World of Warcraft®

PUBLIC NOTICE: AAMS to HOST 6th ANNUAL ARMISTICE DAY BALL!

MASQUERADE DANCE - TRANSLATED GATHERING - HISTORICAL TOURS - AND MORE

The Battle of Mt. Hyjal. We remember it now as a time of triumph against overwhelming odds. Through the lens of history each choice and movement and sacrifice is as clear as the facets of a fine gem.

But for the men and women who fought at Hyjal the reality was murkier. In the fog of war one battle looks much like another. Mud and dirt and pain will always be the same, no matter the cause.

Each year the Anytime & Anywhere Messaging Service commemorates the anniversary of Mt. Hyjal. But it is not the battle we memorialize: it is the peace that made it possible. The men and women that waded through that carnage rarely knew who would be beside them, or what their race and nation were; only that they, too, believed life was good and deserved to go on.

This year we honor both the peace and the chaos of Mt. Hyjal. This year's Armistice Day Ball will be a costumed Masquerade, open to both factions and translated by the AAMS staff. Come disguised, and for a night we will be again what we were at Hyjal: united, peaceful, and as often as not a stranger to the person beside us, knowing only that they are a friend.

The Masquerade Ball begins at 6:00 in the evening on Satuday, October 15th. At 7:30 there will be a short speech followed by a mass unveiling so that everyone may see, for the first time, who they have enjoyed a peaceful moment with. We hope the results will surprise us all.

Following the unmasking we invite guests from both sides to join us in a historic re-enactment of the battle itself, made possible by the generosity of the Bronze Dragonflight. Both Branches of the AAMS will be leading historical tours through the Caverns of Time; all are welcome.

Yours in Service,

Andelia Windtouched
Horde Branch Manager, Anytime & Anywhere Messaging Service

And the OOC details for this massive event...

WHAT: A server-wide masked ball -- the continuation of a six-year RP tradition!

WHO: Everyone! Both factions are invited and will be able to interact.

WHERE: The Twilight Grove, followed by the Mt. Hyjal raid in the Caverns of Time.

WHEN: Saturday Oct. 15th starting at 6:00 PM server time. Unveiling and speech at 7:30 PM with the CoT runs after.

DETAILS: The Armistice Day Ball in the fall of 2006 was the first large-scale, cross-faction RP event on Cenarion Circle. It attracted more than 500 people to the Twilight Grove and, at its peak, made Duskwood basically unplayable. Happily, the servers have improved since.

Every year the AAMS tries to improve on its own event. We like to think we've added a pair of good ideas this year: changing the traditional "fancy dress" party to a costumed masquerade, and holding "after-party" instance runs for both factions in the Caverns of Time Hyjal instance.

Masquerade costumes are of course up to you! Keep it simple with a Red Defias Mask or use potions, trinkets, and flavor items to have a different disguise every cooldown -- whichever you prefer. We encourage people to try turning off names and muting /say and trying to make do with the speech bubbles alone...you might be surprised how different (and enjoyable) RP is when it's more like a real conversation.

The CoT runs on both factions will be quick, casual, and in-character. Anyone who can get in the instance is welcome to come. We'll start inviting people after the closing speech and mass unmasking.

As with all AAMS events, we do ask that people come unflagged. As much as we like the realism of doing diplomatic events vulnerable to attack, there are too many differing opinions out there as to what flagging means and whether it is inherently an aggressive gesture or not. It's trouble we don't want, so please keep it simple and just stay unflagged!

Guild leaders of both factions, please help us out by making this a Guild Event on the in-game calendar. We want to invite many more people than the 100-characer limit on public calendar events will allow!

We hope everyone can join us in a night of celebrating both the in-game history and a piece of Cenarion Circle's very own community history -- the 6th Annual Armistice Day Ball.

[[ YAY! Though I won't be attending the Hyjal run after, I enjoy the Ball as is, a RP event and a Ball. :-D ]]

Yes yes and YES. I'm actually going to mark this down in my cell phone calendar as well!

EDIT: Erm, jah mon. Good times. Be dere fa sho.

Hrm. This old thing. I shall require new robes...

((Calendar invitations are going out on both sides! RP guild leaders, if you get a chance, please please please be sure to make a copy as a "Guild Event"...we can only invite 100 characters to a non-guild event, and that's barely a fraction of the people we want to reach! I'm happy to send you an invitation to copy/paste if you're not on it already.

Anyone else who needs a calendar invite as a reminder, please let us know...we're happy to get you on there and get you thinking about your masquerade costumes!))

I've been watching you guys' forums for a few days now, as well as playing a baby alt here to see what it's like.
I came across this thread...and it instantly made me squee :P. This event sounds A-MAZ-ING. If me, the hubs and our friends end up rolling serious alts/xfering here, we'll definitely have to check this out :D.

Good luck with the event and I hope you guys have an awesome time ^_^

So I just noticed it's a masquerade ball.. sorta skipped over that before. That makes me sad that it was changed from the original. :-(

((Eh, it's just adding a mask to fancy dress.

I'll be out of town, but it should be a lot of fun for folks who can make it.))

I've been watching you guys' forums for a few days now, as well as playing a baby alt here to see what it's like.
I came across this thread...and it instantly made me squee :P. This event sounds A-MAZ-ING. If me, the hubs and our friends end up rolling serious alts/xfering here, we'll definitely have to check this out :D.

Good luck with the event and I hope you guys have an awesome time ^_^

WHAT ARE YOU DOING POSTING ON MY HOME SERVER FORUMS

10/10/2011 09:20 PMPosted by Dristelia

WHAT ARE YOU DOING POSTING ON MY HOME SERVER FORUMS

DRIS! *glompy hugs*. Been looking around for an alt server :D. The drama that fills WrA is getting heavy -_-. But OMG HOW CRAZY! I didn't know CC was your home server :D <3

10/10/2011 09:34 PMPosted by Gypsaea

WHAT ARE YOU DOING POSTING ON MY HOME SERVER FORUMS

DRIS! *glompy hugs*. Been looking around for an alt server :D. The drama that fills WrA is getting heavy -_-. But OMG HOW CRAZY! I didn't know CC was your home server :D <3

*glompyhugsback* Now you do, and now you see who my main is. xD Are you sure you're not stalking me?

10/10/2011 09:44 PMPosted by Kalithrien

*glompyhugsback* Now you do, and now you see who my main is. xD Are you sure you're not stalking me?

Totally stalking you, with my magic genie powers. Lol. Well..Hi , Dris' main! o/ <- wave guy Hm. Me and you should have a talk about this server of yours ^_^

Totally stalking you, with my magic genie powers. Lol. Well..Hi , Dris' main! o/ <- wave guy Hm. Me and you should have a talk about this server of yours ^_^

Ha, I knew it! *hmph* I agree, I think we should. I shall be around in some form or another.

I'll probably just wear a dress and mask, but I look forward to it.

Found a very helpful comment on WoWhead for people considering various "costume" effects:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=5462#comments:id=1491845

Tomorrow is the night of the ball!

Tonight!

Full text of the CEO's speech follows:

Well. Good evening, everyone. Apparently I'm supposed to make a speech? My staff only mentioned it to me a few minutes ago, presumably so I wouldn't have time to write anything lengthy.



I must, therefore, find something appropriate to say about a very great moment in our history on very short notice. Armistice Day, of course, celebrates the Battle of Mt. Hyjal -- an unusual holiday, especially for us at the AAMS.



Mt. Hyjal was both a famous battle and a famous peace. It is tempting to say that the one made the other possible, and to leave us all with the comforting message that good communications and timely alliances always triumph.



Would that it were so simple!



There have been alliances since the brief treaty at Mt. Hyjal. Races with whom we had no contact at all have joined our various folds -- and little peace has come of it, though perhaps even greater wars have been averted.



No. The lesson of Hyjal is not "work together with strange peoples, so that you may kill even stranger ones." We would hold a memorial battle if that were the case, not a ball.



What I remember from Hyjal is that there were two sides. One believed the fundamental assertion that life was good, and should go on. One did not.



Someone asked me tonight "why this dance? Why bother, when there are real problems that need solving?"



My answer is this: Hyjal taught us that the enemy is not a person or a faction or a race. It is entropy -- the end of all things. When faced with the actual and absolute cessation of all being, we came together, and we triumphed.



Sometimes it takes a great threat to make people remember this. We seem to have an abundance of those, of course, but in between them the AAMS simply seeks to remind us all: life is good. It should go on.



And so a dance. A peaceful ball, with many of us masked, enjoying the company of who-knows-who-else, because LIFE IS GOOD. And it should go on. And tonight it did.



If you can take that spirit beyond this night, and let your fellow beings live in peace, you have far more than my thanks -- though those, too, you have in plenty.



You will have everything that we fought for, and that many of us died for, on the slopes of Hyjal. Thank you.



In a few minutes we'll be gathering to visit the Caverns of Time, where the actual Battle of Mt. Hyjal can be seen thanks to the efforts of the Bronze Dragonflight.



If you'd like to participate, please let a representative of your faction's branch of the AAMS know! The rest of you may of course linger in this lovely Grove as long as you like. Thank you again, and good night!