Aeoshattr

You can't see the stars because the light being reflected off the earth obscures them. It's like looking straight at a lightbulb and not being able to see smaller lights around it clearly. I'll address the other points later, if I find the patience to, but there is *serious* evidence that the Earth is round, not accepting it is a different matter. Here are some points: You can see further away from higher points. In the Burj Khalifa hotel (is that the 1km tall one?) you can see the sunset twice, once from the bottom of the tower, and then by immediately taking the lift all the way to the top. This would not be the case on a flat surface. Look out the window of your plane when you fly. You should be able to see the curvature of the Earth Every single other celestial body (which yes, is visible with a telescope from your very own home!) is round and spheroidal. Why does the Earth need to be any different, considering we know it is a planet like the other ones in our solar system (we have rocks from Mars, etc.). Timezones - timezones wouldn't exist over a flat surface, because since the sun is spherical and shines light in all directions, there would be the same amount of light (or similar at least) over the entire earth at the same time if it was flat. Gravity. If the earth was flat, its centre of gravity would be somewhere in the middle of whatever flat shape it would take, meaning people living around the edges of the flat surface would be drawn towards the centre obliquely. So technically, a lot of the buildings around the world shouldn't be vertical, they should be oblique. Like... oblique to the surface of the earth, I think this would be obvious as fudge. The horizon: if the earth was flat, if I put a telescope level on the surface of the earth, I should be able to see all the way to the edge of the earth. But no matter how much you try, you will always see things 'sink' below the horizon, suggesting a curvature. Even if you put a telescope high up, say atop the Burj Khalifa, you will not be able to see America (or other places really far away from Dubai). This relates to point 1: you can see further, but there still is a horizon, and you cannot see things further away than it, even if you know they exist. This strongly suggests the earth has "sides" and tying it in with all the other evidence, it is most likely it is spheroidal. Lunar eclipses: the earth casts a round shadow on the moon, and that round shadow is very consistent in shape, suggesting the earth is not only round, but also spheroidal (since a disc would cast various oval shapes depending on the angle light is shined on it). There's more, but I'm done for now.

Claw 1 - 6 SC

WTS 2x SharpTear Archer - Bids start at 5 SC + 1SC/token. Negotiable in private. Maybe WTS 3x Pimped Grasans - Bids start at... whatever. 5 SC? Will decide whether to sell them if there actually is interest in them at all, if not down the Eternal Toiler they will go. Bidding follows the same rules as before: minimum 48 hours, and then 24 hours after the last valid bid, whichever is longer. Only interested in coins. Archer 1 - Blackshade ID: 832050 Heat: 620732 Age: 296 Tokens: [blooddrop1][firedrop][blackdiamonds][stardust][darkshield][onyxfangs][claw3][goldbelt][goldtear] Archer 2 - Blackshade ID: 832051 Heat: 1112920 Age: 296 Tokens: [blooddrop1][blackdiamonds][stardust] [darkshield][osirisbelt][claw2] Pimp 1 ID: 846186 Heat: 787547 Age: 4 Tokens: [blackdiamonds] Pimp 2 - 5 SC (yokin) - Resolved ID: 846187 Heat: 806429 Age: 4 Tokens:[blackdiamonds][stardust] Pimp 3 - Blackshade ID: 846188 Heat: 787547 Age: 4 Tokens:[blackdiamonds] Payment received from Blackshade. Remaining pimp to be sacced.

More avatar "control" features are good. TBH I really like the idea of assigning an avatar to a tag and thus connecting it formally with a role. Or making the avatar vault somewhat more fluid. Indeed, some people grab the good looking (or old) avatars either to hoard them or to re-sell them. To be fully, fully honest... I couldn't give less of a schnitzel. It's easy and quite cheap to get an avatar commissioned, one that is mostly guaranteed to suit you, rather than wait for something nice to pop up in the avy shop. Does this do MD a disservice? Maybe? Maybe if more people do things like me (and just never shuffle the avy section), MD loses. But I vastly prefer commissioning my own avy, which comes directly to me and fits the exact description I sent rather than browsing and fiddling around the shop section without knowing if I might come across something that fits or I like. Also... Gonz and Neno aren't that expensive, even by newbie standards. IMO it would be considerably more expensive to shuffle the avy shop until you get something you like rather than commissioning them directly. TL;DR - control features = good. Hoarding = bad.

I vaguely remember (though now I obviously cannot find the announcement) that for pimps you had to name them "Leaking/Farting/whatever Pimp" not Grasan. Will be able to test in about a week. I am probably wrong though, since I can't find the anno for it.

I'd say Christmas turned out pretty (darned) well; there were a whole bunch of quests, most were accessible to the majority of the population, organisation went decently (with a few hiccups here and there). I actually liked how Confused Santa was... quite confused and wandered around and actually prompted people to be active rather than just reward all who were idle. Maybe that should be signaled clearly next year, such as "Don't idle around or Santa might not reward you!", to avoid potential issues with people saying they missed Santa when in fact they didn't know they were supposed to look for him. But looking for things that didn't go well... I'd say I would be nitpicking if I were to try and point anything out. Strictly concerning myself, any impediments I encountered were because of myself (lack of experience, mood, etc). I don't think I ran into any problem that involved "higher organisation". Seriously, overall amazing job!

IMO this would solve most of the issues people have right now. I love it! The reason I dislike this rule is because some of us commission personalised avatars, rather than use the ones in the shop :( so if I commission it, it gets released after 6 months and someone else gets it, that avatar will be exactly Aeoshattr in all ways, but slapped on someone else's face. It's like... I get something specifically made for me, and it's treated as if it's just some other random avatar. I'm not sure if I'm conveying my frustration with it properly. I'd say only avatars that were initially released into the shop (not given directly by the artist to the owner) should be re-released into the shop. http://magicduel.invisionzone.com/topic/16706-add-avatars-to-the-role-tags-interface/ Pleeeeeeeaaaaase?

Following some discussions, the decision about the rewards is as follows: the threshold will not be lowered, but the rewards will be slightly adjusted(1st and 2nd get 2 xmas pts each, 3rd and below get 1 xmas pt each). While indeed, the threshold was an overestimation on my side, something else was to be taken into consideration: even if the threshold was too high, people did not work together almost at all, except for some very few isolated attempts. Participants themselves sabotaged each other significantly more than I and my sneaky, shady co-saboteur did (in fact, we both stopped trying to poke at the participants after the first 15-20 minutes. This is the main reason behind the decision - people not getting into the christmas spirit at all and poking spokes in each other's wheels rather than helping each other. However, I insisted that some of the efforts put by some into the quest were admirable. The scores are as follows: Scores: TOTAL HEAT: 2 506 137 / 5 000 000 - ~50% of threshold INDIVIDUAL SCORES, rankings and rewards (rank/name/heat/reward): 1st Aethon: 494146 - 2 Christmas Points 2nd *Miq*: 462335 - 2 Christmas Points 3rd and below: 1 Christmas Point each: Eon: 443627 Clock Master: 279358 Lintara: 277492 Eara Meraia: 277170 *Nimrodel*: 109403 *Sunfire*: 69677 MRF: 69361 Esmaralda: 12120 Jubaris: 11061 Tissy: 336 dst: 51 - Below participation threshold Thank you all for participating and for your patience, and sincerest apologies for the organisational hiccups on the way. First time holding a quest of this sort.

1st, 2nd or 3rd of Jan should work for me, after 21:00 ST

You need to have a third person to hold your current avatar, then you're left without an avy, then you take the avy you want from the shop, put it in your vault, and then take your old avy from your vault and put it back on (or something like that). I don't like it, but this is how it is at the moment (might've missed a step or two, only done this once and it was a pain in the back side).

Received a bid of 4GC for the rusty. Bidder wishes to remain anonymous.

I should be free.

As title says. I am trading resources I own for equivalent (1:1 or more, where necessary) amounts of fine sand or timeless dust. Potentially also interested in Silver. Negotiable in private. Without further ado: Any amount of Branches 19 Flowers 4 Raw Glass 9 Syntropic Dust 16 Cup of Cold Tea 1 Sawdust 41 Lumber 36 Aromatic herbs 29 Toxic plants 36 Unidentified plants 58 Resin 22 Tea leaves

Still buying 1x Reindrach. Also selling 1x Rusty, details in main post.

Scores: TOTAL HEAT: 2 506 137 INDIVIDUAL SCORES: Aethon: 494146 *Miq*: 462335 Eon: 443627 Clock Master: 279358 Lintara: 277492 Eara Meraia: 277170 *Nimrodel*: 109403 *Sunfire*: 69677 MRF: 69361 Esmaralda: 12120 Jubaris: 11061 Tissy: 336 dst: 51 Decision about rewards pending.

Sign-ups now closed, solely for logistical reasons. Updated participants list accordingly.

I will regret this. I am totally not drunk enough to excuse taking part in this quest... but here. I sang. I cannot sing. I hope your ears are insured. You have been warned. Murdered Night (by Aeo) - Botched version of Silent Night. Lyrics [spoiler] Silent Night, sunny Night, Oh they cheer, wait for Mur. Round the tree, peasant and knight, Drunken and joyfully they slur: "May Mur's pockets be deep! May Mur's pockets be deep." Silent Night, moonless Night, Oh they think they've been good. Fools they are, Mur has just sticky goo Run while you can, he has brought an axe. He is wearing a forced smile! He is wearing a forced smile. Screaming Night, bloody Night, All these bones, all these skulls. It is time to grab some shovels, All Necrovians harvesting bones: "Mur is so generous! Mur is so generous." [/spoiler]

Updated main post with a few rules to keep in mind :) sign-ups are allowed up until 1 hour before the event (mostly for administrative reasons, rather than anything else).

Health > just about anything else. Get well soon, and don't worry about the PMs (not sure if any are from me, if there are, they can wait :) )

Should work for me too :)

Sincerest condolences. Be well and take all the time you need.

In the process of being discussed. As I said, I haven't considered MP6 (since we only have 1. Sorry Syri!). Will announce what will be decided.

Oops. Sorry Syri. I actually haven't considered MP6s. I don't mind you participating (with the same requirements as MP5).

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...