Table of Contents

Announcements!!!

Fulgore, moon and Arinalla return. Detenthor and Verokai arrive. Name changing become the rage as Ben2Narnia changes to Eustace, Kerowyn J'Karrah SilverDrake morphs to J'Karrah EbonDragon and Kityrn transforms to Weiran. Cracker Silverscales pops in.

Statistics

July 10 - July 16, 2002

Definition

Fulgore defined Choklit Points as being awarded for the mere mention of choklit, as opposed to the non 'k' bearing cocoa confection, though now it's elevated to using choklit in unique and awe-inspiring ways. It's generally considered good form not to prod for points and simply let the choklit flow.

Snippets

Kitryn accuses the News of speciesism. Flame Stryke's host broke his left hand. Scott L celebrated seven years at his current job. Happy Birthday to Weiran de Pluie!! Seren ambushed Scott in a flurry of tickling!

Spy Games

Flame Stryke threatens Mondi with a Wand of Sparklies prompting Mondariloth to develop her acting talent. After failure to influence behavior through pouting, Mondi looks for sisterless dragons to practice on although whisper appeared affected. Onlookers questioned this however after whisper was seen talking to a bush, "Hawk for sparrow! The parcel is delivered.  Repeat: the parcel is delivered."

Main Story

The Statistics are back! I had written in Issue 4 that they were temporarily put on hiatus until the I could find an easier way to track them. On July 9th I recieved a message informing me that Forfaox had programmed the easier way! If I was interested, the file could be transferred as soon as the final testing was complete. On July 21, 2002 at 7:52 in the morning I ran the program for the first time and am happy to report that statistical analysis of newsgroup traffic has returned to the AFD News. All Hail Forfaox, the helpful lurking dragon, for their help in returning the Stats to the News! Also, not to be missed, Dragonfire.org is BACK! Visit today!

Editorial

Wyrm replied to David Darkmoon on the subject of Religion:

"Now lets see. Magic is the art that purports to control or forecast natural events. That last bit sounds like prophesy to me - something that certain Christians have been know to indulge in, and the various miracles performed by Christians are the controlling bit. Magic is also the practice of using charms, spells, or rituals to produce supernatural events or control effects in nature. Well what is a Church service if not a ritual, and what is the point of these, why to get a supernatural being to influence their lives - if that is not a supernatural event than I don't know what is. Also, some of the more outlandish miracles are definitely supernatural events! So basically, they who are without sin, let them cast the first stone."

Weather

Sonarrat and Quelonzia report 107-degree temperatures in parts of the Realm but Ben2Narnia  complains of 67 degrees in a basement and showering to get warm. Fulgore, as a native Californian, he is annoyed by those asking, "Is it hot enough for you?" when he's out of state. He silently replies, "NO! Not nearly hot enough. My eyebrows are still intact. They both need to be reduced to ash. Then, and ONLY THEN, is it hot enough for me." Hex reports a 90-90 day near the gulf coast of Texas, 90-degrees and 90% humidity. ByrneWyng reports 93-degrees in New Jersey, preventing outside excursions that could crisp Irish skin. Sonarrat reported an end to the heat wave with a day of 73-degrees.

Thoughts

Jawz said: "I am here because a long time ago, I found a dragon website. I found it intriquing, and then the net was lost to me for a while. Year or two later, 2000, I got my own net connection, and fished around for the link to the really cool site. It had a link to AFD, so I followed. I was bored one night, so I posted. And was greeted. I stayed, watched, posted, and really liked being here. I made friends, and this felt like a place to stay. I was interested by what was posted, it was fun to play and to also think over the more serious things. It was a place where the beings cared, but also had enough sillyness to throw away all the silly social restraints you have in physical communication. I stay here now for what it was, and for what friends I had that I still remember. Maybe I can make some new friends, too? } =--:] I went through some things, and I lost interest in here, but I came back. Always have, even if its just been a bit over two years I've been here. All through that time, an even now, I question myself, who I am, what form I take, if it matters at all? *huggles* I hope ya hang around for a bit Seren, cause your nifty. ^^;; Take care all, have a nice day/night/altered reality!"

Awellyth posted something similar that is too long to republish but should not be missed. The News has uploaded it as a text file that can be found on the main page.

All Hail Forfaox, the Helpful Lurking Dragon, for making possible the tracking of statistics!