Balandar

On Saturday, 12/12/98, Imperator Hawkmoon established a FIREBASE within the underground swamp area off the Terathan Keep. Assisting in this mission for TRIBUTE to MARS, GOD of WAR, were Senators Moongem and Arthil, Knights Montey and Wraith with Magistrate Balandar and Emperor Borg completing the PGoH lines. Later GLORIOUS LORD Necron, Senator of Arcane arrived for his first venture into new lands....what a way to start. The Terathan forces once alerted to the existence of the PGoH Firebase were relentless in their pursuit of PGoH Scouts who ran recon runs into swamp area from firebase. Occasionally the repeated assaults wore down perimeter boxes and caused breaches. The most serious of these witnessed a Matriarch, Avenger and 2 Drones fall Wraith and Arthil along with 2 travelers who were newly resurrected by Montey and Necron. As the battle raged on into its 4th straight hour, Ophidian Scouts were found entering the swamp area. Given that the Terathan forces were engaged with PGoH, this allowed such a surge by the Ophidians. These two races have a hatred for each other that is greater than that toward the ''2 leggers''. Many a shout was heard of ''slimy no-leggers'' or ''smelly multi-leggers'' between the two warring races. This had an ironic twist to it in that now PGoH had a temporary ally against the Terathans. It is unfortunate that upon dispatching a Terathan the Ophidian would turn on its new ally...and in so seal its own fate. Another sad state was that OGRE, ressed by Necron, was found guilty of looting PGoH kills and Arthil. Senator Necron ended his existence in his quick fashion. Necron then though became labeled Murderer and required a CDP (cool down period). Emperor Borg put to use his runes of entry to old lands that are used by many to get Necron to safety of TOWER with escort of LEGION. This same route can be used by members to walk HEAVY piles to old lands for gating to housing for later work

Borg Shows some PGoH around the Hedge Maze The year was 1998, the exact date remains unknown.

05 SEPT 98 Zendella Kxris Captured, but Martoo escaped. "Under guidance of Cmdr. Nitehawk a team of PGoH with a couple of long time friends completed a 3rd OSI Quest. The capture of a Follower of Armageddon (FOA) was completed. Another FOA escaped capture and after a fierce battle and near death experiences by all involved FOA was taken to Yew prison. Cmdr. Nitehawk, Cmdr. Balandar and West Coast were noted to receive A LOT of FAME for their work. During this battle Cmdr. Nitehawke lost 12 pts of Armor class and Cmdr. Balandar, gm Archer, let loose 83 bolts and did not fell one target." - Borg We could not have accomplished this without the aid and efforts of Arielle and Xtinct from "The Outpost" ( http://themess.com/shiela/ ) Sir Duquelle's Room "PGoH later then retraced steps given for next quest and upon analysis by GM Borg access to sealed room of Sir Duquelles was achieved. Cmdr. Balandar then joined GM Borg in interrogation of Julia of Minoc." - Borg Two new recruits PGoH has accepted two new recruits into the guild today, Montaque and Angelica. Here we can see Angelica swearing fealty to Borg.

Lord British gave a speech through his crests on small monuments located throughout cities in Britannia. The speech consisted of the Zog Cabel trying to destroy the world and this caused new lands to be created... We are to capture the Zog Cabel members or leaders and bring them to the Court of Truth in Yew "where they will be thoroughly questioned". They have asked for Britannians to search these new lands... (Note that the Zog Cabel are now known as the FOA, Followers of Armageddon) Hail citizens, friends... Fellow Britannians. 'Tis with an angry heart that I speak with thee tonight. For We Have Been Betrayed!!! The entire realm.. every living creature, great and small... Betrayed! We face dangers each day. We are not cowards to cry out at the first sign of hardship. But the Zog Cabal hath gone too far! By attempting to cast the Armageddon spell, they have shown their true face. They mean ill to the entire realm. To each and every one of us. Though their motives remain a mystery, there can be no doubt as to their willingness to try again. And with any future attempt, the Zog Cabal will at best learn better how to correct their mistakes... at worst, render Britannia a total wasteland. With this dread knowledge comes responsibility. Responsibility that none dare ignore. The Zog Cabal and every being who claims membership with this fell company are enemies to us all! Thus I ask all Britannians to aid in the search for the Zog Cabal. Seek ye any sign. Any clue. Aught at all which may assist us in finding the lair or leaders of the Zog Cabal. Any member of the Cabal who is captured should be brought to the Court of Truth in Yew where they will be thoroughly questioned. With the Virtues to guide us, I will have every Zog Cabalist brought to justice! Their fates will be tempered by Honor and Compassion, but they will threaten our lands NO LONGER!! Suffer not the indignity of such vile fellows and ye will be stronger for it. Allow them to persist and prosper, and we all weaken. I wish now to speak of another matter. One of different focus but of no less importance. With the earthquakes brought on by the Zog Cabal, we have discovered a new land. As yet only a brave group of six adventurers hath been sent to explore this uncharted wilderness, including CrawWorth, who hath long been a warrior of high virtue. Wish He and the five who follow him much luck as they venture into the unknown. As word of their findings wends it's way back to us, it hath become clear that more exploration will soon be necessary. To that end, I ask all stalwart warriors, mages of renown, mapmakers of great skill, healers, rangers, scribes... All who art filled with Valor... to heed this call. Many art needed, yet I have full confidence that greater numbers than are required will be willing to volunteer. To all of ye, I offer my deepest thanks. Fear not if ye are unable to join these early explorers. For if all goes well, any who wish it will be allowed to aid in the eventual expansion of our realm. A bulletin board will be posted to allow ye application for early exploration of the new lands. Seek ye secure.owo.com/beta and utter the code "noneshallpass". I give my personal thanks to all who accept this duty. And also to all who possess the desire to accept, yet were not called upon to such office. Thank ye Britannians! And Fare Thee Well!

Here we gather and discus our tactics before heading to Deceit. Necron is on the horse. *smirks*

Good times in Covetous Torture Rooms Here we can see the Guardians in Covetous. The year was 1998, the date remains unknown.

Here we can see the Guardians in Covetous. The year was 1998, the date remains unknown.

Here we see Balandar, Borg, Galam and Lags when we first placed our guildstone! PGoH was founded on 10/11/1997, however placing guildstones didn't occur until several months after UO launched.

This event took place in minoc, where Lord Duma and his assistant Amaro were looking for brave men and women to escort him and his cargo (weapons and armor) to yew by the use of pack horses. Emperor Borg communicating his thoughts with the Guildmaster Jasos of GoL. "Here the leaders discuss battlefield tactics, and make plans about the how to keep the caravan secure." - Picture taken by GoL. PGoH, GoL and other men and women deliver the horses to Lt. Jithren.

The following are historical paintings from PGoH from 1998 to early 2001. 1998 From Minoc to Yew 3/30/98 Guildstone 04/03/98 PGoH in Covetous I 1998 PGoH in Covetous II 1998 Deceit Magi Skeleton Room 06/13/98 PGoH at the Lord British Speech crest 08/11/98 Memories of Olde 09/05/98 Hedge Maze 1998 PGoH Vs Terathan I 12/12/98 Memory of Buying a Castle 1998 1999 Chest Romp of 02/17/99 State of the Empire Meeting 03/06/99 Legion Mounted 03/08/99 Treasure Chest Dig (TCD) IV of 03/13/99 Invasion of Trinsic 07/05/99 PGoH Defend Skara Brae 1999 Storming the Ophidian Lair 08/15/99 Legion meeting of 09/24/99 Legion meeting of 09/24/99 trip 2000 Wedding of Lord Ser Birghtblade and Lady Scout Finch 01/23/00 PGoH searches Benedict's Laboratory 04/30/00 Battle at Stark's Keep 07/13/00 Search for Alexandra 07/15/00 Ventryn at Safehaven 07/22/00 The Invasion of Olympus 11/12/00 The Invasion of Olympus Renderings 11/12/00 2001 Orc Strongholds Decimated 06/--/01

MALAS SHREDDED PICTURE MESSAGE CONTEST Tod the Sentry was called over to the Infirmary by Hillard and Reese, vendors that work for the good Dr Codene. The two explained to Tod that they had heard a loud roar early that morning and when they went out to investigate they found the remains of a courier pigeon and some shredded pieces of a picture. Tod looked about the area they found the bird and he noticed also some familiar tracks....tracks he had not seen in a couple months. Giant paw prints. Gathering the pieces of the picture he returned to his post and as he did he saw Colin Mor tending his grape vines at the Port Authority. Handing over the pieces to Colin the two agreed that the courier pigeon must have been the good Dr's and that the picture must be a message he tried to send home to the Empire. I rescue party was sent through a secred quicksand vortex but no one had yet heard from them as they were trying to rescue Dr Codene and Anfalas from the Army of the Sands who had successfully found thier Books of the Dead. These books were secrets to the art of Necromancy and other aspects of the Dark Arts. Colin Mor sought permission to ask the realm for assistance in piecing the picture back together and was granted to do so. A special gift from the Empire will be the reward to the first citizen to post the repaired picture on his request for assistance on the board found HERE...The ULTIMA ONLINE ROLEPLAY BOARD This is the largest piece that survived the shredding... and these are the pile of pieces.... I am sure the Emperor will reward the one who succeeds first well.....good luck citizens. NOTE: To post your entry or version of this completed puzzle you must have access to the UO.com Boards...... CLICK HERE if you never have used UO.com Boards before. May the GODS Favor your minds eye... Colin Mor Members of The Honor Empire OPS Team or COUNCIL of HONOR are not eligible to enter this contest. Posted by Borg Sunday, January 19, 2003 1:34 AM EST Shardic Contest-Archery Challenge sponsored by PGoH Rangers Posted by Borg Saturday, January 18, 2003 9:22 PM EST Age of Shadows FAQ schtuffs AoS Pre-ordering and Timetable FAQ Q)I've read about promotions for a Mini House collectible, a Bless Deed, and a Hooded Shroud of Shadows. Are all of these the same promotion, or are they separate? A)The Mini House collectible and the Bless Deed are part of the same promotion, and will be given to all players who upgrade to Age of Shadows within the first 18 days after Age of Shadows is live on their shard. Q)The Hooded Shroud of Shadows is a separate promotion being run in conjunction with several notable retailers, including GameStop.com, Electronics Boutique, EB Games Online, the EA Store (store.ea.com) and Amazon.com. Will I be able to order this from anyone who ships to areas outside the US? A)Yes - Amazon.com does ship outside the United States. Anyone outside US should order throuogh The Honor Empire website!!! Colin Mor Q)Tell me more about this Hooded Shroud of Shadows! Is it only for the 3D client? A)The shroud is a dark hooded ghost robe given in-game. It cannot be dyed, broken, damaged or cut, and will be blessed, which means it cannot be stolen from the top level of your backpack and will not drop into your corpse upon death. The shroud will be available for both 2D and 3D game clients. Q)How do I get the Hooded Shroud? A)You'll be able to get the shroud by pre-ordering Age of Shadows from GameStop.com, Electronics Boutique, EB Games Online, the EA Store (store.ea.com), or Amazon.com (through The Honor Empire website!!!! Colin Mor) Only one shroud will be given out per UO: AoS purchase. Q)Can I get it if I order from a retail store instead of online? A)Yes! Players who buy AoS online through a participating retailer should receive an e-mail confirming the shipment of the game. This shipment confirmation e-mail will include a note with both a special Web page address and a Hooded Shroud of Shadows one-use validation code. Players who order in person at the retail locations of these stores should be given a special sticker upon picking up a pre-ordered UO:AoS. This sticker will include a note with both a special Web page address and a Hooded Shroud of Shadows one-use validation code. IMPORTANT: If picking up your game in person, you must make sure you receive and save this promotional sticker! Without this sticker you will not be able to receive your Hooded Shroud of Shadows - no exceptions! Q)How will I actually get this shroud once I pre-order and get my confirmation code? A)Once you have the validation code, you'll go to the web page address listed with the code, where you can either activate a new account or upgrade your existing account to UO:AoS status. After registering for UO:AoS, enter into the game on the specific shard and with the specific character that you wish to receive the shroud. (Note: although you will be able to exchange these shrouds between characters, they cannot be transferred across shards.) Use the Help system to page a Game Master (GM) with the phrase "Hooded Shroud of Shadows Redemption Code." The GM will confirm your code and award you the Hooded Shroud of Shadows. Q)When do I have to request my Hooded Shroud? A)If you have the code to get the Hooded Shroud of Shadows, you must claim your shroud prior to Monday, March 31, at 11:59pm CT, regardless of what shard or region the shroud is being claimed in. After this deadline, all Hooded Shroud of Shadows redemption codes will no longer be valid, and no further shrouds may be claimed. Q)How many shrouds can I get per account? A)Only one shroud will be given per AoS purchase, and only one shroud will be handed out per account (so if you buy two copies of AoS in order to get two shrouds, you'll need to be sure to collect them on two different accounts). Q)Can I get it on Siege Perilous? A)Yes, the Mini Houses, the Bless Deeds, and the Shroud of Shadows will all be available on the Siege ruleset shards. (And before you ask -- we don't have all the info yet on exactly what features in AoS will be implemented on the Siege shards. It's in heavy discussion, though, and we'll make our decisions public as soon as we can!) Q)So about that other promotion. the website said we'd get a "Blessed Deed." Is that the same thing as an Item Bless deed? A)Yes, these are Item Bless Deeds - although they'll work a little differently than the ones you may have seen in UO in the past. These Bless Deeds will not be transferable, and items will only stay blessed for the original character who got the deed. Once the deed has been used, it will disappear - so use it wisely! Q)If every character gets an Item Bless Deed, won't that flood the market? A)We don't feel that will be the case at all! Since you can't trade these, it won't be possible for anyone to collect and hoard hundreds of them, and since they're only good for the original character who receives it, it won't be advantageous for people to create new characters on shards they don't play to get them. A blessed item can be a fabulous thing on your main character, but it won't do you much good on a character you don't play. Q)Tell me more about these Mini Houses! A)The Miniature House Collectibles will be just what they sound like - little tiny versions of UO houses! They'll appear in the backpacks of all eligible UO:AoS characters. The styles of the Miniature House Collectible are based upon all the current "classic" style of UO houses, and the style each character gets will be random. The Miniature House Collectible is blessed, and may be locked down within one's house or transferred between characters, if desired. Q)So there will be tons of Mini Houses out there in the game world after Age of Shadows? A)Yes, but not all designs will be common! Think of them like trading cards. There are millions of trading cards out there in the world, but very few of the special foil-lined uber cards - and those stay extremely valuable. So while some Mini House designs will appear frequently, others will be much tougher to get. For example, a given single-room mini-house designs may appear more often that the rarer castle mini-house. Q)If I live in an area outside the US, can I still participate in getting this Bless Deed and the Mini House collectible? A)Yes! Be sure to check out the post we posted in FYI last week on this very issue at http://www.uo.com/cgi-bin/newstools.pl?Article=7049. Q)Will I get the Mini House and the Bless Deed, or is it one or the other? And is it per character, or per account? A)You'll receive one Mini House and one Bless Deed for each character you log into UO during this promotional period. (The promotion ends in North America on Feb. 28, 2003. For more information on promotional periods outside the US, keep checking http://www.uo.com/ageofshadows.) Q)Is this like the Veteran Rewards System, where my account needs to be a certain age before I'm eligible? Or is this like the Holiday gift system, where my character needs to be at least 30 days old? A)Neither -- there is no account age or character age limit on these promotions. Whether you buy AoS and start a new account or whether you upgrade your current account, all of your characters, new and old, are eligible to take part in these offers throughout the promotional period. Q)How long will we have to get the Mini Houses and the Item Bless Deeds? A)These items will only be available for a limited time on each shard! The promotional period will start on the day the shard first goes live with the new AoS code, and will continue for 18 days after that. Q)When will the AoS code go live? Won't it already be live when I buy the expansion? A)Before the new content in Age of Shadows can actually work, we'll need to publish some extra code to the shards. That publish will go onto the shards as the game becomes available for purchase in each territory. In other words, the North American shards, including Siege, will get this publish once Age of Shadows has hit the shelves in North America and Canada. The European shards will get this publish later to coincide with the European AoS release date. The Asian shards (including Oceania, which is considered to be part of the South Asia-Pacific territory) will get this publish to coincide with their release dates as well. Q)Any news on the exact release dates for different territories? A)Our current estimates have all of the territories getting Age of Shadows within the month of February. But there are still a few issues to finish working out, so keep an eye on http://www.uo.com/ageofshadows for the definite dates! Q)Okay, now for the big question - what about housing space in Malas? When will that be opened to new houses? A)Be sure to read the question above about the AoS code going live! Part of the publish with Age of Shadows will be to added the ability for AoS users to enter and place a house in Malas. Once the publish is live on your particular shard, houses will be able to be placed in Malas - provided you have an AoS upgraded account. Q)So if I pre-order the game and have it shipped to me, does that mean I may not be able to get into Malas and place a house right away? A)Yes, that's possible, but we really don't think this will be a problem, for several reasons. One - There's a LOT of housing space in Malas. Really. Two - Many people will be pre-ordering (our numbers are high already). You will by no means be the only one who's waiting for a shipment after the first day. Three - February 11th is the day that it ships from EA, meaning that many retailers won't have it on their shelves until the 12th anyway. Four - One house per account means that people won't be snapping up new housing spots unless they're either homeless or willing to give up a pre-existing house, which means new space will be opening up elsewhere as well. Five - Phase 3 of the Housing Decay changes should be active soon, which (in case you haven't read about it) means that houses on inactive accounts will be decaying as well, opening up quite a few housing spots as well in the current lands. Six - There's a LOT of housing space in Malas! __________________ Cynthe Community Manager ORIGIN Systems with lil notes from Colin Mor!!! Posted by Borg Monday, January 13, 2003 6:42 PM EST SURVIVAL ISLAND CONTEST It was a typical Monday......full of meetings and recaps, reports and reviews followed by more meetings reviews, reports and recaps (we all love catchup mondays after holiday weeks) The UO Team was assembled for a welcome back meeting and adjenda session and as the meeting progressed, no one took note of the temp who was keeping the mugs of java, jolt, juice, water and jack filled. No one especially noted the sparkle the morning drinks all had for a moment after he filled them. As the meeting began to wind down the temp, an older fellow, placed down his pitchers and trays and gathered his things. As the man prepared to leave he stood a moment politely and looked about the room a buzz with energy as topics were laid out and the team covered its issues. His work was now done and in place for he could already see the magical addition to thier drink had begun to work. Unseen to the untrained eye there was a faint sparkle in the breath of all the UO Team....floating up as if the room had chilled and thier words now wrote upon the air itself. As the old man reached for the door he heard a team member wish him well and thanks for the black gold java and that he would see him tomorrow. "Your quite welcome M'lord....."; answered the old man with a nod as he picked up his odd walking stick and tossed his dark coverings over his arm. "....perhaps tomorrow.....perhaps not.....An Por"; finished the old man quietly to himself as he left the room. In the center of the table was a bowl of peculiar ice and as the room filled with the enchanted energy and unseen sparkling air from the Teams work itself...........the magic had filled the room and now a sparkle began to form in a small vortex from the bowl of peculiar ice on the table. One by one the team took notice as the room quieted a bit and the air began to reveal the magical air and the sparkling vortex began to grow. A few of the Team stood and a couple bolted for the doors, only to find them magically locked. Oddly even the sleeping member of the team raised thier head and thier eyes wided to see the vortex nearly filling the room itself now. The room itself now filled with a rush of wind as papers and projects began to scatter. Team members clung to anything they could but one by one they began to be pulled into the vortex!!! They were gone. Thier work scattered around the room.......only one parchment seemed in its place of design. It was a Map with the title "Survival Island" "Where Work is Play and Bosses are Banned" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Survival Island is a bit of fun to roll up to the release of Age of Shadows. It will incompass 2 parts........one a POLL where YOU the UO players will VOTE a team member off the island. It is a magical island where ones power of creativity and imagination are exponentially enhanced and the evil of the Time Boss is not........on this island the Dev Team members will have saftey from any form of evil bugs, bothers or bosses.......where work is play and you can help keep them safe from the tyranical bosses timeclock crunch. If voted off the island......the Team member will magically return to his/her/its workstation but will no longer be on the Island with its wonderful tranquility and equally capable workstation that thier normal duties can be done from. That is part one........... Part Two is that I will be ingame Saturday and Sunday (Catskills UO) from 11pm to 2am to accept your prediction of WHO will be the last Team member left on SURVIVAL ISLAND. Entry will be in the form of a blue book from provisioners with name of Dev team that you believe will win and your UO.com Board Poster name),...hand me the book with your One entry per UO.com Board name. I will be at the Port Authority near Olympus Castle in Trammel, just North of Trinsic across Burgouse Bay. If you are correct then you and all those with the same correct selection will then be placed in a dice cup roll for winning a FREE COPY OF Age of Shadows Preorder version. The Dev Team that is the last remaining survivor will win a FOOD of the GODS Dinner, served to them in Austin TX.....right to their workstation or office. (Dev Team knows what food that is.....muhahahah) If you need to make a UO.com Namesake.....CLICK HERE to register!) Who is the UO Team? Adrick An active player of Ultima Online since August of 1997, Adrick's focus as a designer in Ultima Online revolves around combat systems (PvP and PvM), guilds, factions, reputation, and player interactions and reputation (non-consensual PVP). Alai Alai has worked on all aspects of MMORPGs at some point or another, including (but not limited to) map building, customer support, art, sound, animation, writing, design, and programming. Over the years, he has managed to claw his way up the management ladder to Lead Client Programmer for Ultima Online where he's coordinating efforts to improve the quality of the client in all ways possible. He prefers the green M&Ms. Augur Augur is a designer on the Ongoing Content team, responsible for creating everything from new monster and item additions, to devious puzzles and expansions to the Britannian geography. When not delving into the codebase of Ultima Online, he enjoys daydreaming about delving into the codebase of Ultima Online. You may have also seen him in such roles as "Dirty Hippy #2" in Stop, or My Mom Will Shoot! and "Topo, the Monkey Boy", in Circus Maniacs 2. BIGtiny Being the manager of the UO bug exterminators, BIGtiny's job is to make sure that bugs are quickly removed from UO society. Usually under the cover of darkness and with as few witnesses as possible. BIGtiny could not be reached for comment, but a spokesman said, "We have nothing against bugs; in fact, I have an ant farm at home. But when bugs enter the world of Britannia, they cross the line and must be dealt with... severely." BulldoZ After bodly catapulting the old UO pixels into the third dimension and working tirelessly to help track down the cause of crashes in Third Dawn, BulldoZ finally achieved the ultimate dream of all programmers and now spends his days on an obscure research project where he has nothing to do but think, eat and drink. In his spare time, he dreams of digital organic lifeforms. Calandryll Calandryll, a designer at Origin Systems, holds the esteemed title of the OSI employee most often blown up, killed or otherwise maimed in fan-produced flash movies. Calandryll got his start at OSI in the Community Relations department and later moved over to development on the UO Live Team. Currently he spends his time in a dark, locked, secret room working in shrouded mystery. Cynthe Since 1998, Cynthe has held six different positions at OSI, including Game Designer, Community Coordinator, and Web Content Supervisor. She is now Ultima Online's Manager of Community Services, but leaves much of the delicate community work to her fantastically capable OCR team: Kerowyn, Greywolfe and Sannio. Her greatest joys include showing off pictures of her son, and busily writing "State of the Boards" addresses that are too long for anyone to actually read. Evocare A long-time Ultima Online player and virtual world enthusiast, Evocare is Lead Designer for Ultima Online. His responsibilities include managing a design team in such a way that the designers retain their sanity, determining which game features the design team works on, and giving the final "yay" or "nay" to said designs. In theory, this is all done to develop the most fun path to the cheese. Over time, he has developed his skill in claiming all credit for success while passing all responsibility for failure on to the Producer (much to Tajima's surprise). Fertbert Fertbert, a server programmer, has most recently been working on the server-side changes to combat and magic item properties. He is new to the gaming industry, but has been an avid gamer for twenty years, and has ten years of client and server side programming experience. On Fridays, he tries to avoid being eaten alive by his ferrets; they've been known to over-run his office, dance on his keyboards, and nip at his ankles. FierY iCe FierY iCe is a Programmer on Ultima Online, and works on all kinds of systems from server maintenance to monster tweaks to combat fixes, and anything that needs to be done. Previously working as a Designer, he still tries to help them out whenever they have Programming needs. His favorite things to work on are monsters and loot. He also gets a kick out of logging cheaters. Greyburn When asked about the myriad of intricate and sophisticated tasks on the plate of a UO client programmer, Greyburn describes his duties and himself eloquently as, "Client. Code. Bug squishin', party improvin', little talkin' mofo' with a lead foot and a cheap rental. Er, bugs an' clients an' stuff. And code. It's all about the code. Yup." Greywolfe Greywolfe, UO's Online Community Coordinator, spends a great deal of time on the MyUO Message Boards. After a busy day reading and responding to hundreds of posts and emails and attending various meetings, the 'wolfe likes to play UO while enjoying a strong cup of Sumatra coffee, write a little horror fiction, or attend various dog-type functions with the infamous Toy Fox Terrier "Kajun-Fox Beausoleil." Greywolfe has been known to comment that if only coffee and Beau were in the game, all would truly be well with the world. Gromm Gromm is a member of the Ongoing Content team and has adopted the duty of Fiction Poobah. When not trying to think of new and interesting ways of spreading waves of mass destruction across the world of Britannia that leave nothing but blood, ash and suffering in their trail, Gromm enjoys spending time with his kitten. Although he enjoys working on UO tremendously, the position is only temporary until he returns to his homeworld of Gritt'hhhya''sfvvv'''eee to continue genetically installing thumbs on other races in the galaxy. Hanse Hanse is a UO designer and bug fixer extraordinaire. When he's not eradicating bugs with a vengeance, he's busily creating new content for systems such as creature spawn locations/amounts, bulk order deeds, magic spells, map changes, decorator tools, monster enhancements, and many others. Hanse likes to stare at orange juice containers because they say 'concentrate'. Helios Currently, UO Designer Helios is deftly working on the New Player Experience / New Player Retention initiatives and design-side localization stuffs. Of course, he also works to keep his sanity while sharing an office with Hanse, Vex and Adrick every day, which is a job all on its own. :-) Jalek When not bringing in donuts for the entire team, Jalek spends his time sitting in the dark void he calls his office, shunning the sunlight and hissing at passers-by while working on mysterious and complex background programming tasks. Kerowyn Kerowyn is the Online Content Editor and current reigning "Miss Tackiest Office Color 2002". When not stalking her co-workers for their Team Comments, she spends her time communicating with the fansites, arranging chats and interviews, posting web updates, and completing various other miscellaneous writing/editing tasks. Krum After leading the programming effort behind Lord Blackthorn's Revenge, Krum volunteered to take a break from actual game development and courageously took on the arduous task of developing an automated testing environment for our quality assurance staff, which will provide the team the ability to release a higher quality product in less time. MrTact MrTact is the lead server programmer for UO, after moving over earlier this year from QA Engineering. He is notorious for fearlessly asking EA executives pointed questions during company-wide meetings, yet still somehow retaining his job. Oaks As a designer for Ultima Online, Oaks works on a variety of systems ranging from world-building to spell effects, and has recently tackled things like improving the new player experience and leveling the playing field in regards to the taming profession. He is easily identifiable by his vampire-like skin and brightly-colored Hawaiian shirts; testament to his long hours of game playing and programming. His online alias, Oaks, originates from a favorite pen-and-paper RPG character best known for his non sequitur dialog and insatiable battle hunger. Sannio Sannio is Ultima Online's "Online Content Coordinator," which is simply a more professional way of saying he's the company's official "Town Cryer." As the main researcher for the OCR department, it's his job to sort through all the myriad bits of paperwork, e-mails, scraps of notes, and back-alley conversations that relate to UO, and somehow present it to the players in such a way that the company doesn't realize valuable gaming information is being given away for free. Stellerex Previously a Senior Producer for Ultima Online Live and MVP of the year for 2000 at OSI, Stellerex now works behind the scenes, ensuring a bigger and better future for UO. He is an avid player of almost every type of game, and a chess fanatic. Stormwind Stormwind is the Director of Technology for UO. When he's not evaluating libraries and technologies for use in UO products, he's forcing the programmers to follow coding standards and write technical design documentation. Stormwind has been around since before the public beta of UO, forcing letters and numbers to line up and stand at attention on the screen to make the servers work better. He also serves as a backup programmer as needed. SunSword SunSword has returned to OSI as the Producer of Ultima Online, which means he manages both the "Live" service as well as the Age of Shadows expansion. He was formerly Lead Designer of Ultima Online and most recently Lead Systems Designer on Star Wars Galaxies. SunSword spends most of his spare time wondering where all his spare time went. Tajima Formerly the Senior Producer for the UO "Live" team, Tajima is now the Director of Studio Operations for Origin Systems. His day-day duties include coordinating the efforts of OSI's various departments with those of EA.com to ensure that Ultima Online runs as smoothly as possible, while also evaluating new markets and opportunities for the Ultima franchise. In what little spare time he can scrape up, he plays as many games as possible, rides his mountain bike, flies stunt kites, trains his dogs, and can occasionally be found in the company gym trying in vain to look like the athletes in the Bowflex commercials. Usul Being one of UO's Lead bug exterminators, Usul's job is to make sure our QA group is using the latest and deadliest insecticides. Many of these insecticides are potentially harmful to the environment, and sometimes downright illegal; so his duties also include keeping the EPA and left wing environmental groups off our backs. Hey, you may not like carcinogenic chemicals in your food, but at least your dinner plate won't be garnished with a cockroach. Vex Vex, a designer on UO Live, started programming 8-bit home computers at age 11, and later built a map editor for Ultima IV on his Atari 800XL using a BASIC compiler. In school and for a while afterwards, he played bass (the guitar, not the fish) in an alternative rock band before eventually moving into database and Web development. Vex started playing UO with the release of T2A, and began working for Origin shortly after the release of Renaissance. In addition to systems design, he also programs, fixes bugs, and does world building and testing. WindRider WindRider is the senior artist on the Team. WindRider is responsible for giving life to the art, the creatures, and buttons you click on. When WindRider is not pushing pixels around for new menu screens, he is teaching the creatures how to walk, run and eat in the creature aerobics class. Posted by Borg Tuesday, January 7, 2003 6:12 AM EST Stratics News AoS Note From the STRATICS NEWS section......On the MyUO Discussion Boards, SunSword (Producer, UO Live) posted answers to a number of questions on Age of Shadows (AoS). Q: First off will AOS be in 2d or 3d? . A: Both clients will be available with AoS. Q: Secondly will the hooded robe of shadows be hooded in both clients or just 3d? A: Both. Q: How will the people know who pre-ordered from the eb games web site to get the hooded robe of shadows? A: Details about how this works are coming next week when everyone is in the office, but as I understand it, you will be sent a code along with your shipping confirmation that you can then use to get your robe. Again, I know there are lots of questions about this, so there will be more specific information provided soon. Q: Well hooded robes if in 2d be craftable considering that some people can't pre-order or just forgot to? A: No. It's an incentive to pre-order :). Q: When do you think you will be updating the AOS web site? A: Next week. Q: Well this is all I can think of. Thanks for looking and please reply dev. Team A: I didn't answer all of them, but some of the regulars here already handled most of 'em :). -- SunSword Producer, Ultima Online (Note: Although some the OSI boards allow any visitor to read, in order to read or post in most of the official Ultima Online message boards you'll need to be logged into the forums. Don't have an account, yet? CLICK HERE to register!) Posted by Borg Saturday, January 4, 2003 12:00 AM EST

Chapter 13 Twilight's End Part 1 Mobilization Chapter 13 Twilight's End Part 1 Mobilization Warlock Kalinaf stood on the steps of Emperor Emeritus Gregory Meridius's home with Dragoon Steel Darknight and Magistrate Martok behind him, all packed for their mission to find Dr Codene and Anfalas. As Kalinaf reached to knock upon the door, it opened and the familiar tone of an Emperor beckoned them to enter. Gregory Meridius was retired from his term as Emperor of the HONOR Empire for now nearly a year and in his mind he always knew there would come a call for him to serve again. He did not know though that it would be revolving around such a loss of a soul and potential loss of others of this level. "You know I always knew those books would be trouble..even in my term there was rumor of their existence...blasted things are vassals of Hell itself."; complained Gregory after explanation of the mission. "But if good can come from them..we must try to do it and keep them out of the hands of evil. Borg is right...Blackthorn cannot command those books."; ended Gregory as he lifted his backpack onto his shoulders and pulled his sword from beneath his mattress. "You keep it under your mattress sire?"; asked Steel. "Aye..surely you sleep with yours close by as well Dragoon..but if too close ye may cut something more important off than just a good dream"; chuckled Gregory. Kalinaf opened a gate and the party entered the crypt as Steel sent a pigeon to Emperor Borg that their mission had begun. At Olympus, Colin Mor was just leaving the Castle with the newly appointed Decurion Rand as Ancient Wolf and Senator Prometheus arrived. A few pleasantries where exchanged then all agreed much work was now on the table to be done. Senator Lora arrived with a caravan of lamas all carrying pigeons,.hundreds of them. "Whoa hoo tahts a lot of messaging you plan on doing? If you need a date this evening I am sure I can clear my schedule for a fine meal with such a bea."; asked Ancient Wolf as he was cut off by Senator Lora. "Zip it brother..you know how hard it is to find carrier pigeons in this quantity?"; griped Senator Lora. Up in Dupre's office Magistrate Balandar discusses matters with Emperor Borg. "You realize this is a huge undertaking..larger than even you have done before?"; Balandar asks. "Aye..larger but not something we have not done before.it can be done."; Borg replies as he finishes another message. "Many do not even understand why they train with these weapons if they cannot use them now."; remarked Balandar. "Aye.they need to understand that they need to trust their commanders and each other...especially for what they are about to face in the upcoming battles...their minds will be dealt blows that only resolve and trust in their brother or sister beside them can overcome."; answered Borg with a stern look to his Magistrate. "I just th.."; Balandar began to say as Borg now finished his thought. "think they are not ready and will not be ready in time...right? Balandar you are a good advisor and good counterweight in times of need. This though is the time they...the lines....the Empire needs us. They need US to be solid and confident...bold is our fight against Lord Blackthorn..blind is our fight against the Army of the Sands. Until we can see them on the battlefield we must continue to prepare for them. Before when we had the Books of the Dead.they were coming to US..our battlefield...our land.our home. Now, they are preparing for OUR coming to them. We must be resolved and ready..I need you to be ready Magistrate..you do your job well...continue to do so. We shall prevail."; finished Borg as he sealed another message and sent it on its way. As Senator of War Prometheus and Ancient Wolf arrived with Senator Lora, Borg commented on how disappointing it was the Orcs had not joined in the recent Savage missions. "While we cannot afford at this time to have too many open war fronts, I would hope you would dispatch an letter of concern to the Orc Clans on our disappointment they could not participate in this activity past..and we hope that there are not conditions keeping them from maintaining their position in the agreements with the Empire."; commented Emperor Borg as Senator Prometheus took notes. "I am sure that message will be loud and clear m'lord"; replied Senator Prometheus. "Lord Blackthorn has now lost his Savage allies. The Jukan Army is too large a force to deal with alone at the current time even in its weakened state. Centurion Baltazar has been reducing the productivity of the Golum Mines for months now...we can deliver a severe blow to his Elemental allegiance if we hit them at their power center in Ilshenar."; discussed Emperor Borg openly to the Senators and advisors. :The meeting ebbed and flowed throughout many matters of the Empire and throughout the day and into the late night Emissaries from ally guilds met with their counterparts in sessions in and around Olympus. As Emperor Borg and Magistrate Balandar moved along the western ramparts, Balandar asked if Emperor Borg was aware they were being observed. "Aye..he has been there for a few hours, Tod informed me earlier.I told them to let him be"; replied Emperor Borg as he fussed with one of the obsidian statues. "The thing that interests me is how I sense he is extremely nervous.more about something else finding him than us finding him"; commented Emperor Borg "Deserter?"; Balandar asked. "I do not know..but if I had to guess...he is not there by orders of Lord Blackthorn."; answered Emperor Borg. A bellowing horn begins to sound and as it does the two old brothers in arms looked at each other and both remarked.: "More Legionnaires." "The new Decurion will be quite busy in these weeks and months I imagine."; commented Emperor Borg as the two now looked down upon training lines marching in fire and poison fields parried arrows. "Resistance is the key brother"; Balandar smiled as he commented. "Resistance is futile for our Enemies..it is our foundation of our defenses"; added Borg smiling back. "They will need all kinds of resistance for the foes they are going to face soon enough"; Borg finished. Back in the Crypt..the Rescue Team entered the quicksand and upon sinking to the bottom they found themselves in a world with a sky full of stars and a land more mysterious than their imagination had prepared them for..on the horizon they could see the top of a giant pyramid....they now began their journey in Malas. "For HONOR and Empire!!!"; the four declared and set out. Posted by Borg Monday, November 18, 2002 12:00 AM EST

Chapter 12 The Collective Hive Part 2 Hive, Haven or Hole Chapter 12 The Collective Hive Part 2 Hive, Haven or Hole Gladiator Marcos the Black cautiously moved along the wall of the dark tunnel, his eyes beginning to adjust to the darkness. As he moved through the tunnel his boots kicked up small clouds of a fine powder. Ahead and around a corner Marcos could hear some commotion. Kneeling down behind his shield with his back against the wall, Marcos peered cautiously around the corner. The fine powder clouds now began to settle and his armor became covered with a fine layer of the dust. There were several of the giant Ants he had fought above heading toward his direction, seemingly in some form of discussion in a series of clicks and snaps similar to Terrathans language. Realizing his back was literally against the wall he looked and noticed that he was blending into the background now that he was covered with the dust. Marcos lowered his head and virtually looked like a shield leaning against the wall covered in dust. The Giant Ants moved around his corner and continued toward the giant hole that he had fallen from. In a giant leap they were up and out of the tunnel. Marcos released a deep breath and began to continue down the hallway toward a glowing mauve room. As Marcos reached the opening he saw giant beetles lumbering in the far tunnel across the room that was covered with mauve colored fungus. These were the same fungus that he had found on the Giant Ants he slain, perhaps these were the Ants food source. If that was so, this room is not a good place to hang out for long Marcos thought. "I am not going to be desert tonight, I best get out of the kitchen"; Marcos said to himself to ease his own tension. Another pair of massive beetles passed by and Marcos slipped in behind the behemoths as they lumbered forward. Every so often the giant beetle ahead of Marcos would flex a bit of its carapace and he could see layers of its shell almost like a honeycomb. The tunnel started to widen and empty into a large room. Marcos slid again against a wall as the Giant Beetles continued through the room and into another tunnel. Just as they disappeared into the darkness a handful of Giant Ants moved into the room and down the hallway Marcos had just come from. Deciding to try and catch up with those Giant Beetles, Marcos moved across the room. This rooms floor was soft and as he reached the center, deep down in his stomach he could feel this was not a good decision. Rising out of the ground itself behind Marcos a pair of tusks began to shudder and shake and with that pounds of dirt and rock began to fall away from the figure. As Marcos slowly turned he could begin to hear a hissing noise that was being made by millions of small hair-like fingers on the underbelly of the towering bug. In a bellow the beast spew out green liquid, of which Marcos blocked with his shield. As he readied his sword he now smell the poisonous liquid that now coated his shield. Marcos parried the first blow from the giant tusks and then cleaved off one of the tusks with a mighty swing. The towering bug raised up and then plunged down into the ground. Marcos stepped back and around looking for any sign of where his foe had gone. VOooomMMM. His wondering ended as he was catapulted into the air as the massive bug surfaced directly below him. Marcos regained his feet and scurried toward his sword, as he grasp it he could see his shield would not be as easy to obtain. The towering bug now had it impaled upon the remaining tusk and it was blocking its view as it swung its head back and forth trying to free it. As the beast turned its back to scrape the shield from its tusk, Marcos saw his opportunity and took it. "A gladiator never turns his back to his foe my friend."; Marcos said aloud as he leaped onto the back of the beast. Holding on to a row of carapace plate, Marcos drove his sword repeatedly between the layers of the beast. The giant beast now bucked and shook to remove Marcos from its back, but Marcos continued to have at the shell crevasses. The beast bellowed one final cry as a strike landed deep within its heart. As the giant bug fell to the ground, Marcos dismounted it and pried his sword from the shell. As he did this a piece of the shell broke off and he could see within the honeycomb beneath dirt, a few gems and sadly the remains of someone who was a meal some time earlier. Several of the tunnels now filled with noise, growing louder..all except one. Marcos headed for the quiet tunnel since it was his only safe option, now that he had lost his layer of powder and dust that concealed him before. Looking only once over his shoulder, Marcos could hear the tearing apart of the giant beast he had just slain that fought with the heart of a lion that would not be ridden. If Logan the Heran, the new Decurion, would have seen that..he knew he would never live that down. A Gladiator never rides, he rather his feet be solidly planted on ground and not up in the air away from the down and dirty matters of battle. The tunnel opened up into a room and in the back of it stood a commanding figure. The Matriarch looked toward Marcos with no worry or threat. As Marcos returned gaze at the Queen, she motioned for him to approach then began to speak with him. The two discussed matters of her concern and of his mission and while this occurred a pair of Ant Warriors entered but were motioned away. Marcos was offered safe passage within the Hive in return for assistance in dealing with the Hive's enemy which was attempting to infiltrate their territory. Marcos understood this feeling since this was how the Ants were perceived on the surface as well to the human race. Surprisingly to Marcos was able to diplomatically come to an agreement with the Queen. Marcos again now found himself dealing with a once mortal enemy now friend, as a diplomat..something he would rather leave to the Emissaries and Governors. Marcos headed out of the tunnels and sought the Infiltrators and standing side by side with Giant Solen Warriors, they destroyed the invaders. As the remaining Solen Warriors and Marcos headed back toward the Matriarchs Lair, the group paused and one of the Solen Warriors motioned and a Giant Beetle approached. Another Solen Warrior lifted Marcos and placed him onto the back of the Giant Beetle. Thinking again to himself that this would just be what Logan would love to see, Marcos bit his tongue and nodded appreciation toward the Solen Warriors and they moved toward the Matriarch's Lair. As Marcos held onto one of the shell layers the Giant Beetle lifted a few others and then clamped them down across Marcos legs. "Hmmm....snug as a bug in a rug."; Marcos chuckled a bit then shook off the notion of riding after this mission was complete. Marcos was truly glad Logan did not hear that. Upon meeting with the Queen, Marcos was escorted out of the Hive with a bag full of powder, not the same as the powder that covered the tunnel floors, but a white sparkling dust he aimed to have the Senator of Arcane investigate further its properties. As they were about to leave the Hive, Marcos spotted a younger female Queen motioning to him. He continued though onward toward Trinsic..thinking to himself what could that young queen want from him? "She must be an ambitious one...I don't think I am her type though, aye Blue?"; Marcos said to his big blue bug he rode off on toward Trinsic. The honeycomb cells of the mount filled with gems for the Empire coffers. "Now If I could figure out how to get my legs free from you Blue....that would be good before we arrive home. Please let Logan not be there."; Marcos said chagrined. Posted by Borg Friday, October 25, 2002 12:00 AM EDT

(RP)-Scientific Discussion World News : Scientific Discussion Sep 26 2002 3:44PM As dusk settled, shadows stretched across the Britannia Castle's cluttered laboratory like a slow liquid oozing across the room. Tiny motes of dust shone slightly in the orange light of the sunset that tried to maintain its grip on the end of the day. The wizard Clainin circled the room lighting candles one by one, gradually illuminating the faces of those who sat around his large circular table. Krett, an experienced scientist, sat with his tinker's tools spread out before him. Also before him, stood a strange metal device that clicked every few seconds. As he waited for the meeting to begin, Krett inserted parts into his device, parts that made strange springing sounds as they were manipulated. To his left sat Borvin, the alchemist. Borvin was a rather sizeable man. Unfortunately, his bulk contained very little muscle, but he was a very experienced and intelligent man when it came to alchemy. Clainin trusted his knowledge. To Borvin's left was an empty chair that awaited Clainin; beside that sat Adranath, wise eternal of the Meer who sat calmly with his fingers laced. "Gentlemen, thank you all for coming." Clainin settled himself at the table and looked at his companions. Krett looked up and smiled as a large spring shot up from his device into the air. He snatched a hand up just in time to grab the wiggly bit of metal and set it back on the table gently. He grinned sheepishly. "It's been awhile since I've been able to hold one of these little chats." As Clainin spoke he brought a small sack out from behind his robe. "I remember your last discussion I had the pleasure of joining." Borvin laughed in his deep voice. "Who was that fellow, that mage who's on the Council of Mages now? Kept going on and on about how the world is kept in some jewel!" Clainin coughed nervously. "Ah. yes, that was. most amusing." Quickly the young wizard changed topics. "Master Adranath, thank you again for taking the time to join us. How are things with the Meer?" "We fare well, Master Clainin, I thank you. I am quite pleased you asked me to attend; it has been. well centuries since I have had the pleasure of discussing a scientific mystery with so many various knowledgeable scholars." The other three men at the table with Adranath swelled with pride after being complimented so highly by a mage who was thousands of years old. Clainin opened his sack and looked around the table excitedly at the others. "Let's begin, shall we?" He reached carefully into the sack and pulled out a very large zoogi fungus, then set it in the center of the table. "As we all know, the Solen hive has been discovered. Unfortunately the danger prevents any safe scientific research at the moment. The question today, my friends, is how does she turn this." he reached into the sack again and pulled out a small vial of translocation powder and placed it beside the fungus, ". into this?" The men stared at the two objects on the table as if they had become entranced. The room became so quiet a pin could be heard dropping. Krett proved this theory by dropping 4 of them. "I, ah. oh, I am sorry. I forgot I had these, ah. in my hand. I'll just put these. ah, yes away here. I'm sorry." He coughed nervously. Again the staring resumed, as if the gathered men could make the answers spring forth from the zoogi fungus by making it nervous with awkward looks. Occasionally one of the men would glance quickly around the table and then instantly back towards the fungus, making sure that everyone else was not staring at them waiting for words. Clainin could sense his social event collapsing. "Would anyone care for something to eat? I could have the cooks bring a small snack." Adranath, Krett and Borvin quickly exchanged glances that clearly indicated the world would crumble into space before they could collectively reach a decision about the food. ". if the rest of you are eating." ". I'm, ah. not starving but." ". I do occasionally enjoy human food." Clainin held up a hand as the men all spoke at once. "I think I'll have the cooks bring something up. Maybe eating will motivate us to think. Any requests?" "Do you have. pizza?" Adranath asked. As if time had come to a crawl the three human's heads turned slowly towards the ancient Meer. "Have I said something wrong?" Adranath's brow wrinkled. "No, no, not at all!" Clainin said quickly. "But, ah. you know, I mean, ah. you like pizza?" Krett asked. Borvin leaned forward, looking concerned. "You did have ale with it, yes?" "I. no, I only tasted the pizza." Adranath looked confused. "Dasha and I saved a small band of travelers from monsters near the Meer Crypt recently and their cook was rather insistent that we stay for a meal so he could show his gratitude. He made for us a. I am saying it correctly? Pizza?" The others nodded. "Your culture's food preparation is so varied and complex to that of the Meer. It is quite new to us. But I found the pizza to be quite enjoyable, very creative." Borvin sat back in his chair and grinned at Clainin. "I think a few pizzas are in order and a few ales." "I suppose the cooks can manage that." Clainin said. "Please excuse me, gentlemen, while I request the food. In the meantime, by all means, don't stop discussing the zoogi powder." His eyes rolled slightly behind his glasses. When he returned three minutes later, the staring contest with the zoogi fungus had resumed. "So." Clainin said loudly as he sat back down in his place at the table. "Who has a theory of how she turns the fungus into the powder? Anyone?" The frustration creeping into Clainin's voice was becoming evident. Adranath cleared his throat. "Ah, perhaps she has some magic powers derived from the decay in Yew? If these creatures are so new to the world I would expect that the decay would be what made them change." "I've examined it in every way I know how, mixed it with every potion I have. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of magic was involved. I don't know how it could be done with any form of alchemy." Borvin said. "Ah, maybe. ah. perhaps it's something the fungus would do naturally on it's own and she just, ah. speeds it along somehow?" Krett absently played with one of the gears on the table in front of him as he spoke, rolling it back and forth. "Some sort of, ah. substance she produces in her body perhaps." Now we're getting somewhere. Clainin thought. "How long before the food arrives?" Borvin asked. * * * Hours later, as the empty plates and mugs were taken away by a castle servant, the discussion had made little progress. "What I'm saying is that perhaps being a product of the decay, she herself could be unknowingly producing and using magic." Clainin said adjusting his glasses. Depending on how fast they grew and whether or not it happened over generations, or to one single generation, magic could sort of be a part of her anatomy, so to speak." "That was really your first ale?" Borvin said to Adranath. "Can we please discuss the fungus and not ale, Borvin?" Clainin asked. "This little mushroom is a mystery and I'm surprised that you're not fascinated by it. This is a huge discovery." "I, ah. wonder if these would be any good on a pizza." Krett mumbled. The others nodded and mumbled in agreement. Clainin's head fell into his hands. "Clainin, I have your sack!" A familiar voice bellowed from the hallway through the door. Shamino, the skilled and trusted ranger, walked into the laboratory with a sack in his hand, grinning. He nodded to the men sitting at the table and tossed the sack to Clainin, who caught it with a surprise and opened it to look inside. "My goodness, this is a lot of powder, Shamino! How did you get this much?" Clainin looked up with a surprised smile. "The Matriarch gave it to me." The ranger sat down on top of a stool with his legs crossed. "Ah, you met her? I've heard rumors that she existed." Clainin closed the sack again. He walked over to a cabinet and put it away for the evening. "We were just. discussing how the queens make this powder out of the zoogi fungus." "If you like I could ask the Matriarch when I go back tomorrow." Shamino offered. "Go back? Why would you go back, Shamino? Wasn't it dangerous enough going in there once?" Borvin asked. "Certainly not, she made me a friend of the hive." Shamino stood up and casually started to walk casually out of the room as he stretched and yawned. "Interesting creatures, when they aren't trying to kill you. I actually got a worker to play catch with a small rock; he was fascinated." Adranath's eyes widened. "They no longer attack you?" "How. ah, how exactly did you manage that?" Krett asked. Shamino turned and grinned again as he made the last few steps out of the room backwards. "You just have to know how to treat a lady." After Shamino left, the men stayed silent in the room for some time. "Well, all this time and we could have just joined Shamino and stayed in the hive as long as we wanted." Clainin sighed. "We could have probably figured out all this fungus business by now." "Nevertheless, Clainin, I did enjoy the discussion this evening." Adranath said. "And the food was delightful." Clainin did his best to not visibly wince. Borvin smiled. "And you had your first ale!" Clainin winced. "And it's, ah. it's not as if the evening was a waste. I think in general we accomplished somewhat of a, ah. scientific achievement here." Krett said. "And what is that?" Clainin asked looking up. Krett held up the small tool handle to which he had attached the one of his fine-toothed gears. "I invented this pizza cutter." Posted by Borg Thursday, September 26, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 12 The Collective Hive pt 1 Harvesters or Harvested CHAPTER 12 The Collective Hive part 1 Harvesters or Harvested September 25, 2002 Posted by Borg Wednesday, September 25, 2002 12:00 AM EDT RP- Orcs and Bombs Orcs And Bombs Sep 19 2002 4:33PM As orcs go, Fud and Grindek were not the most intelligent of individuals. As they looked down from the tree to which they so desperately clung, this fact did not escape them. It wasn't easy being told by most orcs that you were less intelligent, especially when the message was usually delivered by a sharp blow to the head, but actually realizing that you were less intelligent was proving to be far more disagreeable. Fud and Grindek were orc bombers. Science was painfully new to the clan and bombers were chosen very carefully. Most were chosen to continue the profession because they were more intelligent than the average orc. After all, not every strong thinker in the clan desired to become a power-user. Bombers had a new and difficult job to perform; one that was very risky. Almost daily a bomber was killed in the line of duty from making a mistake while mixing his ingredients or by accidentally dropping a bomb or, on more than one occasion, by testing his product for flavor and nutrition. Fortunately for the clan, most of the bombers killed by their own mistakes were like Fud and Grindek, orcs so incredibly stupid that other orcs made fun of them. It took a special kind of painful ignorance to get their job; the kind of utter idiocy that could actually make another orc shake his head sadly and groan. Only these special, these chosen few orcs had the qualities for the most dangerous job in the clan. Fud and Grindek, and those like them, were known as the "bomb-tryers". To say that the job of a bomb-tryer was pointless was not entirely true. The real bombers of the clan did on occasion decide to experiment with their potions in attempts to create better bombs. The real bombers were also too smart to test such things themselves. As a result, the clan leaders created the new position of bomb-tryer. The leaders' job included assigning the position. Complete fools like Fud and Grindek usually accepted the job with great excitement. Today, however, was becoming more exciting for the pair than they had planned. What was supposed to be a simple afternoon of throwing new bombs at things and making them explode had become a nightmare. Far below, in the grass, a number of huge insects chattered in clicks and squeals as they looked upward into branches where the orcs dangled from their fingertips. The ants did not seem pleased. "What we do now?" Fud asked in orcish. "We wait for when big bugs go away!" Grindek replied nervously. Below, one of the Solen stuck the tree violently with his arms. It watched as the orcs above dangled helplessly. Fud was sure the creature was giggling at him. "Me think bugs not go away." Fud whimpered as he struggled to maintain his grip on the branch above him. "Why you run up in tree?" Grindek grumbled as he gripped the branch. "Me run?! You run up tree! Me follow you up here!" Fud yelled. The tree shook violently again to the blows of the Solen below jarring the two orcs. Nearby a large hole in the ground seemed to be producing more and more of the giant insects. Fud and Grindek each reestablished their grip on the branch and looked at each other angrily. "Me follow you up in tree, Fud!" Grindek yelled back at his partner. "Me follow you first! You the dumb one!" Fud snarled back. Again the Solen smacked the tree and watched the two green meals above dangle like pine cones. "Me not dumb!" Grindek's patience was wearing thin. Ignoring the current danger below him he brought his leg up and kicked Fud in the stomach with a grunt. Fud responded with a kick of his own to Grindek's middle. The two began trading wild kicks as they hung precariously from the branch. The Solen stared upward in stunned silence. As the two orcs continued bruising each other, their brains again failed to remind them of danger. Huge experimental bombs designed by the master bombers hung from each of their belts. As they kicked and kicked the bombs, created to do little else than destroy the user in a glorious and entertaining explosion, slowly began to loosen and slip. It wasn't until one of the bombs fell from Fud's belt that the two stopped and took notice. As if time had slowed, they watched the large bomb tumble through the air, end over end, narrowly avoiding each branch of the tree on its way down to the ground. The Solen also watched it fall; their heads moved to follow it on its descent. Finally the bomb reached the ground and the world became a flash of bright light and deafening thunderous noise. Moments later, Fud blinked. He was wrapped around one of the branches of the tree, hugging it tightly. Looking around he saw Grindek near the very top of the tree, swinging like a pendulum on the highest branch. The two orcs looked at each other, then toward the ground where bits of Solen still lay smoldering in the blackened grass. Suddenly, a loud crack echoed through the air. The tree shook. Slowly, but with great determination, it began to fall to the earth. Grindek clung with all his might to the limb, as he watched the Solen hole rapidly approaching him. With a great crash the tree struck the ground sending Grindek flying directly into the dark cavernous portal. With a thunderous roar that shook the ground and rattled Fud out of the branches of the fallen tree, a huge plume of fire and ash erupted from the hole, now Grindek's tomb. . Too stunned to be frightened, Fud stumbled to the smoldering hole, now slightly larger than it was a moment ago. Through his dizziness he could see burnt bits of Solen below. Strangely, the charred Solen seemed to draw closer and closer. Fud began to panic. The Solen were dead! How could they move? Through the confusion a blanket of strange relief settled over him when he realized, "Oh. ants not get closer. me fall in hole!" With a thud he painfully landed in the soft dirt at the bottom of the hole, still warm from Grindek's bomb. Luckily his new bomb did not imitate Grindek's. This was strange; he was inside the ant hole. Ants had been coming out steadily until Grindek... until Grindek's bomb had fallen in! The new bomb was useful, and Fud still had his to show the others! Fud was now a good bomb-tryer! The other bombers in the clan would be impressed! Fud happily scrambled out of the hole back into the sunlight. This was a good day. Fud was alive, he was now the head bomb-tryer, and he was on his way home to brag about it. He was in such a state of bliss he hardly noticed the huge winged shadow closing in behind him. The next day a party of orcs discovered a dead ancient wyrm with a large blackened burst of soot where its head should have been. Posted by Borg Thursday, September 19, 2002 12:00 AM EDT RP- Crazy Miggie World News : Crazy Miggie Sep 12 2002 5:38PM The follwing is an additional story for the FIRST week of scenario fiction. The fiction for week 2 will be published when the scenario gets back on schedule. The Keg and Anchor in Trinsic was usually a calm place, where a weary traveler could stop in for cool ale and a hearty meal. The barkeeps always tried to keep the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant, with a good joke or an entertaining story. Most well-traveled adventurers knew they could find a night away from the rigors of battle and turmoil in a game of chess and a well-played round of dice-tossing in the warm setting of the pub. Only one problem that occasionally broke the calm and that was Crazy Miggie. None of the Keg and Anchor regulars knew where Miggie came from, or what exactly had made him crazy in the first place. Truth be told, they found it hard to care after putting a few pints in their bellies. Miggie, like most famous beggars, was paranoid. He was convinced that every threat that had ever fallen Britannia was there to claim him for evil purposes too horrible to repeat. Miggie fit the description of "crazy beggar" as if he had carefully researched it with a team of librarians and taken a "What do you consider to be an insane beggar?" poll across Britannia. His wild gray hair sloppily shot out in all directions, as if he has just had lightning bolt cast on him; his clothes stank as if he had washed them in a dead plague beast. His face was a maze of wrinkles with one eye that was nearly wrinkled shut. To say the least, Miggie was not a pleasant looking man. People avoided him whenever they could. Mongbats avoided him whenever they could. Nevertheless, Miggie was familiar to those to frequented the Keg and Anchor and his heated ramblings had become more of an amusement than an annoyance, mainly out of necessity to those trying to enjoy themselves. Time and time again he ran into the pub screaming of danger when none was to be found. Miggie had a tendency to become very alarmed very late. After Minax had laid siege to the entire city of Trinsic. things gradually returned to normal. The Keg and Anchor was no different. A fair number of patrons had returned on the pub's reopening for an evening of drunken entertainment. Rodger the guard relaxed in his usual chair taking long gulps of ale in-between boisterous guffaws. Ledge the mage and his portly warrior companion Rul sat near Samuel the barkeep trading stories and taking turns buying rounds of drinks. They needed to relax after seeing the city overrun with undead and relaxing was something they could do professionally if there was money to be made in it. These men were so good at relaxing that they hardly batted an eyelash when Crazy Miggie burst in the door like some sort of Insanity Elemental. "MINAX! She's here! Run for your LIVES! She's come to take over the entire city with her dead man friend! Do I smell bread? I swear I smell fresh brea.. SHE'LL KILL US ALL!!" Miggie grabbed Rodger by his tunic and tried to shake the man, but the burly guard was so strong that Miggie just seemed to flail about wildly. Rodger nearly spit out his ale. "By the shrines, man! Minax was driven from the city two weeks ago! If you do not unhand me this instant I'm going to cut the stink off of you with my halberd!" "That's a good idea there, Rodger!" said Ledge from near the bar. "I've never seen a halberd of mongbat repelling, could be valuable!" Rul laughed aloud and turned to Samuel the barkeep. "I think I'll have to hold off on that next ale, Samuel. Clearly this Minax business needs to be taken care of. Take me to her, Miggie! I'll tickle her out of town! She's quite the looker." He giggled. "Why, Rul, what would your wife say if she could hear you?" asked Ledge. "Wife? Wife! I knew I forgot something! Another ale, Samuel, I like what it does to me!" Rul and Ledge cackled loudly while Rodger did his best to shove Miggie away without touching him too much. "I seen her! She's outside right now! VIRTUES PROTECT ME; SHE'S GOING TO DESTROY US ALL!" Miggie screamed loudly and ripped part of his own shirt dramatically. The customers winced at his gravelly voice. The barkeep, Samuel, had heard enough. "Alright then, Miggie, out we go. Let's go see this horrible Minax. Goodness I'm glad you don't drink. Here." Samuel draped his dirty bar towel on Miggie's shoulder and then clasped his hand on it to lead the beggar out of the bar. Practically using Miggie to push the door open, he led the man a few steps in front of the pub. He could hear chairs shifting as people inside gathered by the window to watch the fun. "Now where is she?" "There! THERE! Oh Mistress Minax, spare me! Spare me, I beg of you! I'll do anything you say, please don't feed me to your dead man friend!" Samuel blinked as he looked into the streets. A grumpy old woman pouring her laundry water into the street stared back with a grimace on her face. "Sorry there Mrs. Brinstein, just Miggie having a bit of fun with us. Give my regards to Mr. Brinstein." The old woman let out a growl that would scare wolf pack leaders. "Go on, Miggie, stay out of the pub tonight, won't you? And while we're at it, stay out of my garbage." Samuel gave Miggie a little shove, leaving his bar rag on the man's shoulder. Miggie looked up into the threatening eyes of Mrs. Brinstein. Throwing the rag at her and screaming for mercy he bounded into the night to the laughter of everyone inside the bar. * * * "Exodus! EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!! He's sent his wicked metal men after me! They want to make me a metal man! His horrible, horrible gargoyles chased me for days!" Miggie collapsed into a jittering heap on the floor of the pub, covering his head with his arms. He shook as if someone had cast earthquake. Samuel didn't even look up from the mug he was polishing. "Defeated three weeks ago, Miggie." "No! NO! Big angry Bolems are after meeeee!" Miggie swatted violently at the air around him as if trying to spread his smell around the pub. "Golems, Miggie, Golems." Ledge said from his seat at the bar. "Exodus isn't going to send anymore Golems after us, he doesn't have any slaves left to make them." "Nice people those gargoyles!" Rul said before chugging the last of his beer. "Ledge and I saw their city, beautiful place. Not much to drink there though." Ledge quietly nudged Rul and gave Rodger a knowing look from across the room. "Say, Rodger, you're the city guard here. Why don't you. um. take Miggie outside and show him there's nothing to be frightened of?" "Because I still have some ale left in my glass and besides it's Samu. Oh, Oh, yes I am a guard! I am a guard and it is certainly my duty to make sure this citizen is safe! Here we go, Miggie, I'll show you that there's nothing outside that's after you." Rodger poked the quivering beggar with the back end of his halberd and got him to his feet. Ledge and Rul were nearly falling over each other trying to hold in their laughter. Rodger poked Miggie out the front door of the pub and within seconds a scream was heard that nearly shook the building. A stinky gray streak blurred past the two windows. Ledge and Rul were almost on the floor convulsing with laughter. "Samuel, I owe Ledge an ale." Rodger said grinning. "You were right. Building your own golem was useful." * * * From outside, everyone could hear Miggie's crazed rambling growing closer and closer until the door was opened by the shiniest set of armor, quite possibly, in the world. Inside the armor was a very young handsome warrior with a brightly colored sword and scabbard at his side. The man looked as if he had stepped out of a child's bedtime story about heroes and dragons. Miggie bounced around the man, yipping like a small, excited dog. "Ants! Giant ants the size of horses! HUGE, HUGE insects that could eat a man for supper! They were after me for their next meal I tell you!" Miggie almost seemed happy to have someone new to talk to. The more drunken of the Keg and Anchor patrons watched Miggies reflection bounce about on the man's mirror-like armor. "What can I get you today good sir?" Samuel asked the man. "Mug of ale for your pleasure this evening?" "Ale would make me less alert. A simple drink of water is all any good knight requires." The man said in a haughty voice. "I think that's the prettiest man I've ever seen." Rul giggled quietly to Ledge. The armored warrior shot a look at the two of them as if he could hear what they were saying. They coughed their laughter away. "I need saving good knight! The giant ants want to eat me! I seen 'em try to eat two orcs stuck up in a tree! They'll eat anything! I'd be eternally grateful to you my liege!" Miggie's throat made a sound like logs being ripped in half and he spit on the young warrior's armor. Using the ripped sleeve of his shirt he began to polish the spit into a nice smudge. The warrior, trying to ignore the new stain on his breastplate, looked around the room. "Who shall be brave enough to accompany me to seek out that which threatens this good man?" The silence in the room became deafening. The laughter that followed it was nearly explosive. "Wait, wait. you believe Miggie? Giant ants?! That's classic, that is!" Rul's face was bright red with giggles. "Miggie's finally making up his own monsters, I don't know if he's getting better or worse!" The man's face bent into a scowl. He looked down at Rodger who had his feet propped up and the last half of a mug of ale sliding into his throat. "You good sir, you are a city guard - are you not? Does virtue not bind you to protect this man with your life? Have you no valor?" "Certainly I have valor!" Rodger said behind a half-drunken grin. "I drink Samuel's ale don't I?" More laughter boomed around the room. "You, wise mage." the warrior nearly spat the words out. "Have you no compassion for this poor wretch?" The warrior was trying to gently stop Miggie's effort to soil his armor. "I think I ran out of compassion about three pints ago." Ledge flipped his mug upside down and set it on the bar. "Sam, one more glass of indifference for the road, please?" Samuel handed a fresh mug to Ledge and brought a glass of water to the young warrior. "We mean no offense, sir. Miggie here is known for his. creative. stories. If he says he saw giant ants chances are he fell face first into an ant hill and saw some up close." The young warrior seemed disgusted with the entire room. "None of you have faith that this man speaks honestly?" If people exchanging amused glances had a sound it would have been louder than an orc bomber being tossed on a fire in the pub. "I shall slay these giant ants for you if these cowards will not! Come good sir, and lead me to this nest of fiends that you. stop touching my armor. Now." Miggie followed the man out the door of the pub bouncing around and chattering again as if he had never told the story. * * * The next evening the man in shiny armor had become the talk of the pub. Ledge, Rul, and Rodger laughed for hours imagining the so-called knight stepping on ants all night. It wasn't until the pub door opened and Miggie stood silently in the doorway that they were stunned into silence. Miggie looked as if he had been run over by a stampede of balrons. Blood caked his hair and his clothes. He stood with a slight slump. These details were difficult to notice, however, due to the large ant heads clamped on to his body. The jaws of the heads clung onto him as if the ants were still biting him in death. One was locked around his neck, one around his right arm and one around his ankle. He looked as if he was wearing some sort of bizarre jewelry. In his left hand he carried the dented breastplate of the young warrior from the night before. His footsteps seemed to echo in the room as he limped slowly up to the bar and leaned casually on it. "Ale, please?" he asked calmly. Samuel nodded silently and poured a drink and slid it down the bar into Miggie's hand. Miggie casually pulled the giant ant head off of his wrist and set it on the bar so that he could guzzle the ale. He slammed the glass down on the bar and lifted the shiny armor, then dropped it with a clang in front of Samuel. "Will this cover the drink?" Samuel nodded. Miggie smiled and picked up the ant head from the bar and stuck it under his arm. As he shuffled out of the pub he looked at Rul and Ledge. "So. giant ants, eh?" The pair nodded, still to stunned to speak. Miggie stopped in the doorway and very slowly turned around to look at everyone. "I almost forgot. That golem thing? Not funny." With that, he turned and walked into the night. Posted by Borg Thursday, September 12, 2002 12:00 AM EDT THE OPS- Images of New Bugs and Fire Ants Colony Posted by Borg Thursday, September 5, 2002 12:00 AM EDT RP- I think, Therefore I Dig World News : I Think, Therefore I Dig Sep 5 2002 2:55PM The thoughts came slowly and randomly at first, like feathers drifting through an open window in a slight breeze. A consciousness was forming; one that, like a young child, started with small awkward steps that led to an unbalanced run and quickly dissolved into a clumsy fall. It was... frustrating, especially for a mind that was just becoming developed enough to be frustrated. After what seemed like an eternity of struggle the mind could manage to maintain the thoughts in a crude order, but not so crude an order as to be incomprehensible. Brief moments of understanding came in bursts, full thoughts that would not dissipate into a mist of confusion again, but would freeze like ice into a solid memory. Every new thought that was born led to the creation of newer and more complicated works of thinking. Faster and faster the consciousness grew, building ever stronger and more solid until a full cohesive principle was formed, one that would have more impact than any other upon the intellect. The being became self-aware. For the first time the intelligence had a grasp of the concept that it was an individual. No longer was it a simple arrangement of crude instincts and basic reactions, but a being capable of recognizing itself as a separate entity. A universe of possibility expanded in an instant. The creature, the mind inhabited, examined its limbs in the darkness. They were important. They belonged to it; it controlled them because they were a part of itself. The very thought was fascinating for a mind so young. Self-recognition was almost startling; suddenly the universe and the self were torn apart. The world that was once merely a backdrop for instinctive routine now hung like a mysterious curtain hiding incomprehensible wonders. Looking around the creature tried to recognize other things, slowly at first so the mind could have time to remember. If a thought was grazed over too quickly it could dissolve into distraction and forgetfulness. It reached out with a limb and touched the wall in front of it. The dirt crumbled away slightly in a familiar manner and the creature could see some remain on its appendage. This place was familiar. The creature belonged here. Primitive instinct swelled and grew eventually blossoming into clarity; this place was home. There was safety here. The... something was here, something important. Sounds from behind the being made it spin around quickly in surprise. A creature, something the mind was sure was alive, stood there silently and unmoving. The two remained still for a few moments when another sensation sent the being's mind reeling. Smells. There were old scents that went straight to the core of the new intellect's world and exploded in bursts of memory. Instantly there was no doubt, this new creature was a friend, a fellow. This place was also its home. It also seemed to recognize the being as nothing threatening and soon turned it's attention to the walls and the soil. Everything was so new and was coming so fast, but the creature's mind was expanding quickly to keep up. The consciousness continued to grow and elaborate; birthing fresh concepts with each new sight and scent. It was... pleasing, enjoyable to discover so much at once. Learn, discover - there was nothing else at the moment. Suddenly it all stopped in an instant. A new scent, one so familiar... so powerful... it was undeniable. The creature did not have to see anything with its eyes to understand this scent. With every part of itself it knew what message was being sent. Leader... This was not just fresh knowledge, this was something more. This knowledge came with purpose, information with direction. The creature could see that others like it also understood. Worlds of communication came with the instantly shocking scent and spread throughout every consciousness that was capable of detecting it. Commands. Orders. Instructions. The creatures within the space looked around as if to confirm with each other that what they all knew was true. As one they began to act and carry out the will of the single being they would allow to command them. With purpose and determination, hundreds of creatures had the same thought at once, a thought so clear and so familiar there could be no mistaking it. Dig Posted by Borg Thursday, September 5, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 11 Savage Swamps Part 4 Parting Ways Chapter 11 Savage Swamps Part 4 Parting Ways The morning sun had not yet broken over the tops of the Destard Mountains and the only sounds heard were of the rustling of life waking up from slumber and rest. In a great cascade of explosions the innocence of the unborn dawn was obliterated. Grenadiers launched volleys of explosion pots at the south western edge of the Savage Capital of Nassasho. Huts burst into flames while the ground itself became a literal flaming wave cleansing everything in its path. Savage Shamen began to quench the fires while Savages began to assemble from their huts and begin to organize defensively. The Fleet of HONOR began to swing around and from the decks of the warships launched flights of arrows into the air toward the Savage forces moving toward the coast. Warlocks on board began to send walls of Plague and Fire onto the land as Savage warriors felt the arrows reach of the Ranger Cohort. Savages fell and began to litter the landscape but still more came from their huts. "Send the signal"; commanded Imperator Prometheus. A Grenadier attached a fireworks wand to an explosion pot and lit its fuse...launching it toward the Savage city the pot exploded releasing a flurry of fireworks in the sky above Nassasho. The Savages took notice and for a moment several looked around in a slight awe. It was then that the planks of the Fleet of HONOR struck down upon the burned coastline and the Gladiator Lines charged toward Nassasho. Rangers launched another flight of arrows then re assembled in formation inland while Warlocks poured in behind the Gladiators laying down plague and fire onto the Savage forces. Naval Buccaneers began to secure the beachhead and began to assist the Grenadiers in unloading their crates of explosives. A deep bellowing horn broke over the sound of battle, resonating and bouncing off the Destard mountains in the Northeast.. Savage forces now began to hear the marching sound of men moving through the swamps as Decurion Marcos the Black fought through muck and mire to reach Nassasho opposite the landing forces led by Centurion Coldren. Savage Shamen circled and enchanted the swamp itself to rise up and defend Nassasho as Poisonous and Acid Elementals formed alongside Plague Beasts. The battle raged and as the morning sun began to break over the Destard Mountains nearly all of Nassasho was engaged and Warlocks pounded the area with Meteor Storms and Ice Fields freezing Plague Beasts cold. Gladiator Lines began to mop up remaining Savage resistance while Grenadiers began to place their demolition chests around the city. Legionnaires moved to secure the city limits and helped move wounded onto the Fleet decks for medical aid. They had seen their first action and survived well the first test of their metal and minds. Centurion Coldren moved into the Capital building in Nassasho and found its throne empty. On the back of the throne was a familiar symbol...the seal of Lord Blackthorn. In the doorway appeared a pair of Shamen in shackles led by a pair of Gladiators. "It seems your Master seems to be absent."; Centurion Coldren states as he points toward the throne then looking back at the Savages. The Savages say nothing but look at Coldren curiously and at each other in vain. "As you can see..Blackthorn cares nothing for your people or your city...if he did he would have come to your aid would he not?"; barked Centurion Coldren with distaste for using Blackthorn's name. "You will be released Shamen...you are to inform your kind that Skara Brae and the Trinsic Mountains are no longer to be raided or trespassed upon. The destruction of your city of Nassasho will remain in your memory of the consequence of returning to your aggressive ways..and...AND for your allegiance to Lord Blackthorn!"; declared Centurion Coldren. As the Centurion motioned to the Gladiator guards to remove the shackles, Coldren moved toward the throne and prepared to sit upon it...he quipped; "Wouldn't Blackie be pissed to see me sitting in his chair aye?: As he began to sit the Shamen tried to stop him but the Gladiator Guards collared them and held them down by force. Centurion Coldren sat upon the throne with Lord Blackthorn's Chaos seal..a whirl was heard then a click then quick schwashes of air. "For HONOR..."; Centurion Coldren began to struggle to speak. "and...Emperrrrr"; Centurion Coldren's speech blurred to the sound of his flesh sliding away from itself. He had been cut by lines that made up the chaos symbol, giant blades and gizmos had diced him completely. Gladiators stood stunned and a few hollered for Warlocks. Centurion Coldren's Spirit was no where to be found. As one Gladiator guard unsheathed his sword to take his vengeance out on one of the Shamen. Imperator Prometheus entered and held his arm from its ill Justice. "Nay..sheath your swords..NOW!"; commanded Imperator Prometheus. "They have a job to do..let them go....Warlocks find his spirit"; ordered Imperator Prometheus. As morning moved to afternoon...still there was no sign of Centurion Coldren's spirit. His belongings were sealed up and taken aboard ship. Centurion Liz Shu reported in that there were no Warlocks able to find his spirit and that the Healers as well were unable to ascertain anything from his remains. The city of Nassasho was then abandoned by the Legion forces and as Plague beasts fed on the dead Savages and carcasses of ridgebacks and alligators, Imperator Prometheus ordered the demolition. It is said that citizens felt tremors in Skara and Trinsic when the Grenadiers from saftey of the Fleet of HONOR ignited the crates as it sailed for home. Imperator Prometheus knew of the rumors of the power the Books of the Dead held..he hoped perhaps through them could they find a way to bring back their lost soul of their comrade...their friend and brother. Never had a victory been so complete and so empty for the Gladiator line as it returned to Olympus and disembarked for Trinsic. The Lancer and Pike Cohorts had returned to the Imperial Barracks in Trinsic while Shadowriders were just stabling their mounts when the somber gladiators marched under the Arch of HONOR. "FOR HONOR"; they all declared as their hearts filled with ache. Back at Olympus Emperor Borg sat in his throne and received reports from each Centurion on the battles details. Imperator Prometheus reported in and accounted for Centurion Coldren's demise. Calmly Emperor Borg turned toward Praetorian Prefect Ser Brightblade and instructed Senator Kalinaf and Imperator Prometheus to remain. As the others departed for Trinsic, Praetorian Prefect Ser Brightblade opened a gate to the crypt where Dr Codene and Anfalas worked on the Books of the Dead. When they arrived they found it empty and only the sandy sinkhole in the corner. "They have them m'lord..we must find them."; remarked Praetorian Prefect Ser Brightblade. Slowly raising an arm and dropping a stone into the sand, Emperor Borg watched it sink in a spiral of sand. "Yes we must...but whom shall go?"; stated Emperor Borg in a question but knowing the answer. As all of the men volunteered...Emperor Borg decided not all would go. "Kalinaf take SteelDarknight and Silvanna with you to see Emeritus Gregory Merideth.he will join you on this mission. Prometheus you will temporarily be the Senator of War and we will promote Rand to Decurion while Steel is on this mission."; explained Emperor Borg "As you wish m'lord"; Kalinaf responded and a gate opened and they left Emperor Borg alone in the crypt. "Is this your work my old friend?"; Emperor Borg asked as he dropped another stone into the sand and it began again to spiral. There was no answer...or was there. Posted by Borg Sunday, September 1, 2002 12:00 AM EDT

OSI CONTEST-5th Anniversary Birthday Card Contest Ultima OnlineT 5th Anniversary Birthday Card Contest Did you ever fancy yourself an artist? Well, now's your chance to show it! Design and submit your idea for an electronic 5th birthday card for Ultima Online (UO) by September 4th. If your entry is chosen as the one that best embodies the allure and history of UO, you could be immortalized in UO history alongside Blackthorn and Dawn! The winning entry will be sent out via email to all participating (UO) players in North America on September 25th, the actual 5th anniversary of Ultima Online. The winner will also receive a collection of Electronic Arts Inc. PC games valued at over $200!* To enter, create an image that is no larger than 600 pixels wide by 2200 pixels tall (1MB maximum file size. Yes, Flash is acceptable!) that captures the spirit of both the history and future of Ultima Online. Send that image, via email, to cardsubmission at uo.com with your design, name, and birthday. For official rules please go to uo.com/contestrules.html. Posted by Borg Sunday, August 18, 2002 8:43 AM EDT OSI CONTEST-A Tour of UO Spotlight Topic: A Tour of UO From shrines to dungeons to quaint little places tucked away in remote locations, Ultima Online is filled with interesting areas to visit. Whether you'd prefer to hold a picnic by a scenic waterfall, or stage a great battle near a viscous lake of lava, these places provide wonderful backdrops for your in-game events and gatherings. For out next spotlight, we're taking a tour of UO. If there's a particular area in-game that holds a special place in your heart, or one that merely appeals to your eye, we'd like to hear from you! Tell us about your favorite in-game locations and why they're so special! Email your submission, with a screenshot of your favorite location attached, to uo-profiles at uo.com by Thursday, August 22nd. Please be sure your submission falls between 100-500 words, and include "UO Tour" in your subject line. The screenshot should be in bitmap format, and 640x480 resolution. Please provide a name and phone number for verification of the story. Submissions to "uo-profiles" become the property of OSI and may be used for special events, promotions, and/or advertising. All submissions must be made by the original author and are subject to verification. DEADLINE THURSDAY AUGUST 22nd. Posted by Borg Sunday, August 18, 2002 8:41 AM EDT Chapter 11 Savage Swamps pt 3 Sand Storm Chapter 11 Savage Swamps Part 3 Sand Storm The Fleet was at sea, the garrisons of Trinsic, Vesper and Olympus were on alert.all was underway. From the top of Mondain's Tower a cold dark figure conversed with an eerie voice coming from a spiraling vortex hovering in the air. "It has begun..Borg has moved his Knights and Pawns."; the vortex said. Below the pair on the grounds patrolled young Daemons that tried to ignore the playful imps that boldy harassed their towering cousins. One Daemon grabbed on of the imps and flung its puny body across the maze hedges; landing impaled on a giant cactus. Snickering.the cold dark figure with eyes gleaming a faint pale yellow turned to face the spiraling vortex..his hood creating a featureless darkness. "We need those books translated! Once complete we will command all that have fallen.past, present and future!"; exalted the cold dark figure. "Of course...of course you do..but my friend..you have heard of the books guardian..it seeks to regain them."; calmly responded the spiraling vortex in an eerie echoing voice. "Bah...If you men aht Army of the Sands.they will be no matter to me.once we have control the power held within those books..they themselves will be mine to command!"; responded the cold dark figure. With a hiss and a whirl, the cold dark figure spun and raised an arm and pointed toward the Daemons below. "Combined with my army of the Possessed Souls.I will have no further need of the living. Remember my friend...the Juka and Savages are expendable..the more that die.the more I will have at my command!!"; the cold dark figure barks as he casts a spell. A catastrophic blast of poisonous energy obliterates a young Daemon below, blasting it to bits just as an imp throws a stone at it. The imp feeling as if he had just slain the giant kin begins to jump boastfully. "Mindless these are..but..the will do the job well enough."; added the cold dark figure. As the Imps now return to chasing each other about; the dark figure bows his head a bit and upon rising his arms and head..one eye begins to glow brilliant red. A crack in the ground appears and is pried open by a pair of razor sharp claws. Standing upright on the surface appears a searing red form that then looks up toward his master. A deep hum resonates and a metal claw points down toward the Imps. The searing red Daemon howls and in a flash impales all of the Imps with its razor sharp claw. As if it was finishing a meal from a great chef; the searing red Daemon swallows and cleans his fingers of each last drop of Imp Blood. "Your pet seems..seems hungry."; the spiraling vortex points out. "Yes Paradox.he is.but this is just a snack for him...his dinner time will be soon enough.once his prey are full of themselves with glory and pride...then he and the other Possessed Souls will feast."; answers the cold dark figure as he releases the Chaos Daemon back into the ground. "I must return to Ilshenar, the controllers are rebuilding my Golem garrisons.with the release of the Evil Champions keeping the realm occupied..this has given my forces time to rebuild..for that you have been useful to me Paradox."; the cold dark figure states as he casts a red and black pulsating gate and disappears. "Useful..heh...Blackthorn you are just like the mortals and immortals that came before you..they all perceived everything so personally..they will never learn."; Paradox says to himself as he glides across the night sky. Passing over the road from Trinsic to Britain; Paradox can see the Legionnaire colum marching north for the Britain Crossroads. "Pawns...Borg you play a good game.but this game is larger than even you or Blackthorn realize..it is my board you both play upon."; Paradox says to himself as he vanishes into the night sky. Below in formation... "REMEMBER LADS..KEEP YOUR WITS AND MAINTAIN YOUR LINES!!!"; Marcos the Black shouts to the Legionnaires. The Legionnaires were salty and they nearly gleamed with pride at heading out for their first action. As the lines turned toward the Britain Pass, the Imperial colors flew in the distance atop Safe Haven Tower. The Praetorian Guards stood solidly at their posts, but as the column turned south..there stood a gauntlet of Praetorian Guards. The Praetorian Prefect, SerBrightblade, hollered orders and the two single columns of Praetorians reformed a ceremonial arch. As the Legionnaire column passed under their raised halberds. "STRENGTH AND HONOR!" FOR HONOR AND EMPIRE!"; shouted the Praetorian Guards. The Legionnaires spirits, already high, now were bonded together even more firmly. The elite division of the Empire, the Emperor's personal bodyguards, the Praetorians had saluted them! Marcos could see the bond was now complete and his Legionnaires focus was so strong..HONOR would take the field tomorrow and no force of evil would defeat their line of HONOR. Unknown to the Empire though.. unseen my anyone... back in the tomb........ where Dr Codene and Anfalas translated the Books of the Dead... their work was interrupted by a digging and scratching noise resonating from the stones that held them safe Anfalas, the Vampire, hovered and felt his way along the walls searching for the source. Dr Codene stood from his chair and also tried to find the source of this noise. The sound stopped. Anfalas and Dr Codene looked at each other and as the Dr sat back down to continue his translations a massive blast and column of sand rose from the corner behind him and began to ensnare him in a sandstorm. Anfalas moved quickly and as he cast spell spell after spell he realized all forms of fire did not weaken the Sandstorm's grip on Dr. Codene. Out of the Sandy pit now rose a Sand Scorpion, Mummy and Skeleton Lancer. Anfalas engulfed the area in chain lightning which damaged the attackers Dr Codene pulled his dagger out and thrust it into the head of the Sand Scorpion. The Mummy grabbed for the books and the Skeleton Lancer impaled Anfalas with his lance. As the Mummy retreated into the sand; the Skeletal Lancer carried the impaled Anfalas on his lance back down into the sand pit. The Army of the Sands had regained its powerful books of controlling the Dead and the secrets to the Dark Arcane art of Necromancy. The only thing that remained now in the tomb was a sand pit and the dead Sand Scorpion with Dr Codene's dagger buried into its mantle. Posted by Borg Saturday, August 17, 2002 2:01 PM EDT Chapter 11 Savage Swamps pt 2 Eye of the Storm Chapter 11 Savage Swamps Part 2 Eye of the Storm A pigeon landed on the castle wall as Kalinaf, Senator of War, and Emperor Borg reviewed the Legion assembling below. The seal upon the parchment was familiar to both and as Emperor Borg began to untie the note.. "It seems Arthil sends us word..it will be odd not to hear his drums of war for this campaign."; Senator Kalinaf remarked. "That it will brother"; responded Emperor Borg as he unraveled the parchment and began to read. Finishing the note, Emperor Borg rolled up the parchment, clasp his hands behind his back and joined Senator Kalinaf looking down upon the Legionnaire lines training. "Do you feel they are ready?"; asked Emperor Borg. ""The art of war...they have prepared for greatly..it is the fog of war that concerns me."; replied Senator Kalinaf with a torsion of concern between his lips. "Agreed"; responded Emperor Borg as he began to turn toward Lord Dupre's office within Olympus Castle. "Send them on foot to join the assault with the Orc Clans..the journey will ease their nerves"; commanded Emperor Borg. Senator Kalinaf responded with greater concern on his voice; "Aye.m'lord.with the Orcs..it shall be done." Marcos the Black, who was the acting Decurion, had trained the Orcs during his captivity years ago. An act that at first nearly cost him his freedom and life itself, but was found to be justified when the Savage allegiance was discovered with Lord Blackthorn. The Orcs learned the bezerker attack, archery and grenadier tactics to counter the beast and healing power of the Savage tribemen and women. The Legionnaires would surely find themselves in the fog of war and beside the Orcs..Emperor Borg was counting on this venture to continue to focus attention on the new evil force and away from ancient hatred. Ancient hatred that nearly wiped out the Orcs once....the Orc clans were no way close to a threat they once were years ago. Lord Blackthorn now was the focus of the realms' attention..and now the Empire moved to eliminate one of Lord Blackthorns allegiances. As Marcos received the news his lines of Legionnaires would march to the capital of the Savage Tribes, Nassasho; the horizon across the Bay of Burgouse began to fill with Imperial black and purple sails. The Fleet of Honor was arriving to serve as transport for the Gladiator, Ranger and Warlock lines that would land on the southern swamps of Nassasho and move to converge with the northern land assault by the Orcs and Legionnaires. Alchemists began to bring chests and chests of grenades for the Fleet's Grenadiers, who would soften the defenses of the Savages with a naval bombardment. The Dragon and Heran forces were to be garrisoned in Trinsic and at Olympus, while the Praetorian Guard were assigned to Safe Haven Tower and the protection of Dawn during the campaign. Centurion Baltazar and his Shadowriders were sent to attack and occupy Lord Blackthorns mechanics and occupy his forces in Ilshenar, while the Lancer and Pike Cohorts were marching on the Jukan city of Mistas. Through the months of skirmishes the Legion had learned the weakness of the Juka armor to the Pike and the Jukan Mages and Warriors inability to parry a lance from a charge. This effort would be the first strike in eliminating Lord Blackthorns ability to hold the realm in his iron grip of terror..one by one his allies would be eliminated from his command. "One by one we will cut off the fingers of Lord Blackthorn.brothers!"; exclaimed Centruion Coldren as the Gladiator lines boarded their transports. "Until all that remains is a bloody stump with no ability to reach out against the realm!"; added Centurion Coldren. Up in Lord Dupre's office, Emperor Borg placed the note from Arthil into the communications chest. As he clasp the lock closed..a familiar wake stirred the air behind him. "Dupre ye are not..since his feet would be solidly on the ground like a great Gladiator's would..Balandar. Though you try not to make noise..I can always hear you brother"; Emperor Borg said as he turned to face his Magistrate. "Something is not right m'lord"; remarked Balandar. "Oh...I know you are the cautious one brother..but I sense nothing amis this evening or in recent days."; replied Emperor Borg. "That is what is amiss sire..we..you have always sensed something..it is that which is missing." Balandar said as he glided alongside the Emperor as they moved back along the wall of the Castle. "The It you speak of..do you mean Parados?..his involvment?"; asked Emperor Borg. "Perhaps...this quiet is ..well it is longer than we have ever had before."; answered Balandar. "Ahh..yes..I see..this is a long quiet..but my brother..this is but the eye of the storm..we do not stir the air with war...but return into the storm that was brought upon us nearly a year more ago."; replied Emperor Borg. As the two watched the fleet begin to set sail; Balandar looked up toward the sky..not a cloud was in sight. "It is there brother..just out of view.soon enough you will have your wind and rain.the storm will return"; commented Emperor Borg. "I only wish we could see it...at least."; Balandar began to say but was cut off by Emperor Borg. "Be careful brother..be careful what you wish for Magistrate."; Emperor Borg stated as he saluted the Legion sailing off to the chants of FOR HONOR AND EMPIRE...FOR HONOR AND EMPEROR. "It is not what I wish for m'lord that worries me..it is for what should I wish?"; replied Gbalandar as he cast a gate within the air and vanished. Emperor Borg took in a deep breath then turned toward the Dragoons and Herans assembled in the courtyard. "PREPARE THE DEFENSES!!!...This is going to be a LONG NIGHT MY BRETHREN!!!"; shouted Emperor Borg. From the wind blew a whisper unnoticed by all around... "Yessss..yes it will my friend..yes it will" Posted by Borg Monday, August 12, 2002 12:41 AM EDT

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Posted by Borg Tuesday, July 23, 2002 4:39 PM EDT Chapter 11 Savage Swamps pt 1 Sight Unseen Chapter 11 Savage Swamps Part 1 Sight Unseen Elwe D'Loch, nicknamed spawn for his small quickness of a hellcat spawn from Hades, sat in a tree overlooking the Savage Swamps. Elswe had been sent by Shadowrider Centurion Baltazar to keep an eye on the Savage capital of Nassasho. The Empire had received a request from Dawn to bring about an end to the Savage alligence with Lord Blackthorn. Lord Blackthorn was known to have no respect for his allies the Juka and even less concern for the Savages that had aligned with him long ago. It was this allegiance that was discovered after they had successfully duped the realm into thinking the Orcs were guilty of all the oppressions and attacks on Cove civilians. This led to a climatic battle led by the Ancient Allies against the Orc Clans; nearly wiping them out totally. Instead the Orcs were pushed to build a new Capital within the walls of Orc Valley and the Savages flowed from their hidden homes and now occupy several swamps and regions. Historical Renderings of Orc Wars Final Battle The plan was simple enough; attack the Savage capital of Nassasho and when Lord Blackthorn did not send them aid or assistance.even the Savage mind would realize they meant nothing to Lord Blackthorn. As Elwe chewed on a birch tree twig for its sweet flavor.he caught a familiar scent on the wind..ORC. The trained Shadowrider quickly swing about in his perch for a more defendable stance to his quarter and held fast an arrow in its notch ready for launch. The foul scented figure moved methodically and directly toward the tree Elwe held as his post. Letting loose of the arrow, the air was cut and as it thrust through the robe of the approaching figure.the figure froze and bellowed softly. "ACK..ELWE."; the figure spouted. Leaning forward and becoming more visible, Elwe wryly smiled and motioned for the figure to approach. As the figure stepped forward it examined the hole cut clean through the robe between its thighs. "Evening brother"; Elwe greeted Boldar Blood, the Orc Observer. "How goes your surveillance?"; asked Boldar. "Quiet..just like I like it...are you heading to speak to the Orc Clans?"; asked Elwe "Aye.Senator of War, Kalinaf has given me the charge to rally a northern assault by the Orcs while the Imperial Navy bombards and lands our Legion on the southern shores."; answered Boldar. "Still...seems so odd.cooperation and an allegiance with the Orcs.never thought I would see that day."; remarked Elwe. "HA.that coming from a Drow is an irony as well..but Orcs are not as bad as most think..they just see things differently..they are strong with Honor brother.in that we are similar."; replied Boldar rocking back to a comfortable lean onto the tree branch. "Strong in odor..that I will give you and agree to."; chuckled Elwe. "Well..you get used to it..you smell like poodoo you know."; rebuttled Boldar. "Speak for yourself."; Elwe responded as he shoved Boldar in jest. The two sat in the branches and could see the lights of the Savage camps and capital of Nassasho flickering to the south. Interesting sight..a Drow now Knight and for all intense purposes an Orc sitting in a tree together. Soon the two great armies would both converge upon the swamps below. Elwe could not help but remember the last time he stood on that swampland... *fades to memories* The story of Elwe D'Loch The Black Sun rose and cast shadows of hate across the courtyard as Elwe D'Loche rose from his day of un-restful sleep. It had been 3 days of unrest for the young Drow scout and still he struggled with thoughts. Elwe had always been a curious Drow and that was what inclined him to enlist as a scout raider in the Queens Dark Army the Eclipse. Years prior he would never had believed that his curiosity would be the means to his end of service to his brethren. Three nights prior Elwe's party of Drow raided a loosly guarded camp of the Scale[Lizzardmen Army]. Successful and effective under the cover of darkness; the Drow filled their packs with supplies. Upon returning to the secret entry to the City of Dark Evil the sound of thunder and armor began to grow close. Animals from the area began to run opposite the Drow and the elder commanded the party to take refuge in the foliage. The Drow were overburdened and the supplies were more needed than the glory of battle. Elwe parted a branch in time to see the night fog begin to stir then part abruptly. His eyes opened wide to see black armored horsemen with dark purple capes cut through the darkness as easily as the Drow could. As quickly as they appeared the sound of the thunder began to lessen. The Drow returned to their path back to their city; Elwe lagging behind asking questions all the way. As the Drow reached the door the elder snapped with conviction to Elwe to end his barrage of questions. Drow Elder; "It is against the law of Lloth to be concerned of the ways of man; only to know how to destroy them is needed. And the Eclipse[Drow Army] know how to do that." Elwe replied; "Would it not be prudent to know our enemy totally; could we not be even more adept at defeating them?" Drow Elder; "Elwe if you continue I will gladly inform your family of your death; for if you continue against the law of Lloth you will be struck down and I will have none of this sacrilege under my command." Elwe nodded and silenced himself to the others, but continued to wonder to himself who and what those riders were. Tonight, as Elwe fitted himself for duty, he strapped on his arms and picked up his flight of arrows then he revisited in his mind the dark riders. He had not noticed before but now he recalled a flight of arrows on the back of one of the riders.they were archers. The Drow were moving to eliminate a Scale stronghold located southwest of the Dragon Caves. The Dragon Caves are a prime source of food and leather for the Drow and the Scale forces have blockaded this for months now. As Elwe received blessing from the cleric he and his cohort began the march into the night. Lizzardmen are less active and slow at night since they are not warm-blooded. The Drow engaged the Scale fiercly and with much success the night seemed to be won. The night sky was filled with the sound of Drow bolts and arrows cutting through the air and flesh of the Scale. A Death Knight Cohort cut through Scale that met the force head on. Arms, legs and tails of Scale were strung about as local wolves began to feast on the carnage. Suddenly the night sky began to burn as from behind the Drow came fireballs from Drakes and Dragons alike. The Scale had brought score of beasts to bear down on the Drow; the land and sky both now burned with heat. The Scale forces became more powerful and swifter as the ambient temperature of the area rose. Drow forces began to be pushed out onto the penninsula of the swamp area. More forces of the Scale were in waiting and Elwe's cohort was scattered. As he stood back to back with another Drow a fierce blast of heat overcame Elwe as a Dragon blast obliterated his comrade. Elwe was thrown into the Ocean and began to swim away from shore. He reached for a log floating nearby and turned to see the whole skyline lit ablaze and could hear the battle still raging. Fireballs began to slam into the water nearby as a Dragon had taken flight and was heading for him. Elwe submerged and swam further and further until he surfaced and could not see the Dragon anymore. Exhausted and now cold in the ocean Elwe floated on his back with the current resting and hoping for sight of land. Another log was visible and he gathered it under his arms for support. Elwe was fatigued and could not keep consciousness...he passed out. Elwe's mind now began to envision many a thought and blur all did his mind as it coped with the stress to his body. His senses were in chaos as the reality of the moment began to slowly take hold of him. He had washed up onto a beach and as Elwe struggled with the brightness of the daylight the sound of a deep voice became clear. "Ho ho ho ho come little one that's it open your eyes...hello ho ho ho. You are alright ho ho ho that's it that's it ho ho ho"; the deep voice spoke. As Elwe regained more command of his focus he sprang to his feet and grabbed for his dagger. Struggling to keep his feet under him he fell again face first into the shallow shoreline and gasped as he spit out seawater.now on his hands and knees. "Now then my friend let us not be so unruly...you've had quite the swim it seems. I am no threat; fear me not I am Arthil and this beach you have landed on is my home." spoke the voice. Elwe slowly looked up at the man in kneeling infront of him...it was a man. Never had Elwe been so close before to a living man and his cohort never did engage man in combat...Elwe was face to face with a lore. Arthil stood and extended his hand as aid for Elwe to stand with. His mind racing with questions of doubt and curiosity...he accepted the help and stood. He came up to Arthils shoulder and looked to be half the stone. Arthil motioned to move toward his house where a small fire was cooking several fishsteaks. "Now then we should get those wounds of yours tended. Sit and dry yourself; I will go get some dressings" said Arthil warmly. This is not what a man is supposed to do..Elwe thought to himself. They are supposed to be ignorant, selfish and seeking personal wealth.not the well being of a Drow. The smell of the fish grew tastier in the air. Elwe reached for a nicely cooked steak from the stick and began to eat it ravenously. Without warning Arthil dropped a towel over Elwe's head causing him to jump into defense and swinging the stick with the fishsteak like a sword. Elwe stumbled and fell with the towel still covering his head he lay flat on his back and the fishsteak now on his chest covered in sand. "Ho ho ho ho my my you are a jittery fellow; ho ho ho ho. Myself; I would rather have my fish without sand on it..but if that is your choice..good for you..ho ho ho." laughed Arthil. Elwe lifted the towel from his eyes to see Arthil heartily laughing and handing him another fishsteak. Elwe began to smile as well for he too saw the humor in the moment albeit it be the sight of Arthil laughing and eating that was funny to him. The day continued with Elwe and Arthil trading stories about each other and views of lore that both had heard of each race. Arthil respectfully then asked his new friend the reason of how he came to be in the ocean. Elwe's face turned sorrow and as he looked out at the ocean he recounted the battle of the prior night. As he finished the recount Elwe stood and took a deep breath and Arthil could hear him release the air with sorrow. Arthil placed his hand on Elwe's shoulder and gave him condolences and then expressed his hope that he was sure Elwe would make it home. "I cannot go home" stated Elwe "What..why so?" asked Arthil "I have eaten with a man, spent time with a man. It is forbidden by the Goddess Lloth to do so and if so.I will be struck down by Lloth herself upon returning to my home city." replied Elwe "I see, though I mean no disrespect.I disagree.you have done no wrong and if anyone did it was me and my terrible cooking ho ho ho ho" said Arthil. "If you have no where to go.you must then come and I will get you shelter further down the Coast near POSEIDON Tower of Arcane..we have room, always room for travelers and friends" said Arthil. Friend..this man called me friend. Elwe thought. "What kind of Senator of Genesis would I be to turn a sole away.ho ho ho ho" chuckled Arthil. The duo now began to walk to the East and as they did Arthil explained the surroundings and history of the region as it related to his larger family..The Purple Guardians of HONOR. They visited a shrine called HONOR and house upon house of members and as they continued a silouette broke the horizon. It was a towering structure that blocked out the sun to Elwe. A voice shouted down from the top; "ANOTHER NEW BROTHER SENATOR?!" Arthil shouted; "PERHAPS...COME LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO HIM!" A few moments passed and the great door of the tower swung open revealing a man even taller than Arthil! Incredible was his height and size; his length of beard nearly was a quarter of Elwe's hieght. "Senator Argos...meet Elwe D'Loche the Drow"; introduced Arthil "Well met traveler, I trust Senator Arthil has entertained you well" asked Argos Elwe nodded and began to understand the reason for some of lore of humans...the uncomfortable feeling of size difference. The group then went into the tower and passed small talk back and fro as they showed Elwe the Tower of Arcane; a shrine to POSEIDON-GOD of ARCANE arts. Argos noted the flight pack and remarked his son Fork as well was an archer. Argos remarked that the lore of Drow was that they were great archers and that Fork would enjoy a contest; he is in need of humbling. Argos sent a pigeon out of a window with a message. Interesting that was to Elwe for the Drow used nocturnal bats for the same purpose...more similarities he thought. The daylight grew dim and the sunset now was visible across the ocean view as the trio sat and shared more tales and ales together when Elwe's keen hearing picked up a familiar sound. Thunder. Though not as strong it was the same gate of horse. Elwe became visibly concerned. The Senators asked what be the problem but Elwe brushed off their concern but anxiety within him grew. The Thunder ended as if it was just over the edge of the tower..then the door of the tower opened. The sound of heavy footsteps and armor now began to echo through the building and he could feel the tremor ever slightly in the stone structure itself. Elwe became more ridgid as the footsteps grew closer. It was nearly dark and the only light now on the roof was the torchlights nearby and the forge on the one wing. Elwe's eyesight was keen but still a darken figure rose from the stairs to the roofs top and made his way to the forge itself. The Senators spoke not and both were caught up observing the now frozen Elwe as he followed the dark figure; all the while Elwe clenching his dagger holster tightly. The dark figure loomed over the forge and raised his arms to remove his helmet. As he placed the helmet onto the block for repair; it did leak light through it as if it had eyes itself of fire. The dark figure now turned and began to walk, spurs snapping at each step, toward the trio. "So this is the Drow?" spoke the figure. "Yes..yes this is Elwe D'Loche..the Drow." replied Arthil. "Indeed..Fork meet Elwe.Elwe meet Fork, my son" stated Argos. The two locked in eye contact until Arthil broke the silence with a strum of a harp and began to sing. Now it is not known which broke contact first; Fork into laughter and chagrine or Elwe in painful expression from the pitch..regardless the ice seemed to be broken. "What are you?" asked Elwe to Fork with a careful quiet tone. "What AM I? I am a man and a damn great archer..my father says you can best me easily" Fork answered chuckling. "I think he knows that son.I think he wants to know what your title is or profession." said Argos Elwe nodded in agreement keeping constant eye on Fork. "Oh...heh heh heh. I am a Shadowrider in the Imperial Legion of the PGoH Empire." Fork replied with pride. Elwe had found the answer to his curiosity and personal quest..SHADOWRIDERS. *shif and fade of time passing momentarily* Elwe D'Loche had found his answer to what he saw in the night fog over a week ago. Since that time so much had changed for the dark elf raider. His cohort had been destroyed and his savior turned out to be a man. He learned of the many similarities that existed in who he had been taught to be the enemy; of which he found to be the dark riders called the Shadowriders. Elwe sat at the corner of the tower the Senators had opened up to him graciously. As he looked out over the nights sky he could see stars far on the horizon that were familiar. Campfires looked to be burning about a good walk away and a great hue of light seemed to be eminating slightly on the horizon to the north. Senator Arthil had remarked that the city of HONOR called Trinsic lay north a good walk away. Elwe had now been awake nearly a full day and even though more comfortable in the nights air, Elwe sat down upon the bedding brought to him by Anakkin the Tower keeper and apprentice to Senator Argos. Sleeping quite soundly behind a row of thrones on the west wing of the Tower; none took notice to Elwe as many men began to gather. The PGoH were gathering for a day of training and to discuss the current state of the Holy War. Amazingly Elwe slept through the arrivals down below the tower. A complete cohort of men arrived then a second and a final third. Mystical gates of transport opened all across the front courtyard of the Tower. Common talk and laughter did begin to rise in level when a tremendous crack of lightning brought Elwe quickly to his feet at the ready. As Elwe looked over the edge of the corner tower his eyes did become engaged at the sight below. Lines of warriors clad in armor stood below a total of 3 score and 10 he did sight; nearly 4 cohorts. Along the lines walked golden armored warriors and bronze attired as well. As another burst of lightning flashed into view Elwe noticed to his left a gargoyle begin to come into view. In amazement he could see it wore the same colors as the men and women below. Then from the right he heard the gutter sounds of orcs and indeed as well these had the same colors. Short fellows, smaller than Elwe himself came into view from a ship pulling alongside the shore.Dwarfs. As he looked back toward the base of the tower a line of elf archers were now present that where not before. Elwe rocked back in his stance; never had he seen so many of such races together in one place not egaged in battle. "Quite the sight is it not?"; stated a voice from behind. Turning quickly and crouching behind the thrones, Elwe looked up to see a man floating in the air. "It is okay, you need not worry here."; eased the man standing in mid air. "I am Magistrate Balandar, advisor to the Emperor, Council and Empire on matters of relations and communications." replied Balandar. Elwe continued to listen and rose tentatively. "Come walk with me let us go below"; Balandar stated as he reached out a hand. <> Elwe and Balandar now were on the ground in front of the Tower in an instant. Elwe looked shocked and the few that took notice of this did chuckle and remark. "Don't worry you'll get used to that Drow...Balandar never WALKS anymore"; said one. <> Various members came up to Elwe and introduced themselves and shook his hand. Some called him brother and wished him welcome. Though this was common it seemed; Elwe still did not feel comfortable.still he held fear and distrust for these large men and women. The Dwarfs though smaller in stature did make him nervous at their comfort in the group. The Elves did not speak to Elwe and kept all at a distance; this was a feeling very old and powerful. The Gargoyle did not move and the Orcs kept to their small grouping. Now a sound of many large stones rolling Elwe could hear and it did grow in intensity and clarity. It was a cadence growing closer and as it did the men around Elwe began to take positions. From behind the Tower then rose the sound of horns.familiar this was to the Queen entering the square back in the Dark City. Completely black clad guards rounded the tower with only a red sash across their chests. They spoke not and Elwe could not even hear their footsteps. In the center of them was another black plated man carrying a sceptre. On the center of his chest plate rose an outline of a chalice; the symbol on the shrine to the west. The cadence stopped and the forces all began to proclaim; "HAIL EMPEROR BORG!" , "HONOR!" "HONOR!" "HONOR!" "STRENGTH AND HONOR!", "HOOOWAAHH!" "FOR HONOR AND EMPEROR!" Elwe maintained his place beside the now grounded Magistrate Balandar and next to Senators Argos and Arthil. There were other Senators and a Green armored Judges beside the Senators. amazing Elwe thought more similarities. The Emperor did then speak at length about the current Holy War with Paradox forces across Trammel and Felucca. The losses that the Empire had sustained and the issues that were currently at hand. It had seemed that 2 other Magistrates and the Governor of Yew had not been heard for in several weeks. The Elves of Yew had no information and were continuing their searches. Orcs controlled much of the land near Yew and split that with the Elves and Drow; but the Orcs in attendance were of the Imperial Stronghold near Cove. When the discussion brought the name Drow into light many of the attendance looked directly at Elwe. Feeling obliged to say something and that the air now stood still with patience and curiosity; Elwe spoke; "I know nothing of your Governor and Magistrates and learning slowly I am to your ways and tounge" "For the most part we Drow do not concern ourselves with the matters or fates of man less they be in need of addressing due to threat to the Drow." "Understood" said Emperor Borg "We will intensify our patrols in the region between Skara and Yew. If Paradox is behind this; and I would bet a good amount he is. we must find them soon. less they meet Nitehawke's fate as well." ;urged Emperor Borg It seems over 2 years ago a leading commander in the Imperial Legion was assassinated by Paradox after the PGoH were unsuccessful in solving a riddle posed them. Emperor Borg was taught a lesson in Paradox's words...by killing Nitehawke. Nitehawke was a close companion to Emperor Borg in training and adventures in the earliest of days after the PGoH Empire was raised. The 2 Magistrates now missing were the other Founders of the origional PGoH Empire and along with Magistrate Balandar they led the Empire for now 3 years. The Governor of Yew, Alodar, was the Head of State for PGoH and lead the matters of Justice and Law across the Empire and his territory of Yew. As the day progressed many a training excersise did occur with an overwhelming amount of food, games and song. The darkness of the evening now began to creep across the sky. Members of the Legion finished meetings where discussions of strategy and coordination surely occurred. It was visible the strain and energy the leaders had endured while the forces trained all around the Tower. The most incredible sight was that of mages creating spinning blades that then became training partners for the heavily armored warriors. Elementals of various kinds appeared and did challenge the training warriors and mages. Elwe even saw the powerful Wisp come into the area and engage a few of the forces..besting a few but eventually falling to the power of the PGoH training. Archers sent flight after flight against their own brotheren while bandaging was made by Healers in the nearby hut. The Orcs did chase the Elves a bit, but gave up quickly after the arrows hit sensative areas. All this time and the Gargoyle stood quite silent and fixed at the side of the PGoH guildstone. Elwe moved toward him and then stopped a safe distance from the stone and its guardian. "Thinking of joining the family?" asked a voice. "I dunno. I don't know what I should do." answered Elwe without looking to who spoke. "The choice is always yours Elwe. choice is where destiny begins" ; replied the voice. "That is pretty profou..."; Elwe cut himself off as he spoke while looking to the person who spoke. "Emperor Borg. Um Um..Ah ." ;stuttered Elwe. Never could a Drow expect to stand so close to Queen at home or an Emperor for that matter. Elwe felt awkward and out of place, he didn't know to bow or step back. As he looked down to the floor; Emperor Borg tried to relax him. "We all are the same here, equal but just with different responsibilities..I am the brother to all in the Empire and sometimes I am the father. I would be HONORed if you did choose to be my brother in this family we have built. The choice is yours." ; Emperor Borg spoke while holding both of Elwe's shoulders in his hands. "All you need to do, if or when you are ready is to present yourself to the stone and swear fealty to me. When you are. touch of the stone and commit yourself to HONOR and PGoH. In your prayer swear fealty to me..at this time the stone of HONOR will absorb you and you will find me amongst the souls of the Empire." ; instructed Emperor Borg. Elwe nodded and smiled slightly; "Understood" Emperor Borg smiled in return and motioned for Elwe to join a few warriors conducting a game of dice. Elwe said he had no gold to gamble with. Emperor Borg could see his interest in the event and placed a pouch of gold in his hand so as to not let anyone see. Elwe smiled and sat down. "Do you think he will join us M'Lord?" ; asked the shadow of the Emperor. "Time will tell. Time always does brother. doesn't it Praetorian Perfect?" ;replied Emperor Borg "That it does"; answered the Praetorian Perfect Ser Brightblade Elwe enjoyed the game for hours did his gold pile swell and shrink till in the end it was the lucky Phalynx Greg who took the eves plunder of dice. Across the roof Elwe noticed 2 men deep in thought and planning. Elwe asked Greg who they where and Greg informed him they were Imperator Demandred and Knight Necron. The two had been conducting many heavy missions into the heart of the Terrathan keep, a fortress of Paradox forces. They were discussing who could now lead the forces near Yew effectively, Shame dungeon posed a threat that needed to be neutralized. Elwe's ears perked up, for he knew shame well. it was the training area he learned tactics himself. Phalynx Greg watched and smiled to himself as he could see the interest and desire inside Elwe begin to grow. As Greg popped another cookie into his mouth he winked across the table at Praefect of Trinsic Gorion. Perhaps Elwe's destiny has been born this night after all. * fades back to Elwe and Boldar in tree branches * Boldar leaped down onto the ground and saluted Elwe, tossing a crabapple from his pocket up to his Drow brethren, Boldar smiled. "Here...try this sour apple..it will put hair on your chin"; Boldar snickered. Catching the apple without even looking at it Elwe smiled to himself and waved off his Orc brethren and kept his attention back onto the Savage territory. Biting into the apple a few moments later, even the Drow who are known to love sour tasting foods did take a bit back in thought..Orcs can't be too bad if they can grow such a fine sour apple. "Nah..they still Orcs"; Elwe said to himself after taking a second bite of the apple. Posted by Borg Saturday, July 20, 2002 2:11 AM EDT Secrets of the Sand Contest Winner Announced Hear Ye.....Hear Ye........ By order of the Emperor.... Tymaron of Catskills is declared the winner of the Secrets of the Sand Contest. Tymaron has correctly identified the translation of the Heiroglyphics and it has been identified and authenticated by Dr Codene and Anfalas. "Death is just the beginning" The winners purse of a voucher for 3 months of Lord British taxes will be delivered to the Kings office of taxation and records in the name of the family of Tymaron. The Empire thanks Tymaron and all those who attempted to help solve the translation....it seems that defeating our enemies will only be the beginning and not just an end. Given that this translation was on a piece of parchment inside one of the books relating to raising the dead, mummification and empowering vassels from the underworld.....tis a concern indeed. Well Done Tymaron!!! *Bows respectfully* -Colin Mor, Guild Treasurer and Registrar Posted by Borg Wednesday, July 3, 2002 10:18 AM EDT

(OSI) VIRTUES and the paths to travel. Here are the official OSI Posts of the Virtue System HUMILITY Virtue SACRIFICE Virtue HONOR Virtue COMPASSION Virtue VALOR is not yet Defined HONESTY is not yet Defined SPIRITUALITY Virtue JUSTICE Virtue The Virtues overall description is DEFINED at this LINK Posted by Borg Thursday, June 27, 2002 4:18 PM EDT Promotions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The office of the Emperor announces the ascension of Lora De Blood to the Senator of Genesis seat in the Council of HONOR. Lora previously served as the Heran Phalynx and has been instumental in Genisis house matters and now assumes the lead position of the Tamer and Bard house. The Council of HONOR also announces the designation of Triston to Legate of Mining and Silver DarKnight to Legate of Armors. These two will undoubtably strengthen the Trades house led by Senator Rusty. Centurion Coldren has returned to active duty within the Gladiator Cohort and Ange Sans Alies is hearby promoted to Heran Centurion in replacement of Lora De Blood. The following Legionnaires are hearby promoted to Squire for thier consistent support of training and assistance in Legion duties. Earwen and Sno In the name of HONOR let this day be of congratulations to our newly promoted members of The Honor Empire. Emperor Borg Posted by Borg Wednesday, June 26, 2002 11:04 PM EDT CONTEST-Help Dr Codene and Anfalas Hear Ye........Hear Ye....... As Dr Codene and Anfalas work to translate the Book of the Dead and other books.....they found a folded up scroll inside a books cover. If there are any adventurous scholars that would like to assist them.....please translate this portion of Heiroglyphics. The Emperor has approved that if a scholar correctly translates the script, then he will be entered into a drawing for a chance to have his families realm taxes for 3 months will be paid for by the Empire. See Image Below NOTE: This contest is open to anyone interested from any shard. Entry will be made by handing a book INGAME that has the entrants translation to Colin Mor (PGoH) at the Port Authority Villa in CATSKILLS on June 30th 2002 between 10pm EST and 11pm EST. This is a roleplayed contest......all characters who enter contest MUST be in roleplay format including character namesakes. (do not use existing UO hstorical namesakes or Catskill UO historical namesakes) Include in the Book (purchase a book...DO NOT use a newbie book) Your Character name Your primary Shard played Guild if any Email ICQ Your Translation If multiple correct translations occurs.....all correct entrants will be placed in a dice elimination format and the winner will be decided thru random rolls. There will be only 1 winner of a 3month game ticket awarded and announced within storyline in progress Results also will be visible at the main website The Honor Empire Community News Section no later than July 7th 2002 11pmEST. This contest is not sanctioned by UO or OSI or EA and is for entertainment purposes and player run....sponsors of this cannot be held responsible for contestants lack of sleep solving translation or any possible other complaint about this contest......its to have FUN.........so........have some FUN. ANY QUESTIONS about this contest PLEASE use FORUMS section of The Honor Empire Website Forum General Announcement Section DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS HERE as a REPLY to this post...Thank you Posted by Borg Saturday, June 22, 2002 12:43 AM EDT Promotions Declared ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The office of the Emperor announce the ascension of Aviana to the Senator of Arcane seat in the Council of HONOR. Prometheus, the previous Senator of Arcane, is hearby commissioned as the Imperator of all Legion Cohorts. Kalinaf has ascended to the Senator of War seat in the Council of HONOR and to continue to coordinate with the Ancient Alligence the defense of trade routes and protection of Minoc that is being rebuilt with the Guardians of Light. Rusty, the Senator of Trades has returned from his vacation and assumes his seat in the Council of HONOR that Kimpek has mainteined honorably. In the name of HONOR let this day be of congratulations for the new Senators and welcome to the seats in the Council of HONOR. Emperor Borg ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted by Borg Sunday, June 16, 2002 12:08 PM EDT Chapter 10 Secrets of the Sand Pt 2 Entombed Chapter 10 Secrets of the Sand Part 2 Entombed Dr. Codene had traveled from Safe Haven through the brush and past Mondain's Maze at a his ethereal llamas top speed. Upon reaching the road that led to Trinsic, the good Dr had not noticed that several thickets and thistles now stuck in his robe and sleeves. Nearing the Illyceum Legion Outpost a column of Dragoons was just departing to deal with Juka that mined ore and granite in Wrong for Lord Blackthorn's mechanics production. Several of the Dragoons hailed Dr Codene as he passed them, but nay did he lessen his attention to reach the Emperor. The Decurion, who was deliviering new Squires to the outpost for duty, looked puzzled and took flight after Dr Codene. Decurion Rand's heavily armored swamp dragon was no match for the speed of Dr Codene's ethereal llama and soon the good Dr was beyond the line of sight. Rand realized the Dr most likely was headed for Olympus and continued himself toward the Castle. At Olympus Castle Legionnaires lunged and parried, while others cast spell upon spell in summoning training. The Naval grenadiers in the nearby port rained down explosion pots against the summoned beasts creating quite the spectacle indeed. Emperor Borg walked the ramparts of Olympus looking down with the Council of Honor in tow. They discussed the current matters of state, rebuilding of Minoc and trade routes. Senator of Trades, Rusty, spoke of the dwindling reserves of ore and ingots, while the new Senator of Arcane Aviana and the exiting Senator Prometheus reported on the condition of reagent supplies. The recent deliveries of arms from the Triston's Arms Company had successfully refitted the city of Minoc's guards and local inventories. Triston's weapons were the finest in the realm and their weight was lighter than most while providing the maximum effectivness and edge. Cecil had begun to outfit the Legion from the Armory and stockroom at Olympus Castle. Magistrate Balandar and Governor Brianna discussed the potential candidates for the open seats of Genesis and Espionage; while Senator of War Kalinaf refrained from the varied discussions. Choosing to maintain his focus on the Legionnaires below and to keep an ear toward Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade and Emperor Borg in case any information was needed about the Legion. The Empire did not deal in politics and the Order/Chaos political scene was no issue worth discussion..the Empire worked as a machine focused together in direction for the improvement of the realm and its citizens of HONOR. As the Council of Honor reached the tower rampart of records, the Emperor informed them that the relics now stored there would be transferred to the Safe Haven Museum. The Imperial Siege works would take the rampart and blueprints and production would begin by master craftsmen and women in the coming months. Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade conveyed the current state of the museum as well as informed the Council of the unfortunate loss of several relics. The towering large statue of Safe Haven that was awarded to the Empire for its support of Dove the Healer and Lord Dupre had still not been rectified. The sinking of the chests of small animal and monster statues into the ground beneath the Safe Haven Tower also had not been excavated yet either. The Orc Wars relics, Juo' Nar's Heart and the various other memorabilia marking successful Imperial campaigns would soon be at the Britain Crossroads where the youth once came after training. Outside the Castle, Dr Codene rode in like the wind and sprung from his llama as if he was 30 years younger. Hollering to Sentry Tod to open the gates, Dr Codene flew past Lorenzo who spilled a bag of reagents as he tried to catch a glimpse of the blur that just entered Olympus Castle. The Council members turned and peered down from the northern wall to see Dr Codene below now asking for the Emperor. "BORG...IS HE UP THERE!?..WHERE IS HE!?!?"; shouted Dr Codene. Moving to the front of the group and looking down as well, the Emperor shouted back. "AYE.HE IS UP HERE DR...SHALL I SEND HIM DOWN?; the Emperor said with a smirk and smile. "AHHH..GOOD.you're here.I must..I"; Dr Codene spoke as he moved to go up the rampart and meet where the Council stood. "Shall we go to him Council?"; asked the Emperor with a wink to the Senaator of Arcane Aviana. The Senator of Arcane nodded and opened a gate to the courtyard below, they entered and upon exiting the gate closed behind them. Now looking upward the Council could hear the good Dr's mumble echoing in the rampart hall as he existed the tower to angst that the Council was not there. "DR..DR.DID YOU NOT WANT US TO COME DOWN?"; Emperor Borg asked to the humor of the Council. Dr Codene's face filled with a bewilderment and winded expression. "GAAAAHHHhhh.you will be the death of me sire."; gasp Dr Codene as he leaned upon the edge of the wall. Perking a step or two backward, Dr Codene recalled the last time he leaned over a wall edge had brought him a wee bit more excitement than he rather have. Emperor Borg chuckled a bit then turned to the Council and excused himself and began to walk with Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade up to the Dr's position. "Wonder what has him so spooked sire?"; asked SerBrightblade. "Jumpy he has been lately brother.whatever it is we must assure him all is and all will be well.understood?"; replied Emperor Borg. "Yes Sire.as you wish."; answered SerBrightblade. Reaching the Dr, Emperor Borg noticed the thistles and burrs that adorned Dr Codene's robe and clothing. As the three walked toward the Emperor' throne room, Borg and SerBrightblade pulled off some of the thistles to no notice by Dr. Codene. They sat down Dr. Codene in the cushioned throne and Emperor Borg pulled up a stool and listened to the Dr's tale then subtly nodded to SerBrightblade with a unspoken command. SerBrightblade left the throne room and headed down and out of the Castle. As he exited the Castle he found Decurion Rand dismounting and asking if Dr Codene was about. "Is Dr Codene here brother?"; asked Rand. "Aye.troubling tale he brings the Emperor.I am going to gather Anfalas..care to join me brother?"; replied SerBrightblade. "Of course.what is the troubles?"; asked Rand. As the two men passed the Legionnaires and Squires training, the lines hailed them and saluted. SerBrightlbade replied under his breath; "Not here.not now..." "Understood"; Decurion Rand said as he motioned the men to continue their training. Entering the Infirmary, the two men went upstairs to the darkened laboratory. The windows were painted black to keep daylight out and the room glowed with candle and oil lamp hues. In the corner stood an Iron Maiden and the two brothers moved to its side. Rapping on the hull of the steel coffin the two stepped back a pace as it began to moan and creek as it opened slowly. From within the dark hull two white pearcing eyes broke the darkness and then two sets of fingers began to pry the shell open. The dark robed figure pulled his hood over his head and stepped out of the Iron Maiden. "You have awaken me...my brothersss..this must be and urgency."; stated Vampire Anfalas as he semed to glide across the room. "Anfalas.the Emperor requests your presence. Dr Codene has reported your findings and his visions"; SerBrightblade exclaimed. "Ahh.I see.worried what the Dr has spoken is truth or madness?"; asked Anfalas. "Nay..confirmation tis all.his tale.adventurous and forboding.your work.can you prove these findings?"; asked Ser Brightblade. "Yesss.the translations are sound and for the Dr's tale..the sand was real that covered him when I reached him at Safe Haven..surely it is still there on the roof wing"; answered Anfalas. The Praetorian Prefect opened a gate and the three entered. Upon exiting the gate Anfalas swiveled his head around to see the room they had just entered...it was not the Emperors throne room. Gliding around the room Anfalas felt a familiar air. "A Crypt..why have you brought me here.my brother?" Anfalas asked calmly and very slowly. "Remain here with Anfalas Decurion. I will return shortly."; instructed SerBrightblade as he motioned to Anfalas to be patient. The Prefect recalled and in a short instant another gate opened and out stepped Dr Codene, SerBrightblade and Emperor Borg. "What is the meaning of this m'lord"; asked Anfalas with angst. "We are being moved here for security reasons apprentice."; answered Dr Codene as he moved to assure Anfalas. "Security? Sealed in a crypt? May I ask why?"; rebutted Anfalas. "Yes...your translations are very disturbing and as we know your laboratory and location at the Infirmary.so do many others.tis public knowledge and this knowledge you have discovered should not yet be made public. We will have your work and the books brought here, but for official reports you will still be working from the Infirmary."; answered Emperor Borg "I see.."; replied Anfalas as he sat in a chair along the cold damp wall. Anfalas, casting a spell onto a small pile of debris ignited in a blue white flame with no smoke resulting, remarked; "I will feel comfortable here..much more than Dr Codene...welcome to my world Dr." "What is good for one brother is good for another Anfalas."; replied Dr Codene with a smile as he patted Anfalas's shoulder. "We will put extra guards at the infirmary and bring provisions and supplies so your work will continue."; added SerBrightblade. "And the enemy will come ot us at Olympus .right m'lord?"; offered Decurion Rand. "Correct. On our ground of choosing we shall see this new foe..line against line..face to face."; stated Emperor Borg as he took a deep breath of conviction. Posted by Borg Sunday, June 16, 2002 10:44 AM EDT Chapter 9 Curse of the Ancients Pt 2 Rune of Possession Chapter 9 Curse of the Ancients Part 2 Rune of Possession Ancient Wolf had been struggling with control of his own mind for now weeks, while the Arcane alchemists and squads of the Legion scoured the lands for various combinations of reagents and ingredients to bring a cure to end Wolf's madness. Anfalas, the Vampire, had reminded the Empire that only Ancients can cure Ancients and with that knowledge a plan was in place to seek the strengths of the Ancients. An Ancient Wyrm heart, the soul of an Ancient Liche and the blood of an Ancient brother were the three parts that would be sought. Combining these in a ritual at the Honor Shrine itself with the elixir that the Alchemist were brewing would hope to end this mind control that possessed Ancient Wolf. In the lands of Ilshenar the Ancient Wyrm was found cornered in a nest and another was found within the protection of the Lizzardmen Capital of Ssilla Tereg. The Heran Cohort worked on plans for the attempt at the Wyrm at Ssilla Tereg while Warlocks worked on the nest area within Alexandretta's Bowl mountains. The Praetorian Guard and Dragoons had begun to work reconissance within the area of Khaldoon that the Ancient Liche was known to exist, while Shadowriders scoured the lands for the second location of Ancient Liche rumored to exist. "There is always two" was the remark that the powerful Liche Juo Nar once said when pressed at where evil resided. Never just in one home would it dwell for then it could be destroyed at once. As all of this work proceeded, sadly so did the madness deepen for the Ancient Gladiator Wolf. His closest squire Sheard, loyal and obedient was reported to have appeared alongside one of Wolf's deepest enemy..an Orc. They were adorned this last sighting by a rune that was now upon their fore heads and as they attacked outposts of the Empire it was said the rune emblem glowed as if telepathic commands were flowing through it. Lord Blackthorn was known to be behind this issue, for he aimed to bring down the lines of Honor that his Mechanics and Juka servants could not. Modifying the controller devices must have been done and now these two were unholy servants of a mind gone mad. Ironic was this, that an Orc now was Ancient Wolf's aid. Though the Empire had approved the establishment of an Orc Cohort at the end of the Orc Wars.no Orcs had ever joined. Honor existed within the Orc and when the Savage Tribes and Lord Blackthorn involvement was exposed.both races stood with Honor against them. The Locust Cohort stood as the Gargoyle line and the Elves stood strong from Yew within their lines. Ancient Wolf never wanted to accept Orc alignment within the Empire at all, but now he had an Orc beside him...how ironic indeed. The rune markings seemed very similar to the markings that appeared long ago on the chests of Cedric, Grey and Silvana when Paradox took control of them in search of the Dragon Armor of the Dragon Dominion. It had been years since those days but now the Dragon Armor was a common armor.the secrets of the Dragon Dominion set free amongst the blacksmiths. Emperor Borg had privately thought that since these markings were not exact.that Lord Blackthorn was attempting to shift blame to Paradox. Allowing this ruse to appear to take hold, he instructed Imperator Prometheus to send a line to the Blood Dungeon where the Vortex of Paradox existed. This would hopefully lead Lord Blackthorn to believe his ruse was working and to allow him to play another of his cards he held. This card did not take long to show itself on the table, for 2 consecutive nights the sentries were instructed to be mindful that mischief could be about...but not to declare alarms unless attacks were imminent. Juka spies began to probe the area around Olympus and concentrated they were upon the Infirmary and Port Authority. The Infirmary was where Anfalas and Dr Codene worked on the secret books from the Vampire's Library that contained secrets of the dead. One book was entitled "The Book of The Dead", while another was "Life After Life"..both had many passages of the dark arcane arts..abilities Lord Blackthorn must be after. The Port Authority vault was where stockpiles of the dark arcane reagents were being stored as well as the ingredients to the cure elixir that the Imperial alchemists worked on. Relentless it seemed Lord Blackthorn was..as Emperor Borg expected he would be. That is what a drone does.it never stops.it never sleeps..it never ends its quest for its goals. Though the realm felt they had a great victory and momentum against Lord Blackthorn after the Juka and Chaos Dragoons were repelled...Emperor Borg knew this was just the beginning. A drone knows no ending.only completion..Lord Blackthorn would not be complete until all of the realms lay in ruin beneath his metal claw. Posted by Borg Saturday, June 15, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 10 Secrets of the Sand Pt 1 Army Arises Chapter 10 Secrets of the Sand pt 1 Army Arises As a large shadowed claw reached down and gripped his throat the good Dr struggled for air. Trying to pry the giant claw away from his throat he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. Warm blood began to cover his hands and chest and with a JOLT....Dr Codene awoke as he found himself on the floor by the bed. Dr Codene was breathing hard and in a full sweat by the reality of the nightmare he just endured. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the same giant cat that stalked him as of late..now stalked him in his own dreams. Sitting up onto the edge of the bed he slid into some bunny slippers left by Silvana as a joke and he moved out into the hall of Safe Haven Tower. As he ascended to the roof he could see the Praetorian guards changing shifts at Dawn's suite. Dawn had headed back to see Calanin in his laboratory and deliver a copy of a passage from one of the books Anfalas and himself had been translating. See Image Below Very disturbing this passage was and the Dr wished council with Calanin on its foreboding prediction. Reaching the Safe Haven Tower roof, Dr Codene made his way to the Eastern Wing and leaned forward onto the Rampart edge. The morning Sun had not yet begun to awaken and the silence of the air was truly incredible. The lights from the tower created an aura around Safe Haven, as if a beacon in a middle of an unending ocean of darkness. Dr Codene sat down against the wall and relaxed, then drifted into the sleep you fall into quickly comfortably and deeply right after first awakening. Soon the morning sun began to warm him and he moaned a bit of angst at having to awaken. Stretching his arms up and around with his eyes tightly closed he felt the warmth of the Tower stone and...a column of sand beside him..on both sides. As he opened his eyes gingerly looking into the brightness of the morning he moved a hand to block out some of the brilliant light. Beside him were two giant columns of sand towering above him and as he blinked the columns began to take a form..two giant elemental forms. The giant elementals began to reach down toward him and he pushed against the giant hands of sand as he tried to stand up. Struggling mightily he realized he was sinking into a vast ocean of sand and the Giant columns were pushing him into it further. Dr Codene now was buried up to his shoulders and his arms tried to keep him above the surface..almost like treading water with his arms on top of the sand. The Sand Elementals began to walk away and as they did Dr Codene could see the surface of the sand around him begin to move. A short distance away scorpions and cobras could be seen traveling past. Dr Codene stopped moving in attempt to go unseen by the poisonous beasts. In the area that the sand moved as if alive itself, a beetle broke to the surface...then another and another then a fountain of them. These must be the scarabs that were spoken about in the books they were translating. They feasted on flesh and could burry themselves within a living body and eat it from the inside out. Dr Codene now began to shout loudly for help but the winds overpowered his voice and in the distant dust storms and sand vortexes danced on the horizon. He could see the Sandmen had stopped in the distance and between them on the horizon some form began to move forward. The form shifted and swayed in the distance as the heat of the surface created a ghostly wake to all things distant. The scarabs now completely surrounded Dr Codene and every so often one or two would snip at his hair and cheek then retreat to the living black circle of death around him. In the distance behind the figure that closed in on his location, he could see mummies rising from the sand..and various skeletal warriors. A few skeletons leaped onto Scorpions and held great lances in their hands. The figure in the distance was closing in, and as it did..more clearly it became. As it reached the edge of the circle of scarabs he could see it quite clearly now...it was his stalker...the giant beast cat. Staring eye to eye with the beast, Dr Codene could not believe what he was seeing. The giant body of a cat, the mythical Lion, with a head more like a man. The head was adorned with a beautiful headdress of stripes and gold. "THE BOOKSSsss!!!!!!!!"; the beast roared. Dr Codene did not even have time to replays the pool of scarabs surrounding him poured onto him and the sand them began to pull him under. "AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGH!"; Dr Codene shouted and found himself falling backward off of the Safe Haven Tower roof. The cold hand of Anfalas latched onto Dr Codene's robe and for a brief instant Dr Codene struggled against his assistants grip. "DOCTOR!!!"; Anfalas yelled to sharpen Dr. Codene's focus. Dr Codene now fully found himself holding onto Anfalas's wrist as it held his robe and whole weight dangling from the rooftop. It was nearly daybreak and Anfalas had only a short time to spare before he had to retreat to the saftey of the shadows. Pulling the Dr back onto the rooftop, Anfalas began to dust off the Dr who seemed to be covered in sand. "Where have you been Doc?"; asked Anfalas "I.I.I do not know for sure."; answered Dr Codene disheveled. "I come to tell you I have broken several symbols and codes in the books. The symbol on the Black books cover is the symbol for Death or Dead...the black book is The Book of the Dead."; Anfalas stated proudly. "The book...The Book of the Dead.that must be what it wants!"; Dr Codene exclaimed. "Eh?...IT? It wanted the book?"; Anfalas replied a bit confused. "Nothing..quick you must take to saftey I must ride to the Emperor..a desert Army rises"; instructed Dr Codene. As Dr Codene rode toward Trinsic and Olympus Castle.Anfalas heard him mumbling about the giant lion with a head of a man..it sounded like one of the items he had translated..The Sphinx. Posted by Borg Wednesday, June 12, 2002 11:11 AM EDT Chapter 9 Cure of the Ancients Pt 1 Mind Gone Mad Chapter 9 Cure of the Ancients Part 1 Mind gone Mad Decurion Rand finished folding a note to the Emperor then tied it to a carrier pigeon. Stepping foot outside the Recruitment Office, he set the bird into flight. The Emperor was in Nicomedia Province reviewing the Oasis being build by the Elves of the Empire. Having lost their lush green landscape to muck and mire, the Elves moved to create some location of respite from the sickened soil that now remained after the Decay spell. Rand watched the bird fly off then turned his gaze down toward the Legionnaires and Squires that trained in front of Olympus Castle. Centurions and their supporting Phalynx were running drills for the aspiring Gladiators. Sending wave after wave of blade spirits and summoned Daemons upon the new men and women of Honor. Tending the wounded and fallen, Warlock Centurion LizShue kept up the pace and occasionally lobbed in a fireball or flamestike. It was said the Decurion even broke a small smile, but if that was so...it was short lived..determined and directive the Decurion was a demanding figure. It was his duty to push the new Legionnaires and Squires to the edge and beyond so that the discipline needed in the Lines of Honor would be deeply rooted in every man or womans soul. Nearby in the Bay of Burgouse the Imperial warship Moongem, named after the Empire's first Senator of War, escorted a trio of cargo ships. Up to the dock the ships moored and standing aboard the one lead cargo ship was Heran Phalynx Lora De Blood. Lora was supervising the delivery of One Million reagents from the Senate House of Arcane to be made available to for commerce. "How's it feel to ride a powder keg for hours?"; hollered Decurion Rand. "Quite interesting..lets just say no on on board was interested in cooking"; answered Lora As the crates and pack mules were unloaded, Lora finished instructing Lorenzo on his responsibilities to sell off the reagents. "Until the complete re-establishment and security of all trade routes is complete.the Empire will provide extra resources and wares for commerce"; Lora commented to Lorenzo "I understand m'lady.I will do my best ."; answered Lorenzo tipping his hat respectfully. As darkness crept across the training area, the Legionnaires and their trainers headed to Trinsic for dinner at the Imperial Barracks. Annakin had been said to have a full compliment of roasted boar ready for the hungry Legion units. The beds in the Barracks would feel so soft to the tired muscles of the lines tonight. The sentries remained as the only ones left in the area until the night air was broken by the muttering of a man. Tod the Sentry recognized the man as Ancient Wolf as he approached the gates of Olympus. "Why hello there"; remarked Wolf "Evening sir"; replied Sentry Tod "Eh?!..do I know you sir?"; asked Wolf "Um.sir? Um I would hope so.I have been a Sentry since the days you were Senator of War and Lord Ventryn's Doom Daemons assaulted Olympus."; replied Sentry Tod. "WAR?!..DAEMONS!!..Where!?!?..Egads!!!!"; shouted Wolf as looked aroudd desperately. "Ancient.you do not look well sir.perhaps you should come with me to the Infirmary"; Sentry Tod said as he motioned for Wolf to come with him. "ANCIENT!?! WHERE..WAR!?! WHERE?!?! To ARMS TO ARMS!!!" shouted Wolf as he leaped upon a summoned ethereal llama. As Wolf rode off he swung wildly at the shadows he passed in the foliage and he disappeared into the night. Sentry Tod shook his head sadly. To see such a great warrior in such a state, truly was wrenching. He prayed the quests that had begun to find a cure for Wolf would prove fruitful. Nay had he before seen the state Wolf was in...only a rumor it was.now sad but true. Lord Blackthorn was to blame and the previous investigation had now turned into a quest for a cure. Wolf's madness had to be overcome but they needed to find the means to help him fight off the controlling evil that fought within his mind itself. The Arcane alchemists nearly had a potential cure potion but needed a few more ingredients to blend in. Sentry Tod returned his attention to his post and as he did a cold whisper chilled his ear and down to his bones...it was the shadow of Anfalas the Vampire. Anfalas was assisting Dr Codene in deciphering and translating the books taken from the Ilshenar Vampire Library. "An Ancient is the key to saving an Ancient"; Anfalas's shadow whispered softly. "An Ancient? Which one?"; asked Sentry Tod "From all must one thing come..together with what the Empire has now..the salvation will come"; answered the shadow of Anfalas as it motioned back toward the Infirmary. Tod knew the Legion had aquired most of the ingredients.he must inform them in the morning of this news. Tod began to think of all the Ancients he knew of and where they could be found. Posted by Borg Saturday, June 8, 2002 10:02 AM EDT Promotions Declared It is hearby declared.... The Office of the Decurion recognizes the following Legionnaires for thier support, commitment and HONOR in the defense of Trinsic and its citizens. In Honorable and consistent dedication to the Legion the following Legionnaires are hearby promoted to Squire. Antonius is hearby presented with the title of Squire of Honor and given the blessed kilt woven in the purple color of Honor. Additionally, the Office of the Decurion recognizes the following Squires and approves thier standing, based on merit and commitment to HONOR and Empire, to be offered for Knighthood. The Senate House of WAR seconds the following nominations and by order of the Emperor the rank and priviledge of Knight is bestowed upon these Squires. Ange is hearby Knighted to the Heran Cohort and awarded the blessed kilt woven in the Emperor's Ore Black color and the cohort Dark Green sash. Kurt is hearby Knighted to the Heavy Armor Dragoon Cohort and awarded the blessed kilt woven in the Emperor's Ore Black color and the cohort Royal Blue sash. Tyr Antilles is hearby Knighted to the Heavy Armor Dragoon Cohort and awarded the blessed kilt woven in the Emperor's Ore Black color and the cohort Royal Blue sash. Kodoz is hearby Knighted to the Heavy Armor Dragoon Cohort and awarded the blessed kilt woven in the Emperor's Ore Black color and the cohort Royal Blue sash. Elathiel is hearby Knighted to the Ranger Cohort and awarded the blessed kilt woven in the Emperor's Ore Black color and the cohort Forrest Green sash. The Office of War also recognizes the leadership and respect of the following Knights and declares thier promotion to Phalynx to support the Cohort Centurions in the Line of HONOR. Steel Darknight is hearby promoted to Phalynx in the Heavy Armor Dragoon Cohort and awarded the blessed Cape of HONOR and Ceremonial Bronze Plate Armor. Aviana is hearby promoted to Phalynx in the Heavy Armor Dragoon Cohort and awarded the blessed Cape of HONOR and Ceremonial Bronze Plate Armor. May ALL of these fine men and women continue thier journey on the path of HONOR, within the Empire, throughout the realm and bring us all closer to peace and prosperity. May HONOR Guide and Bind thee! Emperor Borg Posted by Borg Tuesday, June 4, 2002 7:49 AM EDT Chapter 8 One if by Land...Two if by Sea Chapter 8 One if by Land..Two if by Sea Provincial offices report the withdrawal of Juka forces from the cities of Minoc, Papau and Yew. Chaos riders were said to be ordered to support the Juka as they returned to Ilshenar while the Mechanic units were left behind and cut down by the Ancient Alliance forces. While this led many to celebrate victory; the veteran leaders and warriors took brief moments to relax. "This is the time to strike.before they can regroup!"; Centurion Coldren beckoned. "Aye.as we begin to rebuild Minoc and the Senate works to clean up and supply the cities.we will begin an offensive against the Juka."; Imperator Kalinaf commented as he unrolled a large map onto the War room table. "Shadowriders, and Warlock Cohorts will support the Gladiator lines and Pikemen that will march upon the city of Mistas from the south. Elven, Gargoyle and Dragoon Cohorts will arrive through the Justice Shrine and enter Mistas from the Northern pass."; instructed Imperator Kalinaf as he traced the battle fronts with his finger. "What of the reinforcements that are still to sea brother?"; asked Centurion LizShue. "The navy will land at Savage Swamps and show the Savages that it is unwise to align themselves with Lord Blackthorn."; replied Imperator Kalinaf. "The rest of the battle fleet will remain in escort of the shipping lanes and in support of the Guardians of Light convoys that are carrying both our Empires supplies for the rebuilding of Minoc."; added Imperator Kalinaf. The meeting was short and the Centurions headed out for debriefing of their men and women for the battles in the coming days and nights. As Imperator Kalinaf rolled up the map and placed it into the chest he looked out toward Trinsic and could see already chimney sweeps and workers clearing the rooftops of the ash and debris that built up over the last months conflict. "Soon the city will shine again..and this time it will be Mistas that is in ash and smolders."; Imperator Kalinaf said to himself under his breath. Looking down to the waters edge he could see a small ship mooring and some supplies being prepared to unload at the Port Authority. Colin Mor met the ships captain and as the two walked into the villa Imperator Kalinaf for a brief moment felt like days of old commerce were again in place. As a pigeon roosted on the War Tower Rampart he pulled the note from its foot and that moment ended. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pirate attack on Nujelm to Magencia Convoy PGoH Ironside destroyed Pirate ship Pirate Inventory Manifest indicates ore, stone and lumber Juka body found in debris field ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Imperator Kalinaf looked back toward the sea and eastward and thought that perhaps the sea walls should be looked at for reinforcement in Trinsic. If the Juka have made an alliance with the mercenary pirates.perhaps the next front to defend will be the sea. Already the plan was in motion for a land assault on the Juka city of Mistas and a sea assault on the Savage Swamps. Imperator Kalinaf sent his instructions back with the pigeon to the PGoH Ironside captain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Send 2 ships to Buc's Den, Search for any Juka involvment, do not engage or blockade. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted by Borg Saturday, June 1, 2002 9:09 PM EDT

(RP) Epilogue Epilogue May 30 2002 3:12PM ** This story is only a fictional Epilouge to scenario 4 and does not herald the arrival of more in game content. ** As daybreak washed over Yew, the old cabin creaked slightly in warmth of the morning sun. Behind the place, the fence that had once stood firmly was now sinking into muck, making the wood look like the uneven backbone of some long dead monster. The cabin itself had sunk evenly down into the swampy marsh, giving it the appearance of being a larger home for some smaller creature. Vines crawled up the walls like long, bony fingers, greedily pulling the cabin further down into the vile waters. Dawn stared silently at what had been her home for most of her life. She was too young to remember her parents passing away, but she could remember the sadness of losing them. She could remember this place seeming new to her, warm and comfortable in the confusion. Her grandfather would build huge fires and tell her of the adventures he had been through while serving the king. The cabin roof never leaked, even in the worst storms. The sheep in the yard would frighten away all the orcs, or so her Grandfather had told her. She had planned on returning here and continuing with her normal life after the battle against the Juka was finished. Now she doubted the cabin could even be repaired. "I am sorry. I understand this was your home." Dasha said, approaching from behind. "Yes." Dawn's voice was quiet. She did not move. Her eyes seemed to stare beyond the cabin. Dasha stood beside her and surveyed the old home. "I also lost my home." Dasha said. "For Adranath and the other Meer, our home was destroyed eons ago. They have all lived in dreams during the Great Sleep; they have had centuries upon centuries to accept that their home is gone and that a new one would be found." She crouched and examined a small mound of mushrooms. "I was brought here with the Juka; time ignored us. Unlike the rest of the Meer. in my mind our home was lost only weeks ago." Dasha stood and began to pace in the sunlight. "Before the Juka destroyed it, our forest was a sight unlike any in your world now; an endless sea of treetops. during sunrise I would stand in the highest branches and let the morning winds sooth me. The leaves would seem to glow in the light, like gold, while the breeze sung through the forest; it was as if the ancients were blessing the world anew with their power. Nothing in all my experiences compares with how moved I felt at that sight, how much it assured me that my world was infallible." Dawn smiled sadly as she stared at her former home. "It makes my loss feel small. I only lost a small, simple building in the end." "Perhaps," Dasha said examining the cabin. "It is a rather small building, a speck compared to the size of the great forest. And it is simple, as you said. A structure such as this could take no more than a few days to build. You could easily get another one." She turned and looked at Dawn. "But this place to you was as meaningful as my forest was to me, is that not so?" Dawn turned her gaze away from the cabin for the first time and looked at Dasha. "It. it was all I knew. It was home." "Then your loss is great indeed. We have both lost our worlds." "Dawn!" Adranath called out as he approached. "My apologies for keeping you and Dasha waiting; I wished to examine one of the trees again now that they have been cured." "We have not waited long, Master Adranath." Dawn reached into her pack and removed a small bag. "These are the plant samples Clainin asked me to bring you." "Ah, give him my thanks. How goes Clainin's flora research?" "One can hardly move through his laboratory with all the plants he has in there now." Dawn said. "He has been so busy studying them that the guards have to remind him to eat." "I can only hope some good comes out of this," Adranath said sadly as he surveyed the landscape. "There was no way of knowing that the Decay spell could ever have this effect. This world has felt the impact of so much evil and strife within it throughout the ages that nature itself has changed into something capable of all this. All Meer will have to relearn our nature magics again, if it can be done. We can never allow such damage to be done by our hand again." "You tried to stop the Juka. You were trying to save Yew, Master Adranath." Dawn said. "No one can blame you for that. We will always be allies." The ancient mage smiled. "The Meer are proud to have loyal and honorable allies such as you. Now if you will excuse me I have... wait, what was−did either of you feel that slight tremor?" Dawn and Dasha both exchanged glances and shook their heads. "What sort of tremor?" Dawn asked. "It was as if the ground beneath me rumbled very faintly." Adranath looked down. "I suppose the ground is settling a bit from the effects of the decay. In any case, I have duties to attend to. You have my thanks, Dawn." "And you have mine, Master Adranath," she replied. "Dasha, shall we depart?" Adranath asked the lovely Meer. "I will be with you in a moment, Master. I wish to speak with Dawn once more before I leave." Dasha said. "Very well. Farewell Dawn." Adranath smiled and began walking towards the moongate. "Farewell," Dawn called back. Dasha paced slowly in the morning sun. "Your people acted very quickly to stop the decay. I found myself impressed by their resolve." "We band together quickly in a crisis." Dawn said. "That you do. As I said before, we have both lost our worlds. I will never see mine again; I know that. But, after seeing your people work to save this land and cure the decay, I believe I can find a new world for myself here. You shall too." Dawn smiled at the Meer warrior and the two locked hands in what Dawn was starting to think of as the "Meer handshake". They exchanged goodbyes and walked their separate ways, both more confident of their futures. * * * "EXODUS!" Blackthorn's voice echoed throughout the chamber, almost seeming to shake the walls. He had nearly screamed himself hoarse, trying to summon Exodus' attention. Upon discovering the retreat of the Juka and Dragoons he had immediately come to demand an explanation from Exodus, but his mysterious cohort would not manifest. The great doors to the chamber were pushed open and Kabur strode in calmly. Blackthorn spun and pointed at the massive Juka with his great claw hand. "Where have you been? Explain the withdrawal to me at once, you lowborn beast! Where is Exodus? Why does he not answer?" "I do not know, Lord Blackthorn. I. have only followed orders." Kabur's stone face hid his amusement at Blackthorn's distress. "Followed orders? Did Exodus give you these orders? Surely you must have questioned them. I demand an explanation from you, Kabur!" Blackthorn's inhuman eye glowed with a savage fury. Kabur visibly stiffened. "I have merely followed the orders given to me." "Do not try my patience you animal!" Blackthorn swung his great claw arm above his head and brought it crashing down into one of the massive planning tables in the room, shattering it in a hail of dust and splinters. At once his rage stopped and he froze. Kabur tried to read Blackthorn's face, but he had difficulty reading human expressions. Blackthorn's altered face made things even more difficult. It could have been confusion or possibly fear, he hoped. Something had surprised the half-human out of his anger. "Leave me. Now!" Blackthorn growled. Kabur turned and pulled the chamber doors behind him as he left quietly. As soon as they shut he allowed a sneer to play across his face. Posted by Borg Thursday, May 30, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 7 Decay...Deceit...Dismay The Decay spell had been cast and in its wake the rich fertile grounds of Yew and jungles abroad now teemed with hideous aberrations of life, part humanoid and part plant.part pestilence and part plague. The smell of decay and death flew on the winds of the realm and nay a single corner did avoid its lingering ash. The Purple Guardians of Honor now patrolled a city which once glistened in the morning sun.now Trinsic roofs and walls were covered with ash and scars of battle that continued in its streets. Minoc lay in ruin and its mines now were the only area uncontrolled by Lord Blackthorns forces. The Guardians of Light maintained the front line in protection of the ore resources. Caravans from Imperial supply depots and cargo ships from Serpent's Hold continued to support the realm merchants demands. Guildmaster Omicron and Emperor Borg had met and agreed to supplement the merchant orders of ore, wood and hides that once came from Minoc, Yew and Papau. Senators supported the endeavor by redirecting training supplies and construction supplies to fill the orders requested. The resource economics for the most part was stable but for how long could this be maintained. This was the worry the Senator of Trades, Kimpek held deep to himself..a worry most already felt but none would remark in such dark times as these. "Decurion Rand has begun training new columns of Legionnaires sire..the training goes well by all reports"; Gladiator Centurion Coldren remarked as he leaned over the map of the realm. "Aye..but with the conditions of Yew now.the heavy armor of my Dragoons is slowed and in Minoc it is all an uphill battle."; added Dragoon Centurion Vandorn. The Centurions, cohort leaders of the Legion, had assembled at the request of Imperator Kalinaf to prepare the War report that Emperor Borg would include in his State of the Empire meeting on Sunday. The War Tower was in full swing as a launch point that took lines onto the fields of battle far and abroad, it now was where the next moves of the Empire would be determined. "I don't know about you guys.but I am sick and tired of playing defense all the time!", complained Warlock Centurion LizShue. "We counter and counter and counter...bah..Lord Blackthorn and these nose-less Juka dictate the fields of battle..enough I say..ENOUGH!"; slamming her hand onto the table Centurion LizShue added. "Hey hey now.I hear you loudly sister..but look what happened when we did hit Lord Blackthorn last"; Shadowrider Centurion Baltazar calmly offered. "Aye.a tremendous cost that battle was..nearly 2/3rds of all the firepower the Herans held was destroyed and over half of the lines fell before we even reached his fortress."; agreed Heran Centurion Malric. "We must.we MUST bring the pain to him though.somehow"; replied Centurion LizShue. "Aye.agreed" "Here here" "Aye. The Centuirons all began to reply.then looking back at the map of the realm..quiet filled the chamber air. "Dawn's fight in Yew is strong and the mercenary forces follow her lead there..Guardians of Light have stalemated Lord Blackthorn in Minoc..and here in Trinsic the daily raids are dealt with..Papau is lost already..where can we draw him to our choice of battleground?"; pondered Centurion Baltazar. As Centurion LizShue took a break from gazing at the map she breathed deeply and a runebook caught her eye. "Coldren.where is the one place you would say most of the Lines have experience in close quarter fighting..a place deep undergound...hmmmm?"; asked Centurion LizShue. "What.well...hmmm let me think..well that would I say be the d"; answered Centurion Coldren as he was cut off in mid sentence by Centurion LizShue. "EXACTLY..we should draw Lord Blackthorns forces there. If we are lucky perhaps Lord Blackthorn himself..and seal him there in a tomb we could. I am sure the other Lords would keep him .shall we say occupied?"; finished Centurion LizShue with an evil grin that would make even Paradox envious. "So you suggest we set a trap..what are we going to do to bring his attention to there?"; asked Centurion Baltazar. "Give him what he wants.right sister?"; remarked Centurion Vandorn. "Exactly..we give him what he wants.or should we say we bait him with what he wants"; answered Centurion LizShue. The Centurions then began to work out the logistics of moving into place the means to wage their battle in the hallways of their choosing. Imperator Kalinaf was brought the plans as well as the current state of the Legion lines and after discussion, Kalinaf took the plans to Emperor Borg. "Ambitious and bold"; Emperor Borg commented to Imperator Kalinaf. "Indeed.need I even state who sparked this plans flame?"; asked Imperator Kalinaf. "Nay.she is a bold one.that is certain." replied Emperor Borg. "You realize the Senators will not be pleased with this bait idea. They struggle as it is now in supplying the realm merchants orders as it is."; remarked Emperor Borg "Aye.let me just say.the Senate house of Espionage will be needed to...how should I say this..stir up the winds of mischief as Mercury himself would do"; replied Imperator Kalinaf. Imperator Kalinaf finished the debriefing and departed to begin the preparations as Dr Codene entered the Emperor's chamber. The Dr had just returned from Yew and brought with him reports from the Senator of Arcane, Prometheus, on the tests done on the seeds pollinations. Anfalas the assistant ot Dr Codene had helped greatly in decoding at least one book from the Vampire's Library and Dr Codene reported their progress. "Anfalas has been very useful m'lord in the tomes..his weakened condition prevents us from greater gains in translating the texts."; stated Dr Codene about the translation work by the Vampire Anfalas. "Trust in him I see within you good Dr.in darkness he still needs to walk.be wary of this my friend.do not be led into blindness but keep Honor as thy guiding light and thru its brilliance you may succeed in bringing salvation to Anfalas as he desires"; commented Emperor Borg. "Of course..always m'lord."; answered Dr Codene. "Sire..the most recent translations speak of potions and powers brought forth from new mixtures of reagents. Combinations that can yield great darkness as well as great hope.the symbols Anfalas said were of reagents are not similar to reagents we use now..some are the dark art reagents.some are unknown as well"; offered Dr Codene. "Interesting Dr..very interesting indeed. Are their any references to these reagents or potions in the Black books you have locked away?"; asked Emperor Borg. "I do not know m'lord..those texts are written in symbols and we have not worked on them yet. We are going through first the books that are familiar in tongue to Anfalas first."; answered Dr Codene. "Understood..perhaps you should take your findings to Clainin. he is under Dawn's protection. She has been given a suite at Safe Haven. Have Anfalas continue the work in the Infirmary here while you take what you have learned to Clainin. The Meer in general see us as less resourceful, perhaps this will help them see we are more than just brawn and blades in this War."; Emperor Borg said as he dismissed Dr Codene to begin his journey. Dr Codene, with his sachel of notes, rode off the next morning for Safe Haven as Anfalas watched from the Infirmary laboratory. The night was productive agains and as the sun rose, Anfalas closed the blinds and locked the chamber for his slumber. As the sounds of Trinsic street battles faded in the distance the good Dr thought to himself about finally getting to talk to Clainin. Quite the conversation he hoped to have since Clainin was renown for his wit and insights. As Dr Codene reached the border of the Illyceum province, he crossed the bridge into the Dalmatia province on his way to Britain. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement in the underbrush and he stirred his ethereal llama to quicken its pace. A small flock of wren broke from the treetops ahead and Dr Codene halted his llama. Feeling his heart quicken a bit Dr Codene listened intently to try and hear what or who was about. Silence except for the wrens now re-roosting in another patch of trees and with caution Dr Codene started his llama back into motion. Nearly at that same moment a large bellowing and combination of explosions broke the silence to the west. Dr Codene's llama bolted and nearly dismounted the good Dr in the process. As the llama hit the first turn in the road, Dr Codene brought it under control then turned to look back toward where the explosions came from. Dr Codene's curiosity and concern for someone possibly in danger overcame his initial fright. He urged the llama on and as he moved westward he soon came upon clearing near Mondain's Maze. There inside the clearing lay the body of young daemon amongst the burning tree and shrubs. Dismounting his llama, Dr Codene knelt beside it and looked at its injuries..slices and claw marks covered the chest of the Daemon.. As he lifted up the shredded wing of the daemon his throat tightened and he swallowed hard. In the soft ground was a perfect impression of a cats paw.a big cats paw. The claw marks matched the number of digits and this was no work of a dragon or lizard with 3 digits..this was no bear either. Leaping onto his llama Dr Codene bolted to the northwest along the maze hedgerow and up toward Safe Haven. As he passed the maze a huge roar and bellow came from behind him..from inside the maze. He could hear a great weight in full gallop and the breaking and smashing of shrubs. Urging his ethereal llama to speed he had never pushed it to, Dr Codene reached the road and could see the sanctuary tower of Safe Haven in the distance. Barely able to turn his head to look Dr Codene saw something burst onto the road behind him..he leaned forward and continued to urge on the llama. Safe Haven was just ahead and as he reached the edge of the crossings he turned his llama toward the great tower doors. Leaping from his llama he stood on the steps of Safe Haven and turned toward the south while he pulled the doorway ajar. Breathing heavily, Dr Codene's eyes darted through the treeline and foliage in search of his pursuer..nothing..nothing could he see. Taking a deep breath Dr Codene turned to enter the sanctuary of Safe Haven Tower.as he did he came face to face with Heran Knight Silvana's new pet Dragon that was finishing its reward for a good morning training.Dr Codene gasp and collapsed. The Dragon turns his head toward Silvana and makes an apologetic gesture as she moves toward Dr. Codene. Silvana instructs the Dragon to lift Dr Codene onto is back and carries the Dr to a room. As the Dragon lays Dr Codene onto a bed he stirs and awakens in a startled mode again. "GADBUSTAD DADBUM!"; barks Dr Codene "You are fine Doc..settle down.tis just my baby..and she meant no harm."; replies Silvana "My old heart ..dadbum it..jeesh...Silvana I am telling you and as I see you now and this dragon too.there is a beast outside and it is a huge cat I tell you...huge"; Dr Codene remarks with furor. Dr Codene explains to Silvana what he found and what had happened to him on his way to Safe Haven. He covers with her the paw print and the mysterious matters of the past month around the Infirmary. Silvana takes her pet and she travels to Mondain's Maze only to find nothing and no trace of the daemon corpse or burning clearing. Upon returning to the Dr she finds him sound asleep in his room. She will wake him when Dawn and Clainin arrive. "Sleep well good Dr..if there be a beast out there you are safe here..come on baby lets go work on your mauling skills"; speaks Heran Knight Silvana. Posted by Borg Saturday, May 18, 2002 2:36 AM EDT (RP) Plague of Despair Plague of Despair May 16 2002 3:36PM Adranath tripped slightly in the muck of what had become the swamps of Yew. All around him he felt the pulsing evil of the decay as it fed upon itself, slowly consuming every bit of life in its path. The sensation was so strong now that it took little of his concentration as a user of nature to feel it. The area around him was dense with enough plague spores that they resembled a thick dust. The air swirled with his movements-the ancient Meer was reminded of Clainin's lab, with its hundreds of old texts and tomes stored away on shelves that were rarely given a dusting. At long last he reached his destination; a huge gnarled tree towering into the sky, stretching its dark diseased limbs upward and outward. The entire surface of the tree was covered in rotting grey bark, and within its branches huge pods seemed to glow with an eerie green hue. The swamp bubbled and whirled slightly at the roots of the great plague tree as the pods slowly shed their spores into the winds. As he opened a small pouch, the Watcher was overwhelmed by another fit of horrible hacking coughs. The attacks came so strongly now that he felt practically immobilized by the sickness. He hoped the shopkeepers in the area who had become affected were not also suffering as much, but he already knew that was not the case. One by one he removed a few small items from the pouch and dropped them into a disgusting slimy maw at the base of the plague tree, which absorbed them greedily. As he pulled the final item from his pouch, he paused to examine it. Ironic, he thought, that the beasts created by the plague should be the very solution to curing the land. He was thankful he had garnered Clainin's assistance in dealing with them; his own magics had become too weak to possibly hold a creature of such power. As he stared intently at the object in his hand, he prayed silently that enough of the special creatures could be found to make a difference. Finishing, he laid the last small object within the maw of the tree, and watched as it also was absorbed quickly. A few short moments went by, and he began to feel a slight shudder from the tree, and within his mind he could sense the decay buckle and grow weaker. Closing his eyes, he could feel the plague tree before him as it struggled to process the ingredients he had placed inside its hungry maw. Finally, he could sense success; the cure was at hand. Again, the violent coughs overtook his body and Adranath stepped back away from the tree. His objective was now clear, but the ingredients he had fed to the plague tree had only a small effect-it would take a great deal more if the land was to be fully cured. A gust of wind blew through the swamps and the spores of the diseased tree filled the air like smoke. The progress of the decay had barely been halted, and if it was not cured soon Yew would not be able to host life. From his robes, Adranath pulled a small communication crystal given to him by Clainin, knowing that it represented their only real hope. If the word was spread far enough, and fast enough, the land just might be saved in time. Posted by Borg Friday, May 17, 2002 6:18 PM EDT (RP) LOCUST Gargoyle storyline -repost (RP archives) I'm sure you know that the Gargoyle folk joined Britannian society after the restoration of the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom. I'm also sure it will not surprise you to hear that the treaty between Lord British and Draxinusom, King of the Gargoyles, did not instantly bring accord to the two races. Certain ignorant humans continued to hate and fear Gargoyles, and certain intractable Gargoyles continued to regard humanity with enraged contempt. The most notorious Gargoyle fighter against mankind in those days was named Gratagmalem. He was equally renowned among his people for his keen intellect as for his fierce disposition, and when peace was achieved between the races, he turned outlaw with a small band of likeminded Gargoyle bravos. This fierce troop devoted themselves to burning and pillaging the remote crofts and farms of the land, stopping short only at outright murder of unresisting enemies. Nonetheless, they were the cause of much suffering, loss and deprivation to their victims. Now there was a certain inn, located midway between Britain and Yew, and famous for its excellent autumn ale. So good was the brew that many fine folk were given to retire to that place for a fortnight's holiday when the new casks were breached. Tents had to be pitched on the grounds to hold all the guests, and for two weeks each fall the place took on the air of a faire or festival. It was during this time that Gratagmalem choose to attack that inn, and he and his band flew down during the late afternoon, surrounding the place and quickly dispatching the few hired guards. And they mockingly ordered all the humans to leave forthwith, or see the whole place burned around their heads. At this, one lone festival-goer stepped out from the crowd, wearing the clothes of a gentleman, but gripping the sword of a knight. And he spoke, saying, "I am Dupré, Knight and Paladin, and I call on you to cease this unlawful incursion, and to surrender in the name of Lord British." But Gratagmalem only laughed, saying, "Of all the names of man or Gargoyle to conjure with, that one is the least likely to inspire fear in my heart. I reject your demand for surrender." (Now I confess that those were not the very words he used, but Gargoyles speak in their own peculiar fashion, and I will not try to mimic the intricacies of that speech in this tale.) Dupré retorted, "Then let us settle this honorably. I shall face you or any of your troops in single combat, with the winner to determine the fate of this Inn." The Gargoyle laughed again at the human's audacity, but when he spoke, he said, "Very good, then, man, your proposal intrigues me. You shall face three of my brothers, and if you defeat all three I shall leave this place standing, asking only a suitable forfeit in return for my generosity." Then Gratagmalem named his three champions. The first was a great brute almost 10 feet tall, wielding a mace of solid iron, and the second was a young champion of the Gargoyles, wielding a sword nearly as long as Dupré was tall. The third was Gratagmalem's chief lieutenant, who fought with two great-bladed battle axes, one in each hand. But Dupré was a veteran of many battles against dragons, daemons and giants . aye, and Gargoyles as well, and he did not fear the size or fierceness of these foes. One by one they engaged, and the first two he cast down with severe wounds, while the third he killed outright. This loss only seemed to amuse Gratagmalem more, and when the last Gargoyle was dragged from the field, he announced, "I shall honor my word, oh man, but first I must see my forfeit paid. And my price is you, Sir Knight." "I will gladly give my life for the safety of these people," Dupré replied, "though you may find the collecting of it more costly still." "Nay," said the Gargoyle, "I have no use for your head, but rather your arm. Today you have cost me a lieutenant, and I demand that you shall take his place. You shall join my company, and teach us your ways of battle." "I will never take up arms against my king or his people," Dupré replied, hotly. "I would not ask it," the Gargoyle said with mocking gentleness. "You will come and train my company, and when I order them back into battle you may be excused, if only you give the word to do nothing to resist or hinder our efforts." Now Dupré knew that Gratagmalem offered him a Daemon's bargain, one which could easily lead to the utter destruction of a man of Honor like himself. At the same time, he could not stand idly by and see the honest innkeeper ruined, nor could he oppose the whole Gargoyle company alone. Most importantly, perhaps, it would not be fully Honorable to refuse the forfeit after fighting under those terms. He could only hope that time would provide a means of escape. "I will accept your terms, sir," he said, and there he knelt and presented his sword to the mocking brigand. So he went to live with the Gargoyles, and he drilled and trained them. He found that while Gargoyles were both mighty and courageous, they had little mastery of concerted tactics or strategy, but they quickly grasped the fundamentals of both. He also soon learned that it was futile to try to hold back knowledge from his command, for under the watchful eye of their leader, any useful hidden expertise was soon sniffed out and analyzed, and presented to all. Nor could Dupré Honorably refuse when Gratagmalem proposed that they try out their new skills against brigands, pirates or Goblin bands, for Dupré had only sworn to stand apart from actions against the subjects of Lord British. So he fought alongside the Gargoyles, and saw his teachings tested by fire. But at last the dread day came, and Gratagmalem announced that they would attack a walled town, with the garrison of King's soldiers stationed in it. This was a stronger objective than the Gargoyles had ever assayed before, but Dupré knew that they were well capable of victory, thanks to his teaching. On the day of the battle, Dupré went up to a hill overlooking the doomed town, for he would not turn away from the evil that his hand had caused. But while he waited there, he was surprised when a contingent of the Gargoyle band approached him, and asked an unexpected question. "Lieutenant," their spokesman said, "we know that you base all your decisions on Honor, which is a strange concept to us, but nonetheless we wish to know if this is an Honorable fight today." Now Dupré well knew the cool power of the Gargoyle intellect, and that any attempt to dissemble or dissuade would be immediately perceived, and would discredit him forever among the Gargoyles. He was also minded of his oath to Gratagmalem, to do nothing to overtly subvert his plans, so he kept his answer as straight and honest as he could. "You have been told by your Captain that Lord British is a tyrant. Well then, it is no dishonor to take up arms against tyranny, if that is truly what you believe. However, your people do not extract oaths of fealty as mine do, and I have often heard your Captain say that you follow him at the call of your reason and of your own sense of what is right, which is the Gargoyle way. Now your hearts and minds have moved you to ask whether the fight today is Honorable. Perhaps the question itself is its own answer." Then the Gargoyles went apart again, to dispute the question among themselves, and the end result was that fully a third of the band declined to follow Gratagmalem into combat against the town. And one young Gargoyle of impetuous nature (that same young champion whom Dupré had cast down at the inn) took it upon himself to fly down and warn the garrison of the pending attack. Nonetheless, Gratagmalem, in a cold rage, refused to call off the battle. But against warned and ready defenders the diminished Gargoyle force could not prevail, and Gratagmalem himself was slain. But the Gargoyles who had refused the battle (and aye, some of the survivors) returned to Dupré, and begged that he continue to lead them as he had in the past, against brigands and pirates and monsters, so that humans could see that Gargoyles were capable of service to all. And Dupré agreed, and he named the band the Locusts of Britannia, and they won great renown and did much good for many years. The Locusts now exist in the Legion of Honor on Catskills as a Cohort in The Purple Guardians of HONOR (PGoH) Posted by Borg Thursday, May 16, 2002 9:44 AM EDT Chapter 6 Alliance pt 2 Evil against Evil The sound of hooves in gallop sounded through the city of Trinsic as a column of Shadowriders departed from the Imperial Barracks at noon. The Gladiators and Warlocks Cohorts continued to sweep away Lord Blackthorn's Juka and Mechanic forces that searched the city of Trinsic. Local merchants, still under city guard, had begun to see their patrons returning. Under guard and protection, ships had begun to return to the harbor and bit by bit the commerce of the city was returning. The Alliance of the Ancients had succeeded in the city of Trinsic.the city of Minoc, Papau and Yew was not as fortunate yet. The city of Minoc was for a better description, no longer a city but a battleground with the remnants of city buildings and the stories from refugees as reminders Minoc once stood. The rich ore deposits were still not under control by Lord Blackthorn or the Alliance of Ancients. The Purple Guardians of HONOR (PGoH) and the Guardians of Light (GoL) kept a strong hold of the mountains that the mines existed, but the area that the city once stood was held more by Lord Blackthorn. Reinforcements from Valor Knights (VK) and Dragoons led by Sir Rand could not keep a foothold long north of the gypsy camp. In Papau, the Feluccan forces of Lords of the Eternal Realm (LER) fought an ebb and flow battle in the thick swamplands, while Cavaliers (CVL) led mercenaries from around the realm in hunting down the new plant things dubbed Boglings and Bog Things in the Yew territory. These two cities, as well as the southern jungles, had been reporting further developments in the moist rich areas of growing pestilence, illness and plagues breaking out. It seems the after-effects of the powerful Decay spell cast by the Meer has indeed had an enchanted effect on what was once decaying biological waste. Jungles, Swamps and the fertile ground of Yew have taken this effect the most and from those grounds new dangers have arisen. Lumberjacks have begun to now form logging teams and only a few now work alone.who knows when their fallen logs will rise up and take issue with their work. Worse yet; will this bring back the plague that was the "Wicked Trees" that were clear-cut 2 years ago? The Shadowriders column began to leave Trinsic on route to escort the Emissary of Illyceum Galanor and the Emissary of Dalmatia Mysty to the Ancient Alliance guilds as well as the other large kingdoms that existed. A dedicated focused approach was more needed now than ever before and Emperor Borg had accepted their request for a gathering to discuss this need. Preliminary plans between PGoH and GoL had already begun on the rebuilding of Minoc and the Senate house of Trades within PGoH began to consolidate resources for the day this would be needed. Omicron, guildmaster of GoL, and Emperor Borg spoke long into the night with Senator Kimpek on what would be needed to rebuild Minoc after Lord Blackthorn was vanquished from its ruins. "Several thousand tons of stone and lumber at least..more than I wish to think about at this late a time in the day.less I have a nightmare whilst I sleep"; remarked Senator Kimpek. "Whatever the cost we must rebuild this city after this war Senator."; stated Omicron. "Indeed..Senator you must lead this endeavor while Omicron and his guardians lead the fight in Minoc. Our tradesmen and women will work together in supporting and creating the needed supplies.but our immediate attention still resides with first winning the war in Minoc"; added Emperor Borg. "Yes. The mines have not fallen and this has kept Lord Blackthorn from increasing his forces strength. The terrain in Minoc is against us with Lord Blackthorn holding the high ground of the city.we fight uphill battles at every turn. The heavy armor column of Sir Rand find it difficult to get far up into the city as the mounts are weighted down and not suited for uphill charges."; said Omicron as he showed a bit of angst leaning above the Minoc map that layed on the table. Across the way the night air filled with a poor attempt at music as Colin Mor sat on his balcony and fiddled with a lute and harp. The instruments were given to him as gifts by the Valor Knights leader Arthil to hold as Arthil moved his belongings from an old homestead to anew retreat closer to the capital city. The trio could not help but laugh as they could hear Colin struggle and the castle sentry Tod take humorous fun at Colin's poor playing. "Ahhhh hush now.zip it sentry and mind your work.or I will irritate a swarm of bees to fix you..or send a rat up your pantleg.then who will be squaking aye..aye?"; yelled Colin Mor back at sentry Tod's commentary. Omicron and Borg still laughed but they stopped and looked at each other. and as if in a mirror the two ancient cousins both struck the same idea and their expressions matched. "You thinking what I am thinking cousin?"; asked Emperor Borg. "You thinking what I am thinking cousin?"; asked Omicron at the same time. The two then moved toward the renderings library where Centurion Lizshue was earlier having a painter recapture a memory of a beast she, Elwe D'Loche and Waldorf Kemp slain in the morning. "If the reports are true.."; began Omicron "then this may work"; ended Emperor Borg. "But to trade one evil for another cousin?"; asked Omicron. "yes.I know but...that is the key ONE..it would be just ONE..not an army"; answered Emperor Borg. Nodding to each other in agreement the two looked back at the painting of the grotesque purple blob on the painting. "Kind of fitting isn't it? It is purple."; remarked Omicron. "Aye..aye it is cousin..Lord Blackthorns favorite color to see against him...Purple..our colors..the color of HONOR"; answered Emperor Borg. The two then returned to the battle plans and agreed to discuss this further before the realm meeting. As they bid farewell at the Olympus Castle doors Emperor Borg winked at sentry Tod for his humor and help in this possible solution. Sending aloft a pigeon with a note to his olde friend Arthil..Emperor Borg shook his head and chuckled at the sound of Colin Mor fighting with a harp..trying to make a medly.but just making a mess. "Colin.if you only knew how helpful your struggle has been this night..heheh"; Emperor Borg said aloud as he walked back through Olympus corridors to his chamber. Posted by Borg Friday, May 10, 2002 8:50 PM EDT (RP) Preparations Preparations May 9 2002 4:00PM The stomps of Kabur's heavy walk echoed down the hallway leading to Exodus' chamber. He did not enjoy leaving a battle, especially when he was causing so many casualties to the humans. There were times when he wished the burden of his command did not include as much discussion. Still, for his master, the one who had saved his kind from extinction, he would do anything. As the doors to the great chamber slid silently open, Kabur's eyes scanned for the despicable human he was forced to bow before; but there was no sign of Blackthorn. This was the first time he had been summoned for a private audience with Exodus since arriving in this new era. Kabur bowed deeply toward the dark corner from which he heard his master's voice. He was curious why Blackthorn was not present, but felt relieved that he did not have to speak with the arrogant primitive again. "My Lord Exodus, I arrived as soon as I received your summons." Exodus' voice shattered through the chamber like the cracking of rocks. "You and the Juka continue to serve me well, Kabur. Report to me of the campaign." Kabur stood and looked upward into the darkness. "No force has been able to turn away the Juka, my Lord. We continue to ravage the cities and slay the humans. The dragoons. are performing adequately." Nothing infuriated the great warrior more than being forced to fight alongside humans. In his mind it was an insult to all Juka. "You have fought in Yew; tell me what you have seen." "The land of Yew changes in ways I have never seen before, my Lord. The very plants of the forest have uprooted and attacked the humans. Animals have become shapeless before the eyes of mine. The ground itself becomes moist and dank. Yet during all this change, the Juka remain safe. No plants attack us, no misshapen beasts threaten us." Kabur paused for a moment, considering the next bit of information. "According to patrols the Meer have become ill. They would be very vulnerable to an attack of ours." From the shadows of Exodus' voice small lights flickered for a moment, then faded away. The sound of whirring gears increased and quieted again. "The Meer were foolish enough to attempt the Decay." Kabur's eyes became slits at the mention of the Decay. The Meer would only dare to use such magic in desperate times. In the past he had seen leaders and fellow warriors alike crumble to nothingness while in the Decay's destructive grasp. Exodus' grating voice continued. "By attempting to save Yew, the Meer have may sealed its fate entirely, and their own with it. Continue attacking the humans in the cities, Kabur; the Meer can be disposed of at our leisure. Should the Meer somehow manage to save themselves and attack, you are to pull both the Juka and the Dragoons from battle." "Retreat?" Kabur was not pleased at this order, although he knew his master must have a reason. "You will have another task for us, Lord Exodus?" "I may not contact you for some time, Kabur. Should the battle become too complex, I will not have my armies become endangered without my guidance." This information was unsettling to Kabur. Exodus had never taken any leave of absence of any kind while ruling over the Juka. "You are. leaving, my Lord?" There was a pause as the whirring sounds increased and faded for a moment. "My attention is needed elsewhere, if I am to fulfill my purpose. There is a situation that I must prepare for." "And. Blackthorn?" Kabur would only refer to Blackthorn as a Lord if he were actually in the man's presence. "He will be assuming full command until you return?" Kabur asked the question with a dark edge in his voice. "Blackthorn is not aware of my actions. You are not to inform him of this conversation, or of my orders, Kabur. I trust that you will maintain your secrecy in this matter." "Indeed, my Lord." Kabur grinned in the shadows of his helmet. "I shall." Posted by Borg Thursday, May 9, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 6 Alliances pt 1 The Apprentice Nights turned to days turned to nights turned to day...this was the lifestyle of a young man not one who had more days behind him than in front of him to live. Dr Codene had been working on the volumes of books that were retrieved from the Vampires Library in Ilshenar for weeks now. For his efforts he had succeeded in identifying 2 books pertaining to Mondain's Experiments...one a journal of an assistant of his Olan Cromwell and the other titled Methods of Mutation. In the others only a few lines and fewer understandings of what meanings were written on the pages before him. Languages not of letters but symbols and those symbols not like any referenced before in the great libraries of the realm. Still locked in keeping was the black book that Dr Codene had not returned to work on....saving the worst for last in this case he felt was best. It was now 9am and the city of Britain was awakening and the sounds of hooves began to echo through the early morning air. As the large doors of the Library opened, more sunlight bathed the floor and sparkled off a candel stick into the eye of Dr Codene. Squinting and blinking he motioned a hand to block the brilliance and watched the librarian and a few scholars enter. Taking a deep breath he decided to gather his things and head for some breakfast. Packing up his books and notes Dr Codene thanked the librarian and bid her good day as he headed to the Inn for some hospitality muffins. Picking up a print of local news of late, Dr Codene sat on the steps of the Inn and began to scan through the brief reports from across the land. The city of Papau was reported to nearly be under Lord Blackthorn’s forces control. In Minoc raged the largest battles with the Guardians of Light leading the efforts to keep control of the massive ore reserves, while Trinsic had become a standoff with the Legion of PGoH leading the Alliance to keep control of the mother city. The city of Yew, being spread out into the woods, was turning into a guerilla battle with the mechanics led by Betrayers finding mobility quite difficult in the moist and rich landscape. The realm was beginning to feel the promise of what Lord Blackthorn would always bring it…chaos. As Dr Codene began to walk toward the bank he was passed by many citizens who hurried as well in the same direction. Buffeted and bounced by some overzealous to reach their destination; he did not notice a piece of his notes fall to the ground. As he rounded the corner and headed under the Order Arch, Dr Codene did not see a gust of wind lift the paper and deliver it to a shrouded man near the Britain sewer entrance. The man covered from head to toe in darkness began to read the note and then placed it into his pocket as he backed into the dark corner….he vanished. The local banking quarter was a stir as Juno Lornes, a Yew merchant farmer, was standing atop of a caged wagon. Juno was taking quite the humorous banter since he was not known as a great farmer and now having a cart full of compost was fitting most opinions of his ability. “I always knew you were full of it Juno…this is the proof”; heckled one citizen. “I am telling you the truth….This is a beast and it was alive!!! Nearly killed me this morning as I tended my fields”; replied Juno. This was his story……. That morning Juno had begun his day going to the compost pile to begin to fertilize his fields. As he began to fill a wheel barrel full, the pile itself began to move. To his horror it then rose and towered above him. Juno moved back slowly and as the pile turned he found himself facing a hideous mouth nearly large enough for a whole cow to fit inside. The beast then moved across the field and as it did the ground behind it glistened and filled in with vegetation. Still slowly moving back toward the house, Juno watched the beast send out a tentacle and snatch a small bird from mid flight; devouring it like a small gnat. Juno feared for himself now as the beast turned back toward him…..he bolted for his home. The beast bellowed incredibly and thrust its mass into motion after Juno. As Juno reached the door he entered and slammed it shut, locking it and bracing it with a chair. The beast momentum slammed against the door and under the seam of the door parts oozed and a tentacle began to sprout…reaching for Juno. Juno shook and moved further into the room, backing up to his fireplace. As he looked across the room he could see the tentacle now was not searching for him but attempting to free the door! Juno grabbed a burning branch from the fireplace and moved to burn the tentacle…it WORKED!!! The tentacle lit ablaze and broke off while the rest of the beast mass receded under the door. Outside Juno now could hear the sound of his dog Jeepers and the neighbors dog Phil barking at the beast; drawing it away from the door. Through the window by the kitchen he could now see the beast chasing the dogs around the garden fields….all the time behind its path grew his crops rapidly. Fear now took a backseat to ambition and desire…desire to catch this beast and somehow use it to his advantage. As the dogs kept distance from the beast but kept it occupied, Juno moved his livestock cart alongside his house and began to lay down kinlin wood around in a pattern. As he finished he dowsed the kinlin with oil then ran to the back of the house where the dogs still darted away from the beast. Juno called to Jeepers to come to him and he did so quickly….barking all the way. Phil took notice but his pause was all the beast needed and as Phil bolted to join Jeepers and Juno….a tentacle latched onto the dogs tail. In a last yelp it was over….Phil was consumed. The beast now trained its attention squarely on Juno and Jeepers standing at the corner of the house….it slid it body toward them. Juno and Jeepers pulled back around the corner and Juno instructed Jeepers to go into the livestock cart. As the beast rounded the corner of the house, Jeepers continued to bark from inside the cart while Juno ran around the other side of the house. Juno watched as the beast now was within his trap…he ignited the oilsoaked kinlin…within a few seconds the beast was now trapped with only one path clear…into the cart. The beast rushed away from the flames and into the cart as Jeepers lept through the small openings in the bar and escaped the beast. Juno now moved around and backed the cart into a circle of flames that did not touch the cart itself. The beast bellowed but slowly began to settle…it knew it was trapped. The beast pulled its tentacles back into the cage and it seemed to begin to die..his plan to trap the beast was not going to work. As Juno kept the flames burning around the cart he noticed a small tentacle reaching down to the ground. The small tentacle dug into the ground and within a moment he realized it was going to go underground to escape its cage. Reaching for a hoe, Juno then sliced off the small tentacle. Again another tentacle tried the same thing…..again he sliced it off. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the ground move and as he focused on the moving ground….he gasp. A humanoid form of plant rose from the ground and swayed in the air. Juno threw his how at the thing and then reached for his scythe. The plant man raced toward Juno and was cleaved in two by one swing. As its parts fell to the ground they soon filtered down into the soil. Abruptly Juno was spun around and slammed back onto the ground, his pants catching fire from his trap that still burned around the cart. Juno rolled and stood quickly, dowsing his pants small fire. Jeepers was annoying another pair of these plant men and again he darted around the yard keeping out of their reach. Juno again swung adeptly and sliced apart the plant man. Juno needed to get this cart away from soil…but where? Trinsic was far away and said to be sieged…Britain….its city streets and prisons of stone could be his only choice. Attaching his steed to the front of the horse and evading and cleaving newly sprouted plant men, Juno then began to race his cart for Britain. Juno did not think that still this beast he had in the cart….now weak and apparently dying…all the way kept losing tentacles as it reached for the ground passing beneath the cart on the way to Britain. Juno reached the city but, by then the beast did not move at all….here was where Dr Codene found him encircled by the citizens….who now took sport of his claim and some began to throw garbage and dirt at Juno. Some dirt that it seemed was quite fertile it seems…dirt left by the feet of adventurers who returned from Shame that did business at the Britain bank. By now the Castle guards had been aroused and a compliment arrived to begin to bring order back to the quarter and stop the citizens from taking sport of Juno and his story…but the story had not ended. The garbage, refuse and dirt which was thrown at Juno; some of it landed inside the cart and began to be absorbed unnoticed by anyone. A tentacle began to grow and move slowly along one of the bars toward the roof of the cage…no one saw it…least of all Juno, who now wiped the garbage off of himself…adding to the pile inside the cage beneath him. Dr Codene, being schooled in forensic science looked toward the claimed beast. As he poked his longspear into the edge of it in attempt to determine its consistency…it moved….it was NOT DEAD!!! Dr Codene looked quickly up at Juno and he glimpsed the tentacle rear up and grab Juno by the leg and lift him up. “JUNO!!!”; Dr Codene yelled. The local citizens and guards turned from their departing and some screamed in horror as pair of tentacles took an arm and another leg of Juno. As a bellow sounded out from the cart; the tentacles ripped Juno apart and pulled his pieces into its now visible enormous mouth. Mages that were at the bank cast spells of fire onto the cart and in an enormous explosion the cart was obliterated and the beast blown to smithereens. The few parts that remained unburned that landed on the grass nearby sprouted and up rose the humanoid plant forms Juno spoke about. Castle guards unsheathed their swords and began to cut down these forms….the area began to hold a stench of decay and compost. “My lord sir, smells like a swamp or bog now around here now”; remarked one guard. “Aye…so it does…order the maintenance crews to clean this area up immediately”; ordered the Castle guard captain. Dr. Codene leapt onto his lama and took off for Olympus to inform the Emperor of this new creature…this new Bog thing and its Boglings offspring. As Dr Codene reached the Infirmary near Olympus Castle he saw a shrouded man standing on the doorstep. “May I help you sir?”; asked Dr Codene “Perhaps…”; replied the shrouded man calmly as he handed a piece of paper from his pocket to Dr Codene. “What is this…..hmm…..tis my notes!”; remarked Dr Codene. “Perhaps I can help you”; replied the shrouded man. Dr Codene was thankful of the return of his notes and offered the man a reward and then asked him how could he help with the matters of his notes. As the two entered the Infirmary, the shrouded man pulled shades on the windows and as he uncovered his head…the Dr could see why he claimed such aid could be given. “You are a Vampire!!!”; exclaimed Dr Codene as he stood across the room heating water for his Earl Grey tea. “Yes…you could say that….I am…and I am not….I am Anfalas”; replied the man. “I wish to redeem myself from the path that I have traveled…I will aid you in your work in return for you aiding me in my desire for salvation.”; Anfalas added. “I see…if ye are honorable and true…everyman deserves salvation…let us talk of this now then….over tea.”; answered Dr Codene. Dr Codene realized that an incredible journey of danger such a Vampire would take to travel during daylight and to return his notes as well…this was not the likes of those mindless lost souls of Ilshenar….this Vampire was more….and he decided to listen on how and what could they do to discover the contents of the books locked away. Posted by Borg Sunday, May 5, 2002 5:02 PM EDT (RP) Symptoms Symptoms May 2 2002 2:53PM “Clainin! Behind you!” Dawn leapt through the air over Clainin’s head as he ducked. She brought her grandfather’s sword down into the head of a bogling, splitting it neatly in half. The beast gurgled out a final squeal as it shivered to the ground and almost instantly started to decompose. Dawn looked around the clearing quickly to see if any more of the plant monsters threatened to attack, but they seemed to be safe for the moment. The Juka were still concentrated in the inner city, safely away. “Fascinating!” Clainin leaned down close to the dead creature and began scraping bits of it into glass bottles. “I’m very glad that you find this so interesting,” Dawn chided him. “But there was no reason for you to come with me to Yew if you wanted bits of bogling. I could have brought them back for you.” She tugged on her armor awkwardly. “And I could have taken this armor off sooner.” Clainin stayed fixated on the bogling corpse while he worked. “That is the armor of a Royal Knight, Dawn, you should be honored to wear it.” “I am honored… I just wish that being honored were a bit more comfortable. I could fight better in my own clothes. Not to mention maintain some of my modesty.” “I think I know how you feel… figuratively speaking.” Clainin looked up at her and grinned. “Nystul’s lab still feels a bit too big for me. But, like everyone, I have a duty and I am adjusting to his absence.” Dawn sheathed her sword and sat on a fallen log near Clainin. “Speaking of absence, why did Dupre not accompany you? You said this mission was important; I assumed he would be here.” “Faction business.” He held up the bottle and peered intently at the contents as he spoke. “That blasted war is wearing him out. And you’re right, this mission is important, which is why you’re here. Dupre trusts you implicitly.” He looked at Dawn and smiled. “Who wouldn’t trust a Royal Knight?” She smirked at Clainin, “So you can trust me with the details of the mission?” “Ah, yes, I’m sorry. I’ve been so caught up in this…” he looked down at the corpse of the bogling which was starting to look like any other pile of decayed vegetation, “…mess. A representative of the Meer asked me to meet them here; they said it was drastically important. I can only assume it has something to do with our new plant friends.” Behind the pair a sparkle of light appeared, with a magical hum that grew louder as the illumination became brighter. Dawn quickly rose to her feet. She spun around with her sword at the ready. As the light faded, Adranath appeared with Dasha beside him. Dawn relaxed and sheathed her sword again. “You are very quick with your weapon, young one.” Dasha started to smile at Dawn, but began to cough violently. Adranath put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Clainin stepped forward nervously and bowed in front of the ancient Meer. “You must be Adranath. It is an honor to finally meet you.” Adranath’s brow wrinkled. He looked Clainin up and down and took a quick glance around the area. “I was to meet with the senior mage… he is detained?” Clainin looked at Dawn nervously and quickly back to Adranath. “I… I am the senior mage.” “One so young!” Adranath’s eyes widened with surprise. He could see Clainin was embarrassed. “You must be extraordinarily talented. Forgive me; the honor is mine.” He bowed deeply, much to Clainin’s relief. As he stood straight again he coughed, although he tried to conceal it between clenched teeth. Clanin spoke cautiously, “Forgive me for asking, Adranath… you and Dasha do not seem well. If you have need of cure potions I can provide you with some.” “No potion will aid us, I fear. We cannot stay for long; being so close to Yew makes our illness worse. But it was necessary to come here, so that I could see the damage we have caused.” “Damage?” Dawn asked. “There have been strange plant creatures appearing across the land, but I see no damage to Yew.” “The damage I speak of is the source of the beasts, and I fear it may be the source of more. In our attempt to stop the Juka attacks we may have done a great deal more harm than good.” The Eternal paused to cough again. “I can feel it growing beneath us just being here…” “Something is growing in Yew?” Clainin asked. “The decay.” Adranath answered. “An ancient spell of the Meer. In the past we used the decay only in times of great need when such a dark use of nature was the only option we could see for survival. The spell would seize our enemies and rot them into the soil within moments. Entire legions of Juka could be reduced to nothing. The decay was a horrible act of destruction that forces nature to do its darkest work.” “And you’ve used this spell here in Yew?” Dawn asked. “The Juka seem unaffected.” “We attempted it and something went wrong. We were not sure what exactly until the bog things began to appear. Nature is…different than it once was. Throughout the ages evil has corrupted it; forced it to change and adapt itself in ways unnatural. It skewed our decay spell into something much more powerful and, I believe, evil. Not only has it created the plant beasts but also it has corrupted the Meer with illness. We were preparing ourselves to attack the Juka when we fell ill.” Adranath was again struck with a fit of violent hacking coughs that made the humans uncomfortable just hearing them. “If this spell is still growing as you say then these monsters could be just the start of our worries. The way you describe it…the spell has affected the land itself?” Clainin couldn’t comprehend what such magic could do. “The prospects are frightening.” Dasha stepped forward, suppressing another attack of coughs before she spoke. “We have come to accept your offer of allegiance against the Juka.” Looking at Dawn, and clearly swallowing a great deal of her pride, Dasha held her hand out, palm forward with her fingers pointing up. After a moment Dawn lifted her own arm and held her palm in front of the Meer’s, unsure of what to do next. Dasha pressed their hands together and interlocked her fingers with Dawn’s and gripped firmly before releasing. The two smiled at each other for the first time. “You have my apologies for our arrogance,” Adaranth replied. We come from a time when humans were very different than they are now, the idea of needing your assistance before was…new…to us.” Adranath slowly turned and looked around the wilderness of Yew. “Now, we wish to help rectify the mistake we have made with our magic.” “What else will the spell do? Will we see more of these plant beasts?” Clainin asked. “I do not know.” The ancient Meer crouched down and put his hand to the ground. “The magic has infested the land here and nature is changed. Anything could happen. I can feel the decay below us and it will continue to grow in some way until it is stopped.” “We should get back to my laboratory.” Clainin said reaching for his spellbook. “I’ll be happy to assist you with preparing the cure.” “Cure?” Adranath asked between coughs. Before Clainin could speak again, a squishing sound came from the trees. The party turned to witness a huge mass crawling its way towards them. Twisted gaping mouths and misplaced eyes covered the outside of the creature appeared, only to sink back into the depths of the fleshy mass and reappear in a new place. Half of a deer corpse stuck awkwardly out of the side of the mound; the corpse was quickly pulled inside it with a sickening wet crunch. The misshapen mouths on the creature spit a few bloodied bones out as it progressed. Dawn readied her sword but at the sight of the foul fiend she was fully prepared to retreat if need be. “What is this horrid creature?” “Another product of the decay! It is now affecting flesh. I expect that used to be a normal forest creature of some kind that became infected and metamorphosed.” The Watcher turned to Clainin as he repressed his coughing. “I believe now we should make our exit.” Clainin had already started casting the moongate back to Britain before Adranath had finished speaking. A short moment later the four had passed through the portal and it vanished quietly as the slimy creature continued to move towards the city. Posted by Borg Saturday, May 4, 2002 12:00 AM EDT

(OSI)Employment Listing at Origin CURRENT EMPLOYMENT LISTINGS Server Programmers We are searching for talented and experienced Server Programmers to join the ORIGIN team! Primary responsibilities include coding and implementing new game content as well as maintaining current server code. They will also work with the team to determine architecture for new systems, and evaluate current systems for optimization and bug fixes.The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate the following: Extremely competent and experienced working in a UNIX environment, specifically Linux and Solaris 3+ years programming experience using C++ / object-oriented programming Significant network programming experience with TCP/IP Significant distributed programming experience, including ability to build distributed and client/server systems Knowledge of scripting languages such as Perl, Unix shell scripting languages (sh, bash, and/or tcsh), Java and Python Familiarity with RPC programming and shared object / DLL programming Experience profiling executables with grof or other profiling tool Experience using memory debugging tools Ability to discern appropriate code and timing for optimization Disciplined and experienced using CVS or similar versioning control system Highly documentation-oriented, engineering approach to problem-solving Desire/ability to work in a team environment Pluses Include: Win32 development experience Familiarity with threaded programming (POSIX threads) and other internal systems issues Familiarity with programming DB applications and using SQL commands Experience with the Berkeley DB system Experience implementing movement prediction and latency tolerant movement systems Familiarity with massively multiplayer games ABOUT ORIGIN SYSTEMS, INC. Located in the scenic hills of Northwest Austin, we offer a unique and casual work environment along with competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. Origin offers challenging projects, excellent opportunities for advancement, and the freedom to be as creative as you can possibly be. At our facility, you will find an on-site fitness-center, café, free video games, pets and more. CONTACTING ORIGIN SYSTEMS, INC. For immediate consideration for any position listed above (unless otherwise noted), please send resume and salary requirements to: Origin Systems-Human Resources 5918 W. Courtyard Drive Austin, TX 78730 Fax: 512-346-7905 jobs at origin.ea.com. Posted by Borg Saturday, April 27, 2002 6:39 PM EDT (OSI)Ultima Online HORTICULTURE 101 PLANT GROWING Using special seeds harvested from slain monsters, you may grow uniquely colored plants to use as house decorations or to produce hybrid seeds and resources. As your plant grows from a seed to a full-grown plant, it will need watering and alchemical care in order to protect it from insect infestations and harmful fungi. Through the process of cross-pollination, you may even be the first person to grow a unique new hybrid plant type! PLANT SEEDS Plant seeds come in many different colors. When planted in a bowl of dirt and carefully tended to over time, plant seeds will grow into full-grown plants. These plants can be used for decorative purposes only, or as a source of new hybrid plant seeds and specially grown resources. While you can tell what color of plant the seed will grow into by the color of the seed itself, the type of plant that results from a particular seed remains a mystery until the plant is fully-grown! The first step in growing a seed into a plant is planting it in a bowl of soft dirt. In order to plant a seed, simply double click the seed to use it, and then target a bowl of soft dirt. Freshly dug dirt isn't soft enough for a seed to be planted in, so you'll need to pour water into your bowl of dirt before attempting to place a seed in it. PLANT BOWL In order to plant a seed, you first need a special bowl. Plant bowls can be purchased from a provisioner for a small price. Once you have an empty plant bowl, you'll need to fill it with dirt before you can plant a seed in it. To fill a plant bowl with dirt, double-click the bowl to use it, and then target a source of nice soft brown dirt. If you've targeted an appropriate patch of dirt, you'll now have a bowl full of dirt. Add in enough water to soften the dirt, and you'll have a perfect spot for planting a seed! PLANT GROWTH Plants take time to grow through their various stages. A plant has nine main stages of growth, from seed, to sapling, to fully grown plant. Plants will not grow in containers unless the container is in a player's backpack. If a plant is healthy and well-tended, it will grow one "stage" of its life-cycle in about a day's time. If a plant is not healthy because it has not been well taken care of, then it will not grow. You must keep your plant in a healthy state by curing it of any maladies that might be affecting it, and then letting it heal naturally or help it along through alchemical means. PLANT HEALTH Plants have hit points much like your character. A plant loses hit points when it is affected by various maladies. If a plant has insects eating at it, then it will lose hit points each day. Other maladies that can affect a plant's health include under or over-watering the plant, harmful fungi, poison, and disease. Heal potions and a plant's natural healing will raise the plant's hit points back up to its maximum, but only if the plant has been cured of all maladies first. If a plant loses all its hit points, it will die. As a plant grows, its maximum health increases. Seeds and saplings are very weak, and can easily be killed if neglected for even a short while. Full-grown plants, on the other hand, could survive for several days without any help. INFESTATION As a plant grows, it has a chance of being infested by insects. These insects will slowly eat at a plant, causing it to lose health and eventually die. Different plants have different chances of being infested. Flowery plants, over-watered plants, and bright plants all have a greater chance of attracting hungry insects, so they'll need even more attention from their owner. You can use poison potions on your plant in order to kill off the insects that have infested it. Be sure that you do not use too much poison, however, or your plant will soak up the poison, which can cause it to wither and die! You can view your plant's current Infestation Level in the Plant Health menu. FUNGUS As a plant grows, it has a chance of being infected with harmful fungi. Fungi sap the plant of its health, which will cause it to wither and die. It is important to remember that fungi love moist areas, so over-watering your plant increases the chance that it will become infected by harmful fungi. You may cure your plant of fungus by using cure potions. You can view your plant's current Fungus Level in the Plant Health menu. POISON (PLANTS) You may apply poison potions to your plant to kill insects infecting it. If you apply too many poison potions, however, or apply poison potions when there are no insects on the plant, then your plant will soak up the poison and become sick. When you apply poison potions, they will not take effect until the next growth check your plant performs (approximately once a day). Don't worry, however, as insects only harm your plant during a growth check as well, so any insects will be killed off by your poison potions before they can harm your plant. If you accidently poison your plant, you can cure the plant of poison by using heal potions to counteract the poison. You can view your plant's current Poison Level in the Plant Health menu. CURING (PLANTS) You may apply cure potions to a plant in order to cure it of harmful fungi. If you apply too many cure potions, however, or apply cure potions when the plant is not infected by fungi, you will infect your plant with a deadly disease which will cause it to wither and die. When you apply cure potions, they will not take effect until the next growth check your plant performs (approximately once a day). Don’t worry, however, as fungi only harm your plant during a growth check as well, so any harmful fungi will be cured by your cure potions before they can harm your plant. If you accidently infect your plant with a disease by over-curing it, you can use heal potions to counteract the disease. You can view your plant's current Disease Level in the Plant Health menu. WATERING In order to keep your plant healthy, you must water it regularly. An under-watered plant will wither and die if left unattended. However, it is important to remember that over-watering your plant is also unhealthy. Over-watered plants become waterlogged and lose health, in addition to becoming perfect breeding grounds for insects and fungi. Each time a plant performs its growth check (approximately once a day) the plant will soak up one dose of water, so you'll need to keep a constant eye on your plant to make sure it has not dried out. You can view your plant's current Water Level in the Plant Health menu. POTIONS (PLANTS) You may apply various potions to a plant in order to cure it of various maladies, help it to heal back up to maximum health, or strengthen it against infestations. Potions are applied through the Water button on the Main Menu. The following potions may be used on plants: Heal, Cure, Poison, Strength. CROSS-POLLINATION When a plant first reaches its full-grown state, it will sprout its full foliage, no longer contained within the plant bowl. At this stage of the plant's growth, it will begin to produce pollen. You can view your plant's current Pollination State in the Plant Resources menu. The plant will eventually self-pollinate if left unattended, and the plant will begin to produce seeds. Seeds produced by a self-pollinated plant will grow up into an exact duplicate of the "parent" plant. Another method of pollination is called "cross-pollination". Once a plant reaches the pollen-producing stage, its pollen may be gathered by the owner by using the Cross-Pollination button. Gathered pollen may be used on another full-grown plant. When you pollinate one plant with pollen from another plant, the targeted plant will produce seeds that will grow into a hybrid of the two plants. The color and type of each "parent" plant are combined to produce a new type of seed that will grow from the targeted plant. While you may continue to gather pollen from a plant throughout its entire life cycle, once a plant has been pollinated (either by itself, through natural pollination, or through manual cross-pollination from another plant), no further combinations may be performed. The seed type that the plant will produce is determined the first time the plant is pollinized, and cannot be changed afterwards. In very rare circumstances, cross-pollination may result in a "mutation". If mutation occurs, the targeted plant will not produce seeds that are a combination of the two "parent" plants, but will instead produce "mutated" seeds that grow into mutant plant varieties. SEED PRODUCTION When a plant reaches its maximum growth level, it will no longer grow in size, but will instead produce seeds any time a growth check is performed. The type of seed that a plant produces is determined by whether it pollinated itself, or if pollen from another plant was applied to it during the cross-pollination process. A plant will produce one seed per day, up to a maximum of 8 seeds. A plant will only produce a seed if it is healthy. You may gather seeds from a plant by using the Gather Seeds button on the Resources menu. You will pick all available seeds from the plant and place them in your backpack, if there is room. The number of seeds available is displayed next to the Seed # indicator (seed image in an empty box). A red X symbol indicates that the plant has been set to decorative mode, or has produced its maximum amount. RESOURCE PRODUCTION Certain plant type and color combinations result in a plant that can produce unique resources. A plant will begin producing resources at the same time it produces seeds, when it reaches its maximum growth level. One resource is produced per day, up to a maximum of 8 resources A plant will only produce resources if it is health. You may gather resources from a plant by using the Gather Resources button on the Resources menu. You will pick all available resourcesom the plant and place them in your backpack, if there is room. The number of resources available is displayed next to the Resource # indicator (petal image in an empty box). A red X symbol indicates that the plant has been set to decorative mode, or has produced its maximum amount. Resources produced by unique plant combinations have special properties dependent on the resource type and color. DECORATIVE MODE When a plant reaches its maximum growth level, a Decorative Mode symbol will appear in the Resources Menu. This symbol is displayed as a leafy plant with a red / symbol through it. Pressing this button (and clicking Yes to apply) will set the plant to Decorative Mode. A plant set to Decorative Mode will not produce seeds or resources, and cannot be used for cross-pollination. A Decorative Plant does not need upkeep, however, and is always in a healthy state. Decorative Mode should be activated if you simply want your plant to be used as a house decoration, and therefore do not want to have to water it or keep it healthy. A Decorative Plant will have the tag [decorative] displayed above it when single-clicked. IMPORTANT NOTE: Once a plant is set to Decorative Mode, it cannot be set back to its normal state. A Decorative Plant will never produce seeds or resources again. EMPTYING THE BOWL If you would like to empty your plant bowl of the plant or seed and start over again, you may use the Empty Bowl button on the Main Menu. If the plant in the bowl is in the seed or sapling stage, emptying the bowl will result in a bowl and the seed placed in your backpack. If the bowl only had dirt in it, or the plant had grown beyond the sapling phase, emptying the bowl will destroy the plant, returning only the plant bowl to your backpack. Posted by Borg Friday, April 26, 2002 5:13 PM EDT Chapter 5 Confrontation part 3 Reinforcements Chapter 5 Confrontation Part 3 Reinforcements Safe Haven at the Britain Crossroads now holds Sanctuary for Dawn in between her activities. Minoc now becomes the focus of a tug of war between Lord Blackthorn and The Alliance (PGoH, GoL and VK) who stand to stop Lord Blackthorn from securing Minocs vast ore resouces to supply his Mechanics and Golem production. The air across the realm continues to thicken with the stench of compost drying in the sun. Lord Blackthorns forces continue to search Trinsic for books that he believes (correctly) The Honor Empire of PGoH have in thier possession. Dr Codene continues his decryption work on these ancient texts with 3 of the volumes looked safely away, he still feels like he is being stalked...and still believes it is a large cat....not the Juka. Posted by Borg Friday, April 26, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Saturday 4-27-2002 Recruitment Drive For the greater part of the day at Olympus the The Honor Empire of PGoH will be accepting new recruits into the Legion as well as accepting and interviewing canidates for State and Senate roles. Additionally, Naval recruitment will also occur (a role VASTLY underused by the NON-Pirate community). General citizen recruitment also will be facilitated during the Recruitment hours noted below. State application and interviews from 10am until Noon EST. Naval Recruitment from Noon until 2pm EST. Legion Recruitment from 2pm until 5pm EST. General citizen and tradesmen/women will be recruited throughout the whole recruitment time periods. ALL EXISTING members are asked to consider bringing into the Empire thier existing alternates...there is a place for any character or role regardless of race (even Orcs exist in the Empire now) Also Existing members (defined a member with at least 1 active Legion unit on guildstone) are eligible for the Recruitment Reward. The following Roles are available within The Honor Empire of PGoH. NON COMBAT ROLES Senator of Espionage (Rouge) Senator of Genesis (Bard) Governor of Illyceum (Trinsic/Skara/Jhelom/SerpHold Areas) Governor of Dalmatia (Islands and Britain) Governor of Draconia (the Lost Lands of T2A) Governor of Ilshenar (the lands of LBR) Emissaries (Inter-guild reps and Defenders in courts of law) Praefectors (Provincial Procecutors or Guards) Herald (guild reporter) Caravan Runners (Tamers) Healers (Wandering Healers) Ranchers (Sheep, Cattle, Horse, all ridables) All Trade workers (Citizens) COMBAT ROLES Herans (Beastmaster) Gladiators (melee/shields on foot) Warlocks (mages) Rangers (archers on foot) Dragoons (horsed melee/shields) Shadowriders (horsed archers) Lancers (horsed longspears) Pikemen (Halbreds on foot) Legionnaires (Legion recruit) Fleet Admiral (Leads 5 ships) Captain (Naval ship leader) First Mate (naval landing party leader) Marine (naval warriors) Sailors (naval archers or mages) Grenadiers (naval alchemists) Swabbie (naval recruit) ENHANCED COMBAT ROLES High Elf (Elf leader) Elf Rangers (archers/warriors) Orc Guardian (Orc leader) Skullcrusher Orcs (warriors) Templar (Gargoyle leader Mage) Locust (Gargoyle Mages) Praetorian Guards (elite combat role) UPCOMING NEW ROLES IN DEVELOPMENT Necromancer Herbalist Brew Master Sculptor Painter Vampire Hunter Werewolf Hunter Minstrel Interior Decorator (Rugs, Tapestry, Shields etc) Architect Quartermaster Shipwright Casino Staff Archeologist Demolition Expert Siege Crafter Executioner (Torture Devices) Mausoleum Director (Tombstones/Crypts) Astronomer (Mystic Tarot Gypsy There are 5 Naval Fleets planned and they will be based out of Trinsic, Jhelom, Nujelm, Papau and Lakeshire. Fleets will be used to support Dawn and the Empire's effort against Lord Blackthorn. Additionally, Fleets will be used to discover new Islands and beach heads which may also need Legion deployment to. Salvage operations and providing shipping lanes are clear of piracy will be conducted. Each Fleet will be made up of 5 ships and each ship will have the following planned compliment. Captain, First Mate, and a combination of 6 Marines, Sailors, Swabbies. Captains and thier crew will recieve 50% of Legion "spoils of War" if thier ship is utilized in a landing event. As with tradition and tribute to the GODS of Skills....all gems always are requested to be sent to the Imperial Treasury; regardless of the role or responsibility a member has. All roles within the Empire are "Roleplayed" and the following methods of communication should be used. ALL ingame communications should be RP and in character [OOC used for exceptions] GROUP CHAT.........INGAME INGROUP NON RP conversation ICQ CHAT for IN/OUT of Game NON RP Conversation (also AIM) Website FORUM......for NON Gametime coordination/communication and/or sharing of thoughts, ideas, tricks or adventures. Website NEWS.......for reporting of OFFICIAL RP events or OSI communications. EMAIL.............for communicating LARGE detailed memos or personal issues. MiRC and PGoH Volcano Chat is for use by members for NON RP meetings. RP meetings should take place IN GAME at OLYMPUS Castle Guild Gatherings...for having alot of fun in realworld like we did in Las Vegas 2001, NYC-FortWayne-Cleveland-Boston in 2000. Posted by Borg Thursday, April 25, 2002 3:40 AM EDT (OSI)Virtue Titles and Achievment The Virtues Apr 23 2002 10:08AM CST There is currently a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues. The Shrines are named after them, and players can read about the eight Virtues in certain books that are available within the game. But, beyond those small representations, the Virtues have never played a significant role in the world of Ultima Online. A system will be put into play which will reward characters who actively pursue the activities that represent each of the eight Virtues. Listed below are the details relevant to pursuing the Virtues: Paperdoll interface: The paperdoll will be modified to allow players to display the steps achieved in each of the Virtues for their characters. Any player will be able to access the display on any character’s paperdoll by pressing a certain “Virtue button.” The button used to access this display will be the mailbag icon currently in place on 2D paperdoll gumps. A new Virtue symbol icon which will be added to the 3D paperdoll. Double-clicking the “Virtue button” will present the player with a graphic display, indicating what steps they have attained in the Virtues. There will be eight sections, one for each Virtue, in the form of an engraved stone. There will be a “status” button (see “Status Button Interface,” below) and “cancel” button on this menu. For characters who have not yet achieved the first step of a given Virtue, the respective engraving is empty. The engraved symbols for each of the Virtues are listed below. Hovering the cursor over a given Virtue symbol will display the name of that respective Virtue in the center of the Virtue gump. Humility: a shepherd’s crook Sacrifice: a teardrop Honor: a chalice Compassion: a heart Valor: a sword Honesty: a open-palmed hand Spirituality: an ankh Justice: a set of scales When characters have achieved the first step on the path of a given Virtue, the engraved symbol for that Virtue will fill with the appropriate Virtue symbol, tinted light gray. When characters have achieved the second step on the path of a given Virtue, the engraved symbol for that Virtue will fill with the appropriate Virtue symbol, colored a light tint of that Virtue’s respective color. Humility: a tint of black (“medium grey”) Sacrifice: a tint of orange (“light orange”) Honor: a tint of purple (“light purple”) Compassion: a tint of yellow (“pale yellow”) Valor: a tint of red (“pinkish”) Honesty: a tint of blue (“light blue”) Spirituality: a tint of white (“pale grey”) Justice: a tint of green (“light green”) When characters have achieved the third step on the path of a given Virtue, the engraved symbol for that Virtue will fill with the appropriate Virtue symbol, colored in the respective color of that Virtue. Humility: black (“dark grey”) Sacrifice: orange Honor: purple Compassion: yellow Valor: red Honesty: blue Spirituality: white Justice: green Progressing any number of steps in a Virtue will grant a character some special abilities. Players will be able to access these abilities by clicking the related Virtue symbol on their own Virtue gump. For example, double-clicking on the symbol for “Sacrifice” will activate the Virtuous ability for Sacrifice. When a player moves his cursor over a given Virtue symbol, a title will be displayed under the respective symbol, indicating the step currently achieved for that Virtue by that character. First step: Seeker of [name of that Virtue] Second step: Follower of [name of that Virtue] Third step: Knight of [name of that Virtue] A character that has achieved all three steps in all eight Virtues will earn the title “The Virtuous” on their paperdoll. Murderer characters (“Reds”) cannot gain any Virtue points nor use any Virtues. Any current points will continue to decay over time. Status Button Interface: Double-clicking this button will display a special listing of the Virtues, and it will include one button for each of the eight Virtues. Clicking on one of the Virtue buttons will display: A series of ten red gems across the top. As your character achieves status in his current step of that respective Virtuous path, the gems will begin changing from red to blue. When all the gems have turned blue, your character will advance to the next step in that Virtue. A definition of that Virtue A descriptive concerning how close the character is toward achieving the next step of that Virtue "You have not even started on the path of this Virtue." "You have barely begun your journey through the path of this Virtue." "You have progressed in this Virtue, but still have much to do." "Your journey through the path of this Virtue is going well." "You feel very close to achieving your next goal in this Virtue." "You have achieved a goal in this Virtue A link to a UO.com Web page which describes the Virtue in greater detail Players who progress any number of steps on the path of a given Virtue, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that their Virtuous title reduces in steps over time. Posted by Borg Thursday, April 25, 2002 2:42 AM EDT (RP) Seeds Seeds Apr 25 2002 12:35PM Aiella Leigh pulled her horse to a stop at what seemed like the thousandth tree of the day. As she dismounted and set her horse to graze, she glanced appreciatively at the heavy stand of trees in the thicket. It was good to be a bowyer in this part of Britannia, where oak, walnut, and o’hii rubbed shoulders with massive Yew trees. The wood was plentiful around her small brick house; the occasional ettin or giant spider that wandered through made the tedious chopping interesting. She was getting to be a fair hand using the axe as a weapon as well as a tool, although she preferred to use the sturdy bows that she crafted herself to protect herself, if need be. Recently, it seemed, a lot of people felt the same way. Aiella could barely keep her bows in stock; the hundreds of arrows that she had stocked only the day before were gone. Many of Britannia’s citizens apparently preferred to take on the jukas from a safe distance using archery or magic. She could hardly complain about the business, of course. It paid her vendors and provided gold for anything she might want or need. “Enough of this,” she said aloud. “We have work to do.” Before long, Aiella had fallen into the comfortable rhythm of chopping the wood and securing it in her llama’s pack. To her surprise, she worked undisturbed as Rama’s pack filled quickly with the wood she would need for dozens of bows, arrows, and bolts. It wasn’t until she had ridden north a ways, nearly to the city of Yew, that she began to realize that something was amiss. Duke, her normally steady riding horse, began to prance from one side to the next rather than trot forward on the path toward the settlement. Even fat Rama, who rarely showed interest in anything other than the fruits and grains she fed him, refused her command to follow. She peered cautiously through the trees in the direction that her animals gazed, ready to jab Duke with her heels if flight seemed like a good idea. Something was definitely moving up ahead. Instead of the Juka that she had anticipated seeing, an indistinct shape shambled toward her. She grasped her axe, wishing that she had bows instead of wood in Rama’s pack. It was something that she had never seen before—and in these unsettled times that could not be good. If it had not seen her, and had only been following the path as a matter of course, perhaps she stood a good chance to escape whatever it was. She quietly commanded Rama to follow again and urged Duke off the path, intending to walk him discreetly toward the northeast, and home. Though she hoped that she wouldn’t have to fight it, she continued to hold her axe at the ready. The creature barely seemed to notice as she rode within mere yards of it. It was difficult for her to tell where the beast stopped and the forest floor began, as if it were growing from the ground itself. It was as tall as an average-sized man, yet not like a man at all—and the breeze carried the stench of rotting vegetation over the three of them from its direction. Rama bleated and galloped off in a panic, drawing the creature’s attention. Aiella clapped her heels into Duke’s sides. He needed no urging to follow the fleeing llama. Even as they left the creature behind, however, the foul odor seemed to ensnare them from all sides. Far from retreating, Rama seemed to be leading her into the thick of the creatures. Aiella glanced over her shoulder to see if they’d left the one behind at least, only to find that now two were pursuing her, the new one smaller and more humanoid than the first. It couldn’t be! She hadn’t seen the second one anywhere nearby; it was as if it had sprung from the rotting vegetation. Ahead she could see another two—no, four—of the creatures. Aiella used all of her strength to turn Duke from them, toward the safety of the moongate, until she realized that a single warrior was being engulfed by their attacks. She once again turned the confused riding horse, sending him into the middle of the battle. Her axe swinging, she set upon the creature nearest the warrior. As the creature let out its death rattle, Aiella took the time to leap from Duke’s back. “Duke, attack!” she yelled over the clamor of the melee. Aiella fell in once again beside the warrior, without pausing to see if the horse obeyed. One glance from the corner of her eye told her all she needed to know about him. His armor had great gashes where rings had been destroyed; blood flowed from many wounds. She had not trained in field medicine, but she could tell she could do little for him, even if they should both survive. But together they had a better chance at survival, even in his weakened state. Finally, five creatures lay stretched dead before them and the air was still. The battle had not been won without a cost. Rama was dead and Duke limped badly on one of his hind legs. The warrior—whose name she still did not know, swayed unsteadily as he tried to bandage himself. It did not seem like a good idea to remain much longer. There was no telling when the sixth creature had escaped, or where it had gone. If it returned, even if it returned alone, they would not survive another attack. “Get on my horse,” she said to the warrior. She dragged him to his feet, sending his bandages flying in every direction. The wounded man put up a weak protest as she pulled him toward Duke. As she fought to get him on the horse’s back he crumpled to the ground. “It was like fighting quicksilver… they never stopped growing,” he said in a soft voice, shot through with amazement. His eyes closed for a final time. Aiella dropped to her knees to examine the warrior. He was dead. She would not struggle to get him away, not with a wounded horse and no assistance. She’d mark the place where he’d died and return—she needed the wood from Rama, in any case. As she rose from the ground, something caught her eye. The warrior had fallen near one of the creatures. Between them, on the ground, were a few oddly shaped seed-like objects in strange bright colors. Curiously but with haste, Aiella scooped up a handful and put them in her pouch. She mounted Duke and trotted him in the direction of the moongate. As the horse’s hoof left the ground its print began to fill with murky water. A few moments later the ground began to shift as vines and grasses slowly congealed into a mass that throbbed faster and faster as it grew. Posted by Borg Thursday, April 25, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Promotions Declared It is hearby declared.... For thier support, commitment and HONOR in the defense of Trinsic and its citizens the following Legionnaires are hearby promoted to Squire. Edric d'Corville is hearby presented with the title of Squire of Honor and given the blessed kilt woven in the purple color of Honor. Waldorf Kemp is hearby presented with the title of Squire of Honor and given the blessed kilt woven in the purple color of Honor. May thier journey to Knighthood bring the Empire, the realm and themselves closer to peace and prosperity. May HONOR Guide and Bind thee! Posted by Borg Tuesday, April 23, 2002 1:44 AM EDT (OSI)Compassion and Sacrifice Paths to Virtue The Virtue of Compassion Apr 23 2002 9:55AM CST Compassion is part of a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues, and is one of eight pursuits within the upcoming Virtue system. The Virtue of Compassion has been described thusly: “Compassion is nonjudgmental empathy for one's fellow creatures.” Players will be able to pursue the Virtue of Compassion by assisting non-player escorts and prisoners. Gaining Compassion: Characters will be able to gain points in Compassion in one of two ways: Successfully completing an NPC escort quest. Haven escorts are an exception; characters will not be able to gain Compassion points from Haven escorts. Successfully completing a NPC prisoner quest. The amount of points gained for completing a prisoner quest will be more than those gained for completing an escort quest. Points in Compassion may be earned up to five times in a given day. Characters that are [young] will not be able to earn Compassion points. Virtuous Title & Abilities: When a character has achieved any number of Compassion points, he is considered to have achieved a certain step on the path of Compassion. When a player moves his cursor over the Compassion symbol, a title will be displayed, indicating the step currently achieved in Compassion for that character. First step: Seeker of Compassion Second step: Follower of Compassion Third step: Knight of Compassion Players who progress any number of steps on the path of Compassion, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that this Virtuous title reduces in steps over time. Gaining steps in Compassion will grant a character the ability to improve the results when resurrecting characters other than himself. Characters resurrected in this manner will return to life with a higher number of Hits than which they would normally resurrect. First step: Resurrected character returns to life with 20% of their maximum Hits. Second step: Resurrected character returns to life with 40% of their maximum Hits. Third step: Resurrected character returns to life with 80% of their maximum Hits. This ability may be used as often as the player wishes. Note: you must have the ability to resurrect through the use of spells or Healing skill in order to benefit from the use of this Virtue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Virtue of Sacrifice Jan 30 2002 3:48PM CST Sacrifice is part of a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues, and is one of eight pursuits within the upcoming Virtue system. The Virtue of Sacrifice has been described as: “The courage to give of oneself in the name of love.” Pursuit of Sacrifice will be designed to allow players to interact with “monsters” in a manner other than one of combat. Sacrifice & Redemption: Characters that attain a level of Fame will be able to “sacrifice” their Fame in order to defeat certain monsters. Upon encountering a related, “redeemable” monster, players will be able to sacrifice their Fame to defeat the monster in the following manner: Open up the Virtue gump. Double-click the Sacrifice (teardrop) symbol Target the monster The following is a list of monsters which may be redeemed with the sacrifice of one’s Fame: Lich Enslaved Gargoyle Gargoyle Enforcer (Regular) Demon Succubus Evil Mage You cannot target a redeemable monster if: It has already taken more than 15% of its maximum hit points in damage. You cannot see it (you must have line-of-sight). You are invisible. You are dead. Attempts to sacrifice Fame to anything other than the redeemable monsters will have no effect. Once a monster is redeemed, the following will occur: The character’s Fame is set to “zero.” The monster disappears in a cloud of particles The character will gain a certain amount in Sacrifice, depending on how much Fame was lost in the redemption—the greater the Fame loss, the more Sacrifice is gained. A given character can sacrifice his Fame only once per 24 hour period. Virtuous Title & Abilities: When a character has achieved any number of Sacrifice points, he is considered to have achieved a certain step on the path of Sacrifice. When a player moves his cursor over the Sacrifice symbol, a title will be displayed, indicating the step currently achieved in Sacrifice for that character. First step: Seeker of Sacrifice Second step: Follower of Sacrifice Third step: Knight of Sacrifice Players who progress any number of steps on the path of Sacrifice, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that this Virtuous title reduces in steps over time. Gaining steps in Sacrifice will grant a character the ability to resurrect himself a number of times each week, equal to the steps achieved in Sacrifice. Players will be able to access this ability by clicking the Sacrifice symbol on their own Virtue gump. First step: Self-resurrect one time per week Second step: Self-resurrect two times per week Third step: Self-resurrect three times per week There will be certain notable benefits & caveats of self-resurrecting: Players will be able to instantly resurrect their characters which have achieved any number of steps on this path of Virtue. Self-resurrecting characters will not suffer any stat or skill loss normally associated with “insta-resurrection.” However, effects such as Murderer-based stat-loss, Faction-based stat-loss, etc., will still apply. Self-resurrected characters will only have 1 Hit Point and 1 Mana Point upon resurrection, just as if he was resurrected by a healer, friend, or shrine. Characters which self-resurrect will instantly recover all the items they had on their corpse, except for any items which have been looted or decayed. Self-resurrecting characters will not be able to recover items in this way if they move across a server boundary into another server region. Characters in this situation will receive a notice to his effect before allowing such a self-resurrection. Characters will not be able to self-resurrect: …within a “multi-object” (a house, boat, etc.). …within a faction stronghold …while flagged as a criminal or aggressor Posted by Borg Tuesday, April 23, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 5 Confrontation part 2 Golems and Columns Chapter 5 Confrontation part 2 Golems and Columns Lord Blackthorn’s Juka squads had been searching Trinsic for 5 days. The Chaos Dragoons seemed also not to have found what they had been instructed to find. Perhaps it was the reason they were easily confused in battle; their minds worrying about failing their master’s orders. Regardless they were put to rest along with the Juka squads that assisted them in their search. The pikemen of the Legion had proven very effective against the Juka Lords while the Dragoon Lancer Cohort easily out jousted the Chaos Dragoons of Lord Blackthorn. The Shadowriders and Rangers had easily cut down the Juka siege on Olympus overlooking Trinsic and nearly 4 days had passed since the Juka brought Lord Blackthorn’s message to Emperor Borg. Trinsic has been quiet now for nearly 2 days with only a few remnants of Jukas and Dragoons to be found hiding within ancient tunnels in and around the mother city of Trinsic. Merchants of the city were still under effective protection of the city guards while the Purple Guardians of HONOR (PGoH) Legion continued to lead the city defense with aid from their allies Valor Knights (VK) of Vesper and Guardians of Light (GoL) from Serpent’s Hold. While much of the Legion was sent to sea, Shadowriders and Rangers defended Olympus while the Praetorian Guard was maintaining Safe Haven as a refuge for any in this time of uncertainty. Towering over the Britain Crossroads, Safe Haven has been a place of sanctuary since it was built by Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade. It has housed wounded from both sides in the Orc Wars and Undead Cleansing Campaigns. While wielding the power of the Stormguard Relics even Lord Ventryn used its sanctuary occasionally, as did Minax and Maribelle as they too came through the crossroads on their endeavors. Praetorians now have begun the restocking and fortifications of the Safe Haven Tower sanctuary and also have prepared the grand suite for Dawn to use between her campaigns. Even in this time of uncertainty, the local caretaker Aticus Finch, has begun construction of a museum of local history, lore and wonders for all travelers to enjoy and visit. Still though the sound of troops being mobilized can be heard and brings concern to the faces of even the most tried and true britannians. Elwe D’Loche of the Shadowriders Cohorts reported in that several columns of Juka had left the city of Mistas in the afternoon and moved toward Lord Blackthorns Fortress in Ilshenar. As night fell upon Ilshenar the Shadowrider Centurion ordered the the Shadowrider scouts with him to return and give the news to Emperor Borg and Dawn. A grave and most serious look came over the veteran Centurion Baltazar Con Wec. As his men left he turned back to look down upon the Fortress from his vantage point; Armored columns of Dragoons stood and were joined my Juggernaughts and Betrayers, clones of Lord Blackthorn. It was such an eerie sight but even more disturbing was the sounds that the columns made. Not since the Dragon Dominion’s attacks on Olympus had the ground shook so and sounds of thunder roll though the clear sky. (see Gallery Olympus Invasion and Renderings link) Giant Golums shook the mountains Centurion Baltazar peered down from. Rocks began to tumble down from above and his small area looked as if it was soon to give way as a result of the numerous columns that now moved out toward the north…toward the shrine of HONOR. Shadowrider Elwe D’Loche rode into the mother city of Trinsic and headed straight for Emperor Borg’s office in the northwest corner of the Imperial quarter. As he arrived he could see that his old tutor Arthil, once Senator of Genesis now leader of the Valor Knights sat in attendance with representatives of the local merchants guild and city guards. His news would not bring them pleasure at all. “Sire…excuse me…I have word from Ilshenar m’lord.” Elwe offered as he bowed respectfully to the meeting. “Understood Elwe….what news do you bring?”; asked Emperor Borg “I hope it is good news my old appentice”; quipped Arthil “Columns of Juka marched from Mistas to form up with Lord Blackthorn’s armored Dragoons.” offered Elwe. “Well that is not the news I was hoping for.”; commented Arthil. “There is more m’lords”; Elwe said sadly. “Continue Shadowrider”; Emperor Borg replied. “Lord Blackthorn’s abominations join them….Juggernaughts and Betrayers sire”; Elwe added. “My God man…when is this nightmare going to end….bah!”; Arthil exclaimed as he slammed his fist down onto the table. “Not anytime soon I seems my old friend”; answered Emperor Borg as he rose and patted Arthils shoulder in a supportive gesture. “Sire….there is more”; Elwe said now shrugging his shoulders toward Arthil. “Oh my lord, for Gods sake man….spit it all out.”; Arthil said exasperatingly “Still don’t like surprises aye Arthil….perhaps those abductions by the Liches have soured your taste for the unexpected.’; commented Emperor Borg. “Aye….that they did brother…filthy old nasties……and those racquet snakes….now let me tell y”; Arthil exclaimed then cut himself off as he knew such was a story un-needing revisiting at this time. “Well Sire….the mountains we had been using for overlooking Lord Blackthorns Fortress…well they have been mined nearly to a point of collapse. Golems are being produced in great numbers by Controllers Sire.”; finished Elwe again shrugging his shoulders toward his old tutor Arthil in a manner of apology. It was not surprising that the local merchant representatives were not pleased, but the city guards promised to double guards at shops to secure their inventories and well being. Arthil reconfirmed his Valor Knights to defend the South Gate and its Industrial Quarter and Emperor Borg instructed Praetorian Prefect to return some reserves to Trinsic from Safe Haven. “What of the Fleet sire…shall we recall it and bring in those reinforcements?”; asked Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade. “Nay, Imperator Kalinaf keep those forces at sea and instead bring in a portion of Heran Knights. Have the Ranger Cohort and the Lancer Cohort leave from the Olympus Garrison and meet up with Dawn at Safe Haven.”; answered Emperor Borg as he walked toward the doorway of his office. “Yes m’lord”; Praetorian Prefect SerBrightblade said with a nod “Aye…consider it done.”; replied Imperator Kalinaf “Arthil…it seems I will see you in the morning old friend…enjoy a room here for the night…in the morrow Anakkin will make his famous pancakes you were so fond of”; offered Emperor Borg. “Ho ho ho…that is quite inviting and appealing…but I must return to Valor Castle and have the quartermaster fit our troops for battle.”; Arthil replied as he shook Emperor Borg’s outstretched hand. As the meeting members cleared the office, Borg stood with SerBrightblade and Kalinaf at his side. Looking at the rising moon the nightfall was like no other they had sensed. Something was different in the air as if a slight musty odor filled the night air. “Almost smells like a damp dungeon cell…aye”; offered Kalinaf. “Indeed a bit”; agreed SerBrightblade. “Aye….but this damp is dry…there is something about it”; remarked Borg “BUT…for now brothers….we have work to do.”; Borg said as he clasp both hands and then motioned them both to join him on the way to the Imperial Garrison in Trinsic. As the evening sunset had submerged into the horizon Emperor Borg escorted a newly promoted Squire, Waldorf Kemp, from the Arch of HONOR up toward the Squire’s new accommodations in the barracks. The Emperor enjoyed seeing the growth in the lines and took pride in keeping touch with the men and women that fought in the lines of HONOR. As the two reached the garrison barracks a squad of Guardians of Light met with Emperor Borg. The Guardians of Light had always stood with The Purple Guardians of HONOR and visa versa in all matters of state…again they would stand with the PGoH Empire of HONOR. The Alliance of PGoH, GoL and VK would once more to defend the realm…May HONOR Guide and Bind thee!!! Posted by Borg Tuesday, April 23, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Chapter 5 Confrontation Part 1 Jukas Arrive Chapter 5 Confrontation Part 1 Jukas Arrive Posted by Borg Sunday, April 21, 2002 4:04 AM EDT (RP)News from Lakeshire about the Meer The Casting Apr 18 2002 3:21PM Within the Meer crypt a small shimmer of light appeared over the carved wooden tiles of the teleporter entrance. Dasha blinked once as the light twinkled out of sight and, with a catlike grace, walked slowly through the great dark chamber towards Adranath. A slight smile played across her face as she approached him. “Ah, you have returned to us, child. I take it your meeting with the humans was interesting?” Adranath said without looking up, his hands busy casting a healing spell over a warrior. “Interesting… yes.” She waited for the ancient mage to finish his spell. The warrior’s broken leg snapped back into place and the glow around Adranath’s hands faded. He looked up at her and smiled. “You seem amused. I do still remember how to cast a healing spell after all this time.” He smiled warmly at her. The Meer warrior walked away to join others in meditation. “Oh, I was still thinking about my meeting with the humans, Master.” She took a seat near the Eternal. “I sat and spoke with humans, in a human castle. It was not altogether an unpleasant experience, but certainly nothing I thought I would ever do!” “Yes, it is fascinating, isn’t it? In my time as the Watcher I saw nothing but the more savage humans here in Ilshenar, until recently. When these more civilized humans came into the world my first suspicion was that they had been enchanted with sorcery.” He chuckled. “So you saw this city of… Britain, was it?” “Yes, quite impressive. They seem very… established. One of them—quite a warrior—named Dupre, has asked us to form an alliance against the Juka.” She smirked. “I expect they have become too proud to directly beg for help.” “And would it be so wrong for us to assist, Dasha?” Adranath asked quietly. “If it were not for my haste those ages ago, attempting to wipe the Juka away in one chaotic moment, Exodus may not have been able to bring them here. They wouldn’t be threatening the humans now.” “You have to stop blaming yourself, Adranath. What once was our fate is now nothing but a vision, a nightmare we were spared from. You have sacrificed enough during your time as the Watcher. I warned them of the Juka forces moving toward Minoc…” “The humans need our help. We did not risk placing our entire race into the great sleep to sit by and watch the Juka exterminate the innocent. Our fight is with the Juka; why do they not fight us? We are clearly weakened as a whole by our slumber and our ignorance of the inhabitants of this time. Why would the Juka not attack us when this weakness is clear?” He stood and paced. “We are not a threat to Exodus, Dasha, not now. The humans are. He would not waste time attempting to destroy them it were not so.” “What do you suggest we do?” Dasha looked confused. “I suggest we spare the humans as much trouble with the Juka as we can. Say what you will, but if not for my actions the Juka would not threaten them. I must assist.” Adranath paused. A determined look fell over his face like a mask of stone. “I mean to cast the Decay upon the Juka.” “You’re willing to cast so dangerous a spell to help the humans?” Dasha stood and placed a hand on the Watcher’s shoulder. “The Juka are spread out over many cities; it would be unwise to attempt to channel so much magic to strike them all. You could damage the very balance of nature!” “We wouldn’t dare attempt such an act! Never again shall any Meer attempt a spell so large, never!” Adranath clenched his eyes shut for a moment as if reliving the nightmare of seeing his race die at the power of his enraged magic. A moment later he calmed himself and continued, “The Juka began these assaults in the human city of Yew, we shall begin ours there as well. Then we can continue casting on the other cities one by one.” “But why cast the Decay? Surely there must be a better option.” Dasha’s eyes focused deeply into Adranath’s. The old mage shook his head slowly. “The warriors need more time before they can make an attack. This is the one spell we can use to counter the Juka without harming the humans. I know the Decay is horribly destructive. I have watched more Juka writhe in agony under its effects more times than I care to imagine. If we do nothing the humans continue to suffer.” Adranath turned and walked away slowly, then stopped and looked sadly at Dasha. “The Juka joined Exodus, Dasha. They have forsaken their honor and declared war upon us.” He continued walking away to find the other mages. “And in war, horrible things must be done.” * * * Outside, Dasha sat at a distance watching the circle of Eternals and mages as their hands moved in perfect unison in a complex pattern. In the center of the circle, Adranath held his arms aloft, his face empty and his eyes closed. In his mind, he began to see the city of Yew. Quick flashes of imagery became full visions of the Juka, claiming lives and being slain alike. The chaos of people running in every direction was difficult to see past, but slowly he focused his view and could envision the entire scope of the battle. The magic users around Adranath began to chant and raise their voices in a dark harmony that sent a shiver up Dasha’s spine and continued to blanket the area in a slight tremor. Light slowly began to trail from their fingertips and form an intricate pattern like a lace made of flame around the entire circle which seemed to vibrate with the sound around it. The ring of light shrank inward and bathed Adranath in its glow until he seemed to be nothing but a bright speck in the center of the chanting circle. All at once the mages’ voices grew even louder, and with one final discordant note held for what seemed like ages, the light within Adranath fired outward into the sky in a great wave. His eyes suddenly shot open and his face stretched in a moment of terror. Dasha stood and darted as fast as she could to the ancient mage. Within his mind, Adranath could see the spell shimmering over Yew for a moment, falling to the ground in a shimmer of tiny motes of light. Suddenly, his vision went dark and his mind erupted into pain. By the time Dasha had broken through the ring of mages and reached Adranath, the spell had been completed and he was already starting to crumple to the ground, exhausted. She caught his shoulders and helped lower him to the ground. His eyes still seemed to stare out at nothing in fear. “Watcher!” one of the other Eternals spoke as the mages recomposed themselves after the great spell. “The spell felt… different… than it did in the past.” The others nodded and seemed to agree. “Adranath! Master, what happened?” Dasha shook the old Meer by the shoulder slightly. “Are you hurt?” “The Decay…” he mumbled. “Nature… magic… it is… bent… skewed since we last… last attempted the… the Decay…” He steadied himself for a moment and looked up into Dasha’s eyes. “I fear something has gone terribly wrong.” Posted by Borg Thursday, April 18, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Borg nears 3000 copies of UO Series sold at work After a 3 years of software sales at Borg's real world employer, OfficeMax...it seems that his efforts to expand the UO client base have been successfull. In nearly 1000 stores....an estimated 2695 copies of the Ultima Online Series of software packages have sold. In his local area Electronic Boutique in Ithaca and BestBuy another estimated 100 copies turned through the registers after he had conducted impromtu questions and answer sessions with patrons and managment. Officemax sold the Second Age and Renaissance Versions Electronics Boutique sold Ultima Online, Second Age, Renaissance and Lord Blackthorns Revenge BestBuy in Ithaca only sold Lord Blackthorns Revenge "Convincing the buyers of office supplies to put games into the inventory is a sell; but I won my argument with a test sale in Ithaca. I could have sold another 3000 units if I could have implemented various 'Software Signing' events across the US in various cities; but the end of the Seer program ended that marketing idea. Software signings can be just as effective as Bookstore signings. Gamers love to get anything 'rare' ingame and out of game; a signed copy of a game by a development or known in-game character becomes priceless to the gamer." Posted by Borg Wednesday, April 10, 2002 12:00 AM EDT Bulk Order Deeds New Details This time around in my comments from the team, I’d like to talk more about the Bulk Order System and the additions/enhancements we’ve added to the system. On our development and crafting boards, I dropped hints as to what is coming in our next publish in regards to blacksmith rewards. I’ll try to sum up many of the hints that were spread out over all the threads. A mistake we made with the blacksmith bulk orders was releasing rewards for the easy bulk deeds that were not very appealing to veterans, and the appealing rewards were almost too difficult to obtain for a veteran that is a casual player. While our new players do benefit from our lower rewards, veterans wanted something more substantial for their efforts. At the same time, some veterans felt that the low-end deeds became worthless after collecting a gob of durable shovels, pickaxes, and mining gloves. Here are the enhancements we’ve posted on our boards, so far (for Publish 16), for Blacksmithy bulk orders: 1)Currently, GM smiths have a bonus to get exceptional bulk order deeds. The exceptional bonus percentage will be significantly increased. 2)Currently, GM smiths do not have a bonus to get colored bulk order deeds. A significant bonus will be added to get colored bulk order deeds (if the object selected is colorable). 3)Weapon deeds are not appealing to veteran smiths, because they are not colored and give small rewards, while hardly giving any fame. Instead of increasing rewards for individual weapon deeds, we will be introducing five weapon large bulk orders that give new rewards (axes, swords, fencing, maces, and pole arms). 4)As with #3, we will be adding seven new rewards to the system. Three of the rewards will be low-end rewards. These rewards have not been released yet. They will be available on Test Center when Publish 16 is available for testing. 5)Any colored deed or weapon large bulk order will get an increased bonus to its rewards if it is exceptional (object reward, fame reward, and gold reward). 6)A context menu option will display how many hours until your next deed will be available. Minutes are rounded up to the closest hour. Ancient smithy hammers were increased from 150 uses to 600. This is retroactive for hammers that were obtained prior to the increase. 7)Runic hammers will have their color displayed as part of their description (i.e.: “a valorite runic hammer”). 8)To prevent scams, all hammers will state how many charges they have left. And now, a summary of Tailoring Bulk Orders… 1)There will be 55 craftable Tailoring items in the system. These items do not include cross-skill items (such as house add-ons) and will not include oil cloths. This means 55 small bulk orders will be available as offers. (Hint: Tailors only have 51 craftable items, currently.) 2)There will be 14 large bulk order deeds in the Tailoring system. All items that can be crafted will be included in at least one of the large bulk orders. This makes all the small bulk order deeds valuable. 3)There will be 19 new colors of cloth (not currently available in the game as colors of cloth) as low to medium rewards. This will make all the low-end rewards valuable and usable. Only one color is not original and that is pale blue, but it is not available as a dye. 4)There will be 44 different rewards (colors of rewards included) with the Tailoring bulk orders. 5)As with Blacksmithy, we felt that in order to add depth and difficulty to the bulk order system, colored resources would be needed. We explored other avenues of creating depth in the system, but settled on three new types of colored leather. This means there will not be as many deeds in the system, so the system will be easier than Blacksmithy. 6)GM tailors will receive the same bonus as GM blacksmiths in regards to getting exceptional and colored deeds, mentioned above. 7)Exceptional quality deeds will yield a higher monetary value than normal deeds. We have learned a lot from our previous release of Blacksmithy bulk orders, and hope you’ll enjoy both the new changes to Blacksmithy and the new Tailoring bulk order system! Now that I’ve told you about the stuff most folks are probably interested in, I’ll go into the design steps required for making Tailoring bulk orders. I was challenged by Evocare to make a bulk order system design. I had predicted that Carpentry would be the next obvious choice, but was surprised when Evocare decided that tailors would benefit from the system. Tailoring does not have the depth or usage that Blacksmithy does. With only 51 items, it would have been very difficult to make a challenging and rewarding mini-game with the system. Different approaches were plotted out, but I still felt it would be too easy and not on par with the Blacksmithy bulk order system. It was decided that Tailoring needed to be changed to give it more depth. This meant that the Tailoring system would need to undergo some modification and new additions. New leather resources and an as-of-yet undisclosed resource were created (the new resource is stackable). With a resource system much like that found in Blacksmithy, we now had a foundation to make a bulk order system that was on par with the Blacksmithy system. After finishing the changes to tailoring itself, everything fell into place with the bulk order system. The rewards were culled from player posts on the boards, and a few twists were added (like the new colored cloth). Now, I’ll go rest my eyes from staring at spreadsheets, graphs, and localized text. Hanse UO Live Designer Posted by Borg Wednesday, April 3, 2002 9:13 PM EST How to use your own MP3s in UO LBR Included in the list of features for Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn’s Revenge is “MP3 support.” Those who have registered and play either the 2D or 3D versions of UO:LBR will sometimes hear certain MP3 music selections that will play and/or loop while playing UO, in addition to the MIDI music that may still play in certain areas (Note: MIDI music will only play if the associated MP3 file cannot be opened, or when an MP3 isn’t defined for that location/activity.) Although this MP3 music is selected from a standard playlist automatically, enterprising UO:LBR owners have the option of playing their own supplied MP3s, rather than UO:LBR’s “official” MP3s, in one of two possible ways. Replacing a UO:LBR MP3 with their own MP3, where their own MP3 has been re-named to match the one being replaced. Opening the MP3’s config.txt file in a text editor and modifying the details within. Locating your MP3s: UO:LBR stores it’s MP3 files within Ultima Online’s \music\Digital\ subdirectory. Both the 2D and 3D versions of UO:LBR will be sharing the same directory, and using the same MP3 files. All MP3 files need to remain in this directory in order to be used, otherwise the game client may not be able to access them. Before making any changes to these files, it’s a good idea to back them up into a safe location. Thus, at any point afterward if you feel like reverting back to “square one,” that option is available to you with minimal effort. Otherwise, should you need to return to the original configuration/files, you may need to reinstall UO:LBR from the CD. With the exception of the introduction song, the server will send a “song identifier” to the UO game client, which will then attempt to play back the specified song. The file that maps song identifiers to file names is “config.txt,” which is stored in the same folder as the music. Deciphering your config.txt file: Within the aforementioned config.txt file, you’ll find a listing that looks very much like the following: 0 turfin,loop 1 turfin,loop 2 turfin,loop 3 turfin,loop 4 turfin,loop 5 turfin,loop 6 turfin,loop 7 turfin,loop 8 stones1 9 britainpos,lop 10 britain1 11 bucsden,loop 12 jhelom 13 lbc 14 linelle 15 newmagincia,loop 16 minocpos,loop 17 valoriapos,loop 18 ambrosia,loop 19 stones 20 scarabreapos,loop 21 trinsicpos,loop 22 vesper1 23 yew1 24 yewpos,loop 25 dungeon 26 dragonshi,loop 27 citynightedit,loop 28 walking,loop 29 citynightedit,loop 30 walking,loop 31 citynightedit,loop 32 boattravel 33 citynightedit,loop 34 tavern1 35 tavern2 36 tavern3 37 pubtune,loop 38 goodevil,loop 39 humanoids,loop 40 gargoyles,loop 41 turfin,loop 42 deathtune 43 victory 44 overlordv2 45 nujelm 46 dragonslo,loop 47 cove,loop 48 moonglowpos,loop Each listing has basically two or three parts: Song identifier number Song name Loop (this is optional) Currently, some songs may not currently be used in the game even though they’ve been assigned numbers in the config.txt file. Swapping MP3s: You may swap your own MP3 for one that already exists. Don’t forget to back up your files before making any changes. Open the \music\Digital\ directory mentioned above, note the name of the original song that you want to replace, and delete it. Select the replacement MP3 and move it into the Ultima Online \music\Digital\ directory. Rename the new MP3 to be the same as the original MP3, and you're done. For example, if the official UO song file is named “Bucsden.mp3” and your replacement song is “CarminaBurana.mp3” (by Carl Orff), delete “Bucsden.mp,” move “CarminaBurana.mp3” into the \music\Digital\ directory, and rename that copy of “CarminaBurana.mp3” to “Bucsden.mp3.” Changing the config.txt file: Instead of swapping MP3s, you can add MP3s into your Ultima Online directory and change the related config.txt file. Don’t forget to back up your files before making any changes. Open the \music\Digitial\ directory and open for the “config.txt” file. Copy your MP3 into Ultima Online’s \music\Digitial\ on your hard drive. You should simplify the new MP3’s file name before proceeding, removing any spaces or special characters. For example, if the original name of your MP3 is “CarminaBurana.mp3” (by Carl Orff), it’s good to simplify the name to something like “carminaburana.mp3” before proceeding. Open the config.txt file in that directory and look for the line which contains the name of the song you'd like to replace. Remove the name of the existing song and type in the new name of your replacement MP3. If your game client is already running, you’ll need to close it and restart before any changes can take effect. For example, you might change the line that reads "22 vesper1" to become "22 carminaburana”—and after doing so, restart your game client for the change to take effect. Now, your game client will now play “carminaburana” where it would previously have played the “vesper1” MP3 song. If an MP3 song name is ever removed from its listing, the default MIDI song will play in its place. Special note on changing filenames: When you’re changing the names of your MP3 files to work within our MP3 support scheme, it might help to know that our parser can handle anything but a space, comma, newline, and null character. Example of usable renaming: “Carmina Burana.mp3” could become: carminaburana.mp3 carmina_burana.mp3 carmina-burana.mp3 Example of unusable renaming: “Carmina Burana.mp3” should not become: carmina burana.mp3 carmina,burana.mp3 carmina burana.mp3 Looping MP3s: I’ll need to refer back to that config.txt file for this one (at “\music\Digitial\config.txt”). Not every song will be set to play continuously. If you want a certain song to playback forever in a loop, you’ll have to change a setting for that song within the config.txt file (within Ultima Online’s “\music\Digital\ subdirectory). Open the config.txt file and look for the name of the song you’d like to loop. If the song does not have “,loop” immediately after it, it will play once and not loop. In general, if the song does have that loop notation it will play until you leave the associated area, you stop or complete the associated activity, or until a new song is triggered. For example, the entry listed as “45 nujelm” is not set to loop. However, changing “45 nujelm” to “45 nujelm,loop” will activate the looping process for the song "nujelm.mp3." Without that extra ",loop" comment, the song will only play through once, and then end. Another example is the “24 yewpos,loop” entry. This setting indicates that the “yewpos.mp3” song file will play continuously when triggered. Removing the “loop” notation will compel the song to only play through once and then stop. There are some “looping safeguards” in place, however. If you move into a new “trigger situation” within 10 seconds of the previous trigger situation, the previous song will finish out a full ten seconds of play before changing. This is designed for such occasions when, for example, you need to cross between two trigger locations frequently but aren’t really interesting in hearing the first fraction of each of the related songs quickly swapping back and forth. Songs that play but aren’t set to loop will end after a certain period of time, and may incorporate both a fade-in and fade-out effect. (These fade-in and fade-out lengths are “fixed,” and cannot be changed by the players at this time.) There also a certain small amount of randomness built into one or two of the song selections. Players can create their own small system of randomness as well. Although each listing only contains one song entry, each listing can instead contain multiple song entries, with a single space in between each. Each time that listing is called upon to play, one of the entries in that multiple-entry list should play. For example, song ID number 45 lists: 45 nujelm If you’d like to add some randomness to what plays when that ID is called and possibly hear the “moonglowpos” or “victory” songs, you can change the entry to read instead: 45 nujelm moonglowpos victory With the above configuration, upon entry into Nujel’m you might hear the “nujelm,” “moonglowpos,” or “victory” songs. Further, even if they are in the same listing, not every entry has to be set to loop or not loop—you can mix & match. For example, song ID number 47 lists: 47 cove,loop If you’d like to randomly hear the “cove,” “moonglowpos,” or “victory” songs, and the cove or victory songs should loop but the moonglowpos song shouldn’t, you can change the entry to read instead: 47 cove,loop moonglowpos victory,loop With the above configuration, upon entry into Cove you might hear the “cove” song looping, the “moonglowpos” song play once, or the “victory” song looping. Reverting to the backed-up files: Hopefully you backed up all your files before making any changes, as suggested at the start. If so, you may simply close out of UO, copy all your saved “masters” back into your \music\Digital\ directory, and start up without concern. If you haven’t backed up your files, it’s likely that the best way to recover your original MP3 files is to reinstall UO completely from the CD. There’s actually a third option, for those feeling a little adventurous. You can, in a sense, copy the files you need from the CD, but it’s not as easy as just moving them across into your computer's UO directory. Here’s some notes on this procedure: You’ll need to find where the music is stored on your UO CD. The music files themselves are collected into a cab file on the CD, in the same location as on your computer. That means your music may reside on your computer in a directory labeled as “Ultima Online\music\Digital\” (or words to that effect) and the cab file you need should be on the CD in a similar subdirectory, along the lines of “Client\Music\Digital\client5.cab.” Simply having the cab file itself isn't enough—you’ll need to have some program to extract the music files from within it. An application called WinZip that many people have may be able to let you open up this cab file, and Windows 2000 and Windows XP have built-in features for opening cab files as well. Once you’ve opened up your cab file and extracted the files from within, you can replace all these “new” files within your \music\Digital\ subdirectory with these “original” files. The choice is up to you. If you're not comfortable opening cab files then I'd suggest reinstalling. If you don't mind experimenting a little by opening the cab files and moving them into your proper UO directory, then you have that choice as well. MP3 Song triggers: Different songs are triggered by different in-game events. Essentially, there are two trigger types: becoming involved in combat and walking into a certain region. Songs are triggered when you perform an action or enter a region that has a different song than the one that was playing. Examples of regions might be the wilderness of Britannia, the city of Skara Brae, or any NPC tavern. No two songs should be playing simultaneously, whether new MP3 or original MIDI. MP3 Song listings: Below is the complete config.txt song listing. There are four columns: ID: This is the song identifier. MIDI NAME: This is the name of the original MIDI song that was set to play on pre-UO:LBR game clients MP3 NAME: This is the name of the default MP3 song that plays when the song identifier is caller for the UO:LBR game clients. DESCRIPTIVE: This notation was a part of the original MIDI-based song-calling code, and may serve some players here by helping identify groups of songs that play during certain occasions. Please note that this listing is only a guideline, and is subject to change. ID MIDI NAME MP3 NAME DESCRIPTIVE 0 oldult01.mid turfin,loop 1 create1.mid turfin,loop Nostalgic songs 2 dragflit.mid turfin,loop 3 oldult02.mid turfin,loop 4 oldult03.mid turfin,loop 5 oldult04.mid turfin,loop 6 oldult05.mid turfin,loop 7 oldult06.mid turfin,loop 8 stones2.mid stones1 9 britain1.mid britainpos,lop Town and named location songs 10 britain2.mid britain1 11 bucsden.mid bucsden,loop 12 jhelom.mid jhelom 13 lbcastle.mid lbc 14 linelle.mid linelle 15 magincia.mid newmagincia,loop 16 minoc.mid minocpos,loop 17 ocllo.mid valoriapos,loop 18 samlethe.mid ambrosia,loop 19 serpents.mid stones 20 skarabra.mid scarabreapos,loop 21 trinsic.mid trinsicpos,loop 22 vesper.mid vesper1 23 wind.mid yew1 24 yew.mid yewpos,loop 25 cave01.mid dungeon Generic area songs 26 dungeon9.mid dragonshi,loop 27 forest_a.mid citynightedit,loop 28 intown01.mid walking,loop 29 jungle_a.mid citynightedit,loop 30 mountn_a.mid walking,loop 31 plains_a.mid citynightedit,loop 32 sailing.mid boattravel 33 swamp_a.mid citynightedit,loop 34 tavern01.mid tavern1 35 tavern02.mid tavern2 36 tavern03.mid tavern3 37 tavern04.mid pubtune,loop 38 combat1.mid goodevil,loop Combat songs 39 combat2.mid humanoids,loop 40 combat3.mid gargoyles,loop 41 approach.mid turfin,loop Event songs 42 death.mid deathtune 43 victory.mid victory 44 btcastle.mid overlordv2 Miscellaneous 45 nujelm.mid nujelm 46 dungeon2.mid dragonslo,loop 47 cove.mid cove,loop 48 moonglow.mid moonglowpos,loop Some questions from players: Are there any limitations on quality, file size, type, or length of the MP3s which can be played? Not that we are aware of. Are there any unused MP3s that came with the UO:LBR CD, like there were unused MIDIs with the original client? If so, which ones are unused? There are some MP3s that are currently not in use, but this is subject to change (depending on Development needs, scenario requirements, etc.). If for some reason someone wanted to revert back to the old MIDI music instead of having the new MP3 music play, would that be possible? If so, how would one do that? We currently have no plans on implementing such a feature. However, it may be of note that, as mentioned above, if an MP3 song name is ever removed from its listing, the default MIDI song will play in its place. With that in mind it’s possible to remove each MP3 song name from within the /music/Digital/config.txt file. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems Posted by Borg Wednesday, April 3, 2002 12:00 AM EST MSNBC Story War on the Web: Gamers in a tussle A virtual community gets a taste of real world power politics By Lisa Napoli MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR March 29 — Who owns a virtual world — the people who inhabit it, cultivate, and pay to participate in it, or the company that created it? That question is being asked by disgruntled players of Ultima Online, one of the most popular role-playing games of its kind. IN LATE FEBRUARY, game creator Electronic Arts announced its intention to change the rules that govern the play of UO, as it’s widely referred to. After four years and with more than 230,000 players participating world-wide, Electronic Arts staff began to notice an imbalance of power developing in Brittania, their virtual community. Those who chose to take on the persona of the “Bard” character were amassing power and able to perform feats only much more developed characters should have been able to do. The need for a revamp became crystal clear last year, UO employee Amy Sage said in a recent interview, when a new version of the game, called a “Shard,” was launched in Korea. There, bards were achieving in two weeks what in the game’s earlier existence would have taken a year to 18 months. That’s when UO’s development team started to devise new rules for this one of more than a dozen “professions” virtual inhabitants of Brittania can choose, Sage said. “You’re constantly having to balance what you do based on what other people do,” explained Sage, UO’s manager of community development. “We make a very large number of changes on a weekly basis. We’re constantly trying to bring things more in line, add new content. After a while, people will eventually have seen everything and done everything. It’s important to keep things fresh.” Fresh is one thing, said the players, whose most ardent ranks spend thousands of hours a year — as much time as some people spend at their jobs— in the virtual world. But changes of this magnitude, they argue, are another. Management’s posted intentions prompted players to start filling the game’s message boards first with alternate suggestions, and then with angry words. Some players are considering suspending their accounts for 90 days — it costs $9.95 a month to play — as protest. Others say they will quit the game altogether, and some are even divesting themselves of the virtual real estate they’ve amassed during the play, sometimes for hundreds of dollars, on eBay. Electronic Arts said it understands that players who have invested years of time and thousands of hours to create a character would naturally be upset with changes that would diminish its role. But, said Sage, “We’re not trying to punish the bards. This type of imbalance affects the game.” And keeping the game attractive and appealing to new, paying customers is particularly important when it has existed for several years and new games are released all the time. Marilyn Rice, who divides here time between Chicago and Germany, has spent three years in the UO virtual community. The changes, she said, are “drastic — akin to trading a semi-automatic pistol for a straw and a wad of paper.” It took her two years to develop her bard, “the most difficult character to take to the highest levels of skill development. Mine took me approximately two years. That is a huge investment of time and energy, now apparently a wasted effort.” In response to critics, Electronic Arts has revised its proposed changes twice so far, and the latest version reminds players that the specifics are not yet set in stone, pending testing and further input. On bulletin boards, players complain that much of their input is being ignored. But Sage maintains that’s not true, and that once changes actually go into effect, the controversy will abate. “The bottom line and one that’s really, really difficult to see, is that we are a business, and we have to work to please the majority,” she said. “This kind of problem is the most gratifying and most challenging thing about running a game world. People are deep enough in it to have emotional ties, but the same success makes it difficult to change things.” By Lisa Napoli MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR Comment clarification from Cynthe: The interviewer was not familiar with UO before the interview, so there were some things that were said that she interpreted slightly differently than they were meant, and a few points that didn't quite make it to the article. About the Korean shard she mentions - the shard was Baekdu, and it actually had to be completely wiped 2 weeks into its testing period because there were already quite a few players not only with Grandmaster characters and millions of gold, but with castles... and when we checked into the records, every single one of those accounts had a bard as their main character. A castle is the largest and most expensive thing to acquire in UO, and Baekdu was a Siege Perilous ruleset shard, meaning those castles were even more expensive than on regular shards - and it took players two weeks to achieve that goal. Whether the Korean style of play was different from the American style, you have to realize that in a game like this, what does accomplishment mean for any character if there are people who can reach the pinnacle of the game in two weeks? That incident was one of the things that spurred us to make barding more difficult on Siege Perilous ruleset shards, and showed us more vividly than ever that there was a significant imbalance. Cynthe Community Manager ORIGIN Systems Posted by Borg Monday, April 1, 2002 5:19 PM EST Stratics Interview with Ignatz The Future of Scenarios UO has a great thing going with scenarios. The stories have been enthralling and well written. The new items, creatures, and areas are exciting. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your role in scenario development, challenges and the future of these great adventures: What is your responsibility with scenario development? I am one of the scenario designers, which means I help design and code scenario systems and features. Though, to be honest, most of the next scenario (Scenario 4) was already underway and nearing completion by the time I joined the scenario team. I've been able to offer some ideas and input here and there, but mostly I've been working to help coordinate with QA and with gathering the new client content that this scenario will need. That leads into my second set of responsibilities... basically just coordinating all of the various components that go into a scenario. There are a lot of moving parts that all need to stay on track- scenario development documents, server code and data, client code and data, server and client testing, bug fixing, setting up each separate week of the scenario, and so on. Keeping an eye on all of these things is a bit new to me, and I have more to learn, but it's all good. How does OSI come up with the scenario ideas? I wasn't involved in the creation stage of Scenario 4, but we've already been kicking around ideas for the next few scenarios. The inspiration for those ideas can come from anywhere: previous UO or Ultima events/scenarios; player suggestions; other games; movies and books; that strange, coiled wire sticking out of the wall over there; a bizarre joke someone told; sleep deprivation -- pretty much anywhere. Previous scenarios often provide a starting point. Maybe something that happened in the last scenario, or even a couple scenarios back, could end up being the launching point for the future. Or maybe something that seemed trivial or unimportant in one scenario is revealed to be essential in the next scenario, or perhaps it becomes the source of a horrible curse. When it comes time to put it all together, we talk about the ideas we have and hammer out a framework for what we want the scenario to be. Some ideas are set aside for later, others get distilled or changed, and some are thrown out completely. And finally, a scenario pops into being. We call it the Little Bang. Well, I call it that. Called it that. Just that one time. I promise to never do so again. How far in advance do you plan (even just a concept) for the scenario story line? We already have basic ideas for well into the future... like for the next 3 or 4 scenarios. Nothing set in stone and nothing more than concept for those furthest away, but we do have general ideas so that we can plan for future events and content, and maybe drop the occasional hint or bit of foreshadowing. What special challenges are there in developing scenarios? (technical and human) The biggest challenge is introducing new content and fiction in ways that are dynamic and engaging. As game players, we want to explore new lands and find new stuff. We want to be heroes, and we do not want to win silver medals. Nothing new there. Those are the same basic problems that arise when developing any game. Of course, in a massive online game, the problem becomes one of making hundreds of thousands of people the hero, dealing with having solutions posted on every available virtual surface, letting everyone make their mark on the world, providing a sense of discovery to an enormous community of players, and making it all truly fun. It's an engaging challenge. Technically, the biggest challenge is getting everything implemented and tested in a reasonable amount of time. What parameters do you try to follow when developing scenarios (i.e. No modern day vehicles). Yeah, no modern day vehicles... that's a good one. **Writes that down** We try to keep everything within the expected realm of possibilities for a world of magic and swordplay. No lasers. No starships. And minimal in-game advertising. How do you know if a scenario is successful? What measures of success do you use? You throw the scenario against a wall. If it sticks, it was successful. Some players would enjoy a city attack. Other players don't want their city life interrupted. How you do feel about city invasions in scenarios? I think it's a necessary evil. I understand the connections that UO players can have with certain cities, and not everyone likes being caught in a war zone. But I also think that city invasions and other events of that kind can help make Britannia feel more like a living world. They can help create excitement and a glimpse of the world changing. City attacks are just one way to bring excitement to UO. And not all events that transpire within a city need to be attacks or of an evil nature. Even something like the changes to Haven can provide a spark. Despite the fact that those changes were done without any significant fiction or events, Haven has become a place of interest... at least for the moment. Will players have the chance to play evil in a scenario? If you mean siding with the "villain"-- that's an interesting possibility. But we have no plans for that in the current scenario. How important do you feel that it is to keep to original Ultima Prime fiction when writing your scenarios? Lots of Ultima Prime lore is ripe for use in UO scenarios, but I do not think that it is important for UO to mirror events that transpired in those games. On the contrary, I think it's important for us to pave our own path through Ultima history... and as much as possible, for each shard to do the same. Is it true that you force Gromm to dress up like Shakespeare at work as he writes content for the future scenarios? Only if "force" means "trying to talk out of." How important do you feel it is to differentiate every shard from each other through the use of Scenarios? For instance, having Cove be destroyed on some shards, while saved on others. Any examples you could give that you feel would be ideal for this? I think the scenarios could be an excellent way for players to get an opportunity to differentiate their shard from others. It's important for those differences to be determined by the actions of players on each shard. It's meaningless if something is built into a scenario that forces shard differences. I don't think the importance lies with giving each shard a way to be different from one another. The important aspect, in my opinion, is to create fiction and scenarios that have different possible outcomes or results based on what is done by those taking part in them. Different results on different shards would be a possible result, but would come about because different players responded to the given challenges in different ways, not because something was set up to make Sonoma different from Chesapeake. Meer versus Juka. Which is cooler? Mongbats, duh. Tell us about how you first got hired at OSI, what were you doing career-wise before then? Pretty mundane stuff, actually. Origin had something in the Austin newspaper about hiring testers for an online game (this was before UO's initial release). I applied for the position and was hired. I had played many of the previous Ultima games and knew what OSI was, so the idea of working there was awesome. Before getting the job at OSI, I graduated from the University of Texas and then spent a summer traveling around, including about 6 weeks in Italy studying the history and art there. After that, I was waiting tables at a great Austin restaurant while looking to start a career somewhere. Before you joined the Development team you were an IGM (Interest Game Master). What was your favorite cross-shard plot that you worked on and why? There were aspects of the Followers of Armageddon plot that were good. Especially the idea of having three persistent plot characters in-game all the time (Martoo Saul, Junin Pince, and Zendella Kxriss). Seers played these characters, and they were given goals to fulfill, but limited resources to draw upon. The seers playing these roles were also given certain general parameters to follow, but mostly had a lot of freedom to role-play as they chose. No one knew who they were at first, though word quickly started to spread about the FoA. Some players aided them while others hunted and captured them. I really liked having persistent event-characters like this. Not everything went smoothly, and there were parts that bogged down quite a bit, but when things clicked, it made for some great UO moments. I think that a lot of players who were involved really felt that they were all playing a true role in shaping their world. The whole sequence of seeking to capture the FoA members or protect and aid them had great potential and had some of the most dynamic event sequences that UO has seen... at least on this scale anyway. All of the FoA members could be captured, or any combination of the three, or even none of them. There was also a chance to rescue a captured FoA member during one event. Much that happened with this plot was totally in the hands of the players on each shard. As far as other types of plots, non-major plots, there were too many good ones to detail them all. I remember a building of ice being melted, an ivory serpent terrorizing the seas, a fountain corrupted and then renewed after many adventurers and with an unexpected final twist, a singing sword, a farmyard full of apples enchanted to look like horses, an ethereal elemental and staves of the elements, frozen shrines and a frozen chicken, a secret mountaintop hideout, yellow trees that turned red at the end, weapon and armor caravans from Minoc to Yew, a great white hart, and many, many more. Most of these were seer events or plots, and there were many others that were also good ones. During the FoA (Followers of Armageddon) plot, there were a lot of really great articles on BNN (then known as the Town Cryer) by Jasper McCarrin. Being the author, how much fun did you have in writing these reports that everyone looked forward to? Do you have plans in your current position to bring that magic back to BNN? Well, I don't know how much anyone actually looked forward to them, but I enjoyed writing them. Jasper was a fun character. I brought him in-game to interact with other people any chance I got, and it was always fun talking to players as Jasper. I also enjoyed being able to use Jasper's writing to add depth to what was happening in-game. Things he would mention could always be seen in-game exactly as described. His stories helped to tie up loose ends and to provide hints for what to do next, but since most of the elements used were also present on each shard, it was not absolutely necessary to read an out-of-game newspaper to be involved. Hopefully, though, Jasper's stories did add something to what was going on for those who read them. One story with an interesting twist was the one with Branson One-Thumb. I had been told to write a newspaper article that explained that the former "Zog Cabal" would now be known as the "Followers of Armageddon" (*sigh*). The catch was that I was specifically told not to use the words "Zog" or "Cabal" anywhere in the story. Poor Branson gave his life to that tragic cause. As for bringing that magic back to BNN, I'd have to say that Gromm's fiction so far has well surpassed anything Jasper ever had to say. I might be able to write a thing or two along the way, and Jasper could possibly make an appearance as well, but Gromm already has the BNN magic flowing with his excellent writing. As an IGM you were very interactive with the Seers in the volunteer program, how did you feel about things when the program was cut? I had heard about what was coming before it had happened, but it was still a sad occasion for me. We were fortunate to have some very creative people come through the UO Seer and Interest program -- they were a pleasure to work with. I thoroughly enjoy what I'm now doing as a UO Live designer, but I often think back and miss running events with them. The UO Interest program had its share of problems, but it also had an amazing amount of untapped potential. My biggest disappointment was not being able to find a way to truly make the seer program everything that it should have been. Most people probably don't realize, but you were the IGM directly responsible for many of the well-known decorated player venues on the shards, such as the Golden Brew on Baja, Cove's Merchant Guild on GL, SCT and the Atlantic Mage Tower on Atlantic. Which was your favorite venue that you decorated and just how much fun was this part of your job? Hmm... it would be impossible to pick a favorite venue. I had the good fortune of getting to work with many great player-run establishments during my time as an IGM. The fun part was being able to actually do something to help UO players who were trying to add to their world and their shard. How about a memorable moment? Kazola's tavern on Great Lakes was the second player venue that was ever helped. tOAD and I decided to role-play the whole thing. We played the part of two brothers who owned a carpentry business (my character was JohnnyJonJon, but I forget the character name tOAD used). We argued about how much to charge for this and that and had carpentry sound effects going as we pretended to build things. It was fun, but it was also the last time we'd go to that extreme; it took way, way too long, and time was never something we ever had enough of. The worst part, by the way, was not having enough time or enough IGMs to really make as much of a difference as I wish we could have. For every place we helped, there were dozens more that were just as deserving, but that didn't get anything. I think that a lot of the player venues we helped have had amazing success (and many still do), but I also think that this part of the Interest program essentially failed. It couldn't do otherwise without being able to provide for every player venue out there that deserved an equal chance. But I'm glad we at least made the attempt. Posted by Borg Monday, April 1, 2002 4:52 PM EST Book Wyrm part 2 Book Wyrm part 2 The morning sun rose from the eastern sea and as it burned off the nights chill, small birds sang their songs of sunrise. In the distance could be heard the calls of harbormasters coordinating the arrival of new trade ships and the echo of caravan horses trotting into the mother city of Trinsic. This was part of the beauty and simplicity of mornings; everything anew and the air had not been filled with record of days activities. Dr Codene, had spent the night in Olympus after an unnerving evening at the Infirmary. Though Olympus held no beds, he had found the cushion of Emperor Borg’s Throne comfort enough to drift into slumber. Had not a pair of small birds chasing each other in playful flight through the chamber awoken him, the Dr may have slept till noon. Alas, even an old man has his duties to perform and Dr Codene stretched and wiped the sandman’s work from his eyes. Standing and moving toward the doorway he could feel the warmth of the morning sun begin to fill Olympus Castle with energy. The clock on the wall read nearly 7am and like clockwork his morning calling for breakfast rumbled within his stomach. As he exited the Emperor’s chamber he turned and propped himself up between a pair of wall stones and looked out over the bay toward Trinsic. A beautiful site the city of Trinsic is in the morning he thought as the tops of the buildings glistened like jewels and families of birds darted in and out of the treetops. Taking in deep breathes Dr Codene searched for a familiar flavor. “You think Anakkin has breakfast ready yet?” asked a voice from above the Dr’s right shoulder. “Not yet, but Nona the baker does have fresh muffins ready” answered Dr Codene. “Tis a beautiful sight m’lord….how far can you see from up there?” asked Dr Codene. “Yes…this is a sight to behold….from this rampart one can see all the way to the Honor Shrine”; replied Emperor Borg who stood on the rampart above his chamber. Gliding down on the morning air, Emperor Borg greeted Dr Codene formally and asked if he could join him for breakfast. As the two began to make their way downstairs they spoke about personal matters and as brothers enjoyed the simple company on each other. Leaving the Olympus Castle, the pair chose to walk toward Trinsic to enjoy further the morning warmth and awakening of the day around them. The pair reached the western gates of Trinsic and the keen nose of Dr Codene picked up Anakkin’s work. “Ahh………that man is an artist”; Dr Codene remarked as he took in a deep breath of air. Smiling back to Dr Codene, Emperor Borg nodded and the two continued on to Nona’s shop to pick up a tray of muffins to take to breakfast at the Imperial Mess hall. As they reached the shop Emperor Borg could see a squad of Shadowriders heading to the Arch of Honor from the Southern gates area. “Seems Anakkin’s work is reaching many this morning Dr”; remarked Emperor Borg. “Egads…we must hurry….young men have deep stomachs”; added Dr Codene. Purchasing their muffins and some pots of honey, Dr Codene and Emperor Borg moved toward the Arch of Honor and the Imperial Trinsic Barracks. Though only half past 7am they could already hear activity in the Youth Bureau as aspiring men and women trained for their role in the Legion. Nearing the barracks area the sound of heavy horse passing under the Arch of Honor came from behind them. ”For HONOR and Empire”; a trio of voices exalted. The trio of Cataphractii, heavily armored cavalry Dragoons, soon arrived at the barracks and as they dismounted and rushed to the mess hall. Emperor Borg opened the door and Dr. Codene entered and was followed by the three Dragoons. Emperor Borg welcomed them all in and it was a bit of a humorous moment as the trio had been so interested in getting to the table they did not at first recognize the doorman was their Emperor. Embarrassed the trio stopped and fumbled a bit at the doorway until Emperor Borg put them at ease with a smile and comment. “If you don’t hurry up and get inside….the Dr will surely finish off all the muffins and we all will have a cold plate of eggs and bacon.”; Emperor Borg said as he put his arm around one of the shoulders of the Dragoon. The hall was a buzz with morning chatter and the rich smell of Anakkin’s breakfast splendor. As the door to the mess hall closed, one by one the hungry men recognized who was with them this morning for breakfast. Standing and passing salutations Emperor Borg asked them to please return to the fine meal. It was as well the humor of Gladiator Felix Felthwin who, in his hast to salute, slapped a fork full of eggs onto his own face….that put the room back to ease and enjoyment of the breakfast. “As long as their courage is as strong as their appetite….I think we will be fine indeed”; commented Dr Codene. “Agreed Dr….but your eyes tell me that you worry about more than their appetite or simple courage”; replied Emperor Borg. Looking at Emperor Borg, Dr Codene nodded slowly and added: “Yes….there more, but I know not what to say as of yet.” “Still studying those books Dr?”; asked Emperor Borg as he held out a plate for Anakkin to fill with eggs. “Yes…until I know more, I have locked them up until I can find some reference material to help me in translating several of the texts. The writings are ancient and I have never seen such in any of the libraries, even in the great libraries in Britain or in Moonglow’s Lyceum.” Dr Codene answered. As the two began to enjoy the breakfast, Emperor Borg offered a possible solution; “Then perhaps you should seek one who is an Ancient….and I do not mean one of our own.” Emperor Borg placed a forkful of egg and his demeanor turned a bit serious as he looked at Dr Codene; who now froze a bit and gulped deeply realizing what the Emperor meant. “Don’t worry old brother….give me what questions you wish and I will get your questions answered. Besides…Ancient Wyrms tend to enjoy company…..at least once and a while”; added Emperor Borg. “Did I hear Wyrm…..like in Wyrm hunt?”; asked one of the Legion. The room began to quiet a bit and Emperor Borg looked over toward the eager Legion Shadowrider and replied; “Soon brother….yes we may need to do a Wyrm hunt…for now…scout out the location in Ilshenar where one can be found and contained. We need to seek its council on matters we will explain later after the Wyrm has answered some questions.” “Very good sire….we shall find it.”; replied the Shadowrider. Posted by Borg Monday, April 1, 2002 12:00 AM EST

Book Wyrm part 1 CHAPTER 4 The Book Wyrm part 1 Sitting in the Infirmary office, Dr Codene places the satchel of books he had gathered from the Vampire’s lair onto the desk. Lighting a small burner flame nearby the room begins to glow and flicker with light. It is a cool evening and the clear sky and slight wind combine to chill the air. The good Dr. stands and lights a second burner to heat up water for a cup of his favorite tea. Sitting back down the cool breeze gusts outside as he opens the satchel of books. Writing down into a journal he records their titles and condition. Briefly skimming pages he lists a general context for the book. Some of the books are written in language unfamiliar to him while other are in common tongue. Many are written in what appears to be blood and after a simple test on a sample the assumption is confirmed. Nearly finished with this recording of the books; Dr Codene reaches into the satchel and his finger is cut by a sharp edge of a book. Opening the satchel wider and carefully looking inside he can see a dark covered book with metal bindings and ancient etchings. He picks up the book with both hands and a drop of his blood that remained on one of the metal binding seems to vanish into the cover itself….or was that the light flickering doing tricks to his eyes? Examining the book from all sides, Dr Codene cannot find any text…only a symbol on the cover. The symbol is of a bird crudely and simply drawn standing facing the left. He brushes his hand over the cover and its cover is quite coarse and ancient. Realizing he has just smeared some blood from his cut onto the cover, Dr Codene moves to the supply chest for a rag to clean the cover. Returning to the book the Dr pauses as he sees that the cover has no blood upon it at all. Dr Codene picks up the book and again examines it from all sides….no blood. Placing a bandage on his hand he turns and with his uninjured hand he passes his hand across the cover again…..still the same etchings nothing new….except the cover appears to be less coarse. As Dr Codene becomes puzzled at this difference the quiet of the Infirmary is broken by the whistle of the water boiling for his tea. The teapot steam billows out into the cool evening air and condenses on the window above. Dr Codene pours his water and makes his tea; as he lifts the cup to sip his Earl Grey his eye catch a glimpse of a face within the condensation on the window and he hears a whisper behind him…”Beware”. Dr Codene burns his tongue on the hot tea, turns to look for the source of the whisper and drops the cup of tea to the floor. His attention and gaze search the corners of the room, the window the shadows and then focus down to the book that lays now open on the table in front of him. On the corner of the desk sits a pair of blood vials and the contents of the vials begins to creep up and out around the caps that contain the blood within them. Dr Codene watches as the blood trickles toward the open book. Quickly gathering his wits he knocks the vials to the floor, slams the book closed, places the book back into the satchel and then wraps it tightly. He places the book within a small chest and locks it securely. He is amazed to see the wood of the chest begin to age and darken black….he places the small chest into a crate…..it again begins to blacken. Dr Codene places that crate into a larger chest and again it blackens but not as fast or dark.. Finally placing the blackened chest into a large crate the turning seems to be halted. Dr Codene gathers the other books and places them within another chest and as he reaches for his journal notes he hears movement downstairs on the Infirmary floor. Reaching into the Alchemist supplies Dr Codene picks up an explosion potion and reaches for one of the Tribal spears he collected while researching the Savage Tribes. Sipping an agility potion, the good Dr then glides down onto the Infirmary floor like a man half his age. Dr Codene moves slowly and methodically from the one end of the Infirmary to the other, peering into the shadows. Nightsight he thinks to himself….always have Nightsight….old fool he thinks to himself as he realizes upstairs he did not drink one before coming downstairs. As the Dr reaches the end of the room a short gust pushes open the door of the Infirmary; as it creeks open the Dr can see a shadow on the doorstep. No longer does the night air feel chilly, for Dr Codene’s heart now races strong and as he moves closer to the doorway he snaps the trigger on the explosion potion. Leaping out onto the porch he addresses the source of the shadow with a yell……….AAaaahhhhHHA!!! Nothing is there except the shadow from a tree on the wall of Olympus next door. Relaxing a bit with a sign, Dr Codene then yelps and throws the ticking explosion potion toward the open ground nearby. The nights eerie quiet is broken with the explosion and the Olympus Sentry Tod comes over to offer aid. “Dr…..is everything alright?” Tod asks. “Aye…..just a slip of an explosion potion….my apologies for the disturbance”; answered Dr Codene with a bit of embarrassment. As Tod turns to return to his post, Dr Codene asks; “Have ye seen anyone about this evening Sentry?” “Nay…..was a quiet evening till your slip”; answered Tod the Sentry. Nodding and waving goodnight, Dr Codene began to turn to go back inside when his eyes glimpsed a small imprint in some mud by the porch. Kneeling down the Dr traced the outline with his finger. The imprint was a large pawprint in the mud, one larger than he had ever seen before. Dr Codene returned to the laboratory and searched for some cast supplies to make a mold of the print. Upon returning to the imprint…..it was gone.. Dr Codene looked around into the night air and cursed himself again…..nightsight you old fool…..nightsight. Returning into the Infirmary he checked the books secured within their chests and they were all account for. It was late and for an old man the evening had been quite a stir. Locking up the Infirmary, Dr Codene walked around the corner of Olympus and there was Tod standing his post calmly. “I think I will spend the night inside Olympus this evening”; Dr Codene remarked as he reached for the door. “Very well sir…”; Tod smiled and helped open the great doors of Olympus Castle. Posted by Borg Saturday, March 30, 2002 12:00 AM EST UO Stratics looking for a Catskills reporter UO Stratics is currently looking for active, talented citizens of Catskills to add to our crack team of top-notch Ultima Online reporters. As a volunteer you are required to: - Be a competent writer - Be an active, knowledgeable member of the Catskills community - Be willing to attend events and quests, interview other players, and report news of interest to the community - Be able to dedicate a minimum of six hours per week to writing and/or posting news items - Have a familiarity with basic HTML - Be pro-active Does the above describe you? Then what are you waiting for??? Apply... right now... do not hesitate! Simply fill out this brief questionnaire and fire off an email to elisa at stratics.com with "Catskills Application" as the subject. 1. Real name 2. Contact email address 3. ICQ number (if applicable) 4. Character name (this must be the name of the character you will be using as your potential shard reporter) 5. Rate your HTML knowledge from 1-10, where 1 is poor and 10 is phenomenal 6. Answer this: Why do you wish to be a shard reporter for UO Stratics? 7. Include a brief writing sample, no more than 500 words (pictures are not welcomed and no attachments) 8. Any questions? Elisa Montclaire (Catskills) Posted by Borg Tuesday, March 26, 2002 4:41 PM EST Dr Codene's report on Vampires Colin Mor received a report from the good Dr. Codene, Wandering Healer of the PGoH Empire. I had sent Dr. Codene to Ilshenar to investigate further the vampirism that seems to have taken hold of mages within the depth of the vast dungeon under Ilshenar. Below is his report to Colin Mor. <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>> Good Colin, It seems that indeed that the mages deep underground are infected with a blood disease that causes thier blood to deteriorate at a terrible rate. As my two Gladiator escorts, Felix Felthwin and Marcos the Black, kept the area secure...I conducted my tests as quickly as I could. The bodies of these infected mages tend to deteriorate quite quickly and only when I covered them and doused the lignts in the room did they remain for ample time. Though not sunlight...the lack of strength in the cellular make-up became very sensative to any light. Within the books and records within the room were many a note about spells and ceremonies I could only guess at some of the context. These text are written in blood primarily and in various degrees of decay. Several of the tomes are illegible but others have reference to powerful regents and specialty potions. I placed a few of the books into a sachel and will begin to interpret as much as I can. I also wrapped tightly a few limbs of these corpses and have secured them within the Infirmary for later study. The one thing I can report from these tomes is that the blood elemental was summoned by a very powerful spell in a blood ceremony. This ceremony did not only summon the blood elemental to become the mages slave...but the room itself was enchanted to be a cell of blood to be the portal for the blood elemental to appear within. As we left the dungeon and headed for home, a pair of adventurers asked us for aid in recovering a fallen brother of thiers. It seems that to the North on the way to the Valor Shrine portal they had been ambushed by brigands. We did travel with them and I was able to ressurect the fallen traveler. The matter was our Honor to perform but I include this in the report that these brigands had taken up arms with mages at a shire. These mages all held blood moss and wore the similar cloaks. While they were outdoors in sunlight they did have pale skin. If these are related to the mages that exist now in eternal darkness...I do not know. Dr. Codene, Wandering Healer, PGoH <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Posted by Borg Tuesday, March 26, 2002 4:35 PM EST UO Dev Team members Meet the UO Team, in 100 Words or Less Adrick An active player of Ultima Online since August of 1997, Adrick’s focus as a designer in Ultima Online revolves around combat systems (PvP and PvM), guilds, factions, reputation, and player interactions and reputation (non-consensual PVP). Alai Alai has worked on all aspects of MMORPGs at some point or another, including (but not limited to) map building, customer support, art, sound, animation, writing, design, and programming. Over the years, he has managed to claw his way up the management ladder to Lead Client Programmer for Ultima Online where he’s coordinating efforts to improve the quality of the client in all ways possible. He prefers the green M&Ms. Augur Augur is a designer on the Ongoing Content team, responsible for creating everything from new monster and item additions, to devious puzzles and expansions to the Britannian geography. When not delving into the codebase of Ultima Online, he enjoys daydreaming about delving into the codebase of Ultima Online. You may have also seen him in such roles as "Dirty Hippy #2" in Stop, or My Mom Will Shoot! and "Topo, the Monkey Boy", in Circus Maniacs 2. BIGtiny Being the manager of the UO bug exterminators, BIGtiny's job is to make sure that bugs are quickly removed from UO society. Usually under the cover of darkness and with as few witnesses as possible. BIGtiny could not be reached for comment, but a spokesman said, "We have nothing against bugs; in fact, I have an ant farm at home. But when bugs enter the world of Britannia, they cross the line and must be dealt with... severely." BulldoZ After bodly catapulting the old UO pixels into the third dimension and working tirelessly to help track down the cause of crashes in Third Dawn, BulldoZ finally achieved the ultimate dream of all programmers and now spends his days on an obscure research project where he has nothing to do but think, eat and drink. In his spare time, he dreams of digital organic lifeforms. Calandryll Calandryll, a designer at Origin Systems, holds the esteemed title of the OSI employee most often blown up, killed or otherwise maimed in fan-produced flash movies. Calandryll got his start at OSI in the Community Relations department and later moved over to development on the UO Live Team. Currently he spends his time in a dark, locked, secret room working in shrouded mystery. Cynthe Since 1998, Cynthe has held six different positions at OSI, including Game Designer, Community Coordinator, and Web Content Supervisor. She is now Ultima Online’s Manager of Community Services, but leaves much of the delicate community work to her fantastically capable OCR team: Kerowyn, Greywolfe and Sannio. Her greatest joys include showing off pictures of her son, and busily writing “State of the Boards” addresses that are too long for anyone to actually read. Evocare A long-time Ultima Online player and virtual world enthusiast, Evocare is Lead Designer for Ultima Online. His responsibilities include managing a design team in such a way that the designers retain their sanity, determining which game features the design team works on, and giving the final "yay" or "nay" to said designs. In theory, this is all done to develop the most fun path to the cheese. Over time, he has developed his skill in claiming all credit for success while passing all responsibility for failure on to the Producer (much to Tajima's surprise). FierY iCe FierY iCe is a Programmer on Ultima Online, and works on all kinds of systems from server maintenance to monster tweaks to combat fixes, and anything that needs to be done. Previously working as a Designer, he still tries to help them out whenever they have Programming needs. His favorite things to work on are monsters and loot. He also gets a kick out of logging cheaters. Greyburn When asked about the myriad of intricate and sophisticated tasks on the plate of a UO client programmer, Greyburn describes his duties and himself eloquently as, “Client. Code. Bug squishin’, party improvin’, little talkin’ mofo’ with a lead foot and a cheap rental. Er, bugs an’ clients an’ stuff. And code. It’s all about the code. Yup.” Greywolfe Greywolfe, UO’s Online Community Coordinator, spends a great deal of time on the MyUO Message Boards. After a busy day reading and responding to hundreds of posts and emails and attending various meetings, the ‘wolfe likes to play UO while enjoying a strong cup of Sumatra coffee, write a little horror fiction, or attend various dog-type functions with the infamous Toy Fox Terrier “Kajun-Fox Beausoleil.” Greywolfe has been known to comment that if only coffee and Beau were in the game, all would truly be well with the world. Gromm Gromm is a member of the Ongoing Content team and has adopted the duty of Fiction Poobah. When not trying to think of new and interesting ways of spreading waves of mass destruction across the world of Britannia that leave nothing but blood, ash and suffering in their trail, Gromm enjoys spending time with his kitten. Although he enjoys working on UO tremendously, the position is only temporary until he returns to his homeworld of Gritt'hhhya''sfvvv'''eee to continue genetically installing thumbs on other races in the galaxy. Hanse Hanse is a UO designer and bug fixer extraordinaire. When he’s not eradicating bugs with a vengeance, he’s busily creating new content for systems such as creature spawn locations/amounts, bulk order deeds, magic spells, map changes, decorator tools, monster enhancements, and many others. Hanse likes to stare at orange juice containers because they say 'concentrate'. Helios Currently, UO Designer Helios is deftly working on the New Player Experience / New Player Retention initiatives and design-side localization stuffs. Of course, he also works to keep his sanity while sharing an office with Hanse, Vex and Adrick every day, which is a job all on its own. :-) Ignatz Ignatz started life wandering in search of truth and love... or failing that, a job in the video game industry. One fateful day in 1997 while walking in downtown Austin, Ignatz noticed a scrap of paper stuck to one of his boots. Ripping the newsprint from his shoe, he noticed a classified ad soliciting applicants for a testing position on Ultimate Onlink... or something. Intrigued, Ignatz applied. Now, after almost five years of working on just about every facet of UO, Ignatz is a UO Live Designer and has recently landed yet another position on the Ongoing Content team. Jalek When not bringing in donuts for the entire team, Jalek spends his time sitting in the dark void he calls his office, shunning the sunlight and hissing at passers-by while working on mysterious and complex background programming tasks. Kerowyn Kerowyn is the Online Content Editor and current reigning “Miss Tackiest Office Color 2002”. When not stalking her co-workers for their Team Comments, she spends her time communicating with the fansites, arranging chats and interviews, posting web updates, and completing various other miscellaneous writing/editing tasks. Krum After leading the programming effort behind Lord Blackthorn’s Revenge, Krum volunteered to take a break from actual game development and courageously took on the arduous task of developing an automated testing environment for our quality assurance staff, which will provide the team the ability to release a higher quality product in less time. MrTact MrTact is the newest server programmer for UO, having recently moved over from QA Engineering. He is notorious for fearlessly asking EA executives pointed questions during company-wide meetings, yet still somehow retaining his job. Oaks As a designer for Ultima Online, Oaks works on a variety of systems ranging from world-building to spell effects, and has recently tackled things like improving the new player experience and leveling the playing field in regards to the taming profession. He is easily identifiable by his vampire-like skin and brightly-colored Hawaiian shirts; testament to his long hours of game playing and programming. His online alias, Oaks, originates from a favorite pen-and-paper RPG character best known for his non sequitur dialog and insatiable battle hunger. Prophet When not camouflaged as a Canadian hockey fan at the Olympics, Prophet handles the responsibilities of Lead Programmer for Ultima Online. When asked to describe a typical day at work, Prophet replied succinctly, "I do stuff. You know, press keys, a lot, and deny everyone’s new feature requests. It's in my job description." His l33t programming skills can be summarized by the following anecdote heard from his peers while watching him crash a test center while trying to fix it: "If that's him trying to fix something, god help us if he actually tries to break something." Sannio Sannio is Ultima Online’s “Online Content Coordinator,” which is simply a more professional way of saying he’s the company’s official “Town Cryer.” As the main researcher for the OCR department, it’s his job to sort through all the myriad bits of paperwork, e-mails, scraps of notes, and back-alley conversations that relate to UO, and somehow present it to the players in such a way that the company doesn’t realize valuable gaming information is being given away for free. Stellerex Previously a Senior Producer for Ultima Online Live and MVP of the year for 2000 at OSI, Stellerex now works behind the scenes, ensuring a bigger and better future for UO. He is an avid player of almost every type of game, and a chess fanatic. Stormwind Stormwind is the Director of Technology for UO. When he's not evaluating libraries and technologies for use in UO products, he's forcing the programmers to follow coding standards and write technical design documentation. Stormwind has been around since before the public beta of UO, forcing letters and numbers to line up and stand at attention on the screen to make the servers work better. He also serves as a backup programmer as needed. Tajima Tajima is the Senior Producer for Ultima Online's "Live" Team. He oversees the efforts of the programmers, artists, and designers while coordinating with the Customer Service, Game Masters, Operations, Engineering, and Marketing teams. In his spare time, he enjoys playing Tech Support rep on the Discussion boards. Usul Being one of UO’s Lead bug exterminators, Usul’s job is to make sure our QA group is using the latest and deadliest insecticides. Many of these insecticides are potentially harmful to the environment, and sometimes downright illegal; so his duties also include keeping the EPA and left wing environmental groups off our backs. Hey, you may not like carcinogenic chemicals in your food, but at least your dinner plate won’t be garnished with a cockroach. Vex Vex, a designer on UO Live, started programming 8-bit home computers at age 11, and later built a map editor for Ultima IV on his Atari 800XL using a BASIC compiler. In school and for a while afterwards, he played bass (the guitar, not the fish) in an alternative rock band before eventually moving into database and Web development. Vex started playing UO with the release of T2A, and began working for Origin shortly after the release of Renaissance. In addition to systems design, he also programs, fixes bugs, and does world building and testing. WindRider WindRider is the senior artist on the Team. WindRider is responsible for giving life to the art, the creatures, and buttons you click on. When WindRider is not pushing pixels around for new menu screens, he is teaching the creatures how to walk, run and eat in the creature aerobics class. __________________ Cynthe Community Manager ORIGIN Systems Posted by Borg Tuesday, March 19, 2002 12:00 AM EST Call to Arms (Summoning part 4)Mondains Legacy Posted by Borg Monday, March 18, 2002 12:00 AM EST Imperial Promotions Greetings Citizens of PGoH, It is my great HONOR to declare the following promotions and granting of titles. Emperor Greg, Imperator Martok, Senator Wolf are hearby granted title of Ancient for thier years of service and dedication to the Empire and the realm itself. Phalynx LizShue is hearby promoted to Centurion of Warlocks Phalynx Baltazar Con Wec is hearby promoted to Centurion of Sagitarri(Shadowriders) Aslan the Lion is hearby promoted to Gladiator Phalynx (KNIGHTS seek Emperor Borg for your Cloak of HONOR that will never leave your spirit) Daphne de Isles is hearby promoted to Sagitarri Knight Nioeye Weksuye is hearby promoted to Warlock Knight Overstrand is hearby promoted to Gladiator Knight Brigandi Con Wec is hearby promoted to Gladiator Knight approved.....Emperor Borg Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:49 PM EST War Status and WARNING To Lord Blackthorn Greetings Citizens of PGoH, In the last year the successful campaign by the Legion (under command of Imperator Martok, guidance of Senator Wolf and leadership of Emperor Greg) against the combined forces of the Orc Clans and the Undead...I have returned the Empire to a state of peace. Unfortunately, Lord Blackthorn has returned under guidance of Exodus and aligned with the Juka in Ilshenar pose a grave and dangerous threat to all that live in the shard of Catskills. While this hiatus time of past months has allowed our strongest and wisest to prepare and build foundations in ethereal lands for our spirits to journey in the future....the time has come for the lines of HONOR to return to duty and stand for each other and HONOR against Lord Blackthorn's twisted agendas. This now is our greatest adversary we have ever faced....and his army and at hand allies (the JUKA and Savages) are hearby sent notice. "Do not expand your current land claims from your existing city of Mistas. Do not harm or oppress any existing realm city or city controlled by the PGoH Empire or ally of PGoH. This declaration of warning is effective immediately and sworn to by all within the PGoH Empire" signed.....Emperor Borg Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:34 PM EST War Status Greetings Citizens of PGoH, In the last year the successful campaign by the Legion (under command of Imperator Martok, guidance of Senator Wolf and leadership of Emperor Greg) against the combined forces of the Orc Clans and the Undead...I have returned the Empire to a state of peace. Unfortunately, Lord Blackthorn has returned under guidance of Exodus and aligned with the Juka in Ilshenar pose a grave and dangerous threat to all that live in the shard of Catskills. While this hiatus time of past months has allowed our strongest and wisest to prepare and build foundations in ethereal lands for our spirits to journey in the future....the time has come for the lines of HONOR to return to duty and stand for each other and HONOR against Lord Blackthorn's twisted agendas. This now is our greatest adversary we have ever faced....and his army and at hand allies (the JUKA and Savages) are hearby sent notice. "Do not expand your current land claims from your existing city of Mistas. Do not harm or oppress any existing realm city or city controlled by the PGoH Empire or ally of PGoH. This declaration of warning is effective immediately and sworn to by all within the PGoH Empire" signed.....Emperor Borg Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:33 PM EST PGoH (Catskills)Recruitment Invitation Greetings Ultima Online citizens, Over the past years the world of Ultima Online has evolved from simple task/skill growth experiences to a world filled with unlimited possibilities to explore and have fun with. Regardless of your occupation or style; one opportunity that has never been limited, reduced or changed…Role-playing. Role-playing is acting…and in Ultima Online….well; it is online, interactive and challenging. The submersion of yourself into a character or role can become quite compelling and rewarding. How deep and how vast your exploration within the role is an unknown only you can discover. Ultima Online provides the realm and template, while it is up to you how your character is ultimately developed skill wise and reputation wise. The Honor Empire exists as a multi-game platform that has a guild within the current online multi-player game engines. These guilds are designed to provide a more specific themed atmosphere for your characters to become developed within. If you look at the Game Engine itself like a great city that has thousands of artists within it…the guild is the studio in which you can paint or sculpt your character into artwork or form. Exploration of many more possibilities thus then exist that you may not have thought of or had the opportunity before to enjoy or discover. The Purple Guardians of HONOR (Catskills Shard) invite you, from any shard and/or any game to join their Ultima Online guild. PGoH is a rich blend of Roman/Greek roles that over the 4+ years has evolved and prospered throughout Catskills history. Successful in realm events, the membership has enjoyed being at the forefront of “Caravans of Duma”, “Followers of Armageddon”, “Trinsic Siege”, “Trinsic Liberation” and “ Fallshorn Stormguard”. Forces of Paradox, Juo’nar, Minax, The Dragon Dominion and Lord Ventryn all have failed to bring down the walls of Oympus, the PGoH Castle of HONOR. Now new danger prepares and evil armies strengthen under the command of Lord Blackthorn. Below is a listing of current roles within the PGoH Empire on Catskills that await new citizens. NON COMBAT ROLES Senator of Espionage (Rouge) Senator of Genesis (Bard) Senator of Arcane (Mage) Governor of Illyceum (Trinsic/Skara/Jhelom/SerpHold Areas) Governor of Dalmatia (Islands and Britain) Emissaries (Inter-guild reps) Praefectors (Provincial Guards) Herald (guild reporter) Caravan Ridge Runners Healers Ranchers (Sheep, Cattle, Horse, all ridables) All Trade workers (Citizens) COMBAT ROLES Centurion Herans (Beastmaster) Gladiators (melee/parry) Warlocks (mages) Archers (archers) Cataphractii (horsed melee) Sagitarri (horsed archers-Shadowriders) Lancers (horsed longspears) Pikemen (Halbreds) Fleet Admiral Marine (naval warriors) Sailors (naval range) Grenadiers (naval alchemists) ENHANCED COMBAT ROLES High Elf (Elf leader) Elf Rangers (archers/warriors) Orc Guardian (Orc leader) Skullcrusher Orcs (warriors) Locust (Gargoyles) Praetorian Guards (elite combat role) UPCOMING NEW ROLES IN DEVELOPMENT Necromancer Herbalist Brew Master Sculptor Painter Vampire Hunter Werewolf Hunter Minstrel Interior Decorator (Rugs, Tapestry, Shields etc) Architect Yardman (Boat crafter) Casino Staff Archeologist Demolition Expert Siege Crafter Executioner (Torture Devices) Mausoleum Director (Tombstones/Crypts) Astronomer (Mystic Tarot Gypsy) Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:18 PM EST PGoH (Catskills)Recruitment Invitation Greetings Ultima Online citizens, Over the past years the world of Ultima Online has evolved from simple task/skill growth experiences to a world filled with unlimited possibilities to explore and have fun with. Regardless of your occupation or style; one opportunity that has never been limited, reduced or changed…Role-playing. Role-playing is acting…and in Ultima Online….well; it is online, interactive and challenging. The submersion of yourself into a character or role can become quite compelling and rewarding. How deep and how vast your exploration within the role is an unknown only you can discover. Ultima Online provides the realm and template, while it is up to you how your character is ultimately developed skill wise and reputation wise. The Honor Empire exists as a multi-game platform that has a guild within the current online multi-player game engines. These guilds are designed to provide a more specific themed atmosphere for your characters to become developed within. If you look at the Game Engine itself like a great city that has thousands of artists within it…the guild is the studio in which you can paint or sculpt your character into artwork or form. Exploration of many more possibilities thus then exist that you may not have thought of or had the opportunity before to enjoy or discover. The Purple Guardians of HONOR (Catskills Shard) invite you, from any shard and/or any game to join their Ultima Online guild. PGoH is a rich blend of Roman/Greek roles that over the 4+ years has evolved and prospered throughout Catskills history. Successful in realm events, the membership has enjoyed being at the forefront of “Caravans of Duma”, “Followers of Armageddon”, “Trinsic Siege”, “Trinsic Liberation” and “ Fallshorn Stormguard”. Forces of Paradox, Juo’nar, Minax, The Dragon Dominion and Lord Ventryn all have failed to bring down the walls of Oympus, the PGoH Castle of HONOR. Now new danger prepares and evil armies strengthen under the command of Lord Blackthorn. Below is a listing of current roles within the PGoH Empire on Catskills that await new citizens. NON COMBAT ROLES Senator of Espionage (Rouge) Senator of Genesis (Bard) Senator of Arcane (Mage) Governor of Illyceum (Trinsic/Skara/Jhelom/SerpHold Areas) Governor of Dalmatia (Islands and Britain) Emissaries (Inter-guild reps) Praefectors (Provincial Guards) Herald (guild reporter) Caravan Ridge Runners Healers Ranchers (Sheep, Cattle, Horse, all ridables) All Trade workers (Citizens) COMBAT ROLES Centurion Herans (Beastmaster) Gladiators (melee/parry) Warlocks (mages) Archers (archers) Cataphractii (horsed melee) Sagitarri (horsed archers-Shadowriders) Lancers (horsed longspears) Pikemen (Halbreds) Fleet Admiral Marine (naval warriors) Sailors (naval range) Grenadiers (naval alchemists) ENHANCED COMBAT ROLES High Elf (Elf leader) Elf Rangers (archers/warriors) Orc Guardian (Orc leader) Skullcrusher Orcs (warriors) Locust (Gargoyles) Praetorian Guards (elite combat role) UPCOMING NEW ROLES IN DEVELOPMENT Necromancer Herbalist Brew Master Sculptor Painter Vampire Hunter Werewolf Hunter Minstrel Interior Decorator (Rugs, Tapestry, Shields etc) Architect Yardman (Boat crafter) Casino Staff Archeologist Demolition Expert Siege Crafter Executioner (Torture Devices) Mausoleum Director (Tombstones/Crypts) Astronomer (Mystic Tarot Gypsy) Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:18 PM EST PGoH (Catskills)Recruitment Invitation Greetings Ultima Online citizens, Over the past years the world of Ultima Online has evolved from simple task/skill growth experiences to a world filled with unlimited possibilities to explore and have fun with. Regardless of your occupation or style; one opportunity that has never been limited, reduced or changed…Role-playing. Role-playing is acting…and in Ultima Online….well; it is online, interactive and challenging. The submersion of yourself into a character or role can become quite compelling and rewarding. How deep and how vast your exploration within the role is an unknown only you can discover. Ultima Online provides the realm and template, while it is up to you how your character is ultimately developed skill wise and reputation wise. The Honor Empire exists as a multi-game platform that has a guild within the current online multi-player game engines. These guilds are designed to provide a more specific themed atmosphere for your characters to become developed within. If you look at the Game Engine itself like a great city that has thousands of artists within it…the guild is the studio in which you can paint or sculpt your character into artwork or form. Exploration of many more possibilities thus then exist that you may not have thought of or had the opportunity before to enjoy or discover. The Purple Guardians of HONOR (Catskills Shard) invite you, from any shard and/or any game to join their Ultima Online guild. PGoH is a rich blend of Roman/Greek roles that over the 4+ years has evolved and prospered throughout Catskills history. Successful in realm events, the membership has enjoyed being at the forefront of “Caravans of Duma”, “Followers of Armageddon”, “Trinsic Siege”, “Trinsic Liberation” and “ Fallshorn Stormguard”. Forces of Paradox, Juo’nar, Minax, The Dragon Dominion and Lord Ventryn all have failed to bring down the walls of Oympus, the PGoH Castle of HONOR. Now new danger prepares and evil armies strengthen under the command of Lord Blackthorn. Below is a listing of current roles within the PGoH Empire on Catskills that await new citizens. NON COMBAT ROLES Senator of Espionage (Rouge) Senator of Genesis (Bard) Senator of Arcane (Mage) Governor of Illyceum (Trinsic/Skara/Jhelom/SerpHold Areas) Governor of Dalmatia (Islands and Britain) Emissaries (Inter-guild reps) Praefectors (Provincial Guards) Herald (guild reporter) Caravan Ridge Runners Healers Ranchers (Sheep, Cattle, Horse, all ridables) All Trade workers (Citizens) COMBAT ROLES Centurion Herans (Beastmaster) Gladiators (melee/parry) Warlocks (mages) Archers (archers) Cataphractii (horsed melee) Sagitarri (horsed archers-Shadowriders) Lancers (horsed longspears) Pikemen (Halbreds) Fleet Admiral Marine (naval warriors) Sailors (naval range) Grenadiers (naval alchemists) ENHANCED COMBAT ROLES High Elf (Elf leader) Elf Rangers (archers/warriors) Orc Guardian (Orc leader) Skullcrusher Orcs (warriors) Locust (Gargoyles) Praetorian Guards (elite combat role) UPCOMING NEW ROLES IN DEVELOPMENT Necromancer Herbalist Brew Master Sculptor Painter Vampire Hunter Werewolf Hunter Minstrel Interior Decorator (Rugs, Tapestry, Shields etc) Architect Yardman (Boat crafter) Casino Staff Archeologist Demolition Expert Siege Crafter Executioner (Torture Devices) Mausoleum Director (Tombstones/Crypts) Astronomer (Mystic Tarot Gypsy) Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:17 PM EST The Honor Empire expands It is with great pleasure for me to announce that The Honor Empire now has expanded its realm 5-fold to accomodate the many new opportunities and entertainment for its membership enjoy. What began as one game guild (The Purple Guardians of HONOR) PGoH in Ultima Online...is now in multiple games as unique themed guilds based on the game engines. Ultima Online........................PGoH (Purple Guardians of HONOR) Everquest.......................SLoT (Sacred Legion of Tunarre) Dark Age of Camelot.....V V (Valhalla Vanguard) soon to appear are Shadowbane..............LoA (Lords of Ardan) Galaxies................ TBA Horizons.....................~E~ (The Eclipse) World of Warcraft.......SCO (Skullcrusher Orcs) Posted by Borg Sunday, March 17, 2002 11:12 PM EST Call to Arms (Summoning part 3)Insight Posted by Borg Saturday, March 16, 2002 12:00 AM EST Call to Arms (Summoning part 2) The Summoning part 2 Elwe D'Loche, nicknamed spawn affectionately by his Legion brotheren, rode back to the Impeial barracks in Trinsic. Dismounting, he ran to the officers quarters in search of Centurion Baltazar Con Wec. Centurion Coldren sat at the steps sharpening his tools of craft in the afternoon sun. "Looking for someone my little friend?"; asked Coldren, Centurion of Gladiators. "Yes sir....Centurion Baltazar"; replied Elwe "I saw him this morning pack heavy for a journey to find the Praetorian Guards"; answered Centurion Coldren. Observing that Elwe appeared a bit edgy and that it is rare to see a Shadowrider disheveled, the Centurion Coldren attempted to put the Shadowrider at ease. "Come on lad, lets get some lunch in you and see if any reports have come in, perhaps there is something that I can do."; Centurion Coldren said as he motioned Elwe to join him at the mess hall. "Yes sir, but I do...."; Elwe began to reply but stopped short of finishing his statment. "Do we have sentries on the Ramparts of Trinsic and Olympus?"; continued Elwe "Only the city guards and Olympus holds one...the area is secure Shadowrider, why....no army can march upon us without the outposts sending word."; answered Centurion Coldren. Stopping at the doorway to the mess hall, Elwe looked up at the Centurion of Gladiators. "It is not an army marching upon the city of Trinsic I worry about. It is the......"; replied Elwe as Centurion Coldren opened the door to the mess hall. Shouts of ELWE, SPAWN, ELWE come from several brotheren inside the hall feasting on lunch. Raising his voice a bit to Centruion Coldren, Elwe turns to him and finishes his statement. "It is FLYING INTO TRINSIC I AM CONCERNED ABOUT"; Elwe finishes and is pulled into a seat by fellow Legion warriors. Centurion Coldren absorbs what he says and with a tightining of the brow; Coldren begins to look back at the city skyline toward Destard. The Heran Knights, while thier lines thin, have controlled the skys with thier Dragon forces. What could Elwe be that concerned about.....an Army cannot fly. Coldren's thought is broken by a shout by Marcos from inside the hall to shut the door. "Centurion, did you grow up in a barn?....shut the door!!!", Phalynx of Gladiators humorously jokes. Centurion Coldren blinks a bit while he see a squad of Legionnaires return from training....turns and enters the mess hall completely. Looking down at Elwe eating with his brothers, Elwe looks at the Centurion and jestures slightly by pointing to the air. Centurion Coldren continues to join his Gladiators line as they eat...but while he does he thinks about Elwe's concern and waits for after lunch to discuss this further...now is not yet the time to send alarms through the lines that reform slowly. The Legion is not ready....soon....soon....Centurion Coldren thinks to himself. Posted by Borg Friday, March 8, 2002 12:00 AM EST How to use your own MP3s in UO Included in the list of features for Ultima Online: Lord Blackthorn’s Revenge is “MP3 support.” Those who have registered and play either the 2D or 3D versions of UO:LBR will sometimes hear certain MP3 music selections that will play and/or loop while playing UO, in addition to the MIDI music that may still play in certain areas (Note: MIDI music will only play if the associated MP3 file cannot be opened, or when an MP3 isn’t defined for that location/activity.) Although this MP3 music is selected from a standard playlist automatically, enterprising UO:LBR owners have the option of playing their own supplied MP3s, rather than UO:LBR’s “official” MP3s, in one of two possible ways. Replacing a UO:LBR MP3 with their own MP3, where their own MP3 has been re-named to match the one being replaced. Opening the MP3’s config.txt file in a text editor and modifying the details within. Locating your MP3s: UO:LBR stores it’s MP3 files within Ultima Online’s \music\Digital\ subdirectory. Both the 2D and 3D versions of UO:LBR will be sharing the same directory, and using the same MP3 files. All MP3 files need to remain in this directory in order to be used, otherwise the game client may not be able to access them. Before making any changes to these files, it’s a good idea to back them up into a safe location. Thus, at any point afterward if you feel like reverting back to “square one,” that option is available to you with minimal effort. Otherwise, should you need to return to the original configuration/files, you may need to reinstall UO:LBR from the CD. With the exception of the introduction song, the server will send a “song identifier” to the UO game client, which will then attempt to play back the specified song. The file that maps song identifiers to file names is “config.txt,” which is stored in the same folder as the music. Deciphering your config.txt file: Within the aforementioned config.txt file, you’ll find a listing that looks very much like the following: 0 turfin,loop 1 turfin,loop 2 turfin,loop 3 turfin,loop 4 turfin,loop 5 turfin,loop 6 turfin,loop 7 turfin,loop 8 stones1 9 britainpos,lop 10 britain1 11 bucsden,loop 12 jhelom 13 lbc 14 linelle 15 newmagincia,loop 16 minocpos,loop 17 valoriapos,loop 18 ambrosia,loop 19 stones 20 scarabreapos,loop 21 trinsicpos,loop 22 vesper1 23 yew1 24 yewpos,loop 25 dungeon 26 dragonshi,loop 27 citynightedit,loop 28 walking,loop 29 citynightedit,loop 30 walking,loop 31 citynightedit,loop 32 boattravel 33 citynightedit,loop 34 tavern1 35 tavern2 36 tavern3 37 pubtune,loop 38 goodevil,loop 39 humanoids,loop 40 gargoyles,loop 41 turfin,loop 42 deathtune 43 victory 44 overlordv2 45 nujelm 46 dragonslo,loop 47 cove,loop 48 moonglowpos,loop Each listing has basically two or three parts: Song identifier number Song name Loop (this is optional) Currently, some songs may not currently be used in the game even though they’ve been assigned numbers in the config.txt file. Swapping MP3s: You may swap your own MP3 for one that already exists. Don’t forget to back up your files before making any changes. Open the \music\Digital\ directory mentioned above, note the name of the original song that you want to replace, and delete it. Select the replacement MP3 and move it into the Ultima Online \music\Digital\ directory. Rename the new MP3 to be the same as the original MP3, and you're done. For example, if the official UO song file is named “Bucsden.mp3” and your replacement song is “CarminaBurana.mp3” (by Carl Orff), delete “Bucsden.mp,” move “CarminaBurana.mp3” into the \music\Digital\ directory, and rename that copy of “CarminaBurana.mp3” to “Bucsden.mp3.” Changing the config.txt file: Instead of swapping MP3s, you can add MP3s into your Ultima Online directory and change the related config.txt file. Don’t forget to back up your files before making any changes. Open the \music\Digitial\ directory and open for the “config.txt” file. Copy your MP3 into Ultima Online’s \music\Digitial\ on your hard drive. You should simplify the new MP3’s file name before proceeding, removing any spaces or special characters. For example, if the original name of your MP3 is “CarminaBurana.mp3” (by Carl Orff), it’s good to simplify the name to something like “carminaburana.mp3” before proceeding. Open the config.txt file in that directory and look for the line which contains the name of the song you'd like to replace. Remove the name of the existing song and type in the new name of your replacement MP3. If your game client is already running, you’ll need to close it and restart before any changes can take effect. For example, you might change the line that reads "22 vesper1" to become "22 carminaburana”—and after doing so, restart your game client for the change to take effect. Now, your game client will now play “carminaburana” where it would previously have played the “vesper1” MP3 song. If an MP3 song name is ever removed from its listing, the default MIDI song will play in its place. Special note on changing filenames: When you’re changing the names of your MP3 files to work within our MP3 support scheme, it might help to know that our parser can handle anything but a space, comma, newline, and null character. Example of usable renaming: “Carmina Burana.mp3” could become: carminaburana.mp3 carmina_burana.mp3 carmina-burana.mp3 Example of unusable renaming: “Carmina Burana.mp3” should not become: carmina burana.mp3 carmina,burana.mp3 carmina burana.mp3 Looping MP3s: I’ll need to refer back to that config.txt file for this one (at “\music\Digitial\config.txt”). Not every song will be set to play continuously. If you want a certain song to playback forever in a loop, you’ll have to change a setting for that song within the config.txt file (within Ultima Online’s “\music\Digital\ subdirectory). Open the config.txt file and look for the name of the song you’d like to loop. If the song does not have “,loop” immediately after it, it will play once and not loop. In general, if the song does have that loop notation it will play until you leave the associated area, you stop or complete the associated activity, or until a new song is triggered. For example, the entry listed as “45 nujelm” is not set to loop. However, changing “45 nujelm” to “45 nujelm,loop” will activate the looping process for the song "nujelm.mp3." Without that extra ",loop" comment, the song will only play through once, and then end. Another example is the “24 yewpos,loop” entry. This setting indicates that the “yewpos.mp3” song file will play continuously when triggered. Removing the “loop” notation will compel the song to only play through once and then stop. There are some “looping safeguards” in place, however. If you move into a new “trigger situation” within 10 seconds of the previous trigger situation, the previous song will finish out a full ten seconds of play before changing. This is designed for such occasions when, for example, you need to cross between two trigger locations frequently but aren’t really interesting in hearing the first fraction of each of the related songs quickly swapping back and forth. Songs that play but aren’t set to loop will end after a certain period of time, and may incorporate both a fade-in and fade-out effect. (These fade-in and fade-out lengths are “fixed,” and cannot be changed by the players at this time.) There also a certain small amount of randomness built into one or two of the song selections. Players can create their own small system of randomness as well. Although each listing only contains one song entry, each listing can instead contain multiple song entries, with a single space in between each. Each time that listing is called upon to play, one of the entries in that multiple-entry list should play. For example, song ID number 45 lists: 45 nujelm If you’d like to add some randomness to what plays when that ID is called and possibly hear the “moonglowpos” or “victory” songs, you can change the entry to read instead: 45 nujelm moonglowpos victory With the above configuration, upon entry into Nujel’m you might hear the “nujelm,” “moonglowpos,” or “victory” songs. Further, even if they are in the same listing, not every entry has to be set to loop or not loop—you can mix & match. For example, song ID number 47 lists: 47 cove,loop If you’d like to randomly hear the “cove,” “moonglowpos,” or “victory” songs, and the cove or victory songs should loop but the moonglowpos song shouldn’t, you can change the entry to read instead: 47 cove,loop moonglowpos victory,loop With the above configuration, upon entry into Cove you might hear the “cove” song looping, the “moonglowpos” song play once, or the “victory” song looping. Reverting to the backed-up files: Hopefully you backed up all your files before making any changes, as suggested at the start. If so, you may simply close out of UO, copy all your saved “masters” back into your \music\Digital\ directory, and start up without concern. If you haven’t backed up your files, it’s likely that the best way to recover your original MP3 files is to reinstall UO completely from the CD. There’s actually a third option, for those feeling a little adventurous. You can, in a sense, copy the files you need from the CD, but it’s not as easy as just moving them across into your computer's UO directory. Here’s some notes on this procedure: You’ll need to find where the music is stored on your UO CD. The music files themselves are collected into a cab file on the CD, in the same location as on your computer. That means your music may reside on your computer in a directory labeled as “Ultima Online\music\Digital\” (or words to that effect) and the cab file you need should be on the CD in a similar subdirectory, along the lines of “Client\Music\Digital\client5.cab.” Simply having the cab file itself isn't enough—you’ll need to have some program to extract the music files from within it. An application called WinZip that many people have may be able to let you open up this cab file, and Windows 2000 and Windows XP have built-in features for opening cab files as well. Once you’ve opened up your cab file and extracted the files from within, you can replace all these “new” files within your \music\Digital\ subdirectory with these “original” files. The choice is up to you. If you're not comfortable opening cab files then I'd suggest reinstalling. If you don't mind experimenting a little by opening the cab files and moving them into your proper UO directory, then you have that choice as well. MP3 Song triggers: Different songs are triggered by different in-game events. Essentially, there are two trigger types: becoming involved in combat and walking into a certain region. Songs are triggered when you perform an action or enter a region that has a different song than the one that was playing. Examples of regions might be the wilderness of Britannia, the city of Skara Brae, or any NPC tavern. No two songs should be playing simultaneously, whether new MP3 or original MIDI. MP3 Song listings: Below is the complete config.txt song listing. There are four columns: ID: This is the song identifier. MIDI NAME: This is the name of the original MIDI song that was set to play on pre-UO:LBR game clients MP3 NAME: This is the name of the default MP3 song that plays when the song identifier is caller for the UO:LBR game clients. DESCRIPTIVE: This notation was a part of the original MIDI-based song-calling code, and may serve some players here by helping identify groups of songs that play during certain occasions. Please note that this listing is only a guideline, and is subject to change. ID MIDI NAME MP3 NAME DESCRIPTIVE 0 oldult01.mid turfin,loop 1 create1.mid turfin,loop Nostalgic songs 2 dragflit.mid turfin,loop 3 oldult02.mid turfin,loop 4 oldult03.mid turfin,loop 5 oldult04.mid turfin,loop 6 oldult05.mid turfin,loop 7 oldult06.mid turfin,loop 8 stones2.mid stones1 9 britain1.mid britainpos,lop Town and named location songs 10 britain2.mid britain1 11 bucsden.mid bucsden,loop 12 jhelom.mid jhelom 13 lbcastle.mid lbc 14 linelle.mid linelle 15 magincia.mid newmagincia,loop 16 minoc.mid minocpos,loop 17 ocllo.mid valoriapos,loop 18 samlethe.mid ambrosia,loop 19 serpents.mid stones 20 skarabra.mid scarabreapos,loop 21 trinsic.mid trinsicpos,loop 22 vesper.mid vesper1 23 wind.mid yew1 24 yew.mid yewpos,loop 25 cave01.mid dungeon Generic area songs 26 dungeon9.mid dragonshi,loop 27 forest_a.mid citynightedit,loop 28 intown01.mid walking,loop 29 jungle_a.mid citynightedit,loop 30 mountn_a.mid walking,loop 31 plains_a.mid citynightedit,loop 32 sailing.mid boattravel 33 swamp_a.mid citynightedit,loop 34 tavern01.mid tavern1 35 tavern02.mid tavern2 36 tavern03.mid tavern3 37 tavern04.mid pubtune,loop 38 combat1.mid goodevil,loop Combat songs 39 combat2.mid humanoids,loop 40 combat3.mid gargoyles,loop 41 approach.mid turfin,loop Event songs 42 death.mid deathtune 43 victory.mid victory 44 btcastle.mid overlordv2 Miscellaneous 45 nujelm.mid nujelm 46 dungeon2.mid dragonslo,loop 47 cove.mid cove,loop 48 moonglow.mid moonglowpos,loop Some questions from players: Are there any limitations on quality, file size, type, or length of the MP3s which can be played? Not that we are aware of. Are there any unused MP3s that came with the UO:LBR CD, like there were unused MIDIs with the original client? If so, which ones are unused? There are some MP3s that are currently not in use, but this is subject to change (depending on Development needs, scenario requirements, etc.). If for some reason someone wanted to revert back to the old MIDI music instead of having the new MP3 music play, would that be possible? If so, how would one do that? We currently have no plans on implementing such a feature. However, it may be of note that, as mentioned above, if an MP3 song name is ever removed from its listing, the default MIDI song will play in its place. With that in mind it’s possible to remove each MP3 song name from within the /music/Digital/config.txt file. ========= Sannio Online Content Coordinator, UO Origin Systems Posted by Borg Monday, March 4, 2002 12:00 AM EST Call To Arms (Summoning part 1) Posted by Borg Friday, March 1, 2002 12:00 AM EST

The Return CHAPTER 2 THE RETURN The Return “You must return…….you must return……..” Those words echoed through the endless eternity of the ethereal plane Pater Imperium Borg traveled….whether my prayers are loud enough, I can only hope they are. The Strength and HONOR that brought an end to the Holy War against the Orcs and Undead was summoned by the GODS to establish new Empires within new worlds and time. Emperor Greg and his leadership were boldly forging new homes for the souls of the citizens that leave the shards of the Gem of Immortality. A Vanguard was in place within the Midgard realms of Gawaine in the Dark Age of Camelot. Toward the Horizon’s edge of the Empires of Istaria sat the Dragon clan of The Eclipse. In the darkness of Shadowbane, the Oligarchy was being established where they would become the light of HONOR. Even the Orcs, honorable and strong, prepared and encampment on the World of Warcraft. Finally, in a galaxy far far away operations were setting up to take part in the Galaxies of Star Wars. Bold and determined the great heros of Catskills expanded The Honor Empire….and prepared for the future. So did another…but his designs and plans were more personal…Lord Blackthorn and his revenge!!! The GODS had spoken and Borg informed us that a storm so great that the walls of Olympus and the GODS themselves felt its wake. Now we can see that Lord Blackthorn has returned and has sacrificed his humanity in order to gain power. Exodus orchestrates an evil plot and Lord Blackthorn begins to establish and branch out his wickedness through greed like a plague amongst our realm. He aims to dominate the whole realm and complete what he believes is his destiny. “You must return…you must return Borg” I speak it now though not a prayer but in a sense of urgency. Borg like many of the souls that live here in Catskills was not native of this realm. He was a traveler who by his own accord was sent here to investigate a recorded powerful energy source that his kind sought to acquire as part of their own. When he arrived he was more machine than man…a drone he called himself. One of many with the mind of one. It was the shrine of HONOR that he found and in attempting to assimilate it….he was assimilated….he was reborn as the man you know today. No longer a drone he was one….he was Borg. He knows what it is to be a drone….more machine than man….he knows then how to stop one like Lord Blackthorn….now more machine than man. It has been now 2 weeks since Lord Blackthorn arrived and everywhere you can see the effect. The era of excess was still lingering while the mercenaries and even parts of great kingdoms of the realm sought the wealth that existed in the pockets of the new evil forces. City streets and merchant shops are deserted…in place of the sound of commerce and trade….there is silence. I walk along a once beaten and solid path that leads to Olympus from Trinsic. The brush has overgrown it and would it be that I had not walked it a thousand times…I fear I could get lost myself. As I push back a low hanging branch, I am amazed to see a villa standing on the waters edge….what is this I wonder? The morning mist is burning off and as I step up onto its patio….the door is locked….I peer inside. I can see a vault constructed in the corner and a small bag in the middle of the floor. Who built this…I wonder. I reach up and pull off a sack covering the sign. ”The Port Authority of PGoH”; I read on it. I hear the call of an eagle and I turn to see it flying in from the bay; its vast strong wings cutting apart the mist as it travels over my head and toward Olympus. The mist separates and I can see the Walls of Olympus….my eye swells with pride and devotion for above it is a standard…..a standard I have not seen in quite some time….the standard of Borg. I rush to the castle doors, nearly tripping on the soul stone. That stone sits in the shadow and protection of Olympus as a binding point for all the fallen and lost warriors…near to their home and the GODS of Skills. I reach for the great doors and I can feel that they are warm…as I enter a feeling of comfort and saftey flows through me. The smith station is stocked and the air from the alchemy alcove dances with the smell of reagents. I pass through into the courtyard and the walls shimmered in the morning sun. I move toward the great hall and as I do the doors open….as if Olympus itself was welcoming me home. The great hearth is gone….replaced now with a great stone table. Behind the table are the standards of the Empire hanging proudly from the wall. The Elf, Praetorian Guard, Legion and Orc Clan surround the standard of Emperor Borg. On the far wall hang the Senate and State colors guarding a great stone chalice made of granite. As I turn and spin to take in the whole room….I feel myself rise into the air and the room begins to fill with light. I am weightless and moving upward at incredible speed through the air. Realizing my relative position I gulp deeply…I can see Trinsic and the land becoming smaller as the light turns to darkness I now only see a spinning colorful gem. I feel my feet touch ground beneath me…I regain my footing and then I hear him. “He will not take them…”; a voice states. I turn my head to see Borg on one knee looking out across the darkness and as he points to one of the colorful gems he begins to talk to me. “He will not take them Colin….he will try to take them all…and with all means at his disposal he will impose his will upon them.” Borg paused a moment. “All will resist….some may fall….that I must admit is a possibility…but Catskills will not!”; Borg exclaimed, pointing at one of the gems now bursting in light and effects. “The great knights still prepare the other realms…are they returning?”; I asked Borg. “Perhaps…perhaps not….regardless the level of aid…they will always be with us Colin. They are always with us in the struggles, battles or even in our ordinary duties of our lives. It is the HONOR that binds us…beyond the body and soul. HONOR is everywhere and within everything Colin…you should know that you taught me that long ago. The key now is and always will be…to unlock that power and focus it to serve the good of the many.”; Borg replied. Nodding to Borg and feeling quite small in this darkness with gems dancing around us….I coyly ask; “Respectfully m’lord….umm where are we?” Borg looked over to me and acted surprised in his reply. “Huh?!…Colin….are you that old of a man?….do you not know your own room?!”; Borg smiled. As I looked away from his eyes I found myself standing on the floor of my own room overlooking a crystal ball filled with small gems. “Those gems where….are…BLAST IT…those were the shards from the gem of Immortality!!!” I barked. Borg began to take amusement at me and held back chuckles “This is my room from my old forge house near the Honor shrine in Felucca!” I continued to bark. I could see through the window I was inside the villa in front of Olympus and on my bed sat keys to a vault and commissions to outfit 1000 Legion soldiers. “Raise the Legion Colin”; Borg said as he opened the door toward the stairwell. “ME?!…I am too old for that….Borg….Borg…gah…I am just a bookkeeper now, my days of glory are long gone.” I said as I followed him down the stairwell. “It was you…OLD MAN…it was you Colin who took me in after finding me at the HONOR shrine…you who returned me to humanity from what I was and it was you who became my father here in this realm.”; Borg said as he turned at the front doors. Placing both his hands on my shoulders he said to me; “You are a great teacher Colin and if we can retain half of what you think you have forgotten in your age….well we will be 10 times greater men. You know the power of the good of the many holds…teach it again.” As he opened the door he said: “If we are to be successful against Lord Blackthorn in this campaign then I must find Dawn and begin to coordinate our resistance” “Resistance is not futile….remember Colin…you taught me that….patience is an ally and with that we will defeat evil again. I must find Dawn….Raise the Legion Colin….Prepare the dogs of WAR!!!”; Borg exclaimed. Borg cast a gate and as he walked into its brilliance he turned to me, smiled and winked…..he was gone. Posted by Borg Tuesday, February 26, 2002 12:00 AM EST The Inquiry (The end of Excess) CHAPTER 1 The INQUIRY The end of Excess Twas the age of Expansion….it was the years after the ascension of Emperor Borg to Olympus. Emperor Greg had risen and continued the fight against the hoards of evil; defeating them at nearly every battlefield. The provinces had flourished and the Senate was strong with economic power. The Legion was fully supplied and the Council of Honor had just approved measures to build an Imperial Navy. The clans of Orcs were decimated and the resulting arrival of Savages was met by the Alliance. The Alliance, which was formed of the great realm Empires and Kingdoms of PGoH, GoL, KoJ, LER and VK, stood as the supreme force of good throughout the realm. No one would have expected that this was the beginning of the darkest of ages…the age of Excess. <<<>>> It was a glorious morning and though we had lost many a soul and the lines had not slept for a week, we marched back to Trinsic to the bards songs of victory. All of the Orc strongholds had been destroyed and the Shadowriders now hunted down the scattered Orcs. Provincial citizens traveled homeward past the Legion lines, back toward their homes they had abandoned during the campaign. The sunrise was different today and as I looked up at it, I bathed in its brilliance and its warmth. The sun had been there all along but its warmth never was enough to overcome the coldness of death the wars had brought. The cities, each of them in kind, welcomed home their protectors and celebrations seemed to last for weeks. City merchants thrived on the new resources, wares and gold brought back from conquest and through the reopening of trade routes once lost to Orc raiders. When news of the a primitive culture was reported replacing the Orcs in the provinces; mercenary forces met them and a cohort of the Legion was dispatched. The savages, though cunning and resourceful, also failed to be victorious against the mercenary forces that fought them…let alone the Alliance. The cities of the land slept secure and with no threat to their gates for months. Shadowriders reported that Orcs and Savages were found in great pitched battles over the ruins of the Orc Strongholds that the Alliance had decimated and in odd twists the greed of mankind took over many minds as mercenaries chose sides in this battle over debris and ruins. New Orcs of great power and strength appeared and so did Savages of unparalleled skill appear on mounts of hideous appearance. The Alliance members discussed which side should they stand for and Pater Imperium Borg was summoned for guidance to this end. “Do not stand for what you would sooner slay but support what you know to be evil”; Borg instructed. This was an uneasy and uncomfortable command to enact. The sage Magistrate Balandar explained that he had instructed us to stand for neither but to aid what was once our oldest foe. This was difficult for many to accept because Orcs always were the enemy. The Phalynx Marcos the Black was captured by Orcs and our retribution for the loss of Cove to Orcs brought the end of Orc oppression everywhere. How could the Pater tell us to aid these beasts that still held Marcos. Furthermore, when the followers of Mercury, God of Mischief, found the new Orc strongholds evidence of Marcos training Orcs in the arts of war was found. Many in the Alliance and within the Legion itself began to speak of treason and fractures in the minds of men formed, like cracks in armor yield a weakness. “Trust each in each other and trust in the Honor that binds thee”; Borg said in a dream to everyone in the Empire on the same night. When Marcos was found on a battlefield with Orcs against Savages he was imprisoned and put on trial. His acquittal was shocking to some but his support of the Orcs was determined to be in the best interest of the Empire and realm itself. Still, some men and women left the Empire to continue to hunt down the Orcs and to also fight against the Savages. For the rest of the Empire the following months were difficult at best and surreal consistently. Conversations and debates were filled with anger and uneasiness at what should be done. Emperor Greg kept the Legion in check and the Empire out of the political and faction wars that began across the realm. It was only until we realized Borg meant not to become their ally but to fight against this new threat along side the Orcs…for the Orcs knew what mankind would not accept. The Savages were the first from evil never seen before…the edge of a great dark shadow that now crept into the realm from beyond the edge of existence itself. This new evil was breaking against the realm like a great tide, spilling evil bit by bit into the realm. “Evil knows Evil”; Borg told Emperor Greg and Senator of War Wolf. “Mankind never accepts anything as real until it affects them directly”; Borg reminded them. Pater Imperium Borg and the GODS of Olympus had tried to warn us that the evil that was coming would become real…if we allowed it to be. Through our complacency and satisfaction this evil did grow and through the greed of mankind the evil did prosper and become reality. Its foothold now was solid and the evil now has a full open gate into our realm. If we had only remembered what he had said…if we had only remained vigilant. New lands have been found and the plunder and riches it holds are irresistible to the mercenary and merchants abroad. Even as the days pass, many do not realize the sun is not shining light and warmth; only the glow of greed is what they see with and what fuels their hearths fire. This greed is strong and with it has come overconfidence. This overconfidence now determines participation against evil when is appears. The rich see the battlegrounds as places beneath them and that they are untouchable in their personal fortresses or cities built by their ancestors and kin. This is the end of their age of Excess, the end of what they know to be true and real. This is the end of the age of Excess and the beginning of darkness that has existed for quite some time. Colin Mor….I ask of you what shall we do now? What day will break after this darkness has been overcome? Will we even realize it is even dark at all? Felix Felthwin, Gladiator PGoH Legion I sent this reply to Felix as well as the Council of Honor Sharpen your sword, supply your satchel and rally recruits The Age of Twilight has begun. How right I was for it has been a month and Lord Blackthorn now has returned....we need to rally and pray for the ancients to return....all will be needed I fear.....is it thunder of a storm or the drums of War approaching. Posted by Borg Friday, February 15, 2002 12:00 AM EST The Honor Empire expands It is with great pleasure for me to announce that The Honor Empire now has expanded its realm 5-fold to accomodate the many new opportunities and entertainment for its membership enjoy. What began as one game guild (The Purple Guardians of HONOR) PGoH in Ultima Online...is now in multiple games as unique themed guilds based on the game engines. Ultima Online........................PGoH (Purple Guardians of HONOR) Everquest.......................SLoT (Sacred Legion of Tunarre) Dark Age of Camelot.....V V (Valhalla Vanguard) soon to appear are Shadowbane..............LoA (Lords of Ardan) Galaxies................ TBA Horizons.....................~E~ (The Eclipse) World of Warcraft.......SCO (Skullcrusher Orcs) Posted by Borg Saturday, February 2, 2002 12:00 AM EST

Halloween Party Greetings! And Well Met! The Knights of Arcane Steel wish to invite one and all, to their All Hallows Eve' Festival and PvP Tournament. More then One Million Gold will be given away as prizes on Saturday, October 27th. Main Events include a Scavenger Hunt, Costume Contest, and PvP Tournament. All players and guilds are welcome to attend, though space is limited in some events. Come and roleplay, or enjoy yourself out of character, Everyone is welcome, there will be no guild war activity during the Festival! For complete information on all Events, Visit www.netlabs.net/~medtek/kas/festival or contact Corin Aesir, by ICQ at #3901201. PvP Tournament Time: 3pm Est to 6pm Est Place: The Battlegorunds, gates will be provided Registration: yes! Limited to 24 Participants! Entry Fee: None! Prizes! 1st 300k Gold, 2nd 200k Gold, 3rd 100k Gold!! All character classes are welcome. Please see the rules on the offical festival page. Entering this tournament require you to be placed on a temporary festival guildstone, or have your existing guild war the stone. Contact the KaS for more information, and review the rules and requirements on the festial web page, listed above. Costume Contest Time: 6pm Est Place: KaS Castle Registration: None Entry Fee: None Prizes: 1st: 75k Gold and a pair of Black Sandals, 2nd: 50k Gold, 3rd: 25k Gold! Think you have what it takes to make the best costume? GM Tailors and Smiths, gets those tools ready! Wether it be Scary, Dapper, or 70's Nightclub, your outfit might get you some some spending cash and pair of much coveted black sandals (not blessed). So use your imagination, and strut down that runway like you mean it. Entries will be judged by appearance, style, the ability to roleplay your costume. All Entries must arrive at the castle Before 6PM Est. Prizes will be given out directly following the Costume Contests final judging. All Players of Catskills are welcome to enter! All who enter will receive a participation prize! Scavenger Hunt Time: 7:30Pm Est Place: Kas Hall Registration: None Entry fee: None Prizes: 1st: 150k Gold, 2nd 100k Gold, 3rd 50k Gold!! The Rules will be discussed from 7Pm Est till 7:30Pm Est The Race is On! Will you be the first to return to the KaS Guildhall with the 20 listed items? Do you know where to find Common, but sometimes overlooked things? Then this is the contest for you. Players will be given a book with 20 items listed, that are easily obtainable (or so you think), in lands of UO, and must race to be the first one back! You have only ONE hour to complete this simple task.. Are you up for it? Is your recall book up for it? At 7:30PM the Whistle sounds, and you grab the list and go! Latecomers are welcome, but you only have untill 8:30PM!! All participants who return before 8PM will receive a prize. Good Luck! Directions can be found on the Festival Web Page. Posted by Martok Friday, October 26, 2001 12:35 PM EDT BNN report: Adapting As found on BNN: The dark chambers of the Master brightened to a dull blue glow as a moongate shimmered into existence on the far side of the room. The outline of a figure in an enshrouding pitch-black cloak turned to watch one of the controllers stumble through the gate, clutching his leg through the tatters of his arcane robe. “Report, Phoseph,” the voice of the master rasped from the shadowed corners of the room. Phoseph struggled to remain standing as he wiped the encrusted blood from his hands on the frayed edges of his cloak. “We found a tunnel, Master. It must be where the outsiders are coming from.” From the moongate, the heavy sound of a golem’s footsteps echoed and creaked like a cart of ore falling over. As it emerged from the moongate, it walked with a strange stumble, pausing between each step. Gears and rods could be seen turning under the ripped outer shell of the clockwork creature like muscles under torn flesh. In its massive arms it held a dead gargoyle, which it tossed to the floor with a careless thud. The moongate dissipated and vanished. The dark cloaked stranger stepped forward and silently contemplated the corpse. “The renegades.” “A patrol went through the area of the tunnel before it was finished and captured a group of the renegades there. We believe this one stayed hidden until they left, then continued the work on his own.” Phoseph grimaced at the stabbing pain in his leg. He could see his blood pooling on the floor around his foot, but continued with his report. “When we discovered his body, a group of the outsiders surprised us and attacked. The others in my party were killed and their golems were destroyed. This one will have to be repaired.” As if in reply, a rapid ticking noise started echoing from the golem, growing louder and louder until it was almost deafening. It stopped suddenly, and the mechanical behemoth fell forward at the waist and crashed to the floor like a pile of pots and pans. The head rolled across the cold stone and stopped beside Phoseph. “We can use this one for parts, my Lord.” The figure examined the remains of the golem for a few moments. Its armor looked as though it had been slashed by thousands of cuts. “Blade spirits.” Phoseph nodded. “The outsiders know how to cast them. With our current construction plans, the golems’ armor can’t take the assault for long.” “Unacceptable.” The cloaked one boomed. “If the golems cannot withstand a common blade spirit, they will be worthless in defending the city. I know the outsiders; they will send more mages as word of this weakness spreads. If the city is left undefended, we will lose more workers. Begin adapting the golems immediately.” Phoseph bowed his head and spoke slowly. “My Lord, forgive me, I do not wish to question your wisdom, but… I believe if we use more of our supplies to enhance the golems, we will not have enough left to construct a defense force for the city. The enslaved gargoyles grow fewer in number with each outsider attack. Without them we will not be able to gather enough raw materials to continue construction.” “Do as he has ordered, Phoseph.” The voice of the Master rasped from the darkest shadows of the chamber as the tiny lights around the room glowed briefly. “Use what materials are needed and enhance the golems to dispel summoned creatures. We have other ways of defending the city.” The dark figure turned towards the voice. “What do you propose?” “Phoseph, you are to gather one group of the workers and take them to the small chambers in the production center. Remove their chains.” “Master? Remove their chains?” Phoseph stumbled and gasped in pain before regaining his composure. He did his best to ignore the pain in his leg but knew that if he kept bleeding much longer he would likely pass out. “The chains block their use of magic, Master; you told us they were never to be removed, and to kill on sight any worker not in chains to be safe.” “The workers will need to use magic to defend the city, Phoseph,” the Master droned. The cloaked form slowly spoke as he silently paced the room. “It is risky, but that could be quite effective against the humans…” “The workers?” Phoseph spoke in shock as he slipped in the small puddle of blood around his foot, almost losing his balance. “They are not strong enough to hold back the outsiders, Master, even with their spells.” The dark figure flew across the room towards Phoseph and an arm shot out, backhanding the controller to the floor. Through the lights dancing across his vision, he could see his Lord standing above him in stillness. “You have offered enough of your opinion, Phoseph. I would suggest you offer no more.” Phoseph noticed the drops of crimson on the cloaked one’s hand and could feel a trickle of warm blood running down his chin from the blow. “Go now,” said the cloaked figure. “Prepare the workers so that the city will be defended.” The figure began to turn towards the Master’s voice again but stopped for a brief moment, glimpsing at the blood on its hand in amusement. “And, Phoseph, have your wounds tended to. You seem to be bleeding.” “Yes, my Lord.” Phoseph said through clenched teeth. He stumbled his way out of the chamber, leaving lone footprints of blood behind him. As soon as he was gone, the figure in the black cloak spoke again. “Are you sure this is wise, enhancing the gargoyle workers? Giving them so much power could be dangerous. They are so weak right now they may not survive the procedure.” “We can afford to lose some to experimentation. Those that die during the procedure will provide valuable information. Although I think you would agree that the process has reached near perfection.” The sounds of clicks and whirring increased for a moment. The dark figure stood, unmoving. “Indeed.” The Master continued. “Enhancing the gargoyles will make them powerful enough to deal with the humans in the city. So long as our chambers are not discovered, my control of their minds will remain absolute. Adapting the golems will make the attacks on Britannia more effective. Victory is still probable.” “That may be,” said the figure, his cloak flowing around him as he turned, “but I will not be satisfied until it is absolute.” Posted by Martok Thursday, October 11, 2001 4:17 PM EDT New Virtue System Announced Wow, how great will this be: Here is Callandryll's comments: Towards the very end, Calandryll announced a new concept that will be coming to UO sometime in the distant future: Virtues. I alone applauded just the mention of that word. What he described to me, so far, sounds promising. What was even more promising, Calandryll asked for help. He asked all the players gathered around him that if they had ideas of how to implement some of the virtues so that the computer could understand it, to please send them to him. To get you on the right track, here is a description of how a player will be able to gain in two different virtues: humility and sacrifice. To prove yourself humble, you will party yourself with a [young] player and spend time teaching them. As long as you are partied to them, are within the same area (1 screen or so), and the young player gains skill, you will gain virtue "points." Eventually you will gain enough points to achieve a level of humility. At that time your humility chart (a lovely concept graphic he showed us) will light up with a certain color on the humility sigil to show what level you have achieved. To demonstrate the virtue of sacrifice, while adventuring you may happen upon a brigand or a lich. In order to show these evil humans (or former humans) the error of their ways, you will sacrifice some of your fame to them thus converting them and in the process gaining sacrifice "points." Again your virtue "chart" will show some color in the sacrifice sigil. Virtue levels will decay over time. You can gain more than one. Achieving and maintaining all 8 virtues at level 10 will take considerable amounts of playtime and dedication, not to mention maintaining play so you can keep up your fame level to give it away. Why gain virtues you ask? Each level of virtue that you gain will grant you additional *statistic* points (yes, above 100). Even better someone who is skilled in the virtues will grant some of those gains to any who join his/her party. Virtuous people will be sought after as leaders or party members. If you party many such individuals with high virtue levels, the effect is cumulative. I cannot remember the exact numbers, but it is a substantial gain with high levels. In addition, anyone achieving and maintaining all 8 virtues at level 10 will be granted the title "The Virtuous..." Posted by Martok Tuesday, October 9, 2001 2:47 PM EDT

Transcript of President Bush's address From cnn.com Transcript of President Bush's address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday night, September 20, 2001. Mr. Speaker, Mr. President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans, in the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the union. Tonight, no such report is needed; it has already been delivered by the American people. We have seen it in the courage of passengers who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground. Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa Beamer here tonight? (APPLAUSE) We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion. We've seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own. My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of union, and it is strong. (APPLAUSE) Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done. Posted by Balandar Thursday, September 20, 2001 9:42 PM EDT OOC: Community Reaction to U.S. Disaster From uo.stratics.com There's not much I can say about recent events, other than that it's hit the Catskills community pretty damn hard. We've received a lot of reaction to it in our mail, and I thought I'd post it. Thanks to everyone who submitted, but my mailbox has been overfilled with screenshots to the point that I haven't been able to receive new messages. Anyone submitting an image at this time, please upload it to another site and send me the link. Brian Yamada submitted the following memorial images. Lady Pandora sent this in: In light of the recent nation-wide tragedy, the Children of Darkness would like to publically extend their condolences to our fellow players in the New York and Washington DC area that may have suffered a loss of a loved one due to this unbelievable attack on human kind. We would like to hold a candlelight vigil to remember those that lost their lives in this horrible act of terrorism on Friday Night at 9 PM EST at Lord British's castle in Trammel. We ask that everyone show up with a candle (or light source) and come to pay their respects. On an off game issue, we would like to remind everyone that blood is the source of life, and many many pints are needed to help those injured. If your health allows, please do your part to donate blood to your local Red Cross Center. Posted by Balandar Thursday, September 13, 2001 11:19 PM EDT Bush, Pentagon prepare response From http://www.msnbc.com/news/627028_asp.htm Sept. 13 — President Bush, Congress and the Pentagon on Thursday pledged a sustained military campaign against terrorists, beginning with Osama bin Laden, who U.S. officials said they had determined was directly responsible for the terrorist strikes in New York and Washington. U.S. GOVERNMENT SOURCES told NBC News’ Jim Miklaszewski on Thursday evening that based on “overwhelming” evidence, the Bush administration had concluded that the al-Qaeda organization run by bin Laden had executed the breathtaking operation in which U.S. jetliners were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. NBC’s Norah O’Donnell reported that a sustained military attack on bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire who has vowed to destroy the United States, would likely include air, land and sea forces. Two aircraft carriers are in the Arabian Peninsula region, each carrying 75 bombers capable of launching long-range missiles. The Washington Post reported on its Web site that the Pentagon planned to call several thousand reservists to active duty in the next few days. Defense officials told the Post that the activation would likely mark the start of a much larger military mobilization in the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist strikes. Bush informed lawmakers that military aircraft were patrolling the skies over Washington and seven other cities, according to Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s delegate to Congress. Earlier Thursday, Bush told reporters that allies around the world had vowed to help him “whip terrorism.” The Associated Press quoted government officials as saying the Bush administration was pressuring Pakistan to close its borders and allow U.S. jets to fly over its airspace. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani military ruler whose government has been accused of backing Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, pledged full cooperation Thursday in the general fight against terrorism and dispatched a delegation to Afghanistan for talks with Taliban leaders. India’s external affairs minister, Jaswant Singh, told The Times of India newspaper that India would provide logistical help or a staging ground for a U.S. military operation. ........ Posted by Balandar Thursday, September 13, 2001 10:57 PM EDT Player Owned Bartenders Published Player-owned bartenders (listed in Testing for Next Update) have now been published to all shards, and will be active shortly after their next scheduled maintenance period. Note that the bartenders will not be active immediately. In order to enable players to purchase bartenders, we must first wipe and reset all current non-essential NPCs, including shopkeepers and creatures. This will not affect stablemaster NPCs, players’ pets, or player-owned vendors. This wipe will be done on Friday morning, Sept. 14th CDT, and players can expect to see a low creature spawn for a short time until the numbers have returned to normal. This change will be added to Latest Game Updates once the bartenders are active on all shards. Posted by Balandar Thursday, September 13, 2001 10:16 PM EDT Auto House Refresh We understand that many travel and communication avenues, businesses, financial institutions, etc. have been hampered or closed due to yesterday's events, which has no doubt caused many players difficulties in accessing their UO accounts. We are also aware that yesterday was a day for helping others and a day of concern for family and friends. Due to the seriousness of this occasion, we will be refreshing all houses automatically this afternoon in order to help players who may have been unable to access their accounts. Posted by Balandar Wednesday, September 12, 2001 7:51 PM EDT Bush Addresses the Nation on Hijacked Planes BUSH: Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance. America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: ``Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.'' This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. Thank you. Good night and God bless America. Posted by Balandar Tuesday, September 11, 2001 8:18 PM EDT Assault on America For news about what has happened. http://www.foxnewyork.com/ "World Trade Center Collapses In Terrorist Attack; Washington Also Hit NEW YORK (AP) -- In one of the most horrifying attacks ever against the United States, terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center in a deadly series of blows Tuesday that brought down the twin 110-story towers. A plane also slammed into the Pentagon as the government itself came under attack. Thousands could be dead or injured, a high-ranking New York City police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Authorities had been trying to evacuate those who work in the twin towers when the glass-and-steel skyscrapers came down in a thunderous roar within about 90 minutes after the crashes, which took place minutes apart around 9 a.m. But many people were thought to have been trapped. About 50,000 people work at the Trade Center and tens of thousands of others visit each day. American Airlines initially said the Trade Center was hit by two of its planes, both hijacked, carrying a total of 156 people. But the airline later said that was unconfirmed. Two United airliners with a total of 110 aboard also crashed -- one outside Pittsburgh, the other in a location not immediately identified. Altogether, the planes had 266 people aboard. "This is perhaps the most audacious terrorist attack that's ever taken place in the world," said Chris Yates, an aviation expert at Jane's Transport in London. "It takes a logistics operation from the terror group involved that is second to none Only a very small handful of terror groups is on that list. ... I would name at the top of the list Osama bin Laden." President Bush ordered a full-scale investigation to "hunt down the folks who committed this act." Within the hour, the Pentagon took a direct, devastating hit from a plane. The fiery crash collapsed one side of the five-sided structure. The White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol were evacuated along with other federal buildings in Washington and New York. Authorities in Washington immediately called out troops, including an infantry regiment. The Situation Room at the White House was in full operation. Authorities went on alert from coast to coast, the U.S. and Canadian borders were sealed, all air traffic across the country was halted, and security was tightened at strategic installations. "This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don't think that I overstate it," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. In June, a U.S. judge had set this Wednesday as the sentencing date for a bin Laden associate for his role in the 1998 bombing of a U.S. embassy in Tanzania that killed 213 people. The sentencing had been set for the federal courthouse near the World Trade Center. No one from the U.S. attorney's office could be reached Tuesday to comment on whether the sentencing was still on. Afghanistan's hardline Taliban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that bin Laden was behind them, saying he does not have the means to carry out such well-orchestrated attacks. Bin Laden has been given asylum in Afghanistan. Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, sad he received a warning from Islamic fundamentalists close to bin Laden, but did not take the threat seriously. "They said it would be a huge and unprecedented attack but they did not specify," Atwan said in a telephone interview in London. In the West Bank city of Nablus, thousands of Palestinians celebrated the attacks, chanting "God is Great" and handing out candy. American Airlines initially identified the planes that crashed into the Trade Center as Flight 11, a Los Angeles-bound jet hijacked after takeoff from Boston with 92 people aboard, and Flight 77, which was seized while carrying 64 people from Washington to Los Angeles. In Pennsylvania, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757 en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco, crashed about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh with 45 people aboard. United said another of its planes, Flight 175, a Boeing 767 bound from Boston to Los Angeles with 65 people on board, also crashed, but it did not say where. The fate of those aboard the two planes was not immediately known. United's pilots union said United Flight 175 crashed into the Trade Center. But the airline had no immediate comment. An emergency dispatcher in Westmoreland County, Pa., received a cell phone call at 9:58 a.m. from a man who said he was a passenger locked in the bathroom of United Flight 93, said dispatch supervisor Glenn Cramer. "We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!" Cramer quoted the man as saying. The man told dispatchers the plane "was going down. He heard some sort of explosion and saw white smoke coming from the plane and we lost contact with him," Cramer said. Evacuations were ordered at the United Nations in New York and at the Sears Tower in Chicago. Los Angeles mobilized its anti-terrorism division, and security was intensified around the naval installations in Hampton Roads, Va. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., was evacuated. At the World Trade Center, "everyone was screaming, crying, running, cops, people, firefighters, everyone," said Mike Smith, a fire marshal. "It's like a war zone." Jennifer Brickhouse, 34, from Union, N.J., who was going up the escalator into the World Trade Center when she "heard this big boom." "All this stuff started falling and all this smoke was coming through. People were screaming, falling, and jumping out of the windows," from high in the sky, she said. "I just saw the building I work in come down," said businessman Gabriel Ioan, shaking in shock outside City Hall, a cloud of smoke and ash from the World Trade Center behind him. Nearby a crowd mobbed a man on a pay phone, screaming at him to get off the phone so that they could call relatives. Dust and dirt flew everywhere. Ash was 2 to 3 inches deep in places. People wandered dazed and terrified. The planes blasted fiery, gaping holes in the upper floors of the twin towers. About an hour later, the southern tower collapsed with a roar and a huge cloud of smoke; the other tower fell about a half-hour after that, covering lower Manhattan in heaps of gray rubble and broken glass. Firefighters trapped in the rubble radioed for help. "I have a sense it's a horrendous number of lives lost," Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said. "Right now we have to focus on saving as many lives as possible." The death toll on the crashed planes alone could surpass that of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, which claimed 168 lives in what was the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil. "Today we've had a national tragedy," Bush said in Sarasota, Fla. "Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country." He said he would be returning immediately to Washington. The crashes at the World Trade Center happened minutes apart, beginning just before 9 a.m. Heavy black smoke billowed into the sky above one of New York City's most famous landmarks, and debris rained down on the street, one of the city's busiest work areas. When the second plane hit, a fireball of flame and smoke erupted, leaving a huge hole in the glass and steel tower. John Axisa, who was getting off a commuter train to the World Trade Center, said he saw "bodies falling out" of the building. He said he ran outside, and watched people jump out of the first building. Then there was a second explosion, and he felt heat on the back of neck. People ran down the stairs in panic and fled the building. Thousands of pieces of what appeared to be office paper drifted over Brooklyn, about three miles away. Several subway lines were immediately shut down. Trading on Wall Street was suspended. New York's mayoral primary election Tuesday was postponed. All bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed. David Reck was handing out literature for a candidate for public advocate a few blocks away when he saw a jet come in "very low, and then it made a slight twist and dove into the building." Terrorist bombers struck the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others. "It's just sick. It just shows how vulnerable we really are," Keith Meyers, 39, said in Columbus, Ohio. "It kind of makes you want to go home and spend time with your family. It puts everything in perspective," Meyers said. He said he called to check in with his wife. They have two young children. In New York, "we heard a large boom and then we saw all this debris just falling," said Harriet Grimm, who was inside a bookstore on the World Trade Center's first floor when the first explosion rocked the building. "The plane was coming in low and ... it looked like it hit at a slight angle," said Sean Murtagh, a CNN vice president, the network reported. In 1945, an Army Air Corps B-25, a twin-engine bomber, crashed. into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in dense fog. In Florida, Bush was reading to children in a classroom at 9:05 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered into his ear. The president briefly turned somber before he resumed reading. He addressed the tragedy about a half-hour later." Posted by Balandar Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:32 PM EDT Today's attacks against the USA I received this ICQ message today. "There will be an OOC memorial held at Empath Abbey tonight for those who lost their lives in today's attacks against the USA. Please pass this message along." This will be all night long. Posted by Balandar Tuesday, September 11, 2001 1:24 PM EDT Client Patch 3.04m We will be releasing a client patch on Tuesday, September 4th at approximately 10:00 AM. This patch is the same patch that was previously released and reverted on August 30th, and contains the following changes: 2D gameplay window can now be resized without restarting the client When in a party in 3D, the player's status bar will have heal/cure buttons Improvements to the "Last Shard Used" button functionality in the 3D client The character creation templates have been revamped Book crash fixed Players will not always be put in Britain when not using Advanced creation mode. They are put in a random starting city. Players will no longer be asked if they wish to proceed with criminal acts while in Trammel. New characters will now start with 80 stat points. Many crashes and other bugs have been addressed in this patch. The current versions should now be 3.0.4m (2D client) and 3.0.4m Build 74 (3D client). NOTE: Windows 95 users that have not upgraded to Winsock 2 may receive the error “missing winsock32.dll”. To fix this problem, these users should download and install the new version of Winsock, which can be found here. Also important to note: Users attempting to log in while using UO Assist may receive the error "The IGR time limit has been met." Until UO Assist is patched by Tugsoft (its parent company), players will need to log in without UO Assist. Posted by Balandar Tuesday, September 4, 2001 9:04 PM EDT Going to Ilshenar with 2d Client Illegal Greywolfe (Online Community Moderator) posted on this locked thread here on the official UO Boards : Going to Ilshenar without the Third Dawn client is an exploit. It is illegal. Also, please remember that any alterations you make to your client to do so are in violation of the ToS. Posted by Martok Monday, September 3, 2001 11:32 AM EDT

Statement made by the Keepers of Justice A royal messenger found me late this eve and handed me a scroll. It twas from Aramis, son of Aramis of Yew. Though I have yet to meet the son of the former Regnent, he appears to be following in his father's footsteps. 'The Hand has made many accusations against the Keepers of Justice and myself. I would like to set the record straight once and for all and would like for the Yew Council to atttest to the following truths: Neither I, nor any other leader in our midst, have, at any time, requested any actions be taken against the Hand. The actions that have been decided have been decided without ANY input from the Keepers, period. The only words spoken to the Council were at the time I requested acceptance in the militia again and these words were spoken at a public Council meeting held in the Abbey. These words were as follows: "In the coming days I will present evidence as to the crimes commited by Hand members." With the exception of the questions I asked at the last council meeting regarding the warrants, these are the only words I have spoken to the Council regarding The Hand. I requested that the Keepers once again be considered for militia duty and have just this week been given the approval by the Council but have not discussed this with the Militia Captain, Lowgun, as of the writing of this scroll. With this being the case we could not be considered as trying to take over Yew or control the Council, I think thou doest give us too much credit for having WAY too much power. I state here and now that The Keepers of Justice wish only to serve the good citizens of Yew and to protect the Abbey from falling into the wrong hands (no pun intended). We shall, and always have, abide by the decisions of The Yew Council and the laws of Lord British.' Posted by Martok Sunday, August 19, 2001 7:09 PM EDT 2001 UO Fan Fest News on the 2001 UO gathering: Come join the leaders in online multiplayer gaming deep in the heart of Texas at the Austin Convention Center on Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th for our second fan event, the Online Worlds Fanfest 2001. Be one of the first people to witness and experience firsthand the future of Massively Multi-player Online Gaming. Participate in brainstorming and discussion sessions about every facet of one of the most popular online games, Ultima Online™ (UO). With over 35 informative panels hosted by developers like Stellerex, Tajima, Evocare, Prophet and others, as well as roundtable discussions and focus sessions, players can be sure to come away with new insights into UO and a better understanding of online gaming. Meet other players from your shard, and socialize with over a thousand other UO players from every walk of life. Talk one-on-one with Ultima Online's game developers, and get cool insider information on one of the most active online gaming communities! Also featured at this year’s event will be: Hands-on gameplay experiences from the upcoming massively multiplayer online games from Westwood, Maxis, and EA.COM. Special sessions with the development teams of upcoming and new EA games. Be the first to see what’s coming! Get the scoop directly from the creative forces behind these games with Q&A sessions featuring special guest speakers such as: Will Wright (Creator, The SIMS™); Gordon “Tyrant” Walton (VP and Executive Producer, The SIMS ONLINE™); Brett Sperry (Founder of Westwood and Chief Creative Officer) and many others. Meet, live and in-person, your best online friends and your biggest in-game rivals and reminisce over a tankard of ale at one of the two cocktail receptions following each day’s events. A chance to win fabulous prizes in one of the many contests. Online Worlds Fanfest 2001 Posted by Martok Sunday, August 19, 2001 6:54 PM EDT New Changes to Spells Newly Posted to Stratics: 1st circle spell Magic Arrow now uses Sulphurous Ash instead of Black Pearl and Nightshade 3rd circle spell Fireball now uses Black Pearl instead of Black Pearl and Sulphurous Ash 4th circle spell Lightning now uses Mandrake Root and Sulphurous Ash instead of Black Pearl, Mandrake Root and Sulphurous Ash 6th circle spell Explosion now uses Blood Moss and Mandrake Root instead of Black Pearl, Mandrake Root and Sulphurous Ash First tests show that the damage done by lower level spells, such as Magic Arrow, Fireball, and Lightning , have been increased so much that they have become very interesting spells to use in combat. Currently these changes are active on Test Center and the Baja shard only. Go check them out if you can. I have not tested any of these changes as of yet. It would be interesting to find out what type of damage changes magic arrow will now give. Posted by Martok Sunday, August 19, 2001 4:11 PM EDT

Distributed Backup Update We will be enabling the distributed backup system on all remaining shards with the exception of Balhae and Arirang, on Thursday, July 26th CDT. We estimate that this change will bring shard backup times down to approximately 15 minutes per shard. As a result, the amount of time required for shard maintenance, restarts, and ‘time warps’ may be narrowed to approximately 15 minutes in most cases. Please note: As this backup system decreases the amount of time required for a shard backup, it will also decrease the amount of ‘warp time’ available prior to a maintenance period. We urge that players keep this in mind when playing before a scheduled maintenance period. We will announce a release schedule for Balhae and Arirang in advance of their activation. Posted by Balandar Thursday, July 26, 2001 12:25 AM EDT Housing Decay Reactivated Housing decay has now been reinstated on all shards, to become active following their next downtime. The schedule for these maintenance periods is as follows: East Coast shards, with the exception of Chesapeake, experienced an unscheduled downtime at 5:00 pm CDT, July 24th, and the housing decay became active at this time. Posted by Balandar Tuesday, July 24, 2001 7:52 PM EDT Veteran Rewards Update As a reminder, we will be monitoring all public shards once they have received Publish 12 to see that the publish is running optimally before we will activate veteran rewards. Please note that this means players will not be able to choose rewards immediately once the publish is received. The rewards system will be activated systematically on pre-determined shards, and we will post a schedule once it is determined. We are working to see that this delay will be as short as possible, and we appreciate your patience. Posted by Balandar Tuesday, July 24, 2001 11:59 AM EDT In-game Support and Publish Update Due to a departmental meeting, in-game support will be limited from 3:00 pm - 6:30 pm CDT Monday, July 23rd. International Game Master support will not be affected. In order to provide better support coverage, the unscheduled downtime set for 2:00 pm CDT on the East Coast and Central Shards (with the exception of Chesapeake) has been delayed, and will now occur at 6:00 pm CDT. Thank you for your patience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Posted by Balandar Monday, July 23, 2001 5:04 PM EDT Housing Decay Reactivated July 24th Tomorrow afternoon (July 24th) at 11:00 pm CDT, we will be reactivating house decay on all shards. Houses currently marked as condemned will be uncondemned before the decay is turned back on, and will not collapse when the system is reactivated. Please note that once the decay rate is turned back on, all players will need to refresh their homes as they normally would. For information on housing decay rates, see http://guide.uo.com/house_6.html. Posted by Balandar Monday, July 23, 2001 12:46 PM EDT Publish 12 Today! Posted on the FYI section of the UO.com boards: Publish 12 will be published to all remaining shards today, to be active following their next maintenance period. The schedule for these maintenance periods is as follows: All East Coast and Central shards (with the exception of Chesapeake) will be taken down for an unscheduled maintenance at 2:00 pm CDT, July 23rd. Japanese and Korean Shards will be taken down for their normal maintenance period on at 8:00 AM local time, July 24th (JST). European Shards will be taken down for their normal maintenance period at 5:00 am local time, July 24th (GMT). Siege Perilous will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 5:00 am, July 24th (CDT). Formosa will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 8:00 am local Taiwan time, July 24th. Oceania will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 5:00 am local Sydney time, July 24th. AOL Legends will be taken down for its normal maintenance period at 5:00 am EDT, July 24th. The changes will be added to Latest Game Updates once the publish is active on all shards Posted by Martok Monday, July 23, 2001 12:37 PM EDT House Placement and House Transfer The auto refresh that was implemented on all shards has affected the ability for current house owners to place or have new houses transferred to them. The development team has been notified and is working to resolve this. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to resolve this as quickly as possible. Posted by Balandar Saturday, July 21, 2001 1:17 PM EDT Improperly Condemned Homes We would like to assure all players whose homes are currently marked as improperly condemned that they will not lose their homes at this time. The housing decay is not active currently, and the problem causing homes to appear as improperly condemned will be addressed as soon as possible. We will update further once this has been fixed. Posted by Balandar Saturday, July 21, 2001 1:16 PM EDT Housing Decay Alert Housing Decay Alert ^top Due to an issue causing permanent buildings to decay, all shards with Publish 12 (Chesapeake, Baja, Sonoma, Napa Valley, and Pacific) were given an automatic housing refresh last night (July 19th), and the affected buildings will be refreshed manually until the issue is addressed. In addition to this, housing decay on all remaining Ultima Online shards has been turned off over the weekend. This means that all homes on these shards will be refreshed to like new status, and will remain so until further notice. We will give at least 24 hours notice before the decay is turned back on, and we will update the patch message to ensure that all players are notified. We apologize for any inconvenience, and urge all players to check the patch messages before logging in to avoid missing important information Posted by Balandar Saturday, July 21, 2001 1:14 PM EDT Scenario Analysis by Calandryll Calandryll posted this overview of the scenario on the UO.com boards. How do you think the scenario went? What suggestions do you have? A few weeks ago, based on some requests from players, I promised I'd write a synopsis of the scenario, describe the goals, and write my view of what we accomplished. Ask and ye shall recieve: The Savage Empire Scenario Scenario Description Strange creatures (the savages) are driving the orcs out of their homes, which is causing the orcs to attack the player cities. The savages' reasons for doing so is not revealed...yet. Note, while the scenario title bears the same name as the single player Worlds of Ultima game and was inspired by it, it is not based on that game. The Savage Empire Scenario had 6 major goals: 1. Introduce players to the concept of scenarios and set the expectations. a. Since everyone reading this knows what a scenario is by now, I think we achieved this one. 2. Update new content into the game within a context (story) on an ongoing and uninterrupted basis (no delays or off-weeks once a scenario starts). a. With the exception of the Chesapeake shard, there were no delays, off-weeks, or interruptions in the scenario. b. We did split week 4 into two weeks (the orc bomber was originally supposed to be with the orc chopper and town attacks in week 4) to give QA more time to test, but most players didn't even realize the change to the schedule and it was a good example of fluid design. 3. Make sure new content is fun and useful and try to include as many play-styles as possible. a. Most feedback from players regarding the new monsters (especially the orc scouts and savages) was very positive. The new AI introduced worked well and players seemed to enjoy the challenged they presented. Good AI, with respects to monsters in a video game, does not mean "make the monster more difficult"...it means "make the monster fun and challenging." b. The interaction of the bola with savage riders (need to knock them off the ridgeback to tame the ridgeback) helped create some grouping, while not forcing it on those that like to solo. c. Some players played the scenario because of the story and role-playing. Some played it for the loot. Others enjoyed searching for the orc encampments and exploring the new dungeon. All of that is good. d. Most of the new monsters were texture changes. The artists did a great job making sure everything looked good as far as the Third Dawn models and most of the 2d replacement art looked good. 4. Introduce as few bugs as possible, fix any bugs by the next update, and don't impact other development. a. We published the shards nine times. During those nine publishes, we had no reverts and with the exception of the merge issue with publish 12 (which was not a problem caused by scenario code and only occurred on Chessie), we did not impact development at all. b. There were only two bugs of major concern released as part of the scenario. One was a shard crasher (happened once, was fixed an hour later) and the other was an issue with stealing caused by the orc mask (again, fixed within 12 hours of the first GM report). c. The majority of other bugs were fixed by the next week's update (what few there were) and overall, considering the amount of content and nine shard publishes in a row, our QA team did a bang-up job catching the bugs during testing before any of you ever saw them. d. We also had a lot of help from folks such as Prophet, Evocare, Vex, Adrick, and Groover working on things such as the looting rights change, client patches, making savage paint work (you have no idea how many changes we made to code that had not been touched in years to make this happen), and general design ideas. The team pitched in a lot while continuing to work on their systems. 5. Create a dynamic outcome based solely on code and systems a. While the dynamic outcome got a bad rap, actually, the code worked perfectly, the timing issue is what caused concern. The fact that it ended too quickly was a major disappointment for many players and one we plan to resolve in future scenarios. But, the way in which the code reacted to the players' actions proved that we can code dynamic outcomes without having to manually update or force anything. 6. Take the feedback from players on the first scenario and incorporate them into the next scenario. a. I'd like to concentrate on the last one. I've been reading the feedback and here is what I believe were the major concepts players wanted more of. - i. More in-game fiction. Books, scrolls, etc. - ii. Less camping...have some monsters spawn in random locations. - iii. More story in general (explanations and reasons). This is more a product of the fact that the Savage Empire scenario was more of a set-up scenario. You'll learn a lot more in future scenarios. - iv. More craftables and less that require fighting to get the resources. While I believe that having some craftables require fighting (again, encourages community group play - sorta the point of play an MMORPG) not all should. - v. Make sure the dynamic outcome lasts longer. This one goes without saying. b. While not all of these will make it into the next scenario, the feedback is useful and could influence future scenarios. Did I miss anything? -Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna Designer, Ongoing Content [ Comment on this article ] Posted by Martok Thursday, July 19, 2001 5:10 PM EDT Update on Vet Rewards This was found posted on the FYI section of the UO.com boards Since activating Publish 12 on the Chesapeake shard in late June, we have been monitoring the shard closely, and we are targeting to release the final week of the event scenario publish to the Chesapeake shard on Tuesday, July 17th. Once it is determined that there are no unforeseen issues involving the final week of the Savage Empire scenario and Publish 12, a schedule will be set for the release of Publish 12 to the other shards. Publish 12, which includes the veteran rewards system, is our highest priority, and we hope to see it released to all shards soon. We are looking to roll out Publish 12 to all shards by late next week, but please understand that due to testing considerations and time-sensitive problems that may arise, all schedules may be subject to change. A list of the changes included in this publish can be found in Testing for the Next Update. Considering the complexities of the rewards system, we will wait until all public shards have received Publish 12 before the veteran rewards system will be activated. Once all shards are running Publish 12, and we are confident that the veteran rewards system is functioning properly, we will begin to activate veteran rewards systematically on pre-determined shards. Please note that this means that players will not be able to choose rewards immediately once the publish is received. We are working to see that this delay will be as short as possible, and we appreciate your patience. [ Comment on this article ] Posted by Martok Wednesday, July 18, 2001 9:04 PM EDT Scenario Comments Calandryll recently posted this on the UO.com boards. Questions/comments to Calandryll are noted in bold text. --First, great feedback!!! --I pulled out the major points of each of your points to respond to. If I took something out of context, please correct me. "If neither outcome is worse, then there is no reason to favor a certain outcome at all -- or even participate at all. --I don't agree. Perhaps neither outcome is worse, but different players will benefit from different outcomes. For instance, let's say two outcomes in a fight for the city of Skara are: a) Skara becomes a dungeon (meaning monsters spawn there) or b) skara is saved (meaning you can bank there). For some players, the idea of a new dungeon is preferable, while to others, Skara is their home and they want it back the way it was. I'm sure I could think of a better example, given enough time. What I meant by my original statement was that outcomes where the player-base as a whole "loses" are a bad idea. Perhaps the worst outcome should come from doing nothing??" --I like that idea a lot. In fact, that is what happens now, if players don't retake the towns, they will be forever under attack. Doing nothing does result in a negative outcome until they do something. During this scenario I felt a little bit that the new content (which took the form of new items many times) was used as a crutch to help support a story that could not be fully expressed in game. --Actually, it was more that much of the story was not told on purpose. Again, think of this scenario as the opening chapter of a book. For instance, lets say that book starts out with an invasion of a town by marauding monsters. Do you (or the characters in the book) learn in the first chapter who caused that invasion? Usually not. Usually, you have to read a few more chapters before you can put the pieces together. In-game fiction didn't fit in this scenario...in the next one (the next chapter if you will), it does. "This scenario needed to be far more dynamic. There were basically three outcomes: orcs, savages, or neither." --For us to do what you propose in the first scenario would have been the absolute worst thing we could have done for a first pass. What you have listed in your second example is the result of an evolution of what we did in the first one. It is extremely easy to make that diagram, even easy to fill it in, but as you said, infinitely harder and more time consuming to design, code, balance, and test it. The fact that the first, fairly simple dynamic outcome did not go well is proof that trying to do something that complicated would have been disastrous. Too often, in our eagerness to flex our design muscles, we design above our own experience. It’s like trying to run before one has learned how to walk (to quote Tyrant). --Is it a goal to have a scenario like that? Actually, I'm not sure if they ever need to be that complicated...but even if I did, they won't be like that for quite some time until we learn more. -Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna Designer, Ongoing Content Posted by Martok Wednesday, July 18, 2001 8:59 PM EDT Universal Festival A messenger brings this invitation to those of the Empire Come to The Universal Festival. Hosted by Jaco Universal, Lord Beldin, and Jack Ransom. This Grand Event is The First and Last time it will ever Happen! So Don't Miss it! There will be a Gaming Area, Palm Reading, Gambling, Chicken Fights, Food, Drinks, and even a Band! Yes People this is a Once in a Life Time Chance! You ask "Is there any more activites!?!?!?!?" But Of Course! We will have Player Run Sales, Bars, Horse Racing. Food and Drinks are Available for Sale and It is First Come, First Served! We will also Have Live Shows, Even some Boxing, and that's not all We Have Much, Much MORE! First and Last Chance People! July 21st, at Noon Eastern time! At Festival Tower! Gates Will be given at All Town Banks! [ Comment on this article ] Posted by Martok Monday, July 16, 2001 3:27 PM EDT Patch 12: Murder Count and Reg Spawn Addition According to UO Stratics, patch 12 is currently up and running on the Chesapeake shard. Also according to Stratics, patch 12 includes an addition of exactly what type of murder count you have! It will tell you what your short, long, and ping-pong counts are by saying: I must consider my sins. Posts on the UO.com boards also speak of an increase in the reagent spawn as well. Rumor has it that the npc reagent vendors have had their spawn rates increased! You can now expect to see anywhere from 400-999 of each reg spawning every fifteen minutes!! [ Comment on this article ] Posted by Martok Sunday, July 15, 2001 7:48 AM EDT Ridgebacks & Orc Brutes? Reports are coming in about a new Ridgeback mount, that some savages ride and is tameable. As well as a new underground orc hideout somewhere south of Yew with huge orc brutes gathered. Attacks on certain cities have also picked up, with especially violent reports from Vesper. Latest news indicates that the Ridgeback "WILL" require High taming to tame, but there will be no taming requirements to Own / Ride. Posted by Kalinaf Wednesday, July 11, 2001 1:36 PM EDT The Queen's Poison Opens! A dark hooded messenger brought this to me at Olympus. The messenger would not speak, but dropped off this parchment: The Dark Monarchy, Kingdom of Demorium is opening their new tavern called the Queens Poison. The grand opening is Friday July 13th at 9 pm est time on the Catskills shard,Trammel. Runes to the tavern will be given out at Lord Blackthorns castle from 6-7 pm est. Gates will be made available by request at icq number 12372364. The tavern is for all people good or evil. Private dining reservations will be taken in advance. The Queen's Chef Otik will prepare fresh food daily. Wheter ye wish a fine dining experience,or to sit in our library and quietly read ,browse the copies of books available for sell in our bookstore, or just relax with a jug of wine in front of the fire with family and friends, The Queens Poison is the place to be. [ Comment on this article ] Posted by Martok Tuesday, July 10, 2001 8:39 PM EDT New Savage Tribe???? I sent this to UO suggestions but I would like feedback fromt the RP world A new RP guild was formed today on catskills: Eaters of the Dead (TRB) (standing for tribe) A guild of Role Playing Savages such as the new NPC's in UO now. Request OSI look into increasing the RP potential for this type of character. Of course savage paint and masks are good, but a true savage is a fierce warrior and uses primitive technology to tremendous savage effect. ie only what can be made from bone/wood/ leather The guild is looking at only authorizing use of the following weapons in keeping with what the game offers us to RP with- and of these we ask OSI to consider the next paragraph. Archery: bow (not crossbows or heavies- above their technology level) Fencing: Spears and daggers (RP"d that they are created from wood and bone) Maces: club and quarter staff (ie small and large sticks) No swords are allowed because metalworking is not a savage skill. Magery: Savage Shamans are not common in the populous but do exist Suggestion 1: Request bone be added as a resource (from skeletons or from any animal, like hides) in order to create savage weaponry ie:bone tipped spear, bone knife (fencing) Request a Bone tipped spear be created (Tinker skill) or which can only be equipped by a char wearing savage paint, which would offer a savage bonus to the savage paint wearer. A bone studded club and quarterstaff are probably also easily coded to provide bonuses to wearers of the paint. As for archery, bone tipped arrows might also be possible, and would only be able to be fired by characters wearing the Savage paint. A savage would not wear metal armor- only bone, leather, and studded (studded might be above a savage level of technology but perhaps not if studded with bone) Suggestion 2: Request these types of armor have an armor bonus attached to a savage paint wearer. It would decrease the amount of metal armor worn by wearers of savage paint who are NOT in the RP savage community. A Savage RP guild would not allow mounts- so bolas would be standard savage equipment. However NON RPers wearing savage paint are currently allowed and there is no reason to change that. This guild is going to work long and hard to create a viable savage culture in the community- and with OSI's help we can create savages in the RP world for ALL shards! We are currently researching hawaiian and other pacific islander languages as well as some south american cannibal languages to create an RP language such as is used by the Orcs currently on all shards. Thank you for your time- please consider what we are trying to create in the community when considering your next development efforts. Those players on catskills that would like to help pioneer this Savage Tribe concept WITHOUT the advantage of these requested bonuses should contact the GM at 101937403 for cultural questions (names, language, RP nuances) Questions concerning tactics and templates unique to a savage should be refered to: 4714240 We'd appreciate whatever player support we can get from ideas and suggestions to active participation. We'd like to see tribes of savages pop up on every shard in droves! Please reply http://cpc.isonfire.com Catskills PK-Hunters Posted by Kalinaf Tuesday, July 10, 2001 6:52 PM EDT More info on Orc Masks and Savage Paint! Taken from The Ultima Online Update Journal. Many players have been asking about the new masks of orcish kin and the savage tribal paint and how they work. While most players have figured out the mask will explode if you attack an orc and the paint will burn if you attack a savage, there are many other interactions that are designed into these masks. In order to clear up some confusion, the list below should clarify some of these interactions. Note the examples are all in reference to the mask of orcish kin and orcs, but they all hold true for tribal paint and savages as well. If your pet, hireling, or summoned creature attacks or is attacked by an orc while you are wearing a mask of orcish kin, the orc mask will explode. Note this is the case even if your pet auto-defends. If you provoke two creatures onto each other and an orc attacks one of those creatures while you are wearing a mask of orcish kin, the mask will explode. The system sees you as the controller of the creature you provoked and hence, the mask will explode if an orc attacks or is attacked by it, even if you are no longer in the area. If you attack an orc and kill it and then put on the mask of orcish kin the mask will explode because you still have that orc in your aggressor list. After attacking an orc (even if you never hit it and it never hits you) wait a while before putting on an orc mask. You cannot wear a mask of orcish kin and savage paint at the same time. The orc masks and the savage paint are powerful items, but with that power comes danger. It is wise to use caution when donning either of these items. Posted by Kalinaf Tuesday, July 10, 2001 6:38 PM EDT Life after the Orc Quest Calandryll brings this to us from the uo.com boards. Here is what he has to say: Will they continue the weekly updates in the form of another ongoing 'quest' (I use the term loosley)? --I wouldn't use the term "quest" at all actually. But yes, we're planning on doing another one after this one conclues. If so, what type of 'quest' will it be? --Different than this one based on the learning we have gotten from this one. Beyond that, no comment as I will not give anything away. What would everyone like to see? What were the major problems with the current one (besides the obvious!)? --Good questions. I actually think it might be better to wait until this one concludes though. I plan on writing a post about the current scenario after this one concludes and gathering feedback from that as well. To answer your questions about dynamic changes to the world such as destroying a city. Doing something like that, while it may sound cool on paper, so may not be appropriate for UO. Let's forget about the programming issues with this (of which there are many) and discuss the design/community issues. If you have been reading the posts about this scenario since it's beginning, there have been more than a few posts of complaint towards the town attacks. They were (are) angry about not being able to bank/hang-out in their favorite town. Imgaine, if you will, if we not only attacked a town, but actually destroyed it! People have become very attached to the cities in UO. Another example, I had an idea a long time ago to make a scenario where reagents became scarce and players had to solve a scenario to solve the problem. Imagine the howls of anger from the mages should the players lose that scenario and regs remained harder to get than they already are? While you may not agree with that mentality, as a developer, I am beholden to all players and must take it into account. The problem with win/lose outcomes is that as a general rule, people don't like to lose. A lose scenario such as the ones you describe are not fun if the players' lose. Losing isn't fun. Rather than have a win/lose outcome, I'd prefer to have different outcomes, neither necessarily worse, just different, and all interesting and fun. But that sort of thing is far more difficult to design (again, not talking programming issues here) than a simple win/lose scenario. In truth, in my opinion, lose/win scenarios are rather uncreative as anyone can come up with "if the players lose, Minoc blows up, if they win it doesn't". It takes far more creativity to come up with two outcomes that are meaningful, but also equally fun. Truth is we are not at that point yet. We need to move these along gradually. The biggest mistake developers make in my opinion with MMORPGs is we try to run before we learn to walk. We have so many cool ideas we just want to get them started right away. But, in the long-run (and with these games, the long-run must be considered) moving slowly, learning from the feedback, and expandind as we go along, is the far better course. Oh and just a sidenote, you made an excellent post with some really well thought out ideas. Lose the profanity (and yes, even using "*"s can be considered a ToS violation on the boards) next time as I would hate to see a good post get locked (as this one would be justifably locked if it was) because of unneeded curse words that didn't add to your post anyway. -Jonathan "Calandryll" Hanna Designer, Ongoing Content [ Comment on this article ] Posted by Martok Tuesday, July 10, 2001 5:58 PM EDT Could precasting be returning? Posted by Adrick (Lead Developer) on the UO.com boards: The argument could be made back at the time precasting was removed that it could be used to pk and was a mystery to those who did not understand how to do it. As it stands today given the tram fel ruleset and various other avenues for consensual pvp - precasting if restored to the game would effect pvpers - those who want no part of precasting and pvp have the means now to avoid it altogether. A vast majority of the posts, emails and general conversation in the pvp community is that restoring precasting to the game would make pvp more fun for them, more of a matter of player skill in who wins a fight. The concern for us going into this is to ensure that characters with no magery can be competitive in pvp. The insta hit will not be returning which was one of the obvious unbalancing features of the old style. The introduction of special moves, lumberjacking along with anatomy healing and med, swing timers with hit times based on dex have added more choices that will not be available the same to a mage/warrior as before when precasting was removed. So we are looking at the feedback - and we are discussing what the end result will be when the combat changes listed in concept are finally published to all the shards Posted by Martok Monday, July 9, 2001 2:59 PM EDT