Below is a photo... kinda.
It certainly used to be a photograph before we converted it to a pixelated mess.
We'd like you to figure out the following based on just the squares of color below.
The full photo will be revealed later this afternoon.
by: Anna "Hedda" Rufus
You’ve heard the stories, haven't you? Our predecessors had battles of all kinds. Protecting our lands against a variety of internal and external threats. Entering through portals and solving puzzles that many of us have never thought to dream of.
People talk back about the heroic and demonic feats of adventurers and how they cherished the camaraderie among the nations. Coming from Atlantis, these stories are like the wars under the waves with different enemies tied to them. My mettle has been tested in many ways since coming to the land. Many enemies placed all sorts of afflictions upon me and took me to the brink of death. The stories that have reached my ears recently? Of a challenge to test myself to the limit of what my mortal coil can handle. These things I have not had the chance to experience since washing ashore. I have been tested through tournaments of many kinds. Stories from the past say this trial cannot compare to those. It proves we can be much more and takes every fiber of our being. How far can you push the mind, body, and soul before it breaks?
I cannot do it alone. Across the realms many of you have heard from me. A call for people to come and challenge themselves alongside me. We will be split into teams. We will attempt to keep ourselves awake and challenge our minds and bodies together for the first time in a decade of previous combatants. Run until your legs give out, then stand back up anyway. Fight till you drop and get back up relying on your teammates to help you up if you must. Fight past your comfort zone, swallow the strange stuff and move forward anyway. Let us take the next step of stories to tell the ones who follow in our footsteps. I cannot promise you will be on my side or, if you challenge your team against mine to take the victory. What I can promise is that you will come to this, test yourself in ways you may not have before, and you will become closer to a tight knit group that creates a bond together.
I will challenge myself to be a captain. I will strive to win and be the best. I will push myself to the limits. There are people there to ensure we are safe, though they will also push us to be outstanding as well.
Why do you come and read my words? Is it curiosity, or perhaps inquisitiveness? Whatever brought you here, I am glad you did. Let yourself bear witness to this next story of greatness, trials, emotional and physical tests, and the forging of souls that will carry on the chronicle of heroes brought to their Pressure Point.
Whan-Hedda con Atlantis
By: Briar "Phee" Sieracki
My dear friends,
For those who have been unable to make the first 3 iterations of Tournaments of the Branch, truly, you have missed some fantastic times.
To begin, Lord Harkon has made sure that the fields are fought as evenly as possible; to begin, there is both Combat and Arts & Sciences. The tournaments are split between Knights and Unbelts…simply, if you are of a peerage such as a knight, a magus, or the like, you fight under that. Unbelts is the easiest way to describe a wide array of people who might not have had the attention drawn to them that they should: squires, pages, people with no titles whatsoever. There are even steps to break Unbelts into further categories, should numbers prove large enough.
Combat is easy enough to explain, but Arts & Sciences…in years past it has been tactics and strategy (using the infamy of Argyle!), embroidery, calligraphy, some…resource allocations…many skills we may not think about when it comes to the world around us.
In this way, Tara has offered a format in which people can fight their peers, and allow those who may be looking for squires, apprentices, or mentees to find them. A fantastic way to match your skill as well as get all eyes on you.
There is, of course, also the Champion of Champions tournament, a recognition of heralds (a personal favorite), and newly added, an encampment competition!
As every year, there are also two altars available, that allow our spellcasters and fighters to try the other paths’ shoes, so to speak. An altar to Rawonam where magic casters may lay their spellbook to take up arms, and an altar to Antioch, where a fighter may lay a weapon or armor and try magic for a while.
Between a casual day of tournaments (a rare case where I enjoy watching the fights!), food, friends…it is worth the time to make it.
Phee
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I might be a bit biased because Hillary is my partner, but I mean it when I say that TotB is absolutely a tournament you should make the time to hit. In my years in the Realms, I’ve never seen cleaner tournament fights, the joy people get from hearing their names called or trying a new tourney they never would have otherwise.
Swing by for a few. Bring your dad, it’s Father’s Day after all! You’ll be glad you came, and sad you missed it.
Briar
by: Angel "Aris"
Hai everyone! If you don't know me I am the one who plays Aris, if you don't know who that is, well its the person running around with orange hair and fox ears. And this is why I want to go to Heroes for Hire.
First off I want to start by one of my goals as a new player is to hit almost all the events this year.
Second, I am really excited for the Summer Solstice Festival, (I love solstice's), as it gives me the opportunity to celebrate it and just hang out with people I don't get to see or talk to enough.
Third, I stand for random questing and all that it is. (aka, the various odd jobs from wildcard guild) Which means plenty of opportunities for shenanigans.
Hopefully see you there - Angel
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!
Some of our longtime community members may remember a recurring feature on the View From Valehaven called Happenings on the Emerald Path. Since many new faces have joined us over the years, a little explanation is in order.
The Emerald Path was a phrase created by the Bedlam plot team to describe the journeys we take beyond the game; the adventures, milestones, and chapters unfolding in our real lives. Happenings on the Emerald Path served as a space for community members to share exciting news and celebrate one another's achievements.
Whether it was a wedding, the arrival of a new child, a graduation, a new job, retirement, purchasing a home, or any other significant life event, this was where we gathered to recognize and cheer on the next great adventure in our fellow community member's story
We're excited to bring this feature back and once again celebrate together as a community. To kick things off, we've got an emerald path from this past Saturday where community members Dani "Elizah" Lacasse, Anna "Hedda" Rufus, Nataliya "Shader" Kostenko & Brooke "Falco" Gibbas run their first mud run together in Hartford CT.
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| Photo by Jamison Bancroft |
If you have an achievement, life event, adventure, or other exciting news you'd like to share with the community, please send it along to Dani Lacasse.
