Wizard Wednesday Recap, 2024-01-10

After a quick introduction, Bearsnake says that he had forgotten what it feels like to be in a mint week.

Reflections On Shadows Mint Week

Elf says that he has consumed so much coffee to the point of shaking. Jitcy says he's so tired and so pumped. Dotta says his eyes were burning from staring at a computer screen and working on the mint. But he says he wouldn't have it any other way and that it's a lot of fun.

Bearsnake commends the team for their work, and Dotta gives shout outs to Niski, Jitcy, Nalgene, and Magus Wazir. Bearsnake says working with Magic Machine takes him back to when he was traveling and playing drums in a band, where everyone would come together after practicing and not miss a note.

Cult Questions

After a brief congratulations from redbeardnft, Elf jumps into Cult questions.

How Big of a Yacht

First, Elf answers the question of "how big of a yacht" the Magic Machine teams is going to buy. He says it has to be big enough for the whole Cult.

Book of Loredinals

Then, a question comes regarding the anticipation of a "Book of Loredinals" for the Shadows and their respective Shadow Hats. Dotta says, "Yes. but with no timeline."

He says Ordinal-inscribed lore is fully aligned with the vision for the Book of Lore.

Traits in the Shadows Collection

Next, the team is asked how many traits there are in the Shadows collection and what their favorite traits are—excluding the bear. Elf says the bear and the goat are probably his favorites. Bear says his favorites are the ones with red eyes, and he says he pleaded for Elf to make more. Dotta notes that there is only one trait with red eyes in the Shadows collection, and that it's a very rare trait—calling it "Mothman's Gaze." Elf says he honestly doesn't know how many traits there are, guesstimating ~100.

WTF Is Magic Machine

Lastly, the team answers the question, "WTF is Magic Machine?" He explains that it's the name of the company that founded Forgotten Runes Wizards Cult, and notes that all of the members—and all great things—have a little Magic and Machine in them.

Shadow Hats Lore

Elf then recounts the lore of the Shadow Hats, noting that there are White Hat Wizards in the original collection who are the stewards of order and light. Elf says this begs the question of who wields darkness and chaos? He says these "Black Hats" have always been there.

Elf says the Shadow Hats would have remained in the shadows if not for one Black Hat who created a network that was set to disrupt the elite world order—Satoshi Nakamoto and Bitcoin. He notes that these Black Hats cast shadows of their own which spawn their minions: The Shadows

Elf speaks about the unconventional contrast of the Shadows and Shadow Hat artwork, saying that they don't care for convention and sit in darkness. He says the Shadows are the only animated Magic Machine collection and attributes their movement to their uncontrollable nature.

Elf points out that the fact that The Shadows are mostly floating faces, leading to lots of expression for such low resolution art. He says they were foreshadowed by Toru, the Video Ghost of the Forgotten Souls collection, though their connection has yet to be explored.

Elf notes that even the time The Shadows are arriving has relevance, mentioning the SEC's BTC ETF approval.

Elf posits that perhaps the Shadow Hats were the ones bringing the light the entire time and the shadow they lived in was the one cast by "the cabal."

Dotta Explains Shadows Mint Details

Dotta chimes in and explains the mint details for The Shadows collection, first pointing out the distinction between the sub 1k Shadow Hats and The Shadows collections. He says 600 of the Shadows will be auctioned in a 24 hour ascending bucket auction. Dotta explains that an ascending bucket auction works like a regular auction, except only the top bids are filled and everyone pays the same price. The lowest bid is 1 satoshi, and the maximum bid is 0.2 BTC.

The team refers to max bids on Shadows Ordinals as "Goated" and states that the first 600 Goated bids automatically get a Shadow as well as an entry into a raffle for a Shadow Hat of their choice (aside from the Shadow Founders). The team is working with Magic Eden for claiming.

Dotta says the team will distribute refunds in the case of overbidding on The Shadows, and they will do so as soon as possible. He reminds everyone not to bid from and exchange (i.e. Coinbase) and to make sure the bid comes from a wallet. He recommends XVerse for new users.

Bid Priority

Dotta also speaks about the Dark List and community collabs, diving into the priority schedule for accepting bids:

• "Goated" bids take top priority

• Higher bids

• Addresses on the Dark List or addresses from community collabs

• Block Number

• Fee Within Block

Claims For Free Shadows

Dotta says that 66 Shadows will be given away for free.

• 29 will go to holders of Jelly Donut Forgotten Souls, Books of Shadows, and Shadow Crystals

• 10 Winners from the Dark List who made video contributions

• 8 Legendary Beast holders

• 6 top Souls holders

Dotta clarifies that only the first 600 Goated bids qualify for entry to the Shadow Hat raffle. The team will confirm this by block number and fee rate. He confirms Books of Shadows found after Jan. 11, 2024 @ 1 PM PST do not qualify for a Shadow—the team is not holding them.

Dotta confirms that Athenaeum items found in the Nightmare Imp's Treat Boxes (and those already existing) will be useful in an upcoming Warrior event. He says that Books will be particularly useful.

Psifour and cbspears Join and Speak About Inscribing the Shadows

The team then welcome cbspears and Psifour from Luxor to the show, noting they were the ones who assisted with the "on-chain lore" of the Shadows in the inscribing process. Cbspears notes that there is a lot going on underneath The Shadows and says he thinks its something that can be explored for a long time. He mentions meeting Psifour playing D&D, and their connection to Fantasy outside of crypto.

Cbspears recounts the process of inscribing each Shadow from a Shadow Hat in order to draw a decagram—a summoning circle—on Bitcoin in a network graph, stating working with Forgotten Runes to marry the technical and fantastical was a career highlight.

Psifour and cbspears dive into a technical numerology, explaining how the number 666 was integrated into the collection much deeper than just sats procured from block 666.

Dotta says the team has been using the phrase, "As above, so below" for The Shadows, and the team wanted that reflected in the art.

He says:

"You pop open the back case and look underneath and see that it was inscribed with care...and it can only exist on BItcoin."

Lorepunk then shares a poem that she inscribed shortly after the inscription of the Shadow Hats, which she sent to Dotta.

Dotta also reminds the community that Shadow Hats will have full Wizard benefits and commercial rights and are welcomed as Characters of Forgotten Runes.

Cult Content

With that, the team reviews the Cult Content Chronicle—art from the past week within the Forgotten Runes community, aggregated weekly by Tania del Rio.