Wow, where did they all come from? Since only two were ever sold through featured auctions, I knew there were at least that many, but I wasn't sure if they were also appearing in lockboxes. Guess they were. St-Leone has a pair as well, so they appear to be slightly more common than I thought, or at least the toasty ones are, anyway. I know that my regal ones are my prized possession! (The Dragon Princess sighs contentedly as she admires her shiny golden wings in the mirror.)

And while I'm posting anyway, here's a special background type post on the game story itself.

The Unwavering Holy Warrior

Stolidly has chosen to don an Almirian Crusader Helm with volcanic bolted vee and heavy mecha wings. He also has on the accompanying Almirian Crusader Armor with toasty canteen and divine valkyrie wings. This set was worn by the elite royal guard of the kingdom of almire. Its ivory color was a symbol of Almire's purity, both in the land and in the hearts of its people. His shield bears the crest of Almire - a shimmering crest once proudly carried by the noble knights of Almire. It is said to bless those who fight for their homeland, granting them strength from within.

Stolidly's green spiral eyes betray no emotion. What thoughts run thorugh the mind of this steadfast and steely fighter? Has he (or she since the meaning of Almire is "aristocratic lady or princess") gone mad like his former King, Vanaduke? What's that you say? You are unfamiiliar with the Lore surrounding the kingdom of Almire and it's tragic king (and you were too lazy to check it out for yourself on the Wiki page)? The let not the wall of text below you intimidate you in your quest for knowledge, for within it lies answers to some of the deepest mysteries of the Spiral Knights world.

Firestorm Citadel

All that remains of the once great kingdom of Almire, the Firestorm Citadel houses the legions of lost souls burning in the flames of a forgotten war, endlessly rekindled by the twisted spirit of their former lord.

Lore

The Citadel originates from a war-stricken land of three competing kingdoms. The smallest of the three, known as Almire, was a land of lush, beautiful trees and golden fields. It was ruled by a young and determined king known as Lord Vanaduke, and, despite its small size, Almire was recognized as a powerful nation for its military tradition and disciplined armies. Given time, it could expand to a mighty empire. For this, the other two kings feared him and formed a truce to invade Almire.

From atop the highest tower of the Grand Citadel of Almire, Vanaduke watched his kingdom crumble. His army was stretched too thin and it was not long before Almire would completely fall to the weight of the two combined armies. Going mad from the pressure, he fled from the citadel and vanished into the mountains, vowing that he would one day reclaim his throne. Leaving behind his family, his people, and his homeland, Vanaduke journeyed into the mountains to the east, driven by superstitious tales of ancient gods within their dark depths.

He tirelessly searched the mountains for many years, no longer the man he was before, but a mad hermit. Then one day he discovered a small cave that radiated with unnatural warmth, smelling of ash and sulfur. Within it he discovered a great chamber whose floor was waist deep in ashes. They were warm, and Vanaduke soon felt the sting of hot coals through his tattered boots. At the center of the chamber was a blackened shrine, whose deity's features were worn and indistinguishable.

Vanaduke began to whisper, reciting the names of his family, the names of the kings before him, and all the towns of Almire. He repeated this like a chant, increasing in intensity until he was shouting. With this he began screaming the names of the rival kings and all the wrongs they committed against his kingdom. He cried out to the god of the mountain to punish them, to give him the strength to take his kingdom back. In his frenzy he looked to the face of the deity and in it he began to see the face deform. The image burned into his eyes and brain like cinders, and contained that which sounded like the screaming of foreign tongues and war drums. With this, Vanaduke began to sink into the ash. He choked on the ash as it pulled him below, tasting sulfur his screams now sounding of roaring flames. Then transformed by the flames and cursed by the deity, Vanaduke was changed, armor fused to his skin, his hands turned to metal claws and beast fur grew along his back, the only feature to tell he was still Vanaduke was his face, even though twisted into the shape of a skull he was still recognized as who he truly was...

Many days later the citizens of Almire watched as fire began to erupt from the mountains. Leading an army of terrible fiends, Vanaduke returned to his kingdom, destroying the occupied forces of the two opposing kingdoms in a single day. In time the two kingdoms fell, Vanaduke's legion burning everything in their path. When he returned to Almire, it burned as well, for everywhere he went, and everything he touched was doomed to ash, thus while re-claiming his kingdom he destroyed it too.With nothing left to destroy, his legions left him and returned to the mountains, leaving the king to sit in his throne of ash and cinder, all the people of Almire dead around him.

There the cursed king has remained since, ruling a burning kingdom from an ashen throne, surrounded by the lost souls of those that once served him. It is there that the king still mercilessly destroys any who dare enter his kingdom, however much the ashen shadow of what was the rivers that flowed with clear water and the leaves of the trees glittered like emeralds under the shining sun.

Knights Recounts of Lord Vanaduke

Some knights say that when they see Vanaduke for the first time, his face is always full of emotions, and so distressed is he that he will try not to let anyone rule his lost kingdom again, for it is the best he can do to make up for what he did.

She's Rarin' To Go

Her parents named her Robin, but her friends call her "Rari", and both her nickname and her happy eyes show her peppy, happy-go-lucky spirit.

Rari 1 -
You probably never thought you'd see divine wings on an Arcane Salamander Suit, but that didn't stop Rari. Her personal yellow color is not an obvious choice for the dark purple arcane lizard look, but the with a cool flower and cool ribbon and mirthful expression on her face, you can't help but be won over.

Rari 2 -
This is the looked that really "wow'ed" the Dragon Princess. It's a Firebreak Helm with a toasty ribbon, toasty vertical vents, toasty glasses, and a toasty flower. Her 4 toasty accessories above are matched by a toasty canteen on her Spiral Culet, along with her fabulous volcanic wings!

The Dragon Princess offers special thanks to Serell for introducing me to his friend Rari. Hope to see more of their fun fashion in the future.

A Palindromic Preeminence

Wadaw claims to have come up with her name by mashing around the "wasd" area on her keyboard. As fate would have it, it resulted in a palindrome, which is a word that can be read the same way in either direction.

Wadaw's personal color really jumps out when she's wearing this Fused Demo Helm has a toasty headband, a military plume, and military helm guards. She wisely matched this with one of the most versatily voguish armors in the game - Boosted plate Mail (always looks very samurai-ish to me, or like Frank Miller's Ronin comic book character) - to which she has attached a military vitakit and a military bomb bandolier.

Wadaw 2 - For a more feminine look, she slips into her Authentic Spookat Mask on Spiral Scale Mail - a popular look for Mom's arranging playdates or hanging out talking girl stuff in Townsquare. Wadaw's armor shows her superior sense of fashion by accessorizing a fancy parrying blade and fancy dragon wings. Mawashimono senses more great things to come from this emerging keyboard masher.

A Glowing, Red Ball of Molten à la mode

Magmaball is a German Nobleman bringing Old World wealth to our new world game. This modish aristocrat kindly opened up his closet to the Dragon Princess, and she was shocked by its grandness. Enjoy the show!

Magmaball 1 - The design on this bombhead is just so good.
Prime Bombhead Mask with ducky mecha wings and a dusky scarf
Tabard of the Black Rose with a proto crest, dusky wings and a ghostly aura

Magmaball 2 - A divinely inspired outfit.
Skolver Cap with a divine halo and divine scarf
Skolver Coat with a divine bomb bandolier and a divine wolver tail

Magmaball 3 - Where's the party, Dude?
Quicksilver helm with a prismatic party hat and a prismatic party blowout
Vitasuit Deluxe with a prismatic Vitakit and a twilight aura

Magmaball 4 - You've never seen Sonic looking so distinguished.
Metal Sonic Mask with a military dapper combo, fancy ribbon, and heavy toupee
Fencing Jacket with a heavy bomb bandolier, heavy dragon wings, and an unclean aura

Magmaball 5 - Here's an old master at work.
Rock Jelly Helm where the squinty eyes really stand out, with a divine mustache and divine toupee.
Vitasuit Deluxe with a cobalt crest and divine dragon wings

Magmaball 6 - A volcanic knight to the rescue.
Quicksilver Helm with volcanic mecha wings
Tabard of the White Rose with a solid cobalt crest and volcaninc wings

Magmaball 7 - John Lennon with red hair.
Mercurial Helm with a prismatic toupee and prismatic round shades
Vitasuit Deluxe with a prismatic Vitakit and a twilight aura (same as Magmaball 3)

Magmaball 8 - Love those squinty eyes.
A Sniped Stranger hat with a Skolver Coat with a cool wolver tail and a mewkat monster pocket

Quite the impressive display! Let's show our gratitude with a sing-along! (open new tab, copy and paste the link . . . you know the drill)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru-wvqo1SFY&feature=related

Danke Schoen, darling Danke Schoen.
Thank you for all the joy and pain.
Picture shows, second balcony, was the place we'd meet, second seat, go Dutch treat, you were sweet.

Danke Schoen, darling Danke Schoen.
Save those lies, Darling, don't explain.
I recall, Central Park in fall, how you tore your dress, what a mess, I confess, that's not all.

Danke Schoen, darling Danke Schoen.
Thank you for walks down lovers lane.
I can see, hearts carved on a tree, letters inter-twined, for all time, yours and mine, that was fine.

Danke Schoen, darling Danke Schoen.
Thank you for seeing me again.
Though we go, on our seperate ways, still the memory stays, for always, my heart says, Danke Schoen.

Danke Schoen, O' darling Danke Schoen.
I said, Thank you for, mmm, seeing me again.
Though we go, on our seperate ways, still the memory stays, for always, my heart says, Danke Schoen.

Danke Schoen, Auf Wiedersehn, Danke Schoen.

Guild Master of Dark Guardians

Laylla chose her name from the famous Eric Clapton song "Layla".
You can listen to it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX5USg8_1gA

The song was inspired by Clapton's then unrequited love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison. The song is often hailed as being among the greatest rock songs of all time.

Laylla has a Valkyrie Helm, which allows us to see her delicate eyes so well, on Almirian Crusader Armor with a Ghostbuster Crest and Prismatic Wings . And everytime the Dragon Princess sees her, she just thinks how beautiful she looks in that outfit.

Sailing the Stars Together

Zeakstarwind, whose name represents a Wanderer and is a member of the guild Vagrant Epochers, whose GM is Shidara, doesn't follow anyone and only does what is right for his beliefs. His only constant companion is his finace Zuiko-Starwind. His costume represents a Regal Beast with sultry-shaped eyes. It's made from a Scary Skelly Suit with a regal barrel belly and tails tails. His helm is his proto Spiral Demo Helm with regal vertical vents, a regal bolted vee, and a heavy scarf. Let not his ferocious fashion put you off, for Wanderer though he be, he's willing to stay around to swap star stories as well.

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I had planned to let this thread die, but there are just so many great-looking players out there that I just couldn't resist making another post.

Case in point, Consider Mr. RMunoz, a man of distinguished winged tastes.

His first look makes use of a Heavy Demo Helm with an appropraitely heavy bolted vee and heavy mecha wings combined with a grey dusky scarf. His armor is a vitasuit plus with more heavy accessories - a havey parrying blade and heavy wings. A well-coordinated lean but lavish look.

The head of his second outfit looks much like the first. He again uses a demo helm but this time volcanic with a toasted bolted vee and volcanic mecha wings. To match these colors, he chose to use a Grey Feather Mantle and toasty wings. Another duo toned success!

I have a lot of fun hanging out with St-Leone in-game. After you've been playing for a while, these friendships are what keep you coming back. SK becomes kind of a glorified chat room with the nice visual aspect. We spend much more time talking in Haven than actually playing the game. Ocassionally we make matching outfits like these. Our Friend Kenquistador also has a matching look like this. Sometimes instead of hanging out in haven, we stop at a nice scenic spot such as this one in the Nature of the Beast Prestige Mission.

St-leone has several awesome looks, but here's a very unique one made with the Grey Feather set. When you see him, the
toasty bomb bandolier is visible, but not on inspection because they removed the ability to attach accessories in that location. Pretty cool, huh? He also has volcanic wings, volcaninc mecha wings, and a volcanic halo on this outfit. The armor also looks pretty cool with a ruby bombhead mask with toasty vertical vents.

Leo's Volcanic Plate Mail also sports a toasty bomb bandolier in front with a toasty side blade in back and a ghostly aura all around. The toasty round shades on his Shadowsun Stetson always make me think of a cowboy zombie when I see this. The colors blends great, though. Leo has a samurai look for his plate mail as well. The helm is a Volcanic Demo Helm with a military mustache, toasty long feather, toasty maedate, and toasty mecha wings.

One of the reasons Leo's outfits are so memorably noticable is his minimalist approach to colors. Here he is nearly all blues in a Plasmatech Suit with an Ice Queen Crown. His accessories include a cool bomb bandolier, a cool wide vee, and a cool vented visor.

St-leone looks divine in his white Skolver Coat with divine valkyrie wings (I'm a little surprised he doesn't have a divine bomb bandolier on this.) This Rock Jelly Helm is wrapped in a cool scarf with a fancy game face and heavy toupee. We can see his signature fashion sense at work in limiting his appearance to no more than 2 matching colors, in this case white and grey. This head also looks nice on Azure Guradian Armor.

The volcanic Vog Cub Coat looks even better with some volcanic accessories, the best of these being volcanic valkyrie wings and a volcaninc bomb bandolier. In this picture, Leo matched his coat with a Rock Jelly Helm that has 2 more volcanic accessories - a scarf and a toupee. And because his personal color is red, the prismatic angry glow eyes also look spectacular. leo will sometimes combine his Grey Feather Cowl with his Vog Cub Coat for this look.

St-Leone completes his wolver line of fashion with an appearance that really captured my attention (and maybe more than just my attention). It is a Snarbolax Coat that looks great due mainly to the shadow valkyrie wings on back, but the fancy parrying blade on front and twilight aura really cause this one to stand out in a crowd. He uses the same head as on his volcaninc Vog Cub, but it somehow looks so much better here. Leo will sometimes wear a matching Snarbolax Cap with a prismatic scarf (wow) and divine halo on top.

This Leo the Cat look is achieved by putting a heavy wolver tail and dusky parrying blade on solid cobalt armor. His Heavy Demo helm has dusky vertical vents, toasty glasses, and dusky scarf. C'mon, Leo, let's start putting those cobalt crests to use already!

Leo has another festive feline look, this time made with a fused demo helm, whose military colors match the military colors of a Skelly Suit. Atttach to this a military party hat, military vents, and one of the new military cat tails, and you have a swanky little party cat look.

Leo also has a mini Lt. Feron Look.

Zerg Rush

July-Zerg
- Starcraft fans will recognize the Zerg name as one of the alien races of that game, and here's a another fan clearly. Why July? You'll have to ask him that yourself, perhaps after he skewers you in Lockdown. In those rare moments he's not playing LD or soloing the Shadow Lair Vanaduke, you can see him in this ultraposh full white Rose set. The heavy vertical vents and prismatic glow eyes bring out his pink personal color. His tabard which features a heavy vitakit, toasty parrying blade, and divine wolver tail, matches the white armor so well. Check out this ultracool gamer with mad skills and awesome gear sometime.

Someone Went and Did It

The-Strategist has put prismatic extra tall vents and a prismatic cat tail on his full skolver set. How do you like it?

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