Keefy

Art by bluerainCZ ______________________________________________________________ How odd it was that the cold gave way to solace, the man thought as he trudged the Rimevelds wilds. The snow took in the sounds beyond the crunching of his feet, and occasional echoes from far away. A quiet place. The first time alone he'd spent since his return. Still marred by what he had gone through, he began the steps of life again. The duties, the love, the family. The headache of watching mortal politics. Mortal. A word he found himself using more often. The actions of a mortal. The mistakes of a mortal. The death and life of a mortal. When did he start thinking himself different? Standing at a creek, he'd notice the trickle of red in the water. Their eyes met. The three canines feasting on a singular ungulate, a rather well build moose at that. He'd stand himself watching them. As far as they cared he was just part of the forest, part of their home, provided he didn't touch their dinner. So he watched and thought. "What do we do from here?" He'd look down from where he stood, down the hills he already trudged. To the torn city of Haense and the troll villages To the boats soon to leave. To the Beacons that costed his sister her life. "W'at do we do now, lil' Bluejay?" He'd say to himself. Art by Jordan Glimmer He descends, and walks the perimeter of the clashes. Haense and Trolls. He offered help, a sickly medic woman, with strong eyes. He offered, because the land was suffering. But so were the people. His people would say the people are also the problem, sometimes they were right. But this was him. He often didn't listen. Mortals. The word stuck to his mind as he considered the options. Considered everything. Considered what he could do and why. Why? What was the why? Why was he second guessing himself? So he stood there and thought, staring at the dead men. Dead trolls. He took in the stench of ruined crops and rotted meat. And he remembered to not think. "Start wit' the girl. T'e rest will form from t'ere" He'd announce it to noone and explain it to few as he descended the mountains. The Bluejay began his work.

Here we go boys

Hareven realizes there's going to be alot of missives in the future and is now committing to folding them all into origami and sitting them around his house.

A Dragaar in another realm remembers a certain Hound Druid killing masses of imps after being stranded in the wilds for a month, and wonders how he could have instigated such punishments in a city at the same time. Taynei shrugs and keeps doing dragon stuff. Hareven eats some berries or some ****.

Hareven screams as another elven rebellion starts to spark

Salute for our fallen soldier. You did good man. You did damn good.

Months would pass since the Last Trial of Taynei'Hiylun The Beacons glow had long since faded, and they began to crumble as structures do, claimed by the wilds. The skittering and sight of excess Fae fades, but in the shadows one would swear a strange sight could be seen. As the Order began it's familiar steps. During the night at which they might slumber. A final vision comes onto those attuned. Taynei'hiylun standing upon a mountain in her true, Dragaar form, speaking unto people. "To you all who suffered my ego. All has been done. The Chosen will find themselves with their tasks soon, and the chaos nature has been embroiled in will recede from the lands. I was told to have more faith in you. In some regards, this is true. Young ones I thought to be lazy did well. Older ones played themselves as fools. Many of you went through and proved yourselves without earning a thing. And in the end I have realized a gap has formed in my slumber. I do not understand the state of the Children anymore, so I leave emissaries on this land. To learn and grow and in return, so shall I. I may return one day, hopefully in peaceful times. But for now the gap has caused more harm than good as I pass the tools back out to those who have earned them, and I hope all learn to trust their holders. I hope the wounds I have inflicted heal, and I pray that the process makes us all stronger in the end. For We are the Aspects Children, and our Duties are endless." The Vision eases from their minds, and a sense of relief would cast onto them... For those Chosen for the Relics however... (OOC: The only players receiving this part of the vision are TheIchorDruid, Kuila, TimberBuff, Nivndil, Junoix , iMattyz, Nightcastor, Aiden/Nano, and DrususTheDumb) OOC: Relic Change Log The Stones are not boulders anymore, and are chunks of a tablet they were turned into. Each one has a unique design to them, and the weight system from before is gone. The Stone bearers cannot track down other stones. People who have been in possession of one will not be able to find others. Each Stone has Unique Effects to them now. Cernunnos: Proximity to the stone causes animals to become more stalwart, or attentive. Cerridwen: Plant life is more lush and present the longer it is around. Nemissae: Life is wary, and if plants come in direct contact with the stone, it rapidly evolves until death. The Dagger can be used to track the general location of the stones at the cost of draining life from the user. The directions will be very vague and must be done with the oversight of ST. Using this to metagame will see the removal of the item. Excessive use will cause effects that are in line with the lore. The true effect of the relics require PRO consent, Manager approval, and if successfully used, all the relics become unusable for 6 months oocly. Any other uses of the stones still work as in the past. Sizable sources of natural energy, with their unique effects on their item descriptions. Any other uses, contact A_Keefy and the ST for information/permissions.

A Final Response is jammed for Notice to the Tahorrans "I, Hareven Lorenthus, Brother Bluejay, Herald of the Sage Way, Hierophant of the Mother, Priest of Bolomormma, will mediate discussions between Skana Tahorran and Quillian plus any other parties offended by the behavior portrayed during the moot." "This need not go on further than it should, when greater things brew in our futures. I will see you all in the coming elven hours."

Hareven doesn't know this person or what she intends but mentally agrees.

Hareven sighs at the public reply after having given the proper full story to High Prince Feanor, and just places it on his desk with the pamphlets to the Providence nightclub, on a dusty shelf.

A_Keefy the sky god starts to sweat profusely

Within the skies of Almaris, a strange bubble slowly grows. Within that bubble, a sight of a truly large and strange bird is seen. No matter how far one is, no matter how close one is, it always seems distant. Flocks that pass through it seem to appear on the other side. Within it's shadow, nature thrives. And amongst the four Beacons, their light intensifies. The Trials Begin. _______________________________________________________________ OOC: Starting Wednesday, Trials can be scheduled at the Beacons. Unlike the normal hunts that some of you have done, or other interactions, to enter one requires a druid. You will be judged and determined to what experience would work on your persona, and then we'll figure a time and date. Party limit for Trials is 1 to 8 persons. Please remember these carry PK and Unattunement clauses. I will not be unfair or harsh with these but they are there. Keep it in mind. If anyone has any questions further about the trials, Keefy#0001 is the discord tag. FURTHERMORE IF YOU WISH TO SCHEDULE WILD FAE OR CREATURE HUNTS CAUSE OF THE BEACONS THROW ME WHAT YOU'RE THINKING OF WHAT YOU WANT AND WE'LL DO OUR BEST. THE FAE AND ANIMAL HUNTS ARE NOT DRUID EXCLUSIVE. EVERYONE GETS A PIECE OF THE PIE. CHEERS!

"We can control chairs?" comments Hareven from his impalement elsewhere, rife with confusion Taynei'Hiylun stares at a chair, trying to control it with her mind. The dragaar somehow fails.

The lands begin swelling with more natural energy. The wilds continue to fester with more and more activity. As time goes on, Almaris starts to become busy. Strange creatures could commonly be seen closer and closer to cities. Briefly in the skies is a dragon with scales of an emerald hue. And soon, into the minds of all those druidically attuned a vision would be seen. "Our Kin have been lacking." A red-headed Mali'ame would begin. Strange tattoos decorate her body, and she seems odd to the eye. "Not enough has been done. We are not as good as we should be, and a test has been commenced. Too many of our kin sit in houses and tend to families. Too many do not take to travels and handling of Duties." "Too many have been negligent." She seems to pause, and turns. A familiar man with purple hued eyes stands before a tree, holding a twisting dagger. The woman walks up to the man, and he closes his eyes. A large, round tablet of stone hovers between the man and a tree, and she'd direct the dagger. Impaling the man roughly onto the tree, piercing him and the stone tablet. Three cracks splinter out from the center of the stone. "I took these for safety and looked upon your histories, and I have found them lacking. So this is a testing grounds. A trial. My beacons are placed, and the lands will overrun if you do nothing. I will come soon to return the stones to those deem worthy, whom pass my trials and prove to me that the Druids of this Era are worth it." "I will be watching through my proxies. And soon enough, I will be watching you myself. If you wish for peace, for the stones, for your Brothers return. Then do as a druid should do." "I am Taynei'Hiylun, Herald of the Aspects. May your attempts be blessed by the Wilds, for the longer you take, the worse it becomes." The vision ends as suddenly as it had begun, leaving all druids affected with a distinct feeling of shock. It would seem the vision, despite its length, took place in less than a second or two. OOC: With this post, we herald in the beginning of the next major eventline on LOTC. Though many aspects of this have its roots in Druidism and their community, there are still opportunities for everyone to join in on the fun. There are four beacons placed around the map for players to interact with. Should you come across one of these and wish to participate, simply make an /sreq that you’d like to interact with said beacon. Maybe you want to hunt a fae creature? Maybe you just want to have a nice chat? Or maybe you’re planning something more nefarious? The beginning of this eventline is very open-ended, with countless opportunities for character development. Later on, when Taynei’Hiylun’s trials start, you will be able to schedule these events ahead of time. Even if you’re someone who works every weekend and misses out on all the big, fun events, you still have a chance to participate in these. Think of these events as DND-esque encounters. Maybe there’ll be puzzles, combat, or a mixture of the two. Groups can be both large and small (events with less than 10-15 participants are preferred, however). Though these trials will be more focused on Druids and those within their community, anyone can join as long as they are accompanied by an attuned Druid. They may need to bring in unusual allies to overcome Taynei’s trials. Every trial will have a PK and disconnection clause. There are major consequences to participating. Though this seems harsh, you need to really mess up for these things to happen. The chances of them happening are very very low, and you need to do very specific things to find your character succumbing to either of these. Please enjoy this eventline I have prepared. There are many ST involved and ready to provide events using this as the basis. Cheers! ((CREDIT TO LUMIIN FOR FORMATTING THEY THE BEST))

Hareven laid with two children on him half asleep when approached with the letter. He reads it before fluttering back to sleep, much busy in the man's mind, with intent to consider it's words properly on the coming elven day.

Hareven quietly squints at Liri from across the street, lifting up a map of possible Thanium sites through the window

Only negative comment is that Golemancy don't work like this no more, it's been displaced from Runes Also maybe space things out in terms of formatting, I probably look like @gamma_byte right now reading it. Emote counts are solid, thankfully we've got two solid rewrites in the bag. Let's hope one of them goes through. forums are doing a **** and it didnt throw this on quotes as well

"The **** is 'appening this time" Hareven comments, reading the note atop a roof somewhere, squinting a little "Act like they ain' ever had t' fix a roof. Ye think the weird betrayers from t'e Inferi woul' be a priority"

On a more serious note, this is a very plain submission but it's probably for the best. I hope to see, as Hiebe mentioned, this used as the baseline for new submissions for new runes to build it back up from the bottom up rather than starting on the hill it died on years ago. Also everytime I see Astra instead of Genus I send a child back to Africa.

[x]

about time also some formatting errors my dude

Tome of Equanimity Copies of a tome would be seen newly placed within the any libraries within cities with exposed skies and open gates somehow. The covering marked with a symbol of a the sage herb with blooming white flowers along its stem. Signaling that of the Way of the Sage. "I am no more important than a farmer or a pauper. We all live and work in this world. The only difference is how far we commit ourselves." - Hareven Lorenthus "You put up your walls to me, even now?" - The Owl Druid to Hareven Lorenthus The Statement You are no more important to this world as the rat beneath your floorboards. A King is no more important to this world than the men he deems to die on a battlefield. We all exist within a hierarchy that we feel the strongest need to respect, but this is naught but falsities we've told ourselves throughout our life. We cope by placing our faith with others instead of ourselves. We incessantly thrust responsibilities for our actions as wholes onto people and balk when the bough breaks but when in fact we should shoulder them ourselves. Your actions are yours. Your sins, your happiness. They are yours, and you are no more or less important, than a rotted corpse, or a God itself. How We Live Many of those whose eyes that will peer over these texts will inevitably be of a religious inclination. There is nothing wrong with this. The matter of the fact does not change that we, as living beings, cursed or not, exist equally. A soldier standing before another will see their other for who they are briefly. A hunter will grant their prey attention that any God envies. A tradesman places his faith in his own hands and none other. Every day without realizing it, you come to terms with yourself, and permit all falsehoods to be dropped. Faith becomes nothing, and emotions subside to permit the greatest of equality to form within yourself. Beyond balance, beyond understanding oneself and others, you instinctively lose all walls, and within this moment you truly live. You live as an equal, you live without worrying of those resting within other worlds, cities, thrones, and coffins. You devout you to yourself. This devotion is paramount. Devotion You love others. You hate others. Two sides of devotion to the same coin. Similarly, you love yourself. You hate yourself. None exists without either. These are natural and should not be seen as shameful, but you must not forget yourself. Reality for us all, it is only as transient as we are, and will die with us. And only us. Human, elf, whatever we may be, we will die. Thus Devotion to our own reality is paramount. This is not an emotion, or a thought process. It is a realization. We break ourselves for others daily, we hurt and are hurt, we suffer, but what if we do not care for ones self? Is it selfish for one to seek to form a better reality for oneself? No. You have been your own guilty pleasure your entire life. You've made yourself feel better with the use of being there for others. Now it is time to be your own lack of restraint. Restraints Our souls are shackled by the things we invest ourselves into. Restraints imposed by responsibilities we don't need to have. Let the mud consume them. Let the rust break them. Let them fall and be buried by time. We invest ourselves into things we do not truly wish to adhere to and it is wrong. Understand this is not wrong of you. You all have the right to dislike the world thrust onto you. We are allowed to walk away. You are allowed to refuse the world. It owes you nothing, mortal shackles wrought by men and Gods. Wrought not by existence itself. Who told you how life should be? Have you sat and thought on what you want? Have you considered yourself? How can you consider others if not? Observance of Desires Walk the path of life according to your own desires and with time, equanimity will come to you. Release your attachments to success and failure. Control your mentality. Restrain your senses. Endure your life. Believe. Balance yourself. All on your own. For you. Not anyone else. Not anything else. Only for what you wish to do before time comes to a stop. We are all beautiful existences, nothing can twist or change that if we take hold of it all ourselves. No God has enough power to force us beyond what we seek out ourselves. No King has the clout to change that world. You are everything you need to exist without regret. You. So exist. Exist loudly, and without regret.