October? It is October already! I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown by; I’m already planning Christmas (I’ve drawn the short straw this year and have about a gazillion relatives all coming to my place). While I’m working out festive activities to keep the hungry hordes happy, a lot of my pirate mates are not looking quite so far ahead.

Halloween is, of course, at the end of October. While Halloween isn’t celebrated the entire world over, I’ve always enjoyed the festivities that happen in game to celebrate that holiday. In my time I’ve been ‘cursed’ and have become a zombie, a skeleton and (my personal favourite) a ghost. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been asked many times what is planned for Halloween in Puzzle Pirates this year. This year, for the first time, I know what is coming! I’d love to tell you all what is planned so I can share how excited I am about it. However, my lips are sealed. All I’m going to say is it is going to be awesome!

I’ve also received quite a few /tells about Cronus and his ongoing tricks. I’m delighted to report that I’m holding my own and wasn’t too traumatized by him renaming Zeus (my familiar) on every ocean to ‘I Luv Cronus’. It would have been better if I had spotted that one immediately rather than a good week after he did it; I would have thought that at least one of you could have told me! I have struck back, I'm just waiting for him to notice what I've done. Perhaps one of you has already spotted it?

Unfortunately, Cronus isn’t the only prankster I have to contend with. Some sneaky person has been leaping aboard all the Oceanmasters’ favourite vessels littering them with Halloween related furniture props – my own 'Watching You' has a huge number of tombstones all over her decks. We haven’t figured out just who the culprit is yet but would love to know! (I'm sure it is Apollo, but Artemis is looking a little too innocent for my liking).

Gaea and Oceanus have also been leaping on the prank bandwagon. To all the fine pirates on Hunter: I am not a robot. Despite what my colleagues are telling you, I am not a new bit of software called OMbot3000. Honest.

Some of you may have noticed that my blog has recently been renamed to ‘Quoth the Peacock’. I had been scratching my head trying to think of something interesting to call it and had come up empty. Luckily, Gaea came to my rescue but in a rather indirect way. During the recent server downtime rather than just constantly refresh her screens (like I did) she multi-tasked and she and Glaucus came up with an idea for a forum event. Gaea wrote an example of poetry parody for this event which featured the line ‘Quoth the Peacock’ and I stole it off her! (Acutally, I did ask permission first because Gaea can be scary when she is cross!).

I’m a big fan of forum events which give players who may not be the best puzzlers the opportunity to shine by demonstrating their other skills. We have some very talented pirates sailing our seas and I’m constantly amazed at the effort that goes into their work. Recently I was completely in awe of the entries in the Zomgrats! Contest in which players were able to pay homage to the wonderful pet rat in whatever fashion they wished. I will be forever grateful that I didn’t have the extremely tough job of judging the entries but very much enjoyed looking through them all and sharing them with non-pirate friends and family.

While we celebrate the winners, we shouldn’t forget those pirates who come up with the ideas for events and the efforts they put in to making those events a reality. Anyone who aspires to running an event should take a look at the Events Workshop forum. There are all sorts of tips about planning and running an event available there and knowledgeable mates who are happy to help.

To wind up this month’s blog I’ve got a screenshot of my vessel on Viridian. Last time I posted I requested suggestions on how to decorate some of my vessels. A mate suggested that I decorate a vessel with items that you can't usually purchase, so I decided to create an festive Christmas look, complete with an ice maze. I had so much fun, I went on to 'decorate' a vessel owned by Cronus, but in a much more haphazard way. He was delighted with the results (I swear I heard his whoop of joy down here in New Zealand!) and I'm sure he will post a nice screen shot of it in his next blog. With Halloween fast approaching, I think the next ship I tackle will have more of a spooky feel to it. I may even have some bits left over to brighten Cronus' day again, but more on that next time!

I'm often asked what my favorite past-time is in Puzzle Pirates. Until recently, I would have said it was sailing. Sailing is something I do reasonably well which I think adds to its appeal. I'm a competitive sailor; I like nothing better than getting on a ship manned with excellent sailors and endeavor to best them. Sometimes I can, more often I can't. That doesn’t matter, though. The anticipation of topping the duty report is enough to keep me happy even when it doesn't actually happen.

More recently, however, another past-time has been more enjoyable. Something that strikes fear into the hearts of more sensible pirates! Decorating! When I became an Oceanmaster one of the first things I did was get a ship on each ocean. I then littered its deck with all sorts of odds and ends that I created when experimenting with my new OM powers. Every time I logged on and went to my vessel I'd find myself hidden behind thrones, wardrobes and statues.

With the weather here in New Zealand beginning to warm up slightly, I decided to do a spot of spring cleaning and decorating. (Yes, Kiwis and Aussies, I know it is still winter but the bulbs are all sprouting in the garden and it seriously is beginning to feel like spring!). Spring cleaning on Puzzle Pirates is a lot easier than spring cleaning in real life; far less messy and much more fun.

I only own one vessel per ocean and most of them are Xebecs. They were originally all named the 'Sacred Peacock' (the peacock was a bird sacred to Hera in Greek Mythology), but they have all now been renamed to 'Watching You'. Goodness knows what I'll rename them all to next month! All of them are painted blue and purple, and most of the furniture I have on board also follows that scheme. The one I’m currently tidying up is on Midnight Ocean and is ported off the beautiful island of Midsummer up in the Ruby Archipelago (although that location is subject to change). I discovered when sorting it's deck out that it was the ideal length for a bowling lane. OM eggs make great bowling pins!

My vessels on other oceans are yet to be de-cluttered, and I'm always receptive to decorating suggestions. So, if you have any ideas feel free to send me a /tell in game or leave a message here!

So, there I was minding my own business in game when all of a sudden I received a /tell: ‘Why aren’t you writing in your blog?’ was the question. Only a few minutes before I had received an email from web manager Terri asking me the very same thing. It seems that an empty blog page is a Bad Thing and must be filled! So, here I am to fulfill that request.

To start, here are a few facts about me. I’m one of the newer Oceanmasters and have been around now for four or so months. I’ve played for longer than that; I’m an old salt and have fond memories of rum free days, brigands that didn’t shoot back and having to ram to engage rather than grapple. I’m currently living in New Zealand and am feeling rather glum because of the cold weather. I will grumble if you brag too much about the glorious summer weather you may be currently experiencing but I will also brag back louder come December when I’m enjoying Xmas dinner out in the garden. I’m shockingly bad at battle navigation. Don’t ever ask me to take the helm. Not if you want to get to port with anything left in the hold.

I’m often asked in game what it is like to be an Oceanmaster and what part of the job I like the best. Yes, it is fun to be an Oceanmaster, especially the social aspect of the job. I enjoy chatting on the dock to players, but I also enjoy leaping onto pillages and sea monster hunts. I’ve arrived on some ships where not a soul has recognized me, and I’ve gone on others that have sunk almost as soon as I’ve arrived. I’ve had many /tells from Captains who are worried as to why exactly I’m on board and one memorable voyage where a disconnect meant that I had to sail a vessel back to safety (please refer to paragraph two; those on board probably never knew how lucky we were to get out of Atlantis safely!).

Another question I’m often asked is why aren’t OMs in game socializing more often like they used to at the start of Midnight. The answer to this is we are. Now that there are six oceans, our time needs to be divided up between them all so we don’t seem to be sighted as often as we once were. I’m normally only on duty over the weekend, so if you see me wandering about at other times feel free to send me a /tell. I’m more than happy to chat and take challenges (although my sword fighting and rumble skills are at the same level as my battle navigation skills; see paragraph two).

So, there you go. My blog is no longer a page of nothingness! Huzzah!