July Newsletter from Iron Realms Entertainment

July has been a fantastic month for development. You can get all the latest news about your favourite game in this month's newsletter, including the winners of our banner contest.

Banner Contest
Thank you to everyone that submitted banners to our contest. Laegroth, Balizar, and Daermon from Lusternia, along with Aster from Imperian have been selected as our winners. You can view their banners here. Congratulations!

Imperian
The Moons of Change, Terror, and Life aligned in the sky this month, creating the first Triple Eclipse in Imperian. The entire continent of Aetherius was swept up in a huge celebration as many games and events were held. The paramount event was a global capture-the-flag game, hotly contested for its entire duration. The Stavennite Empire proved victorious in the end and it was the first organisation to receive the lunar pylon, a powerful and beneficial relic. Five new areas were also released in Imperian over the month of June, adding several hundred new rooms and many new mobs and quests. Finally, several changes and additions to profession skills have been occurring through the classlead system.

Achaea
June in Achaea swept in over fifty changes, small and large. Along with the efforts of our tireless classleads and combat council, the appointment of liaisons to coordinate player suggestions facilitated in the fruition of many wonderful ideas this month. For instance, a player suggestion resulted in the weaving of a new system to enhance roleplay, called expressiveness. Other changes include: the ability for organisations to "claim" manuscripts, which will then only allow those in the organisation to edit or contribute to it; the accentato ability of Bards now affecting denizens; entirely new abilities such as mapsight and the enchantment of scabbards with the bag of stasis effect; the ability for city council members to mute citizens from the city channel; the ability for city leaders to join citizens in matrimony; the addition of an ever-replenishing drinking horn artefact which may be customised for different types of liquor; a system to improve feedback on player-filed bug reports -- and that's just to name a few! We wish to express our appreciation to everyone involved with suggesting, discussing, filtering, testing, and implementing ideas and fixes this month. It has been a group effort marvelously done indeed, and we are certain to see more to come.

That's not all, however: it is not only the abilities, objects, and systems in Achaea that are ever-evolving, but the many interactive storylines and the lay of the land as well. During the month of June, a malevolent lunar spirit named Mukmutarra who had been laying waste to the city-state of Hashan for many years was at long last vanquished by the joint efforts of the sacred Orders of the Sun and the Moon. Further south, a young adventurer's investigation of trouble in the valley of Actar led to the discovery of a settlement of cyclopes high upon a previously unexplored Southern Vashnar peak, Mount Piraeus. We never cease to develop storylines to unfold and new lands to explore; come explore them with us in Achaea.

Lusternia
In Lusternia, wandering bards arrived in the Basin of Life searching for the theatrical stages found in the cities and communes upon which to perform their craft. Those who helped these bards find a stage, also helped their respective city or commune increase their culture score. A World Stage was constructed upon Avechna's Peak, wherein cities and communes could submit their theater productions to further increase their culture score. A New Player Guide was added to the website for newcomers to have a quick reference to Lusternia's many features.

Aetolia
Explorers received an early Celesmas present this year with the discovery of six new areas, including a large region known as the Festering Wastes. Liaisons continue to shape the land, with ferality, forging, groves, and hematurgy finished. Illumination, horsemanship, howling, and hypnosis are up next. Even more change is in the air, as rumours abound that tradeskills are going to receive a major overhaul, including the addition of furniture and custom forgings. Scouts have also returned with talk of several new areas on the horizon, including a large region known as the Itzatl Rainforest.

If you are interested in reviewing our previous newsletters, you can find them here. Once again, we hope you continue to enjoy our games and thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Matt Mihály
CEO, Iron Realms Entertainment