Coriakin sent the following announcement to TMN:

Greetings, exiles!

The Bards’ Guild is excited to announce that we’re planning a fall festival of new songs! It’ll take place at the concert on September 25th. Why so far in the future? Well, because we don't want it to just be for bards, we want to invite everyone in Puddleby to participate!

Specifically, we want to invite any and all exiles to write a poem/lyrics on our chosen theme and submit it. Each participating bard will select one poem/lyrics to set to music, and the collaborative works will be performed at the September concert.

If you’re interested, the theme we’d like you to consider for your poem is the word “Fall.” Whatever that means to you! And not just the season... “Fall” ... “Falling” ... “Fallen” ... “The Fall” ... interpret it however you wish!

The details:

Each exile can submit only one poem. If you submit a second poem, it’ll replace your first one. Bards are welcome to submit poems too, but you can’t choose your own lyrics to set to music.

Poems in other languages are welcome! (This includes both IC and OOC languages). But if your poem isn’t in common (or english), please include a translation.

You’ll have 7 weeks to write your poems: the deadline will be July 16. Please email them to me at coriakincl@gmail.com. I’ll need to compile them together for the bards to look through, so please don’t be too late!

If a bard selects your poem we’re going to ask them to contact you, so please indicate how you’d prefer to be contacted (e.g. email, Puddleby Post Box #, etc.). If you’d prefer to be anonymous that’s fine, just let me know when you submit your poem.

Bards will get access to the compiled poems at the July concert. Each poem can only be chosen once and it’ll be first come first serve, so try not to dawdle! When you’ve made your choice contact the writer to confirm, and let me know as well so I can indicate that the poem’s taken. You’ll have 2 months to finish your score and get it ready to perform at the September concert.

I'm really excited about this! I hope lots of people submit lyrics (like you!), and lots of bards participate in writing music. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Cheers,
-Coriakin

Aymi sent the following report to TMN:

hello

dandelion gave me some kudzu and i planted the kudzu and then i broke the kudzu

she told me there is a fire so i went to look and there is a fire

good bye

-Aymi

Bard concert this Saturday, May 29, at 11AM PST, 2PM EST.

There may or not be an appearance by the Suspendered Sylvan Revue.

Aymi sent the following report to TMN:

there is an orga with two eyes in town. we are friends. haffron says he has a mushroom inside him

here is a picture for your news paper

Aymi sent the following announcement to TMN:

hello this is aymi. i had a ship before and i traded small metal for things. then traded the things for more small metal. to acquire small metal. the emperor wanted my small metal but i did not want to give him my small metal. the emperor took my ship and made me live here.

i was sad when the emperor took my ship because i liked my ship. i was so sad when he took my ship and made me live here that i went to go and live in the myrm hive. that was a long time ago and now i am part of the hive. i learned to smell myrm smells and make them with my body. now i am a myrm. i am also a thoom still. i didn’t used to go to town but i go to town sometimes now. i think town should be wet because when town is wet it's good for your skin

sometimes i dig big holes and sometimes i dig little holes. sometimes there is a big caterpillar and we eat the caterpillar and feed it to larvae. sometimes i cut the skins off of animals and trade the skins for small metal and then we eat the animals but not the skins because i traded the skins for small metal. small metal can be exchanged for goods and services. sometimes there are spiders and we kill the spiders. be kind to myrms. we fixed the mirror when it got hurt and we dug a hole that made the books fall down and then bears lived in the hole.

i learned you can make the man in town yell things by giving him money. there is a clan called red quill. a clan is like a hive for exiles but it is not like a hive too. i am in the red quill but i am also in the hive still. i learned there is a thing called a news paper. a news paper puts words on to paper and the words mean things. you can trade small metal for a news paper. then look at the news paper and know what the words mean. to learn information. a news paper is a good idea. i wrote a news paper story about me and this is the news paper story about me.

good bye

-aymi

Sycamore sent the following report to TMN:

Ash Island, Day 5 of Winter, 625.

Sycamore here. We had quite an adventure on Ash Island the other day and the citizens of Puddleby received an interesting proposition. Opinions vary widely on what our next move should be. Everything happened so quickly that I’m sure I have missed some details, but I will do my best to recall as much as I can of our adventures.

As you may recall, a few weeks ago a certain Dorcas Direstorm appeared to the folks who were innocently taking a mosey through Ash Island. After flattening Jo and Mehan with seemingly no effort at all, she announced that her master would be arriving in the near future and that we may wish to speak with them.

On the appointed day, we gathered on Ash Island and prepared to fight through the usual ferals and minor Darshak that one often runs into on the way to Ash City. Once through the PF, though, we could tell that this was going to be no routine hunt. We were greeted by Darshak assassins, Slavers, Brawlers, and Darshak Necromancers. There was lightning everywhere, which was particularly troublesome. We heard someone yell, “Get ‘em, Captains!” and then we were attacked by Darshak Captains and even more lightning bolts. Suddenly, we all started to fall to Kestrels. I thought for a while that the pirates had moved on from training ferals to training birds of prey. After many attacks and retreats, we made our way through the Ash Barrens to the wall around Ash City. Amdiroth made several threatening statements but we were unclear if they were directed at us or at someone else.

We threw a vine over the wall and infiltrated Ash City. On our way through the city, K’vynn noticed something new. Nestled among the normal plaster houses in Ash City was a newly-constructed stone tower with a purple pennant flying from it. In front of the tower was a burst of magical flame and a figure in a hooded cloak. This was the same Dorcas Direstorm who had appeared at the previous mosey. After a few people tried to approach and fell down, deteriorating, the cloaked figure began to speak.

She announced that we had been summoned here to speak to her master. She said that the management on Ash Island was out of hand, and that her master wanted to ask for our help in gathering information. She explained, however, that only two exiles at a time would be allowed inside the tower. After much discussion, Gorvin and I were appointed to represent the exiles. With some trepidation, we entered the tower.

As Gorvin and I walked through the ante-chamber, I looked around. There was a large white couch with three red-robed figures sitting stiffly on it. I saw a desk with two birdcages on it. There was a table in the middle of the office, surrounded by chairs. Nylar was slouching nearby, idly playing with an apple. I wondered if he was the one we had been sent here to speak with, but he seemed to be playing the role of enforcer. After a few moments, a well-dressed pirate came out from some double doors.

She introduced herself as Kestrel and started off by saying that she was not here to fight or threaten our town. She said that she had come from the Isles of Gathner, where the Darshak Theocracy is headquartered, to assess the management of the Ash Island outpost. She is most disappointed in the job that Amdiroth has been doing. She told us that her society is one of order and refinement, and that the “petty captains and second-rate priests” did not represent the Theocracy at all. She referred to all of the Darshak raids on Puddleby as “purposeless conflict.”

Kestrel went on to explain that she intended to take over from Amdiroth, and that she would like our help in collecting information about both the Darshak and the rebel faction. Gorvin asked how we could trust her, considering that she had recently been attacking us as we made our way to Ash City. Our past interactions with Darshak have not shown them to be very honorable. She replied that it was clear to her that the most powerful society in Lok’groton were us exiles and that it would be foolish to betray us. I suggested that she might make a gesture of goodwill to the exiles.

At this point, the sounds of battle from outside grew ever louder and we could hear our comrades hitting the floor. Kestrel sighed and said that she would take care of it. She swept out the door, followed by Dorcas and Gorvin. I took advantage of their absence and rifled through the office. I did not find anything incriminating although there were some desk drawers that I could not get into. The paper in the middle of the table seemed to be a list of bird names. There was a book about navigation and another about Lok’Groton culture. The wardrobe was full of silk robes. Before I could snoop any more, Kestrel was back in the room, grievously wounded. Apparently her sudden appearance in the middle of the fray prompted an attack and Stinkfist almost brought the meeting to a quick end. Dorcas came back in and healed her with a wave of her hands. We decided to go out and announce her exit so that no more misunderstandings would happen.

When Kestrel came back outside, the exiles mostly behaved themselves. She explained her position and offered an alliance with the Darshak Theocracy. She conjured images of advanced weapons, shipwrights, luxury goods, and access to new lands. In return, she asked for information: any knowledge that we can get about the Darshak and the rebels. She wants to know everything about their operations, their loyalties, leadership, and activities. She said that if we find any documents, to bring them back to the stone tower and turn them in to Dorcas. She also indicated that Dorcas may have extra jobs for people who prove their worth by bringing documents. Kestrel said that she would return in a few zodiacs to see what we have learned.

The exiles were still distrustful of her intentions and I reminded her about a gesture of goodwill. She thought for a moment and then offered us a gold-plated bathtub. Dorcas pulled a bathtub out from beneath her robes and presented it to Mehan in apology for killing her so rudely the other day. Mehan accepted the bathtub eagerly and said that all was forgiven.

We gathered in town center to discuss what we had just witnessed, and Mehan ran off to install her new plumbing. Some people wanted to gather information for Kestrel, while others wanted to go to Amdiroth and Tyris Drakesblood to set them against this Kestrel. Others suggested feeding them all conflicting information and setting them to fighting amongst themselves. Everyone, however, agreed that the bathtub was magnificent and that we need more like it.

-Sycamore

Aymi sent the following report to TMN:

town should be wet

i put water on the ground

Could Puddleby be facing a root beer shortage?

Aymi sent the following root-beer fueled message to TMN:

hello this is aymi

i smelled sugar water underground. i went to get the sugar water and then i brought it to the hive. my friends drank it

Sycamore sent the following report to TMN:

It was a crisp autumn day as we gathered our forces in TC. We took stock of our firepower, discussing where to go. Since a few of us hadn’t been there yet, we decided to head towards the Vale. As we left OP, Pookoiko spotted a Lost Bear. “Auspicious,” we thought. We progressed east, where Shadrock and Silky found three more Lost Bears. Suddenly, it started to snow heavily.

As we made our way through the blinding snowflakes, we were alarmed to see an army of Lost Bears barrelling toward us! After killing the first one, we realized that they were actually Glacier Bears and their Cubs. Leyenda glanced at the sky and discovered that we were in the middle of a blizzard.

Onashi was able to get some cub lasties without leaving the Bison Plains! These were followed by waves of Frost Foxweirs, Alpine Timber Ferals, and more bears. Desmond, Bartzilla, Ponyo, and I healed furiously as the fighters slew these snowy beasts. Suddenly, two mistrals flew in from the east! After they killed Ponyo and Shayndel, we learned that they were called Stormlyric Kestrels. They were extraordinarily hard to hit. When the first one was killed, it was “hunting for lowland prey.” Curiouser and curiouser!

Borzon, our Arilonian Mage, came out of the library to help us investigate. After studying the unnatural aura for a few moments, he determined that the wind, the blizzard, and the snowy creatures were all blowing down from the tall peaks around us. He led us to the Foghaven Monastery for further investigations.

Almost as soon as we alighted at the monastery, Borzon sensed something off to the northwest. It was quite a sight, seeing him standing up there on the top of Foghaven peak, eyes cast to the sky, seemingly in a trance. We fought off the monsters while he communed with the spirits. After what seemed like ages, he came back to his senses. Eyes shining, he said that he had received a vision.

Borzon reports that he saw a figure with arms outstretched standing atop a mountain, with the blizzard billowing about them. As he reached out his senses, he felt her presence touch his mind. The Windspinner warned against meddling with things beyond our comprehension. She said that she was the leader of a third monastery and that she did not approve of Madrona and Pavari’s investigations, being likely to lead to catastrophe. She warned against helping them and said that her own order does not welcome adventurers. Her last words asked for privacy; “Do not cast your gaze upon me unbidden.”

-Sycamore, The Eastern Mountains, 65th day of Autumn, 624—

Chaos Storm #1223 has swept the Lok'Groton island chain. Please post any changes you have observed and wish to share with others in the comments.

Delta Tao's "What's New" for v1223: