Adventurer's Challenge: Week 19
A foe appears!
Huzzah!
Good evening, and welcome once more, fair adventurers.
We’ve nearly reached the halfway mark of May, and the air in the realm has turned stranger still. There have been… visitors. Some familiar, not openly hostile—but not exactly ordinary, either. Others though… Well, what I mean to alert is that I suspect these trends will only continue.
I apologize if I have been less active of late—I’ve had my hands full as well, working quietly on a few projects behind the scenes. They’ve taken much of my focus, but I hope to share more with you soon.
Your own path though is starting to become quite “full” it would seem as well. Between the odd visitors, the flickering streetlamps, and whatever’s truly happening in the soil and behind those sealed canvas walls—something is threading its way through the realm. This week, that thread holds a shape. And bears many eyes.
You’ll need more than luck to move past it. The road ahead demands direction—and proof that you're not just drifting, but choosing.
Keep your wits about you. The watchers are watching. But so are your allies.
For grit and glory,
Sir Kadean
P.S.S. If you are new here, you can find all the past editions of the herald here, still held by our previous overlord.
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May 2025: The Prophecy Stirs
It does not offer clarity, only invitation. Threads begin to twist into patterns. Symbols surface in dreams, in patterns of behavior, in the timing of events. What have you gained so far? What trials this year have shaped you? And how will you answer the summons ahead?
May is a threshold. A chance to reflect on the first part of your journey and take stock of the tools, allies, and truths you now carry. But it is also a warning: challenges lie ahead. You will need to be ready—not only in strength, but in purpose and determination.
Prepare to decipher. To adapt. To name what you’re truly seeking. The realm does not yet demand your final form—but it does begin to ask who you are becoming.
Week 19: A Foe Appears! : The Web
You have been walking the path for some time now… but as the trees grow denser and the air stills, you feel it: something has shifted.
The trail is no longer clear.
She waits in the clearing ahead—legs folded like spindles, eyes reflecting every choice you’ve not yet made. A spider the size of a cart, old as the bones of the world.
She does not attack. Not yet.
She watches. Threads hum behind her, each tied to a possible future.
To pass, you must prove you are ready to begin shaping one.
This week is not about certainty. Still, the web holds fast until you act with intention.
She will not chase you. But she will not let you wander.
Resources for ye:
(main quests are essential to your journey) -
You cannot pass your foe this week without completing! 🕸️Tangle and Thread
Sometimes, what binds one of us binds many.
Action: In the Discord, share one "tangle" you’re currently working through—a decision, a pattern, a delay, a self-doubt. Then offer a resource, tool, or word of advice on someone else’s tangle in return.
A Knot in the Web
The spider has seen you hesitate here before. Continue the mistake, and you will fall to her.
Action: Journal briefly about a recurring point of confusion or stagnancy. Not to fix it, but to give it form. Try naming what’s underneath it: fear? fatigue? uncertainty? Then, take a single small action that might loosen it.
Unstick
The longer you linger here, the less likely you are to escape safely. You grow weaker, and the spider stronger with you delay.
Action: Make a concrete plan for something at least one moon cycle away. It doesn’t have to be life-changing, but it does have to be a commitment that you invest in. Sign up for a lecture, put down a deposit on a trip— make a step forward that you cannot take back.
Don’t Wrap Your Prey Up
A spider, wraps her spoils, saving them for later, sealed in silk. But you are not a spider.
Action: Choose one small joy you’ve been putting off—something you meant to buy, watch, eat, or enjoy “when the time is right.” Do it now. Take the future off pause. This is not a time to store sweetness. This is the time to taste it.
Divination Deferred
The spider offers visions—but only if you ask the right question. Perhaps if you fell her this time around, she will return later with answers.
Action: Write down a specific question about your future, then set it aside somewhere sealed: in a jar, behind a photo, folded into a book. Choose a date to open it. You are not looking for answers at this moment, just proving you’re brave enough to ask.
Rewards for this week’s quests: 🕷️
(a note- you may want to keep track of these, they could be of use to you later in the guild)
(Strengthen your skills, build your arsenal)
One Day This Week
Clear out the cobwebs (literal or metaphorical)
Two Days This Week
Engage with your chosen guild
Three Days This Week
Reaffirm your goals from the beginning of this challenge
Four Days This Week
Engage with your chosen guild
Five Days This Week
Plan your day ahead of time
Rewards for this week’s trainings (all five to succeed) 🐌
(a note- you may want to keep track of these, they could be of use to you later in the guild)
(toll bridges must be crossed weekly in the realm)
Week of: 05.11.2025
ATTENTION: All those currently under investigation are not permitted for crossing.
Minders: Woodland Nymph Infantry
Accepted Pittance:
Complete daily side quests as posted by Sir Kadean 4 days of the week
OR
Test flashlights and replace dead batteries
Check for recalls on any recent purchases
Research your local mutual aid group
Retaliation:
-Two legendary items removed from inventory
(side quests are optional to your journey, but may aid you in the path ahead)
The Naming Rite
Task: Before any tale can twist, the first part must be sealed. A chapter unmarked may try to repeat itself.
Action: Look back at what’s unfolded since the turning of the year. Trace the pattern in your steps, the lessons left in your wake. Then name this span—whether in solemn tones or strange riddles. Just a few words. A title, not a story. Etch it in your journal, whisper it to the wind, or carry it in silence. The page turns next.
Self-Fulfilling
Task: The signs are swirling—but no one else can interpret them for you. This month, you are the oracle.
Action: Write a three-part prophecy for yourself using what you know, feel, and intuit. One line for what is being left behind. One for what is forming. One for what you are being asked to become. It can be poetic or plain, cryptic or clear. Return to it when the road narrows.
May Guild Trials
Task: Complete the quest for the month as outlined in your guild’s charter
Scholars: “The Hidden Link” – Gather scattered notes, curiosities, or half-formed thoughts. Find the hidden link between them.
Artisans: “The Maker’s Mark”- Revisit something you’ve made this year. Then, create something new to mark who you are becoming.
Bards: “The Spoken Omen” -Write or record a short personal prophecy. Let it be strange, symbolic, or sincere.
Sentinels: “The Sigil of Holding” – Reflect on one moment you held firm this year. Create a symbol, word, or mark to honor that strength.
Alchemists: “The Transmutation Script”- Write a cryptic recipe, ritual, or formula that describes what you must become to meet the trials ahead.
May Guild Badge Design Challenge
Task: Create a design for the May Guild Badge, a symbol that we may all look back on to celebrate the month’s success. Each month, a winning design will be selected that best represents the theme and highlighted on social media. Challenge partakers will be able to collect them all.
This month’s theme is “The Prophecy Stirs”
How to Submit: Share your badge design in the Discord by May 30th
Rewards for this month’s quests: 🔮
(a note- you may want to keep track of these, they could be of use to you later in the guild)
Vitality Tax Under Review as Black Market Potions Quietly Surge
Months after the introduction of the controversial vitality potion tax, the High Council has announced a formal review of the policy amid growing concerns across the realm.
While the Council maintains the tax has funded several key infrastructure projects, including ongoing roadwork, critics argue the cost to daily life has become untenable for many adventurers and townsfolk alike.
Whispers of a booming black market have surfaced in recent weeks, though no official sources have confirmed where these untaxed potions are coming from. Notably, H.G. Halifax III of Halifax Potion Craft, usually quick to offer commentary on civic affairs and tincture trends, has declined to comment.
The Council has stated it will consider seasonal need, guild affiliation, and accessibility in its review. No timeline has been provided, though several officials were spotted near the Gilded Mare with what one bystander described as “deep concern and very large clipboards.”
Realm Advisory: No New Developments, Resources Redirected
The blocked road between the Gilded Mare and the High Council offices remains closed, with no new information released regarding the discovery beneath the cobblestones. Canvas barriers are still intact, and Kingdom Representatives continue to guide travelers along the eastern woodline.
The Toll Bridge remains open, though guards have grown more visibly present in recent days. All restriction and detainment protocols remain in place.
Streetlamp outages persist across several districts, particularly along unpatrolled paths and garden corridors. Reports now suggest entire stretches remain unlit past the third bell, with no formal explanation provided by maintenance crews.
While no update has been issued on Fionnán’s whereabouts, Kingdom Representatives have confirmed that resources are being quietly reallocated to support a new missing persons investigation. Details remain sealed.
Reward for Bonus Quest, Week of 05.04.25
Submitted by ???
Now we wait.
Reward: 🐾
Bonus Quest, Week of 05.11.25
Submitted by NOT the Master of the strings, puppeteer of theatrical fate, spinner of sagas, troubadour of ten thousand tales, whisperer of forgotten ballads, herald of heroic misadventures, jester to kings and counselor to fools, wielder of the enchanted lute Melodithril, sworn enemy of silence, conqueror of awkward pauses
Hail fair travelers,
Scheduling mishaps can topple us all, but a clean calendar can save us.
For the sake of the realm, tidy up yours. Trust myself when I say, there is nothing worse than the confusion of supposedly being two places at once, or booking a gig event appointment at a closed location.