Hornsounder: August 2007 Edition

[Mystica]

*Black Tower*

(By Hero Andros)

 

Welcome back, my loyal readers.  Hopefully you have all forgiven me for the short article last month.  I’ve been back in action all of August and ready to tell you all about it! 

 

This month’s Staff Interview is with none other than the Black Tower’s resident Nudist.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is the one I’ve always warned you about…Demi.  It seems that in my absence we saw the temporary return of Darlantan, and yet just as quickly he vanished again.  Personally I blame WoW, but you never know with people these days.  During my absence there was a very successful Raid upon the Tinker’s.  Though I’m truly saddened to have missed it I understand all went well and there was plenty of loot to divvy out.

 

Moving right along to my interview with the nudi…I mean Demi.  Let me just say that this is, by far, the most difficult interview I have ever done.  Ok, I understand that nudity is only natural, and can in fact be attractive, but there’s a line!  Uhm, pardon me.  Demi is a Storm Leader of the Shadow Faction in the Black Tower.  Albeit unaware as to when he specifically began his reign of horrific nudity, many of us remember the day two years ago when he came.  His influence?  A fellow then known as Apoc, our Prophet of Pie.  Though the humble prophet, no pun intended, is not wholly to blame for this…no.  Darlantan and our own leader, Tayol, both played intricate parts in his joining.  When asked what Demi enjoys most about the Black Tower he responded as nearly everyone else has “Oh, it's the insanity of it all, the good people, the sense that all's well and you can relax and have a blast without thinking too much serious thought. Of course some thought must be laid into reviews and fights and such, but it's all good fun!”  His goals for the Organization as a whole seem to mirror everyone’s in every last detail…well, except for his profound wish for all member’s to be nude.  Just the thought of that is just…Uhm…once again I apologize there.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down with me for this little chat Demi, I think we are all a bit wiser for it.

 

In promotional news we have: Dedicated: Deronius.  Congratulations to you, and here is to the continued rise through the ranks.

 

And so we end another journey into the Black Tower.  I’ll return next month with a new staff interview and another look into the madness.  Until then, May the Light shine on you…and as always: Beware of Demi.

 

 

Hero Andros

Storm Leader.

 

[Mystica]

*Illuminators*

(By Wes aka DreadPirateRo)

 

Welcome to the August edition of the Hornsounder: Illuminator’s corner! We have had more and more people joining us and are excited about jumping into September with a few new projects and features! For those that are new or have just not had time to drop by, here is a quick roundup of who we are, how we are organized, and what we are working on.  If it’s creative, you’ll find it here!

 

Remember, Illuminators love company! If a project or topic catches your eye, consider this an invitation to jump right in!

 

We are an Organization with 7 Child Boards or Chapterhouses (Most are easy to join, just go to Usergroups and register as an Illuminator). They are:

 

2) The General Chapterhouse

3) The Artist’s Chapterhouse

4) The Sig Auction House

5) The Crafter” Chapterhouse

6) The Scribe’s Chapterhouse

The Critique Circle  (a little less easy to join. You have to swear a few oaths and complete at least one heroic deed).

 

The Sig Auction House is replacing the Smith’s CH as the place to go if you want one of our extremely talented designers to work on a sig for you! For tutorials, and other points of interest, the General CH is the place to go.

 

 

The main Illuminators board displays a number of projects that anyone can take part in at any time. The fearless leader of all Illuminators is Matalina, with Cleopatra as her second in command, and U4ea assisting as General Mod.  They make the rules, run the show, and spank you if you misbehave or take their chocolate. Don’t ask me how I know about that. Just follow the rules and you will be fine. Now, about those projects! Here is a current list with links. Nifty, eh? Thank Cleo!

 

Current Projects

 

General Illuminator Projects

 

2007 Short Story Anthology - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,18053.0.html

2007 Poetry Anthology - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,18054.0.html

 

 

Scribe's Collab with the General CH: We are looking for settlers! Come on by to claim an acre!

 

World Building Project Creation Thread - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,10069.0.html

Word Building Project Story Thread - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,11680.0.html

World Building The Book of Suras - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,17603.0.html

 

The Crafter's Chapter House …

has an awesome benefit project underway! Preemie Beanies! Check it out at

http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,17787.0.html

 

Cookbook Recipe Submissions - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,18055.0.html

Wheel of Time Quilt - http://forums.dragonmount.com/index.php/topic,12016.0.html

 

 

And here are a few names you should get to know around this place!

 

Chapter House Masters:

The Artist CM: Zardi (2nd: Faelene)

The Crafters CM: Jaydena (2nd: nephitess)

The Scribes CM: U4ea (2nd: SamVimes aka Rufae)

 

Project Leads:

Scribes World Building: DreadPirateRoberts aka Wes

Scribes Character Building: Crihavoc

Artists Yearly Calendar: Zyrshnikashnu

Artists Sig Auction: Ata

Crafters Cookbook: Kivam

 

And here is an awesome gallery showing some of the Artists works!

 

http://joniwarden.com/ArtistChapterHouseProjects/index.php?cat=2

 

And a word from Cleo herself!

 

The Summer Craft Fair to begin in September!

 

The Illuminator’s are about the creativity in our Organization whether it is about writing, photography, card making or music, we all have something to give.

 

The Illuminator’s Organization has had a few busy months within the Org that has pushed our “summer” fair into September and we will have other seasonal Fairs yet to come. With the beginning of each new Fair we will have a general announcement just like this one.

 

The Craft Fair allows for other Dragonmount members to come and see select pieces of work that we have all done in our Chapter Houses, on display! There are even a few free downloadable card offered by Cleopatra! Wow who doesn’t like freebies?

 

This coming Fair will offer a few more free downloads, of Post Cards, as well. Something each of us can use! The Artist Chapter House will be displaying some of the project work that they have accumulated since the previous fair. We have quite a few submissions being prepared!

 

Hope to see you all at the Illuminator’s Org Craft Fair (On the Main Page)! Bring your umbrella ladies, I hear it will be rather warm that day.

 

 

http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/illuminators/images/spring07/motheres_day.jpg

 

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g153/Egwenephotos/Crafters/rabbit.jpg

 

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b347/Jaydena/Crafters/Illuminators-SpringCraftFair07by-1.jpg

 

http://www.aliciawilkerson.com/illuminators/images/Springfair2.jpg

 

So that’s a wrap for August. As always,  come on by,  join a project, or a chapterhouse and meet some awesome DM’ers!

 

Cheers!

 

Wes / DPR

[Mystica]

*Ogier*

(by Jaydena)

 

 

It’s been a interesting month in the Ogier org, filled with some hasty actions and some not so hasty actions.

 

The first bit of news is that Kelly Sedai is no longer our Org leader and we are now a Leaderless Org, at least for now. Applications for Org Leader are up so we shall see what lucky Ogier gets it. *G* Jaim and Jaydena are Kelly’s seconds and Jaim has some interesting and hasty fun this month, though he did require complaints to be lodged three months in advance in triplicate, so that did show some thinking on his part.

 

His biggest changes were mandatory pole dancing lessons, that all women must wear only mud and all men dress as The Joker, and of course my personal favorite bushes and trees were moved and organized by color and size. *Shakes head* 

 

In the Ogier this month we had Library discussions on Favorite animal in a book and one on your local libraries and how you feel about them. The Movie Quote game is still going strong, though Jaim also says the answer to all quotes are now Star Wars.

 

This month we had one new Ogier, who in the true Ogier fashion has not been at all hasty and very patient about not being added to the usergroup yet. Delenn is now part of our Org, even if she can’t see things yet. *hugs*

 

As for other events in the Ogier, this month we had the Temple Foundation building thread going strong and it will soon be coming to a close. Next month we will report on the winners and those who were involved. Points of course and siggys for the winners.

 

For birthdays this month we had RJ, Jeran, and Shauna.

 

We had several increases in rank during the past month. Besolyn was raised to Tai’Wansho of the Peaceful path, Moose was raised to Deathwatch Guard Commander of the Warrior Path, as was Taymist.  Jafael was raised to Wansho of the Peaceful path and Loreina decided that she would be joining those aspiring the Peaceful life.

 

That is all for the Ogier this month, remember Hasty is, is Hasty does!

[Mystica]

*THE KIN*

(by Taymist)

 

Well goodness!! Hasn’t August been full of fun at The Kin? Raisings galore and a new member to celebrate.

 

Stefania arrived in full flow once her summer leave was finished much to the delight of her banded sister and Kin Council member, Twinflower. She was of course welcomed with the usual high spirits of the Kinsters and presented with her blue sash and knitting needles.

 

The Kin’s offsite raising forums were among the first to be moved to DM proper and in celebration of that fact, our elegant Eldest Lor got points sorted out and Raisings done (not to mention a lot of hard work on usergroups!! Well done to her for getting that job finished.)

 

Aleita, Calypsa, Falco of the Light and Kellan all found themselves with shiny new Green Sashes and knitting needles and Taymist and Tigara were presented their Purple Sashes. Daruya made a huge jump, receiving both her Green and then her Purple Sash in one go!! Congratulations everyone, good work.

 

Ursula put out the call for archive helpers recently, with a promise of points in return. Warm thanks to her for all the work she’s done so far in saving special threads.

 

This month also saw the return of our dear LordDaemonDracos and his cups of tea after a long absence. He seemed pleased to see everyone once he’d extricated himself from all his greeters. Jhaenara also returned from a short leave of absence this week. So welcome home Dae and Jhae.

 

The Spammers’ Challenge thread continues apace and is up to page 402 and post 4807. The Kinsters are determined to make that goal they set themselves no matter how long it takes. Help in this has been coming from all quarters, members and visitors alike.

 

Twinnie is in full throttle this month, in spite of recent ill health, organising a Beautiful Baby quiz. Members are encouraged to send in their baby pictures, so everyone can guess who’s who. I’m sure we’ll be hearing some creative excuses as to why people can’t possibly share theirs.

 

As one member returns, another sadly disappears, if only for a short while.  Horn will be on a leave of absence on and off until October and he will of course be missed… although some of us will manage without the constant orangeness of this crazy individual as recent attempts to introduce an Orange Sash were met with very definite resistance.

 

Do all feel free to visit and join in with the flirty, fun Kinsters. Visitors are always welcomed and thoroughly poked with a variety of knitting needles… what more could you ask for?

 

[Mystica]

*White Tower*

(By Bridmorgan)

 

 

Another month has passed and activity in the White Tower continues on.  August being a month for vacations and last minute scrambling for the start of a new school year, activity was slightly down from last month.  Our Philosophical friends, the Whites are having a discussion on Life Philosophy, comparing personal philosophies one lives by.  The Reds started a Blind Date game.  For more in depth news from the Reds, make sure to read Talya's article found below!   

 

Raisings and Bondings

 

Accepted

Besolyn - already raised, but has chosen the Blues

Calyn - already raised, but has chosen the Blues

 

Manishma

12th Regiment

 

Aes Sedai

Zarine - Blue

Victoria - Red

 

Cairos was named as new Sitter for the Grey's.

 

Bondings

Delenn and Moose - Warder bond

 

Congratulations to you all!

 

Red Ajah News

(By Talya)

 

August has been a busy month for The Red Ajah. First we saw an accepted being raised to the Shawl, so we are pleased to welcome home Victoria Gwyn as our newest Sister in the Red Ajah. She will be sharing the role of Red Ajah Heart with Elgee.

 

We have had one of our Sisters return to us from LOA. She has been to Southern Africa, and we are pleased she returned to us safe and well.

 

This month we have seen the Red Ajah Challenge of Houses. This was a competition between all the Novice/Accepted and Algai/Manshima houses within the White Tower. The competition was to produce a birthday Present for one of the Red Sisters Elgee. The winners produced a lovely picture and congratulations to the runners up Team House Machera. Thank you for all the effort that was put into the competition.

 

Congratulations to the Damodred House for that lovely present. This of course brings me round to say that Elgee did indeed celebrate her birthday this month. So Happy Birthday Elgee, and what a lovely present.

 

We have started a Blind Date game, which seems to have taken off, and all participants seem to be enjoying themselves. We are now coming to the finishing stages and soon, our warder will have chosen the young lady who he takes on a date. He had the choice from three lovely Aes Sedai. Hope fully we will hold another Blind Date in the near future.

 

The Pheonix lounge is still going strong, with many wonderful people dropping in to relax and have fun. So if you are passing stop and say hello and have a warm welcome afforded to you.

[Mystica]

*Wolfkin*

(by Taymist)

 

 

So yet another month passes quickly by and sees the end of summer fast approaching. Life has been busy as ever through July and August for our members so let’s start with the new arrivals.

 

A warm welcome is issued to Safir, Cog, reffern and damane our latest pups and a welcome home to Shucaln who stopped in for a visit and to both Besolyn and Safireskygal, who returned to the Pack after LOAs. We were sad to say goodbye to Lara/Winter Mist, a long term member and hope that she'll be able to visit us sometimes as her presence will be missed.

 

Congratulations go out to Doselan, Naeann and Besolyn on reaching the rank of Youngling at the start of August. BridMorgan is our newest Packmate and Goldy, our dear Org Leader, is the second Wolfkin to reach the Artisan rank. Well done to all of you for your hard work.

 

I'd also like to pass along personal thanks to Bridmorgan, Talya, lewstherin, Doselan and Poledra for all of their help in getting the Archiving up to date. Thank you guys.

 

The Scavenger Hunt this month was a success in spite of limited participation with the Healers' Guild winning. The process saw some photos of Council Members being revealed and amazingly even resulted in the elusive Silver posting on the boards!!

 

More recently, Boyo shared with us all some fantastic pics from his holiday with landscapes, animal shots and even one of himself in jail. Ar'tara was prompted to be slightly concerned by his arsonist tendencies but he assures us he wasn't singed on this occasion. Do pop by and take a look and hear all about the fun time he had.

 

Visitors are also welcome to stop in and join in with the ongoing BBQ being held on the public board. Help yourself to some Tequila and chili or a variety of other goodies on offer or take some time out to join in with the Name That Movie, I Have Never and Font Battles games.

 

Don’t forget to check out August’s edition of Pawprints and particularly our new ongoing story "Sons of Korum" (Prologue to "Of Wolves and Men").

 

Here's to a great month until we see you again in September!!

[Mystica]

 

 

Community News

(by Taymist)

 

Earlier in the month the DM Staff issued an apology for the lack of warning in the transition from the Old DM Boards and assured members that access will still be available for archiving purposes. The boards will be read only of course but they will be public.

 

Dragonmount Anthology 1 & 2

 

Announcement came at the end of July that the Dragonmount Short Story Anthology volume 1 is now ready to be purchased. You may do so at the cafepress store at Dragonmount.

 

Matalina, of the Illuminators Guild, thanked the authors, reviewers and editors for their time, reminding everyone that all proceeds will be going to the Mayo clinic for Amyloidosis research.

 

A reminder was also issued that Volume 2 is still accepting short story submissions and that they are now looking for reviewers for this year. The reviewers help to narrow down the selection for publication so, if you are interested in reading a few stories and giving your opinion please send your interest to illuminators.org@gmail.com with the subject “Anthology Reviews”. Reviews will begin in September.

 

 

Robert Jordan's Blog

 

RJ himself stopped by this month to say a few words and let us know that he's progressing well. His lambda light chain numbers are in the normal range which is great to hear although healing on his bad foot is rather slow because of his condition and he's currently in a wheelchair.

 

The author took a moment to thank several people for their contributions to Hematologic Malignancies Program –amyloidosis research and also had a few "viperish" words on Red Eagle Comics.

 

Fans were delighted to hear from him and the messages were flowing in for him and Harriet on his blog posting.

 

 

Online Store

 

The Online Store was updated this month making it easier to use and providing a facility for searching WoT products avaliable through Amazon.com. The next phase after that will be updating the store with a fresh line of t-shirts, hats, mugs, etc. so do keep an eye out for further news.

[Mystica]

 

What exactly IS the Hornsounder?

 

Hornsounder is the Band of the Red Hand's monthly Newspaper. It evolved from a newsletter into a newspaper in March 2007 when Mystica took over as Editor in Chief and started a full restructuring and re-organisation of what once was not much more else than a points earning tool.

 

Today, Hornsounder is a full sized newspaper that is run by a whole team of people and covers not only news from the Band but also offers a space to all other groups on Dragonmount to share their news and events with the rest of the community. Although the main focuss remains on the Band, of course, it is a nice extra forum for other groups to get in touch with those that have not yet been in touch with them as well as offers their members a certain amount of pride to see their beloved group represented in this newspaper. (we hope... )

 

Hornsounder is open to everyone on DM, regardless of which group they belong to or 'not' belong to. And this in both ways. Whether you just want to read, play the games or participate in the Competitions, everyone is welcome to join in. The same goes for being actively involved in the Hornsounder as a reporter. Everyone is welcome to participate, write articles, offer a project they would like to run or simply get involved by offering ideas and suggestions to increase the quality of your newspaper.

 

There are some restrictions where positions are concerned, given that Hornsounder IS a Band's newspaper and therefore Banders do get priority on certain aspects. But this does not exclude the possibility of involvement for Non-Banders who wish to be an active part of it.

 

Interested in getting involved? contact Mystica through pm and she'll get back to you asap after assessing your suggestion/idea.

 

How does the Hornsounder work?

 

Hornsounder, like every real newspaper, is divided into Sections and some of those have Subsections.

 

Sections are shown by their individual Graphic Headers.

Subsections are shown in BLUE

 

The Reporter Teams.

Each Section is run by a Section Senior Reporter who is the coordinator of the entire Section, including the subsections. It is their job to make sure all the elements are submitted at the deadline given and meets the required quality standards. Some Subsections are in themselves so big that they too have been assigned a Section Senior Reporter.

 

The different Sections and Subsections are made up of a series of articles that can be made/written by either the SSR's or by other writers: Junior Reporters. They write parts of the Section contents and work closely together with the SSR's. They get to be mentioned as the author of the articles they write/make, and in case of a Bander get the points that go along with it.

 

Next to the Section Reporters we also have Project Reporters.

Senior Project Reporters are those in charge of a large project that almost certainly requires the help of Junior Reporters.

Junior Project Reporters are thos in charge of small or medium sized projects and may (or may not) need assistance from Junior Reporters.

Which projects are Senior or Junior level is decided by the Editor in Chief on a case-to-case basis.

 

The Editorial Team is made up by an Editor in Chief, a Senior Editor, a Graphic Editor and a Junior Editor, though the last one is a temporary honorary position and may not always be filled in.

 

The Editor in Chief runs the whole newspaper. Creates and motivates the team, monitors progress and overlooks all Sections and everyone involved, gathers all the submissions and glues it all together into one coherent and appealing newspaper. The EiC also guards the quality of the newspaper, assesses new ideas/suggestions, implements new features and follows up on just about everything. The EiC has the final say on everything though should always strive to find the right balance between her team's ideas, the newspaper's needs and the readers' wishes.

 

The Senior Editor is the right hand of the EiC and picks up the reigns in case the EiC is unable to perform the function. The SE is there to insure that the newspaper is published on time and with the set quality even if the EiC is indisposed.

 

The Graphic Editor is the left hand of the EiC and is in charge of all the graphical elements of the newspaper. From the Headers to the graphics in the articles, this is all the GE's domain. He/she is the one writers can turn to if they want to liven up their sections or articles with a graphical item.

 

The Junior Editor, as said before, is an honorary temporary position given to those special people that have proven to be involved in the Hornsounder above and beyond their duties.

 

Hornsounder's Teams

 

Editorial Team

- Editor in Chief (EiC): Mystica

- Senior Editor (SE): Direwolf Jon

- Graphic Editor (GE): Son of Battles

 

Senior Section Reporters

- Band of the Red Hand: Mystica

- Band Org Game: Footman/Deathdealer

- Music: Apollo

- Columns: Mystica

- Lottery: Bridmorgan

- Travel: Mystica

- Banders Real Life: Footman/Deathdealer

- Band Awards: Taymist

- JoTS monthly winner: Mystica

- Archer Regiment: Amavia

- Cavalry Regiment: Direwolf Jon

- Infantry Regiment: Footman/Deathdealer

- Raw Recruits: Horn

- Redarms: 12th

- Specials: Mystica

- Entertainment: Mystica

- Dragonmount: Mystica

- Wheel of Time: Taymist

 

How to be a part of the Hornsounder team.

 

If you would like to try your hand at being a reporter or you have an idea for a project, a game, a competition or you would like to participate in one of the Sections, then here's your chance!

 

Send a PM to Mystica with an outline of your idea or request.

She will asses it and give you an answer as soon as possible.

Note: Hornsounder claims the right to make any adjustments to your ideas that might be necessary to insure the quality and coherency of the newspaper.

[Amavia]

*bows down to myst*

 

Amazing as usual!

 

*huggles*

 

Great work team!!

[Taymist]

Thoroughly enjoyed that edition, some super articles. Had a good laugh at the Redarm one and demonspawn's story again lol. Sent in my competition entries again!!! (at the off site this time  :P )

[Guest Stefania Sedai]

Magic as usual, Myst! We're not worthy! *grovels* We're not worthy!