Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Gold stockings are now filled!

January is just around the corner and on the 5th, Aetolia will officially be in Year 500 of the Midnight Age. This - much like the 20th anniversary back in October - is a huge milestone, and we have a very busy month planned for you with a slew of celebrations, games, contests, and surprises I cannot discuss here!

There'll be a proper post with all the other details when the time comes, but for now in order to give everyone a heads up and some advance notice, the itinerary for Year 500 is posted below.

Everything listed here will also be posted on EVENTS a bit closer to new year; all times are listed in GMT but with CONFIG TIMEZONE, the events listings will show an accurate time for you once they're posted.

There are thousands of credits and prizes on offer through the month and I hope that we've managed to provide something for everyone to enjoy!

Wednesday 5th January:
- Year 500 will open with a Starfall at 00:01 (the year proper changes a few hours later, but 6.30AM GMT is a very unfriendly time).
- A themed Artisanal and Bardic contest will open for the rest of the month.
- A daily quest will go live for the remainder of January.
- We'll be opening a themed design / crafting contest for the month.
- Olleo's shop in the Harpy's Head will reopen with a brand new selection of wares for gold.
- Days of the week promotions will be active for all of Year 500. Playing Aetolia on one of these days will have the following bonuses:

* Monday: Double milestone cap
* Tuesday: Double XP
* Wednesday: Favours for everyone
* Thursday: Denizens will respawn twice as fast after being killed
* Friday: Increased critical hits

- 21:00: Resonance

Thursday 6th:
- 00:01 - Egghunt
- 20:00 - Bait The Frog

Friday 7th:
- 00:01 - Walker's Tongue
- 20:00 - Bloodbath

Saturday 8th:
- 02:00 - Survivor
- 19:00 - Keg Race
- 22:00 - Treasure Hunt

Sunday 9th:
- 01:00 - 2 v 2 City Champions
- 18:00 - Farkle Tournament
- 22:00 - The Brawl

Monday 10th:
- 22:00 - Champion's Core

Tuesday 11th:
- 20:00 - Freeze Tag

Wednesday 12th:
- 00:01 - A Quiz on Aetolian Lore

Friday 14th:
- 01:00 - Poker Tournament

Saturday 15th:
- 00:01 - 48 hour Great Hunt weekend!

Monday 17th:
- 00:30 - A city riddle contest will open for 2 days, details to be announced.

Wednesday 19th:
- 00:30 - Time elapses on the city riddle contest.
- 02:00 - Ale Run
- 19:00 - Egghunt #2

Friday 21st:
- 01:00 - Modded FFA
- 21:00 - Survivor #2

Saturday 22nd:
- 01:00 - The Duel
- 17:00 - Triptycha Tournament
- 21:00 - Iron Epicurean

Sunday 23rd:
- 00:01 - Capture the Flag
- 18:00 - Storytelling
- 21:00 - Starfall #2
- 23:59 - Return of the party barge!

Monday 24th:
- [Prophets and seers are unable to divine anything beyond this date.]

Keep an eye on EVENTS, and for another post closer to the time outlining how tickets and prizes and participation will work!

Penned by my hand on Kinsday, the 8th of Niuran, in the year 499 MA.
Discuss this post on our forums:
https://forums.aetolia.com/discussion/4245/announce-post-3285-happy-holidays-year-500-itinerary