Nep

Bacon Emperor I know you do not deal in mercy... but I have limited resources available! Please... will you have mercy on me this year and accept this humble offering?
I call it... Bàcon à la Noodlé
First, you need to go and hunt down some elusive Samyang™ HOT&SPICY Flavor (sic) Bowl Noodle Soup. Other brands are available, but performance is not guaranteed.

Second, you need to carefully follow the instructions on the packaging, adding the seasoning and THEN the hot water. It does not work as well the other way around!

Thirdly, you need to allow the noodles to brew. I use my water stained cutlery to do the job, although I hear there are more decorative utensils that do the same job. I wouldn't know anything about that though!

Nearly there! While it brews, rummage around your nearly empty cooling device for some genuine ready to eat Grasan Bacon. Pose it nicely for the camera. Make sure to shut out the voice that makes you question how you got to this stage in your life.

Finally, put the enitre block of Grasan Bacon in the noodles, whole. Bon Appétit!

an omelette because i was actually hungry...
theme: it's yellow...


garlic, basil, cheese, ham, bit of salt and pepper, and spring onion

I normally make soup when I sac a winderwild (due to lack of amenities) but when I'm home, this is what I do.
First pic is the ingredients - salt, pepper, peppercorns, garlic, honey, sprigs of rosemary and thyme (they overwintered well - in summer use sage & oregano too), a little oil for brushing on to make the seasoning stick, and of course a freshly sacced winderwild.

Second pic shows the lemons must be juiced through a strainer and the garlic must be smashed & peeled (in that order or it's a mess).

Third & fourth show most of the ingredients in the bottom and the winderwild on a rack above, and into the Ninja cooker - on pressure setting (pic 5) 40 minutes.

Pic 6 shows the steamed winderwild, which is brushed with oil then salt & pepper (pic 7) then run on air fry for another 15 minutes.

The final pic shows the finished product - a wonderful roasted winderwild.  Serve with your choice of vegetable, bread, salad, and/or dessert.

It was an ordinary day in the forest of Loreroot. Unlike most ordinary days, which he would spend at his resting place under the shade of his tree near Wasp’s Totem, he was sitting by the roots of the Oak Fort, enjoying the breeze and the sounds of the lake water and the rustling of leaves and grass. Weary from the previous day’s hard work, he closed his eyes and let those natural sounds put him to sleep. And deep he slept and peacefully for some time.
And then, after what seemed to be a few hours of rest, he opened his eyes and had a look around. He knew he was still in the very same place where he had fallen asleep, but something seemed terribly wrong. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to clear his vision, then looked around again. The oak tree was as tall and massive as it had always been, but it had no leaves on it and its trunk and branches were darkened and dry. There was no grass around its roots and no water around the islet where the ancient tree was standing on. Even the rest of the trees in the distance seemed barren and dead to him.
“What happened?”, he asked himself, without realising whether he actually uttered those words or he merely thought of them, “Why is the land dead?” He laid his palm on one of the tree’s roots and rubbed it gently with his fingertips. “How did that happen? And so suddenly…?”, he asked himself again, “Everything was fine a mere few hours ago and now the whole of the forest looks like an endless graveyard.” He stood and began to walk around the tree roots, often kneeling to touch the ground. “The grass… it’s gone! And the water of the lake… it’s no more! What happened here?”, he asked once more, a little more loudly this time.
Bitter thoughts began to fill his mind and he dropped on his knees, his arms falling almost dead on his lap. A deep frown made his usually expressionless and icy-cold face crack. “What have I done?”, he muttered, as if he were making a desperate attempt to keep his thoughts a secret. But from whom? There had been no living soul around for as long as he had been in this place and if there was anybody passing by, they ignored him and went on their way without paying him any attention.
“What have you done?”, a voice was suddenly heard from the other side of the giant tree. He turned his head towards the general direction of the source of the voice he heard, but he didn’t have the courage to stand and go look for the one that spoke to him. “Who goes there?”, he merely asked. “Just a traveller.”, replied the voice, its words followed by a soft hissing sound. “And why would you want to know?”, he asked again but without much confidence. “Simple curiosity.”, was the voice’s response, “Are you afraid of random strangers asking random questions?” He shook his head lightly as if he had been talking face to face with the one bearing that voice. “No…”, he mumbled, “that’s not what I’m afraid of…”
“What are you afraid of then?”, asked the voice. “N-nothing…”, he muttered and shook his head again. “Nothing?”, exclaimed the voice, as if it had been surprised by his answer, “A very courageous answer, but spoken in such a cowardly manner. A pity, isn’t it?” He turned to the side while maintaining his kneeling posture, trying to find the one who the voice belonged to. “What do you want from me?”, he asked in a passive aggressive way. “Nothing”, said the voice in response in a simple and natural way, “just to have a nice friendly talk with another person. Is that bad?” “Erm, no…”, he said in return with another shake of his head, “I just… don’t feel like talking to strangers about things such as my fears.”
“So…”, said the voice with a soft hissing, “you are afraid of something then. Speak up!” It continued in a somewhat encouraging way, “A stranger may be a stranger, but even if he judges you harshly for something you say or do, he will remain somebody you may not meet again and who you shouldn’t even have to care about. If there is something that troubles your mind, a stranger can indeed be the perfect person to talk to.” He sighed softly, but the voice spoke again before he managed to utter a single word. “So, what troubles your mind, stranger?”
“My land, as you can plainly see…”, he paused for a moment or two to point around him, “everything is dead.” The voice hissed, but in a more intense way that could make it sound almost like a chuckle, and asked: “What killed it?” He lowered his head and looked bitterly at the barren ground in front of him. “It could have been me…”, he mumbled, uncertain of the validity of his words, but heavily encumbered by the weight of his thoughts. “You?”, exclaimed the voice amazed, “And how exactly could you do that?” “I-I-I… I don't know.”, he laid his palm on his forehead, as if his head were to fall off from the burden of his thoughts and he were making a desperate attempt to keep it in its place. The voice was heard hissing before speaking again: “You must be one of great powers to devastate an entire land like this. A wizard or a mighty sorcerer. Why don't you share a few tricks of yours with me?”
“I have no tricks to share, even more so with one who doesn't even dare show themselves before me.” He sighed softly and spoke some more: “I'm neither a wizard nor a sorcerer. I have no powers and no tricks to use. It was more a lack of power that led to this…” “Lack of power?”, asked the voice and grew quiet, but merely for a moment or two before speaking again, “Please, continue. This is getting interesting.” “It's not a matter of having done things. More like not doing the things I should have done. A lack of will, lack of courage to step up and get things done.” The voice was heard hissing, but it remained quiet for a little while to let him speak up on his own without interrupting him. “It was fear that crippled both my mind and body.”
But its silence was short-lived, because the mention of fear in his words made it hiss again in frustration of the discussion going in circles, but also in amusement, since it kept revolving around his fears and that seemed to be a subject that interested its owner greatly. “What kind of fear?”, it asked. He laid his hand that was lying on his forehead down on his knee and snorted, “Several kinds. Some are simple fears, the kind that people can go through at least once in their lives, and they can be eventually overcome. But most are deeper, more profound, more persistent and more intense…” He sighed a little in the end. “What are your deeper fears then?”, asked the voice again, more and more intrigued about his story.
“I'm afraid of what the future holds.”, he replied hesitatingly, “Not only for me, but also for the people I care about… the land…” He paused briefly and exhaled deeply, before continuing, “I fear that no matter what I do, it's never enough, it never contributes to anything, it's pointless. Completely… I have no power to do anything and many things currently depend on me, but I don't have the strength to do them. And now my land lies dead, because of my lack of will…” The voice responded to his word with a long hissing sound, before speaking: “Interesting. So, the land's survival depends only on your hands.”
“I didn't say such a thing…”, he replied with a slow shake of his head, “I just…” “But you did!”, interrupted the voice, “You said that your land lies dead because of YOUR lack of will.” “I didn't mean…”, he mumbled, feeling his fear creep back into both his mind and heart, and bent his chest closer to his knees, but the voice interrupted him again. “Do you really consider yourself so important that your own will or lack thereof is enough to cause the death of an entire land all by itself?”, asked the voice in a raised tone. “No, I-I-I…”, he muttered, bringing his knees much closer to his chest and hugging them with his arms, as if he could protect himself from the fear within.
“And what's your land that you are talking so much about in the first place?”, said the voice and its owner made its appearance from behind the tree. It was a spider that had been talking to him all this time long; a big-sized one, since it could reach his waist if he stood up. It stood beside the massive darkened tree, waiting for his response and keeping itself outside of his field of view for the time being. “That would be Loreroot…”, he replied, mincing his words. “We are in Loreroot and this is the Oak Fort that we are standing by…” “Loreroot? Oak Fort?”, asked the spider pretending to be confused, but then added sharply: “What makes you so certain that you are in Loreroot, human?” He turned his head to the side to glance at the massive tree and muttered: “But… this tree…”
The spider hissed so loudly, finding his reaction very amusing, as if it were feeding itself from his fears, and sounding like a madman laughing maniacally. “You aren't in Loreroot”, it said, “and this isn't the Oak Fort, foolish human.” He turned his head to the other side to look at the source of the voice and, only then, he realised that it was a spider and that it had just revealed itself to him. He drew his sword as quickly as he could and pointed it at the spider's direction, but he didn't manage to utter a single word before the spider spoke again: “You are in Necrovion, mortal. You have been in Necrovion all this time long. And this”, it turned to the side, as if trying to point at the big darkened tree, “this is the Accursed Growth and it shall be your grave.”
“No! Go away!”, he exclaimed in fear, shaking his sword in his hand but still pointing its tip at the spider. “Do you really have what it takes to use your sword against me?”, responded the spider with a hiss and stepped a little closer to him. “Go away! Leave me alone!”, he shouted and crawled backwards, in order to increase the distance between himself and the spider, but his sword slipped through his hand in the process due to his fear that had begun to overwhelm him. “Holding your sword up so courageously, but slipping away so cowardly. Thinking that everything revolves around you and that it all depends on you, but being so unimportant in truth.”, the spider hissed loudly and moved a little closer to him, but he kept crawling away from it. “Stay away from me!”
“Do you really think that you are so important to your land? Your Loreroot has survived since time immemorial. It WILL survive, whether you do something for it or not. It will keep existing till the end of time, while you will have been long forgotten, if you will ever be remembered at all. Your passing through its woods will go unnoticed, exactly as it has for so many times already, while the forest itself will endure. You have no idea how insignificant you are to it. But, no, you must believe that its survival lies entirely on your own shoulders, yet you are too weak to ensure it.” Hearing the spider's words, fear overwhelmed him completely and, while he was trying to keep a fair distance from the spider, he entangled his arm in one of the tree's roots and couldn't find a way to free himself.
“Leave me alone!”, he shouted in a desperate attempt to discourage the spider from harming him, but to no avail. “No, mortal, I'm not going to leave you alone. I have come to set you free; free from your pain, free from your fears. Yield to me!”, said the spider and lunged at him. “No!”, he yelled, unable to get away from it, and squirmed like a fish out of water, but the spider was too close for him to have a chance to free himself even at the last moment. “The dark tree will feed upon your remains once I'm done with you.”, stated the spider and made a firm hissing sound that felt like it was somebody laughing confidently.
“No!”, he shouted again, his heart pounding in his chest like a big drum, and he kept squirming, but the spider had already entangled his legs in its silk and it had begun to spin him around to cover him in its webs. His fears had trapped him like the darkened tree's roots and overwhelmed him just like the spider's silk was covering his entire body. He was crippled in both body and mind and there was no way to save himself. The last thing that was heard before everything went black around him was his own desperate scream.
* * *
He opened his eyes with a gasp and a sudden bend of his upper body upwards from his resting position, his heart still pounding inside his chest and his breath heavy. He had a quick look around him, looking rather alarmed, as if there were somebody nearby threatening to kill him. There was a lot of green around him instead, even his hands had sunk in it, and even more blue in some distance from him, but nobody to be seen. He blinked a few times so that he could see more clearly. It was the green of grass and the blue of water. He sat on his knees and looked around to make certain. It was indeed the Oak Fort, its roots, the grass around them and the lake beyond the islet where the massive oak tree was proudly standing on.
“It was all a dream…”, he muttered to himself and sighed softly in relief, “a terrible dream, but a lesson to be had.” He stood and dusted himself off with both hands. He looked at the massive oak tree and smiled, but both his mind and heart were still heavy from his dream with the spider. “A very useful lesson indeed.”, he said, as if talking to the tree, and patted its bark with his palm, “There is a lot of work to do, but… damned I will be if I do it, damned I will be if I don't.” He bent to pick up his walking stick with another soft sigh. He looked at the stick, remembering his experience with the spider, snorted and said to himself, his free hand pulling his hood over his head to cover his features: “Keep walking, old man. Above all else, keep walking.”

I learned that people have behaviour patterns, that lead to situations they can never get out, or are doomed to repeat over and over. These patterns are rooted deep in their past, sometimes its not even them that caused the reason for their patters, but it was their anchesters. 
I discovered this about others, just to realize my patters later. Its very hard to see something about your own self, because you have to face a truth you can't admit. It is much easier to see it on others.
The challenge was to be able to think truthfully enough about myself, to notice these patters and admit them, understand them. Its one thing to realize them once, and an other thing to live with the awareness of them constantly.
If you think fast about something that might be a pattern in your existance, its easy to come up with several answers, but thats just the internal defence telling you things you can accept thinking, its not always the truth. 
Its easy to think of your flaws like "I am too good to people that hurt me"...or this kind of miss europa kind of shit, but its really really hard to think of yourself as "i am too chicken to change my partner, so i imagine that i like him/her"..or "i'm just plain ugly, not a special kind of beauty" kind of things, without imediately finding justification for the bad things.
I won't detail my 'things', ofc these are personal, but they are there, like in anybody else... and most of the time its a constant challenge to be honest with yourself.
 
What i could tell others about this, is that you should consider this a constant journey. You build something, in yourself, and every time you are honest with yourself you add an other brick. The real challange is that most of the time you realize that this construction started long ago, before you decided to be honest with yourself, and now you have to deal with design elements you can no longer change. From this point forward, its a lot one could say..but its offtopic here
 
 
 

Herewith, a log of the events for those that did miss it:



[23/04/22 01:05] Chewett:Welcome all!
[23/04/22 01:07] lashtal:Hello Hello
[23/04/22 01:10] Chewett:Hey Lashtal
[23/04/22 01:11] Ledah:Nice... nice...
[23/04/22 01:15] Chewett:Alas, it seems today we will be unable to kill people!
[23/04/22 01:16] Ledah:No! What a terrible day!
[23/04/22 01:22] Chewett:Alas,
[23/04/22 01:22] Chewett:Although maybe there will be some boxes around
[23/04/22 01:22] Chewett:I don't know! Aia is keen on them
[23/04/22 01:24] Ledah:Boxes eh....
[23/04/22 01:24] Ledah:Sound tempting...
[23/04/22 03:33] Kyphis:I mean he did just lament that we can't kill anyone then advise that there may be boxes around... kinda sounds like death is implied
[23/04/22 04:03] Death Ray:Boxes?
[23/04/22 04:04] :Death Ray plunders ☻2 heads by attacking stavaroiu
[23/04/22 04:04] Seimich:Glitters and sparkles. Pretty cure on! haha
[23/04/22 04:05] Death Ray:I killed>>
[23/04/22 05:52] :Nepgear plunders ☻1 heads by attacking stavaroiu
[23/04/22 07:35] jakubhi:good morning~
[23/04/22 07:36] Nepgear: *waves* Morning ~
[23/04/22 07:56] :Else slashed Nepgear and took all ☻1 heads.
[23/04/22 08:01] :Aia waves to the gathered beings
[23/04/22 08:01] Nepgear:Morning, Queen Aia ~
[23/04/22 08:02] Aia: (anyone see where jakubhi went?)
[23/04/22 08:03] Nepgear: (Hmm...)
[23/04/22 08:06] Aia:Greetings to all this day.
[23/04/22 08:06] Nepgear: (There he is)
[23/04/22 08:08] Aia:I am glad for the presence of all; and do welcome thee within our borders, although I would think all welcome at any time.
[23/04/22 08:11] Aia:Let us this day reflect on our growth as a realm; to the community that has built it and kept it alive, to our own individual growth as beings.
[23/04/22 08:12] Aia:Those of the other-realm, no doubt, will also have changed as the years have passed.
[23/04/22 08:13] Aia:Loreroot, mayhap, doth serve as an allegory for this; although each shall grow at her own pace, and be blessed in different ways; we all make part of the realm, and of the other-realm.
[23/04/22 08:15] Aia:This day, I commend thee to thine own growth; to make friendships and relationships that stand; to nurture those around thee, and to improve our own respective realms in any way we may.
[23/04/22 08:16] Aia:Be kind and merciful, even to the undeserving; and most of all, to thyself.
[23/04/22 08:17] Aia:This day, I commission the Lore Manor to hold ever more that may grow and develop our character.
[23/04/22 08:18] Aia:And as part of his own growth, I do now ask Jakubhi to step forward this day.
[23/04/22 08:19] :Aia motions to Jakubhi to come forward
[23/04/22 08:19] :jakubhi smiles and stands up
[23/04/22 08:20] :jakubhi silently takes out a red book
[23/04/22 08:20] Aia:Twofold shall be his growth this day; onefold to help to fill the Lore Manor with his gift, which I bid him share with thee this day.
[23/04/22 08:21] :jakubhi nods to Aia and opens the book
[23/04/22 08:21] Aia:Indeed, for mine coronation, I had received a story from him which I did dearly enjoy; and I do ask him to read another of his stories this day.
[23/04/22 08:21] :Aia nods to Jakubhi to begin
[23/04/22 08:22] :Nepgear listens in anticipation
[23/04/22 08:22] jakubhi:Hello everyone, this story takes place here, in Loreroot, in a nearby scene
[23/04/22 08:23] :jakubhi starts reading
[23/04/22 08:24] jakubhi:It was a warm summer day.
[23/04/22 08:24] jakubhi:The sun, high in the sky, was accompanied by a few white clouds.
[23/04/22 08:24] jakubhi:There, under all of this, a young Water Being was resting between grass patches at the edge of Raven's Peace lake.
[23/04/22 08:25] jakubhi:The Water Being inhaled the fresh air before flicking its tail to move to another patch of the tasty grass.
[23/04/22 08:25] jakubhi:This movement created a small ripple on the otherwise calm lake surface.
[23/04/22 08:25] jakubhi:The Water Being's many snake heads lazily flicked their tongues in and out.
[23/04/22 08:25] jakubhi:The previous few days were very tiring for it.
[23/04/22 08:26] jakubhi:Its mother kept it and its siblings in their hole at the bottom of the lake.
[23/04/22 08:26] jakubhi:They were not allowed to go outside,
[23/04/22 08:26] jakubhi:and every time they tried to escape from the dark, their mother brought them back.
[23/04/22 08:27] jakubhi:The Water Being did not know why their mother would act like that.
[23/04/22 08:28] jakubhi:Why would she keep them there, when the tasty grass was outside?
[23/04/22 08:28] jakubhi:Why be bored in the dark where you could not move, surrounded by the many of your siblings?
[23/04/22 08:28] jakubhi:Finally, the Water Being managed to escape.
[23/04/22 08:29] :jakubhi flips to the next page
[23/04/22 08:29] jakubhi:Their mother went out, probably to bring them something to eat,
[23/04/22 08:29] jakubhi:but that was not able to fully feed the many children she had.
[23/04/22 08:29] jakubhi:Before the mother started acting weird, they were taking care of themselves.
[23/04/22 08:29] jakubhi:They were not the small Water Beings anymore !
[23/04/22 08:30] jakubhi:Maybe not as big as their mother yet, but they did not need the mother to bring them food.
[23/04/22 08:30] jakubhi:So, the Water Being sneaked outside.
[23/04/22 08:30] jakubhi:With steady flips of its tail, it went to the lake's edge to find the best grass, just how the mother taught.
[23/04/22 08:30] jakubhi:The Water Being remembered it all correctly.
[23/04/22 08:30] jakubhi:Not minding the weird scent in the air, it continued in its routine.
[23/04/22 08:31] jakubhi:It ate and ate, filling the half empty stomach.
[23/04/22 08:31] jakubhi:And with each tail flick, the distance from the land grew shorter and shorter.
[23/04/22 08:31] jakubhi:Suddenly, the Water Being stopped. It heard something.
[23/04/22 08:31] jakubhi:Oh no, the mother had come back! Now she would know that it did not listen to her!
[23/04/22 08:32] jakubhi:The Water Being started to swim towards the hole, uncertainly. Mother might even bite it as a punishment. She sounded sooo angry, and.. A bit worried?
[23/04/22 08:32] jakubhi:For the second time that day, something surprised the Water Being .
[23/04/22 08:32] jakubhi:This sound was not from the direction of its mother.
[23/04/22 08:32] jakubhi:No, it was from the patches of high grass from behind it.
[23/04/22 08:32] jakubhi:Meanwhile, the mother stopped calling. She knew she already risked too much with her previously calling.
[23/04/22 08:33] jakubhi:Only silence answered her. Another child lost, maybe to sate one's hunger, or bound to servitude.
[23/04/22 08:33] :jakubhi stops reading
[23/04/22 08:33] :jakubhi bows
[23/04/22 08:33] :Aia takes a moment to reflect on the story
[23/04/22 08:33] :Aia claps for Jakubhi
[23/04/22 08:34] Nepgear: (Now I feel kinda bad about recruiting them xD )
[23/04/22 08:34] :Nepgear claps
[23/04/22 08:34] Aia:I do hope that thou wilt grace the shelves of the Lore Manor with thy gift, Jakubhi.
[23/04/22 08:35] jakubhi: *nods* I will.
[23/04/22 08:35] Aia:I have also heard of thy desire to become one of the Children of the Eclipse.
[23/04/22 08:35] :jakubhi nods
[23/04/22 08:35] Aia:We would be honoured to have one as thee among ourselves.
[23/04/22 08:36] :Aia returns the LR Scepter to her inventory and dusts off her other staff
[23/04/22 08:37] Aia:Jakubhi; I know that thou hast already pledged loyalty to Loreroot and her Queen; wilst thou serve the will of Luna and her everwatching gaze?
[23/04/22 08:39] jakubhi:Yes, I will serve.
[23/04/22 08:39] Aia:Let her wisdom be manifest in thee, then, this day and for always.
[23/04/22 08:41] :Aia taps jakubhi lightly on the shoulder with the glowing moonstone at the end of the Staff of Lunar Consecration
[23/04/22 08:41] Aia:Arise, Jakubhi of Loreroot, and of Luna; blessed be, and be a blessing to all.
[23/04/22 08:42] :jakubhi rises up
[23/04/22 08:42] Nepgear:Aaah, about time *grins*
[23/04/22 08:42] :jakubhi bows to Aia again
[23/04/22 08:42] :Aia looks skyward to see a rain of stars into the surrounding area
[23/04/22 08:42] Nepgear:Congratulations
[23/04/22 08:42] :Aia curtsies to jakubhi
[23/04/22 08:43] Aia:I believe Luna hath given her approval.
[23/04/22 08:43] :jakubhi bows to everyone
[23/04/22 08:43] Else: (welcome to the menu)
[23/04/22 08:43] :jakubhi winks at Nep
[23/04/22 08:43] :Nepgear grins
[23/04/22 08:43] :Aia peeks inside the chest nearby
[23/04/22 08:43] jakubhi:Thank you
[23/04/22 08:44] Aia:To all present; I believe there are many such blessings that await thee, if thou shouldst merely wander around these lands.
[23/04/22 08:44] Aia:May each aid in thy growth.
[23/04/22 08:45] Aia: (Just confirming: is this chest in this scene working?)
[23/04/22 08:45] jakubhi: (yes)
[23/04/22 08:47] :[Spell] **audite** jakubhi

Ok, here is my humble submission.
Trying to solve this, one gets into one major problem...well, actually two problems.
 First one - what is actually"a week"?
Second one - how do you explain it to Shades?
Let us start with the the first one. I did some research - a week is an artificially devised unit of time. Its duration differs across cultures and calendars (fluctuations are between 7-14 days, but maybe one can find other, if one diggs deeper).
Now, how to explain to Shades what a week is? To be honest my memory is very rusty, so I hope that I am not telling some nonsense here, but I have to try to share my thoughts with you. I see Shades as "the Opposite", a necessary pole to maintain an overall Balance. A normal human instinct is to maintain life, create, put things into order, progress. Which would mean that Shades necessarily would stand for death, decay, chaos, which would make an impression of Shades as being evil. I do not see it this way, I see Shades as a necessity to maintain Reality in all its colours. But I got distracted. Let us go back to Time and what the above premise would mean to us explaining Shades the meaning of the week. Time is an inevitable byproduct of the Order, which would make me assume that Shades as embodyment of Chaos are beyong time. However, being beyong doesnt make Shades unable to understand a concept of time as a flow. They are probably familiar with concepts of Life and Death and so they can understand the linear connection between Beginning and End, Birth and Passing away when applied to living beings as humans, animals etc.
So, my solution to this dilemma is this. I would present Shades with a Luna Moth in a jar...just hatched to its adult (Imago) form. Since adult luna moth has no digestive system and cannot eat, its life span is between 7-10 days. After that the moth inevitably dies. Shades could understand a change in state of a Moth and get a notion of an approximate week duration. Of course it is only an approximate solution, but as stated before - week duration varies across calendars as well. A more precise solution would be maybe design a sandwatch that would last a week, but honestly, I think like Luna Moth concept better. I have a feeling that Shades would appreciate it more.
Thank you very much for reading

It's bugged for me. This is all I see:
RPCQ: rpcq-shopkeeper-willow
MDScript Enhanced Document
This document contains user created functionality using MDScript. Use on your own risk.
Author: Valoryn DocID: 4341 Lines of code: 291       "speak" - [reset]  
I have tried multiple solutions (Fyrd's suggestions, clearing cache and logging out), but none work. The problem is most likely related to this quest, as other trigger words work just fine.

Yes, it’s that time again after so, so long. But it’s not a freshly made Treasure Hunt. Going down memOry lane, I decided to bring back one of my older Treasure Hunts. It’s a quest full of self-sarcasm, annoying NPCs, frustr- erm, I mean fun tasks and painf- eh, intricate puzzles and, of course, it has a treasure at the end. It does, doesn’t it? Hmm, anyway…
It’s an MDScript based quest that uses clickables scattered around No Man’s Land, Marind Bell, Loreroot, Golemus, the Archives and the East. It’s also a race. The player that completes the quest in the least amount of time is the winner. Starting times only matter in case of a tie; the player that has begun the quest earlier wins the tie.
Restrictions: no alts – only one account per player is allowed
Duration: From the moment of announcing the quest till the end of the Birthday.
How to begin: Visit the shopkeeper at Willow’s Shop and, after seeing his notices, speak to him.
Rewards:
1st place: A Wish Point, an Anniversary Creature and a choice out of three spell stones
2nd place: A rare-ish creature and a choice out of the remaining two spell stones (after 1st place has made a choice)
3rd place: A Gold Coin and the remaining spell stone (after 1st and 2nd places have made their choice)
The spell stones offered as rewards are: Acousticremains, Lockinchaos, Sendtogazeebo.
Important: Choices matter and can have consequences. Some paths can kick you out of the quest; some of them may be more obvious, but others may not. Tread carefully.

I think that it would be a serious mistake to get rid of the mist until we figure out what it can be used for. Therefore I suggest we collect it into containers. I have designed a device that could be used to collect said mist. Here is how the prototype would look like, more or less:

How it works:
I would capture it like I'd capture gas in a chemical experiment. We'd need a big outer container, inside which there is a smaller, upside down glass cylinder. Both of these are filled with water. 
The idea is to get the mist inside the inner glass container, where it "bubble us" to the top, displacing the water into the outer container. This is based on the assumption that the "mist" is lighter than water, but more dense than air (which is probably true, given that it hovers above ground). 
Of course, the mist won't be getting into our container on its own, so the device has an elastic tube attached to it, that ends in a bulb pump (the kind you see on older blood pressure monitors, or maybe more relevant - gasoline hand pumps) and a funnel. 
Pressing the pump creates a vacuum, which after releasing it will suck in whatever is inside the funnel. After which it goes straight into the inner glass cylinder through the tube. 
The inner container even has a cap on it so that we can remove the mist when we need it for something (experiments, storing it in even larger containers, etc.). The cap can also be used to release any air accidentally sucked into the container - since it is lighter than the mist.
As you can see the device is quite large, it even has shoulder straps. This is because I want a single person to be able to collect a large amount of gas, since we don't know how much of it will show up and where. 
Materials needed: 
The outer and inner containers would be made of thick glass, kinda like a big alembic. I have previously thought about using some kind of metal but then we wouldn't be able to tell how much mist or water is inside. That said, the parts holding the inner container in place could be made out of metal, to make it more durable. Both glass and iron exist in MD, and there is precedent for various alembics and such in the lab. We just have to make bigger ones. 
The shoulder straps could be made out of ropes that can be found on GWI or a similar material. 
The funnel can be made out of metal too (iron ingots?). 
The water needed to fill up the containers already exists in the realm. 
The only part I'm not sure about is the tube and the pump, since both of them would need rubber which I have yet to see in the realm. But I'm sure we can figure something out. 
How to collect the mist: 
I'd pay a few people to use my device to collect mist until we figure out what it is and whether or not it is harmful. Like I mentioned before, the device is this big in order to enable few people to do a lot of work with it. But we can make it smaller later if necessary, maybe even a handheld version
If the mist proves to be harmful we will be forced to deal with it on the "government" level, which means paying for its collection won't be my problem anymore. 
If it proves to be useful, people will collect it without incentive. 
If it proves to be harmless and useless we can just leave it be. 

I think that it would be a serious mistake to get rid of the mist until we figure out what it can be used for. Therefore I suggest we collect it into containers. I have designed a device that could be used to collect said mist. Here is how the prototype would look like, more or less:

How it works:
I would capture it like I'd capture gas in a chemical experiment. We'd need a big outer container, inside which there is a smaller, upside down glass cylinder. Both of these are filled with water. 
The idea is to get the mist inside the inner glass container, where it "bubble us" to the top, displacing the water into the outer container. This is based on the assumption that the "mist" is lighter than water, but more dense than air (which is probably true, given that it hovers above ground). 
Of course, the mist won't be getting into our container on its own, so the device has an elastic tube attached to it, that ends in a bulb pump (the kind you see on older blood pressure monitors, or maybe more relevant - gasoline hand pumps) and a funnel. 
Pressing the pump creates a vacuum, which after releasing it will suck in whatever is inside the funnel. After which it goes straight into the inner glass cylinder through the tube. 
The inner container even has a cap on it so that we can remove the mist when we need it for something (experiments, storing it in even larger containers, etc.). The cap can also be used to release any air accidentally sucked into the container - since it is lighter than the mist.
As you can see the device is quite large, it even has shoulder straps. This is because I want a single person to be able to collect a large amount of gas, since we don't know how much of it will show up and where. 
Materials needed: 
The outer and inner containers would be made of thick glass, kinda like a big alembic. I have previously thought about using some kind of metal but then we wouldn't be able to tell how much mist or water is inside. That said, the parts holding the inner container in place could be made out of metal, to make it more durable. Both glass and iron exist in MD, and there is precedent for various alembics and such in the lab. We just have to make bigger ones. 
The shoulder straps could be made out of ropes that can be found on GWI or a similar material. 
The funnel can be made out of metal too (iron ingots?). 
The water needed to fill up the containers already exists in the realm. 
The only part I'm not sure about is the tube and the pump, since both of them would need rubber which I have yet to see in the realm. But I'm sure we can figure something out. 
How to collect the mist: 
I'd pay a few people to use my device to collect mist until we figure out what it is and whether or not it is harmful. Like I mentioned before, the device is this big in order to enable few people to do a lot of work with it. But we can make it smaller later if necessary, maybe even a handheld version
If the mist proves to be harmful we will be forced to deal with it on the "government" level, which means paying for its collection won't be my problem anymore. 
If it proves to be useful, people will collect it without incentive. 
If it proves to be harmless and useless we can just leave it be. 

Wasn't really much learning, just a matter of finding the time! Will probably end up doing all the critters at some point.
 
MD's first 3D Printed Drachorn
 
For the reward, I'd like a GG Drach
 
 

Checked Loreroot. The are screenshot only, but the coordinates are visible. Some of these are hard to notice at first, I suggest refreshing by clicking on the compass on the left while focusing on the image. 
If this format is acceptable, I can do more when I have time. 

Checked Loreroot. The are screenshot only, but the coordinates are visible. Some of these are hard to notice at first, I suggest refreshing by clicking on the compass on the left while focusing on the image. 
If this format is acceptable, I can do more when I have time. 

Nepgear, your eye is impressive.  A few of the things you caught these tired old eyes can barely see when pointed out.
Many of the things you find are made worse by even a single pixel shift - the two artworks don't have the same registry point.  These will be fixed in a "phase 2" effort that goes back to original artworks.
Seven were made better by a 1 pixel shift, but still will need improvement in phase 2.
Five I feel are "fixed" and won't need more attention.
Oak Tower item18 path - 1 pixel
Defensive Quarters item16 - right hand path - took 2 pixel shift
Wasp Tower Back Exit item 19 - took 3 pixel shift.
Raven Hold item 18 path - 1 pixel
Raven Hold Top item21 - 3rd house in your pic - 1 pixel
I've surveyed all the sites that you showed and did all possible with A25 tools/phase 1.
Please contact Chewett regarding rewards.

Just to clarify, is this strictly MD related, or can we write about anyone who influenced us greatly (even IRL)? 

Okay so... First off, a forced vote is bad in my opinion. It forces people to pick someone for their good/bad vote even if they haven't made a particularly strong impression. This causes some people to get more points (positive or negative) than they normally would. And it even causes some people to get undeserved (imo) negative scores because some people just dump their negative vote on characters that just log in and never communicate much. 
So, in my opinion the vote would make more sense if you made it optional, BUT maybe made it so that you can vote on everyone BUT ALSO added an "indifferent" option. That way you could get a general feel of how the realm feels about each character, not just the one that each person likes/hates the most. The scores acquired in such a way could be used for certain roles, or achievements. 

Okay so... First off, a forced vote is bad in my opinion. It forces people to pick someone for their good/bad vote even if they haven't made a particularly strong impression. This causes some people to get more points (positive or negative) than they normally would. And it even causes some people to get undeserved (imo) negative scores because some people just dump their negative vote on characters that just log in and never communicate much. 
So, in my opinion the vote would make more sense if you made it optional, BUT maybe made it so that you can vote on everyone BUT ALSO added an "indifferent" option. That way you could get a general feel of how the realm feels about each character, not just the one that each person likes/hates the most. The scores acquired in such a way could be used for certain roles, or achievements.