diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ac5358d75f..2b0803f38c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## Main branch (git)
 
+- Bug fix: || (escaped color tags) were parsed too early in help entries,
+  leading to colors when wanting a | separator
 - Bug fix: Make sure spawned objects get `typeclass_path` pointing to the true
   location rather than alias (in line with `create_object`).
 - Bug fix: Building Menu contrib menu no using Replace over Union mergetype to
diff --git a/docs/source/Coding/Changelog.md b/docs/source/Coding/Changelog.md
index 725db0b217..2b0803f38c 100644
--- a/docs/source/Coding/Changelog.md
+++ b/docs/source/Coding/Changelog.md
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 ## Main branch (git)
 
+- Bug fix: || (escaped color tags) were parsed too early in help entries,
+  leading to colors when wanting a | separator
+- Bug fix: Make sure spawned objects get `typeclass_path` pointing to the true
+  location rather than alias (in line with `create_object`).
+- Bug fix: Building Menu contrib menu no using Replace over Union mergetype to
+  avoid clashing with in-game commands while building
 - Feature: RPSystem contrib `sdesc` command can now view/delete your sdesc.
 - Bug fix: Change so `script obj = [scriptname|id]` is required to manipulate scripts
   on objects; `script scriptname|id` only works on global scripts.
diff --git a/evennia/commands/default/help.py b/evennia/commands/default/help.py
index 85fcaeac0d..4f31f0ab24 100644
--- a/evennia/commands/default/help.py
+++ b/evennia/commands/default/help.py
@@ -13,20 +13,13 @@ from dataclasses import dataclass
 from itertools import chain
 
 from django.conf import settings
-
 from evennia.help.filehelp import FILE_HELP_ENTRIES
 from evennia.help.models import HelpEntry
 from evennia.help.utils import help_search_with_index, parse_entry_for_subcategories
 from evennia.utils import create, evmore
 from evennia.utils.ansi import ANSIString
 from evennia.utils.eveditor import EvEditor
-from evennia.utils.utils import (
-    class_from_module,
-    dedent,
-    format_grid,
-    inherits_from,
-    pad,
-)
+from evennia.utils.utils import class_from_module, dedent, format_grid, inherits_from, pad
 
 CMD_IGNORE_PREFIXES = settings.CMD_IGNORE_PREFIXES
 COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS = class_from_module(settings.COMMAND_DEFAULT_CLASS)
diff --git a/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py b/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py
index cb577f3835..98a095833c 100644
--- a/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py
+++ b/evennia/server/portal/telnet.py
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ sessions etc.
 import re
 
 from django.conf import settings
+from evennia.server.portal import mssp, naws, suppress_ga, telnet_oob, ttype
+from evennia.server.portal.mccp import MCCP, Mccp, mccp_compress
+from evennia.server.portal.mxp import Mxp, mxp_parse
+from evennia.utils import ansi
+from evennia.utils.utils import class_from_module, to_bytes
 from twisted.conch.telnet import (
     ECHO,
     GA,
@@ -28,12 +33,6 @@ from twisted.conch.telnet import (
 from twisted.internet import protocol
 from twisted.internet.task import LoopingCall
 
-from evennia.server.portal import mssp, naws, suppress_ga, telnet_oob, ttype
-from evennia.server.portal.mccp import MCCP, Mccp, mccp_compress
-from evennia.server.portal.mxp import Mxp, mxp_parse
-from evennia.utils import ansi
-from evennia.utils.utils import class_from_module, to_bytes
-
 _RE_N = re.compile(r"\|n$")
 _RE_LEND = re.compile(rb"\n$|\r$|\r\n$|\r\x00$|", re.MULTILINE)
 _RE_LINEBREAK = re.compile(rb"\n\r|\r\n|\n|\r", re.DOTALL + re.MULTILINE)
diff --git a/evennia/utils/evmore.py b/evennia/utils/evmore.py
index 4e89ef2deb..7d445bec98 100644
--- a/evennia/utils/evmore.py
+++ b/evennia/utils/evmore.py
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.paginator import Paginator
 from django.db.models.query import QuerySet
 from django.utils.translation import gettext as _
-
 from evennia.commands import cmdhandler
 from evennia.commands.cmdset import CmdSet
 from evennia.commands.command import Command
@@ -435,8 +434,11 @@ class EvMore(object):
             # no justification. Simple division by line
             lines = text.split("\n")
 
+        # note: If joining on ANSIString here, we will parse out || escapes into | too early,
+        # meaning the protocol will later parse into color; better to leave things and only parse
+        # once.
         self._data = [
-            _LBR.join(lines[i : i + self.height]) for i in range(0, len(lines), self.height)
+            "\n".join(lines[i : i + self.height]) for i in range(0, len(lines), self.height)
         ]
         self._npages = len(self._data)