Ideas? This is a shared universe so please feel free to join in.

Anyway, I just thought to ask, as I re-read so many old, old stories and groaning at some of my own. And sometimes struck dumb at how pleasant some were.

What are your favorite characters, and why?

Mine would be Malger, that rascal. Because he is simply flamboyantly open, self-effacing of his status but aware of the power it provides him to do good things, and the mysteries of his Dreaming, and Healing.

In part 1, in the scene where Murikeer and Llyn talk, Llyn thinks about "the motivations of the raccoon she had nearly slaughtered four days past". So, 4 days after Dangerous Games, which takes place 1 day after Actions and Reactions, which takes place 2 days after the Stepping Rock raid that Killing Time mentioned was in late August.

So far so good. It wouldn't be "Late September" as the heading says, but it could pass as "Mid September".

In part 3, the scene where Rickkter and Muri meet with Thomas takes place three days after Rickkter first learns about the victims in part 1. It's also said in part 1 that attacks have happened over the past five days. Finally, in part 6, when the spell is broken, the first victim is told he's been out for two weeks.

So far, it's a consistent timeline. If Stepping Rock is Day 0, then Llyn and Muri arrive at the Keep on Day 1, victim #1 is stabbed on Day 2, Kan is stabbed and Rick finds out on Day 7, and Rick meets with Thomas on Day 10. The guards are put on an increased alert, and the spell is broken "two weeks" after Day 2, anywhere from the night of Day 10 to Day 22. (I've come to be very generous, when it comes to characters talking in weeks or months instead of an exact number of days :)

Now the clincher. When the spell is broken, he is also told the day is October 8th. An impossibility — there's no way this date could happen even 22 days after August.

However, there is one "out" I found while reading — the scene with Murikeer and Llyn is not explicitly the same day as when Rick finds Kan's body. No mention is made in the second half of part 1 of the investigation or the victims. They could take place in two separate times. This means the latter half of part 1 would happen no later than September 7th (7 days after the last day of August), and the first half could happen no earlier than September 24th (15 days before October 8th).

There's other supports for a timeline gap: Fakoffal appears at the start of part 1. He refers back to a scene in the Jolly Collie in Daylight Fading where he appeared, which takes place at least a few days after Apologies (Day 4) — therefore, Daylight Fading is on or after Day 6. It's said that Fakoffal has been at the Thirsty Scholar for 3 days, with no other tavern offering them a stay. There is also a mention in part 2 that it's been almost a fortnight since Rickkter and Kayla spent more than dinner together, and "Daylight Fading" is definitely more than dinner. ;)

But I'd rather not say a whole section happens in flashback if that was not the intent.

IMO, there's an even better solution, if Ryx agrees to it, which is to change Llyn's reference from "four days past" to "three weeks past", resolving the timeline gap by completely separating "Dangerous Games" from "Llyn's Tribulations". Then (setting Day 0 to August 30th) "Dangerous Games" happens on September 3rd, victim #1 is stabbed on September 19th, Kan is stabbed on September 24th, Duke Thomas is informed on September 27th, and the spell is broken on October 8th. (And also change Llyn's rescue from "two months past" to "three months past").

Now, I could also suggest the date October 8th be moved back a bit to October 3rd, so that:

• per the 706 calendar, it's 15 days after September 19th and on a Saturday, more believable to call "two weeks" than the 20 days hard maximum;
• it gives more space between Llyn's courtroom appearance 3 days later (the chapel is said to still be in ruins for the purposes of investigation), and Liturgy of Blood (the Patriarch arrives on October 11th, per the Dream's Aria stories, and tours the chapel on that day);
• and so that Llyn is still in prison on October 27th for Getting Away from the Party (if you remember "Liturgy of Blood", you'll see another issue here — but that's another subthread).

But that is up to Ryx.

Any opinions or other solutions?

0x1 "One" 0x5 "Five" 0x9 "Nine" 0xD "Delt" 0x2 "Two" 0x6 "Six" 0xA "Alf" 0xE "Geth" 0x3 "Three" 0x7 "Seven" 0xB "Ylelkh" 0xF "Zig" 0x4 "Four" 0x8 "Eight" 0xC "Gam"

Numerical Constants
sqrt 2= 0x1.6A09E6
Golden Ratio= 0x1.9E3779
e= 0x2.B7E151
pi= 0x3.243F6A

• It says on the Curse page that ARs tend to default to an age of 9. On the writer's guidelines page it says that they stop growing at a certain age, and can shift between ages at that point. Does this mean that ARs are effected by the change earlier than TGs and animal morphs? Or does it mean that, at age 14, they revert to their default age (9) and can shift up or down in age?

• If a child is born cursed, are they capable of shifting? Or does that only happen when they reach puberty like other children?

Fan Shoar

Fan Shoar is one of the five continents of MK's Earth. It is located in the northeast quadrant of the world map, north of Irombi and the Central Sea and east of Yamato, Khumar, and the Oriental Coastlands.

History

If Irombi is the cradle of human civilization, Fan Shoar is where humans first spread. How long ago this actually occurred is not known, but there are many ruins, and some are seemingly only a thousand years younger than those found in Irombi. Most creation myths involve ancestors that migrated out of some underground realm to the surface or other form of migration from somewhere dangerous.

Climate

Fan Shoar has a huge range of environments from the arctic north to the sub-tropical and tropical south.

-Starfrost Tundra: The northernmost area of Fan Shoar, this land is continuously frozen except near the coasts and south. Various structures of ice and snow exist in the forms of pillars and arches, though there are rocky outcroppings and caves are oddly common. The closer to the center one gets, the colder it gets. Some crystals form in an area where the highs never reach above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. These are known as everfrost crystals and they emit cold and a chilly, bluish light. The further in one goes, the colder it becomes and the colder the everfrost crystals are as well. Tales say there is an area where it is so cold people are frozen alive.

-Balewinter Timberlands: To the immediate south of the Starfrost Tundra is an area of tiaga. Tribes of nomadic wanderers calling themselves the Kupuni roam the area. They use yurts and reindeer, though in winter they occasionally build igloos. Though they chiefly hunt or fish they are more than willing to engage in trade, usually for anything fire-related. In return they are happy to provide everfrost crystals and the furs and skins of rare, northern animals.

-Stormwing Forests: South of the Balewinter Timberlands, this area has a temperate rainforest climate (similar to the Pacific Northwest). The Tigmest people make this place their home. They build cedar longhouses whose windows and doors end up looking like faces and which are flanked by totem poles. There are eighteen tribes and each one has a particular animal they feel a connection to and which forms the base of their totem poles. The Stormwing Forests has many rivers and lakes as well as rises and waterfalls. Salmons make a yearly run on the waterfalls. All the Tigmest tribes are matrilineal. They do occasionally war against one another, but will unite against common enemies.

-Greymist Mountains: Forming a long line to the southeast of the Stormwing Forests, the Greymist Mountains are fairly low but still present a reasonable challenge to climb over (about the same as the Appalachian Mountains). There are many breath-taking scenes from the mountains, though they are also home to some dangerous creatures and few people tend to live on them permanently.

-Watakimari Confederacy: Stretching from the Greymist Mountains to the northwest to the Yajiit Sunlands and the Okelamala Swamp, the Confederacy is a more or less unified area. There are many mounds built in the shapes of animals (though this is only obvious from above) and several sites of cities. The people of Watakimari are matriarchal and have a strong base around the many rivers that run through their lands and specifically the three great lakes near the center of it. The area as a whole has a temperate climate, though the areas closer to the Okelamala Swamp and Yajiit Sunlands are much warmer and more subtropical.

-Yajiit Sunlands: A more appropriate name is unlikely to be found. There are areas of prairies on the outskirts with golden yellow flowers and inside is an area known as the Rainbow Desert which resembles the US southwestern desert with its many outcroppings. There is a large canyon there as well. Within the Sunlands are the Xablan who build their homes on the sides of cliffs. Particularly impressive is the city of Taxal located on the western end of a bay. It extends from the western bay to the Skystone Mountains in the east.

-Skystone Mountains: Home to the Phisqantinsuyu Empire. It stretches north from the Watakimari Confederacy to south where the mountain range ends. The empire paved roads and uses stone almost exclusively in construction of buildings. The mountains themselves are beautiful and are named for the fact that there are actual flying islands around it. These areas seem to defy gravity, though the reality is they are being held up by naturally-forming crystals imbued with properties from the Elemental Plane of Air.

-Okelamala Swamp: Nearly due east of the Yajiit Sunlands and on the other side of the Skystone Mountains this swampy area holds many secrets. It is named after the people living there, who build their homes among the trees and live off the bounty of the swamp. It is most like the Everglades in nature.

-Katzl Empire: Just south of the Yajiit Sunlands, it extends west to east from the Central Sea to the Keystone Mountains and as far south as the Tinikawar Rainforest. Centers of worship and power exist in the form of step pyramids dedicated to the sun. They have the most advanced astronomical records of anyone in the world.

-Tinikawar Rainforest: Taking up a majority of the southern portion of Fan Shoar, this rainforest is home to many different tribes. It is also home to a large river which links almost all of the region. It is named after the legendary Tinikawar Empire which once ruled the area but which has long-since fallen. Vine-covered ruins can be found in many places. The tribes of Tinikawar share many cultural similarities and trade with one another (and some outsiders). Major cities still exist on the coasts, though there’s no centralized government.

-Qwixota Plains: The southernmost tip of Fan Shoar is covered by a vast prairie. The Quixota tribe roams over it on their horses. They have many settlements made out of baked clay located near watering holes, but most are not continuously settled except during the fall and winter months. Anyone wandering in is expected to care for the buildings and any crops for as long as they stay.

People

The humans of Fan Shoar have darkest skin that has a ruddy look to it. They are about average height. Their hair is usually strait and black with iridescent sheens of blue, purple, or red; facial hair is uncommon.

Much like in Irombi, Humans are the only civilized sentient race that is native to the continent, but other intelligent creatures do call the continent home. Particularly common are elementals of various sorts as well as talking animals (scholars speculate this is due to the influence of some outer plane). There are also rumors of lizardfolk, frogfolk, and birdfolk in the Okelamala Swamp and Tinikawar Rainforest though they’ve yet to be verified.

Fauna

Fan Shoar is home to a wide variety of fauna which largely resembles the animals of North America and South America.

Civilization

The people of Fan Shoar are different than their counterparts in RL Americas during the Middle Ages; being the second home to humans, much knowledge has been lost but there has also been much retained. Horses are common as are llamas.

Shamanistic magic is highly developed in Fan Shoar, though it is different from that of Galendor. It includes much more alchemy and the use of familiar spirits (generally small, elemental beings that take on the shape of an animal) is common. Shamans in Fan Shoar can produce a wider variety of effects than most in Galendor can accomplish because they can also detect raw magic and regularly treat with elemental spirits who are sometimes considered members of a given empire or tribe and who often align themselves in defense. Extreme care is taken when dealing with any extraplanar being, however, particularly those from the Heavens and Hells.

Most of the civilizations in Fan Shoar are matriarchal; men are given honor and respect, especially as talented crafters, artists, warriors, and shamans, but lines are traced through the mother and kinship is reckoned stronger when it is through the mother and her relatives. Similarly, men move in with their wives and must prove their worthiness as a husband before any marriage proposal is accepted.

Religion

Much like in Irombi, their closeness with spirits allows the people of Fan Shoar to understand the capabilities and morals of celestials to a great degree. While they do not see Daedra worship as innately evil, they are fully aware of the dangerous nature of most of them and treat them accordingly. They far more likely to worship the Aedra and Eli (whom they call the Great Spirit), but pay due respect to Daedra when needed. Shamans, particularly, tend to be capable of sensing the Daedra at work and will offer something that, effectively, is a very polite request for them to stay away.

• animorph, pedomorph, transgender : Pretty straightforward. My only concern is "transgender"… should it be changed to "gendermorph"?
• 'taur : I'm not familiar enough with taur form to know when to apply it. For someone whose default form is taur? Someone who has knows how to taur shift? Someone who is regularly seen in taur form?
• alteration, curse, curses : The other three legacy tags. I had a thought about applying these to story summaries: see below.
• amigadragon, arace, cerulean, charles-matthias, christian-okane, coal-train, hallan-mirayas, hawl-enroygall, kristy-davis, phil-geusz, pontos, raven-blackmane, ryx, w-o-l-f-0013 : The idea behind these tags was to assign who is the current owner of a character, i.e. who to contact for permission to use them.
• deceased : For characters who are, in the active timeline (708 CR), no longer living. I thought about extending this for characters who were alive but had been requested not to be used, but I couldn't think of a tag. "forbidden" perhaps?

The rest of the tags are basic info that would be relevant if an author needs a specific type of character:

• ecclesia, lothanasi, yehudim : Some religions.
• automaton, daedra, dragon, god : Some non-human races.
• elvquelin, euper, glen-avery : Locations for characters generally residing in one place.
• archer, automicant, baker, healer, high-priest, long-scout, marigund-mage, questioner, scout, spy, teacher : Some occupations.
• magyar : I only know that Magyars are rough analogues to Romani, so they're none of the above. I guess ethnicity?

Alright, so discussion time:

• What other tags would people like to have for characters?
• So far I only have tags for characters. Locations would be easy to add tags to (buildings get city tags, cities get continent tags). What about organizations? Magic? Events? What sort of tags would we want?
• Are these tags even useful for people? Just because they're there doesn't mean we need them.
• Okay, finally… I've been considering adding tags to the summaries, like "curse" for stories that explain or explore new aspects of the curse, or "alteration" for stories that specifically someone undergoing a permanent change. (MK did start off as a transformation-based story universe, after all). Maybe other tags for stories that describe and explore certain organizations or locations. Any thoughts?

Are apprentices and journeymen admitted as guild members or are they just there under their masters' memberships?

Comments? Corrections?

Here is what I've got so far:

Lasalle – Crossroads town. Large 4 arched Seuilman victory monument. Road SOUTH leads to Midtown. Road west to Menth at the Sea of Stars. Road east to Someplace. River flows through it.

***

The City of Lasalle itself was decently if unimaginatively laid out. It’s city walls were square with a gate on each of its four walls. The western wall hugged close to the river that brought so much trade. The western road left the western gate and crossed the river on an overly grandiose bridge of stone. It then ran arrow straight to the sea of Stars. The road itself was an old empire construction and had stood up to the centuries well.

Sitting at the mouth of the Metamor valley meant that as many times as the valley had been invaded and destroyed. So had Lasalle. It left all of its citizens a touch paranoid and its walls were tall, thick and studded with many towers.

Lasalle was geographically and politically midway between Metamor Keep and Midtown. The Duke and Lord Donel were at war for control of the important town. There are two factions that vie for control of the city government. It showed in the treatment Stealth received. Some people were friendly and helpful, while others showed hatred. Most seemed to waver in between showing something between indifference, disgust and nervousness. But all were quite happy to take his coin when he showed interest in buying something.

***

Comments? Additions? Corrections?

I love Metamor Keep and I've had a lot of fun writing for it, I really wish I had the time and energy to read far more of it than I have instead of just using the wiki for cliffnotes.

Last time I wrote my vision for this series, that, well exists. Many people didn't like it and thought it was too full of shock value. So I retconned the pseudo-death of Pascal. Was even going to have Scratch and Michael bond at her funeral. Now Pascal is melted and they're merely waiting for her to reform.

Now aside from details that are in Young Love which I won't spoil because that's about to come out (Big News for Sargosa fans, they won't be disappointed)

Here's the NEW plan for Tales Of The Transblade, it's not as long, doesn't shake up the universe as much, and hasn't nearly as many permanent consequences.

-Tales Of The Transblade-

With the exception of the conclusion and a spin-off story involving Dame Seranima, we're done with the Keep, the rest of the stories take place in Mugal

Hawl learns of his true age (8), and that his father is the Transblade. Hoping to gain some semblance of stability Hawl goes into the cave and tries to save Cedric

Hawl is tempted into becoming the God of the Flesinoir, which involves having his personality wiped in favor of Azatoth. He is tempted into this by his own mother, an insane were-spider who acts as a breeder for the Flesinoir.

Cedric, Yariv, and Claire are rescued from the Mugal Cavern, though they'll have been modified into Flesinoir creatures…. They learn how to repress the Flesinoir elements in themselves locked away as another side of themselves.. allowing them to revert back to Keeper forms, but not cure them entirely. They'll still be prone to taking monstrous forms if they get too emotional. Xhyz who we learn is an Ex Flesinoir will train them to control these new sides of themselves.

Cedric's Flesinoir side is a Seahorse like creature that cannot talk. The Transblade is effective at surpressing this side and he needs the least training.

Claire's is a highly bloated monster that is constantly ill, but can control her own diseases. Is pretty healthy when this side is locked away. Her Flesinoir form is contagious and the most dangerous.

Xhyz's Flesinoir Side is too horrible to imagine, but he's very good at controlling it. So I'll leave it as "Nothing Is Scarier" like we do for Nasoj.

I have made no decisions about Yariv's Flesinoir side… though I'm considering something that humiliates her and makes a mockery of her faith and self-hatred.

The Flesinoir are beaten, their leader dead, and the texts surrounding them once again lost. Sargosa's fault.

Vercetti returns to life, but finds that having already died living feels wrong. She recoginizes that her time is up and her resurrection is abomination…. she tries to get Sargosa to understand this before committing suicide

Hawl turns the lord of Cornflower's pet bird Locket Morphic as a show of good intention… No one's really sure why Hawl decides this, but no one is offended by the results

Hawl returns to Metamor Keep and begins to wander North of Metamor, with the Flesinoir gone and no real family to speak of he decides to give trouble to people who actually deserve it for a change.

Cedric keeps the Transblade, Hawl and Flynn agreeing that it's least dangerous in his hooves

Hawl and Flynn (Hawl's father, and the spirit inside the transblade) talk realizing that turning the Transblade into a Music Box would allow the Transblade to speak.

Yariv takes over as ruler of Cornflower when her father gets too old to do so.

Sequel Series
Living Armanents

I had an epic operatic storyline planned for this, but I don't have the time or energy, plus I'm not talented enough.

Sera is killed up North and her ghost returns to Metamor, attending her own funeral, not realizing she's dead at first.

Xhyz learns the surviving Flesinoir live in Metamor Keep now and may be seeking revenge, gets the cast of the last series to find these people and take them out

Hawl returns to Metamor Keep having seen the Flesinoir looking for him up North and not wanting himself to be used for summoning Azatoth

Sera has ideas of who these people are…. Xhyz gets the idea to return her to life by bonding her soul to Hawl creating HawlSera. HawlSera is smarter than Hawl, but inherits the curse Sera had in life. Preventing Hawl from being of much use to the Flesinoir (as her powers would become limited) AND giving Sera a body to better communicate with.

Leo and Cedric duel because Leo feels jealous that Cedric got to keep his manhood and has bested her multiple times without Cedric showing her any respect.

Malisa gets a mace called Ruin, kills a bad guy, and does not much else.

Xhyz and Zyhx face off, Xhyz binding Zyhx's soul to himself to prevent it from causing harm and alleviates to a higher place of understanding, ponders becoming a spiritual leader of a new faith, but realizes the Followers and Lothanasi would not be happy about it and decides to use his enlightenment to be a better alchemist instead.

Flesinoir Extinction, series over.

HawlSera goes up North, now having two new weapons, the Living Blades Rattus and Lapis to continue her quest to bother someone who actually deserves it.

Whether Hawl dies because of Nasoj's forces or blends in with the women of Arabarb is completely up to you. I'm leaving it open in case I get the urge to do a third series where HawlSera comes back hoping to gain employment in Metamor Keep… though he's kind of already pissed off Thomas and Malisa enough to the point where this might not be the best idea in the world

This is it, I'm done writing in Metamor Keep after this and submit all characters for use as NPCs for anyone who wants to use them… except Xhyz, Sargosa, and Malakai whom aren't my characters to use. HawlSera's story is left open ended because a lot of people didn't like Hawl and honestly, if I do feel the need for a third arc, I'd like to have the wiggle room. The Flesinoir would be gone for good after this with Flynn and Xhyz being the only real members of it left neither of which having interest in starting it back up again… but there's other villains out there.

That said I think I'll be lucky if I manage to get these two story arcs done

Below are ideas that were considered but scrapped, do not scream "YOU'RE KILLING Metamor" about these ideas below are listed the ideas that I had, that I decided NOT to use.

Originally, I wanted Hawl to redeem himself to Malisa and the two to become friends with Hawl learning to be more empathic.
I wanted Hawl to get cursed by having Claire dare him to stay a week
Mugal forming an allegiance with Metamor Keep and Prince Klaus becoming close friends with Malisa
I wanted Hawl to develop a stronger relationship with Charles Matthias
I wanted to have a scene where Hawl becomes Azatoth and nearly destroys reality, snaps out of it, and turns Malisa into a male stallion
Locket would have become Cedric's apprentice using a Telekinetic Headband to Sword Fight despite having wing hands
The Guardian would have torn Britannia asunder with GIANT, EVIL, COLUMNS!
Leo would have been given an Automaton that was a Lion who could turn into Armor (It felt more like a FreeRIDErs idea than a Metamor Keep idea, so I got rid of the whole concept)
Leo would have been a major antagonist
Leo would have turned into a cow
HawlSera's mom being a Were-Spider was meant to actually have a bigger role with Hawl being a Tiger and Sera being a Spider and the two swapping between these forms depending on who had more control.
I wanted Malisa to start a mercanery group that handled external threats called "Fourth Gate" and serve as a "Zordon" or "Professor X" type figure
Fourth Gate would have traveled to the Southlands to the ruins of the original Flesinoir Sites and have had an epic confrontation and a LOTR-esque overly long travel sequence
and I wanted a character called Gureau who fought with a magic frozen scimitar…. but he serves no purpose in the story and there are enough magic weapons in my stories already. This guy may still show up in a minor role just to use a character concept.
These are the biggest ideas I've scrapped…

Most of these were scrapped because they would have been too much effort, involved storylines I don't have time or energy to write, don't jive well with most other writers, were rubbish ideas, or violated the canon so hard it would make your head spin.

For better or worse this is the future of my MK stories

If Kyia changes something in a smallish but interesting way, would there be a big snit about it or would it be a hot topic for a day or two and fade as people lost interest?

We know Syl is a snake morph, and many people would be put off by that, but how would the human traders in Euper react to a half-transformed wolf man with strange markings walking alongside a 14 foot long naga?

Either way, a story with this character (if any) as an example of them would be very helpful.

Pros:
Noir can control his own temperature, standing calmly he is normally around 320deg(f) internally, obviously others can feel the heat coming off of him to a lesser degree. With concentration he can raise his temperature exponentially and lower it to a comfortable 100d(f).
He can also accelerate, dampen, extinguish, or heighten a fire within easy sight.
He is completely unaffected by fire, magical or otherwise, provided it is normal fire.
Noir can ignite himself to various degrees, including but not limited to becoming a walking bonfire.
He can surround individual parts of himself, (fists/feet/mouth) with fire and use this ability in combat. This also includes the ability to breath fire.

Cons:
Having such a high normal temp makes people like you in the winter or the wet weather, in the summer this is a very different situation. This prompts him to be either standoffish in public or forced to lower his own temp for the comfort of others.
Noir's abilities must still obey the laws of physics, so accelerating a fire to twice it's size or heating it to twice as hot it burns twice as fast as well. This also takes focus and practice to master.
While unaffected by a fireball to the face, shadowfires harm Noir even more than a normal person as they do damage to the essence of his spirit. Demonic fires or hellfire don't actually harm him but being touched by such fire is foul. Just as throwing liquid refuse would disgust a water elemental, fire from the hells feels wrong and dirty.
Generally when Noir ignites himself it is not intentional, most of his abilities are focus-based, but in order to manifest his spiritual self he must feel strong emotion. Rage is the easiest emotion to evoke such powers, which can be very problematic.
Noir's ability to breath fire is very much like the carnival trick, except Noir does not need fuel to do this so he can breath fire longer and stronger than them at a moments notice. it still behaves like normal fire when he stops. He cannot spit, throw, or shoot beams of fire in a way that it would normally not behave anyway.

Weaknesses:
Normally you would assume water is the direct opposite of fire, and in a way it is, but just dumping a bucket of water on him would do little. Rain also would not do much to put him out and neither of these things hurt him. Magical water or a large summoned amount of water would be best for this, though generally this is often a better stalling tactic or a stopgap. Smothering him with earth is similar, though anyone that didn't want to kill him should be very careful. Wind powers can be both a blessing and a curse, while wind could be used to accelerate Noir's flames they can also take away the air his flames need to exist. While water and earth can do this air is a much easier option. Fire does not power him up in any case, it simply doesn't do anything to him, a fireball would feel like a warm breeze.

Generally Noir's fire abilities don't need fuel when coming from his body in the same way it would normally, like wood, coal, oil, ect. However one of the strange ways his soul-bonding affects his mortal body is a vastly increased metabolism, which gives him a healing factor, but this means he burns through food 2-3x faster or more depending on how active he is with his powers.

• Are there ever Lutin attacks south of MKs borders/outside of the Giant downs? Maybe small raiding parties?
• What are a few things in trade MK is most in need of?
• Are the three transformations and their effects completely random? For instance upon entering the cursed area are you randomly hit by one of the curses or…?
• Where are the curse boundaries? I saw a map of the valley with red lines marking the area north and south of MK, is that a rough boundary?

I found my own solution to this problem. Grab a single spiral dough hook from a hand mixer and chuck it into a power drill (corded or cordless).

Open the jar and holding it securely, turn it slowly at first so that the spiral pushes the contents downward. Once the oil is incorporating, speed up the drill and work down into the center and all around the edges (take it easy if it's a glass jar so you don't break it) to get an even mix.

Once you're done, s!ow down again and slowly raise the dough hook out, leaving only a thin layer on it to scrape (or better, lick) off.

…Draconian, a bastardized creature between man and dragon, the very sight of which will send a real dragon into a murderous, indignant frenzy.

Is this all dragons, including those who might be allied with Lilith or other daedra, or will some tolerate their existence/presence? (if the latter, change to 'most real dragons')

…Draconian, a bastardized creature between man and dragon, the very sight of which will send a real dragon into a murderous, indignant frenzy.

Is this all dragons, including those who might be allied with Lilith or other daedra, or will some tolerate their existence/presence? (if the latter, change to 'most real dragons')

The most obvious fact about cockatrices is that they did not arise naturally, but were designed by biomancers¹ in the past. A cockatrice bloodline begins when a biomancer alters a rooster to make it partially female. The altered rooster, through self-fertilization, will lay brown leathery-shelled eggs that will hatch after forty-eight days of incubation.

Contrary to popular belief, cockatrices do not turn the victims of their gaze into stone. Instead, the magical attack instantiated by their gaze causes all of the calcium in the victim's blood and skeletal muscles to be pulled out to the skin. The calcification of the skin causes the appearance of a stony metamorphosis.

While in MK-verse Emperors, Kings, Dukes, Counts, Barons, Patriachs, Priests, Knights, Paladins, Mercenaries, Assassins, Mages, Wizards, Warlocks, Gods and Pretenders but most of all, Us the Writers have forged this world into the shape it is in. But whatever the political landscape, the pursuit of coin, regardless of its metal, will also have been present. Where are the merchants? What area of the world do they control? How does trade flow over land and how over the seas?

This fascination came to me after looking up some of the old nations on wikipedia and finding a wealth of possibly true information on the Merchant Republics. So I wondered if there are such Republics like: Venice, Amalfi, Ragusa, Genoa, Pisa or maybe something more modern like a coalition of Free Cities similar to The Hanseatic League exists in the MK-world. It is possible that I missed them while reading or looking through the list of places, or more likely I didn't recognize them as such.

Potentially I see Wales being a huge player in trade being an island nation. Arabarb being coastal and rivalled with Wales had a presence but at present probably less so. Any coastal city is likely to have a strong trader presence but since as far as I can see they belong to greater realms. Not likely to find independent republics there. Emperors see the value of trade though and might allow them to operate under them. Historically this has backfired for example when Venice broke away from the Byzantine empire(ERE).

Which brings up the next question. Since trade is only possible if there is something to trade. What goods are produced where and who wants/needs them? For simplicities sake it's best to be very general about the type of goods.
Basic goods: grain, salt, wood, stone, wool, fabric, leather, iron, fish, cattle etc are likely very commonplace and in relative low demand.
Luxury goods: wine, steel, silver, gold, raw gems, jewellery, fine clothes, glass, weapons, furniture etc require either machiney, skill or are rare to find/difficult to get to.
Exotic goods: silk, coffee, tropical wood, cut gems, tea, porcelain, sugar, spices etc these are produced far from familiar lands, its production methods are kept secret or require exceptional skill to produce with current technology.
(Feel free to expand on this list as I'm bound to have forgotten something)
I've mostly omitted goods from the new world (eg. cocoa, maize, potatoes etc). Since I'm unsure about if these are already present in MK-verse.
And of course there's magical and fantasy goods that have a place in this world. Mythril being an obvious example. Even though Metamor Keep has gained access to a vein I'm sure it is not the only one in world.
Other magical goods might include: -types of wood good for magic tools (wands, staves, contraptions)
-types of stone excellent for rune crafting
-types of metals that are natural magic conductors or good for making golems/automatons
-Magically infused fabric used to make magical clothes or fancy dress for rich people
-Rare herbs that grow only through magic or have properties because of magic needed for alchemical potions

And finally, I wonder who makes the best and lends their name to the product? Is the name Sathmore is synonymous with the best Wine in the world? For the best Steel, does one travel to Pyralis? Does Metamor make the best Meade?

Thank you reading. Penny for your thoughts?

"Nobles care about Prestige. Priests care about Piety. Everyone cares about gold" - Book title in the Walish Traders series. Currently on sale for 2 Crescents

P.S. Does coffee exist in the MK world?

Trick or Treat 3
Needs: Furry Halloween-themed anthology with two sections, “Tricks” (horror/general) and “Treats” (adult/erotica), with this volume’s specific theme of modern Halloween celebrations
Length: 10,000 words max
Pay: Flat rate of $100
Deadline: June 1, 2015
Guidelines www * rabbitvalley * com /sales/Submissions_Trick-or-Treat.html

Fragments of Life’s Heart
Needs: Furry anthology seeking stories about various forms of love/relationships, PG-13 max.
Length: No minimum, 10,000 words maximum.
Pay: 1/2 cent per word
Deadline: August 15, 2015
Guidelines: www * anthroaquatic *com /forum /index * php?topic=604.0

New Fables
Needs: Anthropomorphic-themed fiction and poetry.
Length: Unknown
Pay: 1/2 cent per word for fiction, flat rate of $20 for poetry
Deadline: Currently closed to fiction submissions. Open to poetry submissions only.
Guidelines: (Poetry only) //sofawolfpress * submittable * com/submit/23391

Anyone recall?

We would like to move forward with actual artist selection. There are two possibilities on the table:

Kekswolf: http://kekswolf.deviantart.com/
SpiderDragon: https://www.furaffinity.net/user/spiderdragon/

I do not have a price for Kekswolf, but SpiderDragon will do a color painting for $330 with 7 character, $350 with 8 (plus somebody gets the original). Has somebody contacted Kekswolf to get a price offer?

Dominus tecum