OOC:Erters.org Timeline
From ErtverseWiki
The following is the Ert Timeline, both IC and OOC, in a nutshell. More detailed information on events in each of these years can be found by following the wiki links to the full articles on the subjects.
Contents |
1998
The events of the second half of the Deathly Hallows, are placed in 1998 on our timeline, and proceeded mostly as written.
The Breaking of the First Prophecy
On May 2, 1998, the Dark Lord Voldemort, weilding the Elder Wand fired a Killing Curse at Harry Potter, while Harry countered with his favored spell of Expelliarmus. The Elder Wand as prophesied refused to kill its true master, and Voldemort's spell rebounded off Harry's, careening toward Voldemort. But then the shadows themselves moved, and a man, wreathed in robes so dark they absorbed the light around them, emerged from shadow and rippled into sight, the curse struck his chest rather than Voldemort's and as all watched he shed the hood of his cloak and laughed, having saved the life of the Dark Lord at the moment of his fated death.
As Aurors present at the battle charged forward his finger rose with a single word: "die," three of them fell and the shadow rippled around the stranger, as three men and three women emerged in that same fashion he had. Against this terrible new foe, the Order of the Phoenix, the present Aurors, and Dumbledore's Army all began to fall back. Several more Aurors fell without a chance against the mysterious new entrants who seemed to care little for their skill with wand and spell. Indeed, those who escaped the wholesale slaughter did so only with the well timed intervention of the Ancient Teak, the shackles of her Order broken, for Nabrock and six of those born as Necromancers had joined Voldemort and, as they were outsiders to this world, their presence upset the scales of Fate and broken the First Prophecy
Voldemort, plucked from the jaws of death, accepted his seven new allies and within the hour fled from Britain. Overnight the war seemed to end. Hundreds of known and suspected Death Eaters vanished overnight.
Between the Books and the Game
Minerva McGonagall took over as Headmistress in the wake of the events of Deathly Hallows serving for the 1998 - 1999 school year. She found documents in Dumbledore's desk indicating that he wanted Carmilla Crowe involved in the war, on their side. Carmilla refused involvement, as she did when previously called upon by Dumbledore shortly before his death in 1997, not because The Order forbade it this time, but because they had charged her with what she felt was a more important task: killing the Necromancer Nabrock.
During this year, McGonagall hired Rembrant Morairty to fill the position of Transfiguration Professor in her stead. To fill the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, she hired Berty Bothelbee, a fair minded and skilled Professor, who none the less succumbed to the 'curse' associated with the position, when a week before the year ended when he suffered an unfortunate accident with his classroom door that left him unable to use the left half of his body. Muggle Studies was unavailable as an elective this year, owing to difficulty in finding a replacement after the horrific death of Charity Burbage and while Sybill Trelawney remained at the school she refused to teach clases unless she was given back the OWLs Level courses as well, so Firenze taught all Divination classes again that year as in the 1995 - 1996 school year.
1999
Real Time: May - June 2001
Between the Books and the Game (Cont'd)
The well known canon faculty left the school along with McGonagall to search for Voldemort full time, and Madame Pomfrey retired. Horace Slughorn remained the head of Slytherin and the Potions Master. The Centaur Firenze continued to teach Divination, and Professors Rembrant Morairty (Transfiguration), Vector (Arithmancy), Babbling and(Ancient Runes) retained their positions.
The Founding of the Game
We began play in Real Time: May 2001; Game Time: September 1999, at the top of Carmilla's first term as Headmistress of Hogwarts. Three years of Game Time were played in the first year of Real Time.
At this time, the site was called "Carmilla's Hogwarts" and was hosted on Homestead, Geocities, and EzBoards. Game play was very simple, since the site had just opened and new players continued joining during the school year. There was little screening of character bios, and many first time players led to many characters, that later, were considered as "Mary Sues" with powers like walking on ceilings and vampire slaying. While canon characters were forbidden, a few of their relations were admitted.
Carmilla's First Year Begins
Carmilla Crowe, finaly accepting Dumbledore's call to become involved in the war, was instated, through some string pulling at the Ministry of Magic, as Hogwarts’ new Headmistress.
To replace the staff who left at the end of the previous year, Carmilla brought with those of her own Order who had joined her on her quest to kill Nabrock, including Ceasar DeBazancourt, Amaya Omorose, and Topher Sullivan. DeBazancourt was instated as the History of Magic Professor in a new classroom, for Professor Binns was not inclined to move, (if he even realised he needed to move) and as the Head of Ravenclaw. Amaya became the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, School Nurse, Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor. Topher was made the Charms Professor and head of Hufflepuff. To fill the remaining positions in the school faculty Carmilla hired an overwhelmingly young group of individuals including Jon Miller as the Astronomy Professor, Jane Forsyth as the Herbology Professor and Richard Dikus as the Flying Instructor and Quidditch Referee.
It was an uneventful beginning to an uneventful year - small road bumps were, however, encountered when Carmilla took her new position. Some controversy existed over her qualifications, given that she dropped out of Hogwarts after her sixth year, to marry Ceasar and start a family. Unbeknownst to the students or their families, Carmilla has been instated at the school for a reason. The Order had discovered that there was an overabundance of Faes being born into the Corperal Plane, and knew of the increase in Half-breeds admitted to the school. They intended for Carmilla to turn the school into a haven for them all, and thereby turn Hogwarts into a recruiting ground for their cause.
Voldemort Gains Power
No longer working in the shadows, the Dark Lord Voldemort stepped forward, now with the Dementors at his side, he started by freeing anyone in Azkaban willing to pledge him their loyalty, former Death Eater or not. Meanwhile the Death Eaters seem to have disappeared, leaving the Order of the Phoenix to regroup and wait with the rest of Britain in suffocating suspense, wondering where and when they would reappear.
2000
Real Time: June - September 2001
Carmilla's First Year Ends
Safe within the walls of Hogwarts School, the students were shielded from the war which threatened to break outside. Younger students remained oblivious to the rumblings, while upper class students were left only to brew and worry. At the closing of the year the House Cup winners were declared to be Ravenclaw and the Quidditch Cup was awarded to Slytherin.
OOTP Goes to Ireland
During the summer, the Death Eaters resurfaced in Southern Ireland. Ireland refused the assistance of the British Aurors, but conceded to the help of the Order of the Phoenix, acting as a non-national body. Unfortunately this turned out to have been the aim of the Death Eaters, as Ireland was a false front in their war on Europe. While the Order was engaged there, with forces under the command of the Malfoys, the remainder of the Death Eaters, and the Dark Lord Voldemort, pushed north into the Scandinavian Countries of Europe, which silently fell while the whole of Britain was watching Ireland.
Carmilla's Second Year Begins
After a highly abridged "Summer" period, just long enough for students to shop on Diagon Alley we returned to Hogwarts for the 2000-2001 school year. Slightly more stringent character review forbid any more characters related to canons, and most of the more blatant Mary Sues. Some rather overpowered characters were still admitted.
At the beginning of this year, all existing characters were forced to have the correct age for their years, or nearly so (a few students just the wrong side of the cut off, remain in the year ahead of where they aught to be), resulting in retcon for several 15 and 16 year old first years.
It was a fairly uneventfull fall term, the only notable events being the return of Muggle Studies to the curriculum with the hire of Professor Barb Smitt and the arrival, in December Tomal Saichairi, a fifth member of The Order and Carmilla's mentor, who was appointed Potions Master, and Head of Slytherin House, replacing Slughorn. Tomal brought with him Alfred, a creature of great power, which appeared to be a stone gargoyle, but was demonstrably more animate than that.
2001
Real Time: October 2001 - February 2002
Carmilla's Second Year Ends
Carmilla took some extra measures to protect her students from the meddling of the Ministry of Magic, who were looking into several of the non-human students as weapons to be used against the Death Eaters, as evidenced by their kidnapping of one such student the previous summer. The Flying Instructor, Richard Dikus was revealed to be a Ministry plant, shortly before he died under unfortunate circumstances involving the Hogwarts lake's giant squid.
At the closing of the year the House Cup winners were declared to be Slytherin and the Quidditch Cup was awarded to Hufflepuff.
The Dark Elves Join Voldemort
That winter in Norway, Voldemort's forces encountered the Dark Elves, whom they brought to their side with the promise of hundreds of thousands of Muggle slaves upon victory. That fall the Dark Elves helped Voldemort to take the Eastern Block with little resistance, breaking into Durmstrang and holding the students hostage until the Magical Governments of the Soviet countries pledged themselves to the Dark Lord.
The Dark Elves Attack Hogwarts
After another highly abridged summer, we were thrown into the next school year, which commenced normally, but was disrupted soon thereafter by the 2001 Dark Elf Attack on Hogwarts, when 67 students were captured at the Halloween Feast, by a second group Dark Elves, at the same time as the Durmstrang abductions to the East. The students are found soon thereafter by the animals of Hogwarts to have been taken to the Chamber of Secrets, where they are being used to dig additional tunnels, and made to duel each other for sport by their new masters. but being animals, are unable to communicate this to the staff.
Noticing the animals who have taken up vigil in Myrtle's Bathroom, Carmilla Crowe, with assistance from her staff, Alfred, Ceasar DeBazancourt, the current Head Girls Ali Spinett and Serena Simms, a Prefect with expert marksmanship with a bow, and the school's resident Lightning and Fire Faes mounted a rescue mission to retrieve the students. Carmilla nearly perished at the hands of Dark Elven Blademaster Tehr Z'Heli, but she prevailed and trapped his soul as she killed him.
2002
Real Time: March-December 2002
Carmilla's Third Year Ends
Shortly after the students return for the spring term, short several classmates whose parents thought it best to keep them out of school, Ceasar DeBazancourt, after an argument with Tomal Saichairi left with no warning to pursue some leads of his own in regards to The Order's original mission to kill Nabrock.
Carmilla's ability to perform her job was called into question for the second time, but she managed to keep her job as her third year as Headmistress came to a close. The House Cup winners were declared to be _____________ and the Quidditch Cup was awarded to ____________.
Summer Hiatus 2002
In Spring 2002, Game Time and Real Time met and Game Time was slowed to a one to one ratio with Real Time. Our first major hiatus occured in the summer between these years, during real time May and June 2002. Some play continued in this time on the Muggle London EzBoards, making for the first non-abridged summer, however much of it was retched out of existence when play resumed.
Hogwarts: In Real Time
In July 2002 the site returned, and changed name to become "Hogwarts: In Real Time" reflecting the change in the time scale. The site was hosted on "Blessed-Oddity.com" instead of Homestead and Geocities free servers, but the boards remain on EzBoards. Selective character acceptance regulations prevented any further overpowered characters from joining the game.
The Six Attack
School, and play, resumed in fall 2002, with 6 PCs notably missing from the feast. These same 6 students returned, during the 2002 Student Attack on Hogwarts brain washed by a lizard like being named Aseri, and proceed to lay waste to the school, killing nearly all the students by bringing the castle down on top of them. Roughly 20% of students survived the attack by escaping through the Great Hall Fireplace to The Crowe's Nest, or through the tunnel to Honeydukes' cellar. The 6 student attackers were freed of their mind control when Carmilla gave herself to Aseri in exchange, believing the remainder of her students, and Tomal to be dead in the castle collapse.
The killed students were later resurrected, and the school restored by the Ancient Teak, with Tomal - who did not die as it turned out - taking charge of the school in Carmilla's absence.
2003
Troll Attack
In April, while the staff lead a strike against Aseri's floating citadel base to retrieve the Headmistress, regenerating Trolls were admitted into Hogwarts and initiated the 2003 Troll Attack on Hogwarts. The students were told to go to their common rooms and close the doors, in the hopes of remaining hidden from the Trolls until the staff returns. Hufflepuff was successful at remaining hidden and though Gryffindor was discovered they suffer little harm, holding the trolls in the common room under crossbow fire, from the dormitory stairs. Slytherin likewise managed to contain the damage by posing a defensive onslaught in the common rooms while evacuating into their nearly impenetrable underground dorms, however Ravenclaw took heavy casualties, having no open stairwells from which to gain height advantage, nor narrow underground passages to impede troll movement. The staff returned with the Headmistress in the midst of these attack and easily defeated the Trolls, bringing the ordeal to an end.
The students injured in the troll attacks were all well enough to attend the end of year feast at which the House Cup was awarded to _______________ and the Quidditch Cup went to ________________.
New Domain, New Boards, New World
During the break between terms, play moved off of EzBoards to the new "HogwartsIRT.com" domain’s InvisionBoard software. The Wizard World was opened for full play, and a full summer was played through, including summer jobs, internships, and interactions with a newly available character type: Wizarding World Citizens, people not involved with Hogwarts in any way.
Peer review of biographies began, with new players required to get the go-ahead from at least 3 existing players. Student characters below the 6th year were no longer accepted, owing to the darker turn the game was taking, but at the start of the school year, Canon characters were opened, with more stringent than usual review, requiring the approval of 3 players on staff and 2 other existing players.
Europe Loses Hope
By June, the Death Eaters had seized control in all of Eastern Europe and most of the West. Still holding their own against the onslaught were Britain (except North Ireland), France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. In September, the Dover Docks were taken by the Death Eaters, marking the first successful seizure of English land by the Death Eaters since the First Dark War. They use Dover Castle as their stronghold.
Christmas Eve Attack on Diagon Alley
That fall, the Hogwarts Students returned to school for a rather uneventful term. Meanwhile, the Wizarding World Citizens got their first major event in the form of the 2003 Christmas Eve Attack on Diagon Alley, which leveled nearly all the buildings and killed a bunch of NPCs. No PC casualties. A similar attack on Hogwarts was foiled before it ever reached school grounds, but the planned Interschool Quidditch match with the Irish school - Weinglass Academy of the Magical Arts - was canceled as the Irish team was recalled home, by the new Lord of Ireland: Lucius Malfoy.
2004
Carmilla's Fifth Year Ends
Relatively unscathed for once, the students of Hogwarts attended their end if year feast, at which the House Cup was awarded to ____________ and the Quidditch Cup was awarded to ___________________, before they were safely returned home to their families. Optimism at the school's improved safety meant that very few students dropped out or were pulled out of school by their parents following this year, relative to the previous two.
Ireland Falls
Over the summer the Irish Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix lost the battle against the Death Eaters in Ireland. The Order of the Phoenix were trapped behind enemy lines, in an underground bunker, in a standoff with forces above who knew they were down there, but not where. Meanwhile, France became embroiled in a close fight with the Death Eaters for control of their country.
During this period, the Peer Review system continued. New Hogwarts student characters, however, were no longer accepted. Owing to continuing problems with "Abandoned Canons" new canon players were also no longer accepted. Those already accepted are allowed to continue playing them.
The Warp
That fall, the Hogwarts Sorting Feast was attacked by Bellatrix Black-Lestrange and a horde of Dementors, Cyclopes, Naga and Giants, causing chaos and panic before the first shot is even fired, owing to the effect of the Dementors on the large number of students who had been terrorized more than your average student body should be. Fifth-years and under were sent through a portal conjured by the Deputy Headmistress to The Crowe's Nest, overseen by the Head Girl. Sixth and Seventh-year students were evacuated to the Slytherin Dungeons with the Head Boy, a Slytherin himself, leading the way. Only six of the students called by name (including the five remaining students involved in the 2003 attack on the school), were allowed to remain in defense of the school while the remainder of the students were forced to leave, including aforementioned Head Girl, the last to leave through the portal to the Nest.
The school was destroyed for the second time under Carmilla's watch, the Cyclopes and Giants pounding the stones to rubble, and bringing the castle down again. In the turmoil, a Hufflepuff Muggle-born's abandoned laptop fell on the Deputy Headmaster’s staff and disrupted the spell he was casting, causing the entire school, and the Crowe’s Nest, still attached by the open portal, to be sucked into an alternate dimension, where the sun was always up, and the school (rather than looking and behaving like it belonged in a fantasy novel) was something ripped from the pages of Science Fiction. To those who experienced it, this was called the Warp.
Meanwhile in the Wizard World, families mourned the loss of their children, presuming Hogwarts, which has vanished from their dimension, to be destroyed. Families were overjoyed when their children miraculously turn up on their doorsteps evening of Christmas Eve, the Warp having been brought to an end that morning, returning Hogwarts and her students to their rightful place.
2005
Voldemort Gains the Upper Hand
That winter, Voldemort revealed one of his newest allies, a Water Fae, a young woman whose assassinations against Aurors hailed a change of tactics from the Death Eaters. They begin to work solely on Britain's defensive forces, for the time being, ignoring the civilian population in favour of knocking out the power structure protecting them. The Ministry changed tactics in response, moving their Aurors and Hit Wizards into a defensive mode of operation.
Carmilla's Sixth Year Ends
The spring term at Hogwarts was far more uneventful than the fall term, with students doing catch up work for their exams, and preparing to leave Hogwarts. The Hogwarts Class of 2005 would be the first graduating class to have been old enough to be instrumental in the events which had occurred (4 of The Six graduated this term). Carmilla prepared for her students the 2005 Masquerade Ball at Hogwarts in celebration of this. An argument during the Masquerade led to massive house point deductions for the houses of all four participants, and the arrest of one of the participants on unrelated charges, leaving Hufflepuff to win the House Cup by default at Hogwarts' first and last Graduation Ceremony held in leui of a the traditional end of year feast. The Quidditch Cup was awarded to _____________.
Wizard World Flourishes
With a large number of player characters exiting Hogwarts in The Class of 2005, the Wizard world became even more densely populated. The majority of PCs not in the class of 2005 were Sixth and Seventh-year students, with a few straggling Fifth and Fourth year characters who had begun play prior to 2002.
It came to light after the arrest of Lydia H’tarlaw at the Hogwarts Masquerade Ball, that there were new laws quietly passed by the Wizengamot under the suggestion of the Deputy Minister. Those who wore the Dark Mark were stripped of human rights, Hit Squads were granted permission to kill on sight if bearing the Mark, without delay or explanation. Those who wore the brand and did not repent were no longer allowed to own assets and all accounts and holdings of known Death Eaters were frozen and absorbed by the state to sink finances into rebuilding the Wizarding World.
With the help of a former Auror, turned drug dealer, by the name of Turlach Dwyre a defence was found against the Water Fae's attacks which prevented her from draining a victim’s body of its water before they could cast a single hex. The Ministry returned the Hit Wizards to offensive duties, and the Water Fae either coincidentally, or with foreknowledge of the new defence, disappeared from the field of war.
Carmilla's Seventh Year Begins
New player acceptance stopped all together, as catching up with the in-world plot would be too daunting as the conclusion of the 6 year story arc was imminent.
The new school year commenced, with a fall term devoid of any major stir ups, and a pleasant, if somewhat reserved holiday break. The civilian British Wizard population held its breath as the Death Eaters and Ministry Forces clashed repeatedly, and in areas growing ever closer to civilian population centres. Hogwarts, however, was, for once, the fortress it was meant to be, keeping its students safe and out of harm’s way.
2006
The Third Prophecy
March 3rd 2006, at 3:33am, in an event which would come to be known as the Triumvirate magic went down as three Seers in Diagon Alley made the most public and most harrowing prophecy yet. For three days, no new spells could be cast, although persistent charms (such as those that make brooms fly) remained in effect. For two days after, this prophecy was repeated each morning at 3:33am. On the third day, at the conclusion of the prophecy, magic was restored.
The Final Days of the War
A few weeks later, as the war escalated, with fighting encroaching on populated areas, the Militia formerly operating without much attention or assistance from the Ministry, ballooned in size overnight. Carmilla Crowe opened the doors of Hogwarts to anyone who wished sanctuary within her walls. Much of Hogsmeade took her up on this offer, entire families coming in, or sending only their children who were too young to be at Hogwarts already, while their parents joined the growing Militia. Once Carmilla's deadline has passed, she sealed the school. From then on, no one could go in or out of the castle.
The remaining Magicals living in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade left population centres in droves for the countryside, many Muggle-borns and Half-Bloods took cover in the Muggle World, and those that could not or would not leave Diagon took cover in the The Crowe's Nest restaurant, as it stood during the 2003 Christmas Eve Attack in Diagon Alley. The new wizard community, recently named Bellsbury, was too small to raise sufficient Militia presence, but was also too small and out of the way to be considered a strategically valuable target. A small handful it's population, wanting to get into the fight left for Hogsmeade to join in their defence efforts, while their families and friends batten down the hatches at home, in the hopes the fighting would not make it to where they were.
April 11th, 2006 saw the Final Battle at Diagon Alley. When the Militia in Hogsmeade were forced to fall back from the Razing of Hogsmeade, they fled to Hogwarts, precipitating the Final Battle at Hogwarts. Elsewhere the Final Battle Against Voldemort was won. Thus, the Second Dark War was ended in the U.K., although battles are still fought in Europe, much of which had fallen to the Dark Lord before his defeat in the U.K. Hogsmeade, lay in ashes, and was abandoned for Bellsbury, which remained untouched by the war.
Hogwarts was closed before N.E.W.T. examinations, leaving the the Class of 2006 to take the exams at the Ministry of Magic for a fee, or forgo them entirely. Hogwarts House and Quidditch cups, were not awarded. Students who would have graduated in 2007 or later scrambled to find new schools for the next year. Most did not succeed.
European Detachment
That summer, the Order of the Phoenix and most of the Aurors formed a European Detachment and headed for the continent to finish wresting control back from the Death Eaters.
Erters.org
The support staff of the site, which had been growing in number since 2001, was disbanded, as so many non-staff had contributed just as much to the site, and many staff were absentee. The site, which had been self-governing in practice for some time, became self-governing in official organisation as well, and the two remaining staffers, the creator and her husband, were renamed "Facilitators" in recognition as their changed roles as those who facilitate others to play the game, instead of those who police the game.
In recognition of the players, called "Erters" (a phonetic spelling of IRTers) who have created and moulded the world through their actions, the old domain, HogwartsIRT.com is retired, and the site recived a new name, and a new domain: Erters.org
2007
Second Hiatus
Second Major Game Hiatus began in early 2007. As with the first game hiatus, play continued without direction from Facilitators. Two interim Mods were appointed only for the duration of the hiatus, to delete the spam in the public forums, and do clerical work such as pinning, closing, moving and archiving topics. Significantly less retcon was needed after this hiatus as compared to the previous one, owing to only tentative game play during the Hiatus, some players having stopped posting all together to avoid being made to retcon later. New players were still not accepted, due to Facilitator approval being necessary for new player registration.
Second Triumvirate
Although it wasn't played out, on March 3rd, 2007 magic again went down from March 3rd, 3:33am until March 6th 3:33am. People were taken by surprise once again, and with the re-occurrence of the event, no small number of fringe cult like groups began to spring up dedicated to the idea that this was some form of divine message to Wizard kind. The exact nature of the supposed messages, depending on the group were as divergent as the idea that Wizard kind were now doomed for associating too much with Muggles, and the idea that they should learn to be more like Muggles.
Rebuilding the World
Also during the lapse in play, in Spring 2007, with the battles in France won, the European Detachment returned home to England, and found it has not bounced back as quickly as one might have hoped. Much of Europe was still dealing with the fallout from the war. Diagon was mostly rebuilt, but Hogwarts showed no signs of re-opening. Without leaders to rally them, or the anger against the Death Eaters to fire them, many people had fallen to apathy, while others frustrated at the lack of similar sentiment, called out to no avail for others to do the same. Eventually most of those who cared at all, found themselves rebuilding their own small corners of the world, their homes, their shops, and hoping that others would follow their lead.
The Hallowfest
Late September 2007, the call went out that the hiatus had ended. Many, but not all, players who stopped posting during the hiatus returned. Play resumed among veteran players only for a few weeks while they get their bearings, which gave them a jump on getting up their bios up again in the new In Character perspective "Interview" format. They took advantage of this format not only to tell their characters' stories in the characters' own words, but to fill in what their characters had gotten up to in the 9 month hiatus.
In mid-October the Hallowfest event was, in game, organised to boost morale and help inspire people to put some effort into rebuilding their world. The joy that had been lacking is partially restored, but attendance was sparse. Those that did attend however, had nothing but good things to say about it, and the event was therefore considered some small success. OOC, the Festival was advertised on RPG boards as a way to bring in new blood as part of a massive drive to get new blood in, since applications had not been open for nearly 2 years. Special forums created for the event allowed prospective new players to jump right in without applying, simply by registering. The opening ceremonies of the festival were posted and...
The Great Board Crash of 2007
Just when everything looked fantastic, the boards promptly crashed. The host was no help. Over three years worth of posts were lost. The players evacuated to the Emergency LiveJournal community. Nearly a month later, the host replied to the help request saying he was closing down his hosting service. Erters.org was given 24-hour notice to find alternate hosting.
Slowly, over the course of November, with the players still hanging out on the LiveJournal community, the site was restored on a new server. A third facilitator was appointed to mind the technical aspects of the site and the board software, as this job was previously performed by the old host. Existing players were asked to re-post their Interviews on the new boards, and peer review was used to keep everyone honest about them, ensuring covert retcons were kept to a minimum.
The Winter Festival
In December 2007, play resumed with the new Winter Festival taking place in the special forums designed for the Hallowfest. New blood continued to be allowed to post in the Festival Forums merely by registering. In Character, the Winter Festival was being held to capitalize on the success of Hallowfest, with the hopes that the positive feedback passed around the Wizard World regarding the first Festival would boost participation in the second Festival. Morale found itself climbing a little further out of the depths. Out Of Charactor, the Festival Continued until March of 2008, still taking place in December, to maximise new player intake.
2008
Third Triumvirate
March 3rd, 2008 the time line was returned to real-time with the commemoration of the second anniversary of the Third Prophecy. Thru some mystical force yet unknown, magic again went down from March 3rd, 3:33am until March 6th 3:33am. This time the event was expected, and treated, by necessity as a national Holiday. Many shops were closed or had altered hours during the Triumvirate, and those working in heavily magic reliant job positions were given the 48 hour period off from work. The occasion was marked by many strange and public demonstrations by the Triumvirate cults which had sprung up after the Second Triumvirate, leading many to spend their time off in Diagon Alley at the site of the original recitation of the Third Prophecy.
Dark Elves Outside Bellsbury
In May, a single Dark Elf Yurt appeared outside the gates of the town of Bellsbury, and managed to go mostly unnoticed by the townsfolk. It was followed by another, and another, until a whole village of Dark Elves had sprung up outside the town.
Great (Herbological) Expectations
July 6th brought a great stir to the Herbology and Wandcrafting communities with the maturation of the Mala Castanea, an an Apple/Chestnut Hybrid tree bred by enterprising Herbologists some 80 years prior. A ceremony was held in the orchard where it grew, as the first branches were harvested, with the hopes that this would be the first hybrid tree to produce wood usable in Wandcraft.
Something Wicked
Just past midnight on August 23rd, a mysterious attack occurred in Bellsbury, leaving a man dead from wounds that seem to have been inflicted by a magical beast of unknown origins. The investigation of this event, and the backlash of the Bellsbury community over their perceived lack of saftey, lasted thru to the New Year.
2009
Dark Elves Inside Bellsbury
January 31st, the contingent of Dark Elf refugees entered the town of Bellsbury, creating quite a stir, given their not entirely undeserved reputation as cold blooded killers. Eventually they were given a place just outside town to set up, under the watchful eyes of the Ministry of Magic. The unease about their presence did not diminish with time however.
Fourth Triumvirate
Once again again magic went down from March 3rd, 3:33am until March 6th 3:33am. As before the event was expected, and treated, by necessity as a national Holiday. Now expecting heavy activity from the Triumvirate cults the Ministry positioned Law Enforcment Officers on Diagon Alley at the Obelisk marking the place where the Third Prophecy had first been recited.
Bellsbury Cove
April 3rd, the Mayor of Bellsbury unveiled a new Wizard vacation spot, called Bellsbury Cove, accessible by a special train run out of Bellsbury station: a beach where a perpetual summer is magically maintained.
Meanwhile, the boards were re-set so they no longer require login to read and registration is opened once more, allowing new potential players to post applications from character accounts, instead of as guests. The existence of the Wiki, previously only known to the Facilitators, who were seeding articles, was made known to all players in the OOC Discussion room, allowing them to join in article creation.
The Flight of the Sight
At precisely 8:55pm, November 22nd, 2009, all Seers, and skilled Diviners as well as serious dabblers in divining arts simultaneously became keenly aware that there was something very very wrong. So called "True" Seers and Diviners then experienced an instant where the world seemed to be of little consequence, where all possibilities seemed to be plausible and limited only by one’s ability to imagine, followed by a stabbing migrainous pain and nausea that proceeded to come and go over the following week.
From that moment on, all these Seers, and Diviners were stripped of their gifts, and the devices used to perform Divination no longer functioned. Tarot decks could no longer be shuffled, fusing together like bricks, crystal balls were reduced to little more than bizarre glass lenses and tea leaves to a messy gloop left over at the bottom of the mug. Even Rememberals malfunctioned, each and every one turning bright red, even when not held.
Additionally, and perhaps more alarmingly, tens of thousands in the UK alone perished suddenly and with no apparent cause other than old age, despite the victims being of a wide range of ages, many of them not old at all. These deaths were as common (per capita) amongst Muggles as Magicals and as common amongst non-humans as humans. The press was so focused on the deaths, particularly considering the editor of the Daily Prophet was among them, that they did not report on the plight of the seers until the 25th.
2010
Dawning of a New Year
In January, the Mayor of Bellsbury announced that, for the first time since 1996, many items which had been under rationing were made readily available again, at the same time trade embargoes were lifted on goods coming in from (most of) Europe.
Unfortunately, he also announced a new tax on all businesses located on Diagon Alley. A two percent increase on land rates paid to the Ministry due to take effect ‘before Easter’. He explained that the extra money will be used to help fund and facilitate the increase in security and patrols necessary around the Knockturn region. Simultaneously, plans were revealed (to the outrage of several Diagon shop owners) for a new ‘shopping’ district being established alongside Albus Park in Bellsbury.
A New School
It was also announced that a new school was in the developmental stages and is due to be ready to accept students at the beginning of March. Spaces were, initially, limited and preference to be given to children residing within the town walls. Several job opportunities were also announced, working within the school. Donations of goods was solicited, to be auctioned off in February to help pay for the school.
Trouble Brewing
Meanwhile, he Russian Ministry issued a statement that they were ‘experiencing difficulties’ with an unknown force. As far as Muggles are concerned, a freak storm, of geomagnetic nature, damaged the infrastructure of Yakutsk and its surrounding towns. A cascading power outage during one of the harshest storms on Siberian records resulted in a massive loss of life. Flights over the region were deemed no longer possible after the crash of two small aircrafts, and the railway was closed down while the area was investigated and while authorities worked to retrieve the deceased and attend their burial. To Magicals, the issue is being declared a 'magical storm of unknown origin that is being investigated by the greatest wizards in the nation’.
Weeks later, commercial logging in parts of South America slowed with machinery failures stalling logging operations, and Canadian Authorities reported that the issues with supplying power to some of their more distant towns was resolved. A technical fault in a substation has been blamed. The Canadian Ministry of Magic has assured all that the power failure in Canada’s north is nothing like that being experienced in Siberia, and citizens do not need to be alarmed. As well, two commercial aeroplanes crashed over Greenland, and much like the planes crashed over Siberia, the wreckages were never found.
