View From Valehaven

Monday, November 14, 2022

Meme Monday

by the Meme Team

Friday, November 11, 2022

Invictus Gladitorium Update from Black & White 2022

This summary was provided by Sir Kiira, acting as a scribe to the Nation of Invictus.

Unto the denizens of the Realms,

We are writing to inform you of the most recent court held by the Nation of Invictus. Our nation holds our court in what is called a Gladitorium. In this Gladitorium, we hold trials of combat, magic, and craftsmanship to allow individuals to gain entrance into the Army of Invictus.

Saturday, October 22nd, of year 1022, we held our Gladitorium in the beautiful Lands of Chimeron, which had equally beautiful weather. The grounds, which were damp from recent rainfalls, made for soft ground in which to fight. We began by presenting our members with new tabards, customized for each person in accordance to their sizes and preferences.

Once the new garments were adorned, we continued onto the combat portion of our trials. Thayet, a mage who specializes in heavy support magic and can wield lightning, petitioned to join the Invictus Army. She chose a champion to support, Sir Daekara. When a mage is supporting their champion, they must face every fighter in the Gladitorium while they are being supported by another mage. After a series of up to fifteen fights (one fight for each of the founding members), or one victory for the petitioner, they move onto the next series of fights with the next fighter and mage.

As is customary for every Gladitorium where there is a combat-focused caster, the first series of fights was against Imperator Shandar Silverstorm, and his most venerated mage, Sir Kiira. After this series of fights, Thayet chose her challengers by going widdershins around the circle. Thayet proved her worth as a mage and entered the group as a petitioning member. She was given a tabard with a Black Wolf symbol, signifying her status as a petitioner.

After the combat had concluded, Sir Aelias Softshadow presented a ritual to gain entrance into the Army of Invictus as a full member. While performing a ritual similar to one he had performed in the past, he stopped suddenly. Aelias turned and address the group, explaining how when you cast a spell, you create a circle providing protection. Instead of needing the protection provided by the magical circle, he empowered his magic and was protected by the circle standing around him; his nation; The Nation of Invictus. Pulling out the blade he was given as an accolade to winning the mage tournament at Queen of Hearts, Aelias offered up his sword to Imperator Shandar in defense of the nation. Shandar welcomed him into the Army and presented him with a tabard featuring a golden wolf, signifying full member status.

The last trial of the day was that of Lady Liselle Silvermaple, and it was quite a marvelous one at that. For her final trial, she was challenged with proving her craftsmanship through an item to be presented to Shandar. What an item it was. Liselle stated that she had never seen the leader of Invictus in what she considered formal attire. She presented him with an exquisite burgundy doublet, with detachable arms, and a side cape bearing the Invictus Wolf. Under the doublet was a golden silk shirt of the same material used to accent the doublet. If that was not enough, on the reverse side of the doublet sits studded leather armor—to never be left undefended. With successfully delighting the Imperator, Liselle gained entrance into Invictus and was given her own gold wolf in the form of a tabard.

Next up during the Gladitorium, Daekara took on a Squire, Jack of Redwall, for the Knights of Invictus.

Now we come to the point in the Gladitorium where we discussed change moving forward. Shandar addressed the nation stating that, when Invictus was founded, we were in a constant war with our enemies. As we move on to a more prosperous time, we are looking to restructure ourselves. While the world slowed down due to our times spent within our borders, we have had the opportunity to self-reflect and see where we are and where we want to be.

Though his authority is not changed, Sir Randalf is now in charge of the Army of Invictus, specifically the fighters. He will still answer directly to Shandar. Randalf’s position is now known as Warmaster. Parallel to Randalf will be Kiira, who will have the same duties, specifically with the Mages of the Invictus Army, who also answers directly to Shandar. She will have the title of Warmage.

The next level of authority will be called Captains. They are the field and squad leaders who will be responsible for mustering and organizing the troops while on campaign. This role is still Sir Eldritch Cleaver’s, though the title has changed from what it previously was. In addition to Eldritch, Daekara was promoted to the rank of Captain.

Another shift in positions was in the title of Justicar, which is filled by Sir Vuel Shiba. His responsibilities are to enforce the justice and will of Shandar. Sir Jayne Wrath is taking over the title of Praetorian Guard, which was formerly held by Vuel. The Praetorian Guard’s job is to ensure the safety of Shandar.

Finally, at the end of the Gladitorium, Shandar declared his intentions, with full support from all those present in the nation of Invictus, to take the title of King. The plans for the coronation are to be announced shortly, for some time during mid-spring of the year 1023.

Thursday, November 10, 2022

10 Questions with an Event Holder- Travis Wilcox

1. What events have you previously thrown?

I started throwing events in 1998, and since the 2000s have had 34 events on the books. I threw the Adventure series, Exotic Items, Creatures, & Wares, Carnage on the Mountain, Elwin’s Birthday, four Tournaments of Chaos, helped with the King of Rogues series, and have done smatterings of one-off individual events.

2. What led you to start throwing events?

I started preparations for my first 1998 event back in 1996. I saw that the Realms was a game completely run by independent event holders and not a central committee and thought I could contribute to that, and that people could have fun with the stories I could tell. That was the primary motivator when I was 16 years old and held my first event. Nowadays, after all these years, I have found that there is a certain type of person that enjoys my style of events, and there are enough of them that I want to provide and continue to provide content and give back to the community. I also feel somewhat responsible for keeping all of my magic items backed.

3. What would you like your events to be known for?

I’d like my events to be known for rich plot. A solid interactive world that people can immerse themselves in that causes change in the overarching world. I want players to feel unique and like they are making a difference for good or bad.

4. What aspect of event holding do you consider most challenging?

Asking for help. It is extremely difficult for me to reach out to other people to ask for help. I don’t want to let go of my world or take people away from playing. Most of the people that would help me are the ones that would really want to play.

5. Tell us about an event moment that you are particularly proud of?

At Exotic Creatures, Items, & Wares 2 we were in the middle of a night quest and the rain started up and we muscled through it. The sky opened into an absolute downpour. Turns out there was a hurricane going on and we were getting rain literally going sideways. When I reached out to the players in the middle of the chaos (screaming so they could hear me over the wind) the players all cheered and wanted to continue. They were yelling “We’re going for it!” The story that was being told pushed the players enough so that they didn’t want to quit in some of the worst weather I have ever seen at an event.

6. Tell us about something that went wrong and what you learned from it.

There was one event I had done a call out to NPC’s for one of my events and I had a few hits. I thought I was going to have 4-5 NPC’s that showed up but come the day of the event, all of my staff save for the person running the door, didn’t show. I had to solo 45-50 players with me as the only NPC/EH. What I learned is that I can actually throw an event with just me as an NPC. It was rough, but if you can push the story forward and make adjustments you can find ways of overcoming problems like this.

7. What do you think makes an event site “good” and how have you gone about locating sites?

Good sites are dictated by plot and the event you are planning to throw on it. Tournament sites could be an open park, but questing sites require more. A few open areas. Navigable trails that can be fought on or set up with different props and wall dressings to make it look decent. If you’re doing a feast, you require a solid hall with easy access. No matter which one you do, you need acceptable parking so people have places to be. You can really work with just about anything. Water is nice to have. Access to bathrooms or porta potties is a necessity. To locate them, I usually have asked the community. In 27 years, I’ve never had to track one down on my own. People are a good resource.

8. Have you managed to maintain a balanced budget? Any advice for other event holders on doing that?

Yes. I have lost money at several events, but I don’t lose more than $300-400 dollars max. I usually keep it within a $100 max. Some advice I would give is to remember the minimum amount of people that can show up is 30. Multiply 30 by event cost and that should be your starting budget. The first thing you take out is the cost of the event site. If you have money left over from there, that’s your budget for everything else. If you have a budget in mind, divide it by 30 and that’s roughly what you’ll be charging per head.

9. What staff positions do you feel are essential to running your events and what do you do to help empower and support them?

Lead EH, Head NPC, MM. Those are the required ones for every event. Feastocrat if you’re doing food at your event and anything past snacks. Head Marshalls for tourneys. Head Marshalls are given carte blanche and I let them do their own thing. MM-…I usually do this myself. Head NPC is generally given an overall idea of what expectations are, plot setting, tone, and difficulty/challenge level and you can hand off the role if you have a solid one. Check in with them occasionally. Treat them with respect and know that they are competent in their position.

10. What advice do you have for other Event Holders?

Reach out for help to the rest of the EH community. Everybody has something to offer. If it’s your first event, try to get one of them on staff to help. The experience of having to do EHing can only be gained by trying to throw an event, but you shouldn’t try and do it alone. Also, remember when planning an event to look at the projected future of what’s going to be out there. Too much of one thing is not good for the game.

11. What can we look forward to seeing from you in the foreseeable future?

A lot more of the same. I run my events in a specific/particular way and people have fun with that. I will likely continue to throw this method until people don’t show up anymore or I find something that makes them have more fun. Expect more Exotic Wares plot, and maybe another adventure plot.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Butcher's Beastiary: Kobolds

Hello everyone, it is Jean Baptise, Knight of the steward with an infotainment extravaganza!

Our adventures are almost always violent, and in our age and war we tend to have old enemies, not just ancient forces that threaten us, but common foes that harry our paths. There are hundreds of evil necromancers and dark lords and skeletons still frequently dog our heels.

Hopefully, practice will make perfect, and this guide will inform you on how to identify, exterminate, and eat the threats in your own life.

The first foe is one of the earliest foes for most of us. The Humble Kobold.

Kobolds are recognizable by their yellow hue, their brown tufts of fur, and their doglike yips. Kobolds tend to frequent forested areas, and are pack hunters. They are sentient and capable of making tools, but their conversation skills tend to be limited at best.

Kobolds rarely work for any organization besides other kobolds, and are notoriously territorial, leaping in mass at anything in their hunting grounds they perceive as a threat, which happens to be anything with a sword.

The reason for this is simple. Beyond the fact Kobolds lack the agricultural society needed to learn metalworking and magic, Kobold skin is notoriously fragile, and when cut their bodies tend to… well pop. Their blood pressure isn’t particularly healthy.

Despite this, Kobolds do not hesitate to throw themselves in large numbers at their foes. Theories on this abound. The leading theory is that kobolds simply do not understand pain because any attack that would hurt them simply kills them. Therefore, boldness.

There are also theories that the kobolds that attack us are usually the old and otherwise frail and this is some sort of warrior death situation. Or even that kobolds have a hive mind and they throw their lives away in a beelike “Swarm”, thus even when a kobold dies the “Swarm” survives.

Needless to say, a Kobold is not a threat on its own, but its never actually ON its own. Make sure to show the same bravery as the kobold does. Remember YOU are the apex predator, not it.

Kobold meat is unique in that it can be eaten raw, or rather, since it’s death causes immediate shock to the meat, it self cooks. Kobold meat can be seen as rather tough, but makes for an excellent stew. I personally recommend simmering kobold meat in a pot to create a fond for french onion soup. You will be pleasantly surprised!

Tuesday, November 8, 2022

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:

Once you figure out what mystical powers this mug has, come on back to social media and let us know!

Monday, November 7, 2022

Meme Monday

by the Meme Team

Friday, November 4, 2022

Flashback Friday - Events from 2004

Queen of Hearts XI - photo by Doug Fisher

Green and Gold - photo by Robyn Nielsen

Light's Lament - photo by Doug Fisher

Are You Friend or Foe? - photo by Doug Fisher

Tangled Webs - photo by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee


Tangled Webs - photo by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee

Tournaments of Chiron - photo by Janna Oakfellow-Pushee