Aia del Mana

Samon has offered a joker to the next to solve of this quest; so it is open again to all, and I shall await further entries of those that wish to partake. Of course, participants will also receive plushies, as with any other quest.

Samon has, in utter expedience, solved of this quest, and earned of the anniversary creature. I shall leave this quest open for those who wish to attempt it; a solution shall be posted upon the Anniversary close. I shall be quite happy to verify any answer sent to myself upon the Forum, if one were so inclined to do so.

For the Anniversary celebrations, Aelis the Sky Scouter did create of two thousand and nineteen Hot-Air Balloons, through those resources which he did scrounge from those new upon the Island of the Gateway. As a seasoned Sky-Scouter, he did plot of their course in a perfect, straight path toward Mur in the East, as a surprise to Mur, with much fanfare; and did launch of all of them from the peak of the mountain upon the Gateway, each following of the previous in perfect synchrony of speed. In coincidence, and mayhap also in response to the many newlings that did complain of the broken balloon upon the Island of the Gateway, Mur did also create of two thousand and nineteen Hot-Air Balloons, and did plot their course toward the Island, that each should also travel in a perfect, straight path, at constant speed, from Mur toward the Island, such that they may be of service for those who did wish to leave the Island. In further coincidence, this path were exactly that of Aelis, in reverse; Mur, and Aelis, did release these balloons in perfect synchrony - such were the workings of the Soldiers of the Inner Sun. A curious incident, then, did occur within the skies - when any balloon did meet another balloon which were travelling in a direction opposite, they did collide, sending each directly away from each other, still traversing along this perfect path, at the same speed, yet in the opposite direction. A surprise, then, for Aelis, and Mur, who did each find each created balloon returned to themselves. The balloonists did indeed experience of many collisions, in many bumpy rides, and did curse of their ill luck. The first to message to myself upon the Forum a solution for the total number of collisions, and an explanation thereof, shall be awarded an anniversary creature. As this were a race - only the first correct answer shall win. Do assume that Chewett hath movelocked of Mur while any balloon were airborne.

I believe this shall be the most daring quest that I ever do create upon these Forums; it may end in utter failure, but it were my hope that it were not so. Among the most mysterious and poorly understood parts of the realm is Inner-Magic - that deemed such by Mur. In time past, there had been many who did possess a fragment of Inner-Magic to share with others of the realm, in reward for quests. I do believe Mur hath further fragments to grant, but this is not a quest that doth arise out of necessity; merely that I have been overly impressed of recent of the realm's brilliance. Thus do I offer this quest this anniversary: Create an Inner-Magic spell document, including all of its levels. The first were a description, and each level shall increase in depth; each level should be brief. An example of one in near-entirety may be found of the Timeless Shot spell - https://magicduel.com/index.php?pag=samplespell - do note of the complexity of thought required to conceive of such magic. Aelis hath offered to judge of this quest, as one of the coveted Soldiers of the Inner Sun. I shall provide them as anonymous entries, so that he may judge them based on their quality. The quest entries shall be judged upon the close of the Anniversary such that the prizes may be awarded, but it may be that this quest shall persist, if there were sufficient interest and exceptional submissions. Rewards for this quest were as petitioned from Ailith and Chewett - A wishpoint to the submission best judged, and anniversary creatures to those placed second, and third. Do note that I shall ask further for anniversary creatures in reward if there were an excess of submissions that Aelis should deem deserving thereof. Submissions, as with mine other quests of the Anniversary, shall remain upon the Forum only. If all the submissions are deemed insufficient in quality, I do reserve the right to change the rewards accordingly, but this too I shall defer to Aelis. There is no guarantee that these will be deemed even remotely sufficient to even attract a passing glance from Mur for consideration of implementation; yet, the realm's brilliance has not failed me thus far. Murspeed.

I, Aia del Mana, would like to partake of this game, if it please thee.

Upon recent events I did find myself within the Dead, with little company, save for the Death Guards, a very kind wookie, and, in curiosity, a shade. This shade did say naught, but did pass to myself a small stone tablet, that which I do exhibit herewith. With time, I believe I did realise of its meaning, and did reveal it to the shade; who then finally did speak, in gratefulness, that it should finally understand of what its sibling did write. Those who message myself the solution upon the Forum shall be in contention for rewards that I have petitioned of Chewett and Ailith - a Wishpoint and anniversary creature for the first to provide its solution, and a second anniversary creature to the second to do so. Entries are now open, and shall close upon the close of the anniversary celebrations, fourteen days hence. I shall accept only of solutions in private-message upon the forum - entries posted elsewhere shall not be accepted.

Although further company were certainly appreciated upon the Island of the Gateway, presently I believe that betwixt the guardians there were sufficient presence, and guidance, for those newly arrived. Certainly I feel the role of the Gateway Guardian and that of the Live Help Operator were so similar that they may as well be the same group; the main difference were that of location, and nothing more. If one uses the Paper Cabin as an example, a Gateway Guardian upon the Dock Path were as a Live Help Operator stationed upon the Paper Cabin, in times of yore, and I certainly feel that once one mentors of a newling, they do oft ask of the Guardian for guidance, even whilst upon the main-land (at least, this were true in my recent experience). As such roles are so similar as to be one and the same; merely with different stations; instead of sending the existing Operators to the Island, I would suggest to merely grant the LHO status and tools to those who presently guide those upon the Island; if one must add further LHOs, this would be where I would suggest to start. (I am aware that I may have a vested interest in this, but I feel that this should not tarnish of this suggestion.) Of RPCs - I believe this title, and role, to be quite separate from the Live Help Operators, if my understanding were sufficient; an RPC's role were to create of a role-playing environment, to offer of activities and quests for the enjoyment of those within the realm who choose to partake, or merely for those who enjoy of interaction within role-play within the realm to do so in the context of a special character. I know not if the current populace (in terms of number) would support the return of many RPCs, similarly to the thought that the current populace shall only support a very limited number of the Sixth Mind-Power. While some of the realm may indeed be worthy to become both a Live Help Operator and a Role-Playing Character, I maintain that they are quite separate in scope. Certainly, upon the Island, the Guardians do attempt and encourage of role-play, but this were in an introductory measure, rather than the depth I would think required of a Role-Playing Character.

Burns hath offered to sponsor of exceptional submissions to this quest with reward of a Drachorn, if I do deem such a submission worthy. Many thanks do go to him for his benefaction.

Many thanks, Imperius; I am quite glad that it did grant thee of some frustration, and following't, some satisfaction. Imperius hath received of the remaining Anniversary Barren Soul, and so I now seek further sponsorship, as it were mine intent that this should remain a permanent quest. Yet, until a gracious benefactor should offer of service, I continue to offer the remaining rewards: A choice of Pimped Grasan, Root Warrior, Sharptear or Imperial Aramor; or a number of credits commensurate with the elegance of the solution; in example, that of Imperius had been deserving of fifteen credits.

@Imperius hath offered of an elegant solution to this puzzle, and so I await his choice of prize. @Muratus del Mur I wonder if I may have a spell document to grant, lest I do exhaust of prizes.

@Mallos there is indeed a solution to these tokens which I have just discovered - token removal gel. One needst apply of this token removal gel to the "empty" token upon a creature; doing so doth return the remaining existing tokens (including that applied with gel, which shall remain upon the creature) to function. Using this I have resolved of both creatures that I did note had this issue.

I would think such a handicap could come in a form proportional to the age of the account in question; in example, one gains score proportional of heads held, and inversely proportional to the age of the account - such that the ease of scoring for newer accounts were somewhat commensurate with their strength.

This quest had originally been written some years hence, but Aelis hath recently solved it, and did advise me that he enjoyed it immensely. In time past, Tarquinus did grant his Spell-Document to those that solved this quest, those who solve this puzzle shall be granted mine own Spell-Document, and elegant solutions shall be additionally granted a Wish-Point, or Drachorn Charm (courtesy of Burns). It seems that the demon of the realm, Mur, hath declared the Realm of MagicDuel to be, as it were, a cube. I imagine, then, that had such a realm originated in different orientation, that Night may be a more common occurrence. Likewise, the cube in which all may come to this realm may resemble, or echo thus, this formation. I wonder then, if I were to model such an orientation, would a different orientation, and thus, outcome, be possible? If I were to mark one surface of a cube with an arrow, pointing to the north, with the marked surface facing skyward, such that it were opposite to the surface that doth contact the flat surface, and place such cube on the flat surface, such that it does not, and cannot slide, but roll, and flip over its edges when gently pushed in any of four directions, would it be possible to return the cube, in any number of the aforementioned moves, to the original space that it had occupied, with the difference that this cube must be oriented with the marked surface facing upwards, and the arrow pointing to the East; toward the Tribunal Lands, and Dominion of Mur? While the answer may be yea or nay, such a solution must come with impeccable logic, and reason, rather than endless tirade. If the answer were yea, a solution, or sequence of moves, shall satisfy, while if the answer were nay, provide impeccable reasoning, or proof, wherefore it were so. I accept proofs or solutions only via private message, either upon the Forum, or within the realm. A transcription of the Common-Tongue, for the purposes of readability: "Imagine a cube, marked with an north-pointing arrow on the upper surface, on an infinitely large flat surface. You can roll the cube over any of its edges as many times as you like, but you can't slide it and you can't turn it in place. Is it possible to return the cube to its starting location, except that the arrow is on the upper surface and pointing to the east instead? Either provide a sequence of moves which allows this, or prove why it is not possible."

I believe this bug were still existent; if the token-gel should be applied upon a creature that doth not possess of any tokens, the result were this bug. I have two creatures also which do possess of this anomaly - 863527 and 866968.

This were not the case; only Azull doth possess of this ability, and the remaining guardians engage of those newly arrived in other methods, such as that of role-play, and in trade; never in combat. Although Azull doth remain in ascendance, I fear there were oft insufficient beings upon the Island for one to learn of combat; I further note that combat were among that that doth result in those beings remaining within the realm. There were one else of the Third Mind-Power who doth remain evermore upon the Island to aid, and she doth engage also in combat. (Mayhap, a method for the guards to return to the Third Mind Power temporarily may aid in this, but I believe a more permanent solution were simply to allow those newly arrived upon the Island to be able to attack betwixt all Mind-Powers while upon the Island until they have passed of a number of activity-days.) I believe the intention were to add of non-player characters upon the Island, that there may be some purpose of combat upon the Island; until then, a solitary newling may only engage of Azull, and sometime of the evergreen MP3, in combat upon the Island. On the topic of the Seventh Mind-Power: While I have never attained of this, I am advised that the power afforded by one of the Seventh were thus: - the ability to gain of illusion-creatures, and create of rituals that doth contain them at will - to roam, unfettered of Points of Action - and to evade of the requirement of like Mind-Power in combat engagement. It doth seem that although this were an ideal ability-set to teach of the combat-laws of the realm to those new of it, the remaining purpose doth seem lacking, other than for the benefit of the one who hath ascended thus far. If the Sixth Mind-Power were one that were devoid of combat; such that one hath ascended from such petty wiles as combat, and devotes her existence to protection of others, then the Seventh, I believe, should also have beneficent function beyond that of the aforementioned. As one of the Third Mind-Power upon the Island doth look toward the guardians as guide; so should the Fifth Mind-Power view of the Seventh. In keeping with the theme of Illusions, I offer of these suggestions in example of ability (and with reference to other topics that Chewett did bring to light); I do believe of illusions to be a temporary reality for this purpose: - to conjure of illusory players (in essence, to create MP2 NPCs much like those upon Golemus, or within Necrovion) - this, may, in example, serve purpose upon the Island of the Gateway, or even to those of the Fourth Mind-Power; or one may even raise of an army to role-play) - these would disappear after a certain number of engagements in combat - to return one to transient life, or death (when such illusions do end, the being shall return to her previous state; this may, in example, aid the dead in passage toward a death-anchor); alternatively, a temporary ward to prevent of death - to temporarily add of a Principle to another without a full-cohort thereof (noting that these shall be lost when such illusions do end, revealing only that which were then further earned from the land) - to summon of portals, or passageways, or bridges; that others may pass to new locales, or circumvent of the requirement of Action-Points Although these may be rather far-fetched abilities, each illusion should come at commensurate cost, in balance. One seeks of the patissiere to create of her cake, or other confection; and of the illusionist to conjure a ward, or an army, or of magic.

I had an idea last year, of variation of this - the Tails Contest, whereby one should instead gain of the opponent's tails upon an attack of them resulting in loss. In this manner one may grant victories to others, to aid in advancement of creatures, while those who did wish to attempt to place should need to devise of new rituals that may lose to other rituals that were designed to lose.

I have attempted to summarise of some ideas in these two threads of discussion (herewith for reference). Principles, I believe, should be freely chosen as those that resonate most strongly with the role of thine character; presently, it seems there were an "optimal" choice of principle in regard to tokens, which were their only current purpose; which I should like to discourage. However, I should think that there should be some token effort to obtain them; my suggestion had been to place of clickable scrolls scattered throughout the realm, so that those who wish to obtain them must first read and attempt to understand of them, and also to travel to a locale that doth resonate with the principle in question. Of their use - to do so should require their mutability - that one may gain but also lose of points thereof. Such may be spent on augmentation of spells, armour, statistic, or other creation. One may even consider of learning spells through some combination of mastery of principles.

I make note of the effort and time investment required to enter of a profession in the other-realm. If a guild were based upon an action, then one thinkst there must be at least two purposes of this guild; the first, to train of those to perform this action; the second, to allow recognition of those with expertise in this action, that they may provide mentorship to those that train. With these principles in mind, I should think that a professional woodcutter may fell several trees in quick succession, and have access to the high-quality axes (or chain-saws) exclusive to the guild, that do allow one's advancement more rapidly. One may join this guild (to the exclusion of all others) to gain of this access and devote of focused effort. Similar examples should follow for the other guilds with a defined role of resource-gathering, or crafting. Of the Archivists - I am quite inclined to agree with Ailith on this matter, unless the Adventure Log should return. Of the Caretakers - death must first be altered, as suggested in the other-thread by Chewett.

This opinion I do hold, in terms of resources. Presently, if one should require of a certain resource, she merely obtains of the tool required, and gathers of it herself. In the other-realm, if one doth require of such resources, the preferred method were to pay a levy to another who hath profession to provide of it. In example, one who doth require of bread shall pay the baker, and receive in return. The baker shall require significant effort to create of this bread, and so to recuperate of her investment, she hath trained herself well, and purchased of large ovens, and hath made contracts with those that supply her flour. If one should require resources to have value, they must be scarce, or require of significant effort to create, or have desirable purpose. An example of this were the Memory Stone - this were sufficiently scarce, doth require of a specialised detector, and were immediately purposeful as a conduit for spell-imprinting.

I believe this had arisen in discussion with others, but one quite prominent, and polarising, suggestion, had been that the cost of revival should be commensurate with the cost of murder. Presently, the only methods of revival within the realm were the use of some rare items (similarly rare to those that may murder), single-use elixirs, and the Grave Wreath, which were prohibitively expensive in terms of the time required to create it. If one were to make the murder-weapons also cost commensurate to that of revival, then one should, in example, require of one thousand units of Pure Gold to activate of a murder weapon, rather than merely a single unit, or gold coin. If it did require even half of the effort required to create of a Grave Wreath, even this should be prohibitive enough to prevent of murder without significant cause. Alternately, if one doth make the revival-items also cost commensurate to that of murder, then one should merely pay the reaper a single gold coin to be returned to life. This in essence would defeat of the purpose of such weapons, but it illustrates of the severity of the imbalance. If death were a state that were permissible, then it should also be a state where it may be desirable for some; this were presently sorely lacking, as interaction, and movement, were limited, and little were gained. I would imagine one who were dead, in example, to be able to roam freely within the realm without respect to Action Points, but be unable to engage in combat, or gathering of resources, or recruitment of creatures; such that the advantages gained may balance of that lost.' Of Alliances and Death - I believe these should both exist, and in isolation of each other; one doth not change of her allegiance upon death; her role, values, and beliefs remain unchanged; thus should her presence within the Alliance.

Ungod, I welcome discussion on this matter, and appreciate thy response.

In this realm doth exist of ten principles of magic. Although these have existed almost since its inception, it seemeth that these, to the untrained wielder, exist only in description, and to add to the strength of tokens upon creatures that were bound to one in servitude. In addition, one notes that presently there doth exist limit to these; one may not possess more than four thousand points in any principle, and, if it may be called thus, one may not master of more than five individual principles. These are governed by unwritten laws of the realm, and enforced by the code that doth underly it, and shape it. The aforementioned, I believe, were an illusion. Indeed, to claim mastery, or to be limited of one's principles by Mind-Power were as meaningless as to claim mastery over any force, or being - to purport to be so were to claim the status of a god, or other deity. For principles, like thoughts, feelings, and sensations, are impossible to quantify; they exist in the sense a memory exists, or a experience exists; these are qualitative by nature; yet do have elements that may be quantified. To illustrate, if one were to observe of the Moon in passage, one doth notice of the length of its period, for which cyclicity may be quantified and of its luminance, for which light may be quantified. Yet these are not in true essence, principles, but the observation of their effect, in the same way that beings of the other-realm do quantify of suffering, or euphoria. While one may note, oft with absolute certainty, of the presence of these, one cannot compare one's pain directly with another; one may only offer meaningful comparison when one should consider the magnitude of the source. Furthermore were the affirmation that one cannot merely limit herself to five; engagement and interaction of the realm necessitates of all ten. One cannot, in example, sip of the flask within the Graveyard and return to life without invoking of syntropic magic; yet one may do so without mastery thereof. Thus I do propose of a revision in the Principles of the realm; for those who do value of strength in combat, a purpose in their being beyond that of tokens; for those who do not, a purpose in creation and discovery. But foremost, a revision that I believe is necessary for both - principles must be mutable; one needst of possibility to obtain, store, gain, and lose these with actions. What, then, should mutability offer? One may obtain and store of these in exchange for heat; upon return to the land, magic returneth to the unbound master, in form of its beings. This, I believe, should remain; the identity of the land were in part tied to those principles that it doth return. Yet, if one may then purpose of the stored principle, then one should be free to choose another in its stead. Thus may one consume of one's stored principles, to return them unto the land that did grant of it. Once one has consumed of a principle, one may then acquaint oneself of a new, or the same, principle; by reading of principle documents, that were scattered of the realm - I have discussed of this elsewhere. In essence, one may obtain, increase, and then expend, of these; similar to the way that one presently may do so of heat, in combat. I would think one should require to obtain the maximum within one principle (currently, at four thousand points) to suffice for a single use. Of their function: For those that do value of strength in combat, I propose a new set of equipment; the Domina Principii, each may be traded for four thousand points of a named principle. In this manner, those that do require completeness in this set must also obtain four thousand points of each principle. These should materialise upon revision of the named principle - that is, to read again of the Principle Document which doth pertain to the relevant piece. The relative strength of these may be altered; this were merely a concept, and one should ignore of the figures insofar as they remain arbitrary. Helm: 4000 points of Imagination (+100% maximum action points) Chest: 4000 points of Balance (+1000 regeneration) Pants: 4000 points of Cyclicity (+1000 briskness) Gloves: 4000 points of Elements (+1000 power) Boots: 4000 points of Transposition (+1000 initiative) Primary weapon: 4000 points of Entropy (+1000 attack) Shield: 4000 points of Syntropy (+1000 defence) Ring: 4000 points of Light (+100% VE) Ring: 4000 points of Darkness (+100% VP) Amulet: 4000 points of Time (+1000 luck) For those that do not value of their strength in combat, I propose: For any single principle, at a maximum of 4000 points: ten credits, for the first time this were achieved. For two principles, at a maximum of 4000 points: an additional Erolin sphere, for the first time this were achieved. For three principles, at a maximum of 4000 points: a permanent increase in one's action points by 100 For five principles, at a maximum of 4000 points: Four regenerable casts of a spell at level 1 For obtaining all ten principles at a maximum of 4000 points (with note that one may only wield of five concomitantly): a wish point shall be granted, for the first time this were achieved. For specific principles, I believe one should be able to distil these, that they may be used as reagents; with four thousand points of a principle sufficient as a single, arbitrary unit of principle (as an item, such as "Distilled Cyclicity"). I would think these important for inner-magic - noting, indeed, that any realm shaping magic should require of many vials of various principles required, and that the magic-weaver should also exercise of expertise in this. But this shall be a topic for subsequent dissertation.

When one should click upon a flag, that should denote of the country from which one should be found, one finds herself shown this code: Fatal error: Call to undefined function unscramble() in /home/magicdue/public_html/bar/sameplace.php on line 20

There may be one yet, but I shall await her entreaty, if her heart were true.

Ah, the trained eye doth discern as the rich merchant and his loupes. Of magical stones and charms - these indeed may be mount upon any portion of one's outfitment; not merely of rings, or amulets, but also upon a circlet for the head, or to accent upon one's armour. Noting it thus, I fear we do deviate much of the intrinsic properties of such armament, for stones, and charms, may befit aught of the aforementioned. While I certainly do appreciate of the brilliance of a mounted stone upon a ring - and indeed do prefer to wear of them if they possess it so - the property of the ring per se, I argue, were separate from that mounted upon it.