┌─── ∘️️ December 2024 Newsletter ️️∘ ───┐
1st of Skybright, year 1640

Welcome to December, Avalorians!

This is a busy month for a lot of folk, between the many holidays and increase of work in customer service. Staff are continuing to pluck on, and our applications remain open here; a thread will be made soon however to better clarify and explain what staff roles do and look like in action. Non-staff Mentors are also welcome and needed, especially for whitelisting. Please feel free to inquire via Dicsord DMs to @Charybdis as well in the meantime if you have any questions.

We have had a great feedback session in November that has influenced many of our soon-to-be-released updates that you will see below. The session in its entirety has been summarized in notes which can also be found in the Community section.

As we welcome winter, I hope it will be a warm and cozy one for you all! Remember to rest and be safe, especially with the increase of walking pneumonia cases in North America on top of the usual flu/cold season.

° New & Upcoming

Campaign Updates

• The Spire Inquiry: An in-character news source for the main plot points of the current ongoing Honourless campaign.
• Dec. 7th - Hearing a Response: A town meeting in response to the group known as the 'Finns' and their offer. A link with the time will be edited in once the post is made.
  
  

Content Updates

Cantrips

• Reworks across the board are in progress
• In response to popular demand, an attack cantrip is being developed

Feats

• Quickfooted & Shieldmaster reworks will be released this week
• New weapon feats will likewise release this week

Combat/Misc.

• Evasion rebalance will come this week alongside other changes

Compendium - Cultures

• @Moony's Korami expansion is finished and will be signed off on this month.
• Falstoners' update collaborated by @Moony and @Dee have made good progress although is not complete.
• Finally, the Stonerunner expansion by @NOS402 and @Moony has been approved and should be seen this month!

Compendium - Bestiary

• Vampirism (see: Curse of the Eternal Blood) unfortunately is delayed but ongoing by @St. Moth (aka Vinsintius).
• Apparations & Ghoulish Foes should see a release soon/early this month, pending some proofreading

Community Updates

Avalore Secret Santa 2024

• Click here to learn more and sign up for the IC/OOC Secret Santa!
  

General

• Team lead has finished moving and has started to be around more yay (:
• Top priorities are currently surrounding assisting Lore Team and improving ticket management
• We are seeking a few mentors especially for whitelisting! Apply here.
• Monthly feedback sessions with a questionnaire followed by a voice chat-style discussion are likely to be held, once properly organized

Feedback Sesssion - November

• The biggest player requests have been for additional spells and feats, followed by the alchemy crafting system release. Plugin development in general will resume now that Reedie has more availability, and we thank you for your patience in remembering that we have a solo-development team at this time
• It has been brought to our attention that new players may face some difficulty with finding roleplay with other players and groups, and we will look at ways that especially Mentors are able to help ease that process and bring newer folk into the fold
  • In a similar vein, we have received feedback surrounding the Honourless campaign and will look into improving public knowledge and communication, as well as trying to foster more cross-group interactions between players in roleplay, especially regarding the campaign
• A full summary of the feedback session can be found here.

° Player Events & Projects
Player-lead events and projects of Avalore, curated by the editor and Community Team to feature for the month.

Player Events

• Dec. 6th - Arrival of the Retinue: The Duchess of Rulan, Dahlia Silverbloom, claims her stake on the South. While she has yet to actualize any power over the region, an attaché of knights and diplomats will be hosting a merry night of drinks for all to attend.
• Dec. 7th - The Fey Tribunal: Helara, Bracchus, and Altheric are being sentenced in a public trial.
• Ongoing, Contact @Wake - Earn Money, Get a Checkup!: Elreyna is doing the Spire the good service of trying to establish and maintain medical records on the townsfolk. Come get checked out to get a better idea of your physical health!
• Dec. 8th - Crumbled Stone & Mortar: A high-risk dungeon crawl of an abandoned crypt of (allegedly) Aedall origin; the last party disappeared into it without returning save one member.
• Dec. 27th - (Recurring, Monthly) Fight Night: You know the first rule of fight club, right?
  
  

Editor's Pick
The editor's top pick for this month's player projects.

• The Chartered Survey Company's Hunting Competition: A first-come-first-serve style event where each player character hunts solo to rack up points against their competitors. This is an incredibly creative and fun idea, and I've heard nothing except glowing reviews about @Avajain's DMing and hosting of it. While finished, I certainly highly recommend checking out future events from them.
• A Sailor's Tales: A large and still-growing compilation of Mistan oral tradition that has been told in-character by Nell. A ton of wonderful and very in-depth writing by @Tomtomgags, it's a delight to read and I would recommend it highly for any Mistan players looking for some inspiration. Oral traditions tend to have many versions of tales, after all!

Player Projects

• Spire Buddy Society: Sign-up in-character for trivia nights, card games, bar nights, and more!
• 4-Question Interview With Sir Maliketh: An impromptu interview to learn more of the Lady of the Lake.
• The Rules of Basketball: A fairly straightforward rolling system for playing an in-character game of basketball!

° Player Submissions

Please feel free to submit Avalore-related content to be featured in our monthly newsletter via DMs if interested. This can include (but is not limited to) puzzles, art, in-game photography and creative writing.

By @adamunavailable

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