Welcome to Gaia! ::

Setting for the festivities:
As you walk out into the snow covered courtyard, you see a large bonfire near the gazebo with ample seating around it. Under the cover of the gazebo is a temporary bar with copious amounts of meade being served at whatever temperature you prefer. Meade is the featured drink in honor of our guild master, however, other beverages are available if you prefer. So gather round, make your hails, tell your stories and as the alcohol warms your blood and the fire your skin, join the game taking place just outside the circle of warmth around the fire. Pick your snowball, take aim, and hope you hit someone other than yourself.

General rules:

• The setting is provided primarily for atmosphere, feel free to hail and share your guild related memories in or out of character or even both, however you prefer.
  
• As always be sure to follow the guild rules, keep your posts as on topic as possible (this shouldn't be too hard as the topic is the guild and the people in it), and no spamming the thread.
  
• The dice game is not meant to be the focus of the thread, it is meant to be a fun little aside to your posts to give you an opportunity to win a prize. Posting only to roll the dice will be considered spam and will detract from your score. Repeat offenders will be disqualified.

Snowball fight rules: (Name/concept of the game may change but the rules/scoring will not.)

• Roll one 10-sided die.
  -Roll a 1 or a 10, you managed to hit yourself, -1 point
  -Roll a 2 or a 9, you hit someone other than your intended target, +1 point
  -Roll a 4, 6, or an 8, you hit your intended target, +2 point
  -Roll a 3, 5, or a 7 you missed your target, +0 points
  (Using this post as an example, I would have 1 point and include that at the bottom of the post accordingly.)
  
• There will be no negative scores, if you are at 0 points and you hit yourself, you will remain at 0 points until you hit someone else.
  
• Please include your total score at the bottom of your posts. I will update this post each day with everyone's score but if it is also in your post it will give everyone an idea of what to aim for when I'm not online.

Prizes:
1st place- 20,000 gold- Matt
2nd place- 10,000 gold- Josh
3rd place- 5,000 gold- necro

Totals:
Josh- 2
Matt- 3
necro- 2
(tie was broken by generating a random number)

edit:The snowball fight is now over, I will be sending out prizes.

Hailing:
Hailing is a tradition passed down the centuries to us from the Northmen of old. The winter was a harsh time for the people of the Scandinavian and Germanic regions, and was frequently too cold to hazard leaving one's home, if doing so wasn't strictly necessary. As such, the season left them little to do but sit around a warm fire, and telling stories to entertain themselves throughout the long winter months. Their tales and beliefs were many and strange, and often extraordinary, and it is from one in particular that hailing descends.
In the middle of winter, when the days were short and the night grew long, it was believed that Odin, All-Father of the gods, would walk the lands with his pack of great hunting dogs, taking part in a tradition of his own, known as the Wild Hunt. Any man or woman encountered by Odin at such a time would invariably join the event, as either a fellow hunter, or as the hunted. Whichever was decided, that person would never again be seen by mortal eyes. However, Odin did grant one exception to his invitation: any who was drunk would not join the Hunt.
And thus, Yuletide came to be. For the week surrounding the winter solstice, people of the Germanic and Scandinavian tribes ceased all work, and spent their time in the meadehall, feasting, drinking meade, telling stories and, most relevant to us, hailing (while praising Odin for not taking them along with the Wild Hunt).
Think of a hail as a toast. You lift your glass (mug, drinking-horn, or whatever have you) and praise something, often something you're thankful or grateful for, something you view as good, or worthwhile, or even simply something you like. You say "Hail [your subject]," and take a drink, then pass the meade to the person sitting beside you, whereupon they will make a hail of their own.

For instance:
The information on hailing is provided courtesy of Matt.

I forgot to specify in my first post. I figured once the announcement was sent. I'm double checking though. 3nodding

That's a great first hail. *Takes the horn from Matt* Hail to Matasoga, the guild for becoming my Gaian home, and to those of you who have become my friends. Hail! *Drinks and passes the horn along.*


Heh, figures, the fact that you quoted me doesn't hurt any either. d:

Sneaky. d: I might not have checked again until tomorrow if you hadn't though.

And you haven't even been drinking. d:

The late night chats have been fun. 3nodding

I have a sneaking suspicion that the meade wouldn't help me in that respect. XD


Heh. ^//^

Hmm... probably not. Maybe if you tried a bear-shirt though...



Hope you like hunting. q:
*Throws a snowball back at you.*
EDIT: And a miss...


So much for all your work stocking the bar.


The one given to Alex is understandable, but I work forty (or more) hours a week, and have still been keeping up here, for the most part.
You've already missed out on quite a bit in Necro's thread.


Hail!
There's always more to hail later. Especially as the meade kicks in and makes them sillier. mrgreen

*takes and raises the horn* Hail to the night, and the comforting darkness it brings us as it banishes the day. Hail! *drinks and passes it along*