Art was Elewyn's favorite subject of study when she was growing up. It
didn't matter what form of art: painting, drawing, writing, drama, dancing,
all of these forms of art (and others besides) were things she enjoyed
doing. She applied some of this joy into her life in various ways as she
continued to age; like many girls, she liked applying makeup and putting her
hair into different styles. She also started applying dye to her hair as it
grew out. Elewyn also became good with both the quill and the paintbrush,
and had plans of becoming an actress for some time. These plans changed
when she met a stage magician who performed delightful magic tricks in a
show.
Elewyn talked to the magician after the show and asked if she could learn
his ways, and he offered to take her along with him on his travels so she
could learn them. She accepted, and went along with him on his travels for
a time. Several months later, Elewyn settled down in Valour, having learned
what little she could from the magician. Then she enlisted in the Academy,
choosing to become an illusionist.
Description (commended):
Layers upon layers of fluffy hair cascade around this bird maiden's head.
The first layer over her shoulders is a sort of strawberry blonde, being red
but very lightly so. As the layers progress up her scalp, they become
increasingly darker in hue; at the collar level her hair is auburn red, at
her chin it turns medium brown, and finally above that in a sort of bob cut
is raven-black hair.
Beneath the layers of hair lies a face which could be described as pretty;
her skin is very pale, and it contrasts well with her periwinkle blue eyes.
Her skin also contrasts well with her thick and wide crimson lips, through
which clean, perfectly aligned teeth can be seen when she smiles.
As for the rest of her body, she is tall and lanky. Her torso is slender,
but not lacking in tone, like a dancer's. Her back has seen great
development, which is not a surprise because she has a great pair of white
wings extending behind her shoulder blades. The lower portion of her body
consists of a pair of long legs with good tone; it's obvious she exercises
them regularly despite having the capacity of flight. Finally, her arms are
lightly developed, just enough to indicate strength but not enough to gather
bulkiness.
I'm pretty sure it was Hraozen who scored the one kill on me. And that was because I foolishly thought I could take him.
I went inactive because I didn't feel like I was effectively contributing to the Consortium. Elewyn was fun quite often (I made a point to use the land and fly commands before entering and after leaving indoors areas), but alas, good things come to an end eventually. I'm sure the Consortium will be fine without me.
Awww, another member I came up with gone. I always enjoyed it when you were around! It was fun bouncing of you because of how different we were. I do help you felt my jibs and jabs were all in your fun. I always thought you might end up as the better homes and gardens contributor if sorts to the mystique given your shops writings. I was hoping you'd expand into lair reviews and things. Alas, not to be! Anyway, I'll miss seeing you about!
Any feedback for us standing Consortium members on why you didn't feel like you were effectively contributing?
BlackWidow
1 , 0 , 0 .
Well, I chose a combination of dedications which allowed me to do most of what I wanted... Let me get into that here.
I've always enjoyed overseeing people; it's why Trelanya was my first major character when I returned after three years of absence. I got to watch Paeix beat up Kryton a couple times, though apparently it was causing him lag to have me watching him...? I respectfully cancelled the watch at one point because of his complaints. Overseeing really opens your eyes into what's possible, but you have to find a willing participant. If I had to pick one feature of the game which wasn't available by default, it would be overseeing. So I was happy with that.
Writing mob lore was cool, though I felt like I was stealing credit whenever I altered somebody else's hard work all because of one or two minor typos. For example, Davairus wrote the Xanthak lore but misspelled the Keep of D'al Kadar (he used two d's instead of one). Some of Vanisse's work as Serra turned into giving me the credit for writing it when all I did was correct it slightly. I didn't like suddenly having credit for entries which really weren't my work, though I never properly expressed this. Avenar probably could have fixed this (and likely still can).
My big gripe about the Mystique (and being a Herald in general, though technically I was a Scholar) is that you don't even have to be online to do the vast majority of that work. Since notes do disappear given enough time, I got used to copy-pasting them into Notepad++ for future reference, especially if it was something that didn't go in the Mystique for whatever reason. The Mystique work has generally felt to me like bookkeeping and not something which requires interaction.
On the note of the mob lore... It was difficult to get others to either (a) write their own lore or (b) provide feedback if I ever wrote lore myself (whether this was simply approving changes, approving new entries, or if somebody thought my lore was rubbish or could be improved).
Anyway, that's what comes to mind after several months of inactivity.
Sorry I took so long to respond! Hopefully you still read it.
I agree about oversee! It is wild. Seeing the rate of movement and command input is a whole different experience from reading a log. I feel like I learn a ton and am freshly intimidated every time I do it. If it can't be there for everybody, it would be cool if Heralds could let people "ride shotgun". Maybe everybody grouped with them can Oversee with them? Kind of get a host of the show vibe going.
The mob lore stuff is interesting. I also didn't understand if you were writing lore or if you were editing lore when you first started putting them in. I also had no idea about authority, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to approve them? And I still don't quite understand that aspect. I prefer writing sprawling complicated stories and would love to start writing mob lore linking creatures and areas together. I don't want to just write visual descriptions. But I've never been certain if I have carte blanche to do that. I would have loved to collaborate with you on lore but as a new player I just didn't understand the rules on what we were allowed to do. I was constantly differing to a greater power that never was.
I badly want the Mystique to be more engaging. The online vs offline aspect is an interesting conversation. I think it hurts the Mystique compared to books that the Mystique can only be read in-game while books can be read on the website. I feel like it hurts readership because people are exposed to PK while reading in-game as well as log on-off time lag issues. I do want the writing and Heralding to be more engaging for everybody. I'm exciting about the new rumor system and have a bunch of ideas that I'm sure will never come to anything. But I hope we can rope players in and make it worth their while to contribute in the future.
BlackWidow
1 , 0 , 0 .
Don't worry, I tend to continue reading unless somebody really annoyed me. We're having a pleasant conversation so I'll respond again...
Yeah I understand what you're saying about writing mob lore linking creatures and areas together. Nemhhael Gonturan and the other Baron in the Faction of Steel (I never can spell his name correctly, he has the ice armor and Ring of Accuracy) were mobs I was able to write lore about at some point. The other Gonturan mob in the Battlezone (she has the Staff of Vengeance and is next to the wolverines) can be linked to them.
Also, writing lore on characters who are not visible by default can be difficult... Yorick and Rainen in the Faction of Blood come to mind. Although the thief and shadow guilds are unorthodox choices for the Heralds, I see potential for somebody to play a drow shadow (if they feel like being evil) or possibly a halfling thief or the like.
As for what is and isn't allowed on lore...? Well, the only rule which I think applies to lore is you should keep in mind what has already been written (doesn't mean you have to follow it precisely imo since stories do change over time... Though I may be alone in that perspective). The Isle of Exile is basically ripe for the kind of lore you seem to be interested in writing, since I don't think there's much, if any, lore written there.
Davairus
0 , 0 , 0 .
Wait.. the lore changes are in notes, right? Thought I remembered seen tons of those notes.
BlackWidow
0 , 0 , 0 .
They are Dav. The problem I have is, the person being credited with the lore is changed if you disapprove lore (or whatever it is which takes the entry out of public view), make an edit, then it is approved (by someone else because that's how it works). One small edit shouldn't mean somebody else gets the credit for the lore, in my opinion. Maybe I'm just hopelessly academic in nature, but it feels like I'm stealing somebody's work that way...
Davairus
0 , 0 , 0 .
Yeah I agree. That doesn't sound right, its not even showing the correct person's name. We should figure a way to credit the area contributions correctly. That isn't it.
I went inactive because I didn't feel like I was effectively contributing to the Consortium. Elewyn was fun quite often (I made a point to use the land and fly commands before entering and after leaving indoors areas), but alas, good things come to an end eventually. I'm sure the Consortium will be fine without me.
Trillian 0 , 0 , 0 . Awww, another member I came up with gone. I always enjoyed it when you were around! It was fun bouncing of you because of how different we were. I do help you felt my jibs and jabs were all in your fun. I always thought you might end up as the better homes and gardens contributor if sorts to the mystique given your shops writings. I was hoping you'd expand into lair reviews and things. Alas, not to be! Anyway, I'll miss seeing you about!
BlackWidow 
1 , 0 , 0 . Well, I chose a combination of dedications which allowed me to do most of what I wanted... Let me get into that here.
Trillian 1 , 0 , 0 . Sorry I took so long to respond! Hopefully you still read it.
BlackWidow 
1 , 0 , 0 . Don't worry, I tend to continue reading unless somebody really annoyed me. We're having a pleasant conversation so I'll respond again...
Davairus 0 , 0 , 0 . Wait.. the lore changes are in notes, right? Thought I remembered seen tons of those notes. BlackWidow 
0 , 0 , 0 . They are Dav. The problem I have is, the person being credited with the lore is changed if you disapprove lore (or whatever it is which takes the entry out of public view), make an edit, then it is approved (by someone else because that's how it works). One small edit shouldn't mean somebody else gets the credit for the lore, in my opinion. Maybe I'm just hopelessly academic in nature, but it feels like I'm stealing somebody's work that way... Davairus 0 , 0 , 0 . Yeah I agree. That doesn't sound right, its not even showing the correct person's name. We should figure a way to credit the area contributions correctly. That isn't it.
[reply to BlackWidow]Any feedback for us standing Consortium members on why you didn't feel like you were effectively contributing?
I've always enjoyed overseeing people; it's why Trelanya was my first major character when I returned after three years of absence. I got to watch Paeix beat up Kryton a couple times, though apparently it was causing him lag to have me watching him...? I respectfully cancelled the watch at one point because of his complaints. Overseeing really opens your eyes into what's possible, but you have to find a willing participant. If I had to pick one feature of the game which wasn't available by default, it would be overseeing. So I was happy with that.
Writing mob lore was cool, though I felt like I was stealing credit whenever I altered somebody else's hard work all because of one or two minor typos. For example, Davairus wrote the Xanthak lore but misspelled the Keep of D'al Kadar (he used two d's instead of one). Some of Vanisse's work as Serra turned into giving me the credit for writing it when all I did was correct it slightly. I didn't like suddenly having credit for entries which really weren't my work, though I never properly expressed this. Avenar probably could have fixed this (and likely still can).
My big gripe about the Mystique (and being a Herald in general, though technically I was a Scholar) is that you don't even have to be online to do the vast majority of that work. Since notes do disappear given enough time, I got used to copy-pasting them into Notepad++ for future reference, especially if it was something that didn't go in the Mystique for whatever reason. The Mystique work has generally felt to me like bookkeeping and not something which requires interaction.
On the note of the mob lore... It was difficult to get others to either (a) write their own lore or (b) provide feedback if I ever wrote lore myself (whether this was simply approving changes, approving new entries, or if somebody thought my lore was rubbish or could be improved).
Anyway, that's what comes to mind after several months of inactivity.
I agree about oversee! It is wild. Seeing the rate of movement and command input is a whole different experience from reading a log. I feel like I learn a ton and am freshly intimidated every time I do it. If it can't be there for everybody, it would be cool if Heralds could let people "ride shotgun". Maybe everybody grouped with them can Oversee with them? Kind of get a host of the show vibe going.
The mob lore stuff is interesting. I also didn't understand if you were writing lore or if you were editing lore when you first started putting them in. I also had no idea about authority, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to approve them? And I still don't quite understand that aspect. I prefer writing sprawling complicated stories and would love to start writing mob lore linking creatures and areas together. I don't want to just write visual descriptions. But I've never been certain if I have carte blanche to do that. I would have loved to collaborate with you on lore but as a new player I just didn't understand the rules on what we were allowed to do. I was constantly differing to a greater power that never was.
I badly want the Mystique to be more engaging. The online vs offline aspect is an interesting conversation. I think it hurts the Mystique compared to books that the Mystique can only be read in-game while books can be read on the website. I feel like it hurts readership because people are exposed to PK while reading in-game as well as log on-off time lag issues. I do want the writing and Heralding to be more engaging for everybody. I'm exciting about the new rumor system and have a bunch of ideas that I'm sure will never come to anything. But I hope we can rope players in and make it worth their while to contribute in the future.
Yeah I understand what you're saying about writing mob lore linking creatures and areas together. Nemhhael Gonturan and the other Baron in the Faction of Steel (I never can spell his name correctly, he has the ice armor and Ring of Accuracy) were mobs I was able to write lore about at some point. The other Gonturan mob in the Battlezone (she has the Staff of Vengeance and is next to the wolverines) can be linked to them.
Also, writing lore on characters who are not visible by default can be difficult... Yorick and Rainen in the Faction of Blood come to mind. Although the thief and shadow guilds are unorthodox choices for the Heralds, I see potential for somebody to play a drow shadow (if they feel like being evil) or possibly a halfling thief or the like.
As for what is and isn't allowed on lore...? Well, the only rule which I think applies to lore is you should keep in mind what has already been written (doesn't mean you have to follow it precisely imo since stories do change over time... Though I may be alone in that perspective). The Isle of Exile is basically ripe for the kind of lore you seem to be interested in writing, since I don't think there's much, if any, lore written there.
[reply to Valindra]