Belts of the Eternal Flame

Editor's Note: On April 9th, 2015, the final article in this original series wrapped up. The series was meant to not only let the community learn a little bit about the signina on each knights belt, but the knights themselves. The series wrapped up with then, knight commander Dav Hayden's article, it is only fitting that we kick off the revival of this series with the current Knight Commander, Ryan Welch. We encourage you to read all the past articles outlined in this article. 

Ryan "King Orion" Welch

1. What year were you awarded your white belt?

2022

2. Who administered "the punch" and-- be honest!!--did it hurt?
My brother Saka punched me. It did hurt, but I think he went a little easy on me at the time.

3. Whose belt did you wear until you got your own, and how was this significant for you?

I was knighted with Mathies's belt, which at the time surprised me because I expected to be wearing the belt belonging to a different Matt B. When I asked him about it, Mathies told me that he volunteered his belt because he say a lot of his younger self in me. We had an amazing conversation about that, and I still think back on it often.

4. Please describe your own belt's heraldry.
The heraldry on my belt is a green field split by three bends (blue, white, then blue again) with a Crowned Rowan Branch in black as a charge above the bends, and two black concentric diamonds as a charge below.

5. Why did you choose that heraldry to represent you?

 The green green-blue-white-blue-green of my heraldry are a combination of my home nation (the Azure Guard, blue-white-blue) and the nation I started (the Cerulean Company, green-blue-green). Normally these are displayed as pales, but on my belt they are bends because that seems to be traditional among Chimeronian KoEF.

The crowned rowan branch stands for the Avatars of Chimeron. This charge is used for many things in our Kingdom, though usually in white or silver. Black often associated with the Avatars, which is why it is used here. Nonetheless it is reasonable to read this charge as a representation of many aspects of my relationship with Chimeron.

The two concentric diamonds is the Beast rune for Time, which in the way of this language can also also be interpreted as Cycles. This comes from a ritual I attended while I was Alexander Cecil's mentorship. This ritual called for elements which included the past, the present, and the future. In my boldness (perhaps too bold, perhaps just bold enough) I stood in the position for future, as that seemed most fitting for the relationship between a knight and his squire. The magic of that ritual left a, shall I say, Beastly impression on me, and through that the rune became for me a symbol of the cycles of mentorship, the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. Perhaps it is worth noting that of all the milestones I represent in my personal heraldry, my adoption of Cycles is predated only by my induction into the Azure Guard. 

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6. Who did the artwork on your belt?

I made the design and Pat Bobell painted it onto my belt.

7. What do you remember most about your knighting?

It was a miracle that I was able to attend the event at all. I had just completed my third and final round of chemotherapy only a week prior, which is an ordeal beyond description. Despite all my determination to attend Black and White, we had no idea if I would have the strength to make it through the day. Crystal and my sister kept a close watch on me, to see if I was fading so that they could take me home before I truly crashed. And this was the truth, but not the whole of it. Through a great order of good fortune I sustained myself through the entire event and was suitably surprised to be called up during court. However, I learned afterwards that if things had gone differently and I needed to make an early exit, the entire order--with the blessing of the day's staff--were prepared to leap on a signal from Crystal and stop the entire event in its tracks so that they could conduct my knighting. This demonstration of love from my community shocked me more than the belt itself, and is by far one of the kindest, most touching, most meaningful things that has happened to me. It has inspired me to spend the rest of my lifetime carrying such kindness, not as debt to be repaid but as a legacy and and an emotional heirloom to be passed on to those who succeed me.

8. What does being a KoEF mean to you?

On a personal level, my belt is a celebration of my dedication to both myself and my community in equal measure. My time in the Realms has had a significant positive influence on my growth as a person. Being a Knight of the Eternal Flame means that I channel this influence back into the community by helping others on their own journeys of self-development while continuing my own.

What You Missed - Feast of the Leviathan XXVII [Food Edition]

By: Ethan "JB" Goldman 

You know I am more then a cannibal. I am a Epicurean. So when the Feast Of Leviathan was going to be wedding themed I happily stepped in. Why? Because I am a good person and they needed a bartender.

As a bartender let us begin with drinks.

The usual fair afforded to all Rhiassans is a mix of a light herbal spirit with a fruit juice. This is the Fruit Fizz it comes in Strawberry, Passion, Raspberry, or Peach, I am particular to Raspberry. If you take that same spirit and mix Grenadine in it it becomes a Justari Temple, which I find too sweet. I will also note my critique that lemon lime was alternated with ginger for production, against my own wishes, because these are very different tastes. Which I should know, because one is ginger, and the other is lemon, which is not ginger.

No one else noticed. But I always did.

Flavored Coffees are also allowed, which I did not partake because I only drink Earl Grey tea, or Lady Grey if I am feeling particularly fancy. I am sure it was vanillish.

But the piece de resistance, the seasonal drink the Frosted Star. Which is like if I served a Bopped Tist. If a Bopped Tist was orange juice and the same herbal spirit from the Fizz. The orange juice lends a more refined taste because the juice adds a actual bitter note. 

However, moving away from the bar counter, as I often did for self care (Food), there was the signature Charcutty board. This time with a addition of a severed leg and a melted wheel of cheese.

The leg was very tasty, the curing process made it entirely threadless, the muscle fibers being obliterated. It was rather soft yet gummy. And the cheeses were…

Well they weren't labeled. There was one with veins on it that I liked.The cherry tomatoes were sweet and still on the vine so I took 3 vines, a piece of melted cheese, 3 vein cheeses, and two crackers. And a chunk of leg but not TOO big because people deserve legs too.

Poor Meatball, my son loves legs.

Eventually the board was moved for the appetizers, starting with a 3 year classic, the Tuna on seaweed. I had five of these.

There was also a chicken cooked in a eastern curry that was salty and savory in a sharp manner that cut like a vinegar through the cheeses, I had two.

In addition were baked fish cakes, and a few smaller appetizers that did not venture near me enough to develop a strong memory for.

Eventually the stations were open, which involved chocolate fondue, guacamole, and flatbread.

Personally the guacamole, while good, does not hold up on its own. Not in that its a lacking guacamole. But Guacamole is itself not a “full dish” to me, with or without chips. A salsa is needed I think. Also the saltiness of the chips chosen I believed cut most of the complexity of the guac. I tasted salt foremost, then the heat of the jalapeno added to the guac. However salt is a first taste ingredient and jalapenos are always tasted near the end so I think this was a sensorial timing thing.

My flat bread was meaty and fatty and would've been really good BEFORE The guac because the salt would've cut my grease, but that's what I get for loading meat AFTER. Letting the customer choose means the customer also gets the guilt.

Chocolate freezes really quickly. My chocolate banana was just a chocolate banna by the time i got back. Which is still good I just thought with it being all melted at the start it would’ve… changed? But i suppose all chocolate bananas start with melted chocolate so the real benefit with fondue is you can chocolate weird things. (They did not let me)

Then at the tail end, right before the wedding, was the main dish. Chicken, vegetables, and Noodles.

Which is fine, but its a lot less fancy then a whole leg, which makes sense cause everyone ate the leg so no one would've appreciated anything on the main course but it seemed a tad underwhelming given all the fancyness before. I don't know what I was expecting though, something with wine I think. Wine’s fancy right? We don't have wine in Neden so I assumed it was sophisticated.

Lastly there was cake. Which was cut very romantically and then no one ate it until court ended two days later so that felt a little strange. I feel like a cut usually announces you can eat it, Kobolds are like that you know, they rot really fast. But It turns out cake doesn't dry that fast so it was still moist and chocolate. 

No one got murdered which I felt was insulting to the couple. I was told it was traditional to murder Aeston at these things but no one bothered. Oh well. I guess I’m old now.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

What You Missed - Feast of the Leviathan XXVII

by: Nixon "Jasper" Showalter

Hello friends, foes, and otherwise,

There is a strong argument to be made that the Feast of the Leviathan is one of my favorite events I have got to partake in since coming to these lands. The snow is fresh and still one of my favorite weather conditions, the temperature is cold making it great for warm food, and I get to see all of my friends as the year starts to bloom. While it is a feast, and the food was delicious, I have a story to tell about something slightly off topic.

Avandar asked us to go into Hell and into Hell we went. A few of our friends had dreams and visions about shadows taking a blacksmith into a portal, and it seemed it was in our best interest to go rescue him (or at least figure out what was going on). So we were off to the portal to Hell!

Our first mission was to get some runes. I believe these runes also formed a key which would help us get to our next destination. Once at the portal, a permanent sacrifice had to be made to get us into Hell. Someone sacrificed a totem that represented their connection with their mother, a very noble sacrifice which allowed us all to enter Hell. There was one further stipulation. If we were to leave Hell, we each needed a bone that we would imbue with a curse. Anyone was capable of doing so, and we later learned that we were able to personalize them (how cute!). 

As you can imagine, the demons we encountered both wanted us to leave and also wanted us to take them with us. One demon claimed to be a past follower of Garm who was sent to Hell by Asmodius when Garm was stapled. Now it is important to note, for some reason so many of my recent adventures have taken me to Hell, taken me to get stabbed by demons, so I am generally over going to Hell and fighting demons and have come to realize that they mostly just lie, so I was not buying it. However, other adventurers disagreed and took the demon along with us, eventually letting them out of Hell. A second demon we ran into claimed to have “only done tax fraud in Ashenmark”, which as this day progressed I came to agree with them moreso. However, upon being asked if they would commit more crimes if brought back to the Realms, they refused to even lie and say no. They were also trying to trick a child into a demon deal, lots of not good stuff, and I believe they were left in Hell at the end of the day.

While we were fighting and talking to demons, we ended up in a factory of sorts, creating new demons with different powers. There were cow twins, exploding demons, and the works. The head demons running the show were looking for our feedback on how to improve. They were also somewhat upset that we barged in and started to destroy their creations but that's how the cookie crumbles. To get the aforementioned bones we needed, we had to search and render the creatures to get the bones off them. This was surprisingly easy and resulted in us having a bunch of bones to get all of us out!

We were able to get the runes off one of the two demons who ran the show and all of us began to leave. As we left, we had to invent a curse to put into the bones and surely this won’t come back up later. I heard some people’s curses were to lose one’s legs, be unable to lie, have terribly bad luck, act against your will, etc etc. But we all did as we must and were able to leave Hell.

We were then summoned back to Hell once again. For starters, once we got to the portal to Hell, N called out to anyone listening to help us get in. Conveniently, the door opened right up. Suspicious. We fight a few demons and end up in the home of a demon called Mel having a tea party with another demon called Yumi (Nightmare). Now Yumi and I have unfortunately had many dealings, and while I should have imagined that all demons are connected, I did not expect to see them there. Standing behind Yumi was Leo, a good friend of mine. What I did not expect was for Yumi to command Leo to present a gift of babies as a house warming gift for Mel to eat. Mel then laughs and removes a table cloth covering their meal, which happened to be an extremely gruesome sight.

On the table was a baby which they apparently made undead so that they could eat it while it was “alive”, terrible stuff. While I did not know our main objective (classic Jasper), I now had a side objective to get this baby out of Hell. I ask if I can approach the table, and have a quick chat. Someone informs me we are looking for a key, so I ask Mel if they would be able to help us find it. Mel tells me that we could bargain for it. They first offer me a snack of the baby on the table which I decline. They then offer me a drink, a mixture of blood and souls they were drinking. This I could stomach better. In an attempt to be polite, I took a swig.

This drink made me feel slightly strange, though nothing that was out of the usual. Much later, Ryu came up to me very sure that I was a thrall, but nothing really came of this, and I’m probably fine (you know me). However, Mel then asked that I get ten other people to drink as well, five for Mel and five for Yumi. We have an audience at this time and I call over some people and I believe there were eight of us total who drank this mixture. With this, they give us pieces of the key that we need and we all begin to leave. 

This is where the plan kicks in. I very casually ask if Mel would like the baby to be brought with us, to ensure the meal does not get cold. Mel thinks this is a great idea and I immediately swaddle the child in my arms. I blend in to the crowd as much as I can and eventually we are commanded to leave the demons home and I do not wait to be told twice. I head for the exit and I am able to rescue the baby from the silver platter. It is still… very messed up… but no matter for Jasper Sherwood (speaking of Sherwood, did you know that was one of the answers to Feast of the Mind? I have peaked in the Realms), causer and fixer of problems. I started sourcing magics, and between some raises, a soul being called, and some more healing magic, the baby was returned to life. I did the smart thing and had it identified as well and it turns out to be a human child.

I always knew I was ready for parenthood, and what better than to open the year with a new responsibility to keep me on track. I still have not named the child, nor do I know the gender of the child, so if anyone has any good gender neutral name recommendations, I would be all ears.

Once the child was returned to life, people immediately tried to start taking my baby from  me which is terrible. Laika told me he would ask Aurora who the parents were and then rushed away to do so. Believe it or not, I did not hear from Laika again on the matter. I am sure Aurora answered and said that I would be the best guardian for the child. Thanks Aurora, you’re a real one.

Now to be quite honest, I don’t remember how I got to this next situation. It might have been prophetic quite honestly. But for starters, Sir Elizah was an incredible help with saving the baby. She may try to be humble and say it was all me, but there is no I in team and we were a baby saving team. But we soon realized it was likely that this baby’s parents were citizens of Ashenmark and that this baby was sold to the demons to afford more Ashenmarken cheese. This led us to understand that the Ashenmark 100% tax rate was to fund this racket to afford all of the cheese. 

Elizah and I simply could not stand for this and immediately went to High Lord Temorse to discuss this possibility. Temorse was of course extremely dismissive of these “rumors” we were attempting to inform him of, but we finally had realized the truth.

Some time later, Caleal approached me to inform me that I was being sued by none other than High Lord Temorse of Ashenmark, and that I would have to turn over my child immediately. Now with the fact that it may probably be 100% true that it is a possibility that some citizens of Ashenmark may or may not possibly be selling their babies to demons, I was absolutely not letting my baby go back to Hell. I refused, and asked Caleal for some time to find legal counsel. He allotted me 3 minutes, or else he would take my baby’s legs as High Lord Temorse wanted a baby leg meat pie. To say I was shocked is an understatement. I simply could not let this happen.

I entered the feast hall in a frenzy looking for anyone who could stand in as a lawyer. Caleal would call down the hall, counting down as time passed like sand slipping through my fingers. However, my luck quickly turned around. I stumbled upon Evitta Jainrose, Esquire, and this is where things changed for the better. 

Evie was able to negotiate on my behalf. This is where I quickly learned that apparently in Ashenmark, if you are sued your options are to give the High Lord your baby or pay the High Lord your money. There is no winning, there is just losing less. So Evie ensured we lost as little as possible and I was fined one gold (plus an additional gold for Rhiassan taxes) to High Lord Temorse, and I was able to go on my way.

Finally, I had fought demons, staged a rescue, made friends, hired lawyers, and successfully “beat” High Lord Temorse in a legal battle (I lost). There was a third trip into Hell, and I was even there, but honestly had no idea what was going on. There were shadows which needed magic to kill them, Elizah was extremely clutch with a mystic forge enchanting people’s weapons, and Sir Aelias did something really cool with a really cool sword, and he would also be able to tell you in a much more questing focused way what was going on (I blame the baby, my focuses were rightfully elsewhere).

Until the sun touches the sea,

Jasper Sherwood

Realmsle #27

                       

This custom Wordle-adjacent-puzzle features a 5-letter word that is particularly relevant to the Realms.

If the embedded page isn't working below you can click this link to get to the puzzle.

Like regular Wordle you can copy your result's (but only if you follow the link), so paste them or a screenshot onto social media to let us know how you did. But no spoilers!

Feast of the Leviathan XXVII Sculpture Contest

Please enjoy looking at the entries for this year's Sculpture Contest at Feast of the Leviathan.

The theme this year was "The Joys of Matrimony"

As stated in the rules of the contest: "Your evaluation will be based on the skill applied to your sculpture and your adherence and interpretation of the theme."

Potatoes to Share - Potato

Not My Turn - Freesia

"Oh to be Queen" - Karmha

Wedding Cake! - Ragnar!

Snake Hart - Lapis

Tying the Knot - Isoba

Wedding Decorations - Cinder

The Angel - Toothless

Go Slow - Haulith

Snowman & Portal - Bricochet

KIRK - Kirk

Yoked Together - Adara

And the Winning Sculpture

Turtles of Love - Magnolia

2025 View from Valehaven Awards Results

Event Awards

Outstanding One-Day Event 

Training Day 2 

Arken Expedition

Black & White 2025 

Outstanding Weekend Event 

Winter Revelry 2 

The Dedication of King Orion at Feast of Chimeron 30 

Dying Light 1

Outstanding Tournament Event 

Tournaments of Khorne 

Blackwood Tournaments XII

Rhiassa Presents: Queen of Hearts XXX

Outstanding Questing Event 

Ashen Adventures II 

Blackwood Questing Onward 

Dying Light 1 

Outstanding Feast Event 

The Dedication of King Orion at Feast of Chimeron 30 

Ashen Bounty XII 

Rhiassa Presents: Feast of the Leviathan XXVI

Outstanding Social Event 

Winter Revelry 2 

Evie's Tavern Presents: The Midnight Festival 

Black & White 2025 

Event with Outstanding Special Effects

Feast of Blackwood 2025 

Ashen Adventures II 

Voraniss Questing V

Dying Light 1 

Event with Outstanding Props & Costumes

Ashen Adventures II 

Blackwood Questing Onward

Dying Light 1

Event with Outstanding Night Quest

Feast of Blackwood 2025 

A Splinter in the Heart of the Earth 

Dying Light 1 

Event with Outstanding Food

Winter Revelry 2 

The Dedication of King Orion at Feast of Chimeron 30 

Black & White 2025 

Outstanding Dish at an Event

Feast of Blackwood 2025: French Onion Soup Tarts 

Winter Revelry 2: Lamb 

Winter Revelry 2: Wedding Cake 

Ashen Bounty XII: Hand Pies 

Publication Awards

Outstanding IC View from Valehaven Article

Margaret, Styx, Makhta, Timm, Charis & Rosetta - Stories from Divine Intervention 3 

Jasper Sherwood - What You Missed - Evie's Tavern Presents: The Midnight Festival 

Anton & LukeJohn - What You Missed - Winter Revelry 2 [Newlyweds Edition] 

Gus Fakename - Conspiracy Monthly: Queen of Hearts XXX 

Outstanding OOC View from Valehaven Article

Bri Meisser - Disability in the Realms: The Player 

Matt Butler - Communities Helping Communities 

Jason T Rosa - The History of Queen of Hearts through Card Backs

Outstanding View from Valehaven Series

Kieran/Kyra Barry - Conspiracy MONTHLY 

Kelly Perfetto - Fresh Faces 

James Murphy - Shield Stories 

Outstanding View from Valehaven work of Poetry, Song, or Fiction

Cressida - Revelry Filk: Baby, There's Kobolds Outside 

James Swift - Poems of Peace from Stonewood: Part 1 

Liana - Resting Knight 

Lady Tarnisha - Ballad of Darkvale 

Outstanding Realms Photograph 

Bri Meisser - Across Generations

Jeff Cram - Cheers to You!

Ryan Welch - Contemplative Majesty 

Player Awards 

Outstanding Group for Staffing and NPCing

Ashenmark

Blackwood

Invictus

Outstanding Newbie (under 1 year in Realms)

Emma Perez Rovira

Fin McMurtrie 

EJ Smith 

Outstanding Younger player (between 1 and 5 years in Realms)

Adam Huneke 

Nixon Showalter 

Rebekah Shields 

Emma Sherman 

Daniel Hudon 

Outstanding Bard

Crystal Welch 

Sarah Fournier 

Hannah Boucher 

Outstanding Craftsperson 

Charlie Pottow 

Justin Thibeault 

Hannah Boucher 

Outstanding Photographer

Bri Meisser 

Kersten Prince 

Brookelyn Tilton 

Outstanding Artist

Nataliya Kostenko 

Emma Sherman 

Maryanne Betie

Outstanding Vendor

Brookelyn Tilton 

Arthur Granger 

Megan Matulewicz 

Outstandingly Dressed

John Rescigno 

Briar Sieracki 

Ryan Welch 

Outstanding Feastocrat

Matt Butler 

Dani Lacasse 

Kelly Bonci 

Megan Matulewicz

Outstanding Servant or Kitchen Staff

Gregory Falconer

Dani Lacasse 

Jerry Pearce

Outstanding Combat Marshal

Gregory Falconer 

Tucker Noyes 

Keith Cronyn

Outstanding Magic Marshal

Matt Butler 

Benjamin Lacasse 

Becky Baron 

Outstanding Trainer

Kelly Perfetto 

Megan Williamson 

Ryan Welch

Outstanding Mentor

Kathy Fey

Kelly Perfetto 

Ryan Welch

Outstanding Displays of Kindness

Charlie Pottow

Kathy Fey

Kelly Perfetto 

Outstanding use of Support Magic

Liselle Silvermaple 

Evitta Jainrose 

Bogen Goldforge 

Outstanding Roleplaying of Magic

Margaret August, Lightbringer 

Makhta McKrye 

James Swift 

Outstanding Roleplaying by a Player Character

Jasper Sherwood 

Makhta McKrye 

Fern Eberhardt 

Outstanding Roleplaying of a Single NPC Role

Mike Durocher as The Painter 

Emma Sherman as Lyssa 

Brookelyn Tilton as Charlotte

Brookelyn Tilton as Seteya the Dryad 

Outstanding Grunt NPC

Charlie Pottow

Tucker Noyes

Kathy Fey 

Joseph Yang

Paragon Awards 

Outstanding Honor in Combat

Nixon Showalter

Tucker Noyes

Steve Nelson 

Outstanding in Helping Eventholders

Crystal Welch

Charlie Pottow

Becky Baron 

Outstanding Role Model 

Kathy Fey

Ryan Welch

Josh Learned 

Sapphire Award 

Briar Sieracki

Nataliya Kostenko

Kelly Perfetto

Hannah Boucher 

Outstanding Contributions to the Realms

Dani Lacasse

Jason T Rosa

James Murphy