Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

Realmsle #16

 

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!

Why I Want to Go - Rhiassa Presents: Echoes of Ragnarok: The Conclusion - Yggdrasill

 by Eric "Rosetta" Willisson

OOC:

Rhiassa has been Presenting quests for many, many years, and they have always excelled in the areas of providing meaningful combat, challenges both physical and mental, excellent props and costumes, individual and group activities, and giving a clear sense of purpose. I look back on their What Lurks Beneath series with great fondness, and with Echoes of Ragnarok they have woven a tale of doom, prophecy, monsters, gods, and mortals, that has already made its mark on the Realms. This conclusion is a long time coming: in 2019 when we forged new gods, we knew that next year, "the heroes of the Realms would return to complete one final task that would forever ensure the world they left behind would prosper." Well, in a story about world-shaking events sending prophecies awry, perhaps we should have seen something like this coming. Now, in 2024, Rhiassa has rallied to use the extra time wisely, expanding the world through the collaborative game "The Quiet Year," and inviting us to show how we acquired dinosaur steeds to carry us over the lands.

Echoes of Ragnarok, in addition to showing Rhiassa's usual polish and willingness to experiment, has also had some of their largest forays into incorporating PC choices into their world. While we have never been powerless, it is striking to me how much at this conclusion event will be borne of our actions as much as of any plans for the story. I will personally be attending with an artifact I created with Squire Crispin on a dwarven forge some years ago. Part of the sense of new life in Norlund came from an effort by the faithful to resurrect Dio, a god of the Realms who was slain as part of the Dark Dissent series. The very existence of the land of Norlund as it currently stands was shaped by adventurers who sought an alternative beyond oblivion for its people. And, of course, the motif of dinosaurs spread all over the world tree came from the offer for us to design our own gods.

This last quest promises to venture over, under, and through Yggdrasill the world tree itself. I am so excited to see what the team at Rhiassa has put together and what they have in store for us.

IC:

For the past nine years, Rhiassa has been leading the way to Norlund, a plane beyond our own marked by ice and snow, mighty warriors, gods and giants, and a prophecy of end times. Unlike so many end times, they greeted theirs with open arms: it seemed that a destruction that would bring about renewal was central to their expectations. Almost a decade ago, we learned that their world had been scarred by Bedlam, as had so many others besides our own. Several key figures in their prophecy, including their own gods, had been consumed by Bedlam, and thus were unable to fulfill their roles. Heroes of Norlund came to us, not seeking our protection, but rather begging our aid in righting their world by setting it back on the path to Ragnarok.

We of the Realms have rarely been willing to take the obvious path. Over the years, we faced opportunistic giants, re-forged godly weapons, and forged bonds with the remaining people of Norlund. A decision was made that they should not be made to perish with their world, despite their apparent willingness. Instead, we found a way out, and a path to renew their world without total destruction.

Incredibly, this changing of fate has been accomplished, and new gods now watch over a changed land. We watched how the people regrouped and began to prosper over the quiet years, and came to terms with the challenges and opportunities in their new lands. We also saw how Yggdrasill, the World Tree that bound the planes together, took a destructive turn, thrashing and tearing through the newly-formed earth.

Now, at last, we have been summoned to return to Norlund, to help quell the chaos of Yggdrasill and stabilize the new Norlund once and for all. Some of us have tamed mighty steeds, terrible two-legged lizards under the patronage of the god Tychasaurus, to help travel the lands. It is time to finish our task and save the people of Norlund from the damage caused by Bedlam so long ago.

Join me at the roots of Yggdrasill!

Strange Papers Found in Rhiassa

Hello people of the Realms,

There has been so much traffic across the Vanfrost these few months that I am sure the rumor has reached many of you that it was necessary to halt Norlund-bound travel for a time last week due to a strange incident. 

I've been informed that members of a well known merchant caravan were found deceased having just traveled back across the gateway from Midgard. The circumstances of their death are still being investigated but it is clear it was not from any kind of danger we are familiar with.

On their persons were some strange papers, torn asunder as if through a struggle. We've collected what we can find of these papers and assembled them for you to take a look at, as we know many of you are planning to travel to Norlund in a few days to heed our friend Ulric's pleas for aid.

I hope anything you are able to find within them will be of aid to you,

Best,

Lord Sir Aeston Stromgate

[click here to see all the papers]

(Opening the above link will give you your own copy of this interactive clue)

Rumors for April 1024

 

[Asteria]

Reports of vampirism are spreading throughout the Kingdom. They have the areas best vampire hunters on the job.

~~~

Princess Theofania and Lady Jane Duplaine are still missing after the attack in September. King Oliver insists that it is safe for them to return, but reports of vampirism leave many skeptical to this claim.

[Blackavar]

The political situation in Blackavar has grown tense. People claiming ancestral lands and titles remain at odds. Bright side, no rats still!

[Chimeron]

A man was rushed to magical affliction experts after a mishap at an archeological dig site in eastern Chimeron. His current condition is believed to be stable, but the exact nature of his injuries are unknown.

[Coventry]

Increased feeling of hopelessness are being reported in the area around Coventry. One person notes: “We have no King, we were invaded by the Lost Kingdoms, some stupid adventurers capped the reality well, and nightmares have escaped the Dreaming. I’d be shocked if there wasn’t a bit more hopelessness than usual.” Aurorans in the area work to reassure everyone that things are okay.

[Rhiassa]

Traffic was held up over the portal to the Vanfrost for a few hours on Wednesday as the Lion Militia barricaded the whole surrounding area for an investigation. Those who were close to the perimeter heard whispers of a party of travelers found dead, covered with mysterious liquids of different colors. Others mentioned catching whiff of an acidic smell on the breeze.

Meme Monday

 by the Meme Team

The Ascension War

Written by: Dan Diamond

"Back (in 996 or was it 997?) there was an Ascension War to decide certain matters among the pantheon of greater gods. I was not there, despite having just championed Faelie’s cause after her peril at the hands of the Misty Glen Monks. However recently there have been…not exactly rumors, but shall we say an apprehension that the pantheon imbalance may yet be, or perhaps must be, corrected. So, to honor the past and herald what may come, I give you a filk based on a tune too famous to mention [Final Countdown]." -Diamond Banecroft

THE ASCENSION WAR 

* Capo 2nd fret

 [Intro]

|Em      |C     |Am    |D     |  

|Em      |C     |Am    |D     |  

|Em      |Em    |Em    |Em    |

 [Verse 1]Em

  We're leaving together,

                     Am

  but still it's farewell

Em

  And maybe we'll come back,

     D/F#           G

  to these Realms, who can tell

C                  D

  I guess there is no-one to blame,

G       G/F#    Em      Em/D    C

  Except Garm (Except Garm)

                   Bm            D

  Will things ever be the same again?

 [Chorus]      Em         C   Am   D

In the Ascension War

          Em        C   Am   D

The Ascension War

 [Verse 2]

Em

  We're heading for battle (Battle)

                     Am

  Gods will stand and some fall

Em

  And we’ll do our part

      D/F#       G

  fighting one and all

C              D

  With so many battles to fight

G     G/F#      Em         Em/D  C

  and avatars to be bound  (to be bound)

                      Bm            D

  Will we find that might makes right?

 [Chorus]    Em         C   Am   D

In the Ascension War

          Em        C   Am   D

The Ascension War

          Em       D/F#  G  C  B7sus   B7

The Ascension War

 [Chorus]       Em         C   Am   D

In the Ascension War

          Em        C   Am   D

The Ascension War

Em 

Listen Here: