Recently, Mhaldor and Shallam (and allies of both) were engaged in Icon
warfare involving the Blood Congregation and the Dawnstriders' Icons. It
was one of the best-matched Icon battles I've had the pleasure to
witness so far, both numbers- and organisation-wise. Unfortunately, a
bug cropped up that threw members of both parties out of Nishnatoba at
various times. Once, it happened during a particularly key battle that
lost the Dawnstriders and their allies a previously firm position. I
take full responsibility for the way this bug affected this recent
warfare, as I've been tweaking Icon combat a lot recently. My deepest
regrets to all those involved.

Considering the circumstances, I spoke with both sides and we ended up
'freezing' the Congregation and Dawnstriders' Icons. That is, they can
neither be strengthened nor weakened, nor do they decay normally. Once
the bug is worked out, the Icons will be unfrozen so that the battle may
continue. Mhaldor has been granted the right to choose the time of
unfreezing since they held the dominant position at the time the freeze
occurred, and it cannot be said with absolute certainty that they held
it only because of the bug. However, they must give 24 hour notice
beforehand so that Shallam has a chance to prepare. Until the rematch,
please get some rest because I'm beginning to worry about you. Are you
eating your vegetables? It's about time you got a haircut, isn't it?

To be fair, I'm going to freeze all the Icons for the time being, so
that the combat cannot move to others with the bug still functioning and
all Icons will not suffer decay. I've done my best with the limited time
I have left here tonight to ensure that the Icon areas can't be messed
with in the meantime. You should not be able to enter Icon areas via
Shadow Icons, and if you log on and find yourself in an Icon area,
please exit via the True Icon. If you find any way to enter an Icon
area, please observe the spirit of this time-out period and do not abuse
it to change the state of things in any way - uprooting totems, creating
wormholes, et cetera.

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Mayan, in the year 420 AF.