All Hallow's Eve 2023
All Hallows' Eve is upon us once more! It is around this day that magic is at its most powerful. Those with the gift will start showing signs of new abilities and magic spirits will be creating trouble for those around them. Odd phenomenon tend to happen most often leading up to this day. Many people in Moren Ezen are on edge and stay close to their villages. Though, there are a few who are tempted to find these mischievous spirits or explore the faint abilities they are starting to gain.
Event ends November 11th at 12AM CST
Event Prompts
Each Players first Prompt submission will return with a Hallow's Eve Companion of Choice (Shadowcat Cub, Hyena or Blood Parrot).
Each entry will receive a loot roll of three Hallow’s Eve items.
Requirements:
Entries are rolled per rider and horse pair. Up to 3 pairs may be depicted per entry.
Images must depict at least 75 % of rider and horse and must be coloured.
The image must have a background. Shading is optional. Greyscale is allowed (e.g. no linework only/sketched entries).
Literature entries require a minimum of 1,000 words.
Collaborations must clearly state who did which parts. One entry may contain up to 3 collaborators. Additional characters and horses may be depicted, but will not count for rolls or ranks.
Literature collaborations require a minimum of 500 words per participant.
If you do not own a horse, you may use a Group Starter.
Riddley Riddles
We always are found, though seldom sought.
And soon then gone, but lost we are not.
In your darkest hour, beyond which you must see;
We serve as your guide, yet no guidance give we.
Dear friend never met, now how can that be?
We’ve been with you all along, and all along you’ve known thee.
What are we?
Depict your Rider in a scenario that includes what you believe to be the correct answer to the riddle.
Correct answers will receive 1 Prompt Roll & 1 Lootbox
Incorrect answers receive 1 Prompt Roll & 1 Leather Pouch
HINT: The answer to this riddle is not specific to the lore of Moren Ezen.
Please play fairly! If you think you have guessed the answer to the riddle, please do not spoil it for others by sharing or discussing it in the Moren Ezen discord. Likewise, please do not ask for assistance from other players.
Creeping Dread
In the wake of the events that unfolded that summer in Aeslend, a sweeping sense of doom seemed to set in across the land. All Hallows Eve, in years past, was known as a time to celebrate and honor those who came before us…now, it seemed that even this had been tainted by the mage hunters' attack on the Festival of Festivals. Once, temples and shrines had welcomed people into their walls with open arms; they were a safe haven to honor the dead, and yet now many found themselves turning people away in fear that perhaps mage hunters were keeping a close eye over the festivities.
Now. with so many being turned away, people are having to take a more home-spun approach, away from the prying eyes of others. Some have taken to setting up altars to honor the dead in their own homes or simply forgoing the usual season's festivities. Others are celebrating with extra ferocity this year, not unaware of the danger but in spite of it. However people decide to handle the celebration, one thing is clear: tension is on the rise.
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Depict how your rider decides to spend All Hallow's Eve. Do they celebrate in secret so as to avoid the watchful eyes of the mage hunters? Are they among those tempting fate with their rambunctious festivities? Do they avoid celebrating all together?
Mounts optional.
The Specters
For as long as any of the townsfolk could recall, nay an autumn harvest had been hauled that had gone unaccosted by the local jackalopes. This year, however, not so much as a whisker spotted amid the heaping cart-fulls of potatoes and corn; not a nibble nor gnaw of the artfully carved pumpkins had been observed. A total absence of the notorious plague of marauding rodents during the harvest is an utterly perplexing non-occurrence indeed!
Amalgamated feelings of relief and apprehension gripped the townsfolk as the days grew gradually shorter, the nights colder, and All Hallow’s Eve ever nearer; all the while there was not a jackalope to be seen.
Then, as the waning sun belched fire into the sky whilst long tendrils of shadow crept across the land precisely one week before the harvest moon, a gaggle of children were playing in the fields near the edge of the forest. Shrieks of laughter echoed through the air as they chased one another, their voices ringing with the purest of joy. But as the dusk settled in, their merriment was interrupted by an eerie sight.
Later, the children would struggle to recount precisely what they saw, and their tale would be dismissed as fictitious nonsense. For the next two days the townsfolk would continue their preparations for the All Hallow’s Eve festivities uninhibited by concern of glowing specters in the night.
But they were there, flittering through the trees at the forest's edge like wisps of fallen moonlight. The children stopped and stared with wide-eyed wonder as they reappeared for a second, then a third night, and when one of them noticed the shepherd tending his flock the field over, they leaped into the air, arms flailing over their head, pointing and shrieking ‘THERE! OVER THERE!’. Only then were the children believed.
The hunt for the specters was immediately upon them. A group of hunters and scouts armed with lanterns, nets and an arsenal of vicious weapons set out to unveil the mystery behind these glowing apparitions before All Hallow’s Eve arrives. The specters, though small, swift and elusive, were discovered to leave faint trails of glowing residuum on the ground that could be tracked for a time.
But soon the trail dwindled away to nothing, and the hunters were left searching for invisible phantoms amidst the impermeable darkness.
On the sixth night - the night before All Hallow's Eve - one astute observer among them noticed a peculiar detail in the fading trails. The glow of the specters bears a striking resemblance to a unique form of algae that had bloomed in the shallow waters edge of a nearby stream. And doesn't it seem strange that the specter's glowing trail had led them, night after night, in the direction of the jackalopes warren?
Yet even as the true identity of these spectral creatures is uncovered, a lingering sense of unrest persists. There is something else lurking in the shadows, and it draws ever nearer…
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The anomalies that have beset the world have left their mark, and while many - if not indeed most - take the form of ugly scars, in some cases the phenomena has carved out small windows of opportunity; such is the case for the remarkably rare and beautiful bioluminescent algae, which has grown increasingly common in the wake of the great storms.
Bioluminescent algae is a favorite treat for many of Moren Ezen's fauna, in particular the beloved moonskink - whenever the little reptile and its stubby little legs are able to get at it, that is - and the jackalope. It is considerably less popular among people, for the algae offers absolutely no nutritional value, is foul to the human palette and is known to cause stomach cramps. It does, however, have one peculiar side effect that some are willing to withstand the unpleasantness for: consuming bioluminescent algae will make your tongue glow. (eat enough and you would glow all over - but you would likely get very sick before you achieved your goal)
Depict your rider in an All Hallow's Eve setting made positively phantasmal by the addition of some bioluminescent algae.
Mounts optional. In addition to a Hallow's Eve loot roll, each entry to The Specters prompt will return 1 Bioluminescent Algae.
Spooky Specialties
For the duration of the event every rider may participate in a Specialty entry with a guaranteed success without necessary training beforehand. It might be a good idea to stock up your kesh accounts with various items. They might come in handy in the future.
On top of that, every Specialty entry for the Hallow’s Eve gives you one bonus Hallow’s Eve item on top of your own guaranteed loot roll. Please keep in mind you can send in a Hallow’s Eve Specialty entry for a rider only once for each Specialty, excluding Husbandry.
The usual Specialty rules apply. You can read up on them by clicking on the Specialties and following the link. If you want to participate with multiple of your own riders, you will have to make a separate full body picture with background for each one. Drawing e.g. both of your riders on the same background, will only give one loot roll to one of the riders. Same with literature entries; multiple submissions with different stories are a requirement.
Spooky Specialties Do Not have a chance to locate any escaped prize horses from the previous event.
If you are a New Player and have yet to obtain your own horse, you may apply for one from the Adoption Centre. Alternatively you may borrow one of the Group Starters.
Introduction to Crafting
We know many of our members have been anxiously awaiting the release of the Moren Ezen crafting mechanics, and we very much appreciate your patience! We've ultimately decided the best way to move forward with crafting is to K.I.S.S. it, and so - finally - we're getting it off the ground!
Some of the items obtainable through participation in this year's All Hallow's Eve Event can be used to craft our first crafting recipe, Bioluminescent Hand Paints! which can then be applied to your Jibita, Haspar or Tatakh imports.
DISCLAIMER: crafting is currently in early beta testing. All mechanics are subject to change without forenotice.