Lady Charlotte Christianson kept randomly pressing a series of “mysterious buttons” and dodging Minotaur until, after about an hour or so, she found her way into The Void Chamber. She was so awestruck by its beauty that she sat down and looked around for another hour before realizing that everyone else had left.

She stood up and made her way to The Void Core, pausing a moment before she peered into the swirling darkness. Charlotte was so mesmerized by The Void Core that it took her a moment to realize she could hear noise coming from The Void. Charlotte stood perfectly still, straining her ears to figure out what it was.

It sounded like…

Charlotte awoke on her bedroom floor, cold and confused. She wearily made her way back to the stage where The Labyrinth had been; but the door no longer existed.

Had it ever?

Eventually, the familiar euphoria enveloped Lady Charlotte Christianson like a warm blanket on a snowy day. She made her way back to the bazaar and, with newfound amusement, decided to investigate the other booths.

WildStar was filling spell books.
Some crazy old man was telling fortunes through his various pets.
Another, younger and presumably sane, man was recruiting for his guild.
The goblin was selling ice cream. Ice cream! And it was strawberry!

Charlotte helped herself to a cone, thanking the tiny creature. By this point, she had to put effort into containing her giddiness. Next she came upon The Yattering, who was dispensing kisses. For some reason, Charlotte not only found this quite entertaining, but she was compelled to participate. The highly amused Charlotte leaned over and gave The Yattering a smooch. She would later regret this decision, of course, once her medicine had worn off.

Charlotte continued wandering around, eating her ice cream and talking to people. She resisted the urge to tap on Lance’s armor like a steel drum. It was so very temping that she had to excuse herself. She tried to toast marshmallows but she just kept lighting them on fire. Eventually Charlotte found her way to The Fall Harvest Queen’s makeshift kitchen. And there she found pie.

Pie! And it was Moonberry Pie!

The Fall Harvest Queen had agreed to make pie for anyone who brought her moonberries. A now highly motivated Charlotte wandered about, trying to convince everyone to come over and help The Fall Harvest Queen…so that she could have pie. Charlotte finally enlisted the Town Guards to help her, who proved to be quite useful.

Charlotte made up a little song in her head as she waited.

Pie! Pie! I love pie!
I want some pie!
I need some pie!
Pie! Pie! I love pie!
Especially when I am so high!

Instead of completing the quest herself, Charlotte charmed a moonberry from one of the onlookers and exchanged it for a pie, which she polished off while waiting for The Labyrinth to open.

Lady Charlotte Christianson sat quietly at her bazaar booth, listening to everyone around her calling out to the passersby. She clenched her jaw, already regretting her decision to reserve a stall. Charlotte looked to her right, where the Town Guards were set up.

“No wonder they are recruiting, if this is the best they have to offer.” she thought, wrinkling her nose at the cross-eyed one.

Charlotte looked to her left and tried to hide a frown when she saw Captain Jenkins sitting at The High Council booth.

“He is hardly a fitting representation for The High Council. Why is he not with the guards? They could certainly use the help.” she mused, looking back at Tias.

Charlotte was suddenly quite sorry that she had not taken any of her medicine to get her through the day. Still, she continued smiling politely and making excruciatingly painful small talk with the curious people who visited her stall. There was one eager recruit, who seemed to have a lot of potential, but only time would tell.

Not surprisingly, while enduring the masses, Charlotte’s headache had returned. She finally gave up on recruiting, leaving her booth vacant as she wandered off. She slipped behind a tree and looked around before taking a jar from her pack. Charlotte dipped her pinky in, retrieving a small amount of the sticky substance. She glanced around again, making sure no one was watching, and sucked on her finger until it was clean. Charlotte closed the jar and hid it in her pack again. She leaned against a tree, waiting.

Word has reached us that the Imperial Guard of Britannia has occupied the Floating Emporium in Trammel.

This action comes as no surprise to most. The Consortium sits on the edge of contested waters Magincia claims under its sphere of influence. The soldiers – who have instituted a sort of martial law – can be seen marching up and dock the docks using their artillery batteries to intimidate merchants and trade ships.

Though not all are so easily cowed.

It should be noted that Councillors Fern Goodfellow, Magdalena and Charlotte Christianson voted against the measure.

Shame. Dungeon of Sin. Long has the subterranean cavern been a breeding ground for Britannia’s most corrupt Sorcerers. A den of filth guarded by their failed alchemical experiments.

But something has changed. The lifeless homunculi have grown stronger and more numerous. Infused with gems of malevolent power. The Sorcerers of Shame had sequestered themselves within the Scholomance. Whatever pact has been made with the ruinous powers – whatever advances have been made in conjuration – it does not bode well for Britannia.

You can view details of the changes to Shame here.

Pie Bake-Off at Baja’s Fall Festival 2011

Players are asked to submit a baked pie as well as a written description. Be creative! The pies and descriptions will be displayed during the festival and players will have a chance to vote on which “recipe” is their favorite.
Recipe submissions for the Bake-Off will be accepted until Wednesday, November 16th, 2011.

Submissions Received:

– Xelious Norwood
– Grandma

The highly popular “story so far…” section is making a comeback. It has been reorganized and a new section has been added for the “Current Event Arc” which will remain unnamed for the time being.

Last night the People of Magincia held a vigil to commemorate the fourth winter since the Magincian War: the eve when the Daemonhost of Bane – and the Imperial Fist of Lord British – turned upon citizens of the Isle and butchered them in their beds.

Visitors were treated to a toast and invited to sample Magincian wines and wares during the event.

Lady Zellinous – the hostess – invited both Magincians and Britannian rivals to approach the dais and share their memories of Old Magincia. Good and Bad. Below is a sample of the speaches heard during the evening.

The emergency meeting had interrupted Lady Charlotte Christianson’s otherwise euphoric afternoon.

Charlotte tried to look as composed as possible during the battle but she was completely out of her element…and still a bit stoned.

After the battle ended, she walked around, wondering her thoughts aloud. Nicholas came over and began speaking to her but she was a bit distracted at first, as usual, by his lack of shirt. Aside from the obvious “handsome shirtless man” bit, she could not wrap her head around why he wore sleeves. This was incredibly vexing.

She also could not quench the curiosity of how someone like Fern and someone like Nicholas ended up together. Separately, they were quite interesting. Together, they made about as much sense as a soup sandwich. Oh, right. The shirtless one was speaking…

Charlotte rattled off the protocol to Nicholas, which included reporting to Captain Jenkins, despite the fact that she was already becoming annoyed with the Captain. Still, she would not let her personal feelings bleed into her professional life. Though, her “medication” sometimes freed her of one too many inhibitions.

Charlotte returned to the castle with the others and relayed the information to Captain Jenkins. Mid-discussion, she wondered what he would do if she walked up and flicked his nose. The mental image was so hilarious to her that she had to repeatedly clench her jaw to keep from laughing.

From the castle, Charlotte retired to her loft. She curled up on her large bed and relaxed, perfectly content with her mellow buzz.

Ten-year-old Charlotte Christianson listened quietly as her grandmother, Aurora, droned on.

“I did not become a grand duchess by wasting my time with unimportant people.” her grandmother said, exhaling loudly.

Charlotte wondered what Michael was doing. It was early afternoon so he was probably helping his mother clean the kitchen.

“You must surround yourself with a good mix of people who are just above or just below your status.” she continued, looking sternly.

Charlotte thought about what he had said to her last night and her chest tightened. She needed to speak with him again as soon as possible.

“You need the balance in order to raise your station while still always maintaining superiority over someone.” her grandmother concluded.

“Mother?” Gwyneth Christianson asked, knocking on the door.

The grand duchess gave Charlotte a sharp look, which Charlotte knew meant this discussion was yet another “secret” between the two of them.

“I am spending some quality time with my granddaughter.” Aurora said, with an insincere smile.

Gwyneth opened the door and smiled shyly back at her mother before addressing Charlotte. “Let your grandmother rest now.”

Charlotte tried not to look too excited as she made her way to the door, where Gwyneth was waiting. Aurora glared at them both, uninterested in keeping up appearances at this point. The grand duchess turned her back on them and huffed loudly as they were closing the door.

Charlotte tried not to run as she made her way to the kitchen to find Michael.