Aeoshattr

Here's my attempt. My story will be about Mya. I had something else about Ailith in mind, but Richie beat me to it. Some characters still playing will be included, though the main one is Mya. Here's something to listen to while you read. [spoiler] There was a soft humming coming from the Defensive Quarters; it smelled of pretty flowers and fresh leaves – clearly a festive day in old Loreroot. Mya Celestia was sitting on the windowsill, singing to herself while braiding together freshly picked flowers, all white. Her dress, equally bright, had a few grass stains on it, but was otherwise plain; neat and elegant in its simplicity. Once the first flower braid was complete, Mya undid her long hair and began braiding it together with the flowers, shuffling uncomfortably on the windowsill; there was not an awful lot of space, and she had no mirror to look at, so the hairdo ended up being imperfect. If anything, it looked slightly frizzy, with a few leaves and flower stems jutting out erratically between hair strands – quite like the forest, in a way, with trees growing wherever they wanted to, not where they were meant to. A few heavy footsteps could be heard, uncertain whether they were coming from the stairs that led to the basement, the ones at the entrance or somewhere else; even more, while the sound of boots clanking was sharp and clear, there was a strange but subtle dragging noise, as if something was being pulled across the floor. Mya herself was still looking out the window, her fingers trying to get every last lock and wisp of hair into place, but she smiled knowingly. “Krioni, my love, is that you?” she hummed along the tune she was already singing. Silence. A few more heavy boot steps. “Krioni?” she asked once more, beginning to turn around, knowing he would be there… Knowing… Boots. Krioni never wore- SLASH […] Smoke. Thick, black, cloying the air and tarring the throat, stinging the eyes and the nose. Her head heavy with a deep, throbbing pain, Mya awoke. Everything was spinning and she felt nauseous… But there was so much smoke. She had to get out of the Defensive Quarters. She tried to sit up, but a shredding pain seared from her side – instinctively, she clasped her left hand over her right side. Her pristine, white dress was soaked red, with somewhat darker, clotting blood where a cut wound would have been. She coughed. Her throat stung more and more, and as if the stab wound didn’t ache enough, her lungs felt like they were shriveling, every breath was harder and harder to take in. She tried to stand once more, breaking down in tears. She could vaguely see the orange, flickering light of flames, and there was no doubt. There was a fire. But she had no way of knowing just how high the flames rose, just how bad the fire was… Those at the Gazebo of Equilibrium knew. In that flickering light, a shadow was cast; someone was standing in the doorway. Hope! “Please! Help me-“ she gasped, wincing and falling back down on her side as she shouted; the pain was worse, and her attempts to move had made the wound open again. Her vision blurry, she looked up, and to her immediate relief, she saw Sunfire. “Sunfire! We… must find the… others! Something horrible has happened… I… “ she said, barely managing not to wheeze noisily between words. Her eyes trailed further down from the face she knew. Boots. A quick stab in her stomach from the fear and sudden realization. Boots. And blood – they were caked in blood and ashes and scorched leaves and twigs. The blood wasn’t all from her, which made her stomach twist. “No… “ she said as she began crawling back across the creaky floor in a pathetic attempt to escape. “No… why?... Sunfire, why?... How many?... How many have fallen…” There was no answer other than an armoured hand reaching down and grabbing her face; the metal was warm and seemed to get warmer and warmer, soon beyond uncomfortable. She could barely even squirm, but with the corner of her eye she managed to look out the window where she was peacefully gazing just hours earlier. Ashes. Cinders. Raging fires. All… all was consumed by flames. “Why-“ she began, but her cry was cut short by the roar and whoosh of flames, bursting like a meteor from the hand grasping her face; so powerful, so sudden, so scorchingly hot that the maiden’s head was utterly incinerated, nothing but ashes in the air in just a mere second. The body fell down to the floor with a heavy thud. So violent was the fireball that it left the poor, bleeding cadaver jerkily reaching for its no longer existing head with its hands in spastic movements that faded away over the following few moments, leaving just a flaccid corpse on the creaky floor of the Defensive Quarters. As blood trickled across the wooden floor, the cloud of smoke rose higher and higher and screams kept echoing from Loreroot, distorted into distant, sinister wails by the wind. [/spoiler]

Technically, yes. Keep in mind though that even those with low brisk can prepare for this, by having bursts ready before the contest, etc etc. Furthermore, there might be some out there who do not want to let people give heat...

It's getting colder and colder by the day, and the smell of winter is in the air - yet this time, it smells dry, sharp. Not like in other times, it doesn't have the rich tang of mulled wine, ginger, cookies and candy canes... "It is so cold..."1 you must think, and you are correct. Something must be done... Certainly if the cold continues, not even the mightiest Reindrachs will be able to carry Santa all the way to the tree in time for Murmas. You must bring warmth. For the sake of... Murmas of course, why else would want you to warm up the air?... The time has been decided: gather at the Gazebo of Equilibrium on the 22nd of December, 22:00 ST. The shortest Day and the longest Night of the year. A good time to find a Bonfire to feed for an hour or two... As more time you will not have, with the vicious frost taking advantage of the long, cold night. Light the fire into a mighty beacon of heat, and Santa is sure to reward you... Fail, and the rewards will certainly be diminished. Rewards [spoiler] As this quest will run only for a maximum of two hours, the rewards consist solely of Christmas Points. Rankings are determined based on the amount of heat donated to the bonfire individually, and according to a total threshold that must be reached by the end of the quest. "Participation" is determined as follows: MP3: Donate a minimum of 1 Heat MP4: Donate a minimum of 500 Heat MP5: Donate a minimum of 1000 Heat If enough heat is gathered: 4 Christmas Points 3 Christmas Points 2 Christmas Points (everybody else who participated) 1 Christmas Point If there is NOT enough heat by the end of the quest: (everybody who participated) 1 Christmas Point [/spoiler] Sign Up [spoiler] Post your Playername, ID and Mind Power here, please. [/spoiler] RULES [spoiler] Lock in Chaos use is strictly forbidden, both from outside sources onto the participants and between the participants themselves. The only teleportation spells that may be used must teleport at most to No Man's Land (send to goe, teleport PC). Teleportation spells that send to any other land are strictly forbidden, both from outside sources onto the participants and between the participants themselves. Petrify, due to its duration, is strictly forbidden, both from outside sources onto the participants and between the participants. As a rule of thumb, anything that significantly impairs the ability of a player to reach the bonfire for more than 30 minutes is considered prohibited. This includes the spells mentioned above, moving players to distant (East) locations or locations with an AP wall (mur's temple), locations with no exit, or heavens forbid, jailing or banning. Keep in mind this competition will last at most 2 hours - excluding a player from it for a significant amount of time would be very un-christmas-like. Leashes, alliance leader jumping or any other form of transportation is permitted. Any consumables that generate heat (pickles, candy, heat stones) are permitted. Any item shop services that produce heat or briskness or alter the regen timer are permitted. While I would like to rely on your christmas spirit and good-will to follow these guidelines, I feel the need to mention that any malicious infringement of these rules will bring exclusion of the player from any other quest organised by me in the future. This also applies to non-participants who impair participants with ill intent. [/spoiler] 1 - "It is so cold..." will be your key phrase to use at the bonfire. Participants [spoiler] MP3 ​Tissy MRF MP4 MP5 Ivorak Eara Meraia Eon dst Clock Master Aethon Nimrodel Jubaris Rophs Miq Esmeralda Lintara Ungod Sunfire [/spoiler]

Rudely bumping this. Check main post - still buying 2x Reindrachs

I am against this, for the reasons Aethon and NoOne already mentioned. Do I sometimes find popes or TSs somewhat irritating as a player with moderate stat/VE values? Yeah, I sometimes lose to them. But that's the entire point of those creatures, and of the VE slider being there in the first place. VE and Stats should not be separated from the slider, IMO for lore reasons as well, other than mechanical ones.

Hi Jes :) I am split when it comes to this idea. On the one hand, I really like it because it implies a necessity for activity in order to be revived and resume playing, rather than just sitting there until the revive timer hits. However, at the same time, this could put certain players at such a disadvantage it would make TC impossible to play for them. Here are my issues with this idea. Keep in mind, overall I like it, but there are a few points that I believe would need to be addressed: What happens if the ruler falls? If he/she won't be able to use items, the algorithm seems to fall apart. My solution would be that the ruler should not participate in the TC directly. Since each land has a tool that is only capable of harvesting essence from its own land, then the fifth essence required for crafting the item would have to be acquired by trading? Crafted item can only be used to revive a single citizen? I'd suggest it having a lifetime of... 15-30 mins or something, rather than limited uses. Overall, with the current population of MD, this would (IMO) require more players than we actually have to work in a nice, streamlined manner. It makes small "guerrilla" type teams unreasonable to have, and limits the potential tactics that could be had. It does however make things more interesting in the sense that revival would be a less "sit and wait" type of process, but I think this particular algorithm is not suitable for MD's current population, and even more for the number of people who actually take part in the TC. Think that the ruler must be online 24/7, essentially, or people can't get revived at all for the duration of the TC. Also, what about people from NML or new players? They're unlikely to know who to go to, or exactly what's going on. TL;DR - I like the concept, but I think this particular solution would need some adjustments to be suitable for implementation :)

I like the idea. I find your post a bit difficult to follow at times, so I hope I understood it correctly. Here are my own December thoughts, hopefully in a similar style: Firstly my impression of MD as a game has been on a roller-coaster. While when I started ("ugh" - this will be how I will address the 15-year-old-me who thought playing MD was a good idea). I absolutely loved the game in the beginning, then ended up leaving and rejoining (multiple times); I never really grasped neither the 'lore' or the 'mechanics' of the game until recently, and even now my knowledge is incomplete. However, being able to understand bits and pieces of MD and being able to solve puzzles is very satisfying. Yet... it does take away from the mysterious aura that MD had for me in the beginning. Sometimes it just feels like a common walnut that is a bit too hard to crack, rather than some mysterious new fruit that you gawk at like an idiot. Secondly my impression of specific people has dramatically changed, while my impression of the population as a whole has changed less significantly. I could detail each specific person, however I feel that might take away some of the "Christmas" feeling of this. Overall though, my impression of MD's community as a whole has steadily declined from "Oh, look, a lot of new people to meet!" to "I don't want to talk to anyone, you are all exhausting to interact with." Don't get me wrong, I am enormously grateful to a small number of players in the game, and they should know exactly why and who they are. But looking at the population as a whole, I just lose more and more interest and desire to put effort into people other than a select few. Thirdly, to address the "newbs" problem. I think I'm on the same side as Richie - I feel newbs don't exist. In my case, the immediate issue is the one with the flags being displayed; if I see a "newb" from say Estonia, I immediately think "Oh, it must be Miq". Same for countries where we already have a fairly well-known player. I can't get out of this mindset, and whenever I see a MP3 I look at the flag and immediately start thinking who they might be an alt of. IMO, flags should be hidden to all other than admins. I don't see anything wrong with having alts (as long as they're used according to rules) and the flags can really expose alts very easily (which would naturally deprive the player of the different experience they're seeking by playing an alt). Thus making an alt is even more of a chore and a risk (considering you'll be missing a lot of features you purchased on your main, such as yellow blobs on your map, status bar, etc). Fourthly (is this a word?) I actually feel sorry for genuine newbs in the game. Some are met with a vicious suspicion they are alts (which I'm guilty of doing), some are met with unyielding reluctance to change, and most just have to adapt and settle for the status quo - and MD sometimes needs to change. I'm worrying that I'm partly to blame for this, considering my general suspicion of newbs.. and I hope that I won't become one of those unapproachable, grumpy fossils (might be one already.) Finally my worries and hopes. I worry, I very much worry about not giving a fudge anymore; whether about parts of MD, people, responsibilities or whatever else. There's a point where you feel like "I'm reaching the bottom of the sack with fudges to give" and it's really awful - because there are a few people in MD that I care dearly about, and me losing interest in the game might have a significant impact on my relationship with the said players. I worry that MD won't change where it needs to. I worry that MD will slowly dwindle away, and it would be a pity. And I worry that... I worry too much for my own good. I hope? Surprisingly, there's room for hope. I hope that this Christmas will be a lot of fun, and I hope that MD will shine and gleam, even if just for a few weeks. I hope to see new, exciting things happening. I hope that people other than me will also have a good time. And last... last but not least. I hope that I'll be able to keep a well-founded faith in MD as time goes on. Gotta stay positive, in spite of the maybe slightly negative tone of the post :) Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays all :)

2G 9S

2G 7S

I offer unlimited access to Nightmode for the duration which I hold the leash for. For yourself only (non-transferrable to other players).

But it's fun to read... Seriously, I think they are more than capable of settling this themselves. If either party wanted to open a court case, I think they would have.

Aeoshattr 89024

Me me me! 1st choice: Father Bray 2nd choice: Aunty Sue

2 G 5 S

I love how people are actually taking this seriously.

Peach Alive is the long-lasting eye of disgrace; A scar on the skin of a peach it has left. Its gaze, it be scornful, dishonestly deft, The skin of the peach it'll forever deface. Embrace, when a sinfully loud voice will say: "How ugly the skin of the peach has become, Has its worth ever had been more than a plum?" The image of your scar will thus never gray. Refuse! Deny! Though it won't be nigh, Disgrace will suffuse. And when will the peach know that the scar it bears Has nothing to do with a wound of the flesh? The blemish is cold and had never been fresh, Its origin lies in the scar the tree shares.

It's more like Drunk Santa.

Outstanding Service to MD Zleiphneir

I personally think that land-hopping like that would be even worse (I vaguely remember reading in the discussion topic on the rules something about this sort of land hopping: "Associated to a land includes being part of an alliance or a citizen, as well as those on temporary absence from them, but is not exclusive to just that mechanical association. It also extends to a player who feels they belong to a certain land, or who through largely exclusive association or actions is viewed as of a certain land. Those who since those actions visibly associate themselves with another land would then no longer be thought of as with the former. Alliance hoppers, or those that take alliances without intended association with the land the new alliance is a part of are exceptions and will be treated based on perception, rather than mechanical." from http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/16863-md-awards-2015-it-begins-rules-discussion/?p=168441). I'm certain that nobody is contesting Mur's and Eon's merits and that they will be nominated by someone else, according to the rules.

Without wanting to be rude, I thought I'd point something out. These appear to have been taken into consideration?

Champion Fighter Asthir Prime Quest Assira the Black http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/16460-md-10th-ann-dance-contest/ Rookie of the year Aethon Top Techie Chewett

Run, you fool.

Some time in the later half of January is best for me, since December and early January weekends are almost entirely booked for me.

WIP gift for Lania. Posting the WIP and ruining the surprise because I'm not sure when I'll have the time and mood to finish it. Also, I attempted to draw a face :| http://i.imgur.com/ToAWOdj.jpg?1

Event series concluded with no entries. I may or may not try to re-host this at some other time, however I must contact the TKs before making any promises.