We've recently had the earthquakes that shook Britannia all over, displaying openings in the earth not known before that day. It was assumed these quakes were the work of the Zog Cabal, attempting to use an ancient spell of (long since dead) Mondain the Wizard to destroy Brittania, or at least damage it enough to enact their own rule. This level of speculation is what we can typically find on the streets of Virtuous cities today. It is not completely known what is happening, and the public is left to ponder, fear, and hope for the best.

There is one picture of the puzzle that doesn't quite fit. Of what use were Mondain's body parts if all the Zog needed to do was to cast a spell to cause a great earthquake?? The investigator at the scene of the mountain slides indicated that all known (standard) reagents were used in the creation of this spell, as there was residue from each. However, there's been no mention of the use of Mondain's body parts themselves as magical reagents, channeling sources, or what have you. Of what use were these to the Zog Cabal?? Certainly they did not mean to glean the ancient spell of Armageddon directly off of the dead and ancient brain itself, and what kind of magic would even be used for such?

I believe the answer may be something even more sinister... even more foul, of a nature unimaginable by the most devlish horrors that have yet walked Britannia. Now, a caution to my readers that this is mere speculation at this point... so first I will simply provide my evidence for making this assumption, and then make the assumption plain and hope that perhaps I've struck on something valid.

Lets us consider, for instance, these instances of the letter "-W" that are left on notes at scenes of crimes against prominent citizens across the land. Many have speculated that these are evidence that Sage Winslow has a hand in what is going on, and is signing only his final initial as to identify himself to those doing the dirty work of the evil one. Indeed, it was the Zog Cabal's first boast that they had already infiltrated our society far enough to accomplish whatever vile deed they were plotting. It would easily figure that Sage Winslow is working for the Zog Cabal, and was part of the plot against Lord Crawworth.

However....

We've all, since the beginning of this plot, noticed an unseen hand... an influence that seemed to stretch far beyond just the Zog Cabal, for the Zog Cabal controlled nothing of the Lich Twins, Lathiari or Kyrnia, neither did they seem to have direct control over the evil Lord Jou'Nar. Seemingly all three of these groups operated independently from each other, yet at times, their net effect seemed to have a definite focus, a "goal" if you will. While the ends of all that was done by these evildoers were never explicit, and not revealed to the visions of any of our most famous Sages, it has been generally thought that some entity attempts to gain control of the world... most obviously, by force.

We've forgotten to look for evidence of this person or being, and gotten ourselves caught up in examining the individual parts, and forgetting the hollistic perspective that one can always gain by taking in the big picture.

It was with no small amount of pleasure that I attended the now past West Coast Player luncheon. After such, I managed to walk up and shake hands, and talk with DD personally for about 5-10 minutes. Mostly I had just come up with (what I thought to be) an interesting idea to include player-written midi's within the abilities of bards. That broke the ice and we discussed a number of things after that, with me finally identifying myself to him towards the end. At this point in the conversation.... in perhaps what will be called the Irvine Faux Pas.... DD immediately requested of me an answer to this question(these are his exact words)..."Have you figured out who 'M' is yet??"

Now... I attempted to gloss over his question and change the subject. Do we honestly believe that Designer Dragon meant to say the letter "M" ???? Wouldn't it have made more sense for him to say the letter "-W" ????

Now, at this point, a good portion of you are probably going... "So what?? Why on earth did you make us read all of this for that!!"

Well, there was one other possible tie-in with "-W" besides Winslow there was Mondain the WIZARD. Please take note of the Wizards first name... and you'll see why I think we've got a rather interesting plot leak... particularly interesting as it came in person. :)

So, can we safely assume that the "-W" is actually Mondain, the Wizard, back from the dead, resurrected by Zog Cabal and attempting to pick up where he left off??? Or, have I gone off the deep end!?!

More evidence pointing towards Mondain's resurrection...

Recall the lich Twins Lathiari and Kyrnia. Their childhood quest was to save their mother. They in fact did "save" her eventually by imparting the sum total of their research into resurrecting their mother from the dead. One of their pet projects was the enchantment of a pendant, a magical item that would allow the wearer eternal life as it would heal all wounds inflicted on the wearer (with infinite charges) and even resurrect the wearer from the dead. This was done not by negating death on a ghostly figure, but by restoring life to one's partially decayed body, an altogether different, and certainly more vile method of returning life. I would urge anyone who has doubts about the revivification of Mondain's body parts to read their bio's on the left. It would seem to me that Lathiari and Kyrnia's research would be the perfect starting block for the task of reviving Mondain's remaining pieces.

The Exact quote from their Bio's is the following:
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In particular, they were trying to find a way of infusing an amulet with energies that would magically protect the wearer from physical harm. If minor injuries were suffered, the amulet would detect the disruption of natural processes in the body and route a small portion of its magical energy to heal the break in the flow of life force. If the subject was hit with massive damage and killed, the amulet would (in theory) fully discharge its stored energy and revive the fallen subject.

Lord Jou'Nar slew three peaceful monks at the Shrine of Spirituality for a "Glowing Item" which was described as pendant/necklace by an eyewitness.

Again, a quote:
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Juo’nar’s true intent appears to have been the theft of an item of some importance. The item in question is a necklace, though none can say exactly what it’s significance is, or why Juo’nar was bent on retrieving it for himself.

In acquiring the necklace, Juo’nar was forced to kill three of the highest prefects of an order of peaceful monks, who were meditating near the shrine of Spirituality. The necklace was taken from the ground a few feet from where the monks were found dead,...

It would make a lot of sense then, to figure that perhaps the twins were being influenced to finish their research and aid in the resurrection of Mondain the Wizard. And, that this necklace is perhaps his plan for REMAINING alive this time!! Of course, this is all speculation, based on circumstantial evidence. Take it for what you will. However, even with the problems with the theory I'm inclined to believe that indeed Mondain IS alive, undead, or "revived".

I've had another "-W" sighting. This one was taken inside the CITY LIMITS of Vesper. Apparently, there was some sort of meeting spot underneath the Vesper tanners that none of us knew about. There were several items left on this counter underneath the Vesper Tanners. Each had a description when you clicked on it, and I believe each one of them to contain some kind of clue as to what this group is doing. I do not believe that this group meeting under the orders of "-W" is the Zog Cabal, however, it may be so. "-W" seems to be the invisible hand at work, and forces that high up in darkness tend to leave their intruments of death clueless as to what they are and what they really want. A nice gentleman by the name of Chance Fireloom from Pacific tipped me off about this one....

Each object on the table had an interesting phrase for a description. The red opened book was called "The Failure of Pundits: History Repeats Itself". The top book of the two opened books together was titled:"The Inconsistent Constructs of Time" The bottom was called "Typical Spell Methodology" Not huge developments in themselves. But the possible meanings of the titles do point to objectives of the Zog Cabal over the past few weeks.Here you can see what else was on the table, as well as an extremely interesting clue left on a scrap of parchment in a box on the floor.

Naxus, Thank you for all your e-mails. This one in particular was most helpful. ...

..Mondain's body parts were apparently used in the ritual, which would lead us to believe that the Followers had at least attempted to resurrect him.

Second, if you remember, there was a corpse found amongst the rubble holding a torn piece of paper. On this paper were the words "Corp Bet Mani". I looked up the meanings of these words of power, and found the following:
Corp: Death
Bet: Small
Mani: Life or healing
I'm not sure exactly how the 'Bet' fits in, but these words seem [more] like they would figure into a spell dealing with resurrection than Armageddon.

Does anyone know what the power words for Armageddon were supposed to be? I've not been able to find that information on any Ultima site. Thanks in advance!