Important reminder:  Have you sent your CENSUS FORM back yet?  And did you get one?  Quick, run and check:  Census Tally.

For the most part, it looks like all our familiar happy faces will be sticking around.  On the other hand, every spot not checked off hurts a little, because it's a story we never get to read.  Meh.  I'm depressed this week, but I'll try and keep the news cheerful.

Award nominations are also due by the seventh...do I need to remind ya'll about the latrines?  A little bird said I might.  Not too late to go take those back.  I hear I'm a rather rotten excuse for a human being this week anyway.

But then, what else is new?

So!  On to the bright shiny new faces.

Soldier Thandrel Anirdig arrived at the Grey Tower from Tar Valon, bringing with him a dubious musical talent and a definite taste for trouble.

Novice Sulinn Ailyana, who comes to us circuitously from Arafel and the Aiel Waste, arrived with a giant splash.  She's only been here two days and she's already caught the eye of one of our Wolfkin!  A Promise was established between the fetching young miss and Garren Brighteyes Gaidin.  May the two of you enjoy many long years of happy roleplaying!

And rounding out the wonderful, (but wait, there's MORE!) we also had the pleasure of a new Drin'far'ji this week!  Please welcome Jeremiah Fletcher...and the voices in his head.  Jeremiah's player was also Rath Starblade (God do I love that name) and that leads us squarely to the next topic...

So You're Back for More, Huh?

Right, right, this is what ya'll came to see.

CADEN IVES and his lovely wife Miahala have returned to the Tower!  Let the party commence!  No, you did not dream that amazing announcement!

And for extra sprinkles and chocolate sauce on that Sundae o'Awesome, we also celebrate the return of Firredal Osiellin Gaidin!

Deek Mythis has returned from his Shara: he's settled in to his German Army post.  Three cheers for returning Admin!

And while we're on the subject of Deek and Soldiers...

Familiar Faces in New Places!

Rilyn Naor says his days of Maria-baiting (it's more dangerous than bear-baiting!) and skirt smoothing are far behind him now that he's Dedicated.

Some habits just die hard...can Rilyn stay out of skirts?  Or at least, empty skirts, as his romantic life seems to have some wide horizons...

And in a totally unique raising, at least for the past several years, Storm Ananke has achieved the rank of Bowmistress!

Are you close to raising?  Don't forget to check...tomorrow, when I might find the hours it's going to take to update everyone's profiles after Wintersnight!

Other News

Wintersnight closes on March 7th. Learning Ranks wishing to use it for Big RP credit should be sure to have six posts of 250 words each available for counting by then!

The Green Ajah Hunt has begun!  Signups and the first stage are progressing hand in hand, and I can already see there are going to be several must-read threads here!

A bond was declared between Courisain Anshere Sedai of the Indigo Ajah and Shyne Gaidin.

A bond was declared between Nelune Sedai of the White Ajah and Sarkaska Jinlo Gaidin.

Combined Mounted Combat begins on March 10th!  Come over to the Warder Day To Day board beginning March 7th for a unique class experience, planned to be a cross between a Big RP and a...well, class.  Planned to run only a month, it should offer instruction and the chance to interact with fellow students rather than a static class experience.  If it is an enjoyable experience, look for new classes in this same format.

I don't have any thoughts this week worth sharing.  I told you I was down.

'til next Saturday, then.

Hi, one and all! It's that time again:  the Tower Census and the biannual Awards nominations have arrived in my mailbox.

If you DON'T have them, you SHOULD. Email admin immediately at greytower1@yahoo.com. If you don't have them, it means you were never entered into the email list. (and I'm puzzled, as I verified every single learning-ranks member at the end of January myself.)

You can check the progress of the Census here: Census Tally

We're looking forward to a star-studded (hehe!) evening of honoring our finest writers, so be certain to nominate writers you enjoy, as well as those who have improved since our last Awards ceremony.

And if I win anything, everyone gets chores for a month.  *glowers.*  Remember that the Tower has latrines somewhere while filling out those nominations!

This was a rather sad week, as we saw the dismissal of our Master of Arms, Dwillon Gaidin. However, we picked up our pieces and we're moving on, and Dwillon is still a member of our site in good standing. Thank you for your time served: you'll be well remembered in Tower annals, I am certain.

Sad news aside, we had a bustling week: it's nowhere near finished (it's just Saturday again) and so I've made it a "short" week. I guess I missed a week in there somewhere or something: things just aren't adding up well. Whatever. Considering how much caffeine is in my bloodstream, we are lucky I am updating anything and not orbiting the Moon.

Psst, you were supposed to say "YES, Zaephra."

Elyscia Mordel accepted both the mantles of a Grey sister and that of the Mistress of Revels, becoming the first player to hold the title. May she illumine it with many wondrous ideas!

This week we welcomed new members:

• Novice Unattashije of the Tuatha'an (technically, she returned...but I like her on this line!)
• Soldier Thandrel Anirdig of Tar Valon

and we welcomed back returning members:

• Tamora al'Galina (HURRAH!)
• Shyne Gaidin (who has the ladies stacked, racked, and packed...already!)
• and Garren Brighteyes Gaidin (eye candy! with wolves!)

We also had a busy week for raisings: yesterday alone, I sent out three tests for Accepted!

The lovely ladies now bearing new Great Serpent rings are: 

• Tamora al'Galina (Green);
• Illyria Corinye (Indigo)
• and Nykkolaia Zeran (Blue)!

We also raised two Aes Sedai: Elyscia Mordel and Thimelle duNuit both chose the Grey as their Ajah.

I'm looking forward to a rash of Drin'far'ji raisings in the wake of the new WiT RR discussion on the Hall of Sitters: you should definitely read into that.

In other site news...

The Hunt RP is now taking signups.

After an evening of friendship, fun, and Jip's repeated lunatic suicide attempts (seriously, can the man not be happy? LOL) Wintersnight is drawing to a close. Remember, six full 250-word posts are required for the RP to count as a raising requirement, so be certain to have those in by March first at midnight!

* This Admin not responsible if you turn into a pumpkin. Ask Belle to make you into a tasty pie.

Other amusing antics I've read in the Wintersnight thread:

• Ysolde Sirad and Drin'far'ji Corsedai Tiamicova have performed a mildly illegal bonding.  Sarkaska, Ysolde's promised, has been spotted at the Festival with a strange new escort.  What's the story between the seemingly inseparable Shienaran and the strange new Seanchan beauty with the surprising past?
• Everyone's favorite sourpuss, Caitelyn Cabrerin, just might've been seen sporting a smile at the attentions of Gareth Tomosan.  Could it be, our ice princess has a little bit of glacial melt?  Indeed, might our stony statue have a heart?  Who knows!  But let's keep reading!
• In the spirit of Wintersnight, Qhu al'Otoas has brought his entire family - and wow, what presents!  Whatever happened to "small and handmade?" And sign us up for Jsf's speedy courier service!

• Stuck celebrating far from home - and very disparate homes at that - several different couples have gone on to share such silly traditions as Cian Braveres' and Nayumi Farasne's "fruitcake."  Let's hope he doesn't choke...I nearly did writing it, I was laughing so hard.  Thank you, Mike, for making sure your hostess had a lovely "evening", too!

The Council of Youth is still accepting applications. Contact your admin (Jip, Anahi, or Zaephra) if serving sounds like something you'd enjoy. Also, soon, the CoY will be undergoing renovation, so if the idea doesn't appeal now, perhaps it will afterwards.

Whew. Who could ever have guessed that a site used for stress relief could generate so much stressy news? Man.

Til next time - same bat-time, same bat-channel, same howling toddler telling me her sister bit her...yep.  Gonna go now.

Well, it's that time again, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls:  it's another Saturday.  This has been a busy week in a quiet way:  we're growing, we're interacting, and we're changing to aid even more growth.  The Hall of the Sitters and the Council of Youth are debating new raising requirements for the Warder Yards, and if you have an opinion, remember that you can always write your direct superior, who will happily grant you permission to state it.  Also, the Council of Youth is "hiring"; if that's something you think you would care to keep up with, and your character writing supports, then please email me at greytower1@yahoo.com with the subject line "Council of Youth."

The last debate in the Hall of Sitters has come to a decision:  those with active threads on the Channeling Yards, Training Yards, or Band of Brothers should read in, but the gist of that decision was to retire those three boards.  They'll make a comeback soon, I'm sure, at the rate we are growing.  And then it will be time to introduce a whole new generation of characters to the fun of a pub crawl.

Now, for the comings and goings and raisings!  It's been an exciting week for those:  just the right amount of new growth and just the right amount of promotions.  Weeks like this make me stop complaining about being in admin. All right, nothing really does that, but at the same time, you guys aren't half bad.

The Welcoming Wagon:

We had no new Novices, but two new Soldiers and a new Drin'far'ji!  Please welcome Tad Rikos (and his illicit lover, PSC Eimon) as well as Paedric Feikinstafr to the Soldier Halls, and new Drin'far'ji Tristan Crowling of Arafel.  Looks like the boys are taking my advice and reclaiming the Tower from the dread grips of the Pink Fuzzy Handcuffs Ajah!

Raisings:

New Dedicated:  Danyk Kaldyn!

A new Ji'alantin: we need more of you guys to step up!  Kain Thresher has returned from his week in the wilderness.  Congratulations, Kain!

We had no new Accepted or Aes Sedai, but a lot of you ladies are tantalizingly close: remember to consult the RR-checklist!  You might be closer than you think. http://www.grey-tower.net/raising/rr-checklist.php/ .

We had a new Asha'man, Sevastien Hvorak.  He was welcomed into the Green Ajah.

Other News:

The winners of the 2010 Cutest Couple award were: Jip, Oenone, and Lucan din Nicander Riven Sail.

However, a sweet proposal between Laela Allette and Lucian Caeran was easily the cutest thread going.  Way to go, you two, and may you enjoy many years together both in and out of character. 

Wintersnight is off to a rousing start:  new players can join until February 24th, and the RP ends the first of March, to make room for The Green Ajah Hunt, which begins signups March 2nd. Be sure and read about Jip's suicide attempts: they were quite gripping.  But I'm sure there's far more drama on the way: Sarkaska's made his two girlfriends quite angry this time!  And new friendships are cropping up all over the place, making it a happy-touchy-feely kind of Festival. (But without the scandalous bad behavior of the Feast of Lights!...right?)

The Tower bow wargame is still ongoing: if you're signed up for it, we're actually shooting at one another now.  Step up and start firing!  I really want to see who nails Crysthia, and I know I'm not alone in that regard.  Well, we all know LUCAN nailed Crysthia, but I meant WITH A BOW, 'k?

Dwillon Gaidin's roleplay for Drin and (possibly?) Ji'alantin has begun on the Out of Tower board.  I have to assume he sent ya'll mail about it, because I don't know more than that it's happening, and I only know that because I have two rps underneath it.  Good luck, guys!

Jip Gaidin is collecting news briefs for her Tower newspaper, The Voice of the Tower. Written anything lately that might be fun for all to read?  Mail her a quick blurb about it and be sure to include the link.  She'll appreciate the help, I'm sure.  You can reach her at jipaltara@yahoo.co.uk!

Challenge for the week: Roleplay with someone random!  Make a new friend, using our nice extensive AIM and MSN lists, and see what trouble you can stir up.  We all tend to depend on the same circle of players once we know them well, and that makes us a bit hard to...well, penetrate.  So, make it your own personal mission this week to include at least one player - new or just new to you - in a post.  That is the single most important thing we all should be doing, and it's far more on the player's shoulders than admin's.

Players that I think will exemplify this challenge:  Cian Braveres, Celene al'Meerin Sedai, Kain Thresher, Saffiah Ella, Damon Thresher Gaidin, and Laela Allette Sedai.  And of course, Jip, Anahi, and Elyscia Mordel, but as they're all admin, they don't quite count for this challenge!

I'd like to be able to think of far more names the next time I get all preachy, so step up, everyone.  Repeat after me:  We are all in this together!

So, reach out to someone new this week!

have an article of news?  Mail me at koifish@comcast.net!

Happy upcoming holiday to those who celebrate it: everyone else can join me in enjoying the booming chocolate sales.

Nothing says "I love you" quite like theobromine.

It was a relatively quiet week in Tower comings and goings.

Hall Discussion at aVOTE:  make certain you're heard.  Current topic:  streamlining of the boards.

Members may have noted that some changes have already taken place to the navigational bars, and they will shortly be replicated on the main site.  Some boards were voted out in the preliminary discussion, such as Theories and Literature and the Convention board for last year, etc. Enjoy the sleeker interface, and keep an eye on it: it will become a little more user-friendly in the coming week.

Despite a short hiatus in service, we are back and working on becoming stronger.  Everyone thank Zarishka Ghiraise and Durent Antian for their timely intervention and aid in restoring us to ourselves!

New Members:

The Tower let out a collective cry of glee at the return of its Creator - Toby Selwyn rejoined us as novice Yasumi Sakara.

Other new Novices include:  Tamika Nadere, who came to us quite circuitously, from Tear.  Or did she?

Our new Soldier is Silas Malkom.  After a short and unsatisfying stint in the Children of the Light's army, Silas has discovered he's not quite the man he thought he was.

We have a new Drin'far'ji this week:  everyone join the Warder Yards in welcoming Thoia lan'Allyn!

Returning Members:

Ji'dar Gwyn Daesuro has returned to us from a four-year hiatus in Altara.

Novice Latonia Svan is rumored to be hanging around our hallowed halls again.  Welcome back, Evel!

Raisings:

Laela Allette is Accepted no more:  everyone congratulate Josh on finally achieving the Blue shawl he's been striving toward so long!

Other Events:

The Prank War rp is over, and credits will be awarded on Friday, February 19th.  If you haven't performed your pranks, get them done!

Wintersnight signups have begun.

The Warder Yards are proud to showcase two rewritten classes:  Unarmed Combat and Basic Dagger (underway).  Thank you, Katy!  Your dedication is an inspiration to us all.

Have news?  Submit it to koifish@comcast.net