Best Of
Re: Gurashi Draws: An Autobiography
Oh yeah the discord has a new emoji: Shashi here for revenge.
Gurashi
6
Re: Portrait Gallery: show off character or lusternia related fanart you've commissioned or created!
Yall I got my first actual reference sheet for an OC, I'm an official furry now. 
This is by @RAZZLEGAZZ (https://razzlegazz.carrd.co/) who is just delightful to work with.
This is by @RAZZLEGAZZ (https://razzlegazz.carrd.co/) who is just delightful to work with.
Nepenthe
6
Re: Portrait Gallery: show off character or lusternia related fanart you've commissioned or created!
Reposting now that I can embed because I do crime.
Kalliope
6
Re: Portrait Gallery: show off character or lusternia related fanart you've commissioned or created!
Katanalliope enters the fray...
Kalliope
6
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
1.) Well, Terentia's release was also Lantra's release, so there was some triangulating on our end about how and why they came together. I liked the idea of using some of the old Terentia materials in order to point that this is a new person taking on the role. I don't think I had any other ideas, honestly. I more or less went with the one we originally did.Ayisdra said:1. Why did you choose the release event that you did? Did you have any other ideas that you decided against for your release?2. What is your favorite way to describe a voice?3. Is there something you regret not doing as a mortal before you became an admin?4. What is something that surprised you when you first moved over to the admin side (that you can share)? What is something that still surprises you about being an admin (that you can share)?
2.) A voice? Terentia's voice? Terentia's voice is always described as "firm yet feminine," and I think of it almost as if she was very cross.
3.) I think maybe invest more in whatever family my mortal was in? I think I mentioned before my roleplay style as a mortal was always like I was playing a single-player campaign in a multiplayer game, so I would have liked to have actually participated more in the family that I joined.
4) I think for both: the amount of story/lore/plot that is and is not revealed.
1.) I think Aelish would likely be the obvious choice, but I am going to go with Frai. If Frai's role is "aloof," that I think plays into the steeliness that Terentia portrays in a clearer way than a sort of parental figure that Aelish has.Luce said:The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You?
2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order?
3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario,
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen?
5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.)
6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
2.) I imagine Frai would be a bit too conniving than Terentia; her idea of strategies would be plots rather than tactics.
3.) Terentia's helm, which would be the titular "hood" of the "Hooded One."
4.) Room: "A stone bridge" in Glomdoring. Not because it is the most beautifully written room, but because of the kind of history that it evokes. Mob: "A saltwater weird," which only a slim few got to see. Item: This is hard, because there are just so many item descriptions... and this might be a cop-out since it is a Celest item, but I really do love "a tarnished scabbard of gilded dolphins."
5.) Honestly, I don't think there are many quests or areas that elicit that response for me anymore.
6.) One of those giant topiary statue like things (think the "porcelain vase" from the Met Gala's "China: Through the Looking Glass"), but a sword made out of daffodils.
1.) The ability to collaborate with really excellent people whose writing skills surpass my own. There is something about watching someone in the Havens team just suddenly whip up a description or a line for something that is so beautifully crafted that is truly spectacular.Uzriel said:Another couple of questions here!
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
2.) More "in general" and also less "unexpectedly," but managing the feelings about whether or not you are investing enough or not. Specifically regarding being a "god" or patroning things.
3) I think the only honest answer is some of the conclusions everyone draws related to things--either OOC through Discord or IC through thinking.
Terentia, 3. Me, 1.Kalliope said:"While in town the baker gives you a sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
- Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
- Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and take whatever he owes you?
- Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
Terentia
5
Re: Lusternian Divine AMA
I'm currently unstudied on the False Gods, so I am going to let better informed admin answer those questions!Luce said:The False Gods are back, but this time they are impersonating rather than replacing Elders.
1. Who do you think would do the best job pretending to be You?
2. What 'tell' gives away the game to Your (dis)Order?
3. What trophy do You take from Your doppelganger?
Unrelated to that scenario,
4. What's your favorite room/mob/item description that you've seen?
5. Was there a quest or area whose documentation you saw after taking on the Godrole that made you go "Oh, that makes more sense now."? (no need to say which if its spoilers, but I'm also asking about quests where the solution makes more sense now, or if there was a connection that we can see that you didn't know about beforehand.)
6. If You were given a monument, idol, or gift by Your Order, what would it be?
4. I just love Sparrow Longfellow, the Sowers guild tutor. I also really love the newest rooms recently introduced to Serenwilde.
5. I wasn't huge into questing as a player, so I don't have any quests that made more sense after coming up. There are some really neat tricks to tracking and organizing quests, though, that make the general structure of our quests make a whole lot more sense!
6. The hearts of twelve very particular gods. It wouldn't kill them, I'm pretty sure. Not forever.
1. Seeing player reactions to the things that I've created, both in character and out of character!Uzriel said:Another couple of questions here!
1. What is it you enjoy most about being godadmin? Ie, what got you through ephhood/keeps you logging in still?
2. What's something you've found unexpectedly difficult (could be behind the scenes in general, transitioning to ephhood from mortal, or transition from eph to godmin)?
3. Maybe too close to Ayisdra's question but what's something that really caught you off guard but couldn't help but laugh about (that you're allowed to share). I'm thinking along the lines of weird bugs, events going off rails, etc.
2. Related to the above, it's a little hard sometimes to not be able to point at something and say 'I made that!'
3. Besides the surprise you always feel when something that has been perfectly tested, for some reason you cannot fathom, decides to not work when it's live - I'm not sure I can think of anything that's caught me off guard in a negative way. I'm always VERY pleasantly surprised when players opt not to spam the thing I had anticipated them spamming, but roleplay instead. It can sometimes catch me off guard and require some quick thinking and maybe quick building on my feet, but don't be discouraged if you're roleplaying something we'd initially planned to be simpler interactions and are getting a few long pauses - we're probably flying to adjust our plans because we love it!
Maiden answers 1, Mother answers 2, Crone absolutely answers 3.Kalliope said:"While in town the baker gives you a sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it."
- Act like you're going to give him the sweetroll, but at the last minute throw it in the air, hoping that they'll pay attention to it long enough for you to get a shot in on the leader?
- Give him the sweetroll now without argument, knowing that later this afternoon you will have all your friends with you and can come and take whatever he owes you?
- Drop the sweetroll and step on it, then get ready for the fight?
Lisaera
5
end of a character, well, for now
Hello you all,
Enough time has passed, now, that I feel like I can write things down and get them off my chest without being mean to anyone. It took me a while to process everything.
As most of you have noticed, Aeldra disappeared of the scenes from one day to the next and only those in celests section of maincord would know that I took a step back. Later on, people may have also noticed that I disappeared from other places too.
I have had struggles with being in Celest for months before I pulled the plug, there didn't a day go by where it didn't grate my gears and for the longest time I could not place my finger on it. And my reaction to feeling this disparity was to pour more energy into it, trying to make it work. Trying to push things into the direction I felt it should be going, ending up ignoring a lot of things that brought me joy in Lusternia and that my character had taken on as responsibility. Both things I'm neither happy with nor proud of.
In the end, after half a year of absence from Aeldra, I can see it now: I don't think Celest's setting works for me. Whenever I come across someone taking the stance of religious zealotry, my very instincts are to oppose their views and to do my best to ensure Celest does not follow down that path. Hating having constant grating conflict with some of my city maters, I tried to turn Aeldra more towards that path, to be in less opposition with my city mates and have a more unified front to the outside. It simply isn't working for me.
And I allowed that frustration, that internal conflict to splll over into my thoughts beyond the game. It wore on me. When some other (inter character and inter person) conflicts arose that shall remain unnamed here, the combination with my already conflicted feeling about Celest lead me to a breaking point. So, I stopped playing, originally thinking I'd be a while away from it and see how it goes. The more I did, though, the more I realized that I didn't want to be back. That I would be back to where I felt that I opposed a large part of the orgs setting on an OOC level and could not find the footing I needed to make it work.
Celest is an amazing setting, with deep lore, interesting npcs, lovely and diverse skills, and amazing divine before and behind the scenes. I adore seeing it grow and have a blast from afar, don't get me wrong. This is an issue that is to a large portion on me. Reading back on my logs with Aeldra and some going over some interactions, I realize just in how much turmoil I put myself in playing that character. I tried desperately to balance what I felt was to be part of that setting/lore with what I had chosen for my ideals for Aeldra and with whom I am as a person. I made what essentially is a game feel like a high-stress work situation. I've learned that lesson now and will not go down that path again.
I have a few regrets from that time. Some go to @Lantra, who is one of the most lovely divine I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. I attained avatar and a cult and then (due to the above), never really did anything with it. I feel like I wasn't the kind of leading character in an order that one would have hoped for and I'm still sad for it to have come to that. I wished I would've done better. If I ever find myself in such a position again, I'll do my best to do better, for I deeply appreciate all the lovely moments I had in that order and I hold them in fond memory. (I'll also hold on to my Tavi fan club membership card, thank you). To you, if you are still around and reading this, you were awesome and thank you for all your time and effort in this game. 
Other regrets go to me for not putting a stop to it sooner, for not realizing what I was doing to myself and others. For robbing myself of the character I adored and for letting her become something I never wanted her to be. A hearty thank you goes out to all the amazing friends I made along the way who have supported me when I was super frustrated with the corner I played myself into, or raging and at tears at other things that I ran into that ultimately led to me stepping back from Aeldra. You know who you are and you are all amazing
Alright, long story short, I wanted to get this off my chest and officially say: Aeldra will likely not be back. Not now, perhaps never. There may come a day where I feel more at peace with the setting and my own role in it, where I decide to try to make this work. But that day is far off.
During that time off Aeldra, I began to realize that I did not have an issue with the game or (largely) the people, that my issues were (mostly) self made, with the setting I chose and the way I pushed my character. So I did make a new character. Who that character is and where they play, is only something I have shared with a few friends and will keep mostly under wraps. If you talk to me regularly, chances are you already know where I went and who I play. Should you seek to reach me, I'm still in maincord and I am paying attention to discord, so just message me. I do occasionally check Aeldra's messages and forum messages, but delay there may be vast.
Learn from my mistakes though, do not push yourself into a situation that isn't fun for you. There are many lovely settings and groups of people in this game, but not every one may be right for every person. Find the one that works for you, find the group of people to work for you and don't push yourself into a corner like I did.
be kind to each other, much Love to all of you and see you around .
.Aeldra
Aeldra
10
Re: Lack of Raves VI: Rave Today, Tweet Tomorrow
I just wanted to share a rave to @Gurashi, @Yinuish, @Kethaera. I threw a last minute idea about decorations on them and they were able to help me quickly describe things and alleviate the work so I could focus on making sure things reacted appropriately. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the decorations, party favours, and drinks.
Also thank you to [REDACTED] an extra helper, whose work may be revealed at a later date.
Also thank you to [REDACTED] an extra helper, whose work may be revealed at a later date.
Terentia
7
(c) Iron Realms Entertainment 2012.