What's it do? What's it do? - Heros for Hire II Edition

Hello to the good people of the Realms!

This week, the Heroes for Hire II staff are coopting “What's it do? What's it do?” to bring you a special event edition! The Wildcard Guild has found copious amounts of blue items and they need your help figuring out what they should do! For anyone who is creative, mischievous, inventive, or anything in between, take a spin at powering up these blue items. Maybe your power will even be found at the Wildcard Guild shop!

Enjoy yourselves, go wild, have a great time, and we look forward to seeing you all on June 19th and 20th!

Nixon Showalter/Jasper Sherwood

On behalf of the Heroes for Hire II Staff

https://www.jotform.com/build/261587650574063 

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Announcement: Queen of Hearts XXXI: Knave of Hearts

 

Hello people of the Realms,

I’m here today to make a rather major announcement about the future of The Queen of Hearts Tournaments and War Maneuvers.

It’s kind of a long walk to where we’re going but my intent is to be open and transparent, so please read on.

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Here’s the tldr; Queen of Hearts this year will be fundamentally different than usual, will not have premade teams, and will overall have a less formal but still very fun composition overall. This event will be subtitled Knave of Hearts.

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It is probably helpful if I put this in the context of some more recent history. Since the pandemic, it has sometimes been a struggle to find two teams that are both willing to invest the incredible amount of effort it takes to organize and execute everything that’s necessary to make Queen of Hearts happen.

Not always, of course. Multiple years we have had two teams that from day one were enthusiastic and energized and carried that all the way through August. Other times, however, it did not come together easily.

This year in particular, no one initially stepped forward with a solid desire to run a team. Sometimes that happens, and in response I start to ask around and try to inspire people to step up. It’s not uncommon at all. This year we had one team, The Broken Spears, who fully embraced the challenge. I also had several other potential teams that expressed a true desire to put something together and take the field but simply had too many conflicts to make it happen in time for this summer.

I think the reality of the situation is this, compared to the early 2000s and 2010s, especially since the pandemic, the Realms is a smaller community that is overall less focused on tournament fighting than it has been in the past.

After some deep thought, honest conversations with my team, and contemplation about the event and the role it holds in the community, what’s become clear is there is probably just enough inspiration and energy in the Realms to put together a formal, fully traditional Queen of Hearts every other year.

So what do we do with that? Well, there is another old and sporadic Rhiassan tradition that we’ve sometimes visited called Knave of Hearts. These events have been uncommon, the last one was over a decade ago, but their intent has always been to create a place to just run our standard slate of war maneuvers without the formality of making teams and keeping score, and all the other aspects of the event that consume a lot of time, money, and energy. 

So beginning this year we will absorb the Knave of Hearts style, with an array of updates, into the normal Queen of Hearts framework. On odd numbered years, like this one coming up, we will hold Knave of Hearts events. On even numbered years we will run the traditional Queen of Hearts style like we have for the three decades prior.

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So this year’s event, Queen of Hearts XXXI, will deviate from its last 30 years of tradition and instead officially be known as:

Rhiassa Presents: Queen of Hearts XXXI, Knave of Hearts

What does this mean? Well, I don’t 100% exactly know all of that yet, but I will tell you what we do know.

• There will be no premade teams. We will sort all of the combatants into two teams in some way that is fun and interesting but also mixes things up a little bit.
• The event will largely feature war maneuvers. The Queen of Hearts favorites will all be there, Live Chess, Hadrian’s Wall, Castle Battles, etc. We will also have a chance to try out some new experimental war maneuvers and bring back some classics that have been retired for a while (Folkestone Challenge???)
• There will be an assortment of non-combat war maneuvers as well, such as Targetball.
• There will be some amount of individual and small-group fighting.
• There will be an awesome night quest by a big production team that takes full advantage of the whole site, some parts of which some of you have never seen.
• There will still be cards to keep score, still be lots of prizes, still be lots of lifting one another up and celebration of everyone on the field. 

There are questions that have yet to be answered of course. We’ve gotta figure out exactly how all this looks. Our event holding team will be getting together soon to figure out everything you will need to know and to publish that information.

But in reality all you need to know is this; show up, bring all your weapons, and prepare to spend a fun weekend fighting it out on Rhiassa’s war maneuver fields. 

All are welcome; there’s no need to wait to be invited to a team and no one to have to pre-coordinate with. 

Let’s fill up the event site with everyone who loves big fighting tournaments and have a great time together as a community.

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Now for a couple remaining details.

Everything that was planned for Queen of Hearts this year will be pushed forward to 2027 for Queen of Hearts XXXII.

Chimeron will still be the guest marshaling staff. The non-com categories and rubrics will remain as we’ve already announced them. Thank you for Chimeron for your cooperation so far this year and we look forward to working with you next year to make your ideas come to life.

The Broken Spears remain on the roster as one of the two established teams. All of you have my deepest gratitude for stepping up this year and trying to keep with our normal traditions. I know for some of you who have already begun preparations this might be disappointing news. Please instead try to think of it as an extra year to prepare and to make even more grandiose plans and crafting entries. We’re sincerely looking forward to seeing your team on the field next year.

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I’ve said a lot at this point, but I’ll leave off with some personal thoughts that have come to mind as I’ve contemplated all of these things the past few days, which, believe me, has not been easy.

Rhiassa holds in trust two of the Realms oldest traditions between Queen of Hearts and Feast of the Leviathan. In my tenure as lord of Rhiassa I’ve always expressed a maxim to my team; evolve or die.

These events have stood the test of time because we’ve been willing to update them and acclimate them to the changing eras of our community. An event format and norms that the Realms found fun in 1996 would feel widely out of place in 2026, and I’ve taken a lot of pride in the fact that we constantly reflect deeply on how to make our events better, adopt new things, and put aside things when their time has passed. The fact that all of you still trust us with these event traditions after all these years is not one that I take lightly.

This kind of change to Queen of Hearts has probably been a long time coming and if I’m honest with myself I have most likely been a lot more stubborn than I should have been in seeing it. I owe a lot of gratitude to the people around me who have been gently encouraging this change for the last few years while also giving me the space to make that decision for myself.

This is not a retreat from our ideals about event holding, we’re not going to approach Knave of Hearts like it does not matter as much or think of those years as the years where we get to lay back. You’ll have our full commitment to making these years as engaging, interesting, competitive, and fun as we possibly can. This is the evolution the event needs to push forward into this next chapter. I think it's a positive one that will let us try a lot of new and exciting ideas.

As always, thank you to everyone who has supported us and our events over all these years. We look forward to seeing you in August. We look forward to your help in writing the story of what Knave of Hearts will become.

In service,

Jason Rosa

Word from the West: Chimeron Questing XXXI

by: Dan Hudon

The following was discovered in a dingy diary lost in a cave, and translated from the original goblin to be readable in the common tongue. Spelling and grammar also underwent heavy corrections.

Dear Diary,

Nasty crimes have been committed against Goblimeron! We were in a cave after finding a super cool throne, and we were having our annual tournament of finding out who’s best to be our warlord, advisor and court mage. Some non-goblins showed up and were somehow good at all the things, so they got the titles and were officially made goblins. That’s all fine, but things take a turn!

Some guy dressed like a bee then did some quality stealing - which is legal of course. What he stole, though, was my crown, then me off my throne, then my throne, then my kingship. My guards were lazy and he had a lot of bee-people helping him! But these aren’t even the nasty crimes yet, this was all technically legal.

As I was plotting to re-steal everything, this “King Temorse” said that the goblin promised land and Queen Meg were across the lake, and we should make rafts filled with lots of holes to cross it. Now I know that adding holes doesn’t make boats faster - I’ve tried, it makes them sink! But the other goblins listened and went off to do that. A lot of my subjects are dumb and weak and don’t know how to swim, so I needed to save them heroically, but I needed my crown first. The “new king” and his people needed to know which way to go through the tunnels, so I made a deal to show them the way and let them keep my throne (which was uncomfy anyway, there was a face on it and the nose kept poking me) but give me my crown and kingship back. What a steal - the best kind of deal!

When I caught up with my subjects, it was too late - they had already started crossing the lake and some good and half-decent goblins drowned. There was no promised land on the other side either, just more empty cave. Then we realized that our new warlord, advisor, and court mage had abandoned us too to go off with *former* “king” “Temorse”.

Today was dumb and bad, but we did learn some things: that Queen Meg is not under this hill, not to trust people dressed like bees, and how to throw a good coop. This is a tiny little minor setback and we’ll still win and be cool and awesome and steal things.

Goblimeron forever!!!!!

-King Gobbergobber of Goblimeron

P.S. I hope you get this letter even though I left it in a cave and not on a road like normal.

P.P.S. I have eaten a lot of crabs down here, they’re yummy but I want to eat something else. I hear some of my agents on the surface have found lots of chickens while throwing a coop.

Why I Want To Go - The Gilded Lion and Silver Branch Summer Festival V

by: Emma "Chrysanta" Harvey

Hello Friends!

I have once again been asked to write for the View! Yay!

This time, it is to get people excited for The Gilded Lion and Silver Branch Summer Festival! So, why should you trek all the way to the Rhiassan-Chimeronian border? Well, not only is it a lovely time to enjoy yummy food, refreshing drinks, and good company, there are always many fun activities and strange occurrences.  From Dinosaur jousting to puppy dog catching (at least that’s what happened last year), who knows what may occur!

Why else should you join us for this summer festival? Well, from what I know, one of my best friends, Friend Rowan, will have her rarities shop with many treasures to spend your hard earned gold on (Friend Grevin told me to say that). I also have the honor of serving drinks for my lovely friends of the Realms! Yup! Cinnamon’s Tea Trove will be hitting the road with special drinks and tasty treats! So if you haven’t been to Mirador, fear not! A pair of friendly fauns will be available to serve you lovely, handcrafted libations. 

As for anything else? I am not too sure. Probably someone will annoy Friend Aeston. Probably me. (Hee hee)

See you at the festival!

Dream Mender Chrysanta Morris

Friend of the Realms

Scholar of Air and Warden to Magistrate Zula

What You Missed - The Wedding of Tirvanel and Margaret

by:  Ella "Violet" Smith

Hello, wonderful people of the realms, this is what you missed at the wedding of Tirvanel and Margret: 

I arrived late to the wedding because I got tied up at the healing center, so I missed the forming of the first spirit games. But what I could tell was happening was that there were two groups: the Bears and Wolves. They had people go hide in the woods, and the other team's goal was to find these people. Unfortunately, we thought that we had actually lost these people because of how well they hid, so the game came to a close. While we were taking some down time after the first spirit games, more spirits came and visited us: the Otter, Serpent, Salmon, and Boar spirits. People started giving gifts to the spirits, notably a paper frog and a bunch of rocks that were given to the otter spirit. I took this opportunity to have a conversation with the Serpent spirit and made a promise to go to their shrine after the wedding. After a little bit, all of the spirits got back together and introduced us to the new challenge. The challenge was to cross a river. However, we were then hit with a surprise that we needed to cross it back and still could not repeat any methods.

Right as this was happening, Rand, one of the kitchen staff at the temple, started running away. Crane and I followed because we wanted to make sure they were ok. They started talking about the veiled figures. It wasn't until after we returned with Rand after promising them that we would keep them safe that we realized they were Nemesis Wraiths, some time was spent talking to the Wraiths. After the reappearance of the Nemesis Wraiths, a rune ritual was conducted to give the sentinels more power. The ritual allowed Kovaks to speak to the sentinel. I don't know the end results of them getting more power. 

At some point after the rune ritual, we realized that Tirvanel was kidnapped by his all-fae wedding party. We started sending people one by one to go rescue him. We ended up getting Tirvanel back in time for the wedding, and it was an amazing wedding. It was such a sweet Auroran ceremony. The provided food was delicious, including burgers, soba noodles, brownies, and cream puffs. The cream puffs especially prompted a very interesting conversation. Every person in attendance got to hold a candle during the ceremony, and each one of the wedding party stood as one of the aspects of Aurora. You could just tell how much they love each other as they said their vows.

Before court started, Kurn the Demon in Tulkhan sword escaped, and a little bit of time before court started had to be spent trying to fix that. Speaking of court, some really important stuff happened including Margaret getting the staff of hope from Laika. This is the staff that Laika carried with him during this time in Nymphus Yarrow and spent many years praying over. Margaret was told when receiving this staff that she was expected to hand it down some day as he handed it down to her. Also during court, Raindrop was inducted as a new magus of the realms. They notably have always included others in their spell work and their ability to storytell with magic is spectacular. 

After the sun set it was time for the Voraniss court and the Ritual of Renewal. During court, it was announced that Grevin had finished the process of joining Voraniss and was given the title of kin-hearted. With the sun set and the ritual done, we all say goodbye and head our separate ways till we see each other again. 

Rumors around the Realms June 1026

 

Rumors around the Realms June 1026

Ashenmark and its export sites

The cheese thievery continues, and magistrates of cheese commerce have begun to suspect a conspiracy among the cheese merchants, who continue to claim that the rats have mobilized and increased their ferocity in targeted attacks on cheese stores.

Qua Taereth Nunna

Shadows lengthen before their time, the verdant forest provides too much shade, flames flicker dimly outside holy spaces, bats swarm the air in greater numbers and for longer hours.  Some herders claim The McKrye must soon be returning, to once again drive out the darkness.  Some hunters insist The McKrye is already here, and has brought the darkness upon them.

The Realms

A popular potion shop has been left empty. Frequent customers have begun camping out doors waiting for the master alchemist to return. Through the large glass window, the alchemist's pet can be seen ripping up book after book, many are worried about the implications.

Rhiassa/Chimeron

The border area between Rhiassa and Chimeron that is the usual site of the Summer Festival is bustling with preparations for the yearly celebration. The workers can be overheard talking about various things that concern them. Nervous whispers include mentions of The Phantom Empire, The Forbidden City, The Fortress of Doors, and something they're apparently calling "malcheeseance".

Neden

"Portals have been observed opening and closing around the Neden castle...which is not news. What is news is they don't appear to be Sir Naj's, Lord Syruss's or Priest Z's color portals indicating another caster at work.

Also, differnt versions of Sir Nymbous have been spotted throughout Neden doing various tasks. Most helpful has been crossing gaurd Nymbous. Most annoying has been the Llama version of Nymbous who keeps trying to bite Meatball."

Around the Realms

Villagers and merchants cleaning up or returning to their now-safe homes, after the adventurers of the Realms have moved on from a local quest, report sporadic sightings of strange creatures.  These beasts seem to be amalgamations of humanoids and animals – usually farm stock.  They appear out of nowhere, then run around in a killing frenzy, seeming to search for something until they are either cut down by town militia, or escape into the wilds.  

Clayburgh Chimeron

Things are bustling for the small port town of Clayburgh as it has been chosen as the site for an Auroran solstice festival and Tournaments of the Branch. The Wildcard Guild has been working on setting up an office in the town to offer work to visiting adventurers. Among the town's Ranterran population, there is excitement for the festival and anticipation of the adventurers’ help in a particular matter.

Southeastern Chimeron & Unclaimed Lands

There are rumors of a dangerous creature lurking in the forests in and around southeastern Chimeron. Ranterran scouts sent from Castle Requiem have been asking around about any sightings of an undead-looking dragon, but the creature seems to be evading them.

Rathkeale

With the nation finally returning to a state of relative normality following last years invasion, there have been reports of hostile spirits in the area. Attempts to dispel the spirits have been unfruitful though.

Rathkeale

Large numbers of Bullywogs have also been reported moving through the region. The Emperor does not seem to be worried though, when asked for a comment he stated, "Who the hell are you?"