Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

A special meme commemorating the anniversary of the victory over Rexan and the retaking of Darkvale.

Rumors for May 1023

[Chimeron]

In Chimeron, posters have gone up declaring that a "Brorion" is wanted dead by order of Warlord Sir Saka, for a reward. The posters proclaim that Brorion can cast lightning bolts, and should not be mistaken for Sir Orion, Captain of the Chimeron Militia.

[Rhiassa]

The ebb and flow of goods over the Vanfrost has been steady and merchants that return from Norlund have had no trouble finding buyers for their foreign wares. Highly sought after right now is the exotic game that is sometimes hunted by the vikings of Midgard. Meals made with these delicacies can be found in inns and taverns all across Rhiassa and other nearby locales.

[Stonewood]

The new farms have been ramping up, and the small settlement central to them has been growing as well. The farmers who had been relocated there are settling in and starting to consider it a home.

~~~

The Loken-Swift Library in Northern Starhaven is finally open after being in limbo for almost a year! While it is focused on general education topics, a few nights a week there are classes offered.

~~~

Starhaven continues to be very low on crime.

What You Missed: Tournaments of Artemis X

By Dani "Elizah" Lacasse

What'd you miss at Tournaments of Artemis? You missed passion. You missed companionship and encouragement. You missed out on good ole hardcore competition. And most importantly you missed out on 7 marvelous huntresses kicking ass on the field and leading their teams throughout the days in different challenges.

This was my first ever ToA and I have to say, I'm already looking forward to next year's! We started off the day with Shader asking those who wish to participate as a huntress to step forward, seven candidates presented themselves, were explained what their roles entailed and were then split onto two teams; team "a" being led by Margaret, Fern, Voutiá & Rowan and team "b" led by Umbra, Irri & Seraphim. Right off the bat, I was pleasantly surprised to see the lot of huntresses that stepped forward to lead our teams. I knew from that moment that we were going to be in for a fantastic day.

After being sorted onto teams "kick ball" style, the first challenge of the day: collectively deciding our team names. Now I don't know the process of deciding for team a, but I do know that for team b it started out as joke and quickly turned into a full team commitment and before I knew it we were deemed Team Slay and the opposing team Team Artemis' Awesome Possum Posse Party and with that we jumped into our first of many combative tournaments of the day.

All of the tournaments were extremely close in competition during the day, but some of my personal favorites had to be the point control battles. There were various versions sprinkled in throughout the day but my top one, thematically deemed  "Stay in your lane," was a three laned battle that each team funneled down to meet at the point in the middle. Everyone except the Huntresses had to stay in their lane and the goal was to flip the box in the middle with two hands to your team's color and then try to defend the box until the time ran up. Funneled fights like this, could usually be intimidating but the execution of this tournament was excellent and overall was extremely fun to participate in.

Now I could give you a run down of every single combat tournament that took place, but quite frankly that would make this article more lengthy to read and if I'm being honest I certainly couldn't even attempt to remember each one, but a few more honorable mentions include the Castle Battle, where we got to build a castle out of wooden blocks we won throughout the day and it was the opposing team's goal to fight the wave of monsters to cross the red line to earn a bean bag to try to knock down the castle. The Seven limb battle, where the proven strategy was definitely sending in almost the entirety of your team as "nuggets' ' and chanting "NUG NUG NUG" at the opposing team as a distraction. (Spoiler alert, Team Artemis' Awesome Possum Posse Party strategy did in fact work!) And lastly  I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Dice rolling tournament (that I'm sure had a way better name then what I can recall.) Admittedly, I did miss the first few rounds of this tournament as I was working on the Shrine building noncom but when I did sub in and got to partake, I really enjoyed the idea of rolling for points and then spending those points to build your team out.

Aside from all the combat tournaments, there were also a few non-com tournaments that took place including; shrine building that I mentioned above, small challenges given out by each marshal and archery! I really only worked on the shrine out of these three which I had a blast doing, but I will say Aeston's challenge of having Huntresses name someone they looked up too was super wholesome and the archery range always seemed to have someone giving it a shot so I'd say all the non-coms were well received!

With all of the energy participants were expending, Sir Gwen and Captain Daekara did a lovely job of keeping the tasty treats coming out of the kitchen. I only got to try the cucumber and BLT sandwiches which were delicious and the tea that was refreshing but I didn't hear a single complaint in the room about any of the other snacks or the chicken salad and pulled pork sandwiches! Thank you for keeping us well fed and hydrated!

Before wrapping up, I must take a brief moment to give praise to Shader, newest Knight to the Order of the Lunar Aegis, for continuing to run an integral tournament event that allows Huntresses to showcase their badass abilities not only in combat tournaments but also in being a leader for their teams. Without the opportunity that ToA provides, I don't know that we'd have a place where for them to display their abilities and I for one am grateful a tournament like this exists. If you've made it this far, thank you. I'll finish up by saying that overall, the day was marvelous and I don't think any amount of words I put on paper can truly amount to the remarkable event you missed out on. My advice, make an appearance next year to experience it all for yourself.

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:

What's this bow do? Head on back to social media and let us know?

What You Missed: Tales of a Tea-Totaler

By Kelsey “Melethielle” Miranda

During my long stay out in the Sapphire Isle with Lady Sayeh, I received an invite from my dear friend Eliza to come to Bone’s Castle for a grand tea party to host the Rakshasa, and share some divination with the people of the Realms. I gathered all of my tarot and pendulums and off I went! 

On arriving at the feast hall doors, I was met with the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed tea and the clattering of a busy kitchen. I snuck into the kitchen to find Hedda and Eammon preparing platters of tea sandwiches and charcuterie. I snuck one of the turkey cheddar sandwiches away and did a tour of the hall. The walls were all draped with fine tapestries as dancing lights bounded around the ceiling. Candles made of herbed butter flickered on each table, with trays of breads alongside to dip. Each table had milk and sugar cubes patiently waiting for the flood of delicious teas to come. Sayeh manned a station offering an assortment of tea cups for those who did not have one of their own. A friendly beekeeper stood by the side with a wide array of herbs to create one’s own tea blend. In the back of the hall, poker, carnival games, an auction table and Karmha Creations were also set up for the guest’s enjoyment and perusal.

A skeleton laid among the charcuterie, with crackers and gherkins spilling from his rib cage, and being crowned in cheddar. He had apparently been scooped up into an amalgamation of souls, but his remains made excellent servingware. The spread of olives, meats, fruits and cheeses were delightful, and the three fresh jams brought a brightness to the cheese and cracker sandwiches towering on my plate. The strawberry and apple jams had a pleasing tartness, but the surprising kick from the peach sriracha jam made it my favorite of the bunch. A comforting butternut squash soup was also served alongside the charcuterie with more breads, and a constant supply of iced black and green tea, pink lemonade and amaretto coffee was available. 

After chatting with Kovaks of the goings on while I was away, I joined Bee and Liana at the tarot station to begin giving our friends a glimpse into what the divine knows of them. While getting settled in, Hedda called First Brew of the day: a White Witch tea and those turkey, cheddar and apple jam sandwiches I sampled earlier. The tea was a light and floral white tea, with hints of citrus and rose, which paired excellently with the sweet of the apple jam cutting through the sharp cheddar. 

Shortly after first tea, a jester of sorts calling themselves Jess came into the hall. They appeared confused, and did not know of usual Realms knowledge, such as magic, money, knights or what a castle is and how they come to be. Jess continued asking many questions and was whisked away to be taught of money, work and knighthoods of the Realms. 

After a period of tarot reading and watching Jess get dragged to and fro by excited adventurers, Hedda called Second Brew: Herbal Woman’s Moon tea and airy meringue mushrooms. The meringue had the perfect snap with a chewy interior, and the tea had a bright earthy flavor with lemon and floral notes (and was my personal favorite of the day)

While enjoying my tea, Jess came to me for an advice tarot reading. My cards told me that Jess’s confusion was from a major loss of memory and of status. In the past, Jess was a leader, someone to be looked to (The Star) but something had caused a downfall. Only through perseverance, and a journey of rediscovery could they regain their place. As Jess walked away, the Fool card sprang from my deck after them, showing me they were starting the journey right then. 

A few more interested attendees came to us for readings, and time flew by so quickly that before I knew it Third Brew was being announced: Raspberry Scones and the Hocus Pocus Tea, which had a darker, full bodied orangy flavor. The tartness of the raspberry cut nicely through the dense, moist texture of the scone, and the brush of sweet glaze over top brought it all together.

Things became very heated over at the carnival games. There was quite a commotion for a time, resulting in Temorse winning both the fastest and slowest time on the matching game. (Apparently turtles make great practice buddies) Jess came back over for an update; the adventurers were trying to summon a spirit that was possibly evil? Before I could get more information, the party left to go do this summoning ritual, and reappeared dead several minutes later, nothing too out of the ordinary there. It was nice of whomever that was to come drop the dead off, and we quickly got everyone back up, just in time for Fouth Brew: Lemon curd and berry tarts with apple cinnamon tea. The tart crusts were buttery and flakey, with a tart lemon curd, topped with mixed berries. The tea tasted just like an apple cider but with a lighter mouth feel, and was a nice warm contrast to the sourness of the lemon curd.

After a little more back and forth between adventurers, the carnival and poker tables closed for the bardic competition. It was one of the larger showings I have seen in a while, with friends of many ages coming forward to share their songs and tales. I also joined in, but sometimes you lose your stride….and forget all the lyrics to your song. It happens, and at least I brought some enjoyment and a little laughter to the hall. After concluding the bardic, it was time for the auction, where Aria and her remarkable luck won almost half the auction prizes!

Fifth Brew quickly followed: Baileys Espresso Bread Pudding and Butterfly Pea Blossom Tea. Hedda came around to all partaking with a lemony potion which turned the blue butterfly pea tea a gorgeous magenta. Without the lemon, the tea had a subtle floral sweetness, but after the lemon, the tea took on a brighter note. The bread pudding had a crisp cinnamon sugar crust, and a rich, moist interior. The subtle flavors of coffee and cinnamon paired well with the bright lemon of the tea. 

As I enjoyed the final brew, Jess reappeared with a staff, which appeared to be slowly blooming. Adventurers ran up, applying more fallen petals to the top of the staff, until it was a fully reformed flower. Jess thanked everyone for their help, and then produced a tarot deck of their own. They had several adventurers draw cards from the deck, looked at the card, nodded and moved on to the next adventurer. I’m not sure what was being gleaned from these readings, but hopefully it will help Jess continue on their growth journey. With that final task done, the event drew to a close. The dancing lights eased themselves as the castle began to return to it's daily appearance.

Extra tarts and scones as well as some final personalized tea blends were sent along with the attendees as they made their way out of the castle 

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

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.