Summer Solstice 2017
| Summer Solstice Event | |
|---|---|
| Year | 2017 |
| Date From | June 3 |
| Date To | July 1 |
| Main Organisers | Shadowfax |
| Theme | Light and Darkness |
The Summer Solstice Celebration 2017 was an event that ran its course throughout most of the month of June and is the fifth such event of its kind. This year's theme was "Light and Darkness". The event introduced areas featuring the Realms of Light, the native planes of angels. Each weekend new event-related content was released, with the Puzzlewood Forest Survival Challenge making a return on the second weekend.
Pre-event
The story for main quests of the Summer Solstice 2017 event began to be developed in late December of 2016. The idea of having the gods be dissatisfied with the current petitioning setup, that is, wanting more unique supernals and neutral agents instead of angels, was originally conceived by Dentin, who intended to use it as catalyst for an anniversary event that never happened. Dentin's idea was much more complex, with each individual deity expressing their own wishes and desires for their petitioning, such as Byung wanting blood aspects. Shadowfax picked up the idea the following mid-March, who modified the concept to better fit with established lore and simplified the idea into four conflicts, which became the quests for the four event areas. The event was approved by Dentin in April, and Shadowfax and Draak began to build the areas in May.
Schedule
Updates took place each Saturday during the event which lasted from June 3 to July 1. There were four Planes of Light event areas in total, with the first two opening at the start of the event. The event areas were independent of one another and their quests could be completed in any order. They were also single player autolevelling areas (beginning at level 5) and thus could be completed players of any level.
| Date | Summary |
|---|---|
| June 3 | Act 1 and Act 2 begun with the opening the areas Purnima, the Endless Twilight and Crepuscula, the Eternal Dawn |
| June 10 | Puzzlewood Forest Challenge started |
| June 17 | Act 3 with opening the area Diurnus, the Neverending Day. |
| June 24 | Act 4 with opening the area Luam, the Forever-Bright. |
| July 1 | End all events and close event areas. |
History
The storyline relies on events that transpired during the last Summer Solstice Celebration (called in game lore the "Drakdrol Crisis") and the update to cleric abilities at the end of 2016, which introduced cleric petitioning skills.
Story
During the Drakdrol Crisis of 671 RD, long-lost knowledge of clerical petitioning rituals were once again made known to mortals. Nineteen years later, Dentin officially sanctioned these rituals for use with the High Pantheon. The other gods have had the past decade to evaluate these petitioning rituals, and many have found the terms to be less than desirable. Some are threatening to pull out of the Unified Accord, the great pact that governs the use of supernals, unless their demands for new supernal forms are met. Others wish to terminate their clerics' interdependence on the angel choirs and return to dealing with more reliable beings, such as demons. The Order of the Silver Flame has made it their mission to rectify these divisions and keep the Pantheon satisfied and united. To this end, they will be mounting expeditions to the Planes of Light, the homeworlds of the angels, in order to bring peace and harmony to the universe. It is rumored that they are recruiting adventurers to complete their more dangerous and less savory missions.
Areas
- Puzzlewood Survival Challenge (108)
- The Ralnoth Chapel of the Silver Flame (137)
- Fort Telestia in Purnima, the Endless Twilight (138)
- Fort Red Sky in Crepuscula, the Eternal Dawn (139)
- The Rainbow Factory in Diurnus, the Neverending Day (140)
- The Achromatic Palace in Luam, the Forever-Bright (141)
Quests
Quests for Purnima
- Escorted the Archangel Selene to Fort Telestia
- Defeated each of the vesperine lords, uniting them under the choir of Archangel Selene
Quests for Crepuscula
- Found the cure to restore the kurman tortoise to health.
- Freed an apiarch hive from the machinations of the demon Dvukyk.
Quests for Diurnus
- Defeated each of the teraphim camp commanders, preventing them from becoming archangels
- Destroyed the metarrexi infestation near the Rainbow Factory
Quests for Luam
- Slew the rogue incarnates, releasing their energy into the universe.
Puzzlewood Forest
The Puzzlewood Forest Survival Challenge started on June 10th, it mimicked the events of two years prior, with waves of random mobs of increasing strength and a boss mob to cap off each wave. There were seventy waves in total to complete, numbered 0 to 69. Specific instructions were provided on board 8:
Date: 2017 Jun 10 17:01 From: shadowfax Subject: Puzzlewood details ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Puzzlewood Survival Challenge is a series of quests intended for high-level gameplay. Even if you have participated in the challenge previously, please read carefully, as the rules have changed. The Puzzlewood is a group 15 area. Each Puzzlewood instance begins with a fixed set of 10 mobs. As each mob is defeated, it is replaced with another mob selected randomly from a list. After ten mobs are defeated, a boss mob will spawn. This boss mob needs to be defeated in order to advance to the next wave. You can continue to fight and kill other mobs, but doing so will not advance the area to the next wave. A newly created Puzzlewood Forest instance begins at Wave 0 with level 30 mobs. Once the boss is defeated, all remaining mobs on the board will level up to the next wave. There should always be ten mobs in the area at any given time. Please notify staff of any deviation. Begin the challenge by entering the Puzzlewood and killing a monster. You will then begin Wave 0. Once you have defeated 11 mobs, such as 10 normal mobs and a boss, you can begin working on Wave 1. Complete Wave 1 in order to start Wave 2, and so on. You must kill mobs of the same wave number or higher in order to advance. For example, if your goal is currently Wave 5, you must kill Wave 5 mobs or higher in order to advance. If you join a group that is fighting Wave 7 mobs and you're only on Wave 3, you will progress through the Wave 3 quest. Boss mobs are considered two levels higher than regular mobs. Completing a wave quest will automatically begin the next wave quest. To remind you which Wave quest you are working, use the 'quests' command. Use the 'where' command while in the Puzzlewood to see which wave the area is currently set to. There are no safe rooms, but since there are no restrictions about entering or leaving the Puzzlewood, you can safely rest in your recall. So, the point of this challenge to complete as many waves as you can. Players who complete the highest numbered wave quest will receive a basket of goodies after the event has concluded, including a ring of limitless possibilties, and their own legacy quest. There also will be prizes for runners-up and other participants. Please observe Rules 12 and have fun!
Differences to previous years
To keep the action flowing and to help groups survive the higher level waves mobs had a chance to drop recovery items such as wands, scrolls and staves, also completing each wave gave a special recovery item, to give characters a much needed boost and help them prepare them for the new hordes. Quests were advanced by killing mobs of the appropriate wave however players could also kill higher level mobs as well, this was to promote fluidity in groups, so players could help each other catch up.
Recovery Items
For completing each wave.
tem: 'scroll convalescence white shining' Weight: 1 Size: 1'0" Type: SCROLL Composition: PAPER Object is: Item has level 50 spells of: restoration restoration restoration restoration restoration rejuvenate rejuvenate rejuvenate rejuvenate rejuvenate
The following items had a chance of dropping with each kill. Some mobs were prone to drop certain items more than others.
Item: 'wand resuscitation light blue' Weight: 1 Size: 1'0" Level: 30 (relatively common) Type: WAND Composition: CRYSTAL Object is: FRAGILE NOSAVE Wear locations are: HELD Item has 3 charges of level 30 'area heal'. Item: 'salve revival black' Weight: 1 Size: 1'0" Type: POTION Composition: LIQUID Object is: NOSAVE Item has level 50 spells of: rejuvenate rejuvenate rejuvenate enhancement regeneration Item: 'potion revitalization pink sweet' Weight: 1 Size: 1'0" Type: POTION Composition: LIQUID Object is: NOSAVE Item has level 50 spells of: major heal major heal major heal major heal Item: 'wand vivification green rod' Weight: 1 Size: 1'0" Level: 30 (relatively common) Type: WAND Composition: WOOD Object is: FRAGILE NOSAVE Wear locations are: HELD Item has 6 charges of level 50 'area refresh'. Item: 'staff inspiration pale gray' Weight: 1 Size 2'0" Level: 30 (relatively uncommon) Type: STAFF Composition: DRY ORGANIC Object is: FRAGILE NOSAVE Wear locations are: HELD Item has 2 charges of level 35 'restoration'
Notes
On June 19th, Shadowfax's then-pregnant wife, Kagome, was admitted into the hospital on suspicion of having pre-eclampsia. Shadowfax yielded control of the event to Draak while dealing with her hospital stay, which resulted in the birth of their second son on June 24th. Draak returned control of the event to Shadowfax on June 28th.
