The Media Wizard

Prince Amaesil Vuln'miruel nods as the missive is sent. "Wise words. I wish the best for humanity and Oren. I pray this leads to peace so that my daughters will not have to witness the horrors of war. Not yet."

The elven prince would read the missive with a furrowed brow. He writes a public response immediately.

To all who read this statement:

Within the last elven week, the Ireheart Clan has come to the gates of Elvendom requesting duels for our ears. As per a long-standing arrangement, we allowed them to do this. The Irehearts are a noble and proud clan, and it would have proven foolish to deny them the ability to challenge the elves openly. They abided by our laws in regards to these duels.

That is until the last few days. An Ireheart with a scarred left eye tricked a young elf into severing their own ear with a blatant lie: that he needed elven ears to cure his friend.

We do not intend to break our agreement and cooperation with the Ireheart Clan, but such cowardice and deceit ought to be expunged from their ranks if they intend to uphold their traditions in our lands. I pray they think on this.

HIS LORDSHIP, Amaesil Vuln'miruel, Prince-Heir of Elvendom

She was gone.

These words caught in Amaesil's head. He had received the letter shortly after his meeting with Solus in the Warden Keep. He now sat in silence in the underground meeting chamber as he starred through the open archway to the western horizon. The moon illuminated the trees in the far distance.

Is this how it feels to lose a child? he thought. No. She is away, but she is not gone. I will see her again someday. I know this. Amaesil rose from his seat and sauntered toward the archway. He rested a forearm against the wall and stood there for some time in deep, deep thought. Then, he finally penned a short letter to Melawen: in hopes she was not too far away just yet.

My dear beloun'ii:

There are fewer moments of greater sorrow and pride in my life than right now. I wish you the best on this journey, and I hope you know that I will always be within reach should you need it. Aspects guide you. I will see you soon, little one.

The prince reads the missive from inside his new home. It had come to his attention after an elf had brought it to him from the outside world. A light smile forms as he reads, and he soon goes upstairs to pen a response.

To Kolturian the Kesselite:

It is valiant to believe in unity among the elves. I believe that it is a worthy goal to dedicate yourself to and is achievable with our long lives. I do believe, though, that you have missed the most important aspect of elven unity: the reasons we have disunity.

The leaders of elves crave control. The power to shape the destiny of yourself and your people is what keeps the elves isolated from one another. The Free Elves of Elvendom would not align themselves with the Fennic Bloodlines because they would not seek the same goals and paths; nor should we expect them to. Friendship is possible, but unity is a distant hope.

Someday, an elf will come along and unite the ideals of the elves. Perhaps it is you, Kolturian the Kesselite. I wish you the best of luck on this venture, and you have my support should you find an amiable course of action.

HIS LORDSHIP, Amaesil Vuln'miruel, Prince-Heir of Elvendom

15 minutes ago, Kuila said:

"Do you accept Solana?" A nameless human asks. 

"No, but we do accept Kohl's Cash," said nobody.

He was gone.

Sunlight pierced the onyx veil hanging above the Arm of Malin, but the light brought little enrichment. Something was off; something was missing. As the rangers and elvenfolk awoke from their slumbers, they milled about the refugee town of Hogwash in a fashion similar to every other day before. It was only on the fifth day that something came to light.

The Prince had not been seen. Perhaps he is out on a mission or general exploring, many thought. Few worries were had. That is until the third week. Nobody had heard from the Prince. His home was orderly, and nothing was missing. His family had not received a letter or could recall anything said by the Prince that would indicate his sudden departure. Where had he gone?

This worry continued until three months later. The Prince had not returned, and no message seemed to reach him. Panic struck a handful, but curiosity was more common. Where had he gone?

The Prince... was gone.

28 minutes ago, NomadGaia said:

You know me Zill, but others might not so anywho, I've led the elves and specifically wood elves for a few years, though recently I've taken a backseat to things in lieu of the death of my character, and some other irl issues. I'd add something to this, as I think it oversimplifies things a bit too far. The problem isn't necessarily always ambition, but it's often the fact that most people are unwilling, or unable to compromise with each other. I've noticed this pattern far too many times in the elven playerbase. It often begins with a perceived slight, or something more direct. Maybe someone said something that clashed with you in a meeting or something, it could be anything, really. But these feelings tend to bubble beneath the surface, people don't talk them out like adults, and things end up bubbling beneath the surface. After a while, they just tend to pile up, until it hits a breaking point, and as Kaiser said, they don't tend to view schisms as bad. So they leave to do their own thing, to get away from the people they've got a grudge against. It makes leading elves exhausting, as it just becomes a game of trying to spot and put out these ooc fires between groups, when that responsibility should fall to people themselves.

Very well said, Gaia.

1 hour ago, Caelria said:

I've felt for a long time that the only way to fix the Elven playerbase is to approve only one Elven nation and deny the creation of any new Elven settlements at all. Do the same thing with the Dwarves and with Orcs. There aren't enough actively participating players to fill the myriad schism communities that plague Elvenkind, or just any race in general on a server that mostly floats around 150.

I believe @KaiserThoren said it best: the elves never learned that schisms are bad.

A lot of other communities on LOTC purposefully avoid schisms due to the fear of splitting their player base. Instead, these other communities use civil wars, coups or grand political systems to change power systems without eradicating their entire player base. There are too many egos and ambitions in the elven community to relegate it to one, single territory. Everyone wants to be a prince, lord or high prince.

A multitude of reasons can be given, but it always comes down to one key factor when elves split apart: control.

3 hours ago, DragonofTaters said:

To add on to what OhDeerLord said, there was a group in Elvenesse earlier this map. It didn't get along with the politics that went down. Druids, no matter how they might try, never end up mixing well with whatever nation they've hunkered down it. The same was seen in Arcas, and Atlas with the Naelurir. There's a reason the druid group left the city and moved out on their own. The Father Circle started up the Vale of Nevaehlen because of that struggle. It doesn't work out well irp or oocly, and for the sake of players and characters, the druids try their best to remain a separate entity from nations.

I would like to clarify something important here.

The Father Circle was not pushed out by the ruling class of Elvenesse; the Father Circle was the ruling class of Elvenesse. If what was said is to be believed, the druids left Elvenesse to form the Vale because of the in-character and out-of-character dispute between them and a small sect of the Elvenesse community at the time. Ironically enough, this same group — consisting of elves like Sonna, Laltyl, Lya and Rylleah — soon left the nation, too, to join communities like Elysium and Vortice.

At the time of the split, the Father Circle held council positions and were the direct overseers of the nation. I also do not think there was any bad blood between council members like Kalehart, WestCarolina, Bhased, RainbowRoad1234 and the others.

It was at this time, too, that the snow elves moved on to their new settlement and the Almenodrim left Elvenesse due to being overshadowed in culture and direct power. Those that were left behind were primarily elves who did not fit into any of the communities that sought to exodus. I thought it was an important clarification to add.

I would like to say a few things.

Void, I absolutely understand why you are frustrated. Magic on Lord of the Craft is incredibly difficult to obtain. I was a member of the elven/druid community for nearly four years before I pursued becoming a druid. It took me a handful of months before I found someone who was willing to train me. It was a good experience, but I know it is not the experience that a lot of new players have.

Despite my understand, this post is not the way to go about it.

I have had awful experiences with druids on personal levels. Something happened earlier this year that nearly pushed me to leaving the server entirely; something so unabashedly toxic was said to me by a druid player that, at first, seemed to be entirely my fault. After careful thought, it was not. I spoke to a very close friend about it and decided that it was better to move on from the situation entirely.

I think that is what you have to do now, too. Move on.

Cliques on this server are rampant. Even our group is a cult of personality right now. Groups can do some terrible things because they feel empowered to since they have people backing them up. I am certain I have done it before, too. The best way to fix this problem is to move past it. Groups that do what you are saying do not last long, anyway. I would also argue that only a handful of druids currently propagate this trend. @NomadGaia, @Keefy and @Luciloo come to mind as role models to me in inclusive, engaging roleplay.

tl;dr — I get it, but no.

1 hour ago, Caelria said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

... Elvenesse to be one of the few successes of the staff for the general server this year.

 

1 hour ago, Caelria said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

New media has not been released by the team, but rather by players like Zilldude...

Outside of specially garnered content (ST and player ran alike), I have not been impressed. I have enjoyed conflict that has been primarily RP-based, like small proxy wars and faction conflict; however, the raids from a few months ago that had little-to-no purpose other than PVP banditry have soured my taste. I'm disappointed to see it returning. I have not been affected by its return yet. I am thankful for that.

Overall, a 5/10.

Across the realm, an elven prince would be sat at the edge of a cliff. His long, red robes would billow in the breeze. His thumb gently wipes across the wilted, red petal that had been gifted to him long ago. It no longer carried the familiar presence of his marhaelun, but he kept it nearby just the same. "Ame nae evareh, marhaelun."

Amaesil frowns at their loss, but soon nods. "You know, I think Haelun'or needed this win more this week."

Prince Amaesil frowns as he reads the missive. He shakes his head before — as is law — he throws the missive into the flames behind his table. "I recall the might of Haelun'or during the First Tribute War," the elf says to nobody in particular. "They used that zenith to make enemies and break faith with their own kin. Ando Alur flourished, but it soon crashed into the ground and tainted the world beyond repair. Now their only popular vassal is being evicted after crawling back from the ashes of their past failure. Not even I, standing at the edge of annihilation, could understand the fear and confusion they must feel right now. I pray they recover and better themselves.

This history of the sport is...

Amaesil fondly remembers his best moment from the match.

8 minutes ago, Skraag said:

Some communities don’t get as much attention from ET as others do, regardless of Activity. I don’t know the inner workings of the Azdromoth event, nor is this intended as a shot against Elvenesse (Hi Wan!) but plenty of people in the Orc community, myself included, Gripe about how despite consistently beating Elves in activity for who knows how long now they get a world class event and we can’t even get someone around for a hunt.

 

This basketball event has really put the wind back in my sails and renewed my love of player driven events. Even if it’s just a simulation, Orcs got included, hell! Everyone got included! And who cracked down on it? Right. . .The people dropping the ball. Pun intended. 
 

Tl;dr: Orcs kinda get the shaft from et, so we do a lot of player events to keep our spirits (kek) up. A lot of us really appreciate being included in the basketball trend.

As one of the Elvenesse leaders, I can assure you that we have the same issue with the ST. The big event we had was something we have been planning for months, and we have been (until recently) subsisting entirely off of player-run content. I have run 30+ events in the past few months myself. The ST have been noticeably vacant from our community, too: from when we had 8% server activity, to 1%, to our current 3%.

2 hours ago, ScreamingDingo said:

I ******* wish people put this effort into actually making productive roleplay than I've seen accumulated over a basketball set of threads.

I just wanna ball. :(

The Prince of Elvenesse reads the missive while resting in his temporary home. The medics had just departed after changing his bandages. They left this missive behind for him to read, but it brought him little comfort. The prince writes up a small response and sends it northward.

Prince Vytrek.

You speak wisely. You offer words that describe everything that I know and understand, but am too young to express. My people are small and scattered, but we will always be the masters of our own destiny. I pray the other elves of Almaris come to share this sentiment.

Prince Amaesil Vuln'miruel reads the missive with a frown. He folds the letter and places it down on the table's edge. "Send condolences to the high elves," he says toward a nearby Warden. "Whatever treachery and kinslaying Haelun'or is guilty of, the man was an elf. He deserves this much."

LETTERS SCRAWLED WITH PIG FECES AND BLOOD ARE FOUND SCATTERED TO THE CORNERS OF URGUAN. ATTATCHED TO EACH IS A SINGLE STRAND OF RED HAIR — DWARVEN BEARD HAIR. THE LETTERS READ AS FOLLOWS:

DWARF-MEN!

WE HAVE MADE A SILLY MAN WRITE THIS FOR US! WE ARE NAPO NAPY NAPOKUE THE FLABBY-GUTTED AND RASHI THE GROTESQUE GORGTESQUE! WE HAVE YOUR BEARD, AND THE DWARF-MAN CRIED LIKE A CUB! WE LAUGH AND TAKE MORE!

WE WILL CLAIM ALL BEARDS FOR OURSELVES AND WEAR THEM ON OUR SHOULDERS. WE WILL STORM YOUR CITIES AND STEAL YOUR CHINS! COME-COME IF YOU DARE, BUT YOU NOW FACE THE WRATH OF...

NAPOKUE THE DWARFBEARD-TAKER!