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𝒜𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒞𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓏𝑒𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝓊𝓃𝓌𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐵𝑒𝓎𝑜𝓃𝒹 Recent reports have been made that a large bundle of Lume Ferrets is becoming increasingly hostile within the city of Dunwen. They have been reported to be causing trouble and destroying public property. I and the other Ferret Meisters of Solheim have attempted to investigate this string of events and have found ourselves face to face with an aggravated bundle of Lume Ferrets that promptly drove us off. I, Captain Vicnan Hawkins, Head Ferret Meister, am posting missive with hopes of finding willing citizens of Dunwen and possible adventurers and critter lovers from beyond to help us investigate these strange occurrences. We suspect that there may be an outside source that is causing their aggression, and we would greatly appreciate any help that can be given. (Note. Any help from the Druids would be greatly appreciated.) This Event will take place on Thursday, February 15, at 6 pm EST. Please meet at the Town Hole in Dunwen at least 30 minutes before the set start time.

Lume Ferrets Origins Lume Ferrets are the closest breed out of the four ferrets to their normal counterparts. It is commonly believed that Lume Ferrets were originally mutated because of the fact that they lived in druid-rich areas for many years, causing the Lume Ferrets to grow much bigger and stronger than a normal ferret could. Over time, these ferrets began to be able to breed with other equally large ferrets, and eventually became what is known today as Lume Ferrets. Three distinct subspecies of the Lume Ferrets exist, each having adapted to live in certain environments. Characteristics Lume Ferrets are cute critters that are akin to normal ferrets, save for just how large they have gotten. Lume Ferrets, over the course of years of breeding with the largest ferrets around, gradually grew bigger and bigger. Now they are roughly the size of a large dog. Lume Ferrets at their largest, can become 5 feet in length and 1'6 feet in height. These critters can range in any colors a ferret can. Save for their size, they resemble normal ferrets. Lume ferrets also tend to have thicker and fluffier fur, but not necessarily. Though too small to be ridden by your average descendant, somebody who is Halfling sized or smaller may stand a chance riding these cute creatures. They have rather sharp teeth and claws, able to pierce flesh, regular clothing, and weak armor such as thin leather, but not much else. Lume ferrets do not have any magical properties, and can be communicated to by Druids like any other animal. They can grow to be at maximum 20 years old. They cannot wear any armor, as it would restrict their movement too much to be of any use. When being ridden, a Lume Ferret cannot attack, and acts as a regular mount. Behavior and Mentality Lume ferrets are adventurous, rambunctious creatures that require near-constant upkeep. They are mischievous and curious about everything, which often gets them into trouble. Of course, Lume ferrets may have ranging personalities, some being more quiet and reserved. In terms of mentality, they are roughly as smart as your average dog, being able to learn commands such as sit, stay, heel, etc. Lume ferrets cannot be taught to understand full sentences. Lume ferrets are usually friendly towards descendants, especially if socialized from a young age. They are sociable, and in the wild often form groups of battle ferrets referred to as a 'bundle' of up to 20 individuals at maximum, but the average bundle has roughly ten Lume ferrets. They are quite loyal, and will most likely stay someone's friend as long as they can. They are quite playful, loving to wrestle around with anybody they deem to be their bundlemate. They enjoy exercise, and hate to be kept in confined areas where they cannot properly explore. They also often mimic how their owner, or bundlemates feel towards others. If their owner or bundlemate likes any said person, the Lume ferret is much more amiable towards said person. Lume ferrets can indeed be used in battle, though this is not their main purpose. They require [1] emote where their owner tells them what to do, and another [1] emote to attack, and their owner can attack during this second emote too. If the person has more than on Lume ferret during combat, the other Lume ferrets will scamper off to hide, leaving only one to fight with their owner. Lume ferrets dig burrows to sleep and have kits in, though they generally are above ground. Taming Taming Lume ferrets is fairly simple on paper, but in the act, a fair few difficulties can show up. Lume ferrets are often in bundles of around 10 ferrets, so one would first have to single out a Lume ferret to tame. It is highly recommended to take a Lume ferret as a kit, or find somebody who breeds Lume ferrets and buy an already tamed Me ferret from them. Mother Lume ferrets are highly protective over their kits, and make burrows underground to have litters of 4-6 kits. If one manages to take a kit with all their fingers still attached, it is then a fairly simple process of raising and bonding with the kit. If one wishes to tame an adult, they must first separate the Lume ferret from their bundle, and slowly gain it's trust. This process can take anywhere from a week to a few months, depending on how stubborn any particular Lume ferret is. Frost Ferrets Origins The Frost Ferrets are known to have descended from Lume Ferrets. It is thought that Frost Ferrets, over time, were slowly altered due to such harsh climates. Another theory suggests that frost witches may have contributed to the Frost Ferret's creation. Over long years of being exposed to such drastic magic, Frost Ferrets were physically altered to be able to withstand the cold magic of the frost witches. As such, Frost Ferrets are commonly kept as sort of pets for Frost Witches. Characteristics Frost Ferrets, due to having to adapt to harsh weather and a cold environment, gained incredibly thick and fluffy coats. Frost Ferrets' fur also comes in white, sometimes with a faint blue tint, and occasionally shades of light grey. It is next to impossible to find a Frost Ferret with a dark coat color. Due to Frost Ferrets being built to withstand cold, they do not do good in warm environments such as deserts or jungles, and are also weaker to flames. When directly exposed to flames 1 meter or closer, a Frost Ferret will overheat, and be unable to use their quills, and will try to get away from the flames.. Frost Ferrets have larger claws, able to grip ice and climb things easier, though this offers no advantages in battle. Frost Ferrets are also much larger than their average ferret counterparts, being, at maximum, 5 feet in length and 1'6 feet in height. This renders them unrideable by most, though Halflings, Musin, Gnomes, and others of similar height may be able to ride Frost Ferrets if properly tamed. Behavior and Mentality Frost Ferrets are rather intellegent critters, around as smart as an average dog. As such, they are able to be taught virtually any trick a dog can, such as sit, lay, etc. Frost ferrets are more cautious than average ferrets, tending to be more reserved around strangers. Though if they warm up (pun intended) to you, they can be just as playful and loving as any other cute companion. If a Frost Ferret senses danger or anything threatening, they will reveal hidden spikes in their fur that are normally harmless till hardened, that act like porcupine spikes. This requires [1] emote of hardening their spikes, and lasts for [3] emotes before they become worn out, their spikes becoming soft and useless again. While spiky, anybody who touches the Frost Ferret would get pricked. Frost Ferrets cannot actively attack when spiky, at the most being able to slowly walk. They then are required to rest for [3] emotes before they are able to do anything else. After this, it takes 2 IRL hours to recharge before they can do this again. When these spikes are activated, they are equivalent to porcupine spikes, except colder. Any skin covered by leather would be protected from their spikes. Frost Ferrets cannot be ridden while they are spikey. Frost Ferrets cannot wear armor, as they would get too hot. When in the wild, Frost Ferrets tend to make burrows under the snow to live and sleep in, and often tunnel through snow to get around more easily. Frost Ferrets are usually solitary animals, though they can occasionally be seen with two or three other Frost Ferrets. Frost Ferrets mate for life, and when they do, go everywhere with their mate. Druids are able to speak to them like any normal animal. Taming Frost Ferrets, though they are tamable, are significantly more difficult to tame them over their fiery counterparts. Through the course of several weeks, if you consistently leave out food for the Frost Ferrets and offer them trinkets- their favorites are berries- you may convince them you're a friend, and you may then take the Frost Ferret home. Alternatively, you could just obtain a Frost Ferret from anybody who breeds them. Blaze Ferrets Origins Blaze Ferrets are thought to have gained their abilities through ways similar to the Frost Ferrets. That being, that they slowly adapted over time to an environment, and some magic helped push them along, whilst also giving them more defensive abilities. This time, it is thought that the Azdrazi were the catalysts to the Blaze Ferrets being able to super-heat themselves, due to the dragonkin's natural link to flames. Oddly enough, Blaze Ferrets also tend to be slightly less hostile towards dragonkin in general. Characteristics Unlike their chilly counterparts, Blaze Ferrets are all shades of red and orange, even able to be black. Their fur resembles fire, sticking up and even moving in a flame-like fashion. Blaze Ferrets feel very warm to the touch. These critters may also glow red very slightly, though this is merely aesthetic and would not be a viable light source. They are the same size as Frost Ferrets- that size being considerably larger than normal ferrets- at 5 feet in length and 1'6 feet in height. Blaze Ferrets are able to heat up their bodies as a defense mechanism, being able to inflict first degree burns to anybody who touches them for [1] emote. In battle, it takes [1] emote to charge up this heat, and lasts for [3] emotes till the ferret is too exhausted to heat itself up for 2 IRL hours. It is also clear when a Blaze Ferret is "super-heated" like this, as faint smoke comes from it's fur while it is in this "super-heated" state. Though because it is so draining for them, Blaze Ferrets cannot attack anybody or move quickly while super-heated. The most they can do is a slow walk, which is easily avoidable. After this super-heated phase, they are exhausted, and left defenseless for [3] emotes till they regain strength. Blaze Ferrets can only burn someone if their skin comes into direct contact with the Blaze Ferret. Though anybody who is wearing adequate protection will feel uncomfortably warm should they touch a super-heated Blaze Ferret. Blaze Ferrets cannot be ridden by anybody while they are heated up, lest said person be burnt. Blaze Ferrets are naturally adapted to heat, and resistant to fire. Able to neutralize damage from coming into contact with fire for [2] emotes. After that, they take damage as any other animal would. They are able to be ridden by anybody halfling sized or smaller, provided they have been tamed. Behavior and Mentality Blaze Ferrets are highly energetic, friendly, but slightly less intellegent than Frost Ferrets. They are quite trusting and curious, always going to investigate anything out of the ordinary. They need a large amount of space to roam freely, and hate to be confined. They are used to the deserts and similar area. They are rambuncous, and often end up playfully fighting their bundlemates, though this can unintentionally result in injury. Blaze Ferrets are much more social than Frost Ferrets, and often are seen in bundles of 10-15 Blaze Ferrets. Blaze Ferrets are nomadic, their bundles constantly moving around the warmer parts of Aevos. Though Blaze Ferrets will temporarily make a nesting spot if one of the Blaze Ferrets is expecting kits. They are extremely loyal, never one to abandon a bundlemate. They are as smart as your avergae dog, able to learn commands like sit, stay, etc. Their bodies would overheat if they were to wear armor, and therefore cannot wear any armor. Taming Blaze Ferrets are tamable, though it is highly reccomended to just buy a Blaze Ferret from a breeder. The reason for this is because Blaze Ferrets are unwaveringly loyal to their bundlemates. Attempting to take an adult Blaze Ferret from their bundle would likely resort in the entire bundle attacking you. Despite Blaze Ferrets being rather friendly and amiable towards decendants, the moment the decendant poses any threat, or appears to be taking one of their bundlemates, the entire bundle will attack. The next best option is to try and take a kit from a Blaze Ferret mother, though this may result in the loss of one or more of your fingers, as Blaze Ferret mothers are highly protective of their kits. If you do manage to get a kit, you may raise it as any other ferret, assuming you have the proper space for it, and it will be tamed. Blaze Ferrets are highly social animals, and will become depressed if they do not have another animal to be with, or if their owner isn't spending enough time with them. Glow Ferrets Origins Glow Ferrets are the last subspecies of Lume Ferrets, and are by far the most uncommon. Glow Ferrets were thought to have come into existence when large sums of natural mana began to appear around Nor'Velyth. Originally, Glow Ferrets were merely sleeker, darker ferrets that adapted to live in dark areas. But being exposed to so much mana, they gradually gained the ability to light up their fur, allowing the glow ferret to see, and scare off potential predators. Because who would want to eat a weird glowy thing? Characteristics Glow Ferrets have adapted to live in the pitch-black woods of the dark forest near Nor’Velyth. Due to being around high levels of natural mana, the Glow Ferrets are able to glow, hence their name. Requiring [1] emote to turn on or off, Glow Ferrets can light up patterns on their fur to emit a light, equivalent to that of a torch. Glow ferrets are usually black or deep brown, with light grey or white patterns on their fur that emit a faint glow. If a Glow Ferret is not actively choosing to be bright, any glowing they have is purely aesthetic. They retain all the defining features of Lume ferrets, most noticeable being their increased size, growing up to 5 feet long and 1'8 feet tall. They also have dark black fur with specks of white covering their body. They may be ridden by anybody Halfling sized or smaller. Glow Ferrets are unable to fight while being ridden, acting like a normal mount. Behavior and Mentality Glow Ferrets are easily the most elusive out of all the subspecies of the Lume Ferret. They are solitary creatures, save for mating or raising their kits. Glow ferrets are highly skittish, and take a long time to warm up to anybody. Despite this, they are skilled hunters, able to easily kill small prey animals such as squirrels. Glow Ferrets are very aloof creatures, and prefer to stay in the shadows. They dislike fighting, though if someone who managed to get close to one is in danger, they will jump to rescue them. Glow Ferrets are naturally drawn to mana scources, such as enchanted items or mages. Glow Ferrets are roughly as smart as dogs, able to learn commands such as sit, stay, etc. Glow Ferrets also have a peculiar habit of staying away from brighter areas. Taming Glow Ferrets are easily the most difficult subspecies of Lume Ferret to tame, or breed. Glow Ferrets do bad in scenarios with many people or animals, tending to be very solitary creatures. If one manages to find a Glow Ferret, it is reccomended to bring along some sort of mana infused item as an offering. If the Glow Ferret accepts this offering, you may be able to slowly bond with the Glow Ferret over time. If one wishes to aqquire a Glow Ferret kit, they must first actually find a Glow Ferret den- an even harder task than finding a Glow Ferret itself- and take one of the kits. It is then. advised to raise the kit in a quiet, dark place with little to no other people or animals. Mother Glow Ferrets will usually abandon their kits if they sense danger. OOC Purpose Having more creatures based in specific enviroments never hurt! Credits VoidTermnia - Writer Bing AI - Generated the Frost Ferret and Blaze Ferret images PanicZealot - Co-wrote the Glow Ferret lore

So! Before you even get started, I must let you know this is a guide that was not written by me; it was written by a guy known as "grant," and I adapted it to LotC, and added a few things of my own mix. However, I find this guide extremely useful and necessary, mainly in this time and date, also known as complaints about the lack of role-play and some people moaning that Aegis was better - WHICH IS A WRONG STATEMENT. Why do I say this? Simple: Because people don't seem to know the difference between Aegis and Lord of the Craft during Aegis. Aegis was nothing but a map and, as we have seen twice, a map doesn't magically change things and make them better. It was the player base, the ideals, and the principles that were present during the time we role-played in a map known as Aegis, that made the difference. What happened? People forgot those things, and now we are going downhill in role-play quality, and decide to complain all over the place, as well as annoy the living hell out of the staff, and other players. So, why did I share and edit this article? So everyone reads it and learns that, if taken into account and used properly as a guide, it will help improving the quality of our role-play and make things better, hopefully bringing more players, who read this guide too, and improving things around. It is a guide meant for pen and paper RPGs. I adapted it to our situation. I highly recommend reading this guide whenever you´re feeling lost, bored, tired, or troubled by role-play. It really helps. - Jack O'Connell, aka. Minnan1. Small Warning: Contains mildly strong language to some extent; some words censored by the forums are used to mark the statements of this article. But it's nothing you've not heard before, c'mon... ======================================================================= ONE. Do stuff. Job One for you as a player is to do stuff; you should be thinking, at all times – “What are my goals? And what can I do to achieve them?” You are the stars of a very personal universe, and you are not going to get anywhere by sitting on your arse and waiting for adventure to come and knock on your door. Investigate stuff. Ask questions. Follow leads. No-one needs you to point out that this is an obvious plot thread while you do it. Mix up scenes, talk to people, get up in their grill. If you’re not playing the sort of character that would do such a thing, find something you can affect, and affect it. If you keep finding yourself pushed to the back of scenes and twiddling your thumbs – why is such a boring character hanging around with the sort of people that Get S**t Done? Be active, not passive. If you learn nothing else from this article, bloody learn this. TWO. Realize that your character does not exist outside of the things you have said. You can write as many pages of backstory as you like, mate, but they don’t factor in one bit to the game unless you show them happening. Are you a shrewd businessman? Cool. Do some business, shrewdly, in front of everyone else. Are you a hot jazz saxophonist? Play the saxophone. Are you a wild elf struggling through social interactions with civilized people? Struggle through those interactions! Don’t go off and sit under a tree, you prick! This ties back into the first point, really; you only exist through your actions. It is not the responsibility of other players to read your backstory, and their characters cannot read minds. Well. Some of them can, but you know what I mean. They shouldn’t have to. So display your talents, your traits, your weaknesses, your connections. Take every opportunity to show, and not tell, the other people in the server what your character is about. THREE. Don’t try to stop things. Negating another player’s actions is fairly useless play; it takes two possible story-changing elements and whacks them against each other so hard that neither of them works. For example, your fighter wants to punch some jerk, but your monk’s against it, so he grabs the fighter’s hand. In game terms, nothing’s happened. All you’ve done is waste time, and we don’t have infinite supplies of that. Instead, go with the flow. Build. If the fighter wants to break someone’s nose, what happens after that? Does your monk rush to help the jerk up? To admonish the fighter? To apologize to the jerk’s friends, before shite really kicks off? To save the fighter in the big brawl that ensues, even though he was going against your will? Or to throw the biggest guy in the tavern right at him, to really teach him a lesson? Those are all examples of interesting stories. Stopping him from doing anything whatsoever isn’t. Don’t negate, extrapolate. (See, that rhymes, so it’s easier to remember) FOUR. Take full control of your character. “My character wouldn’t do that” is a boring excuse, a massive NO to the game’s story on a fundamental level. It’s a point-blank refusal to participate. Instead of being bound by pre-conceived notions of what your character would and would not do, embrace complications and do it, but try to work out why. Why is your Rogue doing this mission for the church? Does he have ulterior motives? Is it out of a sense of companionship with the rest of the party? Characters in uncomfortable situations are the meat and drink of drama. (Do you remember that great story about that hobbit who told Gandalf to f*** off, and sat at home picking his hairy toes all day before his entire village was swallowed up by the armies of darkness? No. No you bloody don’t. So put on your backpack and get out there, Frodo) If you keep finding yourself having to explain your actions, or not wanting to go along with group decisions because of your character’s motives… well, sweetheart, maybe your character’s motives are wrong. They’re not written in stone. The group’s the thing, not your snowflake character, and if they’re not working, drop them off at the next village and maybe try playing someone more open to new ideas. Maybe work with the group to build a character that fits in. Your character is part of the story; this is not your character’s story. FIVE. Don’t harm other players too much, it gets annoying. Oh ho, here’s a jolly thief that nicks stuff from the other people! And their Sleight of Hand roll is so high that no-one will ever notice! Gosh, what a jape. F**** that guy. No-one likes that guy. (That guy generally plays Kender, and I am fully of the opinion that Kender should be promptly genocided out of all RPGs. I don’t think genocide is a crime if we’re talking about Kender.) If you steal from other players, you are exerting power over them in a really messy, underhanded sort of way. If they find out, what are they going to do? Are you going to force them to escalate? Is it fair if they kill you for it? Is that fun for them? Similarly, attacking other players is awful, too. I’m okay with this where systems fully support and encourage this, of course – something like Paranoia or Dogs in the Vineyard – but, Christ guys, give it a rest. I am hard-pressed to think of a way where such a thing improves the game; if the players involved are fine with it, discuss it beforehand. But keep me out of it. There are a whole load of things out there to steal from and beat up and kill that won’t get offended when you do it to them, so go bother them first. SIX. Know the system, don’t be a prick about it. (System being the server and how everything works.) If you know a system, you are easier to GM for, because you know your character’s limitations. You can calculate the rough odds of a particular action succeeding or failing, just like in real life. You can make prompt assessments of situations and act accordingly, because you understand the rules of the world. (New players, of course, get a free pass on this one. But do make an effort to learn the rules, obviously, if you’re keen on sticking around in the hobby.) But for the love of God, don’t rules-lawyer. Do not do that. It is not hard to work out, because here is a simple guide – if you are arguing over a rule for more than twenty seconds, you are a rules lawyer. You are the Health and Safety Inspector of role-playing games, and you need to stop talking, because you are sucking the fun out of the game. There are times when the rules are wrong, and that’s fine, but I’m hard-pressed to think of that time the guy remembered the rule and we all laughed and had a great time because he made the GM change it. Oh, and I almost forget: For the love of god, if you are being a rules-lawyer, do it in a PM, do not l-ooc the hell out of anyone. IT GETS ANNOYING. SEVEN. Give the game your attention. If you can’t give your full attention, step away from the computer. "Hey! What’s that you’re playing, on your phone there? Oh, is it Candy Crush Saga? That’s funny, all these dice and character sheets gave me the impression that we were playing Dungeons and F*cking Dragons, I must be terribly mistaken." - grant. It is hard to think of a way to be more dismissive of someone’s game than playing a different game during it. If you find yourself getting so bored by what’s going on you’re resorting to playing a game on your phone, or reading a book, or checking Facebook, then step away from Minecraft. You are draining the other players with your very presence. I would rather have an empty player slot than someone who wasn’t paying attention, because I don’t have to entertain an empty player slot. And of course, it’s up to everyone to offer an entertaining game. This is not one-sided. But going back to point one, act whenever you can. Give them something to work with. Unless you’re paying them money to do this, they are under no obligation to dance like a monkey for you just because they’re behind the screen. EIGHT. If you make someone uncomfortable, apologize and talk to them about it. (Warning: Mildly strong language. Contained within spoilers.) And that’s the point; in situations like the ones we find ourselves in on a weekly basis, it’s easy to make people feel uncomfortable. Maybe it’s as blatant as discussing dead babies or sexual interactions with animals; maybe it’s something much more benign, like being rude or chatting them up in-character. If you think you might have upset someone, then ask ‘em, quietly. And if you have, apologize, and stop talking about that particular thing. It’s not rocket science; that’s how existing as a functioning social human being works, and somehow because we’re pretending to be a halfling for a bit, we often forget how to do it. So, you know, be nice. Be extra nice. No-one’s going to think any less of you for it. NINE. Embrace failure. Failure can be embarrassing. I know that I get pretty het up when the odds don’t favor me – when I’ve spent ages waiting to have my turn in a large game, say, or when I’m using some special power, or when I’ve been talking a big talk for a while or described some fancy action – and I use some pretty bad language, too. And not “fun” bad language, like we all do when we’re gaming. Like threatening “is this guy okay” bad. And that’s not cool. I need to learn to treat failure as a story branch, not a block. Why did I miss? Why didn’t my intimidation role-play work? Why didn’t I pick the lock? Why was I seen? Who worked out that I’m the traitor? What other options can I explore? Some systems build this in by default and they give you the ability to somehow affect the world whenever you roll the dice, not just fail to affect someone’s Hit Points. That’s great! We need to get ourselves into that mindset by default. We need to view failures as setbacks and explain why our character didn’t achieve their goal, and we need to understand that failure is not the end of the world. TEN. Play the game. This is a game. This is not a challenge that exists solely in the head of other players, of the Event Team, of the GMs, of the Admins. This is not your character’s personal story arc. This is not your blog. This is not an excuse to chat up one of the other players. This is not a desk to sit at in silence. This is a game. We have signed up to play a game together. We are all telling a story with each other, to each other, and the story comes first. Step back from the heat of combat; step back from your character’s difficult relationship with their half-dark elf mother; step back from the way that the Paladin’s player keeps stealing your victories. This is a game. Respect the other players. Respect the story, and act in service of it. Respect that you will not always get your way, and that not getting your way can be interesting. Do what is best for the game. Do what is best for the story. Be active! Be positive! Be interesting! Change things! If you can’t walk away at the end of the night with a good memory, with something that you could talk about in the pub in years to come, then everyone in that role-play session has failed. ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/20/11-ways-to-be-a-better-roleplayer/