I don't think that I've spend [i]that[/i] little time on the forums, wiki, and the archives (yes I've read through quite a bit, but still not that much. I'm a fast reader, heh.) I know that [i]technically [/i]speaking, land loyalty is just the number of days that you've been a citizen of a land. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but this game seems to be a lot more than what things technically are. Heh.
As for the test, it could be roleplayed out by a chosen member or members of the community, without them assuming that they've won/done enough. Mur can decide that, and give back the old item, or a new one/spell/etc. But yeah, *goes off to continue reading stuff*.