Aelis

Greetings (and high five) from The Water Dowsers!
Effective today, Day 117 of Year 19, for every $5 credit bought from the shop, either from the Monthly subscription or One time payment packs, I am giving 1 Gold Coin as bonus, until my supplies last. Currently (Day 118, Year 19), I have 221 worth of Gold (30 Gold Note x3, 10 Gold Note x9 and Gold Coin x41). Please message me here or in-game (nadrolski) proof of your purchase, and I will send corresponding amount of Gold as soon as possible.
Thank you!
nadrolski

A couple days ago... give it a few more years for the 1,000,000!

AND THE WINNERS ARE:
 
Wishpoint for discovering interesting ways to manipulate the heatflow, and by that helping me better understand what possible uses this interface could have:
Ailith, Aelis, Aia, Iashtal, Kyphis, Sunfire
 
And the top score for the positive reactions to your creations posted here on the forum:
 
Aelis: 17
Ailith: 9
Aia: 9
Iashtal: 8
Kyphis: 7
Sunfire: 2
Ledah: 1
chriselnenepr: 1
 
The heat spell goes to Aelis!
I was not convinced by your GOTR coat of arms attempts, but some of you got 90% there. I will not give a reward for that yet, because i am sure someone some day, will create it better, and the reward for that would have been a 'joker card' for place in the ally... but next time.
 
Thank you all for participating, i will start dispatching the rewards in-game, and announce it.
 
 

Wings
I like the symmetry in this one. It's the best "circular frame" I got so far. To get this one, I pulled a continuous stream from the bottom and another from the top, with a slight difference in length on the latter. The trick is not to pull all the way to make the streams meet. I left some space between them to create the center shape.

Wings
I like the symmetry in this one. It's the best "circular frame" I got so far. To get this one, I pulled a continuous stream from the bottom and another from the top, with a slight difference in length on the latter. The trick is not to pull all the way to make the streams meet. I left some space between them to create the center shape.

Staring contest

On another attempt I got the left one to get a really nice "eye". Unfortunately the other side looked terrible, so I cut it out:

This is awesome! Here is my submission (for now):
The Heart-Seeking Wasp.

Instructions (I'd say reproduction is quite hard):
Position the mouse at the upper middle part of the screen (both outside and inside the particle region seem to work), then move it down quickly and then hold click (I think click -> release -> click again might also work) while moving faster enough so the screen "thinks" you hit two slightly separate regions (the lower one slightly stronger than the upper). Then you just have to let the particles flow. I tried to aim for horizontal symmetry, but I think the slightly asymmetry made the cool effect towards the bottom.
 
I think I got really lucky with the "sting" on the first drawing (lowest part of the screen ). I tried reproducing it today and the best attempt I got was this (I ended up "activating"/clicking three regions). One thing that helped slowing things down for more control was having another tab with google meet open and my camera turned on.
 

Menacing eyes
Reproduction instructions: don't remember exactly 😅. I think perpetual motion makes things harder. I remember starting from the top with a couple pulls towards the bottom, then two small upward pulls on the inner part of the "eyes". After that, I made a lot of little adjustments that I don't remember and let things flow from there.

Staring contest

On another attempt I got the left one to get a really nice "eye". Unfortunately the other side looked terrible, so I cut it out:

Exercises in symmetry, trying to obtain a Chewbecca-ish face:

Symmetry is somewhat possible, provided one follows the same direction as the existing flow. The above was drawn by merely drawing two (diagonal) figure 8's.


This is my attempt at laminar flow:


This was achieved by moving from the top to the bottom in parallel lines in one direction only. When there are small eddy currents, these can be laminarised by simply drawing over them - again, in the same direction.

Looks like the cat that stares into the camera

Menacing eyes
Reproduction instructions: don't remember exactly 😅. I think perpetual motion makes things harder. I remember starting from the top with a couple pulls towards the bottom, then two small upward pulls on the inner part of the "eyes". After that, I made a lot of little adjustments that I don't remember and let things flow from there.

Menacing eyes
Reproduction instructions: don't remember exactly 😅. I think perpetual motion makes things harder. I remember starting from the top with a couple pulls towards the bottom, then two small upward pulls on the inner part of the "eyes". After that, I made a lot of little adjustments that I don't remember and let things flow from there.

Please welcome the allmighty One-eyed Whatever!
 

This is awesome! Here is my submission (for now):
The Heart-Seeking Wasp.

This is awesome! Here is my submission (for now):
The Heart-Seeking Wasp.

This is awesome! Here is my submission (for now):
The Heart-Seeking Wasp.

This is awesome! Here is my submission (for now):
The Heart-Seeking Wasp.

Upon the boughs of Raven Hold, I have - with permission from Mur - created scene with the aid of the mind of artifice. With Mur's permission, it is eponymously named.
Following its creation, I did issue a challenge to overcome the enchantment placed upon its entry, and @death ray is the first - without administrative power - to visit Aia's Retreat, having done so within two weeks.
For this I have granted him a wishpoint. I also confirm that at the time of this declaration, the method that he had used were still available to any who wish to visit - although further visitors will not receive a wishpoint reward for this feat, I maintain that observation of the scenery were also a reward in itself.

That makes a lot of sense.
Years ago when I was discussing this with Azull he mentioned the square, but I probably didn't get what he meant back then. Now it seems clearer!
All good things come to an end... 🤪

Such an insightful response, lashtal, thanks!
This is so cool! I was familiar with the question, but it's really nice to see it in context  (it shows up in the AL but in a more "cryptic" way).
At first I thought of a mirror, as it reflects the symbol from a certain perspective. Now that I read of the double OR reverse, I can kinda interpret the mirror as also "generating" an image (another symbol), which could be the doubling part. I think it would depend on the symbol being "reversed". Also, the mirror would be an instance of a "reverser". There would probably be others. Having said that, I think the 0 you mentioned also works as an answer!
I wonder if the answer would be the same for (double AND reverse)  and (double OR reverse). If it's double AND reverse, I think raising to the power of 2 would provide a good solution:
A² = AA = -A-A = (-A)²
Symbolically, I think this would equate to raising (doubling?) a degree of complexity (for instance: l is a line, l² is  square, so on and so forth). This would also fit nicely with Mur's 8-fold balance: A -> AA (A²) -> A²A² (A⁴) -> A⁴A⁴ (A⁸) -> How to get the final 1 though? 😛
Maybe the above would also work for double OR reverse if we are able to pick parts of the operation, but I'm not so sure about that.
 
Just a quick pointer, the quote from the Angiens is indeed from Mur, you can find it here: https://md-archives.com/217/winds-game-meeting-full-discussion/
Yeah I get the feeling that the Angiens inside are the symbol for what the one outside was the actually doing "in reality". I totally agree that the opening one can be seen as you described 😄
 
Regarding the research clues and timeless aspect of the orb, I'll have to digest my thoughts I little bit more before I make any remark. 😅

Thanks a lot Aelis, this is very interesting.
I wanted to throw in some more candies for the mind but it seems I lost access to some parts of the forums. Therefore, I can only share the crumbs I noted down in my docs, with no links for validation.
Sadly, I can't always discriminate what's been taken from official sources and my speculations around them.
The traveler is a "reverser", I don't have a better name for it yet but there are symbols that counter another and a third type of symbols that can double or reverse an other, thats the traveler, not shade, not angien, yet causes the apparition of a tainted angien. Some of you provided essential explanations to the key question I asked, but the mystery is still open. Question was: "what do you add to something to obtain its opposite?" (I'm pretty sure this comes from Mur)
At first I thought the answer to this last question was the 0 point, the gap that opens a circle (see attachment) and might create two different directions/poles.

From a mathematical point of view, the answer would be different. The question can be put as:
A (something) + X = -A (opposite of A)
Therefore, X = -2A
Which symbol can double AND reverse?
This is a very strong image.
I had it noted down with a couple of considerations that enhance its "timeless" connotation:
A prism divides light into colors and narrow their number to those we can perceive.
A cube (our mind) divides existence into a series of temporal actions.
For an insignificant moment in time the sphere was the shades view on the movement of all cubes.
The Angiens have a religious feeling. [...] The Angiens are the answer, but the fun part is that the Angiens are actually the QUESTION. (Again, I think this comes from Mur)
In a religious system, the untouchable answer (God) is fueled by the constantly moving herd of worshippers (the question). Angiens seems to be both in AND out of MD, in and out of duality.
The one opening MD box can be seen like the 3rd observer, the one outside duality, the gap in the circle... God? Our Demon of the East in Angien's disguise?
One last thought that haunts me: compare the research clues about Angiens ("burning ability" in particular) and "page 5: a deadly secret", from Chronicles of a Shade killer. 🙃

As a long-term East citizen and ever aspiring researcher I've tried to understand the relation between the Traveler, the East and the rest of the realm for a long time now. These unanswered questions make me come back to the realm year after year
I've had some of these ideas written down for a while, but they always felt incomplete. This topic is an attempt to organize some of my thoughts/research™ on these subjects and share them with the world. I don't quite know where to put it. Feel free to move it elsewhere if needed.
 
The gate to the East is located at the chasm that connects two opposites of a 2-fold balance: Necrovion and Marind Bell, which points to the special relationship of the East with these two core lands in particular (one might even think it's not a coincidence that we currently have lashtal and Chewett, two strong references of these lands, as East citizens 😬).
We also see other hints of this relationship in the AL, with both the Traveler (who came from the East even before it was open) and the Shade Sentinel playing an essential role in the Angiens development and in the events that led to the Seeds of the East. Their collision had a lasting impact on the Angiens. Additionally, we can see hints of a connection between Angiens and Shades earlier in the AL.
In the AL we see the Traveler split into two shapes in two occasions. This hints to duality (a feature associated with Angiens) within the Traveler as well. We also know it has no face, no name, and some can't even understand its shape, and that it "entered" the MD realm (apparently from outside). This reminds me of Mur's show of force :
 
I wonder if the Traveler is the (Tainted?) Angien that opened the box. The announcement I linked above tells us "The one tile unspoken of untill now is the clearly visible one at the East, the one most close to the Angien in the picture.". Maybe close can be interpreted both physically in space but also in terms of affection. That would make sense seeing that the Traveler came from the East. It's also interesting that we can see the dark face of the Angien that opened the box, which is also mentioned in Mur's post. Another hint that points to this is that the Sentinel cannot see the Traveler and says it has no time, which indicates the Traveler exists outside of (MD's) time. Finally, when they clash, the Sentinel says they cannot remember, which I think shows that the Sentinel got "cut off" from being observer of time (recall that they remember "throughout" time ).
These two beings already carry a lot of symbolic power by themselves, but when they collide we get the orb that is "all the cubes at the same time", a mirror of every possibility. Another important point is that apparently only half of the Traveler entered Necrovion, while the other half walked the land (maybe this other half is related to what happened with the Angiens in MB?).
 
Still, one question in particular eludes me: if the Traveler is apparently so related to Angiens, why are Angiens mainly associated with MB? It may be the case that the Traveler/East "is" Angiens + Shades, the "bigger picture", which might indicate why the collision between Traveler and Sentinel needed to happen before the East opening.
 
Finally, this has been said about the Tainted variant of the Angiens:
With this piece of information, together with the other clues, it makes me think that the Tainted Angien could be a creature associated with the Lands of the East, between Necrovion and Marind Bell. Sort of as the missing piece of a puzzle.
 
 
Thank you for reading this. It's really hard to connect all the dots and fill in the gaps, all while choosing the right words. I tried my best here, yet I'm sure a lot is missing (unfortunately I wasn't around when this stuff happened).
I'd love to hear your opinions. Please help me strengthen or dismiss these claims