The New Year has come! We welcomed it in with a dazzling display of
fireworks, and adventurers in the realms at the turning of the year
received a gift of 10 bound credits and 50 lessons each! The Garden
extends a heartfelt thank you to every one of you for being with us.
Whether this is your fourth semicentennial celebration or your first,
whether your journey with us is just beginning or you have been with us
through thick and thin, we're thrilled to have you here in Achaea.

The turning of the year was followed by the traditional Treasure Hunt,
where a HUNDRED giftbags were scattered in buried locations all across
the realm. The contents of the giftbags ranged from gold to sigils to
herbs, and quite a few contained artefacts such as gemstone vials, top
hats, ivory dice, daggers of reincarnation, and flowerpots. A small
number of the giftbags held eagle's wings, a wand of reflection, a
Girdle of the Titan, and more! Congratulations to those of you swift
diggers who were lucky enough to unearth a giftbag.

To those who did not, why not test your luck again in the Year 450
Lottery? The grand prize is a choice between $500 USD or 2000 credits,
and the 2nd-5th place tickets will receive generous credit prizes as
well. The Lottery is now open! Type LOTTERY 12 for details. The winning
tickets will be drawn on Friday, May 11th at 6pm GMT. (Ignore what
LOTTERY 12 tells you about Days to Close.) Please do NOT buy tickets for
anyone who can't claim them, such as Gods or Celani or dormant/shrubbed
adventurers.

In honour of the celebrations, we have also granted a "clean slate"
option for personal backgrounds. You are free to leave your background
as it is, but if you wish, you can re-compose your background ONCE and
only once. Even if you don't have any drastic changes to make, perhaps
this could be a way for you to finally get rid of that irritating and
embarrassing typo in your background... Oh, and even if you have never
written a background, you will still have ONE chance to recompose your
background should you write it in the future.

Don't forget, the first of the Year 450 Championship Games begins at 8PM
GMT today - Hunt the Bandersnatch! There will be credit prizes and
points that will count toward the overall Championship (the winner of
which shall receive a choice of $700 USD or 2500 credits) for the top 10
scorers in the Bandersnatch, so don't miss out!

Penned by my hand on the 3rd of Sarapin, in the year 450 AF.