Balandar

July 2000 Friday, July 28, 2000 Information on Minax ^top Eve requested that one of the things PGoH helps with is the gathering of information on Minax. She requested that a timeline of Minax's activies as well as a collection of places where her and her minions have been spotted be compiled. These groups of information are to help any and all who oppose Minax to btter be able to understand her history and her tactics. After some heavy work, a list of Sites where Minax and her minions have been compiled. The timeline should be done tommarow. To see this collection of information go to this link The Minax Section Posted by Gorion - 2:07 PM CST ^top Wednesday, July 26, 2000 A Meeting with Ventryn ^top The sun began to set over the city of Vesper to the west. It had been a long day for The Purple Guardians of Honor, having aquired a castle and been hunting a good portion of the day, but it was not over. As the last bits of light escaped to the west, a Falcon began to approach OLYMPUS from the north. Gorion saw it, and it saw him, thus comming closer, so as to deliver a message from its master, Cinna. The message was of joy and horror, for it described that The Kingdom of Winterfll now had a keep in Northwood, but it was just attacked by Ventryn the Black Lich. Gorion walked down the steps where Emperor Borg was finishing signing his coownership of The castle. "Sire, urgent news from Winterfell, Ventryn has begun to attack, but now it is their new keep which is his target." Lord Brightblade walked out of the shadows, and began to summon a Blue Moongate, as Borg placed his deed of coownership in his pouch. "This gate shall take ye to Winterfell", Brightblade spoke and a deep tone. The Purple Guardians walked into the gate, being send instantly to the Winterfell Keep, where the bodies of Liches were still rotting in the moonlight. Before anyone could even say "Hail" a force of mummies and lich lords crawled their way out of the ground, but were dispatched in moments, some not even having the chance to pull their own bodies out of the dark soil. As the final lich was being defeated, all of the sudden an Explosian knocked many off their feet, and from the flames, Ventryn, still in his human form, emerged. He continued to taunt us, and send his forces, as he always does, but this time, Lord Brightblade brought up something Ventryn nay wished to hear. "Ventryn, ye have a heart full of hatred, and sorrow, all from the death of your daughter, which although Pythos was responcible for sending her into that war, did not kill her with his own hand, and still he is in remorse for any action he had in sending her to that battle." "Silence! Ye know nothing fool! Ye nay shall speak of my daughter!" "Ahh, but I do know, I have spoken with her and...." "Silence! I have heard enough of your blasphemy, Relics take me to the Lair!" Within a moment he was gone, but we decided to follow him to his lair, for we knew where it was, and how to get there. When we arrived, he wasnt there, and we began to look around, as I began to look at the books he had on his shelves. "Its not polite to come with out an invitation" he spoke as he emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room. Lord Brightblade and Ventryn began to taunt one another, and no new knowlage was learned form Ventryn, until he said... "Bah, I care not for you Purple Guardians, or that pathetic Kingdom of Winterfell, I have the relics, and soon I will have all that I need, your time is over. Now leave me." Ventryn then faded from view, and we began back to Winterfell, reporting what had happened and helped to destroy a few more of Ventryn's minions. I nay know what Ventryn is planning, but it can nay be good, so keep your reagent pouch full, and your blade sharp, I think we shall have some busy days ahead. Posted by Gorion - 6:37 PM CST ^top The Purple Guardians of Honor have a Castle at Last! ^top After 3 years of waiting and hoping for a chance for a castle, Trammel opened, offering us the chance for one, but unfortunatly noone was able to place one. Then, an opertunity presente ditself, for many were placing castles on EBAY, But noone could afford the estimated $2000 for one. Then, at 6PM on July 24th, 2000, Mallok and Arianna, with real money, had purchased a castle accross from Vesper. Last night, the transaction was complete, and it was Transfered to Mallok. Mallok, the owner of OLYMPUS, the Castle fo PGoH, has made it The Purple Guardians of Honor's capitol, and heart of the Empire of HONOR, here we shall celebrate our victories, have the senate meet and hold grand ceremonies, such as weddings. This is truely a day to be remembers and Honored forever, and so I am proud to announce publicly that The Purple Guardians of Honor now hold The Castle of OLYMPUS!!! Posted by Gorion - 6:07 PM CST ^top Sunday, July 23, 2000 Eve returns and requests the Purple Guardian's Help ^top A fanatic had been running through the town of Trinsic, threatening The Purple Guardians of Honor and Kingdom of Winterfell, but had just been jailed, when all of the sudden Lord Ser Brightblade and Eve came into the Jail. It had been many months seen Eve had last been seen. She had disappeared only minutes before we were to have an audience with Lord Brittish. Although there were rumors, there was no conclusive evidence to where she had been. It had turned out in fact, that Malabelle had placed here under an enchantment that had kept her from Brittainia all this time. She had only escaped recently, and was still recovering, but she saw that the Allience, even though was attempted to be kept alive by The Army of Blood Keep was dead, and that Minax had seized control of Felucca. She was truely distressed over this, but knew that people will eventually return to Felucca to bring the fight to her. Eve then went on to say that Minax is losing subjects every day, as we continue our Exodus into Trammel, and that soon Minax wil have so few subjects, that she will seek a new land to conquer. As soon as she wishes to do so, Trammel shall become her new target. Many believe we are completly safe in this new world, but Ventryn has found a way to break past Nystul's spell, and have his forces attack Winterfell. Minax could find a similar way and break through, and if she were successful, we have no other facet to go to, and we will be on the defencive, just as we were before we lost Felucca. It is Eve's belief that the offensive be taken, and that reconnissance is the key to an effective offensive. That is where The Purple Guardians of Honor come in. In the comming weeks, a timeline of all of Minax's activities, and map of all of Minax's outposts, with detailed and exact writings of what they have been used for in the past, and what they could possibly be used for in the future shall be compiled. This information shall be availible to all, and will hopefully help in the destruction of Minax. To see the trascript of the meeting, go to this link. Posted by Gorion - 10:54 AM CST ^top Saturday, July 22, 2000 Ventryn at Safehaven ^top Dusk dawned on the Britain crossroads as Lord Ser Brightblade gave Galam a tour of his cousin's Safehaven Inn and Tavern. The mood was flippant as Ser Brightblade told of how the inn would work in tandem with Dove of Yew's Community Center to teach the young and give them a safe place to stay. The two worked their way around the building with Galam commenting upon the unusual placement of torches just outside the large iron doors. This would have been a normal day in Britania had it not been for the strange gate that was to appear before the guildmates. That's odd, thought Ser Brightblade as he peered at the unusual gate just outside the inn. He and Galam, who watched the gate intently, could never have guessed that this uninvited visitor would be more than the common traveller and the expressions that they wore were understandably ones of surprise as they saw who stepped through the gate. Ominously black and hollow the traveler's eyes peirced them to the bone as he motioned for them to stop their talking so that he could say his words of immenent doom. He came upon Ser Brightblade and spoke of the lord's deceptions and betrayal towards him. Ventryn spoke of Ser Brightblade's attempts at spying on him and Ser Brightblade knew he had words of his own to speak in response to these accusations. "The betrayal was yours, Ventryn", he replied with a sense of truth that made even Ventryn's mouth sour. The Dark Lich's eyes narrowed at this and he threw out his own retort. "Be careful what you bring to this inn, Brightblade", Vetryn's narrowed eyes seered Ser Brightblade's mind as they seemed to look through him to his soul. Ser Brightblade thought to earlier when his good friends Gorion and Greg had brought Pythos to the inn, and with that he felt the hair on his neck stand on end. "Yes," remarked Ventryn before he had time to speak," I always watch ye." The two for a moment locked gazes with one another, each deciding what to do next but the moment passed and the Dark Lich spoke again. "Why have thee rejoined the fight after all these months, Ser Brightblade?", his voice seethed with contempt for the man," Was it fame? Glory?", The Dark Lich once again narrowed his eyes, "Tell me, what was it?" Ser Brightblade's jaw flexed as he took the devil's words in. "Knowledge, Ventryn, knowledge", he began with renewed confidence,"The same reason I came to thee months ago. That and the ability to impart that knowledge to others once learned." The Dark Lich glared at him with that response and turned to speak again. "Stop this," he said in reference to the defense of Winterfell, "I will crush you." A slight growl escaped Ventryn as he spoke adding to the air of darkness that worked its way around and most possibly through the Dark Lich's presence. Ser Brightblade gritted his teeth and raised his hand to point to the inn's sign. "This is the Safehaven Inn, Ventryn. All are welcome, including thee, but if ever you are to harm any young, the Praetorian Guard of Honor will smite you down." His voice carried with it a sense of dignity and nobility that any other man would have had a difficult time maintaining in the face of one so wicked. "The innocent shall be left untouched. Let them reside here, I will not harm them... just as I will not harm the Purple Guardians of Honor if thee were to give me the same gift in Winterfell...", his words trailed off as if awaiting a reply. Suddenly the area was filled with a jovial tone of hardy laughter. Ser Brightblade had seen this offer as insane and treated it as such. His only reply the deriding laughter that he sent Ventryn's way. " Listen now, Brightblade, and listen well," he remarked demandingly, "In the days to come I will accomplish much!" This time the sour truth gave Ser Brightblade cause to pause. "Aye", he replied in his once again noble fashion, "And we will be there to stop you!" His knight played in this chess game of threats, Ser Brightblade bode the Dark Lich to speak again. As quickly as an adder's tounge, the Dark Lich spat another intimidating threat meant to scare the man out of calling arms to defend Winterfell. "I know your homes!", he seized as Galam watched on in apparent silence, taking in every word and noting them with care. " I know", Ser Brightblade said in a somber tone and once again the truth's sourness reached his mouth. This was Ventryn's turn to laugh as he saw that Ser Brightblade was finally realizing his power. It took a solid minute for Ser Brightblade to regroup his thoughts after the nauseating visions of attacks on his friends' homes shot through his mind. "When you are ready to speak of peace, Ventryn, there will be a table here for you on this inn's first floor where papers could be signed...." He had spoke with words that were tired of this deadlocked chess match but they were cut off by the sound of the Dark Lich's repeated laugh. Ventryn was done talking as well. He had played his hand at deplomacy and had returned with nothing gained. As Galam and Ser Brightblade looked on he pounded his chest and with a wave of his arms he was gone. "Nemo me impune lacessat", Ser Brightblade cared little whether or not the Dark Lich heard his words for he knew that soon enough it would be the last Ventryn would ever hear. Posted by Balandar - 2:25 PM CST ^top Lord Ventryn ^top Posted by Balandar - 1:39 AM CST ^top Friday, July 21, 2000 Lord Pythos Calls off the Fallshorn Sword Expedition ^top Lord Pythos came to me tonight, and told me that the expedition shall be called off, due to Qua'Tel and many others not being able to make it. He shall return in two or three days to set up a new date. Posted by Gorion - 8:22 PM CST ^top Sunday, July 16, 2000 Search for Alexandra 07/15/00 ^top The sky was painted blue and the clouds rolled over the horizon when Lord Brightblade of the Praetorian Praefect remarked to Aluim Aster that it looked like a storm was coming. He smiled grimly as he watched the sky. Alium nodded in agreement and added, “If only it was rain that would be falling on this field today, Mellon.” In one quick movement Brightblade dismounted his steed and turned to face William King of Winterfell. “Good King, I come to you as promised. The Legion of Honor dost as well, and as sworn to our Emperor Borg, we shall do as you need this night. Winterfell shall stand through the night,” he proclaimed, the sense of honor beaming over his face. William replied, “I fear if this be all we have to defend the Keep, then it will fall. I ask that all present here dispatch whatever messengers they have and request they come to bolster our defenses.” With that Lord Brightblade did call Vengeance, one of his eagles, to his arm and he did attach a message calling for his friends and brothers in arms to come to the aid of King William. Soon a host of allies for the eve did appear through blue portals and thundering down the road on horseback. PGoH was assembling, with Borg and Lord Brightblade giving last minute advice, all the while Borg uttering the phrase “We fight for Honor this night”. GoL joined shortly after saying that Vengeance did find them as they were suiting up for adventure of their own that eve. They did line up as well adding their own strength to that of Winterfell and PGoH with their guild mistress Valkarie and Marshall of their forces Omnicron barking orders and preparing troops. Among the noise the shriek of wyrms did arise and Grey’s Cowboy and Lone Wolf did appear through blue portals riding jet black mares and toting White Wyrms behind them. The long face of William did turn upward a bit at the sight he was now seeing. Perhaps the goodwill of all to thwart Ventryn this night would overcome whatever undead minions were thrown at them. The troops continued to rally, a Celt here or there a Guard of Northwood seen amongst the hosts of other armies. Even some Elves and a Picts could be seen. Soon the good King William was calling for all to quiet and for the first time it was seen that Qua’Tel and Lord Pythos had made their way to the keep almost unnoticed but by a few. William then looked upon six scattered amongst the vast gathering. Filbert Eggcup, Aethal Tar’nyn and Keoliene of Winterfell were called forward, and then a small framed half-elf moon Cordelia. Finally Veldren and Lord Brightblade did come forward for the Purple Guardians. William turned and spoke, “Tonight you venture forth into the spirit world to search for Ventryn’s daughter, Alexandra. Know that you hold the hope of all Winterfell as you go and that it can be assured Ventryn will seek to keep you from returning with such information as what she might provide.” Qua’Tel then beckoned the brave warriors and mages forward and began summoning forth elemental forces to embrace those who would travel the spirit path. With just Lord Brightblade remaining, Pythos turned and spoke, “You will live a few moments longer for we travel to Felluca to continue our search.” With that Brightblade opened a facet gate glowing purple into Minax’s abomination….Felluca. The sounds of battle rising behind as he stepped through. Upon the other side Brightblade did embrace death, and the hunt for Alexandra was on. Pythos spoke of Northwood and how that would be a good place for a start. The six spirits rushed through the morbidly gray world calling for Alexandra where they met a tortured soul, one of Stormguard’s scouts, Rilo. He did jump back warning of the undead all around…for he knew not that he was dead and a spirit himself nor of how they would soon overwhelm all and destroy the army. After much coaxing by Cordelia and Keoliene, he did speak of one who might know where Alexandra could be found. Sir Elliar, a captain of Stormguard, who was stationed just south of his location. Again the six spirits set out and this time it was Aethal and Veldren who sighted the objective first. Again, like the scout, the captain did battle unseen forces unknowing that he was long dead himself. After a brief chase the noble Filbert did convince the captain that the party’s intentions were good and learned that Alexandra was to be found somewhere near the gates of Trinsic’s West Gate as part of a scouting party. Again they set out and eventually did find Alexandra. Although this did take some time to travel it was nothing compared to the difficulty in convincing her they meant no harm. After some time, Lord Brightblade uttered the name of her father Ventryn and how he was in danger from a great evil. He stated that only she held the knowledge to help destroy the evil and save her father. With this she stopped running and turned to speak to them. She relayed how there were four relics and that there was a fifth, owned by the family Fallshorn which, when in close proximity of the others, manifested great powers. She spoke of the Fallshorn Sword and how it would aid those in stopping the evil that threatened, unknowing that the evil that held her father was his own doing. The spirits thanked her and she asked that they promise to return when the time to save her father neared. All agreed this would be done and she stated she would return to Trinsic’s West Gate nightly to await their arrival once again. With great speed and hope now the ghosts did run to the healer and prepare for the return trip to Stark’s Keep. Sooner than could be thought Portals opened from one world to the next and then to the Keep itself. Through it could be heard the end of a bloody battle with undead. A cheer went up as the once spirits jumped through the gate and with it the strength of the defenders increased so that they overcame the last of the unholy hosts about them. William did then turn to those returning and without words beckoned for them to speak. Filbert Eggcup did step forward then and relayed all they had discovered. He spoke of how many of Stormguard’s fallen did walk still, and of how after many a trial Alexandra was found. He spoke of the Fallshorn Sword and how it might be used to break the shield Ventryn had formed to protect him. Pythos then spoke of a quest to take place but 5 days from that time at the hour of nine by the central moon. Winterfell had staved off yet another attack and that brought hope. King William turned and walked into the Keep thinking, “Hope, yes hope, we have that now. But is it enough and has it come too late?”. He knew he would learn the answers to this question all too soon. His shoulders weighed down with his responsibility he turned and entered his bed chambers for what rest he could get. - Lord Ser Brightblade Posted by Balandar - 5:21 PM CST ^top Thursday, July 13, 2000 Qua'Tel Appears at Stark's Keep ^top Last night we witnessed that Ventryn has begun to truely harness the power of the relics, now being able to assume human form once again, and cross into the realm of Tremmel. Shortly after another onslaught by Ventryn tonight, Qua'Tel, the elementalist appeared, summoning elementals to attack Ventryn, and forcing him to flee. After Ventryn's retreat, Qua'Tel met with us inside Stark's Keep. He informed us that because Lord Pythos sent Ventryn's daughter into war unprepared, she perished. In that human life, Ventryn was known as Sylvan, and Brother of Pythos. With the death of his daughter Sylvan swore vengence and became Ventryn. Even after killing Pythos, Ventryn's rage did not end, and became the creature he is today. There is hope however. Ventryn's daughter still exists in the ethereal void, and quite possibly knows where the fith relic exists that will destroy Ventryn. In a night soon to come some brave warrriors shall give their lives to cross into the ethereal void, knowing very well that they may not return. Until that time we can only fend off Ventryn's attacks on Stark's Keep. Posted by Gorion - 10:36 PM CST ^top Battle at Stark's Keep ^top Here are the pictures from last nights battle. Posted by Balandar - 8:50 PM CST ^top Wednesday, July 12, 2000 A War Against Ventryn has Begun . . . ^top Upon last night I awoke to a fellow guildmate informing me that a citizen of Winterfell was searching for me. After recalling off my rune, I was standing in front of Stark's Keep, the stronghold of Winterfell in Tremmel. I was greeted by four members and informed that a dark day has come. Apperntly, Winterfell was tricked into placing the Helm of Thunder, one of the four relics needed to destroy Ventryn, The Black Lich, on the ground, where one of Ventryn's minions seized it. Ventryn now has all four relics needed to destroy him, and with them his powers have been increased beyond anything seen before. These new powers give him the ability to summon much stronger undead than he has been able to summon in the past. It was shortly after I was informed of this that my good freinds, Ser Brightblade, Prefect of The Preatorian Guard of PGoH, and Emperor Borg arrived. We began discussing what was to be done. We asked that Duke Evin Ghlade be summoned so we may speak ith him. After he arrived The Purple Guardians of Honor, and the Kingdom of Winterfell united toward the goal of the destruction of Ventryn. Ventryn did nay wish to see such groups to ally, for at the very moment we allied, his minions stormed the keep, and were defeated quickly, that is the first wave was. For nearly four hours Ventryns forces returned, each time the minions were stronger and faster, but the newly born allience called upon their own reinforcements. By the time of the final battle of the night, nearly 45 Soldiers and Mages had battled nearly 300 undead, consisting of mummies, skeletal mages, skeletal knights, and lich lords. Tonight we also saw a lich that although green, was not like Jou'nar, it was weaker, and looked more of jade-like green. After the first encounter, but not the last encounter with it, we named it A Lich Fiend. During the later battles we witnessed Lord Pythos, the one whos grave was desecrated by Ventryn. He seemed to watch over the battle, and after it, he informed us that this was only the first night. These attacks will continue every day, and each day grow stronger, until the final climatic battle. And so, The Kingdom of Winterfell and Purple Guardians of Honor are now united, and at war with Ventryn, The Black Lich. Posted by Gorion - 3:36 AM CST ^top Friday, July 7, 2000 After Years, Once Again Working Together ^top Last night, for the first time in over two years the Guardians of Light, and Purple Guardians of Honor worked together in a hunt in the lost lands. Although it may not mean much to some people, it does mean a great deal to both guilds. It was more than two years ago, we once worked together, and greatly loved that allience, but due to some tragic turn of events the allience was destroyed. With this turn of events, it is hopeful by both guilds that some day we can once again be allies as we were in the old days, but last night was the the first step. The cooperation and good will shown to one another last night reveals that there is a very good chance we shall see such an allience. After the hunt we all stood side-by-side in cooperation for the first time in two years. Posted by Gorion - 3:40 AM CST ^top

June 2000 Monday, June 26, 2000 Staged House Placement Update ^top We are placing all further house placement stages on hold at this time, and are developing several mechanisms to address the situations that arose over the weekend. We are targeting Thursday, June 29th to open a test shard updated with these mechanisms. This test will be deployed on a current backup of the Catskills shard on Test Center. As a part of this process, we encourage players to set up in advance of house placement by having their deed at the top level of their primary backpack, moving to their proposed house location and logging out from that location, and removing themselves from co-owner status on any other homes. This will give you the best possible chance to quickly place your home in Britannia. The following mechanisms are being developed for the upcoming house placement test: Limited Spawn: We will be limiting the shard to only essential NPC spawns (such as stablemasters) and will delete all others prior to opening house placement Relocation: If a subserver becomes too crowded, we will ask players to relocate based on certain criteria. In the event that we are required to move players, we will be automatically relocating them to cities on Felucca and we will look at the following factors to determine which players may be moved: If the player has no house deed If the player has a house deed, but it is not appropriate to the current phase (for example, a small house deed during Phase 1 Castle placement) If the player currently co-owns a house If the player currently owns a house If all of the above players have been removed from Trammel subservers and the situation continues to remain critical, we will begin randomly selecting players for relocation to Felucca. In the event that we are forced to move players, the relocated players will be unable to recall or gate for a specified period of time. At this time, we have targeting 10 minutes, but that time period may change dependent on our test results. Logout: Once a player has successfully placed a house, they will have 10 minutes to conclude house business before they will be automatically moved to a safe location in Felucca and logged out of the shard for a period of two hours. Any player transferred to the Felucca shard will receive a moonstone allowing them to travel back to Trammel once they are able to return to the shard. Posted by Balandar - 5:01 PM CST ^top Staged House Placement Update ^top We would like to thank everyone who made an effort to avoid the Trammel Britain area on the Atlantic shard during house placement this evening. The subsequent decreased load on that area of the shard allowed us to focus on the remaining subservers, and thus identify and debug issues on the Cove subserver. Friday evening’s issues had less to do with load balancing than with the “telestorm” process we described on Saturday. However, tonight, we identified an issue that does indeed relate directly to load balance in the Trammel Cove area of the Atlantic shard, though it could have affected any subserver. We have determined several additional solutions that will allow us to efficiently and fairly balance server load during house placement, and we have begun working to implement these changes. However, as this is a server load issue, we have been presented with a difficult testing situation. The issues we have encountered on the North American shards over the weekend were evident only because of the volume of players on the servers, and it will be difficult for us to duplicate those situations without your help. On Monday, we will be announcing more information on a new house placement test, specifically designed to test the effects of large numbers of players attempting to place houses. During this test, which will happen later next week, we want to encourage everyone to visit the designated test shard and try to break us. With your help, we can quickly assess the effectiveness of our load balancing efforts and subsequently open housing on the shards as soon as possible. The update on Monday will not include a new schedule for staged house placement. We wish to learn more about these issues before re-committing to a set schedule. In addition to the upcoming test, we would like to invite everyone to visit the two test shards that will be available later this evening. Our early efforts in reducing a number of server load balancing issues will be in place on the shards. All phases of housing will be open on these shards. While we have much more work to do, players moving around on the test shards will be a great help in increasing our knowledge base and expediting the rest of our load balancing efforts. Posted by Balandar - 2:29 AM CST ^top Saturday, June 24, 2000 Revised North American House Placement Schedule ^top We have created a revised house placement schedule for certain North American shards that will go into effect over the next several days. We have chosen to limit the number of shards completing house placement this weekend so that we have a lesser chance of repeating the experience of Friday night. Some statistics from the completed house placement stages on Friday night include: Shards that completed only Phase One (Napa Valley and Pacific) had over 125 houses placed in Felucca on each shard. Shards that completed Phase Two (Sonoma, Baja, and Great Lakes) had an average of over 750 large houses and castles placed on the Trammel and Felucca facets. Shards continuing with house placement this weekend include: All North American Shards Open housing in Felucca, for all house types, will be active following server maintenance on Sunday morning, June 25th. Open housing in Felucca is already active on Siege Perilous, AOL Legends, Pacific, Sonoma, Baja, Napa Valley, and Great Lakes shards. Sonoma Shard This shard will continue with Phase Three House Placement (all house types, all facets) on Sunday, June 25th at 8:00PM (PDT). Atlantic Shard This shard will commence Phase One (castles only on Trammel and all house types on Felucca) and Phase Two (large houses and castles on Trammel, all house types on Felucca) House Placement on Sunday, June 25th. Phase One will begin at 7:00PM (EDT), and Phase II will commence at 10:00PM (EDT). We will be announcing revised schedules for all remaining placement phases on the North American shards, as well as revised schedules for all overseas shards, by 3:00PM CDT on Monday, June 26th. We will be monitoring all shards closely for the remainder of the weekend to determine a new schedule strategy. Because of the upcoming holiday weekend in the United States we will be considering weeknight placement during the upcoming week. We will provide at least 24 hour notice before commencing any further house placement stages. In closely reviewing the server logs of the affected shards, we have determined that a significant amount of the problems we experienced were based on balanced population load. Ultima Online shards are set up to go into a “panic” phase, called “telestorming”, in the event of extremely high load on the various game subservers. When a server “telestorms” it has reached a state where it must move players from subservers immediately, so it pushes them to other subservers – resulting in players in these areas being moved, with no notice, to another part of Britannia. Last night, we experienced a “telestorm” state on five North American servers, four of which subsequently crashed. It was the first time we’ve reached “telestorm” state in over a year. We are working on several fixes to help the servers avoid reaching this state, but we would also like to ask for your assistance in this matter during house placement stages. All of the shards that experienced the “telestorm” effect did so for the area surrounding Trammel Britain. We urge that during house placement, unless you are attempting to place a house in the direct Britain area, you choose alternative banks and shopkeepers rather than those in the Trammel Britain area. Additionally, as the Britain bank is traditionally one of heavy population concentration, we will be actively monitoring the area. Should it become necessary, we will forcibly move players to other bank locations around Britannia. Posted by Balandar - 5:24 PM CST ^top House Placement Announcement ^top Several difficult situations occurred on Friday evening that affected the release of staged house placement on the North American shards. Internet connection issues blocked many people from accessing the shards and reduced our level of customer service. The turnout of potential homeowners was beyond our estimates for the early phases. And we watched game servers and our web server stretched to their limits. The Internet and login server issues were such that even our GMs, Counselors, and our Programmers were often unable to access the shards. All of these factors combined created an experience for our customers that we do not want to revisit. We were committed to meeting our latest target for house placement and expected these conditions to improve. We were caught up in the flow of trying to get houses delivered to the players. In retrospect, we should have pulled the plug earlier. Thus, we’ve decided to go “back to the drawing board” with our house placement plans. To address the situation created Friday evening, and to ensure that it does not happen again, we will be scrapping our existing house placement schedule for all shards that do not currently have available house placement. The Baja, Sonoma, and Great Lakes servers are continuing to move through Stage Two of staged house placement, and we will be monitoring them throughout the night. If they successfully complete Stage Two, we will continue to take these shards to Stage Three placement according to their schedules. The previously posted revised schedules for Chesapeake, Atlantic, Catskills, Lake Superior, Napa Valley, and Pacific should be disregarded. We will be reviewing the experiences of Friday evening on Saturday. We will determine ways in which we can improve house placement before re- opening housing on the remaining shards. We will review options to optimize our server loads, plans to guarantee substantial customer service presence, and methods by which we can communicate important information during the entire house placement process. We will release new schedules for all shards as soon as they have been determined. We will update the website by 5:00pm CST Saturday, June 25th with a report of our progress. I'd like to extend a personal apology to all our customers who were affected by our poor execution of house placement. The situation on many of the North American shards last night was unacceptable, and we will do our best to ensure that it does not happen again. Gordon Walton VP Online Services Origin Systems, Inc. Posted by Balandar - 11:33 AM CST ^top Friday, June 23, 2000 Staged House Placement Information ^top We have established a communication schedule for staged house placement allowing you to keep track of the current house placement stage this evening. Please note: the opening of placement stages is a ‘live’ switch, allowing stages to be changed without requiring that the shards be taken down. As soon as each stage is open for an entire time zone, we will post an announcement to Shard Issues and to the UO.com Message Boards. There will be no in-game announcement of shard openings. To track the start times for each shard in advance, we recommend referring to the Staged House Placement Schedule. Posted by Balandar - 4:14 PM CST ^top House Type Placement Information ^top The following list includes the specific house types available this evening during each placement stage on the North American shards. Stage 1 Only Castles may be placed in Trammel for the first two hours after house placement commences. Any housing types may be placed in Felucca at this time. Legal Stage 1 house types include: Castles only. Stage 2 Only Large Houses, Castles, and Large Keeps may be placed in Trammel for 24 hours following the end of Stage 1. Any housing types may be placed in Felucca at this time. Legal Stage 2 house types include: Tower, Large Marble Villa, Two-Story Houses, Large Patio House, Large Brick House, Two-Story Villa, Log Cabin, Sandstone Patio, Keep. Small houses and small towers are not included in this stage. Stage 3 All house types may be placed in both Trammel and Felucca. Thanks Posted by Balandar - 4:13 PM CST ^top Thursday, June 22, 2000 North American Shards Update ^top We are currently restoring recent backups to all North American shards, with the exception of Siege Perilous and AOL Legends, to address an issue that allowed housing to be placed prematurely. To ensure that no houses have been placed outside the staged house placement schedule, the shards will revert to a backup prior to their June 22nd maintenance period. The North American shards will be returned to service shortly. Posted by Balandar - 10:26 AM CST ^top Wednesday, June 21, 2000 The Journal of Qua'Tel Decoded! ^top This was on the UO.Com news section: A fellow came to me recently, wishing to remain anonymous, and told me the tale of a mysterious journal decoded mere days before by a group of brave adventurers from Northwood, as well as the history behind the tome. Northwood's people have evacuated their former home in Felucca and found the safety of a location they apparently refer to as "Stark's Keep" on the Trammel facet of Britannia. There they found safety and refuge from Minax's forces...or so they thought. My informant continued to explain that Northwood had been plagued by the evils of Lord Ventryn, an ancient mage now living as lich; his goal to locate four lost relics and utilize their power to elevate himself to supreme knowledge and power. Supposedly these relics were sacred to an ancient estate called Stormguard that once rested where Northwood does today. Naturally, this Lord Ventryn eventually sought out the members of Northwood in an attempt to destroy those who might oppose him. According to my informant, however, the waves of undead were not enough to destroy the strong willed folk of Northwood and Ventryn had gained little progress. Lord Ventryn was not alone in his endeavors. He was aided by a being known as "The Arch Lich" and a powerful phantom known as Xenthyl. The Arch Lich was defeated once but resurrected not long after by means of an elaborate ceremony in the bowels of dungeon Covetous. Apparently it was soon discovered that Xenthyl was being manipulated and controlled by the Soul Binder armor. This armor allowed Ventryn to take control of Xenthyl and utilize him for his bidding. However, Xenthyl fought the binding of the armor and aided Northwood when he was temporarily free from Ventryn's control. On several occasions the conflicting sides of Xenthyl's consciousness nearly destroyed him, but Xenthyl fought on, eventually escaping from Ventryn's watchful eye. After flipping through several pages of his notebook my informant continued his tale. Apparently there were two others who sought out Northwood and attempted to aid them in their endeavor. The first being a sage known as Sylan who often provided what information he could to the people of Northwood in hopes that the relics would be located in a timely manner. In addition there was Thain Fallshorn, a descendent of the Stormguard line who is supposedly destined to locate the relics. Unfortunately, after an encounter with Ventryn, Thain's memory was almost completely lost and he could not recall the locations of the lost relics. After months of searching, the people of Northwood have located the Gauntlets of the Storms and the Amulet of Lightning, which are being protected by Thain. All that is left is the Thunder Necklace and the Helm of Thunder. During the entire battle against Ventryn a journal has been resting upon a table in the basement of Jhelom’s Library. The Journal of Qua’Tel was written in a mysterious code that seemingly could not be deciphered. Xenthyl and some members of Northwood had recently been searching for the means of decoding the journal and in time a scribe in Britain named Evangeline seemed to have some knowledge of the journal. Some adventurers from Stormguard along with Thain and Xenthyl recently set out on an expedition to locate this scribe. Evangeline was located conducting business within the Ethereal Goods shop in Britain. When approached, she denied any knowledge of the journal and its contents and seemed more preoccupied with making gold. Only after she began fearing for her safety did she confess to having a copy of the decoded journal. However, Evangeline insisted that a deal be conducted. She requested that the adventurers travel to Jhelom and seek out a former warrior who was authoring “The Guidebook of Britannia”. Evangeline believed something like the guidebook would sell well during a time in which the people of Britannia were attempting to fully understand the nature of the Felucca and Trammel realms. According to my informant, the adventurers of Northwood and their allies traveled to Jhelom and came across a fellow named Tykryon Valier that seemed to be the author they were searching for. However Tykryon soon revealed he had yet to even author the guidebook and it was currently only a work in progress. He apologized and explained he could only provide the adventurers with a note to return to Evangeline stating that he would promise her the first copy once it had been written. The adventurers accepted the note and bid Tykryon farewell as they returned to Britain. Upon receiving the note, Evangeline reluctantly turned ownership of the decoded journal over to the people of Northwood. She explained that she personally had not decoded the book but purchased it for a great deal of gold from a mage she had encountered some time ago. With this the adventurers returned to Stark’s Keep and apparently reviewed the contents of the journal. However, my informant has explained to me that the contents remain closely guarded and only some of Northwood’s people and their allies know the contents of the journal. What is known is this: Qua’Tel is a mage of elements and in the past had actually allied with Ventryn and attempted to locate the relics. However, being betrayed by Ventryn in some manner, Qua’Tel began research on his own without informing Ventryn of what he had discovered. It is unknown if Qua’Tel even still lives, or if he is hiding somewhere until the time is right. From this reporter’s point of view, however, perhaps a search should be conducted for Qua’Tel. Ah, if only I were an adventurer. Ferran Azelle Posted by Gorion - 7:48 PM CST ^top Monday, June 19, 2000 Infamous Rogue Slain ^top Friday had been a long day of various errands: reagent shopping, getting armor repaired, mending my battleworn dress, and taking some wares for a tenant into Britian to sell. When I rode up to the bank to deposit funds, the only thing occupying my mind was getting my horse fed and washed, (Vulcan was beginning to smell like an old pair of well traveled boots) and doing the same for myself (I smelled like an old horse.) But my daydreams of climbing into a large trough of clean, warm water were disturbed by the ringing voice of the town crier there at the bank. I listened as the town crier told of a man named Garett who had had his caravan ambushed by orcs and needed help regaining his goods. I thought of the gold I had just deposited selling wares myself and knew I would have to help this man get what we could of his things back. Having my concentration on the crier had given a sly handed theif the chance at my bow. I watched cursing as the thief quickly outran the witless guards around the corner into an alley, tucking my magic bow into his pack. More curses on my tongue, I recalled home grabbing another bow, some smoked fish steaks for me and apples for Vulcan, and recalled back to the bank. Garett was a man of medium build, wearing studded leather armor and a forlorn look on his face. He already had a few warriors surrounding him, their horses shifting around anxious to be on the move. I rode up and stood with them and informed Garett I would come along as well to get his goods back. He told us the only thing he really needed back was an amulet that was very special to him. We all swore we would get it back. We set out south out of the city, along the main road on the way to Trinsic. At no point was the going easy. The road was unusually swarmed with every manor of beast. We fought orcs, lizardmen, ratmen, murderous brigands, and gazers in a constant battle just to keep pushing through toward our goal. None of these creatures are particularly tough game for seasoned warriors, but in these numbers-always more than 10 on us at once-it was a challenge. I decided to try and scout ahead leading packs of these creatures off into the woods to keep the road as clear as possible, but it had little effect as the creatures seemed to be sprouting from the very ground. The unending battle that was our journey kept up without respite all the way to the bridge. I had scouted out the other side and led most of what I could find away. When I crossed back across the bridge to rejoin the group I saw that they were bunched up cleaning out the area, healing each other. I cast greater heal on those that needed it, then equipped my bow to take out the attackers that were trying to escape as the group finished them all off. Finally, for the first time on the journey, we had a moment of peace. At that point Garett stepped up onto the steps of the bridge as we gathered on the road and he turned to address us. I assumed we must be getting close to the point where he had been ambushed, and he was now going to give us final instructions or words. This is not what happened however. Garett looked around at the small party before him, 6 or 7 of us, still applying bandages, eating rations, and counting remaining arrows and reagents, and he began to speak, quietly at first. "Fools." We look up at him thinking surely we have misheard him. "Fools!" He again yells. He proceeds to tell us we have been taken in, the whole thing a ruse to get us out here alone. I looked around the group. Some had looks of disbelief, others a wary countenance, and others tired, but none looked afraid. Garett gives us an ultimatum. Your money or your life. Seeing none of us reaching for our moneybags he then warns that we 'fools' are already at this moment surrounded. Still none of us seem ready to hand him our money. Garett then makes an almost imperceptible move of his hand, no doubt motioning the surrounding lookouts, and the woods explode with life. I immediately backed against a tree and hid to see what would happen. I would happily stand with my fellow travelers to fight, but didn't want to foolishly step into the fray only to hear 'Kal Ort Por' behind me. I needn't have worried. The party immediately turned to engage the rush of brigands and lizardmen pouring from between the trees. Then one man, his name Kurik of UDC, pushed onto the bridge and attacked Garett himself. Knowing Kurik would need help soon and the others already otherwise occupied, I stayed hidden but quickly grabbed up my spellbook and readied the words of healing in my mouth. It wasn't long. I saw Kurik take some hard blows, then stepped forward and cast my spells to heal him. My supposedly clever idea of hiding until needed was not only my own, as I cast upon Kurik, the bushes behind me burst with brigands, each training his weapon upon me. I drew my katana, but couldn't hit them fast enough. I decided dying right there would not help anyone, so although not a move to sing glory songs about, I decided to run them into the woods. Repeatedly I ran off groups of brigands and beasts, circled around back to the bridge, cast healings as I could and firewalls on the bridge that was by now packed with creatures of evil, and then ran another group of evil back away from the main fight. I saw others doing the same as I, and others bravely standing and fighting there in the road. Kurik eventually fell, as did others, but the fighting continued and the resurrected souls came back to pick up the weapons off of their bodies and fight again. Others followed Kurik's lead as well and attacked Garett every chance they got. Finally tired myself of running into the woods and making brief strafing runs, I took out my bow and began firing into Garett, who was being skewered by a spear-wielding lad named Scooby as well. My horse, used to battle, sidestepped brigands as I continually fired my bow of power. (hehe, the Britain thief had stolen only one of ruin.) Finally Garett screamed out his promise of revenge, and undeterred, Scooby pierced through his heart with his spear. The attackers, lacking a leader began to loose the heart for battle and the group finished off the last of them. Although we had won, the victory seemed hollow as we were still not sure what had happened. Who was Garett? Scooby said he had picked a tattered treasure map off of Garett, but not much else of real interest. As we talked about this a man wearing the robe of an elder walked up. He told us that Garett was an infamous robber, and one that had been wanted for some time. He was known for luring people out into the wild and robbing them blind. I had the feeling that the amount of distaste the Elder showed may mean that these poor people may not have lived to tell of it. The Elder gave us his thanks, bowing to us all still left there: Kurik of UDC, Kalaman of ADE, The Rock of CDE, Goten of CCC, Scooby of K A, Wystian, and myself. He then waved his staff high in the air, and gold began to fall to the ground. Piles fell in varying amounts all around the group. Having found out that we had slain a vile and wanted man, and thereby saved future travelers from his grasp, gave us the feeling of satisfaction we had been lacking. (the reward didn't hurt either *grins slyly*) Posted by Balandar - 2:37 PM CST ^top Saturday, June 17, 2000 PGoH Auction site is up ^top Post and bid on items at the PGoH Auction site. Click here. Posted by Balandar - 6:37 PM CST ^top Seaman Jones appears in Kinship ^top As the small battle between the undead ended, we began to make our way back to the Kinship Tavern. On the way there, we saw a new circle of Candles and Nightshade, just like the night of the seance. I looked a bit closer at the circle, then a blinding blulig sprung up, and when I looked back, I saw a bright blue figure of a man, a pirate. The Man seemed quite upset, and all the sudden pointed at me. "YOU! GIVE ME MY BOOK OR YOU SHALL SUFFER!", he yelled in a great shout of rage. As soon as he yelled that, I knew this was Seaman Jones, the one whos plague Jounal I found on a ghostly corpse. I rushed to my bankbox where I grabed the book and ran back. Giving him the book we began to ask our questions. This man had no compassion for those who his cargo had killed, for he smiled when I mentioned the plague, and he refused to give us any information. His spirit then faded away, leaving us with little more than what we had known, other than Benedict was his master. Posted by Gorion - 12:51 AM CST ^top Friday, June 16, 2000 Colored Ore Spawn Locations ^top In addressing the issues connected to resource spawning and shard crashes we were required to clear the information that tracked the location of colored ore veins. This fix is currently active on Lake Superior, Great Lakes, Yamato, and Izumo. In order to ensure the resource issue does not crash other shards, we will be implementing this fix on all other shards following their next scheduled maintenance. Colored ore will still spawn on the shards, however, the locations for the colors will no longer be the same. Posted by Balandar - 8:42 PM CST ^top Weekly Tournaments to be Held in Jhelom Dueling Pits ^top Jhelom, Trammel (June 13)—The retired Chaos army captain Tykryon Valier and his wife Elyria will be hosting weekly tournaments to be held on Tuesday evenings in the Dueling Pits of Jhelom on alternating facets. Tonight’s event involved a larger than expected crowd willing to try their hand at the challenge. They were asked to name any beast they wished to fight. There were a few restrictions, though: They could not name any beast of the lost lands or an ancient wyrm. They had to fight it within one side of the arena. And parties were restricted to three participants. Several parties attempted to combat Ogre Lords, but these battles proved to be quite long, thus Tykryon placed a 5-minute time limit on them. Other battles were much more entertaining, including a contest against an Elder Gazer, and one against an Ice Fiend. At the end of the tournament, Tykryon had all those who were willing participate in the finale. This involved releasing all of the remaining creatures into the arena, all of which were from the ice regions. This lasted for almost ten minutes. After the contest, Tykryon invited us to his home in Jhelom. It is on the northern island of the city abutting the southeastern shore on the Felucca facet. There, he explained that he is hosting these tournaments to pass away the time and to help improve commerce within the city. His wife was away rounding up the next batch of beasts for next week’s tournament. He also stated that he will be around on Wednesdays starting next week to provide training in the methods of war; or, if training is not desired, then an expedition. Tykryon Valier served in the Chaos army for fifteen years. He was stationed in the Lost Lands and fought in several battles there. He was born in Jhelom, but lived for a while in Britain before returning to his home city. The tournaments will be held in the Dueling Pits of Jhelom on alternating facets every week. The next tournament will be held in Felucca and is scheduled for Tuesday, June 20th at approximately 10 p.m. Eastern. The tournaments will mainly involve individual and group combat against beasts of their choosing; however, one on one duels may be in the works for future events. --Tymaron Posted by Balandar - 1:42 PM CST ^top Saturday, June 10, 2000 A Vision of a Spirit from the past ^top After a few drinks, the patrons of the Kinship Village Hall had another visit from the poltergeist who comes often, opening and closing doors, and moving things about the room. Soon after it left another attack came, and in mid-battle Tatiana came to us, healing us, and seeking our help. She told us to go to the Yew winery, and there we saw a spirit. I recognized this ghost, he was the Master Brewer who had, months ago started working with Ewan to create a cure for the plague. The poor soul had not finished his work and was trapped between this world and the ethereal plane, nay being able to seek his final rest. He had little knowlage to bestow upon us, besides the fact that Ewan had the cure to the plague, and that he nay knew where he was, nor who had taken Ewan. The spirit then left us saying he will return some day. After he faded away, I made a journey to Tatiana's tent where I updated her, and she was a bit disheartened that we could nay find where Ewan was. She then said to keep our ears open and listen to rumors, for they may shead some light onto what is to come. I left Tatiana's tent with many thoughts in my mind, just hoping that soon we would learn Ewan's location, and end this Horrid Plague. Posted by Gorion - 10:27 PM CST ^top Thursday, June 8, 2000 A Discovery in the Kinship Attacks ^top Upon this eve the Kinship, attacks continued, with now Bone Magi, and Bone Knights leading the forces of Spectres and Wraiths. After the attack was over, a single Wraith appeared next to the shipwreck. It attacked us and was dispatched easily. I felt it was strange for only a single wraith to appear, so I searched the corpse. Upon close inspection of the backpack, I saw a book, but this one already had a title. The title was "My Plague journal". It contained nothing within the pages, but the Authors name was there. It was a man named "Seaman Jones". Whom this Seaman is, we do not know, but he was on that ship, and before he died, he didnt only know of the poison, but he knew it would eventually be a plague. Posted by Gorion - 11:11 PM CST ^top Housing Delayed One Week ^top House Placement Update We have determined that we will need to delay housing at least one week and begin scheduled placement on Friday, June 16th. Housing itself, as an independent system, feels stable and ready for release. In fact, our delays actually have very little to do with the housing issues themselves. It will require minimal effort to complete work on the issues directly related to housing. What we face at this time stems from the overall growth of our service and the increased item count in the world that has been created a result of doubling the land mass to provide non-PvP areas and more housing space for our customers. Certain deep systems within the code structure of UO require maintenance at this time, as they were not originally designed to support the scope of the game world as it is today. Unfortunately, these flaws could not be revealed until they were stressed in real world situations on our production shards. However, now that we are aware of the situation, we are confident that we will find resolution and are devoting most of our energy to this matter so that we may begin house placement. Our goal is to provide a uniform transition during the opening of house placement, and we feel that the issue would have an unacceptable affect on our customers. On the upside, we have recently completed hardware upgrades on several of our server machines around the world. When we resolve the above concerns, we expect to see improved performance, as well as a lower frequency of the issues that are gating housing at this time. At this time, we are planning to open staged house placement on most Ultima Online shards on Friday, June 16th. Additionally, AOL Legends and Siege Perilous will have open house placement available on return from an upcoming maintenance cycle. We will announce the scheduled date for these two shards at a later date. House placement on the Formosa, Arirang, Balhae, and Oceania shards will begin on Friday, June 23rd, local server time. The schedule for house placement on Japanese shards will be released at a later date. A complete schedule of placement times for all affected shards is available at http://update.uo.com/housing.html In the event that we are unable to resolve the coding issue to our satisfaction, in time to open house placement next weekend, we will update you as we know more. We will update this section of the site, at least 24 hours in advance of the opening of the first scheduled phase. We will release any revised schedules as they are determined. Posted by Balandar - 2:13 PM CST ^top Saturday, June 3, 2000 The Gypsy, Tatiana to Hold a Seance ^top I wish to thank mine freind, Tymaron for the following news from Kinship. Upon the eve of June second, a restless spirit, that has been haunting the Kinship tavern returned. This time, rather than opening and closing doors, it instead vowed revenge. This spirit is believed to have come from the nearby shipwreck, which was caused by the poison that Benedict created. Shortly after the spirit left, the gypsy, Tatiana came to the Kinship tavern to announce that she would hold a seance. This seance will be an attempt to reach the spirit, and ask it of many questions that both Tatiana, and the Kinship tavern patrons have. This seance will be held upon the eve of June fourth, during the eastern hours of ten o'clock at night, within the Kinship tavern. Posted by Gorion - 11:23 AM CST ^top Thursday, June 1, 2000 Ultima Online Housing Update ^top From http://update.uo.com We are currently targeting Friday, June 9th as opening day for staged house placement within Ultima Online. The first stage of house placement (castles only) will begin on Friday, June 9th during each shard’s ‘peak’ time, or traditionally highest usage time. This time frame will likely be different on each individual shard. Please note that this means house placement will not be available directly following scheduled shard maintenance on this date. The exact start time, as well as the start times and lengths of each stage, will be announced at a later date. We will confirm all dates and times at least 24 hours in advance. Posted by Balandar - 1:28 AM CST ^top

May 2000 Monday, May 29, 2000 Website update. ^top After three weeks of research and work, the Elves of PGoH webpage is now finished. Click here. Posted by Balandar - 8:56 PM CST ^top Great Bardic Contest ! ^top From UOTC. Recently, it occurred to me that the splendid job Rutger Dag and his paladins have done to incorporate in UO the lore of the earlier Ultima games has generated a lot of emulators in our community. Everywhere you look City Stones, the next generation of guilds, are being born (built ?). As a bard, I am obviously interested in meeting others of my "kind". I am certain the Bards of Britain (City of Britain ?) stone will be reborn on the day OSI finally grants us leave to build our houses on Trammel. As I have no wish to wait that uncertain future and in order to already “pre-celebrate” the rebirth of a much-needed bardic guild, I therefore propose a two-parts bardic contest. The first part is pretty straightforward : getting alive to the place where the competition shall be held. And where is that, shall you ask ? Well, in the only place worthy of the kind of words inspired bards can produce, the Chamber of Stars ! To those who have never heard of it or even gone to it, let me explain. In the Lost Lands exists an ancient fortress held by the Terathans, a vicious race of spider-like beings. It is located due west of Papua. Beneath the keep, in subterranean passages old beyond belief lies a giant underground swamp. A bridge of stone crosses it and at the end lies a small isle on which an eternal flame burns. People lucky enough to reach the brazier and who touch it rapidly several times in a row are somehow *transported* to a large room without doors. That room is surrounded on all sides by a night sky full of stars. The place itself is almost unreal and can only have been created by greater beings. Whatever its original purpose, it shall serve admirably for the contest. All bards interested in the contest should gather in Papua at 6:00 pm Eastern Moonglow Time, Saturday, June the 10th, at the local bank. From there, we shall use a Gate that shall bring us within sight of the Fortress. It will be up to us to get inside, reach the underground realm and, finally, the Chamber of Stars. Note that my intention here is to see us cooperate to accomplish this. I would hate to see some of us provoke the monsters on the others and run inside leaving us to our doom. Let this be a show of unity and fair-play ! Between all of us, we should be able to outsmart those giant-sized bugs. If some of you were vocal defenders of one type of "special song", this is the time to prove you were right. So, make them docile as sheep's, angry enough to tear each other apart or whatever but do it, and do it quickly ! Those who reach the Chamber shall then compete with words. Whether with a song, a poem or a tale doesn't matter as long as it furthers the bardic (oral) tradition. Please, remember that we won't stay there for days so don't make it too long. Quality shall be valued over quantity. As the organizer of the contest, I shall abstain from participating in the second part. I shall not judge either (unless we find ourselves short on judges). That task, I shall delegate to other more worthy members of our community. I would like three judges to volunteer. One from the City of Moonglow (so that the Lycaceum can keep a trace of this event), one from the City of Trinsic (to insure the contest is a fair one) and one from either Britain OR the village of Kinship (both places having many bards among the natives). People applying for the position can contact me via the messenger link included with this message, thank you. If one of them could Gate or Res, that would be even better *hint hint* The prizes shan't be tons of gold but things that are in keeping with the bardic tradition of legends and adventures. First prize : a bag full of gems of all kinds and sizes, their dazzling colors alone shall keep you dreaming for months (not to mention pay for the best room in the best inns this realm can offer). Second prize : a standing harp crafted in Minoc by the local master tinkers, its sound is among the purest of its kind. Third prize : a genuine treasure map (your choice of either on Trammel or Felucca) that shall lead you to new adventures ! At worst, you shall have a tragic story to tell. At best, a dozen new songs, poems or tales to add to your repertoire. What more could true bards crave for ? Lore d'Ascalon, Minstrel of Trinsic Apprentice of the legendary bard Kelson Pellinore OOC addendum : I would really like to see us bards pull this off the bardic way so, please, no-one in full plate, with dragons in tow or mounted on nightmare. While I realize bards can also be great warriors, sorcerers or whatever, I am primarily interested in their bardic skills here. Here is your chance to prove to those big brawny warriors or snobbish mages what crafty, agile folks can accomplish. Yay ! (note that I don’t forbid anyone from using spells or swords) Also, in case some didn't know, recall and gate spells don't work in the underground realm beneath the fortress, and dragons and demons have been known to lurk there. Consider yourselves warned … *roguish grin* Posted by Balandar - 9:16 AM CST ^top Sunday, May 28, 2000 Assassinations ^top The following was posted on the Alliance message board at The Post last Wednesday. Hello my fellow Alliance members these days have been uneventful for myself until today, May 24. I was clearing roads near Yew as I was assigned when I needed to buy a new sword. So I went to a shop that was located right before the Yew cemetary. Well as I was shopping I heard a noise outside. Suddenly the door flew open and a huge blue orc stood at the door staring straight at me. His name was Gukar. He cried out, "Death to you Alulain, For my mistress!" He almost took me, but I have grown powerful in my adult life and using my Grandmaster skills a dispatched this orc and proceeded to check him. I found a magic battle axe and a ringmail tunic. I know I am known by Minax, I was in the Retaking of Trinisic and was there when Jor Nar fell. To anyone else that was their, WATCH YOUR BACKS MY FRIENDS. Minax seems to become restless once more. My pigeon number is 63684867. Alulain, Black Dragon of the Dragons of Summer Fire. Posted by Balandar - 9:30 AM CST ^top Saturday, May 27, 2000 Forum upgrade complete ^top What's new with Webbbs 4.30? From Darryl Burgdorf. * Optional "spell checking" capability has been added, through a built-in interface with the SpellChecker.net system. * Optional "user profiles" have been added, so that your regular posters can let others know a bit more about themselves, and possibly even (if you allow it) upload pictures of themselves to your server. (I unfortunately *haven't* added yet the ability for administrators to *require* profiles, or to require valid e-mail addresses *in* profiles, but those features *will* be coming soon.) As a side benefit, users who have established profiles for themselves can't be spoofed, as it is only possible to post under a profiled user name with the appropriate password. * Posters' passwords -- which are now used for the above profiles as well as for message deletion -- are now stored in their cookies. * There is now a single "master" configuration file, so that individual forum configuration files only have to define the variables which are in fact unique for that particular forum. This should make administration and update of large collections of forums somewhat easier. * The "mixed threaded guestbook style" index listing has been added. (This style lists the thread headers on the index page from newest to oldest, but the actual messages *in* a thread from oldest to newest.) * The various threaded guestbook listings can now be paginated. * It is now possible to respond to specific messages from within a guestbook-style display. * It is now possible to "moderate" posts from banned users, instead of just having them rejected outright. (In other words, you can have any posts from banned users submitted to the administrator for approval.) * The "no message" indicator, which I inadvertently broke in 4.22, has been fixed. * The locking of the view count database has been fixed, and should now run much more smoothly. So those of you who found the script's performance degrading noticeably when you enabled view counting under 4.2X should find it working much better now. * It is also now possible to set the script to maintain a view count database without actually *displaying* the view counts to all your visitors. * When the script returns a submission error (because the "required" elements in the submission form weren't completed, for example), the page now includes the same form which appears on the "preview" page, eliminating the need to rely upon the browser's "back" button. * The "banned IPs" and "naughty words" configuration variables have been replaced by actual data files. This will allow you to easily have multiple forums referencing the same lists. (It also allows the lists to be edited directly from the administrative script, but we'll get to that in a moment.) * URLs and e-mail addresses are no longer checked for "naughty" content. (There really wasn't much of a reason for it, anyway, and at least one administrator had complained that he couldn't ban "http:" from the text of messages, as he wanted to, since doing so also prevented links from being included with the messages.) * The "mandated" incompatibility of auto-hotlinking and $AllowHTML=2 has been removed. * E-mail links in message displays will no longer include "pic" or "no message" HTML code in the subject lines. * The possibility of "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" confirmation notices containing erroneous server-generated error messages has been removed. There are, of course, some changes in the administrative script, as well: * As noted above, it is now possible to directly edit your "banned IPs" and "naughty words" lists through the administrative script, so you'll no longer have to edit your configuration files to change those lists. * It is also now possible to directly view or edit the list of e-mail addresses subscribed to your forum. * Perhaps most importantly, the administrative script now directly references the pieces of the main WebBBS script for much of its functionality. So the admin script is much smaller than it was before, and those who like to modify the script will find less need to make the same changes in both the main and admin scripts. -- Darryl Posted by Balandar - 1:23 PM CST ^top PGoH forums ^top The PGoH message forums will be down for awhile for upgrades. Posted by Balandar - 10:50 AM CST ^top Sunday, May 21, 2000 Gypsy Tatiana Issues Warning to Kinship Village ^top From UOSS: Tymaron of the Shadow Family sent us this message: Kinship (May 15)--Tatiana the gypsy, whose scrying ability is known far and wide, issued another dire prediction for the village of Kinship on Monday night. She stated that "the dead are restless" and "seek vengeance for what slew them." She went on to add that "the dead will haunt the town soon if the vengeance is not given to them." She continued and stated that she has been keeping logs of her visions in her tent in Minoc. She also added that it has been reported that her crystal gives hints of things that she had seen. Later, Gorion, Embassary to Trinsic, asked a few questions of her. In response to whether or not Benedict could be trusted, Tatiana urged caution. Whether or not she had heard of Krelan, she said she knew him not. Gorion also asked whether or not "The Masters", which were mentioned in Benedict's Journal, had anything to do with Minax. Tatiana warned him not to assume such things, lest the truth be blind to him. --Tymaron This is dire news for the people of Kinship. May the Virtues keep you safe! Posted by Balandar - 12:43 PM CST ^top Thursday, May 18, 2000 Moonglow Flee Market This Friday (Trammel) ^top From UOSS: Flyers are being distributed throughout the cities for this upcoming event. Announcing the Moonglow's Friday Night Flee Market (Trammel Facet/Catskills) Having trouble buying exceptional weapons and armor in Trammel? Need to restock your supply of greater heal potions or recall scrolls? Want to stock up on moonstones or buy a city or dungeon runebook? The Defenders of Justice will be sponsoring a Flee Market in Moonglow, Friday the 19th of May. Blacksmiths, tailors, fletchers, alchemists, scribes and merchants of all types are invited to attend to sell their wares in the lovely island city of Moonglow. Miners, lumberjacks and others who wish to get a fair price for their stocks of raw materials should not miss this opportunity. Adventures who need restock their supplies or simply need their armor repaired are invited to puruse the fine merchandise on display (remember to tip your Blacksmith for making repairs to armor and weapons!). Visit our Catskills Trading Message Board for up to date information about prices, to place large orders in advance, or just to ask any questions. Special notes to Merchants who are planning to attend: 1) Merchants are encouraged to visit the message board to sign up for a half-hour or hour time slot to sell their wares. This is to help ensure that we don't have 5 alchemists from 7-8 and then none for the rest of the night. 2) SPAM: Merchants are asked to severly limit their use of macro spam to describe what they have for sale. Instead please create more detail lists of items and prices in their portfolio. This is to prevent shoppers from getting overloaded while in attendence. Where: Second Defense Armory (next to the Moonglow Bank) Catskills Shard Trammel Facet When: Friday, May 19th 7-10pm Sponsored by: The Defenders of Justice Organized by: Kerrigan, Earl of Justice (DoJ) Good luck to the merchants and buyers alike! Posted by Balandar - 11:42 PM CST ^top Thursday, May 11, 2000 Song of the Dead ^top From UOSS: Song of the Dead: People of Yew...PLEASE take heed this warning! I have heard the song of the dead, and this can only mean one thing... HE has returned to this world. It was a very quiet night at the Abbey this night, perhaps I was not the only one to feel his presence. It was not long before the candle in my room was snuffed out, that I lay myself to bed. Sleep was peaceful...as it always was after a night of honest, good work; but, my dreams soon turned into nightmares as the song of the dead mingled with my thoughts. Though the voice was that of a young girl, the image in my mind was that of the Death Knight, the Guardian's first champion. I called to him, demanding reason for his return... he only laughed. He looked at me with his deathly, cold eyes; flames, blue flames, the flames of the damned!! "Lord Kracus!" I called to him. "Why have you returned to us? What wrong have we committed to deserve your return?" My fear soon turned to anger, what could we have possibly done? "That name has no meaning for me." His booming voice shook my innards. "The Death Knight is no longer, I am Cor'Bael, Lord of the Damned, master of dreams." A daemon! Indeed it was true, the Guardian had forgiven his past failures, and with the new lands, so innocent, came his second chance at glory. He stepped closer to me, he was there, yet he wasn't. I could clearly see his ancient armor, classic, stained in the blood of his enemies; but, it was though they hung from a body that was not truly solid. But, never the less, he WAS real, one look into those flames that were his eyes could freeze a man's blood. "Do you really think the master would allow you mortals to escape his grasp?" He tightened his fist. "New lands bring with them new opportunities...glory for the Guardian." He laughed, mockingly at me. "Your land of milk and honey will flow red with blood as it did in the past...prepare yourselves!" Then, he reached out with a mailed fist, clawing for my throat; and as I woke up in a pool of my own sweat, I knew I was to warn you right away. Friar Ulin, Empath Abbey. Posted by Balandar - 12:00 AM CST ^top Monday, May 1, 2000 PGoH searches Benedict's Laboratory ^top Hear Ye Hear Ye.......On this day let it be known that the Imperial PGoH Legion did successfully enter and search the Laboratory of Minax. Upon torching the building as a message to Minax...the caretaker Benedict did appear with apprentice Mages to repell and cast magic that did move PGoH out of the building. The following are artist renderings for the event. Renderings Colin Mor, Guild Scribe Posted by Balandar - 10:29 AM CST ^top

April 2000 Sunday, April 30, 2000 A possible Fix for the client crash. ^top This is from Wolfang on the CoB message forums. Thanks to the advice of a Counselor, I can play again with my character that crashed my client all the time. He suggested to delete all of the desktop.uo files which should be desktop.uo1, desktop.uo2, desktop.uo3, desktop.uo4, and desktop.uo5 (with UO NOT running) I then shut down the computer and the restarted it: it did fix the problem. I can now play again with the character that was crashing my client all the time. Wolfie Thanks. Posted by Balandar - 11:18 AM CST ^top Problems with the Catskills shard. ^top Do not go to the West Britain bank in Trammel. Your client will crash and you will not be able to log back in with that character. Each time you try to log back in your client will crash. Note: I do NOT believe this is a black hole since you can log in with your other characters on the same account. When in a black hole your character will not log out and because of this your other characters on the same account can not log in. Let your friends know NOT to go to Britain west bank in Trammel. Thanks. Posted by Balandar - 9:40 AM CST ^top Saturday, April 29, 2000 Renaissance Publish and house placement ^top The following was just posted to Common Issues on the Ultima Online website: Renaissance Publish and house placement Please do not call Game Masters or Counselors looking for information regarding house placement at this time. Please see Staged House Placement for details on this matter: "Note that during the time period after the publish is active and before stage 1 begins, you will not be able to place a house in Trammel or Felucca." Keep watch on the Update Center for more details. Thanks. Posted by Balandar - 11:08 AM CST ^top Thursday, April 27, 2000 A World in Shock-- A World Split ^top From UOSS: The reports, the death tallys, the requests from mothers for news of their children, all this I'm still receiving. But more notable still are the many questions which simply seem to ask, "what happened?" Last night saw massive attacks on many of our cities. The attacks were frightful in their intensity not only to common merchants, but to seasoned warriors as well. This did not exclude the popluation of the castle. Apparently an attack such as this was expected, not unreasonable considering the last few months. Because of this Lord British's Mage, Nystul had been preparing. The report we did about a week or so ago on the monuments brought about many comments from people, and many were fearful of their meaning. We had found out Nystul had them placed, but because didn't yet know why we had not yet reported on it. Now we can tell the story. Nystul and Lord British had placed the pillars to facilitate a spell. It seems that Minax was more of a threat than many of us had realised. Many people counted her as being on the run since Trinsic had been retaken, but the castle was not so optimistic. An escape plan was devised, one that would allow the nobility and government to escape as well as the citizens of Britiania. After last nights attacks it was decided to undertake the spell and make the escape paths available. It should be noted this drastic measure was not done lightly and that much thought had gone into making this work. So while Minax's forces were concentrating on the attacks around the world, Lord British's trusted friend, Nystul, began the spell. This is an artist's rendition of what it may have looked like when Nystul cast the spell. His spell then split the world in two, creating a mirror image of the Britiannia we are familiar with. These two worlds are now traversable for those wishing to escape to the new lands, free of Minax's threat. The new lands are named Trammel, and these are to be now known as Felucca, after our two moons of course. Here we see pictures taken by Infinity of what the main pillar in the castle looks like and also one of the satelite pillars, this happens to be in Moonglow. This should all be good news, our rulers have provided an escape to safer lands for any who wish to go to. It is a mirror image of our familiar ones so finding our way around should be helped. But there is a down side. Many people plan to stay in Felucca. This is where we were raised, where we found love, adventure, friends, and built our homes. Where the headstones of our friends and family lay. I can take you to the table in a tavern where an impulsive young love of my youth carved our intitials in the wood. And I have friends who could take you to the tree where their intials are carved. The problem is that tree would no longer have its leaves. The ground around it is soaked with blood, littered with bones. Their are now many gravestones throughout the land, most of which do not seem to bear name to the person it marks. The article done just a few days ago, where the mysterious seer spoke words of woe in Yew at the abbey, comes back to mind. The man did indeed know of what he spoke; what he spoke was truth. All has come just as he said it would It is not known what has brought about this desolation. Some blame Minax, saying she did this in spite. Others blame Nystul saying he did not control the massive power that his spell had. No one seems to know who is at fault, but I'm not sure having someone to blame would help me get over it. I don't want vengance, I want my beautiful world back. I'll leave you with two shots of the desolation prevalant in Felucca. The first picture you can see a roof top in the foreground. I want you to know that is MY rooftop. What you are seeing is my own backyard. Skulls in place of the flowers I had planted--now nothing will grow here. The other picture is of a Yew tree. If you live in Yew you revere them, if you've traveled here you'd never forget them. They are huge, towering, and normally full of lush vegetaion so thick that when it rains the ground beneath gets merely damp. Here is what this looks like now: IMG No Longer Exists Posted by Balandar - 12:00 AM CST ^top Saturday, April 22, 2000 Murder in Northwood ^top As heard from the herald of Nujel'm: A great tragedy has indeed struck the people of the city of Nujel'm. Last night, while on a diplomatic mission in Northwood, the Vizier Bashir of his eminence the Sultan was struck down in cold blood by an assassin! The Vizier had just completed a meeting with the King and Queen of Winterfell. In this meeting he discussed trade relations with Nujel'm and once again reaffirmed the King's blessing in arresting the six criminals, Amber, Celest, the false Trulacci, Ciet Onibaen, Delune Ta'kier, and the unknown masked accomplice, all wanted in conjunction with previous attempts on the Vizier's life. The Vizier descended to the ground floor of the tower with his two Justicari guards. Since the royal mage had retired early for the night, the Vizier sent the two Justicari in search of a mage to secure passage back to Nujel'm, while the Vizier himself settled down to wait in the ground floor of Winterfell's tower. Out of nowhere, a man clad in armor and wearing black burst through the tower doors. Wielding a kryss, he stabbed the Vizier several times in the chest, before fleeing into the woods. Several residents of Northwood witnessed the event, but were unable to prevent the assassination. The Queen of Winterfell herself attempted to aid the Vizier, but having been stabbed through the heart, he was beyond help, and passed from this world. Arrangements are being made for the body to be properly returned to Nujel'm later today. An offical day of mourning has been declared in the city. Meanwhile, the Justicari are redoubling their efforts to apprehend the other would-be assassins, as well as this new murderer. Posted by Balandar - 9:44 PM CST ^top Hide Hunting Contest ^top "Guild Uniform's" Grand Opening Contest Sponsor: Kallisto, the shop owner, will be overseeing this eve Location: We are a short ways north east of vesper at 123o 50N 120o 30'E Start Date: Apr 23 2000 6:30PM EST End Date: Apr 23 2000 7:30PM EST Guild Uniforms, the finest guild provisioner in all of Britannia, located at 123o 50'N 120o 30'E, a short run North east of vesper, would like to announce our grand opening! We will be holding an open house April, the 22nd from 6pm EDT until closing, with a special "Best Skinner in Britannia" contest to be held for the first hour and one half of this gala affair. Gates shall be provided from the following locations from 5:30pm until 7:00pm east coast time zone. Food and drinks shall be provided along with a "thank you for coming" FREE GIFT! The contest shall be a simple one. The first person to return the most hides by the 7:30PM EDT deadline shall be declared the champion and named the finest skinner in all of Britannia. All hides must be received in a backpack or packs with a blank rune baring the contestants' name, and all hides shall become the property of Guild Uniforms. For their efforts, the first three finishers shall receive the following, 1st place- A power staff, GM made armor green or blue- winners choice, 15k in gold and a signed contract to buy hides from them in the future. 2nd place- A GM set of gold armor along with 7k gold and a magic weapon. 3rd place- A GM made iron suit and 2k gold. All of Britannia may be used as hunting grounds, but hunting in non-guard zones is at the contestants' own risk. Guild Uniforms shall not be held liable for any losses incurred while participating in the said event. Each participant shall receive a FREE GIFT just for entering. There is no entry fee or registration; your gift shall be given when you turn in your hides at the conclusion of the event. Guild Uniforms is the GM's One Stop Guild Supply shop! Although our doors are always open to the public and our trained sales staff more then willing to help the everyday shopper, Guild Masters receive that little extra attention that makes our shop the best in the lands. Whether it is an order of logs or ingots, new uniforms or armor, everything the well kept guild needs can be found upon our shelves. Even though we do not stock rare or magical items, we will look into procuring them for you at a more then reasonable price. We are eagerly awaiting one and all at our grand opening! This shall be the first of many such planned events for the enjoyment of the Catskills residents, please watch for upcoming events! Kallisto Owner of Guild Uniforms Posted by Balandar - 9:42 PM CST ^top Tuesday, April 18, 2000 Troll attack in Vesper ^top There was a troll attack in Minoc - never before seen. It started about 1:45 this morning and lasted until about 2:00. I was standing with my friend just north of the bank when the trolls suddenly appeared. There were at least 20 of them and approximately 5 people were killed out right. There may have been more but I may not have seen them. I am proud to say that all the Warriors in Minoc that night (and several who weren't) quickly gathered to defeat the trolls. Many worked together to take down their adversary and offered aid to those of us without defense. Dearro of Moh Posted by Balandar - 12:02 AM CST ^top Thursday, April 13, 2000 Monuments Appear in Our Cities ^top From UOSS: The dawn this morning has brought more odd news to my ears. During last night monuments, to who knows what, sprung up in our cities last night. Here is the report as I received it: Hail. I returned to Magincia from me house and found a strange object near the bank. Myself ,Elmdor ,Rowen Mayfair and Gimli went about searching the other cities. We found structures in Moonglow ,Skara Brae ,Britain and Magincia ... Thank Ye , Zakath Phantom Menace All the places be the same except the Britain one Only moments after this arrived another messenger brought me this. I was at the graveyard fighting monsters and i no sooner came back to Moonglow to find a weird shrine or monument of some sorts west of the Bank. No one has a clue as to what this is for. A couple hours later a kind soul asked me to mark them a rune to Magincia. So I recalled there only to be attacked by multiple brigands. As fast as i could kill them they would just spawn again. I recalled back to Moonglow to get some help. I gated back to Magincia and when i walked through the gate there were reds running all around after people chasing them away. About 2 seconds after walking through the gate. The same type of shrine/monument that moonglow had suddenly erupted before my own eyes right where the gate had been. These monuments look evil and it is odd how there was a spawn of brigands right when this happened. The future is not looking bright for Felucia right now. Here is a drawing of the monument and some of the brigand's corpses after the heat of the battle. Remembering what Zakath had said about Britian's looking different, I recalled there to have a look. The monument in Britian is located just inside the gate of Lord British's Castle itself. This tends to tell me that its presence is either approved of or tolerated by the government, or that our government is powerless to do anything about it. As the castle has not yet given a press release on this matter of the morn it leaves us unsure as to that answer of yet. Whichever it may be this is a drawing of the monument as it appears is Britian. It should be noted that there is no reason for the populace to panic as of yet. The monuments have not yet done anything and it is not known that they will. It may indeed not bode well as the report from Magincia shows, but as our towns have been under constant attack and plagued by chronic skirmishes for months now, its quite possible that its mostly coincidental. I personally would recommend keeping your eyes open--a state we've probably all formed as habit from the last few months--until more is known for sure. If anyone can find meaning in the monuments or has access to information we ask as always that you please keep us informed. Thanks! Posted by Balandar - 12:03 PM CST ^top Thursday, April 6, 2000 Monster Looting and Fame/Karma ^top From Testing for nest Update Looting rights for monsters will be based on a point system. The system will track players as they attack a monster, assigning “points” based on the damage they do and the number of times they strike the monster. Bonus “points” will be awarded for both the first strike and the kill shot. These “points” are then used to determine which characters have access to its corpse. Damage and attack totals done by tamed or provoked animals/monsters will count towards the point total of the tamer/bard. The player with the most points gets to loot the monster automatically. The system then looks for any players who have points equal to or greater than 30% of the top point score. On Trammel, only these players will have access to the corpse. It will be impossible for any other player to loot. On Felucca, those players that are not in the top 30% can loot the corpse, but will be flagged criminal for doing so. The corpse will appear "blue" to them when single clicked. Those players who simply hit the monster for the kill shot will rarely, if ever, receive looting rights because their points total will rarely be within 30% of the highest point total. After two minutes, the monster's corpse will be freely lootable by any character. Fame and karma will be given to players using this system. Only the character with the highest point total and characters with 30% or greater of that point total will be eligible to get fame and karma from the death of a monster. Party members of any character that is eligible for fame and karma will also be eligible regardless of their point totals. This allows those who only heal during a fight (and thus do not actually damage the monster) to receive fame and karma. Note that every character who is eligible receives total fame and karma from the monster, it is not split proportionately in any way. Posted by Balandar - 8:48 PM CST ^top Saturday, April 1, 2000 PVM'ers Inc. to Host April Tour of Dungeons ^top Tour of Dungeons for April starts Monday! Yup! We're gonna try to do the Tour of Dungeons again this month. Last month due to my own mistakes in promoting the tour, no one really heard about it, and turnout was very low, so it was canceled. This month, the snags have been worked out and there should be many more people there! For those of you that don't know what the Tour of Dungeons is, it's a monthly week-long event hosted by the PvM'ers Inc. guild. Every night for a week we tour a different dungeon, starting on the first of the Monday of the month with the easiest (Despise) and ending on Sunday with the hardest (Hythloth). Players of all skill levels are welcome to join us as we clear out these dungeons each night! This is a shard-wide event, open to the public. Newbies and veterans alike should all come to the Lycaeum's central courtyard at 8pm Central time (9pm eastern) to gather prior to being gated to that night's dungeon! Go to http://pvm.uoguilds.com and click on the "tour" link for more information! Walker Boh Tour Guide, PvM'ers Inc. Posted by Balandar - 1:22 PM EST ^top BREAKING BRITANNIA - The Minax Interview ^top From uo.com Lady Minax, Dark Mistress of the new Britannia and Queen of all her realms, recently deigned to sit for a few questions posed by an intrepid, somewhat foolhardy reporter. Clad in resplendent black, the Lady sipped idly from a silver wine goblet as she spoke of her plans for the new Britannia, the future of Sosaria, and her relationships with the so-called ‘defenders’ of the land. [Editor’s Note: The following transcript was tucked in the doorframe of our offices. No author was noted, and the parchment was worn and tattered, as if carried across a great distance. It bore the blood-red seal of Minax.] Lady Minax, you've come to Britannia determined to destroy all that is good and true. Tell me. What's in it for you? “Actually, ‘good’ and ‘true’ are such subjective terms, don’t you think? What is good, really? Do you know? I certainly don’t. “I merely wanted to drop by a few taverns, an occasional inn, have an ale or two, subjugate the masses, bring a little devastation here and there, and perhaps pop by Lord British’s castle for an afternoon visit. And suddenly, here comes every warrior east of Covetous, screaming for my death, claiming I am ‘evil’. “You know, sir, I really think that you’re looking at it in far too black and white terms. I’m here to promote Britannia, to usher in a new era. Britannia is first and foremost in my mind. The Lord Dupre has expended quite a deal of effort to remove the city of Trinsic from your hold. What are your feelings for Dupre? Does it bother you to have 'lost' as it were? “Lost? We let him have it back. “Really now. “Lost.” Do you honestly think that with all my power, I could have lost something as prosaic as Trinsic? “The simple fact is - I was no longer interested in it. Far too small. Not at all exotic. I’d amused myself with the shops long enough. And the constant cries of “Free Trinsic!” and “Death to Juo’nar!” were terribly grating on the ears. I knew what that little tramp Malabelle was up to: it just wasn’t worth the effort to bother with. “And Dupre. Ahhh. Dear Dupre. It’s all about ‘honor’ with that one. Defend this and protect that. Well, I’ll let you in on a bit of a secret, my darling little friend. Dupre knows nothing of honor. If he is so concerned with honor, what is he doing making promises to that little Malabelle that his beloved Lord British would be most unhappy to hear? Hmm? Aye. That’s his “sense of honor’ talking. Mmmmhmmm. “You just ask him next time you cross his path. Ask him to explain his honor. I’m sure his answer will be terribly interesting. We've been hearing it bandied about that you are 'evil', 'cruel'. Some have even gone so far as to joke that in losing Trinsic, you lost your 'honor' as it were. What have you to say to those who think you're nothing but trouble? “Trouble is in the eye of the gazer. My intentions are honest. Really, my dear companion, lean closer. Read my lips as I say this. “I will rule Britannia with a velvet touch and a wicked bolt, and I will bring her people to their knees. “Is that so terrible? “I’m honest about my intentions. I’m forthright. I want Britannia. I want to see your Lord British weep. I want to destroy his beloved country as he gazes on, helpless. Now, who can fault me for being honest? “As for ‘evil’ and ‘cruel’. Hmmm. I’d really have to say those terms have followed me around since I was a lass. I’m not sure why they are so often used to describe me, but a druid companion once told me to ‘visit the memory of my parents to find myself’. It sounded like a boring conversation, so he is… no longer in my company. Let's talk about Malabelle. She's young. She's inexperienced. And yet, you've taken her to your side. You've taught her your magic. Are you grooming her to replace you? “Darling. Replace? Me? How positively amusing! “Malabelle is a dear girl. A bit, what is the word - oh! Naive. Does she really think I haven’t the slightest idea where her love… oh. Excuse me. I meant to say, it’s simply awful that her dear Tyball has passed on. Poor lass. “She has a touch with the magic though. A bit of skill, nothing on par with my own, of course, but a talent for spells nonetheless. It amuses me to take her into my tutelage, and I’m certainly doing a service. A single girl in this day and age needs a talent, you know. And she’ll learn to survive without that Tyball fellow. I did, after all. “As for the Dupre incident. Well. She and I will be discussing that little discretion. I do, of course, realize that she is young and doesn’t understand the principle of being grateful for all I have sacrificed for her. However. Well. As I said, we will be having quite the conversation about her place in my entourage. Juo'nar. Dead. Or... more dead. Gone. Tell us. Who leads your army now? Have you found anyone, or anything, to match his talents as a battle commander? “Juo’nar was a most… capable general. You know, he came to me as but a simple corpse, in need of a place, a role. A bit foul, as most of your undead are, but I quickly saw he had a talent for leading undead minions. He spoke to something deep inside them. They listened quite well to his orders, and trust me, it can be most tedious explaining orders again and again to your average zombie. What with their ears constantly rotting off and all. “So. With Juo’nar gone, I do find myself rather short on capable commanders. Slimely has offered, of course, but I really do prefer a lich lord for the task. Slimely flat out refuses to let me help him become a lich lord: a bit of boldness that he and I shall be discussing at his yearly review. “Oh. What a wonderful idea! Why, what about you? You’re quite the strapping young man, and with a good talent for stealth, as you’ve shown by inching this close to my side. With a bit of tutoring, you might make quite the general. Tell me, can you cast a spell? Because I’d be happy to make you my new lich. What do you say? We could do it right now… Er…no, ma’am. Uh, word on the roadways is that you've special plans for Britannia. Can you give our readers a quick glimpse of what you have in mind? “My dear. I’ve been absolutely forthcoming about my plans for Britannia. I’ve never made them a secret. But I’ll give you a little preview. I’ve always been drawn to death and decay in the springtime, so perhaps a lovely bit of armageddon is in order. I’ve in mind a Britannia like none you’ve ever imagined, in your deepest dreams… and your worst nightmares. “Enough about me though. I really do think you’d make a stunning lich lord. “Come closer, dear. “Closer. “I think you’ll find we can be absolutely wonderful companions…” Posted by Balandar - 1:20 PM EST ^top

March 2000 Friday, March 31, 2000 New houses, with interior shots too! ^top From CoB We've been BUSY this evening, pulling all this data for you. We're proud to put on display the new houses for you, in the Crossroads Compendium! Just point your browser here and take a peek at some of Britannia's swankiest living areas, including a few that you haven't seen before... Enjoy! Posted by Balandar - 1:07 AM EST ^top Thursday, March 30, 2000 Richard Garriott Leaves Origin Systems ^top From FYI on the UO website: Richard Garriott Leaves Origin Systems It was announced today that Richard Garriott is leaving Origin Systems to pursue other interests. As co-founder of the company more than 15 years ago, Richard has helped Origin to grow into one of the top entertainment software companies in the world. As creator of the Ultima series, his contributions to the company and to the gaming industry as a whole are immeasurable, and he remains a friend of Origin Systems. Richard has yet to announce his upcoming plans, however we at Origin wish him success in any future endeavors. Origin will continue to support and expand the world of Ultima Online, as well as our online worlds in development such as Ultima Online 2. Posted by Balandar - 9:30 PM EST ^top New house Designs ^top For this next publish, there will be seven new house designs. To see a screenshot of a house, click its name below. Small Stone Shop Approximate cost: 60,600 gold Max Secures: 3 Max Total Lockdowns: 425 Small Marble Shop Approximate cost: 63,000 gold Max Secures: 3 Max Total Lockdowns: 425 Small Tower Approximate cost: 88,500 gold Max Secures: 4 Max Total Lockdowns: 580 Sandstone Patio House Approximate cost: 90,900 gold Max Secures: 6 Max Total Lockdowns: 850 Two Story Log Cabin Approximate cost: 97,800 gold Max Secures: 8 Max Total Lockdowns: 1100 Two Story Villa Approximate cost: 136,500 gold Max Secures: 8 Max Total Lockdowns: 1100 Large Marble Patio House Approximate cost: 192,000 gold Max Secures: 8 Max Total Lockdowns: 1100 Posted by Balandar - 9:26 PM EST ^top Dragon's Claw Tavern Grand Opening ^top We will be holding the grand opening of the Dragon's Claw Tavern The 4/7/00. All food and Drinks are free this night it will be open from 5:30 PM to 11:00 PM Central Time. The Tavern name is "Dragon Grill and Tavern". It is located in the township of Lands End. A map has been included of the area its above the mountain of Wrong (sextant coords: 113o 43'N; 36o 0'E). The Tavern will be open daily to any one after the grand opening. The Tavern Master is Silver Wolf Of Dragon's Claw VvV http://www.xmission.com/~limnah/ Posted by Balandar - 1:51 PM EST ^top Vamp's Lair Castle Monthly Tournaments and More ^top From UOSS: We were sent the following announcement from Lady Pandora: Hail fellow Catskillians: All are welcomed to come and enjoy the Vamp's Lair Public Castle and Trade Center Monthly Events.... Our Events for the month of April are scheduled as follows: Singles PvP Tournament - Mage Class Only Friday, April 14th beginning at 9 PM EST. Registration begins at 7 PM EST. All rules are found in the Events website (Link Below). There is a registration fee that must be paid prior to entering. Gates to the castle will be provided from the First Bank of Britain and from the Bank of Bucaneer's Den beginning at 7 PM. The location of the Tournament is secret and is closed to the general public, only CoD officials and the actual contestants may attend unless specifically invited. Singles PvP Tournament - Dex Class Only Saturday, April 15th beginning at 9 PM EST. Registration begins at 7 PM EST. All rules are found in the Events website (Link Below). There is a registration fee that must be paid prior to entering. Gates to the castle will be provided from the First Bank of Britain and from the Bank of Bucaneer's Den beginning at 7 PM. The location of the Tournament is secret and is closed to the general public, only CoD officials and the actual contestants may attend unless specifically invited. Team PvP Tournament - 3 vs 3 Sunday, April 16th beginning at 9 PM EST. Registration begins at 7 PM EST. All rules are found in the Events website (Link Below). There is a registration fee that must be paid prior to entering. Gates to the castle will be provided from the First Bank of Britain and from the Bank of Bucaneer's Den beginning at 7 PM. The location of the Tournament is secret and is closed to the general public, only CoD officials and the actual contestants may attend unless specifically invited. Swap Shop Festival Saturday and Sunday, April 15th and 16th beginning at 3 PM EST and ending at 7 PM EST. Come and enjoy face to face business transactions with our merchants and recieve considerable discounts on items. You may directly ICQ # 50371615, use the message boards found on the Events site, or email pandy at vampslair.com or ate at vampslair.com for a rune or a gate to the castle. Lucky Key Contest Friday, April 14th, at 6 PM EST, join us for the Lucky Key Contest. Only 10 entries are accepted so hurry and sign up. This fun game is open to all walks of life. You are given a keyring with 5 keys upon your registration, at the mark you will have five minutes to scurry the castle grounds or the tavern grounds to unlock your prize. You may directly ICQ # 50371615 use the message boards found on the Events site, or email pandy at vampslair.com or ate at vampslair.com for a rune or a gate to the castle. Drunken Horse Race Saturday, April 15th, at 6 PM EST, bring your favorite, strongest, and fastest STEED and try your luck at the Drunken Horse Race. Each participant must drink 3 full bottles of liquor, immediately prior to the willcall of the race. They must trust their steed to get them to the finish line first to collect their prize. You may directly ICQ # 50371615 use the message boards found on the Events site, or email pandy at vampslair.com or ate at vampslair.com for a rune or a gate to the castle. That is the events that are soon to come... for any and all information on the castle you may email either pandy at vampslair.com or ate at vampslair.com. Or simply visit our Castle's website at www.vampslair.com or for information on just the events, visit our Events website at www.vampslair.com/Events. Thank you, The Lady Pandora of the CoD CEO of the Vamp's Lair Public Castle Thanks! Posted by Balandar - 1:48 PM EST ^top Sunday, March 26, 2000 Paladins of Trinsic to Hold Grand Market ^top The next Grand Market was to be held on June 3rd; however due to schedule conflicts (rl issues) with the current Grand Paladin, I have had to move up the date to April 28 and 29th respectively (poetry on 28, Market and Tourney on 29, all times consistent.) It will start at 3pm ET and last until 6pm ET. All merchants and craftsmen are cordially invited to setup booths in the Market Square of Trinsic. If you have any questions or need special arrangements, contact me via courier ericpalin at stonegard.com The night before the Market, the Paladins of Trinsic wilt be holding a poetry contest to choose the next Queen of Love and Beauty. All Gentlemen art invited to participate. To enter, simply compose and read aloud a poem detailing the virtues of any Lady thou dost choose. The subject of the winning poem wilt be crowned the Queen of Love and Beauty and wilt arbitrate the Grand Tourney to be held following the Market. The poetry contest wilt begin at 9pm ET and continue until the last contestant is finished, late entries are welcome as long as you enter before the last speaker stands to recite his poem. Following the Grand Market, beginning at approximately 6:30pm ET, the Paladins wilt hold their Grand Tourney. Everyone is welcome to attend and participate in the open matches. Tourney matches and specifications are below and will be held in order: Wrestling Match -> Open to all Comers Prize will be a suit of leather armor (exact specifications to be determined, will be either magical or GM or a mix) Knife Match -> Open to all Comers Prize will be a magical fencing weapon Sword Match -> Open to Aspirants and Paladins only, others may observe. Winner will earn the title SwordMaster. Staff Match -> Open to Aspirants and Paladins only, others may observe. Winner will earn the title ArmsMaster. Joust -> Open to Full Paladins (non-Templars) only, others may observe. Winner will be the next Grand Paladin of the Order. All matches are decided by the Queen of Love and Beauty. Healing will be provided between matches, all participants and observers are expected to behave Honorably. All events will be held upon the Paladin's Isle in Trinsic. Further Posts will follow over the next few months. Eric Palin, Paladin Templar, Master of Ceremonies. Posted by Balandar - 11:13 PM EST ^top Friday, March 10, 2000 Translation of the Kodeks ^top From UOSS and PGoH members. We received these accounts: Galam, Gargoyle Nexis of The Purple Guardians of Honor [PGoH], encountered a strange man two nights ago... *A bald pale man his midnight blue cloak stained with the mud of the road and his hands white-knuckled as he clenches a book of strange runes to his chest. Seeing you his eyes widen in fear but then looking at you more closely he sighs.* You... you are not one of them... one of the followers of Minax? That is good. I be Gul'naga, a mage, scribe, alchemist, and historian. My studies involve the arcane and the Gargoyles. *Looking to the book he goes through it's pages for a moment, the strange language unreadable to most though the more adept mages recognize some of the words.* This... is the Kodeks Rit... that means the Book of Rituals in the tounge of the Gargoyles. I came upon it in my... research and it offers some disturbing information. It tells what the mysterious Moonstones were once used for. It tells of a vortex, which might be related to the vortex atop the black spire in Trinsic. It tells of an age of prosperity for the Gargoyles while they had an artifact... and artifact called The Codex. This... book I hold in my hands the Kodeks Rit tells of the ritual which the Codex was called from the Vortex to them. In other books I have yet to scribe to the gargish phonetics and then to Britannian tounge they tell of the powers of the Codex. The Codex... has the answer to every question. It gives the reader ultimate wisdom and infinite knowledge at their fingertips. My dear strangers... Minax I believe, is after the Codex. I have given an un-translated version of the Kodeks Rit to one of your fellows named Galam I believe. I have further translated it to Britannian tongue and can provide you with that. Five other tomes I have that were written by the Gargoyles... including the Kodeks Kir, the Book of Circles which describes the Virtues which they follow... and which I follow as well. I offer my services to you, to research gargoyles and more. As well as my services as a Scribe, Alchemist, and apprentice mage. All I ask in return would be a place to practice my craft and research and that the books I scribed would be available to any who wished them. *Gul'naga looks around warily as if he expects Minax herself to come and rip the book from his grasp and smite him at any moment* Not knowing how to reach the mysterious Gul'naga, I made a midnight foray to leave him a note that hopefully only he would understand... *a boyish looking, yet mature, leatherclad warrior sneaks out in the night with parchment in hand, making his way to the city in the dead of night, checks for anyone about, then creeps up to the town message board and nails the paper to the board* A student I am, a friend I be If you know of rits, and can read them me Then seek me out, with those of honor A place for you, this I can offer If not my own, than that of my brother Believe me this, it shall do as no other Forgive my poem, I know 'tis poor One skill I lack, is that of word lore *as a last thought, the warrior scribbles a crude drawing of a grotesque beast at the bottom of the page, looking not too unlike a child's graffiti, then with a last look around, he returns the way he came* I have since been contacted by Gul'naga, and have been informed that the translation of the Kodeks Rit is complete. I shall notify you of the place where you may find and read this book for yourself, once I have it in my possession. Perhaps it will lead us to a means to combat the darkness that Minax has brought to our land! submitted by Alodar of PGoH (www.thehonorempire.net) Later this update was received: I have discovered much in my research. I have been translating tomes of gargish runes for days upon days as well as doing much scrying and divining. I have came upon a mention of moonstones in a book titled Kodeks Rit by the gargoyles. This translares to the Book of Rituals. In it I found not only the mention of moonstones but it mentions a use for them as well. They are used in a ritual to bring 'the Codex' from the Vortex. I believe that Minax seeks to claim this Codex for her own uses and so is having her minions collect the moonstones for her (Hence why the moonstones are all on evil intelligent creatures that have been seen attacking the towns in their armies). This Codex that Minax seeks is not just any tome. While the gargoyles refered to it only as the Codex it is known by another name amongst humans. The Codex of Ultimate Wisdom, an artifact of almost infinite power, able to answer any question it's reader desires. If this falls into the hands of anyone, esspecially of an evil sorceress such as Minax, we are all in great danger. I fear the thought of what Minax seeks to learn from the Codex. - Gul'naga, Sage, Historian, Scribe, Scholar, Alchemist, and Mage And finally, yesterday, this last update: The Gargoyle scribe, Gul'naga, has successfully translated two of the works, The Book of Rituals (Kodeks Rit) and the Book of Circles (Kodeks Kir), that he has been working on. In accordance with my promise to Gul'naga, the translated books are now available to the public at the PGOH Altar of Poseidon tower. The painting below show the location of the Tower along the coast far south of Trinsic. Additional works will be made available at the same location as they are finished. Rest assured that these are only copies of the originals by Gul'naga -- I shall not allow Minax to destroy these important works! Submitted by Alodar of PGoH (www.thehonorempire.net) Thank you to the members of the Purple Guardians of Honor for submitting their story. Posted by Balandar - 2:00 PM EST ^top Thursday, March 9, 2000 Caravan to Set Out Friday ^top From UOSS: We received this announcement: How long has it been? Remember those caravans over that first Summer? Remember how we united over trade and drove back the Shadowclan in its heyday? Recall how Kinship, Yew, Trinsic, Cove and all those guilds in between gained in strength and momentum as trade flourished? And most importantly, do you remember how we would travel along the road, 5 to 10 pack animals in tow, and people would stop and say, "Wow! How did you get so many going? What is happening?" Trinsic, the founder of those caravans, has fallen. The paladins yet reside on the Isle, biding their time till the lady may be rescued. But the bardic masters of Britain have contacted me, saying the masters Inloria Glorden and Malvolio will be leading such a caravan to Kinship, Yew, Cove, and Drachental. They plan on moving men, horses, and civilization to all areas of our land until such a time as they are no longer able. Their hope is to revitalize the people, and keep hope flourishing. I've heard it said that with Trinsic, so will fall our world and our way of life. I have even heard people speaking of magical gates to other lands in order to flee the disaster. I urge thee, even if thou art low on hope, to get involved with these last caravans. Wilt thou go out as the poor trembling rabbit, caught by the hunter, never having had the chance? Or wilt thou make a go of it, fighting for thy way of life with every last breath? Lord General Rutger Dag Paladin of Trinsic ************************************ When: -Friday Times: --------Gather at 7:00pm eastern --------Leave Britain at 8:00pm eastern --------Arrive in Kinship about 9 or 10, from there we'll make our way to Skara Brae. Start: -Western bridge in Britain Gather with us at the western bridge in Britain. We will be on the town side. The first hour is to allow people to arrive, and to allow some interaction and banter until it is time to leave. The caravan masters will be Inloria Glorden and Malvolio. These two bards will give the orders to leave, and they will see to the positioning of guards. Most often this means, "Mr Ruden Solic, would you take charge of the left flank?" In other words, they will not be concerned over the actual placement of individual troops, nor of the actual commanding of guards. They will, however, be in charge of seeing the caravan to safety. Should anyone acting as guard find himself lagging behind, or running off to do battle with a fleeing enemy, he should not expect the caravan to remain still. The merchants will continue to Kinship, and then onward to Skara where a marketplace will be set up at the docks. That's this Friday the 10th at 7pm. Each week I hope to get another caravan going. I know I can count on certain groups to be there...I am hoping the turnout will be even better than expected. Remember that protest against OSI, which consisted of marching on Lord British's castle? This caravan is to be similar in sentiment. The difference is, there is none of the venom and malice which accompanied that event. We have nothing against OSI, and personally I have nothing against the proposed changes. I do think they should change which reflection is to be the consent only area. But regardless, the main focus is to show how many roleplayers there really are out there. Even if you don't normally consider yourself a roleplayer, we encourage you to join us. Sounds great, Rutger. Good luck! Posted by Balandar - 3:48 AM EST ^top Tent Camp Appears on the road to Britian ^top From UOSS: We received this notice. Hail and well met, I am Garth Bakrath and I have found more things going on around Trinsic. Today I was traveling near the west Gate along the Road to Britain when I came across a strange camp. As yet I have not found the owners of these tents and structures but from the looks of it they are not friendly. Being the cautious type that I am I did not stay long enough to find out who had built and set it up, for just then a patrol of lizard and ratmen came down the road. Stepping into the forest and making my way back to file this report to the authorities, I felt was the better part of keeping my skin on. I cannot help but wonder if the patrol that came down the road uses the camp, but agree to stay and find out may well have been to forfeit telling us of this information at all. Thank you, Garth, and we are glad for your health. Posted by Balandar - 3:46 AM EST ^top Journal of Qua'tel ^top From UOSS: We received this account: I was on a training and scouting mission to the Yew Crypts when I found myself in the lich Ventryn's chamber. I had been to the room before and seen the lich himself. I had heard of a vault room that is normally locked but people had gained entry to before, and used a magic word to transport themselves to the lair of this lich and I found the vault open. I decided to chance using the magic word and was sent to the strange lair of this mysterious lich. When I arrived there I found, on the dias before the lich's throne, a book entitled "The Journal of Qua'tel" enclosed is a copy of the book, in it's strange language. I only hope my finding this book will aid our troubled land and help us understand this undead mage. Ranger Relee of Skara Brae Thank you for this information, Relee. Posted by Balandar - 3:44 AM EST ^top Sunday, March 5, 2000 Structures Appear in Britannia's Cities ^top From UOSS: Most are aware of the many different things that have been constructed in Trinsic since its fall: the barricades, the hanging skeletons of its defenders, and the dark temple. But recently it has come to our attention that other cities are getting structures built in them as well. I first noticed one in Yew, as it is the town I live in. I then traveled to Vesper and Cove and saw that they each had one a well. Here is the one in Cove: The structures in the other cities look the same; they are in the same stage of construction. The one in Vesper is just outside of the Spinning Wheel tailory and Adventurer's Supplies on the larger island near the Ironwood Inn. The one in Yew is between the Healer's and The Sturdy Bow archery. In my admitedly somewhat cursory inspection of Britian I did not see one there, and I have not yet inspected Delucia or Papua. It is not yet known what these things mean or what portent they have. Posted by Balandar - 12:28 PM EST ^top Saturday, March 4, 2000 The Gargoyle Codex ^top From Alodar: Galam, Gargoyle Nexis of PGoH, encountered a strange man four nights ago... *A bald pale man his midnight blue cloak stained with the mud of the road and his hands white-knuckled as he clenches a book of strange runes to his chest. Seeing you his eyes widen in fear but then looking at you more closely he sighs.* You... you are not one of them... one of the followers of Minax? That is good. I be Gul'naga, a mage, scribe, alchemist, and historian. My studies involve the arcane and the Gargoyles. *Looking to the book he goes through it's pages for a moment, the strange language unreadable to most though the more adept mages recognize some of the words.* This... is the Kodeks Rit... that means the Book of Rituals in the tounge of the Gargoyles. I came upon it in my... research and it offers some disturbing information. It tells what the mysterious Moonstones were once used for. It tells of a vortex, which might be related to the vortex atop the black spire in Trinsic. It tells of an age of prosperity for the Gargoyles while they had an artifact... and artifact called The Codex. This... book I hold in my hands the Kodeks Rit tells of the ritual which the Codex was called from the Vortex to them. In other books I have yet to scribe to the gargish phonetics and then to Britannian tounge they tell of the powers of the Codex. The Codex... has the answer to every question. It gives the reader ultimate wisdom and infinite knowledge at their fingertips. My dear strangers... Minax I believe, is after the Codex. I have given an un-translated version of the Kodeks Rit to one of your fellows named Galam I believe. I have further translated it to Britannian tongue and can provide you with that. Five other tomes I have that were written by the Gargoyles... including the Kodeks Kir, the Book of Circles which describes the Virtues which they follow... and which I follow as well. I offer my services to you, to research gargoyles and more. As well as my services as a Scribe, Alchemist, and apprentice mage. All I ask in return would be a place to practice my craft and research and that the books I scribed would be available to any who wished them. *Gul'naga looks around warily as if he expects Minax herself to come and rip the book from his grasp and smite him at any moment* Not knowing how to reach the mysterious Gul'naga, I made a midnight foray to leave him a note that hopefully only he would understand... *a boyish looking, yet mature, leatherclad warrior sneaks out in the night with parchment in hand, making his way to the city in the dead of night, checks for anyone about, then creeps up to the town message board and nails the paper to the board* A student I am a friend I be If you know of rits and can read them me Then seek me out with those of honor A place for you this I can offer If not my own than that of my brother Believe me this it shall do as no other Forgive my poem I know 'tis poor One skill I lack is that of word lore *as a last thought, the warrior scribbles a crude drawing of a grotesque beast at the bottom of the page, looking not too unlike a child's graffiti, then with a last look around, he returns the way he came* I have since been contacted by Gul'naga, and have been informed that the translation of the Kodeks Rit is complete. I shall notify you of the place where you may find and read this book for yourself, once I have it in my possession. Perhaps it will lead us to a means to combat the darkness that Minax has brought to our land! Posted by Balandar - 10:54 PM EST ^top

February 2000 Monday, February 21, 2000 A Spreading Darkness at the Yew Crypts ^top From UOSS: Just this evening, word reached me that the town crier of Northwood had begun to cry out of a darkness spreading from the Yew Crypts to Northwood. This Northwood resident asked for aid in defense of the region and I sent pigeons flying to all quarters. Likewise, I dispatched one of my agents to the crypts, a fellow gifted for gathering information without becoming personally involved in said events, to gather what intelligence he may. Below is his accounting: Down into the bowls of the Crypts, up into the connected halls strewn with dispatched bone knights, liches, and lesser undead I crept. Defenders rallied to the scene fought valiantly, some holding their ground, others falling to undead claws and arcane energies. A dragon climbed the steps to the pinnacle and flung several liche to the stones at its master's beconning. Knights of Yew, Mists of Avalon, and many others who clustered too close in heated battle to make out insignia, cleared the hall slowly of the undead hoste. As the din quieted, Ghaleon, long time nemisis of Yew, strode to his black throne. Close at hand, much alike a great hound hoping for its master's scraps, stood a towering liche all in grey. He was addressed as the Arche Liche and looked well the part. This creature chatted among the gore to Ghaleon, caring little for the massing defenders of Yew and commented, "They doubt the power of Ventryn and what I shall bring..." A smile from the Grey Elf and the liche continued, "...doubt the power of your alliance". More fighting arose about the hall and their words were difficult to make out over the din of combat. There was some mention of the Well of Souls, possibly it being a gate through which these evils now file or simply a source of power for Ghaleon and this mentioned "Ventryn". When it quieted some, Ghaleon was ending a short speech about past injustices against himself by the people of Yew and finished with the proclamation, "This entire forest will be a sea of undead." This was echoed by the Arch Liche with, "Guard your homes. I shall strike there next." It would seem that Trinsic is not enough to satiate these undead appetites. People of Yew would do well to learn from the lesson of that fallen city and make ready their defenses. If you have any other information regarding these happenings, please send them in, as any lead might well be the clue that turns the tide of this unhappy war. Posted by Balandar - 10:25 PM EST ^top Sunday, February 13, 2000 An Attempt to Spread the Plague ^top From UOSS: We received this notice: To all Kinship Village citizens and visitors, I just wanted to make everyone aware of what happened in the village when I was working the other night. A man came in asking where he was and questions about the plague that's been foretold by the gypsy lady Tatiana. The last word from her was that the plague would be spread through food, which has already happened to a young girl in her gypsy band. He also asked about the recent attacks made on the village by evil mages. He then said he had an offer to extend to the village. He would organize clean food supply to come from the other major cities for a price. At this point, I directed him to Loric who was sitting in the tavern at the time as well, but I continued to follow the conversation. Benedict was the name the man gave to Loric and he said he was from Serpent's Hold. Just an ordinary merchant is what he told us, though I felt a twinge of suspicion. Loric was as polite as he always is to people offering aid to the village, but told the man that we were already taken care of by the village's many allies. The man handed Loric some food samples. "Just in case," he said. Everyone said very little until the man had walked out the tavern door and headed down the street. Then everyone began talking at once and a couple of the patrons quickly went to follow him. Loric left to seek Tatiana in her tent in Minoc to see if she could tell anything about the food samples the man had given him. While the men were away, the sudden appearance of mages outside in the street caused me to hide under the bar for a while. I could hear the sounds of spells being cast and fighting taking place outside. Some of it even sounded to be in the tavern as more warriors were called in to turn the mages away. Once the battle had died away, people began returning to the tavern tending wounds and comforting one another. Loric had returned some time during the battle with news that he had not found the gypsy lady in Minoc. He decided to gather a small group and seek the man in Serpent's Hold. A small group was assembled and split up to search Serpent's Hold. Benedict was spotted in a tavern there, but magicked himself quickly away before he could be confronted. Loric returned to the village and had Cantos, one of our retired barkeeps, test the food Benedict gave him. Cantos determined that the food was tainted, though with what we do not know. We can only conclude that Benedict had intended to spread some sort of poison or illness through the village with his "clean food supply" and upon failing that, had sent the mages to attack us. Why? We do not know. I can hope that we have turned him away and that no further attempts will be made to spread this vile illness, but I do not think he is done yet. I urge everyone to be very careful who you accept food from and be watchful for the mage attacks. We will do everything we can to make sure the food we serve in the village is safe. Mishca Barmaid, Kinship Village Thank you, Mishca, for this warning. Posted by Balandar - 3:46 AM EST ^top Thursday, February 3, 2000 Juo'nar Calls for Trinsic's Fall ^top From UOSS: We were told this tale of Juo'nar's recent appearance. As is the normal schedule for our guild, this night promised another busy combat training session. Our members began to gather at the Tower of Virtue, and I found myself in Britain, shopping for the necessary reagents, bandages, and weapons. With frightening urgency, a messenger rushed to my side. "Lieutenant, a message from the Lady Eve of Trinsic." "Very well, lad", I said, as I dispatched the youth with a gold sovereign. Tearing open the wax seal, I read about the Guard Captain Geoffrey, and his plans to mount an expedition in an effort gather information on the recent undead attacks. The Lady Eve suggested we find this man, join his band, and aid him in any way possible. With a deep sigh, I realized there would be no training tonight. This eve would bring blood. After a short period of muster, the Crusaders of Virtue began the search for the Guard Captain of which Eve had spoke. We were one of many guilds in pursuit of this clue, and men were dispatched to every city in the land. Regardless of our toils, Geoffrey could not be found, and with failure hanging upon our shoulders, our guild regrouped in Trinsic to discuss our next move. Upon our arrival, it was obvious, the situation had made the decision for us. Men and women ran about, fleeing the city in droves, as warriors and mage's prepared for the defense of Trinsic. One word was on everyone's lips; Juo'nar. The city gates were barricaded, and men from almost every guild were posted throughtout the town, prepared to fight to the death. The Purple Guardians of Honor, The Order of the Griffon, and The Paladins of Trinsic were all well represented at the East gate. My guild was assigned a roving patrol of the Trinsic Jail Area. Minutes drifted into hours, with nothing but scant raids of a half dozen undead beasts at a time. As the night became early morning, most of the defenders had been dismissed, leaving only small patrols to guard the city. This was the opportunity Jou'nar sought. With no opposition, the green liche appeared out of the early morning mist and began his torment of those, unfortunate enough, to cross his path. "Trinsic shall fall" were his only words, as he struck down one man after another, brushing them aside like so many flies. A silver axe, wielded by an unknown knight was driven home into the liche's chest, to no avail. A recruit of CoV by the name of Brett Harringer fired a bolt at the creature, but he was ineffective as well. Both men paid dearly for their bravery. Then, just as suddenly as he had arrived, the Liche called out an encantation, and was gone with a blast of light. This night brought more questions than it answered. Why did Juo'nar depart with such haste, when he was not even challenged? Why did he not bring forth his minions in earnest and slaughter those of us who slept as the battle raged? Why did he not take the city when it was most vulnerable? Another enigma that we, the defenders of Trinsic must unravel. Faithfully submitted, Lt.Cmdr.Skywalker Crusaders of Virtue It should also be noted that Trinsic is faring worse than many of the other cities. Lord British has said that he fears reinforcements will not reach there in time, resources are spread thin as it is, and I have received notice that the bridge over the river leading from Trinsic to Britian is being held by lizards and the like (more news on that in another story). Our Liege has called for all non-essential personel and citizens to evacutate if they feel they need to. I know that many of our brave defenders will stay to the last. This may turn into a guerilla defense of the town, so I wish all of Trinsic's citizens and her brave defenders the luck of the Virtues. Posted by Balandar - 11:48 AM EST ^top Keeonan Spotted During a Recent Orc Attack in Yew! ^top From UOSS: This tale was recently told to us: I woke up in a bed of Empath Abbey, Yew, with the worst headache in months. The monks had been kind enough to grant me asylum one last eve when, returning from that ill-fated caravan to Britain, I had limped back into town. That must have been the worst battle I ever witnessed first-hand. We were betrayed, no doubt by the same man who hired us. We should have seen it. His insistence on taking the east road, his continuous rant about our delays, ... It was as if he was worried the "highwaymen" would leave before we got into their hands. Oh, it was a superb ambush, I had to grant them that. A strike force of Shadow Clan orcs, undeads from Necropolis and sorcerers from The Balance - may that name live forever in infamy ! – were waiting for us at the first bridge, west of Stark Keep. It wasn't so much a battle than a slaughter. Despite our gallant resistance, we fell swiftly to a lethal combination of fire, lightning, poison and blades. Many of my brothers and sisters of the Mists fell that day, along with Shadow Rangers, and other Yew freedom-fighters. Infighting had been our doom. The Paladin who led us had tried his best to get us organized but individualities had been our downfall. As long as Good stood divided and Evil united, we couldn't prevail. Given the recent attacks on several towns, that didn't bode well for our future. After a quick trip to the bank area to get some decent equipment, a look at my wristwatch (a nice New Year present if there was one) told me I had missed the best part of the day already. I groaned in despair as I realized that Flicker and Mona's wedding was already over. Two of my brethren of the Mists of Avalon had united their destiny on this day, hoping to forge a bright future for themselves on this beleaguered world. By now, the reception must have begun at the Yew Winery. With a little luck, I would still arrive in time to offer them my congratulations. A monk had gone to fetch Omen, my trusty steed, for me. Vaulting into the saddle, I took the direction of the main doors. The Winery was just a stone-throw away of the Abbey. I would arrive quickly. Little did I know what was awaiting me outside. As soon as I cleared the doors, I found myself in the middle of a large battle. It seemed an orc army had invaded Yew once again. Not Shadow Clanners though, shardies, a clear sign it was an attack directed by the mysterious evil Mistress which had been behind the late town attacks. I could see my Brothers and Sisters of the Mists streaming out of the Winery and wading courageously into battle, clad only in ceremonial armor for the most part. The Lord F'nor was on the roof, making fire and lightning rain down on the invaders. I grabbed my hand harp and started playing a music that would, hopefully, get the monsters angry and confused enough to attack each others rather than the natives. Alas, it seemed they were already under some kind of hypnotic spell for they were unusually unresponsive. Since subtlety had failed, only brute force remained … In the same move I exchanged my harp for my bow, my eyes already scanning the crowd for a suitable target. That's when I saw him. A strange man, clad in a light green armor, walking right in the middle of the fight as casually as if he was only taking a stroll. He had only a runebook in his hands and seemed to be greatly bored by the spectacle of death we were offering him. His skin has a weird purple skin from afar .. until I realized it was in fact covered by a giant tattoo. That alone identified him to me as Keeonean, the infamous evil sorcerer who was behind the attacks on my town. Apparently, I hadn't been alone to make that deduction for Captain Paul Atreides of the Yew Militia fairly ran to the man, ordering him to stop and surrender while others started converging on him with lethal intentions. The man didn't seem very eager to surrender though, and he simply continued to walk around, unconcerned. Well, I couldn't let such a evil man escape his just punishment so I fired at him in the hope a minor wound would stop him long enough for the militia to arrest him. The arrow struck true but was deflected by his armor as easily as rain. In the next second, the weapons of no less than three able-bodied warriors struck him simultaneously and he simply yawned. He YAWNED ! And not a drop of blood marred his skin. I saw and heard distinctively a man offer him a Gate to Necropolis whose inhabitants were apparently eager to help him. I recognized the sorcerer as one of those who had ambushed the caravan the day before. He didn't seem to hear the offer though .. or if he did, he clearly wasn't interested. As if in a nightmare I saw my mother charging him from the north, ready to smite him, but the town guards - who until then had seemed in a daze - suddenly shook off their lethargy and jumped in her path, not only preventing her from reaching Keeonean but also swinging their deadly weapons at her, slaying her instantly. Disbelief warred with despair in my heart and I rushed forward to salvage what I could from her body who was lying in the mud of the battlefield. I could vaguely hear people saying the sorcerer had disappeared but I no longer cared. Unfortunately, the worse was yet to come. As soon as the orc attack was over, undeads from Necropolis attacked from the south. No doubt, they had come to try to rescue Keeonean and spirit him away to their evil lair. They couldn't have picked a worst time. The town defenders, enraged by this new treachery and the apparent flight of the enemy leader, quickly surrounded the undeads and made short work of them. No sooner had they done so that a new wave of orc troops hit us, once again with Keeonean strolling in their midst. All these senseless deaths, all this blood, my own mother, her broken body lying in my arms .. something snapped in me. I drew my rapier and launched myself at Keeonean with a vengeance, determined to bring him down if it was the last thing I did. Yet, once again, the mad town guards made a human shield of their body for him and struck me down as a common criminal. As my body hit the ground in a spray of blood and my soul was sent to the Grey Realm, I found myself totally confused. Why ? Why had they protected him ?!? I spied my grand-mother, the healer Dove, running to me as rapidly as her old legs allowed. Yet as soon as she started to invoke the magic of the Shrines to bring me back from the deads, the guards struck her too ! This was too much to bear. That they were corrupt enough to protect a known-criminal, I could accept .. barely ! But that they would stoop down to using lethal force against a defenseless old lady, and one who had devoted her entire life to helping others, I couldn't accept. Captain Atreides was running around, trying to force Keeonean to face him in single combat, but to no effect. Apparently satisfied with his attacks, the evil mage had disappeared once again into thin air, perhaps to report his progresses to his dark mistress. When my brother Devin finally arrived and used magic to return my grand-mother and I among the livings, I sat on the side of the road, a dejected look on my face. Mona of the Mists, who know me well, came to me and asked me what was wrong. Had an item of great worth to me been lost in the confusion of the battle, perhaps stolen by a scoundrel ? My answer, when it came, brought tears to her eyes. "Aye Mona, I lost something dear to me today .. my faith in our Kingdom …" Submitted by Lore d'Ascalon of the Mists of Avalon Posted by Balandar - 11:47 AM EST ^top

January 2000 Monday, January 31, 2000 Town Cryer: Sick Girl Saved in Minoc ^top From the Town Cryer: Kardian McLean UP: Catskills After gathering information from the Delucia Caves I decided that perhaps my next step should be to visit the old Gypsy woman, Tatiana, in Minoc. When I arrived, she was slumped wearily over her table as if a great burden seemed to rest upon her shoulders. I was a bit hesitant to enter but as I turned to leave she spoke to me as if she had seen me. It was almost as if she knew who I was. That had me a bit unnerved but I decided to enter as she bade. Before I could even utter a word she started telling me a tale of a dread plague approaching. Much of it was the same as I had heard from my previous reports. A plague would come from across the sea she said... only now... it had already arrived. She told me how a young gypsy girl from her band was brought to her care. She was very ill. All she could discover was that the girl had been found wandering near the entrance to the Delucia caves delirious and very feverish. Tatiana said that she immediately sent for a group to gather a special kind of ginseng for her from mages that were rumored to be found deep in the mountains. A brave band of adventurers went to the hidden valley located in the mountains Southwest of Trinsic and found it besieged by more of the rogue mages that had been found in the Delucia caves before. A general call for help was sent out to Trinsic and Skara Brae and the mages were routed, thankfully. One brave soul worked his way through the mages and acquired some of the ginseng and returned it to Tatiana. Tatiana wished me to express her heartfelt thanks to Falcon Strongarm for bringing her the ginseng. With it she has been able to delay the poison but unfortunately more must be done to find a cure she said. I was able to speak with the young girl, Morwyn, for a short time as well. It seems she was to visit a friend in Delucia and had decided to take the caves there. Usually travelers can make it through safely with little danger. This time, however, she was approached by an older mage in the caves and asked if she could help him in acquiring some reagents. When she returned with what he had requested, he gave her a bit of gold and some food for her efforts. She said that she thanked him and went on. She ate the food almost immediately since it had been so long since her last meal and very quickly she started feeling ill, then she cannot remember what happened. We can only assume that this mage gave her poisoned food. This leaves me once again with more questions burning in my mind. What did this mage seek to accomplish? Is he the source of this dread plague to come? And how do we find a cure before others end up sick as this poor girl was? I will continue to seek answers and report them here as I find more information. I just pray we can stop this before Tatiana's predictions come to pass. Posted by Balandar - 12:25 PM EST ^top Preparing for the Plague ^top From UOSS: Good Folk, Both meetings of the Healer's Circle have been completed. All told, we may have up to 20 healers who will be on a pigeon fan-out list so that the first sighting of these plague ships will see a small army of healers ready to ply thier trade for the land's safety. For myself, I am taking up watch at the Skara docks, for the ships are said to first make land in that city. We have reason to believe that the affliction is passed in food, and in that Skara is an island, it must get the bulk of its food by port. I am staying at the Falconer's Inn and my window does over-look the docks themselves. I will keep my vigil and fish, for at least as I wait, I might stock up on more wholesome food than might be soon coming to port. Of the Gypsy Tatianna, she did appear at the first meeting and added a bit to our common knowledge of this plague. It seems the first victim was a girl who had helped a man near Delucia gather herbs. In payment, he gave her some food (bread) and after eating it, she fell ill with fever and uncontrolled shaking. Only the strongest ginseng curatives manage to keep her alive now, but she is failing slowly. If there are any among you who know the New Lands well, I ask that you search for this fellow. We have no description, in that the only witness was the ill child. We think he may have been a mage and another of our Circle believes the Undead City might hold some clues. For now, we stock the field hospital in Kinship, organize our healers, search the New Lands for this man, and watch the horison for sails. Dove the Healer of Yew Falconer's Inn, Skara Brae Posted by Balandar - 12:22 PM EST ^top Friday, January 28, 2000 The Blind Leading the Blind and other Nunsense--The Caravan ^top From UOSS When I heard the Healer's Caravan had arrived Kinship Sunday in safety, I smiled with relief, but when I found out how it was done, I laughed with surprise. Any who have ever met Dove, the Healer of Yew, would tell you as I that she is kind, considerate, peaceloving, and wise. But I did not know till stories of the caravan reached me how wily she is as well. I was just coming out of the abbey Sunday eve when I bumped into the Reverand Mother Sarah just returning from Kinship. She assured me the caravan had arrived safe, then told me this story: I had heard of the caravan only moments 'fore it was to set out. I grabbed a few bolts of cloth and some preserved fish steaks to donate and set out for the Community Center. Although I had arrived late I had no trouble catching them as they had been detained only a few feet from the Center there at the crossroads due to an attack, which was just finished as I arrived. I carefully stepped over the bodies of brigands that littered the ground and around the many horses and warriors who were regrouping themselves from the battle. I finally found Dove, who did not look her best as she was still recovering from her death a few moments afore, but her eyes seemed as bright as ever. Dove and I are not both of the same gods, but we are sisters in many other ways. I remember first meeting her long ago and talking of our goals. We share the same views as to the Golden Rule of Peace. We both try to feed and heal both bodies and minds, repect the virtues, and offer words of peace. This was hardly the first trek I had been on with her. I have walked with her to many towns and shrines, but this was the first time we did so with an important cargo. Even so, it felt much like old times to me. He he, but that was to soon change. Dove greeted me warmly and said she had something to ask of me. She handed me a bag and said, "when I step aside and say so, put this on." I looked in the bag and found a robe and a hat, just like the ones Dove was presently wearing.I wasn't sure of her reasons, and was even less sure I wanted to change out of the habit I had worn everyday since taking my vows, but I trusted Dove completely and nodded my agreement. We set out down the road but had not gone far before beset by brigands again. In the middle of the confusion of attack, Dove stepped off from the road with me just behind, nodded to me and told me "now." I pulled the white robe over my head and when finished, Dove was no where to be found. I put the wide brim hat on my head, low over my face, and turned back towards the crowd. The fighting just over, one member asked me, "Dove, art thou ready to move on?" Slyly slipping into Dove's plan I stuttered out, "huh? uh, hmmm," and other pearls of wisdom. One member of the group noticed (I can't imagine how as I so deftly played my part *smirks with deep sarcasm*) something and said, "that is not Dove." But another turned and firmly said, "Aye, it is Dove." The first, just as unsure as I what was goin on but aware it was some kind of plan answered, "ah yes, I see it is Dove." Deciding they must know better than I, I agreed I must be Dove and had the caravan move out again. We were halted several times as the warriors fended off attacks, including an especially large one at the fort of the brigands, but progress was being made nevertheless. I tried to speak little, both not to betray my not being Dove, but also as I had very little idea what to say at this point. I wondered where Dove had gone to, but thought perhaps she had gone ahead to prepare our arrival. Just before the Britian crossroads I fainted; I suppose due to the stress I felt leading a caravan only moments after I joined it, hehe. As I came to I saw several poeple around me and was told the main group had gone ahead and were holding at the crossroads. We joined them and proceeded just past the crossroads heading towards Kinship on the main road. Suddenly, I was addressed by my name. I hesitated to answer at first fearing a trick to betray I was a decoy. When I raised my head enough to see under the low hat I saw it was F'nor of Avalon. Asking him what it was he then told me it was time to take moongates to another place. I had no idea what was going on, but as I hadn't known most of the whole trip and trusted him, I ordered first the point guard then the packhorses through the gates that were being opened up. I followed one of the packhorses through a gate and found myself in a field. Someone then told me we were in Britian's farm area. I had no idea why we had apprently backtracked, and decided to sit down a moment and pray for some guidance. I decided to try and send a pigeon to Dove, although I had no idea where she was at the time. The few people who were left with me were asking me why we were here, what this had to do with the plan, and what was now our plan of action. I had no more insight than they did though, truly now the blind leading the blind. Dove's pigeon finally reached me but had little to offer me in understanding, but there were at least further instructions. I was to take my group south along the mountains, then down around the hedgemaze into Kinship's southern side, avoiding the main road. This again was confusing to me as it was a much harder trek than the well trod road. But little had made sense to me since I joined the effort. I was glad to have such good companions; it made me feel more confident deserved or no. By now my large three packhorse laden group had dwindled down to only one packhorse and a few guardians. I'm still not entirely sure what had happened to the others but we set off on our way nevertheless. The going was tough in the dense woods, and the horses grew tired. Two Shadow Rangers met us along the way bringing news of attacks on Kinship and that the other parties had arrived safe. They helped to lead us the rest of the way and we arrived safe in Kinship with the others. It wasn't until later that I found out I had faithfully led and helped guard a locked chest full of logs. *laughs heartily* The Nun had a confusing day of it it had seemed so I was curious to find out what had happened and why she said she was carrying logs. Here are some excerpts from Dove's tale that should help in understanding: Fearing that our healer's cargo might be jeopardized, I and a few guild heads did plan that the carvan leaving the Yew Community Center should be a decoy and its horses carrying nothing more than locked chests and crates full of logs. It was hoped that such a showing of force would catch the eye of any villians and avert those eyes away from the real caravan that made its way to Britain not by the road, but by skirting the mountain's edge through cover of woods. This second caravan, ladened with medical aid for the oncoming plague. Barring a few points where the horses would not cross and hasty runes were marked to gate them a bit further down the trail, we made the Gap of Britain as the large decoy host reached the Britain Crossroads. However, where the real caravan's trip was uneventful, the decoy's met hard resistance. It seems some nafarious power did not wish our aid to reach its destination. Not twenty paces from the Community Center, a horde of evil mages and thier hired brigands did set upon us in earnest. I do not know how many of our troupe fell to them, since given the strong winds and my thin robe, I was cut down quickly. Yet, given the number of good mages beside me, I was donning my hat and ready to continue just as quickly. We made near the first guard tower west from the Yew crossroads and yet again, more villianous brigands. It was then that I put our second deception to work. Stepping off the road with Reverand Mother Sarah close behind, she did slip on a spare white robe and hat I had passed her earlier. With a decoy Dove in place, I recalled to the real caravan waiting at the guard post just north east of the Community Center. I and the real caravan arrived at the Gap of Britain and passed through the mountains to guarded ground. There, we waited at the rendezvous farm house for the bogus caravan, for as they reached the Britain crossorads most did as I bade them and gated or recalled to our location, for I had planned that any villians still spying on the large force and hoping to make a play for the horses as it neared Kinship would see them all pass from view, gating or recalling beyond their grasp. Only a few of the decoy group knew the destination of these rendezvous runes, for if captured, we could not afford that torture might place the location of our real cargo in the hands of the enemy. An enemy that seem omniscient enough to throw wave after wave of evil henchmen from unseen safety. Once gathered, we readied to leave for Kinship by passing around the mountains southward, then making for the Hedge Maze and arriving at Kinship by the east and off the road from watchful and possibly unfriendly eyes. It seems that a plan to avoid Kinship's mainstreet was well made. As we rallied to leave Britain, word came from Loric Greywolf that Kinship Tavern was under seige by murderers. He wrote that he would try to lure them from town for our safety. Judging home and hearth far more valuable than any cargo, I bid the Black Watch good luck and sent them to Kinship to protect their homes. I believe half their number left on that task. When word reached us that Orc and Drow might be among the raiders, the Free Corps quickly rallied and prepared to join that fray. Almost as quickly, pigeons flew again from Loric telling that the villians had been put to flight. Knowing we might meet these rascals on the way, we made hasty preparations for the second leg of our trip. Knowing that those few hundred yards from one's home usually see a slackening of caution after a long journey, the Shadow Rangers were sent ahead to do that for which they are most renown, and scouted us a path to the Hedge Maze. With The Mists of Avalon taking point once more, we were lead to the Britain moongate and then onward past the maze itself. As we regrouped one last time, just off the main road and near to our destination, another attack of red garbed mages and grizzly brigands set upon us. Wishing not to be undone so close to our goal, I pulled hard on the horses and called to Solon who was about to engage the enemy in the name of the Velt. With the Elven Lord as my only guard, I and a Knight of Yew leading a forth horse flew ahead of the others, finally, to the stock house of Kinship and our journey's end. At the stock house, the paladins had already seen through thier horses with bogus treasures and several others with them. There, with warm words of praise and thanks, the Healer's Caravan began to disperse. And yet, the day's adventures were not yet over. Unnoticed in the crowds of well meaning folk, a thief lurked. As I worked to deposite the medical stock, he had ample time to peruse the goods still strapped to the animals outside. Solon, with keen Elven eye, did spot his pilfering and the fellow, now weighed down with three full potion kegs (greater heal, greater cure, and total refresh), was unable to make his escape. He pleeded his innocence and we all being good folk, would not strike him down for material goods. Unfortunately, a passerby, hearing his cry that something was afoot and he could not move, thought the fellow trapped by some mysterious force and unknowingly opened him a gate. A heavy step forward and he was gone. A lighter step on my part and I was standing in the desert near my beloved Compassion Shrine with he and his five guildmates, who he had undoubtably forwarned of his coming with heavy booty. He ordered everyone not of the guild to be murdered, but his men stood thier ground. I wasted some words on him of the importance of those kegs to the community with this plague soon approaching, and as wasted words, they fell on his deaf ears. Thus, with Hannibal the Druid of the Shadow Rangers bidding me make a hasty leave of this place (for he had bravely followed me through the gate), I bid the thief and his men to be safe and to enjoy my donation to their guild. Again, to any and all who had some hand in this, I thank you most profusely. With your efforts, a good store of aid now awaits our use for the prophesied plague: 5000 yards of cloth, food for an army, wands and staves of healing, and as soon as I can gather the reagents, three more kegs to replaced those stolen. If you have a few spare reagents for this cause, they would be greatly appreciated. Dove the Healer of Yew A story indeed this turned out to be. I wish all well and I hope that your efforts will not be needed, but I fear that will not be the case. Special thanks to Rodar of the Brotherhood of Wayrest and Sinafae, Druidess of Britain for their fine artwork. Posted by Balandar - 3:19 PM EST ^top The Story of Lord Pythos ^top From UOSS Thank you to all who sent me information on this man and his story. I knew you'd come through for me! The doors at the Tavern Lion's Den in Northwood opened and shut. The lights began to flicker....igniting the entire room, then suddently fizzling out to blackness. People's conversations stopped at the blink of an eye. The guests looked around confused and scared. "Anybody here?" Raven Gustare, guildmistress of the Rogues o' Britannia and Tavernkeep examined the Lion's Den. Nobody. All watched the doors still moving and the lanterns flickering. One mentioned....,"I shouldn't have had that last ale." Then the Tavern was attacked. Attacked by creatures of magical properties....Skeletons, lichs, zombies, bone knights and mages. All rushed out and took up arms to the swarm of Undead. It was a hard fight but the inhabitants of Northwood and the visitors succeeded. "An ale on the house" Raven offered to celebrate the victory. ... so the story of the lost spirit of Lord Pythos, keeper of Stormguard, began. The haunting of the Tavern went on for days. Books materialized out of nowhere. One said, "The Lion's Den will be haunted forever". Then the next book:"What is this build upon the lands?". More days passed....and more attacks by the Undead were apparant...but then the spirit causing the trouble was able to communicate. He spelled his name with gold : Pythos. Finally they cound address him. More was found out. Pythos' spirit was able to use a lantern to let the inhabitants know when a questions could be answered with "yes". Raven and the Rogues o' Britannia combined with the Black Rose Society and Winterfell talked to Pythos, asked him questions, offered help and fought the undeads still attacking the Tavern and Northwood again and again. What surprise when the first of the four old and tattered journals was found. Lord Pythos diary. Pythos was the Lord of Stormguard. A mighty keep somewhere in Britannia hundreds of years ago. Many battles weakened his power and an evil mage made his life and the citizens of the Keep a living hell. Working together the guilds got another hint: Sage Sylan in Vesper. They seeked him out but he was an old and rough guy not believeing a word of the "fairy tale". He refused to help until a proof was given to him that Pythos and Stormguard really existed. The next time Pythos haunted the Lion's Den he was asked about a proof. Pythos sent all to the shrine of Compassion. A large fierce battle erupted with hundreds upon hundreds of skeletons, lichs, mages and other undead. Raven Gustare, Felix Magus as Rogues and Kyle Duskwalker from Winterfell prayed at the Shrine. Bones where shattered....flesh was torn....Man and Undead lay motionless upon the desert as the whirling sand began to bury them slowly. At a special place Pythos showed the proof could be found by digging into the hot desert sand. A cape was found, along with a tunic and a hat, all bearing the mark of Pythos' Royal Tailor. The proof they needed had been found. Hastily they adventurers rushed back to Vesper. Sage Sylan was impressed and ashamed. He agreed to come to Northwood and help Pythos to find his eternal peace. Using old and long forgotten knowledge the Sage was able to give Pythos a ghosty shape. Then all went back to the Shrine of Compassion and laid Pythos to his final rest. He is resting in peace now, and a monument was build to remind everybody of him and the ancient Stormguard which was built in earlier days where Nothwood is today. Raven Gustare Rogues o' Britannia I was told the same story by another but would like to include a few of his comments I found interesting as well, On a brief note, it should be made known that these raids occurred before the raids on the British towns of late, and I doubt a connection to the mysterious "Mistress." We gathered that these undead [that attacked] were former citizens or occupants of Stormguard, their spirits not as rest. Though not inherently evil ... as restless forms of undead they mindlessly sought to reenact the chaos they experienced near the end of their mortal lives. A final journal of Pythos' had been found that day. Within it was the reason for such activity in and about the Shrine. Pythos hoped to find eternal rest by having his body buried at the Shrine of Compassion, or relatively nearby. Pythos spirit bade farewell to us one last time at a spot just south of the Compassion Shrine, where his true grave had been. No stone marked such (at the time anyhow) grave, but nonetheless, Pythos was now at peace. Perhaps a week following this, I myself had the opportunity to meet Sylan once more. He had told me of something miraculous- a memorial and gravestone had been placed at Pythos site of rest. The interesting thing is, Sylan claimed no responsibility for the building of such, and was quite clueless as to who the architect of the memorial had been. Kyle Duskwalker Traveler of Many Paths I agree that Lord Pythos's life and the attacks that accompanied his recent attempts at contacting the living are not directly connected to the present attacks we are experiencing. However as to why after all this time the Lord and citizens of Stormguard would act on their unrest, there is this intersting comment: Now as for [all this], mayhaps it hast appeared for a reason, mayhaps similer times hath caused it to enter the present, as strange things dost happen in our land with nay explaination, nor appearent reason, yet they do happen. Milanus Sargon Indeed it seems like similar times in many ways, yet I hope that we will not fall as Stormguard did. Let us take this story as both a warning and an inspriration. Posted by Deathfyre - 2:54 PM EST ^top Wednesday, January 26, 2000 Healers of Britannia ^top From: Dove the Healer of Yew The first part of our preparation to deal with Tatianna's prophesy of impending plague has been accomplished. The Healer's Caravan did this last Sunday deliver healing supplies to the village of Kinship where this plague is said to make land. The leaders of Kinship, both wise in their forethought and generous in their sacrifice of a building for this cause, have set up a field hospital on the village's main street. We are still stocking the place in preparation for the solemn business ahead. The second phase of our plan is now at hand. The time has come for we that ply the healing craft to gather together, to learn each other's names and faces, and plan the strategies with which the course of this most dreadful prophesy might yet be turned. Because no one time seems to fit all schedules, and in this grave hour I would not be lacking of even one of your counsel, I plan to hold this meeting twice. Also, in that the prophesy named the Skara Brae and Kinship region as the place this dread disease would make land by infected ship, I have chosen the Counselor's Hall in Skara Brae to meet. We shall then be but a short ferry ride from the hospital so that we might make the spot known to you all. I already plan to have runes marked for all healer's involved so that we might come at a moments notice of these plague ships being sighted. Meeting #1: Date: Saturday, January 29th Time: 8 pm (eastern) Place: Counselor's Hall, Skara Brae Meeting #2: Date: Sunday, January 30th Time: 3 pm (eastern) Place: Counselor's Hall, Skara Brae In response to those who might worry that this meeting may become too large to be constructive, I beg those who read this, come only if you consider yourself a healer. I will announce another gathering of alchemists at a later date, who might also be of some assistance with their healing tinctures and remodies. But leave these two dates to the healers. Certainly, everyone's concern is noted and many will wish to assist in whatever means and by whatever profession they practice. We will post any decisions we reach so that all the folk of the land might then add to it their help. Let us, though, work through this first meeting with only those who will be providing the medical assistance that such an epidemic will require, for if we can not plan a little while in peace, I fear for the chaos to follow. With all my hope for success, be safe, Dove the Healer of Yew Posted by Balandar - 10:23 AM EST ^top A Call to Arms ^top Citizens of Britannia, It is now evident that the darkness foretold has begun to manifest, that the one known simply as "The Mistress" is a real and tangible danger to the kingdom in which we reside. The capture of Lord Nicolus, designed as psychological warfare, was but the first step in a grandscale campaign to subvert and conquer the lands we claim as ours. As I write this missive, cities such as Trinsic and Vesper lay under siege, waves upon waves of the enemy weakening our defenses with each new day... But these events are simply predecessors to a coming storm. It is in this time, this lull before the tide breaks, that we must play our hand to full advantage. For if we are not prepared for what is to come, chaos and disorder will lay waste to our ranks, leaving us defenseless against whatever lies in wait, writhing just beyond our vision... It is time to come together, to disregard differences in race, in paradigm, in speech, and in manner. It is time to let grudges fall away, to unify with those you once warred, to set aside whatever seperates us fromone another. In this time of darkness, victory will not come easily, but I assure you that together, we can weather whatever is thrown our way, and disallow the capture of our lands by the presence that hasinvaded. And so my proposition remains that a council be formed, a representative coalition designed to organize our defense, improve communication, and unify the masses into one strong and steadfast army. To bring this to fruition, I advocate a meeting of all citizens who wish to stand against this threat, to be held on Wednesday, January 26th, at 8:30pm EST, in the King's Men Theatre of the capital city, Britain. Diplomats from all walks of life are encouraged toattend; the greater the participation, the more resources we will have to combat the arrival of the Mistress. During the meeting, relevant information discovered throughout the course of past events will be discussed and further researched, leadership will be selected, organization of our forces will begin, and a contact list will be created in order to facilitate a call to arms in the event of an attack. I would suggest that all who are interested review the materials available on the events that have occured in recent weeks: journals recovered during the rescue of Lord Nicolus are on display in Castle Britannia's south wing, and Stratics has pertinent articles dating back to the end of December, both in Quest and Event News, and the Catskills section. In addition, the Brotherhood of Wayrest has apparently been involved in many of the town attacks, and has detailed descriptions of each battle at their web site: http://www.wayrest.uoguilds.com. And finally, for an array of pictures and a line by line journal from the Lord Nicolus quest, view the following archive at http://www.destard.com/quest. I can be contacted through the telepathic method known as ICQ at 46756588 (please include the word "alliance" in your authorization request), or through Britain's Postal Service at jessicaven at yahoo.com. If anyone has questions, concerns, or ideas, I would urge them to contact me as soon as possible, and have a presence at the meeting on Wednesday, January 26th, at 8:30pm EST, in the King's Men Theatre of the capital city, Britain. Until then, -Mistress Eve Posted by Balandar - 10:21 AM EST ^top Tuesday, January 25, 2000 The Mysterious Late Lord Pythos ^top From UOSS There are many gravestones in the land, located among many cemetaries and crypts. It is unusual however to find one out by itself, especially in the middle of the desert. But there is a large and lonely monument in the middle of the desert of Britannia, and more odd still is that no one seems to know anything about it. News of the grave first reached me on the morn of the 20th of January from a Staff Sgt. Carlos, one of the Outriders, of the Black Rose Society. Here is what he sent me: Last night a wall and grave monument appeared behind the Shrine of Compassion. The name on the stone is Lord Pythos. The shrine was the scene of an Undead attack last week. There were many dozens of lichs, bone knights, skeletal mages and all the related Undead beasties. We thought it was odd not only for the sheer size of the attack but also that the Undead never are seen in the desert. We think there is more in store for us. News of an undead attack in the desert was indeed odd, but I was more intrigued by the monument and the man it commemorated. I got up early that morn, packed some food and water into my backpack, mounted my horse and set off for the Shrine. The trip was smooth, and upon arriving at the shrine I dismounted my horse and walked out the narrow spit of land that the shrine sits on. Dropping to one knee and bowing my head, I offered a silent prayer to honor the shrine and the visit. When I straighted up I saw a wall of stone across the water on the other side of the oasis's pond. Gathering my horse I rode around the pond to take a closer look. The wall I had seen bordered a tall stone on three sides. The stone read simply, "The Grave of Lord Pythos." There were a few flowers in the front, but not so much to give the impression that it was being tended by a greiving widow or loyal clansmen. Even so, someone had taken the time to erect the large stone wall and tall monument. I wondered vaguely if the wall was to shelter the stone in sandstorms or if it was there merely to add to the size. I reached into my pack and grabbed my journal. I sketched the stone and its wall best I could, sketching in myself and the shrine for perspective reference. Not seeing anyone yet awake to interview, I headed back home. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon interviewing various people in Yew about the most recent attack that had occured during my morning's ride. At the end of each interview I asked if they knew anything of a Lord Pythos. Each person however was as unknowing as I concerning the man or his marker. Feeling overworked and underfed I walked back towards home to sit down to some hot ginseng tea and muffins. Just as I stepped up to my porch I saw a carrier pigeon homing in on me. I opened its note and sent a reply agreeing to meet the two members of the Militia of Yew in the abbey. I grabbed some smoked fish in lieu of relaxing to my tea and walked back to the abbey. I greeted Paul Atreides, Militia Captian, who I already knew, and he introduced me to Guardsman Dash, one of his men. Dash had several interesting thoughts and theories on the recent attacks and we shared and compared ideas for a little while. More out of habit than with hope of success, I asked them if they had ever heard of Lord Pythos when we had finished talking of the attacks. I was already tucking away my journal when I realised they were answering yes. Glad to have found a lead at last, I listened intently, but it took me a bit to grasp it. I was told Lord Pythos had visited Northwood, and the citizens had tried to communicate with his spirit. I asked,"You mean they talked to his ghost?" "More or less," Paul replied. He told me a bit more of the story as he had heard it, but explained he had not been there. I would have to go to Northwood itself to get the full story. I decided to wait until evening to go because I was tired, and when the evening arrived, I decided to recall there, because my horse was tired. *smiles* Leaving my horse on ground level I went up the stairs of the Winterfell Tower to the library. I heard many voices in the next room and was informed a trial was about to begin. I decided it would make for an interesting diversion and attended the trial. While the judge was in recess before the verdict I had time to ask some questions. Apparently, Lord Pythos had visited Northwood within the previous fortnight. The citizens had attempted to converse with his spirit, which remained invisible to their eyes. They asked yes or no questions into the air, and the spirit replied via signals on a lantern. He also spelled words out onto the ground using piles of gold that appeared out of thin air. Whenever anyone touched the gold however, the ground came alive with undead who attacked those present. He visited on at least two seperate occasions, and had left behind two tattered and badly worn journals, which were housed in the Winterfell's library. This is a copy of the texts. I took special note of the section describing attacks by creatures not from the surrounding land. I, and for that matter most of Britannia, know that feeling well. Watching mummies in Trinsic, imps in Yew, and ice trolls in Vesper seems an adequate parralel.And the second book... I have so far found no information on this Stoneguard Keep, nor of the men once inhabiting and defending it. In fact, the journals seem merely to raise more questions as opposed to answering any. All I can infer is that Lord Pythos was a powerful man, in charge of or owning this Stoneguard Keep and Estate. And that he seemed to have lost all that, mayhap in an attack that also took his life. But I'm not only unsure of where Stoneguard was, but of when it was. Was this a recent fall, coming to its fate due to the same attacks our cities were experiencing? Or was this much earlier, and this sudden information and grave's appearance at this desperate hour mere coincidence? There is more information yet to be learned about this man, and about his spirit's visit in Northwood. I have yet to find out what questions were asked of him, and what was learned during those sessions. I decided to go ahead and print what I do have in hopes that others may contact me with further information. If you know anything about Lord Pythos, and why he has a such a large monument so prominently displayed so near a shrine, do write to me. I suppose now that he is dead and apprently at rest it is not a matter of great hurry, but it seems a shame that this man rest in a grave of such granduer, with writing of such bare simplicity, and so many seem to not know who he was. Posted by Balandar - 12:29 AM EST ^top Monday, January 24, 2000 Fulfillment of Tatiana's Prophecy--Attacks on Kinship ^top From UOSS. This is the tale that reached our ears: Tatiana’s Truth Willow stepped onto the road, her footsteps quick, but heavy. Bodies littered the road that cut through the village and blood pooled in the wheel ruts and hoof prints. Towards the docks she could hear the fighting continuing, the yelling and the sounds of magic and dying. Miss Ari had sent out the call for all that could to come to Kinship with all haste and Willow had come just as fast as she could. Evil Mages and brigands invaded. Tatiana’s prophecy. Willow ran as fast as she could towards the docks. She patted her pack to assure herself she had bandages. There would be wounded for sure and even her meager skills might be of use. Kinship and her allies had heard the gypsy woman’s words many times. A plague was coming and it was coming to first to Skara and Kinship. Willow didn’t know when the gypsy had first spouted her doom, but she knew all too well that her beloved home had become a place where Tatiana’s words seemed to bring chaos and death. A forest of reapers on her and Frank’s wedding day. An attack of lizardmen, corpsers and blood elementals. Now evil mages and brigands. She’d heard of other attacks. Yew overrun with monbats, Trinsic with undead. Tatiana’s prophecy. Willow continued to race down the road, oblivious to the death she stepped over and around. Mages, brigands, dead. As she approached the dock, she slowed when she saw Miss Ari approach her. She stopped and waited. Miss Ari carried herself nobly, pushing back stray locks of her auburn hair, trying to not show the exhaustion that covered her like a cloak. "It be o’er," Ari said. She did not stop her steady pace back towards the tavern, even as she patted Willow on the shoulder. Willow stood there in the middle of the blood soaked road and watched as other defenders passed her, blood spattered, wounds bound some still bleeding. A chill wind blew through the trees, rattling the winter bare limbs like bones of a skeleton. "Yes." Willow said to no one. "For now." Aye, I've a feeling more will follow of the prophecy. May all fare well in these days. Posted by Balandar - 9:08 PM EST ^top Simultaneous Attacks on Brittania's Cities ^top From: UOSS I received this report from Rodgar of some of the latest town attacks: Hail thee, Again I have to report about heavy attacks and again evil sends in numerous minions. Like everyday I started my patrols in Trinsic, where I found all types of monsters hunting for innocent citizen like everyday during the last weeks! While still fighting in Trinsic, news of a really heavy attack on Vesper reached me and the Brotherhood gated there as the situation in Trinsic seemed to be under control. Large numbers of frost trolls challenged us on the streets of Vesper! From Vesper we headed to Britain without the chance to catch some breath. Large numbers of Lizardmen and Ratmen marched into the city from the south and across the western bridge. A real bloodbath! We tracked the source of the attacks down to the stables west of Britain. Unfortunately we couldn't see any gate through which the creatures appeared and which we might have used to slip through and look what's on the other side.... anyway, as the situation was under controll we left to clear up the woods in front of Cove--headless and gazers pestered the area! From Cove to Yew - quite a bit of work today for the Brotherhood!! All this happend at about the same time! The Brotherhood temporarily split forces to support several cities at the same time. We didn't have enough men to fight for the new lands too though! ... a few hours later on another patrol ... ... the town cryers told news, that long dead prisoners had risen from the dead again! From the jail they must have found a secret underground pathway to the nearby bridge, where they appeared at the surface one after the other ... well, they didn't spend too much time in freedom, we sent them back where they came from within minutes! After the battle we were very proud as Elder Dak stopped by to congratulate us! It's good to see that Lord British is watching his loyally devoted knights! Brotherhood of Wayrest Thank you again, Rodgar. Posted by Balandar - 8:41 PM EST ^top The Defense of Delucia ^top From: Keepers of Anthems It was a cold and rainy day in the northern hights of Britannia when it came on my mind to travel to Delucia, in the Lost Lands. A little bit of adventure a little bit of training my tailoring skills, and of course: shiny weather! That's what I want on such a clumsy day. At Papua's "Ye Olde Loan & Savings " a friendly mage opened a gate to Delucia for me. Nothing in mind I stepped trough the gate and got shocked: there was a corpse of an ophidian lying near the gate. Quickly I armed myself... an ophidian near the Healer? No way, something's going wrong here. With the worstest fears in mind I rode to the bank. No second too late, I engaged in a raging battle between a whole bunch of ophidian warriors, avengers, enforcers and shamanes that had invaded Delucia. On the other side some warriors and mages tried to defend the innocent and of course their lifes against the intruders, but they were only few in numbers. I emerged into the battle and we managed to kill most of those monstrous foes, but I got heavy wounded and had to retreat to cure my wounds. Still the danger in mind the crawls at the bank I tryed to scout the city gates. At the northern palisades I discovered even more of that ophidian warriors. Like a deadly stream they tried to pass into the city, but luckly I could resist their attacks and send two more of them right where they belong. Meantime some warriors had joined forces at my side and fought bravly against the foes. Again I decided to check the city - perhaps there are still more of them. As I reached the local Healer I quickly healed myself, happy that this time my armour had more bumps then my head. As I reached the "The Barley Inn" I saw a lot of human corpses scattered accros the battlefield, quickly decaying. Suddenly from the south they appeared: a group of fresh ophidian enforcers and two shamans. Before I could take safe position to defend myself they allready attacked me with their magic. Luky me I could refelect some spells, but then the enforcers arrived at my position and attacked me with their mighty weapons - heavy halbards with two blades on the back of the pole - and they know how to fight with them. That was to much, I had to teleport away but got frozen and again the enforcers took on me. Meantime the shamans moved along and found more victims... I haven't seen it personally, but the screams of people suffering and dying are enough to understand. Again I got heavily wounded, and my last chance was to retreat complety. So I rode as fast as I could and reached the Inn. Only seconds after reaching theInn I sighted another wave of attackers, just round the Inn. But unfortunally the badest thing that ever could happen to a warrior happened: LAG. My last chance to survive and bring you this tale was to leave instantly. So I did. What a shame *sighs*. But I swear that I will return and have vengeance for all that innocent victims! Taron Scout & Weyrcraftsman Posted by Balandar - 7:58 PM EST ^top Friday, January 21, 2000 New Monsters, New Tactics--The Growth of Town Attacks ^top From: UOSS I spent the day yesterday tracking down leads on various stories, trying to forget the town attacks for one day. But my desire for a holiday was not shared by the attackers nor, lucklily, by our many defenders. I had just recalled into Vesper to pick up some feed for my horse. When the fog cleared and I fully settled into the magical transition of being there, I was shocked to see the corpse of a Frost Troll on the ground in front of the bank. Although mildly releived I had arrived late enough to see only the corpse--I was not wearing my armor--I was still surprised to see a beast not native to the surrounding area. I hailed a man just preparing to go through a gate and was lucky enough to meet Rodgar who has written to me before of the attacks. He informed me this was not the first attack attended by Frost Trolls and told me of other things too. He promised to send me a more detailed report by scroll that eve, and that he did. This is what he sent to me: Hail thee, During the last days, I have been reporting about intensifying attacks on Trinsic ... first we encountered only light attacks by minor monsters, mainly skeletons and mummies. Then skeletal knights and bone magis were seen in the lines of the attacking forces ... A few days later the one who controlls these attacks added liches to his troops. Today I even saw a new type of mummies in the assault. Mummies with a bluish skin! These bluish mummies prooved to be much stronger fighters than their cognates! I counted six or seven of them throughout the city of Trinsic today. There was another new strategy of the attackers: they appeared everywhere in town, not only at the gates or near the banks! We found a group of undead in the south of the city, nearby the healer ... this way the attacking groups could ambush and easily kill single citizens wandering the streets alone! After searching almost every corner of Trinsic for hiding undead, we gated to Vesper from where reports of a heavy attack reached us. And indeed, an heavy attack it was! We found new types of monsters amongst the attackers here too, stronger monsters! Frost Trolls! These prooved to be formidable fighters compared to ordinary forest trolls! Next to sending new types of warriors into battle, evil chose to send them in larger numbers. While riding around the city I was trapped by a group of six trolls who ambushed me on a narrow road alongside the city. Luckily my fellow brothers heard my shouting and the trolls grunting. They followed the noise and joined the combat. While fighting the trolls and healing each other, a few more fighters joined our group and soon the last troll was defeated in Vesper. Well, this wasn't really a turn of events - we had expected heavier attacks. But we couldn't expect to meet a new type of mummy or frost trolls inside our cities. This confused me! Where do these monsters come from? Where are they recruited or who summons them? Hmmm, frost trolls makes me think about the ice dungeon and the new lands ... it seems the disease isn't regionally limited to the old lands but spreads to the new lands too. Maybe it even originates from there!? We still know too little about the background or the precise aims of the attacks! But we can say for sure that frost trolls in the streets of Vesper is not good at all! With the frost trolls in mind we decided to venture the new lands. Papua was our first destination. We arrived there just in time! This city was under attack too, hissing ophidians all over the place! And here too I could spot a type of monster I didn't know before. An ophidian justicar. This snake prooved to be a worthy opponent! It threw a heavy punch and had quite some potent magical abilities! Killing the ophidian justicar after a fierce brawl added to my karma like only the strongest monsters do! And speaking of dangerous foes, there were even ophidian matriarchs among the snakes. I am sure I don't have to tell you about the attack potential of that creature! It threw a series of flame strikes at us but The Brotherhood brought it down in the end! As all this isn't bad news enough there was another attack on Britain too! Tired from the long day of fighting we could hardly assist the locals in defending the city! Where will this end? The number of attackers increases constantly and so does their potency. If we don't find any clue to what this really is about so we can start to seek out and destroy the evil's root, I fear some cities won't be populated by humans any longer in the future. Thanks again, Rodgar, for your words. I would like to add to this by saying in interviews I conducted in Yew there was mention of new creatures there as well. The last few days have seen what was bare mongbat attacks become added to by forces of fierce orcs, headless, gazers, and the last word was of Imps. The Imps are especially notable as they, like the mummies and frost trolls, are not native to these areas. Again we warn you, be wary. If you are a warrior of any kind, repair your armor, fill your quiver, supply your reagent bag, whatever is necessary to remain in top condition--you are needed. If you are a noncombatant, do not feel left out. We need the miner's iron, the tailor's fine leather, the fisherman's food, the fletcher's swift arrows, and the like to remain ready. But please when you are out on your business keep your eyes open. These are dangerous times for us all. Be strong, be smart, be wary, be safe. Posted by Balandar - 11:52 AM EST ^top Thursday, January 20, 2000 Attacks Begin on Britian! ^top From: UOSS I had heard recent reports of large masses of Lizardmen and Ratmen moving along the road from Trinsic towards Britian, but my cynical mind, or perhaps my hopeful heart, had written them off as mere paranoia. But the reports in the last few hours have become more clear, and then Rodgar of Wayrest, who has written to me before of the town attacks, again writes and with on-the-scene artist renderings as well. Here is what he sent to me by messenger this morn: Today I got the first report of attacks INSIDE of Britain. The City has been under attack by Lizardmen!! This is the first time, that I get reports on direct attacks on our capital. Look at this scribble made by Cyrus: There are only a few lizardmen that found their way but my feeling tells me that there will be more! Much more! Later on I got another call from my brother Cyrus about an ongoing attack on Trinsic. Without hesitation I left my desk, where I was writing a report about the quest around Saint Giddeon, and headed for the western gate of Trinsic. There I met my brother Cyrus, Dryfus (HdF) and Sharn (ViV). The four of us had little problems defeating the few occasional undead that appeared. After defeating all of them and patrolling the streets for a while, we decided to check the other cities which have been under attack during the last days. First I opened a gate to Vesper where everything was quite. Nobody had heard about attacks by trolls or other monsters during the day. From Vesper I opened a magical gate to Yew. There we met a few Knights of Yew in the abbey. No time for extensive hailing though, because we heard the town cryer yelling from the outside, that an army of orcs where heading towards the abbey. And indeed, an army it was. After fighting with all we got, the attack was repelled and Yew turned to be almost quiet once again. Although we were already tired from the extensive fighting and with low ressources on reagents, we decided to visit Cove too. To my great relieve all was quiet there, so I return home to my desk and continue with my little tale ... *lights the candle and starts writing* Rodgar Brotherhood of Wayrest Thank you for rushing this information to us. I must agree with you that I fear more Lizardmen may be on the way. It looks as if our most desperate hour may soon be upon us, good luck to all. Posted by Balandar - 12:54 PM EST ^top Announcing the Opening of the Weary Ranger Tavern ^top From: UOSS We received this announcement: Barmaid Babette will be there to serve you most evenings from 7 to 11 pm EST. We carry a wide variety of drink as well as baked goods & roast game. There is a private dining/meeting area available for parties of 7 or less and ample space in the main tavern area for larger groups. I would like to increase staff to cover more time slots - so if you would be intereded in tending the bar please write me at uo at mindspring.com or ICQ me at 3883205. Cheers, Elanor Thank you, Elanor. Posted by Balandar - 12:50 PM EST ^top The Realm to Hold Grand Opening Festivities for New City ^top From: UOSS We received this announcement: Hail Great citizens of Britania my name is Swinney the Guildmaster to the Lords of the Eternal Realm. I would like to announce the Grand Openning of a large player run city named The Realm. It consists of three towers, six two stories, and over 25 small dwellings all in one area! The event will take place on Sunday, January 23rd. The open house will last all day and all that is Noble, and even those that are Ignoble as long as they can contain themselves while visiting, are invited. We'll have guards making rounds for everyone's safety. We want to make this a happy place for all to visit, replenish and enjoy! We'll have several Events for the day that will be posted on our web site under The Realm section. Some of these events will include Raffles, PvP tournament, Tours of the Town and handout of books with The Realm history in them. So please come and pay us a visit on Sunday and check out our many craft venders as well. People are welcome to visit us anytime as well. Here is The Realm map. The Sextant coordinates of The Realm are: 76-27n 29-40e, just north of Wind Mountain and the northern desert right along the Road. Look for The Realm signs and The Troll War Boss Head on a wall outside our Town Hall. Thanks and we look forward to seeing everyone there! Swinney (GM to the LER) Thank you, Swinney, and good luck! Posted by Balandar - 12:46 PM EST ^top Wednesday, January 19, 2000 Setting up unique skill charts ^top From: UOSS With Jalek's new client finally going in yesterday, players are now able to customize their skill charts much more than before. Below are just a few tips to help make life a little easier in tracking your characters: You can rename any and all categories, including default ones. In other words, you can change the default "Combat Ratings" category to "Warrior Skills". You do this by double clicking on the name of the category, then retyping over it. You can add new categories by clicking on the option at the bottom of the scroll. You can delete any & all existing categories, including default ones. If you delete a folder that has skill sets in it, all of these skills will automatically be moved to another folder. You do this by highlighting the folder and hitting the Delete key on your keyboard. [NOTE to UOA Users - You must disable the "removeWeapon" macro in order to use this key in this manner] With the new client, every single character can be customized. For instance, you can set up a Merchant to have only 2 skill sets - "Merchant Skills" and "Unused Skills". You can drag skills into different folders by single-click & holding, then dragging to whichever category you want them placed. Posted by Balandar - 11:47 PM EST ^top Get rid of those surplus characters! ^top From: UOSS - General News Remember the end of the "Clean up Britannia" campaign ? All players traded in their carefully gathered loot, treasure and less prescious items for holiday tickets. As a result of that the time needed for backups was dramatically reduced, resulting in a shorter down-time for the shards. But then, all of a sudden, shard down-times increased again at the end of last year. Atticus McCloud may have figured out why and even comes with a solution. Just a reminder to all of the many holiday traders. OSI has stated in the past that character data makes up a large amount of the backup time. So in order to continue with the season, and keeping other people in mind as you play, please delete those characters on other shards that you used to match holiday tickets. This will continue to keep all our backup times normal. Thanks. Atticus McCloud of PXR Atlantic I can only say it makes perfect sense to me. So please, after you traded tickets, delete those unwanted characters. Thanks. Posted by Balandar - 11:45 PM EST ^top Thoughts on the Town Attacks ^top From: UOSS - Catskills Shard It has been many days since the first scattered reports of town attacks began to filter to me, but time has not improved the situation. In fact it seems to have grown worse with each new wave that hits us. The towns of Vesper, Trinsic, Cove and Yew have been inundated with wave after wave of attacks which seem to be increasing in numbers and severity. This comment from Jearom of Nevermore about an attack on Vesper, Four and five at a time surrounding the fighters...More trolls to be found in every corner, I lost count after just a few minutes of trying. The trolls are indeed that numerous, and the other attacks are going the same way. But what is perhaps more disturbing than these vast growing numbers is the fact that the creatures themselves are getting tougher. This quote from a story by Rodgar concerning Trinsic illustrates these points, I encountered the first larger group of undead, a shade, a skeletal knight, a bone magi and two liches ... Liches!!! I had seen skeletal knights and mages in the earlier attacks but today I discovered the first liches under the attackers ... the forces evil was sending seemed to get stronger!...I felt the number of enemies had increased since the last attack yesterday and with the number of enemies the number of losses on the side of the defenders increased too. This upping of the ante has not been confined to the fate of Trinsic. Yew, who previously had just mass numbers of mongbats to contend with, are now dealing with ever increasing numbers of orcs. Cove, which has mainly dealt with headless ones, now have gazers paralyzing the populace with their evil eyes. All this is the most current news I know to give you, and most of you are already aware of it. But if I may step out of the shoes of mere reporter for a bit then I'd like to share some thoughts and questions that have occured to me. First I wish to look at this from a naturalists point of view. What natural reasons are there for animals to swarm? For they are swarming. We humans "swarm" for economical reasons primarily, but these attacks are not being waged by very economically minded species. Another reason is for mating, but they have not seemed to be inclined towards that either, as many of our warriors will attest. So we must assume they mean to invade our cities to take them over, but one thing puzzles me about this. Recently in the abbey in Yew I witnessed one of the attacks by the mongbats. As any warrior would, I stepped up to defend my city. The mongbats huddled together, then began to attack those of us rushing down on them. I am a grandmaster swordswoman who is partial to her halberd. I was not weilding anything but an average halberd that had a bit of wear on it, yet I killed these beast in one hit. This is not exactly surprising as mongbats are weak. But I have to wonder, are they that stupid as well? Do they not know that even in these large numbers they have no hope of taking over Yew? But why else might they come? Well, what if they are not coming in, but instead running out? What I mean is, what if they are coming into town in order to escape something else? What if the trolls are attacking Vesper in order to have a new place to live, not because they don't like us, but because they have little other choice? Another thing is the Yew attacks have been added to by a force of orcs. Have you ever known orcs, a fierce proud race, to work with much of anybody, let alone lowly mongbats? But both the orcs and the mongbats dwell in the woods. I feel we must ask ourselves, is something driving them out of the woods? The same holds true for the creatures attacking Cove and Vesper. And take note of Trinsic, there are caves that are just outside of trinsic that lead to the lost lands, to the City of the Dead in the lost lands! So let's say my theory that they are being driven out is correct. That leaves us with the problem of who is doing that and why. This is very difficult. We know that the lizardmen are at odds with the trolls, but they are not known to have problems with the headless ones or the mongbats. The orcs have often been one of the more ambitious of the lower humaniods, but they would have little desire to posses graveyards. In fact I can't find much of anything in the usual natural world that seems to have a motive, the power, or the intellect to do this. But it has been pointed out that the four cities targeted are both good areas to gather provisions, and surround Britian, home to our liege and capital of our lands. This would mean a large scale attack, and again is out of the league of most of the species that are being seen in the attacks, and we can probably rule out a massive coalition of undead/orc/mongbat/trolls/headless ones. So if the attackers are not in cohoots with eachother, and are being driven out not by their natural enemies, but are being driven, then what have we got? A new enemy, or more likely, a human one. One who would be more likely to coordinate an attack on these four Britian-surrounding cities. Rumors fly over fear of Mondain's return. I pray this is not true, but I think we are hitting close to home. If not Mondain, mayhap another of similar nature. In fact, let's all think back to not too long ago. Lord Nicolus was reported missing and freed not quite a month ago, and afterwards the most frightening of evidence, that of books signed by a "Mistress," were displayed in the castle as the Lady Eve had reported to us. I feel strongly there may be a tie. I'm not sure what, but something seems definate. What was the evil that was hinted to in those tomes? Unfortunately, even if I am on the right track it doesn't help much. Jearom of Nevermore had finished his story to me saying, The Trolls have invaded our cities, I say it's time to take the fight to them. Find where they live, and finish this, once and for all. The problem with that is we've never liked these attackers and have therefore done little to try and really figure them out. We don't really know where they all come from. And if I'm right and someone is behind all this, we know even less about them or their whereabouts. It seems that all we can do for now is bravely defend our cities against ever growing numbers of stronger and stronger attacks. If you are a citizen of a "safe" city, I personally ask on the behalf of those of us living under siege to come join us in our defense. For it seems if we fail in our defense, the whole of our world may soon fall as well. Citizens of Britania, be brave, be true, be united. Posted by Balandar - 12:34 AM EST ^top Client Patching Solutions ^top Players currently experiencing difficulties patching the newest version of the Ultima Online client should check the following: Be sure to use Ultima Online version 1.26.2b. If you are attempting to patch using any version of the Test Client, you will not be able to patch until switching to the most recent live client version. If you have deleted your previous version of Ultima Online, or have overwritten it with the Test Client, you will need to reinstall UO from your CD. Check the “Patch” directory within your Ultima Online directory (the default location is C:\\Program Files\Ultima Online\Patch). This directory should be empty. Any files in this directory should be deleted. If you are unable to connect to the patch server at all, and are using an original (Non-T2A) version of Ultima Online, you may need to update your verinfo file. For details on updating this file, please see the information posted at http://support.uo.com/c_issue.html. Run a virus scan on your computer. Undetected viruses may cause conflicts with patching Ultima Online. If after trying the above, you are still experiencing difficulty patching the Ultima Online client, please contact Technical Support at tech at uo.com. Posted by Balandar - 12:13 AM EST ^top Tuesday, January 18, 2000 From the login message ^top IMPORTANT NEWS! The Clean Up Britannia Phase III publish will be activated on all shards in the upcoming days. This publish includes item decay in houses and boats. ANY ITEMS NOT LOCKED DOWN, IN A SECURE CONTAINER, OR IN THE HOLD OF A BOAT, WILL DECAY. If you have any items in your house or boat that you do not wish to lose, you must place them in a safe location before the servers restart with the publish activated. For specific details on the shard publish schedule, please visit: http://update.uo.com/fyi.html Posted by Balandar - 11:10 PM EST ^top Lord Brightblade and Lady Finch to Wed ^top Be it known that on the 23rd day of the year 2000 Lord Ser Brightblade and the Lady Scout Finch shall be wed. Time: 8 P.M. EST US Place: PGoH Barracks and Mars Altar Gates will be provided at the entrance of the Trinsic Royal Bank going to Mars Altar beginning at 7.45 P.M. EST US If you are to attend please be promt. Posted by Balandar - 10:59 PM EST ^top Client Patch 1.26.3 ^top This client patch includes the following: A fix to resolve the client ghosting problems. A fix to resolve regular and mini health bars not updating properly. Activating the MyUO button. This will open your browser and bring you to the MyUO page. Character customization that allows you to save settings based on a per character basis, including: Speech and emote colors. Macro settings. Skill groupings. Spell icons. And many other configurable save options. The “save password” feature will no longer be available and the password will be removed from all config files. Note that this will NOT affect players who already have the option checked until they uncheck it. The default skill gain notification is now set to 0.1 instead of 2.0. You will no longer be dismounted from your horse when you log in. Positions of windows and icons will be saved including: UO window size and position. This will also automatically maximize the window if you log out while it is maximized. Gameplay window position. Spellbook and Spell icon positions. Location and size of radar. Skill window. Location of all open containers, including “sub-containers”. Location of minimized containers. Fixes for client stability issues related to crashing when in full screen mode. Posted by Balandar - 10:54 PM EST ^top DAY OF DISCOVERIES and POSSIBILITIES ^top *declaration to realm* Let it be known throughout the realm that on this Sunday (1/16/99) the Imperial Legion of the Purple Guardians of HONOR did defend the Mother City of Trinsic from the assaults of the Undead forces. This was another example of the commitment the PGoH Legion has held in maintaining the saftey of the citizens of Trinsic and its surrounding province. After posting of guards at every gate to into the city the Legion Cohort then returned to the Alter of MARS-GOD of WAR for repairs and reflection of the evenings actions. After a meal of rations from the mess hall a few took a chance to rest while others continued their vigilance at reconnaissance missions to the cities that had fallen prey to assaults lately. A gate did open and out rushed one of the patrols from the city of Trinsic. The word had been brought that evil mages had been found hiding in the EYE of TRINSIC Mountains. The Emperor grabbed his sword, still steaming from repair, and commanded the Legion to return to Trinsic and Senator SerBrightblade who was assembling the Legion to search for the mages. A full Cohort and a half (15) did embark to the EYE of TRINSIC and in tow beast plebian Grey brought 2 Dragons as well; bringing the PGoH force to total of Twenty strong counting the non Legion units. Upon entry to the EYE of TRINSIC evil mage forces slammed into the Emperor as he entered the valley first. Overwhelmed by the Legion these fringe Evil Mages fell quickly. As the Legion moved toward the West wall many an Evil Mage did engage them. Oddly a pair of elementals seemed to block an opening barely visible in the West wall. The closer the Legion pushed; the more Evil mages did appear from the opening. The Legion was pushed back and the esteemed Senator of Arcane Argos did fall to their assault. Quickly the Dragons made a meal of the new wave of Evil Mages. Adventurers from the realm continued to stand beside the PGoH Legion in attempts to enter the opening in the wall. Finally the Emperor took the first steps into the opening and then onto a teleporter which took him to the basement of the main stone building in the EYE of TRINSIC. Here he found Lazlo the mage who seemed relieved but confused. As the room began to fill with the curious, Lazlo decided to take flight now that his captors had been dispatched and he could leave freely. He knew not who was to blame for his capture; but seemed relieved to be free. Again the PGoH Legion did regroup and return to the ALTER of MARS-GOD of WAR Tower. This time a more discussions led to a possible connection. Emperor Borg and Senator of War SerBrightblade then decided to show the Legion their concerns and possible connections to these events and the recent ones around the realm. A gate was opened to a most disturbing place indeed; it was Ghaleons Pinnacle. Inside these walls are signs of death, dismemberment, torture and experimentation; all of which filled the stale air with rotting flesh and decay. Is this a place of the unknown arts of Necromancy? Is this “Well of Souls” combined with the laboratory and death chambers the source of the Undead forces that are summoned by a Necromancer here? Who is this Marduk; who’s name is carved in the base of a liche statue? Ghaleon should know and question him the Emperor did once he appeared in the chamber room. Respectfully Ghaleon did answer Emperor Borg and others in the room. He denied any connections to the instances of which Emperor Borg spoke of and simply smiled and smirked at any drawn conclusions. Interesting indeed both parties agreed at the possibility. The Legion did not take further time from Ghaleon and bid him well; to which he again appeared to show no regard to their good will. The forces of the PGoH Legion did then leave Ghaleon in his chamber; knowing that if he is involved that he does now know that the PGoH Empire is watching this laboratory of death he resides within. The Mother City of Trinsic has seen the CELLS of UNDEAD appear. The PGoH Legion and fellow travelers have repelled multiple assaults that probe into the city like a HAND and ARM of UNDEAD. Is the full BODY of UNDEAD to be next to assault the city of HONOR? I do not know for sure. I do know that the Purple Guardians of HONOR will meet this UNDEAD BODY and deliver it back to its maker or conjurer regardless of the cost. If that brings us back to Ghaleons Pinnacle or another source of EVIL…. SO BE IT!!! May HONOR GUIDE and BIND thee!!! Colin Mor, Imperial Treasurer and Scribe Posted by Borg - 9:20 AM EST ^top Sunday, January 16, 2000 Welcome to the new Imperial PGoH ethereal plane!!! ^top Greetings all.... I welcome you to the new home of The Purple Guardians of HONOR. Here we will now expand your knowlege of our Empire as well as Catskills realm information of Ultima Online. This site will expand and grow through time and as designed become a hub for information and opportunities for members to enjoy. Visit often and enjoy my brothers, sisters and friends. This was built for you....use it and have FUN!!! May HONOR GUIDE and BIND THEE!!! Comments (0) Posted by Borg - 9:27 PM EST ^top

December 29, 1999 East Coast Connectivity Problems(including cable modem users) (9:39 pm CST) Fron: update.uo.com Our ISP has identified a problem with a piece of hardware that maybe responsible for a majority of the connection problems that players have been experiencing with the east coast shards. These problems include connection issues for many cable modem users. The piece of hardware has been replaced and appears to be working properly. We apologize for the inconvenience that this caused. Origin Technical Support -- Posted by PGoH News Team Pacific reverted to Christmas Eve. (also changes to other shards). (1:26 am CST) Fron Shard issues Due to a house exploit we have had to revert the Pacific Shard to late in the evening Christmas Eve. The seriousness of this exploit has also required us to disable several of the house commands on all shards. The features we disabled that will be most obvious are the ability to demolish a house and re-deed it, and the ability to transfer ownership of a house. Once we are sure we have resolved this issue with houses we will turn these features back on. If you have any information about this exploit we encourage you to send a message to protect-uo at owo.com com . We are very sorry we have had to revert the server and the inconvenience this has caused -- Posted by PGoH News Team December 27, 1999 Connection issues for East Coast Shards (2:11 pm CST) From update.owo.com We are currently experiencing a connectivity problem with East Coast Shards and some of our players using cable modems. The current symptoms of this are– 1) Players are getting stuck at Entering Britannia with a gray screen 2) Players getting into the game but are unable to perform actions such as reading house signs or double clicking an object like a rune book or potion keg. 3) Players getting in and are unable to use the option menu to call for help. If you are having this problem right now, we’d like you to send us a Trace from the shard you are currently trying to connect to. To do this run UOTrace*, click ‘Options’ and make sure ‘Advanced’ is checked. Now, select the server you wish to trace to from the pull down menu, then click the ‘Trace route’ button. Once the trace is complete, click the ‘Poll’ button. This tells your computer to send data packets to the host server. Let it send around 100 or so packets then select ‘Stop Poll’. Now, click ‘Edit’ then ‘Copy’. Open Notepad, Start>Programs>Accessories, right-click and select ‘Paste’. Save the file and send it in to us at tech at owo.com, so we can narrow down the problem routers. Thanks for your patients and help in solving this problem * If you do not have UOTrace you can download it from the http://www.uo.com/downloads.html -- Posted by PGoH News Team December 24, 1999 A Temp Fix. (4:42 pm CST) From COB and other sources. "I'm getting reports that people who have been unable to play on the East Coast shards, specifically at home cable modem users, have been helped by using the iSpeed program, found here at download.com. If you're having problems, this may be a solution for you. Use the settings the program determines as Optimal. This is for users of Windows 95 and 98. Please note, this does involve changing registry settings, and changing such can have unwanted effects on your system if done incorrectly. Please read all documentation before using any program like this, and we here at Crossroads of Britannia make no guarantee of the safety or stability of the changes this program makes. -Virgil - 7:16 AM MST" Before you do this I would take a look at this Bandwidth test site before and after you change your MaxMTU. If you edit it by hand do not set the MaxMTU above 1468.. else you will still get that freeze. Some systems may vary on this. Most likely your speed for downloading will slow down to a crawl. I hope this will not have to be a permanent fix but just a temporary one. - Balandar -- Posted by PGoH News Team East Coast Connectivity update (2:43 am CST) COB Dev Board. Alright, guys... thanks a lot for your help working on this. Here's the status as I see it: We have numerous reports of users from at Home having trouble connecting to East coast shards. These users report problems both with and without cable modems (so speed is not necessarily the factor here). We have one (I've only seen one) traceroute from one non- at Home user (AOL). I've looked at my outgoing traceroutes to all of the sites you've given my traces for, and I can't see ANY packet loss or poor connectivity at ANY site within OSI or Global Center. Additionally, I am EXTREMELY confident that no network code has changed in the last two or three days (even the last week); if there had been, I'd probably be the guy who wrote it. All of the shards run the same codebase, and you all have reported having the same troubles with both old and new (test) clients, and old and new characters. I will pass this info on to our operations/networking gurus tomorrow, to see if they can't get some direct resolution from the providers in question. I'm not a network engineer, so it's difficult for me to troubleshoot this. Once again, I'm very confident it isn't related to the client or server networking code; if it were, we would be seeing FAR MORE reports of problems. It may be helpful for you each to attempt to pursue this issue with your provider, to see if you can't make any headway. I will do my best to get this resolved from my end. Thanks for your help, and happy holidays! --Krelin -- Posted by PGoH News Team December 11, 1999 Silent Dread Creeps into the Land of Britannia Dec 9 1999 11:51AM (10:19 am CST) OWO Website: Developers Comments From the very beginning, Ultima Online players have asked the question, “Where is the evil in Ultima Online? Who is our nemesis?” As developers, we regularly receive messages asking for us to introduce evil on a par with the powerful antagonists from the classic Ultima. Be careful what you wish for... I warn you now, a great Evil has been plotting for some time to return to the world of Britannia. Be on guard. Prepare your guilds and mend your weapons, for this Evil is both a charismatic leader and a master of magic. So insidious is its intent that I must warn you to keep an eye on your fellow citizens, lest they be tempted to side with this new element of corruption. Keep in mind, this Evil plots to destroy Lord British and control all of Britannia. Your lands and your way of life are at risk. I encourage you to seek out this evil and crush it before it has a chance to gain a foothold within your world, for if it is left to grow and fester, it will one day become unstoppable. The world of Ultima Online may never be the same again. You have been warned... SunSword sunsword at uo.com -- Posted by PGoH News Team December 09, 1999 Publish Update (11:49 am CST) OWO Website: FYI Dec 8 1999 7:41PM In order to activate the latest changes to the publish, we plan on bringing the Pacific Shard down later this evening. Once the publish is updated to the shard, the Pacific shard will go down following its next backup in order to keep any time warp to a minimum. Once Pacific returns, we will continue to monitor the publish throughout the night and into tomorrow. We will update Shard Issues later this evening with more information about Pacific. The other shards will not have the publish when they return from their Thursday maintenance. We will release more information on the publish update to the remaining shards as soon as it is available. -- Posted by PGoH News Team December 08, 1999 December 8th Publish (12:23 am CST) OWO Website: FYI We are targeting tomorrow, December 8th (CST) to publish the shards with an update. The update will be active on the Pacific Shard first after it comes back from its morning maintenance. We will then monitor the shard for any issues. Provided all goes well, the other shards will be published and will have the update after they return from their next scheduled maintenance. We will update you here tomorrow as the publish procedure progresses. The publish will contain the following: The “someone is already using this” message with potion kegs will be addressed. Issues with Potions Keg weight will be fixed. You will no longer be able to make a Potion Keg "secure". Using a Potion Keg will now check line-of-site. Potion kegs will stack. Locked down stackable items (such as ingots and fish steaks) can only be used or “cut” by the owner, friends, and co-owners of a house. This applies to both private and public houses. An adjustment to veterinary skill gain will be made to allow players to reach grandmaster in the skill. Co-owners will be able to “detect hidden” in houses. Houses reporting incorrect number of lockdowns will be addressed. When a co-owner is removed, the strong box associated with them will be deleted. All items will fall to the floor. Issues related to co-owners when a house is deleted or the co-owner is removed while the player is offline will be addressed. Locking down a container will now check to make sure you have enough lock downs available. If you do not, the container and the items in it will not be locked down. Lockdown will ignore items inside of spellbooks, rune books, keyrings, and checkerboards. These items will only count as one lock down. You will no longer need to remove co-owners in the order they were added. A fix for a problem where exceptionally crafted tailored armor has the same AR as normal tailored armor. When a container is unsecured, it will have a weight limit. Sextant coordinates associated with Rune Books will be corrected. UO-chat has been fixed. You can now name the rooms using any letters. A fix for a problem with reported age of houses. Rune books will no longer consume scrolls out of spellbooks. A problem with stealing and locked down items will be addressed. A bug with the trade window will be fixed. Christmas Tress will be activated. Fixes to guildstones to prevent loss of data. Issues with locked down items decaying will be addressed. The [exceptional] tag will be removed and replaced with a new system of marking exceptional items. As an example, an exceptional katana made by a non-Grandmaster smith or made by a Grandmaster smith who chooses not to put his makers mark, will now say, "a katana of exceptional quality". An exceptional katana made by a Grandmaster smith who chooses to place his maker’s mark on it will say, "a katana crafted with exceptional quality by..." This will be true for all exceptional items. -- Posted by PGoH News Team December 04, 1999 Publish Update (1:27 am CST) OWO Website: FYI Dec 3 1999 4:02PM The next publish will include fixes for issues related to the November 23rd publish. The contents of the publish are listed below. A bug with the trade window will be fixed. Problems associated with losing connection while using a potion keg will be addressed. You will no longer be able to “secure” a potion keg. An adjustment to veterinary skill gain will be made to allow players to reach grandmaster in the skill. Co-owners will be able to use detect hidden correctly in their houses. Houses reporting incorrect number of lockdowns will be addressed. Issues related to co-owners when a house is deleted or the co-owner is removed while the player is offline will be addressed. Lockdown will ignore items inside of spellbooks, rune books, keyrings, and checkerboards. A fix for a problem where tailored armor [exceptional] has the same AR as normal tailored armor. The [exceptional] flag will not be added for GM made items provided the player adds their mark to the item. A fix for a bug that creates unlimited weight containers. A fix for a problem with reported age of houses. A problem with stealing and locked down items will be addressed. Rune books will no longer consume scrolls out of spellbooks. Potion kegs will stack. We are currently targeting next week for this publish. We will update you again once a specific date is determined. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Client Patch Today (1:27 am CST) OWO Website: FYI Dec 3 1999 4:06PM We have released a new client patch designed to resolve the “container crash bug”. -- Posted by PGoH News Team

November 17, 1999 IN TESTING: House Co-owners Nov 5 1999 7:20PM CST (11:49 am CST) OWO Website: In Testing All of the features for co-owners will be available for testing on the Test Center Shard later this evening. Co-ownership will allow you to select trusted friends and allies to control some of the important functions of a house. This will allow more flexibility for house owners and provide a method for additional storage for those players who share houses. Selecting Co-owners Other characters on the same account as the house owner will be treated as co-owners unless: They are already an owner or co-owner of another house. You may select up to eight characters to be co-owners: A co-owner may not be the owner of a house. A co-owner may not be a co-owner of another house. To select a co-owner: Double click on your house sign. Click the "friends" option. Select "add a co-owner". A targeting cursor will appear. Target and click on the character you wish to make a co-owner. Removing a co-owner Double click on your house sign. Click the "friends" option. Select "remove a co-owner". A list of co-owners will appear, check the box next to the co-owner you wish to remove. Co-owner Features Co-owners will be able to do everything that an owner can, except: Transfer ownership of the house. Re-deed a house. Add another co-owner. Co-owners can also place one secure container, called a "strongbox". To place a strongbox the co-owner must say, "I wish to place a strongbox". The strongbox will appear at your feet. The strongbox can only be accessed by the co-owner who placed it and the owner of the house. A strongbox can hold up to 25 items and has no weight restrictions. Note that the strongbox is a secure container, but items in the box do not count against the total number of lockdowns for that house. These strongboxes are additional storage. A strongbox belonging to a co-owner that is removed will become unsecure (and subject to decay) as soon as it is accessed again. Other characters on the same account that are being treated as co-owners will NOT be able to place a strongbox. -- Posted by PGoH News Team November 05, 1999 In Testing: Lock Down Changes (0:07 am CST) In Testing We have modified the way locked down containers work. You can now store items in locked down containers. After locking down a container with items in it, the system will automatically lock down all of the items in the container If you do not have enough lock downs available, the system will lock down as many items in the container as you have left, however, the container itself will not lock down nor will the other items. You will need to remove the excess items and bring your lock down total below your maximum before you can lock down the container. Releasing a locked down container will automatically release all of the items in it. Placing an item in a container that is already locked down will not lock down that item. You will need to lock down that item separately, otherwise it will be subject to decay. -- Posted by PGoH News Team

October 29, 1999 Test Client Available Oct 28 1999 6:38PM CST (6:57 pm CST) OWO Website: In Testing The test client is now available on our ftp server. In addition to allowing you to test some of the features in In Testing (such as skill management) this client also contains fixes we are testing for issues such as "ghosting". ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/uo/client/test_skill/ To install the client follow these steps: Click the link above. If you have T2A then click the T2A version. If you do not, click the non-T2A version. Save the file to your desktop (do NOT save the file over your client.exe in your UO directory. If you do, you will need to reinstall UO when we patch the servers.) Load the file from your desktop and log into the Test Center Server. There are a few things we would like to mention about this test client: When playing on a regular shard with the test client, your skill menu will show all skills as 0.0. Note this is a graphical issue, your skills have not changed at all. While we encourage you to use this test client on the normal shards (to see the effects of "ghosting" on regular shards), if this causes confusion for you, you can simply log out of UO when done testing and reload the game with your regular client. The same is true for playing on Test Center without the test client. Playing on Test Center without downloading the test client will show all of your skills as 0.0 and you will not be able to see the changes for skill management. The current layout on Test Center for the skill menu is not the way it will appear once we patch the regular servers. -- Posted by PGoH News Team October 27, 1999 In Testing Client Oct 27 1999 7:21PM CST (8:10 pm CST) OWO Website: In Testing In order to test some of the features listed in the previous In Testing Communication (such as Skill Management) you will need to download a test client. We will update you tomorrow in the FYI section of the website with the link for where to download this test client. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Character Deletion Warning Oct 27 1999 6:27PM CST (8:04 pm CST) OWO Website: FYI In a few weeks, we will announce and begin a regular process of deleting characters that have not been played within the previous three months. If you have characters that are no longer in use, we would appreciate your taking the time to delete them yourself. Character data makes up the majority of the backup size and the majority of current characters have not been played in the last three months. If you wish to keep these characters, you will need to play them occasionally to avoid deletion. An additional notice will be posted one week prior to the start of the character deletion process. -- Posted by PGoH News Team October 25, 1999 Ticket System Ends Friday Oct 25 1999 2:26PM CST (5:58 pm CST) OWO Website: FYI After two weeks of amazing success, the ticket system will be removed from all shards after they come back from maintenance on Friday, October 29th (local server time). Your contributions have succeeded in reducing average backup times by almost 30%! The shards are many millions of items lighter, and some very cool prizes have been taken home. We look forward to seeing how much more will be accomplished in the last four days of Phase I of the Clean Up Britannia program. We would like to express our thanks to those players who have participated in the Clean Up Britannia Program and to everyone who has helped reduce the item counts. Your continued effort and support are paying off and the resulting improvements to Ultima Online benefit everyone. We will be posting announcements regarding Phase II & Phase III of the Clean Up Britannia program in the near future. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Trolls and Ogres activity increase outside of Wrong (5:56 pm CST) OWO Website: Towncrier In the forests west of the dungeon Wrong, the presence of monsters is not an unusual event. Small orc groups or lone ettins sometimes attack those who travel in those lands, and air elementals are also often reported in the area, but none expected what happened this week.... Large groups of ogres and trolls were seen leaving the dungeon during the week, and many attacks were reported in the area. A huge group of trolls was seen chasing one ogre, then attacking the Dragon's claw castle mall. Later the same day, two trolls who seemed to want something very special attacked a miner. The next day, the trolls, who looked to be on their way back to Wrong, also attacked a tavern. Ogres were also seen in the area, both in the abandoned fort near the road and in the nearby town of Northwood. What are the reasons for their presence? And why were ogre and trolls reported to attack each other? Many questions remain unanswered... -- Posted by PGoH News Team October 22, 1999 Log of yesterdays UO HoC chat posted (9:11 pm CST) From: Stratics The complete log of the Fortieth UOHoC Open House chat has been posted, and is available from the House of Commons website. Tune in again in two weeks for the next House of Commons chat. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Furniture Dye Tubs on Catskills (9:00 pm CST) From: FYI We are aware that some of the furniture dye tubs on the Catskills Shard are not working properly. Although we have resolved this issue and all future dye tubs will work fine, furniture dye tubs purchased with tickets before the fix may not dye furniture properly. If you have a furniture dye tub that is not dyeing furniture you can contact a Game Master to fix the dye tub in the following manner: Log into UO with the character who actually purchased the dye tub with the tickets. If one of your other characters has the dye tub, you must transfer the dye tub to the original character that purchased it. Make sure you have the dye tub in your character’s backpack. Call a GM and ask them to fix the furniture dye tub. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Clarification on Murder Counts (8:59 pm CST) From: FYI It has come to our attention that there is some confusion as to how the "ping-pong" counter works for murder counts. The system is based on your short-term murder counts, not your long-term murder counts. Therefore, it is possible to become permanently "red" without ever going "blue". This is due to the fact that while your short-term murder count may fall below statloss level and then raise again (ping-pong), your long-term murder counts will keep your character "red". -- Posted by PGoH News Team Maintenance Free Advisory (8:57 pm CST) From: FYI Please keep in mind that the maintenance free period this weekend will affect the shards in the following ways: Changes to your guildstone (adding new members, changing guildmasters, declaring war, etc.) will not take effect until the shard’s next maintenance. There will be no time warp periods over the weekend. Barring any unexpected outages, everything you do in the game will be saved. Please adjust your activities accordingly. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Seeking Tales of Valor or Justice (8:24 pm CST) From: FYI November is virtues month in UO! We’ll spend the entire month highlighting two players each week who personify one or more of the virtues. Valor, the ideal virtue of courage, is found in the bravest of adventurers. Those imbued with the virtue of valor are willing to face any foe that threatens their beliefs. Tell us a tale of an adventurer who best personifies the virtue of valor. Justice is the virtue born from the meeting of truth and love. A strong sense of right and wrong, with a passion to always follow the path of righteousness, makes this a virtue for the strong of will. Tell us a tale where justice played an important role in the outcome. Send an e-mail to uo-profiles at uo.com by Friday, October 29th, and tell us a story of Valor or Justice. Please be sure your story falls between 500-1000 words. Also be sure to put either “Valor” or “Justice” in your subject line. Be sure to provide a name and phone number for verification of the story. You are welcome to submit stories for both virtues if you wish.Submissions to "uo-profiles" become the property of OSI and may be used for special events, promotions and/or advertising. All submissions are subject to verification. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Update Billing Warning (8:21 pm CST) From: FYI OSI will be updating our billing system in the near future. During the conversion process, our billing system will be unavailable, both via the website and internally in our billing department, for an indeterminate period of time. Once the new system is in place, any customers with overdue account payments, expired credit cards, or expired gametime coupons will be unable to access Ultima Online pending payment of any outstanding fees. Once we begin the process of conversion, there will be no way for us to update your account information until the process is complete. We strongly urge you to visit the Account Management area of our website as soon as possible to take care of any issues which may cause your gameplay to be interrupted. An additional notice will be posted 2 days prior to the billing transition beginning -- Posted by PGoH News Team October 04, 1999 EA vs OSI? (11:45 am CST) Dr. Twister Network EA vs OSI? Saturday, October 02, 1999 - Vapor A friend of mine wrote a letter to Electronic Arts, not Origin. He recieved a VERY nice response that actually looked like it was thoughout and not a copy-paste-boom done! thing. To: support at ea.com Subject: complaint about Origin I wish to complain about Origin. first of all, I know OSI's email address. I dont need to be told to mail them. 2 years has proved that to be useless. since EA owns or is partnered with Origin i bring my complaint to the top. for the most part my complain isnt specific. I'm complaining about how Origin treats its customers with little respect. The level of service they provide is pathetic. the game im talking about is Ultima Online. Let me say again. i dont need to be told i should mail Origin. i would think that EA would at least have some sort of standard its sister companies should abide by. arent you the least bit concerned that customers of Orgin/UO feel so helpless that they feel the need to contact EA as a last resort? players/customers of UO are asking that EA intervene on our behalf. after all, if EA cant restore quality to one of its own business partners then who can? the reason im mailing this to EA is the latest game patch Origin intends to install in UO. the patch will cause item loss in player owned houses. i played this game for two years only to discover 90% of everything ive acquired in UO is going to be lost. many players are upset about this. actuallly many is an unsderstatement. this is just one of numerous examples of how OSI has screwed its customers. the fact that EA has chosen to partner its self with such a dishonrable company like OSI is disturbing. infact, if nothing is done ive decided that i will no longer purchase or support products made by Origin So once more. on behalf of UO players we ask that EA intervene on our behalf to stop this upcoming game patch and restore quality customer service. surely you must have some sort of control over OSI i look forward to hearing your response and recieving support in stoping this patch. ______________________ Hello ******- I forwarded our previuos email exchange to the CS manager at UO. I appreciate that you are having difficulties with UO. Personally speaking I choose not to play UO for many reasons. I do believe that it is an exciting game with lots to offer. And it could always be made better. A better dialoge between the production teams and the customers would be an excellent way to improve the game. I am keeping all of the emails about this and other UO issues so I can present them to my manager. I've told you before that I really do not have many avenues open to me to help you with UO. The more customers that email me the more weight what I say will have. I thank you for your thoughtfull remarks and I will try and help you out. Thank you, Sean S EA Online Are they doing something against OSI? Perhaps they could do a little REMINDER that OSI should treat their players with the respect they deserve. -Vapor -- Posted by PGoH News Team Ticket System Postponed (11:41 am CST) OWO: Update Center Ticket System Postponed Oct 4 1999 10:14AM CST The ticket system is not active on the shards at this time. We expect the system to start soon and will update you again when a new target date is confirmed. -- Posted by PGoH News Team In Development Oct 1 1999 5:19PM CST (11:38 am CST) OWO: In Development In Development Oct 1 1999 5:19PM CST The following features and fixes are currently in development. Skill Management In an effort to give players more control over their character’s skills we will be implementing a skill management system. To facilitate this management the skill menu will be changed in the following ways: A toggle button will be added at the top of the menu. This toggle button will change the state of the menu so that it will show or hide your character’s unmodified skill numbers. This will allow you to see what your actual skill level is unmodified from stats. A toggle button will be added next to each skill. This toggle button will have three states: "up", "down", and "stop". Skills marked "up" will rise normally and will never go down. Skills marked "down" will be candidates for atrophy. Skills marked "stop" will not go up or down, regardless of how often they are used. A field will be added to the bottom of the skill menu that lists the character’s unmodified skill total. This will allow you to see how close you are to the skill cap (700). The FAQ for skill management can be found in the previous In Development communication. Flagging Changes PvP enhancements will begin with changes to the flagging system. These are designed to make combat more consistent and create more fairness in guild wars. Using the healing skill on a murderer (red) or criminal (gray) will result in you taking on their flag. In other words, if you heal a "red" player, you will be red to all other players for two minutes and they will be able to attack you freely. This also holds true for healing a member of a guild. If you use the healing skill on a guild member, you will be "orange" to any warring guild. This means that opposing guilds will be able to attack you and you will not be able to report them for a murder count. We are also looking into the criminal flag timer to combat exploits within the system. These will be designed to stop flagged players from abusing the system. More details on these changes will follow. Crafting Some of the trade skills will be enhanced to allow for more flexibility and personalization of their wares. These enhancements will affect Tailors, Carpenters, Blacksmiths, and Tinkers. In addition to Blacksmiths and Tailors - Carpenters and Tinkers will now be able to craft "exceptional" items. Any item that is exceptionally created will be marked as "exceptional" even if the craftsman is not a Grandmaster in the skill. Exceptionally made items that have limited uses (such as sewing kits and smith hammers) will have more uses than non-exceptional items. When a Grandmaster creates an exceptional item, a window will appear asking if they wish to place their mark on the item. Selecting "okay" will place the creator’s name on the item when examined (single clicked). Selecting "cancel" will not put the maker's mark the item. Vendors Buying from vendors will be made more secure. After selecting an item to purchase from a player vendor, you will be given a message that tells you the item name and the cost associated with it. The message will have two options: To purchase the item, click "okay". To cancel the transaction, click "cancel". While the message is on your screen, the vendor owner will not be able to move the item or change its price until you click either "okay" or "cancel". The message will remain on the screen for 60 seconds to give you time to decide. Pet Changes Some issues involving pets will be addressed. To avoid a bothersome misuse of pets, you will not be able to name any pet "you" or "your bag". Pack horses will now accept food. Dragging food onto a pack horse will cause the horse to eat it. Veterinary and Healing We have made some changes to the Veterinary and Healing skills to improve their performance and make them more consistent. You will no longer be able to use Veterinary or Healing on the following monsters: Zombies, Daemons, Air Elementals, Earth Elementals, Fire Elementals, Water Elementals, Gazers, Liches, Spectres, Skeletons, Wisps, Energy Vortexes, and Blade Spirits. The Veterinary and Healing skills will also now distinguish between animals, monsters, and humanoid creatures. The following animals and monsters will be healed using the Veterinary skill: Gargoyles, Corpsers, Dragons, Reapers, Slimes, Terrathans, Eagles, Birds, Giant Snakes, Spiders, Gorillas, Mongbats, Giant Scorpions, Snakes, Drakes, Frogs, Sea Serpents, Dolphins, Horses, Cats, Alligators, Pigs, Rabbits, Lava Lizards, Sheep, Chickens, Goats, Ostards, Bears, Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears, Cougars, Giant Rats, Cows, Dogs, Llamas, Walruses, Wolves (timber), Nightmares, Bulls, Great Harts, Hinds, Rats, Pack Horses, Pack Llamas. These creatures will be healed using the Healing skill: Trolls, Cyclopes, Ophidians, Ogres, Ettins, Orcs, Harpies, Headlesses, Lizardmen, Ratmen, and Humans (including Player Characters). The issue with double finger slips while healing when hit with a magical attack will be resolved. You will now only slip once. Boats Some issues involving boats will be addressed. Issues that did not allow players to dry dock a boat even when it was empty will be resolved. The miniature boat models will now say the type of boat and the name of the boat when examined (single clicked). Other major changes to boat functionality will be announced late next week. These changes will be designed to prevent boats from being used as permanent storage. We will update you further once these changes are more formalized. Monster Treasure Some issues with the treasure carried by monsters will be addressed You will no longer get the item, "a scroll". These items have been removed and you will now get a genuine, usable magic scroll. Monsters will no longer carry an inordinate number of backpacks to hold their treasure. Name Change Deeds You will be able to purchase a deed that will allow you to change your character’s name. A new NPC called a "Registrar" will be available in towns and the deeds will cost 10,000 gold. You will only be able to change the name of a character once. Therefore, once you change a character’s name you will not be able to use another deed to change it again. -- Posted by PGoH News Team October 01, 1999 Clean Up Britannia (Phase I) (2:35 pm CST) From: In Testing Phase I - Clean Up Britannia (Currently on the Test Center Shard) What is it? The Clean Up Britannia event is a limited time chance for you to trade in all of your older and unused items for ticket credits to spend on unique prizes. When is it? Clean Up Britannia will begin on approximately October 4th and will run for only 14 days. Don't be left sitting alone counting your piles of clutter while your friends are all off enjoying their new and valuable prizes! How is it done? After the event starts, all trash barrels in Britannia will automatically become ticket barrels. Newly placed barrels will also be ticket barrels. To place a ticket barrel in your house, you can say the words, "I wish to place a trash barrel". We will also be placing ticket barrels at different locations throughout the shards. In order to participate in the event, you must place items in a ticket barrel. After placing an eligible item into the ticket barrel, you will be asked if you are sure you want to place the item in the barrel. If you select "yes", you will receive a ticket credit based on the sell value of the item. You can view your total tickets by double-clicking on the barrel. There is also an option to turn off the confirmation window. You can place a container (bag, chest, etc.) holding eligible items in a barrel and receive tickets for all of the items in the container. Some items are not eligible for the event and will not return any tickets. If these items are placed in an event ticket barrel, you will be warned that they are not eligible for the event and asked to confirm that you wish to place them in the barrel. These items include: Gold All other stackable items, such as, but not limited to: fish steaks, reagents, ingots, cloth, bandages, etc. Some items are not eligible for the event and will not return any tickets, nor will you be permitted to place them in ticket barrels for the duration of the event. You will be warned that the value of these items is too high and they will be returned to your backpack. House, ship, guild and any other deeds Treasure Maps Body parts Order/Chaos Shields Model Ships Keys Contracts of Employment Spellbooks Newbie Items Items stolen in the previous 2 minutes Don't worry about accidentally throwing away your favorite item. There will be a separate confirmation window anytime you place an ineligible item in a ticket barrel. If you do not wish to be asked to confirm, simply turn off the confirmation box. To view the prizes in detail, you can click on the "View Prizes" link in your ticket display. To claim your prize, click on a ticket barrel to view your tickets and select the prize from the list displayed. Your ticket total will be debited and the item will be placed in your backpack. What are the Prizes? All prizes are "blessed" - they cannot be looted or stolen. It is important to note that placing "blessed" items in a container does not "bless" the container. If the container is stolen or looted, you will lose any "blessed" items within. Small Ticket Items Hair Dyes - These hair dyes of unusual color will allow you to permanently change your hair color. One use only. (10,000 tickets) Facial Hair Dyes - These hair dyes of unusual color will allow you to permanently change your facial hair color only. One use only. (10,000 tickets) Hair Change Deeds - This deed will allow you to permanently change your hair style. One use only. (30,000 tickets) Facial Hair Change Deeds - This deed will allow you to permanently change your facial hair style. One use only. (30,000 tickets) Medium Ticket Items Dragon Skeleton Troll Orc Daemon Ettin Earth Elemental Gargoyle Gorilla Crocodile Liche Lizard Man Ogre Ratman Singing Crystal Ball - This crystal ball plays random sounds within the game. It will only work when locked down and will play songs only to other players who are nearby. To turn on the crystal ball, it must be double-clicked and then locked down. (100,000 tickets) Furniture Dye Tub- These dye tubs will allow you to partially change the color of certain furniture such as chairs and tables. You can change the hue of the tub with regular dyes. The tub has unlimited uses. (100,000 tickets) Phoenix Armor - A random piece of red ring armor. As these pieces are random, it is possible to be awarded a duplicate prize. (100,000 - tickets) Mini Monster Statues - One of 14 random small statues that come in a variety of shapes and colors and will emit monstrous sounds when approached. They can be placed in houses. As these are random, it is possible to be awarded a duplicate prize. The statues types are listed below: (100,000 - tickets) Large Ticket Item The Bless Deed - This deed will allow you to "bless" one item to ensure that it can never be stolen or looted. This deed will not work on keys, containers and stackable items. The item to be blessed must be either in your backpack, or currently worn or equipped. This is a one use only item. (500,000 - tickets) For more information on the next phases in the Clean Up Britannia Program (Lockdown and Item Decay), please visit In Development. Phase II - Lockdown The second phase of our Clean Up Britannia event will change the way items are stored in houses. Lockdown will be optimized for interaction with the item decay system. In addition to storage changes, we will also be implementing some other changes in preparation for item decay. We will be increasing the number of secure containers for most houses. The exact numbers will be released next week. The number of lock-downs will also be increased for most houses. You will be able to lock down stackable items (such as ingots and reagents). Friends and “co-owners” of the house will be able to use these items. You will be able to designate other players as a "co-owner". Co-owners will have access to all functions associated with a house, except redeeding. This includes rekeying, unlocking and locking items down and designating secure containers. Only the most trusted friends should be designated as a co-owner. Secure containers will have their weight restrictions removed. You will be able to place 125 items in these containers regardless of their weight. Bank Boxes will have their weight restrictions removed. You will be able to place 125 items in these containers regardless of their weight. While items on boats will not decay, we will be making changes that prevent boats from being used as permanent storage. More information on this system will be posted at a later date. The Lockdown phase is scheduled to begin October 19, 1999. More Details on this phase will be posted in the upcoming days. Phase III - House Item Decay The final phase in our Clean Up Britannia campaign will be the implementation of item decay in houses. Once in effect, house item decay will affect all items that are not: Placed in a secure container. Locked down. Placed by an IGM or GM. House item decay is scheduled to begin on October 25, 1999. More details on this phase will be posted at a later date. Future House Changes * You will only be able to place one house per account, per shard. Accounts with more than one house per shard will not be affected, however if you have more than one house on your account, and deed one of the houses, you will not be able to place the deed. * A secure house transfer system will be added in the future. * We are also planning on implementing a house maintenance or taxation system. However, this change will probably not occur until late this year. We welcome your feedback on this issue. -- Posted by PGoH News Team

September 27, 1999 Next Patch: In Development: Detailed Skill Controls (9:10 pm CST) UO.STRATICS.COM 09/27/99 06:22 AM CDT ·· ^top Next Patch: In Development: Detailed Skill Controls Calandryll just sent this in: This was just updated to In Development: Skill Management In an effort to give you more control over what skills your characters have, below is the current plan for stat and skill management. This new system will give you a simple and straightforward method for customizing your characters. Interface The skill menu will be changed in the following ways: A toggle button will be added at the top of the menu. This toggle button will change the state of the menu so that it will show or hide your character's unmodified skill numbers. This will allow you to see what your actual skill level is, unmodified from stats. A toggle button will be added next to each skill. This toggle button will have three states: "up", "down", and "stop". Skills marked "up" will rise normally and will never go down. Skills marked "down" will be candidates for atrophy. Skills marked "stop" will not no go up or down, regardless of how often they are used. A field will be added to the bottom of the skill menu that lists the character's unmodified skill total. This will allow you to see how close you are to the skill cap (700). FAQ Q: "What happens if I'm at the skill cap and all my skills are all marked 'up' " A: "None of your skills will change." Q: "What happens if I'm at the skill cap and the only skills marked 'down' are at 0.0?" A: "None of your skills will change." Q: "What happens if I mark all my skills 'down' ?" A: "None of your skills will change, because they only atrophy when another skill raises." Q: "If I mark all my skills 'down' except for one, will that skill go up faster?" A: "No." Q: "Will I gain stats when I use a skill marked 'down' ?" A: "No." Q: "Will I gain stats when I use a skill marked 'stop' ?" A: "No." Thanks Calandryll! -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 24, 1999 300th Year Anniversary Celebration Sep 23 1999 6:42PM CST (10:14 am CST) OWO: News Hear ye! Hear ye! To celebrate the 300th year anniversary of the defeat of Mondain and to commemorate the creation of the Shards, Lord British has decreed that each citizen of Britannia shall receive gifts from the coffers of his castle. After the shards come back from their next maintenance, upon logging into the world you will receive a specially colored bag. These items will be available for a limited time, so after October 4th you will not be able to get them any longer. Once a character receives a bag, you will not be able to get another on when logging in that character. Inside the bag will be the following items: A magic crystal ball that can answer questions! Ask a question and then double click the crystal ball. The magical orb can respond with a multitude of answers such as "aye", "nay", "very doubtful", or "‘Tis most certain". In all, there are over 20 different responses! The crystal ball is "blessed" and therefore, cannot be looted or stolen. A commemorative coin. This special silver coin can be flipped by double clicking on it. It will return either Ankhs (Heads) or Serpents (Tails). The coin is "blessed". A bottle of Jaana’s Hangover Cure. For those of you who party late into the night, this elixir can lessen the effects of alcohol. The bottle is "blessed". A fireworks wand. Double clicking this wand will shoot off a colorful firework. Using your wand in combination with a few friends can produce quite the fireworks show! The wand is "blessed". Players may also get a Commemorative Plate by visiting a Counselor Guildhall. These plates are also "blessed". It is important to note that the bag containing these items is not "blessed". The bag, and anything in the bag, can be stolen and looted, even if "blessed" items are inside. Therefore, we recommend that you remove these items from the bag as soon as possible to avoid losing them. We encourage everyone to join us in celebrating this monumental anniversary. We're glad to have you with us! -- Posted by PGoH News Team UO2 Hits the spotlight (10:09 am CST) COB and various other sites Well, well, well. UO2 has hit the primetime. Not that it will be shipping anytime soon(coming in 2000 is what the website proclaims)but it has none the less stirred up a ruckus. Crossroads has lots of good info and all the major UO sites are spawning UO2 discussion areas at the least. So lets see the basics behind UO2: -No ability to transfer characters or ANYTHING from UO to UO2. -UO is NOT going to be shutdown. None of the servers from UO will go to support UO2 and there are 2 separate development teams. -UO2 went into development in September of 1998 -Launch date is not set but predicted to be 12-18 months. -Jynkst posted a link on the UO2 Discussion boards at COB to some screen shots of Ultima Ascension to give an idea of how the 3D will be done even though they claim it will NOT be based on the Ascension engine. Ascension Screens Here are some websites that have info you might like to see: -=www.uo2.com -=FAQ aimed at current UO Players. -=COB UO2 Discussion Board -=Lum has some good info and an interview with Tyrant. -=UO2 Section at Stratics If you visit the UO2 website and take time to let the movie load you see this guy go walking by..."What the heck is that?!?!?!" IMG No Longer Exists -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 23, 1999 OSI lets us peak into the future of UO! (11:51 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia Coming Soon for Ultima Online: The Next 6 Months Origin is incredibly excited to be able to announce to you the latest plans for Ultima Online. Over the next 6 months, we will be expanding and improving UO. As features become ready, they will be rolled out to the existing playerbase in regularly scheduled updates. We’ve detailed an assortment of our plans below, and will be providing extensive information on each as they are implemented over the next six months. Land Expansion While the specific details of these lands are still being formalized, they will undoubtedly bring new opportunities for housing and adventuring. Options for PvP The addition of this land will allow us to geographically separate play styles within UO, meaning we can create areas for engaging, adventuring experiences without the element of player versus player combat. There will, of course, still be plenty of room for player versus player combat. In fact, PvP will be expanded and improved in the future. Party System A party system is being designed to allow group adventuring. We plan to allow you to easily share profits and resources with your party while hunting. Improved Monster AI We will be upgrading monsters with an improved AI to enable them to react to players in new ways, in addition to making them more challenging to defeat overall. Increased Veteran Player Volunteer Programs We expect to have over 3,000 trained Counselors, Companions and Seers in place by February 2000 to support and enhance the world of UO. Interesting in joining us? Visit our Counselor Application area for details. In addition to these upgrades, we’ve planned a variety of other smaller improvements and systems for UO and will release details on these as they are finalized. For your information, the following is the official corporate press release: ORIGIN Announces Plans for Exciting New Features in Ultima Online The richest, most compelling virtual world on the Internet is about to get even better AUSTIN, Texas, September, 22, 1999-ORIGIN Systems™, the creator of online worlds, is taking its successful Ultima™ Online (UO) franchise to new heights. New features currently under development will dramatically improve gameplay and increase service quality for the thousands of people worldwide who live and play in UO’s fantasy world. The ambitious development schedule over the next six months will deliver constant feature upgrades to current UO players and provide easier access for those just getting started. The feature upgrades under development will make Ultima Online a better place to live. Additional land mass will provide more opportunity for players to become home owners in UO. The additional land will also allow for the geographical separation of play styles in UO-areas for improved player versus player (PvP) combat and areas for compelling adventures without the element of PvP. This will allow dedicated role-players, beginners and peace-loving players an environment separate from the sometime hostile world of the old Ultima Online. The future upgrades will make UO more fun to explore. A new party system will provide players with a vehicle that facilitates group adventuring, including group communication, movement, combat, resource sharing and profit sharing. Improved monster AI will dramatically increase the excitement of player vs. monster encounters. Finally, the new additions will make it easier to get started in UO. New training areas are being created in Ultima Online where thousands of experienced UO players will help new players get their feet on the ground and have fun. More than 3,400 trained volunteers are expected to be on board by spring 2000, helping people enjoy the world of Ultima Online. The new features announcement comes as UO, celebrating its second anniversary this month, enjoys unprecedented growth and popularity. Currently UO has more than 134,000 active players, each one paying $9.95 a month to participate. The global network infrastructure now exists on 17 server sets located on three different continents. UO still attracts thousands of new users each month. People are playing in every one of the world’s time zones and represent more than 50 countries. In recent months Ultima Online has been featured in Fortune magazine, The New York Times Magazine, the Boston Globe and on CNBC. And the UO web site, http://www.uo.com, gets two million unique user sessions each month. ORIGIN Systems develops and publishes state-of-the-art entertainment software. To date, the company has released more than 60 titles, including the award-winning Ultima, Wing Commander™, Privateer™ and Crusader series of games. ORIGIN™ is based in Austin, Texas and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS). More information on ORIGIN products can be found on the Internet at http://www.origin.ea.com. # # # Electronic Arts, ORIGIN Systems, ORIGIN, Ultima, Britannia, Wing Commander and Privateer, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 21, 1999 The new world economy: What is the exchange rate from Lira to UOGold? (8:15 am CST) Various Sources including: New York Times In a recent article the New York Times pointed out something a lot of Ultima Onliners overlook. That the exchange rate from real world US dollars to UO Gold is higher than many currencies around the world! As of 9/16/99 the Italian Lira, Indonesian Rupiah, Lebanon Pound, Romanian Leu, Korean (South) Won, Turkish Lira, and Zambian Kwacha were all worth LESS than UO Gold according to Currency Exchange Rates listed at Rubicon.com. Something that just makes you think. (Pasted below is the entirety of the article from the New York Times on the Web) THE WAY WE LIVE NOW THE NEW ECONOMY Money for Nothing A new breed of Internet profiteers is spinning virtual gold into hard currency. By JOHN COOK Fixer-upper w/moat: The real market for imaginary property in Ultima is booming. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- enjamin Schriefer and Michael Gmeinwieser make money the new-fashioned way: they sell stuff that doesn't exist. And their customers, who pay them in cold, hard cash, don't mind one bit. The entrepreneurs deal in property that can be used only in the virtual environment of Ultima Online, a medieval-themed Internet game that's similar to Dungeons and Dragons. In the two years since the game was released, it has attracted more than 130,000 players, who compete by amassing wealth, forging alliances and slaying the occasional dragon. But as the game gets more popular, its supply of gold and real estate becomes scarce. Gmeinwieser, who works as a contractor near Baltimore, found Ultima boring to play but got interested when he discovered that people sold their Ultima possessions through the Internet auction site Ebay. With the help of Schriefer, a friend, he went into business, offering real money for on-line property and reselling it at a profit, both through Ebay and their own Web site. They found a large market, from players who were happy not to have to earn their own gold or search the congested landscape for a suitable place to build a castle. "We buy millions of gold pieces at a time at discount rates," says Schriefer, "and resell them at 800 to 1,000 pieces to the dollar." That makes Ultima gold more valuable than the Italian lira, which last month was going for about 2,000 to the dollar. In the first six weeks of business, Schriefer and Gmeinwieser sold 20 million gold pieces and 10 houses, with a profit margin of roughly 30 percent. They estimate that they now have a dozen competitors with whom they often trade to maintain inventory. In a single day last month, 76 Ultima Online-related auctions closed on Ebay, with $6,734 changing hands. Entire accounts, including the identity of a character and all his or her possessions, have gone for as much as $3,000. Like any investment, Ultima gold is subject to market fluctuations. Origin Systems, the Austin, Tex., company that owns the game, occasionally adjusts the gold supply, in part to give newcomers a chance to compete against experienced players. Origin officials are fascinated by the way the game's currency has spilled over into the real world, but they don't keep tabs on the exchange rates. "I like to resist temptation," says Jason Bell, who runs the game, "given that I can create as much gold as I want." Not all of Origin's staff is so scrupulous -- according to the Internet magazine Gamespot, one employee was fired for selling gold on Ebay. (Origin will say only that an employee was let go for breach of trust.) Among players, the secondary market for gold can cause problems, too: Brock Basnett, a data-center operator from Morton, Ill., reports that he lent a friend 300,000 gold pieces to get started with, only to have her sell the gold on Ebay to buy a computer. Economists say that while the Ultima gold market is unusual, the trading of virtual goods has a long history. Rafael Tenorio, an economics professor at DePaul University, likens the practice to the sale of certificates of indulgency by the Catholic Church during the Renaissance. "These certificates had specified durations of as long as a million years, and were sometimes chopped up into shorter durations and resold on secondary markets all over Europe," says Tenorio. "Can you imagine how much money a few people would be willing to pay for these on Ebay nowadays?" -- Posted by PGoH News Team Shard Publish, Sept. 22 (7:35 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia Cal sends word that Whats New was updated with this, We will be publishing an update to the shards on Wednesday, September 22nd. This is the first publish that the current Development Team, led by SunSword, Toad, and Runesabre, has worked on from start to finish and we are very excited about implementing these features. The publish will progress in the following manner: The North American Shards will be kept down after their daily maintenance. At approximately 8am CDT, the Europa Shard will be updated with the publish. While shard will remain up during this time, after it finishes its current back-up it will be brought down. Approximately one hour after the Shard goes down, the Europa Shard will be brought up internally with new changes. We will perform a quick check on the Shard before we make it available and will monitor the shard for any issues. Once we are satisfied with the results, the Drachenfels Shard and all of the North America Shards will be updated and brought back up. We expect to have all of the shards back up by approximately 12pm CDT. The Arirang and the Japanese Shards will also be held down after their daily maintenance. When they return from their maintenance, they will also have the changes. The publish will include all of the features and fixes listed In Testing. Note that some of the information listed in In Testing has changed slightly. Once we update all of the other shards, we will move this information into Latest Game Updates. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Updated In Testing (7:32 am CST) OWO: In Testing In Testing on Test Center Sep 17 1999 11:37AM CST The following features and fixes are currently being tested on the Test Center Shard: Smelting Armor and weapons can be smelted back into ingots. Items you wish to smelt must be in your back-pack. Smelting will be tied to the mining skill. The higher your skill in mining, the more ingots you will get back. The more wear and tear on an item, the less ingots it will return. Items purchased from an NPC will yield only one ingot when smelted. Smelted magic items will yield regular ingots. Smelting special metals will yield ingots of that color. “Newbie” weapons cannot be smelted. To smelt an item: Double-click a smithing tool, such as a hammer. The smithing window will open and contain a forge. Double-clicking the forge will bring up a targeting cursor. Clicking armor or a weapon that is in your backpack will smelt that item. You will receive a number of ingots depending on the item itself, its wear and tear, and your mining skill. Unraveling Clothing and leather armor can be cut back into cloth and leather respectively. Use scissors on clothing or leather armor to get the cloth or leather. The amount of cloth or leather yielded is tied to the tailoring skill. The higher your skill in tailoring, the more cloth/leather you will get. Items you wish to unravel must be in your backpack. “Newbie” items and death robes cannot be unraveled. Pets Pets will only guard the following: The owner The corpse of the owner Items in the house of the owner Other pets of the owner An issue with transferring pets in town has been resolved. The "drop" command has been reactivated. Chaos/Order After changing the guild type from Chaos, Order or Neutral, guilds must wait seven days for the declaration to take affect. If you change the declaration during those 7 days, the counter will reset. Houses and Containers The interior door for Patio Houses will be lockable. When the owner of the house uses either of the patio doors for the first time, they will be given the option to make the interior door lockable. Selecting “yes” will result in the door becoming an interior lockable door as other interior doors. You will also receive a separate key for that door. Selecting “no” will result in the door acting in exactly the same manner as it does now. You will need your house key to lock and unlock the door. To make this door an interior lockable door at a later date, the owner will have to change the locks of the house. Items placed in an armoire will no longer disappear. -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 17, 1999 In Testing on Test Center Sep 17 1999 11:37AM CST (2:23 pm CST) OWO Web Site: In Testing The following features and fixes are currently being tested on the Test Center Shard: Smelting Armor and weapons can be smelted back into ingots. Items you wish to smelt must be in your back-pack. Smelting will be tied to the mining skill. The higher your skill in mining, the more ingots you will get back. The more wear and tear on an item, the less ingots it will return. To smelt an item: Double-click a smithing tool, such as a hammer. The smithing window will open and contain a forge. Double-clicking the forge will bring up a targeting cursor. Clicking armor or a weapon that is in your backpack will smelt that item. You will receive a number of ingots depending on the item itself, its wear and tear, and your mining skill. Unraveling Clothing and leather armor can be made back into cloth and leather respectively. Use scissors on clothing or leather armor to get the cloth or leather. The amount of cloth or leather yielded is tied to the tailoring skill. The higher your skill in tailoring, the more cloth/leather you will get. Items you wish to unravel must be in your backpack. “Newbie” items and death robes cannot be unraveled. Pets Pets will only guard the following: The owner. The corpse of the owner. Items in the house of the owner. Other pets of the owner. An issue with transferring pets in town has been resolved. Chaos/Order After changing the guild type from Chaos, Order or Neutral, guilds must wait seven days for the declaration to take affect. If you change the declaration during those 7 days, the counter will reset. Houses and Containers The interior door for Patio Houses will be lockable. Items placed in an armoire will no longer disappear. -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 15, 1999 Catskills - Artisans Bazaar (3:20 pm CST) COB The Guardians of Light are sponsoring an Artisans Bazaar The Bazaar will be held Sept 25 1999 starting at 2:00 pm est There will be many activities including free repairs (bring your armor in a bag) Free scribing (bring reagents and scrolls) and free poisoning (bring your weapon and poison) There will be a gm alchemist on hand with potions as well as a tamer with dragons for sale We will have magic weapons, poisoned weapons, gm made armor and weapons and unique items for sale. Compete in our fishing contest. First prize is a small boat deed, Second prize a treasure map and third prize 2000gp We hope to see you there We are also kicking off project clean up Brittania. So if you have an items stored away in your house that you don't use come on down and sell them or give them away to someone else Remember gates leaving from britain, trinsic vesper and minoc at 1:55 sharp until 2:15 Just look for the gol member in the purple cape To participate contact HighPriestess at 15267684 11:06 AM MST -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 14, 1999 OSI Gives the shards their own ICONS! (2:47 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Event Calendar Saw this when reading the site. Thought you might like to see it. You can go Here to see who is who. Also I discovered this emblem...wonder what shard it is for??? -- Posted by PGoH News Team OSI Gives the shards their own ICONS! (2:36 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Event Calendar Saw this when reading the site. Thought you might like to see it. -- Posted by PGoH News Team In Development Sep 14 1999 12:03PM CST (2:33 pm CST) OWO Web Site: In Development The following items are In Development. Details on these features will be given when they are placed In Testing: A system to inform players when the server maintenance back-up will result in their current play-time not saving. Changes to the backups to significantly reduce raw backup data size. This will improve servers performance with faster restart times, faster backup times and less load on the server when players cross server boundaries. The client ghosting issue is under analysis to determine an appropriate resolution. Armor and weapons can be smelted back into ingots. Clothing can be made back into cloth. Leather items can be made back into leather. Pets will be able to fetch and drop items again. Pets will only guard the following: The owner The corpse of the owner Items in the house of the owner Other pets of the owner A fix for transferring pets in town. After changing the guild type from Chaos, Order or Neutral, guilds will have to wait 24 hours before they can change the declaration. The interior door for Patio Houses will be lockable. A fix for NPCs Vendors who are not going back to their shops. Items placed in an armoire will no longer disappear. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Strange Illnesses (7:19 am CST) COB: Catskills Quest News Strange cases of death Today a group of fisher`s found a female corpse near the Trinsic docks of Trinsic. Strange to say is that the body was crashed and evry muscle on his body was gone. This is the third corpse which has been found in such a condition, we can`t say what exactly happend to them. A few people are talking about Monster´s and Deamon`s, but all we can say is that those victims died a horrific death. Its possible that we will find more corpse`s in the future, we need to find the case for this deadly illness as soon as possible. Monk`s of the Empath Abbey and Scholar`s of Moonglow started to examinat the victims and try to find hints for this mysterious illness. Befor we didn`t find the releaser of this strange illness, we please evryone in Trinsic and sorroundings to stay at home and take care of any stranger`s. Arden Silver Hopefully the cause and cure will be solved before more are hurt! -- Posted by PGoH News Team War is redeclared! (7:18 am CST) COB: Catskills Quest News By Lord Rutger Dag Dear friend of Trinsic, Apparently, even a week of peace is too long for that band of rogues that call themselves "The Sosarian Socialist Party." And aye, I know there will be those dear friends who will say, "I told thee so Rutger, thou art a sentimental fool. They cannot be trusted, nay, no, not ever." But I say thee, that every man must be given a chance. And we have indeed given that chance not once, but many, many times. From our first encounter with this rogue band, to the present day, our associations have only given us grief. They are murderous, villainous scoundrels, whatever their supporters may say. I believe our acceptance of peace these few days ago, and their subsequent disruptions of it, forevermore prove who stands with justice, and who does not. Therefore, let us once again band together, to drive these villianous men from us. Let us stand, brother with brother, within the Town of Honor, and show them what united men of virtue may accomplish. If thou disagree with this action, we ask thee to stay out of Trinsic for thy own sake. If thou agree, then do join together with us. It grieves me to no end, that it must come to blows once more. But even worse are those who judge us for defending ourselves, without fully understanding the merits of our cause. The end result is this: The socialists are not welcome in Trinsic. Let us make war upon them to drive them out. In addition to them, men who made war upon us on the socialist side, will too be drive out. These men include Ronan and Swiftwind, who have committed violent acts against those of us least able to defend ourselves. Keep in mind, that I have in the past considered both of these men to be my friends. The betrayal of trust is felt keenly, and I do not make this decision lightly. The last word is this: To those who have committed crimes against Trinsic...aiding us in this cause, coupled with a repentant heart, will be enough to grant thee a pardon. Let it be known thou stand with us, and I shall see to it thou art granted this pardon. This does not protect thee against civil suits, but will insure the town of Trinsic does not imprison thee. Thine in Honor, Lord General Rutger Dag Rebels of Lord British can never be trusted... -Patience 3:01 PM MST -- Posted by PGoH News Team Update on the Illness in Trisnic (7:17 am CST) COB: Catskills Quest News Update on the Illness in Trisnic Was informed of this recently Some very interesting information`s about this deadly illness arrived us today. This mysterious illness killed 3 persons in the last week, the corpse`s has been found in a horrific status near the Trinsic Slums and the docks. During the last day`s a couple of monk`s and scholar`s examinated the corpse`s of the three victims, and found some amazing hints. They located a tinge of silver serpent liquid in there body`s and there numb muscle`s. All they can say is that this poison has been used as drug, in the first time you feel powerfull and agile like a Gargoyle, you can work without slumber or a brake. After some time you feel pain in all your muscle`s and beginn to feel sleepy, now your body need more of this drug to stay awake and agile. After one more week you start to become ill and you have to vomit evrytime you had a meal. A few days later you are to weak to walk, eat or even drink ... a few hours later you will die. So someone mixed this liquid and sold it as drug to those people, we please evryone to take care of this deadly drug, it possible that a big smuggle`r group transport all those drugs to Trinsic. It`s nearly sure that many more people use this drug, if you have friends who maybe use this drug, inform the next healer or a guard, we have to stop this quickly or we have more victims soon. I am sure we will find the alchemist who made them and let the law deceid what will happen to this monster. Arden Silver Thanks! -Patience 3:00 PM MST -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 13, 1999 Boat Warning (2:20 pm CST) Dr. Twister Boat Warning Monday, September 13, 1999 - 10:05 AM - Dr.TwisTer Make sure you refresh your boats. When the new boat key feature came into UO (the one where you can recall off of the key and be placed inside the boat) I tried it out. It worked fine, but I never got the "You're boat, its content and age has been refreshed" message. Taking an extra step to assure that my boat was being refreshed, I went ahead and entered my boat the old fashion way to try to make that message pop up, and when I did, no refresh message came. I assumed at that point that the message did not come up because I had in fact refreshed it by recalling on to the key. (Just like when you dont get a house refresh message if you just refreshed it) Over the course of time, I still had a suspicion in the back of my mind that the boat was not being refreshed by recalling off of the key, so I still entered it the dumb way every once in a while, never getting a refresh message. (I even had to deal with jerks who were opening and closing my unlocked plank, preventing me from re-locking it) Now, weeks later, I find my boat gone. I call a counselor, and SRC Wysp shows up. I ask him why my boat is gone and he tells me someone stole it and dry docked it. I ask him about the refresh thing and then he says the only way to refresh a boat is to use a key on the plank. Utterly lame... I really don't think they ever warned players that recalling off of keys does not refresh a boat. Whatever problem they have with it not telling me my boat has been refreshed (making me think it has been refreshed) even if I go out of my way to use a key on the plank doesn't help either. This little set back makes me happy that today is my last day of UO... -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 10, 1999 Straight from the horses mouth regarding the new mail program and user names... (12:31 am CST) E-mail: Sunsword, Lead Designer, Ultima Online ----- Original Message ----- From: Marx, Keath L 7075 Sent: Thursday, September 09, 1999 3:08 PM Subject: Ohhhh and another thing... Is it true what I hear about dropping your mail bag on someone in the game to give them the ability to communicate with you gives them your ACCOUNT NAME???? If so I strenuously object to this and will NOT use this system. Not trying to be a hot head, but I have seen too many people get hacked to take any other stance. Any piece of information you give to a hacker is a widening of the crack to let him/her in. I know we don't need to add more data to the system but why not assign an alias to each account that works only for mail? That way anyone can have that piece of info and it does them no good aside from sending you an in game message. I just hate giving anyone out to get me ANY advantage that I can avoid giving them. I have installed a Firewall package on both my home PC's just to make it that much harder. Thanks for listening. -----Original Message----- From: SunSword Sent: Friday, September 10, 1999 1:08 PM To: madmax at techcom.net Subject: Re: Ohhhh and another thing... No, it doesn't give your account name. It gives the account number, but that's useless (and easy to find anyway). Seriously, it's useless. -- SunSword Lead Designer, Ultima Online Please include all previous communications when you reply via email. -- Posted by PGoH News Team [Update] Illegal House Placement. (11:41 am CST) Calandryll posted the following to a messageboard in response to some player concerns over the Illegal Placement of houses announcement: "First let me make it clear that we will not delete any house without notification first. Owners will have an opportunity to redeed their home. As the communication says, "There will be additional announcements prior to any house being deleted." We will also be releasing more information about this in the future. What is posted on FYI is more of a "fair warning" post than anything else. We are not planning on doing this tomorrow, next week, or even two weeks from now. There will be a good amount of notice before we do anything. Most importantly those people who have used bugs/exploits to place a house have now been warned...redeed it or in the future it'll be gone. Second, these houses are placed illegally. We are not going to leave them there simply because someone sold it to someone else. They are illegal. The post on FYI should also serve as a warning to anyone in the market for a house. If you buy an illegally placed house, eventually, you will be asked to redeed it." Additionally he had this to add: "We can tell the difference between a house placed before the houseing rules were in place and those that were placed after. :)" -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 09, 1999 UO House of Commons Chat, September 9th (2:50 pm CST) OWO Web Site: FYI UO House of Commons Chat, September 9th Sep 8 1999 5:16PM CST The next UO House of Commons Open House chat between the players and creators of UO is scheduled for tomorrow Thursday September 9, at 7 PM CT (5 PM PT, 8 PM ET). The chat will be available to you at #uohoc on Stratics IRC, on one of four networked servers: irc.stratics.dhp.com, port 6667 stratics.sanman.com, port 6667 stratics.frws.com, port 6667 intworks.stratics.com, port 6667 This week's topic is "General Discussion". Feel free to ask questions related to the current status and future developments of Ultima Online. If you are new to IRC, please visit Stratics IRC for an online tutorial and instructions for connecting to Stratics’ IRC server. If you wish to use your browser to join the conference you can use the Java IRCclient. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Illegally Placed Houses Sep 9 1999 12:37PM CST (2:49 pm CST) OWO Web Site: FYI It has come to our attention that there are a number of houses placed on the shards that do not adhere to the House Placement Rules listed in the Play Guide. Until the underlying issues in the game's placement permissions are resolved, it will not be our policy to delete these houses. However, we do plan on addressing these issues in the near future, and once they are resolved, houses that do not adhere to the House Placement Rules may become subject to deletion. We encourage the owners of these houses to redeed them as soon as possible to avoid losing their house. There will be additional announcements prior to any house being deleted. For more information on housing and house placement, visit the Housing Section in the Play Guide. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Mini-Update and Client Patch 1.26.1 Sep 8 1999 7:10PM CST (9:44 am CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues After the servers come back from tomorrow’s daily maintenance they will be updated with the following temporary change to the Gate Spell: After going through a gate cast by a player, there will be a random delay of 3 to 10 seconds before you can go though that gate again, or through any other gate. We will also be patching the client on Thursday, September 9th at approximately 7:00am CDT. At this time players will lose connection to the shards, although the shards themselves will remain running. In order to protect your character from any consequences associated with this disconnection, it is important to log out in a safe place before 7:00am CDT. After approximately 30 minutes, we expect that the patch will be in place. At approximately 7:30am CDT, you should be able to return to the game. However, before you can log back into the shards, you will have to reload the UO client in order to receive this latest patch. Without it, you cannot enter Britannia. This client patch will address the following issues: The abnormal amount of connection losses that some players have been experiencing lately. A client crash in connection with the Ultima Messenger. -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 08, 1999 Mini-Update to all Shards (7:03 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia Mini-Update to all Shards From Calandryll - New to shard issues: The following will be in effect after the Shards come back from their daily maintenance: If you give an item to an NPC that he will not accept, the NPC will try to return the item to your backpack. However, if having that item in your pack would overload your character, the item will be deleted -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 07, 1999 Exploiters Banned Sep 3 1999 5:40PM CST (2:35 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Update Center An organized group of exploiters were discovered yesterday on Siege Perilous. After investigating the situation all persons involved have been banned from all of their accounts and their possessions deleted on all shards. Guild members and associates of these persons have also had their accounts suspended during the on-going investigation of this exploit. Any of these people found to have been involved in this exploit will also have all of their accounts banned and possessions deleted. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Lag Issues Sep 7 1999 2:12PM CST (2:34 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Update Center We have seen the reports from players concerning a recent increase in lag and disconnects. We understand that this can be a source of frustration for our players and would like to suggest a couple of quick steps you can take that may help deal with these issues. Adding the line “EnableMessenger=off” to your uo.cfg file may help reduce some of the lag you are experiencing. The uo.cfg file can be found in your UO directory. Open the file and add “EnableMessenger=off” anywhere in the file. Save the file and close the window. You must restart Ultima Online in order for the change to take effect. Disabling the UO “Incoming Names” feature may also reduce some of the lag. You can do this through the Options Menu from your paperdoll or by holding down the Alt and the '"O" key at the same time. While these methods may help reduce some of the lag, we are also continuing our own efforts to deal with it. As we develop solutions, we will update you on the website. You can also get more information on how to reduce lag at http://support.owo.com/tech_0.html. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Weekend Exploiter Update Sep 7 1999 11:53AM CST (2:33 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Update Center Twenty-two exploiter accounts were banned over the weekend and their possessions were deleted. Another sixteen accounts that were temporarily suspended during the investigation have had their access restored. Some of the causes of the exploits have been fixed, but work continues to ensure that these exploits can no longer occur. There are several things we believe are important for all players to know. First, we are grateful to the players who first reported the exploiters and to those players who sent in information after it was reported to help find and fix the problem. Those of you who have not yet received responses to your weekend emails will hear from us no later than Thursday, September 9th Second, we want to apologize to all our players for this disruption. Working on this exploit both reduced our level of service to the players and delayed our future development efforts. The use of this exploit not only violated the terms of service but also unbalanced the game, giving the exploiters an unfair advantage. Additionally, the exploit affected most shards and was a major source of server lag throughout the last month. Third, we promise that any person or group involved in exploiting bugs in Ultima Online will be removed permanently from the game. OSI is committed to maintaining a level playing field for all Ultima Online players. Finally, we have heard your feedback this weekend and our top priorities now are to work on the reported client disconnection problems, server lag and slow backups/timewarps. This is not a complete list as there are several other bugs that will be attacked in parallel during this effort. As previously mentioned, this will delay some of the features we had planned to add in upcoming weeks, but we feel it is important to fix these known problems before adding new features. Thank you for your continued support of Ultima Online. Gordon Walton VP Online Services Origin Systems, Inc. -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 03, 1999 Serpents Hold Artisans Bazaar (2:51 am CST) Catskills Drums The Guardians of Light are proud to sponsor the Serpents Hold Artisans Bazaar Date: Sept 25, 1999 Time: Two O'clock est Place: Serpents Hold Please come and celebrate the artisans of Britannia with us. There will be free drinks for all Poisoned weapons for sale and free poisonings (bring your own poison) GM made potions for sale Free scribing (bring your own scrolls and regs) Black cloth for sale, Magic weapons Fishing contest 1st prize a boat deed Free Repairs by a GM Smith (bring your own armor in a bag) If you are interested in selling your wares please contact HighPriestess at 15267684 -- Posted by PGoH News Team Character Purge Scheduled for Sept. 7th (2:49 am CST) Common Issues This is a very important announcement. Please be advised that we will be deleting accounts that have been inactive for 3 months or more (i.e.: accounts that have not paid for service for 3 months or longer) on Tuesday, September 7th. Once these accounts are deleted, it will not be possible to retrieve characters or items associated with them. If you or any of your friends have an inactive account, now would be an excellent time to reactivate before your old characters are purged. The world of Ultima Online continues to expand and be refined. We would love to have you back in the game. Characters on active accounts will not be affected by this purge. -- Posted by PGoH News Team September 02, 1999 OSI Help

August 25, 1999 Prosecuting Those Who Hacked your Account (2:21 am CST) From: UOSS We received these handy guidelines from Brimstone on how to make justice rain down on hackers... Many people are unaware of the steps involved to seek legal prosecution of those who have hacked your account and gained access to your characters, houses, gold, etc. in Ultima Online, or ANY game. You will see just how easy it is to get the process moving along. I hope that this simple guide helps someone who has suffered from an invasion of privacy: 1: Call the FBI and your local authorities. Report that a computer crime was committed. Explain what happened: The computer was hacked by someone who then gained access to a game. In this game, virtual property, money, items, etc. were stolen, and the account characters destroyed/ruined. Explain that all of this stuff had REAL LIFE money tied into it. (i.e. cost of game, cost of gameplay each month, effort in building the characters, cost of the character possesions as witnessed on EBAY.com, etc.). 2: Ask the FBI or Authorities to contact OSI Support or Customer Relations to obtain a log of IP ADDRESSES that have accessed your UO account. VERY CLEARLY, the IP address of the criminal will stand out. That IP ADDRESS will get you the: PROVIDER of INTERNET SERVICES information. You can use that info to call the ISP and report the crime. The FBI will be able to seize the persons personal information such as: Real Name, Address (Billing), Phone Number, and logs of internet usage. Once that is obtained, the FBI will be able to contact the criminal and his family, and press some VERY REAL CHARGES against them. There is absolutely NOTHING that the criminal can do to prevent this. Once you begin the process, it will only take hours to have a name, number, address and charges pressed. The dominos will fall, and finally some justice will be done. In the meantime, everyone who is reading this should visit the following site and takes steps to protect your computer and/or accounts: http://www.purrfect.org/safe/ This site has been noted ALL over the UO community, and it is a definitive guide for hack-proofing your computer. It will take you a good... 60 minutes, to download everything you need and follow each of the steps. In the end, your computer WILL be up to date with the latest security, anti-virus, and anti-hack software. Make sure you get "NukeNabber" as well... it is essential in the process of keeping people OUT of your computer. Brimstone http://www.lostorder.com -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 24, 1999 UO Live Access Patch Update Aug 23 1999 7:12PM CST (1:13 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues UO Live Access Patch Update Aug 23 1999 7:12PM CST We are targeting Wednesday, August 25th for the UO Live Access Patch. In order to give us the best chance for a smooth patch, we will be proceeding with it in the following manner: After the U.S. Shards finish their daily maintenance, we will keep those shards down. At approximately 7am CST we will start manually bringing down all of the other shards. We expect all of the shards to be down by approximately 10am CST. After that, the patcher will be accessible even while the shards are not. If you wish to download the patch at this time, you will be able to do so. However, you will not be able to connect to any of the shards. The Great Lakes Shard will be initialized for a quick round of Internal-Only testing. After we are satisfied with the results, we will open Great Lakes to the public and announce the opening on Shard Issues. We expect Great Lakes to open by approximately 2pm CST. While Great Lakes is running, we will be watching it very carefully for any issues. Once we feel confident there are no known issues regarding the Great Lakes Shard, we will convert and open the remaining shards. The shards will reopen sequentially until all shards have returned to service. We will keep you updated as the process continues. -- Posted by PGoH News Team The Blair Lich! (7:15 am CST) Dr. Twister http://uo.drtwister.com/blair.html -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 20, 1999 House Security BUG!?!?!?! (12:22 am CST) Dr. Twister Possible Locked Chest bug? Friday, August 20, 1999 - 8:11 AM - Tolkien Keep in mind that this bug is unconfirmed. This email was sent to me in regards to the Sir Michael house looting post I made. Could someone please confirm this? I think what this email is trying to say is, the spell unlock can open any locked down locked chest in a house. I don't know if people don't know this but I have found it out and maybe you should tell others. Any lockable box locked down inside a house can be opened by the magic unlock spell, box or chest. Again, I'm not sure if you know this or other UO players but from his post I can tell that he didn't. I just wonder how many other players are playing under this false sense of security? -- Posted by PGoH News Team Stats on UO Subscribership... (7:40 am CST) Gamespot.com Quoted from an interview with Richard Garriott: "We have 130,000 subscribers of Ultima Online now and we're gaining about 500 per week and have been as long as we've been operating the service." You can read the whole interview at Desslock's RPG News: Ultima IX: Ascension -- Posted by PGoH News Team And now for something completely different... (7:08 am CST) Something I found that I just couldn't pass up! IMG No Longer Exists. Image is property of Brimstone, Minds Eye Graphics -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 19, 1999 Reactive Armor Disabled Aug 18 1999 8:11PM CST (6:58 am CST) OWO Web Site: FYI Reactive Armor Disabled Aug 18 1999 8:11PM CST In order to address an issue with the Reactive Armor spell we have disabled it until we are able to look into it more thoroughly. We will update you again once we re-activate the spell. -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 17, 1999 East Coast Maintenance (7:31 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia East Coast Maintenance From Calandryll, On Tuesday, August 17th, at approximately 8am EST, we will be doing some maintenance on our East Coast site that may cause a brief interruption of service. While we do not expect the shards to go down, there is a slight risk that you may get disconnected during this time. We expect this disconnection to last no more than 30 minutes. Therefore, it is a good idea to log out or to remain in a safe location during this maintenance. We will update you if any issues should arise from this maintenance -- Posted by PGoH News Team Accessibility Update Feature List Aug 16 1999 7:53PM CST (7:30 am CST) OWO Web Site: In Testing Accessibility Update Feature List Aug 16 1999 7:53PM CST General Update Features For additional information go to http://beta.owo.com. Interface Changes and Options Client Arrow There is now an arrow that can be used to point players to a specific location. New targeting features Last Target - This command can be bound to a key through the options menu. This allows you to select the last object you had targeted with a single key-press. Target Self - This command can be bound to a key through the options menu. This allows you to target yourself with a single key-press. New macro options Arm/Disarm - This command can be bound to both the left and right hand. It allows you to arm or disarm item with a single key stroke. Next Target - Lets you bind a key to cycle through every mobile object on the screen. Delay Macro Item - Delays macro execution for a specified amount of tenths of seconds. Wait for Target cursor - Delays macro execution until a target cursor appears on the client. Attack Last Target - Automatically begins a melee attack on your last target. Smart ESC key - The "close all" option has been unbound from ESC and moved to a macro. General Interface changes Current target highlighting - All targeted players/creatures are now highlighted with a graphic that represents: Current Damage The target's reputation (by hue) The Status Bar is now hued by reputation Double-clicking a status bar now behaves as if the player had double-clicked the target. Targeting a status bar behaves as if the character had been targeted. "Always show names" - This feature shows the names of objects as they come on to your screen. It defaults to being on, but can be toggled off in the options menu. Skill/Stat Advancement Notification - The client will now notify you in the system message area when you gain skills or stats. These can be toggled on/off in the options menu. Ultima Messenger This new system allows players to send messages to each other both in-game and via the owo.com website. For more information, visit http://beta.owo.com/messenger.htm. This system is currently experiencing a few issues and may not be included in the final update. Bug Fixes Gold will return to the bank if the trade window is cancelled and the player backpack is full. If gold is stacked and would result in a pile greater than 60k, a new stack will be created rather than the excess gold being lost. Various other bug fixes. Accessing the game There is new art throughout the login and character creation screens. A framed picture of a castle has two input boxes, one for account name and one for password. There is also a radio box for saving your password. Along the left hand side are several new buttons: My UO - This button is disabled, but will be used later. Account - This opens your web browser to the Ultima Online Account Registration and Upkeep page. Mail - This feature is disabled, but will be used later. Movie - This displays the intro movie. Credits - This displays the names of the hard working people on Ultima Online. Help - This opens your web browser to the support.owo.com web page. The Quit button in the upper right-hand corner allows you to exit Ultima Online. At the bottom right is an arrow outlined in green and pointing right. Select this arrow to go to the next screen. Shard Selection Last Shard Shortcut - The name of the last shard you played on will appear by the globe button. To enter a shard you can either double left-click on the selected shard, click on the GLOBE button, or left click on the shard and click the green arrow. There is now a red arrow pointing left at the bottom right of the screen. This allows you to return to the previous menu. New Character Creation Skill selection There are three available selections when creating a new character: Adventurer Merchant Advanced The old character templates have been revamped into what we now call "Professions". Each profession starts with different skills and equipment. Selecting advanced will allow you to choose your skills manually. Adventurer (Symbol: Jousting Knight) Archer (Symbol: bow and arrow) Archer (Symbol: bow and arrow) Bard (Symbol: lute) Field medic (Symbol: ankh) Ranger (Symbol: head with feathered hat) Magician (Symbol: wizard's hat) Battlefield Mage (Symbol: phoenix) Pure Mage (Symbol: wizard's hat) Warlock (Symbol: flaming sword) Warrior (Symbol: helm) Bard (Symbol: lute) Mace Fighter (Symbol: arm with mace) Fencer (Symbol: fencer in lunge) Swordsman (Symbol: crossed swords) Merchant (Symbol: stack of coins) Craftsman (Symbol: saw) Blacksmith (Symbol: anvil) Carpenter (Symbol: saw) Tailor (Symbol: scissors) Tinker (Symbol: gears) Tradesman (Symbol: scale) Animal Tamer (Symbol: horse) Fisherman (Symbol: fish) Prospector (Symbol: pack mule) Sorcerer (Symbol: wizard's hat) After you have chosen your skills, left clicking the green arrow will bring you to the Character Customization screen. Character Customization The Character Customization screen has a revised interface including list boxes for hair and color selections. You can also select the color of your shirt and pants. Select the green arrow to move to the city selection screen. City Selection Screen The City Selection Screen has been changed from a list to a world map to give players a better idea of where they want to start. Left clicking on a city name will present a written description of that city's features. New players will only be presented with 4 cities (Britain, Moonglow, Minoc, and Trinsic) unless they choose the ADVANCED path for character creation. New Player Features A "New Player" is defined as any character that is created by an account with less than 40 hours of play time and that: Has less than 450 skill points Has less than 150 stat points Has not had their new player status removed by a GM. New Player Quests New players can receive quests based on their chosen skills. The purpose of these quests is to give new players information about their skills and to encourage them to explore their starting city. New Player Protection New players cannot be damaged by other players and vice versa. This includes melee, magic, and indirect attacks (like summoned creatures). Monsters that would normally be actively hostile to a player will not attack new players. The player will receive a message indicating that the monster is hostile. New players will be teleported to a healer when they die. They will retain their belongings. New players cannot loot a monster they did not kill for two minutes after the creature died. Other players cannot loot a monster killed by a New Player. New players cannot steal from other players or NPCs. Companion System Player volunteers called "Companions" are available for new players. When a player from a new account logs on for the first time, a Companion will be paged to welcome them. New Player Matchmaking New players receive a "ticket". If two new players double click on each other's ticket, they receive a list of prizes that each may receive. Install Changes There is now a slide show during the install featuring screenshots from Ultima Online. -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 12, 1999 Sunsword Speaks on Skill Management! (7:39 am CST) COB: Development Board From: SunSword Date: August 10, 1999 at 6:35 pm Subject: RE: Sunsword, I know you're busy So there are 2 major ideas I'm considering for skill control. 1) Gump interface point and click thingy 2) In game interaction skillmaster thingy They both have the similar results. The first simply brings up a skill menu that let's you select a few things: A) lock - makes you skill stay where it is (you only get a few of these (3-5) B) raise - indicates that you wish to continue working on this skill C) drop - indicates that this skill should begin to decline and should always be on the short list for skill decay. The second works something like this: Skills at 0 do not raise. You can go to a Skillmaster to control whether you want your skill to raise, drop, or stay in a particular range. For example, say your swordsmanship is 85. You can continue to raise that skill until you get to 89.9. Once it hits this number, it will cease to raise no matter what. If you go to the Skillmaster, you can (through whatever requirements) indicate that you are ready to move on. The Skillmaster will give you .1 and your new title, and now your skill will go up until you reach the maximum number for that title. Did that make any sense? I just slapped it up here from my musings. Either way, I'd like to get title control in there too. -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 10, 1999 UO Live Access Sign-Up Closed (7:27 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia UO Live Access Sign-Up Closed From Calandryll, on FYI UO Live Access Sign-up Closed We currently have all of the slots filled and the Sign-up for the beta test is now closed. We’d like to thank everyone for their enthusiasm with this process. We hope, even if you didn’t get into this beta, that you will try again for future testing projects. We look forward to reviewing all of the feedback from our testers and would like to thank them in advance for all of their efforts. Thanks! -- Posted by PGoH News Team UO Live Access Patch Update (7:27 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia UO Live Access Patch Update from Calandryll: As the beta-testing for the UO Live Access patch started on August 6th, the target date of August 10th for patch will have to be moved. We are currently working to collect and analyze the feedback from the beta testers and QA, as well as fix the issues that exist in the code. As soon as we have all the necessary information, we will make an update with the new target for the patch on the UO website. Thanks! 4:41 PM MST -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 05, 1999 Testing Set To Begin (8:14 am CST) OWO Web Site: Whats New Testing Set To Begin Aug 4 1999 6:39PM CST We will soon begin a new round of Open Live testing on the Ultima Online Access Update. We will be limiting the number of Outside Live Testers, and registration will be on a first come, first serve basis. We will activate the registration page on Thursday, August 5, 1999 at approximately 11AM Central Time. This registration page is on a secure server. It will ask you for your UO ID and password. You should feel confident in the security of this page. We have taken precautions to ensure that your password is not accessible to outside sources. We understand your hesitance to provide a password, but we want to assure you that this site was created by Origin, exists at Origin, and is used solely for the purposes of registering you to gain access to Test Center. Once we have reached approximately 2000 registered users, the site will discontinue accepting new applications. The actual update download page will activate shortly thereafter, when Test Center goes live. This should occur by Monday, August 9, 1999 but may occur sooner. These times and dates are subject to change; however, we shall make every effort not to deviate from this schedule. At some point during the Open Live process we may reduce the number of Live Testers, or discontinue access to the test for a number of people to facilitate our needs. Testers may also have access blocked to the test site if we feel that they are in any way detrimental to our testing process. An exciting new element we will be using is a "Web Based Bug Tracking Program", henceforth known as BugTrax2000. This will allow all of the participants to enter bugs directly into our official database. Although we don’t foresee any problems, we still must reinforce the fact that anyone abusing the database will be removed from the Live test and access to BugTrax2000 will be removed. BugTrax2000 will be constantly monitored to prevent abuse. The requirements that potential public Beta Testers should be aware of include: 1. You must be a current registered UO customer. We’ll be using your current registration information. 2. You should realize that you are testing an unfinished beta. Some things will be broken, the server may go down at random times and so on. If these types of things will annoy you, I would respectfully suggest that you continue playing on a public shard. 3. We will have specific events that require as many of the Beta testers on the shard at one time as possible. We will make these times as convenient possible for our Outside Beta Testers. IMPORTANT: The Live test client will only work on the single Live test server (the Test Center Shard)-not on the public shards. However, Open Live Testers will be able to continue playing their normal characters on the public shards by using their original client. There is a public news site dedicated to the Live test. This site will have current news and links to the BugTrax and Live Download site as well as other useful information http://beta.owo.com/ We look forward to working with you in the future. We wish to express our very sincere thanks for your involvement in the UO community. -- Posted by PGoH News Team UBB Smithing Contest on Catskills (8:07 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia UBB Smithing Contest on Catskills Got this Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The United Blacksmiths of Britannia is proud to announce a contest to rival all others. "The Best Smith of Catskills." This contest shall be open to Grandmaster blacksmiths that belong to a guild. Each guild must provide a single smith to represent them in the contest. Only one entrant per guild will be accepted. The contest shall be convened at the UBB Tavern and Supply on Fire Island. (171o 50' N, 116o 48'W) Gates will be provided from the Blacksmith Forge just north of Lord British's Castle. The contest shall last from 12 noon Eastern until 6 PM on Saturday, August 14th. Entrants may not wear any armor of any kind, nor may they bring any armor in their packs. Ingots will be provided for the entrants to use. A person will check each entrant to ensure that these guidelines are met. Contestants will attempt to make the best possible plate armor (does not include Bascinet or Female Plate) while using the least number of ingots. Prizes are to include 5 Messages in a Bottle, 20,000 gold, and 5,000 ingots. -- Nudd. -- Posted by PGoH News Team August 02, 1999 Item Wear and Tear on Siege Perilous (1:20 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues Item Wear and Tear on Siege Perilous Aug 2 1999 10:33AM CST We have modified the wear and tear on hatchets, scissors and bladed items on Siege Perilous. As of today, you will now find that these items last a bit longer than they previously did. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Reporting Murderers and Death (1:18 pm CST) OWO Web Site: Common Issues Reporting Murderers and Death Aug 1 1999 8:38PM CST There is an issue involving being killed by a player and not being able to report them. We looked into this and found that "innocents" are able to report their "aggressors" for murdering them, but not always right away. Under certain circumstances, "innocents" do not get the bounty message immediately after choosing to play as a ghost, or resurrecting on the spot. The players that are "innocents" when killed, but cannot report, may have to wait until the next day before they receive the option to place a bounty. -- Posted by PGoH News Team New UO Market Broker! All welcome Aspen (7:25 am CST) UOMarket News New UO Market Broker! All welcome Aspen Type: Site update Heya all. In the coming weeks we will be trying to add in more Brokers, due to the amount of Brokering Requests we have been recieving, our goal is get about 4 or 5 Brokers actively doing their thing, and then we will split up the Shards, and make Brokering be a form. So welcome in Aspen, her email and ICQ# are already Posted on the side menu under 'Contact Us', and you should always check there for proper Staff and who to contact for Brokering. Reminder, we are not accepting any requests to become UO Market Staff, or Brokers, this job is by our invitation only, and is a lengthy process even when recommended by fellow Staff. Thanks! The BEST way to get a Brokering is to send email to all three Brokers. All new Brokers are NOT official until their names are posted under 'Contact Us', and are announced on our News page, otherwise, they are fakes, and not to be trusted. -- ChuckTigre 1:45 pm EST -- Posted by PGoH News Team ChuckTigre is NOT a Broker, nor Brokering! (7:24 am CST) UOMarket News ChuckTigre is NOT a Broker, nor Brokering! Type: Site update I am no longer a Broker. I have taken my ICQ# off of the website. My name is not listed on the Brokering FAQ, and I simply do not handle them at all anymore. If you have sent me emails asking for Brokering, this i probably why you haven't gotten a response... I am now forwarding all email regarding Brokering to a random Broker, and only one. So, if you want to get the BEST response for a Brokering, I would suggest instead of emailing me, you send an email to all THREE Zamboni, Aspen, and Vix. Also, beware, there are many impersonators of me. How do you know? Because I am not Brokering! ALWAYS SEND EMAIL TO THE BROKER FIRST, DO NOT JUST ICQ US. We will tell you right from ICQ to email us first. With all the info: Password, Buyer/Seller's email + ICQ, final price/house type, several different times/days when you will both be online to do the brokering, etc. Thank you. -- ChuckTigre -- Posted by PGoH News Team Release of Fluffy the PK Chicken III (7:22 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia August 01, 1999 Release of Fluffy the PK Chicken III From Greybeard First there was Fluffy the PK Chicken, then the chaos continued with Fluffy II. Now UOEVIL is proud to present: Fluffy III – Killing is my business, and business is good! That’s right, take control of UO’s most notorious player killing poultry and lay waste to Newbies, Miners, and KewL DooDz at your leisure. This action packed arcade hit comes complete with: 3 new spells New easier to navigate map 2 new weapon types including explosion potions and a rocket launcher Lord British chained to a pole And much much, much more! The official premiere of Fluffy III will be exclusively at UOEVIL on Saturday July 31st at midnight EST so be sure to download your copy and let the feathers fly! Greybeard http://www.wtfman.com/uoevil Its out! Grab it at UOEVIL -- Posted by PGoH News Team Catskills: Mage Tower Training Session (7:20 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia August 02, 1999 Catskills: Mage Tower Training Session From Maud'dib... The Citizens of Sietch Tabr are sponsering an open training session for warriors, mages and craftsmen at the Moonglow Mage Tower on Catskills on Friday, August 6th at 7PM eastern time. You must provide dagger, butcher knife, or wand if you want to spar. If you come you must follow the Mage Tower rules of no killing, stealing, or looting. If you do not follow the rules you will be banned. The Mage Tower is west of Moonglow on the water. ICQ me for directions or a gate. ICQ-35991353 -- Posted by PGoH News Team

July 30, 1999 Updates to UOAssist (1:48 pm CST) Tugsoft Website: Update information Recent Changes DLL Version 1.11.0 Exe Version 1.2.0 - July 27 Dress/Undress added -- NOTE because so many items potentially are being moved it has a chance of failing to complete. Just try again to complete the process. ALSO while it is 'working' don't open items (containers, doors ...) or move items or you will most likely fail as well. NOTE 2 - You must setup the hotkeys for this feature. Remove hat function -- you must assign hot key. Remove rings/earrings function -- you must assign hot key. Keys page has been altered to make it easier to assign/review hotkey assignments. On the display page there is an option to 'Show spell with power words'. When UOAssist 'sees' power words it will display the name of the spell the power words match for you if this option is on. Disarm and Undress into a specified bag. Now you can set a bag that disarm will place your items into, same for undress. NOTE: you must count resources before disarming/undressing. WARNING -- If you set a disarm bag and disarm your spellbook it will go into the bag and you won't be able to cast spells and could lose the spellbook if you die. This will be changed in the next update but for now be VERY careful if you disarm spellbooks. Auto text coloring now works with NPC speech and system messages Lockpicks count correctly Yarn stacking finally works correctly User1 and User2 user defined resource counters now load/save correctly when 'Global settings' is checked. Base skill calculation now takes into account the wearing of plate mail items and the mage hat so you don't have to 'get naked' to calculate base skill levels correctly. The problem with the disappearing dex on the skills window has been corrected. The UOAssist updater now has a backup site if it fails to get the update from the first site it will attempt to download from an alternate site automatically. NOTE: you must first have 1.2.0 to have this work so the update after this will be the first time you'd see it. Coming Soon - ??? Enlarged UOAssist so all 'tabs' are visible without scrolling. Fixed dress settings so when you setup one character and switch to a charcter with no dress setups it doesn't attempt to use the last characters settings. Disarming a spell book will put it in your main pack even when a disarm bag is set. Last target and target self can now be assigned to keys with 'modifiers' like ctrl, shift and alt without causing the target cursor to remain after use. Ability to reassign 'close all gumps' to shift-ESC to prevent gumps closing accidentally while trying to cancel the target cursor. The [trapped] message you get when using Detect Hidden now appear in the correct color even when you have incoming text color setup. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Public Punishment!?!?! (1:44 pm CST) Dr. Twister This could happen to you! Friday - 9:00 am EST - Dr.TwisTer I guess the GMs wanted to make a point about macroing. Next thing we will see, is public hangings, or heck, even public burnings for performing wizardry in town. Oh that's right, magic doesn't work in town already...never mind. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Changes to the UO Development Team (7:32 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia July 29, 1999 Changes to the UO Development Team From ladyMOI... As many of you have no doubt noticed by now, Designer Dragon (Raph Koster), Faceless (Christopher Mayer), and Dupre (Rich Vogel) have been markedly absent from public forums as of late. There is good reason for this. At Origin, there has been a 'changing of the guards' so to speak. Join with us in wishing DD, Faceless, and Dupre the best of luck with their new project, which is an as yet unannounced new online title not based on the Ultima property. We are extremely pleased to present the new management of the UO team to you, the vast majority of whom you already know. SunSword (Anthony Castoro) and Toad (Todd Bailey), who have been designers on UO for sometime now, are the new Lead Designers. SunSword has kept himself busy over the years, having served as a quality assurance tester for Origin games, moving into entrepreneurial pursuits with small high-tech businesses, and finally acting as a UNIX consultant for such companies as IBM and Motorola. Since returning to Origin, he's been a designer on the UO Development team, bringing such advancements to the game as house ownership and lockdown. Toad brings to the table not only his experience as UO designer, but also a long history with Origin, as both a quality assurance tester and a GM in the years past. Runesabre (Kirk Black), a programmer on UO and a driving force behind Siege Perilous, takes on the responsibilities of Lead Programming. Since coming to the UO team, Runesabre has been consistently improving the state of the UO code base and proving himself to be an invaluable asset to the team in general. All three of them have been avid players of UO, just as passionate about the game as the most hardcore veterans out there. Origin is firmly committed to Ultima Online, and to using its veteran staff members to continue the success of this game. SunSword, Toad, and Runesabre also have new talent coming onto the team to help them with the tasks and responsibilities of the ongoing project. Finally, we want to introduce you to Jason Bell. Jason is not only new to the UO team, but also to Origin. As producer, Jason's job is to lead the UO team and the product, into the future. Jason brings to us a wealth of experience from his former employement with Kesmai Corporation, a leading developer and publisher of online multiplayer games. At Kesmai, Jason was the executive producer for Aliens Online and served as creative director for other successful titles such as Multiplayer Battletech, Air Warrior III and Legends of Kesmai. You can look forward to hearing more from Jason in the future. We are very happy to have this team as it is and are confident in the exceptional talents and abilities of these people. We believe that you will enjoy getting to know all of them, some more than you have, others for the first time. We look forward to the future of Ultima Online and the future of this team. Thanks, ladyMOI! -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 29, 1999 The Shrine Pilgrimage (9:49 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia From Dove, Good Folk, Against the advice of some well meaning friends concerned for my physical condition after having escaped my captivity just last week, I am going ahead with the Shrine Pilgrimage. If being so close to death has taught me anything, it is that we mortals have only so much time to accomplish the important tasks of life. At 70 years of age, I'm not getting any younger. Overview: This trip will be not only to the virtues but of the virtues. I am confident that opportunities will arise along the pilgrimage for us to excercise these virtues and find within us the qualities to which they are monutments. As with all pilgrimages, this will also be a great journey, a chance to see new places and make new discoveries, an opportunity to meet new friends. I plan many short "side trips" along the way as breaks from the long road and am sure that tangent stories will crop up as well for our entertainment. A final note. Besides the personal reasons we might each have for such a spiritual journey, it is the journey itself for which I do this. Thus, we will not be employing more than our own good legs and a boat when necessary. No recalls or gating. Schedule: Knowing the time involved in traveling so great a distance, especially with possible distractions here and there along the way, I will be devoting two hours each day to the pilgrimage. Knowing that other people can not be available every day, the make-up of the group will change daily. Times: Knowing that we are "awake" in the world at varrying times, and having friends in various "zones" of time, I will be traveling at different times each day so as to allow people to participate in at least some leg of the trip. Below is a schedule showing the day of departure and times for a week there after. Sunday: Depart from the Chamber of Virtue, Britain. (2 pm - 4 pm est) Monday: (8 pm - 10 pm est) Tuesday: (10 pm - 12 pm est) Wednesday: (8 pm -10 pm est) Thursday: (2 pm - 4 pm est) Friday: (10 pm -12 pm est) Saturday: (8 pm - 10 pm est) Sunday: (2 pm - 4 pm est) Route: We will begin at the Chamber of Virtue in Britain. From there we will travel south, making Spirituality our first shrine. Then further south to Honor. From there, we will take the boat "circle tour", island hopping our way northward, stopping at all the isle Shrines, until we finally land in Vesper. We shall then finish with Sacrifice, Compassion and Justice, respectively. I plan to visit a good many cities in between for shopping, sight seeing, etc. I will arrange for my own boat, but depending on the size of the group each sailing day, people will need to book thier own passage. Routine: At the end of the first day, we shall either have reached Spirituality or found a decent landmark as the next day's starting point. NOTE: Each day I will arrange for a rune to be marked of our stopping point and will then lock this down in the Yew Community Center so that people might easily recall off it to gather for the next day's march. In this way, even people not with us the previous day can conveniently join us. Of course, those wishing to camp at our stopping point until the next day won't have any such concern. Final Thoughts: For those who have wondered after the Community Walks if all I do is wander about the countryside...well, I am a 70 year old, pacifist, healer. Did you think I'd be leading dungeon treks? Seriously, I am planning on this being more eventful than walking from point A to point B, and in the company of interesting people such as yourselves, I am sure it will be two hours each day well spent. See you on the road. Until then, be safe, Dove the Healer of Yew Thanks -- Posted by PGoH News Team Siege Perilous Goes Permanent! (7:12 am CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues Siege Perilous to Become a Permanent Shard Jul 28 1999 5:08PM CST The code that will be implemented on the permanent Siege Perilous shard should be active on Siege Perilous Test after its maintenance tomorrow morning. This is an excellent (and your last!) opportunity to test some of the new features in preparation for your one and only Siege Perilous character. Siege Perilous Test will be wiped on Friday, July 30th at about 9AM CST. At approximately 10AM CST, Siege Perilous will open as a permanent shard! We’d like to thank all of you for your feedback while playing on Siege Perilous Test and we hope you find the permanent shard to be both challenging and rewarding. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Siege Perilous: Rate-Over-Time Explanation (7:12 am CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues Stat and Skill Gain on Siege Perilous Jul 28 1999 5:09PM CST The Siege Perilous Shard is meant to be a very challenging shard to play on. It will require teamwork, specialization and communication to succeed in this difficult world. To raise the level of difficulty suitable for the types of players attracted to a veteran shard, the rate at which you will gain in time-resource skills and all stats will be slower than on the standard shards. The “rate-over-time” system and daily caps will curb the unbalancing effects of macroing, since everyone will be subject to the same rules. It’s useless to compare absolute values of skills and stats on Siege Perilous to those of other shards. The inherent value of skills and stats is relative to the rate at which they can be gained. The effectiveness of skills and stats is relative to what the others around you have. What could be considered a low skill level on the other shards, may be quite competitive on Siege Perilous. Furthermore, this new system ensures that everyone will be subject to the same advancement curve, which creates a fair and level playing environment. Part of this advancement system defines skills as either material-resource or time-resource based. Material-resource skills will not be affected by this new system and you will gain as you normally do on other shards. However, time-resource skills and stats will be influenced by the “rate-over-time” system. The following skills are considered time-resource based: Anatomy Arms Lore Animal Lore Evaluate Intelligence Forensics Evaluation Detect Hidden Hiding Snooping Spirit Speak Tracking Meditation Stealth Stealing Swordsmanship Fencing Tactics Macefighting Wrestling Magic Resistance Parrying Remove Trap The time-resource skills and stats are subject to the “rate-over-time” system. The system is broken up into two parts. Firstly, there will be intervals of time limiting the amount you can gain in time-resource skills and stats. The time per interval at which a time-resource skill can advance will lengthen as the skill raises. For stats, the interval will remain constant regardless of how high your stats are. Secondly, both time-resource skills and stats will have daily caps on the total amount of points you can gain in them in a given day. For time-resource skills, this daily cap does not come into effect until you reach 70.0 in that skill. This daily cap is cumulative and affects the progress of all time-resource skills of 70.0 or higher. Gains in time-resource skills below 70.0, or gains in material-resource skills, will not count towards the daily cap. For stats, the daily cap is set from the beginning and remains the same throughout the development of your character. After you hit the daily cap, time-resource skills can still be used as normal, but no gains will be made on those time-resource skills above 70.0. Ok, so what does all of this mean for advancing time-resource skills and stats on Siege Perilous? Here’s an example. Make the following assumptions for a player: 1. His skills are at zero, and 2. He plays a good, hard 6 hours a day. After about 2 days, he could be at 50.0 in any and all time-resource skills he chooses to practice (limited only by the 700 point total skill cap). After about 3 days, he could be up to about 60.0 in these skills. After about 9 days, these skills can reach up to 70.0 points each. At this point, the daily cap on the total amount of points he can gain in time-resource skills per day takes effect. Now, if he wishes to reach Grandmaster levels in some of these skills, he’ll need to plan carefully, and consider the daily cap, when choosing which time-resource skills to work on. Note this cap only applies to skills that are at or above 70.0; any gain in time-resource skills below 70.0 will not count towards the cap. In total, under this system, one can reach Grandmaster level in two time-resource skills in approximately 49 days. For stats, the “rate-over-time” system works a bit differently. During any given day, the maximum total stat gain that can be achieved is 6 points. Stats will advance at constant time-based intervals and the stat raised per interval will be determined by the skills that one uses. This should give you a clear idea of how time-resource skills and stats advance on Siege Perilous. We believe that this system will foster a fair and level, albeit challenging, playing field on the shard. Citizens of Siege Perilous can be confident that their efforts are worthwhile, because everyone has to play under the same system which carefully balances advancement over time. Siege Perilous will have its own section in the playguide on the uo.com website by Monday, August 2nd. We will release the new url for Siege Perilous section when it is ready. The newest information about the Siege Perilous Shard will be posted here in Shard Issues first and then updated to the Siege Perilous section a couple of days later. -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 27, 1999 East Coast Server Issues (7:20 am CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues East Coast Connection Problems Jul 26 1999 11:40AM CST There are still some connectivity problems occurring to these servers, symptoms include; unable to login, help button not working, and other general latency related issues. We are aware of the situation and are looking into it. We will keep everyone updated to any developments that occur. We apologize for any inconveniences that this may cause, and we thank you for your patience. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Changes to Siege Perilous: And then there were none... (6:54 am CST) COB July 26, 1999 Comments from Runesabre and Siege Changes From Runesabre on the DevBoard You will be happy to know that your discussions do mean a lot to me and I take everything you say seriously and objectively. The vision of Siege was not only to create a shard that was challenging for the veteran UO player but to address some of the fundamental flaws that I feel the game has carried with it since its inception. Recall and mule characters as well as the ease of gaining gold in Britannia are good examples. Siege has addressed those issues wonderfully. This was our one true chance to try out what I felt were good ideas for the game and its players... there may never be another chance to try out ideas as radical as Siege. It has been my goal, however, to ensure that Siege does not become reduced to another form of imbalanced gameplay replete with its own hideous problems. For example, the changes to the time-resource skills are intended to improve the gameplay and balance on Siege. In light of the discussions I have observed over the past few days, I will be taking out the changes relating to INT affecting warrior accuracy, HP using a mix of INT+DEX and the dex scaled casting delay for magic. It has not been my goal to create a new form of test shard that remains in a constant state of limbo and tweaking irregardless of the intent of the changes. In this case, I feel it is in the best interest of the players to fall back to what has proven tried and true up to this point. I thank you all for your interest in Siege and must say it has been nice to see players so actively involved in the shaping of their world. The major changes to Siege Perilous will be over soon; it is our goal to polish it off and turn it over to you the players as soon as possible. As always, my email is open to any who wish to send me their thoughts. Check out the latest on the DevBoard and keep it on topic! -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 26, 1999 More Changes to SP (8:03 pm CST) COB Notice the new Hit Point Calculation. Perhaps they do listen when the players complain that the new changes will destroy pure mages! From Calandryll, on the Dev Board We will be implementing the following changes to Siege Perilous Test that will go into effect once the shard restarts from its regularly scheduled 5am CST maintenance. Firstly, the scale for which Dexterity affects casting delay has been slightly modified and will be as follows: 0-30 = 2x normal casting delay 31-64 = 1 1/2x normal casting delay 65-84 = normal casting delay 85-98 = 3/4x normal casting delay 99+ = 1/2x normal casting delay Secondly, the calculation for hit points will no longer be based solely on your Strength statistic. The new calculation will be 60% of your Strength plus 40% of your Dexterity (60%STR + 40%DEX). This change will help those who chose to have low strength and increased dexterity and intelligence to be more viable in combat situations. -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 24, 1999 Siege Perilous (9:53 pm CST) Runesabre posted this on the Dev board at CoB. It directly affects Siege Perilous, but we can expect these changes to be placed on the regular shards after testing on SP. Also of note, is the apparent use of Siege Perilous as a test shard. The current dex/int changes on Siege aren't exactly what I will be using. Sometime tonight I will probably restart Siege with all the newest changes which includes both the int/dex changes as well as the new rate advancements for certain skills and stats. In regards to how the dex changes will work: - A Mage with less than 25 dex with find spells taking 3X their normal casting delay. - A Mage with dex between 25 and 49 dex will find 2X casting delays. - A mage between 50 and 84 will find normal casting delays - a Mage with dex 85 or greater will find the casting delays cut in half. For the warrior, Intelligence will account for 25% of the accuracy formula. So, weapon skill is still a large determant factor but Intelligence will certainly have a noticeable difference. Runesabre Twenty minutes after that post, Runesabre revised his design after viewing the immediate reaction of Dev Board posters. He posted the following changes. I have revised the changes to Dex and Mages. The new changes will be as follows: - Mages with 24 or less dex will have 3x casting delays - Mages with 25 - 64 dex will have 2x casting delays - Mages with 65 - 84 dex will have normal casting delays - Mages with 85 - 98 dex will have 3/4 casting delays - Mages with 99 or above dex will have 1/2 casting delays Mages will find that pre-casting no longer works. Additionally, I capped the total int effect on accuracy to account for possible imbalances with monsters who might have extremely high int. Comments and discussion always welcome of course. Runesabre -- Posted by PGoH News Team East Coast Login Issues (6:57 pm CST) OWO Website We are currently looking into why players cannot log into our East Coast Servers. We have contacted our network staff concerning this issue and login availability will resume as soon as possible. -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 23, 1999 Problems with the East Coast servers (6:50 am CST) OWO Web Site: Shard Issues There are currently some connectivity problems with the East Coast servers. Global Center has announced that they are experiencing some degradation, are looking into it and hope to have it resolved soon. If you are unable to login, please send a trace route to uotrace at owo.com, with 'East Coast connection problems' as the subject. Thanks. -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 22, 1999 Catskills Festival (7:12 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia Time for celebrating.. Hail ye feller Catskillians! It seems like only yesterday we was celebratin' the Summer solstice. But the time is nigh fer our comin' Greater Festival...known as Lughnasadh or Lamas. The festival'll be held in the small fort north o' the shrine o' compassion, same as last time. Join us on the Saturn's Day, thirty-one sunrises inta the seventh moon, at 10:00 in the evenin' accordin' ta when the sun hits the eastern coast. I'll be postin' more details 'bout the Festival in the comin' days. What we'll be doin' an' what it's all 'bout. Pray ta whatever gods ye worship for good weather! *winks* --Cattie-Brie, Druid IronRoot Clan *OOC - for more information on our Clan visit our skypage at http://members.xoom.com/Ironroot/clan.htm Thanks! -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 19, 1999 Martial Law Revoked: A Turn of Events (10:08 am CST) OWO Website: Town Cryer In an unexpected turn of events, the Lord General Jetrin Valek has been arrested on charges of accepting bribes, abuse of power, accessory to murder and behavior unbecoming of an officer. In addition, Lieutenant Wendell and a local noble, James Winters, have been arrested on related charges. Sir Geoffrey has ordered that the day-to-day rule of Trinsic be returned to the local council as soon as an orderly transfer can be assured. In the final days of the General’s rule, there was a stirring among the assigned Order Guards that something was not as it should be. One guard, William, felt so strongly that he enlisted the aid of the fine citizens of Trinsic in order to gather evidence against Valek. In what turned out to be a well-timed gathering, the General was discovered in a hidden room above the barracks arguing with James Winters about the murder of Sara Braccalese. The General departed, but not before Winters was captured along with a very large collection of weapons, gold and incriminating documents. The documents in this room were instrumental in locating the additional evidence required to convince Sir Geoffrey of the need to issue an arrest warning immediately. Since then, we have found out a bit about what has really been going on in Trinsic. Apparently things had begun to unravel for the General following the murder of Sara Braccalese. The investigation of the murder was carried out in such a haphazard manner that raised the suspicions of all those close to Valek that he was forced to act more rashly than in the past. Shortly following the murder, the General’s well-liked Lieutenant Finn was given a field demotion and returned to Britain without explanation. It has since become apparent that this demotion and exile was in direct response to Lieutenant Finn’s suspicions concerning the General. Conversely, Lieutenant Wendell was given a field promotion to Major in return for his support and silence. Sir Geoffrey has since reversed Wendell’s promotion although Sergeant Finn’s demotion will stand. “All guards of His Majesty are held to a high standard and His officers to an even higher one. It is commendable that Sergeant Finn would follow his conscience in this matter, but that does not excuse the fact that he was not willing to report such a gross misconduct out of some feeling of loyalty for his former commanding officer. We continue to have the utmost confidence in His Majesty’s forces. This situation just underscores the need for all men, no matter their station, to remain vigilant against evil.” As with Private Drepler, the disposition of justice to members of the military will be a closed affair although all are expected to receive life sentences. James Winters has already been sentenced to a life of labor in the mines north of Minoc following his conviction for the murder of Sara Braccalese. But strangely enough none of this answered the questions that brought these men to Trinsic. Who was the mysterious contact in Trinsic? What was the reason for the betrayal at Cove? Presumably the docks being built in the Cove area had something to do with it, but no direct evidence has come forth. James Winters has been able to show that he had no knowledge of the situation in Cove until after the fact, so these questions must remain unanswered for now. -- Posted by PGoH News Team Siege Perilous Shard Open! (9:59 am CST) OWO Website: News Prepare yourselves, brave travelers, for this land truly will test your skills as a player. Aggressors who chose to alienate themselves from their fellow adventurers will find quickly it is a struggle to simply survive. Only those who can master the arts of teamwork, communication and trade, as well as combat, will prosper in this challenging world. Remember that for the first several weeks of operation, Siege Perilous will be a Test Shard. While the shard remains open, we will be monitoring it closely for any sign of problems. In the event that we find a major issue, we may need to wipe the shard. If all goes well, the shard will become permanent and we will not wipe it. Check the uo.com site for future updates on the Siege Perilous Shard! -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 16, 1999 Siege Perilous Test Shard Will Open on July 16th! (7:38 am CST) OWO Web Site: Whats New In order to properly test all of the changes to Siege Perilous, the shard will be opened on Friday, July 16th. Remember, that the Shard will be considered a Test Shard for the first week or two of its opening. During this time, we will be carefully watching Siege Perilous for any issues resulting from the differences. If and only if, we find a major problem will we wipe the shard. If all goes as planned, the Shard will become permanent and no wipe will occur. We will update you further on the status of Siege Perilous as it remains open. Below are the changes that will exist on Siege Perilous. Those that chose to live in this altered shard are wise to read them carefully. Your Character There will be only one character slot available per account. The advancement gates, once a feature of Abyss, will not be present. Character advancement must be made by traditional methods. Townsfolk The shopkeepers on Siege Perilous hoard their gold greedily and will not buy items from players. They are, however, more than happy to sell their wares…at three times the cost of other shards! Townspeople will also charge three times as much for training of skills, stabling animals, joining the NPC guilds, and for hiring them. Player Vendors will charge 3x as much for their services. NPCs will not have any gold in their backpacks and therefore, you will not be able to steal from them or kill them to get their gold. Townspeople requesting escort will not travel with someone who is already escorting another, you may only have one escort at a time. As with all NPCs, they will not have any items on their persons either and the only way they will part with their gold is if you actually bring them to their desired location. Considering these differences and the ones noted under “Your Character”, it would be very wise to befriend, rather than to attack, your local tradesmen. A skilled blacksmith, alchemist, tailor, or scribe can be a very powerful ally. Magic Spellcasters adventuring in Siege Perilous should be wary of the changes to their trade. Most noticeably, the spell “recall” will not function. You will not be able to mark runes in dungeons nor cast Gate while in a dungeon. For those involved in faction or guild wars, it is vitally important to note that direct damage spells will work in towns. The spells Blade Spirits and Energy Vortex have been weakened significantly. Breaking the Law The biggest difference that individuals of ill repute will notice about Siege Perilous is that there is no stat-loss of any kind. However, murderers should be careful when venturing close to town, as all towns are justice regions (except for Buccaneer’s Den) and the guards will kill murderers on sight! Criminals can breath a small sigh of relief, as the Guards will not patrol the wilderness. There will be wandering healers willing to resurrect those that stray from the path of good. The shrines will no longer forgive murderers of their crimes (as they did on Abyss) and therefore, one cannot remove their murder counts by visiting a shrine. Killing an innocent human NPC will result in a Long-term and a Short-term murder count. The gate to the lawless town of Buccaneers’ Den will no longer be present. Although you must still be in the Thieves Guild to steal from players, you will not be removed from the guild for collecting a murder count, nor are there any skill or time requirements to meet before joining. The NPCs will defend themselves against thieves and will attack any thief who steals from them outside of town. Also, one cannot steal an item randomly, you must actually “snoop” a pack and select a specific item. Murderers and Criminals will not be able to kick/ban others from their home, nor will they be able to insta-log. The title “Murderer” has been done away with, murderers will now show their karma/fame title. The Good/Evil system will be present on Siege Perilous Skills Bards will find some monsters are provoked less easily since the skill “provocation” will now be difficulty-based. The use of provocation will wear your instrument down, requiring that you replace it from time to time. In addition to musical instruments, fishing poles, herding crooks and axes used for lumberjacking will also wear down with use. Fishermen will notice a decrease in the rate that they find SOS bottles and will not be able to fish up treasure maps at all. Those seeking to gain treasure from chests are advised to have skill in “detect hidden” because all chests in dungeons, in the wilderness, and in towns will be trapped. Opening a chest without detecting the trap first could have deadly results. Making leather armor will not require as much skill for Tailors as it does on other shards. Wearing leather armor will not cause any penalties to Stealth or Meditation. Rogues will find it a bit easier to sneak up on their marks as the chance to be automatically revealed when near player-characters while stealthed has been reduced to one tile. The following skills will not unhide you when they are used: Snooping, Detect Hidden, Item Identification, Anatomy, Arms Lore, Animal Lore, Evaluate Intellect, Forensics Evaluation, Poisoning, and Arms Lore While skill in the art of combat will certainly help one survive on Siege Perilous, the true path to success will be through making allies. As one cannot possibly have all of the skills necessary to obtain every resource essential to survival, setting up trade agreements with other players will often offer the best chance of prosperity. Those who shoot first and ask questions later could quickly find themselves alone and lacking in supplies. Be sure to check the uo.com website for future updates and information about Siege Perilous! -- Posted by PGoH News Team The Voice of Mondain (7:35 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia When: Friday, July 16 at 10pm CST (11pm EST) Where: One of Lord British's cities What: The emergence of the true religion of Sosaria and an attack on Lord British This is a plea to all whom have been seduced by the lull of the serpent. Does it not strike you as odd that your Lords symbol is built upon the mesmerizing gaze of a serpant? Do you not feel the strength of will being drained from your soul as you are forced to conform to his ways? His dictatorship of rules and etiquette must be followed under threat of life and death. How many of you have stood idle as your friends and loved ones have been slain in the streets by the 'protecting' town guard? Who's will do they serve? Do you believe they fight for the people? Your freedom? Perhaps not. We have all sat idle under the tyranny of our vacant Lord. We have all come under the ways of his oppression. The Temple of Mondain fights to free you. We strive to break away from this oppression. We battle on your behalf in order to create a new better world. It is at this time that I wish to warn and invite each of you of a coming event. We have mustered enough fighting souls to commence the battle against Lord British and his vile ways. We invite you to join us and stand up against this tyranny. We will continue to fight for a better Sosaria and implore you to carefully watch the hateful actions of your king. Until such time as Lord British officially recognizes that he and his kingdom fall under the power and divine rulership of Lord Mondain we will continue to battle on your behalf. On this coming Friday night, at approximately 10 pm (CST) we will march upon one of Lord British's cities. All whom represent his ways will be taught a stern lesson of the tyranny they support. If you wish to support our cause, though are unable to assist in the battle. We advise you to adorn the cloth of bright yellow. Mark your bodies, your houses and your possessions with this yellow cloth and when Mondains army comes marching, you and all you own will be spared. Those failing to adorn this chosen color of Mondain will be seen as the vile corruptors of Lord British and his foul misdeeds. When they are found and captured they shall be treated accordingly. To freedom and prosperity, The Voice of Mondain -- Posted by PGoH News Team Third Community Walk - To Trinsic (7:34 am CST) Crossroads of Britannia Friends of the Road, Sunday is fast approaching and it's time to announce another destination for our Community Walks. I had put off a walk to Trinsic earlier in light of the martial law imposed on that city, but now that we've only an army of Orcs to deal with...*chuckles*. In all seriousness, I realize some will question my choice of Trinsic during a siege of that city, but in truth, what better gesture of community solidarity than braving this siege to visit our brothers and sisters to the south? This may seem foolhardy to some, but those who know me well, certainly know that I have walked the roads of this land with little care for what possible rogue or murderer lay in wait around the next bend. I simply will not let fear stop me from helping those in need or doing what I think right. I think showing Trinsic that we have not forgotten them, even during this dark week, is right. Date: July 18 Time: 2 pm (eastern) Place: Again, due to a long trip, meeting at the Community Center seems best. (map available at: www.homestead.com/yewcommunitycenter/index.html) Destination: The city of Trinsic and the small "mini-towns" to its south run by groups such as The Ravens of Morrigan and The Guardians of Light. Several special notes in light of the last walk: 1. We were lucky enough to make it to Virtue Village last Sunday in record time. However, I would like to invest some of that time on this walk getting to know with whom I travel. We'll begin the walk with introductions and stop somewhere along the journey for a bite to eat and sharing of stories. 2. If anyone deems this walk too dangerous, given our destination, or has allegiances to either Trinsic or the orcs and thus would be in peril on such a walk, I surely understand if you pass this weekend. I should hope that you know by now that I am a pacifist and plan this (as much as possible) to be a trip devoid of bloodshed. See you on the road. Until then, be safe, Dove the Healer of Yew Thanks Dove! -- Posted by PGoH News Team July 14, 1999 The Siege Perilous Shard (7:25 am CST) OWO Web Site: Whats New As the remains of the old Abyss crumble into dust, a new land takes its place. It is called “Siege Perilous” and is designed with the veteran player in mind. This advanced shard will be a very different place from the other shards. Of note, you will find that magic works a bit differently and the penalties for committing crimes are not quite as harsh. While one may be tempted to take advantage of these softer penalties for misdeeds, those of tempered spirit will often be more successful in this land. What makes Siege Perilous unique among the other shards is listed below and those wishing to travel to this challenging place are advised to read carefully. Your Character There will be only one character slot available per account. The advancement gates, once a feature of Abyss, will not be present. Character advancement must be made by traditional methods. Townsfolk The shopkeepers on Siege Perilous hoard their gold greedily and will not buy items from players. They are, however, more than happy to sell their wares…at three times the cost of other shards! Townspeople requesting escort will not have any items on their persons and the only way they will part with their gold is if you actually bring them to their desired location. Considering these differences and the ones noted under "Your Character", it would be very wise to befriend, rather than to attack, your local tradesmen. A skilled blacksmith or miner can be a very powerful ally. Magic Spellcasters adventuring in Siege Perilous should be wary of the changes to their trade. Most noticeably, the spell "recall" will not function. However, for those involved in faction or guild wars, it is vitally important to note that direct damage spells will work in towns. Breaking the Law The biggest difference that individuals of ill repute will notice about Siege Perilous is that there is no stat-loss of any kind. However, murderers should be careful when venturing close to town, as all towns are justice regions (except for Buccaneer’s Den) and the guilds will kill murderers on sight! The shrines will no longer forgive murderers of their crimes (as they did on Abyss) and therefore, one cannot remove their murder counts by visiting a shrine. Although you must still be in the Thieves Guild to steal from players, you will not be removed from the guild for collecting a murder count, nor are there any skill or time requirements to meet before joining. The NPCs will defend themselves against thieves and will attack any thief who steals from them outside of town. Also, one cannot steal an item randomly, you must actually "snoop" a pack and select a specific item. Skills Bards will find some monsters are provoked less easily since the skill “provocation” will now be difficulty-based. The use of provocation will wear your instrument down, requiring that you replace it from time to time. Those adventuring in dungeons are advised to have skill in “detect hidden” because all chests in dungeons will be trapped. Opening a chest without detecting the trap first could have deadly results. Factions Each faction will no longer highlight different colors; instead, their affiliation will be above their head and factions will highlight orange to one another, just as with guilds. While skill in the art of combat will certainly help one survive on Siege Perilous, the true path to success will be through making allies. As one cannot possibly have all of the skills necessary to obtain every resource essential to survival, setting up trade agreements with other players will often offer the best chance of prosperity. Those who shoot first and ask questions later could quickly find themselves alone and lacking in supplies. We are targeting July 15th as the date to open the Siege Perilous Shard. However, because of the considerable differences between Siege Perilous and the other shards, during the first week of its operation Siege Perilous will be considered a Test Shard. This means that during this first week, we will be watching the shard carefully, looking for any problems associated with the changes. If, and only if we find a severe issue will we wipe the shard and restart it. If all goes as expected, the shard will be made permanent and no wipe will occur.

June 30, 1999 Announcing the Ultima Messenger (2:17 am CST) From: What's new In the world of Ultima Online, effective communication methods are a vital part of community building and information sharing. In the interest of helping our players communicate better in UO, we are happy to announce the Ultima Messenger. Ultima Messenger is the backbone of a new GM call system. This system will make for better tracking of your service calls within Ultima Online, and is part of Origin's commitment to upgrade the customer service in UO. Modifying this system to allow players to send messages to each other, instead of only into the support queue, turned out to be an easy and natural extension of that system. The Ultima Messenger allows players to send each other messages within UO itself, rather than relying on external, potentially unsecure technologies. The system allows you to send and receive messages and forward messages to others. The Ultima Messenger is designed to ensure that you only receive messages from people you wish to communicate with. Best of all, sending and receiving messages is simple and intuitive, and the system won’t disrupt your gameplay because it only retrieves your messages when you want it to. Ultima Messenger will be included in the previously mentioned patch, targeted for July 24th. Keep an eye on the UO website for more details on both the Ultima Messenger and the new GM call system in the future. -- Posted by PGoH News Team June 28, 1999 Community Walk to Kinship Update (11:08 pm CST) Dove the Healer of Yew sends word on how the Community Walk went: Good Folk, A quick note to let all know how the Community Walk to Kinship went. It went very well indeed. We began at Empath with between 15 and 20 folks and after a slight mishap of taking the wrong road (seems none of use the roads in Yew much) we were moving along at a pace that saw us in Kinship before 2 hours had passed. More importantly though than our time, were the wonderful conversations, the display of community pride, and several comments made by my fellow travelers of how varied our group was and what interesting and charming people came together to walk. After several monsters (poor things...with the size group we had, they never stood a chance), one resurrection of a ghost that happened across our path, and passing the Britain Crossroads unscathed, we arrived in Kinship. Following a brief stop in Kinship Tavern, those who remained were treated to a wonderful tour of the town by Rook. All very memorable and well worth doing again. We set our sights next weekend on Winterfell, but I will post again closer to the date with more details. I hope to see more new faces as well as those I put to a very pleasant memory from this afternoon. Until we meet again on the road, be safe. Dove the Healer of Yew -- Posted by PGoH News Team Client Update (10:22 pm CST) This was added to shard issues today. If you downloaded a test client from our ftp site and have replaced the original client.exe in your Ultima Online directory, the patching process will not work for you. You should restore the original client.exe (version 1-25-37a) to your Ultima Online. If you no longer have the 37a client, go to our ftp site and download it into your Ultima Online directory. You only need to download the file called client.exe. For T2A users: ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/uo/client/client37a/gold/ For non-T2A users: ftp://ftp.owo.com/pub/uo/client/client37a/gold/ Remember to always follow the download instructions carefully when using a beta test client to preserve your original files. -- Posted by PGoH Client Update Today (3:35 pm CST) From: Shard Issues We will be updating the client today for all UO members to include the features from the 37f test-client. In addition to stability fixes and various performance optimizations this update also includes the new colored lighting effects and the ability to create a macro to toggle your circle of transparency. The lighting effects are optional and the default is set to "off". In order to view the colored lighting, add the following lines to your uo.cfg. ColoredLighting=on ShadedFonts=on In a future update, we will be adding the ability to toggle this from the options menu in-game. -- Posted by PGoH Last Target Legality (7:48 am CST) Various Sources To clear up some of the confusion here is the latest and greatest regarding last target. This posted on the UOAssist site: 6-15-99 2nd update There is some confusion on the use of 'last target' in UOAssist. I have emailed OSI about this to try and clear up what they are saying to people about last target. From the responses I've received it isn't last target that OSI is concerned about but unattended macroing or using last target to exploit a bug (I don't know of any that still exist). Also in the search for truth your PGoH News Team contacted OSI directly and what follows is the E-Mail exchanged (the initial message simply asked if last target is illegal or not): -----Original Message----- From: Gameplay [#support at owo.com] Sent: Saturday, June 12, 1999 12:27 AM To: madmax at techcom.net Subject: MX0000012291 Last target is illegal? Greetings, UO Assist has been approved by Origin Systems Third Party Software Program. TugSoft has met all the requirements necessary to have this program approved. Although UO Assist has been approved through our third-party program, we are not reinstating accounts which were banned for usage prior to approval. Those accounts which used UO Assist prior to approval were doing so in conflict to our terms of service agreement. Gm Clyde Not all that clear eh? So we sent this reply: I was speaking directly to the Last Target issue. Not UOA alone. Or is it okay to use Last Target just in UOA? (dumb question I know) -----Original Message----- From: Gameplay [#support at owo.com] Sent: Saturday, June 12, 1999 4:47 PM To: madmax at techcom.net Subject: RE: MX0000012291 Last target is illegal? Greetings, Currently the only means to "Last Target" is through a third party program. The only program approved at this time with this option is UOA. I hope this clears your confusion. Take care! Gm Clyde Well as you see. Last Target is fine. OSI will still get you for using Last Target as part of unattended macroing but for other applications Last Target is fine. -- Posted by PGoH June 27, 1999 Catskills-Festival Postponed (8:33 pm CST) From Cattie-Brie: The Goddess Araya let it be known ta us that somethin' was amiss fer the Festival... Aye! Perhaps we was ta be attacked by evil on a holy day...*frowns* Nothin' is certain but fer the weather! 'Twas terrible! I meself wasn't even able ta find me way fro' the Villager's Hut just north o' the fort! Rain the likes o' which I remember only in me younger days in this land! We'll try agin' -- fer nothin' can keep us fro' markin' the beginnin' o' summer wit' a celebration fer our friends an' family! --Cattie-Brie, Druid IronRoot Clan *OOC -- due to the login server being down, we were, very unfortunately, unable to hold our Festival as planned. We have postponed it until next Friday, 7/2 -- at 10:00 pm EST. -- Posted by PGoH June 26, 1999 Meeting new people, finding new places (9:52 pm CST) Dove the Healer of Yew: Good Folk, Much has been said lately of the "death of community" in this land of our's. Some have acredited this decline of involvement to the lack of organized events. Others propose the spread of some plague of appathy or passing away of key figures. I have no doubt that all of these contain grains of truth. Events, weeks in the planning, are over in a day and quickly moved to the realm of memory, leaving us to wonder when someone else will plan something better...something more fantastic. And which of us, disheartened by some injustice, frustrated by some limitation, or even bored by monotony, has not grown appathetic at times or even considered putting aside this world all together. However, I firmly believe that the ability to nurture and maintain community (OOC:and good interactive role play) lies with each of us and takes no more planning, coin, or spectacle than seeking out a few others of similar interest and walking arm in arm to find even more with the same mind-set. Armed with this belief, I propose the following: I am arranging a series of walks to the various communities of this land. Each time, I will begin in Yew and set out with folk of like mind. Having been about the land for some time, I have visited many other communities, and yet, even those I have frequented often, surely hold buildings, people, and happenings I have never beheld. To see and meet these in the company of good friends would be a grand adventure indeed while costing little in planning or coin. I would like to begin with witha walk to Kinship, but certainly Winterfell, Virtue Village, and the mini-towns about Trinsic would follow. Date: Sunday, 6-27-99 Time: 3 pm (eastern) Place: Beginning at the doors of Empath Abbey Destination: Kinship Tavern It is my hope that friends in Kinship might gather to meet us and arrange for a tour of the town for those of Yew unfamiliar with this fine village. One final note...I must stress what this is not, so that folk hoping for these things will understand. This is to be a community walk...not a run...not a race. Part of the enjoyment is the company with whom you travel, and we will take a stop here and there along the way as things take our interest. This is not a hunt or a monster killing party. It is, instead, a show of unity within the communities of this world and a demonstration that one can meet new folk, enjoy new places, and create lasting bonds that continue to generate interest in this world with no more effort than walking from point A to point B. I hope you will join me. Dove the Healer of Yew -- Posted by PGoH June 25, 1999 Tavern Opening (10:29 am CST) Cross Roads of Britannia Hail friends! I would like to announce the opening of the 'Tiny Tavern of Jin', located on the Catskills shard, below the guarded crossroads west of Minoc at co-ordinates 67o 19'N 55o 15'E. We offer all types of delicious food and refreshing drink for sale, so please feel free to come by and share an ale and a tale. -- Posted by PGoH June 23, 1999 Call for Dungeon Screenshots (6:54 pm CST) From FYI: In honor of Dungeon Month we'd like you to send us your best dungeon screenshots. Do you have a shot of an epic battle or an unusual occurrence? Then send it in right away! We are looking for shots that capture the mood, action, and danger associated with dungeons. Selected shots will be posted on the uo.com front page and the sender of the shot will receive a free month of UO! If you'd like to send us a shot, see the rules and guidelines here: http://town.uo.com/uo_shots.html. -- Posted by PGoH UO Spawn Map Earns UOPro Approval (6:47 pm CST) From What's New: UO Spawn Map Earns UOPro Approval Origin Systems is proud to announce that UO Spawn Map has officially passed Ultima Online's UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating. The UO Spawn Map utility provides easy access to the information about the spawn areas on Britannia and the creatures that will be encountered. This includes creature descriptions, strengths, and the rewards they carry. More information about this program can be found at http://software.freepage.de/drako/uo/ The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro. A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html. -- Posted by PGoH Resisting Magic versus Evaluate Intelligence explained (6:42 pm CST) UOSS After much research and gathering of information, Rainman has completed the essay on Resisting Magic. In the essay you will learn how to calculate the chance of resisting spells and the possible damage done given the Magery and Evaluate Intelligence skill of the attacker and the Resisting Magic skill of the defender. As an added bonus Rainman also whipped up a Resisting Magic Calculator that will help you with the math. What you will not find in the essay is how to gain skill in Resisting Magic. We're still working on a guide to gaining Resisting Magic skill, so you don't have to send emails asking about that -- Posted by PGoH Test Center Unavailable (6:39 pm CST) Shard Issues Test Center will be unavailable for public use as of today, June 23, 1999. The shard will be wiped and will be used for extensive internal testing. When this is complete, Test Center will once again be available to the public. We expect that this will take approximately two weeks and we will keep you updated as we move closer to reopening the shard. -- Posted by PGoH UO Companion Program Announced (6:37 pm CST) Common Issues Coming soon, to a shard near you, Companions will be making their debut. The Companion program is the latest installment in the continuous upgrading of our customer service. The purpose of the Companion program is to team up new Ultima Online players with helpful, experienced players to assist the new player through the first few hours of the UO game experience. Companions will be volunteers who provide advice and guidance to new players who request assistance in understanding skill management and choosing careers in UO. Companions will provide the new player with a veteran's insight into the inner workings of the game. In any kind of online community, there will always be those who get satisfaction from helping others. These are the people who, once they’ve learned their environment very well, they get continued satisfaction out of assisting their fellow members in learning the ropes of the community. They like to teach the mechanics of the game, the social structures of the community, and the survival and success techniques of the world to those who may be less familiar with them. The Companion program basically gives a title and role, with real responsibilities, and a couple of cool powers, to the people who would like to do this kind of thing in an official capacity within Ultima Online. Any experienced Ultima Online player that is 18 or older can apply to be a Companion. There will be an application form posted next week for prospective Companions. Do you understand and enjoy participating in the social experience of online gaming? Do you have a desire to help new players get involved with the game? If so, you may be just the kind of person we’re looking for Watch the UO website at http://www.uo.com for the upcoming Companion application and more details on the program! -- Posted by PGoH June 18, 1999 Another Third Party Application goes PRO! *Deja Vu!* (1:43 pm CST) OWO Website Tolian's UO Journal Converter Earns UOPro Rating Jun 18 1999 10:09AM CST Origin Systems is proud to announce that Tolian’s UO Journal Converter has officially passed Ultima Online’s UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating. Tolian’s UO Journal Converter allows the user to save their journal in an easy to read and understand HTML file. Users have the ability to filter unwanted messages (skill messages, player speeches, etc.), store their journal in separate files for each day, and split large cumbersome journals into smaller, easier to manage ones. Visit http://uo.stratics.com/uojc/main.html to learn more about UO Journal Converter. The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro. A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html. -- Posted by PGoH Coming Soon (8:15 am CST) Dr. Twister Here is a list of items DD announced will be coming soon. * Recalling to boats off of keys * Character-to-character email * Access to said email from the web * Switching help paging system over to use email (mostly transparent to you at first) * Confirm window on vendor purchases to prevent vendor scams * Confirm window on calls for harassment (to cut down on bad calls & thus improve response time) * Revised character creation: GOOD starting templates, better starting location list, more control over initial character * Newbie quests for training * More newbie guidance ("infodump" windows for new account holders as they play) * Newbie protection * Some revised artwork & graphical enhancements (lighting, framerate, etc) * Stuff to work against cheat programs (won't describe this in more detail, sorry. * Some backend stuff that you can't see yet but which will make a big difference in a few updates -- Posted by PGoH June Spotlight: Father's Day (3:43 am CST) UO Vault The Father's Day spotlight has been posted on www.uo.com; you can go directly to it here and the following is their intro blurb: June 20th is Father's Day. In the world of Ultima Online, it's difficult to discern who may be a father, midst the myriad of players in the game. Unless, of course, you happen to be a family member of that particular father. With Father's Day coming up, we decided to find out how fathers affect the lives of their families through the world of Ultima Online. We asked you to send us stories about dads and UO and we've picked two of these tales to highlight and celebrate all of the fathers that play UO. -- Posted by PGoH Character Purge Delay (3:37 am CST) From Common Issues: There has been a slight delay in the date for the character purge. Most likely, the purge will start on Monday, June 21st, but that is not a definite date. If the purge is delayed beyond Monday, we will update you further. Please remember that this purge only affects accounts that have been inactive for 3 months or more. -- Posted by PGoH June 17, 1999 Another Third Party Application goes PRO! (1:23 pm CST) OWO Website Origin Systems is proud to announce that Xena’s UO Magic Tool has officially passed Ultima Online’s UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating. Xena's UO Magic Tool not only allows users to keep count of their reagents, but also has features for keeping track of reagents stored in other containers elsewhere. Also included are features to warn the user if a spell is "town friendly" and information about a selected spell, including mantra, mana cost, damage, duration, and general information. Visit http://uo.stratics.com/xena/uomagic.html to learn more about UO Magic Tool. The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro. A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html. -- Posted by PGoH June 16, 1999 Ultima Goes International (1:23 pm CST) Crossroads Ultima Online Goes International Err..wasnt it there already? OSI has announced that it is now officially going to sell its product in Europe beginning with a German version. Up until now European players had to buy the english version and have it shipped to them. Here is what they had to say: Origin Systems is pleased to announce that we will be officially launching Ultima Online: The Second Age in Europe on June 25th. We have already established servers in Europe. This launch marks the first time we will be selling product in Europe. We’ve created a German version of UO, complete with a German manual. We are also launching our first European Customer Service and volunteer programs for the European Shards at this time. Now European gamers can count on European Customer Service representatives and European Game Masters and European Counselors to support them. Origin Systems is very excited about this European Launch and welcomes all the new European players into the service. -Dragons 8:37 am MST -- Posted by PGoH June 14, 1999 PvP Fights (8:14 pm CST) The OWO Community Calendar June 16, 1999 Pvp Fight Match Shard : Catskils Location : art guild in Britain Date : June 16,1999 Time : 8pm (eastern) Sponsor’s Name : krell of the Clan of Darkwater Sponsor’s Email : sideshow at together.net Description : This will be a pvp fight match to see who is the best fighter in the land. All fighters may enter. The rules are: no magic weapons, gm made weapons, armor, nor reporting for murder. The match is to the death. I will have ppl on sight to rez. If mages are willing to rez i will give them 20 of each rez reg. Also there is a 500 gold entrance fee (you may bet on the side on who’s going to win as I will have bookies there.) -- Posted by PGoH Can OSI detect UOE? (8:13 pm CST) Various Sources There have been some rumblings underground regarding the ability of OSI to detect the use of UO Extreme. Here is a clip from Dr. Twister's site: I have been getting alot of emails of concern regarding OSI's recent approval of UOAssist. Not because people now have additional features that they may not have, but because this may mean OSI has other plans for users of UOExtreme. It would seem that the rumor is out that OSI has implemented a new tracking method for UOE users. This simply logs your account ID and notifies them about the use of the program. This is all suppose to take effect with the upcoming patch. In OSI's eyes, if they are adding last target abilities to the client, than there is no need for us to need UOE. Here is one players comments that I was sent. Apparently UOE users send signals TO the UO server..that a special code int he UO server picks up and alerts OSI that such and such a user ID is using illegal prg. Osi are planning to activate the script, when it goes active then all accounts who are registered as using UOE wil be perma banned, and their credit card info invalid for OSI purposes..wont even be able to buy another copy of UO and register same credit card.They finally got the source code for the prg built into the server prgs to work it. I have now heard several comments from counselors and players saying the exact same thing. OSI will ban UOE users and will be able to trace the program specifically upon logging in. If anyone has additional comments, please let us know, otherwise, we will continue to look into this rumor. Wow. Does this violate some privacy issue? LOTS of discussion on that one. There was a fairly steady panic of paranoia going on over at the UOE discussion boards. -- Posted by PGoH Inactive Accounts to be purged (7:35 pm CST) OWO Common Issues via Dr. Twister Inactive Accounts to be Purged Type: UO Update From Common Issues at OWO.com: This is a very important announcement. Please be advised that we will be deleting accounts that have been inactive for 3 months or more (i.e.: accounts that have not paid for service for 3 months or longer) in the very near future. The exact date is not set, but you should expect it within a few days. We will make an announcement the day before the purge on the website, http://www.uo.com, in order to properly prepare you for this purging. Once these accounts are deleted, it will not be possible to retrieve characters or items associated with them. If you or any of your friends have an inactive account, now would be an excellent time to reactivate before your old characters are purged. The world of Ultima Online continues to expand and be refined. We would love to have you back in the game. Characters on active accounts will not be affected by this purge. ALSO: In order to better serve you, we are permanently opening the Account Support phone line on Saturdays, 10am to 12:45pm and 2 pm to 5:00pm. -- Posted by PGoH Orcs Raid...Ancient Artifact Found (9:30 am CST) OWO Town Cryer Pictures at the bottom: The evening was warm and the wind blew gently in from the north. The streets of Trinsic were quieting as the day was coming to an end. All seemed normal and yet something was not right. I headed out of my shop to take a look around. There was a foul odor in the air but I could not place its origin. I called to out to a guard patrolling the streets “Do you feel something is not right tonight”. “Smithy I think ye have been at the fires to long. I suggest ye hit the tavern for an ale then call it an early night” the guard said as he slapped my shoulder in passing. Surely the guards could sense something was wrong, tis after all what they are trained to do. No sooner did the guard pass my person that he stopped and slumped over onto his halberd. I stepped closer and noticed he was staring off at nothing as if seeing something that was not there. Concerned for the safety of the people in Trinsic I rushed toward the town cryers. Along the way I noticed several other guards in the same dazed state. As I ran toward the town cryer the ground shook with the force of an earthquake, quickly followed by a deafening boom. I turned on my heels to see smoke rising from behind my shop. “Catapults” I yelled as I ran to the cryers. As I reached the cryers I now realized the origin of the foul odor…. ORCS. The Cryers were already yelling of the attack upon our city. The Orcs had sailed from the north and were raiding the city. Some how they had found a way to lull the guards allowing them access to the inner city. The air became thick with magic as gate after gate opened revealing warrior and mage alike readied for the fight at hand. Most were shocked to see Orcs inside the city walls yet fought with all the skill and raw power for which the warriors of this land are known. The battle raged through the night yet the Catapults still rained their destruction down upon the city I call home. The Catapults must be taken out. The warriors pressed the fight outside the gates to find and destroy the accursed war machines. The Orcs seeing the surge of warriors fell back to the catapults to defend them from destruction. The warriors cut through the orcs as though they were a breath on the wind and headed to the catapults. There was silence as the rain of explosions stopped. The warriors had done it, they had destroyed the catapults. Several warriors informed the cryers of a strange Crystal mounted to the mast of the lead orc ship. The cryers summoned Krylin the artifact keeper to examine the crystal. Krylin determined the crystal was an ancient artifact only know to us as The Crystal of Sleep for its true name has been lost with the passing of time. The keeper stated that the crystal if properly manipulated by a powerful mage could lull any creature into a waking sleep. The keeper removed the stone and cast a ward spell upon it to negate the effects it had upon the guards. Trinsic has once again returned to its tranquil state and all seems well except for dire repairs needed to be done on the city walls from the bombardments. One question arises in my mind. If the crystal required manipulating to work properly, who or what manipulated it? -- Posted by PGoH June 11, 1999 Ahhh but others say NO! Last Target is not illegal! (2:34 pm CST) Various Sources Well after our report earlier or Last Target in UOA being illegal still we decided to pursue the topic. On the COB developement board it was noted that Designer Dragon (or someone who hacked his board login) was responding to the posts there! Sunsword and Runesword have been posting of late as well. So your news team took the initiative posted the question of it legality to Designer Dragon. Alas it would appear he only had the energy to reply to a few of the posts because he has yet to reply to it. But! Someone named Dagda (name highlighted green as in board admin I do believe) posted saying that since UOA was authorized, Last target was legal. There were a couple of other posts. One or two to call into question the validity of information found on twister's site and such. Well we have posed the question to Support at owo.com and await an answer. We will keep you...uhh posted! -- Posted by PGoH Watch it UOA Fans! Last target is still illegal? (9:22 am CST) Dr. Twister Here is an email that a player sent into support at owo.com and the response that he received. Time for another meeting folks....and figure out what you want to tell us about your new policy regarding UOAssist. Is last target legal to use since its in UOA and is a UOpro utility? Response from OSI Hail! Thank you for contacting us about this before using it. The answer is NO. Last target is still an illegal macro to use. Good luck! GM Case -- Posted by PGoH Next Major Update Coming Soon (7:54 am CST) COB and OWO Website Found this first on COB then went to OWO to verify. This is from the OWO site: The next update to Ultima Online will be a much larger affair than a typical 6-9 week cycle update. The UO Development team has been working towards this update for sometime now and is looking forward to presenting you with a whole palette of changes to UO. The target date for this update is July 24th, but you should treat this date as a target and not a hard-and-fast deadline. We are going to be testing this update extensively within our QA department and will not let it be published until it passes a white glove treatment by QA. Curious as to what the next update will include? Veterans to UO will find that we’ve improved our interface functionality by including the ability to target via the keyboard with such key commands as Last Target, Target Self, and Target Next. We’ve also improved the target interface feedback by adding mini hit-point bars and outline highlighting. Furthermore, we’ve added Arm/Disarm macros for both hands, or for left hand or right hand, so that they may work independently. Graphically, we’re making a few changes as well. We’re adding colored spot lighting and colored ambient lighting. We’ve improved the day and night cycle, and added seasons! Last, but not least, we’ve added some client frame rate improvements just to keep things moving along at a good clip. With all this for our current players, we thought it would be a good idea to help out our newer players while we were at it. Coming in this update, new users will find revised introductory screens that are more intuitive, easier to use, and more streamlined. We’ve created a much improved professions selection, with extensive help on professions and starting cities. The first iteration of the Quest Engine will debut as “Newbie Quests”. New accounts will be given a quest that will train them in their starting skills and the basics of the game as soon as they enter the game the first time. Veterans can look forward to this Quest Engine being expanded in the future to offer cool, dynamic quests to all UO players. New users will find themselves under “newbie protection” for a short time when they first begin the game, which will keep them safe from attacks by other players until they are strong enough to begin defending themselves. There will be additional newbie helping features added to UO, like special assistance from NPCs such as wandering healers and arrows that help direct the newbie to certain locations which will make death less onerous, healing easier to obtain, and gameplay, in general, easier to become accustomed to. This next update is a major step in the evolution of UO and we look forward to being able to give this to everyone soon. Because the patch includes so many new features, we are being extremely cautious about its release and giving our QA department plenty of time to make certain it is ready to go before we let it loose. Stay tuned for future developments on this update. We’ll be keeping you informed as we draw closer to our patch date. -- Posted by PGoH June 09, 1999 UOAssist Receives UOPro STATUS! (2:13 pm CST) OWO Website Origin Systems is pleased to announce that UOAssist, a Tugsoft utility designed and written to be a playing aid in Ultima Online, has officially passed Ultima Online’s UOPro program. UOPro status means that the approved utility promotes Ultima Online and is in keeping with the spirit of the UO community and value system. It also means that the intended use of the utility by players will not be considered by Origin as cheating. UOAssist allows players to take advantage of special features, such as counting reagents; arming/disarming; automatic “allnames” and more. Visit http://www.tugsoft.com for more information about what Tugsoft and UOAssist can do for you. The UOPro program for Ultima Online was designed to allow 3rd Party Developers, with permission from Origin, to create 3rd party programs that work with Ultima Online. Developers who create utilities that are approved for UOPro are allowed to use their utility however they wish. The program even allows approved developers to sell the utility without compensation to Origin Systems. Origin Systems requires that all new versions of the software be submitted to OSI before they can be distributed as UOPro. Information about the UOPro program at Origin Systems can be found at http://support.uo.com under the 3rd Party Program heading. A listing of all official UOPro utilities can be found at http://support.uo.com/uopro.html. -- Posted by PGoH The Abyss Shard (9:15 am CST) OWO Website We wanted to let all the Abyss fans know ahead of time that the Abyss Shard will be unpredictable and unstable this week. We will be taking it up and down at odd times and it may crash while we make some changes to the server. -- Posted by PGoH Reminder: Catskills and Chesapeake Shard Extended Downtime Tomorrow (9:14 am CST) OWO Website As a reminder, we will be having the same extended maintenance period for the CATSKILLS and CHESAPEAKE shards tomorrow (Thursday June 10th). We expect those shards to be down for around 5 hours beginning at their normal maintenance window of as close to 5AM Eastern as possible. Thanks again. -- Posted by PGoH Field Spells Operational Again (9:11 am CST) Multiple Sources Greg reported this a couple of days ago and indeed it seemed to be true during our treasure hunt but we waited to get a second corroboration before posting that indeed Field Spells are again operational. -- Posted by PGoH June 08, 1999 Temporary Suspension of Accounts (1:16 pm CST) OWO Web Site The Gamemasters now have the ability to suspend accounts for 24, 48, and 72 hour increments. We will be using this new ability to remove harassers from the game for longer periods of time and to catch the attention of anyone whose email address is not valid. We have to email all parties involved in our harassment logs; including the person who made the call. If your email continues to come back returned, whether your calls were valid or invalid, we will temporarily suspend your account until you update your account information. -- Posted by PGoH Better Stock Up On The Torches! (8:00 am CST) Various Sources Well as reported earlier there is a new test client out, version D. Pandemonium over at OSI has been working to make the client faster and to enhance some of the visuals. Colored lighting is one visual enhancement. Another is DARKNESS! That's right. Very much darkness. Here are some screenshots posted over on the Crossroads boards: (notice the green glow surrounding the communication crystal) There has been a lot of controversy stirred up regarding the new darkness including discussion on this causing a lot more people to use illegal third party apps such as UO Extreme and UO Plug-in for theirAlways Light Feature. Of course this IS still a test client so changes are still possible and there are some bugs. There have been reports of 'Ghost' creatures and players as well as the fact that Nightsite only illuminates the Radar and not the screen. Making it very hard to maneuver around in todays cluttered Sosaria. -- Posted by PGoH Yew Guild Directory (4:08 am CST) -- from UOSS (http://uo.stratics.com/) The Yew Communication Team has sent word of their newest project. Races of Yew, The Yew Guild Directory Team is now collecting information about guilds that operate with any regularity within Yew. The goal of this project is to catalog all the guilds in our area so as to make this information available to the public. In this way, we hope to better inform the people of Yew, perhaps even leading to membership in which ever guild strikes their fancy. Note, this is strictly for informational purposes...this directory does not favor any guild or race over another. Please have a representative of your guild mail the following information to Marrukha at this address: astevens at pacific.telebyte.com 1. Guild Name & abbreviation 2. General alignment and philosophy (your guildstone charter would do) 3. Guild Master 4. Link to a web site for further information All of this information is optional, though at least the guild name and possible web site would be helpful. Thank you for your participation, The Yew Communication Team -- Posted by PGoH Questions about Seers? Look no further! (4:05 am CST) -- from UOSS (http://uo.stratics.com/) [Editor's Note: Please note that this FAQ is not an official OSI document. -- Beans Baxter] I was sent the following Seer Letter, which answers many questions several of us have concerning the Seer Program, and what Seers can and can not do: Seer Letter: The purpose of this letter is to help clear up some of the confusion about what Seers are and what they do. What is a Seer? A Seer is a player, selected based on their role-playing ability, who assists IGMs (IGM = Interest Game Master and are different from Support Game Masters you call via the help button) in their attempts to introduce quests and events into the game. They do this by acting as catalysts for role-playing. Seers can assist IGMs with Major Plot events or run their own events and role-play their own characters. Seers are NOT Game Masters and have none of the abilities of one. In fact, the Seers have no role in the support of Ultima Online at all. They are there to promote role-playing and to increase the level of quests and events in Ultima Online. Since they play the role of a character who exists only in Britannia, Seers will remain in-character regardless of the situation. If you encounter a Seer and see them being asked such questions as: "Who gave you that robe?" or "How did you get to be a Seer?", then you will see the questions answered according to the personality of the character the Seer is playing at the time. And often that will mean the character knows little or nothing about such things. In general, if a player asks a question like "Are you a GM?", it tends to lessen the role-playing atmosphere and make things more difficult for those who wish to enjoy the event. As a result, Seers, whether in green robes or role-playing a character, are likely to gravitate toward role-players rather than those who run around the bank screaming or those who ask about games-mechanics, including things like "what's your magery?" Seers will always avoid contact with players who prefer to spout obscenities or who fill the screen with "spam". Since Seers are unpaid volunteers who use their own time to encourage and facilitate role-playing, avoiding situations that require an out-of-character response is one means of maximizing their effectiveness. This doesn't mean you have to use "thee" and "thou" if it's not comfortable to you. All that is needed is to act and speak as in-character as you are able. There is no contest to find the "best" role-players, so you need not worry about being perfect. But allowing yourself and those around you to role-play while in Britannia will result in a better experience for everyone. Especially during Seer and IGM events. The Seers can play many different kinds of characters that can appear in many different forms. In particular, there are three roles that a Seer will fulfill: a green-robed character, role-played character, and role-played monster. What is a Green-Robed Seer character?Each official persona of Ultima Online has a different colored robe: Support GMs are red, Counselors are blue, Seers are green, etc. If you open a robed Seer's paperdoll, you will see that their skin is green also. Green-robed Seers are invulnerable and can inter.... Additional News for June was lost after this point.

April 28, 1999 New Test Client Released (0:22 am CST) The following was posted to the COB Dev board A newer build of the 800x600 client we are testing internally is now available for players to try out. Test 800x600 Client Changes include: Improved memory usage, reduced CPU overhead Crash fixes Circle of transparency is now toggleable by a user defined macro under player options. Instructions on use are provided in the readme1st file on the site. Pandemonium Programmer UO Develeopment Team In a followup post, he noted that ghosts will now be able to use Circle of Transparency to see themselves beneath normal trees, but still could not see themselves under 'jungle' trees. -- Posted by PGoH April 27, 1999 Housing code additions on Test Center (11:11 pm CST) -- from UOVault We're about to put up some new features on TC to test out. I'd appreciate it if those of you who have a house on TC would thoroughly test out the following: 1) Interior lockable doors. - If you are the owner of the house use your house key on an interior door. You should get prompted to key the door. Let me know how it goes. If you have any errors or weirdness...etc.. 2) Banning by account. - If you have a house that already has bans in place, see if they still appear on your ban list. If you own a house, try banning and unbanning and make sure it still works. Make sure all house functions still work normally (i.e. the house sign, speech triggers, etc...) Another minor addition is that now when you cut a stack of fish, it cuts all of them and gives you the steaks, not one at a time. You can contact me at sunsword at owo.com. -SunSword -- Posted by PGoH Classes starting for newbies (2:26 am CST) -- from http://uo.stratics.com/ Just starting out in the world of Brittannia? Having difficulty learning what to do and how to do it? Classes for newbies Saturday the 1th of May at 3pm eastern standard time in the PK free city of Eutopia. Food and Drink will be a available for free. ICQ me at 18407673 for more information. Thank you Rocky-Mayor of Eutopia -- Posted by PGoH April 26, 1999 The Following Items Are Currently Under Development (6:23 pm CST) -- from http://update.owo.com/indev.html The following are targeted for the short term: You will now be able to get different types of meat by carving corpses (eg, plucked birds or hams). House bans of players will now be by account instead of by character. All current players you have in your ban lists will still be banned, but it will not automatically convert them to account bans--you will need to reban them for their whole account to be banned. All house deeds (redeeded, bought, existing, new, whatever) will remain with the ghost when you die, and will not be stealable. Healing delays have been adjusted: Healing someone else now takes 5 seconds. Healing yourself still takes 15 seconds. Curing poison on someone else now takes 6 seconds. Curing it on yourself still takes 18 seconds. The delay for resurrecting with the healing skill is now ten seconds. Taming fixes: "Death taming" is fixed. Dying while taming a creature will abort the taming process. Pet follow speed has been increased. The range for snooping will now be 1 tile. Using the paralyze spell on an innocent will now make you eligible to receive a murder count. Bandages will now automatically stack when you make them. There will also only be one type created (instead of two types that do not stack together, like now). Using scissors on hides will make cut up leather which is lighter. Attackers will now receive a message when their poisoned weapon poisons a victim. Line of sight checks will be added to the following skills, preventing their use through walls: Fishing Mining Provocation The following beneficial spells will no longer be reflectable, and will not remove magic reflect if the target has it: Agility Strength Cunning Protection Bless Spam and overlong delays are being removed from the following skills: Alchemy Lumberjacking Mining Tailoring Blacksmithing NPC shopkeepers will now buy the following items: Warforks Sashes Hatchets Surcoats The duration of strength and agility potions will increase to 2 minutes. Tinkered lockpicks will now stack correctly. The armslore skill will be revised so that its messages will better match the current damage ranges of weapons. The chance of monsters poisoning you when they hit has been tweaked down. Tinker tools and metal chests will become craftable. It will be possible to set the client to use an 800x600 game area. Interior lockable doors will exist. Use of a house key on a door will allow you to rekey that door and will generate a new key for it. The following items are longer term: We are revising the way tinker traps are dealt with for the purposes of murder reporting. Alchemy and necromancy have gone back to the drawing board as we work to make them the best additions possible. A house auction system will allow you to buy and sell player-built buildings on the open market. Changes will be made to boats to minimize crowding along the shores, and problems with losing your boat. Order/chaos warfare will be revamped. It will be possible to declare public buildings to be guard zones. -- Posted by PGoH Bug report - Warning to those that use purple potions (3:50 am CST) -- from UOVault A few days ago, an upstanding player was banned for supposedly using the 'last target' function from a third party program. What happened was that he had chased a known looter into his house and began throwing purple potions on the doorstep and the front part of the roof. When the potion explodes, it looks as if it has fallen into the house and onto the player inside, however after testing in front of counselor Everquestbane and even showing GM Cochese himself, it was found that it did not cause any damage. What it did cause was GM Cochese erroneously banning Majestio for supposedly using a 'last target' function. Kalodar, Catskills -- Posted by Balandar April 22, 1999 United Pirates Boat Race (10:37 pm CST) -- from http://uo.stratics.com/ Hear ye, Hear ye! May the races begin! I proudly announce the first boat race of Catskills, organized by the United Pirates! The race will start on Sunday, April 25 at 3 pm EST (21:00 CET). The meeting point is the Jolly Roger Inn of the United Pirates. A map to this place can be found on our homepage http://www.extraweb.com/ultima/pirates/ You have to apply for the boat race by simply sending one email per boat to hawkeyepike at hotmail.com, telling the names of the crew members in your boat. No fee has to be paid! You may participate alone or with a crew. However, you must have one boat in your crew, and the winning crew will receive a valuable prize! After the starting signal sea battles are allowed. Blade Spirits and Energy Vortices may not be casted! Also try to avoid to wipe out a whole crew. A detailed description of the event and a map describing the course with its checkpoints can be found on our homepage. I hope many role-playing guilds will attend at this event. Hawkeye Pike Captain of the United Pirates Thank you Hawkeye and The United Pirates. Good Luck to all! -- Posted by PGoH A few more additions (10:31 pm CST) -- from In Development > Bandages will now automatically stack when you make them. There will also only be one type created (instead of two types that do not stack together, like now). Using scissors on hides will make cut up leather which is lighter. Attackers will now receive a message when their poisoned weapon poisons a victim. Line of sight checks will be added to the following skills, preventing their use through walls: Fishing Mining Provocation The following beneficial spells will no longer be reflectable, and will not remove magic reflect if the target has it: Agility Strength Cunning Protection Bless -- Posted by PGoH

March 19, 1999 -- Posted by PGoH Necromantic Reagents and a request (6:05 pm CST) -- from http://uoss.stratics.com/ The Tome of Reagents has been updated with the latest knowledge about Necromantic reagents. Slowly but surely these reagents are appearing in Britannia. So far the following reagents have been found in the wild: Blackmoor - Liche Lords Bone - Bone Magi Daemon's Bone - Daemons Dead Wood - Reapers Executioner's Cap - Corpsers Fertile Dirt - Earth Elementals Vial of Blood - Blood Elemental Wyrm's Heart - Ancient Wyrm Other than that, I have a request. We love to receive information gathered by players, and sometimes a picture can say more than a thousand words, but *please* stop sending us huge screenshots. First of all make sure you compress the picture to JPG format, and second crop the picture so that only the interesting bits show. If you have pictures that are larger than 100kb then please ask first if we would like to see them. Thank you for your cooperation. - Xena Dragon March 10, 1999 Blue PK changes currently on Test Center. (8:24 pm CST) -- from owo.com's "In Testing" Coming soon to a shard near you! (probably 3-16-99). Only the highlights of the changes currently on the test center are shown below. The actual list is huge, and may be viewed at owo's "In Testing" page. Blue PK changes We are slowly phasing in changes to the reputation system to reduce antisocial behavior. In this update, we have some changes that will push blue PKs to being red. A new long-term counter will be added that tracks murder counts. This counter will go up when you are reported for murder, like the current murder count. This counter will decay at the rate of 1 every 40 hours (the current counter goes down 1 every 8 hours). While this counter is five or more, you will highlight red, and will be vulnerable to attack. Stat loss will still depend on the standard murder counter. Another new counter we term "pingpong" will be added. This counter increases each time you go red. If this counter reaches five, you will be permanently red (meaning, you will be attackable. You will not suffer stat loss unless your murder count is also high). This counter does not decay. Murder will seriously affect your karma. Skills Hiding You can no longer hide while casting a spell. Alchemy A research system has been added to alchemy. This not only adds numerous potions (with more to come in the future) but also means that players will have to research & discover the correct combinations to make the new potions. Necromancy This is a new skill that offers new magic spells. It is also based on the research system. This will not appear as a usable skill on the skills window until a client patch is done. The professional title is "Necromancer." To learn or use the skill you will be required to have at least 80 in Magery and 40 in Spirit Speak. Magery Elemental summoning in towns will be disabled. The average damage of flamestrike has been raised. The maximum damage remains the same. Murmurs have been heard throughout the land regarding the blue-pk changes. Notable among these is one overheard on the Trinsic North Bank roof. WC: "With the new 40 hour murder decay rate, how are we to protect ourselves from monster looters? They remain blue! What about Treasure Chest looters? They remain blue too! Are we to just stand idly by as they take whatever they please? Monster looters, at the minimum, need to turn gray if they did not damage that monster. Anyone that doesn't have possession of the treasure map, should turn gray if they take anything from the chest. We need THOSE changes to make this blue-pk thing workable." -- Posted by PGoH

February 26, 1999 UOHoC Open House chat (8:40 pm CST) The official log of the most recent UOHoC Open House chat between the players and Development Team of UO has been posted at the UO House of Commons. You can access the log directly by clicking here. -- Posted by Balandar February 24, 1999 OSI Blues: the song (7:44 pm CST) -- from The outpost Take a trip to http://www.jps.net/bsackett/rl3/osiblues.html and click the picture to hear a rather hilarious but sadly true song about UO! -- Posted by Balandar Using "Last Target" could be the "Last" time you play UO (7:34 pm CST) -- from owo.com's "Common Issues" There seems to be some confusion about using the “Last Target” feature available in some third party programs. This feature is not legal, as it is not something which can be done normally within the game. If you are caught using this, your account will be closed permanently. -- Posted by Balandar Boat Abuse (7:33 pm CST) -- from UOVault While the usage of boats in Ultima Online can be fun and even useful, we have noticed many players who are actually abusing the usage of boats. Players are blocking off coastlines and will sometimes even block off harbors. We consider boats to be blocking if: 1. They prevent access or egress to another area in the game 2. There is more than one boat owned by the same account blocking off part of a coastline, or other area. Boats found meeting the above criteria will be subject to immediate deletion at the discretion of the GM. Boats are being looked at by the development team for changes, but until such a time, we ask that players not use boats in such a fashion. Because I hate keeping my big mouth shut, an idea I believe might help the situation a bit can be found here. Thalshara -- Posted by PGoH Patch Day!! (7:31 pm CST) -- from http://update.owo.com You heard right! The patch that some rouges have been dreaming of and others .. well... loathing, has finally arrived. On another Note: You can no longer learn resist in towns anymore :(, but you can have a trash barrel in your house! hehe. Oh! BTW look out for those traps in dungeons! -- Posted by Balandar February 19, 1999 Curbing Blue PK's... (5:32 pm CST) -- from UOVault This is a post made my DD to a newsgroup: Keep in mind that none of these are the full blue PK solution. They are just portions of it that we are considering. * a way to declare yourself as "evil." This would mean that you are red & attackable, but cannot be reported for murder (and thus never get stat loss. But anyone killed by someone evil is unlootable by anyone except themselves. Undertaker, and any others of his ilk, would you go for this? Any Shadowclan orcs around who can comment? * inability to delete murderers. This is because a major concern we have is pushing people to red, whereupon they simply make a new character & go on major sprees. Right now, the ease of macroing actually works in our favor in that it's not worth it to start over every time, for blue PKs--but if we tighten up, as we plan, then the current blue PKs will stay blue by making newbies and macroing them up. * murders do not decay while a) a ghost or b) in a house you are a friend or owner of. * stat loss kicking in at 1 kill. Say, maybe, 1% per murder report. In other words, well before you go red. * Love to see some more debate on stat loss at death versus stat loss at res. I have seen many of the vigilante types unhappy with the notion of stat loss at death. He also added this: It looks like we won't be able to get the blue PKs stuff in by February 23rd. That means it will slip to March 9th, putting it out of the month. Hence my promise is shattered, and Big Bad Ed can stop counting down. Just to clarify: there will still be an update on the 23rd, and will have the thief stuff in it. Just not the blue PK stuff. And then he made this post: To be honest, I am somewhat baffled. I see a lot of alternate solutions offered that have been offered many times before & are known not to solve anything (like going attackable, gray, whatever, after one kill--so much for all the vigilantes and antis now, they would all have to go away). I see a lot of people complaining that this will ruin PvP, when in fact it will probably make it a lot more exciting. Remember, 1/3 of the plan involves a massive overhaul of PvP warfare. Imagine large scale warfare a la Abyss occurring within thecontext of the PvP system. I see several people saying, "the idea of going evil sounds cool, but you have to allow looting." In whicah se, every PK would be evil, duh, since it means unlimited kills and plenty of reward. In that case, there's no restriction on it. What would be the point? It would just plunge the world into wholesale massacre. I don't understand the logic here at all.The things to remember here: Roleplayed killers should go evil. If they are doing it for roleplaying reasons, they don't CARE about loot. blue PKs are GOING TO BE RED AND ARE GOING TO HAVE STAT LOSS. Deal with it. Blue PKs are generally cowardly, antisocial, and childish, and they need to take theirmedicine. There WILL be other outlets for PvP. And they will be cool. -- Posted by PGoH February 18, 1999 In Testing Updated (9:48 pm CST) -- from UOVault The In Testing section has been updated with details on new features now available on the Test Center. Among these are the revamped thief system, traps in dungeons, and many more changes and additions. Be sure to check it out! We would also like to advise current members of the Thieves Guild to quit the guild before this update is published to the public servers, unless they plan to be player-vs-player thieves in the future. And this is from In Testing: > Skills Stealth This new skill allows you to take steps while hidden. You have to be hiding when you start to use the skill. The more armor you are wearing, the harder it is to use Stealth. If you run, you become unhidden. Any of the actions which normally unhides you still will. The amount of steps you can take depends on how high your skill is. You use this skill off of the skills window. You cannot learn or use this skill until you have at least 80 in Hiding. Because of this, you cannot select it as a starting skill. The skill title associated with this skill is "rogue." If you qualify for training in the skill, you can learn it from thieves and thief guildmasters. Use the keyword "stealth." Remove Trap This new skill allows you to remove traps found on containers, as well as disarm other sorts of traps, such as ones found in dungeons. This skill is used from the skills window. It will bring up a targeting cursor. Then target the trap to be disarmed. Of course, you need to be able to see the trap to disarm it. The skill title associated with this skill is "rogue." You cannot learn or use this skill until you have at least 50 skill in both Lockpicking and Detecting Hidden. Because of this, you cannot select it as a starting skill. If you fail at using the skill, the trap will go off. Different traps have different levels of difficulty. Wearing gloves will make it harder to succeed. The heavier the gloves, the worse it is. If you qualify for training in the skill, thieves and thief guildmasters can train you in it. You can use any of these keywords: disarm disarming remove removing Detect Hidden This skill has gained the ability to detect traps. It works just like now, examining a range around the location you target. As before, the range is scaled based on your skill. Some traps (freestanding ones in dungeons) are invisible until detected, and when found will become visible to all. At higher skill levels, merely coming close to simpler traps will result in "trap here" appearing over the invisible trap. Only the player with high skill will see these messages, though! The trap must be manually revealed for others to see it. House owners and friends will be abelto instantly reveal anyone hidden in their house, regardless of skill level, on the grounds that they know their house better than any stranger. The professional title for this skill is now "scout." Forensics Using this skill on a player will reveal their affiliation with the Thieves Guild, if they are members. The difficulty of this is based on the thief's Stealing skill. If you have a certain level of ability in the skill, using it on recently picked containers will reveal who the lockpicker was. The professional title for this skill is now "detective." Stealing The more armor you are wearing, the harder it will be to steal. You will not be able to steal from other players unless you join the NPC Thieves Guild, or unless the target is an opponent in a guild war. You can join the Thieves' Guild the usual way, by finding a Guildmaster and asking him to join. It will cost you an entrance fee. You cannot join unless your character has existed for at least one week. The character may not have any murders to his name. Being reported for murder whilst a member of the Thieves Guild will result in summary expulsion, and you will not be able to rejoin for at least one week. You cannot join the Thieves Guild unless you have at least a 60 in the Stealing skill. Members of the Thieves Guild have access to a special item, the disguise kit. The disguise kit looks like a wig stand. You can get one by asking the guildmaster about 'disguise.' It will cost you 500 gold. He'll only sell them to Thieves Guild members. When used: You can elect to change your hairstyle. If you are a male character, you can also change your facial hair. The hair will come out gray, but you can use hairdye on it as usual. It will also randomly generate a name for you. All changes will last for 2 hours. The disguise kit will only work for Thieves Guild members. Members of the Thieves Guild do not display professional titles on the paperdoll to anyone except themselves, regardless of skill level or fame. Members of the Thieves Guild can be attacked with impunity, because they are not allowed to report anyone for murder. In towns, it is still illegal to start fights, so Thieves Guild members are still safe from attack, as they can call the guards (unless of course, they just committed a crime). Just as with any guild, you can leave the guild by finding the Guildmaster and tellng him you quit. However, the Guild does not let go easily--it will take one week for leaving the guild to take effect. Victims of thieves can feel free to attack them, as they will not go gray for attacking a thief who has stolen from them in the last two minutes. There will be four possible outcomes to stealing: True success: you get the item and are not noticed. Partial success: you get the item, but are noticed. Partial failure: you do not get the item, but are not noticed. Total failure: you do not get the item, and your attempt is noticed. The professional title for this skill is now "pickpocket." Lockpicking Wearing gloves will affect your success rate at lockpicking. The heavier the gloves, the harder it will be. The professional title for this skill is now "rogue." Tailoring A problem whereby you could not create the item because it stated that your pack was full was corrected. Mining A bug with smelting success was fixed. New skill titles The professional title for Inscription is now "scribe." The professional title for Snooping is now "pickpocket." The professional title for Herding is now "shepherd." The professional title for Meditation is now "stoic." The professional title for Mapmaking is now "cartographer." The professional title for Hiding is now "rogue." Magic Some third-party exploits involving using items in the bank when not at the bank were fixed. The following spells have had their channce of resist and their effect adjusted: Mana drain Mana vampire Paralyze Magic Trap scrolls will now be deleted after successful use. You will no longer be able to report people for murder after recalling away. World Items will now spawn in chests and other containers. The items within will depend on the location of the container. These containers will be locked, with the lock's difficulty being based on the value of the contents. Some of these containers may be trapped as well. The power of the trap will also be scaled by the value of the contents. Traps will begin to appear randomly in dungeons. These traps will be invisible to the normal observer. They can be detected with the Detect Hidden skill. Players who have a high level of Detect Hidden will be able to detect their presence by merely walking near them. Some traps may be poisoned. Capability was added to have special event regions, to allow things like town invasions. Items Trash barrels will be added. Owners can add a trash barrel to your house by saying, "I wish to place a trash barrel." A targeting cursor will come up allowing you to place the barrel. Placing a barrel obeys the same rules as locking down items in houses: not by the door, not on steps, etc. You can only have one trash barrel per house. The trash barrel looks like a silvery barrel. Owners and friends of the house can put items in the trash barrel. Three minutes after they do so, the item will be deleted. (This means you can change your mind and remove items if you need to). The owner of the house can chop up the barrel to get rid of it. Some line of sight changes were made to prevent 3rd party exploits. Treasure map changes Certain treasure maps that used to be distorted will henceforth be created correctly. The treasure is no longer necessarily at the center of the treasure map. Finished treasure maps will now say "a treasure map completed by ." Some bad treasure locations were fixed. Sextants will no longer give coordinates. They will only give latitude and longitude. Carving stacks of fish should now work correctly. Using a healing potion will now place the empty vial in your backpack, instead of at your feet. A problem with putting tables over chests causing items to disappear was corrected. As a result, you can now freely stack chests and crates. Creatures and NPCs You can no longer avoid a deadlier poison by taking a milder one, and getting hit by deadlier poison when already affected by a milder one will supercede the weaker poison. Pets now have 'orneriness' factors as far as obeying commands. The harder the pet is to tame originally, the more 'ornery' it is. This means that it is more likely to refuse commands given to it. The better the player is at Animal Taming, the more they can overcome the pet's orneriness. This means that those with low animal taming will have great difficulty in controlling creatures such as dragons, draken, or nightmares. On the flip side, good animal tamers will be able to order around easy creatures such as cats and dogs, even when they are starving. Human NPCs will now immediately delete items they scavenge from the ground, rather than hanging on to them for a while. This was done because of items accumulating in the NPCs if deletion failed. Blacksmith Guildmasters should now give the correct guildname when you join their guild. Wandering mages and Mage Guildmasters are now able to teach the Meditation skill. -- Posted by PGoH February 16, 1999 Week of Dungeon Crawls (8:37 pm CST) -- from The Outpost Hail worthy adventurers! Dost thou think thou hast the metal to brave the foul dungeons of Britannia? Dost thou wish to prove thyself to the world and show thou hast what it takes to survive the most evil and treacherous of places in this world? If so, then come one, come all, to the first Tour of Britannian Dungeons! A seven day event hosted by the Defenders of Justice guilds of Catskills! Each night for a week, starting March 1st, a single dungeon will be toured every night, starting with the more "tame", and ending with the most vile of dungeons! What is the goal? To clear out these foul lairs of evil from entrance to end! What are the rules? NONE! If you survive, you survive. If you die, you die. The only condition is, if you reach the bottom of the dungeon alive, you get a free gate home! What's the schedule? Monday -- Despise Tuesday -- Covetous Wednesday -- Shame Thursday -- Wrong Friday -- Destard Saturday -- Deciet Sunday -- Hythloth Warriors, mage, archers, rogues, healers... ALL types are invited to come! Be ye of small skill or a veteran of combat, fun is to be had on all levels depending on the dungeons you choose to go to! What about player killers? WHAT ABOUT THEM? They are free to attempt to ruin our fun (as if we could stop them by saying "no, stay away"), but do they dare face 100 combat ready veterans? Do they dare face the onslaught of rage against them when they attempt their nefarious acts? We shall see... The tour will begin at 7pm Eastern Time on Monday, March 1st! Meet at the telescope in Moonglow (Catskills), where gates will be provided to that night's dungeon by the members of the Defenders of Justice guild. All tour participants are asked to join the chat channel "Dungeon Tour" so better coordination is possible. -- Posted by PGoH In Development Updated (8:35 pm CST) This is the latest from "In Development" Trash cans will be going in as a house addition. Increased measures will be going in to reduce the "blue PKs" problem. The Abyss shard will become permanent, with numerous enhancements. It will be possible to set the client to use an 800x600 game area. Difficult pets will become more difficult to control for those who do not have apprriate levels of animal taming skill. The thief changes discussed in Comments from the Team will go into effect. Among them: Traps will spawn in dungeons. The Disarm Trap skill will be added. The Stealth skill will be added. You will not be able to steal unless you are a member of the Thieves Guild. A disguise kit will be added. Recalling will clear your aggressor list. This means you will not be able to report murders after recalling. New tools were added to give our interest GM's the ability to run city invasions, and in general conduct more interesting events. It will be possible to declare public buildings to be guard zones. Interior lockable doors will exist. Dart boards will work. A ballot box will be added as a craftable item, so that players can run votes and take opinion polls. -- Posted by PGoH Guardians of Light Public Tavern (8:32 pm CST) -- from UOVault The Guardians of Light have opened their tower doors, and revealed to the public a grand Tavern, and training center. There is a fighting ring, blacksmith shop, bar, giant rune library, dining hall, and much more. There are two grandmaster blacksmith vendors, and several other high quality vendors soon to come. In addition to the rune library is runes to all of the player run establishments such as Kinship, Wrong Tavern, Dragon Lair mall, and many more. All citizens of Brittania are welcome as long as they behave themselves. The Tavern is located south of Trinsic after exiting the south gate of Trinsic. The Guardians of Light spend most of their time at the Serpent's Hold bank, and most of them would be honored to give a gate to the Tavern. Be warned: The Shadowclan orcs have been known to frequent the Tavern, and when they get drunk, brawls have been known to break out. Roleplayers are welcome to come and fight and drink and have fun, anyone else will be banned immediately for bad behavior. You can find screenshots, and directions(including maps) on the news section of the Guardians of Light ultima Online webpage. http://www.guardians-of-light.com/UltimaOnline.asp Thank you, Jasos, Guildmaster - Guardians of Light -- Posted by PGoH February 11, 1999 UOHoC Open House chat log. (11:15 pm CST) The official log of the most recent UOHoC Open House chat between the players and Development Team of UO has been posted at the UO House of Commons. You can access the log directly by clicking here. -- Posted by PGoH February 10, 1999 All the links you'll need for Ultima Online (9:58 pm CST) -- from The Outpost. UO Portal is up and running with a growing and comprehensive list of UO-related sites. The pages load quickly and they have a very intuitive and easy-to-use layout. Defnitely pay them a visit. Find new sites or get your site listed there, but be sure to visit! -- Posted by PGoH UO House of Commons Announcement for Feb 11th (9:17 pm CST) -- from UO House of Commons The next UO House of Commons Open House chat between the players and creators of UO is scheduled for next Thursday February 11, at 7 PM CT (5 PM PT, 8 PM ET). The chat will be available to you at #uohoc on href="http://stratics.com"target="_top">Stratics IRC, on one of three networked servers: irc.stratics.com, port 6667 (randomly selects one of the below IRCservers) csdd.stratics.com csdd2.stratics.com intworks.stratics.com This week's topic is "Combat". We will be discussing the recent changes to the combat system, such as the Anatomy skill damage modifier, damage done to Armor by Mace weapons, Meditation (are mages really unstoppable now ?), the importance of Stamina in combat and the upcoming changes to Evaluate Intelligence vs. Resisting Magic. -- Posted by PGoH February 09, 1999 Housing and furnishing changes. (6:59 pm CST) -- from update.owo.com/latest.html Housing and furnishing changes The one-room house which ramdomly changed appearance every time you tried to place it no longer does so. Holiday trees and ornaments are deleted. Holiday tree deeds are unaffected, but are disabled until the holiday season next year. You can no longer deed a locked-down holiday tree. You can no longer attempt to pick the lock on a secure container. The "large smithy" has been renamed to "large house with patio." Significant lockdown changes were made. Lockdown is no longer done with keys. Instead, it is done with spoken commands. These commands work only for the house owner. "I wish to lock this down" gives a targeting cursor and does basic lockdown. "I wish to release this" gives a targeting cursor and unsecures and releases the object from lockdown. "I wish to secure this" gives a targeting cursor and locks down and secures the object if it's a container. "I wish to unsecure this" gives a targeting cursor and only unsecures the container. It does not release it from lockdown. -- Posted by PGoH February 06, 1999 The Plans for Thieves (11:40 pm CST) Comments from the dev team For some time now the Dev Team has been developing a plan to further reduce antisocial behavior in Britannia. The first stage of these plans is tackling the problem of rampant thievery. Today we're presenting our plan for both reducing the amount of player-vs-player theft, and making the rogue a more viable profession. We hope to see much discussion of this plan amongst the players of Ultima Online. Creating the adventurer rogue The thief is a classic roleplaying profession. However, the thieves in Britannia do not tend to conform to the classic mold. Our desire is to strengthen the role of the adventuring rogue so that those who seek an outlet for playing thieves may do so in a way that does not damage the experience of other players. Therefore, half of our plan actually focuses on making rogues a more powerful and interesting to play. New skills The Detect Hidden skill will gain the ability to detect traps. This will work on dungeon traps as well as chests trapped by tinkers. It will function just like now, with a range around the location where you are looking based on the skill of the rogue. At higher levels, simple traps may be automatically detected just by coming into range of them. Another new skill will allow the actual disarming of these traps. This skill will require that the rogue have a certain level of ability in both Detect Hidden and Lockpicking to be able to even learn the skill. Another new skill, the Stealth skill, will allow movement while hidden. This skill will likely require a high level of the Hiding skill to even be able to learn. The addition of these skills without raising the skill cap will give more depth to the rogue profession and increase variety among player characters. Opportunities to use these skills Dungeons will become a more dangerous place with the addition of traps that will appear randomly in various locations, including on doors and just on the floors, when appropriate. These traps will be invisible except to those who have the ability to detect them. New sorts of traps will likely appear, expanding the range beyond just explosions, poison and damage. Expect traps that suck mana, that cause drunkenness, or that affect stats temporarily in a manner akin to the Clumsy spell. In addition, chests in dungeons and elsewhere will begin to fill with items appropriate to the location (for example, crates in the miner's guild might well fill with ore and ingots, whereas chests in the dungeon will generate treasure and magical items). These containers, naturally enough, will be locked (with locks of difficulty based on the goodies contained within) and perhaps also trapped. We are aware of the concerns that many players have that dungeons will be untraversable without the assistance of a rogue. We will be striving hard to reach a good balance point so that rogues are highly desirable yet not absolutely necessary for dungeon adventuring. Armor restrictions Hiding, Stealing, and Stealth skills will all be affected by armor restrictions. This will work similarly to the restrictions put in place on the Meditation skill: the overall armor worn on the body will affect your success rate. Lockpicking and Disarm Trap will be affected by the use of gloves. The true thief Thieves' Guild The flip side of these changes is that we will be tackling the problem of the player-vs-player thief, henceforth referred to as the PvP thief. Those who do still follow this profession will be selected for their skill and dedication to playing the role of a thief and con artist. To this end, we are flatly disallowing the use of the Stealing skill on other players, unless the thief is a member of the NPC Thieves' Guild. Lord British has granted a charter to this guild to exist, but for the sake of retaining royal favor, the Guildmasters of the Thieves' Guild have placed tight restrictions on their members. Requirements To join the Thieves' Guild, you will be required to meet several restrictions. First, your character must have existed for at least one week. Brand-new characters will not be accepted, for the Thieves' Guild feels that given its tenuous standing as an official guild, only moderately well-established thieves should be members. Secondly, your character may not have any murders to his name. Only those who have no murder count are accepted into the Guild. The Guildmasters feel that killers ruin the reputation of the Guild, and jeopardize its acceptance as a legitimate guild of Britannia. For this reason, being reported for murder whilst a member of the Thieves' Guild will result in immediate summary expulsion, and a ban on rejoining for some period of time. Thirdly, you have to be a good enough thief. This will likely require minimum skill levels in several different skills such as Stealing and Snooping. Dilettantes and throwaway characters need not apply; the Guildmasters wish to have only the most qualified thieves in the business working for them. It is possible that membership in the Thieves' Guild will require ongoing fees. Attackability in town Membership in the Thieves' Guild is not public; people will generally not be aware that you are a thief who may PvP steal. This is a good thing, since as part of their bargaining with Lord British, the Guildmasters have surrendered the right to report others for their murder. If you are a thief, you can and will be killed with impunity, and no repercussions shall result for the killer, because you will not be able to report them for murder. In towns, the proscription against starting fights still applies, so even Thieves' Guild members will be safe from random attack, even if everyone knows of their affiliation. An attack in town is still punishable by calling the guards. Forensic evaluation Alas, the Thieves' Guild does have an enemy, and it is the tireless detectives who have mastered the skill of Forensic Evaluation. Those with this ability will be able to focus their deductive powers on people and determine whether or not they are truly what they represent themselves as, or whether they are members of the Thieves' Guild. The recipe for the successful Thieves' Guild member is thus the role of con artist. They must seem innocent so detectives are rarely prompted to investigate them. We strongly suggest that thieves acquire an extensive wardrobe and copious quantities of hair dye, so that they may frequently change their appearance. Use of the incognito spell is also advised. The successful thief will be the one who acts in all ways like an innocent player of some other profession, exercising their thiefly abilities in secret, and changing identities often. Fame will be anathema to the good member of the Thieves' Guild, because if their cover is blown, they will likely perish several times over. They will have to lull others into a false sense of security, and choose the most appropriate times for their theft. Leaving the guild Like any NPC guild, you can quit by finding a Guildmaster and telling him that you quit. However, the Thieves' Guild will not let go easily. When you join, you are not allowed to leave the guild for one week. The "provoker-thief" One of the typical techniques of the thieves that exist today is that they steal from you in order to provoke you into attacking them and thus acquiring an aggressor flag. Then they kill you and loot your corpse, knowing that as an aggressor you will be unable to report them for murder. However, this tactic will no longer be feasible under the new Thieves' Guild system. For two minutes after stealing, the member of the Thieves' Guild is freely attackable by anyone in the area including his victim-not even an aggressor flag will apply to those that attack him. Guild wars Players participating in guild wars will still be able to use the stealing skill against opponents, regardless of membership in the Thieves Guild. Additional changes Detecting hidden in houses As a benefit to those struggling with the problem of thieves hiding in their houses, the Detect Hidden skill will instantly reveal anyone hidden in your house, regardless of where they are and regardless of your skill level. Owners and friends alike will have this capability, on the grounds that they know their house and its hiding places better than any stranger. Theft changes We will be reviewing the success rate for stealing, and changing the way success is arrived at. There will be four outcomes to an attempt: success in getting the item and nobody noticed (true success), success in getting the item, but you were noticed, failure to get the item but nobody noticed, and lastly, failure to get the item plus people saw you try (true failure). Forensics The Forensic Evaluation skill will also be able to determine who has recently picked locks on locked containers. A final word This is only the first step in our plans to reduce antisocial behavior in Britannia. The next area we will tackle is the existence of the so-called "blue PKs," those players who finesse the reputation system to murder without taking the consequences of their actions. -The UO Dev Team -- Posted by PGoH

January 28, 1999 UO Utilities Site (0:50 am CST) -- from the Outpost UOAutoMap, UOTrace, InsideUO, Guildboss, UOAssist... wouldn't it be nice to have all the neat utilities collected at one site? Well, they are! At UO Utilties, there are dozens of programs for everything from guild maintenance to macroing to server emulation. The site loads quickly and there are descriptions and information for each utility. -- Posted by PGoH The Abyss Shard is Open For Testing and Play (0:47 am CST) This from FYI in the Update Center: We thought it would be fun for you guys to test the latest changes to the game, including combat changes, in an Abyss shard. Keeps things spicey, you know. So, we have opened the Abyss specifically for this purpose. Please enjoy the shard while it's up, and remember, it is a *test* shard and will be treated just like Test Center is, except, it's the Abyss. Interested in more details about what's happening on the Abyss right now? Well, read on! Currently on the Abyss Test Center: 1. There is no statloss for murderers. 2. There are no guards, except in the city of Britain. 3. There are skill and stat advancement gates around the city of Britain. (That's the reason for the guards in Britain.) 4. Other regions of the world have Gold stones and Spellbook/Reagent stones. Gold stones are located at Papua Bank, Moonglow near the moongate, Yew outside Empath Abbey and the east entrance to Trinisic. Spellbook/Reagent stones are located outside Yew Crypt, north beach on Magincia island, Moonglow Greens, and SE of the Papua bank behind the reagent shop. 5. Color Wars: Color Wars are probably the biggest feature in the Abyss right now. These wars are going on in and around the desert west of Minoc. There are 6 castles placed around the big open grassy area right before you enter the desert. Each castle has a uniquely colored sign and front door. These are: Yellow, Red, Green, Blue (this castle is located inside the desert), Orange, and Purple. Each castle has a ressurection gate inside it that will ressurect all players, whether they are a murderer, or a criminal. There is also a Trash Can which is expected to be used by people to throw extra junk away to reduce lag on the shard. To help teams identify one another, there is a "Dye Stone" of approriate color with which team members can join one team or another by dying their clothes. The Dye Stone looks just like a guildstone, and will be tinted the appropriate color. You double click the Dye Stone to dye clothes, just as you would with a dye tub. Additionally each castle has a unique dispenser inside it to give players both reasons to secure the castle from invasion and to invade the castle. The Blue and Yellow castles have a reagent dispenser, Purple has plate armor, Red has arrows, bolts, and bow and crossbows, Orange has magical weapons, and Green has Spellbooks, Leather and Chain armor. At the entrance to the desert are 6 colored guildstones which will indicate to the players which castles have what items. The guildstones help the players get their bearings on the "pupose" of the Color Wars. 6. Finally, there is a new system in place that keeps track of the killing prowess of players by rewarding them kill points when defeating other players. Everyone starts with 0 kill points. Vanquishing a player (in other words, killing another player) will result in getting 10% of their kill points. So if you kill someone with 100 kill points, you get 10 points and they are knocked down to 90 points. The goal is to accumulate points by killing and not being killed. Furthermore, it's better to kill a few players that have lots of kill points than a lot of players with little or no kill points. To find out how many kill points you have, simply say "How many kill points have I". A message indicating your kill points will appear in the bottom left of your screen. It is entirely possible to have killed 100 people and still have 0 kill points. This means either you have killed a lot of people that have died repeatedly and are not worth any kill points or you yourself die a lot in the process of killing others. We hope you enjoy the Abyss Test Center and we look forward to your feedback about the shard. -- Posted by Balandar In Testing Updated (0:18 am CST) Colored ore, ingots and armor go in Mining Eight new varieties of minerals can now be found. Each variety offers a unique color. The different colors can only be found by miners of specific skill levels--only Grandmasters or near Grandmasters can find the rarest mineral, valorite. Once a vein is located, it will always be at that location from then on. (It behooves miners to conceal this location!) Even a known vein will not always yield the rare mineral. You cannot combine ore of different colors. You can only smelt the colored minerals if you meet the Mining skill requirement to do so. Blacksmithing You cannot work the resultant ingots unless you meet the Blacksmithing skill requirement to do so. You can make colored armor and shields from the colored ingots. You cannot make weapons from colored ingots, and doing so will just make a weapon that looks like one made from iron ore. Combat changes Mace weapons now cause stamina loss and extra damage to armor when they hit an opponent. Your swing rate or firing rate with all weapons is now dependent on your current stamina, instead of your dexterity. Damage for your blow is now assessed on your opponent on the start of the swing, instead of at the end. This change makes a fast connection less of an advantage in melee combat. Equipping a weapon now causes a short "prep time" before you can start swinging. Being good at anatomy will give a bonus to the damage you do in combat. Being good at evaluating intelligence will give the ability to override your target's magic resistance. Changes to magic Meditation goes in. This new skill allows faster regeneration of mana. Your mana regeneration rate is now dependent on your level of Meditation skill, your intelligence stat, and the amount of armor you are wearing. This is termed the "passive use" of the skill. The skill can be used from the skill gump, or via a macro. You cannot be holding anything nor be wearing metallic armor to use it. If you succeed, your mana regeneration rate is doubled from your usual rate while you meditate. You stop meditating if you do basically anything, including using another skill, trying to hide, moving, casting a spell, using or trying to pick up an object, etc. A problem with the polymorph spell getting "stuck" was fixed. The Magic Reflect spell now gives an error if the target already has Magic Reflect on, and does not consume mana or reagents. The magic lock spell now works against unsecure locked down containers. So does the magic untrap spell. Housing and furnishing changes The one-room house which ramdomly changed appearance every time you tried to place it no longer does so. Holiday trees and ornaments are deleted. Holiday tree deeds are unaffected, but are disabled until the holiday season next year. You can no longer deed a locked-down holiday tree. You can no longer attempt to pick the lock on a secure container. The "large smithy" has been renamed to "large house with patio." Significant lockdown changes were made. Lockdown is no longer done with keys. Instead, it is done with spoken commands: "I wish to lock this down" gives a targeting cursor and does basic lockdown. "I wish to release this" gives a targeting cursor and unsecures and releases the object from lockdown. "I wish to secure this" gives a targeting cursor and locks down and secures the object if it's a container. "I wish to unsecure this" gives a targeting cursor and only unsecures the container. It does not release it from lockdown. Granting karma to other players Saying "I honor thee" will bring up a targeting cursor. Targeting another player will remove karma points from you and give some karma points to your target. You have to have a positive karma of a certain level to do this. Other skills Using bandages will now unhide you. Mapmaking now has a skill delay. There is now a blacksmith NPC guild, and blacksmith guildmasters will appear in appropriate shops and halls. Animal tamers should rejoice: A problem whereby creatures lost stats when crossing server boundaries was fixed. This was most notable in the case of "nerfed dragons." Miscellaneous Hair dye is now permanent. The error message given when you selected the last color on each page of hairdye is now fixed. Vendors will ignore you unless they hear their own name. This was done because of problems with many vendors turning to listen to you when you spoke, if there were many of them in close proximity. Some cave entrances to the Lost Lands have been slightly adjusted in terms of where you end up when you exit. A bug with the lighting and unlighting of the candle given to you when you start a character has been fixed. Poisonous creatures should start poisoning at the correct frequency again. The Jhelom dueling pit is open again. Several creatures which have been missing in the Lost Lands are back: nightmares efreets hellcats hellcat predators Some map errors were corrected. -- Posted by Balandar

December 18, 1998 Catskills-MT Winter Solstice Party From Grey Falcon: Sunday, Dec. 20th at 3 pm EST, any and all peoples of Britannia are invited to participate in the First Annual Winter Solstice Party at the Mage Tower. The Mages Conclave have prepared to provide an entertaining and exciting time for those who attend with both contests as well as challenges for all to enjoy. Beginning the party shall be an event for those who doth enjoy the more relaxed skills of barding. A challenge goes out to all bards to create an epic tale ( of 3 minutes or less) to be judged by our mages who have a love of literature. There shall be a prize of magic as well as gold for the winners of the event. Already we have heard one song from our friend from Kinship which brought tears to our eyes. We hope that many of you can bring this skill to our tower. A contest of Resistance shall also be held. For those who believe have the powers to resist magery, this challenge shalt pit you against a creature from the vile dungeons of Brittania. You shall have naught but thine skill and wits to survive. Placed within a ring, each contestant shall be stripped bereft of all and must survive as long as he/she can until you step from the ring. If the contestant is killed within the ring - they will be disqualified. This shalt be a timed event and the courageous winner shall receive a prize of magery and gold. A visit from the famed Saint Niki will take place during the event. St. Niki may have some special gifts to pass out among those attending! A final contest still in the planning stages, but expected to take place is a Scavenger Hunt. A list of items shall be placed at the Tower at the start of the event and teams may be formed to find these items. The first team returning with all the items shall receive a prize of gold and magery. Naturally, there shall be refreshments available for all who wish as well a The Mages hope all who enjoy these events shall attend! December 15, 1998 ·· UOHoC Announcement The next UO House of Commons Open House chat between the players and creators of UO is scheduled for next Thursday December 17, at 7 PM CT (5 PM PT, 8 PM ET). The chat will be available to you at #uohoc on Stratics IRC, on one of three networked servers: irc.stratics.com, port 6667 (randomly selects one of the below IRC servers) csdd.stratics.com csdd2.stratics.com intworks.stratics.com This week's topic is "New and Changed Skills". Please phrase your questions accordingly. Here are some areas that will be covered: The new craftables like looms, forges, abattoirs, etc. require more than one skill to make. The minimum blacksmithing skill for making arms and armor has changed. Some crafting skills, like tailoring, tinkering or carpentry may become difficulty based. Skills will influence each other. Think about healing and anatomy or magic resistance and evaluate intelligence. New skills will be introduced. Meditation (previously known as channeling) for example. IRCD Servers are provided by CSDD (makers of WinPack32) and International Networks (suppliers of networking hardware and support). If you are new to IRC, please visit Stratics IRC for an online tutorial and instructions for connecting to our IRC server. Tamers are called - From UOSS. On December 20th, 2:30pm EST (14:30) all shards will undergo a major event, "The March of the Dragons, II". Tamers from all shards will meet in Vesper with all their dragons in tow, making this one of the largest events in UO history. Forty to fifty dragons of all shapes, sizes and colors are expected to attend. If you wish to attend this event, simply meet at the Vesper Bank/Mage Shop region and prepare to be dazzled and amazed! (Time/Date/Place is the same for all shards!) ·· Community News - From UOSS. I received an email from Balberith about a new program that is available from UO Deutschland. Here is some information on it: I came up with a new tool for UO: "Vendor-Calculator". It shall help smiths and vendor owners to find out prices for their regular/magic armor/weapons. Version 2.0 is available now (still with little bugs) and V2.1 is in beta testing (release in the next couple days). V-Calc gives you the ability to edit all the item lists in a very easy way to adjust the program to your preferences. The prices for exceptionals and specific magic items may still need some further adjustment but so far the program uses a mix of my own numbers from playing, numbers from various websites, numbers I have been told are common at this time and numbers taken off of UOSS's fine tables. Like I said... V2.0 has still some smaller bugs (most of them are text bugs) that will be gone with release of V2.1. You can download the .dll version or the non .dll version. This tool seems like it would be a very valuable tool for vendor owners and blacksmith that have trouble knowing the exact price to make an item they have. Once vendors are allowed to be placed again I believe this tool will become very widely used. December 9, 1998 Houseing patch on catskills The second phase of the patch is in on catskills and seems to be working very well. You will no longer have to worry about those pesky tents anymore. Able to walk from one town to another without to much trouble from the house maze. For more information on how it works and what is in the patch, visit: The OWO.COM Update Center and Latest Patches Section December 6, 1998 Sage Winslow's Father [FOA Quest, Catskills]- - From Crossroads This from Wrain: Greetings fellow Britannians. I, Wrain, hath made a rather remarkable discovery. Last eve while pondering the recent events surrounding the Followers or Armageddon and the battle of the black wisps a few days past I had an idea. I quickly found a mapmaker and bought a map of Britannia. I then marked the locations of the two black pentagrams which the black wisps had appeared from the night of the battle, one near the shrine of Justice and the other near the dungeon Destard. In between the two points I noticed were a group of farm houses just outside of Britain to the West. I had been trying to find clues and links involving the FoA for some time now and was desperate for anything that might be significant. I headed toward the farm houses. I searched a few of them and found them to be normal, but on the last one I found an invulnerable man named Joseff the Farmer. I was so amazed at my discovery I almost fainted! He was what I gathered to be Sage Winslow's father. I could get him to respond to a few key words but not enough to make any sense of it. Here are the things he responded to: Wrain: Hail Joseff: Greetings stranger. Welcome to the farmlands. Wrain: Who? Joseff: Whoever that has been trying to pass themselves off as Winslow. Wrain: Saw Joseff: It would have been many months ago. Just before that other sage took his place. Wrain: Other Joseff: Nay. The other one who's been around the castle the last few months. Wrain: Friends Joseff: Oh, most certainly. And he never misses our harvest feast each year. Wrain: Thank Joseff: I sure hope my friend is well **looks worried** Wrain: Next Joseff: He left the farm one day... Winslow went to study with a scribe in Britain. Wrain: Child Joseff: Winslow was always curious. He constantly asked questions about everything. It doesn't make much sense to me. If you have any idea what this means or if you talk to Joseff and get anything else out of him, please e-mail me at ottosen at baldcom.net. Maybe if we work together we will get to the bottom of this! Intriguing! Histories of the Towns and Cities of Britannia- From the Outpost Ever want to know the history of the town you often spend time in? Find out in our new Town Histories sction! December 5, 1998 Black Wisps destroyed!!- From the Outpost The black wisps that were invoked at the two pentagrams were successfully destroyed. Near Destard, the forces of evil were fought back by seige after seige of good guys who valiantly battled the Undead Lords and the black wisp. In the Northern Forests, it was Outpost , Emerald Empire, and many people from the Yew area that fought against droves of Mage Lords and trolls, while attempting to kill the wisp. Judas and Aeyia whipped out their instruments and sicked the trolls on the wisp, meanwhile, others set the pentagram ablaze with firewall after firewall. Special thanks go to Aeyia who spent most of her time healing people as they battled the minions of evil. Other guilds that were there to aid the cause were GoL, and MOZ... thanks for coming to help!! =) Clarification on House Friendship - From UO Vault From the FYI section of the Update Center: In the recent mail which we sent out regarding housing, we stated that we had not yet decided how friendship would be handled if you already own a house. A decision has been made on how it will be done: You can be a friend to a house even if you already own a house. You can be considered a friend of multiple houses. Characters on the same account as a house owner will be automatically considered friends of the owner, unless they are house owners themselves. Thanks! 6:32 pm EDT -Gasper December 3, 1998 New trading boards for each server... - From the Outpost http://catskills.shard.net/ is one of the many trading boards at SHARD.NET that have been set up so that players can trade their uniques, magic items, rarities, etc. Head there to buy, sell, and trade with others on this server. If you wish to visit the boards for other servers, just replace the first word of the URL with the name of the shard you wish to visit the forum of. SHARD.NET will be expanding beyond just forums soon, so stop there often! ·· UO Stratics Announcement The Update Center explains tonight's new shard: We will be opening up a test shard for testing housing claims specifically. If you are a home owner, please take the time to visit the test shard and test your claiming procedure. The test shard will mirror a different shard every evening beginning tonight with a mirror of Lake Superior. Each day, we will be posting on Update Center which shard will be mirrored that evening. Please make note that Great Lakes will not be mirrored on the Test Shard, since the backup on Test Center is currently Great Lakes. If you own a home on Great Lakes, you can test the housing claims on Test Center. When you log in to UO, look for "Test Claims" on the server list, followed by your server's abbreviation - for example, "Test Claims: LS". November 30, 1998 Now that we have lockdowns... - From the Outpost ...many people will be looking to start towns, taverns, and trading posts. Although much work and patience is required to own and operate such a venue, it is well worth it!! Here are a pair of links to help those wishing to embark on such an endeavor: Zerver's Guide - This is an extensive list of player venues across the shards. Zerver has spent a lot of time travelling around and collecting information on each venue. Visit a few places and speak with the proprietors or founders about how they got started and how they overcome the obstacles they are faced with. The Desk of Kazola - Some might wish to go beyond what is readily available to players. With lockdowns, this shouldn't be too necessary, but there are those cases where something extra might help or be a fruitful addition. Kazola provides an excellent guideline for establishing player run venues and getting a little aid from Seers and GMs. November 28, 1998 Catskills Mage Tower is open! - From the Outpost Kynaerth'an has announced the opening of the new Catskills Mage Tower with a celebration that occurred earlier today. The mage tower is located in the desert above Britain, and all mages are welcome to visit. November 25, 1998 Concerning Trapped Chests - From UO Vault. I picked this off the MT which is a repost of a post made by SunSword: As a result of your well voiced and overwhelming opinion, we will be changing the way trapped chests work. This will both fix the PREVIOUS problem and the new one (terror bombs). Trapped chests will now only damage the person opening the chest, and only if they are close to it. So telekenisis will be useful. This will happen today/tonight hopefully. Until this fix goes in, be very leery around people. Thanks! 5:43 pm EDT -Gasper Housing Patch information at OWO.COM Comments from the Dev Team contains some new info on lockdowns and other aspects of the up-coming housing patch. If you own a home or homes, make sure you take a look!

22 OCT 98 Lord British gives speech on beta servers. Lord British made a speech today on the beta servers. The crests were used, like that of his last speech (never get to see him in person). Go here for the speech. Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 21 OCT 98 All Romps Cancelled. "All romps are cancelled due to patches being put into place by OSI....many client crashes!!!!!!" - Borg Sorry for the lack of posts here but college life is very busy. Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 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 ALOT 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 accomplised 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. Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 02 SEPT 98 PLEASE READ REGARDING YOUR UO ACCOUNT AND SECURITY! 29 AUG 98 From Shiela of Trinsic ARE YOU WITH US? Raise your fame and karma without risking a thing! Turn cats and sheep into gold-filled monsters! Turn empty bottles into reagents! Read how ... HERE. Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 8/23/98 From Shiela of Trinsic FOLLOWERS SPOTTED... and escape! Two of the Followers of Armageddon have been sighted! Seer Flare has been out and about Yew, actively seeking out the Followers. Zendella and Junin have both been spotted in the area. Esa Stewart, a cunning little girl, had detained Junin long enough for several of the House of Rosmar to try to capture Junin, but his elusiveness proved effectiveness... escaped off into the forest of Yew. I had spotted Zendella with Myca of Covenant of Blood, and pursued them to the courthouse, but when Zendella fled and we questioned Myca, he led us on a wild goose chase to the hedgemaze. Grrrr... Myca, you're rotten! There's a reward out for these guys, and I am quite sure capturing them will mean a decent fortune and those who capture them will undoubtably be known across the lands for their deeds! I want these guys. Once again, read the TOWN CRYER ARTICLE for more information of these scoundrels! Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 8/15/98 Clcik here to find out more about this contest! Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 8/11/98 From Shiela of Trinsic MALCONTENTS CAUSE END OF ZOG CABAL And we all thought that it would be brave warriors and powerful mages that would strike the word Zog from the face of the earth! Nay! It turned out that it would be whiny little malcontents who felt compelled to write to GameSpot about how 'Zog' in 'Zog Cabal' is really 'Z.O.G.', the acronym for 'Zionist Occupied Govt' and that it was anti-semitic and the UO adds mentioning it should be pulled!!! As a result, this weeks serverwide quest has been held off, and major changes will probably have to be done. Oh... and if my timeframes are right.... 'Zog' in UO came BEFORE 'Z.O.G.' Read more about how petty and dumb people can be HERE. Balandar, PGoH Cmdr. 8/11/98 2:45am EST Ok, I will make this quick.... Lord British gave a speech tonight through his crests on small mounuments located throughout cities in Britannia. Well 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... You can find the entire speech here (Lord British's Speech). Sorry I made this post so short but I am tired and have other important matters to attend to tonight.. errr this morning Balandar, PGoH Cmdr.

The following Ultima Online news items are from 1998 to 2003. These were originally from PGoH's news system that was retired ages ago. These documents have been kept for historical purposes. Many of the external links no longer function as those websites of old have vanished over the past 2 decades. Some clean-up of formatting has been addressed. Enjoy! Late 1997 - Early 1998 Lost to the ages... 1998 Old News: August 11, 1998 - October 22, 1998 Old News: November 25,1998 - December 18,1998 1999 Old News: January 1999 Old News: February 1999 Old News: March 1999 Old News: April 1999 Old News: June 1999 Old News: July 1999 Old News: August 1999 Old News: September 1999 Old News: October 1999 Old News: November 1999 Old News: December 1999 2000 Old News: January 2000 Old News: February 2000 Old News: March 2000 Old News: April 2000 Old News: May 2000 Old News: June 2000 Old News: July 2000 Old News: August 2000 Old News: September 2000 Old News: October 2000 Old News: November 2000 Old News: December 2000 2001 Old News: January 2001 Old News: February 2001 Old News: March 2001 Old News: April 2001 Old News: July 2001 Old News: August 2001 Old News: September 2001 Old News: October 2001 2002 Old News: February 2002 Old News: March 2002 Old News: April 2002 Old News: May 2002 Old News: June 2002 Old News: July 2002 Old News: August 2002 Old News: September 2002 Old News: October 2002 Old News: November 2002 2003 Old News: January 2003 2003 to Current Visit our forums to view current news.

Locations Timeline Locations The City of Trinsic The Encampment of Lord Dupre Malabelle's Hut The Laboratory of Nystul The Teleporter to Malabelle's Cave Malabelle's Cave Malabelle's Hiding Place The Fortress of Lady Minax ^top Timeline December 1999 January 2000 ^top

About | Joining | Languages Laws | Elven Races Dress | Society Downloads | Stories About the Elves of PGoH Know the solemn words of the Elven Lords and in your knowledge be freed. Let these honored words be heeded by all of those who claim lineage to the sons and daughters of Mother Earth and Father Sky. Never let those beneath your standing view these words for they are not worthy to be brought into the Light that we share. Firstly, let it be known that all Elves are Noble and should carry themselves as such. A true elf will never let his eyes fall in another's presence, doing such, would mar the beauty that is inherent in all of our people. Stand always with your head held high and never turn your back to those of your standing. Secondly, know that we live and breathe on the words and actions of our ancestors and that we shall live as they have lived. Our fathers were the heralds of the wind and wood, our mothers the keepers of the magic and hearth. As their children we know these things and follow them, we learn the ways of the bow and the muses of the mosaic of the air as did our father's before us and we take care to know magic and wield it with honor, just as we nurture the hearth with our skills as smiths, tailors and animal trainers. Our weapons are those of the first Elven Heroes; the sword to parry the attacks of those beneath us, the bow to carry the power and quiet subtlety of the wind into our enemies hearts, the axe to show reverence to the wood that we use. Let us not sully our noble hands with the machinations of the halberd and soulless crossbow. Reverence is foremost to our people. Give it where it is deserved and respect it when it is given. Deserved of our reverence is the one who pursues a noble profession such as Knighthood, Musician, Tailor, Smithy, Healer, Magician, Patrician, Husbandry and subterfuge done in the name of the Elven people. Know that these professions can also be seen through the things that they do and how they present themselves. The Elven knights are the only of our blood to wear armor of plates and helms of great weight. Respect the dead for their burden is much more than we can ever know. No elf shall wear their remains or let their memory go unnoticed by letting their bodies walk without souls. There are those , however, who do not deserve our reverence or respect. Those that are unnatural to the order of all things are our ancient enemies and should be viewed as such. Orcs, monsters, the unliving and our motherless cousins the dark elves should never leave our sight without, in the smallest, cursed in the name of the earth so that when she consumes them she will know what they are by her children's tongue. - Aluim Aster, Swyrel Elf - ^top Joining Us Joining the Elves of PGoH is a simple matter of filling out a form and submitting some information. You will be added to the ranks as a Elf Legionaire and then voted upon for entry into the guild as a Squire to an Elven knight or a trades-elf. A half page story is required during your one month time as a Legionaire and to be posted on the Elven board for all to read. This can be in any format you would like, even in Elvish (if done in Elvish, post translation as well). Elves have NO facial hair. Their hair tends to be long, or tied back (ponytail). The skin is pale and fare. NO Dewdish names. If you need help creating a name, go here to generate a random name. Continue reading on below before joining. ^top Languages The Elven language we will use is based on the GlamerVelt Elven language which is based on JRR Tolkein's Quenya (the Ancient Tongue). The following should be known by humans and other races that wish to communicate with the Elves. Elvish Common Elvish Common Danellosi Good Hunting (greeting/farewell) Lwe Okay or Alright Namarie Farewell Hantale thank you Ays (iss) yes Vys you or you're Nys no Amin I, me, myself, my Aaye Hail Otmena human Mae govannen Well met Edhel Elf Basic Elven Translations & Extended Basic Elven Translations These two listings have the most basic words that all elves should (mostly) know. Practice them in your day to day speech. Try starting out by using simple words like: you (vys), me (amin), yes (ays), no (nys), elf (edhel). All other words should be proper English instead of Thee's and Thou's, but this also can be different for each Elven Race or the way you roleplay your Elven character. Extended Elven Translations in pdf format (115KB) -added 09/10/00. Extended Elven Translations in html format (1.9MBs). Extended Elven Translations in .doc format (0.9MBs). Note: If a window comes up asking for a username and password, click cancel. Extended Elven Translations in ziped (0.2MBs). Drow Translations in html format (300KB) Drow Translations in .doc format (215KB) - Veldren , Swyrel Elf - ^top Laws and Guidelines If you are not sure, ASK first. Do NOT speak or act on behalf of The Elves of PGoH without authorization in advance. Maintain at least neutral reputation. Follow the Dress Code. Live by the Elven Code of Conduct. Stay in Character! Keep OOC comments to ICQ or party message system. Code of Conduct Life is given only by Mother Earth, you shall always respect it by aiding others of our race in danger Father Sky is always watching, do not disgrace him with lewd language in his presence. Live as the ancestors did, in honesty and good faith towards those you deal with. Elves are always noble, never conduct yourself without etiquette and proper decorum lest you lower our nobility with your actions. Your oaths are your heart, do not tear them asunder lest you endeavor to do the same to your heart. Light shines within your soul, always vanquish darkness for it would vanquish you if given the chance. Follow in your parents footsteps, deal not in the trade of thievery or of the double tongue. Loyalty runs in your blood, work for the good of all elves firstly and all others secondly. ^top The Elven Races There are four major Elven races that will be spoken about here. The Grey Elves (Espel), the Sylvan Elves (Arael), the High Elves (Swyrel), and the Dark Elves (Drow). Espel,(grey elves) The Espel elves are the least likely to be seen among other races. They believe that they are superior in lineage to even the other Elven subraces. In an attempt to keep their racial and societal lines pure they have become extremely reclusive to the point that it is nigh on impossible for a nonespel to locate one of their grand cities. They tend to live quite long lives (even for elves) and they use their many years in the pursuit of knowledge. Often the Espel have some of the most knowledgeable scholars and magic users in Britannia but they however are not likely to use their extreme prowess. It takes a great and immediate evil to stir even a single Espel into action, it would take a worldly tragedy to stir them all, being that they are often equally happy to leave their enemies to die of old age while they merely grow a bit older. Skin pale Hair usually silver may be pale golden Eyes usually amber may be violet Height 5'4" to 5'8" Weight 85lbs to 140lbs Dress tunics of gold, silver, white or yellow and cloaks of blue or purple Aluim Aster's thoughts on the Espel. Hidden away in their cities far from our world are the Espel. They are our brothers and sisters who are the self proclaimed closest to Mother Earth and Father Sky. Rarely do they see fit to join us as they believe that even their younger brothers and sisters are below them. This is a matter of opinion that the Swyrel and Arael do not share. Let them come and join us and we will show them our honor as their equals. It is sad that they cannot see this the same way as we do. Unfortunately it is up to them to come to us for we have searched and have not found them. Bow to them as a Swyrel or Arael but do not bow too low. Arael,(sylvan elves) The Arael elves are much less concerned with society and civilization than other elves. They live in hidden groves deep within the forests of Britannia and are therefore extremely rare to find wandering about town. It is their way of life to simply survive alongside nature and not to hide within the high walls of a city. They are much more likely to resort to violence than their cousins being that it is often necessary for survival in the forest to attack before you are attacked. Hiding is a way of life for the Arael, and any number of feelings of being watched could easily be attributed to them. Skin lightly tanned Hair yellow to coppery red Eyes light brown or bright green Height 4'11" to 5'6" Weight 80lbs to 145lbs Dress any color that would blend into the forest depending upon the region and the season Aluim Aster's thoughts on the Arael. Here and there in the forest are the Arael, our brothers and sisters who live closest with Mother Earth. They hide in the wooded areas of Britannia and rarely come to the human cities. They are very knowledgeable despite the fact that they don't have the libraries of the civilized world. They survive with their wits and are rarely seen, although they see us quite often. Bow to them as well but don't expect them to know why you do it or that they should return the gesture. Swyrel,(high elves) The Swyrel are the most numerous of elves within the world of Britannia or at least the easiest to count large numbers of. They have a structured society like the Espel but do not openly frown upon members of other races and therefore are not an unfamiliar sight within the walls of a human city. They excel at many differing occupations as it takes all kinds to keep a city on its feet. They are generally a good aligned people and being such will often come to human societies aid in large numbers. To simply allow their enemies to rot away with time would fill a Swyrel with guilt that they did not move to stop their evil when they had the chance. Skin Very pale Hair either light blonde or dark brown to black Eyes either blue or bright green Height 5'2" to 5'7" Weight 85lbs to 145lbs Dress light pastels are common but more dark greens are donned when hunting in forests Aluim Aster's thoughts on the Swyrel. The Swyrel are the most commonly found Elven subrace. We swyrel know that it is necessary to deal with the other races in order to prosper and that even the Humans are descended from the sky and earth (even though they know it not). Cities are our playgrounds and our homes, although we do know the benefits of the forests. By far the Swyrel are the most social of all elves, bow to us and expect fully to be greeted in return. Drow,(dark elves) Note: You must be good aligned in PGoH.. so you can not play an Evil Drow. The drow language is provided above, it's an option to learn it if you wish. The other Elven races will most likely NOT learn the Drow language. The Drow elves differ from their cousins in that they do not have the bond to nature that is usually the common thread for all elves. They reside in underground cave cities and therefore are worshippers of a denizen of the dark, the spider goddess Lloth. Their society is ran by the high priestesses of Lloth and therefore the female is the more dominant of the race. Being that their goddess is inherently evil so are the Drow themselves, in all but the rarest of cases. Interaction with human society is often no more than night raids for the Drow and because of such a history it is not likely that the humans will accept a good Drow into their city. Drow will crush their enemies with brute force if necessary and have no compunctions against torture and cruelty towards even the most innocent of adversaries. Skin jet black Hair white (rarely coppery) Eyes red but sometimes violet or amber colored Height 4'11" to 5'6" Weight 80lbs to 135lbs Dress anything black that reminds you of a spider's web with navy blue and blood red also common Aluim Aster's thoughts on the Drow. Under our feet in more ways than one, the Drow are beyond contempt. They burrow into our Mother and live within her as an invading tick burrows under ones skin. They are infesting our Mother and in doing such hide their dealings from the watching eyes of our Father. Never turn your back to such fyln people. Bow to them only if they are lying motionless on the ground and even then watch your back. Pictures from GlamerVelt Elves ^top Dress Code Regulations The following are for all Elven citizens: No bone armor of any kind. No ring tunics. Plate Armor may only be worn by Elven Knights. Halberds and Bardiches are not Elven and are frowned upon. Crossbows and Heavy crossbows are not Elven and are frowned upon. Note: Drow can use crossbows, but not heavy crossbows. Helms and Shields may be used in battle, but must be removed at other times. Orc helms are not permitted. Heater shields and Chaos are not premitted. Elven colors are to be worn at all times. See Races Arael: Green speech. Swyrel: Blue speech. Espel: Greyish yellow speech. Drow: Redish speech Hair tends to be worn long, but can be tied back. No animal head dresses. This is an insult to Mother Earth and Father Sky. A typical Elven outfit for a Nessa Osta or above. Note the Purple Sash. We need some Purple to designate that we are in PGoH when in meetings or PGoH gatherings, otherwise just stick with the woodsy type outfits. In addition to the rules listed above the following is the dress for each rank. Note: Each rank, excluding Legionaire, can use the previous rank's armor, weapons, or shields. Legionaires Leather armor and studded leather Wooden Shields All weapons except those listed above. Squires All ring mail except tunics. Buckler and other round shields, except chaos. All weapons except those listed above Knights Plate armor and chain mail Metal kite shield All weapons except those listed above Knights+ Same as Knights. ^top Society and Ranks The twin paths of Honor: The twin paths of Elven honor are closer than what they may seem. Each follower of both of the paths knows the importance for the other. Each strives for the same goal but are often split on either how or where these goals can be met. It is said that an elf is destined to follow one of the paths from times before her birth, that it is not a choice but a need to follow the Earth or Sky, Mother or Father. It is only up to an elf's conscience which is their path. The path of the Earth: The Elves that follow the path of the Earth are more attuned with nature and the animals that are considered part of it than those who follow the path of the Sky. The Elven knight that follows this path is by either race or personality closer to the survivalist demeanor. They will usually spend more time away from the confining walls of the city and the myriad of peoples who live there. To bring themselves closer to Mother Earth they will usually wear more woodsy apparel than others of their subrace and will more often be found camping than most. These elves believe that honor is gained through surviving both the bitterness that the Earth possesses and the sweet rewards that it can deliver. They relish in the wisdom that can be weaned from a starkly cold winter night spent alone and the strength that can be witnessed in each tree. They are the warriors of the Elves in defense of the lifegiver, Mother Earth. The path of the Sky: The Elves that follow the path of the Sky are more adept with words and have a natural amenity with the more civilized of peoples. The Elven knight that follows the path of the Sky is by nature more comfortable within the protective walls of society, both the stone and the social ones. They are more likely seen wearing bright garb to better display their nonhostile natures (not that they are not adept at fighting just that they would rather use the voice than the sword). These elves believe that honor is gained through the trials of peacekeeping and the wars that are won without bloodshed. It is their wish that all beings that are natural to the world live in harmony and some of them have been known to wish this even for their lost cousins, the Drow. They know the power of the word and understand the necessity of a society that works towards the common goal of cleansing the world of evil and hate. They are the defenders of the elves in the war for the lightbringer, Father Sky. Elven Ranks Human Ranks Actual Translation Edhel Legionaire Legionaire Elf Legionaire Nessa Osta Squire Young Defender Roquen tel'Menel Roquen tel'Kemen Knight Knight of the Sky Knight of the Earth Paur tel'Menel Paur tel'Kemen Phalynx Fist of the Sky Fist of the Earth Arato tel'Menel Arato tel'Keme Centurion Champion of the Sky Champion of the Earth Osta tel'quessir Imperator Defender of the people ^top Stories The Elven brothers Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII ^top Downloads Note: If a window comes up asking for a username and password, click cancel. The Tengwar Scribe The world's only Tengwar Word processor for Windows. You can download it here. Quenya.doc (right click and select save target as or just click link to view entire document) This has great information about the Ancient Tongue. Internal History, Structure of the language, Examples, etc. This is from Ardalambion. Quenya Corpus Wordlist.doc Has about 1/5th of the Quenya language. This also comes from Ardalambion Quenya Affixes A Tase of Elvish.doc Selected Quenya and Sindarin vocabulary. From Ardalambion Tengwar Fonts That's right, you can get your favorite Tengwar fronts from Dan's site. Everything from Quenya to Noldor. You can download the Quenya fonts here. - Veldren , Swyrel Elf - ^top

e are a large family of professionals who role-play within an Empire of HONOR that resides under the envelope of Britannia's current government. The Empire is economically based, quest driven and exists as a defender against oppression and serves as the protector of the mother city of HONOR, Trinsic. The enhancement and well being of Trinsic as the capital city of PGoH will be facilitated through utilization of natural structures. Through our economic endeavors led by Senators; gold is procured for skill development of members. Gems and gold donations are given for TRIBUTE to expand the teachings of the VIRTUES. Citizen worship to GODS of skills provides the means for discipline and enhancement of life within the Empire. Establishment of safe-havens and universities of study for members and in time all of Sosaria are currently under construction. The LEGION of the Empire provides the muscle and arm of the Empire, while the SENATE body produces supplies and/or gold to be donated to OLYMPUS as Tribute. Provincial matters of real-estate, quests, guild relations and justice reside in area of STATE; where a panel of 3 Citizens of residence then coordinate or settle matters of concern or attention. In Olympus are our leaders, led by Emperor Borg, who carefully plan and provide the guidance to develop HONOR establishments, quests and challenges for members and realm to use and participate in. What does it take to be a PURPLE G UARDIAN of HONOR? HONOR = Backbone of a GUARDIAN LOYALTY = Blood of a GUARDIAN TRUTH = Word of a GUARDIAN PURPLE = Color of a GUARDIAN UR GUILD INCLUDES MEMBERS OF ALL DISCIPLINES: Families of characters living as Adventurers, Craftsmen, Tradesmen, etc all exist within the Empire of PGoH. Good notorieties are preferred, but we won't turn away anyone looking to better theirs (we know firsthand about the bad breaks that occur, and also respect a change of heart). If you feel you have the desire and dedication to role-play within this grand scope of effort fill out a application for review. CURRENT ROLES OLYMPUS-Direction Guidance Emperor (Absolute Leader-Decisions) Magistrates (Personal Advisors to Emperor) Pontifex Maximus (Ultimate Priest=Grandmaster of 7 skills) LEGION-Military Imperators (Division Commander) Centurions (Cohort Commander) Phalynx (Knight Leaders) Knights (Military units having 1 Squire each) Squires (Aid to a Knight and seeking Knighthood thru learning by doing) Legionnaires (Applicants Family Legion representative=who is voted upon for full-membership) SENATE-Skill management Senators (Leaders of Economic Categories=Houses of skills) Veterans (Retired from a long Military service) Legate (Senate Specialist in 1 unique topic) Pontifex (Citizen of 6 Grandmaster skills) Olympian (Citizen of 5 Grandmaster skills) Maximus (Citizen of 4 Grandmaster skills) Exhultarian (Citizen of 3 Grandmaster skills) Patron (Citizen of 2 Grandmaster skills) Client (Citizen of 1 Grandmaster skill) Plebs (Citizen worker of NO Grandmaster skill) Questor (Applicant Family member on quest for Empire) Applicant (One whose Family is seeking entry to PGoH) STATE-Territorial matters Governor (Provincial Leader-Judge) Praefector (Provincial Guard-Prosecutor) Emissary (Provincial Mediator-Defender) OTHER-Miscellaneous Council of HONOR (Olympus, Senators and Governors) Triumvirate (Emperor, Senator of War and 1 Governor [rotating] act as Supreme Court) Prisoner (Member found guilty by Triumvirate) Heretic (Member under investigation by Triumvirate) SPECIAL NOTES The PGoH Empire is STRONGLY FAMILY oriented and required in such role-playing. An existing full member (not a Prisoner or Heretic) must be a sponsor for an Applicant is necessary...thus creating the link of Squire to KNIGHT as in days of olde. Family as the term is used inside PGoH is Two folded.....the entire guild is ONE big family...while each applicant as well brings as many characters they can into the Empire to grow and teach....."the good of the many (guild) principal" that in turn then "provides for the one (Applicant)".