Welcome to September!

First off, I want to start with a big thank you to everyone for making the first Painted Relics Event a huge success! It was so much fun seeing how everyone had their characters hunting for treasure across Kyvalore! I loved seeing all the art and writing entries, and loved everyone's interpretations of our newest NPC.

If you missed out on the event, or didn't quite collect everything you wanted, don't fret! Captain Ravinger will still have his summer shop open till the end of September for any last minute purchases, and anything you have left over can be saved till next year! The event traits and items will return next summer.

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Next on the agenda is something I want to get done and out of the way, is a few game mechanic updates that should help with general quality of life for both players and mods.

There's been a large amount of what would be commonly be referred to as farming, and Painted Relics truly isn't built for that. With some members farming, and others working diligently on works and ending with the same rewards for significantly more work, it was clear that our scoring system needed another update in order to remain as fair as possible. We strive to not reward players based on skill, but on the effort they put forth in the work that they do.
So with that, shard reward scoring has gotten another update!

With that update I've gone through and completely restructured the shard count page with examples from so many lovely members of our arpg who let me use their work, while also addressing adjustments and changes based on player feedback. While I know there isn't a perfect system for grading, we are doing the best we can to build a system that is built on the effort you put forth into your work.
You can find the new shard guide here:
https://painted-relics.com/shardcount

The other mechanic update is that the world traveler prompt can now only be completed once(1) a week per character. This is to hopefully help negate a feeling of needing to speed run and rush through quests.
Traveler's Tokens can bypass this limit for now, but if we see an issue with this, it is something we will also look at adjusting.

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Onto the fun content!

Something interesting has been happening up in the branches and leaves of the Life Tree in Lynorre. Cocoons are now growing, and hatching into Moth Avilli!



Moth avilli are an avilli subtype that have an odd assortment of unique traits! You can check out the moth traits here:
https://painted-relics.com/world/traits?rarity_id=6

And you can read about Moth Avilli here:
https://painted-relics.com/world/subtypes?name=Moth

Astor seems to have a few Moth Nectar potions in stock in his potion shop as well.

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With the last story quest there was a resounding vote to listen to the words of the strange text.
Now the story continues and you have another choice to make to decide what happens.


“Rhea... Rhea have you heard?”
Rhea lifted her head slowly from her lectern where papers and ink bottles lay in an awkward pile. Sleep still clung to her eyes and she blinked hard looking for the source of the intrusion.
Athalie was peaking into her room, a curious look on her face and she rolled her eyes. Before pushing the door farther open and walking in, with a yellow and gray bird clinging to her back, and a small green and pink gribble trotting at her feet.
“Heard what?” Rhea yawned, stretching her wings so wide it hit the bottles of dried herbs and strange collections hanging from the edges of her ceiling. She glanced at her room... It hadn't been this messy since she was a child, but the spell she had cast really set her feeling drained so she didn't have the energy to take care of organizing all her new discoveries.
The voxibell before her sat down and shook her head. “You sure you're alright dear? I dont think it's wise for you to plan to head out again, not until you've gotten more rest. I told you it's fine that you stay with me a while.” She looked down at her gribble, as it was slowly making its way over to where Pikk, Rhea's gribble, was sleeping.
“The crew seems to appreciate the extra company, so don't go feeling like you're a burden still, okay?” Athalie looked at Rhea, and only concern and care written on her face.
“I know. I know. But I just... I've got this feeling. You know? Like something's out there. There's too many things to discover and find and I can't just sit here!” Rhea slumped to the ground dramatically. And folder her wings around her body. “I just wont fly or use mana for a bit so I don't over do it again. Promise.”
Athalie sighed, and her mana sigil formed above her head, she turned and a small ray of light echoed down the hallway, and in floated a small note with a broken wax seal on it's edge.
“Modeous sent this. It's definitely something interesting to find if you wanted to take a look.”

Rhea jumped up immediately as the note floated towards her.

      “To Athalie & Rhea,

A strange rumor has been spreading around Lanris over the last few days, and strangely enough the same rumor has been in other cities across Kyvalore. Something about a cloaked figure, who offers travelers a deal. But when asked, no one seems to remember who this traveler was, how to find them, or what they looked like. I'm unsure what to make of it just yet, but I have a few of my students investigating the issue as an assignment.
If you could, please keep an eye out for this traveler, or any other rumors about them. If my theory is correct, this should have started occurring 2 days ago. Somehow... in every city. If you find anything interesting, please write. I'd like to look further into this matter, but at the present I cannot leave the rest of my students.

         -Best Regards,
                  Modeous
P.S. Thank you for the cookies you sent last week. The cookies that were not eaten by my aierbis before they arrived were delightful.”

Rhea held it in front of her in her paws and a huge grin spread across her face. Adventure! She had something to hunt for!
And before Athalie could finish saying 'be safe' Rhea had grabbed Pikk and placed them in her satchel and headed out the door.
Athalie glanced at the letter from Modeous that had now been abandoned on the floor where Rhea once stood and an unwelcome cold chill went down her spine.

Just who was this stranger?

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Find the strange traveler in the story quest this month!

https://painted-relics.com/prompts/prompts?prompt_category_id=18