Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

What You Missed - Anthologies 2 [Part 1]

By Raindrop Storm Arkaea (Sky Rubenstein)

Heroes of the Realms, I write to you today to share the events and stories of Sunday the 23rd of the month of August of the year 1026. The day began with two quests across each other simultaneously. Makhta and Ace led an expedition to fight back the Abyss, a force from beyond creation that seeks its end, and the end of all realities, everywhere. At stake was an arc, one of nine items within our group of realms that allows connection to one of nine primordial deities that stand against the abyss. One has already fallen into the hands of the enemy, and that deity has been corrupted, into the being that we know as the Erl King. The majority of the Heroes present fought against the abyss, eventually running into an ancient arc bearer by the name of Kaelin, a member of the Order of Ardor, ancient warriors dedicated to fighting against a being that consumes love. Kaelin had been drawn into the role in order to oppose the being that we call Anti-Creation, one of the twelve adversaries of Sanctuary. When Kaelin was done, he was returned along with the arc to our realm to continue standing against the Abyss here. Tired and weary, he passed along his arc, and his responsibility, to the newest arc-bearer, Omri.

The other quest… Four months ago When I was a young adventurer I wish to was of a more personal nature. When I was a young fae, new to the realm of Faerie, still within my first cycle, I lived in a village known as Storm Village. That village has been destroyed for a long time now, since the Second Age of Faerie, for reasons I do not know. The False King took personal umbrage to the Village. The Village fled, and was consumed by the Mysts. Recently, at the opening of the new Fae Library, we learned more about the village… about the one I loved, known as Siward. And about a connection between Siward and Harkel. And then, at Margaret and Tir’s wedding, I performed a seance, learning that she was still alive, trapped within the Mysts, where she had been since the Second Age. A group of eleven of us, adventurers close to Harkel, or to me, quested into the Mysts to find her. When we did… unfortunately… there was not enough left of her to come out of the Mysts. I used what magic I could muster, and sent her to rest within the stars, with the part of me that exists there. And then, with her power and the power of that part of me suffusing my being, tore a hole from the Mysts so we could regroup with our friends, and help them drive back the Abyss and destroy the being known as Badoros.

With Kaelin’s spirit laid to rest within the Eternal Life Force, he drew us along the threads of fate to an old Temple to the Order of Ardor, in the city-planet Deenila, where we found ourselves needing to awaken the spirits of the various rooms within the Temple by sharing stories. To help, each of us received aid from spirit guides, beings connected to the Order who wanted to help. For me, this was a young apprentice named Kayla, dedicated to preserving the stories of the Order. We woke up the Temple, and found our way to the Forest of All Knowledge, there rescuing two children, Patroclus and Morgana, who were looking for information about the destruction of the world Galandrome. We also found the Spirit Rune for the Order of Ardor, a symbol that captured the Order’s story, and the Soulstone of the order. Several of us, including Adoros, Omri, Ryu, Pawldo, and I bolstered and protected the soulstone, and the Forest, before we had to leave.

After this, we worked to perform a ritual to cure Traveller of a disease called the Blooming. The Blooming is a terrible biological weapon, created by The Villain of the plane that they are from. It is a Plant which consumes magic, a Disease that spreads, and a Curse that controls and reanimates, making it very difficult to cure. Margaret had been given a ritual to cure it, but as we did the ritual something went wrong, cutting too deep into Traveller, and severing them into many pieces. At the same time, a group of Kings Guard from a Fae King in the Laurlins attacked, trying to get to Aris, who had changed in some way earlier in the day. After a villainous version of Traveller dragged them into the Mysts. They had spells, which from my understanding was impossible. We were forced to flee, as Aris used Second Chance and vanished, perhaps with some additional magic as well. We ended up locked in a story, fighting a villainous version of Traveller and nightmares from the past. Eventually we forged a blade known as “Good’s Triumph Villain’s Fall” to cut ourselves out of the story, and perform the ritual a second time on Kovaks, who had gotten the Blooming after curing a young girl who had an advanced case earlier this year, successfully curing them.

I apologize if this is… rambling, or difficult to follow. The day was… a lot. I spent most of it with Siward’s spirit within my own, giving us a chance to say goodbye. I am always happy to answer follow up questions, or shed some more light, as much of what happened is of a personal nature to many of us.

Sincerely,

Raindrop Storm Arkaea

OOC:

One of the things I have come to love about the Anthologies event series, having now been to both events, is it is an opportunity for lots of stories to come together. I have so much appreciation for the staff of this event, Becky, Matthew, Alex, Eric, and Ash, who all did such a good job weaving stories together and rolling with the punches. The stories were excellent, and there were many innovative mechanics and interesting things done with the event.

The other thing that I loved was the fact that it was just… at a park. This made it both very cheap, and very accessible for people to do. The event stood on its own, no big, fancy props (aside from Badoros, shout out to great monster design), just good storytelling, and a bunch of people telling stories together. This is, in my opinion, at the heart of LARP, and of Realms.

I also very much appreciate the staff rolling with the fact that I realized this was the day before my birthday, and taking the opportunity to absolutely torment my character. I highly recommend anyone who wants to tell a story with their character to ask, you might just find someone who wants to tell that story with you.

With love, and thank you for bearing with this article’s rambling,

Sky

Why I Want To Go - KosD Questing 4

 By Max “Azimuth” McCalla

Heroes of the Realms, Blackavar and its surrounding lands call us back once again to write another chapter.

Blackavar, Slumbertimeland, and the harrowed lands beyond continue to be a region with many stories to tell. The days I have spent there tell the tales of the people and lands of blackavar, and the nights tell of the darkness lying just beyond its borders.

In the daytime, we are usually given many chances to influence Blackavar and make a difference to a wide variety of individuals and factions within the nation.

Last time we were there during the day, we helped villagers recover their belongings, dueled a chipmunk, calmed down dragons with tasks and performances, forged new weapons out of Blackavar Steel, and completed a painting about the history of the Knights of the Sable Dragon. Everyone, no matter their skills and experience, can find ways to help this land and its people.

At night, the stakes increase. We often find ourselves venturing into Slumbertimeland, a twisted fairytale place created by an entity known as the Storyteller and taken over by a dark being known as the Author. This place and the Harrowed lands sit beyond Blackavar but they encroach its borders and threaten its people.

Within the Author’s lands, we are asked to question how we fight, and who and what we fight for. It truly takes the strength of all of us to get through these lands and their challenges.

The Author intends to write this story for us, in 9 chapters. I don’t believe in destiny and I certainly don’t believe that the Author has control over our story. When the story should be rewritten and break from what the Author intends, I hope that we will all do what we can to write the story that benefits us and the people of Blackavar.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the plot, Magus Margaret August has organized a gathering on Thursday at 6pm (in the Realms Discord) to spread information and prepare for the weekend ahead. I encourage all who are planning to enter Blackavar to attend and learn more about what we are up against.

Not all that is harrowed is lost. The story is ours to write. May your spells fly free and your blades strike true.

Signed,

Squire Azimuth of Chimeron

OOC:

This plot series has been fantastic so far, full of great NPCs and storytelling. The team running the plot is top-notch, full of excellent, experienced craftspeople, marshals, and EHs. I look forward to what the next part of the story is and I will enter with high expectations. This has also historically been a great introductory series for newer players and has offered a number of folks, including myself, ways to get highly involved with the plot.

Realmsle #37

 

                       

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!

What You Missed - Evie's Tavern Presents: The Midnight Festival II Tournaments of the Lunar Aegis

by: Sawyer "Jericho " Judkins

The weekend started out like any other. Toothless and I arrived in Shadowdragon and were immediately presented with the sight of Evie’s tavern. We set up our tent along with the other members of Arken and soon set to work setting up our camp alongside the tourney field. This is one of the first times in a while that almost our entire nation was present at once! As we finished getting the final lanterns hung, the tournaments began!

I had never participated in a tournament that was focused on duos before, and it was very enjoyable. It started off with a team grand melee, and though Toothless and I, Team Tooth-Thorne, managed to defeat the first duo we came across, we were quickly finished off by Team Flight Risk. For the rest of the days, the duo tournaments were varied and excellent. I enjoyed every single one of the fights I participated in, and loved the camaraderie between all the teams. Of course, there were also plenty of non-coms! I think I would be remiss to not mention the sneaky game of trying to attain the most pins. Of course this turned into children swinging with the flat of their blades at everyone’s heads instead. 

I of course need to mention the food as well. Tempest put on excellent food, and it all tasted very yummy! I particularly enjoyed the cheeses. I would also like to highlight the homemade pickles Kyomi brought. I am not a big fan of that flavor, but they were great! I also loved how easy it was to tell which foods were gluten-free for our friends that find gluten poisonous.

The shops! I have never seen so many vendors at a single event before! In attendance I remember there being: Realms Outfitters, Mercenary Market, Shalindra’s Shop, The Wandering Potato, Karmha’s Creations, and Gundulf’s Tavern. (Sorry Shalindra, I can’t remember the name of your shop!) All the wares they had out were excellent and eye-catching. The Order of the Peacock also had their Swap-Shop set up alongside the clothing set out by the Knights of the Lunar Aegis. All were very important for the fashion show to come.

Of course, all tournaments must come to an end, with team Flight Risk with an incredible showing all weekend, well done Fern and Jasper! Then came my favorite part of the evening; all the activities in the tavern. Things went into full swing with the Fashion show. Now I admit, I am not a very fashionable person. In fact, Zarine has threatened me with harm for my original tabard. So I did not know what to expect from this, but Toothless was so excited, so how could I not watch. All the participants came out to their own theme music, and got to show off their stuff. Then they interviewed with the judges. I think in all, there were about twelve participants, and it was great to watch all of them. As that wrapped up, the festival games began. We got to pick ducks out of a pond for points, throw stars at sleeping sheep, and throw hoops at glass bottles. I think I might have tied for most sheep knocked off in a game, but I am unsure. This was followed along with the raffle, which Toothless cleaned house with. And I got the giant snail which I was excited about.

Then we all hung out by the fire telling stories and sharing good drinks. This is always such an important part of adventuring for me. Getting the time to unwind from all the doom and gloom, the end of the world saving, and just typical adventuring. Being able to relax with my friends and my nation is always a highlight. There was much dancing, rejoicing, merriment, and good company. Which the Realms would be sorely lacking without it. If you have not had the pleasure of attending the Midnight Festival, I invite you to come join me around the fire next year.

In service to the Realms,

Jericho Axelthorne

Lord of Arken

Watcher of the Skyless Sea

Squire to Knights of the Sable Dragon

Knight of Chaos

Notes From Toothless

• We played The Dragon is Coming

• Lots of good snacks

• Got to go camping and it was cool

• Lots of tournament fighting

• Awesome bubbles

• Beautiful night sky

• Dancing at the fire

• There was a fashion show

• I really liked the carnival games

Out of Character Note:

I just really wanted to thank the staff for an amazing event! I am sad I missed the last one and intend to make this part of my yearly must haves for events! I also really want to thank everyone that contributed to making Liliana’s weekend amazing. From helping her not be scared in the fights once I had died, to getting her kitted out for the fashion show, and gifting her a shield (which she was adamant she needed to use it at practice on Tuesday). You all really helped her have an amazing time. As she said many times over the weekend: “This is like a dream come true!” 

 

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Why I Want To Go - Anthologies 2 [Part 2]

by: Kathy "Makhta" Fey

Makhta:

Sometimes it falls to people like us to save Creation.  I mean, gods don’t have their own hands and feet right?  So there’s this arc – it’s a super powerful Creation-magic artifact – that the bad guys are after too, and we have to beat them to it.  

If you have no idea what’s going on with any of this, welcome to my world, but we’ll catch you up on anything you need to know about what we’ll be facing and what we need to do and, heck, how this all fits in with our whole reality.  Ace will explain it all to you with an orange.

As for the fact that we’re questing into Fae – or, the Mysts, or something – I don’t have the slightest but I know it can mess you up big time so we’ll have a briefing on that too.  Which I better pay attention to.

But don’t let all that scare you.  You’re a hero, right, you wouldn’t be scared anyway!  But please come help out because, well, I like Creation right where it is and I’d rather it stay that way.

Other than that quest, I know there’s some Sanctuary magic mumbo jumbo going on, which is also tied into world-saving actions, so get over here heroes we need to jump into that together.

And then, there’s the Laurlins stuff, which I also don’t get but there will be experts on hand and I’d really appreciate it if you all could work on fixing Traveller’s friggin’ lung plant curse problem because holy hell that’s gone on long enough. 

And hey – with all this questing into like every plane of existence but our own – I have a personal request to make.  Please do not let anyone wander off on their own, and please for the love of all gods don’t leave anyone behind.  

Kathy:

Anthologies will be a treat!  You have a whole team of great storytellers presenting a collection of unique but interconnected mods, each of which serves a dual purpose – as both a nice chance to bathe in plots we’re invested in, and as a great entry point for people who haven’t encountered these plots before and want to dive in!  Or even just stick a toe in, or just hit things and huck magic around – whatever you find fun about questing, you’ll find it here.  What’s not to love about spending a day hitting your friends with sticks in a park and getting all worked up over our own intertwined and epic stories!

Why I Want To Go - Anthologies 2 [Part 1]

By: Briar "Phee" Sieracki

 August, R.Y. 1026, loose thoughts from a desk in Caer Estelle, Val’Dara

The days are ticking down as we come ever closer to a quest that no one should ever wish be a need. While a majority of our forces focus on a quest for the greater good, one that’s too important to be left to the wayside (as many of our adventures ever are), a number of us are to split off and to step willinging into the Mysts of Forgetfulness. It is not an undertaking to do lightly, and though out of our number I have stepped into it the most frequently (much to my own dismay), I made a promise.

I keep my promises.

Raindrop has asked aid to seek someone from their previous cycle, back in the First Age. So, they have sought a questing party of those they know, love, trust. I am…uneasy, bringing my child and…and her father with us. I know it’s going to be difficult, and it’s been some time since the Mysts showed us all its tricks. I am ready and wary, and know that that may not be enough.

The quest we split off from seeks a far more dangerous, timely fight. An item that is crucial to keep out of the hands of those that seek it, out of Napheclthi’s hands. I don’t know this quite as well, though Ace, Margaret, and others who have been working on this would have a much better grasp. It’s crucial enough that reality itself is staked on it…and that’s worth keeping out of an Unmaker’s hands. Find those who have stepped through a book into the place known as Jhoril, they’ll answer questions better than I could.

After that, I turn my focus on another delve into aiding Sanctuary. I hear we will have spirits guiding us, and helping us make our way through temple grounds. What spirits those may be, what trials we will be tested against, I don’t know. In passing conversations I hear things about Cryodinium oaths and weapons, Ardor and a knighthood, and on occasion I find myself looking for a blade to come to hand that I have never known. It’ll be…curious to see how this plays out, especially as I feel perpetually like I’m four steps behind in understanding Sanctuary’s convoluted histories. It’s…oddly enjoyable, as if I’m a student in my family’s halls again, discovering a new corner I had missed before…

And then…the part that makes me most curious, and most concerned.

The Laurlins are familiar as a bedtime story and just as strange and different. A land beholden to the aspects of a story, and yet…not quite. Again, another place where others know more, and again, it’s comforting to find something new to sink my teeth into. I’ve felt what I can only describe the lands being just as curious about me, felt it tell me one of their titles and shape changes to my magic. I’ve never been able to tap into the regional magics of lands before, and technically I’m not feeling the Laurlins’...but all doubt must be pushed aside. We have surgeries to end curses, and what’s sure to be a fight ahead of us.

---

Why do I want to go? Where do I start? 

Alex is bringing a touch of a complex, convoluted world to the Realms, and I am so excited to see people’s reactions! (I’m both sad to be missing out, but glad I’m not needed for this mod: My face role will show up later down the road, and very different from Phee!) If you’re looking to tap into a plot that’s gonna have a lot of parts, Dark Cosmos is for you!

While the Fae plot quest that’s happening simultaneously is split off and a capped number, don’t let anyone fool you into thinking you can’t do more things, have character growth, or tease a bit of your character’s backstory as an oldbie! There’s something fun and satisfying in getting to explore a new part of a good friend’s backstory all these years later. 

I know Sanctuary is a big plot, overwhelming at times, and I’m the worst at keeping up with it. That doesn’t stop me from looking at each new angle, going “huh!” and rolling with the punches. Ash has been doing a fantastic job making a complex multiverse feel alive by having so many factions working towards various goals, and hey! I get to do a Star Wars with this mod!

Finally, Laurlins. Just like our other fantastic storytellers, Matthew has woven a wild fairytale (heh) with this and I’m so excited to see what she’s got in store. This is my first real time interacting with Laurlins stuff that hasn’t been in passing, and they suggested an absolutely bonkers, fantastic thing for my pre-reg perk. I can’t wait to explore that and this plot line!

If you’ve held on for my long-winded IC and OOC rambles, you should absolutely try to make it out to Anthologies 2, as either a PC or NPC. You’re guaranteed to have a good time!

Report on The Opening the Gate Initiatiative

by Jason (Aeston) Rosa 

Greetings people of the Realms,

It is my happy responsibility today to talk to you all about a recently begun initiative which we're calling 'Opening the Gate', headed by the Knights of the Realms and the Knights of the Eternal Flame, in order to spread the joy of LARPing to a wider audience and to act as a recruiting inlet to our community.

Discussions about how to make this concept a reality actually began many years ago, as far back as 2022 when the idea was somewhat piloted at the Bennington, NH Rhubarb Festival. Back then a motley crew of Realmsies set up a tent with some show-and-tell items and trained interested fairgoers how to fight with boff weapons. By all reports, everyone had a lot of fun and the concept was a success.

At the Rhubarb Festival in 2022 (James Murphy).

Since then both knightly orders have had multiple discussions about how to make that initiative larger and more ubiquitous. We’ve discussed returning to gaming conventions, attending fandom-themed events, and exploring more opportunities, like the Rhubarb Festival, to bring what we do to an audience that may never have experienced something similar. 

Several months ago, we had a significant breakthrough in our planning. I had sent several emails and made several calls and left several messages with organizations across various New England towns whose job it was to put on their town fairs held through the summer and fall. Most of those attempts at contact bore no fruit. Except for one. A message I left with a woman named Sandy from the Pepperell, MA Fall Festival Committee. Not only did she call me back but her tone was immediately enthusiastic about my proposal. I gave her a 5-minute rundown of who we were as a community and our plan to host some mini-questing content at her fair and she was completely hooked, inviting us to be a part of both their Summer Festival and the Fall Festival that followed a few months later.

And so what could we do but get to work? We planned a short dungeon experience, we talked about how to best engage people that would be walking by, we divided up tasks like printing pamphlets or organizing props, and this past Saturday afternoon all our efforts came to fruition.

The dungeon starts to come together. 

Our booth getting set up (Kathy Fey).

Another view of our booth.

It took a little less than two hours for all to arrive and set up a free-standing dungeon. Fairgoers started to trickle in at about 5:00 and a few cautious but interested people came up to our booth to ask about what we were. A few of them were cajoled into learning how to fight. Over the next half hour or so it grew to a steady stream of people that were trained on how to use a single short while their friends and families watched and took pictures. It was certainly a productive situation but I began to wonder if the dungeon was set up for naught.

Training some of the band that would be playing later (Kathy Fey).

Lots of training going on.

Then we had a group that was ready to challenge our dungeon experience. We had come up with some very simple character classes that they could choose from in order to draw them into the experience. They could choose a fighter and call armor. They could choose a healer to heal limbs and combat raise dead. Or they could choose a sorcerer and throw a couple magic missiles.

The dungeon experience was pretty simple and overall about a ten minute endeavor. First the adventurers had to take on a tribe of goblins that was guarding the door to the dungeon. Once they dispatched those greenskin foes, the door had to be unlocked by solving an ‘untangle the knot’ puzzle. After the door was opened they entered the necromancer’s domain who would continue to animate a pair of skeletons again and again until the adventurers managed to slay first the undead then her. As they retrieved her staff from her corpse they realized that it was actually a magic dragon-slaying spear! And now it was time for them to enter the dragon’s lair. Confronting the monster was difficult. They had to first disable its movement by chopping off all of its limbs. Only then could they strike it in the head enough times to finally stun it. And then they all had to grasp the magic dragon-slaying spear and thrust it together into the dragon’s head, killing it with the power of friendship! As the dragon died they found the treasure chest that it was guarding and in looting it found the treasure, bead necklaces they quickly wore as a symbol of their triumph and gold coins with a QR code emblazoned on them that would direct them to RealmsNET.

Battling against the goblin tribe.

Unlocking the door while solving the puzzle.

Facing down the necromancer and her skeletons.

Into the dragon's lair.

Stab! Stab with the power of friendship!

Treasure!

As I finished running that first group through the dungeon I was happy that they had such a fun experience and thrilled to see their smiles. I wondered how many more groups we would get to come through. As I walked back to the dungeon entrance I was informed there was another group ready to go. And then another. And then another. From that first group until the very end of the fair the dungeon crew did not get a single momentary break. I estimate there must have been at least 15 parties of adventurers in total. Holy moly.

Meanwhile, in the few glimpses I would get outside between the dungeon walls, I saw the rest of our area was just as abuzz with activity. People were asking questions and taking flyers at our table. People were being taught to fight in groups of two or three or even more. Everyone was having a great time.

The training continues.

More people training and visiting our table.

I lost track of how many times one of our participants told me how much fun they had or how great of an experience it was. I directed all of them back to our table to make sure they grabbed a flyer telling them more about Realms and letting them know it's an experience they can have regularly if they want to. One mom asked if we could do this at her kids’ birthday party.

Before I conclude I want to recognize everyone that came together to make this endeavor succeed. Our crew was small but mighty, and everyone worked very hard with very little downtime. Ryan Welch, James and Emily Murphy, Kathy Fey, Keith Cronyn, Sean and Karen Veale, Dani and Ben Lacasse, Max McCalla, Emma Sherman, and Jamie Bancroft. Also thank you to Chimeron and Blackwood for loaning us so many of the props we needed to get through the experience, Steven Sanford for letting us borrow the dungeon walls, and especially to SMAS for all the single shorts that they loaned us.

In the final analysis, it's hard to neatly gauge our success at this endeavor, largely because there are so many metrics by which success can be evaluated. Was our goal to provide entertainment to the many throngs of mundanes at the festival? Was it to introduce people to the concept of what a LARP is? Was it to spread the name of the Realms and inspire people to try it out, hoping that some few of them might someday come to an event and become a part of our community? I think it was probably all of these at least to some extent. And I will say from my perspective it certainly felt like we could be proud of what we accomplished.

Overall the Pepperell committee was extremely happy with our participation in the event. We’ve been invited back to Pepperell’s Fall Festival on October 3rd to do something similar or slightly different in bringing LARPing to the masses. I’m told by the organizer, Sandy, that the Fall event is many times larger than the summer one, which was only in its second year. And I imagine for as long as we want to be a part of them our invitation to participate in those Pepperell events will be ongoing. I hope we will continue to take them up on those invitations, at least in the near future, and see what comes of it. And as this initiative picks up steam, maybe even expand into other towns and other festivals if we can summon the time and manpower to do so.

Hopefully our Opening the Gate this time was the start of something big and hopefully you are inspired to help be a part of it next time.

In service,

Jason Rosa

Knights Commander, Knights of the Realms

(more pictures follow)

Taking on the goblin menace. 

The hit feature film: How to Slay your Dragon.

Gotta start your monster slaying young. Very young.

This puzzle is easier than 4th grade math. Right?

Obviously no LARP is complete without informative literature.

Only slightly less chaotic than your standard Realms event.

A typical allotment of dragon horde. Note the QR code gold coin.

A very necromantic date. 

The family that slays together, stays together,

Tournaments of the Lunar Aegis Tournament Results

On behalf of Lunar Aegis, thank you to everyone who participated in our very first tournaments! Whether you came as a pre-made duo or signed up as a mixed solo, we were absolutely thrilled with the number of participants and the enthusiasm everyone brought.

We wanted to try a different tournament format that encouraged teamwork, communication, and mentorship, and we hope everyone who took part had a great time! We’ll be sending out a PEL soon to gather some feedback and hear what you thought of the format.

Thank you again for helping us make our first tournaments such a success. We’re already looking forward to hosting more in the future! ⚔️✨ - Dani/ Elizah

Teams

ZZ Top - Zage & Zebby

Maple Syrup - Griffin & Leo

Shield Bros - Alister & Parthos

Tooth-Thorne - Jericho & Toothless

Chaos Kids - Char & Spyder

Shadow & Bone - Varyk & Bones 

Breakfast Mode - Nos & Rax

Better Late Than Never - Eldritch & Aelias 

Bumble Beef - Cronin & Rue 

Flight Risk - Jasper & Fern 

Anton & Co - Anton & Cronin 

Mixed Solo's 

Aris

Petcan

Flora

Voutiá

Skyline

Tournament Results

Duo Grand Melee

1. Team Flight Risk

2. Team VP (Voutia + Petcan)

3. Breakfast Mode

Unlimited 2v2

1. Team Flight Risk

2. Breakfast Mode

3. Maple Syrup

Unlimited Tag Team

1. Breakfast Mode

2. Better Late Than Never

3. Team Flight Risk

They're Sisters, NOT TWINS

1. Breakfast Mode

2. Skyline + Petcan

3. Team Flight Risk 

Crown the Clown

1. Isoba

2. Bones

3. Rue the Day

Going Rogue

1. Cylas 

2. Bones

3. Maple Syrup 

Duncan’s Duo Challenge

1. Team Flight Risk

2. Maple Syrup 

3. Anton + Co.

Capture the Flag

1. Team Flight Risk

2. (tied) Breakfast Mode + Better Late Than Never 

Dragon’s Coming

1. Everyone!

Artistry

1. Everyone who participated!

Mixology 

1. Elowen

2. Mathies

3. Fansy

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Why I Want To Go - Evie's Tavern Presents: The Midnight Festival II Tournaments of the Lunar Aegis

Sometimes it's the simple things that are true. I want to go to Midnight Festival, because I went last year, and it was awesome, and I trust the team to do a great job again this year. 

You might think I’m biased, as it’s being held within the lands of Blackwood once again, but I'm really just enjoying the privilege of enjoying a marvelous series of festivities right outside my front door. Tournaments, Food, Vendors, delightful. 

The Lunar Aegis stepping up and hosting Tournaments for the first time is an important occasion, and I’m excited to offer some support. As a tournament regular, both as a competitor, a marshal, and a host, I can say the format of Pairs is underutilized. It gets thrown into tournaments in the form of Knights and Squires or Spirit and Steel, but an entire tournament day devoted to team pairs is pretty unheard of. As someone that favors the simplicity of smaller tournaments over massive war tournaments, and as someone that loves nuance and innovation, I think this could become a true staple of the tournament season. 

One of my favorite experiences traveling the realms is a shared drink by the fire. It's a simple thing, but I believe it's important for every adventurer to be able to tell stories and share experiences. Having the insider scoop, I know encouraging this is a particular aim of the event with a mixology competition, having dancers for the fire, and loaner gear for anyone that would wish to join in on the dancing. 

Tempest did an excellent job in my kitchens at Blackwood Tournaments, and I’m excited to be able to leisurely enjoy her picnic fare. Reading the announcement, I  got a bit confused, and thought she was going to be providing us with a dinner as well. But I got clarification, that we’re to fend for ourselves for dinner break. Knowing Tempest’s cooking, I’ll probably be too full to worry about it. 

Of note, it’s an important theme of the tournaments to support women and gender minorities, as well as a mentorship within our community. And who wouldn’t want to come out and support that? 

I’m excited!

I’ll see you on the field,

King Saegan of Blackwood

Realmsle #36

 

                       

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!

Blademaster

 

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[Article in plain text]

BladeMaster 

The Blue Rose is one of the oldest Knighthoods in the Realms, founded by Sean Aengus, in the lands of Hiedenkries. Tradition and history is a big thing within the knighthood, as well as instilling a strong bond between a Knight and their Squire and among the knights themselves. Loyalty is one of the main tenants of our Knighthood, we got each others back no matter what the circumstances. Squiring tasks consist of making sure they can set up/break down and clean up their own camp site and assist their knights in general tasks. Knowing rules of the game and fighting with honor is also a thing the knighthood tries to teach. We encourage and support contributing to the game, whether it be marshaling, ehing, crafting, or just being a fun PC. The Blue Rose Knighthood is here to have fun, be among friends, and be positive in all our efforts. The Order of the Blue Rose every decade challenges the heroes of the Realms to prove themselves in a tourney to claim the coveted title of Blademaster. Individual fighting skill is key to winning the title and emphasis will be given to tourneys involving "knightly weapons". Spell casters will be able to participate in all the tourneys. The gauntlet has been thrown down, will you pick it up? The Blademaster title comes with its own belt as well as the power to call three armor piercing swings per event. The tournaments have been held since 1002, run by our knights and we strive provide challenging fights, good food, a little bit of everything from tournament to light questing and some non coms. The Knights of the Blue Rose have been humbled, in the past, to have had the honor of organizing charity events when members of our game, or their families, are in great need. The sympathy and generosity of the people of the Realms has done much to bring good into this world, showing the true character of our community, and today, we are asking for that aid once again. This year the order is honoring one of our own who was a squire within the Knighthood but passed in 2025 James (Jim) Marden who was a long time player of the realms. Jim was Pj’s squire up until his health didn’t allow him to play the game he loved so much. We are raising money for his family to help them with their lose and remind them the realms still cares. So we will be doing an ALL CASH ticket auction with some really cool prizes. A lot of the game’s venders have been very generous and donated some of their fine goods of all sorts plus maybe a blue thing everyone likes, who knows? Come quest, participate in tournaments, donate to charity, play some magic and some poker, and have a great time with us for this event. We look forward to seeing you on the field! 

Here is a list of our past winners and current Blademaster title holders: 

1002: Aeston Stromgate                   1010: Rohde                                     1024: Shiba Vuel (Vpower) 

1003: Duncan Conrad                       1011: Jaha                                       1026: ?????

1004: King Pyr                                 1012: XT 

1005: Shandar                                 1013: Tycus Rane

Queen of Hearts XXXI: Knave of Hearts - Tournament Results

 

War Maneuvers

Field Battle - Team Diamond and Team Club

Folkestone Challenge - Team Heart and Team Club

Bridge Battle - Team Spade and Team Club

Castle Battle - Team Spade and Team Heart

Wizard War - Team Spade and Team Diamond

Hadrian's Wall - Team Spade and Team Club

Monster Chess - Team Spade and Team Heart

Rock Assault - Team Spade and Team Diamond

Grand Teamwork - Team Heart and Team Diamond

Bridge Battle Limited - Team Heart and Team Club

Folkestone Challenge Limited - Team Heart and Team Diamond

Castle Battle Limited - Team Spade and Team Heart

Knave's War - Team Heart and Team Club

Weapon Styles Showcase

Single Short Individual - Jasper, representing Team Heart and Club

Single Short Squad - Azimuth, Daekara, and Veit, representing Team Spade and Diamond

Mixed Florentine Individual - Daekara, representing Team Spade and Diamond

Mixed Florentine Squad - Luke John, Jasper, and Torolf, representing Team Heart and Club

Sword and Shield Individual - Torolf, representing Team Heart and Club

Sword and Shield Squad - Jasper, Fern, and Luke John representing Team Heart and Club

Hand and a Half Individual - Luke John representing Team Heart and Club

Hand and a Half Squad - Fern, Corvus, and Jasper representing Team Heart and Club

Oops All Ranged Individual - Bogen representing Team Spade and Diamond

Oops All Ranged Squad - Grazen, Bogen, and Azimuth representing Team Spade and Diamond

Five on Five Tournaments

Five on Five Lines - Team Spade and Team Club

Five on Five Bear Pit - Team Spade and Team Club

Five on Five Jugging - Team Heart and Team Diamond

Arcane Artisan

Armament - Grazen representing Team Spade and Kalashai representing Team Heart

And the winner of Knave of Hearts was: Team Heart led by the Knave of Hearts, Johan!

A Gilded Invitation

Good People of the Realms,

It is my pleasure to invite you all once again to Ashen Bounty, our annual harvest feast this fall. This year is a special celebration. This year marked the fifteenth year since the founding of Ashenmark and this will be the thirteenth Ashen Bounty. For much of those fifteen years I have served as the Highlord of Ashenmark, but at this years feast I will have the privilege of stepping down, and abdicating my rule as this year we celebration the ascension of Dame Umbra and Sir Raynor Skyline to the throne of the nation.

I invite you to join us on Friday night, as I will hold my last court in Ashenmark, before stepping down. Saturday will see a day of feasting, competition, reverie, and camaraderie alongside the ascension of the new leadership as they hold their first court. We hope you will join us in this celebration as we transition to a new generation and era of leadership in Ashenmark.

Highlord Temorse Sorrowind of Ashenmark

OOC Note: Registration for this event will go live later this week, Sunday will also include the normal Sunday questing content.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Why I Want To Go - Queen of Hearts XXXI Knave of Hearts

 By: Adrian Cronin 

This year is my ten year anniversary in the realms. Queen of Hearts was my second event and by far the most intense crash course the realms has to offer. My friends and I found the game through a simple google search and decided to give it a shot. We had pvc weapons, no armor and got our asses handed to us all day long. There were four teams back then, rushing back and forth across the field with an intensity I could never have anticipated. My memory of that event is so vivid. We met the friends who would become my church, and my nation. I wrote a song on site and won the bardic tourney, only for my trophy to get handed to the wrong person and never be seen again. I got piked in the face. I got yelled at. It was legendary.

Coming back to the event over the years, it has faced multiple evolutions to survive the times while still managing to retain the same staples we all love and enjoy. Like jilted lovers, we complain to Sir Aeston and he takes it in stride. Managing to create something interesting for us all to enjoy. I have high hopes for this year.

With no predetermined teams, we have an opportunity for balance. We can take things down a notch in regards to the intensity. Make the game a bit more approachable, especially with such a large community of players with different desires and expectations regarding what we do.

Ten years ago, the Broken Spears just showed up. And now that’s all we’re asking you to do. Just show up, fight your ass off, call your shots, watch your blow strength and stay hydrated. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate humility, which is a core value of the Broken Spears Free Company than to compete on equal ground with all of you. That field has a lot of history. Plenty of ghosts and at least a few angels. The eyes of the warriors who came before us are upon us. Act accordingly, and do honor to yourself and to them.

When night falls, the most hyped night quest in quite some time will be taking place. So save a bit of steam.

I’ll be honest, I would have loved to have run my team this year. To celebrate Broken Spears on their tenth year and bring the hype of my team's progress to proper conclusion. However I am taking this extra year as an opportunity. To mend broken bonds and prepare the community for the greatest battle the realms has ever seen. 

For next year, Cronin Barbaria will face off against Margaret August. Margaret and I are both committed to putting past strifes behind us and are holding our teams to the highest standards. 

We’ve got a year. My sigil may be a bull but that doesn’t mean I can’t squash beef. Let it end.

Praise Vandor.

-Cronin Barbaria

Rumors around the Realms August 1026

 

Rumors around the Realms August 1026

Around the borders of Neden

Merchants and foresters traveling the outskirts keep discovering corpses, mostly of unfortunates who had been traveling alone.  The bodies are chopped to bits, but no parts have been taken.  There’s a strange pallidness to the corpses, more than would be expected from blood loss alone.

Rhiassa

Thunderstorms with a strange ethereal glow from within the clouds are becoming a regular occurrence at night. Some people have reported hearing a reverberating heartbeat in the sound of the thunder.

The Wyvern College

One of the older professors in the  natural history department at the Wyvern College has gone missing. Some of the students claim to have heard screams from the wyvern-filled woods at night. On the plus side, some promotions have occurred within the department!

On doors across the Realms

These business cards seem to be popping up everywhere in the realms, on taverns doors, in bathroom stalls, basically any where a public door is a business card is there.  And it has a hand written note on the back.