Delmodan

Thank god

What pokemon am I?

I feel like this is punishing those that have to take a hiatus or are gone for several days and can't maintain thier voting. Not to mention those with schooling and irl jobs to focus on. More chore than enjoyment.

As if my sickness wasn't already making me suffer enough. Now I'm blind.

If our Druids never met, what do you think Haraven would have turned into or become?

What pokemon am I

I definitely like this rewrite. There is one major thing I really want to see however and that's a section defining what types of corruption effect Azdrazi, how does it effect them, are there physical/mental changes, what happens if it's not removed, how is it removed, etc etc etc. Corruption is always mentioned in each rewrite but never truly defined and it's confusing beyond measure on what actually is considered corruption. Another question, how does thanium effect Azdrazi? Other than that, I can't think of anything as it's way early in the morning.

I was worried it would mimic paladins and thier abilities when I first saw this, however it really doesn't and fills in something nice for another holy magic. Well done

This would definitely make more sense to me than just specifically stating one color. As I said, it was just one color instead of them all that I found odd. Love you benbo ❤️

@Wretched I think you are misunderstanding what some are saying. Lore wise of a kha not being born with white fur is really completely fine and understandable. There's nothing wrong with that. What many are saying here is that forcing a statement of 'you can't even dye fur the specific color white' is a bit in and of itself just flat unrealistic. Will ones ever do that? Probably not, but that's really for a character to ICly decide than placed in a lore redline. If some kha wants to constantly dye thier fur, that's on them and they have to deal with the consequences of their actions. Especially, as many point out here, it's not exactly a good thing to dye one's fur all the time without some negative effects going on. But when you look at this as well, it's odd even declaring one specific color at all when it should be really all colors and dyes in general if you want to step in that area. That's really where I'm at least coming from. It just seems odd to me. And something that ICly people would handle.

Thank God. Good kha lore. My only thing is the firm 'no kha can dye thier fur white'. As if that's a pure lore restriction when it shouldn't be what so ever. Aesthetic changes like that aren't ever held or restricted in such a manner when it wouldn't make sense. What's exactly preventing say someone dumping white paint or force dyeing a kha white? I would find it odd that it just magically wouldn't work. The redline in question be best stated as if any kha attempts such, they be most likely shunned or killed given the cultural significance behind it. Rather than just saying it's not possible at all.

Druidism Guide “Insanity and Chaos in an eternal struggle with Harmony and Serenity, with us stuck in the middle. This is our path.” ~ Lillith, The Sequoia Druid This guide will attempt to simplify a lot of the complicated things which Druid lore introduces, so that Druid players, staff and those potentially on the receiving end of Druidism can better understand. Primarily this is to inform your roleplay, so that you feel more confident emoting how the magic works and knowing where the boundaries are, so that you don’t have to worry about accidentally slipping into powergaming territory. We’ll go through each ability with an emote guide, while giving some example emotes, and then some tips on how best to use that ability. This will cover all subtypes and feats. As a general rule, it takes six months to reach T5 in a subtype and progression is not possible without lessons; this means you cannot go on hiatus after two lessons and return a year later as a T5 Druid. Once you reach T4 in a subtype and have held an MA in it for four months, you may create a TA with the exception of Shapeshifting, which has an additional requirement. FAQs What magics are compatible with Druidism? Please see the Hub Page for an updated list of compatible magics and incompatible CA creatures. How many slots does Druidism take up? When you’re Attuned successfully, you acquire Communion as the ‘base’ of all Druidism. Communion takes up two slots on its own. Blight Healing takes up one slot; Shapeshifting takes up one slot. If you acquire all Druidic subtypes, this will consume all four of your magic slots. This enables you to make some important decisions about what magics your Druid focuses on. They can specialise in Druidism, or diversify a bit and invest in other areas. What’s my maximum range for Communing? At T1 it’s 1 metres/blocks around the Druid; at T2 it’s 3 metres/blocks; at T3 it’s 6 metres/blocks; at T4 it’s 10 metres/blocks; and at T5 you can passively Commune 15 metres/blocks around, and actively reach no more than 30 metres/blocks. However map-wide and event broadcasts etc. can be perceived regardless. Why are some abilities marked as [Combat] and [Non-Combat]? Abilities marked with [Combat] are merely allowed to be used during a combat encounter, or have some combat application. Abilities marked as [Non-Combat] are unable to be used during a combat encounter, and probably wouldn’t have much use in such circumstances anyway. Lots of these abilities require many emotes to get a spell off, why is that? Druidism is not a combat magic, its purpose is not to rapidly subdue opponents, but to assist nature. Druids are still perfectly capable of becoming proficient in martial weapons to attack an opponent, and often that is a better solution than resorting to using magic. Can I call a swarm of bees, wasps or even ants to attack someone? Yes you can, but only ten or fewer bees, wasps etc. may be guided by the Druid at once. There should be a beehive, nest etc. nearby when attempting to do so too. It’s worth noting however that ten wasps stinging you, or ten fire ants crawling into clothes, still makes for a good distraction. When should I roleplay my abilities failing? It’s very easy to just tell you to /roll 20 and decide success versus failure from there, but sometimes RNGesus smiles upon you when you as a Druid should be struggling. Consider your tier and the magnitude of what you’re trying to make happen; if you’re a very young Druid nature doesn’t necessarily trust you just yet, you may need to convince nature that you have its best interests at heart. Can I sweep my greatsword over my head, while binding someone with roots? No, you cannot. Although Communing doesn’t render you statue-still, it requires too much concentration to perform for the Druid to be able to attack at the same time. You may however move to evade an attack, or raise a shield. If I see a Shapeshifter in animal form, but never at the same time as their Druid, or see them acting very docile or friendly, can I assume they’re a Shapeshifter iRP? No. This is essentially metagaming with extra steps, where your character is using wild leaps of logic to come to the conclusion you are OOCly aware of. A Druid is using Communion abilities to root my legs to the ground, can I burn the roots? Yes, however any roots a Druid can use in this way are alive. Living flora is much harder to burn than the dry wood you use to make a campfire, so you need three solid emotes of continuous exposure to flame, to render the roots inoperable. Can I cut roots or vines with weapons? Yes, but a sword will take significantly longer to hack through them than a hatchet, because it’s not meant to cleave through wood. You will also likely ruin your sword by trying to cut through tree branches with it. Axes or poleaxes would fare better than a blade, but it would take several emotes nonetheless. How can I counter a Druid? Druids can be forced to break off their Communion by pain or even severe disorientation. Both knocking a Druid off their feet, or hitting them in the head with a fist-sized rock, will force them to break off their connection. If you have some manner of corruptive magic you’re using to spread blight, it may also cause enough screaming through Communion to disorient a Druid. Exhaustion Druidic abilities may not be cast indefinitely, as the Druid must essentially use their own energy to feed plant growth, or to ‘power’ plant life so that it may be moved as with the ability Surge. This leads the Druid to expend themselves depending upon the abilities used, and a Druid will find themselves suffering from extreme exhaustion from time to time, even if they have carefully paced their use of abilities. Some unofficial guides for combat have suggested that casters should use no more than three Tier 5 spells or abilities within a single combat encounter, but in Druidism Entling Summoning is our only T5 combat ability, and we can only summon a single Entling at a time. Otherwise using two or three T4 spells, no more than four T3 spells, and fewer than seven T2 spells is recommended within a single combat encounter. At Tier 5 you have passive Communion anyway, but a Tier 4 Druid using Communion is practically inconsequential in terms of exhaustion. Exhaustion does not necessarily refer to physical, bodily exhaustion, as if you’ve just run a marathon. It is the lack of Druidic energy within the Druid. Your character may well fall to their knees, breathing heavily or wheezing, they may pass out altogether, they may be wracked with internal agony, or even all of the above. The important thing to remember is that when exhausted, the Druid is unable to use any further abilities without risking death to themselves, and should not be attempted in a combat encounter. As a Druid progresses through tiers, they are more efficient with their energies and this is conveyed in the fewer emotes required to perform the same abilities while at a higher tier. It’s also worth remembering that you don’t suddenly become exhausted. Your Druid isn’t suddenly hit with a wall, spending energy is a process and as you use more abilities you grow more tired. Often Druids emote the strain of their Gifts as visible through sweating or clenching their jaw, or their shoulders beginning to sag. This is good, because it conveys to those around you that your character is growing weary, meaning they can then make the choice to help or even take advantage of your exhaustion. After combat concludes your energy will replenish over an IRL hour, but further combat encounters pause this timer, so you cannot stall combat until your hour is up and your energy is fully replenished. Once exhausted, your Druid requires rest and recuperation. Sleeping, having a meal and drinking will help to alleviate symptoms of exhaustion, but do not expedite recovery. Some Druids just pass out and wake up an hour later, while others will stagger around leaning on their staff for support, some will meditate in a Fae Ring, it’s up to you really. While this exhaustion system is for the main magic of Druidism, a different one was created for the currently accepted Blight Healing lore. Make sure to read such at the link below near the end of this Guide for more details. Communion "Simply hearing the voices isn't what makes us what we are. To truly understand is to fall into the endless majesty of our very gifts to find the truth of the world." ~Revian, the Fawn Druid Communion is the trunk of a Druid’s Gifts, it grants the largest pool of abilities to the Druid, while letting them branch out later into other useful subtypes with further utility. Communion replaces “Communion and Control,” for a few reasons. “Control” was taught alongside “Communion” and often more like an extension of the latter rather than a ‘type’ of its own, and was rarely referred to in roleplay. The term “Control” also implied that the Druid bends nature to their will, which is not the case and gave people the wrong impression or attitude about how the magic functions. So in this iteration, “Control” has been collapsed into Communion, but Druids still have the same abilities as before. Remember that if you have not been taught an ability, you may not use it even if you are of the appropriate tier. Teachers: You’ll find that abilities are arranged so that after introducing a student to the Communion ability, they will be able to practice it for a week or two, before progressing to tier 2 and are thus able to be taught Tuning or Growth. At tier 3, the student will be able to practice with Beastspeak and Surge for a few months, before progressing. This means your student gets practice so they can be confident in how to use the magic, and means that you have a clearer lesson plan for their progression. Communion Tier 1 required to be taught [Combat] After a Druid is Attuned, they have a continuous ‘hum’ in the back of their mind. Initially this leads some young Druids to struggle with sleep, but eventually they become accustomed to it. During meditation emotes, your character is undergoing an altered state of consciousness whereby they are essentially losing themselves in this hum, which progresses to a feeling of awakening within. As the Druid crosses this precipice of awakening, they are essentially discovering a new ‘sense’ within themselves. It’s like a doorway opening in the mind, to an entirely new perspective of the world. This can be very emotional, or simply fascinating to the Druid. This grows to a true opening of this connection to the natural world. When their connection is open, the Druid is able to sense the life energy flowing around them. Often this is emoted as a ‘song,’ but one might interpret it as being able to feel the ‘pulse’ of life around them or to ‘see’ the flow of life. You might choose to determine this based on whether your character is a very visual or auditory person- if they like music, perhaps they hear nature as a song, but if they’re a painter, they might see the flow of life as a vivid ribbon of energy. This is a deeply intimate experience for the Druid, so take all the time you feel is necessary for your character to enjoy it. To use any other Druidic ability a Druid must be Communing, whether actively or passively. Tiers and Tips: Tuning T2 Required to be taught [Combat] This is essentially a dialogue between the Druid and natural life around them. Flowers, grasses and mushrooms don’t really talk however, so instead the Druid exchanges throughs, feelings and such, whilst also learning about the general makeup of the flora in question. “Tuning” refers to the “tuning into” a lone voice amidst nature’s song, picking out one person from the crowd in essence. Now that the Druid has cast Communion, they can listen to the ‘song’ of nature. From there they single out a voice to listen to and turn their attention to it, similar to how you might deliberately listen to one voice in a crowded room, whilst ignoring the general background noise. After establishing this attention, you’re then listening to what the flora is saying- it’s always polite to listen first, before speaking right? Attempting to speak back to the plant follows this. A teacher may wish for you to roll here, to help facilitate difficulty. Assuming you succeed, you can then exchange emotions, images and base thoughts with that plant. Should you fail, you may try again, although this will become progressively more draining. As you progress through tiers, you can “tune into” more voices simultaneously, such as a cluster of mushrooms or several trees within close proximity. Tiers And Tips: Growth T2 Required to be taught [Combat] Growth is a particularly potent ability, which feeds plant life with Druidic energy to facilitate faster development and visible growth. When introduced to it, you’ll probably be taught to grow a seed or two by your teacher, or perhaps to help some flowers grow from sprouts. At higher tiers you’ll be able to ask trees to grow additional limbs, or regrow roots which may have been damaged. In a combat encounter, a Druid might for instance release mushroom spores into an opponent’s face, or even to place cuttings/seeds etc. into wounds or on the person of a hostile character, and have them grow to incapacitate their attacker. In these situations, it’s important to remember that you must follow through the emotes properly and that you acknowledge how this ability is particularly straining, compared to Communing or Tuning. After casting Communing successfully, the Druid can turn their focus upon what it is they wish to grow. It might be a tree you want to grow an apple from, a seed you’re trying to grow into bluebells, or even mushroom spores you’re growing to invade an attacker’s airways. From here you begin feeding the plant life energy, during which you might be totally still with concentration, or you could move your arms in repeated motions as if guiding the energy to its destination. As you’re feeding it, you’re also requesting the flora to grow- at this point your teacher may ask you to roll to help decide the outcome. Assuming all goes well, the plant responds and begins to develop or grow rapidly. Should you fail, you may try again, although this will become progressively more draining. In the case of a tree, your following emotes might be a stubby little sprig, which gradually thickens and lengthens out into more of a branch. Leaves might open up from their buds, flowers bloom from stems and such. With the spores in an opponent’s face example, the culture of fungus is spreading into their sinuses and down the back of their throat harmlessly right now, but you should emote some manner of tell so that the other player knows how to respond. With each additional metre of growth, or further development, continue to emote the process. At this point, the fungus is developing rapidly and would begin to restrict breathing through airways, as a shortness of breath. If this continues uninterrupted the victim may begin to experience their airways closing up with fungus, eventually leading them to be unable to breathe adequately. If you intend to suffocate a foe in this way, note that suffocating takes a few further minutes/emotes to achieve and you must not have been interrupted this entire time. If a Druid cannot directly see that which they wish to grow, they may use an additional emote prior to casting Growth in order to ‘seek’ out plant life in the area of their maximum Communion range. Tiers and Tips Beastspeak T3 Required to be taught [Combat] “Beastspeak” is essentially “Tuning,” but for animals. You’re dialoguing with a natural animal, such as a bear, a ferret or even an elephant, but are restricted by that animal’s intellect. Again, it’s not always about a back and forth of words, images and raw emotion are a much more powerful and natural language sometimes. After casting Communion, you’re turning your attention upon one voice within nature, that of an animal of the Aspects or a Fae. As you concentrate, you’re establishing a connection with the creature, beginning by listening first before responding. Even if the animal doesn’t wish to speak, you can still discern its current emotional state, such as if it’s afraid, or docile. Upon attempting to reply, a teacher might ask you to roll when first learning. Assuming you’re successful, you may begin to converse with the beast. Should you fail, depending upon the emotional state of the animal, it may grow irritable or may simply ignore you and continue with its prior behaviour. If you’re attempting to calm a hostile animal, consider how quickly it can advance toward you, before you can emote pacifying it. A lion bounding after you will almost certainly be able to land an attack, before you can finish casting; if a foe arrives with an animal companion however, and you immediately cast to pacify it, while another Druid distracts the hostile character, you can successfully prevent the companion from attacking you. Should you attempt to request the assistance of your own animal companion in combat, be aware of the ST policy about combat companions. They must be no larger than a golden retriever at the time of writing. If you’re within the boundaries, then you may follow the emotes as normal, and incite the animal to attack, assuming it isn’t a naturally docile creature like a hamster. As long as your concentration is not broken, you can give additional commands such as “stop,” “return to me,” or even “go for the throat.” Tiers and Tips Surge T3 Required to be taught [Combat] Surge is essentially the closest thing a Druid has to a ‘combat ability.’ When a Druid raises roots from the soil, or causes vines to descend from overhanging branches, they’re using Surge to do this. It’s not intended for combat, but Druids still find a way to use it creatively in such scenarios. Note that tree limbs are not meant to swing like the human arm, and roots aren’t meant to strangle fleshy bodies, so too much strain upon flora you’re controlling with Surge will cause it to crack and break. Like Growth, this is one of the more strenuous abilities a Druid can perform, but as you progress in tiers it becomes more manageable. Outside of combat, you might use it to open and close the root gates of a Grove, to have a branch lift or lower you. In the case of a Druid’s work you might use it to divert roots from a blighted water source for example. After casting Communion, the Druid turns their attention to whatever it is they see to use Surge on. If a Druid cannot directly see that which they wish to manipulate, such as roots buried under soil, they may use an additional emote prior to casting Surge in order to ‘seek’ out plant life in the area of their maximum Communion range. Similarly to Tuning, the Druid has a moment of exchange with the plant/tree/etc., wherein they’re asking for assistance. If they fail, they either receive no response or a refusal of assistance. Upon success, you can begin emoting the tree branch, roots, vines etc. beginning to move, at T3 this might be a slow stirring for example. From here, you’re physically having the vines/roots/etc. moving to their target, so you have to gauge the distance and whether your target is moving. This gives an opponent a chance to back up and avoid your spell, so if you have roots moving underground, you should also telegraph this via the soil churning and groaning. Upon reaching their target, you can then begin to have roots, branches and such interact with them. Whether they’re catching someone falling, or tripping a fleeing foe. Tripping might only require a small exposure of root, so it’s a faster and easier thing to achieve, but moving to bind someone in combat requires roots or vines to begin snaking up their body slowly. Binding is difficult, because very few people will stand and monologue while you’re tying them up, but with the appropriate emotes you can attempt to keep them from moving or swinging a weapon etc., while they may attempt to break free. If you’re having a tree swipe like a whomping willow this is similarly difficult, because you’re asking a tree branch to move in an unnatural way to strike a comparatively agile target, and branches can’t reach further than their canopies. If an opponent is bound, you may then elect to begin crushing them in subsequent emotes, assuming you’re not using piddly little vines, but thicker and stronger limbs. Crushing isn’t an immediate kill. As you’re constricting the other person, it’s gradually exerting force upon their body which leads to bodily trauma, ruptured organs, snapping bones etc. Tiers and Tips Gleaning T3, requires Surge. [Non-Combat] [Ability] An early form of ungrowing, the druid provokes a growth from plants and other flora, such as trees, only to halt and tailor the burgeoning existence into a shape or form. This can be used for simply extracting seeds and saplings, to various fantastical uses such as forming arrows or tools. This has a plethora of fantasy potential but cannot be used in combat due to the detail and level of coordination between the druid and the flora being used. I.E. A tree doesn’t know how a bow is shaped, so the druid will have to consistently commune what shape to provide during the entire process. Smaller scale requests will be easier to handle, while larger scale creations will leave the druid tired and tapped out obviously. As the druid grows older and more capable, the ease and distance from which this can be done, and time it takes to make objects, will greatly reduce. This range increase, however, still cannot permit combat usage. Example: Growing a cudgel for someone from a distance. The exceptions to this are ET reliant however, if they wish to permit as much. Otherwise, in player interactions, too much would be going on to allow such. Powersharing will increase the rate of growth and reduce the strain, and any AOE effects from other magics and lore will have the expected effects. (Smoggers smoke, Mysticism deadbreath, etc) The created items will also only be alive for a short period of time. If this period wishes to be increased, Awakening will have to be performed and a ST signature acquired. Abuse of this will cause this to lose any green sign perks. Emotes and Tips Powersharing T3 Required to be taught [Combat] [Ability] + [Enchantment] This is a very powerful ability when used in the right circumstances. Many Druids will be familiar with the concept of sharing their energy with each other to bolster the strength of a Druid blight healing or using other abilities. With this iteration of Druidism however, there are additional aesthetics available for players to enjoy. Outside of combat, using Powersharing divides the strain and exhaustion of casting Druidic abilities between the ‘active’ Druid, i.e. the Druid casting blight healing or other such abilities, and the Powersharing Druids. However, Powersharing Druids must remain mostly still while casting and maintaining the ability. If they throw themselves out of the way of an incoming attack, they are forced to break their concentration and their energy dissipates from the collective pool. As such its use in a combat encounter is extremely risky and without others to protect them, will likely see Powersharing Druids attacked first to prevent them from casting. In a combat encounter, as long as a Powersharing Druid is within 15 metres/blocks and has line of sight with another Druid, the latter may draw upon the pool of energy created by Powersharing to stave off exhaustion. This translates to every additional T3 Druid Powersharing adds two emotes to the ‘active’ Druid, a T4 Druid adds four emotes and a T5 Druid adds five emotes before exhaustion begins to take its toll. In essence this means while Powersharing, a T5 Druid gives the ‘active’ Druid a free spell, or most of one, before the latter begins draining their own energy. For example: Layla is T5 and about to cast Surge to combat a bandit. Nearby, Amaryllis is T5 and begins to cast Powersharing with Nenar who is T3. Layla waits while Amaryllis and Nenar cast the three emotes to Powershare. When they finish casting she is able to cast the first five emotes of Surge without suffering exhaustion(Because Amaryllis is T5), which has roots bind the bandit. Layla can then spend a further two emotes(because Nenar is T3) to fully bind and begin crushing the bandit, before she begins to feel the strain of casting. This leaves her free to go through with crushing the bandit until he yields or begins to suffer grave injury. This is all assuming the bandit does not fight back or just immediately flee, of course. Emotes and Tips Druidic Limbs T3 Passive [Permitted in Combat] Prosthetic limbs are often underappreciated, but Druids arguably have the best prosthesis of all magics. You’ll need a Druid who knows Awakening to help create a limb, but you only need to be T3 in Communion to be fitted with one and begin learning how to use it. When first fitted, the reactions will be delayed and coordination will be lacking, so the Druid should train their mind and the limb to work in tandem for more natural movement and function. Fitting a Druidic limb is largely up to the Druids fitting it and receiving it. Traditionally there are ‘roots’ within the socket end of the prosthetic, which are forced into the stump to anchor it in place at joints and bones using the Surge ability. This is altogether not a pleasant experience, but afterward the Druid receiving the limb can Commune with it and begin to essentially ‘train’ themselves. There is no emote guide here, as this process is more freeform. It should be noted that Druidic limbs cannot feel like skin does and can only sense balance and pressure, so while you will feel someone stomping on your wooden arm, you won't be able to feel your hair for example. Additionally, the movement is somewhat awkward and never quite a perfect replacement for a real fleshy limb. You can use Growth and Surge to change your limb slightly outside of combat, but excessive alterations will destroy it, and you also cannot grow your limb into a shield or blade. Anti-magics will reduce the functionality of a Druidic limb or even stop it entirely. In combat, your limb can be destroyed by an axe in three emotes, or a sword in six, but will also ruin the sword. A Druidic prosthetic must be exposed to fire for three continuous emotes, before it will burn and char, with subsequent emotes destroying it entirely; T5 Voidal flame or Azdrazi fire will begin burning after two emotes, then destroy the limb in emotes following that. If the limb is removed from the Druid it can survive for an IRL week, before requiring Awakening again. Tips: Greensight T4 Required to be taught [Permitted in combat] This ability uses communion, building upon the Druid’s understanding of communion and tuning to develop a more advanced technique. At its core, this ability grants a Druid a form of vision dependent upon their Communion rather than their eyes, and as such is most often used by blind Druids to perceive the world. This is also initially quite strenuous, but as the Druid practices and grows in tier, it becomes more manageable. Eventually a Druid can maintain this almost effortlessly, but it requires a lot of training, which should be actively roleplayed not just ‘happen offscreen.’ It first requires the Druid to cast Communion and to begin a meditative trance. Much like before, Communion begins to map onto the Druid’s senses, which starts with their spatial-awareness, i.e. that they are aware of things beyond their ability to touch or see them, purely based upon their understanding of the distance between them and the thing in question. In essence, the Druid becomes very ‘aware’ of the nature around them at this point. Progressing Communion to sight, because the Druid is blind(or blindfolded/otherwise unable to see currently), this creates a map within the mind where nature is highlighted. Some may choose to convey this as an empty darkness, where natural life glows a soft white or emerald, but such is ultimately flavour. The important thing to remember is that a Druid can only see natural life, so in a barren wasteland they can perceive nothing, but in a Grove they have a much more filled-in picture of the world. People cannot be perceived in this way. The Druid does at least have 180-degree vertical and horizontal ‘field of view,’ but cannot see behind themselves. It’s not perfect, but to the blind it’s a huge step toward sightedness. Tiers and Tips: Empathy T4 Required to be taught [Non-Combat] When a Druid causes the nature around them to shift with their emotions, this is called Empathy. An Elder might well cause ‘the voices’ to grow terse with their frustration, or one might lull nature into a woeful melody with their own sadness. In doing so, animals, other Druids and Fae are able to feel this and may act in response. This is another flavour ability which helps to build your character’s connection with nature. It’s not particularly strenuous, and a Druid may even find themselves casting it on instinct without even realising. You cannot however, manipulate the emotions of other characters with this ability. While Communing, the Druid may consciously or subconsciously cause the energies within them to swell like water or ignite like a flame. As the water swirls or flames grow, they’re allowing this emotion to spread through their body to really embrace it and overtake them. Grief and sorrow, anger and hurt, or joy and delight, the Druid is almost overwhelmed with feeling. This then tips over into their Communion as their feelings and casting become one, then eventually spreads out around them in an aura. This aura might start within their personal space as the emotions they’re feeling, gradually pushing outward, like a wave others can feel wash over them. Alternatively it may continuously push outward to gradually change the song around them, such that others can feel the shifting of nature’s song. Ultimately it’s up to you how you feel is most aesthetically pleasing, as this ability is primarily for flavour. Tiers and Tips: Singing T4 Required to be taught [Non-Combat] [Ability] + [Enchantment] Some Druids prefer relative quiet, or even silence, while others may seek to stir nature to a tense alertness should a Grove be under attack, or lull it to peace after being disturbed by unnatural magic. Similar to how Empathy is performed, Singing takes this further by the Druid building up natural energies within themselves before releasing it into the surrounding area, to bring the song of nature back into Balance. While Communing, the Druid may consciously or subconsciously cause the energies within them to swell. As the energy grows, they call upon the surrounding nature to stir to a state of excitement, peace, silence, suspense etc. This swell of energy is then spent to achieve this, to spread the ‘song’ outward in an aura. This aura might start within their personal space, bleeding off from the Druid, gradually pushing outward, like a wave others can feel wash over them. Alternatively it may continuously push outward to gradually change the song around them, such that others can feel the shifting of nature’s song. Tiers and Tips: Ungrowing T4 Required to be taught [Non-Combat] For a long time, Ungrowing wasn’t specifically mentioned in lore, but it was something Druids roleplayed nonetheless. It is ultimately the reversing of growth or ‘shrinking’ of flora, for example turning a mature tree into a sapling so that it can be transported. Ungrowing is often used in this way to shrink rare plants into seeds to be taken to a new continent during map transition. Another interesting use is to have trees prune themselves, essentially ungrowing branches at specific points to severe them. When used in conjunction with Growth however, it becomes a way for Druids to grow wood from a tree and shape it as if clay, before then removing it harmlessly. After casting Communion, the Druid focuses upon that which they wish to ungrow. From there you establish a connection, during which you’re requesting permission for the tree to cooperate. If it agrees, which at tier 4 is unlikely to fail, you’re expending your own energy to assist the plant in undergoing reversed growth and development. Petals and leaves fold inward, sprigs retract into branches, boughs slim down and the trunk shortens. This is three times more exhausting than Growth is, so take this into consideration when deciding what to Ungrow, how to roleplay the strain during casting, but also the exhaustion afterward. Tiers and Tips: Luonto T5 Passive [Non-Combat] Upon years of training and honing the manipulation of the mists into the forms that individual druids come about casting them, be it fissures in the air, tears that spread ripples of healing amongst the ground, faux-flames that purify and enrich the land, the time spent manifests in which the excess presents itself into a familiar to help aid oneself with their work and duties. Much like achieving the highest tier of basic druidism causes a permanent connection to the hum of nature in the form of passive communion, the Luonto can be seen as yet another form of this connection. By taking from the excess and unusable energy that comes from the druid, an ethereal animal will follow the druid, a piece of themselves to help focus their gifts more accurately. Let it be known, however, that despite appearances, the Luonto and Druid are of the same. A Luonto is not able to expand the senses of the druid. They are simply a form of their connection to nature showing itself, a symbol of their soul and work put forth into nature. While a Luonto may travel and frolic within range of the druid, this is wholly a behavior dependent on the disposition of the Druid. A friendly druid may present a friendly Luonto, while a taciturn one may be still and calm. Being part of the druid, the Luonto can retreat in and out of their Druid at a whim, especially if the Druid is tapped out and no longer has the energy to do anything beyond the most basic, passive communion. There inside the druid it will rest until they are well again, and come forth if the druid is willing. Tips: Entling Creation T5 Required to be taught [Combat] [Independent Summon] Summoning Entlings is an ability Druids have been able to use for a while, but it’s not taught by many so it’s underutilised. This works as an ‘independent summon,’ which means the Entling may act at the same time as the Druid, so you can fight alongside the Entling or the Entling can attack while you use Gifts. However, you can only create one for the purposes of serving the Aspects, or aiding nature. You decide their exact purpose during their creation process, but it can’t be to do mindless busywork like moving house or piggybacking you somewhere. Acceptable uses are to protect you while healing blight, or to fight against a hostile force etc. It must remain within #rp distance during a combat encounter, but events fall to the ETs discretion. After casting Communion, the Druid turns their attention upon a sufficiently-sized mature tree as if using Tuning with it. From there, you essentially request it to assist you in growing an Entling- if the spell is going to fail, it will most likely happen here. Upon success, the trunk begins to shift like stiff clay and the Druid guides the wood to begin growing the body of the Entling. Legs comes next, then the arms and head, which you should be describing the formation of. Finally the Entling climbs out of the tree’s trunk and steps down to await instruction from the Druid. Emotes, Range, And Tips: Druidic Infusion T5 Required to be taught, also requires “Powersharing” [Non-Combat] [Enchanting] Infusion is a Druid’s version of enchanting, which works by using abilities the Druid knows as the basis for an enchantment, like a set of instructions, but also functions as the means for MArt creation. If prior to the recent submission you Awakened a staff or created a MArt, you are considered to possess this ability. Infusion works on objects created from natural materials, such as stone, wood, crystal or other precious stones, a Kuila crystal, bone, hide or similar can be Infused. Mage Gold, Thanhium and Ruibrium are not able to bear Infusions, and Infusions cannot be placed upon anything which bears enchantments from other magics. These objects cannot be assembled while casting Infusion. If you wish to Infuse a wooden sculpture for instance, you must create the sculpture first, then Infuse it. “.. the Druid must take their craft to somewhere untouched by civilisation, such as a Grove, Fae Ring, Attunement Pool or other deep place of the wilds. Arranging the object before them, the Druid then begins to Commune deeply with nature and calls forth the pool of energy within themselves. This is impossible for a Druid without knowledge of Powersharing. At least four(4) multi-line emotes are required for the Infusion process; the first begins with Communing, the second begins to concentrate upon the Druid’s energy, allowing it to swell and build inside them; the third violently expels the energy at the object to create a ‘pattern’ within, which stores the enchantment, the fourth completes the process, exhausting the Druid.” This is impossible during combat, and makes you very vulnerable, so it’s not advised to use Infusion when you’re not safe. Within the Fae Ring of a Grove is ideal. After creating an Infusion, you’ll be exhausted for 3 IRL days and may not use Infusion Spells found in the Nature Infusion Subsection. Infusion FAQS What enchantments can I use? If you know an ability and it’s marked as [Enchantment], then you can use its corresponding enchantment in an Infusion. Communion offers two enchantments, Singing and Powersharing, Transcendence offers Wind Chimes and Fairy Fire, while Blight Healing gives you an additional five enchantments. What are active and passive Infusions? Passive Infusions are continuous, for example the reservoir of energy in a Powersharing enchantment is always there, it doesn’t have to be ‘switched on.’ Conversely active Infusions require some manner of trigger to move it from a dormant state to create the desired effect. Triggering active Infusions with Communion is the default, if your object has a button or switch to activate its effect, this must be indicated in its description. For example, you may Infuse a Kuila crystal with Singing to be either passive so that it always makes its surroundings peaceful and calm, or active so that it creates this effect when you trigger it via Communion. Do enchantments run out or need recharging? Enchantments may be used once per combat encounter, after which they take three IRL hours outside of combat to recharge fully. No recharging emotes or dates placed in the description are needed. As long as the enchanted object is upon a Druid’s person for three OOC hours, it recharges passively from the Druid’s energy. The only exceptions to this are Awakened objects, which have their own rules in Blight Healing lore and the Wind Chimes and Fairy Fire, which have their own set of rules found in Transcendence. Do I have to use Infusion to Awaken now? Yes, Awakening lore was a little vague previously. It’s now considered a standalone enchantment you can be taught by a Blight Healing teacher who also knows it. If you were taught Awakening previously you automatically gain that enchantment and may use it in an Infusion. Do I need Blight Healing to use the Fertilisering or Cleansing enchantments? Yes. You also need to be taught those abilities by your teacher. Can non-Druids use Infused objects? In the hands of non-Druids Infusions don’t recharge, and they cannot Commune to activate the effects, so their functionality is drastically reduced. Non-Druids cannot use an Awakened object at all. Current Infusions Singing Trees Requires Tier 5 Requires “Powersharing” and "Infusion" [Non-Combat] Description: Through the power of Druidic Infusion and Communion, the ancient art of storing memories, legends, and secrets amongst the trees long lost now has been rediscovered once more. These kulia crystal trees radiate in the sun and moonlight, whispering tales of history long past, words never spoken, and secrets that have been hidden through the endless walks of time. Those that wish to experience such a marvel will feel the presence of ones that left such memories behind, feeling as if they were there speaking through it with the wisdom and stories lost to history. Mechanics: The process of creating a Singing Tree takes time and focus, with a minimum of six (6) uninterrupted multi-line emotes being used in the creation process. A seed of any natural tree is placed on the ground with kulia crystals of the druid’s choice surrounding it in a circular pattern. The combination of the moonlight and the Druid’s energies pouring into the crystals and seeds creates a catalyst to where the tree is grown and infused together to form crystallized leaves of the kulia’s color. The tree itself will fully grow at a minimum of six meters high (6 blocks). Once fully formed, these trees can only be fully navigated by using an index, or power sharing with someone who has access to an index. Sing Tree FAQS How does someone teach Singing Trees? How one spreads this gift can be several ways. You can oversee someone creating one or lead a group ritual to perform one all together. As long as the other requirements are met and the ability explained thoroughly throughout the process, then the person has learned it. Just make sure the one who taught it has a valid Communion TA and confirmed they taught the ability. What do we use Singing Trees for? A variety of things! Just use your imagination. Some examples can be a personal diary/recording of a Druid's life, a ritualistic tree for a group of druids that has 'visions' or say tenants of the certain path they follow, a memorial for someone that has departed, a ceremony and sacred memory bank for the group's culture and religion practices. This and so much more! It's whatever you think of that falls within the guidelines of this ability. Do we have to make a new tree every time someone wants to learn this? Yes and no. You definitely do make a new tree for this to be passed on, however you can just ungrow/destroy the tree once it's created. Keep in mind that you can only have 1 Singing tree per Druid. Community effort to create one tree only counts on the Druid that lead the ritual. That would be their tree. Singing Tree Index: Weaknesses: Redlines: Attunement & Unattunement “I've yet to meet an 'ame whose downfall has come at the hands of the Aspects. Rather, such an unfortunate end is a result of one's own action and straying from a path of faith.” ~ Lyemar, the Red Panda Druid Attunement and Unattunement are largely unchanged, so older Druids will be able to continue what they’ve been doing for a while, but hopefully newer Druids and Dedicants being Attuned will get some benefit from this. Attunement T4 Required to be taught, must also know ‘Powersharing’, and possess a TA [Non-Combat] [Connection] Attunement is how a character is connected to Druidism. It’s not possible during a combat encounter, and in fact if combat were to break out during an Attunement, it poses imminent danger to the teacher and the Dedicant. What has changed from past iterations of Druidism, is that you cannot Attune students willy-nilly anymore, and must put them through a form of Dedicancy prior to Attunement. If not, it will fail and the would-be student suffers from repercussions like migraines, sensory hallucinations and sensitivity to light and sound, similar to standing within a Fae Ring. This will also happen if someone attempts to Attune a character with an existing deity connection, such as a Paladin or a Shaman, though there is an exception if a Druid becomes a Templar. What qualifies as a Dedicancy to meet this requirement? The ‘Dedicant’ must undergo between six(6) and twelve(12) trials, tasks and lessons over a period of no fewer than two irl weeks. This should not be rushed, poor effort roleplay, but instead a thorough enjoyable experience which offers development, with a focus upon preparing the Dedicant for the life and responsibilities of a Druid. You do not need to possess a ‘Guide’ rank in any Druidic Circle to do this. What if I want to be a villainous Druid? You can teach your student to adopt the same perspective or beliefs as your Druid. So if your Druid believes Descendants should be killed to preserve nature for example, you can teach this to your student through tasks and lessons and it qualifies just fine. Just because your Druid teaches a specific perspective upon how a Druid should be, does not disqualify the Dedicancy. What you can’t do is just Attune characters at random to antagonise other Druids, that’s poor villainy and an abuse of your TA. The roleplay of Attunement has the Dedicant undergo an altered state of consciousness, whereby they experience a dream-like vision or series of visions. These are essentially ‘tests’ they must overcome in order to emerge triumphant and Attuned. Traditionally these visions consist of the Dedicant’s worst fear, greatest hope and their Totem, and are often steeped in allegory and surrealism to emphasise their mysterious nature. A teacher emotes these visions for their student, helping to facilitate an enriching roleplay narrative to challenge the Dedicant. How this begins is largely flavour and there are no emote guides here, to allow you a freeform of roleplay. Common ways to begin this process are for the teacher to Commune and meditate deeply, then touch the surface of the Attunement Pool(assuming one is using water) with their staff or part of their body. Although one may heavily imply the Aspects are present during visions, they are unable to actually have the Aspects intervene with the Attunement in any way. This is a player-event of sorts between the teacher and student. OOC communication with each other is important here so that the vision details can have the most memorable experience that really hits upon the student’s character. It is also of note that the student can never just suddenly realize the visions aren't real, although the illusion may be broken. The dangers of doing such within the visions however, can lead to it suddenly shifting to more intense experiences or even harm befalling the student in the form of the mind such as phantom spasms of limbs, illusions, shock etc. One must have a TA in Communion and have been taught Powersharing and Attunement in order to perform it. To apply for a TA in Communion one must reach T4 and hold an MA for three months. They must also possess at least six of eleven Communion abilities. Unattunement T4, TA and Attunement required to be taught [Feat] [Disconnection] Unattunement is essentially Druidic disconnection. It requires three Druids to perform, all of whom must have a TA in Communion and the Attunement ability, additionally one of the trio must have a Feat MA in Unattunement. Unlike other deity magics, disconnection does not require the breaking of tenets to perform and anyone may be disconnected as long as it is not proven to be OOCly motivated, e.g. part of a pattern of harassment or bullying of the player, or IRL spite. Also unlike other deity magics however, a Druid may be Attuned once again after their first disconnection. This process is brutal and agonising in how it rips the connection from a Druid’s soul. To begin, all three Druids must circle around the one that is to be Unattuned. The Druid must not move much or needs to be bound so that the process isn’t disrupted. It is then that the leading Druid begins their chant, causing a variety of aesthetic effects ranging from a strange glow within their eyes to an array of screams and shouts echoing from the melodies of nature itself. The flora and fauna could also take note of this ability occurring by the violent rustling of branches or animals fleeing the area immediately as if sensing danger. During this, the two aiding are Powersharing their energies into the leading Druid, enabling them to have enough energy to sever the connection. Once this is done, the lead Druid then either uses their hand or staff to break it from the Unattuned. The staff generally is swept across as if a slashing motion, while the hand reaches within the Druid to take hold of the soul then severs the bond. Others have stood and chanted along with the lead Druid to create a vortex effect that then silences the area within the circle where the Unattuned stands, others simply follow along to what they knew before. After this happens, the now Unattuned Druid may either fall asleep from the effects then awaken later, suddenly become panicked at the silence, or immediately experience a disoriented effect of complete and utter shock. Whatever the case, it is then when the aftereffects are applied which also depend upon that Druid’s tier at the time they were Unattuned. Tips: Mani Summoning T5 Required in Communion and Blight Healing [Non-Combat] [ST-facilitated event ritual] [Enchantment] Mani Summoning was utilized by Druids during the September Prince eventline, to summon Amaethon Prince of the Cervidae, for guidance. There are also legends among Wood Elves, which involve the summoning of a Mani for assistance. So there are both recent and historical instances of Mani being sought out by Descendants for one reason or another. Through this ability, you may summon a Mani of your choosing in a ghostly form, to receive guidance or otherwise hold a dialogue with the Wild Prince. However, there are several dangers present in doing this; if one should not present the right offerings, or choose the wrong place in which to summon them, the Mani may feel insulted enough to instead attack the Druid and their party, or other creatures may instead respond. A Druid should research the in question Mani first, to minimize the chances for a combat encounter. There is always a chance that the summoning will go awry. This ability outlines how to perform the ritual, and also functions as the enchantment a Druid places upon an idol, which acts as a beacon or ‘focal point,’ which they use to attract the Mani’s attention. The enchantment must still be placed upon an appropriate object, as outlined under Druidic Infusion, and must adhere to its mechanics and redlines. Tips: Mani are illusive and mysterious, with their own goals and interests, getting their attention is a big deal. Choose the right time to seek out their guidance. Communicate with the ST to work out a date and time when it’s ideal for everyone to perform a Mani summoning. You can’t perform this ability without the ST’s help, so giving them grief isn’t going to benefit you. Other Subtypes, Feats, and Guides With the additions of other paths, feats, and abilities, other guides have been made and posted that will be linked below for people to have a quick access too. Druidic Ceremonial Rituals Blood Druidism Herblore Blight Healing Transcendence Shapeshifting

The wayward paladin stood at the edge of the railing that overlooked the majority of the paladin home known as Northgate. A note clutched within her gauntlet while her golden irises stared off towards the lowering sunset. Another she knew was now gone yet even though Elvira was never truly one of them, for some reason the former Keeper felt a deep lost as if an eternal ember had gone out somewhere. “May we meet again old friend..” she would murmur quietly, allowing several tears to gently stream down her cheeks as the last remaining sunlight would fade into the twilight of the night. It was then as the rise of the moon would cascade over the hillside, Vailoen would step back and venture back down towards the banquet hall to find the nearest source of alcohol, as she always did, to then open and wash down her usual thoughts with.

RP Name:: Vailoen Tresery MC Username: Delmodan Discord: Vailoen#2666 What Nation Are You Affliated With?: paladins Why Do You Wish To Come?: My char was there and seen/been involved of the old events. What Skills Can You Bring?: Paladin things, smithing, diplomacy, knowledge, and so on. RP Name:: The Owl Druid MC Username: Delmodan Discord: Vailoen#2666 What Nation Are You Affliated With?: Druids Why Do You Wish To Come?: For my druid, where it all began and where she was attuned. What Skills Can You Bring?: knowledge, druidism stuff, staff wacking abilities.

Hope everyone had a good weekend! @Porkgasm I do see where you are coming from, however there are some things that are something people do need to keep in mind. While you are completely right on it is the players writing it and we should help them more, when lore is posted on the server is becomes the server’s property due to the terms of use. The team is there to moderate what is accepted or not so it can be introduced into the server’s lore and implemented upon. Which is why it does fall to a harder position for us given we do have to say No or deny certain pieces over the reasons that are there. This does, in turn, can upset people. From this response though, we can try and be more communicative and helpful in those regards. Especially when lore submission verdicts. @ScubaSteveee Those are very good questions and valid concerns pointed out. I will try and answer them all. The change I offer first starts with what you see here in this thread. Concerns, issues, thoughts, suggestions, and so on. Hearing where everyone stands and sees in regards to the team and what people want changed or at least better done. I’ve been watching this thread and the stuff from there I will be taking note and getting things done for the future. Obviously, yes it is just words right now but hopefully soon the actions will be seen more and more. New minds are actually already in the process of, especially in regards to getting apps and loremags done in a more timely manner. As far as the future goes regarding lore. The announcements have been made regarding the Lore Games and its going towards its final touches. Communication definitely being key of course and we are getting this handled. Your last question is interesting to me. Mostly definitely and beyond, yes we know the term. While we do seem like we don’t do compromises on the outside, we actually do it far more than what is thought of. But that does in and of itself shows a point to make and fix. To be more transparent in that regard on compromises so it doesn’t look like we just don’t care and toss things off to the wind. @L0rdLawyer Some of your points are valid and we do need to be better at communicating and cutting down on time frames that things are being done to where it doesn’t seem like lacking off. The example you provided with the frost witches I do agree with on how poorly it was handled and no, there's not an excuse for alot of that time in regards to waiting or seeing what was going on with it. @BrandNewKitten No, I am glad on you bringing your thoughts and concerns here as this was the purpose of this thread. There were projects that were stated awhile but eventually did get put on the back burner as other things arise. How that was handled though was quite poor and pulling the community along with such but it never happening is quite massively frustrating. That is something that needs to stop. I will say however that we also like to warn the community for upcoming things like that just so it doesn’t get popped up out of the blue one day without any warning. The area regarding lore, it isn’t as cut and dry as that. When there are clear problems with a piece, we have to look at the situations and go from there on what to do. As I said before in an earlier post, while it seems like we remove things without much thought, in reality discussions happen for weeks to months. As far as what each member does, goes by daily routine, projects, and so on. We are also in the process of getting some more people so to tackle the slow process problems seen in different areas. @Quavinir_Twiceborn As I stated in an earlier post, that is something im going to be pushing for when we have to make the unfortunate decision to hard shelf creatures/magic. A story or RP post to at least give some proper means on why it is suddenly gone so it doesn’t just leave people in the dark on what to do. I will say however in regards to your suggestion with rewrites and nerfs instead of shelving outright, those affected were given that option of such. There is a multitude of things that happened depending on what situation you refer too and while some of it should be something to work on, others unfortunately we had to finally act upon and remove. Your last statement though confuses me as if that is going on, I would most definitely like to see examples of such and look into it. @B3ast_mod no food for you! :3

This Lore has been accepted. Moved to Implemented Lore, it will be sorted to it's appropriate category soon.

This Lore has been denied. The Techlock vote did not pass. Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.

Alright, I am up and about again. Hope everyone is having a good Saturday so far. @aiden0023 As current it went into Pending and some changes need to be made first. I’ll be getting in touch with Dardonas today and answer all his questions so he can proceed with this. @_Jandy_I’m not going to lie here. Yeah it flat is. Slow response times on submissions is something several have stated and it is something to definitely address. @Zacho The sub-forums should be up to date last I checked. I can give another look to see if I missed anything. We are currently in the process of dealing with the TA issue and looking to get more active people on them so they aren’t sitting as long. The pending situation is also something to address and the reason it does extend is because its more on the LT end than the lore creator’s end. As current, we do have a limit of 2 weeks to get edits done and what not. Though Pending things in and of itself has fallen through the cracks on several things and yes, we do need to work on it not happening in the future. @Abyssus I’m not going to give you hate for vending this. I get how frustrated you are and I am sorry about how you feel with it. Overall, trying to touch or really do anything in regards to lore on this server is a big and hard step to do period. It was a mess before and no matter how you tackle the problem, you will hit on someone being upset in the end. Whether by shelving, changing something, trying to organize better, etc. Now while I cannot change the past, I can try to better aid in this in the future where you feel like you did once before. @TheAlphaMoist @Boruto I do get where both of you are coming from with this. While yes, some of my members wish to speak from a player point of view or make comments in regards to some submissions, that is however not as easy to do as also someone in a staff position. Especially when you are a Story Team Member going to review the lore. I will look into the comments being better in the future, but on the other side of that coin, giving criticism (whether blunt or not) shouldn’t be frown upon or looked at poorly as if it will immediately get denied. It is made to help. As well, one person doesn’t solely decide on if a piece passes or not. It is voted upon by the Lore Sect Team as a whole. @Harold I understand how you feel, yet this comes from me with no hidden motive to insult or show someone else in a poor light. This is me as a ST Manager stepping in and reaching out to the community to see and hear the concerns, thoughts, and issues they have with what has been going on for awhile now. While we manage and handle the lore on the server, we as a team however cannot distance ourselves away from those that made the lore and the enjoyment of it possible. @LeoRabbit99 Soft-shelving is an issue in and of itself. I do get what you mean and how you feel. However, with previous things in the past regarding soft-shelving, it was made while issues regarding whatever it was was well fixed. And some things either haven’t or been stuck in a terrible limbo of just dying off because they can’t continue to build their community. Which is something I in the end, do not like seeing. Necromancy was something far more than just out right shelving it. There was months of time given for things to be fixed, communicating, internal conflicts and so on. It was upsetting for everyone. If this helps, Dardonas did just have a lore passed where it explains what happened roleplay wise. And I think it would be something to definitely pursue further in the future of getting lore posts made of what RPly happens when things get shelved. @Gloonkey No I understand completely. It is frustrating and some of the stuff has been out of our hands, whether it be pex issues, builds not getting done, etc. As current, we are trying to get builds finished and things moving along for the main storyline to get going. @Malgonious I do apologize that you were not considered back on the team. However, when decisions are made in regards to choosing who is placed on a team, there are requirements and expectations involved. This happens with every new Leader that is placed and it is their responsibility to carefully consider their choices. The merger happened because of the disarray going on in ET at the time. That was a fact within the past and it was frustrating with communication and trying to sort things out. When poor attitude or issues are brought to the attention with said Leader or the Administration in general , then unfortunately the decisions are made to cut said people from returning. I do hope it can get where you could be considered again. Until then, I wish you the best on improving.

@CaesarTheFirst But on a more serious note, the builders are being worked on by the other team and hopefully will be seeing this cleared up and builds being made soon again.

@Apostate That is very good ideas and something I will definitely think about. I would like to note that if we see people having such threads open during Interviews, we do enact warnings/punishments for it. Mainly given as one should know what they are teaching without having a handbook every step of the way. The ‘live’ section I had to actually recently halt for now as I found that with my interviewers that that was taking more time to even work out with doing TAs which added onto the process of taking longer. While I did find it interesting the few times I did it, I definitely saw that it hindered the process further. @Jenny_Bobbs I will try to answer all your questions as best I can. The critieria for formatting with lore proposals I thought was detailed out with what we want to see. Though if it helps, we could add some examples and also state a list of things that would say fall under each category. The answer to the creature with alot of magical prowess would be the playable creature format as it is abilities under said creature that they obtain when turned(or created, w/e it is). For loremags, If the verdicts are found to vague, I will definitely make sure its more detailed next time in regards to handing them out. Communication when people ask or enquire further should be worked on better with a denied piece and we managers will try better to communicate in that regard. The necromancy example is something that was more blocked with permissions on our end on finding out what happened. Something I plan on getting fixed soon as its annoying as hell really when I need to see the verdicts. I do apologize with this as I do remember you asking and I should’ve gotten it taken care of. Applications should never take so long to get reviewed. Period. I was on a sudden hiatus for almost 3 weeks and I was not pleased with seeing things sit when they most definitely should’ve easily been taken care of. It is flat unacceptable. I will be monitoring this far more closely in the future and will be looking for newer members to help with this area to keep it maintained and looked at more. As I stated prior, Interviews for TAs is massively something I’m trying to work on. If you have any suggestions regarding it like the others, that would help out greatly.

@Apostate Very good question. TAs are a very time consuming process with the longer magics taking up to either hours with an interview or several days given the timeframe between Interviewer and the person getting the TA. We wanted to move TAs towards being more looked into and see on the person having knowledge of the lore in question given the many issues that surround those that get TAs and seem to still not properly teach it. The system you are referring too is actually my idea. It’s being tested on to see how it does and I know it needs far more refining. If you have other suggestions on how to go about reducing times on interviews while making sure things are covered, that would help greatly.

@Gallic I recall the lore you speak of. I did promise it would be in a loremag and failed in that regard. That section where it was should’ve been looked at more frequently than it did, but it didn’t until i noticed it for quite some time later. Since then, we did remove those sections so it wouldn’t happen again. The lore piece and some others however I am not sure what happened in all honesty. Several times throughout the course between when you posted and now there was a few times the forums glitched and lore pieces disappeared. I had to get mods to find several, others were flat lost. I can try and get a mod to help me see if we can find it, however I do not know how much hope there is with that. @Quintessential The hard shelving of creatures is rather hard for both Team and Community. I do flat agree it should’ve been handled far better and a better way of dealing with those that lost said chars. It is a double edge sword with deciding on what to do. As we had in the past of those that returned to normal suddenly start giving away secrets or ruining groups just to get back at what they lost/turned back into. Some creatures were inactive, others unbalanced, then some that were forgotten. I would like to see some suggestions you might have in regards to when these situations arise as while shelving could happen and chances given, the creature could still fall into getting shelved and it be good to see what/how we could better the transition of such cases than what we been seeing. @SuperDuckyGamer From the outside, I do admit it really does appear like it comes up on a wim. It’s something that we need to better communicate on in regards to what creatures are looked at and why. Most creatures that were hard shelved were spoken up quite a bit and discussed. From reports of abilities overpowered to easily powergamed situations. Even more with how it relates to other creatures already there and with how it goes with the server. These do and have been spoken of for weeks to months at a time before a hard shelving does come about. While I know this doesn’t help with shelving in general, I do hope it shows that we do take some time and care into what we look to remove and that we should definitely work on relaying that better so it doesn’t seem like we just drop the ball randomly on things. @mra8ur93ss Events are something definitely spoken of alot in regards to where and why there hasn’t been many. The team merging, lost of members, changing/promoting of managers has been a long process, but now we are definitely pushing on ahead to where events will be seen more often. With lack of builders, it has hurt some, but Xarkly is working hard to get his areas done while Joel is commanding the team to get smaller events and new bounty areas up and going. Theres several bigger events going on right now with Mystery and others doing things.

Those Who Are Watching and Those Who Hear... It has been a while since such a post has been made regarding how people feel with the changes going on. Frustration, people being ignored, anger, and loss building into those that want to keep what they have built on this server and enjoy their creations. When we take on a staff position, it is something of a volunteer job that can take up a lot of time so things do not fall apart. While we are here, we take on the responsibility to give care and enjoyment for the community. Whether it be organizing forums, looking over lore, or being there ingame to help out. This is something that no matter what you are or what you do as a team, you still have to have that connection to the players so that they in turn enjoy themselves and what the server has to offer. This is something that has degraded over time. For the Lore Sect, we have done much over a year to try and fix the issues regarding lore and the mess that it was. It has been hard on everyone from creatures to magics that were there from the beginning of this server’s existence. Yet, while we did such, slowly it has lowered into frustration, rage, and sadness to see what has been done thus far. Whether by attitude, ignoring, or flat removing things, it has hurt the community while we the team have pulled away further and further from even hearing concerns and/or thoughts of the community we should care about. Some things we tried to do correctly and while there were internal conflicts going on within some communities, some of us as a team were not there as well to help with this. And for this, I apologize for my part and for my team’s part. Like all human beings, we are flawed. The team is flawed in areas and while we do watch those that have been affected, we still try to carry on for the betterment of the server. We hear the voices of those upset. Some are beyond justified on how they feel and I wish I could say something where they feel better, but at times I cannot. The flaws of the past and present we do see. The slowness of loremags, the apps sitting at times for months, or even trying to get reqs done in a timely manner. While we have made announcements of what we are doing at times, some of the stuff still doesn’t have an excuse. For us, we cannot change the past, however we can try and move forward with what we need to do in order to listen to the community more instead of distancing ourselves further and further away. It is why I made this thread for I as a Story Manager want to hear your concerns, your thoughts, your voices, and your suggestions on what you think could help with things. In this thread I want constructive criticism and what to help close that gap that has been made over the months.

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