Community Care in the Realms

TLDR; The Order of the Spoon is helping to organize assistance during the upcoming uncertainty of food assistance benefits, if you could use assistance with meals or groceries or you would like to volunteer to help, please click HERE. To donate funds please click HERE. __________________________________________________

The Order of the Spoon has taken pride in feeding the people of The Realms for decades, from grand feasts to quest snacks, the order has provided countless meals to our community. Now more than ever we are planning to serve up the community, both in game and in real life. With changes and uncertainty surrounding food assistance programs across the US, we want to make sure that no member of our community goes without.

In that spirit, The Order of the Spoon, with inspiration from Becky Baron, is organizing an effort to raise funds and deliver home-cooked meals to members of our community who may be affected by this shutdown.

If you or someone you know could use a hand, whether that’s a warm meal, groceries, or a little extra help getting by; please fill out the form linked HERE

All submissions will only been seen by select members of the orders administrative council, and only the necessary delivery details will be shared with volunteers helping to prepare and deliver meals.

If you would like to help cook or deliver meals, you can also sign up through the same form linked above, every pair of hands and every bit of care helps keep this community strong. If you would like to donate to the fund, please do so HERE. We will also be hosting a bake sale to help raise donations at Feassst of the Gorgon on November 8th, 2025. 

In addition to this, we would like to take a moment to remind the community about the Paladins Fund, if you need further financial assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Kelly Bonci. 

[Editor’s note; You can learn a little bit about the Paladins Fund in this article]

Now more than ever, we have the chance to live up to the ideals we play for: resilience, compassion, and community. The Realms community has always been there for each other, I'm certain this time will be no different.

In service,

Dani Lacasse

The Order of the Spoon

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly via discord or messenger. 

Shield Stories with Kelly Perfetto

  Organized by James "Tao" Murphy

Photo by James Murphy

Please physically describe your shield; style, Heraldry colors etc? 

My shield is a coffin/teardrop style punch shield, with a black border and background, and a gold dragon with its wings spread. The gold dragon is the symbol of Gold Squad, a subsection of the Chimeron militia that Ryu and I started, along with some other, when we joined. I've considered making a new shield or replacing the heraldry, but it really speaks to where I started from, and Hannah made such a fantastic little dragon that I don't really want to at this point.

How long have you had your shield? 

The first picture I can find of it is paired with my newbie sword in mid-December 2021, so since then! Considering I started playing in October of 2021, that's almost my whole Realms career so far.

Is this your preferred shield style? 

Frankly, a bigger shield just usually makes sense to me. It feels like the multi-tool of shields, I can be solid and steady, or I can take off after people without too much effort. The punch design rather than strap shield is also my preference, again for perceived versatility. I have and have used larger shields though, and those feel like something to lug around half the time. This size coffin shield makes the most sense for the way I play right now.

Have you ever tried a different style of shield? 

Yep, I've got a 3' round, an 18" buckler, both punch style. I've also got a larger plywood strap shield, that one's definitely a door, albeit a small door. I've fought with all of them, they just don't hit that fighting sweet spot. 

Who made it?

I made my shield! Stephen (Laika) invited Zack (Tony) and I over to his home in November/December of 2021 to help us make our first shields. He even got most of the materials for us, and cut out the designs on his Cricut.

Have you ever had to fix/repair/refoam it since it's original creation?

Yup, I have had to refoam (and thus retape) it once before. I think it's got another round of that coming up soon, though I try to store it well to avoid too much need for repair. I have to keep tightening the screws too, which like slowly backing out and turning the shield into a tambourine with the rattling washers. I'm pleased that the only part that I've had to replace so far has been the foam and tape!

What is your favorite move with the shield?

I am sure that I have a repertoire of moves that I do, but I haven't really spent the time to categorize and sort them. I do really enjoy when I fight folks who don't know me well and I get a small advantage due to them being surprised at the amount of forward aggressive movement I can have, rather than the expected solidity shield fighters often have. I have been trying to better learn and implement the move where you deflect a weapon to the shield, lift the shield, and come up to get your opponent in the chest. Perhaps I shouldn’t be giving away the moves I’m working on, but I’m very excited every time I pull it off so I’ve found myself telling folks anyways!

Do you have any interesting stories about the shield?

I have found that the shield is quite useful in helping me hide. Black is actually not as advantageous to hiding at night as some people think, but it certainly helps in a pinch when enemies are rushing by and the trees are already helping. The first time I deliberately hid behind it, I had regenerated near an incredibly difficult enemy, and I was all alone on the night quest. I started sneaking out of the area, ran, and we’ll say I deliberately and tactically went down into a dip in the ground. As the NPC was approaching I flipped my shield around so the gold was hidden. That bit of hiding bought me time so that allies could unknowingly distract the NPC from me. It felt really cool, to be able to use the tools I had for more than their intended purpose.

Why I Want To Go - A Splinter in the Heart of the Earth

Written by: Heath "Styx" Sainio  

Unto the Realms,

        In recent months, central Chimeron has found itself with a new and dangerous problem:

uncontrolled growth, of both plants and animals. Creatures are changing in strange ways, healing

magic is going haywire and the very earth has shook. This is all due to an out-of-control artifact

from another, a so-called Shard of the Progenitor's Blade that has gone rampant.

        To fix this, we must go down deep into the earth under Chimeron City to retrieve the

shard and bring it under control. Based on what we have seen so far, this is looking to be a

treacherous expedition and I would welcome all those who would join us. Please bring your best

hammers, stoutest pickaxes and finest explosives.

        That said, even once we make it to the shard, we will still have much to contend with. No

doubt strange magics will be needed to bring the shard under control, and who knows what lies

that far down below, waiting for us. To make matters even more complicated, we are not the only

ones who seek this shard. The Apostles of the End, who wield Entropic magic and seek to rid the

world of corruption (as they see it). It is still not yet clear whether we will talk or fight, but surely

we adventurers can put our heads together and figure things out.

        The path ahead is complex and fraught, but I believe with everyone's help, we can make

it through.

- Styx of Gryphon Hall

P.S. On Friday we're having a shapeshifting contest or something at the Church of Aurora in

Chimeron City. I'm not really sure what's going on, but maybe I'll shapeshift into insurance

paperwork or something.

P.P.S. Apparently Makhta, Jasper and Vesper are starting a speakeasy and got their booze stolen.

I figure stealing back -ahem- reallocating the alcohol might be a good way to destress after the

heavy saving the world stuff.

P.P.P.S Cast Immunity to Poison on Makhta when she starts drinking. It'll be funny, I promise.

OOC: This event is looking like a great time, with one day of intense questing book ended by 2

days of chaos and shenanigans. I've been following Dan's plot since he started it and I'm really

excited for his first full event!

Realms Connections: Elite Version

In connections your job is to find the groups of 4 cards that all relate around a single theme. Open the link below to attempt to solve this puzzle and let us know how you did on social media!

 https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-OZnTvr_2z-9OJnV3sGC

Realmsle #26

                       

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!

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

What's It Do? What's It Do?

In this continuing View feature, we show you a picture of a theoretical magic item. Then you go back to Facebook and in the comments, invent your idea for the powers that this item would have.

Here is this week's item:

So head on back to Social Media and let us know what this giant dinosaur does! I'm sure is will be a roarsome concept!