"... and she simply didn't have a clue as to why that might upset me!" Normally Gnormajean would have gesticulated wildly to emphasize her point, but the quarters were too tight at the moment, and there was too much risk of messing up several hours of hard work. On the eve before the Erollisi Marr celebrations began, she was putting the final finishing touches on romantic gift boxes filled with her handmade chocolates while her friend and mentor, Niami DenMother, was doing some fancy decoration work on a multi-tier frosted cake.

"Och, lass, I'm sorry yuir sister-in-law is still causing ye problems. I'd hoped that she would hae settled down by now." Mum frowned as she worked carefully on a fondant rose for the cake.

"Don't get me wrong. She's made a lot of improvement in the last year. Now it isn't intentional stonewalling, more just general cluelessness about anything regarding any culture but her own." Gnorma took a breath to calm herself as she realized that she had placed too many cordials in one box and too few in the one before it. As she started re-checking the last few boxes to be sure she hadn't messed up more due to distraction, she was surprised to hear Niami start snickering. "OK, out with it, Mum. Something hit your funny bone, and I could use a bit of humor right now!"

"Well, I dealt wi' a veritable king o' clueless earlier today, lass. He was sae bad tha' I jus' HAD tae prank him a bit." She grinned wickedly, eyes alight with good-natured mischief.

"Ye know how much I jus' hate door-tae-door salesmen anyway, an' this one was worse than most. Ye might e'en say that he could nae notice a clue if ye hit him o'er th' head wi' a clue-by-four!" She shook her head, making one wisp of red hair that had escaped her braid bob wildly.

"Tchah! A shoe salesman. An' th' ditzy wood elf was sae busy wi' his practiced spiel that he would nae let me get a word in edgewise. He apparently thought that me tapping my verra large, verra bare foot on th' floor was jus' a sign o' impatience, nae a strong hint that mayhaps "dainty shoes for dainty feet" were nae summat that I was likely tae buy. He did nae e'en look at my feet while he was trying tae convince me tae buy his shoes! What sort o' salesmanship is that? I was aboot ready tae sic Audrey on him when he called me a lady ... dwarf."

"Ohhhhhhh mmyyyyyyyyy. And you let him leave in one piece?!?" Gnorma eyed the snickering halfling with bemusement, thinking of all the rude things Mum had done to various annoying salesmen over the years. "Who are you and what have you done with Mum?"

"Oh, I almost sicced th' carnivorous plants on him, but then I decided tae let others hae th' fun o' teaching him a lesson. Once he finally wound down, I verra sweetly told him that I was all set frae shoes, but tha' I hated tae see his salesmanship go tae waste. I mentioned tha' there were plenty more o' "my people" in Rivervale an' they ne'er see shoe salesmen out that way. It could be a market jus' ripe frae an enterprising lad like himself."

"Ohdear. You didn't! I can just picture Neeta Cabbageleaf siccing Mangler on him or something." Gnorma grinned as she dramatically imitated that lovely hafling lady. "How dare you insult these large furry feet by calling them dainty! Cad! Boor! Buffoon! No pie for you!"

The rest of the evening passed to the sweet sounds of uproarious laughter from the two women as they prepped Gnorma's bakery and sweet shop for the upcoming holiday rush.

The next morning, Mum reveled in being mostly retired by sleeping in. No rushing off at dawn to get baking started. No standing in line waiting for Steven and Douglas to show up in Qeynos with any new Erollisi Day offerings. Just a mellow breakfast while staring out over her backyar- ... She rubbed her eyes and looked out at her yard again. Blinked. Rubbed her sleep-gritted eyes again.

It was still there. Someone, somehow, had magicked up what looked to be an entire maze of rose hedges in her backyard sometime between midafternoon the day before, and mid-morning today. Mind you, she loved roses quite a bit, but she wasn't keen on someone plopping down hedges in her backyard without so much as a by-your-leave!

She stalked out the kitchen door to take a closer look at the offending shrubbery. Halfway to the edge of the hedges, she stepped on a patch of grass that moved. It not only moved, but it sounded like it ... crinkled?

"Aiyeeeeee!!" Halflings really aren't meant to try to levitate. Truly. They aren't very aerodynamic, after all, and tend to land rather gracelessly. Therefore it took Mum a minute or two to get herself back up off the ground and dusted off.

Rubbing her bruised ... ego ... and trying to keep one eye on the grass as she did so, she sidled over to the pile of deadwood waiting to be chopped for kindling. She grabbed a large stick, stalked over and started started poking cautiously at the area where she thought the grass had moved.

This time, at least, she avoided the shriek and the attempt to become airborne, and settled for only a small flinch when her poking yielded results.

Yep. That was moving grass all right. Almost as if it was swiveling on a hinge. And was that a note she saw underneath it?

She stood there stared at it long enough that the patch of grass swung back into place, covering the note once again. "Nae, none o'that! Gimme!"

Taking a firmer grip on her stick, she poked the grass with more force than aim, missing the offending patch altogether and gouging a divot out of her lawn. "Och!"

Using a bit more care, she nudged the proper patch of grass until it swiveled again, then quickly snatched the slip of parchment before it could be covered up again.

Her green eyes narrowed as she read: "Niami - find the center of this small maze for a special invitation for a special lady." That was it. There wasn't even a signature.

Despite the fact that her morning tea was getting cold, Mum's curiousity got the better of her, and she headed immediately for the break in the hedges. She kept a firm grip on her stick, however!

Ten minutes later, she was regretting not having finished her tea first. "Frissen frassen, this maze is nae that large. But I cannae see any path intae th' center at all! If this keeps up, I'll need a machete tae trim th' hedges!" Before resorting to such violence against seemingly inoffensive shrubbery, she reached out to touch a particularly lovely pink rose, intending to smell it.

Once again, Mum proved not only how strong her lungs were, but how non-aerodynamic she was. "AIIIIIYYEEEEEE!" She also learned, the hard way, that trying to levitate while simultaneously attack a moving shrubbery with a large stick was a good way to end up with both bruises and thorn scratches.

It also gave her ample chance to demonstrate some of her more colorful language. The shrubbery and the stick, however, seemed unimpressed with her creative use of invective.

Eventually, her heart rate slowed back to something remotely resembling normal, and she poked the section of hedge with her stick, watching it swing open once again.

"O' course moving grass was nae enow. Whoe'er did this had tae make th' hedges move as well! What's next? Th' rocks dancing a jig?" A passing bluejay cried out raucously, as if mocking the strange halfling for talking to herself.

She stomped through the fresh opening in the hedge before it could close again, and continued on through the maze. She had to poke another hedge to get it to open up before she reached the center, and likely poked another two dozen random sections of hedge along the way just to let off a bit of steam.

The last of her upset left her as she reached the center of the maze and found a gorgeous tea set sitting on a small table. The teapot even had tea in it. Steaming hot tea, no less, that smelled exactly like the special blend that was sitting forgotten in her mug back in her kitchen.

Someone had burnt quite of bit of magic to pique her interest, that was for sure!

Another parchment was sitting on the table, held in place by the sugar plate. "Dearest lady, maven of mischief and mistress of the kitchen. It is my dearest wish to treat you to a dinner fit for a queen. Please be ready at sunset in a score plus two days, and wear something fancy. ~Your Secret Admirer"

Outrage at the presumption warred with flattered amusement warred with suspicion. Underlying it all was the puzzle of why someone would go to all this trouble only to want to wait 22 days for the actual "date".

What was so spec- ... her eyes narrowed briefly before she grinned largely and sat down to enjoy her tea.

To Be Continued in a Future Event Preview ;D

Erollisi Day 2017, the annual celebration of love and Erollisi Marr, will run from Feb 9, 2017 through Feb 21, 2017. While many of the items and events are ones that are returning from the past nine years of the event, there are still new things to experience on this 10th year of the celebration.

New Craftables

Romantic Gifts to Craft X (heirloom, artisan level 2 to scribe, recipes difficulty level 10) is newly offered by Steven this year, with 18 new recipes contained within it. While this event is running, this NPC can be found near the merc buildings in Freeport and Qeynos. Items will require an E-Day love note or hard candy (looted from sentient mobs or obtained from your upgraded pack pony) and tier 2 common harvests.

Elegant Fireplace Screen	Erollisi Day Frosted Cake*	Lovely Red Cushion
Pelt of the Hart	Pink Rose Bouquet	Yellow Rose Bouquet
Gilded Hart Tea Set*	Oversized Heart-Stained Globe	Stone of Adoration Arched Door Frame
Stone of Adoration Horizontal Window Frame in Tall Divider	Stone of Adoration Rectangular Door Frame	Stone of Adoration Square Window Frame in Narrow Divider
Stone of Adoration Square Window Frame in Tall Divider	Stone of Adoration Tall Window Frame in Narrow Divider	Stone of Adoration Tall Window Frame in Tall Divider
Stone of Adoration Vertical Window Frame in Tall Divider

Notes:

• The pic of the tea set above includes: Gilded Hart Teacup, Gilded Hart Teacup Set, and Gilded Hart Teapot. Due to the contortions that were needed to make these items visible from a distance, the previews on them don't look so great, so you get a placed group shot instead. A more detailed view of them is available at the top of the page. :D
• The Erollisi Day Frosted Cake preview isn't properly lit unless you scroll in enough to cut off part of the cake, so, again, you get a placed preview of it instead.
• The Stone of Adoration items have the building block tag, so will count towards your building block item count, not your normal house item count.

It should be noted that while the new Kunark Ascending windows, such as the Cobalt Window of Zou Kunen pictured below, don't directly fit in any of the new Stone of Adoration blocks, Keava of Test managed a lovely effect by using a stained glass floor tile placed vertically behind the Stone of Adoration Arched Door Frame for an interesting effect! (Butterflies not included :D)

New Buyables

Douglas offers several returning buyables and a few new ones as well. (He is located beside Steven in front of the buildings in Qeynos and Freeport where mercs are hired.)

Belted Marauder's Quiver* 150 coins	Belted Royal Quiver* 150 coins	Grove Drake* 20 coins
Hart Wall Trophy 5 coins	Hinged Pink Rose Topiary* 20 coins	Hinged Red Rose Topiary* 20 coins
Hinged White Rose Topiary* 20 coins	Hinged Wispy Grass Square* 20 coins	Hinged Yellow Rose Topiary* 20 coins

Notes:

• Quivers are 36-slot containers that can be used as your back appearance.
• Grove Drake is a no-trade housepet
• Hinged Topiary act as doors, you "Use" them to open/close
• Hinged Wispy Grass Square horizontally rotates a quarter turn counter-clockwise, then back again as you "Use" it, allowing you to uncover something on the ground.

New Quest

There is one new quest offered this year, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." Amber in the Hate's Envy (newbie starting) area of Darklight Woods offers this quest, and the reward is an adorable Tickled Pink Baby Dragon Clothwork (no-trade, housepet) and 5 Erollisi coins.

There is also one new achievement this year for collecting specific love notes and hard candies. (Collection must be done by you from looting them off corpses or "looting" them off your upgraded pack pony.) Completion of "Tender Traps in Obulous Frontier" earns you the suffix title of "Heart's Desire".Note that the gooblin love note can be found in the various Dalnir's instances, including the solo instance.

Quest Tracker!

Casdoe of Maj'Dul has kindly updated her Erolissi Day Quest Tracker so that you can track quest completion on your alt armies. This year she has made it available in pdf form and in xlsx form. Thanks again, ma'am! (Note: If you grabbed either of these files before this note was added on Feb. 1, 2017, you will want to re-download - she fixed/updated a couple things in it.)

TLE Servers?