Hi everyone -

Thanks to an eagle-eyed tester, we found one more issue with the surveys last week. BackerKit worked tirelessly to fix it and everything is now working properly.

The "smoke test" for the surveys has just been sent! This means that 5% of backers are receiving Grandmaster surveys today. If you're one of them, please complete your survey promptly. This is where we make sure that everything is functioning as it should.

If all goes well with the smoke test today, the remainder of the surveys will go out tomorrow!

If you pre-ordered Grandmaster after the campaign ended, you'll be included in the surveys that go out this week.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, and Canada. They are indicating that they may do the same to the EU and beyond. Tariffs operate as a tax on consumers in the country receiving the goods. HOWEVER -- we have spoken with our manufacturer and have agreed to share the costs of import tariffs with them. We will NOT be passing along current tariff costs to backers. We'll let you know if the tariff costs rise so high that we need help covering them.

Because this is a volatile situation, it's impossible to predict what international trade and shipping will look like when Grandmaster arrives in our warehouse and when it ships. As such, we feel that offering pre-paid duties for international backers could put your shipments at risk, especially if local taxes or tariffs change between when duties are paid and when packages ship. Unfortunately, this means that your last-mile postal delivery service will assess any duties (GST, VAT, tariffs) owed upon delivery. It's not ideal and we apologize for the inconvenience. HOWEVER --

We are considering splitting our freight shipment to warehouses in the USA and Canada, so that we could if necessary bypass the USA entirely for international shipments and could ship more rewards domestically. There's simply no way to predict at this point what the world will look like in a couple of months, so we ask you to be patient with us as we navigate extreme uncertainty. We're committed to getting your rewards to you, despite <gestures at everything>.

Getting your rewards to you is important. Caring for each other right now is even more important. When living in times of great change, mutual aid becomes essential, especially for marginalized members of our community. We encourage Misty's fans to practice radical support to each other. If you can offer something to help people, let the community know. If you need help, let the community know.

The Mutual Aid channel on our Discord server is intended for this purpose.

Our Community Values

“There is no one true way. This is how we live in peace with each other. This is how we live in peace with those outside our borders who do not seek to impose their ways on us. And this is the only way we can continue to live in peace.” - Mercedes Lackey

Our social compact is that we treat each other with kindness, dignity, and respect. Therefore, our Valdemar Official community has ZERO TOLERANCE for harassment of any kind.

In this space, we take extra and intentional care to provide a safe environment for marginalized peoples and identities. If you ever feel targeted, harassed, or excluded in this space on the basis of your identity, please reach out to or tag our admin for trained and compassionate assistance.

If a community member breaks our social compact and/or engages in harassing behavior, Valdemar Official staff will take prompt action in any form they deem appropriate, including expulsion from Valdemar Official events or communities.

We especially want to affirm to our trans, non-binary, and two spirit community members that we see you and that you are welcome here as exactly who you are. We see the efforts of the current government to erase you and we affirm that you are real, you are valid, and you are loved.