Summer Solstice 2016

The theme of the Summer Solstice 2016 celebration event was "Resonance". The various events were orchestrated by Shadowfax. Draak contributed the Mud Volcano and Fortress of Sutton Vu. Morpheus and Dentin assisted with setup and debugging. Kagome and Aziz playtested the Drakdrol area.

Timeline

The various quests of the main event are organized into "Acts". There were three such acts.

Date	Summary	Quests	Areas
June 10	Act 1 begins	Consulted the Naginag Hierophant and the Keeper of the Elwood, Retrieved a fragment of a heavily inscribed slab, Retrieved a petition incarnate spellbook	Sunken ship near Phtom Island redone, addition to Mud Volcano released
June 14	Act 2 begins	Assisted in the assembly of a mass driver, Donated a starcatcher
June 20		Puzzlewood Body Count Challenge	Puzzlewood forest area re-opened for the week
June 21	Act 3 begins, Acts 1 and 2 close	Used the Ultimate Preservation Program to save the world from Drakdrol	Fortress of Sutton Vu, Western Mengaw Forest, Drakdrol
June 27	Events end		Puzzlewood forest area, Fortress of Sutton Vu, and Drakdrol are closed. Western Mengaw Forest remains open. Airam is re-opened.

Background

The first script for the main event was written in late May and presented to Shadowfax's peers for feedback. A second draft was posted June 2nd, based on the feedback received from Dentin and other world builders. The original script had Drakdrol as a living planet eater inhabited by aliens that were controlling it. Players would have had to fight the aliens and antibodies inside of Drakdrol. Other ideas that were scrapped were having a rogue titan team up with a demon to be the main villains, and having them be involved in a love triangle with another demon which aided players out of jealousy.

Puzzlewood Challenge

161 players consulted the Naginag Hierophant and the Keeper of the Elwood.
124 players retrieved the starbomb plans.
140 players retrieved the petition incarnate spellbook.
89 players helped build the mass driver.
780 starcatchers were donated to Blanagan.
63 players saved the world from Drakdrol.

268 players completed the 100 monsters Puzzlewood quest.
101 players completed the 1000 monsters Puzzlewood quest.
73 players completed the 2000 monsters Puzzlewood quest.
63 players completed the 3000 monsters Puzzlewood quest.
333683 monsters were killed for the quests over the course of the Celebration.

Event conclusion

While adventurers were gallivanting about on Drakdrol, Gisco the
Necromancer and Blanagan the Scientist created huge metal racks covered in
scrolls of the 'unburden' spell.  Using Blanagan's calculations, Princess
Anzu Firewalker cast the gate spells that allowed them to push the racks
onto Drakdrol's surface moments after the adventurers had fully activated
the Ultimate Preservation Program.  Gisco then remotely recited the scrolls
through the open gates using demonic thralls.
The church of Dentin has put forth an official declaration that while the
efforts of Blanagan and Gisco were exemplary, the spells alone were not
enough to span the distance required to push Drakdrol away from Alter Aeon,
and that Dentin himself intervened at the last moment to bridge the
remaining gap.  Dentin will soon be creating a permanent portal to the
surface of Drakdrol.
Drakdrol is now in a stable location celestially near Alter Aeon, occupying
its lagrangian 2 point, and is thus being towed around the sun using Alter
Aeon's gravity.  Because Alter Aeon is between Drakdrol and the sun, it is
usually in Alter Aeon's shadow, with only occasional slivers of it visible
now and again due to libration.  Because it remains in the dark, its
surface temperature remains low, meaning the native life is no longer in
danger of extinction.  Druids are now studying Drakdrol's animals and how
to harvest moonlight reflected from Drakdrol for magic spells.
Blanagan has resumed his duties of maintaining the Behr'zok Orrery and has
been bestowed with the title of 'Astronomer' in lieu of 'Scientist' in
light of recent events.  Gisco the Necromancer taught a few spells to
Blanagan before returning the wilderness and remains at large.
THE END