August Newsletter from Iron Realms Entertainment

Good tidings abound throughout the Iron Realms! Our 30% credit bonus sale has been extended through the end of August. While this sale is active, when you order any amount of credits from us, you will receive a 30% bonus on the amount purchased. For example, if you purchase 100 credits, you will receive 30 bonus credits for a total of 130, and if you purchase 1000 credits, you will receive 300 bonus credits for a total of 1300.

Furthermore, special artefact auctions have opened in each Realm with many rare and fantastic items. Bid on a dominion crystal in Aetolia, a mantle of refraction in Achaea, a feathered armlet in Imperian, or a transplanar torus in Lusternia! For lists and details of auction items, check within each individual game. All auctions will end on Saturday, August 9th, on or after midnight GMT/5pm PST/8pm EST.

Imperian
July saw a flurry of activity in Imperian for our roleplay-assisting Docents and Crafters, as we're currently accepting applications for volunteers in both of those programs. We're also introducing a host of new item types that our players will be able to craft using our detailed tradeskill system.

In other events, prayers to the Just God and the Peaceful Lady were answered, as a former follower of the Mad Lord joined the Desert City and was given the gift of lucidity once more. A howl echoing across Ithaqua heralded the return of Danir Brynja, an Idra who had been away long years working at a single mission, and having returned expected to take his father's place within the guild as a reward for his devotion.

In lighter news, the trickster Lohat, who had been taking delight in showing off the skills he had learned from the City of Magick throughout the streets of Antioch, was forced to repent, assigned to take care of the stables as punishment for stooping to break bread with those who used Magick. Whether or not this serves to convince him to behave remains to be seen!

To the right is an illustration of Janus, the Green Man, who is the God of the Seasons in Imperian, portrayed here in his autumnal aspect of a bipedal fox. Sekhir of Imperian is the talented artist behind this award-winning entry into one of our Artisanal Contests.

Achaea
We recently held the eagerly anticipated semiannual city-vs-city game of Capture the Flag, in which the six major city-states of Achaea vie for the Effigy of Victory. In a thrillingly close endgame that one Achaean aptly described as "nail-biting", with the lead shuffling back between the cities of Ashtan and Shallam, Shallam emerged triumphant in the final few minutes.

Also during the last month, a ritual held by the forest spirits of Achaea and members of Oakstone altered forest defenses significantly. An arena for naval battles opened within the high seas, allowing captains to practice combat without fear of sinking their ships. The oracle Apollonia reappeared upon a mountainpeak named the Dreamspear. Anointed now as a dream seeress, she awaits those who would brave the journey north to seek her guidance for a journey even more profound: into the Dreamrealm itself. Updates to numerous classes were implemented through our Classlead program, including a new transcendant ability in Curses: the dreaded Tzantza curse, which brings instant death upon completion, leaving the victim's shrunken head as a macabre trophy.

Lusternia
This month found the return of the Elder God Charune, the Horned One, to Lusternia after a long absence. His return was not without drama as he was under the grip of a powerful enchantment that caused him to entrap his mate, the Elder Goddess Lisaera, and create strange sea creatures known as quinotaurs. Fortunately, with the help of mortals, the enchantment was broken and Lisaera was freed.

Later in the month, the Great Nature Spirit known as the Tree of Trees became ill, and the nature communes of Serenwilde and Glomdoring put aside their differences to work together and heal the mighty spirit. In the process, they had to sacrifice two mighty artifacts, the Ancient Cudgel of Glinshari and the Black Cudgel of Mighty Crow, respectively the champion artifacts of the Hartstone and Blacktalon guilds. Eventually, the Tree of Trees was healed and new champion artifacts were forged by the Great Spirit herself.

Aetolia
In one of its largest celebrations in some time, Aetolia celebrated the 250th year of the Midnight Age during the month of July! Players celebrated with numerous contests, each of which granted recognition and prizes to the victors. The Midnight Age Carnival provided fun and entertainment to all, with numerous special items available for sale at the Carnival's booths. Numerous Liaison updates were made throughout the month, with new and updated skills for a variety of the realm's classes. In addition to the combat updates, the realm's roleplaying utilities were supplemented greatly with the addition of a new customisable speech system and a multiple-target system for emotes.

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