Rumor Woods/2022 saved posts

Rumor Woods 2022 Teasers

Announcement 1

Due to popular demand, we’ve decided to release Wedding Packages at Rumor Woods. You can expect the Wavedancer Verbs to be available in this package. If you have any questions or concerns, please use the WEDDING channel on Discord or Rumor Woods Folder on the Forums (until the forums disappear).

Announcement 2

Join us on the 10th of Lumnea for the Annual Grand Tournament at Rumor Woods.

Take part in the exciting Pixie Hunt as you quest for the elusive and mischievous pixie in hopes of being one of the lucky few to obtain the rare morning glory! This enameled marvel allows you to summon a beautiful dragonfly pet! Rumor has it there are berries, mushrooms, and flowers to be obtained in this garden maze.

Looking for something more cunning? Why not try to outfox the foxes of Rumor Woods by taking part in the Fox Hunt for a chance at being rewarded a rare bugle that can summon your very own pet fox!

Customizations abound in the collegiate halls of Summit Academy! Where you can find Spell Prep Customizations, Swears, Log on/off Messaging, Signature Verbs, and Feature options in its illustrious halls. This will be the final year for many of these offerings as a refresh is slated for 2023.

The tourney grounds will be covered in tents as merchants once again offer their wares to those guests that come to the Tournament. Caravans have been arriving for weeks and spreading out along a narrow track between the main grounds and Cysaelotar. Rumor has it that two cultural groups will be joining this year’s merchants.

Let us not forget the Joust! Ride either your own mount or one of ours into a test of courage and determination as we race for a winner in the...

Battle of the Unicorn and Dragon!

Announcement 3

Borne of Fire, Dreams, and Wastes

Chill wind swept through the tower through the office window, riffling papers and disturbing the pennants that hung from the walls and rafters. Siethidi looked up from a map he had redrawn half a dozen times and rocked gently back on his chair so that he could peer out the sun-dappled frame.

Immediately he rose to his feet and craned his body out the window at what he saw...

Far below, a Tehir caravan was parting from the treeline to the southwest, the exotic, legendary ill-tempered yierkas with their proud riders forming an honor guard around them. Each desert strider was bundled against the arctic winds, their gradient blue identifiers flapping in the breeze.

Watching the procession, Siethidi suddenly wondered if he’d provided enough heat baskets for them along the caravan track.

A call on the horizon drew his eyes to the southeast where another procession crested the alpine plains. Dusky and ebon-skinned warriors also swaddled against the cold creating a different kind of march. Monstrous beasts provided riders transport, their sinuous tales whipping this way and that as they moved across the rocky grasslands.

Siethidi felt a thrill of excitement. The Dhe’nar had accepted his invitation as well.

As he turned to call out to one of his scribes, the shimmer of silver and gold forced his eyes back to where the last of the Tehir were slipping down the trail to the tourney grounds. "Majestic beyond reason," Siethidi though as he exhaled quietly. Ronan had graced them with a gift, he thought to himself and rushed from the tower.

We are excited to announce this year’s mounts for Rumor Woods:

Common:

• a gargantuan armadillo lizard
• a giant three-toed tegu

Uncommon:

• a colossal water monitor
• a monstrous crocodile monitor
• an enormous sai'ri monster
• a scaly brownish-yellow wastesdragon

Rare:

• a sinewy fringe-toed yierka

Rare Equine Update:

• a golden-hooved white unicorn
• a silver-hooved black unicorn

You can also expect cultural releases for both the Dhe'nar and Tehir cultures this year.

Announcement 4

Surrounded by heaps of colorful linen, muslin, and cotton, the merchant turns in place, eyeing each trunk as if mentally cataloging her inventory. One trunk of aseges, layered and adorned with charms and beading, one trunk of erasay, short-sleeved and sleeveless, and one trunk of duaidz, some with slashed legs and others without. Tapping her bottom lip with a ringed thumb, her dark eyes pass to a smaller chest of artim, all with rush or wood soles, then to a jewelry box, brimming with glittering tisrins and tesarits. Satisfied with her accounting, she closes each container in turn and motions over her shoulder. Several men filter in to aid in carrying the larger trunks out of the pavilion and into her caravan for travel, while she carefully tucks the jewelry box under her arm and disappears into the blinding sunlight outside. She had somewhere to be soon, something to see: The Battle of the Unicorn and the Dragon!

New for 2022's Rumor Woods are additional Tehir clothing and jewelry nouns:

Many of these items already existed in Tehir lore with specific styling notes, but were simply called shirts or tunics or pants or sandals. But, in an effort to further enhance the cultural richness of the Tehir, we've given the common items their own names and added a couple of completely new items: the tisrin (a ring) and the tesarit (a single, dangling earring).

aseges - women's layered skirts - These garments are considered outlets of creativity for Tehir women and range from solid colors to patterned, often accomplished by block printing repeatedly to form overlapping geometric patterns. Women often bustle their skirts by tying some up while leaving others loose. These skirts always have a waistband fitted with ribbon ties that serve as additional adornment when not in use and aid in the bustling when in use, while the hems of the skirts are decorated with beads, belled-chains, and charms.

artim - gender-neutral sandal - These are worn either ankle-tied or loose, possessing a simple bifurcated strap that begins between the toes and extends across the top of the foot. Tehir sandals are formed on rush, wood, or hide soles. Some women take fancy to intricately braiding the leather commonly used in their construction.

tisrin - ring - Worn by both men and women alike, these rings appear when worn to be multiple separate rings stacked a small space apart, however the ring is actually a single piece, fused and joined along the back. Worn between the knuckles at varying heights to avoid restricting movement.

tesarit - earring - A single dangling earring worn by men and women alike on formal occasions. Typical components usually include a totem-carved bone - animal, symbol, etc-, a brightly colored glass or gemstone bead, and a single spherical bell.

erasay - men's tunic - An erasay is distinctive because it will have either a notched or drawstring neckline, have short or no sleeves, and is typically worn by men of high status.

duaidz - men's bloused trousers - These are frequently worn in conjunction with an erasay, and they can be tailored either with or without vents, which typically run from the lower thigh to just above the cuff.

Announcement 5

The Elanthian Binder is getting an update this year at Rumor Woods.

You analyze your numbered page and sense that the creator has provided the following information:
A tidy and numbered page will unlock your "Elanthian Binder" to include a "Table of Contents" that activates GLANCE and WHISPER options.
To use the page, PUT it in your binder.

put page in binder
Flipping your lilac suede binder to the beginning, you carefully lay your numbered page into it and press it against the spine. A slight flash of light seals it in place.

glance my binder
You quickly glance over a flower-inset lilac suede binder, and you flip to the beginning of it to view the Table of Contents. The neatly penned page has crisp, clean numbering, which you take a moment to read:

1. a piece of silver-edged paper (The first lines containing the words: "Dark it was in that ...")
2. a piece of charcoal grey parchment (The first lines containing the words: "The Good Stuff...")

whisper binder 2
You whisper quietly to the binder, causing the pages within to flutter until a piece of charcoal grey parchment is on top.

Announcement 6

Yarn and Knitting updates!

• The Yarn Bowl is a new storage device that will hold your yarn for you. It has two unlocks that provide additional convenience, storage of knitting needles, and the abillity to create yarn out of discarded clothing items that meet the "yarn type" requirement. There is also a small bit of space in it to house a pincushion.
• The Darning Awl is a new series of tools built specifically to allow finished knitting projects to have Zests added to them. There are multiple options this year and the system is designed to be expanded upon.
• The Pincushion is a device that will weightlessly store your darning awls (up to 10).
• New Patterns! New patterns are being added to the knitting needles to expand what can be created via the knitting system.
• Dyed Yarn Updates (Hinted but not Fully Announced)
• Knitting for Mounts (Hinted but not fully Announced)

Announcement 7

The Bugs on Parade Series

• The [Bug Jar] is a new item that will allow you to wander through Elanthia and PEER at the world of insects. You can then create a replica of the insect that you see by SHAKING your jar. At Tier 1, the jar will create replica insects that can be POINTED at paper (just like the [Flower_Power_flower_press|Flower Power Flower Press]).
• The [Specimen Board] is a new item that will allow you to store your new found insects. Each board can house 30 unique specimen, though identical specimens can be 'stacked' as well.

• Insects of Elanthia have been created to work with this new system. 970 Unique Species of insects can be found in the various realms, climates, and terrains of Elanthia (OSA & Ebon Gate are pending) with the exception of areas outside of the normal space/time of Elanthia. (ie: No insects in the Confluence, Rift, or on the Moons). There are 13 categories of insects:

• 1 - Ants
• 2 - Arachnid - Tarantula, Birdeater, Scorpions
• 3 - Beetles - Weevils, scarabs, beetle, borer, assassin bug (bug is noun), ladybirds, ladybugs, lovebugs
• 4 - Bumblebee - bee, bumblebee
• 5 - Large-Winged - aeshnid, butterfly, damselfly, darner, darter, dragonfly, dropwing, (redacted), glasswing, hawk, hawkmoth, meadowhawk, moth, skippers, swallowtails, sylphs
• 6 - Mantid - Praying Mantis, (redacted)
• 7 - Small-Winged - caddisfly, firefly, flies, gnats, horseflies, lanternflies, midges, mosquitos, sawflies, scorpionflies, starflies
• 8 - Spiders - orb-weaver, spider
• 9 - Stick - Stick Bug, Phasmida, leafbug, stick insect, treehopper
• 10 - Wasps - Wasps, Daubers, Hornets, yellowjackets
• 11 - Worms - Group 1 - caterpillar, millipede, centipede, crawler, nightcrawler Group 2 - annelid, budworm, earthworm, glowworm, flatworm, grub, inchworm, leach, mealworm, silkworm, slug
• 12 - Hoppers - (redacted), crickets, katydids, leafhopper, grasshoppers, locust, weta,
• General - Catchall - bug, cicadas, cockroach, earwig, isopod, larva, larviform, leafhopper, midge, nymph, pillbug, (redacted) roach, silverfish, skipper, sowbug, stinkbug, strider, termites, woodlouse

Announcement 8

Spirits Within - Shop Refresh

This year, The Spirits Within will feature all-new spirits for the Imbued Shrouds that it stocks. As before, each of the spirits has their own set of whispers which will reveal clues and details about their life... and death. Each one is for sale in a separate room of the shop, with the room names also providing a bit of a hint as to the demeanor of that particular spirit.

• Room Name Spirit
• Wild - Krolvin Pirate
• Worry - Gnomish Matron
• Confusion - Sylvan Gardener
• Venom - Dark Elf Assassin
• Defiance - Aelotoi Slave

In addition, the shop will be stocking a series of unlock certificates that will change the spirit in an existing shroud to any of the spirits that were either offered last year or are available this year. This will allow you to change the spirit in your shroud if you decide that the whispers or demeanor provided aren't to your liking.

There will be a raffle (for silvers) to allow a select few individuals to get a custom spirit for their shroud. The exact timing is still TBD, but I will give a decent amount of notice, and plenty of time for people to buy a shroud if they win the raffle. Please note that Custom Spirits are a delayed service, and will be handled offline.

Announcement 9

Rumor Woods 2022 – Rare Mounts & Their Unique Abilities

Rare Equine Mount – The Unicorn Holding true to previous years, the rare-tier unicorn mount will sell for 50,000 raikhen.
Gender: You will be able to change your unicorn’s gender with the ostler.
Features: Like other rare mounts, you will not be able to change their features.
Unique Ability 1: Every now and again your unicorn will get sad. They miss the dream realm, but they are content to be your friend. When they shed a tear, if you touch it before it evaporates, it will wreath you in a shimmering light for a short time.
LOOK PLAYER: A shimmering sheen of (pearlescent-white unicorn/nacreous-black unicorn) light washes over every inch of his/her exposed flesh.
Anyone that touches the tear will gain this sheen. If it is not touched, it will evaporate.
Unique Ability 2: As your unicorn comes from the dream realm, they have small bits of that magic at their disposal. They are also slightly mischievous beings and will randomly put you to sleep. While you are sleeping, you will have a dream and there is a chance you will return from that dream holding an item.
This only happens to the owner.

Rare Equine Mount Update – Nightmare Steeds
At some point before the end of Rumor Woods, nightmare steeds will get an update where they will get a second unique ability. This unique ability enables them to give their owners a nightmare. Much like the unicorn dream ability, you have a chance of returning from your nightmare holding an item.

Rare Lizard Mount – The Yierka
Holding true to previous years, the rare-tier lizard mount will sell for 50,000 raikhen.
Gender: You will be able to change your yierka’s gender at the ostler.
Features: Like other rare mounts, you will not be able to change their features.
Unique Ability: Every now and again your yierka will take an interest in the worms, grubs, nightcrawlers, etc in an area and pull them out. Some it will gobble down. Others, it will toss away and they can be picked up to be used as fishing bait.
Environmental Changes: Yierkas are sensitive to their environment. As such, temperature changes in their climate cause them to change colors.

Announcement 10

Coming Soon to a Rumor Woods Near you!

Hey, friends! Do you feel an overabundance of runestaffs from your sewer runs? How about those "pointless" quarterstaffs? Do you get sick of seeing everything just be faewood? Have you dreamed of the chance to tinker just a bit with some pretty, but maybe not so magical woods? Well, have I got news for you!

Introducing Woodn't Yew! A new store with a fun and intriguing product that children of all ages will enjoy: the WoodChopper Box. You must be asking yourself... Xeraphina, why would I want a WoodChopper Box, but instead I ask you... Why Woodn't Yew?! With the WoodChopper Box, you can take those flimsy staffs and make them into something new. You can take some branches of wood and make them into something better!

But what can you make, you may ask... Well, the WoodChopper Box will allow you to make forging blocks right off the shelf for all your funky forging needs.

But wait, there's more! On the second unlock, you can whittle that wood down to a simple toothpick. Clean your teeth in style! If you want, you can unlock it further to make weavable beads and even foraged sticks!

But wait, THERE'S MORE! While you don't get an additional thing you can make once you unlock it to tier 3, you CAN get unlock certs to make your own special wooden cobbling plates, or how about some fletching shafts... or hairpicks. HAIRPICKS! What else would we think of next?!

(Disclaimer: Woodn't Yew is not responsible for fingers placed into the WoodChopper Box. Woodn't Yew is not a division of the -A-Nator group and any implied affiliation is purely coincidental.)

Announcement 11

Shop List for Rumor Woods

New Shops	Refreshed Shops	Reopening Shops	Last Run Shops
Barn with It	Can't Stop That Weaving	Born to Adorn	In the Loop
Been Shanked Lately?	Charmed, I'm Sure	Braid and Mane	Spellsmith, The
Bugs on Parade	Cog and Zephyr	Cervidae Corral	Tourney Tents
Common Weaves	Container Yourself	Channeled Affections
Crafter's Hearth	Earthtones	Colorful Carapace, The*
Folded Lotus, The	Fanfare	Couturier's Retreat**
Leaping Leezards	Gallant Groom, The	Deerner Time
Lizard Nest, The	Galloping Gait, The	Devote Alloys
Lizard Vivarium	Gift Horse, The	Ferocious Eyes
Obsidian Raiment	Girlybird, The	Flypaper Designers
Of Sand and Rain	Goin' Stag	GemStoned*
Off the Chain	Greater of Two Weevils, The	Gifts of Atan Irith
Peaked Interest	Holy Sheaths	Grand Stables
Purls of Wisdom	Knight Way, The	Horsing Around
Tempered Threads	Lesser of Two Weevils, The	In the Loop
Tiu & Qaiteke	On the Wing	Irons in the Fire
Woodn't Yew	Poiret & Company, Salesroom	ImPressions
	Quit Stallin'	Kindred Plaid, The**
	Robes of Resistance	Cloak'N'Mount
	Roundabout Racers	Notcher Style
	Saddle Me Up	Ostler's Den
	Silken Lotus, the	Pigments of Memory
	Spirits Within	Rollin' In The Greens
	Sweetie Pies	Spellsmith, The
	Tinkers Toys	Tartan Cloth, The**
	Tourney Tents	Tortoise Enclosure
	Trim and Polish
	Unfurling Battle
	Vaunt It and Flaunt It	* Means that	**Means Tourney
	View from a Stag	Shop Inventory	Specific Item Update
	What Remains	Updated for Lizards

Announcement 12

Rumor Woods Shop Updates that aren't always full shop refreshes...

• GM Aiza has updated the tortoise paint to work on the FLANK of lizards.
• GM Haliste updated the gemstone piercing tool to work on lizards. Those locations are: neck, nose, tail, right & left foreleg, and right & left hind leg.
• GM Haliste and GM Galene have updated the riding boots to reflect lizard mounts.
• GM Haliste has updated the Ostler to handle mount feature changes for lizards.

Other updates:

• New Tourney Tartan

Available at Tartan Cloth - a soft lamb's wool tartan cloth threaded in plum and blue hues
Available at Kindred Garb - a soft lamb's wool plaid
Blended with lamb's wool and flax, the tartan fabric is incredibly soft and has a sky blue base. Horizontal and vertical setts of silver and plum hues face pinstripes of black and white alongside cobalt blue setts over an ebon-threaded pivot. Simple knots, bound by banded onyx, finish off the edges to create a short, thumb-thick fringe.

• New Tourney Tattoo

a piece of dragon-inked flypaper - (found in the backroom of Flypaper Designs)
a silver dragon and black unicorn tattoo

Twilight shades descend in gradient hues from plum to cobalt blue to create a background for a pair of combatants locked in battle. Silver scales, slashed and bleeding in areas, decorate the serpentine body of a dragon that twines about the muscular ebon form of a unicorn. Wings spread for balance, the larger beast appears to be taking as much damage from the hoof, horn, and teeth of his foe as he is giving. Unfurling beneath the piece is a thin ribbon emblazoned with words.

New Additions

• New Lizard Shops

Leaping Lizards - Mount-worn Items for Lizards
Lizard Nest - Lizard Food
Lizard Vivarium - Lizard Mounts
Tiu & Qaiteke - Lizard Saddles

Announcement 13

Posted by GM Valyrka

One of the new mounts at Rumor Woods can be found near the Dhe'nar settlement of Eh'lah.

The Sai'ri monster

Named after the Sai'ri River where the Dhe'nar settlement of Eh'lah is located, the Sai'ri monster is a large lizard about sixteen to eighteen feet long and can grow up to five feet tall. A long, tapered tail makes up about half of its length. They are quadrupedal with thick, stocky legs and have wide feet with three clawed toes. They are at home on land, but prefer to spend their days submerged in the muddy river beds or in the tunnels they dig into the river banks. Their hide of shimmering ebon scales helps them to blend in with shadows and the dark mud around the river. The only other marking is an iridescent blue streak down their belly. They live together in packs, similar to wolves, with the strongest protecting the weak. The lizard is an omnivore and will eat plants, fish, snails and has even been seen stealing eggs from the nests of ground-nesting birds and other lizards. While large in size, the creature is not overly aggressive, unless they feel themselves or their pack are threatened. They tend to avoid humanoids and populated areas, choosing to threaten with their short, squat jaw of sharp teeth and by swinging their tail about or moving away to avoid people.

Announcement 14

Created by GM Gyres and Coded by GM Haliste, this year's lizard mounts will each have unique descriptions. Their defaults are posted below. All mount genders can be changed at the Ostler and, with the exception of the Yierka, all of their default features can be changed. Those are:

Pupil/Eye Type
Eye Color
Hide Type
Hide Color
Patterns (for those that qualify)
Head Shape
Body

Common Mounts

a gargantuan armadillo lizard
The lizard's thick-scaled hide is characterized by hard, overlapping greyish brown scales that form pronounced lateral ridges the full length of his body from skull to tail-tip. Set deep within his narrow head, his solid brown eyes are protected by scaly brows. His thick scales flare more dramatically along his neck, legs, and tail, tapering into toothy spines.

a giant three-toed tegu
Stocky with thick limbs, the tegu's thick-scaled body is a mottled greyish brown and heavily armored all along his back from crown to tail. Solid brown eyes are set low beneath bony ridges on the sides of his narrow head. Each foot bears three thick toes with sharp claws; those of the forefeet are particularly elongated and sharp, while the hind claws are notably shorter. A cluster of bony spikes caps his tail, the one protruding at the center the longest by far.

Uncommon Mounts

a colosssal water monitor
Banded from snout to tail, the water monitor's leathery, cerulean hide gives way to a lighter underbelly. The beast's round brown eyes appear almost beady, set within a triangular head beneath pronounced brow ridges. Darker streaks trail back from the brows and curve sharply over the oblong openings of his ears. His long, thick body is supported by short, muscular legs, and each toe terminates in a sharply curved claw.

a monstrous crocodile monitor
Set beneath the prominent sweep of raised brow ridges, the crocodile monitor's round-pupiled brown eyes are large and alert. A pale gradient around his/her nostrils deepens to bistre halfway down his/her round-shaped head, though his/her leathery hide remains banded with pale markings even to the tip of his/her tail. His/Her long, thick body is supported by short, muscular legs, and each toe terminates in a sharply curved claw.

an enormous sai'ri monster
A nearly unrelieved expanse of shimmering coal black, the sai'ri monster's knobby hide bears only a single stripe of iridescent blue along his belly. His thick, sturdy legs end in wide feet with three-clawed toes, and his tapered tail is as long as the rest of his body. Solid brown eyes are nestled beneath heavy brow ridges set low on his wedge-shaped head.

a scaly brownish yellow wastesdragon
The wastesdragon's heavy-jawed head is masked in black, with tiny solid brown eyes peering out from beneath small ridges. Breaking up the darkness, a daubed pattern of brownish yellow scales begins just past his brow and extends all the way to the tip of his tail. Though the entirety of his leathery hide is eye-catching in both vibrancy and contrast, the beast's form is otherwise stout, his body and tail thick and his neck and legs short.

Rare Mount

a sinewy fringe-toed yierka
Earthy beige tones mottle the yierka's leathery hide in subtle bands from nose to tail, though large swathes along his neck and shoulders are much darker where the skin has the thickness of armor. Parallel ridges of pale, raised scales crest above the beast's fiery orange, slit-pupiled eyes before merging at the crown of his wedge-shaped head and extending down his spine. His sleekly muscular body and limbs are built for running, and his long, claw-tipped toes each bear a serrated fringe of scales.

Announcement 15

Charmed, I'm Sure is returning this year with a variety of new charm designs to add to your collection, as usual. Be sure to grab a charm themed after your chosen side, or select some of the new culturally themed options to celebrate the arrival of the Tehir and the Dhe'nar.

In addition, though, a new offering has been setup for purchase in the shop's expanded back room: the Charm Contraption.

Not at all affiliated with the "-inator" line of products, Charm Contraptions will let you craft your very own charms to put onto your charm jewelry.

What sort of material do Charm Contraptions like to eat to create charms?

• Small weapons (including runestaves and the like)
• Forging slabs
• Forging blocks
• Foraged sticks/branches/wood
• Bones/antlers/tusks/teeth that you SKIN off of creatures
• Gems
• Unscripted pieces of fluff (as long as they are small enough and the Charm Contraption can figure out what it is made of!)
• Gem bugs created by the bug jar system (NOTE: these have some restrictions in terms of customization.)

What does a Charm Contraption /NOT/ like to eat?

• Extremely rare and very rare materials. (No, you cannot have an urglaes charm!)
• Any material noted in ALTER 9 as not being suitable to use as a decoration. (These are things such as rhimar, drakar, etc.)
• Leather or cloth things. (Charms must be made of a hard material!)
• Organic material. (Ew - sorry, no fleshy charms.)
• Scripted items.
• MARKed items. (If you want to use it, you can remove the MARK.)

WARNING: All objects placed into a Charm Contraption are permanently destroyed. The only property the created charm will maintain is the material - nothing else. Be absolutely sure you want to use what you put into the contraption as a charm!

Charm Contraptions do need some power to be able to do what they do, though. Feed them silver or iron wands, or cast Lightning-aligned spells (Minor/Major Shock, Call Lightning) at them to charge them up for use!

Off-the-shelf Charm Contraptions are able to take in material and make charms with pre-built designs based on the provided material.

Unlocks are provided that let you:

• Add dye. (Only works with materials that can be dyed.)
• Add slots for custom Adjectives that can be altered through GALD. (Max 10)

A Custom Adjective is a single word that is usually placed before the noun and should be generic enough to work with all material types (IE intricate, scarred, crude.) These should not indicate color or include materials as of themselves.

• Add custom Design Templates that can be altered through GALD. (Max 10)

Design Templates are a way of arranging different components of the charm into a custom description, such as '(a/an) (adjective) (material) charm shaped like a snarling badger'. Design Templates need a version with and without color/dye added and, just like the adjectives, must feasibly work for all types of material and should not add extra material to the description. NOTE: Gem bugs, due to their complexity, do not work with custom adjectives/design templates at this time and only will work with the defaults.

The charms created are "Basic" charms, but will work to attach to any Charm Jewelry piece.

Thanks, Avaluka