----------------------------------------------------------------
Cry of Despair Issue 68, 2/03
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|
.JNNNN` .JNNNNNL NNNNNN. | In this month's issue:
JNNNNN) JNNNNNNNNL (NNNNNNN. | This month's feature!
JNN` JNN` NNN (NN. (NN)| * Amante meets with Myra
(NN` (NN` NNF (NN` (NN`| and Phred to discuss
(NN. (NN. JNN` NNF JNN) | their return to Immhood.
(NNNNNN (NNNNNNNNN' (NNNNNNNF | * The Realms of Despair
4NNNN` "NNNNNN` NNNNNNF | Awards return for the
| new year, vote now!
The Cry of Despair! | * Juliana gives us more
=================== | tips on futhering your
* * * | building skills.
* | * A return of TS updates
* | and the Shadowy Path.
* | * All the usual news,
* * * | quests, and more special
| additions!
* |
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Editor: Alysira Immortal Sponsor: Elisabet
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Staff: Amante, Ganemanoimu, Ilsensine, Juliana, Kellandra,
Khaimran, Shadia, Shadrack, Simone, Vaile.
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Contents CoD, Issue 68
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Desk of the Editor
News from around the Realms
Guild/Order News
TS/VC Updates
The Shadowy Path
The Emoted World
Uilisia interview, Leader of the GoF
Myra and Phred interview
The Fourth Annual RoD Awards
Furthering the Builder's Art
Party Time
Rants from the Summit
Story Submissions
Announcements and Advertisements
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Desk of the Editor - by Alysira Editor
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It seems like this past month has just flown by. Luckily, this
month we have loads of new articles, and additions to old regulars
to keep us all occupied!
This month, we welcome the return of the Realms Awards. This year
marks the fourth annual awards, with a few of the old categories
and some new thrown in to make a wide variety of choices to
vote in. So get your friends together, and vote for as many
categories as you can, next month we'll publish the results.
Our staff have been hard at work to bring in new articles, and
revive some old ones. Amante brings us news from the Shadow Path,
Shadia brings us more news from the Nations, and Shadrack gives
us all the updates from The Symposium.
Amante has also spent some time with Myra and Phred, to talk
about the couples return to Immortalhood, and Khaimran gives us
an interview with Uilisia, the new Guildmaster of the Guild of
Fathomers.
Hope you enjoy this issue!
-Alysira
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Guild/Order News - by Kellandra News
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Order of MaidenStone
The order brings in the new year by welcoming its newest members
Emelia, Eufemia, Merira, Pibinire, Sevvek and Velvet.
Everyone has been giving a lot of effort toward maintaining the
spirit of the order, and it shows. A big thanks to new members
and old alike, it has been another wonderful month with all of you!
As our beloved Head BM, Rikuo, has resigned from duty we wish her
the best and appreciate very much all the effort she has put
toward the order. The order also welcomes Mephie as the newest
Head BM; Congratulations, we know you will do your best.
Two dedicated members have been rewarded for their continued
excellence, and have ascended in rank this month. Well done to
our newest Covenants, Aimola and Mephie!
Applications to the order are still currently open. Those
interested should read help maidenstone and
help 'ms applications' for more information.
Guild of Clerics
Another busy month for GoC as we scoured the realms in a
drunken-like fashion boogie-training our way through Darkhaven!
Lots of fun quests and trivias, thanks to all who participated
and ran them!
A number of our clerics also moved on past their probation status
and will soon be awarded their own white padded rooms! Carrots
and kumquats for all! All hail the dirty carrot! And as a quick
salute to all our spelling-deficient members 'g0cz0rs r0xz0rs!'
P.S. For those prospective clerics looking to join our fun, come
visit us at nw, 2w, 2n, e, u of dh square and talk to a leader
or a member of the Council of Clerics (CoC).
Guild of Mages
The GoM is growing again and we warmly welcome Belinos and Vengor
to our guild. Milamber has finally returned from retirement and
is back in full force in almost every group within the guild.
Legba will be sad to hear that Alavius is returning as soon as
he gets his cast off. He is missed by all in the guild.
This months runs included Corsterix, Justice, Nelson, Legba
and Father Time. The Guild joined with the Augurers to take on the
GoN and GoD, we were, of course victorious! Sadly we came in second
to the first *wink* against the GoC and GoD.
Guild of Thieves
This past month has seen a ressurgence of activity in the guild.
Quests, runs (80+ mkills) and an ongoing riddle competition have
taken up the time of the members.
The IT Council has been busy adding a new member to their roster.
Welcome Uimato as a full IT in the guild.
Some of our newer members (and some not so new ones) have been
busy getting their ARC mobs done, gaining experience leading and
tanking a variety of mobs. Keep up the good work guys!
This month has seen the inception of a new guild position.
DT-Fence which means Donation Team Fence. This person is in charge
of trading, selling and buying items for the guild's coffers.
A long time member with much experience in the world of trade
accepted the position. Please congratulate Kirg and wish him well
on making the guild prosper trade wise.
Guild elections are now proceeding to fill the position of 2nd left
vacant by Tepheroth's retirement. Good luck to all those nominated.
The Guild's 1st IGPK match saw our members coming back frowning
as GoV and GoW took the win. Unfounded rumors about a thief
whipping the entire GoR team out to realign were greatly
exagerated. The one ranger offered to help out fixing an alignment
problem and no others were attacked.
Baali and GoT have been doing joint runs this month to the vast
benefit of all. Thanks go to Toruu/Mbwana for setting these up.
Those attending have enjoyed themselves a great deal.
The new guild board messages are in. Congratulations to Agragella
for the Recruiting board entry and to Keaira for the Main
noteboard entry. It was a tough competition with many entries to
choose from. Thank you to all those who participated.
February should bring in more quests (hintnudge) for the members
to solve. Also the riddles competition will continue to run.
More mob runs should be happening as members become more familiar
with running various mobs through ARC.
Keep up the good work guys, it's a pleasure to see everyone busy
and happy.
Angelea Endymion, GM
Order of Ringbearers
The Order of Ringbearers would like to announce myself as the
new CoD writer. We'd also like to welcome the newest members-
Poromenos, Hobinay and myself. Congradulations on all for
completing acolyte period! And of course to Coelit, Hermoyne and
Tempus- Thank you for being the best leaders an order could want.
You guys rock!
RB humor:
Hobinay says 'how embarassing....Your backstab misses a chicken.'
Hobinay ordertalks 'selina selina selina, we all love selina,
especially when she's an imm, we all love selina, especially
selina's, all want a selina, but that is aint alive
That's all from this side of the fence. May the rings of truth,
honor and knowledge ever pave thy way.
Ogerajin Darkbane, and all of RB
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TS Updates - by Shadrack News
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During January a number of proposals were considered in TS
meetings, with the following results :
Passed by TS -
* Introducing a fail message for circle.
* Modification of aff by to include saves.
* Modification of where (target) to allow seeing hidden/sneaking
players.
* Quest current - command to see rules of an ongoing quest.
* Necromantic touch modifications for greater efficiency.
* Iron Veil becomming brewable/scribable.
* Ruination spell (evil cleric area spell).
* Malediction spell (evil cleric spell to affect mob saves).
* Unholy Contract spell (evil cleric defensive spell).
* Amending Evil cleric attack %'s.
* Amending Evil cleric weapons %'s.
* Auctioneer fee reduction.
* Config +/- rp, ic/ooc, and rpwho commands.
* Longer timer on Drow alignment message.
* Amending Kalerd supplication amounts.
* Clutch command - allowing selected items in inv not to be
dropped.
Failed by TS -
* Argument to note list, list only 'x' most recent notes.
* RP points system, with points being given by players to each
other.
* Allowing the ability to cancel individual spells cast on
yourself.
* Using glory to alter a character's age.
* Lock pick skill requiring tools in future.
* Warrior of God spell (cleric creating a tank familiar).
* Apply command for organizations.
* Creating Forested Strongholds retreat timer.
TS also received feedback on a number of proposals it had passed
in previous months, and on one from the above list.
Passed :
* Allowing the use of 'Mail to' command.
* Messages for 'Dream' and 'Forage'
* Argument to seperately list vote notes.
* Practice command arguments.
* LD chars in high-traffic areas (no more dh [] ld's).
* An argument allowing counting of votes on vote notes.
* Having 'Portal' always echo to target.
Denied :
* Pkill hardcode change (to be left up to PKC proposal).
* Changes to the Blorin mob (Other changes may occur though).
* New prompt tokens for system time, underwater, and favor.
* Changes to the locate spell.
* Gold command showing how much in bank.
* Geos showing in areas command.
* Evil Cleric - Necromantic Touch modification.
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The Shadowy Path - by Amante News
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Passed by PKC:
* Remove noose (unclanned recall).
* Berserk style back to lowbie warriors.
* Add the "Grimoire" area, attached to PKtown/DH.
* Lower prices on Clan HQ repair mobs.
* Various changes to Bladesinger Skills.
Passed by CoE:
* Change to affected by to filter by spell name.
Denied by COE:
* Resists not affecting PVP.
* Elemental shields not affecting PVP.
Implemented:
* Ophanim clan loot only.
* Config +nice prevents deadlies from attacking peacefuls.
* Pkill only object flag.
To clarify, anything which was Passed by PKC is either awaiting
word from CoE, or has yet to be passed up to CoE.
Things which have been passed by CoE are awaiting implementation.
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The Emoted World - by Shadia Nations
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For this month of the Roleplay part of the CoD will be short and
to the point as for I have been busy in other parts of my life.
I must say thank you to all the Nation Leaders and RP'ers that
have contributed for making this article possible.
The Quendi (Elf)
Nation- Odd things continue to happen between the elves and the
dwarves, and more than odd. A series of crimes have been committed
by an apparently very skilled illusionist posing as various elves
to the dwarves, and vice versa. This matter is close to being
resolved, and the elves are searching for a way to tell for
certain whether any given elf or dwarf is himself, or some
impostor is actually behind these crimes.
As a nation, they have a new Fellowship leader (council member):
Bodileir Vena Caliver now leads the League of Knowledge. Our
other leaders include Kiyann Eldarian (Brotherhood of the Divine),
Asurmen Aer'real (Circle of Mages), Gildeth Calon Dracos
(Arborlon Guard), Elren Traina Mistshard (People of the Earth),
and Racin Atal (Union of Adventurers).
The Halfelf (Elohai) Nation-
The Elohai Nation is coming along fine. They have been a very
quiet Nation until now. They have a new Nation leader, being that
Syriac has stepped down. Their new Nation Leader is Rebeca
Umbramnia - de Carpathia. They are not at any wars with anyone
at this time, but they wish to contribute to the RP world and
are looking for plots and allies. If anyone wants to join or
plot please feel free to contact Rebeca.
Look at the Half-elf nation board for further information.
The Human (Dunedain) Nation-
The humans have finally been cured of the ragged plage that
has affected the race for some time, but by making an alliance
with the Leader of Drow had ensured they would be cured. As for
more personal issues, King Doyle has recently wed an elven Arwen
named Lilandra. The Humans also had to fend off some of Gaelinars'
orcs that were in their territory trying to eradicate us because
of the plague.
The Dwarf (Khazad) Nation-
Recent events have caused the Dwarves to close their borders to
outsiders. Armed patrols, never a rarity in dwarven lands, have
now become practically impossible to avoid, and far more
suspicious and hostile even than is normal for the race. While
the Thane still holds openly to his faith in the elves of
Arborlon, there are few of his people that do. There are some,
notable among them Mbwana LifeWind, who express disappointment
that Yeroc claims to have not been the dwarf that poisoned the
elven leader Graelynia.
While the elves are distrusted, the half-orcs and half-ogres
are looked upon with absolute contempt for their interference
in the matter. Both races are believed to be hostile by the
Dwarves of Qetag's Reach. However, a meeting has been agreed
upon between Yeroc and Graelynia, the time and place of which
is being kept secret. The Dwarves wait, some more restlessly
than others, for the truth of recent events to become known.
The Drow (Ilythiiri) Nation-
The whole Nation has been given an overall makeover. The Nation
has recently re-elected Shadia Del'drae as their Nation Leader
again. The Ilythiiri have an alliance with the Humans.
The Ilythiiri have for the most part stayed out of other Nation
affairs as the Nation is still trying to re-establish itself.
The Nation has gained alot of new members and are hopefull to
return back to relations with the other races.
The Pixie (Pixie) Nation-
The Pixie Nation has elected a new leader. Railyn is their new
Nation Leader.
As always if anyone is interested in Roleplaying within a Nation,
or just in general, do not feel embarressed about asking another
roleplay to interact with you. And remember to have fun!
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Uilisia Interview - by Khaimran Interviews
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Uilisia : Good Evening :)
Khaimran: Okay, first off.
Would you like to tell us a bit about yourself? Who
are you, and how long have you been playing Realms?'
Uilisia : I've been on the Realms for over 5 years, I can't
remember exactly, but Two Rivers disappeared shortly
after I started playing.
My first character was a mage, joined GoM as a lowbie.
I've played a number of different characters in
different Guilds and Orders, I've tended to make a
character play it solidly for a while then make another
one, and so on.
Khaimran: Anyone our readers might recognise, or would you prefer
to keep it quiet?
Uilisia : I was very active in GoT with Tamalia (leadership
position there), and Frances in MS where I was Head BM
(run chief) for a bit.
Khaimran: I seem to remember you saying you're British, or am I
thinking of the wrong person?
Uilisia : Yeah, Scottish, except I emigrated to New Zealand just
over a year ago.
Khaimran nods his head in understanding, saying "Ahhh, yes.."
Khaimran: Cool :)
Uilisia : Warm!
Khaimran: Okay, you mentioned being a leader in GoT, how has it
been different in GoF, so far?
Uilisia : We don't have many people in the guild yet. GoT had
over 100 members when I was there, we have 25 so far.
Not much to do in terms of crowd control.
Uilisia waggles its eyebrows mischievously.
Khaimran: What about other things; Was it more fun being a
leader in GoT, or your current position?
Do you feel you have more or less responsibility this
time around?
Uilisia : It's great having the responsibilty of the 'hot seat',
but we really need more Fathomers so we can get
involved as Guildies and do things together.
Khaimran: What kind of things have you done to try and attract
new members?
Uilisia : We have set up and stocked our donation system, and
we have a rewards system for handing in valuable loot
and purchasing items off storage.
As players, many of us have great knowledge to share
within the Guild, and as such we can mount serious runs
if we have enough people to do it.
Khaimran: Are most of the current members experienced players
who've created Fathomers, or are you like other Guilds,
in that you have a high proportion of relatively new
players?
Uilisia : Most of us are experienced players who wanted to try
something new, but happily we are getting a few
complete newbies who have heard about the class and
think it sounds neat... Some people just want to
play at being pirates! :P
Khaimran laughs.
Khaimran: So how _is_ the Fathomer class, compared to other ones?
Thieves or mages, for instance?'
Uilisia : We have a useful range of skills and spells, attacks,
defenses and spelldowns. We are useful in a number of
situations. There are a couple of skills there designed
for use in pkill, too.
Khaimran: Can they compete with some of the more established
run-classes, though?
Uilisia : Well, with 25 dex we make good tanks, and our main attack
(feign) will hit harder than a similarly dressed thief,
but you need to use spelldowns, and probably fight
alongside another Fathomer to be effective.'
Khaimran: So can you give us a taster of some of the more unique
skills/spells Fathomers have that are useful?
Uilisia : We have some unique skills, with 'glass eye' we can cast
True Sight on ourselves while still in combat. It dosn't
last long, but it's long enough to quaff a cure blind
potion - Which could be a life saver.
Our 'isscyl' spelldown does -5 Dex to a Mob for 1 round.
It's not long, but if your group is properly prepared,
that could enable you to hit with feign, or a warrior
to stun an otherwise difficult mob.
Mutiny casts +1 Lck on everyone in the group, and I
don't think any other spell in the game increases luck.
Khaimran: So which mobs has the GoF managed to take down so far?
Uilisia : We've killed a bunch of mobs for stocking donation,
usually using a Fathomer to tank and thieves to kill.
It's taken us a while to work our how to make feign work,
and getting 2 like-minded Fathomers together at once
is quite hard :/
In my investigations of our skills, I have solo killed
Shade over 30 times, without poison!
Khaimran: What are your ambitions in terms of runs? Any bigger
mobs you'd like to try with just Fathomers?
Uilisia : We've been snooping about KoTR to have a shot at Vortex
sometime, but it's going to be a hard mob, and I think
the Guild membership has to be much larger before we
can get enough of us together to mount a serious challenge.
Our spell attack, 'Tronada maecle', does quite a bit of
damage, I think we can usefully challenge the same mobs
mages can, and carry more heals/mana pots too.
Khaimran: How have the Immortals - and I guess I'm thinking of
Ceirana, specifically - helped in setting up GoF?
Uilisia : Ceirana selected the founder members from the many
applicants and gave some guidance as to how the Guild
should take shape.
One aspect of leadership is being able to delegate,
and she selected founder members who could organise
stuff seriously once the tasks had been delegated.
Of course, some members volunteered for tasks too.
Everyone has been willing to pitch in and get things
ship shape.
Khaimran: Is the Guild completely autonomus now, or does she
still help out a little?
Uilisia : We've been completely autonomus since the leadership
election, but in about 4 months time there is to be
another election.
That was to ensure that the leaders are committed to
the Guild, we are on probation, as it were.
Khaimran: Planning to stay on as Leader?
Uilisia : Yes, I plan to remain in Leadership. The Guild will
get more active in time as new Fathomers are made
and join up. In a way we are still at a very early
stage. I expect the Immortals will be reviewing the
perfomance of the class too, so there may be some
exciting changes in the future. I want to be there
to experience it.
Khaimran: Ah, changes. Any idea in what form those changes
might take?
Uilisia : Changes... Currently, most of us wish that we could
hit more reliably with feign; It is powerful but
misses entirely too often.
Khaimran: How long do you think it'd be before GoF has enough
members to participate properly in the Realms
community?
Uilisia : Recruitment tends to be erratic, It's hard to say.
Many experienced players can't give up their main
characters and play a Fathomer instead. It could be
quite a while before we have enough dedicated Fathomers.
Khaimran: What would you be your message to anybody that is
considering joining the Guild, or making a Fathomer,
and isn't sure?
Uilisia : For a new player, Guilds can be fantastic places to
learn about the Realms and make new friends. You can
learn a lot from joining GoF.
If you are experienced, and not sure about creating a
Fathomer, then think about the utility of the unique
spells I outlined earlier. I'm sure experienced
players can think of situations where Fathomers can
really make a difference to a run.
We have lots of friendly people in the Guild, too.
It is a pleasant place to be at.
Khaimran: Any final message you'd like to give the readers of
the Cry?
Uilisia : Read Cry... Khaimran is cool?
Err... No not that either.
Khaimran laughs.
Uilisia : Don't judge the class by what people say on public
channels, most of them haven't ever played one.
Make one yourself and have some fun with it. The game
is all about fun, enjoy being a Fathomer for a while.
Khaimran: Well, thanks for your time, Uilisia. On behalf of the
Cry of Despair, I wish you the best of luck with the
Guild. Arr.
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Myra + Phred Interview - by Amante FEATURE
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Myra has transferred you.
Phred's Pholly
Perched atop a high hillside that overlooks a great valley, a
large, slanted rock overgrown with moss and small clumps of clover
rests between two large oak trees. From here, the floor of the
valley can only be seen at rare occasion as the thick mist that
covers it swirls about, uncovering bits of supernatural looking
landscape. Within the mists faces appear and disappear and what
look like corporeal bodies duck and weave within the large canyons
etched into the floor of the valley. The largest attraction to
the scenery below is the massive volcano. Although it is miles
away, from this viewpoint it looks as if you can reach out and
touch it. Spewing forth from the mouth of the volcano, a large
black cloud of ash and smoke floats lazily above the rim giving
the effect of a protective covering and it is reflected against
this cloud that the red hot glow of the lava can be seen.
Breath taking in beauty, awe inspiring in grandeur, this valley
is one of a kind.
Amante: Hello hello.
Myra : Hola.
Myra nudges Phred.
Phred : Hi.
look myra
Your careless glance has been met by a mesmerizing gaze that has
captured your every attention. Eerie sky blue eyes pierce your
soul, leaving you feeling completely vulnerable. As a tiny
droplet of blood falls from the most beautiful crimson smile,
you are struck with terror. As a wisp of wind blows streaks
of platinum blonde hair about carelessly, your gaze is broken.
Myra looks to be about 6'0", and looks to be around 125 pounds.
She wears her long platinum blonde hair straight. Her sky blue
eyes match beautifully with her chalk white skin.
Myra is in perfect health.
Myra is using:
Knee-High, Soft Kid Boots
A hooded, royal blue cloak emblazoned with
a dragonfly
look phred
Phred looks around, bewildered, scratches his head and asks you,
"Have you seen Bob?"
Phred looks to be about 6'2", and looks to be around 127 pounds.
He wears his long grey hair braided. His silver eyes contrast
beautifully with his copper skin. He has a large wolf tattoo
on his back.
Phred is in perfect health.
Phred is using:
black and white striped pants
Amante: Thanks for taking the time to visit with me today, and
giving me the opportunity to do this interview.
Phred : No problem.
Amante: So the obvious first question would be, how long have
you two been playing RoD for?
Myra sits down and thinks deeply.
Myra : October 1995, so 7 years and 3 months.
Phred : I've been around I think since September of '95, it gets
all fuzzy...
Myra : He's old, can't remember.
Phred nods in agreement to Myra.
Amante: Have all those years been on your current characters,
or has there been changes in your mains?
Phred : This is my first and only main.
Myra : I originally started a little warrior named Terra, she
lasted all of 2 weeks before I created Myra. We really
are -that old-.
Myra : You know, I had an alt in Inconnu once, Darrek loved
her name. Dunya. I got it from a book, but of course,
he saw it otherwise.
Amante: Forgive me for not knowing the history of Myra and Phred,
but did you know each other prior to RoD?
Phred shakes his head.
Phred : Nope, this is where we met.
Myra : A true MUD romance... Or something like that. Can I sue
Thoric if we get divorced?
Myra : To fill you in (and others)... I was an Imm involved in
what was the organization that is now TS, and he was a
representitive for the Guild of Druids. I thoroughly
hated him and every time he had a suggestion, I knew we'd
be there forever.
Phred grins.
Myra : Then, I got stuck working with him on some project, so
in a group one evening, we actually talked about stuff.
We came to find out, we had things in common... We both
HATE ricotta cheese, and Chicago is quite possibly one
of the greatest bands ever.
Myra : Long story short, within a few months I was head over
heels, and managed to convince him to fly me to see him.
The rest... Is history.
We were mudmarried not long after that (Jan 99), and
we've only been married (offline) for a year and 3
months. We've "been" together for 5 years, though.
Truth be told, he really is my best friend.
Myra digs through her cauldron looking for a frying pan.
Myra THWAPS Phred for being a moron.
Phred thinks, 'Hmmmm.'
Amante: What organizations did the two of you play in during your
mortal days?
Phred : I was in the Guild of Druids pretty much the whole time
I was a mortal. I had a single alt in Arcanes, then went
to Ascendere with that group. I was also leader of the
Druid Guild for about a year and half before Imming.
Of course, I've been involved in RNF now and when I was
an Imm before.
Myra : GoV is where my roots once were, but I've been in Inconnu
and Ascendere as a mortal. My new home is in Baali.
Amante: What is the biggest thing you miss about mortal life?
Phred : I really don't miss much about it. Before I Immed I was
quite active in adventuring and exploring, but haven't
done that in quite some time.
I miss being a Guild Leader in the Druid Guild, but
things have changed much since I've not been there. I
don't think I would have the same views they have now.
Myra : I think that I most miss the ability to turn off channels
every once in a while, and escape some of those that
are "mentally lacking".
Amante: Mentally lacking, nice.
Amante: Myra being an Immortal is something I am too young to
remember, but I remember Phred from a while ago. How have
your returns to Immortalhood differed from your original
times?
Myra : I took a good 4+ years off from being an Imm and in that
time, they really developed a number of the abilities
available.
While I remember most of the commands from previous
experience, there were quite a few new ones.
It really has been like riding a bicycle, just comes down
to remembering how it was done.
Honestly, it felt like coming home to a comfy chair.
Phred smiles happily.
Phred : Mainly new commands and people, mostly the same though.
Still have the same kinds of people though, so that's
nice.
Amante: So what are your ideal activities when you log Immortal
characters? Bonking newbies, raising damage rolls on weak
mobs, or perhaps less evil things?
Myra : Ideally, logging on would find no names in the auth que,
no profanity on channels and everything would be magically
fixed.
Phred : I spend most of my time working on designing quests and
administrative duties.
Amante: I think I've exhausted the ideas I had for questions,
though I must finish off with the obvious.
You have the most annoying mortal in history in your
private room, you have level 65 commands, the Immortal
log is broken, and no other Immortals are online. What
do you do?
Phred : Wonder what the hell they're doing in my room.
Oh wait, wrong answer.
My answer should be, 'Wonder what the hell ******** is
doing in my room.'
Myra : I was gonna say that :(
Personally, marathon Balzhuring would be fun. Make some
mac 'n' cheese, grab a case of cokes and have a ball.
Amante: Are there any final messages, comments, or threats you'd
like to toss out for the Cry of Despair readers?
Phred : I'd like to say hi to Grufnik.
Myra raises an eyebrow.
Phred : Oh, and to Myra.
Myra : Ascendere is still my second home in case they've
forgotten me.
Myra sniffs sadly.
Amante: Well, I thank you both for your time, and hope you have
an excellent day.
Amante gives a magic mushroom to Phred.
Amante gives a magic mushroom to Myra.
Phred : Same to you :)
Myra : Aww.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Annual RoD Awards - by Shadia RoDAwards
----------------------------------------------------------------
Can you believe another year has already passed? 2002 is out the
window, which means the 4th annual RoD awards are here!
We have kept alot of last years caterogies, but have also added
a few to keep people thinking.
There are 41 categories to cast your vote. In order to vote,
take a note, and with a subject line of My Votes, write your note
up following the example below for the category you are voting for.
Example:
Mynamehere: My Votes
To: Shadia and Alysira
Category Name #1
1) My first vote
2) My second vote
3) My third vote
Category Name #2
1) My first vote
2) My second vote
3) My third vote
And so forth in that fashion.
Entries must be mudmailed to Shadia and Alysira before February
22nd. Winners will be announced in the 69th issue of the Cry of
Despair.
Rules to Voting:
You may only have one voting sheet per real-life player. If it
is known that you have used more than one character to vote,
all of that players votes are nulled.
A full voting sheet is not necessary. If you choose not to vote
in a category, that is up to you.
Entries handed in after the 22ndh are not valid.
Keep your nominations within reason.
Note: Ganemanoimu has kindly offered to place a 100 million
gold prize for a random person. He will draw randomly after all
votes have been recorded. The person will be named in the
issue that hold the results to the awards.
The categories will be listed on the following pages. Remember,
you do not have to vote in all categories, but please remember
to write on your voting note which categories you are voting in.
Categories:
1. Best Male Immortal
Which male immortal has given their all to the MUD?
2. Best Female Immortal
Which female immortal have you felt have done their best?
3. Best Male Roleplayer
Who best exemplifies their role and yet, makes it seem natural?
4. Best Female Roleplayer
A queen, maiden, or wench? Whoever roleplays the fairest is
deserving.
5. Best RoD Couple
A new year has seen a new wave of marriages. Whose love is
greatest?
6. Best "New change" to Realms
Many things have been implemented for our benefit. What is the
best so far?
7. Worst "New change" to Realms
There is no sweet without the sour. What change was the worst
so far?
8. Best Guild
Which Guild has been the greatest in all aspects of the game?
9. Best Order
Which Order has proven itself worthy?
10. Best Clan
Which Clan has the most feared reputation?
11. Best Area
Which area has you exploring for more?
12. Best Hometown
Now that all the hometowns are in, which one is livliest?
13. Best Food Item
Which food leaves a lasting impression?
14. Best Drink Item
Which drink quenches your thirst the best?
15. Best "Treasure" Item
Which treasure do you most wish to own?
16. Most Likely to DT
Which player do you know to be the clumsiest?
17. Best Dressed
Which player just leaves you in awe when they enter the room?
18. Most Wanted to be Balzhured
The one award you DON'T want the pleasure of winning.
19. Best Rename
Which player has the greatest rename, in your opinion?
(When voting for this category, please be sure to list the
rename beside the nominee's name).
20. The "Fruit" Award
Which player is just nonsensical, goofy and overall least
likely to score?
21. Best Social
Which social do you find a use for in EVERY situation?
22. Best Male Player
Which male player has inspired you?
23. Best Female Player
Which female player leaves you with a good impression about
herself?
24. Most likely to get illegally PKilled
It happens, we know it does. Who do you think would deserve
this award more than anything?
25. Most likely to be the one to illegally PKill them
People and their short tempers. Who would be the one to
snap and attack?
26. Most charismatic deadly
Which deadly stands out above all others with their outstanding
personality? Be it bad or good.
27. Most charismatic peaceful
Which peaceful comes to mind when you think of most charismatic?
28. Most interesting help file
Out of the hundreds of help files, which one still makes you
laugh, cry or scream when you think of it?
29. Most interesting room
Some rooms come to mind when you want to hang out or just idle.
Which one do you perfer?
30. Best Runner
Who comes to mind when you have an itch to go on a run?
31. Best explorer
Who is the first one to have directions and EQ to the new areas?
Someone that you trust to guide you to safety.
32. Next-to-Imm
This player has contributed a lot to the realms community in the
last year and if another person was to Imm, this person should be
that Imm.
33. Most eligible Bachelor
What gentleman invades your dreams at night, ladies... and some
men as well?
34. Most eligible bachlorette
Which graceful bachlorette invades your daydreams, men... and
some ladies as well?
35. Most annoying person
Grey hairs sprout up when you think of this person!
36. Funniest person
Who makes your sides hurt and your lips sore from laughing so much?
37. Sickening Goodness (the biggest Goodie Two-Shoes)
Someone in the Realms tries very hard to be the best, the most
pure, the most innocent, never to do anything wrong. Who is it?
38. Ugliest Statname
There are some ugly statnames. Which one stands out above all?
39. Most Unique rename.
Not neccesarily the best. Who owns the rename that stands out
the most?
(When voting for this category, please be sure to list the
rename beside the nominee's name).
Remember to vote wisely and have fun! The winners of each category
will be published in next month's Cry of Despair.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Futhering the Builder's Art - by Juiliana Building
----------------------------------------------------------------
For such a necessary part of a MUD, building communities are much
less closely knit than the coding communities. Coders often have
forums, message boards, newsgroups and mailing lists for their
respective codebases. Builders tend to start these things and
then let them slowly fade away into oblivion. I have no clue why
this happens, but maybe it's because we tend to be more private
about creative writing than with program code. Areas take much
longer to build than snippets of code, and are less likely to
be given away, and while people can give concrete answers to
building problems involving mob program syntax, no-one can say
that your room description is 100% correct and will work.
So just where do you go when you need help with building an area?
The web has a huge amount of resources builders can use. Often
people write lone articles about building areas and other relevant
subjects, post it somewhere and then forget about them. As there
is no established central depot for these tips, the trick is
knowing where to look.
The MUD Area Building Genre:
The most obvious place to look for advice. It's not the only place,
of course, but let's start with articles that are written
specifically for area building.
The Art of Building - http://artofbuilding.net/
This has to be the most famous area building website around. It
contains advice for almost all aspects of building. I include
it here just for completion's sake.
If you haven't read it and want to build, you should go read it
fast.
How to Plan an Area
http://www.cosmosmud.org/areabuild/areadoc.html
This article was written some years ago, but the advice remains
amazingly useful for such a short document. Too many builders
seem to forget that what an area is for - not to fill up space
on a mud, nor to amuse yourself by killing as many foolish
players that dare to step into the place - but to produce
something novel and entertaining, while giving players a
reasonable challenge.
On Writing Areas: A Builder's Supplement to Creating MUD Areas
http://www.novia.net/~stephen/dawn/owa/
Smaug is not the codebase this article was written for, so some
of the examples will look strange. Still, this guide takes you
through an excellent tour of writing (and revising) all aspects
of an area.
Smaug Mud Building Info
http://www.geocities.com/athens/1293/builders.html
This is actually a long list of links to resources that are
useful to builders. While the page is fairly hard to read, and
some of the links may be outdated, I include it to stress my
point that builders have a wealth of resources to choose from.
One does not have to be limited to searching keywords like
"building areas" and "mud building guides" from Google. A
treasure horde of advice can be found from genres like writing,
world building, roleplaying games, computer game design,
interactive fiction, medieval history and so on.
The Writing Genre:
There are a million and one websites that can teach you spelling
and grammar. I assume you can find them on your own if you need
them. The same goes for reference sites: dictionary, thesaurus,
quotations. There are even more places that talk about writer's
block, and writing in general, though you'll have to sift through
a lot of useless stuff to get to the bits that can really help you
to build an area.
Here, I'm going to address one of my main building problems, trying
to write descriptions for rooms, areas and mobs.
Descriptive writing does not come naturally to me, and I would guess,
to a large number of other people as well. How often are we called
upon in real life to describe something in writing? We might
describe something to friends while talking and telling stories,
but that involves subjective description. In MUDs, all the area
guidelines tend to insist on pure, objective description. It
should read the same way no matter if one player has a pixie
character and the other one has a half-troll. Argh.
I used the keywords "writing description" and "writing descriptions"
in Google for the links on the next page, though I suspect
"descriptive writing" will also generate a lot of useful advice
in between all the websites for college writing courses.
Writing Descriptions
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_describe.html
A short but sweet handout on how to write descriptive essays.
Now just pretend each room description is a 4-10 line descriptive
essay. Each room should always have a dominant impression. Some
people do this by including a main focus of the room, something
that catches the observer's eye and is the main reason why the
room exists.
I admit to sneaking in some subjectivity and narration when I can,
more so in extra descriptions than room descriptions. There are
some things that I think should be obvious to any fantasy character
living in that particular world in a specific culture, but not
obvious to the player reading it, so I include information like that.
ASH Writing Center - Writing Descriptions
http://www.ash.udel.edu/ash/tutor/writing/comp_defs/description_def.html
Another concise article about describing objects. It's all been said
before, but the guidelines this page provides are clear and easy to
follow. Just remember, you don't have to include everything you come
up with, tempting as it might be. Just keep the details that are
the most telling.
Writing Description for Fantasy
http://www.dowse.com/articles/description-for-fantasy.html
This article focuses on descriptive writing while writing a
fantasy story, but there are pertinent lessons to be found. Leave
out unnecessary details and too many adjectives, they just make
a reader sick.
Of course, the trick is deciding what is unnecessary. In the end,
it's subjective also. In all honesty, I don't have that big an
issue with the cautionary example the author uses. It is readable
enough to me. Though admittedly a whole book written like that might
get tiring after a while.
Description: What's It For?
http://www.caroclarke.com/descriptionwhatfor.html
This advice is a little more specific for writing stories, and thus
subjective description, but let's not forget that objective
description can also provide revelation and motivation. Would
an absent-minded mage own the same kind of cottage as a retired
warrior living a spartan existence in the wilderness? You can tell
a story and reveal things about an NPC simply by describing their
possessions. The other writing advice articles are also worth reading.
"Details, Details" is another one with relevance to writing
descriptions.
MUDs: Building Guide
http://www.artefact.org.nz/-jamie/mud/building.html
This generic guide to writing good descriptions covers some
interesting points, just try to ignore all the absolute statements
this author makes.
If you're going to break a rule or a strongly stressed guideline,
feel free but know why you're doing it. Accept that some people
are not going to like it when you do.
The Smithcraft of Harper's Tale - Writing Description Lesson
http://www.bushville.net/smithcraft/lessons/ooc_writing.html
Occasionally, Google turns up surprises like this when you're
searching for something else altogether. I expected to find
essay writing tips when I used "writing description" as a
keyword, but this is a MUSH tutorial log and even more relevant
to area building. The essential lesson "Visualize and write" is
simple to say, but hard to do.
The following example about the box is the most amazing
brain-storming session about the traits of an object I've ever
seen. I never quite realized how just how much detail can milked
from a small wooden box before.
Obviously MUSHes have a different standard of "good description"
than MUDs. Typically, they like long descriptions, the longer
the better. No-one expects a 30 line essay on a box for a MUD.
Have a sense of what is appropriate for wherever you are building.
Take a look at the other craft lessons. There is another Writing
Description Lesson on a similar vein, with a lot of detail on
things like woodcraft, gemcutting, and metalcraft. I'm not sure
how accurate the information is, but they're certainly interesting
summaries and inspirational.
On The Need For Quality Description
http://www.oneofus.co.uk/articles/on_the_need_for_quality_description.htm
And I thought the small wooden box was amazing. Look at the detail
this author goes into about a single tree. Again, this website
is also chock full of other helpful articles about writing in general.
Things to Consider As You Write Your Descriptive Essay
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/descriptive.html
A quick list of questions to jog your mind as you write descriptions.
Some of it is more relevant to subjective description again.
Actually, it might be helpful to just write any kind of description,
mixing in all the subjective details about feelings until you have
a working draft. In revising, you can then get rid of the subjectivity
and replace it with objective details that suggests the mood.
For example, you describe a library with an oppressive and
threatening air to it. When rewriting, think of all the details
that could be oppressive and threatening; The bookcases might
lean slightly and look so old that they can't support the weight
of the books, the thick tomes might threaten to slip out of the
shelves and come crashing down, flakes of decaying paper could
churn up with every step and make the already musty air choking
and difficult to breathe, and so on.
For a fun exercise, you might try to think up three new details
for a library that do not mention the air, books, or bookshelves.
Next month, more links on other genres that can be helpful to area
builders.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Party Time - by Ganemanoimu Party
----------------------------------------------------------------
So it's February, a time of pink, Cupid, lust, err, love I mean,
cuddly teddy bears, hearts, and Valentines Day. Of course, this
article has nothing to do with that.
If you attend a university in Ontario, you'll probably have your
reading week in February. People elsewhere, pretend it is your
March Break/Spring Break and that this somehow applies to you as
well!
So a week or more of free time, and it's time to go partying!
Time to get your butt out of the house and away from all the
politics and fun of RoD!
Okay, so maybe you don't want to get out sometimes, but then, we
can't all be normal.
Nothing is truly worse then a boring party. I mean, sometimes
even an overabundance of alcohol won't even do the trick.
So how does one make sure that a night out is not a night wasted?
Well, there are always a few warning signs that mean a bad event
is about to occur. One or two of these signs can be passed off,
but when we get in the realm of 3 to 4, it is certain to be a
dull night.
#1. There is no line-up:
A party ain't a party if there ain't nobody. Party of one,
playing it solo, not most people's idea of a fun time. If there
isn't a line-up going in, chances are this could be deader than
a Christmas tree in February. Just think, have you ever had to
wait in line for those yummy, cheap, healthy McDonald burgers?
#2. There is a plethora of parking:
Ever had difficulty finding parking at a library? I think my
point is clear. Along the same line as #1, if there is an empty
parking lot or street in front of your party venue, chances are,
there is no one there! Not to mention, if everyone is going
there by public transportation, they're probably planning to
leave by midnight. Ask yourselves, are these the crazy party-people
you want to be having fun with? Careful, don't want to
overintoxicate yourself on that ... Cranberry juice.
#3. Anything with the words 'non-profit,' 'charity,' or anything
to do with religion:
These are all horrible, horrible, horrible places to look for fun.
Why? All these events have their ulterior motives, whether it be
for converting you to Jesus or to saving the whales. They don't
have to entertain you the same way a club will if you pay your
cover charge. Make sure it is a for-profit organization that is
committed to your fun and enjoyment. Well, technically, they just
want your money, but if words gets around that they suck, no-one
goes and they get none of your money.
You get the idea, I'll stop rambling about this now.
#4. Everyone there is of a single gender:
Unless your specifically at a specific-gender kind of party and
swing that way, you'd probably get bad vibes as soon as you walk
in. If you don't swing that way, let's just say targets of
opportunity will probably be non-existent. Plus, other people
might get the wrong idea and then you might become the focus of
some unwanted attention. Imagine that, people are actually paying
attention to you now and the only thing you can think of is
getting away! Oh, the irony.
#5. Your parents recognize the music:
Okay, unless you are a toddler on your hands and knees, your
parents are probably fairly old and have begun to slow down in
the party department. Which inevitably brings up the next
embarrassing question, why are you going to a part with your
parents? Right, every single one of your friends was just 'busy'
that Friday night. No problem. I hear you, I know lots of people
that have that problem. I think.
#6 You're taking notes:
Your biggest indication your not about to have fun is if you're
taking this seriously. Nothing really matters more than who else
is there, so bring some friends, crash it, and make it your party.
If this actually helps you in some way, all the more power to you.
Just remember that quoting it probably won't make you any friends,
so play safe and don't do anything that most normal people wouldn't
do, when they're sober, and if you feel insulted, don't worry,
I'm not targeting you, I'm just targeting those weird socially
isolated type of people!
And if you still feel insulted, refer to the not taking this
seriously comment.
-Ganemanoimu
----------------------------------------------------------------
Rants from the Summit - by Ganemanoimu RftS
----------------------------------------------------------------
Realms has a very unique form of governing in comparison to the
real world. Because of the free nature of the game, and the fact
that everyone is essentially a volunteer, there are a few quirks
to how things are done. Essentially it is self-governance without
any true accountability or responsibility to anyone.
Now this itself is a structural issue that has no real answer, so
this isn't the subject of my tirade. In fact, if people act
responsibly, this problem never really becomes a problem. However,
it is people who choose to abuse their powers in the form of
favoritism which really become a problem and a huge headache.
Even the smaller organizations within the game are self-governed
and retain a great deal of autonomy. For example, there is a Guild
overseer and other Immortals who assist the guilds in their
operations, but they would almost never step in to stop a leader's
actions in his/her respective Guild. If a Guild leader chose to give
himself all the donation/storage eq and outcast everyone but his
friends, it would essentially be his right to do so, and the
Guildees would not be able to do very much about it if the other
leaders supported him. It would obviously be a stupid move, but it
illustrates my point. It is difficult and troublesome to actually
remove people from their positions of power, and the only true
form of protest people can take is to leave the organization.
Usually it takes some large numbers of people before leaders and
the administrators actually start paying attention.
In the same light, it's easy for people in positions of authority,
whether it be organization leaders or Immortals to say "I'm going
to outcast him because I dislike him, I'm going to induct her
because she's cute, I'm going to make him a leader because I want
him to do what I tell him to do, etc. It's ridiculous how much
this kind of thing goes on and it's incredibly annoying to people
who should legitimately be allowed to have a reasonable quest, or
be allowed to take that position of leadership, or whatever it is.
The only thing that gets worse than knowing you've been screwed
over because of politics or because there was a little sleeping
around, is the ridiculous reasons that are often coughed up. It's
as if they believe that a little cream and sugar to soothe your
bruised ego is all you need, when in fact it really is salt in
the wounds.
Sometimes you just have to read in between the lines. You became
inactive (I stopped logging and didn't see you on). You're
irresponsible and have a bad attitude (You made fun of me and I
didn't like it). Admittedly there are times when things don't
go the way that someone intended and that is also a fact of life.
Trying to cover it up with lies thinner than a No-Name Brand
square of toilet paper doesn't help the issues. Plus, the simple
fact is that if the right thing was done, the only person who
complains is the person who didn't get what he/she wanted. If
the wrong thing was done, or the right thing was done for the
wrong reasons, then be assured that everyone else is complaining,
whether you know it or not.
Needless to say, I'm sure there are some of you out there who
think you're safely insulated in your lies, and fake justification
to make yourselves feel better.. "Of course he isn't talking about
me, I don't do anything like that".. You can continue to act that
way, but sooner or later, people will begin to notice and they will
begin to care.
There is an old Chinese saying that says 'You can't cover the sky
with one hand.' which simply means, a lie, no matter how small,
will eventually come out into the open. Take heed.
-Ganemanoimu
----------------------------------------------------------------
Story Submissions Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------
Alric - A Story by 0.Jander
---------------------------------------
Alric sat in the Grim Smile. Sighing, he ordered another bottle
of beer and continued his quest for incapacitation.
It had been weeks since the young half-orc thief had last been out
adventuring, but there hadn't been any rumours of profitable jobs
or quests. Besides, the rest of his band had been wiped out on his
last job; To find out what was going on in the small town of
Bartok Grove. It had sounded easy, but who knew there would be a
savage man-Dragon secretly hidden in the town? Even so, his band
should have been able to easily defeat the creature...
Unfortunately, they had been completely taken by surprise and were
not ready for a battle of that magnitude.
His good friend Denimue, a half-elven mage who he had been partners
with from the very beginning, had sacrificed himself in a final,
destructive spell, destroying the man-Dragon, but also killing
himself. The spell had saved Alric's life, but he had lost his
oldest friend.
Checking his purse, Alric found he only had a few hundred gold
left, barely enough to last him the rest of the week. Nursing
his bottle of beer, he sulked in the corner of the bar, falling
deeper and deeper into a dark, depressed state. Introspective,
he didn't notice the finely dressed noble who had entered the bar
until the dandy plopped down across from him. Alric looked up,
dismissed the young man who had entered as no threat, and snarled.
"Waddya want? Thish is my table! Find somewhere else to sit
yourself, or I'll FIND you somewhere else to be."
The young noble looked at Alric appraisingly and sneered. "It
WAS your table, my good man. Now, you can share it with me, or
you can take yourself out of the sight of your betters. Man,
you're so drunk you probably couldn't stand up straight, let
alone make ME, Alistair D'Emrose, do anything I don't want to do."
Enraged, Alric stood up, revealing his full height of nearly 7
feet. "My better, are you? I'll show you who's better!"
Drawing an evil looking black dagger with the telltale crimson
stains of enchantment, Alric attacked the suddenly horrified
young noble with a spinning kick. Alric caught the young noble
with a stunning hit to the chest, knocking him down. Running
forward, Alric stabbed deeply into the young fool's thigh,
severing an artery. Striking again immediately, Alric's dagger
bit into the noble's neck, the enchanted blade glowing as it cut
through a traveller's cloak and flesh.
The other patrons of the inn backed away, horrified, as the young
noble bled to death on the ground. Nobody, not even the usually
observant Ulren, noticed the hooded stranger slipping out back
entrance into the Sleeping Dragon Inn.
Suddenly coming to his senses, Alric looked down in horror at what
he had just done. He had slaughtered an innocent man, a noble no
less, simply because he had been told to move to another table!
Not even his drunken state could account for an act of such
violence.
He heard the pounding feet of the city guard arriving. Although
he could and had killed guards before, he wasn't willing to risk
fighting more than one at a time, especially while drunk and with
no healing potions. It was time to leave town.
Alric fled up the stairs into the Cracked Cask Casino, stopping
only to wipe the blood off his dagger on the inside of his cloak
and returning his weapon to concealment.
Mingling with the patrons, Alric deftly lifted a few purses as he
waited for the guards to arrive.
Looking around, he found what he sought, another young man about
his size with the same color hair. When the guards arrived, Alric
deftly grabbed the young man and knocked him unconscious with a
sharp blow to the back of his head. Removing his blood-stained
cloak and wrapping it around his patsy, Alric shoved the young
man out a window and yelled, "That feller just stole my purse
and jumped out that window!"
The guards rushed to the window, seeing a young man in a blood-
stained cloak rolling down the roof. Deciding they had found the
murderer they sought, the guards rushed downstairs to head the
criminal off.
Alric slipped away in the confusion, and left the Grim Smile. He
had evaded the guards for now, but it was obviously time to leave
town until the heat died down.
Alric nonchalantly walked west down Horizon Road, and dashed south
down Falcon Road as soon as he turned the corner. Taking a right
onto Market Street, Alric entered Zelah's Potion shop at a more
sedate pace. As he entered, he checked the purses he had stolen,
some of them flush with gambling winnings. Tallying up, he had
collected almost 500,000 gold. Pouring all of his money into one
larger purse, he walked up to Zelah and thumped the bag on the
counter.
Zelah hummed as she finished the touches on another batch of
purple-hued potions. Leaving them to boil, she turned to her
customer. "Well, young man, what are you looking for?" Alric
quickly glanced at the price listings, and made his decision.
He needed as much healing power as he could carry, as he
wouldn't be able to come back for quite some time.
"I need 100 of your highest quality Violet potions, ma'am, and
fast." Zelah frowned. "Why are you in such a rush?" Alric shook
his head and grinned slyly. "No rush, I just want to get home to my
girlfriend as soon as possible." Zelah chuckled, and began putting
potions in bags. Alric took the bags and emptied them into an
extradimensional storage portal his friend Denimue had created
for him, thanking his now dead friend again as he did so.
Alric left the shop, and headed all the way east down Market
Street, across town to Hawk Street. Going north, he nodded at a
glaring guard and left through Darkpass, the Eastern Gate to New
Darkhaven.
After tipping the Guard outside the gates, ensuring that he had
been noticed leaving town to the East, Alric carefully snuck North.
Following the town walls, Alric went north into the Shadow Grove.
Moving through the trees softly, leaving as few tracks as he could,
he made his way to the woods just north of Darkhaven and onto the
Northern Trade Route. Following the route North, Alric spent days
traveling alongside the road, just out of sight of travellers on
the road itself.
Eventually making his way to the Barren Peaks of Tahjliera, Alric
left the road. Finally, after weeks of arduous travel, Alric
arrived at Mount Krozloy, his hometown and the stronghold of the
half-Orcs.
Finally, Alric arrived at the gates to the fortress. Immediately,
he was challenged by a pair of gate guards.
"Halt! Who go there? What you want?"
Alric mentally sneered at the rustic, stupid sounding accents of
the guards. Having gone to New Darkhaven and trained at the Tower
of Knowledge, and adventured for a few years, he was much more
sophisticated compared to those Orcs who rarely left Krozloy.
"I am Alric, of Clan Darkbane! As a half-Orc, I claim sanctuary!"
The guards grunted. "Have any proof?" Alric fumed. "You DARE
question me? A Darkbane? Hmph." As he spoke, Alric tore off a
piece of his cloak and spat into it. Using the slightly damp
rag, he rubbed the disguise he had put on just in case off his
cheeks, revealing the Darkbane Clan Tattoo. The guards uncrossed
their weapons, opening the way into the town and bowed in respect.
"Enter, Alric of Clan Darkbane."
Alric quickly traversed the familiar caves and tunnels of Mount
Krozloy until he found the home of Netta, the town Healer.
Entering in, Alric kneeled on the ground and paid homage to Netta.
Smiling, Netta helped the young adventurer up.
"What is it, young one? Why do you seek Netta?" Alric quickly
explained the events of several weeks past. "Wise one, how could
I have acted the way I did? We half-Orcs are a violent race, but
even so, I would not have done so normally." Netta nodded slowly.
"Tell me, were you aware of any strange... sensations during the
course of events?" Alric shook his head. "I'm not sure... I was
just suddenly filled with overwhelming anger and bloodlust." Netta
nodded. "It sounds to me, boy, like you were the victim of a
spell of mind control. Some unscrupulous being must have cast
some sort of spell of charming on you and used you to kill the
young noble." Shaking her head, Netta suddenly stood. "As a
Darkbane, no, as a half-Orc, it is your solemn duty to track down
the one who used you thus and destroy them. Go, young one! It has
been weeks, and still more will have passed by the time you return
to New Darkhaven. Go back and seek out those who had grudges
against this young Lord D'Emrose, and find the one who used you...
Find and crush them."
Alric bowed. "I will, wise one, but if I was charmed once, I may
be charmed again... Do you have any means of aiding me?"
Netta nodded slowly as she pondered the question. "Very well,
young one. I am capable of summoning a minor Demon. If you can
defeat it in mortal combat, it will be bound to you and will serve
you, warding you from magic and aiding you in combat. I warn you,
it will be dangerous and it may end your quest now. Would you
like to try? You must decide now, it can only be done on the night
of the New moon, tomorrow night, and you do not have another month
to waste."
Alric immediately agreed. "I am Alric, of Clan Darkbane! I fear
nothing!" Netta released a long cackle. "Nothing, you say? Then a
fool you be, young one! Fear is a necessary part of survival...
If you fear nothing, you will die young. So be it, come to me at
midnight tomorrow, and we shall see what you are capable of!"
The next night, Alric returned to Netta's cave. She lead him out
of the town into the wilderness, where a circle had been drawn in
the dirt.
Netta lit a bonfire within the circle, and tossed a handful of
herbs onto it, creating a cloud of smoke. Chanting and dancing,
Netta recited a spell that had been passed down for generations
of healers. As she danced and worked her magic, the smoke flowed
and warped, becoming denser and forming the shape of a Demon,
resembling a Minotaur with wings. As the spell proceeded, Netta
danced and chanted faster and faster, louder and louder, until
finally it reached its climax. With a bright flash of light,
Netta collapsed in a dead faint.
The smoke took form, revealing a massive 9 foot tall winged
Minotaur with taloned hands and red hued skin.
As the beast bellowed out its challenge, Alric circled around
behind it and leaped forward, sinking his enchanted black dagger
deep into the Demon's back. The demon screamed in pain, and
turned to swipe at Alric. Quickly drawing his blade out, Alric
jumped back, barely dodging the Demon's massive taloned hands.
Moving in close, Alric plunged his blade into the Demon's torso
twice in quick succession. Screaming in pain, the Demon brought
his hands in, smashing Alric squarely on the back and seizing
him in a bear hug. Alric dropped his dagger with the shock, and
found himself being lifted off the ground and crushed. As the
Demon squeezed, Alric could hear and feel his ribs bending,
cracking, and finally breaking under the stress. Almost out of
breath, he stabbed down at the Demon's eyes with his bare hands
in a last ditch attack.
Poking his fingers into the Demon's eyes, Alric gouged at them,
causing the Demon to bellow in pain and release Alric. Falling
to the ground, Alric pulled several glowing Violet hued potions
from his extradimensional portal and drank them down, healing
much of the damage he had suffered. Scooping his blade up from
the ground, Alric rushed in on the temporarily blinded Demon
and stabbed it in the gut. The Demon screamed again, and smashed
down in a double-handed blow.
Alric pulled his dagger from the Demon's body and dropped down
to the ground, barely evading the overhand smash that would have
crushed his skull like an egg. Crawling under the Demon between
the massive hooved legs, inspiration struck. Alric slashed the
back of the Demon's legs behind the knees, neatly severing
muscles and tendons. As the Demon collapsed on legs that no longer
supported him, Alric jumped on the Demon from behind, straddling
its massive back, and repeatedly drove his dagger into the Demon's
face and throat, releasing huge gouts of black blood. The Demon
thrashed about, occasionally hitting Alric, but Alric refused to
release his hold and stabbed away until the Demon fell to the
ground and stopped moving.
Exhausted, covered in black demon blood, and sorely wounded, Alric
slowly stood up. Staggering away from the circle, Alric drank
down half a dozen more of his precious healing potions. Somewhat
refreshed, Alric cleaned his trusty dagger off in the grass, and
sheathed it. Somewhat steadier, Alric walked back to the circle
and waited for Netta to wake up. Exhausted, he blinked his eyes
for just a moment, to clear some of the sweat out of them.
"Hrm?!" Alric leapt up, drew his dagger, and almost stabbed Netta
through the heart before realizing. He had fallen asleep, dead on
his feet with exhaustion, and it was now morning. "Don't touch
me when I'm sleeping, old one. You'll regret it if I'm not able
to stop someday." Netta cackled, and shook her head. "You'll do,
young one. Frankly, I'm amazed you were able to defeat the Demon.
Nobody has succeeded in the past five generations!"
Stunned, Alric dropped to the ground. "What?! You set me to try
to kill a Demon that no warrior has defeated in more than a
century? Are you mad, old woman?" Netta tsked and shook her
head. "Treat your elders with more respect, young one, mighty
killer or not! And, I seem to recall that it was YOU who declared
you could do it! Now, onto the business of reviving it and binding
it to you. Now, don't worry, this will hurt, but you won't suffer
any damage... Any permanent damage, anyway."
Cackling, the old wise woman began.
Netta redrew the circle around the fire and the dead Demon.
Chanting again, this time much more sedate and matronly, Netta
walked around the circle three times. Pulling Alric close, she
drew his dagger and slashed his palm with it. Allowing a few
drops of fresh blood to flow onto the dead Demon's corpse, she
used the same dagger to make a cut on the corpse's forehead.
Pressing the cuts together, she stabbed the dagger down through
Alric's hand into the Demon's brain. A bright crimson light shone
forth from the dagger, eveloping both Alric and the Demon.
Screaming with pain from the wound in his hand and the blinding
radience, Alric jerked his hand away, and watched as his enchanted
dagger crumbled into a powder, which began magically flowing to
all the numerous wounds on the Demon's body, excepting the mark
on the Demon's forehead. As the powder entered the wounds, they
sealed and glowed a bright red, before fading away as if they had
never been.
As more and more of the wounds sealed, Alric noticed the Demon's
corpse shrinking and changing shape, until after a few moments all
that remained was an evil looking black dagger identical to
Alric's destroyed weapon, save for the lack of the crimson taint
that indicated enchantment. Netta picked up the dagger, and
pressed it into Alric's wounded hand. Instantly, Alric's wound
began to glow and sealed. If it were not for the memory of the
pain, he had no evidence that his hand had ever been hurt in the
first place.
Netta grinned evilly. "That, my boy, is now a magical weapon!
I have sealed the demon within. You, and only you may wield it
from now on. If you die, the weapon will explode, killing all
those in the vincinity, including the one who must have killed
you. Also, you will be able to use it to heal any wounds you
cause with it, and it will also deflect enchantments and curses,
alert you to their casting and inform you of the caster. It will
bite through any non-magical armors with ease, and the blade is
poisonous. Beware, however, it will not help defend you against
direct magical attacks, only enchantments and curses!"
Alric slowly nodded. "Thank you, old one, for your help. Does the
blade have a name?" Netta smiled. "A smart one, you are. Yes, it
does. It bears the name of the Demon bound to it. Call it
Sullandir! Now, go, and destroy your foe!"
So ends the first chapter of the story of Alric.
---------------------------------------
Several people helped me greatly in the writing of this story.
First, thanks to my fellow Guildies in GoV for just general support
and being there. Great thanks to Ogerajin for answering a lot of
questions about Half-Orc Hometown and customs, and for allowing
me to use his Clan name for Alric.
If you would like me to continue the story, please mudmail me
or e-mail me at nhojuil@hotmail.com with your comments. If nobody
writes, I'll assume nobody liked it and I'll just stop it here.
0.Jander
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