TriangleArrow-Left.svgApril 2012 Issues of the Questaholic Magazine June 2012TriangleArrow-Right.svg

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Interview with the original Vodka B!
The unique drink that talks!
By Kitty

~What Inspired you to have the name "Vodka B"?
By Kitty
Vodka B is short for both VodkaBee and Vodka Bottle. I used to work in a bar, and to this day I still drink Vodka straight, but I tend to taste it first with a straw. We had a taste test for vodka once, and the straws and cups were black and yellow in colour. I joked they were turning us into bees (who sip this lovely nectar through their magical straws!) Everyone picked Vodka A over Vodka B except me. The name stuck, as I was already nicknamed Vodka at work.

~What was your first reaction when you saw the amount of Vodka's in the clan increase, making your own fan club?
By Kitty
._. <--- this. It made me laugh, though, because I'd had a really bad day and it was completely unexpected. Them nicknaming themselves the Vod Squad only made it even funnier. I'm glad that there are people that care for each other so.

~What's your honest opinion of the clan? What do you like? What do you dislike? What do you think you can change to make it better for people in the future?
By Kitty
I love the clan. Honestly, it's the one and only clan I've been in, and I've enjoyed myself from the start. I like all the camaraderie, the dramas, the good and the bad. I dislike that people don't get to know each other and get into arguments, but that's life, and that's also what's given me my role in the clan (as joyspreader). I think that the clan is constantly growing and changing, so it's hard to say what could make it better. It's gone from a bunch of close friends to a clan with a Tier 7 citadel and members of every kind in every time zone. I'd love for everyone to be in harmony, but where's the fun in that? The different personalities are what gives our clan its personality and reputation. It's a good 'un, so lets keep it that way.

~What do you think your greatest accomplishment on RuneScape is, besides gaining the Quest cape?
By Kitty
...gaining the quest cape. That's it Honestly, I think my greatest accomplishment was me starting to play the game socially, rather than just grinding skills. I finished every single non-members quest and gained 70+ in all levels before becoming P2P. I remember logging in after paying for membership for the first time. I took one look at the incomplete quests, the larger and more accessible map and went...I'm going to need help with this! I remember randomly searching and typing 'quest clan' and 'clan quest' into the join clan interface, and et voila, I had logged into CQ, was welcomed and shown around this new members world and stayed on ever since.

My greatest current accomplishment is probably 95 Herblore. It cost so much to get it but I scrimped and saved for years and made it happen! 95 prayer, here I come!

~Do you have any future plans/ goals that you want to reach? Any reasons why?
By Kitty
I want the taskmaster emote, so I'm slowly working on leveling to all the requirements for the elite tasks. I dislike 99s, but if I do get them eventually, I'll want them all in the same day. No particular reason, I just think it would be cool!

~How do you think you managed to be one of the most well known person in the clan, besides the huge Vodka fanclub?
By Kitty
I am friendly. I like humans. I talk to everyone regardless of age, sex, or personality. Its how I am IRL, and I don't feel the need to create an online persona that is any different to who I am as a person. I have a genuine interest in peoples lives, simply because that's what I do for a living, too (Psychologist). If I can in any way, shape or form give as much happiness to the community as it does to me, then I've accomplished what I've been born to do.

~Back in the 'old days' you were known as having the job of "Joy Spreader" in this clan. How did you then, and still, manage to keep such a happy disposition? There must be some members who you find annoying at times, how do you keep from showing it?
By MsKonnan10
I am still Joy Spreader before I am anything else. If anyone asks me what my role in the clan is, I still tell them it is Joy Spreader. The job title may have changed, but the job itself hasn't! I'm human, just like anyone else. I want happiness and contentment. Since making people happy keeps me happy, that's how I retain my disposition. This is just who I am. IRL I'm a joker, a gentle prankster and the one who gets everyone else giggling. Its what I do because its what I know and love, so that is all there is to it. Of course, I have my bad days too. A joy spreader wouldn't know sad without happy. If a clan member annoys me, I'm very vocal (to them, privately) about it. Public Bad mouthing is just bad form.

~Where did your idea of being on the chandelier come from?
By MsKonnan10
The chandelier was invented back in the days of MIRC, which was the first virtual community I joined. For those of you who don't know, the chandelier is my home. My first nickname ever was SuPeRgUrL`, and I needed a hideout (just like Batman!) I love chandeliers. I think they're majestic, and a magical one even more so. Mine transforms itself into whatever it needs to be. Its most common form is dim lighting, good music, scattered beanbags and a magical minifridge filled with your hearts desires. It adapts to the situation, like encasing itself in a magical protective invincible bubble if its being attacked (mostly by SG's flaming shovel, which is another story!)

~Why do you like learning multiple languages, and what made you realize that you like to do it? Also, which languages can you speak, exactly?
By Ytse
I suck at maths, but languages just came naturally to me. I'm good with words, and I've written two books, several short stories and have a supposedly half-decent blog.

~How old were you when you started taking dance lessons?
By LizBeth
As soon as I started to walk. Before that, I would watch my mom dance (traditional Indian Bharata Natyam), because she comes from a family of performers. All her sisters danced, and the brothers played the instruments.

~What type of dance do you prefer (ballet, jazz, modern, hip-hop...dubsteps)? Why that (those) particular dance(s)?
By LizBeth
I love Ballet. It speaks through every fiber of my being. There's something amazing about the illusion of being as light as air when you know your body isn't so. Since my injury I no longer dance ballet, but I still do the stretches to keep limber. I've since taken up latin and ballroom dance, both teaching and constantly learning.

~Have you ever performed onstage? How did it make you feel?
By LizBeth
I've performed onstage many times. Those first butterflies as the lights come on and as you wait in the wings is the most...amazing feeling ever. That first deep breath before you head into what is both familiar and unknown. You're simultaenously terrified but at the same time you're overjoyed. Your body knows what its doing and once you follow its lead, everything else falls in place and you begin to enjoy yourself and at times ham it up for the audience, too

~Any unforgettable moments in any of your performances?
By LizBeth
Every performance has been unforgettable. I have various memories and flashbacks, but my most unforgettable moment was also my undoing. I can relive this memory like it was yesterday. I was the stand-in for the prima ballerina for a performance of Swan Lake. This just meant that if anything happened to her, I would take her place. In essence I had rehearsed her roles as well as mine, so I was doing double the work! The surface of the stage was blemished in one particular area, and she sprained her ankle. When I took her place (which was ridiculously exciting), I did a grand jeté and my ankle landed in that unsurfaced spot on stage. I felt my tendon rip, but I kept going (on the wrong leg) until the scene ended. In the few months it took for my ankle to heal, I hit puberty (at 17!) ._. I grew into a more natural figure and was told I'd never dance with the company again because I was too big, which was ridiculous because I'd only put on about 12 pounds. I worked to lose it all, but still got rejected after. Post-depression, I realised that there were people out there who would go through loss and grieve as much as I did. Because of the support and care I received, I resolved to help people get through the loss of one dream and to achieve another. That brings me to where I am now, a Psychologist and Joy Spreader.

~How did you find rs?
By ZarosReturnz
I honestly can't remember. I just found it one day (probably on AskJeeves) and I started playing and never stopped. Well, I took breaks (sometimes a few years long), but never truly stopped playing.

~What amuses you?
By ZarosReturnz
Humans.

~Why are you such a brilliant human being?
By Dom
I'm not sure, but I'm glad you think so! Knowing I make your day makes mine.

Article by Kitty

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Medical Procedures in the Middle Ages
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Today's health care professionals work hard to promote hygiene, prevent and detect diseases, cure patients, and when that is impossible, reduce their suffering. Though, it is still worthwhile to remember that the modern practice of medicine has not always been around, but was developed over thousands of years. Ever wonder how certain ailments were treated back in the Middle Ages? Here are a few examples:

Surgery:
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Surgery in the Middle Ages was boorish, blunt and...EXTREMELY PAINFUL! Surgeons were clueless of the human anatomy. Anesthetics and antiseptic techniques to keep wounds and incisions from infection were not practiced at all. It was not an ideal time period to be a patient, but if you valued your life, there was no other choice. To relieve the pain, you acceded to more pain, and if ever you get lucky you might get better.

Surgeons in the early part of the Middle Ages were often monks because they had access to the best medical literature, often written by Arab scholars. But in 1215, the Pope said monks had to stop practicing surgery, so they instructed peasants to perform various forms of surgery. Farmers, who had little experience other than castrating animals, came into demand to perform anything from removing painful tooth abscesses to performing eye cataract surgery.

However, there were some great successes. Archeologists in England found the skull of a peasant man from about 1100 who had been struck in the head by a heavy, blunt object. Close examination showed the man had been given life-saving surgery called trepanning, where a hole was drilled and a section of the skull was lifted, allowing smashed bone segments to be removed. According to studies done, the surgery alleviated pressure on the brain and the man recovered. We could only imagine how painful it must have been!

Dwale:
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Dwale (pronounced as dwaluh) is a crude anesthetic that could cause death in itself. Surgery in the Middle Ages was really only used in life/death situations. One reason is that there was no reliable anesthetic to dull the excruciating pain caused by the rough cutting and procedures. Some potions used to relieve pain or induce sleep during surgery were potentially lethal. An example was a concoction of lettuce juice, gall from a castrated boar, briony, opium, henbane, hemlock juice and vinegar. This was mixed with wine before being given to the patient.

The hemlock juice alone could easily have caused death. While the anesthetic might induce a profound sleep, allowing a surgery to take place, it might be so strong that the patient would stop breathing.

Paracelsus, a medieval Swiss physician, was the first to use ether for its anesthetic qualities. Ether did not gain wide acceptance and its use declined. It was rediscovered in America some 300 years later. Paracelsus also used laudanum, a tincture of opium, to alleviate pain.

Spells:
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Early medieval medicine was often a mix of the pagan, religious and scientific. As the Church gained more control, pagan “rituals” were made punishable offenses. One such offense might have been the following:

"When [the healer* approaches the house where the sick person lies, if [the healer* finds a stone lying nearby, [he turns* the stone over and looks in the place where the stone was lying [to see* if there anything living under it, and if [the healer* finds there a worm or a fly or an ant or anything that moves, they [the healer* affirms that the sick person will recover." (From The Corrector & Physician).

Patients who had contracted the bubonic plague were told to perform penance, the practice of confessing one’s sins, then performing a religious devotion prescribed by a priest, a common “treatment.” They were told they might be spared from death if they correctly confessed their sins.

Childbirth:
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Childbirth in the Middle Ages was considered so deadly that the Church requested pregnant women to prepare their shrouds and confess their sins in case of death.

Midwives were very important to the Church because of their role in emergency baptisms and were regulated by Roman Catholic law. A popular medieval saying was, “The better the witch; the better the midwife.” To guard against witchcraft, the Church required midwives to be licensed by a bishop and swear an oath not to use magic when assisting women through labor.

In situations where a baby's abnormal birth position slowed its delivery, the birth attendant turned the infant in utero (within the uterus) or shook the bed to attempt to reposition the fetus externally. A dead baby who failed to be delivered would be dismembered in the womb with sharp instruments and removed with a "squeezer." A retained placenta was delivered by means of counterweights, which pulled it out by force.(From Medicine, An Illustrated History).

Bloodletting:
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Bloodletting was an absolute cure-all for any malady. Physicians in the Middle Ages believed that majority of human ailments were the result of excess fluid in the body called humour. The procedure was done by taking large amounts of blood out in the body. Two methods that were used: leeching and venesection.

In leeching, the physician attached a leech, a blood-sucking worm, to the patient, probably on that part of the body most severely affected by the patient's condition. The worms would suck off a quantity of blood before falling off.

Venesection was the direct opening of a vein, generally on the inside of the arm, for the draining of a substantial quantity of blood. The tool used for venesection was the fleam, a narrow half-inch long blade, which penetrates the vein, and leaves a small wound. The blood ran into a bowl, which was used to measure the amount of blood taken.

Monks in different monasteries had bloodletting treatments regularly, whether they are sick or not, as a means of keeping healthy. They also had to be excused from regular duties for several days while they recovered.


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Article by LizBeth

~!~ A Spring Poem ~!~
Spring is sprung, the grass is rizz,

I wonder where the boirdies iz?

The boird iz on the wing! But that's absoird... Everyone knows the wing is on the Boird!

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Article by MsKonnan

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"Citadel Chatter"

Clanny Community Capers

by Konnan

“Tier 7, Tier 7, the Quest to Tier 7” - all our citizens are buzzing with talk about achieving that long awaited goal.
“Will we get a better vexcillium that sparkles? How soon will we get a clan dragon after we reach Tier 7?”

On April 24th we achieved our Tier 7 Citadel!

Now we have the highest tier Citadel with it's enlarged grounds, we still need to work on updating the skilling plots. When the Storehouse is level 7, our capping level will be raised to 2700. We now get Experience Lamps from our Clan Capes by gaining Fealty Stars. Through continous weekly visits it is possible to earn three stars, and raise our "fealty" to 45%. As the plots reach tier 7, our clan rings will charge to higher totals.

When the plots have all been upgraded to level 7 we will begin working on getting our Clan Dragon. The poll now being run indicates most members want a "Frost" Dragon.

But it has not been all work...a party event took place! At reaching tier 7, we held a celebration in the big empty north-east field. "Building supplies” (planks, ropes, nails, tools and cabbages) were dropped in the center of the field, to help build a dragon perch.

This event also marked the completion of the "Tier 7 Special Lottery". There was over 29 Million gp in prizes to give out, to over 50 participants who entered the lottery. Thotli has announced all the winners in a Global Announcement. If you have not received you prize please contact MsKonnan10 in game.
The Tier 7 party event took place April 25th.
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What other news is overheard at the Citadel? The guards are organizing a protest. They don't like their rations.

“Fish Stew, I am sick of it."
“How many ways can they cook fish?"
“We want fruit and vegetables.”
“We are going to die of mercury poisoning from all this fish!”
“Look! I am growing gills and scales! OMG!”
“If I turn into a fish, I am going to jump off the wall and swim away from here.”

What can we do to keep the guards on the job?
Bring your food offerings and drop them at the guards feet. If they trample off and ignore our offerings, well we tried to keep 'em happy!


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“King Corruption” grumbles from his lair beneath us. He wants us to fail. He whispers his encouragement to those who will listen. He creates nightmares to sicken our minds. Good vs Evil, it is always like this.

Maybe we can battle the Evil King in the clan battlefield. If you are tired of gathering resouces, go with a friend to the battlefield, and see if you can challenge "Corruption". Use the citadel as you wish...but do visit each week because the 'visitor count' helps make the updates happen faster.

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Strange rumbling sounds have also been coming from the TOP of the Keep. The theatre up there has been deserted for weeks. Who is in there? Perhaps we have our own "Phantom of the Opera"? I took a peak inside the door. The theatre has a new look.

Lurking amoung the old props was a little red dragon. He said he was 'looking for Nogard', and just wanted to 'play hide and seek with him'. I told him Nogard was playing hide and seek with ALL of us; promising to come home soon, but still off visiting his relatives.

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The theatre is a lonely, ghostly place.
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Article by MsKonnan

~!~ NEW ART FORM ~!~

Inspired by Brassica Prime

Created by Artist, Dejman
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One or our members, Dejman, has developed his own new Art Form. He calls it cabbage drawing; and like the outlines made with lighting fires, this art form often requires two or more people to place all the drops before they disappear.

You may hear Dejman calling for others in clan chat to come help with his creations. Here is a unique Cabbage Picture created just for Clan Quest, in the field of our Citadel, on the day of the Tier 7 party.

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Note the mini map, bright detailed color - Very nice, Dejman !
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Article by MsKonnan

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Recipes
~ Lizbeth ~
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Traditional Medieval French Custard Tarte
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Tarte Médiévale… This delicious flan in a pie crust is not only typical of medieval dessert recipes, but is also a real pleasure to the palette! Enjoy!

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

4 cups Milk
4 Eggs
2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Cornstarch (optional)
Pinch of Nutmeg
1 - 2 tsp. Cinnamon
Butter and flour for Pie dish

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 450°F
1. Combine milk and sugar in a pot and gently bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Mix cornstarch with 3/4 cup of water and then stir into warm milk. Put milk back on a low heat, and stirring constantly bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
3. Beat the eggs well, and then gently stir into the milk until homogenous.
4. Butter and flour pie dish. Roll out pie crust and place in dish. Pour in milk mixture and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool off before serving.

Tip: You can make this tarte earlier in the day and let stand at room temperature.

Crust Recipe for Medieval Tartes

Here is a delicious crust recipe that will perfectly accompany this medieval dessert recipes. If you don't feel like making your own pie crust, just use a good pre-made one!

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration: 30 minutes

Ingredients for Crust:

1 1/3 cup Flour

2 Eggs
4 oz. Butter (chilled!)
1 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
Pinch of Salt

How to Make Crust:
1. Mix salt, sugar, and flour.
2. Cut chilled butter into small pieces and mix into flour with finger tips. Stop working batter once it looks like "sand".
3. Make a well and pour in eggs. Incorporate into flour using your fingers and a spatula.
4. Once homogenous, form a ball, place on a floured surface and knead for 10 seconds. Reshape into a ball, roll out with a rolling pin, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling out.
Voilà!

Variations:

If you would rather make a crustless flan, go right ahead by following this recipe! The only difference is that you will want to cook the flan in a bain-marie (double-boiler). In fact, crustless custards were also very typical among medieval dessert recipes...so don't worry, you'll be just as authentic!

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Article by LizBeth

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<@> Truly Original <@>


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Article by LizBeth

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Where Am I?
~ Boricua ~
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How to Play:
Basically, all you have to do is find out where on RuneScape you think I'm at in the picture shown above. If you find yourself stumped, the answer to my location will be posted in the next issue. So go ahead, see how much of RuneScape you've explored!

Where was I last month?

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Article by Borizi