Octum 1223 is upon us!

[Rias]

Octum 1223 is upon us! Here's some information for those who aren't familiar with what that means around here:

- It is possible to charm-seek for Octum charms, trinkets, and treats! This can be done once per day (resets at midnight MST). Wear an Octum costume, hold an open container in your hand, and use the CHARMSEEK command in rooms on the streets of towns to participate. Some are edible, some have mechanical uses, some are simply aesthetic, and some may be STUDY-able for some lore! (This is essentially our in-world equivalent of trick-or-treating.) A couple rarer items have been added this year!
- Costumes can be purchased at the Grim Grisly Guises tent which has been set up at the site being prepared for the upcoming festival. There are board posts in Mistral Lake an Shadgard mentioning this and guiding people toward Barrow Hill where the tent is set up (not to be confused with Bald Hill - do not go to the latter looking for a good time).
- The roads are now occupied by spooky spirits at night, called up by the Octum Wraith. If you linger near them they are liable to become agitated and dangerous, so it's best to just keep on moving! These mobs aren't very dangerous mechanically and can be easily walked away from, and are meant to be more thematic flavor than significant threat. That said, it's still not a good idea to idle AFK out on the roads during Octum!
- The Octum Festival will open on the 13th at Barrow Hill, with various shops and a few little simple games/contests.
- General Octum lore can be found by typing HELP OCTUM in-game or checking the wiki article under the same name.
- There may be some special types of random encounters during this month.
- If you're on the road and hear the sound of frantic galloping hoofbeats accompanied by mad, malevolent laughter, you are advised to run!

[Lexx416]

I'm excited about Octum every year, but in particular:

A couple rarer items have been added this year!

This makes me very excited. Thank you for all the hard work, Rias!

[Jilliana]

I gotta say...

I wasn't sure what to expect with Octum on Cogg, but I'm finding it quite fun. It's a total hoot to see even the most serious let out their hair and shake off their Serious McSerious faces and cut loose.

Thanks to the staff for all that you've done so far and it's only a few days into the month. The festival will be the cherry on top.

[Rias]

Small update: The Octum spirits on the roads now require varying levels of agitation before they become hostile, based on the "type" of spirit. Which is to say, most spirits will now take a bit longer before becoming aggressive.

[Rias]

It's the 13th, and the Octum Festival is now open! There are a few new shops, and a few of the old shops have a new item or two, so don't overlook the stuff from previous years. (There is no auction planned for this year.) I'm also hoping to secure a special guest appearance at some point for this year's festival!

I'm happy to get a little more lore out with some of the new items, and there's one item in particular that I think is especially nifty and I hope someone finds it worth buying even if it is rather niche! A big thank you to Rilulth and her generous assistant for their additions this year, including some pretties of a like that I will just never have the knack for producing.

[Rias]

The Pumpkin Toss records tracking has been updated to show a character's name that they've given themselves (via NAME SELF AS <name>), so people who have taken to a name other than their "coded" one don't have to feel weird about participating and potentially displaying a name they don't want to be known. On the other hand, please don't abuse this to make immature jokes or the like. We keep logs!

[Lexx416]

Loving the festival so far! Looking forward to spending some time in a few days looking closely at all the cool stuff. But the new things I've spotted are already really exciting!

[Serity]

For those who want spoilers (or simply are unsure what's changed, even after browsing), I've made a list of the differences from last year and put them up at the following link (to avoid spoilers in the thread):
https://pastebin.com/raw/QxG0mwZR

I don't have access to the Sorcerer shop, the Druid shop, or another one, so those are not included, and I'm unsure of any changes there.

[artus]

*screams*
So many cultural items this year!

Also, thank you for the racial artifact! That's a smile for the mornin!

[Taliaferro]

For those who want spoilers (or simply are unsure what's changed, even after browsing), I've made a list of the differences from last year and put them up at the following link (to avoid spoilers in the thread):
https://pastebin.com/raw/QxG0mwZR

I don't have access to the Sorcerer shop, the Druid shop, or another one, so those are not included, and I'm unsure of any changes there.

Thank you for that! Very useful.

And thanks to the staff for all the lovely things at the fair, new and old. I couldn't be more pleased.