Why has Rumi been sleeping so much and why is it raining when he's awake?

Many of you have noticed Rumi has not been particularly visible this past month or so.

I just bought my first house and the purchase, and now painting, and soon moving has been taking up a lot of time. I have simply not made much time for MD, beyond logon for AD and free credits. It may continue like this for a little while still.

I'm sure you're all wondering about that garden project that was finally beginning to build momentum and then disappeared from the radar.

We've had a lot of changes in the realm recently, including the loss of an entire kingdom among other things. All sorts of new tools and items have become available, many of which will directly and indirectly affect the development and function of the garden.

One of the principles of developing a successful garden is the observation of natural and human patterns in order to design a garden which utilizes existing energy flows, rather than creating new ones, which may run counter to existing ones (and thus creating more work). I intend to continue to observe many of the new concepts and changes before the design of each of the specific areas, so that everything can be appropriately incorporated.

In the initial post on the garden thread, I suggested the garden design might be complete by day 270. That has now passed and we still have quite a ways to go. That thread was started on the sixth anniversary and perhaps the garden design will be complete and implementation will begin at the seventh anniversary. No reason to hurry it.

If people have ideas for the garden, I encourage you to continue to post in the community garden forum. If you have quest ideas, send me a message and I may be able to use one of the community garden wishpoint rewards if appropriate.

Rumi will continue to be online for brief periods logging AD and free credits. The primary role activity will be practicing and learning rain spells (stones donated so generously by Amoran and Marvolo since the advent of memory stones). Rumi will continue to practice these rain spells until he learns them in a more "permanent" way. If you notice a mild or heavy rain, please feel free to come to the Meeting of the Roads to dance and celebrate.

While you may not see Rumi too often in the near future, you can always send a game or forum PM if you need to contact me and I will respond quickly. The council has asked me to be one of their representatives on the forum and I will be fully available in this capacity. I will also keep active on the forums (albeit in a more limited way for now).

Thanks everyone and I'll see you around.
Rumi - AD 400