Conspiracy Monthly

 by Kyra Barry

Why I Want to Go - Feast of Blackwood 2023

by Ethan "JB" Goldman

A god has talked to me.

This is an oddity, Gaia simply passed over me as if I was phantasmal, and the Dark One, kind as Its mercy is, does not speak at all. It’s a kindness honestly, so that Its words will not be subtracted from the void and hung upon creation. 

She has asked for my assistance, personally in fact. I will not fail.  I do not fail.

But, that is my story, a small thread in a tapestry… we probably need to start at the beginning.

Everything started when King Tunoc walked in on a tournament 2 year… no wait, that’s not far enough.

Long ago at an event I never went to, Mathias was too close to an altar without a arcanic condom and caught a bad cause of demonic possession. Give a few years and when Mathias, like so many, was allowed to become a god, the demon took his place, sitting cozy up in the heavens. That demon was named Change and he was the god of corruption and chaos and generally “making things worse.”

A massive ritual was done to “purify” Change, to make him a god of Change in general not just corruption… but well theres two flaws with that.

These super handwave rituals that seal away memories of titans or change gods or finally get rid of greater entities forever for realsies… they don’t work. You are throwing intervention and a few dance numbers at existential concepts, reality isn't so frou frou as to be pushed around by a few pontificates with a stick. But that’s not even the most important part.

Did Change even want to be “Redeemed” did anyone ask? Good is not a FORCE you can’t just, irradiate someone with vibes until their personality is atomized. Morality is a forest with no paths, and you can guide someone along it, but if you just bash them in the back of the head and drag them out… they won’t end up where they wanted to go, and they’ll simply go back to looking.

So anyway Change had a relapse and is off the proverbial wagon. 

Enter Domai. Domai is a mysterious alien place, with unusual magics based on elements and balance, with people who live their lives according to various precepts that change and adapt according to the votes of the council, enacted by a godly avatar…

And there is a reason for that. Domai is alien not because its a different place, but because it’s NOT a place. Its a realm, a godly demiplane where ritual is physics and prayer is practical. It is Edonae’s realm, it is drenched in her colors, it rings of her song… and it is ripe with her power.

Change saw a land entirely of a god, and realized that he could make that realm entirely of him. He took Titanx, a material created by the chosen among Domai’s people to be infused with the elemental magics of Edonae (Not that they recognize the gods influence, in the same way we do not recognize the presence of oxygen we just recognize the buildup of co2 in our body), and instead replaced that element with him. Enter Weirdstone.

Weirdstone is very simple, people try to elaborate on it. But it’s not. Weirdstone makes weirdstone, it makes it out of more titanx, it tries to make itself out of people, it does unto the others as the others unto you, until it breaks you, until you die, until theres nothing left of you in your corpse. Until even your elements and prayers become weirdstone, until nothing is left unChanged.

So, it's a problem. But it's powerful, and for the people of Spring, people who value change and innovation… it seems like this might just be that change.

And for some completely unrelated yet still unknown reason, theres this John guy just wandering around Domai trying to burn the nation down to build a new nation of the downtrodden, seemingly out of sheer coincidence. Because like, why let a chance slip away?

Frankly speaking I haven’t heard a peep from Domai in a year, not since its avatar was cut down by Change, I actually suspect the realm is dead… That having been said, The realm is Edonae’s realm, and when that ship went down, she started to fall.

Not FALL with the mad cackling and evil magics. No she fell, onto the ground, I saw the crater, it hurt. With Edonae’s fall, Change is now the biggest dog in town, and he was abusing that heavily last I saw, having corrupted the people of Blackwood themselves to serve his purposes…

Fortunately I created a sieve to undo THAT, but that doesn't mean Change LOST, he just hasn’t won yet. 

What are we going to do in Feast of Blackwood, I don’t know frankly, I don’t know how to kill a god, I don’t know how to fix a realm. Shits gone sideways a while ago, and the quest promises danger. I don’t expect any of this to be easy, but I am going to try anyway. 

Domai is intricate, there is an explanation for everything, not simply secrets to be revealed but deductions you can logically understand based on the random trivialities of the land. There is complicated runic mysteries, dark puzzles, things to do without simply swinging a sword, and few things are so armored that no sword will be useless.

My only advice to give is, last time I was there, the world was more open and complicated then people saw. Don’t get trapped on a road when you can simply walk on the grass.

Also I mean, I like the FoB appetizers, they have roasted grapes and stuff that’s fun… Not everything has to be dead gods… just most things.

 

Guess That Realmsie!

Another in our continuing series! In the below picture there is a Realmsie-shaped black hole. Can you figure out who it is based only on the profile? Tell us on social media if you think you know who it is! The answer will be revealed later in the day. 

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Morning Coffee Break

Got your morning cup of coffee and a few minutes? Great! Time for our continuing feature at the View - we're going to be asking a series of questions and we want to know your answers! The question is posted below. So while you sip your morning beverage of choice, ruminate on this one:

The summer eventing season is beginning to wind down, so tell us your favorite event memory from this past summer or spring!

Now head on over to social media and give us your best answer!

What You Missed, Many Perspectives Part 2 - The Spaces In Between

Omri's Perspective: A few may remember a few weeks back I wrote a summary of several events and occurrences that I believed at the time to be connected. The TLDR at the start of that article was “Things are weird and it feels like reality is falling apart.” I can say now things are weirder than I thought and reality really was falling apart, or at the very least cracked.
What happened this weekend was the culmination of months of work from several entities. Most notable and pertinent is the Lord/Lady of Change who is the same person but who changes pronouns and gendered titles frequently. They may not even look the same next time they show up. Their servant, Robin Goodfellow, Robin the Merchant, Meerkat from an alternate reality, all one person with different names and faces, had been in ours expanding the cracks that exist between worlds in order to allow his massively more powerful master, Lord/Lady of Change, into our reality.

Space in Between is the space that exists between realities and worlds where they don’t quite touch. Things may pass through there or they may stay there. Cracks formed there, and Robin slipped through. Their master stayed behind until the cracks were wide enough. Odd events that have occurred have been because of these cracks in reality, of things coming undone. Puzzle pieces scattered about, a crumb trail leading to this event.

Friday night:

This all came to head this weekend when the Arbiter of Antioch took a group of people in answer to a prayer Janus sent out months ago and pulled us to this odd in between place where we could interact with the anomalies of reality breaking, and hopefully fix it.

We were told to split into three groups, and we would be randomly assigned a portal then sorted. My group was Aelias, Liselle, Minstral, Silva, Jean Baptiste, and Arias the Runner, as well as myself. We were on the smaller side vs the other groups’ 8 members, and our first task was to go into the Dreaming, led by this reality’s Meerkat. We confirmed it was this reality’s Meerkat as he did not recognize me and thus had not been the one teaching me reality magic. That was Robin. In the Dreaming we came upon Faelinn, who had been missing since June, who led us to Strathmore. Strathmore tasked half of us go and forge the sword of kings, and the rest of us went with Faelinn and Meerkat into the Space in Between where we could discuss how to get the Golden Seed, which was important to Coventry and the Aurorans. A denizen possessed Meerkat and we could ask them 3 questions, alas we did not know the truly important ones to ask yet.

Face Markings of the One in Meerkat

Returning to Strathmore’s hoard in the Dreaming we found 4 staffs. One of which was the Bone Staff that BC (Blue Coyote) wields, beware. The rest are yet unidentified. If you know what they are please share, I’m still trying to make sense of this event.

These had been potentially in the chamber of the seal that had been sealing the Lord of Change out, hence the importance of their identification.

Once our members returned we left the Dreaming. Meerkat and I used combined reality magic to get Faelinn out for the time being, though apparently she has since returned to where she was in June. I hope for her swift return in safety.

With all 3 groups returned we exchanged notes. One went to a Dreaming tea party at the center of the Dreaming with an inordinate amount of activities, including a vote of for Lucien or Minerva to run the Dreaming. A trial for Sun and Shadow, a mini dungeon, an odd fae tea party, one bird person telling Fortunes, a table to make something to anchor your being, a place to tell Randall stories, some sort of puzzle game.

The other group helped decide what would happen to Queen Meg. Some information was given that allegedly she was supposed to raise her son for a few years, not go in the Underhill as many thought. Not knowing what was cracks and what wasn’t, they encouraged her to go, with Sir Wil, who then stabbed her in the back before the group was whisked back to the central location we all met. Some said Sir Wil had a dark voice whispering to him. To be clear if you see Sir Wil do not hold these paradoxical actions against him, unless he’s a skald, then be wary for different reasons.

It’s at this point we saw our first change to the board. Other View articles entail what the other groups faced so I won’t detail what occurred with them.

This is what we would end up with, with some having been removed in the interim as at the end and at various points we were given opportunities to undo these changes. I will say now most changes were undone, except that which occurred with Sir Chan. As of Friday Sir Chan became The Champion, his sword Valor corrupted. Only thing that currently holds the clue to save him were golden angel skulls found scattered. 

Not seen is that one such affectation to reality is that The Champion, now known as Orlando, may return. He may have dropped anchor points. Whether its absence from the board means this is no longer the case is uncertain.

Our group next went into the Dreaming, we voted, and found a relic that only lasted the weekend. It was a Favor of Faylie somehow identical to the one Baron Diamond has. Several such odd relics popped up this weekend.

By the time our group interacted with the evolving new history of Chimeron, Queen Mahkta was going to bargain with Dionin to free Chimeron from the mists. We kept this deal at bay as long as possible and when we were forced to leave due to being pulled back to that central location, it was with the hope that we convinced the vampire Queen there were other ways.

The night unfortunately did not end there. We were forced to bear witness to two points in the original The Champion’s history, one where he had Matthew kill Dalindana, another where Sir Chan was to kill him. Both times were changed due to the weakening of the bonds of reality and due to an intervention given to him in a deal that I unfortunately witnessed, so when it resulted in Sir Chan becoming The Champion, that deal had to stay as it had been witnessed. Matthew did not kill Dalindanna, and Sir Chan obliterated Squire Liselle and Sir Aelias. The latter two are now alive, and the first point had been returned to its natural history of Matthew killing Dalindana.

A brief history of The Champion, Orlando, not Chan. He is not of this reality. He is the ‘sibling’ of the Lord of Change who brought him here, after they themselve impersonated the original Orlando of this reality and kicked them out. Lord of Change got bored and brought another reality’s Orlando here. This resulted in Antioch finally noticing something was amiss, and sealing the Lord of Change away. The original child is still missing. Minerva apparently views Chan Champion as a twisted image of her child but is still protective of his continued existence as The Champion, or at least so I’ve heard.

Saturday:

The next day was spent fixing anomalies as best we could. What we knew of what should happen and what shouldn’t. It wasn’t enough, as that night Lord of Change came through the dreaming and switched places with The Champion Orlando.

We all had belt favors with numbers and crosses on them, and letters, and ciphered numbers on the back and invisible words. Ypnn spent much of the time there working on that, and to the best of my knowledge still is doing so.

Blue Coyote showed up and his assassin guild, and confronted the lot of us. Blue Coyote was a coyote who was transformed by the magical sword of the color dimension Blue, hence the name. Blue showed up itself, so did future Sir Lars, Ragthor the demon, Ragnar of Blackstar guild, a past Sir Lars, any number of people as reality bent and cracked. 

Cultists trying to summon the Lord of Change used the heroes to do so. Since they killed the cultists, ‘innocents’, that fueled the ritual. The Lord of Change was/is one of seven, so I believe the number holds some significance.

A ritual given to others in exchange for favors with Ragnar of Blackstar Guild was to banish Blue. Unfortunately it released into Bedlam, or an adjacent thing that acted like Bedlam. Magnus allegedly sacrificed himself, I was dead for this, to shut the portal that we had opened.

Then Minerva showed up. Talked to some adventurers, she was pissed reality was breaking. Robin had said that there was nothing we could do to stop Lord/Lady of Change from coming through but we could prevent others from following. I do not know if we succeeded as we entered the Dreaming and fought nightmares.

Saturday night:

Crows, Matthew and Matthew, agreed to give information about what we needed in exchange for ginger molasses cookies. It needed angel, mortal, and demon blood, at which point the people would be bound to the doors.

A group of us drew on our knowledge of friends to save certain nightmare versions of them. Other nightmares were more straightforward fights. Apparently the Chained Gloom Father was there.

Once the door was closed, we left the Dreaming.

Sunday:

There were a forum of dream demons voting to undo the breaks that had been done. I believe most were undone. Then they, and some of us, voted on who would be the dream demon in charge. Soul Taker was elected under the promise he'd leave King Cecil, specifically, alone. Death Dealer is Soul Taker's second, Risk Taker is the third.

Then we were in Coventry, and bore witness to King James returning, then ascending with Dalindana. He put out that a new mortal avatar would need to be found for Aurora, not another of his reincarnations.

To summarize: The Champion is Chan, Soul Taker is leader of the Dream demons, the original child of Strathmore and Minerva is still lost, the Lord/Lady of Change is here now, and there might be more vampires afoot in Chimeron among other changes in reality. There's still lots we need to fix, and lots we need to confirm.

What You Missed, Many Perspectives Part 1 - The Spaces In Between

Margaret's Perspective:

What you missed? What we missed? What we all missed! So much happened. Until it didn’t happen. But I’m going to tell you about it anyway.

I was just enjoying a nice relaxing vacation, when all of a sudden I’m pulled through a misty haze and into Coventry. There, we were face to not-face with The Arbiter. This is how I knew it was going to be a ‘great’ day. 

It was The Arbiter who answered Janus’s intervention at Uncle Cecil’s all those months ago, instead of Chronos. "If it would heal on it's own, help me resolve that issue. If it won't, help me revert it to back before it was broken.” Janus said. As we arrived in Coventry, we were told that reality was broken. Things were changing, but we did not know what was real; our version of history we remember, or what we see before us. There were 3 portals, and we were to split into 3 groups to go through each of them. We would then go through those portals, and reconvene to discuss what occurred. Before going back through the next portal to try and fix it again. Until each group went through all the portals.

I got to team up with a group of Aurorans, A Rorin, N and Adoros. Our group went to the first portal, bringing us into the center of the dreaming. There was an election being held, and we were told to vote between Minerva and Lucien for who would be in charge of the Dreaming. There was also fortune telling, the world's tiniest dungeon, storytelling, games, and more. It was all fairly bizarre. I was pulled away to do my Sun and Shadow trials. Eventually, we left with a few more artifacts than we came in with, as well as the warning to not trust Meerkat. 

We arrived and reconvened with the rest of the group. One group had gone back in time to Chimeron, when Queen Meg was going under the hill. I didn’t get all of the details, but it seemed like someone was convincing her not to? I think in order to spend more time with people here. Something along that line. Something happened, and Sir Wil ended up assassinating her. And Chimeron faded into the mists. Those of us in Chimeron felt terrible pain as this occurred. The third group arrived at the forging of the Sword of Kings. Something was trying to change it as it was forged, but the heroes were able to use sleight of hand to adjust the components put into the sword, ensuring it was properly assembled.

After exchanging notes, our groups went back out trying to fix things. My group were met by Sir Wil, and asked if we were there to stop the ascension war. I asked which one, greatly confusing him. He responded that it was the ascension war. The only one. So we were clearly in the past still. Instead of Shane acting as Champion, it was instead Queen Makhta; Queen of Chimeron without lands. They were hoping to use the boon from winning the Ascension War to return Chimeron from the mists.  

As we approached, we were asked if we were Dark One or Rexan worshipers, the only groups still left aside from the Chimeronians representing Rawonam. I looked around at our group, including someone with a glowing Sword of Kings and two glowing Auroran necklaces, and I sarcastically said yes. We then explained that we were Aurorans, to which they responded that it was too late, the Aurorans were already defeated. Laika mentioned that we weren’t Quick enough to help, something which got him thoroughly kicked by his Squire. 

Regardless, eventually the real Rexan and Dark One worshippers showed up, and lost to Rawonam. Thinking we had succeeded, as Rawonam was supposed to win and Chim be returned from the mists, all was well until Makhta began to bite both friend and foe. Turns out, instead of an Auroran Vampires she was a Rawonam vampire. All worship of gods outside of Rawonam was made illegal, as vampires ruled over the landless Chim.

We met back up with the other groups to once again exchange notes. A group found Faelinn in the Spaces in Between, where she was able to talk about something which she normally could not; the location of a golden seed which held the power of the Avatar of Aurora. She gave the group instructions on how to take down the ward, and that her blood must be given freely and willingly. 

Some people also met King James in the Dreaming. He explained that they must imbue the Sword of Kings with the aspects of the Knights of the Crown. Mercy, Honor, Courage, and Duty. He also gave them the Warriors Prayer, which he suggested be returned to be used by heroes in these times.

We switched portals one last time. My group is met by Meerkat and Faelinn. We go through a portal in order to take down the wards and get the seed. There was some confusion regarding what exactly we were trying to do, but an unnecessary death and some explanation later, we gave the seed to Straphmore, who was to return it to King James. We saw the old avatar restored, once killed by Soultaker and now back in his rightful throne. For now. 

When we reconvened, it was mentioned that Queen Makhta did not have enough power in order to return Chimeron from the Mists, and they were thinking of making a deal with Dionin for more power to complete their task. The adventurers convinced them not to, and JB ended up stapling Dionin to his chair with the Sword of Kings. 

Gathered together once more, our surroundings faded into shadow, as we say Dalindanna and The Champion. As Matthew went to strike down The Champion, he paused, and began to ask Aurorans if Dalindanna should be struck down. Both Laika and Tirvanel said that history needed to go the way it always did. 

As this was happening, my voice was heard, disembodied as it began to call out to The Champion for his Intervention. The terrible deal I made months ago was coming to fruition. He chose not to kill Dalindanna, and instead we saw Chan in his final battle with The Champion. Chan calls out his true name to banish him, but it doesn’t work. Dream Demon’s True Names change after 3 uses, and while Chan had only used it twice, my intervention went through time and to him in this moment, changing his True Name and causing Chan to be unable to defeat him. Instead, he is turned, and Chan strikes down Liselle and Aelias; obliterating them.

The next morning, things continued to be weird. So much was happening it is impossible to keep track of it all. But here are some highlights.

The Aurorans and Knights of the Crown were summoned by Dame Faelinn for a conversation, involving the Knighting of Sir Zula to the order, and Magnus becoming a full Templar. Our meeting was interrupted by the once obliterated Liselle and Aelias being chased by people trying to murder them right in our direction, likely BC? Unsure. 

Things continued to be weird and chaotic. Blue was running around killing people. Cultists were trying to summon the Lord of Change; the sibling of The Champion who had been trying to break into our reality. Their minion, it turns out, is a man named Robin, who happened to be an alternate reality’s Meerkat, who had been teaching people reality magic in order to make more cracks and help his master through. 

The Champion, who now is going by Orlando, shows up. As does a corrupted version of Chan, who is the new The Champion. 

Sir Lars showed up; with my dagger on his belt, an alleged gift from Rexan. He ends up challenging those who wore Chimeron tabards to honorable combat, and those who lost had to take a black mark in their spell books. 

Tim the Enchanter eventually shows up, and explains that us capping the reality well in preparation for the Erl Kings invasion of Coventry has caused reality itself to be harmed, as it is contained with no release. We work to reopen the reality well, this time with a tap, through stories and other acts of inspiration. 

N’s time bomb ticks down, and a group of us attempt to disarm it. It was less than successful, but Janus managed to buy some time with his Mage call. While this was happening, Death Knights attack, trying to get the Sword of Kings from Laika. He was able to defeat them.

Throughout the day, we were fixing anomalies. One of them was the fact that Shoshanna was saved from the well of souls. This one was fixed, as the well got sealed. 

A group works on a ritual to send Blue back to the color plane once and for all. The ritual gotten from the Blackstar guild, the portal is opened, and Zula Bois begin to stream out. Eventually, Magnus manages to do a ritual to defeat Bedlam Zula, sacrificing himself in the process, and allowing for the gate to be closed.

Minerva shows up, and begins to yell at us about how reality is collapsing and we’re making things worse. She also screams at Omri for being a poor imitation of a reality mage due to Robin’s training. Omri ends up being Squired by Laurante, and given a task to make amends with Minerva.

Eventually, the heroes made our way to the Dreaming where there is a manifestation of the Night Masters Door, which the Lord of Change was to use in order to come into our realm. We were able to close the door, but not before the Lord of Change came through to our realm, and The Champion into theirs. I went off to a nice bakery during this in order to get birthday cupcakes to bring back to my friends, when I fell into a nightmare of despair. So much of what I learned here is from accounts from my friends and my own nightmare fueled perspective. There were also people who saw the Chained Gloom Father, whom, from my understanding remains chained at Minerva’s insistence. 

The next morning, after forging N a new body, there was a counsel of Dream Demons. They began to vote on which anomalies to fix. Chimeron was returned from the mist. Bedlam was never reopened. Though they did decide to add more random vampires to Chimeron in order to spice up life. By royal decree from the Court Mage of Chimeron, Black and White and Feast of Chim will include more garlic dishes, and Clan Riverhawk was contracted to build more crossroads to bury vampires at. 

Regardless, a majority of the anomalies were fixed. The big one which was not had to do with The Chanpion situation, since this was done by mortal actions via free will as opposed to weird reality altering stuff or Dream Demons. Because of this, Chan is currently The Champion, a Dream Demon and Avatar of Dionin. But we have a path forward to work towards fixing this and having him restored to us. 

There was then a vote for who was to be the Dream Demon in charge. Soultaker made a deal that if he won, he would leave Cecil alone. A tempting offer that likely swayed many votes. Ultimately, Soultaker won the vote, with Death Dealer as his second and Risk Taker in third. What this means for King Cecil and Chimeron is unknown at this time. 

When the Counsel of Dream Demons disbanded, Coventry held Court. King James sat on his throne, and thanked us all for his efforts in restoring him. He brought three figures of importance within Coventry to our attention; Sir Hall, head reality mage, High Priestess Bianca, and Knight Commander Faelinn. He entrusted them with finding a new Mortal Avatar, a task they pointed out some are already working on including himself. King James then walked off with Dalindanna into the light, joining her as an Immortal Avatar of Aurora. 

So this is where the story ends for now. Reality is more or less restored, Coventry is entering a new era, and the future is full of opportunities, good and bad. In spite of the length of this article. I’m sure there is a lot I am missing. I definitely suggest reaching out to those who were there, learning from their experiences and uncovering the secrets they hold together. In the meantime. 

May Aurora Light Your Path

Squire Margaret August

Lightbringer of Voraniss

Until next time

-----------------------------------------------------------------

DelHemar's Perspective:

I have been asked to report on what I witnessed over the past few days. I will begin by saying that there was simply too much. I did not see everything, I certainly didn’t understand everything, and now it seems that much of what I did see and understand never happened. That’s time travel, my friends, it gets weird. Have a seat, this is going to be long.

We arrived and gathered in a tavern, there were three boards, one of which would fill with things we all knew about history, one would fill with longer stories, and one was available for us to write upon to scream our frustrations at the void. While I did not take part in this last one, I could certainly see it being cathartic for some. The first board contained a single message, advising that Dalindana had been struck down by the champion, and that Dalindana had not been struck down by the champion, but had survived and lived out her days, and that both of these things were true.

The arbiter arrived and advised that reality was breaking. Holes were being punched in it, and paradoxes were forming. We divided up into three teams to go deal with three separate holes in reality. My team, consisting of the non-auroran members of chimeron, and two members of creathorn were sent twenty some odd years back in time, to the night when Queen Meg of Chimeron went under the hill. Sir Wil met us, and led us to the hill, insisting that we needed to help Queen Meg complete the ritual and go under the hill as she was meant to do. When we arrived we found Princess Brynn insisting that, no, she’d found a document in a secret library in Chimeron that said Queen Meg needed to be spirited away and given a few years to raise her son. That she would go under the hill in a few years, but not that night. 

There were other members of old Chimeron there arguing for one side or the other. I didn’t know all of them, but I was delighted to meet Queen Meg. Eventually, we persuaded the queen that before any of the rest of us had shown up, her plan had been to go under the hill, that she knew it was what needed to happen, and should follow her own plan. We stood by to watch Chimeron’s first queen inter herself, Sir Wil guiding her by the shoulder toward the entry. Which put us all in a fine position to witness Sir Wil stab her in the back before she could cross into the hill. 

We were shunted back to the tavern before anyone could react. Chimeron faded into the mists. The other groups returned and reported that one had sat down to a pleasant dreaming tea time, and the other had witnessed the forging of the sword of kings, but something had been trying to corrupt it, turning it into what we thought might be a wayland blade instead of a the sword of kings. That group had been able to exert some influence through slight of hand, and ensured the sword of kings was made mostly correctly. The board confirmed that they were successful.

My group next went into the dreaming and met King James. He had the newly forged sword of kings, but it needed to be imbued with the traits of one of the knightly orders, I don't recall which one. The traits were Duty, Honor, Courage, and Mercy, which probably doesn’t narrow it down much. Four people volunteered to stand in for these traits, Griffin, Ryu, Ypnn, and Pawldo. They each gave a little speech about what that trait meant to them, and how they tried to embody it. King James was satisfied, and then split us into two groups, one went to learn the true name of the sword, while the rest of us went to retrieve The warrior’s prayer. I was in the warrior’s prayer group. An angel challenged us to three trials, first was a riddle, then they put us all in a circle and told us to divide into two teams, and that only one team may leave the circle. We got no further instruction, and made a few bad assumptions, but eventually Ryu pulled everyone together, and declared that we were one team and we were leaving together. It worked. Finally, we each had to face the angel in honorable combat. So long as one of us won, we’d get the prayer. I didn’t win. And i was dead and facing the wrong direction to know who did, but we got the prayer. We went back, did the ritual to imbue the sword, recited the prayer, and then went back to our bodies before we could lose our way. 

When we got back, we were told that Makhta was Queen of Chimeron, and had fought in the ascension war for Rowanam. Worship of other gods was now illegal, also Chimeron was now full of vampires. 

Our third destination was the tea time. We voted for who would run the dreaming, Minerva, or Lucien. But we didn’t know who we were voting for because nothing was labeled. Welcome to the dreaming. The tea was quite pleasant, but the snacks were hazardous. We told stories, made anchors to help us get back to our bodies, and had a much more relaxing time than the other two paths. 

When we got back we learned that Dionin had offered to pull Chimeron out of the mists, Jean Baptiste had used the sword of kings to staple Dionin to a chair, and ordered him to pull Chimeron out of the mists without extracting any price, and Chimeron was still full of vampires. 

We got a peek through the mists of time and got to witness Dalindana not being killed. The champion of that time froze time, and sought the advice of some of the aurorans, who I'll credit, stuck to the goal of trying to preserve the timeline, even at the cost of a goddess. Still, The Champion chose not to kill her, which was good, and bad, and had a ton of ripple effects. Then we saw the moment, ages ago, when Chan faced The Champion. Chan called upon the true name, but we heard a voice from the present, Margaret’s voice, using the true name instead. Turns out it can only be used 3 times before it changes, and time and order doesn’t much matter. The champion froze time, moved people around, and caused Chan to obliterate their friends instead.

And that’s all friday night.

Saturday, we woke up, and were almost immediately marched upon by Blue Coyote. He was very blue, and had a Coyote skull for a face. He was convinced that we were trying to destroy him. He froze us all in place with his voice so his lackeys could search us. They ran off with a few magic weapons, but left our gold. That was nice of them.

We faced a lot of things throught the day, and i’m sorry if i get the timeline a bit jumbled up. A lot of people showed up multiple times, or simultaneously. I met Sir Lars, who had been displaced in time, he warned us that a younger version of himself was coming as well. He seemed a very pleasant man, and i hope to meet him again. I met a fellow named Rothgar who really wanted to fight a bunch of folks who were at the top of the heroic ladder back when I first started adventuring 15 years ago, some of them people who had already retired by that point. He said his purpose in existing was to challenge the heroes of the realms. Eventually we got a few exhibition matches going for him, and he started getting power, and using it to grant armor and powerful blows to the combatants. It was great. Eventually he was ready to face some of us himself. I myself had a very pleasant duel with him.

We met Ragnar Blackmane, master of the Black Star Guild, which is an organization I certainly haven’t heard mentioned in many years. Griffin spoke to him and made a deal, which is his business to discuss or not as he pleases. In exchange Ragnar provided us with a ritual to banish blue back to the plane of colors, and helped us find the materials we would need to do so. We gathered prisms and keys during 3 excursions. I rather enjoyed those excursions. Once we had the materials we were told to wait for sundown, as that was the time for the ritual, so we’ll come back to this.

There was a house fire, where the fire came to life. The downside of a living housefire is that it’s extra malicious. The upside is that it can be killed and beaten back with regular weapons. There was a girl inside who we needed to rescue, but she wouldn’t leave without her doll. Someone said that we knew the girl was supposed to die in the fire, but I don't think any of us had the stomach for letting a child burn to death. We grabbed the doll, grabbed the girl and fled the burning building, because while the individual fire elementals could be killed, they kept respawning from the flames. The girl’s name was Anna. her doll was creepy, and talking, and creepy. We took the doll to “clean it” Identify said it was “Anna’s doll” disenchant didn’t seem to do anything. It was able to pass through a COP, but then disappeared when we weren’t paying it our full attention. Maybe we were meant to smash it? Maybe it was meant to burn, I don't know. 

Younger Lars showed up with a challenge that anyone wearing a Chimeron tabard could either surrender it to him, or face him in combat. If you won, you kept your tabard. If you lost, you kept your tabard but got a black spot. No explanation for what the black spot was. I didn’t have to face him because i was wearing a green vest with a sorbus patch, and the heraldry on my armor. It wasn’t a tabard, it didn’t count. Others were excused because they had the leaf on a different color background. He was only interested in the chimeron leaf on green background, on a tabard. He rules lawyered his orders as far as he could possibly bend them for us, and I appreciate that. 

Sir Chan showed up, but they were different. Now they were the Champion, or Chanpion if you felt like irritating them. Apparently, this version of them turned to Dionin when Justari failed them. We didn’t much like them, when I refused to kneel before them, they shattered my legs to make me kneel. That said, later on, they did give me a small bit of help during a thing that didn’t happen, so maybe they aren’t completely awful?

There were other versions of Chan as well, and death knights who came to kill them, and other “The Champions”. Laika fought a death knight that only he could kill.

When evening came, we performed the ritual that Ragnar gave us to banish Blue. it involved chanting something that sounded like mage runes, but i’m not familiar enough with them to remember which ones. There were pretty lights, and a gate way opened, Zula walked out followed by a hoard of Zula Bois. they rolled over our ritual party pretty quickly and headed off toward the tavern. I died a lot. Up and down and up and down, and raise people and get rolled again, and raise them again. Eventually we got everyone moved into a shadowy corner of the field near the woods. We got everyone up, and started sneaking into the woods. But there was a stone wall. A Zula Boi approached, and i knew that if i turned and tried to go over the wall i’d just get stabbed in the back and regenerate someplace uncomfortable, so i turned to face the threat that tried to slow it down so others could get over the wall. I died loud enough so they knew there was danger. I was left behind, which was 100% the right choice. 

When I regenerated, i quietly recast my spells, went to a nearby pile of bodies one of which was only playing dead, and together we took the other two and snuck toward the tavern, keeping quiet, and low and hiding in the shadows. I started to make the crossing through the light toward the tavern, but saw The Chanpion inside who subtly gestured for me to stop and hide. He was right, he was too late. I’d been seen. I died again. When I regenerated I just stayed sitting in the dark, hoping not to be noticed, and watching for a chance to drag Ryu to the tavern. Eventually the folks who snuck off into the woods caught up to me. Apparently the larger group going in a round about path took longer than the smaller sneaky group of regenerators. Who would have guessed? Magnus did something to seal bedlam away again, but it cost him his existence. I’d put memorial service details here, but it didn’t stick. We got him back, so, if you’re going to raise a glass in his honor make sure you pour one for him too. 

 Minerva showed up, and was furious. She gave Omri 5 seconds to run before she would obliterate him and scatter his remains across a thousand worlds. She issued a warning that those who learned reality magic from Robin were breaking reality every time they used it, and if they don’t stop she’ll stop them. Permanently. She threatened a lot of other people too. 

I started setting up a ritual to bring us all into the dreaming. It was beautiful, there was singing, and sleep sand, and we were all on board my ship. Somewhere during set up Omri got squired to the Red Branch to try to placate Minerva, but he didn’t seem thrilled about it. 

We entered the dreaming and faced our own personal nightmares. I got to witness a bunny rabbit trying to eat JB, and him overcoming it by eating it right back. The lord/lady of change, who was the being Robin served, Robin being an alternate reality version of Meerkat who had instigated many of our troubles throughout the day, was there, and instigating trouble. We’d gone to a big important door in the middle of the dreaming that was supposed to be locked, but was at that time unlocked, allowing the lord/lady of change to pass through. We saw the Gloomfather trapped in a circle and the lord/lady of change wanted us to let it out, but wouldn’t tell us anything about why or how or what was inside. Minerva told us more, which makes sense for a goddess of knowledge. She seemed pretty reasonable when she wasn’t shouting at folks and threatening to unmake them. 

We gathered materials, including the blood of a demon, angel, and mortal, and performed a ritual to reseal the door. That accomplished, we tugged on our anchor line back to our bodies and went home, where we talked for a while before going back to sleep, but this time in a more natural, less supernatural way. 

The next morning, after we’d had breakfast and put N back together (N had a time bomb that advanced whenever we did something that made things worse. It had exploded the night before but i wasn’t present for that.) the Dream demons showed up and held a meeting to try to sort out the timeline. The mortals were instructed to keep quiet, raise our hands and wait to be recognized before talking, on pain of death. Given that Soul Taker, Death Dealer, and World Destroyer were all present, that seemed like a very credible threat. Given that Risk taker was also present, a few people pressed their luck anyway.

The first order of business was that bedlam reopening was bad for everyone so by unanimous vote it never happened. That whole segment above about bedlam opening and Zula bois? A complete figment of our collective imaginations. Didn’t happen. Also Cimeron never faded into the mists, Meg wasn’t assassinated, Makhta wasn’t queen, but thanks to a petition from Risk Taker we do still have vampires in Chimeron now. Due to an issue with the specific wording of contracts, and the particulars of the dream demon’s charter, we couldn’t undo Sir Chan Slaying their friends and becoming the Chanpion, but we did restore Dalindana to having been slain at the proper time, angering Garm and causing aurora to cry the tears we’ve used so many times over the years to save our collective backsides. There was a lot of debate back and forth, and a lot of business to discuss, and I was not taking notes at the time. The dream demons said the meeting minutes would be available immediately. If you really want to know the minutiae of the meeting, petition them for a copy. I do remember a blanket offer that anyone could turn in “contraband” ie artifacts of timelines that had changed and would represent a paradox, like the skulls of people who had died but then not died. Blanket amnesty for any contraband that was turned in then. We fixed what we could, what the dream demons could be persuaded into. The rest is the reality we have always had, even if we don’t remember it that way. Time and memory are strange that way, but they rarely match up perfectly anyway, so I suppose this isn’t that different.

Then there was a vote for who would lead the dream demon counsel. There were a few speeches. Soul Taker offered that if elected he’d leave King Cecil alone. The vote went up and the end result was Soul Taken in charge. Death Dealer in second, Risk taker in Third, right where he wanted to be. And the lord/lady of change somewhere below them in the ranking. We were informed that their charter stated that World destroyer could not be elected to the position ever, and that Risk Taker was allowed to vote for everyone. The Chanpion was less than thrilled to not have placed in the top three, as he’d insisted that tradition held that the champion was always at the head of the counsel.

After that meeting King James showed up and held court in Coventry. He made some appointments, assigned the task of finding his replacement, and then ascended to be with his goddess after what I understand to be a long and illustrious career. 

These are my recollections. I cannot say with certainty that they are in the right order, time travel being what it is. I can say with certainty that some of these things did not happen, though I remember them all too clearly, and that many things did happen that I have either forgotten, or did not witness.  I doubt this is the last we will see or hear from the entities we saw, though I suspect that the lord/lady of change and their servant Robin will be different when next we meet. 

DelHemar,

Baron of Sorbus

A Call for Space in Between Information

from Kyra

A lot happened this last weekend. So much so it's impossible for a single person to have experienced everything. As a single person I ask all of you who attended to reach out and share what your accounts of what happened. Big or small. Best as you can recollect. Anything is better than nothing. Thank you for your time and your words.

[kyrabarry121@gmail.com. GoldKarmaDragon#0484 on Discord]

Looking Gods in the Eye: Gaia

 by Ethan "JB" Goldman

"Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat." –Laura Ingalls Wilder

"Some day the earth will weep, she will beg for her life, she will cry with tears of blood.

You will make a choice, if you will help her or let her die, and when she dies, you too will die." - John Hollow Horn, Oglala Lakota

While her followers may seem little, her power is the least to be argued with, one can mock the light, one may spit in darkness…

But if one were to question Gaia one must only look down.

You are stepping on her.

I oft draw comparisons between myself and Gaia, and of all words I have spoken, this is the one that draws the most confusion from people. When I disparage others people find offense (Rightly so, as I AM offending) but most people see the veins I cut, how can they not, when their rage is so visceral a flow of their spirit’s blood? But Gaia is hard for others to see, in many ways we are opposites.

Gaia hates undead, whom I often shepherd, Gaia is of nature, healing, and the land beneath. I however am born of artifice, am of gluttony and sensation, and am most comfortable among the artifice. However these misdirections bely a kernel of logic that lies in Gaia’s manifestations.

Gaia’s most known quantities, her healing and her hatred of undead, can often form a cage to her understanding. She is of nature, but many of her chosen are predators… actually that’s probably the wrong term now.

They are meat eaters, she claims both the lamb and the wolf as children and yet the wolf still wishes to kill her meeker sibling, to sustain herself on his viscera. Counter-wise she hates the undead for their unnatural creation, man made entities who consume but do not rot, draining the circle in perpetuity… However with healing magic so many of her chosen are immortal, rising from the dead and consuming without ever rotting, a perpetual drain on the cycle… A cycle she does not even particularly like.

One has to realize that Gaia, in her age, has developed the same jaded pragmatism her detractors have. She is the goddess of the living, the more living there are the greater her duty and means to protect them, the spell raise dead creates more living, animate undead does not. 

The undead are competition, wolves who eat the sheep without giving back… as per the actual wolves… Gaia’s rule is not absolute, hunger is outside of her domain, and a consequence she’d gladly be rid of if she had the power to do so…

To see this in greatest effect, one has to look only to her hunts, games of combat without death (At least not intended). She seeks to extol nature, even in its flaws, in ways that do not contradict her own creed. She loves all life, even the smallest, and seeks to maximize the living in any way she can. 

Indeed I have frequently boasted about the fact that, with heal limb, I can nourish myself entirely out of my own flesh, never truly needing to hunt a single soul for my appetites (Admittedly i did that in Chimeron anyway, but shhhhhhhhhhh). It's not impossible that this is, indeed, the spell working as intended, where one can eat and then raise the sheep after consumption, or sheer the flesh like a sheep’s wool.

Or maybe I am seeing far too much of myself in her. However the power to heal creates a hunt without harm… only pain. But defying entropy is never free.

When the knight of chaos tells you that Papa Nurgle loves you, know that love has always had a name, and that name is Gaia…

Probably not literally true, but those who love the rotfather will find that Gaia is very similar, valuing resilience and love in her children. She just, showers? 

I think. I hope. 

Why we are getting into weirdness, she apparently created Meatball out of my butchery in reward for my sacrifice of a vegetarian diet for a year (long story). Meatball, my reddest child, is not undead, and appears to be a sentient bacteria culture that moves meat around to house him… He's nice but I mean she then goes on to murder Pilpus that one time because he was undead so… 

I will be honest… I have no clue anymore where I stand with Gaia, are we friends? Enemies… married?

Gaia, if we are married let me know.

Of course a god is not mortal, nor adventurer, they act in absolutes, when they throw off the horde of dead they do not pick and choose based on situational alliances. No Gaia leaves all buried and simply returns the corpses of those she does not bear ill will. The wolf never apologized to the sheep and the shepherd of wolves would not either, she can only ensure that the sheep are brought back to life.

Ultimately, Gaia is not a creator goddess, she is a preserver, a farmer who maintains the cycles and does all she can to keep the world away from collapse. In this effort she, not Aurora, is the Dark One’s greatest threat. Hope always changes, always brings entropy as purity sheds corruption… but nature adapts in such vastness, such slow methodical numbers… that it stands still. Before she is a planet, or even a mother, she is a Parent.

Those who love this world, and want to keep it in its form, should find comfort in the Mother of Many. Those who seek to stay away from violence can find her domain goes outside the cycles of battle, and one can say grace to her before every meal. The latter is done not to thank her, but to ask for her forgiveness as you contribute to the consumption that ravages her peace.

Personally I feel there is… shackles on her. Among all the good gods. Expectations really, demands that, as they are kind and gracious gods, they behave in the kindness we do. The Dark One is called evil so when his forces ravage the land, there's a mystique there, because we do not see ourselves as evil. We can not claim to understand destruction fully, not unless we are to admit ourselves as monstrous as It is, so we can not lecture the void on its work. Not unless we expose ourselves as Its grandchildren at least. 

But goodness is different isn’t it. We are healers, we are saving Norlund and Voraness and all these good things… surely then, we can condemn a goddess for failing to assist in her duties to assist us? These are some of the complaints that even  I have expressed when Gaia left us to defend Blackwood on our own…

We do not see the work they’ve done, that all we have is already from Gaia working as hard as she can, that maybe Gaia knows the risks if Roman were to reveal some ridiculous red light super rope to capture her. Or worse, the risks to life itself if Gaia were to simply fatigue herself on felling Roman, leaving Dionin to push his work through while she's winded. 

That’s the thing about Good isn’t it… it’s always moving. We become used to the privileges of circumstance, then blind to them. The sacrifices of the past become the tepidity of tomorrow. What was once worthy martyrdom becomes the least she can do. Virtue it seems, is never kind to the elderly.

And Gaia is the oldest of us all.

Maybe call your grandmother once and a while, look at a tree and just ask her how her day’s been?

It won’t be weird.

Mantra 2: The value of gold is not determined by its banker, only its buyer. Do not let the faith of others define your own faith in a god. Do not use the worship of others to scare you away from, or pressure you towards, your own faith. The gods are beyond us and without us. You do not need Voraness’ blessing to look at the moon. You do not need mine to seek skulls in Khornes name. You only have 3 masters, yourself, your lord/king, and your god, and that is masters enough, you do not need to add a priest in the list. Oh and um, you might have a knight so you have 4 masters until you have 3, unless you're independent in which case its 2? 

Look: Faith is not a CLUB, don’t feel gatekept by old people who happened to believe in someone first, you're not worshiping THEM… right?

R-right?

Send me a message Gaia, Meatball misses you.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

A Wish to Change.

 

You must grant that wish, in a fashion similar to the "Be Careful What You Wish For" trope. And then make a wish of your own. The person with the comment below you should then grant your wish in a similar fashion, and wish for something else, etc. 

Why I Want to Go - The Spaces In Between

by Mikey "Janus" Donnelly

Why do I want to go to the Spaces In Between?  Because it looks like it’s going to be a fantastic event for so many different reasons.

Let’s start with the staff of the event.  There are 7 people listed, all of whom are experienced, and many have worked together in the past.  The EH’s/Magic Marshals have been involved in writing so many epic quests in the past: from Randyland, to Fae Plot, to Divine Intervention, to so many Folkestone plots, I wouldn’t even know what to call out specifically.  That group alone should get your attention.

But if that didn’t, let’s look into the planning and thought they have put into the event so far.  They asked people who regged early enough to fill out a survey so the staff could be sure of knowing the players, their preferred types of content, and more about their characters, so they could write content with that in mind. Randy has been having seeds for this event happening since last year at Black and White (at least, that’s when I first saw it).

And finally, the plot.  It’s…well, let’s see what I can actually get out that is coherent.  There is a place that is between all places called “The Spaces in Between”.  And this is a place from which alternate versions of people can pass through.  Maybe they are evil with a goatee.  Maybe they are good, and just as confused as you are.  Or maybe they are the thing that is trying to get out of where it was…and to where we are.  The thing, that if only it could widen the cracks in reality far enough, would happily come and force our world to be like what it wants it to be.  There is also this cult, poisoning people, and rewriting them to be more…friendly, to them.  They have taken out hits against Liselle and Alias to oppose them.  There have been alternate versions of gods around occasionally, who came from lands where history played out slightly differently.  

What exactly this is all leading towards, I’m not sure.  But I can’t wait to find out.

Spotlight On - Queen of Hearts Crafting and Non-Coms

Lets take a closer look at both team's entrants into each of the crafting and non-com tournaments at this past weekend's Queen of Hearts!

Performance:

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Trapper:

Team Kindrianna

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Banner & Heraldry:

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Both Banners

Team Kindrianna close up

Team Elizah close up

Foamsmith:

Left: Team Elizah, Right: Team Kindrianna

Closeup of both axe heads

Armourer:

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Both helmets close up

Garb:

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Cleaved:

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Jester:

Team Kindrianna

Team Elizah

Queen of Hearts XXVIII Results

Below are the results from the 28th Queen of Hearts Tournaments and War Maneuvers presented by Rhiassa.

War Maneuvers

• Kill the Queen - Team Elizah
• Field Battle - Team Kindrianna
• Antonine Wall - Tie between Team Elizah and Team Kindrianna
• Bridge Battle - Team Kindrianna
• Castle Battle - Tie between Team Elizah and Team Kindrianna
• Targetball - Team Kindrianna
• Live Chess - Team Kindrianna
• Grand Teamwork - Team Kindrianna
• Rock Assault - Team Elizah
• Challenge Race - Team Elizah
• Hadrian's Wall - Team Kindrianna
• Squad Grand Melee - Team Kindrianna
• Ten Person Field Battle - Team Kindrianna
• Ten Person Bridge Battle - Team Kindrianna
• Ten Person Castle Battle - Team Kindrianna
• Ten Person Folkestone Challenge - Team Kindrianna
• Queen's War - Team Kindrianna

Individual Combat Tournaments

• Open Fighter - Wrath from Team Kindrianna
• Closed Fighter - Shader from Team Elizah
• Mixed Pair - Saegan and Shader from Team Elizah
• One Path - Kaelkatar from Team Elizah
• Two Path - Bogen from Team Elizah
• Three Path - Avendar from Team Kindrianna
• Boff Archery - Raynor from Team Elizah
• Duncan's Challenge - Wrath from Team Kindrianna
• Spirit & Steel - Aelias and Shandar from Team Kindrianna
• Knight & Squire - Wrath and Shandar from Team Kindrianna

Weapons Styles Showcase

• Single Short Individual - Aelias from Team Kindrianna
• Single Short Squad - Lunaris, Daekara, and Elwin from Team Kindrianna
• Florentine Individual - Wrath from Team Kindrianna
• Florentine Squad - Jericho, Drike, and Shandar from Team Kindrianna
• Sword and Shield Individual - Shandar from Team Kindrianna
• Sword and Shield Squad - Eamon, Temorse, and Orion from Team Elizah
• Hand and a Half Individual - Drike from Team Kindrianna
• Hand and a Half Squad - Vuel, Aelias, and Jack of Redwall from Team Kindrianna

Non Combat and Crafting Tournaments

• Marksman - Lochlan from Team Kindrianna
• Athlete - Vesper from Team Elizah
• Gambler - Avendar from Team Kindrianna
• Strategist - Kara from Team Elizah
• Loremaster - Laika from Team Kindrianna
• Scavenger - Sabine from Team Elizah
• Newbie - Alric from Team Elizah
• Banner & Heraldry - Hygar and Stewhart from Team Kindrianna
• Foamsmith - Tulkhan from Team Kindrianna
• Armourer - Hygar and Stewhart from Team Kindrianna
• Garb - Mel from Team Elizah
• Trapper - Hygar and Stewhart from Team Kindrianna
• Performance - Team Kindrianna
• Cleaved - Hedda and Eamon from Team Elizah

Honorifics

• Team Kindrianna's Spirit - Merrix
• Team Kindrianna's Tactician - Avendar
• Team Kindrianna's MVP - Shandar

• Team Elizah's Spirit - Ryu
• Team Elizah's Tactician - Temorse
• Team Elizah's MVP - Saegan and Killian

• Team Pageantry - Team Kindrianna
• Team Camaraderie - Team Elizah
• Team Spirit - Team Elizah

• Best Provost - Liselle from Team Kindrianna
• Best Senechal - Evie from Team Kindrianna
• Best General - Kiira from Team Kindrianna

Aces

• Ace of Spades - Vesper from Team Elizah
• Ace of Hearts - Griffin from Team Elizah
• Ace of Diamonds - Stewhart from Team Kindrianna
• Ace of Clubs - Jericho from Team Kindrianna

And the Twenty-eighth Queen of Hearts title was bestowed upon

Queen Kindrianna of Voraniss