Ebon Gate Festival/teasers 2017

Teaser sections are newest to oldest. Posts are chronological within sections.

Witch Balls

Posted by GM Necios

Inside the gloomy interior of a small, shredded grey tent, you'll find a wide and colorful assortment of these extra zesty artifacts coming to Caligos Isle (and back to Ebon Gate in general).

You pick up an umber blown glass witch-ball.

You gently press your hemlock green votive against the surface of your witch-ball, and with a soft whoosh of air, the candle is pulled from your hand and into the center of the globe where it cradles gently in the small niche.

You hold your burning match near the witch-ball for a moment, and the flame flares brightly then vanishes only to reappear within the globe, lighting the tiny hemlock green votive and casting long fingers of umber light in every direction. You drop the burned-out match.

You nudge your umber witch-ball into motion, and it begins to swing back and forth like a colorful pendulum.

You gaze deeply into your umber witch-ball, focusing on the dancing flame. Smoke pools darkly within, forming the image of Lorminstra standing before the Ebon Gate.

Suddenly, the votive flares brightly and dispels the image. The witch-ball's motion comes to an abrupt stop.

I swear I didn't force that image to happen just for this teaser. Ain't text-based RPGs grand?

Shimmer Trinket

Posted by GM Estild

>analyze trinket
You analyze your shimmering trinket and sense that the item is largely free from merchant alteration restrictions.

The creator has also provided the following information:

The trinket is a Shimmer Trinket, which will save and project an aura that copies the appearance of other items you are wearing. Just wear whatever items you want in whatever order you desire, then ATTEND the trinket. Once worn, it will only display those items while concealing all others. You may also CLEAN it to remove the previously stored appearance.

General availability at the next Duskruin, but one will be raffled at Ebon Gate.

Notes from Estild from Gemstone by Whirlin Discord Server

• pinworn, non-functional
• retains look after removing "trinket"
• Can give trinket to others and retains the existing "look"
• Can use it to appear naked if you wish.
• Buy miltiple and create sets (wedding, costume balls, streaking, etc)
• Do not have to continue wearing items that were saved for the look once saved
• Can only detect if using trinket if using Stormfront FE and attempt to click inventory link when looking at someone as will return no PnC menu on click.
• General availability at DR, pricing not dirt cheap, but under 10k scrip
• Will have Aqua-Barbie Girl midi file integrated in FE to play automatically when worn (just kidding)

Dagger Services and Dagger-Holding Greaves

Posted by GM Sindin

I hope so, because I am rolling out the carpet for dagger users at this year's Ebon Gate.

Up for auction:

• Dagger weighting! As much as you can afford in one service. (The price will follow the new weighting system, so it can get pricey). One lucky winner!
• Greater bubble flares! One lucky winner!

Other dagger-related services you can win...

• Ten moderately lucky winners will be able to enchant one of the daggers for sale in my shop to 5x. Some fun, naturally flaring materials!
• One very lucky winner will be able to enchant one to 8x!
• +10 stamina recovery enhancive to any dagger! (As long as it can accept it.) Not just my store daggers!
• Common flares for your daggers, 5 winners!

Silver charges apply but they won't break the bank.

Don't care about daggers??

Well... you'll find some very neat arm and leg greaves for sale in my shop.

What do they do?

They have secret compartments to hold your daggers!

Do you still not care about daggers?

How about this then:

• Spike adding & removing
• Common & uncommon flares for your armor accessories
• +10 Constitution bonus to any arm greaves for one lucky winner! This will be raffled and oh yes you will want to win it!

I'll also be turning your arm and leg greaves into my sneaky neat ones that let you hide daggers. Limit of 20 lucky winners.

If you play some games on the grounds, you may luck into winning some special armor accessories, which can be made even more special with these services and wins.

Rogues, walk away with a pair of flaring spiked leg greaves that hold a secret dagger. Or just get a secret compartment added to your arm greaves to hold your skinning knife. Fun for all! Especially rogues!

Shock Lance Unlocks

Posted by GM Retser

There will be Shock Lance unlocks.

Posted by GM Retser

They cannot be swapped.

Yes, there will be auction unlocks.

Jars

Posted by GM Flannihan

Before my eyes Glass over from all the puns... lets Sea what we have here...

You glance down to see an antiqued black sea glass bottle containing emerald blazestars in your right hand and an emerald blazestar in your left hand.

put blaze in my bottle
You add an emerald blazestar to the contents of the black sea glass bottle, filling it.

look in my bottle
Inside the black sea glass bottle you see 100 portions of emerald blazestars. It is full.

20's, 50's, and 100's ... some sell for silvers, some do not. Look for them in Baubles of the Sea.

Diving

Posted by GM Haliste

The waters below seemed so far away. "Go ahead, missy. I'll make sure yer head's protected with this gnomish air helmet. Y'ain't gonna die. Hehehehe." Trembling, she nudged slightly closer to the cliff's edge. She clutched her diver's license tightly in her hand and shakily turned it over to the divemaster. "Hooray!" the divemaster exclaimed. "Ready? One, two..." Before she could blink, the instructor slipped a helmet over her head and gave her a good shove. "REMEMBER TO KICK!!" With a gasp, she tumbled over the edge of the peak and plummeted to the dark waters below. She hit the sea hard, arms and legs flailing wildly to scramble her way up from the depths. Once the waters around her calmed, she reluctantly opened her eyes and gasped! "Ohhh...look at this! I can see! I can breathe! I CAN SWIM!!"

Patches of green-blue algae float past; chunks of shimmering silver flicker in her periphery; large sandbars stretch as far as she can see. "This is extraordinary! Let's see what I can find!" She points her body downward and descends to a sandbar nearby, digging her hands excitedly through the murky sand when her fingers graze the edge of something solid. "Oooooh! What is THIS that I've found?" She gives the item a strong tug and pulls up a tusk-hilted copper zirah bouk. "Hmm. What IS this??" With a shrug, she stuffs the item into her pack and swims off toward the west, a large jellyfish following in her wake.

Posted by GM Haliste

>How frequently do the diving helms fail over the course of an hour?

Only once, since it will only last for 30 minutes.

>Are there any gigantic squids?

A colossal squid, you mean? Possibly...

>will catch up with the diver...

Maybe...

Quill Nibs

Posted by GM Tamuz

Save your feathers, they'll be useful soon! Give me your moneys!

You glance down to see an opalescent white vaalin nib in your right hand and a sleek black raven feather in your left hand.
>put my feather in my nib
You will consume both the feather and the nib to produce "a sleek black raven feather quill tipped with an opalescent white vaalin nib". If you wish to continue, attempt the action again within 30 seconds.
You shrug.

>put my feather in my nib
You carefully fit the the spine of the black raven feather into your white vaalin nib and twist it into place, producing a sleek black raven feather quill tipped with an opalescent white vaalin nib.

You tuck your black raven quill behind your ear, adjusting the quill for an aesthetically pleasing effect.
You see GameMaster Tamuz the Moon Mage.
He appears to be a Robot.
He is alpine in stature. He appears to be senescent. He has silver-flecked frost opal blue eyes and leathery brown skin. He has very short, pin-straight with dark roots that fade into the color hair with a subtle widow's peak. He has a portly face, an upturned nose and wildly bushy eyebrows. A sleek black raven feather quill tipped with an opalescent white vaalin nib is tucked behind his ear.
He is in good-ish shape.

Extra special thanks to GameMaster Elidi for allowing these nibs to use her new quill script!

Binklar's Imbeds

Posted by GM Flannihan

[Feywrot Mire, Western Walkway]
The air is hazy with twining plumes of smoke, as breezes from the western swamplands breathe life into pockets of smoldering ash, reigniting what little is left to burn in the area. Black water covers half of the planking where the charred supports have partly collapsed into the surrounding swamp. You also see a pile of burnt wood.

>look wood:
Judging from the one wheel lying on its side nearby, and the charred remnants of one long carved wooden handle, the scattered pile of wood and ash appears to be the burnt vestige of a merchant's cart. Tiny animal figurines, perched in long abandoned pots, are beyond recognition with their little faces scorched off.

The poor little gnome is heartbroken, so many fine carvings reduced to ash. Whatever shall he do? Guess there's nothing left but to start anew. Stop by Binklar's new shop on ... wherever the heck this new festival place is...

Blank imbeddibles for all of your imbeddible spell needs. With a merchant pass, he'll imbed up to 3 items per person per day with the spiritual or arcane magics from his shop lists. Please help the little man recoup his losses, or just stop by and say "Hi!"

Posted by GM Flannihan

Binklar is most definitely a live merchant and very much enjoys his little flock of customers that come nearly every day to get their 3 items. Its a fun challenge for me to see if I remember what you got last time! By the end of the week, I think I know at least half before you tell me. With 20 available carvings, and over 30 available spells, thats a LOT of possible combinations to remember. Maybe my "mathing" helper could figure that out! I agree on the "counting as 3 services" issue, I will look into that, but right now that is just the way the game records it.

Being in a new locale, the little man has been diligently carving away, making fresh, new figurines appropriate to the setting. Nouns will remain the same, so you can still find em in your pack, but the descriptions will be different this year. All except....

"You tap a buxom tavern maid effigy in some painted clay pots." That shapely wench seems to always work her way in!

Posted by GM Flannihan

>I bet you would get more business if your "3 services" only counted as 1.<

Well then, lets find out if you speak the truth! I am now able to register just one service per customer even if you receive three items. These are little items, after all. We do however recommend that you type REGISTER as soon as each item is given to you.. ya' know... so we'll have a record in case the little man goofed something up. Like imbedding Implosion into your "giant glossy black sea slug statue" BOOM! or Nightmare into your "mottled spiky pufferfish miniature."

(Those are tiny teasers, by the way... like how I slipped those in there?)

Krolvin Divination Device

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Now that I have your attention...

There will be at least one scrying shop at Ebon Gate this year and I've created a brand new scrying device for it.

It is based on the Apdo Gno Burzka'ask, which is a krolvin seer that uses Haruspex as a divination method.

Here is a sample of it:

The black rolton collapses to the ground, emits a final bleat, and dies.

You glance down to see a femur-hilted obsidian zirah bouk in your right hand and nothing in your left hand.

Laying your hands upon the soft expanse of the rolton's stomach, you make a deep cut in the flesh with your zirah bouk. Innards begin to spill upon the ground, and you fish around in them for a moment before you prize free a waxy fat-saturated stomach.

You glance down to see a femur-hilted obsidian zirah bouk in your right hand and a waxy fat-saturated stomach in your left hand.

You analyze your fat-saturated stomach and sense that the creator has provided the following information:

A waxy fat-saturated stomach is created by using the blade of an Apdo Gno Burzka'ask on a dead creature. It can be turned up to three times to discern various features about the type of organ it is, and those can be used to predict the future. Once it has been turned three times, it will be destroyed.

A waxy fat-saturated stomach can not be altered, sold, or eaten. It must be used while fresh from the kill as it will rot.

You analyze your obsidian zirah bouk and sense that the creator has provided the following information:

This is the blade of an Apdo Gno Burzka'ask, which is a Krolvin seer. It will gut an animal, and only an animal, to steal its organs. You can do this by typing POINT zirah bouk at {animal}. It is your task to divine the future from those organs.

This particular zirah bouk is at the off-the-shelf tiering and can be unlocked once, and it traps for point, rub, and exhale.

It has a chance to create one of four different types of organs.

You may alter this zirah bouk freely, but please try to keep its material as either glass, obsidian, or metal. It should only ever be a small knife or dagger, and it can never have any kind of special flares, weighting, or enhancive abilities.

Posted by GM Thandiwe

I'm glad you asked about tiers...

Every blade that is off the shelf can be unlocked one time. There is a special, raffle quality tier on the blade that does more. It can only be found in jackpot prizes and is usually on a completely altered blade.

That being said, here's a breakdown for you:

• Off-the-shelf : 4 organ types & 3 verbs
• Tier 1 : 6 organ types & 5 verbs
• Raffle Tier: 8 organ types & 7 verbs

Here's an example of using the organ:

>turn my stomach
ou turn the stomach over in your hands, examining it in minute detail. As your eyes rove over it, you notice that the greater curve of stomach is pockmarked with puckered flesh.
G>turn my stomach
You turn the stomach over in your hands, examining it in minute detail. As your eyes rove over it, you notice pockets of fatty membranes fused to the exterior wall.
>turn my stomach
You turn the stomach over in your hands, examining it in minute detail. As your eyes rove over it, you notice a snakeskin-like pattern that trails across the wall that is interrupted by nodules of yellowish fat.

Sensing that you have gleaned all you can from the stomach, you feel it begin to transform under your touch. The flesh loses its elasticity and suddenly turns brittle. Within seconds it is nothing more than sanguine ash that sifts through your fingers.

Lapidary Box

Posted by GM Galene

After years of her extensive research in sylvan gemstone lore, Nimaya has created a new apparatus for modifying the appearance of the jewels, gems, stones, and shells that are so dearly revered by her people. The lapidary boxes provide the user with more than one shape, texture, cut, or lustre that can be applied to gems. The revolving center of the box is turned to choose which finish will be applied to the stone inside. These boxes can be further customized in a variety of different ways.

Nimaya taps an iridescent pearl, which is in her left hand.

Nimaya taps a greyed pumpkin ash box shot with veins of smoky moss agate, which is in her right hand.

Nimaya flips open a sleek latch on her pumpkin ash box with a practiced hand, revealing a narrow chamber that descends through the heart of the vessel to a tapered outlet.

Nimaya pops an iridescent pearl into her pumpkin ash box, and it swiftly clatters down a small chute, coming to rest with a soft plink!

Nimaya carefully eyes her pumpkin ash box and turns its revolving center.

Nimaya presses down firmly on a sleek latch crowning her pumpkin ash box, driving it down through the center of her vessel. An eruption of metallic slicing emanates from inside her box's chamber, yielding to a few discordantly staggered crackles, and a tinny clink. After a moment, a silver-tinged iridescent pearl continues rolling through a narrow chute, tumbling out of a tapered outlet directly into her palm.

Nimaya taps a silver-tinged iridescent pearl, which is in her left hand.

Nimaya flips open a sleek latch on her pumpkin ash box with a practiced hand, revealing a narrow chamber that descends through the heart of the vessel to a tapered outlet.

Nimaya pops a silver-tinged iridescent pearl into her pumpkin ash box, and it swiftly clatters down a small chute, coming to rest with a soft plink!

Nimaya carefully eyes her pumpkin ash box and turns its revolving center.

Nimaya presses down firmly on a sleek latch crowning her pumpkin ash box, driving it down through the center of her vessel. An eruption of metallic slicing emanates from inside her box's chamber, yielding to a few discordantly staggered crackles, and a tinny clink. After a moment, a vine-engraved iridescent pearl continues rolling through a narrow chute, tumbling out of a tapered outlet directly into her palm.

Nimaya taps a vine-engraved iridescent pearl, which is in her left hand.

Posted by GM Galene

They're totally unrelated to existing gemcutters, as they're meant to be sylvan-y in nature and to compliment the sylvan gemology guide document that this same character put out in 5115 (winky face, 2015).

Yes, you should be able to customize them fairly easily at regular GALD merchants.

Posted by GM Galene

The gems produced from these boxes should be totally fine for use in any project that uses regular gems. They're exactly like any standard version of that particular gem, just fancied up!

Perfume Shop

Posted by GM Xayle

Why, it's the scent of bitter tears cried because all of your coins are flying out of the bank and into my perfume shop.

Eight all new scents for your sniffing and dabbing pleasure: Oaths in Gold, Bound in Scarlet, Sweet Indulgence, Resurrection, Beneath the Surface, Moonless Night, Gilded Cage, To Dream.

You're welcome.

Herbal Candy

Posted by GM Naionna

You glance down to see a stained green paper bag in your right hand and nothing in your left hand.

You rummage briefly in your green paper bag and pull out a piece of olive green candy.

You take a bite of your olive green candy. It's tart enough to make your eyes water!
Your left leg feels better.
Roundtime: 5 sec.
You have 9 bites left.

Hairdo Mirror

Posted by GM Haliste

Aunt Dipideedoo gazed longingly into her mirror, a fretful look upon her face. She pulled her hair back from her temples and turned her head from side to side in an attempt to see her hairstyle from all angles. "Nope, that won't do at all." She dropped her arms to her side and sighed heavily. "Oh," she said, "maybe it was like this!" She tucked her hair behind her ears and winked at her reflection. She shook her head. "Nope, that wasn't it, either. I wish I could remember how I had done my hair for that Royal Ball I attended in Ta'Illistim many moons ago!" Defeated, she dropped her mirror into her lap with a pout.

She turned the mirror over a few times, and suddenly, an image appeared in its reflection. With trepidation, she lowered her gaze to see the materializing image. She gasped when she saw the perfect reflection of her from that wonderful evening! "How the... what the... oh my! That's it! That's really it!"

With a deep breath, she rubbed the mirror in her hands and her hair stood on end, as if charged with static! As she gazed back at her reflection, her hair was perfectly coifed, just as it had been for her special night out.

Holy Symbols and Roleplay Unlocking

Posted by GM Necios

I'm not gonna lie... I'm no Thandiwe. (Though she is my good pal and a joy with whom to work!) So instead of writing a beautiful story like she did, I'll just lay out a couple OOC shop teasers:

1) Long ago, someone asked for a nice selection of holy symbols. You might find a few of those with tiny pockets for storing your ritual stuff in one shop. And they might be the cutest ever (d'awww). And you might find Arkati candles there, too, to help with your communing and other mood setting needs. And in that same shop, you might find sticks for painting deity symbols on faces for that extra mmph. This is pure conjecture, of course. ;)

2) You might find an interesting ware for sale in another shop that can be unlocked for free purely because I saw you engaging in the storyline and roleplaying. Yes, roleplaying! No, nothing mechanical here. Just fluff for fun. Yes, I'm watching for solid roleplay as EG goes live.

Much more to come. See you there.

Protect Your Coif

Posted by GM Haliste

Aunt Dipideedoo gazed longingly into her mirror, a fretful look upon her face. She pulled her hair back from her temples and turned her head from side to side in an attempt to see her hairstyle from all angles. "Nope, that won't do at all." She dropped her arms to her side and sighed heavily. "Oh," she said, "maybe it was like this!" She tucked her hair behind her ears and winked at her reflection. She shook her head. "Nope, that wasn't it, either. I wish I could remember how I had done my hair for that Royal Ball I attended in Ta'Illistim many moons ago!" Defeated, she dropped her mirror into her lap with a pout.

She turned the mirror over a few times, and suddenly, an image appeared in its reflection. With trepidation, she lowered her gaze to see the materializing image. She gasped when she saw the perfect reflection of her from that wonderful evening! "How the... what the... oh my! That's it! That's really it!"

With a deep breath, she rubbed the mirror in her hands and her hair stood on end, as if charged with static! As she gazed back at her reflection, her hair was perfectly coifed, just as it had been for her special night out.

Plumed Hair Do-Hickey

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Henphelia was like no other chicken. She was long of leg, round of bottom, and had the most unruly of hair. Yes, hair. Now I know that it sounds strange that a hen would have hair, but she had long locks that flowed down her back. She never really knew what to do with them.

Until she went to market one day and bought a feather. Upon wearing the feather, her hair was transformed and she preened in front of the other hens in the hen house.

You gingerly clip the feather into your hair and it quickly gets hidden in your tresses.

You nimbly weave your waist length hair into a multitude of thin herringbone braids that hug your skull.

She has waist length, straight golden blonde hair separated into a multitude of thin herringbone braids that hug the skull and are woven with thin beads and dusky grey pigeon feathers.

I wonder what Henphelia will do in market tomorrow...

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Henphelia, the odd hen, was pretty happy with how her hair had turned out, but when she went to the Market a second time....

"Hey, Henphia," a funny looking girl called out to her. "I can make that even better..."

Henphelia was most pleased with the results.

>Drawing your bangs back from your face, you carefully weave them into a five-plait braid and then pinch the ends together with a bit of twine and twin dusky grey pigeon retrices.

>She has waist length, straight golden blonde hair with her bangs gathered to the right temple and woven into a single five-plait braid adorned with twin dusky grey pigeon retrices.

I wonder what Henphelia will do tomorrow.

Posted by GM Thandiwe

That crazy hen is at it again! When she got to the market, another merchant saw her and taught her a new trick with her feather.

Now, she's so excited and shows off for all the other hens.

>Using three fingers, you gently rake your hair away from your face and bind it in place with thin dusky grey combs that are decorated with pigeon pennae.

>She has waist length, straight golden blonde hair drawn away from the face with thin dusky grey combs that are decorated with pigeon pennae.

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Henphelia is at it, again. Wandering from her Chicken Coup, she's managed to make her way to market for the fourth time and she is strutting her stuff.

A man in an alley says, "Hey, Henphelia, I may appear to be a BLIND MAN but I can tell you right now, I can fix your hair feather to be even fancier."

Clucking away, she went into the alley. When she came out...

>Starting at your temple and working your way backwards along your scalp, you deftly weave your hair into dozens of incredibly thin braids. Here and there along the various lengths, you add dusky grey beads and pigeon plumules.

>She has waist length, straight golden blonde hair woven into a riotous mass of incredibly thin braids that are sporadically peppered with dusky grey beads and pigeon plumules.

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Henphelia liked to press her luck and so she went to market a fifth time. She'd bought the hair feather the first time, and then had it worked on three more times. Could there be a fourth time for her?

Strutting along, her hair loose to see if any noticed, a playful young boy approached her.

"Oh, Henphelia," he said, "You should push that hair away from your face."

He gently pushed her hair back.

>Resting your thin dusky grey headband in the space between your temple and the tops of your ears, you push the piece further up on your head and trap your hair in place.

>She has waist length, straight golden blonde hair pulled back from the face by a thin dusky grey headband adorned with decorative pigeon pennae.

The Old One-Two

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Howdy folks!

Since I've been gone for a while, I will have a lot to tease about! Here's something for those of you that like footwraps and handwraps.

>glance
You glance down to see a tight ball of soft grey linen in your right hand and nothing in your left hand.

>inspect my linen
You carefully inspect your soft grey linen.

After a careful inspection, you determine that a tight ball of soft grey linen are suitable for use in unarmed combat.
You determine that you could wear the linen on your feet. The linen appears to serve some purpose.
It looks like this item has been mainly crafted out of cloth.

Well, how does that work?

Like this:

>wear my linen
Holding the end of the soft grey linen against your ankle bone, you begin to gently wrap it around first the ankle, then across the top and around the arch of your foot. You point your toes, testing the tightness of your wrapping job and, satisfied, repeat the process with the left foot so that both feet are adorned in newly made grey linen footwraps.

Posted by GM Thandiwe

And now for the hand:

>inspect my suede
You carefully inspect your vivid red suede.
After a careful inspection you determine that a tight ball of vivid red suede is suitable for use in unarmed combat.
You determine that you could wear the suede on your hands. The suede appears to serve some purpose.
It looks like this item has been mainly crafted out of leather.

>wear my suede
Cupping the end of the vivid red suede in your right hand, you gently wrap it around your palm and carefully weave it between your fingers. Once done, you flex your fingers to test the fit, and then repeat the process on the left so that both hands are adorned in newly made zorchar-beaded handwraps.

Big thank you to GM Vanah who was able to fix that oddity with inspect.(Cause she's the best!)

Posted by GM Thandiwe

Here's another teaser for them:

You are wearing a blossom-carved white birch amulet, a stiffened dark green jerkin, "a pair of vivid zorchar-beaded handwraps with exposed fingertips", a pair of side-laced trousers, and "a pair of soft grey linen footwraps with exposed heels and toes".

Posted by GM Thandiwe

You know, it's funny you should say that.....

>sense
You scan your surroundings, considering the various flora and fauna found here (and noting those which are absent). The indications of the temperate climate and the muddy wetlands are clearly evident to your seasoned eye. You don't see any other paths leading away from the area.
Roundtime: 9 sec.

>pull my foot
Feeling a pinch in your linen-wrapped feet, you reach down and pry a tiny duckweed seedpod from between your toes, which you quickly discard.

Or maybe...

You scan your surroundings, considering the various flora and fauna found here (and noting those which are absent). The indications of the temperate climate and the grassland environment are clearly evident to your seasoned eye. You don't see any other paths leading away from the area.
Roundtime: 9 sec.

>pull my foot
Feeling a pinch in your linen-wrapped feet, you reach down and pry a blade of grass from between your toes, which you quickly discard.

The footwraps handle all terrains, while the handwraps have special messaging for climate.

This year the footwraps produce messaging only, but I have plans for next year.