Winter was starting to edge ever-so-slowly into spring, and Mum was starting to really feel her age.
"Och, another grey hair. Mayhaps it is time tae talk tae that lass who owns her own discreet hair salon that does touch-ups. What was her name again? Miss Clamdoll? Nae? Clairivoyant? Ah! Right, Miss Clairol. I'm nae ready tae show that much grey yet."
Mumbling to herself, she trudged through North Qeynos, just in time to hear "... the Pinot Guarantee: Sixty percent of the time ... they work every time."
"Is it that time already? Dalron's trotting out his old pick-up lines again?!" Mentally, she tallied up the days, and realized that, yes, it was just about time for Erollisi Day. A time for young fools, erm, lovers, to go to allll sorts of lengths to attract a mate of one type or another.
She simply shook her head and kept on walking as she passed the so-called Ladies Man, not even slowing when she heard that there was a "new, extended version" of his little black book.
She'd worked hard for this grumpy mood, and by golly, she was going to wallow in it!
Back at her home with her purchases, she stomped around the house, clattering dishes, rattling pots and pans, grumbling and growling until even the bravest of the housepets scattered and hid.
It had been a grueling several months - the re-opening of the Moors of Ykesha and all the work that the folks in Mara had suddenly needed assistance with, the Nights of the Dead brouhaha, Frostfell, general holiday ... stuff. Small wonder that she'd taken a needed month to collapse in a heap to recover a bit. A blessed month without a major holiday or event.
And because of it, some odd rumors began. Rumors that she was retired, or dead or something. Pish. Where on Norrath did folks get these silly ideas?
A part of her still grumbled about the rumors, while another part of her was quietly amused by folks who had gotten so used to Mum being in the thick of crafting events that they went into a fret because there had been a badly-needed lull in the controlled chaos.
Her eye was caught by the carnivorous plant attempting to slink through the room, leaves all-a-quiver as if it feared she was about to fling more pots and pans around. One of these days she was really going to have to do something about all the pets always underfoot, and she wished, not for the first time, for some reliable way to keep them out of certain areas.
She'd heard word of a new gilded cage that the young romantics had been all agog about, but, sadly, it had been merely ornamental. It definitely was something her very active pets would break out of in moments flat.
Mum's mind wandered, as it was wont to do lately, as she reminisced about other popular Erollis Day gifts, past and present.
There was the metal ring that had been a gift from a gnomish tinker. Far too big to fit on a hand, it was large, gaudy, and now-rusty. Leave it to a gnome to make it out of "practical" metals, without thinking about rustproofing, and to go overboard on sizing. Perhaps some day she'd find a gnome that didn't have a hangup on size, but she wasn't holding her breath.
Then there were the grassy knolls, complete with butterflies and fireflies. A body could exhaust themselves just keeping the grass watered, trimmed and the like, not to mention the butterflies and fireflies getting into everything!
As for the harem-girl outfits, well, what they did to a full-bodied halfling figure like her own was simply scandalous!
Her eye fell on one gift from days bygone, and the remains of her bad mood evaporated, as her train of thought firmly and solidly derailed once again.
The wrapped package had definitely seen better days, and it had an oddly crunched and crumpled look to it. Were one to pick it up, they'd hear discordant clinks and rattles coming from inside.
She'd never opened the package, knowing that, whatever it had been, it was only broken bits now, but it was one of her favorite gifts of all, nonetheless.
It had been one of the first gifts that she had ever received from the House Ogre, when he'd still believed that the Erollisi Day abbreviation of "S.W.A.K." on some gifts had meant "Sealed With A Kick".
On top of various quests and the like, this year's celebration will once again include some special crafting. Unlike the grumpy Niami above, I'm pretty excited about the lovely new items that we'll be able to craft, so we'll just stuff the grumpy redhead back in her home and let her mumble a bit more, k?
At this time, it is believed that the Erollisi Day events will be activated on February 10 and turned off on the morning of February 17th, but that can still be subject to change. As with last year's events, you can continue to craft these recipes after the event has ended, if you have managed to stockpile the love letters and hard candies (which will stop dropping when the events are turned off).
Two vendors are found in Qeynos Harbor and East Freeport, named Steven and Douglas. They sell a lot of lovely romantic items at special prices (see below). In addition, Steven sells the level 2 artisan recipe book from last year's event "Romantic Gifts to Craft", which contains 14 recipes for any artisan to craft and 2 tinkered recipes. In addition to this book, however, there is a brand new book "More Romantic Gifts to Craft", featuring another 15 new items (including one tinkered one).
Like the Nights of the Dead crafting at Halloween time, these will require special dropped primary items as well as common resources.
Yep, once again, you get to run up to intelligent creatures that are cooing happily over love notes and candies ... and kill them so you can have them all for yourself!
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These little testaments of love have two uses, and this means you may be at war with yourself over whether you're going on a buying or a crafting spree. First, you can hand them in to Liannya Heartswell (the Romantic), for special coins that are used to buy many lovely romantic items sold by Steven and Douglas. The second use is, yep, you guessed it, as the primary ingredient for these special recipes.
Click on the images below to see recipe and a size comparison for the item.
| Erollisi Marrsipan Stove & Keg  |
Frosted Erollisi Cookies Stove & Keg  |
Essence of Amour Chemistry Table  |
| Distilled Devotion Number 9 Chemistry Table  |
Plush Chaise Lounge Loom  |
Luxurious Chaise Lounge Loom  |
| Purple Heart-Shaped Pillow Loom  |
Red Heart-Shaped Pillow Loom  |
White Heart-Shaped Pillow Loom  |
| Yellow Heart-Shaped Pillow Loom  |
Pink Roses Blooming with Love Woodworking Bench  |
Purple Roses Blooming with Love Woodworking Bench  |
| Red Roses Blooming with Love Woodworking Bench  |
Yellow Roses Blooming with Love Woodworking Bench  |
Gold Mechanosynthetic Rose Work Bench Tinkering  |
| Silver Mechanosynthetic Rose Work Bench Tinkering  |
| Golden Rug of the Beloved  |
Golden Tapestry of the Beloved  |
Loving Cup |
Grassy Knoll of Butterflies |
Grassy Knoll of Fireflies |
Gift of the Libertine |
Plush Wood Framed Bed |
Luxurious Wood Framed Bed |
Metalized Ring of Devotion Tinkered  |
Love Letters |
Love Poems |
Love's Gilded Cage |
Vial of Passion |
No, I didn't miscount, that is only 13 items. The other two items are dress clothing items.
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As always, heartfelt thanks go out to Kaisha Triol of Permafrost for her graphical skills ... you really do NOT want to see what this page would have looked like if we had to resort to my limited graphical skills! :)