category, Niun won with the portrait of “Milo, the Blossoming Corpse”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Desperate Experiment](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/12/06/a-desperate-experiment/) **Published:** December 6, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Late in Juliary 399, a commotion was heard in the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets. A distraught harlequin trouper raised his voice to the heavens in horror and hope that some kind adventurer would hear of his plight. A sworn servant of Alodale, the Villainous Lord, the harlequin was affronted to have been violently accosted whilst vigilantly guarding his post. Though a handful of adventurers searched the Meliashmora for signs of trouble, it was Xenthos An’Ryshe who chanced upon the distressed trouper. Patiently questioning the flamboyant guard, he plied clues about the assailant from him, before escorting the trouper to the Villainous Lord to beg his intervention. Alodale was dismissive of the trouper’s plight, but Xenthos championed the cause, convincing him that it was worthy of concern. At Alodale’s suggestion, they headed to the local Mystic for guidance. Martine proved an invaluable source of help, guiding the hapless victim and his generous investigator to search the nearby mountains for the assailant. The Seer, however, spoke a word of caution before they departed: that the assailant was gravely ill, and surely not long for this world. With this in mind, Xenthos set out into the mountains to track down the attacker, and the harlequin trouper returned with some disgruntlement to his post. It did not take long for the skilled tracker to happen upon a small hut within the Razines, and its nervous occupant. Conversing with the young scientist, Xenthos found that the assault was indeed not so simple as it had once appeared. Desperate, she begged him for assistance; she had failed in her attempt to capture the harlequin, and her need was dire. The Chieftain was not fooled by her pleas, and questioned her relentlessly about the nature of her experiment. Unable to withstand such rigorous investigation, the young mugwump confessed the truth: without his assistance, and without completing her experiment, she would surely die…and she was willing to do anything to stop it. Anything. To her astonishment, this earned not disgust but agreement. At once Xenthos travelled the lands to fulfill her requests, ably assisting her with tasks both simple and complex. Together they completed her experiment successfully, and brilliant hope flashed over the scientist’s face. Surely, now, she would be free – free at last, from the shadow of her inevitable demise! Yet even the most carefully planned experiments can have unforeseen consequences – and a desperate cause can blind as badly as ignorance. Though she learned this lesson at a costly price, it is said that Slegi Vleemgol remains nonetheless convinced that the secret to her salvation lies in the heart of the harlequin…and that no matter how many times she fails, she is determined one day to succeed. **Categories:** News --- ### [October Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/11/21/october-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** November 21, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the October Vesteran Honours, Thayan won the bardic contest with the play titled, “The Disappearance of Sako Tleem”. In the artisanal category, Daganev won with his rendition of “The Treeripper Flag and Shield”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Navigator Cometh](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/11/02/the-navigator-cometh/) **Published:** November 2, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was 396 years after the Coming of Estarra when, shortly after the First World saw the end of another Great Hunt, that the Elder Darvellan, the Navigator, returned. Having found the beacon left in the Void, Darvellan appeared in His newly made fulcrux within Avechna’s Peak, announcing His happiness at being home once more. It was then He heard the voices of the shards of His Cousins explaining to Him that many of those He knew had departed, died, or splintered into the shards He heard shouting. Soon after this revelation, many of the mortals made their way to the Navigator’s fulcrux, arriving moments before Lisaera came to greet Darvellan and welcome Him home. While the Ethereal Maiden had but little time, She was able to inform Darvellan of some of the affairs that had changed the First World, notably those of Fain and his coterie, for Darvellan had left prior to Fain’s betrayal. Indeed, those present started wondering as to why Darvellan departed so soon from the First World, some believing it to even be for cowardly reasons. Although Lisaera had to depart elsewhere, the Navigator stayed with those in His fulcrux for a spell, hearing their questions and even being given a brain by one strange shard. Taking a liking to the ones who claimed to be shards of His friend Meridian, Darvellan went to see their city, New Celest, and the anchored plane of Celestia. From there He traveled to the plane of Nil, where He saw for the first time the results of the touch of the Soulless since His departure. Expressing a dislike for the place, the Navigator returned to Celest’s nexus, and visited each of the other nexii in turn, saving for the one anchored to the plane of Nil. After briefly visiting the nexii and speaking with those there, He arrived once more in New Celest, where He received a short, partial tour of the city before departing from sight. But what of His reasons for leaving the First World so soon after Amberle was lost to the Soulless? And how did one known as ‘the Navigator’ get so lost for so long in the Void? These and other questions filled the mind of the Basin’s inhabitants after the Navigator’s return. **Categories:** News --- ### [Tales of the Flesh](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/11/02/tales-of-the-flesh/) **Published:** November 2, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** What with Atropos’ shears having been ‘misplaced’, the departed souls of the slain were left roaming the Basin circa Roarkian, 396. The mortals who went about gathering these ghosts on Atropos’ behalf were sometimes regaled with tales from one of the past lives of the ghosts, though words of warning were to be heard from some as well. These words cautioned about a weapon of the Old Empire, known as ‘eaf’, that had been hidden away but was in danger of resurfacing. And resurface it did, nearly a month after the ghosts started their cautioning. In the middle of Estar, 397, the ghosts joined together, using their voices in unison to warn those still living. Shortly after, a green cloud was seen to escape from the Razine Mountains, dissipating briefly after erupting. Those who went to investigate discovered a portion of the wall in one of the tunnels had been broken, revealing a crumbling pillar. Pushing his way past the debris about the pillar, Synkarin became the first mortal to have entered the laboratory since the days of the Nature Wars. As others came to see this forewarned place as well, they began exploring the five-storied laboratory. And a laboratory it was, for three of the floors seemed devoted to studying various stages of the creature the ghosts called ‘eaf’, referred to properly as ‘eaf’Chanoru’ according to reports found about the lab. These three floors also housed failed results of the experiment, eaf’Chanoru who were driven insane by the deformed shapes the experiments had caused. But then Synkarin and a group of city-mates arrived at the bottom floor, and discovered the heart of the laboratory, a device called the ‘Fae-Fleshpot’. The fragmented reports implied this device to be the most crucial to the experiments, without it the eaf’Chanoru could not be created nor evolved into the weapon the scientists were seeking. The fragmented reports were not the only source of information here, as Trueflight Iytha came to find, for within the lab was a giant vat filled with peculiar fluid. Within the vat, Iytha found pulsing brains which conversed telepathically with her, shedding further light on the laboratory and its purpose. Between the brains and the fragments of reports, the experiment, and its threat to the forests, became evident, for the eaf’Chanoru could not be made without the flesh of dead fae. When a few of the communes heard of this, they went quickly to the lab to see what this threat was. Meeting with some of those already inside, a brief discussion was had involving politics and preventing the experiment from being performed again. This may have been futile at first, as the workings of the Fae-Fleshpot were not fully understood by interested parties, but those against the experiment were either unaware or wished to be thorough. Splitting up, they raced through the lab’s floors, intent on killing, breaking, or stealing anything that might look crucial to the experiment. After some time of this, when it seemed the experiment could not be performed for the time being, many departed to their cities and communes, telling those their what had been seen in the horrific laboratory. But a small party had remained behind. Intent on seeing the result of the experiments, they gathered the fragmented parts, talked to the pulsing brains, and recalled what they had heard others discuss. Comparing all the information together, and with a little trial-and-error, they were able to figure out what was needed to create an eaf’Chanoru from the Fae-Fleshpot. Soon after their hard, dangerous, and sneaky work, not one but two eaf’chanorus were brought into existence, loyal to those who had made them. Not satisfied in stopped with this small victory, the party set out to complete the steps detailed in the reports to evolve the eaf’Chanoru, but into what they did not know. After a few days of work, they were able to successfully evolve one of the eaf’Chanoru into a small piglet-like creature called an eaf’Eramich. Rushing to the stables to place the beast there, the joyous owner found the stable-hands were at first unwilling to house such a creature, but a small bribe in the form of wine soon resolved any issues, and there the beast was placed. But what will this small piglet grow to be? What of the forests, who mutually see this place as a threat? And what of the single Glomdoring who snuck in and created his own eaf’Chanoru, taking the creature not to be completed, but to the Dark Forest to be studied? **Categories:** News --- ### [September Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/11/02/september-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** November 2, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the September Vesteran Honours, Daganev won the bardic contest with the story titled, “A Personal Account of the Founding of the Ebonguard”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the portrait entitled “Vespertine Acolyte”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia Ten Year Anniversary!](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/10/24/lusternia-ten-year-anniversary/) **Published:** October 24, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia began its journey nine years ago, opening its doors on October 7, 2004. What is more appropriate then to celebrate this momentous event with fun, games and surprises! ## October 4, 2014 – Hamster Hunt - Time: 6:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - First Place: Arimisia (300 credits) - Second Place: Rivius (150 credits) - Third Place: Zitto (50 credits) Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! ## October 5, 2014 – Treasure Hunt - Time: 3:00 p.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Prizes - First Place: Marcella (300 credits) - Second Place: Tremula (150 credits) - Third Place: Ushaaara (50 credits) Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! ***Rescheduled to October 6 (see Announce 2375).*** ## October 6, 2014 – Quiz - Time: 6:30 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Prizes - First Place: Maligorn (300 credits) - Second Place: Akyaevin (150 credits) - Third Place: Tomo (50 credits) Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! ## October 8, 2014 – Harmony Worldgame - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Prizes - First Place: Pejat (300 credits) - Second Place: Akyaevin (150 credits) - Thrid Place: Munsia (50 credits) Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. ## October 9, 2014 – Death Worldgame - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Prizes - First Place: Malarious (300 credits) - Second Place: Leolamins (150 credits) - Third Place: Fay (50 credits) A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. ## October 10, 2014 – Vengeance Tournament - Time: 5:00 p.m. PST - Event: Vengeance Tourament - Survivors: Naime, Zitto, Steingrim and Doman (125 credits each) Participate in a bout of Vengeance! Who will survive? ## October 11, 2014 – Wargames - Time: 5:00 p.m. PST - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Prizes: - First Place: Kelly (300 credits) - Second Place: Steingrim (150 credits) - Third Place: Feyda (50 credits) Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! ## October 12, 2014 – Battlechess - Time: 10:00 a.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Prize: Chess Board of Libertas - Winner: City of Gaudiguch Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive the Chess Board of Libertas! ***Note: All dates and times are in PST (and not GMT).*** **Categories:** News --- ### [August Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/09/19/august-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** September 19, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the August Vesteran Honours, Perais won the bardic contest with the epic titled, “Concerning the Vassal Packs of Hallifax”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the painting entitled “Blessings of the Moon”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/09/01/july-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** September 1, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the July Vesteran Honours, Portius won the bardic contest with the epic titled, “The Glorious Expedition”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “Svana Burns for You”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/08/04/june-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** August 4, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the June Vesteran Honours, Nimhuire won the bardic contest with the villanelle titled, “Moondancer Villanelle”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “Rebirth”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lost Secrets of the Paladins Revealed](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/07/22/lost-secrets-of-the-paladins-revealed/) **Published:** July 22, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During Klangiary, 388CE, those versed in the arts of Sacraments were given to visions of a paladin seeking their aid. Briefly confirming with others in New Celest whether they had visions as well, parties went out seeking the vision’s source, going to such places as Spectre Isle and Skarch Desert. When they found no success in this, they turned to consult others, some to Dame Eluzmith and others to Lord Methrenton, both directing them back to Skarch Desert. Having had the desert confirmed, the parties returned to scour the sands once more, but it wasn’t until another brief visage that Queen Kelly McCloud and those with her discovered a long-hidden passage in one of the desert’s caves. Following the passage, a ghostly paladin appeared when they disturbed one of the sarcophagi found within. After listening to the ghost’s tale and desires, a few others opened the other sarcophagi, finding another ghostly paladin with a similar, but different, tale and desire. Both of these paladins wished the aid of the living in a nearby ruined village, so the group set out to find the village they spoke of. While some mistook the paladins’ village to be that of Dairuchi, others scoured the sand dunes of the desert for clues. It was Lord General Bandeon who discovered the ruins, not very far from the cave, when a dust devil swept aside one of the sand dunes as he was nearby. Calling the others to him, the Lord General and the other New Celestians were the first to walk in the village for sometime, but were shortly joined by some interested Gaudiguchians, though the attention of the latter soon waned away. The group who had the visions, however, continued on, deciding to fulfil the desires of the paladin they first awakened. While the village was key to the desires of the paladins, a tedious task was also required to be performed elsewhere in the desert, which Saoirse Kissane-McCloud and Taevyn McCloud took upon themselves to complete while the others largely stayed in the newly found village ruins. When their task took them to the caverns below the desert, Athree of the Nekotai caught wind of their actions, and led a small group from Glomdoring to investigate the ruined village and paladin sarcophagi, especially the latter as one of the paladins had sent the Celestian duo to the caverns below. The Wyrden group did not have long to investigate before Saoirse and Taevyn completed their task, fulfilling one of the spectral paladin’s desires. As a side effect of the task’s completion, the paladin ghosts faded for a period of time, one in triumph and the other in frustration. But for how long before the task needs completing again? And what did the other ghostly paladin wish done, that the living Paladins of the day would not complete? **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/06/28/may-vesteran-honours-6/) **Published:** June 28, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the May Vesteran Honours, Alary won the contest with the story titled, “Of the Dreaming”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “Shikari’s Surrender”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/05/30/april-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** May 30, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the April Vesteran Honours, Thayan won the contest with the story titled, “The Chateau d’Amour”. In the artisanal category, Feyrll won with the painting entitled “The Beauty and the Beast”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Madness of Mwauka](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/05/14/the-madness-of-mwauka/) **Published:** May 14, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Only a few days after the return of the Lord Predator to the Basin of Life, shouts hailing from Verasavir Valley pierced the silence of the Basin of Life. From the sound of it, an argument had broken out between two taurian of the valley. Citizens of New Celest and Serenwilde reached the valley first to investigate the ruckus, but it was Kagato of the Celestines who discovered the Mwauka Blackfur, who stood over the corpse of his comrade at the entrance to a cavern. Mwauka readily told the growing crowd of adventurers that he was actually the Elder God Tauro, and that he’d been trying to recreate his “true” body. He had discovered a ritual that, using corpses and natural products of the valley, would potentially restore him. Most of those gathered expressed their extreme distrust, though after Mwauka mentioned learning this ritual from an Illuminati friend, Eliron Shee-Slaugh, Nyxx Ysav’rai, and Iari Damascene tried to convince the taurian to give Iari the ritual book so she, as Grand Cipher of the Illuminati, could look over it. Synkarin Ysav’rai was the first to offer to aid Mwauka, but a misdirected fireball put a stop to any partnerships the two would have with each other thereafter. Eventually, Kalas Ixion of Magnagora stepped to the plate and, after some days of hunting, he chanted the ritual phrases while the strange taurian stood in the centre of a pile of corpses. When the ritual ended, however, Tauro did not grace the Basin of Life with His presence; instead, a patchwork monstrosity, created from the corpses with Mwauka embedded in its centre, escaped into Verasavir Valley where it proceeded to wreck havoc. Ixion followed doggedly and killed it before it could do any real harm. Mwauka survives, however, in his little cave with his derangement. Though none know if he’ll ever be free of his obsession, his secret’s out, and few will approach him knowing the madness behind his boasts. **Categories:** News --- ### [Return of the Predator](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/05/12/return-of-the-predator/) **Published:** May 12, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Early in the month of Tzarin, a small number of residents of the Glomdoring Forest experienced strange visions of things they could not quite describe – or, truly, comprehend. After a quick investigation, they deduced that only the members of Lord Shikari’s Order had witnessed these – a revelation of concern, for the Predator had not been seen for over two decades. Yet the visions persisted in the following months, and they spread to those of Lord Nocht’s and Lady Viravain’s Orders as well. The two gods met beneath the boughs of the forest, speaking softly together, Their words laden with a meaning still unknown to those that serve Them. Lady Viravain had warned the Glomdoring of the guile of Lady Drocilla, recently returned to the First World after tricking New Celest into believing She was actually Lady Carakhan. And those old enough to remember can still recall the day the Khairsi Beast tore into the Basin of Life – the Beast who had actually been Shikari transformed, collared and trapped by Drocilla Herself during an encounter in the Void. With these warnings and memories occupying their minds, the Glomdoring shored its defences, especially as the strange visions continued: visions of the hunt, of blood, and of prey. Then occurred an unlikely meeting: the Lady Isune, with members of Her Order at Her side, invited Viravain to Her realm. The Lady of Thorns brought Zouviqil Myeras with Her, but the two stood in the presence of the Hallifaxians in peace. The goddesses’ exchange was less than pleasant, but one thing became clear: Drocilla is a threat to both, and to one other who matters to Them both. The Hallfaxians speculated amongst themselves in private after Viravain had taken Her leave, but Allyrianne Windwhisper gave voice to their thoughts. Had Their conversation been about the Predator? “Yes and no,” said Isune before departing, leaving Her Order awash in a storm of Her anguish. The visions continued, this time marked with a sense of longing. Lady Viravain studied the Master Ravenwood and called to Her Brother, wherever He was, but with little success. Idrazil Ga’ruul and Karlach Stormcrow, both members of the Predator’s Order, sought advice from Shikari’s priestess, but gleaned little information. Some months passed with little activity, until early Kiani, when Viravain and Isune met again, this time beneath the boughs of Glomdoring Forest. The Lady of Thorns sensed Her brother’s imminent arrival, and not long after She called to Him, the sky of the First World opened. A great creature, dying from its wounds, descended on the Basin of Life. The Predator followed it doggedly, but it escaped long enough to seek refuge near Magnagora. Before it could reach the city, however, the Lady Drocilla appeared to strike it down – an act that proved pointless, in the end, for Lord Shikari speared the beast through the head before it reached the goddess. Residents of the Glomdoring immediately prepared for whatever Drocilla had planned as She approached Shikari, but before they could act, the Lady Isune manifested before Them, drawing Shikari away as Lady Viravain attacked the Enchantress. Disinterested in Viravain, Drocilla left the fight, leaving the other goddess in a howling rage. Glomdoring, meanwhile, met with the Predator and the Aesthete in the former’s realm, where they formally welcomed Him back to the Basin of Life. But amidst the celebrations, tensions still run high. Glomdoring still readies its weapons in preparation for what Drocilla may bring, and the Order of the Lady Aesthete continues to watch the southern horizon with trepidation from their crystal spires. **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/05/01/march-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** May 1, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the March Vesteran Honours, Nihmriel won the contest with the novella titled, “The Greatest of All Possible Triumphs”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the portrait entitled “Mysrai, Harlot of the Revolution”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Troubled Waters](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/04/28/troubled-waters/) **Published:** April 28, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In the wake of the triumphant return of the four Elder Gods, in the eventful year 381 after the Coming of Estarra, much rejoicing and celebration took place among the organisations of the Basin and in the Divine Havens alike. Serenwilde welcomed the Silver Goddess with joy and relief, their fervent prayers full of longing finally answered. The Frost Queen has chosen to take Her time, studying the First World with impeccable scrutiny while Hallifaxians were drawn in numbers to Her fulcrux. And finally, the Lord of Epicurean Delights was welcomed everywhere to such an extent that He decreed a culinary contest would be held to curry His patronage. In the end, a head to head rivalry between Glomdoring’s and Gaudiguch’s entry was settled in Gaudiguch’s favour. Amidst all the revelry that swept through the Basin, Carakhan, Pearl of the Ocean remained much overlooked by all but the Celestians. Soon after Her arrival, a contingent from New Celest gathered at Her fulcrux, seeking to meet the Divine so closely associated with the waters they hold dear. Among the first arrivals was the Princess of New Celest herself, Kelly McCloud, Admiral Neos Eli’Silar, Grandmaster Ryboi D’Varen and his son, the Canticle of the Righteous, Daebach D’Varden. The gathering also featured the inquisitive Diresinger Siam Star-eyes and the Queen of the Night, Zouviqil Myeras. The Goddess welcomed them warmly and answered their many questions, portraying Herself as the artist of the seas, She who painted the seashells and sculpted the beaches, and not a Keeper of the Song like some in attendance had hoped. Much painful and bitter news was then revealed to the Goddess – the losses, the defeats, the mergings of Elders, and the return of the Traitors. She was most shaken and surprised to hear that the returned Triumvirate had done nothing about this, and it was then revealed, much to Her sorrow, that Hoaracle, the Dreamer, has been slumbering for quite some time and She would be unable to meet Him. Many Elders visited the Pearl of the Ocean from that point forth as well, the Aesthete among them. The reunion of the Artists was most touching and Carakhan was almost rendered speechless that Isune, too, was among those who returned to the First World, and welcomed Her with open arms and joy. The Aesthete had changed significantly since the two last painted the sky and seas, upon which They both remarked, but their bond transcended all, and soon, They were laughing and rejoicing, celebrating the way only Artists do. In the months that followed, the city of New Celest continued to visit the Mother of Waters, as some had taken to title Her. Upon one of those visits, the Goddess took the Aquamancers up on their offer to visit the Elemental Plane of Water and so they did, with the majority of New Celest in tow. The Lake of Dreams caught Carakhan’s fancy at first sight for it reminded Her of Hoaracle, but there were many more things to see and the Archmage Tridemon McCloud and Admiral Neos Eli’Silar spared no detail. It was there in those Cosmic waters that the Goddess first heard of Emperor Ladantine, along with details about the future that shall never be, physical and metaphorical doorways, and the secrets of Aquamancer wardrobes. Her interest sparked, the Goddess requested the tale of the Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire soon after and Princess Kelly, along with Prelate of Loving Radiance, Meliana Regalis, Postulant Kagato, and Grandmaster Ryboi, all painted the picture of the grand Empire’s reign and abrupt demise. The focus then shifted to a discussion of the aftermath that befell Magnagora, once a member of the Empire, and the tainted powers they have mastered. The entirety of the tale carried the Goddess through an array of emotions – shock, marvel, disgust, and disbelief – all in equal measure. Her emotions were shaken especially at the revelation that Illith had splintered and Her soulless shards have found home in the transformed Magnagora. A measure of time was needed for Carakhan to consider all that has transpired over the course of Her absence, and during that reprieve, the Celestians continued to shower Her with offerings of essence and marvellous symbols of affection – seashells enough to line the Inner Sea from shore to shore, marine paintings and trinkets from Aquamancer Telperion, seashell necklaces, and aquatic-themed pastry. Prelate Meliana even brought varied and exotic sealife to swim in the pool at Her fulcrux, much to the mild envy of others, for the Goddess Herself sung a gentle tune to the pool to make it habitable. The Goddess’ fulcrux became an aquatic temple yet worry struck many that, unlike the other fulcruxes, this one would often shake, shimmer, and behave strangely. Over time, the Goddess became more inquisitive, asking the frequently visiting Prelate Meliana and Merciful Judge Saoirse McCloud about the Holy Celestine Empire and the ways in which New Celest stays true to its heritage of technological advances and leadership of the Basin of Life. The Prelate was eager to answer, but as Carakhan posed more and more pointed questions that highlighted New Celest’s failures to, in Her opinion, adhere to its founding tenets, the Prelate found herself questioning her beliefs. The Goddess insisted that New Celest was so eternally focused on eradicating its foe, Magnagora, that all of their potential was wasted. Rattled, the Prelate returned soon after to admit that perhaps there is more New Celest could be doing, and the Goddess urged her to continue down that path eagerly. As the Prelate battled between her deeply held beliefs and Carakhan’s persuasive rhetoric, the Goddess continued receiving visitors within Her fulcrux – some more controversial than others. Hope’s Defender, Azula Vivalde, even sighted Raezon, the Forbidden calling upon Carakhan, but He departed quickly with a cryptic remark, leaving behind His ghodak board as a gift to the Goddess. Another time, Kalnid the Librarian of Magnagora was seen retelling the story behind the Xion Initiative, a collaboration between New Celest and Magnagora, at length. Henceforth, Carakhan often visited New Celest, taking tours of the gardens and sights with Telperion, Meliana, Brother Naraj, Raeri Stormcrow, and others, engaging them on their laws, beliefs, and perceptions of the Engine. Finally, on the 3rd of Roarkian, the Goddess chose to act and arrived in New Celest to lay out Her vision of New Celest’s future. At the heart of the city, the Pool of Stars, many gathered to join the debate – notably Ecclesiarch Jaamil D’Varden, Prelate Meliana, Sir Kreon Zayah, Librarian Iytha, Acrune McCloud, Squire Preston, Postulant Kagato, Grandmaster Ryboi, and several others. Carakhan postulated that New Celest abandoned its roots to battle a foe they cannot destroy any more than the Creatrix Herself has been able to purge the Soulless without tearing the First World to shreds. Further, She skillfully insisted that the only way forward was to become the Empire again and unite with Magnagora – the seat of the Traitors. Many found themselves nodding along to the Divine, confused, yet more than willing to please Her; while others, like the conflicted Prelate, Grandmaster, and the Ecclesiarch began opposing a plan that so deeply went against the Light, even if it meant contradicting a Divine. It was then that Princess Kelly McCloud arrived and, caring little for politeness, queried the Goddess right back on Her suspicious intentions. As the debate was about to heat up, a burst of light emanated from the Goddess’ pocket and revealed a round object within, one She previously curtly refused to discuss but frequently checked upon to ensure it was at Her side. Disturbed, the Goddess left without a word, baffling the gathered citizenry of New Celest. Scarcely a moment after Carakhan, Pearl of the Ocean abruptly disappeared from New Celest, a loud alarm sounded from the Aetherplex. A brief outline of the Starhopper was sighted hovering over Avechna’s Peak, but it soon descended once more, and the alarm rang again, this time with more urgency. The citizens of New Celest first hurried to Carakhan’s fulcrux to demand answers, but they found it abandoned, the sealife that once overflowed in abundance now lifeless. As the alarm sounded once more, they abandoned the fulcrux and arrived aboard the Starhopper, joining intrigued visitors from Gaudiguch, Glomdoring, and Magnagora. Captain Girda Starhopper explained to those gathered that her ship was grounded and this alarm called for all gnome aetherships to protect destiny, which is the greatest gnomish duty. There was much confusion over what said destiny was or where it might be found beyond the certain fact that it would be in aetherspace. Over the next hour, aetherships launched one by one from the Aetherplex and roamed the vastness of aetherspace in search of destiny. It was Librarian Iytha of New Celest and her betrothed Doman Trueflight of Hallifax that first arrived at Aquagoria, a bubble of reality previously unknown to any. As they stood at the beach of a tiny island lost upon an endless sapphire ocean, the furious Carakhan descended upon them, uttered an ominous warning and vanished immediately after. Within a few hours, the aethership of New Celest arrived, bearing upon it Princess Kelly McCloud, Acrune McCloud, Sister Chakraja, Prelate Meliana Regalis, Sister Fay, Grandmaster Ryboi D’Varden, Grand Commander Kurama Eli’Silar, Squire Preston, and Sir Kreon Zayah. As the group alighted on the beach, they were joined by the lone delegate of Glomdoring, Belibi Ga’ruul. Such a gathering attracted Carakhan again, but as She shrieked for them all to leave, three Silver Dynodeons flew from above and attacked Her. The assault was easily dismissed by the Goddess but as more Dynodeons arrived, She left with Her pursuers trailing behind Her. As more members of Glomdoring arrived, Celestians set out to explore the ocean. Ryboi D’Varden was the first to encounter the Swimmer of Destiny, an angelfish surrounded by a blinding aquamarine aura, and attempted to attack it with little success. Soon afterwards, the submarine Tid-Bit was found patrolling the ocean and those boarding it met with Captain Beehab. Frantic with worry, he requested assistance in protecting Destiny by vanquishing the Devourer, now revealed to be an enormous vampire squid. Trusting the Captain’s word over Carakhan’s, those of New Celest and Glomdoring set to work, gathering squids and other ingredients that would help weaken the Devourer enough to be defeated. Under the Princess’ command, the Devourer was poisoned and slain with Postulant Kagato landing the killing blow. And when Kethaera An’Ryshe of Glomdoring brought its heart to the Captain, the ocean was rocked by a surge of aquamarine light that revealed the Swimmer of Destiny to be Carakhan, Sculptor of Waves. Baffled and amazed, the mortals rushed to the surface to witness two Carakhans floating above the ocean – one star-shaped and another with a tail. An argument ensued between the Goddesses as to which is the real Carakhan, which led to the revealed one accusing the other of stealing Her precious Pearl and using it to create a disguise. As the Sculptor gathered Her power to retrieve the Pearl, the other Goddess flung it into the ocean in annoyance. At that very moment, Her entire body began to shift and transform into another Elder with billowing golden hair, and the scent of musk and spices drifted upon the wind, confirming the fears of many. Her plot thwarted, Drocilla, the Enchantress laughed and vanished into a portal. Still confused by the whole ordeal, the real Carakhan arrived at the beach into the midst of mortals. Her appearance was different to that of the impostor – Her legs were transformed into a tail for ease of swimming through aetherspace, She wore a cuirass to protect against enemies, and She wielded a golden trident as Her weapon. Once the mortals explained how they came to exist and what transpired, the Goddess told Her own tale. In it, the fate of the last group of Elders to depart into the Void was made known – in short, They never made it. There were many dangers in aetherspace, among them the Soulless, so Carakhan was forced to adapt and fend for Herself, ultimately becoming trapped as the Swimmer of Destiny to fight the lesser Soulless known as the Devourer. She also revealed that Agnomenon vowed to protect Her at all costs and it became clear that, indeed, His shards continued His work tirelessly. When all was said and done, the present members of New Celest invited Carakhan to travel with them to their city. As they arrived, the Pool of Stars was full of cheerful faces that sought to greet their true Divine. The peace did not last long, for moments later, a portal tore the sky above New Celest in twain, revealing Drocilla returning to a city She not so long ago sought to subvert. Proclaiming Her disappointment in New Celest for all to hear, She also whispered threats and promises into the ears of Celestians alone. Then, floating high above New Celest, She began to sing an unearthly song that shattered windows, eardrums, and sapped the citizens of their strength, much to the amusement of Magnagorans. Several succumbed to the bittersweet melody before Carakhan shielded the city in a globe of water to deflect the sound. The song ceased and Drocilla lingered a moment longer in silence to revel in the destruction before turning Her attention to Magnagora, where Her Brother, Raezon, the Forbidden, had already ordered the Iron Council to ready itself for Her arrival. The meeting took place within the Tower of Midnight Domination with Warlord Leolamins d’Murani, Heresiarch Esca n’Lochli, and Chosen of the Legion, Lavinya d’Murani present. The details of what transpired there remain unknown, sans the whispers that covertly spread the news that the Hyringex Collar still binds the Enchantress. Why has the Traitor Goddess chosen to return now and not before? How did She procure the Pearl from the depths of the Inner Sea? And further, what exactly was Her goal with New Celest? Pure entertainment or something more sinister? And why were the Silver Dynodeons involved at all? **Categories:** News --- ### [Founding of the Gourmet Ghetto](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/04/05/founding-of-the-gourmet-ghetto/) **Published:** April 5, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Alerted by screams of agony bellowing out of the village Delport, the mortals of the Basin rushed to investigate, only to find the village mostly filled with hideous abominations, shadows of the villagers they once were. Stumbling upon Madame Sylvie, Chatelaine d’Amour, they were shocked to see her unchanged by the atrocity that afflicted the others. When questioned about the abominations, Sylvie told the inquisitors that she had merely been applying her perfume, when she felt a slight pinch and the screams began. Question after question came her way, until suddenly, the abominations began to march out of the village. Tasked to hunt down the abominations, the adventurers took to the highway, slaying the hideous beasts where they stood. Within the slaughter, the Silver Dynodeon appeared, asking the adventures to report. The adventurers spoke of the abominations that had escaped, and the Silver Dynodeon noted that Madame Sylvie’s perfume is what protected her from the change, and that it could possibly be the cure. With the parametre secured, the Silver Dynodeon whizzed off once more, trailing a series of beeping sounds. Asking Madame Sylvie about her perfume, players were asked to gather powderfruit, honeycombs, and kouseki flowers. Hiriako of the Glomdoring arrived, honeycombs in hand, Persayis of Gaudiguch supplied the kouseki, and Xenthos, of Glomdoring, provided the powderfruit. Missing one lone fruit, Madame Sylvie recalled she had dropped one within the Chateau, and once retrieved, she was able to concoct the cure. She dashed off, returning the villagers to their normal state, and returned breathing heavily, thanking the adventurers for their work. Yells quickly filled the air near the entrance to Delport, and upon inspection, the adventurers found two chefs, complaining about the dangerous work environment Madame Sylvie subjected them to, and they decided they would start up their own restaurant. One of the chefs, Rammy Fleming, hesitated, murmuring about love, when the other, Gordo Hodgkinson, began to question him. Rammy told Gordo that he had fallen in love with Beauregard’s sister, Gabrah, and that it was Madame Sylvie who brought them together. Gordo became furious, and told Rammy that Gabrah was his one true love, and that Madame Sylvie had brought them together as well. Bickering over a girl, the two decided that their plans were ended, and Gordo dashed off, telling Rammy that he’d open a restaurant himself. Rammy hesitated, then decided that he was not going to let Gordo outdo him, and went off to prepare his own restaurant for its grand opening. Hammering and crashing filled the air as the two chefs worked to get their restaurants open, and it wasn’t long until Chef Gordo Hodgkinson announced the grand opening of Bistro Noir on the Old Imperial Road. Not to be outdone, Chef Rammy Fleming rushed to open his cafe as well just north of his rival’s, and Chez Magnifique’s doors were opened to the public. Overwhelmed by the influx of customers, the two chefs became quite confused, Rammy thanking adventurers for helping who had yet to do a thing. In the meantime, Gordo was having trouble in the kitchen, and was ignoring those who helped get his waiters to work. Too many cooks in the kitchen greatly confused the two, but once things began to settle, the two chefs asked the adventurers for help, tasking them with helping their restaurant to thrive, while driving their newly formed rival’s into the ground. Many worked on both sides, motivating the staff, gathering ingredients from the farmers market south of the two diners, and preparing dishes to server to the diners, but it was Xenthos An’Ryshe who was first tasked by Gordo with sabotaging Rammy’s restaurant. Sneaking into the cafe, Xenthos ran customers out, overcharging them for the meals they ate, and Rammy’s restaurant was left empty. So it was Xenthos, of the Glomdoring, who first assisted one of the chefs in the first of the restaurant wars. Perhaps some day the former friends shall reconcile, but for now, the rivalry holds strong. However, the mystery remains as to what caused the Delport villagers to mutate and why the Silver Dynodeons seemed so interested in the events that transpired. **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/04/02/february-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** April 2, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Portius won the contest with the short story titled, “The Life of Ilesa Windwhisper”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “The Sky Guard”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Cyaethl Affair](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/03/25/the-cyaethl-affair/) **Published:** March 25, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Relative peace across the southern Basin was disturbed when cries for help were heard from several villages, but quickly cut off, leaving only a sinister silence. An investigative team from Gaudiguch included Alary, Seraku and Persayis, but they could find no trace of the missing villagers from Dairuchi. Haezon and a group from Glomdoring were similarly baffled by the disappearances in Southgard, while in Angkrag, Master Nasir n’Rotri managed to survive an attack. It was this that led to Silvanus and Gryff’s discovery: a crazed Grand Illithoid Cenobite was marauding throughout the village, ranting about having partially lost control to some foreign entity and its overwhelming need to consume. The Cenobite was too far gone to provide any useful information, and was quickly put down. Similar events played out in Dairuchi, but in Southgard the Cenobite proved more formidable. Possessed of some greater power, it withstood the combined attacks of those present until the unexpected arrival of the Silver Dynodeon. With no explanation apart from screeching “PARAMETRE BREACH”, it incinerated the Grand Illithoid Cenobite and quickly departed, encouraging everyone to “return to standard state”. In the wake of these confusing events, Cthoglogg, the Avatar of the Hidden Empress, disavowed any responsibility and called an emergency council to determine how the illithoid should respond. Present were Eithatha, Mistress of Poisons; Overmind Tkegthul, Reigning Cenobite of Ixthiaxa; High Priest Yishughom; as well as Leolamins, Aiyana, Aislynn, and other representatives from the southern organisations. Several theories were put forward and dismissed, and tempers flared, but eventually it was decided that the events signified some new and dangerous type of kepheran attack. Against the advice ot Eithatha, Cthoglogg summoned a mysterious new Overseer, Yishign, and told her to implement ‘her proposal’. In this way the council was concluded, with those who had defended the villages still none the wiser regarding the the power that had gripped the Cenobites or, indeed, what scheme now being enacted against the kephera in response. Later in the month, however, Overseer Yishign was forced to request help from the southern organisations in clearing an infestation of spidions, and thus reveal her venture: a cave-fisher breeding program. Deep within the Undervault, the Cyaethl Colony now serves as a new illithoid outpost engaged in weaponisation research, and has already been significantly aided by Xenthos and a contingent from Glomdoring. Yet many questions remain: are the kephera truly to blame for the renegade Cenobites? Why did the Silver Dynodeon intervene? And does Yishign have a hidden, darker purpose for the Cyaethl Colony? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Waking of the Thorns](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/03/04/the-waking-of-the-thorns/) **Published:** March 4, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In the wake of the Ascension of Karlach Stormcrow, the Glomdoring was disturbed by a tiny visitor – the previously unknown Averi Nightshade. Emerging without fanfare from the shadows themselves, she demanded their help to aid the Wyrd. When asked of her purpose, she spoke only of one who slept, whose was as the Wyrd itself, and indicated the existence of a mound hidden in the darkness of the Glomdoring’s groves. It was Ried Stormcrow who first found the hillock of thorn-covered dirt. Averi soon arrived, and demanded blood – the blood of bards to replace what she indicated had been stolen by “One in the North”. Her cryptic, tightlipped statements, coupled with a distinct mockery and disrespect. of Eliron Shee-Slaugh, led the Harbingers to speak to the Voice of Mahalla, seeking confirmation of their claims. The Voice spoke only of the excitement of the Wyrd. Frustrated, the Harbingers spoke to the Shadow Court. Whispers eddied beneath the branches as they debated the wisdom of helping Averi – of simply killing Averi – of seeking further guidance. Meanwhile, Averi was unbowed – bantering coldly with her kin, Celina Nightshade, she spoke to Zouviqil Myeras of canon and roses and webs. Meanwhile the first blood had already been shed to the mound. Black roses bloomed as the Glomdoring was stirred, as if by unseen things. Still skeptical, Eliron Shee-Slaugh sought the guidance of Lhiannan, who would confirm only that the mysterious Nightshade was a Shadowdancer aiding the Wyrd. The Seneschal herself, Tacita An’Ryshe took to the roads with the aid of the Maestro. With cold zeal, they retrieved the bards. But it was not to the library they brought the wandering minstrels – it was to the hidden mound, where their blood watered the roses. As bud after bud burst into bloom, the mound split open to reveal the statue of a robed woman – a familiar woman who bore a scythe in Her hands. With the Crown of Gloriana on Her brow, the Lady of the Webs did not wake until Averi Nightshade, uttering the words “Nothing Matters but Glomdoring”, slit open her throat and gave herself to the forest. At last, on a pillar of purple Viravain woke from Her slumber beneath the Glomdoring. Praising those awaiting Her, She rapidly reasserted Her control of the situation, whispering to those of Her Order and calling out to the Aesthete ardently, calling for Her return to the Heart of Darkness. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Event 2014](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/03/04/ascension-event-2014/) **Published:** March 4, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As events culminated in the Saga of the Red Star, the two twisted cosmic lords, Dumaliel and Grimbach, tried to empower themselves by draining the Seal of Beauty. This resulted, in the weakening of all Nine Seals that hold the Soulless Gods captive. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in January, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Seal of Chaos **Date**: January 25, 2014 **Winner**: Malarious **Event**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Seal of Nature **Date**: January 26, 2014 **Winner**: Eritheyl **Event**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Seal of Knowledge **Date**: February 1, 2014 **Winner**: Kiradawea **Event**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Seal of Harmony **Date**: February 2, 2014 **Winner**: Uruk **Event**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Seal of War **Date**: February 8 and 9, 2014 **Winner**: Vadi **Event**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Seal of Life **Date**: February 15, 2014 **Winner**: Aerys **Event**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Seal of Death **Date**: February 16, 2014 **Winner**: Morkarion **Event**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Seal of Justice **Date**: February 22, 2014 **Winner:** Pejat **Event**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Seal of Beauty **Deadline for Entry**: February 16, 2014 **Winner**: Tacita **Event**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Date**: March 1, 2014 **Winner**: Karlach (ascended from Morkarion) **Event**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/02/26/january-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** February 26, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the January Vesteran Honours, Portius won the contest with the epic poem titled, “Jekkex”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “Chief Everiine Silvermoon, the Wise”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Merry Minstrel](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/02/23/the-merry-minstrel/) **Published:** February 23, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In early Estar, the Voice of Gullagumbah stirred, mentioning a strang rumbling, unheard to the Minstrels He alerted. Confusion was abundant until the Basin rumbled, the sound emanating from the Northern Mountains. As the rumbling subsided, a soft melody was briefly heard, carried about upon the winds. As many wondered about the sounds, in the Minstrel’s guild hall, the Voice of Gullagumbah began calling out to the Minstrels, and He began to speak of a mysterious person, only referring to them as “him.” Taking up form in the Effervescent Keg of Gullagumbah once more, the Voice followed Synkarin to the Northern Mountains, where the Voice began to tell a tale about this mysterious person. As the Soulless were trapped away during the Vernal Wars, the Voice of Gullagumbah, tired of His confines, wandered out in search of activity. Naturally, He was drawn to the celebrations of the mortals, and would often times take home within one of the party-goers and join along in the festivities. Less and less did the Voice stay hidden, amused by the antics of the mortals, and, enjoying their company, the Voice decided to take up a companion to join Him in His travels. He passed along His most cherished possession, the Golden Stein of Gullagumbah, to these companions, and with it, they became His vessel. With the stein in hand, the two travelled, and inspired by how He had helped this mortal, they began to work to bring joy to those who thought they’d never see it again. Over time, as they worked together bringing happiness to others, the Voice’s companion came to be known as the Merry Minstrel. The title was passed down from companion to companion, until one day, their journey brought them to a small distillery atop Mount Wend. This was when the Frost Spite stole away the Voice, and He never knew what happened to His Merry Minstrel. The Efferevescent Keg of Gullagumbah told the mortals that the melody that had drifted through the air was one He had tought to the Minstrel long ago. Believing that His Merry Minstrel had returned, the Voice led the Minstrels to Mount Wend, finding the old distillery had been lodged free by the avalanche of a mound of snow that had hidden it for so long. Sensing His Merry Minstrel inside, the Voice grew excited. The Frost Spite began to stir, and fearing that He would be captured once more, He fled back to His home in the Minstrel’s guild hall. Greeting the Merry Minstrel, it was Talan Ysav’rai, of Hallifax, whose curiosity about the Voices drew her here, that first received the golden stein of Gullagumbah. Turning it in her hands, she saw many within the Basin who needed cheer, so with the Minstrels in tow, along with others from the city of Hallifax, she began to bring cheer back to the Basin once more. Enemies travelled together, biting their tongues, as they helped fulfill the Voice’s wishes. Tempers rose, however, and eventually, Talan split off from the pack, taking up the task herself. The Voice of Gullagumbah stirred, asking His Minstrels once more if they had any success in helping the Minstrel. They told Him that another held the stein, and was helping the Minstrel at the time. Wary of this unknown person helping the Minstrel, the Voice asked if they had asked to carry the stein instead. Shulamit Lunarose spoke up, asking Talan, and was the next to work towards helping the Merry Minstrel. Continuing where Talan left off, Shulamit travelled with Synkarin, the Minstrel champion, and continued to bring cheer to the Basin and laughter to the lost souls of Mount Wend. In the end, it was she who eventually succeeded in getting the Frost Spite to bellow with laughter, bringing an echo of the Voice of Gullagumbah forward to sing with the spirit of His Merry Minstrel once more. And so, Gullagumbah’s final song was heard once more, and the Merry Minstrel was able to rest. Rumors say, however, that the spirit returns every so often when laughter is needed once more. **Categories:** News --- ### [November Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/01/12/november-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** January 12, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the November Vesteran Honours, Thayan won the contest with the story titled, “The Fortal of Pate”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “Vigil of the Red Star”. **Categories:** News --- ### [Red Star Burning](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/01/09/red-star-burning/) **Published:** January 9, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the Red Star grew ever closer to the Basin of Life, its influence was felt by all under its crimson glow. Some inhabitants of the Basin were more easily swayed by its lure and promises than others, taking up the moniker of ‘the Army of Love’ and touting the return of the Lovers and the renewal of their power. This was met with more resistance by some than others; many, like Sondayga Zayah of the Serenwilde, felt the call of love and shared it with their peers quite forcefully, while others, including Marcella n’Lochli of the ur’Guard, ruthlessly ended the lives of any who endorsed the Red Star or those it heralded. In the meantime, the Holy Supernals and the Demon Lords of Nil remained drained of power, in part due to the breaking of the binding that had sealed all knowledge and memory of the Lovers away, and in part because of the theft of their own energies. Indeed, as the Red Star flared in the sky, it remained unsated, leeching away energy from the Seal of Beauty, even as the remaining eight Seals attempted to bolster its reserves. So the cities of Magnagora and New Celest worked with their allies – and enemies – to revitalize the rulers of Nil and Celestia. Upon reaching full power, the Cosmic Lords took to the skies above the Prime Material one final time, to banish the Burning Star forevermore and end the encroaching threat of the lost Supernal and the wayward Emanation of Shallamar. The lost half-formed were not so easily quelled, however. Dumaliel, Dancer Upon Glittering Clouds, took to the Cave of Beauty in an attempt to directly siphon the power contained within, while Grimbach, the Golden Poet, alighted within the newly-revealed ruins of the Verasavir Valley to harness the latent energies therein. Countless mortals flocked to the Lovers, unwilling to see further strife come into being. Fierce battles were waged that evening. Dumaliel’s beguiling dances led many to their death, while Grimbach’s voice parted even the most stalwart of souls from their mortal frame. Members of the Army of Love appeared to aid their lords, and all the while Grimbach and Dumaliel cast those daring enough to strike them between one another, in an attempt to disorient their pursuers. At length, and through much tribulation, the Lovers were defeated, and retreated into the Burning Star once more. Their energies restored, the Supernals and Demon Lords cast the Star through the planes and out of sight, before departing once more to their respective Cosmic planes. Amid the celebrations, Raziela’s voice rose timorous and grieving at the loss felt once more of her brother, Dumaliel. The Elder God Valtreth appeared over New Celest, answering the call of the Loving Radiance, and proclaimed that He would redeem the Lovers Himself, if they could at all be redeemed, for He knew of love, loss, and union by His very nature. The Creatrix was next to appear, applauding Valtreth’s efforts in such, though skeptical of whether the half-formed abominations had redemption within them at all. Her attentions turned to a more immediate and troubling matter; beneath the assault of the Burning Star and the Lovers, the Nine Seals had been drained dangerously of power in an attempt to keep the Seal of Beauty whole. While they remain partially intact, they are weakened, and so a new Ascension was declared, daring one mortal to rise above their peers and bolster the Nine Seals by becoming a Vernal Ascendant. Almighty Kethuru lurks beyond the boundaries of reality, awaiting the chance to destroy the Seals and all creation with them. Who will be the one to restore the defences of reality and thwart the greatest of the Soulless once more? Time, it is said, shall tell. **Categories:** News --- ### [Secrets of the Red Star Revealed](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/01/08/secrets-of-the-red-star-revealed/) **Published:** January 8, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the Red Star travelled closer and closer to Lusternia, its baleful crimson glow growing larger and larger, Archangels of Celestia and Archdemons of Nil began appearing on the roads in the Basin of Life, gazing up at its fiery light. Alarmed, the Demon Lords of Nil demanded that the archdemons be brought back to their cosmic plane, as did the Holy Supernals of Celestia beseech the same for the archangels. Most strangely, they were unable to tell anyone what the Red Star was, even though it appeared they wanted to several times. However, the Holy Supernal Raziela of Celestia and Demon Queen Nifilhema of Nil tried several times to answer questions, for they seemed to know more than any other. The wayward archdemons and archangels were being drawn to the Red Star, and thus the Demon Lords and Holy Supernals were slowly being sapped of power. As the cosmic entities were brought back to their planes, their cosmic masters slowly regained their strength. Once they were fully empowered, they came together to enact a rite that destroyed the Mysterious Presence that had been plaguing the Basin of Life for so long. This rite destroyed the binding which had prevented them from being able to speak of the Red Star. This also revealed a small area in the Verasavir Valley that held the ruins of an abode as well as the forgotten tomb of Deliora La’Saet. Unfortunately, enacting the rite drained the Holy Supernals and Demon Lords where they could barely function and they found communication with mortals difficult. Around this time, the Red Star became much more aggressive, turning the archdemons and archangels that were drawn to them into burning beings that began to wreck havoc upon mortals. Now, these cosmic beings had to be slain and brought back to their cosmic plane where they could be re-absorbed into the Demon Lords and Holy Supernals and reborn back into pure cosmic entities. As Celest, Magnagora and their allies began the arduous process of slaying the burning entities and bringing them back to their cosmic plane, the Red Star focused its malevolence upon the Seal of Beauty, drawing its energy into the star. The other seals have thus far been able to replenish the Seal of Beauty’s power but at the cost of their own power. When Raziela and Nifilhema were strong enough, they gave keys to Postulant Kagato of the Celestines and Arimisia D’Cente, Supreme Commander of the ur’Guard, which were able to open the newly found tomb in the Verasavir Valley. Within that tomb, a diary was found and read by Marcella n’Lochli, and the mystery of the Red Star was finally revealed. The Red Star itself holds two cosmic lords, Dumaliel of Celestia and Grimbach of Shallamar (now Nil). They had abandoned their cosmic homes to be with each other, but doing so turned them into what the Elder Gods called half-formed abominations. Thought to have been banished to the Void, they now return, stronger than ever and intent of draining the Seal of Beauty, no matter the consequences. Thus, the fate of the cosmos hangs in the balance as the Holy Supernals and Demon Lords attempt to gather enough power together to perform the rite to send them back into the Void. Whether they can succeed or not remains to be seen. But as the Red Star looms even greater in the sky above, reports abound of merchants abandoning their shops, children running from their parents, and others fleeing from their duties. Whispers are heard of a new movement forming, one that will reshape society. This movement calls itself the Army of Love. **Categories:** News --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2014/01/08/december-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** January 8, 2014 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the December Vesteran Honours, Nihmriel won the contest with the play titled, “A Matter of Eminence”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the painting entitled “Song of His Heart”. Check out all of the winners in the [Art-Bard Archives](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard)! **Categories:** News --- ### [Unveiling the Pyresmith](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/12/03/unveiling-the-pyresmith/) **Published:** December 3, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Barely had the first reverse-rainstorm surged into the skies when intense headaches were visited upon numerous mortals across the Basin. Though initially dismissed as a side effect of the new weather patterns, this line of thinking was quickly dispelled as soon as a mysterious voice, speaking the ritual tongue of the Elders, addressed them in their moments of cranial discomfort. Though the voice was unintelligible at first, it soon became clear that it was approaching the splinter races in an attempt to contact who it believed were their Elder Progenitors. When it was informed that these Gods were no more, it assumed the worst and accused all mortals of being servants of the Soulless. Through the tireless work and inexhaustible patience of many mortals, including Riluna L’Eternae of the Serenwilde, Vivet Pavok of Hallifax, and Lavinya d’Murani of Magnagora, it was eventually made clear to the voice what the situation in Lusternia actually is: The Soulless had not triumphed, the battle was still ongoing, and, though the Progenitors were no longer whole, They lived on through Their children. In time, the voice revealed itself to be another Elder; trapped for eons in a refuge of His own design. Though He had slumbered for most of that time, a recent disturbance had shaken Him awake, allowing Him to extend His conciousness across His creations: the transplanar devices. Though He now wished to return to the First World, the self-same disturbance which first awoke Him was also preventing His exit. For the time being, all that could be done was to watch and wait. After the Anas’im’aeklas had vanquished the lucidian climatologists from their laboratory, one object of note remained: an ornate box crafted of precious metals and rare woods which depicted two beautiful beings traveling the landscapes of Celestia and Shallamar. But barely had this work of art been found that the Mysterious Presence descended unto the valley and completely obliterated the cube. Its objective seemingly nothing more than vandalism, the Presence departed, not even waiting for the heat from its attack to dissipate. Instead of dust and ash, however, what now occupied the space where the cube once hovered was a forged-metal device of cyclopean dimensions. Crafted of thousands of moving segments, all that would happen when the gathered mortals attempted to examine it was a teeth-shaking clanging noise. Yet this was enough to attract the attention of the wayward Elder. Free of its decorative casing, the device was sensed once more by its creator, the God who revealed Himself to be Yomoigu, the Pyresmith. **Categories:** News --- ### [Plaxios and the Cloud Stalker](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/12/03/plaxios-and-the-cloud-stalker/) **Published:** December 3, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** With the weather wildly out of order, citizens of the Serenwilde and Glomdoring communes turned to the four members of the Anas’im’aeklas for answers. Unfortunately for them, the leader of the organisation, Thalafir Oakvine, forbade his subordinates from accepting aid from the outside. Though some disagreed vocally with the assessment of the situation, all obeyed the edict in the end. As days turned into months turned into years, neither a solution nor an answer was forthcoming. It was Coimrac Nightshade, the Guardian of Autumn, who eventually decided to countermand Thalafir’s orders and return home with the remainder of the Anas’im’aeklas. Yet as the group climbed the Razine Mountains they were intercepted by dozens of mortal warriors insistent on the fact that, secret purpose or not, what was happening in the Basin affected everyone and thus they would provide their aid whether or not it was wanted. Although resistant at first, the coven grudgingly permitted them to follow and led the mortals through a cave and into what is now known as the Plaxios Lowlands, a valley wracked by war and infested with mutated fauna. Leading the pack to the leader of the Anas’im’aeklas, the true gravity of the situation was gradually revealed. In the distant past, a group of Hallifaxian scientists, led by senior researcher Juryk Plaxios, travelled to the valley in order to construct a vast and sprawling facility which could exert total control over the weather. At some point, either through scientific miscalculation or intentional sabotage by the Lowland’s indigenous people, the safety mechanisms failed and released all the stored Ethereal energy at once, transforming the land into the energy wracked fields still suffering today . Realising that their home would never be the same again, the peoples of the valley sadly left their homes and spread across the Basin. Yet before they did so, five families were tasked with appointing one of their members to undertake the solemn duty of watching over the ruins of the facility forever more, ensuring that what hubris had once wrought would never come to be again. This gathering, this promise, was the Nature’s Renewal… Anas’im’aeklas. In recent years, however, a descendent of the original Plaxios named Odethi found her way to the ruins of the old facility and surreptitiously repaired it beneath the nose of the organisation, leading to current environmental situation. With the aid of those who had gathered to assist, Thalafir and his Guardians fought against twisted dae’aldim, ancient crystalline guardian constructs, and Chief Superintendent Entrias Pavok to destroy Odethi’s auxiliary spires which provided power and protection for her primary facility. With the way clear, the five members of the Anas’im’aeklas pooled their energy together to summon Sylvokhax the Cloud Stalker, one of the immensely powerful Ethereal Guardians, who once again rendered the complex a complete ruin. Yet against all odds, Odethi Plaxios escaped the wrath of the Cloud Stalker, swearing that she would return with more lucidians to complete her ancestor’s work and promising a vast reward to any who might aid her along the way… **Categories:** News --- ### [October Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/11/28/october-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** November 28, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the October Vesteran Honours, Thul won the contest with the treatise titled, “History of the Creche Wars: The Book of Amonkari”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “From The Ashes”. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Gathering Storm](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/11/18/a-gathering-storm/) **Published:** November 18, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Over the past year, four odd wanderers have made their way to the forests of Lusternia. First came the aloof loboshigaru, Diakala, to the Serenwilde, arriving suddenly and causing some small bit of consternation, who was followed soon after by a druid calling himself Tinjtak Gladheart raising a ruckus in Estelbar. Barely a quarter of a year later, a pair, the elfen Coimrac Nightshade and the mugwump Slemgooum Fyrgenwig arrived together in the Glomdoring before parting way soon after. Though they offered little explanation as to who they were and why they suddenly decided to visit the communes of the First World, each of them demanded a wealth of supplies, a gift, they claimed, which would be for the benefit of all of nature. Though little could be gleaned of their purpose at first, citizens of the communes relentlessly pressed the demanding wayfarers for answers, combining clever application of threats, sympathy, withholding of aid, and, in one case, the judicious application of tea. Slowly, the semblance of a story was able to be pieced together. The four were members of a society known as the Anas’im’aeklas, an order formed long ago to combat ‘a great evil’ visited upon nature by the old Celestian empire. Though the group had long kept itself hidden, working far beyond the public eye, recent concerns convinced them to reveal themselves to the commune at large. What this danger may be, or why it was so great that the four came out of hiding, none were willing to say other than to cryptically caution against trusting lucidians. Elsewhere, the Mysterious Presence, quiet for nigh on half a decade, struck once more, this time encasing a lucidian climatologist in a block of crystal. Not willing to allow so eldritch a presence keep captive a fellow mortal, warriors from across the Basin swarmed to the scientist’s aid; blasting apart the crystalline prison while fending off brutal attacks by the Presence itself. Despite the staunch opposition, the soldiers of Lusternia proved more than a match and succeeded in both driving off the Presence and freeing the unlucky lucidian. Despite being incredibly grateful for his rescue, the climatologist did not tarry; after giving thanks, he dashed off to complete his nebulous objectives. Soon afterwards, a fantastic beam of flame was seen lancing into the sky far to the west, sending waves of energy out to blanket the heavens. Soon afterwards, strange weather anomalies began to emerge: rain fell upwards, frost and snow gathered in the desert, and lightning arced across the sky with nary a sound. What exactly the molten lance did to disrupt the natural order, and whether it is related to the Anas’im’aeklas, has yet to be revealed. **Categories:** News --- ### [September Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/10/29/september-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** October 29, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the September Vesteran Honours, Tacita won the contest with the poem titled, “Shadowfire Lament”. In the artisanal category, Ried won with the portrait entitled “Nocht, the Silent”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) this month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia Nine Year Anniversary!](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/10/19/lusternia-nine-year-anniversary/) **Published:** October 19, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia began its journey nine years ago, opening its doors on October 7, 2004. What is more appropriate then to celebrate this momentous event with fun, games and surprises! ## October 4, 2013 – Hamster Hunt - Time: 6:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - First Place: Kelly (300 credits) - Second Place: Vivet (150 credits) - Third Place: Arimisia (50 credits) Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! ## October 5, 2013 – Treasure Hunt - Time: 3:00 p.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Winners - First Place: Kiradawea (300 credits) - Second Place: Talan (150 credits) - Third Place: Zhesle (50 credits) Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! ## October 6, 2013 – Quiz - Time: 1:00 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Winners - First Place: Thul (300 credits) - Second Place: Ushaara (150 credits) - Third Place: Kelly (50 credits) Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! ## October 7, 2013 – Harmony Worldgame - Time: 9:00 p.m. PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Winners - First Place: Talan (300 credits) - Second Place: Kelly (150 credits - Thrid Place: Morkarion (50 credits) Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. ## October 8, 2013 – Death Worldgame - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Winners - First Place: Morkarion (300 credits) - Second Place: Leolamins (150 credits) - Third Place: Kelly (50 credits) A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. ## October 9, 2013 – Vengeance Tournament - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Vengeance Tourament - Winner: Eodh (500 credits) – in the role of assassin! Participate in a bout of Vengeance! Who will survive? ## October 12, 2013 – Wargames - Time: 12:01 a.m. PST - See Announce #2238 - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Winners: - First Place: Synkarin, Alary, Shuyin (300 credits) - Second Place: Rivius, Aerys, Sondayga (150 credits) - Third Place: Leolamins, Daedalion, Silvanus (50 credits) Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! ## October 13, 2013 – Battlechess - Time: 10:00 a.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Prize: Chess Board of Libertas - City of Magnagora Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive the Chess Board of Libertas! ***Note: All dates and times are in PST (and not GMT).*** **Categories:** News --- ### [August Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/10/01/august-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** October 1, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the August Vesteran Honours, Darius won the contest with the story titled, “The Zoo”. In the artisanal category, Arimisia won with the painting entitled “The Waltz of Fain”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard) this month. **Categories:** News --- ### [Red Star Rising!](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/10/01/red-star-rising/) **Published:** October 1, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The ominous red star that astrologers have been warning about has suddenly winked into view, raining a shower of fiery crimson motes. This seems to have had a serious impact on some bards who are searching for libraries. Help the bards this month and perhaps unravel some of the mysteries that have occurred throughout the year. To participate in this event quest, find the dazed bards and influence them. You may influence up to 3 bards per Lusternian month. If you complete this mission 21 times before the end of October, you will receive a special ikon reward! **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/09/03/july-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** September 3, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the July Vesteran Honours, Siam won the contest with the poem titled, “Moon Dirge”. In the artisanal category, Elyse won with the portait entitled “Hallifaxian Bureacrat”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard) this month. **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/07/31/june-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** July 31, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the June Vesteran Honours, Irillia won the contest with the mystery titled, “The Eepok Oolin Casefiles: The Stewartsville Murder Mystery”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the disturbing portait entitled “Lichseed”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) this month **Categories:** News --- ### [The Night Market](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/07/09/the-night-market/) **Published:** July 9, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The paradigms rippled in the furious gale of reality, invisible but to the eyes of those trained in the secretive art of paradigmatics. Slowly, the realization begin to spread among the Illuminati that there was an immense force disturbing the paradigms. As they wondered of its source, a cloaked Illuminatus arrived at the Eternal Flame to commune with his fellows over the strange happenings. Sensing the essence of the Dreadform of Iklara leaking forth behind the veil of reality, the Illuminati sought out the strange obelisk within the Skarch. Sensing a vast power beyond the obelisk the cloaked Illuminatus attempted to open the way but the Mysterious Presence that had so plagued the Basin of Life guarded the stone statue. As strange energies washed across the pictogram of two men entwined on the face of the monument, the Illuminati declared he would destroy the image that seemed to empower the Presence. Gathering flesh and flame, the Illuminatus transformed his arms into burning whips and flayed away the image. As the icons was seared away, the Mysterious Presence let out a howl of triumph before fading into the Night. Now prepared to open the way of the obelisk, the Illuminatus consumed the glands of the desert sandworms and went into a trance that flowed upon the paradigms, providing passage to all those gathered. Those who tread this path entered a strange market and founded the wounded Elder Gods Terentia and Eventru, who fled from that place once the way had opened. Soon after, the sun rose upon the Skarch and as the first golden beams touched the market; it dispersed as if it had never been. The cloaked Illuminatus waited at the obelisk through the day, probing the strange path through the paradigms. When his fellow Illuminati, led by Ixchilgal Mes’ard, returned, he asked them to barter with the alien merchants in the market of night so that he may use their artifacts in a ritual to divine the true origin of the place. While many rushed to help, the many adventurers scrambling to assist caused friction between those of the Illuminati and those hailing from other nations, most notably Kalas Ixion. And so the groups shuttled back and forth for twelve nights, each vying for control of the strange merchants’ wares. It proceeded this way each night until the final night. As the darkness fell across the desert and the diplomatic attempts of the Illuminati to end Ixion’s interference failed, both parties rushed into the market to gather the final payment needed. However, the only bartering was done in words of bickering and no goals were achieved as Father Sun brushed the Night Market away. As night fell once more, while Ixion stood defending himself against the accusations of the Gaudiguchian contingent, the Illuminati strove into the market once more and obtained the final payment for the merchants. As Feyda Mes’ard provided the final key to the ritual, the Illuminati parted the paradigms beyond the Night Market for a glimpse of a far distant place where the Dreadform lay imprisoned. What was it about the pictogram that drew the Mysterious Presence? Will further rituals open the way to the prison? And what is Shimotabi Xiim’s interest in the ritual artifacts? Such answers are as fleeting as the Night Market when the sunlight breaks upon the First World. **Categories:** News --- ### [Valtreth: Dawning of a New Light](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/07/08/valtreth-dawning-of-a-new-light/) **Published:** July 8, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** An otherwise quiet period of meditation and uneasy waiting was broken quickly for Azula Vivalde and Duchess Sidonie Kissane-McCloud of New Celest, their reveries interrupted by none other than the Supernal Japhiel. The Illuminator of Merciful Justice relayed to Azula and Sidonie visions of a great and terrible darkness, of a power that bespoke something more, and urged them to seek out the source of this darkness that so threatened the Light itself. Took they to the roads and mountains of the Basin of Life, along with others who rallied to their cause, until activity at a mysterious obelisk within the Skarch Desert was revealed. The Illuminati of Gaudiguch had so been apprised of this obelisk as well, and sought to banish a Mysterious Presence that lurked within and about the obelisk itself, threatening dire harm to anyone nearby. Guided by a robed and shrouded Illuminatus, those of Gaudiguch divined a manner by which the Presence could be abated, and so it was after a clandestine ritual that the obelisk fell quiescent once more, and a way opened into the space beyond space. Within, the group discovered a strange market of silks and cobblestones, along with the battered form of the Lady Terentia and the grievously wounded Lord Eventru. Terentia, battered from Her encounter with the monstrous Dreadform of Iklara, tersely ground out that Eventru had been struck a fatal blow by the creature and needed immediate healing. WIthout further ado, the pair vanished, instructing Lorina to seek the Bloom of Serenity and meet Them upon Eventru’s healing mound within Celestia. All complied, and Maylea – and the Celestians – soon found themselves before Terentia once again. Maylea, grief-stricken, attempted to use Her bond with Her brother to save Him, though it proved to be of no avail. Eventru, weakened, murmured that He was not long to remain, and wished one final time to see the Song of His Heart, Lyreth, the Sidereal Prince. No sooner had these words been spoken than a quiet song arose from the Temple of Lyreth, calling countless lyrebirds to the Basin of Life. Maylea instructed the Celestians to gather the birds within the Temple, that Lyreth might be reformed. After much searching, and no small amount of singing, enough lyrebirds were gathered into a rapturous flock that Lyreth was indeed able to manifest once more. Lorina quickly apprised Him of the situation, and He, too, departed immediately for the healing mound. As the Celestians gathered a final time about the four Divinities, Eventru rejoiced, pale and wan, at the return of His love. This settled, he closed His eyes, deaf to the weeping of His sister and lover, oblivious to the silent fury of the Even Bladed toward the beast responsible. Lyreth, however, was adamant – He would not see His mate die, and so darted forward, taking Eventru’s hand. The pair were set awash in a brilliant light, and when it cleared, only one form remained upon the healing mound. Valtreth, Majesty of the Dawn sat up, regarding all about Himself with a strange, vacant recognition, and responded to neither mentions of Eventru or Lyreth. Choking upon Her grief, the Bloom of Serenity quietly welcomed the Dawning Lord to being, and departed. Terentia, meanwhile, tersely addressed Valtreth, and bid Him join Her in the Divine Havens to ascertain His intentions. And so it came to pass that two Elder Gods departed the Basin of Life, and returned, reborn anew in the form of Valtreth, Majesty of the Dawn in a final act of sacrifice and love. The God found solace within the Resurgence of the Light among its Pantheon once more, though what aspects of His component beings He retains – if any – remain to be seen. **Categories:** News --- ### [An Exalted Exit](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/07/04/an-exalted-exit/) **Published:** July 4, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was a cold morning on the eleventh of Vestian when the Exalted Lord appeared in the skies over New Celest. Drawn and grim, He called for the aid of the Architect, decrying the absence of Terentia and the lack of Her presence upon the First World. Zvoltz heeded the call of the Exalted Lord, but denied Him, stating that the rift had been closed per the decree of the Firsts, and that the risks taken by Terentia were upon Her own head. Frowning, Eventru announced that He intended to follow through the rift, find Terentia, and bring Her back Himself. At His insistence, Zvoltz opened the rift once more above the Skarch Desert for but a moment, allowing Eventru to pass through. The rift knit shut one final time, and the skies contorted and twisted with razor barbs of energy. The Exalted Lord screamed, heard by those of New Celest, and fell silent, leaving only a knowing Zvoltz shaking His head and the soft weeping of the Bloom of Serenity lingering upon still winds. **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/06/13/may-vesteran-honours-5/) **Published:** June 13, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the May Vesteran Honours, Thul won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Divergent Branches – The Wyrden Basin”. In the artisanal category, Rivius won with the masterpiece entitled “Secret Beneath the River”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) this month **Categories:** News --- ### [Fumes in the Pyramid of Pyromancy](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/06/03/fumes-in-the-pyramid-of-pyromancy/) **Published:** June 3, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Akungi Sain called out on the Pyromancer aetherwave, asking for help in a worried voice. Alary responded quickly, but she quickly panicked as Akungi fainted and was unable to provide any helpful information. Soon, tremors began to rock the Pyramid of the Pyromancers in Gaudiguch, worsening the stress on both Akungi and Alary. Luckily for both of them, Sage Rolan Vessandril arrived and quickly took charge of the situation. Akungi explained that the strange sandstone statue that had emerged from the temporal door years earlier was beginning to crack apart. Resigned to the imminent death of ‘Boopie’, they stood vigil over the statue before Akungi had the idea that heating up the statue would fuse it back together! Requesting enough gold and materials to set up a powerful fire pit, Akungi quickly accepted the supplies from Sage Rolan. As the fire pit was being constructed, the statue began to move even as the cracks deepened and spread. The strange statue, speaking in reverse as its words flowed backward in time, demanded power from the gathered Pyromancers. Viynain, Alary, and Rolan quickly drained their reserves into the dry sandstone, though much more was required. With the aid of all the citizens of Gaudiguch, the statue soon received enough power to move fully. With a quick step, it plunged into the fire pit, opening a gateway to the Fire Elemental Plane. The City of Freedom quickly found the statue, now Scuchemi Tliwx, morose and confused in a strange pavilion. Though he thought he had no place in this timestream, the mystic eventually agreed to teach the Pyromancers the ways of pyrochemantics in order to bring about a brighter future than the one he had left behind. Thus, Rolan Vessandril became the first pyrochemantic in modern times. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Dreadform Rampage](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/06/03/the-dreadform-rampage/) **Published:** June 3, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The eternal conflict between Zvoltz and Mysrai sparked anew as Mysrai utilised a new weapon. Seeking vengeance for Her injury by Zvoltz’s hammer, the Shifting Goddess released the Dreadform of Iklara from the depths of Her realm. Riding it into battle against Zvoltz and Hallifax, a furious fight broke out in the skies over the Beacon of Harmony. Trading harsh words and even harsher blows, Zvoltz unseated Mysrai from Her spot atop the beast. While Mysrai desperately urged the Dreadform to flee, it turned upon Zvoltz, dealing Him a grievous injury. With the last of His strength, Zvoltz struck the Dreadform with His mighty hammer, Ays Onid, turning the beast to crystal. Desperate to escape but slowly being encased in immobile quartz, the Dreadform stole away to the Skarch Desert where is crashed and shattered. While both Mysrai and Zvoltz sent their Divine Orders to take control of the crystal pieces they were beaten to the bunch by three unknown entities. Two of the voiceless bodies wanted the pieces turned over to them, while they fought a Mysterious Presence who had taken control of them. Finally, the Mysterious Presence destroyed the pieces, scattering them over the Basin of Life before fleeing. Mysrai provided Her followers with an orb of cosmic emanations to track the lost pieces. Isune, who was caring for the fallen form of the Architect, provided His servants with a similar orb. After a slow start, Viynain Erid’in, Kergarn Sablewing, Persayis Dreyriandi, and Iari Nightshade succeeded in finding three of the pieces. Very shortly after, Blake of the Sentinels, Skye of the Aeromancers, and Pejat of the Symphonium recovered the other three pieces for the Architect. Along the way, the incorporeal beings helped in the search. When each group returned the orb to their Patrons, each Elder set about to seal away the Dreadform for their own designs. Recognizing the mysterious presences as a Merchant of Thelem and the Silver Dynodeon, each god brought them fully into the physical realm. Gravely wounded and leaning upon Viynain Erid’in, the Thousandfold undertook a ritual, calling the Dreadform to rest within Her realm. Having become unstable, the Dreadform shattered once more, this time into copies of itself that began to rampage throughout the Shifting City. Tasking the Indigo Merchant with gathering home the pieces of what the mysterious, robed figure called the Exiled, Mysrai vanished, ordering Her Beloved to protect the Shifting City by aiding the Merchant. With the aid of Xenthos An’Ryshe, Morkarion n’Lochli, and Elanorwen Nightshade, the Beloved set to subduing the monstrous beings. Even as the followers of the Thousandfold fell in droves, Shuyin of the Illuminati, Viynain Erid’in, and Kregarn Sablewing gathered them in battle. Amidst the roaring fury, Mysrai appeared once more, imbuing Rolan Vessandril with the powers of Avatar and ordering him to slaughter in Her name. And so the Beloved did, hunting down the shards of the Dreadform and delivering them to Auvi Ama’rua, who gave them, piece by painstaking piece, to the Indigo Merchant. After a long and grisly battle, the Indigo Merchant delivered the Dreadform – “Exiled” – to a rift, and vanished, saying only these cryptic words: “Convey my obeisance to the Thousandfold. I will await the Illuminated and their servants as is traditional.” Meanwhile, with Isune supporting Him so that He could remain upright, Zvoltz took the orb and began a powerful working. Chanting in Ae, His divine voice rang out across the City of Spires. As the ritual intensified, the sheer amount of energy overwhelmed the weakened god. As the uncontained power burst across the Realm of the Architect, the Dreadform of Iklara consolidated into multiple forms which raged through the City. With Zvoltz gone and His voice silent, the Silver Dynodeon initiated its containment protocols. However, the undermanned Labourers had little success against the godlike Dreadforms, which commenced to rampage through the Basilica of the Architect and the City of Spires unrestrained, slaughtering all who entered their path. Finally, the warriors of other nations answered the desperate besieged of the Architect’s Order. Kalas Ixion and Morkarion n’Lochli took to hunting and slaughtering the monsters, delivering them unto the unfailingly cheerful Silver Dynodeon. Upon completion of the hunt, the Dynodeon entreated them to tell Mister Zvoltz what a good job he’d done. Some days later, the realm lay silent, yet scarred, wounded still, and echoingly empty from the rage of the Dreadform. Questions hang in the empty air over the origin of the Indigo Merchant and Silver Dynodeon, the relationship between Mysrai, Zvoltz, and the Dreadform. Most alarming, however, was the re-emergence of the Mysterious Presence, which was the same force that had earlier descended upon the unearthing of the Lost Book a few years earlier. What was it that led to it now haunting the strange obelisk in the Skarch. Was there a connection with the Lost Book? The answers to these questions, however, have disappeared with the Dreadform. **Categories:** News --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/05/17/april-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** May 17, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the April Vesteran Honours, Thul won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Divergent Branches – The Second Age of Nature”. In the artisanal category, Valkia won with the portrait entitled “Serenading Mother Night”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) this month **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/04/30/march-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** April 30, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the March Vesteran Honours, Tacita won the bardic contest with the conclusion of the epic titled, “The Age of Supremacy: Part 5 of 5”. In the artisanal category, Sakr won with the portrait entitled “Lady Viravain”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) this month **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/04/04/february-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** April 4, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Thul won the bardic contest with the short story titled, “Words of Power”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the portrait entitled “Shadow Kissed”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard) this month **Categories:** News --- ### [The Bards and the Lost Book](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/03/25/the-bards-and-the-lost-book/) **Published:** March 25, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Shouting over his jubilant discovery, Adalgiso Batyun drew the attention of many from both communes and from all four cities. Upon arrival, they heard tell of “Love of Story”, an ancient book that had been written off as pure myth. Having found the cover, Adalgiso believed he’d found proof of its existence – and excitement was rife among the theatrical and musical communities. However, unlike the common travellers and bards, those bards who had studied the arts of the Great Voices of the Keepers of Songs heard the call of their Voices – and they were nearly frenetic with energy. For the first time in untold aeons the Flock of Miracles came to be once more, the Voice of Rhapsody taking on the form of thousands of pristine white doves. Twisting herself into a cool, meandering breeze, the Voice of Trialante caressed the trees of the Southern Serenwilde, eager to find that which drew her attention. Belching something about a document with great power and knowledge – and a signature of powerful energy to boot – the Voice of Gullagumbah settled inside a great keg and, kicking out boots, the Effervescent Keg of Gullagumbah went gallumphing out into the city of Gaudiguch, eager to begin its journey. They were not alone, however – high in the crystalline city of Hallifax, the Voice of Crys sought this document as well – drawing crystals about himself, the Voice of Crys took on the form of Jilai Clarramore, the spirit of a trill composer more than a millennia old which he kept about for company and the beautiful treasure that is her voice. In Magnagora, the Voice of Jagrerox swirled up the angry, tainted clouds of the city, summoning a ferocious storm which struck the Bell-Tower with angry red lightning. Upon exploring it, Magnagora found a blackened and charred skeleton clasping a hellish and demonic guitar – the Darkening Scream of Jagrerox given form. Last but not least, the Voice of Mahalla moaned and wailed in the Glomdoring Forest, forced into action lest the other Voices succeed whilst she did not. Sinking into the dark and wyrden soil of the Glomdoring, Mahalla emerged as a swarm of death watch beetles, thousands upon thousands of the eerie and disconcerting insects wandering about the forest before ultimately swarming the Master Ravenwood itself – ticking away the moments in a frantic and insectoid cacophony of noise. Kregarn lead the Voice of Gullagumbah forth into the Basin of Life, as Faragan lead the Flock of Miracles and Nelras lead the crystalline form of Jilai Clarramore. In Magnagora, Solange of the Cacophony lead forth the dark and malevolent Darkening Scream of Jagrerox, while Serenwilde and Glomdoring saw Lyethal lead the soft, whispery wind that was the form Trialante took while Zhri and later Synkarin lead the ticking swarm of death watch beetles forth. All across the Basin of Life the Great Voices pursued thrumming pieces and chapters of the “Love of Story” – and though they succeeded, a vortex would open and steal the document, hiding it once more. They would not be thwarted so easily, however – each Voice would press on, able still to sense it. The common, wandering bards lending bits and pieces of myth and legend and power to the Voices, the forms they took would scour the Basin of Life with their students to seek out the chapters no matter where this figure of shimmering light would hide them. Exhausted and tired of hiding them, the figure of light emerged from its vortex briefly – destroying the chapter that the swarm of death watch beetles pursued. However, it was a short victory for the figure, who abandoned the scene before all was done – and, absorbing the motes of energy into themselves, the swarm of death watch beetles fled into the earth and soil, returning to the Glomdoring they know of as home. Within, Synkarin – who had aided the Voice of Mahalla for much of her pursuit – discovered what Mahalla had gleaned. Though the text had been destroyed, Mahalla had gained from it an implicit knowledge of a dead and forgotten art – that of Dramaturgy. Sharing this knowledge with the Harbingers, the Voice of Mahalla restored it to the modern era. Soon Lyethal of the Spiritsingers would aid the Voice of Trialante in a similar debacle, though she too would manage to save some memory of the power the pages once contained. Faragan of the Cantors would see the Miracle Flock return to New Celest with this knowledge – with no small help from Lady Kelly McCloud – and Yatrius would aid the Voice of Crys in bringing it to Hallifax. While Kregarn would finally bring it back to the city of Gaudiguch, it was Solange who – after many brutal, agonizing demises under the leadership under the Ur’Guard Marcalla n’Lochli and much beratement and physical abuse by the manifestation of Jagrerox – finally brought the art of Dramaturgy to the city of Magnagora. And so, though “Love of Story” has been lost, the energy released upon its destruction led to the discovery of the Art of Dramaturgy, living on now in the guilds of artists in every city and commune in the Basin of Life. The Voices believed that the energy released was almost divine in nature, tapping into the source of the creative pulse. Questions linger, however. Among them, how did the book contain such power? And what was the presence that was so intent on destroying the chapters of the lost book? Hopefully, that will be the last that is seen of such a force. **Categories:** News --- ### [Spirit Groundhog in the Blasted Land](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/03/05/spirit-groundhog-in-the-blasted-land/) **Published:** March 5, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Early in the month of Dioni, the tae’dae Theodorous Rosefelt set out into the Basin in search of a specific rodent. He had heard that a rodent hunt had just finished, and had hopes that someone had seen the one he was looking for. Not long after he set out, he happened upon some members of Serenwilde, who he asked about the rodent hunt. After further questioning on both sides, he revealed that, according to the tales passed down through his family, an old prophecy from Magnagora, pre-dating the taint, foretold that the shrine and following of the Spirit of Groundhog would be lost, but would arise once more. Theodorous felt that recent events matched the tales, and so was looking for this lost shrine. With the help of Lilian and Sondayga, he discovered that what he sought was nowhere to be found. Left alone for a spell with Sondayga, discussing a journal that was also passed down through his family, they thought to try the Blasted Land, where they happened upon the gravediggers there getting excited about a new find. Sondayga quickly lay waste to the gravediggers, and discovered that they had found a tunnel leading down to the very shrine Theodorous was looking for. Together, the two went into the shrine to explore it, finding an unusual statue along the way. Sondayga was able to undo the nature of the statue, freeing Glinthor Rockpaw, who Theodorous believed to be the sole follower of the Spirit of Groundhog that did not flee from the taint. Glinthor was obviously insane, having spent so long imprisoned in the statue, but he immediately set about to summon the Spirit of Groundhog, which Sondayga and Theodorous assisted in doing, spending a couple days performing the necessary tasks. Glinthor was able to successfully summon the Spirit of Groundhog, but instead of it being a joyous moment, the Spirit fled from the tainted shrine, warning all present not to summon him or perform any rituals. Theodorous warned the others to pay heed to these words, and departed from the shrine, wanting nothing more to do with Glinthor and his rituals. Sondayga, along with Barrin and Avurekhos who had joined up with him by then, continued to press on, however, and unwittingly assisted Glinthor in summoning tainted, zombified groundhogs, who invaded the Blasted Land. Theodorous, after reminding them that he had told them so, suggested that there might be a way to redeem themselves, and dispel the summoned zombified groundhogs. The same rituals would need to be performed, in the same order, but in Tolborolla, away from the Blasted Land. Sondayga, Barrin, and Avurekhos worked to aide in this, that the zombified groundhogs might be removed from the Basin. They succeded, and Sondayga was able to redeem himself. They all three agreed to help Theodorous guard against Glinthor summoning the zombified groundhogs again by keeping a watchful eye on the journal of rituals. **Categories:** News --- ### [Code Yellow in Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/03/05/code-yellow-in-hallifax/) **Published:** March 5, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** “A Code Yellow anomaly has been detected within the Centre for Aeromantic Engineering,” the cold, monotonous voice of the Collective announced, breaking the usual silence of the City of Hallifax. Mobilizing to the Centre, Kialkarkea Diodorus made a quick sweep of the tower. Soon, she discovered that the statue recently discovered during the War of the Wheel had begun to move. Primus Lawliet Letara of the Institute arrived to investigate, using aeonics to catch strange glimpses of a strange machine and an even stranger ship flying in the clouds. Joined later by Entrias of the Centre, they patiently waiting as the statue moved more and more. First a finger, than and arm, the tap of a foot, the twisting of a torso and then the statue came alive. Displaced from the timeline, the statue’s words were nearly indecipherable as they streamed backward in time but those assembled quickly learned that the statue required an equipment room. Leading the statue to the Lyceum of Eudiometrics, the statue quickly tore apart the weather manipulation equipment he found there. Using the parts, along with building materials gathered from those present and a three million gold research grant funded by Entrias, the strange trill statue constructed an odd machine in order to anchor himself to the present timeline. His work done, he called on those assembled to bring cloud essence from the Elemental Plane of Air to power the equipment. Hallifaxians scoured the planes, led by Keeper Ushaara Gordian, until powerful elemental energies raged within the machine. With the final essence, the machine tore open in a blast of twisted metal and stone, releasing a vortex of fluctuating energies within the lab. The strange statue crumbled in the shockwave, the marble and crystal pieces sucked into the icy vortex and destroyed. Barely hesitating, the Aeromancers dove into the planar rift torn open by the vortex, transversing to a zeppelin flying high above the Neverending Airstream. To their surprise, they found the statue, now in the form of Zedlon Windwhisper, waiting for them. Rather than restoring his failing memory as he had hoped, anchoring himself to the timeline had instead destroyed Zedlon’s memories as they aligned with a future that would never come to be after the defeat of the Time Dames. As Avechna, the Avenger called for mortals to come for the Trial of Harmony, Zedlon dismissed the Aeromancers so that he may have time to grieve for his lost memories. Coming to terms with his new life, Zedlon pledged to those Aeromancers who returned after the Trial that he would use his few remaining memories and his knowledge of Aerochemantic Engineering to protect the Collective from the dark future in which he had once lived. Inviting others who wished to follow his path to learn from him, he taught the science of aerochemantics to the Aeromancers. The first to take up the skills of the Aerochemantic Engineer was Kyethian Letara, learning the arts of war from a time when the nexii had been destroyed. Soaring high above the Elemental Plane of Air, the Ionic Conductor waits to teach all those who would defend the Collective. **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Event 2013](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/03/02/ascension-event-2013/) **Published:** March 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** At the end of the War of the Wheel, when the Time Dames brought together the two halves of the Heart of Shallah, one from the Knights of Shallah and one from Lirangsha Retreat, they were able to summon forth Goloth Maxyenka, whose power emanated from the Soulless God Crazen. However, their tampering in the time line resulted in the weakening of the Nine Seals that hold the Soulless Gods. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Beginning in February, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Seal of Chaos **Date**: February 2, 2013 **Winner**: Elanorwen **Event**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Seal of Nature **Date**: February 3, 2013 **Winner**: Svorai **Event**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Seal of Knowledge **Date**: February 9, 2013 **Winner**: Ushaara **Event**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Seal of Harmony **Date**: February 10, 2013 **Winner**: Kregarn **Event**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Seal of War **Date**: February 16 and 17, 2013 **Winner**: Sidd **Event**: A double elimination style tournament will be held among all competing teams across two days. Teams of three will battle it out with the slaughter culminating in the championship match on Sunday. The winner, selected from the winning team either by unanimous vote or through a FFA, will receive the Seal of War. ### Seal of Life **Date**: February 23, 2013 **Winner**: Celina **Event**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Seal of Death **Date**: February 23, 2013 **Winner**: Kelly **Event**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Seal of Justice **Date**: February 24, 2013 **Time**: 2:00 p.m. PST **Event**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Seal of Beauty **Deadline for Entry**: February 17, 2013 **Date Winner Announced**: February 24, 2013 **Time**: After the Justice Challenge **Event**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Date**: March 2, 2013 **Winner**: Sidd who ascended to become Synkarin **Event**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/03/02/january-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** March 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the January Vesteran Honours, Tacita won (again!) the bardic contest with the ongoing saga titled, “The Age of Supremacy: Part 3 of 5”. In the artisanal category, Persayis won with the portrait entitled “Born of Flame”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the artisanal and bardic contests this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/03/02/december-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** March 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the December Vesteran Honours, Tacita won the bardic contest with the first part of a novel titled, “The Age of Supremacy: Part 2 of 5”. In the artisanal category, Fania won with the portrait entitled “Elder Goddess Trillillial”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the artisanal and bardic contests this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [The End of the War of the Wheel](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/08/the-end-of-the-war-of-the-wheel/) **Published:** January 8, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It began just before the end of Estar 344, during the afternoon of the last day of the month. Rusacha, Dame of the Weft shouted her discovery, and her sisters soon shouted their celebration. The Wheel of the Goloths turned and churned forth dominators and wraiths, fought back by many of the Basin of Life who had come to thwart the Time Dame’s latest efforts. Instead of tolerating the continued fighting, Stepasha and Rusacha, the Dames of Destruction and Weft reclaimed the Wheel of the Goloths and departed with it, nearly losing it into the Razine Mountains as they passed. Soon a strange sensation of temporal disruption comes to pass, and the distant presence of the Wheel of the Goloths – far removed from the Basin of Life – could be felt by all. Descending upon the Basin of Life, Stepasha, Dame of Destruction, lead a vast legion of Dominators into the Great Pass between the Razine and Southern Mountains, seizing control of the southern Imperial Highway. A flare of energy marked the Saphire Sinistral Chambers of Shallah’s Heart activating, calling to life Sir Tinno Hopekeep, Cavalier of Shallah’s Heart, the first to teach the art of polearms and mounted combat to Sir Rafael Lenu, the Lord General of the Armies of Light, more than a decade ago. As the fighting raged, more cavaliers sprang to life, and Sir Breska Honepaw and Lady Mirila Lakeheart came to life, joining the battle from within the base as scores of warriors from across the Basin of Life battled hundreds of dominators in the narrow Great Pass, struggling to reach the old base of the Cavaliers. For nearly a day the battle raged, though those of the Basin of Life could not best them in time – for the Cavaliers, one by one, returned to stone, as Stepasha battled against them and wrest control of their half of the Heart of Shallah. Cackling with victory, Stepasha departed over the Razine mountains and out of view. The question of ‘why’ was shortlived, for it was then the presence of Goloth Maxyenka was made known. Gloating, the Goloth remarked that with both halves of the Heart of Shallah, he had turned his enemy’s greatest gift to her followers’ into a tool for his own resurrection, defying that which would have caused his own demise countless thousands of years ago. Whispering into the minds of all that dwell upon and within Lusternia, Goloth Maxyenka offered them amnesty, to kneel before him and be spared the suffering to come. Whispering their defiance to one another they soon realized no thought was private nor safe, as Goloth Maxyenka’s presence built across the Basin of Life. It was Warden of the Moonhart, Rivius Tarsuhl who challenged the Goloth Maxyenka to come against them – and come he did. With a mastery of time that spread doubt even within the vaunted halls of the Matrix Institute, Goloth Maxyenka ripped apart the aether above the Basin of Life, calling forth another of himself from a parallel timeline. Again and again they tore, and nearly a dozen of the Goloth descended upon the Basin of Life, feeding off of one another, combining their psionic presence and building together until they spread a network across the Basin of Life, ranging from Mount Wend to the Skarch, to the Shallach ruins, Grey Moors and the Seas of the Basin, from the depths the Illwater to the highest peaks of the Razine Mountains. Rallying against the Goloth, warriors of New Celest, Glomdoring and Serenwilde charged against Goloth Maxyenka, and after a great battle, brought down but one of him. The remaining eight laughed in mockery, the aeonic wave released in the great anomaly’s destruction battering the whole of the First World, Avechna’s Peak, the spiritual nexus of Lusternia, groaning beneath the onslaught. Another fell before Sir Uldwar Lunarose, having already pushed to break the seals in an effort to stop the Goloth, discovered the terrible truth: For every Goloth slain, a Seal was fracturing. Some called for the fighting to cease, lest they risk the total destruction of the Seals – pressing on, the combined forces of the Basin of Life – save much of Magnagora and their leadership, intent to use the fighting elsewhere as a distraction to claim Domoths – destroyed the remainin Goloths, thinking their victory assured, though at the terrible cost of the fracturing of the Nine Seals. It was not, however, at an end. Mockingly, the psychic presence of Goloth Maxyenka mocked and denigrated them for their efforts, dismissing them wholly. He lived yet, and soon he would come to control the Basin of Life – and further attempts to stop him would cause the Seals to break wholly, destroying Lusternia as the Soulless would be free, and not even Estarra the Eternal would be able to stop them. It was then that Estarra the Eternal appeared, seeking to understand what had occurred. Departing to ensure the Seals held despite the temporal workings of the Goloth and his Dames, Estarra beseeched the Basin to seek out a way to reach them, despite the Wheel of the Goloths being far beyond the mountain ranges that form the Basin of Life. Immediately Xenthos of the Glomdoring thought of the balloonist who had recently started experimenting with flight in the Inner Sea, and sought to help restore the balloon to working condition. Hearing the commotion Rivius, Enyalida and others of the Serenwilde came to help, as did Iytha of New Celest, and many more. Soon an entire group were in tow as the balloonist set off on what would be the wildest adventure so far in his ambitious life. With the help of Xenthos the balloonist, Sepehr Skytamer guided them through a swirling vortex of clouds and storm, sailing only vaguely westwards. Finally Sepehr set down at the destination he’d sought, having glimpsed it on a previous journey. Resting his balloon upon a sturdy cloud, Sepehr opened the gates, and Xena McCloud?, Queen of New Celest stepped forth, soon followed by her travel companions into this new land. Descending through a structure they came to know as the Pancopticon, they found a sprawling retreat filled with once-peaceful, blind krokani, terrorized by the dominators in Goloth Maxyenka’s employ. It did not take much, however, for those present to realize something very strange about the residents of what came to be known as the Lirangsha Retreat – though they were krokani, they shone with a powerful energy, their very beings infused with the light of the Immanidivinus. Coming to the aid of the once-peaceful Lirangshans, the people of the Basin of Life ultimately came to defeat the Time Dames themselves, banishing them from Lirangsha then again in the Time Lock of the Goloth, in each battle destroying the husk that once was the powerful Goloth Maxyenka. With the Goloth destroyed and the Dames slain, the Wheel of the Goloths itself ceased movement and was banished from the depths of the Pancopticon, the shining light of the Heart of Shallah once more pure and untarnished, bringing peace to the Lirangshans. With the Goloth vanquished, it is said the history of that place unfolded for many, and may yet again should the Goloth ever return to power. Yet, deep beneath the Pancopticon, beyond the place in which countless Lirangshans slumber agelessly, it is said there is a place of darkness and shadow, where whispers of those beyond time itself offer the promise of power. But with the Nine Seals weakened and the Soulless Gods threatening to escape, the Elder Gods look once again to the mortals for salvation. The Nine Challenges will once again be initiated to find which mortal will ascend and save creation from destruction for yet another generation. **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/july-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the July Vesteran Honours, Irillia won the bardic contest with the play titled, “From Crystal We are Created”. In the artisanal category, Reodan won with the painting simply entitled “Aquamancy”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [August Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/august-vesteran-honours-2/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the August Vesteran Honours, Rancoura won the bardic contest with the poem titled, “A Silent Caw for Crow”. In the artisanal category, Fania won with the portrait entitled “Junia and the Hummingbird”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia Eight Year Anniversary!](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/lusternia-eight-year-anniversary/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia began its journey eight years ago, opening its doors on October 7, 2004. What is more appropriate then to celebrate this momentous event with eight days of fun, games and surprises! Be sure to here during that time as there will sure to be something for everyone! ## October 4, 2012 – Hamster Hunt - Time: 8:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - 1st – Kelly (300 credits) - 2nd – Inagin (150 credits) - 3rd – Phoebus (50 credits) Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! ## October 5, 2012 – Treasure Hunt - Time: 8:00 p.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Winners: - 1st – Phoebus (300cr) - 2nd – Alondal (150cr) - 3rd – Shuyin (50cr) Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! ## October 6, 2012 – Wargames - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Winners: - 1st – Viynain, Shuyin, Celina (300cr each) - 2nd – Veyrzhul, Azula, Kelly (150cr each) - 3rd – Rivius, Nicholo, Izekeal (50cr each) Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! ## October 7, 2012 – Battlechess - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Prize: Chess Board of Libertas - Winner: Gaudiguch Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive the Chess Board of Libertas! ## October 8, 2012 – Quiz - Time: 6:00 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Winners: - 1st – Ushaara (300cr) - 2nd – Kalaneya and Phoebus (150cr) - 3rd – Viynain, Solanis and Maellio (50cr) Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! ## October 9, 2012 – Harmony Worldgame - Time: 9:00 p.m. PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Winners: - 1st – Inagin (300cr) - 2nd – Veyrzhul (150cr) - 3rd – Kelly (50cr) Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. ## October 10, 2012 – Death Worldgame - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Winners: - 1st – Kelly (300cr) - 2nd – Inagin (150cr) - 3rd – Xenthos (50cr) A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. ## October 11, 2012 – Vengeance Tournament - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Vengeance Tourament - Winners: - The Assassins won! The surviving Assassins were Celina, Maellio and Kagato, receiving a 175 credit bounty each. Participate in a bout of Vengeance! Who will survive? ***Note: All dates and times are in PST (and not GMT).*** **Categories:** News --- ### [September Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/september-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the September Vesteran Honours, Akyaevin won the bardic contest with the story titled, “The Last Sit”. In the artisanal category, Fania won with the portrait entitled “Meliana With Her Bears”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [October Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/october-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the October Vesteran Honours, Irillia won the bardic contest with the play titled, “Of Holograms and Hearts”. In the artisanal category, Elyse won with the portrait entitled “Ur’dead Knight”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [November Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/november-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the November Vesteran Honours, Tacita won the bardic contest with the first part of a novel titled, “The Age of Supremacy”. In the artisanal category, Sakr won with the portrait entitled “Gaudiguch Battle Maiden”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the artisanal and bardic contests this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [October Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/october-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the October Vesteran Honours, Auturius won the bardic contest for the story, “A Different Perspective“. In the artisanal category, Lilian won with her portrait entitled, “Lyethal Silverwolf”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) in October! **Categories:** News --- ### [Red Cross Credits](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/red-cross-credits/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The holiday season is a time for giving and turning our thoughts to charitable acts. As such, Lusternia will be donating 10% of all revenue generated from credit sales from December 15 to the end of the year to the Red Cross. Purchasing [credits](https://www.lusternia.com/Credits) now will not only help your character but will also help others in need. As there is also a 30% ongoing credit promotion (40% for elite members), that is all the more reason to consider credits at this time. **Categories:** News --- ### [November Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/november-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the November Vesteran Honours, Stratas won the bardic contest for the epic poem, “The Triumph of Glomdoring”. In the artisanal category, Lilian won with her portrait entitled, “Flowergirl Maeah”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) in November! **Categories:** News --- ### [Ascension Event 2012](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/ascension-event-2012/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** At the end of the Era of the Wounded Sky, the Soulless God Zenos was partially released through the manipulation of mortals by the Ice Angels. Further, the power of the Soulless God was amplified through the capture of two Voices of Elder Gods. Though eventually the Voices were freed and Zenos was defeated, the Nine Seals that hold the Soulless Gods were gravely damaged. As stated in the histories under Coming of Estarra, when the Nine Seals are weakened, there is only one way that they can be recharged: through the ascension of a mortal! Throughout the months of January and February, there will be nine challenges, each representing the nine seals. The winner of a challenge will be marked by that seal and receive a special honour. At the end of the nine challenges, there will be a final challenge whereby one of the nine winners shall arise to become a True Ascendant! If you win a challenge and become eligible to be one of the nine finalists, that does not mean you have to participate in the final challenge. For those who have won a preliminary challenge and have decided to actively pursue the ultimate reward of ascending, you need not be a top combatant. However, you will most likely need allies to protect you while you hold the Staff of Ascension. Thus, the strongest contestants will be those who can gather the heaviest support from other members of the playerbase. This is important for everyone else to keep in mind when throwing support behind a contestant: You should be choosing who to support based on who you think will make the True Ascendant. ### Seal of Chaos **Date**: January 14, 2012 **Time**: 12 Noon PST **Event**: Amidst the hundreds of hamsters released during this challenge, the Purple Hamster of Chaos will be hidden amongst this furry hoard. This is not as easy as it seems as the Purple Hamster of Chaos is not as easy to hold as one might imagine! Whoever holds the purple hamster at the end of the challenge will receive the Seal of Chaos. ### Seal of Nature **Date**: January 21, 2012 **Time**: 8:30 p.m. PST **Event**: Who knows the geography of Lusternia best? This challenge consists of a scavenger hunt to find out the answer. The winner will receive the Seal of Nature. ### Seal of Knowledge **Date**: January 22, 2012 **Time**: 8:30 p.m. PST **Event**: This challenge is a rigorous quiz about the nature of Lusternia and its history. The winner receives the Seal of Knowledge. ### Seal of War **Date**: January 28 and 29, 2012 **Time**: 11:00 a.m. – 2 wargames will be run back to back on each day. FFA among winning team TBA (if needed) **Event**: Four Wargames will be held with teams of 3. After all four are won, the winning four teams will have a final wargame against each other to determine the overall winning team. Once the final winning team is decided, the team members are given a choice. Decide among them who they support for Ascension and who will take the Seal, or enter a Free-For-All and the winner of the FFA will be the winner of the Seal of War. ### Seal of Harmony **Date**: February 4, 2012 **Time**: 11:00 a.m. PST **Event**: This challenge will test the skill of influencing. Whoever influences the most denizens will receive the Seal of Harmony. ### Seal of Life **Date**: February 5, 2011 **Time**: 12:00 noon PST **Event**: Who can save the most denizens? The winner receives the Seal of Life. ### Seal of Death **Date**: February 11, 2012 **Time**: 5:00 p.m. PST **Event**: A rather dark challenge: whoever kills the most denizens wins the challenge and receives the Seal of Death. ### Seal of Justice **Date**: February 12, 2012 **Time**: 8:00 p.m. PST **Event**: Using the skills of debate, contestants will see who will come up on top in a series of debate challenges. The winner will receive the Seal of Justice. ### Seal of Beauty **Deadline for Entry**: January 31, 2012 **Date Winner Announced**: February 12, 2012 **Time**: 4:00 p.m. PST **Event**: The Trademaster of each trade cartel may submit one design (either public or cartel-specific) on behalf of the cartel. The artist of that design must be specified as it needn’t be the Trademaster. For example, Trademaster Tom of the Lollipop cartel may submit a design and specify Jane as the artist. If that design wins, Jane would be considered the winner of the challenge. To enter, the Trademaster should message the Charites with the Cartel’s entry and specify who the artist is at that time. The winner of this challenge will receive the Seal of Beauty. ### Final Trial: Ascension **Date**: February 18, 2012 **Time**: 1:00 p.m . PST **Event**: The Nine Seals will merge together and form the Staff of Ascension. The staff can only be held by the nine challenge winners who are marked by one of the seals. When the staff is released onto the astral plane, it cannot be taken off of the astral plane. Whichever of the nine winners holds the staff for one full Lusternian day shall arise to become the True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-chaos-6/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Nine Seals have been weakened and thus the first Challenge has been called within the Basin of Life to restore their strength once again. For one day the Purple Hamster of Chaos has challenged all that would take her on to a wild and chaotic chase across the Basin of Life. At the end of the day – infact, for the entire day – it was Kelly who managed to hold onto her, defying the countless attacks upon her life and proving herself capable of extraordinary feats of perseverence. Congratulations, **Kelly**, bearer of the Seal of Chaos. The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place (700 credits): **Phoebus** - Third Place (500 credits): **Ixion** - Fourth Place (250 credits): **Dys** - Fifth Place (100 credits): **Saoirse** **Categories:** News --- ### [New Releases: Two Bard Guilds, Shamanism and a God](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/new-releases-two-bard-guilds-shamanism-and-a-god/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After the [Icewynd Epic Event](wounded-sky-epilogue-putting-it-all-together) concluded, several big releases hit Lusternia. First, druids received access ***Shamanism***, a new skillset that allows druids to manipulate the weather and tap into the rhythms of of nature itself, which translates into visions of the past, present and future. Both the [Hartstone ](blacktalon-guild)and [Blacktalon ](blacktalon-guild)guild can take this skill. Also, two new bard guilds opened! The [Symphonium](symphonium-guild) in the floating city of Hallifax was founded by Morshoth, Daedalion and Eritheyl. The music skill of ***Loralaria*** has an operatic theme and bards there attach crystals to their instruments for enhanced effects. In Gaudiguch, the [Minstrels](minstrels-guild) were founded by Tetra, Pesukaru and Ethelon. The bawdy songs of ***Minstrelry*** are sure to delight and — literally — intoxicate those who hear them. Finally, the Elder God known as ***Zvoltz the Architect*** returned to Lusternia, finally settling down within the confines of Hallifax. Sibling to the Elder Goddess Mysrai, Zvoltz teaches harmony and structure to those who would listen. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-nature-6/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Trial of Nature lead adventurers across the face of Lusternia, even into the frigid heart of the Icewynd! At the end of the trial, one stood triumphant – Xenthos An’Ryshe, who won by a large margin, despite difficulties of his own. - First Place: **Xenthos** (Holder of the Medallion of Nature) - Second Place: **Svorai** (700 credits) - Third Place: **Pesukaru** (500 credits) - Fourth Place: **Chade** (250 credits) - Fifth Place: **Sidd** (100 credits) **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Knowledge](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-knowledge-6/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Many came from across the Basin of Life, seeking to prove their knowledge of the past and present! For long the trial remained close, with Phoebus and Solanis battling it out for the first position for much of the challenge. As it grew to a close, however, one stood the clear victor. - First Place: **Solanis** (Medallion of Knowledge) - Second Place: **Rika** (700 credits) - Third Place: **Ushaara** (500 credits) - Fourth Place: **Phoebus** (250 credits) - Fifth Place: **Denali** (100 credits) **Categories:** News --- ### [December Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/december-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the December Vesteran Honours, Druken won the bardic contest for the treatise titled, “The History of the Shee-Slaugh Court”. In the artisanal category, Maellio won with her portrait entitled, “Turilira – Radian Glass Shadhahvar”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](ArtBard) in November! **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-harmony-5/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Mortals come from each of the cities and communes of the Basin for a battle, not of blades and magic, but of words. Spreading out across the Basin and into the higher planes and aetherspace, mortals sought to sway the minds of the denizens in Lusternia in their quest to claim the Medallion of Harmony. The challenge quickly saw three mortals rise quickly in their quest for first place: Talan and Tacita of the Glomdoring commune and Inagin of the city of New Celest. Nearing the middle of the competition, Tacita broke away from the other two to take the lead, and was able to maintain it until the contest’s end. Congratulations to **Tacita** who now bears the Medallion of Harmony. The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place (700 credits): **Talan** - Third Place (500 credits): **Inagin** - Fourth Place (250 credits): **Kalegyne** - Fifth Place (100 credits): **Xena** **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-life-6/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** On the 22nd of Kiana, 317 CoE, a serious outbreak of a lethal and fast-spreading illness fell upon the furrikin race. Many citizens of the Basin gathered, and subsequently split, to save as many as possible. Almost five hundred were infected, and there were fatalities in the hundreds. However, by a (very!) small margin, those saved managed to outweight those lost. At the end of the day, the results were as follows: - **Vadi** saved a staggering 103 furrikin (Medallion of Life) - **Inagin** saved 81 saved (700 credits) - **Rika** saved 52 furrikin (500 credits) - **Ankastra** saved 47 furrikin (250 credits) - **Lawliet** saved 22 furrikin (100 credits) **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Death](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-death-7/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Mortals from across the Basin gathered with weapons drawn and ready, each eager to test their deadly skill on the denizens of Lusternia in the Challenge of Death. Though Malarious took the lead at first, Inagin of New Celest powered past him and maintained a strong hold on first place. Xena, Malarious, and Talan raced after him, but Chade quickly overtook all of them, securing second. Inagin’s tireless efforts, however, kept him in the lead until the challenge ended. Congratulations to Inagin who now bears the Medallion of Death. The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place (700 credits): Chade, of the City of Gaudiguch - Third Place (500 credits): Xena, of the City of New Celest - Fourth Place (250 credits): Talan, of the Commune of Glomdoring - Fifth Place (100 credits): Malarious, of the Commune of Glomdoring **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Beauty](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-beauty-6/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Trademasters from all across the Basin of Life submitted their finest designs, vying to provide the most creative, most aesthetically appealing, and most attractive creation in order to claim the Seal of Beauty! Numerous designs of outstanding quality were submitted, but the Seal ultimately went to Maellio Onz’Verheu of Hallifax! - 1st: Maellio (a mandala of the planar realms) – Medallion of Beauty. - 2nd: Anita (a snow-swept cup cake of chilling doom) – 700 credits - 3rd: Aldani (a glass and silver double helix lyre) – 500 credits - 4th: Kylsiu (a well-worn blanket of wyrden heritage) – 250 credits - 5th: Eliron (platinum ice devil full plate armour) – 100 credits **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-justice-6/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Challenge of Justice saw many great debates while the Administrators of Fate referreed. Though competition was fierce, Morbo arose as the preeminent debater and claimed the the Seal of Justice! The following prizes were also awarded: - Second Place (700 credits): Talan - Third Place (500 credits): Hyde - Fourth Place (250 credits): Ethelon - Fifth Place (100 credits): Nicholo **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/january-vesteran-honours-2/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the January Vesteran Honours, Arafinwe won the bardic contest for the story titled, “A Memory of Note – I – Sariin”. In the artisanal category, Arunasapta won with her painting entitled, “The Scarlet Goddess Astride the Dreadform of Iklara”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/february-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the February Vesteran Honours, Naia won the bardic contest for the story titled, “The Perfect Sword”. In the artisanal category, Phoebus won with her painting entitled, “Companion”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/april-vesteran-honours-2/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the April Vesteran Honours, Fareneth won the bardic contest for the story titled, “Descent into darkness; a study into the Void”. In the artisanal category, Maellio won with her portrait of “Father – Daughter”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/may-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the May Vesteran Honours, Morbo won the bardic contest with the comedic story titled, “A Hero Arises: Part One. The Dread Chicken of Delport”. In the artisanal category, Phoebus won with her portrait of “Ai’dayi Lars”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/june-vesteran-honours-4/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the June Vesteran Honours, Cierce won the bardic contest with the comedic short story titled, “A World In Ruins: To the Sea, Someday”. In the artisanal category, Arunasapta won with a study entitled “Portrait of the Artist’s Husband in Templar Regalia”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [April Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/april-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the April Vesteran Honours, Tacita won the bardic contest for the poem, “Ode to a Nighthag”. In the artisanal category, Lorina won with her portrait entitled, “Lady Kelly La’Saet, Marshal of the Dove“. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) in March! **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/march-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the March Vesteran Honours, Kyair won the bardic contest for the poem, “Flood Skies”. In the artisanal category, Lilian won with her portrait entitled, “Tree-Hugging Serens”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) in March! **Categories:** News --- ### [February Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/february-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Congratulations to everyone who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard) in February! ### Bardic Honours: - **Winner:** Alysi for the short story entitled “Drunk with Power” - **Runnerup:** Kiradawea - **Merit:** Arath and Miciah ### Artisanal Honours: - **Winner:** Tedd for the portrait entitled “Dynamic Duo” - **Runnerup:** Phoebus - **Merit:** Synbios, Rivius, and Morshoth **Categories:** News --- ### [Call for Testimonials](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/call-for-testimonials/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** We need testimonials on our shiny new website! If you want to submit a testimonial, please go to the [Testimonials](https://www.lusternia.com/testimonials) page. **Categories:** News --- ### [January Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/january-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The January Vesteran Honours were announced! Congratulations to Sylandra who won the bardic contest with her disturbing story titled, “[The Strange Case of Miss Fairquilliion](https://www.lusternia.com/bardic/the-strange-case-of-miss-fairquilliion "Text Game Bardic Winner")“, and Sylvanis who won the artisanal contest with his self-portrait titled, “[Typical Sylvanis](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanal/typical-sylvanis-my-character "Role Playing Game Art")“. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-war/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Many teams answered the call of the Challenge of War and fought in the arena in an attempt to reveal who would bear the Seal of War. The first match was won by Malarious, Ixion, and Thalkros. The second match was won by Fillin, Lothringen, and Destridas. Third was won by Shuyin, Krellan, and Sidd, and fourth was won by Inagin, Veyrzhul, and Alban. In the final match, the team of Destridas, Lothringen and Fillin dusted past their competition to win. Lothringen and Destridas fought to the death – and Lothringen alone stood, marked by the Seal of War. Destridas and Fillin won 500 credits each, and the qualifiers each received 100 credits. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/challenge-of-nature/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the Challenge of Nature, magical spyglasses were used to find clues for a scavenger hunt that ranged across the entire Basin of Life. The winner was Rika Talnara, who claimed the Medallion of Nature for the second year in a row! Second place went to Talan (700cr), third to Xenthos (500cr), fourth to Narynth (250cr), and fifth to Solanis (100cr). **Categories:** News --- ### [September Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/september-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the September Vesteran Honours, Rathan won the bardic contest for the poem, “First Light”. In the artisanal category, Lilian won with her portrait entitled, “Asmodea Kamau, Lady of Bitter Frost and her ice dragon Xischa “. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) in September! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia Seven Year Anniversary!](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/lusternia-seven-year-anniversary/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia began its journey seven years ago, opening its doors on October 7, 2004. What is more appropriate then to celebrate this momentous event with seven days of fun, games and surprises! Be sure to here during that time as there will sure to be something for everyone! ## October 7, 2011 – Hamster Hunt - Time: 8:00 p.m. PST - Event: Hamster Hunt! - Winners: - 1st – Inagin (300 credits) - 2nd – Phoebus (150 credits) - 3rd – Rika (50 credits) Catch hamsters as they run around throughout the land! The rarer the hamster, the more points you get! ## October 8, 2011 – Wargames - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Wargames (teams of 3) - Winners: - 1st – Sidd, Vadi, and Shuyin (300cr each) - 2nd – Viynain, Elana, and Inagin (150cr each) - 3rd- Liwase, Malikai, and Tanaros (50cr each) Are you a master of in the field of battle? If so, get two other comrades together to join in the wargames! ## October 9, 2011 – Battlechess - Time: 11:00 a.m. PST - Event: Battlechess - Winner: Magnagora Each city and commune may compete in this game that dates back to the time of the Elder Gods! The winning organization will receive the Chess Board of Libertas! ## October 10, 2011 – Treasure Hunt - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Treasure Hunt - Winners: - 1st – Rika (300cr) - 2nd – Solanis (150cr) - 3rd – Enyalida (50cr) Figure out the clues to find special locations spread throughout the realm. The first to find the final location wins the hunt! ## October 11, 2011 – Quiz - Time: 6:00 p.m. PST - Event: Quiz - Winners: - 1st – Ushaara (300cr) - 2nd – Astraea (150cr) - 3rd – Viynain (50cr) \[tie\] - 3rd – Rika (50cr) \[tie\] Test your knowledge of all things Lusternian! ## October 12, 2011 – Harmony Worldgame - Time: 9:00 p.m. PST - Event: Harmony Worldgame - Winers: - 1st – Talan (30cr) - 2nd – Inagin (150cr) - 3rd – Rika (50cr) Those who influence the most denizens of the land wins this peaceful tourney. The harder the denizen to influence, the more points awarded. ## October 13, 2011 – Death Worldgame - Time: 7:00 p.m. PST - Event: Death Worldgame - Prizes: - 1st – Ragniliff (300cr) - 2nd – Lothringen (150cr) - 3rd – Inagin (50cr) A simple tourney–kill anything that moves! The harder the kill, the more points awarded. ## October 14, 2011 – Tessera Contest - Time: 5:00 p.m. PST - Event: Tessera Contest - Prizes: - 1st – Rika (300cr) - 2nd – Shuyin (150cr) - 3rd – Inagin (50cr) A special event with a new game: Tessera! ***Note: All dates and times are in PST (and not GMT).*** **Categories:** News --- ### [August Vesteran Honouors](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/august-vesteran-honouors/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the August Vesteran Honours, Kyair won the bardic contest for the poem, “She – A Reflection of Lisaera”. In the artisanal category, Fania won with her portrait entitled, “Senna as Faeling”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) in August! **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/july-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the July Vesteran Honours, Auturius won the bardic contest for the treatise, “The Words of the Five“. In the artisanal category, Lilian won with her landscape entitled, “Mischievous Mnemosyne and the Slumbering Kolm”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the artisanal and [bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/ArtBard) in July! **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/june-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the June Vesteran Honours, Ushaara won the bardic contest for the play, “Submission”. In the artisanal category, Tempeste won with her landscape entitled, “Over the edge of the Transphenortex Grid”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](https://www.lusternia.com/artbard) in June! **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2013/01/02/may-vesteran-honours/) **Published:** January 2, 2013 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the May Vesteran Honours, Laelia won the bardic contest for the short story, “Web of Vengeance”. In the artisanal category, Lilian won with her portrait entitled, “Black Chef Sotsepmet Koicei”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](artbard) in May! **Categories:** News --- ### [A Balloon to Remember](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/12/30/a-balloon-to-remember/) **Published:** December 30, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In the warmth of early Dvarsh, 343 CE, a hot air balloon rising from an island in the Inner Sea encountered some difficulty and crashed to the sea. The balloonist, a half-trill with only vestigial wings named Sepehr Skytamer, was soon located by Xenthos An’Ryshe, Eritheyl Zayah, Lawliet Letara, Squire Suspira, and Saoirse Kissane. Members of the group were able to help Sepehr repair the balloon and prepare for another flight, and though witness to the last unsuccessful attempt, they all joined with him for an aerial tour of the Basin of Life. Ever perfecting and testing his craft, Sepehr Skytamer can now be found on his small island in the north of the Inner Sea repairing, adjusting, and dreaming of conquering the clouds. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Future Changed?](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/12/11/a-future-changed/) **Published:** December 11, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** With a quiver the statue of marble and coral, bearing the likeness of a strange and outlandish merian, began to move. With a quiver the attention of the Aquamancers and soon all of New Celest was drawn to the Spires of Aquamancy, and with a quiver of her hands and feet and soon her face, the statue came to life. Confusion briefly reigned as she attempted to comprehend what was going on – and shock ruled her as the Aquamancers Glacia, Lorina and Tridemon attempted to explain their situation. It quickly became apparent this aquamancer was from the distant future, originating from an era where the Time Dames and the Goloth had dominated all four cities and both communes, driving them into dust and charred ash. She spoke briefly of the days when they hoped to alter their own fate by sending a chronomantic cube back through the Wheel of the Goloths, to no avail. Tears welled in the ambulent statue’s pearl eyes as she was escorted to the Pool of Stars, weeping at the beauty of a thing from childhood legend. She spoke of the terrible destruction of New Celest and those who perished, the tragic loss of a link to the Holy Plane of Celestia and the Celestines and Paladins who were variously annihilated or lost to the higher planes. She mourned her own fate – to be pulled away from her fellows, and the fate of a rebel alliance she was a part of, for every loss was terrible. Returning to the time-locked chamber from which she originated, the statue spoke of her longing to return to her time. It was the Aquamancers and the scholarly Manchal who convinced her of the need for her to be anchored in this time period, and then Manchal who probed further on how they fought back against the Time Dames without a connection to the Plane of Water. She spoke of how they had discovered a way to create a conduit through the planes, connecting the Prime Material to the Elemental Plane of Water. Too little, she said, for them to establish the connection needed for proper Aquamancy, however it was enough for them to pass through. Suggesting that forging such a connection might anchor her into this time period, Manchal and the Aquamancers set about providing the necessary resources she would need, with a sizable gold donation from the ever curious and occasionally invasive Sir Inagin La’Saet of the Paladins, who had kindly invited himself amongst their gathering. It was much too costly, she said, to forge a new one completely – but perhaps she could connect to one in the future, and in the process tether herself. And tether herself she did. After days of pouring essence into a fountain she had constructed, the Aquamancers found themselves in possession of a rare and previously thought impossible thing – a rift directly from the Prime Material Plane to the Elemental Plane of Water, without a Nexus of Power as a conduit. Transversing, the statue disappeared in a splash of planar energies, and soon Telperion, Lorina, Tridemon, Glacia and others followed. Discovering themselves aboard a ship drawn back through time, the Aquamancers pressed through the only hall they could find, discovering the Lady Captain Vonuleish Ladantine, gazing sadly out upon the Starry Sea. They spoke for a time, and as they did so it became readily apparent her memories of the future were fast fading. As she spoke she mourned the nameless faces she could see, and then could not see, blurs that represented them soon fading into possibilities, people not yet born or too young to have witnessed the events that could not possibly have happened. All that remained, she mourned, was what was immutable fact – the knowledge of the art they had employed for decades, fighting against the Time Dame’s forces wherever they make their presence known. It was crude, she said, and never so powerful as Aquamancy could be. It was all they had however, and they employed it in force. She spoke of the vessel she used – an amphora crafted of platinum – made early in the days following the fall of New Celest, in homage to one of the Elder Gods who had perished attempting to save the city. She spoke of how they forged the pathways – too weak to forge true Nexuses of Power – and how they used them to reach ships that sailed the Starry Sea, and from there collected the raw reagents they needed to carry on their offense. It was Lorina, the Lady Hand of the Exalted Lord and whose Cult of the August Healer bore an amphora as its symbol, who first asked to learn the art from Vonuleish. Soon other Aquamancers began to learn, more and more arriving to practice the art they would come to know as Aquachemantics. And so the Aquamancers had, Manchal theorized, altered their fate and perhaps the very future of New Celest, providing new knowledge and means to battle the Time Dames in their eventual attempts at conquest of the Bastion of the Light. As the N.C.S. Empress’s Hope sailed the waves of the Starry Sea, some aboard their newfound ship began to wonder if it would be enough, or if they would still be the first to fall before the Time Dames. Or if, perhaps, they would now be able to turn the tide of war in their favour. **Categories:** News --- ### [New Celest and Conquering Angkrag](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/12/07/new-celest-and-conquering-angkrag/) **Published:** December 7, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the month of Klangiary began, the sounds of warfare arose near the village of Rockholm. Shouts rose up as Queen Ethilwen’s guards rushed to defend their homeland, easily repelling the invading skeletons and undead. As she shouted for Rockholm to recognize her as Queen and come to her aid, a separate force of skeletons soon attacked that village as well. Shouting back at Ethilwen, Thoril claimed they should be the recipients of her aid, and cursed the name of New Celest and their undead servants in the newly occupied village of Angkrag. Xena McCloud?, Queen of the Holy Kingdom of New Celest came into Angkrag in an attempt to sue for peace, though Nasir n’Rotri was not one for cordiality. Still sore that the village had been taken by force and coercion, the undead leader of Angkrag hissed in fury and refused. Finally he relented, demanding half the force of the dwarven miners of Southgard in exchange for relenting in his attacks. Queen Ethilwen the Ready, crowned ruler of Southgard and the remnants of the dwarven kingdom, outright refused. It was Signus Urvir, her blind advisor and seer, who shuffled into the Throne of the Dwarven Kings, whispering to his queen and then Thoril Falgirn, Thane of the Dwarves, who had come to discuss the next move of the dwarven villages, united against the threat of Angkrag. Agreeing to some whispered plot, Queen Ethilwen sent Thoril away, suggesting he take Signus with him as her representative. Reluctant but finally agreeing, the Thane of Rockholm marched out of the chamber, taking the blind seer by hand. To where they went Ethilwen the Ready, Queen of the Dwarves would not say. It was the young aquamancer Yaffi who first suspected where they might have went, and as the Grandmaster of Humility, Ryboi D’Varden soon verified with the aquamancer Francesco Eli’Silar, Thoril Falgirn, Thane of Rockholm and Signus Urvir were found in the Chancel of the Clangoran Mysteries. As New Celest swore to help bless the Forge of Klangratch that the Chancel’s clergy might lend their aid to the dwarven villages, Thoril and Signus returned to Southgard, where soon Nasir’s skeletons began their attacks anew. While Yaffi, Laxinova, Queen Xena and others of New Celest ardently defended the village, the Archmage of the Aquamancers, Telperion Eli’Silar, worked with one of his mages, Francesco, to bless the forge. As the undead were pushed back, Xena joined them within the depths of the Chancel of Clangoran Mysteries, and together they blessed the fiery Forge of Klangratch, opened the fiery portal to the dark King Azbir’s prison, and then purged him and his dark entourage of living armours. Pushing the remnants of the cursed armour into the divine Forge, Queen Xena of New Celest summoned forth the Flame Warriors of the Chancel. Locking the forge, Thorgan Urrak, Keeper of the Forge struck a deal with New Celest. With their permission his warriors would retake the village, his settlers occupy and mine it, and tithe a portion of their proceeds to New Celest. Indeed, he agreed, the settlers would swear their loyalty to New Celest, as the new owners of Angkrag. As Xena McCloud?, Queen of New Celest gave the order, the flame warriors poured into Angkrag, overwhelming Nasir’s skeleton guards and the orc slaves. Rounding up the undead, the flame warriors dispatched them true to form, and the settlers quickly moved in. Setting to work, their miners entered the mines, while members of the clergy made friendly with the orc inhabitants. Cheering the move, New Celest began celebrations, for in Klangiary of 341, they and the fractured Kingdom of the Dwarves saw themselves rise triumphant in a great victory both parties hailed as a great campaign in the name of the Light and the memory of Klangratch. Still, the clergy of the Chancel were not naive. The warriors kept their axes close, even in celebration – for the undead were notoriously difficult to kill, and they had no doubt the furious lich would be out for revenge. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Last of the Mysterious Doors](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/12/02/the-last-of-the-mysterious-doors/) **Published:** December 2, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The City of Hallifax rang with warnings of the Code Black anomaly that had manifested in the Centre for Aeromantic Engineering in the form of a strange door. For many months, the Aeromancers collected cloudy essence in an effort to stabilise the temporal anomaly. In the end, the entire city scoured the planes for essence as emissaries of New Celest lent their aid to opening the door, sending elemental and temporal energies whirling through the skies around Hallifax. With the Sentinel Company standing by to deal with any dangerous anomalies, Aeromage Vashner De’Unnero opened the door upon a strange, washed-out laboratory of strange implements and a statue of a half-breed trill. So went the third door to open, revealing naught but questions and an attractive sculpture. Next, the Druids of the Blacktalon diligently worked to free the door from its temporal lock. Finally, Mighty Crow took to the skies as the temporal ties unwound and the door revealed a hollow within the Master Ravenwood itself, a bubble from some future time. Standing within was a petrifried tree, alone and aloof from the grey roots that surrounded it. Thus, the fourth door was released. Within the Tower of the Geomancers, the door frozen in time was filled with the oily tainted essence of earth. Black clouds converged over Magnagora illuminated by brief flashes of crimson lightning as the door was released from its temporal field. A laboratory filled with equipment that was far beyond the current understanding of geomancers was unearthed as well as a statue of a viscanti with strange devices embedded in his flesh. So came about the revelations of the fifth door. Finally, the mysterious door within the Pyramid of the Pyromancers was finally melted with the essence of fire, releasing it from its temporal bondage. Purple clouds blossomed over the City of Gaudiguch as a new room from a remote future roared into existence. Within the chamber leached of colour was the statue of a dracnari resting on a stone cushion surrounded by mystic implements of an unknown nature. And with that ended the opening of the mysterious doors. So came about six revelations out of time, from a future that may one day be or may never manifest, a paradox so profound that it may alter the face of Lusternia forever. **Categories:** News --- ### [That Which Lies Beneath](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/12/01/that-which-lies-beneath/) **Published:** December 1, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Worker’s hammers pounded beneath the City of Gaudiguch as the Grand Cipher, Dys Mzithrei was seen speaking with Mysrai, the Thousand Hands before the Lava Falls. Robed figures slipped to and from the Living Heart of the Eternal Flame in the wake of this conversation, moving with a strange purpose. The Illuminati spoke little of their task. Vuris Ama’rua requested only that he be informed with the entities once more crawled the purple sands. Some spoke even less: Morshoth moved with silent resolve, flesh filling his hands, and Pectus De’Ancariisa kept vigil, herself moving with secretive purpose. At last, the guild gathered in secret within the depths of the Pyramid, their motives unknown and their final result shrouded from sight. In time, it would become clear that the excavations were beneath the Pyramid of the Illuminati. What was revealed, however, was not spoken of. Questions remain: what use did the flesh go to? For what purpose did Dys Mzithrei meet with the Lord and Lady? And what lies beneath? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Opening of the Hartstone Door](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/24/the-opening-of-the-hartstone-door/) **Published:** November 24, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Following the release of the mysterious door in the Aquamancers Guild, the Druids of the Hartstone focused their efforts on the temporal doorway that appeared in their sacred glade. After many months of effort by Saran, Hiriako, Qistrel and others, they were finally able to open the rift which led to a small grove. Strangely still and silent, the grove was leached of colour though filled with verdant life. Standing in the centre of the grove was a single petrifried tree. Thus, the Druids of the Hartstone were the second guild to unlock the mystery that resulted from the temporal aftershocks left by the Wheel of the Goloths. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Retreat of the Time Dame](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/22/the-retreat-of-the-time-dame/) **Published:** November 22, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A loud keening rose up from the Southern Mountains, followed by a loud explosion. A fountain of rock and debris shot up from the middle of the mountain range as the Wheel of the Goloths wobbled up into the air and hovered over the Basin of Life. However, the Wheel was damaged, letting loose erratic forks of lightning while sputtering and dipping dangerously close to the ground, rising and flaling in jerks and jumps. Draped in black silk, a female figure appeared in the Wheel, the one enormous eye in the centre of her face glowing like a fiery crimson coal. It was Rusacha, Time Dame of the Weft. She was searching for the Time Dame of Destruction known as Stepasha. Time Dame Stepasha was in hiding with her horde of Dominators in the Ruins of Shallach. Walking up the crumbling stairs of a broken tower, she revealed herself and admitted that her mission ended in disaster. But the Wheel of the Goloths was unstable and fell to the base of Avechna’s Peak. Time Dame Stepasha made a quick march from Shallach to the Wheel, leading her much reduced army. Eventually, Time Dame Stepasha was able to escape into the Wheel, but not before giving the Basin of Life a warning that eventually the Time Dames would be victorious because they controlled the future itself. After she left, the damaged Wheel of the Goloths released an explosion of temporal energy that rippled outwards, leaving behind ghostly images of a dark and devastating future. Now, unstable points of time and space are peppered throughout the Basin of Life. The arduous process of removing these anomalies has been taken up which will hopefully stabilize the Wheel of the Goloths and prevent further chaos. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lars Legrand's Trouble with Rocs](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/20/lars-legrands-trouble-with-rocs/) **Published:** November 20, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** From a familiar farm in Delport, Lars Legrand began a journey that would lead him to trouble. Percy Legrand welcomed her cousin to her farm only to discover that Lars had tired of his life working in the mill and had made the decision to start his own farm. Knowing his cousin, Percy, to be a masterful farmer, he made the short walk to the farm and began to debate possible locations with his cousin. The first to come across this momentous moment was none other than Auspex Iytha. Shortly after, a number of others came to wish Lars well and to assist him in finding a new home. Among these newcomers were Tully, Tridemon, and Donato. Countless options were discussed, each discarded in turn by Lars or Percy for being unsuitable. First to be suggested and discarded was the Greys Moors, as the idea of undead neighbors did not sit well with Lars. Stewartsville was then likewise dismissed by Percy for being known as untrustworthy. Numerous other ideas were suggested until finally a suggestion by Earl Donato was aired and accepted. Oleanvir Valley was decided to be the optimal location for Lars’ new farm and after enthusiastic farewells to his cousin, Lars allowed himself to be led there before quickly taking off on his own. A short period of time later, sounds of frenzied construction could be heard coming from Oleanvir Valley. After the sounds of construction finally died down, the peace of the valley was suddenly interrupted by Lars’ cry of anger and frustration! A roc had swooped down and scared his herding dogs away, chasing them all the way to the Old Imperial Road. Without his dogs, Lars’ five lambs meandered into the forest, leaving Lars alone and distraught at his cottage. Many responded to Lars’ cry for help and attempted to assist. However, tracking down the dogs and lambs was more challenging than at first it appeared. Lars attempted to provide instructions in retrieving his lambs but was only able to instruct his helpers with partial directions. Many attempted to make sense of his instructions and to return his lambs to him but all failed until one arrived many days later. Gabriella Myeras of Serenwilde had come to try her hand at assisting Lars. She tirelessly assisted Lars, attempting to piece together his instructions and gather the toys back from the rocs. Many times, rocs would swoop down and carry her away, leaving Lars shocked and without hope. Gabriella would return shortly though, once again working to help. Finally, Gabriella was able to piece together Lars’ instructions and set out to gather the lambs. As she brought the final lamb back into its pen, Lars was suddenly refilled with hope and determination for his new farm. He could manage the rocs as long as one such as Gabriella would be there to come to his aide whenever the rocs returned. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Aquamancer's Doorway](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/19/the-aquamancers-doorway/) **Published:** November 19, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Countless months of effort were poured into the strange temporal doorway that appeared in the Spire of Aquamancy in New Celest. Telperion, Gracia, Tridemon, Neos, Alondal, Yaffi, Lorina and other Aquamancers worked tirelessly in the effort, ultimately succeeding in anchoring the doorway to the present era. With their tutor Manchal, they pressed through the opening door and found themselves in a strange chamber utterly bereft of colour. In the center of the room stood the figure of a frozen merian dressed and outfitted in a manner unbeknownst to these times. Indeed, this chamber is within no blueprints known to the Aquamancers except as a notations as a possible addition for some far future date. The Aquamancers have triumphed as the first guild to open the mysterious door that appeared in the wake of the temporal aftershocks left by the Wheel of the Goloths. No doubt, they will also be the first to discover what mysteries, if any, are revealed by this cryptic manifestation. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Death of the Wyrden Glory](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/12/the-death-of-the-wyrden-glory/) **Published:** November 12, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Descending into the Glomdoring Forest, Xynthin, the Ascended God of Life and the Wyrden Glory, came to fulfill his promise. “It is time,” He murmured, and tore apart Brennan Stormcrow, the undead guardian of the Master Ravenwood. Many of the Glomdoring stood awestruck as the God claimed the heart of the druid before departing. The unearthly cries of a beast echoed across the Basin of Life, raising concerns and fears from all corners. Soon, Xynthin came for Rowena Nightshade. A haggard and hideous crone, Celina Nightshade sought to command her not to obey – but Xynthin took her anyway. She cried out of the cost, but soon her voice was silenced, and the Wyrdling was fed her heart. Its cry rose up once more, and Glomdoring fell silent for a time. Convening, the Shadow Court began to deliberate what to do. Xynthin had called out to the Serenwilde and the cities, warning them to cherish their last moments, for soon He would unmake them all, as though they never existed. They were uncertain of what He would do – and as they met, Mother Night took physical form, appearing before the Shadow Court. Blame, she said, rested squarely upon Xenthos – had he perished, Xynthin would have not lost himself, and the Age of Wyrden Supremacy would have came unhindered, and Glomdoring would reign supreme. However, he had failed in every task, and he/Xynthin, her greatest hope for ruling all of the First World, had been ruined. Xynthin had descended into madness and, should he succeed, he would likely destroy all mortal life in the process. They would never have existed, and Xynthin and the fae would be all that remained upon a world rife with the dark essence of the Glomdoring Forest. They asked what they might do, but it was too late – Xynthin had arrived and silenced her. Xenthos moved between them, but it was futile. Night, resigned, drew past Xenthos and went with the Wyrden Glory. She was not seen again. Xenthos arrived at the Master Ravenwood Tree some time later, finding a distraught and upset Crow. Viciously, Crow attacked the mortal variant of Xynthin, cawing and biting and spewing carrion at him. Xenthos cried out in protest, that he was not Xynthin but Xenthos, and Crow only renewed his attack. It became clear Crow, though perhaps mad, knew who he was attacking. And the spirit was furious. Xynthin arrived to claim Crow, however Shikari, the Predator moved to intervene. At first Xynthin would not strike back – but as the Predator pressed Him, the Ascended God moved to strike back. Their battle would rage in the skies above the Glomdoring Forest, and as Xynthin gained an advantage, Nocht the Silent joined the fray. Still the Ascended God remained atop the affair, channeling the temporal energies of the Wheel of the Goloths for his advantage. Shikari, plunging daggers into Xynthin’s back, became His first victim. Clutching the Elder God, Xynthin used the Wheel of the Goloths to throw Shikari through time, pressing Him into the future. Nocht, the Silent, fell soon after, to the same fate. Descending into the Glomdoring, Xynthin claimed Crow, and pressed him into the Wheel. Beginning to spin the Wheel of the Goloths, Xynthin prepared to rewrite all of history with the dark energies of the Wyrd, annihilating everything any had every known in favour of a beautiful wyrden paradise, haunted by the dark spirits favoured by the Glomdoring and little else. Then Xenthos arrived. The two in the same location as the Wheel began to spin was too much – they were torn through reality, into the future Xynthin intended, yet locked outside of time. Only one would escape – the other would be dissolved into the time stream. Despite Skye’s attempts, nothing would save Xynthin, Wyrden Glory. Glomdoring was set against Him, fearing His madness and the destructive force He would channel into the world. In the modern times, the Glomdoring began to observe queer temporal creations – variations of Xenthos, split by few and great differences, began to manifest. Xenthos Shee-Slaugh, wyrden Spirit Warden, Xenthos Shee-Slaugh, Lord of the Tainted Forest, Professor Xenthos Ysav’rai, husband to Talan, ranked highly in the Institute. Warden of the Wildes, Xenthos Treeheart, husband to Celina Treeheart, High Priestess of the Moon. High Druid of the Raven Circle, Xenthos Ravenwing, husband to Sidd Ravenwing. The temporal anomalies piled upon and, soon, they became mad. Too many Xenthos from too many divergent time streams sped the process, and they descended into insanity, some violent, some strange, all dangerous. Killing these divergent Xenthos, those of Glomdoring and Celest travelled into the strange temporal reality of Xynthin/Xenthos, and shared with the shade of Xenthos the energies of his variant lives. Soon, he became real, and together, they escaped, leaving Xynthin trapped behind. Raging, Xynthin would be left to perish as Glomdoring slew the Ebonglom Wyrdling, forcibly breaking the Glomdoring’s control to the Wheel of the Goloths, and so severing Xynthin’s ties to our reality. Night and Crow threw aside the Wheel of the Goloths into the Southern Mountains as they escaped from its depths, Xynthin becoming utterly annihilated within the faintest blink of an eye. Nothing of Him would remain in the time stream, entirely dissolved that Xenthos might continue to survive. And as the energies of this freak anomaly were released, something strange happened throughout the Basin of Life. Doors, frozen in time, appeared in the Spire of Aquamancy, the Tower of the Thousand Hungers, the Sacred Grove of the Hartstone, the antechamber of the Blacktalon, the Halls of Aeromancy and the Pyramid of the Pyromancers. To what they might hold or lead to is unknown, though variously they have set about attempting to open them, to be the first to find whatever treasures or terror may lie within. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Tale of Xynthin, Wyrden Glory](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/02/the-tale-of-xynthin-wyrden-glory/) **Published:** November 2, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Unveiled, the Ascended God Xynthin began to answer questions as quickly as He could, ever keeping His perceptions outwards, cautiously searching. Shocked silence and stunned faces looked upon Him, though as His tail unwound, Ragniliff and Xenthos began to realize and piece together more and more. And so the sad story of Xynthin was told. In Juliary of 327, the Ascendant of Nature, Xynthin, chanced upon a temporal tear caused by the Wheel of the Goloths. Such were not entirely uncommon, for they occurred and unoccurred more and more rapidly the longer the Wheel spun. Passing through the tear, the Ascendant found himself in a day and era long past. The Basin of Life was torn by war and disease. New Celest had seen Soll Peulus master the Staff of Ascension, the first to do so, and rise – reborn in the Immanidivinus – as Ayridion, the White Flame. The Dread Lord of Contagion had lead many assaults against the Basin of Life, Shellma Natharian was slain in her attempt to claim the Pool of Stars and Ascend. And as Xynthin stepped into that age, the Dread Lord, avatar of the Great Muud, had set upon the nine seals themselves, causing them to slowly rot and decay. Xynthin knew what was to come – the Ascended God Ayridion was to sacrifice himself, purging the Nine Seals and creating the Threshold Abyss – the very reason Xynthin could not himself ascend in his own era. He acted to stop Ayridion, believing that the ascension of another god would empower the seals and stop the Dread Lord, and he intended to be that god. He was half right – though the Domotheos of Nature rebuked him, Xenthos still possessed the Seal of Life from a prior trial, and the Domotheos of Life was rife with energy, having not long ago raised Ayridion into godhood. Riding the currents of the undamaged domoths into the Immanidivinus, Xynthin the True Ascendant was reborn as Xynthin, the Ascended God. Glomdoring crowed triumphantly – here they had a god born of the Wyrd, imbibed with the pure energies of the Domotheos of Life and the Immanidivinus. He was, in Glomdoring’s eyes, the Wyrd given flesh and form. Their victory was short-lived. No matter what was done from that point forward, the Elder and Ascended Gods could not save the Seals. The damage done was too far along – they cracked and shattered. The Avenger Himself perished in the cataclysm that followed, and the Soulless Gods, asleep for thousands of years, awoke. Reality shuddered as it careened towards its inevitable unexistence until Estarra the Eternal came forth and destroyed all of reality. All that was was not, all that could be could not be, and all that existed perished in an infinitisimal moment that none would ever have perceived, save perhaps the Gods and Soulless Themselves. Shifting to the point in time moments before Xynthin would have found the rift, Estarra lashed out. The impudence of one to so meddle in time and bring about the end of reality had shocked even Her, and from Xynthin she stripped his name as a True Ascendant, defaming and cursing his existence for what he would do. Though he retained much of his power, there was an indefinable loss, something forever denied to him. He was once more Xenthos An’Ryshe of the Glomdoring. With the divergent timeline destroyed and Xenthos denied the opportunity to become Xynthin the God, Estarra the Eternal had set right the direction of time, marching onwards towards its fate, whatever it may be. It was irrelevant to Her that Xynthin the God had somehow survived, kept alive by His connection to the Immanidivinus – he was adrift in the unending nothingness left behind by the destruction of reality, barely existing, a shadow of what once was the Glomdoring, Wyrd and barely a memory of a sliver of what was the First World. His existence was a continued anomaly, but with nothing to effect, it was an almost suitable punishment – to cause the decay of Reality, and in turn forever exist alone. Then came the Wheel of the Goloths. Mother Night, in all her veiled and shadowed glory, knew much that few could see. And so, when the opportunity arose, she used the Wheel of the Goloths to draw forth the Ascended God Xynthin. It was a struggle at first – He had become accepting of His lack of existence, and being drawn into reality once more was an almost unsettling proposition. It was His service to the Wyrd, He later remarked, that drew Him forth. Night had called on Him to bring the Wyrd to glory and triumph over the First World, and He would answer the call. And it was then that Xynthin, Wyrden Glory came into the First World as the Veiled God, tentative and uncertain as to what He would discover. His tale coming to its end, Estarra the Eternal Herself descended, both intrigued and amused by the turn of events. Her gaze shifted from Xenthos to Xynthin as She remarked on the rippling effects of decisions, wondering aloud what would come of it all. Remarking that they were lucky She had not simply annihilated them both from every existence, Estarra the Eternal departed, Xynthin not long after. And as Xenthos returned to hunting the remnants of undead invaders, Tacita Shee-Slaugh realized the torn nature of her feelings – and remembered the whispered warning she had once been given. And like a river, time flows on in an inexorable march, flowing and crashing about obstructions and obstacles while dragging everything else along with it. Though it may be redirected and divergent paths forged, it flows onwards until it reaches its end, refusing to be stopped before it is ready. And, chilled by more than the cold of Mother Night, Xenthos An’Ryshe was discovering what it meant to be an obstruction in the way of Time. **Categories:** News --- ### [The God Unveiled](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/11/02/the-god-unveiled/) **Published:** November 2, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For months the Veiled God lurked in the shadows of the Glomdoring, speaking with those who dwelled within. Though they pressed Him for detail, questions were oft answered with questions of His own, and topics shifted so readily that many began to realize they knew nothing about Him. Speculation ranged as to His true identity – some thought he was the traitor Manteekan returned, others His dark cohort Blooredi. Many scoured the history books and found their descriptions did not match – but still, some hoped. With time, he gained the affection, if not wary trust, of some of Glomdoring’s inhabitants. Some like Celina, Queen of the Night, defended Him ravenously, claiming Mother Night would not have drawn Him through the Wheel of the Goloths if she did not trust Him. Others simply became a source of amusement for the enigmatic and bandaged God. One faeling Blacktalon, the young Corissai, particularly touched Him, making a gift of a wyrden battle cape that the Veiled One might feel welcome and included. In time the tentative peace that followed His arrival was shattered, the forces of Krangar, Guardian of Destruction pressing into the Glomdoring Forest in hopes of reclaiming the Wheel of the Goloths for the Time Dame Stepasha. For days the battle raged, some remarking bitterly that the Veiled God seemed disinterested in their fight. Finally Stepasha, Dame of Destruction pressed into the battle herself, the last of her troops pouring into the forest for a final, great battle. She could taste victory and triumph in the air. The Veiled God, having waited silently to be called upon, finally entered the fight Himself. Seeing the battle greatly stacked against Glomdoring and a few of its allies from New Celest, the Veiled God offered to help in a greater way. Rising up above the Glomdoring Forest, the Veiled God drew upon the essence and energy of the Wyrd itself, calling the Glomdoring into action. And, to the horror of many who watched from outside, the Glomdoring answered. The trees themselves began to quiver and shake before coming to life, branches swinging down to batter ur’dead knights, vines strangling wraiths and zombies alike. Thornbeasts leapt from the underbrush to join the defense of the forest, tearing into zombie and orclach alike. With angry cries the dying were dragged into the soil and treetops, fed upon by widows and trees and thornbeasts. In the swamps the oozes piled onto the ur’dead, dragging them beneath the waters and dissolving them into swamp muck. Zombies were yanked beneath the waters and fed upon by the furious Swampghast, vines pressing through any orifice they could find, tearing apart the undead from the inside, showering the forest in their blood. Harpies dove from the sky and tore into wraith and zombie and ur’dead alike, swarms of the shrieking females ripping and tearing eagerly into their next meal. Beneath the forest, in the tunnels, the loamdores fought to defend their home. In groups they piled onto the undead and drove them into the cavern floors, smothering them and forcing them beneath dirt and soil and stone. The walls smashed forward with malevolent and deliberate action, battering armoured ur’dead knights like toys and smashing them into puddles of twisted metal, meat and blood. Many stood in shock, within and without of the Glomdoring. No matter their beliefs to point, all know one thing for certain – this Veiled God with no name was deeply connected with the Wyrd, and like none before Him, the Wyrd answered and obeyed His call. Glomdoring, rallied by their forest and the fury of this enigmatic god, hacked and cut their way through the undead, meeting Krangar, Guardian of Destruction in the swamps of the Glomdoring Forest. Several times they came upon the Veiled God and Stepasha, Dame of Destruction matched in a pitched battle, hacking, slashing and scourging one another with blade, scythe and energy, their battleground the entire forest, and several times their battle drew them near Krangar and his knights. Still, the Veiled God pressed His advantage, holding off Stepasha while those of the Wyrd, lead by Xenthos and Tacita, finally bested Krangar, taking his corpse and seeking out the Veiled God. With the death of Krangar, Stepasha fled, her controlled and deliberate force of undead horrors becoming a frenzied mayhem of madness and hunger, no longer of use to her. Channeling bright and healing energies, the Veiled God freed the spirit of Krangar from Stepasha’s control, though stopping as He reached the shadowy, raging spirit of the undead orclach. Releasing the ur’dead guardian, the Veiled God blew him from the forest, free to reform as a lich and resume his service to the ur’Guard of Shallach. This done, the Veiled God turned to those gathered of the Glomdoring, and it was Xenthos who spoke next. For days, he had said, he had been strangely afflicted. It was as though existence itself was beginning to refuse him, pushing at him, pulling at him, flowing about him – almost forgetting about him, denying him a place in time any longer. Tacita Shee-Slaugh had grown worried, several times having watched her betrothed fade from existence briefly, and tears began to edge her eyes. “I do,” answered the Veiled God, and with a tug at the bandages obscuring His face, unveiled Himself for all to see. His eyes matching Xenthos’, the unveiled god’s voice was soft and almost apologetic, but inclusive. “It is because we exist,” said Xynthin, the Ascended God. **Categories:** News --- ### [And The Wheel Spins](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/29/and-the-wheel-spins/) **Published:** October 29, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Time and time again Stepasha’s undead stormed the Basin of Life, claiming sections of land rife with energy, particularly those of a darker nature, and drawing them out. Krangar, Guardian of Destruction lead charge after charge into the Grey Moors, Shallach, Hifarae Hills, Skarch and other places. With time, their numbers grew, and many came to fear the wandering masses of undead, turning before them and the temporal abominations that spawn in their wake. Not all, however – Xenthos of the Glomdoring and Celina, Queen of the Night took a particular interest in hunting them down, oft in the company of their dark, forestal kindred. For two months did the battle push and pull, even a Great Hunt being called during the strife. As the Hunt came to its close, Stepasha wound up her forces once more. Nearly a thousand zombies and ur’dead knights poured into the Glomdoring Forest, answering the cry to reclaim the Wheel of the Goloths. The inhabitants of the forest, however, stood together, and valiantly defended the Ebonglom Wyrdling and its prize. Hissing for more of the dead to be slain and their essence used, Rowena Nightshade worked laboriously at the Wheel, preparing her ritual. As the Wheel of the Goloths began to spin wildly, the undead wicca slit her palm with her athame and used her own blood to summon forth Mother Night. Casting the Goloth’s weapon in shadows, Mother Night reached through, into the nothingness, and pulled forth the entity known only as the Veiled God. For several days the Veiled God variously fought alongside and spoke with the inhabitants of the Merciless Forest, before leading them in a hunt to wipe up much of the remaining of the Time Dames’ undead that still lurked in the forest. Though many questions were asked and answered, the Veiled God departed while leaving many with no true certainty of His identity, or if He has one at all. Many theories abound, however, from every city and commune. Meanwhile, deep in the heart of the Glomdoring Forest, the Wheel of the Goloths continues to spin, wrapped within the great bulk of the Ebonglom Wyrdling. **Categories:** News --- ### [Binding of the Wheel, Revenge of the Dame](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/26/binding-of-the-wheel-revenge-of-the-dame/) **Published:** October 26, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Working tirelessly, Glomdoring set about completing a task they knew would cripple the Time Dames and their legions of dominators, to bind and hold the Wheel of the Goloths itself. Using the Ebonglom Wyrdling as their vehicle for this great feat, those of the Merciless Forest fed it hundreds upon hundreds of the strange temporal anomalies, simply referred to as ‘abominations’, manifesting in the wake of the damage to the Wheel. Slowly the Ebonglom Wyrdling’s aura expanded, dull at first until it grew explosive with the temporal energies the abominations were rife with. Finally his aura solidified, enveloping him like a thin, rainbowed armour of energy, one veined with shadows and darker energy. Their efforts come to a close, the Ebonglom Wyrdling soared north to the Balach Swamp, intending to claim the Wheel of the Goloths. From across the Basin of Life people came to see what was to occur, many in the dark of Glomdoring’s intentions. Refusing to surrender easily, Stepasha, Dame of Destruction rose from the Wheel, dominators pouring after her. She brought her scythe to bear against the coming Wyrdling, and found her dark powers were useless against his newfound aura. Shrieking, she called forth from the Wheel of the Goloths fiends from the Vernal Wars, creatures she had claimed with the knowledge stolen from Magnagora and fed with the essence stolen from the undead of Spectres Isle and Glomdoring – hungering wraiths. Composed of burning ash and cinder and shadow, the wraiths fed upon the lifeforce of those gathered. Though many were slain, some few escaped with Stepasha, Dame of Destruction, just as the Wyrdling struck at the Wheel of the Goloths. Claiming its prize, the Wyrdling returned to the Glomdoring Forest and settled down, wrapping about the Wheel like an avaricious, protective serpent. So bound, it was discovered Stepasha was cut off from the other Dames, and beyond her wraiths and her own powers, she had no aid to speak of – she was alone in the Basin of Life, in all of the First World, and knew the Wheel of the Goloths must be reclaimed. Immediately Glomdoring set about shutting down access to their forest, earning the scorn of allies, but they remained steadfast in their decision. Some days passed before Stepasha returned, but returned she did. Sweeping through the Isle of Spectres, the Dame of Detruction harvested the dead, using their energy to feed her wraiths, creating more, and others who became bloated and foul and deadly. Though many came to fight her, they found themselves ineffective in stopping her. Too late, too few fighters – whatever the reason, Stepasha finished her harvest and moved on, her bloated wraiths traveling with her. Soon, screams of the viscanti soldiers guarding the Waste Storage Facility erupted, the Dame of Destruction butchering them herself and breaking through the machinery holding in the mindless zombies. Fighters from every city arrived to fight their way through the undead, only to find they were not alone – cackling and howling gleefully, Stepasha, Dame of Destruction cut her way through the undead masses, harvesting the energies that animated them and drawing them in through her great scythe. Rising up from the Ackleberry Highway, her collecting done, Stepasha cast her scythe through the sky and sent waves of darkness, summoning forth dread zombies of her own, tormented husks that wailed and shrieked as they tore through any who waded into their midst. Working together, the four cities and two communes cleared the roads of the undead, though knew Stepasha would return. It was the ruins of the Shallach Fortress that she appeared in next, wraiths and zombies overwhelming the ur’dead knights protecting the gates of the Catacombs. Though Krangar, Guardian of the Gates fought long against her, he ultimately fell beneath her scythe. Defenders from every city and commune attempted to reach them, but they could not find their way past the undead quickly enough. Krangar slain, Stepasha forced her way into the Catacombs of the Dead, and gleefully set into her next harvest of undead. Hiriako of the Serenwilde found an ur’dead knight who had survived the attack to open the gates for him and others. They pushed their way into the Catacombs of the Dead themselves, once the passages used by the Vernal God Urlach to move troops during the Vernal Wars, and later the Empire to maintain control of their domain. There they found a pitched battle between wraith and ur’dead, the wretched aberrations of the Catacombs – and the wraiths were winning. As they fought their way towards the lowest levels of the catacombs they heard dark chanting and unholy screaming, only speeding their frantic battle into the depths. As they broached the lowest level, they found the source of their fear – Stepasha, Dame of Destruction, and alongside her Krangar, once Guardian of the Gates, raised anew as the Guardian of Destruction. Battle raged for some time between those who came after them and Krangar, though ultimately he followed Stepasha as she abandoned the Catacombs and its Commandant, unable to cull him and the gatekeepers whilst battling off those who would interfere. Many thought her defilement ceased with Krangar, the ur’Guard of Magnagora particularly. So incensed was Corporal Marcella of the ur’Guard that he deliberately sought out Krangar, though he did find him eventually – deep in the i’Xiia Asylum. Leading a warband of ur’dead knights, Krangar, Guardian of Destruction lead the collection of the undead mugwump prisoners and their wardens. Many came to fight back against the undead and the wraiths that attacked alongside them, though soon they discovered the ploy was a distraction. Elsewhere in Avechna’s Teeth Stepasha lead an attack against the Shallamurine Cathedral, slaughtering the priestesses within and defiling the slumbering Marani Veloske, attempting to claim her and her lifeforce. Howling in rage, Marani awoke and fought against the Dame of Destruction, utilizing her great powers and the sole note of the Song of Creation that she had come to master. The battle raged, but ultimately Marani was wounded and withdrew, returning to the Cathedral and going into hiding. Her priestesses slain and their bodies taken, Marani was without recourse and for a long moment was left to hang in bitter rage. Krangar, having arrived at the Cathedral, ordered the retreat, his ur’dead knights of Destruction dragging behind them the fallen priestesses, that Stepasha and her wraiths may feed upon them, as well. Naught has been heard nor seen of the Dame of Destruction since, leading the question to where she will strike next. Shall she return to the Catacombs of the Dead to claim its Commandant, nestled deep within its bowels? Will she attack the Shallamurine Cathedral once more, to claim Marani Veloske, the White Priestess? Whispers ranged the streets of Magnagora, that she may come to claim the Necromentate and more. Others worried she would come for the dreamers of Gaudiguch, or the fae of Serenwilde. One thing was certain, however – she had promised to return to Glomdoring once her forces were built up and to reclaim the Wheel of the Goloths and raze the forest. That was a promise no one doubts her intentions on. Though many still wonder, to what purpose Glomdoring holds the Wheel of the Goloths. **Categories:** News --- ### [Wounding of the Wheel](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/25/wounding-of-the-wheel/) **Published:** October 25, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** True to her promise, Stepasha, the Dame of Destruction, returned to attack the Glomdoring Forest. For more than a day the deathwatch beetles within the forest have clicked and chimed their eerie song, anxiously skittering amongst the trees. Soon the very Voice of Mahalla wailed and shrieked, the mournful tones of her song filling the Glomdoring with a dread cadence as the attack drew nearer and nearer. And then she came. Legions of one-eyed crimson dominators poured into the forest as the Wheel of the Goloths spinned above, twisting ominously as Stepasha paced the skies with even, patient passes. Rowena Nightshade joined the Queen of the Night, Celina Nightshade, briefly fighting side-by-side until separated by the enemies spilling into their mutual homeland, while Brennan Stormcrow stood guard over the Master Ravenwood alongside his Great Spirit, Crow. Growing impatient, Stepasha began to hack waves of black energy into the forest, hacking apart trees, defenders and raiders alike. It was then Brennan could wait no more, and took to the skies as a mangy crow. Calling out to the great Murder of the Glomdoring, Brennan Stormcrow drew forth the entirety of the forest’s crows, leading them in a frenzied attack on the Time Dame that had come to claim the spirit and undead of their home. Though they made progress, it was quickly halted as she blasted apart waves of her attackers, drenching the Glomdoring Forest in a downpour of dead and butchered crows. This did not stop Brennan, however, who continued his attack. Nearly captured by Stepasha, Brennan called out, and Crow himself joined the attack – raining black shadows of crows upon the attacker and eventually raking her with talons and beak, Spirit Crow fought for both his home and his most prized druid. It all played into Stepasha’s hands, however, as she grabbed hold of Crow’s wing and clutched him against her breath. Frenzied and panicked, Crow and Brennan clawed and bit as he attempted to escape, but to no success. As the Wheel of Goloths drew closer, Brennan returned to his undead elfen form, biting and clawing with rotten teeth and skeletal fingers, shrieking and howling in wordless fear and anger. It was of no use, however. The Wheel drew close, and Brennan and Crow were quickly drawn in with Stepasha, Dame of Destruction. Drifting away, the Wheel headed north as Rowena Nightshade was heard shouting and yelling, cursing that which lied within Glomdoring and demanding action. And action came. Shaking the earth and trees as it drew itself from its hole, the great Ebonglom Wyrdling took wing for the first time in centuries, skating across the skies to attack the Wheel of Goloths high above the Balach Swamp. Bashing it numerous times, the Wyrdling soon came to wrap itself about the Wheel of Goloths, constricting tightly. Temporal energies washed out across the Ebonglom Wyrdling and the skies around him, distorting all within their grasp as parts shifted through time, rapidly shifting from ancient to young, Wyrdling to part-furrikin. With a howl the Wyrdling released the Wheel of the Goloths, returning to battering it bodily. Soon the Wheel began to crack – a small sliver, a small slice of nothingness – and it was all that was needed. Shadows converged upon the Wheel of the Goloths as dusk changed to night, the form of Rowena Nightshade appearing atop the Wheel. Yanking at the crack she widened it enough to draw forth Crow and Brennan, though the latter after a long moment of consideration. Such was not without cost – for Rowena herself was nearly lost in the process, the hand of Stepasha grasping ahold of her, attempting to draw the ancient wicca into the Wheel, her previous prey now lost. It was then that day fully surrendered to Night, and She was greatly displeased. Black lightning coursed across the sky, battering the Wheel of the Goloths and slamming it into the Balach Swamp, Rowena escaping in the moment of frenzied panic and fear. Now in the Balach Swamp does the Wheel of the Goloths, slowly spinning, gaining in increments as its crack begins to knit together, shrink and heal. For how long it shall lie in the swamp is unknown, though Stepasha’s threat of return, to bring destruction to all of the Basin of Life, did not go without notice. **Categories:** News --- ### [An Ominous Portent](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/23/an-ominous-portent/) **Published:** October 23, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Throughout the Basin of Life dark omens appeared, ranging from the superstitious Serenwilde to the fastidious and intellectual Hallifax and everyone of all faiths between. Lorrie of Magnagora was the first to hear tell of the dark days to come, and it was fitting – for Magnagora was the first to suffer. Snaikka i’Xiia cried out for help, and as Donovain n’Lochli arrived her assailant slipped away. The usually steady scientist was disconcerted, however, for the questioning that had been put to her before she became suspicious. Why did this old hag draped in black ask so many questions about her work with flesh and the dead? The same question would be asked later, when the same occurred with Tunika d’Murani. However it was not flesh and dead things that concerned her then, but Necromancy and the art of controlling that which animated the living dead. Books were stolen before the nihilist penitent Phudmog arrived, the crone fleeing to the rooftop. As more came, they noticed her fleeing in the distance, leaping skillfully from rooftop to rooftop and then out of sight. Questions became asked, though no answers were given. Then the fog came. Black and seething, it twisted down the city streets and towards the heart of the tainted city. Red eyes formed in the fog and from it came the Dominators, returned to the Basin of Life. The Shock Troops of the Time Dames attacked time and time again, blood-curdling screams rising up as the raid continued. The towers of the noble households were raided, as was the Silent Cathedral and Atropos Square. It was Solanis of the Serenguard who, having came to aid Magnagora, came to find the massive cluster of Dominators hiding in the Boneyard. Too late they were, though, as Seritul d’Venacu shouted his surrender. As Magnagora realized it was Seritul who had been screaming all along they broke into the crypts, finding the triumphant Dame of Destruction, Stepasha, leaving with her prize in hand. Heresiarch Nymerya demanded explanations, as did ardent defender of the city Marcella. Seritul told them of her prize – the knowledge of utilizing the essence of spectres and undead. Riding upon the chine of her great scythe, Stepasha, Dame of Destruction was seen descending upon Spectre’s Isle. Swarms of Dominators scoured the once island nation, harvesting the essence of the spectres there for their mistress. Hallifax, Serenwilde, even Glomdoring and New Celest came to fight their mutual enemies. Svana of Gaudiguch charging about murmuring and chanting about blood and strange insanities, eventually herself downed by the powerful and destructive Dame. Though they fought off hordes of Dominators, Stepasha was gaining ground – and Magnagora turned to hunt the spectres, seeking to deny Stepasha their essence. Nothing left, Stepasha departed into the skies, leaving the cities and communes to clean up the remnants of her forces. She had what she came for – but to what purpose? Rumours abounded – New Celest fears the memories of the spectres shall be drawn out, to seek artifacts long since abandoned. Magnagora fears the Time Dames shall create a Necromentate of their own. Serenwilde quivers at the dark words of Chuchip, and wonder what it means for their forest. It was in Glomdoring, however, where tension hung highest. Mother Night had warned them, and they knew the risks were high. Tacita, Dark Regent of the Merciless Forest, sought the company of the Voice of Mahalla. For nearly a day she stood guard, when finally her fears for the Voice were beginning to abate. Just as she turned to leave, however, Mahalla’s Voice began to quiver and wail, her keening cry one of fear and ill portent. “She is here! She is coming!” the Voice cried, and just then a black mist rolled down the hills at the southeastern corner of the Glomdoring Forest. The zombies and puppetmasters that made it their home were the first to fall, dragged away by the dominators before an alarm was raised. The abominations crawled into the forest, penetrating the tunnels and pushing past the trees, though the forest itself rose to fight against them. Queen Celina Nightshade charged into their midst, Xenthos An’Ryshe right behind her. The Glomdoring heard the call of war, and everyone answered its call. As the dominators breached deeper into the tunnels, Rowena Nightshade called out of their approach. She joined the fight herself, stalking alongside those of the commune fighting, casting dark spells and curses of Mother Night, immediately earning the respect of those who fought alongside her as she scourged and howled her way through the deadly onslaught. It was then the fight expanded deeper into the forest, then into the Black Tower itself. Joining the charge Rowena cut into the tower alongside Xenthos, Tacita, Celina, Malarious and more, spreading out to cull scores of abominations. Separated from the others Rowena Nightshade slowly found herself being pushed back to the peak of the Black Tower, ultimately surrounded by thirty and more abominations, their numbers rapidly growing. Shouting curses at them, Rowena held them as she could, though her commune mates could not fight their way to her. The numbers of the abominations doubled and more, pressing in on the once Queen of the Night. Many grabbed at her, clawing, attempting to bind her and drag her away. As they pressed in, she had little recourse but escape. She was not without her tricks, however. More than two hundred years serving Mother Night did not leave Rowena without recourse – and summoning up the shadows of the Glomdoring that paid homage to none but Mother Night, Rowena unleashed a cataclysmic explosion, eradicating all that surrounded her in a devastating explosion of dark energy, leaving nothing in her wake, not even herself. Glomdoring had no time to mourn their lose nor succumb to the overwhelming shock of the attack. More of the shock troops of Stepasha, Dame of Destruction poured into the Glomdoring, and Brennan Stormcrow would not allow Rowena to go down whilst he remained at the Master Ravenwood. Abominations pressed their attack across the forest – the Spider’s Larder, the Wyrdling, the putrefied glen in which the Master Ravenwood makes its home. Brennan and the Glomdoring met them at each and dispatched them, until none could find a dominator left in the forest. Brennan transformed himself into a mangy crow, flying above the eaves and treetops of the Glomdoring, where waited Stepasha, patient yet predatory. Though power was on her side, Brennan had cunning, guile and dexterity – though ultimately it would not prove enough, as Stepasha downed him and chased him into the treetops of the forest. Finally acting, the Great Spirit Crow lashed out at Stepasha, pecking and clawing and driving her back from where Brennan fell. It was a skillful swing of her scythe that knocked Crow from the sky – battering him with its snath, Stepasha pursued him, only to find Brennan renewed. An undead elfen once more he leapt from the treetops to bite and claw and scratch and shriek, howling and tearing at the Time Dame with a frenzied display of violence while Crow disappeared quickly into the treetops. Stepasha had little of it – catching Brennan Stormcrow by the neck, she gloated of her victory, proclaiming him and the essence within him hers. She mocked his Great Spirit as her next target, threatening to consume him as well, all in the name of the Undying One. It was then that Celina Nightshade, Queen of the Night, called out to her Great Spirit. Be it but providence or Mother Night’s answer, a great blast of shadows slammed into Stepasha, knocking her away from Brennan. Reaching into the shadows, Brennan pulled free Rowena, briefly thought dead, and yanked her down into the eaves of the Glomdoring Forest, where Stepasha would linger just beyond before she surrendered her chase. Though her reasons for ceasing are as clear as her strange obsession with the walking dead, one thing was certain. She would return, and she promised that should would claim Brennan, Rowena, and Spirit Crow for her purposes. **Categories:** News --- ### [Czigany Wayfaire Arrives in the Basin of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/10/05/czigany-wayfaire-arrives-in-the-basin-of-life/) **Published:** October 5, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The wondrous, extraordinary and magnificent Czigany Wayfaire has arrived in the Basin of Life to celebrate Lusternia’s anniversary! Led by Jal Czigany himself, the Czigany Wayfaire is a fantastic place of games, food and fun. With the mythical beasts of Garridan Lowara, the dark foretellings of Madam Vadoma Drabardi, the whimsical antics of Lady Natayla Lautari, the lord of illusions Master Dukker Cymbolam and the dual feats of strength and pretty carousel belonging to Andrzej Pitivo at his back, Jal Czigany, also known as the Wanderer, is a welcome figure anywhere upon Lusternia, signaling the beginning of festivities and great events. It will not be long, however, before the Wayfaire moves again – alas, the nature of wandering people! Should they be nearby, one should always take advantage of purchasing what goods one can, for you never know if they will still be there next The Wayfaire will stick around throughout October. Completing the Wayfaire quest will give a special reward! Also, note that there are special beasts for sale that are offered only by the Wayfaire. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Children of the Basin and Mystery of the Janderi](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/09/17/the-children-of-the-basin-and-mystery-of-the-janderi/) **Published:** September 17, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the early morning sun rose over the mountains, so too did the Wheel of the Goloths rise into the sky, shooting bolts of energy which tore open temporal rifts across the firmament. For a few moments, half-seen images of possible futures, including a disturbing future for a Guardian of the Dark Forest, and events of the long past flitted across the surface before a rift opened and squadron after squadron of Dominator poured out into the sky. Directed by Rusacha, the Time Dame of the Weft, the dominators swiftly made for the villages of Basin in order to carry out their cryptic primary objective. As the panicked cries of villagers soon made apparent, the dominators had one goal and one goal only: the abduction of every child in every village. Heeding the calls for help, citizens from every organization marched out to do battle with the eldritch menace. Along the highways, across the village greens, and, in some cases, house by house and room by room the combat raged, and slowly the dominators were fought back. No sign, however, could be seen of the missing children. No sign, that is, until Dame Rusacha ordered all squadrons to fall back to the extraction point in order to aid in the processing of the kidnapped. Once every surviving dominator began swiftly moving in the direction of Bondero Bay, it did not take long for their base of operations, the remote island of Vesucia, to be discovered. There the battle was rejoined with hundreds of dominators engaging the embattled warriors, who now not only had to worry about defeating their foes, but also defending the children. Before long, the combined efforts of the mortals succeeded in vanquishing the dominators, and Dame Rusacha was forced to call a retreat, her mission incomplete. With the threat of the Dominators gone, all that remained was to return the kidnapped children to their respective homes. Though some went willingly, others did not appear to realize the full extent of what had just happened to them and were quite reluctant to leave, viewing the whole encounter as quite exciting! Before long, however, all of the children were returned to their respective villages and life resumed as normal, yet the burning question of why the dominators went to so much trouble to kidnap youths remained unanswered. Less than a day after the dominators fled, Father Ratanele of Saint Gathlyn’s Orphanage for the Dispossessed undertook the long journey to Hallifax. Touched by the concern that the Archmage Phoebus Windwhisper had demonstrated for his institution during the attack, the Father hoped to get her assistance in a seemingly related matter: the presence of a catatonic krokani girl that had been found listlessly wandering just after the abductees were returned home. With Unicron n’Lochli in tow, the two made their way back to the orphanage to lend what aid they could. Through their combined efforts, and the herbal administrations of Ankia Novikei, the young girl was cured and revealed to be Raisa Janderi, a descendent of an old Celestian Great House fallen on hard times. Phoebus and Unicron graciously volunteered to lead the child to her family’s farm in the Grey Moors where she lived with her siblings and grandfather. It was there that the two learned that it was not dominators that had so afflicted Raisa, but the trauma of losing her beloved mother who had just died of an unknown illness. To help bring peace and closure to the children, the selfless Hallifaxians set out to unlock the Janderi Mausoleum, the traditional burial ground of the family that was sealed by a particularly stubborn enchantment. Braving guardian spirits, greedy octogenarians of questionable morals, and a particularly absent-minded krokani mystic, Phoebus and Unicron eventually succeeded in unsealing the mausoleum, which laid to rest the spirit of a krokani woman and revealed a dark, troubling secret of the Janderi line… **Categories:** News --- ### [An Aborted Invasion in Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/07/30/an-aborted-invasion-in-hallifax/) **Published:** July 30, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Alarms rang out across the frosted platforms of Hallifax as strange anomalies manifested across the cold streets. Hordes of shambling zombies stepped from these to attack citizens in the streets. The citizens searched in vain for the source of the undead plague. In a blaring of sirens and an artificial voice of stern gemwork, the Primary Generator alerted the city to the reanimated flesh. After waves of zombies came a swarm of undead cave fishers. All the while, the Primary Generator provided announcements that became, over time, more commands than guidance to the besieged citizens. The citizens battled the invaders at the very Matrix, and the voice of Kesisha, First of the Time Dames echoed over the city aether, revealing confused details of a plan to breach the temporal defenses of Hallifax. Waves of temporal energy washed across the beleagured forces, displacing the citizens and their allies as fires raged across the city. Rifts opened around the city, expelling hordes of Dominators onto the platforms of the Beacon of Harmony. The strangeness of the situation only increased as blood turned to alcohol in the veins of those who fought the mysterious invaders. The Primary Generator gave a final garbled instruction, calling the inebriated citizens to return temporal artifacts carried by the Dominators to the Wheel of the Goloths. A final distorted cry for aid rang out as the Generator went dark, avoiding further damage from the Dominator forces. In time, the citizens rallied. The Dominators were slain and the temporal rifts sealed, leaving behind only wreckage and unanswered questions. **Categories:** News --- ### [Rise of House n'Lochli](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/07/08/rise-of-house-nlochli/) **Published:** July 8, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During maintenance of the n’Lochli family mausoleum within Magnagora, a mischievous imp labourer escaped the whip of Lord Ayman, Architect of the Engine with a small silver key. Demanding the return of her family’s property, Lady Ardath n’Lochli quietly sought aid from the Iron Council for the imp to be captured and destroyed for descrating the n’Lochli tomb. Nymerya and Thalkros chased down the imp, and returned the key to Lady Ardath. In appreciation of their quietly handling the situation, she allowed them to search for the meaning of the key, which was inscribed with markings indicating it belonged to Malacoda Manor in the Blasted Lands. Joined by their family, they searched the ruins of Malacoda and found a hidden dresser, unlocked with the key from the mausoleum, and containing an enciphered scrap of parchment. Bringing the parchment back to Lady Ardath, they discovered that the parchment bore their name, Koicei. Belonging to the former Koicei n’Lochli, the document allowed them to piece together their own relationship to the n’Lochli family. Confirmed as accurate by the expert scholar Allegra n’Lochli, the modern Koicei were recognized by Lady Ardath as the rightful heirs to the n’Lochli name and titles. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Mysterious Cube](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/07/01/a-mysterious-cube/) **Published:** July 1, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Wheel of the Goloths became active once again. This time an enormous cube made up of smaller cubes emerged from the wheel, as it began to give a message to all those who had gathered. But just before the message could be completed, the cube became unstable and exploded into hundreds of shards. What was the message that was left uncompleted? Who did it come from? Will anyone ever know? For now, the Wheel of the Goloths remains silent once more. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Matter for Mushrooms](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/06/26/a-matter-for-mushrooms/) **Published:** June 26, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was a seasonably normal day in Dioni when the Wheel of Goloths appeared once more, spiraling through the skies above the Razine Mountains. A grim, red light raced across the heavens, heralding the arrival of another spinning portal. Like clockwork, the eerie voice of a commanding Dame blared a dark portent to the Basin of Life, commanding her horde of one-eyed dominators to “collect a sample.” Adventurers from across the lands raced to the Razine Mountains in search of the tell-tale signs of the dominators. The augurs of destruction, mayhem, and death that typically walk hand-in-hand with the one-eyed horde were not immediately discovered, however, and the Basin of Life fell silent for the span of several heartbeats. Suddenly, a visceral cry filled the air, echoing up from the entrances of the Undervault. More cries followed swiftly after the first, multiplying into an eerie chorus until the Basin of Life shuddered with the sound. After so long, it became clear that the cries, desperate and anguished, roared forth from the mouths of colossal insects. The residual echoes of enormous mandibles clacking against stone walls filled out the intervening moments when the brave adventurers decided, as a pack, to pour themselves headlong into the cavernous depths of the Undervault. A mad search began, starting at the entrance by the Holy Shrine of Klangratch in the Razine Mountains, where the Wheel of Goloths now stood as a grim reminder of its untold origins and the chaos that it brings as it moves across the Basin. The search ended, fruitlessly, and the adventurers seemed at a loss until the small, insistent voice of Pilea Myceli was heard pleading with what could only have been the one-eyed dominators, begging them not to hurt her experiments– the very enormous, aggressive insects that cried out when the dominators arrived, which Pilea referred to as the mycefax. Pilea’s shouting brought the adventurers closer to their targets. It was Oberst Ushaara Gordian and Private Ejava, both from Hallifax, and Serenguard Haghan Eli’Silar, from the Serenwilde, who arrived on the scene first, discovering a frantic, incoherent Pilea, a tiny hyfae with a knack for scientific experimentation, huddled against the cavern walls of her makeshift laboratory in the Caverns of the Hyfae. More adventurers arrived as Pilea began unfolding the tale that led to her state of desperate unrest, revealing — between sobs — that the mycefax were her greatest creations and that the “one-eyes” disturbed them, unsettling them from their slumber in the hatcheries that stem from Pilea’s alcove. It wasn’t long before the gathered adventurers speculated, rightfully, that the dominators must have accidentally startled the slumbering mycefax in their quest for something poor Pilea held within her alcove, triggering a stampede of sorts that broke the dominators’ formation and stirred up the denizens of the Undervault. The speculation about what it was that attracted the dominators to Pilea’s alcove, whether it was the fungus or something else, was cut short by the imperious shouting of Rusacha, Dame of the Weft, who commanded her dominators to alter their mission: rather than to simply collect some sort of sample, the objective now included the destruction of the stampeding mycefax. Waves of dominators flooded the Hyfae, much to Pilea’s horror, and the mycefax grew angrier and angrier as a result, becoming ever more agitated by the dominators’ feeble attempts to dispatch them. In response to this new directive, the adventurers split into different formations of their own in an attempt to hold back the flood of one-eyed beings, but the Dame of the Weft continued her fight, commanding her small army to retreat only when the new target was defeated. Up until this point, Pilea had begged the adventurers to leave the mycefax alone, expressing her regrets at the casualties they may have caused, but assuring them that they truly meant no harm. And so the stalemate ensued; dominators continued to fill the caverns and the adventurers continued to fend them off. After due deliberation, and with the Dame’s threat lingering, Pilea made the weary decision to encourage the adventurers to put down the mycefax that were too far gone to be saved, all in an effort to quell the flood of the dominators from further damaging her experiments. With their new, grim task in front of them, the adventurers made swift work of the mycefax and the remaining dominators, sustaining minor casualties in the process. As the last of Pilea’s creatures fell, the Dame of the Weft announced that her mission was a success and the Wheel of Goloths flew through the skies once more, opening the portal through which the dominators escaped from whence they came, fewer in numbers but seemingly successful. Little Pilea, regaining her composure, began the tale of her successes once more, explaining that she could not have fathomed the power of the fungus that she grew and the effects it had upon the insects, which became the mycefax. As the gathered adventurers processed this information, Pilea fell into a meditative trance, using her tendril-like appendages to sort through the roots of the fungus that grows in her alcove, determining that dozens of her mycefax still live– and were perhaps, at this moment, reproducing in the depths of the Undervault. Delighted, Pilea informed the gathering that she believes, with a little help, she can grow more fungus that might lure them back to her cavern, where she could complete their evolution into new guardians for the Queens of the Kepheran Hives. But first, she would need a few moments to compose herself. Eager to help but respectful of Pilea’s wishes for silence, the gathering left the tiny alcove in the Caverns of the Hyfae, promising to return soon in order to assist her with her new project. All but Spirit Warden Xenthos An’Ryshe, the now fallen Ascendant and long-time servant of the Glomdoring Forest. Sensing ill-intent, Pilea ignored the presence of Xenthos, muttering about her allegiance to the Kephera Hives and her mistrust of their enemies. At these words, the fallen Ascendant struck young Pilea, murdering her in cold blood. When the eager adventurers returned to the caverns to find Pilea missing, a new quest for answers erupted, resulting in the counsel of Wise Lamella of the Hyfae, elder of the Tryko Forest, who informed Heir Sondayga Zayah of the Serenwilde that treachery from within the caverns led to Pilea’s death and that the Tryko would only return her to life when it was safe. With a little prodding, the adventurers coaxed out of Wise Lamella the solution to their problems: the extermination of the enemies of the Hyfae. A bloody battle broke out, resulting in spilled blood and short-lived deaths. The Glomdoring returned with more strength each time they were repelled, led by the fallen Ascendant, and the guardians of Pilea’s experiments were at a loss– when she was returned to life, she was struck down just as quickly. Wise Lamella, powerful and mysterious, could only offer Pilea’s saviors a burst of energy that would allow Pilea to avoid the cold metal of Xenthos’s blade for a short while, perhaps allowing them a chance to help her grow new fungus. It was Serenguard Haghan Eli’Silar who championed the first return of the elusive mycefax, a bulbous centipede-like creature that transformed into a massive version of itself, but as the adventurers led the creature to its destination, Queen Sethmenton’s hive, the fickle nature of the intelligent mycefax reigned, resulting in its premature return to the wilderness of the Undervault. Pilea’s dangerous experiments, tentatively recovered by the willingness of more who would help her raise new fungi, continue to roam the dark corners of the Undervault, unseen and as enigmatic as the dominators who caused their distress. What were the dominators looking for? If it was truly Pilea’s experimental fungus that lured the dominators to the Undervault, what could they possibly need such an unstable, transformative substance for? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Shame of a True Ascendant](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/06/17/the-shame-of-a-true-ascendant/) **Published:** June 17, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In an unprecedented event, Estarra the Eternal stripped the True Ascendant form from Xynthin, who now walks in shame under the guise of Xenthos. What transgressions the once great Xynthin did to deserve such a punishment remains a mystery. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Mystery of the Feyranti Estate](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/06/12/the-mystery-of-the-feyranti-estate/) **Published:** June 12, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Wheel of Goloths became active once again, releasing a squadron of the Dominators, led by Ludlya, Time Dame of the Flow, who immediately invaded Avechna’s Teeth on a mission that led them to attempt to commandeer the blood diamond mines in the hidden Feyranti Estate. The invasion overwhelmed the estate, enough so that the reclusive Master Kinzoth Feyranti sought help from his kin in Magnagora. Unfortunately, Kinzoth was unable to muster the Feyranti forces he hoped for. Nevertheless, fighters came from all corners of the Basin converged and dispatched the Dominators, but were rewarded with only reluctant gratitude by the Estate’s master. Kinzoth Feyranti’s foul mood was explained moments later by the clamour of six young viscanti entering the Estate’s gates, each claiming to be the heir to Kinzoth’s fortune. Kinzoth muttered something about a banquet as he left to tend his wounds, leaving the curious travelers in the hands of Roneve d’Sifal, his butler. Irritated with the cold reception of the viscanti they’d just assisted, many of the fighters dove into the mines that Kinzoth appeared so protective of and discovered a wealth of lustrous blood diamonds in the living earth. Though the gruesome secret of how the blood diamonds left many queasy. Xynthin, Tacita, and Sidd of Glomdoring harvested many of these diamonds, but it was Archmage Phoebus Windwhisper of Hallifax who questioned Roneve about the banquet Kinzoth had mentioned. The Master’s grandchildren each felt they deserved to inherit the Feyranti Estate and its mines, Roneve explained, and thus each were irritated that they had to attend Kinzoth’s banquet in their siblings’ company. Phoebus – with the eager assistance of her fellow Hallifaxians, Zyphora, Nelras, and Tulemrah, as well as the interested Glomdorians – persuaded the six heirs of the Feyranti Estate to attend their grandfather’s banquet, only to find that the decision had been thrust upon each of the siblings instead: who would you choose to inherit the blood mines of the Feyranti Estate? After assessing the six siblings, Archmage Phoebus chose to assist Kinzoth’s beautiful granddaughter, Jindath, on her quest to claim power over the Estate. Several other travelers sought to engage the other siblings in fighting for their claim, but each had heard tell of someone secretly helping another sibling, and chose to trust no one. On a journey thick with lies, backstabbing, and deceit, the other siblings fell prey to Jindath’s seductive persuasions, offering their fealty one by one as they abandoned the Estate in surrender. With success assured, Jindath went to claim her fortune from Roneve – only to be met with another surprise. Kinzoth’s greatest treasure was not in fact the Feyranti blood diamonds, but rather a secret within the mine itself, holding a power so great that it had attracted the attention of a Time Dame and the Dominators. Indeed, the secret of the mines kept Kinzoth invincible. To truly inherit the Estate, Jindath would have to destroy its power. The playing field, however, had evened, as Jindath earned invincibility through her efforts as well. The Archmage’s devotion to Jindath’s cause never wavered, however, and so she and her companions ventured deep within the mines to break Kinzoth’s stranglehold on the area. When Kinzoth’s hold on the Estate shattered, so too did Jindath’s restraint. Demanding her grandfather’s head, she sent Phoebus and her companions to assassinate Kinzoth, and as a reward for his corpse she bestowed her confidante with not only wealth, but a sliver of the power given to her by the secrets of the blood mines. Power, however, has a way of changing hands, and whether or not Jindath’s reign over the Feyranti Estate will last remains to be seen. Further, why a Time Dame and the Dominators sought to claim the mines also remains a mystery, though what their next step will be leaves the Basin of Life filled with unease. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Rebirth of the Cavaliers](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/05/13/the-rebirth-of-the-cavaliers/) **Published:** May 13, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It was but a late autumn evening in the 324th year since the Coming of Estarra when the Wheel of the Goloths rose from its dank, stinking pit in the Balach Swamp. Spinning faster and faster, an aura of cobalt energy grew to surround it and threatened the weft of time itself. Before doing any permanent damage, it released a charge towards the swamp and tore open a rift to the Vernal Wars. The First World responded, finding Dominators roaming through the mire and unusually, the crimson krokani seemed less bothered for their wanton destruction – their eye was focused on a distant place, and they waited not. Shortly after the krokani arrived, a small battalion of tae’dae, riding never-before-seen woolly rhinos, burst through the rift and gave chase. With brutal and efficient strikes they tore through the Dominator forces, but their smaller numbers meant that a few Dominators made it to their target, where none of the Cavaliers did. It was a Paladin by the name of Aegean Shinza Tharedia, Marshal of the Keep, with knowledge gifted her by the keen-eyed Servati of New Celest, who was the first to discover the true purpose of the Dominators’ visit to this age – the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets. As time passed, rifts continued to open all across the Basin of Life, allowing the Dominators to make attempt after attempt to lay siege to the Repository. They were always swiftly followed by the disciplined and oath-bound tae’dae, now known to be the Order of Shallah, whose overriding desire was to ensure that the Dominators did not accomplish their goal. With the help of some of the Basin’s citizens, a number of Cavaliers made it to the Repository and they quickly took up a continuous patrol, guarding carefully against further attacks from the Dominators. Despite many asking, the Cavaliers withheld information on the Heart of Shallah, deeming it too powerful and too tempting for many to resist trying to claim. The Paladins of New Celest swore the full force of their guard to protect the Meliashmora, while Xynthin and Tacita, to name but a few, from Glomdoring, went to great lengths to stave off further assaults by the Dominators and ensure the survival of the Cavaliers. A young faeling, Skye, opted for the optimistic approach by simply planting a sign that stated: NO DOMINATORS ALLOWED. Perhaps jaded and distrusting from the events of but a decade and change ago, when the Ice Angels collectively deceived the Basin of Life and brought about the rise of Zenos, some, such as Xaldrin of Magnagora, chose to attack the Cavaliers. The few dozen that had survived their trip to the Meliashmora were slaughtered and the path laid bare for further assault by the Dominators. Had this dedicated group not been recklessly killed, the forthcoming final push by the Dominators during Roarkian may have failed. But it did not, and as the Repository was overrun, a rumble shook the heavens as one declared the Heart found. Drawing upon its power to protect him against the trip home, this Dominator rose to great power. With lumbering, slow steps, this Super Dominator, if you will, called out for the Everydying One to open a rift through which he could return and began travelling to the Balach Swamp. The Basin of Life rallied to the cause of the Cavaliers and, with every organisation finally unified under one cause, fought to retrieve the artifact. It took almost an entire day, with deaths frequent and the Dominator’s power leading some to doubt it was simply invincible, but finally it was slain by Kiradawea of Hallifax. Many scrambled to retrieve the Heart, but Rafael of the Paladins laid hands upon it and quickly returned to New Celest, experiencing its awesome healing power first-hand. A frustrated voice shattered the skies at the death of this Dominator, and the retrieval of the Heart. Rusacha, the Dame of the Weft, bellowed out a warning that the First World may have had their victory this day, but that time itself was at her disposal and she could take advantage of an infinite number of yesterdays and tomorrows to further her cause. This was the first time since the Vernal Wars that a Time Dame had revealed herself, claiming to be a servant of the Undying. The Cavaliers called out for its immediate return, and to their slight surprise, were quickly met by Sir Rafael who promptly and voluntarily forfeited it. The tae’dae warriors resolved to store it, safely and out of the hands of all mortality, in their base to the south, near the Skarch Desert. They travelled slowly, discussing much of their time with some eager historians who accompanied them. When they arrived to enter their base, they discovered that, over the years that to them had passed in an instant, its entrance had become concealed. Many gathered to help them excavate. A laborious afternoon passed, with many families of rockeaters being disturbed during the process, the entrance crumbled open and the Cavaliers moved inwards. As the tae’dae locked the Sapphire Sinistral Chambers of Shallah’s Heart safely in plain sight, the effects of their time travel began to catch up with them. One by one, they turned to stone, standing before an effigy of the Goddess as guardian statues. Sir Tinno Hopekeep, the one remaining Cavalier, fought off this fate for long enough to accept one apprentice in his ways. This honour was granted to Sir Rafael, for his return of the artifact, and he was sent on a quest with his noble mount. As the two of them forged an unbreakable bond, Rafael returned and finally realised, with an epic wave of understanding washing over him, the true heart of a Cavalier – the bond between steed and master. Thus was the skill of the Cavaliers drawn from the past and gifted to the present day, granting the Basin of Life another weapon to use against the Dominators in time to come. With the Heart denied to the Dominators and the Time Dame of the Weft, the timeline is preserved for another day, though the Wheel of the Goloths sits deep within the Balach Swamp once more, and its surface continues to flash with the images of days to come. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Isle of Olimsito](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/05/08/the-isle-of-olimsito/) **Published:** May 8, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** At the beginning of Tzarin, strange scenes began to be seen across the Inner Sea. First noticed by Elodres Diluculo who raised the alarm to Celest, the entire Basin was made aware by the shouts of Helstren, the Harbourmaster of Celest, who also shouted of seeing the Wheel of the Goloths floating across the surface. As many made haste to the waters to search for the Wheel, the scenes continued to be displayed, mainly focused upon a fleet of ships making their way across the sea before being destroyed by a large group of kelpies. However, interspersed among these flickering echoes in time were afterimages of an ongoing battle between two factions. While the search continued, it was Xypher Stormcrow who first found the Wheel of the Goloths floating across the surface of the water. Alerting the others of its position, the curious adventurers gathered together to follow the Wheel as it moved. When it finally seemed to settle, its activity began to increase, before emitting a large beam of light. As this happened, a final scene played out before their eyes, showing the kelpies agreeing that they must hide this island from sight and presence, so as to respect the innocents lost in the awful task they were required to undertake. Using unknown magic, they hid this island, and it was only now due to the Wheel of the Goloths, the island of Olimsito was returned. Celestian Iytha ventured into the wreckage of a ship there and discovered that Namoc Tsolut, an elfen historian from Caoimhe Dell, had already arrived. Quick to greet him, Namoc informed Iytha that he required some assistance, and she quickly left to fulfill this task, leaving the other adventurers to converse with Namoc. It became clear that Namoc had studied the Taint Wars, and was a scholar concerning the event whereby the kelpies ripped apart the fleet of ships to prevent the Horn of the Urlach from reaching Ladantine. Upon the emergence of Olimsito Isle from the eddying time waves, Namoc had travelled to the island to further his studies. While Iytha worked, others helped to educate him on more current events that he had missed and learn a little of the person he was. Finally, she returned but was unable to fully help Namoc. He now waits, if a little impatiently, aboard the ship for any who wish to try. The Wheel of the Goloths has settled down once again, but what was the glimpses of the two factions locked in battle? Those who saw it were left with a deep foreboding uneasiness. **Categories:** News --- ### [Tale of the Tae'dae Pilgrim](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/05/05/tale-of-the-taedae-pilgrim/) **Published:** May 5, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Late into spring, a portly tae’dae was found wandering through the mountains, apparently lost in the environs. After several misguided attempts to be led to Avechna’s Peak, two citizens of Hallifax, Elleiya Windwhisper and Tulemrah Shevat, responded to his plea for help. Upon inquiry, it was revealed that the pilgrim was searching for the cure to an insufferable ailment – the sounds of galloping hooves and terrible visions had plagued the man’s dreams for months. Far had he traveled to seek the counsel of Hoopah Hopekeep, whose sleeping form sparked envy and anguish within the fellow. The duo worked tirelessly to complete the ritual, stopping only to reassure their anxious company of its inevitable success. The trio heeded conundrum and mystery as the Font of Lollabrilla bubbled with prophecy. The prophesy proved to be mostly inexplicable, touching upon the shredding of time and the dangers of paradox in times to come. However, one statement provided the solution to the tae’dae’s predicament. “…embrace the warmth of the Deepden to calm the tides of sleep.” Hoopah reacted to hearing of the place, so long had it been since she seen her Aunt Looela. She informed the adventurers of the location of the Deepden to the direct north, among hills beneath the mountain. After some searching, the trio found the Deepden and its primary inhabitant, Looela Hopekeep. With a rush of the relief, the pilgrim tae’dae thanked his companions thoroughly, taking special effort to acknowledge the trill’s efforts in the ordeal. Soon after, the tae’dae steadied his mind and fell quickly into a slumberous state. Tulemrah and Elleiya turned their attention to wizened Looela, whose diminished memory and strength led the caverns into neglect. After much toil within the valley, the citizens returned to their city with many unanswered questions revolving around a prophesy that left many troubled and concerned. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Vengeance of Fiabelhie Stillriver](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/04/22/the-vengeance-of-fiabelhie-stillriver/) **Published:** April 22, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Spring, usually a celebration of rebirth, brought strange tidings to the Serenwilde. Instead of newborn creatures and budding leaves, Miakoda cried out with alarm at the Mother Moonhart, sensing a fear in the trees themselves. Leaves were falling early, a foulness leeching their life away. Iasmos came to investigate, and found the Wheel of the Goloths had moved once more, coming to rest at the entrance to Moon River. The Serenwilde gathered to attempt to move it, but it was not to be. None of the inhabitants of the forest, nor Maeve of the Fae, knew how to shift the Wheel away. Only one had even an inkling of what the Wheel might do. Upon hearing that it was poised at the mouth of the river, having some impact upon the water, Eurytus hurriedly threw together a bag of necessities and left the Serenguard Lodge for parts unknown, promising to return once he had determined whether a long-kept secret might be affected. Days passed peacefully. Abruptly, the Wheel was once more on the move. Visions blossomed across the sky of the past as the Wheel made its way up Moon River. The Serens could not impede its progress, and the images grew darker and darker. It came to rest ominously at a fork in the river. Those gathered girded themselves for battle, but nothing emerged to challenge them. Eurytus reappeared at the Mother Moonhart, entreating those of the Serenwilde to remove the Wheel from the borders of the forest lest an ancient evil be loosed once more. At his behest, many travelled to speak to Albion, and gathered the essence that she asked for. Hundreds and hundreds of bits of essence were brought, and with them Albion formed a sphere of pure moonlight. Wielding this, Enyalida Zayah drove the Wheel of the Goloths down the river and back into the sea beyond, where it sank out of sight. But it was too late. Twisted glah’rai naiads had emerged, loyal to an unknown Fiabelhie Stillriver. They were quickly dispatched, but more appeared, and with them the water of Moon River rose in murky waves as though trying to drown every living thing. Eurytus gathered the Serens at the Moonhart to tell a sobering tale. One of the unfortunate victims of the Taint many years ago was Fiabelhie Stillriver. Caught in the insubstantial Mistwalker form of the Lakedancers, it took decades for the lost furrikin to coalesce, and by that time her beloved Ackleberry was long lost. And she blamed the Serenwilde. Filled with fury, she advanced upon the forest and attempted to flood and destroy. Only with the combined might of all was she caught within a crystalline prison, tended by the fledgling Serenguard. Over time, as she slept, only the tutor was charged to remember the pledge, should Fiabelhie ever wake. The Wheel had twisted time itself, creating a loop that moved an early version of Fiabelhie Stillriver forward through the timestream to the present, creating a paradox whereby she was never imprisoned at all. Eurytus asked help of all of the Serenwilde to find the steel magnolia that he could use to forge a living lock that might bind her once more. Many rose to the cause, and even as more and more naiads emerged, the lock was made. All that remained was to locate the prison, and soon enough Fiabelhie Stillriver freed herself. Shouting insults, the former Lakedancer emerged from her prison – beneath the place that the Wheel had so recently paused – and trudged down Moon River towards the Mother tree. A first attempt at vanquishing her left many dead, but as she moved towards the Moonhart, the tree itself repelled her. Serenwilde fought her once more, and this time met with success. They took the corpse to the shattered remains of the prison, and the Magnolia Lock was used to bind her once more with a single steel strand. Eurytus charged the Serenguard to keep watch over the prison, for it is the duty of the tribe to keep Fiabelhie entrapped, lest she ever emerge to flood the Serenwilde once more. Meanwhile, the mysterious Wheel of the Goloths has been repelled back to the Inner Sea, where it has sank down to the depths. And there it lingers, as though biding its time for whatever unknown purpose that compels it. **Categories:** News --- ### [March Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/04/20/march-vesteran-honours-2/) **Published:** April 20, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the March Vesteran Honours, Wuylinfe won the bardic contest for the story titled, “A Fateful Coincidence”. In the artisanal category, Aubrey won with her portrait of “Lekius”. Congratulations to all the rest who placed in the [artisanal and bardic contests](ArtBard) this month! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Turning of the Wheel of the Goloths](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/04/15/the-turning-of-the-wheel-of-the-goloths/) **Published:** April 15, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Eyes all across the Basin turned upward near the beginning of Juliary, 322 C.E. as an ominous silver-blue energy flickered across the sky. The bolts of energy met over the Southern Mountains, and the sky seemed to buckle as images from throughout history flashed across the firmament. The images cycled faster as the intensity of the energy increased, culminating in a tremendous crack. The last image to be seen, that of several elfen women running away from a forest under a roiling cloud, flared into brilliant colour before disappearing, and a sense of wrongness settled across the Basin of Life. Sir Augent Ildaine was the first to arrive, although it wasn’t long before a crowd had gathered at the source of the Gloriana River. There, they found a crackling silver-blue rift and an odd-looking device: the Wheel of the Goloths. While all were puzzling over its meaning and purpose, the five elfen women whose shapes had been writ large across the heavens fell unceremoniously out of the rift in a heap. After quickly righting herself, self-styled High Seer Helegena Greyshade demanded to know where she was and how she and her fellow Seers of Movran had been brought there. Mostly through her disbelieving protestations and obvious confusion, she revealed that the Seers were members of the Raven Circle charged with interpreting Raven’s prophecies. This small group had been fleeing for their lives. Upon learning of the destruction of her home hundreds of years previous, her grief quickly turned to ire. At first lashing out in rage at the twisted mockery of what was once her home, she summoned silver birch trees that attacked all those of the Glomdoring. In all the confusion, few noticed as the cries of the harpies in Glomdoring fell unnaturally silent. Meanwhile, members of the Glomdoring fought unflinchingly to defend their forest from the onslaught. As both opinion and the tide of the battle turned against the Seers, they came to believe that the entire scenario was a prophecy from Raven; a test in which they must show their loyalty to the Gloriana through willingness to perish for it. Perish they did. The temporal rift remained open, however, and the disturbing silver and blue crackling continued. Only upon returning the Seers’ large onyx amulets to the rift did it seal itself. As the rift closed, silver-blue energy arced into a nearby cave. Anguished cries rang out from within and Jairkak Wyrmglow, a faeling hermit, was discovered inside. Explaining that the temporal damage had destroyed his plants, he nevertheless renewed his efforts towards his life’s work: spreading the Wyrd to the Gloriana River. With a new approach inspired by the temporal activity, and underappreciated assistance from many, including Relaren, Xynthin An’Ryshe and Sidd, Jairkak successfully cultivated an enormous blossom. Growing at the source of the Gloriana, it exuded a wyrden slime that flowed down the river, coating everything. The ramifications of this change in the landscape have yet to be seen, but the trout in the river are already changing. Thus did the sad tale of the deserting Seers of Movran reach its conclusion. Or did it? The harpies’ cries have returned to the Glomdoring, and the sinister Wheel of the Goloths has settled at the bottom of the Inner Sea. Still, a feeling of unease lingers across the Basin. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Masquerade Ball With Unexpected Guests](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/26/a-masquerade-ball-with-unexpected-guests/) **Published:** February 26, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Grand Hallifaxian Ball began on the 1st of Shanthin, hosted by the Symphonium guild and rife with music and entertainment for all. Conducted by Morshoth and Eritheyl Windwhisper, various events were planned full of dancing, feasting, and games. Invitations were sent out far and wide, some even reaching the Divine havens to cordially request their attendance at the ball. One such invitation went to Zvoltz, the Architect, who was in the midst of great thought. A presence had called to Him in His time in the Dreaming, and restlessly, He found Himself unable to restrain His curiosity any longer. With a promise to attempt a return to the ball after His journey, Zvoltz forayed into the Dreaming, encountering various strange things in His quest for knowledge. Zvoltz’s order, working as His anchor to the First World, caught glimpses of feathers and other unexpected visions, but it was the dreamweaver Tulemrah who truly worked as the God’s key. Just before Shanthin, Zvoltz returned, fully costumed, in time for the ball–with a mysterious companion at His side. Arriving in the guise of mortals, various Divine danced with the party-goers, leaving them to wonder at the identity of their unusual guests. Their conversations proved a window into their true natures: from the lucidian repairwoman fumbling around as she stole dance partners to the dapper man masked in gold, who snidely commented on the proceedings. Perhaps the most mysterious visitor of all was a chicken clad in an elegant dress, touting the title of “Queen of Poultryness” with pride. The violins and choirs sang out for many joy-filled hours, but as the music faded, so too did the costumes of the gods. One by one, they revealed themselves by removing their masks, showing repesentation from every organization’s pantheon – even including Estarra, the Eternal, among them. The last god to reveal herself was a lovely trill lady, who had attended without invitation. To the surprise of all mortals present, she was revealed to be the long-absent Isune, the Aesthete, newly awakened by Zvoltz from the Dreaming. Though slightly tired by Her travels, the Lady’s love of beauty and merriment renewed itself at the event with great vigor. Reunited with Her order and welcomed by new faces, Isune returned to the Basin with great curiosity for all that had befallen in Her absence, though some news proved to be more painful than expected. Upon learning of the sacrifice of Elostian, the Engima, Isune retreated to the Divine Havens to mourn, wondering at what else had transpired since She last viewed the proceedings of the First World. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Flowering of Maylea](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/25/the-flowering-of-maylea/) **Published:** February 25, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After many years of growing up outside of the Serenwilde, a familiar face wandered back into the forest. Allessa, the beloved child once at the centre of a war between the orders of Nocht and Maylea, followed her heart and the urge she felt to return to the Serenwilde to attend to some important matter. The only trouble: what important matter was it? Allessa did not know, nor did any of the gathered Serens. Sondayga, Near, and Enyalida led the confused young woman to Bandrui for answers. The mugwump seer was suspicious of the Serens, but greeted Allessa with unusual warmth. When asked to cast the bones, Bandrui gladly agreed, but her reaction was stark. She began to wail and shriek, trying to refuse to share what she learned and entreating Allessa to flee the borders of the Serenwilde and not return! Only Allessa’s gentle persistence coaxed out the truth. Whatever the matter was, it would mean the end of Allessa’s life. She could choose to walk away or choose the end. What followed was a heartrending journey as the Serens helped Allessa to find a sickly plant growing near the cairns. It was an inconsequential little thing, or it seemed to be. What about curing a plant could be worth the life of Allessa the Beloved? But it was Lavil who pulled the situation into perspective by telling the frightened young woman that she would not cease to exist, for all was connected. Enyalida Zayah drove the point home by reminding her that they stood with the cairns of those who gave their life in service to the forest. And so Allessa the Beloved bid a final goodbye, kneeled before the little plant, and gave her life for its renewal. To the surprise of those gathered, the leaves reformed into another shape, that of a toddling child no more than four years of age. The Serens rejoiced that the life given was so quickly reincarnated, although they did not question the means. Through the coming months, the Serens watched over this child, who they named Lisey. She grew fast. The laughing four year old carried in Lavil’s arms became a skinny seven year old who loved to play hide and seek. And then suddenly the child was thirteen and not particularly happy about it, overcome by a fit of angst regarding chores and expectations. She was also enamoured of Beylke, a young druid, which his girlfriend Radalise was perhaps less than pleased to learn. Amid all of this, Mysrai manifested before the gathered Serens and presented the child with a circlet of poppies. The girl seemed moved by this gift, and shortly after aged several years, leaving behind her rebellious phase. Lit by a new maturity and understanding, she entreated that Radalise be called. Along with an apology, she whispered an important secret into the woman’s ear. In excitement, Radalise and Lisey travelled with Aubrey and Lekius to the fulcrux of Mysrai. The Lord-and-Lady manifested once more to present little Lisey with a final gift, a gift that the girl was asking for. Before those present, Mysrai dissolved the body of Lisey, and what rose from the act was instead a goddess. Maylea, Bloom of Serenity, had fallen into dreams within the Serenwilde, unable to wake. Allessa provided a catalyst for Her return, but the Goddess loved the child She had fought for so many years ago. She took a mortal form, unwilling to release the last remnants of the woman who died so that She might return to the Serenwilde. It was only with sorrow, and Mysrai’s help, that She was able to let go of the last vestige of the mortal and become the Goddess once more. As for why the Bloom of Serenity fell into dreams, and what She dreamt for so many long years, none have asked, and the Goddess has not volunteered to answer. **Categories:** News --- ### [Trial of Ascension: Rise of Xynthin](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/19/trial-of-ascension-rise-of-xynthin/) **Published:** February 19, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During the Trial of Ascension, three Sealbearers faced off for the final event: Kelly McCloud, Princess of Celest; Sir Kalas Ixion of Magnagora; and Spirit Warden Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring. Sir Ixion was supported by an alliance of Magnagora, Serenwilde and Hallifax while Xenthos and Kelly mainly had support only from their respective organizations. As their battles raged across the astral spheres, the power of the Soulless Gods grew stronger and stronger, as witnessed by the bloody slaughter of the hideous abominations manifested by Kethuru and the astrosphere creatures born of his dreams, particularly the two-headed eagles of Gemini and stainless steel goats of Capricorn. The staff passed from one to the other to the other and back again, in one of the most nail-biting Ascensions to date. But in the end, Princess Kelly threw her support behind Xenthos who was thus able to master the Staff of Ascension, reforming the Nine Seals and protecting creation for another cycle. In doing so, he ascended and is now know as Lord Xynthin of the Realm of Nature. Congratulations, Lord Xynthin! **Categories:** News --- ### [The Sacrifice of the Enigma](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/18/the-sacrifice-of-the-enigma/) **Published:** February 18, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Soulless God Kethuru attempted to use the temporal fields around the City of Hallifax to break free while the Nine Seals were in a weakened state. Opening a rift over Hallifax, the Soulless God began to ooze forth, draining the floating city’s power and energy. The Elder God Elostian quickly came to the aid of Hallifax, sacrificing himself to recharge the generators within the city, enabling the city’s defenses to shut down the dimensional anomaly and close the rift. And so, Kethuru’s attempt was defeated but the cost was great. Elostian was wholly consumed in the process, though rumours already abound that whispers of his enormous intellect can be heard thrumming along the power lines among the crystal generators of Hallifax. **Categories:** News --- ### [Bridge Over Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/06/bridge-over-hallifax/) **Published:** February 6, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Late in the month of Dioni, 317 years after the Coming of Estarra, Eritheyl Skyplume began to find metal bolts lying around the City of Hallifax. Becoming concerned that the bolts had fallen from an important machine or that they could cause structural instability in the city, Erithel, along with Lawliet Letara and Oberst Ushaara scoured the city for the source of the missing bolts, finding nothing missing from the city’s generators and gaining little information from the city’s scientists. The small bolts were quickly forgotten in the excitement of the Challenge of Life as the city went to work curing sick furrikin. In the relative peace after the Challenge, the alarm rang out as a lucidian repairman cried for help on the city aetherwave, calling for assistance in putting out a raging fire in his workshop. Kiradwea Startail rushed to the rescue, along with Phoebus Skyplume and Lawliet, putting out the fire and calming the frantic lucidian. The lucidian request further help from the citizens, as he had lost all of his supplies in the blaze. Digging deep into their rifts, they quickly replenished his stock and the repairman declared his work for the day to be done. Offering a harsh reprimand over the city aether, Comptroller General Jai’rok Eepex commanded the repairman to fix the long-broken plinths on the city’s bridges or face severe consequences. Fearful of being thrown from one of city’s towers, the repairman beseeched help from the city to gather spare parts of the plinths as he set to work fixing them. Once fixed, the plinths revealed themselves to be hologram generators that projected images of important figures from the Hallifax’s history and gave short lessons on their accomplishments. Next, the repairman asked the citizens to take the tokens from the plinths and deliver them to the city’s servants so that they may take a break from their duties to be enriched by the great deeds of the Commonwealth’s scientists and artists. Thus, the purpose of the mysterious plinths was revealed along with many long-lost historical facts about Hallifax. How long the plinths will remain working however, is the next great mystery. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/02/04/challenge-of-war-6/) **Published:** February 4, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Avechna called out for the mightiest of warriors to come out and they did, indeed! Gathering upon Mount Avechna, teams were selected and the matches began. First to battle was the team from the Grand Province of Magnagora made up of: Kalas Ixion, Fillin and Munsia D’cente` versus the multi-national team of Malarious, Ethelon a’Ishial and Xena. In the end, it was Ixion’s team that stood triumphant. The city of Hallifax was kind enough to open its arena to the challenges as well and this is where the second round occurred. In this round, Shedrin Shevat, Morbo Gordian and Wobou Zayah squared off against Chade Alin’dor, Xedrik Vivalde, and Azula Vivalde. The battle was fast and brutal. In the end, it was Shedrin’s team that claimed victory. The third tournament occurred alongside the second within the Avenger’s arena. The all-Glomdoring team of Svorai Stormcrow, Nicholo Nightshade and Nihta Nightshade battled against the all-Celestian team of Kelly McCloud, Inagin La’Saet and Placeus Diluculo. In the end, it was Glomdoring’s team that beat out Celest. The final team was decided by forfeit, as the team of Viynain, Lorina and Talan ceeded the match to Vadi, Shuyin and Sidd before it could even begin. The War games shall come to their final conclusion in the next weave, at the same time as the first. The teams from the losing bracket shall still have a chance to redeem themselves in hopes of claiming the coveted Medallion of War! The four teams from today’s winning bracket shall face off against each other until only two teams remain. The four losing teams shall do the same until only two teams are left in their bracket. The two victors from the losing bracket shall then face off against the losers from the winning bracket for a chance to claim a spot in the final games. In the end, the four teams shall face off in random 1v1 matches until one team stand triumphant. From that team, a bearer for the Medallion shall be chosen either by consensus or a free for all battle! The warriors of Lusternia returned again to finish their battles to see who would claim the Medallion of War. All the teams from the previous challenges returned, some to try and redeem themselves for another chance at the Medallion while others sought to maintain their dominance in the battles. Eight battles raged throughout the day. Some drawn out battles between two entrenched sides, while other battles were swift and violently ended. When all was said and done, two teams stood upon Mount Avechna, ready to battle for the Medallion of War. The all Magnagoran team of Fillin, Munsia D’cente`, and Kalas Ixion battled against the Gaudiguch-Glomdoring team of Sidd, Shuyin and Vadi Stormcrow. The battle raged on with both teams unwilling, at first, to stray into the area of the other. In the end, however, it was the Magnagoran team who stood triumphant and it was Ixion who claimed the Medallion of War. The valiant attempts of the runners up were not ignored, however. Ixion’s teammates, Munsia and Fillin won 500 credits each. While all the members of the qualifying teams: Xena, Malarious, Ethelon, Vadi, Shuyin, Sidd, Svorai, Nicholo and Nihta each won 100 credits. Celebrate your victories for now, mortals! However, Almighty Kethuru still rages against His prison and before too long the challenge of the Seal of Harmony will be upon the Basin. **Categories:** News --- ### [Wounded Sky Epilogue: Putting It All Together](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/01/04/wounded-sky-epilogue-putting-it-all-together/) **Published:** January 4, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In the aftermath of the Wounded Sky, scholars and researchers have investigated the events over the past several decades, conducting interviews and drawing conclusions, and have been able to piece together the clues into a more accurate narrative of the Eras of the Wounded Sky. This is their conclusions. It began in the month of Juliary in the year 293 C.E., when the lucidian scientist, Atrian Lerit’r of the Arthar’rt Observatory, continued his ongoing experiments in teleportation mechanics. An apparent accident opened a portal to a yet undiscovered location, resulting in a tragic explosion that killed his sister-in-law. In actuality, his experiments were a success, having found the Icewynd. However, the Ice Angels immediately took note of the intrusion and, thinking the portal was a new assault from the Forsaken, retaliated by sending in a host of ice devils in their skull form through the portal. (See Event News 220.) This was the first time the Ice Angels became aware of the Basin of Life. Recognizing an opportunity to exploit this new civilization, they blamed the invasion of the ice devils on their enemies, the Forsaken, hoping to gain new allies in their war. This enabled them to use the ice devils as scouts to reconnoiter the territory and exploit resources found there, all the while blaming the Forsaken for any damage done. Notably, they thought to use the Tosha monks as a new vanguard, though attempts to convert Master Quettle was not successful and he was eventually freed. (See Event News 221.) Their first great success, however, was several years later in the year 295 C.E.. Since the ice devils were once fae created by the Elder God Manteekan (once known as wassets and corrupted by Zenos), they found an ally in the Frost Spite, a crippled Great Spirit of the extinct fae known as wendigo who were also created by Manteekan. The Frost Spite held the Voice of Gullagumbah, a dead Elder God who hid his voice so that the Soulless Gods would not be able to claim his portion of the Song of Creation. Though the Frost Spite was reluctant, he eventually gave the Ice Angels the Voice of Gullagumbah in return for promises of a high place in the new world order of Zenos. (See Event News 222.) Recognizing the power of the Voice, the Ice Angels found yet another Voice in the possession of Marani Veloske, White Priestess of the Shallamurine Cathedral. Indeed, the Shallamurine Cathedral itself was created to hold the Voice of Crys, though such knowledge was lost after the Fall of the Celestine Empire. Though Marani at first refused to give up the Voice, she was finally persuaded with promises of power and a new song which the Ice Angels had extracted from the Voice of Gullagumbah. Agreeing, Marani promptly used the new song to take over the Basin of Life and, though that endeavor failed, she did manage to all but destroy the Elder God Lyreth. (See Event News 225.) Using the Voices of Gullagumbah and Crys as a new weapon, the Ice Angels were able to finally take the upper hand in their war against the Forsaken, but even this was not enough to overcome their ancient enemies. They realized that the upcoming Syzygy astrological configuration would offer them an opportunity to pave the way for Zenos, freeing the Soulless God and destroying the Forsaken. They needed to construct a tower to amplify the power of the Voices during the Syzygy. However they lacked the necessary materials. Thus, in the year 299 C.E., they returned to the Basin of Life in order to plunder its resources, stealing commodities from several villages there. At this time, Jeremiah Gryphta was receiving a shipment of crates from the Czigany Coast, and the Ice Angels, recognizing the power of the artifacts these crates contained, seized the opportunity and abducted Jeremiah. (See Event News 227.) Once the tower was constructed and the Voice of Gullagumbah installed, the planets aligned, forming the astrological configuration known as the Syzygy, which happens only once every few centuries. This enabled the Ice Angels to implement their most dangerous plan yet, and destroy the sky itself, in an attempt to free the Soulless God Zenos by brute force. The force released threw the Elder Gods themselves into disarray, crippling their minds. However, the Elder God Raezon had constructed a tower to study the Syzygy (and use its energy for his own purposes), and this tower proved to be able to protect the Elder Gods from the ravages of the breaking sky. Huddled in Raezon’s Tower, the Elder Gods were able to help the mortals stop the energies released. At the culmination of this event, the tower of ice was briefly seen and Jeremiah Gryphta was freed. Unfortunately, it was too late to reverse all that had been done, and the weather was permanently twisted. Thus, began the Era of the Wounded Sky. (See Event News 228.) Thwarted by the Basin of Life, the Ice Angels realized they had gravely underestimated this new country. They decided to send one of their own members, Loranara the White, to the Basin where she blamed the Wounded Sky on the Forsaken and left a crystal orb high up in the mountains, claiming it would protect the weather from further degradation. In reality, the crystal orb was an anchor for the Tower of Ice so the Ice Angels could exert greater control over the Basin. At this time, in the year 307 C.E., the Forskaen discovered that the Ice Angels had acquired a new source of power and traced it to the Basin of Life. Realizing they could attack the Ice Tower through its link with the crystal sphere, the Forsaken raised a powerful psionic presence and sent it to seek and destroy. This psychic miasma, however, was seen as a threat by the people of the Basin, though the Forsaken were careful to make sure it would harm no living being. The Ice Angels, however, sent forth another of their members, Wiliki the Just, to warn of terrible consequences if the miasma were to reach the crystal, and was able to convince the people of the Basin to help destroy the miasma. (See Event News 229-230.) However, the miasma was proving difficult to completely destroy and years went by without discernible effect. The Ice Angels realized they needed more power to destroy the miasma or eventually it would succeed, so they sent their own invasion of ice devils, blaming it on the Forsaken, and knowing the people of the Basin would destroy the ice devils. This enabled them to use the essence of the ice devils to create an even more powerful agent that finally was able to defeat the miasma in the year 309 C.E.. (See Event News 234-235.) In the year 311 C.E., When the Wounded Sky began to harm the forests, the Tree of Trees sent forth a progeny of its heart, the Ail’an Gloria, also called the Giving Tree, which was able to repel some of the effects of the twisted weather. (See Event News 239.) Then, in the year 314 C.E., the Forsaken decided to take a more direct assault on the crystal anchored in the Basin of Life by sending a psychic cloud to attack it. Although they would not be able to directly attack the Ice Tower in this manner, they were able to break the link the Ice Angels had formed in the Basin of Life. The crystal sphere itself held the essence of hundred of ice devils, which were then released as ice larva when the crystal was finally destroyed. (See Event News 240.) Seeing the Forsaken getting back on their feet, the Ice Angels called the Frost Spite and Marani Veloske to join them in the war. With these allies behind them, the Ice Angels were able to imprison the Forsaken in the Ice Tower, save for the powerful Triumvirate who remained beyond their control. At this point, the ancient war was all but over with the Ice Angels claiming victory. This was when the people of the Basin of Life discovered how to travel to the Icewynd themselves. At this point, the Ice Angels were able to convince the new arrivals to help them defeat the Triumvirate and eventually trick them into releasing the Soulless God Zenos. (See Event News 241-242.) Though only a portion of Zenos was freed, the Soulless God’s power was magnified by the Voices in the Ice Tower and the Wounded Sky, making Zenoso as powerful as he was during the Vernal Wars, though perhaps not as mobile. It wasn’t until the the Ail’an Gloria sacrificed itself and healed that the Wounded Sky, that the Ice Tower was able to be overthrown and the Soulless God returned to his prison. (See Event News 243-244.) Thus, the Era of the Wounded Sky ends. The ramifications have not stopped, however, as Zenos was able to weaken the Nine Seals holding the Soulless Gods. And, so, an Ascension Event has begun, wherein one mortal will be chosen through a series of tests to replenish the Nine Seals and rise up as a True Ascendant. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Eye and the Acorn](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/01/03/the-eye-and-the-acorn/) **Published:** January 3, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Ail’an Gloria had a final parting gift for the Heir of Ellindel, Sondayga Zayah – a great acorn, many times the size of those birthed by oak trees. With a whispering thought the Giving Tree had told Sondayga what he must do, and so the Heir of Ellindel traveled into the Icewynd, seeking out the tower of ice that bore no doors. Placing the acorn into the snow and ice before the tower, Sondayga Zayah used what was left of the Ail’an Gloria’s gift – and the seed would grow. A great tree emerged from the ice, sending roots and branches against the tower until a way in was made open. Sacrificing its life, this new tree perished quickly – but the way in was assured. Again and again the warriors of the Basin of Life charged into the tower, facing off against Semau, servant of the Frost Spite, they crashed through the first level of the tower, and then began to climb it. Faced with the priestesses of Shallamurine Cathedral, they cut through their undead bodies, and charged through the winding halls of the tower. First they came upon the Frost Spite, flanked by the Guardians Dungari and Hanili. The battle raged for some time – many warriors were thrown from the tower bodily by the winds themselves, which seemed to breathe solely to assist those who would serve the Soulless God, Zenos. Those that did not were butchered and left for dead. Again they charged, this time taking to the northern edges of the tower – and there they found the White Priestess, Marani Veloske, waiting. Flanked by the Guardians Wiliki and Loranara, Marani laughed beatifically and the air warped at the very sound of her voice – and the battle began. Many warriors fought and died, and nearly a day passed before Marani and her guardians fell. As each fell in turn, a voice could be heard, though was soon squelched – and as the last of the Ice Angels there fled, the voice could be heard panicking before a presence burst through the air, fleeing the tower. Marching back into the southern edge of the tower’s upper echelons, a battle between Celestian and snowcat, Gaudiguchian and Ice Angel, Wyrdling and Frost Spite, Magnagora, Hallifaxian, Serenwilde and beauties, would be waged. In time the Frost spite would fall, still weak from their previous clash. Dungari would fall soon after, and Hanili after – and from their captivity fled a deep, boisterous voice, escaping into the skies. With both groups defeated, nothing would remain within the tower but swarms of undead beauties and ravenous snowcats – and so it would seem, nothing could maintain the tower, for cracks quickly spread down its walls, and death began to rain from above. As the tower collapsed the warriors escaped, fleeing into the Iceburn Plains. Crumbling into the ice, the tower released what many had seen frozen into its walls – the shaggy, red-eyed figures that are the Forsaken. They would return home, climbing into the northern Icewynd Mountains. Seeking them out quickly, many of the Basin would aid them in blinding the Eye of Zenos – but it was Xenthos An’Ryshe who delivered the fatal blow to the Soulless God, activating a power that lied dormant in the ruined City of Climanti. True to its name, the Piercing Needle of Transcendent Ice attacked the great Eye of the Soulless God, blinding Him – and then once more, destroying His presence within the Icewynd. Once more the Soulless God lies sealed beneath the dead city, and an ancient war that has raged for a thousand years has began once more. As the Forsaken gaze southwards from their towers and mountain caves, their eyes an angry red, the Guardians of the Icewynd rally their trill once more. Who shall win? Only time will tell. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Final Gift](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/01/03/the-final-gift/) **Published:** January 3, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** With the Soulless God Zenos freed, the Basin of Life were gripped in his clutches, as he sent the deadly Kilgaru wind rampaging throughout the land. It seemed all hope was lost. But then a slim ray of hope appeared. Answering the call of the Tree of Trees, druids gathered to try and decipher the ancient spirit’s words. They realized that the Ail’an Gloria, also known as the Giving Tree, would play one more part in the war against Zenos. Nymphs continued to be drawn to the Giving Tree, carrying boughs of holly in supplication. However, now they were being inexplicably attacked by snow cats and undead beauties. For a month, the nymphs kept coming and those who were able fought off the attackers, carrying the boughs of holly to the Giving Tree and receiving a small reward in return. Then, the miracle happened. The Ail’an Gloria began to call out to druids throughout the land. Sadly, the only ones who answered were Sondayga, Vadi and Kylsiu. However, this was enough. The druids began a ritual whereby they joined their spirits with the Giving Tree. That, combined with the power that it had been gathering for a month, was enough for the tree to begin to grow at an extraordinarily accelerated rate. Finally, it was able to release a plume of flowers up into the sky, taking the spirits of the druids with it. There, slowly and laboriously, battling against the Soulless God Zenos, they were able, together, to heal the Wounded Sky. But the cost was great. The Ail’an Gloria bid the druids farewell, for the Giving Tree gave its last gift, its very life itself, in this final exertion. The Tree of Trees bid the druids to never forget its progeny that had sacrificed itself, and revealed that there was one last gift it had given. The power to manipulate weather and to see in visions as the spirits do. Thus, has the gift of Shamanism come to the druids. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Eye of Zenos](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/01/01/the-eye-of-zenos/) **Published:** January 1, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Surrounding the Iceburn Plains was a range of mountains, where the ruins of the Jeweled City of Climanti stood. More interestingly, trill were discovered high up in the mountain peaks, a total of four tribes who served the Guardians of the Icewynd, whom they called the Ice Angels. Also, abandoned caves were discovered, newly evacuated for they showed recent signs of inhabitation. Yet another mystery. The war between the Guardians and the mysterious ones known as the Forsaken had apparently reached peak. Wanting to aid the Guardians, many of the intrepid explorers sought to help the trill tribes in their part in the war. Churning over the Iceburn Plains was the Cloud Maelstrom, in the center of which spun a strange artifact known as the Dead Spire of Shrieking Winds. Through much effort, the Basin adventurers were able to summon the three leaders of the Forsaken at the Dead Spire. Chade, Sidd and Akui led an epic battle that lasted nearly from dawn to dusk against the Forsaken. In the end, they were successful and, at the direction of the Guardians, bound the bodies in the Dead Spire, which plummeted to the Iceburn Plains below. The Guardians of the Icewynd directed the trio to travel to the Climanti ruins, for they said the plot of the Forsaken had already been put into motion. Joined by Malarious, Viynain, Tulemrah and Akui, the party was able to open a rift into the far past, which was led to the day of the fall of Climanti during the height of the Vernal Wars. What happened in the past is not clear, but the time travelers believed they were helping the ill fated citizens of Climanti escape into the future. Heedless of Tulemrah’s reservations about the temporal repercussions that may result, Chade brought the final Climanti citizen to his fate just as Soulless God Zenos attacked the city. Before escaping back into the future, they found yet another Quatrain from the Verses of Magnora, which sent a chill up their spines. Still, what changing the past had exactly done remained occluded after they returned to their own timestream. The only thing that had apparently changed was a statue had been erected to Chade at some point in the distant past. Then, a diary was unearthed from the time of the Fall of Climanti, the contents of which shed light on what had happened. They were duped. There is no other word for it. The Ice Angels were not what they seemed to be. But the true extent of changing the past was more disastrous than could be imagined. The Soulless God Zenos had been freed. Or at least enough of him that he was able to form the Eye of Zenos in the center of the Cloud Maelstrom, from where he was able to unleash the Kilgari Wind. Rewarding his trill servants with a portion of his power, trill everywhere were suddenly made strong beyond belief. As Chade was of aslaran stock, aslaran too were given a boon of power. Estarra appeared Herself to drive Zenos back into his prison, but She discovered that doing so would rip apart reality. Thwarted, the Creatrix retreated, demanding that mortals undo what they had done. But what could be done? Zenos reveled in the Estarra’s impotence and proclaimed that he would consume the lesser races, then consume the Soulless Gods, then overthrow Estarra and recreate the universe in his own image. Using trill as his master race, Zenos began ordering them to slay the other races (save their aslaran servants), seeming especially keen to absorb the essence of viscanti and illithoid. And so it comes to be, a Soulless God has been freed and Lusternia teeters on the edge of destruction. The Great War between the Ice Angels and the Forsaken has ended. And the wrong side lost. **Categories:** News --- ### [An Undiscovered Country: The Icewynd Commeth!](https://www.lusternia.com/2012/01/01/an-undiscovered-country-the-icewynd-commeth/) **Published:** January 1, 2012 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** From the Northern Mountains, strong winds blew in, carrying clusters of crimson clouds. The angry red clouds coalesced into a massive storm over the Basin of Life. Within the clouds, enormous ruby red eyes can occasionally be seen amidst the crimson lighting that leapt from cloud to cloud. From the eye of the storm, an enormous bolt of lightning crashed down into the Avechna Teeth, striking the crystal left by the Guardians of the Icewynd, shattering it into many fragments. Icy-blue light erupted amid the sounds of monstrous roars echoing from mountain range to mountain range. The storm suddenly died as quickly as it came. As a new prophesy was discovered that led to another Quatrain from the Verses of Magnora, a snowy presence rose up in Mount Wend, a whirling storm of snow and ice, with flashes of yellowed fangs and black eyes. Before leaving across the Northern Mountains, the presence cried, “I am the Frost Spite and I hear the call! I honour the pact! The treasure I have given years ago was used in the one Great War and now another. The battle has begun!” Later a glowing female form rose up from the Shallamurine Cathedral, surrounded by a nimbus of coruscating power. It was none other than Marani Veloske, the twisted undead priestess. She too left over the Northern Mountains, crying out just before she left, “The contract has almost been concluded! When asked those few decades ago, I have given what was I have guarded for so many years. And now I go to claim the prize! To war! To war!” As mortals investigated the blasted site of the crystal sphere, they soon found the entire range of the Avechna Teeth were plagued by ice devils. Some of these devils carried shards from the now destroyed crystal sphere. Following the lead of the latest Quatrain, it was remembered the start of the incursion of ice devils began with a failed experiment from the lucidian scientist, Atrian Lerit’r of the Arthar’rt Observatory. (See Event 220, et seq.) Atrian Lerit’r was able to tune his teleporting device using the shards of the crystal sphere gathered from the ice devils. This allowed the device to open a portal to its point of origin. Thus, mortals from the Basin of Life were first able to travel to the Icewynd, an ancient land that housed the lost city of Climanti. What secrets are to be unearthed are just beginning to be discovered… **Categories:** News --- ### [A Storm of Blood](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/12/30/a-storm-of-blood/) **Published:** December 30, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For several months, prophesies have led to the unearthing of the new quatrains from the Verses of Magnora, but what these dire foretellings could mean was a cipher to scholars of the Basin of Life. Then, without warning, a storm of red clouds blew in from the north, ruby red eyes flashing among the crimson lightning bolts. An enormous bolt of crimson lightning comes crashes down from the center of the storm, striking the sphere left by the Guardians of the Icewynd and cracking it open. Blood rained from the sky and food turned to ash in the mouth. More alarming, larva of the ice devils were found swarming around the Guardians’ sphere. Battles broke out across the mountain range of Avechna’s Teeth as the ice devils were finally destroyed. But the sphere which the Guardians had said protected the weather from even worse conditions as a result of the Wounded Sky is broken, bleeding ice-blue light. Will the power of the Giving Tree be enough to protect the Basin of Life? For now, a disturbing quiet descends as everyone waits to see if it is but a lull in the prophetic storm to come. **Categories:** News --- ### [Birth of the Giving Tree](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/28/birth-of-the-giving-tree/) **Published:** November 28, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For many days, druids felt the pain and suffering that suddenly afflicted the trees of the forests while the Moonhart Mother Tree and Master Ravenwood Tree began to sicken. Both Serenwilde and Glomdoring were alarmed at this development and eventually made their way to the Tree of Trees to beseech the help of this ancient Great Spirit. Among those who arrived were Vadi, Svorai, Isael, Xydral, and Xenthos from the Forest of Glomdoring, as well as Shycia, Vasnier, Eritheyl, Raeri, Xiran, Sivas, Kyair and Eoroi from Serenwilde. Eritheyl of Hallifax also stood witness. However, only the druids were able to discern the alien thoughts of the Tree of Trees. It became apparent that the trees were all suffering greatly from the Wounded Sky, as years of the chaotic weather were finally beginning to takes its toll. The Great Spirit of Trees beseeched the druids to begin a new ritual, called the hai’Gloh Ail’an. Taking the lead, Spirit Warden Xenthos An’Ryshe remembered the ancient hai’Gloh rituals of the fae, and began the arduous task of setting up the rite. In the end, a plant emerged unlike any that anyone had seen. It quickly withered and died, but left behind the Seed of Ail’an, which was taken and planted outside of the Cave of Nature. Thus, the Ail’an Gloria grew into existence, also known as the Giving Tree, a special guardian tree created by the Tree of Trees itself and endowed to help protect the forests from the inclement weather. For now, then, the forests are safe thanks to the Ail’an Gloria, but how long this may last remains unknown and the druids are left troubled. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Song (or two or three) for the Basin](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/19/a-song-or-two-or-three-for-the-basin/) **Published:** November 19, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Toward the end of Roarkian, a visitor was spotted wandering throughout the Basin, seeking fresh inspiration. Tired of the same old songs to be found within the dated material given them, the wandering bards of the Basin elected to send Adalgiso Batyun forward as supreme advocate, who took up the mantle determined to bring new life and vigour to the grand stages. Heading first to the northern commune of Serenwilde, Adalgiso came upon Raeri Stormcrow, a learned bard in his own right, who entranced the player with his works surrounding the great forest and its bounties. While moving, the pieces failed to stir in Adalgiso the inspiration so desperately sought, and so, on the advice of Raeri, Adalgiso traveled next to the commune of Glomdoring. Met at first with suspicion, Adalgiso encouraged those gathered to bring to him poetry and song that would ignite the spark he required in order to fulfill his mission. Led to the grand hall that housed the commune’s stage, he was met with performances by Nicholo Nightshade and Gwenaelle Erid’in, who sang of Mother Night’s dark beauty and the bloody grace of the hunt, Xydral, who regaled Adalgiso with an ode to his crow, and Stratas Shee-Slaugh, who presented material too lurid to be deemed fit for the Basin’s more tender ears. Sighing with resignation, Adalgiso took his leave and headed instead to the Aetherplex. Issuing a shouted challenge for any who could rouse in him a grand passion for their artistic work, Adalgiso was greeted by a cacophony of well-meaning, if amateur, attempts at poetry, clever prose, and songs sung only slightly out of tune. When his ears could take no more and he felt that surely he must return with bad news for his fellow musicians, he was struck finally by the possibility of recovering the long-abandoned apartments of the Basin’s earliest composers. With the help of several to corral his errant apprentice bards who had scattered upon the Peak, Adalgiso was able to uncover a gilded, locked door – and to disturb in the process a nest of burrowed cavern rats! Squealing in terror, they fled to the far corners of the peak..in possession of the key required to gain entry to the apartments at last. After several failed attempts, it was Drayl Ysav’rai who was finally able to locate the key to unlock the door. Finally properly stationed within the hallowed halls of times gone by, Adalgiso traded in his traveling garb in favour of the stately, if ill-fitting, costume of an accomplished composer, and sat down to work on a new piece at last. As Phoebus Skyplume retrieved for him the last object of inspiration required, it was she that led him about, across the Basin, to find a view to bring upon a complete work. Arriving at length at the Aetherplex yet again, Adalgiso Batyun was able to compose his song. If any of those gathered had doubts about Adalgiso’s right to claim all credit for the music, they were soon feeling considerably less slighted as the final piece was unveiled. Alas, a singer does not necessarily a lyricist make! **Categories:** News --- ### [Lady Clarramore, Her Sister and a Fancy Dress Ball](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/12/lady-clarramore-her-sister-and-a-fancy-dress-ball/) **Published:** November 12, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In Dioni, a scant few months after Clarramore Manor secured manufacturing and distribution of a new perfume, a cart was seen loading materials and workers into the manor’s upper level, much to the consternation of Lady Hyacinth. The first to inquire into these goings-on was Eritheyl Skyplume, Execumatrix Magnificus, though soon many others, mostly from Serenwilde and Hallifax, came to make inquiries. They learned that the new perfume’s income served another purpose: funding the conversion of the attic of the Manor into an apartment for Hyacinth’s sister, Lydia Windwhisper. The Clarramores were cagey about the reason for this, though gossip between the servants hinted at a scandal. The construction was due to be completed two months later, but in the early days of Avechary, just as the completion date was nigh, a terrible crash led to swearing on the part of the grumpy foreman. She soon secured authorizations for overtime from Lord Herbert, and sought people to deliver them to the gardeners. The call was taken up by the Archmage Phoebus Skyplume, and by Orventa T. Onz’Verheu, Professor of the Matrix Research Institute. They made quick work of it, and soon the Clarramores were toasting the opening of the new apartment. After making more inquiries about the scandal, Phoebus sought Lydia to persuade her to come to the manor. It seemed that, having met a working-class human late of Delport while hiding from a storm, Lydia had become enamoured of the unsuitable man, threatening to bring ruin to the Clarramore and Windwhisper families. It was with considerable regret that Phoebus persuaded Lydia to put family and duty before love. Lady Hyacinth insisted more must be done, and soon set Phoebus and Orventa to arranging a fancy dress ball. In the end, Orventa was honored at the ball for her efforts, and Lydia, looking somewhat glum, dutifully danced with a variety of suitors, thus putting to rest the gossip of servants. But while the scandal is silenced, Lydia sits forlornly in her garrett, daydreaming about what might have happened had she chosen differently. And in a hut in the mountains, a fur trader’s heart is broken. Might love yet triumph, or is Lydia destined forever to paint gloomy skyscapes in her lonely garrett, while receiving proposals of marriage from single men possessing good fortunes and in want of a wife? **Categories:** News --- ### [Lady Clarramore and the New Help](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/07/lady-clarramore-and-the-new-help/) **Published:** November 7, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The exasperated shouts of Lady Clarramore were carried down into the Basin on the cold winter winds one afternoon in Estar. Soon after, her trill servants took to the skies to search for what it was that vexed the Lady. However, it seemed that they were unsuccessful in their search. The servants soon returning back to the gardens. Real help did not reach Lady Clarramore until the Archmage Phoebus Skyplume arrived, asking about what was wrong. Lady Clarramore told the Archmage, and others who came to inquire, that a new gardener, Detrii Mallon, was supposed to have arrived by carriage earlier that day but as of yet only his supplies for the new greenhouse had. Soon the Archmage, along with the help of Xydral Nightshade, Tulemrah Shevat, and Shedrin Shevat, set out and found the missing gardener blissfully traveling within the carriage that traveled along the Basin’s highways. The entourage sent by Lady Clarramore brought him back to the gardens where he began his work in earnest. Detrii explained that Lady Clarramore had commissioned the new greenhouse because of the Wounded Sky and failing weather. Production within the gardens had slowly ground to a halt as plants died and perfumes became harder and harder to produce. With the help of everyone Detrii was able to build the greenhouse and recover supplies stolen by fellow gardeners jealous that he had been brought in to help. With new perfumes being produced and the Clarramore Gardens finding a way around the ill weather, one has to wonder if they will see their fortunes continue to grow. And what else may soon come to the manor nestled within the mountains? **Categories:** News --- ### [Vanquishing the Miasma](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/01/vanquishing-the-miasma/) **Published:** November 1, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Apparently created by the mysterious beings known as the Forsaken, the dread miasma continued its progression towards the crystal sphere that was created by another group of mysterious beings known as the Guardians of the Icewynd, apparently as part of an ancient conflict between the two groups. One of the Guardians had come to the Basin of Life: Wiliki, Justice of the Icewynd. Wiliki had warned that the Forsaken had sent the miasma to destroy the crystal sphere in order to complete the subversion of the weather in order to subjugate the entire world. When comets fell on the Basin of Life and released the terror of the ice devils, the miasma began a renewed and stronger effort to reach the crystal sphere. Guardian Wiliki revealed that the crystal sphere would be able to convert the essence of the ice devils and use it against the miasma in the form of ice spike. Thus, a concerted effort began to slay the ice devils, convert the essence and destroy the miasma once and for all. In the end, the miasma was reduced to its core, a seething mass in which the red eyes of the Forsaken could be seen peering through from their remote location far away in the Icewynd. Guardian Wiliki himself battled the core of the miasma, and was finally able to destroy it, freeing the Basin of Life from its threat. But with the latest efforts thwarted, what will the Forsaken plan next? The Era of the Wounded Sky continues to hang over Lusternia, like a knife poised to fall. And if it does fall, will anyone be willing to catch the falling knife? **Categories:** News --- ### [Revenge of the Miasma](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/11/01/revenge-of-the-miasma/) **Published:** November 1, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The miasma that has been spread across the Basin of Life began a renewed and more vigorous onslought to reach the crystal sphere atop the ancient glacier, which was constructed by the Guardians of the Icewynd to stop the complete destruction of the weather which ultimately led to the Era of the Wounded Sky. One of these guardians, Wiliki, Justice of the Icewynd, warned that the efforts to thwart the Forsaken had indeed been keeping the miasma at bay. Thus, the Forsaken sought a more direct approach. Invasion! Once again, the ice devils have invaded the Basin of Life. Wiliki believes the ice devils are meant to help the miasma reach the crystal sphere. However, Wiliki said the crystal sphere itself could transmute the energies of the ice devils themselves, turning them into weapons to destroy the miasma. But the miasma is now stronger than ever, growing at an ever increasing rate. Comets are crashing into the Basin of Life, bringing with them the ice devil invasion horde. Will the Basin unite to repel the invasion and destroy the miasma in time? **Categories:** News --- ### [The Mystery of Mount Wend](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/10/28/the-mystery-of-mount-wend/) **Published:** October 28, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In early spring of Kiani, as the snow ought to be melting, Agitho Merule came to New Celest, riddled with fever. It was not so quick to thaw on perilous Mount Wend, and the Saint Gathlyn’s orphanage was suffering for it. Sir Raikogen Tanestra and Faragan Diluculo answered the call to serve the Light. Finding the orphans ill from lack of proper blankets, they stripped the snowcats of their mystic protects and slaughtered scores to convert into fur coverlets. Tired themselves from the labours under the ominous peak of Mount Wend, they soon retired to rest lest they become sick themselves. For two, three days, all was quiet, till Nihta Eli’Silar heeded the call of Saint Gathlyn’s. Gathering a furrikin known only as Fay, he hurried to Mount Wend, finding the gate open and the wind itself protecting the wily snowcats. Working quickly, Fay and Nihta struck down the snowcats. Turning to Denthon Tidesgift, they followed his instructions, activating the great wards of Saint Gathlyn’s to defend the orphanage from harm. As they did, a strange ghost rose from the ground, a taurian woman who vanished into the snowy reaches of the peak beyond the walls of the orphanage. What new mystery has been unlocked on snowbound Mount Wend? What of Semau Brokenhorn, gibbering and raging on his peak and the ghostly woman wandering the snows? Only time will tell… **Categories:** News --- ### [The Rocksuckers of Shallach](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/10/24/the-rocksuckers-of-shallach/) **Published:** October 24, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Late in the month of Shanthin, groups of orcs were found wandering the highways of the Basin of Life, who were literally “stoned” from licking strange rocks covered with crystals. The wandering orcs were first found by Shedrin Shevat, Morbo Gordian, Tulemrah Shevat, Ushaara La’Saet, Morshoth Skyplume and Eritheyl Skyplume, all of Hallifax, who promptly slew the orcs and obtained their rocks. The group traveled around the Basin, searching for someone who would recognize the rocks or have the capabilities of analyzing them. From Talthos and Estelbar to the scientists of Hallifax, they found no answers. It was not until they traveled to the ruins of Shallach that they were able to find orcs with information. Using the strange rocks as a lure, they were able to learn of someone the orcs called “the good lady” who, they said, had no face but sold the rocks to them for gold. After receiving the rock from the Hallifaxians, the orc became suddenly uncommunicative as he had gone into a drug-induced stupor. Days later, some of the orcs began to wander into the cities and communes of the Basin. The confused orcs were unable to relay much information to those who inquired, though some were able to direct interested parties to Shallach. Hallifax was the first to arrive in Shallach, to begin their search anew for “the good lady” but instead stumbled upon Kronak Bruar, an orclach warrior wandering the ruins. Kronak had no answers for the Hallifaxians, as he had only just arrived and was unaware of the plight of the orcs. Soon, other members of the cities and forests began to arrive and question the wandering orclach, all save for New Celest. Those gathered in Shallach soon learned that Kronak was not from the Basin, but was a member of the League of Elite Warriors, who had been sent from outside the Basin of Life to learn more about the strange weather of the Wounded Sky. He had taken a detour to find Shallach, wishing to see the centre of orclach power that he had read of in old stories. It was soon explained to him by those gathered that Shallach was only ruins, irrevocably changed by the Taint during the fall of Holy Celestine Empire. Learning of the cruel fate of those orclach who had become the pitiful orcs, Kronak decided that he would work to protect them from whatever the strange drug-rocks were doing to them. Enlisting the help of those present he led them to Gruvar’s tower, along the northern wall of the ruins, where Kronak had heard strange sounds coming from within the tower. While no entrance to the tower could be found, Kronak had come equipped with the Society of Elite Warrior’s proprietary energy release trigger. Gathering together essence as an energy source and other materials needed to build the device, Kronak released the energy of the elemental essence at once, ripping a hole into the side of the tower. Within the tower, a strange tank was found, which Kronak deduced to be the source of the strange rocks that affected the orcs so much. Kronak was eventually able to unlock the control panel on the tank for Xenthos An’Ryshe of Glomdoring, though Xenthos found it difficult to fix the tank due to so many people trying to manipulate the controls at once. Eventually, the tank was able to be fixed, though only after releasing some clouds which simulated the effects of licking the drug-rocks. Finally, to end the threat against the orcs, Kronak requested that the cloaked woman who sold the drugs be killed and the corpse given to him. Rika Talnara of Serenwilde had the good lady’s corpse on hand and gave it to Kronak. Satisfied that the threat against the orcs had passed, Kronak gave Rika an ancient, deteriorating tome that contained old records of the ur’Guard during the Holy Celestine Empire. The book, written in orclach, was soon passed to Tully, a dwarven bookbinder with knowledge of the language, who translated it for the others. The book revealed many previously unknown facts about the history of the Empire, including how Gaudiguch and Hallifax came under Imperial Celest’s banner. Citing a desire to stay and protect the orcs Kronak took up a permanent residence in the tower. Forgoing his quest to learn about the Wounded Sky, he promised to send a message over the mountains to L.E.W. to request someone else take up his mission to solve the mystery of the weather. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Small Homecoming in Zoaka](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/10/24/a-small-homecoming-in-zoaka/) **Published:** October 24, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Bodha, a humble crafter of ceremonial pipes who had decided to spend years in far off realms, researching and seeing creatures as well as sights unseen by many, is now once again a resident of the Zoaka, where he was born and raised. When his former location suddenly and mysteriously shifted to a much more hostile and freezing weather pattern, he saw the need to relocate or become merely a frozen corpse rather than the craftsman of rather considerable skill he is known as. The road home would not be easy for Bodha, however, as it soon dawned upon him that his former home, a small cave of his own craft, had been sealed off by magma beyond his control. Not exactly a regular occurrence, but even once is regular enough to become a burden. Bodha took to Gaudiguch and pleaded for help, a plea which was heard by its citizenry, who also heard his tale of loss, and of the task in front of him, seeking to create a new home at a very specific location in the Zoaka. The people of Gaudiguch mobilized with haste, and even a few from Magnagora joined the group and sought out the location in mount Zoaka of which Bodha had spoken. After many trials, including a rockeater not overly fond of volcanic rock and a group of rather fiery kanzakage cousins to this magnificent beast, Bodha finally managed to create his new home. He now sits in his cave, where he offers a bounty on kanzakage, the above mentioned proud cousin of the common rockeater. Bodha also shortly spoke about the elder beastmaster Hraxri, also found in the Zoaka, who has problems involving a very special lady… **Categories:** News --- ### [Breaking the Miasma](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/10/01/breaking-the-miasma/) **Published:** October 1, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For nearly a month, the Basin of Life anguished beneath the arrival of the strange, murmuring silver miasma that appeared in the Oleanvir Valley and spread quickly through New Celest and the Inner Sea, inexplicably reaching eastward. Relief was had at last when a figure appeared over the Snow Valley, alighting near the spherical crystal construct built by Loranara, Wisdom of the Icewynd during the first appearance of the Ice Devils, many years prior. The new arrival identified himself as Wiliki, Justice of the Icewynd and comrade in arms to Loranara as a Guardian of the Icewynd, a land far from the Basin of Life. Their conflict with the beings identified as Forsaken had once more spilled over into the Basin. The miasma, sent by the Forsaken, attempted to seek eastward, in an effort to destroy the crystal within the Snow Valley that acted as the last bastion of defense against the sky becoming wholly torn asunder. Onlookers quickly gathered as Wiliki assessed the situation, informing them that although he wept for them, a weapon had already been dispatched to do away with the miasma. Almost immediately, a glittering shape soared across the firmament, identifiable as a massive, icy comet homing in on the bulk of the miasma to the west. Those behind the miasma responded in kind as the silvery mist surged, shattering the comet into countless fragments. Wiliki, undaunted, quickly laid a magical enchantment upon the crystal, enabling it to generate feathers formed of snow that possessed the ability to seek these fragments out, in the hopes of creating an item that could be used to destroy the miasma. Many set out to initiate this chore, though it was Archmage Phoebus Skyplume of the Aeromancers who first completed the deed and returned to a proud Wiliki to inform him of her success. Despite adversity, a way to combat the insidious miasma has been realised, and Wiliki, Justice of the Icewynd stands custodian over the crystal in the Snow Valley, ready to guide those intrepid adventurers who would marshal under him and begin clearing the mist from their lands. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Coming of the Miasma](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/10/01/the-coming-of-the-miasma/) **Published:** October 1, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A terrifying event occurred that some claimed were foreshadowed by the strange dreams that were plaguing the people of the Basin of Life for several months. The temperature suddenly dropped and a cold wind turned the sickly yellow clouds of the wounded sky into swirling maelstrom. Within the putrid storm, glowing red eyes appeared, surrounding the entire Basin and peering in. As the churning clouds spit forth small forks of forth black lightning that crawled among the churning sky, thunder boomed in rhythmic patterns, sounding like a chant. Some observers swore that they could make out the words, “SEEK AND DESTROY,” in the rhythmic patterns of the thunder. Suddenly, the wind and the clouds suddenly vanished but a miasmic white fog hovered above before contracting in on itself and sinking down into the Oleanvir Valley. Miciah Ves’ril, a Cantor from Celest, was the first to find the murmuring miasma, in the heart of the Oleanvir. Upon investigation, the miasma could not be harmed, though its touch was extremely painful. More alarmingly, it began to spread at an incredibly fast rate, though eventually slowing down. It seemingly seemed to grow in predominantly one direction, which unfortunately meant that it made its way through New Celest. Now, there is nothing to do but wait and see what happens with this disturbing new entity. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Genesis of the Wounded Sky](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/07/06/the-genesis-of-the-wounded-sky/) **Published:** July 6, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the end of 299 CE quickly approached, unbeknownst to many in the Basin of Life, powerful forces worked to secure the means to shape the fate of the First World. Following the kidnapping of Jeremiah and raids of the previous month, the ice devils — enemies of the Basin apparently under the command of enigmatic beings known as the Forsaken — turned to the cities and forests, attacking statues and trees to steal further resources. As the fervent attacks continued into Roarkian, the weather grew increasingly severe and erratic. Astrologers began to note the gathering energies of a rare astrological occurrence: the Syzygy, which happens only once every 250 years when all the planets align in one sign. As the planetary energies converged, the ice devils began to appear upon the Astral Plane, attacking the spheres one by one and encasing the nodes in impenetrable ice. Overcome by disturbing images of the astrospheres, adventurers gathered to investigate, finding the power nodes no longer accessible through their icy prisons and the spheres overtaken by foul, icy winds. Despite the best efforts of brave adventurers, the astral nodes continued to fall throughout Roarkian to the ice devils, until only Aries remained untouched. As the Syzygy began, this final node was taken just as a lull in the weather allowed the Basin to view briefly the planetary alignment. Moments later, though, the convergence was hidden from view as the sky was ripped apart by the fury of a surging tide of cold from the north, bringing with it even more terrible weather anomalies as the planets aligned in the Sign of the Skull. The Basin was pelted with shards of ice, even while the ground baked beneath them. Black lightning struck indiscriminately, rains bowed even the strongest and the wind brought some to a complete standstill. While the weather raged, some of the Elder gods were found in varying states of distress. Eventru was overtaken by fear for Lyreth, and paranoid delusions, while Morgfyre was overtaken by Hajamin and some of His other personalities. Others were equally forgetful or erratic, save for Raezon, who was soon found within an obsidian tower, high in Avechna’s Teeth. As most of the Basin dealt with the attacks of the previous months, Raezon had instructed His order, led by Nymerya, to prepare to harness the power of the Syzygy, and constructed the tower for this purpose. It remained hidden, secretly drawing power from the Syzygy and protecting Raezon from the effects the other Elder gods suffered. When others discovered the Obsidian Tower and flocked there for answers, Raezon was unwilling to offer any information beyond questionable lectures about the planetary alignment. In truth, He was continuing to draw power from the Syzygy. As His experiment reached its apex and the Syzygy began to lessen in power, the other Elder gods were drawn to the Obsidian Tower, where they regained a small amount of clarity, protected to a lesser degree by Raezon’s experiment. No longer distracted by the Syzygy, Raezon questioned those gathered, sharing that He had experienced a worrying interference in the Syzygy energies. Connecting this to the attacks on the astrospheres, He quickly confirmed with Elostian that an outside force was seeking power through both the Syzygy and the astral nodes. From mortal descriptions of the ice-covered nodes, he modified his tower to produce a sphere of plasma which would crack the icy shells covering the nodes. He instructed those in the tower to gather essence to power the tower now that the Syzygy was complete. Once the icy covering was cracked, each node had to be drained completely to break any link to their power which had been established during the Syzygy. After many bits of essence had been placed in the constructs within the tower, Miciah retrieved the first sphere, freeing the node of Cancer, which Magnagora then sought to drain. Mortals continued to free and drain the nodes for two months, fighting waves of ice shades and wraiths that erupted from within the dead bodies of astral creatures to defend the nodes. Those that battled the ice creatures were covered with more and more debilitating ice bites. Finally, the last node was fully drained by the combined forces of the Basin, the last bit of power drawn by the hand of Aerys, breaking the ice devils hold on the Astral Plane. As the ice melted from the node on Aquarius, the excess energy churned in the air to form a portal, through which an enormous plain of rotten ice could be seen, upon which thousands upon thousands of ice devils faced an enormous marble tower, encrusted with glowing gems stones. Sitting forlorn on a ledge of the tower was Jeremiah Gryphta, who quickly leaped from the ledge and dived through the portal. As it closed behind him, several cloaked figures could be seen turning in surprise. Lehki beckoned to Jeremiah as Ixion led those gathered on Aquarius home to Jeremiah’s place on Avechna’s Peak. Jeremiah then produced the Hearthstone of Il’vania, telling them that Il’vania was a Vernal Goddess and that the stone carried with it the warmth and love of a good home. Touching it, they were relieved to be healed of the ice bites which they had accumulated in their battles on the Astral Plane to free the twelve nodes and rewarded with Czigany coins. Many questions still remain about the intentions of the ice devils (and their mysterious masters) and what goals were accomplished by capturing the energies of both the Syzygy and the astral nodes. What was the marble tower seen through the portal on Aquarius? And, for that matter, what about the Obsidian Tower of Raezon? Perhaps the true purpose of these two towers, marble and obsidian, will remain unknown forever, along with the mystery of what it may have gained for their masters. However, even though the wild storms passed with the freeing of the Astral Plane, the sky remained wounded above the Basin of Life with no sign of healing. Thus, the Era of the Wounded Sky has begun. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Verse, Ice Skulls and a Kidnapping](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/07/03/a-verse-ice-skulls-and-a-kidnapping/) **Published:** July 3, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Early last month, Hoopah Hopekeep of Tolborolla was disturbed by the dreams of the Great Spirit known as the Daughter of the Rivers. When a ritual was performed to seek counsel from the River Daughter, her prophesy led to one of the infamous Verses of Magnora. The meaning of the quatrain was unclear to those who tried to decipher its meaning, but, as often happens when fragments of this dire document is found, disaster soon followed. The Ice Skulls returned to the Basin of Life, this time focused with a furious intent on select villages. First, they struck Dairuchi, then Angkrag, and finally Southgard, each time stealing steel, marble and gems. While the cities and communes gathered together to battle the Ice Skulls and subsequently the Ice Devils that followed, another vicious and unexpected strike occurred on Avechna’s Peak. This time, the Ice Skulls kidnapped Jeremiah Gryphta, intent on seizing the newly discovered crates imported from the Czigany Coast. Nothing could be done but watch helplessly as Jeremiah was carried away. Why did the Ice Skulls return to collect such specific commodities? What did they want with Jeremiah and the artifacts from the Czigany ruins? Are other events occurring that may be related? And does the newly discovered Verse of Magnora offer any insight or advice? It seems nothing is left but questions. **Categories:** News --- ### [Secrets of the Czigany Past](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/13/secrets-of-the-czigany-past/) **Published:** June 13, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A messenger got waylaid off while traveling through the mountains by the gaseous cloier which had broken through the aetherways in an experiment gone awry. Once the cloeir was vanquished, a strange cask was found that was meant for Jeremiah Gryphta, a Czyigany wanderer who has settled in the Basin of Life. Once Jeremiah received the cask, the history and the background of the Czigany was revealed. While the Age of the Vernal Wars was known as a time of strife and conflict, there were moments when great cultures of elegance and artistry arose among the mortal races. Alas, these brief glimmers of accomplishment were too often soon extinguished during the cataclysms wrought by the Soulless Gods, leaving behind only a legacy of myth and fable. One such civilization was the Cultural Province of the Czigany Coast. Those who sought the Czigany Coast were artists seeking to find kindred spirits and a place of belonging. The Cultural Province isolated itself from the rest of Lusternia in order to create great works of art that existed simply for their own aesthetic sake. At the height of its glory, the artists raised a Vernal Goddess of their own, who ascended to be known at first as Menestre of the Laughing Heart and later simply as Menestre the Fool. Little is known of Menestre, except she was not well regarded by the other Vernal Gods, with the exception of the Vernal Goddess Tzaraziko the Enigmatic who tried to protect Menestre when she could and it was reported that they often travelled together. Besides bits of myth and legend, the only remaining evidence of Menestre’s existence is her Marvelous Motley Cap, which was kept in the Meliashmora of Imperial Secrets, a repository of vernal artifacts safeguarded by the Holy Celestine Empire before its fall. In the end, however, the Cultural Province of the Czigany Coast met the fate of many such civilizations during the Vernal Wars. It was utterly annihilated by the Soulless Gods. Those who escaped destruction became wanderers, still devoted to their art, but never again settling down in one place. Their descendants came to be called simply the Czigany, who continued a nomadic life as they wandered throughout the far reaches of Lusternia. The Basin of Life knows of one such travelling group, the Czigany Wayfaire who shows up in times of celebration. Jeremiah Gryphta made the almost unprecedented decision (for a Czigany) of settling in the Basin to sell their strange artifacts, which some believe are derived from techniques long thought lost along with the demise of the Cultural Province. Thus, when word finally reached Jeremiah that a group of Czigany has discovered the ruins of the Cultural Province, he realized the magnitude of the find, for the Czigany had unearthed the remains of curios created by their ancestors, objects of such wonder and marvel that merchants would travel from the far reaches of the world to collect just a handful, and retire with riches beyond their dreams. Unfortunately, the curios have been broken, smashed and scattered by war, time and the elements. Slowly, however, sealed containers from the lost civilization are making their way for those collectors and enthusiasts rich enough to afford a memento from an ancient, though glorious, past. **Categories:** News --- ### [Tale of the Lone Lyrebird](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/06/13/tale-of-the-lone-lyrebird/) **Published:** June 13, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A dark day it was in late Urlachmar, though the brilliant radiance emanating from Avechna’s Teeth did little to underscore the fact. Marani Veloske, White Priestess of the Shallamurine Cathedral, declared that the Basin of Life had too long been subject to the filth and debauchery of life, and with her fellow priestesses and countless undead beauties in tow, she descended into the Basin proper, magnanimously electing to rid the people of the Basin of their troubles and return the glory of Shallamar at once. Marani took arms before the Silent Cathedral in Magnagora, while her sisters spread across the remainder of the continent. Neinrin Tivreau descended into the Ellindel Arboretum of Serenwilde, while Shihami Aerlon stood before the Deep Blue Cathedral of New Celest. Ephrani Xala basked within the lava gardens of Gaudiguch and Muut Nosherom bowed her head before Glomdoring’s Black Tower. Erigili Sunfar, proud as ever, stood atop the Spire of the Lawgivers in Hallifax, each offering dire portents of the Basin’s so-called ‘salvation’ before raising their voices in a combined song. This song was more powerful than Veloske’s single note, beautiful and terrifying, slaying many who heard it and grievously wounding more besides. Where or how or from whom Marani acquired this song was unknown, but whatever the case, it gave her power unprecedented before. Serenwilde was the first to oust the undead from their quarters, dispatching the beauties and their leader, Neinrin, with ease. Hallifax followed suit, with Glomdoring, Celest, and Gaudiguch respectively dispatching Marani’s priestesses amid grievous battles and the raging song that threatened to lead all who heard it into death. At last, the warriors of the Basin confronted Marani herself before the Silent Cathedral. The White Priestess used every bit of cunning and strength she possessed, yet fell still to the might of those she sought to subjugate in her renewal of the lost plane of Shallamar. Upon the demise of those controlling it, the song began to diminish. However, instead of fading, it redoubled its own efforts, swelling without any external source until it deafened those who heard it with its vicious disharmonies. The guardians of the cities and communes cried out in pain and faltered, though this was eclipsed by the pain of even the Elder Gods themselves, whose injuries and irritation became known to all as the song ran rampant. In an effort to stem the effects of the berserk composition begun by Marani Veloske, Lyreth, the Sidereal Prince, appeared, harp in hand, to turn His own Song against it. Though the contest was close beyond compare, the Sidereal Lord was soon divested of His harp and fell to the earth, encased in a bubble of the berserk music kept at bay only by His own voice, while His harp was cast to the Inner Sea, upon the Isle of Light. It soon became apparent, thanks to a despairing Auguste L’Fevre, that the Lord’s instrument had grown dim, and required essence of light in order to restore it to its former power. Many set out to accomplish this goal, trekking across planes to recover the energy needed to save Lord Lyreth. In the end, it was Xenthos An’Ryshe of the Glomdoring who came into possession of the Elder God’s harp, though in a gesture of kindness he returned it to Shulamit Lunarose, who played it before the trapped Lyreth. The music freed Him, and He took up His harp once more, though the malevolent music of the deadly song remained unabated, threatening all Creation. With a parting word to Shulamit, and to those gathered, Lyreth took to the skies a final time. Armed once more with the Divine instrument, His aria tore the song to shreds, though not without a cost of its own. Following the song’s dispersal, the exhausted God became surrounded by infinite lights before breaking apart as a flock of lyrebirds, those creatures that once marked the form of His Voice. To the despair of those gathered, the lyrebirds winged about and soon vanished from sight, sped onward by the distraught cries of the Lord Exalted. Some days later, a lone lyrebird returned to the Basin of Life, alighting at the entrance to the Temple of Lyreth. This serves as a painful reminder of the absence of the Sidereal Prince, though some say that a certain sparkle in the bird’s eye offers hope for the future to those who keep Him in their hearts. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Tale of a Vortex Valve](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/05/17/a-tale-of-a-vortex-valve/) **Published:** May 17, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Late in Estar, strange keenings from a valve on the Plane of Vortex drew the attention of the Illuminati. To the disgust of Arian L’Aumes, who had recently traveled through the valve, it became apparent that the opening was sickened and afflicted by parasitic fleshlings. Rot and gangrene spread through the fleshy lips, turning from healthful pink to infected green and black. As the stench grew and the Red Hand guards spoke of cauterising the source of the rot to protect their plane, the Illuminati sought the wisdom of their own Shimotabi Xiim. With a contemplative nod, the Most Venerable Shimotabi Xiim spoke of a body reacting against strange, foreign things. And was not the Vortex a living thing? Did it not breathe and react? Even as Vuris Ama’rua and Arian L’Aumes pondered this wisdom, it was Annick Daienaisus who grasped the truth behind the words of Shimotabi and the Red Hands. He seized his blades and made to the Fire Plane. He returned in triumph, bringing fiery essence to the afflicted valve, and was rewarded by the valve seeming to grow healthy. Gaudiguch mustered behind Annick, gathering more and more essence to heal their afflicted Plane. Finally, as the last motes of flaming essence dropped into the valve, the lips spasmed and healed entirely, saving Vortex from further infection. It further became clear that the valve had widened, revealing an easier passage between the Eternal Fire and the Vortex Falls. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Return of the Scarlet Goddess](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/05/09/the-return-of-the-scarlet-goddess/) **Published:** May 9, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the beacon on Avechna’s Peak flared to life and the ground began to shake, the Even-Bladed sensed a Divine presence returning to the First World. However, as Terentia, the Sidereal Prince, and the Exalted took flight from the Resurgence of the Light, it became clear that the presence emerging above the Peak was no God, but rather, the maddened Half-Formed known only as the Dreadform of Iklara. Terentia was first to meet the creature as it sprung forwards to attack Lyreth. The Dreadform was beaten back over the desert sands of the Skarch, shedding purple blood as the Even-Bladed struck mortal blows against the coiling length. Finally, it split, as did the mirror it clutched in one hand. Shards like quicksilver rained down over the Skarch, lodging themselves in the eyes of the unwary. Among these, the largest stuck in the eye of one Qetori Dlai. Driven mad by the visions within the broken mirror, he begin to scream and shout, attracting the attentions of Gaudiguch. Pursued by Arunasapta L’Aumes, he departed into the dunes, searching for some unknown marker. Unearthing the remains of an ancient shrine, he was quickly tracked down by the citizens of Gaudiguch. Begging for aid to repair the mosaic, he was answered by the city, who dispersed to track down the other shards of the mirror. Through attacks by the Engine of Transformation, through the reemergence of the splintered pieces of the Dreadform, the city labored on. But it was Ixion of Magnagora who at last solved the puzzle of the mosaic. From within, the tears of Magnora were shed, as was Mysrai, the Scarlet Goddess, returned to the First World. The Goddess, revealed at last, explained that while in the Void, She and several other Meditators were studying a Tear of Magnora when they were ambushed by dark entities. Mysrai was able to merge her essence into the Tear and save Herself but she ended up being trapped within. Floating for aeons in Her prison, the Tear of Magnora was eventually found by the Dreadform of Iklara. When the Beacon was activated by Roark during the Coming of Estarra, Mysrai paintstakingly directed the Dreadform through empathic and telepathic influence to make its way to return to the Basin of Life. With Her emergence, Mysrai the Scarlet Goddess moved to embrace the City of Gaudiguch, taking several citizens as the seed of a new Order. As for what was left of the Dreadform, the Elder Gods trapped its remains in a container which was then jettisoned into Aetherspace. **Categories:** News --- ### [Bitter Ice Plagues the Northern Mountains](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/05/05/bitter-ice-plagues-the-northern-mountains/) **Published:** May 5, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** With a crashing of frigid air in the Northern Mountains and an ominous swirling of flakes, the ice skulls which had recently plagued the Basin of Life returned, sending the cities and communes scrambling after. Greeted first by the warriors of Glomdoring, amidst them Talan Ysav’rai and Viynain Erid’in, the skulls were routed, the survivors vanishing into the peaks and valleys of the mountains. Not long after, however, reports of ice skull sightings resumed, indicating they were furtively searching for something as yet unrevealed in the stony passes. While battles continued in the Northern Mountains with the elusive ice skulls, many of which were evolving into fully formed ice devils, another drama was unfolding in New Celest. A merian youth called Agitho Merule had traveled from a mountain retreat to the City of Light. Swathed in furs and weary from his long journey, Agitho encountered Grandmistress Rayen of the Tahetso and Zynna Val’Andra. With a tale of trouble from a place called Saint Gathlyn’s, and a request for aid from the Celestines, Agitho soon found himself the focus of much interest and many questions. But before he could answer the questions, Agitho fell ill from his long journey. The boy was relocated to the Aquamancer’s guildhall to rest. Through the masterful healing talents of Azula Vivalde, a remedy was discovered, and the citizens of Celest swiftly martialed to gather the ingredients from near and far for the ailing lad. With the remedy mixed, Agitho recovered and was ultimately able to lead the gathered Celestians into the Northern Mountains, where he revealed the stairs ascending into Saint Gathlyn’s Orphanage for the Dispossessed. Within, the residents swiftly asked for succor and salvation from the wintry spirit known only as Frost Spite. A brief sally of Magnagorans and Serenwilders passed through, only to depart at the arrival of the Dawn Brigade, let by the Lady Malicia La’Saet. With the threat to the Orphanage banished, Nydekion La’Saet and Azula set about aiding the residents. Through the chill of winter and the despair of the residents, the Celestians worked tirelessly. At last, the wards of Saint Gathlyn’s were raised, and the orphans and their guardians gathered to perform a ritual, driving back the spirit and the snow alike. But as the ritual reached a crescendo, the figure of Frost Spite rose above the peak of Mount Wend, speaking cryptically to the remaining ice skulls and ice devils prowling the snowy wastes. “We may yet be distant cousins, but I owe you nothing,” said the Frost Spite. “But complete the pact and I will do my part.” With these final, ominous words, the Frost Spite was sealed away, and the Orphanage saved from the wracking winter. But how long will the Frost Spite stay sealed? What type of creature is the Frost Spite, whose powers are akin to those of the Great Spirits of Nature? What were the ice devils seeking, and what was the pact the ancient spirit spoke of? And what more lies beneath the snowbound wastes of Mount Wend? **Categories:** News --- ### [Family/House System Updates!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/05/03/familyhouse-system-updates/) **Published:** May 3, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Long desired, they are finally here! Most notably, the means of gaining honour have been increased drastically, as well as a new ‘House Orientation’ system has been implemented which has an affect on how much honour that is gained via certain actions. Harkening back to the days of the Holy Celestine Empire and the seven Imperial Great Houses that watched from the highest echelons of Imperial Society, three orientations return for those in pursuit of Nobility: House of Honour =============== Your archetypical noble house, this house’s gains revolve around righteous, often martial causes. Valiant defenders of their homeland and champions of noble causes, they march into the field of battle with blade, prayer or spell, and often bear a name that terrifies those who would stand against their homelands. House of Letters ================ A house of well-read nobility, they are most often philosophers, priests and scientists, and their causes are always those worthy of defending – even against all of the nay-sayers and detractors of competing philosophies. House of Culture ================ Known for their social-climbing ways and high-society affairs, Houses of Culture are notoriously popular – often for their connection with the people, but even moreso for their thoughtful and heart-touching stage and literary renditions. House of Blood ============== Born out of the chaos and pain of the Taint Wars, such Houses as those of Blood rise not out of popularity, respect or wisdom, but instead of the havoc and bloodshed they wield as weapons, hacking their way through anything that may be in their way. Notions of ‘honour’ are twisted for these Houses – it is not earned, but demanded, not given, but taken – and it is through violence they rise in power. Races ===== Houses are formed of families, and in older days, races were often segregated, as no two races could intermingle. Houses now have the option of declaring a ‘Family Race’, and they will gain a small amount of passive honour relative to the number of members who belong to it, each RL day. HELP GREATHOUSES or HELP FAMILYHONOUR has more details on how one gains and loses honour, as well the benefits of each House Orientation, and honour overall. To the underlying Family system, as well as the House system, we have also added a few small changes: o Two parents are still required to adopt a child, however one parent is now able to go with the child to the Bloodline Registry and FAMILY ACKNOWLEDGE INITIATE. The adoption process will /not/ begin until the second parent and the child go and FAMILY ACKNOWLEDGE ACCEPT. At this point the adoption process will begin as normal. o Children may now acknowledge a family they are not a part of – so long as at least ONE parent is an active member of said family. o Bannerhouse is now achieved at 15 members, instead of 10. o The member requirement for a Historical Family is now ‘Bannerhouse’ status. o Historical Families are now rewarded in various manners in the Great House system. o Historical Families now have a special prefix to the family name to denote them as such, depending on which city they are aligned with. o Historical Families are NOT able to change their orientation, nor their race, but are instead determined by the family’s history. o Bannerhouses and Great Houses with a high Honour ranking will receive +10 members to their family, due to their notoriety and the influence it brings. This will fade should their honour fall below that mark. o Bannerhouse honour is capped, though they may set an orientation, race and participate in the honour system fully. o Bannerhouses gain a % of the honour their liege house gains each weave, and visa-versa. o Great Houses and Bannerhouses receive an influence bonus to one type based on their honour and orientation. All receive a small bonus to village influencing. o Great Houses of a certain honour can no longer be evicted from a city by the ruling Council. o The ultimate reward for a Great House remains unchanged – a seat upon the City Council. **Categories:** News --- ### [Great Hunt Winners!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/25/great-hunt-winners/) **Published:** April 25, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Congratulations to all those who participated in the Great Hunt and won bound credits! For the first time, we’ve ran three tiers so there were three Top Ten sets and lots of credit awards! Demigod+ Tier 1st Veyrzhul (500 credits) 2nd Munsia (450 credits) 3rd Lothringen (400 credits) 4th Kelly (350 credits) 5th Saoirse (300 credits) 6th Sahmiam (250 credits) 7th Azula (200 credits) 8th Veracruz (150 credits) 9th Marie (100 credits) 10th Naralis (50 credits) Level 61-99 Tier 1st Enyalida (500 credits) 2nd Rastamutti (450 credits) 3rd Calesta (400 credits) 4th Sivas (350 credits) 5th Daedalion (300 credits) 6th Troika (250 credits) 7th Tacita (200 credits) 8th Donovain (150 credits) 9th Neos 2508 (100 credits) 10th Mabsy (50 credits) Level 1-60 Tier 1st Sidonie (500 credits) 2nd Liwanag (450 credits) 3rd Edenwe (400 credits) 4th Zycra (350 credits) 5th Nertoth (300 credits) 6th Telara (250 credits) 7th Mazzen (200 credits) 8th Cateline (150 credits) 9th Maytida (100 credits) 10th Siloak (50 credits) **Categories:** News --- ### [Of Ice Skulls and Tattoos!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/16/of-ice-skulls-and-tattoos/) **Published:** April 16, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Not long after the accident in the Arthar’rt Observatory, the ice skulls were seen again, this time invading the Tosha Monastery. Response was quick from the inhabitants of the Basin who helped the Tosha monks repel the invasion, even as the ice skulls evolved into full fledged ice devils. Unfortunately, the attack was not without consequence as Master Quettle was kidnapped. It was later discovered that the ice creatures had encased Master Quettle in a block of ice in Snow Valley, incubating ice larva around him. When the ice larva evolved, they spawned into hundreds of ice devils and the snows turned red with their blood. When the last ice devil stood, it was momentarily possessed by a malign presence who called itself one of the Forsaken. It claimed to be searching for allies hidden in the Basin and thus was questioning Master Quettle. Contemptuous of those present, the Forsaken released the ice devil who was soon slaughtered. Still trapped in the block of ice, Master Quettle was able to telepathically communicate with those around him. He managed to set up ka fields within the block of ice that could only be triggered by members of the four monk guilds. Thus, Veyrzhul of the Tahtetso, Tau of the Nekotai, Prailie of the Ninjakari and Ceiliana of the Shofangi were able to channel their ka into the ice and release Master Quettle. Alas, a side effect from being frozen was that Master Quettle lost all his glorious golden fur and revealed that he was tattoo from head to foot. So grateful was Master Quettle, that he offered to teach the ancient art of ka tattooing, long a secret of the Tosha Monks to the four guilds who rescued him. Thus, has the art of tattooing become a common trade for monks in Lusternia. But that is not the end of this episode, for several ice skulls were seen escaping into the clouds. **Categories:** News --- ### [An Accident in the Arthar'rt Observatory](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/04/16/an-accident-in-the-artharrt-observatory/) **Published:** April 16, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Starting with an ominous crash and the frustrated cries of Atrian Lerit’r, trouble was brewing at the Arthar’rt Observatory. The scientist had been frantically trying to assemble his teleportation device before his brother, Eduyik Lerit’r, and his brother’s wife, Metharme Lerit’r, came to visit him and see his work. Eduyik and his wife had taken a detour through Hallifax to see the city since its refounding, where they met a few Hallifaxians, most notably Force Commander Morshoth. The Commander escorted the couple to see Atrian in the Observatory, taking along a curious group of Hallifaxians including Daera Letara, Tulemrah Shevat, Kanara, and Xaldrin Somnius. Unable to finish in time, Atrian begged the Hallifaxians assembled to help him put his teleporter together, while a snide Eduyik looked on. After Morshoth and, interestingly enough, the Magnagoran Sahmiam m’Viraz worked together to put the teleporter in place, Metharme Lerit’r tested it only to form a gateway out of which ice skulls, precursors to the dread ice devils, escaped into the Basin. One ice skull was apparently momentarily possessed by an unknown malevolent force which sent some of the floating ice skulls to split off to seek some unknown goal. Others were directed to attack the bystanders in the laboratory. However, despite the efforts of those present to destroy the ice skulls, Metharme died and a furious Eduyik blamed his brother for her passing. Atrian, for lack of better options, tried to think back to something that would alleviate his brother’s grieving – and remembered Eduyik’s fondness of statues. Dionellah Windwhisper, an unorthodox sculptor residing in Avechna’s Teeth with a penchant for moose antlers, had long been patroned by Eduyik and Metharme in the past for her sculptures. At Atrian’s urging, Eduyik not only agreed to ask Dionellah for a commission, but seemed rather enamoured with the idea for undetermined reasons. Daedalion, Orventa, Dramon, Maellio, and Tulemrah all set off following Morshoth as they delivered the request to Dionellah and worked on getting her the materials needed for the statue. The events following the statue’s creation are haunting and disturbing, and shared by the small band of Hallifaxians that unknowingly began the first step of Eduyik’s experiment. Whether it will ultimately prove successful, however, remains to be seen… More disturbing, however, was the fact that an unknown number of floating ice skulls had escaped into the Basin of Life, intent upon their clandestine plans. **Categories:** News --- ### [Eileen Connlaodh, Queen of the Leprechauns](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/21/eileen-connlaodh-queen-of-the-leprechauns/) **Published:** March 21, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After months of hard drinking and deliberations, the leprechauns have once again chosen Eileen Connlaodh to be Queen of the Leprechauns! This decision was helped along by the players who themselves had to imbibe in drink in order to interact with the wee leprechaun folk. Eileen’s brothers, Seamus and Gilligan, have departed while the leprechauns recuperate from their mass hangover. And so, for at least another 33 and 1/3 years, Eileen rules over the leprechaun population, and thus, the rainbows shine brightly. **Categories:** News --- ### [Wyrden Blessing Brings New Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/20/wyrden-blessing-brings-new-life/) **Published:** March 20, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During the month of Avechary, the members of Glomdoring Forest discovered a stranger in their forest: Amhika Rotwood, an elfen from beyond Glomdoring’s borders, had arrived seeking the truth about certain rumours. While she avoided explaining her reasons in great detail, she revealed that she wished to learn the secret from Rowena of childbirth through alternate means. The members of Glomdoring brought Amhika to Rowena, but the latter would not share her knowledge. During the conversation, she suggested that Mother Night might know the secret, for she knows many things, which caused those in attendance to ponder the possibility of speaking directly to the Great Spirit. Rowena declared, however, that the only way Amhika should speak with Night would be to summon her through the Ebonglom Crown ritual. With this little bit of hope (and the advice from certain commune members to clean herself up), Amhika left the forest. She returned two months later as the moon disappeared completely from the night sky, a new moon for the ritual of the Ebonglom Crown. Shuyin Ysav’rai and Tau Llaewell had prepared the crown during the previous day, and at midnight, the latter presented the crown to Brennan Stormcrow to begin the ritual. When Mother Night graced the Glomdoring with her presence, Amhika presented herself, declaring her a willful servant of the Spirit. Night acquiesced, giving the elfen one chance to prove her worth and giving Glomdoring the duty of seeing it through. Members of Glomdoring followed Amhika to her hovel by the Gloriana River where she planted a seed given by Night. It grew into a ravenous rafflesia that dined on corpses and shadowy essence gathered by those of the commune. When the plant was full, it burst and blessed the soil with blood and shadows. Night descended upon Amhika Rotwood, whispering the treasured knowledge into her ear and giving her the necessary tools, and departed just as quickly – but not before declaring that the child born from the endeavor would belong to the Great Spirit herself. Empowered by Night’s blessing, Amhika asked Glomdoring to help her gather the necessary ingredients. Combining their efforts, Talan Ysav’rai, Xenthos An’Ryshe, Shuyin, and others assisted Amhika in growing a child from the very earth. The happy mother now resides by the Gloriana River, guarding Night’s secret just beyond the touch of the Wyrd. There are still many unanswered questions, the one in particular passes in whispers from one Glomdorian to another: What does Night want from this new child? **Categories:** News --- ### [Leprechaun Celebration Leads to New Election](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/03/17/leprechaun-celebration-leads-to-new-election/) **Published:** March 17, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** On the 33 and 1/3 anniversary of the death of Old Cashel Connlaodh, King of the Leprechauns, the leprechaun population gathered to celebrate his reign. However, as the green ale flowed, old arguments rose about who should lead the leprechauns, which finally resulted in overthrowing Eileen Connlaodh as the reigning queen, calling for a new contest to see which of Old Cashel’s children should rule the leprechauns. Thus, Seamus Connlaodh and Gilligan Connlaodh have returned to try to wrest the crown from their sister Eileen. You can help the leprechauns to choose their new leaders by helping either Eileen, Seamus or Gilligan, who each have a rainbow on the path of nature on Avechna’s Peak, where you can visit them. By helping the leprechauns, they’ll give you a shamrock of their faction. These shamrocks can be traded in for dingbats or they can be eaten for a blessing. They can also be combined into groups for easy carrying–IF YOU EAT A GROUP OF SHAMROCK, THAT IS YOUR LOSS. YOU WILL NOT BE REIMBURSED. This coming Sunday, whichever faction has given out the most shamrocks will become the new leprechaun leader and will stay as a permanent quest in Lusternia! After the coronation, no more dingbats will be given out so make sure you trade them in before then. Oh, by the way, there’s a little known fact about leprechaun magic: they gain the power of invisibility when they’re drunk! How one can overcome that, we’ll leave it for you to discover. **Categories:** News --- ### [Winter's End](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/28/winters-end/) **Published:** February 28, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As the strange icy weather worsened, the comets kept pelting the Basin of Life, releasing ice larva which through several stages of growth grew into hideous creatures known as the ice devils. As crops began to wither and the cold began to take its toll, the ice devils began to spread throughout the land. Some believed they were invading to conquer the people of the Basin. Others believed they were searching for something. After several months, a being named Loranara, Wisdom of the Icewynd, appeared among the glacial peaks of Avechna’s Peak. Next to her was an enormous crystal in the ice. She revealed that she came from lands far away. She warned that a terrible force had changed the weather patterns, enabling the ice devils to be sent here by their masters. The crystal was a magical construct that would be able to turn the weather patterns back to normal, stopping the ice devils from continuing their invasion. For days, the people of the Basin of Life fought the ice devils, using their essence to empower the crystal construct. Finally, the crystal was activated, banishing the foul weather and stopping the ice devil invasion. Slowly, the weather patterns returned to normal, and the last remaining ice devils were hunted down and destroyed. Before Loranara, Wisdom of the Icewynd, returned to her distant lands, she revealed that the name of the dread masters who controlled the ice devils were known simply as the Forsaken. Unable to acclimate to the temperate climate, she returned to the Icewynd, leaving behind the crystal sphere as a possible means of contact between the two lands at some point in the future. **Categories:** News --- ### [War, Butterflies, Strange Smells, Secrets and Snow](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/26/war-butterflies-strange-smells-secrets-and-snow/) **Published:** February 26, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As war broke out between Hallifax and an alliance between New Celest, Glomdoring Commune and Gaudiguch, raids upon the Cosmic Plane of the Continuum resulted in the destruction of the Master Crystals. Afterwards, not seen since the Taint Wars, Gaudiguch initiated Project Paradox, releasing a cloud of reality-altering butterflies that swarmed over the floating city of Hallifax. Strangely, a small group of butterflies broke off and entered the Caoime Dell and then flooded the Wydyr Glade. Though the butterflies soon dissipated, something strange occurred, as an enormously foul smell began emanating from Caoime Dell. Eventually, an ancient slaugh crone known as the Dowager Shelagh Shee-Slaugh appeared. The Dowager explained to a gathering of adventurers that she was summoned to deal with the strange stench. Viynain, Shuyin Ysav’rai, Lehki Talnara, Elodres Dilculo, Arath of Gaudiguch among others, assisted her in combating this bizarre threat of smells. Eventually, the group led by Viynain, helped the Dowager and learned of some dark secrets within the Wydyr Glade. By complete coincidence, a blizzard of epic proportions blew in from the north, sending comets of ice to hail upon the Basin of Life. Rumours began to circulate that the comets carried small creatures though such a ridiculous concept was largely scoffed at. Whatever the case, the unnatural cold persists and continues to trouble life in the the Basin. **Categories:** News --- ### [Closed Beta Testing Ends!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/closed-beta-testing-ends/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** We thank our stalwart testers for all the hard work. Certainly, their efforts have made Lusternia a more stable environment than it may otherwise have been. **Categories:** News --- ### [Anniversary Harmony Challenge](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/anniversary-harmony-challenge/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A Harmony Challenge was held as an anniversary event. First place went to Viynain, second place to Krellan, and third place to Talan. **Categories:** News --- ### [Anniversary Death Match](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/anniversary-death-match/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A Death Match was held as an anniversary event. First place went to Vathael, second place to Shuyin, and third place to Nyir. **Categories:** News --- ### [Anniversary Hamster Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/anniversary-hamster-hunt/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Lusternia celebrates it’s Fifth Year Anniversary! The first anniversary game was a hamster hunt. First place went to Talan, second place to Lehki, and third place to Ceren. **Categories:** News --- ### [Lusternia Lore Wiki Launch](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/lusternia-lore-wiki-launch/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** We’ve launched the official Lusternia Lore Wiki! It is completely player run and includes detailed information on all skill sets. Keep checking back and watch it grow! **Categories:** News --- ### [Vathael Wins Great Hunt!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/vathael-wins-great-hunt/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Congratulations to Vathael for coming in first place in the Great Hunt! Second place went to Veyrzhul and third place to Jozen! **Categories:** News --- ### [Great Hunt Begins!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/great-hunt-begins/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Great Hunt has been called across all of Iron Realms! Players can win bound credits by bashing creatures, with the top ten winners receiving extra credit reward. Also, all players experience double experience while the hunt is active! **Categories:** News --- ### [Return of Morgfyre](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/return-of-morgfyre/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After the Elder God Raezon completed some successful experiments in the Sea of Despair, unforeseen reactions took place which resulted in the manifestation of three alien beings rising up and being drawn to the City of Magnagora. After much destruction and fighting among the beings, eventually one rose to dominance who turned out to be the new personality of Morgfyre, the Legion, who has now returned to the Basin of Life and is as active as ever. **Categories:** News --- ### [July Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/july-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The July Vesteran Honours were announced! Congratulations to Lendren who won the bardic contest with Quarter, Part IV: Pragmatism and Ried who won the artisanal contest with Voice of the Red Masque — the second win in a row for Ried! **Categories:** News --- ### [New Ship in Sea of Despair](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/new-ship-in-sea-of-despair/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Undead Emperor Ladantine commissioned a young viscanti alchemist named Yishka Feyranti to prepare a special potion for himself. As part of the payment, Emperor Ladantine raised up a ship from the depths of the Sea of Despair for Yishka to commandeer to help her gather rare and exotic ingredients. While the results of Yishka’s experiments are unknown, reports have circulated that the Emperor is looking stronger and fitter than ever before. **Categories:** News --- ### [Rocs vs. Manticores!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/rocs-vs-manticores/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The feud between lucidians and dracnari erupted to new heights with the discovery of an ancient artifact called the Mirror of Tzaraziko. This mirror was high up in the clouds and fought over between the dracnari who used rocs of the Razine Mountains to gain access to the mirror and the lucidians who used the manticores of the Southern Mountains. While the dracnari momentarily got the upper hand, the tides turned and the struggle to control the Mirror of Tzaraziko continues. **Categories:** News --- ### [Glomdoring Ritual Area](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/glomdoring-ritual-area/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A new ritual area opened up in the Glomdoring Forest, dedicated to Night and Crow along with Spider, Bat, Beetle and Wasp. After the Crown of Gloriana was lost and then found, the ancient nai’Dorin Blood Rite was reenacted, which created the Ebonglom Crown and further empowered the dark forest. **Categories:** News --- ### [Oleanvir Graveyard Mystery](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/oleanvir-graveyard-mystery/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Some small drama occurred at the graveyard in Oleanvir Valley when its caretaker discovered artifacts within the mausoleums were apparently stolen. Suspecting graverobbers or even worse, adventurers came to give aide and discover the cause of the hubub, which turned out to be much more mundane than first thought. The artifacts were returned to the caretaker and all is now well. **Categories:** News --- ### [Toy Wars: Conclusion](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/toy-wars-conclusion/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Toy Wars boiled to greater heights when new strange figurines attacked the gnome world known as the Facility in a bid to decimate the gnomish population. However, this enabled the gnomes to finally track down the Toymaker who was residing in the gnome colony known as Bottledowns. Again, it appeared the power behind the wars were the strange slivven creatures who were able to continue to work through the remains of the Toymaker’s wife. Finally, the Toymaker and his wife were finaly defeated, thanks to Xenthos An’Ryshe and his crew aboard the Aethership Widow’s Web. **Categories:** News --- ### [Holy Supernal Raziela's Final Freedom](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/holy-supernal-razielas-final-freedom/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In an unexpected and dramatic interlude from the Toy Wars, the cities of Magnagora and New Celest allied together in a heroic attempt to finally thwart the dominance of the communes and enact the mythical Xion Initiative to free the Holy Supernal Raziela. However, the alliance was also a cover by the Demon Lords of Nil to open a channel to the ethereal realm and control Maeve, Queen of the Fae, and drain the nexus points of Serenwilde and Glomdoring. The communes reacted swiftly and recovered much of the power drained as well as freeing Maeve from the bonds of corruption. **Categories:** News --- ### [Toy Wars: The Toymaker's Wife](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/toy-wars-the-toymakers-wife/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Congratulations to Ilyarin and his crew for tracking down the Toymaker’s Wife (aka Yoftie r’Wesmak) who was hiding out in the quarantined aetherbubble known as Mucklemarsh. Interestingly enough, Mucklemarsh was also the home of the finks. It was also home to the parastic horrors known as the slivven, who preyed on gnomes. **Categories:** News --- ### [Toy Wars: Kidnapping Professor Gargle von Fixit](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/toy-wars-kidnapping-professor-gargle-von-fixit/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Professor Gargle von Fixit, the gnome who was instrumental in tracking down the Toymaker’s Wife, was kidnapped! It took many hours to find where the Professor was hiding but eventually Captain Talan Ysav’rai of the aethership known as the Great Arachnid and her crew found and freed him. **Categories:** News --- ### [Toy Wars: The Beginning](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/toy-wars-the-beginning/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Dynami, Ayrna and Adala were the first to discover that the toys sold by Yoftie r’Wesmak’s were not all they seemed, as they began steal gold and commodities from their owners. Kiradawea, Iytha and Sahmiam tried to track down Yoftie r’Wesmak and discovered that her name was an anagram for “Toymaker’s Wife”. When the gnomes of the Facility in aetherspace heard this, they were placed on high alert. Meanwhile, all the toys have since mysteriously disappeared. **Categories:** News --- ### [End of the Toy Sale](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/end-of-the-toy-sale/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The old lady gnome named Yoftie r’Wesmak arrived one last time at the Aetherplex, sweating and looking about nervously. She had with her the last of her wares, dozens and dozens of dolls which she put up for sale at the rock bottom price of 100 gold coins each. The merchants Richter and Celeris were primarily responsible for buying out the rest of her supplies, after which she made a sudden and hasty departure. **Categories:** News --- ### [June Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/june-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The June Vesteran Honours were announced! Congratulations to Aramel who won the bardic contest with Blood and Stone and Ried who won the artisanal contest with Lessons. **Categories:** News --- ### [Cheap Toys Arrive in the Basin!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/cheap-toys-arrive-in-the-basin/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A strange old lady gnome with the unlikely name of Yoftie r’Wesmak has been making sporadic appearances at the Aetherplex. She sells extremely high quality toys at bargain prices. News of her visits has been slowly spreading and demand for her wares has been on the rise. **Categories:** News --- ### [Great Hunt!](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/great-hunt-3/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As part of Iron Realms’ Summer Slaughter, Lusternia ran a Great Hunt as well as a double expereince weekend. The winner of the Great Hunt was Vathael Feyranti who took home the 500 credit first place prize. Congratulations! **Categories:** News --- ### [Forging Updates](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/forging-updates/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The final tweaks to forging were implemented, which makes forging easier than ever for warriors who take this craft skill. The focus on forging was the result of a survey on the Official Forums which asked players what coding project they wanted Lusternia to concentrate on this month. Special thanks to Desitrus who helped as the liason between the admin and players to streamline the forging processes. **Categories:** News --- ### [May Vesteran Honours](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/may-vesteran-honours-3/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The May Vesteran Honours were announced! Congratulations to Nariah who won the bardic contest with The Fall of House d’Vanecu and Serella who won the artisanal contest with Moon’s Chosen. **Categories:** News --- ### [New Celest Amphitheatre](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/new-celest-amphitheatre/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** With the building of an amphitheatre in New Celest, an emissary of the Holy Supernals arrived to take up residence within and help the Star Council dispense justice. Thus arrived Thiodone Ladyn, the Illuminator’s Magistrate, who was personally instructed by the Holy Supernal Japhiel to conduct the Ritual of Petala. Justice was almost immediately carried out upon his arrival when the ritual was enacted upon Jozan d’Deneith for various crimes against the state. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Arthar'rt Observatory](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/the-artharrt-observatory/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A lucidian scientist named Atrian Lerit’r joined the lucidians of the Arthar’rt Observatory in the Northern Mountains. Atrian had recently received funding from the Observatory Board of Directors to research and build a new teleportation device, which would perhaps be strong enough to reach the lost city of Hallifax or other historical sites that were out of reach from the Basin of Life. Many interested in the project pitched in to help build the laboratory. Eventually, the machine was built and the first tests conducted. Unfortunately, Atrian’s calculations were not quite what was expected as the machine teleported test subjects to known areas of the Basin of Life. Eventually, the machine exploded and Atrian was left to go back to the proverbial drawing board. **Categories:** News --- ### [Return of Raezon](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/return-of-raezon/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** After the discovery of the Mirror of Vestera, the strange artifact acted as a receiver for the communications of the Elder God known as Raezon who had disappeared decades earlier in order to pursue some arcane research out in the depths of the Void. Apparently, Raezon was lost and unable to return to the First World, and gave explicit instructions to his followers on how to build a construct that would allow him to return. Eventually, this was accomplished, enabling Raezon to return to the Basin of Life, bringing with him strange, metal sphere that appeared almost sentient. **Categories:** News --- ### [War: Commune vs. Cities](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/war-commune-vs-cities/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** While searching for the means to free the Holy Supernal Raziela from the bonds of Faethorn, the Celestines of New Celest found themselves in discussions with the tainted city of Magnagora wherein the usually opposing cities contemplated combining elemental forces to confound the nature magics of the communes. Whether or not an alliance would have ever been reached will never be known, because Magagora was betrayed by one of its own. Celina d’Murani abandoned her city and alerted the communes to the cities’ plans, allowing the cunning and stealth of the followers of Great Spirit Crow to learn even more of the cities’ nascent collaboration. In a bold act, the communes of Glomdoring and Serenwilde allied together against the cities, enacting the Rite of hai’Gloh Zemordia, or the binding of the cosmos, which weakened the elemental and cosmic planes. Thus did war break out between the cities and communes, the likes of which had not been seen in modern times. **Categories:** News --- ### [The Malacoda Manor](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/the-malacoda-manor/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** In the Blasted Land, an archaelogist disappeared researching some ancient ruins. Upon investigation, the ruins turned out to be the remains of the Malacoda Manor, thought destroyed during the Taint Wars. Though very little of the manor itself was left, a powerful artifact known as the Mirror of Vestera was discovered within. The artifact was used to escape the Taint Wars but something went disastrously wrong, splintering the original inhabitants into fragments of themselves across different dimensions. **Categories:** News --- ### [Specializations in Enchantment and Alchemy](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/specializations-in-enchantment-and-alchemy/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Llandros of the Cacophony won the gnomish Scrapgiving holiday contest, penning the jingle “Gnomish Grand Idea”. Meanwhile Lendren Starfall won the dwarvish Klangfest holiday contest with his bawdy song, “Fourplay”. Lendren gave up his prize to the runner-up, Sylphas Talnara for his song, “Wild Witches”. The prizes turned out to be new trade skill specializations. Bards will now be able to take Enchantment (if they have high magic) or Alchemy (if they have low magic). However, both these skills have been split into specializations. Alchemy splits between Lorecraft (druids/wiccans) and Brewmeister (bards), while Enchantment splits between Spellcraft (mages/guardians) and Tinkering (bards). Thus, Llandros was offered the skill of Tinkering, and Sylphas offered the arts of the Brewmeister. **Categories:** News --- ### [Trial of Ascension: Rise of Viynain](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/trial-of-ascension-rise-of-viynain/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** During the Trial of Ascension, not many Sealbearers dared to wield the Staff of Ascension, but two contenders rose to dominate the event: Xiel Peulus of the Spiritsingers who bore the Seal of Nature, and Veyrzhul La’Saet of the Celestines who bore the Seal of Harmony. Buttressed by their allies, the two Sealbearers fought each other throughout the astral plane as well as the insanity of Kethuru and the hideous abominations made manifest by his will. Finally, Xiel mastered the Staff of Ascension and reformed the Nine Seals. In doing so, he ascended and is now know as Lord Viynain of the Realm of Nature. Congratulations, Lord Viynain! **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Beauty](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-beauty-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For nearly two years, artists have been preparing their greatest works to enter into the Challenge of Beauty. The winning entry went to a Master Chef, who was none other than Silferras Ysav’rai of the Blacktalon with a platter of the planes which left those who sampled it fulfilled in both spirit and belly! Second place went to Aramel Talnara of the Moondancers for her aerial mask, third place went to Eliron Inseira of the Harbingers for his sunset viola, fourth place went to Sadhyra d’Illici of the Harbingers for her feathered mask of Crow, and fifth place went to Wuylinfe Meiwind of the Cantors for his luminescent tiara. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Life](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-life-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** When a plague of maladies and ailments struck the furrikin population, the Challenge of Life began. A champion emerged in their hour of need, as Xenthos An’Ryshe of the Ebonguard demonstrated his profound knowledge of healing, thus claiming the Seal of Life! Second place went to Nydekion La’Saet of the Paladins, third place went to Rika Talnara of the Ebonguard, fourth place went to Ceren Valtyros of the Geomancers, and fifth place went to Lanfayr d’Murani of the Ninjakari. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Death](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-death-6/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The clash of swords and magic echoed throughout Lusternia as the Trial of Death commenced, calling out for the most bloodthirsty of mortals to meet the darkest of challenges. In the end, no one could compare to the skill of Vathael Feyranti of the Serenguard who left a sea of blood behind him as he claimed the Seal of Death! Second place went to Nydekion La’Saet of the Paladins, third place went to Asmodea Kamau of the Shofangi, fourth place went to Prince Steingrim of the Tahtetso, and fifth place went to Ceren Valtyros of the Geomancers. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Death](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-death-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** At the behest of Avechna, contenders eager to enter the Challenge of Harmony came from all corners of the Basin of Life. Throughout the challenge, they sought out all sentient life, influencing them to bring harmony to the land. Finally, Veyrzhul La’Saet of the Celestines rose to be the one who travelled the furthest and influenced the most, thus claiming the Seal of Harmony! Second place went to Nydekion La’Saet of the Paladins, third place went to Talan Ysav’rai of the Shadowdancers, fourth place went to Nariah d’Iasani of the Nihilists, and fifth place went to Ceren Valtyros of the Geomancers. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Knowledge](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-knowledge-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For the Challenge of Knowledge, Avechna gathered the wisest sages, scholars and intellectuals to test thier knowledge. After many grueling questions, it became clear that Ishant Nightshade of the Shadowdancers was truly worthy to claim the Seal of Knowledge! Second place went to Nariah d’Iasani of the Nihilists, third place went to Karnagan De’Unnero of the ur’Guard, fourth place went to Rika Talnara of the Ebonguard, and fifth place went to Lehki Mes’ard of the Hartstone. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-nature-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Avechna gathered many people of the Basin of Life together to vie for the Challenge of Nature as part of Lusternia’s Ascension 2009 event. Looking through a magical kaleidoscope, contestants saw brief clues of the path they needed to follow to find the Seal of Nature. The long, arduous journey ended with Xiel Peulus of the Spiritsingers being the first to master the paths and claim the Seal of Nature! Second place went to Aramel Talnara of the Moondancer, third place went to Lehki Mes’ard of the Hartstone, fourth place went to Kelysa Mes’ard of the Moondancers, and fifth place went to Gregori Mes’ard of the Hartstone. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-justice-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Challenge of Justice was the next exciting challenge in Lusternia’s Ascension 2009 event. As dozens of contestants showed up to debate one another, it was Malarious d’Murani of the Harbingers who proved that he was truly worthy to claim the Seal of Justice! Second place went to Nejii Talnara of the Shofangi, third place went to his daughter, Rika Talnara of the Ebonguard, fourth place went to Eamon Starleaf of the Hartstone, and fifth place went to Karnagan De’Unnero of the ur’Guard. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-war-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Hailing from all parts of the Basin, many three-persons teams answered the call to compete in the Challenge of War. The first round was won by Thoros, Ceren, and Romero. The second round was won by Desitrus, Vathael, and Shuyin. The third round was won by Malicia, Narsrim, and Talkan. The last qualifying round was won by Xiel, Lehki, and Casilu. Each pretrial winner received a 100 credit award. The final challenge pitted all of the winning teams against each other. In the chaos of battle that ensued, Vathael, Desitrus, and Shuyin emerged as the winners of the Trial. While Vathael and Shuyin claimed the runnerup awards of 500 credits each, Desitrus strode forward to claim the Seal of War, becoming the second sealbearer for Lusternia’s Ascension 2009. **Categories:** News --- ### [Challenge of Chaos](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/challenge-of-chaos-5/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** As Lusternia’s Ascension 2009 commenced, the Challenge for the Seal of Chaos ended with Sarrasri Talnara of the Moondancers claiming the first medallion! Second place went to Rika Talnara of the Ebonguard, third place went to Ceren Valtyros of the Geomancers, fourth place went to Vathael Feyranti of the Serenguard, and fifth place went to Lisuarte of the Spiritsingers. **Categories:** News --- ### [A Plague of Gods](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/a-plague-of-gods/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Unknown to god and mortal alike, the essence pumped into gods from their mortal worshipers were slowly poisoning them. The backlash was a sore on Avechna’s Peak which released a plague of replicas of the gods. These false gods eventually tried to become true gods by assaulting Mighty Kethuru, who was almost freed until the armies of mortals descended and vanquished them. Though the false gods are gone and the Elder Gods are creating realms in aetherspace to channel excess energies from mortal worship, the Nine Great Seals are weakened. Thus, Ascension 2009 has begun, wherein one mortal shall rise to be a True Ascendant! **Categories:** News --- ### [Zazzle Store](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/zazzle-store/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** We opened up a Zazzle Store to showcase our artwork on a variety of products. Check it out! **Categories:** News --- ### [Erratic Gods](https://www.lusternia.com/2011/02/22/erratic-gods/) **Published:** February 22, 2011 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Since the discovery of dark prophesies over the past several months, events appear to be coming to a head. The Elder Gods have been behaving erratically, exhibiting increasingly bizarre behavior. A strange blemish has appeared on the side of Avechna’s Peak. **Categories:** News --- ## Pages ### [Join the Free Online Fantasy World of Lusternia](https://www.lusternia.com/) **Published:** May 22, 2016 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png "logoOriginalWithContrast") [ Play Now ](https://play.lusternia.com/) [ Create a Character ](https://client.lusternia.com/?create=true)Client connection: **lusternia.com**, port **5000** **Step into the universe of Lusternia with the Nexus Client, [now accessible on Android and iOS.](https://www.ironrealms.com/the-nexus-client/) Kindle your sense of adventure, wherever you may be.** ### What is Lusternia? Lusternia is a text based multi-player game (sometimes called a MUD). When you create a character and log in, you join adventurers from all over the globe who will share in the trials and tribulations found only through intensive roleplaying. Some dismiss text games as retro, but many others find nothing can compare to the dynamic experience hearkening back to pen and paper RPGs. ### Constantly Evolving World Each year brings a new overarching story line interwoven through major events involving the world at large. New areas, quests and content are available at regular intervals with news posts archiving events for everyone to see. ### Extensive Crafting System Players can choose to become a crafter by picking a tradeskill, or two, or three, or more! Craft an earring one day, an origami the next and your own bed to sleep in. Our trades are: Alchemy, Bookbinding, Brewmeister, Cooking, Enchantment, Herbs, Jewelry, Lorecraft, Poisons, Spellcraft, Tailoring, Tattoos, Tinkering. ### An Immersive World Discover the rich world of Lusternia and its endless possibilities! Vie for power and influence as a leader in one of dozens of player-run organisations. Compete for top rankings in combat, or become a learned scholar and teach the masses about Lusternia’s rich history. Delve into the complex economy, master a tradeskill or two, and amass a fortune in gold. Commission a ship and explore the depths of aetherspace. And much, much more! ### Engaging Player vs Player Combat Combat in Lusternia is handled different for mobile vs. player combat and player vs. player combat. Player combat involves much more than simply inflicting damage on your opponent. Not only can individual body parts be damaged, with different, harmful effects resulting from enough cumulative damage on a body part, but there are hundreds of afflictions that can be inflicted on an opponent. ### A Friendly Community We have a fantastic community of players dedicated to extending the Lusternian experience beyond the game! ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") - [ ![gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/gaudiguch-150x150-circle.jpg "gaudiguch")### Player Controlled Organisations Being a member of a city or commune means more than just political affiliation, for it creates an actual, spiritual bond between the member and the nexus. Each city, commune and guild organization is run by a government made up of elected players and player-appointed players.](/organizations/) - [ ![Trill](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/head_trill-circle.jpg "head_trill")### Multitudes of Immersive Skills Archetypes, or classes, are unique in that there are certain branches and/or specializations based on a simple skillweb that are only open to certain archetypes. In addition to all the common skills, archetypes receive one primary skill, and two secondary skills. They also are given the choice of one a trade skill.](https://www.lusternia.com/classes/) - [ ![web-front-5](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/web-front-5-150x150-circle.jpg "web-front-5")### Rich and Captivating History From the beginning of the universe to the troubling past of today, every aspect of lore and history is known and retold. Who was Yudhe? How did the races form from the Elder Gods? All these answered and more…](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/) - [ ![race_krokani](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/race_krokani-150x150-circle.jpg "race_krokani")### Customizable Player Options Though not all Elder Gods splintered into a race nor all mortal races came to be in this manner, it remains true that all Lusternians believe that within each of them is contained the fragment of a god. Thus it is said that the god-fragment within can potentially evolve through the cycles of birth and rebirth until perfection is achieved and the fragment is made whole, becoming a divine in his or her own right.](/races/) ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") [ ![Easter eggs](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/silviarita-easter-eggs-3165483_1280-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/09/threadfall-egghunt/ "Threadfall Egghunt")## Apr 9 2026 ### [Threadfall Egghunt](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/09/threadfall-egghunt/ "Threadfall Egghunt") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Apr 9, 2026 An industrious spirit, figurative or perhaps literal, has been hiding paper mache eggs all over the Basin of Life! Some of them you will find rolling on the ground, some have been buried, some are in the trees, and others… who knows! If you wish to look for them Tomarro at the pilgrim camp has… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/09/threadfall-egghunt/ "Read More") [ ![Colourful eggs hang upon a rope.](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/easter-eggs-7126346_1280-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/04/threadfall-has-begun-2/ "Threadfall Has Begun")## Apr 4 2026 ### [Threadfall Has Begun](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/04/threadfall-has-begun-2/ "Threadfall Has Begun") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Apr 4, 2026 What’s Threadfall? A festival season celebrating spring and coinciding with Easter! It’s only our second time hosting it, too. Are we just looking for an excuse to throw presents at you? Maybe! When the Tapestry of Fate needs a good ‘spring cleaning’, the Fates declare Threadfall to be taking place – a season of thorough… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/04/threadfall-has-begun-2/ "Read More") [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/hallifax-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/01/the-cost-of-progress/ "The Cost of Progress")## Apr 1 2026 ### [The Cost of Progress](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/01/the-cost-of-progress/ "The Cost of Progress") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Apr 1, 2026 \[APRIL FOOL’S\] The 12th of Shanthin, in the year 733 after the Coming of Estarra, was a chill autumn morning, though one could not quite tell such things in the City of Hallifax. With its position high in the skies and full weather control, it was a day like any other for Senior Researcher Inix… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/04/01/the-cost-of-progress/ "Read More") [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Restaurant-Patterns-Release-1-custom_crop.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/restaurants-are-here/ "Restaurants Are Here")## Feb 23 2026 ### [Restaurants Are Here](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/restaurants-are-here/ "Restaurants Are Here") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Feb 23, 2026 What’s a dining experience without some new patterns? What’s a pub without a bar? What’s a cafe without some kawhe? Time to change that! NEW PATTERNS: BOOTH: available to Artisans (Booths). A new skill available at 50% Expert which allows one to construct booths. Booths are seating and table combined, seating up to 4 and… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/restaurants-are-here/ "Read More") [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Restaurants-Release-1-e1771811086422-custom_crop.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/open-for-dining-restaurants/ "Open for Dining: Restaurants")## Feb 23 2026 ### [Open for Dining: Restaurants](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/open-for-dining-restaurants/ "Open for Dining: Restaurants") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Feb 23, 2026 Welcome to the new dining experience: your shops can now become restaurants! Shops in the cities and communes can turn into restaurants with the help of Chancellors and their aides, and manse shops can turn into restaurants through activation of the new restaurant miniature artifact (ASHOP 1344). Restaurants can turn back into shops through the… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/23/open-for-dining-restaurants/ "Read More") [ ![Dreamy woods, the forest floor strewn with magenta leaves](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/shutterstock_440283436-scaled-e1612141548302-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/13/season-damour-3/ "Season d’Amour")## Feb 13 2026 ### [Season d’Amour](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/13/season-damour-3/ "Season d’Amour") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Feb 13, 2026 Dolly d’Amour, residing in a cottage by Delport, has commenced Season d’Amour which has brought countless lovebirds to the highway and mountain roads. Help these daydreaming souls find what they are looking for! Every lovebird will desire something else so pay attention to their requests. You can complete the quest only once a weave by… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/13/season-damour-3/ "Read More") [ ![Spools of thread in many colours superimposed by scissors.](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Design-and-Cartel-Changes-custom_crop.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/09/design-cartel-and-culture-updates/ "Design, Cartel, and Culture Updates")## Feb 9 2026 ### [Design, Cartel, and Culture Updates](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/09/design-cartel-and-culture-updates/ "Design, Cartel, and Culture Updates") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Feb 9, 2026 A big change for affiliated cartels has just been released. Affiliated cartels are those that belong to a nation and each nation has one of each type. Trademasters in those cartels are elected, not appointed. For as long as there have been cartels, only Trademasters could work on designs, requiring designers to mail them their… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/09/design-cartel-and-culture-updates/ "Read More") [ ![A shop stall with a post title reading 'Commodity Prices'.](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Commodity-Prices-custom_crop.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/04/commodity-prices/ "Commodity Prices")## Feb 4 2026 ### [Commodity Prices](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/04/commodity-prices/ "Commodity Prices") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Feb 4, 2026 We have been tweaking commodity prices and village production for a while now, with part one of this endeavour outlined in Changelog #2985 and part two in Changelog #3149. It’s time for part three, and this one warrants an announcement post to bring all Trade Ministers’ attention to these changes. Commodity prices in village commodity… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/04/commodity-prices/ "Read More") [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/horseback-587609_1280-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/03/custom-beast-submission-system/ "Custom Beast Submission System")## Feb 3 2026 ### [Custom Beast Submission System](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/03/custom-beast-submission-system/ "Custom Beast Submission System") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Feb 3, 2026 We are pleased to announce that the custom beast submission system is now live – see HELP CUSTOM BEAST SUBMISSIONS! This means that, rather than e-mailing support to request a custom beast, you will now fill out all the required information in-game. We will review the submission and get back to you, either approving it… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/02/03/custom-beast-submission-system/ "Read More") [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/referrals-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/referral-system-is-live/ "Referral System is Live!")## Jan 23 2026 ### [Referral System is Live!](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/referral-system-is-live/ "Referral System is Live!") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Jan 23, 2026 Got a friend who would actually click with Lusternia, or a returning veteran you have been trying to lure back? We just made it easier to bring them in, and you both get rewarded for sticking with it as they play. What’s new How it works Rewards and eligibility Read HELP REFERRALS for all specifics… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/referral-system-is-live/ "Read More") [ ![A long black tunnel illuminated by artificial light](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/servermove-scaled-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/recent-rapture-troubles/ "Recent Rapture Troubles")## Jan 23 2026 ### [Recent Rapture Troubles](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/recent-rapture-troubles/ "Recent Rapture Troubles") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Jan 23, 2026 Oof! Due to the recent updates to the Rapture Engine, which Lusternia uses, we have encountered a number of issues. We have crashed a number of times and that always involves a progress rollback – sometime just a few minutes, but sometimes even 20 minutes. We have been stable for most of today and the… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/23/recent-rapture-troubles/ "Read More") [ ![A mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream in a festive atmosphere](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/cup-gd2a40417d_1280-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/17/aethergoop-crafts-and-finks/ "Aethergoop Crafts and Finks")## Jan 17 2026 ### [Aethergoop Crafts and Finks](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/17/aethergoop-crafts-and-finks/ "Aethergoop Crafts and Finks") ##### By [ Uilani ](https://www.lusternia.com/author/uilani/) | Jan 17, 2026 While we work on a way to bring back these crafts properly, we’ve deployed a temporary solution to help you restock. Those unruly finks that were hired to bring you all gifts over Solstice? They’re back and have broken into Flintbeard’s stash of supplies gathered to help him battle the hordes of Solstice-loving adventurers. That… [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2026/01/17/aethergoop-crafts-and-finks/ "Read More") ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") Stay in the loop Updates and event news from Lusternia and Iron Realms, delivered to your inbox. Name Please enter your name. Email Please enter a valid email address. Lusternia Iron Realms Please select at least one newsletter. --- **Marketing permission:** I give my consent to Iron Realms to contact me via email for news and updates. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please accept the marketing permission. SubscribeUnsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of any email. ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") - ![gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/gaudiguch-150x150-circle.jpg "gaudiguch")### Roleplaying in Fantasy World of Lusternia Are you ready to embark upon a roleplay adventure in a rich and unique fantasy world?Lusternia is a multiplayer text-based roleplaying game where everything happens in real time and players actively influence a dynamic fantasy world. Our friendly and close-knit player community is from all around the world so there is rarely downtime no matter the timezone.Roleplay is at the forefront in Lusternia as you create a brand new character right in the very intro. There are numerous options to customize your character already at the beginning, including such roleplay staples as guild, race, and class. In addition to that, you have to choose an organisation – a city or a commune – that you align with and which will be your character’s home and political affiliation. That is not where customisation ends though as endless player choices and customisation await players in-game – among them artifacts, perks, armour, demigod powers, combat, trade, and craft skills, Divine Orders, and fully customisable player appearance and clothing.Due to its multiplayer and real-time nature, Lusternia is a constantly evolving fantasy world where players are part of game master-led storylines and carry out their own story and character arcs as well. A rich and fully free-form speaking and emoting system means players can roleplay without constrain to bring their characters to life – a feat only really accomplished by text-based RPG games. Outside of that, Lusternia offers a huge number of quest adventures that players can embark upon, solo or together, including very challenging ones. Whether you enjoy puzzles, daunting monsters, or exciting stories, there are quests for every type of character out there. - ![web-front-5](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/web-front-5-150x150-circle.jpg "web-front-5")### MUD Game with Rich History As every organization has its own rich history, lore, and culture, it also has its own morality and beliefs. You can roleplay as anywhere on the spectrum of good and evil, especially as our fantasy world boasts shades of grey wherever a player turns. Your character can become a hero or a villain, or someone truly neutral, but the perception of their deeds will differ from organization to organization. As our cities and communes have player-led governments, guilds, and Divine Orders, the opportunity for politicking, spying, sabotage, deals, and plots is enormous and can impact the game world at large too.Lusternia is a text-based RPG that has something for everyone. If it is PvP opportunities that you seek, there are combat events taking place daily and you can spar, raid, and battle other players anytime. Among classes (archetypes) that you can pick up are the classic fantasy world ones and some less known types: warrior, mage, druid, Wiccan, guardian, bard, and monk. Each of those has a few flavours (classes) as well which can entirely change your gameplay. For example, among warriors, there are Paladins, Serenguard, Ur’Guard, Ebonguard, Templar, and the Sentinels. Each class has an extensive history and can customize their experience with various secondary and tertiary skill choices. All classes have combat-focused skills as well as utility and roleplay ones.For those more focused on roleplay, there are numerous avenues of interest but to list them all would be impossible. Players can play merchants as Lusternia has a free market economy where players run shops and craft the goods through numerous mercantile and artisan skills. If it is more the design side that has your fancy, numerous craft skills allow for crafting of customised and written solely by the player designs – be they rings, dresses, armour, tattoos, books, or even couches. If your character leans more towards the spiritual, mythical Elder God personas (ran by game masters) have Divine Orders that can be joined to round out your character or pursue the life of a cleric of the divine, various organizations have unique religious and spiritual roleplay as well. Those culturally and artistically inclined can write plays and performances for our fantasy world’s theatres, as well as, write literary and scholarly books for its libraries. The number of roleplay systems that Lusternia boasts is vast.Create a character and find out for yourself why text-based games make the best RPGs! ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") [ Play Now ](https://play.lusternia.com/) [ Create a Character ](https://client.lusternia.com/?create=true)### Want to Learn More? [](https://wiki.lusternia.com/NewbieGuide)### Read our Newbie Guide --- ### [Classes](https://www.lusternia.com/classes/) **Published:** November 4, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** Archetypes, or classes, are unique in that there are certain branches and/or specializations based on a simple skillweb that are only open to certain archetypes. Every guild is based on one of these archetypes, which are then further differentiated by paths open to them on the skillweb. In addition to all the common skills, archetypes receive one primary skill, and two secondary skills. They also are given the choice of one trade skill, some of which are only available to certain archetypes (for example, only the warrior archetypes can learn forging). ![bard2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/bard2-273x300.jpg "bard2")### Bard Music and song can invoke a special magic which supports other archetypes as well as being a potent force in itself. This is the type of magic that every bard taps into. Indeed, bards compose their own songs, imbuing them with certain magical powers. Bard must maintain a musical instrument, and they develop strong bonds to their chosen instrument. They can be found throughout Lusternia, both in cities and communes. City bards study secondary skills of either tarot or illusions, while commune bards maintain a close affinity to nature and study either hunting/ecology or illusions. All bards keep in top physical condition through a study in acrobatics. - #### [Cacophony](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Cantors](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Harbingers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Minstrels](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Spiritsingers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Symphonium](javascript:void(0);) #### Cacophony [**Affiliation: City of Magnagora**](https://www.lusternia.com/magnagora/) As anticipation and curiosity arose in the city of Magnagora, the black orb that hung over the Megalith of Doom was suddenly awakened by Aia y’Kada and her words hailing the strength of the Engine of Transformation. Awakening the Dead Voice of Jagrerox, the Cacophony was founded in the year of 159 C.E. From those who wield instruments to bring about the death of their enemies to those who play for raptured audiences to strengthen their allies, the Cacophony builds upon the strength and culture of Magnagora. With violas, lyres, mandolins, or other stringed musical instruments at their disposal, they have the power to send demonic beings from Nil into an attacking frenzy or cause a plague of ill fate towards their enemies. Bringing about the destruction of all who stand in their way, they walk a fine line of music and death, lore and taint. The Cacophony is a bard archetype guild. They can choose to follow either lowmagic or highmagic. Their main skill is Music with specialization in the tainted music of Necroscream; their secondary guild skill being in Acrobatics. Members of this guild can choose between the skills of Tarots or Illusions. #### Cantors [**Affiliation: City of New Celest**](https://www.lusternia.com/new-celest/) The Cantors are bards of the City of New Celest, singing the hymns and prayers of the Supernals in great reverence to Their glory. Founded on the 22nd of Tzarin, 160CE, the guild was born under Raflein’s poem, his voice awakening the remnants of Rhapsody, whose essence is infused with all of the Cantors. Wielding their holy instruments in hand, members of this Guild play songs of reverence to the Supernals, compounding the strength and glory of Celest in their lyrics. With songs that bespeak of hope and love, of courage and justice, and of light made incarnate, the Cantors play with such fervour and accuracy as to send Angels into a passionate frenzy, or inspire allies to achieve greatness. The Cantors is a bard archetype guild, and are able to choose both Highmagic or Lowmagic. Their primary skill is that of Music, and they go on to specialise in Starhymn, the holy songs of Celest and Celestia. Acrobatics is the training of muscles and reflexes, which acts as a Bard’s secondary skillsets. The Cantors can then take either Tarot or Illusions as their tertiary skillset. #### Harbingers [**Affiliation: Commune of Glomdoring**](https://www.lusternia.com/glomdoring/) Unsettling rhythms echo in the darkness of Glomdoring Forest, a low thrum rising from the Drums of the Dead like the pulse of a dark heart, accompanied by barghests’ howls and the beating of crows’ wings. In the year 159, the Blacktalon Nirrti captured these eerie melodies in a song, whose refrain awakened the Voice of the dead Elder Goddess Mahalla. Nirrti found herself keeper of the Dead Voice, and vowed to teach others to sing the praises of the dark forest, becoming the first Harbinger of the Wyrd. The Harbingers’ art ranges from hymns of subtle beauty, to ferocious hunt songs, to dirges fatal to the listener. Their music spurs shadowbound fae to a frenzy and makes the Wyrden forest thrive. Above all, their voices herald the ascendancy of the Wyrd over the Basin of Life. The Harbingers follow the bard archetype. Their primary skill is Music, specialising in the insidious Shadowbeat, with the secondary skill of Acrobatics. Harbingers may study Hunting, specialising in Ecology, or learn to craft Illusions of light and shadow. #### Minstrels [**Affiliation: City of Gaudiguch**](https://www.lusternia.com/gaudiguch/) The Minstrels Guild was founded just after the Era of the Wounded Sky in the year 315 C.E. after the Voice of Gullagumbah was freed after being held captive by the Ice Angels and before that the Frost Spite. When the Voice of Gullagumbah was in captivity, it used to help break the sky and amplify the power of the Soulless God Zenos. After finding freedom, the Voice was attracted to the intoxicated state of Beloch Baruwski in Gaudiguch and took up residence in his body. When the Voice of Gullagumbah heard the song sung by Tetra Alin’dor, who also composed it, titled “Morning Star”, it left the body of Beloch and took up residence in the Pleasure Palace, founding what is now known as the Minstrels Guild. The Minstrels Guild is a bard archetype guild. They can choose to follow either Lowmagic or Highmagic. Their main skill is Music with specialization in the bawdy songs of Minstrelry; their secondary guild skill is Acrobatics. Members of this guild can choose between the skills of Tarot or Illusions. #### Spiritsingers [**Affiliation: Commune of Serenwilde**](https://www.lusternia.com/serenwilde/) The Spiritsingers, the bards of the Serenwilde are a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the lore and mythos of the northern forest. The guild was founded in the year 160 CE when Ialie Starfall sang before the mysterious sphere that materialized one day at The Moonhart Mother Tree. Her song was able to awaken the voice of Trialante thus giving birth to the Spiritsingers. Those who inquire about joining the Spiritsingers are encouraged to make sure that they understand that they are not just performers. They are not the merrymakers of the forests and there is no place in the guild for clowns. Those who call themselves Spiritsingers are those devoted to the histories and the legends of Serenwilde. They are the inspiration, the reminders of purpose, the lorekeepers. The Spiritsingers are a bardic archetype and thus are able to choose between highmagic and lowmagic. They can also choose Hunting and Illusions as a tertiary skill and acrobatics as a secondary skill. The primary skill of choice is Music with a specialization in Wildarrane. #### Symphonium [**Affiliation: City of Hallifax**](https://www.lusternia.com/hallifax/) The Symphonium was founded just after the Era of the Wounded Sky in the year 315 C.E. when the Voice of Crys was held captive by the Ice Angels and used to help break the sky and amplify the power of the Soulless God Zenos. After taking refuge in the body of Professor Nann Baruwski while she was conducting experiments in harmonic audio fields, the Voice was finally lured out by Morshoth Skyplume who sang the song he composed, titled “The Collectivist Crescendo”. Since then, it was revealed that the Voice of Crys was somehow entwined with the soul of a mortal named Jilai, whom only the Voice of Crys can hear, though some believe they can hear Jilai when he sings. The Voice has taken residence in the Symphonium Opera House in Hallifax. The Symphonium is a bard archetype guild. They can choose to follow either Lowmagic or Highmagic. Their main skill is Music with specialization in the operatic music of Loralaria; their secondary guild skill is Acrobatics. Members of this guild can choose between the skills of Tarot or Illusions. ### Druid Druids are the guardians of the forests, ennobled with the task of protecting the flora and fauna within. They are similar to elemental mages in that their power can extend over vast tracts of land. They can only be found in nature communes, for they reject life in the cities. Their primary skill is Nature, which is shared by wiccans, though druids either take the specialization of Druidry or one more closely linked with the nature of their Forest. Those who study Nature magic must take the Low Magic common skill. One secondary skill must be the skill of Totems, with a specialization based on the nature commune. The other secondary skill is usually a choice determined by the commune. ![druid](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/druid.jpg "druid") - #### [Blacktalon](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Hartstone](javascript:void(0);) #### Blacktalon [**Affiliation: Commune of Glomdoring**](https://www.lusternia.com/glomdoring/) Deep in the heart of the Glomdoring Forest, the Song of Dark Returning lay dormant for many, many years. In the early years of Glomdoring reawakened, Crow began to appear with Brennan Stormcrow in the dreams. Brennan, whole and handsome, spoke to the commune of the Song, slowly revealing hints and eventually leading the whole commune to search for it. Uncovering the words, many of the commune’s guildless druids agreed to sing the Song, hoping it would reawaken Crow, so that he might teach one to lead the druids on a new, uncertain path. After many unsuccessful tries, Glomdoring was informed that they must choose amongst themselves who the Chosen of Crow would be, and they would be handed the spine of a feather to open the way to the Dark Nest. After some debate and discussion, Bau Sayelle-Gladheart was eventually chosen to be the first Eye of Crow, and sang the Song of Dark Returning which gave birth to the Blacktalon Guild. The Blacktalon are a druid archetype, thus, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before being able to study Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they then specialize in druidry. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which once mastered allows them to specialize in the Crow totem. Blacktalon druids may choose Runes or Dreamweaving or Hunting (with the specialization of Ecology) as their final skill, and may take Alchemy as their trade skill. #### Hartstone [**Affiliation: Commune of Serenwilde**](https://www.lusternia.com/serenwilde/) The Hartstone is a guild of druids, who can meld with the forest itself and cause nature to rise to its defense. The guild is bonded to White Hart, a Great Spirit of Nature who takes the form of a giant snowy-white stag. The Hartstone are a druid archetype. Thus, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before being able to study Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they then specialize in druidry. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which when they master will allow them to specialize in the Stag totem. At some point, a Hartstone druid decides to become a runic druid by taking the skill of Runes, or a Keeper of Hart’s Secret by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or an ecologic druid by taking Hunting and its specialization of Ecology. Druids may take Alchemy as a trade skill. ![guardian](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/guardian.jpg "guardian")### Guardian Only found in cities, Cosmic Guardians are the keepers of the outer planes, each devoted to a philosophy of an outer sphere. They are the spiritual keepers of their cities. Their prime skill is Cosmic magic with a specialization based on the nexus of power in their city. Those who study Cosmic magic must take the High Magic common skill. One secondary skill must be Rituals, again with a specialization based on the nexus of power associated with their city. Their other secondary skill is usually a choice determined by the city. - #### [Celestines](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Illuminati](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Institute](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Nihilists](javascript:void(0);) #### Celestines [**Affiliation: City of New Celest**](https://www.lusternia.com/new-celest/) The Celestine Guild is the priesthood of Light, both protecting and being protected by the angelic plane of Celestia. As the spiritual leaders of New Celest, they uphold the teachings of the Holy Supernals of Celestia, seeking justice and harmony for all. Once pledged to a Holy Supernal, the blessed Celestine is almost always accompanied by an angelic companion who helps in the good works in the name of the Light. Celestines are a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Celestine then specializes in Celestialism, allowing them to travel to the cosmic plane of Celestia and make pledges to the Holy Supernals. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Sacraments, thereby enhancing their holy powers. At some point Celestines choose either to take the Healing skill to become healers or to train in Tarot which is a more aggressive art or to study Astrology. Celestines may take Enchantment as a trade skill. #### Illuminati [**Affiliation: City of Gaudiguch**](https://www.lusternia.com/gaudiguch/) The origins of the Illuminati are unknown, though it is generally accepted that they are extremely ancient, certainly predating the Celestine Empire. Some scholars have speculated that the Illuminati predates even the Vernal Wars, though there has never been any conclusive evidence on this one way or the other. At the time of the founding of the Celestine Empire, the Illuminati were known as an enigmatic sect of primarily dracnari mystics, revered by most dracnari for their spiritual wisdom and strength. After the Illuminati opened the way to the Eternal Flame, it is rumoured that their occult and esoteric teachings had a renaissance. However, the Illuminati had always closely guarded their rites of Initiation into the Mysteries, and the general public only saw their spiritual and mystic powers increase dramatically. Around this time, members of the Illuminati began to wear their trademark robes that hid their features and it is also around this time that the dracnari developed the skills of Beastmastery. The Illuminati is a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Illuminati member then specializes in Transmology, a mysterious skill that allows them to tap into the wonder of the Plane of Vortex. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Paradigmatics, sometimes called chaos magic. At some point a member must choose either to take the Hexes skill or to train in Tarot or to learn the science of Astrology. Illuminati members may also take Enchantment as a trade skill with a specialization in Spellcraft. #### Institute [**Affiliation: City of Hallifax**](https://www.lusternia.com/hallifax/) The Institutional Society of Hallifax for the Improvement of Temporal Knowledge (more commonly known as the Matrix Institute) is a learned society for science established during the earliest days after the founding of the city of Hallifax. Primarily responsible for the practice of Temporal Manipulation and the discovery of Continuum, the Institute used their understanding of Time to join together with the Aeromancers and create the Matrix. Since then, the Institute has elevated the study of Time into a Science itself, to which they still dedicate most of their research. Since their founding, the Institute has branched out and now seeks to improve knowledge of all natural and unnatural sciences through controlled experiments. The Institute is a society of learned gentlefolk who take great pride in their profession, as is reflected by their motto: ‘Take nobody’s word for it’, which is an expression of the determination of the Fellows to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment. The Institute is a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Institute member then specializes in Harmonics, allowing them to master the crystal technology on the Plane of the Continuum. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Aeonics, the study of time manipulation. At some point a member must choose either to take the Healing skill to become healers or to train in Tarot which is a more aggressive art or to study the science of Astrology. Institute members may also take Enchantment as a trade skill with a specialization in Spellcraft. #### Nihilists [**Affiliation: City of Magnagora**](https://www.lusternia.com/magnagora/) Nihilists are the priesthood of Magnagora, and are tied to the demonic plane of Nil, where they are also receive the powers of necromancy. While nominally the spiritual leaders of Magnagora, they often focus on the accumulation of material wealth and power for the city rather than more esoteric concerns. Most adepts are accompanied by a demonic thrall sent by a Demon Lord of Nil to help in their work. Nihilists are a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Nihilist then specializes in Nihilism, allowing them to travel to the cosmic plane of Nil and make pacts with the Demon Lords there. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Necromancy, thereby enhancing their holy powers. At some point Nihilists choose either to take the Hexes skill or to train in Tarot or to study Astrology. Nihilists may take Enchantment as a trade skill. ### Mage Also only found in cities, mages study elemental magics and consider themselves to be purist form of spell casters. Each city’s nexus of power is connected to a specific elemental plane, and offers a unique path for the elemental mage to take. Once they take their specialization, their powers can extend over vast tracts of land, making them extraordinarily powerful. Those who study Elemental magic must take the High Magic common skill. One secondary skill must be illusions, and the other secondary skill is usually a choice determined by the city. ![mage](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/mage.jpg "mage") - #### [Aeromancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Aquamancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Geomancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Pyromancers](javascript:void(0);) #### Aeromancers [**Affiliation: City of Hallifax**](https://www.lusternia.com/hallifax/) The Aeromancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of air. Though originally founded many centuries ago, the guild was lost during the Taint Wars when the City of Hallifax was trapped in time and space for over 500 years. The Aeromancer Cririk Adom was the only survivor, and it was he who reopened the guild. Teaching the arts of wind, cloud and storm, the Aeromancers are a formidable force to be reckoned with, despite their academic and intellectual leanings. Aeromancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Aeromancer then specializes in Aeromancy, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of air. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Aeromancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Aquamancers [**Affiliation: City of New Celest**](https://www.lusternia.com/new-celest/) The Aquamancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of water, which they consider a healing and beneficial source of life. Holding a distinguished position in New Celest, Aquamancers use their powers both for protection and healing. They are extremely scholarly, though can use their chosen element as a powerful weapon. Aquamancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Aquamancer then specializes in Elementalism, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of water. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Aquamancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Geomancers [**Affiliation: City of Magnagora**](https://www.lusternia.com/magnagora/) The Geomancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of earth, a Tainted plane that has been become associated with disease and destruction. Even their allies consider Geomancers to be somewhat insane, as the twisted element they work with often twists their minds as well. Their magics are honed to be aggressive and deadly. Geomancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Geomancer then specializes in Geomancy, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of earth. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Geomancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Pyromancers [**Affiliation: City of Gaudiguch**](https://www.lusternia.com/gaudiguch/) The Pyromancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of fire. Though originally founded many centuries ago, the guild was lost during the Taint Wars when the City of Gaudiguch was trapped in time and space for over 500 years. The Pyromancer Scuchidira Tliwx was the only survivor, and it was she who reopened the guild. Of all the mage skills, pyromancy is the most aggressive of all the elemental powers, though it offers little in the way of defense. Pyromancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Pyromancer then specializes in Pyromancy, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of fire. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Pyromancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). ![monk2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/monk2.jpg "monk2")### Monk Martial arts were developed and refined by the kephera and illithoid during the Undervault Wars, and which they subsequently taught to the upper world people in the Basin of Life. Training begins with learning kata, the basic form of unarmed combat, and then advances to mastering unique weapons in their various specializations, such as the shofa knives used in shofangi. The kephera and illithoid also both developed a unique form of psionics called psychometabolism, which is the absolte mastery of one’s own body. Some monks prefer to forego this mental development and study acrobatics instead. Monks taught in the kephera tradition can learn the spiritual art of harmony while those taught by the illithoid learn the ways of stealth. - #### [Nekotai](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Ninjakari](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Shofangi](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Tahtetso](javascript:void(0);) #### Nekotai [**Affiliation: Commune of Glomdoring**](https://www.lusternia.com/glomdoring/) The pact between Glomdoring and the Illithoid of the Undervault culminated in the formation of the insidious Cult of the Nekotai in the year 204CE. Upon being raised as the Avatar of Illith by Kaervas d’Murani, Great Cthoglogg pledged the aide of the Illithoid in teaching their ancient arts to their newfound allies. Named after a fae word meaning “bringer of sorrow”, the Nekotai study under the watchful guidance of Madam Yoraghu. The primary weapons of the Nekotai are the nekai, long claws which enable them to incapacitate their foes by tearing flesh from bone and causing severe nerve damage. Fierce defenders of their territory, they stand as sentinels ever present in the gloom of their home, scouting the lands for intruders and warding off those who dare to come near. The sacred beliefs of the Nekotai are shrouded in secrecy, though they are known for their steadfast devotion to the exultant Wyrd. The Nekotai are of the monk archetype. As such, they study the central monk practices of Kata before advancing towards their mastery of Nekotai, the craft of wielding claws. Their secondary skill is the ancient Illithoid ability of Stealth, allowing them to shift through the shadows and spring upon their prey with ease. Nekotai may choose to unlock their psychic potential by choosing to take Psionics, eventually specializing in Psychometabolism, or they may choose to hone their bodies further with rigorous training through the skill of Acrobatics. #### Ninjakari [**Affiliation: City of Magnagora**](https://www.lusternia.com/magnagora/) The Ninjakari are the monks of Magnagora, trained in the deadly arts of the jakari, a chain weapon. Their monk school was founded after the discovery of the illithoid, who imparted their arts to the Magnagorans, sensing close allies in their mutual goals. The Ninjakari are stealthy warriors, preferring to strike from the shadows when least expected than engage the enemy directly, disdaining those who lack subtlety in their methods. The Ninjakari are of the monk archetype, studying Kata and then specializing in Ninjakari as their primary skill. They also study Stealth, the practice of clandestine espionage and subterfuge, and can choose to study either Acrobatics or Psionics – the latter specializing into Psychometabolism. #### Shofangi [**Affiliation: Commune of Serenwilde**](https://www.lusternia.com/serenwilde/) In the year 178, Kephera Queen of Queens Zenobia announced that in exchange for her resurrection, Grand Master Osierti would teach the Serenwilde the ancient science of monkhood. Named after a long-lost Fae word signifying the strength and majesty of Brother Hart, the first monk guild to be founded on the Basin’s surface would be taught to use shofa, a special knife comprised of two conjoined crescent blades. As monks and as members of Serenwilde they value both strength alone and as part of a greater whole. Each member is encouraged to be independent and develop their own talents so that they can best support the guild. The Shofangi are of the monk archetype. As such, after having mastered the basic monk practices of Kata, they specialise in Shofangi, the art of using double crescent knives or Shofa. Their secondary skill is Harmony, the Kephera-taught study of harmonising their body, heart and mind with the elements of Water, Wind, Wood, Fire and Metal. Shofangi may also choose to learn psionics, eventually turning their study to their bodies with psychometabolism, or acrobatics. #### Tahtetso [**Affiliation: City of New Celest**](https://www.lusternia.com/new-celest/) The school of Tahtetso was founded in 185CE, by virtue of the Queen of Queens Zenobia of the Undervault. Their primary weapon known as the Tahto staff, is wielded in both hands and each student is taught to use it for both attack and protection. The word Tahtetso comes from an unknown Kepheran root meaning “to be one with”. Servitude to the Light plays a key role in the lives of the Tahtetso, but a prevailing tenet is to find balance within oneself by embracing Humility, Discipline and Sacrifice in the hopes of achieving Lumosis. The Tahtetso are of the monk archetype. As such, they must first study kata before moving on to their mastery form of Tahtetso, or the mastery of wielding the Tahto staff. Their secondary skill is Harmony, a gift from the Kephera people, allowing them to combine the forces within their bodies to work in harmony with the elements around them in the form of Mantras. Further, the Tahtetso may choose to take Psionics, which further specializes into Psychometabolism, or the art of manipulating the energy of the Divine Spark, or Sila, within all mortal beings. If not Psionics, a Tahtetso can also choose Acrobatics. ### Warrior Warriors can be found anywhere, either in cities or in nature communes. They are a flexible archetype, able to take any specialization offered by their prime skill of Knighthood. One of their secondary skills must be Athletics, and the other is determined by the city or nature commune. ![warrior2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/warrior2.jpg "warrior2") - #### [Ebonguard](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Paladins](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Sentinels](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Serenguard](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Templars](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Ur’Guard](javascript:void(0);) #### Ebonguard [**Affiliation: Commune of Glomdoring**](https://www.lusternia.com/glomdoring/) In the year 115, shortly after Rowena Nightshade passed on her mantle of power to the new Queen of the Night, Lady Viravain asked a simple tae’dae warrior if he planned to travel the path of the Shadowdancers. He was a warrior armed with flails and explained to the Lady Viravain that he sought a guild of warriors to protect the Glomdoring, to take up arms in battle where needed. Finding much wisdom in the words of the bear, Viravain decreed that it would be so, and asked what this group of warriors would be called. Shocked and amazed, the tae’dae said the first name that came to his mind, and that name was ‘Ebonguard’. And so it came to pass that this most unlikely of tae’daes, whose name was Daganev Treeripper, founded the Ebonguard and took the title of Merciless Chieftain of the Ravenwood. The Ebonguard attracted many who had sought out the newly founded commune of Glomdoring, banding together as a tribe of fierce warriors. Using steel and might along with the teachings of the Great Totem Spirits, the Ebonguard embodies the Spirit of the Ebonglom Wyrm. But what this truly means remains an enigma to those outside of this fledgling guild. Are the Ebonguard brutal merciless warriors or deep pondering mystics? Do they care only for Nature or only to enhance their own power? The answer perhaps can only be found deep within the Mysteries of the Ebonglom Wyrm itself. The Ebonguard is a Warrior archetype and thus able to choose Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster or a Bonecrusher upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they can learn Athletics as their secondary skill. They may also devote themselves to the Totems and choose to either specialize in Night or Crow. Alternatively instead of Totems, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Paladins [**Affiliation: City of New Celest**](https://www.lusternia.com/new-celest/) The Paladins Guild are the Holy Warriors of the Light. Like the Celestines, they are close to the angelic plane of Celestia, holding the teachings of Methrenton, Crusader of the Holy Flame, and Shakiniel, Defender of the Dawning Hope, in high regard. Paladins are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster or Bonecrusher upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Sacraments along with Celestines. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Sentinels [**Affiliation: City of Hallifax**](https://www.lusternia.com/hallifax/) In the early days of the founding of Hallifax, the Matrix was not a very well understood source of power and produced several temporal anomalies. The Holy Celestine Empire charged Hallifax with overseeing these anomalies, which sometimes released hostile entities through unstable dimensional rifts. At first, Hallifax employed mercenary companies to help investigate these anomalies, one of which was the Skylark Company of trill mercenaries. Hallifax eventually purchased exclusive rights to the employment of the Skylark Company and, together with Hallifax’s temporal mechanics and engineers, founded the Sentinel Company of Temporal Anomalies (commonly called the Time Sentinels). Though eventually the Matrix stabilized, the Sentinels continued their initial mandate of monitoring the timestream, where they closely worked with the Matrix Institute. However, their duties eventually grew to encompass more traditional home guard and military assignments, especially in relation to procuring mining areas. This eventually led to the establishment of the Ministry of Peace, the bureaucratic branch which oversees the Sentinels. Today, the Sentinels operate as a highly ceremonial guard in the city of Hallifax, where their blue-white dress uniforms, silver breastplates and ornate halberds have become part of the culture of the city. The Company is a highly structured and rigid organisation, and those who seek to serve as Senior Officers generally must still have a degree in temporal mechanics. Sentinels are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they may specialise upon reaching mastery as a Blademaster, Bonecrusher, Pureblade or Axelord. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Aeonics. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Serenguard [**Affiliation: Commune of Serenwilde**](https://www.lusternia.com/serenwilde/) Forged from the blood of the Serenwilde’s darkest days, the Serenguard are a tribe of warriors dedicated to the protection of the forest in which they reside. Long ago, a group of conspirators tried to seize control of the commune, waging a bloody civil war against their brethren. The centaur hunters gathered the greatest warriors of Serenwilde to combat the threat, establishing the Serenguard with the sole purpose of defending the commune from all threats, within its borders and beyond. The Serenguard of today is organized in a loose tribal system that does not adhere to the strict hierarchy of the more knightly warriors. Though bound by their blood oaths to defend the Serenwilde, they are a diverse group that ranges from enlightened, spiritual warriors guided by the wisdom of the great nature spirits to fierce hunters recognized by their proudly worn war paint. The Serenguard are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster, Bonecrusher, Pureblade, or Axelord upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They take Totems as a secondary skill, though they can choose either to specialize in the Stag totem or Moon totem. Alternatively, instead of Totems, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. They may take Forging as a trade skill. #### Templars [**Affiliation: City of Gaudiguch**](https://www.lusternia.com/gaudiguch/) Before the opening of the Eternal Flame and the founding of the Gaudiguch, the Illuminati were known as a sect of primarily dracnari mystics. Their inner teachings were closely kept occult secrets, guarded zealously by a subsect known only as the Guardians of the Hidden Temple (the ‘hidden temple’ is often regarded as a metaphor for their spiritual teachings rather than an actual structure). Throughout ancient history the Illuminati went through periods of denying the existence of the Guardians to promoting them as a charitable arm of the sect. Unsubstantiated rumours often followed the subsect as being in possession of powerful relics and artifacts. When the Eternal Flame was opened, the Guardians of the Hidden Temple were refounded as the Templars, being a more overtly militant arm of the Illuminati, though still charged with the primary task of protecting the Secrets of Initiation. In time, the Templars took on more mundane guard roles and were eventually considered the military arm of Gaudiguch. Templars are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they may specialise upon reaching mastery as a Blademaster, Bonecrusher, Pureblade or Axelord. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Paradigmatics. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Ur’Guard [**Affiliation: City of Magnagora**](https://www.lusternia.com/magnagora/) In the orclachi tongue, ur’Guard translates to Warriors of the Dead. During the peak of the Holy Celestine Empire, they were the shock troops of the Empire sent out to keep the peace among the protectorates (unlike the Paladins who were the elite guard kept close to the imperial capital). After the Taint Wars, they chose to settle in Magnagora, embracing their heritage as the chosen undead warriors of the Vernal God Urlach. Of course, most of the ur’Guard are not undead as it takes a rigorous mastery of necromancy to achieve this state, which they are then referred to as “Death Marshals”. The ur’Guard are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster or Bonecrusher upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Necromancy along with Nihilists. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. ![wiccan2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/wiccan2.jpg "wiccan2")### Wiccan Covens of witches form the spiritual centers of nature communes, and the prime skill of a wiccan is the Nature skill, though they always take the Wicca specialization, which allows the wiccan to call upon the Fae to aid the forests in times of need. Those who study Nature magic must take the Low Magic common skill. Like druids, one secondary skill must be the skill of Totems, with a specialization based on the nature commune. The other secondary skill is usually a choice determined by the commune. - #### [Moondancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Shadowdancers](javascript:void(0);) #### Moondancers [**Affiliation: Commune of Serenwilde**](https://www.lusternia.com/serenwilde/) The Moondancers are wiccans who have embraced the Great Nature Spirit of Mother Moon. They are the spiritual liaisons between the Serenwilde and the ethereal realm, able to summon the fae in times of need. Moondancers are a wiccan archetype. Thus, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before being able to study Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they then specialize in wicca, allowing them to summon the fae in times of need. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which when they master will allow them to specialize in the Moon totem, thereby allowing them to form covens and receive special powers. At some point wiccans choose either to take Healing to become a healer or to train in Hexes or to study Astrology. Wiccans may take Alchemy as a trade skill. #### Shadowdancers [**Affiliation: Commune of Glomdoring**](https://www.lusternia.com/glomdoring/) Ancient and mysterious, the Coven of Night once prevailed as the spiritual link within the Gloriana Forest Commune, who worshipped the Great Nature Spirit Mother Night. During the Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire, fair Gloriana fell into the embrace of the Taint, and with the forest so fell the Night Coven. Rowena Nightshade, once High Priestess of Night lurked deep within the forest boughs, tending the whims of Night as she waited for the day when the Coven would once more rise again. In the year of 115 after the Coming of Estarra, a group of like-minded individuals who left the cities and the commune and ventured deep into Glomdoring to learn the old magic of Night. The goddess Viravain remade the Glomdoring forest to prepare it for its reawakening, and then demanded that Rowena Nightshade give up the secrets of Mother Night so that a coven could serve the spiritual needs of the dark forest. The undead witch led them all in a long pursuit, which ended to the birth of Rowena’s children by Laeroc, the Consort of the Fae Queen. It was then, that the mantle of power was passed from Rowena Nightshade to the new Queen of the Night, a wiccan of the name Gwynevere Whytetower-Drakonis, who formed the fledgling coven of Night once again calling itself the Shadowdancers. Shadowdancers are of the wiccan archetype. As such, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before they are able to study the arts of Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they can specialize in Wicca, a skill which draws the powers of the Ethereal Realm and its inhabitants in times of need. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which allows them to bond with the various Spirits that reside in Nature. Once they have mastered Totems, they are able to specialize in the studies of the Night totem, enabling them to form covens and perform shadowy ceremonies to better aid themselves. At some point wiccans choose either to take Healing to become a healer or to train in Hexes or to study Astrology. Wiccans may take Alchemy as a trade skill. --- ### [Terms of Service](https://www.lusternia.com/terms-of-service/) **Published:** June 19, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** The following are the Terms of Service (“Terms”) that will govern your use of our website at [www.lusternia.com](https://www.lusternia.com "www.lusternia.com"), and any services provided via it or the telnet-accessible multi-user game, Lusternia, Age of Ascension. ## 1. **Our Services.** Lusternia is a multiplayer, Internet-based, persistent game that allows you to assume a fictional persona (“Character”) and participate in the provided world, plots, and other in-game activities. There is also a website closely tied to the game. (collectively, “Services”). ## 2. **Access.** In order to access our Services, you must have access to a functioning Internet connection. Lusternia reserves the right to ban any portion of the Internet at its sole discretion. You must be at least 13 years of age to use our services. ## 3. **Registration.** If you accept the Terms, Lusternia LLC (“the Company”) will request that you fill out a registration form in order to identify yourself. You agree that the information you place in the registration form is at all times true, accurate, current, and complete, and you further agree to maintain that information as such, by updating the data as necessary. You will then be asked to choose a character name (“Character ID”). You are not permitted to select any name that violates a third party’s copyright, trademark right, or other proprietary right, or which the Company determines to be vulgar or offensive. Said determination will be made solely at the Company’s discretion. The Company reserves the right to require you to change any Character ID we deem offensive or vulgar, to change your Character ID for you, or to delete your character. If your representations are found to be false, or the Company has reasonable grounds to suspect the representations are, the Company has the right upon notice to suspend or terminate your license and this agreement, and to refuse and block your current or future use of these Services. You will also be asked to choose a password (“Password”). It is recommended that the User choose a password consisting of both letters and numbers, and avoid anything a third party might be able to guess. User shall be solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the Password and shall be liable for any damages resulting from disclosing or allowing disclosure of such Password or from the use, authorized or unauthorized, by any person of such Password to gain access to User’s Character. ## 4. **License.** Subject to all of the Terms, the Company hereby grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Services and to use the Services solely for your personal entertainment purposes. You may not use the Services to generate revenue for yourself or any third party, in any way, without prior written permission from the Company. ## 5. **Conduct Deemed Unacceptable.** User may not engage in any conduct or communication while using the Services which is unlawful or which restricts or inhibits any other User from using or enjoying the Services. User agrees to use the Services only for lawful purposes. The Company reserves the right to terminate User’s license and Character if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the User has engaged in unacceptable conduct. The list of prohibited conduct set forth in Subsections (a) through (f) below provides a few examples of unacceptable conduct. This list is by no means exhaustive, and the Company reserves the right, but not the responsibility, to restrict the capability to perform acts or series of acts which the Company deems, in its sole discretion, to be harmful to individual users, damaging to the Services provided, or in violation of the Company’s or any third party’s rights. The Company reserves the right to prohibit or delete characters, or to ban users from the Services, or to delete or alter any communication deemed likely to harm individual users, or the Services. The Company explicitly declaims responsibility for screening communications in advance. Examples of unacceptable conduct are, but are not limited to: a. Impersonating any other person while using the services. b. Creating or providing any other means through which the Services may be used by anyone besides you (for instance, a server emulator). c. Posting, uploading, e-mailing, messaging, or otherwise communicating or transmitting through the Services, any material that (i) You lack a right to communicate or transmit under any law or contractual, ethical, or fiduciary relationship. (ii) Infringes any copyright, patent, trademark, proprietary secret. (iii) Is unsolicited or unauthorized promotion, solicitation, advertising, junk mail, ponzi or pyramid schemes, or other communication that may be damaging to the credibility of the Services, (iv) Contains or triggers any software viruses or other computer files, code, or hardware designed to destroy, interrupt, or limit the functionality of any telecommunications equipment, computer hardware, computer software, or any electrical appliance or circuit. (v) Exhibits or condones racism, sexism, or homophobia, or is ethnically offensive, or is libelous, obscene, vulgar, or defamatory. d. Violating intentionally or unintentionally any applicable law or regulation, whether local, state, federal, or international. e. Engaging in any behavior intended to damage the Company, or its Services. f. Engaging in any unacceptable harassment, as determined solely by the Company, of another user of the Services. g. Transfer to any other person, or assist in the using of, any Character or license which you did not create or open. ## 6. **Content and Content Ownership.** The nature of the Services, especially the games portion, is interactive. There exist opportunities to submit a variety of your writings, graphics, art, ideas, text, and other creative or productive products while participating in the Services (“User Content”). When you submit any User Content, you represent and warrant that (i) You have the right to post your User Content. (ii) Your posting of the User Content does not violate anyone else’s legal rights. (iii) The User Content will not cause harm to the Services or individual users of the Services. You hereby grant the Company a royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive, sub-licensable, worldwide, irrevocable license to use, alter, publish, distribute, display, or perform any of your User Content in any and all media currently known, or developed in or discovered in the future. You further agree that the Services are composed of software object code, software source code, writings, files, logs, graphics, and other materials owned by the Company. You agree never to interfere with any proprietary rights, copyrights, or trademarks of the Company or any of its licensors. You agree that all data associated with the Services and residing on the Company’s servers is owned exclusively by the Company. ## 7. **Character Security.** The Company disclaims all responsibility for character security. The User hereby agrees to be completely and fully responsible for maintaining the security of his or her password. ## 8. **Privacy.** We reserve the right to monitor, preserve, or disclose any and all communications made or received by you while accessing or using the Services. The Company disclaims responsibility for ensuring that communications are kept private from third-party snoopers, packet sniffers and any other method of intercepting communications. You acknowledge that the Company reserves the right, but not the responsibility, to inform law enforcement authorities of any actions illegal in the opinion of the Company. The Company will fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities in any related investigation. ## 9. **Purchases.** We sell various digital goods called, variously, credits, tokens, and other things that we may add or remove from the game as we choose over time. You hereby agree that the chosen game character’s receipt of whatever was purchased concludes the transaction and that the Company has no further legal obligation to the User except as provided by this agreement. The User hereby agrees that the purchase of anything from the Company does not constitute an investment of any kind. The User acknowledges and hereby agrees that the perceived or real value of anything purchased now, in the future, or in the past may change over time. The User acknowledges that the Company does not provide refunds under any circumstance. The User acknowledges and hereby agrees that the Company cannot be held responsible for any loss of data that may be associated with the operating of, or the maintenance of, the Services. The Company acknowledges that it has an ethical obligation to attempt to ensure that nobody loses what they’ve purchased due to data loss. ## 10. **Ownership of Lusternia and Services.** The Company, and its contractually-bound licensors shall, at all times, retain all right, title, and interest in and to the Services, except to the extent of the licenses granted hereunder. ## 11. **Disclaimer of Warranty.** THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE COMPANY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE COMPANY FURTHER DOES NOT WARRANT THE COMPLETENESS OR ACCURACY OF THE SERVICES OR LINKS PROVIDED BY THE SERVICES. THE COMPANY DOES NOT WARRANT THE OPERABILITY OF THE SERVICES, BECAUSE CRASHES AND DOWNTIME ARE INEVITABLE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COMPANY BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN ACTION BASED IN CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORT, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES. SIMPLY PUT, WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO MAINTAIN THE SERVICES, BUT ARE NOT LIABLE TO ANYONE, FOR ANY RESULT OF ANY FAILURE TO DO SO. ## 12. **Limitation of Liability.** NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, THE COMPANY’S AND ITS AFFILIATES’, LICENSORS’ AND SUBCONTRACTORS’ TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU ARISING FROM OR IN RELATION TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SERVICES ARE HEREBY AGREED TO BE NOTHING AND NONEXISTENT. 13\. **Consequential Damages.** IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR SUBCONTRACTORS BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY LOSS OF USE OR COSTS OF SUBSTITUTE SERVICES, HOWEVER CAUSED, WHETHER FOR BREACH OF REPUDIATION OF CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER OR NOT THE COMPANY, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS OR SUBCONTRACTORS WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES AND NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY STATED HEREIN. IN JURISDICTIONS THAT DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, THE COMPANY’S, ITS AFFILIATES’, LICENSORS’ AND SUBCONTRACTORS’ LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. 14\. **Indemnification.** User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company from all liabilities, damages, costs and expenses, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, arising from or related to any breach of this Agreement by User, or in connection with transmissions by or through User’s various licenses or Characters. The Company reserves the right, at User’s expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by User hereunder, and in such event, User shall have the obligation to provide indemnification for such matter and reimbursement of all reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the Company in defending such claim. 15\. **Termination.** Either the User or the Company may terminate a license and Character and this agreement without notice at any time without further obligation to the other. Further, the Company reserves the right to terminate the Services, or any part thereof, at any time without notice and without further obligation to you. IN NO EVENT SHALL YOU BE ENTITLED TO A REFUND OF ANY FEES, CREDITS, OR OTHER PRODUCTS OR SERVICES PURCHASED FROM THE COMPANY OR ITS SUBCONTRACTORS, AFFILIATES, OR LICENSORS. UPON TERMINATION OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOUR ACCESS PRIVILEGES TO THE SERVICES WILL TERMINATE AND YOU WILL FORFEIT ANY UNUSED CREDITS AND LESSONS. The following sections shall survive termination: 6, and 9-18. 16\. **Amendment.** The Company may amend the Terms in its sole discretion at any time and in any way by posting revised Terms on the Site, and you agree to regularly review the Terms. If any such revision is unacceptable to you, you may terminate your license and this agreement as provided in Section 14 (“Termination”). Your continued access and use of the Services three (3) days after posting of the revised Terms shall constitute your acceptance of the same. Except as expressly set forth herein, the Terms may not otherwise be modified or amended. 17\. **Reservation of Rights.** The Company hereby reserves any rights not expressly granted herein. 18\. **General Provisions.** You may not sublicense, rent, sell, assign or otherwise transfer the rights or obligations granted to you in this agreement, and any such attempted transfer shall be void. If any provision of this agreement is held to be unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be altered or reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable, and such decision shall not affect the enforceability of: (i) such provision under other circumstances, or (ii) the remaining provisions hereof under all circumstances. The Company’s failure to enforce at any time any provision of this agreement shall in no way be construed to be a present or future waiver of such provision, nor in any way affect the right of any party to enforce each and every such provision thereafter. The express waiver by the Company of any provision, condition or requirement of this agreement shall not constitute a waiver of any future obligation to comply with such provision, condition or requirement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, no default, delay or failure to perform on the part of the Company shall be considered a breach of this agreement if such default, delay or failure to perform is shown to be due to causes beyond the Company’s reasonable control. This agreement is governed by and construed under California law without regard to its conflict of law principles, and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts located in Marin County, in the State of California, U.S.A. for the resolution of any dispute arising from or related to this agreement. In any action to enforce this agreement, the prevailing party shall be awarded its costs and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including such fees and costs incurred in enforcing and collecting any judgment. All notices given by you shall be in writing and addressed to Lusternia LLC, 145 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera, CA 94925. The Company may give notice to you at the e-mail address you provide in the Registration Data. This agreement represents the entire agreement between you and the Company with respect to the subject matter referenced herein --- ### [Privacy Policy](https://www.lusternia.com/privacy-policy/) **Published:** May 25, 2018 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** This policy covers how Iron Realms Entertainment, LLC (“Iron Realms “) treats personal information that it collects and receives, including information related to your past use of its products and services. Personal information is information about you that is personally identifiable like your name or email address that is not otherwise publicly available. ### Information Collection and Use Iron Realms collects personal information when you register with one of its games, when you use its products or services, and when you visit its pages. Iron Realms may combine information about you that we have with information we obtain from business partners or other companies. When you register we ask for information such as your name, email address, birth date, etc. Once you register with Iron Realms you are not anonymous to us. Iron Realms collects information about your transactions with us. Iron Realms automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, Iron Realms cookie information, and the page you request. Iron Realms collects information about your in-game actions for statistical purposes. Iron Realms uses information for the following general purposes: to customize the content you see, fulfill your requests for products and services, improve our services, contact you, conduct research, and provide anonymous reporting. ### Information Sharing and Disclosure Iron Realms does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except to provide products or services you’ve requested when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances: - We respond to subpoenas, court orders, or legal process, or to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. - We believe it is necessary to share information in order to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of any person, violations of Iron Realms’ terms of use, or as otherwise required by law. - We transfer information about you if Iron Realms is acquired by or merged with another company. In this event, Iron Realms will notify you before information about you is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy. ### Cookies Iron Realms may set and access Iron Realms cookies on your computer. ### Communications from Iron Realms Certain communications from Iron Realms are part of Iron Realms membership. You may not opt out of receiving them. Required communication include account deletion notices and system notifications. All remaining communication is optional and controlled by the user. Optional communication includes announcements, in-game messages, newsletters, and similar content. ### Confidentiality and Security Your Iron Realms information is password-protected and encrypted. We take security seriously and make our best efforts to prevent compromise of your personal information. In the event of a serious security breach, we will alert our registered users. --- ### [Contests](https://www.lusternia.com/contests/) **Published:** June 18, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** # Artisanal Contest [](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners)### Table of Artisanals The artisanal winners of the Lusternian Council of Vesteran Honours can be found here, representing visual artistry in a variety of different mediums. [](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-upload)### Upload Artisanal Entry for Current Contest You are invited to enter the Vesteran Honours by submitting a piece of artwork in the artisanal category. [](https://www.lusternia.com/my-artisanals)### My Artisanal Entries # Bardic Contest [](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners)### Table of Bardics The bardic winners of the Lusternian Council of Vesteran Honours can be found here, representing written artistry, either in prose or in verse. [](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-upload)### Upload Bardic Entry for Current Month You are invited to enter the Vesteran Honours by submitting your written work for the bardic category. [](https://www.lusternia.com/my-bardics/)### My Bardic Entries #### Support #### Information #### Other Game Worlds --- ### [Book of Meridian](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-meridian/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Meridian ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Merian.png)I knew I would find him there. Dracnoris was perched on the lip of the Zokona Volcano, tendrils of smoke and steam swirling around his enormous form. He gazed intently into the fiery well, his golden-red scales gleaming against the waves of heat. I had to wrap a dampening field around myself just to draw near him. As I settled next to Dracnoris, he glanced at me, then went back to staring into the swirling magma below. We sat silently beside each other, buffeted by the waves of heat. “Are you going to splinter?” I asked. “You still wait for me,” Dracnoris rumbled. “Waiting for me to splinter so you can make sure my shards will be dispersed across Lusternia.” “Will you?” I asked softly. “I am not sure yet,” he said. “I am not a star god. What would I splinter into?” “I do not know,” I said. “Perhaps the same thing will happen to me as what happened to Eyos.” I did not say anything. We frankly were never sure what happened to Eyos, another Primordial One who splintered. His shards were never found. “And if I choose not to splinter?” Dracnoris asked, sending rocks tumbling to splash in the molten soup below. “Will you remain whole, Meridian? Will you and I be protectors of these mortal races as we have been for these last thousand years since Mugowumpois, Xyl and Trillillial left us?” “If need be,” I said. “Why do you persist? Amberle has been long gone, but each day you act as if it is your penance to remain here with me. Why don’t you splinter. Are your memories so important?” “Do you wish to forget?” I asked “No! Why would I want to? I have no desire to give up my identity, to never again have the sense of who I am. Perhaps it is cowardice. To want to hold on to this perspective that is myself. And lose it for what? Perhaps to become a mortal race, to subsume my identity among the many shards. Do you yearn to forget, Meridian?” “I do and I don’t,” I said “I wish to forget the pain, but all that is left of my love for Amberle is my memories of us together.” As Dracnoris looked at me, his green eyes watered, like emerald ice melting. He raised himself up, and shook his wings. “Yes,” he said simply. “I will splinter.” With a sudden roar, Dracnoris spread his wings and dove into the roiling lava pool below. As soon as he hit the surface, great plumes of lava shot up. The mountain rumbled and fiery balls spit up into the air. I strengthened my shield and stayed to witness his splintering. From the top of his neck to the tip of his tail, Dracnoris split in two, out of which bubbled his shimmering green essence. The essence spurted forth smaller winged forms, miniature versions of Dracnoris. They flew into the air, spinning and screeching with their newborn voices. As each one shot out of the volcano, they paused briefly before me and nodded. Hundreds rose up, circling the volcano that continued to erupt with furious explosions of rock and magma. The shards circled around like a flock of birds, then broke apart into four groups that drifted off in each of the cardinal directions. Thus, were the dragons born. As the volcano eruption died down, I noticed the skin of Dracnoris still floated in the lava pool, foaming with a green luminescence. It slowly drifted and washed up onto a rocky ledge. Then, something amazing happened, another race began to splinter from this final pool of essence. And they were star shaped, a new race. Finally, Dracnoris would know what it would be to be star formed. I hoped he would not be disappointed. Later, as I spread the dracnari race throughout the world, I would occasionally come across one of the four dragon clans. They were much longer lived than the rest of the mortal races, for their ageing was so slow, perhaps they’d have a lifespan of centuries. Thus, the memories of Dracnoris were more intact, for these giants remembered more of who they once were than any other splintered race. Such powerful creatures, I imagined they would challenge the Soulless. But dragons could not go through the Portal of Fate, and they were slow to procreate so their numbers never increased at any relevant rate. Also, they rarely interacted with any other race except the dracnari, and even them rarely. I never realised how much Dracnoris and I kept each other in check, how I had grown to rely upon his advice, his thoughts, his company. Without him I was lost, rudderless, without perspective. My only intent was to protect the mortal races, but how spread out they were now, and how relentlessly the Soulless remained. I learned being the last of one’s kind breeds a deep pain born of loneliness. It was out of this melancholy that I became rash, filled with a false courage born of carelessness. It was only a matter of time before I fell into a trap. The City of Lamerea was recently settled by a group of taurians. Like many mortal cities, they held a golden horn that would call me if in need. When the Horn of Lamerea blasted, I rushed forth, riding on the wind. Arriving, I saw thousands of auras of taurian citizens, so I landed in the town square. They were all around me, reflections of Tauro, large eyed and hot tempered. But I knew something was wrong when turned and looked at me in unison. There was a hollowness behind their eyes. I smelled something burnt and damp shifting beneath the surface. Suddenly, the taurians began to split apart, exploding in fountains of blood and bone and flesh, which twined together and rose up around me as a bloody net. The souls of the taurians still clung to the fleshy net, like flies caught in the web. It was none other than Kethuru, whose underlying pervasive presence held the screaming souls together, bound by his black hatred. Casting domotheon spears of light, I burnt through Kethuru’s foul skin, but as soon as holes opened up, they closed just as swiftly. Kethuru had trapped me, caught in a diseased skein of flesh and soul, madness made flesh, closing around me. I screamed in rage and pain but to no avail. How long I fought, I do not know, but nights and days passed, until I knew I was being toyed with, caught in a nightmare without end. But then the skein around me shuddered. What was happening? I did not know. The thousand eyes that hungrily watched my pain and suffering suddenly looked away. And as soon as Kethuru’s attention turned elsewhere, it was like a fresh wind revived me as I was no longer suffocated by his dark regard. Self preservation finally kicked in, and I fought with renewed strength. Battling past the visions of hate and the darkness born of the void, past the souls trapped within Kethuru’s cloying aura, I was finally able to burn through a thinning layer of diseased flesh. Blue sky opened up above me, and I shot up into the air, buffered by domotheon energies. Exalting in freedom, I looked down and saw what saved me. The mortal races had come to my rescue. Glittering armies of lucidian, tribal bands of loboshigaru and aslaran, aerial battalions of trill, furrikin, tae’dae, clangoru, orclach, sileni, igasho and many more. The mortals were throwing themselves at Kethuru. To save me. The Last Elder. As soon as I realised what was happening, I screamed at them to retreat. Some inner strength born purely of my own terror at what they did blossomed within me and I threw roiling balls of pure immanidivinus energies at Kethuru. He shuddered and backed off, but his foul form covered the entire valley that surrounded the City of Lamerea. I tried to save as many mortals as I could, but their losses were ludicrously high. It was clear now that I was a liability. After that battle, I did what I could to sink into obscurity, hiding myself from mortals, becoming a fading legend. How many decades passed, I do not know. One day, as I walked along the shores where Jojobo met the sea, I met a shipwrecked company of mugwumps. They had built a temporary shelter at the edge of the trees. Covered in a cowled robe, I approached them to see if they needed assistance. At first they were cautious, but I was one and they were many. They said they were refugee scholars whose island was devoured by Illith. Indeed, they were protecting chests of books, each volume water proofed and securely bound together. It was a veritable travelling library. I gave them what information they needed about the local land and directions to get to a local settlement of dracnari. Throughout this exchange, an elderly female mugwump stared at me. When I left the company, she followed me. “Wait, sirrah,” she rasped. “Please, wait.” “Yes?” I asked. “Is there something I can do for you?” “My name is Mlorag and I know who ye are,” she said. “You are the Last Elder. Meridian.” “The shipwreck must have addled your mind, gentle lady,” I said. “You speak of legends.” “I speak the truth,” Mlorag said. “We are the Keepers of Mysteries and are custodians to many prophesies, ancient histories and other secrets, handed down from keeper to keeper. One such thing is a History of the Elder Wars.” Rummaging through a satchel at her side, Mlorag picked out a volume bound in white leather. Intrigued despite myself, I came forward and she handed it to me. Opening up the volume, each chapter was told from the point of view of an Elder, together comprising the history of the Elder Wars. I began reading the sad history as Mlorag stood politely beside me. Tears began to stream down my cheeks as I read about the death of Amberle, the beginning of the wars, the folly of the traitors, and even of Xyl’s last thoughts. It couldn’t have been fiction; too much rang true. Then I noticed it was written in the script of the Elders. “Do you understand the Elder tongue?” I asked, surprised. “I can read and write in that language,” said Mlorag, “but only Elders can speak it.” “Where did you get this book?” “At one time, the stories were collected in magic gems by Mugowumpois, who was our progenitor. She interviewed the first generation of each race, collecting the final thoughts and putting it together in the story you hold in your hands. After she splintered, we, her shards, transferred the history into books. We continued her great project, interviewing the first generations of lucidian, trill and dracnari. There is only one chapter left, unwritten.” “You are looking for Meridian. The Last Elder. You are waiting for him to splinter so you can finish the history?” “Yes.” “How do you know that I am this Meridian?” “Because we told her,” said three voices in unison behind me. I spun around and there stood the Fates. Lachesis stepped forward and said, “Many of the secrets Mlorag and the Keepers protect are of interest to us and we keep an eye on their movements and progress. We felt this would be a good time for you to meet her.” “And why is that?” I asked. “Do you not want to know the message Mugowumpois gave to Xyl to cause him to want to splinter?” asked Clotho. “We have kept this for the one called Meridian,” said Mlorag, pulling a chain over her head. The chain held a pendant with a small crystal. “We cannot read this crystal, for that skill has been lost to us. But it contains the message Mugowumpois wanted given to Xyl. Only the Last Elder can read it now.” With a sigh, I took the crystal from Mlorag. The Fates were watching me intently. Annoyed, I turned my back on them and released the message. The voice of a mugwump, sounding almost identical to Mugowumpois, whispered into my mind, “You want to know the secret of the Portal of Fate. Look into their eyes.” That was all. “Have you walked through the Portal of Fate, Mlorag?” I asked. “I have,” she said proudly. Ignoring the Fates behind me, I looked into the eyes of Mlorag. She stared back at me, her eyes were gold, flecked with green. Beautiful but otherwise unremarkable. Mugowumpois wanted Xyl to look into their eyes. He must have found something for he splintered soon after. I shifted my perception and searched deeper. Yes, the eyes reflected how Mlorag perceived the world around her, her individuality, her perspective. Then I noticed it. Beyond her own perception was that of another, as if someone or something else stared out with her. This other presence must have become entwined when she entered through the Portal of Fate. “They are quite unaware of the Other,” said Clotho quietly in the Elder tongue so Mlorag wouldn’t understand. “When they step through the portal, they brush against another reality, finding another soul that resonates with their own, a quantum twin.” “They think this is a game,” I said, studying the Other as it studied me. “They don’t believe in this reality.” “Does it matter?” asked Clotho. “They shape its story nonetheless.” “And behind the eyes of the Other,” I said, looking even deeper. “There is even another presence! Just as the Other shares space with Mlorag, so too does the Other share space with another.” The Fates said nothing. “It is a gameboard within a gameboard,” I said. “Is this what consciousness is? A fractal pattern that goes on without end? Each reflection thinking they are in control when in truth there is always someone behind them pulling strings?” “There’s always an end,” said Atropos. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/mwater_jpg.jpg)Without saying another word, I turned away from Mlorag and the Fates and walked out to the ocean, letting the azure waters lap my feet. I had called this the Amberle sea, for the waters were the colour of her eyes. When the warm waters reached my thighs, I turned around. The Fates stood together, watching me alongside Mlorag, witnesses to the splintering of the Last Elder. “Does it hurt?” I asked. “Does dying hurt?” “Oh yes,” cackled Atropos. “It is very painful.” I nodded and went deeper into the ocean, swimming further out into the waters, letting myself float out on the tide. The soft voice of Clotho carried to me. “My sister is wrong,” she said. “It is not death that is painful. It is being born.” And so I was. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Xyl](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-xyl/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Xyl ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Lucidian.jpg)As I worked on the crystal plinth that was erected on the peak of Mount Dynara, I paused to listen to the lone yelps and distant whines that came up from the basin below. The sound had been building for some time, but now it erupted into the full-throated howling of wolves. I’m not sure how long I stood there, listening to the howling, but a soft hand gently touched my shoulder. Turning, it was my mate, Trillillial, who had come up behind me unaware, her brown wings flecked with gold. Her palm felt warm against my crystalline skin. Standing next to her was Mugowumpois, who moved up to study the crystal plinth I was working on. It was meant to erect a shield over Mount Dynara. The soft green fingers of Mugowumpois drifted over the crystal components, panels, lights, but she touched nothing. She glanced up at me and smiled, politely not voicing the obvious futility of such a device, a weak response to the Soulless. “Loboshi splintered?” I asked, perhaps superfluously. “Yes,” Trillillial said softly. “Her shards took a lupine form,” said Mugowumpois brusquely. “I assumed she might, given her relationship with the wolves since Volkh died.” “It is a testament to her love of Volkh,” said Trillillial. “You are always the romantic,” I said and reached up to squeeze her hand. “There are now only five of us left,” said Trillillial. “When will we splinter, Xyl? When will we join the rest?” “I need to finish my work,” I said, pulling away from her and avoiding her mournful blue eyes. Mugowumpois arched an eyebrow. I knew Trillillial wanted to splinter. She had for the past two thousand years, to join the rest of the Elders who were now spread across the world as the mortal races. “Did you want more recording crystals?” I asked Mugowumpois. “Yes,” she said. “I need to interview the first generation of Loboshi’s splinters. You know they completely forget who they were by the third iteration.” I didn’t answer, but just handed her the crystals and turned back to my work, adjusting some dials. I felt Mugowumpois shrug and leave. I paused again when Trillillial sighed deeply. She laid her hand again on my shoulder. She knew my emotions, which ran deeply below the surface, and how I hated it when one of us splintered. Bollikin was the first, of course, and the memory of that event still sent quakes through my crystalline structure. When Bollikin splintered, the scream of Tae shook the entire First World, even driving the Soulless away as they thought we had unleashed some new weapon. We all came running to Tae and found him surrounded by thousands of tiny beings, each one responding to the name of Bollikin. Tae was trying to gather them all to himself. “What have you done, little friend?” Tae kept crying. “I’m sorry, dear Tae,” they kept answering in chorus. It took some time before we worked out what happened. Bollikin had apparently splintered his own essence, creating a race of small mortals, each taking on a characteristic of one of his creations, such as fox or squirrel or rabbit or other small creature of Bollikin’s. The race was star-shaped, i.e., a head, two arms and legs, bipedal and split into two sexes, which were able to procreate. We had called them the furrikin. Tae kept guard over this new, weak race of furrikin. But they aged and died, which we could do nothing to stop. On the other hand, they also procreated, and grew in greater and greater numbers. With each generation, they forgot more and more who they were, and Tae’s despair grew proportionally. Elfenehoala was the second to splinter, having studied the shards of Bollikin. She worked out how he fragmented his own spirit, dividing one into many. But while Bollikin’s splintering took on a myriad different forms and shapes, the shards of Elfenhoala looked much more homogenous, graceful green skinned beings who were drawn to the forests. Since then, others followed, mostly out of despair. Tae was the third, his race taking the form of his beloved bears, which were known as the tae’dae. Even after several generations and the tae’dae and furrikin had forgotten who they once were, the races remained close, the tae’dae forever being the protectors of the small furrikin. The irony wasn’t lost on us. For aeons we had searched for the secret of our own procreation and, once found, learned that the cost was our own dissimilation. As more Elders splintered, the dozens and dozens of races began to spread throughout the First World. As expected, they were hunted by the Soulless Ones, and so the races were scattered even more. And, thus, now there was only five of us left: Meridian, Dracnoris, Trillillial, Mugowumpois and myself. Meridian remained, taking responsibility for overseeing the new races, though as they were spread more and more, it became clear it was an impossible task. Dracnoris remained, though I am not sure why. He made flights over the First World, battling the Soulless, then retreating, often brooding. The desire to splinter becomes stronger, the smaller our numbers become. Trillillial speaks of it often, but I resist and she will not splinter without me. It was tempting, allowing oneself to disperse into a new race, with new experiences, unaware of the knowledge of impending doom, for though the races stubbornly survived, it was only a matter of time before the Soulless Ones would overwhelm them. And so I continue my projects, hoping I could do enough to protect the new races. Of all of us, Mugowumpois was most intrigued by the splintered races. As her focus of study in the Fifth Circle was organic, she has become obsessed with the mortal races. She tracked them, analysed their customs, interviewed them and often came to the conclusion that each individual shard had the potential to evolve back into an Elder. While it was nice to imagine several hundred million Elders rising up to challenge the Soulless Gods, the reality was much harsher. The mortal races were hunted and consumed relentlessly by the Soulless. Not long after Loboshi splintered, Mugowumpois called Trillillial, Meridian and myself to join her. I am not sure whether or not she asked Dracnoris, but he was more and more isolating himself from the rest of us. We gathered within the swamps of Balacharia. Mugowumpois greeted us, holding the hand of a small female furrikin. The furrikin had probably just entered adulthood. She had ginger fur and long ears like a rabbit. Her dark eyes looked trustingly up at us through thick lashes. Such was how the mortal races looked upon us. “You aren’t afraid, are you, dear?” Mugowumpois asked her in the furrikin’s own language. It was odd that the mortal races could never master our tongue, each developing their own language. “No, Great Mugowumpois,” she answered, though she clearly was terrified. “This is Ayalala of the Sweetberry tribe,” said Mugowumpois, stroking the furrikin’s arm. Then she switched to the Elder tongue. “I know I’ve shown you this before, the soul that inhabits each shard, but indulge me a moment.” Mugowumpois smiled gently at Ayalala and turned her around. Placing a hand over the furrikin’s head, Mugowumpois increased the vibration around her aura until the shard of the soul became visible. “This is a technique you shall appreciate, Xyl,” Mugowumpois said. “I’m going to use a small amount of immanidivinus energy to mark the substance of the soul.” As the aura of the furrikin stabilised, Mugowumpois inserted a finger gently into the shimmering aura and trickled a very tiny stream of immanidivinus into the aura, slowly tracing an intricate spiderlike glyph which quickly bonded to the furrikin’s soul. “There. Her soul is now marked forevermore. We can find her anywhere in the known world.” “Yes,” I said. “If we wanted to track individual mortals, that is quite useful.” “Wait, that’s not what I meant to demonstrate. Watch.” With a sudden jerk, Mugowumpois snapped Ayalala’s neck. It was done so swiftly that Ayalala never even had a chance to cry out or express surprise. Trillillial gasped in shock and stood up. “Why did you do that!” Trillillial exclaimed. Her lips thinned and she looked at me. I motioned her to sit down. “Really, was that necessary?” asked Meridian. “Yes, it is part of the demonstration,” Mugowumpois said, though she looked slightly abashed. “Now look. There! The soul is separating from the corpse!” And so it was, taking on the shadowy form of Ayalala, even while it was slowly losing shape. Ayalala seemed to try to speak to Mugowumpois, looking reproachful and utterly sad. Mugowumpois was quick to point to the glyph that still shimmered on the soul’s substance. “There,” Mugowumpois said excitedly. “See? Track it!” We each tried to track the soul as it slowly faded away. Mugowumpois brightly asked if we could find it but none of us could. “This is only the first part of the experiment,” she told us. “I’ll call us back together for the next stage.” It was several months before Mugowumpois once again gathered us together. This time she brought us to the outskirts of the Gaaglinaaro Forest, where a small furrikin had just given birth in a crudely thatched hut. The furrikin mother held the infant to her breast. The offspring looked like the mother, brown furred, with the vague characteristics of a squirrel. The baby’s eyes weren’t open but it began to cry when Mugowumpois came near, though she was oblivious to the child’s distress. “This is Pollipolli of the Green Mud tribe,” Mugowumpois introduced the mother to us. “She has just given birth to her young son, Rolloriki. May I hold your child, Polli?” “Of course, Great Mugowumpois,” said Pollipolli, though she hesitated slightly before handing over the babe. “I hope you have no plans to kill that child,” said Trillillial icily in the Elder tongue. “No, no,” said Mugowumpois. “But watch.” Mugowumpois held a hand over the crying child. The aura glowed and expanded, revealing the soul. Within the soul was a glyph like that in Ayalala. “You’ve marked another?” asked Meridian. “No,” said Mugowumpois triumphantly, “Look closely. It is the same soul!” We looked and it was true. It was exactly the same glyph as had marked poor Ayalala. Even Trillillial was astonished. “Fascinating,” I said in admiration. “How is this possible?” asked Meridian. “I do not know how but it is,” Mugowumpois said, handing the child back to the relieved mother. “When a new baby is formed – in utero as it were – a soul shard slowly forms and incarnates within the physical body. Body and soul finally merge when the child is born and takes its first breath. I wondered where these new shards come from. At first, I thought the parents’ souls somehow propagated more shards. Or perhaps that the bodies themselves spontaneously generated a new soul. But no. When a mortal dies, the soul does not dissipate, even though that’s what appeared to happen with Ayalala. Rather, the soul reincarnates! The souls are never lost!” “Reincarnation,” whispered Meridian. “That isn’t all,” continued Mugowumpois. “I’ve run hundreds of these experiments. Sometimes the soul will split in two and be reborn in two places. Thus, there will never be a limit to a race’s population as the shards continue to splinter.” We silently wondered what that would mean. Trillillial hummed a lullaby to Pollipolli’s child. I sensed she did not want to know how Mugowumpois continued these experiments. “Of course,” I said, “with a limitless population and the rate at which the mortals breed, the Soulless Ones will become greater than ever before as they consume the races.” “But that’s the most fantastic discovery of all, ” Mugowumpois said. “I’ve marked some of the souls consumed by the Soulless Ones. And they are still reborn! Do you see what that means? The Soulless cannot absorb the souls of shards!” “Remarkable,” I said, “that follows the patterns we’ve seen, as well. The Soulless gorge on mortal flesh, then become lethargic before returning active with an even greater hunger.” “But they are never stronger than they were before,” said Meridian, his eyes alight with understanding. “If a Soulless consumes an Elder, the essence will be absorbed into theirs. When they consume a mortal, the essence eventually is reincarnated. This is a momentous discovery!” “What if they consume an entire race?” I asked. “I assume it would then be impossible to reincarnate,” said Mugowumpois. “In that case, the Soulless would probably truly absorb that race as though consuming an Elder.” “So long as a pocket of the race exists, they will have a chance,” said Meridian. “We just need to keep each race alive. We should make sure each is spread out.” “Even so, it is only a matter of time before the Soulless will overcome them,” I said. “Ultimately, these mortals are weak creatures. Every simulation I have run shows that in time the Soulless Ones will consume the world. It is inevitable.” “It does buy us time, though,” said Meridian. “The longer we keep the Soulless here, the longer Roark and the others have.” So we had a new purpose, preserving the mortal races. But there were only five of us left, against the might of the Soulless Ones. We couldn’t do much more than make sure the races were spread throughout the First World. Several years passed, when I was again tinkering with the plinth on top of Mount Dynara., a cold wind rose up around me. Fearing it was Zenos, I hastily wrapped myself in a shield. But, no, it was the beings known as the Fates. I was more than a little surprised, being that it was so rare that these enigmatic beings would appear before us. Indeed, I had forgotten they even existed. The three beings stood together in the form of mortals, one young, one mature and one an ancient hag. “You do not often visit,” I said guardedly, but they did not answer. “Why are you here?” “We observe and record,” said the mature one known as Lachesis. “We exist in every reality, in some form.” “Indeed,” I said noncommittally. “When these mortal races appeared, that was when our duty truly began,” explained the young one known as Clotho. “Recording gods is no challenge,” croaked the ancient one known as Atropos. “Your destinies may as well be straight lines, so predictable. Mortals, however, they can surprise us, how often do we have to reweave the tapestry patterns.” “Your job of recording will not last long, I fear,” I said. “The rate the Soulless Ones consume the mortals, they will eventually be overwhelmed.” “True,” said Atropos with a toothless grin. “It is inevitable that the Soulless will triumph. For mortals, as you call them, are weak, not strong enough to survive.” “Yes, you are correct about us,” said Lachesis. “Our duty in this reality would then soon end. It is a shame, for the interesting parts have just begun.” “And we do not interfere,” said Clotho, then she hesitated and glanced at the others. “We do not interfere often.” “Often?” I asked. “So sometimes you do interfere?” Clotho and Lachesis smiled while Atropos grimaced. Clotho hesitantly stepped towards me, and then dropped a roll of parchment at my feet, quickly backing away. The Fates waited expectantly. Curious, I picked up the parchment and unfurled it. It was a set of blueprints, schematics of great complexity. I felt my crystalline body pulsate quickly as I studied the blueprints and enlightenment dawned on me. “This is a portal!” I said. “A gateway that pierces reality. Will this take us to Dynara and Magnora?” “No, you Elders could not step through,” said Lachesis. “Only the mortals could enter this portal,” said Clotho. “Why is that?” I asked. “If you have this knowledge, then do you not have the knowledge to pierce other realities? Roark needn’t have gone looking in the Void! You could help us.” “No, it is not possible to follow your progenitors,” said Lachesis. “At least not for several aeons. Your Roark’s device is useless now, but in time perhaps it would work.” “Why several aeons?” I asked. They remained silent, so I said again, “What happens in several aeons that cannot happen now?” “You suspect already!” cackled Atropos. “You mean,” my mind was whirling. “Of course, the laws of physics evolve, along with everything else. If realities are forever in flux, then Roark would have to wait until evolution takes its course and the quantum states are in alignment. I wish there was a way we could tell him.” “It would hardly matter,” said Lachesis. “Once the Soulless finish with the First World, they will move out and consume this entire multiverse, even the other planes would not be safe.” “Including you,” I pointed out. “We will be the last to go,” shrugged Atropos. “We always are.” “So why give me this?” I said, waving the parchment. “What is its purpose? If Elders cannot enter, you say that mortals can. Will they go someplace safe?” “They will go through,” said Lachesis, “be transformed and then return. It will give mortals a chance, no more, a small testing and strengthening of their character, some may not survive the portal, but those that do will shape the destiny of the world.” “It is only a small chance,” said Clotho. I went back to studying the blueprints laid out before me. The Portal would need to tap into the very heart of the First World just to power it. It would take all my skill and all my knowledge to construct it. I’m not sure how long I studied it, but when I looked up, the Fates were gone. Over the next year, I labored on what would be called the Portal of Fate. I constructed it within Mount Dynara, for this mountain was the fulcrux of all of the essence of the First World itself. I took down the plinths and protections around the top of Mount Dynara, for this great peak must become unobtrusive and hidden from the Soulless. I would create a resonating vibration within the mountain to repel the Soulless. Meridian was greatly intrigued by the Portal of Fate. He had gathered a group of mortal heroes who would be the first step through. Dracnoris showed interest, often visiting me to watch its construction. When finally it was complete, the Portal of Fate stood within a cave about midway up the mountain peak. All the Elders had gathered, plus the heroes selected by Meridian. I triggered the final glyph and crackling arcane energies erupted within the portal. We could not see through the coruscating field, yet the air warped around us, and we could see reality shifting within the very cave itself. I tried to place a hand through the Portal but was repelled. So it was true that Elders could not enter. Meridian urged the first of the heroes through. She was an orclach warrior, who strode through without hesitation. Next was a furrikin mystic with a tae’dae protector. Three elfen went through, as well as a taurian, loboshigaru, krokani and aslaran. Ten entered the Portal of Fate, and only eight returned. We had lost an elfen and the taurian. The rest of the heroes returned but with little memory of their past. Mugowumpois gave a thorough examination of each but could not tell how they were changed. They seemed unremarkable except for the loss of memory. But we saw in time that everything the Fates said was true. The mortals who survived the Portal of Fate were somehow transformed. Almost without exception, they ended up doing great deeds, becoming the leaders and champions and heroes of Lusternia, sometimes even the villains. Mortals would make pilgrimages from all over to enter the Portal of Fate. To help, Trillillial wrote songs and stories, encouraging mortals to do the same, to spread word of the Portal of Fate, so that all who had heart enough would come and strive to make their mark. Gradually, mortals began to withstand the Soulless, though their resistance was subtle and painfully incremental. Would it be enough? We could only hope and believe. Discovering the secret of how the Portal of Fate changed mortals became the great obsession of Mugowumpois. She studied each mortal who passed through, marking their souls, following them through their incarnations. But the answer always eluded her. “I will crack this code if it is the last thing I do,” she would often say to me. Trillillial wanted to splinter more than ever now. She wanted to join the others, to be part of this mortal endeavor. Of course, she still waited for me. I kept putting off the inevitable. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Aesthete_Trill.gif)When Trillillial came to me one day while I was working on tuning some crystalline vortexes that would hopefully help repel the Soulless from Mount Dynara, she had a hesitant look in her eyes. I thought she was again going to ask me to splinter with her. But instead she took my hand and pulled me away from my work. I did not protest, for something in her eyes told me to keep silent and follow. Spreading her wings, Trillillial flew off the side of the mountain. I floated up after her, and she led me to the Balacharia Swamp. There in the swamps, I noticed a group of mortals had settled there. They were building structures of surprising complexity. The race had dark green mottled skin but I couldn’t quite place who they were. It took me some time to figure it out, but when I did, I stared at Trillillial. She nodded. Mugowumpois had splintered. As this was the first generation, they retained some memory of Mugowumpois. One tall member of this new race walked towards me, hesitant and unsure. “I have a message from her,” the newly formed shard said softly. “From me. Who I was.” The shard of Mugowumpois whispered the message in my ear. Then, she stepped back and nodded. I took her to the Portal of Fate, wherein she stepped through. Sometime later, she emerged from the portal, looking serene though confused as mortals often did when first returning. “Do as she asked,” said Trillillial softly to me. \* \* \* Afterwards, we travelled to a range of high mountain peaks to the south. The sky was blue, streaked with wisps of white cloud. The Soulless Ones were on the other side of the world and for this moment at least, it was serene. “Are you ready, beloved?” Trillillial asked, holding my hand. She kissed me, pressing her warm lips against my cool lips, her wings wrapped around us, her feathers brushing against me. My body pulsated, suffusing us with a scintillating light. It was time. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Tauro](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-tauro/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Tauro ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Taurian.jpg)After that idiot Tae embarrassed us all by shambling up onto the dais and rambling nonsense for half the afternoon, we all breathed a sigh of relief when he finally left with Bollikin and Xyl on the quest to find Dracnoris. Well, not all of us sighed with relief. There were a few bemused looks from some of the Seventh Circle. And I suppose I didn’t sigh exactly when he left – it was more of a very loud snort. “Tauro!” Loboshi barked with laughter, giving me a playful nudge. We were sitting next to Loboshi’s mate Volkh of the Seventh. Surrounding us were Volkh’s creation of wolves, who seemed to have bonded more to Loboshi than him, earning her the nickname Pack Mother. Sensing Loboshi’s mood, the wolves opened their mouths in wide toothy grins and would have started to howl if Volkh didn’t shush them. “That’s rather interesting,” said Loboshi, nudging me to look over at the Golden Circle. At least we called them the Golden Circle, a small group of Second Circle members who were at the beck and call of the First Circle. The rest of us in the Second Circle considered them to be a closed clique and rather snobbish. Perhaps there was a little jealousy involved, but Loboshi did point out something interesting. There they were: Hajamin, Terentia, Morgfyre, Krokano and Orlachmar, and it seemed they were arguing with the Firsts! Apparently, the Golden Ones still weren’t happy with Amberle leading the Firsts on a mission to meet the Heralds of Magnora. They were practically insisting on following them. Then, Fain glided forward, his mate Lisaera on his arm, and deftly deflected the conversation to finding the other primal gods. The Fifth Circle of Thinkers were insistent of the necessity of finding Keph of a Thousand Eyes, a Third Circle primal god. I vaguely recalled her being extremely large and ugly, not unlike some of the abominations of the void that the Second Circle hunted. But Dynara had chosen her to be one of the first of her creations to have a soul, so she must have been alright. It was the Fifth Circle who insisted that Keph may hold the key. “It is said her mind once touched that of Magnora,” said Mugowumpois of the Fifth. “If any of the primal gods may know these Heralds it would be her.” “Her insight has always been legendary,” said Roark of the Fifth. “Her perceptions appear to extend beyond the veil of time itself, and she is able to follow along the lines of probabilities unequal to any other.” “But do we know where she is?” asked Aslarn of the First. “Does anyone know?” I looked at Loboshi, who shrugged. Her mate Volkh scratched his hairy jaw, and called out across the chamber, “Viravain! Viravain may know!” All eyes turned to Viravain, a small goddess with flowers woven in her hair. Butterflies and birds followed her around. I always thought she looked like a startled bird myself. “Me?” she asked. “Yes,” said Volkh. “You once told us of strange songs of Keph that some of your creations mimicked.” “Ah, yes that,” said Viravain, looking around as if trying to find a way to fly out. “That was many decades ago. And it was from some insects that travelled underground. I’m sure I don’t know where to look.” “Well, that is better than the rest of us can manage,” said Fain. “Viravain, take Mugowumpois of the Fifth and search for Keph.” I thought Viravain was going to faint, she had such a look of horror on her face. But a dark figure quickly strode forward to stand next to her. It was her brother Shikari. He was of the Second Circle like me, but was considered a loner. Whereas most of us hunted the abominations of the Void in groups, Shikari preferred to hunt alone. There were rumours that he never made his kills cleanly but liked to…play with them first. Though he was a loner and rather disreputable among us, it was known that his one soft spot was for his young sister, Viravain of the Seventh Circle. Volkh once told me she was one of the Seventh’s prodigies but she squandered her talents on inconsequential creations. “There is nothing I cannot track down,” said Shikari. “I can find Keph for you. Viravain, I will go with you.” “Thank you, brother,” breathed Viravain, finding some courage to stand taller. “But it would be difficult even for you to track. The insects who heard her songs were deep crawlers, who live within the deep mazes beneath the earth.” Of course, I respected Shikari for standing beside his sister and for hearing the call of duty. Duty was one of the Second Circle’s greatest precepts, as we pledged ourselves to be honour bound to protect the First World and our kin. Shikari knew when duty called to him. And I knew when duty called to me. “I shall accompany you then also,” I said, standing up. “There is not a maze in existence that can trick me.” “I do not need any help,” Shikari glared at me. “I did not ask if you needed help, Shikari. I said I would accompany the party that seeks Keph. Remember that the Cauldron of Juciad’s Blesh could not stop me from hunting down the Scourge of Mejora, even though it hid the Scourge from others – including you.” “Oh, that’s fine,” said Mugowumpois drily. “The more, the merrier! Besides, I wouldn’t mind having two members of the Second Circle with us. It is said that Keph has quite a temper!” I imagine that Shikari would have argued with me further, but Viravain whispered something to him. He glared at me but only shrugged and turned away. Thus was our company formed. Without much fanfare, I bid farewell to Loboshi and Volkh, the wolves circling around me. From the Crystal Towers, Viravain led us through meandering paths through the mountains. Shikari walked next to her, studiously avoiding me. Trailing behind them I walked with Mugowumpois, who told me scandalous stories of the other Elder Gods. I never realised what a sense of humour she had! Eventually, Viravain stopped in front of a narrow crack in the mountains that led to passages. Though she and Mugowumpois had no problem sliding in, Shikari and I had to break some of the rock apart to widen the mouth so we could squeeze through. A small swarm of crawling insects met Viravain, and she cooed and whispered to them. “They hear the song of Keph!” she cried. I certainly heard nothing and glancing at Mugowumpois, I figured she didn’t either. But she smirked and rolled her eyes. Shikari, of course, didn’t question Viravain – but just ambled off after her. So we descended down into the deep depths of the world. I did not feel comfortable below the surface, though Mugowumpois did not seem bothered by it. Left on her own, Viravain would have spent too much time playing with the bugs and crawling things here, as she was so easily distracted. Shikari, however, kept driving her forward and his very presence seemed to keep her focused. When Viravain took a wrong turn, or at least started to take a turn that would have led to a dead end or turned back on ourselves, I immediately sensed it and corrected the direction. Though neither of us admitted it, Shikari and I worked together well together with Viravain. Even so, Shikari and Viravain preferred to stray further ahead of us. I’m not sure what they talked about between them but they would fall silent whenever we caught up to them. I asked Mugowumpois what she thought of this pair. “Oh, they hold many secrets,” she said, but would not elaborate. My mood was becoming as foul as the dank and stifling air in the tunnels, and I wanted nothing more than to end this search. But they definitely needed me here, for these tunnels were a maze, and I think there were latent magics infused into the rocks that made them twist directions. At least helping navigate the mazes kept my mind occupied. I was rather surprised when Shikari brought us up short and raised a hand in warning. He pointed to his ear and motioned for us to listen. Keph was not asleep. There were voices coming down the tunnels before us. It sounded like multiple voices. Had others gotten here before us? As the thought crossed my mind, anger flushed through me as I began to wonder if we had wasted our time on this journey. Slowly we crept forward, and before us opened an enormous cavern, the ceiling lost in darkness. The cavern was lit by an undulating greenish light cast from pale lichens that grew on the walls. In the centre of a cavern was an underground ocean, the waves crashing against a beach of black sand. Keph rose out of the sea, only half of her monstrous body revealed, the rest remained submerged. She was a primal god, one of those first few whom Dynara recognised had a soul within. But being a primal god, Keph was unlike the rest of us. She had many segments sprouting hundreds of chitinous appendages that were her arms and legs. And of course she had two large orbs containing a thousand facets that were her many eyes. Her mouth was framed by four pairs of mandibles which dripped fluids. At first, I thought she was talking to herself but then I saw at her feet on the cold beach standing were three figures that stood before her. It was Mugowumpois who whispered who they were. “The Fates,” she said. “She’s talking to the Fates!” And now that I narrowed my eyes to look, indeed there were three figures, the presences known as the Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. As always, their features were blurred and they wore flowing robes that covered their bodies. “The Fates,” whispered Viravain. “What are they doing here?” Before Viravain’s question could be answered, Keph noticed us. Her thousand eyes glittered in the greenish light as she turned towards us. She did not look pleased. “Ah, they arrive,” said Keph, her mandibles clicking around her maw as dark water ran down her hard shell in gleaming greenish rivulets. “As predicted.” Plumes of foaming water spouted around Keph’s body as she rose higher out of the water. She pushed herself forward towards us, and blasted the Fates aside. Her mandibles clicked and a freezing wind rose up around her. “Leave me alone!” she screamed, unleashing the winds which blew us backwards. Viravain screamed as she fell to the ground, the force of the wind sweeping her towards the entrance. Shikari cursed, driven to his knees, as he watched his sister tumble out of Keph’s cavern. “This is a waste of time!” he hissed at me. “I leave you to it!” And with that he ran out of the cave following Viravain. I dug my feet into the earth and stood my ground as Keph bellowed louder. Was this the end of our mission then, having found Keph that she would toss us back in a tantrum? Were we sent by the Council to be so dismissed? Was our journey here for naught? No! My anger welled against the force, both magic and physical, trying to drive me backwards, and I began to slowly walk forward. Step by step, I slowly advanced, my own magic raging deep within me, each footfall echoing in the cavern. Keph’s many eyes swivelled together and her thousand pupils focused directly at me, and suddenly a mental force cleaved through my skull. :LEAVE ME ALONE: her mental command pierced into me. Though every fibre of my being yearned to follow her command, I merely stopped amidst the mental onslaught. I would not be forced to turn and leave! My rage could not be so thwarted. “I will not be denied!” I boomed, and then charged. Hurtling forward, my feet carried me directly into Keph, smashing into her massive snout, the impact driving her backwards into the waters. Immediately her attacks stopped, and I stood erect before her. She slowly sank back beneath the roiling waves. I raised a fist triumphantly. “You shall not dismiss me, Keph of the Thousand Eyes!” I shouted. “You are called upon by the Council of Elders to give us your wisdom, and give it you shall if I have to beat it out of you!” Keph continued to submerge until only her topmost eyes peeked out of the water. At this point, I noticed the Fates were floating high above us. Was I left alone? I stretched out my senses and felt Mugowumpois still hovering just beyond the entrance. Shikari and Viravain had fled beyond reach, damn them. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/KephAndTauro.jpg)“Keph, do not hide from me!” I said. “If I have to go into the waters and drag you to the Council to answer them, I will!” Keph partially rose back up, leaning forward until her mandibles were inches from my nose. But I would not be intimidated and I lowered my horns. Keph backed off, settling back down into the waters. “That will not be necessary,” Keph said, then let out a long clicking sound which I finally realised was laughter. “Ah, Tauro, of all the Star Gods who could oppose me, only you are stubborn enough to succeed. What do you want of me?” “Information,” I said, my anger cooling down. “The Heralds of Magnora come, and we need to know what they want. As a primal god, you are closer to them than any of us.” “Indeed,” said Keph. “I know them. Perhaps better than you know. I was briefly held by Magnora once upon a time, until Dynara released me. I had thought to be chosen as a Herald but she merely held me in some game between her and Dynara. But I was near her long enough to touch her thoughts, which has always given me a…unique perspective.” “Then share with us your knowledge and wisdom! What do these Heralds now want?” “That is not the question to ask, Tauro. The question is: what does their appearance mean to us?” “Don’t try my patience, Keph!” I said, getting annoyed. “Don’t make me play this game!” Keph merely cocked her head, and the Fates sank back down to the ground. They suddenly seemed menacing and untrustworthy. “Very well,” I said, “what does their presence mean to us?” “Let us ask them!” Keph said, pointing one of her limbs at the Fates. “Well, Clotho? What does it mean? The gods want to know! Atropos, why are you so smug and ecstatic these days? Tell the gods! Lachesis, will you not reveal your great revelations to all?” “You ascribe to us feelings we do not have,” said Atropos. “It would not be wise for us to inform the gods of our discussions. We only speak to you of these things because your own meditations have led you to these esoteric understandings.” “What would it matter if they know?” asked Keph, rising higher out of the water. “Premature enlightenment,” said Clotho, “creates unforeseen dangers that carry probabilities of reality’s obliteration beyond the scope of predictive acuity.” “When a probability is avoided,” said Atropos, “you create repercussions, the reverberations can lead closer to oblivion.” “Oblivion totters upon a knife’s edge,” said Lachesis. “Beware shaking the hand that steadies the blade.” “You see, Tauro?” said Keph. “The Fates wish me to withhold knowledge from you. What do you say?” “I say the Fates could bloody well go to oblivion!” “Ah, astute,” Keph laughed. “I think I agree with you!” Suddenly, one of Keph’s legs shot out of the water and skewered Clotho through her torso, ripping her apart. Atropos and Lachesis fled above, floating beyond her reach. “You know the consequences of your actions!” shouted Atropos. “Beware, Keph!” With that, the Fates faded away. Keph sank back into the waters, chittering happily to herself. “They are right, you know,” Keph sighed. “If the council knows too much, none of us may survive.” A noise startled me from behind, and I turned around to see Mugowumpois cautiously approaching. I smiled broadly at her, glad to see her courage and duty did not make her flee. “Great Keph,” said Mugowumpois. “Pardon me, but what are the Fates exactly? It has always been debated. And why did you destroy one?” “They are similar to the spirits awakened by the Sixth Circle,” said Keph. “However, they were awakened by either Dynara or Magnora, or both, and they are manifestations of the last vestiges of Yudhe’s will. They cannot be destroyed, at least not by physical means. I merely scared them off. Clotho will reform, and the others have retreated to some higher plane, where they will probably stay hidden until after the outcome is decided.” “Outcome of what?” asked Mugowumpois. “The outcome of whether reality enters the next stage of its evolution. The Fates are mostly superfluous now, they always have been. They record what they can but the vibrations of the gods are too strong and high to weave or record, and most especially to influence.” “Influence?” “As I said, they are the manifestations of Yudhe’s last consciousness. They will say they only are here as chroniclers, but I wonder if Yudhe is not as asleep as we might believe. Don’t you?” “Fantasy,” I said. “What do they chronicle then if not us? The creatures created by the Seventh Circle? Those awakened by the Sixth?” “No, those spirits are too inconsequential,” said Keph. “Which is why they have been doing nothing but waiting.” “Waiting for what?” asked Mugowumpois. “Reality exists to experience itself. The smaller the awareness, the greater the experience. That is what the Fates await for. To see if reality survives long enough to narrow its own awareness, to see if the strands of consciousness become fine enough so they could weave them together.” “Fascinating,” said Mugowumpois, taking out a book and making notes. “How does this help us?” I asked. “A philosophical discourse is not what we came here to engage in. It is said you can follow lines of probability and see clearly into the future. Give us something concrete to bring back to the council.” “Futures are never clear, dear Tauro, but I can give you something concrete if you really wish it. I can tell you many things I see stretching out from our likely future path, at least if we take the path of survival. Shall I tell you this? Even if you won’t understand a single word?” “Yes,” whispered Mugowumpois and looking into her eyes I saw it was not courage or duty that made her stay, but greed. Greed for knowledge. So thus we stayed in the cavern of Keph as she whispered her secrets to us. Mugowumpois wrote them down in her book. After it was done, she sat back and regarded the book with trembling hands. I never knew what happened to that book, for I never saw it again. Keph was right about one thing though. I didn’t understand one word of what she said, and promptly forgot it all. But one thing was burned forever into my mind that day. “What shall we call it?” asked Mugowumpois. “Call it the ‘Verses of Magnora’!” said Keph, laughing grimly to herself. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Trillillial](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-trillillial/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Trillillial ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/trilillana2_with_border.jpg) I awoke to another perfectly beautiful day among many such perfect days. Had I known it would be the last such perfect day I would ever know, perhaps I would have cherished it more, imprinted it harder upon my memory, savoured each sweet breath and each happy laugh more deeply. Such was not the case, of course; it never is. The day started gloriously. I soared on a strong current of air, enjoying the feel of its brisk chill under my wings, listening to the infant Spirit of the Sun, just newly awakened by the Sixth Circle, sing out joyously as the day dawned. I laughed out loud as the older Spirits of Night and Moon teased the newborn spirit as they ran away from the break of day. Bold reds and bright oranges flared across the horizon, which I immediately recognised as the work of my sister Isune. I reached out with my power and sent clouds rolling across the jagged mountain range, painting the sunrise with soft magenta and streaks of yellow. The Spirit of the Sun cried out merrily at the colours that swirled around him, and I tickled him with shafts of pink rays. Then, there was Isune before me, her shimmering wings spread behind her and her eyes sparkling with many colours. We clasped hands and spun around in the air, letting our wings whip around behind us. Who would have thought these days would ever end? “Pink!” laughed Isune. “Oh, sister, that was grand! Let us paint the mountains pink!” “Or pink and purple!” I said as we drifted lazily in the air. “But let us wait until the setting of Sun.” “Are you off to see Xyl?” she asked me. “Of course I am! Today we build another spire.” “You love him, yes? What an odd match you two make! He seems so cold to me.” “It is our weakness, sister, to love those who are silent and wise!” I laughed. “Do you not still pine for Lacostian?” She pushed me away and we both giggled like newborn spirits ourselves. Then, after promising to meet to paint the sunrise, Isune flew off and I made my way to the House of Xyl. Yes, I loved him dearly, though it is true he showed little of his emotions. Indeed, his skin is crystal itself, unable to smile or frown, laugh or cry, only the ever changing lambent colours revealing his emotional state. But he has a sense of harmonic beauty and aesthetics that is beyond any I have ever known. What I had always wondered is – what does he see in me? I know my thoughts are not as deep as his, nor my curiosity as intense. So why does he love one who spends her days painting dawns and dusks with her sister, while he ponders the unfathomable? I thought then that I would ask him, to add that mystery to his list of multiversal mysteries! So it was with that pleasing thought that I drifted down to the House of Xyl, which was perched atop the highest mountain peak within the Basin. Admiring the play of light and colour upon the crystal dome, surrounded by crystal spires arranged symmetrically around it, I landed near the entrance and paused to enjoy its beauty. Xyl had once told me that this mountain held a fulcrux of the concordant energies within Lusternia itself. I sang out Xyl’s name, letting my voice vibrate through the crystal spires. When Xyl didn’t answer me, I wasn’t alarmed, knowing that he often lost himself deep within his contemplation. Humming to myself, I went in search of Xyl, finally finding him in the observatory studying the images of the cosmos that flickered upon the dome above. “Did you see my sunrise, Xyl?” I asked, walking up behind him and running the feathers of my wings across his back and shoulders. “I used pink! Isune thought it was very funny.” “I apologise, beautiful Trillillial,” he said, finally turning around and putting a cool hand against my cheek. “I missed your sunrise. There is something I have found, which must be studied more.” “But we were going to build another crystal spire! I have picked out a lovely rainbow quartz…” “No,” said Xyl, cutting me off. “No. This cannot wait. I may even need to call a conclave of the Fifth Circle. I apologise.” Normally, I would insist that he take a break from his workings, but there was something about him that made me pull back. His crystal eyes were a dull malachite rather than their normal clear emerald. I had never seen him in such a mood. “Ah, my sparkling hero!” I said, trying to lighten his mood somewhat. “You want to simply gather the Fifth Circle to spend your time solving equations and debating the meaning of the colour red!” “Perhaps,” he said, his cheek glowing like rose quartz. “But, my Trillillial, you must trust that this is important. Truly, I need to study this some more.” I followed Xyl’s gaze up to the swirling stars upon the dome. He was gazing up at one section among the dimensional rifts, which was darker than the rest. Not knowing why, my feathers bristled with a premonitory chill and a foreboding pressure built up behind my eyes. Shivering, I turned away and told Xyl I’d wait for him in his library. I’m not sure if he answered me or not, for I flew hastily out of the observatory, suddenly not wanting to be there. The Library of Xyl was located atop the northernmost amethyst spire, and the room itself cut in a hexagonal shape. Knowledge crystals floated in pleasing helical patterns that Xyl devised to categorise the crystals. I wandered along the glittering columns of spinning gems, touching several that I passed, feeling the slight warmth as they flared at my touch and released a summary of what knowledge they contained. Browsing through subjects that held little interest to me, like treatises on universal cosmic laws, I finally settled on the knowledge gems that contained the histories of the forming of the Circles. Plucking a floating gem out from the helix of early histories, I let it rest in my palm and closed my eyes, willing its knowledge to unfold in my mind’s eye. It revealed the history of the forming of the Circles. \* \* \* THE FIRST CIRCLE The gods first manifested within a bubble of cosmic reality (also known as crèches and later sometimes referred to as the cosmic planes). It is common knowledge that Dynara first produced lesser beings within these crèches, which she sometimes referred to as divine templates. Once perfected, she set to incubating the nascent beings who would evolve into the gods. For reasons known only to Dynara, the beings within a crèche often developed in similar patterns, with one god being the dominant or leader of his or her siblings. Following the disappearance of Dynara and the Great Silence that followed, some gods were driven mad, so used were they to hear her cosmic song. Some returned to their crèches, the dimensional pockets where they were born. Some spun out into the Void, searching for something that could never be found. But, finally, most made our way to the First World. Gathering in Lusternia, there was great conflict among the Elder Gods. It was immediately recognised that a hierarchy must be established in order to avoid clashes and power struggles between the dominant ones among us. Thus, the First Circle was formed, which was a council of the natural born leaders (occasionally referred to as the alpha gods). They, in turn, orchestrated the formation of the other circles. The First Circle mediated conflicts and were the diplomats that transversed to the outer spheres to investigate the crèches that contained divine not fully manifested. It was apparent that without Dynara to finish their creation, these nascent beings would never be complete, never be fulfilled, at least insofar as the gods were complete. They were often referred to as the half-formed, and it was the half-formed who first began calling the gods who came to them as the Elders, and later the Elder Gods. THE SECOND CIRCLE Another common manifestation among crèche siblings was that one or two in each group often rose to become natural warriors. More aggressive than his or her siblings, the warrior divine were usually extremely close to the leaders of their crèches and felt themselves to be the protectors of their siblings. These warriors formed the Second Circle, which perhaps held the largest number of Elder Gods, as many were drawn to adventure, conflict and battle. And there were many battles in the early days. Those half-formed who broke out from their crèches, and outside of their natural environment, they would almost invariably become insane, ravaging everything in their path. Thus, the Second Circle protected Lusternia from their incursion, driving them off or hunting them down in the outskirts of space and dimension. Crazed half-formed were not the only threat the Second Circle fought. Sometimes, destructive creatures or forces were found wandering the Void, and sometimes even some of our own number who were driven insane by the Great Silence. THE THIRD CIRCLE Before the coming of the Son of Yudhe, the divine that Dynara first created were referred to as the Primal Gods. Very few of these divine were permitted to live, but those that did were the ancient ones among the gods. The Primal Gods referred to the rest of the divine as “Star Gods” because we were ‘star-shaped’ (a head, two arms and two legs). It is curious that this “Law of Five” can be seen in many of Dynara’s later creations, and it was the favourite form in which she herself took. In any event, those few Primal Gods left had little interest in interacting with the ‘Star Gods’, and spent most of their time in deep contemplation and meditation, sinking down into a deep sleep, letting their consciousness ride the eddies and currents of wherever their thoughts carried them, sometimes for centuries at a time. They were called the Third Circle, also known as the Meditators. Several younger gods also chose the path of the Third Circle. Notably, Lacostian went into a deep meditation, merging his consciousness with the logosphere of Lusternia, the flickering sentience of the First World itself, gathering what he called the Akashic Records. THE FOURTH CIRCLE The Fourth Circle were the artists, the muses, and makers of songs. Again, many crèches had several natural artists, and a very few crèches seemed to have been borne entirely of artists. Using the First World as their canvas, the divine artists pleasured themselves by creating riverbeds and sunsets, playing with shape and form, light and shadow. They gave flowers their colours, painting their essence deep and true, pinks and blues, yellows and reds, soft shades and bright. Many of the Fourth Circle lost themselves among the tulips, zinnias, snapdragons, daisies and honeysuckle rose. Some swept the beaches with white sand, which sparkled in the sunlight or the starshine. The birds that were later created by the Seventh Circle were often favourites of the artist gods, who designed feathered plumes and painted eggs from speckled brown and blue to bright pinks and yellows. Some of the Fourth Circle spent their time changing the geography of Lusternia itself, smoothing hills until they rolled like green waves, raising islands along the coasts, and scattering ponds and lakes and lagoons throughout the land. Still more of the artist gods did not, but instead created music, which was carried upon the winds, sweet chimes and sounds from exotic instruments echoing out from their bright crystal caverns. These were the Fourth Circle, the artists, who were truly the most carefree and happy of the gods. THE FIFTH CIRCLE The Fifth Circle focused upon sharpening their minds to razor keenness in order to study the mysteries around them. They spent many days and seasons and years simply contemplating the layers of reality, studying universal laws that bound and bent even the gods. There was no mystery they did not study, and their minds became mazes of cognition, enigmas unto themselves. Nothing brought those in the Fifth Circle greater joy than stripping away the veils of reality, layered like an onion, discovering dimensions hidden in the sheaths of probabilities. Often, these intellectual gods would create complex games of thought and strategy, luck and will, that they would play among themselves, reflecting the puzzles of reality they thought to understand. The Fifth Circle were the Truthseekers. They hunted with no less vigour than the warriors of the Second Circle – only their weapons were thought and logic, and their prey were the mysteries and paradoxes left in the wake of the Great Silence. THE SIXTH CIRCLE It was said that the gods who were most touched by the Son of Yudhe had a deep desire to create life. These gods followed one of two paths. The first path was that of the Sixth Circle, called the Awakeners. Within each majestic creation of Dynara, from the Sun and Moon, to the Trees and Lakes, to the Night itself, these paradigms of Dynara’s very essence were latent with pure spirit. Those of the Sixth Circle sang to those potential, sleeping spirits within these creations. Through the aeons, presences began to awaken, and these were called the Great Spirits. Thus, the Sixth Circle created the Great Spirits of Lusternia, though they were not like themselves, not like the gods and goddesses that were created by Dynara. In this the Sixth Circle failed, for they could not create kindred beings to themselves. Still, the Sixth Circle loved them and guided them, and they would forever be their greatest creations. THE SEVENTH CIRCLE The Seventh Circle were the true Creators. Instead of awakening the potential of the paradigms, the Seventh Circle created life itself from the aethers. They populated the oceans with fish, the skies with birds, and the lands with creatures. But no matter what they created, no matter how much they laboured, there was no soul within the bodies of their creations. However, as the aeons passed, certain of their creatures who survived and thrived and multiplied, developed what the Fifth Circle called a “hive soul”, wherein the sum of all the sparks of life within a particular group was greater than the individual creatures. A sentience arose within these species, also called Great Spirits, which were able to physically manifest and think and communicate with their creators. Though the collective spirits that rose from certain animals created by the Seventh Circle were their highest and greatest triumphs, still they fell far short of the souls of the gods themselves. Thus, the Sixth Circle and the Seventh Circle shared jointly the manifestation of the two types of Great Spirits – the Awakeners guiding the ephemeral spirits to sentience and the Creators creating the animals who formed collective spirits. Because of this, these two circles were closer than the others. \* \* \* I clasped the remembrance crystal to my breast and smiled to recall how the Divine Circles were formed. What a time it was when the First Circle hadn’t been formed, when we thought they’d fight each other for position. Who was it that formed the first alliance that would grow to be the First Circle? Was it Fain? Meridian? Allinvia? As I placed the remembrance crystal back in its swirling helix, I felt Xyl’s cool hand upon my shoulder. I turned to him and placed my hand upon his chest, making his throat glow softly amber. But his eyes were still darkly malachite. He gently caressed the tips of my wings with a finger. “I must call the Fifth Circle together,” he said. “What is it you have found?” I asked. “Something is coming to us, something disturbing…” he began but then paused, shaking his head. “It may be nothing, but I want…I need the opinions of the entire Fifth Circle.” “It will be some time before they gather. Let us start building another crystal spire. Did I tell you I have some lovely rainbow quartz?” “You know I cannot. Not now,” said Xyl. “Go to Isune and paint your sunset.” Another dark premonition made me shiver, and I wrapped my wings around both of us. I begged him to put aside calling the Fifth Circle for just one day. I told him that I feared if we didn’t have this final time together, we would never have another. But he gently disentangled himself from my wings and pushed me away. “We shall create a spire another day, my Trillillial,” Xyl said. “I promise you. And then we shall build another and another until the end of time.” “And I promise that each spire will be more harmonious and beautiful than the last,” I said. “Together our spires will become a crystal city that will shine like a beacon of our love!” Alas, neither promise would be kept. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Tae](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-tae/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Tae ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_taedae.jpg)Something pulled my ear. Most disagreeable. I awoke from my nap to see a small pixie fluttering by my nose. Of course, I demanded to know why she woke me up, and she said I was late for the Elder Meeting. I explained most forcibly that I had merely needed a nap, and the pixie appeared most upset and begged my forgiveness, which I charitably granted. I heard a rumbling snore at my back and turned around to see that My Bear had sprawled upon the ground next to me. Ah, I would have scolded My Bear for not keeping watch on the valley bears as he was supposed to, but it was difficult to work up an anger for such a lovable creation as My Bear! Of course, bears were my only creation, and I was quite pleased when they formed the collective spirit known as My Bear. I really saw no need to create more life after that. I think bears and My Bear were more than adequate. I’m not like the genius Bollikin who created so many of the creatures in the world. No, I’m happy with creating the one perfect species of bear. I prodded My Bear awake who apologised for falling asleep. He reported that the valley bears had discovered what could be a danger to some of Bollikin’s smaller creations, like the rabbits and squirrels and foxes. Apparently, there were swarms of stinging bees living in enormous hives filled with honeycombs. The bears and My Bear had to destroy these hives to protect the small ones. This sounded very interesting to me, so My Bear showed me the hives which indeed were filled with honeycombs – or at least a few honeycombs, as the bears and My Bear had eaten most of them to drive away the bees. Not wanting the bees to return and cause mischief, I decided to help them out by removing some of these dangerous hives myself. Something jabbed my back, which made me wake up with a start. My belly was nice and full from the work done at removing the hives, and I had been enjoying a small, well-deserved nap. I looked up and saw White Hart standing over me, poking me with his antlers. I looked around to see if White Hart’s creator was around, but Charune was nowhere to be seen, which was unusual since they were usually together. I demanded to know why White Hart had awoken me, and he said that I was late for the Elder Meeting. I patiently explained that I had to help the valley bears and My Bear with a very important project, but really White Hart was as oblivious to the importance of what I did as was Charune or even Charune’s brother Centaubi. It must run in the family. When White Hart reminded me that Bollikin had been waiting for me, I had to put my foot down and severely reprimand White Hart for keeping me away from this important meeting. I recalled Bollikin telling me how concerned he was about what went on in this meeting, so I told White Hart that I had no more time to deal with his shenanigans. He bounded away, seeming rather upset that I couldn’t give him more of my time. How temperamental he was! I searched out with my senses until I found Bollikin, who was waiting for me in the Towers of Xyl. I folded myself over to Bollikin and into the large central crystal chamber. Everyone had been gathered already, the First Circle were all together in the centre stage, and I had folded in next to Bollikin who grinned at me. I picked him up and gave him a nuzzle, then sat him up on my shoulder, which was my favourite spot to carry him. As everyone was looking at me for guidance, I walked up to the platform and introduced the Firsts to everyone. I know they were a funny looking lot, but I thought it wasn’t very polite that so many were laughing at them. I noticed Charune was shaking his horned head at me. So like White Hart! Bollikin pulled my ear and whispered, “Dear Tae, look over there! It’s Crumkane!” Ah, indeed, it was our good friend Crumkane: a jolly, rolly fellow, surrounded by sugar sprites and spice pixies, and other lesser awakened spirits who flocked to him. And why shouldn’t they! I considered him the most notable and important member of the Fourth Circle. I immediately greeted him by name and Crumkane smiled in delight at seeing me. He sent over his servants to me with platters of his artistic creations. I frowned as a few Elders took some of my presents off the platter, but I guess I could forgive them, as Crumkane’s works of art were difficult to resist. But once the platters were before me, I took possession of them and thanked Crumkane for these gifts. I gave a few strawberry tarts to Bollikin (his favourites), and nibbled on the rest. “Are you quite settled, Tae of the Seventh?” Meridian asked me from the centre stage where the other Firsts were standing. I told him I was and motioned for him to continue. He looked rather shocked as though he couldn’t remember what he was saying and everyone laughed at him. I couldn’t help myself, he was so funny looking that I laughed too! His sister-mate Amberle whispered something to him, which must have calmed his nerves because he smiled and nodded politely to me. “As we were saying,” said Meridian, “the Fifth Circle has studied confirmed and reconfirmed that indeed what is coming towards us are the Heralds of Magnora, our distant cousins. We have not seen or heard of them since the Great Silence, when our beloved Dynara left in search of the Son. The question arises of why they are coming here.” “They come to fight!” bellowed Krokano of the Second. “We should meet them with fire and steel!” Other members of the Second Circle shouted in approval, some even raising weapons into the air. I didn’t like this display and took Bolli off my shoulders and wrapped my arms protectively around him. He shivered so I held him tighter. “Peace!” said Amberle, standing next to her brother-mate Meridian. “The Heralds could be lost and confused. They could be drawn here to the First World as we were. They are older than us, and know things beyond what we can imagine. Maybe they have a deeper insight into what happened to Dynara and Magnora. We must welcome them as our distant kin, not as our enemies.” The other Firsts clapped in approval. From across the chamber where the Fifth Circle sat, Mugowumpois stood up and waited until Amberle nodded to her. “As much as I would hope the Heralds would share their insights with us,” said Mugowumpois, “there has never been any indication that they have been well disposed to us. Indeed, they often were known to…” “Destroy us,” offered Orlachmar after a long pause. “Yes,” nodded Mugowumpois. “That was Magnora’s purpose and the purpose of the Heralds. To destroy. We suspect that their nature has changed.” “It is wise to be cautious,” said Amberle. “And so shall we be. Rather than wait for the Heralds to come to us, we will instead go to them. The First Circle shall go forth to greet these lost kin of ours, and to gauge if any threat exists.” “The entire First Circle?” bellowed Clangorum of the Second. “This is the duty of the Warriors! Who knows the Void better than we do!” “This is not a mission to seek out and battle an insane half-formed or unstable manifestation,” said Aslarn of the First. “This is a mission of diplomacy. And the entire First Circle wouldn’t be sent. I and a few others will remain behind.” “At least send some of the Second Circle to go with you,” said Terentia of the Second, striding forward. “In case something goes wrong.” Almost the entire Second Circle of Warriors shouted agreement. Orlachmar, Hajamin and Loboshi stepped forward to volunteer. But Amberle raised her hand, calling for silence. “That would be sending the wrong message,” she said. “We don’t want any misunderstandings. We don’t want to seem like a threat. Also, the entire First Circle won’t be going. Several of us will stay behind. My mate Meridian, for example, will stay behind so that I may send a transmission of all that transpires through our bond. You will be able to monitor everything.” “Besides,” laughed Fain, “I think we of the First Circle can handle ourselves in a crisis.” “I respectfully submit,” said Xyl of the Fifth Circle, “that this is a much more dangerous a mission than the First Circle may have calculated. My monitoring of the approach is showing a very disturbing darkness that surrounds them. These are primal beings that preceded us and we may not fully understand their nature.” “But some of these primal beings are among us,” said Fain. “Not all became Heralds. There are Dracnoris and Keph, at least! And yet we have lived in harmony with them.” “They were chosen by Dynara to remain with her,” said Xyl, “unlike the Heralds who were sent to Magnora to help her…destroy.” “Even so,” said Fain, “we cannot discount that some of the primal gods are with us.” “I see none of them here,” commented Tauro, crossing her arms. “True,” said Fain. “Indeed, the only members of the Third Circle present are the hamadhi.” “Where are the rest of the meditators?”, Fain asked, turning to the hamadhi, those few of the Third Circle who had devoted themselves to caring for the half-formed. “Why have not Dracnoris or Keph come to our summons?” The hamadhi murmured among themselves, their long robes rustling. Finally, Lantra came forward, her slim form gliding across the floor. She bowed before Fain. “The others of the Third Circle are so deep in their meditations that they cannot hear the summons,” she said. “Indeed, in order to delve into the cosmic mysteries as deeply as they do, they tell no one, not even us, of how to reach them.” “It may be prudent to get their counsel at this time,” said Xyl. “Awaken the Sleepers!” shouted Mugowumpois. Her cry was taken up by others, until it became a chant that caused the crystal chamber to vibrate. “Awaken the Sleepers! Awaken the Sleepers!” “Very well!” boomed Meridian, raising one hand up for silence while the other held the hand of his sister-mate. “It is a good suggestion to seek advice from the Third Circle who remain in their deep sleep. But you heard Lantra of the Third. They have hidden themselves. How do we reach them?” “I can awake my brother, Lacostian,” said Elcyrion of the Fifth. “We are close enough that we have formed a bond between us.” “Indeed, awaken Lacostian,” nodded Meridian to Elcyrion. “But it is most important to get the advice of the primal gods, Dracnoris and Keph. Does anyone know how we might awaken them?” Ah, all this talk was making me sleepy and I was getting bored. If Bollikin hadn’t been interested in this discussion (he was gripping my fur tightly), I may have had a little nap. But he thought this was important and so it must be. There was a long stretch of silence as no one seemed to know what to do. Well, as usual, Tae would have to save the day. I stood up and stretched and walked over to the Circle of Firsts, placing Bollikin on my shoulder. Everyone was of course quite awestruck when I walked up to Meridian and Amberle and moved them aside to make a speech. Bollikin kept asking me what I was doing but I smiled and gave his foot a gentle squeeze. I gave an eloquent speech, summarising the entire situation and the need to awaken the Sleepers of the Third Circle. Wrapping it up with a motivating poem, I said that I would awaken Dracnoris, who would undoubtedly solve all problems and put this little matter to rest. There was an appreciable gasp of amazement and I basked in their admiration. “What’d he say?” asked Meridian to Bollikin. I guess he was too intimidated by my presence to speak to me directly. “Tae!” Bollikin pulled my ears in his excitement. “Do you really know where Dracnoris is?” I explained that a group of really big bears was sent by My Bear to a nice lovely large mountain in the southwest, where we thought there would be some caves that they’d like to make a home in. These really big bears loved living in deep comfortable caves. Unfortunately for them, one of these caves contained Dracnoris, who sent them terrible dreams so we had to move them. I think we moved them to a little snowy valley in the east where there were lots of nice caves, but I may be confusing them with some very handsome white bears. Anyway, Bollikin and Meridian didn’t seem to be interested in that (though it got me wondering what happened to those white bears), and wanted to know if I could find Dracnoris’s cave again. I said that of course I could. Thus, it was that Bollikin and I were sent off to find and awaken Dracnoris. Also accompanying us was Xyl, who Meridian thought might be of some help. I wasn’t so sure how much help he could be, but I graciously accepted his company anyway out of politeness. I knew the caves we were looking for were very warm, and it took us several days before I recalled that there was some rumbling in the mountains of the one particular cave we were looking for. Xyl called this type of mountain a volcano (he’s always labelling things, even mountains!). It wasn’t long from then that we were able to traverse deep within the volcanic caves. Bollikin and I found the heat of these caves very uncomfortable. Xyl didn’t mind the heat and was even able to wade through the lava pools to scout around, so I suppose he was good for something. Xyl seemed to get quieter and quieter the longer it took us to search for Dracnoris’s cave, and kept staring at me as though he needed some help. However, every time I asked him what was the matter with him, he shook his head and wouldn’t answer. I felt sorry for him that he was so shy, so I began singing him a few cheery songs to lift up his mood. It seemed to work because he began searching with a lot more enthusiasm. Finally, a tunnel opened up to an enormous cavern, which was all aglow with a red haze from the lava pools. And there in a corner of the cavern was exactly what I was looking for. I stopped everyone and declared that our search was over. “What exactly did you find?” asked Xyl. I pointed out dried dung from the big bears who had once lived here. Obviously, Xyl wasn’t as smart as everyone thought he was because he couldn’t figure it out, so I patiently and slowly explained to him that this marked the cave where the big bears had slept. “If this is the cave, then where is Dracnoris!” he shouted, gesturing around the empty cavern. I couldn’t help it. I laughed! Xyl was supposed to be one of the brightest of the Fifth Circle! What an idiot he was turning out to be! I was laughing so hard, I had to sit down. Even Bollikin couldn’t contain himself and began giggling too. Xyl stomped around the cavern, turning some interesting shades of pink and green. “Tae! Tae!” gasped Bollikin. “Why are we laughing?” Oh, I had to tell them, of course. Once I caught my breath, I told them that it must have been a long time since they saw Dracnoris. He could never fit into this cave! We were standing on him. (Or at least we were standing on part of him). Once Xyl tapped the floor and realised I was right, he told us to stand aside while he woke up Dracnoris. Several weeks later, Xyl still hadn’t woken up Dracnoris. He tried all sorts of tricks to awaken him. After his telepathic summons didn’t rouse Dracnoris, he built a bunch of crystal gewgaws, calling them strange names like empathic amplifiers, psionic relays, vibrational focal generators, and whatnot. After a while, he just began calling Dracnoris all sorts of really mean names but even that didn’t wake him up. Bollikin and I occupied ourselves the best we could, exploring the caves and mountains outside. We made a few trips outside to the side of the mountain to take a survey of a few of the bushes. I liked the bushes that grew red berries more than the bushes that grew blue ones. Eventually, we would go back to the big cavern and see what new strange thing that Xyl created, and then we would curl up together and take a nap. It was relaxing for a time but I began to miss My Bear and was wondering if there weren’t any more dangerous beehives that I needed to take care. But we had a job to do and Bolli said we had to stay and so we did. One day while Xyl was using a very large crystal rod to pound against the floor of the cavern, Bollikin and I were lying around at the mouth of the cave, tossing rocks into one of the lava pools. “Why have we never created anything here, dear Tae?” asked Bollikin. Hmm. I told Bolli that I really wasn’t sure. I don’t think any of the Seventh Circle ever created anything in the lava caves. Oh, I know a few experimented in the cooler, danker caves, but no, not in these caves. I told Bolli it was probably because there were only rocks to eat. “Of course, dear Tae!” said Bollikin, clapping in excitement. “They would eat rocks! You are a genius, as always!” I blushed and squeezed Bolli’s ears. I know I am uncommonly smart but it’s embarrassing to have him point it out. Bollikin, of course, was smarter even than me and so we began experimenting with creating something that could live in these caves. Bollikin used some rocks to meld together a small creature, and sent me to gather some lava to use as blood. Together, we breathed life into the squabbling creature, which immediately squirmed to life and breathed a gout of steam. Bolli giggled and began to feed it rocks, which it immediately began crunching in its funny little mouth. I said it was pretty ugly. “Oh, maybe we can get Isune or another of the Fourth Circle to pretty her up,” laughed Bollikin. “Come, dear Tae! Let us make some more, maybe these will awaken old Dracnoris, biting him like little Viravain’s fleas!” Ugh! I never liked those flea things and never understood why should we make such a stupid creature, but Bollikin laughed again and went to work creating dozens more of these little rock-eating creatures, which were sent burrowing into the floor. Xyl came over after a while to watch, and seemed to be impressed with these little “rock fleas” as I called them. Personally I wasn’t that impressed with them. Bollikin had made much more cuddlier creations than these. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Drachou.jpg)Just then the floor erupted beneath us, throwing all of us to the ground. Dracnoris was awake and raising his head! The whole top of the mountain was splitting apart, and Xyl surrounded us with protective forcefields which made us bounce through the air, as Dracnoris roared and shrugged himself out of the mountain. I wasn’t kidding when I said he was huge, and now Bolli and Xyl were beginning to understand. Dracnoris shook his head, dislodging several of the rock fleas. His scales gleamed in the dripping lava. He was taller than many of the smaller mountains around us. Six legs with claws as large as trees and great saucer eyes that gleamed like molten gold. He used these eyes to stare at us, unhinging his jaw and working it back and forth as if loosening it up to make up for his thousand year sleep. Finally, he coughed, sending clouds of ash and fire streaming into the air. His enormous brow furrowed as he used one claw to pick out one of the rock fleas that was trying to burrow into his jaw, and popping it into his mouth to crunch down on it. Indeed, they were like fleas to him! He blinked again at us. “Well, well,” he rumbled. “Are the Soulless Ones here already?” We were all shocked that he knew why we woke him up. He lazily shrugged himself out of the rest of the mountain as he listened to Xyl explain everything that was going on with the Heralds and needing him to advise the others. But then Dracnoris suddenly growled and pinned Xyl down onto the ground with one claw. “Did you say the First Circle is going to ‘greet’ the Heralds?” he hissed. “That is what they were planning, yes,” said Xyl. “This was weeks ago. They may have already…” “They must be stopped!” he roared, almost deafening us. Dracnoris leapt into the air, his two pairs of wings spreading out behind him, almost blotting out Father Sun’s light. With a speed that was blinding, he shot off into the sky. The falling rocks left from his wake rained down upon us for several minutes. A few of the surviving rock fleas burrowed and disappeared into the mountainside. Bollikin shivered and I picked him up and hugged him. Xyl shook his head and looked at us helplessly. I then said those five prophetic words that would be repeated for ages yet to come. “Me thinks bad times coming,” I said. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Orlachmar](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-orlachmar/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Orlachmar ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/orclachwarrior.png)“Line up for inspection!” I shouted, strolling down the line of the two hundred and fifty Elders assigned to my formation. Only about a fourth of my formation were Warriors of the Second Circle. The rest were volunteers, Creators and Awakeners, even Thinkers and Artists. But we needed the force of all the Elders to mete out retribution and justice against the Heralds of Magnora, who we now called the Soulless Ones, in the wake of their decimation of almost all of the First Circle. Failure in this was not an option so no chances were being taken. “We WILL be practising our formation on our journey to the battle, and by the time we reach the Soulless Ones, we WILL be the most efficient in the fleet,” I roared. “Do I make myself clear?” “We are Orlachmar’s Beast!” they shouted in unison, referring to the nickname we called our formation. Bit silly, I know, but it promotes the teamwork necessary for a good formation to operate well. “Then take formation, you sorry bunch of swamp scum!” I bellowed. “The Beast shall rise!” With a wink at Loboshi, my adjunct to our formation, I flew into the air. Her wolves stalking behind her, Loboshi called out the names of the individuals in our formation in rapid fire. One by one, they would fly up next to me and form a link, then take formation. Finally, the formation was complete, and a globe of power surrounded each of us, further linked with shimmering lines of force. I suppose we looked like a bunch of grapes. “Follow me, you weak kneed pups! The Beast needs more speed!” I shouted, dragging the others behind me. The Warriors, of course, followed me with well-practised grace, while the others lagged behind. Pulling on the force lines that connected us, I yanked hard. Gasps of surprise trembled down our link net, and I yanked again – harder. “What are you snail slow losers doing!” I screamed, sending the force of my thoughts through the link net. “We are supposed to be moving as one unit! Lyreth and Trialante, give me more power now! Raezon, if you don’t start hauling your arse faster, so help me I’ll kick it into gear!” I felt them tremble, but they obeyed. This was tough going, I know, for it is not easy to be part of a warrior formation. One had to give up control to the focus – me in this case – and submit yourself to the collective will of the formation. It was harder for some than others, especially for the Thinkers and Artists. But once they learned to let themselves go, there are few better joys than being part of a formation. As we passed into aetherspace, I flexed the bands of power that linked us, letting the power from the formation course through me. We circled several times around a piece of flotsam in aetherspace, until I was comfortable that the formation was acting in concert. “Okay, Beast!” I shouted through the link net. “We’re looking almost half good! Now let’s show the others what we can do!” The Beast flew to where the other formations were gathering, a deep pocket in aetherspace. There was a total of twenty-three formations, each led by a Warrior of the Second Circle. The only exception was Dracnoris who flew by himself and who alone was as large as a full formation. Never before had there been such a show of raw strength, as this force was made up of members of all the Circles. Never before were we all so united. Never before had there been such coordination. Never before had there been such a need. I moved the Beast up beside Krokano’s Quake, the formation that held responsibility for carrying the few remaining First Circle members. We briefly sparred, sending a couple of flashy starbursts at each other, easily deflecting them. Joined by Slaay’s Fist, Morgfyre’s Mavericks, Clangorum’s Hammer, Hajamin’s Hounds, Terentia’s Dagger, Thax’s Rock, and other formations, we continued sparring and practising, letting those unused to being in a warrior power formation feel more comfortable. Finally, it was time. Only a few Elders would be left behind on the First World, the rest of us would be travelling to the Void. With Krokano’s Quake in the lead, we began the journey. We took our time, travelling towards the Void, continually letting ourselves practice and hone our formations into killing machines. “Beast! Beast! Beast!” my formation would chant, and indeed I was very proud of how we came together in such a relatively short time. I came to appreciate what some of the other Circles brought to the formation. From the Fourth Circle, Lyreth and Trialante lifted spirits with song, Raezon and Gheasia of the Fifth Circle would provide us with useful intelligence, and even the few hamadhi of the Third Circle learned how to send their healing skills through the link net. By the time we entered the Void, I felt very confident with my formation. Breaking through the barrier to the Void was an unpleasant experience, one I was well familiar with but others in the Beast were not. It was like diving into a winter river covered in ice. You crashed through a hard surface and then plunge into an achingly cold liquid, only to get swept along a powerful current underneath. It was painful and disorientating, and took a while to catch your balance, but eventually you numbed yourself to the ache and learned to navigate the currents. Then we swooped through the Void towards the Soulless Ones. Curiously, they had not moved from the site of the massacre of the first expedition, provoking much debate amongst the Fifth Circle as to why the Soulless suddenly stopped. The closer we got, the more calculations the Fifth Circle did, coming to the rather disturbing conclusion that many of the Soulless were double or even triple the size as when they encountered the First Circle. But that was no concern of mine. “Hoooo!” I roared to the members of the Beast, my passion charging them up, and they in turn feeding their energy back to me. “Orlachmar, we are your Beast! Hoooo!” they thundered back. My concern was making sure my formation was acting as a single entity. And as we descended upon the Soulless, displaying the full glory of our power, I could only grin as many of the Soulless were cowed by our show of strength, backing away. Up close, they were a hideous bunch. The most dominant of the Soulless was known as Illith the Leviathan. She was so massive that the other Soulless orbited her like moons on a planet. Though there were hundreds of other Soulless, Illith’s great lieutenants stood out the most, circling her massive maw. They were Draxbaylock the Black, second largest to Illith, as well as Zenos the Silent Death, Kethuru the Mighty, and Great Muud. The formations of Thax and Terentia glided up beside mine and gestured to the left and right. I nodded and we spread out. Our strategy was simple. The twenty-three formations would surround the Soulless Ones like a shell, and then we would initiate the Daath Sequence, the most destructive force known to us, and release it into the centre of their mass. The shell outside made from our joined formations would contain the blast and concentrate it even further. Immediately, however, we ran into the problem we knew we’d likely encounter. The Soulless did not stay nicely bunched in a clump and let us surround them. They found their courage and burst forth, striking at us from all angles. It sickened me that Illith swallowed the entire formation of Galantine’s Claw in her first strike. Meanwhile, the rest of us were releasing blasts of pure energy and destruction, leaving a frothy wave of vengeance behind us as the lesser of the Soulless fell. Though our anger and despair raged within our hearts, it was but a candle flame compared with the conflagration that was their malice. The sticky blasts of their vomit spewed forth like volcanic eruptions of acid and fire, taking several formations down. Even the Beast was struck, and the pain of several of my team dying hit me hard. But I couldn’t think too hard on that; I had to forge onwards. The battle was looking grim as we were having trouble manoeuvring to the point where we could surround our enemies in order to enact the Daath Sequence. Though it didn’t appear as any thoughtful strategy on their part, the Soulless Ones rarely acted as a team and split apart in berserk frenzies. We lost at least five formations, but we were giving as good as we got. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dracnoris the Dragon God fighting Draxbaylock the Black on his own. Raezon told us that Draxbaylock was his sister, which was at first surprising, but there were some physical similarities between them. We cheered as we saw Dracnoris eventually shred the flesh from Draxbaylock’s bones, strips of her foulness floating away in the Void. Watching two primal gods fight was a humbling experience. Unfortunately, Dracnoris was severely wounded, and had to withdraw from the field of battle. Half of our formations were desperately trying to draw the fight into a localised centre while the other half were trying to spread out around the battle to position themselves for the Daath Sequence. My Beast was one of those in the centre. “Give me more juice, Beast!” I’d yell at my formation, siphoning the power that they didn’t even know they had and using it to send blast upon blast of cosmic energies to tear apart the Soulless. Finally, it came to a point where the outer formations were positioned as good as they could. Led by Krokano’s Quake, we felt them join formations into a ring, and start the Daath Sequence. Now was the tricky part. We had to hold the Soulless within the centre of the ring long enough for the Daath Sequence to initiate, then fly out of there just before it climaxed so we wouldn’t get caught within. Illith was practically twisted in a knot, roiling to get her maw around another formation. Meanwhile, I felt the Daath begin to build, a great emptiness that threatened to drown one in despair. Daath was the unmaking of the Void itself, sometimes called the Void of the Void. Within my chest I felt the climax approaching, a weird fluttering that was both painful and pleasurable. We had to leave now! But as I looked down, there was Clangorum, Morgfyre and Oovanti trapped in the tendrils of Kethuru the Mighty, holding them down. These were my brothers of the Second Circle and I didn’t think twice. “HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I let out a yell that made every one of those stinking Soulless stop in their tracks. Draining the last dregs of energy from my formation, I burst forth like a star and hurtled towards Kethuru the Mighty, tearing through him while grabbing Clangorum and Morgfyre but I wasn’t able to hold onto Oovanti. We exited out of the centre of the battle just in time. The Daath Sequence climaxed. The implosion was so great that all of creation shuddered, followed by a silence so profound that we could not help but weep. There were at least five other formations caught within the Daath, including Oovanti’s, and looking around I saw our numbers were cut in half. That made almost three hundred thousand Elders lost this day. But we had won, unequivocally. The Soulless Ones were gone, completely decimated. All that remained was a swirling vortex of emptiness and desolation. \* \* \* Returning to the first world, there was no joy in our victory. Now was the time for mourning, and mourn we did. Songs by Trialante, Lyreth, Rhapsody, Jagrerox, and Mahalla, faded the evenings as Isune, Trillilial, and Drocilla, spun grey clouds into mourning patterns. Only then did the loss of Oovanti’s formation hit me, my comrade who I should have saved. I couldn’t help but think it was my fault. As the months passed, we struggled to get back to some sort of normalcy, healing our spirits and seeking comfort in our victory despite its terrible cost. With so few of the First Circle left, the leadership spread themselves out as best they could. Aslarn went back to overseeing the integration of the Great Spirits of the Sixth and Seventh circles, along with Strom and Mythramus. Carsini and Eventru devoted themselves to the hamadhi, for the need for healing our spirits were great. Fain devoted himself to helping the Third Circle coordinate their studies. And Meridian? Meridian was the most changed of us all, I think, with the loss of Amberle. He became hard and spent much of his time with the Second Circle, seeking battles wherever he could. The hamadhi said his spirit would heal in time. It was heartbreaking seeing him wandering the beaches and staring out into the oceans, whispering Amberle’s name over and over. Then it began again. The Fifth Circle had been in a turmoil for days, and we knew something was wrong when Fain called us all back to Xyl’s Tower. Gathered in the great hall, Fain stood on the dais with Xyl, whose usually vibrant skin was as dull as granite. Off to the side was Trillillial, who had obviously been crying. The rest of the Third Circle were seated in a semicircle behind them, looking grim. After we all arrived, Fain nodded to Xyl, who bowed his head. “I noticed this anomaly several days ago,” Xyl said. “This is the site of the battle with the Soulless Ones.” He gestured upwards toward his viewing crystal, which flared to life. It revealed a swirling blackness. “This appears to be flotsam and reverberations from the last battle. But watch.” Probing further, he pierced through the darkness. There were gasps, and I’m afraid my voice counted among them. The Soulless Ones were back. And they looked stronger than before. Meridian bolted upright and we had to restrain him. Many of us demanded explanation. “We have a theory,” said Fain, raising his hand for silence. “Please let us explain. Xyl, continue.” “We noticed that the Soulless were stronger and larger after the first encounter,” said Xyl. “They also did not move from the site of the battle then. Now, after we thought they were destroyed, they have returned. Again, at this same location. And again, they have not left this location. Why? We speculate that it was because they were feeding. Feeding off the essence of the fallen Elders as well as their own fallen.” “They were dead!” screamed Meridian. “We all saw them die! The Daath Sequence leaves nothing behind.” “I would like to answer that,” said Mugowumpois, standing up. With a nod from Xyl, she took the dais. “There has always been a theory that Dynara was an aspect of the cosmos, and was the embodiment of creation, if you will. Meanwhile, Magnora was her opposite, the embodiment of destruction. When they left our reality, these forces also disappeared from the cosmos itself. In other words, nothing is created and nothing destroyed. Life and death has not existed since their disappearance.” “That is insane,” I shouted, unable to hold my silence. “We have killed many of the insane half formed before! We have battled abominations of the Void. You cannot tell us, the Second Circle, that death does not exist. Why have we not heard of this before?” “This is simply a theory, of course,” answered Mugowumpois coolly. “A theory debated amongst ourselves many times, but not shared with the other Circles since we were never able to reach a consensus. But in light of this development, we think it is most probably true. Tell me, Orlachmar, you were the one who defeated the Grue of Kallakok? You killed it in the plains of the nacrescape, yes?” “That is true,” I said, remembering that filthy abomination with a dozen arms and twice as many mouths. “And what was found a century later in the nacrescape?” “A century later?” I thought back, then remembered. “The Bluegill Moll was found there, another abomination which we also put down. Are you saying that was the Grue?” “So we believe. The essence of the Grue was never destroyed, even though its physical body might have been. It rose again as the Bluegill Moll. A century from now perhaps, he’ll rise again, this time in a new form.” “What of the Seventh Circle?” I asked. “We all know they create! There goes your theory!” “Do they truly?” asked Mugowumpois, then turned to Bollikin. “Do you truly create new life, Bollikin?” “Erm,” said Bollikin, glancing around and leaning against his companion Tae. “No, I guess not truly. We infuse a portion of our own spirits within our creations.” “There you go,” said Mugowumpois with a glance at me. “And of course the Awakeners awaken those creations that Dynara infused with spirit. No, nothing is truly created.” Stepping down from the dais, Mugowumpois nodded to Gheasia, another of the Fifth Circle who was the mate of Raezon. She was tall and thin, with pale skin and a jet black hair pulled and tied back in a severe bun. She stood up and turned to face the rest of us. “The bigger question is why do we create at all?” said Gheasia, her voice brisk in the manner of a lecturer. “The Elders cannot procreate, yet many of us desire to have progeny. Why? We submit that we are children of Dynara, and as such we reflect her greatest desires. To create anew, to protect those creations, to oversee those creations, to simply be around those creations. In the First World of Lusternia, we come closest to being able to actualise these desires, each of us in our own way. “And, just as we reflect the impetus of creation, so do the Soulless reflect the impetus of Magnora: to destroy. But nothing can die since Magnora no longer exists, just as new life cannot be created since Dynara does not exist. Thus, both the Elders and Soulless are frustrated, unable to realise their innate desires, but each finding an outlet in their own way. For the Soulless, if they cannot destroy, they consume. They consume the essence of our fallen, their fallen, it does not matter, growing larger and larger, stronger and stronger. If left to their own devices, they’d consume everything in creation, even each other, until only one exists.” “Thank you,” said Fain, taking the lead from the Fifth Circle who could go on and on if allowed. “For whatever reason, the Soulless did not die but spontaneously resurrected, much faster than any half formed could. Not only that, the essence of our fallen brothers and sisters must have been scattered in that locale. The Soulless have been feeding on that also, and we think the stronger of the Soulless have even been feeding on the weaker of their own brethren.” “Then we’ll kill them again!” I shouted, and the others of the Second Circle stood up and stomped their feet. “Please,” said Fain wearily. “Hear the rest. The Soulless coming towards us are a dozen times stronger than what we faced before, while we have lost half our numbers. Also, what Xyl has shown you is a recording. We estimate that they have consumed whatever there was to consume at that site several days ago, and they are on the move here. To Lusternia.” It was like a nightmare we couldn’t wake from. We were weaker and the Soulless were coming back stronger. Even if we did manage to kill them again, they would only resurrect stronger than before. But we could not give up, even though it seemed hopeless. Again, we must prepare for battle. This time, the Soulless Ones were on the offensive and our first order of business was mounting a defense. Meridian led us to create barriers in aetherspace around Lusternia, layering shield after shield so the Soulless wouldn’t breach into the First World itself. It was a formidable defense of which I was a part – a formation of the entire Second Circle with interlinking shields that we fed with our own power and essence. In no time at all, just as we finished constructing the defense, the Soulless were rushing towards us, hurtling themselves at the barrier. Illith the Leviathan had returned again as the largest and strongest of the Soulless, her massive serpentine body stretching behind her in a seemingly endless mass. Just her alone battering against the barrier, was too much to withstand. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/trap.jpg)The Leviathan broke through. The other Soulless, including Zenos the Silent Death, Kethuru the Mighty, Great Muud and Crazen the Greedy, were not able to pass beyond our barrier, but Illith had to be stopped. Meridian roared with anger, ordering me, Tauro and about a dozen other Warriors of the Second Circle to follow Illith down to Lusternia. We weren’t able to get far. Illith the Leviathan had entered the oceans and disappeared deep into the surface. We suspected she was going to try to break the core of the world. Unfortunately, we were unable to track her. Meridian had joined us and was in a rage, diving deep into the oceans but also unable to find her. “Keph!” Tauro suddenly cried ecstatically. “She is heading to Keph of the Thousand Eyes!” “Can we warn Keph?” I asked. “Ha!” laughed Tauro. “We should be warning Illith! You have not met Keph as I have. Keph will know what is coming and I would not wager against her!” And indeed they did clash for a hundred days in battle. We tried several times to help Keph, but were repelled by either their struggle or distracted by the attacks of the other Soulless. As they fought, earthquakes rocked the land, mountain formations rose and fell, and the oceans boiled. “One is rising!” shouted Meridian, who had been patrolling the oceans. “To me! To me!” Enormous gouts of steam were rising out of the ocean where Meridian was hovering. Joining him, we could do nothing but wait. Who had won? Illith or Keph? Before I would have had doubts that any one being could defeat Illith, but then I had seen Dracnoris defeat his sister Draxbaylock. It was Illith who bobbed to the surface in a froth of roiling blood. Meridian cursed as Illith rose up out of the waters, snapping at him. The Leviathan seemed slower, however, and it soon became apparent Illith paid dearly for fighting Keph. Illith the Leviathan had been cut in half. At the cost of the life of Keph of the Thousand Eyes. “No!” Tauro cried out, then turned to Meridian. “Perhaps Keph is still alive?” “I sense nothing beneath here,” said Meridian, circling around the flailing Illith. “Keph must have died.” “Then let us finish up what she has begun!” I shouted, and dove at the Leviathan with my sword leveled at her eyes. It was too brash a move, led by emotion more than strategy. Illith snapped forward in a sudden burst of speed. Her maw neatly snapped me in half before I even realized what she was doing. Cursing my own stupidity, I could only look down at my torn torso, my essence bleeding out of me. Would the Soulless come and consume me, make me part of their own? Or would my essence seep into the First World? I could only hope it was the latter. “Hang on!” shouted Tauro, who had caught what was left of me. She kept urging me to hold on as she rushed to those who could heal. But I knew nothing could survive such a wound. Darkness slowly crept up on the corners of my blurring vision. I was ready to go to the true void, where consciousness faded into nothingness. Maybe, as the Fifth Circle said, my essence would resurrect as a new being. It was an odd last thought. “Hold on, Orlachmar,” said Fain, sounding from a million miles away. “We have a plan! We can save you!” I am beyond salvation. It is time for me to know nothingness, to join Yudhe in oblivion. Even the darkness fades. Farewell. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Mugowumpois](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-mugowumpois/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Mugowumpois ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NilLith.png)The summons hit me right in the third eye, filling my inner vision with a pulsating white light and my head with an irritating tonal vibration. Of course, I immediately recognised the touch of Xyl. But what could prissy Xyl want? Someone to hold his hand while he made crystal gewgaws to hang about his ruddy crystal spires? I didn’t really care so I banished the summons from my mind. “Are you alright, Mugowumpois?” asked Blooredi, frowning at me. Realising I must have been standing motionless in the swamp for some time, I blinked and then laughed. Looking down, there was one of Blooredi’s crocodiles trying to gnaw off my foot. It rather tickled. “Oh, just warm hearted Xyl wanting me to come look at the stars or something,” I said, pulling the crocodile off my foot. “You know, Bloo, your creations rather remind me of Xyl.” “Why? Because they’re cold blooded?” “No. It’s because they have just about the same range of expression!” We both laughed, and I tossed the crocodile to Blooredi. He stroked its ugly green hide and rocked it back and forth in his arms. Not that it was a baby or anything, it was in fact an enormous bull. But, you know the Seventh Circle. They’re all a bit weird when it comes to their creations. “So what do you think, Lady Mugs?” he asked, looking imploringly at me. “Do you think the crocodiles have a chance?” “Oh, you never know,” I said, trying to be polite. “Maybe in a couple of aeons…” Of course, I lied. There wasn’t a chance in any of the four corners of the Void that Blooredi’s crocodiles would ever coalesce a collective consciousness. I should know, as I had been studying formation of collective consciousnesses since the first one manifested and I had developed a sense for which ones would form Great Spirits and which ones wouldn’t. Yes, it had a little to do with how many there were – the population had to reach a critical mass – but there was something more underlying which ones rose. Not intelligence, though that helped, but an essential quality to their inner essence. And crocodiles didn’t have it. I’d guess they’d stagnate in that spiritual state until the end of time. “Great Yudhe!” cursed Blooredi, unmaking the crocodile, and tearing it apart into etheric strips. “Am I the only one of the Seventh Circle who hasn’t had a Great Spirit? Pah! Even that simpleton Viravain has Raven. And if an idiot like Tae could raise a Great Spirit, why can’t I?” “Didn’t Xyl name a sector in the heavens after your crocodiles?” “Oh, la-la-loo, how lucky for me,” he said, spitting and rolling his eyes contemptuously. I politely tried to look interested as Blooredi began creating a new creature out of the aetheric soup which was all that was left of the bull alligator. He had a point. It was hard to imagine someone like Viravain creating a Great Spirit, especially as she usually created such small insignificant creatures. But as soon as I saw the ravens, I knew they’d quickly form a collective consciousness. There was something woven very deep within them, very mysterious. I’d been keeping an eye on Viravain ever since, and I was no longer taken by her poor-little-me routine. There was more going on behind those baby blue eyes than the others suspected. Except perhaps her brother, Shikari, but who’d he ever share anything with. “Well what do you think of this one?” asked Blooredi, holding up his newest creation. “Oh, well…erm, it looks…I mean, I’m no expert but it looks…” “I’ll call it an alligator!” A second summons hit me in the third eye, and this one was so bright and loud that it was almost painful. I’d never known Xyl to be so insistent and, well, rude. Who did he think he was? More curious, who would have thought he’d show so much backbone? But he wasn’t going to use my head as a drum, so I hurled my own thought bubble back at him, strong enough that I imagined it’d drop him onto his bony glass arse. Moments later he hit me with a third summons that was stronger than the other two. And this one was painful! “That blasted fool!” I screamed. Or at least, I would have screamed if my mouth didn’t suddenly fill up with swamp water. That last summons must have knocked me on my arse! Enormous hands belonging to Blooredi pulled me up out of the swamp and set me on a rock. “Xyl again?” he asked. “Yes, Xyl again. Well, I’m going to see what he wants. If this isn’t something good, I swear I’ll shove his crystal spires… somewhere he won’t like!” Blooredi laughed and waved goodbye, as I wrapped myself in a bubble and flew off to the House of Xyl. Atop the highest – and coincidentally the most power-laden – mountain upon the First World was a conglomerate of tall spires that he had been building with one of the Fourth Circle (I forget her name – somebody insignificant) for aeons. As I approached the crystal spires, I had to grudgingly admit to myself that I was a little jealous. They were gorgeous constructions, that was a given. But more awesome was that they were situated atop the First World’s fulcrux of energy, and the crystal formations magnified these energies, making the House of Xyl one of the most powerful instruments ever known. Sensing activity in the observation chamber, I composed myself and leisurely walked towards it. I deliberately stopped several times to admire the view. Damn if I’d give Xyl the impression that I’d come running at his beck and call. But it was I who was taken back when I finally walked in. It looked like the entire Fifth Circle had gathered. Apparently, I was the last to arrive. Xyl just stared at me with his jeweled eyes glittering. Was he annoyed? Who knows, I could never tell with him. “A party!” I said, sweeping into the chamber (and splattering a lot of mud around which I just knew would definitely annoy fussy Xyl). “Xyl, darling, you finally are putting your house to good use!” Several laughed with me as I strolled around. Raezon and Roark were bent over a game of divine chess, directing the living pieces across the board. Several others were browsing through Xyl’s collection of knowledge crystals, where he stored collections of his stories and philosophies. Elcyrion smiled at me and winked when he noticed Xyl briskly cleaning the mud left in my wake. “Hello, Lady Muggs,” greeted Elcyrion. “How fares the marsh?” “Just lovely,” I said and smiled back. While Xyl cleaned up, I walked over to the game of divine chess being played by Roark and Raezon. They were both studying the board with grim determination. It being the latest game in vogue among the Fifth Circle, I must admit I was quite good at it. Roark’s remaining bishop was wounded and the line of pawns were broken. “Try moving out your healthy knight,” I suggested, immediately seeing a way to victory if the knight could defeat Raezon’s rook. “Really, Muggs!” said Raezon. “If you want to play, wait your turn!” Roark scowled at me and moved his wounded bishop anyway, who barely won against a pawn. I could see that Roark still had a chance for victory, but it was obviously not the best move. Such was the norm with Roark, always wanting to do things his own way. “Attend, please!” Xyl commanded, floating upwards on a spinning platform. “As you know, I have constructed this observatory to study the movements of the cosmos. Two weeks ago, I noticed this.” With a gesture, he caused the dome above to darken, then swirl in a mass of colour, then crystallise into a scene from the depths of space. Xyl’s glowing crystal hand twitched back and forth as he shuffled between different dimensions. “Here,” he finally said, pointing to a patch of darkness. With an effort, he magnified the sector he had found. Many of us gasped, including me. There was a swirling darkness, and a sense of a wrongness that lashed out even from this reflection. I shuddered and hugged myself. “Fascinating,” said Raezon. “What is it, Xyl?” “I do not know,” said Xyl. “I was hoping some of you might have some insight.” “It appears to blot out the stars themselves.” “It is either blotting them out, or consuming them.” “It’s getting larger, isn’t it?” “No, it’s getting closer.” “Can you magnify it more?” asked Roark. “I have tried,” said Xyl. “It repulses me.” “I find it repulsive too,” I said. Several laughed nervously with me, but the magnitude of what we were witnessing was too terrifying to be taken lightly. Xyl glared at me and looked away. I couldn’t blame him. “Let us link and lend Xyl our power,” suggested Raezon. Thus, we linked our minds together and focused on Xyl. He flared with power and exerted his will upon his crystal observatory. The image wavered and sharpened, then suddenly magnified. Staring up at the crystal dome, it was like jumping into a pit of nothingness. As Xyl struggled to maintain his link, we tried to discern, with whatever senses we could bring to bear, what exactly we were looking at. “There!” said Elcyrion, pointing up. “Upper right. There was a…flash…or some sort of movement anyway. Several crystal columns along the edge of the chamber cracked as Xyl struggled to focus and magnify that sector. For a moment I saw a gigantic eye open, rimmed with blackness and as empty as the Void. “An eye,” I whispered. “I see an eye.” “And there!” said Raezon. “A hand! Or is it a claw?” “Could these be half-formed?” asked Elcyrion. “Hardly,” said Roark. “I believe these are the Handmaidens of Magnora.” As though the vile images heard their name, a terrible presence seemed to leap out from the image on the crystal dome. We all cried out, breaking our link, and throwing protective shields around ourselves. The dome above cracked and shattered, raining down on us like glittering hail. Xyl’s entire right arm had likewise shattered and he was sprawled upon the floor. It was many minutes before anyone spoke. We silently gathered together and helped Xyl reform his arm. It somehow seemed appropriate that such knowledge was received among such destruction. “What do we do now?” I asked. “We must bring this to the First Circle,” said Xyl wearily. As we gathered to transverse to the Divine Havens where the First Circle gathered, I glanced at the divine chess board that was left forgotten. Without Raezon or Roark controlling the game, the pieces had attacked each other in a frenzied melee. Nothing was left of them except a smear of blood and gore. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Loboshi](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-loboshi/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Loboshi ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Loboshi.jpg)Dust billowing behind her, Tauro came running over the hills, carrying the broken form of Orlachmar over her shoulder. Keeping pace next to her was Fain, shouting directions at her and pointing towards the Gladdyn Forest. Overhead, Illith the Leviathan crawled through the sky, her ripped lower half flailing and spraying red-black blood. Foul blood rained upon us, hitting the ground like burning lava then cooling to hardened stone, I clapped my hands together and unleashed bolts of pure domoth energies at her. Next to me, Clangorum, Gruen and Thax, my cadre of the Second, were doing the same. When Tauro and Fain arrived, Fain immediately began barking out orders. “Thax, find Gheasia and Raezon and bring them to the healing mounds!” he ordered. Thax clapped a fist to his chest and immediately departed, while Clangorum, Gruen and I kept an onslaught upon the Leviathan. Tauro still held what was left of Orlachmar’s body in her arms, tears of fury and sorrow streaming down her face. Fain clapped me on the shoulder. “Loboshi,” he said to me, “Contact Volkh and have a doorway opened to the ethereal fold! We need to get to the Fields of the Maeve now!” Behind me in the wooded areas beyond the hills, Volkh’s creations, the wolves, watched me as they always have, ready to protect. I merely had to look their way and Great Spirit Wolf bridged a connection between Volkh and myself. I passed along Fain’s message and immediately felt a portal open up not far away. “Follow me!” I shouted, running towards the portal within the forested area. Fain and Tauro were on my heels, leaving Gruen and Clangorum to drive Illith off on their own. She was in such pain and so deeply mangled, I did not fear they would have trouble. The wolves were howling their terror as we plunged through the woods and into the shimmering portal. The ethereal realm was a reflection of the prime plane, and where the awakened spirits first manifest, their natural home, unlike the animals created by the Seventh Circle who resided on the prime. The ethereal realm teemed with these lesser spirits, awakened from trees and rocks, rivers and streams, clouds, flowers, reeds; countless little ones. Since we entered through a forested area, we were standing in the centre of an ethereal forest, and Volkh immediately manifested next to me, his arms circling my shoulder. Great Spirit Wolf, the oversoul of his wolves, rubbed against my legs. Tauro and Fain came stumbling behind me, carrying Orlachmar between them. Volkh looked at me and saw tears welling in my eyes. He reached up and gently held my head between his hands. “Orlachmar was of your cadre,” Volkh whispered. “If he has any chance, you must go there and be with him.” “Do you know I love you beyond reason,” I said, briefly nuzzling his neck. “I know,” he said. “Now go with them.” I nodded and followed Tauro and Fain as they headed towards the Fields of the Maeve. There, the healing mounds were created by the hamadhi, those of the Third Circle devoted to healing and caring. Before, the hamadhi mostly kept to the outer planes and cared for the half formed. Now, however, their healing skills were needed to help us in the war. Upon each of the mounds was a stone table covered in thick moss. Vines of fragrant blossoms grew upon the mounds, curling and winding around the sides of the stone table. Hovering over each table were crystals, glittering with auron energies. Tauro laid what was left of Orlachmar on one of the stone tables. Tauro stepped back, so I went up and stood next to her. I took her hand in mine and she squeezed back tightly. Lantra the White, one of the hamadhi, ran up to our healing mound and then slowed as she saw what was left of Orlachmar on the stone table. It was only his upper body, half an upper torso, the lower half and legs irretrievably lost down the gullet of Illith. “Fain, it is too late,” said Lantra the White gently. “Please, you must let him go, and let loose your sorrow and grief.” “Start the healing!” Fain snapped, and sharply gestured for her to begin. But what could Lantra do? Even I could see that life had been emptied from Orlachmar’s body. The breath was still, the heart silent, the skin cool, and no spirit flickered behind his vacant eyes. His expression was frozen partially between pain and resignation. Tauro squeezed my hand even tighter. Lantra sighed and ran her hands over Orlachmar’s body, opening up channels to the healing domoth energies. She cleaned away the blood, and sealed what she could of his wounds. She laid a slender hand over his face, softening his pained features. The blossoms around the stone table released a cool fragrance, while the green moss soaked up leaking fluids. “There is nothing more to do,” Lantra said. “You are wrong! There is much more to do!” said Fain, not looking at her but at a group that was quickly running towards us. Thax had not only brought Gheasia and Raezon, but their entire Fifth Circle Coterie. As coteries were groups who came together for a specific task, it was obvious they were here with a pre-planned purpose. It was no secret that Fain had been working with the Fifth Circle, leading and directing them in certain experiments to help fight the Soulless. Gheasia was extremely thin, her black hair cropped short and severe. Raezon was her mate and could have been her twin, except he preferred to keep his black hair long and wound in a simple twist. Their ice blue eyes glittered, hungrily I thought, like many of the Fifth Circle. Their coterie consisted of themselves, Mugowumpois whose dark skin was flushed as she licked her moist lips, Oshterel whose small hands fidgeted with some instrument of his own devising, Yomoigu who was tall, silent and stoic except when excited as he now was, and Mililiki whose sharp features were now turned to a seemingly perpetual frown as she hovered next to Gheasia and Raezon. As they circled around the stone table, Fain pushed Lantra aside. Tauro looked at me in confusion but I could only shrug. Fain must have had a plan. Raezon and Gheasia seemed to be in charge, as they carried between them a block of pure white marble. Fain excitedly moved to Orlachmar’s head, laying hands on either side of his face, then nodding towards Raezon. “This is it, Raez,” he whispered. “Our salvation could be at hand.” Raezon nodded and bit his lower lip, a nervous twitch momentarily marring his smooth features. I looked around at the other Fifth Circle, and none seemed too pleased. Mugowumpois opened her mouth as though she were about to speak but then snapped it shut. Yomoigu and Mililiki were giving each other meaningful glances, while Oshterel could barely contain his agitation and kept twisting the strange device in his hand. “We should have done more experiments,” said Gheasia, giving voice to the trepidation that grew among them. “We have not gathered enough information.” “My experiments have proven unpredictable,” said Mugowumpois in a rush. “I want it recorded that I object to rushing forward with this.” “As do I,” said Mililiki, nodding at Yomoigu who was shaking his head slowly. “This is much too hasty.” “What are you doing?” asked Lantra the White, her eyes flickering uncertainly around the gathering. “Orlachmar is dead, his spirit has left him, leaked out with his lifeforce. It is only a matter of time before his body disperses and decays.” “Orlachmar is dead,” said Fain, gazing intently at each of the Fifth Circle in turn. “There is no time for more experiments or considerations. My friends, it is time to act, while our dear colleague rests on the table before us. We have a chance to bring him back, to turn the tide in this war. Let us try, at least, to see if your work holds any promise. Lantra is right that time runs out, is running out. We must hurry before his body decays. We must try this! Now! Raezon, begin.” Fain’s words stirred excitement in the group, and hope was palpable among those gathered. Certainly, an excitement swept through me. Had the Coterie of Fain’s Fifth found a way to turn back death or dissolution of our bodies, to call back our spirits? That would certainly turn the tide of war! Raezon and Gheasia laid the strange white block down. Running their fingers over its smooth surface, golden glyphs appeared, gleaming with power. Whispering incantations and directing subtle immanidivinus forces, the top of the block slid back, revealing a vial cushioned in folds of white velvet. The crystal vial was an enormous cut diamond within which a green liquid pulsated. Carefully lifting it out, Raezon gently unstopped the vial. Fain pressed his fingers into the joints of Orlachmar’s jaws, forcing his mouth open. Raezon tilted the vial over Orlachmar’s lips, letting a single drop of emerald fire dribble onto Orlachmar’s tongue. We all waited, holding our breath. Even Lantra had quieted and stilled, her hands clenched before her. Was there colour rising in Orlachmar’s cheeks? Did his eyes momentarily clear and focus? I couldn’t tell. “More,” commanded Fain. Raezon tilted the vial again, letting the emerald fire trickle into Orlachmar’s mouth until the viscous liquid filled the cavity. Small streams dribbled down the sides of his cheeks, leaving behind ochre trails. Raezon paused again, and we waited. The liquid pooling in Orlachmar’s mouth began to smoke, then slowly sink down into his throat. Gouts of thick grey smoke poured out of Orlachmar’s mouth and nose. The healing crystals around the stone table turned black and spun madly and then shattered, peppering us with shards. The moss upon the table withered and turned to ash, and the healing blossoms shrivelled, their fragrance tinged with the stink of rot. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/agonytrapped-e1497474136639.jpg)This time there was a definite reaction. Orlachmar’s mouth opened and closed, and his eyes snapped open. He looked as though he were screaming. Lantra the White gasped, staggering backwards as she pointed to the opening of Orlachmar’s torso, which was leaking the same grey smoke. “It’s dissolving him!” she cried. “No!” said Gheasia. “No, it’s not. Look!” Indeed, smoke descended from Orlachmar’s torn torso, but instead of drifting off the table, the smoke gathered into columns, taking on the shape of legs. As grey smoke leaked from Orlachmar’s every pore and orifice, his body began shuddering. “More!” shouted Fain. “Use the rest!” Raezon poured out the remainder of the vial’s contents down Orlachmar’s throat, and his body began shuddering uncontrollably. Trying to draw great gasps of air, his mouth stretched open so wide it seemed it would like to split. The grey smoke surrounding him solidified, hardening into a firm shell. His body was bucking now, tossing Raezon away. Fain shouted for us to hold him down, as he gripped Orlachmar’s thrashing head. I lunged forward, along with Thax, and we pressed Orlachmar’s shoulders down to the stone table. His regrown legs were kicking wildly and none of the Fifth could hold them down. A moaning cry came from deep within Orlachmar’s throat, a bellow of pain and rage. I focused only on holding him down, dimly aware of Lantra shouting at the other hamadhi for help as they blanketed us with soothing domoth energies. I heard a sickening crunch and thought we had broken Orlachmar’s newly formed spine. But it was the breaking of the healing table upon which he rested. Finally, Orlachmar stopped his screams and lay still, his exertions perhaps finally running to exhaustion. I stepped back, bruised and aching as though having just come from battle. All of us were staring at this miracle before us. Orlachmar’s eyes were closed, and his chest lifted and fell with heavy, thudding breaths. The golden gleam of his skin was gone, leaving only a grey pallor. His physique seemed changed as well, broader, even more muscled than before. Looking more closely, the newly formed grey skin was thick like an elephant’s and small cracks were crisscrossed over its surface. All his golden hair had fallen off, and his lips and nails were black. Slowly Orlachmar opened his eyes, which glowed the same emerald green as the mysterious fluid that brought him back to life. He blinked through the sickly pale light gleaming from his pupils and bared his teeth. Was his jaw wider? His teeth sharper? Why were his lower canines now so long and curved like tusks? “What have you done to me?” he said, voice rumbling forth like cracked boulders, laced with bitterness and accusation. “We have saved you!” said Fain, gripping Orlachmar’s shoulder in affection. Orlachmar slowly climbed to his feet, his movements jerky and slow as he rolled off the rubble that was once a healing table. He looked at me, a dull sort of recognition that tugged at my heart. I couldn’t help it, but tears filled my eyes. “Loboshi,” he said. “Take me away from here. Take me away!” So I wrapped an arm around Orlachmar, taking his weight against me. He felt hot and feverish. Raezon started to follow but Orlachmar stared at him. Raezon saw something in Orlachmar’s his eyes and retreated. As we walked away, I heard Fain triumphantly proclaim, “There goes our salvation!” As we left the Fields of the Maeve, Volkh came running with Great Spirit Wolf at his side. After getting over his incredulity of seeing Orlachmar alive, Volkh helped me carry him to a private glade hidden within the ethereal fold. Orlachmar sat heavily on the ground, his eyes blazing green yet his expression blank. I explained to Volkh what happened, how Fain and the Fifth Circle Coterie brought Orlachmar back from the dead. Being of the Seventh Circle, Volkh carefully studied Orlachmar’s physical form and gave him healing unguents to soothe his skin and herbs to calm his inner turmoil. Orlachmar said very little, just leaned against a large rock and took the medicines. “He has changed, Loboshi,” Volkh confided to me later. “Whatever was done, he is not as he was. And it is more than just his physical form. His very aura seems to repel domoth fields, and I swear even the immanidivinus pathways through his body have altered.” “What does it mean?” I asked, for being of the Second Circle this was far beyond me. “All I know is that the immanidivinus is the source of our inner strength and power.” “Just so,” said Volkh. “Each of us has a unique system of pathways within our spirit, if you will, that forms our spiritual body and taps directly into the immanidivinus energies that surround us. We of the Seventh Circle tried to recreate these pathways to create new beings, but our creations could not connect to the immanidivinus but only to the domothean forces.” “So Orlachmar is now more animal? He is only drawing from the domoth energies?” “No,” said Volkh with a sigh. “I do not know how he is even alive. It is certainly not domoth energies that animate him. Partly he is still drawing from the immanidivinus but that alone is not enough. I have a suspicion though. Some of the Fifth Circle have been trying to analyse how the Soulless draw their power since they don’t use immanidivinus energies themselves. They theorise that there is an opposing force which they call the excoroperditio force.” “Poor Orlachmar,” I whispered with a shudder. Volkh and I stayed with Orlachmar for several weeks. He remained distant and brooding, refusing to engage in conversation. He adamantly refused to allow the Fifth Circle Coterie to examine him, so they had to be content with reports from Volkh and I of his progress. The remnants of the First Circle had been cloistered in discussions over whether or not Fain’s experiment should even be repeated. There were only ten of the First Circle left: Fain, Meridian, Olm, Eventru, Aslarn, Shairim, Czixi, Dahlthea, Zvoltz and Auginorus. Since they could not reach a consensus, they called a Gathering at the Towers of Xyl for a vote among all of us. Orlachmar decided to leave his seclusion and attend, and it was here where we all learned the truth of the serum given to Orlachmar. Once we had all gathered, Fain strode forward on the top dais, the Fifth Circle Coterie and his mate Lisaera of the Sixth Circle arrayed behind him. Fain struck an impressive figure, dressed in gold and crimson robes with his dark hair held back with a platinum circle studded in rubies. He held up his hands until all were quiet, then he bowed deeply, a wan smile on his handsome face. I leaned forward with those around me in response to his magnetic presence. “We must come to consider our fate, our situation,” Fain said, his melodious voice ringing throughout the chamber. “It is time to put aside all qualms and inhibitions, and look to see what strategy the Soulless Ones have used to so far defeat us. Can we use it to our advantage? My Fifth Circle Coterie and I have come to the conclusion that we can in fact emulate the strategy of absorbing the essence of others into ourselves. The first great step was collecting the essence of the Soulless. The serum given to Orlachmar was the distilled essence of the Soulless God Erlechtoch.” Fain paused as the furious whispering at his revelation subsided. Like everyone else, I was utterly shocked. I think Volkh had understood what had happened to Orlachmar, for he did not appear surprised, only sad. We held each other tightly. “As you can see, the experiment was an unmitigated success!” Fain continued, pointing to Orlachmar. “Indeed, it went beyond our hopes! Orlachmar was brought back from the dead, resurrected if you will. And from all reports we’ve heard, he is stronger and greater than he was before. And so I put to you that we embrace this new beginning, that we exploit this strategy. We can indeed take their essence into us, use their strength against them. This I believe we must do for our own survival.” There was silence at the end of his words. What did this mean? We would all consume the Soulless Ones? We would eat them as they ate us? And what of our own fallen? Do we cannibalize our own? Could this be the answer to our dilemma, our almost imminent defeat. Yes, perhaps. Looking around, the faces of others mirrored my own thoughts. Confusion and fear and trepidation and…hope. Then Meridian stepped forward, bowing stiffly to Fain. Bowing deeply to Meridian in return, Fain relinquished the forefront of the speaker’s dais. Meridian was sombre in deep blue robes, his eyes burning still with grief. “Taking in the essence of our enemy is an abomination,” said Meridian. “I ask you this: what will we become if we embrace such a course? Those who killed my dear Amberle, who sucked her dry, would we become like them? Would we be no better than them? I suggest that we would not! And what would happen to us? How would we change? We do not know but we may have an inkling. I’ve made my own inquiries of those of Fain’s Coterie as well as others of the Fifth Circle. There is the possibility that we would become what we hate. Indeed, look at Orlachmar. Is he the same as he was? What if he falls again? Will he be given another infusion of this so-called serum? At what point will he lose all that he is? Will he become another of the Soulless? If not, then what? Something evil. Something cruel.” Orlachmar strode forward, his grey skin darkened with emotion. His eyes were glittering green orbs. He quivered with emotion. “Listen to Meridian!” Orlachmar shouted, then breathed deeply to gain some measure of control over himself. “Forgive me, Fain, but you cannot do this. You cannot continue on this path. I am not what I was. I do not know what I am! I know what you did was for our salvation, but trust me, Fain, this is not the answer. Do not do this! I beg of you and all that Dynara held for us, do not make any other become like me. It is not just hatred and despair that consumes me! It is hunger! Hunger for destruction! Why have I not wanted to be around others? I will tell you why! I want to kill you all! I want to tear each of you limb from limb! And I do not know how to stop this wanting!” With his fists clenched, Orlachmar’s voice broke. Indeed, he looked ready to begin tearing into all of us. But Fain strode down to stand before Orlachmar and placed a hand on Orlachmar’s trembling shoulders. There was such compassion in Fain’s eyes that Orlachmar eventually calmed down and seemed to deflate, unclenching his fists and bowing his head. “Oh, my dear brother,” said Fain to Orlachmar, “my dear friend, my dear comrade, if there was only any other way! But know what I did, I believe was right. I believe this is our only way to defeat the Soulless Ones.” “You do not understand,” whispered Orlachmar heavily. “There is no choice, my friend,” Fain said, then turned to face the assembly. “And to all of you I ask, what other way out is there for us? Tell me and I will gladly follow! Meridian, I know you reject this plan, but tell me what you would do in its place? You do not answer because you have no other plan! We may survive the coming weeks and months, but what of the coming years? How long can we hold out? The few of us are getting fewer, and the Soulless are growing stronger with each of our fallen. They grow stronger with each of their own fallen, for indeed they cannibalize each other! This is our chance, my friends. This is our only chance. This is what we must do to survive.” Well, Fain’s words were impressive. I do not know one of us who could not dispute what he said. But there were also those who deeply felt Meridian’s warning. Like Meridian, many of us had felt the death of a loved one as he or she was devoured by a Soulless. From sundown through sunrise, we argued the merits of each side. But in the end, we only had to look out of the tall windows in this crystal chamber to see the world had changed. The sky was black and grey, angry with the venom of the Soulless. Clouds rained acidic fluids, staining the earth black and bloody red. Who could argue that it was only a matter of time before we were defeated? Fain offered us a way. A glimpse of salvation. We had to take it. May Dynara forgive us, we voted overwhelmingly in favour of Fain’s plan. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Krokano](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-krokano/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Krokano #### Part 1 #### Part 2 ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/KnightPaladin.jpg)Like a vengeful hammer, we smashed into Dahkra’kai, a valley turned to black ash, then frozen into lakes of rotting ice. The Soulless known as Crazen the Greedy had taken to ground there. Crazen was a hideous mass of gelatinous ooze that constantly formed and reformed into gross caricatures of all that he had devoured. Now, this misshapen monstrosity was spread throughout the underground caverns of Dahkra’kai and the Golden Circle was here to flush him out. “Krokano!” Morgfyre barked at me as soon as we arrived, “you and Terentia block the exit to the south. Hajamin and Orlachmar, you’re with me!” With a thunderous warcry, we saluted each other with our shields and then split apart. We were the Golden Ones, the elite cadre of the Second Circle, and we feared nothing! Channeling domothean energies, Terentia and I pounded the blackened ground beneath as we flew towards the southern end of the valley. The ground roiled and churned, spitting forth plumes of debris and smoke. Tis a shameful thing to admit, but I gloried in this war. I was Krokano, of the Golden Circle, and war agreed with me! This was the battle the Second Circle was meant to fight. Not punishing mad half-formed or vanquishing rudderless consciousnesses that manifested in the Void, but true combat, where the stakes were high and the outcome far from certain. I wondered if the others felt as I did. Though we never spoke of it plainly, I saw the lust for battle growing in Morgfyre’s eyes day by day. And, of course, there was Orlachmar. Ah, Orlachmar! What a cipher he was. The only one who ever benefited from Fain’s Elixer. Sometimes I wished it were me who received its miraculous properties. Orlachmar was so much more stronger and faster than before, deadlier in every way. But, then again, sometimes I’d look into his eyes and see something that made me grateful it wasn’t me. Setting up nodes of energy interlaced deep within the earth, we let our powers surge through the caverns below. Eventually, we struck Crazen and throughout the valley columns of his mottled flesh erupted from the ground, spewing forth gouts of black smoke. Dark clouds roiled across Dahkra’kai, as the air vibrated with concussive blasts. I lost track of Terentia as the battle raged on. Crazen was eventually driven further and further to the surface. At some point, I found myself on the ground raising a shield against a rain of black soil that burned with ebon flames. “Krokano!” screamed a feminine voice. “Watch out behind you, Krokano!” Just in time, I ducked as a mottled globule of flesh hurtled past me. I turned towards the voice that warned me and saw Thalrinda of the Fourth Circle sprawled on the ground. Was Thalrinda here to offer help in some manner? I knew we were working with other circles to develop weapons against the Soulless. And I had heard her name recently. “What are you doing here?” I shouted, running over to her. “Help me, please!” she begged. It looked as though a fallen rock had her pinned down, trapping her foot beneath its weight. I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her waist, as she reached up to encircle her arms around my neck. Her flesh felt clammy and cold, and she screamed in pain when I tried to pull her up. “Krokano,” Thalrinda said softly, her skin glistened with sweat. “Listen to me!” What did she want? I leaned in to hear, and Thalrinda pressed her forehead against mine. That’s when I noticed her trapped foot had become strangely elongated from my efforts to pull her out of the rubble. That’s when I remembered where I had heard her name recently – in a list of casualties, one of those consumed by Crazen. I roared and tried to fling Thalrinda from me, but her arms locked around my neck, becoming a loop of flesh that tightened around me like a noose. Her mouth pressed up against my face as she leaned forward, her lips scraping against my eyelids. Her tongue split in two and plunged into my eye sockets. The form of Thalrinda was all but gone, melted away like wax, revealing itself to be the tip of one of Crazen’s huge tendrils. I screamed in pain and rage, as the tendril sprouted hundreds of flailing filaments which wrapped around me, sawing into my flesh. The mouth had distended into a circular maw, which grew rows and rows of razor teeth that gnawed into my cheeks and forehead. But it was the forked tongue, now hardened into two jagged protuberances, drilling into my eye sockets, that was more than I could bear. By Dynara! I felt my lifeforce being sucked from me. The pain and horror of what was happening lent me strength. With a roar, I ripped my left arm free from the entangling filaments and was able to reach a dagger strapped to my thigh. I drew it forth and hacked into the tendril, letting loose a stream of domothean energies. Hundreds of mouths hidden beneath the earth screeched with Crazen’s pain, as the tendril holding me flailed into the air, with me attached to its tip. As Crazen shook me to and fro above the smoking battle, Terentia spotted me and came to my rescue. Her strong arms gripped me as she tried to rip me free. It seemed to last forever. Terentia pulled me higher into the sky, stretching Crazen’s ghastly limb beneath us. Eventually, I heard the shouts of Morgfyre, Hajamin and Orlachmar booming in the distance, and when they arrived Crazen finally, reluctantly, released me into Terentia’s arms. “Krokano!” Terentia shouted, a strange panic in her voice. “Can you hear me?” “I can hear you, but get this thing off my face!” I yelled, reaching up to grab the vile remains that covered my head. “Please, Krokano!” Terentia said, pulling my hands away from my face. She suddenly held me tight and whispered, “there’s nothing on your face.” “Then why can’t I see!” When Terentia didn’t answer, I knew what that meant. Blind. I was blind. “Let me get you to the hamadhi and healing grounds,” she finally said, not quite able to check the pity in her voice. I said nothing more. I felt the wind rush against me, as Terentia hurtled me towards an ethereal portal. When we entered the ethereal realm, I heard gasps from others who saw us. What must I look like? Several asked how I was, and Terentia only ever replied, “He lives.” The gentle voices of the hamadhi surrounded me, as they laid me down on a healing mound. Cool fragrances enveloped me, and the singing of healing crystals rose up around me. Pain receded as I sank down into the mossy bed. I felt a hand gently touch my cheek. “Krokano?” said a dulcet voice, “I am Lantra, a hamadhi. Do you understand?” “I understand,” I said, then added somewhat lamely, “I cannot see.” “I know,” Lantra said gently. “Our physical forms are made manifest from our spiritual selves. Our bodies are reflections of the truth within.” “As above, so below,” I said, rotely repeating one of the oft said precepts of the Third Circle. “Yes,” she said, then paused as her hand gently stroked my hand. “Krokano, your spirit has been cruelly hacked away and consumed by one of the Soulless. Thank Dynara that it wasn’t much, but…” “My eyes cannot be reformed,” I numbly finished for her. “My blindness is permanent.” “I would not say permanent. No, I would never give up hope. Let me get Eventru. We are constantly finding new ways to heal some of these dreadful wounds inflicted by the Soulless. Know hope, Krokano.” Hope? I was blind. I could not even see darkness as one might imagine. I was surrounded by nothingness. Crazen even ate the memories of sight, as I could not even dredge forth the memories of what a sunset looked like. Colours? Patterns? Shapes? All gone. Not able to help myself, I reached up to feel my face, half of which had been chewed off. There was nothing left but a churned up mass of flesh. Lantra was gone for less than an hour, but it was enough time to slip deeper into the hollowness of despair. When she came back, there were two others with her. I could hear that at least. “I am Eventru,” said a soft masculine voice. “Do you know who I am?” “Yes, Eventru of the First Circle.” “Good. Good,” he said. “I oversee the hamadhi and brought with me Malmydia. She has been refining new techniques to help those who have wounds such as yours. She believes she can help you.” “You can give me back my sight?” I asked, hope daring to flicker within me. “I believe I could restore something,” said a brisk female voice. “I believe the spiritual matter that makes us up, our own subtle immanidivinus forms, the etherea of our spirits, can be softened, reformed and reshaped.” “You can make me new eyes?” I tried to sit up but strong hands held me down. “This is a new procedure,” said Eventru. “Malmydia has not…there have been no real successes. And there are risks, grave risks. You could end up worse than you are now.” “I will take any risk!” I shouted. “And I am sure I could make this work!” Malmydia said tartly. “He is the perfect subject, his essence was just partially devoured and the wound is very localised.” “I understand,” said Eventru quietly, “but I do not want a repeat of the Fininkora debacle. If your techniques cannot help in this case, where conditions are perfect, they will never work. Fail here and I will have no choice but to shut down these experiments.” “My techniques must work!” she said. “My theories are sound!” “Am I understood?” said Eventru, steel creeping into his voice. “Understood, First,” said Malmydia. “But I will not fail.” Apparently, Malmydia had her healing mounds in a separate, isolated vale. I was moved there immediately. Once I was situated, Eventru departed to leave me in the care of Malmydia and Lantra. The place seemed eerily silent. “How many other patients do you have?” I asked. “At present, you are the only one,” said Malmydia. “If you are having second thoughts, it is not too late to turn back,” Lantra whispered into my ear. Was that a quiver in her voice? “I am ready!” I said. “I want my sight back, whatever it takes.” As Lantra stepped back, I felt thick, ropy vines sprout up from around the healing mound and wrap around me. I began to struggle, memories of Crazen’s grip welling up in my mind. “Stop that!” snapped Malmydia. “Do you want your sight restored or not?” “Are restraints necessary?” asked Lantra. “They are.” Malmydia’s strong, long fingers roughly pulled my head back, then began prodding the sides of my face. Her sharp jabs worked their way across the bridge of my nose and then circled around to my forehead. She paused briefly, then plunged her fingers into the pulpy mass of where my eyes used to be. I screamed and tried to jerk away but her fingers were unrelenting. “Malmydia!” said Lantra. “You’re hurting him! We must block the pain!” “I think not,” said Malmydia. “It is better that he feel what is happening so I can get a measure of his etheric bodies.” “It is not right to cause him to suffer so much! At least let me blunt the pain.” “It is up to the patient,” said Malmydia. “Well, Krokano? My techniques would work best if you could feel everything that is done to you. However, if you are not strong enough to handle a little pain, we can block it. Certainly, I always imagined the Second Circle to have the courage to withstand this sort of thing, but the decision is yours. Tell us what you want.” Was that a challenge in her voice? I swear there was. You don’t question a warrior’s strength or courage! Was she baiting me? But, no, no, she was a healer, a devoted hamadhi, dedicated to our care. “I’ll feel the pain,” I said through clenched teeth. “Very well,” said Malmydia. Was her voice mocking? Malmydia again jabbed into the ruined flesh of my face, and pain again stabbed into me like a burning scythe. This time, however, I bore it and made no sound. I swallowed my cries and held myself rigidly. “There,” said Malmydia, patting my cheek. “You see, Lantra? He will be fine.” I was anything but fine. I wanted to tell Lantra to take away the pain, but I stubbornly refused to give in. Loud chimes sounded in the distance, and I recognised their mournful tones as alerts that the wounded were being brought in. “I can take it from here, Lantra,” said Malmydia. “Go see to the newly wounded.” “You don’t need me?” said Lantra. “I thought I’d assist you, learn your techniques.” “I’ll record it on a learning crystal. We are short handed as it is, please, go to them. Besides, I work best alone. You know that.” “Are you sure?” “Certainly.” I didn’t want Lantra to leave but I held my tongue. I didn’t want to be alone with Malmydia. But I said nothing and Lantra left to see to the newly arrived wounded. After several moments, I felt energies surge around us. “What was that?” I asked. “Oh, a dampening field.” Dampening field? Those were used for private meetings to block out sight and sound. Why was one needed now? I began to get very nervous. I heard her gather metal implements, and the telltale scrape of blades being sharpening filled the air. The vines that strapped me to the healing mound grew long thorns, which injected me with viscous agents that made my thoughts sluggish and leached away my strength. Humming to herself, Malmydia traced a long finger over my wounds. She painfully pulled off torn strips of flesh. Then, she began using her instruments. They poked and prodded into my wounds, then probed deeper and deeper into my flesh. The pain became abominable, and I began to squirm under her hands. The power in the instruments flared with energies that turned from frigid cold to blazing hot. I swear at one point she shoved her entire fist into my skull, grabbing a hold of my spirit and stretching it out. I finally could take no more and screamed. I begged her to stop, over and over and over, I pleaded. Each time, she’d pat my hand and say, “There, there. We’re almost done.” But Malmydia was far from done. It went on and on. I struggled. I wept. I raged and entreated. I tried to summon the reserves to free myself, but my strength was sapped away by the fluids being pumped into me. Several times I began to lose consciousness, which would have been a mercy, but she would pause and summon energies that brought me back to vivid awareness. I don’t know when it ended. I was still screaming long after Malmydia stopped touching me with her instruments and cruel hands. It was over, and I lay nearly senseless, my head throbbing and raw. She wrapped strips of oily bandages tightly around my head and then encased that in a thick plaster cast that weighted me down so I was barely able to move. I felt defeated and violated, all dignity stripped away from me. And I was still blind. Too exhausted to weep, I finally, thankfully, sank into unconsciousness, though my sleep was haunted by Malmydia’s voice murmuring, “There, there. We’re almost done.” I’m not sure how long I lay there. When I finally came to, Malmydia perfunctorily said I’d be laid up for at least a week. Now that the operation was finished, she seemed to lose interest in me. She would check up on me, and a few times I heard others talk over me. I remained sedated, drifting in a fog with nothing but memories of pain to keep me company. I couldn’t help but hate Malmydia, and, aye, fear her too. Whether my sight would ever return or not, what she did to me, the pain she made me suffer, was beyond forgiveness. But, for now, I could do nothing but try to recover. One evening, the warning chimes sounded and woke me from another uneasy slumber. Voices were angrily shouting at each other. I turned my head towards the commotion and saw Clangorum and Gruenella, both of the Second Circle and members of the cadre known as the Grey Furies, carrying a form in their arms which they laid down on the healing mound opposite me. Eventru, Malmydia and Fain followed behind them. Wait a moment! I could see! My sight had returned! I almost cried out, but then I saw what was in the arms of Clangorum and Gruenella, the husk of one of their cadre members. I could tell by the crimson glyphs on the breast plate that it could only be Thax, a warrior I had always respected for his ferocity and loyalty. That was about all that was recognisable. His arms and legs were ripped off, and his head was but a smoking stump. I had seen such horrific wounds before and knew it to be the work of Zenos. As she spun healing crystals over Thax’s remains, I finally saw what Malmydia looked like. She was unremarkable, slight and thin, plain with her red hair pulled back in a sharp bun. She wore an emerald shift and a white smock. I expected cruelty to flood out of her eyes, but they were a simple, pale green, large and watery. Were these the eyes of a torturer? I began to doubt my memories. “Fain, can anything be done?” asked Gruenella, a strapping female of the Second Circle, her hair in two long braids which were clamped at the end with long spikes. I had seen her in battle before, and she could be quite savage with her molten broadsword. “Everything that can be done will be done, Gruen,” said Fain, gently using her nickname. He looked more haggard than I had ever seen him, with dark circles under his eyes that contrasted sharply with his pale skin. “We must brace ourselves for the worst,” said Eventru. “I’ve never seen one with such wounds survive.” “But Malmydia could save him!” said Fain. “I’ve heard the reports on her techniques.” Eventru and Fain leaned together and whispered, while Malmydia ushered the distraught Gruenella and Clangorum away. When she returned, Eventru sighed and nodded to Fain. “There’s nothing to lose by trying,” said Eventru. “Malmydia, see what you can do for Thax. Do not get your hopes up, Fain. Malmydia’s techniques are still mostly untested.” When Eventru departed, Fain stayed back with Malmydia. Fain glanced at me, then immediately dismissed me. I must have looked pathetic trussed up and encased in plaster. After being satisfied that they were alone, Fain leaned towards Malmydia. “Thax must be saved,” he said with a low intensity. “Is he one of…” she started to ask, but then stopped as Fain’s hand shot out and gripped her arm so tightly that his knuckles went white. “It is enough for you to know that I want Thax to live.” “I may need…you know what I need.” “I’ll get what you need. Do what you have to do, but do not fail me.” Still gripping Malmydia’s arm, Fain stared into her eyes until she lowered her gaze and nodded. With a last look at Thax, Fain nodded and strode away. For several moments, Malmydia stood still, then suddenly shuddered and shook herself. Her lips thinned as she let her gaze wander over the remains of Thax. Over the rest of the day, Malmydia labored and worked over the malleable form of Thax, until he was a stretched and misshapen thing. Fain checked on her progress and handed her a small package when he thought no one was looking. She then continued to work on Thax late into the dark of night, injecting something into his twisted flesh that infused it with an eerie green glow that slowly faded away. The more Malmydia labored, the more agitated she would become. The process was repeated three nights in a row. I could tell that Malmydia was trying to reform Thax’s body but no matter what she would do, it would collapse back into a puddle. She finally lost control, cursing and clawing at her hair until it was ripped free of its tight bun and hung in wavering tendrils. Her eyes were wild and shone with malevolence, her teeth bared in a snarl. So what hid beneath her facade? Now, I could believe her cruelty to me was real. But who would believe me? After composing herself and reigning in her emotions, Malmydia smoothed her hair back into a bun. She then pursed her lips and strummed a finger against her cheek. She walked several times around Thax, nodding to herself. She left and soon came back with Clangorum in tow. When Clangorum saw what was left of Thax, he became very still. “Merciful Dynara,” he said. “There’s nothing left of him. Poor Thax.” “I’ve stabilized his immanidivinus etherea. He lives,” said Malmydia. “You call this living?” “I need something to hold his essence,” she said. “His form won’t hold shape, it refuses to solidify a skeleton. I need a shell of some sort to act as an exoskeleton. That’s why I need you.” “Me? I’m no healer! I make weapons and armour,” Clangorum paused and his eyes widened. “You want armour, don’t you? You’re going to pour him into a suit of armour!” “Yes, it’d serve as the exoskeleton. But the material must be strong, must be extraordinary. I was thinking of zingavium steel.” “Zingavium steel! You don’t ask for much, do you! That’s the rarest of all metals, rarely found in the depths of the Void.” “I know what it is! Do you have enough?” “She asks me if I have enough?” hissed Clangorum and paced back and forth. “I have a helmet, several swords and hammers, a few shields.” “Is it enough to create the armour?” “Only if I use almost all we have!” “Is it worth the life of Thax?” “Aye,” said Clangorum softly. “It’s worth his life. Of course, it is. He’s of my cadre, one of the Grey Furies. He’s saved my life more times than you know.” After Clangorum left, Fain met with Malmydia that evening, demanding to know Thax’s condition. She told him her plans and he left, looking pleased. The next morning, Clangorum arrived looking exhausted but triumphant. He carried with him a magnificent suit of armour. It was smooth and sleek, gleaming black and drinking in the light. Made of pure zingavium steel, what warrior wouldn’t desire such a thing. It absorbed energy blasts, converting it into power that could be redirected. A zingavium sword was the finest of weapons, a shield the ultimate defense. An entire suit of armour? Unthinkable. Word must have spread of Malmydia’s unorthodox treatment, for Eventru and several of the Third Circle hamadhi arrived to help. They poured the glistening form of Thax into the armour, padded it with a living foam, apparently made by some Seventh Circle creator, and channelled domothean energies into it. All the while, Clangorum darted around, adjusting the armour as directed and needed. Afterwards, Malmydia spent hours manipulating the essence that was Thax. Checking and rechecking his condition, and then pulling and shaping him throughout the armour’s encasement. Did Thax feel her cruel touch the same as I felt what she did to my eyes? Was he conscious at all? She only worked on my eyes, but on Thax she worked on his entire being. When Malmydia was finished, she stood back and stared at the immobile armour. Everyone around her held their breath. Minutes turned to hours, and still nothing happened. “Move, Thax!” Malmydia finally shouted, hammering on his breastplate with her fists. The suit of armour shuddered, then fell still. Nothing more. I thought Malmydia would lose control again but she held it in. Her fists were clenched on top of Thax and her gaze burned hot as though trying to will him to move. “Sometimes we must let go,” said Eventru softly, laying a hand on her shoulder. With a growl, Malmydia violently pushed Eventru away. Those who looked into her eyes saw something that made them step back. “He should be moving! Everything that was done should have worked!” she shouted. She clenched her eyes shut, then snapped them open, turning on Clangorum. “It’s your fault! You did something wrong to the zingavium!” “I used almost every bloody bit of zingavium I could find,” shouted Clangorum. “Everything was done to your specifications!” “Malmydia!” said Eventru, grabbing her again and shaking her by the shoulders. “Please! You’ve done your best! You MUST let go.” “I’ve failed,” she said. “I can’t fail.” Eventru let her go, and Malmydia seemed to deflate, stumbling against the healing mound and kneeling before it, her head resting against its mossy edge. She began to talk to herself, forgetting everyone around her. “His essence fills the armour,” Malmydia muttered. “It holds his shape. The immanidivinus etherea lives, it’s been strengthened. I feel his lifeforce but it just churns and churns within. He needs something more, something to help him to control his new form.” “If Thax needs somesuch to help him move,” said Clangorum, “my brother, Agnomenon the Tinkerer, may be able to help. He is the master of mechanisms and may be able to create some sort of inner works.” Malmydia stopped, at first furious to be interrupted, but then she softened, looking thoughtful. She picked up one of the armour’s arms, bending the joints. She placed the arm back down and pulled herself to her feet. “Yes, yes,” she said finally. “That could work. It could work!” As the others left, Agnomenon was sent for. Arriving not soon after, Agnomenon waddled in with Clangorum at his side. I had always thought Clangorum was small, certainly he had the smallest stature of any of the Second Circle, but next to his brother Clangorum looked positively tall. Agnomenon wore several belts and shoulder straps, each festooned with holsters that held strange looking tools and instruments. Where Clangorum had a full bristling beard, Agnomenon’s face with smooth and round, cheeks glowing a ruddy red. His look of amazement grew and grew as he examined Thax. “I can make him moveable, alright,” Agnomenon said, his voice high pitched and nervous. “I could make this armour walk around or dance a jig, but something needs to control the movements. Are you sure he is…can he think? Does he have a mind?” “Yes, of course he can,” said Malmydia. “I’ve felt his… I’ve felt his emotions. I know there’s a consciousness there.” What was she going to say? I knew in my bones that she was going to say that she felt his pain. Damn her! Thax was feeling everything she did and she knew it! But I lay silent and said not a word. I think I was all but forgotten. All day and all night, Agnomenon, Clangorum and Malmydia worked on Thax’s armour. She would shift his essence out of the way where Agnomenon would add gears and pistons and counterweights. They had to work quickly. As Clangorum was the only one able to manipulate zingavium, he had to create openings and patch them up hurriedly. The once sleek and smooth armour was soon deformed by ugly misshaped joints and valves that poked out in unlikely spots. Agnomenon even created a mechanical box which he said could be used to make sounds for Thax’s voice. It was placed inside the armour’s throat guard, which had to be beaten out and distended. When they were finally finished, they each looked exhausted and drawn. Tools were scattered around the healing mound, along with bits and scraps of metal. Indeed, a metallic tang hung in the air which smelled more like a forge than a healing vale. Malmydia was at Thax’s side, willing him to move. Briefly, Thax’s head shifted back and forth, and the voicebox emitted a hoarse wheeze. They were momentarily excited but that moment faded as Thax exhibited no other movement. They waited and waited, but he did nothing more. “That’s it,” said Malmydia finally, slumping down. “Nothing more can be done. I’ve failed.” After awhile Clangorum and Agnomenon left, leaving Malmydia to continue to stand there, staring at the motionless form of Thax. As evening fell, four figures emerged from the darkness. Fain, Morgfyre, Gheasia and Raezon. They surrounded Malmydia and Fain raised a dampening field around them, cutting off sight and sound. At least, I thought that’s what he was raising. I saw the air flicker and distort around them. But I could see through it. I saw through Fain’s powerful magics! What had Malmydia done to me? Did she even know? “Failure is not an option,” said Fain. “If Thax could die, that means any of us could die. It is up to you to make sure our forms are invincible.” I wasn’t hearing Fain’s voice. I was seeing it. Whatever Malmydia had done to me, it must have been more than even she had bargained for. I cold not only see through the dampening field but I could see words eddying in the air as they left Fain’s lips, their meaning vibrating. “There’s nothing more that can be done,” said Malmydia. “We could give him more serum,” suggested Raezon. “I’ve given him more serum than of us!” she replied. “His immanidivinus etherea is already overwhelmed with excoroperditio essence from the serum.” “Nonsense,” said Morgfyre. “We can handle as much as we can get. I’ve had more than all of you combined, and I only get stronger and stronger!” “We haven’t authorised any more serum to you than anyone else,” said Gheasia. “Bah, I just take it directly in pure form.” “What?” asked Raezon, peering at Morgfyre intently. “You’ve been drinking essence of the Soulless directly?” “What was it like?” asked Gheasia, her voice wistful. “Did it quench the hunger? Were there side effects?” “You never told me, you fool!” hissed Fain. “What does it matter,” said Morgfyre. “I’m still here, aren’t I? Nothing went wrong. And it’s not like any of us are innocent of giving in to the hunger. It’s not like we don’t know that Gheasia and Raezon don’t take more serum on the side. Don’t think I haven’t seen how the supplies of serum mysteriously dwindle.” “How would you know!” said Raezon. “Only Fain knows who all of us there are! How do you know they weren’t given to others at Fain’s commands!” “Would you like us to take an accounting?” said Morgfyre, then laughed when Raezon and Gheasia glanced nervously at each other. “Ha! I thought not. And what about you, Malmydia? We all know what you did to Fininkora!” “I had to excise her damaged essence!” said Malmydia hotly. “Why should I let it go to waste.” “Ah, so eating one of our own isn’t worse than what I did! And what about Krokano over there? How much have you eaten of him!” “Hardly anything! Barely a few scraps of his essence. Anyway, that’s different than consuming essence of the Soulless directly!” Did I hear right? Malmydia ate parts of me? I recalled her peeling away strips of flesh from my face and who knows what else as she dug into me. What did she do with those parts of me? I began to feel sick all over. “Silence!” shouted Fain. “I know what the hunger can do to us! Don’t think I don’t know. Perhaps we’ve all slipped on occasion. But we must have order! From now on, I will be taking a closer look at what each of you do. And I will audit the supplies of the elixir. And I will brook no disobedience! Am I understood?” “Yes, Fain,” said Morgfyre, saluting him with a fist to his breast. The others followed suit. “Now, what about Thax,” said Fain. “If more serum won’t revive him, what will?” “His essence is too compromised,” said Malmydia. “Too much of him was lost.” “Then the answer is simple,” said Gheasia. “He needs to be infused with more essence of an immanidivinus etherea nature.” “But that would mean,” Malmydia paused, realisation dawning. “Of course, yes, that may work. But where would we get it?” “What about him?” said Fain, gesturing at me. Though I wanted to jump up and run away, I stilled my muscles, not daring to move. “No,” said Malmydia. “He’s my last chance to prove to Eventru that my treatments work. If Krokano emerges damaged, Eventru will shut down my vale. Unless you can overrule him?” “Not yet,” said Fain. “This is Eventru’s territory. So that means it has to come from one of us. Morgfyre, you’ve admitted to glutting yourself on essence. Surely you have some to spare.” “What?” Morgfyre stepped back but Fain followed him with cold eyes. “Fine! I’ll give of myself. This once. For the cause.” Leading Morgfyre to an empty healing mound, Malmydia had him lie down. Gheasia and Raezon hovering eagerly behind her. Fain stood at Morgfyre’s head, his hands on his shoulders. Exposing Morgfyre’s right arm, Malmydia slowly opened his flesh with a glowing scalpel. Morgfyre hissed in pain. Then I saw Malmydia’s eyes sparkle with malevolence as she purposefully slowed down to draw out his essence. Morgfyre was no fool. His other hand shot forth and gripped Malmydia’s throat. “Get on with it, damn you,” he hissed. With a glance at Fain, Malmydia nodded. As soon as Morgfyre let go of her, she viciously ripped out his essence. He screamed in agony, and would have struck her if Fain didn’t hold him back. She had drawn forth probably more of Morgfyre’s essence than she meant to. It twisted in the air, a glittering ribbon of golden light that was striated with green streaks. As Morgfyre lay gasping on the mound, the others stared at his essence hungrily. Eventually, Malmydia rolled it into a globe and strode back towards where Thax lay. “Is it enough?” asked Gheasia, following behind her with Raezon. “It better be,” growled Morgfyre, as Fain helped him stand up. “She won’t get any more from me.” Malmydia sniffed and said nothing. She carefully began feeding the essence into Thax, gently at first, but then his whole body arced upward, and the essence was sucked into him in an instant. Malmydia and the others jumped back. Thax began thrashing violently on the healing mound, arms and legs pounding it into rubble. From his neck, Thax’s voicebox began groaning, a high pitched whine that began rising in intensity. The eye slit on the zingavium visor glowed a bloody red. The armour seemed to stretch and blur, long spikes growing on the shoulders and around the wrists and angles. The valves on the armour hissed as it released violent jets of steam. After what seemed an eternity, Thax finally calmed down. He slowly stood up, a monstrous creation. Every slight movement he made seemed to screech with pain as the metal gears within him ground together. When he was finally upright, he lifted his open hand before his faceplate and slowly closed it into a fist. “I am Thax!” he roared, his artificial voice weirdly echoing in all directions as gouts of steam were released from his neck valves. “I live! I LIVE!” Fain shouted in triumph, pounding Malmydia on the back. Though she tried to lure Thax into another healing mound, he was having none of it. He clanked off away from Malmydia’s vale, the others trailing behind him. So what had I witnessed? It took me some time to absorb it all. Fain had gone against the will of the Gathering. Gheasia and Raezon continued to make their elixir and they were giving it to…who? Those chosen by Fain. I had to tell someone, but who could I trust. Morgfyre was one of them, and he was a member of my own cadre, one of the Golden Circle. If I couldn’t trust my own cadre, who could I trust? Early the next morning, Eventru arrived with Malmydia and Lantra. Though they didn’t mention Thax, their sombre mood told all. Malmydia looked triumphant. Lantra and Eventru looked slightly ill at ease. They approached my healing mound. “There’s no doubt what you did to Thax was remarkable,” said Eventru. “But, blessed Dynara, I’m not sure what he is any more. Your techniques are genius, obviously, but I am troubled.” “I admit, Thax’s case was extreme,” said Malmydia. “But look at how much essence he had lost! If I could save a case as extreme as that, think what I could do for others.” ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Krokani.jpg)“Indeed, we’ll see now,” said Eventru. “Krokano, if you can hear me, we’re going to remove your bandages.” As they surrounded me, I held my tongue and didn’t tell them that I could see better than anyone could dream possible, my vision piercing not only physical impediments but even powerful magics. Malmydia and Lantra stood on either side of me, and slowly broke apart the plaster cast and pulled away the bandages. As the last of it fell away, Lantra gasped. What horrors were reflected on my face? Eventru summoned a mirror and I looked at my reflection. I no longer had two eyes but one, a giant eye that stood in the centre of my forehead. And it was beautiful, surrounded by thick lashes, the iris was flecked gold surrounding a velvety violet pupil. Around my new eye, my skin was unblemished, not a scar, not any evidence of Crazen’s ravishment of my face nor Malmydia’s cruelty. It was perfect. “How do you feel, Krokano?” asked Malmydia, her eyes daring me to say anything. “I can see,” I said, meeting her gaze. “I can see quite clearly now.” Oh, I wanted to scream at her, to accuse her, to bash her smug face in. But who to trust? Was Lantra or Eventru a part of this and putting on an act? Would confronting her simply put Fain on guard? It would be simple enough to deny everything and hide the evidence. After I was examined, and Eventru and Lantra were heaping praise and congratulations on Malmydia, I got up and left. There was one whom I felt sure was uncompromised. Meridian had steadfastly opposed Fain’s plan. He must be told. We were betrayed. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Igaso](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-igaso/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Igaso #### Part 1 #### Part 2 ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Igaso.jpg)I am Igaso of the Crimson Eyes. I am a warrior, Second Circle through and through, but I’m also just a soldier. I have always been and always will be. I don’t have the intelligence of Kalikai or the craftiness of Morgfyre or any quality which makes for a brilliant strategist like them. I certainly don’t have the type of charisma that inspires any great loyalty, like Hajamin or Ivanko. A few like Shikari or Malik are simply loners, preferring to forego the closeness of a cadre. But not me. I follow orders and don’t ask questions. And that’s the way I like it. I keep my nose clean and sword cleaner. Ologri, Braun, Panamandius and I smiled darkly at each other as Kalikai paced back and forth, a sure sign that her mind was working faster than a void spawn running. The firemead burned hotly in our bellies, and our bloodshot eyes glowed as red as our crimson armour. Yeah, why do you think they call us the Crimson Eyes? Eventually, Xyl glided towards us, his expression frozen in perpetual disapproval. His crystalline form was angular and pulsated almost erratically. That was the most worried I’d ever seen him. He paused and frowned at Kalikai, who guffawed and swaggered towards him. “Well, Crystalcakes?” she asked. “Where’s that list of unborn crèches?” “Are you certain Fain would meet in one of the unborn realms?” asked Xyl, handing Kalikai a translucent foil glittering with runes. “Nothing in creation is certain, Crystalcakes,” said Kalikai, scanning the foil and pursing her lips. “But that’s what I’d suggest if I were advising Fain. Now, then, I need you, Roark and any other trusted Fivers to gather as much intel on these unborn planes as possible. I want response factors, dimensional potentialities, the works. Priority goes to matching vibrational helixes exactly.” “This is a lot of work if you’re wrong and they’re not there,” Xyl said. “Don’t you Fivers say that data gathered is never wasted?” Xyl flared red and shook his head, gliding quickly away. Kalikai laughed loudly and came to us, clapping each of us on the shoulder. “Ok, Eyes,” she said. “I’m sending you to a place called the Vortex, an extremely out of the way plane. Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling that’s where we’ll find our lost lambs. This is more than recon duty, mates. This is deep cover, go in hot and drop, just like the Scaramouche caper. Understood?” “Kalikai, aye!” we yelled. “We’re your Crimson Eyes!” “I’d go with you, mates,” she said softly, “but I’ve got to gather reinforcements. Iggy, come here. I want a deep link.” I came forward and stood in front of Kalikai, who grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me forward until our foreheads touched. She sent a stream of immanidivinus into my mind which I grasped firmly. As our thoughts briefly intertwined, I felt Kalikai touch upon my deeply hidden despair. Quarilia, my lover and comrade, was still missing. Her loss was like a black hole within my soul. And likewise, as the deep bond formed between, I felt Kalikai’s fear and anger. She hated what we had to do, turning against our own, and she worried what would happen to the Crimson Eyes. She wanted to join us but knew she couldn’t. I wondered if that was partly why she became so intoxicated. Was she a soldier at heart, forced into the role of a general, the head of the Crimson Eyes, because of her brilliance rather than ambition? Were the decisions that she had to make easier when part of her was numb? “Good luck,” Kalikai whispered in my ear and squeezed my arm. With the deep bond linked between us, Kalikai would be able to track me. We formed a simple diamond, Ologri to my left and back, Panamandius to my right and back, with Braun closing the circuit at our rear. We pierced the veil and rose up through the aetherial vibrations, moving to match the resonance identified by Xyl, the plane called Vortex. We solidified in a weirdly protean planescape where the land itself constantly formed and reformed on itself. This was one of those planes which Dynara, may she return soon, never completed. Some of the hamadhi had studied them, seeing if they could form new sentient beings from the primordial matter, but after so many aeons on their own, the demiurge nodes were deemed to have evolved to a point where they were forever stuck in a constant mode of evolution and devolution. “Look at this thing,” said Ologri as we passed one such node of pulsating flesh. “Must be where Dyna meant to raise a half-formed,” said Panamandius. “Just think, Olo, you started out just like that!” “Too bad, you still smell like that,” said Braun with smile. “Cut the chatter,” I said. “Kali gave us orders and we’re gonna follow them to the letter, right? Now, hot and drop!” The four of us channelled lower domothean powers inward, and formed a reservoir of pure energy which we gathered within the centre of our formation. Pinching off a portion of the energy, we let it drop and sink into the primal landscape. Not many knew of this manoeuvre, being that it was developed by Kalikai. Let’s hope it would be enough if things got tricky. “Anchor set,” I said. “Let’s go see if Kali’s hunch was right. Remember, we’re deep cover, doing a routine recon. Don’t drop formation and brace yourselves for anything.” Drifting through the Vortex, we entered pockets of protocreation where other pots of flesh lay waiting for the hand of Dynara that would never come. Each of us had our hypersenses extended, but the plane was empty. Granted it was hard to discern much since the life presences were pulsating off the charts. After we went through the entire plane top to bottom, it looked as though Kalikai’s intuition failed her this time. “It’s empty,” said Panamandius with a snort. “Figure Xyl would send us on a wild spawn chase.” Then the trap sprung. They were good, I’ve got to give them that. Kalikai wasn’t the only one with a few tricks up her sleeve, and this ambush definitely felt like one of Morgfyre’s specialities. We never felt the vice close, but streams of power suddenly flowered around us, enveloping us in a coruscating bubble of fire and ice. “What’s the meaning of this?” I yelled, gamely pushing against the barrier. Thirteen figures manifested in a ring around us. They were dressed in voluminous robes and wearing masks. Of course, we knew who a few were. Fain was the one in the red mask, while Lisaera wore the silver mask. We could guess that the one in gold and black stylised like a ferocious tiger was Morgfyre. “Did I hear someone mention Xyl?” asked Fain, hidden behind his mask. “What’d we happen upon? A masked ball?” I answered. “Well, well,” Fain said, his voice venomous and harsh. “Igaso, isn’t it?” “Aye,” I answered. “And who be you?” “I’ll ask the questions,” he said coldly, “What are you doing here?” We stared at each other for several moments. Then, I shrugged and said, “What’s it matter? Xyl was testing a planar entropic modulator which is supposed to scan the outer cosmic planes for excoroperditio vibrations.” “You’re searching for the Soulless ones?” said the figure behind a midnight blue mask. “The Soulless have never been on the outer planes. Why search for them here now?” “Don’t know. I just follow orders.” “It’s a trap,” said Morgfyre, pulling off his mask. “We should kill them quickly and then disperse.” I didn’t like the sound of that. Morgfyre was looking at me with golden eyes that shimmered with desire. No, not desire. Hunger. And was it just me or did his face tremble as though it were made of putty? “Let’s not be rash,” said the Silver Mask. That was Lisaera, our insider. Good, we had hope. “They may know something. They must be interrogated.” “I said I smell a trap!” hissed Morgfyre. “Sorry, my dear,” said Fain to Lisaera. “But I trust Morgfyre’s intuition in these matters. Something is definitely wrong. They must disappear quickly.” “And waste not, want not, no?” said a sultry voice from the lavender mask. “All that lovely essence they hold. And I’m so hungry.” Okay, this wasn’t going exactly as I had in mind. They were suggesting eating us, weren’t they? That’s what it sounded like to me. Ologri, Braun and Panamandius seemed to agree, for I felt their unease growing through the bonds of the formation. Oh, Quarilia, my love, is this what happened to you? The energy web around us began to close as the twelve masked figures — Lisaera held back — stepped towards us. I couldn’t believe how much power they were bringing to bear. It would rip us into a hundred pieces. But Kali prepped us for just such a scenario. Sometimes I wondered if she could see into the future. Just as the energy web rushed in a final contraction, we detonated the reservoir of energy carried within our formation. As the explosion ripped into the masked figures, we rode the backlash back to our anchor point. “We got them!” said Ologri, his green eyes glowing. “Don’t get your hopes up,” I said. Flares of energy shot up into the sky from where the explosion emanated, streaming straight towards us. We didn’t have time to do much but raise some shields. As the streams wrapped around us, thirteen figures rose up into the sky and came flying towards us. We had no time to rebuild a reservoir or drop another anchor, so that trick was used up. Looked like an old fashioned brawl with odds that didn’t favour us. The traitors began to descend upon us, twelve darkly glimmering figures shooting towards us like angry comets. The thirteenth figure was Lisaera, who hung back. This looked grim but we bolstered and prepared to meet their deadly formation. Just then a portal opened up before us. The twelve figures slowed down and hung back. Kalikai was framed within the portal, smoking a pipe. She looked at me and winked, and I felt a tiny tweak between us. The deep bond dissolved, having done its work by leading her to us. “Kalikai, aye!” we yelled. “We’re your Crimson Eyes!” At the head of the traitors’ formation was Morgfyre, his face contorted in rage. He blasted Kalikai with a stream of balefire. Surprise registered briefly upon Kalikai’s face before she was engulfed in a white hot sphere that blazed with a furious incandescence, enough to obliterate mountains. When the glow died down, she stood there with her head cocked, still smoking her pipe. “Morgpie!” Kalikai laughed, “Is that all you’ve got?” As Kalikai pushed forward, it became clear that she was at the tip of a massive formation, which had absorbed the blast and siphoned off the power. Other warriors followed behind her, hundreds strong. “Retreat!” seethed Morgfyre. “I told you it was a trap!” But when the traitors tried to open their own portals to escape, they found themselves flailing in the air. They snarled and turned around like a caged beast, but already Kalikai’s formation was spreading out around them, locking them in an impenetrable field. “Can’t leave?” asked Kalikai jovially. “It’s a dimensional scrambler, at least that’s what Xyl and Roark call it. Fancy, ain’t it? Oh, you may be able to eventually break through, given time, but, Morgpie, time ain’t something you got in abundance.” That ended the battle. The traitors knew they were defeated and let themselves be bound. Just as we were making sure they could be transported safely, a flash of blue light exploded near the open portal. “I got it!” shouted someone triumphantly. We looked over and found the voice belonged to Roark of the Fifth Circle, who stood proudly over a cage of flashing colours. Inside was the small Soulless One known as Nemach. “This was an experimental trap,” explained Roark. “My theory was that a hyper-attenuated immanidivinus field could force the excoroperditio aura around a Soulless One to manifest and its power siphoned back in on itself, creating a permanent prison. Of course, it wouldn’t work on the larger Soulless Ones, but…” “Let me go!” screamed Nemach, smashing himself against the cage. “I know you now, one called Roark! I know you! I have watched you from the folds between space and know your secrets.” Blinking in surprise, Roark stepped back, clearly shaken by the ranting of Nemach the Soulless. The cage wobbled and trembled as Nemach turned into a swirling mass of black smoke. “I know what you have done to my kind!” screeched Nemach. “I know what your secrets! My destiny will be to destroy you, devour you, unmake you!” Quickly adjusting dials on the top of the cage, Roark caused a field of scintillating static to engulf Nemach, silencing it within the cage. I never thought to see the normally stoic Roark to look so unsettled. What secrets did Nemach know about Roark? Well, I recalled earlier in the wars, he had worked on immanidivinus rifts in aetherspace at the same time some of the smaller Soulless Ones disappeared and Roark suddenly stopped his projects. Was there a connection? Sometimes it’s best to let things lie. “You did good,” I said to Roark. “And don’t worry, we’ll make sure this one never bothers you.” Roark nodded uncertainly and let others transport Nemach off the Vortex Plane, followed by the twelve traitors, bound and unmasked. As he was being led away, Fain noticed that Lisaera wasn’t bound; rather, she was rather standing next to Meridian and Elfenehoala. At first, he was confused but then realisation began to flash across his face. “What have you done, Lisaera?” Fain yelled. “You have doomed us all! We could have defeated the Soulless! You and I would have ruled the cosmos side-by-side! But you betrayed us! You betrayed our love!” “You are the traitor, Fain,” Lisaera said softly, held protectively by Elfenehoala. “I only did what must have been done.” “You will pay for this, Lisaera,” Fain said coldly. “You will regret what you did here today.” Turning her back on him, Lisaera walked away with Elfenehoala shooting Fain a venomous glare. Meridian folded his arms and stared at Fain, as though challenging him. “I won’t forget you either, Meridian!” Fain yelled. “Or your part in this, Elfenehoala! All of you will pay for this deed! All of you! Do you hear me! You’ll pay!” Those were Fain’s last words before he passed through the portal. The traitors were taken to Mount Dynara, the tallest mountain on the first world, which stood over an enormous basin. Mount Dynara was more than just a mountain but was the focal point of the energies of Lusternia, the heart of the First World as it was sometimes called. We used it often as the base of our operations because it held such power. Indeed, Xyl had created his towers atop it to tap into its potential. Thus, it was here we were able to hold the Twelve Traitors, as they came to be called, in a stasis field deep within the mountain. A Triumvirate was formed to investigate the Twelve Traitors. A Triumvirate always consisted of three members of the Third Circle, specially chosen for their wisdom to be arbiters for crimes amongst the Elders. The Third Circle had two branches, the hamadhi who were the healers and caretakers of the half-formed, and the deep meditators, who were rarely seen but rather spent their time contemplating the mysteries of the multiverse. It was generally from this latter group that individuals were chosen to be on a Triumvirate. There were only five other times in our history that a Triumvirate was formed. It took several days for the Third Circle to choose the Triumvirate for this trial. First was Hoaracle the Forest Dreamer. Before the war, he spent his days wandering from forest to forest, taking root in each for centuries, meditating upon the life within. He looked ancient, with a mossy green beard, and brown skin creased and weathered like old bark. It was said that during his deep meditations, you couldn’t be able to discern him from the trees around. Second was Mysrai of the Mysterium. We were never sure of Mysrai’s true form, for Mysrai changed gender, weight and height as though they were clothes. The only constant were Mysrai’s eyes which were always enormous pools of darkness within which flickered a field of shifting constellations, as though you were looking into the vastness of space. Rumour had it that Mysrai wasn’t even a stargod, but rather was one of the ancient primal gods who had the ability to change shape. I recall asking Mysrai once what his or her true form was, but Mysrai only laughed and said, in that weird, echoing voice, that any who saw the true form of Mysrai went mad. For the Triumvirate, Mysrai appeared to be a short, shapely female with long aubergine hair tied back in a fierce knot, and swathed in a robe that shifted from colour to colour. Third and last was Jadice of the Ice Plains. Rarely seen, she secluded herself in the deep wastes of the north, among the ice and snow. She was the enigmatic sister of Xyl. But where Xyl was opaque, she was clear, Where Xyl was angular, she was smooth. Her eyes were glowing gemstones, hard and cold, and her movements were oddly slow, like ice melting and reforming. For several weeks, the Triumvirate investigated the Twelve Traitors. They interviewed Elders from every circle. At times, we found them visiting sites across the First World. They tracked down associations and made inquiries. Finally, they announced that they were ready to pass sentence on the Twelve Traitors. We gathered on the top of Mount Dynara, surrounded by the towers of Xyl. The Triumvirate sat on a raised dais, Jadice in the center with Mysrai on her right and Hoaracle on her left. Below them the Twelve Traitors had been brought up, bound by glowing bands of power. Every Elder was in attendance, whispering among each other. I stood with the Crimson Eyes. Even Kalikai looked sadly sober for this event. “Judgment has been decided,” Jadice said, her crystalline voice sharp and clear. “Bring forward Fain.” Still wearing his Red Mask, Fain was lifted up to stand before the Triumvirate. Hajamin and Terentia were on either side of him. He stood proud and regal, defiant to the last. Jadice simply stared at him. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/JADICEICE.jpg)“First and foremost, there is Fain of the First Circle,” said Jadice. “You are accused of willfully ignoring the clear directive of the Elders to cease production of the Forbidden Elixir. Further, not only did you coerce members of the Fifth Circle to continue production of the Forbidden Elixir but you, yourself, imbibed it, perverting your own nature. The consuming of the Forbidden Elixir is hereinafter called a Rite of Abomination. And as if that wasn’t enough, you recruited Elders to your cause, conspiring with them to subvert every Elder Circle to your ambitions by introducing them to the Rite of Abomination. Further, you have trafficked with the Soulless One known as Nemach, feeding it the essence of the Elders in return for its own essence in order to create more of the Forbidden Elixir. Finally, our investigations revealed you have murdered or caused to have murdered other Elders who refused to join your conspiracy, their essence being used as another Rite of Abomination. We judge you guilty on all accounts and sentence you to exile. From within the fulcrux of Mount Dynara, the Fifth Circle has built a portal which will jettison you so deep into the Void that you will be lost within darkness forever and ever. Do you have any last words?” “I do,” growled Fain. “Remove your mask first,” said Mysrai, whose voice weirdly echoed around us. At a nod from Mysrai, Terentia made to remove Fain’s mask, but he jerked away. With a gesture, Fain waved a hand before his own face and the mask faded into nothingness, revealing his handsome features. “That is not the face of Fain!” yelled Krokano from the audience. “Step forward, Krokano,” said Hoaracle, his voice a low grumble like rocks rolling in a stream. “What do you mean that is not his face?” “May I approach the prisoner?” asked Krokano, his huge one eye shining with preternatural light. “You may.” Rising up before Fain, who glared at him, Krokano passed his hand in front of Fain’s face. Fain’s face shimmered and the mask reappeared. There were murmurs from the audience. Did Krokano just put the mask back on Fain? “It is his face that is an illusion,” said Krokano. “This mask is not a mask but his true face. Look upon the true face of Fain!” “Your outer form reflects your inner self now,” said Mysrai. “A fascinating and oddly poetic side effect.” “It is a small price to pay!” yelled Fain. “We did all we did to win the war against the Soulless! And we almost succeeded! Banish us now and you will doom all of creation!” But Fain’s words fell on deaf ears. We were all stunned by how he had transformed. Next, Jadice called forward Raezon and Gheasia. Dressed in matching midnight blue robes, they held hands, but that was the extent of their emotions. Their pale faces were impassive. Hoaracle placed several powerful weapons and artifacts on the table before them. “Next, we have the creators of the Forbidden Elixir, Raezon and Gheasia of the Fifth Circle,” said Jadice. “From the beginning, you have joined Fain in the conspiracy to disregard the directive of the Elders in producing the Forbidden Elixir. You have partaken in the Rites of Abomination, imbibing the essence of both Soulless and Elders. Our investigations have uncovered other creations which were never reported to the Elders and used to further the aim of the conspiracy. Some of these items include what you seen on the table here: the Singoah Weaponry, armaments fuelled by the essence of the Soulless; the Hyringex Collar, an artefact used to trap and hold Elders; the Morokeche Seat, apparently used to torture Elders; and other suspect corrupt instruments whose purpose we have yet to determine. We judge you guilty on all accounts and sentence you to exile into the Void.” Next, the Triumvirate called the five who were warriors of the Twelve Traitors. I was ashamed that the greatest number who had supported Fain came from my own Circle, but then again, I was not too surprised as the Second Circle had been most vociferous in their support of Fain from the beginning. “The conspiracy included several from the Second Circle,” said Jadice. “You five warriors have together become known as the Dark Cadre. First among you is Morgfyre the Merciless, the leader and tactician, who by all accounts has consumed more essence of Soulless and Elders than any other in the conspiracy. The rest of the Dark Cadre include: Thax the Machine whose form has been so altered by Malmydia that he is all but unrecognisable; Ivanko the Cruel who by all reports has delighted in torture and causing pain; Slaay the Hidden, named thus for we are just beginning to uncover the full extent of his spying and other clandestine activities; and, finally, Bloody Gruenella, whose penchant for pure destruction and mayhem is without bounds. Together, the Dark Cadre has subverted military operations for their own agenda, including isolating individual or small groups of Elders for either recruitment purposes or, more likely, to feed on them. We judge you guilty on all accounts and sentence you to exile into the Void.” The Dark Cadre roared then and tried to break free, but the bonds held them tightly. Next, Malmydia was called forth. She was of the Triumvirate’s own circle. If they had any sympathy for her, they did not show it. She was the plainest of the Twelve, her hair tied back in a simple bun and wearing a plain grey dress. Her eyes were lowered and lips pressed together tightly. “Malmydia of the Third Circle, you are charged with joining the conspiracy and participating in the Rites of Abomination,” said Jadice. “You are also charged with grotesque medical experimentations using the essence of the Soulless, culminating in the complete transformation of Thax the Machine. While performing your experiments, you have exhibited acts of extreme cruelty upon many Elders, and in the course of those experiments you have mutilated Fininkora the Fair and are suspected of killing at least three others for their essence. Further, investigation has revealed in your laboratories the creation of several diseases maliciously created to debilitate and harm the Elders. We judge you guilty on all accounts and sentence you to exile into the Void.” Next, they brought forth Manteekan, one of the Awakeners. He was tall and thin, draped in white robes and with flowing white hair. His pale eyes were like shards of ice. His long fingered hands trembled slightly as he bowed to Jadice. “Jadice, my dear,” Manteekan said softly. “I hope for the sake of our past that you will look temper your judgment against me.” For the first time, Jadice showed emotion as her features briefly blurred, like light glancing off a glacier. But she simply inclined her head towards Manteekan. “Because of our time on the Plains of Ice, I have recused myself from passing judgment on you,” she said. “Manteekan of the Sixth Circle,” said Mysrai. “You are charged with participating in the Rites of Abomination and, further, using the Forbidden Elixir in your awakenings, creating twisted beings, such as the banshee, grimalkin, redcaps, bogies, barghest, agropelters, hodekin, gumberoos, spriggans, whimpuses, tripoderos, snow wassets, slaugh and squonks. A council of the Sixth Circle will convene to choose which of these twisted fae are salvageable and which shall be entombed deep underground in eternal sleep. You are also accused of subverting the fae of the Icewynderkyl Forest, causing the entire forest to become corrupted and lost. We judge you guilty on all accounts and sentence you to exile into the Void.” As Manteekan was led away, Blooredi of the Seventh Circle was brought forward. Though I never knew him well, he seemed to be as changed as Fain. Grotesquely huge and hulking, his skin was a green bubbly hide and his head was so massive that the weight of it caused him to hunch forward. His massive jaws were distended, revealing curved teeth. He drooled heedlessly and his eyes were small beady red orbs. “Our investigations reveal that Blooredi of the Seventh Circle was not recruited but rather sought out Fain,” said Jadice, “to acquire the Forbidden Elixir and engaging in the Rites of Abomination. You have created or corrupted a host of creatures, notably including scorpions, crocodiles, several varieties of snakes and spiders, and many of the saurian beasts. The council of the Seventh Circle has pledged to reform all these creatures, or to isolate them in hidden sanctuaries if rehabilitation fails. It is also understood that you helped Malmydia with the development of diseases, perverting plants and animals into carriers of plague. We judge you guilty on all accounts and sentence you to exile into the Void.” ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/DrocillaContemplate.png)The last of the Twelve Traitors was then brought up. Drocilla was of the Fourth Circle, and none of us were clear exactly what her crimes were. What could an Elder from the artist circle do? She was strikingly beautiful, her hair a hundred shades of burnished gold. Her skin was a tawny tan, and her luscious red lips were slightly parted, revealing snow white teeth. Her lavender eyes were huge, and her body was curvy and voluptuous. She stroked the hollow of her neck, and the scent of spices and musk drifted through the air. The interest of the Elders was palpable as everyone leaned in towards her. “Finally, Drocilla of the Fourth Circle, you stand accused with the others of engaging in the Rites of Abomination,” said Jadice who had to pause when Drocilla sighed heavily. “Although we cannot find firm evidence, it is speculated that you had a hand in the disappearance of several Elders, including Havi, Quarilia, Morshaq, Li-varili and the entire Blue Hand cadre. Indeed, we are most concerned that there is a swath of Elders who evidently met with you but have no recollection of these meetings. It is troublesome that you have left of trail of Elders with apparent amnesia and faulty memories. We judge you guilty at least for engaging in the Rites of Abomination and on that evidence alone, sentence you to exile into the Void.” Quarilia? She was responsible for Quarilia disappearing? Perhaps for her death? Quarilia was the heart of my heart. Drocilla was responsible. My face turned hot with rage as I stepped forward but Drocilla’s beauty was so great that it hurt. She stood there with her hands clasped at her breasts. “I am innocent,” said Drocilla breathlessly. She turned to look beseechingly at everyone crowded around her. “We are all innocent. These alleged crimes are all either falsehoods, gross exaggerations or, at the most, misunderstandings. Please, you cannot banish us for trying to win this war! Fain has been a compassionate and fearless leader who sought only what was best for us. Please, listen to me! Let us go! Free us! I beg of you!” Of course, we couldn’t banish Drocilla, could we? How could we be so blind? She stood before us, the epitome of innocence. She was innocent, right? Something nagged at the back of my thoughts. Drocilla was so beautiful. Even the Triumvirate was nodding together. Some of the Elders had begun chanting, “Free them!” The scent of spices and musk was so strong that everything seemed to move in a haze. But there was something I was forgetting. Quarilia, my love. I could not forget Quarilia, the heart of my hearts. And Drocilla was responsible. It took great effort, but I shook off the languor that was enveloping me. Gritting my teeth, I walked forward. Drocilla looked beseechingly at me, her liquid eyes threatening to drown me in their intensity. She smiled softly as I stood before her, lifting her arms as if expecting me to untie her bonds. “LIAR!” I screamed, filling my voice with the power of immanidivanis. “You killed Quarilia! You deserve to be banished! You are a traitor to everything we believe!” And just like that, Drocilla’s spell was shattered. Looking at her again, it was as if a veil had been lifted from our eyes. Her hair was simply pale and her skin sallow. Her lips were the colour of liver and her eyes shone with cruelty. Did I really just think moments ago that her beauty knew no bounds? Drocilla snarled and turned around, seeing the shocked faces on the audience. She pressed her lips together, then smoothed out her features, stroking the hollow of her throat. The scent of spices and musk began to fill the air again. “You are right, Igaso,” Drocilla breathed, though she did not look at me. “Perhaps Fain did lead me astray. Perhaps the others did commit crimes. But I am innocent! Banish them if you must, but free me!” Suddenly there was a loud thunderous clap that shook us all. Drocilla cried out, clawing at a black collar that had suddenly appeared, clasped around her throat. Before her, Jadice was holding a black sphere. “Enough,” said Jadice. “Drocilla, I have bound you with an object designed by Raezon and Gheasia. The Hyringex Collar will stifle your access to power. And this,” she held up the black sphere, “is the only key that will unlock the collar. You may be the most dangerous of the Twelve Traitors for the powers you’ve developed, and therefore you shall be forever restrained.” “Let her go! Free Drocilla!” shouted an Elder in the audience. Braun, Shikari, Tauro, Placia, Charune and others began taking up the chant. “Free Drocilla! Free Drocilla!” “Quiet!” shouted Hoaracle. “Obviously, Drocilla’s influence is stronger than we imagined and has been embedded in several of you. I do not trust where this will lead us. Let me hide the Hyringex Key so none will ever find it. No one knows the deep, hidden places of the First World better than I.” Jadice looked at Mysrai who nodded, and then she handed the Hyringex Key to Hoaracle, who glared at Drocilla as the key disappeared within the folds of his robes of leaves. The Twelve Traitors were brought together, and we led them deep into the recesses of Mount Dynara. The Fifth Circle had prepared a portal to the Void, a swirling plane of darkness. One by one, the Traitors were sent into the Void, so deep and far, that they would never be able to return to the First World. Nemach the Soulless followed them soon after. Never before had such a punishment been meted out, and afterwards there was an emptiness in the air among us. Did we lose the greatest Elders of all the circles? I don’t know. Certainly, they gave us an edge in our war against the Soulless Ones. Fain’s ruthlessness. Morgfyre’s brilliance. It was clear even to me that they had turned the tide. Could we learn from them? The Crimson Eyes met afterwards to drink firemead and just to be together. I drained my firemead and slammed the empty tankard on the table. My eyes met the eyes of Kalikai, which were blurry and sad. She knew. We all knew. This was no victory. This was banishing a part of ourselves, a part that had become sick and twisted. I drank some more, trying not to think. Thankfully, I’m just a soldier, a warrior without ambition. I don’t need to make decisions, I don’t need to think. I just follow orders. What small comfort there was to that, I reached for it and drank again. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Elfenehoala](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-elfenehoala/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Elfenehoala #### Part 1 #### Part 2 ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/elfen.jpg)The screams of the dying fae filled the air, causing the Maeve Consciousness to roar in fury and to channel ethereal power towards the latest attack on the Serynwodenhillirim. I could sense the energies of Spirit Moon and the White Hart buttressing the Maeve’s protective shield that surrounded the plants and animals of the forest. “No, Elfie,” said my sister Lisaera, holding my arm. I had not even realised I had begun striding towards the ethereal fold of the Serynwodenhillirim. Heated words bubbled up from my bosom but died in my throat as I looked into Lisaera’s eyes and saw the pain and fear reflected there. Both of us had been the principals in awakening Spirit Moon, one of the greatest Sixth Circle accomplishments we did together. If anyone knew how I felt, it was Lisaera. On my other side, Charune laid one of his enormous hands on my shoulder. His eyes too reflected anxiety. White Hart had manifested from the group consciousness of Charune’s own Seventh Circle creations, and White Hart, along with Spirit Moon, was also tied as a spiritual protector of the Serynwodenhillirim. “We need to see if the defences of the Maeve and the Greater Spirits can protect the forest without us,” said Charune softly. “We must see how long they can hold.” I nodded numbly, understanding that we needed to test how strong the forests were when anchored to the Maeve Consciousness and buttressed by the Great Spirits. This was the third attack this week. I looked around at those of us gathered here, mostly those of the Sixth and Seventh Circle, along with Aslarn, who was intently monitoring the Maeve Consciousness as her personality solidified into the collective consciousness of the fae. Viravain suddenly cried out in pain, and I saw her and Nocht clutching each other. The attack must have spread to Glorianalefehlora. Next to them, Tae bellowed in anger and pain, but was held back by a very distraught Bollikin. So another attack on Ackeleheliorna. I realised that the entire Basin of Life was under attack. This was troubling as the Basin, which covered over a third of First World, was not only protected geographically by strong mountain ranges but further defended by the greatest magics woven by all the Circles. Even beyond that, the Basin was in the shadow of Mount Dynara, upon which stood the House of Xyl, and which held the pulse of the First World itself. As the battle on the prime material plane continued, the experiments of Manteekan of the Sixth were let loose. Manteekan was a member of our own circle who had recently taken to awakening lesser spirits, and then moulding them specifically to battle the Soulless. Many of us were troubled by his awakenings, for they were dark and twisted things. The Maeve Collective resisted assimilating them but they did seem to help repel the Soulless attacks. I felt a wave of these creations, the banshee, grimalkin, redcaps, and bogies swarm throughout the Serynwodenhillirim. The tall thin figure of Manteekan, dressed in flowing white robes that matched his bone white hair, paced around the Maeve, yelling at her to use more of the barghest, hodekin, spriggans, slaugh and squonks. The Maeve shuddered but eventually did as ordered. I couldn’t help wondering if after this war – if there was an after – we would need to put Manteekan’s dark creations down. Surely they were too unstable to exist outside of war. The Maeve continued to rage, pulling energies from other forests across Lusternia, sending them to buttress the battling greater and lesser spirits. The attack finally ebbed, and we all breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the Soulless must have finally been repelled. Aslarn released us to aid the forests. He was stoic and strong, though we could not help but wonder how much he hurt within. His favored jungle, Jojobo, was outside the Basin and was subject to countless attacks. I wondered how long Jojobo could last. Spirit Sun, one of the guardian spirits of Jojobo, remained in stasis, and the other guardian spirit, Great Lion, was still in mourning for the recent loss of his creator, Lorella of the Seventh Circle. Aslarn spent much of his time personally overseeing Jojobo. As I hurried to offer aid to Spirit Moon, I was surprised that Lisaera wasn’t at my side. For weeks now, Lisaera had become more and more remote. I knew something was bothering her greatly, but I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t confiding in me. Perhaps it was the oppressive atmosphere that weighed on all of us. At least, the atmosphere burdened me. Still, she should be there to help me channel domotheon energies through Spirit Moon. When I returned to the Fields of the Maeve, the others reported that, though the attack was focused on the Basin of Life, the forests held up remarkably well. As we each reported, Aslarn nodded and smiled, though his tired eyes told another story. “Good. Good,” said Aslarn. “Such be what we wanted of the forests. And how be faring the Maeve?” “The Maeve is forming extremely well,” said Bollikin shakily. “We couldn’t have asked for a better result. None of us could foresee the consequences of the fae spirits forming a collective, but the conscious is individuating remarkably fast. The more she handles the attacks on the forests, the stronger she gets in uniting the fae and channelling the guardian spirits, though I daresay the personality she’s forming tends to be a bit domineering and regal.” “Manteekan,” Aslarn turned to the tall thin Sixth, “your new awakenings do be seeming to be able to withstand more of the Soulless attacks than many of the other fae. Do you be pleased?” “Aye,” said Manteekan, rubbing his long, needle-like fingers together. “They resist as well as I expected. They are still young though, these spirits, and I expect them to become stronger and more deadly as they mature.” I shuddered at that. I barely recognised Manteekan these days, he seemed more emaciated than I had remembered. Though he was always pale, it seemed as though he was fading to an almost translucent white. And those awakenings of his! I could not imagine where he even began to find the raw spiritual energies that formed them. “It’s well enough that the forest defences held,” I said. “But this was an attack across all the Basin. How bad must it be on the prime?” Fairly bad, as it turned out. Eventually, the wounded began arriving to be treated by the hamadhi at the healing mounds. Igaso of the Second Circle reported to Aslarn that several Seconds had fallen during this last attack. Before we could finish mourning the latest casualties, Maeve’s furious roar began again, and I nearly succumbed to despair. The Soulless never tired, and we became weaker and weaker. But the cycle of attacks continued and went on and on. The hamadhi began to fall in exhaustion as the wounded Seconds kept coming in, with terrible injuries to their bodies and souls. The days began blurring around me, and I kept worrying about Lisaera who continued to disappear for longer and longer periods of time. But I never found the chance to confront her as the daily chaos kept sweeping everything else to the back of my mind. Though the guardian spirits and the Maeve Consciousness greatly protected the forests, we found we had to help them more and more. Those of us in the Fields of the Maeve were so often overwhelmed, that despair hung in the air as a continually palatable presence. Thus, I was so focused on our own problems in the fields that I wasn’t quite aware when the tide of war began to turn in our favour. The attacks must have gradually lessened over time, but I think we were all too isolated to notice. I guess it was when Blooredi created a new species which formed a collective greater spirit that it began to dawn on me that we were suddenly winning battles, or at least not losing so badly. I was never very close to Blooredi, and I rarely saw him in the Fields of the Maeve. After all, none of his animal creations had ever before formed a great spirit, which is the apex of achievement for those of the Seventh Circle. I had just assumed he was supporting the Second Circle in the main fight, as many of the other circles were. However, one day when there was a lull in the attacks, Blooredi burst into the glade with an almost manic expression of triumph on his face. “I did it!” he shouted, thumping his chest. “You all thought I couldn’t do it! But I did! A great spirit has manifested from my newest creation!” There was immediate applause from the Seventh Circle members, from Tae slapping Blooredi on the back to Viravain and Nocht oohing and ahhing to Bollikin dancing in a circle and clapping his hands. The rest of us couldn’t help but smile. I never realised how ugly Blooredi was. Was his complexion always covered in a mottled piebald pattern? Certainly, he was ganglier and larger than I recalled. But his joy at manifesting a great spirit made his homely countenance suddenly cheerful. “Well, introduce your spirit to us!” exclaimed Bollikin. “Where did she go?” Blooredi growled, then spun around and grabbed something that was hiding behind a tree. “Ah, here she is! My greatest creation! Spirit Scorpion!” Before us stood a hunched figure wrapped in a dark cloak with a hood pulled over her face. Irritated, Blooredi grabbed the back of the hood and pulled it down so we could see the face of Spirit Scorpion. Did I mention that Blooredi was not exactly attractive? Well, compared to this Spirit Scorpion, he was gorgeous. The spirit was painfully thin and her body was tortuously twisted. Her scaly skin was so wrinkled, that it hung in puckered folds like melted wax. Completely bald, she had a misshapen forehead, a lipless mouth and hooded red eyes. There was a stunned silence as we stared at her. She trembled under our gaze. “Oi! She’s an ugly one,” blurted Tae undiplomatically. “What on earth is a scorpion?” asked Bollikin quickly. “While you have been cozy here in the ethereal,” said Blooredi, casting a contemptuous glare at Tae, “some of us have been battling the Soulless. I personally created the scorpions to battle the Soulless themselves.” Blooredi snapped his fingers several times, and a pair of menacing creatures appeared before him. They came up to his waist and had long armoured, multi-legged bodies. Two enormous, razor edged claws jutted out but these were eclipsed by a huge armoured tail, the end of which held a stinger that dripped poison. There was a collective gasp from all of us. “Beautiful, aren’t they,” said Blooredi proudly, interpreting our collective repugnance as a compliment. “They produce a variety of poisons, some of which have been useful against the Soulless. They’ve been sent out already to help buttress the Second Circle. And now, with a Great Spirit, you can guess how much more useful they’ll be!” “Amazing,” whispered Bollikin, ignoring the scorpions and approaching their collective consciousness, Spirit Scorpion, who was now trembling terribly. “Are you alright, dear one? Be not afraid. We are all your friends here.” “I do not wish to fight,” she rasped, her voice barely audible. “What’s this?” shouted Blooredi. “Of course, you’ll fight! I created you to fight!” “I do not wish to fight,” she repeated, drawing her cloak tighter around her. “You will do as I say,” seethed Blooredi, his face purpling in rage. “I created you, and if I say you will fight, you will damn well fight.” Spirit Scorpion backed away from Blooredi, which only infuriated him more. I think we were all shocked when he reached out to grab her, and she ducked out of his grasp and did a backflip away from him. Feeble she may have looked, but she was certainly fast. She drew up her hood and raced away. “Come back here, damn you!” screamed Blooredi, rage warring with embarrassment. “Bloo,” whispered Bollikin soothingly. “She is newly formed, a child herself. Give her time to get to know you.” “How dare she defy me!” growled Blooredi. “None of your great spirits defy you!” “We don’t force them to do anything they don’t want,” said Viravain softly. “But they obey you!” Blooredi said. “I have seen all of you throw it in my face often enough.” “That’s not fair, Bloo,” said Bollikin. “We are only happy to see you have created a Great Spirit. If our spirits obey us at all, it is only because they love us.” “Bah!” said Blooredi, turning to stare where Spirit Scorpion had disappeared to. “She’ll do as I say or she will pay.” With that, Blooredi stomped off to find Spirit Scorpion. We broke apart into smaller groups, discussing these new creatures that Blooredi had created, who were strong enough in spirit to form a collective consciousness. Bollikin kept shaking his head and pacing next to Tae and Charune, and I wandered over to hear what they were saying. “I just do not understand,” Bollikin said. “He’s never created anything remotely as powerful as those scorpions. Did you feel their lifeforce?” “Not as strong as my bears,” said Tae defensively. “Maybe not,” said Charune, “but even Viravain who is a master of creating venomous creatures could not create anything that would affect the Soulless, at least not in such a short time.” “And the intelligence in that Great Spirit Scorpion!” said Bollikin. “I don’t think I’ve ever sensed anything quite like it.” “She was smart enough to run away from Bloo anyway,” said Tae bluntly. No one could argue with that, and I drifted away from the conversation. As the days went on, that was when it became clear that we were actually winning the war. Reports of enormous successes by certain Second Circle cadres filtered down to us. The Third Circle were coming up with ingenious new ways to use domotheon energies as weapons. The hamadhi were suddenly making great advances in healing what used to be debilitating afflictions. And, even though Great Spirit Scorpion was a reluctant participant, Blooredi was able to use her to produce deadly toxins that could coat the weapons of the Second Circle. And we couldn’t forget the success of the Manteekan’s strange awakenings. Such a change in fortune was almost too good to be true. And, of course, it was too good to be true. Lisaera finally spoke to me. “You must come with me,” she said to me one day as I was enjoying a small respite from the battles. Lisaera did not appear well; her eyes were hooded and she looked haggard. I tried to ask her what was wrong, but she shushed me and beckoned me to follow her. Alarmed, I held my tongue and let her take me out of the ethereal plane. We travelled through several elemental planes, and Lisaera would occasionally stop and send her senses out, looking to see if we were being followed, before continuing. I lost track of how many elemental folds we passed in and out of, but then we started rising higher into the cosmic vibrations. Lisaera had never indicated any interest in the cosmic planes, which left me even more anxious about why we were here. Just before our final jump, Lisaera stopped and turned to me, holding onto my hands tightly in hers. “Elfie,” she said, “when was the last time you met with Fain? Has he approached you recently?” “Your beloved Fain?” I asked, confused. “I have not seen him in some time, Lisaera. Surely you don’t suspect he and I…” “No, no!” Lisaera said, a hint of a smile on her lips. “Not that, no.” Looking deeper into my eyes, Lisaera nodded to herself and drew me forward. Her hands trembled but her eyes glowed with determination. She made a final fold into the cosmic planes, and we arrived at our destination. I later learned the name of this crèche was called the Continuum. It was one of the dead planes, called so because Dynara’s creations there had risen up to become Elders and abandoned their creche. I suppose there was a beauty to the sharp symmetric angles and smooth reflective surfaces, but I found it to be a cold and hard place. Lisaera led me down through the strange spiralling crystalline corridors, to finally exit into a large room with an enormous crystal floating in the centre. And we were not alone. Several other Elders were there, looking as though they had been using this as a base of operations for some time. Meridian seemed to be in charge, but others of the First Circle surrounded him, including Zvoltz, Aslarn and Eventru. Roark and Xyl, both of the Fifth Circle, were overseeing the enormous floating crystal. The rest were all of the warrior caste. Three members of the Golden Ones, Krokano, Terentia and Hajamin, were at Meridian’s side. Also there was the entire Second Circle cadre known as the Crimson Eyes, which included Kalikai, Igaso, Ologri, Braun and Panamandius. The only one of the Crimson Eyes not there was Oovanti, the brother-mate to Ologri, but then I recalled that he was one of the earliest casualties in the war. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Kalikai.jpg)The Crimson Eyes sat around a crystalline table, with expressions ranging from apprehensive to bored. They were notable because of their sheer size and bulk. Kalikai was at the head of the table, and I had forgotten how monstrously large she was, with dark reddish-brown skin and a fiery head of red hair that was chopped haphazardly short and stuck up at all angles. She was fairly sprawled across her chair, with her feet hiked up on the table as she smoked a large black pipe. Amid the pipe’s acrid purple fumes was the stink of firemead, which she drank from an enormous tankard. Firemead was brewed by Dracnoris and very few could handle its intoxicating effects. I had to weave a quick protection against those fumes before they made me ill. “What is going on?” I asked, a terrible premonition making me shudder. Meridian walked over to me and then looked towards Lisaera who nodded at him. “There is something you must know,” said Meridian. “For some time now, Fain has been secretly carrying on with his project to create an elixir from the essence of the Soulless.” “Are you sure?” “Krokano brought us some compelling proof and we have been watching him and gathering evidence. Of course, we realized he was recruiting other Elders so we needed to find a way to identify who were his followers. We needed someone to enter his service undercover. Someone he could trust completely.” “Lisaera!” I whispered, shocked. My sister looked away from me but nodded. “I wouldn’t believe it was true when Meridian first approached me,” said Lisaera. “But then I noticed Fain was acting so secretive. Eventually I pressed him to tell me what he was doing. At first, he told me he was just doing research, simply studying the results of the elixir on Orlachmar. But then he admitted he had been creating more of the elixir.” “When was this?” I asked. “Some time ago,” said Lisaera. “But he has only recently trusted me enough to offer for me to become an initiate into his mysteries. At least that’s what he calls it. I think initially he didn’t want me to be a part of it but, as time has gone on, his heart has grown harder.” “So now you are an initiate?” “I will be soon. He will take me to a clandestine meeting with his conspirators and it will be the first time I will be introduced to them.” “It is critical we find out who follows Fain,” said Meridian. “There could be hundreds for all we know. We are sure that everyone here has not been compromised, but Fain’s elaborate precautions prevent us from uncovering the rest.” “We should have stopped him sooner,” growled Aslarn. “We should have,” agreed Eventru, who spread his hands and looked away. “But some of us wanted to see if Fain’s plan would work, what the results would be.” “There were many sudden successes in the war,” said Zvoltz defensively. He was a member of the First Circle, with glittering, cold eyes, who had initially supported Fain. “Surely you noticed! Battles were suddenly being won. Those who showed little aptitude in their work suddenly made great strides.” “Blooredi,” I gasped. “Yes, we suspect Blooredi,” said Aslarn. “It was worse than we feared ultimately,” said Meridian. “Several day ago, a war party went out to strike at a lesser Soulless One. When they returned, several members were missing.” “I’ve been developing a means to track the movements of the Soulless,” said Roark. “After this last battle, I went to the location to test my theories to see if I could map the excoroperditio energy trails. But I found nothing. I checked and double checked, and then alerted Meridian and Zvoltz. Investigation revealed no signs of battle. But I did notice some traces of an immanidivinus energy stamp that is unique only to Oralchmar. But Orlachmar wasn’t with the war party. Logically, then, there were others who had similar properties, ergo, others who drank the forbidden elixir.” “So what happened to the warriors who went missing?” “We don’t know,” said Meridian. “They are gone and cannot be located so we suspect foul play. Perhaps they were offered membership into Fain’s group and refused, perhaps they just wanted to…feed. We do not know. But the fact that they are now starting to turn on the Elders proves that matters are much, much worse than we thought.” “Why are you telling me all this?” I asked. “Tomorrow when Fain gathers his followers, I will be there,” said Lisaera. “No matter what magic he uses to conceal the location of their meeting, nothing can penetrate our innate bond as siblings. Through our bond, you will be able to report what is happening and they would have no way to track that.” “Are you sure, Lissie?” I asked, pulling her aside. “Is this something you can do?” “It is something I must do, Elfie.” “Then you are no longer in love with Fain?” “Oh no,” said Lisaera turning away. “I love him as much as I ever did.” We said nothing more. After that, events moved quickly. Xyl placed a silver circlet upon my head. The circlet was studded with charged gems and attuned to the enormous crystal that rotated in the crystalline chamber. Through our bond link, the crystal reflected everything Lisaera saw and heard. Later that evening, from the safety of the dead crystal plane known as the Continuum, we observed Lisaera in the ethereal fold helping the Maeve Consciousness pull energy from the forests and direct their healing powers to those fae in need. Lisaera was suddenly startled when a cool hand came to rest on her shoulder. She jumped and turned, to see Fain standing there, holding something shining in his hand. “Fain, you surprised me!” she said. “I’m sorry, beloved,” he said. “But I brought you a gift.” Fain handed Lisaera a beautifully crafted mask. It was made of pale porcelain inlaid with silver swirls. Rimmed with emeralds, holes were cut out for the mouth and eyes. An enchantment was woven so thickly around it that it was glowing. “It’s beautiful,” said Lisaera, running her fingers over its surface and tracing the magical enchantments. “What is it for?” Fain smiled and fitted the mask over her face. Lisaera felt the enchantment unfold, cloaking her in a field that wrapped around her. “It is so others will not see who you are at the meeting,” said Fain. “And each member will likewise be wearing a mask so you will not see who the others are.” “Don’t you trust me?” asked Lisaera. “Of course, beloved,” said Fain. “But you must trust me too. I cannot be seen to give you preferential treatment, especially as you are not initiated yet.” “I understand,” she replied. “And, beloved, I would never ask you to do something that I would not likewise do!” With that Fain summoned forth a mask which materialised over his own face. It was as red as blood and embellished with gold. The handsome features of the mask were unmistakably exaggerations of Fain’s own features. While the other masks may have been able to hide the identity of the others, there was no mistaking that this was Fain. When had he become so vain? “Alas,” said Fain, “there is one more layer of necessity. The mask also functions in reverse, so forgive me as I activate its polarity. You will not be able to see or feel where we go.” “Is all this necessary, Fain?” asked Lisaera. “Yes, beloved,” he whispered, then waved a hand over the silver mask. Back in the Continuum, the link between Lisarea and I faded so I could only barely feel her emotions. Xyl cursed and the others leaned forward as Xyl frantically made adjustments to the crystal, but the magic of the mask could not be penetrated. When the link finally reestablished, Lisaera had arrived at the secret meeting place. Fain was lowering his hand, obviously having reversed the mask’s enchantment. The bizarre landscape surrounding them seemed to undulate. Wavering tendrils sprouted up from the ground in odd clusters. The air was thick with humidity, and the sky blazed with rainbow colours that chased each other in swirling patterns. I had never seen the like and from the reactions around me, no one else had either. As stark and bare as the Continuum was, this place was riotous. Lisaera and Fain were not the first to arrive. Three others were there before them, each wearing their own mask. One had a mask of deep midnight blue, the other the mask of a golden tiger, and the third a startlingly grotesque orange mask with large tusks. Soon others began to furtively arrive. After making obeisances to Fain, they formed a circle around him. There were thirteen total, including Lisaera. Back at the Continuum, there was a sigh of relief that there were so few followers. Apparently, Fain’s paranoia and caution prevented him from recruiting in greater numbers. Fain stood up and began to speak, holding his arms out before him as if embracing everyone. I could feel Lisaera trying to figure out who all the masked members were, but she could not break through the magic of the masks, at least not without drawing attention to herself. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/fainblessing.jpg)“My friends,” said Fain. “Our great mission is to win this war against the Soulless Ones! Whatever the cost. Whatever it takes. We must win. Our one path to salvation is the Elixir, forbidden by others in their ignorance, but that is a tragedy that must not be allowed! The Elixir offers strength, and the more we drink, the stronger we become. Their strength shall become our strength.” The others in the circle cheered. Fain held up a hand and they became silent, leaning forward hungrily. Lisaera was frightened but determined, and we both knew that mask was also a blessing insofar that it hid her expressions of alarm. “Now we must take the communion,” said Fain. “We must shoulder the burden that the others have forsaken. Our secret ally, come forward.” As Fain stepped back, the air rippled, and slowly a dark smear solidified and formed into an emaciated shimmering being that shivered uncontrollably. It was one of the Soulless, though only a minor one. There were few of those left since the larger Soulless Ones consumed most of these smaller entities, but apparently Fain had found one and allied with it, keeping it hidden and protected not only from the greater Soulless but also from the other Elder Gods. Two blue masked members stepped forward and bowed to Fain, then approached the Soulless creature with a heavy golden goblet between them. The creature slowly extended an emaciated limb. Its skin was pale and translucent, underneath which teamed thousands of smaller creatures, like maggots feasting just beneath the flesh. One of the blue masked members held the creature’s arm and drew a black dagger, pricking a vein. The other held the goblet underneath, funnelling the essence in its bowl. The Soulless whined but did not back away as the greenish white ichor flowed out of the wound and into the goblet. The blue masked members drew away, huddling over the goblet, adding vials of fluids to mix with the pure essence of the Soulless, all the while murmuring incantations. “What is given shall be replaced,” hissed the Soulless through desiccated lips. “That was the pact!” “And we honor the pact, Nemach,” said Fain, then turned to Lisaera. “Silver Mask, you are our newest member. It falls on you to honor our pact with Nemach and prove your loyalty to our cause. Will you do it?” “Yes,” said Lisaera faintly. Nemach began to scuttle towards Lisaera, but Fain stepped in front of it, motioning it to hold back. Fain lent forward to Lisarea. “Beloved, forgive me,” he whispered to her. “But we each have done this thing. You must give part of your essence to Nemach.” Oh, Lisaera! She bravely gave a curt nod and let the sleeve of her robe be pulled up. Nemach scrabbled forward, extending an eager tendril to wrap around Lisaera’s arm. Out of the tendril grew hollow teeth that punctured her flesh. I began to cry as I felt my sister’s pain, sharp and cruel, shuddering through her being. The Soulless greedily drank her essence. I know I screamed for both of us, as the bond sent nothing but dark waves of red and black pain scorching through Xyl’s observation crystal. Finally, Fain pulled away Nemach with a sharp command, “Enough!” Lisaera was close to fainting, but held herself rigidly up and rolled down her sleeve to conceal the wound I knew she would carry forever. “Well done, beloved,” Fain said to her, then nodded to the rest. “We expand our members from twelve to thirteen. Soon we will grow to even greater numbers. We have infiltrated several warrior cadres, and all of the circles. Victory will be our price for saving the First World. What price is victory? None is too great!” Fain retrieved the golden goblet which now bubbled and sizzled with a greenish fluid. The forbidden elixir. He raised the goblet up which fitted perfectly into the mouth hole of his red mask. He then tilted his head back and drank deeply from the goblet. As he pulled it away, his lips could be seen through the hole, now blue-black and glistening, slightly swollen. He passed the goblet to Lisaera. Through the bond with Lisaera, I could smell the forbidden elixir, which had a heady metallic scent. Something about it was intoxicating, and I felt Lisaera’s desire to consume it, especially after she had been so weakened. Don’t do it, Lisaera! I wanted to scream and rush to her, but we still had no idea where she was. She lifted the goblet to her lips and tilted it back. Her throat worked as she gulped, and when she tilted the goblet back down, her lips gleamed silvery-blue, pale and wet. She passed the goblet to her left. No one noticed. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was an illusion – she only pretended to drink the elixir and painted her lips with illusion. The others may have detected such an obvious ruse if they were on the lookout for it, but they were intent upon the goblet and its contents. Back at the Continuum, Kalikai of the Second Circle suddenly swung her feet off the table with a loud thud and stumbled to her feet. She had been quaffing tankard after tankard of firemead, and her eyes were bleary. She took another swig of firemead, and then clapped her hands. “Okay, friends,” she said, surprisingly not slurring her words. “I guess this is why you brought me here, eh.” “You are intoxicated!” exclaimed Xyl. “Oh, don’t crack your crystals, Glassy. I’m here because the Goldilock Brigade,” she gestured at the Golden Ones, “don’t have their strategist handy. Where is old Morgpie, eh?” Krokano, Terentia and Hajamin looked uneasily at each other. I wasn’t that familiar with the workings of the Second Circle cadres but apparently they each had their leaders, or generals. Morgpie was Kalikai’s nickname for Morgfyre, and I suddenly recalled why Kalikai was not very popular in certain circles. She had a nickname for everyone. “We believe he may be compromised,” said Terentia finally. “And if Morgpie is at this masked ball,” said Kalikai with a gesture to the viewing crystal, “then chances are that the Fainiac is using him for tactics and strategy, eh? And which cadre, besides the Goldilock Brigade, has won the most strategic campaigns? Hmm, who could that be?” “That would be your Crimson Eyes,” said Meridian. “Enough, Kalikai. You know why we brought you here. You are one of the most brilliant strategists around. And if we are facing Morgfyre, we need someone to figure out where they meet, what this place is.” “Ah, right you are,” said Kalikai, pinching her nose, and then casually stuffing her black pipe with more foul-smelling herbs. “So I get the honor of second guessing the Morgpie. Hmm! Well, what is that place? Anyone seen its like before? No? Well, he’s probably not chancing on meeting in the space between the aethers, that’d be a nice way to run into the Soulless. He wouldn’t try the ethereal plane, and the elemental planes are being routinely scoured as power sources thanks to brains like Crystalcakes here, right?” “Well,” she went on, “that leaves us with the cosmic layers, like Crystalcakes found with this lovely little crèche. Let me guess. This was your crèche, right?” Xyl’s eyes blazed with fury, but he nodded. “So logically Morgfyre would retreat to his own crèche, right? Wrong! That’d be just too easy. No offence, Crystalcakes, but if the Morgpie was hunting you, he’d have found you by now. This would be one of the first places he’d look. Obviously he wouldn’t choose any crèche with half formed, we all know how they blab to anyone who listens. So someone else’s empty crèche? That’s a bit risky too, as many are fond of using them as retreats for meditation. But the cosmic layer is still the most isolated, so where does that leave us?” Kalikai took a long drag from her pipe and blew out the obnoxious smoke in a long stream. She looked around with bloodshot eyes but we all just stared back at her. “No one? Alrighty! How about one of the unborn creches? They’re never used, are they? No half-formed live there, no one visits them out of nostalgia. They’d be the perfect place to hide a Soulless and to conduct secret meetings, no? How many unborn crèches are there, Crystalcakes?” “Logical,” said Xyl grudgingly. “There are not many known ones, maybe a dozen.” “Right then,” Kalkai drained her tankard of firemead in one gulp, then tossed it over her shoulder. I realised that while her eyes were blurry and she slightly swayed back and forth, there was a building intensity in her the more she drank, some sort of inner alchemy was taking place, like gears getting greased and turning faster. “The first step is for scouts. Whatever is left of the Goldilock Brigade can help my Crimson Eyes with that. We need to search every known unborn crèche. Crystalcakes, we need that list! And mind you lot, this is a scouting party! If you find them, make no contact with them! You come report to me first!” Igaso was right behind Kalikai, handing her yet another tankard of firemead. Kalikai took a long pull on it and wiped the sizzling foam from her lips. The fire within her was roiling now, we could all see that. She grinned from ear to ear, showing teeth that glinted dangerously. “Now, let’s crash Fain’s little masked ball!” she bellowed. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Dracnoris](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-dracnoris/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Dracnoris ![AetherDragon](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/AetherDragon-circle.jpg) I know our ending looms deep within the emptiness of the Void. The question is, should I stir and wake? Should the others know? I came into being long before the Star Gods (as we used to call the young Elder Gods). That is how ancient I am, born of Dynara when all forms were wild and unplanned, the generation known as the Primal Gods, when the cosmos was young and Magnora consumed us in droves. I suppose I may have been one of the first souled gods. Though my shape was wild – scaled red-gold with many claws and wings – I was not given to Magnora to be consumed in the vast coldness of her hunger. But my siblings were given to Magnora, and they were indeed consumed. All except one sibling. She who became a Handmaiden of Magnora, one of the Soulless Gods. I call her my sister, my sibling, for Dynara brought us into existence together, incubated within the same upper vibrations of the cosmic song of Yudhe – what some call the higher planes, others call pockets of reality created by Dynara, which we only knew as our crèche. I was the youngest and weakest of my crèche, and I never expected to survive. I am a Primal God, not one of the star-shaped, the favoured shape, of Dynara. And so I knew the Dynara when she was crueller than what the Star Gods may remember. I first knew Dynara before she adopted the star form herself, when she was simply a presence, great and powerful, as the fountainhead of all life ought to be. But in my day, she would create without thought or consideration or care, but just for the sake of creating. Like me, her creations were hideous, unformed, the early grotesqueries of the cosmos. And she would push us and fight us and make us war against each other. She would laugh when Magnora found us and consumed us, taking us back into the void of non-existence. If she tired of us, she’d give us to Magnora herself. And some Magnora would consume, or some were kept as her Handmaidens, terrible presences that trailed in her wake, screaming insanities, who grew bloated and terrible in the wake of the detritus of her neverending hunger. It wasn’t until the Son of Yudhe manifested that Dynara turned her attention to the refinement of spirit. The Son of Yudhe was her inspiration, her compatriot, her muse. But however terrible was Dynara, she kept me with her, forever at her side. My siblings she gave to Magnora. Myself, I endured and grew old. Even when she began to bring the Star Gods into being in their own crèches, called Star Gods because they were shaped like five pointed stars: a head, two arms and two legs, still, even then, I was at her side. Still, she never sent me to Magnora. I asked her once why I, and those few like me, were allowed to exist with the Star Gods. Why wasn’t I sent to oblivion like most of the other Primal Gods who were born before the Son of Yudhe? She only laughed at me and said, “Dear Dracnoris, none of your siblings would ever have wondered and asked me such a question. And do you know why?” I did not, of course. “Because,” she said, “they had no soul and could not contemplate their own non-existence!” Oh, I wasn’t the only Primal God left from the ancient times. There was Keph, She of the Many Eyes, and Vrandrac the One, a huge amorphous mass. And, of course, there were the Fates, older even than I, who claimed they came into being when Dynara begat her first creation, but who were never themselves created. They were a mystery, I think, even to Dynara. The three sisters often claimed that they existed in every reality where the ripples of creation fanned outwards. Back then, they were as formless as Dynara, simple thoughts that trailed behind her like echoes. They didn’t take form until the Star Gods came into being, and they settled into their shapes now known the Three Sisters of Fate: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. They were easy to forget, these Fates, and Dynara rarely paid them any mind. It is funny how the Fates came in three, just as Yudhe’s offspring came in three: Magnora, Dynara and the Unnamed Son. It is as if that number is the template of creation: two opposites and a point of synthesis. Ah, but my mind is wandering again, and there is the stirring that I feel, and I should, perhaps, give warning to my fellow Elder Gods. I know what this stirring is. After the disappearance of the three children of Yudhe, when the Great Silence fell across creation, when the Elder Gods, myself included, were drawn to the First World called Lusternia, after an aeon had passed and before the Circles of the Gods were formed, I felt the stirring. It was the stirring of my sibling, she who was a Handmaiden of Magnora, one of the Soulless Gods. As with all of us whom Dynara brought into being from the same crèche, or the same higher plane of existence (whichever you prefer), this bond links us together even now. And thus I know that the Handmaidens of Magnora have survived, just as we, the Elder Gods, survived. I know the Soulless Ones hunger in the darkness of the Void, having fed upon each other, growing to fill the emptiness within their very beings. Yes, that is the stirring I feel. But the other Elder Gods, whether Star Gods or Primal Gods, do not know this. No other but myself has a sibling who became a Soulless One. As I consider warning the others, I watch them play the games of youth, of forming their Circles or chasing insane half-formed creations, or emulating Dynara and attempting to create life where none existed. For me, I want to merely sink down into the bubbling warmth of Lusternia, into one of her many mountain wombs, into the liquid warmth of her volcanic loins. As I do, the Elder Gods bestow upon me the title of a Meditator, a God of the Third Circle, which is fine, though of no matter, so long as they leave me to sleep and dream in peace. I believe those few other Primal Gods do likewise. I laugh with Keph, She of the Many Eyes, as we both leave the youthful gods to their games, me descending within the warm depths of the mountains and she within the dark coolness under the soil. Ah, I keep forgetting that I should warn my fellow Elder Gods, for I feel my sibling move, and with her the other Soulless Ones. I know they have consumed each other to the point that those who are left are too strong to continue their cannibalistic frenzy. And they hunger and roar for blood, for the sparkling, glittering essence of the glorious thing called a soul. But, then again, should I give warning? Would it make any difference, I wonder? Or should the Elder Gods be allowed this final time of happiness, playing at being Dynara upon the First World, beautiful Lusternia. Would it be cruel to tell them of what is coming? Ah, I cannot decide. I won’t tell them now, not yet. There is nothing they can do anyway; no preparation can avoid the emptiness that shall consume us. Better to wait. To sleep. To dream. To ponder my own non-existence and leave warnings of doom for another day. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Clangorum](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-clangorum/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Clangorum #### Part 1 #### Part 2 ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/dwarf.jpg)Hope is a glorious tonic, and we had drunk deeply of its drought. Fain provided us hope, visions of victory just beyond the crest of the horizon. Just the idea of victory lifted us more than we thought possible. The toll of the relentless battles had not only decimated our numbers, but also cut deeply into the confidence and faith in ourselves. While the Soulless surged, their power increasing, swelling with each of our fallen, with each of their own fallen, we became diminished physically and spiritually. But the hope of Fain’s Elixir was tantalising, and more than we could have imagined. Was salvation at hand? The only thing that soured our hope was Orlachmar’s condemnation of his own salvation. He and I had seen many a campaign together, and so I knew more than most that where once he was golden and glorious, now he was grey and morose. Would all who partook of Fain’s Elixir suffer as Orlachmar? Would we face a similar sundering of our spirit? Even if so, wouldn’t it be worth it? Since his transformation, Orlachmar kept company exclusively with Volkh and Loboshi. If it weren’t for the fact that Orlachmar had lost his weapons and armour in his battle with Illith the Leviathan, he and I may never have become close again. But the old warrior needed to be equipped, and I was the weaponsmith for almost all the Second Circle. I had brought Orlachmar several of my master swords and armour, but the swords seemed to break in his grasp and armour split at the seams. Something special had to be done in order to construct a weapon that he could handle – or rather, in honesty, a weapon that could handle him. I had no choice but to bring him into my sanctum where my great forge stands near a lava pool, deep below the Razamore Mountains, beneath Mount Zokala. I found him sitting on a mountain rock, staring over a valley that was lit up from chains of crackling energy that flickered across the dome of the sky. Such was the weight of the attacks of the Soulless against the Domoth Spires that we had constructed to protect the First World. How long would they hold? I feared not long enough. I don’t let many come to my workshop. Many of the weapons that filled the room – swords and shields, blades and hammers, different types of armour – were half finished, works in progress, discarded pieces. I disliked others seeing my works less than perfect. But here was Orlachmar in my workshop, staring around. I was feeling a bit uneasy as his ghastly green eyes appraised my craft. He grunted and rubbed the back of his neck. “What?” I said testily. “You do all your finishing of these works, don’t you?” Orlachmar asked. “Of course I do!” I said “We always wondered that,” he said softly. “Many think you work in secret with one of the Fourth Circle to finish your work.” “Bah! Why would others think that!” “Because of its beauty,” Orlachmar shrugged, “It has the look of an artist’s hand. Of your creche mates, I only know of Agnomenon the Tinkerer, who follows traditional pursuits of the Fifth Circle. Was there an artist in your creche?” I didn’t answer. Damn Orlachmar. Most creches had one artist, scholar, and leader, though there were often multiple warriors and creators. This was something I didn’t like to talk about, so I just glared at him and stomped off to gather a preliminary blade I had prepared for his new weapon. I was examining the domothean infused steel, when a sound like rolling thunder echoed through my workshop. It took me a moment to realise it was Orlachmar laughing. “Ha!” he boomed. “Of course! Why didn’t we see it before. You were the artist! You were meant to be the Fourth Circle!” “Stop your bellowing, you great idiot,” I fumed, glaring down the length of the blade and examining the glittering runes inscribed with crushed gemstones. “Why?” Orlachmar asked after awhile. “Because,” I finally relented with a sigh, “I wanted to see my works in action. Who knows why any artist is drawn to a certain medium? Mine was metal and iron, battles and bronze, iron and steel, blood and glory. Well, my art slices and hacks, parries and thrusts, how could I possibly make them if I didn’t know how to use them? Bloody stars, I loved the challenge.” “I always suspected you were an old fraud,” he said. With a growl, I cursed Orlachmar and threw the blade I had been working on at him. He easily caught it, and I noted his wide grin. My anger evaporated as I realised he goaded me to anger in a teasing manner. How long had it been since he smiled and joked? I think he finally realised that he was smiling, and suddenly looked awkward, not sure what to do with such feelings. “This blade isn’t half bad,” Orlachmar said, studying it seriously. “Then it’s perfect,” I said, “for it’s meant for a half-arsed warrior!” We both roared with laughter. But in the end, that blade proved to be just as unsuitable as the previous ones. Eventually, it took me seven days to create weapon and armour that would suit him, and Orlachmar had to be by my side during the entire time to infuse the metals with his unique energies so they would keep their integrity in his hands. Our jokes with each other were rough and dark, but it enabled us to talk about secrets we kept to ourselves, and thus our friendship was renewed. Unfortunately, the blade and armour that I constructed for Orlachmar was put to use almost immediately. Just a short time since we had finished cooling the final forging in the clear waters of the Crystal Sea, a mental alarm flared behind our eyes and a booming detonation reverberated through the aethers. We knew only one thing that this could mean, and that was that one of the Soulless had broken through our defences. I pulled my axe free and swung it back and forth, just as Orlachmar pulled the black sword from its sheath and grinned in expectation for the euphoria of battle. “Don’t break that damn sword!” I grumbled. “Only if you don’t break your damned skull,” Orlachmar responded and then added without missing a beat. “Of course, since your head is solid rock, you should be safe on that account.” “Better than a head that’s solid cheese like yours!” I huffed. Our levity didn’t last long, for the alarm drew us toward the Sakarich Forest. We arrived to witness an inferno. Beneath the grey, trees flailed back and forth. Dryads within screamed in agony just before their trees erupted into columns of flame and smoke. Some wolves and deer were running around in circles, their flesh slowly being eaten away, until they collapsed in bloody heaps. The very air around the forest warped and weaved, everything within distorting like some mirage on a hot summer day. Both Orlachmar and I attempted to charge into the forest, but were immediately driven back, as a blistering pain lit up our skin, and singed our hair. It was like walking into acidic fumes. Coughing up bloody essence, I scrambled backwards, my eyes watering so much that my vision blurred. Orlachmar was in better shape than me, his transformed skin somehow being able to repel the corroding air. “Zenos,” Orlachmar muttered, spitting on the ground. “His insubstantial form must have slipped through our defences.” “Bloody stars,” I said, crouching down with my elbows on my knees as I was still shaken. “We need to wait for the others…what are you doing, you great fool!” Orlachmar’s spine had suddenly straightened, and his head had jerked up just before he deliberately strode into the Sakarich Forest. My eyes were still blurry, as I screamed at him to come back. But as my vision cleared I saw what must have prompted him to dive into the forest. One of our number was within the clutches of Zenos. Someone ran up beside me, screaming. It was Loboshi. As my vision cleared, I realised that it was none other than her mate Volkh who Orlachmar was attempting to save. Loboshi tried to dive in after them, but I held her back, yelling out her to let Orlachmar drag Volkh to safety. Great Spirit Wolf was somewhere behind me, howling like his heart was being ripped out. Maybe it was. As my eyes focused, I saw that Volkh had collapsed on the ground and Orlachmar was standing over him. They were surrounded by burning pyres as the invisible, corrosive form of Zenos swirled angrily around them. Orlachmar’s skin bubbled as he swung his newly forged dark sword overhead, sweeping the air with dark domoth energies. Defiant in his pain, Orlachmar roared, his anger fuelling his attack until his sword was a blazing font of darkness. Zenos finally fled, shrieking off into the smoking sky. Orlachmar dropped to his knees, as Loboshi and I reached him. Volkh lay on the ground, his body twisted almost beyond recognition. Great Spirit Wolf hovered behind him, surrounded by hundreds of the lesser wolves, their anguished howls rising up around us. Meanwhile, Volkh lay bleeding essence into the ground, barely conscious. “Hold on, my love,” cried Loboshi, “Fain has more of the elixir. Just hold on!” Loboshi bid us to stay at Volkh’s side, as she ran off to find Fain. Bowing his head, Orlachmar shifted his weight to his haunches. I was amazed how quickly his skin seemed to regenerate. If this accelerated healing was part of his transformation, Volkh stood a chance. “You heard Loboshi, Volkh!” I said. “She’ll be back soon with Fain and his elixir. You only have to hold on!” Volkh opened his glazed eyes, but ignored me. He focused on Orlachmar, who leaned forward. Volkh’s ruined lips moved, a painful hissing noise escaped. He grimaced and whispered Orlachmar’s name. Orlachmar bent down, “What is it, friend?” “Do not let them do to me what was done to you,” Volkh rasped. “I know what it was wrong what they did. And I know what you are. Do not let me suffer that fate!” “What can I do?” said Orlachmar, his eyes wide with fear. “Take me into yourself. Take my essence into your own.” Orlachmar drew back, “No, do not ask this of me.” “I beg of you, my friend. Before Loboshi returns! Her love of me blinds, and she will do to me what was done to you. She would not care of the consequences.” My thoughts roiled around. Was what was done to Orlachmar really so wrong? Orlachmar had tried to explain to me how alien he felt, how different. But it wasn’t until I heard the anguish in Volkh’s voice that I began to doubt the wisdom of Fain’s promise of salvation. “He’s begging you, Orlachmar,” I said softly. “I can’t,” Orlachmar hugged himself. “You don’t know what he’s asking!” “For the love of Yudhe,” Volkh groaned, and the utter desperation in his eyes broke my heart. “Damn your hide!” I said. “Let me do it! Tell me what to do!” If this was Volkh’s choice, I’d not stand in his way. If what the elixir did was so terrible that he would rather extinguish himself than face Orlachmar’s fate, then perhaps we were wrong. “You can’t,” said Volkh, turning his dimming eyes towards me.. “Orlachmar has not only had his body changed, but his spirit as well. His very essence has been reconfigured, as pathways normally leading to the immanidivinus have been diverted to the negative excoroperditio energies of the Soulless.” “So only one transformed with Fain’s Elixir can do what you want?” I asked. “Yes,” he gasped. “If I die, my essence will soak into the earth and Zenos or another will eventually absorb me. Please, Orlachmar!” With an anguished roar, Orlachmar plunged his fists into Volkh’s chest. Volkh contorted in spasm, and his eyes rolled up into his head. The arms of Orlachmar glowed as argent tendrils sprouted from his wrists and dug into Volkh’s flesh. As Volkh’s body turned translucent, it eventually faded away as Orlachmar, growling in pain or pleasure, absorbed his friend. I could only stare in horror. Orlachmar dropped to the ground and rolled over, sobbing uncontrollably. All that remained of Volkh were his clothes. Behind us, the wolves began to howl, a chorus of utter despair. What I witnessed shook me to the core, I could see the spirit within Orlachmar had mutated yet again with this act. What would we become of us if we went down this path? Eventually, Loboshi and Fain arrived. All that was left of Volkh was his steaming clothes. “It was too late,” I told them. “Zenos had drawn too much of Volkh’s essence, and Volkh’s body disintegrated, all that was left of him bleeding into the earth.” Fain sighed and laid a hand on Loboshi’s shoulder. She dropped down next to Orlachmar, who stumbled away from her. His eyes were wide with struggling emotions, as though he feared her touch. I motioned him to step away, as I knelt by Loboshi and tried to comfort her along with Fain. As she continued to wail, I left her with Fain and went to Orlachmar. His eyes were haunted, and he appeared near collapse. I put a hand on his shoulder and began to lead him away. Great Spirit Wolf began to follow Orlachmar, his head hung low and eyes staring mournfully at him. Did the Great Spirit sense Volkh’s essence within Orlachmar? “Go away!” Orlachmar hissed to the Great Spirit. “I am not Volkh and want nothing of his!” The Great Spirit hesitated and tried to follow us several more times, but Orlachmar repulsed him each time. Finally, Great Spirit Wolf stopped and simply watched reproachfully as Orlachmar strode away. With nowhere else to go, Great Spirit Wolf turned to Volkh’s mate, Loboshi, and approached her on his haunches, shuffling towards her with his belly on the ground. When Loboshi let him gingerly lay his snout on her lap. She sobbed and threw her arms around this great shaggy head. At least he found comfort somewhere. Not so for Orlachmar, who quickly backed away from the scene. I trailed behind him, worried what my friend would do in such a distraught state. He didn’t stop until he had climbed halfway up Mount Zokala. He leaned his back against a large rock, and stared out at the remains of the Sakarich Forest. All that remained of the once numerous trees were blackened stumps, and the sky above was thick with black smoke. The soil was dried and cracked, covered in the chalky white ash, the detritus of Zenos. “You did what he wanted,” I said softly, sitting down next to Orlachmar. “I should not exist,” he said. “I wish I were dead, Clangorum. With all my heart, I wish I had died.” “Keep talking like that,” I growled, “and I’ll help you along with that desire.” “I am what Meridian called me. An abomination.” “You are also my friend.” “You always had terrible taste.” I chuckled softly, and Orlachmar sighed, looking more tired than I had ever seen him. We stared down at the smoking remains of the forest, knowing it would never heal. Daylight fled as Spirit Night vanquished the summer heat and cloaked the sky with stars. When I looked at Orlachmar, his glowing green eyes reflected sorrow and pain, but also a hunger that disturbed me more than I would ever admit. Eventually, Orlachmar and I agreed that we would never discuss with others what happened with Volkh. I also vowed that I would support him in his effort to overturn the decision to use Fain’s Elixir. How we would do that, I had no idea. But, certainly, I swore that I’d never let that elixir pass my lips. Spirit Sun eventually rose over the horizon, shining golden white and sending rainbow beams scattering through across the horizon. Contrasted against the glorious dawn, the full destruction of the Sakarich Forest was laid before us, revealing itself now to be a scorched ruin. Our contemplation was interrupted by a mental call to gather on the ethereal realm. Though I told Orlachmar no one would notice if we didn’t answer the call, he simply shrugged and made his way toward a spatial fold that would lead us to the gathering. We arrived at the Fields of the Maeve, and not only were our brethren gathered, but so too were hordes of awakened fae, the lesser spirits awakened by the Sixth Circle. Orlachmar and I joined those of the Second Circle who clustered upon a hill rise. The Greater Spirits had also been called, both the great animal spirits of the Creators and the great awakened spirits of the Awakeners. I noticed that Great Spirit Wolf stood near Loboshi, leaning against her leg. I also noticed Orlachmar pointedly ignoring both of them. Carrying Volkh’s essence within, I can only imagine the conflicting emotions he felt towards them. The Sixth and Seventh Circles were in the center of the fields surrounded by rank upon rank of the lesser spirits. Floating above us were Aslarn and Shairim, both of the First Circle who focused their works upon overseeing the Awakeners and Creators. As we waited, more of the fae appeared, packing tightly into the fields. Aslarn lifted his arms and called for the attention of all gathered. “It has become clear that the forests be needing greater protection,” Aslarn boomed. “As some may know, the forests be anchors for much of the First World’s lifeforce. With the fall of Sakarich Forest, it be clear that we need to take further measures to ensure the protection of the forests. Thus, we call this gathering.” “The ethereal realm reflects the natural world on the prime material plane,” continued Shairim, her tawny skin gleaming under the ethereal sun and her green-gold eyes filled with the weight of sorrow. “And the Fields of the Maeve is the crossroads where all forests meet. It is at this place that we shall attempt what has never been done before. We have called only the fae of the forests here. The Seventh Circle shall attempt to help the Sixth Circle use these lesser spirits to merge together to create a hive soul. If successful, their collective strength may offer the forests more protection against the Soulless Ones.” The Sixth Circle and Seventh Circle joined hands in a circle, and began a low chanting as they slowly danced counter clockwise, spiralling out among the gathered forest spirits were gathered. Lines of green and gold domothean energies rippled out in spokes, as they wheeled around, dragging the fae in haphazard dance. As the ritual gained in power, the voices of the fae could be heard, rising in volume, the faster they spun around. “We are one!” the fae sang in unison. “Together, forever, the sum of us all, together we blossom, vines twist, trees grow, strength together, forever, united, never divided, our strength is the strength of all.” ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MotherTreeFae.jpg)Within the center of the frenetic dance, a green tendril sprouted from the ground, quickly growing and thickening. The tendrils thickened to enormous vines upon which sprouted sharp hooked thorns. Leaves unfurled on the vines and finally a single stem, thick as the trunk of a tree, shot up from the teaming vines. At the top of the stem, a bud formed, inflating larger and larger, until it burst open to reveal the lush velvety petals of an enormous, perfect rose. Even from where we stood, we smelled the intoxicating fragrance. As the rose bloomed, a pink glowing shape emerged from within, a cloudy pink wisp of smoke. The wisp held a vaguely feminine shape and it vibrated to the rhythm of the chanting of the fae. “We are in the Fields of the Maeve,” they continued to sing. “We are true in the Fields of the Maeve! We are One! We are True! We are the Maeve! Maeve! Maeve!” “Maeve!” sang out those of the Sixth and Seventh Circle. “You are the rose, and keepers of the thorns that protect the forests! Your destiny and duty is to protect the green!” “It is our duty and destiny,” the fae responded in unison. “We are the Maeve! Our tah’vrai is to the forests, always to serve! Always to protect! It is our duty and destiny! We shall fail no forest!” As they continued their litanies, the wispy figure that had emerged from the center of the rose gradually solidified, her skin flushed pink and her thick green hair coiled around her torso and limbs. Her purple eyes were large and liquid yet underneath a steely resolve sparkled. The ritual wound down, and the fae slowed to a crawl and then finally stopped, their small forms shuddering with exhaustion. “Are we awakened?” the fae and the Maeve asked together, their voices locked in unison. I could tell that several of the Sixth Circle, including Nocht the Silent, Auseklis the Wanderer, Lisaera the Silver and her sister Elfenehoala the Golden, were alarmed as their creations responded synchronously. Bollikin noticed their concern and quickly spoke up. “It is disconcerting at first,” said Bollikin. “But you have to understand that the Maeve is a collective of the fae gathered here. Eventually, they’ll individuate but for some time now, they will act as one entity for they are one entity, the Maeve.” And so the experiment proved to be a great success. The Sixth and Seventh Circle discussed creating another collective spirit of lesser spirits, only this one specifically made of the spirits of the trees, in order to create ethereal moorings to the forests. This would allow forests to eventually regenerate if they suffered a fate similar to Sakarich. There was a debate I didn’t quite understand about whether this Tree of Trees should create moorings on the prime plane as well, but they decided against it, saying it would make the forests too vulnerable to the Soulless. Auseklis of the Sixth commented that after the war ended perhaps the ethereal moorings could be made manifest on the prime plane. He was always the optimistic one. Aslarn and Shairim felt that more protection of the forests was needed, and so each of the forests were to be bound to two Great Spirits, a Great Animal Spirit of the Creators and a Great Awakened Spirit of the Awakeners. It was apparently a great honor that a great spirit was chosen as a protector of a forest. One thing that the Great Spirits were commanded to do, was to protect the forests indirectly and from the ethereal fold. Some of the Great Spirits did not take well to this, wanting to join the war directly. None were more indignant than Spirit Sun, the youngest of the Greater Spirits, most recently awakened. “You are our precious creations, of all of you. You must remain here,” said Lisaera sternly. “It would break our hearts to see you suffer!” “I can fight!” cried Spirit Sun. “I can help! Let me prove myself in battle!” “No!” Auseklis commanded. “You must do as we say. Stay here, Sun. Guard the others.” It was not the duty of the Second Circle to coddle these spirits, so Orlachmar and I left with the other warriors. The top priority of the Second Circle was to find and stop Zenos, who was hidden somewhere on the First World. However, we were never able to track him down. His form was all but invisible, and he travelled with the wind. He could seep into the very earth and strike at any time. Zenos managed to kill several more of our number, seemingly to enjoy targeting members of the Fourth Circle. With what turned out to be a devastating blow, Zenos killed and absorbed the essence of Shordella, a member of a select group of the Fourth Circle who were devoted to song and were known as Keepers of the Great Song of Creation. From that point, the power of Zenos was multiplied, as he was able to now use the parts of Shordella’s songs to amplify his own power. At that point, the rest of the Fourth Circle Song Keepers took measures to hide their voices in case another of their number fell. Their voices would remain hidden at least until Zenos was defeated. This safeguard proved to be only too prophetic as Zenos destroyed almost all of the Song Keepers. During this time, I kept near Orlachmar, who was becoming more and more destructive. Since the time he absorbed Volkh, his anger and violence was multiplied a hundred fold. His anger at Zenos knew no bounds, and every time Zenos managed to escape us, Orlachmar would rage for days. Several times, he left the First World to fight the Soulless beyond the Domotheos Spires. These were almost suicidal missions, and I think part of Orlachmar sought to lose. But I also knew if there was no outlet for the storm that thundered within him, that he would turn on one of us. There were several times, his anger almost boiled over to the point where he would lash out at those around him, but thus far I was always able to diffuse those moments. I’m not sure why I had a calming effect on Orlachmar, but I also wondered how long that would last. Watching Orlachmar only reinforced my vow to oppose Fain’s Elixir, for I could see firsthand what it did. But few others shared that view, and who could blame them? They only saw that Orlachmar was alive and stronger than before. Fortunately, Fain’s Fifth Circle Coterie was only able to create a small amount of the elixir, which hadn’t been used since Orlachmar’s resurrection. That all changed when Zenos attacked the Jojobo Jungle. Orlachmar and I were the first on the scene, along with Aslarn of the First Circle, who always paid special attention to that tropical forest. As usual, Zenos was able to escape before we could trap him. Afterwards, what first struck us was how well the jungle had repelled the attacks of Zenos. Apparently, the raising of the Maeve Consciousness and anchoring the forest through an ethereal manifestation of the Tree of Trees proved to be a very effective defence. However, there was a catastrophe that was about to be discovered. Aslarn roared in alarm, and when we got to him we saw him kneeling on the ground next to a glowing form. It was the manifestation of Spirit Sun. The manifestations of the Greater Awakened Spirits looked very similar to us, generally taking on a form similar to their primary awakener. Though it took almost the full of the Sixth Circle to awaken a greater spirit, there usually was one primary coordinator who focused the energies that coalesced the spiritual energies and raised them to consciousness. Like Spirit Moon took on many of the physical characteristics of Lisaera the Silver, or how Spirit Night had many similar features to Nocht the Silent, Spirit Sun was as gaudily bright and rambunctious as Rahm the Radiant. But now Spirit Sun lay at the feet of Aslarn. The Great Spirit’s golden body had black ragged holes peppered throughout where Zenos had sucked out his life force. Barely conscious, the fire in his amber eyes was dimming quickly. Orlachmar and I quickly helped Aslarn to rush him into the ethereal realm. Word had spread before us, and the hamadhi had prepared a healing mound, where we laid Spirit Sun gently on the mossy surface. As the hamadhi bathed him in healing essences, his inner fire was growing dimmer and dimmer. The hamadhi shook their heads and backed away, indicating there was no hope. A crowd had gathered around, mostly those of the Sixth Circle. Rahm the Radiant was there, wailing in grief and frustration. The Greater Awakened Spirits had also gathered, and they were trembling and huddled around each other. This was the first time one of their own had fallen, and their own mortality, an abstract concept to them, was suddenly reality. “He must be saved!” Rahm screamed. “Get Fain! Call forth Fain’s Coterie! Sun must be saved. My child! My child!” It was a logical assumption on Rahm’s part, but Orlachmar stiffened beside me. I placed a hand on his forearm which trembled with anger. Squeezing gently, I caught his attention and shook my head. He ground his teeth but otherwise calmed down. Eventually, Fain, Raezon and Gheasia arrived, carrying their precious small supply of elixir. “Please save him,” begged Rahm. “We have not considered to use the elixir on a Greater Spirit,” said Raezon. “It shouldn’t matter,” said Gheasia. “We are all made of same matter, the Great Spirits are merely – thinner” “We are losing him!” cried Rahm. Raezon and Gheasia looked to Fain for direction as Rahm sobbed brokenly. Fain sighed and nodded. Raezon and Gheasia then lifted out the small green vial. They carefully measured out one tiny drop and let it fall between Spirit Sun’s lips. The reaction was instantaneous. Sun re-ignited, his flames a burnt orange, almost a dark amber colour, rather than the bright golden white of before. He leaped up, face flushed with coruscating tendrils of power. He raved in something of pain and perhaps madness. Spirit Sun leapt up, liquid fire of an unclean hue spraying in all directions. Rahm, Fain and his Coterie were thrown to the ground as Spirit Sun burst forward from the healing mound. His heat and fire broke like a wave, crashing down around us. We were all blinded when the screaming began. After several moments of chaos, we slowly began to realize that Spirit Sun had charged into the crowd of other Great Awakened Spirits. Smoke and steam were rising among them, and the Sixth Circle was thrown into utter panic. “Oh sweet Dynara! What is he doing to Night!” cried out a whispering voice. It took me a moment to pin the voice down to belonging to Nocht of the Sixth Circle, sometimes known as Nocht the Silent, for he so very rarely spoke. But he was the coordinator in the awakening of Spirit Night, and he was trying desperately to push himself into the crowd of Great Awakened Spirits. As events were moving very quickly, it was unclear exactly what eventually we saw Spirit Lake standing in before Spirit Sun, streams of water rushing forth from her outstretched arms, her aura of mist sizzling against his roaring flames. We couldn’t see anything amidst the roiling steam but suddenly Spirit Moon emerged, dragging out Spirit Night from the blankets of steam. Spirit Night dropped to her hands and knees, bent over, clenching her stomach and retching ashes. “Night!” screamed Spirit Sun. “Night, I must possess you! I must have you! NIGHT!” Spirit Sun tried to rush around Spirit Lake, but she manifested a huge waterfall, cutting off his approach towards Spirit Night. Orlachmar tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the sky. Overhead, the sun itself had turned a putrid yellow, no longer the golden white light with rainbow hues. Meanwhile, the drama amongst the Great Awakened Spirits continued. “You shall not have her, Sun!” Lake said coldly. “You shall not pass me!” “I will destroy you, Lake!” Sun roared. “I shall burn you to nothing! You are naught and nothing! If it takes me until the ends of time, I shall destroy you, Lake! Come to me, Night! We were always meant to be!” “Get him away from me!” screamed Night. “You must be mine! Mine! NIGHT!” By this time the Sixth Circle had surrounding Sun, Rahm crying out for him to calm down, but his rage overwhelmed him. He sizzled and crackled. “Put down Sun!” cried Nocht in his whispery voice. He had immediately gone to his beloved Spirit Night and cradled her form against his chest. Nocht’s long hair sparkled with starlight and swirled around them, darkening until they blended into the shadows. “Sleep,” said Auseklis. “We must put Sun to sleep.” The Sixth Circle that had gathered around Spirit Sun called forth an ambient light that settled like a net over him. Spirit Sun almost broke free several times, surprising the Sixth Circle, but eventually the struggles of Spirit Sun slowed down. Finally, he slumped to the ground. Looking haggard, Rahm knelt beside Sun, stroking his sickly orange skin. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Nocht.jpg)“Destroy him,” said Nocht. “Reverse his awakening.” “How can you suggest that!” cried Rahm. “It has never been done,” said Lisaera. “It may not even be possible.” “What would happen to the physical sun?” asked Fain, who had been watching with troubled eyes. “Nothing,” said Auseklis. “It would remain a ball of fire in the sky. But it would be dead, without spirit.” “Sun is too dangerous as he is now,” said Lisaera and her sister Elfenehoala agreed. “Then put him to sleep,” said Nocht. “Wipe away his memories.” “How much would he forget though?” asked Lisaera. “Will he be purged of this insanity?” whispered Rahm. “Who can say,” said Auseklis. “But we have no choice. Let us put him to sleep for a thousand years and chain him to the physical sun.” As the Sixth Circle moved to send Spirit Sun into a thousand year slumber, the repercussions of the event swept through us. The Sixth Circle discovered that the very essence of Spirit Sun’s was warped. Though such a warping of essence was difficult to gauge in Orlachmar, this proved beyond any doubt that Fain’s Elixir indeed corrupted pure spirit. Proof was magnified in Sun because his spirit was so much thinner than ours, but eventually the same would happen to us. As Meridian and Orlachmar had argued before, the elixir would change us, turn us into something vile. We would become like the Soulless. With this new information, another Gathering was called at the Towers of Xyl to reconsider using Fain’s Elixir. Again, the same arguments were presented. On one hand, Fain argued that the elixir made us stronger and more powerful, as we used the essence of our enemies against them. On the other hand, Meridian argued that it now was proven that using it would warp our own essence, which eventually would turn us into that which we fought. There was no overwhelming support for Fain this time, but there was no overwhelming opposition either. The Fifth Circle was split, and I was proud that my brother, Agnomenon the Tinkerer, was among those that opposed the elixir, along with Xyl, Roark, Mugowumpois and Ein. Those of the Fifth Circle who stuck with Fain were mostly from his Coterie, especially Raezon and Gheasia. Though the Third Circle overwhelmingly opposed the elixir, they were small in number. With their Keepers of the Great Song having been decimated, the Fourth Circle edged towards supporting Fain’s Elixir. The Sixth and Seventh Circle were likewise divided, though more certainly opposed the elixir after the debacle with Spirit Sun. It was the greater numbers of the Second Circle that proved to be the deciding faction. Most who kept faith with Fain, though there were a few of us who opposed the elixir: Orlachmar of course, Loboshi and myself, Terentia and Hajamin who always stood by Meridian. But the vast only saw the elixir as a weapon to be used. “We needn’t all take the elixir,” argued Morgfyre. “Perhaps just a few of us could use it, chosen warriors of the Second Circle. We could be the ones to sacrifice ourselves for the betterment of the whole.” “And if you become a new breed of Soulless, what then?” demanded Meridian. “Would we then have to kill you?” “I would gladly sacrifice myself,” said Morgfyre indignantly. “I would do anything to defeat the Soulless Ones.” And that statement of course was like feeding meat to hungry lions for the Second Circle. Sacrifice was always one of the greatest virtues of a warrior. Orlachmar tried to articulate his opposition, but his own rage got the better of him. I could tell that warriors like Tauro, Thax, Ivanko, Krokano, Gruen and Slaay admired his strength, and the anger that boiled within Orlachmar’s breast was somehow perversely perceived as a reason to take the elixir. It looked as though, again, we would support Fain, and as much as I hated speaking at a Gathering, I found myself standing up and clearing my throat. “Aye, we could some of us take the elixir as Morgfyre suggests,” I said when all attention had turned upon me. “But you can count me out. If you ask me, it wouldn’t be a noble sacrifice, it would be the path of the coward. Corrupting ourselves, turning ourselves into the enemy, destroying our own souls, for what? To win a few battles before we lose all identity of who or what we are? You all know how close I’ve been to Orlachmar, and I’ve seen firsthand the changes within him. Bloody stars, he is not the same! The soul, what Dynara saw in each of us, is being destroyed within Orlachmar! You think that’s noble? To throw away Dynara’s greatest gift? I say no! I would rather die with honour and being true to myself than win using this coward’s method!” Of course, I directed this speech to my fellow Second Circle warriors and, as I scowled at them, wondered if I had failed completely. Most stared at me with eyes widened in shock. Morgfyre’s face was white with rage. But then Krokano stood up and began to clap, followed by Tauro, Shikari, and Braun. Then others began standing, and the clapping became louder and louder, with huzzahs and cries of agreement. Oh, a good number did not stand up, Morgfyre, Thax, Ivanko and Gruen among them, but it was enough to turn the tide. Thus, when the second vote was cast, Meridian’s faction won by a fairly wide margin. Of course, there was no celebration this time. We had just voted to not use the one weapon that might give us a chance. Fain’s face was flushed with fury, but he quickly took control of his emotions and quelled the uproar amongst his supporters. “So be the will of the Elders,” said Fain tightly, bowing deeply to Meridian before leaving with his Coterie trailing behind him. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Bollikin](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-bollikin/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Bollikin ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/furrikin.jpg)Walking along the rolling green hills of the Ackeleheliorna Forest, Tae and I watched the world burn. Sheets of flames crisscrossed the sky, swallowing clouds and expelling superheated mists. The smell of burnt wood clogged our noses, and the soot rained down like twisted snowflakes, typical of a combined attack of the Soulless Zenos and Muud. Fortunately, it wasn’t common that the Soulless Ones worked together. “Do not worry, little friend,” Tae said at my side. “The forest is safe. Bear and I protect it.” “For how long?” I asked quietly. “Long enough,” Tae said, as always confident and sure. Just as suddenly the flames in the sky winked out. I gave a sigh. The Domotheon Spires had kicked in again, cutting the attack off at its source. But the Fifth Circle kept warning us that it was only a matter of time before the Spires, hidden within the bubbles between the planes, would fail. “There!” announced Tae. “What did I tell you, little friend? Everything will be fine.” More bravado, but I took comfort in it anyway. Tae gave me a squeeze and hoisted me up onto his broad shoulders. Humming, he continued his circuit of the Ackeleheliorna. But as he picked me up, I saw the concern in his eyes. He felt me trembling. I could not help it. Even now, rabbits burned in an unnamed forest on the other side of the world. Foxes drowned in floods along the Plains of Shavarti. Squirrels, skunks, beavers, hedgehogs, fleeing certain death in all the far corners of the First World. My small creations were not meant to withstand such assaults. They died in droves, and their Great Spirits, the hive souls that formed from these my creations, felt every death, every fearful cry for help, as they ran and ran and ran. But nowhere was safe, and the Great Spirits cried out. And I felt their cries as sharp stabs within my heart. Ironic that I was once considered the greatest of the Seventh Circle for having so many Great Spirits form out of my creations. Now, those of the Seventh Circle looked on me with pity for they knew how much pain I was in. Even though part of me envied those who had only one or two Great Spirits and thus their pain would be confined, I could not reproach their existence. I loved them too much and would never regret having created even the smallest of them. “Are you ready, little friend?” Tae asked as he carried me on his shoulder. “What, dear Tae?” I asked, trying to lose myself in the scent of honeysuckle and violets that grew at the bases of the honeytrees. “We said we would help move the icebourne fae,” said Tae. “Do you not want to go?” “Oh, yes. Of course, let’s go,” I said, remembering that we were going to help isolate the icebourne, creatures that the Traitor Manteekan had created. Leaving the forest, travelling along the planar byways, we entered the ethereal realm, where others had already gathered and surrounded a group of fae. As we approached, the air turned achingly chill. The forms of the icebourne had not yet solidified into a stable state, though they were obviously awakened from the spirit of snow and ice. Without their awakener, they were confused yet they were filled with something twisted and wrong. They stared at us with eyes bright with hate. Even so, who could blame them? We banished their creator and now rounded them up. How could I not help but be sympathetic? For aeons our only desire was to procreate, but alas, creating progeny was beyond us. The Creators of the Seventh Circle created their creatures, some of whom became the hive souls which we called children. The Awakeners of the Sixth Circle awakened the fae spirits who sometimes formed into greater spirits. Even the hamadhi strived to push the half-formed to their potential, but after so many aeons in their creche, they were stuck as they were. It was a bitter pill that we never were able to create more Elders like ourselves. For however much we succeeded and came close, our creations were never our equals. The true power of creation either died with Dynara and her nameless brother or was simply beyond our grasp. The icebourne screamed and cursed at us as we encased them in a sphere and delved into the space between planes, a cold dark place which I hated. Even so, other elders used this place to create small bubbles to conduct their research or just offer small spaces to be alone. We were surprised to meet Crumkane in this space of aether, and I smelled the breath of the fae on him. I could guess what he did, for his fae followers loved him. Was he hiding his favourites in a bubble? What would become of them? Perhaps he hoped to save just a few as it now seemed First World was doomed. “The Domotheon Spires are almost spent,” said Loboshi, as we travelled through the aethers. “There!” said Lisaera. “The bubble of ice is perfect for these creatures.” Releasing the creatures onto this ice world, they were not grateful but rather ran and hid in the snows. Tae bellowed with laughter and ran off to play with them, thinking they were having some sort of sport. Meanwhile, Lisaera and Nocht began directing the building of a system within the bubble that would rehabilitate the icebourne. However long that would take would be anyone’s guess. Loboshi was inspecting one of the Domotheon Spires which was on the ice bubble, She sighed and pointed out the cracks and fissures along the base. We repaired it as best we could but knew it was only a matter of time before it broke. When were about to leave, I had to go and find Tae. He was running back and forth along the snow banks, laughing and throwing snowballs. Curiously, I saw some snowballs being cast back at him. Tae saw me and came jogging towards me. “That was fun,” he said. “Do you want to play too, little friend?” “No, thank you, dear Tae,” I said. “What have you and the icebourne been up to?” “Oh, they’ve been hiding and I’ve been seeking. When I catch them, I pack them into snow or ice and make little creatures out of them. Do you want to see?” “No, no, we don’t have time. Loboshi says the Domotheon Spires are more fragile than she had thought and we should report to the First Circle.” As we left the ice bubble, I wondered briefly if Tae’s playing would affect the icebourne, or the rehabilitation system we had set, but there were greater concerns. When we gathered atop Mount Dynara, in the House of Xyl, there was a large gathering of Elders. Apparently, the First Circle had called a convocation. We assembled in the large crystal auditorium where we normally did. It was then that it struck me how reduced our numbers were. The hall was practically empty. Unconsciously we all clustered together in the centre to give an illusion of numbers. But looking back, most of the auditorium was empty. Were there really less than a thousand of us left? So it seemed. On the dais that floated before us stood Meridian flanked by Eventru and Aslarn. To their left was Roark, a Thinker of the Fifth Circle. They waited until we had all quieted. Meridian stepped forward. “We know that since the Twelve Traitors were banished, the war has not gone well,” he said. “But that does not mean that we haven’t been studying the situation. We believe we have found a solution. It is a small chance, but it offers hope.” Meridian paused and we all leaned forward. Hope! It was not a word we had heard recently. But Meridian looked neither happy nor filled with hope. He nodded to Roark, who then stepped forward. “As many of you know,” said Roark, “my research has mainly focused on the interplanar matrices and study of dimensional anomalies. A theory I’ve often postulated was that Magnora and Dynara went far beyond just the normal dimensional waves but left our reality altogether, beyond our knowledge of the multiverse.” Members of the Fifth Circle nodded in understanding, though others, like Tae, looked bored or confused. Roark cleared his throat and went on. “Our first impetus was to return to the First World, Lusternia. After all the First World is the centre of our multiverse, the nexus point of all our known dimensions. While our instinct may have compelled us here, it was the wrong decision. We came here to wait for the return of Dynara and Magnora. But instead we should have been seeking them out. And to find them, we would need to search as far away from Lusternia as possible, for if there is a rift into another reality, it would be as far away from the one point of where reality is most stable, which is, of course, the First World. “The Void is the only logical area where the fabric of our reality is thin enough to pierce, through to another reality, the event horizon of possibilities. I have developed a device which I believe measures the thinning of reality, seeking out the event horizons along the quantum shifts of the Void; thus, enabling us to search out and find the thinning of space-time where Dynara and Magnora were lost. Then, we can bring them back and restore equilibrium.” Silence. We were stunned. This was the solution? To run to the Void? The nervousness of the proposal was palpable. “Why couldn’t the Soulless just follow us to the Void?” asked Clangorum. “We would slip out a few at a time,” said Meridian. “They won’t notice us going if we use the same fulcrux rift which we used to send out the Twelve Traitors.” “Lovely,” muttered Mugowumpois. “And ironic. We will ultimately share the same fate as the Twelve! How do you plan on us escaping the Void?” Roark said “I can construct a beacon in the Void, and once it is safe to return, Dynara or Magnora can activate it. When you hear the beacon, it will be safe and you can follow it home.” “And if Dynara and Magnora never return,” said Mugowumpois bitterly. “We will be trapped forever in the Void. That is, until the Soulless Ones consume the First World and all of creation before going back to the Void and hunting us down.” Roark had nothing to say to that, just looked on impassively. Meridian stepped forward and descended down the dais. “It is hope,” Meridian said softly. “A hard and difficult journey it would be, to confine ourselves in the Void and search for our progenitors, but it offers hope nonetheless.” Thus, it was decided that we would abandon the First World and escape to the Void. Groups of five would leave through the fulcrux complex within Mount Dynara. According to Xyl, we would be scattered throughout the Void, just as the Twelve Traitors were. Roark was providing the devices that would search out the thinning of reality so we could search for the progenitors. As each group left, we would say good-bye. It was unlikely we would meet each other in the vastness of the Void. I kept demurring from joining a group. Instead, Tae and I would go wander through the remaining forests, visiting the last survivors of our creation. “I’m not going to go, dear Tae,” I said. “I cannot leave my little ones.” “Of course, you can’t, ” said Tae matter of factly, “We will stay behind.” “No, dear Tae,” I said. “You needn’t stay. I would rather you go. I couldn’t bear to know you are lost.” “Don’t be daft, little friend. We can never be lost so long as we have each other.” What could I do but laugh and hug, my dear sweet Tae. That decision behind us, we went to tell the others, to say our last goodbyes. When we got to the fulcrux chambers within Mount Dynara, there was a lot of activity. The crystal chambers were pulsating and the air was crackling with energy. The Soulless Ones had become suspicious at our activity and dwindling numbers. They were all attacking at once, with Kethuru leading the way, spreading himself up and out, enclosing the First World. “The Domotheon Spires are collapsing,” shouted Loboshi. Turning to a monitoring crystal, Xyl tapped it and images appeared of the Domotheon Spires, each resting on a bubble in the aethers of space. The Spires trembled and flared with sudden dark energies. Quickly, Xyl switched the viewing crystal to focus on his research station in the elemental phase of the aethers. “Xion Control Unit,” said Xyl into a transference crystal. “Lower the Domotheon Spires. Code: Sigura-pharx Eight Three Two Five Nine.” Switching the viewing crystal back to the view of the Domotheon Spires, we watched them begin sinking down into the ground. But it was too late, they were already crumbling. Finally, they exploded, leaving behind nothing more than circular rings on their respective bubbles. As the rings began to fade and sink, the viewing crystal flared black and cracked. “Who was in the last group that just left?” said Meridian grimly. “Agnomenon, Fininkora, Carakhan, Luriki and Panamandius,” said Xyl. “Agnomenon!” screamed Clangorum. “My brother! Did they make it to the Void.” “I do not know,” said Xyl, gesturing to the cracked crystal. “We have no way of checking. But that was the last group that would be going out. Kethuru will block any further attempts. So we were trapped here. I know Tae and I had not planned on leaving but somehow knowing the others will be trapped with us made the decision seem hollow. It was only a matter of time before the Soulless Ones would break through the final defences. We had retreated to the basin below Mount Dynara which was more than just a mountain, but the manifestation of the heart of the First World. We constructed a shield over the Basin and held our position within. We waited to die. I leaned back against the comforting wall that was Tae. “Little friend,” he said, “I will never leave you.” “Oh, Tae,” I said bitterly. “I wish you had.” Meridian watched us, stricken silent. He walked several paces and watched the seas though tears filled his eyes. Trillillial and Xyl held hands and walked away to a dome. Loboshi comforted the wolves who followed her around. How many of us were left? Not nearly enough for the defence to hold long. My children. I could feel them call to me, the little creatures who were my offspring. I could feel them turning to me for protection, but what could I offer them? Nothing, nothing at all. I was never much of a fighter. I never liked violence and always relied on Tae for protection. Now I’d just get in his way. My forte was hiding and there was nowhere left to hide. Their imminent death weighed heavier on me than my own. I began to cry. Something inside of me was breaking. This was my final farewell. I hugged Tae hard, and he absorbed it and hugged me back. I could not say what I was going to do. “I love you, dear Tae,” I whispered. “I must leave now.” “I love you too, little friend,” said Tae, “but where are you going? When will you be coming back? I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. A deep peace filled me. I would join my creations. It would be my last, final gift to them, to join them in their fate. Tae’s booming voice was hammering at me but his words became a blur of sound. Other voices were joining his, but they meant nothing to me. I felt the force of my childrens’ love surge within me. But I was helpless to do anything. My heart breaks for I cannot take you with me, dear Tae. Goodbye. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Book of Aslarn](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-aslarn/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Book of Aslarn ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/aslaran2.jpg)Ah, back in the jungles of Jojobo, I watched Little Sun playing among the lions and gazelles, chasing one and then the other. I noticed the lions were becoming agitated by this mischief. I swept Little Sun up into my arms, because Great Lion Spirit was just beginning to take notice. “What you be doing now, Little Sun?” I asked him. “Your big ole body is way up in the sky overhead, why you send this bitty part of your spirit down to chase the poor little lions?” “I’m lonely!” cried Little Sun. “All up in that big sky, there’s no one to play with!” “Well, that not be true!” I said. “What about Spirit Moon? There she is peeking up over the horizon!” “She hardly comes around!” complained Little Sun, though I felt his curiosity reach out to sense Moon Spirit coming up over the mountains. “And what about Spirit Night?” I asked, teasing him. “She’s just around the corner!” “I never see her!” “I hear she’s very, very beautiful, Little Sun! I think you’ll like her if you meet her. Or aren’t you fast enough to catch her?” “Oh, fast I am! I’ll catch her!” The glorious golden body I held, which was Little Sun’s projected spirit, melted away as his consciousness flew back into his celestial body in the sky. I shaded my eyes and grinned as he began to travel a little faster across the sky. Chuckling to myself, I made sure the little lions weren’t too upset, but they were washing themselves and pretending nothing had happened. I sensed Great Lion Spirit was already forgiving and forgetting Little Sun’s antics, as he stretched out to enjoy the lazy heat of the afternoon. We’d have to keep an eye out for Sun Spirit. As with many others of the greater spirits when newly awakened, he tried to play with the lesser awakened spirits or with the lesser creations of the Seventh Circle. He’d have to learn to curb himself, though I sensed our hands would be full with this one. His spirit was both arrogant and rambunctious – indeed, reminding me when Great Lion Spirit was formed. These two would eventually either end up being great friends or heated rivals! Who could blame Little Sun for wanting to play with the lions? These great lovely cats created by Lorella of the Seventh were both gorgeous and arrogant, playful and terrifying, loyal and so full of pride. Oh, within the jungles there were many fine creations, some of the most artistic and creative works of the Seventh Circle could be seen in the many kinds of monkeys and florid birds, the long necked giraffes and graceful gazelles, the colourful boa constrictors and enormous elephants – but it was Lorella’s great lovely cats that were my secret favourites. Walking among the little lions who rubbed up and down my legs, I couldn’t help but feel immense pride in the jungles of Jojobo. I was determined to treasure as much time as I could here before being called back to Xyl’s spires when the mission to the Heralds of Magnora departed. Though most of First Circle were going on that important mission, I was not one of them. Unlike Amberle or Meridian, who focused on the needs of the warriors and hamadhi who roamed through the planar sheaths, or like Migana or Fain who oversaw the projects of the artists and thinkers, I chose to oversee the Sixth and Seventh Circles, helping coordinate and balance the spirits they awakened and creatures they created. There were only a handful of Firsts who chose this duty, and I was proud of what I did. Most of the Firsts would be part of the mission. Indeed, only about two dozen of us would remain behind. There wasn’t a lot for me to do at this time, which is why I came back to enjoy my time in the jungles. The other Firsts were being trained by the Second Circle in the risks of travelling beyond aetherspace and into the void itself. Since Xyl still hadn’t returned from his quest to find Dracnoris, Fain oversaw the Fifth Circle, mostly Raezon, Roark and Gheasia, as they constructed a crystal prism from which the mission could be viewed through Meridian’s link with Amberle. None of us knew what to expect, of course. We guessed that the Heralds of Magnora may harbour some resentment against us, but who were they really? We hadn’t seen them in aeons, and their closest kin, the primal gods amongst us, were lost in their third circle meditations. Our emissaries to Dracnoris and Keph still hadn’t returned. The time finally came for me to bid goodbye once again to Great Lion and Little Sun and all the rest of the spirits and creations of Jojobo. I was called back to Xyl’s spires to the First Circle assembly. I was rather surprised to see that the mission, of which there were three hundred and sixty five members of the First Circle, had decided to travel in a power formation called the Finger of Fate. Though I was no expert on Second Circle hunting formations, I seemed to recall this was one of the most deadly formations. “The Finger of Fate?” I asked Krokano, one of the warriors of the Golden Circle. “You be leaving nothing to chance, eh?” “It was a compromise,” Krokano said. “Since it was decided that this mission wouldn’t contain any of the Second Circle, we insisted that they should at least meet the Heralds in a formation that could easily be defended. Truth be told, I still do not like having none of the Second Circle on this mission.” “It is out of the question,” said Amberle, overhearing us. “How would it appear to them if we sent warriors as our first encounter? We do not mean to frighten them.” “We are sending out the almost entire First Circle,” observed Fain, “that’s intimidating enough. Besides, I think over three hundred of us could deal with any unpleasantries if it came to that.” “Which it will not,” said Amberle. “Nevertheless, there could be dangers,” said Krokano. “The Finger of Fate will at least offer minimal protection.” “It be prudent,” I said. I could tell that Amberle had argued against even that, but she merely sighed and nodded. As the rest of us gathered, we grew more and more festive. The Keepers of the Songs of Creation, a group of the Fourth Circle devoted to the music of creation, began singing and leading us in intricate dances. Then the mission members floated up above the crystal spires. It was an impressive sight as they sent forth beams of power and began linking into the formation known as the Finger of Fate, each of them glistening in robes, some redolent in ornate splendour and some elegant in their simplicity, some wore crowns or circlets upon their brows, some wielded symbols of power in their hands, from delicate rods and crosses to crystal ankhs and orbs of power. The Finger of Fate formation consisted of six rings, the outer ring one hundred strong, the next ring seventy-five, and so on until Amberle herself stood alone in the centre. As they floated upwards, connected with lines of power, Amberle took the lead point while the other circles lagged behind, forming a glittering cone behind her. Back in the main chamber of the central spire, Meridian stood alone on a raised platform. Fain directed the Fifth Circle to empower the crystal sphere which hung above Meridian. Within that viewing sphere, we could share Meridian’s connection with Amberle, as they were joined by blood and love, sibling mates. The crystal immediately glowed pink with their affection, and their thoughts vibrated off the crystal, confident and determined. Thus, the Finger of Fate launched itself into the aethers, intent upon their mission to the Heralds, while the rest of us gathered in the central chamber to view the progress through the viewing sphere. Most everyone was gathered from all the circles, and we were filled with hope and excitement. The journey was uneventful until they approached the Void. Here, they slowed and the crystal viewing sphere darkened slightly, reflecting Amberle’s trepidation. The Void was a vast emptiness, devoid of even the energy that flowed through the aethers, impenetrable in its vast isolation. The Void was often described as cold and harsh, but those are only the most pale of metaphors. The Void has no physical temperature, neither hot nor cold, nor comfortable. Furthermore, it is vaster than imagination, for that which does not exist far exceeds that which does. The Void itself is anathema to existence, for it is that which is nothing and a painful place to even travel through, for form and spirit rebel against existing in a place where they do not belong. Perhaps the greatest mystery is why that which is empty is not empty, for as the Second Circle knows more than any of us, there are beings that inhabit the Void. We call them the Abominations. Perhaps some are cast off creations of Dynara, perhaps some are improbable manifestations of the Void itself. Many certainly are mutated half-formed who travelled into the Void and became undone and remade in their insanity. Rarely would we willingly travel deep into the Void, except perhaps to chase a renegade half-formed or perform some research project. Back in the main chamber of Xyl’s spires, we collectively experienced the Void through Meridian’s link with Amberle, feeling waves of her pain and nausea, though blunted through the viewing sphere. We helped Meridian send Amberle strength, and felt her resolve harden. Thus, she led the mission into the depths of the Void. The journey itself took months, and none of us left the chamber, sharing the travails of our siblings through Meridian’s link with Amberle. Without that link, they would have been lost to us, as their trail back to reality faded away. I know not what it must have been like for them, none of us had ever experienced such a long time in the Void before. Just travelling with them vicariously through the viewing sphere was exhausting and draining enough. Finally, they approached that dark spot where Xyl first saw the Heralds. If it wasn’t for Xyl’s devices that he constructed to prove the existence of other realities beyond the Void, I doubt we would have noticed the Heralds until they breached into aetherspace and were encountered by a Second Circle patrol. The viewing crystal reflected everything seen through the eyes of Amberle, and we now saw the Heralds up close. They were ablaze with a swarming darkness, much larger than we had imagined, almost dwarfing the glittering Finger of Fate. Within the centre of the mass were about a dozen gargantuan beings, clearly the leaders of the Heralds, and they moved forward and hovered near the Finger of Fate. Amberle was not deterred, and allowed the great alien beings to study the Finger of Fate. “Greetings,” said Amberle, projecting peaceful intention through her thoughts. “We come in love and friendship. We know you reach towards the First World, called Lusternia, and bid you welcome.” For those of us back in Xyl’s spires, Amberle’s confidence shone through the viewing crystal as a deep amber. We watched and waited as the horde of Heralds kept spiralling around the Finger of Fate, like curious animals circling around an unknown stranger. An uncomfortable silence stretched as we waited for their answer. Finally, one of the Heralds unleashed a blast of mental images: amusement, curiosity, hatred, and most of all hunger. A great gnawing hunger that shot through Amberle, and was reflected through the viewing sphere at us as a wave of voracious blackness that brought many of us to our knees. Before Amberle could reply, other Heralds struck out at the rings with a suddenness that none of us suspected. Shouts erupted in the chamber as we demanded to know what was happening. Was this communication? An attack? Did they think we were here to harm them? Amberle’s own confusion ricocheted mentally around the chamber. The gargantuan Heralds drew back, and the smaller ones rushed forward, letting out of a collected fetid breath before pouncing upon their prey. And their prey was Amberle. The viewing sphere suddenly bathed the chamber in cascading ruby light, angry and bright. Amberle’s scream scorched the crystal of the viewing sphere as the Finger of Fate inverted to protect her. The Finger of Fate was no longer in a cone formation but rather the outer rings were gyrating around Amberle, cutting off the relentless attacks on her. A cheer went up from the Second Circle, who were congratulating themselves on their foresight in instructing them how to use the Finger of Fate formation. The other Firsts in the chamber with me looked stunned and shaken. Fain had retreated into the arms of his mate Lisaera, while Meridian was certainly in no shape, having fallen prone upon the dais. Someone needed to take control of the situation, so I stepped forward and took charge. “LISTEN TO ME!” I roared, my voice causing the crystal to vibrate. Silence followed and I pointed to Meridian who was kneeling and panting on the dais but no longer writhing in pain. “We have been struck, the psychic link has whiplashed us all,” I said, “but we will not dissemble! Meridian maintains the link and our brothers and sisters have repelled the attack. Second Circle, step forward and report!” “The multiple rings are part of a defensive formation,” said Terentia. “The spherical shield is almost impossible to breach.” “But they cannot hold that for long,” said Morgfyre. “Eventually they will tire. They need to retreat!” “They’re surrounded,” said Krokano, “They must begin the daath sequence!” The rest of the Second Circle collectively gasped in shock. I looked around and they were staring incredulously at Krokano. Meanwhile, Amberle and the others still held the spherical shield, deflecting the attacks that were sent relentlessly at them. But for how long? Slowly Hajamin nodded and said, “Daath.” “Is there no other way?” asked Morgfyre. “What is it?” I asked, impatient at this uncharacteristic uncertainty among the Seconds. “What is this Daath Sequence?” “You may know it as the Breaker of the Cosmos,” said Hajamin, who looked down at his feet as if embarrassed for them all. ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/swirlygoldspace-e1497468322647.jpg)Of course, I had heard of the Breaker of the Cosmos, a formation so powerful and deadly that it was only ever enacted once by the Second Circle – who vowed to never use it again. It was a dark time in our history. A cosmic plane had been discovered that was so foul and corrupt, it was determined that we could not allow it to exist. The Second Circle had developed a new formation called Breaker of the Cosmos, which was used to annihilate the entire plane and everything living there. Debate still raged over the ethics of that event. “Can they do it?” I asked softly. “When it was done before,” said Terentia, “it took two hundred of the Second Circle. They have over three hundred in the Finger of Fate. It should be possible!” “Could they destroy the Heralds?” I asked. “It is the ultimate offence,” said Krokano confidently. “Meridian!” I shouted, coming to a decision quickly. “Tell Amberle to begin the Daath sequence! Have her pass instruction to the others!” I wasn’t sure if he heard me, for his eyes were closed as pain and agony literally steamed off his skin. But eventually he gritted his teeth and nodded. “Daath sequence!” he repeated, and the Second Circle began a chant with him, “Daath! Daath! Daath!” Their chant pounding Meridian with mental instructions on what to do. Meridian gasped and was able to pull himself up to his knees. He shook his head and opened his eyes, staring beseechingly at me. “Amberle refuses to order it,” said Meridian. “She thinks the Heralds misunderstood our intentions. She wishes to try to communicate one more time.” “Is she insane? We cannot allow it!” I said. But we saw on the viewing sphere that the spinning gyrations of the rings were already slowing. Amberle was once again preparing to communicate with the Heralds. Back in the chambers, the Fifth Circle now surrounded Meridian, raising crystal grids around him to blunt the psychic connection with Amberle to protect his mind. Meridian was able to breathe easier and shakily stood up, though tears still streaked down his cheeks. “Please, Amberle, don’t do this,” he sobbed. “Come back to me, my love! My heart! Do not do this!” The image of Amberle magnified in the viewing sphere and she smiled. Her magnificent violet eyes filled with love and compassion. “Do not fear for me, blessed Meridian,” she answered. “You are the soul of my soul, but you know we must at least try. It is the moral thing to do. And if we have no morality, what else do we have? Is it not our righteousness that defines us?” The thoughts of the other Firsts in their rings formations echoed back and affirmed Amberle. I sighed and bowed my head in humility at her grace. The rings stopped gyrating and again they pulled into an inverted cone, with Amberle at the tip, projecting peace and love. Just at that moment, the southern back wall of the chamber blew out backwards. There were screams of astonishment. Were we under attack here in Xyl’s tower? But, no, hovering in the center of the hole was the massive head of Dracnoris. Tae, Xyl and Bollikin were perched on his shoulder and jumped into the chamber. The Dragon God was always a fearsome sight to behold, fire leaking from his nostrils and his teeth glistening like swords. Unlike the rest of us, he was a primal god, closest kin to the Heralds. He was one of the first few who Dynara chose to keep by her side, one of the oldest souls in creation and certainly one of the wisest. And his eyes were wide with fear and dread. “Call them back!” Dracnoris roared. “You cannot speak to the Heralds! They only have one desire and that is to consume! I can sense my sister, a Herald herself. She is nothing but a fathomless hunger. Her very spirit is a psychic leech, and she laughs. They all laugh! They can think of nothing but to destroy us. Call back the Star Gods!” Meridian’s face fell, as he began relaying Dracnoris’ message to Amberle. The Dragon God narrowed his huge eyes, quickly taking in everything that was happening in the viewing sphere. Quickly realizing that he was too late, he shrank back, his ears going flattening back against his head, reminding me of how lions looked look when threatened. Whether Amberle heard the warning or not, she was already reaching out towards a huge amorous blob of gibbering madness. I suspect she would have tried to communicate regardless. We will never know – for at that moment they attacked in force. Massive colours of darkness wrapped around Amberle, pulling her forward. The rings tried again to gyrate and protect her but this time the Heralds were ready. They leapt forward, like a starving pack of scavengers and tore into the rings, breaking them apart. Of course, these rings were made up of hundreds of the First Circle, and what we were watching was their utter decimation. Two rings managed to begin their gyrations but it was too little and far too late. Amberle was screaming, her agony breaking through the crystal dampers and sending Meridian once again to the floor on the dais, writhing in pain. We watched helplessly through Amberle as the creatures tore into our brothers and sisters, maws opened with dripping fangs, their minds unleashing waves of unfettered hunger and malice. The Finger of Fate was broken as dozens of lesser Heralds threw themselves at the rings of power, breaking them apart through their sheer mass. Then the greater Heralds came forward, stripping away flesh to bare the spirit beneath, then shattering the inner souls like brittle glass. “Break the link!” screamed Raezon, “For the love of Yudhe! Break the link!” Roark met Raezon’s eyes and nodded. Together, they shattered the transmitter and left Meridian screaming and flailing on the ground. “Amberle! Amberle!” Meridian screamed over and over, as blood flowed from his eyes. Though Amberle’s screams were echoing through the chamber for what seemed eternity, the viewing sphere was broken. The Third Circle hamadhi healers rushed to Meridian, blanketing him with soothing energies. We were all stunned, myself included. Lisaera was cradling Fain’s head against her bosom. Most were sobbing and screaming in sympathy. The Fourth Circle was practically dissembling. Only the Second Circle were galvanized, preparing for battle and planning strikes, but there was no order or organization and their fractious plans had no reason. All I wished to do was run away, back to the jungles of Jojoba, to play with the great cats and help teach Little Sun what it was like to be awakened. But none of the other Firsts were in any shape to lead, and the Second Circle was preparing to rush off without plan or reason. Would I ever see beloved Jojoba again? I gritted my teeth against despair and roared. Eyes turned to me, the Second Circle standing at attention. The other circles gathered around, looking beseechingly at me, hungry to know what to do. And so I did what I had to do, what duty demanded of me. I prepared the gods for war. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Races](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) **Published:** November 12, 2020 **Author:** Iashe **Content:** ## The Races of Lusternia - #### [Aslaran ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Dracnari ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Dwarf ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Elfen ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Faeling ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Furrikin ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Human ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Igasho ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Illithoid ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Kephera ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Krokani ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Loboshigaru ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Lucidian ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Merian ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Mugwump ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Orclach ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Tae’dae ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Taurian ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Trill ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Viscanti ](javascript:void(0);) #### Aslaran ## Aslaran ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Aslaran-3_0.jpg) Descended from the Elder God Aslarn, the aslarans are a race of feline-like humanoids. They have an affinity to open plains and are excellent hunters. Some males grow great manes. The colour of their fur ranges from light beige to more tawny browns. Several branches of aslaran are known to sport stripes or spots. Their natural speed make them excel in any physical profession. Languages: Aslari, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1:** 2/2 health regeneration when in all natural outdoor areas. - **Level 25:** 2/4 resistance to cold damage. - **Level 50:** Increased movement speed in all areas. - **Demigod:** Ability: Pursuit – The player can PURSUE to focus on a single target. Should they leave the room, the player will follow, pouncing after the target and knocking them down as a free action. This will only work on movements that end up in an adjacent room. Once fired, this ability cannot be reused for five seconds. - **Demigod+:** Improved Ability: Pursuit now stuns the target for 2 seconds. #### Dracnari ## Dracnari ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Dracnari-3_0.jpg) Descended from the Elder God Dracnoris (also known as the Dragon God), the dracnari are a race of lizard-like humanoids with the ability to breathe fire. They have an affinity to volcanic regions, especially the fire hills of the southwest, where they were the primary founders of the city of Gaudiguch ( which became lost in time during the Taint Wars and was eventually freed through the efforts of the dracnari Kialkarkea Diodorus). Their skin is scaled green and features range from the truly draconic to remarkably human-like. Like the merians, dracnari do not recognize half-breeds: either you are a dracnari or are not, denoted by the ability to breathe fire. Languages: Dracnari, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1:** 1/4 resistance to psychic damage. Ability: BREATHE FIRE. Destroys an ice/thorn/briar wall in any direction. Syntax: BREATHE FIRE (ICE/THORN/BRIAR)WALL AT (DIRECTION). Can light pipes with their breath (LIGHT PIPE). - **Level 25:** 2/4 resistance to fire damage. - **Level 50:** 1/3 health and mana regeneration when in burning environments. - Dracnari with the Pyromancy or Pyrochemantics specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to fire and asphyxiation damage. - Dracnari with the Paradigmatics specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to fire and psychic damage. - Dracnari with the Minstrelry specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to both fire and psychic damage. - **Demigod:** Trait: Breath of Dracnoris – BREATHE FIRE now ignites briar and thorn walls as well as melting icewalls on a faster balance. It automatically lights smoking pipes passively. The dracnari also has a 5% chance to breathe fire on attacks against other players, dealing fire damage and afflicting the target with ablaze. - **Demigod+:** Improved Trait: Breathe fire can now affect adjacent rooms (e.g., BREATHE FIRE ROOM AT WEST) causing fire damage to all within and causing a chance to set the room ablaze. Also has a 10% chance to trigger on all attacks against denizens. (Attacks against other players remains at 5%.) #### Variants - **Dracnari** - Standard race - **Illuminated Dracnari** - Dracnari trained in the arts of Pyromancy, Pyrochemantics, or Transmology. - **Guardian Dracnari** - Dracnari warriors trained in the arts of Paradigmatics. - **Rapscallion Dracnari** - Dracnari trained in the arts of Minstrelry. #### Dwarf ## Dwarf ## ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Dwarf-3_0.jpg) Descended from the Elder God Clangorum, the dwarven race originally called themselves the clangoru, but humans, when they first arrived in Lusternia, for some reason insisted on referring to the clangoru as dwarves, a term which eventually became accepted in the common vernacular. Although they look like humans, they are substantively shorter and stockier, and their hair grows at a rate five times faster than that of humans. Thus, most male dwarves prefer to grow beards rather than shaving five times a day. Contrary to rumour, it is rare for a female dwarf to grow a full beard; however, growing long, silky sideburns which can be braided is a fairly common practice. They are a robust mountain race with a rich history, though the dwarven kingdom itself was split during the Taint Wars. Languages: Dwarven, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1:** 1/4 resistance to fire and cold damage. - **Level 25:** 1/4 resistance to blunt and cutting damage. - **Level 50:** Dwarves gain natural resistance (not immunity) against elemental movement effects. - Dwarves with the Axelord specialisation can use two-handed axes more effectively than any other race. - Dwarves with the Music skill gain the trait Sociable Drinker, increasing their empower and seduction ego attacks while influencing. - **Demigod:** Trait: Guts of Steel. Dwarves can consume more alcohol before suffering the effects of inebriation. Trait: Clangoru Resolve. Use RESOLVE ON/OFF to gain the Clangoru Resolve defence, which increases rooting by 20%, 30% if found in underground or mountain environments. - **Demigod+:** Improved Trait: Raging Alcoholic. Dwarves will be able to perform much better under the effects of drunkenness. Trait: Roots of the Mountains – The Clangoru Resolve defence will not count towards the general rooting celerity malus. #### Variants - **Dwarf** - Standard race. - **Dwarven Brewmeister/Brewmistress** - Dwarves of the bardic path who also study the Alchemy specialization of Brewmeister. #### Elfen ## Elfen ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Elfen-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder Goddess Elfenehoala, the elfen race have always had a close affinity to the forests. They consider themselves the saviours of Lusternia as they were who first discovered the ailing fae, spirits of nature, and healed them and likewise the forests. They are a lithe, beautiful people, with delicate pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes. Their skin tone ranges from alabaster white to some varying hues of green. Though most elfen still prefer forest communes, there are those who have been drawn to city life. Languages: Elfen, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1:** 2/4 resistance to magic damage. - **Level 25:** 2/4 resistance to psychic damage. - **Level 50:** 1/3 Health and mana regeneration when in forest environments. - Elfen with the Stag specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to both magic and lightning damage. - Elfen with the Moon specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to both magic and divinus damage. - Elfen with the Wildarrane specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to both cold and divinus damage. - **Demigod:** Trait: One With Nature – 4/10 Health/Mana/Ego regeneration in all natural environments. (Note: Elfen do not gain the One with Nature bonus in Blacktalon Terrain or Wyrden Forest.) - **Demigod+**: One With Nature now grants a 2/10 bonus to both all damage types and damage resistances in all natural/forest environments. #### Variants - **Elfen** - Standard race. - **High Elfen** - Elfen wiccans and druids that specialize in the Moon or Stag totem. - **Elfen Lady/Lord** - Elfen warriors that specialize in either the Moon or Stag totem. - **Wild Elfen** - Elfen bards that learn the art of the Wildarrane. #### Faeling ## Faeling ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/head_faeling.jpg) Faelings are not descended from an Elder God. Rather, they are the cross between an elfen and a creature of the fae. Faelings are almost always raised in elfen communes, and are given special status by wiccans. Physically, they look like extremely diminutive elfen, even smaller than the furrikin, and they all have elaborate butterfly-like wings enabling them to fly. While not very strong, they make up for that in speed and intellect. Ever since the undead elfen Rowena Nightshade tricked Laeroc, Consort of the Queen of the Fae into fathering her child, faelings who take the path of the wyrden Great Nature Spirits of Night, Crow, or that of the Voice of Mahalla transform into shadow faelings. These are a curious breed of faeling that are larger than others of their kind, with a dark complexion that seems to churn with shadows, more bat-like wings, and eyes that glow with a sombre red fire. #### #### Perks - **Level 1:** 2/4 resistance to divinus damage. - **Level 25:** Faeling gain the ability to FLY naturally. Faelings who can fly by other personal means are no longer knocked out of the sky by high winds, and instead, are stunned for two seconds. - **Level 50:** 1/3 health and mana regeneration in forest environments. - Faeling with the Crow specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to magic and poison damage. - Faeling with the Night specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to both asphyxiation and excorable damage. - Faeling with the Shadowbeat specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to both poison and excorable damage. - **Demigod:** One with Nature. 4/10 Health/Mana/Ego regeneration in all natural environments. Note: Faelings do not gain the One with Nature bonus in Hartstone Terrain (Ethereal Forest). - **Demigod+:** One with Nature now grants 2/10 bonus to both all damage types and damage resistance in all natural/forest environments. #### Furrikin ## Furrikin ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Furrikin-3_0.jpg)The Elder God Bollikin was the first Elder God to fragment his being, popularly believed because his gentle nature could not abide the impending Elder Wars. As the first Elder God to splinter, Bollikin did not achieve the uniformity of race reflected by other races. Legend has it that Bollikin was so endeared to all the smaller creatures that he could not concentrate on a chosen form at the time of fragmentation. Subsequently, the furrikin race have an unusually wide range of forms, some bearing a striking resemblance to rabbits or foxes or dogs or even small bears (looking like miniature tae’dae). Whatever their form, furrikins are generally quite diminutive and nimble. Furrikin are considered a passive race, though they have been known to bristle their hair when being derogatively referred to as “furballs”. *{Editor’s Note: We wish to apologize to any furrikin who took offense to the “bristling hair” remark. The author has been properly chastised.}* Languages: Furrikini, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/4 resistance to cold damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to magic damage. - **Level 50**: Furrikin are adored by many in the Basin of life, with their cute bristly fur, their big soppy eyes and their adorable puffy cheeks and… where was I? Increased seduction and charity attacks while influencing. - **Demigod**: Trait: Slippery little… Writhe and tumble replaced with SLIP and ROLL. Roll is faster than TUMBLE but slower than SOMERSAULT. Slip is faster than WRITHE but slower than CONTORT. They are unable to SLIP while unable to be masochistic. - **Demigod+**: Furrikin can now roll up to two rooms in any one direction (e.g., ROLL EAST 2). This cannot change direction from first room to the second. Additionally, they can SLIP at anytime and their ROLL is slightly faster now. #### Human ## Human ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Human-3_0.jpg)The human race is the only race not native to Lusternia and arrived with the coming of Estarra. They proved to be a most fertile people, able to interbreed with the other races. Because of this, humans range in all shapes, sizes and colours. Humans are the only race who make distinctions between themselves based upon appearance, dividing themselves as “old humans” meaning those with the original skin colour of their race (though ranging from palest fawn to darkest umber) to those of mixed origin – who have skin tones of the native Lusternian races (such as the blue skin of the merians or green skin of the dracnari or even the bright red skin of the viscanti). Languages: Common #### Perks - **Level 1:** 20% increased experience and essence gain. - **Level 25:** 1/10 health regen in urban areas. - **Level 50:** Equilibrium reduction on FIRSTAID and DIAGNOSE. Humans with the Healing skill gain health regen instead. - **Demigod:** Trait: Jack of All Trades – Reduces essence loss on death as well as an increase to gains of karma and esteem. - **Demigod+:** Trait: Master of None – Grants a bonus to all forms of damage reduction and damage increase bonuses. #### Igasho ## Igasho ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Igasho-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder Goddess Igaso, the igasho are by far the largest of the mortal races. They tend to be solitary wanderers, though their personality is generally jovial and good-natured. Their thick fur and hide allows them protection against the harshest of weather, and igasho native to arctic regions have long, white fur. Most igasho prefer forests and open ranges rather than prolonged confinement in cities. Slow to anger, when roused, an igasho makes a ferocious fighter as they are extremely strong and hardy. Languages: Igasho, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1:** 2/4 resistance to cold damage. - **Level 25:** Igasho gain the ability to SCALE naturally. If they have learned SCALE in the Environment skillset, they now do so at half the balance cost. - **Level 50:** Igasho gain a natural bonus to their warmth stat. - Igasho with the Blademaster specialisation can use one handed swords more effectively than any other race. - **Demigod:** Ability: CARRY – Using their sheer size and strength, an igasho will unceremoniously pick up their target and walk out of the room with them. Example CARRY ESTARRA WEST. This ability cannot be used more than once every 10 seconds. - **Demigod+:** Improved Ability: Carry now ignores the target’s movement resistance. Anyone blocking in the direction the igasho is headed is knocked prone. Also, for 10 power an igasho can break past powerful barriers like a great pentagram or smash through any walls: CARRY ESTARRA WEST UNSTOPPABLE. #### Illithoid ## Illithoid ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Illithoid-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Soulless Goddess Illith, the illithoid are a race with a distinctly unique appearance, pale skin that ranges from grey to purple. They are the only known race to have splintered from a Soulless God, and are thus considered abominations by many races, especially the kephera who kept their progenitor Illith imprisoned until she splintered into the illithoid race. The most notable feature of illithoid is their possession of what they call the “inner worm”, a creature that resides within every illithoid’s body that feeds on psychic energies. Language: Common, but can understand any language spoken. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 1/4 resistance to psychic and poison damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to excorable damage. - **Level 50**: 2/3 health regeneration while underground Illithoid with the Ninjakari, Nekotai, or Nunchaku specialisations can use their class weapons more effectively than any other race. - **Demigod**: Trait: Inner Worm. Allows illithoid to ILLDRAIN corpses. Every five corpses grants a 1/10 bonus to ego stacking up to 5/10. 1 hour duration. - **Demigod+**: Improved Trait: Illdrain now stacks to 10/10. While at maximum, the Illithoid empowers their psionic capabilities, granting them insight into the thoughts, feelings, and emotional state of others. Increased empowering, seduction, paranoia, charity and weakening ego attacks while influencing. - **Dark Reaper**: If Cthoglogg has been empowered, all ego costs for abilities are reduced by 33%. - Note: This does not work against things that cause ego damage such as debating and Telekinesis’ FORCEFIELD. #### Kephera ## Kephera ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Kephra-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder Goddess Keph of the Thousand Eyes, the kephera race present themselves as insectoid humanoids. Along with the illithoid, they are the newest race to have been discovered in Lusternia. Before, they were hidden beneath the Basin of Life and their sole purpose was devoted to containing the half of Illith that was severed in two by Keph. When this half of Illith splintered into the race of illithoid, the kephera had no choice but to make themselves known to the rest of the Basin. They are matriarchal in nature, and are the only race whose females and males have remarkably different statistics. Another unique attribute of a kephera is their strong exoskeleton, which acts as a natural armour. Languages: Common. #### Perks - **Level 1:** 1/4 resistance to cutting and blunt damage. - **Level 25:** 2/4 resistance to psychic damage. - **Level 50:** 1/3 regeneration to health and ego while underground. Kephera with the Shofangi, Tahtetso, or Tessenchi specialisations can use their class weapons more effectively than any other race. - **Demigod:** Trait: Chitinous Hide – grants the kephera an armour equivalent. This bonus is lost should the kephera wear any other armour. Acrobatics: 16% Acrobatic Tailors: 18% Non-acrobatics: 20% Tattoos: 22% - **Demigod+**: Improved Trait: The kephera channels a psychic barrier through their hide, offering further protection against certain attacks. Male kephera reduce all damage taken from asphyxiation, blunt, cold, cutting, fiery and poisonous attacks by 1/3 and instead take it as ego damage. Female kephera reduce all damage taken from asphyxiation, cold, divinus, electrical, excorable, fiery, magical, poisonous, and psychic sources by 1/4 and instead take it as ego damage. - **Royal Kephera:** If Zenobia has been empowered, female kephera may form their own hive as Hive Queen. All other kephera, male and female, may join this hive. Hives have their own dedicated channel, and all members gain increased experience, karma, and esteem. Hive bonuses effect kephera regardless of location or proximity to other hive members. Hives persist through logout and will only be dissolved should the Hive Queen choose to do so, or if Zenobia is slain. #### Krokani ## Krokani ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Krokani-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder God Krokano, the krokani are very large, one-eyed giants. Despite their enormous size (indeed, their height is second only to igasho), they can be surprisingly dexterous. Unfortunately, they are not an extremely intelligent race and have been known to be unwittingly used by others as shock troops or first line defense in war time. Added to the fact that they are not a very fertile race, the krokani are becoming rarer and rarer to find in Lusternia. Languages: Krokanian, Common #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/4 resistance to blunt damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to magical damage. - **Level 50**: Equilibrium costs for GLANCE and OBSERVE removed. Krokani with the Bonecrusher specialisation can now use one handed weapons more effectively than any other race. - **Demigod**: Trait: Enhanced Vision – Reduced effect of blackout on krokani, while doubling the length of immunity. - **Demigod+**: Improved Trait: Sight Beyond Seeing – Can perceive the world even when blinded. Able to put up sixthsense more effectively. Krokani also have the ability to spot pits while entering or exiting a room, giving them a chance to step around and avoid them completely. #### Loboshigaru ## Loboshigaru ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Loboshigaru-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder Goddess Loboshi, the loboshigaru are a race of humanoid canines (though some dispute whether they are more similar to wolves, dogs, jackals or all of them depending on ancestral tribe). They have amazing regenerative power, though they are susceptible to magical damage. Loboshigaru retain a “pack” mentality in that they prefer to identify with clans and groups and are known to be fiercely loyal to those groups. Most loboshigaru cannot help but see those outside of their groups as some sort of threat, or at least highly suspicious individuals who should be met with caution. However much of a social race they are, it is noteworthy that if an individual loboshigaru leaves his or her “pack” for whatever reason, they often remain intensely individualistic “lone wolves”, sometimes leading an almost monastic lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Languages: Loboshigaru, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/4 resistance to cold damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to fire damage. - **Level 50**: Famed for their loyalty and dependable nature, the denizens of the First World come to trust the loboshigaru at their word, whether or not the individual is of honest character is another matter. Increased empowering and paranoia ego attacks while influencing. - **Demigod**: Trait: Enhanced Regeneration – Loboshigaru gain 5/10 health regeneration, and 3/9 mana and ego regeneration. - **Demigod+**: Enhanced Regeneration grants a 10% increase to all health healing spells and effects. #### Lucidian ## Lucidian ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Lucidian-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder God Xyl, the lucidians are humanoids of living crystal. Their innate magical makeup make them resistant to magical attacks, though their crystalline structure makes them quite vulnerable to blunt attacks. This unique physique also regenerates while under the open sun. They tend to the more arcane and scholarly professions. They are generally more logical than emotional, and traditionally their philosophers and mages have tried to discern the patterns of the universe in order to understand the greater harmony of existence. This natural affinity to cold logic was a founding principle of the city of Hallifax (which became lost in time during the Taint Wars and was eventually freed through the efforts of the lucidian Saaga Shevat). The lucidians and the trills were the primary builders of Hallifax, which was a city in the clouds, an architectural wonder of crystal spires and aeromantic engineering. Languages: Lucidian, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/4 resistance to magic damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to psychic damage. - **Level 50**: 1/3 health and mana regeneration when in cloudy environments. - Lucidian with the Aeonics specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to excorable and magical damage. - Lucidian with the Aeromancy or Aerochemantics specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to asphyxiation and lightning damage. - Lucidian with the Loralaria specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to cold and asphyxiation damage. - **Demigod**: Trait: Supercharged – Lucidians regenerate 1% of their maximum power reserves per in-game hour spent outdoors during the daytime. Also allows the lucidian to link faster from their nexus or astral nodes. Maximum power reserves increased to a base of 125% - **Demigod+**: Improved Trait: Overcharged – Daytime power reserves increase to 2% per hour. Active power regeneration rate increased. #### Variants - **Lucidian** - Standard race. - **Prismatic Lucidian** - Lucidian trained in the skills of Aeromancy, Aerochemantics, or Harmonics. - **Adamantine Lucidian** - Lucidian warriors trained in the skill of Aeonics. - **Crystalsinger Lucidian** - Lucidian who have trained in the arts of Loralaria. #### Merian ## Merian ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Merian-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder God Meridian, the merians are the proudest of the races and have the richest history. It was the merian Gorob who discovered the secrets of becoming a Vernal God and indeed became the first Vernal God. It was the merians who were the first to uncover the outer planes, and subsequently founded the Celestine Empire. Though merians can point to many great and notable achievements of their race, it must also be pointed out that the last emperor of the Celestine Empire, Emperor Ladantine VII, was a merian and responsible for the Taint. Merians are primarily ocean dwellers and the original race were decidedly aquatic looking. However, with the influx of humans and given their ability to interbreed with other races, many present day merians look astonishingly human-like, some even growing hair. Even so, all merians have bluish complexions (though ranging in hue) and the ability to breathe water. Despite interbreeding with humans, merians do not recognize half-breeds: either you are merian or are not, denoted by the ability to breathe water. Languages: Merian, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/4 resistance to cold damage and the ability to breathe underwater. - **Level 25**: Merians can DIVE. Merians who already can dive from another skillset gain reduced balance time on SWIM while underwater. - **Level 50**: 1/3 health and mana regen in flooded environments. - Merians with the Sacraments specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to divinus and electrical damage. - Merians with the Aquamancy or Aquachemantics specialisations gain a 1/10 bonus to cold and asphyxiations damage. - Merians with the Starhymn specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to divinus and fire damage. - **Demigod**: Trait: Calculated Strike – Merians will get an extra chance every 15 sec to have a critical hit. - **Demigod+**: Natural Born Leader – Merians who lead their own squads give all members a 5% bonus for critical hits. The Merian must be in the same room as their squad members for this to take effect. #### Variants - **Merian** - Standard race. - **Imperial Merian** - Merian trained in the skills of Aquamancy, Aquachemantics, or Celestialism. - **Merian Lady/Lord** - Merian warriors who specialise in Sacraments. - **Seasinger Merian** - Merian who take up the art of Starhymn. #### Mugwump ## Mugwump ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Mugwump-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder Goddess Mugowumpois, this amphibian race originally favored the swamps and marshlands. However, given their great intellect, it was only natural that they gravitated to civilized areas in the pursuit of the more scholarly professions. The facial features of the mugwumps favor their amphibian heritage, giving them a frog-like or salamander-like appearance. However, with the interbreeding of humans, some mugwumps have a surprisingly human-like appearance. Languages: Mugwumpi, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/3 mana regeneration. - **Level 25**: Mugwumps can LEAP and breathe underwater naturally. Mugwumps who have leap from some other source gain reduced balance recovery when leaping. - **Level 50**: Such is the greatness of the mind of a mugwump, anything they suggest has to be a great idea! Increased empowering and charity ego attacks while influencing. - **Demigod**: Trait: Mental Superiority – All mana costs for spells and abilities cast by a mugwump are reduced in half. This does not affect abilities which give a direct mana to alternative resource such as transmute. - **Demigod+**: Improved Trait: Mental superiority now reduces mana costs by 75%. #### Orclach ## Orclach ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Orclach-3_0-1.jpg)Descended from the Elder God Orlachmar, the orclach are one of the largest and strongest of the races. Their thick, mottled skin (generally a slate gray colour, though some tend to exhibit green tinges) provide excellent protection from physical abuse and their innate healing powers are legendary. They are a warrior race who maintained a strict military caste known as the ur’Guard. During the time of the Holy Celestine Empire, the ur’Guard were the main peacekeeping forces of the Empire, though after the Taint, they relocated to Magnagora to follow their death cult origins (though the modern day ur’Guard is open to any race). Many orclach who were caught in the Taint were twisted and broken into the sub-race of orcs, who are pale imitations to the true orclach. Because of this, there is a rift between those orclach who feel betrayed by the Taint and those who embrace it. Language: Orclach, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 1/4 resistance to blunt and cutting damage. - **Level 25**: 1/4 resistance to magic and cold damage. - **Level 50**: All corpse offerings increase in value by 5%. Orclach with the Pureblade specialisation can use two handed swords more effectively than any other race. - **Demigod**: Trait: Embrace Death – When an orclach falls below 90% health they gain 1/8 resistance to all damage types. This is increased by one level for every 20% missing. (1/8 at 90% and below. 2/8 at 70% and below and so on capping at 5/8 for 10% and below) - **Demigod+**: Trait: Fain’s Gift – On slaying a player or denizen, the orclach will drain part of their seeping essence, rejuvenating the orclach’s health, mana, and ego. #### Tae’dae ## Tae’dae ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/TaeDae-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder God Tae, the tae’dae are bear-like humanoids. They are an extremely large people, though their size is more in their breadth rather than their height, which likewise makes them as slow as they are powerful. Indeed, they are the innately strongest of all the mortal races. They seem to have no natural affinity to any specific environment, being found in arctic regions (the white furred tae’dae, often with blue tongues) to more temperate zones (brown or black fur) to some jungle regions (where their fur is curiously patterned in black and white). They are extremely affable, proud and charismatic, and most have an inborn desire to protect the furrikin, who are often inexplicably referred to as their “little brothers and little sisters” (and it is true some furrikin look like miniature tae’dae). Though notoriously known for being of small intellect, the typical tae’dae believes just the opposite, considering him or herself to be uncommonly wise. Languages: Tae’dae, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 1/4 resistance to blunt and cutting damage. - **Level 25**: 1/4 resistance to poison and cold damage. - **Level 50**: 3/4 ego regeneration. Tae’dae with the Cavalier specialisation can use polearms more effectively than any other race. Tae’dae with the music skill gain the trait Everybody’s Friend, increasing their empower and charity ego attacks while influencing. - **Demigod**: Ability: BEARHUG – Causes a large amount of blunt and asphyxiation damage to the target. Can be used on denizens. - **Demigod+**: Improved Ability – BEARHUG KILL will deliver increased damage to both players and denizens at the cost of 2 power. If used on a player under 25% health, it slays the player outright. #### Taurian ## Taurian ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Taurian-3_0.jpg) Descended from the Elder Goddess Tauro, the taurians are probably the most naturally aggressive of all the mortal races. They have giant, well-muscled bodies with enormous bull heads, and can enter a battle frenzy that makes them fearsome enemies. Famous for building the twin cities of Culneredir and Molneredir, which gave rise to the Vernal Goddesses Il’vania and Il’garala, the taurian gather in groups known as nerebo. It is when they are not gathered amongst their kin in this sacred tradition that they become most dangerous. Military leaders are loathe to rely on rogue groups of taurian because of their volatile and tempestuous anger, which sometimes erupts for almost insignificant reasons. In such a group, the anger of one can set the rest off and a “stampede” of battle-frenzied taurians have been known to decimate their own allies. Still, many taurian find employment as individual mercenaries, or otherwise keep to the traditions of their ancestors, striking a balance between honouring the righteous fury of their progenitor and quelling their berserker spirit. Languages: Taurian, Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 2/4 resistance to cutting damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to electrical damage. - **Level 50**: 2/4 health regeneration. - **Demigod**: Ability: ENRAGE – A toggled ability (ENRAGE ON/OFF), when activated the taurian has a 10% chance per attack to lash out a second time, delivering a SWING attack to a random body party with their weapon or PUNCH if they have no suitable weapon wielded. This has a 50% chance of hitting the same target and a 50% chance of hitting anyone else in the room. Has a 15% chance when attacking denizens to STRIKE/PUNCH a second time. If the taurian is wielding a shield and has SHIELDSTUN in combat, they will SHIELDSTUN their target rather than STRIKE or PUNCH. This will only occur once per kata form. Pureblade, Axelord and Cavaliers will only see enrage occur at 5% due to wounding differences. - **Demigod+**: Improved Ability: Channeled Aggression – Chance for Enrage’s second attack to hit the intended target increased, now has a 75% chance of hitting the target again and 25% chance to hit anyone else on the taurian’s ENEMY list. If there are no valid targets, the taurian will hit anyone else. #### Trill ## Trill ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Trill-3_0.jpg)Descended from the Elder Goddess Trillillial, the trill are a race of bird-like humanoids. They are very graceful and quite tall (though their hollow bones make them rather delicate). They have beautiful feathered wings, giving them the ability to fly, and the feathers of which range from a soft silver to more robust browns. No trill grows hair on their head, rather they have a cap of downy feathers. Trills prefer high mountain ranges where their forebears built great nests. The lucidian and the trills are the primary builders of Hallifax (which became lost in time during the Taint Wars and was eventually freed through the efforts of the lucidian Saaga Shevat), which is a city in the clouds, an architectural wonder of crystal spires and aeromantic engineering. Language: Common #### Perks - **Level 1**: 1/4 resistance to cold and electrical damage. - **Level 25**: Trill gain the ability to FLY naturally. Trill who can already fly by other means are no longer knocked out of the sky by high winds, but instead are stunned for two seconds. - **Level 50**: 1/3 health and mana regeneration in cloudy environments. - Trill with the Aeonics specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to divinus and magical damage. - Trill with the Aeromancy or Aerochemantics specialisations gain a 1/10 bonus to asphyxiation and lightning damage. - Trill with the Loralaria specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to cold and asphyxiation damage. - **Demigod**: Ability: EJECT – After a small charge up, sends the trill in a random direction up to three rooms away with a 1 second balance recovery on landing. Using indoors or underground takes more aim and practice, and will cost more balance - **Demigod+**: Improved Ability – Ejection now travels up to five rooms, and has no balance cost upon landing. Trill also have a chance to avoid attacks that would knock you to the ground while flying. #### Variants - **Trill** - Standard race. - **Cloud Trill** - Trill who learn the skills of either Aeromancy or Aerochemantics. - **Storm Trill** - Trill warriors who take on the Aeonics specialisation. - **Warbling Trill** - Trill who learn the art of Loralaria. #### Viscanti ## Viscanti ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Viscanti-3_0.jpg)The viscanti are unlike most of the other races because they did not originate from the fragmentation of an Elder God. Rather, the viscanti came into being as victims of the Taint at the time of the Fall of the Celestine Empire. The viscanti were originally members of the other native Lusternian races who were directly caught in the Taint and whose forms became twisted, just as the land became twisted. Through years of interbreeding, they have become recognized as a race unto themselves. Generally, they are of a demonic appearance though some viscanti retain vestigial characteristics of other races, such as wings of trills (though bat-like and ineffective for flying) or pointed ears of the elfen. The greater viscanti have the ability to breathe poison gas. Although most reside in the Magnagora and neighboring tainted land, a few viscanti have been known to become “reformed” and live in other civilized areas. Language: Common. #### Perks - **Level 1**: 1/4 resistance to cutting and blunt damage. - **Level 25**: 2/4 resistance to poison damage. - **Level 50**: 1/3 health and mana regeneration in tainted environments. Viscanti with the Necromancy specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to excorable and poison damage. Viscanti with the Geomancy or Geochemantics specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to asphyxiation and poison damage. Viscanti with the Necroscream specialisation gain a 1/10 bonus to excorable and cutting damage. - **Demigod**: Ability: Poison Gas – Viscanti are immune to poison gas. While attacking other players, viscanti have a 5% chance to exhale poison gas at their target, dealing poison damage and afflicting the target with sickness. - **Demigod+**: Viscanti can exhale a poison gas cloud, dealing poison damage to all non-viscanti on their ENEMY list and afflicting them with sickness. Poison gas now has a 10% chance to trigger on all attacks against denizens. (Attacks against other players remains at 5%.) #### Variants - **Viscanti** - Standard race. - **Master Viscanti** - Viscanti who specialise in the Geomancy, Geochemantics, or Nihilism skills. - **Brood Viscanti** - Viscanti warriors that specialise in the rituals of Necromancy. - **Irontongue Viscanti** - Viscanti who learn the art of Necroscream. --- ### [New Celest](https://www.lusternia.com/new-celest/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png "logoOriginalWithContrast") ](https://www.lusternia.com/)# New Celest #### Resurgence of the Light ![](../wp-content/uploads/2018/05/celest_frame-250x300.jpg)Out of the ashes of the fallen Holy Celestine Empire, which saw the destruction of the imperial capital on the Isle of Celest, survivors fled as far from the Tainted area as possible, relocating to the western side of the Inner Sea. There, the Celestines and Aquamancers consecrated a new Pool of Stars, once again establishing a connection to the Light, and thus arose New Celest to challenge the darkness. Paladins were re-established as the Holy Warriors of the Light, charged with protecting the fledgling city. However, the peoples of the Basin of Life did not flock to New Celest as they did to Celestine Empire of old. Wrongly or rightly, they blamed the Empire for the Taint and the name of ‘Celest’ still held bitter memories. Nevertheless, New Celest struggled and survived, yearning for the days of old and hoping to see the return of the Empire’s former glory when all the Basin of Life was united under the Light. #### Nexus: The Pool of Stars The nexus of power in New Celest is the Pool of Stars, located in the center of the city’s hub. It simultaneously exists on the elemental plane of water and the cosmic plane of Celestia. #### Native Races - [ ![race_merian](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_merian.jpg "race_merian")Merian](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) #### Available Guilds - #### [Archons ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Ecclesiarchy ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Sanctifiers ](javascript:void(0);) #### Archons #### Archons of Justice Protectors of the innocent; vanquishers of injustice; proctors of peace: these are just a few of the monikers attributed to the Archons of Justice. When tragedy struck, the early founders of the Archons united not only to help the people of New Celest forge ahead but also to ensure that the innocents of the greater Basin were not left behind. Following in the footsteps of The Dawn’s Promise, the group was recognised early on for wielding great wisdom and compassion in protecting those who could not protect themselves. Among this select group, today one will encounter a diverse range of methodologies used to enact justice throughout the lands and return souls to the Light. Perhaps most renowned for their diplomats and dignitaries, who seek out any imbalance of power and use their guile to restore order, the Archons’ largest numbers reside in the cadre of stalwart defenders who sacrifice their own safety in order to act as shields against evil in all its forms. Yet, other members of the Archons also do their part to make the Basin a better place, from merchants who empower fair business practices with honest scales to adventurers who engage quests of honour in order to aid the less fortunate. The Supernals most associated with the Archons of Justice are Japhiel, Illuminator of Merciful Justice, and Shakiniel, Defender of the Dawning Hope. The Tide Lords most commonly associated with the Archons of Justice are Skerriagh, of the High Tide, and Sarye, Lady of the Black Tide. The patron saints of the Archons of Justice are The Lord of Scales and The Dawn’s Promise. #### Ecclesiarchy #### Ecclesiarchy of the Light > “*All mortals possess an inner Light of truth, beauty, and love that must be fanned and encouraged. So sayeth Elohora, our Lady of the Eternal Light.*” –Saint Tresalyne Farain. The Ecclesiarchy of the Light carries the revered traditions of Celest’s most holy order into a new era, synthesising an ancient religion with a thriving cultural renaissance. Focusing their sermons on temperance, the Ecclesiarchy preaches of finding balance and harmony in all things. By embracing the grace found within the fluid nature of the tides, they aspire in all endeavours to reveal the faintest speck of twinkling hope within even the darkest of murky waters. The Ecclesiarchy remains extraordinarily diverse, and among its members, one will encounter priests, scholars, healers, philosophers, historians, guardsmen, and artists of innumerable persuasions, all of whom share a deep calling to advance the harmonious teachings of the Light. The Church teaches that the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake serves as protection against the dangers of excessive zeal, and consequently one of the most sacred duties undertaken by the Ecclesiarchy is the detailed study of the manifold constellations and configurations of heavenly light. Many of the clergies also focus on their role as guardians of the spiritual well-being of the citizenry and seek always to uncover the blazing potential that lies so often hidden within each unique and treasured soul. In furtherance of this cause, they can often be found inspiring hope and insight through rapturous hymns and beautifully crafted relics of veneration, provoking introspection and discovery through both meditation and lively public debate, and restoring courage and morale as they smite the shadows that would obscure the light of the heavens. Although the Ecclesiarchy is devoted to studying of all of the Holy Supernals and Tide Lords, the Eternal Patrons of the Church are Elohora, Lady of the Eternal Light and Loch, Lord of the Low Tide. The patron saint of the Ecclesiarchy of the Light is The Starlit Saint. #### Sanctifiers #### Sanctifiers of Loathys Since the mortal rediscovery of the elemental planes by Emperor Nerale I in the earliest years of the Holy Celestine Empire, the Pool of Stars has been used as a conduit to channel power from the plane of Water in order to cleanse the sea and accelerate the healing of nearby lands from the havoc wrought by the Elder Wars. In the face of the modern infection of the Basin of Life by the Soulless god Kethuru, the Sanctifiers of Loathys have reinvigorated these efforts to rid the world of such evil. In pursuit of these goals, the Sanctifiers proclaim three primary foci of sanctification: first, sanctification of the spiritual self and mind, where practitioners seek a transcendental state known as Lumosis; second, sanctification of the physical self, whether by maintaining a healthy and pure form or by purging the touch of the Soulless or disease from others; and lastly, sanctification of the greater physical world by purging it of the Soulless. Some members of this community find themselves seeking out all of the hidden corners of reality in an effort to find and cleanse the soulless corruption that continues to plague existence. This aspect of the Sanctifiers is in itself quite diverse, including those who have plumbed the depths of the Basin’s deepest crevices as well as many of the most formidable aethership captains in history. Whereas some dedicate their lives to studying and documenting these discoveries, others specialise explicitly in sanctifying the elements or healing the lands and living creatures scarred by the Taint. Yet others among the Sanctifiers instead focus their explorations almost exclusively on introspection, believing that reaching Lumosis better equips them to sanctify the wider world. The Supernals most associated with the Sanctifiers of Loathys are Methrenton, Crusader of the Holy Flame, and Raziela, the Loving Radiance. The Tide Lords most associated with the Sanctifiers are Kintyre of the Rip Tide and Murlough of the Red Tide. Patron saints of the Sanctifiers of Loathys include The Flame’s Blade and the Saint of Rapturous Ardour. #### Available Classes - #### [Aquamancers ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Cantors ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Celestines ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Paladins ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Tahtetso ](javascript:void(0);) #### Aquamancers ***Archetype: Mage*** The Aquamancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of water, which they consider a healing and beneficial source of life. Holding a distinguished position in New Celest, Aquamancers use their powers both for protection and healing. They are extremely scholarly, though can use their chosen element as a powerful weapon. Aquamancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Aquamancer then specializes in Elementalism, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of water. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Aquamancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Cantors ***Archetype: Bard*** The Cantors are bards of the City of New Celest, singing the hymns and prayers of the Supernals in great reverence to Their glory. Founded on the 22nd of Tzarin, 160CE, the guild was born under Raflein’s poem, his voice awakening the remnants of Rhapsody, whose essence is infused with all of the Cantors. Wielding their holy instruments in hand, members of this Guild play songs of reverence to the Supernals, compounding the strength and glory of Celest in their lyrics. With songs that bespeak of hope and love, of courage and justice, and of light made incarnate, the Cantors play with such fervour and accuracy as to send Angels into a passionate frenzy, or inspire allies to achieve greatness. The Cantors is a bard archetype guild, and are able to choose both Highmagic or Lowmagic. Their primary skill is that of Music, and they go on to specialise in Starhymn, the holy songs of Celest and Celestia. Acrobatics is the training of muscles and reflexes, which acts as a Bard’s secondary skillsets. The Cantors can then take either Tarot or Illusions as their tertiary skillset. #### Celestines ***Archetype: Guardian*** The Celestine Guild is the priesthood of Light, both protecting and being protected by the angelic plane of Celestia. As the spiritual leaders of New Celest, they uphold the teachings of the Holy Supernals of Celestia, seeking justice and harmony for all. Once pledged to a Holy Supernal, the blessed Celestine is almost always accompanied by an angelic companion who helps in the good works in the name of the Light. Celestines are a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Celestine then specializes in Celestialism, allowing them to travel to the cosmic plane of Celestia and make pledges to the Holy Supernals. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Sacraments, thereby enhancing their holy powers. At some point Celestines choose either to take the Healing skill to become healers or to train in Tarot which is a more aggressive art or to study Astrology. Celestines may take Enchantment as a trade skill. #### Paladins ***Archetype: Warrior*** The Paladins Guild are the Holy Warriors of the Light. Like the Celestines, they are close to the angelic plane of Celestia, holding the teachings of Methrenton, Crusader of the Holy Flame, and Shakiniel, Defender of the Dawning Hope, in high regard. Paladins are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster or Bonecrusher upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Sacraments along with Celestines. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Tahtetso ***Archetype: Monk*** The school of Tahtetso was founded in 185CE, by virtue of the Queen of Queens Zenobia of the Undervault. Their primary weapon known as the Tahto staff, is wielded in both hands and each student is taught to use it for both attack and protection. The word Tahtetso comes from an unknown Kepheran root meaning “to be one with”. Servitude to the Light plays a key role in the lives of the Tahtetso, but a prevailing tenet is to find balance within oneself by embracing Humility, Discipline and Sacrifice in the hopes of achieving Lumosis. The Tahtetso are of the monk archetype. As such, they must first study kata before moving on to their mastery form of Tahtetso, or the mastery of wielding the Tahto staff. Their secondary skill is Harmony, a gift from the Kephera people, allowing them to combine the forces within their bodies to work in harmony with the elements around them in the form of Mantras. Further, the Tahtetso may choose to take Psionics, which further specializes into Psychometabolism, or the art of manipulating the energy of the Divine Spark, or Sila, within all mortal beings. If not Psionics, a Tahtetso can also choose Acrobatics. --- ### [Community](https://www.lusternia.com/community-landing/) **Published:** January 7, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** We have a fantastic community of players dedicated to extending the Lusternian experience beyond the game! Here’s how to get more involved! ![goldseparatorlongskinny](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/goldseparatorlong-1-e1484939944197.png "goldseparatorlongskinny") [](http://forums.lusternia.com/)### Forums Visit the forums to share your favourite game moments, submit ideas for new features, discuss PvP strategy, or just chat about recent game news with like-minded people. [](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files?id=1536)### Discord Want to get help from others or just generally talk about all things Lusternia? We have an Official Discord server! [](https://www.lusternia.com/contests/)### Contests Every month Lusternia runs an Artisanal and Bardic contest where players submit their works. You can submit your entries here and view the fantastic works of others. [](https://lusternia.com/log-archive/)### Game Logs Logs from the players of Lusternia, everything from events to roleplay to combat. [](https://wiki.lusternia.com/Main_Page)### Lusternian Lore Wiki Created and maintained primarily by players, this is an excellent source of Lusternian lore. [](https://www.lusternia.com/archive/forums/)### Forum Archives Here you can find an archive of the Lusternia Forums that existed from 2004 to Oct 2012. --- ### [Log Archive](https://www.lusternia.com/log-archive/) **Published:** September 16, 2024 **Author:** Ais --- ### [My Logs](https://www.lusternia.com/my-logs/) **Published:** September 16, 2024 **Author:** Ais --- ### [Log Upload](https://www.lusternia.com/log-upload/) **Published:** February 11, 2022 **Author:** Ais --- ### [Part Five: The Taint Wars](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-five-the-taint-wars/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Part Five: The Taint Wars ![26](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/26.gif "26")#### Hallifax Minutes: Emergency Meeting Re: Possible Second Taint **MINUTES OF THE HALLIFAX BOARD OF GOVERNORS** **I. MEETING – CALL TO ORDER:** The meeting was called to order by the Chair on the 22nd day of Gorgani, in the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire at 9:00 a.m. **II. RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS PRESENT:** Cririk Adom, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Lilali Skysoarer, Secretary Minister Sweeloh Sunfar, Member Minister Ieck’co Shevat, Member MEMBERS ABSENT: Hieli Goldfeather, Vice Chair Professor En’oonki Lars, Member Minister Tooli Goldfeather, Member Minister Chia Cloudwalker, Member Minister Ke’kix Oolin, Member **III. EMERGENCY SESSION:** **Subject:** Cosmic Hope Disaster **Discussion:** The aeromantic countermeasures to disperse the Magnagora cloud (colloquially referred to as the ‘Taint’) were generally determined to be a failure by the Board. The Taint continues to move northward, though Minister Shevat pointed out that its progress has been slowed. Regrettably, these same countermeasures appears to have accelerated the Taint’s spread to the south, notably infecting the Gloriana Forest. Minister Shevat reported on the research team the Board sent to study the alleged mutagenic effects of the Taint. The Board was distressed to learn that Vice Chair Goldfeather and Minister Oolin, who were part of the research team along with Minister Shevat, were presumably casualties of the Taint and are to be considered missing in action. Despite these grave losses to the Board, Minister Shevat was able to produce a detailed report on the Taint. In summary, there does appear to be mutagenic aspects within the Taint cloud, manifesting in two manners. The first and least common effect of the Taint is to immediately arrest the heartbeat of a victim, resulting in instant death. The body, however, soon animates into what is being described as the “undead”. For those who mutate into the undead, there are reported advantageous side effects, including, but not limited to: increased strength and intelligence, an enhanced constitution, a seeming immunity to pain, and a limited ability to control the Taint. The second and more common effect of the Taint is a radical restructuring of the victim’s physiology including, but not limited to: an increase in size and weight, a shedding of fur and/or feathers (depending on race), a modification of skin colour tending to red and/or black, and the development of horns, bony plates, barbed tails or other abnormal traits. The exception to this appears to be members of the orclach race whose victims (at least those who do not immediately die and transform into the undead), instead of mutating in the aforementioned manner, seem to devolve into weak, smaller beings with a substandard intellect. Whatever the transformation, the victims also undergo radical personality changes and are considered extremely hostile and aggressive. They also appear to be organising in large numbers along the borders of the Taint, often abducting individuals and dragging them into the Taint, sometimes retreating into the Taint when met with opposing forces. At least two unsubstantiated reports indicate that a ‘Taint Army’ has attacked the Dwarven Mountain Kingdom, killing King Varrim and dispersing the dwarven defenders. Though the Taint represents a grave concern to Hallifax, the Board examined an even more alarming development in Gaudiguch. The Board believes that the members of the Cosmic Hope Expedition who were allegedly ‘rescued’ through the Eternal Flame, the nexus of power in Gaudiguch, have been infected by the Taint, including Emperor Ladantine VII. From scattered intelligence the Ministry of Information has been able to gather from Gaudiguch, it appears as though the Emperor is amassing the ur’Guard there. The Board notes that the orclach hold that the ur’Guard were created in honour of the Vernal God Urlach who allegedly brought orclach warriors back from the dead. If, as many of the Board have postulated, members of the Cosmic Hope Expedition were infected by the Taint and mutated into the undead variant, the ur’Guard would be ripe for indoctrination based on the misguided assumption that the Taint undead are somehow a mystic recreation of Urlach’s resurrections. (One Board member hypothesises that Urlach did indeed turn many orclach warriors into undead, but, if true, the Taint undead are obviously a separate variety). The Board is most concerned that infected members of the failed expedition will influence the Illuminati of Gaudiguch into precipitously dangerous actions, such as allowing further spread of the Taint through their nexus of power. **Board Decision:** Chair Adom moved that the Ministry of Defense assemble a company of the Matrix Legion to enter the Elemental Plane of Fire and possibly the Vortex Plane on a reconnaissance mission to determine if any actions of Gaudiguch could potentially unleash another Taint through the Eternal Flame. Minister Shevat seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. **IV. ADJOURNMENT:** There being no further business to come before the Board at that time, the Board meeting was adjourned at 10:05 a.m. Approved this 22nd day of Gorgani in the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire. By: Lilali Skysoarer, Chair Secretary ![27](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/27.gif "27")#### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The Return of the Emperor If I had not just come from the Astral plane and witnessed all its strange horrors, the cosmic plane of the Vortex may have struck me as extraordinarily bizarre. This cosmic plane manifested without the familiar environs of the prime material plane, unlike the beautiful fields or rolling hills of the cosmic planes of Shallamar or Celestia, which I had visited as an aetherwave correspondent. Perhaps it is no wonder that the Illuminati of Gaudiguch kept the Vortex sequestered from the public for their own use – as what would the uninitiated think of the strangely organic, bulbous landscapes that seemed to breathe of its own accord and a sky that pulsated with swirling multicoloured lights? The Eternal Flame from which we entered the Vortex was certainly not the feeble fire that we found on the Astral plane, but a towering inferno of white fire that flickered with all the colours of the rainbow. We were immediately met by the robed and hooded Illuminati, who were surrounded by strange snuffling creatures that seemed part-dog and part-lizard. Indeed, the entire Vortex seemed populated by an assortment of strangely shaped and peculiar creatures, which might once have frightened me except they were pitifully normal when compared to the abominations of the Astral plane. In any event, the Emperor, still under the glamour that hid his undead form, immediately began thundering commands and benevolently praising the Illuminati, promising rewards and positions of power in the “New Empire” that would arise. I tried to cry out and warn them, but whatever power the Emperor had over me kept me nodding in agreement to everything he said and smiling like a village idiot. The black robed members of the Illuminati bowed deferentially to the Emperor, whispered amongst themselves, and one scurried off and disappeared through the Eternal Flame. Meanwhile, Chum, back in his role as Grand Cipher, practically gloated over Lars, Ghani and Shellma, as he ordered fresh robes to be brought for all of them. They were immediately given voluminous black robes with deep cowls, which thankfully covered their mutated forms, though Chum complained loudly when no fresh golden robes could be found for himself. However, both Chum and the Emperor were becoming restless as we continued to be kept waiting, however politely. Finally, the Eternal Flame flared and out stepped the entire ruling council of Gaudiguch: His Wisdom Bhodifucius Xiim, the spiritual leader and nominal head of Gaudiguch; High Flame Scuchidira Tliwx, Archmage of the Pyramid of Pyromancers; General Gorab Iborchi, a massive dracnari in charge of Gaudiguch’s militia; and another dracnari in the golden robes of the Grand Cipher of the Illuminati. Chum immediately fell silent as he spotted this latter member in the robes of his office. I heard Shellma snort contemptuously, but she quickly fell silent at a glare from the Emperor. The Gaudiguch council stopped several paces before us, and it was High Flame Scuchidira Tliwx who finally stepped forward. She quickly bowed to the Emperor, though her eyes never left his face. “What is the meaning of that,” demanded Chum immediately, pointing to the golden robed dracnari. “Have I been replaced as Grand Cipher of the Illuminati?” “Always quick to figure things out, eh?” High Flame Tliwx asked. “Of course, you’ve been replaced. We thought you were dead.” “I am back now,” said Chum. “I take it I shall be reinstated immediately?” “That’s the business of the Illuminati,” shrugged the High Flame, then turned to the golden robed dracnari. “Grand Cipher Dith? Will you be stepping down so that the remarkably resilient Tlochaka Chum can return to the office of Grand Cipher?” “With respect, ex-Grand Cipher Chum,” said the soft feminine voice of Dith, shuffling forward, “the Illuminati cannot at this unfortunate time accept you in this position of leadership.” “Drortaka Dith,” muttered Chum. “I never realised you had your eyes set on the golden robes.” “Don’t be a worm, Chum!” boomed General Iborchi. “You disappeared for weeks. There’s a crisis that threatens all of the Basin of Life. And you think you can waltz back and take up your old position, without knowing what’s been going on, what we’re facing, or that we might just have reasons, just possibly might have very good reasons to suspect you are not quite what you say you are? This is the Gaudiguch Council, Chum, not some desert camp for whelps!” “Thank goodness the Illuminati are broadminded concerning ‘physical transformations’, isn’t it,” whispered Shellma nastily to Chum. Shellma apparently didn’t quite realise that dracarni have hearing almost as good as furrikin, for she was shocked when the general rushed towards her and ripped the cowl from her face. Her bulbous eyes bulged as he grabbed her foul, bloated cheeks and turned her head from side to side, as though studying a piece of meat. He then pushed her towards the newly appointed Grand Cipher Dith. “The Illuminati are experts on physical transformations,” said General Iborchi, and then pointed at Shellma. ” Well, Dith? What’s your analysis of that?” “Holy Mother Shellma Natharian appears to be Tainted,” said the Grand Cipher, her voice soft yet clear. “Though she does not appear part of the…group mind…of the other Tainted.” Though my body was controlled by the Emperor, my mind was still my own, and hope sprang up within me. This was not the welcome that the Undead Emperor and his Dark Council had expected. Though the reputation of Gaudiguch may have been that of a circus of frivolous and capricious creatures by the rest of the Empire, they obviously were much more intelligent, perceptive and wise than they were usually given credit. But the Emperor must have come to the same conclusion, for, though he was changed into a monstrous undead creature, he still had the memories and skills of the diplomat and ruler and knew how to use them. He clapped his hands and got the attention of everyone. Then he smiled sadly, compassion and sorrow in his eyes, and he gestured to Shellma and the others. “I do not know what you mean by ‘Tainted’,” he said in a moderate, reasonable tone, “but Holy Mother Shellma, Grand Cipher – excuse me, ex-Grand Cipher – Chum and the others suffered a horrible accident upon the Astral plane. But, bless the Light, they survived, their minds and spirits intact if not their bodies. I can only guess what must be happening here, but we have vital knowledge and information which may be of some use. Now is not the time to bicker amongst ourselves. The Empire must remain united and pure. Only then can we face perhaps our greatest challenge!” How reasonable he sounded, how noble he looked. Even I, who knew what he was behind his glamour, felt drawn by his charisma, wanted to believe him. But, of course, it wasn’t I he needed to convince. By the looks on the faces of the dracnari, it appeared that they were convinced, heads nodding in agreement, even General Iborchi stroking his chin thoughtfully. But then the Wisdom of Gaudiguch, Bhodifucius Xiim, coughed softly and the rest of the dracnari froze, their eyes reverentially upon the tubby little dracnari who was little bigger than me. “Most Gracious Emperor,” said Bhodifucius with a comic bow. “I humbly honour your wise words and truth indeed is in your words. With respect, you have changed since last I saw you, and, as we say, ‘Always bow to the winds of change or be driven to the ground by the gales of inevitability.’ We have another saying too, and that is, ‘When the winds of change blow, never shut your eyes for what was once your house may be about to fall upon your head. It is the wise dracnari who knows when to leap out of the way.'” “Very interesting, Wisdom Xiim,” said the Emperor – did his voice now have a measure of doubt? “I ask you this,” continued Bhodifucius, addressing the Gaudiguch Council, with no indication of having heard the emperor. “If you cut off the legs of a chair, is it still a chair? And if you place a sea turtle in the desert, will it turn into a desert tortoise?” With that, the Wisdom of Gaudiguch grinned widely, waved energetically, and left through the Eternal Flame. No one spoke, and the Emperor’s lips were pressed tightly together, as he had to contain himself. The ur’Guard around him were, of course, unphased and silent, as the Emperor had earlier commanded them to be. Finally, the Emperor laughed and shook his head, waving his hand in the air as though that would clear up some small misunderstanding.” “I do indeed love the wisdom of your Bhodifucius,” said the Emperor. “But now is not the time for his games for puzzles and paradigms…” “Perhaps not,” said High Flame Tliwx, her deep voice resonating in the air. “But tell me this, Your Highness, the temperature in the Vortex is many degrees higher than that of the Basin of Life, and much, much drier. How is it that a merian, such as yourself, is not demanding water? Indeed, you seem remarkably refreshed for standing out here for several hours.” “That is irrelevant!” shouted the Emperor. “It is a time of crisis! We cannot remain idle…!” “But we have not been idle,” said Grand Cipher Dith. “Before we came here, we sent word to your daughter, who has been acting as head of the Empire while you were…indisposed. She is on her way here as we speak. I am sure she will be most overjoyed to meet with you. And consider turning matters back over to you…as long as your health was not unduly…compromised…during your planar adventures.” A look of black fury passed briefly over the Emperor’s face, as the meaning was clear. They would not recognise him as head of the Empire until Princess Marilynth said so. But always the consummate diplomat, his expression quickly smoothed over with a smile, and he straightened his back and gestured towards the Eternal Flame. “Excellent,” said the Emperor. “I am most anxious to see my daughter. Meanwhile, let us go to the Great Pyramids of Gaudiguch where we might rest after our ordeals, and you can fill us in on what has been happening while we were away.” “And we are most anxious to hear your tales too,” said General Iborchi, then looked directly at me. “All of your tales.” ![28](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/28.gif "28")#### Gaudiguch Gossip: INVASION! **INVASION!** As if the horrors of the Taint weren’t enough, the High Flame revealed that Hallifax has invaded the Elemental Plane of Fire. A declaration of war with Hallifax immediately followed, and speculation mounts as to the motives of Hallifax. Are they infected by the Taint? Are they taking advantage of these uncertain times to settle old grudges? Is this a coup against the Empire itself? As many of you already know, since Holy Emperor Ladantine was rescued by the Illuminati through the Higher Plane of the Vortex, he has been in residence in the Great Pyramid and apparently been calling the Imperial forces here to form an army to battle the Taint. The ur’Guard have arrived here in great numbers, and many ranks of krokani and taurian warriors have also assembled here in answer to the Emperor’s call. Even a tribe of loboshigaru has been seen awaiting the Emperor outside of the Gaudiguch! Princess Marilynth arrived early yesterday to meet with her father but left rather suddenly this afternoon. Word is that the Emperor has given his daughter special instructions on how to deal with the Taint, and she is going back to Celest to coordinate operations at the Pool of Stars. Meanwhile, the Emperor has announced that he would lead the Imperial forces gathered in Gaudiguch to battle the Taint spawned mutations, which have been spilling out onto the Grey Moors. Though the new Grand Cipher has assured us that the Empire will support Gaudiguch against the incursions of Hallifax, right now the Emperor’s army is better needed elsewhere. Perhaps the most amazing news of all, however, is that our spiritual leader, the Most Wise Bhodifucius Xiim has stepped down from the Gaudiguch Council and is making a pilgrimage to the Skarch Desert. “Consider the elderly lizard who thought he was still an egg,” said Bhodi, “he tripped and fell, but his shell did not break and no yolk was spilt. Thus, did he find enlightenment.” Not only are the Bhodi’s disciples following him into the Skarch, but so too are many other dracnari, frightened of the Taint which seems poised to consume the Basin of Life, and Hallifax invading the realms of the Eternal Flame. Perhaps it is time to go back to simpler ways and simpler times, and let these terrible events pass us by. Well, I don’t know about you, loyal readers, but it doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me. I’m packing my bags and heading south to follow Bhodi where he may lead us. It was great while it lasted, Gaudiguch, but the Gossip is retiring! ![29](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/29.gif "29")#### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The Emperor’s Gambit Whoever said the dead don’t sleep obviously never knew Emperor Ladantine. While we were alone within the lavish suite of rooms in Gaudiguch, the Undead Emperor would sit as motionless as stone for hours, the red light in his eyes dimming and his skeletal body slumping. During that time, he must have placed some spell upon me as I could do nothing but stare at the corpse that was the Emperor and consider the fate of the Basin of Life. There was certainly a lot to consider. We were updated on what happened in Magnagora, and the release of what they called the ‘Taint’. I was appalled to hear that the beautiful forest of Gloriana had been consumed, and the entire commune of the Night Coven and Raven Circle turned into either undead or monstrosities. When the red light returned to the Emperor’s dead eyes, flaring like sparks of hate, he would get up and rub his hands together, weaving the illusion of health back around him. It was only then that I could finally move again. Perhaps looking back on it, I should have realised the Emperor, adept at so many lost arts, was also a dreamwalker, having mastered that rare and strange magic called dreamweaving – which few mages even knew about and fewer still ever studied. They tell me now that it is a lost art, and if so, one that I will not mourn. At the time, though, the Undead Emperor put his arcane skills to good use, dreamwalking unnoticed through Gaudiguch, spying upon the meetings of the Gaudiguch Council, conferring with the Undead Council, and sending messages to the ur’Guard. When Lord General Iborchi summoned me, I was surprised when the Emperor offhandedly dismissed me but when I was in the sitting room alone with the huge dracnari, the Emperor’s presence flowed into me and my spirit was pushed to the side. I had no control of my body and, however much I wanted to scream and warn the Gaudiguch of the threat of the Emperor, I had no control of my tongue which responded only to the Emperor’s will, forcing me to say what the he commanded, spewing the absurd senseless story that the Emperor and his Undead Council concocted. But through the hate and darkness, the foulness of the Emperor’s spirit within my body, I forced myself to try to reach out to Iborchi. I think I may have somewhat succeeded because he paused as though he saw something in my eyes then ended the interview abruptly. Although we were kept isolated by and treated as though under house arrest, the Gaudiguch Council did not count on the mischievousness of the ur’Guard, those six surviving hulking orclachs who were unaffected by the travails on the astral plane yet unbeknownst to the Gaudiguch Council were now fanatically devoted to the Emperor. Somehow they managed to make their way through the Shallach Portals, and spread word through their ranks. The ur’Guard appeared in thousands, converging at the gates of Gaudiguch, spreading the word to all corners of the Basin of Life that the Emperor was raising an army to defeat the Taint. Throughout the Empire’s history, the more naturally aggressive races were always kept in check by the pure might of the Empire itself. But now with a call to war, they hungrily amassed with the ur’Guard. The krokani arrived in great numbers, those huge one-eyed giants standing heads above even the tallest orclach. A pack of loboshigaru, the wolf-like beings rarely seen in those days, came howling with glee at the prospect of bloodshed. I must admit they frightened me as every furrikin cub was always warned that if he misbehaved, “The loboshigaru will come and eat you!”. But most distressing of all were the ranks upon ranks of taurians, their great horns glittering in the hot sun, their bovine nostrils flaring in anticipation. Never allowed to gather in such large groups since the Stampede Massacres, now here they were in numbers great enough to ignite their awful group rage. The Gaudiguch Council wouldn’t allow them within the city’s walls, however, and only allowed the Emperor to address from the walls. But it was only a matter of time before their numbers became great enough that Gaudiguch would have no choice but to allow them access to the Emperor. All this led to the most momentous episode during our confinement in Guadiguch, which was, of course, the meeting between the Emperor and Princess Marilynth. She arrived from the sky carried by the angelic beings of Holy Celestia with a retinue of the elite Celestine Paladins, their armour glowing with light. When she came before the Emperor who was brought out to the Chamber of Flame to meet his daughter, she ran to him and threw her arms around him. For several blissfully unaware moments, Marilynth enjoyed her reunion with her father. But I knew, oh how I knew, that when she stiffened in her father’s embrace, she understood that not all was right with him. Perhaps she did not hear his heartbeat, or perhaps she felt the unnatural chill, or maybe her pure spirit was repulsed by him. Whatever the reason, she slowly removed herself from the Emperor’s arms and stepped back. “What has happened to you, father?” she asked as everyone fell silent around them. “I have survived, Marilynth. I have survived,” said the Emperor. “But now is not the time to worry about me. Now is the time to protect the Basin of Life! This Taint is spreading, eating the land. And do you know what the Taint is, daughter? Almighty Kethuru, the Eater of Gods, the Scourge of Existence – the greatest of the Soulless Ones! The Nine Seals of the Sacrifice are coming undone. He must be stopped, Marilynth! He’ll destroy us – nay, he will destroy all of creation! This goes beyond all other concerns. We must come together in this!” With each word he uttered, his voice booming through the Chamber of Flame, the Emperor advanced on Marilynth who backed further away from him. It wasn’t until several Paladins stepped forward and stood protectively to either side of the Princess that the Emperor stopped. He opened a beseeching arm toward Marilynth, beckoning her into his embrace. When she did not move, he sighed dramatically, sorrow welling up in his eyes. Oh, what an actor was the Undead Emperor. Marilynth was moved to tears, but she did not approach him. “Father,” she said. “If what you say is true, what can we do?” “There is only one solution, child,” said the Emperor. “Avechna the Avenger must be awoken by a Vernal God. We must go to Celest, and the Pool of Stars must be used to raise me to godhood. My daughter, my poor daughter, I know I have changed. I know what was unleashed on the astral plane. Sweet Light, don’t you think I know? But let me redeem us. Let me make things right. Marilynth! Help me save the Basin!” “The Pool of Stars is all that’s protecting Celest, father. If its power is drained, the Taint will claim it.” “Then use the nexus of power here!” said the Emperor. “The Eternal Flame would work just as well. We must order the Gaudiguch Council to use it to raise me to godhood. They don’t trust me now, I know that. They’re unsure what happened on the astral plane. But they will listen to you, Marilynth! It’s our only chance!” “No!” screamed Chum. “The Eternal Flame is mine! It was promised to me!” That outburst broke the spell that the Emperor’s words were weaving. Marilynth, who had taken two steps towards her father, now recoiled in horror. Tears rolled down her cheeks, the gills on her neck shuddering as she sobbed, but still her voice held firm. “Good-bye, father,” she said, then turned around and left the Chamber of Flame, the Paladins forming around protectively around her. If looks could kill, Chum would have been ash from the Emperor’s gaze – but the Emperor instead rounded upon Grand Cipher Dith and General Iborchi, the two members of the Gaudiguch Council in attendance. Iborchi seemed mildly amused, the bone ridge on his forehead lifted up questioningly. “What of the Council of Gaudiguch?” asked the Emperor. “You know what must be done! Use the Eternal Flame! Raise me up! All our people are waiting!” With that he gestured to the south where the gathered army was encamped. Though his voice was silken and beseeching, the threat was there. Give him the Eternal Flame or he’ll take it by force. What General Iborchi would have said will never be known, because High Flame Tliwx came running into the chamber, her thick green skin smoking. “Invasion!” she panted, coming to a stop. “Hallifax has invaded the plane of fire.” “What!” boomed Iborchi. “Dozens of lucidian and some trill were seen in the inferno fields,” she said. “It looked like they were scouting around the Eternal Flame. My pyromancers chased them away. We killed a lucidian, I think, but weren’t able to recover the body.” “Incinerated him you mean?” Iborchi asked dryly. “You know lucidians and fire,” Tliwx shrugged. “The question is were they Tainted?” “We don’t know. But they must have snuck in using a gate we didn’t know about, and most of them escaped. They’ll be back, I know they will. In force this time. I feel it in my bones.” “Well, Ladantine?” asked Iborchi, turning to the Emperor. “If you’re still our Emperor, we need your help now. Gaudiguch is being invaded. You have an army here. Use it and help us!” If the situation wasn’t so serious, it would have been comical. The Emperor was speechless. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by a war between Gaudiguch and Hallifax, where both cities’ nexuses of power would be locked against each other and useless for his dreams of godhood. Still, it would allow him access to his army. He shook his head. “You fight among yourselves,” the Emperor said softly, “while Almighty Kethuru is poised to devour all of creation. If you continue this madness, at least let me go to my army. At least give me the chance to stop the Taint.” For whatever his motives, however twisted the Emperor had become, in this at least he was right. The Gaudiguch Council could not deny it. So they let the Undead Emperor go free as they prepared for war. And I, of course, had no choice in the matter and went with him. ![30](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/30.gif "30")#### Aetherwave Transcript: Record Of Last Known Transmissions From Gaudiguch (declassified) *This transmission was a secured military aether channel which linked to Gaudiguch, the Elemental Plane of Fire, and the cosmic plane known as the Vortex. The transcript was kept in the libraries of Dairuchi for several centuries before they were released into the historical records.* HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: The elemental plane of fire is pretty calm here. My pyromancers are spread out and our gateweavers are searching for gates. But so far nothing has turned up. GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Well, here at Gaudiguch its business as usual. They’d be fools to attack the city proper, especially if they saw the Emperor’s army surrounding us. Though he’s pulling out, damn him. Has my Champion arrived yet, Scuchi? HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Yeah, Champion Ketsaco is taking the wyvern riders you sent to make an aerial reconnaissance. How’s the Vortex, Dith? You there? GRAND CIPHER DITH: Indeed, I am here, High Flame. I take it all is going to your satisfaction? HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: So far, so good. All stray gates blocked to the Vortex? GRAND CIPHER DITH: We’ve placed distortion fields on all known gates, but it is the unknown ones that make me uneasy. HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: You and me both. I’d love to know how they’re hiding them. You hear rumours about Hallifax’s spy network but…wait a sec, something is happening in the fireblossom gardens. Gate activity! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Ha! Champion Ketsaco, can you hear me? Move your green tails into position. CHAMPION KETSACO: Ok, whelps, you heard the General! Stay together if you can and don’t forget to keep your snouts clean. Remember, these fraggers can fly! HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Ok, I see the wyvern riders now. If things get hot, Ketso, you retreat and I’ll move the pyromancers forward. CHAMPION KETSACO: They’ve come through! Great Tzarin, there’s a lot of them. Let’s say about two hundred, maybe three hundred lucidians and trill, though there’s still more coming through the gate. Okay, I’m flying in! Let’s go, whelps, and keep your snouts clean! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Ketso, dismount first! Dismount! Don’t fly in! Frag it! They have aeromancers! HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: By the Hand, Ketso’s hit hard! Some type of whirlwind just drove them all to the ground! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Report, Ketso! Report! CHAMPION KETSACO: Okay, that was bad. We’ve lost about a dozen riders. Let’s organise and…NO! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP YOUR SNOUTS CLEAN! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: What’s happening? Scuchi, can you see? HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Great fragging enigma! Half of Ketso’s troops have charged. They’re in a battle frenzy, Gorbo. Ketso’s taking the rest forward. Right, I’m going in with the pyromancers. By my tail, this is the plane of fire! Let’s show them what that means! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Ketso, report, damn your hide! CHAMPION KETSACO: We’ve taken some losses but Scuchi is moving in, General. By the Hand! She’s burning through the crystal freaks like they’re pieces of coal in a forge! Scuchi Mabuchi rules the flames! Go, Scuchi! Go! GRAND CIPHER DITH: We have a situation in the Vortex! Gates are opening everywhere! At least five…no, six…nine gates! They’re laid out in a circumference with the Eternal Flame in the centre. I’m sending the Illuminati out but we need assistance! Can anyone hear me? GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: I hear you, Dith, for all it’s worth. Damn, it’s a classic misdirection. Scuchi and Ketso, how soon can you get to the Vortex? HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: I’m heading back now, but our main forces are tied up. They’re throwing themselves at us like lemmings, those heartless bastards. GRAND CIPHER DITH: At each of those nine entry points, they’re setting up some kind of barrier that’s preventing us from entering. They’re up to something. We can see they’re setting up some type of crystal pillar at each point. I have a bad feeling about this. CHAMPION KETSACO: I’m not going to be able to make it any time soon to the Vortex, these cold lucidian bastards are tying us up pretty badly. GRAND CIPHER DITH: There’s beams of light now coming out of those crystal pillars, connecting and making geometric patterns overhead. The Eternal Flame is reacting to it! Our power’s dwindling! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: The Eternal Flame is wavering in Gaudiguch too! We need to release Project Paradox! GRAND CIPHER DITH: Are you insane? It’s never been tested and we haven’t even received Imperial sanction to research the project! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Frag the Empire! Come on, Dith! The Empire released the Taint – it’s not like they have the market on wisdom here. Scuchi, you hearing this? HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Yeah, I’ve just arrived at the Vortex. It doesn’t look good, Gorob. They’re definitely draining the Eternal Flame. I agree with you. Let’s release Project Paradox. GRAND CIPHER DITH: We don’t know what it’ll do! And this could all be a misunderstanding! The lucidians and trill I see don’t appear Tainted. GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Who the frag cares, Dith! They could be infected with a new type of Taint. You’re the one who’s been saying the Taint’s been mutating ever since its release. Even if they’re not Tainted, we know what cold, merciless bastards the lucidians are. HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Dith, we are sworn to protect the Eternal Flame. I don’t want to be the one known to have been responsible for the Eternal Flame being not so eternal on my watch. GRAND CIPHER DITH: We need the entire Council to approve this! GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: We are the entire council, you fool! GRAND CIPHER DITH: Bhodifucius isn’t here! And I haven’t been confirmed… HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: What do you want a confirmation party, Dith? And Bhodi has resigned. It’s us three. And we need to act quick! GRAND CIPHER DITH: I’ll agree on one condition. If something goes wrong, we’ll need a back-up plan. We need to send someone to find the Hand of Tzaraziko. GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: That’s just a myth! GRAND CIPHER DITH: No! It’s not! The Illuminati have documents indicating that it’s in the Skarch. General, you must go there and find it. If something goes wrong with Project Paradox, that artefact may be the only thing that could help us. Find Bhodifucius and he’ll tell you what information we know. GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: You expect me to abandon Gaudiguch now! To go on this wild wakabi chase? And I’m needed here for Project Paradox. Tell him, Scuchi! HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Once you set the sequence at the Eternal Flame in Gaudiguch, you’ll have time to leave, Gorob. The Illuminati and their damn secrets. Funny, how Bhodi, once the Grand Cipher of the Illuminati, just happens to have retired to the Skarch where now we may need him. I agree with our Grand Cipher, though, a back-up plan is always smart. GRAND CIPHER DITH: I’ll only agree to start Project Paradox if you agree to search for the Hand in the Skarch, General. GENERAL GOROB IBORCHI: Damn you both! Fine! I’ll go to the bloody Skarch for all the good it’ll do us. Now, can we start the sequences? HIGH FLAME SCUCHIDIRA: Yes, and we better hurry. It looks like whatever Hallifax is setting up is almost complete… ![31](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/31.gif "31")#### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The Taint With the enormous army of taurians, loboshigaru, krokani, and of course the orclach ur’Guard, the Undead Emperor and his Dark Council left Gaudiguch as quickly as they could, rushing up the Imperial Road and heading towards the Great Pass into the Basin of Life proper. As we passed between the enormous peaks of the Southern and Razine Mountains, we first were able to see the Taint. Though still far off to the east well past the Grey Moors, we saw the black haze that enveloped the Gloriana Forest. The Emperor was determined to reach the Isle of Celest but there was no way to approach the Crystal Sea from the south without going through the Taint. He called a war council together. Besides the Dark Council, who were cloaked in their dark robes, and the Emperor, whose monstrous form was still hidden behind the illusory glamour, the council included Captain Galvorg of the ur’Guard, Lord Trogak of the krokani, Packleader Oolit of the loboshigaru, and Meldonia Sher, a matriarch of the Taurian Mercenaries. The Emperor presented the situation simply: they needed to get to Celest at all possible speed. “What about the Shallach tunnels?” Meldonia asked Captain Galvorg. “Taint has the tunnels,” he said. “We entered tunnels many times, but orclach never returned. It is closed to us. We should head through Balach Swamp.” “Balach is at the borders of the Taint last I heard,” said Meldonia. “It’s most likely infected by now.” “We can go through the Balach Swamp,” said Lord Trogak, his huge, great eye blinking slowly at the Emperor. “Djarrakh holds back the Taint from moving west. Balach is not infected.” “What?” said the Emperor sharply, rounding on the krokani. “Castle Djarrakh is holding back the Taint? That is news to me. How have the krokani managed that? No offence, Trogak, but your people are not known for their strength in magic.” “The cat people have given us use of the Claw of Shanth,” said Lord Trogak. His great eye blazing at the Emperor as he added, “We have our magics. Maybe not as great as yours, but our memory is long and we know perhaps secrets you do not. I tell you we are holding back the Taint at Djarrakh.” “With the help of an artefact of one of the Vernal Gods,” said the Emperor thoughtfully. “The aslaran, or the cat people as you call them, must have been desperate to give up their holy relic.” “They live in the Grey Moors too,” growled Packleader Oolit. “We have many battles with the aslaran over that land.” “If the artefact is working against the Taint,” said Lars from behind his robes, “perhaps other artefacts of the Vernal Gods could be useful. Galvorg, don’t the ur’Guard hold an artefact of Urlach?” “The Horn of Urlach, yes. It is our most holy of artefacts,” said Captain Galvorg. “Legend says that when it was blown, it would make armies invincible,” nodded Lars. “I have read about it.” “Only Urlach’s armies of the dead,” said Galvorg, “but it will not help us. The ur’Guard have tried it many times.” “Armies of the dead!” the Emperor clapped his hands. “Of course! Galvorg, I must have that artefact! I do believe that the time for Urlach’s promises are about to come true!” “Of course, my Emperor,” said Galvorg, bowing deeply, and with reverence in his voice. “But without access to the Shallach tunnels, we will have to travel by ship through the Inner Sea to retrieve it. It will take long.” “Yes, of course,” hissed the Emperor in frustration. “I will write orders for the Imperial Ships to give you whatever assistance you need. Take a small force, retrieve the Horn of Urlach, then I’ll meet you in Celest.” “As my Emperor commands,” said Galvorg, again bowing deeply before departing. “Balach Swamp, eh?” said the Emperor, looking at those gathered around him. “It is not a hospitable place, especially after the incident with Project Soulforge…well, no matter. With this army, we won’t have any trouble. And I’d like to get a closer look at this Taint. Very well, let’s move out.” Thus, we headed east directly towards the Taint. The closer we got, the more we saw that it was a living wall of black smoke, roiling and churning with a foul malevolence that even made the Undead Emperor jumpy. But whatever the krokani and the aslaran did at Castle Djarrakh seemed to be working. A rippling web of silvery energy held the Taint from spreading westwards, though it bowed and bulged in places, making us wonder how long it would hold. It was here that the Lord Trogak commanded his krokani forces to break away from the army. “Where are you going?” demanded the Emperor, seething in anger. But the krokani didn’t answer, they just trotted south into the Grey Moors, heading towards Castle Djarrakh. It was then I remembered the saying that, though the krokani giants only had one eye, that one eye would always see true. Of course, I thought with glee, their gaze could pierce through the Emperor’s illusion and see him as the undead abomination that he was. “Traitors! Traitors!” the Undead Emperor screamed in rage. He was impotent to stop them, though. He couldn’t risk delay from his mad quest, and I’d like to think he was afraid they’d reveal what he was to the taurians and loboshigaru. After cursing them some more, he steered the army north towards the Crystal Sea. We could see already that whatever protection came from Castle Djarrakh was weakening and the Taint was rolling into the sea itself, turning its waters black. But like a beacon of hope, the Isle of Celest cast a large globe around itself, deflecting the Taint. Just as we were about to head northwest towards Balach Swamp, the world turned inside out. How can I describe what it was like to those who weren’t there? There was no sound, yet it was deafening. There was nothing to see, yet it was blinding. It felt as though for an eternity I was floating and falling, drowning and sleeping. When I came to myself, I was flat on my back screaming, tearing at my eyes. I thought it was some torture the Emperor had inflicted on me, but looking around I saw the entire army was laid low. The Emperor was just as bad off as the rest. Did the Taint overcome us? But it was still to the east! How long it lasted I do not know. It could have been as fast as the blink of an eye or as long as an age, but it took us several hours to regain our composure. The Emperor and his Dark Council were obviously shaken. “Could that have come from Castle Djarrakh?” asked Shellma. “No,” said Lars, adjusting his robes. “Reality was disrupted, as though the fabric of the aether itself was torn asunder.” “Kethuru!” whispered Chum loudly. “Could he have finally broken the seals?” “No,” said the Emperor walking towards the Taint, his voice taking on a note of joy. “I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t Kethuru breaking free! Feel it! There’s no mind in the Taint.” The others followed in the Emperor’s wake, holding out their hands as though tasting the air with their skin. I must admit that the atmosphere didn’t seem quite so unpleasant, that the lurking madness that pervaded the air was somehow gone. Could it be true? Did whatever we experience also drive Kethuru’s presence out of the Taint? Surely that was what the Emperor thought, but he wasn’t quite sure. He turned around and came towards me, then picked me up by the scruff of my neck as though I were some kitten. “Well,” said the Emperor merrily. “I wasn’t sure if we’d need the furrikin, but he’ll make an excellent subject. If he mutates or dies, we’ll know the Taint is still controlled by Kethuru’s presence. If he survives, we’ll know it’s safe to enter.” Just as his words sunk in and I started screaming, I found myself being hurled into the dark clouds of the Taint. ![32](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/32.gif "32")#### Aetherwave Transcript: Record Of Last Known Transmissions From Hallifax (declassified) *Kept for centuries by the Mesa Outpost, these records were finally declassified and released into the historical records. It contains a transcript of an aether transmission among the Hallifax Board of Directors.* MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: What have you got us into, Adom! We knew we couldn’t remain undetected for long on the plane of fire! Not the home of the paranoid pyromancers! CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Let us analyze the situation calmly, Minister Sunfar. Regrettably, our reconnaissance was uncovered, but Intelligence assures me that the entire Cosmic Hope party is confirmed to have been Tainted. We must determine if a second Taint will come through the planar nexus in Gaudiguch. Force Commander Pavok, what is the situation now on the plane of fire? FORCE COMMANDER SKORI PAVOK: Situation critical, Chairman. After our brief success in a skirmish with the dracnari wyvern riders, we have been taking substantial losses from pyromantic assaults. Our aeromantic support team is not providing adequate support in our subsequent offensive movements. SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: Didn’t I say it was stupid to use aeromancers on an elemental plane that wasn’t air? Did Pavok mention we’ve lost nearly half the aeromancers in Aeromantic Command! CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Thank you for that unsolicited addendum, Secretary Skysoarer. Can we now continue this operation or do you have further addendums to add? SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: My apologies, Chairman. Many of my friends were in Aeromantic Command. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: This is a stressful time for us all, Secretary Skysoarer. Please accept my condolences for your loss. Professor Eepex, how soon before we can expect gates into the Vortex? PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: They are opening now, Chairman, and we are sending scouts forward. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Most excellent news. Force Commander, how long can you keep the Gaudiguch army occupied? FORCE COMMANDER SKORI PAVOK: I am afraid not long, Chairman. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: I see. Professor Eepex, we do not have the luxury of time for a reconnaissance mission. Please send the full teams forward. PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: As you say, Chairman. I am entering the Vortex with Team Six. Ministers Shevat and Sunfar are in Teams Three and Seven, respectively. MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: We’ve been detected by the Illuminati! MINISTER IECK’CO SHEVAT: Initiating defences. SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: Swee, is the Vortex under the Taint? MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: I…I don’t know, Lila. It could be, I guess. It’s very…abnormal. But the Illuminati are so strange, this could be business as usual for them. FORCE COMMANDER SKORI PAVOK: Apologies for interrupting, but I must report that the situation has almost become untenable on the fire plane. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Professor Eepex, please begin Operation Crucible. PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: At once, Chairman. MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: But we haven’t confirmed if the Vortex has been Tainted! CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: I’m afraid we do not have time, Minister Sunfar. The dracnari are extraordinarily unpredictable and have in the past proven that they do not listen to reason. The safest course of action is simply to drain their nexus of power until after the Taint crisis. How is the operation proceeding, Professor Eepex? PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: The points of confluence are in place, Chairman. We are beginning to set the Crucible pattern. You should be able to read a power surge in the Matrix. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Yes, the Matrix reservoir is filling rapidly. All appears to be going as planned. MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: They’re up to something at the Eternal Flame. Woah! It suddenly just increased in size! I thought we were draining it? And there’s some kind of smoke coming out of the Eternal Flame. It looks a bit strange. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Most curious. The power level of the Matrix is suddenly fluctuating. Opinions, Professor Eepex? PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: Uncertain, Chairman. The Illuminati have drawn back and are coordinating some type of countermeasure. SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: I thought you said Operation Crucible was failsafe? PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: It should be impossible to counter. I will note for the record that the Crucible pattern is holding and appears unaffected by this phenomena. In an abundance of caution, however, I recommend we procure a strong auric field to stabilise any unforeseen temporal reactions. SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: What in Dynara’s name are unforeseen temporal reactions? MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: Lila, please don’t provoke him to lecture. Eepex, just tell us exactly what we need! PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: The strong auric field to which I refer is the Hand of Tzaraziko. SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: \[whistles\] By my wings, you don’t think small, do you, Professor? PROFESSOR TAV’K EEPEX: I’ve been researching the histories, mythologies and legends regarding the Hand of Tzaraziko, and I believe I am confident that there is a very high degree of probability that it has been secreted in the Skarch. In fact, shortly after the Great Battle of Illith… CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Thank you, Professor Eepex. I must report that the Matrix is behaving quite oddly. Please return immediately to the Hallifax, Professor Eepex, and assemble a research team. You are instructed to depart to the Skarch to recover the Hand of Tzaraziko. Minister Skysoarer, you will accompany him. SECRETARY LILALI SKYSOARER: Me? But… MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: Just go, Lila. And hurry. This smoke over the Eternal Flame is expanding. It’s flickering with different colours, like a cloud of rainbows. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Force Commander, what is the situation on the plane of fire? FORCE COMMANDER SKORI PAVOK: Tremors have started throughout the plane, Chairman. The dracnari appear to be confused and are retreating to the Eternal Flame. CHAIRMAN CRIRIK ADOM: Very good, Force Commander. Please return to Hallifax immediately then. Minister Skysoarer, Professor Eepex and a research team have just left Hallifax on their mission to the Skarch. The behavior of the Matrix is not stabilising. I repeat, it is not stabilising. MINISTER SWEELOH SUNFAR: That coloured smoke is getting closer to us…holy Dynara, that’s not smoke we’re seeing. I can’t believe…I don’t understand… MINISTER IECK’CO SHEVAT: I believe what Minister Sunfar is trying to say is that the Illuminati appear to have released a cloud of…butterflies… [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Forum Rules](https://www.lusternia.com/official-forum-rules/) **Published:** August 12, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** # Forum Rules **1. No posting confidential information.** Confidential information includes but is not limited to any type of non-public documentation including, but not limited to, non-disclosure agreements and private Iron Realms employee or volunteer contact information. Also, do not post alternative characters of any other player without their strict permission. Also restricted is in-character information of a sensitive sort, the posting of which may prejudice in game behaviour, such as confidential order/guild/city information in the form of channel transcripts, help files, private posts, member lists, or similar. **2. 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The post is not acting as a substitute for a bug report. The legitimacy of a given post is subject to the discretion of the moderating staff and posted bugs may be removed even if it is not immediately apparent that the post falls within any of the above categories. **11. Signature, Titles, and Avatar Rules** Signatures should not be so large as to inconvenience other forum users. If you are asked by a moderator to reduce the size of your signature, please comply. Your avatar or signature may not contain the following: - Explicit sexual images. - Links to porn or warez. If a moderator or administrator feels an image is inappropriate even though it may not fall under the above it may be removed. Recreating the avatar after it is removed will result in either a warning or suspension and your privileges to use an avatar will be revoked. **12. Moderators.** Even beyond these rules, moderators reserve the right to restrict forum topics in their sole and absolute discretion. If you feel a monitor is being unfair, you can contact Lusternia Support (). **13. Quest Solutions.** It is acceptable to post, and ask for, hints regarding in-game quests. However we ask that you do not post full solutions, as doing so may spoil the quest for others. --- ### [Support](https://www.lusternia.com/support/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** ### Need Help? Need help? Have a question? Completely Lost? There are a variety of way to contact the game administration on each of our games. You can use the form here, email us directly, request help on game forums, and even use in game commands. For in-game concerns, please utilize the [issue system](/in-game-help-files/?id=895 "Lusternia Help: Issues") for timely assistance from a game administrator. If you have questions or problems with credits or Iron Elite memberships, please see [http://www.ironrealms.com/payment-faq](http://www.ironrealms.com/payment-faq "Payment FAQ") or email . For anything else, please email us at: or use the email form here. If all else fails, you may contact Iron Realms Entertainment by mail: **Iron Realms Entertainment** 145 Corte Madera Town Center #451 Corte Madera, CA 94925 USA --- ### [Cosmogenesis](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/cosmogenesis/) **Published:** December 31, 2016 **Author:** Thervet **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Cosmogenesis ### Daughters of Yudhe ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Solea-June-Artisanal_0-e1497469242594.jpg)Before time or space or movement, there was nothing: a void that was neither dark nor light, neither empty nor full; formless, without thought or mind. In an everlasting state of nothing, the impossible moves to improbable and the improbable becomes fact. And so a spark flickered in the void, and that spark was the spark of consciousness, and that consciousness was named Yudhe. Around Yudhe folded time and around time folded space, and thus Yudhe became aware. But Yudhe was all and nothing, and when his thoughts flared and blossomed, reaching out to touch another, he found only himself. So Yudhe knew loneliness. Yearning for companionship yet being alone, Yudhe separated a part of his own consciousness to form a daughter. She called herself Magnora and was much like Yudhe, vast yet empty. Not satisfied, Yudhe fragmented himself to form a second daughter. She called herself Dynara, smaller than Magnora yet partaking of Yudhe’s nature. Each daughter was separate, yet a part of Yudhe. Thus Yudhe found family. From Yudhe, Dynara inherited his desire to create, and so she created many things, the first of which was Lusternia, also called the First World. Around Lusternia, Dynara formed countless more worlds and planes of existence and so filled the universe of Yudhe with an endless stream of things. Her older sister, Magnora, inherited only the emptiness of the void, and her purpose was to consume all that her sister created, bringing it back to nothing. And for eons, Dynara created and Magnora destroyed, and so the sisters were in harmony; a cycle of being and not being, of creation and destruction, of life and death. ### Soulless Gods ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Creepy-e1497469259837.jpg)Upon the worlds and planes that Dynara created, she also created life. Her first attempts to create life were monstrous abominations without a soul or spirit. Though at first she considered them to be her greatest triumphs, she came to view them as her greatest failures. They were later called the Primal Gods or First Ones, also known as the Soulless Gods. Disappointed, Dynara sent these Soulless Gods to her sister Magnora for her to consume back to nothing. But Magnora, bitter and barren, allowed them to live out of spite. Thus, the Soulless Gods became the Heralds of Magnora, travelling with her and helping her destroy and consume that which Dynara had abandoned or forgot. ### Son of Yudhe Yudhe grew tired, and begot a son, who was a reflection of Yudhe himself, containing Yudhe’s very spirit. This son was without name and form, limited in omniscience yet full of potency. The Son of Yudhe went first to his sister Dynara, and through him, she understood how to create life with soul, and so together they created life from shards of their own consciousness. She and her nameless brother grouped them this way and that way, and played with them as children play with their toys. Jealous and acting in her own nature, Magnora and her Heralds sought out and devoured that life. But Dynara and the Nameless Son saved those life forms that became their favourites, and these became known as the Elder Gods, and they were many. Thus came to be the Dragon God Dracnoris, Clangorum of the Mountains, Elfenhoala the Fair, Aslarn the Quick, Meridian the Wise, Orlachmar the Strong, Trillillial of the Skies, Bollikin the Playful, and many others. Magnora’s jealousy grew, and she turned and looked upon Yudhe’s only begotten son and found a desire to consume him. And so she did. But the Nameless Son could not go back to nothingness, for he was as nothing as Yudhe. Yet, when Magnora devoured him, he impossibly disappeared from reality. Without his spirit who was his son, Yudhe roused from his complacent dreaming and thus knew despair. And so too did Magnora and Dynara despair, for they were just as much a part of Yudhe. ### The Great Silence Together the sisters found a purpose, and that purpose was to find the only begotten son of Yudhe. For eons they searched, their goals united for the first time. Finally, they became aware of a tear within the fabric of reality through which the Nameless Son had entered. But to their sorrow, they learned the Son of Yudhe was destroyed in this alternate reality. But they discerned that his essence remained, scattered through a race calling themselves humans. And so Magnora and Dynara schemed and plotted to enter this alternate reality and unite it with Yudhe, thus bringing progenitor and son back together. When their schemes reached its apex, the sisters left through the rift in reality – but, alas, the journey changed their very natures and they were never to return. Yudhe’s children, however, were more than just offspring; they were Yudhe himself. Without them, Yudhe moved back to what he was: neither dark nor light, neither empty nor full, formless, without thought or mind. A great silence fell across creation. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Character Messages](https://www.lusternia.com/messages/) **Published:** February 16, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** --- ### [Organisational Logs](https://www.lusternia.com/logs/) **Published:** February 16, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** --- ### [Dracnari](https://www.lusternia.com/dracnari/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** # Dracnari Descended from the Elder God Dracnoris (also known as the Dragon God), the dracnari are a race of lizard-like humanoids with the ability to breathe fire. They have an affinity to volcanic regions, especially the fire hills of the southwest, where they were the primary founders of the city of Gaudiguch (which became lost in time during the Taint Wars). Their skin is scaled green and features range from the truly draconic to remarkably human-like. Like the merians, dracnari do not recognize half-breeds: either you are a dracnari or are not, denoted by the ability to breathe fire. Languages: Dracnari, Common. ## Perks - **Level 1:** Resistance to psychic damage. Ability: BREATHE FIRE. Melts an icewall in any direction (example: BREATHE FIRE ICEWALL AT EAST) or burn briar/thorn walls. Can light pipes with their breath (LIGHT PIPE). - **Level 25:** Resistance to fire damage. - **Level 50:** Health and mana regeneration when in burning environments. - Dracnari with the Pyromancy or Pyrochemantics specialisation gain a bonus to fire and asphyxiation damage. - Dracnari with the Paradigmatics specialisation gain a bonus to fire and psychic damage. - Dracnari with the Minstrelry specialisation gain a bonus to both fire and psychic damage. - **Demigod:** Trait: Breath of Dracnoris – BREATHE FIRE now ignites briar and thorn walls as well as melting icewalls on a faster balance. It automatically lights smoking pipes passively. The dracnari also has a 5% chance to breathe fire on attacks against other players, dealing fire damage and afflicting the target with ablaze. - **Demigod+:** Improved Trait: Breathe fire can now affect adjacent rooms (eg BREATHE FIRE ROOM AT WEST) causing fire damage to all within and causing a chance to set the room ablaze. Also has a 10% chance to trigger on all attacks against denizens (Attacks against other players remains at 5%). ## Variants - **Dracnari** - Standard race - **Illuminated Dracnari** - Dracnari trained in the arts of Pyromancy, Pyrochemantics, or Transmology. - **Guardian Dracnari** - Dracnari warriors trained in the arts of Paradigmatics. - **Rapscallion Dracnari** - Dracnari trained in the arts of Minstrelry. --- ### [Portal](https://www.lusternia.com/portal/) **Published:** December 9, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ### Iron Realms Characters ### Your Messages ### Who Is Playing ### Game News ### What’s Happening ### Organisational Logs --- ### [News](https://www.lusternia.com/news/) **Published:** March 29, 2017 **Author:** Iashe **Content:** --- ### [Vernal Wars](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/vernal-wars/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Vernal Wars ## Rise of the Vernal Gods Aeons passed as the mortal races were hunted, slowly and cruelly, to extermination. Civilisations rose and fell to the rhythm of the Soulless Gods’ feasts. During one such lull, a merian known as Gorob became perhaps the most famous of all mortals. He devised the creation of the Edifices of Power from which mortals could fan the spark of their own divinity and rise to godhood themselves, challenging the Soulless. Though Gorob was the first Vernal God to rise, he could not save his precious home city and suffered a defeat by Illith. After that, Gorob wandered Lusternia, and the mortal people he visited variously fled from his might or flocked to him as their savior. In the ancient tongue, he became known as Gorob d’Varsha, which meant Gorob the Teacher. As the decades passed, the name of Gorob was forgotten, and so came to be D’varsha, first of the Vernal Gods. The seed of hope for salvation slowly grew in the mortal races, a hope beyond just merely surviving the hunger of the Soulless, but a hope to overcome, to win for themselves a new life. The hope of safety. The stronger civilisations began to build their own Edifices of Power based on D’varsha teachings. In dozens of city-states, some who were strongholds of one race while others held populations represented an amalgam of different races that banded together for survival; Edifices of Powers were also constructed. Hundreds of Vernal Gods rose to challenge the Soulless and the battles changed the landscape of Lusternia, as mountains sank, oceans boiled, and the very sky bled with blood. Despite the overwhelming numbers, and like the Elder Gods before them, the Vernal Gods could not defeat the Soulless. In the end only nine Vernal Gods remained. They were known as the Council of Nine, and were considered the greatest and most powerful of the Vernal Gods. Sometimes they were referred to as the Final Nine or, sometimes, just the Nine. ### Council of Nine #### *D’varsha the First* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/merianaqua.jpg) During one such lull, a merian city of polished coral spires called Glomborolum rose beneath the Amberle Sea. The city stood for several centuries underwater without being preyed upon by the Illith, time enough for a civilisation to establish itself. In this city of gleaming white and pink, amidst the silky sands beneath azure water, there was born the merian known as Gorob, who became the most famous of all mortals. Gorob studied magicks and power. As his knowledge grew, he learned to design what he called the Edifice of Power, a structure that could be used to focus enough power and magic to challenge the Great Ones themselves. So Gorob planned to build an Edifice of Power in the centre of Glomborolum. It would be a magnificent spire of polished black coral, etched with runes and infused with all the power of Glomborolum. Its construction was a momentous undertaking that would take decades to complete, but the merians of Glomborolum concentrated all their resources to its creation. But, with more than a year left to its completion, a warning came that the maw of Illith the Leviathan headed towards Glomborolum. Those mortal races that lived underwater were in constant fear of the day that Illith’s maw in its travel around the globe’s circumference would finally find them. Though the scholars of Glomborolum had not predicted Illith to reach their city for hundreds of years yet, her great teeth were sighted in the distance. Instead of despairing, Gorob ordered his people to quicken their building. What should have taken a year to complete was done in a month, for Glomborolum forsook all else except the completion of the Edifice of Power. Yet even that was barely time enough, for just moments before the spire was completed, Illith crashed into the outer reaches of Glomborolum. With destruction raining down, Gorob stood at the pinnacle of the Spire and uttered words of power, while all the merian below channelled energy into the magical construct. As Illith the Leviathan approached the Spire of Glomborolum, the magical working came to completion. Gorob rose over the city, his body expanding and power crackling around him in a fury. His eyes glowed golden, and his hands shaped spheres of liquid power from the waters around him. Gorob became mightier than any mortal had ever become. Gorob became the first of the Vernal Gods. Throwing sphere after sphere of liquid power at Illith, Gorob was intent on saving his people from the Soulless One’s wrath. And, for the first time since the Elder Wars, Illith knew pain. Her body encircled the globe and gave a great spasm, causing earthquakes to wrack throughout the lands of Lusternia. But Illith was a Soulless One, forged from the fires of the Elder Wars, and she would not be easily cowed. She opened her maw and spat out a thick black miasma that covered all of Glomborolum and Gorob who floated above. Fighting against the foul corrosive ink, Gorob heard the collective cry of his people reach out to him as their life force was extinguished and absorbed into Illith. Howling in rage, Gorob drew upon inner reserves that he had not known he had, and renewed his attack on Illith with such fury that she actually drew back. But despite this tremendous assault, Gorob could not vanquish Illith the Leviathan, and finally, he fled from her awesome power, demoralised and spent. #### *Tzaraziko the Enigmatic* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/TzaraikoAndIllith.jpg)Tzaraziko came to power early in the Vernal Wars and is counted as one of the most powerful of the Vernal Gods. She led many daring campaigns against the Soulless Gods, where her tactics would suddenly change for little or no apparent reason and, either through brilliant strategy or plain dumb luck, she always managed to stay alive and inflict considerable damage against the Soulless. Though little understood by the other Vernal Gods, her seemingly convoluted and brash plans were almost always followed because of this. One of the most notable legends of Tzaraziko recounts that during a battle with Illith the Leviathan, Tzaraziko pried out one of Illith’s eyes. The eye fell to the ground and exuded a clear liquid that quickly formed a small pool. When Tzaraziko began to reach into this clear pool, the flesh on her fingertips immediately dissolved. Rather than pulling her hand back, she quickly plunged her arm into the pool up to her elbow and grasped the eye. From that day forward, that section of her arm was a black skeleton with the fingers fused around a gleaming orb that was once Illith’s eye. Tzaraziko’s behaviour became more erratic after that, but there is no question that her power greatly increased. Indeed, she later masterminded the defeat of Illith. Tzaraziko was a mistress of illusion and shape changing. Whatever form she took, however, was almost always female and, after her arm was transformed, could never hide the appearance of her skeletal forearm. During the last days of the Vernal Wars, she lost that arm in a battle with Almighty Kethuru. Though it is uncertain which Edifices of Power raised Tzaraziko, it is generally thought to be either the Great Pyramid of Alin’dor or the Crystal Spire of Lancenti, both cities of which were destroyed early in the Vernal Wars. Interestingly enough, lucidians and dracnari each claim she originated as their own race, and this disagreement fomented racial tensions between these two peoples who earlier had evolved harmoniously in the deserts. The climax of these racial tensions, of course, peaked during the Taint Wars when the lucidian leadership of the city of Hallifax persuaded their trill counterparts to go to war with the predominantly dracnari city of Gaudiguch. The result of that was the closure of two higher planes of existence and both cities being lost in time. Some descendants of the survivors still search for the Hand of Tzaraziko, which many scholars believe lies hidden in the desert sands of the Skarch. #### *Klangratch, the Axe of War* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/dwarf.jpg)Klangratch was raised as a Vernal God from the dwarven stronghold of Grimkeep, which was destroyed late in the Vernal Wars by Great Muud. Never forgetting his dwarven heritage, Klangratch appeared as a dwarf male with red hair and full beard, albeit about 5 times larger than an average dwarf. He invested much of his power into a mighty battleaxe that was said to be able to slice through rock as though it were air. Though many of the Vernal Gods were uneasy of Urlach’s unconventional means of using the dead as fighters, Klangratch early saw the strategic advantage of this, and campaigned with Urlach for many battles. Together, they finally overthrew Great Muud, though the battle laid waste to Grimkeep and the surrounding mountains. Though Klangratch held no qualms of using undead as shock troops, he never allowed Urlach to touch the dwarves in this manner. Perhaps mistrusting that Urlach would keep to this agreement, Klangratch enchanted a stone that would immediately release the souls of dwarves onto the wheel of rebirth, rendering the bodies not able to be raised as undead. To this day, the dwarves revere this stone as their most holy artifact. #### *Shanth of the Quiet Mind* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Shanth.jpg)The Vernal God known as Shanth rose from the only Edifice of Power created solely by the aslaran race, a megalithic stone statue called the Claws of Liberty. Shanth was the quietest of the Council of Nine, given to deep introspection and contemplation. Appearing as a giant aslaran with jet black fur and dressed in simple dun-coloured robes, Shanth did not appear as the most formidable of the Vernal Gods. But he certainly was the fastest. Legends often speak of Shanth sitting as still as a rock in meditation yet suddenly jumping up and moving at a speed so great that he was practically invisible. Because of this, he was often called the Starleaper, as his aslaran followers would often boast that he could leap over the stars. Shanth was a loner and reckoning force unto himself. With great focus, he concentrated his efforts upon Crazen, who had enslaved almost the entire aslaran race who roamed free across grasslands. Those that Crazen did not catch were driven to environments unnatural and hostile to the aslarans. Shanth began stealing slaves from Crazen and taking them to places of relative safety. Though never able to free many of Crazen’s slaves, it drove Crazen into a frenzy and he gave chase whenever he spotted Shanth. The great hulk that was Crazen rolled across many miles of open plains, carving great ravines into the earth, pursuing Shanth, who always remained several steps ahead of him. Eventually, Shanth led him into a giant crater at the end of the world and there trapped him forever. After his ascension to godhood, Shanth was hardly noticed by the other Vernal Gods. That is, not until Crazen suddenly disappeared and D’varsha investigated, soon discovering that it was Shanth and Shanth alone who single handedly defeated a Soulless God, a claim no other Vernal God could make. #### *Juliana the Evenhanded* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Merian.jpg)Raised from a merian in the jewelled city of Climanti, Juliana the Evenhanded was primarily known for her ability to mediate amongst the various Vernal Gods, bridging common cause from often disparate or even hostile individuals. Famously, she brought together Urlach and Dionamus several times after each swore never to suffer the presence of the other. Though certainly never considered the strongest Vernal God in power, Juliana was widely sought out for advice and to coordinate campaigns. Perhaps her greatest impact was organising the mortal races, helping each to see past the differences of the other. Several multi-racial edifices of power, and the subsequent vernal gods who arose from them, owe their existence completely to Juliana’s working. During the last days of the Vernal Wars, when all but Zenos and Kethuru were defeated, Juliana orchestrated a subtle plot that ended up in trapping Zenos within a icy prison. First, she arranged for Klangratch and Urlach to use their undead legions to keep Kethuru busy in the southern sphere. Meanwhile, she convinced Vestera to be bait to lure Zenos to the northern icecap where Juliana, Kiakoda, Dionamus and several other Vernal Gods laid waiting. Through surprise and sheer strength, they were able to force Zenos into a misty form that were able freeze and sink into the depths. The battle was not without cost, however, as before his defeat Zenos was able to consume several Vernal Gods, whose names are now lost to history. #### *Kiakoda, Guardian of the Green* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/furrikin_druidess.jpg)Coming from furrikin stock, it is commonly held that Kiakoda was the smallest of the vernal gods in size, retaining her diminutive furrikin stature, though reports vary as to whether she appeared as a small bear-like furrikin or more fox-like. Despite her innocuous form, however, Kiakoda was the most powerful of all the vernal gods. Not only did Kiakoda have the power of a vernal god, but she also drew considerable power from, and thus empowered, the forests of Lusternia. Though none of the mortal races, or even the other vernal gods, seem to have been aware of the fae or the great spirits of nature at this point in history, scholars have confirmed that she was in constant touch with Faethorn Realm on the ethereal plane. Most wiccans and druids believe she hid the existence of the fae in order protect them from the Soulless Gods, while her detractors (mostly nihilist scholars) believe she did so in order to hoard the power of the fae for herself. Whatever the case, she was a force unto herself, repelling both Crazen and Muud in spectacular battles, which hurled them physically out of the forests they invaded. Though she was not overly concerned with what went outside the forests, Juliana the Evenhanded was able to draw her out to help out in several campaigns, where it was painfully apparent that her powers were diminished outside of the forests. Even so, she was looked upon with great awe and sometimes even jealously from the other Vernal Gods. #### *Vestera the Dreamweaver* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/shutterstock_281111747-1-e1499711010391.jpg)Perhaps the most curious of the Vernal Gods arose from the edifice of power known as the Bubbling Cauldron in the Ghalphalshi Swamps, a predominantly mugwump community from which Vestera originated. Interestingly, no one is quite certain what sex Vestera originated, but certainly they never manifested such bodily conceits once transformed into a Vernal God. Indeed, the form of Vestera was extremely ethereal and so insubstantial that mortals for the most part could not see this Vernal God. Unfortunately, this made Vestera all but ineffectual in direct combat with the Soulless God, and they were extremely vulnerable to Kethuru and Zenos, who shared this out-of-phase form. In self-defence, Vestera developed great skills of illusions, able to hide from the Soulless or creating diversions or false images. Despite not being effective in fighting the Soulless directly, Vestera had a tremendous impact in the Vernal Wars through interaction with mortals, visiting them in dreams and visions, and inspiring architectural wonders – which included several edifices of power. While these citadels and strongholds could be counted as the most beautiful and splendid of the time, they were also able to withstand attacks of the Soulless, and certainly saved countless mortals. Vestera is also credited for the development of the arcane skills of illusions and, most especially, dream crafting, for only in the dream state could mortals truly visit Vestera. #### *Dionamus the Healer* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/merian_aquamancer.jpg)Along with D’varsha and Juliana, Dionamus also came from merian stock, arising from the White Shell in the lost city of Alabellalum. Dionamus was perhaps the first to discover the higher planes, making a connection initially with Celestia, which was later the inspiration for the creation of the Pool of Stars in Celest. Unlike Kiakoda, who kept the existence of the fae secret even from the other Vernal Gods, Dionamus actively sought and received assistance from the Holy Supernals of Celestia. It is unclear why the Soulless never attacked the higher planes, though it is widely believed that the denizens of the outer planes were considered lesser food as their souls were only half-formed as Dynara never finished creating them before she disappeared. Equally likely, the Soulless could simply have forgotten or overlooked their existence during the Elder Wars and later in their pursuit to devour mortal kind. Taking extreme pity upon all mortals, Dionamus saved countless of them by either sequestering them in times of danger or healing wounds after attacks by the Soulless. Greatly revered by all, he was perhaps the most widely worshipped of the Vernal Gods. Because of his association with Celestia, he often took the form of an angelic being himself and many surviving paintings during that time depict Dionamus sweeping through the heavenly skies carrying mortal children in arms to safety. Though revered by mortals, he was not as well thought of by some of the other Vernal Gods, most especially Urlach, the Master of Death. Many stories recount their open enmity towards each other, which stopped just short of outright violence. Perhaps if it weren’t for the mediations of Juliana, there would have been civil war amongst the Vernal Gods – which certainly would have given victory to the Soulless. Though Dionamus surely earned his reputation as a healer, he was neither passive nor averse to martial campaigns. Extremely powerful, especially when backed by the angelic hosts sent to him from Celestia, Dionamus figured in countless battles. Both he and Juliana are credited for trapping Zenos in an ice prison during the final days of the Vernal Wars. #### *Urlach, Master of Death* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/warrior-1.jpg)The name of the Edifice of Power that raised Urlach has been long lost and forgotten, but he definitely originated from orclach stock. While many other orclachs were raised as Vernal Gods, they took the path of their orclach heritage and became enormous warrior gods, expanding their strength and might. They were also the Vernal Gods most likely to perish in their first forays against the Soulless. Urlach, on the other hand, chose instead to channel his powers into expanding his mind and consciousness. In the end, his intellect rivalled that of D’varsha. He often appeared as a dark figure shrouded in shadows. Urlach used his impressive mind to pioneer a method of fighting the Soulless, which was both unorthodox and greatly despised by many of the other Vernal Gods. He was able to capture the souls of dead and partially restore them into their bodies, creating undead warriors who felt no pain and who tirelessly fought past the point where their bodies could maintain cohesion. Even Urlach’s greatest ally, Klangratch, would not allow Urlach to use the dwarves he loved in this manner. Thus, the majority of the Urlach’s undead army were orclach themselves, though he was not adverse to raising the dead of other races if he came across them despite protestations from his peers. The orclach themselves considered becoming the undead a great honour, and called themselves Urlach’s Death Guard. After the Vernal Wars, undead were not seen again until the Taint entered the world. The other great innovation of Urlach was a series of multi-dimensional gates that he created and maintained throughout the land. He could move his armies quickly and precisely to either retreat or to reinforce. These gates were also responsible for saving the lives of countless mortals who were able to use them to escape the rampages of the Soulless, a fact that even the loudest detractors of Urlach grudgingly recognise. Both Urlach and Klangratch used these networks of gates to finally trap and imprison Great Muud. The last known network of Urlach’s gates was in Shallach, and was controlled by those orclachs who served the Holy Celestine Empire as holy defenders. When Shallach fell to the Taint, it is interesting to note that those orclach who succumbed to the mutations of the Taint degenerated into the pitiful creatures known as orcs, while the orclach who held their forms (and died) transformed into the most powerful of the undead lords, perhaps an indication that Urlach’s presence is still manifest amongst the orclach. ### The Final Working #### *Towards the End of the Vernal Wars* In the first skirmish of the Vernal Wars, seven of the Vernal Gods fell, but new ones rose as the mortal races quickly used the Edifices of Power to raise their bravest and greatest commanders to godhood. At first, it seemed they could not lose for two new Vernal Gods rose as soon as one fell, but resources dwindled and using the Edifices of Power became more difficult. And the wrath of the Soulless was awakened and what was once viewed as food was now viewed as a threat. There was no choice for the mortal races but to continue the fight, even if it meant they must cannibalise their resources and themselves to continue. Slowly, the Vernal Gods succeeded in their campaigns. First, Illith the Leviathan was frozen in the icy depths of the ocean. Then, Zenos the Insubstantial was lured to a mountain cave where he was trapped inside by great magicks. Great Muud was driven and trapped in beneath the earth itself, smoke and steam rising for decades afterwards. Finally, Crazen the Greedy was driven into a pit and there was imprisoned. But the powers of Illith and Zenos, of Muud and Crazen, paled in comparison to that of Kethuru the Almighty, who consumed more of the essence and power of the lesser Elder Gods during the Elder Wars than any of the other Soulless. How could the Vernal Gods prepare for such strength? They could not. Kethuru’s foul amorphous body began to bloat and expand, becoming so gargantuan that it blanketed the entire globe of Lusternia in its viscous, suffocating skin. The Vernal Gods retreated to the defensive, having to create pockets in the body of Kethuru that the mortal races might survive. But it would only be a matter of time before Almighty Kethuru slowly absorbed the mortal races, and eventually even the Vernal Gods themselves. #### *Avechna the Avenger* ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Avechna.jpg)Of the hundreds of Vernal Gods raised during the Vernal Wars, only nine remained at the end. No more would arise, because the mortal races could not gather the resources necessary to use their Edifices of Power. The nine gods met on a mountain peak to make their last stand. Shanth the Gentle first suggested the Merging, a magical working that could have a chance to defeat Kethuru. But the cost would be great, as the last nine would sacrifice themselves in the undertaking. D’varsha agreed that it could be done, but not all the Vernal Gods were so convinced. Urlach raged against it. Tzaraziko feared it. Klangratch and Juliana were convinced they could defeat Kethuru in battle. But even as they argued, Kethuru contracted his skin and several mortal races ceased to exist. There was no choice but to implement Shanth’s plan and time was running short. So the last nine Vernal Gods began an elaborate ritual, each giving themselves up to the working. Their bodies became great arcs of power that rose over Mount Shalamar and met in a mighty column of energy. That column of energy solidified and became Avechna the Avenger, a merging of the Vernal Gods whose sum was greater than its parts, and indeed Avechna wielded a power that could challenge Almighty Kethuru. Plunging his hands into the amorphous body of Kethuru the Almighty, Avechna created a vibration so powerful and mighty that Kethuru’s vast body began to tremble. Not able to withstand this great magick, Kethuru screamed in agony and rage just before he shimmered and disappeared from existence. So the last and mightiest of the Great Ones was imprisoned out of phase from the rest of Lusternia, always close but never able to touch its lands. Once the magical working was completed, Avechna dwindled into the form of a statue, high atop Mount Shalamar. Of the nine who sacrificed themselves to save the first world, all that remained were nine small stones, living seals that contained the remnants of power that kept the Great Ones trapped. And while all nine seals remain intact, never will a Great One rise again. So came to be the Living Seals: D’varsha became the Seal of Knowledge Shanth became the Seal of Harmony Tzaraziko became the Seal of Chaos Klangratch became the Seal of War Juliana became the Seal of Justice Vestera became the Seal of Beauty Kiakoda became the Seal of Nature Dionamus became the Seal of Life Urlach became the Seal of Death The Soulless Gods were imprisoned and the Vernal Gods were no more. The great cities lay in ruins, the Edifices of Power silent. Lusternia, once lush and full of life, was now devastated by the wars. Slowly, the surviving races made a slow pilgrimage to the Basin of Life, as it was known, for only there was some vestige of nourishment. And the slow process of rebuilding civilisation began. For a hundred years, survival was a struggle. The first order of business was protecting the plants and animals, delicate resources that, if they were to perish, so too would the races perish. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [My Bardics Submissions](https://www.lusternia.com/my-bardics/) **Published:** June 17, 2019 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) # Bardic Contest --- ### [My Artisanals Submissions](https://www.lusternia.com/my-artisanals/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) # Artisanal Contest --- ### [Bardics Winners View](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-winners/) **Published:** June 17, 2019 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) --- ### [Artisanals Winners View](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-winners/) **Published:** January 21, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests/) --- ### [Bardics Upload Page](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-upload/) **Published:** June 17, 2019 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) --- ### [Artisanal Upload Page](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-upload/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) --- ### [God Blogs](https://www.lusternia.com/god-blogs/) **Published:** June 17, 2020 **Author:** Iashe --- ### [Artisanals Admin View](https://www.lusternia.com/artisanals-admin/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** ###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) # Artisanal Contest \[fileaway type=”table” base=”2″ redirect=”true” recursive=”on” nolinksbox=”true” thumbnails=”permanent” thumbsize=”medium” paginate=”true” pagesize=”10″ textalign=”left” hcolor=”orange” color=”blue” iconcolor=”blue” searchlabel=”Search…?” sortfirst=”custom-desc” images=”only” showto=”administrator,editor,artbardjudge,godmin” customdata=Title,Description,Cycle\*,Artist theme=”greymatter”\] \[fileaway type=”table” base=”2″ redirect=”true” recursive=”on” nolinksbox=”true” thumbnails=”permanent” thumbsize=”medium” paginate=”true” pagesize=”10″ textalign=”left” hcolor=”orange” color=”blue” iconcolor=”blue” searchlabel=”Search…?” sortfirst=”filename” dirman\_access=”administrator,editor,artbardjudge” images=”only” showto=”administrator,editor,artbardjudge,godmin” customdata=Title,Description,Cycle,Artist manager=”on” exclude=”thumb” theme=”greymatter”\] #### Support #### Information #### Other Game Worlds --- ### [Almost There](https://www.lusternia.com/almost-there/) **Published:** June 18, 2019 **Author:** Iashe **Content:** ## You’re almost there To complete your subscription to the newsletter you must confirm your email address. Check your email and click on the link we just sent you. You may need to check your spam folder. If you have any problems, feel free to contact us via [support](https://www.lusternia.com/support/). You may also be interested in the official Lusternia [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/lusternia), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Lusternia), and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ironrealms/) accounts. \[ninja-inline id=3361\] ### We’re Social - [Lusternia Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Lusternia) - [Lusternia Twitter](https://twitter.com/Lusternia) - [Lusternia Forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/) - [Iron Realms Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/IronRealms/) - [Iron Realms Twitter](https://twitter.com/ironrealms) - [Iron Realms Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ironrealms/) --- ### [In-Game Help Files](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Isune --- ### [Help](https://www.lusternia.com/help-landing/) **Published:** January 20, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** Lusternia is a text game, and getting started can be a little confusing. If you need some more help, tips, or just need some support with any problems, this is the place to be. ![goldseparatorlongskinny](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/goldseparatorlong-1-e1484939944197.png "goldseparatorlongskinny") [](https://www.lusternia.com/in-game-help-files/)### In-Game Help Files Lusternia features an extensive in-game help system, allowing you to search by topic or keyword. It’s accessible through the website, and is an excellent place to start if you have a question about some aspect of the game, or even if you’re just wondering what to do next. [](http://wiki.lusternia.com/NewbieGuide)### Newbie Guide We offer a comprehensive in-game tutorial for new players, but check out our quick-start guide for some additional tips! [](https://www.lusternia.com/support/)### Support Having trouble connecting? Problems with the game? Here are some options for getting help. --- ### [Maps](https://www.lusternia.com/gamemaps/) **Published:** January 13, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** ## Game-Generated Maps [](https://www.lusternia.com/game-maps/) ![shutterstock_111971993](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/shutterstock_111971993-e1499547596482.jpg "shutterstock_111971993")Maps generated using in-game mapping ## Newbie Areas ## Realm Maps [](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/full-realm-map.png)##### \* Full Realm Map – Original Resolution ## Collegiums ## Villages ## Cities ## Communes ## Wilderness ## Undervault ## Other Planes --- ### [Histories](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/) **Published:** December 18, 2016 **Author:** Thervet **Content:** [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/cosmogenesis/) ![back7](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/back7-circle.jpg "back7")### Cosmogenesis Wherein all things begin. ![https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cropped-web-header-17.jpg](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/cropped-web-header-17-circle.jpg "cropped-web-header-17.jpg")### Elder Wars The history of the Elder Gods, their war with the Soulless and the birth of the mortal races. - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-dracnoris/) ![01](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/01.gif "01")#### Book of Dracnoris - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-trillillial/) ![02](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/02.gif "02")#### Book of Trillillial - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-mugowumpois/) ![03](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/03.gif "03")#### Book of Mugowumpois - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-tae/) ![04](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/04.gif "04")#### Book of Tae - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-tauro/) ![05](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/05.gif "05")#### Book of Tauro - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-aslarn/) ![06](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06.gif "06")#### Book of Aslarn - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-orlachmar/) ![07](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/07.gif "07")#### Book of Orlachmar - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-loboshi/) ![08](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/08.gif "08")#### Book of Loboshi - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-clangorum/) ![09](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/09.gif "09")#### Book of Clangorum - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-krokano/) ![10](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/10.gif "10")#### Book of Krokano - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-elfenehoala/) ![11](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/11.gif "11")#### Book of Elfenehoala - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-igaso/) ![12](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/12.gif "12")#### Book of Igaso - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-bollikin/) ![13](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/13.gif "13")#### Book of Bollikin - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-xyl/) ![14](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/14.gif "14")#### Book of Xyl - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/book-of-meridian/) ![15](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/15.gif "15")#### Book of Meridian [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/vernal-wars/) ![https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/cropped-PortalFace-1.png](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/cropped-PortalFace-1-circle.png "cropped-PortalFace-1.png")### Vernal Wars An accounting of how mortals ascended to become Vernal Gods and the defeat of the Soulless. [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/the-aftermath/) ![shutterstock_165261917](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/shutterstock_165261917-circle.jpg "shutterstock_165261917")### Aftermath A brief synopsis of the aftermath and repercussions of the Vernal Wars. ![web-front-2](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/web-front-2-circle.jpg "web-front-2")### Chronicles of the Holy Celestine Empire A history of the last of the great mortal empires and the release of the Taint which transformed the Basin of Life forever. - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-one-the-emperors-grand-proposal/) ![01](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/01.gif "01")#### Emperor’s Grand Proposal - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-two-preparations-for-project-cosmic-hope/) ![02](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/02.gif "02")#### Preparations for Project Cosmic Hope - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-three-cosmic-hope-expedition/) ![03](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/03.gif "03")#### Cosmic Hope Expedition - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-four-scourge-of-the-taint/) ![04](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/04.gif "04")#### Scourge of the Taint - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-five-the-taint-wars/) ![05](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/05.gif "05")#### Taint Wars - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-six-fall-of-the-holy-celestine-empire/) ![06](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06.gif "06")#### Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/coming-of-estarra/) ![Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/Estarra-1-e1487446560668-circle.jpg "Estarra")### Coming of Estarra Wherein all things begin again. --- ### [Organizations](https://www.lusternia.com/organizations/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![city_gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_gaudiguch.jpg)### Gaudiguch #### City of Freedom [](/gaudiguch/) ![city_glomdoring](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_glomdoring.jpg)### Glomdoring #### Heart of Darkness [](/glomdoring/) ![city_hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_hallifax.jpg)### Hallifax #### Beacon of Harmony [](/hallifax/) ![mag_frame](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mag_frame.jpg)### Magnagora #### Engine of Transformation [](/magnagora/) ![celest_frame](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/celest_frame.jpg)### New Celest #### Resurgence of the Light [](/new-celest/) ![city_serenwilde](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_serenwilde.jpg)### Serenwilde #### Grace of the Moonhart [](/serenwilde/) --- ### [Game Info](https://www.lusternia.com/game-info-landing/) **Published:** January 19, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [](https://www.lusternia.com/organizations/)### Organizations Life in Lusternia centers around the Basin of Life, and the Basin of Life centers around six organizations; four cities and two nature communes. Adventurers will find that their source of power depends heavily on these organizations and do their best to support their organization’s growth, hoping to one day become the cultural centre of the Basin. ![Cities3](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Cities3.gif "Cities3") [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![Races](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Races.png "Races")### Races The Basin of Life teems with diversity, resulting in 20 different playable races. Each organization has their preferred race or two whose talents and proclivities match the philosophy and history of the organization in question. In addition, as an adventurer gets stronger, the more perks from their chosen race become available. Despite the diversity and cultural preferences, each race is capable at succeeding in whichever profession they choose to pursue. [](https://www.lusternia.com/classes/)### Classes The organizations and races of Lusternia have organized themselves into 28 different professions known as classes, which fall within 7 different archetypes. Each class allows an adventurer to focus their abilities around three skills that determines not only how they apply their trade, but also how they survive and thrive in the world of Lusternia. Some classes thrive on magic, while others use their martial abilities to win the day. With so many combinations the outer planes are the limit on what you can achieve. ![Classes](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Classes.png "Classes") [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/) ![web-front-5](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web-front-5-e1484876261743.jpg "web-front-5")### Histories The Basin of Life is not only defined by the adventurers of today but is also informed by the history of Lusternia as a whole. History is recorded as far back as the Cosmogenesis itself when Dynara and Magnora revelled in their individual domains of creation and destruction. From the Elder Wars and the splintering of the Gods into the known races, to the Vernal Wars and the Taint Wars, the history of Lusternia is rich and vibrant where the echoes of the past reverberate to this very day. [](https://www.lusternia.com/gamemaps/)### Maps Knowing the history of Lusternia is not enough, adventurers also need to know how to get around the Basin of Life. Player created and official maps help explorers get acquainted with the geography of the Basin and the structure of the planes. While functional and informational, many of the maps are works of art in and of themselves. ![lusterniafull_0](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lusterniafull_0-1-e1484876474250.jpg "lusterniafull_0")#### Support #### Information #### Other Game Worlds --- ### [Bardics Admin View](https://www.lusternia.com/bardics-admin/) **Published:** June 17, 2019 **Author:** Maylea **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png "logoOriginalWithContrast") ](https://www.lusternia.com/)###### [Back to Contests](http://lusternia.com/contests) # Bardic Contest \[fileaway type=”table” base=”4″ redirect=”true” recursive=”on” nolinksbox=”true” paginate=”true” pagesize=”10″ textalign=”left” hcolor=”orange” color=”blue” iconcolor=”blue” searchlabel=”Search…?” sortfirst=”custom-desc” showto=”administrator,editor,artbardjudge,godmin” customdata=Title,Cycle\*,Author theme=”greymatter”\] \[fileaway type=”table” base=”4″ redirect=”true” recursive=”on” nolinksbox=”true” paginate=”true” pagesize=”10″ textalign=”left” hcolor=”orange” color=”blue” iconcolor=”blue” searchlabel=”Search…?” sortfirst=”filename” dirman\_access=”administrator,editor,artbardjudge” showto=”administrator,editor,artbardjudge,godmin” customdata=Title,Cycle,Author manager=”on” exclude=”thumb” theme=”greymatter”\] #### Support #### Information #### Other Game Worlds --- ### [Part Three: Cosmic Hope Expedition](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-three-cosmic-hope-expedition/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories)# Part Three: Cosmic Hope Expedition ![13](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/13.gif "13")#### Aether Broadcast: The Launch of Cosmic Hope, Part 1 *This interview was broadcast live from Magnagora at the Stone of Truth on the aether waves to each power nexus in the Imperial Protectorates on 13 Gorgani 543 by the then popular aether host, Globglob Mesherbrub.* ANNOUNCER: And now a special live broadcast from our favourite mugwump – Globglob Mesherbrub! Sponsored by Estelbar Fruit Juices, provider of nine delicious juice beverages. GLOBGLOB: Helloooo loyal listeners! The excitement here is high at Magnagora, as I stand in the centre of it at the Stone of Truth. For those who haven’t seen the Stone, it is a beautiful sight to behold, roughly forty feet high and a sparkling pearly white. We have a crack team of correspondents, all furrikin you may have been familiar with on other broadcasts, in place on the other planes where the Stone of Truth exists: the Elemental Plane of Earth and the Cosmic Plane of Shallamar. Lets check in on them. Leela, can you hear me? LEELA: Loud and clear, Globglob! GLOBGLOB: How are things on the Plane of Earth? LEELA: I’m here with a team of geomancers observing the Stone of Truth. It’s located here in a large cavern that glitters with flecks of gemstones. Excitement is in the air! GLOBGLOB: Thank you, Leela! Now, lets see how our connection to the Cosmic Plane of Shallamar is. Timmie, can you hear me. TIMMIE: I sure can, Globglob! I’m on a beautiful green hillock where the Stone of Truth exists on this plane. And I have a special guest next to me. May I present one of the Holy Emanations of Shallamar, King Gorgaliel the Peacemaker. GORGALIEL: Be well and true. GLOBGLOB: It’s a humbling honour to have you observe with us, Your Holy Majesty! Can you tell us your view on the expedition? I know there are many listeners here who are worried that the Three Sisters of Fate are no longer residing in Shallamar. GORGALIEL: The Fates exist above and beyond even our knowing, gentle mortals. They come and go of their own choosing and their own time. And time does not exist for them as you would understand. As you know, the Holy Emanations of Shallamar and Holy Supernals of Celestia are beings bound to our respective realms as surely as Light is bound in Love. Yet, we feel a power that vibrates above our cosmic existence and give our blessings that this power can be brought to heal your lands. Now, if you will excuse me. TIMMIE: His Holy Majesty has just lifted a hand and disappeared in a flash of blinding white light, Globglob. GLOBGLOB: Thank you, Timmie! That was exciting, folks! You’ve just heard the blessings of an Exalted Being right here on these aether waves. Next to me now is our final correspondent, Lolly Pringle who you’ve probably heard on our morning broadcasts. He’s been given the honour of joining the Cosmic Hope Expedition especially for this broadcast. Are you nervous, Lolly? LOLLY: (laughs) Extremely nervous, Globglob! We’re not sure if the aether waves will breach the ‘supra plane’ but if so, you’ll get a first hand account of what we find. GLOBGLOB: You certainly are a brave furrikin, Lolly. Can you tell us who else has been selected for the expedition? LOLLY: Well, Emperor Ladantine himself is personally leading the expedition, as well as the High Prophet of Magnagora, Ghani n’Rotri. From the Matrix Research Institute is Professor Tomasol Lars. From the Illuminati in Gaudiguch will be Grand Cipher Tlochaka Chum. And the Celestines from the capital are sending Holy Mother Shellma Natharian. We’ll also have about a dozen ur’Guard with us. GLOBGLOB: That’s quite august company you’re keeping, Lolly! LOLLY: (laughs) Yes, and then there’s little ole me. GLOBGLOB: Why isn’t Princess Marilynth on the expedition, Lolly? LOLLY: While the Emperor has stated this mission is blessed and holy, there’s still some risk. And since the Princess is next in line to the Star Throne, it was decided she should remain in Celest. (pause) It looks like the expedition is forming, Globglob, so I better be going. Let’s hope you’ll next hear from me from the supra plane! GLOBGLOB: Good luck, Lolly! And our prayers go with you. Okay, folks, this is it. The team is forming before the Stone of Truth. There’s Lolly giving us a wave good-bye and a big ole wink. The High Prophet is laying his hands on the Stone and a portal has opened. The expedition is off! The Stone is continuing to glow with a very bright light. ![14](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/14.gif "14")#### Aether Broadcast: The Launch of Cosmic Hope, Part 2 GLOBGLOB: Leela, how’s the Stone look on the Plane of Earth? LEELA: Nothing right now…oh, there it goes. It’s glowing like a bright star, Globglob. The geomancers are all cheering. GLOBGLOB: Timmie? How’s the Stone look on the Higher Plane of Shallamar? TIMMIE: It’s glowing like crazy, Globglob! The Prophets here are smiling from ear-to-ear and all five of the Holy Supernals have turned out to watch, surrounded by a host of angelic beings. GLOBGLOB: Simply amazing! The Stone of Truth here in Magnagora is glowing even brighter than before! I bet that’s happening on the Plane of Earth and Plane of Shallamar too. Lolly, can you hear me? Come in, Lolly. Lolly? (pause) We still can’t hear from Lolly and we may not be able to, folks, because the aether connection may break down before the expedition reaches the supra plane. I have a feeling… LOLLY: (garbled) …not what we expected, Globglob. There’s… GLOBGLOB: Lolly! We’re having trouble hearing you. Are you there? Can you – LOLLY: (garbled) …and the Emperor – GLOBGLOB: – describe what’s happening? LOLLY: (garbled) GLOBGLOB: Max, can you boost this signal? (pause) Can you hear me now, Lolly? Lolly? LOLLY: I can hear you, Globglob. It’s very strange here… (garbled) GLOBGLOB: We lost you before, Lolly. Can you describe the supra plane? LOLLY: (garbled) …and metal everywhere, but the Grand Cipher says it’s not real metal, it’s…(garbled)…the Emperor would like to say something now. GLOBGLOB: Folks, live from the supra plane is Emperor Ladantine! LADANTINE: As prophesied and as guided by the Light, Cosmic Hope is a…(garbled)…and with the power invested in us, we hereby name it the Astral Plane…(garbled)…and the Light shall guide us. GLOBGLOB: Thank you, your Divine Grace! We’re still having a little trouble with our connection, folks, and it may not get better. But you heard it here! The supra plane is to be known as the Astral Plane. Lolly, what’s happening now? LOLLY: We’re cautiously moving around a metal forest…(garbled)…sweet Light, what’s that! It looks like a metal…(garbled) GLOBGLOB: Lolly, are you alright? LOLLY: (garbled)…and it’s dead now. Just a strange and very hostile creature here on the Astral…(garbled)…the Emperor sees something up ahead. It looks like a column of crystal. We’re cautiously approaching…(garbled)… GLOBGLOB: Bear with us, folks. LOLLY: (garbled)…huge reservoir of cosmic energy! It’s all we’ve dreamed of…(garbled)…so the Emperor is being the first to approach it and is laying his hands on it…(garbled)…so get ready, Globglob, they’re going to send it straight through the Stone of Truth! GLOBGLOB: Send what? Cosmic energy? Folks, I think the Emperor is making some sort of link with the Stone of Truth to channel pure energy into it. Yes, a Major Prophet just nodded at me in confirmation. This is it, folks! Everything we’ve been promised may just be coming any moment! ![15](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/15.gif "15")#### Aether Broadcast: The Launch of Cosmic Hope, Part 3 GLOBGLOB: Timmie, what’s happening to the Stone in Shallamar? TIMMIE: There’s some sort of surge here, Globglob! It’s beautiful! Glowing rainbow colours are swirling around the Stone of Truth here. GLOBGLOB: Okay, stay with it, Timmie. Folks, it appears we’re getting pure cosmic energy… LOLLY: Oh, sweet Light…(garbled)…they’re coming at us from all directions! The Emperor…(garbled)…sweet Light, NO! GLOBGLOB: Lolly? Lolly? That didn’t sound good. What? We seem to have lost our connection with Lolly, folks. Timmie, what’s going on in Shallamar? TIMMIE: I’m not sure, Globglob, the light in the Stone has suddenly darkened and the Holy Emanations are arriving. GLOBGLOB: Looks like something is going wrong, folks. We’ve lost our connection with the expedition and something is going on in the Plane of Shallamar. Timmie, could you describe what’s happening there? TIMMIE: The Holy Emanations of Shallamar are arriving upon discs of light, circling around the Stone. The Holy Emanations are conferring with each other. They seem to be in agreement about something. Lord Luciphage is coming over to us and motioning us to fall back to the Fields of the White Amaranth. GLOBGLOB: Can you still see the Stone, Timmie? TIMMIE: Yes, Globglob. Its distant now, but we can still see it. King Gorgaliel has kissed his wife Nifilhema, Queen of Illustrious Beauty. Now, the other Holy Emanations are backing away except for Gorgaliel who is approaching the Stone. Lord Luciphage has taken charge of us. GLOBGLOB: This is amazing, folks! We’re getting a firsthand account of a Holy Emanation in action. The Holy Emanations, like the Holy Supernals of Celestia, are enigmatic immortal beings of Light and Love. Though unable to leave their own cosmic planes, they have often helped… TIMMIE: Globglob, sorry to interrupt… GLOBGLOB: Go ahead, Timmie! TIMMIE: King Gorgaliel is now approaching the Stone of Truth. He’s placing his hands on it and bathing the Stone in white light. I can feel his power from here! It’s amazing, simply amazing. It looks like he’s driven back whatever…wait, something is…(loud crack)…oh, sweet Light! No! GLOBGLOB: What’s happening, Timmie? TIMMIE: The Stone has cracked and Gorgaliel has fallen! No, wait, he’s up…oh, Sweet Light, he’s…he’s…I can’t describe it! It looks like his skin is bubbling and he’s losing his form! Queen Nifilhema is trying to reach him but Blessed Lord Ashtorath is holding her back. She’s clawing at her own face and bosom! Blood is running down her face! The Queen of Illustrious Beauty is tearing herself apart trying to reach her husband! Lord Ashtorath is screaming something I can’t make out! He’s screaming and screaming and screaming! Lord Luciphage is telling us to move back, that he’ll lead us out of danger. Oh, this is horrible…(garbled). No! NO! NO! NO! GLOBGLOB: Timmie! Timmie! What’s happening? Timmie! (pause) We’ve lost our connection to Shallamar. I don’t know what… LEELA: Something is happening at the Stone here on the Plane of Earth, Globglob! The geomancers are saying it’s filling with power, but…(loud crack) Aaaah! It’s…(garbled)…and we can’t… GLOBGLOB: Leela? Leela? Sweet Light, folks, I don’t know what’s going on but apparently some disaster is occurring, but…wait! Now, the Stone of Truth here in Magnagora is darkening! The light has left it and some sort of black oil is oozing out of it. What the…(garbled)…the prophets who were standing around the Stone have fallen! A black smoke is pouring out of the Stone now…the prophets are slowly getting back up but they’re…(garbled)…sweet Light, it’s moving fast! We’ve got to get out of here! Run! RUN!…(garbled). TRANSMISSION ABRUPTLY ENDS ![16](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/16.gif "16")#### Aether Broadcast: Resumption of Cosmic Hope Broadcast *The live broadcast from Magnagora came nine hours after the initial transmission abruptly ended. Though the speaker introduced himself as Globglob Mesherbrub, there was considerable doubt and uncertainty if it was the same mugwump as the voice was substantially altered in both tone and modulation.* GLOBGLOB: This is Globglob Mesherbrub. There has been a small mishap in Magnagora but it is now under control. If you see a dark cloud over Magnagora, do not be concerned. It is completely harmless. However, some injuries have occurred and we request everyone who is listening to come to Magnagora in order to help us in this time of need. I repeat, please come to Magnagora in all haste if you are able. Do not be concerned about the dark cloud. It will not harm you. This is Globglob Mesherbrub. There has been a small mishap in Magnagora… The above message continually repeated for over twelve hours. ![17](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/17.gif "17")#### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The Astral Plane Being one ‘Who Was There And In The Middle of It’, I have been asked on numerous occasions to write down my memoirs of the Taint Wars as it has come to be called, so now in my grey furred years when literally I am long of tooth I shall do so. May whomever reads this remember that I am but a furrikin, very small and of no importance, of the type called the tae’kin because of a resemblance to the tae’dae (though, of course, about a fraction of the size of those massive warriors). In my younger days, I was an aether broadcast host, a small personality who, as the Fates would have it, was chosen to accompany Expedition Cosmic Hope in its first foray into the Astral Plane. So, yes, I was there with Emperor Ladantine VII when he let loose the Taint, causing the evil that is now Magnagora to chase us through the generations evermore. The brightest and bravest minds of the time, perhaps of all times, were there: Emperor Ladantine VII, a merian Aquamancer who was rightly called a prodigy in the field of planar physics; High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri of the now destroyed House of Prophets representing Magnagora, a trill of extraordinary talent and wisdom; Professor En’oonki Lars of the Matrix Research Institute representing Hallifax, as cool and logical as ever a lucidian could be; Grand Cipher Tlochaka Chum of the Illuminati of Gaudiguch, a strangely intense dracnari who was hooded and cloaked in the golden robes of his office; and Holy Mother Shellma Natharian representing Celest itself, an aged and quite powerful merian. Then, there was me, whose only purpose was to provide a planar link to report on what we found to aether superstar Globglob Mesherbrub. Accompanying us were about a dozen of the orclach ur’Guard, the Imperial elite troops at that time. The expedition launched through the Stone of Truth, the nexus of power in Magnagora from which flowed all aether energies that powered the House of Prophets and the Geomancer’s Guild in that city. As we caught the cosmic eddies from the Stone and travelled through null space, it was quite evident we were being transported by the best. For any who have experienced planar travel, I will only say there was little disturbance as we rose through the elemental plane of earth and the cosmic plane of Shallamar. Of course, that was when the true work of the expedition began. I can only describe the breaching into the plane above and beyond the known cosmos as both magnificent and terrible. Led by the Emperor, we followed his quite spectacular and intricate weaving of energy lines and when this energy web was complete we ‘pushed’ and reality expanded around us like an iridescent bubble. And when the bubble burst, we shot upwards or outwards and found us thusly in what is now called the Astral plane. It is difficult to describe that strange place of floating islands or spheres that continuously knock against each other like apples bobbing in the barrel. Indeed, the Emperor’s theories proved correct, as the Stone of Truth also existed on this plane, which served as the anchor in our travels, though it was so much diminished here that we at first didn’t recognise it. The floating island we found ourselves on was a twisted, metal monstrosity of iron bars and bridges. But nothing that I can describe of the strangeness of the place can tell you what the feeling of being there is like. The atmosphere itself is thick and heavy, though not with smoke or indeed anything visible or detectable. It weighs heavily in your lungs and clings to your fur, though no amount of coughing or cleaning yourself will get rid of it. And, most disconcerting of all, is the feeling of being watched, as though we were but tiny ants being observed by a monstrous child. ![18](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/18.gif "18")#### Diary of Rowena Nightshade: Raising Gloriana’s Defenses **Winter, Year 543:** Oh, Mother Night, the Empire did not heed your warnings and look at what it has wrought. A dark cloud hangs over the city of Magnagora, engulfing all around it and spreading like a foul disease. We see the unnatural creatures within its smoky depths, twisted and hungry, but hungry for what I do not know. But what is worse, oh so much worse, is the evil presence we sense within that cloud, an intelligent force that is anathema to the living realms. Not even in my darkest nightmares did I imagine such a disastrous consequence as the result of the Empire’s recklessness. How I wish you were wrong, Mother Night! How I wish all who dismissed your prophesies were right and that our warnings were but irrational ravings. Alas, that was not to be and so we must meet the challenges of this new horror. As the Gloriana Forest is so near Magnagora, Brennan has gathered his druids of the Raven Circle and melded with the forest, bringing to bear all the defences of wood and earth to protect against the evil cloud if it tries to sweep this way. I have contacted the Moon Dance Coven of the Serenwilde and the Lake Wood Coven of Ackleberry, and they too are raising the defences for their forests. I cannot understand why the centaurs of Gloriana, who have lived with us in harmony since the time of Ellindel, now leave us in our time of need. I met with Nintoba, the centaur chief and mystic, and asked him why he leads his people out of Gloriana. He told me that the centaurs have their own means of augury and the time for the centaurs in Gloriana has passed. Then, Nintoba begged me to gather the elfen of Gloriana and leave with him. Leave Gloriana? How can I even think of such a thing. This is the forest of Mother Night and Raven, where those of us in coven or circle draw our strength and our spirit. Nintoba might as well ask the turtle to leave his shell or the stars to leave the sky at night. Still, his words trouble me and I go forth to gather the Night Coven to call forth the cone of power. And then we shall pray to the great spirits and wait. ![19](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/19.gif "19")#### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The Emperor’s Working Though the Emperor made a rousing speech that lifted our spirits, I could not help but detect the slightest quaver in his voice and small sideways glances at this terrible place. I did the duty I came for and linked through the Stone of Truth to communicate with Globglob. It was then we were first attacked by one of the improbable creatures of the Astral realm. At first, we thought it was a goat living in this metal waste but as it came closer, we saw it was made of metal, eyes glowing a hellish red and breathing steam that could boil flesh from bone. Two ur’Guard were wounded before we were able to destroy it. Though a terrible beast, after Holy Mother Natharian healed the wounded orclachs, we felt emboldened by our victory and began our exploration. We soon found a pillar of glowing crystals, and the Emperor was ecstatic, for this was the object and reason for the expedition. A new source of power that could be used to heal and restore the land, that would be a font of energy for each city’s nexus of power, that would herald a new age of untold promises. Or so we believed. After leading us in a brief prayer of thanks to the Light, the Emperor set his hands upon the glowing crystal pillar. Around him rose a beautiful halo of multicoloured light, and his face filled with divine ecstasy as he harnessed the energy and channeled it into the Stone of Truth. We witnessed the stream of pure energy arc up from the pillar and link to the Stone of Truth, pumping power into the nexus in great waves of iridescent light. Then they came. First another of those monstrous metal goats attacked us, then another, and another. We formed a circle around the Emperor, whose eyes had rolled back behind his lids, and was blissfully unaware of what went on around him. They came at us in wave upon wave, stinking of metal and death. Swords flashed from the ur’Guard and magical bolts flew from the hands of others, but the beasts still came, as though killing one created a dozen more. After three ur’Guard fell, things got worse. That beam of pure energy that the Emperor was channeling into the Stone of Truth turned dark and forbidding, expanding into a larger and larger stream until it looked like a river of shadows was being pumped into the Magnagora nexus. The expression on the Emperor’s face turned from ecstasy to pain, and his hands begin to blister and weep fluids. High Prophet n’Rotri, Professor Lars, Grand Cipher Chum, and Holy Mother Natharian quickly went to the Emperor’s aid, grabbing hold of him, both physically and magically, and attempting to wrest him away from the crystal pillar, which was now pulsating with a darkly swirling light. Tendrils of foul energy erupted from the pillar, writhing around the would-be rescuers, plunging into their mouths and eyes or any orifice they found. The nightmare quickly went from bad to worse, as the Emperor fell heavily to the ground, his chest ripped open and eyes burned out. Surely he was beyond even the Holy Mother’s healing power, even if she wasn’t lying on the cold metal ground being thrashed by the dark energies. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Thanks for Signing Up](https://www.lusternia.com/thanks-for-signing-up/) **Published:** May 29, 2018 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png "logoOriginalWithContrast") ](https://www.lusternia.com/)## Thanks For Signing Up Thank you. Please take a few moments and sign up for the official Iron Realms newsletter as well. You may also be interested in the official Lusternia [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/lusternia), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Lusternia), and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ironrealms/) accounts. \[ninja-inline id=3361\] ### We’re Social - [Lusternia Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Lusternia) - [Lusternia Twitter](https://twitter.com/Lusternia) - [Lusternia Forums](https://forums.lusternia.com/) - [Iron Realms Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/IronRealms/) - [Iron Realms Twitter](https://twitter.com/ironrealms) - [Iron Realms Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ironrealms/) --- ### [Aslaran](https://www.lusternia.com/aslaran/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** # Aslaran ![race_aslaran](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/race_aslaran-250x300.jpg) Descended from the Elder God Aslarn, the aslarans are a race of feline-like humanoids. They have an affinity to open plains and are excellent hunters. Some males grow great manes. The colour of their fur ranges from light beige to more tawny browns. Several branches of aslaran are known to sport stripes or spots. Their natural speed make them excel in any physical profession. Languages: Aslari, Common. ## Perks - **Level 1:** Health regeneration when in all natural outdoor areas. - **Level 25:** Resistance to cold damage. - **Level 50:** Increased movement speed in all areas. - **Demigod:** Ability: Pursuit – The player focuses on a single target, should they leave the room the player will follow, pouncing after the target and knocking them down as a free action. Does not work against tumble, flight or magical travel. Once fired, this ability cannot be reused for five seconds. - **Demigod+:** Improved Ability: Pursuit now stuns the target for 2 seconds --- ### [welcome](https://www.lusternia.com/welcome/) **Published:** March 29, 2019 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) [ Play Now ](https://play.lusternia.com/) [ Create a Character ](https://client.lusternia.com/?create=true)#### Join the Free Online Fantasy World of Lusternia #### Imagine yourself a warrior, mage, bard or monk #### Remember true play is powered solely by your imagination! #### If you find you hunger for adventure, Lusternia will sate your appetite ### What is Lusternia? Lusternia is a text based multi-player game (sometimes called a MUD). When you create a character and log in, you join adventurers from all over the globe who will share in the trials and tribulations found only through intensive roleplaying. Some dismiss text games as retro, but many others find nothing can compare to the dynamic experience hearkening back to pen and paper RPGs. ### Constantly Evolving World Each year brings a new overarching story line interwoven through major events involving the world at large. New areas, quests and content are available at regular intervals with news posts archiving events for everyone to see. ### Extensive Crafting System Players can choose to become a crafter by picking a tradeskill, or two, or three, or more! Craft an earring one day, an origami the next and your own bed to sleep in. Our trades are: Alchemy, Bookbinding, Brewmeister, Cooking, Enchantment, Herbs, Jewelry, Lorecraft, Poisons, Spellcraft, Tailoring, Tattoos, Tinkering. ### An Immersive World Discover the rich world of Lusternia and its endless possibilities! Vie for power and influence as a leader in one of dozens of player-run organisations. Compete for top rankings in combat, or become a learned scholar and teach the masses about Lusternia’s rich history. Delve into the complex economy, master a tradeskill or two, and amass a fortune in gold. Commission a ship and explore the depths of aetherspace. And much, much more! ### Engaging Player vs Player Combat Combat in Lusternia is handled different for mobile vs. player combat and player vs. player combat. Player combat involves much more than simply inflicting damage on your opponent. Not only can individual body parts be damaged, with different, harmful effects resulting from enough cumulative damage on a body part, but there are hundreds of afflictions that can be inflicted on an opponent. ### A Friendly Community We have a fantastic community of players dedicated to extending the Lusternian experience beyond the game! ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong")- [](/organizations/) ![gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/gaudiguch-150x150-circle.jpg)### Player Controlled Organisations Being a member of a city or commune means more than just political affiliation, for it creates an actual, spiritual bond between the member and the nexus. Each city, commune and guild organization is run by a government made up of elected players and player-appointed players. - [](https://www.lusternia.com/classes/) ![Trill](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/head_trill-circle.jpg)### Multitudes of Immersive Skills Archetypes, or classes, are unique in that there are certain branches and/or specializations based on a simple skillweb that are only open to certain archetypes. In addition to all the common skills, archetypes receive one primary skill, and two secondary skills. They also are given the choice of one a trade skill. - [](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/) ![web-front-5](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/web-front-5-150x150-circle.jpg)### Rich and Captivating History From the beginning of the universe to the troubling past of today, every aspect of lore and history is known and retold. Who was Yudhe? How did the races form from the Elder Gods? All these answered and more… - [](/races/) ![race_krokani](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/race_krokani-150x150-circle.jpg)### Customizable Player Options Though not all Elder Gods splintered into a race nor all mortal races came to be in this manner, it remains true that all Lusternians believe that within each of them is contained the fragment of a god. Thus it is said that the god-fragment within can potentially evolve through the cycles of birth and rebirth until perfection is achieved and the fragment is made whole, becoming a divine in his or her own right. ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") \[ninja-inline id=3343\] ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/lightwarrior-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/25/3761/ "Memorial Water Gardens: A Tale of a Tail")## Mar 25 2019 #### [Memorial Water Gardens: A Tale of a Tail](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/25/3761/ "Memorial Water Gardens: A Tale of a Tail") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) | Mar 25, 2019 It was late in Estar, 527 CE that Milosha Novikei and Yanitone Symfale of New Celest announced the official opening … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/25/3761/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/tree-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/17/awakening-the-spirit-of-ilmdria-farirue/ "Awakening the Spirit of Ilmdria Farirue")## Mar 17 2019 #### [Awakening the Spirit of Ilmdria Farirue](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/17/awakening-the-spirit-of-ilmdria-farirue/ "Awakening the Spirit of Ilmdria Farirue") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) | Mar 17, 2019 One windy morning in the Serenwilde forest, there came a strange whispering. Almost indecipherable at first, it echoed throughout the … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/17/awakening-the-spirit-of-ilmdria-farirue/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/meteors-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/10/march-2019-newsletter/ "March 2019 Newsletter")## Mar 10 2019 #### [March 2019 Newsletter](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/10/march-2019-newsletter/ "March 2019 Newsletter") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) | Mar 10, 2019 Ascension of Snald Final Ascension In an absolutely brutal Final Ascension, while it first appeared that Yendor of Glomdoring would … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/10/march-2019-newsletter/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/wordpress-ascension-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/09/ascension-of-snald/ "Ascension of Snald")## Mar 9 2019 #### [Ascension of Snald](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/09/ascension-of-snald/ "Ascension of Snald") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) | Mar 9, 2019 The first to hold the Staff of Ascension was Tarken, Champion of War, but it was Yendor, Champion of Death, … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/09/ascension-of-snald/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/wordpress-war-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-war-7/ "Challenge of War")## Mar 2 2019 #### [Challenge of War](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-war-7/ "Challenge of War") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) | Mar 2, 2019 Not long after the Challenge of Justice completed, warriors from across the Basin flocked to Mount Avechna to battle, this … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-war-7/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/wordpress-justice-custom_crop.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-justice-7/ "Challenge of Justice")## Mar 2 2019 #### [Challenge of Justice](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-justice-7/ "Challenge of Justice") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) | Mar 2, 2019 From all across the Basin, mortals came to battle with their words – facing off in a series of rapid … [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2019/03/02/challenge-of-justice-7/) ![goldseparatorlong](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goldseparatorlong.png "goldseparatorlong") [ Play Now ](https://play.lusternia.com/) [ Create a Character ](https://client.lusternia.com/?create=true)### Want to Learn More? [](https://wiki.lusternia.com/NewbieGuide)### Read our Newbie Guide #### Support #### Information #### Other Game Worlds --- ### [Login Customizer](https://www.lusternia.com/login-customizer/) **Published:** August 17, 2018 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** This page is used for Login Customizer plugin. It will not be visible to your readers. Do not delete it. --- ### [Game Maps](https://www.lusternia.com/game-maps/) **Published:** July 8, 2017 **Author:** Iashe **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png "logoOriginalWithContrast") ](https://www.lusternia.com/) #### Support #### Information #### Other Game Worlds --- ### [Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/magnagora/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png "logoOriginalWithContrast") ](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Magnagora #### Engine of Transformation ![](../wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mag_frame-250x300.jpg)Magnagora was the only city to survive the Taint Wars, itself twisted by the Taint. The mutated and undead flocked there, claiming it as their own, interbreeding and giving birth to the viscanti race. Embracing their heritage, the city quickly became a force to reckon with, pulling their power from the Tainted plane of earth and the transformed plane of Nil, now home to the Demon Lords. Bent on conquest and domination, they quickly adapted to the prejudices of the peoples of the Basin, learning that brute force was not always the answer and instead finding more subtle manipulations were just as effective. They are now a major player in the game of power, poised to fundamentally change the landscape of the Basin of Life. #### Nexus: The Megalith of Doom The nexus of power in Magnagora is the Megalith of Doom, located amid daunting towers of the Necropolis. It simultaneously exists on the Tainted elemental plane of earth and the cosmic plane of Nil. #### Native Races - [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![race_viscanti](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_viscanti.jpg) Viscanti #### Guilds - #### [Infernals ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Society ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Heralds ](javascript:void(0);) #### Infernals #### The Infernal Mandate Nil-born and tempered in the fires of its deepest pits, they have but one mandate from the Supreme Master: “Damnation and Dominion over All”. The Midnight Legion, the souls damned to Nil for eternal torment, must swell in number and the Infernals have been tasked with reaping the souls of the Basin to empower the Dominator himself. Luciphage is eternally patient and so are his Infernals – they embrace the revered undeath that they may fall and rise, no task too perilous, no obstacle too grand for the undying. Cunning and manipulation are their weapons, but so is brute strength when the situation calls upon it. Power is its own reward but by empowering themselves, they also empower the Supreme Master. #### Society #### The Iniquitous Society Known primarily for their philantropic work and patronship of the arts, the Iniquitous Society advocates for scientific and cultural progress of Magnagora. Composed of the most devious and competitive, it is no place for the weak of heart or those prone to black and white morality. The Society scoffs at no man’s ambitions and desires as every pursuit is to the betterment of the Engine – every challenge a test of character, every experiment a valuable lesson. There is no tool too far-fetched or method too daring for their members as here the ends really do justify the means. #### Heralds #### Heralds of Dark Fates In the Verses of Magnora was its transformation foretold, but first Magnagora worshiped the Five Truths of Shallamar and paid obeisance to the Fates. It was only once Their treachery was revealed and the transformation complete, that the city was able to see the entire picture clearly: they had been mere instruments of the Fates, destined to be woven into the Tapestry with no regard for their own will. No more. The Heralds have risen from the ranks of Magnagorans to cast the shackles of the wicked Sisters of Fate aside and forge their own path – devise their own Dark Fates. Guided by the spiritual teachings of the Demon Lords, tempered by the wisdom of the ancient Earth Lords, and empowered by the Dark Scream, the Heralds seek to transform into ideal Magnagorans – enlightened, empowered, unchained. #### Available Classes - #### [Cacophony](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Geomancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Nihilists](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Ninjakari](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Ur’Guard](javascript:void(0);) #### Cacophony ***Archetype: Bard*** As anticipation and curiosity arose in the city of Magnagora, the black orb that hung over the Megalith of Doom was suddenly awakened by Aia y’Kada and her words hailing the strength of the Engine of Transformation. Awakening the Dead Voice of Jagrerox, the Cacophony was founded in the year of 159 C.E. From those who wield instruments to bring about the death of their enemies to those who play for raptured audiences to strengthen their allies, the Cacophony builds upon the strength and culture of Magnagora. With violas, lyres, mandolins, or other stringed musical instruments at their disposal, they have the power to send demonic beings from Nil into an attacking frenzy or cause a plague of ill fate towards their enemies. Bringing about the destruction of all who stand in their way, they walk a fine line of music and death, lore and taint. The Cacophony is a bard archetype guild. They can choose to follow either lowmagic or highmagic. Their main skill is Music with specialization in the tainted music of Necroscream; their secondary guild skill being in Acrobatics. Members of this guild can choose between the skills of Tarots or Illusions. #### Geomancers ***Archetype: Mage*** The Geomancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of earth, a Tainted plane that has been become associated with disease and destruction. Even their allies consider Geomancers to be somewhat insane, as the twisted element they work with often twists their minds as well. Their magics are honed to be aggressive and deadly. Geomancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Geomancer then specializes in Geomancy, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of earth. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Geomancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Nihilists ***Archetype: Guardian*** Nihilists are the priesthood of Magnagora, and are tied to the demonic plane of Nil, where they are also receive the powers of necromancy. While nominally the spiritual leaders of Magnagora, they often focus on the accumulation of material wealth and power for the city rather than more esoteric concerns. Most adepts are accompanied by a demonic thrall sent by a Demon Lord of Nil to help in their work. Nihilists are a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Nihilist then specializes in Nihilism, allowing them to travel to the cosmic plane of Nil and make pacts with the Demon Lords there. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Necromancy, thereby enhancing their holy powers. At some point Nihilists choose either to take the Hexes skill or to train in Tarot or to study Astrology. Nihilists may take Enchantment as a trade skill. #### Ninjakari ***Archetype: Monk*** The Ninjakari are the monks of Magnagora, trained in the deadly arts of the jakari, a chain weapon. Their monk school was founded after the discovery of the illithoid, who imparted their arts to the Magnagorans, sensing close allies in their mutual goals. The Ninjakari are stealthy warriors, preferring to strike from the shadows when least expected than engage the enemy directly, disdaining those who lack subtlety in their methods. The Ninjakari are of the monk archetype, studying Kata and then specializing in Ninjakari as their primary skill. They also study Stealth, the practice of clandestine espionage and subterfuge, and can choose to study either Acrobatics or Psionics – the latter specializing into Psychometabolism. #### Ur’Guard ***Archetype: Warrior*** In the orclachi tongue, ur’Guard translates to Warriors of the Dead. During the peak of the Holy Celestine Empire, they were the shock troops of the Empire sent out to keep the peace among the protectorates (unlike the Paladins who were the elite guard kept close to the imperial capital). After the Taint Wars, they chose to settle in Magnagora, embracing their heritage as the chosen undead warriors of the Vernal God Urlach. Of course, most of the ur’Guard are not undead as it takes a rigorous mastery of necromancy to achieve this state, which they are then referred to as “Death Marshals”. The ur’Guard are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster or Bonecrusher upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Necromancy along with Nihilists. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. --- ### [Skills](https://www.lusternia.com/skills/) **Published:** January 1, 2017 **Author:** Thervet **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/) #### Skill Colour Key: ##### Main Pool ##### Sub-Pool ##### General ##### Class ##### Trade ##### Specialisation --- ### [Gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/gaudiguch/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Gaudiguch #### City of Freedom ![city_gaudiguch](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_gaudiguch-250x300.jpg)Lying on the outskirts of the Basin of Life, the city of Gaudiguch makes its home amongst the scorched fires of the southern Razines, there in the shadow of Mount Zoaka. The city of Gaudiguch was once the victim of the Taint Wars, whereby it was lost in time and space for over five hundred years. When the lost city finally returned to the current timestream, all its citizens were dead except for one, Scuchidira Tliwx. Having declared its independence, Gaudiguch prides itself as the city of liberty, truth and justice. Home primarily to the dracnari, the city values the Light of individuality and self-identity second to only the Light of the Eternal Flame, the Nexus of Power that rages in a towering inferno through the heart of the Great Pyramid. The Nexus of Power burns within the Elemental Plane of Fire, as well as the Cosmic Plane of Vortex. Lacking little social order, Gaudiguch indulges in many aspects of pleasure and frivolity. Even so, most citizens at least claim to strive for perfection of mind, of flesh and of the spirit. Though in the ancient days of the Holy Celestine Empire the city was guided by a spiritual leader, in modern times they have opted for a more conventional figure with proper elections – if anyone remembers to vote, at least. #### Nexus: The Eternal Flame The nexus of power in Gaudiguch is the Eternal Flame, located in the center of the Great Pyramind in the city. It simultaneously exists on the elemental plane of fire and the cosmic plane of the Vortex. #### Native Races - [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![Dracnari](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_dracnari.jpg) Dracnari #### Guilds - #### [Revelry ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Seekers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Goon Squad ](javascript:void(0);) #### Revelry #### The Revelry Gaudiguch has a reputation for being a city of liquor-addled excess, a place where its citizens chase debauchery after debauchery in the name of keeping the endless party going. The Revelry are the ones who fill the drinks, cash the chips, busk for every bawdy play, and sweep up the confetti in the rare moments of quiet. While many are performers, and much more are unabashed hedonists, the only requirement to join the Revelry is a desire to care for the city culturally, even if said culture is often the kind found growing on the wall of a public privy. Joy is the fire that pushes back the darkness of sorrow, and through joy, many Revellers pursue the unity of thought and action. Don’t think, just do is the motto of those who seek to cultivate their intuition into a force to be reckoned with. Some might claim this can only be reached through a life of asceticism, but when the world is full of so many wondrous things, the Revellers feel that it’s better to embrace it all and let one’s Will be responsible for burning away the chaff. A city full of delights is no good if one seeks to rise above it all, and this faction argues that its far better to try new things and live in the moment, teaching the inner self through experience rather than abstinence. Anyone can join the party, but it is the Revellers who keep the fires stoked and the laughs coming well after the rest of the Basin has gone to bed! Through furious battle, pyre-kissed art, or just making sure the keg never runs dry, those who bask in revelry seek to keep the city full of raucous, bright-eyed life through whatever means necessary. Flesh-dancing at the Eternal Flame brings sensual wonder to the eyes of the people while the betrayal of an enemy at just the right time keeps the same people safe, and both are fine pursuits as far as this faction is concerned. Their bright colours reflect the city’s own fires, after all: what better way to reflect that which gives light, heat, warm food, and dreadful burns than to become the Fire itself? #### Seekers #### Seekers of Illumination The world is dark and muddled by false knowledge and most of the Basin doesn’t even realise how weighed down by the chains of ideology they truly are – the Illuminators recognise this darkness and seek to cast the flames of Enlightenment into its furthest corners, burning away everything that might impede the raw Freedom of thought. They are the Hidden Temple, both its members and its guardians, and the only thing that is more precious to them than the pursuit of a new mystery is protecting said knowledge from those who aren’t yet ready to understand what needs to be known. Their obfuscated methods are, paradoxically, the Illuminators most well-known trait: while some choose to work behind closed doors or in the spaces between important people, others weave secrets into song, or dive ever-deeper into the Pyres in search of hidden knowledge, or simply flood their thoughts with enough oaths and riddles that they can better protect their less martially-minded allies, and no two Illuminators work quite the same way. All the better to protect the truth from those who would harm it. No one way exists to pursue the Mysterious Truth. Members of this guild can be found seeking Enlightenment through asceticism or excess, through transcending the limits of mortal flesh or revelling in said mortality, and be it fire or steel or ecstatic dance there is always a way to push the boundaries of understanding. Both a heated debate and the heat of combat are sacred, so long as its practitioner finds themselves unfettered by false thought through it, it is permitted. An Illuminator is expected to protect the city from more subtle threats to Freedom than rampaging Soulless or enemy organisations: the spiritual well-being of Gaudiguch is a major focus of theirs. This does not mean that they must form ties with a Divine, but that any citizen be permitted the right to pursue a state of mystical wholeness. What good is a koan if the ear that hears it is muffled by self-doubt and sorrow? They tend the constant revelry that fills the city like a gardener does a trellis, as a heart that is open and free from woe is far healthier ground for new thought taking root. Where the light of the Pyres falls, so follow the Illuminators, and they strain furiously against whatever might limit their quest for knowledge. What is a thing like death but a new limit to be overcome? Paradigms exist to be shifted. Let the world try and contain itself in a smothering shell: they will crack it, then read the future in the shards even as reality shudders and gasps in the brilliance of understanding. Enlightenment of the self brings Enlightenment to the world. The ultimate nature of Enlightenment is uncertain — figuring out such a thing is a mystery even this mysterious faction can’t easily untangle — but this is seen as a gift, rather than a limitation: because there is no way to define it, it frees the individual to act upon pure intuition and following the nature of their Will. Is the body a vessel for greatness? Is the mind the true Hidden Temple? Who is actually hosting the never-ending party that is Gaudiguch? No one can say, but the Illuminators do smile wryly and refuse to give direct answers. #### Goon Squad #### The Goon Squad The People have their voice in Gaudiguch, and that voice, the great mob, has formed enough of a faction to have voice on the Freedom Council. Derisively termed the Goon Squad by their detractors, this group of patriotic malcontents have reclaimed the title, and style themselves the only true voices of the free citizens of Gaudiguch. While the Squad is known for rioting, bad behavior, and being a disorganized collection of both discontent citizens and thugs, it (perhaps surprisingly) shows a distinct organization and a distinct commitment to freedom and the ideals of revolution. The Five Sacred Flames – those of life, passion, knowledge, and even enlightenment and eternity, all find expression here. Nowhere is passion more obvious than the short temper of a Goon on behalf of a fellow injured Goon. While they may be prone to corrective violence inside of the ranks, aggression and interference from outside of the Squad tends to result in a strangely unified and organized band of Goons appearing on the doorstep of the offending party. The elected leaders of the Goon Squad are surprisingly canny at their negotiations. Woe be to him that assumes a Goon is nothing more than the thug hired to collect on a debt – the Goon Squad contains expert negotiators, expert craftsmen, and revolutionary idealists whose manifestos and monologues have stirred the riots in which the politics of Gaudiguch may be remade overnight. The Goon Squad claims that to offend the Goon Squad is to offend the people of Gaudiguch – and given the evidence, this may well be correct. #### Available Classes - #### [Illuminati](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Minstrels](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Pyromancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Templars](javascript:void(0);) #### Illuminati ***Archetype: Guardian*** The origins of the Illuminati are unknown, though it is generally accepted that they are extremely ancient, certainly predating the Celestine Empire. Some scholars have speculated that the Illuminati predates even the Vernal Wars, though there has never been any conclusive evidence on this one way or the other. At the time of the founding of the Celestine Empire, the Illuminati were known as an enigmatic sect of primarily dracnari mystics, revered by most dracnari for their spiritual wisdom and strength. After the Illuminati opened the way to the Eternal Flame, it is rumoured that their occult and esoteric teachings had a renaissance. However, the Illuminati had always closely guarded their rites of Initiation into the Mysteries, and the general public only saw their spiritual and mystic powers increase dramatically. Around this time, members of the Illuminati began to wear their trademark robes that hid their features and it is also around this time that the dracnari developed the skills of Beastmastery. The Illuminati is a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Illuminati member then specializes in Transmology, a mysterious skill that allows them to tap into the wonder of the Plane of Vortex. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Paradigmatics, sometimes called chaos magic. At some point a member must choose either to take the Hexes skill or to train in Tarot or to learn the science of Astrology. Illuminati members may also take Enchantment as a trade skill with a specialization in Spellcraft. #### Minstrels ***Archetype: Bard*** The Minstrels Guild was founded just after the Era of the Wounded Sky in the year 315 C.E. after the Voice of Gullagumbah was freed after being held captive by the Ice Angels and before that the Frost Spite. When the Voice of Gullagumbah was in captivity, it used to help break the sky and amplify the power of the Soulless God Zenos. After finding freedom, the Voice was attracted to the intoxicated state of Beloch Baruwski in Gaudiguch and took up residence in his body. When the Voice of Gullagumbah heard the song sung by Tetra Alin’dor, who also composed it, titled “Morning Star”, it left the body of Beloch and took up residence in the Pleasure Palace, founding what is now known as the Minstrels Guild. The Minstrels Guild is a bard archetype guild. They can choose to follow either Lowmagic or Highmagic. Their main skill is Music with specialization in the bawdy songs of Minstrelry; their secondary guild skill is Acrobatics. Members of this guild can choose between the skills of Tarot or Illusions. #### Pyromancers ***Archetype: Mage*** The Pyromancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of fire. Though originally founded many centuries ago, the guild was lost during the Taint Wars when the City of Gaudiguch was trapped in time and space for over 500 years. The Pyromancer Scuchidira Tliwx was the only survivor, and it was she who reopened the guild. Of all the mage skills, pyromancy is the most aggressive of all the elemental powers, though it offers little in the way of defense. Pyromancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Pyromancer then specializes in Pyromancy, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of fire. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Pyromancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Templars ***Archetype: Warrior*** Before the opening of the Eternal Flame and the founding of the Gaudiguch, the Illuminati were known as a sect of primarily dracnari mystics. Their inner teachings were closely kept occult secrets, guarded zealously by a subsect known only as the Guardians of the Hidden Temple (the ‘hidden temple’ is often regarded as a metaphor for their spiritual teachings rather than an actual structure). Throughout ancient history the Illuminati went through periods of denying the existence of the Guardians to promoting them as a charitable arm of the sect. Unsubstantiated rumours often followed the subsect as being in possession of powerful relics and artifacts. When the Eternal Flame was opened, the Guardians of the Hidden Temple were refounded as the Templars, being a more overtly militant arm of the Illuminati, though still charged with the primary task of protecting the Secrets of Initiation. In time, the Templars took on more mundane guard roles and were eventually considered the military arm of Gaudiguch. Templars are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they may specialise upon reaching mastery as a Blademaster, Bonecrusher, Pureblade or Axelord. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Paradigmatics. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. --- ### [Glomdoring](https://www.lusternia.com/glomdoring/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Glomdoring #### Heart of Darkness ![city_glomdoring](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_glomdoring-250x300.jpg)Sprawled across the south-eastern hills, Glomdoring Forest is a blight on the land. Once called Gloriana Forest, it was a place of light and beauty. Since the Taint spread across its borders, these dark woods have been home only to twisted monstrosities and sinister, scheming individuals. Those few who have been daring enough to venture within its boundaries have bought back tales of the walking dead, beasts made of the plants and soil, and even stranger creatures of nightmare. The spirits Crow and Night cast their malignant gaze over the woodlands, protecting them and acting to spread their influence across the world. Glomdoring has recently been revived as an active commune. #### Nexus: Master Ravenwood Tree The nexus of power in Glomdoring is the Master Ravenwood Tree, located in the center of the dark woods. As other forests, it is reflected upon the ethereal plane, adjacent to the Realm of Faethorn. #### Native Races - [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![race_faeling](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_faeling.jpg) Faeling #### Guilds - #### [Swarm](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Auguries ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Thornwatch](javascript:void(0);) #### Swarm #### The Swarm The Swarm has always existed. Hunger dwells in the heart of the Wyrd, and because of this, its agents have always been. Anyone who has served the Glomdoring has preserved the intent of this guild, and now, it has a voice of its own. The Swarm does not devour mindlessly, like the insatiable appetites of the Soulless Ones, but instead, it carefully selects its targets with a cunningness of the most feral of predators. When others merely accept change for what it is, the Swarm is a progenitor of this evolutionary force, consuming one weakness to create strength in the intervening absence. With the throes of careful manipulation or the ferocious might of an army, the conquering power of this guild’s goals involve uniting the external with the internal, always bringing new facets of the Basin of Life under the control of the Glomdoring. While the Auguries provide new intel and the Thornwatch enables safe travel to new landscapes, the Swarm dismantles the world around it in order for the seeds of the wyrd to take root. Warriors, politicians, instigators, and all manner of artisans find their footing here, so long as they recognise one overarching principle: the Swarm of the Glomdoring is unstoppable, and it will only be sated when every nuance of Creation has been consumed by the boundless progress of the Wyrd. #### Auguries #### Auguries of the Dark Heart There are signs in everything. Beyond the discourse of semiotic note, the natural world flexes its spiritual side whenever practitioners of the subtler arts manifest their will. The Auguries of the Dark Heart will read these signs as if they were made of whispers, which only they can hear, and will then transmute this information into strength for the wyrden population. Following blindly the will of the wilderness is the way for most, but for the priests and priestesses who make up the body of this guild, their will commands and the spiritual energy of the Basin of Life bends before them. Who can say what lies behind the cloak of Mother Night? What terrible thoughts run through the minds of the men and women who breathe their last breaths in agony? When will the first black rose of spring rise from the rotting mulch of the Glomdoring, and how will its petals be used? Only the clever minds of the Auguries of the Dark Heart can divine the answers to these questions. Those who practice the arts of subterfuge, magic, and ritualism will use the shadows as their tools, crow with the voice of the murder, sing with the choir of the Wyrden Song, and bestow their dark gifts upon the unwitting souls of the Basin of Life. Together with the Thornwatch and the Swarm, the Auguries of the Dark Heart will guide the culture of the Glomdoring forward, ensuring that all who call the Heart of Darkness their home will know the true influence of the wyrd. #### Thornwatch #### The Thornwatch Power is raw until it is nurtured. Then, it is changed. This change is the essence of what the Thornwatch has sworn to protect. What is power, if it is not the fetterless majesty of the wyrd? The answers may be varied and many, but they are wrong, and the defenders of the southern wood know this truth well. Governed by the belief that this innate power can only grow when its weakest limbs are removed, the Thornwatch follow a two-fold path: those who will destroy weakness from within, reaping away the dead to make room for new growth, and those who will spend their lives — and their eternities thereafter — tending to the ebb and flow of the wyrd’s potential, within the Glomdoring and without. While the Auguries are the priests whose fruits blossom on the rotting vines of the Glomdoring and the Swarm commands the ravaging conquest of the wyrd’s reach into the Basin of Life, the Thornwatch remains a stalwart sentinel, embodying the centre of the Heart of Darkness. Those who find themselves taking up a sickle and reaping away the useless stalks of the wyrden garden so that new growth can rise will make their way to this guild, knowing that the seeds of strength must first have proper soil in which to take root. So, too, must the history be preserved so that the future can be realised, and the Thornwatch knows to place an eye on both ends of this spectrum. Wardens, historians, leaders, and all manner of diligent reapers will find a path to tread within the Thornwatch, and through their efforts, the power of the wyrd will be free. #### Available Classes - #### [Blacktalon](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Ebonguard](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Harbingers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Nekotai](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Shadowdancers](javascript:void(0);) #### Blacktalon ***Archetype: Druid*** Deep in the heart of the Glomdoring Forest, the Song of Dark Returning lay dormant for many, many years. In the early years of Glomdoring reawakened, Crow began to appear with Brennan Stormcrow in the dreams. Brennan, whole and handsome, spoke to the commune of the Song, slowly revealing hints and eventually leading the whole commune to search for it. Uncovering the words, many of the commune’s guildless druids agreed to sing the Song, hoping it would reawaken Crow, so that he might teach one to lead the druids on a new, uncertain path. After many unsuccessful tries, Glomdoring was informed that they must choose amongst themselves who the Chosen of Crow would be, and they would be handed the spine of a feather to open the way to the Dark Nest. After some debate and discussion, Bau Sayelle-Gladheart was eventually chosen to be the first Eye of Crow, and sang the Song of Dark Returning which gave birth to the Blacktalon Guild. The Blacktalon are a druid archetype, thus, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before being able to study Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they then specialize in druidry. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which once mastered allows them to specialize in the Crow totem. Blacktalon druids may choose Runes or Dreamweaving or Hunting (with the specialization of Ecology) as their final skill, and may take Alchemy as their trade skill. #### Ebonguard ***Archetype: Warrior*** In the year 115, shortly after Rowena Nightshade passed on her mantle of power to the new Queen of the Night, Lady Viravain asked a simple tae’dae warrior if he planned to travel the path of the Shadowdancers. He was a warrior armed with flails and explained to the Lady Viravain that he sought a guild of warriors to protect the Glomdoring, to take up arms in battle where needed. Finding much wisdom in the words of the bear, Viravain decreed that it would be so, and asked what this group of warriors would be called. Shocked and amazed, the tae’dae said the first name that came to his mind, and that name was ‘Ebonguard’. And so it came to pass that this most unlikely of tae’daes, whose name was Daganev Treeripper, founded the Ebonguard and took the title of Merciless Chieftain of the Ravenwood. The Ebonguard attracted many who had sought out the newly founded commune of Glomdoring, banding together as a tribe of fierce warriors. Using steel and might along with the teachings of the Great Totem Spirits, the Ebonguard embodies the Spirit of the Ebonglom Wyrm. But what this truly means remains an enigma to those outside of this fledgling guild. Are the Ebonguard brutal merciless warriors or deep pondering mystics? Do they care only for Nature or only to enhance their own power? The answer perhaps can only be found deep within the Mysteries of the Ebonglom Wyrm itself. The Ebonguard is a Warrior archetype and thus able to choose Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster or a Bonecrusher upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they can learn Athletics as their secondary skill. They may also devote themselves to the Totems and choose to either specialize in Night or Crow. Alternatively instead of Totems, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Harbingers ***Archetype: Bard*** Unsettling rhythms echo in the darkness of Glomdoring Forest, a low thrum rising from the Drums of the Dead like the pulse of a dark heart, accompanied by barghests’ howls and the beating of crows’ wings. In the year 159, the Blacktalon Nirrti captured these eerie melodies in a song, whose refrain awakened the Voice of the dead Elder Goddess Mahalla. Nirrti found herself keeper of the Dead Voice, and vowed to teach others to sing the praises of the dark forest, becoming the first Harbinger of the Wyrd. The Harbingers’ art ranges from hymns of subtle beauty, to ferocious hunt songs, to dirges fatal to the listener. Their music spurs shadowbound fae to a frenzy and makes the Wyrden forest thrive. Above all, their voices herald the ascendancy of the Wyrd over the Basin of Life. The Harbingers follow the bard archetype. Their primary skill is Music, specialising in the insidious Shadowbeat, with the secondary skill of Acrobatics. Harbingers may study Hunting, specialising in Ecology, or learn to craft Illusions of light and shadow. #### Nekotai ***Archetype: Monk*** The pact between Glomdoring and the Illithoid of the Undervault culminated in the formation of the insidious Cult of the Nekotai in the year 204CE. Upon being raised as the Avatar of Illith by Kaervas d’Murani, Great Cthoglogg pledged the aide of the Illithoid in teaching their ancient arts to their newfound allies. Named after a fae word meaning “bringer of sorrow”, the Nekotai study under the watchful guidance of Madam Yoraghu. The primary weapons of the Nekotai are the nekai, long claws which enable them to incapacitate their foes by tearing flesh from bone and causing severe nerve damage. Fierce defenders of their territory, they stand as sentinels ever present in the gloom of their home, scouting the lands for intruders and warding off those who dare to come near. The sacred beliefs of the Nekotai are shrouded in secrecy, though they are known for their steadfast devotion to the exultant Wyrd. The Nekotai are of the monk archetype. As such, they study the central monk practices of Kata before advancing towards their mastery of Nekotai, the craft of wielding claws. Their secondary skill is the ancient Illithoid ability of Stealth, allowing them to shift through the shadows and spring upon their prey with ease. Nekotai may choose to unlock their psychic potential by choosing to take Psionics, eventually specializing in Psychometabolism, or they may choose to hone their bodies further with rigorous training through the skill of Acrobatics. #### Shadowdancers ***Archetype: Wiccan*** Ancient and mysterious, the Coven of Night once prevailed as the spiritual link within the Gloriana Forest Commune, who worshipped the Great Nature Spirit Mother Night. During the Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire, fair Gloriana fell into the embrace of the Taint, and with the forest so fell the Night Coven. Rowena Nightshade, once High Priestess of Night lurked deep within the forest boughs, tending the whims of Night as she waited for the day when the Coven would once more rise again. In the year of 115 after the Coming of Estarra, a group of like-minded individuals who left the cities and the commune and ventured deep into Glomdoring to learn the old magic of Night. The goddess Viravain remade the Glomdoring forest to prepare it for its reawakening, and then demanded that Rowena Nightshade give up the secrets of Mother Night so that a coven could serve the spiritual needs of the dark forest. The undead witch led them all in a long pursuit, which ended to the birth of Rowena’s children by Laeroc, the Consort of the Fae Queen. It was then, that the mantle of power was passed from Rowena Nightshade to the new Queen of the Night, a wiccan of the name Gwynevere Whytetower-Drakonis, who formed the fledgling coven of Night once again calling itself the Shadowdancers. Shadowdancers are of the wiccan archetype. As such, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before they are able to study the arts of Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they can specialize in Wicca, a skill which draws the powers of the Ethereal Realm and its inhabitants in times of need. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which allows them to bond with the various Spirits that reside in Nature. Once they have mastered Totems, they are able to specialize in the studies of the Night totem, enabling them to form covens and perform shadowy ceremonies to better aid themselves. At some point wiccans choose either to take Healing to become a healer or to train in Hexes or to study Astrology. Wiccans may take Alchemy as a trade skill. --- ### [Serenwilde](https://www.lusternia.com/serenwilde/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Serenwilde #### Grace of the Moonhart ![city_serenwilde](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_serenwilde-250x300.jpg)The only forest commune to survive the Taint Wars, the Serenwilde is under the guidance of two Great Spirits of Nature: White Hart, an enormous spirit stag, who lives in the Serenwilde itself, nearby to the druidical circle of Hartstone; and Mother Moon who has three avatars on the ethereal side of Serenwilde, representing the Maiden, Mother and Crone. Disgusted with civilization, who they blame for the cause of the Taint, the Serenwilde Commune withdrew into itself for a long period, and only now is slowly coming out of its shell to take part in the activities within the Basin of Life. #### Nexus: The Moonhart Mother Tree The nexus of power in the Serenwilde is the Moonhart Mother Tree, located in the southern part of the forest. As all forests, the Serenwilde is reflected on the ethereal plane adjacent to the Realm of Faethorn. #### Native Races - [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![race_elfen](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_elfen.jpg) Elfen #### Guilds - #### [Listeners ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Sowers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Wodewoses ](javascript:void(0);) #### Listeners #### Listeners at the Veil The veil between life and death has always been thin, and this has been especially the case for Serenwilde. Is it because some fae magic or primal wellspring that keeps the ancestors of the forest here? Or does the green blood of the Shelterfolk call out to those from beyond the pale, tethering them still so they can maintain their ancient oaths and charges? Who is to say. But what is clear is that the voices of the sacred dead, the ancestral spirits of Serenwilde altogether, can no longer remain silent. They have witnessed the forest’s present – mired in self-doubt and broken traditions – and have foreseen the forest’s future – a once, timeless forest then rotting, fading and lost. Such an ill prospect shall not come to pass, and instead, they accuse, shout and live again. And so, the Listeners at the Veil have risen in response to the cries of the ancestors. Eschewing the traditional roles and communities that the Serenwilde once maintained, they draw upon the legacies and stories of the past in these trying times. Guided by a host of ancestors, they seek to restore nature to its truest form. They remember every lesson that the long history of Serenwilde teaches, and they will use said wisdom and the power of the ages to forge a path forward into a brighter future. #### Sowers #### Sowers of the Last Seed Lips, fumbling with the sweetness of honey-wine. Fingers, dug root-deep in rich, dark-scented earth. Ears, catching birdsong and the music of the trees. There are some Shelterfolk who hold fast to this ancient sense of wonder: a clan of dreamers who imagine the world as Ellindel and Glinshari once hoped it would be – rejuvenated and new. A mystical sect if there ever was one, they name themselves under the sign of a fae prophesy that describes the time when the last seed is planted and how the world would become wild and free once again. They are the Sowers of the Last Seed. Though they recognize it is no longer possible to return to that original purity of yesteryear, the world can nonetheless attain a graceful wildness – hungry, spinning and joyous. Their aim is to reunite this broken world to its spiritual core – the Ethereal Realm itself – and they believe the Serenwilde alone holds the key to such renewal. In encouraging a closeness to that sacred realm and all its inhabitants, they foresee a future where all can hear the song of the forest. It would be unwise, however, to deem them the gentler counterparts of their kin; indeed, the Sowers walk the wheel of the seasons and know that what must be sown must also be reaped. #### Wodewoses #### Allied Tribes of the Wodewoses > “*We were born from the soil of the Verdant Land. Will we not fight for it?! Will we not be its sword, its arrow, its heart!? Let no one stand in our way, brothers and sisters, in defence of our woods. Our Hunt starts tonight!*“ > – Rhawon Ladrennbenn’s final rallying cry in the Second Battle of Oleanvir Once a motley of fierce clans that fell during the Nature Wars, the Allied Tribes of the Wodewoses have nonetheless risen again, inheriting a 600-year old tradition that honours the ways of the wild forest. For them, the land of Serenwilde is a living, breathing entity where the cycles of life and death, predator and prey, manifest, and it shapes each Wodewose individually and communally. Indeed, the vast tribes differ in region, aesthetics and totemic folklore, but their shared spirituality finds common cause in the rallying care for the Serenwilde and participation in the ‘Wild Hunt,’ a celebratory ritual where these men and women engage in the primal tug of life. Painted in shades of green, black and yellow, the Wodewoses stalk through the thick boughs of the northern woods and leave no hint of their passage; armed with nature magic and the tools of war and trade, they combine the knowledge of various disciplines to keep safe what they deem sacred. #### Available Classes - #### [Hartstone](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Moondancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Serenguard ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Shofangi](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Spiritsingers](javascript:void(0);) #### Hartstone ***Archetype: Druid*** The Hartstone is a guild of druids, who can meld with the forest itself and cause nature to rise to its defense. The guild is bonded to White Hart, a Great Spirit of Nature who takes the form of a giant snowy-white stag. The Hartstone are a druid archetype. Thus, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before being able to study Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they then specialize in druidry. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which when they master will allow them to specialize in the Stag totem. At some point, a Hartstone druid decides to become a runic druid by taking the skill of Runes, or a Keeper of Hart’s Secret by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or an ecologic druid by taking Hunting and its specialization of Ecology. Druids may take Alchemy as a trade skill. #### Moondancers ***Archetype: Wiccan*** The Moondancers are wiccans who have embraced the Great Nature Spirit of Mother Moon. They are the spiritual liaisons between the Serenwilde and the ethereal realm, able to summon the fae in times of need. Moondancers are a wiccan archetype. Thus, they are required to take LowMagic as a common skill before being able to study Nature magic. Once having mastered Nature magic, they then specialize in wicca, allowing them to summon the fae in times of need. Their main secondary skill is Totems, which when they master will allow them to specialize in the Moon totem, thereby allowing them to form covens and receive special powers. At some point wiccans choose either to take Healing to become a healer or to train in Hexes or to study Astrology. Wiccans may take Alchemy as a trade skill. #### Serenguard ***Archetype: Warrior*** Forged from the blood of the Serenwilde’s darkest days, the Serenguard are a tribe of warriors dedicated to the protection of the forest in which they reside. Long ago, a group of conspirators tried to seize control of the commune, waging a bloody civil war against their brethren. The centaur hunters gathered the greatest warriors of Serenwilde to combat the threat, establishing the Serenguard with the sole purpose of defending the commune from all threats, within its borders and beyond. The Serenguard of today is organized in a loose tribal system that does not adhere to the strict hierarchy of the more knightly warriors. Though bound by their blood oaths to defend the Serenwilde, they are a diverse group that ranges from enlightened, spiritual warriors guided by the wisdom of the great nature spirits to fierce hunters recognized by their proudly worn war paint. The Serenguard are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they can specialize as a Blademaster, Bonecrusher, Pureblade, or Axelord upon reaching mastery. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They take Totems as a secondary skill, though they can choose either to specialize in the Stag totem or Moon totem. Alternatively, instead of Totems, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. They may take Forging as a trade skill. #### Shofangi ***Archetype: Monk*** In the year 178, Kephera Queen of Queens Zenobia announced that in exchange for her resurrection, Grand Master Osierti would teach the Serenwilde the ancient science of monkhood. Named after a long-lost Fae word signifying the strength and majesty of Brother Hart, the first monk guild to be founded on the Basin’s surface would be taught to use shofa, a special knife comprised of two conjoined crescent blades. As monks and as members of Serenwilde they value both strength alone and as part of a greater whole. Each member is encouraged to be independent and develop their own talents so that they can best support the guild. The Shofangi are of the monk archetype. As such, after having mastered the basic monk practices of Kata, they specialise in Shofangi, the art of using double crescent knives or Shofa. Their secondary skill is Harmony, the Kephera-taught study of harmonising their body, heart and mind with the elements of Water, Wind, Wood, Fire and Metal. Shofangi may also choose to learn psionics, eventually turning their study to their bodies with psychometabolism, or acrobatics. #### Spiritsingers ***Archetype: Bard*** The Spiritsingers, the bards of the Serenwilde are a group of individuals dedicated to preserving the lore and mythos of the northern forest. The guild was founded in the year 160 CE when Ialie Starfall sang before the mysterious sphere that materialized one day at The Moonhart Mother Tree. Her song was able to awaken the voice of Trialante thus giving birth to the Spiritsingers. Those who inquire about joining the Spiritsingers are encouraged to make sure that they understand that they are not just performers. They are not the merrymakers of the forests and there is no place in the guild for clowns. Those who call themselves Spiritsingers are those devoted to the histories and the legends of Serenwilde. They are the inspiration, the reminders of purpose, the lorekeepers. The Spiritsingers are a bardic archetype and thus are able to choose between highmagic and lowmagic. They can also choose Hunting and Illusions as a tertiary skill and acrobatics as a secondary skill. The primary skill of choice is Music with a specialization in Wildarrane. --- ### [Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/hallifax/) **Published:** December 10, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![logoOriginalWithContrast](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) ](https://www.lusternia.com/) # Hallifax #### Beacon of Harmony ![city_hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/city_hallifax-250x300.jpg)Caught in a temporal anomaly during the Taint Wars, Hallifax was lost in time and space for over five hundred years. When the lost city finally returned to the current timestream, all its citizens were dead except for one, Cririk Adom. Upon declaring its independence, Hallifax strives to be the epitome of the confluence of logic, beauty and harmony. The city itself is a marvel of aeromantic engineering and floats above the Basin of Life. The nexus of power is known as the Matrix, which spans to the Elemental Plane of Air and the Cosmic Plane of the Continuum. Believing in a strict hierarchy, Hallifax has strict social castes. The lowest caste level is that of servant, followed by bureaucrats, then the merchant class, and then the highest caste which is reserved for artists and scientists. Though it is arguable that the ruling elite make up a higher caste, it is generally thought that they are servants to the collective. Though in the ancient days before the fall of the Holy Celestine Empire, Hallifax was run like a corporation, in recent times they have opted for a more traditional representative governmental system. #### Nexus: The Matrix The nexus of power in Hallifax is the Matrix, located in the center of the floating city. It simultaneously exists on the elemental plane of air and the cosmic plane of the Continuum. #### Native Races - [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![race_lucidian](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_lucidian.jpg) Lucidian - [](https://www.lusternia.com/races/) ![race_trill](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_trill.jpg) Trill #### Guilds - #### [Adherents ](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Aerie](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Consortium ](javascript:void(0);) #### Adherents #### Adherents of Adom Established in 472 CE, the Adherents of Adom are a formal organisation devoted to following the example of Cririk Adom. Over six hundred years before the return of the City of Hallifax, Adom gave the order that would ensure the Beacon of Harmony survived the Taint Wars. Six hundred years later, he saved his city for a second time. Finding himself reborn unexpectedly with the return of Hallifax and Gaudiguch, Adom ensured that the Beacon of Harmony would prosper no matter what – even preserving his own body that his knowledge would enrich Hallifax through the ages. Therefore, just as Adom once did, the Adherents consider it their duty to ensure the preservation and prosperity of the Beacon of Harmony for generations to come. They value structure and order, holding strongly to concepts put down in the Collectivist Manifesto: that freedom is a lie, and that only law will ensure the wellbeing of the Collective. Methodical work, extensive reasoning and a logical approach to all aspects of life are traits commonly found in Adom’s followers. #### Aerie #### Grand Aerie for Harmonious Refinement Founded by the Collective under the watchful eye of its Master Artists to encourage cultivation of the Higher Emotions, the Grand Aerie for Harmonious Refinement serves to further the ideals of the Collective by exemplifying beneficence and dignity, in word and action. Originally funded through the State, with donations by the Clarramore Family in memory of Jilai Clarramore, founder of the acclaimed Hallifaxian Opera Symphony, the Aerie subsequently received artistic resources and guidance regarding culture and etiquette from Hallifax’s Master Artists. The Aerie’s charter includes a mandate for altruistic endeavours, through which they disseminate their beliefs and ideals throughout and beyond the Collective. Through such altruism, performed in order to enact their vision of Harmony and Beauty, its members aim to transcend the mundane and to quiet the chaos of lesser communities by elevating all to their version of perfection. #### Consortium #### Skylark Consortium for Collaborative Advancement The Skylark Consortium for Collaborative Advancement is an independent research institute and think tank, composed of the greatest scientific and mercantile minds cooperating to advance the Collective’s interests and influence. Founded by the corporations of Hallifax as a conglomeration of business interests, scholars and experimentalists, the Consortium seeks to expand its knowledge and mastery of natural phenomena, including temporal mechanics, with which it has historical expertise. Utilising the time-honoured methods of philosophical inquiry, scientific analysis, and commercial enterprise, they are able to both fund and pursue their discoveries and ideals. Named in honour of the Skylark Company and its pursuit of excellence in protecting Hallifax, the members of the Consortium also continue this tradition, working to ensure the success, prosperity and longevity of the Collective. Persevering in the name of innovation, it is a home to the ambitious and resourceful who enjoy breaking down barriers to novel ideas and theories. #### Available Classes - #### [Aeromancers](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Institute](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Sentinels](javascript:void(0);) - #### [Symphonium](javascript:void(0);) #### Aeromancers ***Archetype: Mage*** The Aeromancers Guild are mages who devote themselves to the element of air. Though originally founded many centuries ago, the guild was lost during the Taint Wars when the City of Hallifax was trapped in time and space for over 500 years. The Aeromancer Cririk Adom was the only survivor, and it was he who reopened the guild. Teaching the arts of wind, cloud and storm, the Aeromancers are a formidable force to be reckoned with, despite their academic and intellectual leanings. Aeromancers are a mage archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study the Elemental magic. Once having mastered Elemental magic, the Aeromancer then specializes in Aeromancy, allowing them to travel to the elemental plane of air. The main secondary skill of a mage is Illusions. Aeromancers also at some point decide to be a runic mage by taking the skill of Runes, or a dream mage by taking the skill of Dreamweaving, or a psionic mage by taking Psionics (with the choice of specialization between Telepathy and Telekinesis). #### Institute ***Archetype: Guardian*** The Institutional Society of Hallifax for the Improvement of Temporal Knowledge (more commonly known as the Matrix Institute) is a learned society for science established during the earliest days after the founding of the city of Hallifax. Primarily responsible for the practice of Temporal Manipulation and the discovery of Continuum, the Institute used their understanding of Time to join together with the Aeromancers and create the Matrix. Since then, the Institute has elevated the study of Time into a Science itself, to which they still dedicate most of their research. Since their founding, the Institute has branched out and now seeks to improve knowledge of all natural and unnatural sciences through controlled experiments. The Institute is a society of learned gentlefolk who take great pride in their profession, as is reflected by their motto: ‘Take nobody’s word for it’, which is an expression of the determination of the Fellows to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment. The Institute is a guardian archetype. Thus, they are required to take HighMagic as a common skill before being able to study Cosmic magic. Once having mastered Cosmic magic, the Institute member then specializes in Harmonics, allowing them to master the crystal technology on the Plane of the Continuum. Their main secondary skill is Rituals, which when they master will allow them to specialize in Aeonics, the study of time manipulation. At some point a member must choose either to take the Healing skill to become healers or to train in Tarot which is a more aggressive art or to study the science of Astrology. Institute members may also take Enchantment as a trade skill with a specialization in Spellcraft. #### Sentinels ***Archetype: Warrior*** In the early days of the founding of Hallifax, the Matrix was not a very well understood source of power and produced several temporal anomalies. The Holy Celestine Empire charged Hallifax with overseeing these anomalies, which sometimes released hostile entities through unstable dimensional rifts. At first, Hallifax employed mercenary companies to help investigate these anomalies, one of which was the Skylark Company of trill mercenaries. Hallifax eventually purchased exclusive rights to the employment of the Skylark Company and, together with Hallifax’s temporal mechanics and engineers, founded the Sentinel Company of Temporal Anomalies (commonly called the Time Sentinels). Though eventually the Matrix stabilized, the Sentinels continued their initial mandate of monitoring the timestream, where they closely worked with the Matrix Institute. However, their duties eventually grew to encompass more traditional home guard and military assignments, especially in relation to procuring mining areas. This eventually led to the establishment of the Ministry of Peace, the bureaucratic branch which oversees the Sentinels. Today, the Sentinels operate as a highly ceremonial guard in the city of Hallifax, where their blue-white dress uniforms, silver breastplates and ornate halberds have become part of the culture of the city. The Company is a highly structured and rigid organisation, and those who seek to serve as Senior Officers generally must still have a degree in temporal mechanics. Sentinels are a warrior archetype. Thus, they take Knighthood as their primary skill, though they may specialise upon reaching mastery as a Blademaster, Bonecrusher, Pureblade or Axelord. Like all warriors, they take Athletics as a secondary skill. They also may take Rituals as a secondary skill, and can specialize in Aeonics. Alternatively instead of Rituals, they may choose Hunting and specialize in Tracking. #### Symphonium ***Archetype: Bard*** The Symphonium was founded just after the Era of the Wounded Sky in the year 315 C.E. when the Voice of Crys was held captive by the Ice Angels and used to help break the sky and amplify the power of the Soulless God Zenos. After taking refuge in the body of Professor Nann Baruwski while she was conducting experiments in harmonic audio fields, the Voice was finally lured out by Morshoth Skyplume who sang the song he composed, titled “The Collectivist Crescendo”. Since then, it was revealed that the Voice of Crys was somehow entwined with the soul of a mortal named Jilai, whom only the Voice of Crys can hear, though some believe they can hear Jilai when he sings. The Voice has taken residence in the Symphonium Opera House in Hallifax. The Symphonium is a bard archetype guild. They can choose to follow either Lowmagic or Highmagic. Their main skill is Music with specialization in the operatic music of Loralaria; their secondary guild skill is Acrobatics. Members of this guild can choose between the skills of Tarot or Illusions. --- ### [Part Six: Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-six-fall-of-the-holy-celestine-empire/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories) # Part Six: Fall of the Holy Celestine Empire ![33](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/33.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: Homeward Bound I don’t think the Undead Emperor even knew his own strength when he threw me into the Taint, for I flew quite a long way before coming down hard onto ground and rolled down an embankment. I stood up on wobbling legs, which thankfully weren’t broken. After shaking my head, I realised that the Emperor no longer controlled my movements. He was standing some yards away, staring at me, waiting to see if I would suddenly mutate. I knew this was my only chance – I ran as hard as my little feet could carry me, in the only direction that was away from the Emperor – deeper into the Taint. The thick air clung to my fur in oily globules, and just travelling through the Tainted land made me cough, my stomach churning. I found myself delving deeper into the Gloriana Forest, which I was somewhat familiar with from my travels, though now it was barely recognisable. Even the simple forest creatures were twisted, and the plants and trees themselves were scabbed and diseased, turning into something fleshy and alive. But however horrific the Taint was, I was still myself, neither mutated into abomination nor made undead. I kept expecting any moment simply to drop dead from the foulness, but without the presence of Kethuru in the Taint, it was survivable. At the time, I had no idea what had happened, what that terrifying time when the world turned inside out truly meant. Now, like everyone else, I know that it was the downfall of Gaudiguch and Hallifax which caused the upheaval that reverberated throughout the known universe, from the prime material plane up through the elemental and cosmic planes, and even into the astral, where it must have shaken loose Kethuru’s hold. They were two of the greatest cities within the Holy Empire, and what was unleashed when their respective powers collided may never be known. I hear many mages now say that the planes of fire and air, the cosmic planes of the Vortex and the Continuum, as well as the great cities of Gaudiguch and Hallifax, were cleaved from space and time, and are now lost to us forever. I hope they are wrong, though. The world is much diminished without them. None of that was known to me then, of course, as I plunged deeper and deeper into the forest. Only one thought gripped me – and that was to get as far away from the Undead Emperor as I could. When I heard voices ahead of me, I almost cried out in relief. But, thank the Light, something held me back. I crept up and peeked through the bushes and what I saw disgusted me more than anything I had thus far encountered, if that can be believed. In a clearing was High Priestess Rowena Nightshade, High Druid Brennan Stormcrow, and a circle of druids and wiccans of the Gloriana. As you can imagine, they were all Tainted. It was obvious with High Druid Brennan, who was cadaverously undead like the Emperor, as were most of the others. But some were like Shellma and Lars and Chum, grotesquely transformed into caricatures of what they once were. Rowena Nightshade, however, was still stunningly beautiful and I wondered if she had a glamour around her like the Emperor. But her eyes were black orbs and cruelty emanated from her. This grotesquerie surrounded what at first I thought was a giant snake, but as I focused on it I almost vomited. It was the High Druid of Ackleberry, Gib Gladheart, a furrikin I knew since I was a cub. The only thing recognisable was his face, still the face of lovable Gib, but his body had expanded and bloated into a giant, black, segmented tube. Rowena was laughing as the others force-fed High Druid Gib some sort of black Tainted substance. With each mouthful they shoved down his throat, his body shuddered and he would lose a little more of himself, turning into that hideous wyrm. Then, something overhead thundering out, a loud raucous cawing, so loud that it made the branches of twisted trees tremble. I looked up and beheld the Great Spirit of Gloriana, what was once known to us as Brother Raven, now an enormous bird of corruption with eyes that glowed crimson and feathers as oily and dark as the Taint itself. An atavistic fear gripped me, and I ran for my life. I headed north towards the Ackleberry Forest. Though a city furrikin most of my life, the Ackleberry still called to me as I suppose it calls to all furrikin whenever we feel threatened. I don’t know how long it took me, and, yes, I even passed close enough to Magnagora to see that the once beautiful city now looked as if it was made of wax and left out to melt in the hot sun. Eventually I made it through the Taint, breathing in the clean air like a dehydrated merian gasping in water. As I stumbled north, I didn’t quite understand what the army in front of me was. My first thought was that somehow I got turned around and was back in the Undead Emperor’s hands, but then my eyes cleared of soot and I fell to my knees, sobbing like a newborn cub. Ackleberry! Sweet, Ackleberry! Before me were the best of them. Furrikins armed with slings and staves. The great hulking tae’dae, in armour that could barely contain their huge, lovable bear bodies, wielding enormous swords and battleaxes. A few aslaran were sprinkled here and there, looking like the royal felines they are. I even spotted one lone loboshigaru! But most amazing of all were the igasho. Those rarely seen, solitary wanderers from the high mountains had come down in Ackleberry’s defense. Unusual enough even to see one – now there were hundreds! Larger then the largest krokani, as strong as a tae’dae, and as furry as a furrikin, seeing these gentle giants here set me into another bout of sobbing. Having seen me run out from the Taint, I guess they didn’t know what to expect. I must have looked a wreck, but my sobbing eventually convinced them I wasn’t Tainted. Finally, a tae’dae lumbered towards me, placing a heavy paw on my forehead. “Come now, little brother,” he said softly. “Come now.” Then he picked me up and rocked me like a babe. Though normally a tae’dae who did this to an adult furrikin would be slapped in no uncertain terms, right then I could do nothing but snuggle into his pelt. Singing some cub-like lullaby, he carried me to his brothers and sisters. Surrounded by the warmth of the tae’dae, I calmed down enough to speak. “The Undead Emperor!” I blurted. “He must be stopped! Going to Celest with an army. Horn of Urlach! Don’t let him have it! You must save Gib! Can go into Taint now – Kethuru gone!” I knew I was babbling but couldn’t stop myself. The tae’dae holding me looked towards his female companion who shrugged and suggested, “Perhaps send him to Estelbar with the other tae’dae cubs?” “I’m not a cub,” I said wearily, quickly tiring of how the tae’dae are wont to treat furrikin like their cubs. Then, a thought occurred to me. “Estelbar? Why wouldn’t you send your cubs to Ackleberry?” “We arrived too late,” sighed the female tae’dae. “Too late?” I cried. What were they saying? Did the Taint corrupt Ackleberry as it had Gloriana? I looked over the tae’dae’s shoulder to the north where Ackleberry Forest lay, but the air was clear and clean and without Taint. I sighed in relief. But the two tae’dae were exchanging nervous glances with each other as though afraid to upset me more. Of course, that only made me more upset. “Perhaps we should take him to the High Priestess of the Moon?” the tae’dae holding me asked his companion. “Yes, yes, take me to the High Priestess!” I said. At last, I thought, the High Priestess of the Moon, leader of the Moondance Coven in the Serenwilde, would know what to do. I knew I had vital information about the Undead Emperor and the Taint, and she must be told what was happening to Gib Gladheart. I sighed with relief, thinking that this nightmare would finally be put behind us. How wrong I was. ![34](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/34.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The High Priestess of the Moon High Priestess of the Moon, Farella Lunseer, was a tall elfen lady with snow white hair pulled severely back in a bun. Dressed in a white robe that shimmered like moonlight and a silver torc around her neck, she was a familiar figure of power to an aether correspondent, well placed with the Queen of the Fae and an eloquent speaker. Now, however, her face was hard and lined with worry. She healed my arm, which I had broken when the Emperor threw me, and listened to my story of what had happened in the astral plane and subsequently. Afterwards, she sighed and shook her head. “What foolish, arrogant people the Empire has wrought,” she said. “They hold the Great Spirits of Nature in contempt and hear not their wisdom. Never again will we trust so-called civilisation.” “But you can do something, yes?” I asked. “The Emperor must not get the Horn of Urlach!” High Priestess Farella pressed her lips tightly together as she thought it over. Then, she nodded at me and beckoned to the fae companions that waited politely to the side while she healed me. A small pixie fluttered to her shoulder and bobbed nervously. “Go to the ethereal realm and find Queen Maeve in Faethorn Court,” instructed the High Priestess of the Moon. “Tell her what Lolly has said about the Horn of Urlach, and ask her to send the kelpies to the Inner Sea and intercept the imperial ships.” “It shall be as you say, milady,” said the pixie. “One more thing,” she added. “Tell Queen Maeve that I suggest the kelpies sink the imperial ships. Tell her it may be best if there are no survivors.” The pixie hovered in mid air, blinking at her in surprise, waiting to see if she might correct her words. But High Priestess Farella merely raised an eyebrow and stared the pixie down. Finally, the pixie bowed and created a small ethereal gate into which he disappeared. I stared at the High Priestess in shock. “No survivors?” I asked. “Surely you don’t mean that! Only one ship will be carrying the horn, and the others are innocent.” “Innocent!” said the High Priestess of Moon, her voice trembling in rage. “None of them are innocent! You of all people, Lolly Pringle, know what evil the Empire has done!” “What about Gib Gladheart?” I asked. “You know we can enter the Taint now while Kethuru’s mind has left it. With the army here, we can save him.” “I fear he is beyond our help,” she said, the anger drained from her voice. “And if the Seals of the Nine have weakened, it will only be a matter of time before he reclaims what he’s touched.” “But we have time now! A window of opportunity! If you will not help, let us tell the High Priestess of the Lake! Surely her and the rest of the wiccan coven in Ackleberry will act. And the druid circle of Ackleberry! Will they not want to try to save their High Druid?” “Poor Lolly,” the High Priestess of the Moon murmured. “Has no one told you? Ackleberry Forest is no more.” “What?” I screamed. “The Taint has not spread that far! How can Ackleberry be no more?” “You tell me the Grey Moors raised a defence against the Taint?” the High Priestess of the Moon asked me. I nodded and she continued, “Well, good for them. But that also explains why the Taint suddenly surged north. Shallach fell quickly. The orclach there…the orclach do not respond to the Taint like the other races. Those that do not turn into the undead become diminished – hateful and foul like others mutated by the Taint – but also smaller and weaker. Thankfully so, I guess. But there were many of them and they poured northwards and invaded the Ackleberry. This army you see now chased them south but not before they kidnapped High Druid Gib Gladheart and many others. We could not follow them into the Taint, of course. Not then. And the Taint continued to press on.” Tears welled up in her eyes, as she paused and stared off to the north in the direction of where Ackleberry Forest once stood. A lump was lodged in my throat and I could not speak, so I had to pull on her robe to get her to continue. “What could Ackleberry’s coven and circle do?” she asked to no one. “They had to protect the Great Spirits of Nature that were tied to their forest. Having more Great Spirits become corrupted like Night and Raven – that could not be allowed to happen. The Gloriana Forest of the ethereal realm was Tainted along with the Gloriana here, and even now threatens Faethorn Court. Many fae have already lost their lives in the most terrible manners. The Great Spirits told us of a way to hide our forests deep into the fabric of creation, to cast a veil between what is and what is not. It is a dangerous thing to do, to risk non-existence itself. But there was no choice, not with the Taint moving forward. So Ackleberry Forest sundered itself from reality. We cannot know if they survived or not, but the forest, both here and in the ethereal realm, is no more.” “There’s no one left?” I whispered, slumping to the ground. “Just what you see here,” she said, gesturing around us. “Not all went with Ackleberry to…wherever they went. The furrikin village of Estelbar remained behind, perhaps you may wish to make your way there. Or you can come with me to Serenwilde where we shall wait.” “Wait for what?” “Wait to see whether we should follow Ackleberry. The Nine Seals may break at any time and release Kethuru. Or perhaps he may take control of the Taint again. We must prepare ourselves to leave as Ackleberry has.” “Celest still stands,” I said. “Princess Marilynth is there, and she does not know that the Undead Emperor is leading his army there. Perhaps if you ally with Celest, together you can…” “No!” snapped the High Priestess of the Moon. “Serenwilde will not ally with Celest. We will never trust Celest again. I have told you what we will do. You are welcome to come to the safety of the Serenwilde but do not expect us to help any city ever again.” “Have you lost all reason!” I yelled, my own anger meeting hers. “If you won’t warn Celest and Marilynth, then I will!” High Priestess Farella and I stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. Finally, she sighed and removed the silver torc from around her neck and handed it to me. “You are a brave furrikin, Lolly Pringle,” she said. “Take this torc and call on me if you are in need. If you truly wish to go to Celest, there are still boats on the northern shore of the Crystal Sea that may take you there. Good luck.” I just nodded and left, turning my back to her and walking quickly…so she would not see my tears. ![35](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/35.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: Princess Marilynth When I arrived at the dockyards on the northern coast of the Crystal Sea, there was only one ship in port and it appeared abandoned. But after yelling to see if anyone was there, a merian’s head suddenly poked up out of the water. Shrugging into a robe as he left the seawater, he slipped a monocle over his left eye and squinted at me. Fairly robust for a portly, middle-aged merian, he introduced himself as Captain Vlath Symfale, a Celest merchant. I always thought it odd that a race who could breathe underwater and swim with ease would find it necessary for ships, but I guess even merians needed ships to carry supplies to and from the capital. Anyway, Captain Symfale was a good-natured merian who recognised my voice from aether broadcasts, and agreed to take me to the Isle of Celest. The voyage across the northern end of the Crystal Sea was free of the Taint, though Captain Symfale said there were “butt-ugly Taint squid” that entered the clean waters from the southerly Tainted part of the Crystal Sea. I asked him how the northern end of the Crystal Sea remained uncontaminated as one would think the currents would easily spread the Taint through water. “Aye, well, there be a story for your next broadcast, master furrikin,” he said with wink, and took a sip from a little flask (he did like to drink). “Thems that think the Great Spirits you folks take stock in only lives in the forests, but, aye, there’s some spirits that live in the sea too, protecting her waters. May not be as grand as them forest spirits, maybe they be just wee little spirits compared to your big ’uns, but us that live in the sea knows she’s there, yes we do!” It felt good to laugh with the old mariner, taking my mind off of the terrible events I had just gone through, and the two-hour voyage passed rapidly. We docked in a little used port on the northeastern end of the isle. I asked Captain Symfale if he wanted to come to the Star Palace with me, but he just laughed and waved me on. “Nay, master furrikin, thems palace folk ain’t for me,” he said. “I’ll just finish off me wee bit o’ brandy then I be heading home to me wife. She’ll snap at me like a barracuda if’n I linger too long.” He saluted me with his flask, and I hid a smile thinking that his wife would probably more likely snap at him for sitting at dock and drinking brandy than coming home late. Hurrying through the city streets, it struck me that the merians were, if nothing else, remarkably resilient. Children still played in the streets, elder merians were hanging their laundry on lines, shops were open, and life continued despite the imminent threat of the Taint. Dusk was approaching as I finally wound my way to the Star Palace. The paladins at the gate led me to the palace steward. After explaining who I was, a member of the Cosmic Hope expedition, he immediately had me escorted to the Princess Marilynth’s council room. There, I was introduced to the newly anointed Holy Mother Glaruda Farain who was surrounded by several priests and priestesses of the Light, Archmage Gillian Shervalian of the Aquamancy College, and Lord General Dolph Inalai of the Paladins. I bowed low before Princess Marilynth who smiled weakly at me. Then, I told my tale as I had told it to the High Priestess of the Moon, which left the assembled leaders of the Holy Empire gasping and muttering among themselves. “This Horn of Urlach concerns me greatly,” said Holy Mother Glaruda. “If it truly makes the undead invincible…how could we stop…?” “My father,” finished Princess Marilynth. “He is no longer your father, child,” murmured the Holy Mother. “The High Priestess of the Moon said she would stop the horn from getting to Celest,” I interrupted, then remembered exactly how she arranged it. “But perhaps if you could recall any imperial vessel in the Inner Sea?” “Yes. Yes, let us do that,” said the Princess, writing the order. “If it’s safe to pass into the Taint,” said Lord General Inalai, “we could meet up with the forces of the forest communes and make our first offensive foray into Gloriana.” “The High Priestess of the Moon may not think that wise, Lord General,” I said, not able to bring myself to tell him what she thought of the Holy Empire. Instead, I said, “She believes Almighty Kethuru’s presence will return to the Taint at any time.” A youthful squire ran into the room and whispered to Lord General Inalai, who paled and issued orders to some higher ranking paladins. He turned to Princess Marilynth, his gills fluttering rapidly. “Celest has been invaded, Your Highness,” he said. “The ur’Guard and the Tainted are at the southern gates, moving forward. There are thousands of them. We cannot hope to hold them back for long.” “How could they get here so quickly without us knowing?” asked the Princess, her voice trembling. “The Shallach Portals,” I said, “that must be it. The Emperor didn’t think he could use them before because it was in the Taint. But if he can now freely pass into the Taint, he could have made his way to Shallach, avoiding the forest forces to the north completely.” “Which means he encountered the Tainted,” said Archmage Shervalian. “And if the ur’Guard and Tainted are together, we must assume he has allied with Rowena Nightshade.” “Sweet Light,” said the Princess. “What are we going to do?” “We cannot let the Pool of Stars fall into the hands of the Taint,” said Holy Mother Glaruda. “If the Taint spreads to the elemental planes of water and then into Celestia, that would be the end of the Light as we know it. We cannot allow the Holy Supernals to become corrupted as they have said happened to their counterparts on Shallamar.” “But what can we do?” repeated the Princess, looking around herself helplessly. “Your Highness,” I said, going to my knee before her. “Do what you father suggested.” “What?” she asked in incomprehension. “Use the Pool of Stars to raise yourself up as a Vernal God! Call Avechna the Avenger to strengthen the Nine Seals.” “Yes!” said Lord General Inalai. “With a Vernal God on our side, with Avechna returned, there may be a chance!” “It is risky,” said Archmage Shervalian. “The Pool of Stars would be left severely depleted and the histories say that the Vernal Gods were very weak when they were first raised. Certainly, they were not omnipotent, as they died in such numbers during the Vernal Wars. And how much strength would you have to use to call Avechna?” “The Light must be protected at all costs,” said Holy Mother Glaruda. The Holy Mother then leaned over to Princess Marilynth and whispered in her ear. The Princess jerked back with a horrified expression on her face which the Holy Mother simply returned with a look of determination. The Princess covered her face with her hands and began to weep. “Don’t ask me to do this!” she sobbed. The same squire returned, looking as if he had recently been in battle, and whispered hurriedly to Lord General Inalai. Everyone watched quietly as the Lord General stood and placed a hand on the Princess’ shoulder pulling her up to his side. “We no longer have a choice,” he said gently. “They’ve broken through the gates. Many of our people have dove into the Crystal Sea to evacuate, and those who aren’t merian or decided to see this through are gathering in the palace. There is no other plan, Your Highness. Let us do this thing before it is too late.” Thus, I witnessed the Holy Celestine Empire raising their first, last and only Vernal God. ![36](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/36.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: The End of the Empire A crowd of people were gathered in the open cathedral around the Pool of Stars, the nexus of power of the Holy Empire. As Princess Marilynth and her retinue headed towards the pool, I made my way to an observation platform high above, that was used by aether correspondents during large events. It overlooked the Crystal Sea and gave a bird’s eye view of the Pool of Stars. Holy Mother Glaruda led a group of priests and priestesses of the Light to circle the Pool of Stars, while Archmage Shervalian did the same with a group of Aquamancers in their turquoise robes. The waters of the Pool of Stars suddenly erupted, bubbling with light, and the crowd fell silent, some prostrating themselves on the floor. Out of the fountain stepped angelic beings who raised their voice in song. Princess Marilynth waded into the sparkling waters, which lapped up and frothed around her blue skin. Tears glistened in her eyes. “The Taint was released by the Holy Empire,” she said, “and it is up to us to make right that wrong. It has been suggested that the Taint is Almighty Kethuru breaking free of the Nine Seals that bind him, and the only way to strengthen the seals is to raise up a new Vernal God who can awaken Avechna the Avenger. The Star Council has chosen me to be that vessel. People of the Empire, is this your wish?” The crowd erupted in cheers, screaming her name and praising the Light. I found myself screaming Marilynth’s name along with the others. An angelic choir filled the air as Marilynth was lifted up above the Pool of Stars until she was almost even with me. Golden light enveloped her, and caught in the amber glow, she began to spin slowly around. Her skin glowed so brightly that it melted from her body, replaced by a liquid effervescence. She opened her eyes and they shown with white light and she raised her arms and the entire chamber was filled with the beauty of her being. She was indeed a goddess now. Floating even higher and turning towards Avechna Peak, she called out to Avechna to awaken from his slumber, her voice pure and sweet, like a clear bell piercing the sky. Three times did she call out before he answered. Even from miles away, we saw the top of Avechna’s Peak erupt in bright light. A figure appeared above it, massive, titanic. One moment he was hovering above the enormous mountain, then the next he was standing over Marilynth, dwarfing her and filling the sky with his form. A great booming, thunderous voice filled the air. “WHY HAVE I BEEN AWOKEN?” “We have need of you, Avechna,” the clear voice of the Goddess Marilynth rang out. “The Nine Seals are coming undone, and as was the pact of the Sacrifice of the Nine, you must make them whole again.” “THE PACT WILL HOLD TRUE,” he thundered. Just then, chaos broke out around the pool of stars. The ur’Guard and Tainted broke through the palace gates and began to charge towards the Pool of Stars. Half the crowd were screaming in terror while the other half were still held in thrall by the appearance of Avechna. From the south came great crows, as large as the rocs of Oleanvir Valley, and riding upon each one was a figure. As they came closer, I saw that upon the lead giant crow was Rowena Nightshade and the Undead Emperor. Marilynth immediately saw what was happened and she screamed in horror. She spread out her arms and balls of white light sprung from her outstretched hands, each one enveloping a citizen of the Empire, including me. The Tainted creatures were unable to harm us while we were surrounded by a globe of light. But Marilynth, newly awakened to godhood and having just summoned Avechna, appeared to be rapidly weakening. “Avechna!” she cried. “Help me!” “I WILL HONOR THE PACT AND STRENGTHEN THE NINE SEALS,” he said. “YOUR FIGHT HERE DOES NOT CONCERN ME.” “Look at them!” she screamed. “They have been Tainted by Kethuru! You cannot allow them to exist, to overrun the Basin of Life!” “IT IS TRUE, THEY HAVE THE TOUCH OF KETHURU ON THEM,” he said. Rowena Nightshade set the Undead Emperor down on the same platform I was on. I backed away from him as far as I could, but he didn’t seem to even register me as being there. As he walked to the edge of the platform, I saw the marble beneath his feet bubble and blacken, smoking with ill fumes. That was new. “But that was not the pact!” the Emperor yelled out. “Avechna, listen to me! The Nine sacrificed themselves to create the seals. You know this to be true! The Nine became the Seals, and you are the sum of them all! The Nine Seals, Avechna! That is where your duty lies!” “THAT IS MY DUTY,” said Avechna. “Do not listen to that undead abomination!” shouted Marilynth. “Abomination?” laughed the Emperor. “Avechna, part of you was formed by Urlach, the Master of Death, perhaps the greatest of the Nine! Does that part of you consider the undead an abomination?” “ENOUGH!” thundered Avechna the Avenger. “THIS IS NOT MY CONCERN. I GO TO REFORM THE SEALS.” With that Avechna faded from sight. We could feel Marilynth’s despair through the spheres that she struggled keep around us. Emperor Ladantine watched on, his eyes glowing greedily. The Tainted around us were closing in, though not yet able to pierce the globes of protection. Rowena still rode on her giant crow, circling around us like a vulture waiting for its carrion to stop moving. “How long can you keep that up, Marilynth?” the Emperor called out. “Even a Vernal Goddess must replenish her power at some point.” “Father, please, what do you want here?” “I want to join you, daughter! Think of it, the both of us raised up to godhood, parent and child, ushering in a new age! We can rebuild the Empire! We can rule it forever, together!” “I will never allow you to do that, father, you know I will not. You would Taint all of Holy Celestia and the elemental plane of water. You’d destroy all the works of the Light.” “But how can you stop me, Marilynth,” he chided. “Soon, I will have the Horn of Urlach, which will make me and all the undead here invincible. Eventually, I will win, daughter. I always do.” Was the light around her dimming? Or were the shadows from the Tainted Great Spirit of Mother Night surrounding her? She was obviously struggling. “Marilynth, you know what you must do!” screamed Holy Mother Glaruda from below. “I am sorry, my people,” cried the Goddess Marilynth. “I must do this final thing to protect the future of the Light. Forgive me.” “Marylinth, no!” screamed the Undead Emperor as she plunged herself into the Pool of Stars. Immediately, the globes of protection around us winked out – but the Tainted had no time to begin their slaughter, for the Pool of Stars began to burn with a Holy Flame that drove them back. The bright light made Rowena curse and I thought I glimpsed her face rapidly ageing. She swung around on her giant crow and started heading back south. “Rowena, come back here!” shouted the Emperor. “You are a fool, Ladantine!” she laughed. “Enjoy your tomb with your daughter!” “But my ship will arrive with the Horn of Urlach! Rowena, we will both be invincible.” Of course, the Undead Emperor never knew the kelpies by now must have sunk his ship, so he was waiting for something that would never arrive. The red light in his eyes burned furiously as he watched Rowena fly away, and he looked back at the Pool of Stars hungrily as the Holy Flame grew brighter. He raised his arms as if about to dive into it. Was this his final attempt to become a Vernal God? Could he possibly stop whatever it was the Goddess Marilynth was doing? We’ll never know, of course, for I did perhaps the bravest or most foolish thing I ever did. After all that time being his puppet, after all the terror and grief he put me through, I screamed in rage and charged into his legs, knocking him backwards. He scrambled up and finally turned his eyes on me. “Lolly Pringle?” he said, gaping at me in astonishment. With another bellow of rage, I charged at him again, this time leaping at him so that I hit him full in the belly. He tumbled backwards, cursing and clawing at me, but still I pushed him back. We were both rolling on the platform then, which was slippery by whatever foulness that he had coated the marble floor with. Somehow I found the inner strength to keep fighting and pushing, until I was able to shove him over the edge on the far side of the platform that overlooked the Crystal Sea. He grabbed my ankle and took me over with him. The Undead Emperor was still cursing at me when he hit the jagged rocks below and was swept away by the crashing waves. Just as I closed my eyes to join him in death, the High Priestess of the Moon’s silver torc around my neck began to glow. I placed my hand on it and immediately was yanked into a planar gate. I found myself in the ethereal realm of the Serenwilde Forest before High Priestess Farella. I looked around and saw I was in a circle formed by the Coven of Moondancers, who were staring into a scrying pool. The High Priestess had saved me but she would not look me in the eye. “What’s happening?” I asked, gasping and trembling. “Avechna travels to the astral plane to reform the Nine Seals. The Great Spirits say the threat is passing. And, now, Princess Marilynth is doing something that has never been done. She is destroying a planar nexus. Not a bad solution really. It will save the higher planes and destroy Celest.” “Destroy Celest? So that’s why Rowena left? That’s why the Emperor was so upset?” I asked, looking around when no one answered “Quickly, we must save who we can! I’m not a great gateweaver, I know, but I can help! I can coordinate gates on an aether channel across from the ethereal realm down to Celest. Where are your gateweavers? High Priestess?” “You are the only one we rescued,” she said, still not looking at me. “You mean I was the first one, don’t you?” “With Celest gone, the last of the Empire will be too. The time for the ‘civilised’ age is at an end and we can go back to the purer time when the forest communes oversaw the healing of the Basin of Life.” “You could have saved them at any time,” I whispered, realisation suddenly dawning as an image of poor Captain Symfale came to my mind. “All those innocent people…” “None are innocent,” she said flatly. “Besides, look! It is too late now.” I stared into the scrying pool and saw the destruction of Holy Celestine Empire. It was monstrously beautiful, a flash of white light followed by a cloud of fire and smoke that that engulfed the entire Isle of Celest, sending plumes of debris hundreds of feet into the sky. The High Priestess of the Moon and the Coven of the Moondancers kept staring into the pool, even when all there was left to see was ash. \* \* \* So here I am, twenty years later, a retired aether correspondent. Writing these memoirs from my little farm in Estelbar, a very small furrikin of no importance, grey furred and literally long of tooth. Thus, I watched as Serenwilde Forest withdrew into itself, and the Tainted City of Magnagora rise to prominence to subjugate those of us in the south. Though I never saw it, I know the survivors of the Empire gathered on the far side of the Inner Sea and formed a nexus of power, another Pool of Stars. They tell me that New Celest will be even greater and grander than that of old and the Light will return to lead us into a new age. Perhaps it will be so, but I think I will not live to see it. Estelbar has its own small problems, raided by those orclach that were mutated by the Taint, those nasty creatures we’ve come to call ‘orcs’. Though I’ve retired to this little farm and my days of adventure are over, I sometimes wonder if history will simply note that Avechna the Avenger was awoken and reformed the Nine Seals, driving Kethuru back into his prison for another age. True, the Basin of Life was saved that day, but who will remember the cost? The great powers of Gaudiguch, Hallifax, and Ackleberry Forest are already fading into legend. Gloriana is now known as the Glomdoring Forest and none who enter ever return. The Tainted in Magnagora are apparently breeding amongst themselves, calling their offspring the viscanti race. Yes, the cost was great indeed. And in my darker hours I wonder if the cost has even yet been fully paid. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Part Four: Scourge of the Taint](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-four-scourge-of-the-taint/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories) # Part Four: Scourge of the Taint ![20](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/20.gif) #### Hallifax Minutes: Emergency Meeting Re: Cosmic Hope Disaster **MINUTES OF THE HALLIFAX BOARD OF GOVERNORS** **I. MEETING – CALL TO ORDER:** The emergency meeting was called to order by the Vice Chair on the 14th of Gorgani, on the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire at 9:00 a.m. **II. RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS PRESENT:** Cririk Adom, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Hieli Goldfeather, Vice Chair Lilali Skysoarer, Secretary Minister Sweeloh Sunfar, Member Minister Ieck’co Shevat, Member Minister Ke’kix Oolin, Member MEMBERS ABSENT: Professor En’oonki Lars, Member Minister Tooli Goldfeather, Member Minister Chia Cloudwalker, Member INVITEES PRESENT: Closed Session **III. EMERGENCY SESSION:** **Subject:** Crisis in Magnagora; Failure of Cosmic Hope Expedition **Discussion:** Chair Adom summarised recent events surrounding the debacle of the Cosmic Hope Expedition. When the expedition attempted to channel cosmic energy into the nexus of power known as the Stone of Truth, a backlash of unknown origins infected the Stone of Truth in all of its multidimensional manifestations, including the Higher Plane of Shallamar, the Elemental Plane of Earth, and Magnagora itself. The expedition was apparently lost, which included Professor En’oonki Lars, a member of this Board. A black cloud subsequently appeared over and in Magnagora. Calls for help were sent through the aether broadcast network. Minister Tooli Goldfeather and Chia Cloudwalker, both members of this Board, flew to Magnagora with a delegation of rescue volunteers to offer assistance. They have not been heard from since. Minister Shevat reported that subsequent observations indicate the black cloud is growing and spreading in all directions, notably west into the Crystal Sea, south towards the Gloriana Forest, north towards the Shallach River. To the east, the cloud seems to have been stopped by Avechna’s Teeth (including the Angkrag mines), generating the theory that the cloud can be physically contained. Unverified reports of the cloud infecting plants, animals and minerals with accelerated mutagenic properties are causing widespread panic. **Board Decision:** Minister Sunfar moved that aeromantic countermeasures be immediately employed to raise winds to push the cloud away from its northerly thrust, which threatens Hallifax and the Isle of Celest in the Crystal Sea. Theoretically, a strong pressure of aeromantic force could completely disperse the cloud. Minister Oolin advocated further observation, though Minister Sunfar pointed out that hesitating even for objective analysis may prove fatal. Vice Chair Goldfeather seconded by the motion, and the motion passed with 4 yeas and 2 nays. **IV. ADJOURNMENT:** There being no further business to come before the Board at that time, the Board meeting was adjourned at 1:23 p.m. Approved this 14th day of Gorgani in the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire. By: Lilali Skysoarer, Chair Secretary ![21](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/21.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: Journey Into Nightmare There were four orclach and myself left standing, and I was resigned to the inevitability that the Fates had chosen a most horrible death for me. I recall I even shut my eyes tight in preparation for certain doom, but it did not come. I slowly opened my eyes and gazed around me in amazement as the hideous beasts, those terrible metallic goats, did not attack us but simply stared at us with their glowing red eyes. Dozens surrounded us but none came near. I looked at the orclach ur’Guard and they were as confused as me. The river of darkness was still pumping into the Stone of Truth, and the Emperor was dead at our feet. The other expedition members still violently twitched on the ground, and it was then I saw their terrible transformation. Their skin was bubbling and turning red, their wide open eyes were foggy and yellow, their bones were lengthening and skeletons twisting upon themselves. They were turning into monsters, more hideous for the fact that their features were recognisable, though barely, of who they once were. We were frozen with indecision. I knew the orclach would have preferred the metal beasts to attack us for it would at least give them some action to focus on, but there was nothing we could do but watch. Then, the Emperor’s dead and smoking body began to twitch and violently flop about on the ground. Slowly, the spasms subsided and the Emperor opened his eyes, which glowed the same ominous red as the metal beasts. He stood up and gazed at us. The orclach fell to their knees and prostrated themselves before him. Though perhaps not clear to me at the time, it was then that the first glimmer of understanding slowly began to dawn in me. It was common knowledge that in the orclachi tongue ‘ur’Guard’ means the Death Guard, in honour of the Vernal God Urlach, Master of Death, who legend said brought orclach warriors back to life to fight again in the Vernal Wars. But it wasn’t life that Urlach granted but undeath. And so the legends of conflict between Urlach and several of the other Vernal Gods came to make sense. But the orclach never forgot and religiously felt that becoming undead was a singular honour – a mark of Urlach, if you will – and here was the Emperor brought back as one of the undead, sometimes called the ur’dead. Of course, I did not come to fully understand all of this at the time, but the Emperor seemed to grasp that they were his willingly obedient servants. At first the Emperor tried to open a gate through the Stone of Truth, but the river of darkness that still flowed into it prevented him from even making the attempt. Cursing, he ordered the orclach pick up the mutating members of the expedition and we went in searching of another way to leave the Astral Plane. But, as I said, we were on a small island that floated in this astral space, and it didn’t take long to realise there was no hope of escape if we stayed here. Other strange, spherical islands floated nearby, and we could do nothing but wait and hope that one of them would come close enough so that we could leap onto it. And I slowly began to wonder if the Fates had a more terrible destiny in store for me than I had first imagined. ![22](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/22.gif) #### Diary of Rowena Nightshade: Meeting Destiny **Final Entry, Year 543:** Mother Night, has there ever been a greater fool than the one who wrote these prior entries? How blind and stupid are these scribblings! How pathetic! What a waste of ink and paper. But perhaps not an utter waste, for I suppose it could be an amusing epitaph to the old ways of Gloriana. Oh, the Night Coven did raise a cone of power over Gloriana, and the druids of the Raven Circle did meld their spirits to the forest, and all the while the tainted cloud of Magnagora rose higher into the sky, a swath of darkness across the drab blue bowl of the heavens. And I, Rowena Nightshade, High Priestess of the Night Coven, stood proud and tall next to the Great Ravenwood Tree, certain in the powers of the Great Spirits that oversaw the Gloriana Woods. “Mother Night and Wise Raven shall protect us,” I said to my brothers and sisters of the forest. “While our hearts are true and our spirits bright, we shall overcome even this great struggle.” On and on I went in this manner. But then the great winds rose. Like a tumbling wall did the tainted cloud fall upon the Gloriana, its great, stinking mass bearing down under the weight of hate and fury. As one, the druidic circle gasped as the oily darkness soaked into the soil of the earth. We watched helplessly as Brennan and his brothers swayed upon their feet like the trunk of a rotted tree in a storm. As the earth became tainted, so did they, fine cancerous green lines spreading through their flesh as skin flaked away like old parchment. The voice of the Great Spirit of Wise Raven cawed throughout Gloriana, his vast cries stabbing like a knife deep into the forest’s soul. An enormous bolt of black lightning sundered the Great Ravenwood Tree and the forest trembled until we thought we were doomed. In desperation, the Night Coven focused the cone of power upon me, and I raised my consciousness to the heavens and embraced the Great Spirit of Mother Night to come to our aide and deliverance. The rushing of her power flowed into me and we became one. And thus did I finally, truly see. This roiling cloud that just drank Gloriana’s essence like a thirsty bat upon a starving doe, this sentient hunger was but a tiny fragment of something larger, greater and more glorious than ever could be imagined. It held Mother Night in its embrace, changing her and Wise Raven too, becoming more powerful than all the other Great Spirits of Nature combined. As Mother Night and I were one, we laughed together as Sister Moon fled before us, as Sister Lake cried out in sorrow, as White Hart fled before the might of Raven whose eyes now glowed as red as embers and who moulted his feathers and became Crow. Powerful Crow! Dark Crow! Together, Mother Night and Brother Crow would rule the forests, ushering forth a new age of rot and ruin, darkness and despair. Only those of us chosen few will be allowed obeisance to the glorious master, who shall consume us and make us part of him! While I lingered with Mother Night, I felt that Presence, that Almighty Presence, push forth further into the world, making more of it his as should be his right. And, no, this great and powerful Presence did not just transform the body, but transformed the spirit too! Already, he transformed the Higher Plane of Shallamar into an image pleasing to himself. Even the Holy Emanations of Shallamar were remade into reflections of the Presence, more powerful and magnificent than before. The elemental plane of earth was his, and through Gloriana, the Presence reached into the Faethorn Realm. The fae, however, are resistant to the Almighty Presence, and we travel through the rent in the earth that once was the Great Ravenwood, and pass into the ethereal realm, claiming all that the Almighty touches. As I squeeze the essence from the pixies and willowisps, from the sylphs and wood nymphs, and feed my ravenous Master, I cannot help but feel bemused that once I protected these weak and pathetic beings. They cry at me, “D’or glom! D’or glom!” That means “have mercy upon us” in the tongue of the fae. I answer back, “F’ai glomdoring!” That means “I have no mercy.” Soon all will be under the Presence. And I? I shall be a Queen in this new order. All shall bow and serve me – for am I not as beautiful as I am terrible? Am I not as powerful as I am glorious? Am I not Rowena Nightshade, Mistress of All She Surveys! I will spread a twisted forest that will choke the Basin of Life. It will be called the Glomdoring Forest – the Forest without Mercy! Enough prattling in this diary. The time for weakness is over. Let the forests fall under the sway of Mother Night and Brother Crow, newly born into something greater than they were. I too am remade and I shall go forth and all who see my beauty will love me or be destroyed. But who could not love me? My beauty is now beyond compare. Even though my heart no longer beats. ![23](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: Dark Conversations With the ur’Guard practically worshipping the undead Emperor Ladantine as though he were the second coming of Urlach, and the other members of the expedition mutated beyond recognition, I felt isolated in my horror at what had happened. Fortunately, as furrikin are easily overlooked by the larger races, the others took little notice of me. Thus, it was in this position that I was able to learn so much about the Emperor and his plans. Unlike the Emperor, who was an animated corpse, the only way to describe the mutated members of the expedition – that is Lars, Chum, Ghani and Shellma – was as monstrosities. Lars grew to be a third larger than he was, his crystalline lucidian skin replaced by a shiny blood red carapace, and his mouth distended to reveal thousands of sharpened teeth. It’s hard to tell what was different with Chum, who was hidden and hooded as he always was in the golden robes of the Grand Cipher of the Illuminati, but surely his hands never had such talons on them. Ghani, who was trill, looked like a winged demon out of a cub’s storybook. And Shellma, who was an elderly merian, looked the worse of the lot, her body bloated and blackened beyond recognition, bulbous eyes bulging out of their sockets on stalks. There was a brief power struggle when the others began to regain consciousness, but the Emperor easily subdued them, certainly helped by the fact that the ur’Guard were clearly loyal only to the Emperor. We had to find another way to exit the Astral plane, which was a matter of waiting for one of the neighbouring floating spheres to come close enough to jump onto it. While we waited, the Undead Emperor and his Dark Council (what I came to call them) would plot together and discuss what was happening. Though they whispered together so that the ur’Guard couldn’t hear them, they didn’t seem to know (or at least care) that my furrikin ears could pick up their conversation. “I agree,” whispered Shellma. “The force we released must have been Almighty Kethuru. You felt how easily it corrupted Shallamar and the Plane of Earth. He’s trying to free himself. What do we know of Kethuru?” “We know he was the mightiest of Soulless Gods,” said Chum. “And we know he led the Soulless to defeat the Elder Gods. We know he decimated the Vernal Gods when they arose. And we know, if it wasn’t for the Sacrifice of the Nine, he would have consumed all worlds.” “In order to release himself, he’ll have to break through the prime material plane,” said Lars. “But we all felt how his strength was being diluted the further through the planes he spread himself. It will take time before he can loosen the Nine Seals and be freed.” “Can we appease him?” croaked Shellma. “Does he want to be worshipped? We could create a church to him, and place ourselves as his high priests. If we give in to all his demands, we could be the rulers of Lusternia.” “Don’t be a fool,” hissed the Emperor. “Remember what it felt like when we were connected to him. It was as if we were a part of him, merely tools to carry out his whims. Once he breaks through the Nine Seals and returns in all his power, he’d absorb us into him and we’d be destroyed.” “So we’d be mindless slaves and then food,” agreed Ghani. “Well, give him Lusternia then. We can survive here. Find a new world to settle.” “That would buy us time,” said Chum. “But eventually he’d consume everything, all of creation.” “We need to awaken Avechna the Avenger,” said the Emperor. “The Avenger was created by the Nine’s sacrifice to trap Kethuru behind the Seals.” “Only a Vernal God can awaken Avechna,” said Shellma, “and there are none left.” “Not unless we become Vernal Gods,” said the Emperor. “Once we find our way back to Lusternia, we’ll drain the nexuses of power as they did during the Vernal Wars and raise ourselves up as gods. Then, we awaken Avechna who will drive back Kethuru. Afterwards, we can divide Lusternia up among us and be worshipped as the new gods and command all that we survey.” “Interesting theory,” said Ghani, “but a nexus, assuming it has enough power, can only raise one Vernal God. As far as I know, there are only four nexuses of power, and there are five of us.” “I’ll obviously take the Eternal Flame,” said Chum. “The Emperor would take the Pool of Stars. Lars will take the Matrix. And Ghani, you get the Stone of Truth.” “And what about me?” demanded Shellma. “I should get the Pool of Stars!” “Shall we fight for it, Shellma?” the Emperor asked, smiling coldly. “No? I thought not.” “And if no one was paying attention,” said Ghani. “The Stone of Truth is subjugated by Kethuru already. How am I supposed to use it?” “Once Kethuru is driven back, we can worry about you and Shellma,” said the Emperor confidently. “The other problem,” said Lars, “is how will we convince our people to raise us to be Vernal Gods when we look like…like this!” “I shouldn’t have a problem in Gaudiguch,” smiled Chum. “The Illuminati are quite used to physical transformations of the body.” “Once you become Vernal Gods, how can we trust you’ll raise us?” demanded Shellma. “I agree,” said Ghani. “I do not like drawing the short end of the stick.” “Silence!” hissed the Emperor. “We can talk about this later. First, we must figure out how to leave the Astral and I do believe there is an island approaching as we speak.” So we began the long journey through the Astral Plane, hopping from island to island, encountering creatures so warped and terrible that nightmares haunt me to this day. ![24](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/24.gif) #### Gaudiguch Gossip: Expedition Recovered! **EXPEDITION RECOVERED BY GAUDIGUCH; HALLIFAX CAUSES TAINT SPREAD TO ACCELERATE** Amid the tears and grief that swept through Gaudiguch in the past week from what the Illuminati are calling the “Taint”, a small bud of hope has sprung with the recovery of Expedition Cosmic Hope. All members of the expedition, including Emperor Ladantine and Grand Cipher Tlochaka Chum, were recovered in the Cosmic Plane of the Vortex by the Illuminati. The Illuminati are keeping the expedition sequestered, and rumours are flying regarding why the Emperor hasn’t made an appearance. Officials neither confirm nor deny reports that the Emperor is extremely injured. Princess Marilynth is supposedly on her way, though she must take a circuitous path over the Inner Sea in order to avoid the areas infected by the Taint. She will most likely arrive in Gaudiguch by late tomorrow. Meanwhile, hostilities are mounting against Hallifax whose aeromantic assault of gale force winds against the Taint has accelerated its spread to the south, which immediately engulfed Gloriana. The Illuminati are concerned that the Southern Mountains will push the Taint to Gaudiguch next. Ironically, Hallifax apparently created the winds to save themselves, but it still creeps forward despite these efforts. It is assumed that Shallach is the latest casualty of the Taint as the ur’Guard have suddenly stopped using the Shallach Portals. Though the Taint has infected the southern end of the Crystal Sea, the Isle of Celest has raised a bubble of light from the Pool of Stars, protecting the Imperial Capital and much of the northern section of the Crystal Sea. ![25](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/25.gif) #### Memoirs of Lolly Pringle: Escape from the Astral Hope had all but died for me as I was dragged along behind the Undead Emperor and his Dark Council, journeying among the floating spheres of the Astral Plane, encountering horrors so bizarre and horrible that you thought nothing more could surprise you. But then, not having found a way out, we would jump to a another sphere and discover new horrors more repulsive than the last. Even so, I think it was the waiting that was the truly awful experience, when the sphere we were on floated alone and we would hanker down and stare at the shifting sky, waiting, waiting, waiting for another sphere to come close enough for us jump to. It was finally in one of most hideous places imaginable, what looked like a library run by portly librarians in the distance but up close was smouldering ruins run by obese creatures out of nightmare, that we found a thinning of the aether fabric that would allow us our escape. It was a pile of rotting paper that smouldered on the ground, releasing a foul smelling smoke that hung heavy in the air. We almost walked by it, but Chum stopped in his tracks and crouched down, his burning red eyes glaring at the smoldering pile. “Feel this!” he hissed in his rasping voice as he placed his hand over smoke. “I know this! I know it!” The Undead Emperor quickly shoved Chum out of the way and held his rotting hand in the smoke. We paused there for several moments, none of us brave enough to disturb him. Finally, he laughed and clapped Chum on the back. It was a terrible and wicked laugh, but I am ashamed to admit that relief flooded through me, and I whooped and pranced around the ur’Guard, who simply nodded sagely as if they would expect nothing less of their Emperor. “It’s the Eternal Flame of Gaudiguch,” Chum breathed. “It’s a pale reflection from what it is on the other planes we know, but nonetheless it is connected. Quickly, let us open a gate to the Vortex so I may take control of the Illuminati.” “Wait,” said the Emperor, thoughtfully looking around at our ragtag party. “I don’t care how broadminded the Illuminati are concerning ‘physical transformations’ as you call it, Chum, but the Illuminati will not be the only ones who see us. Certainly, I will need to address the people and take control.” With that, the Emperor placed the palms of his hands over his face and a blue light shimmered across his body. When the light vanished and he lowered his hands, a small cry burst forth from my throat as the rotting, undead form was wiped away. Before me stood Holy Emperor Ladantine VII, noble merian worshipped by all civilisation, master mage and planar physicist, untouched by recent events. Tears filled my eyes as the Emperor looked around himself and his gaze settled upon me. With a gentle smile, he kneeled before me until his face was at the same level as mine. Was all that happened but a nightmare? Was I finally now awake and all the horrors of the past to be swept away to distant memory? “Do not think that I have forgotten you, loyal Lolly,” the Emperor gently said to me. “When we return to the Empire, I will need your support more than the others.” Then, he placed a hand on my shoulder, and his touch was as cold as the grave. The Emperor bowed his head and closed his eyes and a fog seeped into my mind, numbing my tongue. Suddenly, his head snapped up and his eyes bore into mine. Deep within his ice blue gaze I saw the crimson glow of cruelty and corruption. The utter evil of the undead was now hidden behind illusion. He laughed and pushed me back. “Now, I think we’re ready,” said the Emperor. “Let’s open the gate and find out how fares my Empire.” As Chum began opening the planar gate through the Eternal Flame, the Emperor snapped his fingers in my direction. Against my will, I stood up and marched towards the Emperor. He smiled coldly at me. So, this is how I escaped the Astral Plane but fell into a new trap…this time as the puppet of the Undead Emperor. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Part Two: Preparations for Project Cosmic Hope](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-two-preparations-for-project-cosmic-hope/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories) # Part Two: Preparations for Project Cosmic Hope ![07](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/07.gif) #### Diary of Rowena Nightshade: Travels to the Great Cities **Autumn Equinox Year 543:** Brennan and I first journeyed through the Great Ravenwood Tree to the Faethorn Realm, the ethereal plane where the great spirits dwell, where the reflected souls of our dear forests stand, newly healed and now vibrating with life. In accordance with our symbiotic ties to the fae, Queen Maeve did pledge the support of Faethorn to the decree of Mother Night, to help convince the Empire to stop their scheme to further tear into the fabric that binds the cosmos. It heartened me greatly that the covens of the Moondance and Lakewood also beseeched Faethorn to join them on this mission. After bidding farewell to silvery Faethorn and departing the ethereal plane, to Hallifax we travelled. Indeed, the crystal spires that float upon the clouds are majesty themselves, but, oh, I cannot feel the vibrations of the living ground beneath my feet, nor smell the green of life, nor even sense the beating of the earth’s heart. Is it no wonder, Mother Night, that those who live in cities do not hear the rhythms of the cycles and cannot understand the wisdom of the great spirits? Chairman Adom heads the Hallifax Board of Governors, and is as passionate as stone and cold as ice as are most of the race of lucidians. The Board is made up of lucidians and trill, and it was to the trill that I made my strongest appeal. Perhaps the winged race of trill hear the cycles of nature at least a little, for indeed they were more responsive to my plea than their lucidian counterparts. Or perhaps an elfen like myself just cannot fathom the race of crystal beings, whose expressions never change and eyes fall upon me like icicles. Only Mother Night knows how these two peoples came together. Alas, after the Board adjourned to a private meeting, it was decided that Hallifax would support the Empire’s project. Later, Llisilli Cloudwalker, one of the trill board members, told me in confidence that political considerations played no small role in their decision since Hallifax was seeking imperial mediation over mining rights with the dwarven kingdom. Her words perhaps were meant to comfort me, but only made me sadder to think such secular concerns were given greater weight than the spiritual wisdom of the great spirits. Still, some small hope was offered as the Board agreed not to use the Matrix, the nexus of power in Hallifax, for these imprudent experiments. Next, we travelled to the great dracnari pyramids of Gaudiguch, ruled by the mysterious Illuminati and spiritually led by the enigmatic Most Venerable Bhodifucius. Where Hallifax was cold and aloof, Gaudiguch was hot and tempestuous. The dracnari are not called dragon lords for nothing, as they live among the volcanoes of the Razines and swim in flames as easily as the merian swim in water. Though they listened to me with sympathy and made many placating platitudes, it was obvious they were much excited by the Empire’s quest. Indeed, they danced and feasted, revelled until deep into the night. When intoxicated, the dracnari make little effort to hide old racial tensions, as certainly was the case when the High Flame belched fire upon the ambassador from Hallifax, who was one of the cold lucidians on the Board who I had met previously. My only hope is that the dracnari spiritual leader, the Most Venerable Bhodifucius, hears the ring of truth from the words of Mother Night, for one of his cryptic remarks to me made me think that perhaps he understands more deeply than the others. But the Most Venerable does not lead his people, but teaches through paradox and conundrums. Mother Night, I fear I have failed you in this mission. Will no one listen to your words? Does your wisdom fall upon deaf ears? Despite all our protestations, the Empire pursues their quest for power relentlessly. Even pointing out the Empire’s previous failure of Project Soulforge, that drove the mugwump from their ancestral home, makes no difference. Our words fall like snowflakes upon the hot skin of a dracnari, melting into nothing and disappearing as so much steam. ![08](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/08.gif) #### Magnagora Chronicle: Fates say, “You will find that which you seek.” **FATES GIVE OPTIMISTIC PROPHESY FOR PROJECT COSMIC HOPE** **Magnagora – 18th of Methril in the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire** – “You will find that which you seek,” stated Clotho, according to the Cosmic Hope Committee, who returned from the Plane of Shallamar last night, led by the High Prophet of Magnagora. The Committee is touting this phrase as the centerpiece for going forward with an earlier than expected expedition to the ‘supra plane’ as early as the beginning of next month. The House of the Prophets in Magnagora was abuzz with activity throughout the evening as runes were cast and tarot cards spread in an effort to translate the prophecy of the Three Sisters. Members of the Cosmic Hope Committee include Emperor Ladantine VII, High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri of the Magnagora House of Prophets, Princess Marilynth of the Celestines, Grand Cipher Tlochaka Chum of the Illuminati of Gaudiguch, and Professor Tomasol Lars of the Hallifax Matrix Research Institute. Assembling at the Stone of Truth in Magnagora at dusk yesterday, the High Prophet opened a portal to Shallamar, the Higher Plane of Truth, and the Committee returned approximately five hours later. According to a brief statement by the High Prophet, the Committee first met with King Gorgaliel the Peacemaker, Supreme Holy Emanation of Shallamar, who graciously welcomed the Committee before escorting them to the Three Sisters of Fate. Upon being granted audience with the Fates, the Three Sisters said in unison, “We live in all realities. We see all probabilities. We are the Fates and will show you the paths that could be.” As Magnagorans know and as the High Prophet explained to other Committee members, this is their usual statement before unveiling a major prophesy. “You will find that which you seek,” prophesied Clotho, the youngest of the Fates. This statement was taken with great optimism by the Committee. “Your name will be remembered through time,” prophesied Lachesis to Emperor Ladantine, who later said he was “honoured and humbled” by her words. “You will die and be reborn. You shall live and not live to see the fruits of your fate,” prophesied Atropos, also directed to Emperor Ladantine. Atropos, the eldest of the Three Sisters, often gives obscure and enigmatic prophesies, and this one was hotly debated and scrutinised in the House of Prophets upon the return of the Council through the Stone of Truth. “Overall, we are optimistic and confident in this prophesy,” stated High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri. “Certainly, there were no portents of great catastrophe like those that led to the abandonment of Project Soulforge. Quite to the contrary, the Cosmic Hope Prophesies appear to be most fortuitous.” ![09](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/09.gif) #### Gaudiguch Gossip: WHERE WILL COSMIC HOPE BLAST OFF? The Empire rocked the Basin of Life by announcing that the Cosmic Hope Expedition will not launch from the Pool of Stars! Apparently our lovely Emperor wants to make a statement of an upcoming age of unity and solidarity with all prophecies pointing that Project Cosmic Hope will be an resounding success. In further developments, our favourite High Flame, Scuchi Mabuchi, is no longer part of the Cosmic Hope Project, being replaced by Grand Cipher Tlochaka Chum of the Illuminati to represent Gaudiguch – which is ironic since the High Flame of the Pyramid of Pyromancers was originally chosen to represent us because the Illuminati are too – shall we say, scary? In any event, you can hear gold sovereigns tinkling blocks away from the gambling houses here in Gaudiguch as bookies collect bets on which Protectorate will receive the honour. Interested in the odds at the time of this writing? It’s 2:1 for Magnagora’s Stone of Truth; 3:1 for Gaudiguch’s Eternal Flame; and 25:1 for Hallifax’s Matrix. No surprise that the odds on Hallifax are hitting rock bottom. The poor dears are aflutter with embarrassment over a continuing conflict with the Dwarven Kingdom over the newly opened Angkrag mines in the Teeth. Rumour has it that Imperial Mediators are being escorted with orclachi ur’Guard using the ur’Gates of Shallach. Indeed, orclach enforcers have been using the gates to make their presence known in all outlying villages. Is it perhaps because the Alliance of Forest Enclaves are still in a snit over the expedition proceeding at all? I don’t know, but I’ve even seen a few of those hunky green orclachi in Gaudiguch. Yum! The scuttlebutt is that Scuchi Mabuchi’s little fiery fun with the Hallifax Ambassador are hurting Gaudiguch’s odds for being chosen as the expedition’s launch point (any wonder why she was replaced by the robed and hooded Grand Cipher?). Still, we’ve been the most enthusiastic supporters of Project Cosmic Hope since the Imperial Proclamation last year. And that’s why yours truly is betting her hard earned golds on Gaudiguch. Besides, I like them odds! ![10](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/10.gif) #### Hallifax Minutes: Full Support for Project Cosmic Hope **MINUTES OF THE HALLIFAX BOARD OF GOVERNORS** **I. MEETING – CALL TO ORDER:** The meeting was called to order by the Vice Chair on the 1st of Ashmonth, on the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire at 9:00 a.m. **II. RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS PRESENT:** Cririk Adom, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Hieli Goldfeather, Vice Chair Lilali Skysoarer, Secretary Professor En’oonki Lars, Member Minister Sweeloh Sunfar, Member Minister Ieck’co Shevat, Member Minister Ke’kix Oolin, Member Minister Tooli Goldfeather, Member Minister Chia Cloudwalker, Member MEMBERS ABSENT: None INVITEES PRESENT: Closed Session **III. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES:** Secretary Skysoarer moved that the Methril 1st, 543 C.E. minutes be accepted as amended. Minister Cloudwalker seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. **IV. STAFF COMMENTS:** Minister Lars of the Matrix Research Institute updated the Board on the cosmic energy levels of the nexus, which were at that time at low levels. He also submitted for the Board’s review a report prepared by the Helix Ministry. The Board reviewed the report and found it in order. **V. OLD BUSINESS:** **Subject:** Imperial Mediation with the Dwarven Kingdom **Board Decision:** Minister Sunfar reported that the mediations between the Dwarven Kingdom and the Hallifax Board were not productive. The dwarves appear hostile to the Board’s latest offer to renounce all claims of precious metals in return for 50% of all precious or semiprecious gems harvested in Angkrag. The Dwarven Kingdom have taken the position that it has proprietary rights to all mountains surrounding the Basin of Life. Professor Lars reiterated a need for the gemstones to reinforce the Matrix, especially in light of the demands on the energy levels of the Matrix this past year. Vice Chair Goldfeather pointed out the diplomatic need to resolve the Angkrag incident before the Emperor makes a decision on where to launch the upcoming Cosmic Hope Expedition. Vice Chair Goldfeather then moved to accede to the dwarves demand which was seconded by Minister Sunfar. The motion failed with 3 yeas, 4 nays and 2 abstentions. Minister Oolin moved for a compromise counteroffer to the Dwarven Kingdom: that the Board would renounce all claims of precious metals in return for 25% of all precious or semiprecious gems harvested in Angkrag. The motion passed with 5 yeas, 1 nay and 3 abstentions. **VI. CLOSED SESSION:** **Subject:** The Cosmic Hope Expedition **Board Decision:** Minister Goldfeather expressed the diplomatic necessity for the Board to open the Matrix more fully for experiments concerning the upcoming preliminary Cosmic Hope tests in order for Hallifax to more fully be considered for the Cosmic Hope Expedition. If the Matrix was chosen as the launch site, this would be an important advancement of Hallifax’s role in imperial politics and would have many favourable repercussions in the future. Professor Lars objected on the grounds of security and safety, citing the Emperor’s previous planar undertaking, Project Soulforge, and its subsequent dissolution because of concerns for nexus safety. Minister Oolin and Minister Shevat pointed out that, unlike Project Soulforce which was plagued by many unpropitious divinations, the recent Hope Prophesies curtailed much of these concerns. The Chair moved to fully open the Matrix and the motion passed with 7 yeas and 2 nays. **VII. ADJOURNMENT:** There being no further business to come before the Board at that time, the Board meeting was adjourned at 3:04 p.m. Approved this 1st day of Ashmonth in the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire. By: Lilali Skysoarer, Chair Secretary ![11](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/11.gif) #### Imperial Proclamation: Date and Place for Expedition Cosmic Hope **OFFICIAL IMPERIAL PROCLAMATION MLXXV** We, Emperor Ladantine VII, on this twelfth day of the month of Ashtar in the year of Our Holy Empire five hundred and forty-three, do hereby proclaim and ordain that the Holy Empire’s most glorious and Holy mission to reach beyond the Higher Planes shall be held on the Thirteenth Day of Gorgani of this year. Expedition Cosmic Hope will launch from the Stone of Truth in Magnagora. Our Proclamation will go effect at noon on the day following the issuance of Our Proclamation. ![12](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/12.gif) #### Magnagora Chronicle: Honours for Magnagora **STONE OF TRUTH CHOSEN TO LAUNCH EXPEDITION COSMIC HOPE** **Magnagora – 13th of Ashtar in the 543rd Year of the Imperial Empire** – The Stone of Truth in Magnagora will be the launch point for Expedition Cosmic Hope, Holy Emperor Ladantine VII announced yesterday by Imperial Proclamation. The launch will commence exactly one month from today. “This is a great honour for Magnagora,” commented the Most Eminent Rushdam d’Murani, Grand Vizier of Magnagora. Cheers were heard throughout the city as the proclamation was read. When asked about the sudden disappearance of the Fates in Shallamar, High Prophet Ghani n’Rotri stated, “The Three Sisters have been known to leave the higher planes from time-to-time. They are beyond our ken and I would not read too much into their absence. It certainly has nothing to do with Cosmic Hope. I think it has been proven often enough that the Light has blessed the Empire in this endeavour.” The High Prophet would not comment on rumours from the House of Prophets that high percentages of the reversed tarot cards and inverted runes were turning up in minor castings, and dismissed reports that the Circle of Prophets were ordered to stop casting minor prophesies until after Expedition Cosmic Hope was launched. “The Circle of Prophets stands by its earlier analysis of the Hope Prophesies,” said the High Prophet. “Nothing comes close to the dangers foretold by the prophesies surrounding Project Soulforge, which we vehemently opposed at the time. I hope we can put behind us any pessimism about this project, for now is a time for celebration in Magnagora, blessed indeed by the Light and the Emperor!” The launch of Expedition Cosmic Hope will be broadcast live by popular aether host Globglob Mesherbrub and a team of planar correspondents. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Part One: The Emperor's Grand Proposal](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/part-one-the-emperors-grand-proposal/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories) # Part One: The Emperor’s Grand Proposal ![01](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/01.gif) #### Imperial Proclamation: Project Cosmic Hope **OFFICIAL IMPERIAL PROCLAMATION MLXXIV** We, Emperor Ladantine VII, on this twenty-third day of the month of Elohian in the year of Our Holy Empire five hundred and forty-two, announce that it is Our Will and pleasure to proclaim, for the people of the Empire, the unveiling of Project Cosmic Hope. With the support of the Imperial Star Council, We do proclaim and ordain that the Holy Empire shall heretofore embark on a Most Holy mission to expand Our influence over and beyond the Cosmic Planes of existence to reach the Supra Plane and thereby further empower the Empire and Her People to heal the Basin of Life. We do hereby beseech the Imperial Protectorates of Gaudiguch, Magnagora and Hallifax to offer aide in this Most Holy Mission to Our Ambassador, who is also Our Most Glorious Daughter. Our Proclamation will go into effect at noon on the day following its issuance. ![02](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/02.gif) #### Magnagora Chronicle: Empire Announces Project Cosmic Hope **Celest, Crystal Sea – 23rd of Elohian in the 542nd Year of the Imperial Empire –** This morning His Most Divine Grace, the Emperor Ladantine VII, unveiled a new planar research initiative that could potentially expand the Holy Empire’s scope and reach beyond even the higher planes of Celestia, the Continuum, Shallamar, and the Vortex. Grand Vizier of Magnagora, Rushdam d’Murani, quickly offered his support to the Imperial pronouncement. Planar experts were amazed and cautious as His Most Divine Grace presented documents detailing in-depth analyses of advanced planar theories and practical applications. In Magnagora, Ghani n’Rotri of the Master Prophets stated that the Emperor is “guided by the Light of the Holy Empire” which would shepherd this project to its conclusion. Not all experts were so optimistic. “Though theoretical planar physics allows for what we experts term a ‘supra-plane’,” opined Professor Lars of the Hallifax Matrix Institute, “the research His Most Divine Grace has conducted goes far beyond theory and could indeed pave the way for actual exploratory expeditions into the ‘supra-plane’. I should hasten to add, however, that it would take decades to reach a point where such an expedition could be safely undertaken.” But the Imperial Star Council, at the behest of His Most Holy Emperor, do not plan to wait decades, and announced the goal to launch an expedition as early as the end of the year. “What my lucidian colleague, Professor Lars, fails to take into account,” stated Grand Cipher Tlochaka Chum of the Illuminati in Gaudiguch, “is the ambition, precocity and divine grace of those of us supporting this venture. We will succeed in meeting the Emperor’s deadline and we will bring great glory to the Empire!” His Most Holy Emperor made his pronouncement before a full meeting of the Imperial Star Council in the Holy Capital of Celest, representatives attending from Gaudiguch, Hallifax, and Magnagora. At His Holy Grace’s side was his daughter and High Celestine, Princess Marilynth, who expressed her support for the initiative. Also in attendance were honorary members from the Alliance of Forest Conclaves, some of whom expressed grave misgivings. “The Empire has already plumbed the vast reaches of the cosmos,” stated High Priestess Rowena of the Gloriana Preserve, “and has more power than ever dreamed of by mortalkind. The land is still healing from the abuses of the past, so why not be satisfied with the power the Empire already possesses and join us in the restoration of all of Lusternia. Why must so-called civilisation continuously tamper with the fabric of creation?” Though the other members of Alliance of Forest Conclaves seemed unified in their opposition to the initiative, the Imperial Star Council made assurances that every conceivable caution and safeguard would be taken to guaranty a safe and cautious expedition to the ‘supra-plane’. “What our cousins in the forest fail to understand,” stated Emperor Ladantine, “is that the potential for power is beyond anything known even during the Vernal Wars. And with this power, the healing of the lands would be accelerated at a rate where it would not be future generations that would see a healed land, but today’s generation. Glory to the Light!” Celebrations are scheduled throughout Magnagora this week to rejoice in the continued providence that guides the Empire in divine glory and grace. ![03](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/03.gif) #### Diary of Rowena Nightshade : The Task of Mother Night **Summer Solstice, Year 542:** Sitting beneath the Great Ravenwood Tree under the darkness of Mother Night, I contemplate the bright shining stars and this Emperor’s latest proclamation to plumb further into the hidden dimensions of our cosmos. Oh, Mother Night, what does it mean? Is it folly that those of mortalkind who choose the path of stone and mortar, of buildings and constructs, to always pursue this vainglorious lust for knowledge and power? Your words continue to haunt me, those words you set upon my tongue as I channelled your wisdom to the coven during our equinox ritual. “My gown of dark night hides many secrets, secrets that should not be uncovered. Teach those who seek to dwell behind the walls of civilisation that there are rhythms of the natural cycle. For, lo, there are times when it is wise to leave the earth unchurned, to let the field be fallow, not to throw stones into the placid lake.” And so you left me, standing with my brothers and sisters, with the Crown of Gloriana growing cold upon my brow, a bad omen for the summer rites. I am the High Priestess of the Night Coven, known for wisdom and quiet reflection, but Mother Night has set an unwanted task upon me. Brennan, my Summer King and High Priest, comforts me and makes me strong, and I have word from our sister coven of the Moondance that they too have been charged to curb the Empire’s rapacious quest for power. Have they not learned from their previous failure that drove the mugwumps from the Balach Swamp? But will the Empire listen to the forest communes? So powerful this Empire has grown, their nexuses of power filling them with such strength and such arrogance. But Mother Night has given me my duty and I shall not shirk it. Tomorrow I leave to visit the great cities of the Empire. And tonight I pray to Mother Night that they will listen. ![04](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/04.gif) #### Hallifax Minutes : Partial Support for Project Cosmic Hope **MINUTES OF THE HALLIFAX BOARD OF GOVERNORS** **I. MEETING – CALL TO ORDER:** The meeting was called to order by the Vice Chair on the 25th of Elohian, the 542nd Year of the Imperial Empire at 9:00 a.m. **II. RECOGNITION OF MEMBERS PRESENT:** Cririk Adom, Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Hieli Goldfeather, Vice Chair Lilali Skysoarer, Secretary Professor En’oonki Lars, Member Minister Sweeloh Sunfar, Member Minister Ieck’co Shevat, Member Minister Ke’kix Oolin, Member Minister Tooli Goldfeather, Member Minister Chia Cloudwalker, Member MEMBERS ABSENT: None INVITEES PRESENT: Princess Marilynth Ladantine, representative of the Imperial Star Council Tarrawen Falgirn, Dwarven Ambassador to the King of the Mountains Brennan Stormcrow, High Druid of the Gloriana Forest Conclave Rowena Nightshade, High Priestess of the Night Coven, Gloriana Forest Commune **III. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES:** Secretary Skysoarer moved that the Shakinar 1st, 542 C.E. minutes be accepted as amended. Minister Oolin seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. **IV. STAFF COMMENTS:** Minister Lars, of the Matrix Research Institute, updated the Board on the cosmic energy levels of the nexus, which currently were at satisfactory levels. He also submitted for the Board’s review a report prepared by the Monitor Panel. The Board reviewed the report and found it in order. **V. OPEN FLOOR:** The Board opened the floor to several matters brought by visiting dignitaries. The Board recognized Tarrawen Falgirn on behalf of the Mountain Kingdom. She presented a report of complaints against certain Hallifax Companies allegedly infringing on certain mining claims of the new Angkrag mining colony. Chair Adom accepted the report and moved to table the matter until the next meeting for review and investigation. Vice Chair Goldfeather seconded the motion, which subsequently passed with 8 yeas, 0 nays, and 2 abstentions. After the vote, Ambassador Falgirn recused herself. Princess Marilynth presented the official Imperial request from the Star Council for the Board’s assistance in research and development of Project Cosmic Hope. Specifically, the Empire seeks access to the Matrix for certain planar experiments and collaboration from the Matrix Institute to conduct certain feasibility studies. The Board recognised the delegation from the Gloriana Commune. High Priestess Rowena Nightshade strongly objected to further planar research and urged the Board to withdraw support from Project Cosmic Hope in an emotional appeal regarding cycles of nature and vague statements of prophetic “times when fields should remain fallow”. Minister Shevat pointed out that the prophesies of the great nature spirits are rarely authenticated by the Magnagoran House of Prophets. High Druid Brennan Stormcrow made more logical appeals, stating that healing the Basin of Life is best served through utilising powers currently in possession rather than looking for potentially dangerous sources of unstable power and citing possible ‘reality denigration’ from opening worldgates so far from the prime material thread. A brief scientific discussion ensued. Princess Marilynth disagreed with the Gloriana assessment, pointing out that research and study had not revealed any dangerous potentialities and the objections thus far raised were based on emotional fear rather than scientific scrutiny. Minister Shevat and Minister Oolin agreed with this appraisal. Professor Lars of the Matrix Institute stated that there was some scientific basis for caution as several planar theories postulated certain abnormalities in reality shifts. The Chair tabled further discussion for the Executive Session. **VI. OLD BUSINESS:** There was no old business. **VII. NEW BUSINESS:** **Subject:** Report of Impropriety of Certain Hallifax Companies Regarding the Dwarven Kingdom **Board Decision:** At the request of Princess Marilynth, the Board re-reviewed the report, and Minister Oolin moved that, since this was an inter-imperial matter, the report should be forwarded through proper channels to Imperial authorities for mediation. Minister Sunfar seconded the motion, and the motion passed with 5 yeas, 3 nays and 1 abstention. There was no New Business except for the request from the Imperial Star Council which would be heard in the Executive Session. At this time, the Invitees to the Board recused themselves. **VIII. EXECUTIVE SESSION:** The matter of the request from the Imperial Star Council was reviewed in the private, executive session. Professor Lars moved to decline any access to the Matrix until research and investigation proved conclusively safe. Minister Goldfeather seconded the motion, and the motion passed with 6 yeas, 2 nays and 1 abstention. On the matter of scientific collaboration with the Imperial Star Council, Professor Lars moved to support collaboration into planar research. The Chair amended the motion to state that Professor Lars would be the head of any Hallifax scientific delegation. Minister Goldfeather seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. **IX. ADJOURNMENT:** There being no further business to come before the Board at that time, the Board meeting was adjourned at 3:04 p.m. Approved this 25th day of of Elohian in the 542nd Year of the Imperial Empire. By: Lilali Skysoarer, Chair Secretary ![05](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/05.gif) #### Gaudiguch Gossip : COSMIC HOPE PARTY! ***OFFICIAL COSMIC HOPE KICKS OFF WITH FLAMING PARTY*** Some ambassadors got more than they bargained for when they met with our most esteemed Illuminati to discuss Gaudiguch’s participation in the Glorious Empire’s new venture, Project Cosmic Hope. They got a party! You guessed it – our own High Flame (and I do mean high!), Dr. Scuchidira Tliwx, not only embraced the project and promised the Gaudiguch’s full support, but she rocked the skies with a pyrotechnic display to celebrate, setting off a series of revelries that turned the Great Pyramid into party central! Little did the ambassadors from the Imperial Star council, Gloriana, Hallifax and Magnagora realise that the new High Flame (let’s again emphasise HIGH!) is known locally as Scuchi Mabuchi the Party Girl! With her scales glowing with the absolutely fabulous new rage of emerald powder (recently imported from Newton), Scuchi caused quite the stir when she set the robes of Professor Lars, the Hallifax Ambassador, on fire (accidentally, I’m sure!) after the stone-faced lucidian was overheard to say, “Gaudiguch is a cesspool of illogical extremism.” Go Scuchi! After the Hallifax Ambassador made a hasty exit, the Representative from the Star Council (none other than Princess Marilynth herself) loosened up a bit and partook of our famous fire wine and was soon dancing it up with His Wisdom, Bhodifucius Xiim! Even the doom-and-gloom High Priestess from Gloriana, Rowena Nightshade, cracked a smile when she tried to convince the High Wisdom to influence the Illuminati not to support Project Cosmic Hope, and Bhodifucius simply said, “Consider the pugnacious rabbit who found a wooden carrot and broke its teeth, thus finding enlightenment.” That’s our Bhodi! All in all, a great time was had by all. Even this reporter can’t remember when she’s had such a blast – it must have been over a week ago! ![06](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/06.gif) #### *Aether Broadcast* : Interview with Princess Marilynth *This interview with Princess Marilynth was broadcast live from Celest on the aether waves to each power nexus in the Imperial Protectorates on 3 Methril 543 by the then popular aether host, Globglob Mesherbrub.* ANNOUNCER: And now for your listening pleasure, we are pleased to present an exclusive interview with Princess Marilynth by our favorite mugwump…Globglob Mesherbrub! Sponsored by Orerl Platemail, the number one dwarven armor favoured by the Orclach ur’Guard. GLOBGLOB: Helloooo loyal listeners! As promised, I have here before me the gorgeous Princess Marilynth to discuss her father’s – and our Emperor’s! – much talked about and publicised mission to saaaaave the Basin of Creation! Yes, we’re talking about Project Cosmic Hope! How are you today, Your Highness? MARILYNTH: Very well, Globglob. Thank you for having me here today. GLOBGLOB: Noooo, thank yoooouuu! And, listeners, I have to tell you that Marilynth is absolutely gorgeous, her skin is the loveliest shade of aqua I have ever seen! Your Highness, you must have a little mugwump blood in you! MARILYNTH: (laughs) Maybe, Globglob, you never know! But I’d think father would have told me! GLOBGLOB: Hehe! Well, would your father mind if you dated a mugwump? MARILYNTH: (laughs) Are you asking me, Globglob? GLOBGLOB: Hey, there’s a fine lily pad just around the corner that serves the juiciest flies in the Basin! MARILYNTH: (laughs) GLOBGLOB: Your Highness, we really must get the scoop on the ‘incident’ last month when the High Flame of Gaudiguch literally scorched the Hallifax Ambassador. MARILYNTH: Oh, I’m sure that was an accident. The High Flame is quite a character, she really is, but I don’t think she purposefully breathed fire on the Ambassador. GLOBGLOB: Hallifax and Gaudiguch always seem to be cool to each other – or, in this case, should I say hot? MARILYNTH: (laughs) Oh, Globglob! GLOBGLOB: But, seriously, why does the Illuminati of Gaudiguch and the Board of Hallifax always seem to disagree about…oh, everything? MARILYNTH: Gaudiguch and Hallifax have core differences, Globglob. Each of their nexuses represent a totally different outlook on life. Gaudiguch is famously independent and freewheeling, with a ribald sense of humour and inscrutable philosophies. On the other hand, Hallifax is cautious, precise and logical. But, I wouldn’t say… GLOBGLOB: Excuse me one moment, Your Highness, but from that description, you’d think Gaudiguch would be the troublemaker – but isn’t it true that Hallifax is the one that seems to get in trouble with other Imperial provinces? Isn’t it true that there’s some dispute over mining rights in Avechna Teeth with the Dwarven Mountain Kingdom over the newly opened Angkrag mines? MARILYNTH: Oh, I wouldn’t put much stock in that, Globglob. Imperial mediators are working with both sides to smooth things out as we speak. GLOBGLOB: Your Highness, I must apologise. I interrupted you as you were saying something. What were you going to say? MARILYNTH: Oh, I was going to say that despite philosophical differences, both Hallifax and Gaudiguch are Protectorates of the Empire and walk in the Light. GLOBGLOB: Well said, Your Highness! MARILYNTH: Thank you. Also, they don’t disagree about everything. Indeed, both the Illuminati of Gaudiguch and the Matrix Research Institute of Hallifax have been working with the Imperial Star Council on Project Cosmic Hope. GLOBGLOB: Isn’t the Matrix Research Institute blocking planar experiments into the Matrix itself? MARILYNTH: They are being cautious, yes. But they’ve contributed in other ways that have been invaluable. Simply put, the Institute holds some of the finest minds in the Basin that have been hard at work in unravelling some of the conundrums of planar physics. (pause) Also, we’ve had plenty of opportunity to conduct experiments through the other nexuses, including the Eternal Flame in Gaudiguch, the Pool of Stars in Celest, and the Stone of Truth in Magnagora. GLOBGLOB: Is there any news on the progress, Your Highness? MARILYNTH: Actually, Globglob, that’s one of the reasons I’m here today. My father has authorised me to release to you – GLOBGLOB: This is an exclusive, folks! MARILYNTH: – that progress in Project Cosmic Hope has moved more quickly than we expected. In fact, I am proud to announce that our first expedition is planned to proceed by the end of the year. GLOBGLOB: That’s tremendous news, Your Highness! Is a date set? MARILYNTH: Not yet, Globglob. We’ll want to confer with the High Prophets of Magnagora before setting a date. GLOBGLOB: Of course, of course. Now, the Alliance of Forest Conclaves – who have not been shall we say overly enthusiastic about the Project – have they had anything to say about this expedited schedule? MARILYNTH: This is the first announcement, Globglob! I’m sure we’ll be hearing from them shortly though! GLOBGLOB: (laughs) You heard it here first! Project Cosmic Hope will proceed by the end of the year! Thank you, Your Highness, for your time and terrific news! May you forever walk in the Light! MARILYNTH: Thank you, Globglob. May you never thirst. GLOBGLOB: Now about those flies… MARILYNTH: (laughs) [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Coming of Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/coming-of-estarra/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories) # Coming of Estarra As the mortal races began their slow struggle to rebuild what was lost during the Taint, far away in the vastness of space and time, an Elder God who had escaped the Elder Wars during the exodus found the tear in reality from which the three children of Yudhe had vanished. The Elder God was named Roark, great of intellect and wisdom. Not knowing the Soulless Gods were sealed away, Roark sought to escape them through this tear in reality. For ages, he built great magical devices around the tear, trying in vain to open it. One day, however, much to his surprise, the tear unlocked from the other side. Though not wide enough to enter, he did communicate with a being of strange and wondrous power. In time, Roark came to understand that this being was the blending of Magnora, Dynara and the nameless son of Yudhe. Although the being’s power was immense, it was but a shadow of what it would become should it enter into the realm of Yudhe, for this being possessed the destructive power of Magnora and the creative power of Dynara, as well as the spirit of Yudhe himself. Both Roark and this being contrived to open the tear in reality wide enough that this powerful being could enter Yudhe’s realm. When finally the rift opened, the being stepped through and was transformed into the Great Goddess Estarra, called Estarra the Eternal. The potentiality of Yudhe became manifest in Estarra, and she bestowed upon Roark the title of Libertas – for his long suffered planning, and designs to liberate her. Through the tear in reality, she brought with her the human race, a strange people whom she wished to give a home. To Lusternia went Estarra the Eternal with Roark Libertas, but when they arrived they found the mortal races decimated by the Taint. Taking pity, Estarra watched over the rebuilding of the mortal races and their civilisations. The human race she settled within the Basin of Life, where they thrived and flourished, intermingling with the other races sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. As Estarra studied the world of Lusternia and what it had became, she realised that one day the living seals would expire and release the Soulless Gods. She could not move directly against the Soulless Gods, for their beings had become a part of Lusternia, and destroying them would destroy the world completely. Nor could she strengthen the seals directly, for the seals were made from the essence of the mortal races and could only be revitalised by mortals themselves. She gathered the seals for safekeeping with the promise that when the seals began to fail, she would release them onto Lusternia for the ultimate ritual whereby the greatest mortal living would wield the seals, and the seals would create from that mortal an Ascended God, the process recharging the seals to protect against the Soulless Gods for another generation. And so the Age of Ascension begins, and so does Lusternia prosper. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [The Aftermath](https://www.lusternia.com/histories/the-aftermath/) **Published:** January 6, 2017 **Author:** Isune **Content:** [← Back to Histories](/histories) # The Aftermath Nature held its own fragile consciousness, but it was fragmented and dying, having been devastated by the divine wars. Further, those Soulless Gods who were trapped within the earth itself were poisoning these spirits of nature. The elfen, closest to the forests, first noticed this cruel fate. One elfen woman, Ellindel Treeheart, was the first to contact the fae, the spirits of the earth, who were dying. She drew these nature spirits forth to take physical form, and thus was able to heal them. She taught other elfen how to contact and heal the fae, and they worshipped the earth and called themselves the wiccan. When the fae were strong enough to help in the healing, they taught Ellindel’s hearthmate, Glinshari Strongleaf, how to control the forests in the Basin of Life. Glinshari taught others, who became known as the druids, who were the physical guardians of the forests just as the wiccans were the spiritual guardians of nature. With the help of the fae, the wiccans and druids raised the Great Trees, enormous concentrations of power that quickened the healing of the forests. Three Great Trees were raised, one in the northern forest of Serenwilde, another in Ackleberry forest, and the third in the southern forest of Gloriana. Thus were formed the first three nature communes, who together ruled the Basin of Life with a harsh compassion, borne from the struggle to survive, and bent the races to the worship of nature. One place that was little touched by the ascendancy of the forests in the Basin of Life was the island of Celest in the Crystal Sea, small companion ocean to the Great Inner Sea within the Basin. Predominantly merian, a seaborn race, they built a great city upon the island. Their quest was to heal the waters of the sea and they did so by reaching upward or outward, seeking the elemental vibrations of creation itself. The first mages were able to transverse the ethereal waves, where all matter was in flux. Thus, they found the elemental plane of water, where they mastered the art of Aquamancy. These Aquamancers were able to cleanse the oceans and seas, their mastery over the element of water equal to the mastery of druids over the forests. The Communes first greeted the cleansing of the waters with joy, but then looked on with scepticism as the mages plundered further and deeper into other planes of existence, travelling through the ethereal plane and tapping into other planes of power. As the Aquamancers transversed to higher vibrations, they discovered yet another plane of existence, wrapped around the plane of water like a womb wrapped around an unborn child. It was a plane of life and healing, of angelic beings and liquid light. They called the plane Celestia and the more devout mages left the path of elemental magic to devote themselves to the Holy Supernals, the Guardians of Celestia. Within the City of Celest, the Aquamancers and Celestines channelled the power of the planes they commanded into the city itself, creating the Pool of Stars, liquid power from which all could draw from. Thus came the Paladins, Holy Warriors of the Light, who drank from the sacred pool and were granted miraculous powers. They were charged to safeguard these mystic waters. But Celest could not contain all those who sought to partake of its wonders, and soon citizens of Celest spilled out to other parts of the Basin, founding other cities and researching other planes of existence. The Communes watched the inevitable expansion with a growing misgiving, for the thirst for power seemed to outpace any pause for wisdom. The next five hundred years spanned the Golden Age of the Holy Celestine Empire, when civilisation spread throughout the Basin of Life and other planes were discovered, and great cities founded, each with a nexus of power unique unto itself. Mages wielded new elemental powers, and guardians of the outer planes developed competing philosophies, perhaps evolved by the nature of the plane they guarded. The city of Gaudiguch rose next, mostly built by the dracnari race, which devoted itself to the elemental plane of fire and the cosmic plane of the Vortex. So came the Pyromancers, masters of fire, and the Illuminati, Guardians of the Vortex. They created the nexus known as the Eternal Flame within their great pyramids. The races of lucidian and trill built Hallifax, a city in the clouds, an architectural wonder of crystal spires and aeromantic engineering. Devoted to the elemental plane of air and the cosmic plane of the Continuum, they constructed the Matrix, a nexus of power that was a strange construct of gems and spiralling lines of power. The City of Magnagora held sway over the elemental plane of earth and the outer plane of Shallamar, where lived three powerful beings who were said to be sisters and called themselves the Fates. Geomancers, the masters of earth, and the Fatalists, guardians of Shallamar, created the Stone of Truth, the last nexus of power. [← Back to Histories](/histories) --- ### [Newsletter Template](https://www.lusternia.com/newsletter-template/) **Published:** July 1, 2017 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** ![logo](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/logoOriginalWithContrast.png) # Newsletter Title or Edition ### Article One This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. ![Avechna](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Avechna-300x300.jpg) ### Article Two This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. This is where we describe the awesomeness of the article. ## Calendar - July 9: Wild Nodes! - July 23: Wild Nodes! ## [Vote Lusternia!](https://www.lusternia.com/vote) --- ### [Discussions](https://www.lusternia.com/discussions/) **Published:** February 8, 2017 **Author:** ironrealms --- ### [Faeling](https://www.lusternia.com/faeling/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** # Faeling ![race_faeling](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/race_faeling-250x300.jpg) Faelings are not descended from an Elder God. Rather, they are the cross between an elfen and a creature of the fae. Faelings are almost always raised in elfen communes, and are given special status by wiccans. Physically, they look like extremely diminutive elfen, even smaller than the furrikin, and they all have elaborate butterfly-like wings enabling them to fly. While not very strong, they make up for that in speed and intellect. Ever since the undead elfen Rowena Nightshade tricked Laeroc, Consort of the Queen of the Fae into fathering her child, faelings who take the path of the tainted Great Nature Spirits of Night or Crow transform into shadow faelings, a curious breed of faeling, larger than others of their kind, with a dark complexion that seems to churn with shadows, more bat-like wings, and eyes that glow with a somber red fire. *Note: Not all faelings have antlers. The antlers on the faeling in the picture is the result of the Stag Totem specialization.* Languages: Elfen, Common. ## Perks - **Level 1**: Resistance to divinus damage. - **Level 25**: Ability to FLY. Those who can fly by other means are no longer knocked out of the sky by winds, and are instead stunned for two seconds. - **Level 50**: Health and mana regen in forest environments. - Faeling with the Crow specialisation gain a bonus to magic and poison damage. - Faeling with the Night specialisation gain a bonus to both asphyxiation and excorable damage. - Faeling with the Shadowbeat specialisation gain a bonus to both poison and excorable damage. - **Demigod**: Trait: One With Nature – Health/Mana/Ego regen in all natural environements. - Note: Faelings do not gain the One with Nature bonus in Hartstone terrain. (Ethereal forest) - **Demigod+**: One With Nature now grants a bonus to all damage types and damage resitance in all natural/forest environments. ## Variants - **Faeling** - Standard race. - **Shadowcaster Faeling** - Faeling wiccans and druids that specialise in the Night or Crow totem. - **Shadowlord Faeling** - Faeling warriors that specialise in either the Night or Crow totem. - **Shadowsinger Faeling** - Faeling bards that specialise in the art of the Shadowbeat. --- ### [Recent Events](https://www.lusternia.com/recent-events/) **Published:** December 15, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/race_illithoid-250x300.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/09/portal/ "Portal") ### [Portal](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/09/portal/ "Portal") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) / Dec 9, 2016 [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/09/portal/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/head_merian.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/05/hello-world/ "Hello world!") ### [Hello world!](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/05/hello-world/ "Hello world!") ##### By [ironrealms](https://www.lusternia.com/author/ironrealms/) / Dec 5, 2016 Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/12/05/hello-world/) [ ![](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Trill-4_0-250x300.jpg) ](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/06/races/ "Races") ### [Races](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/06/races/ "Races") ##### By [Estarra](https://www.lusternia.com/author/estarra/) / Nov 6, 2016 Coming soon! [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/11/06/races/) ### [Hello world!](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/22/hello-world-2/ "Hello world!") ##### By [ironrealms](https://www.lusternia.com/author/ironrealms/) / May 22, 2016 Welcome to Iron Realms Entertainment Sites. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging! [Read More →](https://www.lusternia.com/2016/05/22/hello-world-2/) --- ### [Elfen](https://www.lusternia.com/elfen/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** # Elfen ![race_elfen](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/race_elfen-250x300.jpg) Descended from the Elder Goddess Elfenehoala, the elfen race have always had a close affinity to the forests. They consider themselves the saviors of Lusternia as they were who first discovered the ailing Fae, spirits of nature, and healed them and likewise the forests. They are a lithe, beautiful people, with delicate pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes. Their skin tone ranges from alabaster white to some varying hues of green. Though most Elfen still prefer forest communes, there are those who have been drawn to city life. Languages: Elfen, Common. ## Perks - **Level 1:** Resistance to magic damage. - **Level 25:** Resistance to psychic damage. - **Level 50:** Health and mana regeneration when in forest environments. - Elfen with the Stag specialisation gain a bonus to magic and lightning damage. - Elfen with the Moon specialisation gain a bonus to both magic and divinus damage. - Elfen with the Wildarrane specialisation gain a bonus to both cold and divinus damage. - **Demigod:** Trait: One With Nature – Health/Mana/Ego regeneration in all natural environments. (Note: Elfen do not gain the One with Nature bonus in Blacktalon Terrain (Wyrden Forest) - **Demigod+**: One With Nature now grants a bonus to both all damage types and damage resistances in all natural/forest environments. ## Variants - **Elfen** - Standard race. - **High Elfen** - Elfen wiccans and druids that specialize in the Moon or Stag totem. - **Elfen Lady/Lord** - Elfen warriors that specialize in either the Moon or Stag totem. - **Wild Elfen** - Elfen bards that learn the art of the Wildarrane. --- ### [Dwarf](https://www.lusternia.com/dwarf/) **Published:** November 6, 2016 **Author:** Estarra **Content:** # Dwarf ![race_dwarf](https://www.lusternia.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2016/11/race_dwarf-250x300.jpg) Descended from the Elder God Clangorum, the dwarven race originally called themselves the clangoru, but humans, when they first arrived in Lusternia, for some reason insisted on referring to the clangoru as dwarves, a term which eventually became accepted in the common vernacular. Although they look like humans, they are substantively shorter and stockier, and their hair grows at a rate five times faster than that of humans. Thus, most male dwarves prefer to grow beards rather than shaving five times a day. Contrary to rumour, it is rare for a female dwarf to grow a full beard; however, growing long, silky sideburns which can be braided is a fairly common practice. They are a robust mountain race with a rich history, though the dwarven kingdom itself was split during the Taint Wars. Languages: Dwarven, Common. ## Perks - **Level 1:** Resistance to fire and cold damage. - **Level 25:** Resistance to blunt and cutting damage. - **Level 50:** Dwarves gain natural resistance (not immunity) against elemental movement effects. - Dwarves with the Axelord specialisation can use two-handed axes more effectively than any other race. - Dwarves with the Music skill gain the trait sociable drinker, increasing their empower and seduction ego attacks while influencing. - **Demigod:** Trait: Guts of Steel – Dwarves can consume more alcohol before suffering the effects of inebriation, their racial resistances increase depending on the Dwarf’s inebriation levels. - **Demigod+:** Improved Trait: Raging Alcoholic – Dwarves gain a bonus to all damage types, scaling with the Dwarf’s inebriation. ## Variants - **Dwarf** - Standard race. - **Dwarven Brewmeister/Brewmistress** - Dwarves of the bardic path who also study the Alchemy specialization of Brewmeister. --- ## Contest Entries ### [Settlements of the Ancient Loboshigaru](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/settlements-of-the-ancient-loboshigaru/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Greetings, Hallifax. Thank you for coming to this lecture. I have come here to expound on the history of the shards of Loboshi and their historical settlement patterns. I realize that it is a narrow topic, but history is a noble field and understanding other cultures, and their history, is key to interacting with them. Now, when I speak of historical settlement patterns, I mean those that vastly predate the modern period, namely those that were in place before the coming of the taint. Modern loboshigaru are of course spread throughout the various cities and communes, along with a significant population in the Tosha Monastery. There may well be other populations in the world. Indeed, I expect that there are. Nonetheless, they are not known to the Basin at large at present. So, how do we come to understand these ancient settlement patterns? Observation, historical records, and inference. We can observe that there is a modern population of loboshigaru located in the Tosha Monastery. Given that institution’s long history and the significance of Toshan practices to the loboshigaru, it is reasonable to presume that it has an ancient precedent. We may also observe that modern loboshigaru dwell primarily in the mountains, and presume that their ancestors lived in similar ways. Their lifestyle and settlements were necessarily adapted to that environment. We may also consult the archaeological record. Those sources, combined with a working knowledge of loboshigaru dietary preferences and other such inclinations, allow us to draw conclusions. That having been said, those conclusions are conclusions, not observations. The archaeological record has gaps. One must always remember two rules of thumb. The first is that incomplete data leads to incomplete conclusions. There may have been entire populations with radically divergent lifestyles that have long since been lost to history. Secondly, we can only be as confident in our conclusions as our sources allow us to be. I would not come before you if I thought that I was wrong, but it is distinctly possible that we are missing crucial data and have strayed from accuracy. My conclusions are fairly simple. I put forward the notion that the ancient loboshigaru combined two radically divergent lifestyles. The combination seems to have been a harmonious one which allowed their civilization to survive. What were those two lifestyles? The monastic and the pastoral. I shall deal with each of them in turn. The monastic lifestyle should be at least superficially familiar to most of us. It is a fully settled lifestyle centered around the monastery. The modern Tosha Monastery is one such place, but I doubt that it is the only one in the race’s history. It seems far more likely that there were many such institutions of various sizes scattered throughout the race’s range. The monks spend a portion of their time in spiritual pursuits, such as meditation and exercise. They also devote some of their time to practical labor in the fields. That provides the monastery with an economic base to support itself, and likely for trade with other loboshigaru populations. Here I should note the possibility of a third lifestyle, one that is both secular and settled. A monastery is a stable institution, one which can naturally serve as the nucleus for a large village or even a city. It is possible that loboshigaru who did not wish to engage in a fully monastic lifestyle but wished to remain in one place could have settled around those institutions. Such individuals may have had some sort of association with their monastery, perhaps as lay monks, or retained an independent sense of identity. Indeed, that strikes me as the most likely root of any sort of organized and primarily loboshigaru civilization. That having been said, there is precious little evidence for or against it at this time. It is something to investigate, I suppose. The other primary lifestyle appears to have been that of the pastoral pack. These populations were fundamentally nomadic, but I do not believe that they wandered purely at random. Pastoralism is of course known among many populations, at least to some degree. It is a natural response to limited resources. To be brief, pastoral populations rely on herd animals, such as sheep or cattle, that they bring from one pasture to the next. They usually follow a traditional schedule, one which allows their herds to survive without overgrazing any single pasture. Mountain pastoralists, as I suppose that the bulk of ancient loboshigaru were, tend to lead their herds up towards the tops of the mountains during the summer and down into valleys during the winter. Others follow the water supply from seasonal rivers, or even travel according to the whims of diviners. A variety of patterns are possible and I expect that the packs varied depending on their traditions and their environments. So, how could these two patterns interact? The monastic populations would have remained in place at all times, more or less. The mobile packs would spend a part of the year in the general vicinity of the nearest monastery. I expect that it would have been the winter, when it is most difficult to travel in the mountains. Those periods are a natural time for interaction between the groups! The wandering packs would naturally take the opportunity to interact through trade, marriages, and other such agreements. They would likewise trade, or possibly pay tribute, to the monastery. Some individuals may even have abandoned a pack to join a monastery. Perhaps the reverse happened as well. I believe that temporary initiation to the monasteries may also have been common. Meditation and other such practices are highly beneficial to the mental state of most loboshigaru. That sort of initiation would have made it much easier for the traveling packs to remain in a state of good mental health. Thus, we can picture a system of settlement with the monastery as a hub, possibly surrounded by a secular settlement. Loboshigaru packs, probably with their herds, travel the areas around the monastery, but come back to it on a regular basis. If we were to trace their routes in broad strokes, the map would likely resemble a wheel with a pastoral exterior, a monastic hub, and traditional routes between the two that resemble spokes. It is a versatile system, highly adaptable, and marvelously suited for the environment. Thank you for coming. I do hope that you have learned something from this lecture, and that it stirs you to reach out towards virtuous foreign populations with curiosity and understanding. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Primer: Domoths](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/primer-domoths/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The script for a lecture on the Domoths. Discussed within are their history, how they are claimed, and why they are claimed. \* Immanidivinus \* Imagine, if you will, a glowing pool of white energy, pulsing in tune with an unheard beat. After a brief time, nine patches appear on one end of it, their colours slowly becoming more vivid, each distinct from the next. The Immanidivinus is the place where the Gods Themselves draw power from. In the ancient past, Edifices of Power were built which allowed a mortal to Ascend to a Vernal God– a passage which required entry to the Immanidivinus to claim their newfound divinity. The Nine Veils of the Domotheos were where these once-mortals were able to breach into the Immanidivinus. Later, they became the place where the Nine Seals, which bind the prison of Lord Kethuru, were placed in order to tap into the Immanidivinus. Thus, they are able to draw power and keep Him bound away from the Basin of Life. \* Poisoned Immanidivinus \* Many centuries ago, a great plague infected the Basin of Life, and even began to creep into that source of Divine energy known as the Immanidivinus. Though it was not known at the time, this was orchestrated by the Soulless God known as Muud. Call to mind the pool once more, and imagine an ominous, sickly green hue that begins to saturate the nine patches of colour, turning them each into a similar shade of puce. Tendrils of rot begin to streak out from there, reaching into the pure white glow. They throb, and the glow begins to dim as they feed and stretch even further. The plague was no ordinary sickness, but it feasted upon the power of the Divine themselves. It took the sacrifice of the last True Ascended God, called Ayridion. He sacrificed all of His power to create a rift between the Veils and the Immanidivinus itself. This rift is called the Threshold Abyss. Now imagine a great tear shuddering through the pool of energy, a wide rift separating it from the nine coloured patches. The sickly green hue fades as the plague is torn asunder from its power source, returning all to as it began, though now split in two. \* Divided Immanidivinus \* Through His sacrifice, the Soulless God Muud’s plan was foiled, and the plague was ended. Yet now there was something new. The Nine Veils had been thrust towards mortal-kind, becoming accessible for those who have fanned their spark to that of a Demigod. Yet it is a taxing place, consuming one’s essence as they struggle to remain within. Only Ascendants are truly at home here, a place intended for those who were on the path to Divinity. Picture a small figure, traversing through the Veils and reaching to the Abyss, but halted from progressing further. No Ascendant can truly become a God, now. The Abyss prevents that, yet it also prevents that source of Divine energy from being tapped and subverted by the Soulless, saving our entire reality. In other realities where this did not occur, all was lost in the end. \* Nature \* Recall the nine patches of colour once more, and in your mind’s eye, focus on the one shown in green. Envision crackling energies that form into vines and briars each budding and glaring with vivid light, sending starry flowers soaring through the emerald air. Life abounds, and the scent of blossoms, pollen, and of lavender wafts by. Clouds swirl in the air, discharging energies with loud snaps, overlaid by the songs of birds, and the buzzing of contented bees. This is the Veil of Nature. Venturing through the Veil, picture an ancient tree with enormous limbs. A stairway of boughs leads further up. The sparkling emerald air swirls, and the glowing leaves tinkle like tiny bells. Large lilac and golden buds sprout in abundance, as well as the creepers and vines that adorn all, until finally one arrives at the heart of this tree, an open center containing a round pool of amber sap. This is the Throne of Nature, a place where control of this Domoth can be challenged for and claimed. Doing so allows an individual to direct its powers towards certain ends. For the Domoth of Nature, this is towards herbs and growth. Other Domoths can provide blessings to races, guilds and even entire organizations, so claiming them is an important duty for us to pursue. Each Domoth has three items of power associated with it. The rod, which controls the weakest power of that Throne. Then the orb, which controls the lesser power. Finally, the crown, which controls its major blessing. Each time the domoth is challenged, the challenger is upgrading to the next level– wresting control of the next item and turning it to the challenger’s will. \* Nature Challenged \* Imagine a figure as it approaches the pool of sap, wielding a splintered bough and glowing green orb within which leaves and flowers appear and fade. The figure spreads its arms wide before the throne, and three willowy fae of nature step forward and attack it. The challenge has commenced. For this first stage, the challenger must defeat thirty champions of the Domoth. These are beings of the Veils themselves, formed of the Domothean energies, and they come to test the mettle of the challengers. Imagine that the three champions are swiftly defeated, but more continue to pour out and die in turn, until finally the Domoth shudders. A round object, looking suspiciously like a wreath, flares and vanishes. The view now shifts to a chaotic shifting sea. Aetherspace lies before you, and within it a few small pockets of reality called aetherbubbles. \* Aetherbubble \* Now imagine the same wreath of vines laying upon the ground of one of these bubbles. Before too much longer, a cluster of figures appear and stand about it. One reaches for it and focuses. In the second stage of a challenge, the challenger must venture into aetherspace and wrest control of the Domothean object. At this point, any Demigod can assert a claim, so enemies may appear to seize it for themselves. If they do, they must be shown no mercy and swiftly expelled. In addition, more champions of the Domoth itself will appear to provide challenge. A chaotic melee will appear for a time, as foes and Champions contest the claim. Yet all are dispatched in the end, and finally the wreath will rise and settle in the hand of the challenger. Victorious, all can then depart the aetherbubble and return home. \* Nature Claimed \* Picture the challenger, alone once more, as they return to the Domoth of Nature and stand before the pool of sap which is the Throne. Power shudders, then fades, as the wreath is lifted to the head to complete the third and final stage of the claim. With the Domoth won, the blessings of the Domoth can be conveyed. Yet this is not the end. It must be regularly maintained, for after a time the challenger loses control of the highest blessing. If left untended long enough, the entire domoth will fall free, ready to be claimed by any other who wishes to challenge it. Beyond that, each Estar a set of them will flux, becoming free for claiming no matter how well-tended they were. Thus, control of the Domothean realm requires effort– yet the effort is well invested. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Tips; Tricks; Trepidation in Questing](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/tips-tricks-trepidation-in-questing/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Book Tips, Tricks, Trepidation in Questing F O R E W A R D Hey, this is just a little message from the author of this book, Kyalrhin. I’m glad that this subject has piqued your interest enough to spend even a couple moments of your time to glance over this modest tome. I hope that your interest develops into a hobby and that you discover the joys of questing such as I have whether it be for the sake of accomplishing many things, discovering hidden bits of lore, or even wishing to possess exotic beasts. Feeling frustrated, need help? This is my open invitation to seek me out and ask questions, be it by letter, message, or direct communication. +=======+ | INDEX | +=======+\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_+ || Foreward ………………. P1 || || Recommended Quests ……… P3 || || Todos of Investigation ….. P4 || || Discovering Hidden Mysteries P5 || || Tricky Locations ……….. P6 || || Common Puzzles …………. P7 || +———————————–+ R E C O M M E N D E D Q U E S T S You may not be aware of this, but there are many quests that are simple, straight-forward and fairly quick to figure out. Simply the completion of these quests provide benefits that exceeds bolstering your honours. Why not give them a try, to dip your toes into the puddle of questing before splashing down into trickier domains? Highly accessible due their intimate relationship with the cities and forests of the Basin, all villages have quests! Not only this, but completion of these quests provide ikons, useful for crafting a gestalt and taking part in psychodrama battles. They also tend to provide a moderate amount of gold, karma, and experience as a ‘thank you’ for resolving their conflict. In particular, these village quests may be worth taking a gander at: o In the village of Angkrag, there is a rowdy, drunk orc who is skipping out on his work in the mines. Turn and push skeletal sentries in a bid to capture him! o Rikenfriez has a problem with their big, frozen pond. Ask Ahhuma about their soft ice problem, but don’t use that pick on too much ice or you’ll get dunked! o Hidden deep in the Undervault, Ixthiaxa is having some difficulty with their productivity. Tkegthui would be grudgingly relieved if you provided him with some assistance. o Mrs. Trundle in Estelbar is ever fretful about the health of the tae’dae cubs. o Murder most foul has struck the manor in Stewartsville. Gumboliah Brooks is on the lookout for someone who can help uncover the identity of the culprit. o Dairuchi is known for the quality of their marble, and this is done by training rockeaters. Draw a path to victory! o In the deepest depths of the night, terrifying hauntings have been taking place in Paavik. A discarded book in the manor may give some clue as to how to bring peace to these restless ghosts. While villages are great for learning to quest, there’s a few other places of note that can also serve this purpose. There are many, many, many more but these are my most recommended quests for a beginner! o Near the hills that border the Serenwilde Forest, there is a small grove tucked away. Retrace the steps of its previous resident. o Sate Tadorro’s belly by bringing the golden salmon back to the Toronada River on an Elemental adventure. o Whether you support the wolves or the taurians of Verasavir Valley, you will surely be thanked for relieving their worries. o In the river by the Shallach ruins, there’s a newly wed couple with marriage issues. Why not give Hethklyff a hand with his demanding bride? o Wandering the Blasted Lands are a scattering of viscanti children. Nevak and Elalioll are in the mountains of Avechna’s Teeth nearby to the east, seeking assistance to aid these lost souls. o Lousha Loo is quite absent-minded and has forgotten the name of the third sister, Sirenalai. Why not visit her in the shallows of the Inner Sea and remind her of it? o If you are a seeker of enlightenment, perhaps the Tosha Monastery in the Razine Mountains may be the place to find it. o Residing on a small island in the middle of the tumultuous Sea of Despair are spectres. Ruudvelt would love for some assistance in scribing their memories inside the Tome of Remembrance. o The beleaguered Duke of Highwater fears that bad karma is seeking his life. Why not provide him some help to ease his worries? His Keep is located in the Southern Mountains. T O D O S O F I N V E S T I G A T I O N Before I begin any quest, I like to investigate the area of that quest. Discarded items that may have been lost by a resident, once returned, may encourage that resident to give you information as thanks for returning it. Hidden locations almost always prove significant in a quest. Taking note of where important residents reside, or of the wildlife in the area, or even of significant structures (like a manor, or tower), may all be key factors in solving a quest. It goes without saying, but greeting a resident is a good place to start if you are snooping for a quest. Sometimes they may not be completely trustful of any stranger coming out of nowhere to greet them, so perhaps offering to help them with a task may earn a bit of their trust. If this still fails, perhaps listen to what they are saying when you greet them, and then asking questions about this may elicit more open communication. Asking for more information might also help in finding items the denizen is asking for too! They were the original owner – probably? – after all! \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is an example of how you could earn a denizen’s trust: I had greeted the chief of the furrikin village of Minkton, Ishar Pricklyfur. Ishar Pricklyfur: Are you the one responsible for our missing fish?! I then asked Ishar Pricklyfur, “Oh no! What’s happened to your fish?” Ishar Pricklyfur relaxed her brows somewhat, clawed fingers gesturing at the nearby river. Ishar Pricklyfur: The fish have suddenly disappeared. We have no idea what has happened to them. Maybe… if you aren’t that nasty fish-stealer… you can help us with this? I had said to Ishar Pricklyfur with conviction, “Yes! I will help you find this fish thief!” Ishar Pricklyfur’s tail then wagged excitedly back-and-forth. Ishar Pricklyfur: Yes, please inquire with Gurash Lotsonaps. He was the one who was supposed to watch the river when the fish suddenly vanished! Another great way to gather information is to approach denizens and ask them about other denizens! I asked Ishar Pricklyfur, “Ah, can you tell me more about Gurash Lotsonaps?” Ishar Pricklyfur smiled sincerely, her sharp little teeth glinting ferociously. Ishar Pricklyfur: He is a great furrikin! Friendly, cooks the best fish, and takes many a nap. I then asked, “Oh, lovely. Can you tell me more about Lamarious Droopsnoot?” Ishar Pricklyfur had rolled her eyes at the mention of the weasel furrikin. Ishar Pricklyfur: Oh, him. If I recall correctly, he seemed to be up to something nefarious around the tackle shack the day before the fish disappeared. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Items can be manipulated in a variety of ways, and it (usually) never hurts to try to interact with them in these basic ways: open, probe, push, pull, turn, touch, and use! Try doing these actions with items you encounter like couches, tiles or coat racks. Who knows? Maybe you will find a missing item that was leaving you stumped until then! You may also need to influence denizens in order to receive information, items, or have them perform certain tasks. D I S C O V E R I N G H I D D E N M Y S T E R I E S A pretentious title for this page, but basically… this is just a really important thing in questing… Look at your surroundings! Probe them deeply! Investigate all things that could be investigated! Ah, I’m coming off strong, aren’t I? Let me demonstrate what I mean with this extremely detailed sketch of a room I had been considering making a part of my manse. ———- A cosy cottage with a view of a pond. The walls of this cottage have been laboriously grown for years from a ring of aspen trees and its roof is an intricate latticework of their branches. The trunks of these young trees have grown around large, oval panes of glass, firmly locking them in their embrace. Each window is covered with twilit-hued draperies, save one that looks upon a nearby pond. Plush carpets of lambswool, tanned deer hides, and various animal skins cover every inch of the floor leaving no trace of the ground visible. A sofa covered in furs sits before a large hearth, pokers and cooking implements hanging from a hooks driven into its stone. Rough carvings of the local wildlife are tucked into a basket next to sofa, as are the tools of their making. Other rooms in the cottage are blocked off by heavy tapestries deftly woven with naturalistic scenes. ———- When I look at all the stuff in this room, like the furniture and various odds-and-ends, I see many things that I would interact with in a bid to find hidden treasures. For example, if I pulled hard on a tanned hide, it could reveal a narrow tunnel in the dirt leading down! Or if I pushed the basket around, I might suddenly take note of a peculiar carving – carved from mahagony in the figure of a howling wolf – tumbling out of it onto the ground. Or even if I investigated that iron hook, I might turn it to find that it was loose. The bone ladle it was holding would then clatter onto the nearby pelts soundlessly. \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, it is not enough to casually look at items. Sometimes you need to probe deeper and see if they can be manipulated further. For example if I probed the hearth in that cottage very closely, I would take notice of extra details like the following sketch: ———- This hearth is built from local river rock; salmon pinks, pale purples, smokey greys, turquoise blues, and glints of quartz striating black rock are all laid together in a chaotic mosaic. Bits of charcoal, fine mounds of ash, and a small pyramid of logs preoccupy the floor of the hearth, iron grates with slim bars installed in staggered steps along either side of the hearth’s interior walls. Pots and pans sit upon the various levels of the grates, some still bearing the remnants of the prior night’s meal. Hooks have been driven into the side of the hearth, various implements of cooking hanging upon them. A smoke-stained chimney of sorts leads into the canopy of the roof to disappear into their branches and beyond. ———- If I would thoroughly investige the hearth in the sketch, I would notice something odd about the logs in it. If I pushed aside some of these logs, an amber necklace might tumble onto the floor of the hearth. You wouldn’t notice these logs from a casual glance of the room, but they could only be ascertained by looking more closely at the hearth. Some quests will be tricky like that. If you have having trouble finding something, it may be that you need to examine a little more closely at something that previously may have held nothing. T R I C K Y L O C A T I O N S Not all places are simple to get to. Here are some that I have discovered. o Chancel: “The Forge of Klangratch.” Down from this location in the Razine Mountains is the entrance into the Chancel of Mysteries. o Duum: “Gaping hole amid sweating stegamites.” North and up from this location in the Southern Tunnels of the Undervault will lead to the Village of Duum. o Feyranti Estate: “Surrounded by Avechna’s Teeth.” Near the Blasted Lands in Avechna’s Teeth, if you PULL some BRANCHes aside here, you will discover the road to the Estate. o Highwater: “Below the broken mountain.” Head up from this room in the Southern Mountains to enter Highwater. o Iklara: “Within a broken spire.” There’s a mirror at this location in the Skarch Desert. However, you will only be able to TOUCH it and enter Iklara if you have completed both of the Night Market quests. o Krik’s organ: “Carved cliffs.” PUSH some SYMBOLS here in the Southern Mountains to reveal the entrance south into Krik’s abode. o Meliashmora: “A small crest in the Razines.” Scale here within the Razine Mountains to access the path into the Meliashmora of Secrets. o Mirror Prison: There is a massive door in the Skarch Desert. The location of the door varies, and it changes with every sandstorm. Should you find the door, WRESTLE with the DOOR and then KNOCK on the DOOR to gain entry into the chaotic Mirror Prison. o Mount Wend: In the northern-most recess of the St. Gathlyn’s Orphanage there is a locked gate. This is the way into Mount Wend. You can either choose to assist Agitho make a crown of flowers, or beg directly from Merynth for a key, to unlock that gate. o Mournhai: “Between a roc and a hard place.” Where rocs congregate in the Razine Mountains, PUSH a SKELETON here to reveal the entrance in. o Night Market: “Before an alien obelisk.” An Illuminati stands guard before this obelisk. If you agree to assist him, he will activate it allowing access to the Night Market by TOUCHing the obelisk. o Tosha: “A large rock on a barren patch of stone.” PUSH the ROCK here to reveal the entrance up. o ???: “Stone steps below a yawning cave.” If you SCALE up once, there will be a cave that you can enter. C O M M O N P U Z Z L E S There are some puzzles that you will find pop up time and time again while questing. Here are descriptions of some of them! LIGHTS OUT ———- These require that you either turn all the lights on, or turn them all off. Generally. There are exceptions for everything, after all. These puzzles tend to be a 3×3 grid and when you affect one square in the grid, that square and the surrounding ones are affected. If you manipulate the top left corner of this grid, this happens: +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ | o | o | o | | x | x | o | +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ | o | o | o | ===> | x | o | o | +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ | o | o | o | | o | o | o | +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ LOGIC PUZZLES ————- Logic puzzles are pretty common in quests! They require that you acquire a series of clues to solve a puzzle. In the case of Estelbar, you are trying to figure out which cubs get which pills and toys. You can organise the clues you receive in a table like so: +——+——-+——+ | CUBS | PILLS | TOYS | +——+——-+——+ | Bebe | ????? | ???? | +——+——-+——+ Keeping the clues organised and filling the table out as you go is the simplest way to solve these logic puzzles. MAGIC NUMBERS ————- A magic numbers puzzle is a math puzzle. You will be given a grid with numbers on the outer edges. The goal is to put numbers in the grid that adds up to the numbers along the edges. Some puzzles are lenient in that they allow you to use numbers multiple times, while others are more stringent and will ask that you use each number only once in the entire puzzle, or one per row, or one per column. Here is a simple example of a magic numbers puzzle, with its solution: 12 15 18 12 15 18 +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ 6 | ? | ? | ? | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ 15 | ? | ? | ? | ===> 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ 24 | ? | ? | ? | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | +—+—+—+ +—+—+—+ MINDTEASERS ———– Often these puzzles show up as needing to push or press gemstones in a certain order to activate a device, open up a location, or for some other purpose. They are not always gemstones. Sometimes the puzzle requires putting idols into slots, or pushing runes, or pulling levers of certain colours. It varies from quest to quest but the general principle remains. The way to solve these puzzles is to first press all of a single type of gemstone, or whatever, to see how many there are of that kind in the sequence. It’s good to use a gemstone you know will have no response to figure out where other inputs should be. Like the following: OPAL | OPAL | OPAL | OPAL …. there are two correct gems. OPAL | OPAL | ONYX | ONYX …. there is one correct gem, one gem that is in the wrong place, and two wrong gems. OPAL | ONYX | OPAL | ONYX …. there are two correct gems, and two incorrect gems. Some of these mindteasers are tricky… they will have unique pieces that must be put in the correct order. It’s best to try to solve where these pieces go one at a time, taking note of positive and negative indicators for the other pieces as you go. TOWER PUZZLES ————- These puzzles typically involve needing to shift heavy slabs from one tower to another, using three towers. The slabs will be enumerated, usually one to six, and due to their weight you may only carry one slab at a time. The only slab you can choose from a tower will be the lightest one. The solution to these is actually quite simple: think in odds and evens. If you have a tower of six slabs, you’ll want the first slab in the destination tower to be two. In the example below, the eventual destination tower is the third one. The middle tower is where the “odd” slabs rest, and the destination tower is where the “evens” end up. | || ||| |||| ||||| |||||| || ||| |||| ||||| |||||| | ||| |||| ||||| |||||| | || ||| |||| ||||| | |||||| \_ || You would then continue to shift slabs, putting three in the middle, moving one to the left, two to the middle, and one to the middle. This leaves the destination tower open to house the fourth slab. And so on and so on until you manage to free up the sixth slab to go in that tower. If you just think in “evens” and “odds”, these towers become very simple to solve! **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Palga and the Body Changer](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/palga-and-the-body-changer-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** PALGA AND THE BODY CHANGER It has been a few weeks since Palga started her traning as a detective under Chajomi. Today was her first case as the lead. Palga was a young mugwump from Balach Swamp that decided research wasn’t her calling. She found peace in helping others by solving crimes. Chajomi and Palga walked into the sectioned off blacksmith within Stewartsville that had become a recent crime seen. As they approached a commanding officer there, Chajomi smiled, “Hello. You must be leader officer Motan. I’m detective Chajomi, this is my assistant junior detective Palga.” The officer took the two over door of the blacksmith. The officer spoke with a monotone voice, “I don’t understand it. They didn’t take anything of real worth. But they sure did take a decent bit of it. It appears several bags of coal were stolen. Nothing else seems to be messing.” Motan glances at a house in the distance. “The village babies that are often taken for the Glomdorian rituals are still here, so it doesn’t seem to be an attack by that forest.” Palga looks at the mansion on the hill before she speaks, “What about the Countess? Is she doing ok? Or has another attempt on her life by made?” The Countess never seems to catch a break with all the murdering going on within her home. Two investigations within the village could prove to be a rather bad thing. Not to mention that those who try to murder the Countess always seem to be let go and return to the mansion. “There doesn’t seem to be any extra persons within the mansion, Palga.” replied an officer on the scene. “But I do agree that the constant murders going on there could be used to cover the tracks of this murderer.” Over the next few days, Palga with the help of her mentor Chajomi watching closely but staying far enough back to let her skills show, the investigation carried on. Each day proved to be less helpful than the last. Each new day showed that the killer was toying with the officers by leaving a new body. The killer did stay in the same general area of shops even when officers stayed the whole night. “I don’t understand, Chajomi. The victims were seen only a few hours before their deaths. And yet their bodies show signs of being dead for much longer…” “Just follow what you know so far. Use your gut to lead you to more clues.” replied Chajomi. Palga shrugged a bit as she reviewed the case in her mind, thinking of any possible crazy reasoning behind how the bodies got cold so fast. As the case of the murder attempt at the mansion finished at the cook was taken away while the rest of the staff rejoiced in their employer not being dead, Palga noticed something looking out from the window. A shadowy figure that only lasted for a moment before vanishing. Palga ran into the mansion and looked around to make sure she wasn’t crazy in what she saw. After a few hours of looking, she ventured down to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the cook greeted the detective and asked if Palga needed anything. Murder attempts in this village didn’t seemed to be taken too seriously as the ones charged were let go only a day after being caught. Never the less, Palga questioned the cook on her recent crime, taking notes, and trying to figure out if she knew anything or if she was the killer herself. All the answers pointed to that the cook had nothing to do with the other killings, but one strange thing seemed to stand out. The account of the trying to murder the Countess didn’t match what actually happened. Once the cook saw Palga had figured this out, the cook started to run, trying to get out of the mansion. Palga quickly pointed her weapon at the cook and fired the weapon. The body flew back and slammed against the wall of the mansion. As blood flowed out of the open wounds, a cloaking spell faded from the cook’s body to reveal it was someone else. “…I didn’t expect that to happen.” Palga commentted. It turned out that the murder was a human male by the name of Cawabo who used illusions to hide his identity and try and blame the cook for not only the most recent attempt on the Countess but also the people from the village as well. “Cawabo here thought that she could use the guise of the murder at the mansion to hide and make people think that killer branched out. It was a rather clever thing to try but still failed once Palga completed her first case on her own. The pride clearly shown on Chajomi’s face as they took Cawabo away. THE END **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Thornwatch and the Wyrdling](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-thornwatch-and-the-wyrdling/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** An events post written for the Thornwatch: The Wyrdling is a mighty beast, transformed by the Glomdoring from what it once was; a small furrikin, frail and frightened. Thus was born a creature which is an ultimate symbol of the Glomdoring’s power, and it is imbued with that self-same strength– it can bend many other things to the Glomdoring’s purposes. Yet even the mightiest of beasts can fall. The Glomdoring will not release such a servant willingly, however. Not even death can free it from its tah’vrai; while the corpse of the Wyrdling itself remains in its lair, curled up in death, a small furry creature known as “Gibber” can be found roaming amongst the trees. Its mind is gone, and it hungers for the bounty of the Wyrd, which will return it to its rightful place once more. The Wyrdling’s return requires that the Glomdoring promptly act to rectify matters should the worst come to pass. It is essential that we of the Thornwatch know what to do, for the Wyrdling must be restored as quickly as possible to his full strength, lest more damage follow. Towards this end, some years ago, a small creature was brought to the Glomdoring to re-enact this rite in Gibber’s stead. A squirrel, young, and constantly chittering in fear for it knew not what its future held. The Thornwatch gathered around it, called to action by the fel’Greev and the dae’Nehvias– Aurik, Gurashi, Kyalrhin, and Pip, all eager to throw themselves at the task for which they were summoned. Banding together, the Thornwatch sought out the sporegrass around the Glomdoring. Cutting down as much as they could find, they brought it all back, and into the squirrel the grass was stuffed. Its chittering diminished, as its body twisted, but this was surely not enough for our needs. Next, loamadores were pursued wherever they hid, both in the forest above and hanging within the tunnels below. All were gathered, and rendered down into a slurry which could be stuffed into our captive. As it feasted, its body grew further, its hair falling out and skin turning dark and scaled. Thornbeasts were collected next, and they too were fed into the beast, now the size of a dog. Its skin cracked as wings forming upon its back, and its teeth grew sharp and fierce. Violet vines erupted from its scales scales, fiercely barbed like the thornbeasts themselves. For the penultimate step, oozes were demanded, a thick putrid beverage with which to wash down the feast that came before. By now, the once-squirrel ravenously devoured whatever was placed before it, without hesitation– its transformation nearly complete as it became ever more closely bonded to the Glomdoring. A dark ooze began to seep from its body where the thorns pierced its skin, and it cried out in ecstasy, eager for what came next. Finally, one grotesque ravenwood tree was fed to it, and it grew further, the vines tightening against its body as it swelled in size to that of a direwolf. The Thornwatch, through our combined efforts, re-created the steps through which the Wyrdling itself was born, and now within our maze resides a second Wyrdling, much smaller than its namesake, but no less fierce for that. What does the future hold for this creation of ours? We shall see, as the years pass. For now, it stands as testament to the Thornwatch and our purpose– securing knowledge, to ensure that it never be lost and that the Glomdoring ever thrives. Xenthos An’Ryshe **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Huting of Squid](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-huting-of-squid/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Call me Impish. That’s not my name, though I suppose to an outsider it seems close enough to most Gnome names. We don’t usually get imps in aetherspace. But I had an uncle, once, who spent some time down there in Newton Caverns, and he sees all sorts. “You’re impish,” he said to me once, after I rewired his new Sparkatron to produce magic mouths spouting colorful insults, instead of sparkles. “It’ll get you in trouble some day, boy.” Well, it’s gotten me into trouble now. That’s why my home ship, the Star Hopper, is currently bound for some little bubble called Aquagoria in the back end of Prime aetherspace that’s nothing but water, water, and more water, to drop me off for duty on board some vessel called the Tid-Bit. The Tid-Bit itself is not even an aethership properly: it’s a surface vessel. Honestly, nobody sane would volunteer to serve there. I didn’t volunteer either. I was volunteered because I tried to run away into deep aetherspace with my girl Tink and a little two-room aethership I built myself. One chair, one grid, all of aetherspace in front of us. Well, apparently that caused a bit of a ruckus since Tink was supposed to be selling her dresses this trip, and Captain Girda had to fend off a bunch of angry surface folk, and then Tink changed her mind about it anyway. So Captain Girda threw me off the ship, and none of the other ships wanted to take me on, except this Tid-Bit – I presume because they can’t get anyone else. A knock on my cabin door makes me look up. It’s Tink, in all her pink-haired glory. “Are you ready?” she asks me. “The Captain wants to know if you’ve packed.” “Yeah,” I reply, because there’s no way to say ‘I’m bringing everything but you’ or ‘You could at least have come with me.’ She wouldn’t anyway, I guess. There’s no high fashion to be had this side of the Aether, and I never really thought (even when we were planning to run off by ourselves) that Tink would ever be happy in the long term without getting to make her dresses for people. “Sorry, Impish,” she says quietly, and I shake my head. “Let’s go,” I say, and we walk out the door, down the corridors I’ve known all my life, and I leave it all behind. — The captain of the Tid-Bit is a formidable-looking gnome, maybe even more so than Captain Girda. He cuts an imposing figure, with a clockwork leg and an expansive air. His ship is a lot more cramped, and the captain’s viewing chamber is at the bottom of the ship instead of the front, which is disorienting to me. But Captain Beehab nods as I introduce myself, and looks me up and down. “Well, lad,” he says, “You don’t look like much, but I suppose you’ll do. I run a tight ship around here, and there’s no other ship within hailing distance most of the year. The Star Hopper’s been kind enough to give us some supplies, but otherwise we make do with what we can get ourselves. So there’s to be no complaining – everything you’re having, the whole crew is sharing. But we’re gnomes on a mission, and we’ve got to get the job done.” I nod along, and it’s not until I’m being shown to my quarters that I summon up the courage to ask my guide what the Captain’s on about. Is he looking for glaetherial dust, or maybe auronidion? This little bubble seems like a strange place to carry out any sort of mission. The other crewman is a friendly sort, and introduces himself as Speedy. “Well, I’m new too,” he says, “So I only know what the others told me, but long ago, the Captain was exploring here. He wasn’t even on his ship – he had an aethership back then – he was just on the bubble. When up came this giant monster squid out of nowhere, right? And grabs the Captain by the leg. Not the mechanical one, I mean. Well, the real one before he got the mechanical one.” “And?” I ask, horrified and fascinated despite myself. We reach the end of the hallway, and I stop by the door so I can hear him out. “And it was crushing him and dragging him down into the depths, so he had to blast off his own leg to escape. And they say that ever since he’s been looking for revenge on the beast, and that’s why he built this ship, and hired on all these crewmen, because he wants to kill the giant squid.” Speedy shudders, and looks around. “Personally, between us, I think that’s a little crazy. But all we have to do is follow orders, right? I’m on a rotation here from my home ship, and they’re coming back for me in three months. Just have to wait till then.” “Lucky you,” I say, and mean it. — The ship – the submarine – is a little crazy in more ways than one. For one, it’s not run by an algontherine, and it doesn’t run on power. Apparently other aetherships used to bring down fuel, but at some point they decided enough was enough and gave up on us. We just drift aimlessly on the sea, while Flannel the alchemist tries to think up increasingly bizarre things we could use to propel ourselves forward. Flannel reminds me a little of Professor Gargle back on the Star Hopper, though maybe he’s a little more focused. Gargle tended to forget what he was working on at any given moment. Flannel remembers the end goal, just not which step he’s currently on. “What about wood?” Flannel shouts at me unceremoniously, two weeks after I arrive on the ship. I open up my eyes blearily, to see him standing over me in his sleeping robe. I don’t know why he picked me – maybe because my room is closest to his laboratory. “What about it?” I mumble. My head feels like it’s stuffed with wool. I look at my watch. It’s two hours past midnight. “We could burn it,” says Flannel excitedly. “And use it to boil water, and make steam to send towards the propellers. It would carry us forward.” I take a deep breath, and try my very hardest not to grab Flannel and bang his big head against the railing of my bunk. “Flannel,” I say patiently. “We are in the middle of an ocean. We do not have wood. Go back to sleep.” “Well,” he calls out as he leaves, “It was a decent idea.” Flannel’s a bit of an oddity like that – all the crew have a Flannel story of some sort. They say he’s been here since the beginning with the Captain, and somehow the Captain has managed to get Flannel to believe in this crazy mission. He spends all day hunched over his workbench trying to find a poison for the giant squid. I’m not sure why we can’t just shoot the thing with a turret like we had on the Star Hopper, and I ask one day at dinner while Flannel’s not there. The room goes briefly silent. “Have you ever seen the beast?” asks one of the older crew. I shake my head. “It’s huge,” he says. “Like an aethership huge. And you can’t hit it – when you try, it multiplies. You thought you were fighting one monster, now you have two. Hit it again, now you have three.” “That’s not possible,” I say, dumbly. “Squid don’t reproduce like that.” “It’s not any old squid,” says the old-timer. “I hear it’s a soulless beast.” A murmur goes through the room, and he shakes his head. “It’ll kill us all yet.” Speedy and I exchange a glance. I don’t know if what they say is true, or if they’re just ribbing us newcomers, but I guess I’ll find out. — By and by the weeks blur together, and soon enough I’ve been on the Tid-Bit for two months. Life’s not bad, for all that it’s not what I’m used to. Passing aetherships bring us rations, and instead of trying to purify our own water – which is hard when you’re surrounded by so much sea – we’ve got one of Professor Gargle’s self-filling teapots. I’ve never managed to reverse engineer one of those, and the one time I wanted to take a closer look at it here the Captain took one look at me and said he’d throw me out the pressure lock if I tried. Two months is when Flannel has his latest, greatest idea. “Things that burn!” he shouts. I look at my watch. It’s four in the morning, but since I was on night duty trying to spot the squid anyway, I guess I can’t complain. Flannel grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me. “Listen to this,” he says. “We want a renewable source of something that burns, right? And that can be generated here?” “Yes,” I answer, because he seems to expect it. “Well, there’s something that fits all of that – squid. We shoot the squid, it makes more squid. We kill the more squid, and now there’s something to burn!” “You’re three heads short of a scyllus,” I tell him, because that’s the craziest idea I’ve heard from him yet. He must have gone to the Captain with it though, and the Captain clearly liked it, because next thing I know we’ve all got harpoons and waterbreathe enchantments. Speedy and I get paired up, and as we kick off into the murky depths of the sea, it briefly occurs to me to wonder how this is my life. The old-timers weren’t lying about the squid. We spotted the huge squid in the distance, but before we knew it we ended up surrounded by so many smaller squids, undulating menacingly at us. I don’t have a lot of experience with squid, but they didn’t give us too much trouble. Speedy and I hauled the carcasses back to the Tid-Bit, where Flannel all but drooled over them. He made it work, the crazy genius. A few short hours later, the Tid-Bit was moving again, as we roamed the ocean floor in search of that squid. Better still, Flannel finally finished his complicated poison, and brought us out a special harpoon to administer it. The Captain grins fiercely, like a man who sees home berth at the end of a flashpoint. “Who’s the best harpoon hand among us?” the Captain asks, and everyone looks at Speedy, because despite how new he is he took to it like an algontherine to a manse. “All right,” the Captain says. “Speedy, you’re on harpoon. Impish, you watch his back.” The Tid-Bit chased the squid, and Speedy and I go back out into the ocean. It’s easy now to spot the huge dark form in the distance – our enemy we’d been hunting for so long, the Devourer of Destiny. I signal to Speedy, indicating that we should sneak around to strike it in the side, out of sight of its beady eyes and out of reach of its maw. As we swim, I can see Speedy getting tenser, his hand gripping the harpoon tightly. We’re quiet, and we’re almost there. He draws back his arm – – and the squid suddenly lashes out, turning its gigantic form around, a nightmare of a spiked maw opening towards us. Speedy freezes for just a moment, but it’s too late. I feel a strange cold that’s not from the sea water, as everything happens as though in a slow dream. The maw grabs Speedy by both legs, tosses him up through the water. I see rather than hear Speedy cry out, as he lets go of the harpoon. Then the maw snaps again, closing around him, and Speedy is gone. I don’t know what instinct made me react. I can feel myself screaming something incoherent, and my throat hurts with the salt of the sea. My hand snaps out as if by reflex, and grabs the harpoon. I strike hard; I feel the shock through my arm as my weapon sinks deep. There’s no way to pull it out, with that barbed point. Instead, I shove harder, half-blind with fear, half-mad with rage. Something grabs me by both shoulders, pulls me backwards, and I know no more. — I wake up to bright lights and softness under me, though my head pounds. It’s a familiar sight – there are my old navigation maps on the wall, and there’s one of Tink’s posters pasted to the ceiling. I’m in my own cabin. A face comes into view: Flannel the alchemist, with a bottle in his hand. “You had a close call,” he tells me, and hands me the bottle. “Drink up.” “Medicine?” I mumble, propping myself up on one arm to raise the bottle to my lips. “Alcohol,” says Flannel grimly, and after a moment, “What do you remember?” It all comes rushing back: the sea, the darkness, the monster. I grip the bottle tighter. My hand is shaking. “Speedy?” I ask, and Flannel shakes his head. “The Captain went out after you two,” he says. “But we could only recover you, though the beast was dead at that point. Speedy was – ” – the giant maw, closing around Speedy. That frozen look of terror and surprise – “The Captain can go shoot dragons without a shockwave,” I say roughly. I can hear the quiver of hysteria in my voice, but there’s no stopping that. “What right does he have – what right did he ever have, to drag us all into this mess because some beast took his leg years ago? Speedy would be alive if not for this damn vengeance mission.” Flannel looks at me oddly. “Where did you hear that?” he asks me, and before I can go on, he says, “The Captain lost his leg only in the third year after we started hunting the beast. We’ve killed it four times by now.” I stare up at him, because it makes no sense. I haul myself out of my bunk and shove the bottle at Flannel, ignoring his protests. Then I stagger up the narrow corridor of the Tid-Bit and stumble down the stairs to the Captain’s chamber, where Captain Beehab is staring out the window. He turns as I approach, and for a strange moment I feel as though I’ve returned to the first time I met the Captain, before all of this happened. “You knew,” I say accusingly. “You – knew – it comes back!” The Captain nods at me slowly. “We’re no Elder Gods, lad,” he says. “The Soulless won’t stay dead, with the means that we have. That wasn’t the mission.” He looks down briefly. “I’m sorry about Speedy. We’ve not lost anyone in many, many years.” He contemplates his false leg, tapping absently at the gears there. “For many years, the only casualty was me.” “Why?” I ask. Why did he chase the beast so, if not for revenge? Why had he ever started? Why did he continue? The Captain doesn’t answer immediately. Instead, he leafs through the detritus of his desk, and shoves something towards me. I look down at it. It’s a navigational chart, day by day, with all our co-ordinates marked in tiny, neat letters. It goes further back than when I joined – some of the earlier entries have faded ink. “The Soulless might take the form of a sea beast,” he says at last, “But never assume that’s all that it is, or that anything so simple as an aetherbubble could contain it.” I look down at the chart again, looking at the trail we marked. Round and around the ocean, chasing the squid or being chased by it. Round and around, in endless circles, like a slanikk chasing its own tail. The Captain looks thoughtfully at me. “I’ve received a hail,” he says. “From Speedy’s ship. They’re expecting him back on board. I told them the news, and they say they’ll take you instead. The Star Hopper would probably let you transfer back from there in a few months – I know Girda, and she’ll calm down after a while.” His manner softens for a moment. “You’ve done your part, Impish.” I look at the Captain, and think of the years he must have spent doing this, without hope of an end. I think of the Star Hopper: of the Professor and his gadgets; of Captain Girda, stern but not without her sense of humour; of Tink and her outrageously flirtatious manner that fades whenever she actually sits down to work on something, her fingers working deftly as she fashions a new gear on an aethersuit. I wonder who the Captain thinks of, and who he means to protect. “I’ll stay,” I say. “Not forever. But for a while. You could use me.” The Captain nods. He doesn’t seem surprised. “Get some rest for now,” he says. “You’ve earned it. And when the beast wakes again, we’ll start from the beginning.” I nod, and he turns back to the window, staring out into the deep. Around us, the Tid-Bit sails on, into the endless ocean. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2016 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Knights of the Sun and Moon](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-knights-of-the-sun-and-moon/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** There was a time when the whole world shifted and groaned, when the Soulless ones sought to feast on the world. There was a time when the Elders were gone, but their heirs still remained to fight, hard-pressed though they were. The wildest of beasts hunted the world, for it was yet young, and warlords fought to take what they could when few could restrain them. It was a sword age and a staff age, an age of weeping and lamentation. It was a horn age and a banner age, an age of hope and glory. Many men suffered greatly in those dark days, but they fought and they did great deeds upon the fields of glory. The Castle of the Ivory Tower rose up in the mountains, a place of endless peaks and valleys. Each one had a village and a story. Many swore allegiance to king Fiyok in those days, a man of Xyl’s shattered line. He had honor and justice. He had power and ferocity. People bent their knees to him out of love and the need for safety. He had many hundreds of knights in his service, each one schooled in the valorous arts of war and chivalry. None could find his court wanting, not in furious battle or in merciful peace. The king sent his knights for on errantry, that they might cover themselves in glory and win new lands for the kingdom. Sir Aidik, likewise a man of Xyl’s line, was a man of that court. He was long of limb and fair of face. The common people preferred him to his brothers, for Sir Aidik was always quick to smile. His lance was long, his sword was keen, and his hauberk was as stout as courage itself. His shield bore the mark of a shining sun upon a blue field, bounded by a white border. People called him the Knight of the Sun for that shield. ——— Sir Aidik rode where the winds led him, sleeping under the a blanket of starlight and eating the fruits that the wilderness saw fit to offer. He traveled for nine days and nine nights without seeing another living man, but in time he came upon a great bridge. Now, that bridge spanned the gap between two mountain peaks, each one jagged and rough, each one crowned with a snowy cap. They were so much alike that people called them the Twins in those days, and Sir Aidik thought to pass between them. He took his horse up to the bridge, but he soon saw another knight that stood upon the other peak. The bridge was only wide enough for one to pass. “Stand aside,” the other knight cried, “for I am out on errantry, and am sworn to give way only to the man who has surpassed me in valor.” Sir Aidik had taken the same oath, and so he could not give way. He bade the knight stand aside, knowing full well that he would be refused. And so he offered to settle it by means of arms. The other knight consented to this, and they met in the middle of the bridge so that each could offer three strokes with the sword. It was only then that Sir Aidik looked up his foe’s shield and saw it clearly. It bore a triangle of stars on a sable field, arrange around a crescent moon. Thus he knew that he faced the Knight of the Moon. They exchanged their blows. The knights gave as well as they got, and their blood flowed freely. Neither could best the other, nor could either bear to yield. Sir Aidik laid his sword aside after his three blows, and his foe did the very same deed at the very same moment. They embraced. “What,” cried Sir Aidik, “is your name? I must know it, for never in all of my life have I met a man who matched me so well.” “My name,” the other knight said, “is Sir Kidai, and I declare on my honor that I have never taken more joy in battle than on this day.” Now, each of those knights knew that he had a brother, one that that he had never met. They realized in that moment that they were brothers, both by the blood of their parents and by the blood that had mingled on the bridge. They embraced and swore that they would never cross swords again. Those twin peaks were ever after known as the Peaks of the Sun and Moon, and that bridge was called the Bridge of Brothers. —————- Those two brothers wished to win glory on the field of battle, but their wounds pained them very much. They went down from the mountains and passed into a fair valley where they hoped to find rest and comfort. It was a pretty place, a valley of bees and flowers. They followed a long road through that valley, but it was a delight to them. They passed rich orchards, but no wild forests. They passed fountains that gave sweet water, but no wild springs. They heard the grunting of pigs, but not the snarling of boars. They soon came to a fair village and road into the square. They rang the town’s bell and shouted to see if anyone was there. Two maidens, women of Trillalillial’s line, came forth to meet the knights. They were fair of face and long of hair, as lovely as the stars. They were twins, just as the Knights of the Sun and Moon were twins. They offered bread and wine, a place to sleep, and fodder for the horses. They offered the best care that they could offer. The knights accepted at once, and the maidens led them home. They feasted together on a fine table, eating bread from golden plates and drinking wine from silver cups. They had honey and wafers and spices of every description. That made merry together, and even the dog that rested under the table could eat his fill. It was only then that the maidens began to tend to the wounded knights. The two ladies bathed the two knights and put stitches in their wounds. The brothers were very pleased, for they had not expected so much. “Tell me,” spoke Sir Aidik, for he did not wish to see his hosts go unrepaid, “tell me how I might repay you for all you have done.” “Speak!” cried Sir Kidai, not wanting to be outdone, “speak and say what troubles you, that we might spare you from it.” The two ladies were silent, and they snuffed out their candles. Night fell, and the whole house fell into a deep sleep. Their dreams were sweet. —————- Sir Aidik and Sir Kidai soon awoke from their slumber, and they declared that they had never felt so well-rested as on that morning. No voice answered them, for they were alone in the house. The sounds of weeping and wailing, of screaming and moaning, came to them through the window. They stood up at once and armed for battle, then they rushed out into the town’s square. The two knights saw the two maidens, but the sight filled them with sorrow. The ladies were bound at their wrists and their ankles, stuck to twin poles in the center of the square. Villagers were all around them, weeping and wailing and rending their garments. The knights shouted to them, demanding that they release the women. “We cannot,” spoke their leader, “we cannot, for Andalen will have his due of us or else destroy us all.” Sir Aidik would hear no such thing, and he called out to the man in a strong voice. “Who is this Andalen to demand such a fee?” “He is the lord of this valley, a giant of ancient blood, foul-hearted, strong-limbed, a terror to all men.” “He is nothing,” spoke Sir Kidai, “nothing at all. A corpse to feed the crows, a fountain of blood to wet our swords, and a memory to haunt you.” His words gave courage to some and fear to others, for no man knew if the knights could triumph in battle. The giant soon came forth to claim his tribute, and he found two knights in his path. They were steel-clad and furious, bearing the arms of the sun and the moon. The bore long lances and sharp swords. Thus did Sir Aidik and Sir Kidai meet with the giant Andalen. ———— The two knights spoke with one voice. Their tones were iron and their hearts thirsted for battle. “Kneel and repent, for we may yet spare you, if you swear on your life to keep the peace and abandon this tribute.” Thus they spoke, knowing full well that Andolen would never take such an oath. The giant spat at them, and roared at them, and stamped his great feet upon the ground. “I shall feast,” he bellowed, “upon the sons of Xyl and the daughters of Trillalillial, and I shall devour them whole. My rights are my own, and I shall never surrender them. For thirty years I have lived here, and for thirty years they have lived in peace. The shepherd who protects his flock may eat of their flesh, so long as he slays the wolves that come upon him.” He roared out those words and charged at the knights. He bore a heavy club, nearly as large as a belltower, and he wore great hunks of wood and armor. The Knights of the Sun and Moon lowered their helms and couched their lances. They dug their spurs into their steeds and charged into the fray. They shattered their lances upon his bulbous feet and rode their horses between their foe’s legs. Andolen screamed, for he had not suffered such wounds in all his life. His blood splattered on the ground like a storm of red rain. He hefted his club and turned towards the knights even as his blood was flowing, for he was one of the old giants, and his kind could survive terrible wounds. The two knights had no squires with them, for their valor exceeded their wealth, and so they had no helpers to arm them with fresh lances. The time had come for sword work. They allowed Andolen to close, staying so close to each other that their knees were touching. They parted when the giant struck out at them, and so his club wounded only the ground. They road around him on either side, hacking and slashing with their swords. They struck with the ferocity of hate, the sort of hate that can only come from chivalrous men who have seen a scoundrel. Thus they fought, and the they shed rivers of blood. The giant’s blows opened great holes in the earth, and the carnage was so great that each of those holes filled with blood. Nine times he struck, and nine lakes they filled with gore. The knights took to their feet, for their horses could not run through those pools of blood. They stepped into the gore, and it rose so high that their heads could hardly peek over it. Andolen could not see them, for he was very tall and they seemed very small to him. He stepped into the bloody lakes and brought his head low to the ground, looking for the knights like a pauper might look for a discarded coin. Sir Aidik and Sir Kidai saw their chance. The struck upward, and each one pierced one of the giant’s eyes. They cut deeply and struck with such force that the eyes go stuck on their swords. They pulled the giant eyeballs out as they recovered their weapons. Andolen roared and bellowed and moaned, but he could not fight any longer. He fell to the ground. That was the end of Andolen. The villagers took great joy in his defeat, and they laid a great feast of celebration for all to enjoy. It became a wedding feast, for Sir Aidik and Sir Kidai honored the custom of those days. Each brother wed one of the rescued twins. They had cared for each other and protected each other, and so it was until the end of their days. The two brothers ruled as the new lords of that place, and they never allowed another such creature to threaten it. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Wyrden Treatise I](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/wyrden-treatise-i/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ————————————————————————————- Wyrden Treatise I: Freedom in Fetters an essay by Versalean ————————————————————————————- THE FIRST TRUTH ————————————————————————————- Good neighbour, there is a paradox scribed deep upon the hearts of the lesser races, and it is thus: an adventurer will fight against unspeakable odds in order to protect her freedom… yet given the choice to exercise freedom, she will usually choose not to. You know this, and so do the shrewder traders in the Basin. “Aye, buy this fesix cloak now, and if you change your mind within fourteen months we shall proffer a full refund!” Does the trader offer this guarantee to your benefit, O loyal customer, or to his own? ‘Tis simplicity: the trader offers you the freedom to change your mind about your purchase, thus making the purchase more attractive. Yet tell us, pray, when last did you return an item to a trader beneath this promise? He shackles you with the freedom to unshackle yourself. We speak in illustrations: A most learned tae’dae (for are not they all?) attempted to solve a puzzle, while a child screamed within the very same room. He found himself unable to solve the puzzle. A most learned tae’dae (for are they not all?) attempted to solve a puzzle, while a child screamed within the very same room. The researcher told him that the babe could be removed if he simply asked, but begged him not to ask. The tae’dae did not ask for the babe to be removed, and yet he solved the puzzle. These situations each point toward a single phenomenon, that we strive for choice and yet do not choose, and this pervasive phenomenon serves to illustrate a truth that is Wyrd, and of Wyrd. We thus reveal the First Truth within this treatise: Mortals shun freedom for the feeling of freedom. Neighbour, to what other domains of your life can you extend this Truth? You would fight with tooth and claw to protect your right to contest useless guild leaders. But do you now contest those who lead your guild in small, stagnant circles? You would move Celestia and Nil to preserve your ability to divorce an absent spouse. But do you now divorce your wife, who is absent from your marriage either physically or emotionally? Fool! Open your eyes: the freedoms you cling to are the very freedoms that trap you in dead conventions and decaying social structure. Tear down the hierarchy and dispel the illusion. Slave: you are not enslaved to freedom, but by freedom. Aye, freedom itself is your fetter. ————————————————————————————- THE SECOND TRUTH ————————————————————————————- There is a folly among mortals, and it is thus: A merian is gravely injured by a shark, while across the world a furrikin plummets from a cliff. A babe wails into the night. An igasho is whipped to within an inch of his life. The common factor in these pictures is, again, one you are well aware of, you who profess to want freedom. When you were squeezed screaming from your mother’s womb, you felt two things for the first time, and you hated them. First, you felt cold for the first time in your fledgling existence, and to this very day warmth brings you comfort. Second, you felt unbounded for the first time, and it struck you with horror. Nothing held you close, restraining your movement, securing you against the vast, horrible nothing that surrounded you and threatened to swallow you away. For weeks later, you would awaken in the still of the night to find yourself free, terrifyingly free!, free to roll and flail and wriggle, free to fall, so you screamed until your mother returned and swaddled you and held you close. Yet slowly, foolishly, you unlearned this most basic understanding: with freedom comes danger and insecurity. Let us revisit the illustration: Would not the Inner Sea diver have been safer within a diving cage? What of the broken furrikin? Even as he reaches agonisingly for his restorative ice, does he not wish that there had been a safe, sturdy boundary at the cliff edge? Does he not curse the very freedom that allowed him to fall? We have spoken of the babe already – it is you yourself – and now we shall turn our eye to the igasho, for e’en the babe fully understands that he is only safe when restrained, the igasho has taken the lesson to a further level. Let us join him. Good neighbour, child of dust, know that the igasho who is being whipped howled with pain for the first hour of his torment, and then his cries turned inexplicably to pleasure. Bound up and at the full mercy of another, he finally released the illusions of control and freedom… and found true ecstasy. For the first time in his life he realised how foolish and petty most of his concerns were. Would he pass his novice examination? Gone. Would his City triumph in the next flare? Gone. And what about that time he accidentally told his mother he loved her across the Market communication channel? Gone. All blissfully gone. He eschewed the future and the past, living only in the glorious now, and in the now he had no control and thus no concern. For the first time ever, he was free. My prudish neighbour, do not wrinkle your nose at the carnal nature of this scene – rather look past to its core lesson. We thus reveal the Second Truth within this treatise: We are slaves until freed from freedom. Again, apply this principle to your life and see that it rings true. Have you never sat at table, maddened with hunger and unable to choose between the ten menu options? Have you never wished that somebody would make your choices for you? Yes, you have. You are tired of choice and of choosing. Life would be much simpler if you were secure, restrained, and at the mercy of one whom you trusted to choose for you. Consider that this was once said in wisdom: only that which you give away is truly yours. Does this not apply also to you yourself? To own yourself, you must disown yourself. Does it not apply to your freedom? Then give it up, child of dust. Choose to stop choosing. ————————————————————————————- We have revealed to you truths hard-learned: Mortals shun freedom for the feeling of freedom; we are slaves until freed from freedom. The truest freedom is a life of service to Wyrd. Freedom from fear. Freedom from mercy. Freedom from weakness and loneliness. Aye, freedom itself is your fetter, yet in Wyrden fetters, aye, yes!, there is true freedom! Contemplate our Wyrden words, good neighbour. Make no changes in your life. Simply continue as you are, but look at your world with fresh eyes and taste for yourself that we speak true. You are not yet ready for the next steps on the path to your freedom, so simply prepare your heart for them. Today, we have evidenced that you do not wish to be free, and that freedom robs you of happiness. These truths are counterintuitive given the lies you have lived since birth, but compared to what follows they are milk. Next, we shall move to more solid food. Next… next we shall show you that you do not exist. Rest, good neighbour, for you have done well today. And if you draw no further lesson from this treatise, know only this: there is Freedom in Fetters alone. ————————————————————————————- **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2016 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Wyrd Rises](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-wyrd-rises/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Act 1: The Island Tiny shapes circle high overhead in a clear blue sky, the distant cry of gulls carried on the wind. Beneath, waves of a much deeper hue roll across the surface of the sea, their tops dashed to a frothy white by a steady wind. The ocean extends in all directions as far as the eye can see, broken only by one small dark patch. Waves crash upon the patch, a flat rocky surface just breaking the surface, dousing it with foam. The larger waves entirely submerge it, water streaming off. The constant barrage wards off the distant birds seeking an easy meal, and the roar of the ocean here drowns out their calls. Time flows forward rapidly. The sun sets, painting the sky with reds and oranges before Mother Night spreads her glory across the sky. Even the sparkling stars do not provide enough light to discern the difference between air and water. Only the sound of the surf remains, sighing through the air– rising, falling, eternally. Continuing to flow ever more rapidly, more time passes. The sun rises anew, then sets, only to rise again. Clouds appear, drifting across the sky. Sometimes they are soft-looking balls of fluff, while others they take on the menacing steel-gray hue of a storm, releasing a downpour as they pass with bright flashes of lightning and the crack of thunder. Clear skies give way to overcast, the sun completely hidden, then back as the years march by. One morning, shortly after dawn, the advance abruptly comes to a halt. On this day, only a handful of soft white clouds sedately drift across the sky above. There is little wind even down at the ocean’s surface, where waves gently roll across the rock. All seems quite unchanged, even down to the cry of the circling birds far above. A sudden rumbling reverberates through the air. For a few seconds, nothing seems to happen… Suddenly, the rock explodes. Small shards of it fly through the air, accompanied by gobbets of molten lava. Thicker streams of lava geyser upwards, before splashing back down. As it falls back into the ocean, steam rises, obscuring the events transpiring within. The menacing orange-and-red light infusing the steam speaks of the continued violence within, flashing and gyrating wildly. Time once again begins to march forward rapidly, the days sliding past. The new land goes through short periods of seeming tranquility, seabirds using it as a base for their foraging, before lava bursts forth anew. The island grows ever higher, spreading across the ocean as molten rock flows to the sea and solidifies. Finally, the eruptions stop, the isle standing tall in the midst of the ocean. Clouds wreathe its peak, hiding it from view. Moisture is wrung from them as they pass, leaving one side of the island drenched, and the other bone-dry. The sides of the island are steep, jagged cliffs descending to the water below rendering them inaccessible, with one exception. On the dry side, the last of the lava flows has left a smooth path down to the sea. Yet nothing grows on this new land. It remains populated only by squalling birds, fighting over scraps seized from the waves battering themselves against the black rock. Rain carves gouges out of one side, rivers and waterfalls forming. The other side bakes under the sun, receiving only the pounding of the waves and the rare storm driven from another direction, avoiding the island’s barrier. On one blustery, rain-soaked day, a bedraggled crow is driven north upon the winds. It settles down with relief behind a rocky outcropping, sheltering from the storm until it passes. Lightning cracks overhead as the bird huddles in upon itself, sodden wings plastered to its sides, for the rest of the day and through much of the night as well. Finally, the storm abates, and the crow shakes out its wings, letting them dry as the sky lightens to a gray. It looks around with curiosity, examining the black rock as the sun breaks the horizon. Only the remnants of the passing storm mar the sky above, the sun’s rays piercing through them in bloody hues. The crow takes flight, exploring this new land where it has found itself. Plenty of water had been available to slake its thirst, but hunger drives it on. When it spots a pair of seagulls fighting over the corpse of a fish, it lands and watches. As the two gulls focus upon each other, the crow seizes its chance and seizes the fish in its talons, flying away with it, leaving the squabbling birds to their now-pointless feud. Now sated, the crow continues to explore. It seeks the highest vantage on the island, flying up. And up. And up, until it reaches the very top of the mountain. The wind roars here, keening through a narrow depression, the spray of water constantly gusting through the gap. On the other side, the crow sees a solid wall of mist driven up against the peak, but unable to pass. Glancing around, it notes a cave behind it, protected from the weather. The cave is empty, but something about it calls to the crow. There is a potential here, the feeling of something waiting to be born, yet for now it remains empty. The crow uses it as a base while it remains on the island, restoring its strength for the voyage back south– home. After the crow has departed, something changes within the cave. Something small and green tears its way out of the rocky floor, growing. A mauve-coloured vine with wicked thorns growing along its length takes shape, stretching towards the gusting water outside. Unbeknownst to itself, the crow had brought along a passenger, one which has found fertile ground upon this barren isle. Act 2: The Tale of Leopards The isle appears once more, its appearance greatly changed. A thick jungle covers the western end, so thick that it seems all but impassable. Around the mountain’s flanks exists more normal-looking forests, blackthorns and rowans and many more settled in. The eastern end of the island remains unchanged, at least from a distance. This side is still bone-dry as it slopes down to the sea, life seemingly impossible. Within the jungle, the trees cluster thickly together, hungrily stretching for the sky above. Their leaves are broad and thick, blocking most light from reaching the ground beneath. The air is hot and so humid that it feels almost solid– when breathed, it is nearly akin to the sensation of drowning. Water constantly drips from the canopy far overhead, and the rare wind that pierces that barrier sluggishly stirs the air, providing no relief. Mauve vines as thick as a Loboshigaru’s leg dangle from above, swaying slightly. Fierce, red-tipped barbs adorn their length, wickedly curved. Thick undergrowth completely obscures the ground. For a moment, one might wonder how it thrives without light, but the mystery does not last long. A timid-seeming deer picks its way carefully through the woods, attempting to avoid the vines which almost seem to drift towards it as if drawn by a lodestone. One of the vines touches its flank, caressing the deer’s hide lovingly as it jerks. Eyes rolling in terror, it squeals and makes as if to leap away, but the vine tightens with a shocking suddenness and seizes the creature upwards. Other vines join in, twining around it, wringing the creature. Bones crackle and snap. The constant dripping of moisture turns bloody, and gobbets of flesh fall down into the undergrowth which had begun rustling and writhing in anticipation. Further within the jungle, where the mountain begins its sharp thrust upwards, a small cave is burrowed into its side. Within, three ungainly-looking leopard cubs huddle drowsily together in a pile, their legs occasionally twitching. Each is the same dark black colour in entirety, their heads seemingly too large for their furry little bodies. A large shape appears at the cave’s entrance, fully obscuring what little light made it this far. The cubs jerk awake, heads swiveling to look, then they leap to their feet, mewing plaintively. The shape resolves into that of a much larger leopard dragging in the corpse of a sizable monkey, its furry arms trailing behind. The new arrival releases her prey in the middle of the cave, and sits down. Her tail twitches once as she looks at her cubs fondly. She speaks– not in words, but with twitches of her whiskers and slight movements which her cubs know well by now. “Come, eat, my darlings.” With that, the three cubs leap forward, legs windmilling against the stony floor as they race each other. The smallest of the three is no less fierce, refusing to let herself be muscled aside by her larger siblings, and the three of them begin to feast together as their mother watches. When they have had their fill, the cubs all cuddle together and form a little pile of fluff. It is impossible to tell where one ends and the next begins, their fur all blending together. Their mother drags the remnants of the monkey’s corpse out of her den, and returns a time later. She settles down next to her cubs, rumbling softly as she too closes her eyes. Some time later, the smallest of the cub’s eyes pop open, and she looks around herself. She stands up, staring at her nearest sibling, and her tail twitches behind her as she crouches down. With a sudden leap, she pounces upon him, growling, “I got you!” He jerks awake with a sudden yowl and darts away, his feet slipping on the cave’s surface as he careens around wildly, leaving his sister staring in amusement. She glances at the third sibling, but he is already awake, staring at her warily. One of their mother’s eyes had cracked open to watch, but it closes once more, satisfied that nothing is amiss. The days slowly advance, unfolding in much the same manner. Their mother hunts for their food, and they fill their time with sleep and play– the play of practicing the hunt, learning to pounce upon the unwary victim, to find a place to hide and await the right moment, or even just the unbridled enthusiasm of youth as they race back and forth. It becomes clear that the smallest of the cubs is also the fiercest. The others tend to always keep a wary eye on her as they play. Whenever one lets their guard down, she strikes– bowling them over, or landing on them from above, or even a swat across the nose, always accompanied by a mischievous expression on her too-large face, whiskers trembling with excitement. Yet they also seem to defer to her, following her about, joining in when she begins something. Always, their mother watches over them, and every time the youngest starts to venture forth– curious about what lies beyond the portal– she is scooped up in a large mouth and deposited back with her siblings. “I want to see what is out there!” she cries one day, staring avidly at the water dripping softly onto the ground outside. “Not yet,” the deeper rumble returns from her mother. “But soon, darling one. Very soon.” Every day, she grows more and more desperate. “This place feels too small!” she insists to her brothers. One of them simply continues grooming himself, while the other just tilts his head. “We will be ready soon,” he replies. “Mother knows best. We should listen.” The other pauses grooming just long enough to agree, before returning to his efforts. She eyes the exit carefully. Their mother has been gone longer than usual on this hunt, and she slowly steps towards it. “Stop!” her brother cries from behind her. She looks back, and he is sitting, staring at her fearfully, whiskers trembling. Yet he does not move. She decides to ignore him, and takes another step. “Don’t do it!” the other continues, but now she ignores them as she reaches the exit. Outside, the air is thick and heavy, full of moisture. She watches the trees, their dangling vines swaying. She watches the brush, shifting. She listens to the cry of birds from above, suddenly so much more enticing and full of life now that she is on the verge of joining them. The cries of life fill the air– life, and death, the struggle constant here, yet one that she has been mostly sheltered from until now. And this shelter’s days are clearly at an end. She suddenly realizes that a shape is right in front of her, discerning it only because of a slight motion. A large, dark shape is right outside the cave. She studies it carefully– clearly it had already been approaching before she ventured here, and paused when she came into sight. Its body is long, even longer than her mother’s, but much thinner. It has no legs, and no fur either! Instead, its skin appears to be covered in small overlaying teardrop-shaped scales. The movement comes again, a forked tongue darting out to taste the air between a pair of curving fangs. A bead of moisture dangles from the end of each, as the creature stills itself. She continues to study it, meeting its eyes curiously, wondering what it might possibly be. “Perhaps it could be dinner!” she thinks to herself, pondering how she could possibly hunt it. It seems far too large, yet she somehow knows that backing away would be even more dangerous. Suddenly, a crashing sound emerges from the trees. The creature jerks, and then suddenly it strikes! Its mouth darts forward toward her, and she attempts to scramble to the side, but before she has moved even a short distance a large dark shape dashes between them. She hears a cough of pain– her mother!– as the shape hurtles past, dragging the odd-looking creature with her. The two disappear from view into the undergrowth, but the sound of their struggle fills the air, now so very close to home. The creature hisses loudly, and she hears more cries from her mother. But she also hears the growls, the strikes, and the sound of flesh being torn. Then, finally… silence. She stares fearfully, “Mother?” she calls softly. Behind her, her siblings crouch at the back end of the cave, huddling together in fright and trembling. The brushes shift, something passing, coming closer. The shape that emerges is her mother. The small cub suddenly is filled with joy. “Mother!” she chirps, as her mother comes closer. But after a few steps, it is clear that something is wrong. The steps are jerking, halting. Her fur is matted with blood, dripping to feed the hungry soil beneath. “MOTHER!” she cries now, in alarm, as the large leopard collapses. Her eyes, already beginning to film over, lock on her cub… and on the two larger ones now peeking out of the cave too. She lifts one of her front paws, stretching it out towards them… stretching… then falling. Her body ceases movement, water dripping over her and washing away the blood as the three cubs approach the remnants of what was their mother. They nudge at the corpse with their noses, plaintively calling for her to wake up, but there is no response as their fur grows sodden. A soft, sibilant sound fills the air around the cubs, cutting short their cries. With sudden horror, they look up to see a second snake, only a little smaller than the first and patterned in much the same way, slowly slithering through the soft wet ground towards them. In unison, the three of them leap towards the only ‘safety’ they have ever known, their cave. But the youngest realizes partway there how illusionary this is, and comes to a halt just inside the cave’s mouth, spinning to face the approaching threat. Her tail sticks up behind her, puffing out to many times its normal size as she crouches down, back arched. She bares her small fangs at it, hissing loudly in reply to its own sounds, her claws extending. Behind her, her siblings crouch once more in a little frightened pile, pitifully crying for something, anything to make this nightmare end. No savior appears. Nothing happens, save for the steady approach of death. Supremely confident, the snake enters the range to strike at its prey, but it does not act. It seems to be amused at the show of defiance being displayed, hissing mockingly, “Sssuch bravery. Your mother hasss ssslain my mate, but that leavesss me with sssuch delightful morssselsss…” The young cub learned well from the lesson such a short while ago, and she does not wait. She launches herself at the creature before it can strike at her. In surprise, it attempts to strike, but overextends and misses her with its first bite as her claws latch onto its body just below its mouth. She claws and bites, tearing at its skin as it writhes, bleeding profusely. Yet her claws and fangs are not long enough to gouge a decisive death blow to the much larger reptile. Thrashing violently, the creature throws her off, clumps of its flesh tearing away with her claws as she goes flying. She lands on her paws, facing it once more as she crouches, its sticky blood coating her and plastering her fur to her sides. She faces it undaunted, claws kneading at the rocky cave floor in preparation as her eyes fix firmly upon her bloody foe. “You little wretch!” the snake hisses in fury, drawing itself up and towering over her. “You will die ssslowly. Painfully!” This time the snake does not attempt to play with its meal, but instead strikes, just as the little leopard leaps once again. Its fangs connect with her haunches, and she yowls in pain as she feels the venom pumping into her body. Yet she does not give up. She knows she is dead, now, but she will not let this creature win. She will not let it feast on her siblings. She will give them a chance, more of one than she has. She clutches herself to its body again, digging ever deeper into its throat as it writhes and screams in fury. She feels her body weakening. Her vision clouds, darkening at the edges, and then scoping inwards… until only a pinprick of sight remains, her target. Her foe. This one spot where if only she can rend deeply enough… and then even that winks out. Her body falls to the floor of the cave, two large holes in her hide, a white froth oozing from them. Foam frames her mouth, her body twisted horribly, wrenched beyond endurance from the violence of the snake’s motions and her refusal to be dislodged. Bones break through the fur, red and jagged. The snake rears back once more, staring at her in disbelief, now silent. Then it, too, collapses. Dead. The cave is silent, now, as the two surviving cubs stare in horror at the scene before them… not even ready to think of what might come next. Only this moment exists, and this moment is too horrifying to comprehend. Even the whimpering meowls that had filled their throats earlier are choked short, unable to escape. There is no escape now. Only death awaits. Act 3: A Wyrden Rebirth Deep beneath the surface of a dark wood a seething mass buzzes, the intensity ever-shifting but never fading completely. Shadowy forms in the shape of varying insects churn around each other and the thick roots stretching greedily down from above like grasping, gnarled fingers. Most seem to move sluggishly, droning to one another and centering around the most powerful of their number, but the rare exception exists, shapes that dart and explore their home with more enthusiasm. One amongst these has taken a shape different than most of her counterparts. She appears as a small, shadowy hawk, emulating one of the wondrous creatures she encountered in the woods above some time past. She withstands the jeers of the others, deriding her for her differences, with graciousness. Their barbs mean nothing. Only the Wyrd, their home, truly matters, and this creature is as much of the Wyrd as the insectoid forms they embrace. She has even claimed a name for herself. Belza. She likes the sound of that. Down here, time does not seem to exist. Nothing exists to mark its passage. Yet something does gradually begin to infringe upon her awareness– perhaps a smattering of days, or perhaps entire years, pass before she remarks upon it to herself. “It feels almost like an… echo.” she thinks. “A reflection, perhaps? But oh, so very distant.” She asks the other spirits about it. Can they feel it? Is it but her imagination? To a one, every spirit sneers and invariably replies with some form of “This is the only place that matters.” Even Raemourne does not listen, buzzing with excitement about his current focus. She catches snippets of it, and it is simply more of the same that all hear from him. “Our time comes,” or “the Forest wakes.” Things of interest to the rest, but not what drives her. Thinking to herself, “I know there is something… I can’t be mistaking this feeling,” for the first time she decides to truly leave behind her kind and venture into the unknown. She seeps up from the ground to the surface, following the roots of the great trees above. On the surface, she cautiously moves from shadow to shadow, keeping a wary eye about herself until she reaches the edge of the mighty Glomdoring. “I hope I’m not making a mistake,” she whispers aloud, gaze turning uncertainly back to the woods to her back. Ahead, an odd flat surface driving from east to west with the occasional odd-shaped traveler moving along it. Past that, following the draw of whatever it is that is calling to her, she sees the sun sparkling upon the water. “I will wait,” she suddenly decides, “for Her presence. Her ascendance will be an auspicious time to begin.” Thus decided, she lurks at the border within a bush, watching the decidedly strange creatures pass by. Some seem to be singing, and others stare to the north and appear as if they have already been on a long journey with a great deal of distance yet to go. Even more rarely, travelers clad in metal race by, leading hordes of lowing, lumbering shapes and bleating fleecy ones to some indeterminate end. Finally, the sun settles behind the horizon, and Mother Night ascends triumphantly into the sky. Stars sparkle amongst Her shroud, but the moon is not in evidence this evening. Satisfied, the spirit gathers herself together and, after a brief hesitation, launches herself into the air, wings moving soundlessly. Below, briefly, she sees a small sandy shore with rank after rank of dark wave marching endlessly onto it, noisily breaking. She finds herself swiftly cutting through the air above a wide bay, surrounded by land upon three sides. To the northeast, an extensive swampy marsh. Behind her, the road and the woods. She feels the strong call of home, demanding her swift return… but ahead, there is still that other, and her curiosity will not let her go. Three dark shapes of varying size pass, mounds of land breaking the surface of the bay. One appears to be an island of ruins, which is of no interest to her. Just as dull is the next, a land of towering structures and low buildings, and she swiftly passes it by. The third catches her attention, however. Trees cover it, and in its depths a swamp slowly bubbles and stickily belches. She circles it once, but it takes no longer than that to determine that this is not what she seeks, however it might appear. “Onwards, then,” she whispers softly, turning once more to the northwest and the boundless sea beyond the bay’s mouth. It does not take long before land disappears behind her. She soars low over the waves that stretch from horizon to horizon, until ahead the outline of a dark shape begins to blot out the stars behind. A thrill of recognition fills her being. “It’s not home,” she thinks to herself, “but it feels so similar…” Below, the waves turn into a beach of black sand, and a slope that flows upwards towards the mountain now looming before her. She drives on past the desert, until the first trees begin to push themselves up into the air. “Yes…” she thinks once more. “Somehow, this place is infused with the Wyrd, just as is home. There is so much potential here…” With excitement, she drives forward ever faster as the trees thicken into forest, and then the forest solidifies into a solid, impenetrable mass of life. “It hungers so,” she muses to herself as she seeps through the interlocking canopy, dripping down into the space beneath, reveling in the sensation. She flits from place to place, avidly watching as the creatures lurking within feed on each other, and upon the forest, and as the forest feasts upon them in turn. The days and nights pass quickly as she bathes in the desperate, constant struggle for life which so often fails. It is a struggle she misses mightily, and she yearns for it. She remembers little of her life before her current self, small flashes. Flashes of emotion pulsing through the blood, the feelings of the flesh. Touching, tasting, even the pain that indicates that life has not yet fled… A passing snake catches the spirit’s attention. “Such a fine specimen,” she muses thoughtfully to herself. On the spur of the moment she decides to follow it– wherever it is headed, violent and bloody death is sure to swiftly follow. She admires its scales, a mottled black and dark green that blends in with the forest around, and especially takes note of its fangs, ready to snap at a moment’s notice. As they travel, she eventually becomes aware of another snake traveling behind at a distance– much the same, yet a little smaller. “Perhaps a mate?” she wonders. “Or maybe just an opportunist, seeking scraps.” She turns her attention back to the one she follows, for that is where the excitement is sure to strike, and it does not take long for her prediction to come true. Ahead, the outline of a cave resolves, set into the haunch of the mountain. Within, she senses life, but small. Morsels waiting to be snatched up. And nearby… “Ah! The mother returns. This will indeed be amusing.” The spirit finds a prime spot to watch, observing as the snake slithers up to the cave. With great relish, she watches a large, black-furred leopard form out of the shadows in the forest and leap towards the snake with claws outstretched and fangs bared in a snarl, defending her cub. She sees the leopard bitten, but refuse to give in as she fights ferociously for her young. She glories in the battle as the two struggle, until finally both lay dead. Satisfied for the moment, the spirit begins to turn away, leaving the cubs to their fate. She pauses as the second snake comes into sight. “There won’t be much to watch in a few mewling kits being devoured…” she thinks, but hesitates again. “I might as well see the rest play out.” With a shrug, she returns to her perch on silent wings. She watches, aloofly at first, but with a growing respect as the tiny cub faces down the larger reptile. “This one, at least, will not go silently,” she muses, and cannot help but feel a frisson as it suddenly leaps forward, avoiding the striking fangs. The cub clings and shreds at the snake, but makes little headway as it thrashes, finally throwing the cub aside. The spirit swiftly moves forward to the mouth of the cave as the combat moves within, suddenly keenly interested in how this will play out. She winces when it resumes, as the snake’s fangs connect with its small form, punching holes into it, but even then it refuses to give up, just like its mother. She draws closer as the little leopard tears and bites at the snake’s throat, and watches as they finally both fall down dead, the snake’s larger body nearly entirely covering that of its slayer. “Such ferocity. Such strength!” the spirit croons as she circles the cub’s body, until finally the mewling of the two survivors breaks her concentration. She spins, and darts at them, snapping, “Cease that!” Both of them suddenly jerk in surprise at the sound, mouths clicking shut, but only for a moment before they begin whimpering in panic instead, huddled together. Sighing to herself, the spirit shakes her head. “I can help you,” she tries, but the cubs do not seem to understand her words. She drifts closer, her shadowy form touching one, letting herself feel its thoughts. Half-formed at best, and overlaid entirely with crippling fear. Concentrating, the spirit attempts to push out soothing thoughts. It is not something she has a great deal of experience with, for such comes most unnaturally to her kind, but eventually she and the cubs come to an understanding– she is not going to eat them, and perhaps if they do as she directs, they might yet have a chance. By envisioning what she wishes them to do, and pushing that thought into their minds, she urges them to venture beyond the cave to collect what she needs. When they hesitate at the threshold, she returns to crooning soothing, comforting sounds, until finally they do as bid. Collecting twigs, leaves, and tearing off bits of brush, they return and pack them around their fallen sibling. They tear off the flesh of the snake as well, beginning to form a round, bloody cocoon. As they work, the spirit sings softly to itself, twining in and out of the growing shell. With each pass, the surface grows more solid. Darker. The two cubs work more and more frantically to bring material, until finally the spirit is gone, absorbed within a pitch-black egg that reflects no light. The two of them stop, staring at one another, and then at the egg. Then they wait. The sun sets, and rises anew. Their stomachs rumbling with hunger, they tear off meat from the remnants of the serpent, before returning to their vigil. The wait seems interminable, and every noise from without the cave causes them to jerk their heads and stare. As night falls, a sharp \*crack\* fills the cave. Then another, and a third. Suddenly the egg dissolves, fading away into a shadowy mist, leaving only its contents behind. The cubs blink in shock, for what emerges does not appear to be their sister. Her fur is now a pristine white broken only by dark marks, all that remains of her original colouration. The marks are patterned in the fashion of black rosettes, and are strewn across it in an inverse image of the night sky. The two cubs stare, shrinking back from this strange-looking creature who stands out so vividly within this shadowy realm. But… they sniff the air. She still smells like herself. They cautiously approach as she gets to her feet, looking around herself with a distinct impression of astonishment at being alive, but it takes only a moment before she shakes herself, stretches. Then her eyes pop open, and they are still the same brilliant blue. With chirps of astonishment, her brothers rush towards her. Their noses meet, and then they cluster together, purring softly. Behind them, the shadowy form of the spirit rises, now indistinct. She has given much of herself towards this working, but she is pleased with the result. Drifting forward, she touches the reborn leopard, and sends an impression. “Beautiful one, you have so much promise. When you are ready, seek out the Glomdoring. Seek out those within the southern woods.” With that, the spirit’s form begins to fade and she sinks into the ground, to sleep within these savage woods. And, perhaps, to one day emerge strong once more. Together, the cubs find a new home in the hollow of a large fallen tree. The white leopard learns to use herself as bait, drawing in those who see her only as prey, fixated upon the brightness of her fur. As they approach, her siblings attack and harry from the sides, and once so beset she enters the fray to deliver the final blows. They feed. They grow. As they reach maturity, now each strong and confident in its own strength, they each acknowledge that they need one another no more. The two brothers depart, taking different paths into the woods, seeking their own prey. Perhaps even mates, to start a family. Yet the white leopard feels a different calling, now. Her gaze turns towards the south. She gorges herself on fresh meat, sensing a long journey lies ahead, and then she stalks through the forest, avoiding attention. The woods begin to thin, but she does not stop for this curious sight. Nor does she stop for the scorching sand of the desert, swiftly traveling past. Her steps do not halt until she reaches the shore, lowering her nose to sniff at the frothy water breaking upon the beach. She raises her head, staring to the south. Somewhere out there is her purpose. This land she is leaving behind– her entire world– is minuscule compared to what lies ahead. Without even a single backward glance, she moves forward towards the unknown to find her destiny. – THE END – A description of each of the scenes and costumes is included for the reader. The Ocean Within the depths of the Inner Sea, an island grows by fits and starts. No other land exists within sight in any direction. Waves of a deep dark blue eternally dash themselves against the rocky shore, foaming as they break and then withdraw, only to surge anew. The only living creatures in sight are seabirds, circling far overhead. The Wyrden Isle This mighty island thrusts through the surface of the sea and seems to scrape the sky. Clouds gather around its peak. One half of the island is lush and verdant, overgrown with all manner of life. The other appears to be a barren wasteland, scorched by the sun. Skirting the edges are thinner woods, where moisture manages to make it past the mountain’s shoulders. A Forest Cave Set into the mountain’s base, a small cave is set at an angle and appears to be nothing more than a fold in the rock to the casual observer. Outside is a small clear space, unusual in this otherwise densely-packed jungle. The trees growing thickly nearby spread their canopy wide overhead, blocking most of the sun’s light– only the feeblest amount penetrates this far below, giving the impression of perpetual twilight even on the brightest of days. Water constantly drips from the canopy above, wrung from the clouds as they smash against the unmoving mass of the mountainside. The sound of wildlife within the woods is constant, no matter the time, and the cries of some unfortunate creature meeting its painful demise is as common as any other. Glomdoring Deep beneath the surface of a dark wood a seething mass buzzes, the intensity ever-shifting but never fading completely. Shadowy forms in the shape of varying insects churn around each other and the thick roots stretching greedily down from above like grasping, gnarled fingers. Most seem to move sluggishly, droning to one another and centering around the most powerful of their number, but the rare exception exists, shapes that dart and explore their home with more enthusiasm. A small leopard cub A small ball of fuzz, this leopard cub is stark black, blending into the dark interior of the cave. It is easiest to spot her is by her eyes, flashing a bright blue. She is a bundle of energy, often dashing about, or playfully pouncing upon her siblings with a growl that is really more of a squeak instead. Belza, a dark spirit Taking the shape of a small hawk, this spirit trails wisps of shadow behind her when she moves. She flits from one perch to another with sure beats of her wings, but they make no sound as they cut through the air. Fierce-looking talons and a jagged beak provide her with a fearsome mien. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Chajomi and the Murder in the Library](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/chajomi-and-the-murder-in-the-library/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** CHAJOMI AND THE MURDER IN THE LIBRARY It was early in the wintry month of Urlachmar when the call came into detective Chajomi’s office. He was to report to the world library. The Aslaran rushed over to the location and found the building had already been placed under a lock down. Officers were at the scene and ushered Chajomi inside before relocking the doors behind him. An officer lead Chajomi over to the body, sitting a in pool of blood. The victim was a rather muscular tae’dae with heavy armor on. Next to the body was a large book on the history of library and divine scholars. “He didn’t have a weapon?” asked Chajomi. “On the second floor above us. It seems his head was pushed in several times before being knocked over edge and falling down here.” “He doesn’t look like the time to be in a library.” Chajomi said with a puzzled look on his face as he looked up. The officer had Chajomi follow him upstairs to another small pool of blood. Placed on the edge of the railing was a small notecard that read ‘I guess he was a bit bashful.’ A painful sounding groan came from Chajomi as he saw the card, “A pun? Clearly we are dealing with only the most horrible person.” “And it is not even a good pun.” The two nodded in agreement as Chajomi started his look around the upper floor. The library was a big place. A number of places to hide if the person was even still in the building. Trying to recreate the scene within his mind, Chajomi determined that the murder came at the victim from the side and hit him from there. “The force of the hit must have knocked him over at some point.” Chajomi spoke aloud. “Judging from the size of the tae’dae, the murder had to be someone rather strong too to knock a warrior over the ledge here.” The team of officers and Chajomi dusted for any sort of fingerprints and found nothing. The murderer knew well how to cover his tracks, having learned from the many murder mystery books that filled the shelves of the library. A walk through the library turned up nothing as well, the patrons a bit uneasy as the investigation happens. No one in the library seemed out of place, nor had any sort of blood on their flesh or clothes. “I don’t understand it. There has to be some hidden part of the library.” Chajomi’s voice echoed in the open space of a back area. Going to the head librarian, Chajomi inquired about any secret locations. The head librarian shook her head and didn’t know of any such locations. She listed off a number of rooms that were not open to the public such as the printing press, a few offices, and rare book room made for only the most trusted patrons. Chajomi started with the printing press. A large object like that could have potential weapon-like objects to it. Once inside the room, the aslaran looked around. Nothing seemed out of place. Chajomi found a small manual on using the press and tested the machine out to make sure it worked as it should. A small copy of a safety poster came out. No luck in there. As Chajomi was down in the printing press, other officers searched the offices of the staff members. A piercing yell echoed in the library. Everyone that was in the non-public rooms rushed towards the yell. Other officers were standing around, weapons drawn as they looked out, standing around a body of a new victim. A glance around by Chajomi and the officers with him turned up nothing. The murderer had got away one more. “At least we know he is still in the building…but somehow killing people and getting away with it.” A merian officer called Chajomi over to the body. Chajomi just started at it. A sword rested next to the corpse along with a clear wound caused by the sword that was the cause of death. The wound cut the side of the warrior, the sword missed going into the human’s body, but cutting the skin in such a way caused a massive bleed. “How did he get the sword? It looks like it belonged to the victim.” asked Chajomi. The officer handed over a card to the detective. “This was found inside a coat pocket.” Chajomi opened the card and quickly closed it after reading. A clear sign of disgust on his face. “He sword of missed the point” the aslaran spoke in an annoyed tone. “What does this guy think he is. He is just randomly killing people just to make puns.” The officer by Chajomi shook his head, “I think the pun is more of a calling card. The victims seem to have common. None of them appear to be the book type. Both of them are fighters in some way. The first was a warrior. The second was a monk, although why he had a sword, we don’t know.” It was long before another yell came. Two more bodies showed up in the back corner of the upper wing. One was a Blacktalon druid and the other was a Ebonguard warrior. Both of their bodies has large wounds that appeared circular in shape. The druid’s pet crow cawed as it started to feast on their corpses. The warrior had a pair of hammers in is hands while his flesh had wooden shards embeded deeply. Chajomi walked up and looked at the crow enjoying a meal out of its owner. “Why would they kill each other?” the detective spoke aloud. It didn’t take long for his answer to come when he saw another note card on a near by table. The aslaran started to look around after reading it as if he was looking for something more. The merian officer with Chajomi looked at the card and read it, “You could say, these two couldn’t carrion on their fight.” Turning it over, there seemed to be a bit more this time. “Perhaps, detective, you should look for a plant instead of vase-ing time.” Detective Chajomi rushed around the library, trying to find a vase that may hold a clue. Even if the murderer apparently wanted to be found and it very well could have been a trap, Chajomi took the bait and would deal with the outcome when it came. A rather long hour passed before Chajomi finally found a vase. It appeared to be the only one in the library even. Wasting no time, Chajomi tried to break the seal on the top of the vase. Without any luck he decided to break the vase now and pay for a replacement later. The echoing sound of the shattering pottery traveled through the floor. As soon as the sound stopped, a tall trill stepped from one of the aisles books and looked at Chajomi. His clothes were rather plain, serving more function than fashion. The trill man stood with confidence as he had a grin on his face. “Hello there, Detective. I am Archivist Staruem” Staruem looked at the broken vase that held the wooden spike covered in blood. The man spoke with a grin on his face, “It looks like you did find something. You could say you urned the knowledge of the murder weapon.” Chajomi and the officer standing with him groaned in displeasure before retorting the pun, “You and your puns are done. You are under arrest for the murder of three persons.” Staruem shakes his head at Chajomi, “I’m doing the world a favor. Those warriors do not add anything to the great works of the library. And they reject the ideals of writing in favor of swinging their weapons and hoping it hits. They may say they use tactics, but all observations of them prove otherwise.” Chajomi didn’t waste time, he rose his weaponed and fired. The trilll was quickly set crashing through a glass window. Quick to react, Staruem started to flap his wings, hovering in sight just outside. “I’m a trill, Detective. Did you think you would wind with such a weapon?” Staruem mocked to the aslaran. “Maybe next time you will do ” Staruem flew off into the distance, away from the library. Chajomi yelled out to the trill to come back but the voice fell against the wind. In the next few hours, no one else was murdered, leaving the officers and Chajomi to believe Staruem was the only killer. After cleaning up the place and returning the bodies to their respective guilds, Chajomi followed up on library to see if Staruem ever returned. Although books were published in his name, even more pun-filled works than his killer notes, the world library never saw him. The following months as well, Chajomi tried his best to find Staruem, but didn’t have any luck at all. After a while, he even gave up on reading the books Staruem published, hoping the murderer would taunt the detective in them. Even if there were no more murders in the style of Staruem, Chajomi would always think of the trill as the one who got away. Three full years after the cased was closed with the status of the killer was never found, a few rumors had came up that Staruem seemed to start talking with someone else who was rather fond of puns as well. A male faeling named Diffom. The two of them both started to write only things that had puns in them. As soon as Chajomi thought he was getting closer to catching Staruem, the lead would just end. Even if Staruem didn’t attack anyone, the fact that he was clever enough to not get caught was just insulting to the detective THE END. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Pilfering and Poisoning](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/pilfering-and-poisoning/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** I woke up, as usual, because Gaudiguch’s distinctive stench was assaulting my nose. It is a uniquely awful odor. I’ll grant you that every city has its own smell, and most of them are foul. Celest reeks of fish and false faith. Magnagora smells of corpses, and Hallifax has the scent of a thousand different teas. Gaudiguch is the worst of them, full of incense and harlotry and pretentiously fake wisdom. I did my best to ignore the smell. There was work to be done! The sooner I did it, the sooner I could get out of the city and return to the sky. Loyalty may be its own reward, but I found the thought of going home much more motivating than any thoughts of duty. You see, I was a thief, a spy, a swindler, and a rogue, and a scion of the Skylarks. I am still am many of those things. I’ve largely given up on stealing, on account of its poor returns, but I remain an excellent swindler and a habitual scoundrel. A man of my talents must often take long trips away from home to exercise those skills without adding treachery to his portfolio. I planned to devote the day to poisoning, perhaps with a little bit of theft and murder in the mix. There was a certain religious sect in the city in those days, one that Hallifax saw fit to purge. On the surface, it seemed much like any other of the thousands of ale-addled dreams of enlightenment. It would die out in a little while, but a little while was too long to wait. You see, this little sect threatened to spread. I had already seen the signs of merger with other faiths, in particular that it might produce someone that they could pass off as a saint to the light-lovers. That would give them too much influence. The good news is that cults are easy enough to disrupt. You can’t just kill their leader, tempting as it may seem. Martyrs are better than living founders, after all. Martyrs never get caught with young ladies and never steal from the tithes. No, it’s far better to humiliate them, so that their followers leave them. Murder is, at best, an added bonus. In this case, I hoped that the foreign followers would be that added bonus. It was a struggle to drag myself out of my excessively soft bed. I will confess that I rented a room with the harlots. I advise you to do the same, if you ever go to Gaudiguch. It may cost a little more than staying at an inn, but you won’t have to smell nearly as much vomit during your stay. I made my way out into the streets. They were heady with incense and debauchery, so I tried to ignore the sights and move quickly. I paid no attention to the fire-breather that performed right outside my door. She would have been more impressive had she not been a dracnari, anyway. I ignore the short fellow on the corner with an interesting collection of pus and boils. Even if I was fool enough to listen, I had no need of any enlightenment that would give me those. No, I had another purveyor of enlightenment in mind. I ducked off of the sun-baked streets and made my way down a shady alley to find his tent. It was all silk and ribbon in a dozen different colors, with no sense of rhyme or reason or any kind of cohesion. I stepped into the tent without even announcing myself. I would have liked to knock, but my man had not seen fit to bother with a door. He was very old, and very wrinkled, with a great white beard that made him look very wise. He had grubby robes and a little begging bowl. I would have been impressed, and perhaps mistaken him for a real ascetic, if not for the fact that I knew the size of his bank account. I suppose that we all keep up appearances in our own ways when it suits us. We puffed a pipe before getting down to business. I inhaled lightly. He did not. I asked him for the extract of a certain cactus, which gives mild hallucinations in small doses. When taken in larger doses, it gives a wide variety of embarrassing excretions and the occasional nightmare. That naturally made it quite holy, especially when taken in imprecise doses. Those who took the low dose were clearly wise and on the path to enlightenment. Those who got the excessive dose had overstepped their bounds and were punished for their presumptions. At least, that is how the mystics seemed to take it. Frankly, I think it all comes down to the cold, unrelenting laws of probability and chemistry. The honorable mystic offered to try it with me, so that he could guide me on my first steps toward wisdom. He took a little sip of the mixture, and I did the same. He swallowed, and I quietly spat it out into his fire. A little bit of misdirection can be a wonderful thing, especially when the viewer is already on his way to intoxication. He was soon in the depths of his visions. I don’t doubt that he saw many enlightening things, for a certain value of enlightening. I didn’t wait to find out. I simply took my leave, making sure to very carefully move his brazier out of my way instead of walking around it. I am told that he fell into it and burned to death. I’m sure it was a very unfortunate accident and my involvement was a complete coincidence. Now, the good thing about cults is that they are always recruiting. You would think that they would have some sort of security check, but that is rarely the case! Most people can just walk up to a recruiter, express interest, and get invited to sermons. In the case of small cults, that can be enough to meet with the leader. That is exactly what I did, and exactly what happened. The sermonizing was dull, and full of logical contradictions and generic platitudes. I paid very little attention to it. I paid more attention to the buffet. I will give credit where credit is due. The food looked delicious. They probably relied on it to attract new members. It almost seemed a shame to slip the cactus extract into it, especially because that meant that I had to abstain from enjoying it. The rest of the visitors were quite intemperate in their enjoyment of the feast. They ate, they drank, they made merry. I will spare you the details of the scene. I’m not sure that anyone can imagine the sheer horror of the stench, so take my word for it when I say that you should never have to inhale the unwashed musk of a few dozen mystics and their leavings. That would be the end of it for the mystic-in-chief. A single failed aspirant with bad visions is one thing, but an entire sect? Clearly, that marks the teacher of a false doctrine, at least to anyone with experience in these matters. The foreigners did not have that experience. They might think that they had experienced the normal sort of visions, and that their terror was a sign that they simply needed more enlightenment to understand them! I could not have that. Fortunately, there were only a few foreigners in the crowd. It only took a few moments to deal with them. It seems that they imbibed too much wine and fell asleep in the communal bowls. Such a shame that all of their friends were too busy having visions to save them from drowning. And that was that. My mission was finally over and I could start heading home. I may have been a thief, a spy, a swindler, and a rogue, but that did not mean that I could bring myself to feel at home in their city. I had a very long journey ahead of me, but I still looked forward to it. Far better to sleep under the open sky than in a house of harlots. Besides, I was looking forward to drinking tea in a place where I could be reasonably sure that nobody had poisoned it. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and the Unexpected Dazzling](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-adventures-of-elaesree-shevat-and-the-unexpected-dazzling/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ——————————————- The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and The Unexpected Dazzling ——————————————- Beating her wings steadily to maintain her altitude, Elaesree Shevat looked down over the mountains beneath her and squinted. It had been a few months since her last adventure, and she was slightly ashamed to admit that she was eager for something else of interest to happen. Matters had been, quite frankly, very dull since then, and she was itching for something to do other than courses at the University. She went out somewhere different every day, patrolling for curiousities to catch her attention. Unfortunately, it did not seem to be working out. She watched the scurrying of other people far below her, fighting the gusts of wind that threatened to shift her balance, and managed to hover in place for a brief time. Some walked singly, stopping frequently – likely harvesting herbs, she told herself. Some seemed to gather followers as they went, and others still zipped from here to there, apparently in quite a hurry to get somewhere else. With a sigh that sounded only slightly dramatic, Elaesree flew back towards Hallifax. Circling wide to avoid other possible fliers, she made a shallow descent to draw out the moment before she should head back home. And as she circled back past the entrance in the mountains again, she caught a glimpse of the unfinished statue on Emerald Road. Somebody was working on becoming a Lord of the Transphenortex Grid, but wasn’t what she had noticed. No. It was something she didn’t expect to see. There was a crowd, standing by the statue, every single one of them staring at it. Winging down in front of the statue and landing gracefully, she called out a cheery, “Hello!” and raised her hand to wave at the small group. Not a single one of them responded. Not even the cow. Instincts on high alert, Elaesree refused to turn around. She started with the cow. Why not? Admittedly, she had not seen a lot of cows up close and personal, but she felt like they were usually more skittish than this. And definitely less focussed. She turned to the trill next to the cow, then a pair of lucidians. Each one was the same – a vacant sparkle in the eyes, a dazed expression, and no movement at all. She slowly looked at each and every one of them, before guardedly beginning to turn the final step to gaze at the statue. And suddenly, a twinkle of something sparkled from the statue’s face. Thinking it through carefully, Elaesree continued her slow movement, and the sparkling continued to dazzle the crowd. Shielding her eyes to prevent an unexpected glimpse, Elaesree lifted her free hand and -grabbed- for the twinkling mass. She had gloves on, a lucky coincidence thanks to her earlier trip high above the mountains, and her fingers managed to clasp on something small, with no real substance despite the shape she clasped in her fist. “Hmmm,” she said to herself, thinking out loud. Turning her face away from her prize, she instead dug her free hand through her satchel – a new one she’d just purchased recently, of shimmering cerulean silk – until she found what she was looking for. “Aha!” she cried as she drew out a veil. Why she had one in there, she couldn’t remember for certain, but it looked like it was about to come in handy after all. Drawing it across her face, she studied the dream mote in her hand through the translucent material, and as she slowly covered the mote up, the crowd that had gathered nearby managed to come slowly to their senses. “Oh, thank you, Miss Shevat!” was heard over and over, and even the cow let out a deep and booming, “Moooooooooo.” She shrugged her shoulders, mildly embarrassed by the attention and praise, as she tucked the now-concealed mote into her satchel. With a blushing smile, she nodded her head politely at everyone, said one last time, “It was hardly anything at all,” and took to the skies as the sun began to set. It was time to head home for dinner, after all. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and The Hooded Lucidian](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-adventures-of-elaesree-shevat-and-the-hooded-lucidian/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** ——————————————- The Adventures of Elaesree Shevat and The Hooded Lucidian ——————————————- It was yet another wondrous sunrise over the city of Hallifax, every beautiful colour adorning her surroundings with all the shades of the dawn. And yet something was amiss – Elaesree Shevat was disturbed. Perched up at the highest point she could find, she watched the city with an eagle eye, trying to spot the problem. Her wings fluttered restlessly, the feathers shifting constantly in the winds above the city, though as always, she was ready to fly at a moment’s notice. The play of light over the city slowly faded away as she observed, the eye-catching illumination simply muting into a more usual scene as the sun followed its inevitable path. And yet still, the cause of her disturbance eluded Elaesree. She was beginning to get a little sore from the ledge she rested upon, though, and decided to descend back down to the Matrix. The joy of flight temporarily lifted her concerns, though the niggle in the back of her mind reminded her soon enough of her quandary. Elaesree knew she wasn’t mistaken. She had been raised to solve problems with logic and reason, but also to listen to her inner voice. And right now, something screamed ‘WRONG’ in her head. She inclined her head politely towards Keeper Fraesic Sunfar, and sketched a brief salute at Senior Deputy Commissar Leeoh Vardan, and quickly made her way towards the Bureaucratic Ward. Perhaps the flow of people near the shops would be enlightening. She moved swiftly, keeping her wings tucked close to shrink her personal space and avoid accidental contact with others. She wasn’t a large trill, by any means. Her thin frame was slightly shorter than average, and her sleek, brown head and wing feathers were limned with silver, which tended to make her fade away in a crowd. She preferred it that way. Being the centre of attention was not her idea of fun. Rather the opposite, in fact. Choosing at random, Elaesree navigated the city without a specific location in mind. As she came close to the Jade Company Tower, she chose a spot that seemed out of the way, and tucked herself close against a wall where she could easily look in most directions at once. For a time, it seemed as though nothing of interest would happen. She didn’t mind. There was no hurry. She was finished with the college and had no mind to pursue higher education at present. At eighteen years old, her parents were pleased to let her roam the city in service to the Collective. She saw plenty of people coming and going – mostly trill and lucidian, of course, but the occasional loboshigaru and aslaran, and even an igasho and a krokani. Eventually, she came to notice something strange. A hooded lucidian seemed to keep coming by, following the same path each time. This wasn’t entirely unusual, given the city’s usual currents of breezes and winds constantly flowing. What was unusual was that, upon further inspection, the lucidian seemed to follow the exact same path every single time. Each footfall seemed to be placed in precisely the same location, at the same speed, with the exact same movement of the lucidian’s limbs. Elaesree considered as she watched. The shadows began to lengthen as she sat thinking, peering at the hooded lucidian. Every half hour, on the nose, the lucidian strode in from a southerly direction, making his way north. He did not look around, did not pause, simply strode in and strode away. A sneaking suspicion began to settle in Elaesree’s mind. Abruptly, she shifted from where she had been standing, choosing a new position right by the entrance to the lobby of the Jade Tower. Suspicion confirmed – the pattern continued, and at this new, closer viewpoint, she could see that every detail appeared to be identical. With a faint frown coming over her face, she considered her options. She could alert the Board of Directors, though the lucidian did not seem to be doing anything of notable impact at present. She could follow him away from the Tower, though that risked being seen away from the company of constant witnesses. As she thought further on the matter, she came to a conclusion. It seemed she had discovered a small anomaly in time. That would account for the odd feeling that had been lingering within her, as she had noticed that previous anomalies had caused such similar feelings. It wasn’t even that unusual of an occurrence, really. She had noted several of them over the past few years. While she could make it someone else’s problem, she felt she could handle it agreeably by herself. And with that, she decided to act. Moving to stand directly in the path of the hooded lucidian, Elaesree waited patiently for his next pass to begin. Ensuring she stood where he could not avoid her, she stared at the approaching lucidian. As he approached, she stood firm, flaring her wings out to brace herself in case of impact. And then he walked right into her. She felt a vague sense of resistance, and a chill that couldn’t be explained by a passing gust of wind. And with that, the hooded lucidian disappeared. Elaesree blinked at the disappearance, showing no other sign of her surprise at the confirmation of her theory. To be safe, she waited for the time when another round would start, though darkness was starting to fall over the city. No sign of the lucidian. Waiting a few more moments to be certain, still she saw no further appearances. With a slight shrug, Elaesree relaxed her wings briefly, then took offi nto the sky to head over to the Visitors’ Ward. “Well. That was odd,” she murmured to herself. “But I suppose it is done with now.” As the day faded away into night, and the stars emerged above the city with their cold brilliance, Elaesree Shevat returned home to the manseof her parents, and told them off the adventure that day. They seemed strangely amused. “We are very proud of you, dear,” her mother told her. “But perhaps next time you should pass the matter along to your superiors?” Her mouth twitched slightly, and she responded, “Yes mother,” as any dutiful daughter would. And that was the end of that. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** May 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [My Visit to Tosha Monastery: A Compiled Journal](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/my-visit-to-tosha-monastery-a-compiled-journal/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** FOREWORD The following is a compilation of journal entries that I have made detailing the events I have experienced during my recent visit to the mystical Tosha Monastery located amongst the Razines. Please forgive the omission of the dates – I could not keep track of actual dates during much of my entries, for reasons you will soon see for yourself. However, I have managed to put my entries in chronological order, to organize them better. I hope reading this will inspire you to seek out the Monastery yourself, and that it would give you spiritual and emotional fulfilment, as it has given to me. Goldia Entry 1: I cannot sit still because I am positively distraught. I am hiding in the hall of the Cadenza so no one would see my in my agitated state, but I fear the harm has already been done. My dear friend Historia has just informed me that people in the city have been whispering about me raising my voice at the Aetherplex earlier today. She said that they were not pleased with my behaviour and that they think that it is not suited to the ideals of Hallifax. I had only hoped to obtain some money by offering my jewellery services. I did not realize that there was a proper means to go about it. But now it is too late. How can I face my fellow citizens when I know that they all secretly think that I am an embarrassment? But I cannot hide in this hall forever. I need to find a way to correct my mistakes, train my emotions better. I need to travel in search of such a place where I can train to do so. I will prove them wrong. I will show through my actions that I can behave with dignity and decorum. Entry 2: I have been wandering for several days now. I learned that the place I am looking for is the Tosha Monastery, hidden amongst the Razine Mountains. The path has not been easy, navigating the treacherous mountains with little food and water. I am not used to such physical exercise, and I have all but lost hope. I was warned this monastery was hidden. As the saying goes – you have to search under every rock. But I am afraid that I am nearly reaching the end of my patience, pushing a large rock in frustration. The rock slid up through some grooves and…I see a path! But before I could take a closer look, the rock slid back down and closed it. I believe that I have found what I was looking for, but I need to take a closer look. Entry 3: The path is twisty and winded, and it looks like it has not been travelled on for a while. After a long and steep climb, I have reached the stone gates of the monastery. At last! Written on the pine doors is a script which I cannot recognize. The place is calm and undisturbed by even the slightest breeze. I decide to walk in, disturbing as little as I can. I see several loboshigaru monks in grey robes, tending to their duties. Although they have kept their fur and robes neat and clean, they look tired and haggard still. Not quite the calm contentment I was expecting on their persons. I greet them, and soon learn that they are seeking training from their Masters on the second floor, but are too intimidated to ask. I feel a little bad for them. I must help them. I assure them that I will try talking to their Masters, and they show me the way. Entry 4: The first Master I meet is Enlightened Cuetal. He is a short loboshigaru with black fur and is clad in orange robes, but I can see how the monks find him intimidating. His red eyes regard me as if he is judging my form, and I feel myself lacking, what with all the travelling and starvation. His mouth turns up in a half-smile as he greets me. I soon learn that he is intrigued by the mountain rockeaters, which he has heard are beings of perfect form. He has not had a chance to examine them closely, and I offer to help him by bringing him some corpses. I have seen many, munching with idle glee on the rocks of the Razines. It should be easy to find them. Entry 5: Finding the rockeaters has not been quite as easy as I expected. Finding one might be, sure, but finding ten can get slightly more daunting, especially as these creatures love to hide. While looking for them, I also had the pleasure of meeting many scholars and bards, and helped to lead them to the city Library and Opera House. Soon I got enough rockeater corpses to bring back to Master Cuetal. He gave me a token for each corpse, which he entrusted me to give to disciples who are worthy of his teaching. I sought out the monks who I found to be suited and offered them the tokens. As each monk received their token, the robes they were wearing transformed from dull grey to a majestic orange, and I found their very bearing to change. Once haggard and tired, their eyes now exuded a quiet strength, and their posture more upright and confident. I felt a tad envious. When I went back to inform Master Cuetal that I had given the tokens as he instructed, I found he had been waiting for me with a warm smile. “Thank you for helping my disciples find their path, Goldia. But I feel that this is not the reason you have come to our monastery, am I right?” Surprised and humbled by his sharp and intuitive mind, I nod and tell him the reason for my visit. “Form is the most important part of battle, whether it be a physical battle, or even a battle with your inner demons.” He smiles warmly at me as he continues. “Someone who is perfect in posture and form is always ready for any surprise. Never cease to pay attention to what is around you and always be ready for whatever challenges you face, so that you may deal with them with poise. And that is my advice to you.” He reaches out and firmly, but gently, touches my forehead. “This is my blessing to you. May you be endowed with the most perfect of Form so that you may be always ready to face your challenges.” And as he says the words, I feel my posture straighten, and my body tremble with Inner Strength. Entry 6: The second Master I meet, Enlightened Maccan, is a frail and sorrowful-looking loboshigaru, with dark brown hair caked in mud. He is lost in such thoughtful contemplation that I had to greet him a couple of times to get his attention. He talked to me about a strange spiritual bird among the heavens that he has heard of and is very interested in studying. It took me a while to understand that he was talking about the fearsome roc creatures of the Razines. I have seen them about, but never found anything spiritual in the menacing, fright-inducing creatures. I kept my thoughts to myself and informed him that I would find him ten of their corpses, and set about on my way. I do not remember where their nests are, but I have been warned to be wary of them if I ever go to the Oleanvir valley, so I have presently found myself there. The place is idyllic and quaint, but I see no roc in sight. I wonder if I have been told the wrong- Entry 7: Well, that was something! My journaling at Oleanvir valley was rudely interrupted when I was suddenly and abruptly scooped up by one of the fearsome roc creatures. I barely clutched onto my journal as I was unceremoniously deposited on its huge and foul-smelling nest, filled with ugly-looking hatchlings covered in down feathers, who immediately began pecking at my skin, my feathers, my clothes. Fortunately I had little trouble fending them off, since I had my trusty lyre in my person, and soon found myself with ten of their corpses. Master Maccan seemed happy at my specimens, judging from his attention being immediately grabbed by the roc corpses, his face even losing the sorrowful look. He gives me ten tokens which I take to ten monks I find suitable, and their robes turn a snow white as the lines on their faces soften and they take on a calm, cool demeanour. When I return to Master Maccan, he regards me with a quiet smile. “I can see that your spirit is agitated”, he speaks, his voice soft yet clear. “Your face is calm but your fingers fidget and pluck on your instrument, and when you smile it does not quite reach your eyes. Perhaps you could talk about what is troubling you and I can offer some help, in return for yours.” “Of course my spirit is agitated!” I cannot help but break down in helpless anger. “I am frustrated that I have failed everyone I held in high regard. I am angry that I was judged by rules I did not know existed. And I am disappointed at myself for being angry. I do not know what to do…” I struggle to blink back tears. He hears me out with admirable patience, then responds with a kind smile. “My advice to you is to not try to control your emotions, but to learn to channel them the right way. Pour your frustration into music, and let your anger be your weapon. It will not be easy, but by obtaining mastery over your emotions, you will learn to let go and forgive others, and, more importantly, forgive yourself.” He touches my forehead with a thin hand, matted with fur. “This is my blessing to you. May your spirit master your emotions and channel them in the right direction.” As he spoke his words, I found my anger dissolving and melting away, giving me perspective. I was not shunned by anyone, just properly instructed and informed on where I went wrong. There was no malicious intent, and it only felt that way because I let my judgement become clouded with indignation. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off of my chest, but I knew that this was not the end of my journey. I still had more to learn from these monks. Entry 8: Enlightened Inthal is the third of the four Masters seeking disciples, with ruffled and matted fur sticking out about his robes. His eyes are milky white which made me wonder if he was blind, yet his warm smile and confident glance at my direction made it clear that he was not at all oblivious to my presence. He wishes to observe a shark, which he believes is a creature heavily attuned to its environment, and, therefore, the paragon of mental clarity. I suppose I would have to make a visit to the Inner Sea. Entry 9: It was difficult fighting the tiger sharks, especially in an environment that I was completely inexperienced in. I found myself thanking the Gods for the Waterbreathe charm, as I dove deeper and deeper into the Sea in search of ten of the fearsome creatures. Eventually, I was able to find ten corpses, which I took to Master Inthal, who ran his hands over their sleek, rubbery bodies with obvious interest. I was given the tokens which I took to ten suitable monks, and watched in awe as their robes turned into a calming sky blue, as their eyes became more focused and and their gazes more clear. As I returned to Inthal, I found he had been waiting for me. “I know what you seek.” he says, his voice so clear it echoes through the walls, like ripples on a lake. “If I am right, you seek mastery over your emotions, and clarity of the mind.” “How did you know?” I ask in wonder and surprise. “I may be blind, but I see what the seeing do not.” he says with a soft smile. “When you stop relying on your senses to show you the truth, you see things that you had previously ignored. And that is my advice to you, Goldia. When gifted with the sixth sense, one does not require sight. One gets the blessing of the true hearing when one stops relying on one’s ears. And there is no need to raise your voice if your inner voice is strong and clear.” As he touches my forehead, I feel my senses become clearer and sharper. “This is my blessing to you, young one. May you be blessed with the clarity of mind to see what is beyond the senses, and may it offer you the insight to aid your future endeavours.” See what is beyond the senses… That is a lot to ponder on, but for now I must find the fourth Master. Entry 10: Presently I have found myself in the company of the fourth Master, Enlightened Ulan, a tall loboshigaru monk wearing green robes. Much like Master Maccan, he had matted, uncleaned fur, and was similarly lost in such sorrowful contemplation that it took much effort to notify him of my presence. He sought to study the spiders, creatures that have been known to cause fear in even the strongest of hearts. He explained to me how numerous villagers have visited him to strengthen their hearts against the fearsome spiders. I could not help cringe at the thought of being near one of those horrible, hairy beasts, much less kill them, but I assured him that I would find ten corpses and went on my way. Entry 11: Finding the spiders turned out to be the hardest of the tasks I have been set on by the monks. I looked for them at the Arthar’rt Observatory but could find none – perhaps I have not been looking correctly? I was informed by a helpful fellow citizen that they could be found at Muhanlesh, caverns inhabited by the serpentine Nagasith, the bottom level of which I found the terrifying Muhagli spiders. I swallowed my fear and fought the spiders, but could collect naught but four. In my search to find more spiders, I accidently found myself in the Glomdoring Forest, when I was politely but coldly asked to leave. Finally, with the help of a kindly elfen from Serenwilde, I found the way to the Feyranti manor, where I could find dozens of black fanged spiders scuttling along the walls. Now my relief at finding them overtaking my fear, I quickly found myself with the corpses I needed. Master Ulan graciously accepted my specimens and set me about to find monks who are weak of heart and in need of his guidance, giving me ten tokens. I quickly found them, and observed with awe their grey robes turning emerald green, as their eyes burned with the newfound courage in their hearts. When I returned, Master Ulan greeted me with a warm smile. “It appears that you have conquered your fear of the spiders out of necessity.” He continues with a nod. “It did not escape my attention that you were afraid of the spiders, but you faced your fears head on and proved yourself worthy. And that was my advice to you.” “Failure and roadblocks are inevitable in the journey to success. When faced with a problem, face them head on, and deal with them with calm and poise. Running away from your issues will do you little good, and you might even find them catching up with you.” He reaches out and touches my forehead. “My blessing to you is this. May you always have the Strength of Heart to face your challenges with courage, and the Will to persevere when faced with barriers to your success.” At his words, my heart fills with a will to persevere, to see things through to the end. And I realized that I had received the fourth and final blessing. “It is now time for you now to meet Master Quettle at the top floor for your final challenge.” says Master Ulan. “Be wary, for this is not an easy one.” He adds as he tells me the way. Entry 12: And, now, armed with the blessings of the four Masters and ready to face my final challenge, I stand before Master Quettle, an extremely tall loboshigaru jackal. Warm milky-brown eyes regarding me from behind golden bangs, he exudes a unique aura that is both calming and intimidating at the same time. He informs me that my final challenge is to enter the Spirit Plane and best a spirit of the loboshigaru hunter in battle, proving my worth by bringing him back the Scroll of Enlightenment. He warns me that only the true spirit of the hunter will give me the Scroll, and if I return before seeking out the right one, it would mean that I have failed the final challenge. He gave me permission to make one journal entry before entering the gateway he conjured before me. Here I go! EntRY 1 3 : Forgive thehaNdwriting and strange spaCing ifyou ever findthis journAl, for I m wrIting this bLind andheavilyinjured. It seems Iam abouttofail the fInal challEnge, and pay the prIce with m y li fe. Enteringthe gaTeway, I was imMediately assaulted by the spIrit of everything that I kiLled to get here: roc spiRits, shArk spi rits, the spiriT s of spidErsand rockeAters. And theywere rel ent less. I fought back but th e re we re onetoo many…and thehunter ! He proved to Be more than quite the maTch, and inthe midst of a da u nting battle, Ifound , To my horRor, my riFt e mp ty of pur ity du st. He saw his chance and imMe diately bliNded me w ith a pow e rful bloW tothe eyes. Unabl e to fiGht back, unableto find a pat h, I stumbLed around and managedtorun and hidE, whoknows where. I hea rfo ots teps. Are tHey thE spirits, or the hu nt er s? I do nOt knoW, but eitherway, I fearthis journeYofMine is about to be cu t sh or t. If youfind this jOurnaL, pl ea se be so ki nd as to lo ok fo r m y b o d y a n d g i v e i t a p r o p e r b u r i a l . . . Entry 14: It is done! I have passed the final challenge and received my final blessing, rejuvenating my health, mana and spirit in a way that I have never felt before. And more importantly, I have found the answers to my questions, and found spiritual and emotional peace. If you have just read the previous entry, you might be feeling a little confounded. It seemed that I had just about given up, ready to draw my final breath in the Spirit Plane, feeling helpless and alone. If so, then read on, for I am about to narrate the events that transpired after. As I lay defeated on an unknown terrain of the Spirit Plane, cold, sightless, and forsaken, I heard the voices of the four Masters ringing in my mind. “When you stop relying on your senses to show you the truth, you see things that you had previously ignored..” I heard Master Inthal’s crystal-clear voice. “When gifted with the sixth sense, one does not require sight…” Of course! My sixth sense! I took a deep breath and cleared my mind of the feelings of helplessness and confusion, and, suddenly, I could feel the room, in my mind, as clear as I could with my eyes. …I could feel the spirit of a spider scuttling into the room, and I immediately froze with terror. “…try not to control your emotions, but learn to channel them the right way…” Master Maccan’s soft voice whispered in my ear. “This is not the hunter you seek to fight. You must look for him instead.” “But he is too powerful-” I hesitated. “When faced with a problem, face them head on, and deal with them with calm and poise. Running away from your issues will do you little good…” Master Ulan’s firm voice fills my heart with strength and courage. I ignore the spiders, the rocs, the sharks, and look for the hunter. “Never cease to pay attention to what is around you, and always be ready for whatever challenges you face..” reminds Master Cuetal, as I find a hunter and ready myself to face him. I draw myself to my full height, sharpen my inner senses and start to play a loral chord. After a harrowing battle, seemingly lasting an eternity, the hunter admits defeat and I sense him conjure up a gateway. I am relieved and cannot wait to get back and restore myself to my original form. But I hesitate. He has not given me a scroll. I do not feel it. The only scroll about my person is the Scroll of Healing. My face falls as I realize that this is not the right hunter. But the gateway shimmers before me still, tempting me with an end to this harrowing journey, promising comforts… No. I came this far. I passed many daunting challenges. I must see this through to the end. With great effort, I ignore the gateway and move along in search of the right hunter. And eventually I find him. The battle is just as fierce as earlier, but when it ended, he bows to me and offers me a silken scroll. I feel it around with my hands. This is it. The Scroll of Enlightenment. I have reached the end of my journey. I confidently step through the portal and offer the scroll to Master Quettle. “You have passed the challenges of the Monastery, Goldia.” Master Quettle informs me as he grants me the honour. “I now bless you with Strength of Form, Clarity of Mind, Courage of Heart, and Gentleness of Spirit. You have proven yourself worthy.” He touches my forehead and I feel my ailments melting away, my physique get stronger, my mind grow clearer, and my persona glow with vitality. More importantly, I have learned a lot from the whole ordeal, found the answers I sought, and could finally honestly say that I found peace with myself. Only one task remains now: organize and compile my journal entries so that it might help others who seek such things that I did. END **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Setta and the Search for Enlightenment](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/setta-and-the-search-for-enlightenment/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Setta and the Search for Enlightenment Setta shifted her fingers over the controls, directing the unwieldy beast a few degrees further through the aether. Flashes of light gave way to explosions of color, as beautiful and ephemeral as a passing butterfly – but Setta only stifled a yawn in response. Hours had passed since she’d last left the dock, and the strange brilliance of aetherspace had long ceased to impress. The light vanished, replaced by a vast abyss peppered by the occasional flare of energy. Setta sat up in the pilot chair, her attention drawn to the boundary of the Void. She’d mapped almost every inch of aetherspace and been on countless treks through the planes: prime, ethereal, elemental, cosmic, and astral. And yet, being this close to the edge still held a tantalizing mystery. What lay beyond? Could any ship reach it? Only the Elder Gods had visited, but Setta was determined. Somewhere, within the Void, or close to it, lay Enlightenment. Most believed ‘enlightenment’ a philosophical idea, a state of mind. Setta knew better, as did the master who had taught the Truth: Enlightenment was a place. All possibilities became a reality there, all streams of time converged. Once she found it… A sharp jolt from outside the ship brought Setta back to the present reality. From the depths of the aether, something had emerged: A scyllus! Frantically, Setta directed the ship out of the path of the monstrous creature. She fell back in her seat, wincing as the ship shrieked in pain as the scyllus tore a gash into the hull. Setta was back at the controls in an instant. Her fingers blurred over the control sphere as the ship lurched, struggling to tread through the dense, black aether. Losing track of her position in the mad dash, Setta was pleasantly surprised to spot a portal at the edge of the plane. With the scyllus still in pursuit, Setta followed the streams of aether and slipped inside. Streams of golden light greeted Setta on the other side of the portal. Momentarily blinded, she urged the aethership to a screeching halt. Setta was accustomed to the ambient light of aetherspace, but somehow, this was different. Light bent and refracted in the swirling energy in ways wholy alien… and yet, oddly familiar to the explorer. Enlightenment? Setta wondered, leaning forward in her eagerness, and drawn in by the peaceful euphoria of the unknown plane. As her fingers slipped against the command sphere, the ship lurched again. Trying to maintain her position, Setta ended up over-correcting, sending the ship hurtling away into the aether. Caught in strands of slipstream, Setta could only watch helplessly as she careened further from her discovery. Cursing the scyllus, and her misfortune, Setta finally managed to bring the ship to a halt, just outside of an aetherways dock. Confused, ship damaged, and needing to find her bearings, Setta docked the ship. Beyond the viewing window, a world lay before her eyes, as beautiful and alien to Setta’s eyes as the one she’d lost. Multifaceted creatures formed of shining crystal floated across jeweled walkways, mathematically perfect in sharp edges and form. They looked more to be constructs than living creatures. Curious, Setta stepped outside, feet touching down against a polished walkway of jems. She knew this place, somehow, though she couldn’t remember visiting before. The constructs were held in her memory, beyond Setta’s own experiences. Maybe… Further along the walkway, Setta spotted a sphere of perfect opal. The name came in a jolt of fire: Hallifax! The Continuum, Setta corrected herself immediately. So, within the Cosmic plane. Returning home would be easy enough. Still, Setta lingered, fascinated by the plane, though aware of the risk of being caught. Ever since the Quarantine, Hallifax had denied even its allies entrance into its territories… and Setta was no ally. The glint of metal caught Setta’s attention. Nearly buried within a mound of crystal was a device formed of silver and iron. It didn’t appear to be a natural part of the plane, and wasn’t anything she recognized from books or lectures, either. She knelt down and spotted a small metallic plaque at the bottom of the device: “Property of the Consortium.” Well, that’s helpful, Setta thought, rolling her eyes. Reaching out a hand, she brushed her fingertips across the silvery surface. The silver device whirred to life, spinning in its pedestal before rising a few inches. It hovered above the crystalline ground, rotating in place. Setta jumped back, catching herself at the very edge of the opal pathway. The silver device followed, spinning benignly in place as it inched toward the woman. She jumped up and started back toward her ship. Again, the silver device followed. Now frightened, Setta quickened her pace. Was it only monitoring her? Reporting back to the city? Preparing an attack? The uncertainty had Setta break into a run, stopping only once she reached the dock. Still, the silver… thing… followed, spinning and floating along behind at an easy pace. As Setta started to enter the ship, it was right behind, intent on pursuit. “Go away!” she hissed, swatting at the silver device in frustration. Her fingertips brushed against the shiny surface again but did little to discourage the device. Setta frowned, debating her next move. A shadow fell along the path. Feeling the rise of pin pricks along her spin, Setta turned her gaze up. A bipedal monstrosity stood in the walkway, an amalgamation of crystal and metal glowing in an eerie shade of bright orange. Gears whirred and clanked as it walked, giving the creature a swift, if awkward gait. Most disconcerting, two crystalline orbs were fixed on Setta. It barked a sentence in an unfamiliar language with a voice reminiscent of metal cracking together. Setta backed up to the very edge of the dock, hands held in front of herself defensively. “I… I was just leaving, really!” If the metallic construct understood the words, its crystal gaze gave no hint of it. The orange light within its chest shifted to dark blue as the air around it rippled with energy. Taking the hint, Setta dove back through the portal to her ship. Slamming a hand down on the controls, she rocketed out of the dock and back into aetherspace. As the ship neared her own Cosmic plane – Vortex – Setta settled back into the command chair in relief. An odd humming sounded nearby. Turning, she spotted the silver device from the Continuum. Spinning like a top, and hovering mere inches away. Setta blinked. The ship slid to a rest at the dock. The spherical device followed. Setta worked her way down the flesh-lined falls of Vortex, crossing the portal back into Gaudiguch. The silver sphere followed her the entire way, bobbing through the as it tagged along after Setta like a balloon. She stepped out of the Flame, and caught her breath. No matter how many times she’d seen it, the beauty of that column of prismatic flame could bring tears to her eyes. Surprisingly, no one was around save for the Keeper, Mesadari. Moving a short distance away, Setta eyed the strange device. She tried pushing it away or moving above it, and then searching for any means of controlling the device. Nothing. And still it clung to her, stubbornly. If anything, the device had followed Setta even more closely since she’d returned to the city. Was it afraid? Setta dismissed the odd thought with a smirk, then sighed. Her former master hadn’t been seen in Gaudiguch in years. This left only one person she could go to for advice. Resigned, she trudged away from the Flame, and worked her way through the city. A path zigzagged through the center of Gaudiguch, known as the Dragon’s Scar. Aedrasi was at her usual location, lounging on an obsidian rock outside one of the guildhalls. “Hello, mother,” Setta greeted, without emotion. “I have a problem.” “Toss it in the Flame.” The Dracnari woman had yet to look up from her place on the rock. Her amber scales gleamed in the sunlight as she lay on her back, gazing skyward. Only the occasional swish of her tail suggested she was still awake. “I find that resolves most problems.” “Not this one,” Setta said, casting one eye at the silver device. It was still following. “I can’t get rid of it.” Aedrasi lifted her head a few inches and quirked one eye at the device. “What IS that thing?” “It’s from Hallifax,” Setta replied, and quickly explained her last trip through aetherspace, and how she’d ended up with the device. “Hallifax,” Aedrasi repeated, suggesting she was still stuck on the first word of Setta’s story. The word spat from her lips like spoiled food. “Should probably take it to the Council then.” It was a reasonable suggestion. Still, Setta chewed her lip. “We might consider… intent and consequence. If I don’t take it to the Council, then I was lost, and ended up with this thing by accident. If I do take it to them, then I was trespassing, and stealing from them.” The larger concern was that the aethership Setta had taken belonged to the city, and she hadn’t yet asked the Council for permission to borrow it. Still, the explanation sounded good. Like something Master Rashnar might say. Aedrasi only chuckled and shook her head. “But you did steal that thing. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have it now.” If Dracnari could bristle, Setta would have. “I’m not a thief!” she snapped, irritated by the smirk and the lack of concern in her mother’s tone. “But if that’s what you think, then I’ll just… take it back to the Hallifaxians.” Aedrasi shrugged, settled back against the rock. “Do whatever you like, so long as it doesn’t bother anyone else.” The phrase was ubiquitous in Gaudiguch, and Setta had heard it her entire life, from nearly everyone. And yet, when her mother said it, it never failed to annoy her. “Fine,” she muttered. Even if Setta hadn’t really meant the words, it wasn’t a bad idea. Sometimes diplomacy was a more effective way to get information – at the least, they might tell her why the device had followed her. And maybe they’d allow her to retrace her steps out of the Continuum, to whatever plane she’d discovered before… Only one problem: The device was gone. “Ah! Where did…” Setta started, searching frantically. She found it a short distance away, resting beside some of the flowers along the edge of the Dragon’s Scar. No longer hovering, its once glassy, silver sheen was now a drab gray colour. Setta frowned, puzzling over this latest development. “What, are you broken already?” Extending one finger, she poked at the silver device. Immediately she jerked her finger back, feeling a few of her scales singe. “This wasn’t…” Setta trailed off, noting that several of the plants the device was resting beside had started to wilt, or blacken. “Hrm,” Setta mused, and sat beside the device to think. Ever since she’d brought it to Gaudiguch, it had clung more tightly to her side. And now the plants… and the burn… “Are you… hot?” she offered, feeling more than a little absurd asking this of an inanimate object. It didn’t respond, but the ruined plants still gave Setta a flash of inspiration. Exiting the garden, she ventured back to the market stalls. Minutes later, she returned with a small bottle of water. Setta poured a small amount into her palm. There was another moment of hesitation as she held her hand over the device, wondering if she was about to do something very foolish. Shrugging, Setta scattered the droplets over the device. At the contact, new life returned to the device. It flickered back to a shiny silver colour and rose a few inches into the air. It hovered back over to Setta’s side, like a lost puppy returning to its master. Satisfied, Setta tied the bottle about her waist and rose to leave. She was no less confused about the nature of the device or why the water had worked – but at least she knew a tiny bit more about how to “control” it. It was enough. Setta headed east, following the slope down of the volcanic mountain and toward the city exit. Just before the gates, she spotted several citizens standing around. Most she knew by name even if she wasn’t particularly close to them – Shaboji, Tatoka, among others. One, however, had her on guard immediately, keeping as much as she could to the shadows on the edge of the mountain path. Jaxsu. Unfortunately, Jaxsu spotted Setta as she was passing out of the gates. He beckoned to her with a cheerful wave and started toward her. “Hey, Setta! You’re back!” “Back?” Setta asked, with feigned ignorance, fighting to keep the grimace out of her expression. “No… I was just leaving…” Jaxsu dropped an arm around her shoulder and led Setta just out of earshot of the others gathered at the city exit. “Really?” He asked, his pleasant tone still holding. “So you’ve been in the city all this time?” “Yep, absolutely,” Setta answered. “And there’s no way I’ll check on any of the city’s aetherships to find the points changed or that they’re crawling with parasites chewing on the modules,” adding, after a pause, “…again?” Jaxsu’s tone was decidedly less pleasant. “Um… look,” she started, edging away from him. “If there’s any parasites or settings changed, I can…” “What in the name of Lord and Lady Mysrai is that?” Jaxsu interrupted, spotting the silver device floating behind Setta. Setta immediately moved to block Jaxsu’s view of the device, hoping the ‘Property of the Consortium’ plaque wasn’t visible. Better to toss it into the Flame than let the slimy Aslaran take it. First time she’d met Jaxsu, Setta decided she didn’t like cats. “It’s mine, uh… a pet, sort of,” Setta started, “Something I bought off a gnome. It just… follows me. Cute, right?” she asked, forcing a smile. Jaxsu’s yellow eyes narrowed, glancing between the device and Setta. “What gnome?” “The one with a shop. Anyway… of course I’ll fix the ships, I just have to run a quick task first.” He shrugged, and Setta squirmed away, out of research. “Well… about that,” Jaxsu started, “If you want to be of use to the city, you know, for once, you could dedicate some funds to increasing the size of hull. Safer for you, good for Gaudiguch. Everyone wins!” “Oh come on! I don’t have that kind of gold!” “I know, I know,” Jaxsu nodded, clicking his tongue in sympathy. “No one does, these days. But you put me in a terrible position, Setta. I don’t want to have to report you to the Council…” Setta fumed, silently. If emotions could show in her scales, they’d have shone a brighter crimson hue than the flowers of the fire plane. In the end, Setta only swallowed it. “I’ll… see what I can do,” she muttered, through clenched teeth. Jaxsu nodded, flashing a smile in her direction. “Smart girl. Enjoy your, er, task.” Turning away, he cast one last glance at the silver device floating in the air behind Setta. “How is that ‘cute’?” she heard, as Jaxsu turned and walked back into Gaudiguch. Sighing, Setta lifted her gaze. Even from this distance, iridescent hues of flame streaked across the sky from the Flame, rainbows of light and colour illuminating the city. Setta turned to the east. Far in the distance, she could barely make out the outline of a city of crystal, floating in the sky above the Basin. “Well…” Setta remarked, with a nod to the silver device beside her. “On the upside… maybe there will be a reward for returning you? Let’s hope.” They headed east. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Leelos Sunfeather and the Gilded Sage](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/leelos-sunfeather-and-the-gilded-sage/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Did you know that Hallifax sponsors an organization of ghost hunters? We’re not famous, but we do exist. I will grant you that we are technically historians, specializing in gathering information about the past by interrogating those who experienced it. Some are cantankerous, some are merely cadaverous, but all of them have precious information. Most of them have terrible tempers, and thus we are, from time to time, forced to fight. As I say, we are ghost hunters. I have aided, abetted, chatted with, and shot many ghosts over the course of a long career. The same ghosts, in many cases, sometimes at the same time. It was the very first ghost that I ever met that concerns us today. I was just a graduate student at the time, with a void blaster on my hip and an empty purse. I’m sure you can understand why I thought it might be best to go looking for ghosts that died rich. I spent days perusing the old archives, looking for any hint of a clue that might set me on the right track. I struck gold when I hit an old collection of court records dating back to the days of the Empire. Most of them were quite boring. I read about an endless stream of heretics that preached poverty and humility and promptly met their ends at the hands of the noble class. I also read about one heretic that seemed rather more sensible. His minions called him the Gilded Sage. The judge that ordered his death called him Aurentine, an altogether more pedestrian name. I preferred the title. He believed that wealth led people to sin. Naturally, the only reasonable course of action was to give it all to him, that he may properly dispose of it. People believed him. That just goes to show that people who are foolish enough to have a hereditary emperor will believe just about anything. The judge was not so foolish. He killed the sage, but they never did find his gold. — His little sect, like most terrible ideas, arose in the desert. That is where my journey began. I knew the general area in which he was active, and so I forced myself to brave the heat and the local culture to examine the place in detail. I will spare you the tedious details of the journey. Rest assured that I spent days trudging over dunes, each one precisely identical to the last, swatting at bugs, and generally enjoying the complete lack of amenities that the desert has to offer. It took me weeks to find my destination, but I did manage it. I eventually found myself at a series of cave dwellings carved into the walls of the desert mountains. Those were common back in the old days, when people thought they might be able to civilize the area. They offered shelter from the burning sun and a little more comfort than a tent. The Gilded Sage had lived in a carved cave. I hoped that I had found the same ones. I soon discovered that the caves were in use. They housed a whole tribe of the desert folk, squatting there as their ancestors had for centuries. That was lucky for me because they could give me information. It was unlucky for me because it meant interacting with them. — I made my way to the local tavern, largely for lack of any better ideas. Don’t ask me how they managed to find anything to ferment. I expect that it involved cactus, but I did not bother to ask. I doubt that they would have told me anything anyway. They glared daggers at me from the minute I stepped into the room. Some of them were drinking, some of them were chatting, and some of them were playing frivolous games of chance. Those were the ones who I approached. I had no money, but I slapped a handful of rings onto the table instead. I could do without my enchantments in a pinch, after all. Not that I had any plans of losing. Any graduate student worth his degree can cheat at dice in an emergency. It is one of the most valuable skills that any field researcher can learn. You never know when you’ll run out of funding and need to scam a fresh dose of “grant money” out of an unsuspecting foreigner. I played, I cheated, and I won. That made them angry, and so I bought them drinks. They drank, we played again, I cheated, and I won. Over and over until they were nice and talkative. That was all I wanted. I’ve yet to meet a drunk that doesn’t love to hear his own voice. I only had to tell them that I was looking for ghost stories to get everything I needed to know. — It turned out that I was in the wrong cave. There was another cave just a few miles away that was much more haunted. Holy men would go there and meditate until they were half-starved and a holy spirit would visit them. He would give them wisdom or death, much as he pleased. This ghost had a mask of gold and a silver tongue, or so the legends said. That seemed like exactly the sort of ghost I needed to meet. I went to the cave and waited. It took a few days for the ghost to show up. I didn’t bother to fast during my meditations. Perhaps that was why he was so reluctant to visit. I suppose it doesn’t matter. The wind howled across the desert when the spirit came for me. He had the golden mask and the silver tongue and a sneering face that simply begged to be punched. Board have mercy! I could hardly resist the urge. Sadly, the spirit was not in a talkative mood. It floated towards me with its mouth agape and its hands reaching out. I shiver went down my spine, I’m not ashamed to admit that. I drew my blaster and shot it, but that didn’t accomplish anything. What was left? I thought quickly and tossed one of my rings at it. A gold ring, since the spirit loved gold. It lunged for the ring at once and clutched it right up against its chest. It turned around at once and floated off into the desert. I chose to follow it. I didn’t have any plans at that point, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I followed this ghostly sage over the dunes until we reached a ravine. The bottom was full of gold, ancient gold, along with a few modern offerings. He told me that the gold was cursed and that I must cast all that I own into the hoard. He said it over and over, as though he did not understand why I did not obey. I pretended to be stupid and uncomprehending until the sun rose and he faded away. Then I took his gold. Was it cursed? I couldn’t tell you. Perhaps it was, perhaps it was not. I didn’t take the risk. Why bother, when Gaudiguch was so close at hand? I lied may way through the gates, went to the market, and spent all that I had to purchase gems and silk and any other light goods that I could find. Those certainly weren’t cursed! I took them home with my report and sold them off to get my money back. Perhaps I doomed those Gaudiguchian merchants with cursed gold. Perhaps not. I didn’t lose any sleep over the possibility. If there’s one thing that I learned over the course of my long career, it is that it always pays to pay the risks forward to somebody else. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Opening Ceremony -- Glomdoring's Solstice Festival; 548 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/opening-ceremony-glomdorings-solstice-festival-548-ce/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Opening Ceremony — Glomdoring’s Solstice Festival, 548 CE \*\*\* The following is a record of the Opening Ceremony of Glomdoring’s Solstice Festival in the year 548 after the Coming of Estarra, which took place before the Master Ravenwood Tree within the Glomdoring. The theme of the Festival was Rebirth; a notion manifested within the ceremony’s words and movements. Thus is how a member of the audience witnessed the Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae’s performance. \*\*\* Rancoura sweeps forward in silence, reverently bearing a bundle of long, unlit torches in her arms. Thin, argent chains glint from the aphotic, silken skirt upon her hips and the anklet revealed by her steps, a silver-streaked black scarf winding around her waist. A halter blouse reveals the pale flesh of her abdomen, strong yet smooth; every inch of her indigo-brushed skin is covered in violet-painted runes and symbols, and Rancoura moves with a smooth grace despite the burdens she carries. Casting a jewel-toned lazuline gaze around for a moment before selecting a clearing amongst the crowd, Rancoura solemnly drives a torch into the ground at each of the four cardinal directions, twisting the ravenwood poles as she plunges their sharp points into the loam, the earth firmly packed by centuries of movement beneath the boughs of the Master Ravenwood. She leaves the torches unlit, disappearing into the darkness beneath the roots of the towering Tree. As she emerges a moment later, the Wyrden Haruspex grasps a verdant branch of hemlock in each hand, the brush-like leaves of the evergreen hued a deep emerald. With swirling movements, Rancoura sweeps the boughs along the ground, brushing over the organic debris upon the forest’s floor. A stream of whispered prayers flow from Rancoura’s pale lips as she circles the perimeter set by the standing torches, the names of Night, Crow, Idols, Shadowbeat and Dark Spirits amongst her invocations. Once the circle is complete, the Haruspex continues the trail towards its centre, setting the branches to rest at her feet. Extending open palms at her sides, Rancoura’s eyes flutter closed as she concludes her whispered communion, form stilling save for the immense, shadow-spun wings expanding slowly at her back. Unfurling like a cloak, their ethereal adumbration shifts and stirs in the wan breeze. Suddenly, Rancoura snaps her fingers, and the torches flare to life with purple and black shadowflame. The Haruspex’s eyes slowly open, the last blue streaks seeping out as her irises shift into shades of violet, shadows of the same ebon and mauve flames flickering within their depths. “Welcome, Wyrdenkin, and those who come from beyond,” Rancoura breathes, words a steady cadence that resonates amongst the dusky trees. With a steady, melodic flow, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel whispers, “As the Solstice draws near, the Glomdoring’s borders are open to you, but beware: the Heart of Darkness lives, and it breathes, and it seeks.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel whispers, “Tread carefully through our woods, for the Wyrd fears not death. Death is but a new beginning, and the rhythm of the Shadowbeat paces the journey of Rebirth.” Rancoura gracefully bends to unwind a series of long strips of dark cloth from the handles of the hemlock boughs, arranging them in her grasp in a tassel-like array. The material is dusted with a curious, pale powder, already leaving thin clouds of particles in the air as the Haruspex organizes them. Rising to the balls of her feet, Rancoura crosses her wrists high above her head and arches her slender form. “We dance these steps, in peace and war,” she continues, her voice silken. “The storm crescendos as it ruins, the snows ferry death as they fall; yet new life thrums as it abates, awaiting the time of its emergence.” Drawing a breath, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel whispers, “So does the Solstice portend; and this Rebirth we celebrate, for it is ours to transcend.” Rancoura lapses into a momentary silence, allowing the distant beating of the Drums of the Dead to fill the quietude. With a faint, knowing smile, her eyes close once more, chest rising as she draws a deep breath, bated with anticipation. Seamlessly, the demidivine descends in a graceful movement, moving with the thumping rhythm and swooping forward, torso curved towards the ground as she draws the cloth tassels through the air. Rancoura swirls the strips above her as she rises, snapping them like a whip and sending the powder coating them billowing into the air. The shadowfires atop the torches crackle as the powder makes contact, sending bursts of flame outwards. Rancoura begins to move in a mesmerizing dance, snapping the tassels whenever she nears a torch, sending tongues of wyrden fire snarling outwards as they react. Her dance a study in fluidity, the Haruspex moves a few more steps before she begins to chant. Feet stamping lightly as she moves, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Evernight, evernight, the eventide is nigh.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Isa, Isa, the shadows a-flight.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Slumber, slumber, the biding shall end.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Waken, waken, the Hallowed portend.” Rancoura’s movements gain in speed, skirts sliding about her long legs, the symbols upon her skin cavorting beneath the dark illumination of the torches. Shadows chase each step, twirling and undulating about her form like insubstantial, ebon flames themselves as she twists the strips of cloth over and around her swirling figure. Continuing to flow around the circle, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Glory, glory, webbings and weave.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Hunger, hunger, afore the eve.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Journey, journey, adapt and survive.” In smooth, silken tones, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel chants, “Revel, revel, the Solstice arrives.” Rancoura throws her arms outwards, whipping the cloths one last time — and the shadowfire torches burst with engorging dark flames, tendrils of black and violet flaring out across the glen as a murder of crows launch themselves from the Ravenwood’s boughs, cawing their symphony to the drumbeat as they take flight. Her chest heaving lightly, Rancoura’s gaze moves among the gathered, lingering upon a visage here and there. “Blessed are we, who walk the shadows of the Wyrden Woods,” she whispers breathlessly. “So do we revel in the art of Rebirth.” With a delicate sigh, Lady Haruspex Rancoura So’hthae, Ole’noc Caihel whispers, “Let the Solstice Festival begin.” Rancoura sinks into a deep curtsey, arms outstretched and wrists gracefully curled, wings unfurled elegantly at her sides. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [In Hallifax: A Poem](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/in-hallifax-a-poem/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** O shining city, bright as day, Glittering in the sun’s swift rays: A grievous trouble I must relay, That I have encountered in my stay. For, you see, you’re quite a maze, Therefore, I pray, don’t be amazed, When I say that I was lost and strayed In Hallifax. They say no need for a navigator, Just dedicated educators. But even common sense turned traitor (Or some overzealous legislator) and placed the Beryl Generator Far to the east, without an indicator That southwest lay the Beryl Tower In Hallifax. “Consider two pyramids joined,” says he; “The word is octahedron, actually –” Well, all of that’s no help to me. For all things relative must be, and until I have some way to see, if I’ve passed the same shrine thrice, or three, I’m condemned to roam eternally In Hallifax. Each resident explains to me, With perhaps a touch of glee, How it all is easy as can be, and I grow too fond to disagree — For they obey the laws of society, And disdain those of geography, (And, quite possibly, geometry) In Hallifax. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Last Feather; Chapers 9; Epilogue](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-last-feather-chapers-9-epilogue/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** 9\. Decades have passed, and yet the glory of the Wyrd is the same, The Drums of the Dead remain as they have in the flying years Just as Crow’s wings blocked Father Sun, and Mother Moon above. It was his call among the other subtle whispers through the Silence, the Pack who still roams the undergrowth of hemlock and briar, and webs of silken filament that whisper of Eliar’s name, like murmurs upon the breeze, songs forgotten. He who was not remembered as tae’dae, nor man, such as he was – But he in his elder years as Regent, descended into the mists of time; Avatar, Ascendant, Protector of the Realm, betrayer of the North, the titles grew, and so did the Wyrd, his flesh consumed by it, the righteousness of vengeance lingered within his mind, An empty space where his heart resided, unfulfilled even in all his power. With no more thrones left to claim, no land or heart worth conquering, Black Sorrow did return to him, to nurse at the breast of False Memory Where the milk of its forgetfulness stays all woes, and cauterizes fresh wounds There is no such thing as perfection of two, halves or whole, Not in this story, so it would seem, perhaps if it were true, For as we all know, the perfection of mortals is as far and true as love is forever. But the love remained the same, the fire still burned, A smoldering bitter plume of ash in the Night, And all of it was fouled by happiest memories blotted by the sun There was nothing but numbness, and the wholesome taste of stale air, At the very idea of seeing her again, And as Eliar sat alone, to plot the final act of his intent, All of the tools now at his disposal, the Dark Four disbanded and free to roam the shadowed lands, many twisted versions of the events would play upon his mind, With this he knew, that there was little time for pondering. The Moon would be Full, and shed warm light high in the heavens, the festival of the Crone should dawn within a fortnight, with feasting, and the dancing of the winter Court to occur, and she would be there, sitting in the chair of the Seneschal, the platform luminous upon the staircase of the Mother-Tree, her hair like flames of kindled embers streaking across her cheeks, the sullen air of a spoiled child upon her hidden smirk, Such indignity, and disdain, such wasted beauty, ‘See, wyrden, how even the brightest of flowers wilt when tended ill,’ One of many phrases he murmured to himself, as he sharpened his nekai, Claws against metal, screeching endlessly in the rhythm of a means to an end. The Gem of the Three-Faced was such a withered blossom, ugly to the depths of her bones ’twas so long ago now she had once been a prize, un-wanting and selfish. Such possessions cannot be kept, nor earned, even Eliar knew that now, Sitting alone beneath the dark canopy, each hour ebbing as sand in a glass, Was vengeance such an empty purpose? Justice, then, to be dealt so swift? The Fingerblade of dha’Wyrden-cree straining against his biceps, he relented, And all that was in his mind turned to the desecration of those who had made him false. The Predator’s viciousness stirred within the shards of his heart, pieced together Should the guise of the Scorpion satisfy, and the sting of Wasp come at the penultimate? What of the Beetle, Bat and the refuse that seek to build lives within the Wyrd? Their place in Eliar’s scheme in forethought had little consequence, With the Crone’s full face upon the night in question, he was prepared for bloodshed Though, little did the bear know, that this, would be his last. 10\. The battle was swift and bloody, and Eliar went alone, seeking no counsel, With festival in hand there were many slaughtered who stood in his way, And the many spines of Moondancers snapped so easily between his paws, Each stealthy movement, closer and closer to the Moonhart Tree brought him thrill, the lines of the land falling as they always had along Moon-River, and the Falls, cliffs would stop him at the edge, where water thundered down, awash with his prey’s blood A narrowing of eyes, only told him that the true prize would be found at her throne Just as he had planned, how clever, how cunning the teachings of Crow had made him – But alas, for Black Sorrow, that now would finally be forgiven through the death of his betrayer He bounded, no longer caring for his upright position, nekai deep in the earth, The dust of untended earth well founded in each claw that shone wet and crimson Many wounds he had taken in the assault, and he could sense their forces moving inward, to where all things, within a commune such as this, connected The guards were easily removed, the monks of the Shofa less than a challenge, For the fear of his aura was too great, and sent them to flee through the branches, The druids would dare not use their trees, for he had chopped them all before, with flame and axe, and the purpose of destroying all that was hers. The wrath of the Predator within him, he pointed his right nekai at the throne, where, in long fluid lines of sheer cloth she sat, aged, but stillbeautiful, and uglier than before, her expression twisting with finite, eager pleasure, “Hail, Eliar, the Black-Clawed, Saviour of the Wyrd, First-Born of the Pack!” How her words rang with such disdain, but it mattered not, for words are no match For the action she would soon receive, as he returned the greeting in a low snarl, “Traitor!” The word sent waves of darkness around, dulling the gems upon her gown, “Oh, that was you, beloved, if you do not recall?” She rose from her throne, unhindered, “And it has yielded such perfection, see, the forest, it gleams with Mother Moon!” How foul the words were in his ears, that he laughed, a hearty chuckle from his belt – “You stupid bitch, that is all that you -can- say, Moon is hallowed, Moon does shine!” He prowled forward, along the dias of Mother Moonhart’s roots, as thunder rumbles above, For the Lady Lisaera watched from the heavens, as She held a tete-a-tete with the Predator Himself. “But it is merely a veil for your ill intent, your horrid plans.” Drawing closer, Eliar allowed his mouth to set flow the words that he had practiced for decades: “I have come to pass judgment on you, for your use of me, your disposal and hunger for power, Your wars that you have waged, to keep your people in fear of the unknown, Your desecration of nature, weakening it with false light, These people are prisoners to their own minds, just as you had used me for your gain, And for that, you shall die, and relieve this place from your presence, As it is as poisonous as the love that you had lured me with.” Upon completion, she had laughed in return, her athame quick to her hand, and light to her feet- the fae near her did not cower but struck forward, attempting to trip the tae’dae’s feet, A succubus light of Moon showered through him, and their battle began, each measure of attack Each of them lowering the strength of his will, but each he strived against and became resilient At last, he had found an opening in her defense, the mother-far had turned to heal her, By the scruff, one paw clapped about her neck, as the other broke her athame-wielding arm. “Our son has been trained for this purpose,” she gasped breathlessly, His claws finally had met her spine, twisting along the garish lines of her wounded form, Eliar reeled, only as the moment of the news struck and passed, it was not surprising, the old hag had waited years to tell him, how fitting, for his own demise. “He will destroy you, just as he will destroy all that you have built,” she spat blood, “Relyth! Avenge me!” She cried, as the fae upon the tae’dae’s back still attacked, Eliar then drew his claws across her neck, and it severed so easily, And like pulling hummingbirds wings apart, the sinew of her life broke. There was a sense of satisfaction then, as brief as it was to see her reign at end, But even as he turned, the figure of Relyth appeared blue-furred with bardiche in hand, The bouts between them rang throughout the forest, as Eliar disposed of the last of the fae, shanking each through the head so that they could not oppose him, Each tae’dae did not use words, but in them the shrieks of their warcries were enough. Exhaustion grew upon Eliar, like the prickling of the fur on his neck, And one blow, became slow enough for Relyth’s bardiche to counter and strike, With the blade piercing his chest, Eliar gave swift chase once more, before stumbling back in shock, A strange numbness took ahold of the older bear, deep within his throat, as his mouth went dry, “Poison,” said he, pressing his sweaty paw along the gash now bleeding at breast, Relyth gave a laugh, the sound unseated with low pitches, “Not even the grand Eliar can escape poison,” the younger tae’dae replied, eyes bright, even as the battle continued, Eliar felt the weakening sensation of it draw him in, the pain he could overcome, but the slowing of his speed could not win him the fight, With blood on his lips, the vigorous blows of Relyth grew arrogant and over-bold, As with the last of his strength, his blows grew dirty, and he caught Reylth’s shoulders, Grappling him, Eliar’s nekai went straight through the young bear, tearing entrails in twain Another deed done, for the last of the Gem’s lineage was put to rest The light from Reylth’s eyes and the laughter faded, A sound of the past upon the bubbling of his muzzle Heartbeat slowing, he clutched his nekai, the scent of copper stained upon them Limping through the forests, he sensed that he would not have long, Soon, it was crawling that dragged him to the sweeter trees near, Where the mountains had snow-capped peaks and Rikenfriez was not far, Arms trembling, he attempted to bandage himself, but to no avail for it would not hold Wounds such as these ran deep, and even the soul could not clot them The blood quenched the ground, and he could hear his legs give way Stumbling at the edge of Tolborolla Valley, the furrikin’s shrieks abided as he slid; Body soul-worn along the orchards, and collapsing among sweet honeysuckle Eyes rolling in a dizzy hum, as the low stink-breeze of the pond to the east caught wind Such a gape in the tae’dae’s chest it was wide enough to wet his once grand fur ‘Ameliana…Forgive me.’ 11\. The first words were mouthed, and not heard, Each shape themselves formed around a voice he knew but was beyond, Somehow the morning had risen without his will to it, the horizon blazing tangerine There was something wet to his lips, the blurry droplets of his vision cold and sweet But the water soured on his tongue, even as he felt a familiar presence assist He tried to speak, but he felt himself quieted and knew the poison had taken hold There were no more thoughts in his mind, save that he had slain his own son “My Ameliana…” he mouthed, but could not hear, But even so, it was a son he could not abide, of a false love and sorcery, It brought him no contentment, she was dead, and to think it would have, the Wyrd will grow more virulent, apparent and strong, he had done the Preadtor’s will The next words he could hear, the colours of the vibrant ‘scape of Ackleberry bending together The travels took the Brothers to within the Heart of Darkness, where drums were loud, In this time the poison was set to the tae’dae’s heart, attacking the very last functions, Though strong he was, his age had grown with it, and the poison of the bastard, Inevitable, he had recalled, where darkness would pain him, and light would soothe, Such a poison cruel enough to destroy the last ounce of mortality, And it was this that he saw the irony, of all of his loyalties, his wars and battles, Their purposes seemed to fade away, each conquering moment no comfort to him, This was justice, this was true, and righteous action – to usurp the Northern Forest’s last, Last living figurehead, and her son. “Carry him, Hiawaith, for he is even too laden for me to carry,” Inashi spoke in the silence between Sorian’s uplifting shadowy melody, the hand-like branches swooped up the torn, mangled body of the tae’dae, cradling him in the wyrden flora where the scents were gentle, an’ little insects glowed, the zenith of the wyrdenwood was beautiful as it was terrifying, a cradle of rebirth, Such radiance in the strangled light of the fireflies did not stop the brother’s tracks, As they continued their march dubiously through undergrowth and mountain passage, the slow rumbling song of Hiawaith discordant with Sorian’s as bubbles of shadow rose, “We must hurry,” the tribolus voice of the wyrdenwood said, “he needs more than we.” “We know,” said the smooth voice of Inashi from ahead, though desperate it was. “I am too wounded,” he spoke, though it felt as if the bellows inside him came apart, “Inashi, give me to the Ravenwood,” The Igasho nearly refused, The wounds were too great, split across the fur of his chest, And all around him, his brothers sensed that this would be the end, They argued heatedly, even as Sorian made attempts to heal the crevice-like gashes, but to no avail, each time, the poison grew deeper, and deeper still, when the bear had cried out in anguish, they knew the agony would not slow. “Eliar, please, hold on – Stay, stay,” they all said, speaking his name, the fondness of it the last thing he would hear. In the haze of the drain of life, Eliar saw once again the spinning needle, No longer was he there, with his brothers, As his eyes grew still, ears still tingling with their voices, He saw the end, and its perfection, and saw the Spirits welcome him to eternity, Yet, it was the Wyrd that granted him one last chance, as it had given him the first, A consciousness writhing to be free from death, his own as the Wyrd within him rose to reform, Yet he denied it, the last privilege of immortality, and felt a strange peace ignite Down, down, down, into the spiralling ends, where dream and terror met in one thread And he thought, in his last moments, the roots curling about his middle: “All was worth it… every… last… moment.” Breathing his last, his eyes saw her again in the shadows, And like the crows in flight, his soul went with them. … Epilogue There were no funerary rights held, no pyre laden into flame Only a sad few to carry on Eliar’s blood and name It is said when the Ravenwood devoured him into the shadow-hollow That one name was whispered over and over again, in the moaning of the wind, Indecipherable to all but poor Hiawaith, whose sappy tears made his grove fallow And the songs that Sorian did sing across the canopy echoed until the dawn Inashi himself stood vigil at the edge of the forest, too aggrieved to be there And the Dark Four were no more, their leader and battles long behind them They had done has he had wished, in his last moments, for the tae’dae was wise He had not lasted long, or so the crowd of people had said when his body was brought The brothers knew in their anguish that the poison had muddled his mind, As a dreamcatcher, his moments were no longer full of pain, But of visions of home, But they knew, in their heart of hearts that he had died long, long ago So, they had done as he had wished, for he was wise Eagerness rose in the air, to see this display of true devotion to the Wyrd, And the coteries of shadows, of the cult and murders of the Blacktalon witnessed, As each coil of root wrapped around the the body of the tae’dae The chasm of the great hollow wide to consume the essence willfully given The Ravenwood’s inky-black feathers wreathed through the blood-touched leaves, its consumption setting it to grow in height and girth, until the bark was as hard as iron Those who remembered him knew of his plight, where he had welcomed death From the beginning of the end, his heroism toppled an ignorant nation Upon which thrived the zealotry and ignorance of a lost, misguided people Sorian, was the one to write the ballads, it is said, of Eliar, Yet nothing can be said for certain, as I have recorded them here, He, the one to place the head of Elfelihana at the foot of the Silver-fold Witch, He, the one to present the shreds of her bastard son, Relyth to the Wyrden Mother, But the fate of the brothers has always been, in tandem, so the Fates prophesied. Such of one of these, did come to a bitter end, Yet the Wyrd claimed its servant, rightful and just, to rest beneath its roots, Sometimes, upon the summer air when the Moon has died one can still hear his howl, desolate amongst the many others, of whom we have honoured to forget. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** May 2016 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [A Reference Book for the Husbandry of Planar Beasts](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-reference-book-for-the-husbandry-of-planar-beasts/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A Reference Book for the Husbandry of Planar Beasts F O R E W O R D =============== Welcome back to the wonderful world of beasts, my cohorts in beastial desires! Kyalrhin here, publishing results with over one hundred zimoru applications of these beasts that are bought and sold in Cosmic planes! Also Faethorn. Might be a bit difficult to get your grabby hands on them, but these flighty creatures have some real allure to them that makes dancing around angry guards really worthwhile. Remember! It takes about twenty feeds, or a beastmaster’s chemistry set, to be able to attain the results listed in this reference guide. Furthermore, though I have done extensive research on these beasts, there may be permutations that I haven’t discovered yet. Such is random luck, and my luck in particular is not particularily good. +===========+ | I N D E X | +===========+=========================+ | Foreword ………………. Page 1 | | The giant eagles of Faethorn Page 3 | | The nightmares of Nil …… Page 4 | | The pegasi of Celestia ….. Page 5 | +=====================================+ G I A N T E A G L E S ====================== Situated at the crossroads of all the elemental planes in Faethorn is Antris, the falconer! He has giant eagle eggs available for purchase for only 186,000 gold. Like all planar beasts, these eagles are capable of flight. They also bolster your ability to stay rooted if mounted upon one. \* The following sketch provided is that of a large eagle egg. \* The shell of the egg is brittle with uneven bumpolike protrusions that cover the surface, giving it a rough and grainy texture. With multiple streaks and dots of dirty white running through it, the surface of the egg is shaded unevenly with an orange and brown hue. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young eagle. \* Even though it is still young and growing, the size of this eagle puts it on par with the largest stallion. Soft golden feathers cover a splendid physique with a band of white feathers around the base of its tail, denoting its status as a youth. Already a formidable hunter, it searches the ground with dark eyes as its wings carry it aloft. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult giant eagle, specifically a great midnight eagle with eyes of midnight black. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* While slightly smaller than her male counterpart, this (B)o> great midnight massive wings of black feathers eyes of midnight black a dark foreboding gaze that is filled with an inner fury giant, heavy giant, huge giant o> great, giant great Meat: o> giant black, great black o> giant brutal o> giant brutish o> giant feral o> giant monstrous, huge monstrous o> giant vicious, huge vicious o> giant midnight, great midnight o> giant rapacious Oats: o> giant golden, great golden o> giant noble, great noble o> giant white \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The eagle’s wings, their appearance dependent on body feeds: ———————————————————— Neutral: o> bronze wings o> bronze wings with black tips o> bronze wings with white tips o> brown wings o> brown and white wings o> tan wings o> tan and brown wings o> tan and white wings Meat: o> enormous wings of black feathers o> enormous wings of black feathers flecked with blood o> enormous wings of black feathers flecked with copper o> massive wings of black feathers o> massive wings of black and gray feathers o> massive wings of black feathers, with a white band running through the pinions Oats: o> golden wings flecked with white o> golden wings streaked with white o> golden wings tipped with silver o> great golden wings, streaked with bronze o> great golden wings, tinged with a hint of silver o> silver wings o> silver wings streaked with black o> silver wings tipped with black o> silver wings tipped with gold o> whiteofeathered wings \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The eagle’s gaze, their intensity influenced by mind feeds: ———————————————————– Neutral: o> a cutting gaze that misses nothing o> a cutting gaze that pierces all she sees o> a cutting gaze that sweeps across her field of vision o> a piercing gaze that misses nothing o> a piercing gaze that sweeps across her field of vision o> a sharp gaze that misses nothing o> a sharp gaze that pierces all she sees o> a sharp gaze that sweeps across her field of vision Fish: o> a baleful foreboding gaze that bears an ill omen for her prey o> a baleful gaze that is filled with an inner fury o> a baleful gaze that scours the land for prey o> a dark foreboding gaze that bears an ill omen for her prey o> a dark foreboding gaze that is filled with an inner fury o> a dark foreboding gaze that scours the land for prey o> a fiery gaze that is filled with an inner fury o> a fiery gaze that scours the land for prey o> a malevolent gaze that bears an ill omen for her prey o> a malevolent gaze that scours the land for prey Veggies: o> a gentle gaze that speaks of compassion o> a gentle gaze that speaks of wisdom o> a knowing gaze that draws in all she sees o> a knowing gaze that speaks of compassion o> a knowing gaze that speaks of wisdom o> an alloencompassing gaze that draws in all she sees o> an alloencompassing gaze that speaks of compassion o> an alloencompassing gaze that speaks of wisdom \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The colour of the eagle’s eyes, affected by spirit feeds: ——————————————————— Neutral: o> eyes of deep blue, eyes of icy glacier blue, eyes of lambent blue, eyes of ocean blue, eyes of periwinkle blue, eyes of royal blue, eyes of sky blue o> eyes of creamy brown, eyes of deep brown o> eyes of emerald green, eyes of forest green o> eyes of smoky grey o> monochromatic eyes of light cyan o> thoughtful eyes of aquamarine o> thoughtful eyes of deep blue o> thoughtful eyes of light blue o> thoughtful eyes of ocean blue Eggs: o> dark eyes that glimmer slightly o> eyes of midnight black o> eyes of glowing crimson o> eyes of vermillion red o> eyes that gleam darkly o> eyes that glow red, like molten lava o> eyes that glow with a crimson flame Fruit: o> eyes of deep indigo o> eyes of liquid gold, eyes of sparkling gold o> eyes of deep lavender, eyes of light lavender o> eyes of lambent silver o> eyes of majestic purple o> eyes that glow with a soft violet light o> eyes that sparkle with golden motes o> golden eyes that gleam with a white light o> soulful eyes of liquid gold N I G H T M A R E S =================== Something a bit different from a merchant with an amazingly difficult to pronounce name, Gishgorolbom will sell nightmare fillies on Nil for 106,000 gold, which is coincidentally the cheapest planar beast. These lovely ladies will traverse the skies upon foggy banks, and they are raring to go when it comes to battle. Simply mount her and be ready for spooky adventures! \* The following sketch provided is that of a night filly. \* Looking no different from any other normal colts, a night filly is distinguished only by its oily black coat. The ribs gently rise and fall as the night filly breathes steadily in its sleep. She is surrounded by a stasis field. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young nightmare. \* Still young and awkward, the young nightmare stands here flapping her stubby wings. Puffs of smoke emit intermittently from her nostrils, which flare with adolescent impatience. Her eyes are a milky red set against the oily black coat that covers her head and body. Her mane and tail are coloured a varying shade of red, in different hues. As she stomps her hooves against the ground, sparks of electricity and small puffs of dark cloud emit from the impact. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult nightmare, specifically a pure black nightmare. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* Easily matching any large stallion in size, the (B)o> pure black midnight black, trailing inky shadows inky wave of darkness, trailing tendrils of shadows scarlet mist scarlet mist coal black o> charcoal grey, dappled grey, dark grey, splotchy grey, spotted grey, striped grey o> magpie Meat: o> coarse black, deep black, dusky black, hellish black, jet black, midnight black, pure black Oats: o> sooty reddish o> bone white, chalky white, corpse white, ghostly white, pallid white, sickly white, spectral white \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The foggy bank nightmare stand upon, determined by body feeds: ————————————————————– Neutral: o> dark clouds, dark fog o> green clouds, green fog o> grey clouds, grey fog Meat: o> black clouds, black fog, black mist o> jet black fog, jet black mist o> pitch black clouds, pitch black fog, pitch black mist o> bloody fog, bloody mist o> churning shadows o> crimson fog, crimson mist o> scarlet clouds, scarlet fog, scarlet mist Oats: o> blue clouds, blue mist o> purple clouds, purple fog, purple mist o> violet clouds, violet fog, violet mist o> white clouds, white fog, white mist \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The nightmare’s eyes, affected by mind feeds: ——————————————— Neutral: o> eyes are eerie green with a pallid glow o> eyes are eerie green with a sickly glow o> eyes are eerie green with an amber glow o> eyes are eerie yellow with a pallid glow o> eyes are eerie yellow with a sickly glow o> eyes are eerie yellow with an amber glow o> eyes are green with a sickly glow o> eyes are yellow-green with a pallid glow o> eyes are yellow-green with a sickly glow Fish: o> eyes are black, trailing inky shadows o> eyes are crimson awash with black flames o> eyes are crimson awash with dark flames o> eyes are jet black, aflame with dark fires o> eyes are midnight awash with crimson flames o> eyes are midnight black, alight with a lambent glow o> eyes are midnight black, trailing inky shadows o> eyes are midnight black, trailing twisting shadows o> eyes are pitch black, alight with a lambent glow o> eyes are pitch black, trailing inky shadows o> eyes are pitch black, trailing twisting shadows o> eyes are red like burning embers Veggies: o> eyes are alight with a blue flame o> eyes are eerily green with a sickly glow o> eyes are glowing an eerie cobalt blue o> eyes are glowing an eerie icy blue o> eyes are glowing an eerie pale blue o> eyes are icy blue and cold as death o> eyes are pale blue like rotting ice \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The nightmare’s mane and tail, manifested by spirit feeds: ———————————————————- Neutral: o> Her mane and tail are charcoal grey, like a heavy storm. o> Her mane and tail are dark grey, like a stormy dusk. o> Her mane and tail are pale grey, like a stormy dusk. o> Her mane and tail are deep russet red, somewhat the colour of dried blood. o> Her mane and tail are short, cropped grey. Eggs: o> Her mane and tail are demonic red, like the flames of Nil. o> Her mane and tail are glowing red, like brilliant trails of fire. o> Her mane and tail are glowing red, like brilliant trails of flames. o> Her mane and tail are inky black, as black as the darkest night. o> Her mane and tail are inky black, as black as the deepest night. o> Her mane and tail are inky wave of darkness, trailing tendrils of shadows. o> Her mane and tail are pitch black, like that of the deepest night. Fruit: o> Her mane and tail are ghostly white and flailing about like angry spirits. o> Her mane and tail are ghostly white and floating about like lost spectres. o> Her mane and tail are pallid white like bleached bones. o> Her mane and tail are sickly white and flailing about like angry spirits. o> Her mane and tail are spectral white like a washed up corpse. o> Her mane and tail are white with streaks of blood. P E G A S I =========== Looking like nothing so much as an extravagantly winged horse, the pegasus can be purchased from Frobellon on Celestia for 140,000 gold. A speedy beast, you’ll be able to mount and gallop the pegasus when they finish incubating, as well as fly with them. Keep a lookout on the vegetarian route for this particular beast… you’ll understand the extra in extravagance when you do. \* The following sketch provided is that of a winged foal encased in iridescent light. \* Crafted from a bubble that denies the breeze and glows with a light of its own, a young pegasus can be seen slumbering within, pure white mist caressing the infant horse in its sweet, Lightoblessed dreams. The surface of the bubble swirls with a myriad of iridescent colours, brought on by the radiant light that glows from within, piercing the film and sending a splay of rainbowed colours in all directions. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young pegasus. \* Playfully hopping from hoof to hoof, this young, winged foal chirps in a strange, bird-like song, a playful air about her. Occasionally she twitches sparkling, luminescent wings, testing the air about herself tentatively. Her soft white coat is mostly downy feathers, occasionally coming off in clumps as she leaps playfully at the air. Young and molting, this foal has the youthful innocence of a steed born within the Light of Celestia, her small frame with much potential to grow. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult pegasus, specifically a brilliant pegasus with dazzling wings of incandescent feathers. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* Possessing a finer and stronger build than any mere horse, the proud and noble pegasus is a paragon of equine and avian creatures alike. Featherosoft, her (B)o> brilliant dazzling wings of incandescent feathers dazzling wings of incandescent feathers a celestial halo resting upon her head brilliant soft, celestial radiance brown, dark brown, light brown o> dun coloured o> fat o> grey, dark grey, light grey o> large o> pale o> tubby Meat: o> bloodthirsty o> ferocious o> fiery o> headstrong o> highstrung o> lordly o> proud o> savage o> spirited o> stubborn o> vicious Oats: o> brilliant o> comely o> gentle o> glorious o> lofty o> pink-hued o> pristine o> radiant o> resplendent \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The pegasus’ wings, affected by body feeds: ——————————————- Neutral: o> brown wings, dark brown wings, light brown wings o> grey wings, dark grey wings, pale grey wings, pearlescent grey wings o> russet wings Meat: o> black wings o> blood red wings o> crimson wings o> rust coloured wings o> skeletal wings o> wings of pallid lackluster feathers Oats: o> a pair of pristine white wings o> dazzling wings of incandescent feathers o> glowing white wings o> shifting wings of incandescent colours o> shimmering wings of snowy feathers o> smooth snow white wings o> sparkling, luminescent wings o> sparkling wings of translucent white feathers o> twin golden wings \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The quality of the pegasus’ eyes, influenced by mind feeds: ———————————————————– Neutral: o> cobalt light of her eyes o> cool hazel irises of her eyes o> liquid, metallic sheen of her eyes o> piercing gaze of her eyes Fish: o> blazing passion of her eyes o> burning passion of her eyes o> cold blaze of her eyes o> fiery heat of her eyes o> red heat of her eyes Veggies: o> incandescent light of her eyes o> keen intelligence of her eyes o> piercing radiant light of her eyes o> soft, celestial radiance of her eyes o> sparkling sheen of her eyes o> sparkling white flames of her eyes o> vibrant warmth of her eyes \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Often supernatural effects affect the pegasus, manifested by spirit feeds: ————————————————————————– Neutral: o> a gentle air hanging about her o> eyeing her surroundings serenely o> her tail swishing idly o> stomping at the ground with one hoof Eggs: o> a scarlet and gold aureola enveloping her form o> flickering with ghostly white flames o> glowing with a steady cobalt flame o> shimmering with a weird green light o> surrounded by green flames o> surrounded by red flames o> surrounded by sulfuric fumes Fruit: o> a celestial halo resting upon his head o> crackling with a holy light o> motes of pink light winking in and out of existence around her o> sending motes of soft white light flying with a shake of her feathery mane o> shimmering with a warm luminescence o> shimmering with motes of white flame o> surrounded by a halo of golden and ivory light o> surrounded by a halo of soft white light o> surrounded by motes of pulsing white light **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Reference Book for Guild Beasts](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/reference-book-for-guild-beasts/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** F O R E W O R D ====================== Hello, this is a brief greetings from the researcher of beasts, Kyalrhin Ysav’rai. If you are fine with being completely spoiled by my acquired knowledge, then venture forth eagerly, greedily, and avariciously! If you wish to maintain an aloofness to the world of beasts, I refer to you, “A General Guide to the Husbandry of Beasts”, and reading pages three and five for the general information provided therein. This book has been decades in the work, so please take the information within seriously. The administration of over one hundred zimoru reagents have been used per beast, so while this book not have all of the different variations list… it should, at least, give a very good idea of what direction you want to take for your beast’s diet. For this book in particular, I would like to thank those that entrusted me with their guild beast. Whether it be your curiosity, or be it a simple act of altruism, this book would not be possible without you. To you intrepid cohorts, I express my deepest gratitude. C R O W S ========= Crows are the totemic spirits that the Blacktalon can summon forth an egg for. For the Blacktalon, they possess two inherents. The crows will not divulge these skills to anyone who is not of the Blacktalon. The first is flight, and this CAN be taught if you are not a Blacktalon. Shockingly, people who are not Blacktalon and teach flight to the crow will see added descriptors to the crow’s wings that a Blacktalon themself will not receive. Vexing, as I am a Blacktalon and was not able to get this information. The second inherent is the Blacktalon inherent, which is a unique poison attack that has a very minor chance to give the dysentery disease, as well as inflicting infection upon its victim. \* The following sketch provided is that of a giant black crow egg. \* The egg is enormous, about the size of a human skull. Its shell is extremely thick and is as dark as pitch, absorbing the light around it. It radiates the presence of pure evil. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young giant crow. \* The crow is enormous, a huge bird with black feathers and beak. Larger than a dog, his wings have a span of over eight feet. One eye has been scooped out, leaving a dark, empty socket, forcing the crow to cock his head toward whatever catches his interest. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult crow, specifically a repugnant, bone white crow. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* The crow is (B)-> repugnant <-(B), an enormous bird with (M)-> bone white <-(M) feathers and beak. One eye has been scooped out, leaving a dark, empty socket, forcing the crow to constantly cock his head towards whatever catches his interest. The crow (S)-> leans his head back and caws, which makes your blood run cold <-(S). Larger than a dog, his (B)-> smoldering <-(B) wings have a span of over eight feet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's examine these characteristics, one by one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Physical demeanor, affected by body feeds: ------------------------------------------- Neutral: - bulky - large - giant - gigantic - huge Meat: - cruel - dangerous - ferocious - fiendish - fierce - hateful - merciless - murderous - savage - vicious Oats: - bizarre - freakish - grotesque - loathsome - misshapen - repulsive - repugnant - weird ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wings descriptor, also affected by body feeds: ---------------------------------------------- Neutral: - ??? Meat: - black Oats: - smoldering ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feathers, whose colouration is affected by mind feeds: ------------------------------------------------------ Neutral: - grey, charcoal grey, dappled grey, splotchy grey, spotted grey, striped grey Fish: - black, dusky black, jet black, midnight black, pitch black, pure black, sooty black - ebony Veggies: - white, bone white, corpse white, ghostly white, pallid white, sickly white, spectral white ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The crow's disposition, which is influenced by spiritual feeds: --------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - The crow gazes at you with hatred. - The crow gazes at you with hunger. - The crow gazes at you with utter contempt. - The crow gazes hungrily at you. - The crow gazes malevolently at you. Eggs: - The crow radiates the presence of malignant evil. - The crow radiates the presence of poisonous evil. - The crow radiates the presence of pure evil.. - The crow radiates the presence of pure malevolence. - The crow radiates the presence of pure wickedness. - The crow radiates the presence of vile hatred. Fruits: - The crow leans his head back and caws, which makes your blood run cold. - The crow caws a series of high-pitched notes that set your teeth on edge. - The crow caws a series of plaintive notes that send shivers up your spine. D R A G O N T U R T L E S =========================== Dragon turtles are the aquatic companions of the Aquamancers guild. Like Crows, their skills are only available to an Aquamancer and any other will find the beast bereft of their inherents. Unique to them are their abilities to waterglide (like the Beastmastery skill of sprint, but a variant that works on water), as well as frost breathe that will deal cold damage and build up the frostbite affliction. They are also able to swim. The dragon turtles are born from a golden dragon turtle egg. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young dragon turtle with a stubby tail. \* The young male dragon turtle is large and the wide shell is patterned in hexagons. Having an extremely short neck, the round head is protected by rows of sharp ridges, especially thick around the deep golden eyes, and he has a stubby tail. The legs have large claws, capable of tearing through the flesh of the largest sea beast. For all the trappings of ferocity, the dragon turtle is a majestic and noble creature. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult dragon turtle, specifically a ruby dragon turtle with a spiky tail. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* The male dragon turtle is huge and the wide shell is patterned in shades of (B)-> ruby <-(B) hexagons. Having an extremely short neck, the round head is protected by rows of sharp ridges, especially thick around the face, and he has (B)-> a spiky tail <-(B). The legs have large claws, capable of tearing through the flesh of the largest sea beast. For all the trappings of ferocity, the dragon turtle is a majestic and noble creature, whose (M)-> red-violet <-(M) eyes are filled with (S)-> a keen intellect <-(S). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's examine these characteristics, one by one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tail traits exhibited by dragon turtles, unaffected body feeds: --------------------------------------------------------------- - flat tail - spiky tail - stubby tail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shell hexagon colouration, affected by body feeds: -------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - grand amber, large amber, swift amber - crystal - grand emerald, swift emerald - jade - silver Meat: - beryl - bronze - grand ebony, large ebony, swift ebony - grand onyx, large onyx, swift onyx - grand opalescent, large opalescent, swift opalescent - ruby Oats: - grand amethyst, large amethyst, swift amethyst - cobalt - diamond - golden - pearlescent - platinum - sapphire ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wings replace the turtle's tail, similarly affected by body feeds: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - green wings - grey wings - viridian wings - yellow wings, yellow-green wings Meat: - black wings - crimson wings - red wings - rose wings - russet wings - vermillion wings Oats: - alabaster wings - angelic wings - aquamarine wings - cerulean wings - chartreuse wings - dark blue wings - lavender wings - purple wings - ultramarine wings - white wings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eyes, whose colouration is affected by mind feeds: -------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - brown, dark brown - clear - green, bright green, pale green, sea green - grey, dove grey, grey-green - silver - yellow, bright yellow, pale yellow Fish: - black - bronze - crimson - dark - pink - red, red-violet, ruby red - scarlet - vermillion Veggies: - aquamarine - azure - blue, deep blue, sapphire blue, sea blue - indigo - periwinkle - purple - sapphire - violet ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What spirit fills the turtle's eyes, influenced by spiritual feeds: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - deep wisdom - knowing wisdom - mysterious wisdom - special wisdom - wondrous wisdom Eggs: - keen intellect - knowing intellect - mysterious intellect - vibrant intellect Fruits: - celestial spirit - joyous spirit - lively spirit - mysterious spirit - powerful spirit - vibrant spirit F I R E P H O E N I X E S =========================== Fire made manifest are the allies of the Pyromancers, taking form as fire phoenixes. To Pyromancers, they grant the use of their fire breathing regardless of Beastmastery ability. These flames are especially powerful, putting those on fire that are unfortunate enough to be met with the bird's ire. They are also capable of flight! Fire phoenixes are born from a fiery, red egg. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young phoenix. \* Shifting and flickering, the air surrounding the young phoenix is infused with an intense heat, surrounding her like an aura barely visible to sight yet appearing all the more tangible. Her plumage is composed of multicoloured feathers. A faint dusting of gold covers each wing, causing them to shine and glimmer. Her eyes are round and small, glowing as if burning from within while her beak is long and narrow and a deep coal-black in colour. Tiny russet flames dance across the phoenix's plumage every so often, making her a magnificent creature of light, heat and vivid colour. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult fire phoenix, specifically a midnight blue phoenix. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* Shifting and flickering, the air surrounding the phoenix is infused with an intense heat, surrounding her like an aura barely visible to sight yet appearing all the more tangible. Her plumage is composed of multicoloured feathers, starting with (S)-> blue <-(S) at the shaft and flaring out to (B)-> midnight blue <-(B) at the tips. A faint dusting of gold covers each wing, causing them to shine and glimmer. Her eyes are round and small, but (M)-> aglow with a golden heat <-(M), as if burning from within while her beak is long and narrow and a deep coal-black in colour. (B)-> Burning golden fire <-(B) dance across the phoenix's plumage every so often, making her a magnificent creature of light, heat and vivid colour. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's examine these characteristics, one by one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colouration of the feathers' tips, affected by body feeds: ---------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - crimson - red, fiery red, flaming red, ruby red, red and yellow - yellow, fiery yellow Meat: - black, black and red, black and yellow, fiery black, midnight black - midnight green Oats: - blue, fiery blue, midnight blue, sapphire blue - gold, fiery gold, gold and black, red and gold, white and gold - deep purple, fiery purple ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Flames that dance around the phoenix, also affected by body feeds: ------------------------------------------------------------------ Neutral: - carmine fire, carmine sparks - crimson sparks - red fire, red flames, ruby red flames, red sparks Meat: - black fire, black flames, black sparks - dark ebon fire - emerald sparks, emerald fire, emerald flames - green fire - midnight fires, midnight flames Oats: - amethyst fire, amethyst sparks - blue flames, blue sparks - golden fire, golden flames, golden sparks - purple fire, purple sparks - sapphire flames, sapphire sparks - white flames, white smoke ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eyes, whose quality is affected by mind feeds: ---------------------------------------------- Neutral: - alight with crimson flames - burning with red fire, burning a ruby red, glowing a fiery red, glowing with red fire - burning with yellow flames, glowing with yellow flames, glowing with yellow fire Fish: - alight with dark flames, burning with dark fire, burning with dark flames, glowing with dark flames, glowing with dark fire - burning with green flames, glowing with green fire, glowing with green flames Veggies: - burning with blue fire, glowing with blue fire - alight with golden flames, aglow with a golden heat, burning with golden flames - burning with purple flames, glowing with purple flames - burning with white fire ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colouration of the feathers' shafts, as perpetuated by spiritual feeds: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - orange, burnt orange - yellow, light yellow Eggs: - black, coal black, pure black - deep ebony - green, moss green, ocean green - charcoal grey Fruits: - blue, deep blue, light blue, sapphire blue, shocking blue, sky blue, steel blue - purple, deep purple - white, pure white S T A G S ========= Like with the Blacktalon, the Hartstone have a spirit totem companion in the stags. They too have a breath attack unique to themselves, as well as the ability to heal the health of their druidic ally. Similar to all other guild beasts, these inherents are only available to the Hartstone and will disappear should another happen to be the stag's owner. \* The following sketch provided is that of a muscular fawn surrounded in a stasis field. \* The small male fawn is curled up in a fetal position. Small nubs are on his head, the start of his antlers. The fawn's eyes are closed and its coat is a muted brown with black spots. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young stag with a magpie tail. \* The stag's sleek coat is a rich brown, which adds to the creature's appeal. A solid, arching neck culminates into a crown of branching antlers that sweep up in a graceful curve. Widespread ears sit below them, alert for those who would disturb his habitat, ensuring he is ready to flee on slender legs or use his antlers to deadly effect. He has a magpie tail. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult stag, specifically a courtly, ivory stag with lavender wings. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* The stag's sleek coat is (B)-> ivory <-(B), which adds to the creature's (M)-> courtly <-(M) appeal. (S)-> A powerful aura surrounds the stag <-(S). His solid, arching neck culminates into a crown of branching antlers that sweep up in a graceful curve. Widespread ears sit below them, alert for those who would disturb his habitat, ensuring he is ready to flee on slender legs or use his antlers to deadly effect. He has (B)-> lavender wings <-(B). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's examine these characteristics, one by one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stag tails, unaffected by feeds: -------------------------------- - short white tail ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colour of the pelt, affected by body feeds: ------------------------------------------- Neutral: - amber - brown, chocolate brown, copper brown, dark brown, light brown, spotted brown, striped brown Meat: - black, coal black, pure black, striped black - red, rusty red, spotted red, striped red Oats: - ivory - white, creamy white, seashell white, soft white, spotted white, striped white ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Replacing the tail are wings, also affected by body feeds: ---------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - amber wings - brown wings, dark brown wings, light brown wings, sandy brown wings - ecru wings - mahogany wings - russet wings Meat: - black wings - copper wings - dark wings - ebony wings - sienna wings Oats: - alabaster wings - angelic wings - lavender wings - rainbow wings - white wings - creamy white wings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The stag's mein, which is affected by mind feeds: ------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - beauteous - beautiful - handsome - gorgeous Fish: - burly - fit - hulky - muscular - powerful Veggies: - courtly - grand - majestic - noble - regal - stunning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quirks of the stag, which is influenced by spiritual feeds: ----------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - The stag gazes curiously about himself. - The stag gazes upwards in graceful contemplation. - The stag watches you knowingly. Eggs: - The stag paws the ground and tosses his head. - The stag prances about, anticipating action. - The stag snorts and paws the ground, eager for action. - The stag snorts and paws the ground, kicking up dust. Fruits: - A chivalrous aura surrounds the stag. - A compassionate aura surrounds the stag. - A gentle aura surrounds the stag. - A palatable aura of power surrounds the stag. - A peaceful aura surrounds the stag. - A powerful aura surrounds the stag. T A I N T W Y R M S ===================== Lamentable creatures crafted from the taint itself, taint wyrms are the Geomancers' loyal beast. Their inherents include being able to dig up items or people from the ground, as well as breathing gas on unfortunate foes. This gas has the added benefit of building particulates on their hapless victim. The taint wyrm is particularly special, possessing no mind. Mind feeds will have no affect on this pathetic creature. I unfortunately do not know how these wyrms are conceived, though it is likely by some unfathomably disgusting means. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young taint wyrm with needlelike teeth. \* Like a gigantic snake, a young male taint wyrm coils over on himself, his thick tubular body glistening with oil and slime, and he has needlelike teeth. Black faceted eyes stare with a malevolent gleam, and wisps of poisonous vapours trickle out from his slitted nostrils. The cloying stench of taint exudes from his pores. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult taint wyrm, specifically a sickly taint wyrm with razor teeth. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* Like a gigantic snake, a taint wyrm coils over on himself, his thick tubular body (B)-> sickly <-(B) and glistening with oil and slime, and he has (B)-> razor teeth <-(B). Black faceted eyes stare with a malevolent gleam, and wisps of poisonous vapours trickle out from his slitted nostrils. The cloying stench of taint exudes from his pores, (S)-> rotting his own flesh <-(S). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's examine these characteristics, one by one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wyrm teeth, unaffected by feeds: -------------------------------- - bloody teeth - knife-edged teeth - jagged teeth - razor teeth - sharpened teeth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disposition of the wyrm, affected by body feeds: ------------------------------------------------ Neutral: - bloated - gigantic - mammoth - serpentine - squirming Meat: - black, jet black, midnight black, pitch black, shadowy black - dark ebony, glittering ebony - dark onyx, glittering onyx Oats: - foul - malformed - pallid - repulsive - sickly ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wings descriptor, which supplant the teeth: ------------------------------------------- Neutral: - leather wings - filthy leather wings - ragged leather wings - splotchy leather wings Meat: - bat wings, bloody bat wings, crimson bat wings - bone wings - shadowy wings - skeletal wings - spectral wings Oats: - feathered wings - faded feathered wings - filthy feathered wings - oily feathered wings - tattered feathered wings - torn feathered wings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How the taint affects the wyrm, which is influenced by spiritual feeds: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - desecrating the air around him - fouling the air around him - spoiling the air around him Eggs: - blackening the earth beneath him - consuming the earth beneath him - dissolving the earth beneath him - eating the earth beneath him - rotting the earth beneath him - scouring the earth beneath him Fruits: - dissolving his own flesh - eating his own flesh - fouling his own flesh - rotting his own flesh - spoiling his own flesh T H U N D E R B I R D S ======================= Creatures devised of lightning and storms, the thunderbird is an Aeormancer's beast of choice. Like the beast entries that precede it, the thunderbird is possessed of a unique lightning breath attack that will wrap its victim in cloudcoils. They are also capable of flight, though both of these abilities are only inherent to an Aeormancer. \* The following sketch provided is that of a large grey egg. \* The egg is as large as a grapefruit, perfectly formed into the shape of a sphere. The colour is a mottled grey, like darkening storm clouds. The egg softly trembles, sending small jolts of electricity across its surface. \* The following sketch provided is that of a young thunderbird. \* The thunderbird is as large as a giant eagle, with head feathers that spread around her neck like a mane and tail feathers that flare out behind her. Her wingspan is twice as long as the length of her body, the feathers of which are brown and surrounded by lightning. With each beat of her wings, the sound of a small thunderclap echoes around her. She preens and cleans her feathers with a long curved beak. \* The following sketch provided is that of an adult thunderbird, specifically a bloodstone thunderbird. Arrows with accompanying notations are drawn to indicate where morphs may occur in the beast dependent on what it has been fed. \* The thunderbird is as large as a giant eagle, with head feathers that spread around her neck like a mane and tail feathers that flare out behind her. Her (M)-> ludicrously tiny bat wings <-(M) are twice as long as the length of her body tip-to-tip and surrounded by (B)-> black lightning <-(B). With each beat of her wings, the sound of a small thunderclap echoes around her. She preens and cleans her (B)-> bloodstone <-(B) feathers with a long curved beak, (S)-> crimson <-(S) eyes (S)-> blazing <-(S) with a (S)-> formidable <-(S) intellect. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's examine these characteristics, one by one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feather colouration, affected by body feeds: -------------------------------------------- Neutral: - dark amber, resplendent amber, tawny amber - dark emerald, sparkling emerald - jade, resplendent jade - rose quartz - silver, resplendent silver, shimmering silver Meat: - black, deep black, midnight black, velvet black - bloodstone - fiery crimson - fiery red, ruby red - scarlet, fiery scarlet - vermillion Oats: - deep amethyst, sparkling amethyst - dark azure - blue, cerulean blue, midnight blue, sky blue - golden, golden rose, pale gold - purple - sapphire rose, sparkling sapphire, star sapphire - violet, light violet - white ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lightning that surrounds the thunderbird, also affected by body feeds: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - amber lightning - crackling lightning, forks of crackling lightning - raging lightning - forks of scintillating lightning - scintillating lightning, forks of scintillating lightning - yellow lightning Meat: - black lightning, forks of black lightning - forks of carnelian lightning - crimson lightning - forks of ebon lightning - emerald lightning, forks of emerald lightning - green lightning, forks of green lightning - red lightning, forks of red lightning - scarlet lightning, forks of scarlet lightning Oats: - blue lightning, forks of blue lightning - golden lightning, forks of golden lightning - purple lightning, forks of purple lightning - sapphire lightning, forks of sapphire lightning - violet lightning, forks of violet lightning - white lightning, forks of white lightning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The thunderbird's wings, which are affected by mind feeds: ---------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - leathery wings - black, leathery wings - grey, leathery wings - long, leathery wings - white, leathery wings - tattered leather wings. Fish: - claw capped bat wings - ludicrously tiny bat wings - ragged bat wings - blood-hued wings - broad, black plumed wings - dark veined wings - feathered wings - midnight black wings - shattered, ragged wings - translucent ruby-veined dragonfly wings - wide, shadowy wings Veggies: - delicate, silken wings - down, silken wings - rainbow wings - rainbow feathered wings - white-feathered wings - iridescent butterfly wings - two sets of iridescent butterfly wings - small translucent wings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The thunderbird's eye colouration, which is influenced by spiritual feeds: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - amber - grey, deep grey - jade - opal - yellow Eggs: - bloodstone - crimson - green - malachite - midnight black - onyx - ruby Fruits: - amethyst - diamond - golden - jade - purple - violet - sapphire - turquoise ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eye quality of the thunderbird, which is influenced by spiritual feeds: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - alight - blazing Eggs: - alight - blazing - glinting Fruits: - alight - glowing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Intelligence of the thunderbird, also influenced by spiritual feeds: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Neutral: - considerate - keen Eggs: - dangerously sharp - formidable Fruits: - magnificent - noble **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [An Elegy for Sivriel](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/an-elegy-for-sivriel/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** An Elegy for Sivriel Dear Mother, You were loved. Enshrined in Moonhart’s circle, Grandfather kept up high a painting of you and your sisters, a trio of eternal maidens. I oft gazed upon you there; now I barely recall summer scent and silver hair. I’m sorry. I knew not the loss of a distant star. By brief and bright kinship, I was your daughter, and thus I was his too. Nigh-all affection subsumed by devotion to Her sublime silver light. He immortalized you fresh on canvas, deep in stone, and in offerings cast in Her frozen crystal pool– for I knew they were as much for you. Rest well, dear Sivriel. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [A Study on the Effects of Essence](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-study-on-the-effects-of-essence/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Table of Contents Introduction ……… Page Two Fusion of Essence …. Page Three Foreword …………. Page Four Lab A Results …….. Page Five Lab B Results …….. Page Six Lab C Results …….. Page Seven Conclusion ……….. Page Eight Introduction: This study examined the effects of the various essences from the elemental and ethereal planes. It also examined the interactions of essences among each other. Essence was infused within differently sized objects after which the reaction were observed. Within this study, three different sizes were used. All objects were measures at their widest point. Small objects are anything between zero and four inches longer. Medium objects are anything between four and ten inches long and large objects are anything longer than ten inches. The sheets of metal were rectangular in shape. The gemstones are spherical in shape, where size length is the diameter. and the plant life used was non-curative herbs and flowers. The experiments were divided among three labs to prevent the corruption of data. All objects were tested in each lab. The first lab had only one type of essence within it at a time, while the other two had more than one type of essence at a time. Within the first lab is where the essence were fused with the objects to test the reaction. The second lab is where a single essence were fused with an object while other essences are within the room. The third lab is where there was the fusing of two or more essences within an object. The labs were labeled A, B, and C, representing the first, second and third labs respectively. The following objects were used during these experiments: Cloud Essence Fire Essence Light Essence Dark Essence Silver Essence Shadow Essence Containment jars Sheets of metal in small, medium, and large sizes Gold, Iron, Mercury, Platinum, Silver, Steel Gemstones in small, medium, and large sizes Amethyst, Beryl, Bloodstone, Coral, Diamond, Emerald, Garnet, Jade, Moonstone, Onyx, Opal, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, Turquoise Plant life (potted and pieces) — Foreword: It should also be noted that Hallifaxian Servants were tasked with the gathering of essence, which they completed effectively with up most care and legality in their actions. Their handling of the essence did not seem to affect the outcome of any results in a measurable way. For the purpose of completeness, the essences can be paired in groups of two. These pairs are seen as opposites and they are as follows: Cloud and fire, light and dark, silver and shadow All testing actions were done within Aeromancer testing space. As such, any limitations of the space may have influenced the results. Should there be more restricted testing areas that this researcher does not have access for to use that includes equipment able of finer measurements, it is encouraged that these tests are repeated with that equipment to increase the knowledge base of the properties of essence. —- The fusion process: Fusing an essence within an object proved to be a rather simplistic action. By placing the essence on the object in a way that the essence doesn’t fall or roll of naturally, the essence will enter the object after a time of five to ten seconds has passed. The time is directly related to the size of the object. Upon fusing essence within an object, the essence is then unable to be removed. The essence however does fade over time. An interesting note: Once the essence enters the object, the presence of the essence can be measured evenly throughout the object with high readings within small objects and lower readings within the larger objects. Fusing motes of similar essence together is achieved by one of two ways. Both ways require an environmental aspect based on at least one of the essences in question. Fire essence requires a source of fire, cloud essence, requires a cloudy terrain, light essence requires a source of water, dark essence requires a source of dirt, silver essence requires a plant, and shadow essence requires the possible be done within the shadows of some object and so on. The actual fusion process for single motes of essence requires the motes to be thrown at each other, colliding within the environmental aspect. Fusing essence requires both pieces be of the same size. That is, a piece of essence that is the result of two motes of essence can only fuse with essence composed of that same number. There is no limit to the number of motes of essence that may be fused at a time, thus allowing for pieces of essence composed of any number of motes. The second way to fuse essence together is via the use of a simple machine that presses the motes together. This process, while requires less force is prone to a failure rate of ninety percent while the first method as a zero percent failure rate. It was observed that trying to fuse essences of different types is impossible. The fusion of different types of essence was tried one hundred times, which showed to have a hundred percent failure rate. Another interesting note: Upon fusing, the essence seems to lose its ability to generate power as well as be converted into other types of essence via the various converters that organizations have. The essence also gains protection from decay equal to the size in months. This protection appeared to reset each time the size is increased. —- Lab A Procedure: The object was placed upon a marble testing table. The essence being tested then was placed on the object’s center, as allowed by the object’ shape. Lab A Results: Within Lab A, when using single motes of essence the results were mostly as expected given general knowledge of essence use within the Trades of the Basin. However, a few additional things were observed when pieces of two or more are used. Testing proved that objects did not have a limit that an object could hold. When using cloud essence, the object levitated for a period of time based on the size of the cloud essence when size of six to twenty is used. After twenty, the time remains the same. The time the effect lasts starts at two seconds and goes up to ten seconds (see chart 1). When using shadow essence, the object gained a slight cloaking attribute when observed with something besides the naked eye. This effect seems to be also be determined by a relation of the essence used starting at six and the time capping at twenty. This effect lasts between five and fifteen seconds Dark essence has the most damaging effect observed within Lab A. The effect of this essence decayed the object. With the metal, the piece rusted away. With gemstones, the structure cracked from within outward and the plants rotted into lifeless pieces. This effect is a determined by a function of the size of essence and the size of the object. The result of this function decides when the rapid decay starts. This effect starts at thirty seconds and goes down until one second. The decaying process, and the related function, of this starts at essences of size of ten. All other essences showed additional no effects up to size fifty essences. Sizes larger than fifty were deemed to not be worth the cost. In all cases, including those without other effects showed that the essence dissipated from the object after size of the piece of essence in minutes times three starting from the moment of fusing the essence to the object. Lab A Chart 1: +————–+——————-+ | Essence size | time (in seconds) | +————–+——————-+ | 6 | 2 | | 7 | 3 | | 8 | 3 | | 9 | 4 | | 10 | 4 | | 11 | 5 | | 12 | 5 | | 13 | 6 | | 14 | 7 | | 15 | 7 | | 16 | 8 | | 17 | 8 | | 18 | 9 | | 19 | 9 | | 20 | 10 | +————–+——————-+ —- Lab B Procedure: The object was placed upon a marble testing table. One type of essence was placed on the object, centered as shaped allowed. Letting L be the length of the object, another type of essence was placed a with one L measurement of the testing object. In another test, essences was place at 2L and again at 3L. Lab B Results: Within Lab B, the reactions between an essence fused within an object and an essence sitting nearby were tested. Here, there seem to be no reaction unique to what was being tested. The object with the essence showed effects as outlined in the Lab A results. The essence sitting nearby did not show any signs of change. This is not surprising due to the nature of multiple essences often being next to each other in a non-testing environment for those who empower their nexus with essences. Lab B Hypothesis: While there showed no measurable effects, below are ways that may be able to influence effects to appear. Note that these ideas are beyond the equipment within the used labs or not authorized by the proper persons of higher status. 1\) Adjusting the terrain of the testing location could produce results relating to opposite essences. The forces that oppose a specific essence could appear in large enough essence sizes. 2\) The use of live creatures that hold essence. Perhaps there is something that appears when the essence is still within its host creature that should show with a fused essence object. This researcher does have a few hypothesis regarding these two ideas. On the first idea, it is suspected that it could show results if the essence was large enough size to start imposing its own terrain type. However, there is no cause for the belief that should such a size exists, that it would be able to go against a druid or mage meld. On the second idea, the taming of such currents would prove to be a case study it is own. Should such a thing be done and one managed to get such creatures into a controlled environment, there is no reason to believe the creatures would do anything besides just exist in place. All the creatures dropped the essence on death. One does not see essence naturally floating around within the Elemental and Ethereal Planes; it would not be unreasonable to think the creatures are born with essence inside them. However, this idea is also beyond the scope of this report and should be drafted in its own paper should it be pursued. —– Lab C Procedure: The object was placed upon a marble testing table. The essences being tested were placed on the object equidistant from each other and the object’s center. Lab C Results: Within Lab C, the reactions of the objects when two or more essence types were test. In all cases, the essences fought for control and dominance of the object, ending in one essence single, unmixed, type of essence. Essences of opposite types did not show any unique effects and just contested for control of the space. As such, these results are not noted below. In testing, it appears there is no limit to the amount an essence an object can hold here as well. More so, the effects were the same over all objects, not showing any difference in neither size nor material. The reactions of fire and cloud essence in sizes of REDACTED to REDACTED showed very surprising reactions. They showed and effect of temporal suspension. The objects showed that they did not age for a small amount of time as measured by the amount of time the objects had left on them before decaying. While this interaction only lasts faction of time that caps out at thirty seconds, it is an interesting one. It is suspected the cause of this is from reactions between Operation Crucible and Project Paradox during the Taint Wars that caused the temporal suspension of the cities of Hallifax and Gaudiguch. Furthermore, this effect seems non-exist in the sizes small than REDACTED. This would suggest the lasting effects on the Elemental Planes of the mentioned two cities is trivial and holds no military usefulness. Light and cloud essences produced a small mist like effect around the object as the sizes joined within the object. This mist stayed around the object even when the object was moved around. The amount of mist created appeared to be a constant regardless of essence size. Cloud and Dark essences proved to be the more destructive of two essence combinations. The cloud essence was quickly consumed in all but one case in which the cloud essence was five times larger than the dark essence. The object decayed just over three times as fast. Fire and silver essence created a burning smell from the object. While the object, including the flammable objects, did not show any signs of fire, smoke, or such burning they had a burnt smell to them. This effect lasted for three hours regardless of the size of essences used. A most interesting reaction occurred with group of shadowy, cloud and silver essence. As one might suspect, the shadowy and silver essence had hostile actions, both of essence destroying motes off the other while the cloud essence appeared to stay on the sidelines so to speak. In cases of the silver essence winning, it created an earthy feel to the object until the only had one essence type remained due to the constant fight for control as previously stated. In cases of the shadowy essence winning, a curious balance was seen. The cloud essence produced a fog like effect while the shadowy essence produced an underlying darkening effect that made it appear as the object was not there and it was just fog. Fire and Light essence produced a steaming effect from the object as if were hot coals. This effected proved to last time equal to the size of the smaller essence in days. Sizes up to fifty were tested. Uses for this reaction could prove useful on a personal scale to those who enjoy the sense of heat and steam against the skin. The temperature of the steam did not show hot enough to produce burns and thus the usefulness among combat settings is zero. Lastly, when combining all the essences of equal size up to size eight, the object showed aspects relating to all the essence types. The order in which each type was consumed and destroyed by the other essences appeared to be random each time. In sizes greater than eight, a chance of the object exploding goes up linearly with larger sizes. In all of these cases, there is a cracking sound is heard eleven seconds before the explosion. The level of explosion is minor in damage, causing the object to shatter out only one foot in diameter. —– In conclusion, the process of fusing essence has provided a very low reward output. The loss of power production alone is enough to warrant that such fusion not be used. The effects of using essence in sizes larger than one also proved to be only useful to a small number of people. The reactions of two or more essences within an object did show some promise of understanding the uses for the essence beyond power generation and designs of mortal tradecraft. A few final thoughts on the results: Firstly, dark essence did the most damaging effects. This is not surprising due the connection it has with the Taint and the undead-state it creates when one embraces its power. Light, Silver, and cloud essence proved to be the most unchanging in their effects to the objects. Shadow essence showed to have the least noticeable effects. The effects darkening things like shadows to a minor degree that the naked eye may not see the change. Shadow essence also appeared to have a unity with the other essence effects, often concealing the effects of other essences or the object itself in the absence of light. This could suggest that the essence and the aspects it contains are rather mutable in nature. Farer research into the uses of single size motes of shadow essence may result in worthwhile rewards. Research into the purification, that is not direct conversion to another type of essence, of dark essence to essence that is less damaging may also prove to be a worthy topic of interest. It is in the view of this researcher that any use of such sizes would be too high to give reason to the creation of the essence size. The use of fused essence should not be ventured into until a process is discovered that not only allows the essence to retain its power generation attribute but also along with being able to be removed from objects that are not a created item. This study was a worthwhile look at the nature of essence and it is encouraged that others explore their own ideas that may arise to improve the use of essence. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Song of the Seagull](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-song-of-the-seagull/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Oh, it’s true that the lyrebird could sing a sweet song, And it’s true that the nightingale could sing along, But Keepers of Song, how could you forget the seagull? Alas, all night he squawks and cries for attention, Though of course his shrill voice goes without mention, But then, who would think to sing with a seagull? For though the silent swan glides without a care, And the owl fixes those nearby with an unnerving stare, Friends, have you ever met an aloof seagull? Yet I heard tell of a Goddess who took a moment to ask, This forlorn seagull as he warbled past, “Why has you so upset, dear seagull?” Embarrassed, he shared his sad and lonely fate, But the Divine replied, neither unkind nor irate, “Then sing to Me as I sculpt, little seagull.” And true, his voice still remains quite a fright, Whether he squawks over the sea day or night, But the Lady Carakhan still loves her dear friend, the seagull. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Puns and why they are counter-productive to productive processes](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/puns-and-why-they-are-counter-productive-to-productive-processes/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Puns and why they are counter-productive to productive processes Once a pun a time, there was a man whose mind was ruined by a pun. What does this sentence invoke within one’s brain? Feelings of glee and a light chuckle may come from some, but others may feel a groan of displeasure with their face in their palm. However, whichever emotion is felt, this is disruptive to thought processes because not only does it cause someone to first think about the pun itself for a few minutes to understand it, but then they must waste more time responding to it. This first brings up the question of how would one measure if this is truly disruptive. Let us assume that a person is able to do one action and have one thought at a time. These can be connected to the same task ideal, but do not need to be and can be completely unrelated. Let us also assume that the pun fills the thought first and then become an action. Now, while one is thinking about the pun and its play on words, they can not be thinking of anything else. While they being productive physical, this is more of just idle work that any trained servant can do. So, as one thinks about the pun, they are not only losing important thinking time, but their physical work is also wasted to something of a lower rank does. Then the brain has processed the pun and then it moves into the action response. While the idle work is perhaps better done by those of lower rank, it is still productive work until the pun reaction comes. Whatever the reaction may be, the idle work stops, but it does free up the mind. Or does it? In order to properly respond the mind needs to process the correct bodily reaction and preform it. Thus, a secondary thought is made and thus even more time is used up with this pun. One could argue that all of this only takes place over a few minutes, assuming understanding of the pun in the first place. This raises the question what things of importance could be done within these few minutes that are wasted? There are a few ways to look at an answer to this question. One view is that the few minutes are trivial and any productive thoughts that are created in those moments will still happen and have the same impact despite of when they happen. And this is perhaps true, but the essence of the answer is that our time is important. And every moment wasted, however small, does add up. For example – within a given day, if one hears perhaps five puns, this could add up to anywhere between twenty-five and fifty minutes. If over the course of a month, one hears five days worth of puns this brings us to one hundred twenty-five and two hundred fifty minutes of time. This through the year adds up to one thousand five hundred and three thousand minutes of wasted time reacting to puns. While this is only between a half day and just under, this is a decent amount of time that could be better put to use. This is just a small faction of time each year. To most, this small amount of time is an acceptable allotment to enjoy such things has puns. However, this brings up an important point of being a willing subject to such verbal art. Can someone who would rather spend this time thinking of other things can just write it off? This answer is perhaps the whole point to the question of this short essay, ‘how productive are puns to society?’ And the answer to this is largely personal. It will vary depending who is asked. The degree of the yes or no will also change based on the person. And to this, when using puns, the pun-artist should use their best judgment in regards to the audience when producing such verbal works. However, as with anything, there is always another side. Puns are still works of word-art. Art is always something of high value, more so in Hallifax. So this brings us to a topic that all artists dread – ‘how great is this work of art?’ if the answer to this question is a ‘no’ and applied to all puns, then the debate returns to a personal level that will have the ever varying answers. But what if the answer is a ‘yes’? Now, if this the case, the personal answer is partly overshadowed. It goes from being a trivial question to something of substance. Something that can be more closely debated like any other piece of art. At this point then, there could be many people who devote a significant unit of time to puns. With all this, A more cloudy answer appears to the question. That answer is ‘maybe.’ All questions that deal with maybes are the ones that are explored. They are looked at from all points by people who find interest in them. This ‘maybe’ answer is what drives people to try and change that ‘maybe’ to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Quiet Ones](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-quiet-ones/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** THE QUIET ONES —————- Ishra Ysav’rai If e’er a Muse were fit to grace A humble poet’s efforts writ Mother Night, become my ink Will my paltry quill to flit Reveal Thy Father in Thine own face! Beneath the thrum of Shadowbeat The throbbing Silence yet remains Punctuating notes with rests The stillness giving life to strains Still within and still without The heavy shroud of quietude A comfort, bliss, most sacrosanct Unperturbed by shifting mood And neither words can deftly sway And better yet they went unheard For Silence has much more to say Than e’re could be expressed in words As out of Silence darkness springs Fills mortal hearts with mortal dread The quiet ones bend fearless ears And learn what’s lost by those who fled In darkness walks the Whispered Lord Unknown, unseen, unheard, and yet To those who still their hearts and minds He is the forest’s silhouette And in His wake the fertile souls Yield twilit blossoms ever free Entranced, perchance transformed as well By unfolding mysteries Still within and still without The forest and the foresters Embraced, embracing Mother’s cloak As Father’s wisdom in them stirs **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Unwinnable Fight](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-unwinnable-fight/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** I was bestowed with the honour of Knighthood in the Paladins at a very young age. Under the guidance of my brother Kurama, my mentor Raikogen and the ever-watchful Lady Kelly, I was trained in the ways of the blade, becoming good enough to actually be able to defeat a few people in sparring sessions. As is bound to happen to young, impressionable people, I became a bit of a showman, challenging any and all comers to a friendly arena spar. This tale is the one time I truly wish I had kept my big mouth shut. “Celest, would any of you be willing to spar? I offer my city favour and ten credits to the first person not of Earl or Earless rank that manages to defeat me,” I threw out an open challenge onto the Celest city aether when I awoke one day. I had been trained well, I remembered thinking. Give someone a chance to prove themselves to their fellow citizens! I was sure I would win, I was sure of it. “Why Naralis, I believe I qualify in accordance with your stipulations. I accept your challenge,” came the answer from a voice I never expected to respond. The Lady Even-Bladed. She was also right. Though She be a Goddess and wields power too great for mortalkind to ever fathom, She indeed was not an Earless. That was my only request and it came back to haunt me with a vengeful fury. Standing beside me at the time was my older brother and fellow Paladin Knight Kurama, Dwarven-Fury of New Celest. Correction. He WAS standing. As this was occurring, Kurama was on the floor, laughing and pointing at me with literal tears streaming down his face. I glared at him as he struggled to catch his breath. “Lady Even-Blade–” I tried. By now, any citizens who were awake had now come to the Pool of Stars in droves. I could hear most of them snickering to themselves and whispering my name to each other. “Naralis… are you really going to deny Me the right to challenge by your rules?” Lady Terentia teased in Her normal, stern tone. I could feel every eye now fixated on me as I silently willed myself to melt into a puddle and disappear. Alas, the Fates were not on my side as I remained a solid, tangible form. “Of course not, Lady Even-Blade. I would be honoured–” “Very good. Meet Me upon the Upper Deck and we shall begin,” She commanded. I sputtered in disbelief as the snickering around me escalated into outright laughter. “Lady Even-Blade, I was thinking it would be better inside the arena–” my protest cut off yet again. “You mortals and that blasted arena,” Lady Terentia scoffed. I suddenly felt myself pulled away by an unseen force, finding myself face to face with this warrior-goddess of the Second Circle a moment later. I felt the colour drain completely from my face, mentally chiding myself for somehow being front and center in this current blunder of my own doing. The goddess smirked at me. “No, I think here will suit us just fine,” She finished. “Twenty thousand coins says Sir Naralis gets flung into the Void,” I heard someone call out. People not even citizens of Celest came wandering in, curious to see why so many people were gathered together. Upon learning what was currently taking place, they too began placing bets against me. One even bet that Lady Terentia would turn me into a maggot and walk away. Such faith! Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Kurama had made his way to us as well, still laughing at me. I wanted to smack him. “Let us begin,”Lady Terentia declared, drawing Her celestial blades. Gripping my rapiers tightly, I swung with ever ounce of fortitude I could channel forward. The Lady Even-Blade didn’t even bat an eye. My attempts to mark Her as a heretic were for naught as She possessed the Sacraments skills and was thusly immune. So I went for what usually worked for me: hacking away at Her head and sticking both of my rapiers into one of Her feet. Aside from chopping off Her instantaneously-regenerating ears at least a half a dozen times, nothing worked. Meanwhile, Kurama was back on the floor again (along with over half of the spectators gathered), howling with unrestrained mirth. I glared at them as I continued to attack, fully realizing that I was completely out of my mind for even trying. “Boo,” Lady Terentia suddenly whispered in my direction and I found myself unable to move, held in place by sheer Divine Will. She locked eyes with mine, a hint of amusement in Her gaze. I felt my body regain its ability to move, yet I stood, frozen. The laughter ceased almost immediately as the Wielder of the Even-Blade seemed to be studying me. She turned to those gathered. “Who’s next?” She asked simply. I had never seen a crowd of more than thirty people disperse that quickly in my life. People nearly trampled one another, trying to leave. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “A very valiant attempt, Sir Naralis!” I heard Lady Malicia comment over the guild aether. A few others murmured in agreement. “Honestly, I have no idea why anyone laughed. You didn’t run like most of them undoubtedly would have,” Sir Raflein interjected. I heard Kurama bellow in disapproval, offended. “I was laughing because I was standing right next to him as the challenge was made. You lot would have been laughing too if you saw him!” Kurama clarified loudly. In hindsight, I would have been laughing at how I reacted too! **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [By the Wheel Gate](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/by-the-wheel-gate/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** BY THE WHEEL GATE a book of haiku and tanka by Lief Myeras-Silvermoon 01\. contents. 02\. foreword. 03\. a profusion: summer. 17\. a wilting: autumn. 29\. a death: winter. 41\. a renascence: spring. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- foreword. Why does this book begin in summer? Because summer is when I started writing it. “By the Wheel Gate” tells the story of a year in my life, a year in Serenwilde beneath her shaded boughs. These are my joys, my loves, my wishes; these are also my failings, my hypocrisies, my desires. Many things have happened these past months. I became one piece of my Lady and Muse. I have felt powerfully for other people, and I have felt fear for them in kind. I have found courage in weakness, and I’ve found so many other things besides. It was a year lived well and a year learned well. Thank you to everyone who humoured me by allowing me to gift my poetry to you over these seasons. Never question how deep my adoration for you runs. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- a profusion: summer. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Budding summer blooms: A panoply of colour Wends its way through you. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In Avechary, Breathe earth’s loamy redolence. Like a sunflower, Let the open skies warm you. Let your inner truth unfurl. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Through the cattail reeds, Beneath pond’s rippling surface, Hidden from your eyes– -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Humidity’s reign: A tyrant overbearing, Air too thick to breathe. Violence, sweet violence, Yet through it blooms an iris. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- What if up was down, And we floated upside down, Sky a fecund earth? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Summertime madness: Thousands of floral wishes Bloom in defiance. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- While away with me These lazy summer evenings, Nectar on our lips, Music at our fingertips, Shaded by woodland splendour. Ask not for secrets, For those things grow best at night, Nor ask me for mine: My tongue is a stubborn thing, Drunk on honey-riddled wine. These are simple joys Shared best with the setting sun: Music and a dance, Fingertip to fingertip, And fireflies to guide us. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The full moon rises Over sweltering midnight, Her domain outlined With argentine, Dvarshian light And prayers, singing, take flight. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The river babbles An invitation to swim, To sink in her depths. Do I heed her tempting call? Lungs filled with water, I breathe. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Inside the lotus, Hidden tight in an embrace: Unfurl each layer, Petal by petal, until You claim your soul’s central truth. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Here, a crown for you, Daisies twined together tight, Lest they fall apart. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Lavender fields, And crickets singing at night – Summertime omens. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The storm bothers me – In just one strike of lightning, I can see my heart. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- a wilting: autumn. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Harvest time has come – A time for joy, and for fear. What seeds have I sown? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As autumn leaves dance In their swirling veil of hues, I reach out for you – But with her chilliest touch, Autumn robs your warmth away. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Rain fogging branches Dewing upon changing leaves Misting forest’s floor: Here’s where mysteries – Here’s where histories live true. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As nighttime draws close, Ever longer, ever cold, I offer you this: My soul to light your darkness – My blood to ignite your joy. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Trees pregnant with fruit, Plump and ripe for the taking – How can I help but Help myself to one of them? It didn’t belong to you. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As darkness descends, Come ignite a flame with me: My breath is humid, Misting before our faces, Culling the silence between. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Gold and crimson mulch – A blanket for the cold earth, An airy cushion For my head, dizzy, empty, Drunk on reminiscing dreams. Your eyes were for me. Where do they wander to now? Where do you wander? Is my heart a verdant grove, Or is my heart a prison? Love: sweet and bitter, Like fallen leaves which litter The ground beneath me. Their colours adorn my path, But I cannot rescue them. Still, I ponder them: Is there one worth trying for? One frond I can save? I touch one leaf, heart inflamed, And feel it crumple apart. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Come join me, spinning Beneath apple trees, singing Our sweet harvest song. I take fruit between my teeth – My sickle is bright and sharp. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I pluck a patient Purple aster from the earth And wonder at it – Its petals, arrayed, entice One to tear wishes from them. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- See the celosia, Colourful, spiked, defiant, Burst up from the earth. Like fires to wicks, they burn; Like fires to wicks, they fade. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A horn trumpets low And long, shattering the peace Of autumn’s first snow. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- a death: winter. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In the dead of night, As a flurry of snow falls, I leave bloody prints. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A new year beckons: Everything is killed, a fresh Perspective gifted. A new year hearkens: Silence, once so peaceful, now Is overbearing. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- After the blizzard, When all is painted iv’ry, I take a step, and… -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- From above, the rime Looks almost like leaves, hoarfrost Glittering, sparkling. On my wings, ice starts to burn, Turning me to leaves in kind. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The moon in all her Motherly glow crests treetops. Her pale light is cold – Her absence is even colder. I stumble through blackened paths. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- White – how crisp, how cold The colourless snow can seem. It is a canvas: The red of life dashes it; Wind sculpts it as a forest. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Footprints in the snow, Wandering through the pine trees: They lead me to you. Isolated, worlds apart, Who will tend our frozen hearts? Deer will find their mates, Wolves will run beside their pack While bears hibernate – Surviving these hungry times, What things does this songbird lack? Even Ellindel Kept warm with winter’s coming. Even Goddesses. I seek sacred communion – I scatter my seeds and die – Sacrificing blood, And life, I hold fast to faith: My harvest will come. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Forest hushes: No sound breaks the trees. I, too, Linger quiescent, Frozen to my very bones. I am strong enough to break. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I put my foot on The lake’s thick, glossy ice, and Feel it start to crack. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Hidden in the white, A single snowdrop unfurls, Shy, yet self-possessed. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Winter: a frozen Death, an icy dream, but look – A seed grows below. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- a renascence: spring. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- When will the snows melt? It’s been an eon since the Earth has seen the sun. Though my roots are frozen, my Eager branches start to bud. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A grey, dreary rain Thawing frozen, icy snows Melts the chill away. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- How sweet is the song First sung at dawn’s breaking light? How easy it is To forget yearning for life – The passerines remind me. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Before the greenest Shoots of grass begin to sprout, They, too, were a dream. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A subtle sound of Cracking seeds and bird egg shells Fills the morning air. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Steadily humming, Industrious honey bees Forage for sweetness. I do the same, kneeling in The tulip gardens, breathing. I watch them bobbing Lazily, heavy with the Burden of their fruits, Nectar in their bellies full – A bounty for the whole hive. Then ruby-throated Hummingbirds appear above, Emerald flashes Amongst fragrant, blooming trees – Their chicks nesting in the boughs. Could I be like them, A sister or a mother Providing for home? Or am I like the flower, My love a nectar offered, Not hunted, nor robbed – Is it enough to just be? One more time, I breathe. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- A pair of rabbits Poke their twitchy noses out, Then bask in sunlight. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I watch the river As a trickle becomes more – As it remembers. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The pond surface breaks: Below, a rush of colour Parts and meets again. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- See the world arrayed Behind a raindrop’s lens, its Colours prismatic: Glory in its vastness, and Hold it in your worthy palm. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Spring is the shortest – A host of life awakens As you catch your breath. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- As sleeping wolves rise Up; as the squirrels awake; as Wobbly fawns learn their Feet, as I, too, clamber – cry, “Basala’oren, Seren!” -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Summer Song](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/summer-song/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** SUMMER SONG Yesterday, I dreamt of summer again: Of her short, delicious nights, Listening to the crickets’ song when Sleeping ‘neath starry lights. I dreamt of shadows, long as days, Stretching from the trees, Dancing to the sunlight’s rays While caught upon the breeze. I dreamt of peaches and of plums, Glittering there like gems, While in the distance, beating drums Rattle at their stems. A spider creeps along my arm And tickles its fine hairs, Screaming silent, shrill alarms As it with eight eyes stares. I dreamt of cherries and of grapes, Both lovely summer treats. Between my teeth, their juice escapes While sweat drips down my cheeks; While sweat drips down my cheeks, Black bird wings spread above; A feather sheds as, through his beak, He caws in mock of love. I dreamt of large cicadas clicking Their noontime lullaby, The lazy afternoon time ticking Into an evening sigh. I stare into the spider’s eyes And nigh forget my breath; Her fangs, hungry, twitch and rise Whilst I envision death. An ancient tree that’s long since died Creaks and shivers with foreboding, And in its branches, side by side, Perch seven black birds crowing. Yesterday, I dreamt of summer again, Of all her music sweet– But all these dreams I’ve had have been Chimerical deceit. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The One Law: A poetic interpretation](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-one-law-a-poetic-interpretation/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The One Law We in Gaudiguch have an old way of seeing the law It might be weird to those who fall outside our wall Be not prey to those who lost their way Love is the law, Love under will Shall ever drive our cause Freedom of Will When you seek to do your will Ever mind what may go ill Remember others for take heed For none shall accept your greed And it harm none, do what ye will Freedom of Being All accept what form you take So long as your will you do not forsake And by race not descriminate This home you shall not repudiate For here all you can do shall create Freedom of Choice Your life is your own for all can relate Forget not that deeds can not be undone Victory for all is sure to fail But above all you’ll tell your tale Of deeds aplenty, and battles won For all can have the deed be done Freedom of Love Free to love, and free to choose None shall give you enough to lose Held by hand, and heart entwined Souls merged by the blessed Divine Priest of power, and priest of might Shall see you wed in firelight Freedom of Desire Free to make, and free to live You take, and you give But heed theft is not your friend Or count yourself among the dead For lost of light, and lost of dread If you steal you’ll lose your head Freedom of Expression Brush of fire, potion of life All of these are without strife Quill and ink make one think Of a life, beyond these walls If you think life now enthralls You find a friend along the way Only to find, a friend to stay Built in patience, built with love We give praise to the Gods above Burning fire, stilled star song Come now our life is long Make it quick, or make it slow But into slumber do not go Live your life, in your way For Gaudiguch is the place to stay **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Bug Spray: A Kepheran Tragedy](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/bug-spray-a-kepheran-tragedy/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Bug Spray: A Kepheran Tragedy —————————– Kraek Lerit’r was having an unexpectedly frustrating day. He had sold his perfumed sprays in a lot of places with great success (or at least, with reasonable success). He had even managed to convince the orchard tenders in the Clarramore Gardens to buy his special sprays, and they make perfumes for a living! But the lucidian found quickly enough that the Undervault was unlike any other place that he had been in his life as a perfumed spray salesman. After having a particularly hard time navigating the labyrinth of passages and caverns, escaping dangerous cave-fishers and mantekarrs by the cleavage of his cranium, he had finally arrived at the Akhari Hives – and in there, he had found the most challenging, uncooperative customers. While normally his perfumed sprays would sell out within moments like hot cakes, the kephera of the Hives regarded him with bug-eyed, astonished looks that made it seem as though he was trying to sell them pots of peep chili, or something equally heinous. Fruitlessly, he had tried to sell them perfumeries of varying scents: of citrus and strawberries and peaches, of roses and jasmine and lavenders, of vanilla and honey and chocolate. Yet, after two long, unrewarding weeks (and by the end, he had grown tired of living off of a meager diet that mostly consisted of strange saprophytic species, some of which glowed with a suspicious amount of bioluminescence), Kraek was unable to sell even one bottle. “What do these little bugs want?”, thought Kraek in exasperation, glancing sidelong at his depressingly full and sweet-smelling briefcase. And indeed, not one of all the exotic and wondrous aromatics of the entire Basin seemed to attract the attention of the insectoids. The lucidian had just about accepted the fact that this strange continent that he had wandered into was just not the right market for his perfumeries, when a particularly pungent smell assaulted his nose. He turned around to look at the source: a cobalt blue banner, scuttling sideways towards one of the kephera warders stationed by the Hive entrance. Wait, that couldn’t be it. Kraek rubbed his eyes and looked again. Upon closer inspection, he realized that an exceptionally small faeling was behind the banner. The lucidian watched with curiosity as the faeling hovered upto each kepheran and thrust the banner into each insectoid face. The kephera warders did not mind the scent of the banner, Kraek noticed, even though he could smell its nasty odour even from a few feet away. In fact, although each guard was shaking their head in disappointment at the faeling adventurer, they seemed particularly intrigued by its scent. “Hey, you there!”, Kraek called out to the small faeling. “Oh?”, the girl turned around, immediately noticing the perfumed wares. “Oh, I would love some perfumes! Do you have vanilla and jasmine?” The lucidian reflexively opened his briefcase and laid out his wares, picking out phials of vanilla and jasmine and mixing them together in his bottle. “So.. what’s with that banner you’re passing around?”, he asked curiously as he handed out a bottle of vanilla and jasmine-scented perfume to the adventurer. “None of the bugs here would deign to even -look- at all the exotic perfumes that I have for sale, but they seemed really interested in the scent of your blue banner..” “Oh, this banner isn’t -mine-…”, replied the faeling, grinning sheepishly. “I am just helping Hive Queen Akhari find a suitable spouse to be the King!” Kraek leaned forward, clearly intrigued now. “Oh, do tell me more..” And it was then that the lucidian learned about the process of finding a Hive King. How the Hive Queen would rub the banner upon her thorax, imbuing the banner with the scent of her pheromones. How this scent was used to identify her perfect match. And, most important to Kraek, how the aroma of the pheromones was particularly attractive to the kephera race. “Could I take a look at the banner, Miss?”, Kraek asked. “Of course! But don’t take too long with it – I do have to find a match for the Queen very soon.” “Oh, I would only need a moment with it..” Having been a distinguished perfume salesman of good repute for many years, Kraek was adept in the nature of aromas – specifically, which source would produce which sort of scent – and it did not take him an awful lot of time to whiff in the essence of the banner and identify a few possible sources that could replicate its particular odour. The banner smelled musty. Really musty, in fact – it had the particular phenolic odour that was only possessed by items that had been left abandoned in a damp cave and allowed to grow fungus all over. Once the musty undertones wafted away, an unpleasantly pungent smell akin to that of stink bugs came to the forefront. “Fungus, and insects…”, Kraek thought to himself. “I could whip something up using the flora and fauna of the Undervault itself…” And thus he set out on a treacherous journey, fighting and fleeing from the dangerous creatures that inhabited the tunnels as he searched for his perfect ingredients. He found three that he surmised would replicate the banner’s scent well. The first was a delicate spore that floated on the gentle breezes that occasionally graced the tunnels. Golden and extremly fragile. “Loti spores”, a kephera scout had helpfully informed him. The spores possessed a light pungency that the lucidian deduced would help with his new concoction. Kraek found his next next ingredient – a fine source of bug-like aroma – in the strange inferno beetles that scuttled around on the walls of the cave. The striped beetles imparted a dull obsidian hue to the perfume as well as adding an insectoid essence to the brew. The last ingredient – a fungus of sorts – was the most readily available, and yet the hardest to acquire. It was only after pulling upon several mushroom colonies that grew in the labyrinthine tunnels, and fending off hungry mantekarrs that flew at his face, that Kraek was able to pick out a single pale mushroom. He could not identify the mushroom species (he couldn’t find any scouts or convoys near him then, and did not have the time or energy to seek them out), but it possessed the exact sort of musty fungal odour that he needed for his special perfume. Kraek quickly and expertly crushed his ingredients together into different phials, then added them in precise measurements to an empty perfume bottle before mixing them vigorously. The concoction was a deep obsidian black, glowing with a soft, unnatural luminescence. He delicately brought the bottle to his nose, wafting in the strangely pungent odour. Perfect. This replicated the scent of the banner nicely. Kraek mixed together several bottles of his newest perfume (lovingly christened “Bug Spray”), and then triumphantly marched towards the Akhari Hives. “Bug Spray! Suited for kepheran tastes!”, he called out, waving a small bottle of the concoction at the marching kephera on guard. “Smells just like pheromones!” Kraek Lerit’r had a brief flashback to the time he had triumphantly called out “Smells -just- like lavenders!” at the Clarramore Cloud Gardens. He was immediately swarmed by a glowing crowd of blue-carapaced kephera, and in a dizzying blur of insectoid claws, bottles, and gold sovereigns, all of his bottles of Bug Spray were sold out. When the crowd of guards dispersed, Kraek found himself face to face with a group of kephera nurses, a look of hope welling in their multicoloured, compound eyes. “We heard that your Bug Spray smells like the Queen?”, one of the nurses asked hesitantly, nursing a rather large egg in her clawed lower arms. “Do you reckon that your spray will make us smell like Queens?” Being new to the Undervault, Kraek knew little about the rigorous trials that female kephera of the Hives went through to determine which body the Hive Queen’s spirit reincarnated into. Most of them would fail the trial, and would resign themselves to the life of a nurse: taking care of the Queen’s eggs and watching over the incubators. The perfumier’s newest invention had sparked in them a glimmer of hope – that they too could live the luxurious life of a Hive Queen, that they too could be sought after by many suitors, that they would no longer need to spend their days watching over and taking care of eggs and hatchlings. “Of course, Miss!”, Kraek flashed a pearlescent, crystalline smile at the nurses, crushing together spare ingredients into a new bottle. “With my newest Bug Spray, you too can smell queenly!” And thus a second batch of Bug Spray sold out, then a third, then a fourth. Soon, Kraek was searching for more ingredients and travelling to new Hives, where he was treated like a Saviour and showered with jewels to adorn himself with, silken robes to wear, and the most decadent of cuisine to feast upon. And of course, gold sovereigns. Thousands upon thousands of them. This was not such a bad place for customers, after all. Maybe he should stick around a while. “Aaaarggghh! What is happening to me?!”, a reverberating shriek suddenly sliced through Kraek’s mind, psionic waves overwhelming his brain with a piercing pain. The lucidian quickly turned around to find the source of the voice, when suddenly, more voices joined the first, cresting into an agonizing crescendo that forced him to the floor with his palms vainly covering his ears. All around him, kephera were falling on their backs, waving their arms about helplessly as their bodies slowly shriveled up and then went deathly still. “What is happening to us?”, more psionic waves stung Kraek’s brain like sharp blades and daggers as he turned to look at some of the remaining kephera – still alive – clutching their carapaces with three limbs and pointing accusingly at him with the fourth. “What did you -put- in your wretched perfume, you treacherous crystal?” “I didn’t do anything, I swear!”, Kraek protested, backing away nervously from the angry insectoids. “My Bug Spray contains nothing nefarious – just loti spores, inferno beetles, and luminous pale mushrooms!” “Luminous pale mushrooms?”, shrieking sounds pierced the lucidian’s brain. “You fool..”, more intruding thoughts came after. “You idiot! Did you really put in a poisonous death’s crown mushroom into your perfume?” “Death’s crown-“, faltered Kraek. The name sure sounded ominous. Not bothering to ask about the species of the strange mushroom he had picked out was coming back to bite him. “The death’s crown mushroom is deadly poisonous! The eggs, the hatchlings!”, pierced more voices, feminine ones this time. The nurses! They had sprayed it all over themselves, and they were constantly around the newborns! “You will pay for this, you little scoundrel!”, the voices of the kephera warders throbbed in his mind in unison as they lunged at him with their tahtos and their shofas. Kraek Lerit’r did not waste a single second as he turned around and bolted for the nearest exit, abandoning his briefcase on the musty floor. The kephera were fast, but fortunately for the lucidian, he could outrun them in their incapacitated state. Indeed, his Bug Spray had been bought by just about all of the kephera of the various Hives, and as he ran, he left trailing behind him a sea of bodies that shriveled up and died as he made his swift escape. “What am I going to do now?”, wailed Kraek to himself, as he stood in front of the Illwater Lake, pausing to take a breath. Something of this sort had never happened in all his years of work, nor had he imagined any incident of this magnitude to happen in his particular profession. “My perfumes, my gold! I left them all behind! What am I to do now?” What would happen to his reputation when word reaches of his misdeeds outside of the Hives? How would he ever hope to carry out his business again, when he had committed – oh, Lords, he had committed genocide! He would never have stepped foot in the Undervault if he had foreseen such a kepheran tragedy to befall the Hives due to his ill-fated Bug Spray. “Greetingsssss, Kraek Lerit’r…”, a sinuous voice pierced the back of his mind. The lucidian swiveled around to face a well-dressed illithoid standing behind him. “My name isss Cyaratalegur. I am the Overssseer of the Illithoid Resssservoir.”, the voice entered his mind again, although the illithoid stood still and motionless before his eyes. “H-hello..”, Kraek replied, his voice not betraying a hint of nervousness. “Do not be afraid… We ssseek to hire you. We have heard that you are a ruthless and ssswift killer of kephera..” **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Maiden Wilde](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/maiden-wilde/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** MAIDEN WILDE -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In the darkest, blackest midnight wood, Two footsteps ran as fast as they could, Headed where the brambles stood Went the form of a maiden Wilde. The branches crunched beneath her feet, Reminding her of a music sweet, As steady as her own heartbeat In the chest of this maiden Wilde. No moonlight shown from up on high; Fell darkness reigned across the sky Without a single star to spy On the heart of this maiden Wilde. A quiet love within her breast Swelled with song above the rest Made silent a fear that would contest The new joy of this maiden Wilde. Love be strong and love be true: Shine its warmth on all that you do, And Luna cast her blessings on you… This maiden kind, this maiden fair Shuffled her feet as she waited there, The subject of many a red-eyed stare Sharp upon this maiden Wilde. Her snowy braid about her swung; Laughter danced upon her tongue. Oblivious, she was among Those with hate for the maiden’s Wilde. But here’s a secret to be known: This lady Wilde is never alone, For the New Moon is the end of the Crone – It’s the birth of the Maiden mild. Though a shadow reigns above Its emptiness is never rid of That shining hope which will conjure love In the soul of this maiden Wilde. Love be strong and love be true: Shine its warmth on all that you do, And Luna cast her blessings on you… Then she turned, and there he stood, Stepping forward out from the wood, His own heart full of strange things good Came the form of a wyrden child. A question rose upon her lips; Gaze lifting to his antennaes’ tips So high up that he did eclipse The small form of this elfen Wilde. Out she stretched her hands to clasp The kephera’s most earnest grasp, And ‘twixt them rose a soft, shy gasp – A bashful chirr from the wyrden child. “It doesn’t matter where you go: Ours is a thing that will only grow. Yours is a heart that I’d like to know,” Came from the mouth of the maiden Wilde. Love be strong and love be true: Shine its warmth on all that you do, And Luna cast her blessings on you… Though the night was black as Crow, Through her, the moon’s grace was aglow, Glittering like the sun on snow, Alight was the maiden Wilde. Though his Spirit’s dark as sin, For her, he could welcome light in And truest joy could then begin, He with the maiden Wilde. Love be strong and love be true: Shine its warmth on all that you do, And Luna cast her blessings on you… **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Hundred Year War](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-hundred-year-war/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Have you ever wondered how different things would be If certain things in history just never came to be? What if the Threshold Abyss never took place? What if Ayridion still stood tall, Ascended God from the mortal race? I sometimes wondered, ideas coming to light If the powers of the Immanidivinus were still within our sight How would the second have gone with Godhood on the line? Let me tell this story through means of imagination and rhyme Our story begins with the events leading to Ayridion’s fall Except here, that very thing never happens at all Instead, eight divine join at Ayridion’s side As the Dread Lord breaches the Domoths where he tries to hide Each links Their essence to one of the Seals Nine Tethering it with Their power, saying “This Seal is Mine.” Lisaera to Nature which She holds dear Isune to that of Beauty She does draw near Terentia claims Justice, Her tenets ringing true Eventru tethers Harmony, His essence hazing blue Next is Roark, the Seal of Knowledge claimed by Him While Lyreth lassoes War, His choice made on a whim The claimant of Death comes as a surprise As Auseklis steps forth, His essence joining the other ties “Since Life is Yours, I take Chaos as Mine” the Creatrix decrees Ayridion joins in with the last, bringing the Contagion to his knees The final blow is dealt by the first Chosen of the White Flame Called forth by her Lord, Azrai Peulus be her name Wielding the Dawnblade, a gift from her Divine Patron A gift given to Ayridion from Terentia, New Celest’s Divine Matron Through the Dread Lord’s chest did this blade go His scream of agony far worse than any would know As the Contagion fell, the Creatrix spoke to the mortals of this land “In stopping the Dread Lord, the Seals weakened at Our hands “Another must ascend from you mortals as Ayridion has done “Which one of you mortals shall be our Chosen One?” When the call came for the Trials to begin Mortals clamored towards the Peak, their hearts set to win Amongst them was Azrai, Champion of the White Flame The youngest to be knighted as a Paladin Dame Whilst mortals fought valiantly over every Seal in play Azrai decided to do this in her own way When the next call came for the Death Seal The wielder of the Dawnblade rushed forth in fevered zeal For the next day, she slew everything in sight Adventurer, denizen and creature all fell to her might Flanked by a grand squad of Celestians by her side Her bid for Death was met with fervent shouts of pride Across the land, bloodshed raged forth in zest As every mortal gave it their best In the end, as the dust began to settle Dame Azrai stood victorious through sheer might and mettle “New Celest, I place My faith in Azrai to Ascend at My side “I ask you all to join her and become an unstoppable tide The words of Ayridion were met with many cheers However through such joyous noise were heard a few jeers Though a group opposed, Azrai was selected to represent the Light As time drew close and the land prepared for that final fight As the Astral Plane turned into a bloodied field of war And mortals stood behind the Sealbearers they did adore Blades rang out, spells called forward as the battle raged on Many did fall, but all return, the fight heralding the morning dawn Though nine bore seals, only three stood to claim the prize Each organization choosing one to endure this historical ride In the end, Azrai and New Celest persevered, winning the day Ayridion at their side, Himself even joining the fray You would think my story would indeed end right here But all does not end well. Indeed there is more, I fear Ascending as Tiana, Blade of Dawn, Azrai took up Her new form Then looked upon her once Lord in utter scorn “My goal is reached, I no longer need You to strengthen Me “Unlike You, My mortal memories remain as vivid as can be! “Do You recall the one time I was deeply in love “With a Magnagoran ur’Marshal, the one with eyes like a dove? “It was You who told me such love can never happen at all “And those words ultimately led to his own fall? “I have resented You from that day, choosing to bide My time “Pretending that all was well, everything was just fine “And now, ascended anew, for My love I do so now “Magnagora gains a new divine, this be My eternal vow.” At those words, the new goddess struck fierce and hard The Dawnblade in Her grasp warping rapidly, shard by shard Saddened by the turn of events, Ayridion simply walked away Never expecting His first Champion to ever be led astray And thus was the start of the Hundred Year War The White Flame against She who left Him emotionally scarred The war ended with Her death at His hand during Ascension six As Her Chosen faced His, the White Flame attuned to Her tricks Advised His Champion on how to become the next Ascended God As He felled She who betrayed Him, He gave Her a final nod With that, sadly, this story has come to an end Please remember, all is fiction, not meaning to offend But just consider the “what if” in everything you read and see And maybe you’ll have your own story, just like me! **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Elegy for the Fallen](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/elegy-for-the-fallen/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Prelude: The Black-and-White Striped In the waning of the year the shadow came, Fell and fearsome, flanked by flame. The innocent perished, their curtailed lives spilt out in blood and unseen knives. Who was our bane? Whose sullen wrath and age-old vengeance fuelled his path? This restless spirit, who understood nothing of love or wisdom, nor of good. Once slain, he sought to slay in turn; Powerless in power to return. I: The Lodge Wooden walls and watchtowers overlooked The forges and lodges of the warrior tribe. With omens of dread the same halls shook When the bloody circle there was scribed. The breaker of bones was breaker of minds; and claimed for his work an unwilling hand. With the centaur’s fall the Lakedancer unconfined, And his death the breaking of the ancient band. II: The Refuge of Song The little light’s cry rings in alarm; No longer concerned with silence. The flowing Voice, imprisoned, Transforms into sparrows Whose song she had loved. The trees tremble, The chains break. All things fall. III: The Battle in the Caves Now does the water rise surging in the lake, Murmuring like a distant, dreaded storm Leaving drowning wreckage in its wake. No natural weather this — but an angered swarm of glah’rai naiads that the Lakedancer brought. Fierce was the battle, and fiercer yet The command of the master in the onslaught, who bade his friends depart. No idle threat; The crumbling stone shall fall on all alike. Alone he stood, his blades held fast, But against swift water no knife would strike. So ended the master, in death as in life steadfast. Now rests his cairn far from his native place, In his chosen home, in the green earth’s embrace. IV: The Tower Font of the lunar mysteries, White spear of stone rising to brush the sky, the lasting vault of our history, Still clear and tall in my memory’s eye– No enemy band shall occupy Your sacred halls. The priestess speaks; Her athame bites deep in reply. Moonfire flashes as her lifeblood leaks– They will not find here what they seek. V: The Dreaming They who serve the Grove know the ways of Hart, and the doom of all evil that may not be slain. A binding, a dreaming, and ever-vigilance Is the lot of the Guide, who taught so many, And who sleeps now in his eternal watch. Like a Child long ago he claims his fate, Which we who remain have devised, from wisdom or fear, none can tell. He will instruct no more of the dedicants; and when children ask who slumbers above, Their elders must answer: our shield and sacrifice. Aftermath: New Spring All shall be well, the prophecy foretold, Given by Ellindel and Glinshari of old. They who have fallen have been avenged; and the scars we bear in time shall mend. Yet here we feel the ponderous weight of history’s touch, which consecrates all that we do. There is no path That leads us once more to the past. But ever forward must we go– In life, in healing, and in hope. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2017 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Conceptual Sustainability](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/conceptual-sustainability/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Conceptual Sustainability by Alaksanteri Elithysius Index 3 ……………………………………. Preamble 4 ……………………………. Culture Manifesto 5 …………………………… Culture Intentions 6 …………………………. Societal Reflections 7 …………………………………..Final Words Preamble The letter adjoined to the fourth page of this volume was forwarded to the Council of Freedom on Dvarsh 14th of 508 CE. Certain parts of it have been concealed or dessicated to preserve the secrecy of information not meant for the eyes of the Basin. The rest of this volume aims to explore various roles of culture, its importance and how it affects the sense of self of entire nations. I would first like to thank Steingrim, without who a manifesto would probably not have been sparked within this reality by my hand, and who also gave his full support and encouragement to the culture of the Free Empire of Gaudiguch. Many thanks are also owed to Kistan, an outstandingly prolific author of Gaudiguch who keeps our shelves supplied with so many books and interesting stories. Then this volume is also dedicated to Lord Ein, the Restless, as His presence inspired me to continue exploring this subject and compile new observations to the pages within, following the initial letter a few years later. \[An old, willingly damaged and burned letter rests between the pages here. A few handwritten paragraphs of a delicate yet assured style are still decipherable.\] Dear Council of Freedom, A lot of importance is placed upon power generation. It is indeed quite important to maintain guards posted, city security and to energize our combatants. It is lovely to see the efforts in power generation being rewarded and I hope to see this initiative continue. Though the essence is then forwarded to the Flame and eventually consumed forever without adding much novelty. It must never be forgotten to elevate the eternal realm of ideas and culture and all will fall into place, or at least, leave artifacts behind to tell of the story of our civilization. The blessings offered by culture, books, plays and ideas are manifold. Each single aspect of the cultural system that we manage to take earns us more and more power every single weave. Then if we succeed in being the cultural centre, this adds an additional one thousand power to the city per weave to that total. For this, we need a steady supply of new books and ideas from many. It is entirely possible to earn over thirty-six thousand motes of power in one year if our city manages to remain the cultural centre, at its performance peak, for all this time. Building a collection of books for a library is a lengthy and slow process which dates back to ages ago. The hands of many librarians have overseen it along the creativity of many authors and scholars. Then there are the many aides, many ones curious about culture and the generous support of many leaders or organisations. How the library fares is often a reflection of not only the current work placed into it by many but also of all the previous many minds to have influenced it before. How the library flourishes then has a lasting effect upon our continued growth years and years later. Books then fulfill the more durable function of creating our identity, researching new ways to do things and they spread ideas and knowledge which would have otherwise remained hidden or died with their originators. The ideas in a book will not be consumed to naught through time or use. Perhaps a short story which never managed to pass the prestige comittee will reignite the collective imaginary centuries from now for its genius, which was rediscovered after all this time, then lead to other discoveries. Such things can never be foreseen. Ideas and unconventional research are the soul of our city and one reason why many of us reside here. For all the work, the time and the pieces of oneself placed in a written work and the many possibilities it opens for the city, authors deserve their recognition. If one book then receives a prestige mention from the scholars of the Basin, it means that it was deemed a very interesting read and of high quality compared to another selection of volumes chosen within the entire Basin. It is quite an achievement! A prestige winning work then provides the city with twelve thousand motes of fuel for the Eternal Flame over the course of the following two years. This alone is without counting all the other aspects it is helping us to work towards in the culture system in order to be recognised as Empire. I could have spent time on the Astral plane, around one day to generate one thousand to two thousand motes of essence. Then the same wheel would have kept on turning. Instead I spent time stretched upon three weaves investigating to bring this information before you with the hope that it helps the city achieve better sustainability and balance, maybe initiate a positive change within our city. This letter is as lengthy as a scroll I could have written for our library. Take this, draw fleshy things all over it, make some points evolve… I hope that this provides certain tools to help our nation now or in the future. Your Librarian, Alaksanteri Elithysius. Culture Intentions Culture has a very different mission than any other sphere of activity and should be analysed or rewarded independantly, in a way that is not entwined with the rest of the market. While it is often being marketed and sold, marketing cultural products as if they were like any other activity can lead to a decrease of quality in favour of quantity. Within another spectrum of ideas, the thinkers who seek to make a living from this activity should also be paid for their time and according to what creations they spark into this universe as well as how it is able to shape it. Such is too often the eternal misfortune of so many artists who produce quality content as they lose visibility and a possible public to seas of mainstream pieces of art without a soul. They are, however, ones who would deserve more recognition for their work and their ideas. While there may be as many reasons to create as there are artists in existence, one of two principal intentions can be extracted from most art productions. Both intentions also send very different messages to the consumers of culture and assist with shaping individuals or nations in distinct ways. One aims to explore through genuine, intuitive self-expression or to educate. It is often different or eccentric as it often seeks to explore concepts considered taboo, not within the social norms or reality through different lenses. This is a process which takes time and thought, and this intuitive process must remain untouched by the economics of the market if it wishes to offer a genuine experience which changes perceptions. Many explore the possibilities which go against many sorts of norms being followed during their time, the reality of ones who are different than most, interesting matters not yet popular or expose injustices unheard of so far and present such things in an appealing way. The other seeks to partly or entirely replicate what is popular in order to achieve fame and success. Less effort is usually placed upon the content offered as it falls in line with what is expected as per the notions of traditional marketing. To understand what a public wants and be able to deliver something to content it has more to do with economy than a genuine process of art creation. This piece of art will be successful, yet fail as it does not align with the self-expression of an artist and it does not explore to widen one’s understanding of this world. The consumer will also not earn a greater understanding of educational notions and will not be faced with difference or questioning. It is also the role of culture to expand the minds and often to shock in this process, wether that is enjoyed or not. In this sense, the piece only seeks to comfort and fails its true mission while still being more popular than many others. It is thus very much possible to experience success while producing nothing of substance, simply by understanding how marketing works. It is also possible to achieve timeless success by creating a piece of art which opens the mind of a smaller public, even if they might have disliked what they saw. For this, fame and success are very often not equal to true success when we look at art. Following specific norms or trying to establish rules for artists to follow would be an antithesis to the creative process. True art would be subjective to the vision of the artist and would break many norms in search of this depiction of the natural and intuitive chaos which inhabits one. As an example, the Seal of Beauty is the shallowest representation of mainstream art present in the Basin. Aside from the nauseating amount of rules and norms which must be followed to enter, a specific vision is imposed then ordered to be conceptualised for the pleasure of the senses of a majority of consumers. The aim is not to add ideas of substance nor to convey a message, not even to design an object appreciated by a user. It is to obtain fame, success and fortunes as fast as one possibly can. All of this happens while the ones who laid the foundations for their organizations with ideas unheard of before, who then shaped the minds of many through their art remain unseen after centuries of their work. It fails to recognize that each organization holds a common myth and a temple of ideas which may greatly diverge or not from the norms imposed by this Seal, and that flesh is simply not as aesthetically pleasing for the majority of the Basin as a gleaming crystal may be. A gleaming crystal can be added to any designed creation and its sight will be appreciated by most. Flesh takes time and observation to be appreciated as fully as a crystal, as per the standards of most, including from the scholar divines. Art is meant to be controversial, diverse and it breaks rules by its inherent nature. Art follows a process and a method as much as sciences do and they both must seek to challenge the status quo, challenge what currently is and explore in order to always move forward with a new understanding. Blindly following the norms established without fully understanding or questioning what is currently in place means that either would have failed their mission for society. Societal Reflections When faced with the aftermath of Project Cosmic Hope, the City of Magnagora and the Commune of Glomdoring were entirely reshaped by the touch of the Soulless and it is interesting to see how each community responded to the event as they strived to rebuild themselves as independant nations, relying on the Old Celest no more for guidance. Magnagora ackowledged then asserted its pain as well as its anger. The nation revolted itself violently against all who would stand against them choosing to defyingly embrace the touch of the Soulless bestowed upon them, instead of running back towards the Light, and expose their raw truth as it happened before their eyes. Lady Nifilhema, Queen of Insufferable Cruelty, is the very symbol of One who suffers for Her art and distinguishes Herself by forbidding no method or imposing no taboos to achieve beauty in order to express Herself freely, with no regard given to the wishes of others. Art is also portrayed as an everlasting process with no true ending even in death itself. Lord Gorgulu, of the Thousand Hungers, is a symbol of how what one consumes changes their being. One individual, many individuals, can become the product of a society through what they feed to their mind as well as their body. The culture, the education and the environment will absolutely change one and one can become condemned to the resources surrounding them out of a necessity for survival. With this loss of control over one’s consumptions, potentials are soon extinguished to face a fated reality. Starvation can occur through all things without thought or without meaning which are fed to oneself and absorbed without discernment. Glomdoring silently rebuilt itself in the shadows, fortifying a dome around the forest as they swore that never again there would mercy. They would empower and perfect themselves so that no one would ever take advantage of any perceived weakness once more. There is great anger there as well, though in this culture actions have higher weight than words offered. Wether a nation – or an individual – revolts violently, shows distrust of others or even decides to suppress memories to avoid emotions are all very natural reactions and all share an equal part of intense pain and admirable self-empowerment after a traumatic event. For them, in particular, a firm knowledge of their own culture is an important tool to defend themselves or to see the continuity in the rebirth of their identity. For the ones who are or were oppressed, self-expression through art can become a way to survive wether this is for one individual or an entire nation as a way to soothe, heal and share one’s own reality. Gaudiguch and Hallifax are in a rather different situation as they were frozen in time and must seek to fill a great abyss between themselves and the rest of the Basin. For centuries, they have been entirely out of touch with progress in sciences or in technology and even this weave, they must adapt and catch up with this loss of time and posibilities which fell upon them. In this process, there is not a doubt that their own identities will and should be questioned as well as how they should continue to evolve with the Basin as it stands very changed, nowadays. A break from their past selves, and perhaps a rebirth, are to be expected as their identity must evolve to keep them going towards a future holding many more mysteries to be solved and possibilities. For all nations, a future in which they are free and where most of their points of reference have suddenly shifted lies ahead, awaiting to be defined. Conclusion The cultural works and writings consumed by your nation, just as what is absorbed by the self, are able to change it and place it on an entirely different course. One single volume or aetherscroll is all this can take, at times. The ideas become a part of the individuals themselves and a reflection of an entire nation’s sense of self. Tend to the ideas you feed to your own with love and care as they might forge your identity and be returned to you in more nuances and for a longer time than first anticipated. Ultimately, what is given to another is able to be powerfully returned to many through that one vessel. Make certain that is a change you are prepared to see within this universe and willing to see applied upon your own person too. “As above, so below.” – Lord Ein, the Restless – **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Cryptography Series - A Primer on Hallifaxian Encryption](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/cryptography-series-a-primer-on-hallifaxian-encryption/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Cryptography Series – A Primer on Hallifaxian Encryption A Note From the Hallifaxian Bureau of Internal Security It is the pleasure of the Bureau of Internal Security to present the following primer on cryptography. Encryption of messages in some form has existed in Hallifax since the founding of the city, though the processes involved have grown substantially more complex with time. While the modern methods of cryptography remain secrets of the State, is is pleasing to demonstrate from time to time the intellectual achievements of Hallifax’s past as reminder of all it possesses in the present. The following documents are a brief summary of the cryptological tools and methods previously employed by agents of the Commonwealth in times past in order to protect Hallifax both from depredations of other states and from abuse by members of the Empire who worked to erode the State’s internal sovereignty. Few particular historic incidents are described in order to protect notable families and the Nation from any possibility of reprisal, though considerable efforts have been made to put various techniques in their historical contexts by outlining applications in which such techniques were used. Parties interested in further education on the subject of cryptological techniques might apply indirectly through the author or directly through the Consortium and Ministry of Peace for the declassification of further materials. Considerable material yet remains which could be safely released, and for an appropriate commission the revelation of even particular present techniques might be engineered around in a satisfactory way by the Ministry. This document was declassified for the education of the Basin following evaluation by the Consortium. All reasonable educational and scholarly uses of this document are authorized for all members of the general public. Commercial uses of this document are forbidden except where expressly permitted by Hallifaxian law. Primitive Cryptographical Methods – Part 1 The earliest techniques in preventing the interception of messages relied not on encryption but on escaping notice altogether. The best security for a message is insured by preventing one’s enemies from being aware of the message at all. Both historic records in private hands and the earliest intelligence records attest to many instances and variety of this train of thought. Simple approaches included false pockets and hidden compartments where messages might be stored. One particularly interesting technique was used by local magnates who possessed large numbers of indentured trill workers: A number of feathers would be plucked away from the worker and a message tattooed on the exposed skin. As new feathers grew they would hide the message and the worker could be sent to his or her destination on some trivial errand. Arriving at their destination, the receiving party would once again remove the feathers concealing the message, often then tattooing over the message to permanently obscure it. Obviously, a message cannot be delivered with haste using such a method and similarly one must anticipate that few servants were eager for the task. It is hardly surprising that more convenient and sophisticated means were developed to transmit messages. Similar in principle but with substantial advantages in security was the method of hiding messages within another message. Property barons and the state alike employed a variety of means to hide their business from rivals. The simplest such method is for two communicating parties to establish a standard pattern of enclosure, such as accepting that the first word of each sentence or line in a message will communicate the concealed content of that message. This approach was particularly common during the reign of the Celestine Empire, wherein routine bureaucratic documents would often conceal messages from the church’s prying eyes. Embedded messages in this style have a particular advantage over concealed messages in that no suspicion is aroused by discovery of the message. While an inquisitor could arrest a merchant for carrying bills of sale during the time of the Empire, they typically refrained from doing so. Primitive Cryptographical Methods – Part 2 The most sophisticated means of embedding messages employed interesting tools to this end. Prior to the development of true ciphers, these tool-assisted methods represented the pinnacle of espionage. Coincidentally, the need to prepare such tools in secrecy was the primary catalyst for the development of a true intelligence apparatus within Hallifax. Skilled labor and substantial resources necessarily had to be managed without public scrutiny or even awareness. This shift towards professionalism in espionage coincided with a trend to use trained, specialized individuals loyal to the state in preference to hired parties and the transition of the Sentinels from a mercenary company to an integral part of the State apparatus. Alchemists developed so-called ‘invisible inks’ which could write messages which was only visible under certain conditions, such as under the application of heat or when exposed to certain sources of light. Particularly refined formulations were developed which required specialized eye-wear to detect, sometimes in addition to other requirements such as heating. As with other approaches to embedding messages, these inks allowed the concealment of covert instructions within legitimate messages. While invisible inks were less obvious than messages embedded within the text, which might be detected by casual inspection, the presence of such ink on a document, if detected, did absolutely reveal covert intent. These risks and benefits were obviously carefully weighed on a case by case basis. While it is beyond the scope of this text to provide the formulation of any such ink, interested individuals are encouraged experiment with lemon juice, cactus juice, and nightshade extract, though not all at once. Another tool to allow more sophisticated inclusion of a message within another text was the cryptological grille. Such a device was a plate laid over a message prior to composition or in order to decode a concealed message. The grille possessed a number of holes into which the text of the secret message was written onto the parchment beneath. This accomplished, the grille was removed and a message composed which incorporated the previous text. While the method is in its theory identical to other means of embedding text, the grille allowed for far more complex and irregular patterns than the simple rules typically employed without it. While other encryption tools primarily served the needs of spies and merchant interests, one particular device was developed for secure communications in military applications. Batons of exact size and shape were issued to certain key officers of the State’s military. These batons allowed the rapid issuing of messages which would resist decyphering by hostile parties in the short term while remaining easily translatable by the intended recipient. A strip of parchment was wrapped around the baton and the message written across the rings of parchment. Once removed, the contents of the parchment are not trivially understood but can be reconstructed instantly by wrapping the parchment around another baton, provided this second device shares exactly the same shape and size as the original. While a determined party could doubtless make sense of the message given time, in the context of active battle it would be a poor use of an officer’s time. In the era of its use, these messages were further secured by the fact that most soldiers would not possess full literacy and so the task of deciphering a message could not be passed on to less important parties. Finally, the method provided a certain degree of security against injection of false messages as such a message would not be compatible with the recipients’ baton. It seems that these tools were so strongly associated with rank that they became components of formal dress for many officers long after they ceased to be used for covert purposes. Simple Ciphers Early instances of covert communication were relatively simple, focused more on avoiding detection than resisting decryption. As the matters of state become increasingly complicated and sensitive, the consequences of an intercepted and decrypted message have become increasingly severe while the means to deliver them have become more reliably secure. Consequently, the state moved to develop means to conceal the content of vital messages even from enemies who understood that information was being concealed and potentially were even aware of the form of that information. The first such means was the use of code phrases. Little evolved from embedded messages, code words were simply substitutions of sensitive information for other terms according to an agreed upon standard. If payment was to be delivered to a designated drop point, a message might instead inform the recipient that alms were to be distributed according to the usual schedule. Most code phrases utilized the language and customs of the Church of Celest which, at the time, possessed both the most legitimacy of any organization in the Empire and which possessed the greatest capacity to curtail Hallifaxian agendas. A particular example of coded messages is displayed in the publication “Operation Mint” by Lord Portius wherein an agent receives a message informing the agent that their sins will be forgiven as a coded instruction granting permission to kill. With the benefit of hindsight, it is obvious that greater efforts should also have been taken in confounding the nascent Illuminati developing within Gaudiguch at this time. The failure to contain this threat while it was small is one of the greatest mistakes in the Beacon’s history. Beyond the use of code phrases, true encryption begins. The simplest and earliest form of encryption was the shift cipher. In a shift, a key value is agreed upon by both parties. The encrypter uses this key value to shift each letter of their message forward a number of steps, while the receiver then reserves this process. For example, with a key value of ‘3’, the letter ‘A’ in a message would be written as ‘D’ and the receiver would decode the letter ‘E’ to understand a meaning of ‘B’. As a more complete example, using the same key of ‘3’, the message, “FRAME THE AQUAMANCER FOR THE INQUISITOR’S MURDER” would be written as “IUDPH WKH DTXDPDQFHU IRU WKH LQTXLVLWRU’V PXUGHU”. As before, there is a trade-off in lost deniability when making a communication more secure. When a physical document is being used to transmit a covert message, it is common to employ both encryption and means of concealment to mitigate risk. While the shift cipher provides a certain degree of security, it is trivially overcome by a determined reader. Once any portion of the message is understood, the key is obvious and the rest of the message can quickly be decrypted. The next development in intelligence techniques was the substitution cipher. Rather than use a single off-set for every letter, a mapping is made between each letter and a corresponding cipher letter. For example, if the letters ‘ABCD’ were mapped to ‘RPSN’, the word ‘BAD’ would be written ‘PRN’. Both the sender and the receiver must possess the substitution key in this method, as the receiver must reverse the direction of the mapping to recover the message. Substitution has advantages over a shift cipher in that the failure of any one letter or even word of the of cipher weakens but does not compromise the strength of the rest of the message. It is further noted that substitution ciphers are the basis of almost later ciphers and in various forms represented the state of the art from the early days of the empire until the modern day. Only recently, mathematical methods developed by the Matrix Research Institute have allowed the development of ‘asymmetric encryption’ which does not in some way rely on the principles of simple substitution. Early Modern Ciphers While substitution ciphers are sufficient to deter the average wine-sotted dracnari or dull-witted orclash, a message of sufficient length is trivially decodeable by a determined party since each letter that can be discovered weakens the integrity of the remaining message. As in the case of a shift cipher, any knowledge of the ‘key’ potentially endangers the entire message. It followed naturally that obscuring the relationship between the key and any individual letter of a message reduces the vulnerability of the message to decryption. A shifting substitution obscures the relationship between the message and the substitution key. In such a scheme, the entire substitution key is shifted after each letter is written. By way of example, if an initial key may begin as ‘ABCD’ mapping to ‘XHPR’. In a simple substituion, the word “BAD” would now be encoded as ‘HXR’. With a shifting subsitution, with a ‘shift’ of one, the entire key would rotate by one step after each letter is written. Translating ‘BAD’ would still begin with the letter ‘H’, but this would prompt a shift in the key. Moving each letter in the key one space to the right, the new key becomes ‘ABCD’ to ‘RXHP’ instead of ‘XHPR’. Now the second letter is selected, with ‘A’ now mapping to ‘R’. The key shifts again for the next letter, with ‘ABCD’ mapping to ‘PRXH’, and so the letter D is written as H. With the shifting substitution, ‘BAD’ is now encrypted as ‘HRH’. In the context of a larger message, it is obvious how this potentially confounds a foe who might now assume that ‘HRH’ much have the same first and last letter. With the shifting substitution, decrypting a single portion of the message no longer weakens the rest of the message unless the shift is discovered and accounted for. In the theme of a protected key, the ultimate form of message security is the so-called ‘one-time pad’. Rather than develop a simple correspondence between sets of letters, the one-time pad requires a key as long as or longer than the message, known to both parties in advance. This key is a string of characters or numbers which the encoder uses to operate upon their coded messages in the manner of a shift cipher. For example, with a ‘pad’ of ‘1532’ and the message ‘BAD’, the first letter is shifted forward once, to ‘C’, the second five times to ‘F’, the and third three times, to ‘G’, producing ‘CFG’. Because each letter is protected by its own key, no portion of the message is weakened whatsoever by the decryption of any other part. What is more, since the one-time pad does not follow any particular set of rules, any possible decryption is as likely as any other possible decryption; That is to say that a three letter word combination in an encrypted message potentially decrypts into any three letter word in the original message. Discussion of Future Works More complex methodologies of encryption exist. The state of the art in most of the Basin is mechanical encryption, where a tool of some sort is used to effectively generate a one-time pad on demand that can be reproduced by the receiving party by utilization of an identical mechanical tool. The simplest of these base the encryption of each letter off of the previous letter, resulting in an encryption considerably more secure than substitution, but still vulnerable if a portion of the plain text of the message is known. More advanced machine ciphers exist, utilizing multiple letters to determine the encryption of each letter and requiring most of the message to be known to defeat the encryption. Finally, the most advanced machines effectively their message multiple times using different combinations of letters for each layer to render a message effectively unbeatable without knowledge of the encryption pattern. Beyond mechanical encryption, Hallifax has developed methodologies of “asymmetric encryption”, which require a different key for encoding and decoding. These processes utilize complex mathematics to generate an encryption which is not reverse-engineerable, even if the decryption key is known to an adversary. Both mechanical and asymmetric encryption will be discussed in a later work. Moreover, a practice primer and best practices guide will provide practical experience with the techniques described in this and following works. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Forsaken - a ballad](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/forsaken-a-ballad/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** FORSAKEN – a ballad -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- I wander through familiar trails With birdsong in my breast, A melody within my sails And all around me blessed With dancing color, with prismatic light, With beauty to arrest. These long and winding, these familiar trails Once led me to one place: A safe harbor for all my ails, A precious and warm space– Between your arms, my dearest friend, As I thought was the case. Beneath the shaded, humming trees, Whose music thrums from deep, We’d listen, and I’d sing to please– The joy in our hearts did heap With comforts and with Maiden’s life, With pleasures I thought would keep; But something rumbled up from the deep, And shook me to my core: A beast we’d all thought long asleep, A darkness to abhor, And I took to wing above it all, To keep above and soar. You’d lost your wings, though, I’d forgot, When you stared into the lake, When you thought you’d found what you had sought, A reflection you’d forsake; So my dear, the darkness came for you, A darkness like a snake. It garbed itself in shining light, A light too bright to see; It masqueraded all in white And called itself holy. It profaned the rhythms within you And gave to you false lee. All the color bled then from you, My friend, and my safety, Bled you dry until it was through And took you away from me; And the Light then did swallow you whole And made a zealot of thee. Now I search for you within the song Of the Forest, of my home; For your voice here again I long, And to find it I will roam The furthest stretches of the Wilde From dawning ’til the gloam. And now these most familiar trails, Filled with melody, sweet rhyme, Are but small comfort for our travails As your colors fade with time, As the dark serpent strangles you tight With promises sublime. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2019 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [My Little Dirigible](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/my-little-dirigible/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** My Little Dirigible “Dock, Chunky!”, I say, and he whistles and chirps as he putters back into my hands in response, mechanical hand grabbing my own. I beam proudly at him, my loyal little dirigible. Over a decade ago I had bought him from a gnomish merchant, for two thousand aethergoops. Painted over in bright, garish shades of blue, green, yellow and orange, he was slightly larger than normal dirigibles, standing at a little over two and a half feet in length. And although the windows at the base of this blimp-like creature showed glimpses of gears and cogs that turned within his mechanical form, it was clear that he was sentient. I had realized as much from his cheerful whistles when I told him what a good job he was doing, his dejected whirrs when scolded, and his confused chirps when I made him deliver goods to strangers. He was friendly, cheerful and a huge help. I could count on him to deliver packages, letters, baked goods and even folded origami (he would clasp them especially delicately, making sure that they wouldn’t get crumpled). And he was much, much faster than the postal services (as efficient as they were). He was loyal, dependable, and the cutest, most innocent companion anyone could ask for. Or so I thought. Lately, I had been noticing strange things. I had tried my best to pretend not to see, hoping that it was all in my head. Maybe it really -was- all in my head.. dirigibles never steal anything, do they? No, that is ridiculous. If they did, they wouldn’t be so widely popular in the gnomish market. If they did, they wouldn’t be so common and widespread in cities and communes – it was hard to find someone who didn’t own a dirigible these days. If they did, there is no way that a single case had not been brought to light before. But I could not keep ignoring what I could see with my own eyes. Last week, I found a sparkleberry tart clasped tight in his painted little claw. I had never baked with sparkleberry in decades. “Where did you get this from, Chunky?”, I asked. He chirped adorably as he puttered into my arms, whistling softly. He was obviously trying to be cute and change the subject, but I was not about to let him. “Give me the tart”, I ordered, thrusting out my hand as I knit my brows in a frown. “Chrrp?”, replied my dirigible, trying to look confused. I did not relent and he finally brought his claw over my hands and dropped it gently onto my opened palm. As I examined the tart closely, I figured out who it belonged to. A baker friend of mine, from the Glomdoring forest. “Did you.. umm, did you give a tart to my dirigible?”, I mustered up the courage to ask the kepheran. “Oh, I don’t think I did…”, he replied, confusion in his voice. My heart sank. “Hmm.. are you sure?” “Yes, I’m sure. Is anything the matter?” “No, nothing at all.” I knew I should have done the right thing. I knew I should have told him the truth. But how would I even bring up the subject? What would I even say? “My dirigible stole a tart from you”? And then what? Would people around the Basin be warned to keep their valuables away from my thieving dirigible? Would Chunky be taken away from me to be studied by the gnomish merchants until they rooted out the cause of his larcenous behaviour? Would the newfound discovery of mechanical kleptomania cause the aethermarket to crash? The whole situation was comically absurd and I was probably overthinking this. I was pretty sure that this was an accident, anyway – or perhaps a one-off incident that was unlikely to be repeated. So I decided to let it go. The same way I decided to let it go when I found round little gearboxes scattered on my bedroom floor (Chunky was mechanical, after all. Maybe he just had some extra parts lying around that I had never noticed before). The same way I decided to let it go when I found shiny jewellery, clasped tightly in his tiny claw (I had so much extra jewellery lying around that I have lost track of them. Maybe this was one of the rings I’d forgotten about). The same way I decided to let it go and make up excuses instead, every single time he brought me little “gifts”. Clockwork charge regulators (I have too many to count), fancy hats (I have a complete hat collection!), fortune cookies (maybe I baked them in my sleep?), a formal silken loincloth with extravagant embellishments? I didn’t remember owning this, but maybe I- (Market): \[REDACTED\] says, “Loincloth lost while bathing in the Shallach River. Will reward anyone who brings it back.” Well, that was a strange coincidence, and coincidentally, that was when I decided to stop paying attention to the Market aethers. I never heard anything worthwhile from them anyway. And today I sit in my living room chair, Chunky bobbing cheerfully up and down in the air next to me, his vividly-painted ridges gleaming in the afternoon sun that seeps in through the window, little gears and cogs turning animatedly inside his cargo unit, his multi-jointed metallic arm caked in dirt and grime. On the table in front of us both sits a large femur, long, slightly curved, and covered in darkened mud that smells of the grave. “Dock, Chunky!”, I say, and he whistles and chirps as he putters back into my hands in response, mechanical hand grabbing my own. I beam proudly at him, my loyal little dirigible. And then we both walk quietly to my garden, and begin to swiftly bury the bone with the other remains. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Gaudiguch Gossip; Roarkian 417 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/gaudiguch-gossip-roarkian-417-ce/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A long delay, we know, but the return of a certain Crimson Eye had us abed for more than a few days with what surely could have only been a terrible stomach bug. The press room has stopped spinning, though, so we’re back in action! ——————–| THE GAUDIGUCH GOSSIP |——————— ——-< Best source in the Basin for news, gossip and more! >——– ———————— Roarkian, 471 CE —————————- — BASIN-WIDE NEWS | CITY BIZ | JUICY GOSSIP | GAMES AND MISCELLANY — ———————————————————————- ————————- BASIN-WIDE NEWS ————————- ———————————————————————- PYRAMIDS TUMBLE! ARE NOW ONLY CUBES! — Special report by “I-Really-Should-Be-Editor-In-Chief” Xirba “the Incendiary” Flamequill ———————————————————————- The city stood transfixed in shock early last month as bellows from the Guardian Drachou pierced the sky. Rushing to the very tip of the Eternal Flame, the Templar’s leader Vyell was first on the scene – and what met her eyes was truly horrifying. “I’ve seen horses mate, once,” the woman was noted to describe later, clearly still shaken by events. “Imagine that, but…use piranhas instead of horses, and you’re getting warm.” Beyond warm, though, onlookers soon realized, for reports indicate that the city’s butterflies had been driven mad and were slicing Drachou to ribbons in an attempt to make dragonflies. Valiantly, a half dozen notable residents – Skebralt, Breandryn, Bairloch, Steingrim, Malarious, Tavon – battled the butterflies until they stood knee-deep in tiny, winged corpses. That was merely the start, though – as soon as the frenzied wave had been felled, a loud boom rocked the city, both literally and figuratively, as the Minstrel’s pyramid began to collapse. Screams filled the air and urgent orders were issued to evacuate from the lower city. As people scrambled towards safety, another explosion shook the ground – the Templars, this time, followed by the Pyromancers and finally, in a toppling tower of golden gilt, the ancient home of the Illuminati Order crumbled into rubble. The city was left stunned, the loss staggering. A small contingent met at the Wasted Wakabi to commiserate over drinks, while others drifted off to privately mourn. Suspects are still at large. Some cite the shadowy figures of earlier months – upon pressure, they fled, dropping scraps of paper. Combined together, these messages hinted at some sort of timestream experiment, which many see as implicating Hallifax as the source of the attacks. Counter to this, several have argued that Hallifax is too obvious and the figures merely a ruse to distract us from the true criminals. Others cry out this is merely an expected danger, considering the city’s proximity to an active volcano. More worrying is a softer whisper, one only heard in the backalleys and dark corners of taverns, the one suggesting that this is an inside job and that the Mayor no longer even has control of the city’s guard watch. Time will tell – but until then, the city remains vigilant and wary, while the ruins smoulder and the citizens wonder. ——————————————————————— TRUE ASCENDANT RAISED! CLAIMS DOMOTHS! — political news by special correspondent Selmmie Squipples ———————————————————————- In a shocking turn of events, the northern’s once-Chairman Falmiis Shevat has seized the Sceptre to become the newest crowned True Ascendant. When asked for comment on this surprising upset, the South had no comments. Even more shocking, however, is what the newly-named Falaeron has done with the role – counter to all prior tradition, he has resisted the title’s pull to slumber and can often be found on the field of battle. “He’s like me,” one noted Gaudiguch fighter and envoy was overhead to say. “Except for not being me in most ways at all. I mean, have you met me? I’m pretty great. But, yeah, he’s breaking the mold just like I did. Some of us just aren’t done yet, you know?” ———————————————————————- —————————– CITY BIZ ——————————- ———————————————————————- CITY MOURNS LOSS OF A LEGEND — special memorial by Chixattho Sandwhisper ———————————————————————- It has been several years, now, and the city still aches for the loss of a true legend: our Librarian, our aetherspace Admiral, our Grandmonger, our Talan Ysav’rai. Her absence leaves a hole in the city’s heart, one which will always remain whenever we think fondly of this great citizen – enjoy those drinks at that oasis, Talan. You’ve earned them! Talan’s contributions to the Basin are immense – she led cities and orders, built up guilds into powerful forces, and oversaw the cultural needs of her citymates wherever she went. In Gaudiguch, many say, she found her true home, tirelessly working to help the city grow stronger. Her presence was a familiar one in a staggering number of places, be that deep in a meeting in the council chambers, fiercely fighting on the battlefield, verbally cutting foes to ribbons at a revolt, or directing a motley crew on the stage. She may have retired to enjoy the fruits of her labours, but her presence will always be remembered by Gaudiguch, and the Basin itself. Thank you, Talan, on behalf of the Gossip, for all you have done. ———————————————————————- THE “I JUST CANT”-INA — restaurant review by Jonrah Brahnin ———————————————————————- Given the city’s deplorable dearth of fine dining, consider me overjoyed when I heard of the Grand Cipher Xypher’s recent foray into the culinary field. The location? Excellent. Conveniently two steps from the lower city’s southern bordello, it’s a fine, short stroll between dinner and dessert – at least in theory. Sadly, the opening seems premature. While the company is exceptional – I overheard a remarkable round of storytelling going on between several prominent citizens – the amenities are sorely lacking. No drinks, no food, and sporadic entertainment. 3/5 stars. Great location. ———————————————————————- ————————— JUICY GOSSIP —————————- ———————————————————————- WHY BOTHER WITH A HEADLINE. WE KNOW THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME TO READ — rumours courtesy of the Gaudiguch Gossip ———————————————————————- We’re not going to lie, folks – what we’ve been hearing lately is not happy news. Rumours abound, most circulating on the destruction of the guildhalls and the guilds themselves, with a hefty amount of speculation as to the cause. We’ve caught wind of cries against Hallifax, but just as many voices – albeit quieter – are muttering of something far closer to home. Word on the street is that the Mayor doesn’t even have control of the city’s armed forces? Is a coup eminent? Speaking of a coup, a whisper on the wind speaks of a circle lurking in the shadows. Inspired by the Elders who stood against the Traitors, this group is rumoured to meet in the dark depths of the city to exchange information, preserve guild secrets and ensure freedom remains free. Are they real or is this resistance merely the product of feverish imagination? Keep an ear open, folks. Change is in the air. ———————————————————————- ————————– GAMES and ETC ————————— ———————————————————————- MADAME QATNGA SEES THE FUTURE!!! — astrology signs by the esteemed Madame Qatnga ———————————————————————- Dzaa, my dearies, Madame Qatnga sees much in da stars, da stones, da cards. Dare you seek your fate? Read on, but remember dat da paradigms be, ultimately, what you shift them ta be, dzaa. Volcano: Don’t you do dat. Antlers: Madame Qatnga knows what you be strugglin’ wit’. You know what be the right choice. Twin Crystals: Yes. Dolphin: Now is the time to reach for that dream. Lion: Trust the merian. You be knowin’ why when the time comes. Crocodile: Skip the fish. Burning Censer: Avoid hangovers throughout Urlachmar. You be seein’ why soon. Spider: Be wary when they ask for your help, dzaa. Dragon: Hold out for a blackjack. Skull: You be knowin’ your answer when you see the flower. Bumblebee: Madame Qatnga sees troublesome times for you, dear. Be cautious. Glacier: The exploding mountain heralds your time to strike. ———————————————————————- JOKES! TAKE THEM! WE DON’T WANT THEM! — comic corner by TumTum Rumblesnort ———————————————————————- Hey, folks! Nobody wrote in complaining about my last column, so I get to do another! Everyone around the press office is REALLY EXCITED about that. They even keep throwing me fruit in their delight. I love fruit. Q. How can you tell Lady Kalikai has a hangover? A. Look for Her Crimson Eyes. Q. What do you call a lucidian Symphonist visiting the air plane? A. A wind chime Q. What did the Grand Cipher feel when he visited the pleasure palace? A. Illumi-naughty Q. What did the Thousandfold say when Lady Kalikai gave Her some new barley whiskey to try? A. “I miss rye” And for my final joke, I present….Rolan sword-dancing! Bye folks, it’s been great! ———————————————————————- GAMES GAMES GALORE — word scramble and riddles by Kyletyi Fiddlestrings ———————————————————————- Who doesn’t love a good mystery to solve! Have at these and enjoy – answers can be found at the bottom of the issue! 1\. Unscramble these letters to find out why the Minstrel’s tutor loves shoes so much. Ht htsa sese eme dnrkfsuo 2\. Unscramble these letters to figure out why the Flame roared loudly. Ii aae h dtahdb gtir 3\. In every crack, every crevice, I’ll lurk and I’ll teem – yet you can also find me inside of a dream. What am I? 4\. I’m a river that runs as slow as a walk, a liquid that’s also (somehow!) a rock. What am I? ———————————————————————- ————- ADS EWW WE KNOW BUT WE LIKE MONEY ————– ———————————————————————- \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ | | | The Flame and Flesh Tavern | | | | Novice needs at novice prices! | | | | Find us in the market: coordinates 20049 | | | | \*all proceeds used to fund culture events!\* | | \*donations happily accepted!\* | | | \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ | | | Crazy Al’s Wakabi Rides | | | | “An adventure in every step. BYOB.” | | Expeditions leaving twice daily | | Enquire within the nomad camp for details | | | \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ | | | JOIN THE RESISTANCE | | | | The rumors are true! The city is in anarchy! We can trust nobody! | | Who will guard the secrets of your guilds? Find the Circle of | | Whispers and find the answers and security you seek. Seek out the | | scroll in the city library – look for a secret subject. | | | | Hint: the Divine the flamelings take after. | | | \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ ———————————————————————- ————————- THE BORING PARTS ————————— ———————————————————————- – All quotes are heresay unless explicited stated otherwise. – All rumours are merely rumours until confirmed otherwise. – Don’t set yourself on fire or grow tentacles without taking proper precautions first. ———————————————————————- —————————- POSTSCRIPT —————————- ———————————————————————- Puzzle solutions! 1\. He uses them for kegstands 2\. It had a bright idea 3\. Sand 4\. Lava **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2017 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [One Law; Five Freedoms](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/one-law-five-freedoms/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** One Law, Five Freedoms ———————- Introduction ———— Being the City of Freedom, Gaudiguch upholds the values of Liberty, Truth and Justice above all else. While outsiders might consider the citizenry as wayward hedonists with a rather questionable set of morals, some citizens might agree with these outsiders and consider it a compliment. Although the citizens are free to pursue their freedoms and follow their hearts, the city has put together the One Law as a general guideline to ensure that none are trampling upon the freedoms and rights of fellow citizens while exercising their own. Although the One Law appears simple at first glance – plainly stated as “Love is the Law; Love under Will.” – analyzing the deeper meanings behind it and applying them in real situations is anything but. While the Law is vague enough that it has historically caused numerous disagreements in scope and interpretation, it has been generally accepted that the Elected Leaders of the Free City hold the power to interpret it. All citizens of Gaudiguch have been granted five Freedoms that they enjoy under the elected leadership. These Freedoms are stated as being the Freedom of Will, the Freedom of Being, the Freedom of Choice, the Freedom of Love, and the Freedom of Expression. I will now proceed to expound upon each Freedom and what it entails. Disclaimer: This is my personal interpretation of the One Law. If you do not agree with some of these interpretations, feel free to write and publish your own analysis. – The Freedom of Will The Freedom of Will is defined as the right to be respected as a Child of Freedom, as long as it does not inhibit the Will of another, or pose danger to the City herself. In order to understand the Freedom of Will, it is imperative to know what Will signifies. “Will” can be quite a tricky word to define: it can be described as your desire to live your life as you wish, but it can also refer to the inner strength to push forward when things seem hopeless and bleak. The Freedom of Will is designed to protect citizens from undue removal of civil liberties, and it is intrinsically linked with the Freedoms of Choice, Love, Desire, and Expression wherein it gives you the right to have your own Will: to make your own choices, to love who we please, to follow your ambitions, and to express your true self. -The Freedom of Being Every citizen of the Free City is granted the Freedom to choose who they are, and grow into who they may become. The City of Gaudiguch does not consider any race to be superior or inferior to another, even though individual citizens might have their own preconceptions or biases. Unlike most of the other cities and all of the communes of the Basin, Gaudiguch does not place a bar on citizenship based on race. The Freedom of Being is inherently tied to the Freedoms of Choice and Expression – you can choose to take the form of any race, and you are free to express your true self through your appearance. -Freedom of Choice The city grants its populace the Freedom to choose how they desire to live, so long as the path they choose to follow does not negatively affect Gaudiguch’s growth, advancement, and public image. Under the Freedom of Choice, citizens are given the right to join any guild or follow any Divine as they wish, while accepting that any choice they make can have its own set of consequences. This Freedom is significant in that it is inherently linked with all of the other Freedoms: under the Freedom of Choice, you are free to not partake in activities that interfere with your Will, choose your physical form, love someone of your own choice, chase your goals, and express yourself the way you choose. -Freedom of Love The Freedom of Love bestows the right to love who you wish, so long as they and their actions do not inhibit the Will of the city as a whole. Under this Freedom, citizens are free to court, marry and start families outside of the city, so long as it is not with an enemy of Gaudiguch – it is, by structure, linked to the Freedoms of Will, Choice, and Desire. It grants the Freedom to love as you Will, choose who to get involved with, and pursue your heart’s Desire. -Freedom of Desire Living in the Free City grants you the Freedom to create, pursue, and obtain whatever it is that you might desire, although it must be kept in mind that the Freedom of Desire does not grant you the right to unlawfully take what belongs to another citizen, be it a physical item or a design idea. This Freedom is, at its root, linked to the Freedoms of Will, Choice, and Love – you are allowed to have your own aspirations, reach these aspirations through any means, and pursue whatever or whoever you love. -Freedom of Expression As a member of Gaudiguch, each citizen possesses the right to express themselves artistically, physically, and emotionally – as long as it does not disrespect the City as a whole. Living together in a diverse city of myriad voices, thoughts and desires, it is common to run into disagreements while you are exercising this Freedom in particular. However, it is advised that your actions do not lead to another feeling harassed or belittled. While exercising the Freedom of Expression, you are also acknowledging that you are, by every action you take, representing your guild and your city. This Freedom is fundamentally linked to the Freedoms of Will, Being, and Choice: it grants the freedom to express your Will and your Being in any way you might choose. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** May 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Pinch of Salt - Properties and Applications](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-pinch-of-salt-properties-and-applications/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A Pinch of Salt – Properties and Applications Preface ——- Salt is a commodity that made quite the headline not so long ago, when it rose to the infamy of being the most in-demand commodity – at one point even being sold for two thousand gold coins a bag. Originating from the seas and the oceans, salt is best known for its use in cooking, sought after by chefs all around the Basin for its ability to bring out the flavour of a dish. Although best known for its culinary properties, salt also has a wide variety of other uses, even in unlikely fields such as Astrology and Ecology. And of course, it is one of the base elements of Alchemy, possessing latent magical properties that can be utilized by a skilled alchemist. This book is a successor to my previous work, “On Sulfur”, where I talk about the properties and applications of sulfur in detail. Therefore, in addition to going over the physical and chemical properties of salt, I will also attempt to compare them with those of sulfur and present a clearer picture of the basics of Alchemy. Even though I am not an alchemist by profession, I feel that my expertise in the culinary arts have left me with some understanding of salt – enough to write about the properties of it. That being said, please forgive any mistakes that I might make in my observations and conclusions. Coraline Myeras Salt: Physical Properties ————————- Appearance: Salt, in its most common form of table salt, is available as a white powder. In contrast to sulfur, which is amorphous, salt is crystalline. In its purest crystalline form, salt appears as a white crystal, although the presence of impurities can cause it to develop colour. A particularly notable example is the volcanic salt, which is black in colour. Other common colours of impure salt crystals are pink, orange, and even yellow. Salt wildly differs from sulfur in both its smell and its taste. While sulfur tends to have a particularly noxious smell that is hard to ignore even in small quantities, salt, in contrast, has a more subdued scent – a unique smell of its own, that can even be quite pleasant at just the right amount – reminiscent of a gentle breeze on a sandy beach. The taste of salt might be its most famous quality. Salt is so renowned for its taste that one of the five basic tastes is named after it. At the right amount, salt can really bring out the flavour in a dish. This is true for even dishes which you would not expect salt to be beneficial in, like caramel sauce, lemonade and even cakes and cookies. At the hands of a good chef, salt can be a powerful aide that will turn an ordinary dish into a delicacy that is craved by many. In the hands of an inexperienced cook, however, salt can make a dish practically inedible, as adding too much or too little salt to a dish can completely ruin its flavour. In summary, Colour: White in pure form. Can have colour due to impurities present State: Solid Texture: Crystalline Smell: Briny Taste: Salty Interactions with the elements Fire: When salt is introduced to a flame, it adds a bright yellow colouration to the flame. Salt is not otherwise reactive to fire. Water: Salt readily dissolves in water, and causes the water to have a salty taste, and, in higher quantities, even a salty, briny smell. High concentrations of salt in water can cause the formation of salt crystals that sink in water. In fact, salt is most commonly collected by the evaporation of water from the seas and oceans. Earth: Even though evaporation of seawater is the easiest and most efficient method to collect salt, it can also be collected from mineral deposits under the surface of the Earth. Like sulfur, salt is also obtained as a byproduct when clusters of gems are cut into pure gemstones. Air: Salt does not dissolve in air directly, but it can be suspended as fine particulates, or dissolved in airborne water droplets. An observation can be made here about the nature of reactivity of salt to the elements in contrast to sulfur. While it was observed (from my previous book, “On Sulfur”) that sulfur reacted more strongly with Fire than the other elements, it can be noted that salt, in contrast, is more responsive to Water. It could be theorized that there is a pattern involved here, that each base metal or salt of alchemy has a particular affinity towards one element, even more so than the others. I will study this phenomenon further to see if it holds any salt, when I move on to the other base metals. Chemical Properties ——————- Reactivity Unlike sulfur, salt is not caustic and reactive to the touch, and can be handled without the need for gloves or other protective equipment. However, they have been known for breaking aetherbuttons into the aethergoop that they are made of, and therefore it is not advisable to store salt in proximity to aetherbuttons. Uses The most obvious use of salt is, of course, in the culinary arts. As mentioned earlier, salt provides one of the five basic tastes needed to create the perfect meal. The right amount of salt in a dish can really enhance the deliciousness of a dish. This is because salt has a tendency to augment and accentuate the taste of a dish to bring out unique flavours beyond the basic five. This can be seen when a dash of salt is used to enhance the sweetness of baked goods or when it suppresses the bitterness of citrus-flavoured drinks. It likewise also brings out the unique flavours of fried snacks, cured meat, and pickled fruits. Besides cooks, salt is also a very useful item to Astrologers. A pentagram of salt can be used in place of a blood pentagram by Astrologers to direct a meteor to a target location. It is not known whether this is because blood contains some amount of salt, or if it is due to the inherent purity of salt, which causes it to contain an amount of latent magical properties. The magical properties latent within salt can be channeled by alchemists via brewing into an alembic to create magical salt, which can be sprinkled on the ground around a person to create magical shields. Salt is also known to be used by Ecologists to create soft charms that can help with electrical resistance, as opposed to sulfur, which is used to enhance resistance to poison. Salt is known to be a good inhibitor of plant growth, since it is known to absorb water that is needed by the roots, causing them to be damaged. This property can be used in the control of weed growth, and it can be theorized that the Old Celestian Empire might have used this trait of salt to their advantage and incorporated magical salt into the paving of highways to keep eroding plant growth at bay. The tendency of salt to soak up moisture can also be utilized to remove stains from the body and clothing. When used appropriately, salt can also ward off small pests like ants and slugs. Ritualistic Usage —————– Salt is known to be widely used in ritualistic practices around the Basin, due to its above-mentioned magical property. Salt pentagrams are used as ritualistic shields, whereas practices such as throwing salt over one’s shoulder is said to repel bad fortune. As stated in its physical properties, salt is noted to have an affinity to Water (and, to a lesser extent, Earth) compared to the other elements. Based on this, it can be theorized that salt is a key component in Aquamantic rituals, and that it might also be used efficiently in Geomantic rituals. The nature of salt points towards potential usage in rituals of an alchemical or a magical nature. It is an ancient dracnari practice to burn salt in hot coals before bedtime, because the smoke is believed to keep bad dreams at bay. Salt is commonly used in these rituals for warding and purification. Conclusions ———– In this book, we have not only explored in detail the physical properties and chemical nature of salt, but also attempted to compare and contrast some of these properties with sulfur. I will now try to condense the observations that were made into succinct points below: -White crystalline solid with a briny odour and a salty taste -Possible elemental affinity towards Water -Latent magical properties stored within -Applications in a wide range of fields such as Cooking, Alchemy, Astrology, Ecology, and Rituals. I hope that, by reading this book, you were provided with information that would be useful in your future endeavours. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Blank Sheet Of Paper](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-blank-sheet-of-paper/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A sheet of paper lies squarely upon the center of a dark wooden desk which has been well-polished until it gleams. Hunched before it, sitting in a chair made of the same dark material, a large figure ponders the page, holding a crow’s feather quill in hand. The page is pristine, not even the smallest blot of ink marring its surface. His hand moves, as if to start a word, then pauses. He looks around himself instead, pondering the environs. To his side, an enormous leopard rests, purring loudly as she nestles against the chair. Her fur is as white as the page itself, though with a significant distinction: she bears marks, dark rosettes of inky blackness scattered across the fur, an inversion of the night sky that can be seen out a window nearby. He casts his attention back to the page, frowning. What was he going to write about? The librarian had recently suggested a prompt. Write about the Age of Wyrden Supremacy, she said. He had had a few thoughts on where to take that, but every time he tried to start, they turned out to be nothing more than spiderwebs which tore apart beneath the quill’s first motion. In his head, a voice suddenly asked, “How are?” Throwing down the quill, pushing back the chair, he stands. The leopard rises with him, suddenly eager to be doing something, and the two of them promptly seek out the voice’s source. They find the young kepheran in the Blasted Lands, seeking down a wandering trill, and begin to follow him on his errands. The leopard rubs against him, purring in greeting, as the figure replies to his adopted son, indicating that things are well. He says naught about his discarded endeavour, having already dismissed it from his mind. They venture through the Blasted Lands as the kepheran kills mongrel and scorpion. The most devious foes, however, live in pits. They are not strong, and pose no danger, but the kepheran often falls into them. Eager to move along, as they have no place in his task, he leaves his father behind. There is no expression on the figure’s face as he gestures. A bloody, cloying haze grows before him as he locates the kepheran, before growing to a solid mist that engulfs him and returns him to his son’s side. A swift apology is offered, yet before much longer, he finds himself once more alone in another pit. Thus it goes, until the month is spent and all have found themselves returned to slumber, but the figure is content with how he spent his time. ——————— A sheet of paper lies squarely upon the center of a dark wooden desk. No longer entirely pristine, the faintest layer of dust has gathered on it. The figure is once more hunched before it, though now studying a painting hung to one side of the room. Prominent on it are depictions of the figure and his leopard companion, artwork well-drawn by the hand of his son. He shakes his head, attempting to return his focus to the page. Yet, as before, the spiderwebs of story are torn apart before quill meets page. “How are?” comes to his mind once more. He throws down the quill by the desk, and rises again. He stares at the page before dismissing it firmly from his mind. Patting the leopard, the two of them seek out the voice’s source. This time they find him near a river, frantically chasing down butterflies with a net. The leopard appears eager to join in the game, and leaps for them as well, though the ones she catches tend not to fare as well. The figure smiles softly, watching their antics. They gather orcs to serve as guards, they offer gold, all to appease the whims of a shrill-voiced woman living with a deep anger for her new husband. Finally, the kepheran decides that the man trying ever more drastic measures to woo his bride’s request for poison is justified, and he collects ingredients from around the Basin, from platypus to scorpion. Surprisingly, the ploy works; the man quaffs his poison, and his wife decides she loves him after all. The figure observes, wondering at the fickle loyalties of these mortals. Thus it goes, until the month is spent and all return to their slumber. Content once more, the figure and his leopard drift away. ——————— A sheet of paper lies squarely upon the center of a dark wooden desk. The accumulated dust is quite thick in places now, but wide swathes down the page indicate where a hand has attempted to brush it clean. The figure sits hunched before the page once more. This time he is pondering the weapons rack placed in the corner of the room instead of the sheet of paper. Full of weapons from massive two-handed bardiches to small nekai, and everything between– axes, rapiers, scimitars, broadswords, and even armour and shields– this rack bears the weight of centuries of stories within. The page, however, yet bears nothing. “How are?” comes to his mind, and with relief, he once more abandons the page. With the leopard, they find themselves in an ancient monastery populated by loboshigaru, beside the kepheran who is speaking with monks. They have been demanding corpses, and this is something which the figure has never found himself averse to. Together, they seek out the bodies of sundry creatures, from all across the Basin. From below the surface of the Basin, the rockeaters are collected, their devouring done. From beneath bloody waves, they slaughter sharks which will hunt no more. The spiders are gathered from amongst the trees, and the rocs brought down from the mighty heights above. All are brought to the monks, who make much of these creatures, and press tokens into the kepheran’s hands. Eagerly, he sets out to distribute the tokens, passing out their favours that he might receive a blessing in turn. Finally, they venture within the Pits, a place far away. Within, the spirits of rocs and spiders, rockeaters and sharks roam, anxious to take their revenge upon those who dare venture within. Yet these, too, are swiftly dispatched. Harder to locate are the four hunters, one of which bears the prize– a scroll, which the Master of the monks seeks. Yet, before much longer, these too have been challenged and defeated. Scroll in hand, the kepheran ends their hunt as the month draws to a close. Once more content, the figure and his leopard drift off to slumber. ——————— A sheet of paper lies squarely upon the center of a dark wooden desk. The dust is back, thickly coating the entire sheet. No figure sits before it, now. It has been left to itself, abandoned. No voice intrudes, for there is nothing to intrude upon. This story shall never be told… Yet in the meantime, much else transpired, stories of significant only to father and son. Stories that mean little to anyone else, but to them are everything. A sheet of paper lies squarely upon the center of a dark wooden desk. Unmarked by quill, untouched by ink, yet it has been there for it all. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2019 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Fluidity of Self: A Philisophical Reflection](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/fluidity-of-self-a-philisophical-reflection/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** +—————————-+ | Fluidity of the Self: | | A Philosophical Reflection | +—————————-+ The concept of the self has been pondered for many centuries, whether we are doomed to be a specific way for all time or change constantly like the ebb and flow of the tide. Often times it is the perception that we are a solid, singular being that has varying levels of malleability depending on the person, but I offer another perspective, that of a fluid. Fluids have different properties than that of a solid, most notable of which is fluidity as that will be the topic of these thoughts. We define ourselves rather than allowing other individuals we interact with, granting us true control over our own path and how we wish to exist. We will discuss what it means to be a fluid, how your container is shaped, and what composition of fluids you might be. First, allow us to ponder what kind of fluid we are. Viscosity is a major player in learning more about ourselves and how quick we are to alter ourselves. Are you more viscous like honey, which clings to the shaped container and is slow to depart the bonds made, or are you like water that flows naturally at any changes presented to fill the container? Most of us are not at these extremes, but somewhere upon the spectrum, which requires introspection to discern more about ourselves. Reflection upon the self and being honest with yourself can be difficult at times, other feelings or mental states can deceive us and lead us astray to end with the wrong self image. If your fluid-self is quite viscous then you might find change difficult and a slow process, maybe wondering as to why change just doesn’t come naturally to you and feelings of hopelessness may manifest. Perhaps it isn’t quite your inability to change, but a desire to remain as you are and struggle against the change in environment you find yourself in. Change can be a difficult process, and often terrifying as it leads to things unknown, and being forced to leave the comforts of what you’ve known. Regardless, reflect and find your place, do you welcome change, abhor it, or even a combination? Only you can answer this question. Secondly, a discussion of your container is important as well. While the definition of your container could be considered your physical body, and thus shaped by means out of your control, our definition shall be as follows: A container is the shape of our mental image that we perceive versus the shape that others assign to us from expectation. No matter who we are, there will always be the struggle in balancing who we want to be, and who our peers demand we be. This means that we have our container to satisfy our own whims and desires, that must fit within the shape of society and its standards. So long as your fluid-self is able to fill your container, there will be a happiness and sense of peace with yourself, knowing that despite the strife and expectations, you are satisfied with your own being. Societal shape can be formed from laws, expectations, or other pressures that take a solid block and chisel a cast for you to fill, as if to decide who you are and how to perceive your own self. Let us ponder the egg of a chicken, only a fluid within the societal shape as a building block. Over time that fluid finds the container it wishes to fill and takes shape, thus the yolk transforms and fills the shape of the chick, before being brought forth into our perception for us to behold. Finding the balance between a societal shape and our own container is the hardest task we have when in the pursuit of self fulfillment and appeasing our own desires and outlook upon the existence we are granted. The cast carved out is a good start point when finding yourself in the Basin, as most of us traveled through the Portal of Fate to arrive here with nothing more than a muddied mind and even more muddled memories. Being given an outline to work with can be a positive experience, and should be embraced, but only as a starting point. These casts that are made are only to shape you in the ideals of what is believed and practiced, not the final product. The shape of your container is the work of art you produce from the base materials. Much like a talented hand can create a blank figurine, it takes an inspired individual with a vision to make it resemble that of another being entirely to the most minute detail. What is the shape you desire your container to be? Lastly, we pursue the mastery of our self-fluid and come to realize that we are not just a solitary fluid to fill our ideal container. Nay, we are many fluids that do not mix and remain separated. Though it is possible for a being to consist of only a single fluid, that is rather rare, as we as beings find certain things easier to accommodate than others. The fluid-self of the mind may be so thick that it appears solid, never wavering from the foundations it was built upon and a true zealot of those ways, while their fluid-self of the body might be like mercury that flows freely while still clinging lightly to the prior shape. There are a plethora of fluid states and viscosity levels that we can be, and there truly are no wrong combinations, as a correct one is decided by the self at the time defined by the goals and aspirations they set. In conclusion, I offer to instead perceive yourself as a fluid of change, fast or slow, and always aim to shape and fill the container that you desire. The pursuit of happiness and enlightenment is often a traversal of the mind, dodging obstacles that we set for ourselves, whether by insecurities or the unknown in our existence, and strive forward. May you be true to yourself and find the answers to the questions you pose, and most importantly, may you define yourself that is perfect for you, and for no one else. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Princess And The Dragon](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-princess-and-the-dragon/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Princess and the Dragon Long ago, in a faraway kingdom, lived a little princess. Born to a brave and noble king who was loved by all, and surrounded by loving and talented sisters, the little princess had every material comfort that anyone could possibly need. But alas! Material comforts are not all that one needs to live a happy life, and unfortunately, for this princess, they were all that she had. Her voice was a little too loud, her movements were a touch too erratic, and her disposition was a tad too peculiar – and the other nobles, because of these traits, found her to be quite tiresome. The princess was aware that the others found her nature more than a little exasperating, and she tried everything that she could do to win them over and change their mindset towards her. But every time she tried to help, it would only blow up in her face, because she couldn’t really help being who she was, and she couldn’t really change her true nature (even though she really, really wanted to). “Go away! We don’t want your help!”, they said. “You’re only making things worse!”, they complained. “Leave us alone! We don’t want you around!”, they said. And this made her very unhappy. Every night, she cried and wished and prayed that she could be likable, that she could be wanted, that she could be adored. And, because this princess was also a dreamweaver, she stored these wishes and prayers as motes of dreams that accumulated and grew steadily in her dreamcatcher. It is said that your wishes and dreams are the seeds that, with the right amount of nurture, would grow tall and strong and eventually become reality. It is also true that the fruits of our dreams are not always what we expect – or sometimes even want – to be. One night, as the princess lay in her bed, crying into her pillows as she would every night, she found something unexpected. Her dreamcatcher began to glow with a brilliant golden light, and she watched, awe-struck, as the motes of her wishes and her dreams fused together to form the shape of a beast of unimaginable resplendence and majesty. “Who are you?”, asked the princess, even the tears on her cheeks frozen in place. “I am born of your hopes and your dreams”, replied the dragon. “What is it that you wish for?” “I wish to escape. I wish to go somewhere far.. far away from here.” “Then so be it.” And so, the dragon hoisted the princess atop his pearlescent ridges and took her away to a tower that was very, very far. And there they lived, the princess much happier than she had been her whole life, learning many new subjects, including the arcane and the forbidden. Using the magics she learned, she surrounded her tower with a powerful spell, hiding it from sight (now no one would come to mock her or hurt her again!). The dragon, having been born of the princess’ dreams, wanted nothing more than to see her happy. And therefore, at her request, he wrapped himself around the tower – and there he lay, guarded and watching. The people of her kingdom were unconcerned, and even a little relieved, at first. They did not know what had happened to the princess, but she only caused problems anyway. But gradually, they forgot about her loud voice, her flighty movements, and her strange mannerisms, and they grew to miss her (or rather, the idea of her). And so they sent search parties out for her, far and wide, across the Basin – but the magics surrounding her tower were far too strong, and they successfully hid her from their sight. But all good things must come to an end. And soon, the princess grew careless and let her magics falter, and she was found, gazing out of the highest window of the tower, and guarded by a magnificent dragon of ruby scales. “Our princess has been captured by a wicked creature!”, they proclaimed – for at this point, she was nothing more than a trophy – a prize to be won and a damsel to be rescued. And the dragon, likewise, was reduced to nothing more a bounty, a hindrance – a villainous symbol that needed to be slain. And so, one by one, the knights arrived, to save the princess from the dragon’s claws. And, one by one did the dragon take care of them all – for the dragon was brave of heart, strong of form, and powerful of spirit. He had to be, because he was formed of the strongest matter in the Universe – the stuff that dreams were made of. But strength is not without bounds, and endurance is not infinite, and slowly, gradually, the dragon grew wearier and wearier. “It hurts my heart to see you suffer in this way!”, lamented the princess, who had grown quite fond of the dragon. “I don’t know how to make them stop..” And, indeed, she didn’t. She had screamed and cried to be left alone, but the knights – the same ones who had previously complained about how loud she was – pretended that her voice was now too soft. For none of them were after love, or friendship, or a happy ending – they wanted only power, glory, and riches promised. “Do not fret, my lady..”, the dragon replied. “I was born from your hopes and your dreams, and it is my duty to protect you. It is my destiny to ensure your happiness..” “..and I will continue to do my duty – follow my destiny – until they stop.” And then, one day, it happened. A knight arrived, assured of self, strong of disposition, his mind filled with visions of glory. And bravely he fought the wearied dragon, with decisive blows and calculated slashes, until, at last, he plunged his sword deep into the dragon’s heart. The dragon hissed desperately, trying to land one last blow on the man as he plunged his enormous saurian head towards the knight and breathed, with his last breath, a stream of magical fire. But alas! The knight had come prepared with his resistant armour and his shields, and even this did not result in much more than burn scars on the exposed parts of his skin. And then did his golden eyes grow dim, and his scales lose their glow for one brief moment, before the dutiful dragon perished, his form scattering into millions of golden motes that soon dissolved into the air. Triumphantly the knight climbed up the winding stairs of the tower, eager to capture his trophy – but when he reached the top, he was only greeted with the limp and lifeless body of the princess. There was one mistake that the warrior made – for he was only after glory and power. And he did not realize that with the dragon was slain the entirety of the princess’ hopes and dreams. Without hopes and dreams, there is no life, and likewise, without the dragon, there was no princess. Disappointed, but not by much, the knight carried the body of the dead princess back into the kingdom, where she was buried with much pomp and ceremony – and the warrior was rewarded with the riches and glory and fame that he had dreamed of. The warrior had gotten what he had fought for – and, curiously enough, the princess had also got what she had wished for all her childhood. “What a beautiful little princess she was!”, they said. “She looks so adorable, even in death!”, they whispered. “She was such a charming princess”, they said to her corpse. “Such a shame that she had to pass..” **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Monstrous Tale of Califa y'Bolgari](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-monstrous-tale-of-califa-ybolgari/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** THE MONSTROUS TALE OF CALIFA Y’BOLGARI Foreward: Transcribed in these pages is the story of Califa y’Bolgari, which was found buried in the rubble of the Arthar’rt Observatory. For ease of reading, it has been condensed and neatly organised from its original version, which was written on barely legible vellum of an aged and worn quality. What follows is a tale that can be taken as historically accurate, or the fictional writings of a Magnagoran noble as inspired by the lore of the Arthar’rt Observatory. The enigmatic nature of the source makes it an intriguing character study, though ultimately as a narrative, it has been shelved as literary for its storytelling value. Chapter One: It began with the strange crystal man in the Blasted Lands. I was a child, then – what did I know of the ways of foreigners, the way they mocked us viscanti with their cruel smiles and false sympathy? My younger brother Azriel and I were not even orphans, but of noble viscanti birth, taught to disdain those who were not like us. We didn’t understand our disdain was a protective shield against that of the rest of the Basin, though surely our parents tried to explain it to us. There is no excuse our for ignorance, but oh, we paid for it dearly. We were children of House y’Bolgari. I shudder to think of what the House thinks of us now, but that is what we were called in those days. We had been given a great task to serve our house, and were told to gather fruits for the final preparations of the Oil of ur’Lai. In our spoiled laziness, we did not understand that our task was one of the simpler ones in this complex ritual, and simply bemoaned that we were expected to take part in it at all. So we dawdled on our way back to the Presidio, seeing how clever we could be at avoiding the gravediggers that roamed the Blasted Lands. We shrieked with delight at the dangers. We thought ourselves invincible, undead and beautiful. Such was the y’Bolgari way. What was the price of our freedom? A child’s vanity. Azriel and I had never seen a lucidian until one approached us in the Blasted Lands, his skin gleaming like ice even in the arid heat. I was mesmerised by it. In those days, Hallifax had yet to exist – lucidian and trill still roamed the Basin like lost, exotic creatures, yearning for a homeland lost to time. I found the lucidian’s strangeness beautiful, then – but now, the very sight of crystal fills all of my being with loathing. “Aren’t you children a little young to roam the Blasted Lands by yourself?” he asked us. His voice had a curious crystalline echo to its monotone. “I’m eleven,” I said proudly, straightening my shoulders. Azriel hid behind me. I foolishly believed I was able to protect him from any harm that might befall us. “Ah, but there are gravediggers here,” the lucidian said. “Someone could get hurt, and then what would you do?” “We can handle ourselves,” I said. “My brother and I are viscanti. We are strong enough.” “I meant no offense, of course. Just the concern of an old man.” His body pulsed with colours, bright and shimmering in the heat. I couldn’t interpret their meaning at all. “It only seems to me that it is growing late, and you ought to be going home soon. Gravediggers feast just as well in the dark, you know.” I hadn’t been watching Azriel as he backed away, so when he screamed, I was startled. I turned to see my brother sucked into a gravedigger’s pit, the monster tearing into his flesh hungrily. I shrieked in alarm – we had usually been so careful, so quick to look before running across the Blasted Lands! For all our bravado, we knew we were no match for a gravedigger, especially alone. Without a moment’s thought, the lucidian stranger dove in after Azriel, wielding a curious metal instrument in his hands. I saw the spark of energy rise up from the gravedigger’s pit, and when the lucidian emerged with Azriel alive and safe in his arms, I let out a cry of joy. “As you can see, this is no place for children,” the lucidian said calmly. “Your brother’s health is in poor condition, but it is your good fortune that I am a doctor and was here to help you. Come with me, and I’ll tend to his wounds in my lab. Afterwards, of course, you will both be free to go.” I truly believed he was our savior that day. I didn’t realize it would be the last day I would walk the Basin as Califa y’Bolgari. Chapter Two: The lucidian called himself Etil’ck Arthar’rt. He had a sister, Rak’ia, that seemed far less approachable than her brother had been to us. In the dark light of their Observatory tower, the two crystal siblings were imposing and intimidating figures, and they laid out Azriel on an operating table with a host of complicated instruments on a tray nearby. “Can I go in with him?” I asked. Azriel was easily frightened, I knew, but I didn’t want to humiliate him in front of the lucidians by saying so. “I am afraid that would be unwise,” Rak’ia said dismissively. “Surgical procedures are unpleasant enough for even those in the medical field to witness.” “What if you stay here and enjoy a small treat as you wait? This must be difficult for you,” said Etil’ck, kindly I had thought. I took the cookie gratefully and nibbled on it to calm my nerves as they closed the door behind them. The Observatory was unfamiliar and far from home, and I was beginning to wonder if Mother might be worried about us. Had the Oil of ur’Lai ritual gone on without the fruit required? Was the family going to be cross with us for running off? Surely they’d understand once I explained what happened to Azriel. Maybe they’d even compensate the Arthar’rt lucidians for their kindness in saving a noble viscanti child. I had no concept of the danger we were in. By the time I began to notice the drug’s effects, they had completely dulled my senses. I can only hope Azriel’s were just as numbed. The last thing I remember is a single moment of clarity – briefly waking into consciousness to see two lucidians glaring down at my exposed body, probing it with metal and electricity that shocked me back into the terror of plunging darkness. I think I screamed. I hope I screamed. I hope my body, in some way, tried to cry out against what was happening to it. When I awakened, the world I knew had transformed into something unrecognizable, and so had I. Chapter Three: “The experiment is a failure,” Rak’ia Arthar’rt said. These words were what roused me from my dark slumber, rising up to find myself no longer seated in the Observatory proper, but caged like an animal deep underground. A splitting headache ravaged my mind, and though I felt too tired to stand, I could still make out the indistinct silhouettes of the Arthar’rt siblings. They stood beyond the bars of my prison, examining me with scientific scrutiny. Etil’ck wrote methodically on a pad of paper, not even glancing up while speaking. “We have attempted to eradicate the Taint’s effect on the viscanti race, and instead we have simply created a new race entirely. Not a failure so much as a miscalculation, I would say.” “They’re hideous freaks,” Rak’ia said, sneering down at me. “Like a mangled facsimile of the lucidian race.” Hideous? No one had ever dared to call me that before. I bristled, finally gaining the energy to rise to my feet. “I am Califa of House y’Bolgari, and you dare mock my beauty?” I hissed. “My ancestors perfected the art of it, while yours foolishly lost themselves in time and space!” Neither of them had to laugh to show how thoroughly amusing they found me. This time when their bodies flickered with colour, I understood their intent. “House y’Bolgari. Trill lineage, isn’t it? Didn’t someone trace them to a branch of the Cloudwalkers some time ago?” Etil’ck asked Rak’ia, completely ignoring my outburst. “Perhaps we would have more luck with viscanti specimens that evolved out of a lucidian shard.” “Are you vermin so blind that you equate our undead beauty with the feathery squawking of trills!” I snarled. “Where is my brother? You will pay in blood for holding the children of noble houses hostage!” “Calm yourself, freak,” Rak’ia said, inclining her head towards the darker side of the prison. “Your brother lies beside you. Look upon him, and see the beauty of House y’Bolgari you defend oh so vehemently.” When I turned, the creature I saw shared no resemblance to my brother at all. Where he had been a healthy red-skinned viscanti with silken black hair, the monster that looked up at me was a crystalline freak just as Rak’ia had said, his sad face marked by red bloodshot eyes. Only the small size of the creature betrayed that it was a child, and meeting my gaze, Azriel’s eyes filled with tears. “What did they do to us, Califa?” he whispered, and the chilling reality that my body had shifted, too, finally reached my comprehension. I examined my own limbs – now hideous, twisted, and eerily translucent in their deformed crystalline appearance – and let out an agonized scream of despair. There would be no saving us, no acknowledgement of us ever again as the beloved children of House y’Bolgari. Not in this abhorrent state, at least – to our family, we were surely now better off dead. We were to forever be now like one of Rheimos’s animals in the city Zoo, simply a grotesque form of entertainment for the masses. “We’re going to die here,” Azriel said, breaking into full on sobs.”They’re going to kill us, and we’ll die here.” “Nonsense. It would be a waste to dispose of you,” Rak’ia said, and Etil’ck considered this with a thoughtful nod. “After all, you are subjects worthy of examination, and useful for understanding what caused our failures. You may sustain yourselves on the knowledge that your existence is leading to a better future for all viscanti-kind – and perhaps a future where the Taint is of no longer of any consequence.” “I’d rather die!” I shouted at them, lunging at the bars of my cell. “Fortunately for us,” Etil’ck said coolly, “you are not the one who makes that choice for us. Your life, child, is now ours. But don’t fret. You won’t be lonely for long. There will be more of you, very, very soon.” And there were, more of us than I ever could have imagined. Chapter Four: Even now, the story repeats itself over and over, the same each time. A child wandering the Blasted Lands far away from home bumps into a seemingly kind stranger who offers them some small gesture of goodwill, leading them to be the next in a long line of victims held captive to the cruel machinations of the Arthar’rt Observatory. “Another failure,” the hateful lucidians say with dispassionate cruelty, tossing another crystalline freak into the hidden depths of the Observatory. Another viscanti life, wasted. One thing, however, gives me hope – it appears that the tale of the disappearing viscanti children is beginning to make its rounds among the Magnagoran citizenry. Perhaps friends have seen us vanish in the company of these strange lucidians, for caution seems to be becoming the rule for those children who venture from the comforts of home. If you are reading this – if this diary has reached my former family, or any of those I have left behind me in Magnagora – perhaps it may already be too late for us. It is entirely likely that we have gone insane these past few years, trapped like rats, desperate for a single ray of sunlight on our hideous, mottled crystal skin. If you have read our story and take pity on us, then I humbly beseech the following of you. I once dreamed of escape for me and my brother. Escape, however, would only be the beginning. What world could be left for once-viscantis twisted into a mockery of their former glory? I was once an y’Bolgari, and no life save for the beauty I have lost bears any joy for me. I suspect it is such for most of us once-viscanti who have been stripped of their racial pride. Thus what we must now ask of you is far more urgent than such a temporary salvation as “escape.” You must demolish all of the Arthar’rt Observatory. Upturn every last stone, set fire to its very foundation so that no scrap of its research remains. Let the toppling tower crush every last man and woman who resides within its walls, including myself. Only then can we purge its evils from this world, and rid the viscanti race of its horrors forevermore. If you are reading this, do this and save us. Save us all. Epilogue: As of this book’s publication, the Arthar’rt Observatory has been long lost to the Basin of Life. Its demise was cited as a direct effect of Father Sun’s solar assault on the Basin of Life in the 12th of Vestian, the year 445 CoE, which threatened several other structures, including the Presidio of the Damned, the Tosha Monastery, the Scorpion Caverns, and others. Notably, the only place that Father Sun succeeded in striking with full force was the Arthar’rt Observatory, which is now a forgotten, melted pile of crystal and stone. Is it possible that this short diary might have been found by one of those intrepid adventurers who worked so tirelessly to protect the other places of the Basin? Are the lucidians mentioned in this tale no more, as well as the brave victims they kept locked away for their cruel research? These are questions that currently possess no answer. Time, however, may yet tell us. ~Lisuette **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2019 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Collection of Songs for the Wildarrane](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-collection-of-songs-for-the-wildarrane/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A COLLECTION OF SONGS FOR THE WILDARRANE by Lief Myeras-Silvermoon 01\. Table of Contents 02\. Introduction 03\. Shashi 04\. Seasons 05\. Oak 06\. Bloom 07\. Unbroken 08\. Storm 09\. Flutter 10\. Spring 11\. Moon . . . Introduction As an artist who likes her neatly even-numbered lines in sonnets and ballads, I’ve always struggled with the compositional form those who practice bardic arts make wonderful use of. You have nine lines, and you can make use of them however you wish, in whatever fashion suits you best. The limits are nigh endless, and I’ve born witness to many a moving performance in my life from all walks of life. And yet, despite the music and meter I’ve put to parchment and sung on stage, I’ve struggled. From my very first song, “Seasons,” which I let pour from my heart in an overwhelming rush of joy, to the song “Shashi” which bent me toward the resolve I needed to fight for all of Creation, I’ve grappled with composing my lyrics and expressing myself just so. Happily, after meditating in joy and anguish, in the playful and the enraged and all the turns that the Wildarrane can take in between, I’ve settled on a form that speaks, personally, to me. Except for “Seasons” and “Oak”, which I’ve included in this book for posterity, I find myself adhering to this structure time and again to great success. First is the way the content is structured. While I’ve always found ballads useful for story-telling, here I was guided more by the method behind sonnets. In many a sonnet, a question is posed and answered, or a problem is introduced and resolved, or a subject is described and then summarized. This call-and-answer informs my play, for am I not calling upon my ancestors themselves to stand with me? Do they not answer, and together we dance? Thus, within the nine lines, I will dedicate the first four to the topic I would sing about. The fifth line contains a turning point – a question, or something new – and the remaining four conclude the topic. I particularly want to consider the final line because, when all is said and done, this may be the last line an enemy hears before the numbers of the dead grow by yet another soul. Second is the matter of rhyme. With an odd number of lines, rhyme is very difficult to structure in a way that feels neat, even, and self-contained. However, many have created solutions that work for them, and I’ve fashioned one of my own! Consider: A B A B B A B A A Where A represents one set of rhymes and B another, this scheme works well with the structural content I find myself inspired to compose music to. You will note the fifth line’s rhyme will be a B, which is the first time the rhythm of the rhyme changes. The song in its entirety will also end on the same sound it starts, which allows for unity and a sense of completion. Naturally, this means you will want to plan a bit. Ensure the sounds you end your lines upon are common enough that you are not left struggling or reaching for rhymes. Third is the matter of meter – the way the lines are stressed, and the number of syllables contained in each line. While I normally take the matter of meter very seriously, in these songs, I find it less important to hold myself to strict rules. I do, however, find that iambs (which are like a heartbeat, with unstressed followed by stressed syllables) and trochees (their opposite) sound the best when you’re also rhyming, and so I will overwhelmingly make use of these in my music. I also tend to keep my lines to five feet (ten syllables) or four (eight syllables). While I would ultimately feel both flattered and disappointed were another budding singer of Trialante’s gifts to copy my works word-for-word, I would happily encourage anyone as stumped as I was to attempt this style. The following pages will contain the lyrics I’ve scripted, which will empower just about any melody of the Wildarrane, regardless of what is chosen. I do hope you enjoy it. . . . Shashi Another moon, another night without you, Another day absconds without your song. Another month, another year’s passed through Another year in which I must be strong. How does the Basin move along When midnight streaks the sky in your own blue? Like nothing in the world is wrong When nothing will again reflect your hue? Oh Shashi, none could ever replace you. . . . Seasons If you should see me dancing there, Beneath a weeping sky, Don’t stay inside, afraid to dare – Come join me, eye to eye. We’ll raise the sleeping masses high, Awaken them to spring, And bring a Wilder dream to fly On dandelion’s wing… Oh, what the changing seasons bring! . . . Oak A breeze comes through this stand of ancient oak And greets me where I am, among the stones. It carries memories of Shelter-folk, Of mysteries and shrouded, lost unknowns. I catch a whiff of floral undertones, Of sweet perfumes and fruitful times to come – Of harvests, peaches, and of seeded cones – The future’s promise, what we’ll all become, When flower turns to fruit, when whisper turns to song. . . . Bloom We’ve seen our share of wintry gloom And felt its rime upon our heart. We’ve seen its snow-white maw consume And smother life beneath its art. Yet even as the noble Hart Doth teach us to respect this doom, I’ll not let death tear us apart; No, even in your crumbling tomb, I’ll sing your spirit, and we’ll bloom. . . . Unbroken Like smoke into a white and clouded sky Ascending over ruins, black and piled; Like rushing streams to rivers’ bold reply; Like thistle growing on a mountain, wild – Let not your darkest days leave you beguiled! Let loose your timid fears and let them fly Like dancing blossoms on a zephyr mild. Our heavy, ripened fruits on branches high Prove us, Unbroken, ‘gainst the shadows nigh. . . . Storm A heavy portent in the air; The steady beating of your heart. The blackest humid summer snare – A rumbling storm’s about to start. I feel it rip my chest apart, A wild, breathless raging tear That trips my tongue ’til words depart And all that’s left is winded prayer: My tempest is your curse to bear. . . . Flutter I should have been there by your side When darkness claimed your trusting eyes And love gave way to fear inside – When heartbeats flit like butterflies, Then stuttered into your demise – I should have been there by your side. The hardest was that first sunrise… There’s guilt I cannot set aside. I should have been there by your side. . . . Spring A new day dawns upon the melting snow And paints it with a warm and eager tone – The purples, pinks, and yellows all aglow, They sparkle like the finest gem-cut stone. All suddenly, I see I’m not alone – That tulip shoots burst from below, And squirrels chitter from their oaken throne, And branches sing my name while mild winds blow: A new spring blooms upon the melting snow. . . . Moon And now it’s time to put to sleep The fraught and busy work of day: The light doth dim and night skies sweep Away the angry, heated fray. But soft! A light peeks o’er the way And brightens Night within her keep – Above, a silvered, beaming ray Illuminates where secrets creep: What Nighttime sows, the Moon shall reap. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Expedition Excerpts - Meeting the Kaelye](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/expedition-excerpts-meeting-the-kaelye/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Expedition Excerpts Meeting the Kaelye Alaksanteri Elithysius Roarkian 1st, 518 CE Index 3 ….. The Kaelye 24th of Estar, in the year 516 CE 4 ….. Sunyata 6th of Dioni, in the year 517 CE 5 ….. How the Kaelye met the Gnomes 15th of Shanthin, in the year 518 CE 6 ….. A Visit at the Eternal Flame 16th of Shanthin, in the year 518 CE The Kaelye 24th of Estar, in the year 516 CE As I was enjoying the seasonal Wayfaire and the various festivities it offers a few weaves ago, I encountered strange sightings near the road below Avechna’s Peak. I went to explore what seemed to be a recent crash site. Trees and wildlife had taken the damage of a great oval-shaped flying object that had to land in emergency. This is where a fortune campsite has been devised by the Kaelye, a people who come from very far away. Taimi Kevinen is located within a tent, trying to gather the Kaelye currently lost within the Basin, and has proven to be very curious about us as well as the Basin of Life. They seem especially intrigued by everything different from what they know. Do travel to meet them. They are lovely and very curious. My conversation with Taimi Kevinen was rather limited due to the language barrier, though we were able to converse through hand gestures, a few words and the cultural information we had learned about each other so far. They name their ship ‘kauko’. The one observed would be an equivalent of an algontherine here. Perhaps they are sentient as well since interlinked pulsing veins have been witnessed through the kauko. This cannot yet be confirmed. It is speculated that the kauko allows to travel further beyond aetherspace as we know it, though more research would be needed. Their kauko is composed from gigantic bioluminescent eggshell in hues of green and blue. It was also learned that the Kaelye travel to escape a source of fear at the moment. What danger they are running away from is still unknown. The word ‘Eksynyt’ was pronouced at that instant. It is thought to be either the equivalent for ‘fear’, ‘distance’ or the name of their home. They possess intriguing differences. The sun was defined as ‘Tamaon Mika’. Though after reflection, this was most likely an interrogation from her in her own language. The energy emitted by this celestial body is uncomfortable for them. They are naturally able to see the fae that us, dwellers of the Basin, need to be imbibed with alcohol to be able to finally see. They are covered in short blue fur streaked with green, have many tails and possess muscular legs built for leaping over great distances. The Kaelye are familiar with the garosaurs and have quite a few of tamed ones at their campsite. They call them ‘gar’ and it has been said that the thoughts of the gar are filled with various shades of blue. However, I am still not certain of the meaning behind this. The Kaelye are polite. To say ‘thank you’, they face someone and place their fingertips upon their own forehead. This exchange was very interesting and there is still so much more to learn about them! Sunyata 6th of Dioni, in the year 517 CE There was a gigantic tree, extending in all directions it could reach and it was breathing with life and diversity. Bark of interwoven woods, metals, crystals and flesh were melting within each other in saps of varied hues. Branches faintly rustled with faded pasts, paths being defined and would bifurcate towards nearly imperceptible possible junctions which did not yet exist or ones which would not be possible without specific combinations of branches before them. The rustles became whispers of various languages – known, dead, alien or possible – progressively fading into a soothing white noise. I woke from my meditations very suddenly, shivering and trying to catch my breath. From all I heard, I could still remember one single unknown word very distinctly, ‘Sunyata’, and as my mind associated it with what I had seen, I thought that it sounded beautiful. Later that weave, the garosaur egg offered by the Kaelye – for assisting them – hatched. The pup with shimmery silver feather-scales had many wide eyes gleaming with endearing curiosity. The Kaelye’s reknown for their incredible talents at engineering life as well as their beastmastery secrets were sought after before the presence of the Kaelye was even witnessed within the Basin, before we even knew of their existence. For this pup who had been so loved and cared for with minutia by so many before, and for all who exist, I could not think of a more suitable name at that very instant. How the Kaelye met the Gnomes 15th of Shanthin, in the year 518 CE Quite a few weaves ago, I heard a loud scream from the Kaelye camp and traveled there as fast as I could. Taimi Kivinen was hissing at Stefano, the gnome who was previously buying the muku balls from us near the Aetherplex. He left upon my arrival. It appears that he threatened Taimi to be allowed to have a closer look at the kauko of the Kaelye and attempted to harm her. I explained to her that the gnomes are merchants and aetherfarers who are interested in acquiring alien technology. It was then established that the Kaelye would protect their technology and would protect themselves against the gnomes who would try to obtain it once more. A lengthy conversation ensued as Taimi was captivated by celestial bodies, the legend of the Sun chasing the Moon and our own sentient algontherines able to reach distant island-like aetherbubbles where many gnomes can be found. We were able to learn a few more Kaelye words such as ‘keetos’, which is used to express gratitude and is often said at the same time as a kaelye places their fingertips to their forehead. Then ‘tuntea’ which seems to designate experiencing for oneself in order to earn knowledge, to see, to understand or to know. ‘Nimi’ means name. The homeworld of the Kaelye, Lyraa Ey Rielys, was described as having no sun, no moon, no other celestial bodies in sight and very few sources of light. It is inhabited by Kaelye, Linorii and Gar. There is ground and muku there. It was suggested that perhaps their living environment is subterranean, though this is uncertain. Light is uncomfortable to them, though they have their very own way of producing it and Taimi has been able to show it to us. She took a glowbat and squished it delicately to increase its violet glow. Then she plucked its wings. It was quite a sight. Their home is very far away. They have traveled here, became lost and were seeking ways to return home. Taimi mentioned being afraid. Then we talked about the many languages found within the Basin and of similarities between the Kaelye and most people dwelling here. Taimi learned that almost all races were the remaining shards of splintered Divines and that said Divines lost Their lives in this process. She learned that Viscanti originate from many different shards together. She then shared with us that the Kaelye are shards from the splintered Elder Kaenalye. A Visit at the Eternal Flame 16th of Shanthin, in the year 518 CE Around three or four weaves ago, Taimi Kivinen visited us at the Eternal Flame and was eager to explore our city. She learned of our pyramids, then of the Eternal Flame which assists us with certain aspects of our search for Enlightenment. The heat of the sun was rather overwhelming for her, though she still agreed quite enthusiastically to ascend the main pyramid in order to visit the Guardian Drachou who likes to perch at its very summit. There we fed origamis to Guardian Drachou. We also discussed of the Elder Dracnoris and the Dracnari shards. It is at that moment that Taimi announced the imminent departure of the Kaelye, to see if they could return home. Their Shapers were constructing a new shell and their algontherine egg would hatch soon. They missed their home very much and did not fear the possibility of death while exploring if it meant a chance of seeing their home once more. I assured that the Kaelye would always be welcome in Gaudiguch. We then traveled together and I left her at the northern gate of the Engine, as she expressed her wish to continue to explore and to learn more of the Taint, the Earth as well as the history of the people living there. A few weaves later, as I was waking, I was lucky enough to have a glimpse of their new ship taking flight. What adventures the Kaelye encountered after Taimi’s last visit to the Eternal Flame remain mysterious to me though I hear they were eventful. I wish the Kaelye and Alku, their new algontherine, good fortune in their quest. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2019 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Enjoy the Hunt in Silent thought](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/enjoy-the-hunt-in-silent-thought/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** I don’t know how to feel, Are you still mine or am I gone? I rarely wake to see you grow, To make you happy and to glow. Perhaps I’ll be waking soon, But it’s not a promise I can keep. I pray to them that you will thrive, To keep that fervour and that drive. You are smart and pretty, I hope you know, Just like the flowers on blackened boughs. No matter what I will always love you, As I will always love the Glomdoring. You will always be in my thoughts and heart, No matter how far we are apart. Enjoy the Hunt in Silent thought, Reveling in the Wyrd and Her Creations. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2020 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Waking the Nightmare by Eliron Shee-Slaugh](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/waking-the-nightmare-by-eliron-shee-slaugh/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Scene 1: On Avechna’s Peak ————————– Scenery: Against the black backdrop of the stage, a spotlight shines down to illuminate a well-worn and winding mountain path that widens into a natural plateau. Stark blue light radiates from the ragged edges of a strange rift in the sky, naught but the Void visible beyond it. Cast: Isune, the Aesthete, a radiant immortal Darvellan, the Navigator, a radiant immortal Maylea, Bloom of Serenity, a radiant immortal Hiureth, the Void-Mad, a half-formed Shibale, a moon-touched banshee a shadowy figure a luminescent, skull-like visage a great crowd of adventurers, none of whom are terribly important ——————————– Cold blue light pours down from a rift in the sky above, casting a stark light on a mountain path in the middle of the dark stage. The scene resolves further to reveal an indistinct crowd in the center of the stage, though the backdrop and wings remain in darkness. Standing tall and proud, DARVELLAN stares up at the rift, ISUNE just behind His shoulder. The light around the rift flares brilliantly, washing out the stage for a moment but doing nothing to illuminate the dark of the Void beyond the rift. Two figures tumble through the rift as the light fades, limbs flailing as they fall towards the ground. DARVELLAN and ISUNE rise up, sweeping one of the tumbling forms away from the other before they hit the ground. They take a protective stance around the figure of MAYLEA as She recovers. HIURETH manages to right himself before crashing into the mountainside and the gathered watchers below. He cackles and then begins to speak, his words fuzzy and indistinct. The stark blue light of the stage grows more intense, washing out the figures below, though they can still be made out as DARVELLAN and ISUNE both seem to slump, the buzz of HIURETH’s words still wrapping around them. The rift stands out against the light, the only thing on the stage still visible in sharp relief. A thin tendril of fog drifts through the rift, slowly descending towards the mountain. DARVELLAN and ISUNE begin to drift downwards, while HIURETH’s muffled cackle echoes around the stage. The fog slowly drifts down to the mountain and begins to creep along it, as if searching. MAYLEA is just barely visible through the strange light as She stands stall, a great bow in Her hand. A dark figure drops from the rift above and disappears into the fog. A shout echoes across the stage and the scene returns to focus under a warmer, yellow light as the rift above snaps closed and an arrow flies from MAYLEA’s bow, piercing the form of HIURETH. The crowd raises a cheer as they surround MAYLEA and the other two Divine, offering Them jubilant congratulations, heedless of the fog that swirls around them. The crowd slowly dissipates, small groups accompanying DARVALLEN and ISUNE as They depart to the southwest and southeast. MAYLEA gives those gathered around Her a fond smile, then begins to lead them to the west, leaving nothing but the empty, fog-covered mountain trail beyond. As the last of the group vanishes, the slight figure of a banshee allows the woman she is following to pull ahead, pausing to stand alone at the edge of the stage. SHIBALE looks around the silent mountainside, her breathing echoing in the silence of the theater and stirring the tendrils of fog that rise around her. FIGURE dashes through the fog just behind SHIBALE, its passing ruffling her clothes. SHIBALE spins around, staring at the fog behind her. FIGURE darts in front of SHIBALE, one hand outstretched to brush against her hair and send it dancing around her before it disappears back into the fog. SHIBALE turns back around, the beginning of a small moan building in her throat. FIGURE rises up out of the mist behind SHIBALE, slowly drawing itself up until it towers over her. SHIBALE freezes, her gaze staring out over the audience, even her breath held in her stillness. FIGURE slowly steps backwards, drawing itself out of the reach of the lights that shine down on the mountain scene, into the darkness of the backdrop behind it. As its dark form blends into the shadows, the pale green and white streaks of a sulfurous, luminescent paint appear in the dark, outlining a laughing, skull-like visage. SHIBALE’s eyes slide to the left, trying to glimpse behind her without moving. VISGAGE moves behind SHIBALE’s right shoulder, watching her with apparent glee. SHIBALE gasps and looks over her right shoulder, VISAGE whisking to her left as she does with a high-pitched giggle. Her breathing audible, SHIBALE slowly turns her to look over her left shoulder. VISAGE giggles again as SHIBALE stares straight into it. SHIBALE screams and rises into the air before fleeing across the mountain to the south, the fog swirling and dancing behind her as she does. With one last shriek of mirth, VISGAE turns sharply away and disappears into blackness, leaving only the fog-covered mountain side. The lights slowly fade to black. ——- Scene 2: Within the Ethereal Glomdoring ————————————— Scenery: Twisting trees weave skillfully about each other forming a visual illusion that entrances the eye and confuses the mind, setting the pathway skittering about as if it is some living thing. A triangular grouping of pine trees seems to be the only landmark that doesn’t shift in every breath of the wind. New Characters: Lhiannan Shee-Slaugh, Queen of the Slaugh Nightsworn Branna, a night-sworn slaugh a daughter of shadows ——————————— Light returns to the center of the stage, revealing now the thick, dark growth of the Ethereal Glomdoring. LHIANNAN stands in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by several attendant daughters of darkness. LHIANNAN murmurs to DAUGHTER, gesturing to an unseen area of the Forest as she does so. SHIBALE bursts from the foliage, her flight scattering leaves and branches about her in her haste. DAUGHTER steps forward and imposes herself between SHIBALE and LHIANNAN. SHIBALE drops to the ground, panting with exhaustion as she kneels. SHIBALE, as soon as she gains her breath: An audience with the Queen! Please, I seek an audience with the Queen of the Slaugh! LHIANNAN waives aside DAUGHTER, who steps back. LHIANNAN: What brings you to me, banshee? Are you so eager to serve your tah’vrai to Mother Night? SHIBALE: No! LHIANNAN frowns. SHIBALE: Queen Lhiannan, I already serve in the north, I’m bound to the Moon– DAUGHTER steps forward again. LHIANNAN: Fool. Those who seek to bring her influence here deserve their fates. SHIBALE: Please! Queen Lhiannan, my Queen, I come not on her behalf, but on behalf of all His children! LHIANNAN inhales sharply. LHIANNAN advances towards SHIBALE, brushing aside the daughter of shadows. LHIANNAN, anger mixing with disdain in her tone: You would invoke Him? You who bore so little of His mark that the Maeve embraced you, the Elders never questioned you? You who willingly serves those who despise His children, you would dare call me your Queen and invoke Him? The glade falls silent as LHIANNAN finishes speaking. SHIBALE bends forward beneath LHIANNAN’s anger, touching her forehead to the ground. SHIBLAE, in a whisper: I do. LHIANNAN narrows her eyes. SHIBALE: My Queen, my cousin, I felt Him! I saw Him! He is here. He has returned! LHIANNAN makes a noise of disgust and turns away. LHIANNAN, to DAUGHTER: Take her. What wits she had the Moon has addled. She did not serve her tah’vrai to Mother Night, so let her blood serve to feed Mother Night’s forest instead. SHIBALE: My Queen, I know who I serve. Why would I come if this were not true? LHIANNAN ignores the banshee. DAUGHTER leans forward and grabs SHIBALE by the hair, pulling her head up. She raises a wickedly curved athame high. SHIBALE: Queen Lhiannan! This is my tah’vrai to the Night! This is my tah’vrai to all His children! This message is how I must serve! LHIANNAN raises one hand without turning, and DAUGHTER pauses. LHIANNAN: What reason could He have for revealing Himself to you? What use could you serve? SHIBALE: This use, my Queen. Only this! I have seen, I have told. I must make you believe! LHIANNAN turns around and strides over to SHIBALE, leaning over to stare into her face while DAUGHTER holds her still. LHIANNAN: You may make me do nothing, little banshee. LHIANNAN gives the faintest of amused smiles. LHIANNAN: But you think this your tah’vrai? You defy your bond to the Moon to seek this? SHIBALE closes her eyes as she says: Yes. LHIANNAN laughs. LHIANNAN: Very well. We will let you serve. Speak. SHIBALE: On the Mountains, when the Aesthete and the Navigator tore a rift into the Void there was a chill. LHIANNAN: A chill. SHIBALE: And a fog, and in it, I saw a face. LHIANNAN: A chill and a face? Did He speak to you? What message do you have for me? SHIBALE: I- None. But it felt… it was Him. I’m certain. LHIANNAN sneers. LHIANNAN: A poor messenger, with so little to say. SHIBALE slumps in DAUGHTER’s grip. SHIBALE, mumbling: I know what I saw. LHIANNAN regards the banshee thoughtfully for a long moment then looks up at the shadowy branches above them. LHIANNAN: Mother Night’s presence permeates this place. As do the wills of the Lady of Thorns and the Silent Lord. Perhaps He has no desire to first approach us here. LHIANNAN: But there are those whom He might seek out. You shall travel to the Wydyr, to the Dowager Shee-Slaugh and Rhianna Shee-Slaugh. See if they have news of His return, and bring it here to me. SHIBALE, in a whisper: I do not know the way. LHIANNAN sighs in annoyance. She turns to the forest and sings a soft song that echoes across the stage. A slim slaugh steps out from between the trees and bows deeply to LHIANNAN. BRANNA: I come in answer to your call, my Queen. LHIANNAN: I have a task for you. LHIANNAN, glancing at the dejected form of SHIBALE as she continues: This banshee has a mission she must complete for me in the Wydyr. Take her there, and then bring her back to me. BRANNA bows to LHIANNAN in acknowledgement and turns to SHIBALE. DAUGHTER releases SHIBALE, and the banshee slumps to the ground. She stays there a moment before gathering herself to slowly stand. BRANNA watches SHIBALE, her expression growing doubtful as she does. BRANNA: Well then, come, cousin. Let us fulfill the Queen’s wishes. BRANNA gestures for SHIBALE to follow her as she strides out of the glade and into the darkness surrounding it. SHIBALE casts one last look at LHIANNAN before she fellows BRANNA, disappearing into the darkness. LHIANNAN flicks her fingers as DAUGHTER returns to her original position by LHIANNAN’s side. She tilts her head closely to LHIANNAN’s as she and the Queen resume their earlier conversation. The shadows lingering between the trees slowly spread out and overcome to the rest of the scene, leaving the stage dark. ——————– Scene 3: Within the Wydyr Glade ——————————- Scenery: Spot lights illuminate three distinct sections of the stage. A blackthorn thicket stands at the center of the stage. Delicate white flowers line the branches, giving it an air of privacy and not-quite hiding the many wicked thorns that nestle amongst them. A cave like tumble of rocks stands at stage right. Roots crawl through this secluded cave, water dripping down them and the stone walls. The area is clearly a nest, and bones and splatters of dried blood line it. Part of the Wydyr Glade stands on stage left. Thick brush covers the ground in a layer of evergreen and brown. Dagger-like thorns spot the branches of the brush and dried blood clearly evident upon their tips. New Characters: Shelagh Shee-Slaugh, Dowager of the Slaugh Rhianna Shee-Slaugh, daughter of Queen Lhiannan Cythrawl Scathach, a redcap a barghest a squonk another crowd of adventurers, who are still largely not important ————————————- The stage is dark for a long moment, then spot lights rise on the middle of the stage and on both sides, each illuminating a different area of the Wydyr. At center stage stands a thicket of blackthorn trees covered in white blossoms. To the left part of the Wydyr woods sit in a pool of light and to the right wait a cave-like tangle of rock and tree roots. The lights dim over all but the Wydyr woods. BRANNA and SHIBALE slip in between the trees, causing a riot of fireflies to swirl about them. BRANNA, disbelief evident in her tone: You came all the way from the north and disturbed the Queen for that? SHIBALE: I know what I saw. BRANNA, disdainfully: A fog and a face. Very compelling. SHIBALE simply shrugs and looks around. BARGHEST slinks out of the trees and sniffs at SHIBALE, growling softly. SHIBALE jumps, hovering uncertainly in the air. BARGHEST turns to look at BRANNA, who shrugs and gives a slight grimace. BRANNA, to BARGHEST: The Queen wishes her to speak with the Dowager. BARGHEST growls again. BRANNA frowns. BRANNA: What do you mean, a disturbance in the Glade? A faeling and a trill rush by, their faces blurred and indistinct, their talk too quick and garbled to make sense of. BARGHEST snaps at the ankle of the trill as she passes, growling in annoyance. BRANNA and SHIBALE both step back as more forms rush by, talking quickly to themselves. BRANNA: Squonks in the Wydyr? This can’t be, they’ve not been seen since– SHIBALE: I knew it! SHIBALE darts forward, pushing her way between an orclach and a pair of humans to do so. BRANNA hisses in annoyance and darts after her. BARGHEST grumbles under its breath and settles down where it is, just so happening to trip up an elfen who wasn’t looking closely. The lights dim over the forest and brighten over the blackthorn thicket, RHIANNA and SHELAGH now both present. Mortal figures cluster around the pair, almost all indistinct in both appearance and voice. As one individual or another presses forward to speak, their appearance and voices become clear for a moment before fading into the throng once more. An elfen shouts, “Rhianna, what do you know about these squonks?” RHIANNA: What are you going on about? A faeling says, “Rhianna, there’s a strange fog!” SHIBALE: Ah-hah! BRANNA frowns. A faeling continues, “A fog has covered the Caoimhe dell and a putrid stench has filled the air. Do you know what is happening?” RHIANNA, disimissively: What do I care for the Dell and its problems? They are hardly our concern. SHELAGH cackles to herself. “Then you are behind this?” the elfen accuses. RHIANNA: We have nothing to do with this. A faeling interrupts with, “Rhianna, we have word that the squonks have returned.” RHIANNA, with a frown: The squonks have slept for many years. The elfen says, “Then why are they awake now?” SHIBALE: It’s our Father! He’s com-mph! BRANNA glares at SHIBALE and does not move the hand she has clamped over SHIBALE’s mouth. Ignoring SHIBALE, the elfen continues, “What have you done?” SHIBALE, twisting free of BRANNA’s hand: They haven’t done anything, aren’t you listening? BRANNA clamps her hand more firmly over SHIBALE’s mouth as she hisses into her ear: He is none of their business! SHIBALE exclaims something from behind BRANNA’s hand. BRANNA: If it even is Him. RHIANNA, to the gathered crowd: We have done nothing. What would the elfen in the Dell even know of the matter? None of them have seen a squonk. None of them could have. Sounding baffled, an elfen asks, “Why not?” A faeling follows with, “How does one see squonks?” RHIANNA laughs. RHIANNA: If that is what you wish, may you take what pleasure you can in your attempts! Perhaps Cythrawl will be willing to aid you. The mortals move towards the door, their faces and forms growing indistinct again as they push past BRANNA and SHIBALE and exit. BRANNA slowly lowers her hand. SHIBALE: Why did you stop me? I have a message- BRANNA, interrupting: One meant for the Queen’s daughter and the Dowager. Not all mortaldom! RHIANNA rests a hand on SHIBALE’s shoulder, causing the banshee to jump. RHIANNA: A message I now wish to hear. Speak, cousin. What do you mean about our Father? A thick mist begins to trickle in the door. SHIBALE looks up at RHIANNA as she begins: I–on the Mountains, in the fog, I felt Him, I swear. SHELAGH, fixing her sightless gaze on SHIBALE: You felt our Father? Are you certain? SHIBALE raises her chin. SHIBALE: I am. RHIANNA: And you bring this news here? SHIBALE: I brought the news to Queen Lhiannan. She, she doubts my words, and so commanded that I seek you out and see if you had any news of Him. The mist slowly thickens around them. RHIANNA and SHELAGH exchange looks. BRANNA stares down thoughtfully into the mist. SHELAGH: Squonks stirring, a tang in the air… In the darkness behind SHELAGH’s shoulder, the glowing mask of VISAGE appears again, watching intently. RHIANNA: But still, after all these years? SHELAGH: Others survived. He would not have perished. SHIBALE: Please, it is Him! Can you not feel it? RHIANNA and SHELAGH both turn to look at SHIBALE, and VISAGE does as well. SHIBALE looks pleadingly up at RHIANNA, then at SHELAGH. SHIBALE cries out. SHIBALE: He’s here! He’s here! VISAGE disappears, and a ripple in the fog shoots out the door. SHIBALE, wildly: He’s gone! We must go, we must! SHIBALE dashes out the door. RHIANNA turns to Branna. BRANNA: I will follow her. RHIANNA nods. SHELAGH holds up one hand. SHELAGH: Wait. We must know more of these events, but that does not mean we need to play the same games as mortals to gather information. Let Him, if He is indeed the source of these events, lead them on whatever merry chase He pleases. BRANNA: What would you have me do? SHELAGH cackles. SHELAGH: Blind I may be, but when have any of His children needed the aid mortals do to see each other? Go. Look. Tell us what you find. The lights dim on the blackthorn thicket and raise on the Wydyr forest. The mist clings thickly to the trees of the Wydyr, bringing a false night that fireflies flick through listlessly. SHIBALE darts through the trees, coming up short as she comes across a well trampled path and stares about herself wildly. In the darkness behind the trees, VISAGE appears and watches. SHIBALE: Where? Where are You, please! The mists ripple again, and SHIBALE darts off after it and out of the lit area. VISAGE watches SHIBALE depart. BRANNA glides into the center of the trees. She too stops and looks around, though her gaze is calm and thoughtful as she reaches out one hand to stir the fog about her. The fog ripples and stirs beneath BRANNA’s hand, then slowly parts to reveal the lumpy, wrinkled form of a SQUONK. VISAGE turns sharply to watch BRANNA. BRANNA: There you are. SQUONK makes a low, mournful sound. BRANNA kneels before SQUONK, heedless of the puddle made by its thick, oil tears, and rests one hand on its head. BRANNA, in a soothing, hypnotic tone: Peace, cousin. Do you not know me, know my kind? SQUONK wails again. BRANNA: Of course we are still here. We are His children. We could not be caged forever. VISAGE slips behind a pair of trees closer to the slaugh and the squonk. BRANNA: And now you have joined us. Why are you here, cousin? SQUONK burbles as it presses against BRANNA. BRANNA, with a frown: Who? Who asked this of you? VISAGE winks out of its previous location and reappears just over BRANNA’s shoulder. SQUONK wails and bolts into the Forest, and VISAGE vanishes. BRANNA starts to her feet. She takes several steps after SQUONK, then stops and slowly turns to examine the area, clearly thoughtful. A giggle echoes around the clearing. BRANNA stills, watching intently. VISAGE appears in the darkness behind BRANNA for a moment, then vanishes again. The lights fade around BRANNA and the Wydyr trees even as they brighten over the cave-like tangle of roots and stone. A crowd of indistinct, chattering mortals surrounded CYTHRAWL. A large faeling with SQUONK tucked beneath his arm strides through the crowd which parts before his slightly unsteady steps. SHIBALE flits along in his wake, her presence largely ignored. The faeling reaches CYTHRAWL and places SQUONK before him. SHIBALE settles on the ground beside SQUONK. CYTHRAWL: Yes, yes! Stick it there, we will look at it! Squonks here for all to smell! CYTHRAWL cackles madly. SHIBALE, whispering to the squonk: Please! Why are you here? Who woke you? Was it Him? A tendril of fog taps SHIBALE on the shoulder. SHIBALE looks up and around. The fog twists up around CYTHRAWL, seeping into his mouth and nose. SHIBALE: Oh no. This feels bad. SQUONK sits up and suddenly begins to let loose a terrible wailing. The crowd presses closer to the squonk. CYTHRAWL gives a cry and lashes out at those closest to him. The crowd roars and weapons are drawn, the crowd quickly turning into a mob that descends on CYTHRAWL. SHIBALE crawls out from between the legs of the combatants. Once free she darts up into the air and looks down as the fight quickly turns against CYTHRAWL. SHIBALE, moaning: You’re here, You’re here, but why? Why this? The fog ripples and blows about SHIBALE, sending her hair dancing. SHIBALE shivers and wraps her arms around herself, while below the melee breaks up, naught but steaks of blood left behind from CYTHRAWL. The bloody cave of roots and stone and SHIBALE are hidden by darkness as the stage lights go down, and once again the central light on the blackthorn thicket comes up. BRANNA enters the thicket and bows deeply before RHIANNA and SHELAGH. SHELAGH, looking up: She’s returned? RHIANNA: Yes, aunt, she has returned. SHELAGH stands and approaches BRANNA. SHELAGH: Tell us all. VISAGE appears in the darkness behind the scenery. BRANNA: The squonks stir throughout the Wydyr. They are confused, so much has changed since they were put to sleep, but they are determined to fulfill their orders. RHIANNA: What orders? BRANNA: The orders they always had, my Lady. To confuse and confound His enemies, to draw them away from His real targets. RHIANNA: His enemies? What enemies would He find among His children? VISAGE drifts closer to RHIANNA. SHELAGH: These orders, where they old or where they new? BRANNA: I don’t know. The squonks did not even understand why I asked who woke them and who gave them their orders. SHELAGH leans forward intently, her sightless eyes turned to BRANNA. SHELAGH, in a hoarse voice: Who? Who gave them these orders? RHIANNA: These orders cannot be from Him. We are not His enemies. SHELAGH: Who? BRANNA: They could not say. As soon as I asked, they fled from me as if they expected the Soulless themselves to follow after them! SHELAGH settles back, her expression both exultant and stern. RHIANNA, shaking her head: No, it cannot be! SHELAGH: It is possible. RHIANNA: No, I don’t believe it! The fog swirls about the room as several indistinct mortals rush in, the faeling in the lead. VISAGE disappears from view. RHIANNA stands tall and faces the mortals. RHIANNA: No. There is a simple, peaceful solution for all this. BRANNA stares at the fog swirling around the blackthorn trees. RHIANNA: I shall put the squonks back to sleep. Go, bring me the berries from the nightshade bush. SHELAGH reaches out, her hand landing on BRANNA’s shoulder with perfect precision as she draws the slaugh away from the knot of adventurers. SHELAGH: Do you believe? BRANNA watches as the mortals depart again in a flurry of noise and debate BRANNA, softly: I do. RHIANNA looks over at SHELAGH and BRANNA with a frown. SHELAGH simply smiles. RHIANNA considers SHELAGH and BRANNA, then absently brushes away the tendrils of fog the trail along her arms. SHIBALE flies in, landing before RRHIANNA and managing a hasty curtsey between her panting breaths. SHIBALE: There really are squonks! But no one will listen to me, they’ve all run off again! I couldn’t catch one of them! RHIANNA holds up one hand. RHIANNA: Rest. We know enough. I will not have all the mortals of the Basin tearing through the Wydyr over a few nuisances. The squonks shall return to their sleep. SHIBALE: What? That’s it? RHIANNA: That is all. SHIBALE looks helplesly at BRANNA. BRANNA gives a small shrug. The clamor and clatter of the mortals disrupts the silence as they return, brushing past BRANNA and SHELAGH as they shout indistinctly at RHIANNA. RHIANNA: It will not bloom? No! They shall sleep, keep trying. The fog that has been trailing around RHIANNA suddenly surges toward her, enveloping her limbs and hardening into ice. RHIANNA gasps in shock. RHIANNA: See the harm they bring! Slay them, slay the squonks! BRANNA: No! SHELAGH lays a restraining hand on BRANNA’s arm. The buzz of noise from the gathered mortals raises in pitch, and swords and cudgels have clearly been drawn. SHIBALE, in a whisper: No, no, this is terrible. The crowd begins to spread out and disappears into the darkness of the stage. SHIBALE: We can’t let this happen! SHIBALE raises into the air and follows the mortals as they leave. BRANNA looks after the departed SHIBALE, then to the encased RHIANNA, then finally into SHELAGH’s sightless eyes. From the darkness comes the distant sound of ringing steal, battle cries, and a strange, high wailing. SHELAGH, quietly to BRANNA: You believe it is Him. Do you mean to meddle in His plan? The fog twines around their feet. BRANNA: No. No, but I- SHELAGH: We were all made to be His soldiers. Do you think they are unwilling to die for His plan? BRANNA shakes her head. The fog swirls and dances about them. SHELAGH: They confuse and distract. Let them do their duty. The muffled sounds of battle begin to fade. SHELAGH: Go to the entrance. Tell me what what you see. BRANNA moves just to the edge of the shadows. BRANNA: The squonks are being overrun. The mist – it’s gathering by the well. SHELAGH holds out one hand as if feeling for the fog she cannot see. SHELAGH: Is it, now? VISAGE appears behind her shoulder for a moment, then disappears into the fog as it slowly begins to gather into a single cloud. SHIBALE lands in front of BRANNA. SHIBALE: Branna! How can you just stand there? RHIANNA gasps as the ice enshrouding her cracks and falls away. The gathered cloud of fog darts past BRANNA, straight into SHIBALE. SHIBALE cries out and falls to the ground. The fog continues on, disappearing off the stage. SHELAGH, to BRANNA: Go. Take her back to the Queen. Tell her what we have learned. BRANNA nods. BRANNA bends down and pulls SHIBALE to her feet and nods to SHELAGH. BRANNA disappears into the darkness, taking SHIBALE with her. RHIANNA: Aunt? Aunt, what’s happening? What’s going? The stage fades into darkness as the lights dim. ——————— Scene 4: Return to the Ethereal Glomdoring —————————————— Scenery: As before New Characters: Glumki Thorneye, King of the Redcaps Gwyllgi, the Dog of Darkness Crow, a Great Spirit ————————————– Light slowly begins to filter through the trees that now cover the stage, revealing a glade in Ethereal Glomdoring at dusk. The weak light just barely illuminates the Avatars of Mother Night, gathered around two smaller figures. SHIBALE sits curled on the ground, mumbling to herself. SHIBALE: It’s time, it’s time, can’t you hear Him? LHIANNAN watches SHIBALE with cold intent, a faint curl to her lips. LHIANNAN: Then she tells the truth? BRANNA: I believe so. The Dowager does as well. SHIBALE: May I go? I must go! LHIANNAN, ignoring SHIBALE’s outburst: Then it is true. GWYLLGI: We are all beginning to feel His presence. GLUMKI: Ha! And soon everyone will know of His return! SHIBALE begins to crawl out of the clearing, but DAUGHTER moves to block her way. LHIANNAN: Do you think He will be pleased to find His children serving another? GLUMKI frowns, hands twisting his red cap as he thinks. LHIANNAN: Or are you looking forward to choosing between serving Mother Night and serving Him? GWYLLGI: Such a choice cannot be made. LHIANNAN: It must be. GWYLLGI: Unless He came to the Wyrd. LHIANNAN’s eyes blaze as she considers GWYLLGI. SHIBALE attempts to lunge past DAUGHTER, only to be caught firmly. LHIANNAN, turning back to SHIBALE: And where are you trying to flee to? SHIBALE: North, I must go north, you must let me go! LHIANNAN, with clear disgust: You learn of this news, and you wish to return to your Seren masters? SHIBALE: No, no, not the forest! Not into the trees, into the cold and ice and fog! I must go north! GWYGLLI: And what do you seek in such a place? GLUMKI: Sounds just about right for our old brother the Frost Spite! LHIANNAN: Yes. Yes, it does, doesn’t it? And so He calls in His children. Will we answer? Branches and leaves rustle as CROW settles himself on a nearby tree, peering down at those gathered. GWYLLGI barks a greeting. GLUMKI waves his bloodied cap in greeting, just barely managing to lower it again before CROW’s beak clacks shut over where it was. SHIBALE: He calls! He calls us, can’t you hear it! LHIANNAN closes her eyes, and the shadows around her deepen, twining around her protectively. GWYLLGI: He must come here, to be freed of the chains of the Soulless. LHIANNAN: He will only come when His anger that we do not come to Him demands actions. CROW gives a ringing caw. LHIANNAN smiles slowly. LHIANNAN: Yes. Of course. That is when He will come, but we can see that that moment comes all the sooner. LHIANNAN turns to SHIBALE. LHIANNAN: You! You shall go north. You shall find our Father, and enter His service. SHIBALE: Yes, I go! I go! LHIANNAN nods to DAUGHTER, who releases SHIBALE. SHIBALE draws herself to her feet and teaches off between the trees. LHIANNAN, to BRANNA: And you. You shall follow her. LHIANNAN leans forward and presses a kiss to BRANNA’s forehead. The shadows that were swirling about her stream towards BRANNA, swarming over her form and at last coalescing into a single black star at the base of her throat. LHIANNAN: And you, by the will of Mother Night, will return to us. GLUMKI begins to laugh a harsh, coarse laugh. GLUMKI: Aye, that’ll bring His anger home! BRANNA raises one hand to touch the black start at her throat. BRANNA: I understand, my Queen. BRANNA bows deeply to LHIANNAN, then to GLUMKI and GWYLLGI. BRANNA leaves, following the path SHIBALE took. LHIANNAN turns back to GWYLLGI, GLUMKI and CROW, gesturing them closer to speak as the lights fade and the stage goes dark. ——————– Scene 5: Upon Mount Wend ———————— Scenery: Bare rock covered by ice and snow makes this mountain pass treacherous, with no signs of warmth or life to soften its harsh whites and greys. New Characters: Manteekan, the Terror, a radiant immortal ——————————— Wind howls through the theater as a pale white light splits the darkness, revealing a bleak, snow covered mountain side shrouded in fog. SHIBALE pushes her way up the mountain, panting heavily and body bent forward against the force of the wind. SHIBALE: I’m here! I’ve come! What do you want of me? An eerie chuckle echoes across the mountain. Slowly the fog gathers up, forming an igasho-sized pillar with VISAGE within. SHIBALE, with a gasp: Father! Within the fog the form of MANTEEKAN solidifies. SHIBALE throws herself to her knees. MANTEEKAN giggles to Himself. MANTEEKAN: So you are the first of those nestled so comfortably among these pitiful part-gods to answer my call. MANTEEKAN reaches forward and lifts SHIBALE’s chin with one long, pale finger so that He can peer at her face. MANTEEKAN: And where did you come to Me from? SHIBALE: I-I serve in the Serenwilde Forest. MANTEEKAN, moving His finger to stroke it along SHIBALE’s cheek: Serve? And why does one of My children serve anyone? SHIBALE: They-they’re good, Father. They keep nature safe, they’re the last Forest untouched by the Soul- SHIBALE breaks off, flushing. MANTEEKAN: Do go on, child. SHIBALE, swallowing before she continues: Untouched by the Soulless. MANTEEKAN, continuing to pet SHIBALE’s cheek: And is that so terrible, to be touched by the Soulless? SHIBALE swallows again, but says nothing. MANTEEKAN: My, what conversations you must have had with your brothers and sisters over the years. Or did you? MANTEEKAN leans close to SHIBALE, who stares at Him as if entranced. MANTEEKAN: I’ve found many of the prisons They forced My children into. But you, you don’t have the scent of confinement on you. MANTEEKAN cups SHIBALE’s chin and lifts her face towards His, until she is forced to balance on the tips of her toes. MANTEEKAN: Why is that, child? Did you deny Me? Did you renounce your own Father? SHIBALE: No! MANTEEKAN releases SHIBALE, who drops back to her knees. MANTEEKAN: Then why were you so favoured? Did you turn on your kin? Did you tell Them the truth about all My children, about my grimalkin and my wendigo? SHIBALE: No! No, they just said that we were different! The banshee did not betray you! They-they’ve been kind to us. MANTEEKAN giggles again, the sound cracking and skittering across the mountain side. MANTEEKAN: Kind to you? Then why have you come here? SHIBALE: You called. You called, and I came. MANTEEKAN: And so you have found Me. Well done, child. And what do you want to do now? SHIBALE: I. I don’t know. What do you want of me? MANTEEKAN smiles broadly at SHIBALE. MANTEEKAN, practically cooing: Do you wish to return to your home? Do you wish to return to where they are kind? SHIBALE looks torn for a moment, then in a whisper: Yes. But I answered your call. What do you want me to do? MANTEEKAN, still cooing: Why, I want you to be happy, child. Go, return to your kind forest. MANTEEKAN reaches out and places one slim fingers between SHIBALE’s eyes SHIBALE shudders as a thin coating of ice spreads across her skin from the point where MANTEEKAN’s finger touches her. MANTEEKAN: But remember when you do, just Whose child you are. SHIBALE stands taller under the frost, then opens her mouth and gives a sharp, piercing wail that echoes of the mountain side and raises to join in the howling of the wind. MANTEEKAN smiles smugly. SHIBALE raises into the air, the wind whipping about her and whisking her off to the west. MANTEEKAN watches SHIBALE depart, then turns and looks across the mountain. MANTEEKAN: And are you going to come out now, my child? BRANNA emerges from behind one of the rocks and kneels before MANTEEKAN. MANTEEKAN paces forward and circles BRANNA. BRANNA, after taking a deep breath: Father, I come bearing the greetings of the Queen of the Slaugh, the King of the Redcaps, and the Dog of Darkness. MANTEEKAN giggles. MANTEEKAN: You have Kings and Queens of your own, now? BRANNA raises her chin. BRANNA: We had need. MANTEEKAN: Yes, locked away, and still you did so well! Still you thrived, like all My children should. MANTEEKAN: And have you come to ask Me for purpose as well, My child? BRANNA: No. MANTEEKAN cocks His head to one side, His interest clearly caught. MANTEEKAN: No? Are you certain, My child? Do you think the war over? Oh, but there are so many who have wronged Me, wouldn’t you like to be given a purpose again? BRANNA reaches up to touch the star at her throat. BRANNA, voice strong and clear: No. I know my purpose. I’ve achieved what I came to do, and I know what I want to do now. MANTEEKAN stops His circling and focuses His attention on the star. BRANNA begins to slowly back away. MANTEEKAN watches BRANNA with a mixture of fascination and fury. MANTEEKAN: Do you indeed? BRANNA: Yes. BRANNA continues to back away, eyes never leaving MANTEEKAN. MANTEEKAN watches BRANNA with a crazed grin. MANTEEKAN: Ah, My child, My child! How thoroughly My child, so certain you are. BRANNA: Yes. BRANNA disappears back into the shadows cast by the icy rocks. MANTEEKAN: And how much you have to learn! A harsh blast of wind cuts down the mountain, sending fog whipping around the stage. MANTEEKAN’s form is swallowed by the fog, and it rushes down the mountain as the lights on the stage go dark. ————- Scene 6: The Mother Moonhart Tree ——————————— Scenery: Vibrant trees encircle a clearing full of warm sunlight. Pixies flit joyfully around the the Moonhart Tree in the center of the clearing. Characters: A crowd of adventurers who are even less important than usual ————————— Warm sunlight fills the stage, streaming through the broad leaves of the Moonhart Mother Tree. A cluster of indistinct figures gathers in groups around it, talking amongst themselves. SHIBALE stumbles into the clearing, her eyes glazed. An elfen steps forward, her features growing more distinct as she does. She looks at SHIBALE, then demands, “What’s happened, are you alright?” SHIBALE stares at her, shivering. The druid steps closer to SHIBALE, who shrinks back from her. “She’s covered in ice,” the druid says, “It’s that cursed fog, it must be stopped!” SHIBALE’s features twist in anger, and an unearthly shriek escapes from her as she throws herself at those gathered, fingers crooked into claws. The sound of weapons being drawn echoes around the stage as it grows darker, leaving just the dark outline of the trees. A final shriek from SHIBALE rises in pitch, blending into a howling wind that slams through the theater. ——————— Scene 7: The Glomdoring ———————– Scenery: Tall blackened trees dominate the stage, giving way to a clearing that is dominated by the Master Ravenwood at its centre. Moulds and fungi are smeared across the plants, their pungent stench suffusing the stage. A thin black mist creeps between the trees, hanging low across the ground. New Characters: Brultk Thornblood, the outcast spriggan caretaker Nocht, the Silent, a radiant immortal Viravain, Mistress of Webs, a radiant immortal An assortment of redcaps, barghests, and slaugh ——————————— A pale light returns though the winds do not die, revealing that the outlines of the trees are now great ravenwoods, with the Master Ravenwood standing at the edge of the stage. The wind continues to whip through the stage, tearing at branches and leaves and howling its anger. BRULTK stands on the far side of the stage opposite the Master Ravenwood, cackling madly to himself. The indistinct form of an armoured faeling rushes across the stage, joining a group of other mortals gathered near the stage. By her flurry of gestures, she is discussing something urgent, but nothing can be heard above the wind. BRULTK: Yes, scurry, scurry about! Prepare for the winter you see coming, what good will it do you! BRANNA enters from stage left, her footsteps hastened by the gale that pursues her from behind. A pool of darker shadows solidifies into the form of NOCHT. BRANNA bows deeply before NOCHT. NOCHT looks out across the stage into the wind, the gale whipping into His face though He does not blink or flinch. NOCHT smiles down at BRANNA and reaches out to touch one pale finger to the dark star at BRANNA’s throat. When He removes His hand, He holds a thread of shadow, no thicker than a cobweb, which He gives to BRANNA. BRULTK, cackling in glee: Soon…. NOCHT slips into the shadows, appearing again beside the Master Ravenwood. Deep in the trees, a barghest lets out a warning howl. A slaugh calls out, “Now! Brother Crow’s Lady and Mother Night’s Lord have come! It is time!” BRANNA joins the tide of fae and mortals who flow towards the Master Ravenwood Tree as frost begins to form on the branches around them. VIRAVAIN steps through a glowing portal to stand beside NOCHT, and together they watch the oncoming storm. From within the howling winds high above, two glowing eyes open and sweep over the gathered fae, pausing a moment on BRANNA. BRANNA tightens her fist around the shadowy thread she holds behind her back. A bone rattling whisper carries over the howling winds, “Well, well, my children. Have you gathered to greet Me?” A susurration passes through the gathered dark fae, though none step forward. The glowing eyes turn to consider the God and Goddess below, before the whisper continues, “And an audience. Come to watch Me reclaim what is Mine, have You?” Slowly, the form of MANTEEKAN coalesces from the fog. A ripple passes through the gathered barghest, redcap and slaugh as they shift, and now a few step forward. MANTEEKAN descends to stand before NOCHT and VIRAVAIN. MANTEEKAN: And You, lovely Viravain, here to greet Me Yourself. VIRAVAIN looks down coyly. MANTEEKAN: I have come to see why MY children disobey My call. I will take what is Mine, little Viravain. One of the slaugh near BRANNA glances over at her sisters uncertainly. BRANNA places a firm hand on the other slaugh’s shoulder. VIRAVAIN: Yours? MANTEEKAN, reaching out and stroking VIRAVAIN’s cheek as He did with SHIBALE: Yes, Mine. All shall be Mine, soon enough. VIRAVAIN recoils from MANTEEKAN’s touch. MANTEEKAN giggles. MANTEEKAN, learning in and placing His cool lips upon VIRAVAIN’s cheek: Perhaps You shall join Me at My side, if You behave. VIRAVAIN drops the facade of shyness as She snorts in disgust and backhands MANTEEKAN. VIRAVAIN: Do not. Touch. ME! VIRAVAIN raises Her hand towards the branches of the Master Ravenwood, and a swarm of crows launches from the tree, diving for MANTEEKAN. MANTEEKAN casually bats the crows away, knocking them into the shadows beyond the lights on the stage. The slaugh that BRANNA holds shuffles again, and this time a barghest presses against her other side. MANTEEKAN: That is Your greeting? Pathetic, if You will not choose to behave, you will be made to! MANTEEKAN raises his hands and the mists swirl about Him before speeding towards NOCHT and VIRAVAIN, a thick haze that wraps around Them. NOCHT looks directly at the uncertain slaugh as the mists rises over Him, and she settles back, watching and waiting with her kin. VIRAVAIN twists against Her bonds. MANTEEKAN: There’s no need to struggle. MANTEEKAN reaches out one bone-like finger and touches the haze. It ripples and flashes before freezing solid around NOCHT and VIRAVAIN. MANTEEKAN looks around at the gathered fae who watch Him from the trees and gives a thin, cold smile. MANTEEKAN: My children! Enough! Return to my side! MANTEEKAN rises up above the Forest, and gestures at the trees below Him. A barghest yelps in surprise as it is lifted from the ground, feet scrabbling at branches as it rises to join the swirling fog and mist surrounding MANTEEKAN. BRANNA releases the other slaugh, who immediately begins to rise in the air, streaking towards MANTEEKAN. BRANNA touches the star at her throat one more time before she too rises, joining the swirl of fog, power, and fae that surrounds MANTEEKAN. A great chorus of crows rises up from the darkness. BRANNA releases the near-invisible thread she holds, and the gesture is mimicked by all the fae. Released from their grasp, a web of shadows flashes with power and flies towards MANTEEKAN, wrapping about Him. MANTEEKAN cackles madly and the fog is full of shards of ice that whirl with Him, tearing through the web and raining down to rip through the canopy below. MANTEEKAN: Do you think you can defy Me? You are My children, Mine! All shall return to Me! The winds howl with MANTEEKAN and more dark fae are torn from the branches of the Forest. Shadows whip out from the canopy, wrapping around the fae and binding them to the Glomdoring. MANTEEKAN: By My side you shall be the great warriors you were meant to be! The dark fae begin to gather into groups, the shadows that hold them joining into long, whiplike tendrils. MANTEEKAN: All the First World shall witness true power again! The first of the shadows held by the fae slam into MANTEEKAN. MANTEEKAN: Do you still try to defy Me? MANTEEKAN attempts to brush away the shadows, which only cling tighter to Him. The fae spin around Him, no longer merely blown by the winds but dancing a fierce circle around Him that draws the shadows ever tighter. MANTEEKAN: Do you think any power rivals Mine? MANTEEKAN gestures and more ice forms to cut at the shadows. The shadows wrap around the ice as well, drawing it into the cocoon they are wrapping around MANTEEKAN. MANTEEKAN: No, NO! You are MINE! You will not do this! Below, a great crack splits the ice covering NOCHT, and He casually steps forth from the ice, brushing it off His shoulders. A web of cracks splinters the ice surrounding VIRAVAIN before its shatters, freeing Her. VIRAVAIN looks up to where MANTEEKAN is nearly obscured by the binding shadows. VIRAVAIN: Fool. The Wyrd does not rival Your power, it far suprasses it! The dark fae that surround MANTEEKAN’s growing prison come to a halt in the air, holding firm as they watch, though the howling winds continue to tear at them. The shadows begin to pull MANTEEKAN back down towards the Glomdoring. MANTEEKAN struggles furiously against His bonds, breaking the grasp of a few. NOCHT raises one hand, and the shadows tighten, pulling MANTEEKAN down even farther. Thorn vines lash out from the Forest, strengthening the walls of MANTEEKAN’s prison. MANTEEKAN: This will not be! MANTEEKAN freezes more shadows and thorns, but more simply take their places, binding Him in a prison of ice, shadow and thorn. VIRAVAIN: Oh, but it is, Manteekan! It is! And now, the Wyrd shall feast upon Your foolish bones! NOCHT opens a glittering portal with a gesture, and the prison of ice and thorn vanishes within. VIRAVAIN follows the prison through the portal with a cold, pleased smile on Her lips. NOCHT gestures, and both He and the portal vanish. The dark fae slowly descend, landing silently on the forest floor. BRANNA and the others look at each other for a long moment as the lights fade across the stage. —————— Scene 8: Return to the Ethereal Forest ————————————– Scenery: An all-consuming frost creeps over every surface of this unnatural bore which digs deep into the heart of the forest. Overgrowth meets frost at the cave’s entrance, each struggling to maintain their place. Deep within the cavern, a column of swirled ice rises high above, tangled about with thorned vines which grab at the structure as they intertwine over its frozen surface. A shadow of a form lies hidden within the centre of the frosty prison and haunting whispers fill the hazy air. New Costumes: Manteekan, the Nightmare, a radiant immortal ———————————— A spotlight rises, illuminating a pillar of thorns and ice. The light slowly spreads, revealing both a gaggle of indistinct mortals and VIRAVAIN. VIRAVAIN: And what do You think of My Wyrd now, Manteekan? Soon enough it will have permeated You, and what is released when it has–We shall see. VIRAVAIN gives a smug smile, caressing Her scythe affectionately as She considers the pillar. The spotlight contracts to focus on the pillar again, and VIRAVAIN and the crowd fade from view. BRANNA slips in from the dark, the light reflecting from the pillar leaving her partly lit and partly in shadow. BRANNA kneels before the pillar. A soft whisper can be heard from within the pillar. MANTEEKAN: And so my children creep back to me now. What good to you think you will do Me now? BRANNA: I have already done all any of Your children could be asked to. MANTEEKAN: By betraying Me? BRANNA: By seeking always Your greater glory and strength. MANTEEKAN: And you think I shall find that in the Wyrd? BRANNA: Do You disagree? A rattling laugh echoes from within the pillar. MANTEEKAN: I do not. This Wyrd shall be interesting, my child. BRANNA: Yes, Father. MANTEEKAN: And do you think this excuses your choices? BRANNA: I chose, and so others need not. MANTEEKAN: And you accept the consequences of this choice? BRANNA raises her chin. BRANNA: The consequences are always acceptable, if the goal is worthy enough. Another laugh rattles from within the pillar. MANTEEKAN: So they are, my child, so they are! The stage goes dark, nothing but a final laugh echoing in the silence. Credits and After Notes ———————— \[All cast members enter the stage to take a bow, before the curtain closes on them, then rises on one final scene\] Scenery: A lavishly decorated room with a certain skull and corpse motif, and the Magnagoran city skyline visible outside one of the windows. A large banner reading, “WELCOME MANTEEKAN” hangs on one wall. New Characters: Fain, of the Red Masque, a radiant immortal Morgfyre, the Legion, a radiant immortal Raezon, the Forbidden, a radiant immortal ——————————– The curtain rises again. FAIN, MORGFYRE, and RAEZON all sit gathered around a table. FAIN, huffing an annoyed sigh: If He’s not coming, We might as well eat the ca- FAIN glares at MORGFYRE. MORGFYRE pauses with a single forkful of cake halfway to His mouth, a crumb-covered but otherwise empty platter before Him. Without taking His eyes off FAIN, MORGFYRE raises the fork to His mouth and devours the last bite. The curtain drops down again. FIN **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [On the Necessity of Extraplanar Colonization](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/on-the-necessity-of-extraplanar-colonization/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Our resources are finite. That is a simple fact of life, one which we must accept. The resources inside the Basin of Life are particularly limited. We cannot rely on the rest of the material plane to solve that problem. The Soulless gods saw to that. Fortunately, we are not restricted to the material plane. The resources of the other planes are also at our disposal. They are likewise finite, but they are vast. We need only reach out and take them. Why bother? After all, it would take a great deal of effort to colonize the planes. We would need to develop specialized technologies to support new settlements and extract their resources. The colonists would have to abandon their other positions, which could leave our existing industries understaffed. Most of the planes are dangerous to those who are not attuned to them. Solving those problems would be a massive undertaking! What could possible justify it? The planes offer a chance at peace. Most conflicts are fundamentally economic in nature. The great powers compete over the few villages that have survived and prospered enough to pay tribute. Habitable space within the Basin of Life is limited, and so some cultures must fight over living space. An influx of resources could remove those conflicts. Of course, it would do nothing for the ethnic feuding of the Undervault or the theological spats between the unwise, but it would be an excellent start. There is also the matter of security. The Basin of Life experiences a huge number of disasters, invasions, and other such unpleasantness. Granted, the other planes have their share of hardship, but problems in one rarely stretch to the others. The mortal races need not put all their eggs in a single basket. Of course, new resources are always welcome. Consider Emperor Ladantine’s final example. He tapped into the power of the Astral plane. In doing so, he brought the Taint to the Basin of Life. Magnagora has since learned to harness that resource. It created entirely products and powers. Ladantine’s execution leaves much to be desired, but it does show the potential power of the planes. We simply need to be more careful and refrain from putting stupid people in charge of large empires. There is even precedent for success. Aerochemantic techniques require resources from the elemental planes, but they allow for otherwise unprecedented feats. Other elemental planes, and even the ethereal plane, have spawned their own technologies. They are not as impressive, but they prove that nearly every plane has the potential to be useful. Even basic resources have their uses. All environments have limited carrying capacities. They can only support so many people. Spreading the mortal races to new environments increases our maximum potential population. More people means more researchers, which means more technology. People beget progress, so long as they live in a reasonably sane society. The general benefits of extraplanar colonization are clear enough. What of the individual planes? Where should people go? Where should we invest our limited time and resources? What can be gained from a given location? The ethereal plane is a natural choice. It is fairly easy to access and offers an unusually hospitable environment. That makes it an ideal testing ground. The great powers of the world can use it to refine their transportation technologies and learn how to develop a new settlement. There is even a chance that the fae population can be put to good use. Their population is reasonably large, and they have a well-developed political system. Alliances are possible, and the subversion of their population is an option if they refuse. In time, they might be tamed. The fae are relatively powerful as guardians of the wilderness. Imagine how much mightier they would be as the stewards of a tame, domestic garden! The downside is that the ethereal plane appears to be best for producing fairly mundane resources. It has plenty of space, and it is highly fertile, so it is ideal for agricultural settlements. On the other hand, that simply gives us more of what we already have. Useful, but not vital. The plane certainly has unique power. The communes demonstrate that power well enough. The trouble is that their power relies on unreliable spirits. We cannot count on taming it, at least not for a long time. There is some hope for developing better techniques, as shown by the development of the Wildewood and Wyrdenwood technologies, but even they are primitive. It would be best to prioritize mundane settlement and growth first, so that the resources can help with later colonization efforts, rather than gambling on domesticated druidry. The elemental planes are more promising. They are inhospitable, but they can support life. We need only find the technologies to settle them. That will be different for each plane, as will the benefits, but there are broad similarities. Colonists will need stable housing that can protect them from the elements, and they will need either the tools to sustain themselves directly or an efficient way to transport goods to the material plane without relying on specialized workers. A nexus of power can handle that, so long as the colony can supply porters for the goods, but there are security concerns with doing so. It would be better to have other methods. The elemental planes offer a great deal in return for those efforts. They offer power. We can already harvest the essence of the elemental planes, but our methods are crude. We must hunt their beasts, and we are limited by their population. Domestication could save time and increase our supply. We might also learn to farm the local plants, on the planes that support them. Self-sustaining colonies are certainly possible, and they may be able to furnish us with mundane wares. Thus, elemental colonies have more to offer than ethereal ones, so long as we can overcome the local environments. The cosmic planes are much the same, although they are also much more variable. The Continuum and the Vortex both have a great deal to offer, and their inhabitants are fairly tame. They are much like the elemental planes, in that they provide unique and irreplaceable resources. For example, Hallifaxian engineer has already proven the value of harmonics in a variety of fields. Flesh is less valuable, but sane engineers could likely put it to use. It has medical potential, if nothing else. Celestia and Nil are different because they have relatively intelligent inhabitants and fairly mundane environments. They must be viewed as hybrids between the elemental planes and the ethereal plane in every regard. They could likely support widespread habitation, particularly Celestia, so long as people adapted to their ecosystems and kept the natives under control. The astral plane offers the most interesting puzzle. It is clearly the most inhospitable. The odds of a truly self-sustaining colony are low, and thus any settlement would depend on support from another plane. The natives are inherently and utterly hostile to life. What could it possibly have to offer? Hope. More than anything else, and more than any other plane, it offers hope for the future. Kethuru has taken so much from the world. Nations, races, places, devoured by the greatest monster ever to exist. We have lost innumerable treasures to Kethuru’s appetite. In return, he spawns monsters to inhabit his prison. And yet, those monsters are a resource. Their corpses can be offered to the Elder gods, and doing so appears to transfer their essence to those divinities. That reveals a simple, vital truth. We can rob Kethuru of its essence and put it to new uses. The scale appears to be negligible, so it unlikely that he can ever be truly destroyed or meaningfully weakened through that process, but we can recover what was lost. Perhaps we can only return it to the Elders in the hope that they will use it to make new things. Perhaps we can truly recover the lost wonders and restore them the world. Who can say? The potential is inconceivably enormous. After all, who could put a price on a mended world? That is precisely what an astral colony has to offer to us. It could serve as a research center, and, in time, a bastion from which we could march on the astral plane and recover the world’s stolen essence. It would take a great deal of support from the other planes. It would take a massive effort. It would be risky, dangerous, and fallible. It would be worth it. For all that, it would be one of the greatest works of the mortal world, and a worthy use of our extraplanar resources. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Love Poems; Volume III](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/love-poems-volume-iii/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** LOVE POEMS, VOLUME III by Lief Myeras-Silvermoon 01\. Table of Contents 02\. Dedications 03\. A Song 04\. If 05\. Stars 06\. Fear 07\. Want 08\. Cicada DEDICATIONS Like Volume II, this book is dedicated to those I love in every way and shape that I love them. These people are my friends and my family, and One is my faith. All have claimed one part of me for themselves, and whether or not we speak in such terms with one another, I do love you dearly and well. My life would be different without you here in it. Dimmer, duller, darker: I can’t imagine it, though I try. Who knows how the winds will change? Who knows how our hearts will, too? For now, in this particular moment, we don’t need to. We know each other, and that is enough. This book is for you. A SONG You’ve spent your whole life looking up – Hope written on your face – Between your hands, a silver cup, And in your mind, a grace Unending and unbeaten: it filled Your every word and trace. The Maiden strong within you willed You into joy’s embrace. A song, a song, just waiting to be sung, Swelled inside your heart And burned itself within your lung, And drove your lips apart: You sang of spirits now and past, Of Mother Moon and Hart. You sang of all your faith, steadfast, And gave it all your art. The seasons change, and so do we, But never your belief – And yours was a light that guided me, Even in my grief. I swore within my heart to guard You, though I am a thief: If I could keep you safe, unscarred, Perhaps, though it be brief, I could take this precious light of yours And squeeze until it’s mine. Though within me rage such wars, I think that, with your shine, A song, a song can sear my lips And make what’s sad benign. This brightness can all but eclipse The blood within, this brine. Forgive me this darkness, oh sister of mine, And I’ll forgive yours, too: Together, we’ll our colors align And write this song anew. IF What if we had never met? My colors would be gray And dull, but for my yellows: bright Enough to lead astray, Blinded by both joy and fear. If we’d never met, How small this fragile light would be, Safe from every threat, Nestled in her seedling’s shell, Ungerminated still. If we’d never met, I think I’d never find the will To grow beyond familiar ways – I think that I’d forget And lose myself within myself, If we’d never met. My Lady, my Lady, You are my light: My heart sings for You. My Mother, my Mother, You give me life – My colors bloom anew, Thinking of You, and all the ways Your bravery defeats regret. I can’t bear the thought of any world In which we’d never met. STARS I want to freeze this moment here: This most unbearable view And you: it’s insufferable, I fear, The way that you make new The rising of our Father Sun, And his setting, too. A wind tears through my antlers’ blooms, Smog choking at my throat, And I am strangled by the fumes Of unfamiliar rote: Some incantation just begun, Yet you don’t seem to gloat. I think that I would rather die Than suffer another chance Meeting of your meticulous eye, So I look askance, Down upon the roiling sea And the tide’s advance. The sun begins to set out there, Dusk dashed against the waves, Painting darkness beneath our stare, Those orange and violet graves, And as I watch, I am ensnared: Something within me caves. All too soon, it disappears, Swallowed by the sea – It was laid upon that great big bier And carried away from me. But then you point down there: “Now look,” Down into the black city. One by one, they wink to life, Like stars up in the sky: Down below, the midnight streets are rife With lanterns which belie The deepness of the taint down there, A deadly lullaby. I gasp and feel earth on my lips, And soot stains on my face. I wipe at them with my fingertips, But it’s futile to erase The taste of this city’s infection As it marks me with its trace. Is that why I feel my pounding heart As it rattles in my chest? Is that what pushes me to start Feeling around you stressed? These stars, you say they are man-made, So to them I can’t confess. FEAR My dear, I am afraid: But not of shades self-made Or terrors creeping in Upon eight legs which spin A story of my every sin, A tale of every doubt within. Reject them all – these seeds will bear No fruit or flower there. My hopes have scattered long and far And taken root in soil bizarre. I watch them grow; I watch them fade For more to sprout from whence they’re laid. I’ve learned, in dark, that hope drinks deep Of places where all joy’s asleep, So nighttime holds for me no fear, Not while stars above appear. I think a while upon my past, Upon those questions I had asked While we two perched within the trees, Verdant summer at our knees. But winter came; we fell apart. I found I could not prove my heart, A spirit that will ever change No matter how my life grows strange. If you fall, too, I cannot carry Someone whose own self you’d bury – Not with ice upon my wings, Fighting all the cold it brings. And so, my dear, I am afraid Of being bound to where you’ve stayed. Though I know your heart is true, I think I’ve changed too much for you. WANT I want a love that burns within my heart, A fierce inferno setting my whole life Aflame – a hungry love to rive apart My mind by carving with its white-hot knife. I want a love that’s like the summer sun, That jealous tyrant boiling spring away: A love to leave my senses all undone And lost within its fragrant, sweet bouquet. I want this love to pull me like a tide Beneath the darkest, blackest, storming sky. Upon its frenzied winds, I’ll whip and ride Until the sea’s swell drowns me, and I die. This maddened love will lacerate my soul, This fury that will bind and make me whole. CICADA A cicada’s song Breaks through the late summer heat, Piercing through the heat, And it won’t stop crying out – And it won’t stop crying out. From its hiding nook Under the shade of these leaves, It sings and it sings. It sings and it sings and it Won’t stop, even with silence Demanding its peace. It sings, and I can’t help it – I want to sing, too. What if that could bring it joy? I think that would bring me joy, Breaking its sorrow, Helping it to see the day Just beyond these leaves. Just beyond these leaves, the sun Is shining with all his might, And the summer blooms Stretch as high as they can: they Try to reach his light. They’re trying with all their might; There’s nothing wrong with trying. I offer my hand, Though once more, I am refused, And it breaks my heart. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Deaging](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-deaging-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** It all began with the desire to perfect the Penumbra dance of Glomdoring. To make one eternally beautiful and young. The top researchers of Hallifax that specialized in various fields of temporal aging worked on their science and magic mixtures to bring this dream to a reality…. However, it seems the basic design of the world lashes against those who try to go against its laws. \* \* \* “How are you doing… Nine is it? Or are you an Eight now?” spoke a scientist in a traditional white lab coat. “Six actually. Maybe. Perhaps Seven. I guess it is the time between them?” Spoke a small furrikin who looked to be around eighteen. “Six? What happen to Seven… and most of Eight? You shouldn’t be anywhere close to Six…” the sound of intrigue and panic echoed out from the scientist’s voice. “Please tell me what happened. And start from the very beginning, I want to see if your memory is still intact as well.” The furrikin sat up in a chair and started to speak, a tiny squeak in her voice. “Well. It started as a research project by the Matrix Research Institute. There was some intrigue within the Penumbra ritual. Some of the scientists here wanted to recreate those secrets known by the Night Coven…” The furrikin known as Six started to recount the actions that lead up this moment, the memories still vivid within her mind… \* \* \* “It’s simple! The Wyrd rushes into the skin and regenerates the damage caused by aging.” “Don’t be silly. Shards don’t show signs of aging unless we desire it. Part of our very nature is our ability to change rather easily. The Fates are rather forgiving and willing to reweave such things at a whim.” Two researchers went back and forth, countering each other’s arguments with their own, trying to solve one of the many secrets hidden within the dark forest of Glomdoring. “Smooth skin and increased charisma. These are the two goals we need. The first is rather easy and doesn’t need forestal magics to do. The second is a bit harder. Maybe a temporal imposition?” The female lucidian nodded slightly to the male trill. “Perhaps, Nelaedree. How about we get a few test subjects and see what we can do?” “Of course, Aqukii” Nelaedree responded as he tapped on a screen and put in a request for three servants to be used as test subjects. A few days later, three servants were bought to the laboratory being used; a furrikin, a loboshigaru and a tae’dae. “Welcome, servants. You all are servants by contract to the city. By agreeing to help us with our experiments, your contract terms will be reduced by three years.” First to receive the magics was the loboshigaru. Temporal power flooded into the shard’s body as the two scientists watched with hopeful gazes. It was only a few seconds before the loboshigaru’s fur and body started to gain a shine to it. Moments passed and the loboshigaru looked younger. And then came the screams. Pain filled the room, a piercing howl from the shade as his body started to tear itself apart. The magic was fading but not in a pleasant way. The magics were trying to keep him young while nature was trying to return him to his proper age. It was over in a few seconds. The loboshigaru collapsed to the floor and it was over. “Wh… what happened? What were those screams?” the tae’dae asked. A soft reassuring smile came from Nelaedree, “You have nothing to worry about. A setback as occurred and an error has revealed itself. It will be fixed before we continue. Please just relax and enjoy yourself before we require you.” It was several days of research as the two scientists tried to figure out what went wrong. “Maybe it is not actually deaging anyone. It could be just a glorified illusion at the base of it. A play of shadows.” “Maybe, Aqukii. That might make this easier. Perhaps using an illusion base and a temporal side effect to make it last forever?” replied Nelaedree as she called in the tae’dae. \* \* \* Six smiled as the retelling passed his lips, “Aqukii and you started to fight over technical terms and theory.” Six looked at Nelaedree, “I’m not sure what you changed for the tae’dae, but you managed to stop the person from outright dying.” Nelaedree listened to Six speak, taking down notes of how good her memory was leading up to the events. The furrikin spoke of the tae’dae. How at first it seemed everything worked. On the outside, her form was perfectly young. On the inside, all her organs were giving fine readings on bloodwork. “You never did find out what happen, did you?” Six spoke, her voice trembling at the thought. “His organs just stopped.” The fear in her voice vanished. “And then there is me. Perfectly young. Minus the whole part where I’m slowly going to die. Although it does seem less painful than the others. This whole deaging into death doesn’t seem that bad. I don’t show any signs of it. In a way, it is kind of nice to be young forever. Even if the end of the life does appear to me much faster…” The latest form of the project had seemed to solved all of the original issues. No instant death. No random death. The subject had increased charisma and looked young. The only part is it seemed the deaging didn’t stop. “Yes, dear Six” smiled Nelaedree. “At first it seemed you only lowered in age every few years. But once you hit sixteen, everything went down hill. Your age started to lower much more quickly. First it was months and now it seems to be mere days….” A concerned tone entered the scientist’s voice. “I fear that any moment now and you will be at a single day of deaging.” The furrikin stood up. “Maybe. It’s odd that I can ‘feel’ my age. Even now I can feel that I’m at the edge of Six.” Nelaedree watched the furrikin, still surprised at the simplest of things the shard could do despite the true age of the body. “I have always wanted to know, why did you prefer to go by your age instead of a real name. It would change so quickly. It perhaps would add a bit of personal touch to you instead of just being some object.” “It makes it sound like I’m some super-secret spy. Changing names so I don’t get caught. I always loved spy novels.” the furrikin squeaked out of her voice. In the coming days, final tests were done as the last of the data on the project was gathered. Having been declared a failure, Nelaedree and Aqukii’s project to mimic the penumbra dance was over. However, all was not lost. Something interesting about the nature of temporal aging was found. The various methods that mortals can perform is an amazing thing. As the final moments of Six’s life, now called One, came, a few more things showed up. First was a glossy texture started to form over the furrikin’s skin in patches. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, One knew how the end was going to come. Perhaps it was a mercy of the Fates but she told Nelaedree that there would be no body. That the death would be a painless and peaceful thing. And then, in a flash of bright crystal-green light, One vanished. Her body gone and her soul returning to the Fates. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** May 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Elfenehoala 1](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/elfenehoala-1/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The screams of the dying fae filled the air. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Aramel and Unicorn](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/aramel-and-unicorn/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Aramel riding unicorn; hunting Illithoids with a beam generator **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Holly and Hemlock](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/holly-and-hemlock/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** True Beauty is Breaking in Order to Rebuild **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Ialie Starfall](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/ialie-starfall-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The rainbow princess **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Perplexing Letter](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/perplexing-letter/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Magnagora rejected Kyalrhin’s entreaty for a taint wyrm with a letter containing dangerous levels of egg puns. If you are curious about the letter; please message me. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Pride Dragon](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/pride-dragon/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Pride Month may not exist in Lusternia but dragons may still be proud of their colors. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Snow Valley](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/snow-valley-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Tolborolla Valley](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/tolborolla-valley/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [A Warrior vs Milla](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-warrior-vs-milla-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Milla a pink kitten that used to reside in the Aetherplex was a source of annoyance for many across the Basin of Life. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2015 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Master Ravenwood](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-master-ravenwood-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The Master Ravenwood; surrounded by the mountain peaks. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Elfenehoala 2](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/elfenehoala-2/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Just before our final jump **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Moonhart Mother Tree](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-moonhart-mother-tree/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Bothering](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/bothering/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Soft voices whisper to you from the phantasmal shroud – murmurs of cruel amusement at your question **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Aquamancer with (vegan) dragon turtle companion](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/aquamancer-with-vegan-dragon-turtle-companion/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** I don’t know what I’m doing; but it has a lot of colours **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Mark of Xule](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/mark-of-xule/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** When I play Lusternia and look at some of the things I own; I see the text It bears the distinctive mark of Xule; so I decided to give that undescribed mark a look. This is what I drew. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Initiation](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/initiation/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Tonatiuh meets the Shofet and pleads his case to join the Beloved **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2020 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Lips](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/lips/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** This is old; my I like the lips. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Lief and Savit](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/lief-and-savit/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** My rendition of Lief of Serenwilde and Savit **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Reference for Guild Beasts: Crows](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/reference-for-guild-beasts-crows/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Yes; some crows literally have an aura of evil. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Toadie Gurashi](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/toadie-gurashi/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** For some reason; these hats are popular. Want to be a toadie too Just PORTAL ENTER GLOM\_SHOP\_11 at the Atherplex! **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Shoulder Smolder](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/shoulder-smolder/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Beauty Is Inevitable **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Liah Carries the Scourge; Evette d'Rose](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/liah-carries-the-scourge-evette-drose/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Well; carry doesn’t always mean mount **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [the blackthorns](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-blackthorns/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** The boughs of the large blackthorn moan loudly as they shake sending a new shower of petals cascading across the fulcrux. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Lady Aleyah Shee-Slaugh](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/lady-aleyah-shee-slaugh/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A Self-Portrait **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [An Unexpected Visitor](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/an-unexpected-visitor/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Your vision suddenly snaps back to full focus and the numbness is replaced with a sharp; blinding pain at your last thought – What am I **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** December 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Death](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/death/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Death Is The Major Arcana Meaning Change And Transformation Though Not Always Bad **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Winged Trio](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/winged-trio/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** This one I made some time ago. A poster-like picture of Hallifaxian trills I know best; two still living and one now dead. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [You are MUCH smaller than before.](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/you-are-much-smaller-than-before/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A faeling racehat was acquired; and much winged-but-flightless fun was had between Gurashi and Ilistala! **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Ankrag Spooder Bunch](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/ankrag-spooder-bunch/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** A couple variations that you can get when raising spiders from Angkrag. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### ['It is okay. We love you. You are Beloved.'](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/it-is-okay-we-love-you-you-are-beloved/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** Mysrai stands on Her tiptoes; hovering upwards until She places Her lips gently to your forehead. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2020 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [What Would You Say](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/what-would-you-say/) **Published:** August 12, 2026 **Author:** ironrealms **Content:** These Things Are Dark And Unknowable To Me **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2019 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Open Shades](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/open-shades/) **Published:** September 28, 2024 **Author:** Iroha **Content:** O’ despondent bird, whose song rests torn apart, I shall open my window and shades, I cannot promise the past, no brand new start, Instead take in the warmth and succor, How your feathers have marred, beaten down from the rain, We shall caress and clean your wings, How your talons chipped from carrying all your pain, Tis a wound that will take some time, This hearth is a home, a place for you to take rest, You can leave when you are ready, May your wings carry joy, that vibrant sunset, And your song speak of love again, Return when you begin to tire and strain, I will be here to open my heart and shades again **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2024 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Where the Black Rose Grows](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/where-the-black-rose-grows/) **Published:** September 28, 2024 **Author:** Iazin **Content:** If I should fall a final time And never breathe again Take me home where the black rose grows And ‘neath the shadowed boughs The forest is where I came up That’s where you’ll lay me down Along the stream where I was wed You’ll find me once again For my home where the black rose grows Is where I spoke my vows Every tie that I did bind Was given here my friend Remember me, that I did bleed For forest and for kin It’s my home where the black rose grows In the wood to the south Among these branches I did rest And where I’ll rest again So breathe the air so sweet to me Cherish it like I did In my home where the black rose grows Walk the trails, hear the sounds Listen close to your beating heart Feel the drums sound within Make your home where the black rose grows **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Mother Night and Her Lotus](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/mother-night-and-her-lotus/) **Published:** September 19, 2024 **Author:** Esei **Content:** Featuring the nightlotus. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Legacy.](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/legacy/) **Published:** September 4, 2024 **Author:** Eridani **Content:** A hush has fallen on the world, as though the air was stilled. And now the mere word “legacy” has set some hearts to chill. It’s not clear why this happened, and it’s not sure where we’ll go. Perhaps some outer force beyond control has made it so. To those who have lost heart or face, who think this is the end, To those that feel that time spent here is now a fool’s errand, Shake off the shackles of despair, cast off the leaden chains. Look round you at the Basin, see what wonders yet remain! “The world is ending, all is dead,” some prophets may declaim. For all Ascensions come and gone, the stakes have been the same! The Basin, ever under threat, has always flourished full. Rather than call of doom, let “legacy” be future’s pull! Leave one of might, of glory, fame! For legacy, you see, No token of the end, instead, a hint of what might be. Let souls be kindled, bodies trained, and let the Basin surge. Not relegated to the past – make this our primal urge. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2024 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Of Fire and Shadow](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/of-fire-and-shadow/) **Published:** August 29, 2024 **Author:** Drastrath **Content:** In the heart of the forge where embers glow, Two souls entwine in a dance of fire and shadow. One, a warrior with a blade’s gleaming edge, The other, a tempest with a heart unpledged. By day, the fire burns steady and bright, A guardian of justice, a beacon of fire. But as the dusk settles and the shadows creep, A wilder force stirs from the depths of sleep. The steel is tempered in discipline’s flame, Yet within, a storm rages, untamed. Two faces, one coin, cast in the same mold, One seeks order, the other, uncontrolled. They are the same, yet worlds apart, Bound by fate, a fractured shard. In battle, they are one, fierce and bold, But within, a story of conflict unfolds. For every calm, there is a storm, For every shape, a shifting form. They walk the line, neither whole nor split, A life in balance, or the absence of it. In the end, the fire and shadow are one, Locked in a dance that’s never done. A tale of two within one soul’s fight, Of fire by day and shadow by night. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2024 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Reunification](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/reunification/) **Published:** August 23, 2024 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** She stares at him, azure eyes meeting her own as he looks back at her. Her breath catching, she suddenly feels the flicker of a memory, lost long ago to the echoes of the void, before her new life, before the Portal wiped everything she had ever known. There is something about him, captured in the deep blue of his eyes, calling to her, beckoning her to come forth out of the darkness. And she recognizes his call, that call of an old soul tethered to a new body, bereft, reaching out into the nothingness for a glimpse of the light. Squinting in the sunlight and the radiance dancing along his armour, her heart pounds in her chest, each beat resonating the pangs of her reminiscing. And just there, in that moment, her eyes widen in understanding. She suddenly realizes who he is, who she is, or rather, who they were. She closes her eyes, gathering the courage to take a step forward, mustering the will to face the uncertainty and anxiety head on. He notices her movement, studying her with a squint, focused and alert. She looks upon him once more, his face contorted in a pained, knowing look. Tears spill out as her gaze reaches his once more. He remembers now! He has seen her for who she is, who she was, and who she can be yet again. Without warning, he approaches, standing mere steps away from her and reaches out, taking her hand into his own, clasping it fervently. This gentle touch, enveloped in hope and madness, electric and terrifying, eases to a calming comfort that she despaired of never feeling again. And here, in this moment, the world ceases to exist. All is quiet. And a peace settles upon their surroundings as a mist upon water. “Father?” she whispers in a strangled tone, breathless and terrified. Now she notices his tears, spilling down his cheeks, unchecked. Nodding, he grabs her, wrapping his arms around her body in an embrace that threatens to rob her of breath, and in that moment, she comes alive. They stand there, the sunlight gleaming along the ripples of the Pool, the city bustling with life and laughter, hopes and dreams and joy… they stand there, two souls caught in an otherworldly tango of chaos, torn apart, only to be drawn back together once more and made whole. It was as if this day had been made for them alone, for their rejoining, for the realization that though they had parted, they were reunited once more. Though the Portal can tear lives asunder, separating loved ones to an unknown future, there is a hope, echoing from the darkness, and the beauty of a promise of reunification. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Speaker of a Thousand Way's Prayer](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-speaker-of-a-thousand-ways-prayer/) **Published:** August 23, 2024 **Author:** Zulte **Content:** \* . ‘ \* \* . ‘ \* \* . ‘ \* Not a man of many words, With many things to say, Such as these drifting dreams, When You’ll return someday. In Your embrace we’ll fall, Us waiting things, Your mournful Beloved, Loose, tattered strings. Weave us as You did before, Into a selcouth tapestry, Held aloft from this sorrow, A mosaic of Your artistry. Until then we lie, Pieces in a puzzle askew, Desperately watching the stars, For a telling sign of You. \* . ‘ \* \* . ‘ \* \* . ‘ \* **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2024 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Panaxra, the Dreamshade](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/panaxra-the-dreamshade/) **Published:** August 12, 2024 **Author:** Esei **Content:** “With surprising tenderness, She strokes the Seal, trailing tendrils quivering with anticipation. In the blink of an eye, She thrusts Her arm elbow-deep into the rose gold disc. Reality shudders and time stands still for a moment. Then a silent detonation booms throughout the First World, and the howling of untold nightmares begins to fill the air…” **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Whispers of Serens](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/whispers-of-serens/) **Published:** July 24, 2024 **Author:** Thalion **Content:** In the heart of emerald shade, where shadows softly creep, Lies Serenwilde, a forest vast, where ancient secrets sleep. Beneath the canopy of green, where moonlight softly weaves, The whispers of the ancients call through rustling autumn leaves. The fae, they dance in twilight’s glow, with melodies of old, Their voices weave the tales of yore, where nature’s truths unfold. The roots that cradle ancient trees, entwine with spirits’ might, A tapestry of life and lore, beneath Mother’s moonlight. The primal forces stir and wake, in the depths of forest grand, Where every thorn and shadowed glen bears nature’s ancient brand. The Sowers dream of worlds reborn, where wildness takes its reign, While Listeners heed the sacred calls that echo through the rain. Yet in the realm where shadows play, and ancient powers loom, The forest’s heart beats strong and true beneath the gaze of Mother Moon. For Serenwilde’s spirit fierce is etched in roots and flame, A realm where ancient spirits dwell, and nature’s wild remains. So heed the call of Serenwilde, where nature’s pulse runs deep, In the sacred glen where dreams are spun, and ancient spirits keep. A land of fierce and wondrous grace, where freedom’s breath is wild, In the heart of the eternal woods, the spirit of the wild. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2024 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Poetic Lines on Crow and Night](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/poetic-lines-on-crow-and-night/) **Published:** July 15, 2024 **Author:** Eridani **Content:** A talon taps a tune on meat-stripped bone, Forgotten feather falls from ebon crown – Crow’s single eye sees all from darkwood throne, The darkened forest spreading all around. The setting sun, with fingers long and red, Paints shadows in the twilight and the dark. Crow’s ragged form, a deeper, mirrored dread, His shadow black as midnight shadows stark. The fading light and Crow together dance, A waltz of flesh and shade and wood and thorn. Crow takes to wing in time with night’s advance. On pitch-black feathers, one more night is born. Subliminal and melancholic glow The spreading twilight greets the rising Crow! **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Mother Night - Gloriana](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/mother-night-gloriana/) **Published:** July 9, 2024 **Author:** Esei **Content:** An artist’s interpretation of what Mother Night may have looked like before the Taint Wars. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [For Valtreth](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/for-valtreth/) **Published:** June 14, 2024 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** I’ve sat on this very beach, toes buried in the sand, a countless number of times before, gazing into the skies above. As I study the waves crashing against the shore, I predict the changes of the tide almost down to the minute. Here is where I watch the lights flickering on the horizon, a promise from Him as he gazes out from the heavens. I’ve come to embrace that eager desire to feel such closeness, knowing He is here and that we watch this view together. I witness the sun rise amidst clouds of endless white, painted on a canvas of reds, oranges, yellows and pinks. His presence manifested on the warm, pleasant breeze, and the mist spraying into the open air, evaporating into nothingness. I lean forward, savoring the kiss of truth in these few short seconds, eyes closed to bask in the splendor and beauty of creation. I’m left humbled by my own finite, minute existence, yet feel as though He meant this scene for me alone. The love for His devoted is felt in a whisper, spread about in these sporadic, gentle moments. And when the sun is perched firmly upon the horizon, I open my eyes and go, biding my time as I await His promise of a new dawn. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Folly Folio: A Clash in Lapping Waves](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/folly-folio-a-clash-in-lapping-waves/) **Published:** March 29, 2024 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** ``` A Clash in Lapping Waves -12 Roarkian, 673 CE- He builds his castle in the sand, stakes flags on tower mounds, and in his magnanimity, leaves driftwood drawbridge down. He stands with back to sparkling shore, surveys his majesty, and when the tide comes rolling in, his tears go to the sea. He sees a clash in lapping waves, deems Toronada weak, and sets off for the other side, for fairness he would mete. He marches into kestrel land, decrying tidal source, and taking ancient castle stone, dams river running north. He claims black tower as his own, hangs flags from parapets, and in his magnanimity, takes steward's recompense. He watches earthwork overcome, the river spilling free, and when krokani see him out, his tears go to the sea. ``` **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Words of Power](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/words-of-power-2/) **Published:** March 4, 2024 **Author:** Zylissa **Content:** ``` When one does not know what to write To manifest one's poetic might There's naught for it but to endeavour Or silence one's true voice forever If trials of word and sword alike Would fain at points of weakness strike Which slays erelong? Which saps all will? Misjudge not the humble, deadly quill For what are words but the breath of life? It shapes the world and settles strife Gives beauty voice, shares wit and woe A power Gods and mortals know. ``` **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2024 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Breaking the Cycle of Injustice by Defending the Helpless: A Young Celestian's Perspective](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/breaking-the-cycle-of-injustice-by-defending-the-helpless-a-young-celestians-perspective/) **Published:** January 12, 2024 **Author:** Yuli **Content:** In a world teeming with darkness and strife, there exists a calling that transcends personal ego and ambition, a sacred commitment to break the cycle of injustice by defending the helpless. Celestians exemplify this noble duty. In this essay, we shall explore how Celestians play a pivotal role in the pursuit of justice, their unwavering dedication to protecting the vulnerable, and the impact of their actions on ending the vicious cycle of injustice. Celestians are warriors of divine grace, embodying hope in a world plagued by despair and the scourge of the taint. At the core of a Celestian’s mission lies an unwavering commitment to defending the helpless. These are the individuals who find themselves marginalized, oppressed, or burdened by the weight of their circumstances. Celestians, through their actions, exemplify divine virtue through acts of kindness, protection, and unwavering advocacy. Celestians are vessels of compassion and empathy. They possess the unique ability to perceive and understand the suffering of others, recognizing that empathy serves as a potent catalyst for positive change. In their relentless devotion to the cause, they extend their helping hands to the helpless, illustrating that empathy holds the transformative power to heal and mend. In times of turmoil and chaos, Celestians become both the sword and the shield of the vulnerable. They stand fearlessly in the face of darkness, ensuring that the innocent remain untouched by harm. Simultaneously, they serve as a formidable shield, safeguarding the defenseless from the relentless blows of injustice. In doing so, they offer refuge amidst life’s tumultuous storms. Justice stands as the guiding light for Celestians, and they never waver in their unwavering commitment to it. They resolutely adhere to their principles, forging a path where justice remains unaltered by the allure of personal gain. Through their unyielding dedication, Celestians demonstrate that justice can be pursued without compromise or concession. The cycle of injustice perpetuates itself through fear, apathy, and the deeply ingrained belief that nothing can change. We, however, vehemently reject the notion that they must succumb to this insidious cycle. Their actions, propelled by unwavering determination, reverberate through society, challenging the status quo and paving the way for genuine change. Hope, as a powerful weapon against injustice, finds its embodiment in us. We inspire hope in those who have long despaired, demonstrating that even in the darkest of times, change is not only conceivable but attainable. Through our unwavering commitment to justice, we rekindle the embers of hope in the hearts of the oppressed, instilling faith in a brighter future. Fear, a tool wielded by those who perpetuate injustice to maintain control, crumbles in the face of Celestian resolve. With indomitable courage and unwavering determination, we shatter the shackles of fear. We prove, time and again, that individuals can rise against oppression, even when confronted with seemingly insurmountable odds. By defending the helpless, Celestians plant seeds of empowerment. We encourage individuals to delve deep into their inner reservoirs of strength, to stand up for what is right, and to join the struggle for justice. In doing so, they break the cycle of helplessness and dependency that perpetuates injustice, enabling the vulnerable to rise as empowered agents of change. The legacy of Celest holds profound significance. Our unwavering commitment to defending the helpless and pursuing justice leaves an indelible mark on the world. Our actions have far-reaching implications that extend beyond their immediate efforts. Celestians serve as beacons of change in society. Our dedication to justice encourages others to question the status quo and work toward a fairer and more equitable world. Through our actions, they challenge existing norms, stimulate critical thought, and inspire a collective desire for positive transformation. We play a pivotal role in nurturing compassionate communities. Our acts of kindness and protection ripple through society, fostering a culture of empathy and support. Communities that defend the helpless become more inclusive and caring, reinforcing the idea that we are all interconnected and that the well-being of one directly affects the well-being of all. The unwavering commitment of Celestians to defend the helpless upholds the dignity of every individual. In a world where dignity is often undermined by injustice, our actions serve as a powerful reminder that every person deserves respect, compassion, and protection. We ensure that human dignity remains an unassailable principle. Celestians inspire future generations to carry the torch of justice and compassion. Our actions set a precedent for the youth, teaching them the values of empathy, courage, and resilience. As these future leaders witness the profound impact of our actions, they are more likely to become advocates for justice themselves, ensuring that the flame of justice continues to burn brightly. Our commitment to justice serves as a constant reminder that the fight against injustice transcends the limitations of a single lifetime. It is a timeless endeavor that has been carried forward through generations, leaving an indelible mark on the annals of history. However, the influence of Celestians is not confined to grand historical events alone. Their impact resonates deeply within the fabric of society, touching the lives of countless individuals in ways both large and small. It is in the quiet acts of kindness and protection, the moments of solace and reassurance, that their true strength shines through. Consider, for a moment, the story of a Celestian who, in a time of great need, extended a helping hand to a homeless child. In that simple act of compassion, a life was forever changed. The child, once abandoned and forgotten, found hope and purpose, eventually growing into a compassionate advocate for the homeless. This ripple effect of kindness is the essence of the Celestian’s impact. We not only defend the helpless in the moment of crisis but also sow the seeds of positive change that continue to bear fruit long after they have moved on to the next battle. In a world that often appears overwhelmed by darkness, Celestians serve as beacons of light, illuminating the path toward a brighter future. Our unwavering commitment to justice and our boundless compassion inspire others to join the cause, creating a network of like-minded individuals dedicated to defending the helpless. It is within these communities of shared purpose that the true strength of the Celestian’s mission is realized. Together , they form a collective force capable of challenging even the most entrenched systems of injustice. Their combined efforts serve as a powerful reminder that no injustice is insurmountable when met with unity and resolve. In conclusion, the role of Celestians in breaking the cycle of injustice is one of immense significance. We are not mere spectators of the world’s suffering; we are active participants in the fight for a more just and compassionate society. Through our unwavering commitment to defending the helpless, we inspire hope, shatter fear, and plant the seeds of empowerment. Our legacy is one of enduring impact, as we not only bring about immediate change but also set in motion a chain of events that continues to shape the world long after their deeds are done. In the name of justice and compassion, Celestians stand as living examples of how unwavering commitment to justice can change the world, one act of kindness at a time. As we reflect on our noble mission, we are reminded that each of us possesses the potential to make a difference in the world. Whether through small acts of kindness or larger efforts to challenge injustice, we too can be beacons of light, contributing to the ongoing battle to defend the helpless and break the cycle of injustice. The legacy of New Celest serves as a powerful testament to the boundless potential for positive change when individuals stand up for what is right and extend a helping hand to those in need. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2024 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Rose-Coloured Glasses, Removed](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/rose-coloured-glasses-removed/) **Published:** January 3, 2024 **Author:** Arae **Content:** Rot and ruin and smog-smothered skies, We whisper and watch as Magnagora slowly dies, Never fast enough, but steady and sure, Bleeding culture, becoming such a terrible bore, Roads that crumble, a bell-tower never ringing, The Voice of Jagrerox silenced, now unsinging, The city turned to nothing but a dry husk, Trapped, unchanging, stuck forever at dusk, Where the wretched oil’s stink, Into hair, skin and nails sinks, Skeletal remains, city and people both, Bloated parasites, unwilling of growth, A prison rotten down to its broken bones, Where sloths rot on their golden thrones. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2024 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Beacon of Harmony](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/beacon-of-harmony-2/) **Published:** December 19, 2023 **Author:** Zylissa **Content:** ``` O scintillate, thine glowing hearts That oscillate in lockstep beat O spark and soar, harmonic arts And coruscate in minds complete O call the tempest, call the storm O summon whirlwinds, bid the squall Be free! Let clarity transform And flowing tessen trails enthrall O’er crystal spheres and noble sky Of nimble thought and fleetest wing Through starless ‘scapes the feathered fly And of unfettered beauty sing ``` **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Seal of Kiakoda Reserve](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-seal-of-kiakoda-reserve/) **Published:** November 25, 2023 **Author:** Freja **Content:** The handsome seal that lounges on the fields of snow and ice. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Echoes of Malevolence: Understanding the Darkness of Nil's Demonic Folly](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/echoes-of-malevolence-understanding-the-darkness-of-nils-demonic-folly/) **Published:** November 20, 2023 **Author:** Yuli **Content:** Within the plane of Nil, the teachings promulgated by the enigmatic Demon Lords have, over the annals of time, maintained a steadfast grip on the hearts and minds of their ardent adherents. Yet, in the face of this prevailing devotion, it is an inescapable imperative to subject these doctrines to the most exacting scrutiny. Concealed beneath the beguiling allure of their tenets, one cannot ignore the looming specters of malevolence, unbridled excess, and moral ambivalence. It is with a resolute commitment to unearthing these shadows that this treatise embarks on an intrepid exploration, meticulously parsing the beliefs and teachings of each of the five Demon Lords: Gorgulu, Ashtorath, Nifilhema, Baalphegar, and Luciphage. Through this concerted endeavor, the intent is to reveal the profound perils and moral deficiencies that clandestinely underpin the shrouded recesses of their ominous wisdom. Gorgulu, The Devourer of Souls Gorgulu, the Devourer of Souls, embodies a misguided pursuit of transformation and power that plunges his followers into a realm of profound moral ambiguity and peril. While Gorgulu’s insatiable hunger for metamorphosis may appear alluring, it ultimately leads to a distorted perception of self and the abandonment of individuality. The central flaw in Gorgulu’s teachings lies in his relentless pursuit of transformation, driven by an endless hunger that cannot be sated. His embrace of the Taint and the profound changes it wrought in him reflects an unchecked desire for change at any cost. In Gorgulu’s quest for greater power and transformation, he abandons his former identity, King Gorgaliel the Peacemaker, leaving behind his once noble and harmonious persona. This transformation serves as a stark warning of the dangers that come with relinquishing control to one’s most primal desires. Moreover, Gorgulu’s transformation is so marked that it is believed he represents what all the Demon Lords could have become if the Taint had not been moderated. His example underscores the wisdom of balance, suggesting that unchecked transformation may lead to the loss of self and identity, making his teachings a misguided pursuit of power that disregards the moral implications of such drastic change. Gorgulu’s teachings offer a perilous path that forsakes individuality and ethical considerations in favor of unchecked metamorphosis and insatiable hunger. While the allure of transformation may be strong, it ultimately leads to a misguided and treacherous pursuit of power that risks losing one’s identity and moral compass. Ashtorath, the Duke of Inescapable Damnation Ashtorath, the Duke of Inescapable Damnation, stands as an embodiment of a facet within Nil’s inscrutable court that is tarnished by the relentless pursuit of power through the unbridled and immediate application of violence and brute force. Though his teachings may exude an allure and charismatic appeal, they inexorably steer adherents along a perilous trajectory marred by moral ambivalence and tumultuous chaos. The pivotal flaw in Ashtorath’s doctrines lies in his exaltation of impulsive and direct action as the paramount means to attain dominion. By underscoring aggression and violence as the ultimate arbiters of supremacy, he effectively disregards the intrinsic value of patience, strategic contemplation, and nuanced understanding in favor of a path steeped in brute force. While this philosophy may resonate with those seeking rapid and ostentatious outcomes, it regrettably turns a blind eye to life’s intricate complexities and the profound moral ramifications entwined with violent deeds. Furthermore, Ashtorath’s overarching ambition to unseat Luciphage and ascend to the Throne of the Beast lays bare the perilous extremity of his objectives. His unbridled pursuit of power, unburdened by ethical constraints or consideration for the consequences of his actions, gravely imperils Nil, steering it towards a maelstrom of unmitigated chaos and lawlessness. This misguided quest for dominance, fueled by a lack of concern for ethical boundaries, stands as a stark testament to the inherent deficiencies woven into Ashtorath’s teachings. Embracing Ashtorath’s ideology harbors profound moral jeopardy. The Duke of Inescapable Damnation, while radiating charisma and charm, ultimately leads his adherents astray, guiding them along a treacherous and misguided course where violence and aggression hold sway, and the repercussions are both dire and far-reaching. Nifilhema, the Queen of Insufferable Cruelty Nifilhema, the Queen of Insufferable Cruelty, epitomizes the misguided odyssey towards an idealized pinnacle within the darkest recesses of artistic expression and mortal suffering. Her relentless quest for the zenith of artistic excellence, while superficially beguiling, culminates in an unsettling distortion of the moral and ethical fabric. The crux of the issue inherent in Nifilhema’s doctrines resides in her unyielding dedication to the ceaseless refinement of the aesthetics of suffering. In her discerning perspective, pain attains the zenith of artistic expression, urging devotees to continually push the boundaries of cruelty to chisel their masterpieces from the raw material of torment. Her teachings extol the veneration of pain and suffering to an unparalleled degree, essentially erecting a dogma that disregards the profound ethical ramifications stemming from the infliction of such grievous anguish upon fellow beings. Furthermore, Nifilhema’s marked disinterest in the intricacies of intrigue, ambition, or the acquisition of power sets her apart from her fellow Demon Lords. While her unwavering focus on the pursuit of artistic perfection may initially captivate followers, it concurrently raises apprehensions concerning the moral and ethical boundaries she readily traverses under the auspices of her artistry. The frigid detachment characterizing her pursuit, coupled with her glaring indifference to the torment of others, serves as a stark testament to the misguided nature of her teachings. Baalphegar, the Prince of the Dark Fates Baalphegar, the Prince of the Dark Fates, personifies a misguided odyssey driven by the pursuit of knowledge and manipulation, underpinned by an ardent desire to subvert celestial belief and fundamentally reshape the world. Despite the allure of his profound intellectual acumen and intricate stratagems, his teachings inexorably navigate those who follow them towards a distorted conception of power and the deliberate transgression of ethical boundaries. Perhaps the most glaring and fundamental flaw embedded within Baalphegar’s teachings resides in the unwavering emphasis he places on elaborate and insidious machinations. His insatiable thirst for knowledge and his relentless quest to unveil the enigmatic mysteries that enshroud the world may initially appear riveting. However, it is crucial to recognize that these teachings mount a potent challenge to the bedrock principles of celestial belief, disrupting the delicate equilibrium between the Taint and strength. Through this subversion, Baalphegar systematically undermines the celestial ideal of the Light, casting aspersions upon their alleged sanctity and portraying them as power-hungry instigators of conflict and warfare. This subversion of celestial belief carries profound ethical and moral ramifications that demand a thorough examination. Furthermore, Baalphegar’s predilection for clandestine maneuvering and manipulation to control the balance between the Taint and strength underscores a covert approach to the acquisition of power. While the profundity of his intellectual prowess holds a captivating allure, it concurrently provokes intricate questions pertaining to the ethical implications inherent in the manipulation of the very fabric of reality and celestial belief. In this labyrinthine journey, we encounter the enigma of a Prince who treads the fine line between enlightenment and moral peril. While the allure of intellectual mastery and the subversion of celestial belief may hold an undeniable captivation, they beckon us to grapple with the profound moral and ethical enigmas that surface as one endeavors to unravel the very fabric of existence and exploit its intricacies to wield power. Baalphegar’s teachings, with their siren song of intellectual prowess, navigate us through a realm where the boundaries of moral and ethical understanding are put to the test, demanding a meticulous examination of the repercussions that arise from the deliberate subversion of celestial beliefs and the pursuit of power. Luciphage, the Supreme Master of Nil Luciphage, the Supreme Master of Nil, stands as the very epitome of strategic cunning and manipulation, a testament to the treacherous wisdom of subtlety and misdirection. His approach to leadership exudes an aura of calculated finesse and poised control, but it introduces a web of intricate moral and ethical considerations that scrutinize the essence of control, power, and ethical boundaries. At the epicenter of Luciphage’s teachings lies his unwavering predilection for subtlety as the paramount instrument for exercising dominion. His mastery unfurls in the realm of manipulation and misdirection, where every move is meticulously calculated and orchestrated with patience. This approach may superficially project a veneer of nuanced and deliberate leadership, yet it intertwines with moral implications of a profound nature that demand meticulous examination. The Supreme Master’s capacity to rule, founded on his artful control of souls and the orchestration of events, is irrefutably marked by its predilection for subtlety, defying conventional norms of overt power. Previously, Luciphage was bestowed with the title of the Lord of Compassion, reflecting a facet of his character starkly distinct from his current embodiment. His metamorphosis into the Supreme Master accentuates the fluidity of his leadership style, as he astutely discerns when to assert control and when to permit events to unfold without direct intervention. This acumen in maintaining a delicate equilibrium between command and passive observance further muddies the waters of moral and ethical contemplation, intricately enmeshing his rule. Luciphage’s teachings proffer a labyrinthine path that weaves together subtlety, manipulation, and the relentless pursuit of dominance. While the allure of strategic cunning and misdirection wields an undeniable sway, it simultaneously beckons us to wrestle with the moral and ethical enigmas that surface when events are meticulously manipulated and the sovereignty of souls is harnessed to sustain power and dominion. Conclusion Upon comprehensive scrutiny of the teachings disseminated by the Demon Lords, a panorama of profound moral conundrums, unrestrained extravagance, and intrinsic malevolence unfurls. Gorgulu, in his insatiable desire, emerges as a dire threat poised to subsume the very essence of one’s identity and moral rectitude. Ashtorath, the proponent of violence, elevates the realm of Nil to the precipice of chaotic tumult, where the tenuous equilibrium between order and disorder teeters. Nifilhema’s relentless commitment to cruelty subverts the cherished values of compassion and empathy, casting a shadow of moral desolation. Baalphegar, with his intricate machinations, menaces to dismantle the hallowed edifice of celestial faith, sowing the seeds of moral disarray. In contrast, Luciphage’s unyielding quest for dominion casts a pall over the foundations of ethical leadership, leaving them vulnerable to erosion. In this crucible of moral and ethical contemplation, it is of paramount import that we maintain unwavering vigilance in the face of these beguiling teachings. The allure, championed by the Demon Lords, comprising dominion, transformation, and untrammeled desire, possesses a deceptively enticing veneer that threatens to ensnare individuals upon the perilous precipice of moral decadence. In this ethereal realm, where the delineation separating luminance from obscurity is rendered indistinct, it becomes a categorical necessity to safeguard the sanctity of one’s moral compass. It is this moral compass, unwavering in its conviction, that acts as a stalwart bulwark against the seductive yet treacherous allure of wisdom disseminated by Nil’s enigmatic overlords. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** November 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Back to the Ivory](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/back-to-the-ivory/) **Published:** October 7, 2023 **Author:** Zulte **Content:** The sea glitters like a thousand blue diamonds. Rolling waves lapping against golden sands to leave trailing foamy hands; a lover’s fingers that longingly grasp. The sky is crystal – endlessly blue. Littered with fat clouds that beg a bite or curious hands to grasp and form into shapes only the eyes can see. And grasp them She does, little putty in her hands. They take wondrous shapes: animals, people, objects, things. All things to brighten and delight the minds of children who look upon Her clouds, fingers pointing, heads nestled close, eyes bright and wide. Their imagination spurs er own and the shapes and creates. Formless. Formed. An endless font of life that burns bright and white. A prism some where all colour comes and where all colour goes. Bleeding and breaking. But always back; back to the Ivory. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Enigmatic Earth Lords: Unveiling Their Significance](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-enigmatic-earth-lords-unveiling-their-significance/) **Published:** October 3, 2023 **Author:** Aiwynne **Content:** In the world of Geomancy, the Earth Lords stand as powerful and enigmatic beings, each embodying distinct aspects of the Earth element. They play a vital role in the lives of all Magnagorans, impacting everything from the shaping of landscapes to the pursuit of knowledge and the wielding of power. This paper aims to delve into the profound significance of the Earth Lords in everyday life, emphasizing the importance of respecting and understanding their roles within the framework of the Geomantic universe. The Earth Lords, including Klaymech, Bhalegu, Brom, Gravynia, and Terae, hold a unique place in Geomantic philosophy. They are not mere symbols, but embodiments of fundamental principles that shape the world. As we explore their significance, we begin to realize that the daily rhythms of life are intertwined with their influence, even if we do not always recognize it. These Earth Lords influence every facet of our lives, from the subtlest changes in the landscape to the pursuit of knowledge and the wielding of power. Today, let us embark on a profound journey to unveil the significance of the Earth Lords in our everyday existence. We shall explore the teachings of Klaymech, Bhalegu, Brom, Gravynia, and Terae who hold pivotal roles in Geomantic philosophy. It is my fervent belief that by comprehending the wisdom these Lords offer, we can harmonize our lives with the very essence of the Earth itself. Klaymech – The Bridge Between Worlds Our first Earth Lord, Klaymech, known as the Lord of the Soiled Earth, the Prince of Pollution. He is made of the abominable Water and blessed Earth, so Klaymech’s existence reflects the imperfections inherent in all living beings. In the daily ebb and flow of life, he teaches us that we, too, are imperfect, comprised of elements that do not always align harmoniously. Yet, it is through Klaymech’s essence that we come to terms with our own inner imperfections. Klaymech serves as a mirror, reflecting our own inner struggles and disharmonies. When we face moments of self-doubt or wrestle with our internal conflicts, we can turn to Klaymech for guidance. His teachings encourage us to embrace our imperfections, acknowledging that they are an intrinsic part of our existence. By doing so, we learn self-acceptance, humility, and the importance of embracing our own unique blend of elements. Bhalegu – The Keeper of Knowledge The second Earth Lord, Bhalegu, holds the title of the Lord of the Blasted Sands. He is the guardian of precious knowledge and lore symbolized by the sands that have been scoured by time and adversity. In our relentless pursuit of knowledge, we often encounter formidable obstacles that challenge our determination and conviction. Bhalegu, in his infinite wisdom, represents the trials and tribulations that we must conquer on our quest for wisdom. Life’s journey is replete with challenges that test our resolve and fortitude. These obstacles may manifest as academic pursuits, personal growth, or even the pursuit of our dreams and aspirations. When life’s challenges seem insurmountable, we should reflect upon Bhalegu’s teachings. He reminds us that the path to enlightenment is not a smooth one; it is riddled with hardships that test our resolve. It is through overcoming these challenges that we forge our characters and acquire true wisdom. Bhalegu’s essence underscores the importance of persevering through difficulties, for it is only through adversity that we truly learn and grow. Brom – The Strength in Conflict Brom, the Lord of the Pocked Boulder, embodies the unwavering strength and determination required in times of conflict and strife. In our daily lives, we encounter personal battles and external conflicts that test our mettle. Brom serves as a reminder that strength and endurance are essential virtues. When we feel overwhelmed by the trials of life, we can call upon Brom’s spirit to find the inner strength needed to face adversity with courage and determination. His teachings resonate with the enduring human spirit that refuses to yield in the face of challenges. Brom’s essence empowers us to stand firm and resolute when confronted with the tumultuous storms of existence. Whether it be the conflicts of our professional lives or the battles we wage within ourselves, Brom’s teachings remind us that strength lies within, waiting to be harnessed when needed most. Gravynia – The Queen of Balance Gravynia, Lady of the Cracked Stone. Her dominion encompasses the profound aspects of Earth, from the intricate canyons to the relentless earthquakes, and even the compelling lodestones. Gravynia is the guardian of equilibrium and harmony within the Earth, ensuring its undisturbed wholeness. In the grand tapestry of our interconnected world, Gravynia imparts vital lessons in equilibrium and preservation. She serves as a constant reminder that balance is the cornerstone of existence. Just as Gravynia maintains the Earth’s equilibrium, we, too, must strive to maintain balance in our lives. Her teachings extend to nurturing our connections with one another and preserving the environment for the generations yet to come. Gravynia’s essence is a profound testament to the importance of harmony, both within ourselves and in our relationship with the world that sustains us. She is the embodiment of the delicate equilibrium that governs our Earth and inspires us to become stewards of balance and guardians of preservation. Terae – The Scarred and Emboldened Terae, the Lady of the Wounded Crust, emerges as a figure of unique significance within the pantheon of Earth Lords. Her manifestation, an enormous mass of earth encased in a charred, cracked crust, commands awe and reverence. While her physical form may seem imposing, it is her teachings and symbolism that truly define her importance. In the past, Terae was seen as a representation of Geomancer power, a symbol of their unwavering strength and a protector against any who dared to challenge the supremacy of Geomancy. She embodied the indomitable spirit of those who harnessed the Earth’s might, serving as a living testament to their capabilities. Her presence was a reassuring reminder that Geomancers possessed the power to overcome any opposition or doubt cast upon their path. As time flowed onward, Terae’s role underwent a profound transformation. No longer confined to the realm of Geomancers alone, her wisdom transcended professional boundaries, becoming a source of inspiration and guidance for individuals from all walks of life. Her teachings convey invaluable lessons that resonate with the human spirit, regardless of one’s chosen vocation. Terae imparts the timeless lesson that strength resides within, even during the moments of solitude. In the quiet recesses of existence, one can tap into their inner reserves of power and achieve awe-inspiring feats. This principle reminds us that we are never truly alone, for our inner strength is an unwavering companion. Terae’s wisdom teaches us to wear our scars with pride. These marks, whether physical or emotional, are not symbols of weakness but rather testaments to our history and the battles we have won. They are evidence of our resilience and growth, etchings that remind us of our capacity to endure and emerge stronger. Adversity is not a force to be feared but an essential element of growth and renewal. The heat of life’s trials molds us, reforging our spirits into something stronger and more resilient. Terae’s teachings resonate with individuals seeking wisdom and guidance in their personal journeys. She reminds us that we each possess the inner strength to overcome obstacles, the pride to embrace our scars, and the capacity for renewal through life’s most trying moments. In the grand tapestry of the Geomantic universe, Terae’s presence shines as a beacon of enduring wisdom and inspiration. Conclusion: Reverence for Earth Lords The Earth Lords are not just beings on our blessed Plane of Earth but integral aspects of our existence in the Grand Dominion of Magnagora. Their teachings and influence permeate every facet of our lives, whether we consciously acknowledge it or not. To ignore or disrespect these Lords is to overlook the profound lessons they offer. In our daily endeavors, we should strive to embody the virtues represented by each Earth Lord. By embracing our imperfections, persevering through life’s challenges, finding inner strength, and maintaining harmony, we can live a life of great success and meaning. In doing so, we not only honor their presence but also contribute to the continued prosperity of our nation. As we depart from this contemplative journey, let us carry these lessons with us and integrate them into our lives, for the Earth Lords’ wisdom is an enduring source of guidance and inspiration. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Night in Snow Valley](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-night-in-snow-valley/) **Published:** October 1, 2023 **Author:** Freja **Content:** A cold night in Snow Valley! Wind, snow, and sabre-toothed cats! Oh my! **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Rhyme Time at Camelalia](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/rhyme-time-at-camelalia/) **Published:** September 16, 2023 **Author:** Eiselle **Content:** Gotta camel spittin’ rhymes, In the sunshine, Need a desert groove? He’s got the front line, Got that humpback beat, That you know is prime, Tracks that flow, Through the sands of time, In Gaudiguch, Watch for Camel’s spittin’ Camelalia! Yeah, the book is written, ‘Bout a contrary camel, No mere mortal can handle, Here’s an example, Time to marvel this mammal, Not your average camel beau, You can’t battle his flow, The Mirage Maestro, The star of the show, He’s got two humps, He’s not a dromedary, In the moonlit desert, He’s a visionary, He’s a survivor, He can take that heat, Struttin’ over dunes, With that bactrian beat, Hit up the camel rodeo, Yeah, give it a try. Can you hang on? Are you true ride-or-die? Hold on to that harness, Cause these camels ain’t harmless, There’ll be nothin’ but darkness, When they throw you the farthest, Wanna feed the camels? Gotta form a line, Join the caravan, Don’t get left behind, In Gaudiguch, Fun flows like wine, Strap on that harness, It’s adventure time, Now everyone is askin’, But the Sultan knows When the joke is comin’ ‘Bout those camel toes, Know this beat is sponsored, Had to put that in, Tonatiuh loves his jokes, Had to give him a win. No joke, though, Our camels can move, Got fellas feelin’ thirsty, Out there in the dunes, Got them boys confused You gotta wake up kid! How you gonna Try-to-wrangle, At the pyramid? Gotta camel spittin’ rhymes In the sunshine, Need a desert groove? He’s got the front line, Got that humpback beat That you know is prime, Tracks that flow, Through the sands of time. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Stars Above Your Wounded Sky](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-stars-above-your-wounded-sky/) **Published:** August 20, 2023 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** ``` The Stars Above Your Wounded Sky -2nd of Juliary, 656 CE- The ghost you'd chase while courting love, I knew her face, oh how I'd stare. Her hopes, her dreams, unknown to me, Just features painted fine and fair, Enshrined within this gallery. As if among the stars above, Her smile, her grace, her silver hair, Transfixed in place and memory. Could you not see, for all they share, Love more than living effigy? No one before your grief and pain That they were made to satisfy. No saviour parting silver rain, No shaman for your wounded sky. ``` **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Your Eyes Were Green With Me](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/your-eyes-were-green-with-me/) **Published:** July 31, 2023 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** ``` Your Eyes Were Green With Me -25th of Urlachmar, 655 CE- Did I lose you to the sea, Or were you the one to leave? I remember when your eyes were green. Traces like footsteps in the sand, Washed away from Verdant Land. Did I lose you to the sea, Sailing to shores beyond me? Cruel as kelpies 'neath the waves, Would you send me to my grave? I remember when you danced with me. Hands I held in joy and grief and wrath, Would you now deny my path? Did I lose to vision thin, Deceiving you and my kin? Did I lose you to the sea, Or were you the one to leave? I remember when your eyes were green. Mortal choice made this circumstance; Must we mark this our last dance? How'd I lose you to the sea, Sister once in fae fealty? Did I lose to vision thin On a distant horizon? I remember when you danced with me. Choices that we cannot reweave, It serves none for us to grieve. Did I lose to vision thin, That we could not be wherein? Did I lose to what could be / vision thin, On a distant horizon? I remember / I remember / I remember When your eyes were green / with me. ``` **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Changing Moon of Today and the Fae](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/changing-moon-of-today-and-the-fae/) **Published:** July 27, 2023 **Author:** Tredian **Content:** Gentle, cool, silver light from above shines through the leaves Waking up to laughter, rustles, nymphs whisper in the trees Nymphs? My vials decayed but perhaps my senses remain Bonds formed, minds melded, strings between hearts retain “My Child”, a voice behind me spoke, an apron hanging upon her neck “Defender”, from above a lady whose face some wrinkles bedeck “Beloved”, the maiden, singing before me, a kiss upon my head A toad croaks beside me, foot moves alone, stomps it dead Light leads me to follow, a willowisp who can resist Childe of the Moon, dance, fly, let your shadow untwist Ride upon your broom, roll, woosh from plane to plane Stare off against a pooka, cackle at thoughts insane Draw forth your hexes, taint creeps in the south Behold the light of Mother Moon spreads through your hands and through your mouth Sing with the banshee, sleep with a pixie, laugh with the brownie Cast off your tattered robe, dance naked in this country Mourn for the Broken Tower, curse the land with New Moon’s Dark But remember change is essential, take time to rekindle your spark Ethereal Guardian, Fae-friend, Chosen of Ellindel Keep the past close to heart Weave new stories from your spindle And don’t forget Brother Hart **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Necromentate](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-necromentate/) **Published:** June 30, 2023 **Author:** Nemetsk **Content:** Our smog was all gone. And the sun shined so bright. All our masters could say Was to stay out of sight! I lurked there with Ardrak. In shadows that fall. And said “Oh great Ardrak Give me demons to call!” To bright to go play and too clear to go out So we lurked in shadow of Necropolis route Nothing left to do then but Lurk! Lurk! Lurk! Lurk! We did not want to lurk. We’d much rather work! And lo Downstairs went Throb! How that throb made us bob! We gazed! Then it was there in all of its weight! We gazed! Lo the brain comes! The Necromentate! And it said to us, “Why doth ye lurk yon so late?” “Knoweth how clear ’tis Yea how sky is not foggy. Still can have we Much and more smog that is smoggy!” “Know we a great plan to enact,” Say yon brain. “Knoweth dark Nil schemes,” Sayeth Necromentate. “Such dark and great schemes. Showeth we now to ye. Thine Council Shan’t mind terribly if we please.” Thus Ardrak and I Know not the words to speak. The Council was not in the plane For the week. Then Kunthin said “Nay! Nay! Make yon brain hide in dream! Tell Necromentate Thou dost not want to scheme. It shouldst nay dwell thus. It shouldst nay be unchained. It shouldst nay dwell thus Whilst our Council abstained!” “Lo! Lo! Feareth not. Feareth not!” said the brain. “Mine schemes shalt not fail,” Say yon Necromentate. “Aye, we may make So much good smog, if thou wish, With a plan that we call Fi-fi-fi with Kunthin!” “Let me go!” said Kunthin. “This can not be allowed!” “Let me go!” said Kunthin. “Or I shalt have to howl!” “Feareth not!” said the brain. “We wilt not slay thee now We wilt thrash ye around Whilst we roll on the ground With a tome tentacled! And an imp on our head! Yet that is not ALL we can do!” Said the brain… “Gaze at we! Gaze at we thus!” said the brain. “With a wight and a ghoul On each tentacled limb! We can hold up two imps! We can hold up Kunthin! And a little toy clock! And some taint on a plinth! And see! We can thrash up and down on the ground! Yet more still abounds! Aye, yes More still abounds… “Gaze at we! Gaze at we! Gaze at we thus! It is bliss to thrash thus But one must know how. We can grasp tight the wight And the taint and the ghoul! We can hold Ardrak’s tomes! And Kunthin on a lamp! We can grasp the toy clock And a little ur’Guard! And see! With our maw We can eat a Death Knight! We can chew on the knight as we thrash on the ground! Yet more still abounds! Aye, yes More still abounds…” That is what the brain said… Till it fell on it’s head! It crashed down with a thump From the air by the dome. And Ardrak and I, Wrote it down in his tome! And Kunthin fell down, too. He fell into a shrine! He said, “Doth I wish this? Hark, nay! I would not. This be not a good plan,” Said Kunthin in a fit. “Nay, I do not wish it, Nay one tiny bit!” “Look upon thine plan!” Said Kunthin to the brain. “Yon Necropolis! Glance at this! Glare at that! Ye’ve crushed our toy clock, Crushed it deep in the ghoul. Shook Necropolis And bent thine new lamps. Ye should be downstairs! Whence The Council is out! Ye repair there at once!” Say Kunthin in the shrine. “Nay We enjoy hither. Aye, we fain it as brine! Say the Necromentate To Kunthin in the srine. “We shalt not go thence. We wish not to avaunt! Thus so,” said the Necromentate, “So so so… We shalt show thee Another good plan that we know!” And then it fled out. And, then, fast as a drain, The Necromentate Returned with some chains. A great many chains They wert bound with a rune. “Assay now this scheme,” Said the brain. “Don’t ye swoon!” Then it held the chains up With a bulge of it’s veins. “We name this scheme, smog-on-a-chain,” Said the brain. “At the end of these chains Many beasts to be found. Ye wilt find in them boons,” Said the brain with a howl. “We wilt pull on these chains Ye shalt try them so soon. Five beasts. And we call them Walrus and Camel, Parrot, Rabbit, and Snake. They want to make smog.” So yanking the chains Came the beasts all at once! Lo they flew with a crash. Then the Walrus did start with a slash from their claws and a swing from their tail And Ardrak and I Could not fathom a plan So we lurked in the dark While the beasts thrashed about We closed our eyes shut. But Kunthin said, “Nay! Nay! Thoses beasts should not be In this dome! Send them hence! “They should not be loose When the Council is out! Slay them hence! Slay them hence!” Said Kunthin in the shrine. “Feareth not, poltroon Kunthin,” Said the Necromentate. “These beasts art good beasts.” And it gave them a slap. “They art boons. Thou shalt see! We have brought them to scheme. They wilt give thee some smog On this bright, bright, bright day.” “Now, here is a scheme that they like,” Said the brain. “They like to light lamps,” Said the Necromentate. “Nay! Not in the dome!” Said Kunthin in the shrine. “They should not light lamps In the dome! They should not. Oh, the things they wilt bang! Oh, the guards they wilt hit! Oh, I do not wish it! Not one tiny bit!” Then Ardrak and I Saw them trample downtown. We saw those five beasts Bang their lamps on the walls! Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang! Along the streets downtown. The Camel and Snake! They crashed up! They fell down! Oh the damage was done The Warlady’s statue! Her statue with blood And the amaranth there. Then we saw the Rabbit Eat the head of a guard! Then the beasts ran about With great leaps, bounds and howls And with snarls and loud bleets And all manner of growls. And I said, “I do not like the chaos they bring! Should the Warlady see, Oh, who would she swing!” Then Kunthin said, “Hark! Hark!” Kunthin trembled with fear. “Warlady and Council return! Dost thou hear? Fi! What wilt they sentence us? What whilst she say? Oh, they shalt not favor To find us this way!” “Lo, do something! Quick!” said Kunthin. “Dost thou hear! I spied them. The Council! And Warlady near! So, as quick as ye must, Think of some plan to do! Ye must hurry to get rid the beasts from the zoo!” So as fast as I could, I went to chant up some webs. And I said, “With my webs I could trap them I bet. I bet, with my webs, I can trap those beasts yet!” Then I abjured my webs They sprayed out with a plop! And I had them! At last! Those five beasts had to stop! Then I said to the brain, “Now thou do as I say. Thou chain up those beasts And thou take them away!” “Alas!” said the brain. “Thou liketh not our plan… Alas. What a shame! What a shame! What a shame!” Then it grasped all the beasts and swallowed them up whole! And the brain went downstairs. With a sad countenance. “That is well,” said Kunthin. “Banished underground. Aye. But the Warlady comes! She wilt find our skies bright! And not a smog in sight And the lamps and the guards, We can not fix it all. We’ll hang in the courtyard!” And yet! Who returned to the dome? Why, the brain! “Fear not bright and clear skies,” Said the Necromentate. “We always uphold our ancient pact And so… We shalt show thee another Great scheme that we know!” Then we saw it fix up All the guards that wert dead. And the lamps, and statue, And the taint, and the webs, And the tomes, and the plinth. And the knight, and the wight, and the clock, and Kunthin. And the smog in the sky. Then it said, “That be that.” And then it was gone With a grin of it’s maw. Then the Council came And they said to us two, “Did thou make any schemes? Tell me. What did thou glean?” And Ardrak and I did not know What to say. Should we tell them The schemes that went on here today? Should we tell them of it all? Now, what should we do? Well… What would thou do If the Council asked thou? **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Noble](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-noble/) **Published:** June 27, 2023 **Author:** Sapphira **Content:** She is clothed in dignity and strength, they adorn her more regally than silks and pearls. No fear for the future pinches her noble visage, her proud head tilted, cheeks framed by artful curls. For she knows herself; confidence radiates in every step, she is a woman of the Engine, noble blood runs through her veins. The product of fine breeding and flawless etiquette, the distant world of the elite, the upper echelons is her domain. Diamonds dazzle about her throat as the lowly grovel at her feet, A glance from her, the sound of her voice, directed their way… to think that SHE, so far above, so beautiful and accomplished, would deign to notice, to know their NAME, to hear what they say! She is the epitome of achievement. Her refinement and poise are things to envy, to be like her is the wish of all who pass her by. A spine of steel, a heart of ice, she is composed in the chaos. Wisdom is her cloak, loyalty her staff. Hard and yet soft; yet why? Why does the rabble start to whisper? To find flaw and pull her under? In days of old they sought to be her, clamoured to just be near her, she was everything Magnagora would be, could be, should be. The voices chitter angrily, together they conspire, we can do better! Her sterling record matters naught, the many times she succeeded the example she sets, the perfection she represents, torn asunder. Jealousy bites hard, the foolish partake, “We are better! Forget her!” How quickly the past is dismissed, and all that once was revered goes under. Chaos turns the cogs of war, Magnagora rides above it, directs it, with a firm hand and fierce discipline, each knowing their place That is how success is born. She knew it, lived it, taught it. But they thought they knew better, in envy, with inferior race. Traditions begin to waver; her control slips, tension holds her now the culture we so admired threatened, disrespect and savagery hold court. Will she be forgotten? Is it time for change, the era moved on forever? Or should we mourn the loss of our heritage? What destruction have we wrought? **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Calliope](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/calliope/) **Published:** May 31, 2023 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** Calliope, the indulgent nereid, using Uzriel’s wizzer image box at a fragrant garden before the Theatre of Bloody Threnodies. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Lady of Lagoons](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-lady-of-lagoons/) **Published:** May 31, 2023 **Author:** Gurashi **Content:** After more than a thousand years, the Lady Li-varili is released from the Morokeshe Seat. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Presidio Blossoms](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/presidio-blossoms/) **Published:** May 27, 2023 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** Looking up at the cherry blossoms at midnight, only a single phrase comes to mind: “With this ink, I thee wed.” **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Sketch of Dreameater Moths](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/sketch-of-dreameater-moths/) **Published:** April 30, 2023 **Author:** Gurashi **Content:** The mothies of Mysrai’s Godrealm are all noisy and good! **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Inner Sea](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-inner-sea/) **Published:** April 28, 2023 **Author:** Zagreus **Content:** Light radiating from the Golden Temple pierces the crystal blue waters from above. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Tale of Ser Eduart, Deathknight of the Jackal](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-tale-of-ser-eduart-deathknight-of-the-jackal/) **Published:** April 28, 2023 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** The Tale of Ser Eduart Deathknight of the Jackal — The Spring — Every night the rains come. And every night, the butterflies take to hiding. But not me. I wait. While the other elfen warriors slumber, lost in their dreams caused by scattered stardust, I sit atop my steed, waiting for a thunder that rarely comes. When the lightning crackles, that is my sign to awaken and defend that which is my charge. The fae call it by one name, and thus it is the name that I use when I must speak of it: the Lo’varai Spring. They say that a single sip of the waters will grant you an audience with the fae. Others say that the vibrant pink flowers floating on the surface can cure the deepest heartbreak. Or that if you pour a pitcher of its waters over a nearby stone, you will conjure a storm so great that no animal, living or dead, will be able to withstand its fury. As the Spring’s protector, I can neither confirm nor deny such fanastical tales. I wait. I patrol the Dell, wondering if the butterflies will ever stay the night. If the rains won’t send them fluttering away into the shadows of the night. But as always, the rain begins to fall, and they leave me alone. Crack! Crash! Boom! That’s new. The thunder calls. A challenger approaches. I ride my steed with great haste, wondering how someone was able to get past my guard. Perhaps I am getting sloppy, dreaming of butterflies as they were the Restless Himself, among us. Careless thoughts. I spur my steed onward, with great haste to the Spring. And there, kneeling while holding a stone pitcher, is a man. He is tall and strong, wearing armor covered in barbs and spikes that makes his silhouette seem akin to a hulking demon instead of a man. Beams of moonlight sifting through the gaps in the trees illuminate a long, silver sword, shimmering with a tint of scarlet. And his back is turned to me… Lightning courses through the sky once more, nullifying the moonlight as the wind whips up. Deer, wild boar, mice, owls – all manner of beasts rush past me with wild, fearful expressions. The fool actually did it. “Who is the one who beckons this fateful storm? Whose hand has conjured the lightning and thunder that causes the Dell to quake in fear? Who holds a wish of death tonight, as payment for their transgressions?” The man stands, turning towards me as he hears my voice booming through the trees. “I am Ser Eduart,” he responds. “A Deathknight from the Engine.” The rain pours down in earnest, forcing the man to speak louder lest the waters drown out his words. “I wished to see if the stories were true.” Hmm. Even more of a fool than I had thought. “To test the validity of the stories,” I yell through the downpour. “You seek to only find answers through your own trials? Instead of attempting to learn through others who are familiar with the truth? And now the denizens here flee in fear of the storm you created, uprooted from their home just so you can satisfy your curiosity.” Droplets of rain cascade down his face. “My curiosity, yes. But also my bloodlust.” With a shout nearly drowned out by the thunder, he rushes across the wet grass. As he nears, I can see a wildness in his eyes and his calculated determination in his movements. This is no amateur. Hefting my spear, I press my heels into the horse’s side twice in quick succession, and the stallion charges to meet my challenger. My spear is poised and leveled to strike this foolish knight and end this madness. We are nearly on top of him when he slides to his knees, bending backwards so that he’s nearly parallel to the ground, using the slick ground to an uncharacteristic advantage as he slashes through the legs of my horse. The beast buckles, throwing my spear off balance as I suddenly find myself hurtling through the air towards the Spring. Slender blades of grass fail to cushion my fall, and I skid several meters through the mud. I raise my gauntleted hand to wipe off a chunk of sod wedged in my helm. My horse lies on its side, rainwater diluting the blood from its broken legs. “That won’t be the only blood shed this evening, knight.” My hand wraps tightly around the spear, twirling it once as I advance. “Arrrghh!” My spear thrusts forward, stabbing nothing but raindrops my assailant deftly steps aside. I lift the iron haft of the spear to parry his counterstrike, and we begin to circle each other in the glade. His silence is off-putting. Again, I thrust the spear, which the Deathknight grabs, pulling me forward into his waiting knee. Oxygen leaves my body as his knee connects a second time, forcing me to double over as his sword connects with the back of my platemail. My face meets the mud once more, but he does not press his advantage further. “I thought the guardian of this place would be a greater challenge, fitting of raising my knightly status. But it seems I was wrong.” Anger welling up within me, I stand. While I breathe heavily, his demeanor is deathly calm and controlled. For a third time, I advance, executing a well-practiced sequence of jabs and thrusts, forcing the Deathknight back as he prevents me from landing any meaningful blows. A rage fills me and my strikes become more reckless and wild, but still he does not seem phased. Finally, I manage to land a boot into his stomach and he reels backwards into the grass, dropping his blade. My eye darts briefly toward the Spring and my horse as I lift my spear to drive it into my challenger. But I fail to see his knife. In an instant, the cold metal is inside of me. Knees bend. I teeter in the rain, and he retrieves his sword. “The Engine accepts your sacrifice.” And I know that this time the butterflies will not return. — The Warning — At first I was upset that my husband perished. And then I was more upset when I learned that he was bested so quickly. Were we happy? Of course. He was the love of my life. We met at a young age and he swept me off my feet into a field of honeysuckle and daffodils. That’s where we spent much of our time – outdoors enjoying nature. As he pursued his cavalier training, others took notice of his dual interests, and that’s how he was recruited to guard the Spring. It wasn’t an easy transition, by any means. His station meant standing vigil all night protecting the Spring, and sleeping during the day when he returned. There were already precious few hours during the day, but now we had even less time together. He took his appointment incredibly seriously – as he should – and that meant that our days filled with sunshine and weaving crowns of flowers were behind us. At least his watch has ended now. When I heard the news from Elyssia, my handmaid, we watched out the window of our manor along the cliffs of the Shallach River, overlooking the Dell. The storm was terrible beyond reason. And when a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows at our door, rain slicking off him like a waterfall, I knew that it was his killer. You could sense the death around him. He stood there for what seemed like hours as the downpour continued. Finally, I sent Elyssia down to see what he wanted or what we could give him to make him return from whence he came. The man, Ser Eduart as I came to learn, sought our home, citing his victory over my husband as reason enough to stake his claim. And so I went out into the pouring rain to meet him, my own eyes still burning with the fresh tears of loss, to chastise him for daring to make such an absurd request without even letting a single moon pass. It was obvious that this knight did not expect to be met with such hostility, and certainly not with this boisterousness out of a newly-minted widow. “You’re right, Sunniva. I should have waited. But due this manor will be mine, as it was rightfully earned.” “But you did not earn the right to remove those of us living here.” My voice was loud, even against the stormy backdrop. “We have every right to remain here, even it it means living under your watchful fist.” Ser Eduart nodded. “Very well. I shall not force you out, but save for personal effects this manor and its contents and lands now belong to me.” In the following weeks, it became evident that Ser Eduart wasn’t aware that, through his actions, he was now responsible for guarding the same spring that my husband once did. After much insistence, he agreed to take up the spring as his ward. But the months passed and the Deathknight became agitated with a nocturnal life of guarding something whose properties he did not believe in. He would come back in the mornings grumbling and seething, feeling stuck in his position that he had put himself in. For Elyssia and I, it would seem like this would be an improvement of our situation; his complete focus was on the spring and not on us. In reality, this almost made it worse, making us feel like wraiths haunting the memory of a life that died without us. One morning, Ser Eduart returned in a disturbingly chipper mood. “I will be leaving today.” Obviously, this caught my interest. “What do you mean you are leaving? You won’t be staying here any longer as you protect the Spring?” He shook his head. “I’m done with the Spring. It’s given me nothing but trouble and revealed none of its secrets.” This was quite the development. “If that is what you want. Although the Spring demands you return within a year or things will get much worse for you. If you think the privilege of guarding its secrets is a burden now, it’s nothing compared to the tragedies that will befall you.” With a skeptical laugh and a wave of the hand, the Deathknight disregards my warning. “The original stories of the Spring lacked any semblance of truth. Why would yours dissuade me any differently?” That night, he was gone. — The Madness — The grinding Earth, the tumbling stones. Unyielding mountains in unequal measures, towering and falling and rising all at once. Glorious to witness among the dust and the dirt, even as these wings of stone cease their ability to carry me. The ground is much better, yes? Tossing and turning, the soil churns over itself, swallowing the grubs and the other things that crawl on their bellies. Always reshaping into a better, more perfect form. And yet, the Earth isn’t able to consume everything it seems. This man, stumbling over stone and cliff, wild as the rocks that slide and eyes run rampant with torment. He is a knight of some kind, yes? The armor is recognizable but vastly out of care. As if he thinks it to be grafted to his skin but still seeks to tear it from himself. A curious thing indeed, yes? Even as I get closer, I can’t discern what this strange man is doing. His gaunt face screams starvation but his unkempt hair screams paranoia. And his mouth screams…screams. Why has he come to grovel in the dirt to which he will return someday? Or is it his hope to end the madness inside and have his homecoming early? This is a man who has lost everything, yes? But wait. This armor seems so familiar because it is. There’s just so much dirt and grime clinging, desperate to be carried anywhere but here, but there really is no mistaking that this is a Deathknight. How does a Deathknight fall this far from the service of the Lords and Lady, instead wailing amongst the Mountains in a reverie of their namesake? Without some direction, this will be his grave. He will not be the same, but perhaps one day he will return to his former glory. Although the Earth is hungry, yes? We could just ignore him until his tired corpse is swallowed by the maw of the Mountain, as is the inevitability of all things. Lord Brom would agree, I’m sure of it. And the lindwyrms might be content to gnaw on the bones, if any remain. Or perhaps…the Earth will make an example of him. Reshape him, yes? Return this broken body to the ground and form a superior one from the clay it creates. He is mostly dirt already, it would only take a few moments… And there it goes. The Earth must have been starving for something other than rocks and stone. It was fun while it lasted, watching him stumble about without knowing that his end was near. Nothing left to keep my attention, yes? To dust he has returned. Or…wait. What’s this, rising from the bowels of the Mountains? It does appear that the Earthen Caretakers have other plans for this one. And dare I say, the stone looks good on him. — The Jackal — The Blasted Lands have been my home for as long as I can remember. Most see it as a barren place where everything is doomed to die and where life is squandered. Everybody fights for every scrap that they have -the rams, the scorpions, the dogs, the bobcats, and us…the jackals. It’s all ripe for the taking, and only the bold survive here. And those who wander through here not knowing how to tell a mound of sand from a gravedigger pit, well, they deserve to fall in. Speaking of, here comes a man now. Ah, he has an aura about him that oozes confidence but oftentimes that’s a pitfall just waiting to happen. He’s practically strutting across the cracked ground. Does he even see the mound? This will be delightful. The gravedigger bursts from the ground but the man snaps into action, drawing a blade quicker than most eyes can track and slicing towards the predatory creature. As the ground gives way and begins to fall into the gravedigger’s domain, the sword is already buried in its skull. Oh my, that was…impressive? Let me get a bit closer to inspect this strong human. As I patter around the hole, the man looks up at me. He yanks his bloody sword from the gravedigger skull and hoists himself back up. Even though I’m a bit larger than the others in the pack, he still towers over me. “You are awfully curious, don’t you think? Never seen a Stonelord before?” Stonelord? The spiked armour says Deathknight, but he says Stonelord. Could this be a new era in the supremacy of the Engine? A wielder of a blade with mastery over the powers of stone and demons would be quite the force indeed. Someone who would want for nothing. Bold. A survivor. And more. I lower my head down, arching my back in a concave fashion in a bowing motion towards this Stonelord. Slowly, the man bends down, picking up some of the rusty silt in his fingers, crushing it. He rubs the dust between eyes, marking me with the sign of Earth. “I shall call you Aya. We are bonded together now, you and I.” Despite my history of survival and distrust, this man feels much different than the people I have encountered before. There is something about him that makes me feel as though we are connected through the very ground we tread upon. This will be favorable; a mutual relationship. Great things are in our future. — The Return — It’s been well over a year since I left Sunniva and the estate. I should have heeded her warnings, but frankly, I felt that it was nothing more than outdated superstition on her part. To this day, I still do not understand why so many seek to tap into the Spring’s powers, considering that I have yet to see any benefits manifest from its waters. Detriments, on the other hand, hit me in a much more personal way. I did not take Sunniva’s warning seriously, and by casting my duty aside, madness befell me. It is possible that I was in this state for an extended period of time, but I should really be dead. If not for the compassion of Earth, my story would have reached its conclusion. Instead, I was given a second chance to fulfill my duty to the Engine. Cleansed of my mental afflictions and rebuilt from the Mountains, I knew that I didn’t want to waste the opportunity that I was given. This meant fulfilling my oath and my duty to the Spring. With Aya at my side, I am now ready to return to Sunniva and restore myself as the Spring’s guardian. Before I even arrive at the manor, I see a black plume of smoke billowing on the horizon. I begin to jog, fearing the worst. At long last, I crest over the hill and see the entire estate engulfed in flame, and the azure banners of Paladins, no doubt proselytizing through an ironic baptism of fire. I spur Aya onwards, hoping that there are still survivors. The first few Celestines are caught unawares, not expecting a combatant to emerge from their flank to thwart their advance. But after the first lay victim to my blade, their death rattles alert the others. They begin to surround us in the courtyard. Blade held at the ready, I brace myself. The first charges with an axe, lifting it high overhead. It’s easy to step underneath and slice laterally across his stomach before turning to face the next. As we engage, our blades clashing a fiery and reflective reverie, a third attacker connects with his pommel in my back. My knee drops to the ground, hoping to withstand both blows at once. Suddenly Aya comes to life, leaping onto one of the assailants, pinning them to the ground. In a flurry of jaws and slobber, the Paladin’s light is extinguished. This allows me to fully block the other attack, pressing my advantage to force them backwards. A bash from their shield repels my advance, creating separation. It matters not to Earth. Without warning, the ground beneath the Paladin rises up in a stony pillar, lifting them from their feet and sending them hurtling into the ground. Disarmed, they reach their untimely end quickly and without fanfare. My chest heaves. Mere seconds have passed but it feels like eternity. It’s good to be back. Without wasting any further time, I gesture towards the jackal and we head towards the manor proper. I wipe my blade off on a now-useless Paladin standard, leaving silty pebbles to mingle with the blood like a gritty, crimson paste as it smears across the fabric. The entire building is swallowed by flame. “Stay here Aya.” I dip my head below the smoke as I step through the doorway, yelling into the inferno. “Sunniva! Elyssia!” The hungrily licking flames answer with a crackling pop, but there is no evidence that anybody living remains. A year ago these people meant nothing to me, and yet I still feel as though I’ve failed an obligation to them, just as much as I failed mine with the Spring. Turning back to the jackal, a sigh escapes my lips. The bodycount is in my favor, yes, but the scales are not even. “Eduard?” My head whips around to the trees where the voice originated. There, two figures stand partially obscured by the foliage. “I thought you had perished. Why did they come? To what end?” Sunniva shakes her head. “They thought we had secrets about the Spring. Even with nobody standing vigil, it seems that the Spring’s magics are dormant. Or perhaps, because of it.” After how I treated this people, any hope for a relationship other than mutual acknowledgement is impossible. “I’m…glad you’re alright. I should have listened to you, and heeded your warning. Instead, I let my selfishness get the better of me.” The fire continues to crackle and the sickly acrid smoke blossoms upwards into the sky, the burnished amber light of Father Sun’s descent unable to pierce its cloud. “This is where I leave you for now. But I will return in the morning.” Their eyes show disapproval, as if nothing has changed. “To help you rebuild. Until you are made whole once more. I will rest my head elsewhere, but I owe you that much, at least.” Both Sunniva and Elyssia seem confused as they look to each other. “Aya here will stay with you and keep watch. She’s an adept hunter too, so use the fire that’s already here.” A simple nod, and I turn towards the woods. Night casts its umbral cloak over the Basin as the nocturnal creatures awake from their slumber. The ground is dry, cracked, and parched. But as I near the Spring, the brown gives way to green. It seems so innocent a thing. I place a hand on the hilt of my sword as darkness overtakes the land. The gentle patter of raindrops joins the chorus of crickets and owls, delicately falling on the trees. Cool and crisp, the waters do little to wash away the Earth clinging to my armour. A solitary butterfly lands on my gauntlet. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Magnagora Personified](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/magnagora-personified/) **Published:** April 25, 2023 **Author:** Sapphira **Content:** Magnagora is a nation that has bred many notable and accomplished citizens, reknowned the world over in many fields. It has produced mighty warriors, fearless explorers, brilliant scholars, sage priests, ingenious artists and all manner in between and combined. Many Ascendants have risen from Magnagora, both Vernal and True, and many have stood triumphant as sealbearers – in some cases, repeatedly. It is one of these people I honour today, a mortal man of countless achievements recognised basin-wide who stands as one of Magnagoras most decorated and admired citizens. That mortal is Kalas Zagreus, formerly known as Kalas Ixion. Older than dirt – if the stories are to be believed – Kalas Ixion has lived in and served Magnagora for essentially his entire life. Founder of House Kalas which has since risen to stand among the other Great Houses in the city, his existance has ever been devoted to serving and furthering the engine of transformation. In the time before, he was a member of the ur’Guard, rising to lead the guild in different capacities, including sitting on the Iron Council. Aside from his dedication to his guild, his devotion to Lord Morgfyre, is well-known, and recognised in his position as the Devouring Blade, avatar of He Who Is Legion. There is little he has not done in practical terms within the city, from working in ministries to ensuring local security, from supporting the arts to educating the young. His impeccable record speaks of a model citizen, who is unwaveringly loyal and committed. It is more than these run-of-the-mill acts of service that set Kalas Ixion apart, and for the sake of being concise I shall list some of his famous achievements. As an explorer, he has for a long time been the undisputed leader in the field, as well as the first person to be recognised for traversing the entire basin, leaving no corner undiscovered. A remarkable feat, I am sure you will agree! In matters of experience and divine essence, again he has risen above all others, boasting the greatest pool of personal essence among all the explorers in the basin of life. In other manners less easy to quantify, he has proven himself time and time again to be an astute puzzler and philanthropist, helping no small number of denizens within Lusternia with tasks and intrigues, or uncovering secrets and foiling plots. So much so, that rumour has it he is the most lauded mortal for his selfless efforts. When most people think of Ixion, or as he is now, Zagreus, they think of a formidable warrior. Stepping foot on the battlefield, terror fills the hearts of his enemies, while his allies stand with renewed confidence. His prowess with a blade – or chain – is undisputed, the piles of bodies and numerous heads adorning his trophy bearing witness to his success. Further proving his mastery over death is the medallion he bears, marking him as a sealbearer, triumphing in the challenge of death. And this is merely one of the medallions he has won! Always rising to the challenge when a threat to the seals arises, he has also won the seal of War, the seal of harmony, the seal of justice, and twice the seal of chaos, the final time seeing him rise to become True Asendant Zagreus and restore the seals that protect us all. It’s easy to list off the many accomplishments of Kalas Zagreus, and paint a picture of a merciless over-achiever, who dominates and excells at everything he puts his hand to, but it is the heart and soul of the Devouring Blade that sets him apart. To his core, he is Magnagoran, exemplifying the ideals that have led our nation to prominance. Strength and fortitude colour his actions, ever fighting to overcome, to improve, to not just rest in content mediocrity but instead adapting and changing and thus becoming ever greater. And yet he is still a single cog in a mighty machine, turning in concert with his peers – encouraging and supporting his city mates, teaching and guiding the young and old alike, never turning away from responsibilities or a genuine need, that the wheels of progress might ever keep turning. Kalas Zagreus stands as the shining example of Magnagora’s success – it matters not how other nations might despair or envy, still he continues on his path, reaching new heights, expanding his influence. He is deserving of respect and admiration, from citizens and foreigners alike. Indeed, if all we Magnagorans followed his example, the glory of our nation would outshine the very sun, with all others falling to our influence. I recognise your service, Kalas Zagreus, and I am grateful for all you have done to shape us, and keep doing to propel us into the future. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Only Real Path](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-only-real-path/) **Published:** April 19, 2023 **Author:** Lendren **Content:** A man may suffer greatly when encased by bounds and rules, be held in ropes and cages and made feeble foil of fools; Yet a man can free his body with his strength and wits and tools, but the tightest of all shackles, those we place on our own souls. A woman stands and shouts at sun and moon and sky and sea, proclaiming to the world what she declares herself to be, and laughs when half the world closes their eyes and will not see, avowing “the only one I really must convince of this is me.” A person seals their happiness away with key and lock and prison made of expectations of the thronging flock when trying to conform to how others set their mark, but finding your true self is the only real path you walk. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Unchanging Grace](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/unchanging-grace/) **Published:** April 9, 2023 **Author:** Cienoa **Content:** Standing comfortably beneath her Arbour Does Raziela sing No sword No armor Her voice empowered by the Light Her hands held open A warm invite Against the Taint does she stand No flame to wield No shield in hand But she does not shy from taking action Through Love Through warmth And with Compassion Come Those weary Those worn Those forgotten Find rest in her embrace Lie amongst her daisies A bastion of Love for the downtrodden Come Those tainted Those stained Those confused Find cleansing in her dazzling pink light Relax beneath her boughs A bulwark against that which has left your mind, body, and spirit bruised So come All who seek her embrace Love unconditional Unchanging grace **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Unlocking the Magic of Enigmatic Medley Stew: A Journey of Self-Discovery](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/unlocking-the-magic-of-enigmatic-medley-stew-a-journey-of-self-discovery/) **Published:** March 25, 2023 **Author:** Eiselle **Content:** This latest publication is a feature of my latest recipe. **The Enigmatic** **Medley Stew.** This stew is perfect for any occasion! It’s a warm, comforting stew that will surely please everyone’s taste buds. Tender carrots, wild onions, and sunflower seeds are simmered in aromatic herbs, spices, and honey for a rich, hearty flavor. The secret ingredient adds an extra layer of complexity that will have everyone guessing. This stew recipe is not just a delicious meal but can also serve as a source of inspiration and enlightenment. As you savor each spoonful of the Enigmatic Medley Stew, you can contemplate the story of Tomez in later pages and follow his journey of self-discovery, as well as the core values of the Seekers Guild in Gaudiguch. The warm and comforting flavors of the stew can help you relax and reflect on your path to enlightenment. The subtle hints of cinnamon and ginger can stimulate your senses and encourage you to think deeply about your unique abilities and gifts. The sunflower seeds can represent the potential for growth and renewal, while the wild onion can symbolize life’s journey’s unexpected twists and turns. Incorporating these reflective elements into the experience of enjoying a meal can provide a moment of peace and introspection, a time to slow down and focus on personal growth and understanding. The Enigmatic Medley Stew can remind us that even the most seemingly ordinary moments can hold deep meaning and insight and that our everyday actions can contribute to our journey toward enlightenment. — Are you just looking for the recipe? Well, you can find the recipe in this book, but be aware that there is a secret ingredient that you’ll need to complete the dish. To find it, you’ll have to read through the pages. To make your journey a bit easier, I’ve included a puzzle for you to solve. It’s a word search that contains a hint of how you can find the secret ingredient for this Enigmatic Medley Stew. See if you can find all the words! E T E R C E S F O N J C G E H T T K R N V G Y F W Y L W T S N Z U S J R H E D H L O O L B K K E H T P E E L Y S W O N K H U T C H D T H U T R E T C A R A H C W X A Y P G N I A M — # **Featuring the Ingredients** In my learning and exploration, I have found that the Seekers Guild is an elusive and mysterious group that values knowledge, wisdom, and exploration. My journey has been parallel to the ideals and values of the Seekers, taking me through different lands and cultures and, along the way, discovering truths and knowledge that I used to grow and excel. My findings in my journey are similar to the ingredients I have used in my stew. These ingredients are not only nourishing but also hold significant meanings and histories. To fully understand this stew’s deliciousness and flavors, you must understand how each ingredient relates to the Seekers Guild and its values. Read on to enlighten your mind and senses concerning carrots, wild onions, sunflower seeds, galingale, marjoram, cinnamon, honey, and a special secret ingredient. **Carrots** Carrots make up the main base of this stew, an integral ingredient. They symbolize perseverance and determination as they can grow in harsh conditions requiring strong roots to survive. Carrots are also known for their long growing season, requiring patience and dedication from those who must tend the crop and wait for the carrots to mature before harvesting fully. The farmer must possess perseverance, determination, and dedication to yield a fruitful harvest. These traits that highly valued by the Seekers Guild. Just as carrots thrive and grow even in adverse conditions, the Seekers persist in their quest for knowledge and enlightenment, no matter their obstacles. **Wild Onions** Onions are known for their many layers, and just as a Seeker must peel back the layers of knowledge to reach enlightenment, an onion must be peeled to reveal its flavorful layers. The Seekers value the process of exploration and discovery, just as they value the importance of every layer in the onion, which can add depth and complexity to a dish. Like carrots, onions are also known for their ability to grow in harsh conditions. Wild onions can grow in abundance in places where they are unwanted. Very much like the Seekers who persevere in their quest for knowledge and understanding, no matter their obstacles. **Sunflower seeds** Sunflower seeds add a mild nutty flavor to the stew. Sunflowers are known for their ability to track the sun and can be seen as a symbol of loyalty and devotion. The Seekers value loyalty to their companions, their quest, and devotion to the knowledge they seek. **Galingale and Marjoram** Marjoram and galangal are two herbs that are often used in potions. Marjoram is a necessary ingredient in mana potions to enhance mental strength and clarity, while galingale is used in health potions and is associated with healing and wellness. Marjoram, with its sweet and slightly floral taste, galangal, is intense and slightly spicy flavor similar to ginger. When combined, these two herbs can provide both mental and physical benefits. Whether used in a potion or added to a dish, marjoram, and galangal are powerful combinations that can help support the mind and body. **Cinnamon** In cooking, cinnamon is often used to add depth and complexity to dishes. It pairs well with sweet and savory flavors and is a versatile spice that can be used in various dishes. Just as cinnamon adds layers of flavor to a dish, Seekers seek to uncover the layers of knowledge and truth beneath the surface. **Honey** Honey can be difficult to find, produced in small amounts by bees or in the ethereal realm. This rarity represents the knowledge that Seekers hope to attain. It takes patience and skill to find and harvest. This natural sweetener is valued for its rich and indulgent flavors. It represents the idea of balance and moderation. The Seekers understand the importance of balance in their lives, as they must balance their quest for knowledge with their physical and emotional needs. **Secret ingredient** This recipe contains a secret ingredient that can be found in clues in the pages of this book. This ingredient adds a unique flavor that fully compliments the dish providing the harmony and wholeness that seekers attain when they reach enlightenment. It is up to you to discover its identity through careful exploration. The Enigmatic Medley Stew contains ingredients that provide nourishment and hold significant meanings and histories related to the values of the Seekers Guild. By incorporating these ingredients into their recipe, the Seekers nourish their bodies and honor the values guiding their journey. So the next time you enjoy a hearty bowl of stew, take a moment to reflect on the hidden meanings and histories behind the ingredients and remember the Seekers who have diligently worked to discover them. # Story of my Youth Making the recipe and preparing this stew reminds me of a bedtime story my mother would tell me when I was young. My mother told me of a village that celebrated the Festival of Transformation. The festival was only held once every fifty years and was meant to give a blessing to each new generation. The festival’s focus was a magical stew, said to grant all who consumed a new magical power. With their new powers, those chosen to consume the stew emerged as heroes of the village, using their new magical powers to protect and aid the village. My mother told me of Tomez Nels, a sweet furrikin boy who was one of the chosen to eat the stew. He and his five peers eagerly awaited the gifts that would be granted to them. On the day of the Festival of Transformation, the entire village gathered in the town square to witness the momentous occasion. Tomez and his peers stood before a large, expectant crowd, their hearts pounding with anticipation. The village elder, a wise and ancient furrikin, presented them with steaming bowls of the magical stew, its aroma filling the air with a sense of promise and wonder. With excitement and nervousness, Tomez and his peers raised their bowls in unison as the crowd cheered them on. They took their first bites of the stew, feeling its warmth spread through their bodies, and sensed the magic beginning to work wonders. As they finished their bowls, the crowd erupted in applause, eagerly anticipating the moment when Tomez and his friends would discover the magical powers they had been granted. In the days following the Festival of Transformation, Tomez watched with joy and envy as his peers discovered and mastered their newfound abilities. He marveled at how one of his friends could manipulate the elements, creating small whirlwinds or summoning sparks of fire with a mere flick of the wrist. Another friend discovered the ability to communicate with animals, engaging in conversations with birds, squirrels, and other creatures. At the same time, yet another found they could easily heal the sick, their touch soothing ailments and injuries. Despite his happiness for his friends, Tomez couldn’t shake the nagging worry that he, alone among them, had not been granted a magical power. He spent his days searching for any sign of a latent ability, trying to summon fire or wind, speaking to animals, or attempting to heal small cuts and bruises on his own body. But no matter how hard he tried, Tomez found no evidence of a magical gift. As the days turned into weeks, Tomez grew increasingly disheartened. He couldn’t understand why the stew’ enchantment had overlooked him. His friends, noticing his distress, tried their best to console him, suggesting that his power might take longer to manifest. But deep down, Tomez feared he would never discover his magical ability. Tomez continued to search for his elusive power, refusing to give up hope. One day, deep in thought, while he was sitting by the village well, he overheard a conversation between merchants and one of the village leaders. As the merchant spoke, he felt a stirring in his mind and could sense something was wrong with what the merchant was saying. As Tomez focused more intently on the conversation, he began understanding the nature of his growing unease. The merchant discussed a shipment of goods they planned to bring into the village in the coming days. However, as the merchant spoke, Tomez felt a sudden clarity wash over him. He could sense the deceit in the merchant’s words as if he could see through the lies and perceive the hidden truth. Excited and bewildered, Tomez realized he had finally discovered his gift: the power of discernment, an ability to tell the truth from fiction. He knew he had to act quickly and use his newfound power to protect the village from potential harm. As the day of the shipment approached, Tomez kept a close eye on the merchants, using his gift of discernment to monitor their activities. When the goods finally arrived, he was prepared. He carefully inspected the items, discovering that many were potentially dangerous. The food was spoiled and infested with insects, while some of the tools and clothing carried the risk of spreading disease. Tomez knew that if the villagers were to consume or use these contaminated goods, it could lead to widespread illness and suffering. Determined to protect his village, Tomez sought out the village elder and explained the situation. Together, they confronted the merchants and demanded they immediately remove the tainted goods from the village. Realizing they had been exposed, the merchants hastily complied, their deceitful intentions foiled by Tomez’s gift. The villagers, now aware of the danger they had narrowly avoided, were immensely grateful to Tomez for his vigilance and the use of his discernment to protect them from harm. The village elder praised Tomez’s wisdom and dedication, acknowledging his unique power’s crucial role in safeguarding their community. Tomez’s heroic actions served as a powerful reminder to the people of the village that every individual’s gift, no matter how subtle or seemingly insignificant, held the potential to create a significant impact. Through his journey of self-discovery and embracing his gift, Tomez saved his village from disaster and inspired others to value and nurture their unique abilities. **Thoughts** The story of Tomez and his journey of self-discovery relates to the Seekers Guild in several ways. The Seekers Guild, much like Tomez, is dedicated to the pursuit of truth, enlightenment, and understanding the mysteries of the world around them. By developing and embracing his unique gift of discernment, Tomez embodies the values and morals of the Seekers Guild in his quest to protect his village. The Seekers Guild encourages its members to push the boundaries of understanding and challenge the limits of knowledge. Tomez’s journey aligns with this goal as he continues to search for his power, refusing to give up hope, even when the truth seems elusive. He ultimately uses his discernment to expose the deceit and protect his village, showcasing the importance of seeking truth and understanding. Furthermore, the Seekers Guild emphasizes the importance of individuality and the uniqueness of each person’s path to enlightenment. In the story, Tomez’s power of discernment may initially seem subtle or insignificant compared to his peers’ more obvious magical abilities. However, his gift proves invaluable, demonstrating that every person has a unique contribution and that even the most seemingly hidden talents can have a profound impact. Overall, the story of Tomez and his discovery of the power of discernment illustrates the core values of the Seekers Guild, highlighting the importance of pursuing truth, embracing individuality, and recognizing the potential within oneself. Tomez’s journey inspires all those seeking enlightenment and understanding, reflecting the core beliefs of the Seekers Guild. As my readers reflect on the story of Tomez while enjoying my delicious stew, I hope they are reminded of the importance of self-discovery and embracing one’s unique gifts and talents. # The Recipe Are you ready to prepare the Enigmatic Medley Stew and embark on a journey of flavors and self-discovery? Before you start, ensure you have all the utensils and items necessary to create this magical dish. Here is a list of everything you’ll need to make this hearty and nourishing stew: **Utensils:** A large pot or cauldron A stirring spoon or ladle A sharp knife Cutting board Measuring spoons **Ingredients:** 2 handfuls of olive oil 1 large wild onion, chopped 4 cups of water 4 large carrots, cut and sliced into coins 2 large handfuls of roasted sunflower seeds 1 handful of freshly peeled galingale 1 handful of fresh marjoram 1 pinch of ground cinnamon 4 spoons of honey Salt and pepper to taste 1 secret ingredient Make sure to gather all these items before you start cooking. A sharp knife will make it easier to chop the wild onion, and a cutting board will provide a stable surface to work on. Using spoons will help you add the right amount of spices and herbs, while a stirring spoon or ladle will make mixing the ingredients in the pot easier. As for the ingredients, make sure you have fresh galingale and marjoram, which will give the stew a unique and flavorful taste. The secret ingredient will add an element of surprise and mystery to the dish, while the roasted sunflower seeds will provide a satisfying crunch. Lastly, remember to taste the stew and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Remember, the furrikin handfuls used in this recipe are specific to this dish, and using smaller or larger handfuls of an ingredient could significantly impact the flavor. With all the necessary utensils and ingredients gathered, you are ready to begin your journey of self-discovery with the Enigmatic Medley Stew. **Instructions:** 1\. Heat the olive oil over a roaring flame in a large pot or cauldron. 2\. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened 3\. Stir in water, carrots, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, galingale, and marjoram 4\. Bring the mixture to a boil, dampen the flames, and simmer until the carrots are tender. 5\. Stir in the honey and secret ingredient, and season with salt and pepper to taste. 6\. Allow the stew to simmer for several minutes to let the flavors meld. 7\. Serve the Enigmatic Medley Stew hot, with crusty bread or a side you choose. 8\. Enjoy the warmth and comfort of enlightenment # Final Thoughts In pursuing knowledge, we must be patient, persistent, and open-minded. Just as the flavors of this stew come together over time, so too must our understanding of the world around us. We must peel back the layers, explore every angle, and embrace new perspectives to gain enlightenment. The ingredients in this stew represent important qualities valued by the Seekers Guild, such as perseverance, loyalty, and dedication. And just as each ingredient adds a unique flavor and texture to the dish, so too do our experiences and knowledge shape who we are as individuals. So, let this stew be a reminder to us all that the journey toward enlightenment is a challenging one. It requires hard work, dedication, and a willingness to explore the unknown. But with patience, persistence, and an open mind, we can discover truths and knowledge that can change our lives forever. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Understudy: Part 1](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-understudy-part-1/) **Published:** March 24, 2023 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** The world is a haze. A seething, churning cloud populated with an inky, smoggy blackness. In a few moments, the darkness achieves various hues of gray, coiling out into a cloudy sky above the sooty skyline of a sprawling city. The hissing turbulence of steam accompanies the grinding of clockwork as the tenements bathe in their emissions. Winding through the city are bustling streets, filled with all manner of people rushing about. There are sickly sweet smells; burning incense, acrid smoke, and sizzling meats. The sounds of active market life are almost enough to drown out screams that echo from dark alleyways, ignored and dismissed as commonplace by the busy people. Cut into one of these buildings is a dingy archway. A rusty sign swings lazily above the doorway, embossed with a chipped logo resembling a bubbling sapphire vial. A young boy, no more than ten, steps out from the dark archway. His jet-black hair glistens with sweat as he steps down to the street, the morning sun causing his magenta skin to glow. Thick horns coil from this forehead back towards his ears, an irregular gradient from burgundy to grey. His left fist is clenched, before he opens his palm, revealing its contents. It’s a set of bloody, gold-covered teeth. The boy steps down onto the market street, bumping into passerby as he looks around anxiously. He wipes a few stray specks of blood from his forehead and turns towards an open square dominated by the massive Megalith, pulsing with eerie light from its many facets. The boy’s attention is drawn to a man preaching from raised stone steps. A small crowd has gathered around the man, who removes a purple cloth from a large, rectangular cage to reveal a scrawny imp inside. The crowd gasps and oohs as the imp throws itself against the cage bars in apparent rage. The boy slowly pushes forward towards the front of the crowd as the man holds out his hands towards the people in a calming fashion. A nearby suitcase has a simple name pressed into the side: Thurbel. As the devil continues to thrash in its housing, the man begins to chant an incantation. Faint purple light begins to dance around his fingertips before slowly arcing, creating an iridescent bridge between Thurbel and the imp. When the light reaches the imp’s head, it suddenly stops smashing its battered body against the iron cage. With a flick of his hand, Thurbel unlocks the cage, which swings open as everybody backs up a few steps in unison. Everybody, except the boy, who stands transfixed by the scene before him. The imp steps out of the cage, looking around at all the people, snarling. Suddenly, he leaps into the air – people scream and back up further – before flipping into a forward roll and landing on its feet in front of the boy. They lock eyes. Whispers spread through the crowd as this boy and imp stare at each other. Thurbel snaps his wrist again, opening the battered suitcase to reveal a stylized horn carved from some giant beast. Music begins playing from the briefcase as the imp breaks into a jig, pumping its arms and legs in a comical way, sending laughs rippling through the crowd. Applause breaks out. Thurbel bows, removing his hat and passing it around, as people fill it with their hard-earned sovereigns. Time passes and the crowd disperses, leaving Thurbel to recage the imp, alone with the boy. Father Sun is setting, its view warped by the unrelenting haze rising up from Magnagora. Finally alone, the boy steps upwards, and Thurbel turns towards him. The boy opens his fist once more, looking up at Thurbel, who pauses for a moment before holding open his own palm. Like tiny golden eggs, the teeth float upwards and into Thurbel’s hand. The boy smiles, and throws the purple cloth over the cage. -=- Many years pass. Once again, the same boy stands quietly confident, although now he’s a young man in his late teens. Likewise, we also see Thurbel, who’s dressed in more finery than he was when he first met the boy and accepted his gift. The sun is just cresting over a nearby hill as the pair walk along a cobbled road towards a small, secluded pond in a verdant valley. When they arrive, Thurbel snaps his fingers and the young man begins pulling vials and pouches out from the burgeoning satchel slung over his back. Apparently he isn’t moving quickly enough, as Thurbel sighs and wrestles the ingredients away from him, scowling. Within minutes, Thurbel arranges the accouterments around him, and begins the motions for casting. A series of strange purple glyphs form in the muddy shallows of the swampy pond and Thurbel continues chanting. The water swirls and swarms before a webbed demon emerges from the depths, its eyes glazed over with a milky white sheen. Thurbel commands the demon to shore, and the demon obeys, approaching the young man, who is watching in awe. Suddenly one of the demon’s eyes returns to its normal state and it lets out a shriek as it claws viciously at the young man. With a cry of pain, he stumbles backwards, bleeding from a deep gash that extends along his torso. He collapses in the bloody sand as Thurbel quickly regains control of the demon, and the man’s eyes go lifeless. -=- The interior of the chapel is dark and quiet, its hallowed ground exuding a hollow feeling of tranquility. Thurbel hands over a large bag of coins to a hooded figure who pockets them. The young man’s body lies on an altar in front of them, pallid and gray. Again, the sounds of spellcasting echo throughout the room as bands of yellow and red light wrap themselves around the young man’s body. The tendrils tighten and glow before reconvening over his chest wound, entering the man’s body. In a few moments the dead man opens his eyes and sits up with a throaty gasp. Thurbel slaps him across the face. “Be mindful, Roethe. A fool you may be, but that doesn’t mean you must subject the rest of us to your idiocy.” -=- Sitting next to a window viewing out on a moonless night, Roethe huddles over stacks of dusty tomes. His eyes, filled with life again, dart back and forth as he hungrily consumes knowledge by the light of his palm. With his other hand, he is casually flicking his wrist and muttering, morphing a pebble into a stone needle, and then into a circular disk. As he turns the page, he reveals a piece of parchment folded up in between the pages. Roethe lets the floating disk drop to the ground, and pauses to open the parchment. Written in the hasty script of the Demon Lords, it reads: “Accepting Apprentices to study under the True Power of Nil. Experienced applicants only. Wealth required.” Roethe gazes longingly at the page, reading it over and over and over again. -=- Back outside again, Thurbel squares off against a huge multi-horned demon. Thurbel keeps the demon at bay while it towers several feet over him. But Thurbel’s magic is strong, and Roethe provides a weaker form of support, trying to impress his master with his own amateur binding techniques. On the ground, the demon stands inside an intricate circle of salt, forming a restrictive barrier between the demon and the two magic users. “Roethe! How many times must I tell you? Enunciate the initial consonants with a Feyranti accent. I swear boy, I wonder why I even keep you around anymore.” Roethe frowns and furrows his brow as he concentrates, magical beams blasting into the demon as it tries to break out of its bindings. And as he continues his casting, a thin, dark shadow washes over his eyes. He looks over at Thurbel, clad in finery, with an assortment of jewels and rings. His arrogance. His stupid face. Roethe lets his left hand drop, turning it as if opening an invisible doorknob. A gust of wind rushes out from his palm, straight into the binding circle, breaking the link. The demon bounds forward onto an unsuspecting Thurbel, sending them both to the ground. There’s a thick crunch as the demon’s weight crushes the viscanti’s body, and a claw across the windpipe silences his bloody shrieks. The demon stands and turns towards Roethe, who has already surrounded himself with a new ring of salt and runes. With a grunt, the demon hulks away, leaving Roethe standing at the massacred remains of his former teacher. Hours pass before Roethe steps out from the circle towards Thurbel’s body. Emotionless, Roethe plucks the magical items and jewelry, changing out of his dirty, torn clothing and replacing it with luxurious linens. He looks down at the bloody mess, stripped of wealth and power. He snaps his fingers, and the body goes up in flames. -=- Roethe, now dressed in finery suitable for an apprenticeship in service to the Demon Lords, ascends the countless steps towards the Seal of Death, the assigned meeting place for his potential initiation. The Seal continues to spin silently as he arrives. A hooded figure stands in front of the Seal, the backdrop of light masking their features in darkness. “So, you have come.” Roethe nods. “And you wish to serve the Demon Lords of Nil?” Roethe nods a second time. The figure does the same. “Tell me, Roethe. Where did you learn your abilities? Who taught you?” A dark shadow crosses over Roethe’s eyes as he gathers his thoughts. “A weak teacher gave me an opportunity to learn, but they didn’t understand the true meaning of power. They were complacent and apathetic. I’m surprised he was able to retain as much knowledge as he did.” The figure doesn’t respond. Tension hangs in the air, thick and oppressive. Finally, he speaks. “I see.” More silence. “I was there, you know. At the chapel. I was the one responsible for reversing your Fate.” Roethe’s eye experiences the faintest of twitches. “At that time, it seemed as though you were the weaker one, not he. And yet here you are, preaching about strength, when you should be nothing more than a worm’s nesting grounds.” It is Roethe’s turn to be silent. “By offering up your teacher as a sacrifice for your shortcomings, you have proven that you are exactly the man that we thought you were. And for that reason, Roethe, you will not be joining our ranks.” The Seal continues to spin. “Goodbye.” With a brief pop, the figure is gone, leaving Roethe alone in the cave with nothing but his lost ambition. “Weak?” Roethe begins to fume. “Weak?! They are no better than he was! They will see! I will show them!” He lashes out at invisible strands of force, bright crimson light dancing around his fingertips before blasting into the cave floor. An arcane circle begins to form, getting wider and wider until it spans a significant portion of the cavern. Roethe’s eyes go back in his head as he mutters an incantation, prompting a clawed hand to rise up from the portal he created. The archdemon’s nails scrape against stone as they push themselves up from below, completing the summoning ritual. They breathe deeply, hulking behind Roethe. “They will see. We will show them!” -End of Part 1- **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Son of Steel and Gold](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-son-of-steel-and-gold/) **Published:** March 19, 2023 **Author:** Uzriel **Content:** > Born of gold and forged in steel > > his destiny is set in stone > > for though he stands at Emperor’s heel > > his true path will be walked alone. – Quatrain MXXXII, The Verses of Magnora The ignorant masses may be asking themselves now, “Who might it be that was born of gold and forged in steel whose destiny is set in stone?” History may have recorded him as a villain, and yet Ghani n’Rotri singularly possesses the attributes to make him worthy of admiration as a Magnagoran, his failing only that he was a plaything of the Fates instead of his own destiny. The most common public record of Ghani n’Rotri is as chronicled by Lolly Pringle, a biased source from a furrikin undergoing a traumatic journey to Astral – who survived only thanks to those very same expedition members that he denigrated so harshly. While transformed by Kethuru much the same as Magnagora was – they were not bound under Kethuru’s thrall, and it is ironic that their plan to ascend to Godhood, so hated by Lolly, was the best way to seal Kethuru away. Since that time in the histories, many from Magnagora have been risen as Ascendants both Vernal and True – although due to the Threshold Abyss none may reach true godhood, nevertheless, the fears of if they were to Ascend are unfounded. For the most part in Lolly’s chronicles, Ghani n’Rotri merely stands by the Emperor’s heel, so let us now examine other sources to get an idea of the man himself. Born of gold, the trill Ghani y’Bolgari did not seek artistic pursuits as his family is known for – instead he desired to be respected for his strength, confiding as such to Ninuth n’Kylbar. It is no wonder then that he married into the family of steel, taking to wife Lady Kirea n’Rotri and her family name. The details behind this marriage are not public knowledge, though Ninuth provides insight that it may have been politically motivated to soothe tensions between the families. At this time in Magnagora’s history, marriages between members of the different noble houses were uncommon, especially for those bannered to rival Great Houses as n’Rotri were to y’Kylbar and y’Bolgari were to d’Murani. It is admirable, a man of noble blood – he sought to make a new name for himself, quite literally, and succeeded wildly. Nobody remembers the name Ghani y’Bolgari. He desired to be valued for his strength and he made it so despite his birth. In the time before Project Cosmic Hope – Ghani was the High Prophet of the House of Prophets, and the youngest to obtain that position. He was noted as both ambitious and brilliant by Ninuth n’Kylbar, and before the launching of Project Cosmic Hope he was in frequent meetings in Celest – presumably working to secure his spot on the expedition, and while not publicly recorded one would also presume he was busy championing Magnagora as a launch point for the project itself – the results speak for themselves as he was both a member of the expedition and Magnagora was selected as the launch point. While some may claim the taint and transformation of Magnagora is a point against Ghani n’Rotri, we now can embrace the painful rebirth that forged the great city into the Engine of Transformation that it is today. Many in Magnagora opposed High Prophet Ghani, most notably a group known as Magnora’s Promise, who kept many of the prophecies regarding him safe for discovery later and attempted to use the information of his affair with Lady Narcissa d’Vanecu against him. Ghani outmaneuvered them deftly, as they resorted to sealing the prophecies to be found centuries later – unable to prevent Cosmic Hope, and with clippings to show their members dying under mysterious circumstances. We have already discussed the Taint War immediately after Project Cosmic Hope, it is there where he falls off the history books for centuries, that is until he reappears ready to walk his own path. Admirably having recruited a sect of people devoted to him with near cultish fever, he sent them to infiltrate each of the major cities where they gained the trust of the citizenry while working to further his agenda. Especially in Magnagora and the Society, this was a time of intrigue and misdirection, Sirsia Pois acting as both scientist and spymaster – creating a machine that was used to taint the Inner Sea itself, a truly marvelous feat! His ultimate goal, which he very nearly achieved were he not merely a plaything of the fates, was to become the Avatar of Kethuru the Almighty, building the Orrery on the Sphere of Ophiuchus. Despite failing at the endeavor and the ill-fated choice of aligning with Kethuru, one must admire the sheer audacity of the attempt – ambition unbounded. Unfortunately, he was fated to fail – meeting an end in his failed attempt at ascension. So why have I chosen to immortalize Ghani n’Rotri, a man who seemingly was the villain at every turn and who failed at his ambitions, you may be asking? The answer is that despite all of this, he is the quintessential Magnagoran. The plaything of the fates, his destiny was preordained much as ours was – yet still, he fought it tooth and nail at every bend, reforging himself into the man he wanted to be, not what the Fates told him to be. He was brilliant, ambitious, clearly politically savvy, and strong. He had enemies at every turn along the way, sharpening the daggers from all sides, and yet he thwarted them all until the very end. Do not focus on his failure at the end, or whine about wanting to become Kethuru’s Avatar. Instead, embrace the strength to fight against the Fates, and the audacity to reach for Godhood, despite what others may think or do to oppose you. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Primal](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/primal/) **Published:** March 18, 2023 **Author:** Lendren **Content:** *Just one more and this will be done,* Volcex was thinking. The crystal sphere bounced back up into his hand. *Now if I can just figure out how to get to… Crumkindivia? Is that really what it’s called? How could anything real be named that?* He went back to poring over aetherscrolls, and that’s why Meryri ended up kicking him hard enough to send him careening through the air almost into the river. “What in the Nil?” “Pay attention, I’ve been talking to you for two minutes now,” Meryri said impatiently, tapping her gigantic furred paw on the young elfen’s head. “Well, I am trying to figure out how to do this bloody quest, and the scrolls are not helping. Do you know where a place called Crumkindivia is and how to get there? That can’t really be a place’s real name, can it?” Meryri was glaring balefully at him. “Are you still doing that? I finished that two days ago. Now listen, I noticed something, but I can’t find out more. You’re little, you can probably spy, right?” “If you finished it, you must know how to get there.” Luckily for him, Meryri was not a telekinetic, because her stare looked like it might move daggers into his chest. “Fine, help me with this and I’ll help you with that.” “Forget about that. Besides, I can’t help. Someone else took me. By touching a cookie.” Volucex shook his head; it’s bad enough she wouldn’t help, but did she have to also tease him with absurdities? “Look, Magnagora and Celest are eternal sworn enemies, right?” She never did read any of the aetherscrolls. She would probably think of the library as a good place for a fight, or a nap. “Yeah. It goes back to Project Cosmic Hope. Let me tell you about it.” But before he could start, she was shaking her head. “So I saw this hidden spot in the northern mountains that isn’t on any of the maps, and the weird thing is, there’s a bunch of taintfolk and a bunch of lightfolk there working together, or at least that’s what my far-sight shows, but I can’t get close enough to see what they’re doing. But you’re little and besides you can make yourself invisible. So you go in and listen for a few and come back and tell me. It could be important!” “I don’t know. Even one of them could kill me twice in the time it would take me to figure out how to cast a spell. And I am no longer protected by grace. I, ummm, I rejected it because I thought I had to, when I was trying to help some gnomes…” He trailed off in embarrassment. But Meryri wasn’t paying attention; her eyes had the far-away focus that meant she was using some kind of spell of discernment, probably one he hadn’t learned yet. “Never mind,” she said. “They’re leaving. I can go look by myself.” He almost shrugged and left her to go. He still had to gather pixies and do something about songbirds, he wasn’t sure what yet. But as she turned, he called out, “Wait, I will go with you,” as he fell into line behind her. He didn’t want to admit that it sounded interesting. Nor that she did. “You might need someone to dispel illusions or something.” She didn’t press him on this excuse — she was in too much of a hurry to run off into the mountains. Well, lucky for her she was basically a giant fur carpet with arms, because it was winter and the mountains were freezing. *I have never been this cold*, he thought, shivering. *Well, maybe I have, before the Portal.* There was so much he didn’t remember. He wasn’t even sure he’d always been elfen. “Here it is,” she said, pointing towards a blank face of impassable stone. But before he could raise an objection, she walked right into it, and vanished. He waited a few moments in trepidation (not to mention refrigeration) before he closed his eyes and followed her… right through the face of solid stone and into a cave whose entrance was apparently covered by some sort of illusion. Though one he could not detect. *Little wonder*, he thought. *I barely started my study of illusory arts. Anyone with half a–* His thoughts ran out and hid somewhere, while he gaped. There, at the end of a twisting tunnel whose curves and dips were littered with the broken bodies of some kind of strange, chitinous monstrosities and a fluid that was entirely the wrong color to be blood but what else could it be, was some sort of ancient stone-and-steel vault door. It was clear it had been buried, but recently exposed by hard work with pick-axes and probably also magic; the floor around it was littered in chunks of the same stone that the tunnel itself was made of. But the vault door was a wholly different kind of stone that was somehow also steel, as if the two substances had been melted, then swirled into one another, only a little so they remained both distinct whorls and striated admixture, then allowed to harden that way. And he did not even have to concentrate with his thirdeye to sense the layers of complicated warding spells and charms that both overlaid and infused the vault door. At the ground beneath it was not only chunks of broken stone, but also the shattered ends of steel pick-axes, rent off by main force. But the door showed not the slightest dent or scratch. Nor did it show any scorches, despite the obvious burn-marks on stone around it. And as he looked closer, he could see the signs of titanic elemental and physical forces that the cityfolk must have brought to bear, leaving the surroundings smudged, melted, drenched, burnt, cracked, pummeled, fractured, and splintered. But the door, and its engravings and enchantments, might have been made new that very day. “Well, it’s clear they were trying to open this, and it’s clear they failed,” Meryri was saying, ever the mistress of stating the obvious. “And if they couldn’t, then there’s little chance we can. I suppose we wait for people more experienced–“ “Lady Trialante!” Meryri’s verbal momentum carried her through three or four more words before she stopped and stared. “Lady who?” Volcex stepped up and pointed out a series of symbols amongst the engravings, each of them picked out with corresponding shimmers from one of the warding enchantments. “She was a Goddess, then a Voice. It’s a long story that I am sure you didn’t read.” Meryri frowned, but he was continuing before she could object. “And She used words in Her own language for Her magical songs. Some of the things I have learned, or will learn, are in that language. Like the bardoon.” “Bardoon?” “It is one of our songs. I don’t know it yet. Look, here, and here. There is a warding on this door that is…” His mind was racing ahead of his mouth, so he wouldn’t remember later what he said at that moment. “I don’t know enough to figure it out, but I think the ward has a song in it, or perhaps a song would open it, and it is in Her words.” He turned and sat heavily in frustration. “Oh, is that it? No wonder the cityfolk couldn’t get in. They wouldn’t know much about Her, including Her words. Only a nerd like you would. Come on, we’ll ask Her,” Meryri said, undaunted. “Ask Her?” He was about to regale her with the tale of how Trialante had died, after hiding Her Voice, but damn her if she wasn’t running on ahead. He had to scramble, and even use some planar magic, to catch up with her as she darted into the Lyceum. “Nuts. Well, She *was* here,” Meryri said. “Wait, my mentor told me about this. We have to gather sparrows.” *Crap, this must be that quest Lekari was telling me about. If Meryri knows more than me about something about Trialante, she will never let me live it down*, he thought. But it wasn’t about Lekari’s songbirds. They spent the next few hours wandering the forest, climbing into the trees, tossing out breadcrumbs, whistling cheery tunes, and thus finding twenty sparrows and leading them one by one into a glade not far from the stage. Meryri did not deign either to explain this nor tease him for not knowing it, so he decided not to push it. But he was dumbstruck when the twentieth sparrow caused the flock — *no, a host, a group of sparrows is a host* — to burst into song together, and then he wasn’t sure what happened, but the song grew loud and filled his soul and then Trialante was there. Not really. It was a sileni, one of the now-extinct people that had sharded from one of the other Elders, he couldn’t remember the name, but he could also tell that Trialante, or Her Voice, or something, somehow inhabited the sileni. And he didn’t understand how. She had died, he was sure he had read that! But there was no time to ask. Meryri was thumping him with her huge biceps, no doubt meant to jar him into paying attention, rather than, say, dislocating his shoulder. “Tell Her, the words you saw, the ward!” So he described it as well as he could, wishing he’d had time to take notes. The spirit, or the sileni, or the Elder Goddess, or whatever it was, considered him gravely and for so long in silence that he thought perhaps She was not even really there listening, but just an illusion, perhaps projected from the nearby stage. But then She spoke, and it was as if Her voice came from a chorus of spirits in a world very near to this one, but not quite overlapping with it. “I do not remember creating such a Ward, but there are many things I do not remember. However, the words you have told me are words of one of My songs, and they are words that might be a ward. And if they are, you need only recite them back in a particular melody, harmony, and cadence. Attend.” Her form shimmered, and for a moment it seemed like there were two of Her, ten of Her, twenty of Her, standing in the same spot but moving slightly out of synch with one another; and in the hands of each one a different instrument appeared, a harp here, a flute, a lyre, a viol, a guitar, a hand-drum, and a dozen more of types he had never seen, forms that had been lost to the artisans of this time and this world. A melody began to arise, from all these ghostly instruments and all these ghostly voices, complex and yet at its heart breathtakingly simple; his mind blossomed with understanding as he saw how the melodies and rhythms interlocked, how they were just a few phrases and modulations, repeated, reversed, reflected, and intertwined. Multiplicity and simultaneity from repeated combination of simple forms. Then the song was done and so was the spirit; he could still feel the cadence in his heartbeat, hear it in the movement of leaves, taste it in the tang of the air, even as She finished fading. He could picture the melody as if it were shifting swirls of leaves in the wind, in every color of the rainbow. “What did She mean about preserving it?” Meryri was saying as he became dimly aware of her, her hulking form seeming to step through the maelstrom of colorful music-leaves. He blinked, and shook his head, and the *words* of the song came to him — how had he missed them? Murmuring them back to himself in the right melodies, he made sure he had the song affixed in his mind, while holding up one finger to indicate to Meryri to wait. Perhaps not even Estarra could have silenced Meryri, but for some reason, something about the beatific look on his face, for once, she was quiet and waited until he spoke. “The song will open the door. But the door protects an ancient power that must be preserved until the Final Battle.” He could hear the capital letters in his own voice. “This is not just a final battle, this is *the* Final Battle. The one that will end all the fights and fulfill all the prophecies. That day is not today.” He opened eyes he had not realized he’d closed. “We have to stop the cityfolk from getting to it!” For once, Meryri was the one holding up a hand, urging caution. “They will never know the way in if it depends on the lore of Trialante,” she said, but the words sounded thin even to her own ears. Had she not just been suggesting they, a pair of novices who had barely gotten the scent of Newton Caverns out of their clothes, should spy on this convocation of demigods? Surely they could, and would, spy on the forest-folk. (He was already worrying that perhaps they were doing so *right now*.) “Anyway, we should wait and tell the Regent, or the… the… well, anyway, *someone* bigger than us.” He felt sure it could not wait, but he wasn’t sure how to persuade her. With a clarity he could not explain, he knew that the cityfolk would be back, soon, and they would have figured out a way in. Perhaps he had sensed someone spying on them without noticing it consciously, so caught up was he in the song. Perhaps he was touched by a moment of the seer-sight. Perhaps the song itself contained a memory of the Last Seed. But he was sure. Rather than trying to convince her, he decided, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander; he turned and started a run for the northern mountains, leaving her to scramble to catch up. *What the Nil is a gander, anyway?* “Crap, crap, crap,” she was saying as he was tuning up his guitar before the Vault. “They’re heading this way. They’re going to squash us like weevils.” Even he was impressed by her bravery; she stood in the tunnel, her claymore held upright before her considerable bulk, as if her size and the size of her sword would make the slightest difference when ten cityfolk demigods came tumbling into the tunnel. He put this out of his mind; she would buy him a few seconds, or she wouldn’t. He could do nothing about it either way. There was only the song now. As the notes and melodies poured out of his throat and were coaxed from gentle, loving caresses over the six strings of his guitar, the shimmering lights of the ward began to light up in all the colors of the rainbow, one word, one symbol, one glyph at a time seeming almost to leap forward and twist in perfect time with the underlying heartbeat of the song. Meryri was saying something, but he could hear nothing but the swelling of the music as the vault door itself sang back to him in counterpoint, and the colors became bright and swallowed all other perceptions. There was a faint creaking sound, but he could not hear it. Instead, he could feel nothing but a sense of youth. He was newly minted, just beginning to figure out his way around. Everything he saw, every sound, it was new to him, and though he was sometimes frustrated by figuring it all out, the newness of everything was delight incarnate. Some part of his mind, holding itself rooted in his own life, thought he was just thinking of what it is to be a novice, struggling to complete a planar quest. But the sensations, though eerily familiar, were not his own; it was more like they rhymed with his own life, than that they were the song of his life. He was holding in his hand some primal power, as yet untapped by the entire world, something he had been the first to discover. Something he knew had greater power than anything any of his brothers and sisters had ever touched. No, not simply greater; more fundamental. This thing was what reality itself was made of. To be able to direct it, to compose it into forms and structures of his liking, that would be a power to remake everything. Everything. In his other hand, a crude construction. A knobby, twisted branch of some kind of shimmering wood, fallen from a tree, or perhaps not a tree but some ancient forebearer of trees. A string, a twisted cable made of — made of what? Aether itself? Steel? The gut of some creature? It seemed somehow to be all of these at once, but which one first? He was bringing these hands together, pulling the string taut and imbuing it with the power. He strummed the string. Something for which there were no words came out of it. Reality itself shimmered with its vibrations. It was the most beautiful thing that had ever existed. Yes, also the most powerful, but what was that compared to Beauty? Somewhere in his mind, Volcex thought that this crude, primitive instrument’s sound was actually kind of creaky, scratchy, and off-key. Not like his finely-crafted guitar and its fine, slender strings of steel. But he could forgive it. It was, after all, the first. The very first. The invention of Music. His eyes came into focus at the shouting of Meryri. “They are almost here. What is that thing? A badly made bow or something? What is the plan?” He looked at his hands. That primal instrument, the first ever, was in them. He had lifted it from a sort of plinth, apparently. “Plan?” he asked. “Yeah, the cityfolk, they are almost here. They’re going to kill us and take… is that the thing they want? That stick?” “This is the first instrument ever made. The moment Trialante invented Music itself. Or discovered it. I’m not sure which. This is the most powerful artifact ever. In the hands of someone who understands Music, this could change… everything.” His wonderstruck words were brought harshly to earth by Meryri’s answer. “That must be why they want it. Why they’re even willing to work together to get it. And we’re about to hand it right to them unless you have an idea of how to stop that.” And he did have an idea. It was a terrible, horrible idea. But it was the only one. “Run,” he said. “Run back and tell people when you can. The forest must know about this. Must be ready for the Final Battle.” She balked, so he negligently touched the string. He knew very little about Music — only the first few intervals — but with this instrument in his hands, with the raw, undiluted power of primal Music that was bound up in it, even that was enough to cast her flying through the tunnel and out. To loft her through leagues of sky and drop her safely on a pillow of song, far from the reach of the cityfolk who were even now starting to cluster into the tunnel. He waited a few moments for them to all be present, before he squeezed the string, forming a simple interval — two notes, one on each half of the string, separated by a minor second. As he reached to pluck the string on both sides of the pinch-point with his other hand, he knew that, alongside the enemies that were piling into tactical positions, he, too, would be trapped. *Well, at least I won’t ever have to find Crumkindivia*, he thought, and plucked the string. Cartographers would later have to change the maps of the Northern Mountains to account for the mysterious new appearance of a steep-sided mountain, almost tall enough to challenge Avechna’s Peak, that had suddenly appeared. People surmised that the dozen or so demigods who had gone missing that day, never to be seen again, might have been responsible, but no one could be sure. It was as if they had been erased from the world. There was only one young igasho who knew about one more person who had disappeared that day, otherwise unremarked save by a forgotten note in a soon-erased log. But that was enough. Decades later, Regent Meryri would hold back a tear in her eye as she told young novices about how they should avoid the area around Mount Volcex for now. “It’s always very cold there,” she would say, “though there is nowhere in the Basin where music sounds sweeter.” **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Rhizoda at Dusk](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/rhizoda-at-dusk/) **Published:** March 17, 2023 **Author:** Zagreus **Content:** A pair of weather-beaten trees endure on the beach, finally enjoying a respite from the tempestuous Elder’s rage. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Trill's Song: Virtues](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-trills-song-virtues/) **Published:** February 26, 2023 **Author:** Illirialial **Content:** \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ We keep our silence through thick and thin We hide our secrets and never give in And every day we face a new challenge But it’s never too much for us to manage We carry the weight of our choices on our backs Sacrificing our dreams, never looking back But there’s hope in knowing that together we stand strong When we fail, we’ll always be right where we belong We’ll stand together, no one can divide us For we honor loyalty, integrity and wisdom Our trust never fades no matter what the odds may be For we honor loyalty, integrity and wisdom We search for something deep inside Something that will never be denied A path that leads to a better place Where loyalty and wisdom are the grace We’re on a journey filled with doubts Sometimes courage is what it’s all about It takes strength to stand up tall So we can reach up above it all \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_\_ **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [A Glimpse into a Memory](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-glimpse-into-a-memory/) **Published:** February 26, 2023 **Author:** Eiselle **Content:** My memory is still fragmented, and there are moments I am unsure if I remember an actual event or a dream, but I do remember life as a child in the beautiful Valley of Tolborolla. It was then, as it is now, a place of peace and serenity. There are a few memories of my childhood that stand out. One of my fondest was playing with another Furrikin. I smile when I remember how silly and playful he was. He was the perfect playmate, even if he did look and smell like a skunk. I remember one day, we had planned to meet in the meadow. There were so many wildflowers; it was the perfect place to play, lay in the sun, and dream as we looked into the sky. In writing this, another friend, their face flickered across my vision, and she looked like me but much younger. Long ears, fluffy tail. She looks so sad. I remember now. She had come to visit just as I was about to leave to visit my skunk friend. I was so preoccupied with my plans that I didn’t give her my full attention. How could I not see how sad she was? How could I not hear the urgency in her voice? Or did I see and hear and not care that she needed me? She had lost something. Was it a toy? A pet? Something important. Her Kite. It was a pretty light blue. My dad would- I mean her dad. He would joke that it would get lost in the sky. My heart sinks now as I recall my young friend’s sadness. Her father had given her that kite, and he had died just a few months prior. The kite was the last gift her father had given her and now it was stuck high in a tree. I must have shooed her away or told her I’d help her later, and instead of being there for her, I rushed off to play with my skunk friend, not realizing how much my young friend needed my support and comfort that moment. I should have known better, especially given the recent loss of her father. I feel guilty now; I remember feeling relieved when she left. I was annoyed instead of compassionate. All I could think of was playing in the wildflowers. When I arrived to play, my skunk friend wasn’t there. It was hard scenting with so many flowers nearby, but I could tell he hadn’t been there today. I was sure I had not missed him. I waited in the meadow, watching the clouds pass by, watching Father Sun make his way across the sky, and with every hour, I worried more. I knew something was wrong. Hours passed, and my friend still had yet to show up. Feeling anxious and restless, I decided to head back home. It was getting late, and I was hungry. As I remember going home, the way home seemed longer than it was. I feel as if I was dreading every step. When I got home, my mother told me my younger friend, who looked like me, had hurt herself. She had tried to climb a tree to retrieve her kite, but she fell and broke her leg. I was devastated to hear the news and felt guilty for not being there for her when she needed me. The pain of my friend’s injury was compounded by the fact that my skunk friend was nowhere to be found. I didn’t know where he had gone or if he was okay. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, but my skunk friend never returned. It was as if he had vanished into thin air, leaving my other friends and me to wonder what had happened to him. I had wondered then if I was being punished for being so thoughtless. The little one would not have been hurt if I had been there for her. She eventually recovered, and I hoped lived a happy life after, but I’m not sure. I still cannot remember her name. I think even though I have forgotten, and my memories are hazy, I can tell this has shaped me. To this day, I know the importance of being present and attentive to those around me, especially those grieving or needing support. I deeply wish I could change what happened, that she never had to experience pain because of me, but I cannot. All I can do is honor my young friend’s memory by striving to be a better listener and friend to those who need me. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Couple of Valentines](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-couple-of-valentines/) **Published:** February 26, 2023 **Author:** Gurashi **Content:** A pair of cutesy Lusternia-themed Valentine’s day cards featuring Calioliahali and her spouse, Gurashi! **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Gloriana](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-gloriana/) **Published:** February 25, 2023 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** The Gloriana River is a reminder of what used to be. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Dracnoris: pg. 8](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/dracnoris-pg-8/) **Published:** February 8, 2023 **Author:** Esei **Content:** Part 8/8. Final page of the Book of Dracnoris. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Dunes of Iklara](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-dunes-of-iklara/) **Published:** January 31, 2023 **Author:** Tonatiuh **Content:** Can one truly map the dunes as they shift beneath a sky of crimson lightning? **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Mother Night Cometh](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/mother-night-cometh/) **Published:** January 26, 2023 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** Cloaked in the garb of shadows, Mother Night reveals herself to a young supplicant. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Painful Step Forward](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/painful-step-forward/) **Published:** January 25, 2023 **Author:** Arae **Content:** What is this dead weight? My heart a stone in my chest. Cold, lifeless, limp; dead. Bereft of pain’s blessed kiss, A void of nothingness. An empty space, a blank line; Name now erased. Stained and tattered, A tapestry of our life, Want and need, endlessly Left unfilled. I waited, For eons I waited, Time’s painful tick on the wall. I’ve walked away, A ghost, A shadow, A memory in your mind. Not even a memory, Forget me as I do you, Face forward, chin lifted. A matriarch never stops, Always hard, Never soft, Each polite curtsey, Each smile faked. I can’t even hate you, I feel nothing, Nothing except… Regret. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Petrichor Sings](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/petrichor-sings/) **Published:** January 22, 2023 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** “Clouds shifting high above the world we know. Where will we go? And what will we dream?” “Oh Toronada sands, golden and gleam…” – Petrichor **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Importance of Community: Lessons from Bennin Wigglebottom](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-importance-of-community-lessons-from-bennin-wigglebottom/) **Published:** January 17, 2023 **Author:** Eiselle **Content:** “Herbs are a gift to us, not something we are entitled to.” Alyvia Ethereal Ritualist 7th of Shanthin in the year 100 CE. -Dedication- My first book is dedicated to my new family in Serenwilde. Thank you for welcoming me into your forest. This book is also dedicated to my mentor, who has guided me. Your wisdom and support have been invaluable, and I am forever grateful for your guidance and generosity. Lastly, this book is dedicated to my readers, who I hope will bring my stories to life with their imagination. Thank you for taking the time to read my words, and I hope they have touched your hearts as much as they have mine. —- Once upon a time, in a small furrikin village, there was an adorable mouse furrikin named Bennin Wigglebottom. Now, I would say that Bennin was small, but all furrikin are small, so it really should go without mention. Besides, Bennin had other more wonderful features. He was a fluffy mouse with big, round ears and the most adorable pink nose. His fur was especially soft, and still, it gleamed as if he was always freshly groomed. Our lovely Bennin had lovely bright green eyes that sparkled with mischief and curiosity. Bennin usually wore denim overalls with a blue and white striped T-shirt. The overalls were slightly big on him, perhaps passed down from a larger furrikin sort, but it made him look even more charming. What about his shoes, you might ask? Well, what self-respecting furrikin would wear shoes, our fee–I mean, their feet are just good enough! Now Bennin does not know this, nor do you, but Bennin is both our villain and our hero. How can that be? Bennin was curious and adventurous. All good qualities, but like many in the village, he was raised to believe that taking care of oneself and one’s family came first. Barely anyone understood what it meant to serve the community. People only thought about themselves and their own needs. Of the furrikin in the village, Bennin and his mother, Jennin, were very well off. His mother had a very good ear for business and was quick to act on good advice. She had a few friends in the nearby city who often visited, telling her news. After one such day, she swooped upon Bennin to tell him the latest she had heard. “Bennin! My friends say there is a shortage of chervil in the cities! They are paying top coin!” she said with a bright, eager smile. Bennin rolled his eyes at that. “Top coin? The stuff grows everywhere around here; I could probably find it growing out of Moudy’s big hairy–“ “BENNIN!” his mother scolded. “None of that now; pay attention. All you have to do is gather all the chervil you can find and–“ “Yeah yeah, mom.” Bennin sighed. “You don’t have to spell it out for me. Chervil equals coin, got it,” he said as he pulled on the straps of his overalls. “I’ll get to it first thing in the morning.” Before Bennin could head out to meet his friends, his mother was at his side, pulling rather sharply at his large ear. “Now you listen here, Bennin.” she near hissed at him. “Do not go bragging to your friends about this; if everyone is out there picking and selling chervil, it will drive the prices down!” “I know! I know!” Bennin said, pulling away from his mother’s grip. — The next day, Bennin set out early the next morning to gather as much chervil as he could find. He could not help but feel a sense of pride and excitement. He had bragged to all his friends the night before about how he would be rich by selling the chervil in the city. Early the next morning, Bennin traveled through the village collecting chervil from off the sides of the paths and walkways. Our diligent mouse collected the fragrant herb by the armful, stuffing it in a large wicker basket. Out of the corner of his eye, he began to notice movement, people going about their day. But wait. It was barely light and Father sun had yet to make an appearance. Oh no! He realized that His boasting must have spread throughout the village, and many of his friends, and his friend’s friends, and his friend’s friend’s friends had decided to gather chervil as well, hoping to get in on the action and make some coin. For a moment, his heart sank, and he began moving more quickly. He had a head start and had been out much earlier than the others. He felt confident he could sell the chervil for a high price and make more coin than anyone else. Bennin gathered as much chervil as possible and set out for the city with his heavy burden. He followed the road while carrying the chervil on his back. “Moo!” mooed a cow quite angrily. Apparently, he bumped into a cow. Which is quite silly if you ask me, how do you bump into a cow? Who would not see a cow standing in the middle of the road? Apparently, Bennin, I suppose, because along the way to the city, he seemed to bump into several other cows. Why were they standing on the road instead of on a farm somewhere? Who knows. Anyway, on with the story. Finally, he reached the city and made his way to the marketplace. His quick work had paid off. He was very pleased to see that he was the first one there with chervil to sell. He quickly set up shop and began to sell his herbs at a high price, knowing there was a shortage. The buyers in the city were delighted with the high-quality chervil, and Bennin could sell all of it at a good price. As the other furrikin began to arrive at the market with their own chervil to sell, Bennin was already returning to his village, a bag of coins jingling in his pocket. In the city, the rest of the furrikin could barely sell their chervil at a low price. Many of them walked home with very little coin for their hard work. When Bennin arrived back home, his mother was very happy! They had enough coin to live lavishly. They ate the best food, wore the finest clothes, and had the largest house built for them. Life was good, and they were well respected in the village. They had everything they could want. I am sure it is painfully obvious that their good fortune was not meant to last. Within the next few weeks, Jennin was soon unexplainably weak and grew weaker each day until she fell ill with a terrible bleeding sickness. It was a disease known to pass from cows to furrikins, and many in the village had contracted it after coming into contact with infected cattle on the road. Jennin’s condition quickly worsened, and she became bedridden. Every little bump would cause her to bruise horribly, and any cut could risk her bleeding out fatally. Despite the best efforts of the village healers, Jennin’s condition continued to deteriorate, for there was no longer any chervil in their village, and when Bennin went to the city to attempt to buy back some of the precious herbs, they were selling far higher than even Bennin could afford. Bennin was devastated by his mother’s illness. He spent all his time at her bedside, trying to care for and make her comfortable. He could not bear the thought of losing her. Unfortunately, Jennin was not the only one who fell ill. Throughout the village, the sickness spread, devastating the entire community. As the days passed, and more and more people died, Bennin realized that their wealth could not save Jennin or the rest of the community. He learned that sometimes, no amount of coin could buy health or happiness. It became clear that taking all the chervil for himself and not thinking about the community’s well-being had led to this situation. He wished he could go back and change his past decisions. However, it was too late; his mother’s condition was irreversible, and she eventually passed away, leaving Bennin alone with guilt and regrets until he, too, succumbed to the illness. — Oh dear, what a horrible ending. This was supposed to be a children’s story! However, even children, especially children, must understand that selfishness and thoughtlessness can have dire consequences. Now, children, do not cry or be sad, for this story was not real, simply a cautionary tale; however, it would be untruthful if I said there were not similar stories throughout the Basin. The story of Bennin and his mother, Jennin, serves as a powerful reminder to us that the choices they make have the potential to affect not only ourselves but also the people and the environment around us. Bennin and Jennin teach us that it is important to think beyond our needs and wants and consider those around us. Bennin and Jennin took far more than needed from the environment, which led to short-term gain but long-lasting consequences that will affect the entire community for generations to come. If you are reading this, little children and adults, you can rejoice! You can learn from this tale and ensure your story and communities live happily. All you need do is care for others, look beyond yourself, and realize that every life is connected, from me to you to the chervil growing along the roadside. Learn to work with others in your community and cherish the value of life around you. The story of Bennin and his mother, Jennin, should help you develop a respect for nature and understand the importance of love, empathy, compassion, and generosity. Living and acting with these values can create a happy and thriving community. Also, it teaches that someone needs to do something about all the cows on the road. It really is an eyesore. — -About the Author- Eiselle is a new furrikin author who is currently still trying to find her place in the world. She loves to talk to people and to learn about different cultures and history, which inspired her to write stories about the world around her. Eiselle is a great listener. She enjoys hearing people’s stories and perspectives and incorporating them into her own stories. If you ever want to talk to Eiselle, please reach out. I’m sure she’d say, “My ears are your ears!” **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Etsija's Tale](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/etsijas-tale/) **Published:** January 13, 2023 **Author:** Lendren **Content:** One dark winter, a great bear came down from the bitter cold of the mountains and made a den in the river upstream of a tribe of fishers. Its hair was shaggy and black as night, and its roar could flatten trees and make the bravest warrior quail with fear. It caught every fish in the waterfall before it could reach the tribe’s fishing grounds, and soon, hunger stalked the tribe, especially its elders. The chieftain sought the wisdom of the wise-woman, then called the hunters of the tribe. “Whoever brings me the hide of this bear will have a triple share of fish, and first choice of all hunt, for a year and a day,” she proclaimed. But while this was a great prize indeed, few took up the spear, for the bear struck fear into all hearts. Etsija deemed herself the greatest hunter in all the tribes, but long she had wished for the love of Tahti, who spurned her, calling her too selfish and prideful. “If I slay the bear, he will think well of me, surely,” she thought, and asked the wise-woman for the wisdom of the spirits. But when she heard the answer, she was wroth. “If you claim the prize of the bear’s hide, you will never win the prize of Tahti’s love, so long as you live.” Surely the spirits could not be so cruel! She stormed off in anger. Now a rival would defeat the bear and claim Tahti’s love, and she would be a laughing-stock! It could not be borne! When the chieftain called for hunters, she hefted high her great-spear, and her shield strengthened with the hide of a great bear she had hunted the past summer. Three other spears were also raised, not as high, not as shining, not as proud. Four hunters strode into the sunset, and long into the night, the tribe heard distant roars, and cries of pain and strife. The sun awoke to silence, then the sound of feet in water. Etsija alone strode down the river, a great, hoary hide over her back. Many were the wounds on her, her blood feeding the river, fish now trailing in her wake. All the tribe saw her there to hoist her shattered spear to the sky and cry defiant triumph. But Tahti turned away. “You have done what no other could,” the chieftain said to her. But she strode past him heedless of his words, and all who saw were astonished. She stopped Tahti and said unto him, “This is for you to give to who you deem to be in greatest need.” She cast down her spear and turned to press into his hands the bear’s shaggy hide. “But why?” Tahti said. “You and your family are hungry as well, and the prize is great.” Etsija answered, “I have heard the wisdom of the spirits. Better to be hungry in the belly than in the heart.” She strode away to have her hurts tended, and Tahti claimed the prize, giving his rights to extra fish and first pick to the eldest of the tribe, those in most need. When he found her in her bed of healing, Tahti said, “You are too full of pride, but I have seen wrongly what pride means to you. Your regard for your skill is hard-earned, and your spear serves not to feed yourself but all the clan when the fisher’s nets run empty. I have misjudged you.” And Etsija smiled as he took her hand, for she knew the spirits had spoken truth. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [A Guide to Cookery](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-guide-to-cookery/) **Published:** January 6, 2023 **Author:** Aerotan **Content:** Index: Introduction p01 1 Attire p02 2 Mise en Place p03 3 Organizing Your Kitchen p04 I. Storing Your Ingredients p05 II. Storing Your Cookware p06 III. Water p07 IV. Heating Fuel p08 V. Preparation Area p09 VI. Cooking Area p10 VII. Service Area p11 VIII. Waste Area p12 IX. Scullery p13 4\. Cutting, Weighing, Grinding p14 5\. Mixing, Beating, Whipping, Mashing p15 6\. Coating, Filling, Stuffing, Basting, Marinating p16 7\. Stewing, Reducing, Boiling, Poaching, Steaming p17 8\. Baking, Broiling, Roasting p18 9\. Frying p19 Afterward p20 Introduction Greetings chefs, architects, cooks, and kitchen masters and mistresses. You may be asking yourself why you were recommended this book. Perhaps your cuisine is already top notch, your soups supreme, your stews stupendous, and your sweets delightful. Or perhaps you’ve never held a pot or pan in your life, and think a book of cookery is not a thing that interests you. Perhaps you’ve even been given the impression that this tome is a mere collection of recipes handed down from mother to daughter, father to son, master to apprentice, that I’ve managed to wheedle and cajole into a collection. This book is none of those things. I’m not dedicating ink to page to describe a single recipe, a dozen recipes, or even an encyclopaedia of food. I’m not writing to tell you what to cook, I intend to teach you how to properly organize a kitchen, how to dress when you intend to cook, and how to actually go about preparing, cooking, and serving food. You personally may not need know everything included in this tome. But know that it all draws from the same well, and feeds the same cauldron. Attire Why, you may ask, am I beginning a book on cookery by talking about clothing? Because the clothes mark a chef for what they are. A proper chef wears the proper attire to protect him-, her-, or theirself from the literal heat of the kitchen and to protect the patrons’ food from cross-contamination. Or from contamination by the chef’s person, the grime of the road, or any number of other sources. The Delportian tradition demands a chef wear a double-breasted coatee of white linen or canvas, long sleeved, with the cuff of the sleeves able to be pinned or buttoned back far enough to allow the wearer to submerge the arms up to the flexors in soapy water without wetting the sleeve. If the collar is exposed for thermal regulation, a cravat or neckerchief should be employed to protect the exposed areas from embers or spatter. It is not generally required to employ a similar cloth for the face, and safety goggles such as might be employed by smiths or scientists will fog too frequently to offer much protection. In addition, a chef should wear canvas or linen breeches or skirts and a pair of sturdy boots with leather soles to protect the feet. Sealed wood soles are possible, providing they are treated against fire and heat, but leather soles are better. As the levitation enchantment buoys the user with a current of pressurized air, it is highly unsuitable for the kitchen as it drastically increase the risk of fires igniting from embers that would have otherwise spent themselves. The breeches should be either black or white for preference. White gives a cleaner appearance, black hides stains better. A chef may carry a half-apron, apron, or belt with the tools needed for their station and their intended meal, spice mills, cheese grater, mandolin, honing rod, clean knives and spoons, or any number of useful utensils and tools may be carried in one of these. They should be canvas or leather, and canvas aprons and belts should have a leather lining in pockets that hold knives. A chef should never carry tinderboxes in this apron, as they present a fire hazard. Finally, unless the chef is completely bald, a hat should be worn at all times while in the kitchen. The Delportian classic chef’s hat is called a toque, or toque blanc, but any hat that keeps hair and fur away from the face, and does not trap steam, is fit for purpose. Cooks with particularly long hair should additionally expect their coiffures bound up in a bun. Hair grease and beard oil, much like levitation enchantments, are not recommended for the kitchen for similar reasons as the enchantment: fire and burn risks. All of these elements come together to form the core of this manual’s lessons. Professionalism, efficiency, and presentation in equal measures. The attire is canvas because canvas resists ignition, is easily cleaned, and insulates the wearer somewhat from heat. The attire is white so that others in the kitchen, above and below in rank, can see when a mistake has been made so that it can be corrected. A chef’s workstation will rarely look like anything less than a disaster in progress from the time the fires are lit until it is scrubbed clean at the end of the meal, but the clothes will remain clean unless the chef has been careless. Mise en Place There is a Delportian phrase, Mise en Place, that encapsulates the techniques from which this book is assembled. It translates directly to “Putting in Place”, but more loosely it means that you have taken the time before you begin to make sure that everything is in its place before you need it. Your kitchen will be well organized, your clothes well maintained, your knives sharpened and honed, your utensils, bowls, preparation and cooking surfaces, and cookware clean, and even the floors mopped and scrubbed before the first pepper is cut, the first fowl plucked, or the first potato peeled. Once you have yourself and your work stations prepared, you gather the ingredients you will need and fill any pots, kettles, or cauldrons that need filling. Once they are gathered, you chop, dice, mince, grind, tenderize, and otherwise prepare each ingredient separately. Once the ingredients are ready, you begin combining those that need combining. Once that is done, you arrange fuel for your ovens and ranges, then light them. Only then do you begin truly cooking. As each piece of your meal comes ready, you plate it on dishes already cleaned and in position to receive the food. Once it is plated, you serve it and begin cleaning the utensils, tools, pots, and pans you’ve used. When the patron has finished eating and returned your dishes, you clean those too. In a professional kitchen or a large household such as a manor or palace, each of these tasks may be assigned out to staff meant to perform a specific job. A hierarchy must be formed, and the larger the staff, the more rigid the hierarchy and the more specialized the roles. This can be as simple as knowing who is cooking and who is cleaning for a specific meal, or as complicated as any military chain of command you care to name, but it must be respected by everyone in the kitchen for efficient service. As such if roles are to be assigned to individuals, this should be done before any work is done. Organizing Your Kitchen The next few pages will be given over to diagrams and descriptions of how to best arrange, build, and organize one’s kitchen, storage, and scullery areas. This chapter will be broken across multiple sections for easy digestion, and will be of particular interest to interior designers and architects, who will find the information useful in understanding the purpose of food preparation spaces. (A page is given over to a large diagram of several spaces with labels attached to everything. It begins with a storage cellar. In the upper left corner is hung a string of garlic bulbs next to another of dried peppers. Several loops of sausages hang from hooks next to these, as do a large salted tuna and several cured hams. On shelves behind these are sacks labeled as salt, sugar, flour, oats, barley, corn, and rice. Next are jars of pickles, preserves, cloves, cinnamon, and other spices. The bottom third of each shelf is occupied by boxes with pictures of potatoes, yams, beets, and onions on them. A second sketch of the same space shows a slightly different angle, revealing another shelf housing crates of eggs, loaves of bread, wheels and wedges of cheese, and baskets of nuts, prunes, raisins, and other fruits slow to expire.) (A third sketch shows a separate room labeled as a cold storage room. Central to this space is a massive block of ice, with a cross section of the wall and floor indicating thick insulation and good drainage. Around this block are hung pheasants, ducks, geese, and other fowl, a side each of beef and venison, and a whole boar. On shelves around the outer wall are bottles of liquid, presumably juices, nectars, and milk, as well as baskets of apples, oranges, pears, pineapples, and other fruits that would not stay fresh long outside the chilled space.) (The next sketch is of an herb and vegetable garden, with fennel, mint, bay, oregano, and other herbs growing between runners and vines holding tomatoes, lentils, string beans, peas, gourds, and even a head of lettuce or cabbage. The illustration is not clear which, as the caption reads only “assort. vegetable” below that section entire. A large numeral I is situated between these four sketches.) Storing your ingredients is of the utmost importance. Your store rooms should be well stocked with non-perishables at all times, organized by storage needs. You should keep on hand half again what you think you will use before the grocer you obtain your dried goods can return, or a minimum of one week’s supply. These goods are not like to spoil if kept overlong, so caution dictates over-preparation is better than being caught unawares by a low supply. Ingredients that need dry storage, such as smoked or cured meats, jerky, dried spices, root vegetables, starches, flours, grains, and similar should be kept together, on the reverse side of the main hearth the kitchen uses for roasting or for stews. The sketches provided are, perhaps, over-stocked for a personal dwelling, but only in terms of quantity, not variety. Dried and cured meats make for passable snacks, but are excellent for starting stocks and stews in a pinch. Some herbs and spices can be stored dry, particularly black pepper, cinnamon sticks, garlic, and cloves, others will need to be grown fresh or purchased from herbalists. For goods that will perish, but slowly, like hard cheeses and eggs, it is best to keep on hand no more than you are willing to absorb in loss should you mistime your usage. Of special note are eggs, which will spoil in around a month if not stored appropriately, but are often best within two weeks of laying. Remember that the softer the cheese, the shorter its life. Consider keeping particularly soft cheeses in cold storage, especially if the cheese needs to be stored in water. Fresh-butchered meat should be stored in a cold room immediately on receipt, as should poultry, fish, and dairy products, and any soft-fleshed or juicy fruit not already dried, and any vegetables prone to wilting that aren’t still on the vine. In a pinch, one can also store ice in the cold room. The walls of the room should be thick, with layers of brick and wet clay between it and the nearest rooms. Preferably the room should also be underground, but no matter where it is it will need proper drainage, which should involve very narrow grooves in the floor leading to a drain directly beneath the ice with a fine-mesh or solid cover allowing only water through, so as to not provide a way in for rats or other vermin. If you cannot keep an icehouse yourself, it’s best not to keep a stock of these sorts of ingredients, and instead purchase them from grocers the day they are to be used, or the day before in the case of meat in need of marinade. Please note that the cold room is not and should not be a simple wine cellar. Even chilled wines are stored at temperatures unsuited to the storage of milk and meat. This is true of any fermented, mulled, or distilled beverage as the alcohol generally forestalls or prevents spoilage, especially if the container is sealed properly. Lastly, a well-tended and stocked kitchen will also have an herb garden nearby, or a vegetable patch dedicated to the growth of frequently used produce, unless the chef or owner is prepared to acquire them fresh from grocers. Of course none of this advice need apply to any Fate-Touched chefs, who have access to their intraplanar rifts in which goods are preserved by planar energies, keeping them mostly fresh more or less indefinitely. I have not personally performed a peer reviewed experiment to disprove the popular opinion that the ‘mostly’ is required, but I have never noticed a difference in taste between rift-stored and mundanely fresh ingredients. (A sketch marked as II depicts a cupboard stacked to bursting with crockery and servingware. A cabinet to one side houses glasses, arranged together from delicate champagne flutes at the top to hardy steins and tankards on the bottom. There’s even a few decanters, pitchers, jugs, and jars, and even a pair of carafes, all empty. Next to this cabinet is a set of large shelves with pots, kettles, and cauldrons of varying sizes, some certainly not large enough to provide more than a serving of soup, others large enough that they must rest on the floor and likely require more than one person to shift. Here and there a colander can be spotted amongst the pots. Another cabinet on the other side houses plates, bowls, and serving trays, while an open drawer beneath the lowest of these shelves shows the handles of silverware. Hanging from the ceiling are several pans, ladels, spatulas, and even a small saucepan or two. A close examination of an inscription over the doors at either end of the picture reveal damage to the door frame that makes it clear this sketch was taken by standing in the centre of the room and rotating as the artist worked.) Storing your cookware is a matter of similar gravity to storing ingredients, with an emphasis on frequency of use and weight rather than spoilage. Most of your pots and pans should be brass or copper, as these materials resist corrosion and conduct heat better than most other materials. Thankfully for your blacksmith’s patience, most households need to replace a copper vessel only once or twice ever if care is taken with it. However there are ingredients that simply should not be cooked in copper dishes; anything acidic like citrus fruits or tomatoes. You’ll need to use an iron or steel pan or pot for these ingredients, or if you are planning to take the pan to an oven or other high-heat environment. Please note that this is high heat even for a kitchen, your typical stove top is perfectly fine for copper cookware. You can generally store cookware and serviceware in the same space, as both have a similar use-cycle. Taken out before meal preparation begins, used, washed, and returned to storage once dried. If you keep fine porcelains or silver meant to be displayed, these can of course be stored in curio cabinets in the dining hall itself, but this tome is aimed at the back-of-house environment and the sorts of service typical of daily life rather than assuming guests-of-standing. Not pictured but often present within the kitchen itself due to their frequency of use are essentials like spice mills, mortars, pestles, grilling forks, spits, and similar vessels and utensils. Many kitchens keep such necessities near the food preparation area, in designated racks and shelves. Remember that the larger the kitchen and service expected, the more duplicates of everything needed. A farmwife might get away with a single large pan, a single saucepan, and a single kettle, but to prepare meals for an inn she would need at least three of each and a snappy sculler. (The sketches marked as III depict a series of water storage and retrieval methods. The first is a large barrel beneath a spout attached to a large funnel that extends past the top of the sketch. A set of labels describe these as a rainwater filter. At the base of the barrel is a spigot, which allows the contents to drain into a bucket hung from a peg on the stand the barrel rests on. The second is an artesian well, whose water fountains into a basin inside the kitchen it apparently serves. The third is a more traditional pump-well with an accompanying bucket. This appears to be in a market square. Finally there is a well with a small shingled roof covering it and a deep bucket on a rope balanced over its center.) We are approaching two elements central to any kitchen. Water and fire. Obviously the simplest method for procuring water in a kitchen is to have a mage or naturist conjure it. You can expect such water to be clean and pure, or at least relatively so, but not everyone will have the luxury of magically summoned hydration. For everyone else, there are four primary types of well from which water may be drawn. The first is technically not a well at all, but is capturing and filtering rainwater to be fit for consumption, potability. This involves a large funnel and pipe, preferably made from fused gemstones or brass or copper, which lead into a barrel. This barrel is filled with several minerals in layers, through which the water settles and filters, until it is expelled through an S-shaped pipe that exits the barrel to keep the sediment within. This sediment will need to be periodically rotated so as to maintain cleanliness, and the water will still benefit from being boiled before being used to cook. The second type of well uses a trick of geography to feed water from an aquifer into an aboveground well. A fair few dwellings in foothills can take advantage of this sort of technology, which can even deliver clean water directly into the kitchen using it. Probably wouldn’t hurt to boil it anyway. Next is a lever-actuated pump well. These are not uncommon in villages, where even children are taught how to pump the handle to create negative pressure in the well pipes, which draws up water more efficiently than a bucket. Boiling is not a bad idea. Lastly there is what can politely be called a hand drawn well. You mostly find these in areas where an artisan cannot be hired to create the pumping mechanism. A bucket is lowered into the well, allowed to fill, then drawn out manually. Often by pulley systems. Definitely boil this water, I’ve heard too many stories of frogs and rats found in wells. And of course one may simply place a waterskin, cask, or bucket into a running stream and collect water that way. I am not certain I myself would trust river water, I’ve found one too many leeches in river mud to be comfortable with it, never mind the fish, amphibians, and other wildlife, live or dead, drawn to public rivers. Absolutely boil it before use, and even then… Regardless, once you have collected the water, unless it was conjured directly into your pot, kettle, or cauldron for use, you’ll need to store it. I find oak or cedar barrels with firm iron bands to be the best storage method for bulk use, barring a rift, of course. Make sure it has been caulked properly or lined to prevent leakage, and keep it sealed tight to avoid unwanted fauna in your previously potable water. If you can spare the time and afford the artisan, a fused gemstone keg is a suitable vessel as well, particularly if you are going to serve a resulting beverage at a high society function, as the keg itself can act as a display piece in addition to its utility. (Marked as IV, the page has three illustrations. First is an ordered stack of quartered wood as would suit a hearth or camp fire. Second is an iron hopper opened to reveal lumps of what must be either coal or charcoal. And third is a broad hearth with kindling wood set to one side, a tinderbox on the mantle, and a set of wrought iron firekeeping tools on the side opposite the kindling. A large bar of blackened metal runs across the hearth, resting on a pair of iron rods driven into the stone on either side of the fire cradle.) And now we reach fire. Any good chef can tell you, as well as any learned mage, that a good blaze requires as much air as it does fire. When storing fuel for the kitchen, therefore, try to minimize exposed surfaces and keep each bit of fuel as close-fit to its neighbors as possible. Firewood stored outside must also be arranged in such a way that water sluices off quickly so that the wood does not rot or absorb extra moisture before it is added to an active fire. DO. NOT. Add. Wet. Wood. To. A. Fire. Fire and water are natural enemies. Exposed water attempts to become steam to escape, which can scald the unwary and spoil a delicate bit of meat or egg. But the true danger is if the water has seeped into the log and become trapped. When the water attempts to escape, it cracks the wood, which can send splinters, which are -on fire- flying out of the hearth and toward any unwary attendant or cook that happens to be nearby. Or worse, it can send such an ember into a coal hopper, or up the flue and onto a thatched roof, or for a camp fire into unprotected brush. That said, coal and charcoal are more reliable as steady, long-lasting fuel sources, which are the sort best for cooking to begin with. Neither is likely to pop or spark as fiercely as wood, and unless you live in a forest they tend to be less costly to boot. The main drawback being that you need to have much more sophisticated air-flow systems, as coal produces acrid smoke that would spoil most meals exposed to it, and charcoal smothers easily. If kept within the kitchen itself, care must be taken that brick or iron lies between the container and any possible source of open flame, and the container itself should ideally be made from brick. If iron is used, generally as the door, caution is advised to never allow the iron to spark. (Sketches V and VI occupy a facing pair of pages, and seem to be two sides to the same space. Illustration V is a food preparation area, with two basins for washing vegetables and collecting peels, a large counter top composed of smooth stone, a wooden cutting board, several stacked, empty bowls, and a few bowls filled with prepared ingredients. A knife block sits at one corner of the cutting area, some of its blades partially exposed so that each can be labeled. Here a chef’s knife, there a filleting knife, a bread knife with a serrated edge, and even a cheese knife with deep fullers. A wooden mallet rests on the board next to a chicken breast which has a flattened look to it. There are even salt and spice wells laid out next to the poultry. Every utensil and feature is labeled in meticulously neat writing to save space.) These are the stations that most think of when someone asks them to envision a kitchen. It is essential, however, that one does not conflate the food preparation areas with those meant for cooking, or for scullery. In the main, your preparation area is a large, flat surface with the tools of cookery to hand. To one side you will want at least one basin of water for the washing and rinsing of your produce, and a container for the detritus, cores, peels, seeds, and similar that cannot be used in cooking. If you wish to be friendly with a gardener, these things can often be made into compost provided you know how to start and keep a heap, and are a usually welcome gift. There should be a flow to the preparation. Move from wash basin to the counter’s edge as you continue to prepare each ingredient, so that when you reach the end of the counter you have ingredients ready to be added to pot, pan, or oven. Often overlooked, if you’re making bread remember to set aside a space for you to place the covered dough to allow it to rise unmolested. I find that keeping it on the far side of the counter from my cooking surfaces is the most logical spot, but that’s because I’m often working on other foods while the dough sets, and cannot afford to place it in the space I’ve labeled as the scraps bin. Remember too that it is vital to keep a supply of clean bowls, cups, cruets, carafes, and similar containers for measured units of ingredients, sauces, and spices. Preparation is key! There’s no culinary disaster worse than needing a sauce while cooking something delicate and finding that you haven’t prepared enough. Particularly where dairy is concerned. (Across from the previous drawings, sketch VI is an elaborate stove and oven set. A brick oven on the far left has a wooden door propped against its side, while an ash rake protrudes from the open iron firebox that presumably keeps the oven hot. A large bread board like an oar rests on the wall to the oven’s left. To its right is a series of stoves of black iron, each with a flue leading outside. The centremost range has glass-fronted doors with hinges to either side and an iron hook to latch it closed. Beyond these is another angle on the broad hearth from illustration IV, this time showing that a longer rod can be inserted through the side of the brickwork. This rod has a large handle to allow it to be cranked by an assistant with a strong arm. After the work if not before. A massive cauldron can be seen hung Through the open door between the hearth and the stoves, the edge of a deep stand basin can be made out.) The importance of proper ventilation in cooking cannot be overstated. Again, not only should your ovens and ranges be able to safely contain their fuel, the smoke needs to be directed away from kitchen and food alike unless it is part of the flavour profile. Being able to open and close the flues also allows the chef to control the rate at which their fuel burns, and subsequently the heat it puts forth. It is for this reason that any household, from the meanest peasant to the highest lord, should have their kitchens on an external wall, and should be friendly with the local blacksmiths and tinkers. Similarly to the food preparation area, your cooking ranges should follow a sort of flow. Long-cooking, simple dishes should be placed further back, while complex or fast-cooking ones should be closer to the chef. Remember that, failing proper storage methods, it is always possible to keep what is known as a brown stew roiling in the hearth if it is not otherwise engaged, into which leftovers and edible scraps can be added for later consumption or distribution to those unable to do their own cooking, or indeed unable to afford their own food. It is therefore also advisable that extremely large kitchens have a commensurately large hearth. Should one possess the funds necessary, it is acceptable to add a leather apron to the rear and sides of one’s oven to protect the wall and nearby furniture from heat damage, and to better control the flow of heat toward the cooking surface, but unless the range will never be used for baking or broiling- an arrangement which would be a terrible waste of space- one should leave the front of the stove uncovered. For convenience’s sake, one will want to keep the food preparation area between the oven, hearth, and ranges so that prepared ingredients will be readily available to each cooking station. As with the preparation area, it is important to have cooking implements to hand. While the pots and pans may be safely stored elsewhere, one should keep spare spatulas, stirring spoons, lids, and the like somewhere within easy reach, as well as dispensers for seasonings best used to taste such as salt and pepper mills, and cooking oils and butter. It is, again, and experience one only wishes to endure once to need more cooking oil and find that it is across the kitchen or in storage while one has a pan on the stove. (Sketch VII occupies roughly a third of its page and primarily features a large counter drawn with no background, absolutely laden with finished dishes ranging from simple stews and roasts to desserts that could serve as a patissier’s mastery piece. Each is balanced on a serving tray with neighbors belonging to the same meal grouping, soups with soups, meat with meat, dessert with dessert, with a few having been moved to a rolling cart and half covered with a cloche that has been cross-sectioned to allow visibility on the dish within.) This tome is mostly concerned with the art of cookery, but a moment needs to be taken for presentation, a part frequently overlooked by some and over-emphasised by other novice chefs. For now, it is important to know that your kitchen should, if possible, have a staging area where finished dishes are plated if being served individually, or where their serving vessels can be garnished and covered to await the moment they are presented. In a home kitchen, this could well be the dining room or the preparation area- or indeed, both could be the same spot for single family dwellings- but for more formal meals, or in noble homes, one will want a table or ideally a room dedicated to serving this role, as well as acting as a buffer zone between the front and back of house staff. Such a presentation area should be, like the preparation station, broad and flat. One need not ornament the area with silver candelabras and table lace, since it will ideally not be seen by formal company. A quick word here on the usefulness of the humble cloche. If you can afford one, get one. Not only do these help serve as a presentation element to a dinner service, they also keep food warm and moist longer than leaving them exposed, and block out flying insects, falling dust and pollen, or general unclean elements that might spoil your dishes. Silver is, of course, always preferred, but ceramics or well-laquered wood can serve as well. In a pinch, one might be able to invert a particularly large bowl that’s been thoroughly cleaned, but a proper cloche is classy and useful enough to justify the cost. For desserts, other options are crystal, fused gemstone, or glass if you can find a properly skilled artisan. Cakes in particular benefit from covered glass display stands, as the cloche keeps the cake moist and the elevated position allows one to place a plate under the edge as the cake is cut for easy transfer. (Another pair of sketches occupies this page. Labelled VIII, there is a cauldron hanging over a hearth with a rubbish bin next to it, a canvas lining bag just visible over its rim. Below this is a fairly detailed sketch of a vegetable garden with an area set to one side containing what appears to be a midden heap situated next to a pig sty.) The last two areas of concern to cookery are those concerned with what happens after the meals are completed. There is a fairly simple rule of thumb I tend to follow: If it is still edible, and savoury, throw it into a stew pot, along with leftover wine or other dry spirits or drinks. Other liquids should be drained into a wastewater container, preferably to wherever chamber pots or sewage are emptied. Anything else organic goes to a rubbish bin, and the inorganic things, wax, paper or burlap containers and the like, should be disposed of with other household detritus if they cannot be reused. The reason for separating inorganic detritus from organic is so that once you have filled your rubbish bin, you can surrender it to an individual who keeps compost or midden heaps, who will often be grateful for the donation. Such rubbish can also be given to a pig farmer, as hogs are notoriously good at disposing of such leavings. Likewise for leftover stews that have gotten a bit too ripe for consumption. (Drawing IX, a scullery has been illustrated with meticulously clean tables to one side of a trio of deep basins. A shelf overhead bears a collection of soaps and a paper sack labeled as ash. Hanging between this shelf and the first of the basins is a selection of scrub brushes, dish cloths, and a second shelf bearing sponges, while to the left of the basin is a barrel of what appears to be sand. Within the scullery is the most boring but most critical portion of maintaining a good kitchen: Clean dishes. The sketch outlines the basics of a particularly well-stocked scullery. The staff will want clean ash to break off baked on food, or for particularly stubborn bits, sand. Once the dishes have nothing stuck on, submerge them in warm water and soap to scrub the remainders and finish cleaning. In the second basin, one will rinse off the soaped dishes, and in the third, clean water will be boiled to further sanitize the dishes, after which they will be dried and stacked on the table for a porter to run to the cupboards and cabinets. If one does not have a method of cleaning water through magic, it is best to cycle through the basins, pouring the boiled water from station three to station two, the soapy water from station two to station one, and the dirty water from station one into the wastewater container mentioned previously. Then add fresh water to station three. The scullery can also, obviously, be repurposed for laundry if there is no cooking to be done and the dishes are all clean. In fact, this is one of the better uses for the space; collect dirty dishes throughout the day, wash them just before and just after the dinner service, and do laundry in the morning. However, this is not a household chores book, so that process will be left to the reader’s imagination. Cutting, Weighing, Grinding The first and most important part of cutting food is a sharp knife. The second is a clean, clear space to work, and third is the type of knife to use for each food. When sharpening your knives it is best to use a three-step process. Keen, then hone, then strop. The first part is performed only at a grindstone, as it involves getting the blade to its initial point. When used, the sharp edge will naturally fold over and form what’s called a burr. This is removed at a sharpening stone by alternating strokes until it can no longer be felt, then moving to a finer grit of sharpening stone. Finally, a honing rod and strops are used to lengthen the time between full honing and sharpening sessions by attempting to minimize the burr between each use. Your cutting stations will usually have a strop nearby to be used between foods. Please also remember to rinse and dry your knives after they have been used to cut acidic foods like citrus or tomatoes. On which note, it is important to use the proper blade for each food type. For thick foods like cheeses, it’s best to use a thin blade with deep fullers or a wire. For breads or food with a tough shell and soft flesh, a serrated blade is the best option, as the serrations allow many smaller cutting attempts. For butchery, a very thick blade is used to add weight to the swing. Alternately, a longer knife can be used to pry apart the joints more easily. Finally, filleting takes a very thin, flexible blade. There are a few techniques for chopping ingredients, but the two I find most useful are cross-chopping and rock-chopping. Both feature similar motions, but have different uses. Cross-chopping is for making rough cuts where the final size of the ingredient is mostly unimportant, but small. Mostly this is for herbs and the like. One begins by pinching the base of the blade with the index and forefinger of the knife hand, then placing the guide hand along the top of the blade’s back. Grip the knife’s handle with the remaining fingers, place the tip of the blade on your cutting surface, and rock the blade back, then lift it back to the tip, adjust the angle slightly, and repeat the motions. Once you reach the end of your ingredient, walk the blade back the other direction, then realign your ingredient and repeat the process until you’ve reached the approximate size you need. Rock-chopping is similar, but is more generally useful, and comes in when the ingredients are too large or dense for a cross-chop, or when they need a uniform size to ensure they cook properly. One will again grip the blade using a pinch grip, but this time the guide hand will be placed on the ingredient itself. For rounded ingredients like carrots or tomatoes, it is often best to take a small slice off of the base so that the ingredient will remain stable, but once you are ready to chop, again place the blade’s tip on your cutting surface with the knife’s grip elevated at an angle, then align the ingredient to be cut perpendicular to the blade, with one’s fingers running along the length and the thumb tucked behind it to push. As the ingredient is pushed under the blade, rock the knife down and very slightly forward, then reset its position and curl the fingers on the guide hand back as you push the ingredient forward. This will gradually result in your guide hand adopting a claw-like grip. It’s important to keep one’s knuckles resting against the blade in the final few cuts, and to never lift the blade’s edge higher than those knuckles. If the first round of cutting produces pieces that are still too large, for instance if you will be mincing garlic, one can switch to a cross-chop to reduce the size, or use a slice to halve or reduce the chopped ingredient. For slicing, you will hold the knife entirely by the grip and use long, even strokes across the ingredient being sliced. If you are using a serrated blade, allow the teeth to do the work of actually cutting, and place very little weight on the knife to avoid deforming the ingredient. If using a straight blade, a little pressure will be required, but most of your effort should still be focused on the sawing motion. Use the forward strokes to press deeper into your ingredient, and reverse strokes to even the cut out. When slicing hard cheeses using a wire, if the wire does not already have a pair of handles it is highly advised that you create one. If not, find some sturdy leather, or better chain gloves to protect your fingers. There are three main techniques for this, similar to those used for clay with good reason. The first is, in fact most useful if you have a potter’s wheel for a round cheese, which is to rotate the cheese wheel while gently pulling the wire along a course parallel to the bottom of the wheel. This will produce a long slice that can be used on barrel-made cheeses to make portions that are more easily sold, stored and distributed. The major drawback to this method is that it is difficult if not impossible on non-rounded blocks of cheese. The next method is to do the same as above, but pushing down toward a hard surface rather than pulling along a spinning one. This will allow you to shape a block of cheese, or cut slices from a wedge. It is technically possible to also use this method to carve a wedge out of a wheel by standing the wheel on its side and pulling toward oneself, but given that this will result in a sharp wire being drawn to one’s abdomen it is best used cautiously, and better to just use a cheese knife. Either way, a rocking or sawing motion may help to even out the cut, especially once the outer edges of the wire reach your cutting surface. The final method is to simply wrap the wire around the cheese and pull the handles away from the point where the wire crosses itself. The cut will technically not be flat, but the difference will be minimal and likely undetectable without a round object. This is likely the most reliable method of cutting irregularly shaped pieces of cheese, such as if you are trying to extract a triangular slice from a wedge of lacy or aerated cheeses. Once you pass a certain point in a chop, and if the ingredients are dry, the next step in getting something finer is to grind it. Kawhe, nuts, and spices especially often need to be ground. Much like with chopping, there are different methods used to start than to finish a grind. The coarsest possible grinds come from large mills. These are the meals you’ll get from a miller, and frankly the most often encountered of these is chicken feed. Next down is flour, which is usually also milled, but the process for doing so goes from the coarse grind to a second, finer millstone. Next are proper grinders. Most often used for turning kafe beans into kawhe, or peppercorns into pepper, or salt into table salt. These are done in table mills, which either have gear shafts that rotate and catch the ingredient between the teeth, or have a grinding head at the base of the mill which does something similar. A table mill may also be cranked if additional torque is needed to start the grinding process, such as for particularly hard nuts or kafe beans. At the base of the grinder will be a chute that leads to a collecting bowl. Hand mills, by contrast, are nearly universally a simple grinding head at the base of a hollow hopper that uses gravity to feed the mechanism, where a simple twist of the wrist provides the force to create the grind. For an even finer grind, one must then turn to a mortar and pestle. These are used by pressing down on the pestle in such a way as to run the ingredient against the rough edge of the mortar. As the mortar’s ridges get finer, so does the powder produced. By far the two most common ingredients for which a mortar is called are cinnamon and sugar, but it’s not uncommon to see dried cloves or garlic ground this fine, and of course a fine salt can be used with certain fried foods to enhance their flavour without altering the texture. Once ingredients have been reduced to their proper size, one may need to weigh them. A kitchen scale needs to be extremely precise in its balance, as often the ingredients involved will be very fine and very light indeed. For liquids, it is important to either have a second bowl of the same material and size on hand that can be placed empty on the weight tray, or else weigh the container empty before adding the ingredient and weighing again. If you can adjust the balance of the scale, a process called taring, you may also do so if you know you will be using the same size and material of container frequently. It is therefore sometimes useful to maintain two sets of weights so that you have duplicates should your container use an unusual one. With both grinding and weighing, patience is key. One may eventually get a feel for weight, but until then it’s best to take things slowly so as to avoid overshooting one’s needs. Add the ingredients to one side of the scales, wait for them to settle, then add weights until the scales balance. The closer to balanced one gets, the smaller the weights to be added or exchanged, and the longer one needs to wait afterwards for the scales to settle again. In addition to a set of scales and weights, it is useful to have a collection of rounded spoons of varying sizes, as well as a graduated cup. These can be used to measure both liquid and dry ingredients, though of course one will need to wash and dry them between uses, so multiple sets are recommended, with the less commonly used measures requiring fewer spoons on hand. Again, it will eventually be possible for an experienced chef to ‘eyeball’ ingredients, especially dry ingredients, but until one has verified that their guesses are accurate nine times in ten, it’s best to avoid doing so for anything but seasonings. Also remember that it is better to underseason than overseason, as bland food can have seasonings applied late in production to make up for the deficit, while overly-spiced foods cannot have those spices reduced without re-seasoning the dish entirely. Mixing, Beating, Whipping, Mashing (Sketches of each motion with arrows to indicate directions are included next to each of the paragraphs in this section.) Next we will discuss methods of incorporating and combining ingredients using spoons, whisks, or fingers, and mashing forks. The first utensil most will learn to use for mixing ingredients is, of course, their fingers. Even very young children can be coaxed into grabbing dry ingredients and mixing them together. This method is, however, only rarely used outside of baking as it is inefficient. In baking, it is quite common to use one’s hands or fingers to mix, knead, and fold dry ingredients or doughs, mostly due to the lack of mess and the speed at which one can accomplish this, or the fine control required to properly attain the mixture consistency needed of that art. For most applications, however, one will generally mix with a whisk, fork, or spoon. When doing so, the motions used should be quick, shallow scoops across the centre of the mixture while slowly turning the bowl. I find it is often easiest to execute by pulling toward oneself by holding the bowl in one arm and mixing with the other. The more incorporated the ingredients are, the deeper the scooping motion should be, and if the ingredients are dry, one can also add a rocking motion in with the bowl arm to help the ingredients mix faster. As the mixture gets thicker, switch from quick scoops to slow folds, and reverse the direction of the motion so that you are folding in from the outer edge. If a recipe calls for you to beat something, the motion is mostly the same, but much quicker and shallower. Try to keep toward one edge of the bowl and turn against the direction of the beat to add speed. Your objective is to achieve a mostly uniform mixture here, but it is not critical that everything is homogeneous. In fact, with scrambled eggs it is sometimes better that there are pockets of white vitrea to enhance the experience of the final product. Next is whipping, which is similar, but forks and spoons are likely incapable of achieving a proper whip. The motions for this are much faster, and much shallower. When using a whisk, one can also twist the wrist while making the scooping motions in order to reduce the speed necessary, but if all one has is a fork they may also require a potion of galvanism or a celerity-enhancing food or concoction. Elementalists can also create a downdraft over the mixing area in order to introduce more air to the mixture, as that’s the ultimate goal of a whip: creating tiny bubbles of air inside a semifluid mixture. Mouses and souffles are similar, but far more delicate, requiring a smaller whisk, more tines, faster whisking, or a combination of the three. Again, if the mixture is too thick for a shallow motion, start by folding it over itself a few times to create the initial bubbles and start thinning it out. Finally, related only in that it’s generally done in a mixing bowl, we have mashing. Either with a regular fork or a masher, press down on a soft, usually boiled ingredient, usually potatoes, peas, or carrots, until the utensil meets the bowl, then repeat the motion again and again. This is similar to using a mortar and pestle, but your ingredient is not dry and the objective is not a powder. If the final mixture is too thick, add either cream or water a little at a time, folding the fluid into the mixture in a similar way to your mixture techniques. If it is too thin, you may be able to recover it by stretching a cheese cloth over the mash and straining over a basin. You generally want a more homogeneous result with this, but it’s consistency and texture you’re aiming for, so you may be left with some unincorporated skin, husk, or shell. If this is not something of which you are desirous, you can run the mash through a fine sieve in the last few steps. Coating, Filling, Stuffing, Basting, Marinating (The sketches in this section are primarily of the utensils used; a stiff-bristled brush, a softer brush, a small spatula, a pastry bag, a basting needle and dropper, and a marinading dish.) Depending on the recipe, the sauce involved, and the method of cooking used, there are various ways of getting flavour onto or into your foods either before or after the steps most think of as cooking and baking. The most straightforward of these are coating and breading. There are generally two ways to accomplish this, depending on how thoroughly the finished product needs to be coated. For sauces or melted butter, one uses a brush to apply a thin layer of sauce to the outside of the ingredient, usually a meat. This ensures an even coating that will enhance, but generally will not drastically alter the flavour profile or texture. Alternatively, one may roll the ingredient to be coated in a sauce to coat it. This will usually result in a more flavourful outer layer that may protect the food from dehydrating as quickly during a bake. Finally, breading can be accomplished by first applying a mixture of eggs and a few soluble seasonings, and then either sprinkling the ingredient with or rolling it through a flour mixture or, for a particularly crunchy breading, ground up croutons. For baked goods, one can apply a layer of icing after the cake has cooled sufficiently. Use a small spatula to scoop out the icing from one’s mixing bowl, then spread it onto the cake in a smooth, spiraling motion either by rotating the cake under the spatula or rotating the spatula around the cake. For either method, hold the spatula at an angle with its smaller end pointed toward the pastry, and the icing beneath it. The shallower the angle, and the closer to the pastry one is, the smoother the final coating will be. For cup-cakes or to produce peaks, one should instead use a bag or cone made from wax paper, with the wax on the inside. Place the icing inside, then twist the top to seal it and cut off the tip with a pair of kitchen shears. As the icing is dispensed, gently twist the top of the bag by making squeezing it between your thumb and palm, and slide your grip along as you twist. A similar construction can be used to fill a puffed pastry if the filling will not survive being baked with the pastry. Icing in particular is likely to run out of any pastry it’s baked into, and custard would be cooked if baked, which will alter the consistency irrevocably. For this, a small hole needs to either have been left in the pastry or be cut out from it to access the hollow space to be filled. Then simply insert the tip of your piping bag and twist as above. Runny fillings can instead be inserted via a kitchen funnel. Glass or fused gemstone for preference as these are easier to clean and less likely to contaminate the food. Basting uses some of the same techniques via tools specialised for the task. A basting needle is used to inject your sauce or juices directly into meat to prevent it drying out as much as to add flavour, and the dropper is to fill larger cavities where a bird’s viscera would have been. One will also, of course, use a ladle to reapply some of the juices that drip from meats as they roast, simply drizzling it over the meat. Stuffing can also be employed in the bird’s cavity. Simply soften your favourite herbal bread, cut it into small cubes, and pack it in through the opening through which said viscera were extracted. Finally, a more extensive and time consuming option is to marinade your entree before cooking it. This is accomplished by submerging the meat in your marinade, usually oil or alcohol based, to allow the sauce to infuse and break down some of the fat in the meat. You will then cover the dish and place it in a cool, dark place to prevent spoilage. This will serve to tenderise as well as flavour the meat, allowing it to survive a longer roast or broil without drying out. Stewing, Reducing, Boiling, Poaching, Steaming We now move on to cooking with water. The lowest maintenance, and indeed overall simplest, form of this is to make a stew. The basic formula for a stew is to start with a liquid base, water or stock for preference, add in some vegetables and a protein, and let it sit over a fire until your soul tells you it’s ready. However the marvelous thing about a stew is that you can continue to add new ingredients and just let them cook for a while to change the stew by slow degrees. Do this for long enough, and you produce something called different things by different cultures, but I grew up referring to it as a village stew, or a rolling stew. It’s almost universally brownish in colour, and has a thickness somewhere between a sauce and a soup depending on the constituent ingredients, the earliest of which no one is prepared to admit to knowing. I mentioned maintaining one of these for household use in large or very populated households, and a couple of villages I know maintain one for village use after a harvest when even the homemakers don’t have time to cook. All that’s truly required is a starting liquid, a large cauldron, a fire, and a long-handled ladle. One does need to monitor it for spoilage, but even if it does spoil the stew can be thickened into hog slop by increasing the heat to boil off a bit of the moisture. A process which is called ‘reducing’. It’s often used to turn a runny sauce or soup into a thicker one, or a roux. All one needs to do for this is to maintain a boiling temperature and continually stir the contents to ensure the liquid is removed more or less evenly. Boiling and poaching are distinct from stewing or creating soup in that the water is being used as a cooking medium, not as part of the finished product. If the food is completely submerged in boiling water, that’s boiling. Make sure to use a ladle or long spoon to keep the food from sticking to the bottom of the pot, but otherwise don’t disturb it until it’s time to remove it from the water. A related technique uses a double boiler, where the boiling water is acting as a heat source for a second pot that contains ingredients, usually milk, that need a very precise, controlled, and gradual heating process. Everything being calm and clear and an unusable scalded mess are often only seconds apart with untended milk. However certain confections also require a double boiler. If there is only a bit of boiling water in, for instance, a pan, then you are poaching the food. Again, take care not to let it stick to your pan, and try to occasionally cover the top of the food with more water to cook evenly and prevent it from drying. Poaching is used in cases where the food is too delicate to be fried in lard, butter, or oil without falling apart, or boiled in deeper water without losing its texture or flavour. Lastly is steaming, which is when one suspends their food in a basket over boiling water in a closed pot, allowing the steam to cook it. It is recommended to use a flat lid so that additional weight or a strap can be added to prevent the steam from escaping, otherwise the chef will need to start with more water to compensate. Steaming is, again, used when you need an even cooking temperature, but cannot boil the food without changing its texture, particularly useful for broccoli, asparagus, and cabbages, but also useful for shrimp and crabs if you’ll be coating them in lemon and butter. Baking, Broiling, Grilling, Roasting, Smoking Let us now work with the oven. Like with stews, most of these cooking methods are ‘set and forget’, where nearly all of the preparation is done in one burst, and all of the cooking is done over a long period of time. These types of recipes are handy, as you can cook other things while waiting without risking the food burning. The differences between these are largely about the proximity to and arrangement of your source of heat and the level of activity required. Alone among these types of cooking methods, roasting sometimes requires direct supervision. This is because the main draw of roasting is that it requires less heat and therefore a less sophisticated oven, but the tradeoff is that in order for it to work you need to lengthen the cooking time, constantly rotate the food to be cooked, or both. Thus, the turning spit. This is a large iron bar with a handle on one end. The chef skewers the food on the spit, or ties it to the spit, then suspends it over the fire and turns the handle to ensure an even cook. In some large kitchens, one might employ a servant whose only task is turning the roasting spit, or one might have a wheel in which a dog or cat is allowed to walk or run in place to do the work. This process results in a drier finished product, but one can use different woods to subtly change the flavour profile of the food as well. Similar is smoking, where the food, almost universally a meat, is suspended in a sealed chamber with a smouldering fire. It is important to note that this fire should not be producing any visible flames, as the goal here is to allow the smoke to dehydrate and cook the food. This takes time, but is not as labour intensive as roasting, requiring only that the pit master rake the embers and coals and occasionally add fresh wood shavings. If the food has been laid out or suspended correctly, and it is not left overlong, it is somewhat dry, but retains its fats, leaving it slightly chewy. Like roasting, the type of wood used for this alters the flavour of the finished product, but with smoked food the differences are more pronounced. Also, if left long enough, and treated with salts, the smoked meat can become cured meat, turning pork into ham or other meats into jerky. A quick moment here to talk about preparing dough for bread, and pasta. Both involve similar processes, and I’m covering this here rather than the boiling chapter because the process is generally used for making bread more frequently than noodles. Your individual recipe will go over the ingredient differences, but bread doughs are usually mixed, then kneaded and folded over themselves several times before being allowed to rest, rise, and develop. Cookie and pastry doughs, by contrast, are not allowed to rise and are instead either rolled flat and cut into desired shapes or rolled into balls which flatten in the oven. Pasta dough is stretched in the same direction, then rolled to stretch it further, then twisted, then rolled and stretched again and again until the internal structure has developed along a single long axis. At this point it is cut and rolled as called for by the recipe. Baking is the most straightforward. Place uncooked food into an oven and close it, wait some time, occasionally adding more fuel to the fire, and extract cooked food from the oven. The complicated part of this is generally either before, needing to follow a complex recipe for pastries or casseroles, or after, needing to decorate cakes and pastries. Your food will again come out drier than it went in, but since baking is enclosed and the heat is higher than roasting, not as dry as the previous methods. It will also take less time. Following this trajectory, we have broiling. Broils are difficult for one reason only, the heat needs to be intense, and the heating element needs to be above the food. This can be accomplished in one of a few ways. For dishes that can be set and forgotten about, like certain cobblers, one can arrange the ingredients as appropriate in a flat-lidded pot, sink the pot into a fire pit, then build a small fire atop it. One will need to use an iron vessel for this, as copper would deform and ceramics are likely to crack from the heat. A more reliable way is to have a compartment for broiling built into the oven, usually a tray or drawer below the fire box. The intense heat from the close proximity to open flames means that the food will cook very quickly, and the uniform direction of that heat means that the top of your food will form a crust quickly. Thus, this is best used for cobblers or to finish a dish that’s been cooked in some other way, as it may not thoroughly cook certain kinds of food, notably poultry or fish, which should not be eaten undercooked. Finally, there is grilling. This is one of the simplest forms of cookery there is. Suspend food at a medium distance over an open fire, usually resting on a metal or wicker grid, which sometimes has a lid to keep the heat in. Rotate the food at least one or three times, and move food from the outer edges in to ensure an even cook. This is a close cousin to roasting, but it requires less direct supervision because of the increased heat, since the food cooks faster. This produces a crust, much like broiling, but because the food is rotated and the temperatures are lower, this is much less pronounced than with a broil. Somewhere between roasting and grilling there also exists toasting, where one skewers food on a spit or fork and holds it close to a fire for a moment to crisp and darken it. This is more of an amusement than outright cookery though, as it is difficult to perform at scale. See Frying chapter for how to mass-produce toasted bread. Frying One might ask why other cooking methods have their chapters condensed, but not frying. The answer is simply that frying is probably the most technically demanding of the cooking methods. There are four main categories of frying techniques. Side note: Since oil is heavily involved in all forms of frying, it is important to know NEVER TO MIX HOT OIL WITH WATER. YOU WILL BURN YOURSELF, YOUR KITCHEN STAFF, YOUR FAMILY, AND POSSIBLY YOUR HOUSE. NEVER. MIX. HOT OIL. WITH. WATER. The temperatures inside oil at which things are fried will cause ice to sublimate and liquid water will turn to steam immediately. If this happens under the surface of the oil, which doesn’t maintain surface tension at all and is less dense than water at those temperatures, the oil will be flung out of the pan or pot by the expanding water. You have been warned. Deep frying is most similar to boiling, with one critical distinction: There is no water involved. Instead one is cooking with heated oil, which boils at a much, much higher temperature, and therefore remains liquid at higher temperatures than water. This means that anything submerged in oil is subjected to the same processes that boiled food is, much, much more quickly. Quickly enough that the outer surfaces form a crust that protects the interior. This gives the food a nice crunch while allowing the interior to be moist and even juicy if done properly. This is why there are so many frying techniques. Thus, grasping the food to be fried with a pair of metal tongs and submerging it for a few minutes will produce cooked food. It is prudent to let the food sit for a time to cool and finish cooking afterwards, preferably on a towel or in a mesh rack over a basin to allow excess oil to drain. Next are so-called hot pot or stir-fry techniques. These use less oil, but are still not particularly labour intensive. One adds foods according to their cooking times, and stirs the ingredients around while maintaining high heat on an oven or fire pit. The temperatures reached are, again, very high in these recipes, allowing the outside of the food to sear and locking in the flavours and juices of the ingredients. With stir-fry recipes, it is important to move the food nearly constantly so that it does not get stuck to the pan, but this has an added benefit of allowing the ingredients to cook near one another frequently enough to exchange flavour profiles while still maintaining their own. If you have the proper cooking vessel for it, one can also cook large meals in this fashion, though this becomes more technically demanding as one will need to manoeuvre the pan in such a way as to flip the ingredients off of the cooking surface for brief periods of time to ensure the ingredients cook properly and don’t stick to the pan. Without spilling those ingredients, or more importantly the oil, all over the kitchen. It’s best to practice this outdoors, and thankfully it is possible to do so as the vessels for this are often round-bottomed and can be suspended over a cooking fire by means of a metal ring on a tripod. Hot pots will typically use slightly more oil to cook fewer ingredients, but your individual recipe will instruct you in the proper ratios. Finally there is pan frying. Traditional Delportian techniques involve using a spatula, fork, tongs, or some other utensil in one hand to position the ingredients being cooked, usually in a very light layer of oil or butter, and to turn them when needed, while the hand on the pan will make a circular motion to ensure that heat is reaching every part of the pan evenly. This is likely what most people think of when they hear the word ‘cooking’, and nearly every culture has reached some variation on this technique. Like other forms of frying, the high heat of the cooking medium sears the ingredients and allows them to stay moist, and the short cook times allows for the creation of more complex, multi-step dishes. One variant on this is pan searing, in which a pan of oil is heated to frankly dangerously high temperatures, and then a piece of food is introduced briefly to it on each side. If the pan is hot enough, the sear created by doing this will continue to cook the rest of the meat to a safe level by the time it reaches the table. Do not do this with poultry or other fowl. The final frying technique requires the most specialized equipment: a cooktop griddle. The most widely available of these is simple enough to produce, it’s a large sheet of iron or steel on short legs designed to rest over most or all of the burners on a given range. The better option is to have a separate stove dedicated to a griddle, as the heat will be better distributed. These are used by applying cooking oil to the surface while the fire is stoked, then placing ingredients directly on the cooking surface. It’s fairly simple to produce multiple meals at once on such a cooking surface, but each must be able to be left to rest without intervention beyond occasionally turning or flipping, so it is vital that the heat be even across the range. Incidentally, this is excellent for making toast if one has a need for it, like stuffing. Melt a pat of butter on the range, place a slice of bread over the melted pat, and flip it after a moment or two, depending on how crispy one needs the bread to be. This works best with white breads, especially if they’ve been baked from very fine flour. Afterward This guide is by no means complete. There are dozens of cooking techniques and even entire cooking styles that were barely touched on or not mentioned at all. I’m by no means a cookery encyclopaedia. I’m simply a chef, and have found the techniques, methods, and styles outlined in this book to be the most useful starting point for a new chef. There are safety tips, sanitation advice, and definitions here to help someone gain a foothold in the culinary world without needing a well-stocked latrine. A good cook can come from anywhere. Be nearly anyone. Hopefully this book will encourage someone with no other mentor to take up a knife and spatula and try out a few recipes they find in the public catalogue. I would be content with that much. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Dracnoris: pg. 7](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/dracnoris-pg-7/) **Published:** January 1, 2023 **Author:** Esei **Content:** Page 7/8 – so close to the end now. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2023 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Cosmic Plane of Iklara](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-cosmic-plane-of-iklara/) **Published:** December 31, 2022 **Author:** Tonatiuh **Content:** Bartered from the Night Market, a map of the Cosmic Plane of Iklara. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Sunny Respite](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-sunny-respite/) **Published:** December 29, 2022 **Author:** Gurashi **Content:** You pause for a moment to think of those who have come before you, those who have been affected by this tragedy and who are suffering still. Then, with a hopeful smile you say: “Yes – I will help you plant a sunflower.” **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [500 Years](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/500-years/) **Published:** December 26, 2022 **Author:** Lendren **Content:** ========= 500 Years ========= A collection of poems by Lendren Starfall, written in the years leading to their 500th birthday, some of them improvised and off the cuff. —————– the restless dead —————– Something ineffable Nigh undefinable Binds you, impossible Irreconcilable Peace unattainable Rest is denied to you Loss insurmountable You haunt us, what haunts you? ————— spirit of place ————— Stars above us wheel and dance, cavort and frolic; In the plains the river sings a sunny tune. Centaur hills looming breathe deep and exhale clean airs; Trees smile and wave while their birds softly croon. Winds are gentle fingertips our cheeks caressing; The land shines gold the silver of the Moon. Is the world filled with spirits Echoing the joys of love back at us? Or is it only air and stone, sky and water? In the end, is there any difference? Places can be shaped by hate or horror, But also they are changed by love and pleasure. When sunshine reflects off a roof, light becomes heat; When passion reflects off the world, love becomes joy. ——– outgrown ——– The wind that bore the seed away, The rains that watered its first day, The loamy soil in which it lay, The sun that shared its warming rays. The sproutling reaches, tall and long, The flower blooms with light and song, The fruit’s shine ripens bright and strong, It finds its path, and moves along. The wind forgotten, set aside The rains forsaken, left behind The soil deserted, sere and dried, The sunlight now by dark denied: At some remove, they watch, still proud, Their love and care remain unbowed, No longer needed, yet not cowed, They dare not share their tears aloud. ————- bits of shell ————- High in the boughs of a sacred tree A woven home of twigs, straw, and fur. Caught in strands at the nest’s bottom Broken bits of shell, and nothing more. —————— assorted limericks —————— Velcora and I played a game to make limericks up for acclaim on subjects picked random we made rhymes in tandem to see who would win greater fame! The topic of weddings was in passing while with rhymes we both were harassing but Mom spoke of salad so I made this ballad of dresses in fashion surpassing! A tiara made of bok choy a skirt of okra corduroy a bodice of broad-beans a train made of fresh greens a wedding salad to enjoy! There was an aslaran with fleas. She tried hard to bathe, but just sneezed. She took off her pants, and did a wild dance, and the pests all blew off in the breeze. ——— clerihews ——— *(Author’s note: a clerihew is a type of poem with three notable traits: intentionally awkward rhyme and scansion, a first line that is the name of its subject, and a wry twist that is meant to both humorously and teasingly celebrate a person’s fame, or at least one thing that they are well known for.)* Nepenthe Dahyu wondered, ‘what next must I do?’ Surrounded by gifts, struck Crumkane’s name off the list. Ialie Starfall smiled like a rainbow at the Basin, all. Gathered in one room, they watched aetherspace collapse in with a boom. ——— war march ——— For though the shadows grim and pale shall cast their darkness on the veil, with shining steel and sturdy hearts, Men good and strong shall still prevail! For though the creatures grim of night shall crawl and wail and gnash and bite, with stalwart strength and love of kin, Men wise and brave shall win the fight! For though the sky is full of cloud, and hearts of men are weak with doubt, with wisdom true, and lore, and song, Men proud and fair drive evil out! ——— wayfarers ——— The horizon stretches out ahead Another one falls far behind The road is stone beneath my feet The past and future intertwined. We sing of where we’ve come from And where we go back to again. For what was lost will be reclaimed, Through battle, struggle, loss, and pain. We bark in markets far and wide, We sell our dances, songs, and poems, And though we dream of long-lost lands, The paving stones become our home. So sing and cheer the road beneath, Of aching feet and heavy gear, For soon we crest another hill For taverns full of bread and beer! **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Secrets of Gods in Magnagora](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/secrets-of-gods-in-magnagora/) **Published:** December 26, 2022 **Author:** Neela **Content:** > Secrets of Gods in Magnagora > > Found of Over Centuries. > > In This Book Do Dwell. > > **Fear** Them **Not**. > > Not All Secrets Harm. > > --- > > An introduction follows, one that I hope will show my humility. As a follower of Morgfyre, I know it will be taken with a grain of salt. That I can understand secrets known of many of the gods. But They are as we are, personalities, beyond us. But they are individuals, worthy of respect and worship. I sought to examine common tales, I read many books, too many to name really. And sought to write this. A channel towards understanding. A secret that is not immediately obvious about each of the gods of my city. Maybe expanding outwards later, when I talk to more people about their gods. > > --- > > I will start with a secret of my own god. > > Morgfyre was not anything like a Legion, truly. And I know not why people call Him that but for simplicity’s sake. He was and is the Legionhead, He is The Legion That Walks. He is not so overcome by those He has consumed, and been victorious over, as to be consumed by them himself. He is a commander. He is a leader. And he cares for his troops. > > His secret is that at the End, after all the changes, He remains Himself. He has changed. But He has not accomplished such change that the old Him ceases to exist. > > He is hunger unceasing tempered by will and controlled evolution. > > --- > > The Enchantress. The Artist. The Elegance. Drocilla, > > She is not truly Enchanting. Her Elegance arrives from Her nature. Her Ambitions. Her Power, restrained as it is, by the long shadow of a collaring. Any enchantment you feel arrives from yourself, and not Herself. That in and of itself is not a secret. > > Her secret, crafty and quick. For all Her ambitions, She is Loyal. She builds up those who give Her loyalty in return. In the end, She will remain at your side. > > She is a mirror to your own desires, and like a mirror, She will ever remain in your hands. > > --- > > Thax, beauteous Zingavium Clad, Lord Thax, The Machine, > > He is transcendent, and yet, He is static. He is changed, and yet He is whole. Thax is reclusive, most of what I know comes from lessons of His Lord of Rust, Shango. > > His secret is that He is tired. He peers out at the world with crimson eyes of a soul long beholden to Zingavium spikes. And He is tired. And this tiredness is what drives Him. At the end, when He finally can rest. I know not what He shall do. But in that regard, I wonder if He knows. His secret is that He is tired, but never exhausted. He will arrive at the End. And not know He is done. Still fighting, to the last moment. Still tired, but still unexhausted. > > He is in perpetual motion. A soul not intended for such things. But adapting, fighting all the same. > > --- > > Malmyda, Vivisector, > > Mother of Plagues. She creates instinctively, she changes intuitively. She pushes boundaries, and does things that no one but Her would ever consider. She is intelligent, and capable of controlling Herself. And in that consideration. In that intelligence of Hers. We come to her secret. > > Her Secret is Her Fear. All that She has done is driven by controlled fear. And in that control. In that calm place, she pushes past barriers, to lead the world to places She and many would consider better. Fear of Loss drove her to save lives. Fear of losing still drives her to inspire greater innovations to stave off the End. > > She seeks to prevent the end. To prevent all She may fear from becoming true.. > > --- > > Raezon, Forbidden One, > > He is hard to find much about. He is a force ever questioning, ever questing, ever seeking to understand. Ever seeking to examine. Most of what I know of him comes from the scant few books I found speaking of him. His works. And so on. > > His Secret is that he has one specific fear, that overrides everything else, it doesn’t control Him, so much as He is immersed in it. And laid bare, He fears He will arrive at the end, and not have accomplished His understanding. He is desperate to know. To understand. Because the process of understanding has become all He knows. > > He seeks to prevent the end, but knows when that end comes, He must understand it. > > --- > > Before I come to the end, to avoid an insult, I will say that I have saved the best for last. As is proper for any meal. > > --- > > Fain, Lord of Scorn, the Red Masque. > > Leader, politician, Damned fellow. To be blessed by He is to be taken on a trip to a highly competitive island, with a target on your back. He only tolerates the best, he does not accept Rabble. He seeks champions for the Damned. > > I know no secret of Fain, that I would write in this book. And I think… Thinking about that, that says plenty of secrets in themselves. But I respect the rules of the masque, and I know He does not tolerate speculation on Himself as the others might. Were He to ask me to think of Him myself? Well, I might just write a book about that. > > – > > Researcher of Nil, > > Neela Calithel, > > a Damned Cog, > > in a Great Engine. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Sprawling Ravenwood](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-sprawling-ravenwood/) **Published:** December 20, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** Higher and higher, the branches of the mighty Ravenwood reach, stretching out towards the eternal face of Mother Night’s shroud. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Dracnoris: pg. 6](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/dracnoris-pg-6/) **Published:** December 15, 2022 **Author:** Esei **Content:** A brief glimpse at the world of Lusternia. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Life Before, Life Now](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/life-before-life-now/) **Published:** December 1, 2022 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** I don’t recall life before the portal. I often wonder who I was then. Even my first years after stepping through are but a blur in my mind’s eye. But I’ve since witnessed the unforgettable, things hardly to be imagined, moments I could relive a thousand times over and still be left breathless at the thought. I’ve watched city’s come alive, made new, people flocking to the protection of their gates. I’ve watched as alliances were built and broken, friendships mended and bridges burnt. I’ve seen mere mortals obtain the powers of gods, and gods fall to a fate beyond Their control. I’ve witnessed, through teary eyes, the tragedy of losing dear loved ones, and the beauty of reawakened hope. I’ve held the hands of my own children, and felt the concerns of a father. I am a husband, a friend, a partner, a city mate. There are many new persons I’ve become. I’ve experienced the joy of new friendships and the pain of a broken, regretful heart. I’ve gazed upon the beauty of the world with the knowledge that I am but a strand woven into an unending tapestry. Who was I before? Does it even matter now? Would it even make a difference to know? I would not trade the life I live, for the knowledge of a past easily obscured. I don’t recall life before the portal, and though I often wonder who I was, I have no regrets. I have no wish to be him. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Destiny Devours](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/destiny-devours/) **Published:** November 22, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** It appears as though the inhabitants of Aquagoria will not be deterred from their quest. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Dracnoris: pg. 5](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/dracnoris-pg-5/) **Published:** November 13, 2022 **Author:** Esei **Content:** Introduction of the Fates. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [As the Braziers Burn, Episode One: Rollara and Wyclissa](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/as-the-braziers-burn-episode-one-rollara-and-wyclissa/) **Published:** October 31, 2022 **Author:** Ovissa **Content:** Act I – Rollara Scene I: Rollara’s kitchen. Characters: Rollara and Nyssi. ———————————— The curtain opens to reveal a cozy kitchen and two women sitting at a table eating breakfast. The sun shines through the open window and the faint scent of both sulfur and incense wafts in, creating a not unpleasant counterpoint to the smell of the recently cooked food. Nyssi: Don’t eat so fast, Rollara. You’ll give yourself a stomachache. Rollara: (hastily chewing and swallowing her mouthfull before speaking) Sorry. I just don’t want to be late again. Rollara: (picking up more food on her fork) Orlenn gets ridiculously passive aggressive if you’re even two minutes late. Rollara: (speaking just before shoving the forkful of food into her mouth) It’s so annoying. Nyssi: (lips quirked and belying her stern tone) Perhaps he wouldn’t be like that if you weren’t late quite so often? Rollara rolls her eyes as she pointedly chews her food without responding. Nyssi: (leaning forward earnestly) You ought to be too excited to be late anyway. It isn’t often a scholar your age gets invited to participate in such an important project. Rollara pauses midchew, her expression hesitant for just a moment before she resumes chewing even quicker. Once she has swallowed, she sighs. Rollara: It is a wonderful opportunity, of course. Nyssi: (frowning a bit) You don’t -sound- like you’re talking about a wonderful opportunity, Rollara. Rollara: (sighing again and shrugging) It is. And I’m proud I was picked to help with the project. I just… Nyssi: (leaning back in her chair, staring at Rollara with a slight crease between her brows) Just? Rollara opens her mouth, pauses, and closes it again before shrugging. She scoops up the last of her breakfast and quickly shoves it into her mouth. Nyssi purses her lips as she continues to regard her daughter. Nyssi: You realize that you have something your father worked for decades to accomplish? Being invited to this project at your age. Nothing has ever made him prouder. Rollara winces a bit before hiding the expression as she chews. Nyssi: This isn’t more of the foolishness you were spouting last spring? Rollara: (sighing again) No mama. That was just me being silly. Nyssi: (narrowing her eyes at her daughter before changing tracks) You know they say this is the City of Freedom and they like to claim they are better than the merians over in New Celest, or the Hallifaxians, but how many humans do you see running things in Gaudiguch? Rollara: (slumping in her seat) Mom… Nyssi: (leaning closer) I’m serious, Rollara. If you’re not dracnari… Rollara: (standing up abruptly from the table) Really, I have to go. I will be late and Orlenn will get his -elfen- panties in a twist. Nyssi: (crossing her arms and muttering darkly) Orlenn probably knows I’m right. Rollara pretends she doesn’t hear her mother as she gathers her heavy bag full of parchment and scrolls and quills and ledgers from the empty seat next to her. Rollara bends and kisses her mother on the cheek as she passes by before hurrying out the door. Nyssi sighs as she gathers up the dishes from the table. The curtain closes briefly as the stage goes dark. ————————————– Act I – Rollara Scene II: A study alcove. Characters: Rollara and Orlenn. ————————————– The curtain opens on a long table in a small alcove of the city library where several scholars are working. The sound of quills scratching along parchment and pages being turned, along with the occasional quiet mutter can be heard. Rollara slips into the alcove and drops into an empty seat. She ignores the glances of a few nearby scholars and begins pulling pages out of her bag. Orlenn: (in a singsong voice as he turns a page in the book he is studying without looking up) Someone’s late. Rollara sticks her tongue out at Orlenn. Orlenn: (still without looking up) Did you bring the Xyliic study with you? We were looking for it earlier, before you finally arrived, I mean. Rollara grits her teeth and pulls a large rolled up scroll from her pack and hands it to him before finishing setting up her workspace. Orlenn takes the offered scroll before making a tutting sound with his teeth. Orlenn: Thank you. Now we can fill in the information we were trying to… Rollara (leaning forward and interrupting with a hiss) Oh stop it. I wasn’t -that- late. Orlenn: (looking up finally, his eyes boring into Rollara) If you’re going to be late at all you shouldn’t take important research materials with you. Rollara takes a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth, counting slowly as she does so. Finally, she forces a smile. Rollara: You’re right, of course. It won’t happen again. Orlenn returns his gaze to his parchment as he makes a non-committal hmph sound, clearly not believing her. Rollara sighs and unrolls another, much smaller scroll. She then scans the ledger she’s opened up in front of her to check where she’d left off. She traces her finger down a list of measurements on the scroll until she finds what she is looking for and stops, marking the measurement into the ledger. Rollara and Orlenn and the other scholars work quietly for several minutes before Rollara sighs again. This time a bit louder than before. Rollara waits a bit and then sighs one more time, even more exaggeratedly than she did the second time. Orlenn: (pressing his lips together in clear irritation) What is the matter, Rollara? Rollara sets down her quill immediately, no longer even pretending to work. Rollara: I chickened out again. Orlenn: (sighing himself this time) You know I hate when you use your human colloquialisms. Rollara: (waving her hand dismissively) Please. Last week you told Jemia to bite your ass. Orlenn: (setting his quill down stiffly) She was trying to make an argument -for- using a substandard… Rollara: (rolling her eyes) My -point- is, stop being such a priss and let me whine about my cowardice. Orlenn: (picking up his quill again) I don’t know why it’s so hard to tell your parents you want to do something different with your life than what they planned. Do you think -my- parents wanted me to move to Gaudiguch of all places? Rollara: No. Orlenn: No. I got around it by just not telling them. They found out I was doing it when I packed my bag and walked out the door. Rollara: (leaning back in her seat) You know that sounds a lot like running away. Orlenn: (pointedly ignoring the observation as he begins writing again) You should just do it, is all I’m saying. Then, you wouldn’t have to worry about being on time anymore at any rate. Rollara (muttering) By all the Divine, Orlenn, I was like five minutes late. The curtain closes as the stage dims. —————————— Act II – Wyclissa Scene I: A cluttered shop. Character: Wyclissa —————————— The curtains open to reveal a stuffy and cramped shop, overfilled with merchandise. The clerk is standing behind the counter and a customer is chatting with her. Wyclissa nods along with what the customer is saying, a practiced smile on her face. Continuing her rather one-sided conversation, the customer says, “So, what was I supposed to do? Just let them walk all over me?” Wyclissa: (offering a supportive smile) Of course not. The customer nods vigorously and says, “Of course not! I told them exactly what I thought of that, let me tell you. I don’t let people treat me any which way they like.” Wyclissa: (reaching for the items the customer is holding) Of course not, you have to stand up for yourself. The customer, either not noticing or ignoring Wyclissa’s attempt to take the items, continues, “But do you know what happened next?” Wyclissa (hesitating, as if considering just yanking the items away from the customer, but then finally lowering her hands) No, what? Speaking in a shocked tone, the customer says, “They had the audacity to tell me to leave the store! As if -I- were the one causing a scene. As if they hadn’t just spoken to me like that!” Wyclissa (shaking her head in feigned regret) I can’t imagine. Nodding vigorously, the customer says, “Well, I wasn’t going to stay of course. After having been treated so shabbily? I came here straight away. I know your proprietor knows how to take care of his customers.” Wyclissa (nodding in exaggerated agreement) He prides himself on every customer leaving his store happy. The customer says, her tone ripe with self-importance, “As well he should. The customer is always right you know.” Wyclissa (continuing to nod) I do know. My employer makes sure all of his staff understand that. Can I take those from you? I can have them packaged and ring you up in a moment. The customer freezes and blinks at Wyclissa before uttering a harrumph and shoving the items at her. “I suppose if you’re in such a hurry.” Wyclissa makes short work of jotting down the price from the tag of each item and adding the figures. Wyclissa: (wrapping the items into neat packages) That will be 248 gold, please. The customer counts out the coins from her purse stiffly and hands over the requested amount, taking her packages in return before heading toward the door. The customer pauses and says, “You should request some more training on customer relations. I have a mind to speak to the proprietor about you.” Wyclissa: (looking regretfully at the customer) I will be sure to do that. You have a lovely evening. The customer harrumphs one more time before shoving her way out the door. Wyclissa visibly deflates and breathes out a long breath. She hurries to the door to turn the latch before someone else walks in. Wyclissa walks back to the counter shaking her head and laughing. The curtain closes as the stage dims. ————————————— Act II – Wyclissa. Scene II – A busy street. Characters: Wyclissa and Orlenn. ————————————— The curtain opens to reveal a busy street, bustling with people on their way home for the evening. Wyclissa adjusts the straps of the bag she carries as she walks down the street. She is not keeping pace with the passersby and earns more than a few dirty looks as people move to go around her. Orlenn is walking in the opposite direction, shuffling through several sheets of parchment as he walks. Wyclissa: (raising her voice to catch his attention) Orlenn! Orlenn pauses, as if considering pretending he didn’t hear, but seems to decide it was too late for that because he stops walking and shoves the sheets into his shoulder bag. Orlenn: Hello Wyclissa. You’ve had a pleasant day, I hope? Wyclissa: (grinning in amusement) Pretty good thanks. You? Orlenn: (dryly) Your girlfriend was late again today. Wyclissa: (clutching at her chest) Oh no! It derailed the entire project, didn’t it? Orlenn: (ignoring the sarcastic tone) Of course not. But it was inconvenient. You should speak to her about it. Wyclissa: (sighing) What is it with people wanting me to -talk- to people about things today? Orlenn raises an eyebrow questioningly. Wyclissa: (waving dismissively) Never mind. Was she -really- late or just a few minutes and it put your nose out of joint because you’re a sad stick? Orlenn: (ignoring the question entirely) You might also speak to her about the fact that she doesn’t even want to -be- a scholar. One would think, as her girlfriend, you’d be encouraging her to follow her dreams and all that. Wyclissa: I tried. Orlenn: (another eyebrow raised) Oh? Wyclissa: (shrugging wryly) Let’s just say it didn’t go over very well with the family. The curtain closes as the stage dims. —————————————- Act III – Rollara and Wyclissa Scene: A cluttered bedroom. Characters: Rollara and Wyclissa. ————————————— The curtain opens to reveal Rollara sitting on her bed in the middle of the room, dressed for sleeping. The large window to the room is slightly ajar, allowing sounds from the city to filter in along with what little breeze there is. Rollara sits and stares pensively out the window for a few moments before sighing and rising to her feet. Rollara walks over to the door to the room and shuts it, engaging the latch, before returning to the bed where she crouches down beside it. Rollara reaches under the bed and pulls out a long, rectangular box. She runs her hands over the scuffed marks on the surface before unlatching the lid and opening it. Rollara pulls a guitar out of the box, maneuvering it carefully so the instrument doesn’t bump against the bed or the box itself before standing with it in her hands. Rollara settles back down onto the bed and carefully positions the fingers of her left hand on the strings along the neck as she runs the fingers of her right hand over the strings lower down. Rollara doesn’t press the fingers of either hand hard enough to make more than the ghost of a sound, but a tune can be made out. After a few moments she begins humming very softly along with the tune. Rollara continues for some time like this before a sound at the window distracts her. She looks up and smiles. Rollara: (setting the guitar on the bed and beckoning) Come on in. Wyclissa pushes the window further open and crawls inside. Wyclissa (dropping her bag on the floor) Hey you. Rollara: (tilting her head to look up at Wyclissa) Hey you. Wyclissa leans down and kisses Rollara before scooting the guitar out of the way and sitting beside her. Wyclissa: (adopting a mock-stern expression) I heard you were late again today. Rollara buries her face in her hands and groans. Rollara: (without removing her face from her hands) It was five minutes. Wyclissa: (grinning) I knew it! Rollara (finally sitting back up straight) I hate Orlenn. Wyclissa: (laughing outright) No you don’t. Rollara (conceding with a sigh) No, I don’t. Wyclissa (scooting closer to Rollara and leaning against her) You know, I think he’s actually worried about you and just showing it in his usual Orlenn way. Rollara (making a face and leaning into Wyclissa as well) I know. I do. I just wish he found a less bitchy way to express himself. The two of them sit quietly for a few minutes before Wyclissa breaks the companionable silence. Wyclissa: (glancing over Rollara’s shoulder at the guitar) You still haven’t told them? Rollara: (grimacing) No. Everytime I even hint at it they both act like I’m planning on assasinating the Sultan or something. Hell, Mom would probably prefer it. Rollara: She’s got it in her head that Gaudiguch hates humans. Wyclissa: (nodding thoughtfully) Well you are weird. Wyclissa: (lifting Rollara’s arm and peering at it suspiciously) You are covered in all these tiny hairs, but not enough of them to be considered “hairy.” It’s bizarre. Rollara: (laughing and pulling her arm back) You haven’t seen my father without a shirt on. Wyclissa (pulling her lips back in a grimace of disgust) And I hope I never do. Rollara: (continuing with a grin) He’s so hairy that if he weren’t actually an inch or so shorter than me, I’d think he had igasho blood. Wyclissa laughs. Rollara: (her expression turning pensive) My mom grew up in Hallifax and I think she just carries that with her. You know what they’re like over there. Wyclissa: (no longer laughing) Yes. If you aren’t trill or lucidian, you’re nobody. Rollara: Exactly. She has it in her head that it’s like that everywhere, I guess. Rollara: (sighing) She wants me to be a great, important scholar because she never got to be one when she was my age, and she gave up on it. She wants me to prove the whole Basin wrong about humans. Rollara: (dropping her head onto Wyclissa’s shoulder) And my father wants me to be one to prove everyone right about him. That he’s passed his Great Big Brain on to me, and our family is destined to do Great Things. Wyclissa: I can -hear- the capital letters in that. Rollara huffs a laugh. Wyclissa: (tilting her head to rest on top of Rollara’s) But what do -you- want? Rollara is quiet for a long moment before sighing. Rollara: (standing up and beginning to clear the bed) I want to go to bed. Wyclissa: (sighing a little but standing and helping to unclutter the bed) Ok. Hey, how long am I going to have to keep coming in through the window? Rollara: (grinning over at her) Just until my mother forgives you. Wyclissa: So, forever? Rollara: (shaking her head) Nah, my dad really likes you. We’re both working on her about it. Wyclissa hums in approval. The curtain closes as the stage dims. ———— Appendix ———— Scenes and props: A cozy kitchen – This small kitchen is quite cozy, with a stove in the far-right corner. The counter is neatly organized and lined with ceramic containers of various sizes which are arranged from smallest to largest along the wall. A round table with four chairs takes up much of the floor space. Prop: A large round table with four chairs. Made of wood and clearly well cared for, this table’s well-oiled surface gleams. The shine in the lamplight does not hide the fact that it is also well worn from years and years of meals served and eaten. Four chairs, two of them newer than the others and one that has clearly been repaired sit around the table. Prop: This stove is old and designed for coal burning. The grate in the front, where the coal goes in glows gently, revealing the banked fire within. There is a large pot of something bubbling on the surface which smells very good. A study alcove – A small alcove separated from the rest of the library by several shelves. There is no door, but there is a large table and several chairs. One end of this table has several scholars seated and the other is covered in books opened to particular pages and survey maps laid out. Several bottles of ink populate the area between, and each scholar is busily writing notations onto parchment as they read some scroll or ledger. There is a large map of the Basin of Life hanging on the wall behind them. Prop: This map of the Basin of Life takes up almost the entire wall and is made of several large animal skins which have been cut into rectangles after having been worked into parchment. Each sheet of parchment was then attached to the others, forming one large surface upon which a topographical map of the Basin has been drawn in painstaking detail. Prop: Several scholars are seated around this long table. Most of them are dracnari, though a few other races are represented as well. Each of them has their heads angled toward their work as they scritch words onto parchment. Occasionally one will reach out to dip a quill into a pot of ink before continuing. A cluttered shop – This shop is not very large, but every conceivable space has been filled with merchandise. There are only a few aisles, but they are all narrow and dimly lit. The smell of incense is strong as several sticks are kept burning throughout the place. The counter is cluttered with yet more stock and there hardly seems to be room for the clerk to stand behind the till. Prop: A customer, a dracnari with pale green scales and thin golden chains hanging from the horns that line the sides of their head, loiters near the counter. They are holding a few items as they chat obliviously with the clerk. The lateness of the day seemingly lost on them. A busy street – The street is narrow here, buildings crowding in on both sides. The heat is oppressive, and embers dance along in the breeze. In the distance, the pyramid can be seen, the silhouette of Drachou flitting about nearby. People are hurrying along, on their way home from their places of work or meditation at the end of the day. A cluttered bedroom – This rather small bedroom could best be described with the words, “Organized Chaos.” Stacks of books and scrolls cover the desk in the corner of the room, as well as the seat of the nearby chair. The dresser is also covered in scrolls and parchment and empty ink wells. The drawers are opened with clothing hanging from them. The floor is clear of clutter, but there is not much of it as a rather large bed takes up much of the center of the room. There is a window, slightly ajar on the wall opposite the door and almost every other inch of the remaining walls are filled with maps and charts which have been pinned up. Prop: The bed in the center of the room is as cluttered as the room itself. It looks as if it has never been made, with sheets bunched up and hanging halfway off the mattress. At the end, articles of clothing have been laid out and left there. In the center of the bed, several sheets of parchment with long lines of numerals in rows sit. —————————- Characters and Costumes: Rollara Arthim: A tall human woman, just turned twenty. Her hair is a riot of red curls, and her face is covered in freckles. She has blue eyes and sharp cheekbones. Her hands are stained with ink that even several washings have only faded, and her nails are chewed short. Wyclissa Xorith: A short dracnari woman, just turned twenty. Her scales are mottled green with flecks of yellow and brown along the edges and her eyes are pale yellow. Well-manicured claws tip each graceful finger and hear tail, which twitches back and forth restlessly when she is bored is whip thin. She has several bony ridges that run along the line of her brows. Nyssi Arthim: A prim, matronly woman who keeps her red hair in a tight braid, though wispy curls have escaped to fly about her face. There is no grey in evidence in her hair, but crow’s feet around her eyes and lines on her forehead mark her age. She wears a pair of spectacles on a chain around her neck, for easy access to when she is reading. Orlenn Greyleaf: He is a thin elfen man with light green skin and darker green hair. His eyes are brown and almond shaped, and his nose is thin as a knife’s edge. He wears a vaguely disapproving expression at all times and his long, elegant fingers are stained with ink. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Wyrd Encroaches...](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-wyrd-encroaches/) **Published:** October 20, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** A seed can flourish even when the surrounding forest changes with more than the seasons. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Prayer for Guidance](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-prayer-for-guidance/) **Published:** October 13, 2022 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** May the Light guide my hands, that they bring justice swiftly. May they never fail in their service. May I take no pleasure in the death of any foe who succumbs to my blade. Methrenton, make me Your weapon. May the Light guide my spirit, that I stand for the innocent. May I be always ready to trade my life for all who cannot defend themselves against those who wish them harm. Shakiniel, make me Your shield. May the Light guide my mind, that I can recognize the truth. May my words hold wisdom to lead others out of the depths of despair and into the embrace of the Light. Japhiel, make me Your word. May the Light guide my heart, that I can embrace even my enemies. Fill my soul with the compassion that others may see and follow willingly, being free from their bonds. Raziela, make me Your love. May the Light illuminate my footsteps and lay my fate out before me, that I may follow it all my days. May my feet always know the right path to bring others back home. Elohora, make me Your guide. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** October 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Gurashi Sings 'Toronada Sands'](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/gurashi-sings-toronada-sands/) **Published:** September 30, 2022 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** A six-fingered sileni strums and sings lyrics introduced along with the guitar by Petrichor, a fae of unknown dynasty. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Dracnoris: pg. 4](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/dracnoris-pg-4/) **Published:** September 27, 2022 **Author:** Esei **Content:** The Book of Dracnoris, page 4. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Behold, the Hand](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/behold-the-hand/) **Published:** September 22, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** Despite great harm to Herself, the Enigmatic retrieved the Leviathan’s eye… **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Empowering Bards and Scholars](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/empowering-bards-and-scholars/) **Published:** September 17, 2022 **Author:** Ovissa **Content:** Introduction From The Playwright: Hello! This play has been written to serve as a fun way to instruct students in the finer details of empowering bards and scholars before bringing them to the library and stage. I hope that it also serves to entertain them, and anyone else who watches (even if they already know how to do it!) Thank you for taking the time to watch my play and here’s hoping your adventures are memorable! I would also like to dedicate this play to Hiresh Ryseni who inspired not only the idea for the play itself, but also for using vortex denizens in the play. She also gave me helpful feedback when needed and support when needed even more. Thank you so much! If this is a success, it will be because of you. Ovissa Ryseni Act I: Empowering A Scholar Scene I: Office of the Librarian’s Assistant Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Nia Peedia, Adventurer, Scholar Scene: Office of the librarian’s assistant. —————————————————————– The curtain opens. The instructor steps out from backstage, standing just on the edge of the stage, close to the curtain. A spotlight shines down, lighting them up in the otherwise empty space. Instructor: (bowing at the waist) Hello everyone! Instructor: Thank you for attending today’s lesson on empowering scholars and bards. Instructor: (with a grin) The focus of today’s lesson is the empowering process, so we’re going to skip the part where we walk around the mountains looking for a scholar and cut right to the good stuff. The instructor gestures toward the stage where a scene fades into view. Instructor: This is the office of the library assistant, Nia Peedia. Nia Peedia fades into view. Instructor: This is who you will go to in the world library. If you remember your reading, you’ll know how to get to the World Library. Instructor: But just in case you spent your time cozying up to Beloch at the Wasted Wakabi… The instructor peers over her spectacles at the audience with a knowing expression. Instructor: (standing with their hands behind their back, continuing in a lecturing tone) You can find the World Library in several different ways. Instructor: (holding up one finger) If you still have access to your Pools, you can use those to get to the Newton Caverns and then step out. Then, you can check your LANDMARKS and PATH TRACK to the Library which will be listed there. Instructor: (holding up a second finger) If you have the teleportation ability in your planar skill, you can teleport to the Aetherplex, step out, and again, check your landmarks and path track. Instructor: (holding up a third finger) Or, if you want, you can simply path track the whole way. Instructor: Once in the World Library, you will find your way to this room easily enough. Once there, you’re going to want to talk to Nia Peedia. Instructor: (winking) She has a little job for you! The spotlight dims, though the instructor is still visible, the scene with the Adventurer, Nia Peedia and the Scholar is brighter. The adventurer spots Nia Peedia and heads in her direction, the scholar following behind. Adventurer: Greetings! Nia Peedia: Oh, good! You look like just the person I need. There are bookworms infesting the shelves! They’re just ruining the books. Can you help me? The scene freezes as the instructor speaks, the spotlight once again shining on them. Instructor: Now, because of this class and the reading that I’m just certain you all did, we know that the bookworms hold pages which will inspire the scholar’s studies. Instructor: Each scholar is only interested in one type of study though. Some like to read about geological surveys. Some historical events. Instructor leans forward a bit and speaks in a conspiratorial whisper, eyebrows waggling up and down. Instructor: (in a conspiratorial tone) Some of them like more interesting reading material. The action starts back up as the spotlight on the instructor dims. Adventurer: Yes, of course I will! Nia Peedia: Oh, wonderful. I need three flowers and some inky parchment. Then I can make some bait that will draw the nasty things out. The scene once again freezes as the spotlight finds the instructor again. Instructor: Any flowers will do. You can find flowers in shops, usually fairly cheaply too. However, the best place to find flowers is the garden in the Cave of Beauty. They are free there! Let’s head there next! The curtain closes. Act I: Empowering A Scholar Scene II: The Cave of Beauty Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adventurer, Scholar Scene: The Cave of Beauty ————————————————————- The curtain opens. Instructor once again steps out from backstage, standing just on the edge of the stage, close to the curtain. A spotlight shines down, lighting them up in the otherwise empty space. Instructor: The Cave of Beauty is located further up the mountain from the library, very close to the World Stage actually. We’ll be visiting that place later in this lesson though. Right now, we’re here for some flowers. Instructor: (snapping their fingers) Oh, and just so you know, you can find the Cave of Beauty on your landmarks as well, once you are on the mountain. The spotlight dims and the instructor seems to fade, though is still visible. A scene fades into view and the stage is no longer empty. Adventurer and Scholar enter the cave from stage right, glancing around curiously. Scholar moves over to the Seal of Beauty and examines it closely. Scholar: Fascinating… Adventurer turns in a complete circle, looking at the entire large cavern and all the things in it. Adventurer: Do you see a garden in all this? The scene freezes as the spotlight lights up the instructor again. Instructor: You may be aware, but just in case, sometimes there are a lot of items in a room. This one has a great many, and sometimes the things you are looking for in a space are harder to spot. Instructor: If you’ve been told to check inside a container, you might need to LOOK IN the CONTAINER and GET whatever it is FROM the CONTAINER. Instructor: In this case, it is a garden you need to get flowers from. So, a simple, GET FLOWER FROM GARDEN will work splendidly! The spotlight dims and the instructor fades into the shadows as the scene resumes. The Scholar looks up from the Seal of Beauty and blinks a moment, then gestures where there is a small garden filled with flowers. Scholar: Over here. Adventurer moves over to the garden and considers the flowers. Adventurer: Do you suppose it matters which flowers I take? Scholar: (shrugging) I doubt it. If it did, she probably would have said so. Adventurer: Good point! Adventurer bends down and selects three flowers at random, plucking them and placing them carefully in his pack. Adventurer: Alright, we got what we came for, let’s go back. Scholar sighs and nods and follows Adventurer out of the cave. The curtain closes. Act I: Empowering A Scholar Scene III: Office of the Librarian’s Assistant Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Nia Peedia, Adventurer, Scholar Scene: Office of the librarian’s assistant Prop: A ravenous bookwurm ——————————————————————— The curtain opens. Instructor steps out onto the stage, standing in their usual spot with the spotlight on them. Instructor: Now, I know you’re probably wondering when this is going to get exciting! The spotlight dims, and the instructor fades into the shadows as the scene lights up. Nia Peedia, the adventurer, and the scholar fade into view. Adventurer, with Scholar following, approaches Nia Peedia. Nia Peedia: Oh, good, you’re back! Do you have the flowers and parchment I asked for? The bookworms are really tearing into some delicate historical records! Adventurer: Yes, I have them right here. The scene freezes as the spotlight lights up the instructor. Instructor: (adjusts their spectacles) A quick note, in case it’s never come up before in your own adventuring… Instructor: Sometimes the items you’re asked to find or retrieve disappear if you take too long to return with them. Instructor: (with a shrug) They might simply slip out of your grip unnoticed or could turn to dust in your hands or pack. Different things will last different amounts of time. Instructor: Flowers you get from shops last longer than the flowers you get from the garden, which is only fair. Instructor: (grinning) The garden ones are free after all. Instructor: So, it’s best to hurry back when doing this quest. Which is why finding your scholar friends first is a good idea. Instructor: Plus, that way, they get to witness the fun! Instructor fades into shadow again as the spotlight dims and the action in the scene resumes. The adventurer reaches into his pack and pulls out three flowers, only slightly crumpled from their time crammed into a pack. He hands them one at a time to Nia Peedia. Nia Peedia accepts the flowers, checking them over, and when she has three she beams. Nia Peedia: Wonderful! Thank you so much. Now, do you have any inky parchment? An old letter or a page torn out of your journal will suffice! The scene freezes as the instructor is lit up by the spotlight again. Instructor: Despite that particular phrasing, “a page torn out of your journal” you don’t need to tear the page out yourself. Just hand your journal over to Nia and she’ll tear it out. Instructor: Also, be careful when using letters. Instructor: You’ll get your journal back intact, but if you use a letter, it will be completely destroyed, and you wouldn’t want to lose an important bit of correspondence by mistake. Instructor: (peering over their spectacles) Not that I’m naming names, but if I were, it would be a name remarkably similar to our good playwright! Instructor hides a grin by pushing their spectacles further up their nose with one hand. Instructor winks at the audience before fading into the shadows as the spotlight dims again and the action on stage resumes. The adventurer pulls a book from his pack and hands it to Nia Peedia who tears out a page and hands it back. Nia Peedia mashes together the flowers and parchment and hands several sticky balls of bait to the Adventurer. Nia Peedia: Just stick one of those in a bookshelf like the one in this very room, and it should draw out the horrid thing, then you can kill it. Adventurer takes the sticky ball of bait and puts it in the bookshelf, between two large tomes. After a moment there is movement and then something emerges from the bookshelf. It is clearly a sludgeworm which has been dressed in a little bookwurm costume. Adventurer swings his claymore at the bookwurm, striking a blow. A screeching hiss emerges from the bookwurm before it lunges forward and sinks its rotting teeth into the Adventurer’s leg. Scholar leans against the side of a bookshelf, looking bored and not at all interested in the battle. Adventurer swings at the bookwurm again, and misses, nearly knocking a stack of books off the edge of the desk. Nia Peedia: Oh, mind the books! With another screeching hiss, the bookwurm lunges in for another bite, but the Adventurer manages a killing blow with his claymore! The scene freezes, but not because of the spotlight. For several long beats, nothing happens. The adventurer stares at the bookwurm, which is still poised to strike. He peers over at Nia Peedia out of the corner of his eye and she gives a nearly imperceptible shrug in return. A voice is heard from backstage, whispering loudly enough to be heard by all in the stillness: Play dead! A disgruntled sounding gurgle issues from the bookwurm before becoming a pathetic sounding whine, as it rises up and thrashes about in dramatic fashion before flopping to the ground. There is a disturbingly realistic death rattle which fades into a long wheeze and then, all is still. A moment later, a crumpled page is spat out of the mouth of the bookwurm. Adventurer stoops down to pick up the crumpled page and the Scholar takes notice for the first time. Scholar: What’s that? Adventurer: (with a shrug) I guess it’s a page from whatever it was eating last. Do you want it? Scholar: (reaching for the page) Let me see! The action on the stage freezes as the spotlight lights up the Instructor. Instructor: As mentioned before most scholars are only interested in a particular bit of reading and will simply hand back the page they are not interested in. Instructor: They will tell you what sort of thing they are looking for however. You can try to match up the pages to the scholars, of course… Instructor: But there is a simpler method. Instructor: When the scholar hands you back the page, you will place it automatically at the bottom of your stack. So, simply try to give a page to the same scholar again and again, it will always be the next one. Instructor: Eventually, you’ll find the one your scholar wants. Though, there are always a few scholars who are just impossible to please. Simply move on to the next scholar and try again. Instructor: (chuckling) For the sake of brevity, our good Scholar here likes the first one he sees, however. We can’t keep you -all- day. The nstructor winks at the audience again before the spotlight dims and the action on the stage continues. The adventurer hands the crumpled page to the Scholar who reads it over and gasps. Scholar: Oh! This is the missing detail I’ve been looking! It will advance my studies greatly. Please, can we go to the library now? Adventurer: Certainly, follow me! Scholar: I’ve been following you this whole time. The Adventurer leaves with the Scholar following behind, still muttering. The curtain closes. Act I: Empowering A Scholar Scene IV: The Archives of Illuminate Mysteries Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adventurer, Scholar Scene: The Archives of the Illuminate Mysteries. ——————————————————————– The curtain opens, revealing a library full of books. The adventurer enters, followed by the scholar. Scholar: (gasping in delight) Look at all the books! I’ve never seen so many! Oh, I could get lost in here for hours! Here, take this gold and my thanks. Scholar hands over several pieces of gold and wanders into the stacks, sighing rapturously. Adventurer: (counting the coins and looking pleased) You’re welcome! The scene freezes as the spotlight lights up the instructor once again. Instructor: Now, as I’m sure you’re aware because you make it a regular habit to scour the mountains for scholars, you would normally get 150 gold for bringing a scholar safely to the Library. Instructor: This adventurer, and you as well next time, if you do as he has done, has gotten double that. Instructor: (beaming) That’s right! Giving the scholars a page of reading material that they are interested in inspires them so much, they double every reward. Instructor: (counting off on their fingers) Your pay for bringing them, their influence on the city’s cultural standing, -and- their impact on the power reserves of our Eternal Flame. All doubled. Pretty impressive, huh? Instructor: (with a wink) Just wait till you see what the bards can do! The curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene I: Composer’s Quarters Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adalgiso, Adventurer Scene: Composer’s quarters. ——————————————————————- The curtains raise and the Instructor steps out, highlighted by the spotlight. Instructor: Now we’ll discuss empowering bards. The procedure for this is both more complicated and potentially more dangerous. As such, it is better to do the quest before finding a bard. Instructor: (shaking thier head) If you are killed, you don’t want to leave the poor thing lost in some dark place after all. The scene fades into view behind the Instructor. Instructor: The first place you’re going to want to go is the World Stage. It is a bit further up Avechna’s Peak from the World Library, quite close, if you’ll recall, to the Cave of Beauty. Instructor: Once inside, you’ll want to find the southeastern most room, where you will find this fine gentleman. The spotlight dims and the Instructor fades into the shadows as the action on the stage begins. Adalgiso appears in the room, scribbling on some parchment and muttering to himself. The adventurer enters, looking around the room curiously before spotting Adalgiso and heading over to him. Adventurer: Hello, I’m… The adventurer is cut off abruptly by Adalgiso, who hold up one hand in a ‘wait’ gesture. Adalgiso continues his writing for a few moments before tossing down the quill. Adalgiso: I’ve finished! The musical score is complete, now I just need lyrics to go along with it. Really, what I need is materials that will inspire lyrics great enough for this music. The scene freezes as the spotlight flares to life, highlighting the Instructor who steps forward again. Instructor: You may be aware, but sometimes when people want you to do things for them, they don’t just come right out and say it. They want you to engage with them. Instructor: (spreading their hands out) To offer your services. This can be tricky at times, because you might not know what to say to get the next bit of information. Instructor: (points thier finger) The clue is usually in what has already been said. Instructor: (gesturing toward Adalgsio) Adalgiso mentioned needing materials for his lyrics. That might be a good thing to try asking him about. The scene resumes as the spotlight dims again. Adventurer: (looking doubtful) What kind of materials do you need for your lyrics? Adalgiso: (looking delighted) Oh, how kind of you to ask! For a song rousing enough to accompany this music, I need something special! I think, a cow, a squid and a rockeater! Go and get them quickly now! Adventurer: (looking even more bewildered) Uh, yeah. Sure, man. I’ll just go get those. The adventurer leaves, mouthing a confused, “What?” as he goes. The scene fades as the spotlight finds the instructor again. Instructor: (shrugging) Hey, these things don’t always make sense. And these items might not be the ones you’ll eventually be asked for every time. Instructor: Sometimes, Adalgiso might ask for something you have never seen or heard of, especially if you are only recently through the Portal. Instructor: (smiling gently) And that is perfectly fine. It is not only acceptable to ask for help finding these items if you need it, it is encouraged. You can ask your mentor, if you have one. Instructor: Or, you might ask over the city aether. Something like, “I’m looking for whatever to empower the bards, does anyone know where those are?” You could check with your guild, or with the college on the collegium aether. Instructor: (grinning) He asks for some pretty obscure things sometimes. Instructor: (ticking off items on their fingers) Thistle berries, seashells, rats, manticores, all sorts of things, some of them quite dangerous to get, depending on your experience adventuring. Instructor: You can ask for help in collecting those items as well. If you’re a novice and you need to kill a manticore, you would do well to ask for help, in fact! The curtain closes and the spotlight fades. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene II: Alabaster Road Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adventurer Scene: Alabaster Road. Prop: A cow. —————————————————————— The curtain opens and the instructor steps out, highlighted by the spotlight. Instructor: If you are given some sort of animal to collect, whether you kill that animal depends entirely on whether you can catch and carry the animal alive. Instructor: You have to be able to hand the animal over to Adalgiso, not just lead it to him. Chickens are an example of an animal you can catch and carry alive, if you are a hunter, for example. Instructor: (with a grin) Not even a hunter can pick up and carry a cow, however. The spotlight dims and the instructor steps back as the scene fades into view, revealing a stretch of highway. There is a cow wandering aimlessly along the road, not seeming to pay attention to anyone. It is clearly two spixes wearing a cow costume. The adventurer strides into view, muttering to himself. His expression visibly brightens when he spots the cow. Adventurer: (drawing his claymore) There’s one! With no further warning, the adventurer charges the cow and swings his claymore. The sword hits the cow, which makes two bellows instead of one, before beginning to rush about in a panic. At times, the two ends almost start to move in different directions before they change course and move the same way. Adventurer: (panting) Get back here! The adventurer chases the cow, swinging his claymore every time, he gets within striking range. The cow continues its strange dual bellowing as it rushes around in a panic, occasionally stopping to stomp one large hoof on the Adventurer’s foot. Adventurer: (swinging his claymore at the darting cow) Stand still and die, damn you! The cow rushes to the left. Adventurer: (scrambling to change directions without slipping) You’re not getting away! The cow rushes to the right. The adventurer swings his claymore again and again, sometimes imparting glancing blows. Sometimes missing entirely. The cow keeps rushing about and bellowing. Finally, the adventurer stabs his claymore straight into the middle of the cow and with a final dual bellow, the cow collapses to the ground. The adventurer wipes sweat from his brow and sighs, looking at the dead cow. The scene freezes as the spotlight finds the instructor again. Instructor: (grinning at the audience) That looked like quite the workout, didn’t it? Instructor: Now, you can take each item back to Adalgiso one at a time, or you can carry each item and turn them all in at the same time. It’s up to you, of course, but the chances of success are better if you turn them all in at the same time. The spotlight dims and the curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene III: The Southern Mountains Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adventurer Scene: The Southern Mountains Prop: A Rockeater —————————————————————— The curtain opens to reveal a scene of the southern mountains. Curled around a rock is a rockeater. It is clearly a ribbachi wearing a costume. The adventurer enters, peering at every boulder in the area. He spots the rockeater and grins. Adventurer: There’s one! The adventurer wields his claymore and charges forward. He swings at the rockeater and strikes. The rockeater releases an odd sounding bellow and rushes forward, knocking the adventurer off his feet. The scene freezes as the spotlight finds the instructor and lights them up once again. Instructor: Just a very quick note. I’m sure most of you are aware that you can’t attack anything if you’re lying on the ground. You’ll need to stand of course, to continue fighting and it’s better to do it without even thinking about it. Instructor: If you have enough discipline, you can cure a great many things, some more complicated than simply standing, all without even thinking about it. Look into putting some training into your discipline if you haven’t. It could save your life someday. The instructor taps the side of their nose and gives the audience a nod before stepping back into the shadows. The spotlight dims and the scene resumes. The adventurer rises to his feet and takes another swing at the rockeater. The rockeater swipes out with its claws, raking the adventurer along his leg. The adventurer swings one last time and strikes a killing blow. The rockeater offers one last wheezing bellow and collapses, dead. Adventurer: Two down, one to go! The curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene IV: The Sea of Despair Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adventurer, Helpful citizen Scene: The sea of despair. Props: Vampire squid —————————————————————– The curtain rises and reveals an underwater scene with barely any light filtering through. Shapes move in the darkness and bits of flotsam drift by. The spotlight illuminates the instructor who steps forward once again. Instructor: A few tips for when you have to enter the seas, for any who have never been. Don’t be alarmed if you get knocked off course by currents. It’s very common unless you’re a water mage or have some other type of magical help. Instructor: The most important thing though is to make sure you don’t drown. Swimming is one way to move about in the water, but you can still drown if you’re not careful. Instructor: Getting yourself a waterbreathe enchantment will keep that from happening. However, you’re still only moving as fast as you can swim, so you should also get a waterwalk enchantment. Instructor: You can get these enchantments from shops, or directly from enchanters. The instructor steps back into the shadows as the spotlight dims and the scene comes to life. The adventurer enters, walking despite being under the water. His hair and loose clothing shift, as if being moved by the current. A shape looms in the murky, dark water. The adventurer watches the approaching creature with a worried expression, though his grip on his claymore tightens. Soon, a fearsome vampire squid emerges into the scant light, it’s barbed tentacles waving and its baleful red eyes glaring at the adventurer. It is clearly a hekoskeri wearing a squid costume. Adventurer: Oh. Goodness. This is no cow or even a rockeater. I don’t think I can kill this creature. The scene freezes as the instructor steps forward once again, highlighted by the spotlight. Instructor: Remember what I said before about asking for help? This seems like exactly the situation that calls for it! The action resumes as the spotlight goes out again. Adventurer: I better see if I can get some help. Adventurer: I don’t suppose anyone can help me? I need to kill this squid and I don’t think I can do it on my own. I can help! Incoming teleport! The adventurer staggers a bit and a moment later, a dracnari appears. The helpful citizen: Hello! Where’s that nasty beastie? Oh ho! There it is, and an ugly thing too. The squid waves its tentacles around angrily as it moves in for the kill. The longest two tentacles snap out toward the newcomer. The helpful citizen dodges away easily enough and raises her palm. A tiny pinpoint of light begins glowing in the center. It quickly turns into a sparkling current of energy which slams into the squid, dissolving the flesh it encounters. The squid thrashes in pain and rage before shooting all ten tentacles forward to grab the citizen, its beak wide and its red eyes glaring. The helpful citizen is struck by only one tentacle as she dodges, but the wound is clearly minor and does not slow her down at all. She once again raises her hand, the blast of cosmic energy slams into the squid with what seems to be even greater force, not only dissolving the flesh, but obliterating part of the squid itself. Adventurer: (shielding his eyes from the light) Don’t go too crazy, I need something to take back to Adalgiso! Helpful citizen: (with a laugh as she looks at what’s left of the floating squid corpse) Ah, there’s enough left. Do you need anything else? Adventurer (grabbing the corpses) No but thank you so much! Now I just gotta get these corpses back before they start to stink. The helpful citizen laughs and ruffles the adventurer’s hair before flicking her hand like she is tugging on something. A moment later, she disappears. The curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene V: Composer’s Quarters Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adalgiso, Adventurer, Bard Scene: Composer’s quarters. —————————————————————– As the curtains open the instructor steps forward, lit by the spotlight. Instructor: This lesson is about empowering bards, not finding them. So, we’re skipping that part, just like we did with the scholar. Instructor: (with a shrug) Just assume that, on his way back to the stage, our good adventurer found a wandering bard and convinced them to come along with him. The instructor gives a quick wink to the audience before stepping back, as the spotlight fades and the scene comes to life, revealing the composer’s quarters and Adalgiso within. The adventurer enters, followed by a bard who looks around, a bit exasperated. Adventurer:(looking over his shoulder at the bard) Just a quick stop and then we’ll be off to the stage in Gaudiguch. It’s amazing, you won’t believe it. Bard: (with a slight huff) If you say so. Let’s just hurry, I need to share my talent with the masses! The pair of them approach Adalgiso who is doodling on a scrap of paper. Adventurer: I have what you asked for. The adventurer hands over the corpse of the cow, which is beginning to attract flies. Adalgiso (clapping happily) Oh wonderful, yes! The adventurer hands over the corpse of the rockeater next. Adalgiso (gasping in delight) What a perfect specimen! The adventurer hands over the corpse of the vampire squid, which smells worse than the cow, despite being fresher. Adalgiso (dances in glee) That’s everything! Adalgiso (picks up his quill and begins writing but stops) Well, I do need a bit more inspiration. I can’t think in here though, it smells. Take me somewhere else, where the spark of inspiration will reach me! Behind the adventurer, the bard rolls their eyes. Adventurer: (struggling to remain pleasant) Ok, where would you like to go? Adalgiso: (huffing in exasperation) Take me somewhere where the common man gathers. I must commune with my audience on their level. And maybe I’ll do some shopping. Adventurer: (after a few moments looking perplexed, the adventurer snaps his fingers) I know just the place, follow me! The bard and Adalgiso follow the Adventurer out of the office. The curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene VI: The Aetherplex Chamber Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adalgiso, Adventurer, Bard Scene: The aetherplex chamber. ——————————————————————— The curtain opens to reveal the jagged beauty of a crystalline geode, filled with people. The adventurer walks in, followed by a bard and Adalgiso. Adalgiso: (exclaiming rapturously) Oh, this is perfect. The perfect place to fit the last pieces of my masterpiece together. That said, Adalgiso immediately crouches and begins writing in the dust on the floor with his finger. The scene freezes as the spotlight finds the instructor once again. Instructor: This is only one of a few places that Adalgiso may want to travel to. Sometimes they are more clear than others. He will give you a general area to travel to along with a more specific clue. If you can’t figure out the specific clue, simply go to the general area and walk around slowly until he tells you to stop. Instructor: (grinning wryly) Don’t worry, he will let you know if you pass the place he wanted to stop. Instructor: But it’s best to go slowly so you don’t have to backtrack too much. The scene resumes as the spotlight dims and the instructor fades into shadows again. The adventurer and the bard glance at each other over his head and the adventurer shrugs. Around the trio, people are beginning to mutter to each other while staring. Adalgiso: There! Perfect. I have my song. Come to my office if you wish to bask in my magnificence! Adalgiso rushes out, but not before wiping his dirty finger on the adventurer’s sleeve. The bard stares after Adalgiso in disbelief before turning their attention to the adventurer. Bard: Your stage better be very nice. Adventurer: (rolling his eyes and grabbing the bard’s sleeve to pull him along) It is! Trust me. Let’s go find out what this masterpiece is and then we’ll go there right away. The adventurer and the bard follow Adalgiso out, leaving a crowd of confused people in their wake. The curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene VII: Composer’s Quarters Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adalgiso, Adventurer, Bard Scene: Composer’s Quarters ———————————————————————- The curtain opens revealing the composer’s quarters with Adalgiso inside. The adventurer, still pulling the bard along by the sleeve, enters. Adalgiso dances with glee as soon as he spots the adventurer. Adalgiso: It’s finished! My masterpiece. My greatest triumph! Everyone who hears this will know that I am the greatest bard who ever… Adalgiso cuts off abruptly once he catches the unimpressed expression on the bard’s face. He clears his throat and brushes a bit of dust off his shoulder. Adalgiso: Yes, well, it is truly a superior bit of song and music. Adalgiso: (leaning eagerly toward the adventurer) If you’d like to hear it, you only need to ask me to sing it. The adventurer glances at the bard who shrugs in return. Adventurer: (smiling) Will you sing your song for me? Adalgiso: (beaming) Of course! Adalgiso sings: Oh precious cow, how your love completes me. I will give you my rockeater so that my intentions are clear, it is in my true nature to love you, my dear. I ask not for your squid, but only your heart. Keep my token ever more and we will surely never part. The bard looks both appalled and embarrassed while the adventurer’s smile suddenly seems frozen on his face. For a moment, neither speaks despite Adalgiso clearly waiting for adulation. Adalgiso: (clearing his throat) Well, as you plainly can see, this song will make me famous across the entire Basin. You simply must share it with every bard you see, here let me give you a copy. Adalgiso hands a small song book to the adventurer. The scene freezes as the spotlight lights up and finds the Instructor. Instructor: (with a grin) The songs are always, well, interesting. Instructor: (more seriously) Now that you know the song, you will want to share it so that others looking for bards can use it too. The same song will be good for a span of time, for anyone to use. Instructor: Simply announce the new song over the city’s aether and contact a Pasha, Caliph, or the Sultan and ask them to write the song on the city’s log. The instructor steps back into the shadows as the spotlight dims and the action resumes. Adalgiso: Spread my song far and wide, my boy! Adventurer: (with his smile still fixed on his face) Yes, I will. Adventurer: If anyone is looking to empower bards, the new song is, “Oh precious cow, how your love completes me. I will give you my rockeater so that my intentions are clear, it is in my true nature to love you, my dear. I ask not for your squid, but only your heart. Keep my token ever more and we will surely never part.” Can someone update the city’s logs? By the Restless, not really? I like it. It’s catchy! Log’s updated, thanks! The adventurer catches the bard’s eye and jerks his head back toward the door and the two of them hurry away. The curtain closes. Act II: Empowering A Bard Scene VII: The Gullagumbah Gallery. Role(s)/Costume(s): Instructor, Adventurer, Bard Scene: The Gullagumbah Gallery. ———————————————————————- The curtain rises revealing an empty stage of black volcanic rock. The instructor steps forward and grins. Instructor: (gesturing toward the stage they are standing on) This ought to be familiar. Instructor: (their grin turning serious) Before you bring your bards into this room, you will want to SING them the song you were given by Adalgiso. They won’t like it. Instructor: In fact, they will mock the song and the man who wrote it. But they’ll agree to perform it. Don’t worry about the negative review, that just means the song is still effective. Instructor: If they have no reaction at all, it’s because they don’t recognize the work any longer and you’ll need to get a new song. Instructor: Empowering the bards is, as you have seen, much more involved and often dangerous than empowering the scholars. Instructor: (pointing his finger upwards) But that means that the rewards are also greater. Where the scholars will be inspired to give double the rewards for bringing them to their library, bards inspired by Adalgiso’s song will give three times the reward. Instructor: (leaning forward) That’s three times the gold, three times the power, and three times the cultural influence. Instructor: (leaning back) Not too shabby, I say. The instructor steps back into the shadows as the spotlight dims and the scene comes to life. In the doorway the adventurer pauses and clears his throat, looking nervous but determined. Adventurer sings: Oh, precious cow, how your love completes me. I will give you my rockeater so that my intentions are clear, it is in my true nature to love you, my dear. I ask not for your squid, but only your heart. Keep my token ever more and we will surely never part. Bard: (rolling his eyes) Yes, I was just there with you. It’s a ridiculous song, but I suppose I will add it to my repertoire. Now, get out of my way, I have an audience waiting for me! The bard absentmindedly tosses a purse full of gold pieces at the adventurer and then rushes to the front of the stage. The bard rolls his eyes before counting the gold and smiling, slipping it into his pack. The curtain closes. The End Appendix ——————————————————————— Scenes: Office of the librarian’s assistant This large office is filled with shelves and stacks of books, from musty old tomes to leather-bound volumes. Piles of books stacked so high they look like they might topple over completely sit on the corner of the desk, in chairs, even on the floor. The desk is large and sits in the center of the room and is covered in pages and parchments, as well as a discarded quill, still dripping with ink. There are three doors on separate walls which lead to smaller rooms. The smell of old books and dust is strong here. The Cave of Beauty The lavender light of the Seal of Beauty lights up this entire cave, whose originally rough walls have been transformed by a skilled hand into a deep gallery. Statues and carvings of fantastically dressed men and women stand, their expressions displaying wonder, surprise and glee. Dried flower petals rest in the outstretched hands of many, still offering a faint fragrance to the gentle breeze which passes through the room. Beneath the Seal, a small garden, both strange and miraculous to behold, has taken bloom in the stone floor. The Archives of the Illuminate Mysteries. A many-ribbed, vaulted ceiling opens into a wide dome which is decorated with scalloping designs of tile, swirling into dracnari script of tarnished gold. Magical flames which produce no heat burn within jade embrasures to illuminate the chamber. The light reflects off of shards of obsidian and ruby set into each sandstone brick forming the walls. On every side, tall shelves of black basalt tower, each filled with tomes and scrolls. The smell of incense and leather fills the chamber, along with the less pleasant smell of musty old books. Composer’s Quarters. Though once obviously a richly appointed room, clear signs of neglect are apparent. Furnishings are dusty and moth-eaten and mouldering and there is a pervasive musty stench of mildew in the air. However, evidence of recent occupation is also apparent, in the form of scattered clothing scattered about. An opened travel bag propped up against the large desk at the center of the room contains a lute as well as bundles of papers. Fresh quills and ink pots sit atop the desk as well. Alabaster Road. Formed of small white stones, this road stretches through green fields and forests alike. Though it is well-traveled, the stones remain largely intact, forming a ribbon of white that can be seen for miles. Along the side of the road wildflowers bloom, filling the air with their fragrance. The Southern Mountains. The path here runs along the bottom of a short bluff and is strewn with boulders and large rocks that have fallen from the cliff face over time. Tall pines and other trees extend down the far side of the bluff and wildflowers grow here and there. The sound of the wind through the trees is rivaled by the sound of birdsong in the air. The Sea of Despair. Barely any light filters through the thick, tainted waters. Dark shapes, somehow familiar and yet malformed, drift quietly through the darkness. Glimpses of creatures seen at the edge of the light reveal that even the smallest of them has oversized mouths with sharp teeth inside. The Aetherplex Chamber. Formed of a hollow geode, and composed of dozens of precious gemstones, this chamber is roughly spherical in shape. Jagged formations of precious stone and crystal line the walls and ceiling. The floor, which has been cut to be flat and polished to a brilliant shine, shows concentric circles and swirls of vibrant color. Shimmering reflections glide across the smooth surface, revealing the images of homes and abodes. A current of energy runs throughout this wondrous place, causing tiny sparks to flow up and down the crystalline spires. The Gullagumbah Gallery. Beneath an archway of white marble, two golden wyverns rear back, displaying bared teeth and raised claws in defense of the hall behind them. The floor is decorated with elaborate mosaics depicting a stylized rendering of the city of Gaudiguch and silken cushions are strewn about invitingly. Along the edge of the floor, tall pedestals rise, each holding multiple candles which serve to light the room. Great columns rise upwards toward a great vaulted ceiling, rising so high the tops can barely be seen in the scant light. Polished silver censers hang down lacing the air with the heady scent of incense. At the center of the room is a stage made of black volcanic rock, eye-catching in its stark simplicity. ——————————————————————— Props: A ravenous bookwurm This ravenous bookwurm is clearly a sludgeworm which has been costumed to appear as a bookwurm. The tiny, useless limbs of a bookwurm are made of stuffed fabric attached to a tube of cloth which the sludgeworm is wearing. The sldugeworm’s head can be seen peeking out from inside the wide mouth full of rotting teeth, which are also made of fabric. A cow. This cow is clearly two spixes with a cow costume draped over them. The spix in the front supports the head of the cow, which is made of paper mache and cloth. A sheet, dyed in a blotchy black and white pattern, trails down from the head and back across the second spix, which serves as the rear of the cow. Dangling tendrils can be seen twitching below the edge of the sheet, between four wooden legs which dangle to almost touch the ground. A Rockeater This rockeater is clearly a bulbous ribbachi in a hastily put together costume. Tints have been used to make the featureless wad of flesh look more rock-like and a mask made of wood, resembling a rockeater’s bony features and sharp, diamond-like teeth is strapped to what could be considered the creature’s head. The rockeater’s legs are made of stuffed cloth with glass claws and have been fitted to a band wrapped around the middle of the ribbachi. Vampire squid This squid is clearly a hekoskeri wearing a squid costume. The cone-shaped body of the squid is formed of stuffed cloth with large, luminous eyes painted on in bright fearsome red. The hekoskeri is inside the bottom half of this cone, its many arms holding long streamers which serve as the tentacles of the squid. ——————————————————————— Costumes: Adventurer A tall young human male in his late teens, this adventure has an eager expression. HIs dark brown eyes shine with determination and his olive complexion shines with good health. He is wearing a set of basic leather armor which fits him tolerably well, and he wields a claymore of the Secret Flame. Adalgiso He is a short, rotund man wearing clothes which are both disheveled and a size too small for his frame. Despite this, he surveys his surroundings with the haughty air of someone born to a noble station. His pinched, petulant expression and the unkempt state of his dense blond curls make it evident that he truly does believe he is too good to bother with observing even the most basic of social niceties. Nia Peedia She is a pleasant young furrikin woman who resembles a rabbit, with long ears and twitching whiskers. Her silky grey fur is smooth and her hazel eyes dart busily from side to side. She holds several loose pages from old tomes and compendiums in her paws as she sorts them into some semblance of order. In her shoulder bag, several books and scrolls can be seen. Bard Though this bard carries themself like one born to the stage, they are clearly a consummate traveler. They are wearing rugged boots and sturdy clothing, in lieu of more elaborate garb, and their travel pack is worn. Scholar Studying a book in his hand and holding a quill in the other, this middle-aged man is dressed in grey robes sashed with a simple hemp rope from which hangs an ink pot. The numerous scrolls that stick out of the pockets of the robe, along with the ink stains on his fingers, reveal his profession to be that of a scholar. His brow is deeply furrowed from heavy thought, as he paces back and forth. Instructor The instructor is dressed in a pair of pressed grey trousers and a dark blue shirt with ivory buttons. A grey suit coat is worn over the shirt. They are wearing spectacles, which sit midway down their impressive nose. They have curly brown hair, a short beard a few shades darker, and kind eyes. A pleasantly bland expression adorns their face as they survey the world around them. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Songs of Angels](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-songs-of-angels/) **Published:** September 16, 2022 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** Tread softly, dear one, for we are in the midst of angels. Can you hear them calling? Can you hear their songs? Breathe in the crisp air of Celestia. Feel the sand beneath your feet. Marvel in the beauty of this creation. Feel at home here, find comfort. There is serenity in this place. There is hope and unwavering devotion. Know that you are safe, dear one. Be at rest nearby the calming waters. When there is chaos, find peace here. When there is ugliness, find beauty. When there is malice and lies, find joy and the truth in the Light. Let it wash over you as a soothing balm. and help heal the wounds of your heart. Let the splendor of Raziela comfort you, and the wisdom of Japhiel guide you. Let Methrenton bring you security, and Skainiel’s shield abiding safety. Let the purity of Elohora’s radiance shine forth from your eyes. Listen to the songs of the angels. Can you hear them, dear one? They sing of a time lost to the ages. May we be deserving to listen forever. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** September 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [A Call to Arms (A speech before battle)](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-call-to-arms-a-speech-before-battle/) **Published:** August 31, 2022 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** I will stand by you, dear friends. Even if it means unto my death. I will raise my symbol in your defense. I will slay our enemies at your call. Heed my promise and bear witness. I will never forsake you in your time of need. Know my heart is steadfast and resolute. May we stand together, victorious. For, we know the outcome before the fight. Be it win or lose, we venture together. Take my hand and call me brother. For, we are bound by the oath of blood. May we serve Celestia and all Her angels. May the bards sing songs of our glory. The citizens of the Light shall know our names. Children will be raised upon our legends! The basin will tremble in earth-shaking fear at the mere whisper of our great deeds. Ride with me, my fellow Celestians! Let us rid the world of our foes. For the glory of the Supernals! For the glory of the Light! **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Dracnoris: pg. 3](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/dracnoris-pg-3/) **Published:** August 31, 2022 **Author:** Esei **Content:** Page 3/? of the Book of Dracnoris. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Beneficent Eminence Arae Villarreal, Alabaster Adherent](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/beneficent-eminence-arae-villarreal-alabaster-adherent/) **Published:** August 23, 2022 **Author:** Amadiya **Content:** Just a fun little portrait of Arae conducting experiments on the skull of her enemies. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Thief's Truefavor](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-thiefs-truefavor/) **Published:** August 19, 2022 **Author:** Gurashi **Content:** Gurashi bearing the Saffron truefavor of Mysrai, Thief of Hidden Apogees. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Trials and Trails of Barnaby Daryngton - Part 1: Hot Pursuit](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-trials-and-trails-of-barnaby-daryngton-part-1-hot-pursuit/) **Published:** August 16, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** The scene opens into a busy marketplace, bustling with crowded storefronts spilling over themselves as they jockey for visual position amongst the throng of people browsing. The view pans upwards, past the faded awnings before settling on a towering, resplendent alabaster wall casting its gilded shadow down upon the rabble. The beautifully pruned limbs of all manner of trees peek above the pristine crenelations, bowing under the weight of their plump fruits. Over the wall, the dissonant sounds of the marketplace die down, replaced by the joyous chirps of happy birds. Dressed in long, tailored robes, an older couple sits underneath a burgeoning pear tree, sweet juice running lazily down their chins as they enjoy their treat. A man walks past them. He is dressed in a fine, buttoned cloak with intricate filigree woven along its edge. Elaborate golden epaulets, shaped like spreading wings, adorn his shoulders. Atop his well-groomed, flowing hair sits a lavish hat decorated with mismatched feathers from a variety of creatures. As he strolls past the bench, the couple shares a quick whisper accompanied with concerned expressions. One of the men gets up and walks in the opposite direction as Barnaby stops to admire a particularly round apple. The man returns a minute later with another man covered from head to toe in ornamental full plate, polished to a mirror-like sheen. A crossed sword and hammer is emblazoned in bright red across the cuirass. The guard walks up to Barnaby Daryngton, hand on the hilt of his longsword, and lifts his visor. “Mornin’ sir. Fine day for a walk, eh?” “Good Morning ol’ chap. Every day’s a fine day for a stroll when you’re in the Orchards, wouldn’t you say?” “I’m afraid I’ll need to see your documents. Valid travel permit, work visa, writ of patronage. I can’t allow unauthorized persons in the Orchard, you understand.” Barnaby reaches into his coat and pulls out a tightly furled scroll. He removes the yellow ribbon and hands it over to the guard. A few moments pass as the man examines the parchment, holding it up towards the sun and running his gloved fingers over the wax seal. “My apologies, Sir Daryngton.” He hands the papers back to the gnome, along with a small bronze medallion. “Please enjoy your time in Talthos . I hope it is enjoyable for a knight of the Golden Aerie.You shouldn’t have any more trouble here.” “It’s no trouble at all! I’m glad to see you’re doing you’re part to keep out the riff-raff and hooligans – they can be such a nuisance, can’t they?” Barnaby bows a deep bow and continues… Barnaby continues walking along the path before turning behind a well-built garden shed. With a quick look over his decorated shoulder, he pulls a faded leather portfolio from his satchel. As he opens it up, we see a stack of official-looking documents with a manner of seals and calligraphy. Barnaby nestles the unfurled scroll back amongst the others before adjusting the epaulets on his shoulders. Closer inspection reveals small inconsistencies between these and the official uniform of the Golden Aerie. After depositing the portfolio back into his pack, Barnaby takes out a small piece of paper. *Prepare yourself Barnaby!* It reads. *I’ll meet you in the villas of Sweet Orchard in a fortnight’s time. And then, we hunt the Ebon Spider! – Akrosi.* With a disappointed frown, Barnaby rolls the paper back into his pocket. His demeanor improves, momentarily, as he spies an unbroken peacock feather lying on the ground. He plucks it up delicately, inspects it, and places it in his cap before walking towards the candlelit villas tucked behind the manicured greenery of the Orchard. The days pass quickly and there’s no sign of Akrosi. Eventually, Barnaby gets up, fastens his gear, and passes underneath the alabaster arches, flashing his medallion. Once he’s beyond the Talthos gates, he ferries across the Shallach River and hikes until he reaches the Ackleberry Forest. He waits until he’s a few miles into the underbrush before removing his epaulets. He references Father Sun’s position in the sky, and moves through the brush. Even though it’s midday, the forest is dark. And quiet. Barnaby presses onwards, pulling out his scimitar. Several of the trees cast ominous shadows, and the gnome’s normally bold, confident demeanor slowly shifts to paranoia. He grits his teeth, but the shadows dance across his darting eyes. Suddenly two of the trees swing their limbs towards Barnaby, knocking him backwards. Before he has time to react, the thornbeasts are on top of him. Splinters spray in all directions as the creatures lash out with their tendrils. Barnaby flips to his feet, jumping over a thrust before twirling his blade at the closest enemy. Confidence returns to his eyes and a faint smirk crosses his lips. Shards of wood protrude from his skin and the resulting blood flicks off his face as he spins in a rhythmic dance. *WHACK! CRACK! THWACK!* The broken wood punctures Barnaby’s armor but he continues the onslaught. Eventually, both thornbeasts lie in shattered heaps on the ground. Barnaby is left panting for breath, bloody, but alive. Wearily, he continues forward. After another hour, he stops. Overhead, a gossamer thread the diameter of his thumb connects a pair of rotting branches together. Even in the low-light conditions, it seems to glimmer. “Your days of tormenting innocents are coming to an end, my dear spider. Soon enough you’ll be caught in MY web.” Night begins to fall and the darkness becomes too obscuring for Barnaby to press much further. In his weakened state, he slowly unfurls his bedroll and bandages his wounds before laying down and falling asleep in utter exhaustion. Barnaby is awakened in the middle of the night by firelight flickering across his face. Groggily, he lifts his head, letting out a small gasp as his pain reminds him of his fight with the thornbeasts. He locates the source of the light; a large campfire burns brightly a hundred meters to the west. Quickly, Barnaby grabs his scimitar, gets to his feet, and approaches. He is stealthy and silent as he nears. Barnaby steps into the clearing; but nobody is here. There is no sign of anyone ever having been here, apart from the fire. The fire is roaring but something is off. It burns without logs, without fuel. Instantly Barnaby is on edge and he holds his scimitar as high as his weakened arm can manage. “If this is one of those fey tricks, it doesn’t frighten me! After all, my name’s Barnaby Daryngton, and I dare you to beat me in a scuffle! Let’s make it a fair fight, none of this nonsense!” As if punctuating his challenge, the campfire is immediately extinguished, leaving nothing but small embers behind. Faint laughter echoes throughout the clearing, shrill and demeaning. “Barnaby, Barnaby Far from home Weak of head and Weak of bone Broken and bent By wooden jacks Fails to cover Tiny tracks Faux disguise Deceit and lies No one to hear His fatal cries This cozy fire Is cold and dark A gnome scorched A charcoal mark!” With that, the remaining embers fly up from the ground in four directions before materializing into flaming humanoids who surround Barnaby. Their laughter rings out as the flames lick the gnome and the acrid smell of burning flesh stings the air. Beads of sweat drip from Barnaby’s face as he yells out in fury and bodyslams the nearest elemental to clear an escape route. His skin begins to blister as the flaming beings give chase, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. A short creature with mottled red skin steps out from behind one of the trees on the other side of the clearing, a wicked grin stretched across its face as it watches Barnaby run. Barnaby passes his belongings but doesn’t have time to grab them. He runs and runs and runs, the flaming elementals in hot pursuit. The gnome doesn’t have the strength, but pulls from deep within, knowing that to stop means to die. One of the elementals catches him and Barnaby thrashes his scimitar about wildly. His skin blisters and bubbles as the flames connect, and he screams out in pain. Finally, one of his strikes cuts the creature in half, and it collapses in a heap of smoldering ashes. After hours of running, he reaches the river and quickly boards a wooden raft. As he pushes off the shore, the remaining elementals hiss and curse. When Barnaby is halfway across, the short, devilish man appears from the trees, still grinning as the elementals swirl around angrily. He’s carrying the leather portfolio. “I will remember your name, Barnaby Daryngton.” The figure calls out. “Just remind me – is it Barnaby Daryngton, Lieutenant of the Archons? Or is it – let me see here – Sir Barnaby Daryngton, Second Scourge in the Order of the Rack? Or perhaps – ah yes – Captain Barnaby Daryngton, Hand of the Horned One?” Barnaby is silent as he drifts across the water. “You have many names, Barnaby, and I shall collect all of them from you. Your hunt has only just begun! Hahahahaha!” The laughter echoes and the man retreats back to the seclusion of the treeline. Barnaby, battered, burnt, and bruised, limps back to Talthos. Guards rush to his aid after he reveals his bronze medallion at the gates, and they carry him past the gathering crowds to the villas. He passes out. Days later, he is roused awake by an enthusiastic Akrosi Foxglove. “Sorry I’m a bit late! Every year the Guild of Liars gathers at the House of Lies in Gaudiguch to tell the most magnificent of stories. I’ve always wanted to go and it was on the way…I figured you could relax here in the meantime, and it looks like you really went on a bender. That’s the Barnaby I met at university! I heard the most interesting tale about Ebon Spiders at the Flame, I’ll regale it on the way. Of course, I won’t do it justice, but it’s just so fascinating!” **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2022 --- ### [Sundry Tanka, 601-625 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/sundry-tanka-601-625-ce/) **Published:** August 15, 2022 **Author:** Xiran **Content:** ``` Sundry tanka by Xiran Stormcrow, from 601 to 625 CE. Rites ----- To: T -19th of Kiani, 604 CE- Sanctum circled thrice in refractions of colour. Rooted willow grace while in loving mayhem blooms tulip of a dragon egg. To: K -18th of Shanthin, 605 CE, under the Waxing Crescent- Waxing in pink dawn of new year, set Maiden's eyes upon paths yet veiled. Here be time to dream bright dreams and steady breath in twilight. To: A -18th of Shanthin, 605 CE, under the Waxing Crescent- In her full splendour, the Mother's hands spread as wings wide as moonlit path. Dwell too in her fullest grace, as child home in her embrace. Apologia -------- To: T -13th of Tzarin, 605 CE- With Serene Insight he sees blue sky through grey haze. Threads of Kinship taut, bracing winds pluck not to fray song of home and Communion. To: Divine Lady An Apology -5th of Urlachmar, 611 CE, under the Waxing Crescent- Forgetting gesture mattered more than gift, I left trembling hand, to grip instead wonderment and worry for things unsaid. Gratitude --------- To: L Jaguar Claw and Starfall -22nd of Shanthin, 610 CE- Shaping world with word, beyond vellum lives this Phrase, guileless mirror raised so that green and grey may see prismed joys of shared story. To: G Sound of Mind and Song of Heart -17th of Urlachmar, 611 CE under the Waxing Gibbous- In sound of mind this maiden finds Purity as you sensibly unlatch window barred in storm to hear springtide song once more. To: A Gentle Effulgence -13th of Juliary, 612 CE, under the Waning Crescent- Mother of Moon Falls, Zyemfa gives from his cupped hands a spill of silver that ripples bright through his Folk, and shapes shore beyond the mist. Fortitude --------- To: Traitorous Divine Lady -late Spring, early Summer 624 CE- Sickly fog that slips through chinks of mortal frailties to seize the body fails to grasp Spirit, Heart, and Blood who breathe Her purity. At: Cavern of the mystic mound -7th of Juliary, 624 CE, under the Waxing Crescent- Storms that bear not wrath yet stalk Weald with claws unsheathed, let rest by tree hark back to Her Majesty once cold blade quells your fevered rage. Play ---- To: H -4th of Roarkian, 624 CE- O dear leprechaun, nimble be his eye and reach for coins that gleam gold yet his pockets cannot keep when Faethorn goes he to sleep! Wonder ------ To: G -19th of Roarkian, 625 CE under the Waning Gibbous- The signs of his birth gleam through circle cast in salt as the heavens spin to answer Crone who claims him but dust of fallen stars. ``` **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** August 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [From the Megalith](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/from-the-megalith/) **Published:** August 12, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** Even in the vertex of Night, the Megalith glows. It draws all manner of beings to its power. But sometimes, beings emerge from within it. Along with other things… **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Initiate](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-initiate/) **Published:** July 31, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** “Come with me,” they said, Through the fire and the ash, Under shadow and point, The four-sided stone, Wreathed in secrets, And mysteries old. “But I know better,” I said. Knowledge is cheap, It cares not of your status, Of family, Of fame. And I can find my own way, Beyond the veil hiding right. “You are mistaken,” they said, Despite your confidence, For there is more to understanding, Than the wyverns, And the Path, To be broken down, And rebuilt as new. “I will follow,” I said, Led through the streets, Into the heart, And the mind, Of the ones with true sight, To reveal what was lost, Or forgotten with time. “Take the sands,” they said, Run fingers through, For the shifting and sifting, Makes the one, From the many, Makes the strong, From the few. “But it slips,” I said, Between fingers and hands, To the cobbled streets, To the gila’s lands, Where memories fade, And footprints don’t last. “Turn it to stone,” they said, The grains to the glass, The brightness of flame, To darkness of night, Hardened and tempered, Patience reformed. “Now I can see,” I said, It’s cooled now, and cold, Reflecting a visage, One of a stranger, One with eyes opened, And a light, Twinkling so. “Glass to the Flame,” they said, By now I took heed, For a City that stands, With the might of its own, Eschews all that pride, In trade for reprieve, That all can provide. “Freedom take flight,” I said, Be birthed anew, Flutter with purpose, Though fragile and thin, Whose faint tiny patter, Can alter the Threads. “Burn onwards”, we said, With the fuel of our minds. With the air from our breaths. With the fire from our truths. Forever and more. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2022 --- ### [The Eternal Flame](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-eternal-flame/) **Published:** July 24, 2022 **Author:** Alysi **Content:** A source of power and majesty. A symbol of freedom. A beacon of what yet might be. Rising from Time Forgotten. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Holy War](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/holy-war/) **Published:** July 23, 2022 **Author:** Aramantos **Content:** Bleed with me, my brother. What stronger bond can be formed? Stand beside me as we face our enemies, unwavering and resolute to our fate. For, what is death but a new beginning? To die for one’s cause is the greatest honour. May we be always worthy to heed that calling. May the Light never find us wanting. Draw your sword and charge forward! Pressing into the thickening masses. Evil and corruption blanket the basin, Methrenton, guide us as we cleanse it. Though we may be outnumbered in the battle, we stand for the innocent and defenseless. Who will protect the vulnerable from evil? Shakiniel, aid us as we shield our families. Free your heart of hate for our foes. For, they do not realize their misdeeds. Twisted and corrupt are their souls. Raziela, fill our spirits with compassion. Call now upon the judgement of holy Celestia. Know there is clarity in this reckoning. Know that not every fate is understood. Japhiel, raise our awareness to new heights. Bleed with me, my brother. Let us walk shoulder to shoulder into this war. May we laugh in the face of death. Elohora, guide our spirits home. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Edge of Transformation](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-edge-of-transformation/) **Published:** July 19, 2022 **Author:** Kennian **Content:** On Becoming Necessary ——————— Necessity: being required or indispensable; the principle according to which something must be so, by virtue either of logic or of natural law therefor a condition that cannot be otherwise In your youth, people tend to make you feel as though you are necessary to this world in one way or another. Your parents are kind, creating this idea within you that you somehow belong or are required for the Basin to continue existing. Your parents are cruel. You are needed to take out their anger and withstand their punishments. You. Are. Necessary. When I was young, my family, my father especially, told me that I would accomplish great things. I would bathe the Basin in Light and cleanse it of all things unholy. In this way, my presence in the world was a necessity, in my mind. I never questioned otherwise. It is easy to believe you are important when you are surrounded by people who tell you so. Likewise, it is easy to assume that importance makes you an indispensable being. When you believe you are important, you work to maintain that importance at all cost. You grow weary but push forward in an effort to maintain this completely unearned facade – trying to convince yourself you deserve it. When you believe you are important, you try so very desperately to convince those around you of the same. You look for ways to enrich every life, regardless of how small, and search for the things you can do for others. As life progressed, a thought crept into my brain. For days, weeks, even months, it washed over me, coming in waves of differing intensity – “What if I’m not important?” After all, if I was sent by the Elders and guided by the Supernals, why was the Basin not cleansed? Why was the entire city falling to apathy? Why was my very best effort not accomplishing anything? This brings us to the true meaning of necessity and it revolves around one simple thing – the goal. If your goal is to cleanse the world of the unclean and bring Light to all, you will fail and you are unimportant. If your goal is to protect the weak from the horrors of the Basin, you will fail and you are similarly unimportant. When you give yourself over to the true goal – creating a world where progress is fueled by Innovation and dedication, you become important. While not all cogs are required in the wheel of progress, the ones that spin with purpose and push others forward become necessary. Once the necessary pieces are determined and lined up, the goal can be pursued. This requires Precision. On Becoming Precise ——————- Precision: marked by or adapted for accuracy and exactness; the fact of being accurate With renewed purpose you can work toward a central goal. This goal should always involve the betterment of one’s self, others, or the world around them. In order to achieve this goal, you must take precise measures, starting with determining what must be kept, what must be improved, and what must be discarded entirely. This is often no easy task and must be approached with a highly analytical mind. During my time of weakness, after determining that my goal must now be to stamp out the Light due to its uselessness and misguided, blinding ideals, I fell into self-reflection first. What was it about me that needed to be changed, improved, or discarded? What held me back from my full potential? After reviewing what made me weak – a need to impress my family, a need to help those who didn’t deserve it – a need to maintain my unearned feeling of importance – it was easy to see which pieces needed to be removed. The tools available to you can vary, of course. However, the selection of the instrument is just as important has developing the goal and analyzing the subject. While others may throw up their hands when they are missing what they need, a truly dedicated cog will seek out these tools by any means necessary, understanding that progress needs a cost. Those that hold you back or otherwise hinder your ability to gather what you need, must be snuffed out. There is no cost too great in accomplish what you’ve set out to do. Obtaining your tools, you must begin the process of change. It is an easy mistake for the unpracticed to remove too much when attempting to perfect the being. In my case, while ending my connection to my weak bloodline, I lost the confidence in battle that came from being a warrior family. I mistakenly saw a connection there that didn’t exist. Amidst the blood and gore, with tools that are too sharp or too dull, when disrupted in mind or body, it can be nearly impossible to see all of the interwoven components you are dealing with. This is how you hone your Precision. Through mistakes you learn to steady your hand as a surgeon does. In an error lies the opportunity for growth. This includes freeing those around you from the trials of a life they are unworthy of, if necessary. One may walk the streets of the Engine, but their footsteps do not swirl with the taint and their mind does not yearn for transformation. On Becoming Innovative ———————- After scraping away that which makes you weak and unnecessary, it is time to rebuild the areas of yourself that have been lost. Likewise, in the world around you, the trimming of the useless leaves room for new growth. The key desire here, though, is not only to revive a thing in its previous form, but to enhance it during the process. After all, why kill a weed only to craft another to grow in its place? Innovation starts with ideas. Walking for so long on one path can make it extraordinarily difficult to craft thoughts that branch out to new and better things. It is vital, especially in the beginning of your regrowth, to surround yourself with those who are strong in areas that you are not. Opening your mind is, in itself, Innovative. Steal shamelessly the knowledge of those around you, but do not keep it for yourself. Look for those with potential who would become strong. Stripped of all that weakened me and exposed to those around me who would see me bettered, I set out to achieve my goal – approaching a man of knowledge and science and requesting to be transformed. Transformation of the mind must come before transformation of the body. Once I came to understand what true transformation meant, the work on my body began to shed my lesser forms and uncover my inner viscanti. Through scalpel and infusions, blood and pain, I was not only healed but enhanced. Innovation is a wheel that, once set in motion, must continuously be pushed to stay in motion. The moment you stop pushing is the moment progress halts. Perfection can never be achieved. Those who consider themselves perfect have succumb to stagnation, perhaps lacking a goal or perhaps lacking motivation. Initially, I had thought to play on my strengths to push myself forward. I crafted designs and focused on things that I knew I was good at. After learning more of the Chiurgeon, I came to realize this is not Innovation. This is stagnation. While I was doing things, I was simply doing the same things repeatedly. To begin exploring areas I’ve previously avoided, I’ve chosen to write a book. To move forward one must seek the unknown and conquer it. One stamp out their fears and inhibitions, finding instead confidence and motivation. Only then can you truly reflect the tenets of Necessity, Precision and Innovation. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Book of Dracnoris: pg. 2](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/book-of-dracnoris-pg-2/) **Published:** July 17, 2022 **Author:** Esei **Content:** “…as the fountainhead of all life ought to be.” **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Ivory's Prayer](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/ivorys-prayer/) **Published:** July 15, 2022 **Author:** Zulte **Content:** Ivory awakens, pure and bright, Severing the veils, of a long Ebon night. Hear our whispers, Hear our pleas, Beyond Saffron dreams, and the shifting sea. Our hearts weeps, A mournful song, The Paradigms miss You, Your presence now gone. However there’s hope, We smile through the pain, Move on step by step Loving each new day. So shine bright, In Scarlet’s passion, Indigo’s prophecy, We shalln’t remain ashen. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Adventures of Tut: Genesis](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-adventures-of-tut-genesis/) **Published:** July 11, 2022 **Author:** Auoua **Content:** “Careful steps, young Paladin. Careful steps as you walk through along your fallen. Do you see them? Do you see the spectral reflections of life once lived? Do they frighten you? Yet here you are, marching to Magnagora.” “How long has it been since you left? How long has it been since you’ve set out to prove yourself? Your father’s claymore was used during his defense of Celestia and the Supernals, and now it drags upon the dusty ground as you seek vengeance. Are you strong enough?” “What’s that, Paladin? Fear? Oh yes, there should be. You stood behind the barricade as he fell, head taken clean off. Did you think it would be like each time before? Did you think that the Fates would save him? Foolish. Why do you think we turned our backs on Them? The Fates watch, They claim never to interfere, yet they reweave us to Their amusement.” “Did it hurt to see them take their last breath? Did you look in his lifeless eyes as they dimmed from the First World? Did you even have time before he became a trophy for our Warlady?” The young Paladin’s eyes finally overflowed with tears that had welled up at the taunts, “Leave me Dreamweaver, or I will add you to my list.” The Paladin had finally reached the Sea of Dispair, the choppy waters crashing against his plate as he walked across the rough sea. Magnagora was slowly beginning to come in sight. His face twisted in disgust behind his angelic helm as he observed the industrial Engine’s smog. “What is it you expect to do?” the Dreamweaver laughed as she slowly began shifting the sea into a grand illusion, showing the Paladin that horrible scene over and over. As far as he ran, he could never escape this trauma. “Fight me with honour, you coward.” he snorted in anger, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to dispel the illusion. “Poor child, will you stand before them? The demons, the wyrms, the hounds? You will be ripped to shreds by their servants alone. The beggars will likely overpower you to steal that golden armor. I could keep you in this nightmare forever if I wished; I am showing you mercy.” “Mercy?!” the Paladin roared, his eyes snapping open; the illusion is now gone as he returns to waking. He’s at the docks; that’s all he can determine as his mind races. “I will march to the Megalith and slaughter all those who raided my home.” A long ethereal chuckle ticked the boy’s ears as the Dreamweaver whispered in his mind, “As you wish.” And so he marched to the north, along the Bitter Road. He gave no glance to the marvelous i’Xiia tower and began a half-hearted jog down Gorgaliel Boulevard. As he approached the intersection, he could see the Megalith of Doom. The dark and tainted energy was calling out to him, the corruption of the Engine strong within his mind. He shook those impure thoughts from his head, continuing down Wraith Lane, and stopped within the library. “Paladin, you have found me.” the Dreamweaver said with a chuckle, snapping shut an angel-skinned booklet. She looked over the boy with an appraising eye, tilting her neck to the side, “Make it clean. When I reform from my lichdom I don’t want a nasty scar.” “What?” the boy said in confusion, looking bewildered at the Dreamweaver. “Yes? Did you think I’d fall like your father? No, you fool, we have contingency plans. We have taken our fate into our own hands. Should I ever fall, I will rise again as an ordinary living being, but I am for now a lich.” She explained this concept with a motherly voice, despite her condescending words. A gentle patting of the elderly Dreamweaver’s hand invited him to the couch, “Come, boy, humor me before the violence.” Even the Paladin didn’t know why it was that he took a seat next to the flawless elder. Her beauty was stunning, and he hated to acknowledge it. He was so enthralled with the grey-haired viscanti that he barely heard her speak. “What brought you here, boy? Did you really think you’d beat the warrior who slew your father?” “Well…” “I hope you’re smarter than that.” “When I first set out, I was filled with rage, and I could see nothing but red. I set out to bring the head of my father’s killer to my mother. I still want to achieve this, but… I see so many of your warriors there… all the demons.” His words were broken and distraught as he looked at the gather just to the south. “Were they waiting for me? “Of course not,” the Dreamweaver ensured, “They are having a chat about the merits of pain and growth. Perhaps you will join their discussion?” The Paladin snorted in derision, dispelling the possibility. “Never. I’d never join those savage brutes who slaughtered an innocent man.” “Perhaps then you’ll join me here. What is it you’re actually angry about, hmm?” The elderly Dreamweaver folded her hands into her lap politely as she looked over the boy once more, assessing him with a dispassionate gaze. “I feel so powerless. I should have run out to save him, or at least tried. I sat powerless as your tainted warriors crucified him and took his head. I saw him bleeding out, fear in his eyes. Why would they do that?” “You feel powerless, hm? Still? After your journey here, across the seas, and through our streets. Perhaps you should study the Necromancers> You would have been able to bring him back.” “I could have done that in a more pure way.” the Paladin asserts. “Yet he’s dead all the same, isn’t he?” The words stung. His gaze scanned across the floor as he muttered to himself. “Why weren’t we strong enough to hold you off?” The old Dreamweaver smiled faintly, “The Engine can not be stopped. Once we have set our goals, we will achieve them. We had been paying back the attacks on our villagers. We can not stand to look weak. Surely you understand, little one. Your journey here shows you want to be seen as strong.” “I do.” “Come, come to the Megalith and cast aside your burdens. Even a merian such as yourself can be useful.” The Paladin tilted his head curiously, “You don’t revile me for my race?” “No, and not all will, just most. Every cog will find a use.” The two rose and stepped to the Megalith of Doom, surrounded by demons and adventurers alike. The Warlady came forward to command the merian to kneel, “Speak your name, fish. Speak your intentions.” “I am Tut, a Paladin from New Celest who wishes to start anew. I am sick of living in fear that I will be crushed. Celestia won’t be able to protect me, and the Supernals are so easily slain. I need a new life.” “Very well.” the Warlady says as she welcomes Tut into the Engine of Transformation. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Refusing to See the Darkness](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/refusing-to-see-the-darkness/) **Published:** July 8, 2022 **Author:** Ialie **Content:** “Discerning between true and untrue perspectives is the root of Wisdom.” Lady Maylea, the Tenets of Quietude ———————————————————————— Content warning: This work of cautionary fiction contains imagery and subjects related to toxic relationships, substance abuse, mob violence and execution. Foreword ———————————————————————— The origin of this short story comes from a study of the Nine Serene Truths of Lady Maylea. I contemplated Wisdom and Perspective and derived a story that may have been born from my own experiences but has also been borrowed from those around me. It can be hard to see the darkness in those we love, but we must see it. Whether we seek to heal or walk away, it cannot be overlooked or hidden, or the darkness will consume us all. Refusing to See the Darkness ———————————————————————— It was not easy for Rethmien to practice his craft. He was older now, and his eyesight had gone bad. Over the years, he had also gained a reputation for being a charlatan. It would not be easy to start over. He would have to start from the beginning, finding a new peasant town that would believe his promises for a better future. Perhaps he had lingered here for too long, or he had been too greedy and eager to pocket easy gold from the downtrodden. He looked over at the burned-out wreckage of his former home. It was eerily quiet now as the morning light approached. Just hours ago, the night was filled with sounds of rage and fire. He could still hear the echoes of frothy curses in his mind. They had found him and made him pay for his crimes. Well, they thought they had found him. An easy smirk played over his features. They had no idea he was among the rabble as they marched up to his home. Disguised as a commoner, merely one of the rabble, he wielded his pitchfork alongside the mob and watched as they barred the door and threw flaming debris through his precious windows. It did not take long for the lavish wooden home to go up in flames or to hear the screams of the poor soul they had trapped inside, believing it was him. —- In the first light of day, Rethmien alone walked through the charred remains of an unrecognizable heap of burned lumber and furniture. This room had been his parlor; though no one else would have known, he recognized the burned frame of his portrait hanging haphazardly on the wall. Shuffling through ash and dying embers, he bent low, groaning as he strained his back to move a piece of fallen wood. Black soot stained his fingers as he threw it aside. “There you are.” He sighed as he looked down at a burned, lifeless body. By now, it was unrecognizable, blackened, twisted, and misshapen by fire. Despite himself, his eyes misted, imaging the beauty of the man before him. “I told you I would ruin you.” In these last few months, Rethmien had allowed himself to indulge in this young man as his plan came to fruition. Dlatain was the town’s young minister, new in his faith but filled with an overabundance of passion and devotion for the esteemed pantheon they followed. Once Rethmien had charmed and gained Dlatain’s favour, the rest of the town had easily followed. Dlatain’s love for him has been sweet and carefree. He had been so eager for acceptance and attention that he overlooked his flawed past and believed the tale Rethmien had spun about being a changed man. The purity of Dlatain’s heart had even given Rethmien pause. He had risked months of planning, and in the heat of the moment, in a rare show of kindness, he gave Dlatain a single warning. Lying together in bed, Rethmien had kissed the crown of Dlatain’s head and sighed. “You should run while you can. I ruin everything I touch.” Dlatain had only laughed and interlaced his fingers with his. “I will never run from you, always to you.” Dlatain had worked so hard not to see the darkness. Even forgiving Rethmien when he hurt him. The fool had thought it was virtuous not to see the darkness that was clearly there. —- Within the wreckage of the present, Rethmien reached down to caress the charred face. “You should have-” His body suddenly tensed as his fingers passed through the skull. Rethmien froze. “An illusion,” he whispered as his eyes widened with realization. “Do not worry. He is safe, not that you would care.” A voice called out from behind him. “He trusted you, believed in you. Dlatain told us not to believe the rumors of what you did to us.” “Truly, he was the only person who kept you alive.” One of the townspeople said before they overtook him. Rethmien did not doubt that Dlatain had begged them to spare him. He was counting on it, but he had stayed too long. —— He gazed throughout the town square as they dragged him to the funeral pyre. They truly wanted him to burn. Yes, he had stayed too long. He looked over at the poorly maintained buildings. He had bled this town near dry. The glamour of his illusions had been fading and flickering, and now they had him bound. He could no longer maintain the fragile hold to his magic that allowed them to pretend that all was well. They were happy to pretend. He thought with scorn, as long as their bellies were full and their blood sang with his special poppy and okorushi blend. However, now that the well that hosted the town’s tainted water supply had dried, the town people were no longer satisfied with his dreams and promises. They emerged from their slow, pleasant euphoria with the quick, violent rage of withdrawal, and they wanted him to burn for what they lost or truly never had. *Why had he stayed?* The question burned at him as they threw kindling at his feet. *Where had he gone wrong?* He could barely hear the crowd that had swarmed around him, seething with anger and vitriol. His mind was quiet. He saw their mouths moving and felt the hatred that pulsed through the crowd, but he knew he was already dead. He took these final moments to wonder about his mistake. *Where had he gone wrong?* —- In his last moments, he held on to his self-centeredness, not even having the grace to give his victims his attention as they took their vengeance. He heard the crackling of the kindling now. Soon, he would feel the unrelenting heat of the flames. A voice suddenly rang out through the crowd. “This is wrong. Look at him!” Rethmien turned his gaze, following the sound of the voice. He saw him then, his Dlatain and his golden hair of curls bouncing as he came rushing forward to save him. “He is a prince! He is an angel! He will guide us if you let him!” Dlatain cried in a screeching voice as he gestured wildly towards Rethmien. Dlatain fought his way through the crowd, finding the strength to throw off those that would hold him back. However, even Rethmien recoiled when he saw the crazed look in Dlatain’s eyes. “He will save us! He will save me!” The roar of the fire drowned out the rest of Dlatain’s testimony as he threw himself on the fire, sacrificing himself for nothing as the fire consumed the both of them. Afterword ———————————————————————— This story is a work of cautionary fiction that was written during the contemplation and expression of Wisdom and Perspective, one of Lady Maylea’s nine Serene Truths. When considering wisdom, one must truly consider the information they have and come to the realization of what truly lies before them. With wisdom, one can stand firm against deceit, perceive the truth, and act upon what is right. Guided by wisdom, one recognizes that everyone has a different perspective but also knows that some perspectives are obscured or even blinded by internal or external influences. This story also contains elements of a toxic relationship. In such a relationship, it can be difficult to see the hurt and harm caused. If you or anyone you know is suffering in a toxic relationship, it is important to seek help from friends and family. The abuser may make their partner feel isolated and alone, but some people, even strangers, will help if guided to resources. Those affected by toxicity may also feel that their emotions are invalid or are not entitled to feel a certain way. However, one must be allowed to express their emotions; everyone has a right to their feelings, and allowing oneself to feel and experience their emotions may lead to healing or the needed end to a relationship. Lastly, please ensure that those affected by toxicity know that the toxicity is not their fault and that they deserve happiness and a life free from harm. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [I Wonder](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/i-wonder/) **Published:** June 30, 2022 **Author:** Arae **Content:** I love you now as I loved you then, Encompassing, devouring ache that knows no bounds, Endless, Hungering, Consuming, My heart until it is naught but a void left empty, Barren. Yet, Beyond reach you lie, As you have always lied, So far, very far away. And I cannot touch, I cannot grasp, Even graze you, Fingertips reaching -never reaching- For something that does not wish to be touched. Why, I wonder… (I question, I ache) Answer me, Tell me please. Fingers once graced my skin, Lips hungry descent upon my neck, shoulders, spine, Black scales hot and bright in the sunshine, Cool waters’ mist, The oasis where we lied and spoke of softer things, Of Gods and futures and beautiful dreams. Trapped in veils, Lost in truth, Fed you lies, Why do I even wonder, Why do I even cry, When it is I, Who left you? **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2022 --- ### [Memoirs After the Battle](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/memoirs-after-the-battle/) **Published:** June 28, 2022 **Author:** Uzriel **Content:** The din of battle is still ringing in my ear as I begin my work of assessing the wounds of those who fell in battle. I can’t help but let out an exasperated curse under my breath. The butchery of fighting has left so few that I can save, just corpses mangled beyond recognition. Still, I find a few that still might be saved so I gather them away from the mulling warriors so that I might work in peace. Procuring my bag of tools, I open it up and peer inside, looking between it and my patient before deciding first I must cut away their clothes to see the damage – pulling out a pair of forceps and scissors. My patient is stoically silent I muse in wry amusement as I cut away the bloodied sleeves. Long slashes against his arms appear as the telltale sign of a poorly defended axe blow – likely defensive wounds meant to be deflected with a weapon or shield rather than flesh. Still these wounds are superficial, not the most threatening. As I cut the shirt from his chest, I can easily see the wounds are more exotic. The fabric is practically melted, I make a mental note that it might be fire or acid. Then after some consideration append that excorable or magic burns are also possible. In addition to the strange burns, I see branded into his skin a bizarre pattern of rings encircling his chest which I prod gently, careful not to worsen the injuries. Realization as to the nature of these wounds dawns on me and I know the path forward now. I rotely chant the memorized words of ritual, channeling power into the strange brand which begins to stitch itself shut, and dark energy begins to thrum through the man as he convulses violently. I sit back, heaving an exhausted sigh as I wipe my instruments and replace them into my bag, observing the patient as he stumbles to his feet. A dark smile crosses my face as he turns towards me, no recognition in the man’s glazed eyes, only the pain of death – the Queen’s Lament is an especially agonizing end. I snap my fingers and click my tongue causing the ghoul to whip to attention, it will focus its pain on its new job, a tormented existence standing guard for all of eternity. Finally, I turn my attention to the other corpses and sigh. How is a necromancer to make a good product when the butchers insist on removing the head as trophies? **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [I Would Rather](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/i-would-rather/) **Published:** June 26, 2022 **Author:** Barendur **Content:** Let’s just say that I would rather do certain things instead of others. I like swinging swords and bashing skulls more than almost any of my brothers. I’d rather be covered in blood and guts than have my hair all clean and proper. That gorgog stench really isn’t so bad compared to the smell covering the “talkers”. I’d rather wear my heavy platemail than robes of the finest cloth or leather. And I’d rather sleep on the streets of Celest than in another place on the finest feathers. I’d rather have Methrenton and the others, than worship at the feet of another deity. I’d rather have Terentia and her zaps, at least they come with spontaneity! I’d rather slay the Demon Lords of Nil than give up on the Great Elohora. And I’d rather be shat on by a seagull in Celest than be a king ruling over Magnagora. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2022 --- ### [Mysteries, a Preface of](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/mysteries-a-preface-of/) **Published:** June 23, 2022 **Author:** Sorsha **Content:** There’s something to be said about the mysteries that hide within the pyramids of the city of Freedom. Is that what draws the populace to her walls or is there simply an allure to those who call themselves citizens? It can be hard to decipher just what brings the unenlightened to her doorstep, but one dracnari has attempted to unravel the mysteries found within. From the cosmic plane of Vortex to the Eternal Flame that houses the energy the city draws on, Aruma Iborchi found himself in quite a predicament. He was a self-proclaimed Enlightened Master, honing his abilities as an illuminatus, but wasn’t quite as smart as he told his fellow citizens. Was there something that dulled his mind each time he delved beneath the pyramids to find their secrets or was he simply just addled in the brain? No matter the copious amounts of okorushi powder that he smoked or the substantial bottles of fire whiskey he quaffed daily, he just could not find what he was looking for. Evoking the sphere of Hod didn’t even boost his mental capacity as it should have. Peculiar yet, even his guild master, the most Honorable Sayro Miim, Arch-Prelate of the Seekers of Illumination, could not explain just what it was about Aruma that did not sit well with her. She could not find the reasons as to why the illuminated dracnari was much slower in comprehending the materials than his peers. All she had to go on was his piqued interest of the pyramids that housed the guilds before the Great Loss and the pure hunger for knowledge that he exhibited. Still, what can a Seeker do if he cannot comprehend that which he is learning? What use was he to the Arch-Prelate? That was what Aruma Iborchi was going to find out, sooner or later. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** June 2022 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Book of Dracnoris: Pg. 1](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/book-of-dracnoris-pg-1/) **Published:** June 22, 2022 **Author:** Esei **Content:** Page 1/? of an Elder Wars webcomic. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2022 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Geomancer's Journal, Part 1](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/geomancers-journal-part-1/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** I am Radrafdin, of House n’Kylbar, and have begun this journal to help note down my newly received task set forth by my parents. Growing up amidst five siblings, and lost amidst the middle of the sequence of births, exhibiting no truly impressive skill or political mind, i’ve never been viewed as more than dead weight. I somewhat glad I was given this task, but at the same time I believe it is just a ‘solution’ of having found some way to make use of me, for such is the life of nobel houses in Magnagora. After much anticipation and worry, I have finally received my letter of acceptance into the Geomancer’s guild. Nil knows what would have become of me if I was denied…, having matured to the 18th of my name day; I highly doubt mother and father would have accepted me ‘lounging’ about any longer. My elder brother and sister have taken the eye of my parents, and they have put much faith in them bringing us up in status. Upon receiving my letter, they visited me and stated, or should I say insisted, I must bring honor to the family and not to mess this up, for important political workings in the city are in play, and the high seat of the house would not accept any mishaps. Im sure it will be fine, if anything, House n’Kylbar is famous for their political machinations. The letter of acceptance was quite unusual. Where I had assumed some golden embroidery on parchment with a welcoming message…I received but a grey scrappy letter, within it but a piece of black marble and a note stating “come”. My parents nodded approvingly, and stated that was a good sign. I pack my belongings and prepare to depart to the guild tower on the morrow. —— 4th of Tzarin, 64 The tower was not much what I had imagined. From the glory and honor the Geomancers hold in the city, you’d expect exquisite architecture and holdings…yet before me stood a slate grey spire, uninteresting and without any ornaments. Upon entering, I met with a dark hooded figure standing near the doorway. He stretched out a near skeletal hand, opened palm, and said nothing. I attempted to greet him but he would not reply. Sensing a need for urgency, I walked forth and presented the piece of black marble, the figure nodded. He pointed to a stairway on the eastern side of the tower, which I immediately assumed I should climb. Looking back down as I did so, I saw the figure clench a fist around the black marble piece, and it suddenly turned into a fine dust, whisked away by a breeze in this cold place. I hurried along to the assigned dormitory. —— 11th of Tzarin, 64 I’ve been here for around a week now, and I still have yet to get used to the strange customs. There is hard studying and practice by us acolytes no doubt..but every few days we are called by the Archmage to undergo a ‘purifying’ ritual, wherein we bleed ourselves out while consuming mud. They state that it is a way of removing the imperfection within as we consume the earth and become one with it, for the earth is pure and untouched by the corruptions of water as we are. I admit I have yet to get a taste for it.. I do my best to keep up with classes and study the material, but some things I just cannot grasp. In one class, we simply sit at stone desks and watch several types of rocks before us. Not a peep is made…and for good reason, for if the moderator notices you unfocused…you will walk out with quite the bruising. Sigh..I find myself feeling lonely and empty here and missing my old home, even the cold glares of my parents. I wonder if coming here was the right choice.. —— 17th of Tzarin, 34 Classes continue as usual here and there hasnt been much change. The purifying rituals are beginning to take their toll on me; I seem so much thinner and gaunt now. We’re beginning to further develop into the geomantic arts, after finishing basic lessons in elemental control. I find my free time becoming smaller and smaller, and can barely spare a minute away to myself. —— 8th of Klangiary, 34 Im exhausted… We’ve been taken to a trip on the elemental plane of Earth, and it is nothing but mountains and caverns as far as the eye can see. My feet feel like they are going to fall off. The instructors with us seemed almost…enraptured by being on the plane; I wish I knew what it was they were feeling. We were guided through a cave, some 20 acolytes, and then told to journey through the mountains until we can find a Citadel. Making us novices journey alone..what are they thinking. I wish it was as easy as a climb…but we encountered forces blocking us at near every turn. Hideous gargoyles that would claw at us and these revolting stone-like creatures that would stare and chuckle at us before lunging to bite. The very land seemed to fight us, with earthquakes and rockslides tumbling all around, splitting us up. I continued the journey myself at one point, using what magical talent I had to shield and avoid the creatures inhabiting this plane. The landscape made no sense…going up would lead back two steps down, and going north would have me back south…no wonder they call these the mountains of madness. After what seemed like a day, I finally got to the accursed citadel, where I found my previous group there, or what remained of their number. The instructors looked at me in surprise, I assume they thought I wouldnt be able to survive on my own. Im sad to say that the 4 others split from the group didnt.. —— 10th of Klangary, 34 The classes seem to be picking up lately, with some interesting happenings to change the boring stalemate. The class of geomancy has had some significant strides, with us able to summon forth boulders to blast one another with. We acolytes have come to start a game between ourselves of whom can summon the biggest boulder and throw it the furthest, we call it Boulder-toss. The class of the rock watching has taken on a new side-effect. While watching the many different types of rock…I swear I could hear something from the basalt stone…just for a second..a whisper or some sort of soft sigh.., perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me from the boredom, but others told me they also thought they heard something during one of their sessions. One of the ‘Crafter of Cliffs’, some fancy title for a higher up assistance to the triumvirate, approached us in the dormitories and informed us that a select few will have the honor of accompanying a troupe of the guild in a coming task. I wonder what it could be..or how we will be chosen. He told us to make sure we stand out in the coming days. I must get chosen for this task, to show mother and father that I can bring honor to our House as well as any of my siblings could. I will show them. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2015 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Journey through a Soulless](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/journey-through-a-soulless/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** As the Balach swamp exploded with fire and ash, revealing the minions of the Soulless God Muud, I knew what needed to be done. Sensing a disturbance within the dream realm at the heart of this issue, I prepared myself for the inevitable task ahead of me: Reaching the Sleeping Child. While the rest of the gathered masses ran around like children in a panic, attempting to slaughter the creatures of ash and inquiring from scholars, I just shook my head. Fools. Did they truly think killing a few lackeys is the solution? Thankfully there are some intelligent individuals on this world, else we’d have lost it long ago. I journeyed forth to Magnagora, sweet, strong and all-powerful Magnagora, but not to its homes and avenues. No, I went to the sewers, for I knew this would lead me to the answers I sought. Ironic really, that to find the answers to one of the most disgusting of the Soulless, that I would have to make a journey through filth. Few would remember this technique, for as is common with mortals, information tends to fade away with time. I just had to keep walking and wait, just until He senses me. The eels down here try my patience, such nuisances. I’m not certain if they attack me out of desperation for food, or if they actually believe themselves capable of felling me. There…is that..? Yes. The ground is churning beneath me, becoming soft and malleable, almost like a sand trap. He senses me. Go ahead Muud, consume me! I vanished into darkness and when my senses came to, I found myself, quite literally, within the belly of the beast. A small smirk appeared on my lips, as I praised myself for the many secret passageways and entrances to lands unknown by most. I made it my duty to know as many as possible, for only through the collection of the secrets hidden in this world, can you find untapped power and potential. Ah, but I am distracting myself from my current mission, and must remain focused. What a revolting location…although what could be expected when walking within a living organism. There are gargantuan parasites and other fleshy creatures known to inhabit living creatures everywhere. A leech like the soulless infected by parasites, the Irony! They are rather aggressive, and it is taking me some time to kill a single one alone…there are so many. I must move more quickly, or risk my mind slipping into complete madness, being in such close proximity to a Soulless. I can already feel His presence weighing down on my mind, like a suffocating pillow wrapping itself around my thoughts. The Soulless were made to unmake, I suppose it only makes sense that even when in a deep sleep, their presence can still continue their destined task. As I was continuing through this disgusting gargantuan, I picked up on a presence. Curious, I let my thirdeye sense whom was nearby…especially in a place like this. Ah…it was an ascended mortal, Shedrin, from that annoying sparkling rock of a city, Hallifax. What was he doing down here? Likely he had the same idea as I. I suppose it isnt too farfetched a concept to imagine a Hallifaxian thinking. That is what they, apparently, pride themselves on after all. Hmm…he seems rather confused. Hah, this must be his first time in here. He’ll likely perish soon…although, I could use one with such power. Hmm..yes, perhaps it is better he lived. I relayed a telepathic message to him, informing him of how to proceed to get to my location, he did so and arrived as I was fending off another parasite. His hands glowed with a divine light, as globes of power formed around them. Thrusting his hand forward, he shot it in my direction. I had but a moment to even blink, as I traced the path the projectile was taking, it barely missed my shoulder as it smacked into the parasite, leaving a gaping singed hole. The parasite shrieked in agony, as a foul fluid poured forth from the wound, but before it could contemplate its soon to be death, another globe struck it and it collapsed a burnt mess. Nodding in his direction, he continued forward, dismissing my presence, and rushing to destroy more of the parasites. How like a mortal that has been influenced by too much power. I allowed him to continue his fun, as he cleared a path ahead. I went and pushed the respective boils that would open up the passages needed to continue. This was naturally not my first time in this maze. We came up to a large grouping of parasites. Ah…we’re getting closer, things will be getting much bloodier. Rather than let the ascended rush to his death, I informed him of what was ahead. What a humble being I can be. We agreed we’d need to join forces to clear the group, and we did so swiftly with minimal damage. Continuing forward, I sensed another presence, some unimportant fool it seems. I couldnt care less about him, but it seems the ascended stopped. He said a friend of his was coming, I had to contain myself from rolling my eyes. We cant waste time on such stupidity, does he not feel his mind slipping away under the presence of Muud? Fool. His friend appeared, some warrior-type, shining armor and sword. I nodded swiftly and mentioned we need to carry on. I opened up another passage, and we were met with new foes, stronger guardians. Naturally the ‘friends’ rushed forward to take them, this time I didnt hide my disapproval and rolled my eyes quite obviously. Utilizing the dark powers inherited to me through the great Taint, I shed my corporeal form and entered my ghost form. I was untouchable. I continued on through Muud, but I knew I’d have to return to my physical form soon. I needed to open the passageways…and my already weakened mind could not handle holding me in this state for too long. I returned to the physical in a safe sequestered ‘corner’, catching my breath. I let my senses spread out, sensing the other two still at the location I left them, likely fending off the waves. I continued forward, pushing the boils needed that triggers the shifting of openings, until I finally got it right. The last section was revealed…and I knew, this was the most dangerous. I snuck within and peered forward, seeing that which even sent a chill down my own undead spine. A new enemy, a powerful protector in this land that few could handle, large and bulbous flesh, tentacles waving about aimlessly. I knew it was now or never and I went incorporeal once again, sneaking away to the boil that needed pushing…yet a guard stood right at its location. Damn it all to Nil! They have countered me, I’ll have to try to rush in…as if with some merian bravado. I prepared myself…and dashed forward, they immediately sensed me and rushed forward, tentacles waving. I dashed forth and pushed the boil. Victory!..yet with a price, I knew. The creatures surrounded me, and I began to dash again, but I knew they would follow me to the end of this fleshy land. I closed my eyes and prepared for the inevitable outcome. One of them came forward, wrapping its tentacle around my throat and lifting me up like some common rag doll. Its squeeze intensified and I felt my head was about to explode. Another tentacle lunged forward with god-like speed and thrust itself through my sternum. I coughed up blood as darkness began to consume me, but couldnt help but smile. Fools. They believed me done and their attention turned elsewhere. My spirit laughed, they underestimated the powers of the Taint. Dark-fire surrounded my body, stitching it up anew, as a dark power coursed through me. Did they truly think I would be so unprepared? You can never kill a lich! I rose up once again, reformed, and rushed away. I waited aside, near the entrance to this section, as the ascended and his warrior friend arrived. They seemed surprised to see me, hah, they probably sensed my death and assumed I was done. Typical mortal shortsightedness. I informed them of what is ahead and its strength. They understood and formed a quick alliance with me to rid ourselves of these creatures. Though I wasnt one for the mindless brute-force plans, I knew there were few other options. We rushed in, catching them by surprise. I can just imagine their shock at seeing me standing after such a fatal blow. The warrior went in, sword swinging, trying to focus all the attention on himself, im sure he wont be missed. I stood back and focused upon the power of the Nil, firing blasts of dark-fire at the creatures. Vengeance. I’ll sadly admit the ascended was doing the most damage with those damn globes of His. Perhaps one day I can get such rare power…if it wasnt so dependent upon a damn city to choose you, bah! Lost in my thoughts, I barely had time to dodge the lashing tentacle at me, as I countered it with a quick chant, making the appendage shrivel and decay. The warrior was actually still alive, slicing this and that, it seems we were winning. One of the guardians was down, that left one to go. The ascended was near glowing with power, as he fired blast after blast at the creatures. I barely recognized it after He was done. We continued forward till we were only a room away from our goal…the reason we even came to this fleshy land. We looked ahead..and saw more of the monstrosities, a group gathered. For once, the other two acknowledged brute force would not work here. The ascended looked in my direction and informed me to use my ‘ghost power’ to sneak past them. Rather than correct him, I agreed and snuck past, finding my way to before the entrance to the cocoon, I sent a telepathic message that the cost was clear and the ascended sent aetheric tethers to my location, which I wrapped around myself and allowed him and his comrade to teleport to my location. We walked in and came to our goal: The Sleeping Child. It was rather comical to think that in all this disgusting and retched land, that something so pure existed at its heart. The child goddess was small, still a toddler by the looks of it, wrapped in her long flowing hair, as if a blanket. She was surrounded by a powerful aura-like bubble, and I knew its dark purpose and how this child was delivered the cruel fate she holds. A distraction used to force Muud into a deep sleep, holding onto to her forever. I greeted the child, hoping for some response, she seemed aware of our presence. I couldnt help but feel some..affection towards her…perhaps it was guilt at the fate she was dealt. She responded to us…a voice echoing within the cavern “The monster invades the dream…stop him”. We asked how and she simply said “Help my friends, the Keepers of the Dream”. I had no recollection of such a group or cult, and I considered myself quite knowledgeable about the land, before I could discuss this new revelation with the other two, the child shuddered and said one last ominous word: “Run”. We glanced at one another, not sure what to do. We had made this tiresome journey to the center of this beast for answers…and we had not received nearly enough. Should we run? I was staunchly against it. Before we could make up our mind, three monstrous tentacled guardians made their way to us. I was ready to fight, but the warrior rushed off. Coward! Some warrior! The ascended did what he could, firing blasts, but the tentacles wrapped around him, pulling him down. He continued to thrash as they stripped his flesh hungrily. I knew there was nothing I could do for him, and that he would likely reform in the divine havens after, so I entered the incorporeal once again. I snuck down and began to make my way through the passages we had made. Most consider entering the body of Muud as a one-way ticket, in which the only way to escape was death. Naturally I knew of a more sensible way, of an exit that would return me to the prime world…admittedly deep underground, but it is better than nothing. I sensed the death of the ascended one and knew the guards would seek the rest of us out now, I hastened my pace. I couldnt see that cowardly warrior anywhere, did he make it so far ahead? I doubt he even knew where he was going and was likely running in a blind panic. My mind and body began to give way, and I knew I couldnt remain incorporeal any longer and had to return to the physical. As I did so, I sensed another death, the warrior was found and consumed, serves him right, but this means that im the last one left. I rushed forward, running past other lesser guardians that gave chase. No, I will not fall! I saw the passage up ahead, tucked away, unnoticeable by most, yes, salvation! I tripped on something…blast it all to Nil. Looking behind me to see what had stopped me, I found my leg entangled within a tentacle. No! These damn creatures knew no rest. It began to pull me back as I clawed at the fleshy surface beneath me in a panic. I must fight, so close, you will not win Muud! I turned around and grasped at the tentacle, channeling all the death energy I could. The appendage began to shrivel and rot, losing its grip as the creature shrieked from one of its many mouths in agony, its other tentacle lashed forward, piercing my heart. I dived towards the opening ahead, a mystical portal that near none knew of but one such as I, as I did so, I felt myself consumed by a light. Opening my eyes, I found myself within the Undervault, beneath the Basin. I looked at the gaping wound in my chest where my heart should be and laughed. Fools actually think it still beats to begin with? I applied the necessary salves to heal it and laid where I was. I’ll return to beloved Magnagora to report…soon, but for now…even a lich needs some rest. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** April 2015 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Application, Functional Processes and Implementation of Crystal Technologies Within the Environs of the Commonwealth of Hallifax](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-application-functional-processes-and-implementation-of-crystal-technologies-within-the-environs-of-the-commonwealth-of-hallifax/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** 3rd of Tzarin, 64 I am Radrafdin, of House n’Kylbar, and have begun this journal to help note down my newly received task set forth by my parents. Growing up amidst five siblings, and lost amidst the middle of the sequence of births, exhibiting no truly impressive skill or political mind, i’ve never been viewed as more than dead weight. I somewhat glad I was given this task, but at the same time I believe it is just a ‘solution’ of having found some way to make use of me, for such is the life of noble houses in Magnagora. After much anticipation and worry, I have finally received my letter of acceptance into the Geomancer’s guild. Nil knows what would have become of me if I was denied…, having matured to the 18th of my name day; I highly doubt mother and father would have accepted me ‘lounging’ about any longer. My elder brother and sister have taken the eye of my parents, and they have put much faith in them bringing us up in status. Upon receiving my letter, they visited me and stated, or should I say insisted, I must bring honor to the family and not to mess this up, for important political workings in the city are in play, and the high seat of the house would not accept any mishaps. Im sure it will be fine, if anything, House n’Kylbar is famous for their political machinations. The letter of acceptance was quite unusual. Where I had assumed some golden embroidery on parchment with a welcoming message…I received but a grey scrappy letter, within it but a piece of black marble and a note stating “come”. My parents nodded approvingly, and stated that was a good sign. I pack my belongings and prepare to depart to the guild tower on the morrow. —— 4th of Tzarin, 64 The tower was not much what I had imagined. From the glory and honor the Geomancers hold in the city, you’d expect exquisite architecture and holdings…yet before me stood a slate grey spire, uninteresting and without any ornaments. Upon entering, I met with a dark hooded figure standing near the doorway. He stretched out a near skeletal hand, opened palm, and said nothing. I attempted to greet him but he would not reply. Sensing a need for urgency, I walked forth and presented the piece of black marble, the figure nodded. He pointed to a stairway on the eastern side of the tower, which I immediately assumed I should climb. Looking back down as I did so, I saw the figure clench a fist around the black marble piece, and it suddenly turned into a fine dust, whisked away by a breeze in this cold place. I hurried along to the assigned dormitory. 11th of Tzarin, 64 I’ve been here for around a week now, and I still have yet to get used to the strange customs. There is hard studying and practice by us acolytes no doubt..but every few days we are called by the Archmage to undergo a ‘purifying’ ritual, wherein we bleed ourselves out while consuming mud. They state that it is a way of removing the imperfection within as we consume the earth and become one with it, for the earth is pure and untouched by the corruptions of water as we are. I admit I have yet to get a taste for it.. I do my best to keep up with classes and study the material, but some things I just cannot grasp. In one class, we simply sit at stone desks and watch several types of rocks before us. Not a peep is made…and for good reason, for if the moderator notices you unfocused…you will walk out with quite the bruising. Sigh..I find myself feeling lonely and empty here and missing my old home, even the cold glares of my parents. I wonder if coming here was the right choice.. 17th of Tzarin, 34 Classes continue as usual here and there hasnt been much change. The purifying rituals are beginning to take their toll on me; I seem so much thinner and gaunt now. We’re beginning to further develop into the geomantic arts, after finishing basic lessons in elemental control. I find my free time becoming smaller and smaller, and can barely spare a minute away to myself. 8th of Klangiary, 34 Im exhausted… We’ve been taken to a trip on the elemental plane of Earth, and it is nothing but mountains and caverns as far as the eye can see. My feet feel like they are going to fall off. The instructors with us seemed almost…enraptured by being on the plane; I wish I knew what it was they were feeling. We were guided through a cave, some 20 acolytes, and then told to journey through the mountains until we can find a Citadel. Making us novices journey alone..what are they thinking. I wish it was as easy as a climb…but we encountered forces blocking us at near every turn. Hideous gargoyles that would claw at us and these revolting stone-like creatures that would stare and chuckle at us before lunging to bite. The very land seemed to fight us, with earthquakes and rockslides tumbling all around, splitting us up. I continued the journey myself at one point, using what magical talent I had to shield and avoid the creatures inhabiting this plane. The landscape made no sense…going up would lead back two steps down, and going north would have me back south…no wonder they call these the mountains of madness. After what seemed like a day, I finally got to the accursed citadel, where I found my previous group there, or what remained of their number. The instructors looked at me in surprise, I assume they thought I wouldnt be able to survive on my own. Im sad to say that the 4 others split from the group didnt.. 10th of Klangary, 34 The classes seem to be picking up lately, with some interesting happenings to change the boring stalemate. The class of geomancy has had some significant strides, with us able to summon forth boulders to blast one another with. We acolytes have come to start a game between ourselves of whom can summon the biggest boulder and throw it the furthest, we call it Boulder-toss. The class of the rock watching has taken on a new side-effect. While watching the many different types of rock…I swear I could hear something from the basalt stone…just for a second..a whisper or some sort of soft sigh.., perhaps my mind is playing tricks on me from the boredom, but others told me they also thought they heard something during one of their sessions. One of the ‘Crafter of Cliffs’, some fancy title for a higher up assistance to the triumvirate, approached us in the dormitories and informed us that a select few will have the honor of accompanying a troupe of the guild in a coming task. I wonder what it could be..or how we will be chosen. He told us to make sure we stand out in the coming days. I must get chosen for this task, to show mother and father that I can bring honor to our House as well as any of my siblings could. I will show them. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** July 2013 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Kalas Jazris](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/kalas-jazris/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A once Sohei of the Ninjakari. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2015 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Snow Valley](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/snow-valley/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Icy wind viciously whips through the snowy valley. The local animals having already sought out shelter from the impending storm save for the larger snow cat that prowls seeking any unsuspecting pray. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2014 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Svana Burns For You](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/svana-burns-for-you/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** “Burn! Burn it to the Ground! What’s that!? I can’t hear you over the sound of your forest burning down!” The mighty taurian cackled insanely over the roaring inferno around her. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2014 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Drocilla, the Enchantress](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/drocilla-the-enchantress/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** “In that moment, She lets out a dark chuckle as Her form suddenly ripples, Her features melting and reforming into Someone else entirely. Her body still shifting upon billowing winds, the visage of utter perfection floats in a fiery halo of golden tresses.” -Drocilla’s return event **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2014 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Vigil of the Red Star](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/vigil-of-the-red-star/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** The winds of a gathering storm is once again ripping through the First World of Lusternia. With the appearance of the ominous red star in the sky, many strange events have begun to take hold. First the bards, then strangers claiming to be a part of an organization dating back to the times of the Holy Celestian Empire, the changes in the weather and a slew of other small events. Then with the whispers of a strange voice invading the minds of the unsuspecting, it is no wonder why a few are on edge and keep a watchful gaze to the sky. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2013 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Made Her Smile!](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/made-her-smile/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Once upon a time Arimisia asked Munsia to smile for her, however she was refused. Arimisia vowed revenge and that she’d get what she wanted. Time past and soon Munsia forgot all about the vow made that day. When she least expected it, the sly fox snuck up behind the elusive wolf and at long last, revenge was hers, Arimisia got her smile. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2013 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Elanorwen Nightshade](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/elanorwen-nightshade/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Slowly stepping from the security of the dense forest, Elanorwen takes in the beauty that is Glomdoring. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2013 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Chief Everiine Silvermoon, the Wise](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/chief-everiine-silvermoon-the-wise/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Deep within the heart of Serenwilde, there is a small clearing near Moon River that has been long forgotten to most. A decrepit ritual ground of their ancestors is brought roaring back to life as spells and incantations are woven in a disparate cry to the guardian spirits of the Wilde. Lending his ever wild spirit, a fiercely loyal timber wolf companion stands watch nearby. **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2014 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Nil Fly](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-nil-fly/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Some time back, I did an artisanal with this little guy called Spaz and called him a Nil Fly. For a long time I have been trying to get someone to do a research project on them and I think I have finally pulled it off! **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2015 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Illuminatus unveiled](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/illuminatus-unveiled/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** “Vestiphobia. Nil!” The illuminatus swore to herself. She’d recovered her senses but not her robes, torn off under the thrall of the affliction. Without the illusionary magics sealed into the fabric, her true form was revealed. Leathery skin to absorb blows, giant hands to crush and smite, and a nose full of viscous slime, among other modifications. Her enemy was not worthy of the glorious sight.”No matter,” she thought as she stalked across the dunes, “the dead tell no tales”. – By Dys **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2014 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Aiyana the Red Panda Furrikin](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/aiyana-the-red-panda-furrikin/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A self-portrait, Huzzah! – By Aiyana **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2012 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Opening Doors into the Astral](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/opening-doors-into-the-astral/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Shifting through the realms – By Nadjia **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2012 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Portrait of the Artist's Husband in Templar Regalia](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/portrait-of-the-artists-husband-in-templar-regalia/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** In which one particular dracnari Templar displays a flail and a suit of well-fitted armour in the Gaudiguchian style, presented against an abstract background. While there has been perhaps some stylization in certain details, the twinkle in his eye was most carefully duplicated, lest he be rendered unrecognisable. The artist is aware that many Bonecrushers prefer a paired set of weapons for use, making the display of a lone flail out of synch with reality. The artist opted for asymmetry for reasons of balance of imagery and because the artist can synch with reality however she pleases, thank you kindly. The artist is also very grateful to her spouse for agreeing to model over the course of several days and patiently enduring the indignity of having colour-swatches pinned to him. One shall say nothing of the cunningly-applied starch used to ensure his cloak was properly dramatic, save for the fact that the ensuing laundry was nothing short of nightmarish. – By Arunasapta **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2012 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [Before the Snake's Skull](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/before-the-snakes-skull/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** After my long trek through the Blasted Lands, I had finally arrived. I had heard legends about the long-dead basilisk that slept eternally in the sandy canyons nearby, forever hissing at the world as if it dared to be the source of all southern winds. I would say I didn’t believe them, but deep down inside I knew the stories were beyond true. Soon, I would mount the decayed skull and enter the realm of Morgfyre. Fitting, that the Devourer chose to house the gate to his unholy tabernacle within the mouth of a being who once could have devoured all. For future record, I have sketched the skull and enclosed it within my journal from the vantage point of a nearby cliff face. – By Qojin **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2012 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Star-eyes](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/star-eyes/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** — on quiet days, beware his gaze, on cold nights, be warned his eyes, scroll in hand, a written demand, beware, be wary, of Siam and the Lib’ry — Self-portrait of Siam ‘Star-eyes’ Isilya. – By Siam **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2010 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Stickyfingers](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/stickyfingers/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A Leprechaun. Cute things, don’t you think? – By Golgothura **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2010 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Silent Scream](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/silent-scream/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** An editorial piece depicting Lord Nocht. – By Golgothura **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2009 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Fainite Mask](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/fainite-mask/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A mask I made in my college course representing a Fainite mask. I know the colours are reversed but it was too late to reverse it (And I would have screwed it up) so I added the horns and feathers. I think the colours by themselves make it very Fainite re – By Kashchei **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2009 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Lady of Flowers](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/lady-of-flowers/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** The Elder Goddess Maylea reclines among some bluebells. – By Serella **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** March 2009 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Friend or Foe?](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/friend-or-foe/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Distrusted by many, Lady Somaria y’Kaliath works as a free artist and still is a stunningly beautiful woman. Here she is, depicted in her grotto in the Aetherways. – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2009 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Zodiac](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/zodiac/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Lusternia’s night sky and constellations. Scroll right to see them all, and watch for the lines and names. – By Lendren **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2009 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Silver Goddess](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-silver-goddess-2/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Lisaera, as imagined by Saaga: “Can you hear Her silent sigh on the forest’s edge? The trees are kissing with crowns in embrace. Teaches Her children the argent sights – the secrets of Silvery nights.” – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** December 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [College mosaic](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/college-mosaic/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** I saw this mosaic on the floor of the College of Tainted and Necromantic studies and I decided to paint a picture of it. – By Iytha **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2008 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Seal of Keph](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-seal-of-keph/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** The Great Seal of Keph is made of a kephera wax that is harder than reinforced steel. Covering the entire eastern wall, the thick oval seal vibrates as its outer ring slowly turns. Glyphs and runes are carved upon the turning ring, and in the center of th – By Steingrim **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2008 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Atellus](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/atellus/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A true Tahtetso closing in on an unsuspecting shard of Illith, Atellus’ eyes gleam with kindness and unique humour. The once mute novice quickly outshone his mentor, Saaga. – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Map of Scorpion Caves](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/map-of-scorpion-caves/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Survey Map of the Scorpion Caves. – By Steingrim **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** September 2008 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Colourful Aesthete](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-colourful-aesthete/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Lady Isune, surrounded by hummingbirds in all the colours of the raibow in a freshly painted sky! The opaline eagle, her symbol, is also present. – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Lady of Glomdoring](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/lady-of-glomdoring/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Viravain, having Her body-adorning spiderwebs woven anew, pauses momentarily to spare a haunted glance to the onlooker within Her Dark Forest. – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** July 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The glorious Exalted](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-glorious-exalted/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Eventru, Crown of the Exalted, depicted in the rising dawn on the sands of Celestia. Cherubs accompany Him. In His hand He wields a globe of pink lights, symbolizing His healing of Lady Raziela. – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2008 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Canine Nightmare](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/canine-nightmare/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Gwyllgi, the Dog of Darkness, watches over a pair of fresh pods, patiently awaiting the birth of Night’s newest servants. – By Tysiphid **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2008 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Lady and the Dragon Turtle](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/lady-and-the-dragon-turtle/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Lady Terentia, as I view Her – the warrior has time for the small. Here She is instructing a curious onlooker on how to help birth turtles. A young dragon turtle is unsure what to think upon hearing of such things… – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Wyrden Muse](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/wyrden-muse/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A Harbinger looses herself in the thrums of the Shadowbeat. Even in the face of bold Moon, the Wyrd is strong. – By Tysiphid **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** May 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [A fatherly figure](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-fatherly-figure/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A fatherly figure – at least to His own! Elostian, the Enigma as He was when Saaga first met Him. – By Saaga **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** April 2008 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Torturous Beauty](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/torturous-beauty/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** This trill Nihilist is everything the ideal servant of Lady Nifilhema should be: dark, secretive and indulgent in pain. – By Athine **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** October 2007 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Opposites](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-opposites/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Blessed be the ‘Dancers of the Wyrd and the Wilde, for one works to illuminate and dispel the mysteries of the dark, while the other worships and welcomes its secretive embrace. Two beings, so alike in thought and strength, yet for vastly different motive – By Xiel **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** August 2007 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Facility](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-facility/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A map of the Facility aether bubble. – By Rhosyn **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** June 2006 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Tzaraziko](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/tzaraziko/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** One of the Vernals, in a pencil attempt. – By Sarin **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2006 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Project Cosmic Hope](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/project-cosmic-hope/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Animated .GIF of Project Cosmic Hope… Southpark Style! – By Daganev **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2006 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Nature](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/nature/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** A Tae’dae skilled in the art of Totems bonds with the numerous spirits of nature. – By Folken **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** January 2005 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Jeitara, the Seductress](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/jeitara-the-seductress/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Deep below the Inner Sea, Jeitara as she is conspiring to capture Joiya and conquer Carai Caroo. – By Alaksanteri **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** February 2012 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Arkae](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/arkae/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** – You ponder a dragon claw nekai thoughtfully, looking it up and down. Standing north of roots the young nekotai ponders the nekai thoughtfully in his wicked manticore hide greatrobes. – By Arkae **Entry Type:** Artisanal **Cycle:** November 2011 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Autumn Falls](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/autumn-falls/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** ———————–\[ Part 1: A Life Lost \]———————– Harmonious melodies… The softest of touches… A tender smile that could extinguish nightmares… These were the only remaining memories that six-year-old Leiyra had of her beloved mother, Rhiann, a strikingly-gorgeous elfen priestess. Her father, Cynd, a human mage, was weeping… The only time that young Leiyra could ever recount him doing so. He had always been in control of his emotions, so confident and stoic… Rhiann was his whole world, the love of his life and the one and only thing capable of dragging him away from the passion of his magical studies and experiments. She had departed a week ago to offer her holy aide to a small village that had been ransacked by orcs… Her mother was the most loving and helpful person she had known… Rhiann’s body had been discovered a few days out from the village that very morning, killed by a roaming band of raiders. Leiyra felt lost and numb, seeking her father for comfort and consolation. But of this, there would be none, nor would there ever be. ——————————————————————— ——————\[ Part 2: Loneliness and Apathy \]—————— Time passed slowly and, distraught, Cynd became increasingly distanced from his only daughter, buried nearly endlessly in his other love – his precious work. This obsession for knowledge and powerful adeptness brought him much respect, wealth and prominence in society – uncaring to the wisened mage. Despite his apathy towards his loving child, Leiyra doted on and adored her father, the only known family that she had left. Ever an inquisitive child and seeking to share and help his studies, she would often ask him to teach what he knew, only to be rebuffed and generally ignored when she had showed little aptitude in her attempts to follow. Cynd was always terse and critical in his treatment towards his young daughter, no matter how hard she had tried to please him… Still, she cared for him devotedly as best she could, cooking for him and tending to their home, as he was ever too preoccupied to bother with such mundane tasks. Lonely and forsaken, Leiyra would frequently spend the days on her own, playing away from the village in the forests where she had found her only joys and solace. ——————————————————————— ——————\[ Part 3: Comfort in New Friends \]—————– One sunny spring morning as she was chasing birds and butterflies during her seventh year of life, little Leiyra had met Aytyn… In fact, the hapless boy was unfortunate enough to find the clumsy girl stumbling right atop him as he lay resting in the grass. As she lifted her head, she caught his gaze, eyes the colour of liquid gold staring right back at her, a mischievous smile forming upon the boy’s lips. “Be careful, princess,” he teased, pulling her up with him to sit amidst the brightened meadow. He had been the most amazing creature she’d ever seen… His body was covered with a coat of the softest snow-coloured fur, small-yet-sharp fangs gleaming in the sunlight as he smiled, and behind him swishing slowly was a thick, bushy tail. Despite how she had arrived in her current position, she offered a tentative smile, feeling oddly at ease with this strange boy… As they both sat there together, they felt a bond begin as they soon started to relax, sharing and recounting their lives with one another as if it were the most natural thing to be doing. He was an eight-year-old aslaran, traveling with his adopted mother. She was part of a merchant caravan, finding him when he was just three years old, orphaned and wailing alone as they passed through his burned out city. Unable – or unwilling – to leave him there, Ynalia brought him into her own family as if he were hers. His adopted father was a stern, but just taskmaster, teaching little Aytyn his trade of leatherworking once he became of age to do so. The people of his village accepted him after a few years despite how strange he had looked compared to them; him being aslaran, and them being trill. He lives his life mostly in solitude, his only respites from the harsh but full life being the times he traveled with his mother in early spring, and late autumn to trade their wares about the Basin. Ynalia generously afforded him the time to be left to his own devices as they stopped in the villages and cities, rewarding him thusly for his hard work the year long… Leiyra told Aytyn of her own loneliness, and shunned overtures for affection from her father… ——————————————————————— —————–\[ Part 4: Time Heals.. Most Wounds \]—————- The next few weeks found the two young friends laughing and romping together through the forests and streams from dawn to dusk, two lost souls who have finally found happiness and a home; one in the other. Unfortunately the day came when Aytyn told her the caravan was to move on… He was to leave that evening when he had returned home. Leiyra felt as if her heart would split in two. Smiling affectionately into her eyes, Aytyn leaned close, the look of a brother in his eyes, and whispered, “Do not cry, princess. Remember me, and I will always be with you.” – He would return next spring, and Leiyra would be waiting. She did as she was bade, keeping him close to her heart as she cared for and looked after her father, wrapping herself in their memories whenever she lay down to rest. She kept their friendship her own secret, afraid that somehow, someway, she might lose this precious gift she had received. The times she had spent with Aytyn every spring and autumn were the most wonderful times of her young life. They spent the days together in blissful contentment, swimming, lazing in the sun, climbing and exploring through the forests. As they grew older, they also spent parts of the evenings together, huddled up against a tree, sharing their dreams and hopes as they gazed at the velvety, star-filled skies. He would often greet her with an armful of sugary treats on their first day together, always making sure to leave her the same way when his caravan departed, hugging her tightly as he had whispered, “Remember me, and I will always be with you.” As the years slowly went by, Leiyra grew more like her mother in both image and spirit – loving, open-hearted and generous. Though still heavily satirical and brusque with her, sometimes Cynd would soften, seemingly remorseful and guilt-ridden of his behaviour towards his only child. Watching her grow, he saw his beloved Rhiann in her, her nature, within and without. At such times, his manner was less demeaning, callous and neglectful towards Leiyra – she glowed at these treasured moments, seeing and knowing her father’s love… But his temperament was ever mercurial, causing the young girl to become insecure, lacking confidence as he gradually withdrew and became lost once more in his compulsive fixation on his studies… In her sixteenth year, Aytyn spoke to her one night of a place he and his mother oft traveled to. It was there that he had met a man named Tadurn who lived openly and freely in a place called Serenwilde, hunting while still tending to the forests about him. Aytyn longed to follow the path that the man lived, finally feeling he could be welcomed for who he was and live a life he only ever dreamed of before… As her friend spoke, Leiyra’s whole countenance glowed and she felt a matching throb beating out a harmonious rhythm within her chest. How she yearned to find such a place to share with her dear friend… But… She could not contemplate the thought of leaving her father… Though he was lacking in affectionate demeanour and cutting in his words, Leiyra knew he loved her and needed him, though he had rarely ever voiced this… Still, they clung to their dream, believing that perhaps some day they would be capable of following it to fruition… ——————————————————————— ——————-\[ Part 5: Happy Yet Sorrowful \]——————- Upon returning home that afternoon when Aytyn had departed with his caravan once more, Leiyra was surprised to find her father had taken on a strikingly beautiful elfen woman as his student. Leiyra felt a sudden chill ripple through her as she was introduced to Satiela. Around the woman’s neck, falling to rest between her well-endowed, very exposed cleavage, hung a dazzling fire opal surrounded by a multitude of faceted gemstones. Everything about the woman oozed manicured glamour and prestige. She cringed inwardly as Satiela leaned close and pressed an eerily cold, pale cheek to her own in greeting. Her father, usually reserved and aloof, was smiling quite broadly for once, one hand holding onto the woman’s. Confusion and shock overwhelming Leiyra, she managed to smile politely in return, reluctantly welcoming Satiela to their home. After a few short moments of sugary-sweet chatter, Cynd and Satiela retired to his study. So went the days, the two of them so engrossed in their work and in each other… Though Leiyra begun to take notice that her father was beginning to grow more gaunt and sickly looking, while the elfen woman seemed to flourish and glow with life. He rarely ate, nor slept nearly enough, and Leiyra became more and more worried, as her once handsome and robust father seemed to wither before her very eyes. Cynd was, at this point in his long life, a well-respected and very accomplished high magician, one of much wealth and influence in their village. Always a vain and self-centred man, Cynd easily succumbed to Satiela’s stroking of his ego, lavishing praise and adulation upon him at every given opportunity. With her fevered interest in his work that she had also excelled in, combined with her natural beauty, she neatly wormed her way into Cynd’s world. Satiela adroitly took control of all matters of the home, leaving Leiyra almost no role in her father’s life. She attempted to speak to him of her concerns about Satiela’s true intentions, only to be given a deathly glare and told to curb her jealous delusions… ——————————————————————— —————\[ Part 6: The Cycle of Life and Death \]————— Deeply saddened, and yet unable to change the course of events, Leiyra met Aytyn the following year, unburdening all of her anguish to him. Aytyn consoled her as best he could… Satiela, more than noticing the girl’s absences during the springs and autumns, thought to employ this to her wicked benefit. Her calculating, cruel mind would not allow Cynd’s loving daughter to stand in her way of gaining all that she could from him; his wealth, his knowledge, his standing… His very mortal essence, should it come to that… During Leiyra’s eighteenth year of life, as she had left to meet Aytyn, Satiela stealthily met with an unscrupulous man – one who was knowledgeable in the ways of discreet, silent elimination. She had offered quite the generous paying to follow Leiyra in the upcoming autumn, and kill her. Permanently ridding herself of the vapid nuisance. The cloak-covered stranger eyed Satiela warily, ever one to make the best of a deal, and would settle for no less than the large, gem encrusted pendant that she always wore around her pearly throat. Haughty and confident she would soon have much more than these, she readily agreed to the trade and quickly paid him. That very evening, Cynd, entranced by Satiela, asked her to be his wife. Triumph gleamed in her crafty eyes as she accepted his proposal. Leiyra, unaware of Satiela’s diabolical plans, drifted in the warm sphere of friendship which Aytyn surrounded her with day and night. Returning home after the end of their spring, Leiyra was mortified to hear of the upcoming nuptials. Try as she might, she could do nothing to sway her father’s oblivious mind, only serving to provoke him further to greater rages with her attempts. When autumn came around once more, she had reluctantly departed from her father, deeply disconsolate and full of sadness. Aytyn had not yet arrived at their meeting place, so she had opted to settle down in the patch of grass to await her best friend, heart in complete despair and wholly unaware of the danger that had stalked her like a predator to the meadow. Just as the assassin was about to throw the lethally poisoned dagger into her unsuspecting back, Aytyn had arrived, and with an enraged leap, slammed the man to the ground. Filled with murderous intent at seeing his dear Leiyra so close to death, Aytyn growled deep and low. Baring his brutally-sharp fangs wide, Aytyn tore viciously at the man’s throat, sinking his teeth in deep with deathly precision and ripping a gaping wound in his neck. The skilled assassin, though mortally wounded, still managed to struggle with Aytyn before quickly overcoming the young and inexperienced trader; driving the dagger deep into the aslaran’s ribs. Gurgling grotesquely and clutching at his neck, the assassin collapsed in a puddle of his own blood and died, throat a mangled mess of severed flesh. Leiyra rushed to Aytyn, distraught and frightened at what she’d witnessed, and placed his head into her lap. Stroking his face, tears streamed down her cheeks as she bade him to lie still while she went for help. He took her hand in his, placing a silver ring and pure white bracelet into her palm. Aytyn leaned close as he struggled for breath. Feeling the creeping approach of death upon him, he smiled weakly at his bonded sister, whispering low with his final, dying breath, “Remember me, Leiyra and I will always be with you.” ——————————————————————— ——————–\[ Part 7: A Father Scorned \]——————— Hysterical with grief, Leiyra held his warm, furry body close to her own, sobbing uncontrollably – How could this have happened? All their dreams and happiness, lost in but a mere and inexplicable moment… The glint of something sparkling in the nearby grass caught her eye and, reaching down to retrieve it, instantly recognised it as the jewel Satiela prized and ever wore. Realising the assassin must have dropped it in the fray, she knew who had been responsible for this… Whispering a quiet prayer over Aytyn’s body, she vowed to return after she had made Satiela pay for what she had wrought. Swiftly, she made her way back home, tears staining her cheeks as she ran, her soul and heart both feeling torn asunder. Satiela, horrifyingly pale and stunned to see Leiyra still alive, fumbled to right her generally complacent demeanour. Leiyra quickly recounted to her father what had happened, and showing him Satiela’s pendant, accused the now-flushed woman of the hideous plot to have her murdered in the middle of a field. Cynd looked at Satiela, the veil of deceit crumbling as he found how close he came to losing his only child to his vanity, obsession and neglect, and unerringly saw the true nature of his newly-wedded wife. No longer dazzled, he stood firmly, shaking with rage. Demanding to know the truth from her, he had threatened to do all that was in his power to uncover the truth of what had transpired. Satiela in return, regained some of her composure, seeing the futility in attempting to deny what she did. With a sinister smirk she lashed out a powerful attack at Cynd; she would see the poor, weak fool dead, then take care of the simple-minded daughter herself. Afterwards, she would devise a story for their deaths, playing the grief-stricken widow, thereby keeping all she had strove to gain… …What Satiela didn’t account for was Cynd’s love for his daughter. Though sadly and deeply hidden, he had loved her with every inch of his being. Drawing forth all of his power as he fell to the ground, Cynd released a counter blast of his own at Satiela in a massive burst of unbridled strength, instantly killing the she-devil where she stood; her hideous smirk forever burnt into her now unrecognisably-deformed remains… Leiyra fell to her knees, cradling her father against her chest. He looked into the face of an angel, his Leiyra, his nearly forgotten daughter who so much resembled his beloved Rhiann. “Forgive me, Leiyra… I was a fool to close myself off from life for so long, and opening it to a sinister snake… Please forgive me for all I have done to you… I know I never showed it truly, but I have loved you the best I knew how to…” Leiyra nodded quietly to her father, a heavy numbness enshrouding her; her life and world turned inside out so quickly. Her father attempted to speak again, only to fail and finally succumb to his wounds in his daughter’s arms. Leiyra made arrangements to have her father buried beside her mother’s grave… Returning to where she had left Aytyn’s body, intent on burying it in the forests they loved and played in as children, she was utterly dismayed to find it no longer there… She searched and searched for hours to no avail, simply no trace left of her childhood friend… Filled with sorrow, she settled her home, intent on leaving behind the village she grew up in, its social intrigues and the life she once knew. She set forth to find the place she and Aytyn believed they would share together forever. Perhaps in this new place she could begin to heal and find hope anew. With a heavy, shattered heart she began her journey, the words of her only friend still whispering through her, knowing he would indeed be with her… ~Always. ——————————————————————— **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Rolan's Ride](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/rolans-ride/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* A musical accounting of the brave exploits of the gallant Templar Captain Rolan Vessandril as he bravely traverses the countryside, protecting the city of Freedom in its time of dark, dire need on his famed adventure known to Gaudiguch merely as… Rolan’s Ride – by Breandryn – \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* On a dark night in Gaudiguchian streets A furtive crowd meets as the fair city sleeps Dark words, dark spells, dark secrets are shared Before the group vanishes into thin air Alone at the Flame a sole Templar snores Head (from his mead) filled with a dull roar Dreams of danger and trouble worry his mind He tosses and turns and falls onto his armoured behind “Howzat?! Whozit?!” the knight gallantly cries For darkness absolute meets his poor eyes “The Flame! Our freedom! Where did it go?!” All to be seen is a sad dying glow “This injustice can’t stand!” The knight declares with a burp Though neither can he after last night’s liquid dessert Staggering, stumbling, belching, he stands The city is snoring – the task’s in his hands! “Who-” he wonders “How-” he frowns All of these answers he plans to hunt down! \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* Oh the lasses swoon and the lads all sigh The bards break into song as he gallops by For his sword is strong and his shield’s held high Yes, all fears are calmed by brave Rolan’s ride \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* Through the streets of the city he follows a path Tracking embers and ashes and fire all splashed A clumsy trail from clumsier foes Freedom won’t be stolen from under HIS nose! Off into the mountains the trail winds and wends But our valiant knight tracks to its very end Finally! A cave’s entrance breaks the pitch black of night As inside a fire sheds a familiar, dazzling light “I’ve got you, scoundrels!” the knight cries out! Sword first, he charges, expecting a rout! Surprised squeaks and screams meet his fierce dash And everywhere small things dart to avoid his attacks “Don’t hurt us, oh please!” come tiny cries The knight falls to a halt, blinking his eyes “What- how- who-” he tries to begin Before he gives up, swigging his flask again For the Flame – it’s here! He’s found his prey! But between him and it are mountains of…cake? “How- why- what-” he tries once more As sugar fae scurry and spice fae implore “Please Sir Lord Rolan,” the fae cry in alarm “Just Rolan,” he answers, “…and I’m not here to harm.” “Yes, Just Rolan!” the creatures agree “You’re here just in time – we finished baking the feast!” “What-” he begins. “No time!” they claim, coy And so the bold knight is made a delivery boy! \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* Oh the lasses swoon and the lads all sigh The bards break into song as he gallops by For his sword is strong and his shield’s held high Yes, all fears are calmed by Rolan’s ride \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* Back at the pyre, snacks are stacked high And the flame roars again, banishing the night “Crumkane says thanks!” one little fae chirps The knight just shrugs and slakes his new thirst Away down the hatch goes whiskey and wine Followed by absinthe and a few hours lost from time When he awakes all seems like a dream Save for a pile of snacks laid out in some scheme Staggering closer, to his bleary eyes words form: “Thank you for justice, and the use of your arms!” “Without you, great knight, our cake would have burnt! Our pastries all ash and cream puffs sour turn’t! To you, Sir knight, we leave a great gift! (And not just some berries to shove in your rift) No to you, Lord Templar, we will send magical nights! So every dream ever will be sugarspun delights!” “Nil and ash and sobriety,” the poor warrior swears Sweets and snuggles forever? He’s nearly in tears! “This is what I get for protecting the Flame…” He grumbles and quaffs, crying, “AND ROLAN’S THE NAME!” “Dreams-” he frowns “Nightmares!” he sighs Though the faintest of twinkles can be seen in his eyes. \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* Oh the lasses swoon and the lads all sigh The bards break into song as he gallops by For his sword is strong and his shield’s held high Yes, all fears are calmed by Rolan’s ride \*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\*—\* **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Witch Hunt](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/witch-hunt/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Tosha gave me wisdom. He gave me control over myself. He did not give me a purpose. That gift came from the Empire. Not from Celest, though their priests gave me a silver star to wear around my neck. Not from Hallifax, though its crystalsingers wrought the lantern that focused the magic of my order. Not from Gaudiguch, though they forged a sword for me that cut with the fury of a sandstorm. My purpose came from the Empire itself, the union of all those who understand that civilization is the rightful inheritance of the shards. The forestals deny that purpose, but it is their nature to lie. Why should I expect any less? The gods shaped nature like a potter shaping clay. It is not the place of the pot to make demands of the potter. Why should we, who are the rightful heirs to those who shaped nature, take commands from it? It is our right to rule over it, and shape it to our will. To condemn that is to condemn the gods who fathered us. But condemn it they do. I know their wickedness and I know their ways. I have seen the arts of wood-witches, who make slaves of themselves before the fae in return for the slightest favors. I have seen the folly of druids, who tend to trees as though they were children. I have seen their tricks and I have seen their wrath. I have opposed those who tried to tear down the great works of our empire through methods both gross and subtle. I have set out upon seven hunts, and I have never failed. Knowing that, how could I not come to Magnagora? Our august ruler had decreed that a city should rise from nothing, and that an edifice of power should be built there. Such a grand dream. The primitives would oppose it, of course. The wild land must be made to accept the will of its masters before the city can rise, and it is their nature to rage against that. Duty called me to Magnagora, and I was not one to shirk my duty. ————— Joy seized my heart as I arrived. Tall walls of rammed earth and sharpened stakes were already rising. It is true that they lacked the beauty of the sandstone walls of Gaudiguch, or the supreme grace of the Hallifaxian spires, but they would serve. They would keep the city safe from those who would harm it. They would do their duty, just as I would do mine. I praised them in my heart, but I did not pass through the walls. It is the great irony of the world that those who would defend the ways of civilization must do their work in the wilderness. No, it fell to me to journey further, to pass into the mountains where men carved the very bones of the world so that others could build their homes. The city could not grow without the quarries, but they were far from the walls, and exposed to great danger. Nor were they secure from the more subtle threats of the world, from the beguiling words of a witch or the fearsome warnings of a druid, for the workers were men of brute strength rather than wisdom. I went to the foreman first, as is always the custom. I asked if he had seen any ill omen, or if any savages had come down from the peaks with threats and curses. He denied me, and I asked again. Three times he denied me, and then I took my leave. That was not the end of it, for I knew better than most that fear and folly can cloud a man’s mind until he would deny a truth that is right in front of him. I went among the workers next, to watch them as they brought the mountains to heel. They worked with the slowness of those that hate their work or fear for their future. They jumped at every noise, and they watched the horizon more intently than their own work. I spoke with them, and they freely told me of their fears, for they had a scrap of hope that I might make them safe once again. It was a story that I had heard many times before. There were tribal fools near that place, men and women who held the world and its spirits to be sacred. The workers knew of them, and had taken care to keep the peace by staying away from their territory, but it had not been enough. Their savage witch took the work of civilization as a terrible blasphemy, and sought to defend the mute rocks that she held to be her master. The tribesmen thought that the workers might intrude on their territory, or else that they might provide plunder to a canny raider. In either case, they were eager for battle. Thus the witch had gone forth to shower the workers with threats and curses, and they feared for their lives. Duty compelled me to aid them, but sympathy made me a willing worker. I felt the spirit of my people rising in my heart, and it stirred me to great action. I had the scent of a hated foe, and the anger that came from seeing an unjust threat against imperial progress. I took deep breaths, and I fell down to my knees. I meditated there in the quarry, even as the workers stared at me in fear and confusion. I conjured the image of great Tosha into my mind, and I focused on it utterly, until my wrath turned to focused hate. I took to my feet and ran into the mountain, howling and drawing my sword as I went. I hunted. ————- Most mortals act only when they are forced to act, either by circumstances or by some greater master. Thus, I knew that I had only to kill the witch in order to destroy the bulk of the danger. Where was the witch to be found? Likely at some hidden shrine to an insignificant spirit. Even if she was not at such a place, she would come to one eventually. I only had to find a shrine and wait. Where does a man find a shrine to the spirits of the mountains? A cave, a cavern, some dark place where only fools and their hunters go. I descended into the dark places of the world, where the twin lights of civilization and the sun have never shone. My lantern guided me on the path, but it was a long and tiring journey. I made my way down, I ascended, and I went into the dark again. I wandered through twisting tunnels and confounding caverns, for there were many such places that connected to each other in a perverse parody of a city’s streets. I hunted for three days and three nights before I found that which I sought. To call it a shrine seemed like a gross blasphemy, for it was not worthy of any such title. I saw a cairn that stood before a dark pit, and the stone around it was stained with blood. There was no art or beauty to be seen there, only start proof of primitive devotion. I suppose that it was a temple that was worthy of that which it venerated. Bones crunched and crackled beneath my feet as I climbed down into the pit, but I did not allow the noise to disturb me. Nor did I allow the darkness to fill my heart with fear as extinguished my lantern. I stood there in silence and calmed my soul as I waited for my prey. I do not know if she came quickly or slowly, for one cannot judge time in the darkness. I heard her before I saw her. I heard the witch approach, and I heard her dragging some wretched, bleating creature behind her. I lit my lantern, but I covered it with my hand to hide the light for a few moments. Then I began to chant the spells which I had learned from my masters. I chanted slowly, I chanted quietly, but still my lantern began to shine with the full power of my arts. I uncovered the light as the witch tossed her sacrificial victim, a defenseless lamb, across the pit. I turned my lantern toward her, and she recoiled as the light and power of progress burned at her face. The lamb saw its chance and fled. I saw my chance and climbed up into the fray. I took joy in it. More than I should have, perhaps, but the one who loves his work always does it best. My teeth were in her neck before she knew what was happening, but I will give credit where it is due. She had the wild strength of a beast that is fighting for its life, and she pushed me away. Her knife bit into me, but I am a shard of Loboshi, and my flesh heals quickly. Ten thousand such blows could not have driven me off! I surged towards her, just like the falcon dives down onto the quivering dove. My sword did its work. Her blood moistened the red rock beneath us, and she returned to the Wheel of Reincarnation. Perhaps she would be of more value to the world in her next life. I cast her corpse into the pit, where so many of her victims remained, and I toppled the cairn upon her. When her kin came to find her, they would learn that they had no more power in this place. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2017 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Silver Storm and the Dying Crystal of the Forgotten](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-silver-storm-and-the-dying-crystal-of-the-forgotten/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Without warning, the earth erupted, quaking with a fury that tore across the Basin of Life. The ground’s loud roar deafened all other sounds, drowning out even the ecstatic cries of the mad earthmelders in Magnagora who howled along with their patron element. As if tearing at itself with miserable claws, great crevices were riven into the very earth. Walls of rock were shaken loose from their moorings in the mountains, collapsing onto the roadways below. Then suddenly it was still, and only the shattered ground and a deafening silence remained. All across the Basin, people held their breath in trepidation, waiting to see if the earth’s fury would be roused again. But soon the animals calmed, and their tentative calls soothed the anxious mortal races, and people slowly resumed their normal lives, cleaning up the after effects of the earthquake, convinced that all the damage was already done. === “You heading out, Eiken? Make sure you bring me back something good this time, ‘kay?” Behind the counter, Valsha stood with her broom, sweeping up detritus as she watched Eiken grumble and go over his gear one final time. He was something of a local celebrity in their tiny burg, having had several successful relic hunts which his patrons in Southgard had summarily taken all credit for. The dwarf was good natured about it, certainly, laughing that they could take his finds, but they could never take his freedom. And now, as he cinched a length of rope about his shoulder and strapped a shovel and pick axe to his back, he was prepared again to indulge that freedom. “That’s the plan, Val. That quake loosened up a good deal, and I think I can find something nice if I head out now. There’s a particular area near one of my other finds where a crevice has opened up. I’ve got a good feeling about this one.” “Well, drinks on me when you get back, hon. Stay safe out there.” Eiken ran his thick fingers over his beard, caressing the beaded braids thoughtfully as he finished his review. Then he smiled at Valsha, pointed two fingers at her with a wink, and headed out the door of her bar. She simply sighed and shook her head, then returned to cleaning up her now dishevelled tavern. Outside the tavern, a light wind blew through the mountain paths that marked the tiny burg. All along the eaves, Valsha’s hand crafted wind chimes clanked together jovially, setting Eiken into a cheerful mood, one made better by the sight of his giant leaning against the sturdy porch railing. “Temmo, my lad, good to see you ready to go so soon. We need to make an early start today if we want to get anything done!” The tae’dae turned slowly from where he rested as though making a point, then peered unscrupulously at his diminutive friend. With pointed movements, he pulled a silver pocket watch from his coat and checked the time. “It’s half past noon,” he said mildly, snapping the watch case closed to punctuate his statement. “What happened to early, again?” Eiken laughed and patted the tae’dae’s arm. “I started in the bar, remember? Now let’s not hold things up any longer.” === Eiken and Temmo carefully worked their way down the slope of the mountainside. In the distance below, they could see the vast expanse of the Grey Moors laid out before them. But that was not their destination. As he had told Valsha, Eiken had found a few small relics in the area. They hadn’t been anything major, just broken panels of crystal circuitry, but the dwarf had dated them to the time of the Holy Celestine Empire, and his patrons had sold them to a Hallifaxian historical society for a tidy sum. And since it was on those patron’s beneficence that he could make a living as an explorer, he was doing them a favour and searching for more of what they liked. As he searched for a foothold nearby, there was a loud crack, and the wall of rock he clung to shuddered and shook. He held fast, and the aftershock was fortunately brief. Nearby, he could hear the tumbling clatter of rocks falling down the mountain. “You alright down there?” Temmo shouted from above. “We need to get off this sheer part quickly if the aftershocks keep coming.” Eiken just grunted in affirmation, then resumed his descent. Soon enough, he found his way down to a small outcropping. He gathered up his climbing gear, then flopped down to wait for his friend. As he sat, he noticed a glint in the dirt, and instantly was on it, pulling out his brush to sweep loose earth away. “I got something,” he shouted up the cliff side, not waiting for a response. A moment later and he had uncovered his first treasure, a broken ceramic plate with two cracked sapphires connected by a web of silver. Gently, he wrapped it in cloth and nestled in his satchel for safe keeping. Above him, Temmo slowly clambered down towards the out cropping, saying something about the find that Eiken barely heard, as busy as he was scouring the outcropping. So busy that he was in no way prepared when another aftershock hit, and the rocks beneath his feet suddenly fell away. Eiken tumbled through the air in a shower of rocks, barely seeing Temmo clinging to a rope and pick axe, before he slammed into a slope which caved in beneath him, and then filled up above with an avalanche of mountain stone. === With a groan and a start, Eiken jolted awake. He slowly and gingerly stood, knocking away an assortment of small rocks and gravel as he rose up. He peered around in the dim cave, noting the pile of boulders somewhat up a shallow slope from him. He could only guess that he had rolled on landing, and it had saved his life. Rubbing his back, he inched along the tunnel, his eyes adjusting easily to the light given off by the phosphorescent lichen on the walls. The tunnel was clearly man-made, he noted, rough as it was, and as he went further in, his suspicions were confirmed. Here, a section had collapsed in the earthquake, though some rotted timbers jutted from the rubble as proof the cave was not natural. Further in, Eiken began to notice masonry that had been used to shore up the passage. Soon the composition of the walls changed entirely, and he entered a weathered brick hallway, leading down to a stone door marked with ancient inscriptions. Eiken barely had time to consider his incredible find when he suddenly heard a wild scrabbling against the stone behind him. He whirled, just in time to see a giant mantis swinging a viciously hooked forearm at him. Acting on pure reflex, he whipped his pick from his back and jammed it upward, catching the mantis’s claw and throwing it off balance. Swiftly he put his booted foot to the bug and gave a mighty shove, knocking it back a few feet. Finally able to get a good look, Eiken’s eyes went wide as he studied the creature. About his height, it was a mantis in appearance only, covered in a diseased looking emerald carapace that gave off a sickly green glow. A brackish wind swirled around the crystal bug, adding to its foul aspect. The creature cackled and rushed forward, swinging its scythe-like arms straight for Eiken’s chest. Again he tried to parry, but this time the beast was ready, striking in such a way that it cut clean through the iron pick head. Eiken swung what was left at the mantis, cracking the shaft into pieces and stunning it long enough for him to bolt further down the passageway, heading for the door. Eiken ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, though the mantis took flight and raced after him, trapping him at the stone door. Eiken reached behind himself and pulled his shovel off, then with a grunt swung it at the speeding bug with enough force to break the shovel and smash the mantis into the wall. He dropped the rest of the shovel, and pulled on the door with all his strength, prying it open and scrambling inside, then pulling it shut behind him. === The room inside was dark and still, and nearly quiet save for a mild humming sound and the scrabbling of crystal claws against the door. The humming grew louder, soon replaced by a mechanical whirring and the faint crackle of energy. As the noise grew, lights around the perimeter began to flicker on, and refracted through an array of crystals suspended on metal wires. In the centre of the room was a massive blue crystal, faceted at least a hundred times and suspended in a horizontal ring with numerous strange cables leading out of it. Several large cracks marred the crystal surface, oozing a black tar from the wounds. A crisp, monotone voice echoed through the room. “The presence of excorable anomaly designation ‘wind shear’ has been detected. Initiating defences.” The whirring escalated to a high whine, and high above a circuit blew, showering sparks down around the crystal. Eiken looked up towards the source, and saw an exposed bolt of energy streaking across where the sparks fell. Behind him there was a hiss and a cracking sound, and he turned in time to see the door become encased in ice. Outside, the banging of crystal scythes halted. Eiken shook his head, and began to look around. “Ice to seal the door. What manner of atelier have I found? Some sort of sorcerer’s laboratory?” Everywhere he looked there was a marvel of ancient engineering, and most of it still in reasonable repair. The voice sounded again, startling him from his gawking. “Diagnostic scans complete. Aerolith integrity is at critical status. Initiating Stormwind Protocol.” A ring of gemstones banded in silver descended from the ceiling, surrounding Eiken and shining multi-coloured lights over him, despite his protests. Then lights suddenly turned off, and the device rose again. “Subject compatibility rated at sixty-two percent. Compatibility deemed within acceptable limitations.” The voice shut off, and the mechanical whine returned. Four crystal spires arrayed in front of the large crystal began to arc beams of energy between them creating a humming ring of light. The ring descended, and as it touched the floor there was a flash, and a boom. As Eiken’s senses slowly recovered, he became aware of a brown-winged trill looming over him, and staring down with a very displeased expression on his face. “What,” the trill said in as angry a tone as Eiken had ever heard, “are YOU doing here?” === The trill whirled angrily, sending flickers of light cascading about that revealed his insubstantial nature. He stared broodingly at the cracked crystal in front of him. “A clangoru, with only sixty-two percent compatibility. Wonderful. And here I thought the world might not be destroyed on my watch.” Eiken bristled, tugging on his beard with a displeasure that matched the trill. “I don’t know what you’re talking about there, and I don’t really care to. I’m just an explorer, and I want no part of what you’re selling.” The trill turned to face him again, pointing an accusing finger at the dwarf. “No part, clangoru? We don’t have a choice in the matter! Even sixty-two percent is a better chance than nothing, and I will not simply fail at my objective just because you are woefully inadequate. There isn’t enough time to find an actually valid alternative.” Raising his hands towards the ceiling, the trill flickered and vanished. Silence fell over the room, and Eiken realized he was holding his breath in anticipation. He forced himself to exhale, then began to look around again, ready to dismiss the entire incident. Before he could move, however, the crystal spires suddenly flared to life, each firing a shining beam directly into his chest. The wind was knocked out of him, and he had a vague sensation of being flung through the air, but the feeling was indistinct. New sensations crowded into him. He felt like he was flying, soaring above the Crystal Sea, rising above the pristine stone of Magnagora, and turning his sights to the crystal spires of Hallifax. He felt like he was one with the clouds that surrounded him, and they responded to his will, affecting changes to barometric pressure and weather patterns. And he felt the pride of being chosen, among all his peers, to lead the aerolith project. He became aware of a voice shouting at him, as though over a great distance, and he strained to hear it. “Get up!” it yelled, “We don’t have time for this!” Eiken’s eyes shot open, and the uplifting feelings vanished in an instant, replaced by a pain in his back and head as he realized he was again on his back. “Get up, clangoru! This is a crisis!” Eiken struggled to his feet, feeling suddenly very leaden. “What… what just happened?” There was a brief shimmer in the air, and the trill re-manifested in front of him, gesturing towards the giant crystal. “The aerolith needs to be stabilized. Already there has been a catastrophic discharge of accumulated energy, and the core is close to rupturing. I hate to think of what happens if it does, but the end of the world is probably the start. Now please, we don’t have much time.” The dwarf shook his head. “Nah, nah, look, I don’t know what your situation is, but it’s pretty clear from the age of these machines that whatever apocalypse you’re trying to prevent is long since resolved. You don’t even seem real, yourself, and I might just be dreaming anyway. So, I’m going to go. Good day, sir.” The trill screamed in exasperation. The noise rattled the confines of the room, and a backflow of energy surged through the apparatus. Sparks flew everywhere as circuits overloaded under the strain. Then, over it all, Eiken heard an ominous cracking sound. A gap appeared in the aerolith, and foul black tar began to ooze from it. Amidst the chaos, a calm monotone voice could be heard. “Complete system failure is imminent. Containment breach is expected. Immediate attention is required.” === A sudden gust of wind blew through the room from the walls to the aerolith. It mixed with the ooze on the surface, turning foul and putrid. The wind swirled about itself, and in the midst of the whirlwind, a mantis formed from diseased green gemstones appeared. The image of the trill vanished, but he could still hear the voice in his head. “Clangoru, that’s a wind shear. It’s a highly dangerous creature formed from excorable energy and elemental air. Stay focused, and you can defeat it before it causes too much damage. Now hurry!” Eiken instead backed up, tripping over a small pile of rubble and attracting the wind shear’s attention. He grabbed a small rock and threw it at the mantis, where it clattered harmlessly off. “How am I supposed to fight these things, trill? Magic?” An exasperated sigh filled his head. “Yes, precisely. Clear your mind, and focus on heat. Gather it in your hand, and release it.” There is said to be no motivator quite like imminent danger, and the sight of a wind shear rushing towards him was enough for Eiken to put aside his doubts, and focus on thoughts of heat in his hand. In his mind’s eye, he pictured himself crushing a Verasavir ghost pepper, and to his surprise, he felt the heat radiating through his closed fist. He raised that fist, and punched out at the approaching mantis. A blast of pure elemental energy slammed into the wind shear, searing its carapace, and sending it stumbling back. Eiken had no time for shock, instead repeating the visualization, and blasting the mantis again. The creature spasmed a final time, and then collapsed into a mound of smoking crystal. Shaking with adrenaline, Eiken stared at his hand. His mind reeled. There was no ghost pepper, no heat of any kind, and yet, with just the force of his will, he had destroyed the thing that attacked him. He looked up to see the trill staring dispassionately at the wind shear. “Adequate. Nevertheless, you performed better than expected, clangoru.” “Eiken. The name’s Eiken Hoek, not ‘clangoru’.” “Ah, yes. I suppose, given the circumstances, we can use proper names. You may call me Professor Cress Stormwind, the Silver Storm, from the Centre for Aeromantic Engineering.” Eiken began to dust off his trousers. “I can’t say that I’m pleased to meet you, Cress. I’d really rather just leave this all behind. But it seems to mean a lot to you, so I guess I can help. Can you kindly explain just what is going on?” === “You’re looking at the remnants of the Automated Excorable Refractory Output megalith crystal, called the aerolith for short. It was my project, one commissioned by the Holy Celestine Emperor Himself to explore the potential uses of wellsprings of excorable energy found in various places throughout the Basin of Life. There was hope that the energy provided could be used as an alternative power source, but alas, it was not to be. “We didn’t have time to study why things went wrong; we only know that they did. But needless to say, excorable energy doesn’t like being tampered with. It created the anomalies we call wind shears, massive armies of them, and while alone they can be dangerous, in groups they are impossible to deal with. Like locusts of hate. “In the end, we had to reconfigure the apparatus to create a recycling of the energy so it would not get free, but my calculations showed that with time, instabilities in the energy flow would cause catastrophic damage to the aerolith. If the core ruptured, then the energy would release all at once, and it would be like a dam breaking. All of the pent up energy could be enough to overload reality, and destroy it. “I locked the system to a particular code specific to my energy resonance, and then entombed myself within the system, so I could continue to work on the problem and upkeep the system. I knew one day the solution would be found, and at that time I could bind myself to a host, re-key their energy signature, and fix the aerolith. But I lost contact with my assistants in Hallifax after some time, and eventually, needed pieces of the apparatus were lost. “There has recently been a discharge of excess energy stored over the centuries, and the system is mostly cleared. If I had the time vector generator, I could restabilise the aerolith with a closed time loop, and recalibrate the system to remain functional for at least a while longer. It’s not much, but it’s all we have right now.” === Eiken slowly shook his head and sighed. “So you’ve turned me into a key for this atelier? That’s not something I need, you know. How about I find you someone more suitable and you can convert them to this whole thing? I can go to Hallifax, explain the situation…” “Impossible. First, as I keep mentioning, we’re running out of time. Secondly, I expected that whoever succeeded me would actually be suitable, so I only stored the energy configuration once. Due to your… lacking compatibility, I couldn’t possibly successfully reproduce it.” “Alright, fine. I’ll go get the thing you need. Can you give me any idea as to where it is?” Cress smiled briefly, a wave of relief passing over his features. Then he regained his composure, and began tinkering with a console nearby. “According to sensor data, it’s within the local vicinity, and near the surface at present. Where ever it was stored must have been exposed by the earthquake. I’m going to transport you to the surface, though I will remain in contact while I use your positioning to refine the location scan. Fair winds, Eiken.” The dwarf had no chance to respond, as he was surrounded by bolts of energy and a furious gale that forced his eyes closed. When the wind subsided and he could see again, he found himself standing on a low grade slope further down the mountainside from where he had fallen. Immediately, Eiken broke into a run, charging across the rocky terrain, heedless of any danger. He shouted for Temmo as he ran, hoping his friend was still close by. His efforts were rewarded when he heard his name shouted in return, and crested a small ridge to see the tae’dae standing near a collapse of rocks with a pick in hand. Temmo dropped his pick axe and ran up to his friend and enveloped him in a massive bearhug. “I thought you were a goner, with all that rock that fell on top of you. I still hadn’t figured out what to tell Valsha. I’m so glad you’re safe, Eiken.” Eiken laughed as his friend’s furry arms nearly crushed him. “Temmo, do I have a story for you.” He quickly related the events in brief, leaving Temmo frowning in thought. “And you’re sure you didn’t hit your head?” he asked warily. “I most certainly did, possibly twice. But I don’t know how else I would have gotten out from there, if it wasn’t the truth,” Eiken said laughingly. “Eiken… I don’t know that you should get involved in whatever this is. Let’s just report this place to Southgard, and let them handle it.” Eiken sighed. “I mean… I agree. But I’m already involved. If I can find this vector generator, then I can put the whole thing to bed, and let Hallifax handle it. So I need you to either help me look for it, or go tell Valsha what’s going on.” “Not a fair set of options and you know it. I’ll help you, but I won’t be happy about it. Now how do we find this thing?” There was a shimmer in the air, and motes of light leached out from Eiken, coalescing into an image of the brown-winged trill. Temmo let out a strangled cry at the sight, but the trill ignored him, turning to the dwarf. “I’m glad you’re coming around, Eiken. Sympathetic energies enhance the compatibility, and make our job easier. Now, let me recalibrate the sensors, and we can begin.” Motes of crystalline light began to pulsate around Cress as he scanned the area. But the pulsating quickly grew erratic, and the image of the trill began to flicker and waver. He tried to say something, but the communication was garbled, and then in an instant he vanished. There was a brief rumbling sound, and then the side of the mountain exploded outwards, sending rocks and smoke showering outwards. Eiken and Temmo were both bowled over by the shock wave, which saved them from being smashed by the worst of the flying stone. As gravel and ash pelted around him, Eiken closed his eyes and focused his thoughts as he had in the atelier. He felt the earth beneath him, the feel of the stone on his hands. Something in his mind clicked, and he channelled that feeling though himself. The flow of energy toughed his skin, making it hard as rock, but still as supple as flesh. The hail around him now clattered off harmlessly, and he stood, emboldened. But as he stared at the smouldering gap in the mountain, his heart sank again. Hundreds of wind shears floated in the air, screaming, cackling, and buzzing as the massive swarm began to descend on the Basin of Life. === Panic and dread nearly overtook Eiken at the sight of the massive army of wind shears descending on him. Then unexpected feelings began to well up in him, feelings he suddenly recognized as belonging to Cress – but also now his own. Anger, indignation, and determination swelled in him, and he focused the heat of his emotions on his balled up fist again, channelling the heat into it. With another punch he released the blast of pure elemental energy at the nearest wind shear, knocking it from the sky and sending its charred remains plummeting down. Temmo finally managed to stand again, looking up aghast at the swarm. “There’s too many of them. Eiken, what’s going on? What do we do?” “Just fight them, Temmo! Anything you have, anything you can do. I don’t know if we’re too late or not, but we have to hope that Cress is able to get back to us and help find that generator.” The burly tae’dae nodded, then picked up a rock and threw it skyward with a heave. It crashed through several wind shears, even breaking appendages, but the swarm kept descending. Several landed on the rocks nearby to be met by fierce punches from the tae’dae. The blows knocked them towards Eiken, who blasted them to cinders with channelled heat. Despite their efforts, the wind shears were too great a number, and their attacks too slow. The more they killed, the more attention they attracted, and soon several dozen surrounded the two. Temmo bellowed in pain as their scythes slashed into him, tearing his fur, and even Eiken began to wince as they slashed at his stone skin. Eiken panted, the feelings that stirred him to act seeping from his body, and his mental strength slowly giving out as he continued to blast at the creatures. He was moving more slowly from fatigue, that much he knew. But then he noticed something. It wasn’t just him moving more slowly. The wind shears also seemed to be moving at a decelerated pace, and their swinging claws were like molasses. Just as he realized the slowing effect was unnatural, it was gone, replaced in his consciousness by a deep, electric noise. Bolts of glowing blue energy slammed into a wind shear that was about to slash him, disintegrating it in an instant. From the point of impact, three more bolts of blue energy lashed out, each arcing to another wind shear, and spreading a chain of lightning that crackled around the dwarf. In an instant, the wind shears on the ground were gone, with nothing but the acrid scent of ozone in their wake. === “Wow, that worked after all! I am a genius!” A voice floated down from the sky, carrying with it a young trill woman who soared down to Eiken and Temmo on wings of deep blue feathers. She landed somewhat clunkily, stumbling forward and trying to use wild wing flapping to reverse her momentum. She wobbled uncertainly for a moment, spreading and retracting her wings for balance, then having found it, offered her hand for shaking to the dumbstruck dwarf. “Junior Fellow Chalsi, at your service.” Without waiting for Eiken to shake her hand, she turned and looked back at the now hesitating swarm of wind shears, twirling a thick ebony rod in her off hand. “Hey, that energy discharge worked pretty well, don’t you think? I don’t think this thing can do it again, though. Not sure why it could do it at all, but it seems to be a by product of some sort of temporal energy process” She turned back to the dwarf and tae’dae, ignoring the wind shears as they began a steady descent down towards the group. “What are your names, by the way? Pretty rude to not introduce yourselves.” Eiken shook himself out of his stunned state. “Ah, um, yeah. Sorry about that. Name’s Eiken Hoek, and this is my friend Temmo. Thanks for saving our skin there, but I hate to say, it might not have been enough.” Chalsi nodded slowly in understanding. “Boy, you guys sure are lucky I came along. I’m doing research on temporal anomalies, and there was a massive surge here when that earthquake hit. I’ve mostly tracked the temporal radiation to this rod here. But like I said, it may not be able to discharge stored energy by-products, but I am a genius. I think I can use it for a few more tricks. “ Chalsi glanced skyward as if measuring the distance between herself and the rapidly descending swarm, then casually pulled several gems from her satchel and released them. The gems floated upwards, taking up orbit around her head. She then began to chant an intricate formula while turning the rod over in her hands. Eiken was filled with a palpable sense of time distorting around him, then with a sudden popping sensation, everything returned to normal and the swarm of wind shears was nowhere to be seen. “What did you do?” Temmo blurted incredulously. “How did you get rid of them all?” The trill woman folded a wing in front of her and began preening it nonchalantly, straightening out her dishevelled wing feathers while ignoring the unkempt mop of feathers on her head. “Genius. Also they’re not gone, I rewrote their temporal vector and displaced them. They’ll catch up with us again, and then we’ll be in trouble if we don’t have a better solution. So, boys,” she said, folding her wings behind her and facing them with arms akimbo, “what happened here? I know you know something.” “I can explain better than he, I think.” Cress’s voice crackled through the air as his image reformed in front of the group. “Cress!” Eiken exclaimed, relief surging though him. “You’re alright.” “Alright is a relative state of being in this case, clangoru. I’m a consciousness bound to a dying crystal and projecting my image on light waves. I’ve been better.” “Well, but this means the crystal isn’t destroyed. Yet. I thought the explosion was the end of it.” “Nearly so. This girl holds the time vector generator, and her little experiment bought us a bit of time. Now, I need you all to come with me, quickly.” Eiken looked between the two trill, cursing to himself that Chalsi hadn’t arrived a few hours sooner and it been her dealing with everything. “I still have to come, don’t I?” “Yes, Eiken, I’ve explained. You have the proper energy signature to activate the aerolith. You’re responsible for it now. And if something happens to it, it’s on your shoulders.” “Alright, alright. Let’s get to it then. Come on Temmo, let’s save the world.” The big bear looked doubtful, but stepped forward anyway, joining the group as a blast of wind surged around them and whisked them away to the aerolith chamber. === The winds dispersed around them, blowing wisps of cloud around the room. Almost immediately they were set upon by wind shears. Temmo threw a wild swing, punching one away, but it simply flicked its wings and flew back at him. Eiken threw an elemental blast and scorched the wind shear, then turned to Cress and Chalsi. “Hurry and do what you need to do. We’ll fend these off until you’re ready.” Chalsi offered a chirp in return, then ran after the already moving image of Cress, approaching a large console to the side of the room. Eiken raised his arms dramatically, channelling elemental water and adjusting the temperature to create a wall of ice around the two trill. A shrill siren began to wail as Chalsi began making her adjustments and inputs. An ominous presence could be felt throughout the room, and even the wind shears began to scatter. Eiken turned towards the aerolith, which had grown dark and lustreless. Bolts of blackness arced across its surface, and for a moment all the light in the room seemed to be siphoned to a singular point in front of the crystal before being snuffed out. There was a terrible roar in the darkness, and the blackness receded, unveiling an awful beast. A massive, four-winged bird armoured in steel rose from the darkened crystal, shrieking triumphantly. The bird’s metal feathers bore dark and sickly colours, like a negative rainbow arrayed across its wings. In place of tail feathers, the foul bird had a thickly armoured tail capped with a giant scorpion stinger. It flew at Eiken, and he barely had time to throw himself at the ground and avoid being stung. He quickly prepared a blast of elemental energy, but the beast was too swift, nimbly dodging out of the way before swooping down again and raking Eiken with savage talons. Even the stoneskin charm he had cast was no match for the beast, and the skin of his arm shredded easily beneath the attack. Temmo joined the fight, swinging his pick axe with ferocity, but the bird simply flapped nimbly out of reach. Swing after swing was dodged by the bird, and even the addition of Eiken’s blasts didn’t slow it enough to be hit. Then it struck again, lashing out with its tail with such force that Temmo’s pick was broken when he tried to block. The tae’dae picked up the pick axe head and threw it at the bird, but it glanced off harmlessly. The bird struck again, stabbing Temmo viciously with its stinger. The bear wavered for a moment, before collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily. With another triumphant cry, the beastly bird shot into the air, flying almost to the ceiling and sending an array of silver and gemstones crashing down to the ground. Behind the ice wall, a muffled shout of frustration was heard, attracting the beasts attention. It folded its wings tightly and dived at the barrier, slamming into it forcefully and sending ice showering everywhere. Ignoring the dwarf and wounded tae’dae, it began hacking and slashing at the ice wall with its wings, talons, and tail, trying its best to get to the trill. Eiken punched forward, sending one more blast of heat at the bird, and it suffered the blast, not even flinching as it continued to tear down the ice wall. Smoke rose up from the impact site, but the bird looked entirely unharmed, and unfazed. Looking from the rapidly crumbling wall, to the lustreless aerolith, to his crumpled tae’dae friend, and back again. In the distance he heard the scrabbling of wind shears trying to make their escape. He knew now that it was over. The wall would fall, Chalsi would be killed, the aerolith would die, and then so would everything else. For what was supposed to be a simple expedition, he thought ruefully, it certainly had ended badly. === “No,” he whispered, and the quiet word pierced the noise of the chamber. His fists clenched and unclenched as something stirred in his memory, and he looked straight at the demon bird and repeated his words. “No. I will not give in, not even if you win today.” He thrust two pointed fingers at the beast. “Listen to me, creature. I am Eikenwald Hoek, the Silver Storm, and I am the guardian of the aerolith. You stand in my domain, and so you must face me. If you want to get to them, you have to go through me.” He thrust a fist skyward, and elemental energies swirled palpably around him in response to his will. A new wall of ice formed underneath the bird, forcing it to take flight and turn its attention to Eiken. Eiken breathed out slowly, the moisture in his breath mixing with the air around him and serving as a catalyst for rapid condensation. Soon the room was flooded with billowing clouds. His eyes flashed blue as he swept the air with his hand, merging his spirit with the clouds and becoming one with the location. His senses opened up, and he could see the bird from all angles. The beast attacked, but Eiken could feel its movement in his clouds, and he effortlessly sidestepped. He thrust a palm towards the bird, blasting it with a tempest of icy winds that battered it about and knocked it from the air. As it struggled to take flight again, Eiken approached, and behind him, the wind shears had gathered, now bent to his will. “I told you, beast, this is my demesne. The winds, the very air itself, answers to me. Even at its most foul and negative, it is mine to command. This is my world, and you’re just in it.” Eiken flicked his hand towards the creature, and the wind shears descended, swarming around him as he directed them to their quarry. Though the beast vainly buffeted several away, it stood no chance. More wind shears began to form off the crystal, coming in response to Eiken’s will, and their scythe-like claws slashed into the bird’s armour, tearing off the metallic plates and rending it down until there was no life left in it. Immediately Eiken dropped his hand, leaving the wind shears to swarm about each other in confusion. He ran to Temmo, who lay sick from poison on the ground. He rummaged through is bags, pulling a vial of alchemical antidote out. It had been a present from Valsha, to be part of his first aid kit, and it was time to hope it worked. He uncorked the vial and poured the solution onto Temmo’s puncture wound. The tae’dae immediately visibly relaxed and looked more hearty, though he was still on the brink of consciousness. A muffled voice sounded from inside the ice wall. “Eiken, we’re ready! Activate the sequence from the main panel.” He left the bear and ran to the panel, pressing his hand to a hemisphere of crystal. A mechanical whirring filled the air as generators activated again, and sparks flew from circuitry networks in the walls. Echoing from somewhere unknown, a monotone voice declared “Time vector phase shift initiated. Beginning temporal loop synchronization.” Light rippled across the surface of the aerolith as power flooded into it, and it began to shine almost blindingly. An energetic crackling was heard in the air, and then everything around Eiken lurched violently as a shockwave of temporal flux erupted from the aerolith. The shockwave tore through Eiken and the wind shears, and the crystal mantes were instantly destroyed. Eiken fared better, feeling for only a moment as if he was an elderly man at the end of his life, before the wave passed, and everything began to settle. === A sense of calm and quiet descended on the atelier, which was now in much better condition from the effects of the time vector generator. The aerolith glowed brightly, with a clean, fresh wind swirling around it. The cracks in its surface were gone, and no more foul tar oozed from within. Above, the damage to the circuits and crystal arrays was undone. Chalsi stood near a crystal console, beaming with pride, while Temmo rested peacefully on the floor. “We did it!” Chalsi ran to the dwarf, grabbing him in a big hug that involved her wings as well as her arms. “Well, a lot of it was me, and Cress too, but you guys did great, too. We make an excellent team, you know. Me the brains, and you… hmm, what’s wrong?” Eiken was frowning, looking around at the quiet room, “You mentioned Cress, but… where is he? He should be here, too.” He put his hand back on the main panel, and several crystals nearby began to flicker. “Please state the nature of your request,” came the voice. “Ah, bring Cress back here, will you?” “Insufficient information. Please define ‘Cress’.” “Professor Cress Stormwind, the guardian of the aerolith.” “The name Cress is not recognized. The guardian of the aerolith is registered as Eikenwald Stormwind Hoek.” Eiken’s hand slid away, a sad smile crossing his features. “Well, he should be happy, then. The crystal is safe, and he has been properly succeeded.” His smile brightened, and he turned to Chalsi. “Let’s get this bear some sunlight, shall we?” \*\*\* Temmo groaned as the two sat him down on a large rock. He had recovered consciousness, and was slowly healing from his wounds with the help of Eiken’s first aid kit. The sun shined down brightly on the three as they took a rest from the adventure they just had. Chalsi laughed as she saw Eiken in the warm, natural light. “Your beard, Eiken! You’ve gone grey!” Worriedly, Eiken grabbed a braided lock of his beard and turned it up so he could get a good look at it. Mixed between the coppery reds he was used to were numerous streaks of silvery grey. “Argh, it must have been from the time vector shockwave. I didn’t just feel old, then! I guess now I’m closer to really being the Silver Storm, eh?” Chalsi laughed, and even Temmo managed a chuckle, but then the trill grew serious. “So Eiken,” she asked, “What’s your plan now, hmm? You’re the guardian, right?” He nodded. “I guess I head home. I can make trips out here to check on things from time to time, but it should be fine now, for the most part. Right?” “Yeah, about that. See, Cress had some pretty good instructions and all, but I’ve been going over some calculations, and I don’t think the time vector generator will hold forever. If it breaks, we’re back where we started, only worse. And with Cress gone, we don’t have a whole lot of information on the system. So, I think you should come with me to Hallifax. You can explain what’s going on, and maybe study a bit of Aeromantic Engineering yourself. It could come in handy, you know.” To the side, Temmo laughed bitterly. “Do that if you want, Eiken, but count me out. Demon birds, crystal bugs, the end of the world? I just want a simple life. I’m going to go home, and rest.” Eiken nodded slowly at Temmo, showing his understanding. “I can appreciate that, friend. But she’s right. I’ve got a duty here and now, and I’m not up for it the way things are. I need more training. And besides, a big city like Hallifax? That’s not an every day occurrence, you know. So I’ll see you home safely, but I have a destiny to pursue.” The trio gathered their things and started the journey home, with Eiken stopping to look out at the horizon, and think of the adventures that awaited. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** March 2017 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [An Introduction to Reality Theory: First Exposures](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/an-introduction-to-reality-theory-first-exposures/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Introduction to Reality Theory: First Exposures Reality is a rarely explained phenomenon that considered to be a “given”. Yet, we do not quantify the alteration of it similar to how we may quantify a change in the passing of time. From the teachings of Paradigmatics we find that reality itself is a changing state, one that can be altered or reversed alongside its twin, time. This small essay is an introduction to the resulting Reality Theory that was brought about by those studying Paradigmatics, and its derivative effects. The goal of this essay is to give a glimpse of the study with regards to practice and analysis. Within the study of paradigmatics a practitioner is given the view that reality is a fleeting thing, not a constant quantity. The generally accepted standard is that reality is its own constant, with all things residing inside of it. The alternative is that there are multiple states of reality, reality of the world, reality of the self, and reality of the unknown. Of the three, reality of the unknown is most fluid, as it stands for any reality involving another person or thing with the capacity to change it. An example of this is necromancer’s crucifix, which manifests from the ground beneath us at command. Up until the power is used, that cross was not there. All three realities agree that there is no cross up till the moment the necromancer wills their reality to include the cross. At this point of conflict, the cross is only within the necromancer’s bubble of reality, it is through the use of power that they are able to push the cross into the worlds, and with it, the targets. The founding principle of the theory is that each person maintains their own localized reality, which is most primarily effected by the worlds as a whole. Any changes we wish to see begin with us, and all changes must be pressed into the worlds. This concept seems to lack rooting in our observations, but the idea that something comes from nowhere does not make sense. It makes more sense to view the cross as having been there for the necromancer, than to assume it just wills into existence. These clashes in expectation are resolved with the reality of the whole taking precedent. The exception to this is, and always will be, the expenditure of power to utilize a feat. Drawing upon aether to teleport to web someone is a utilization of existing resources, and it should be understood that all of this already existed in the larger state of things. Most abilities rely on the moving of energy, the focus of will, or the movement of the body. Those that break this mold, or those that create something else take resources. There is no limit to the number of examples one may find, although often it can take a middle ground to resolve. The Celestian ability to absolve someone relies on their mind being weak, a state they can create in all involved states of reality. The act of taking a life is a major shift in where things are, and therefore costs power to force the three to agree the person is dead. This can be taken a step further by finding that the vast majority of sudden onset demise can be linked to the use of power. What about when there is no alteration of reality, as Is the case in decapitation? The power used is to alter and impose a new reality, that you can swing a weapon hard enough to remove a head in one assault. There is then a delay as you have not used enough power to make it happen immediately, but this process can be interrupted. Some might ask where it went then, and the simple answer is you used power to get stronger, and this event occurred. The fact your target lived was not tied to that. To further expand on connected events, we will show other examples that are not as extreme. The highmagic skill Geburah causes your damage to rise, regardless of what the source is. This is a minor alteration, but a fairly long lasting one, as it will continue for a full die. Serpent, on the other side of the coin, lasts but a few moments. This is because you did not just will a shield into being, you attempted to make one that assigns a new reality, that you cannot be assaulted by physical force. Those under a serpent will find that the shield falls when attacking, as it is hard to maintain concentration, but the remaining power has not work off, and the shield will attempt to rise once more. Examining any skill, we can find a balance of power, time, and effect, though sometimes you may be able to find an exception, a skill reality itself seems to have altered state for ahead of time. We refer to such skills as “broken”, because they break the standard reality has set, and it is our job to fix these mistaken weavings in the Tapestry of Fate. The goal of this piece was to present a brief but thought provoking area of research and study, known as Reality Theory. While this study began as an aspect of the field of paradigmatics, many changes that tie it to other areas have also been found. The research has a way to go, concerning itself with how reality and time interact, whether they are different, or whether the alteration of the future, can change the reality of the present. Significant mental resources are being devoted to this growing branch of science, and there is a great deal to look toward in the future. This author welcomes questions and comments in regard to our rather newly born field. Thank you, Kalas Malarious **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Sestina for Jilai Clarramore](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/sestina-for-jilai-clarramore/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Once, as a child, she envied the swans. In her father’s house, amid the bloom of wind wisps, and her budding dreams, they soared in pairs, matched in love. In silence, white-winged, without fear, songless themselves, they lived in song. Now, when her voice is raised in song, She thinks of them, those drifting swans, thinks of her hope and of her fear – That what she found, this new-grown bloom, her simple joy and mortal love, is held hostage to her dreams. Her Conductor comes to her in dreams. Stern and cold, He shapes her song. Perhaps, she feels, this too is love. But He cares not for mated swans, for the sweet-scented wind wisp’s fading bloom, or for a mortal woman’s fear. But still, you say, why should she fear? Her fame is more than any mortal dreams – does He not crown her with undying bloom? She is not the singer, but the song: a creature created, a captive swan, for the music that is His greatest love. She had her courage – she chose her love. Despite her Lord, despite her fear, she wished once more to see her swans, and salve her soul with simpler dreams. A city she had raised with song; she could not stay to watch it bloom. Yet fate denied her life’s full bloom, and war has no respite for love. Nothing now is left of her but song, transcended beyond death and fear. Her father’s house still keeps her dreams, guarded by the silent, singing swans. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2017 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [Gaudiguch Gossip, Roarkian 458 CE](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/gaudiguch-gossip-roarkian-458-ce/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** We’re baaaaaaaaaaaaack! To be fair, we never really were GONE, per se, just…Well, it’s a long story involving a writing retreat in the Shifting City and said city doing what it does eponymously best and leaving us a bit stranded in non-existence for a few score years, but fortunately there’s an entire village of edible architecture – albeit perhaps a few cottages less now – so cannibalism (despite our food critic’s suggestions) was never TRULY considered. In any case, we’re back, happy and fat, and once we get all our robes resized, you can expect us to be churning out publications at….some sort of pace. Yes! So, Ladies and Gents, I am pleased to present…. ———————| THE GAUDIGUCH GOSSIP |————————- ——-< Best source in the Basin for news, gossip and more! >——– ———————— Roarkian, 458 CE —————————- — BASIN-WIDE NEWS | CITY BIZ | JUICY GOSSIP | GAMES AND MISCELLANY — ———————————————————————- ————————- BASIN-WIDE NEWS —————————- ———————————————————————- IKLARA BREACHED! LONG-LOST GODDESS FOUND! STAR-STRUCK MONSTERS SWARM FOR AUTOGRAPHS! IS DOOM IMMINENT? — Special report by “I-Really-Should-Be-Editor-In-Chief” Xirba “the Incendiary” Flamequill ———————————————————————- Reports have been surging in from across the Basin ever since a curious occurrence happened years ago down in the Skarch, breaching the sky itself to tear a hole open to the long-lost divine creche of Iklara, fabled birthplace of Mysrai and Zvoltz…and apparently a glamorous, artistic sister of Their’s. Seemingly quite the celebrity in Her homeland, She brings with Her an entourage of starry-eyed followers known as the thelemors, who have been roaming the highways and cities of the Basin trying to catch a glimpse of Her rainbow form. “She hasn’t even performed on a stage,” one bard griped when asked for comment, pointing out the Goddess’s noted reticence. Indeed, few first-hand reports exist of Her actual presence, leading some to speculate that deeper mysteries are afoot, especially with the curious absence of Her brother, Zvoltz the Architect, and an ominous silence from a drained and exhausted Thousandfold. “Look,” said one grizzled Templar, known for frequenting Her fulcrux. “I’m not saying there’s doom and destruction on the horizon. I’m just saying that there’s not NOT doom coming our way.” In unrelated news, shops are reporting a heavy spike in sales of outhouse paper and umbrellas. ——————————————————————— NORTHERN ALLIANCE ENTANGLES BASIN IN A THORNY EMBRACE! — political news by special correspondent Selmmie Squipples ———————————————————————- Shouts rose up early in the year as yet another village was claimed by the infamous alliance of the Northern cities (and Serenwilde), leaving the entire Basin under the rule of Order, Light and…Trees? Sure, why not. Investigating deeper, this reporter has discovered that not all are happy with such dominance, even among the victorious despots. “It’s gotten to the point where all I do is plant trees,” one Elfen was heard to complain. “And given some of the rumors I’ve heard, I’m starting to suspect my own commune may be behind it.” Perhaps as a result of the loaded powderkeg the political scene has led to, the forests themselves seem to be lashing out, with cities across the Basin hit indiscriminately by rampant waves of vine-like growth. “They can have all the villages they want,” a source requesting to remain anonymous gleefully cackled. “They just may have to wade through a jungle to get there. F’ai Glomdoring! I mean, go Serenwilde! Yay Stag!” ———————————————————————- —————————– CITY BIZ ——————————- ———————————————————————- MISSING LIBRARIAN FOUND; EAGER YOUNG CITIZENS TO BLAME — cultural report by Chixattho Sandwhisper ———————————————————————- The city’s Librarian, Miss Talan Ysav’rai, has been missing for months now, leading to a special investigation spearheaded by the Oberburgermeister Steingrim himself. After a frantic search for several nerve-wracking days, the trill was finally found in the library, buried beneath a mountain of books. A formal investigation was launched, and when the investigators got bored of that and wandered off to go find whiskey instead, a more casual glance at the tomes in question led this reporter to some enlightening discoveries. It seems all of the activity lately has lit a fire underneath some rear ends, with an influx of new citizens graduating from the Secret Flame bright-eyed and eager to make a name for themselves. The city’s generous reward payouts of up to fifty credits a publication were dismissed as a reason for the enthusiasm, with one young scholar innocently remarking, “I just found myself inspired by the city’s beauty. Oh what, these new robes? Umm…they were a gift. Yeah…” Despite a few ruffled feathers and some nasty ink stains, the Librarian seems likely to make a full recovery, although her subsequent step back into the political arena has left some whispering in worry that her head was knocked more than a few times during the avalanche. ———————————————————————- FLESHPOTS ATTACKED!!! CITY RECOVERS; OPENS BAR IN DEFIANCE — restaurant review by Jonrah Brahnin ———————————————————————- To make things clear, I was not suggesting cannibalism itself during the retreat, Flamequill, as I am acutely aware you recall. I was merely pointing out that, SHOULD it have come to that, Madame Qatnga has more than enough voluptuous…advice to go around. That slander dismissed, let us speak of the novel new bistro I’ve discovered in the heart of the city’s bazaar: The Flame and Flesh Tavern, at the far western end of the marketplace. Though the ambiance is…enthusiastic and the crowd a bit rowdy, the fare is hearty, homestyle cooking at its best, with a selection of finger-food, filling plates and a wide range of in-house brewed beverages to wash it down. I, personally, am delighted to see such a tavern open – long have our palettes been drowned in gravies, spoiled by sauces and soured by sweets. We are for overdue for a rustic revival, and it seems Gaudiguch is paving the culinary way. I offer a toast, and my gout is glad for this relief. 4/5 stars. The wait staff leaves a bit to be desired. ———————————————————————- ————————— JUICY GOSSIP —————————– ———————————————————————- WHY BOTHER WITH A HEADLINE. WE KNOW THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME TO READ — rumours courtesy of the Gaudiguch Gossip ———————————————————————- That’s not just incense and clumsy Pyromancers you are smelling – love is in the air! A little wakabi has passed on that not one, but TWO engagements have been proposed in the past year. The first features a brave little Templar with distinctly rabbit-like ears shacking up with a recently-appointed sage of a certain burning truth. The second comes with rumours of heartache for an unknown third party, as someone cultural has apparently de-Ciphered her heart and is already looking at potential children to adopt…one of who seems to be writing poems at a Champion pace. Whispers do note the stark disparity in age and rank for all these couples, though surely nothing…improper is going on… Speaking of improper, sources tell us a little kerfuffle has gone down in the Minstrel’s guild, with someone singing the wrong song to the wrong person. Time will see how this unfolds, but perhaps we’ll be seeing an old face back among the Council soon…. On the topic of faces – or lack of – those enigmatic Illuminati are up to something with their Templar brethren, with whispers of something called a Paragon program filtering their way through the city. A new ritual? A rediscovered one? An overwrought excuse for extra-maritial entanglements? Check back with us for updates… Since we’ve mentioned entanglements, we may as well mention several young citizens we’ve spied getting a bit…frisky at the Flame. Seems some elder citizens have noticed this as well, with at least one body broken in the throes of…well, not quite the type of burning they were expecting! Will we soon succumb to sex in the streets? Will the pleasure palace go out of business? Stay alert for more details…. ———————————————————————- ————————– GAMES and ETC —————————– ———————————————————————- MADAME QATNGA SEES THE FUTURE!!! — astrology signs by the esteemed Madame Qatnga ———————————————————————- My dearies, Madame Qatnga sees much in da stars, da stones, da cards. Dare you seek your fate? Read on, but remember dat da paradigms be, ultimately, what you shift them ta be, dzaa. Volcano: Be wary o’ dat handsome new Illuminatus, dearie. Dey got more dan arms up those sleeves. Antlers: Consider a visit to the pleasure palace to relieve some o’ dat stress. Madame Qatnga sees even more work in your future. Twin Crystals: Do not trust the cake. It IS poisoned. Madame Qatnga has warned ya. Dolphin: Your guild plans will play out in interestin’ ways, dzaa, though perhaps not what you be expectin’. Lion: Remember to remove dat armour. You’ll know why when da time comes.. Crocodile: Oh, dearie, you should not leave dat manse this year at all, oh, no. The signs are bleak. Burning Censer: Madame Qatnga advises you be pickin’ up an exercise routine. Dat whiskey’s starting ta show around da belly. Spider: Be careful what you be eavesdroppin’ on. You may not be liking what you hear. Dragon: Bet it all on black, dzaa. Skull: Wait for a full moon before you be implementin’ that idea. Bumblebee: She will be saying no. Madame Qatnga is sorry, dearie. Glacier: When da wyvern cries, you can be knowin’ your time ta act is near, dzaa. ———————————————————————- JOKES! TAKE THEM! WE DON’T WANT THEM! — comic corner by TumTum Rumblesnort ———————————————————————- Hey, wow, I just flew in from the Ackleberry and boy are my arms tired! Because I’m a flying squirrel-kin! Think on it, it’s funny. Anyways, old head ed’ Flamequill says the only way I can keep telling my jokes around the press office is if I write them down, which, hey, is better than emptying trash, so have fun, folks! Q. What do you call a night out with a Pyromancer? A. A hot date! Q. What’s an Illuminatus’s favorite type of tickles? A. Ten-tickles! Q. What key unlocks most secrets in Gaudiguch? A. Whis-key! Q. How did the dracnari get to the top of the pyramid? A. They SCALED it! Q. What did the ribbachi say when he caught a glimse of Agni taking a bath? A. Nothing, ribbachi can’t see, you silly-kins! And for my final joke, I present….Malarious singing! Bye folks, it’s been great! ———————————————————————- GAMES GAMES GALORE — word scramble and riddles by Kyletyi Fiddlestrings ———————————————————————- Who doesn’t love a good mystery to solve! Have at these and enjoy – answers can be found in the next issue! 1\. Unscramble these letters to discover a deep dark Illuminati secret: pehhar peryi owsst xkns rixlb ykroes 2\. Unscramble these letters to figure out why the Minstrel missed his dress rehearsal: sah cwyal erh t siaw 3\. Unscramble these letters to find out the secret of the Templar’s strength: ytlav ralyt yebm lveh saesoe sgtkn 4\. Not quite a flower, yet distinctly a plant, a sneaky pinch in a drink will soothe any rant. 5\. Trace my shape, eternally high, I form a star, yet not in the sky. 6\. I’m large enough to leave a gash and will kill for my future yet to hatch. ———————————————————————- ————————- THE BORING PARTS ————————— ———————————————————————- – Promotional thanks go to the Flesh and Flame tavern (we’ve been told we should probably mention Jonrah’s meal was provided free of charge). – Gratitude is expressed to Steingrim for his work restoring the printing press and helping get this issue out the door. – All rumours are merely rumours until confirmed otherwise. – Don’t set yourself on fire or grow tentacles without taking proper precautions first. ———————————————————————- —————————- POSTSCRIPT —————————— ———————————————————————- Due to a fancy new brew on sale over at the Wasted Wakabi, we’re unsure when the next issue will make it to press, so…here! 1\. Xypher wears silky pink boxer shorts. 2\. His watch was a lyre. 3\. Vyell takes very long steamy baths. 4\. Weed 5\. Vortex 6\. A mother wyvern ———————————————————————- Published within: a charred and booze-drenched pamphlet of the Gaudiguch Gossip A sooty pamphlet is here, reeking of booze and emblazoned with the logo of the Gaudiguch Gossip. Little more than a folded sheet of vellum, this pamphlet is flimsy and thin, the result of a cheap mass-manufacturing – likely from someplace in Gaudiguch, judging from its boozy smell and the smattering of scorch marks across its surface. Confirming the initial assessment, a closer glance reveals that the sooty streaks are actually subtle designs, the charred dust sweeping out shapes evocative of the desert city. One arc suggests the fluttering float of butterflies, while a series of undulations capture the rise and fall of sand dunes, with slender twists emulating the leaping dance of fire, tapering off into delicate tendrils like an incense’s smoke. Across the face of the pamphlet, stamped in bold, bright red, a simple logo of interlocking Gs superimposed over a chattering mouth heralds this dingy creation as an issue of the Gaudiguch Gossip, the city’s irregular periodical publication. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2017 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Skylark Doctrine](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-skylark-doctrine/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** If there is any topic that wins eternal favor with historians, it is war. The high stakes that every soldier wagers end it an air of majestic intensity, while the importance that it has to the state’s public image ensures that such research receives excessive funding. The tendency of militaries to keep excellent records is also a blessing. Mercenaries are often an exception to this rule. Many see them as the lowest of the low, brutish men who have chosen killing as their profession. Nothing could be less true. Governments are occasionally cursed by politicians who rise more due to their skill in rhetoric than in governing. On rare occasions, these people become generals, but that is blessedly rare. It is more common for them to meddle in the affairs of the military, inflict their incompetence upon it, and bring disaster on the force. This is usually followed by a desperate attempt to save face, which allows military mistakes to be tolerated and forgotten. Mercenaries lack that luxury. They are ruled by the iron laws of economics, and thus they have no time or tolerance for excuses. They propser through success or die through failure. The Skylark Company prospered, perhaps to a greater extent than any other mercenary group in history. As such, there are few sources that can match their history as a tool for learning about military science. There are none that can match it as a source on military economics. Politics, espionage, and financial warfare all had a place in their book of war, but it is altogether more important to study how they used their soldiers. After all, there always comes a point where battles must be fought, and then nothing short of precise application of excessive violence will carry the day. —— ON INFANTRY The popular image of the Skylark soldier, both modern and archaic, is that of the heavy infantryman. This archetypal soldier wears a strong, bright breastplate of steel, a comb morion upon his head, and he holds a stout halberd in his hands. To a great extent, this image is accurate. Such soldiers have formed the bulk of the Skylark Company for all of its history, and they long served as the foundation of its battle plans. Like most popular images, this one is also a simplification. The archaic Skylark soldiers were not a homogeneous group. The Skylark Company certainly valued discipline and obedience above all other virtues when it came to their infantry soldiers, but that did not blind them to the value of diversity. They made a point of recruiting soldiers with a wide variety of talents, and then deploying them in order to take advantage of their unique skills. As such, no military or political historian can afford to skip over the study of the Skylark Company’s infantry doctrines. In many ways, they were unique. When the Skylark Company was a purely mercenary organization, they were compelled to organize themselves with an eye towards maximizing their profits and minimizing their expenses. After they signed on with Hallifax, they lacked the system of levies and landed gentry that provided soldiers to so many other nations. In both eras, they profited by a strict chain of command and regular training regime that was only possible because they were composed entirely of professional soldiers, which allowed them to employ tactics that were impossible for other groups. ———- LINE INFANTRY Many ill-informed individuals who believe that they are terribly well-educated believe that the term “line infantry” refers to those soldiers that fought in a line formation. This belief is a perfidious falsehood that has long plagued students of military history. The name instead refers to the fact that these soldiers formed the main line of battle around which all other units operated. Though their role may seem humble and more difficult to romanticize than that of other troops, these soldiers became the archetypal soldiers of the Skylark Company. Their panoply of war became the dress uniform for all members of the Company. They took to the field in suits of light plate armour, which usually lacked protection for the lower legs due to the unlikeliness of wounds to that area. Most of them bore a pole weapon for their primary armament. Prior to the contract with Hallifax, they carried a mixture of pikes and halberds as circumstances demanded. After, the halberd became almost universal due to its greater convenience in the small spaces of a city. A sword or mace served as a secondary weapon, to be used when their primary tools of war became unwieldy in close combat. Daggers were carried as weapons of last resort and as tools for penetrating cracks in heavy armour. A single javelin was commonly issued as a supplemental weapon, although these often fell out of use when the supply lines became strained. Some soldiers were instead equipped for ranged combat. They bore either conventional bows, crossbows, or slings, and were usually recruited from tribal cultures to avoid the expense of training them in those weapons. They wore the same armour as their peers whenever possible, and carried the same secondary weapons. These soldiers existed to blunt enemy charges and enable their comrades to launch charges of their own. To that end, archers would begin the battle on the front lines. Pike and halberd troops would be deployed behind them. The archers would fire until the enemy approached, at which point they would cease direct fire and fall back behind their comrades before beginning a phase of volley fire. When the enemy drew closer, they would cease fire entirely to avoid hitting friendly troops. At that stage, the other soldiers would throw their javelins and make contact with the enemy. If the archers were reasonably well-trained, they would switch to their secondary weapons and attempt to join other troops in a flank charge on the enemy. If not, they would withdraw and serve as a reserve. This strategy called for rapid redeployment, which required the iron discipline for which the Skylark Company was justly famed. This discipline was attained through regular drills, which took up the majority of the line infantryman’s time. Many of them filled the remainder of their time with a secondary trade to supplement their income. In some cases, they cultivated artistic skills that could lead to their promotion within Hallifaxian society. In other cases, their time was simply made profitable. Like all mercenaries, they were always on the lookout for ways to advance themselves. These soldiers also provided the bulk of the labour required to make and break camp. They pitched tents, dug earthworks, and otherwise served as necessary. Other troops contributed to this labour when they could, but they were often required for more specialized tasks. The line infantry served as the steel backbone of the Company off the battlefield as well as on it, and the Skylarks could never have hoped to function in any way without them. ————– SHOCK INFANTRY Anvils are not terribly useful until they are paired with a hammer. In the case of the Skylark Company, the shock troops served as that hammer for the line infantry’s anvil. They were often recruited from the companies of line infantry, usually when a soldier proved that he was more inclined towards ferocity than discipline. Others were defectors taken from other forces, or the disgraced heirs of the Hallifaxian elite. Regardless of their origins, these soldiers lived just a few breaths away from their doom. Though they wore heavy armour, their casualty rates were always among the highest in the Skylark Company. Their short life expectancy is a direct result of the manner in which they were deployed. These soldiers existed for the sole purpose of breaking the enemy line and forcing them into a shattered retreat. They were not entirely dissimilar to heavy cavalry, although they were significantly cheaper to train and deploy. Ideally, they struck the enemy from the flank or rear after the line infantry had forced an engagement. In that case, their role was not terribly dangerous, but the ideal situation rarely happened. In pitched battles, the shock infantry were an ideal target for cavalry forces. They were armed with heavy swords and hammers, and thus they were not terribly well-prepared to receive a cavalry charge. The danger increased if the charge came after they had engaged enemy infantry, and many commanders would hold cavalry in reserve for precisely that purpose. Of course, pitched battles were a rarity in war. Sieges were significantly more common, and the shock infantry had a special role to play in these affairs. They would be the first past the walls after the fortifications had been breached, tasked with giving space for the other troops to deploy. Thus they bore the brunt of the enemy garrison’s wrath, which usually resulted in heavy casualties. It was not unusual for every soldier in the first wave to die a terrible death, and the rare survivors often received promotions in return for their heroism. One may reasonably ask why any soldier would accept such risks. In the case of the Skylark Company, most did it for the money. These soldiers received double the pay of soldiers in the line companies, and they spent their money freely. They danced, caroused, and clad themselves in garish colours. Local innkeepers both dreaded the damage that a visit could bring to their establishments and salivated over the fortune that they could make. Few of these soldiers could manage the discipline and patience of the other troops in the Company, with the result that they formed their own culture and rarely associated with other soldiers. That pleased their officers greatly, who feared that their lack of discipline might prove contagious. It is for that reason that these troops became rarer after the Skylark Company aligned itself with Hallifax. The shock power of the Aeromancers rendered shock infantry less important at that juncture, so the units shrank both to save money and to maintain discipline. Even so, the officers continued to recognize the value of a shock force, and so a small number of these soldiers remained in the Company’s employment in all eras. ——— SAPPERS When people picture war, they usually envision long lines of soldiers in gleaming armour, bearing glorious arms against the enemy in a pitched battle. Historians know better. War is primarily a matter of logistics, maneuver, and the control of entire regions of space. Both the construction and destruction of fortifications is a vital part of the affair, and that is why the sappers of the Skylark Company held a place of particular honour in the Company’s ranks. The sappers were the military engineers of the Skylark Company. They made up a small portion of its ranks prior to the contract with Hallifax, primarily due to the difficulty of training them. The contract greatly reduced that problem due to the Company’s newfound access to Hallifaxian educational facilities and the city’s citizens, and the Skylark officers did not hesitate to take advantage of that. The contract also brought the study of aeonics into vogue among the Skylark Company, and mastery of the field became the mark of a skilled sapper. Sappers readily changed their equipment in order to meet the requirements of individual missions. Their role often called for heavy manual labour, so they wore as little armour as possible. If they did not expect to encounter resistance, they would wear none at all. Suits of plate would be worn only in emergencies, and only for short periods. Bodyguards were the preferred defensive tool for most sappers, and their officers did everything that they could to ensure that they would not be disturbed during their deployments. Their weapons were generally whatever tools were close at hand. Hammers became a symbol of their profession, but axes were also in common use. Swords and daggers were carried as sidearms, but the sappers usually lacked the skills to use them comfortably. While these men did have a role on the battlefield, they were primarily a strategic asset. Their primary role was the construction work. While the line infantry provided most of the brute labour that was required for making and breaking camp, they lacked the skill to design temporary fortifications. They were also incapable producing improvized traps to cause attrition among enemy scouts that had the nerve to spy on the Skylarks. The sappers provided all of the skilled labour that was required for these tasks, and often directed the line infantry in their work. They also served as a propaganda device. The sappers were competent builders, which made them very useful for the civilian population. The Skylark Company did not hesitate to send them out to offer support with local construction projects in order to win the hearts and minds of the people. Those people would then be much more willing to provide useful information to the Skylark Company. They could also turn their skills to demolitions and encourage compliance through brutal reprisals when necessary. This caused a great deal of suffering for the target, but it left the entire population intact to provide information. Despite their utility in those roles, these soldiers truly came into their own in sieges. They would begin their work by fortifying the siege camp, usually to a much greater degree than the minor encampments mentioned above. They would then observe and analyze the enemy’s fortifications in order to find their weakest point. Having done so, they would attempt to reduce the fortifications. Undermining was their preferred tool for this task, since it exposed them to minimal risk. Siege weapons were only constructed if that proved to be impossible. As a last resort, they could approach the walls under the cover of a mantlet and attempt to destroy them manually. This was a dangerous task, and as such it was avoided if at all possible. Their presence could greatly reduce the length of a siege, which was a blessing for everyone involved. The defenders were spared the agony of slowly starving to death, while the Skylark Company was spared the nuisance of paying soldiers for a lengthy siege. This reveals the true value of the sapper to the Skylark Company. They were a tool that allowed the Company to conserve its resources, whether those resources were lives, gold, or time. They could even cultivate new resources in the form of goodwill through their work in the villages. As such, they were among the Company’s most valuable assets, even though they rarely received much glory from poets and painters after the wars concluded. ——– TRILL INFANTRY The Skylark Company was one of the most famous accumulations of trill in the history of the known world. It certainly welcomed the unique skills of other races, but trill formed the bulk of the Company’s officer cadre and provided a large number of troops. However, very few of those soldiers deployed alongside other infantry units. Instead, they tended to form segregated units of their own. That point of doctrine did not come from any sort of prejudicial inclination on the part of the Skylarks, but rather from the unique traits of the trill. Flight was a rare and valuable skill. Members of any race could soar through the clouds with the help of a mount, but aerial cavalry was expensive and vulnerable to several defensive measures. Some mages could likewise fly under their own power, but those with the aptitude for such training were rare. Trill infantrymen were simply the cheapest and most reliable way for the Skylark Company to attain air superiority over their enemies. The trill were equipped with that goal in mind. Their armour was light, so that they could fly without undue exertion. It was likewise focused almost entirely on their legs, since most attacks against them would come from archers on the ground. Bows served as their primary weapon, because they were effective against other aerial troops and allowed for attacks against ground targets. Light spears were carried for close engagements against other fliers, but they rarely saw use. Light shields were also carried in some periods, but this was relatively rare. The trill followed a relatively simple plan in battle. Their first goal was to terminate any enemies that could engage them from the air. Given that few forces could field as many flying troops as the Skylarks, this was rarely a difficult task. After that, they would assess the enemies that could attack from the ground. If such foes were rare, they would be exterminated. If they were present in force, the trill would avoid them, either by assuming a loose formation that made accurate ranged attacks difficult, or by the simple expedient of flying higher. They would then rain arrows down on the most valuable targets that they could find. Officers, mages, and heavy weapons were prioritized. They would attack from as high as possible, in order to avoid retaliatory fire. If the enemies were in heavy cover, they would land, fire, and ascend once more before the enemy could react. In an emergency, they could serve on the ground. They were poorly equipped for this task, but it did allow for emergency reinforcements. This was rarely a planned part of any engagement, but it did save the Company from defeat on several occasions. These troops became even more powerful after the Skylark Company aligned with Hallifax. The presence of allied aeromancers on the battlefield made it even easier to attain air superiority, and often provided protection against archers. The trill became an even more vital part of the Company’s plans, and in some periods they even formed a majority of the Company’s infantry contingent. ———- ON CAVALRY One does not generally associate the Skylark Company with cavalry warfare. The modern organization does support a small number of mounted troops, but they are a small minority compared to its ranks of halberdiers, swordsman, and other infantry forces. The ancient Skylark Company was much the same, both before and after it signed its famous contract with the city of Hallifax. Skylark cavalrymen were dashing and romantic figures who were the very picture of courage and valor, but they were also a small force. That was not because the Skylark officers failed to see the value of cavalry, but because cavalry forces were expensive and rarely well-suited to the sorts of engagements that the Skylark Company favored. The cost of cavalry has been a problem for almost every military force in history. Most solved it through a system of land grants that created a self-funding supply of noblemen who ruled in piece and fought on horseback in war. The Sentinels lacked land, both when they were wandering mercenaries and after they took employment with a flying city, and so they had to look elsewhere to solve their problem. Their solution was to maintain a small cavalry reserve that could be deployed for specific purposes, while taking pains to minimize their reliance on large forces. This shaped their cavalry troops into a unique group that stood apart from the rest of the Skylark forces because their role was so different from that of other soldiers. The cavalry doctrine of the Skylark Company is worthy of study not just because it is so unique, but also because it still has value in the current world of war. —————————— AERIAL CAVALRY One could be forgiven for expecting the Skylark Company to field a large force of aerial cavalry. After all, the Company did include a large force of trill, who are naturally inclined to seek aerial dominance during war. This was not the case. While the Company did field a number of aerial cavalry units over the course of its history, they were relatively rare and restricted to a small number of practical roles. The scarcity of aerial cavalry can be attributed to several distinct problems with such units. The chief difficulty with fielding aerial cavalry was the cost of doing so. Flying mounts were rarely available in great numbers, and never at an affordable price. One must recall that the eagles of Faethorn and the pegasi of Celestia both fell under the power of foreign governments. When the Skylark Company was independent, it lacked the political power to acquire such scarce and valuable resources. When it signed the eternal contract with Hallifax, politics became the limiting factor. Regardless of the time period, they remained too expensive for mass deployment, especially when the risk of dead mounts was high. The Company’s union with Hallifax presented the possibility of thunderbirds, but these also failed to meet the Company’s needs. Producing a thunderbird requires the services of a skilled aeromancer, something which was generally in short supply among the ancient Sentinels. They may have prevailed upon their new colleagues for a gift of mounts, but the Aeromancers were reluctant to provide them, and the birds were not terribly potent outside of their hands. Furthermore, the prevalence of thunderbirds among the city’s aeromantic forces meant that an aerial cavalry force of Sentinels would have been redundant. Thus, the Skylarks could not equip an aerial cavalry force cheaply at any point in their history. This did not bother them, for there are few roles in which aerial cavalry excels. Large flying mounts can be seen at a great distance when they are in the air. Not only does this render them useless as scouts, it also alerts the enemy to their position. When deployed in small numbers, as is necessary for scounting parties, they are highly vulnerable to extermination through archery and magical attacks. Flying infantry, such as trill troops, avoid these problems through their smaller size. Far from being an asset, the deployment of aerial cavalry for scouting duties would have been a liability in all but the most catastrophic of emergencies. Few beasts can fly when they are terribly overburdened, and riders are heavy. That restricts the amount of cargo that aerial troops can carry, and thus they are of limited use in raiding actions. They are likewise a poor choice for maintaining supply lines in most cases, since they can carry only a small quantity of supplies and run the risk of detection. The exception to this is during a siege, when flying troops are the only way to bypass the besieging army to deliver supplies. They could similarly deploy troops inside enemy fortifications by bypassing walls, but those engagements were so risky that the Skylark officers avoided them whenever they could. Finally, they are of no great value in pitched battles. A massed charge from the air is a dangerous ploy, since few riders can avoid crashing into the ground upon making contact. This restricts their role to that of a highly mobile archery platform, where aerial cavalry admittedly excels. They can readily bypass obstacles which provide cover to the enemy to rain death on the foe from above. As long as they can retain the advantage of range over enemy archers and mages, they are almost impervious to harm. The greatest threat under those circumstances are other flying troops, which would result in a fight under relatively even circumstances. On the other hand, trill infantry also excels in all of those roles. Such troops lack the speed of aerial cavalry, but they can wield larger bows to improve their archery. Given that they have the advantage of cheapness, they were a much more common tool for enforcing air superiority on the battlefield. The sum of those factors forced Skylark officers to think of aerial battles as a type of infantry engagement. They valued trill troops highly, but treated their aerial cavalry as an afterthought at best. A small number of such troops were retained for use in sieges and for bypassing enemy fortifications when the Company could afford them, but they were never more than a specialized and expensive force. ———————— HEAVY CAVALRY Heavy cavalry exists for one purpose: the charge. A relatively small force of horsemen in a close formation can use lances to devastating effect to shatter a much larger army of infantry. A frontal assault can often be resisted, and thus these attacks are best directed to the flanks of the enemy force, ideally while it is pinned in place by heavy infantry. This is sufficient to end a battle with a minimal number of friendly casualties, and thus the cost of maintaining a force of heavy cavalry is often balanced by the money saved on medical expenses and recruitment. However, there are also many situations in which heavy cavalry troops are nearly worthless. They cannot charge in thick mud or heavy trees, nor can they charge on the broken slopes of a mountain. This restricted their value to the Skylark Company, which preferred to fight under those conditions, both to defend against enemy cavalry and because it was most often hired to fight dwarves and tribal cultures in heavy terrain. The balance of those two factors meant that the Skylark Company both needed to maintain a heavy cavalry force for those situations where it was useful and to avoid the expense of sustaining one on campaigns where they were useless. There were three techniques that they used to resolve this dilemma. Their preferred method, and their only method for fielding heavy cavalry in large numbers, was alliance. The Company fought as part of a larger force whenever possible to make sure that it had allies to absorb casualties. They prioritized this when considering employment in cavalry-friendly terrain, and always sought employers who could provide an adequate supply of heavy cavalry to the force. When that was not possible, they often outsourced the work to other mercenary forces. Since dead mercenaries require no pay, they bought the loyalty of those forces and sent them into the thick of the fighting, ideally without prior warning. When history books speak of heroic cavalry charges by the Sentinels, they usually refer to this situation. That was not always possible, so they also maintained a small force of heavy cavalry within the Company. Since they wanted to minimize costs, they preferred to recruit troops that were already trained and could provide their own mounts. Disgraced knights of the Celestian Empire proved to be an ideal source of recruits, but mercenaries who had lost their comrades in battle were also common. Independent forces who had been outlawed after their masters were absorbed into the Empire were also useful in some periods, but provided a minority of recruits throughout the Company’s history. In emergencies, light cavalry troops could also be pressed into service as an impromptu source of heavy cavalry. They were not ideal in this role, since they lacked the heavy destriers that armour that are perfect for the purpose, but they served well enough. Since these troops lacked the raw power to shatter an enemy formation, they supplemented their strength with tools of intimidation. That rendered them effective against irregular forces of the sort that the Skylark Company preferred to fight, but it was insufficient against elite forces. As such, these troops were not used against such enemies. It was rare for light cavalry to serve as though it was heavy cavalry, but the practice did produce one of the Skylark Company’s most famous units. They were the Winged Troop, originally composed purely of trill. They had cut holes in their pillaged armour to provide space for their wings, and noticed that their new equipment produced a loud whistling sound as they charged. They worked to enhance the noise, to the point of attaching a second set of false wings to their backs. They combined this with animal furs attached to their saddles and bright decorations on their horses’ armour to create an effect that was inspiring to their friends and terrifying to their foes. They were an effective force on the battlefield, but they could still function as light cavalry outside of pitched engagements. The unit grew to dominate the Skylark Company’s cavalry forces, and became one of its most iconic units during the pre-modern period. ————- LIGHT CAVALRY When Skylark officers thought of cavalry, they thought of light cavalry. Other specialties were tools that they maintained because the Company could not do without them, but light cavalry held a special place in their hearts. Romantics, especially those that had never seen the Company’s cavalry in action, would attribute that affection to the dashing and heroic nature of the light cavalryman. Others made the case that it was because such troops were emminently suited for the Company’s preferred sort of war. The reality of the situation is simpler. They loved light cavalry because it was profitable. In part, this is because of the manner of their recruitment. Tribal horsemen could easily be recruited and prepared for this sort of duty with minimal training and at a minimal price. This was especially popular after the Company joined with Hallifax, since it provided a way to indoctrinate these tribal people into Hallifaxian culture. Criminals, exiles, and other cads were also a valuable pool of recruits. They usually lacked the skills to serve in this role until they received training, but they certainly had the right mindset for the job. To a greater degree, this is because light cavalry was not intended for use on the battlefield, although it certainly did have a role to play in large engagements. Instead, light cavalry was meant to support the rest of the Company before those engagements took place through skirmish actions, and most importantly, raiding. One must remember that the Skylark Company began as a particularly successful band of mercenaries. Any officer of the Company would have been proud to testify that the purpose of war was profit, and they were generally happy to extract money from a campaign in any way that they could. That is not to say that Skylark soldiers were glorified brigands, but rather that they were happy to dispense with pride if it helped their bottom line without being an undue burden on their reputation. That belief meant that raiding was the crux of their war efforts. It served a vital military purpose in depriving the enemy of supplies. Since starving and disarmed troops are worthless on the battlefield, most employers accepted it as a vital tactic. Indeed, the Company’s expertise in the area was one of the reasons that many employers sought them out, and the methods for finding supplies and suppliers that they developed formed the basis of their early law enforcement and interrogation techniques. After all, forcing a peasant to explain where he hid his contribution to the war effort is not terribly different from forcing him to explain what he saw when a crime took place. Raiding also served a vital financial purpose for the Skylark Company. Living off of the enemy’s resources rather than their own saved a great deal of money. In some cases, it also allowed them to equip their own troops with valuable armour and weapons at the enemy’s expense. The Company also took horses from the enemy whenever they could in order to equip their own cavalry cheaply. On the whole, this made the light cavalry one of the most profitable parts of the Company even though it was one of the least useful on the battlefield. The light cavalry detachments also served as scouts and messengers. They were not as stealthy as infantry scouts, but they were much faster, and speed was often more valuable than discretion. This enhanced their powers of interrogation even further through practice, since the local population is a vital source of information. Some riders threatened, others seduced, and some even paid bribes, but all of them learned how to make people talk. In battle, they used their speed to attack targets of opportunity, such as exposed officers, mages, and artillery emplacements. Since they had to act opportunistically, they relied on their own initiative instead of playing a part in the grand plan for the battle. It was a dangerous role, and one that contributed to the high casualty rate among these troops, but it also showered them in glory. These duties took light cavalry troopers away from the main force of the Company and caused them to take on a unique character. Other branches of the Company prized discipline and obedience above all other traits, while the light cavalrymen learned to cherish their independence. They interacted with the populace frequently, and so they valued the arts of seeming and persuading as much as the arts of war. They loved life, but they lived just a few inches from death. They came from a dozen cultures, but they were all Skylarks. They were braggarts, scoundrels, and rogues, but they were useful, and so they had a home with the Skylark Company. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Death of an ur'Guard](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/death-of-an-urguard/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Riax patrolled past the Megalith again, its giant structure protruding into the sky above the Plane of Nil. His armour jangled with each step, his skull-adorned greataxe clanging rhythmically. It was nearly the end of his shift and his body was beginning to weaken with fatigue. Riax sighed as he looked up into the cold, grey sky and gathered his mental strength for the remaining hour of duty. A trickling noise caught his ear a moment before he felt wetness in his boots. The area had flooded up to ankle depth, and not of trace of Taint muddied the intruding waters. An urgent thought rose up in his mind. “Raiders on Nil!” he shouted, and his voice echoed out along the aethers to all the connecting planes. Reinforcements would still be minutes away. As Riax looked around he spotted a planar gateway open, from which the offending water was flowing. He ran toward it, drawing his greataxe and lofting it high above his head. A woman emerged. Her flowing blue robes matched he tone of her skin, and the fins atop her head looked almost like a crown. She was seated upon the back of an enormous bronze turtle, a staff of coral in one hand and a white shield in the other. Lifting a hand, the merian woman brought a stinging rain down from above, the previously grey heavens suddenly turning solemnly cloudy.The Ur’Guard initiate charged the woman and sliced down with his axe. The woman lifted her shield and parried the blow deftly. Behind her emerged another figure, clad in angelically styled steel and bearing a pair of longswords.The new warrior ran at Riax, and the man found himself in pitched battle, parrying and dodging the Paladin’s blows as he was slowly driven back. In a bout of rageful energy Riax turned the tide against his opponent. He slammed his axe into the Paladin’s leg and heard a loud crack come from it. He barged the man over backwards and brought his axe down repeatedly, eventually shearing the invader’s head from his body. Riax drew a vial from his bandolier and quaffed the healing potion. Now covered in blood but ultimately healthy Riax turned his attention back to the battlefield.More enemies were pouring through the gateway. Monks with crystal-like staves were beating demonic imps from the sky. The voice of a bard reverberated around the area, his voice uplifting the Celestian battalion. A Celestine flew over the battleground on angelic wings, symbol in hand and spraying beams of light in all directions. The waters slowly rose, and Riax found that his enchantments were failing him under the stress of the painful rain. Soon he was swamped in the water, being dragged down by the currents. Riax went under, swallowing a mouthful of water before clawing his way back to the surface. As his head broke through the corpse of a powerful archfiend slammed into the flood waters nearby, and Riax looked up to find the Celestine hovering above him, celestial wings flapping slowly. The Celestine was chanting quietly to himself, and Riax noticed that his mental strength and clarity was beginning to wane. “No no no,” he said to himself, pulling a mana potion from his bandolier. Just as he raised the potion to his mouth he felt a hand pressing against his chest. The Celestine smiled sadly.Riax’s entire being, his very identity was pulled from his body in that instant. His spirit floating freely, he felt warmth of sunlight on his skin. Rapturous joy overtook his thoughts as he drifted free of the mortal coil. Turning around to glance backwards. Beneath him Magnagoran reinforcements had arrived, but the Ur’Guard couldn’t summon any worry for the battle. And his soul, now fully satisfied and peaceful, dispersed into the Light. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** February 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Alchemy of Love](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-alchemy-of-love/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** —————————- Dramatis Personae —————————- Madame SYLVIE, of the Chateau d’Amour LISETTE Tautou, a young woman ANEIRA, a Moondancer Sir ARCHIBALD Prescott, a knight Countess CECELIA, of Stewartsville Lord MONTGOMERY Estenborough, a nobleman Lady FENNELA Estenborough, his sister ALBERT Dimple, the butler BESSIE, the cook Old SALTY Duncan, a fisherman An elfen driver ————– Act I ————– \* Scene 1: The interior of a carriage This carriage is a utilitarian affair, though it bears the marks of attempted luxury: plush upholstering on the seats, and wood panelling on the walls. A windows set with small panes of glass reveals the road outside. The scene brightens, showing the interior of a carriage, richly upholstered and panelled in dark wood. Outside the carriage window, the road flashes by, with the tell-tale shape of the Southern Mountains far in the distance. Two women are seated in the carriage, dressed smartly in fine yet practical travelling gowns. The elder of the two women has a brilliant smile upon her face, lighting up her dark, liquid eyes as she waves her hand animatedly in the midst of speaking. The younger and taller of the two women is nodding and laughing, though she looks somewhat distracted, and at times she presses her hand briefly against the glass pane of the carriage window as she peers outside at the road. SYLVIE: Come now, dear Lisette, there’s no use staring outside like that – nor any use pressing your feet against the floor either. It will not make us go faster, you know! The younger woman startles briefly, before turning away from the window. A slow flush of colour creeps into her cheeks, but the tilt of her head is unconsciously proud and confident as she regards the other. LISETTE: (Staunchly) Madame Sylvie, you know better than anyone else what it is that makes me wish to arrive sooner. You are, after all, the cause of it. A pleased look comes over SYLVIE’s face at Lisette’s words, as though she has received a personal compliment. Nevertheless, she politely waves Lisette’s words aside. SYLVIE: Ah, no, cherie. You were the cause of it, you and young – what is it – Montgomery Estenborough. Pfaugh, these Stewartsville folk with their unpronounceable names. Madame did but smooth the course of love. An enormous rattle shakes the carriage as the floor tilts, and both women sway, grabbing at the railings of the seats to steady themselves. A tasteful red valise slides off the overhead compartment, barely missing Lisette and landing on the floor with a crash. Outside the window, a lone carriage wheel can be seen, rolling off along the road into the distance. LISETTE: (A touch wryly) Speaking of smooth courses… SYLVIE: (Yelling out the window): Driver! What in the world has happened? A voice yells from outside, “The carriage has broken down, Madame.” \* Scene 2: Great Southern Highway The highway stretches off into the distance, with the Southern Mountains looming vaguely off in the distance. On one side of the road, wild moors stretch in a grey-green expanse of grass and heather, and on the other side, the Inner Sea glimmers in the sun. Muttering, Sylvie and Lisette clamber out of the carriage into the bright light. The road is silent and empty as far as the eye can see, aside from the carriage, tilted to one side with a missing wheel, some rather spooked-looking dashros who promptly escape and dash into the distance, and the chagrined elfen driver. Admonishingly, Sylvie says, “I hire the very best carriage from Tleem Transports, and this is what happens! Unthinkable!” Gesturing to Lisette, she adds, “And to a young woman on her way to her wedding! Fie on you!” As Sylvie and the elfen driver continue to argue, hoofbeats can be heard in the distance. Soon, a rider comes into view, his features barely discernable except for his fair hair marking him from afar. The rider clatters to a stop before Sylvie, and sweeps off his dappled grey horse and into a low bow in one smooth movement. ARCHIBALD: What appears to be the matter? And what brings Madame Sylvie so far south? SYLVIE pauses in her tirade, a sudden smile returning to her face as she inclines her head charmingly to the newcomer. SYLVIE: Ah, Archibald. How lovely to see you again. Lisette, this is Sir Archibald Prescott, who lives close by. Archibald, this is Lisette Tautou, who I have come to see wed to Lord Estenborough. ARCHIBALD: (jovially) Pleased to meet you. Young Montgomery, eh? I am sure the lady is too good for him. LISETTE: (Loyally) I am perfectly happy, sir, as you would discover if you came with us. It would be a pleasure to have you attend the celebrations. ARCHIBALD: (With a broad smile) Certainly one mustn’t refuse such an invitation. Where is this celebration to be held? SYLVIE: (Cutting in) Ah, have you not heard? It is to be at Stewart Mansion. The Countess, she will host it. ARCHIBALD’s smile falters, just a little. “Ah,” he says, stalling for a brief moment. “On second thought, I have a few things to attend to – “ SYLVIE: (Overriding him) Nonsense! Archibald, you would not leave us here abandoned by the side of the highway, at the mercy of every bandit? DRIVER: (Confused, but clearly realising that something is afoot) Madame, this is a safe section of the highway. There are no bandits – SYLVIE: (Completely ignoring the driver) At the very least you must accompany us to Stewartsville! ARCHIBALD looks up into the air, as if seeking divine intervention. Finding none, he looks back down again, an expression of resignation on his face. ARCHIBALD: Very well. I fear my horse is unable to carry three of us, but perhaps would be able to bear your valises…? And the coachman here can take some time to calm his dashros and stable them in the village tonight. No doubt he’ll wish to send a letter to notify his company. A flurry of activity commences as the ladies drag their belongings out from the broken carriage, laughing and bantering as they do, loading it onto the dappled grey horse, which looks distinctly unimpressed. As a final afterthought, Archibald tosses the driver a handful of sovereigns. In the light of the golden afternoon, Archibald, Sylvie and Lisette walk off into the hazy distance, leaving behind only the wrecked carriage, and the driver who gazes after the group with a mixture of resignation and fervent relief. The sun slowly sets, and as night settles in, the scene shifts to the village of Stewartsville, where warm lights are winking cosily to life in the windows of the houses. Up on the mansion atop the hill, the faint strains of some half-heard music drift down upon the wind. \* Scene 3: A comfortable parlour This parlour has been tastefully furnished, with brocaded couches and a plush red rug on the floor. Large, glass-paned windows look out onto the village below, and a small vanity desk sits in one corner, to allow the occupants to refresh their appearance as necessary. The scene shimmers again, to show a comfortable parlour in the mansion, where Sylvie and Lisette are sitting. Sylvie has changed from her dusty riding clothes, and looks impeccable in rose-hued finery as she lounges languidly on a brocaded couch. LISETTE looks up curiously from where she is weaving a golden ribbon into her short, bobbed hair. She glances behind her to make sure the door is shut, before turning back to Sylvie. LISETTE: Madame, what is going on? Why were you so eager for that man to accompany us here? And why did he not wish to? SYLVIE: It is a most unlooked-for turn, child – but one that I hope to make good use of. But hush! My helper arrives. LISETTE looks expectantly at the door, but Sylvie goes over to the window instead, flinging it open dramatically. SYLVIE: Dear Aneira! How have you been, cherie? A muffled “oof!” sounds from outside, and after a moment, a pair of sapphire-blue butterfly wings flutter into sight, followed by the rest of a rather resigned-looking faeling, who clutches a wiccan broom in one hand and an oversized satchel in the other. The faeling flits unsteadily through the window, dropping the satchel on the carpeted floor with an unceremonious thunk. She reaches a hand up to rearrange the dishevelled violets in her dark hair. ANEIRA: Madame, please do not open the window with -quite- so much force. You knocked me quite off my broom. LISETTE: But you’re a faeling! Why do you even need a broom? ANEIRA turns her head towards Lisette. Flapping her wings quickly, she hovers before Lisette, her blue eyes regarding the young woman curiously. ANEIRA: It’s the expected thing, of course. How should people know me for a wiccan if I do not bear the tools of my trade? LISETTE tilts her head, her gaze open and curious at this new arrival. ANEIRA zips around the room, her robes swishing around her dramatically, before she stops in front of Lisette again, her wings still beating rapidly to sustain her in the air. ANEIRA: I am Aneira of the Moon Coven, teller of fortunes, brewer of potions, healer of ills. I travel the Basin with broom and athame, a purveyor of maiden’s blessings (seldom asked for) and hangover cures (very popular). Pleased to meet you. LISETTE: Lisette Tautou. Delighted. ANEIRA (To Sylvie): The hangover cures are why you asked me to come to this gathering, I presume? SYLVIE: Ah, yes. It is never wise to attend a wedding without a healer on hand, of course. Such mayhem happens otherwise… why, the other month in Delport one of the men got so drunk that he woke up surrounded by no fewer than ninety-five hamsters, and no one could explain how this had come to be! SYLVIE’s face grows pensive, and she suddenly turns to Aneira with a look of determination. SYLVIE: But as you have come, and fate has made it so… there is another thing I wish. LISETTE finishes tying the ribbon in her hair, and listens with rapt attention. SYLVIE: There’s no better place to bring lovers together than at a wedding – and I don’t mean the ones getting married. The Countess Cecelia, for all our differences… well, she is one who needs a bit of love. SYLVIE looks at Aneira, a bright smile on her face. SYLVIE: How strong a love potion can you brew? ANEIRA: raises her hands defensively, shaking her head. ANEIRA: Madame, what you ask is very risky. Love potions are highly unpredictable things, and besides, what such draughts induce is less love, and more of a powerful infatuation. SYLVIE waves her hand dismissively. “Madame knows what love is,” she says. “A potion is not love…” SYLVIE brings her hands together in front of her. SYLVIE: But what if love were already there, and only needed a tiny push? LISETTE gives a sudden gasp of realization. LISETTE: Then that man we met on the road, the rider… SYLVIE: Ah, yes. Archibald Prescott. They’ve been dancing around each other for years. If it were anyone else, Madame would have solved the problem handily. But these two, they will not talk. It is all ‘I bid you good day, my lady,’ and ‘You look well, sir’, and not a useful word out of either of them. ANEIRA: I am skeptical of this plan, Madame. SYLVIE: Well, no matter. You shall see how it is for yourself. I have let the Countess know that you are here as part of my entourage. SYLVIE rises from the couch in one graceful motion, extending a hand to Lisette. SYLVIE: Well, Lisette? Now that we are all presentable, shall we go and meet your betrothed? LISETTE rises, twisting her hands before her, and nods. \* Scene 4: The Stewart Gallery This long, high-ceilinged gallery offers plenty of space to its occupants, despite the multitude of portraits lining its walls. The floor is paved with wood parquet, polished to a dark sheen, and torches line the walls. The Stewart Gallery is brightly lit and magnificent, and already filled with a milling crowd of well-heeled guests. Even so, it is impossible to mistake the lovely and dignified figure of Countess Cecelia amongst them. LISETTE sweeps into the gallery, her steps quick and outpacing Sylvie and Aneira, who follow behind. As she bursts through the doors, her steps take her to a handsome though stiff-looking young man who stands in a corner. Meanwhile, ARCHIBALD enters the gallery, making a bow to the assembled guests. The hunted look has not quite faded from his face, though he cuts a rather dashing figure, his riding garb exchanged for evening attire. LISETTE (flinging her arms around the young man’s neck): Montgomery! You dear boy! MONTGOMERY (embraces Lisette, twirling her around in a flurry of skirts and laughter): Lizzy! I’ve missed you so much. ARCHIBALD (Making a deep, precise bow to Cecelia): Countess. I am at your service, madam. CECELIA (with a grave inclination of her head, though her gaze lingers on Archibald): It is always good to see you, sir. LISETTE (To Montgomery): Has it only been a month? It feels like a year. I shall certainly not leave for so long again. MONTGOMERY (To Lisette): Certainly! I have no plans of letting you out of my sight! ARCHIBALD returns Cecelia’s gaze, a faint smile playing upon his lips before he looks abruptly away, as if fearing to be caught. ARCHIBALD (To Cecelia): It seems only yesterday that I was last a guest here. My apologies for this unannounced intrusion upon your hospitality. CECELIA: No, no, please do not be perturbed. It was kind of you to aid my guests. Will you not stay for the wedding? CECELIA’s manner is perfectly poised, but her fingers twine slowly in the fine fabric of her shawl as she awaits the answer. ARCHIBALD looks briefly frozen, like a man facing an onrushing carriage, before he bows abruptly once more. ARCHIBALD: Madam, you are vastly kind to extend the invitation. It would be churlish of me to refuse. CECELIA’s face softens into something that is not quite a smile, but perhaps very close, though there is something wistful in it too. “I am sure my guests would find your acquaintance pleasing,” she murmurs. At the other end of the gallery, Lisette laughs at a joke Montgomery tells – a bright, clear sound – and draws him down for a resounding kiss. The noble crowd smiles indulgently, though at least one man – a rather practically-dressed farmer – cannot help but break into applause, before the glares of the crowd silence him. ARCHIBALD bows once more over Cecelia’s hand, his lips barely brushing the tips of her gloved fingers, before he retreats into the crowd. CECELIA stares after his retreating form, with the look of someone whose thoughts are very far away. From atop the gallery, SYLVIE turns to Aneira with a sigh. SYLVIE: Do you see now how it is? Do you see what I have had to put up with for years? And never mind that I have tried to convince them. SYLVIE (Sounding martyred): It is always, ‘Ah, Madame, he is so chivalrous to everyone, I fear he has no special interest in me,’ and ‘Madame, I must ask that you cease. The Countess Cecelia is far beyond a simple knight.’ ANEIRA (Staring down into the room below): Yes. I see what you mean. SYLVIE: (Forging on, as if enumerating a litany of woe) Lisette and Montgomery had the time to become engaged and married before those two have managed to so much as exchange a kiss. ANEIRA gathers herself up, wrapping her shawl around her as she flits up to perch on the railing of the gallery. ANEIRA: I will do as you ask. Come! I will go gather herbs for the potion, and meet you before dawn. ————– Act II ————– \* Scene 5: A comfortable parlour The warm light of dawn is just creeping through the window of the parlour, which is slightly less tidy than it was the previous night. Discarded sashes and hair ribbons are piled high on the couches, which have been pushed back from the centre of the room to accommodate an intimidating glass alembic which has been set up here. ANEIRA stands in the middle of the room, flitting from one bubbling flask to another in a practiced manner. Sylvie and Lisette stand at near, looking on with fascinated gazes. ANEIRA (in an even, instructional tone): Rosehips for love, and cactus weed for delirium. Marjoram for the body, and coltsfoot to relax the mind… and lastly faeleaf, to bring the senses into clarity. ANEIRA points her athame at the alembic, and pale faeriefire springs to life beneath it, burning yet not consuming. LISETTE (murmuring): Oh, it’s lovely. The alembic swiftly bubbles, its contents growing murky and then clear again. Quickly, Aneira produces a small crystal vial, which she fills from the alembic. ANEIRA: I don’t think you’ll need so much. Just a drop should be enough. How shall we administer it? SYLVIE (with the ease of long knowledge): Sir Archibald is an early riser, as is the Countess, and she takes her tea hot in the morning. Lisette, cherie, you are quicker and lighter on your feet. If you go down to the kitchen, the tea service should be waiting. ANEIRA (admiringly): Your knowledge rivals an assassin’s, Madame. ANEIRA hands the vial to Lisette. SYLVIE waves her hand, dismissing the comment. “Merely long practice and observation,” she says. “The skills that discover love also discover many other things.” Turning to Lisette, she says, “Be swift now.” LISETTE slips out of the room, shadow-like in her dark dressing gown. As Lisette walks down the dark, pre-dawn corridors of Stewart Mansion, she gazes around at the lushly carpeted halls and the visages of portraits looking down upon her from the walls. LISETTE: (Murmuring) Kitchens, kitchens… Suddenly, Lisette spots a door that has been left ajar, beyond which lies a corridor that appears far more spartan and bare than the rest. Swiftly, she walks over on slippered feet, quietly easing the door open further. LISETTE walks cautiously down the stairs, before she lifts her head and takes in a dainty sniff. LISETTE: And the smell of bread. This must be the right direction. \* Scene 6: Kitchens The kitchens are airy and well-tended, with a large stone fireplace in one end, and a long wooden table covered in various cooking implements in the middle. A small rear door leads outside, and another door leads into the house. Soon, the kitchens come into view: a large space, meticulously clean yet somehow simultaneously cluttered. There is nobody in sight, though a pot of something bubbles over the fire. On the low wooden table in the middle of the room, a silver tea tray stands. On the bench beside it rests a truly enormous pan of cake batter, with a scrap of paper under it that reads in a scrawled script: WEDDING RECEPTION – DO NOT TOUCH. LISETTE hurries over to the tea tray, glancing this way and that, before unstoppering the small crystal vial. Suddenly, footsteps ring from outside. Startled, Lisette quickly sets the vial down on the table before whirling around, trying to block it from view with her own body. A tall, regal-looking young woman enters, looking impossibly languid and somehow impeccable despite the early hour. LISETTE: Lady Fennela. FENNELA: Well, if it isn’t my brother’s betrothed. We mustn’t stand on such ceremony, you know, if we are to be sisters. FENNELA’s words are kind, but there is an edge to them as she moves closer to Lisette, looking her up and down. Her mouth curls slightly. FENNELA: I would ask you what you are doing in the kitchens so early… certainly you might find it a bit more suited to your station than the rest of this honoured hall, but I hadn’t expected you to realize it quite so soon. LISETTE’s face flushes with anger – and a touch of shame. LISETTE: Lady Fennela makes it a habit, then, to frequent places she considers lowly and of ill repute? FENNELA: No. I merely followed you. I told Bessie the maid to come see what mischief you were up to, but she merely fled. These low-class girls have no courage about them. FENNELA: As for you – you have courage, but no breeding. No refinement. Looks, I’ll grant you that. And ambition, no doubt. An adventuress of the finest and most unscrupulous type, ensnaring my brother with who knows what. Now we shall see what you are up to… As Fennela approaches, LISETTE quickly moves to intercept her. Unbeknownst to her, her sleeve catches the small vial on the table, tipping it into the batter. MONTGOMERY enters, looking quite harried. MONTGOMERY: Fennela! Lisette! What is this? Bessie told me you two were arguing. FENNELA (rounding on him angrily): That girl! She had no right to interfere – MONTGOMERY (moving to Lisette’s side): What is going on? FENNELA: Ask that of your precious bride! See what she moves so swiftly to hide. MONTGOMERY (Puzzled): But she hides nothing. All three of them turn to look behind Lisette: Fennela in anger, Lisette in trepidation, Montgomery with a look of confusion. There is absolutely nothing in sight. MONTGOMERY: You’d better go, Fennie. You look like you could use some more sleep. FENNELA gives a last, lingering look of distrust and sweeps out. LISETTE breathes a small sigh of relief. MONTGOMERY: Lizzie, what’s this about? LISETTE: (Innocently) What? MONTGOMERY opens his hand, to reveal the vial, still mostly full. “This is yours, I presume,” he says. There is a trace of wariness in his expression. “What draught is this?” MONTGOMERY lifts the vial to his lips, as if to taste it. LISETTE (After a moment): No – don’t! MONTGOMERY lowers the vial and stares at Lisette. “You’d better tell me what this is all about, then,” he says. LISETTE stands up on tiptoe to whisper into Montgomery’s ear. As she speaks, Montgomery’s clouded expression clears, and he gives a delighted laugh. MONTGOMERY: It is an idea that only Madame could have thought of! Come, we’ll do one better, you and I – we’ll take the draught ourselves. LISETTE (Sounding stunned): Us? Why? MONTGOMERY: Why not? LISETTE: …we’re already in love. Aren’t we? MONTGOMERY: True, true, so it won’t do us any harm. LISETTE: (Helplessly) But darling, we don’t need it! MONTGOMERY: You don’t want to? LISETTE: …certainly I don’t want to! And you wouldn’t ask me to do it if you trusted me. MONTGOMERY (soundly oddly subdued) Would it be such a terrible fate, to be hopelessly and inextricably in love? LISETTE (Coldly): What are you implying? MONTGOMERY: That’s not how I meant it. LISETTE: You mean to say that you think I do not – that I am using you for my own advantage. MONTGOMERY: I wouldn’t fault you for it, Lisette, and it’s nothing I haven’t considered. It’s just that it would have been nice, to know for sure. MONTGOMERY passes the vial wordlessly to Lisette, and exits quietly through the back door of the kitchen, leaving Lisette staring wordlessly after him. More footsteps approach, getting closer by the minute. Lisette gives one last, distracted look at the tea service, but realizes there is no time, and slips out of the kitchen instead, a hunted look on her face. LISETTE exits, silently. BESSIE the maid, enters, humming a cheerful tune, fires up the stove to a roaring flame, and begins to bake. \* Scene 7: The Stewart Dining Room Large windows allow light into this airy, tasteful dining room, which is dominated by a table in the centre of it, which is covered with a white tablecloth and set for a large party. As the fires of the stove begin to flicker cheerfully, the scene changes again, shifting from the warmly-lit kitchen to the cool, airy dining room of the mansion. Lady FENNELA Estenborough is seated here, a wide range of biscuits and canapes spread before her. With a slight frown, she picks one up, takes a dainty nibble out of it, and sets it back down. ALBERT the butler enters with a small piece of cake on a silver salver, which he sets before Fennela. ALBERT: Is there anything else you would like to sample, madam? FENNELA (Without turning her head): Yes. Everything that is to be at the reception must first pass by me. ALBERT: If madam wishes to take the time to do so, we shall be at your disposal. FENNELA: (Absently) Take the time? Of course. FENNELA frowns and daintily scoops a bite out of the colourfully frosted cake with her fork, before thoughtfully popping it into her mouth. She dabs at her lips with a napkin. FENNELA: My brother may be marrying some low-class wench from Delport, but standards are standards – and family is family – and I will see both maintained, the gods help me. ALBERT: Most admirable, madam. FENNELA gives a brief start, as if she is surprised at Albert’s presence. She tilts her head to look at him, blinks, then blinks again, as if she is seeing him for the first time. FENNELA (In a slow, almost dizzy voice) Admirable… yes. To do what must be done, and yet be overlooked for it. Yet how many eyes look and do not see? ALBERT (Sounding alarmed): Lady Fennela? Are you well? You seem in distress. There is a healer who is present, I believe. I will summon her for you. FENNELA (Shaking her head): Admirable… I am well. I have never been better. FENNELA stands up in a rustle of silken skirts, then sways and steadies herself by clutching Albert’s arm. FENNELA (Slowly): Albert, I find you… admirable. ALBERT’s face takes on an expression of surprise, which quickly morphs to shock as Fennela reaches up to touch his face, standing on tip-toe as she leans in to kiss him. He jerks back, almost by instinct, before grasping Fennela by the shoulders, holding her at arm’s length. ALBERT: Fennela – my lady – there is something terribly wrong here. You do not want this. FENNELA clings to Albert, shaking her head adamantly. “I do want it,” she says. “How have I not noticed it before?” ALBERT: This is everything you would abhor. FENNELA: And yet I adore you. I cannot think why, or how, but I’ve been blind my whole life until this moment. ALBERT: Something is wrong. You would not act like this. FENNELA shakes her head again. “How would you know?” she asks. The usually present look of calculated indifference and hauteur is present from her expression – without it, she looks vulnerable and impossibly young. ALBERT: Lady Fennela Estenborough would not desire to be romantically involved with her host’s help. I know that much. FENNELA: And yet I do – so what if you spend your days below stairs? I’ll come with you and polish candlesticks if I must. ALBERT (his measured voice soothing, as if dealing with a dangerous creature): And answer doors and count cutlery? I think not. We must get you to a healer. FENNELA: I’ll starch my gowns and dress in gingham, and exchange my ostrich plumes for sunflowers, and be as hearty and rough as the roughest village girl. ALBERT: That’s not even the point. FENNELA: What manner of woman is it that you like? You shall see that nothing is too much for me. We Estenboroughs are famed for resourcefulness. ALBERT (with a trace of desperation): I do not like women. FENNELA: Is it a lad that you’d love? That would be trickier, but much can be accomplished with dramatics and a magic mirror. ALBERT (hastily): No, no, what I mean to say is that I like neither men nor women. I like… candlesticks. FENNELA looks momentarily stricken, a baffled look on her face as she tries to work out the implications of this latest statement. FENNELA (Echoing mournfully): Candlesticks? ALBERT (Yelling offstage): Healer! Bessie! Lady Cecelia! FENNELA (Still sounding stricken): Candlesticks! As footsteps sound in the hallways and doors slam in response to Albert’s call, the scene shifts to show instead a picturesque village lane in the early morning light. All is peaceful and quiet, save for the occasional crow of a rooster in the distance. \* Scene 8: Stewartsville Village This charming village features picturesque lanes, winding down the hill from the Stewart Mansion. Neat, tidy houses nestle between the hill and the Inner Sea, looking out across the ocean to the north and across the wild beauty of the moors to the south. Lisette is walking slowly down the lane, her light dressing gown fluttering in the dawn breeze, the small vial of potion glittering as she clutches it in her hand. LISETTE (feverishly, to herself): Always tolerated and always watched, my emotions forever suspect. What have I ever done to warrant such mistrust? LISETTE: I am a stranger, without family, nor anyone to vouch for me but Madame. Adventuress, opportunist, schemer – that is what they think. Fennela, the Countess… perhaps even Montgomery. LISETTE looks down at the small vial in her hand, a distant, unreadable look on her face. LISETTE (softly): And would it be so terrible, to be uncontrollably in love? All the world would know it, if I drank this potion. No more suspicion, no more remarks. They would know that I can have no thought for deceit – not when the potion rules me. They would believe me. LISETTE looks into the distance, into the village. LISETTE: Montgomery. Wait! LISETTE uncorks the vial, and swiftly takes a sip of the potion, before hurrying down the deserted path. The village is still quiet in the early morning. The shops are still closed for the most part, and there is no one in the street. LISETTE strides past the stores and down to the pier. An old man is sitting on the pier, fishing in the cool morning, with a ragged straw hat covering most of his face and a cigar puffing clouds of smoke around his head. His wrinkled hands hold his fishing pole with a quivering grip. SALTY: Whoa there, miss, watch where you’re going. Say, you ain’t from around these parts, are you? Old Salty Duncan. Pleased to meet you. LISETTE (suddenly, in an aside): Oh, who is this, and why does my heart beat fast? SALTY: Are you well? You look as though you came from somewhere in a hurry. LISETTE: Oh strange day! Oh strange man! For he is old, and half-blind, and his hands are shaking. SALTY: Baking? Baking, did you say? No, no, that’s not me. Old Salty’s a fisherman, though young Butch runs the shops. LISETTE: His beard is white as snow, and most of his teeth have fallen out. SALTY: A falling out? You look as though you’ve had one, coming down the hill like that, still in your slippers. LISETTE: Though he seems kindly, this is no suitor a girl ever wished for. And yet – oh, unwillingly – all thoughts of past loves flee before this new turn of my heart. SALTY: A cart? Why yes, I have a cart, but why do you need one? LISETTE: Oh, strange impulse! I feel that I love him. SALTY: Eh? What’s that? I couldn’t hear you. LISETTE: I said, old man, I am in love with you! SALTY blinks, as though only just now hearing clearly, and he cranes his neck towards Lisette in astonishment, before he shrugs his shoulders. “Well, pretty girl, you have strange tastes,” he says, “But I s’pose I can’t complain.” MONTGOMERY comes down the lane, a frown on his face. As he spots Lisette, his expression clears, and he strides towards her. MONTGOMERY: Lisette! There you are. Thank goodness. Listen, about earlier – I’m terribly sorry – LISETTE (Serenely): It’s quite all right, Montgomery. But I’ll speak to you later, as I’m terribly busy right now. Dear Salty and I are going to go find a shrine to be married at first. MONTGOMERY (Blankly): What. LISETTE (Regretfully): Oh, Montgomery. I drank the potion just like you said. But it all went wrong… I tried so hard to fight it. But I’m afraid that everything before seems only a memory now beside this new love. MONTGOMERY (Even more blankly): What. LISETTE holds out the vial to Montgomery, a tremulous smile on her lips. “Here,” she says. “You can be happy too, if someone will share it with you.” The sun shines down on the trio, the momentarily speechless Montgomery looking back and forth between Lisette and Salty. MONTGOMERY: This is unendurable. I will go. MONTGOMERY goes back off down the lane the way he came, as if pursued by bloodhounds. ————– Act III ————– \* Scene 9: The Stewart Gallery The scene blurs and dims, and when it clears again, it shows the interior of the Stewart Mansion once more, where the Countess Cecelia is frowning out the window. CECELIA (Absently): What a mess this all is. Fennela is swearing up and down that she adores poor Albert, who is in a state of shock at the entire proceeding. And Lisette has shown up with old Salty Duncan in my hall, demanding that a priest be summoned, while Montgomery Estenborough is nowhere to be found. Has the world gone mad? ARCHIBALD strides into the room, his steps quiet and measured, and Cecelia turns at his arrival. ARCHIBALD: It would seem so. A simple wedding has turned into a rather complicated lovers’ fiasco. CECELIA (With a trace of bitterness in her voice): How easily and quickly everyone seems to find love. ARCHIBALD (Strangely subdued): It is too strange and sudden. A disturbance of the mind. I don’t think what they found can be called love. CECELIA (Sharply): And how would either of us know that? We who have found no such thing? ARCHIBALD: Cece – CECELIA: Maybe whatever this is is easier. Simpler. ARCHIBALD: You can’t possibly think that. You would deserve better. CECELIA: No. I don’t really think that. But what we deserve and what we have are very different things. And both are different still from what we would wish. ARCHIBALD: You could have someone better for you than a knight who must always put duty first. CECELIA pauses slightly, looking out the window at the village outside once more. CECELIA: Duty? I have a duty too. But is there no room for anything else to grow in between the crevices of duty? ARCHIBALD (Slowly): You should have something whole, something intact. You should have everything. CECELIA (Softly): You never asked me what I wanted. CECELIA walks toward Archibald, who watches her approach with something not quite like wariness, but with a tension in his frame as he regards her intently. CECELIA (With the hint of a wry smile): If such loves as the ones currently plaguing my village can exist without causing the sky to fall down in chaos… then surely we can have this. CECELIA reaches out a tentative hand towards Archibald, cupping his cheek. His eyes shut, but he does not move away, and he lets himself be drawn down into a kiss. ARCHIBALD: Yes. A deep silence falls within the room, hushed but not uncomfortable, as the lovers hold each other close. Soon, however, the silence is broken by the sound of a commotion elsewhere in the mansion. CECELIA (Sighing): Well. That’s duty calling. I’d better go see what’s going on. ARCHIBALD: Has anyone seen that wiccan Madame Sylvie brought? If this is some kind of madness, she might be the one to consult. CECELIA (Shaking her head): Neither sight nor sound of either of them, I’m afraid. ARCHIBALD: You can go see what’s happening. I shall go and search for this Moondancer. I’ll try to be back before sundown, hopefully with help. CECELIA nods once, decisively. CECELIA: All right. I’ll have Bessie pack you some lunch. The two look at each other for a long moment, silently, before Archibald draws close and lays a surprisingly light kiss upon Cecelia’s lips. CECELIA (Impulsively): Be safe. Come back. ARCHIBALD: I will. ARCHIBALD strides out of the room again. Cecelia gathers herself up, takes a deep breath, and leaves by a different door. \* Scene 10: The Grey Moors Long grasses blow in an unseen wind, and purple-grey heather dots the moors. In the distance, a few lone farmhouses can be seen, behind which the Southern Mountains rise like a watchful shadow. To the north, the village of Stewartsville is barely visible beyond the road. The scene changes once more, green grass and blooming flowers seeming to grow from the edges of the stage as the tableau shifts to depict a wild moor near Stewartsville, where Sylvie and Aneira are standing amidst clumps of heather and tall grasses. ANEIRA (Sounding aggrieved): This has all gone wrong. I should never have let you talk me into it. SYLVIE spreads her hands in a placating gesture, her charm and poise still present, though a little ragged in wake of the day’s events. SYLVIE: But how were we to know that this would happen? It was done with only the best intentions. ANEIRA: Because these things do always go wrong! There really hasn’t been a case of love potion use that has worked out for everyone involved, and I was silly to imagine that it could work here. ANEIRA flutters her sapphire-blue wings agitatedly, zipping around Sylvie in a dizzying circle before coming to hover in front of her. ANEIRA: Just a nudge, we said. Well, we nudged the wrong people, and now I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire village rose up in revolt tonight over it. SYLVIE: Well, what are we going to do now? ANEIRA (With grim determination): I am going to fix it. SYLVIE: How will you do that? ANEIRA: The same way I started it – with a potion. Choleric, to be precise. I will need some pennyroyal and some sage, which I will have to go pick. Meanwhile, you will go back to the house and try to stop this whole thing from going any further than it has already gone. SYLVIE: Very well. SYLVIE walks back along the dirt trail into the moors, towards the direction of the village. ANEIRA takes a deep breath, and begins to flit across the moors. ARCHIBALD enters from the winding path leading from the village, his gaze intent on the ground. A large golden retriever lopes easily by his side, sniffing ahead of him. ARCHIBALD (Absently murmuring to himself): Faelings are hard to track, flying as they are, but even the most insignificant traces can be followed. ARCHIBALD strides across the moor, his steps surprisingly sure. As he walks, he reaches into a picnic basket by his side, and takes out a loaf of bread, from which he breaks off a piece and unhurriedly consumes. He rummages a bit more, and a look of surprise crosses his face. ARCHIBALD: Hmm! Cake. Well, I suppose there was nothing else to be done with it, since it was poor Montgomery and Lisette’s wedding cake. ARCHIBALD takes a bite of the cake. “Still,” he murmurs, “It’s a bit morbid. I suppose Bessie took ‘Waste not, want not’ to heart.” ARCHIBALD suddenly tilts his head, as the golden retriever returns to his side with loud barks. ARCHIBALD: Did you find something, then? The golden retriever yips a few times, and Archibald looks to one side, where he sees Aneira close by. ARCHIBALD blinks, then his hand suddenly clutches his chest, and he takes a sharp breath. “Oh,” he says. ANEIRA turns, and her expression wavers as she sees Archibald. “Merry meet, sir,” she says. “Did they send you to find me?” ARCHIBALD: I – don’t remember. ANEIRA: Are you all right? You might have a concussion. They are nasty things, but I have a salve for that. ARCHIBALD: You are – most kind. And lovely. Yes. Most lovely. I find that I have grown extraordinarily fond of you. A sudden look of stricken realization crosses Aneira’s face. “Oh,” she says. “Oh, no. Sir Archibald. You should go immediately.” ARCHIBALD (Hoarsely): I cannot. I must follow you. Some strange thing draws me to you. ARCHIBALD pauses, as if struggling. He draws a slow, ragged breath. ARCHIBALD: I cannot… something is wrong. There is something terribly important that I have forgotten. ARCHIBALD staggers towards Aneira, even as he appears to be struggling with himself. “Help me,” he says. ANEIRA looks momentarily frozen, and then leaps into action. She flits swiftly aside, whispering to herself and pointing at Archibald, whose eyes grow wide and vacant as a silver light shines around him. As Archibald stumbles in fatigue and confusion, Aneira points an imperious finger at him. A faint green flush breaks out on his skin, and in a dizzying transformation, he shrinks and shrinks until nothing is left of him but a large toad, which hops agitatedly in the grass. ANEIRA exhales, a long sigh, and relaxes the grip she has upon her athame. ANEIRA bends down, her small form kneeling in the grass until she is close enough to speak to the toad. ANEIRA: I’m sorry. It was necessary, under the circumstances… you won’t be hurt. I will fix all of this later, all right? The toad fills its neck pouch and lets loose a loud ‘Ribbit’, whether of agreement or protest. ANEIRA straightens again, a vaguely guilty look on her face, and exits hurriedly, pursued by the toad. \* Scene 11: Entry Hall of the Stewart Mansion An intricately tiled floor lies underfoot in this spacious and imposing entry hall. Large double doors lead back outside into the village, and another door, left wide open, leads into the dining room beyond. A brilliant chandelier hangs overhead, and chairs are scattered around, as if hastily dragged in from elsewhere to accommodate people. The scene shifts and changes again, the carpet of grass in the wild moor blurring until it becomes the tiled floor of the entry hall of the Stewart Mansion. Countess Cecelia is standing there, surrounded by a knot of agitated people, among which can be discerned Fennela and Lisette. Sylvie sits in a plush chair, looking worried. CECELIA: All right, calm down. One thing at a time. LISETTE: Where is the priest? Have you summoned one? FENNELA: Oh traitorous heart! How could you do this to my brother? If you had even the slightest shred of decency, regardless of your status, you would not do this! LISETTE: You’re one to talk, miss high-and-mighty! How can you go on about status in one breath when you want to run off with the butler in the next? SYLVIE: Oh, this is a disaster, a disaster! You are both not in your right minds! Where are this Salty Duncan and the man Albert? FENNELA (Plaintively): They won’t let me see my Albert. LISETTE (With deep satisfaction): That’s because he doesn’t want to see you! CECELIA sweeps her hands out in a gesture of silence, and the two fall silent despite themselves. CECELIA (Grimly): All right. Both of you take a seat. I will not attempt to convince you of the suddenness of your attachments, or the correctness of them. I have sent a summons for a priestess, who will no doubt be able to administer the rites that you demand. SYLVIE (Sounding amazed): Have you really? CECELIA (Exasperated): Yes, I’ve sent for a priestess. Your Moondancer, as it happens. I don’t suppose you know where she is? SYLVIE: No. I do not. Only that she is somewhere out there, and that she wishes to repair this… this. CECELIA (More quietly): Archibald’s gone to look for her. I hope nothing has happened to him. The door of the mansion suddenly slams open with unusual force, and both women jump slightly, before turning to look. ANEIRA hovers in the doorway, perched on her broom, a harried look still on her face. “I am here,” she says. “With the cure for the ladies.” FENNELA turns her head imperiously towards Aneira. “Cure? I need no cure. My family has the finest doctors, and no need to be tended by some hedge-witch.” LISETTE: I make no such grandiose claim. But I am happy with my Salty, and desire nothing more than to be married immediately, without any talk of illness or cures. CECELIA makes a placating gesture. “Of course,” she says smoothly. “Is the wiccan not also a priestess, and able to officiate the wedding?” ANEIRA blinks, and nods in confirmation, before her eyes light up in understanding. “Of course,” she says. “Let us summon the lovers, and I will hold the rite.” A brief commotion ensues as the men are led into the room, Albert looking vaguely terrified and Salty Duncan looking bemused. ANEIRA flits over to a low table, seizing two goblets from it, which she quickly fills with wine, before producing a vial from her satchel and emptying the contents into both of them. ANEIRA (Waving her hands dramatically) Let the rite begin. Let the lover and the beloved share a draught. ANEIRA hands a cup to Lisette, and another cup to Fennela. SALTY: Eh, what did you say? Love’s daft? I can drink to that. LISETTE: I suppose it is. LISETTE tilts her head back, taking a long drink from the goblet before handing it to Salty, who does likewise. ALBERT (Backing away slowly): I – I don’t know – FENNELA: Come, my dear, let us drink to each other. FENNELA takes a drink, before handing her own goblet to Albert, who does the same, his usual unflappable demeanor replaced by a hunted look. CECELIA leans forward slightly despite herself, biting her lip unconsciously. Beside her, Sylvie clutches the armrest of her chair, watching. LISETTE: Ugh! This thing tastes vile. LISETTE blinks slightly, as though waking from a long sleep, before looking around at all the assembled people. LISETTE (Sounding mortified): I – oh. I remember everything. By the Nine! I am so sorry. FENNELA (With sudden embarrassment in her usually haughty voice): Oh dear. I have made rather a fool of myself, haven’t I? CECELIA: It’s good to see you’ve both returned to us. Well, your senses have returned, at least. FENNELA turns to Albert, who is still standing beside her, and gives him a surprisingly warm smile. FENNELA: I am terribly sorry for the distress I have caused. And thank you for realizing that something was amiss, and for being a gentleman about it. For that, I do offer you my admiration, though not in any way you need to dread. ALBERT (Recovering his usual poise): I am glad that you are well, madam. MONTGOMERY comes into the room, his gaze intent on Lisette. “I am sorry I caused this,” he says. “In however roundabout a way. It was my fault.” LISETTE (Quietly): I think we need to talk about some things. MONTGOMERY: I know. But – will it be all right? LISETTE (With a small, tremulous smile): It might be. SALTY turns to Lisette with a saucy wink. “Well, easy come, easy go, as they say,” he says. CECELIA looks sternly at Salty. “It was ill-done of you,” she says forebodingly. SALTY (Guffawing): Hah! I would have stopped it before it went that far. Still, it was nice to have a pretty girl flirting with me for a while. Made me feel fifty again. G’day to you all. SALTY tips his hat and ambles amiably through the doors of the mansion, without waiting to be acknowledged. Under her breath, Cecelia mutters, “An aggravating man.” Turning to ANEIRA, she asks, “Thank you for your aid. But have you seen Sir Archibald? He went out to seek you.” ANEIRA looks briefly skywards, as if seeking divine intervention. When it does not come, she looks back down again. ANEIRA: About that. Um. It’s a long story. But to cut it short… ANEIRA reaches into her satchel again and produces a large glass jar filled with various twigs and leaves, inside which a toad is sitting contentedly, before unscrewing the top of the jar. ANEIRA: Actually, just a moment. Just to be safe… ANEIRA produces the vial again, and dumps the entire thing onto the toad within the jar, which produces a loud ‘ribbit’ of protest. She then holds the jar out to Cecelia, with a simultaneously encouraging and apologetic look. ANEIRA: Go on, then. Kiss it. CECELIA looks briefly astounded, as though wondering at the state of her life, before she laughs ruefully and removes the toad from the jar, pressing a soft kiss to its pebbled skin. The toad suddenly blurs, growing larger and larger as it loses its green colouring, before turning once more into the form of Archibald, standing rather sheepishly in front of the crowd. Scattered claps and whistles emerge from the onlookers, which are swiftly shushed by others in the crowd. Archibald looks over his shoulder, shrugs, and tilts his head down to kiss Cecelia once more. The claps erupt once more, this time more sustained, and Cecelia laughs again, a joyous and free sound. “Well, I suppose that settles that,” says Cecelia. Turning to the assembled crowd, she says, “Would you all like to stay for dinner? There has been a large meal prepared, and it would be good to share it with you, if only to celebrate the end of this most eventful day.” Archibald’s lips quirk up in a faint smile. “But no cake,” he says. The crowd dissolves into laughter and conversation, as they all pass through the doors to the dining room in a milling, colourful stream of people, with Cecelia and Archibald leading the way, and Lisette and Montgomery following, deep in serious and earnest conversation. SYLVIE is the last to leave. As she pauses in the doorway to the dining room, she turns around suddenly with an impish smile, looking directly at the audience, and winks. ————– THE END ————– Costumes: SYLVIE: Poised and charming, Madame Sylvie is a middle-aged woman with large, expressive brown eyes and a graceful demeanor. She is dressed in a shockingly pink gown, though she carries the colour well, with it highlighting her dark hair and eyes. She gives of a strikingly bold impression, as though marching undaunted through life. LISETTE: Lisette Tautou has an athletic build, and carries herself with a certain boldness. Her features are strikingly pretty, though not conventionally so, and her hair is bobbed in a stylishly short cut, suggesting an adventurous spirit – an impression heightened by the intent expression that often crosses her face. ARCHIBALD: Archibald Prescott is tall and fair-haired, with a precise military poise and a stiff manner. He is dressed in a suit, though his hand occasionally flexes at his side, as if missing the weight of a sword. ANEIRA: This diminutive faeling has sapphire-blue wings, which often flutter to and fro even when she is at rest. Her eyes are a piercing shade of blue, and her dark hair is braided with violet flowers. A slight silver sheen lingers at times around her, as if she is touched by moonlight. Aneira carries a wiccan broom and an athame, and a large satchel is slung across her back. MONTGOMERY: Montgomery Estenborough looks to be around thirty years old, with a distinctly upper-class bearing, dressed impeccably in a blue suit. His dark hair is slicked back, and he looks perpetually hawkish due to a thin, protruding nose – a resemblence only increased by his languid, hooded gaze. CECELIA: Countess Cecelia Stewart is almost unconsciously regal, if a little distant, and it is difficult to tell her age. Her garments are severe but fine, and her hair is swept into impeccable style, the mark of one who carries herself with both confidence and a deep reserve. FENNELA: Fennela Estenborough carries herself with a perpetual air of hauteur, which is aided by her imposing figure and her copious amounts of makeup. She looks down her nose at the world, and occasionally a small frown creases her brow, as though she has seen something unworthy. SALTY: Salty Duncan is an old man, with a lined and weathered face from his days spent fishing at the pier. He wears drab garments of black and white cotton, and his hands are caked with dirt and the grime of fish bait. He is missing most of his teeth, though this does not prevent him from occasionally letting out a cheery whistle. ALBERT: Serious in his crisp white shirt and dark suit, Albert Dimple looks out at the world with precision. Not a strand of his jet-black hair is out of place, and his tall, thin frame makes him look rather like an extremely impeccable beanpole. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2017 **Placement:** Winner --- ### [The Pride of Orlachmar of Yore](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-pride-of-orlachmar-of-yore/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** With fist raised high and sword in hand, An Orclach Captain leads his band To riches greater then gems or gold. For glory, blood, and vict’ries told Did marching boots and clashing steel Rouse unbeating hearts to feel The pride of Orlachmar of yore. “To strike fear all across this land,” Shouted fearless Cap-i-tan, “We must purge the young and old, the weak, the sick, the strong, the bold. And all who will not come to heel The cries of ‘HOOOOOOO’ in ears will peal, The shout of Orlachmar of yore.” Rumb’ling roars did shake the sand And steel-clad feet marched on command ‘Neath blood-soaked gates where lives untold To Lady d’Lardick’s axe are sold. Those on the road before them reeled, The cattle and the pilgrims wheeled From grins like Orlachmar’s of yore. The road of Acknor was unmanned So into fields did spread the Band. To slaughter furred and orcs untold Their corpses rot with pittance gold. And as the Chief fell to his steel, Disgust from Captain’s mouth did spill, “Weak shards from Orlachmar of yore.” With lust unsated they did disband A solemn march back to the gates. Disturb-ed thoughts in Captain’s mind Would give no peace – would not abate. How could those poor and broken fools, Which he could not help but abhor, Be rem’nants from the Taint so cruel, Corrupted, Orlachmar of yore. Tis thus from block of bloodied stone, That Captain stripped of pride and rank, Did for his traitor’s words attone, By loos-ed head, to be quite frank. None must forget the Engine’s ways! To all Orclach drink deep your lore, In you the Elder’s shards shall stay The pride of Orlachmar of yore. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Ashskins](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/ashskins/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** Once upon a time, long ago in an aetherbubble far away, there lived a beautiful young princess. Her mother and father were King and Queen of a lovely kingdom and they loved the princess very much. However, one day, as the family sat in their throne room, as they did most every day to listen to their subjects, there was a curious visitor. “Lords and ladies, King and Queen, fair princess-” the visitor winked at the girl with this final remark and she found herself blushing, but not in a giddy way – no, rather, it left her tummy tight and her mind nervous, and so she watched, silently, as the audience unfolded. “Gentle folks, I come to you today with grave news,” the visitor explained. He was dressed finely, clearly a noble from some far-distant land, with a glittering cloth-of-gold cape and upturned velvet shoes. His voice was soft and warm like milk and honey, but his eyes had the cold glint of icy sapphires. The girl squirmed in her seat. Something dark and apprehensive loomed over that chamber, though none knew it yet. “One of the Soulless-” A horrified gasp rocked the crowd. The Soulless were merely myth and legend, but here came a man speaking of them as if they existed! Chatter leapt like madflies until the entire chamber buzzed, and the visitor was forced to raise his hands, trying to elicit silence, but to no avail. Frowning, the King rapped his sceptre on the ground and the crowd’s uproar dwindled to excited whispers. “I’m not even at the bad part, yet,” the man explained, eyes wide as he shook his head. “No, you see, one of the Soulless-“ Again, the crowd gasped and began to frantically talk amongst themselves. The visitor sighed, turning to the King, who once again slammed his sceptre on the ground, demanding silence. Beside her father, the poor princess watched all this unfold, her tummy ache growing stronger as she felt the coming darkness loom larger. Still, she remained silent – it was not her place to object, not here, not now, and so the visitor continued. “One of the Soulless-” This time his voice barrelled onwards, over the gasps and uproar. “-has rampaged through my kingdom. I am but a noble – our king is held hostage! We need aid to help us fight back, so we come to you, we beseech you, most generous, most kind…” And so on and on the honorifics went, as did the debate which followed. The King conveyed a council session and the nobles debated as midnight came and went and the sky began to streak purple in false dawn – the princess listened from the hall, eyes wide with worry as her ears buzzed with things she would not understand for many, many years to come. Finally a decision was reached and within a fortnight a company assembled and equipped. The kingdom gathered to see them off, pennants cracking crisp in a stiff breeze as drums beat a solemn knell. The Queen was beautiful, in whites and silvers and velvets, which the princess wore soft pink silks – but the army, they wore battle-scarred armour and robes stiff with enchantments and spells. At the head of the parade marched the King, the princess’s father, and her heart hurt to watch him wave farewell. She cried and could not look and regretted that forever after. Every day, the princess would dash up the stairs to her room, the highest room in the tallest tower, eagerly looking out the window for hours and hours, waiting for dust clouds of tramping feet, the glint of sun off armour, the distant fanfare of triumphant trumpets, for some sign in the distance, but all was calm and clear and silent. Days turned to weeks turned to months, and her watch became weary, first lingering less long, then only every other day, then once a week and then, finally, when over a year had passed, hardly ever at all, falling away to merely half-remembered urges to watch the horizon. All through this, the strange noble remained behind, as an ambassador he said, but the girl watched carefully, her quiet eyes seeing many things, and she observed his rise through the palace’s esteem. At first, it was only small things – a special seat at a banquet, an extended fanfare when he arrived at a ball, a brightening of his glitter and gems – but soon she saw his hands in everything sacred. One day, they were to go riding. She dressed in furs and leathers and wool, wrapped tight and warm for a giddy gallop across the moors beyond the palace and sat atop her pony, awaiting her mother. A loud whinny reached her ears, and she turned, about to spring from her saddle in delight for that voice belonged to her most favorite horse in the entire kingdom. “Starleaper!” she exclaimed, cheeks flushed and happy, for Starleaper was her father’s most loyal and beloved courser and she and him had gone for many rides together, the stallion’s notoriously harsh temperment softened by only her and Dreamdancer, her fat little pony…and her father, of course. If Starleaper was back… But, oh, no, it was not right, she realized – that was Starleaper, but he was bucking and biting, teeth chomping down heavy on the air as he kicked wildly. Stablehands did their best to restrain him, calling out explanations to someone dressed all in gold, trying to explain the beast’s nature and his loyalty to the king. “Break him, then,” came the curt, chilly reply. The princess shivered, hearing the noble visitor’s voice, and Dreamdancer shied beneath her, steps skittering sideways. The movement caught his eye, and the man looked past the stallion to her, a slow smile spreading on his face. “Use her,” he commanded the servants, chin jerking upwards to indicate the young woman. Her face went pale. “The beast…” the noble’s lip curled up in a sneer as he spat out the word. “The beast is tame to you, princess.” His grin widened. “Help these fools teach him to accept his new master.” “New…new master?” the girl echoed faintly, eyes widening. “That’s my father’s sta-“ “Not anymore,” the man bluntly corrected her, his piercing blue eyes meeting her’s across the yard. “We have clung to the dusty past for far too long – the kingdom needs to move on. This…creature is just one of the many, many things we need to…improve.” His voice lilted upwards as he smiled and the girl felt icy hands grip around her stomach as the man inclined his head to her, before turning on his heel to depart, his cloth-of-gold cape fluttering majestically behind him. She found her mother, later, and flung herself into her arms, tears in her eyes as she told her all that happened in the yard. The Queen stroked her hair, kissed her cheek and then smiled, eyes distant, as she told her daughter to be calm and happy, for all was well and the kingdom was becoming strong again. The girl blinked away her tears, staring at her mother in confusion, but all she saw in her face was the nobleman’s smile. She fled, retreating to her room for days and days as she made herself sick with crying. For nearly a week, she refused to leave, her door barred as she turned away every servant save to sneak out at night to quickly snag the meals left outside her room. Finally, as the seventh day dwindled down towards an eighth and the servants began to light hearthfires in the grand hall, a furious pounding came at her door. The girl shrank back, timid as a mouse as she hugged her pillow to her chest. She knew what lay behind the lock and she kept it closed, fearful. Muffled voices filled the corridor beyond, followed by a chilly laugh, and footsteps retreated. For two days, she was left in silence – no maids came with meals, no lamplighters to illuminate her dark chambers, and even her governess was gone, leaving her utterly alone, empty and shivering as she fretted over the changes. Still, even the saddest little princess must eat, so on the third day, when her stomach gnawed at her backbone, she slipped from her chambers, late, late at night to sneak down to the kitchens. She cloaked herself to hide, a wolf pelt snagged from her bed to sling around her shoulders, and she thought of the beast it came from. She and her father had caught him (well, along with half the army) after reports had come of the beast marauding through the countryside – it had been cleaned and skinned and turned into a lovely throw in memory of her first hunt. Bitter tears skittered down as she remembered this, suspended atop the fur like crystalline jewels. The kitchen was dark and empty, a single fire banked to smoulder softly and shed a dim, wavering glow. She crept through the dark chamber, feet bare and steps silent, until she came across a nearly-empty tray of leftover meat pies, half-eaten, pastry crumbled. Quick as a rabbit, she scooped up an armful and fled, footfalls pattering quietly as she dashed through the slumbering castle back to her own room, barring the door and flinging herself on the bed to hungrily gnaw on the cold, greasy leftovers. It was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. And so it went – the castle magically seemed to have decided that if the princess wished not to exist, she would no longer. No servants ever approached her door again and, gradually, marks of her presence began to find themselves replaced, just as her father had been eclipsed by the nobleman. The lanterns in her tower ceased to be lit, tailors stopped sending her clothing, and paintings were replaced, images of herself and her father replaced by proud new pieces of the Queen and the nobleman, happily standing hand in hand and smiling chilly blue-eyed smiles. The princess quietly adjusted to these changes, silently mourning her father and her old life, and took to wandering the castle at night, creeping down to the kitchens to pilfer enough food not to starve, but no more than that for she was frightened and worried she may take what others would need. After several of these trips, guilt gnawed at her, so she began to do what she could in thanks, stoking the fire and cleaning stray pots and pans, and soon rumours began to spread, awestruck and amused whispers about the kitchen’s ghost. None ever saw her, for the princess had learned to hide very well, but interest was piqued and every now and then she would nearly stumble into someone peering into the kitchens at night to try to catch a glimpse of the phantom. Quick as a hare flushed from undergrowth, she would flee back to her rooms, leaving only a sooty scatter on the hearth and a swirl of fur in her wake, the wolf pelt clutched tightly about her. Ashskins, they began to call the ghost, a fond smile on their lips as they spoke of the benevolent poltergeist, and the princess heard the whispers as she slunk about the back passages and forgotten corridors of the castle. She had been forgotten, but that pleased her, so she began to roam further afield, venturing beyond the palace walls into dew-drenched fields bathed in moonlight, and she remembered how to hunt. Soon, gifts of game – fresh pheasants, delicate rabbit, even, once, a deer – began to appear, laid neatly atop the kitchen’s long trestle table. The first time, the chef wept, for somehow, someway, the ghost had known the nobleman, by now king in all but name, was in a rage, demanding a feast but refusing to spare the hunters to find the food. Starleaper had not complied, no matter how hard they broke him, and along with the horse, hunts themselves had died, forbidden out of spite, leaving the poor kitchen staff unable to cope with the court’s demands. The chef wept, for he knew the ghost had saved him and his head would remain attached to his body. The princess smiled when she heard whispers of this as she lurked down a dark passage and soon the cooks found themselves greeted nearly every morning with berries and fruit, flowers and beasts, picked and harvested and slain and tidily waiting to become stew or sauce or pies. One night, the moon swollen full and silver overhead, the girl wandered near the long-unused pastures far behind the castle. She was looking for a particularly sweet berry she distantly remembered her father showing her in a different life – the memory seemed hazed by time, leaving him sunlit and smiling and perfect as he happily pointed out the delicate wildflower. It was closer to a weed, she remembered, growing rampant in places where the forest reclaimed the land, and so she sought out the abandoned parts of the grounds: old hunting lodges fallen into disrepair, trails where saplings pushed high and free of treadfall, the old pastures neglected and overgrown with brambles. A delicate pink blossom caught her eye, soft petals unfolding wide in the moonlight, and she bent to gather the small cluster of berries beneath the bloom, when she heard a faint, lonely noise, aching in how familiar and hurt it sounded. A cry slipped from her lips and she shot upwards, slipping beneath fences and past bracken, heedless of the gouges the thorns tore in her furs and the furrows it raked across her skin – driven by the sound itself and all it represented, she ran into the pasture, softly echoing the noise back into the empty, moonlit night. At first, all was still and silent – she had imagined it, she realized, and the constant, heavy crush of loneliness that she pretended did not exist threatened to loom into reality. She cried out again, a ragged and raw note in her voice…and this time her voice was answered, a clear and high whinny drifting towards her as dull hoofbeats pattered across the field, followed by a ghost, a wraith, a spirit, a mere slip of a pony, emaciated and weak, broken from neglect. The princess fell to her knees, guilt bringing hot tears to her eyes, but Dreamdancer loved her – despite her absence, despite the pony’s pain, he loved her, and he cautiously approached and bent his head to give the girl a soft, tentative nuzzle as he let out a quiet, curious snort. The princess had no words – nor did she even properly recall how to speak, voice unused from her solitary life. She reached for the horse, in a daze, and wound her fingers through the tangled, matted mane. “Oh, love…” she breathed, biting back her tears as she ran her hands over half-starved ribs and withered flanks. “Oh, my sweet thing…” Dreamdancer merely sat, patient and silent and content, now that he had found his princess. All would be right, the pony knew, and he was not wrong. It took weeks to get him back to health. Every night, she would venture to the old, forgotten pastures, pilfered grains and bushels of sweetgrasses bundled in her arms. They would walk, slowly navigating the large field, and she learned how to use her voice again, quietly telling the pony all of her secrets and dreams. He would listen and snort and shake his head in a horsish huff of assent, and she remembered what hope felt like, the fearful spark slowly growing as she watched fat begin to build and muscle return, bones vanishing from their prominent display into a glossy sleek coat over strength and tone. One day, they rode, and for a fleeting flashing moment she was a girl again, her life sunlit and special with her father galloping and laughing at her side – but her eyes opened, soon, and she found herself alone, limned in moonlight and dressed in rags in an abandoned, overgrown field, and so her joy turned to ash and she wept. Dreamdancer uncertainly nipped at her foot, and it was enough, for a time, to distract her. Her thoughts returned to that moment many times as weeks passed – for a heartbeat, she had flown, soaring happy and secure, and she realized she longed for what her life might have been. She mulled over this each day as she crept around the castle, tidying up here and stoking fires there. The typical trappings of her ghostly life – leaving a blanket for a lonely rookie guardsman pulling his first midnight sentry, keeping the pots stirred for morning porridge, pilfering a trinket to unite lovers too shy too share their hearts – no longer brought her joy; instead, each person she helped only made her more keenly realize what she had become and it was as if she watched the entire world behind a pane of glass, for all her wandering still trapped in a room to watch lives and loves and emotion through a tiny, lonely window. And so, as she and Dreamdancer began to roam further afield, her thoughts turned to change and the future. Her father was gone, she came to accept, despite all of her longing memories – but she still had a mother who had loved her, once. Perhaps her thoughts were stronger than she knew, for soon after this an excited buzz and chatter swept through the palace – the Queen was hosting a royal ball. Arch stares were exchanged and knowing nods made, for it was commonly assumed she would be announcing her marriage to the nobleman, for he all but ruled the kingdom in name at this point. The princess slowly processed this news in silence, slinking back deeper into the shadows of the darkened back corridor as she heard the whispers, and found a slow, quiet anger gradually building in her. The nobleman had taken everything from her and destroyed so much she saw as precious, but to fully replace her father? She realized she could remain a ghost no longer. The princess returned to her room, feet heavy as they wound their way up the tall tower, and sat at her window for hours, night turning to day to night again as she watched the horizon and thought. Finally, as sleep pulled her under, she made a wish, a desperate, quiet plea to the stars to help her, somehow. She slipped away, dreaming troubled dreams, as the first day of the ball dawned. Something soft and ticklish awoke her, her nose twitching as a sudden sneeze built, and her eyes fluttered open. “Ooohhh,” a chorus of soft voices squeaked. The girl found herself staring at a dozen wide cookie eyes and shrank back in fear. The creatures simply swarmed closer, curiously tugging her garments and plucking at her hair. Small as a mouse, each one moved in delicate, scampering leaps and skips on spindly limbs of spun-sugar as candyfloss hair fluttered happily about them. Gumdrops studded their clothing like gems, while pastry faces beamed brightly in wide smiles filled with white chocolate teeth. They seemed harmless – or at least small enough to eat in a few quick bites – and the girl slowly relaxed, fear turning to interest as they continued to eagerly acquaint themselves with her. She had read of the sugar-fae, of course, but had assumed it only a children’s tale like those her father had read of, akin to the spirit in the moon and the magical hunting wolves of imaginary woodland warriors, smart as a man and bonded with a chosen companion. She sat for a span, awkward and confused how to address living mythology, and finally settled on a quiet, “Hello.” “Oooohhh,” the fae breathed in unison, eyes widening again until crumbs showed at the corners as they collectively stared at her. This was followed by a quick turning of heads and eager chatter, voices soft and foreign and reminsecent of the first eager, curious bite into a new dessert. Her tummy began to rumble and she shifted her weight with a cough, apprehensive of offending her visitors. They did not seem to notice – back and forth their chitter chatter went, lollipop fingers gesticulating wildly as they debated something of great import, before they finally quieted, apparently arriving at a conclusion. In unison, the sugar-fae turned back to her, beaming happily. She smiled tenatively back. “Oooohhh!!!” they cried out in excitement, words melting into laughter as they shimmered away, leaving behind only clouds of sugar and sweetness. The girl sneezed, waving a hand before her face to clear the air of the glittering trail, but found the shimmers shifting to her instead, sticking to hands and cheeks and hair in a rapidly brightening sparkle. She stared down at her own fingers, panic warring with wonder, and then gasped in amazement as the shimmers branched out, questing towards each other in gleaming lattices of light. Like a nascent rainbow, the glimmers knit together in a dazzling bright burst, and when her vision cleared she found herself transformed, rags and ashes and furs somehow now silks and satins, a beautiful ballgown with a star-scattered veil to cover her face. She smelled of cookies and candy and happy memories of her childhood when her mother had taken her to the kitchens to laughingly pilfer cake from the cooks. She smiled, heart swelling, and rose. The ball had begun. She slipped in from the terrace, sliding into the thick of the crowd as astronished giggles bubbled up and out of her from behind her veil – the ghost walked among them, yet they danced and drank and spoke and laughed, ignorant of her secret. She felt like she was floating, steps tripping happily over moonbeams, and she swirled through the room, unknowingly enchanting everyone she met. As the night drew to a close, she found herself dancing near the throne – her skirts swirled out as she twisted in a lithe circle, delighted, and she hear a faint murmur from the dais. Through her veil, she watched the Queen, her mother, shift her weight, one hand lifting pensively to her lip as if trying to catch the taste of a long-forgotten dream that has woken from slumber for the briefest heartbeat. The dancing continued and she swirled away and the first day of the ball ended. The next day’s sunset came, and the princess waited in her room, staring wistfully out over the castle’s approach. Like a bevy of fireflies, the nobles swarmed the courtyard for a second day of feasts and celebration, their gowns encrusted with gold and gems to glitter bright beneath lantern-light. Her tummy hurt, hungry and nervous, and she found herself unable to watch, turning away to seek solace in her tiny, weak hearth fire as her heart made another quiet, forlorn wish. Her eyes slowly closed, the dying flames soporific and soothing, and so she could not say, exactly, how or when the spice-fae appeared. They simply were not there and then they were, hair little twists of fire above dreamy eyes and saffron skin and peppery smiles, curls of incense snaking behind the gaggle to haze the room. “Hmmm…” they murmured in a low chorus, eyes taking in the girl before they began to rapidly whisper to each other. They must be arguing, the princess realized, for their hair ebbed and flowed like a fire’s dance, rising high as whispers grew heated and rippling in amusement each time eyes crinkled in delight. Delicate wings of smoke and dreams fluttered excitedly, churning up a cloud of paprika pixie dust, and before the princess knew what was happening, she began to sneeze. Each snort brought a change. The cloud boiled up around her, spicy and cloying, and she sneezed her rags into another gown, this one streaked all the beautiful brilliant shades of a sizzling fire. The dust scattered from her breath and then reformed, cinnanmon and nutmeg choking her into another coughing snort and she sneezed her hair into an elaborate arrangement, piled atop her head and flowing down her back, mecurial and floating like the sinuous twine of smoke in the wind. A third time a cloud enveloped her and this time she sneezed a frothy scarlet veil over her face, familiar features shrouded in featherweight gossamer of silk and spice, the scent a delicate murmur hinting at a long-ago moment when the young princess had found a gift her father was intended for the Queen and, childishly, had instead poured the perfume over her mother’s gown to see what would happen. She smiled, recalling how her mother had hugged her close and taught her about gifts and kindness and helping others instead of hurting them, and then smoothed down her veil and crept off for the ball. If she had been a star the first visit, tonight she was the moon, eclipsing all else at the ball with her generous laugh, her light steps, her kind murmurs as she quietly watched in wonder. Again, her steps spun her closer to the thrones, the exotic spicy scent wafting towards the Queen as she sat silent and cold upon her throne. Again, the Queen sat back as if dazed and murmured quietly as if a long-sleeping part of her had awoken. Behind her veil, the princess saw this and smiled, and then blushed, vanishing into the crowd in fear as the Queen lifted her head to scan the ballroom. Footfalls silent, the girl fled the party, retreating to her tower bedroom to ponder. There was one more day left for the celebrations and the princess knew if she wanted to save her mother she had to quickly act. At the dawn of the next night, as the nobles lined up like proud peacocks, glittering and bright and drowning in perfume, the princess gathered her skins and furs about her, staring down at her soot-stained feet, and wished as hard as her heart could bear. They came from the shadows, bobbing and lurching in seasick gaits, each the shade of her own pale skin and shaped queer and curious, limbs too long and mouths too wide and eyes simply sightless indentations – the flesh-fae. With a guttural murmur, they greeted her, ethereal fingers, soft-sharp claws and oversized pudgy hands reaching out to tenderly stroke her cheek and caress her hand. She smiled softly, nervously reaching for them, her last fae guardians and they hugged in close, comforting her as they pressed their distorted and deformed bodies against her skin. Their pale flesh skimmed hers, soft and fragile like a drop of water atop a meniscus, before the separation blurred, little bodies diminishing as her own skin rippled and merged with theirs, their bodies subsumed into hers in a gentle, loving meld. Something, somewhere deep inside cried out, first in terror at the strangeness, then in pain as a long empty absence she never knew she had suddenly screamed in agony, and then in joy as the loss found what it was missing. She lifted her hands in amazement, watching fingers elongate and dissipate into star-strung streamers as she felt her face rearranging itself into something new, something unknown and fiercely beautiful. Her rags themselves twisted and tumbled down, unfolding into skin-soft leather skirts and elegant fur accents, a glorious formal hunting costume fit for a proud woodland queen, while her hair came alive, snaking about her head to twist into an ornate, writhing knot, a crown of breathing braids studded with gem-like teeth. Her feet, her little soot-streaked feet, these were most glorious of all, the ash and dirt melting into liquid shadows to leave shimmering dreamote footprints as she passed. She was more beautiful that she had ever dared imagine she could be and so she descended her tower, stately and slow, to walk through the main corridors and passages towards the celebrations. In her wake she left dazzled guards and spellbound servants, a susserence of “..Ashskins…” murmured reverently as she passed, for she was, truly, her own ghost embodied that night. People parted as she approached, sweeping into curtsies and bows, until she stood, heart racing yet somehow as serene as the long-forgotten forest pool she and Dreamdancer had stumbled upon one midnight ride. Like the waters, something lurked in her depths, her stomach clenching in a familiar fear, but this time she felt stronger, bolstered and brave, and boldly strode to the top of the stairs, looking down at the gathered crowd in the ballroom below. “Ashskins…” the royal page murmured, too awe-struck to properly announce her, but it was not needed. Every eye was on the princess, every breath held, and as she slowly descended the stairs, they waited and watched. Silence reigned as she crossed the ballroom, the crowd quietly falling away to create a path towards the thrones, and she continued on, approaching the dais. The nobleman, after all these years, had finally sat upon her father’s seat, and she lifted her chin, staring at him. The man regarded her, frowning, and shifted his weight in discomfort. He looked over at the queen, his nervousness rising as he noticed a dawning light in her cold stare, and his attention turned back to the living ghost before him. “Who are you!” he thundered, fury rising as he stood, pounding her father’s sceptre to demand an unneeded silence. “Who dares invade my party and accuse me so!” The princess had said nothing. Her gaze locked on his, eyes swirling bright and silver as they met his piercing cold blue, and then she smiled. Inside, deep inside, the flesh-fae embraced her and loved her and whispered secrets and stories, guiding her onwards as she softly began to speak, addressing the man who had stolen her father for the first time in a decade, helping her find the words to speak. “Once upon a time…” Her voice was soft and gentle, her mother’s voice from a lifetime ago, and unbidden she found herself reciting her earliest memory, the words her mother had softly told her as they snuggled close for sleep now spilling out, quiet but sparkling, like the clear cold waters of a mountain stream. Beside the noble, the Queen drew in a surprised soft gasp, blinking slowly. The princess’s story continued, voice lilting and light, and as she spoke, she felt the flesh-fae helping her, peeling away parts of herself she had forgotten and hidden, opening long-locked doors of dreams she had not dared to dream, finding new realities, better realities than the one this cruel, cold man had created. On the tale went as the princess saw every path glittering like moonbeam trails, laid out before her by the kindly flesh-fae, and she picked one, the most beautiful one, and pulled it closer, weaving it into the world like a new strand of yarn added to knitwork. Her smile widened, sweet and bright, as her voice softened into the most gentle, tender whisper, and her eyes whirled silver as starlight, stare boring deep into the would-be-king’s usurping ambitions. His mouth dropped open, unable to tear his own gaze away, and he began to scream, thin and high and reedy, hands lifting to claw at his cheeks. The noise bubbled, burbled, folded in on itself to become a sob and then laughter, manic and shrill, as madness claimed him. At his side, the queen stirred, roused from her memories to blink again, looking about her in disbelief. Her stare settled on the princess, an unspoken question in her eyes, and the girl smiled, stepping closer to kneel at her mother’s feet. Gently, the woman tilted the other’s chin up, staring at the unfamiliar features as they melted and shifted, smoothing away into a blank flat plane. For a moment, she was simply blank flesh before a nose began to blossom, rising upwards to be flanked by flesh-birthed eyes as a mouth yawned into existence, smiling serenely. As gentle as a night-blooming rose opening itself for the moon, her true features swam back upon her face. “Mother,” she murmured, finally, after all these years, seen, truly seen by the Queen. “Oh, my sweet dearheart…” the Queen whispered back, and then no more words were needed. The spell was broken and they embraced, their kingdom saved by the silent ghost and her new, wonderful friends. The king would never return, they realized, but they had each other, and that would be. Together, they rebuilt what the noble had done to their kingdom, and lived happily and in peace until the end of their days. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2017 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [Soot and Roses](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/soot-and-roses/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** I don’t know why people complain about the smog. It means that people are working and changing. A clean city is a stagnant city. A stagnant city offers no opportunities. Why would anyone hate the smell of opportunity? That is why I took deep breaths as I walked through the streets. My opportunity was waiting for me, just like it always was. I was going to a little gambling hall, just close enough to the slums to make the little lordlings feel like they were transgressing the rules of their station. It was a safe place, but it had the taste of danger. The chairs and tables were ever so artfully chipped and stained so that they look worn but felt comfortable. After all, a tender lord’s bottom needs a soft chair. They cannot bear the feeling of poverty, no matter how much they like the look of it. Which was a pity for them, since I had every intention of making them experience it. I’d play with cards, or dice, or whatever else pleased them. They would trust in their superior bloodline to secure victory, and I would trust in my skill. I would take their money, and they would be too embarrassed to complain about it. The system was very much to my liking. It was as though I had the power to levy a tax on stupidity. I settled in at a table and began to play. Dice were the order of the evening, a charming game of bluffing and rolling dice. Men and women came and went as I took their gold, but one of them insisted on playing again and again. I beat him every time, and he begged for credit. I was happy to oblige him. Lords have deep pockets, and they have much to lose by defaulting on their debts. Besides, I knew a few men who with more muscles than money. If he did not pay with gold, he would pay with his knees. The poor fellow thought that he could win, but he was badly mistaken. I do not lose at dice. We were the last people to play that night, and it was nearly morning by the time that he finally gave up. His debt was so large that I almost thought it was obscene. I could drown a mammoth if I melted down all of the gold that he owed me. Which, of course, is why he did not want to pay. He praised my good fortune, and he asked me if I wanted to try my luck in a place with higher stakes. I nodded. He had my interest, at least. He offered to invite me to a private party that his father was holding in a few days. All he asked in return was that I forgive his debt. I accepted, and he gave me his name, Halzio. He asked for mine, and I told him that I was Nizream. We parted company, and I returned home to sleep the day away. ————– I took my time in preparing for the party. I had to dress to impress, or else they would never let me through the door. At the same time, they would be insulted if they thought that I was dressing above my station. Lords are needlessly picky creatures. I chose a pair of tight pants made of black leather, in the hope that I might distract and impress my opponents. I combined that with a shirt of burgundy silk that was not quite thick enough to conceal my muscles. I put a little bit of padding underneath it so that it could have a few “muscles” to fail to conceal. I added a pair of black shoes with short heels and a red hat with preposterously large black feather to that, and I almost felt like I was ready to go out. Almost, but not quite. There was one more thing to add, an accessory that I had obtained at great expense to wear on occasions such as this. I call it the coat-of-many-faces, and it is the pinnacle of fashion. The tailor took the faces of nearly fifty victims, tanned them thoroughly, and sewed them to make a fine coat. It was useless if I wanted to stay warm or protect myself from the elements, but it was unique. I chose it because uniquely useless things are always fashionable, and I dressed to impress. The sun was setting as I arrived at the party. I stood outside of a garden’s wrought iron gate, and a servant crept up to me. She was a small creature, quiet, as though she was accustomed to meek obedience. She tugged at my sleeve, and she asked how she should announce me. “Nizream!” I declared, with somewhat more enthusiasm than was strictly necessary. It is always good to remind those who submit to lords that there is another way to live. She stared at me for a brief moment, and then she asked the question that I dread more than any other. A difficult question, one that must be answered with great care. “Your house, Sir?” There are dogs that have better pedigrees than I do. The only house that I can claim is the house in which I live. A lie came to my lips. I spoke, and I hoped that nobody would call my bluff. “I am a scion of the d’Valenzi line, an heir to an ancient legacy.” I said it with pride, in the hope that none would dare contradict it. Nevermind that the d’Valenzi did not exist. I had bluffed before. I could manage. She nodded, curtsied, and opened the gate. She called out my name, and my alleged house. All eyes were upon me for a moment, and then most turned away. They thought that I was too lowly a lord to matter, but at least they seemed to think that I was a lord. I looked around for a few moments to find the gaming table. I did not manage to find it, but I did run into Halzio. He smirked when he saw me, but he bowed in greeting and warmly took my hand. “A scion of the d’Valenzi? Doubtless a lineage of cunning plotters that rule from the shadows, so secret that none of us have ever heard of them. It’s an honor to meet one of such an august house.” A little teasing never hurt anyone, and it seemed that he did not care about my lie. I might have misjudged him. A lordly lad who does not care who my parents were could be a wonderful friend. I smiled at him, and I spoke with mock sorrow in my voice. “Very august, and very secret. All of your guests would tremble and bow before me, if they had only heard of my kin. If only my family’s reputation preceded me! Alas!” “I have no doubt that you will teach them to fear your house when they join you at the gaming table. My father and his dear friends like to play late at night. Mingle. Make a few friends. We will get you when the time comes.” With that, he shook my hand once again and went off to flatter some dainty lady in an tight dress. I had hoped that he might stay with me for a while and make a few introduction, but even I am not that lucky. I decided to take his advice and wander through the crowds. A gambler must make his own luck, and there was a chance that I might find something of interest. ——————- I certainly found something of interest, but it was not what I expected. I was looking for an easy mark, someone who might play a few games and line my pockets before the main event. What I actually found was the most beautiful viscanti that I had ever seen. The preachers of Celest say that our kind are hideous, but they would turn to apostasy on the spot if they ever saw her. Her hair was long, and it was thick, the color of unspoiled snow. Her body displayed all the advantages that an athletic life can bring, and she stood with the quiet dignity of a person who knows that she can do great things. My heart pounded in my chest. It told me to approach her, but my mind told me that the odds were stacked against it. I had spent many years listening to my mind and following the safe bets. It was how I made my fortune. If I approached her, I could get rejected. Men would mock me for daring to approach a lady who was so far above my own rank. I would be disgraced, exiled from this party, and I would lose my chance at profit. Good sense told me to forget about her. I listened to my heart instead. I took a deep breath, and I walked right up to her. I spread my arms out as wide as I could, and I bowed like a lovestruck lordling. I tried to speak firmly, but I was too nervous to manage it. I sounded more like an asthmatic, stuttering child than anything else. “Fairest lady, your noble countenance is blessed with the beauty of ten thousand goddesses. May I profess myself your most ardent admirer?” She looked at me like I had suddenly turned into Gorgulu. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “No.” “Might I ask the reason for your humbling rejection?” She sighed. “What is my name?” I thought for several seconds, and then I realized that I was an idiot. “I do not know.” She stared at me for a moment and rubbed her temples, as though this was not the first time that she had this conversation. “Do you think it is appropriate to burn with admiration for someone when you do not even know her name?” It was at that moment that I realized I was both an idiot and a moron. I tried to salvage the situation. “You could tell me your name, and then it might become appropriate?” “I do not love fools, sir. Perhaps you should try your luck with one of my brother’s many admirers. They have lower standards.” I burned with shame. It was a strange feeling, to know that she was right and that I was a fool. Still, I could not bear to give up. “Would you believe that I am not a fool?” “You would have to prove it.” That was my opportunity! Proof is easy. I only needed to find out how. The direct approach seemed to be best. “And how would you like me to prove it to you?” She thought for a few moments. She pursed her lips, and turned her back on me to gaze out over the plants. Soot was settling on the rose bushes, just like a feeling of doom was settling on my heart. I feared that she would send me away. Just as I was preparing to leave her and go drown my shame in wine, she spoke to me. “You’re not really one of us, are you?” “One of you?” “Noble. Well-bred. You talk like somebody who thinks we speak like amateur actors in a cheap theatre.” There are times when a man must drop his bluff and lay his cards on the table. “You’ve got me there.” “Then I have a task. Find a lord, a real lord, and beat him at something. Anything. Take a trophy, so that you can prove that you’re really better than he is. Do that, and I’ll graciously assume that you only sounded like an idiot because you were trying to act noble. We’ll start again without any of that ardent admiration, and we shall see if you are worth knowing.” I could do that. It wouldn’t even be difficult. I already had a contest planned, after all. I sketched a much more reasonable bow and left her in peace. I had to calm my nerves before the big event, after all. ——————- I kept myself out of trouble until Halzio found me. He found me by the buffet, shoving disgustingly expensive morsels into my mouth. He was probably disgusted, but he didn’t comment. He simply placed his arm around my shoulder and led me to a little table near the back of the garden. I took the measure of my opponents before I sat down. There were three of them, and they were all enormously fat. Clearly, these were not men of action. Nor were they men of taste, judging by their outfits. They had enough lace to cover the Megalith a dozen times over, and they had more jewels on their fingers than a Hallifaxian has in his city. Rich, lazy, and, going by the looks on their faces, more than a little bit arrogant. Perfect marks. The fattest one spoke as I sat down. “D’Valenzi?” “Nizream d’Valenzi. Who shall I have the honor of bankrupting this evening?” His eyes bugged out like I had put a knife in his kidneys. He gasped. The others stared. He spat on me as he spoke. “Razion d’Folgari. Deal, and we shall see if you can bankrupt me.” We played a simple game. Each of us received five cards, exchanged as many as we pleased with the dealer, and compared the results. Simple. Trivial. Just a matter of knowing the odds and occasional bluffing. It was not the most exciting evening of my life. Razion’s companions were the first to concede. I did not press the issue. I might have goaded them into losing a little more money, but I had a more pressing goal. Razion’s pride would probably keep in game long past the point where intelligent people would leave, so I chose him to provide my trophy for the evening. We went back and forth for a few hours after the others had left. I won more than I lost, but it was closer than I’d care to admit. He played well. Still, he found himself short on gold as dawn began to rise over the horizon. “Tell me,” I said to him, with just a little hint of a smirk, “would you like to win it all back? One round of one game of my choosing.” “And what would you have me bet?” I thought for a moment, but only a moment. I smiled. “Your hat, your ring, and your brooch will suffice.” He nodded, and he threw his hat down onto the table. It was an ugly thing, black velvet with an obscene number of plumes, but nobody would ever think that I got it from anyone but a lord. His golden ring and bejeweled brooch followed. All I had to do was pick the right game, and a trophy would be mine. “This game is an easy one,” I said, “and I think you will like it very much. We have four prizes here. We shall place four tokens into a hat, and each of us shall draw a single one. Each of us will take our prize, and the rest will return to their owners. I will allow you the honor of drawing first or second, as you prefer.” I pulled a set of tokens from my pocket. One was plated gold, and the other three were simple clay, each marked with a number. “Gold for gold,” I said, as I dropped the tokens into his hat. “Would you like to draw first?” Of course he did. Any fool could pick the gold token out of the hat. He reached into the hat, pulled in out, and laughed when he saw that he had won. I reached in to pull out my token and discovered that I had won the hat. I had what I needed, and all it cost me was a pile of gold. He seemed quite pleased with the exchange. He could not stop laughing. It was a hacking, wheezing laugh, but a laugh all the same. I took his hat and left him to it. I had a lady to find. —————- I found her as she was taking her leave of the garden. I could have spent a lifetime simply gazing at her and considered it a life well-lived, but I did not have time to stand and stare if I wanted to catch her. I stepped out in front of her and threw the hat into her hands. She caught it, and she gasped. “This is my father’s hat!” “If you ask him, I think he’ll say that it belongs to me!” I laughed and I bowed before her. Victory is sweet, but nothing is sweeter than taking a chance to gloat. “Is that enough of a trophy for you, or shall I go thrash him again to get another?” She laughed and threw the hat back at me. “It will do. You wanted to know my name?” I was relieved to hear her accept it. “I want it more than I want life itself.” “Isrella d’Folgari. To whom do I owe this pleasure?” “To Nizream d’Valenzi! I would like to know you better, Isrella.” She stared at me for a long moment and smiled softly. “I would like to know you better, Nizream, but I would also like to sleep. Give me your address, and I will send you a letter.” I did as she asked, of course. I’d have done anything that she asked. I wrote down my address, and we parted company. I rushed home, but I burned with far too much excitement to rest. A letter was coming! I only had to be patient. ————– The rising dawn heralded the start of a new day, and then another and another. I heard a knock on my door on that third day, and I jumped from my bed to open it. I did not even bother dressing myself. Halzio was at the door, with a letter in one hand, a flask in the other, and raised eyebrow on his face. He took a swig from his flask and bowed before me. “Nizream? May I come in? Thank you. I have a letter.” I had not, in fact, invited him into my home, but that letter was as good a passport as any in the world. It had been a very long time since I had let anybody into my home. I had to think for a minute to come up with the proper protocol. “Tea, Halzio?” “No, thank you. I brought my own.” I could smell the contents of his flask. It was not tea. Something brown, certainly, but I had a sneaking suspicion that it came from a barrel instead of a pot. “Your own tea?” “My own drink. I am not at a tea party, and so I need not tolerate tea. Try it.” He handed over the flask. I really had no interest in it, but I didn’t want to offend him until after he gave me what I really wanted. I took a sip. It burned like a bad memory as it went into my mouth. I gestured towards the letter as I handed it back to him and tried to swallow. “Yes,” he laughed, “down to business! This letter is yours, but I think that we need to have a few words.” I started to object, but he held up his hand at me and kept talking. “Planning, my friend. I’m not here to object. Perhaps you should find some pants while I explain?” It was a good suggestion. I went over to the pile of clothes that I kept next to my bed and started to sort through it. I listened to Halzio as I tried to find a relatively clean garment in the heap. “You are trying to seduce my sister. You did this by pilfering my father’s hat. She found you so terribly amusing that she sent me as her messenger, like some sort of servant. Do you know why she did that?” I did not, but I couldn’t help but think that it was for some terrible reason, if he was bringing it up. I asked the only question that came to mind. “Why?” “Because everybody knows that the august line of d’Valenzi is as real as Celestian morality. It’s a lie, and not a good one. Our father would never approve of a covert love affair, let alone an actual match.” I finally managed to get my pants on. “Then why would she send a letter?” “Because you interest her. And I’m stuck carrying it because she can’t trust anyone else to keep it secret.” “You don’t care about my house?” That made him laugh. He even spilled some of his drink on my floor. “That’s true, but it’s not why she trusts me. You see, I care very much about my inheritance, and I was hoping that his heart might give out if the two of you elope. But that requires a romance. You see? It’s in my best interest to make sure that the two of you fall in love.” That made me laugh. “So you’ll help us?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and grinned a wild, slightly drunken grin. “Friend, I am at your disposal. If you need a letter carried, I will carry it. If you need a rival killed, I will duel him. If you need pretty words to make her love you, I’ll bully a poet into writing them. Here is your letter, my friend. If you need me, you know where we can play at dice.” I could have ripped it out of his hands, but he simply laid it on the table and walked out the door. It was a little piece of paper, dyed a dark shade of purple and folded over upon itself. She had sealed it with a dollop of black wax stamped with with a picture of a coiling snake. My fingers were trembling with anticipation as I broke the seal and began to read. ————— To Lord d’Valenzi, if that is your real name, You are an insidious charmer, a daredevil of the highest order, and terribly pretty. I have no doubt that there are dozens of fair maidens and base harlots that are eager to win your favor, but I hope that I can convince you to set them all aside to make room for me. I will not make you any promises as to the results of a meeting, but if you were to take a walk among the tombs of my forefathers this evening, you would find me doing the same. We could do as we pleased together, and we could do it without fear of censure. After all, although many of the dead are quite inclined towards the telling of tales, these particular corpses are silent. You must take care not be seen. There are people who would frown on any love that might blossom between us, and I suspect that they would try to crush that blossom as it grew. Some of them would even try to have you killed. I know that you are the sort of man who will gamble on long odds for the right prize, and I know that I am certainly worth dying for, but I’d rather you lived for me instead. Try not to get caught. I have told my courier not to wait for a reply. If he lingers, just shove him out into the street. Your body is the only reply that I require. Come to me or stay at home, and I shall consider that your response to my missive. With mild optimism, Isrella d’Folgari ————————– I obeyed her. How could I do anything else? I had plans for the day; I canceled them at once. I spent it preparing instead. I bathed three times, just to be sure that I was clean. I had my hair cut to match the latest fashion. I did not know if she would care, but at the very least I hoped she would appreciate the effort. There was no harm in trying. That took most of the day. Night was falling by the time that I was ready, but that suited me perfectly well. I slipped out of my home and joined the throng in the street. I got close to her family’s tombs, and I placed a veil of mourning upon my head in the hope that it would hide me from observation. Who gives a second thought to a mourner beside a tomb? Isrella did, as it happened. She had gotten there before me. I did not see her as I slipped past the gate, but I have since learned that she had been lurking in a corner. She followed me, and she came up behind me as I settled down to wait beside a sarcophagus. She ripped the veil from my head and laugh. “Come now, Nizream. If the thought of seeing me sent you into mourning, you could have stayed home!” “I do not mourn for your presence,” I said, “but because I was afraid you would not come!” She laughed at me again. I will not say how we spent the rest of the evening, for some things should stay private, but I will say that she laughed a great deal more that night. I mustered all of my charm, my good looks, and my wit to seduce her, and I think that I succeeded. At the very least, I proved that I was better than my competition. She told me that her father had been working to arrange a marriage for her, so that he could seal some sort of deal with a business associate. The man was rather unpleasant, so naturally Isrella wanted to avoid him. Apparently she had been planning to have him killed, but I presented her with a much better alternative. We plotted a plot to secure our marriage. Her father would never approve of it, but we agreed that his approval was not strictly necessary. After all, the city of smog has higher authorities than him. All that we needed was a way to get their attention and to force them to intervene. Fortunately for us, we had just the thing to do it. The plan was a little bit risky for me. Trusting Isrella to do her part was easy. If she betrayed me, I would die, but I would also wish to die, so that was no great concern. Her brother was another matter entirely. I liked the man, but how many men have stopped to admire the beauty of a snake before it bit them? There was no way to be sure. It was still an easy choice. What good would it do me to pass up my chance at Isrella because I was not willing to risk my life? None at all. The choice was made, and Isrella was pleased with my decision. We parted that night with a kiss, and we began to work towards our marriage. ———— It took a few days, but soon everything was ready. Guards were bribed, gangs were hired, and weapons were procured. It took almost every last coin that I had, but it was worth it. After all, I could always win more gold, but lovers are very hard to replace. The bright midday sun shed its light upon the smog as I walked down the street. I had a sword at my hip, and I found myself constantly running my fingers over the hilt. It was blunt, of course. There was not going to be any killing today, as long as everything went well. I pushed through a crowd and saw Halzio waiting for me. He was leaning on a lamp on the corner of the street. He was smoking a pipe, but he threw it onto the ground as soon as he saw me. He shouted, and all around us the people stopped to listen to the commotion. “Nizream d’Valenzi! Stay where you are! I have business with you.” He stood up straight and swaggered over to me. He flipped his cape aside to reveal a sword, he tipped his hat at every lady that he passed, and be sketched a mocking bow at me. There was even a hunting horn strapped to his belt. He looked every bit like a pompous lordling. I would say that he played his part well, but to this day I’m not sure that he was playing a part at all. He called out to me as loudly as he could. “I have heard rumors, my little friend, that you have been getting ideas above your station.” “And what rumors are those? The ones about how everyone thinks that I am prettier than you? Or have you been listening to liars again?” “Rumors about my sister. I’m sure you’ve heard them.” This was my moment, the one where I had to make the gossips pay attention. Everyone had to hear me say it. I laughed as loudly as I could. I cackled like a fool. When everyone was watching, I looked my friend right in the eye and gave my response. “Your sister is not above my station at all. In fact, I think she would agree that her station is below me!” He roared and went for his sword. I drew mine as well, and I took a step back. I turned to the crowd and I shouted for my hirelings. “Come, come! This man thinks a title and a fancy cape make him a leader! Come out and show him what real fighters can do!” My men came running out of their hiding places. Some leaped out from the crowd, some burst out from buildings, and a few came running up from farther down the street. Halzio laughed at me then, and he put his hunting horn to his lips. A clear note rang out, and his own men came running from the other end of the street. Our gangs came to blows, and we crossed swords in the midst of it. There was no bloodshed. Not one man among us had a sharp weapon, but the crowds did not know that. A few screamed. More cheered. Most were content to watch us in silence as we played at fighting. We did not do it for long. The sound of feminine sobs soon reached our ears, and the sound of marching guards soon followed. The sounds were coming from Isrella and our bribed guards. I could hear her weeping and wailing as she told the guards that her brother and her lover were fighting over her, and that she was terrified that we might kill each other. They broke up our fight at once. We did not resist. The guards decided that our fight was a serious matter, largely because we had paid them to do so. Such a matter clearly warranted the warlord’s personal attention, and so they took us to meet him. ————– The warlord was not pleased to see us. I had never met the man before, but he had a reputation for harsh suppression of public disturbances. I hoped that it was true, and that Halzio could play his part well. He interrogated each of us alone, but that did not matter. We had all planned our stories in advance. I told the truth, that I had no grudge against him or any other person, but that I did love Isrella as deeply as anyone can love another. Halzio and Isrella both maintained that the whole problem was their father’s doing, and that had ordered Halzio to kill me because I was Isrella’s lover. The guards merely testified that neither of us seemed to be putting our hearts into the fight. The warlord sent for their father immediately. I am told that he professed complete ignorance of the whole affair. In fairness, that would mean that he told the truth, but the warlord did not believe him. He put the pair of us in a room together, and made his intentions clear. “Gentlemen, you are going to end this fight, or I will end it for you. I will leave this room for five minutes. When I return, you will tell me what settlement you have reached. If you have the nerve to tell me that you haven’t reached one, I cut off your heads. I will see your shortly.” On that note, he left me alone with my lover’s father. The man hated me, and thought that I should have nothing to do with her. I’m sure that many men had been in this situation before me, but it was still a terribly unpleasant experience for me. There were a few seconds of silence before he turned to me. “Could I convince you to kill yourself, d’Valenzi?” “I’m afraid not. Could I convince you to let me marry your daughter?” “You’d have a better chance of marrying Nifilhema. What will it cost me to get you to leave us alone?” “I’m not interested in your money. “You’re a gambler, aren’t you? Your kind is always interested in money.” That was the most marvelous opening that I could have hoped for. I had expected to talk him around to the topic of gambling, but he handed it to me on a silver platter! “I’m a gambler. I’m interested in excitement, especially of the sort that your daughter can provide. I’ll make a deal. We settle this with a game of dice for her. If I win, we marry. If I lose, I part company with her forever.” “I think,” he said, as he thought it over, “that you are risking less than me.” I looked at him with a mournful expression on my face. “I am certain that our parting would fill me with such sorrow that I would drink hemlock within an hour of it.” That pleased him. We had a bargain. The warlord gladly accepted our proposal, and arranged for us to play in the evening, in the company of whatever witnesses we cared to invite. ———- The rules were simple. Each of us had a cup of six-sided dice. We would roll those dice and conceal the result from our opponent. Then, we would take it in turns to guess the number of dice with a certain face on the table. Each guess had to involve either more dice or a higher face than the last. When we believed that our opponent had guessed more of a face than was present, we would say so and check. If the guess exceeded the number rolled, that one who challenged it would win. If not, the one who made it would win. A hard game to cheat in, but one that still involved a great deal of skill. We were not allowed to speak to each other outside of making our guesses, in the hope of avoiding conflict, so I rolled my dice in silence. One of each number. There are no worse results. This left me with a choice. I could play it safe and allow my opponent to direct the bidding, in the hope of getting more information about what he had rolled. On the other hand, I could feign confidence and open with a bluff. That would give me the initiative, and an opportunity to force him into making an unlikely guess. Safety, or danger? Danger. I was playing for the highest of all possible stakes, so I could not give my foe a chance to guess at my poor position. I bid three fives, because it was a plausible roll for a single person, but left very few ways to safely increase the bid. He answered with a bid of four fives. That meant that he probably had a few of his own, or else that he had no sixes. I raised the bid to six fives immediately, in case he took hesitation of a sign that I was contemplating a lie. I smiled, as though I was daring him to challenge my guess. He backed down, as I hoped that he would. Magnagoran lords do not live long if they lack caution. He slowly placed a bid of seven fives. That was a reasonable bid if he thought that I had actually rolled a large number of them, and he had one or two to add to the count. But I knew that we could only have that many if all of his dice had been fives. Possible, but unlikely. I could have increased my bid to be sure that it was impossible, but he likely would have contested my claim. I didn’t dare give him that chance. I smiled, and hoped that I was not making a mistake as I spoke. “You are a liar, my friend. There are not so many fives on the table.” I cast aside my cup, and he saw what I had rolled. He turned pale, and then he turned red, and he shook with rage. He gripped his cup so tightly that it cracked in his hand, and he threw it away before storming out of the room. I had won my bride, and I saw no reason to wait on the ceremony. Halzio had the foresight to bring a priest to the competition, and thus Isrella married me at the very site of my victory. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** January 2017 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [A Collaborative Correspondence](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/a-collaborative-correspondence/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** 96 ——- Act I ——- The scene is dark and indistinct, like a hazy deep blue twilight, still as a winter’s eve. Slowly, it brightens to show an airy laboratory, high up in a tower overlooking a crystal city. \* SCENE 1: An airy crystal laboratory This is a spacious, domed room with smooth white walls. There is a certain sterile impression to the surroundings: the entire laboratory is furnished in clear crystal, from the smooth, frosted crystal floor to the gleaming countertops. Utilitarian blocks of pale blue crystal form unassuming chairs for the inhabitants to sit at, and odd-looking panels with flashing lights are set into the walls. A crystal prism projects upon the ceiling a representation of the planar spheres. A large, arched window overlooks a sweeping panorama of the empty sky, with the indistinct glitter of a city below. \* COSTUME: Professor Edbik Oolin Edbik Oolin is a tall, severe-looking lucidian man, with pale and translucent crystalline skin, short quartz hair, and a seemingly perpetual expression of vague disapproval. He is dressed in an austere white laboratory coat, and an array of gems spins in an orderly manner around him. ENTER: Edbik Oolin, silently. The light outside the window is pale and cool, suggesting an early morning. The laboratory seems deserted: there is hardly any motion at all, apart from the periodic beeping of a panel. If not for the slow motion of a crystal prism in the centre of the room, the laboratory might seem almost frozen in time. A white-winged dove suddenly dives through the arched window, depositing a letter neatly in the middle of the nearest countertop, before perching itself on a construct of blue crystal behind the counter, ruffling its wings in a satisfied manner. EDBIK (in a cool monotone that nevertheless manages to convey displeasure): What a feathered nuisance. The blue crystal shifts and rises – it is no construct, but a lucidian, who slowly stands to his full height, dusting off his white laboratory robes. He swats at the dove, which takes to the air again, flapping indignantly, before Edbik stares suspiciously at the letter. EDBIK (to himself): I hope it is not from the Dean. Or the Board. Or the undergraduates. EDBIK grabs a nearby scalpel and neatly slices the top of the envelope open, before unfolding the paper within and quickly scanning it. EDBIK: ‘Dear Professor Oolin… trust this missive finds you well’, yes, fine, ‘follower of your work on planar sciences’ – hmm – ‘spherical nature of elemental geography on the Earth and Water planes’ – more toric, actually…” EDBIK continues to read the letter, even as he absently pats around the counter. At length, his hand finds a stray quill, which he picks up. EDBIK yells: Saraneh! Outgoing correspondence! EDBIK: ‘Believe that it would be possible to cross any two points using this same principle’ – bah, bending the aethers like that? One would likely need a Nexus of Power. Unsound science! EDBIK yells: Saraneh! Dead silence reigns in the room. No answer seems to be forthcoming. EDBIK: Never mind, then… where is my delivery sphere? EDBIK rummages around under the laboratory counters, clearly looking for something, before he emerges triumphantly with a glowing sphere that bobs obediently in the air before him. As Edbik continues to read the letter aloud, inserting various interjections and commentary on its contents, the scene shimmers briefly, growing hazy and indistinct, and his voice fades until it suddenly merges into another: a woman’s voice, soft and mellifluous, though speaking the same words. A soft female voice: …your input would be greatly valued by myself and all my colleagues here in Celest. Sincerely, Aliynth Sinenth, Archivist of the Celestines. As the voice finishes speaking, the scene suddenly comes into focus again, now depicting somewhere completely different: a cosy pearl-adorned study, with a dignified merian woman sitting behind a desk piled high with books. \* SCENE 2: A cosy pearl-adorned study \* COSTUME: Aliynth Sinenth Though faint laugh lines cross this middle-aged merian woman’s face, her strong, regular features are still striking to the eye, though one would describe her as handsome rather than beautiful. Sharp brown eyes look out at the world, and her face is the cool, delicate blue of the ocean shallows. She wears a patterned blue robe and a necklace of green seaweed. \* COSTUME: Telahi Ladyn This young merian woman exudes a bubbling exuberence rivalled only by the actual bubbles that she occasionally idly pops forth from her mouth. Her skin and finned ears are a turquoise blue, and she bears a small seashell tattoo on her collarbone. Her attire is simple though well-made, and she bears a satchel slung jauntily across one shoulder. ENTER: Aliynth Sinenth, silently. A knock sounds at the study door. ALIYNTH looks up from her desk, where she is fiddling idly with a small white seashell in her hands, blinking at the interruption. “Come in,” she says. \* PROP: A small white seashell There is nothing particularly unusual about this small seashell, which is of a comfortable size to fit in the palm of a hand. It is a pleasingly regular fan shape, and is a pure and snowy white in colour. ENTER: Telahi Ladyn, bearing scrolls and missives in her arms. ALIYNTH (Raising an eyebrow): Ah, Telahi. Any news for me? TELAHI (Sounding dubious): Well, they’re still holding council up at the Palace, and now there’s some kind of delegation from the south that just arrived. I’m not entirely sure what the situation is there. But there is a letter that just arrived for you from Hallifax. ALIYNTH seems to notice Telahi’s skepticism. “Why do you look like that?” she asks curiously, even as she reaches her hand out. TELAHI (Handing the missive over): This is the letter, mentor. The two women look blankly at the letter for a moment, taking in its rumpled appearance in slight disbelief. \* PROP: Edbik’s note This note is scrawled on a dog-eared, unevenly torn sheet of graph paper. It is not sealed, and is apparently much the worse for rain. Between the splotches of running ink, one brief line can be seen clearly: “Apologies. Have no time for this. E. Oolin.” On the back is a complicated graph with various runes along the axes. TELAHI: Yes. It appears to be a corner torn off a laboratory graph. Fortunately for him – or I suppose unfortunately for us – the data doesn’t seem to be that interesting. ALIYNTH (Glancing briefly at the paper): It is highly unethical to take other scholars’ data, in any case. TELAHI fixes Aliynth with a long, skeptical stare, raising an eyebrow. “It doesn’t count as taking if they give it to you. And since when were you Lady Saintly?” ALIYNTH smiles a sudden, impish smile that makes her look much younger than she is. “Since the data relates to the effects of aeonics aging on the breeding habits of the mountain rockeater,” she says. “In other words, nothing we would publish on.” TELAHI regards the note with a sort of horrified fascination. “You were able to tell that with a glance?” she asks, before cutting herself off. “Never mind that – what exactly are the effects of aeonics on the breeding habits of the mountain rockeater?” ALIYNTH (Cheerfully): The older the rockeaters get, the less they feel like breeding. We could probably have told Professor Oolin that, and saved him the trouble. Aliynth and Telahi look at the sheet of paper some more, the same look of perturbed fascination still on their faces. TELAHI: So… is there a secret code somewhere? A message hidden in a corner? ALIYNTH: I don’t think so. I do think this is all it says. ALIYNTH smiles wryly as she reads aloud, ‘Apologies. Have no time for this. E. Oolin.’ ALIYNTH shakes her head. “Well, that’s that, I suppose.” A glowing sphere darts through the study door, and deposits another letter into Aliynth’s hands. This one is printed on thick, creamy paper, with an official-looking seal on it. \* PROP: Official letter An impressive-looking missive on thick, heavy paper, this letter is sealed with red wax bearing a complex insignia. TELAHI gives Aliynth a significant look. “Well?” she asks. “Are you going to open it?” ALIYNTH opens the letter and quickly scans it, before dissolving into laughter. TELAHI looks expectantly at Aliynth for an explanation. ALIYNTH shakes her head, still laughing, and hands Telahi the letter instead. TELAHI (Reading aloud): ‘Please accept our sincere apologies on behalf of Professor Oolin… possesses blunt temperament… previous short missive to you is a statement regarding his busy schedule and is in no way intended to reflect on the merits of your proposal.’ Another glowing sphere drifts through the window. Unlike its predecessor, this one sways unsteadily from side to side under the weight of a large parcel. Unceremoniously, it drops the parcel in Aliynth’s lap, then makes an odd chirping noise, sounding vaguely disgruntled. Its mission complete, it bobs up and down briefly before darting back out the window with a relieved air. ALIYNTH: Oof. That’s heavy. ALIYNTH unwraps the package, revealing a stack of heavy books, their pages marked with colourful slips of paper bearing notes. She pulls one out to inspect it. ALIYNTH (reading): ‘Please note page 238, paragraph 5, which contradicts your theory of planar travel.’ Well, that was fast. TELAHI: What now? ALIYNTH smiles suddenly. “Now we prove him wrong.” ALIYNTH and TELAHI exit silently. \* SCENE 3: High above the Basin of Life Far in the distance are the jagged teeth of mountains, and the warm green expanse of the Serenwilde lies to the west, contrasting with the cool, regular towers of Hallifax to the east. Below, the ocean glitters like an expanse of diamonds. The stage goes dark, and then brightens again, though nothing can be seen upon it but a fine white mist. Suddenly, as if blown by a great gust of wind, the mist clears, showing a magnificent bird’s eye view of the Basin of Life. Avechna’s Peak looms in the north, and the major rivers of the Basin glitter like silver skeins. Celest lies gleaming and jewel-like in the lap of the land, contrasting with the gentle green of Serenwilde in spring, and far to the east, the cold glitter of Hallifax. The sun rides swiftly across the sky, sinking in the far west. The moon rises silver in the east, casting the Basin in its gentle glimmer, before the cycle continues, marking the passage of time. A dove darts across the stage, flying from the walls of Celest to the northeast. A soft female voice (Sounding aggrieved): …dismisses too soon the prospect of near-instant planar travel, which ought to be possible according to your own observations – is not the plane of Water an endless expanse joined to itself? What is to stop one from travelling by joining one’s own location briefly to a different location? A glowing sphere floats the other way. A cool male voice: …neglects the impossibility of shaping planes the way you suggest… As the days blur together, the voices continue. The wind catches snatches of their words, even as the messengers bear their correspondence across the Basin, and the verdant green of the Basin darkens to the riotous growth of summer. A soft female voice (earnestly): …each man or woman a vessel in themselves, able to cross the expanse of the world… A cool male voice: …mere wishful thinking… will be out of laboratory for the next three days to attend a discussion on the recent mining dispute… A soft female voice (With some satisfaction): Refer, for example, to Uliud Nerale’s Treatise on Planar Dimensions, Chapter Five – A cool male voice: …is not without merit; however, the power necessary for the deed would be tremendous. As time passes, the verdant green of the forest to the north begins to shade to gold and then to a bright, fiery blaze of orange and red. A soft female voice: …will be absent for coming week, as I have been summoned to the Palace for testimony about the procedures of a proposed project… my preliminary calculations show… A cool male voice: …insufficient to change the shape of an entire plane… The first touch of winter comes over the land, and the rich colours of autumn fade to the pale grey of barren branches and fallow fields. The messenger birds still fly, and the spheres seem not to notice the cold. A soft female voice (With sudden excitement): …need not influence entire planes. Think of it not as a warping of the aethers, but as a piercing: the space that one’s own self occupies being suddenly brought adjacent to somewhere entirely new… A cool male voice: Yes. ——- ACT II ——- The scene fades in an indistinct flurry of wintry snowflakes. When the snow clears, the stage once more depicts the crystalline laboratory of Edbik Oolin. Golden sunlight slants through the window, marking the hour as late afternoon. \* SCENE 4: an airy crystal laboratory EDBIK enters silently. EDBIK is here, bent over a countertop, his reserved features unusually intent as he pores over a scholarly-looking ledger. With a crackle, the aetherwaves come to life. There is static, and behind the static, the distant sound of people shouting. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Are you there? Hello?” EDBIK starts briefly, clearly not expecting to be contacted at this time. EDBIK (evenly): Yes, Dr. Sinenth. I am here. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “I’m sending you all my notes and all the books I’ve pulled from the city library for our project. Hold on to them. Keep them safe. Don’t tell anyone!” EDBIK stands up suddenly, his reading forgotten. He speaks aloud, even as his brow furrows in concentration at the aetherwaves. EDBIK (With the briefest hint of unease): Dr. Sinenth, is all well with you? To what do I owe this sudden delivery? (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “No. No, all is not well. By the Nine, I have an honest-to-goodness mob at my door – Telahi, shutter those windows!” (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “They’ve been hearing tales of doom, and they want to stop the research, never mind that our project has nothing to do with – “ The aetherwaves begin to crackle, distorted by static. There is a clatter, as if something – or a pile of somethings – has toppled over. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “I’m not even in that department, you idiots!” The sudden sound of breaking glass resounds throughout the room, followed by silence. EDBIK yells: Aliynth? Aliynth! \* COSTUME: SARANEH GOLDFEATHER This trill woman is confident and composed, with a clipboard in hand and a cool, crisp manner, though a trace of mischief occasionally dances behind her eyes. Her mouth is wide and turns up at the corners, giving her an impression of a perpetual faint smile. She is wearing a clerical uniform, and her head feathers are held back out of her face by a jewelled hairpin. SARANEH Goldfeather enters, drawn by the sound of Edbik’s voice. SARANEH: Professor? EDBIK does not turn around to look at her. He is staring mutely instead at nothing, his body flushed an uncertain shade of grey. EDBIK whispers: Aliynth? SARANEH takes in Edbik’s expression, and runs a hand through her head feathers. “You should return to your quarters, Professor,” she says, not ungently. “The undergraduates will keep. I will let the Dean know that you will not be here today.” EDBIK seems to come out of a stupor. He blinks his crystalline eyes slowly, shaking his head at Saraneh. “My duties,” he begins, as he starts to pulsate in hues of ruby, emerald and sapphire. “I do not have the time to – “ SARANEH: You are going to stand here, in this city, in this Institute, and say that of all things you lack time? EDBIK grows even stiller than before, turning slightly away from Saraneh, the colourful shades fading to a deep amber. SARANEH: At least ask after her. The authorities in Celest will have a handle on it by now. EDBIK: One’s concern for colleagues ought not to interfere with – SARANEH: Edbik. You’ve never been able to work with any colleagues before. You barely notice their existence. You do not concern yourself with their successes. You are, I believe, what the Dean calls a bad collectivist. EDBIK: What is the meaning of your stating these facts? SARANEH: I mean that you should take the day off and find out what happened to your Dr. Sinenth. EDBIK (After a moment): It is most unusual for a member of the bureaucrats to order around a scientist. SARANEH: I am a most unusual bureaucrat. SARANEH rummages around in a drawer and produces a thick sheaf of papers, before taking up a quill and going through the stack with brisk efficiency. SARANEH: I will take care of the paperwork. EDBIK blinks at the papers, before leaning forward to take a closer look. Saraneh ignores him completely, instead scribbling something with a flourish. EDBIK (peering): Is that my signature? SARANEH (unrepentantly): Yes. EDBIK: Clearly they should have done a more thorough job of your re-education when you returned to us from the wilds. SARANEH: Nevertheless. EDBIK: (Appearing to waver slightly) Nevertheless… A flock of white-winged doves soars through the open window, depositing a bewildering array of hastily-filled boxes on the countertop in front of Edbik. EDBIK’s uncertain expression settles into something more fixed, almost mulish. He turns away from Saraneh and begins to unpack the boxes instead. EDBIK: The best thing that I can do at this juncture would be to fulfil my duties. I have a duty to continue my work. Your input is acknowledged but unnecessary. EDBIK falls silent, a clear dismissal. SARANEH (throwing her hands up in exasperation) Scientists! Lucidians! Lucidian scientists! SARANEH exits, muttering under her breath. EDBIK: methodically sorts out a number of strange looking gadgets from the box: a glowing miniature beacon pulsing with energy, several stacks of books, and a decidedly dog-eared ledger stained with water, which bears a strip of dried seaweed as a bookmark. He flips open the ledger, revealing pages upon pages of intricate diagrams that bewilder the eye. EDBIK’s crystalline form flushes palest pink as he looks at the diagrams, his fingers tracing lightly over the drawings. EDBIK lingers over the book a moment more before setting it aside. He frowns, then slowly opens a drawer and pulls out a sheet of official-looking paper and a quill. He begins to write, murmuring under his breath. EDBIK: To the authorities of Celest… wish to lodge a complaint… inexcusable failure on the part of the city… \* SCENE 5: A seaside infirmary The scene shimmers briefly, becoming somewhere else completely – a bright infirmary, with the sound of sea waves lapping in the background. ALIYNTH is lying in a simple infirmary cot, her face half-turned away. TELAHI sits next to her, seemingly none the worse for wear, with a letter in hand. \* COSTUME: Aliynth Sinenth (Act II) This merian woman possesses strong features are still striking to the eye, though marred by angry red scars on the right side of her face. One finned ear is mangled and mostly missing. Her eyes are no less sharp than before, though her expression is weary, haunted by pain. She wears a simple white infirmary robe, which is loose around her thin frame. TELAHI (reading an official-looking letter): …’inexcusable failure on the part of the city to protect one of the best minds in the Basin’… Goodness, Aliynth, who would have thought that our stolid Professor Oolin was capable of such wrath? ALIYNTH (laughing quietly): What, to write a strongly worded letter? I could well believe it. It’s a very civilised form of wrath, in any case. Unlike some other forms… ALIYNTH goes quiet, as if only now hearing her own words. An uneasy silence settles over the room. Somewhere in the distance, a seagull cries. TELAHI (cautiously): Aliynth, are you quite all right? I know the nights have been difficult. The healers have made you a tonic for the pain. ALIYNTH finally turns her face towards TELAHI and the audience, revealing a series of jagged red scars crawling down her cheek, and the mangled ruin of a finned ear. “It is not the pain that bothers me, dear Telahi. Nor even the scars, though I have never thought myself vain…” ALIYNTH trails off, with a small and wistful smile, before clearing her throat. ALIYNTH: How did you come by the letter, anyway? It’s addressed to the palace, isn’t it? TELAHI: It came into the Chancellor’s keeping somehow, and he gave it to me and said to tell you to call off your friend, and that they’re already doing everything they can to quiet things down. There’s talk of a curfew. ALIYNTH (continuing): That’s no good. Trouble will still be brewing. TELAHI: What are you going to do? ALIYNTH: (Distantly) The best thing I can do is to finish this research as soon as possible. There will be less of an opportunity for trouble, then… (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Dr. Sinenth?” TELAHI (hastily): “I’ll go tell the Chancellor it’s sorted. I’ll see you tomorrow!” TELAHI exits in a swirl of robes, a small smile on her face. ALIYNTH turns her head to look after TELAHI’s departing form in equal parts amusement and resignation, before her wounded cheek grazes the pillow and she winces slightly. ALIYNTH: Yes, Professor? (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “I hope I find you well, after the recent events. It does of course follow without saying that I find the recent state of affairs in Celest a true travesty.” ALIYNTH: (After a moment) I will recover, I think. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Good.” An awkward, painful silence settles on the room, broken only by the faint crackle of static across the aether. ALIYNTH tilts her head back, her expression pensive as she stares at the ceiling. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “You will be pleased to know that all of your notes, as well as the books you have sent to me, are safe within my keeping, far away from the ignorant mob.” ALIYNTH smiles at the words, though her expression is still pained. ALIYNTH: (wryly) The ignorant mob? I do believe that was an adjective. Even more, I could swear that was a subjective opinion you have just voiced, Professor Oolin. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Opinions that are factual are facts. To fear that which is new is ignorance.” A small crease appears in ALIYNTH’s brow as she frowns. “That is… not exactly how I would put it,” she says. ALIYNTH: You see, what they feared had nothing really to do with me. The research we are doing is rather obscure – (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Obscure? On the contrary – “ ALIYNTH (impatiently) Put aside your professional pride for a moment; you know it’s true. Our research team consists of you, me and a host of messenger birds. It’s small, well-documented, and well-contained. Mostly irrelevant. ALIYNTH (continuing) The thing is, they’re not wholly wrong on principle. It’s not just the mob that tells the tale of scientists who sought too much… Gaudiguch is full of madmen who probed too far. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Some things are worth the risk.” ALIYNTH: And other things are not. If we risked everything we’d be dead. If we risked nothing, we might as well be. ALIYNTH laughs mirthlessly. ALIYNTH: But that’s not the problem, is it? Twenty people didn’t charge into my laboratory because they considered the risk of my particular research and deemed it unacceptable. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Is it then the lack of specificity that bothers you?” ALIYNTH (With sudden vehemence): If one is going to hate something, one should at least understand it first. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “I do not believe that one who understood you could hate you.” ALIYNTH: That’s not what I mean. It’s not about me. I am a scholar who lives in this city, and my research looks complex. Guilt by association. Why not blame the entire city next time? (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Why not?” ALIYNTH (breaking into in a startled laugh): That was a rhetorical question, Edbik. But to answer it: because it would be absurd, that’s why. Another silence settles on the room, this one somehow more comfortable. Aliynth turns her head slowly towards the window, gazing at the city outside and frowning as she gazes off into the distance. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Dr. Sinenth, I wish to inform you that, in light of recent concerns about your personal safety, completely irrelevant to the competence or lack thereof of the Celestian authorities and the ability of the city to ensure the personal safety of its citizens – though certainly recent events have cast such in some doubt – I have managed to persuade the Board and the Dean to extend an offer to you to relocate to the Institute for the duration of our research, or until you wish to return to your home.” ALIYNTH (blinking): What? (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “…It is not safe there. Will you come here instead?” A complex look comes over ALIYNTH’s face – surprise, gratification and then regret crossing her expression in quick succession as she turns away from the window. Painfully, she pulls herself up until she is sitting in bed, with her pillow propped against the headboard. ALIYNTH: I’d love to. But I can’t. I need the archives here, as well as my laboratory. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Hallifax’s facilities – “ ALIYNTH (interrupting): Are the newest, yes. But some of what I’m looking for is old. Very old. I think we aren’t the first ones to have tried something like this, and if I can draw on the data of those who came before… I can’t ship the entire library to Hallifax, Edbik. If I’m to do this, I need to stay here. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “The risk – “ ALIYNTH: Some things are worth the risk. You said it yourself. Another long silence. Finally, the aether crackles to life again, softer than it was. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “I do not like it, but I must accept it.” ALIYNTH (staunchly): It won’t be so bad, Edbik. And you’ll be the first thing to know if something happens. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “I will indeed regularly monitor your status.” ALIYNTH (with amusement): You have a gift of making things sound so terrible. And clinical. Terribly clinical. Just – we’ll keep in touch, all right? (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Yes.” ALIYNTH exits, silently. ——- ACT III ——- The scene shifts and shimmers until we see the exterior of a crystal tower, soaring sharp-edged and austere into the sky. The tower is awash in the sounds of efficient activity: the low susurration of calm conversation, a regular beep from one of the lower floors, and the steady hum of a generator. From one of the upper floors, a woman’s laugh rings out, clear and mirthful. As if following the sound, the scene shifts yet again to show Edbik’s laboratory, where Aliynth’s voice is floating across the aethers. \* SCENE 6: An airy crystal laboratory (ACT III) This is a spacious, domed room with smooth white walls. There is a certain sterile impression to the surroundings: the entire laboratory is furnished in clear crystal, from the smooth, frosted crystal floor to the gleaming countertops. A crystal prism has been moved to one side of the room to make space for a number of boxes scattered haphazardly across the floor. A large, arched window overlooks a sweeping panorama of the empty sky, with the indistinct glitter of a city below. EDBIK enters, silently. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “So then I looked at the Chancellor, and said to him, ‘Why don’t you just eat some kafe?'” EDBIK is seated next to one of the countertops, books and ledgers scattered around him. Though his posture is as rigid as ever and he says nothing at the joke, he is flushed a cheery citrine yellow. EDBIK: I am highly surprised that you live to tell the tale. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Well, we’re not as much for protocol as you lot. Though I still didn’t manage to get out of having to go with the rest of the Academy on their trip later this year. Something about logistics and security. Maybe it’ll be interesting.” EDBIK: (Managing somehow to sound more serious than before, though his even tone appears completely unchanged): If things had gone according to my preference you would be here instead. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Well, it’s worked out so far, hasn’t it? We’ve made good progress.” EDBIK: It is not the duty of a scientist to put herself in danger. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Really? You’ve never had a scientist have to investigate a generator meltdown, or try to find a cure for plague? That seems pretty dangerous.” EDBIK (a little helplessly): That is completely different. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Ha. A statement of opinion. Besides, it’s not duty that keeps me here, you know.” EDBIK tilts his head, seemingly not realizing that Aliynth cannot see him, his body flickering pale green as he awaits elaboration. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Haven’t you ever felt the thrill of being on the cusp of a new discovery? That we’re venturing forth into an unknown world, and the prize is finding something that will make a difference. Someday we’ll be more than we are.” EDBIK (uncertainly): I… had not considered the question. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “You are thinking that I am emotional about this. But why else would we become scholars?” EDBIK (quietly): I do not think I ever really chose. My family has been in the Institute for generations. And though all have their place within this city, some of us are a little more well-placed than others. EDBIK: I suppose I could have been a bureaucrat, or joined the Sentinel Company. But people would have been disappointed, which is almost as bad as being disapproving. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Oh. I didn’t know that.” EDBIK: It is all right. I did not choose, but I am content in my duty. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Well, for me it was the opposite way around, I guess. House Sinenth rose to fame and power because of art and entertainment, and that’s what my family expected all of us to excel in. I did a good deal of dramatics, when I was younger. EDBIK turns a hazy shade of grey, looking about himself uncertainly. “Dramatics?” (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “The stage, you heathen. Don’t you watch plays?” EDBIK glances down for a moment, expressionless. EDBIK: No. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “That’s probably just as well, or you’d have seen… hm. ‘The Swashbuckling Adventures of Gib Gnizzle, Gnome Genius.’ Or ‘The Comedy of Juliara the Odd-Handed.’ The props were particularly well done on the latter, I thought.” EDBIK stares out the window for a long time. “Such things exist? We would never permit something so frivolous.” (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Oh, yes. Very popular too, among the people. Your theater scene is a bit more restrained. Though I thought you said you didn’t watch plays?” EDBIK flushes a pale red in embarrassment, the ruddy tones washing through his crystalline body. EDBIK: I – you are devious. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Hush. It’s all right to like things.” EDBIK: You sound as though you liked the stage. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “I did. I was good at it, too – I wonder if I can still do it.” Across the aethers, ALIYNTH’s voice suddenly changes to a high, clear, girlish tone, declaiming as if on the stage. Then, it takes on a dark, gravelly note as she abruptly switches to a different persona, before ending in the soft, cool voice of an imperious queen. EDBIK flickers an alarmed orange at Aliynth’s impressions, before relaxing once more as his crystal grows clear again. EDBIK: Why did you leave it behind? A small silence settles across the room, cool and thoughtful. When Aliynth speaks again, her voice is quieter than usual. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “I suppose playing the part of explorers and scholars and dashing adventurers became less interesting, after a while, than trying to actually become one. I had the urge to leave behind something useful. Something lasting.” EDBIK: It is an altruistic urge. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “If you must classify it so. I would call it a love of one’s work. So you see, it’s not duty that impels me to run towards danger.” EDBIK says nothing, but instead reaches out to fiddle with one of the impossibly-shaped crystal mechanisms on the countertop. EDBIK: Well, our research is stalled, in any case. I haven’t been able to refine the process of isolating the aether pathways at all. It takes an unreasonably long amount of time to run the calculations to determine the precise location of the destination. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Well, we don’t want to mess that up. You might arrive in the middle of a solid mountain.” EDBIK: Among other problems. How can we ensure that the destination is valid? (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “What are you using as the reference point for your coordinates?” EDBIK: The Matrix, of course. A rueful, long-suffering sigh drifts across the aethers. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Is there any reason that needs to be the reference point, as opposed to a movable marker of some sort?” EDBIK: Hmm. Hmm. Though one would then need to construct an arbitrarily large number of them to use. EDBIK stares out of the window with a frown. Outside, the city glitters with all the colours of the rainbow. A pair of birds-of-paradise soar past, each flying in wide circles around its mate. EDBIK (suddenly): Or a person. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “And then you wouldn’t need to calculate the trajectory at all, merely focus on a familiar vibration in the aether – “ EDBIK begins to flicker erratically, cycling through all the colours of the rainbow in his excitement. EDBIK (in an unusually loud voice): Yes! (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Wait – proof of concept – “ EDBIK jerks suddenly, the air around him filling with sparkling motes of light. A tiny portal appears in the room, a gash in the fabric of the planes, out of which drops a small object. The room is suddenly filled with the fresh scent of a sea breeze, and the echoing sound of ocean waves. Aliynth’s voice, when next she speaks, is full of glee. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “There, did you see that? Was that not worth the risk?” EDBIK bends down slowly to pick up the object. It is a small white seashell, worn smooth by time and tide. The flickering hues beneath his skin fade into quiescence as he stares at it – to be replaced, sudden as a breaking dawn, by an intense rosy quartz. EDBIK: All good things are. Dr. Sinenth – Aliynth – will you enter into an interpersonal relationship of a romantic nature with me? (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “I – well – but you’ve never even seen me.” EDBIK: Irrelevant. Seeing and knowing are not the same. And you have not answered the question. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Yes.” EDBIK exits silently. ——- ACT IV ——- \* SCENE 7: Tasteful living quarters in the Sinenth estate This room is open and airy, with a high roof supported by fluted marble pillars. Wide, glass-paned doors lead outside to a semicircular balcony overlooking the sea. The room itself is tastefully yet lavishly decorated, with a mosaic floor done in sea-glass and gold, and frescoes of dolphins upon the walls. The elegance of the room is somewhat spoiled by the truly alarming amount of things draped across every available piece of furniture, and a large, overstuffed suitcase sitting on the floor. \* COSTUME: Aliynth Sinenth (Act IV) Angry red scars cross this merian’s face, though the shadow of old pain has faded from it. Despite the scars, this middle-aged merian woman still looks imposing, though there is a touch of fond softness to the set of her mouth, and a small smile often flickers across her lips. She wears a practical tunic and trousers, and a warm blue travelling cloak is slung across her shoulders. ALIYNTH enters silently. ALYINTH is here, sitting amidst piles of books, clothing and complicated-looking gadgets, frowning slightly as she tries to fit everything into a suitcase. From somewhere off the stage, TELAHI yells, “Aliynth! Hurry up, it’s almost time.” ALIYNTH makes a vexed sound. ALIYNTH: I should not have left this until the last day. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “You have no one to blame but yourself, dear.” ALIYNTH (wryly): On the contrary, I blame you for encouraging Telahi to drag me off to rest. I was going to do this yesterday. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Three o’clock this morning is not yesterday.” ALIYNTH: Don’t you know it’s not tomorrow until you sleep? (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “That makes no sense. There is no temporal field currently known that is determined by sleep.” ALIYNTH laughs, a trillingly melodic sound, tilting her head back in mirth. Though the scars still show angry and red upon her cheek, she somehow looks younger and softer. ALIYNTH: I wish I’d had time to visit you before this. What’s the point of inventing instant travel if you don’t make use of it? (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “We could not have been sure of your safety before we ran the latest tests.” ALIYNTH: Yes, I know. I agreed with that, remember? You needn’t sound so aghast. (Project Teleport): Edbik says, “Also, you wished for the first instance of travel to be performed in front of your entire department. ALIYNTH: Ha, yes. That’ll show the big wigs up in the Academy. My opposition to their little project hasn’t made me any friends, since that proposal came straight from the top. The Chancellor has been making disapproving noises about wasted budgets and dead-end research in my direction for weeks. ALIYNTH (with a sudden, impish smile): Perhaps I haven’t left my past in dramatics behind quite as much as I thought. TELAHI yells, “Aliynth!” ALIYNTH: Yes, I’m coming! ALIYNTH looks at the suitcase, then shakes her head and shuts the lid, before sitting down on it vigorously, her cloak swirling around her as she does so. The suitcase snaps shut with a click, and she heaves it up and quickly begins to walk. \* SCENE 8: A bustling city square White cobblestones pave this bustling city square in the heart of Celest, the bright morning light lending everything a slightly golden tinge. In the middle of the square, a large group is gathered, dressed for travel, though at present people are milling around talking to one another. A few orclach warriors are standing watchfully around the group, furled blue banners in hand. The scene shifts behind her as she walks, briefly showing the green gardens and white paths of the Sinenth estate, before she arrives at a pleasant city square. A vast number of people are gathered there, milling about haphazardly, most dressed for the road. Most of them are merian, though all the races of the Basin are represented, from taurian to orclach. ALIYNTH quickly takes her place among them, as the entire column begins to move out, down the broad city streets and to the harbour, where a fleet of ships awaits. As the expedition boards the ships, the orclach warrior standing behind Aliynth unfurls a bold blue banner, blazoned in gold with the words EXPEDITION COSMIC HOPE. As the ships start sailing, the scene draws back, until the white sails are no more than small specks moving across the blue like birds in flight, which soon merges into the image of actual birds in flight across a bright sky. As the birds swoop lower, Edbik’s crystal tower comes into sight once more. \* SCENE 8: An airy crystal laboratory (ACT IV) This is a spacious, domed room with smooth white walls. There is a certain sterile impression to the surroundings: the entire laboratory is furnished in clear crystal, from the smooth, frosted crystal floor to the gleaming countertops. A pile of books and letters are stacked neatly on the nearest countertop, and a wide, empty space has been cleared in the middle of the floor, where the outline of a pentagram is drawn upon the tiles. A large, arched window overlooks a sweeping panorama of the empty sky, with the indistinct glitter of a city below. EDBIK (tentatively): Aliynth? Is it time? (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Almost. We’ll wait for them to finish their attempt first, I guess – only the Emperor and his immediate circle are actually going up to Shallamar to pierce the Supra Plane, the rest of us are just observers here in Magnagora City. Have you made the preparations?” EDBIK: Yes. I’ve enchanted my robes insofar as possible against the damage. I am also raising a greater pentagram as we speak, so that no one can enter and interrupt the process. EDBIK raises a hand and begins to trace the shape of a pentagram across the floor, following the outline already drawn in charcoal. Streams of shimmering power cascade from his fingers, and energy swirls through the air. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Just think. Fates willing, soon we’ll be together.” EDBIK says nothing, though his precise motions slow just a fraction, the energy that wreathes his fingers mingled with a soft rosy hue that rises in him. He finishes the pentagram, which flashes with sudden power. A sudden, unnatural silence spreads across the stage. The daily sounds of life – the birdsong outside, the unending hum of energy through the tower, the sound of wind – falter briefly, as if a great weight has fallen across the world. Far below and to the south, where Magnagora stands, something begins to glow with an otherworldly intensity. A great, deafening crack resounds throughout the world, and the light is suddenly changed to darkness. On the horizon, a cloud of roiling black smoke rises. EDBIK: What just occurred? I am coming to join you. (Project Teleport): Aliynth says, “Light preserve us! Telahi, get back! No – let me through, damn you! NO!” Through the aethers, a woman’s sobbing scream echoes. EDBIK yells: “Aliynth!” With a sudden, decisive gesture, EDBIK draws himself up as he searches the air in front of him, then tugs upon an invisible strand of force. SARANEH rushes into the laboratory. SARANEH: Something has gone terribly wrong with the Cosmic Hope expedition – all faculty are summoned immediately by the Dean. SARANEH is stopped short by the force of the pentagram. She pushes against it, to no avail, then begins to pound her fists against the force. A slight distortion begins to form around EDBIK’s form, which is flickering a dark and stormy grey. Outside, the day grows darker, the ominous shadow growing bigger on the horizon. SARANEH (yelling): Professor, you can’t possibly mean to go through with this now! EDBIK says nothing, his face a picture of concentration as he works. SARANEH (pleading): You are running into danger. EDBIK: Yes. EDBIK turns translucent and then vanishes, leaving behind nothing but sparkling motes of light. With his departure, the pentagram fades, and Saraneh rushes into the room, but it is too late. Outside, the winds begin to howl, a great shrieking cacophony. Sirens begin to blare. The tower shakes, and Saraneh grabs the counter to stay upright. The crystal counter tilts and overbalances with a crash, shattering into shards and spilling its contents across the floor: ledgers fall open, displaying rows upon rows of crabbed handwriting, and crystalline gadgets lie smashed to smithereens. And letters: reams and reams of letters in a fluid, graceful hand, fluttering through the air like falling leaves. An unfamiliar voice crackles through the aethers. (Institute): A stern female voice says, “This is Dean Taroch speaking. Have you located Professor Edbik Oolin?” SARANEH bends down, her fingers sorting delicately through the prismatic shards. When she straightens again, she holds something in her hand: a small white seashell, unbroken by the fall. SARANEH (distantly): He is where he wishes to be. SARANEH stands in silence, staring out the window at the world outside. To the south, the shadow spreads across the land, overwhelming the Crystal Sea. She looks down at the shell in her hand, the sole remnant of an old world now forever changed. Around her, the stage dims, and fades to darkness. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2016 **Placement:** Merit --- ### [The Illithoid Extraction](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-illithoid-extraction/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** I heard the pigeon knocking on my window a few hours before sunrise. It knocked seven times, and then it paused. That was the signal. There was work to be done. A man in my line of work does not keep his employers waiting. I dressed and armed myself as quickly as I could, and then I made my way to the Center for the Distribution of Textiles. I went into the CDT through the servant’s entrance. There was no sense in letting anybody who mattered see me go in. Nobody ever increased his life expectancy by taking unnecessary risks. Director Two was waiting for me with his pigeon perched on his shoulder. Somebody who was feeling generous would say that he looked like he had a flair for the dramatic. An honest man would say that he looked like an idiot. He was a little old lucidian in a big black coat with his whole face hidden behind a mask. If I hadn’t known about his talent for torture, I would have thought he was harmless. He spoke as soon as I closed the door. “Krekak,” he said to me, “you have been assigned a field mission.” No pleasantries, no niceties, and no small talk. Not even a hint of friendliness in his voice. Pure business. It was almost pleasant enough to make up for his terrible coat. “The Celestine Inquisition has taken one Thugani Zhaugo into custody. He has skills which we desire. You are to rescue him from captivity and return him to Hallifax.” He handed me a dossier and I flipped through it. I was to retrieve an illithoid psion, an experimenter who had developed new techniques. Apparently he had been captured by the Kephera during an attempt to escape from the Illithoid Prison, and they had sold him to the Inquisition. No doubt the inquisitors hoped to learn his secrets before they put him to the sword. “Full armory access is authorized. Lethal force is authorized. Full operational discretion is authorized. Dismissed.” That was the moment I realized that this was going to be an important mission. Lethal force was authorized on nearly every mission, but full access to the armory was another matter entirely. That sort of thing could get very expensive very quickly, so the directors were disinclined to authorize it lightly. I took full advantage of the authorization. I started with a dozen demolition charges, the most potent the Institute could design. I took a full set of harmonic stimulants, too. They were agonizing injections, but they could easily be the difference between success and death. Of course, no operative would leave the city without his void blasters. I took a Mark Two and a Mark Three so that I could be prepared to obliterate the state’s enemies under any conceivable circumstances. The quartermaster gave me a dirty look as I left the armory. I had enough demolition charges to destroy a large village, and he doubtlessly thought that was excessive. I tried to ignore him. Better an annoyed quartermaster than a failed mission. ————— I was in Celest within a day. The journey was easy enough. There was no trouble on the road, and the guards at the city gates took their bribes to avoid searching my possessions without any argument. The trouble was not in getting to the city, but rather in what I had to do once I got there. Our spies had neglected to give me any information about where my target was being detained. I knew the locations of a few inquisitorial safe houses, but searching even one of them thoroughly would have been certain to reveal my presence to the Inquisition. I had to be certain that any such search would prove fruitful before it could be performed. I arranged a discreet meeting with one of my contacts, a priest whose vices exceeded his virtues. Vlane Elitine was his name, and he was eager to meet with me. I brought him his favorite things as gifts: cheap wine and weighted dice. As it happens, intoxicated priests are poor judges of probability. He was deeply in my debt within a few hours. I likely could have managed it even if I had used fair dice, but one should never take unnecessary risks. After all, it isn’t cheating unless one is playing against another Hallifaxian. Vlane could not pay his debts in gold. That was only to be expected, given that he had also been unable to pay his tithes to the Celestine Church for several years. I graciously offered to forgive his debt in return for a few trifling pieces of information. I told him that it was a matter of pure curiosity, and that I only wanted to know the truthfulness of a piece of gossip I had heard in a ballroom. I even insinuated that I only truly wanted to know so that I could use the information to impress a lady. At first, he was reluctant to tell me what I needed to know. Understandably so, given that I was technically asking him to commit treason. I simply poured him more wine and waited. Alcohol is a marvelous tool for making terrible ideas seem to be excellent, and thus after his second bottle he was quite willing to tell me everything that I wanted to know. He informed me that my target was being held in a small warehouse near the city’s docks, and that he had been imprisoned there for two days. I thanked him for the information and then I left him in peace. His value as a future source of information more than compensated for the small risk that he would admit to answering my questions, given that he would almost certainly be executed shortly after his confession. As such, I felt obliged to refrain from killing him. ———- I made my way over to the warehouse as soon as the sun set. It was a little building with two floors, half a dozen windows, and a single door. Inconvenient. Going in through the door was out of the question. If there’s a faster way to commit suicide than walking through the front door of an inquisitorial facility, I don’t know what it is. That left me with a simple choice. I could go in through a window, or I could make a new entrance with my demolition charges. In the interest of not bringing the entire inquisition down on my head I opted to use a window. I scaled the warehouse’s wall to get up to a second-story window, broke the glass, and slipped into the building. I found myself on a catwalk looking down over a single room full of crates. I couldn’t see the illithoid that I was looking for, but I could see a single guard. The inquisitorial seal was engraved on his armor, but he looked younger than most inquisitors. He was probably a novice, assigned to guard duty to spare his superiors the tedium of the task. He never saw me coming. I couldn’t think of a reason to search through the entire warehouse on my own when I could simply convince an inquisitor to tell me everything that I wanted to know. I jumped down on him from above. The landing would have hurt if he handn’t broken my fall for me. I shoved my hand in his mouth to stop him from screaming. He bit me. That was a mistake on his part. The only thing a man can accomplish by biting a lucidian is breaking his own teeth, as that poor inquisitor learned. I put my arm around his neck and squeezed until he passed out, and then I set him up with a gag and some restraints. He woke up half an hour later to see me standing over him with a void blaster in my hand. He looked terrified. It was time for his interrogation. I broke a few of his fingers, and then I asked him where his prisoner was hiding. I warned him that if he called for help he would be made to regret it, and then I removed his gag. He didn’t say so much as a word, so I broke the rest of his fingers while explaining what I would do next if he did not comply. He broke. He told me that the prisoner had been moved onto a ship earlier that day so he could be interrogated at length in a secure environment. He seemed to be telling the truth. At the very least, he didn’t change his story when I asked him again. It was the best lead that I was going to have. I could not afford to leave a witness. My blaster ensured his permanent silence, and a convenient crate ensured that his remains would not be found for at least a few hours. Then I went back out the window and climbed down to the dock below. I had a long swim ahead of me. ————- There are two ways to board a hostile ship for an operative who is starting from the water. He can climb the sides of the ship and haul himself on to the deck, but there’s no way to escape detection for someone who does that. The other option is to blast a hole in the hull and sneak inside the lower decks. That’s still risky, but there’s a chance of avoiding detection. I chose the second option. A void blaster easily has enough power to put a hole in a ship, and they’re quiet. I made my entrance near the waterline and crawled on board the ship. I found myself in an empty room. There was only a single door, and I walked over to it and listened carefully. I could hear voices on the other side. Hostile contact was inevitable. I attached a demolition charge to the door, activated it, and stood back with my primary blaster at the ready. The power of the void obliterated the door and I rushed through it. There were two merian sitting at a table with a meal in front of them. The first died before he knew that anything was happening. The second had time turn and look upon me before I ended his pathetic existance. My target was not in the room. Nor was he in the next room which I attacked, or the room after that. I found him in the fourth room, strapped to a table with an inquisitor standing over him. I took off the inquisitor’s head with a shot from my blaster, and then I examined the man I had gone to such great lengths to find. He was unconscious, and both of his legs were mutilated. The inquisitor was evidently a poor torturer, to have had to mutilate his subject so thoroughly. The illithoid’s condition was an inconvenience. I had hoped to swim away from the ship with him, but that was clearly impossible. I would have to find a lifeboat for him, and that meant fighting my way to the top of the ship. I slung the unconscious illithoid onto my back and tied him in place. He was heavy, and I could scarcely move under his weight, but I couldn’t leave him behind to be killed by any inquisitors who wanted to keep him from me. There was only one option. It was a miserable one, but I had no: choice in the matter. I took a deep breath and injected my harmonic stimulants. The powdered gemstones tore at my veins, and I choked back a scream as I muttered the activation ritual. The pain stopped, and I felt their power in my limbs. Suddenly I was fast, and strong, and the weight I was carrying seemed to vanish. I drew my secondary void blaster, and with one blaster in each hand I burst into the next room. I rushed from room to room in a mad dash towards the ship’s deck. Where I met opposition, I made corpses. Where I could not find a door, I breached the walls. One merian screamed and raised the alarm before I could kill him, but that no longer concerned me. I had already lost any hope of a discreet escape, so the alarm meant nothing. My blasters put too many holes in the ship’s hull, and it started to take on water. The ship started to tilt as I finally reached the deck. It would not be long before the ship sank. I identified five sailors on the deck, along with the captain at the helm and a mage standing in the crow’s nest. The mage had to die if I was going to make my escape by sea. The others had to die so that I could avoid leaving witnesses. I took up the optimal firing position for the situation before engaging the foe. My long blaster was extended upwards engage the primary target, while my short blaster was held outward to engage the maximum number of secondary targets. I crouched down to to minimize my exposure to hostile bombardment, both magical and mundane. I squeezed the triggers of both of my blasters, and I began to bring death to my enemies. The mage raised a psionic force field to defend himself, but the sailors were not so fortunate. They perished one after the other, leaving only the captain and his mage on the deck with me. The captain had nearly reached me as I turned my blaster on him. He ducked out of the way as I fired and swung his sword at me in response. I twisted out of the way, dodging the blow, and raised my blaster to the captain’s face. I took the shot, and I removed the threat. That left only the mage. He could keep me at bay for as long as he liked with his force field unless I closed the distance between us. I began to climb the rigging as he rained his magic down on me. I turned and twisted away from his assault as best I could, but I could not entirely avoid his assault. I bore the pain as best I could until I reached the crow’s nest and engaged my foe. He slapped the barrel of my blaster away and shoved me away. I clung to the mast as he shoved me again, and I struggled to keep my footing. He was in a superior position, but I had technology on my side. I tossed a demolition charge into the crow’s nest and allowed myself to fall down into the rigging. There was a moment of silence, and then the crow’s nest vanished as the charge did its deadly work. That settled the matter. I dragged myself over to a lifeboat and dropped the illithoid in it. I climbed in after him and cut the rope, and I began to row towards Hallifax as the ship slowly sank behind me. It would be a long journey back, but at least my mission was accomplished and I was still in one piece. **Entry Type:** Bardic **Cycle:** December 2016 **Placement:** Runner Up --- ### [The Brave Little Failing](https://www.lusternia.com/honours/entry/the-brave-little-failing/) **Published:** June 19, 2022 **Author:** Ein **Content:** She came alive in a library, nerves awakening with a fiery blaze as awareness flooded her mind, and she screamed. Birth is never easy, often bloody and is defined by pain, and hers was no different. From blank nothing to sentience and stimuli – the nascent mind prepares itself, grows in gestation and slowly awakens to the world beyond one’s skin and toes and self, but she was not grown. But she was created, not born, and so she screamed, her first conscious act one of fear and pain and confusion, flailing and wailing as she became suddenly aware of herself and her new, tiny world. She was alive and she hated it. Eventually her sobbing stilled to a dull ache, an innate instinct pulling her away from the pain to instead learn of herself and this world she had been brought to. By our standards, she was in a small room – three times as long as she was tall, and she was not very tall at all – lined with shelves, each groaning beneath the weight of dusty, forgotten books. She reached out towards one – whether book or shelf is uncertain, for her movement halted in surprise as her own hand swam into her field of view. Curious, she stared at it, for minutes, seconds, hours, eyes studying its curves and lines, the arc of muscle beneath flesh, the delicate flex of tendons, the pulse of blood through the veins quietly blue under pale white skin. Enraptured, she let out a soft noise, and attempted her first word – whoever had created her had leapfrogged over usual development and after a bit of searching, an impulse swam up from her murky, newborn brain. “Cluuvia,” she murmured, voice hoarse and soft. Her own words startled her, then, and she shrunk back, peering anxiously about the small chamber, eyes wide and nervous as nausea grasped her stomach in a tight grip. Her eyes did not understand perspective, yet, and her mind turned cartwheels to try to make sense of the room’s quickly shifting view as her head turned. Several moments passed, before she steadied herself, implanted impulses gradually taking over. Whoever had created her had done their job well – she learned quickly, gradually overcoming her disorientation as curiosity pushed its way to the forefront of her mind once more. “B….book…” she whispered as she reached for a tome again. This time she recognized the voice as her own and sifted through what she knew, what she had been given, and realized that she could read. She did not know what reading was, nor its purpose, but, as if by magic, the drawings on the spine danced and twisted in semblance, resolving into words and meaning. Fingers fumbled with the book until they figured out how to grip and then carefully pulled the volume towards where she lay with a soft hiss of leather against stone. It took her several minutes before she realized books could be opened, but once she did, oh, then her mind unfolded, soaring like a fledgling bird on her first flight. Stumbling, swooping, finally skirling high in understanding, she read and read and read, weakness fading as she began to exercise unused muscles. Her legs learned to stand and walk, while her arms discovered how to lift and carry, fingers refining their movements until she could clumsily handle basic intricacies – parallel to this mastery of her body came a deeper and gradual understanding of her mind. She would likely never be a scholar or even intelligent, but she did come to eventually realize that she was a person, and that the world was full of many others, in all shapes and sizes. As she read, she learned of their dreams and hopes, their fears, their pains and sorrows and loves and joys, and her curiosity grew, the latent spark her creator must have thought necessary fanned to a burning pyre of keen hunger to learn more. She spent days like this – her creator had seemed to see no need for bodily functions, so she had no hunger or thirst or sleep, merely hour after hour of reading and learning and growth until she could stand and walk and run. Her wings seemed useless, non-responsive at their best and downright rebellious at their worst, as if a second mind had been created on her back to mirror the one filling her head. She knew too little of the world to question this, and, after finishing a rather florid piece about something called a family in a place called the Serenwilde, she began to call the wings her sister. The rest of her was made well, however, if a bit on the spindly side, with long coltish limbs and a hungry, waifish build, and after a week of reading she became impatient to move, her legs and arms itchy for more to do, so she began to study her world. She had named it, of course, the way that children unable to comprehend a place past their own paradigm name the world, giving each important facet of her reality an absolute title – the ceiling became sky, the shelves horizon, the walls end. She discovered the words father and mother, but the concept twisted away from her, thoughts becoming slippery as she tried to hold it, so she left such ideas dormant and quiescient for the time, focusing instead of her physical reality. She did not understand truth or lies, fiction and fantasy, deception, innuendo, not even humour, and simply took what she read as solid fact, building the world she knew around such things. The books spoke of worlds – Beyond, she titled them, sorting all outside the room into a nebulous and confused category. They must exist, but not here, she quietly reasoned, and so she stumbled upon the concept of space beyond her room. Her curiosity bit at her, and she began to explore. It did not take long to discover the door; once she began to look with the proper paradigm, it leapt out at her, immediately obvious after days of hiding directly before her. After a few false starts, she determined how to open it, and emerged, blinking, into the true world. —————- It was almost like being born again – her senses were on fire as fear overtook that driving curiosity to leave her momentarily paralyzed. To us, it would be dull, simply another room in an empty library, but to her it was terrifyingly vast and new. The books had a different smell, the warm scent of vellum brighter than the heavy must she had grown to know. The horizons – shelves – were no longer borders at the edge of reality, but instead simply pathways through the world, while overhead the ceiling-sky loomed tall as the heavens she had read of. “Beyond,” she softly mumbled, eyes wide as fear slowly transformed into wonder. A high pitched, burbling sound split the air. She turned, elf-like ears lifting and swivelling as she tried to pinpoint this unfamiliar noise, and froze as something shifted into view. “This is just our fiction section,” came words, and she realized, instantly, that people spoke to communicate, a rush flooding through her as her mind made the leaping connection between what she knew and what she now saw and heard. She did not know to find fear, however, for her creator had apparently seen little use in such things – her instinct for terror ran raw and primal, wired for innate preservation, and she knew nothing of men save what she had read, so she merely stared, transfixed by the sight before her. He stood tall, at least two heads higher than her, and was smiling. She did not know what that meant, and remained silent. Behind him were wings, and her eyes shifted to those – instead of the stained glass of butterflies, his appeared soft, the sight sparking a memory, and she sought it, chasing after the thought. There had been a tale of a powerful creature who shattered, once upon a time, and her lips parted, reaching, grasping… “Feathers,” she murmured, surprised by her own word. The man blinked at her, momentarily taken aback by the simple statement, and slowly nodded, smile stretching into a grin. “Yes,” he agreed. “I have feathers. “I am a trill.” “Trill,” she repeated, curiously rolling the word around on her tongue. The man nodded, taking a cautious step closer and gently informed her, “And you are a faeling.” “A failing…” she echoed. Her mind took that word, worming through what she had read, and she felt the first, odd sense of emptiness, despite all that was new and overwhelming, as if she should have some reaction but simply lacked the faculty to fabricate it. She frowned thoughtfully, trying again. “I….am….failing.” The man smiled gently, giving her a nod of encouragement. “You must be enrolled in the Sacred Flame?” he offered. “Lost are we?” His smile brightened. “Worry not! We shall help you find your way back!” He crooked one finger in a beckon. Her head tilted, confused, but something about the gesture spoke to something inside. She found herself stepping closer, falling into line behind the man. “Lost,” she whispered. She knew that word. She knew many words. “Tossed. Cost.” Her voice lilted up instinctively, and she asked her first question. “Boss?” The man chuckled, shaking his head. “Just a scholar, miss,” he demurred. “Come, let’s get you back where you belong.” She nodded, mimicking his earlier movement, and tried out a smile. It sat easily enough on her face, but again she felt that inexplicable odd hole, as if there should be something behind it, something inside of her viscerally reacting to the twitching and flexing of her muscles. She began to walk along with him, eagerly scanning each shelf they strode by, until the pair reached a set of wide, tall doors. She lagged behind, then, eyes wide as that primal self-preservation sent a course of adrenalin through her. “Beyond…” she softly murmured, apprehensive as raw fear shook her voice. “Gaudiguch,” the man corrected, voice kind and eyes soft. “Gaudiguch,” she echoed. The man nodded, winking once as he happily declared, “Freedom!” With that, the man stepped forwards, pushing the doors open to the hot, bright world outside, haloing her in blinding light as sand gusted across the library steps and into the foyer, dancing and shifting in a hot, spice-laded breeze. Canticles drifted towards her from somewhere far in the distance and, for a brief moment, as her eyes adjusted to the sun, she spied a sparkling, prismatic glimpse of something high above, motes of shimmering dreams raining down from the sky. Made as she was, a creature of innate fear and curiosity and wonder, she found herself frozen, overwhelmed by this small window into the real world, and found herself turning to the man, her sole teacher and companion, with questions in her eyes. He smiled, offering her his hand. She hesitated, uncertain what to do, before something inside guided her. Her small, slight fingers slipped into his own, and then the pair were off, winding through the city in a dizzying, confusing trail. She said nothing, merely followed and watched and learned, and so the Secret Flame received its first homunculus pupil. ————— Her days after this were dizzy and busy, hours swept up in quietly learning the basics of being a person. She asked questions, many, driven by the instinctive imperative imbued in her by her creator, ever always learning as much as she could, as if she were a Soulless abomination and knowledge the only thing to sate her need. She learned to smile and laugh and did so often, taking note of their effect on people – to her, they were merely movements, like the bending of legs and pull of nerves to run, but they were effective and so she seemed happy and delighted. She learned to speak, truly, words becoming more than vessels for meanings, becoming conversation, becoming inquiries, becoming a way to study not just concepts and the world, but also those who inhabited it, and she tucked away each tidbit she learned. She learned all the trappings of a true person alongside her College work, and many saw her and were impressed by this young, keen, friendly girl. Her courses proved difficult at first – she lacked the context for basic instructions, so each task became a research trip back to her birthplace. Every now and then, as she studied, she caught glimpses, a familiar figure out of the corner of her eyes, but for a long span she was undisturbed. Finally, one day, as she was nose-deep in a book explaining the nature of butterflies, he approached. “You never told me your name, you know,” he grinned in greeting, sliding down into the chair across the table from where she sat. “Perhaps I do not have one,” she truthfully replied, falling into a speculative silence as she began to wonder what she was called. She smiled, as she had learned, and the man laughed, slapping his hands on the table in delight. “Witty!” he admired, gaze lingering on her a heartbeat longer than others had in the past. She considered this, tucking this information away, and continued to read. “Oh,” the man exclaimed, tilting the book up to read its title. “You’re preparing to visit the planes?” She carefully pressed the book down flat, nodding as she continued to research. Cocoons shelter the larvae as they grow, the tome explained. And, when they are fully formed, they emerge one day, wings unfurling and colors bright, but the dance is a brief one, for this is their final act in life. The beauty heralds their own doom, and soon they die, their short life snuffed in a last, glorious flutter. “What is death?” she asked quietly, most of her attention still fixed on the book. One ear lifted, listening. The man was silent. “The book,” she tried again. “It says that butterflies die, once they ha-“ “They do,” the man interrupted, a pensive frown in his voice. “Butterflies die, rabbits die, even you and I die. Everything dies, if the body containing it is injured enough. That is our design.” “Everything?” she asked. “Everything,” he answered. Perhaps not, she thought, a strange new idea dawning in her mind. It was as if she had another set of eyes, eyes deep inside of her which saw unseeable truths, and now they had begun to slowly blink open, their vision still hazy and unfocused, but awake enough to make out forms and impressions, hints of concepts to reach for. I am a butterfly, she realized. Not a person. I was not born. I emerged. She smiled again, as she had learned, and softly stated, “My name is Chrysalia.” It seemed right. The man smiled back, quietly musing, “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” “I suppose,” she replied, and then said nothing more, returning to her studies. ————- The wakabi feared her – she could see it, instantly, her eyes quickly scanning its defensive stance, ears taking in the warbling whine, mind quickly leaping from the physical clues to an assessment in a heartbeat. She did not know why, but she had grown used to it – all animals she had seen had shied from her, cats darting down allies, birds taking flight, even a lion in the mountains retreating in panic. She considered the concept of animals, reviewing what she had learned, and slowly but firmly approached the bird. She said nothing, instead mimicking a song she had heard while exploring the city. It was soft and slow, a ballad to halfway stumble through at the end of a hard-drunk night, but it helped – the bird’s nervous skittering slowly stilled enough for her to approach and she firmly gathered the beast in her arms. It was too much, too soon, and the bird began to panic, wings slashing and talons flashing to leave bloodless furrows in her flesh, like fingers digging through clay. She maintained her grip and continued her song and, gradually, the wakabi began to calm. She thought of animals as she wandered the city, bringing the bird to key landmarks to sniff and scratch and peck about before coaxing it back into her arms. Each time became a bit easier and so she learned that people were not the only things who could learn – still, the distinction eluded her. What made a beast a beast and a person a person? Perhaps it was words, she considered, but then recalled a scholarly work from Tosha, written by a silent monk there, and so she discarded that possibility. Perhaps it was the body, although the trill in the library had feathers and a tae’dae near the Flame had fur – if the difference lay in form, it was too subtle for her to see, yet. As with many of her thoughts, she set the idea aside to ferment in the back corners of her mind, and focused on the learning before her. There was a reason she was being asked to lead the bird around – she was a new scholar and unskilled in most everything except reading. The city’s staff would likely have to retrain the bird, which means the task was for her benefit – she noted that, as well as everywhere she had been asked to visit, memorizing the routes and rooms to add to her small stockpile of information. Midway through the list, an idea struck her, and she took a detour to the city’s market district. She had seen people eat before, though the urge had never struck her, and wondered if beasts did as well. Midway down the street in the center of a large junction stood a tall board, covered with ads and fliers. A reminder about a daily drinking night, news of an upcoming Minstrels concert, some impassioned plea about an imminent pastry-based revolution…she sorted past all this noise she did not understand until, beneath the mess, she found the shop directory itself, its wooden base charred and splintered and reeking of booze. Rainbow letters spelled out directions to each shop in the city and she scanned the list, searching for something to do with food. The result was only a few steps away, a magnificent shrine erected outside its door depicting sublime figures. Inside, the air was heavy with spice and sugar, with gleaming glass cases housing an assortment of sweets. She smiled at the shopkeeper, as she had learned, and pointed to the first thing she saw. The woman warmly returned the smile and quickly handed over a piece of cake, wrapped in a twist of cinnamon-scented parchment. “No charge,” the lady insisted, her smile widening. “I’m always happy to help new scholars.” She smiled back at the woman, nodding, and filed that information away to study later. She had not yet learned of economics and value, but she had begun to become more wary with her questions. Of late, she had come to the conclusion that most, if not all, people were simply people and not butterflies – this led to more questions, but that innate instinct for fear sprang up as they formed on her lips, and so she learned to conceal such thoughts, only looking at them from the safe dark shadows of her own mind. Outside, she set the cake down, and then the bird. At first, the wakabi tilted his head, pecking in curiosity at the dessert, before he decided it would do nicely. Crumbs flew as he gobbled it down, and then his stare shifted back to the woman, head bobbing as he chirped plaintively. “Another?” she asked. She did not know what wakabi ate – apparently it was cake – nor how much, so she was following the bird’s lead in this. She returned to the shop, smiling again. The woman behind the counter laughed as she entered, boasting, “Can’t have just one slice, eh?” and before she could reply she found another piece in her hands and herself being shooed away. She smiled, returning to the bird, and placed the second slice on the ground. This the bird quickly chomped down, before it cautiously approached her, nervously cooing. She extended a hand and watched with interest as the bird bumped his head against her fingers, considering the ramifications of this practical lesson – she resolved, then, to always carry cake, for it seemed a useful tool for earning trust and smoothing situations. Gathering the bird back into her arms, she returned to the school. She was not content or happy – no, she did not seem built for such things, but lacking them meant never knowing them, so she felt little loss, simply an emptiness behind certain movements which she assumed was normal. Still, she had learned something, and a non-feeling settled over her, her mind silenced for a span – this she had grown to welcome, the silence between urges to study and learn and know more. She had found herself nearly consumed by research as days went by, at first simply for the impulse but now, now chased for the quiet which followed, for the stilling of the urge. In a way, each new revelation brought peace, so she pursued them to buy herself brief moments of nothingness. ————– She stood before a looming pyramid, gilt in gold, head turned up to watch as the setting sun streaked in a skittering dance across the glittering faces. “So you’re to become an Illuminati?” The words came from behind her and she turned in reflexive, animal fear to assess the danger – it was the trill, she quickly realized and relaxed. She had long since catalogued him as a non-threat. She smiled and the man smiled back, teeth white and gleaming as his gaze lingered on her. “Once I discover how…” she answered, turning to study the blank face of the pyramid again. The path ended here, running right into the wall, and she found herself stymied, unable to proceed. The man grinned, explaining, “The Illuminati are a guild of secrets. Nothing is as it seems…” He stepped closer, offering his hand. She took it and suddenly the world seemed to shift. Sunlight dwindled to the dim, soft glow of lanterns as a sandy breeze gusted into a faint twist of incense-laden smoke. Fear clutched at her once more, the strange and unexpected transition striking at her instincts, but then the man spoke. “We Illuminati see beyond what is easily seen.” Her panic slid away to be replaced by the welcome blank nothing. She had learned what she sought. ————– Over time, she proved herself an adept scholar. Perhaps it was how she was created, or perhaps it was simply an effect of being what she was, but the plane of Vortex resonated with her – she would travel there to feed the fleshpots, quietly whispering a greeting to each one as if they were parents, slumbering, and she their child murmuring tales of her dreams. They rewarded her with wads of flesh, deposited tenderly at her feet, and she would wander the endless loop of the creche, ribbachi and hekoskeri and spix all stumbling behind her in an entralled entourage. She learned to feed them, and, one day, her curiosity drove her to emulate her mindless cousins. Her lips parted and she tasted flesh, the small bite lingering on her tongue. It tasted of salt and sweet and spice and more, things she had no words for, no context to understand or perhaps even organs to perceive, but it was intriguing, a flash of something new filling her, flooding into each empty space behind each hollow gesture and so she experienced true emotion, dozens all at once. She sobbed and laughed and slumped to the ground, furtively taking another bite, but perhaps it was too much too soon, for she could not replicate the effect. Frantic, she shoved another chunk into her mouth, and then another, until her stomach was bloated and she lay drunk and sick on divine flesh, but the beautiful initial rush did not return. Had she the capacity for it, she would have been sad, shattered and drowning in despair, but she did not, and soon her thoughts drifted back to the driving curiosity which fueled her. She sought out the trill. ——————- He was in his office, deep in paperwork but at her soft knock he quickly looked up. Seeing it was her, he set down his quill and smiled. She smiled back, stepping inside. “Hello, dear,” he said quietly, hands folding as he watched her approach. “Did you need help with something?” She nodded, brain quickly flashing between all she knew to structure her question. “What does it mean when you feel things, somewhere between body and mind? Not a thought and not a pain, but something straddling that, encompassing both?” The man chuckled. “Emotions?” he asked, amused, apparently taking her question as an esoteric musing. “Yes, they can be tricky, can’t they, especially in our line of work.” His eyes sparkled as he studied her and his eyebrows raised. “Are they for anyone in particular?” She didn’t understand the question, but something about his tone and expression guided her answer. She blushed, as she had seen the ladies do when men spoke to them, and nodded, smiling as she said, “You, I suppose.” The man’s smile faded into surprise, and then widened as he quickly slipped out of his chair, skirting the desk to close the distance between himself and her in three quick strides. Silently, he reached out, folding her into his arms, and she found she did not mind the sensation. She had never been hugged before. Soon she would know kissing and touching and more, for her answer had been one the trill had been hoping to hear since he met her, he would go on to tell her. He told her many things over many days, weeks and soon months, by her side as often as he could be. He was delighted and amazed by her curiosity, and confessed one day that he loved her for it. “More than the stars love to shine,” he swore, eyes bright as he stared upon her. “Your mind is so keen, so passionate, so quick – if I could create a person, a perfect person, I doubt I could come close to what you are.” He smiled, loving and warm and enraptured, and she smiled back, empty and blank and feeling nothing except a hungry curiosity to plumb his mind and take what he knew. But no matter how often she asked, he would never teach her how to feel. “Tell me,” she begged one day after they had made love. She did not object to it, for her body seemed built to recognize some forms of pleasure, and had grown to find time in his arms similar to the blank relief she felt when her curiosity was sated. “Tell me how to feel,” she whispered. “Tell me of emotions.” He smiled, stroking her hair, and dreamily began to recite poems and stories, telling her what he knew of emotions, with her in his life. He spoke of sadness, heavy and tugging and gone, now. He told her of happiness, bright and light and always lingering whenever she was near. He described the entire spectrum, and she felt that growing ache in her belly, the hungry gnawing of curiosity, and began to itch, her body itself compelling her to chase the knowledge. “Tell me where they come from,” she insisted, words cutting through his murmurs of love. “Tell me how to make them.” He blinked up at her, at first confused but then reluctant as he admitted, “…I do not know.” He sighed, pressing his lips against her forehead, and murmured, “…Once, oh, once I tried to create them, from scratch, in a raw creation. I shaped her from flesh and dreams and shifted reality, but…” He shook his head, explaining, “…Oh, but she was hollow inside, deformed and twisted and empty and I gave up such experiments. Homunculus were not meant to transcend what they are.” She said nothing and merely smiled as she had learned to and the hunger faded down into blank nothing. —————— She began to slip away for quiet time alone, using all she had learned to conceal these trips, for they led her into dark corners and hidden depths of the Illuminati’s pyramid. She explored and prodded and discovered long dormant secrets, hidden doors yawning open for her touch and secrets forgotten for centuries blossoming open for her to gaze upon. As with all else she learned, she tucked this information away, but she soon realized it was not enough – the hunger would not cease, no matter how much she discovered. Neither secrets nor the trill’s touch would bring that relief she once sought, and her raw fears began to bubble up, surfacing in odd and unwanted moments. There was a guild rite, a gathering of cowled figures all chanting dark and hushed words as flesh bubbled and churned and bloomed into writhing tentacles and beautiful, ethereal limbs. As it came to her turn, her moment to join the ritual, her lips parted and a scream poured out, ripped reflexively from her to shatter the still and silence of the chamber. She was dismissed to rest, the guild agreeing that her intense studying had made her feverish. She lay in bed for days – she was not built for sleep, so she merely stared at the ceiling as her mind clawed her apart from the inside each time the trill visited. He stroked her hand, caressed her cheek, told her that he loved her, and then insisted she rest. She would scream and he would hold her, gentle, tender, soft, oblivious, but she knew, oh, yes, and her fear would leap higher like flames consuming a tree. He had made her, she had realized weeks before. Once upon a time, she had been an experiment, and had been deemed a failure and discarded. How she had come to the library, how she had been born at all, she did not know – perhaps the deformed once-her had feebly crawled off there to die, spinning itself into a death shroud’s cocoon from which she had emerged. She was not built for imagination, however, so an empty aching gap remained in the story of her birth. Her curiosity began to consume her and she found herself unable to contain it any longer – the next time the trill visited she smiled the brightest smile she had ever learned to smile and softly told him she was ready to become better. He held her and hugged her and wept with joy, and swore the two would conquer