Went in last night (after having been in the previous night and nobody conscious) and found myself near the fountain and not on my little hill. Picked myself up and started walking home but before I even got there someone greeted me - it was Saater! And I am always happy to see Saater, I don't see enough of him!

He immediately cast me some new pyjamas, which I appreciated.



We ran about like fools for a while, making a racetrack of this mushroom circle and somehow not waking the slumbering deer within with the thindering of our hooves.



An excursion to the lake followed, and I even managed to walk on water for a while, and even sit down on it at one point. I felt like a Jesus-ox-ram-deer-thing!



...until I kept falling in the water and losing my set lol. I am not yet adept in all the ways of the forest, certainly not as proficient as Saater.



I did practice a bit of flying, and we both launched off a convenient hill and sat for a while in the air.





Saater knew a sort of vertical launch move to get airborne which was much more efficient than the way I do it, by running off some raised ground and then repeatedly jumping.

I'll reserve this post for anything to do with the Buster horn situation, for any that are interested.

Current state: coming along nicely!



Hopefully shearing time soon! I'll post more when that happens. The boys look quite different after the wool comes off.

Nipped in nocturnally (as usual) a couple of nights ago. I would have posted these last night but I was away elsewhere in Wales visiting a friend.

Instanciated and before long met up with P and Petaldance, always good to see familiar deer (not that I am averse to meeting unfamiliar ones of course).



I got new pyjamas cast on me, which seems to happen a lot these days (and which I absolutely don't mind, it's nice trying on different pyjamas. And everyone is super polite and leaves me my beloved horns). Perhaps I should add "horse" to my already unweildy litany of descriptive species. Clothes horse lol.



With this pelt on I look like 50p Saater lol



And this one makes me look like I ought to have udders and start mooing. Not that I mind that, of course, I am rather partial to everything bovine after all.



There was a quick round of arboreal interpenetration



and then it was off to the drinking fountain to get naked and drink the trippy water.



Before long we were therefore all high. About three metres high, approximately, and all avian.

Instanciated last night and found myself not on my favourite hill! I must have forgotten to return there before logging out the previous night. Or my deer got bored and wandered off there on his own.



There was nobody around conscious, as had been the case on the previous two nights. My fault for the unsociable hours in which I usually end up visiting the forest. Never mind, it's always nice to have a little stroll, and I thought I'd visit the fountain, not been in a while.

I arrived and was soon my naked deer self.



Time to play a little beastie roulette, let's drink the water and see what I become...



A bat! I fluttered around a bit and almost immediately flew outside the circle, losing my bathood. I went for another drink and this time I was...



A squirrel!

Then, as I was being a squirrel, a thought occurred to me: I wonder what would happen if I...



Oh so *that's* how you do that!



I had seen pictures of others in that seemingly anomalous state and wondered how it was done. Mystery solved!

My time at the fountain over I thought I'd continue my stroll, only to find myself naked *outside* the mushroom circle for some reason.



Perhaps the gods were shaming me for my anomalous transgression. A quick appearance load restored my set, and I thought it prudent to go and have a pray at the statues to cleanse my soul.



There, all pure and lovely. White as a sheep. My boys would approve.

Instanciated last night for a look around before bed, as is my wont.



Before too long I encountered a couple of deer who were also awake, and neither of whom I had met before.



Being rather shy I didn't immediately rush in but they seemed amenable to social contact and there was a degree of cautious mutual inspection. The orange stripy deer with the headdress examined me with a degree of sniffing and head tilting that seemed almost canine at the time. Not knowing their name or picto I assigned them the designation "Quaver" as the top part of their picto looked like a musical note to me.



Pretty soon we each came to the conclusion that the other was friendly and we all spent some pleasurable time hanging out together.



Of course given the current focus on my learning aerial manoeuvres there was a degree of airborne shenanigans; Yak will never pass off an opportunity to goof around and look daft.



And there was a nice amount of frolicking and occasional nuzzling; it was just a pleasant experience to meet these two friends and spend a little time with them in forest. Meeting deer new to me is always a pleasure.

I think there's something special about anyone who finds their way to this place, and stays, somehow.



After a while I had to take my leave, and go home to the little hill. Encountering these two on the way back cwtshed up together, so pleasingly aligned! Even their pictos are symmetric about the Y axis. That pleases the nerdy part of the ox-ram-deer haha.



And then Eris asleep with a pile of friends, their pictos and bodies blended together. Is that Petaldance in there?

Back from my travels - we decided not to fly on this short break and went everywhere on trains. We saw a lot of the inside of trains. We were MIGHTILY disappointed on the French TGV when they RAN OUT OF RED WINE. I would not have thought such a thing possible. France, I am disappointed!

Home and back into the forest for a brief visit - I have missed the place, and the deer in it. Upon arrival there was nobody around who was awake, and no reason not to fly, so I got on with practicing my aerial abilities. Getting better now, I can consistently remain airborne whilst dancing and doing other things without falling down like a loaf.



Shortly I was joined by Eris who must have spotted me dicking around in mid-air like a fool. Good-natured greetings and a degree of running and frolicking ensued. It was nice to see a familiar picto after a while away.



We stopped and attempted to rouse this deer whose picto and name I don't know yet (sorry) - by my method of temporary nomenclature by picto shape they are "Smily Face" until I know better.



They were successfully roused briefly, long enough to receive (or load) the long mask and fancy antlers, then went back to napping.



After a bit more running and frolicking (doesn't it feel so nice to just run fast straight across the map with another deer just leaping every now and again?) we were in the vicinity of the ruins, and my favourite hill proved a perfect launch point for some more aerial experimentation.



Following Eris' lead I got to see parts of the world from an entirely new perspective. Dancing above the ruins. It was a lot of fun.

Went in last night and after a stroll around couldn't see anydeer else conscious. So I thought I'd start learning some of the things that people have told me about the UI and its use (and abuse). I started by binding some favourite actions to the f-keys and seeing what happens when I mash them up.



Splendid! An excellent and satisfyingly daft start.

Then I followed the advice I'd had for climbing up steep rocks and not bouncing off them like a fool.





Jolly good! Now I shan't look like such a numpty if there's a party on the rocks again. But there was one thing I'd never managed to do that I'd seen everyone else doing, and that was levitating. Every time I'd tried it before I just ended up sitting on my arse on the ground. And eventually (using my new found rock climbing ability to give me a bit of a launch platform)



Yes! I am sitting on my arse IN MID-AIR!

I occupied myself for a good few minutes to familiarise myself with the procedure, and take a few screenshots in various places of my ox-ram-deer-thing hovering in the air in exactly the way that bricks don't.







My mother taught me that "tiny things please tiny minds", and accordingly I was having an inordinately good time simply sitting on my arse in mid-air in various places.

Popped in last night to have a mooch around, wondering if I'd have another chilled stroll amongst the sleepers. Quiet at first, I wandered by the water and found an acquatic deer sleeping in the water.



Walking back to the little hill, thinking I'd sit down for a while, found Widmung sitting there who stood up just after I arrived. So I wouldn't be on my own tonight!



And shortly we were joined by P and... deer whose picto I absolutely have seen before and whose name I ought to know but the connection has slipped my mind. Sorry. There should be a directory for slow idiots like me to use to look names up haha.



There were a bunch of other deer sleeping near the ruins, and one group that were standing up but not really doing anything, which didn't bother the four of us who got on with a healthy amount of running about like fools and dancing.



During the proceedings I got to try on many different sets of pyjamas. Much to my amusement and that of everyone else. And I don't look too bad in different threads, given that my horns remain ramly.





And more dancing during all the dressing up lol



Plenty of magic flying around



lol look at me I look so cross, made P laugh haha



then you guys started stacking again, a skill I have yet to get the hang of, I think I must be getting the timing wrong. I'm usually fiddling about trying to click the emote icons in the menus, maybe I should get used to using the ones bound to the f-keys.

Went in last night and nobody was around. Still noce to have a brief wander nonetheless.

Wandered into the old tree to find deer asleep in there. I sometimes make up mnemonic names for deer I don't know well yet or haven't met enough to put a proper name to, by looking at the shape of their picto. Here we have Left Mouse Click, Space Invader and Cotton Candy.

(I hope this doesn't offend anyone).



It is not often that I meet anyone with horns curlier than mine. These are quite impressive.



Then I came across something I didn't think possible, deer retaining their magical forms inside the zone of the fountain. Can you still cast magic in there, thereby re-transforming base deer within the zone? I must admit I haven't tried that (I don't tend to cast magic much anyway simply because I don't want to annoy deer who are already in their preferred form).

Or is it a glitch that users have learned to exploit? One of the things I find interesting about the game is the way users have discovered various exploits and glitches which allow them to add expressiveness to interactions without actually breaking the game.

I know there was an attempted upgrade to unreal that was never completed, but I have never tried it. To anyone who has tried it, how did it feel compared to the older version? Were any of the exploitable glitches that are routinely used replicated or simulated?

(apologies if I seem nerdy asking this stuff, I love the subjective experience of the game but I am also fascinated by its longevity and its design).



And I am always impressed that even for an ancient game it can still be quite beautiful at times.



After that I went back to the little hill and went to sleep, as everyone else was asleep too.

Well it was dark at least, surprisingly so when I instanciated. I thought I even saw a bat, although I may have been imagining that. But it was certainly dark, and looked a bit nippy, and I wondered if I'd see any others awake at all on such a night.



No sooner had I started to wander the darkened forestthough than there was the sound of hooves and I was joined by Eris and Valaire.



Meeting-frolicking ensued, followed by a greetings-nuzzle. It's always so nice bumping into other deer in the forest, everyone's so pleased to see one another and joyous in greeting. If only humans were as welcoming and pleased to see one another. Mind you it's probably for the best that they aren't, imagine how chaotic it'd be in Basingstoke town centre if everyone was frolicking and nuzzling all the time. And glowing.



It is rather lovely though. Very shortly we were joined by Widmung and there was more leaping, nuzzling and glowing.



Followed by a not inconsiderable amount of circle-dancing. The previously chilly-seeming night was warmed by dancing, good company and all manner of good-natured frivolity.



Including the ever-popular interpenetrating with a tree, with which we all joined in with alacrity. It made me laugh to see a row of deer butts all sticking out of the tree with their little tails wiggling. I think that little tail wiggle is one of my favourite aspects of the deer animation.



Even amongst all this amiable silliness Valaire found a moment to look properly imposing with that long mask and those scary blood red antlers.



More dancing followed, and of course a bit more frolicking.