Hail, Sapience.

This is a post to address the myriad questions that I have been receiving. It will be long.

I encourage all primary contributors, such as those organising showcases on behalf of organisations or who intend to host presentations of their own, to contact myself for induction into the Asterian Restoration for easier discussion. Membership is offered by default to those who support the efforts of the Restoration, in this case such as via participation.

Some notes:

1. Each Age in our calendar runs from Serenade to Serenade, and will last a period of two months each. The full list of Ages can be found in AD 592. Please note that these Achaean dates may change, but the Serenades are a good guideline.

2. There will be a portal from Sapience to Meropis for the duration of the Convention and Festival. Historically, the location has been in Thera.

3. Presentations and performances do not have to be held at the Asterian Restoration or in Meropis, but are highly encouraged unless noted otherwise. It allows the inhabitants of Meropis to also benefit from these events, if they are so inclined to attend.

4. Merchants - in general terms, not purely addressing the Collective - who intend to manage a cart must do so on the Asterian Peninsula to be part of the Bazaar.

City/Village Showcases
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1. Your showcase must happen during the Age of Civilisation, which will occur between Serenade in Miraman 978AF to Serenade in Ero 978AF.

2. You will choose a timeslot of ONE (1) Achaean day within that Age. This timeslot must not overlap with other cities, and so will be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis. We also do not recommend organising showcases too closely together, so approach myself for available slots.

3. During this timeslot, you may organise as many events, presentations and such as you wish. Our experience in this suggests no more than two to three events of around a quarter day each, to provide some interval for interactions and questions.

4. This showcase must be in a public space, for obvious reasons. The Restoration offers itself for such uses as well. This must be disclosed, along with the slot, to myself for agenda purposes.

5. A transcript of your intended presentations must be provided beforehand to the Restoration.

6. Your agenda must reach myself by Sarapin 976AF.

Individual/Group Presentations
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The following information may be used by anyone intending to present during the Festival.

1. If your presentation does not involve audience participation - ie they are simply sitting and listening - then from start to finish, it should not take longer than a quarter day. We recommend a sixth of a day as optimal.

2. If your presentation does include audience participation, then there is some leeway, but we suggest that aught longer than a half to three-quarters of a day will see interest begin to flag.

3. The Theatron Meropian in the Asterian Restoration has historically been the site for such presentations, but presenters are free to choose public locations that are of relevance to their event.

4. Your presentation must be relevant to the theme of the Age you have chosen. For that reason, non-organisational presenters will need to indicate which Age you wish to present in, as well as your preferred timeslot for our approval.

5. Your presentation can take any form of expression you wish, such as a performance, oration, workshop, lecture and so on. However, it cannot involve any form of conflict, especially against other audience members, unless expressly agreed on.

6. Divine Order presenters only - we recommend that you conduct your presentations at the public temple of your Divine or a location that is historically relevant to Them, if applicable.

7. A transcript of your intended presentations must be provided beforehand to the Restoration.

8. Expressions and applications of interest must reach myself by Sarapin 976AF.

Merchants
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1. You may approach myself, for now, if you have interest in setting up a cart on the Asterian Peninsula for the Festival. Provide a general list of wares you will be selling. We will accept an inventory of any type of crafted items, items procured from other bazaars, books and so on. What we will -not- accept are everyday items like curatives and enchantments, for these have no particular significance to the Festival.

2. Merchants may choose to use their own carts and are solely responsible for managing them over the Festival's duration. The Restoration will take a small donation of 10,000 gold, but otherwise the profits are yours to keep. Carts can also be purchased from us at market rate.

3. The cities/Village will be granted up to two locations each for carts that sell their own city wares. This can be a combination of crafted items and other items sold by city merchants, as they wish, and be managed by the city/Village themselves. Please ensure that the organiser for these carts are made known to the Restoration.

4. We accept individual and organisational applications for cart sites.

5. The final date for your application is Sarapin 977AF. Cart sites will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Artists/Furnishers
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1. One of the events planned for the Festival is a gold-only art auction. As with the first Festival, we will be auctioning artwork themed around history, and for the first time this will also include furnishing pieces.

2. There will be two categories:

a) Reproductions. Pieces in this category are not necessarily new or unique to the successful bidder. The crafter retains ownership and control over the original design.

b) Uniques. Pieces in this category are created specifically for the auction, and upon a successful bid, the designer will also transfer the original design to the new owner, as well as agreeing not to create another copy. However, should the original owner later lose the design to the unowned bin, this exclusivity clause cannot be guaranteed.

3. Upon successful auction, the Restoration will take 20% of the proceeds as a donation to fund our continued efforts. The rest will be transferred to the artist or furnisher.

4. You do not need to be a certified artist or furnisher to submit designs. The Restoration is capable of creating these on your behalf. However, reimbursement will also be less the cost of creating and claiming the design. If you fall in this category, your designs should reach myself as early as possible to ensure sufficient Guild approval time.

5. If you belong to the United Union of Crafters, the rules are similar to UUC news #358.

6. The final date for submissions is Mayan 976AF. I strongly recommend any interested approach myself well beforehand to clarify which categories you are submitting for, and whether your theme suits.

7. Owners of rare/unique artifacts: If your pieces are relevant to history and you wish to auction them off, we can also accept them for the auction. As with the above, our cut will be 20% of the final sale.

Scholars/Authors/Librarians
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We call for any authors who have published works relating to history to consider donating a copy of your tome for inclusion into the Ingram Cairo Memorial Library in the Asterian Athenaeum. Librarians who possess copies of tomes they deem useful for this purpose, and which can be copied, may also send such tomes to us.

Further questions may be addressed to myself.

Regards,

Jurixe S. Nithilar
representing the Asterian Restoration

Penned by my hand on the 23rd of Chronos, in the year 972 AF.