January 2001

The Knights of Takhisis are hosting their second tournament on Saturday, the 10th of February at 11 EST. We've adjusted the time to accommodate our west coast participants, being that Baja is a west coast shard. The rules are as follow's:

1. No pets, stables horses before you even come to the tower.
2. All potions are allowed, except for explosion.
3. DP is allowed, since mages can cast poison, warriors may poison their

Weapons.
4. No magical weapons, armor, jewelry, shields, or clothing of any kind,

This includes wands.
5. Any unorganized fighting will result in a ban from the tower and future events.

The tournament will be held at the Tower of Takhisis. Gates will be sent from Moonglow, if you bring a rune we can mark it for you. The tournament is organized into 3 events. First, the warrior vs warrior event, where each fighter will have 1 on 1 elimination battles until only 1 remains. Our warrior champion will be rewarded a full GM suit of verite armor w/ heater shield. The second event is the mage vs mage series of battles. Each mage will contend in a 1 on 1 battle until only 1 remains. The winner will be rewarded a full colored suit of GM leather armor w/sandals. The third event pits our two victors against one another in a finale bout of mage vs warrior. The winner of the final event is rewarded with 50,000 gold and 750 faction silver. To enter the tournament you must pay a bid of 3,000 gold to either Ariakan or Lady Lexie of the KoT. Hope to see you all there.

Lord Ariakan, Dragon Emperor and Keeper of the Tower

Hail Friends, Travelers, and Shoppers!

I'm sure a lot of you have been to the CV mall, or heard of it. Well if you have been to our old location you may have noticed that we have moved. Well fear not friends, we are open for business at our new location one castle east of the old location.

Yes!!! Finally a place to get all those GM crafted items that you need, those semi and rare items, reagents, potions, scrolls, spell books, and also tons of magic weapons and armor. So come on over this February the 2nd (Friday) at 9pm PST for our Open House, there will be GM crafters on hand to make repairs and take special order, as well as free furniture dying! Plus if you have Leather you want dyed a special Color then we are the place to be!!! As well as a Special Dye Tub too.

We will also have a Carpenter on hand with logs and boards to craft a free dyeable item. One item per person while the wood lasts. If you want more then the one free item, please bring your own wood.

There will be people to provide gates from most of the various banks of the land.

For those brave souls that wish to travel overland to the CV Mall our coordinates are 77o25N, 103o59E. The largest landmark is the Crossroads Guard and Healer station just West of the Mall.

We hope to see you all there and look forward to serving you're in game needs.

Palinor
Lord of Honesty
Companions of Virtue

• A look at in-game spell casting
• The ultimate stealth nerf in The House of Clue Corner
• The Missing RPG Link
• An Ultima Online crossword puzzle
• A new installment in the Bard's Log
• and more!

Set in the world of Istaria, Horizons allows you to select from the widest range of characters and races to date. From elves to dryads, angels to dragons, Horizons provides over 15 unique races for players to play from. In addition, Horizons will be one of the first MMORPGs in which the concept of religion will play a central role. Players can opt to align with good, evil, or neutral deities, with corresponding flaws and benefits.

Horizons Stratics includes:

• A full screenshot gallery
• Hall of Istaria and DevBoard forums
• Game Lore
• Game Races
• Interviews
• And more

Be sure to visit Horizons Stratics today to see why Horizons is one of the most exciting fantasy MMORPGs in development right now.

1.) Tell us a little about this project, and how it got started? Why Ultima 1 and not one of the more popular titles like Ultima 4, 6, or 7?

Before starting the project Kasper (Telemachos) and I were dreaming of creating an RPG and had often been talking about all the neat features OUR RPG should include. We were toying with the idea of giving Ultima 1 yet another facelift. Later we decided to make a 100% remake. When we started the project we really wanted to limit the size of it to increase the chances of ever getting it done. Freeware titles have a really weird tendency not to reach the final milestone. Even though we wanted to keep the project small, we still wanted to create an Ultima game. Ultima 1 is simpler than it's successors and that was certainly one of the criteria for choosing it. Another is that Ultima 1 is one of the first RPGs ever to be made and yet it contains a lot of the elements of a modern RPG. In my mind Ultima 1 marks the birth of the RPG-genre, as we know it today. It is situated in a large world; it has character building, quests and items. It's all very simple of course, but it is there.

Ertil Turain, Master of the Ceremony was quite nervous. He had to organize one of the greatest Ceremonies he had ever seen and still there was so much to do. He first inspected the road for the Parade and ordered it to be decorated with lanterns and lined with wheat sheaves. At the same time he planned to decorate the Throne room befitting so important a Ceremony. New banners and braziers were ordered to the Britain merchants.

Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta Status

Orders for 20,000 CDs are still coming up for the Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta Test! We experienced some technical difficulties and heavy load when opening the first group this morning, but have been optimizing the site to help alleviate the issues during groups two and three. The next opportunity to order a beta CD will open at 3:00PM CST. Stop by http://www.uo3d.com/beta for details and to order your CD!

Never been to a UO House of Commons before? Basically it is a developer chat, where the gamers and the designers sit down. Players get to ask the game's developers their questions via a live moderator. The designers then answer the question in the chat. It's a tried and true format for finding out what is in store for your favorite Massively Multiplayer games.

To join the chat, connect to one of the following Stratics IRC servers, and type /join #uohoc. Or, use our Stratics Java IRC Client.

• irc.stratics.com
• compu.stratics.com
• dhp.stratics.com
• frws.stratics.com
• intworks.stratics.com

Also speaking at the conference was the eloquent Raph Koster (Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies) on the topic of the space in which the story is told. The two ends of the spectrum are impositional space, where the game designer basically imposes their story, characters or desired behaviours on the player, and expressive space, where the designer provides the tools for the players to express themselves. In both cases, the developers still provide the setting through the artwork, however, who controls the stories are very different. Koster doesn't "think one is better than the other. I'm just glad I created the space," and doesn't "care who the hell wrote" the stories, be it the designer or player.

This just in from Kain! The Minax faction, under the leadership of Dengar, is reporting that they have claimed all towns. Shadowlord and Council of Mages members have been assaulting their stronghold in an attempt to retake some of the sigils. More on this situation as it develops.

Praise Minax (which is begining to take on an unintended meaning in the age of factions)

KoA Golden Knights #56

DATE: Friday, Feb 2, 2001 @ 8 PM CST

TIME: Registration takes place from 7:30 - 8:00 PM CST. The
event begins @ 8:10 PM CST.

WHERE: The event takes place in the Alliance Village. The
coordinates are 136*24'S 27*12'E

( target="_blank">http://www.allianceknights.com/village.html)

ENTRY FEE: 600gp per person

1st place: 10,000 gp to the winner

DESCRIPTION: This tournament will be a 2v2 mages and
warriors of any combinations. (due to popular demand)

RULES:

• No magic items, no magic weapons, no magic armor. If
  anything is seen on you saying "a magic
  ..." you may be disqualified.


• No pets or mounts are allowed.


• Hiding IS NOT allowed. The Invisibility spell is NOT
  ALLOWED.


• No Barding, No taming


• No summoning spells of any kind.


• Pre-casting and Pre-drinking is allowed.


• Poisoned weapons ARE allowed. The Poison spell is
  allowed.


• All potions are allowed


• No looting of any kind!


• Any attempt to exploit the event or the rules to win
  will result in immediate disqualification.


• No paralyzing.


• Time limit of 9 minutes will be imposed on individual
  matches except for the final round. The decision of
  the GK judges will be final in declaring winners of
  matches that go the full 9 minutes, based on several
  factors - including the damage dealt or received,
  variations in offense or defense, death of one team
  member etc.

Reminders to Spectators:

• No faction fighting in the village during the Golden
  Knights event.


• Please do not equip bows around the ring. Spells or
  potions may hit you that will cause you to attack
  back.


• Please try to stable or feed your mount prior to the
  event. Wild mounts are a problem.


• No casting, sparring, or fighting right around the
  ring. If you wish to do this go to another location
  in the village.


• No spectators in the arena after the event begins.


• The Golden Knights event is a seer sponsored event
  for Lake Superior. Grief players may be removed and/or
  jailed, banned, etc. The consequences for severe
  disruption are solely the decision of the
  representatives for Origin Systems.


• Have a great time! Cheering for your friends is
  encouraged

In accordance with the laws of the lands of the City-State of Dracona, I hereby extend diplomatic immunity to one Boromir of the Royal Knights of Redemption, and to the members and allies thereof. Any attempt to forcibly execute any writ of warrant or arrest within the boundaries of the City-State of Dracona will be met with criminal charges being filed against the transgressors of the Laws of Dracona.

Should any wish to challenge the granted immunity, then affairs and evidences should be produced to the City-State of Dracona at the Tower of Nexchronosis. If quantified evidence is presented, a trial may be conducted immediately within Dracona to challenge the diplomatic immunity and for proceeded extradition to Britain Proper.

Dor'eg-l'nar vi'ert o'nerin fa'.

~ NEMESIS ENFORCER ~
~ Protector of Dracona ~
~ Leader of the Cult of the Azure Dragons ~

Cult of the Azure Dragons
Nemesis
CAD/C^D/S^S

Another group of mysterious folk has emerged in fair Sosaria. I received this missive but a short time ago. I found it most interesting and think, perhaps, many of you will, also. Read on.

Greetings. I am Mystic, Second Guardian of the Dungeon Despise. I have written to tell my story:

I was found by some nomadic monks a few days after I was born. Nobody could find my real parents, nor could they feel their love for me inside my energy waves. The head monk at the time felt a strong energy within me, and so he named me "The Mystic Savior of Forgotten Time."

I was called Mystic for short. I learned many things about the world from the monks, including how to use a sword and tame the wild beasts around us. On my thirteenth birthday, I was in a trance. Almost certain that I had been mind controlled, the monks used their powers to release what was inside me. It was a messenger from above, who had said to them, "Teach him the magiks that time had forgot, for he will lead the people into destiny. There will be many others to help him along the way. Take care of him well......"

After that day, I endured long days of magic training, and endured the hardships of being beaten down many times by the monks' powerful magiks. At eighteen, it was time to start my journey. I had joined a few warring guilds, hoping to raise my skills and become a hero. I never became that hero, more than the only survivor of a lost cause. In the Battle of Destin's Hill, I was the only one left, with a healer too far away to resurrect my comrades. I resigned at that spot, and walked away, never to return. The memories still haunt me......

I was on my way through the swamps east of Britain, when a stranger approached me. He said he was looking for people to work for him. Interested in a job, I signed up as a healer/fighter for the dungeons. My first assignment was in Destard, which I hated dearly. I transferred to Despise, where I stayed for 3 months. I really loved the people there, as I respected them as much as they did so to me. But, the day came when I finally got transferred to the worst of the worst: Khaldun, Dungeon of Horrors. I went to stay for a few days, but then threatened to quit because of how little the number of people went there (most of them dying within 5 minutes of entering). After about 3 weeks, I was transferred back to Despise, where I have resided since.

Those that work in the Dungeons are the Guardians. We heal you, raise you from the dead, recover your possessions for you, and save you when you need it. I am not the only one, nor am I the best. There are others out there, and I am writing this letter to say that we have arrived, and we have come to save this world from those that try to destroy it. So says Mystic, Savior of Time Forgotten, Second Guardian of Dungeon Despise, and friend to all who keep the world at peace....

Until next we meet, safe journeys to you, one and all.
Cyn

Friday Night Event at Grimoire Arena.
1 vs. 1, sponsored by: Mianoumi
Friday, February 2, 2000 @ (9 PM PST, 10 PM MST, 11 PM Central, Midnight EST)
NO ENTRY FEE, LIMITED TO THE FIRST 20 PLAYERS WHO SHOW UP. 1st place 20K gps, 2nd place 10K gps, 3rd place 5K gps.

Here are the rules:

• No charged magic items, clothing, or jewelry. No magic armor and weapons allowed.
  
• No pre-poisoned weapons. They may be poisoned during the battle.
  
• No use of summoning spells, offensive field spells, blade spirits, energy vortex, recall nor gate.
  
• No Stealing is allowed during battle.
  
• The only pre-casting allowed (casting done before the match countdown) is Magic Trap, Reactive Armor, and Magic Reflection.

Disclaimers:

• All contestants are subject to snooping by Grimoire Staff to ensure everyone is participating fairly.
  
• The Event Coordinator's decision on all matches is final and will not be disputed during the event.
  
• Anyone who disrupts the flow of the event for any reason will be banned until after the event.
  
• In the event that a contestant loses connection during the event, the Event Coordinator will make a decision as to the possibility of a rematch. That decision stands and may not be disputed. Any disputes will be handled after the event.
  
• A connection loss during combat events where the roof is sealed off, will result in an automatic forfeit.
  
• The Event Coordinator reserves the right to adjust these rules at any time without notice.

To avoid confusion, registration will start at 8:00 PM PST, and end at 9:00 PM PST. No late entries. Tournament will start at 9:10 PM PST.

We must have a minimum of 4 teams to start this event!

This event takes place in the Grande Grimoire Battle Arena. Once you have entered the Grande Grimoire Battle Arena, all Contestants are bound by the Rules of the Battle Arena. Failure to follow these rules may result in your death or banishment from the Arena. http://www.battlevortex.com/grimoire/tourney_rules_overall.shtml

Contestants and Spectators must observe and obey all the Village Laws. Failure to do so can end in your death or banishment from the village. http://www.battlevortex.com/grimoire/grimoire_rules.shtml

For calendar of events, rules, maps and community message board, please visit: http://www.battlevortex.com/grimoire/index.shtml

-Fiona Pentell

Hail,
In light of the glorious new aspects of the Moongate Travel system, I've decided to throw a party!!

This party is kind of cynical in nature, and is formally dubbed :
The "BURN YOUR FREGGIN MOONSTONE" Party.

Come join us in the entrance of Covetous Dungeon on Trammel on Friday at 7pm PST. Gates will be provided from Britain, and Moonglow 15 minutes prior as well. We will be entering the first level of the dungeon and using the natural fires there to BURN
those lame moonstones, and probably squash lots of Harpies in the process. (Might do a dungeon crawl later if we have a party interested.)

So, if you were like me, and absolutly despised those damnable stones, bring all your pesky moonstones, and lets bid them a "good-riddance" farewell, as well as party, get drunk, all the typical fun stuff. Hope to see you there,

-Maduin of the Pacific Mage Tower, PMT.

The burning blood of betrayal, the eternal pact forged upon the fiery and intoxicating poisonous consumption of deceit. The same evil serpent, the two-faced teller of lies. The benevolent yet belligerent entity known all to well by one. His first victim.

‘Twas not long ago the pact was forged upon the insecurities of a woman. Ailieve, Lady of Wispwood Shire, protector of wisps, and messenger of fate; Corrupted. Her reality froze as time became her enemy. Her people were dying. Legions of Undead spilled forth from the cold grasps of death, clans of orcs plundered her streets, and an unknown evil constantly seized at her very heart and soul. General Relias, the maggot-ridden corpse and the harbinger of the same decaying stench that had corrupted the sweet smell of the forest, delivered death night after night, demanding the surrendering of the Lady in servitude to his unseen master. How long could Ailieve escape his icy-cold grasp of death? Time dwindled. She needed answers. And so was how fate delivered the collector of souls, the answer to her questions, at the price of her purity…

Ailieve screamed in pain as the dark, dank, and fiery blood offered to her as tribute to the Guardian invaded her every vein. Her head throbbed, her mind wrenched, her body twisted. Little by little, she could feel the fire within her growing and expanding to every part of her body. The voices, the ironic insanity of a reassuring voice haunting her thoughts as she attempted frivolous battle against her daemonic interjection. She had drunken from the bloodied, burning wrist of Na-Krul. A curse set upon herself for her own private betrayal of her pact with the charismatic and eloquent daemon she had grown to trust. She kept from him secrets, deadly secrets. The secret of "his" name. Na-Krul, who was the same parasitic daemon who fed off the corrupting of his victims, had long sought the mythical Daemon of Yew. He wished his knowledge, his companionship; the sharing of ambitions in a world so dreadfully wrought with ignorance and child-like innocence. Ailieve could help him, but she didn’t. She delivered him HeRog, but that was not enough. Constantly, she summoned him, knowing his true name, to do battle with the harbingers of doom and destruction. He did so, but for a price. A price she didn’t pay. How cruel the fates were to her, she had only set out to help those she loved and now she laid bound to a daemon. What he felt, she felt. Such was her curse, but such, was his as well…

A decree to the Shire of Wispwood

Blasphemous heretics. Your blatant disrespect and forceful tactics against me I find insulting and impromptu. Do to the intervention of your lowly pests, I have made decree that upon each evening, a wisp of your shire shall be sacrificed to the voice of reassurance. Ailieve feels what I feel, she cannot hide from me forever. She hears the voice. I wish her no harm. Surrender her, and harm me, nor her, no more.

Na-Krul

A new web site for the council of mages on chesapeake has been created. We need all interested parties to contribute to ideas as to what is needed. Please post your suggestions on the message board when you visit.

CoM Webpage

*Disclaimer - The person who sent this in did not leave a character name so I wanted to make it clear that this site is NOT a part of UOSS.

Last night as the villagers congregated at the benches in front of the University of Virtue to share stories of their days events, they fell under attack. The pirates of Redwater and their co-horts picked the Village of Virtue as a target for their plundering. First with one ship and later with a second, they led the charge with barage after barage of cannon fire and arrow showers. The villagers stood their ground defending the village the best they could, using the pause between attacks to heal and ressurect the dead. The battle lasted several hours with the pirates gaining the upper hand in the end.

The new threat I talk of came towards the end of the battle. A wisp floated and bobbed into the fray and seemed interested in the events of the evening, the comment was made that perhaps the wisp was a spy for the pirates. Taking a chance as I ususally do, being fond of wisps, I tried to talk to the wisp and to my amazement it spoke back. I got excited, and ran to wake my ward as she knows a bit of wispish while others in the village kept talking to the wisp. Things took a turn when the wisp's speach turned more urgent, like it was trying to tell us something, and when asked how our little group could help the wisp spoke out in english!

Thats when the chase began, through the west Trinsic jungle after the wisp trying to understand what it was trying to tell us. The wisp used frightening words form our language such as: Rip Apart! Help?, Run, Tasty, Disembowel Thee, Yum Yum, Dumb Tasty! and Smash.


Does this mean the wisps are in trouble, that someone or something is hurting them; or that they wish to do us harm? Many questions flooded our group as the wisp repeated these words several times over. The wisp was followed for almost an hour in an attempt to learn what it wanted or if it needed help in some way. Is this a new threat to our lands or a wisp with a sense of humour? This reporter will keep an eye out and continue to seek the answers to these and other questions.

Your humble servant,
Raeven Aurora

I have been pleased with the response to the “investigative report” on factions, and Cyn and I have been busy discussing ways we can better cover this exciting element of daily life on our shard. We have been discussing the idea of having a weekly box score that might include the name of each current faction leader, how many cities the faction controls at the end of the week, and maybe some other statistics. What do you factioneers think of this idea?

When I researched the faction system, I was, alas, unable to interview members of the Shadowlords (SL) or the True Britannians (TB). Fortunately, I have received a pair of letters that, hopefully, will fill in the views of these two factions on the entire war.

First, I was very pleased to receive a pigeon from Britain, written by Rhoads:

“The state of the TB faction is very sad indeed. It seems that many of the TB members are novice, unskilled and unwilling to listen to good advice. These are warriors who reside in Trammel and rarely come to Felluca to help us take power. Because of these weak ones, there is no room on our faction stone for others who will stand up and fight by our sides.

“I would like to plead with these Trammelite TBs to resign from the faction so that we can start winning this war. Why, we even have members of other factions who have seen that our cause is truly righteous and are coming to fight along our sides. We are hoping that this information will pick up the morale of the faction.

“As far as the other factions go, Minax is quite strong; in the fact that they are, perhaps, the most disciplined in their battle tactics. The Shadowlords only seem to be successful while cowering in the back of their stronghold. Council of Mages could be very successful but they lack leadership; I hear many tales of dissention in their ranks.

“With that I shall say that I Rhoads along with Snorri Nosebiter, Spock, Brian Trazok, Zealot Vaz, Gul Dukat, Bose, Karnak, Weigraf, and Armageddon will continue to stand together, yet alone, for the True Britannians as we usually do, with the occasional help of a curious Trammelite TB member, and pray that our reinforcements will soon come.”

Success breeds contempt. I say this because no faction controls more towns at the moment than the Shadowlords. Based in the woods in Yew, with what is generally considered to be the safest stronghold, the Shadowlords were the target of much derision from the other factions. I received this defiant statement from BlackDragon Lord:

“I the former commander of the Shadowlords faction. When factions first started, it was a murderers’ delight. Finally, after many, many months, murderous records were dismissed and killers were once again free to roam the land as blues. Despite being the faction that is supposed to represent evil, Shadowlords has the most honorable of member. While the other factions do their best to suggest that our stronghold is the root of our success, the truth is that our troops are the deadliest.

“Though we have no desire to slaughter innocents, Minax and TB and CoM alike bring blue non-faction members to our base to attack our honorable red members. What choice do we have but to defend ourselves against these aggressive blues, going red in the process? Only through this ignoble strategy do they ever accomplish anything against us. Their lack of honor, dignity, and courage leads them to do ignore any code of ethics.

“Truly, it is ironic that, though we represent evil, our members are the most noble!

“I realize that this note may have an arrogant air of anger about it. Too often Shadowlords spend many hours guarding sigils only to be infiltrated by blues looking to drop any one who makes the slightest mistake. However, we own the majority of towns. So, until the other factions usurp our authority, I guess I should relax a little and enjoy running with the big dogs instead of worrying about losing the occasional battle.”

Praise Minax!

Join the Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta Test

We are pleased to announce the opening of the Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta Testing period. Come join us in testing the brand new look and feel of this latest version of Ultima Online.

We will be opening the Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD Ordering site at 6:00 AM CST on Wednesday, January 31st. CD ordering will be available in three groups of 10,000 CDs. CDs will be available for the price of shipping and handling, and you must have an active Ultima Online account in good standing to complete your order.

Details and schedule information may be found at http://www.uo3d.com/beta.

Please remember, this is a closed beta period with a limit of 30,000 CDs. Additional opportunities to beta test this game will be available in the future.

We received this announcement from Videric of the Cove Trade Caravan:

Trade Caravan of Cove will be having good old fashioned tavern night in Sea Serpent's Tooth Tavern at Trammel Cove. We shall have knife throwing competion and fun with telling stories and drinking ale. Join us to tell a tale or just to have drink and good time!
We will beging at 20.00 (CET) on Thursday the 1st of February.

You can find exact location at: http://cove.lemming.org/

Videric Gaveston and Reynard Gaveston

Another event in Ravenmoor. Thank ye Tyrghen fer sending us this invitation:

All mages from all levels are welcome in Ravenmoor on Wednesday at 8:00 PM GMT.

The only requirements are 200 gp, the Create Food Spell and some Reagents. Then come at the Drunken Guard Tavern in Ravenmoor to take part in our
little event.

We hope to see many of you !
There will be a prize for the winner of course.
The Rules are very simple and can be found on the site of Ravenmoor.

Good luck to all!
Tyrghen [UT] of Ravenmoor.

We received this announcement from the new Town of Aqileia:

Hail fellow Carfters of Britannia, Grandmasters and Beginners.......

The small village of "Aqileia" (Trammel) is hosting the first Britannian "Crafters Fair and Exhibition", where the finest Crafters of all skills can show their wares and sell them. The date is to be Sunday, 4th of February.

The Fair is split in a non-public part and a public part. The non public part is to exchange ideas, information, tips and tricks to the other masters of Crafting who show their wares. In the non-public part, wares might be sold to visitors and questions should be asked. The fair intends to be more than a usual market, newbies are welcome to be helped with their problems, trades and exchanges might result in the fair, contacts should be established.

Who can exhibit their wares on the Fair ?
Yes, there are restrictions. Only Player-run-Towns and guilds described as "Crafting guilds" or "Merchant guilds" may show and sell their wares, the guild/town must also have a homepage. If you want to show your wares, you must contact the Village and register.

Who can visit the Fair ?
The public Fair is open for everyone. We welcome Buyers, Traders and newbies who just seek information as well.

How to find the Village ?

Check out our Homepage, with more information about the Fair and the Location: http://numenor4.tripod.com/

E-Mail: [email protected]

Sincerely Yours, The Senate of Villa Aqileia

Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD Ordering Website

Thank you for your interest in ordering the Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD. This webpage will act as your gateway to the ordering process - once the Third Dawn Beta CD's are available for order, a link will appear at the bottom of this page leading to the actual order form.

To allow UO customers from around the world an opportunity to order beta CD's at a convenient local time, we will be allowing orders for the CD's based on the three groups in the following schedule:

Group 1
9:00 PM Korea 1/31/01
6:00 AM Austin 1/31/01 (CENTRAL TIME ZONE)
12:00 PM (noon) London 1/31/01

Group 2
6:00 AM Korea 2/1/01
3:00 PM Austin 1/31/01
9:00 PM London 1/31/01

Group 3
12:00 PM (noon) Korea 2/1/01
9:00 PM Austin 1/31/01
3:00 AM London 2/1/01

Each group will be limited to 10,000 Beta CD orders. Should 10,000 CDs not be ordered during a group phase, they will remain available until sold out. However, if you attempt to order a CD and that group of CDs have sold out, you should return to the website at the next scheduled release time.

To order an Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD, you must have an active Ultima Online account in good standing. The CD's are available for the price of shipping and handling in US dollars: $4.95 domestic (US & Puerto Rico), and $6.95 international. Once you have completed your order, you may expect delivery in up to 7 days on domestic orders (up to 21 days international). You will need to provide a Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or AMEX card to complete the ordering process.

Before ordering an Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD, please remember that this game requires 715 megabytes of hard drive space and an 8 MB 3D graphics accelerator or better.

Remember, this is a closed Beta opportunity with a limit of 30,000 CDs. There will be additional opportunities in the future.

I just talked to Calandryll about veteran rewards. We are not going to be able to have veteran rewards going again until in/after some time in March. We know this is a long delay and that players are anxious for the rewards. However some additional problems have come up with them and we want to be sure to properly address those problems. Also because of the additional workloads of system critical items, Third Dawn, and some other things, we feel the best course of action to take is to get these items done and tackle veteran rewards when we can do it properly. It means a little more in the delay, but this is the best course of action to take. Needless to say it is a priority of ours, but a priority that we want to get done right (just as with Third Dawn and the other items in the works). As I hear more, I will let you know.

Melantus
Online Community Coordinator
Ultima Online
[email protected]

But all of those will have to wait, as I'm going to devote today's ramblings to my third and final (for now) editorial on online-only RPGs. As I mentioned in the first two editorials devoted to this topic, while the genre was really kick-started by Ultima Online, there were earlier online-only RPGs, such as the original AOL version of Neverwinter Nights, Meridian 59, Lyra's Underlight and Sierra's the Realm, (in addition to literally dozens of text-only Multi-user Dungeons or Domains "MUDS"). Of those earlier titles, only Underlight has continued as a fully supported product, although the Realm was relaunched last year, as I discussed in an October 12th editorial. But the fact that the sub-genre is currently so dominated by EverQuest and Ultima Online (with the critically acclaimed Asheron's Call a distant third contributor) really highlights the fact that the online-only RPG genre is still in its infancy.

As some may remember, Ronkar, a Viking of great renown, has undertaken a great quest. Some few days ago, he set out on a personal journey and I have vowed to follow his progress.

Ronkar has proven himself a most articulate man, with a burning desire for knowledge. Thus, alone with naught but his own formidable resolve, he ventures forth, in search of...Truth. And today, I have received by pigeon, the account of his first day. Read on, pilgrims.

Day I

I left Skara Brae today to start my journey and of course I intended not to find much. I heard a rumor of some type of ‘building’ being created for the clones and decided to search for that today. I came across a monster or two as I merrily strolled down the road, thinking of where I should search next.

I stopped about mid afternoon to have a bit to eat and I caught a rabbit and skinned it of its furs. First I ate the rabbit, then used its furs to patch up a spot in my fur boots, laced it up, then continued on. Around the time of the sun set I came across a small clearing and through a few trees saw a shrine. Even though I do not believe in these shrines I decided to go there and rest my feet for a while. It was the shrine of Compassion.

Afterwards I got up and started to wander southeast, passing one of the immense guard tower structures that Lord British has placed throughout the land. To the south of this tower lies an immense field. What I saw before my eyes terrified myself greatly. A huge swarm of clones wandering through this field, carrying huge blocks of stone towards a central structure being built. The building rivals many of the largest structures in Britannia. Atop this building lies a flagstone, and even from my distant vantage point, I could make out the words on it to read: "Temple of the Stranger"

I tried to approach the tower, and am greeted in passing by several Clones, who continue onward, absorbed by their work. As I reached the front of the structure, I stop cold as you read the sign: "Leave. Now." Of course I did not leave, I wanted to see better what was going on.

I looked all around me, at the mindless ‘slaves’ of the First and Second Born, for it seems they are the only ones with half a brain if that. I finally came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to find out anything hear trying to communicate with these ‘clones.’ Even as I looked around for someone guiding the ‘clones’ as they work, there was no one at all. This amazed me; can these mindless clones really be working on something so important, so molecular in design, which they build where they think its necessary? Maybe these ‘clones’ aren't as ‘mindless’ as I though.

When I started to walk away, I looked back one more time. I also decided that I would not spend the night anywhere near this structure. So I camped about 2 miles away.

Cyn

Hear ye, hear ye.... The wedding of Ronin and Elizabeth is here by scheduled for Sunday, February 4th at 11:00pm EST. The happy couple cordially invite all citizens of Britannia to this blessed event. Please make it known through out the land and schedule you’re evening to be at Nujelm Palace. Gates to the Palace will be provided by members of The Morning Star guild (MS) at Skara Brae bank up to 30 minutes before the event begins. A reception is to be held immediately after the wedding at the same location, where food and beverage will be provided.

Gub’ug was the first I met, and as soon as I caught sight of him he was charging at me full-speed screaming, “TRIIIBUUUTE!”. I thought for a while, maddening this impatient orc. My life, or these three nightshade I had gathered on my adventure? Sadly, I parted with my nightshade.

This creature intrigued me; I had seen a few like this one before at the graveyard, raiding I guess. I had some questions to ask, and he said he had some time to waste before he killed me and wanted to be entertained.

First, I wanted to know what he thought of humans and why his race hated them. “Dem stinki agh beri dumb!” Then he sniffed my leg and made an awful face. I guess orcs just want to kill humans because we are dumb, but at least we speak in full English…well most of us…well O.K. only a few of us actually speak in full English with grammar and… back on topic!

If he thought we were stinky, I just had to know what his favorite foods were. When I asked him what his preference was, something happened I did not expect. I saw before me a green pudgy face almost tighten up to the point of stretching the skin, a large toothy grin and a big pink tongue ooze where teeth had once been. He looked as if he had entered the happy orc hunting ground. “KUUKIES! Agh Cidur!”, Gub’ug spurted out. I guess he really likes cookies--I had seen orcs eating horses before and wanted to know if Gub’ug fancied them. He said they were good, “Bud me lob kuukies tu!”.

I wanted to know what has made Gub’ug mad, really mad. Orcs do not ride horses, only ostards. If those are easy for a murdering orc to get then I have a bridge in Vesper I’d like to sell you. They run about mostly on foot, chasing down humans riding horses. They kill and eat the horses to try and even the odds, placing everyone on their feet. When ethereal mounts came the orcs made a law never to use them, the majoka too powerful. Their main enemies, humans, have a much larger amount of these mounts. “BAH me nub kin clomp dem! Agh dem skar gub!” What will these poor orcs eat? If cookies are the answer, I’m sure Gub’ug will be happy.

By now there were other orcs standing about and looking at me, and I could sense hostility. I tried to lighten it up by asking how much the orcs could bench press. They almost all snorted in unison. “Urks suu mucj strunger dem oomies!”, Gub’ug said, which sounds like a challenge to me. I asked them if it was, and they got really excited.

“Yub, me da hab ash. Oomies am awl pansees agh dem neb tu kum twi agh clomp uz, bud urks gruk dat dey nebbur wull!”

I will try my best to translate.

“Yes, me the (I have no clue). Humans are all pansies and them never come here [our fort] to kill us. But orcs think that they never will.”

This is a challenge! Orcs are calling humans to fight them. Are
you a fighter tired of killing ‘stupid orcs’? Bored with killing liches and bone knights? Come south of Yew and respond to this challenge. Organize some lynch mobs. They want a fight. Together as a race, humans should give them their fight. Let’s beat them back to the Pre-Patch days!

Do you consider yourself a famous player in the european community ? Apply for a celebrity interview, and let EA Europe know why you should be picked :

Want to tell us about your fame?
Explain to us the history, the truth, the money? We give good prizes for fame stories, as well as giving you another 15 minutes right here. Whether you're a local celebrity or famous for saving the world many times over, we want to know about it.
Contact [email protected] and tell us about your fame, either as a UO player, or completely unrelated !

"Wood Gathering Contest"

This contest will begin Saturday, February 10th around noon (9 am PST). All contestants must come to the Tas guild house and sign up before 3 pm EST (noon PST). There will be gates available to the Tas guild house from Brit Bank East & Moonglow Bank.

Although you have to get yourselves to Felucca we will supply Tram stones to get you home if need be.

Rules:

• Contestants can have one helper*gating or whatever*
  
• Contestants can gather wood anywhere he so deems fit as long as the wood gets to Tas guild house by 9PM EST (6 pm PST).
  
• Contestants must be present to collect the Prizes or it rolls over to the 2nd place contestant to recieve the 1st prize.
  
• It is up to the contestant and his or her helper to watch the time limit for precisely 9PM EST the contest is over. No favors please its not fair to the others that abided by the rules.
  

We can supply helpers if one doesnt have any...

All prizes will only be handed over to the contestant unless requested by the contestant otherwise...certain exceptions will be honored.

If contestant prefers cash instead of items on prize list then please tell us when Prize is awarded so that we can issue you a check in that full amount.

All wood gathered becomes property of Tas no exceptions to this rule.

Prizes:

• 1st Prize:
  A mountain work shop inside the city of Tas...decorated by Saucey Wench with Smith addons...plus 10k gold bank check. (total of 75K for 1st prize)
  
• 2nd prize:
  40k Goldbank check and a valentines card (total value 55k for 2nd prize)
  
• 3rd prize:
  25k Gold bank check
  
• 4th prize:
  A rose! (total value 19k for 4th prize)
  
  We are hoping for a great turnout! Anyone wishing to help with this contest please contact me, Saucey Wench, via icq #44381438 or my sister Spicey Wench via icq #99436996. We greatly appreciate any help we can get on this contest.

Hail fellow citizens,

First off, the Dark Warden's would like to thank all the citizens that came out to join us in Last Night's Faire. It was a rousing success!!! Many people came and enjoyed drinks and food. and many more won prizes and saw amazing spectacles, There were booths for vendors and tamers selling All sorts of mounts and services at discounted prices. A Gambling booth, and a fortune teller for everyones amusement.

The contests featured a mighty show of mastery over the bow by many of our patrons, and a show of speed in our horse races, as well as a show of intellect and cunning in our Scavenger Hunt and Puzzle games. All in all many prizes were won and food and gold exchanged hands.

Winners of the archery contest included: Pat Mcgroin, Buddy, Dove, HardKore, SlindBlade

Scavenger Hunt Winners: Pekkle, Strider, and Nightmare were among the many winnners.

The Faires Puzzle Contest Winners are: 1st: Badola Blazo (25k gold), 2nd: Kryos (15k gold), 3rd: Cortez (10k gold).

The Horse Race winners included: Beo Van Bur, Vinras, Nightmare

Beast Wars: The highlight of the night though, was the suprising turn out for our "Beast Wars", a series of fierce bouts as tamers from all over their lands brought forth their fiercest dragons and nightmares to face off in a battle to the death!! And for the crowds amusement, bets were made on each bout much money was won and lost as spectators cheered for thier respective fighters...Match Highlights included A Last minute comeback in a Dragon vs. Dragon Match, A Fierce Wyrm vs Dragon Match, A Handicap Match 2 Dragons vs one White Wyrm, and the Main Event, a Nightmare vs Nightmare Match.

While it was a sight to see, some question the value of pitting such majestic creatures against one another to the death, but folks it was all for the sake of entertainment. And overall the Faire was a success!!! We hope to bring you more fun and enjoyment in the future.

We like to wish our thanks to the DoV, UTB, tDw, and the FaireGrounds Keepers for their support and contributions for making this night a memorable one!

We'd like to hear your opinions and comments. Please feel free to visit us or write to us here:

HomePage: http://www.tinyonline.com.hk/~gromit/uo/tdw

Msg Board: [email protected]

Event Pics: http://www.geocities.com/drkdragon25/tDw.html

Partly a treasure hunt, partly a culture quizz, this event allowed seven players to try and gather seven pieces of clothing across Britannia. Each piece was held by a different organizer the participants would first try to find in a famous part of the city they were sent to, and who would give a quest, be it shaving a sheep, visiting specific places or answering a riddle. For example, Bilbo, the famous thief I had first met in Trinsic during last year's war, asked the following riddle :

Voiceless I Cry,
Wingless I Flutter,
Toothless I Bite,
Mouthless I Mutter...
Who am I ?

1. Slagdale
2. Bel d'Ajoor (where the hell did I see that name before ?)
3. Dravin

Arrianna stood on the roof of the Mage Tower in Dawn. She waited for the rest. Desmond was to be brought to her, and many were relying on her to exorcise that which seemed to be possessing the King. She was nervous, to say the least. She considered herself a simple student of the virtues, not a leader of them. Oh how she wished Arakthor was here! He would know exactly what to do! Instead, it was up to her, and many hours of study she had devoted to understanding and mastering the ritual needed to drive the spirit from Desmond. But one slip, one mistake, and the results could be catastrophous.

Will Avengem entered the arena on the roof. Behind him was Queen Hayloh, who was comforting a distraught and angry Desmond, his wrists and ankles in shackles. A tear formed in Arrianna's eyes to see her King in this manner. But she had herself asked for these precautions. His life and hers were at stake. She wished it wasnt necessary, and would gladly forfeit her life for his, if it were that simple. But it was not.

Behind the King, came Opalescense, Quest Knight of the Virtue Compassion. Followed by Vengence, historian and long time friend of the King. And then Kryn Garamonde, also a Quest knight of the virtue Justice, as well as squire in the Order of the Blue Rose, in the Kingdom of Dawn.

She offered them each a smile as they moved to surround Desmond in a circle. Arrianna directed them to each stand at a specific point. Arrianna herself stood as the one of faith, her back to the north. Opal, one of purity and innocence, her back to the south. To her right was Kryn, one of strength in will and body, his back to the west. And Vengence, one of wisdom and knowledge, his back to the east.

Queen Hayloh and the Prince Riain looked on with others of the Kingdom, and friends, as Will Avengem took up a guard position to make sure none interrupted the ritual. Arrianna raised her voice to proceed, hoping to gain confidence from the strength of her musical voice.

She began the weaving of the spell, by reciting the meaning of the virtues, their place in this world, and more still, their place in King Desmond. Desmond shrieked with rage, calling to those watching to aid him, proclaiming that Arrianna was the one possessed. Possessed by Na-Krul. But she wavered not. The spells power infused King Desmonds body with raw energy derived of the virtues themselves. Culminated from the principles of Love, Truth and Courage. The spirit waned and struggled to free itself from the pure virtuous magics. But it lay trapped within Desmond with only one escape...the bracelet from wence it came.

*Arrianna continued, as Vengence added his words, recalling the counts of Desmonds life. Of his wife and dear child. Of the kingdom that loves him dearly. Desmond, the true Desmond began to stir from within. The spirit was enraged and cornered. It was then, that Arrianna directed Opal to make contact with Desmond. The touch of skin allowing the spirit a new host to flee too. And so it did, but too late did it realize its mistake. For Opal was one of purity. her body, mind and soul, uncorrupt, and worse for the spirit, uncorruptable. There was naught to control within. A body of pure goodness. The spirit was enraged further. Opal was stunned, as she tried to block out the whispers of evil intent the spirit threw desperately at her. But it would avail him not at all. For the spirit was dying, and Opal was too pure.

Again, Arrianna directed, Kryn this time, to make contact with Opal. Once more allowing the spirit an escape. This time to a body that was not pure, so it was inviting to the spirit, and thus was taken. Once inside, Arrianna entered Kyrns mind, telling him how to harness the strength of his mind and the power of her words, to separate from the spirit, that which was Desmond.

Putting the evil in one orb of blackness, the good into one of pure bluish light. One belonged to the spirit of the demon, the other, was a part of Desmond that must be returned. For if a part of Desmond were to die, so to would part of the land.

Kyrn bellowed in anguish, the task at hand was testing the boundaries of his physical and mental strength. Many watched silently, others prayed for him to outlast. The Queen and Prince watched in horror and hope, as Arrianna continued. As both orbs of dark and light were beginning to wane. As a candle flickers in strong light, Arrianna held forth the bracelet, as she slipped it from Desmonds wrist. The spirit fled to the one place it was safe from the magics Arrianna and the rest had conjured to vanquish it. Into the bracelet. She then took Kryn's hand in hers, accepting the light into her, that she could bless it, and mold it back into shape and form that Desmonds weakened body could accept. She then moved to Desmond, taking his hands in hers, staggering under the taxing spell, she transferred the light into Desmond.

A hush reigned at this moment, and all eyes were on Desmond. Had they been successful? Did the spell work? Or were they wrong all along?

Desmond finally broke the silence, asking where he was. His memory of all that had transpired since Na-Kruls resurrection was a void of nothingness. Vengence replied that he was in Dawn, among friends. Asking the King who was his wife, Desmond replied to his old friend, "Hayloh, of course!"

A sigh of relief erupted from the crowd of concerned citizens and friends, as they took this as a positive sign. Arrianna collapsed back into a chair, exhausted from the spell, smiling softly as her King was returned. Rejoicing and celebration went long into the night at the Acropolis, and peace reigned once more in the Kingdom.

The Imperial Alliance will host A Grand Ball, Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Imperial Alliance Palace (92o 59'N 23o 7'W--northeast of Yew, Trammel), starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

There will be waiters that will serve food and drink.
There will be live entertainment.
Bring a date as there will be door prizes handed out.
Any fighting during the ball will mean immediate expulsion from the tower.
All are invited to this formal event.
Gates will be provided from Britain 15 minutes prior to the start of the Ball.

Thank you
EagleClaw
Imperial Alliance

• Events This Week - This Thursday, join us in #uohoc at 7pm CST for our Ultima Online House of Commons. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, USC will be hosting the Entertainment in the Interactive Age seminar, featuring many big names from the gaming industry. Stratics Central will be there to cover the events.
• Stratics Central - Check out the logs for Saturday's Dev Debates on permanent death in MMOGs. And stop by Stratics Central this week, as the editorial staff visits the USC Entertainment in the Interactive Age seminar, bringing back full coverage.
• Stage 1 Stratics - Stay tuned for the opening of our latest Stage 1 site, Horizons Stratics, coming to you this week.
• Anarchy Online Stratics - It's a big week for AOS! Stop in as Funcom announces Beta Phase 3, and the staff works hard to bring you an all-new Anarchy Online Stratics.
• Asheron's Call Stratics - Visit our new or improved quest guides for: Dansha-Ki's Portal Recall Gem, The Dereth Exploration Society Letters, and the Infamous Shadow Armor.
• Atriarch Stratics - As always, Serafina and World Fusion have been very active in #atriarch. Lately, lots of new information has been coming out from both these sources, so if you want to get involved and get the latest news right away, come check us out!
• Everquest Stratics - If you're going to the EverQuest Fan Faire this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland - you can meet Greebo, Moonshadow, Daeloan, Thundolfe, Reijas and a lot of other EQSS staff members in person! We'll be looking for you there!
• Neocron Stratics - Dive into the high-tech cyberpunk world of Neocron, one of the most anticipated MMORPGs of the year!
• Neverwinter Stratics - The addition of our IRC Dungeons and Dragons sessions have made for some fun and nail biting adventures! To find out more about these sessions and how you can take part, join us in #neverwinter.
• Origin Stratics - We are proud to announce our 6th Exclusive Screenshot in the Fansite Series. In this latest one we have a male Meer with a greater demon, casting some fire spells. To check out this and many more screenshots make sure to check out our Screenshot Section.
• Shadowbane Stratics - Shadowbane Stratics: Wolfpack has been very active on the Shared Forums this week! Visit Shadowbane Stratics to find out what's being discussed and leaked.
• Ultima Online Stratics - With great pleasure we present a set of movies that shows a selection of the different type of gestures one can make in the new UO: Third Dawn Client.

Should you be the victim of this scam then please visit the McAfee website where you can find detailed information about this trojan and more importantly info on how you can remove it from your system. We advise everyone to have a proper virus scanner active at all times, and of course never accept files from people you do not know or do not trust.

Let's be careful out there!

"Well, isn't this a fine day for a fishing trip. The sun is out, the water is calm, there is a fine northerly wind blowing. This is a great day for sailing." Said Barnitz.

"Oh, sure. Lets go sailing. Last time we went fishing, that kraken baby ate my lunch." I said.

"Well, you had to feed him."

"How was I to know his mother was right behind him."

"Yeah, and his daddy, his dog, all his brothers and sisters, and his grandpa ImaGonnaKillYouNewBie. So we going fishing or not?"

Just then, Dorris, the bad maid I escorted home last night called to me.

"Kame, where's my breakfast!!!"

"Lets rock."

So we gathered up a few of our belongings, some bait, and our fishing poles and headed for the high sea. As luck would have it, we were blown off course to a deserted island north of Occlo.

"This is a good a spot as any. Lets fish" I said.

Casting out rods into the water, time and time again, we pulled up a plethora of fishes to fry up and eat, some of the obligatory shoes, and even a piece of parchment paper now and again.

After numerous fishes, and after more than our fair share of ale, we managed to get ourselves into our normal spat of trouble.

"Help!!!!" Barnitz shouted. "Something gots my line. Its really really heavy."

Jumping to his aid, we pulled and strained. After several minutes of fighting with this.... thing, we pulled the biggest fish you can imagine, out of the water.

"By British's Bones!! Look at the size of that thing." I said.

"That has got to be the biggest thing we've ever pulled out of the water."

"Well, there was the time we pulled that..."

"Yeah but that was....."

As we argued, the stench of this new found bohemeth of a fish was wafting over the oceans. Little did we realize then, but our friends from battles past, namely the evil spirits which possessed drinking water and transformed it into a monstrosity of nature, had a great insatiable appetitie for this new found fish.

Before we knew what had hit us, a swarm of hungry water elementals engulfed the ship. In our inebriated state, we could do nothing but surrender our prize and make a hastily retreat across the ocean.

Upon returning home, we received news that the evil sorcerer Aasin had been seen recently in the Occlo area and was drawing forth these evil creatures to bring hell upon the citizens of Occlo. Luckily for us, we returned safely, and lived to tell the tale of the old man and the sea.

Kame Sama of Atlantic

Thank ye Kame Sama.

Blackmores Inoxi, Tavernkeeper at Blackmores' Inn, sent us the following urgent bulletin:

"Yesterday, while having a sip of ale in friendly chat, an Orcish Lord named Gnurl arrived at Blackmores Inn. He did not want cider, no, he wanted to give us a warning. He said we have 5 minutes to run and keep our belongings behind. If not, we would suffer pain at the hands of his army, who would demolish and loot the tavern.

"After calling friends in a hurry and mobilizing some more fighters from Britain and Skara Brae, we encountered a HUGE army of Orcs, Orcish Mages, Orcish Lords and Ettins. These guys were not so tough but in such a large quantity that the brave fighters, mages and archers had some real hard work to do. In the end all the area was covered with orcish blood and corpses. Gnurl was gone with no loot and only one or two murder counts for his whole army !

"I wish to thank you, brave warriors, mages, bards and archers, all of you helped to save my tavern from being destroyed. I am glad to have such friends and I want to honor every single one of you ! All those who couldn´t be there, your thoughts were with us and kept us strong!

"See you at the Tavern!"

Go with the Virtues!

Sorry about the scare, but the site's up and operational so far. Please report any bugs you find immediately! Thanks for your patience!

The principle forum for Catskills, besides the one here on Stratics, is here: http://www.uotc.com/forums/guests/catskills/tavern/

The Atlantic Felucca Goodman's Rune Library is no longer located on Magincia Beach. There is a new location near Vesper's Ironwood Inn. Treasure Map Runes and T2A Runes are already in place at the new location. More runes are being added daily. For Directions to the new location consult the website. That same website has the map finder link that will allow quick and easy access to treasure map rune numbers. The new Goodman's Rune Library is about 15 paces West and 15 paces South from the door of the Ironwood Inn in Vesper. Coordinates are 54o24 N 100o32 E. Have Fun!

Goodman

Note: the battle on Thursday night was a wonderful battle. Well played, well planned, and everyone seemed to have a very good time. I'd like to thank everyone who participated!

The Book of Rahl
Chapter Twenty-Eight: "Hold The Line"

The winter of my thirty-sixth year as CO of the Society found us in the employ of the Yew City Council. This council entered power to screams of protest and accusations of corruption and it only got worse from there. For one reason or another (with nepotism being the one cited) the council didn't want Paul Atreides' militia acting as a guard force, so they came to us. I think it's been proven time and time again that enlisting the aid of a trained army to act as a guard force isn't the brightest of ideas - and I explained that to Selanya and Hump when they made the offer - but we needed the money and they needed some peace and quiet so we took the job.

Yew recoiled from the news like a scalded mongbat.

Thus began the year of hell. We've spent the last 8 months or so getting spit at, cursed at, set up, assaulted, protested against, and generally un-liked by everyone who seems to have an opinion on the situation and many who don't. The Council also ordered that the enemies of Britannia (the orcs, undead, Guardian-worshipers, etc) were no longer to be allowed in the city on pain of death. Oh, they loved that. Raids immediately stepped up, and Yew's been a slaughterhouse ever since.

Still, it's been a very long time since I've had the opportunity to work for agents of the Crown. It's a pleasant...no...righteous...feeling to be on the side of the law of the land once again. I think a lot of the men felt it too, which is why they've been willing to put up with this nightmare as long as they have.

This morning we made a stand.

We had heard there was a fairly large force of Alliance and even some drow massing outside the city for an attack. After scrounging a bit we managed to build up quite a force, including a large militia of Rangers, Free Corps, and Keepers of Justice. And then we waited.

Knowing the shitstorm's coming and having to wait nearly a day for it is nerve-wracking. Through the night we sat there in rank and file, eating in shifts, watching the path in front of the winery - which would become our kill-zone - and the darkness of the woods beyond. Shadowspawn led his horse idly back and forth across the ranks of the cavalry all night inspecting arms and armor. The militias behind us went in waves - organized in ranks one minute, nearly gone the next - such is the way of militias I suppose. It was just after daybreak when the runner came barreling out of the woods towards us screaming "Incoming!" at the top of his lungs.

"HOLD THE LINE!" I shouted, which was echoed through the ranks by the officers and Sergeants. As one, dozens of soldiers and armed civilians tensed. Within seconds what seemed like all of hell's army crashed out of the woods and hit our lines with a crash of shields and arms and bodies that threatened to deafen. Pride is watching your brothers and sisters form a line of flesh and steel and never falter when death comes knockin'. The line held. The men stood their ground and took whatever came at them. The amassed militia did exactly what militia should do: charge hurly-burly into the flanks of the enemy and keep them from concentrating on a single point. (Note to self: have a runner send my regards and thanks to the heads of those militia groups on a damned fine job.)

For a few precious seconds the lines of battle never wavered from the kill-zone. Doc, Aragos and myself pumped spell after deadly spell into their ranks in the hopes of giving our men some legroom, yet the line never wavered. They had the numbers, we had the resolve, and both sides were willing to be carved to ribbons to see that they got their way. I noticed a former brother in the ranks of the enemy, ruthlessly assaulting our lines. I took a moment for myself and found a bittersweet satisfaction in burning him to a cinder.

It was about the time that Doc and I blew Heaven Storm out of her garters from across the battlefield that the enemy decided they were sick and tired of the magical support. Perhaps I was too focused on the bigger picture, or perhaps I was too focused on my targets on the line, but I didn't even realize they had broken some skirmishers through until I was hit by a red spray of Doc's blood. A few insignificant spells struck me and then an arrow hit my leg, which was enough for my horse to realize it was time to get the hell out of the way, but it was too late. I'm not entirely sure who got the last word in - not that I really care - but I would like to pay the bastard back for giving me the black shakes for a week. God I hate gettin' killed.

I was shakily removing the last of my personal effects from my cooling corpse - a morbid practice I've had to do far too often in my years - when I think the last of the attacking force finally left the area. The lines had already broken into skirmishes by the time I had returned from the healers, and the kill zone was a morbid pile of burnt and broken bodies surrounded by robed and shuddering resurrectees. When everyone realized that we had repelled the invaders, there weren't any cries of victory, no shouts or taunts to the fleeing enemy...there was only silence.

The line held. We had a victory, one of scant few since we've taken this contract. But it was one of the more expensive victories I've ever witnessed.

And the coin we used has stained the grasses of the Yew red.

They stood in their ranks. The rain found the crevasses in their armor and seeped through to their clothing, freezing the flesh to the bone. Their joints swelled, pained them to move, pained them to nay move. Still, it did nay compare to the pain in their breasts.

It had been a long journey. Marched for days they did. The wind howled, the clouds boomed above, the sky wept tears they no longer had the energy nor desire to lose. Their sorrow was set in even further, by the mourning of their loses. They did nay carry their bodies. Nor did they honor the fallen. Far too many there were, if you had stopped to tally the corpses.

They did nay sleep the third eve of their journey. The second eve still haunts their very souls, those who still possess one that is. They came without warning, without sound, hidden by the constant storms that had seemingly followed their every step. They did not possess the tactics or training of the Alliance, they only had the elements that the Orcs worship so. Surprise, hate, bloodlust, frenzy, murderous rage, and finally brute strength in numbers. They charged the Alliance ranks numerous times. Non-lethal wounds only infuriating them further. More hate, more anger, more blood. The fear in the air was thicker than day old pea soup. It hung in the air like a soggy tunic, dragging the body to near motionless panic. The mind twisted, while the feet stood firm. Was it not for the discipline of the Senior Officers, the eve would have ended abruptly.

The Raid was launched from behind the procession, quickly overcoming the children, the elderly, and the infirm. Compounding the shouting and lashings of the Officers, was the mad panic of the death cries of loved ones. The horrid sounds from behind sent the men into action.

After long hours of fighting, they were finally about to minimize the casualties. Unfortunately, the toll had been paid. Nay many children survived. The elderly all but decimated, and the infirm were put to rest, albeit not painlessly.

A nearby stream flowed red. The lifeforce of many now polluted nature’s life-giving force. Orcs, Humans, Elves… all became brothers, their final resting place shared amongst them. More than one battle-hardened veteran had been heard saying he had nay been in such a grizzly, heinous battle as this. What’s more, another veteran admitted to having been deathly frightened, something that he hadn’t been in the 150 years since becoming vampire.

Their Lord called for a halt, the brave Alliance stood there. Heads drooped, pride driven, sanity shaken, tear wells dry. No one remembered why they had come. No one knew where they were, why they were, who they were. Only one thought, one thought as a collective. One realization..

They were alone. The calling of the Guardian was nay heard. Though sound in faith, The Guardian holds no power here, Trammel the Young, Trammel the Pure, Trammel the Innocent.

They stood in their ranks. The rain found the crevasses in their armor, and seeped through to their clothing, freezing the flesh to the bone. Their joints swelled, pained them to move, pained them to nay move. Still, it did nay compare to the pain in their breasts.

"Here we stop," called their Lord, too hoarse to continue. As it was, there was no need to. The collective knew what to do …

Begin anew. Re-forge the Alliance. Strengthen the Alliance. Kindle the dwindling faith and hope of someday, bringing the Guardian and his mighty wraith to this pure world, Trammel.

In the end... punish those who forced the suffering. Punish all those who once, and always oppose the Guardian, and remind foe and ally alike of the color crimson, the color of blood.

There was once a time when writers were not to be found and news was not to be read, but that is now changing. Our shard had lost its few writers. Fortunately Siege has found new writers to inform all citizens of interesting events that are affecting your shard. I am one of these people, just newly drafted to help spread the word. Siege has updated news for all to read.

Call me Ishmael, all right… my name isn’t really Ishmael, it’s Sube. Some of you readers out there might know me, or maybe not. Britain is where any adventurer could find me, running about trying to make any amount of coin. Maybe you will see me ridding the local graveyard of player killers, or helping the new players who need a jumpstart.

I could never understand why people always look at me with a wary eye. Just because I liberate what others do not exactly need and give it out to the new players isn’t exactly bad, now is it? Sure, I keep some for myself but the bank vaults now and days are just too small. The pesky bank thieves and the, “attack me I’m gray thieves” give us role playing, have a jolly good time thieves, a bad rap. Just because I am a thief doesn’t mean I am a bad guy. I hear of much that is happening, in my profession it pays to know what is going on around you.

As a reporter of Siege Perilous I will do my best to keep the citizens of our shard up to date with any happenings that could affect you. I look forward to my time as a reporter and hope to entertain you as much as inform you.

-Sube

The citizens of Yew and the Outlanders of TUR Village invite you to the Winter Rose Ball. The ball will be held on February 11th at Sir Barron's Trammel tower in southern Yew at 47o 22N 35o 26W.

Your hosts for the evening are: Lord Whitewolf, Ariel, Sir Barron, Mayor Mythra, Medic, Trynlor, Skye MacLeod and Outy of the TURs.

All are welcome to attend. So, shine your shoes, see your tailor for the finest threads, and make a date for romance.

By the light of the moon, a rare tall candle will be awarded to the best dressed gentleman and the best dressed lady. Those with a flair for dancing may be tempted by the prize of Valentine Red GM Leather. And get ready for sensuous voices of our finest poets! Each participant is limited to two lines of text, and you must contact Lord Whitewolf or Ariel to register.

Hurry though, as only the first 10 people who respond will be accepted. Please contact them at ICQ# 57375224 or 61406480. The dramatic prize for the honored poet will be a dozen roses.

Gates will be provided from the Yew Winery doors beginning at 7:45 CST.

• When: February 11th

• Where: Sir Barron's Trammel Tower in Yew, Coordinates 47o 22N 35o 26W

• Time: 8:00 CST

If you need any information, please contact Lord Whitewolf or Ariel at the numbers listed above.

Gamaliel paced back and forth along the corridors of the guard post. “They’ve got to be getting close”, he said, “The air is thick with their evil.” “Patience Gam”, answered Jon, “They will be here all too soon.” Gam was concerned. Although the scouts told him that the numbers of the enemy were not enough to match their own, he knew that many of his troops were new to combat and unprepared for the mental stress of battle. Also, when one faced the Cult of the Black Dragon and the Bloodrock orcs, they knew that even a group of battle-hardened veterans could be slaughtered with ease. “Jon, we’ve got to prevail”, Gamaliel whispered, “For Lotus’ sake.”

For hours they sat in the cold, damp Guard Post. Along with the citizens and Rangers of Phoenix Rising, friends from the BloodGuard, Brethren of Light, Royal Knights of Redemption and the Order of the Silver Serpent were at the post that day. Even though only a few representatives from each group were present, they had brought with them the hope of victory. Gamaliel felt much pride that these men and women cared enough for Phoenix Rising, that they would lay down their lives to aid them. Now, he just wished they could get this over with. The anticipation of battle was far worse than the moment itself would be.

Without warning, Zechs the scout came rushing in. “They’re here”, was all he could stammer. The men in the treasure room readied themselves, as they saw in the distance the orcish storm approaching. The battle quickly made its way through the outer limits of the city, and into the heart of the compound. Gam could see their first line of defenses decimated without effort. The orcs seemed never-ending, and the hand full of the Black Dragon’s disciples showed the strength that only the darkest evil could bestow upon men. The battle raged as the shadows grew longer and dusk approached, but still the allies held the treasure room. Friend and foe alike fell that day, and the ground of Phoenix Rising was bathed in their blood.

Gamaliel once again paced the hallways. “Too many are dying”, he thought, “I’ve got to do something before it’s too late.”

The sun had set, and the new moon provided no light for the combatants. Slowly the sounds of battle subsided, and an eerie calm fell on the Guard Post. The only sound heard was the occasional laughter and drunken brawling of the orcs. The allies regrouped in the treasure room. As he looked around the room, Gamaliel’s eyes saddened and his face became drawn. He simply didn’t have the heart to tell them that when morning came, he was going to try to provide their enemies with a truce. He had to think of something that would make them leave peacefully, so that he didn’t have to see his friends slaughtered anymore. Only the most weary of them slept that night.

The men were up before sunrise preparing their weapons and armor for battle. At the first glimmer of light over the horizon, they began to realize that something was horribly wrong. As they surveyed the battle field, the only remnants they saw of their enemies were a few smoldering camp fires. The orcs and the Cult of the Black Dragon were gone without a trace.

“What in the abyss is this?”, stammered Dlanor Battleaxe. “I wish I knew”, answered Gamaliel. “I have dark feelings about this.” A voice from the back asked, “You don’t think they made a deal with the Red Wizards, do you?” The room fell silent.

Gam climbed to the roof of the Guard Post, and looked out over the road to Yew. In the distance, he saw a man wearing dark clothes and riding an ostard. The man held up an arm in salute, and with a gesture vanished into thin air. Gam leaned heavily on his war axe, for he knew this had only been the beginning.

This challenge is open to any and all guilds or towns*. Our Rangers and citizens will defend the Guard Post against the first guild or town that accepts the challenge. We also reserve the right to receive aid from our allies should an opposing guild drastically outnumber our forces. (C’mon folks, we want them to be exciting fights. :)

The winner gets control of the Guard Post and has 3 days to answer the challenge of the next guild or town in line. The loser goes back into the rotation and tries again to capture the Guard Post, if they wish to try again. Challenges will be taken in the order they are issued. First come...first served.

The opposing guilds shall only war each other for the duration of the battle and then peace each other. This way there isn't an ongoing war and life can go on as usual. It is also up to the two opposing guilds to set up a time for the battles. The rules for war are posted on our website and will be agreed to beforehand and followed at all times. Breaking any of these “rules of engagement” is grounds for immediate and permanent removal from the activities.

*Factions associated guilds are asked not to issue challenges.

Any questions or comments contact : Aricia DeLong – Event coordinator – 30624507 or Gamaliel Gaiblin - 82202346

Cinnamon sat in the bakery, attempting to bake her last batch of pies and watching the passersby on the street below. She always enjoyed this time of the morning, the cool breeze that came from the water above, and the soft sounds of birds and other forest animals. She had just put her last pie into her stone oven when she took to quite a fright. A loud shriek echoed from the woods across the road. She quickly brushed her sticky hands on her apron and grabbed a butcher knife and headed out the door to see what was the matter. She imagined some vile creature had trapped a traveller, or perhaps one of her fellow town citizens was in need of whatever assistance her and her quick knife could provide. She dashed across the road and into the woods and found the source of the shriek. A small child, who could not have been more than six years of age, she found. The child was kneeling in the dirt with the most odd look in her eyes. She was covered in dirt with bits of leaves entangled in her long dark hair. Streaks of tears were running down her face and the poor child's clothes were torn to pieces. This stopped Cinnamon for only a moment. She regained her senses after viewing this wretch, and ran up to the child and grabbed her by the shoulders and said "Whats the matter child, who has done this to you?". The child only wailed louder at this questioning. Cinnamon realized that perhaps her butcher knife was scaring the poor girl, so she quickly put it away into her apron and asked the child again what had happened to her. The child looked up at her and pointed into the woods. Cinnamon's eyes followed the direction of the pointed finger and gasped. The child was pointing almost directly at the Hedge Maze that bordered the town to the East. "My goodness child, you were not in there were you? Oh my what happened to you in there...." The child still had no tongue to speak words, so Cinnamon simply picked the child up and carried her to the Boarding Cabin to get the girl cleaned up, fed and a bed to rest in. The child did not resist the help Cinnamon offered but still would not speak... Cinnamon spent the remainder of the morning in the small kitchen the Boarding Cabin afforded her to keep a close watch on the child. A deep chill pierced her heart as she could only imagine what was in that maze now and how this child came to be in such a state in her peaceful town of Nidaros....

Again today yet another invasion was set upon Aryslan by the undead. "a liche lord" was seen in town leading a hoard of undead troops. They entered the town center as always with the invasion.

We were able to barely keep them away, as we have yet another victory defending the town. Hwever the liche lord escaped as always. This is a strong liche and we need to find some way to defeat it.

Jamlyn Hakkendyn
CO GM of OsR
Aryslan town elder
Aryslan founder

Just a reminder about Al'Cedras challenge for January:

Al’Cedra’s Challenge - Trammel for Lovers
Bethsainda Ariaachas Jan 18 2001 6:43PM

Well, dear readers, here is one for the books! In honor of her own mate, Al’Cedra has chosen to make the February 1st competition for couples only! It is open to all citizens of Britannia, and it will certainly try your wits, your wiles, and your patience. Al’Cedra will tell the story of her own love and in it will be the path that you need to follow to arrive at the lair. It will be full of twists and turns and puzzles, you may be sure. You must compete as a couple, and consult with each other each step of the way. 

For new readers, the Trammel Dragon appears at the first of every month, and poses riddles to all citizens of Britannia who have proved themselves worthy through prior tests and trials. Any couple can compete this month, but they must register for the competition at the Court in Yew at the appropriate time. At the end of the quest, the couple that wins will be awarded engraved rings that read “Master of the Word and of my Heart” and “Mistress of the Word and of my Heart”. 

The story that Al’Cedra told to me begins: 

“And upon the earth came the winds of fate, and they took me over the land. Many were the dragons, many were the sons of man who had come to seek their dreams. In them I could see, as I reached the city of stone, whose fall was to be twice, that the humans were many, and that they bonded to each other, one to one, and that in their hearts was something special. Yet my heart was empty as the stone of the city…" 

The rest of the story, dear reader, you will have to find out for yourself! Good luck! 

If you would like to take part in Al'Cedra's Challenge, please come to Official Sign Up at the Court in Yew on Sunday, January 28th between the hours of 8:00 and 11:00 GMT. Good luck!

Enjoy!

I've updated the UOTC home page with an update that the downtime is temporary. More details at: http://uotc.com. Thanks!

Ken Masters

01/27/2001 01:20 CST: Sorry for freaking everyone out, but this isn't a permanent downtime. I'm moving everything in-house since I can't afford an outside host anymore. I also cannot do what I need to do in order to upgrade the site properly without root access. Now I'll have the access I need to do some advanced changes. I have backed up the entire site, so I should be able to completely restore it in its entirety once DNS changes have been completed. This may take up to 72 hours to propogate the 'net. There may also be a window of time where I cannot receive uotc.com email until the DNS changes are finalized. You will know when DNS is current in your area when the title of this page reads "UOTC - New Server".

We received this announcement from the new town of Naeloth:

In conjunction with the birth of their new town, Naeloth, the Ilythiiri Dobluth Ahk (Drow Outcast Guild) are offering Europa players 100,000 gold pieces as prize money for whomever can come up with the best logo/emblem for the town Naeloth.

Here are the requirements:

1. It must be static and also within 200x200 - 400x400 pixels as it may be re-scaled.
2. It must be adaptable to a black background.
3. There must NOT be spiders or webs included in the image as the Ilythiiri Dobluth Ahk are OUTCAST from Lolth, the Spider Queen.
4. You may use text if you wish though it is not required.

The town will be a haven for murderers, outcasts, rogues and all nefarious types in general and completely virtue free. It is situated on the northern tip of Fire Isle (where dungeon Hythloth is), Fellucia.

For some further ideas visit http://welcome.to/naeloth or http://www.i.am/drow

All entries should be posted in the 'Dark works of Art' forum found within the Naeloth site or can be sent to [email protected]

The closing date is 10th Feb 2001 and all entries will be judged by the Naeloth Council.The winner will receive their prize in Naeloth.

Are you interested in making a treasure hunter, or are you already an established 'hunter looking for a few tips from the pros? On Sunday, February 4th, the Treasure Hunters of Britannia will be holding a treasure hunting clinic. It will be held on Baja, in the Lycaeum at Moonglow (in
Trammel), at 1:00pm Central Time. Treasure hunters from all shards are invited. Simply create a character on Baja in Moonglow and follow the directions in the picture to reach the Lycaeum. The speakers and topics will be:

• How to raise cartography - Xavier(Win), who attained Grandmastery in the skill in the post-UO:R world
  
• How to raise lockpicking - Cypress, the THB Shardmaster of Baja, who has achieved Grandmaster in this skill post-UO:R as well
  
• How to raise detect hidden and remove trap - Reklos, of the THB-Great Lakes, who is our resident expert on both
  
• How to reach and open the lucrative Khaldun puzzle chests - Ahab
  Alamin, also of the THB-Great Lakes
  
• Hiring out as a treasure hunter, and building a client base -
  Blackheath, the co-founder of the THB and Shardmaster of Great Lakes
  

After each speech, you will have the opportunity to ask questions of the speaker.

Finally, all in attendance will be able to participate in an open
forum...the topic: what could be done to improve treasure hunting? I will compile everything we come up with and send it to OSI.

After the treasure hunting clinic, everyone is invited to a party at the Yew Winery, gates to be provided from the Lycaeum.

I hope to see you all there!

Magellan

Guildmaster, Treasure Hunters of Britannia

http://uo.stratics.com/thb

I downloaded a program called UOKnight, claiming to be a bit like UOA, which is actually the SubSeven trojan horse. When I ran this program a message informed me I needed some DLL files, but when I went to download them off the website, I was informed that they were not on the server. Then shortly after a small chat window popped up informing me that Sub7 was installed.

I am now a part of the Atlantic Stratics team, and will bring you news from around Britannia. Be it from the Castle of Lord British, or from the depths of Khaldun, I will report on it. I look forward to being a part of this establishment.

That's right it could be YOU! You could be the winner of the Church of Odin's very first Lottery Contest! Tickets go on sale this saturday [1/27/2001] and we'll be sold right up until the drawing at noon next Saturday [2/3/2001] The drawing will take place at the Church of Odin building at 112º 56' N and 8º 34' W (it's on the Justice Peninsula in Trammel). You do not have to be present at the drawing to win, the information you give us when you get your ticket will allow us the winner to be contact if they are not present at the drawing. The winner will receive 60% of all the money that is taken in from lotto ticket sales! Each ticket costs 100gp and instructions for what to do with the ticket are found in book (which is the ticket)! You can take a trip to the Church of Odin building and purchase one off the vendor or you can ICQ Erik Blackmane at 35994163, or e-mail him at [email protected]! Get your tickets now, remember ... it could be YOU!!

-Devin Nichaels
-Chief Godar of the Church of Odin

Evil luck to all of the participants.

While you are out shopping the 100+ vendors of the Syndicate Vendor Network make sure to stop by the Treasure Map Runes libraries on Arx Draconis both in Felucca AND Trammel!! Now located on both facets, the TMap Rune Libraries offer you instant access to your Treasure Maps!!

To make use of them visit the Arx Draconis website. After you decode your map use the "TMap Runes" link and locate your map on the worldmap. From there locate the rune letter/number combination that matches your spot. Visit the TMap runes library in Trammel or Felucca and recall right to your map! You will appear within 1-2 spaces of it and can dig it right up! No hassle! No trudging through thick jungles or insect infested swamps!!

So come check out the Arx Draconis Rune Library and the Syndicate Vendor Network!

Tango

Thank ye Tango.

Tonight at 8:00 PM GMT , the Erethian University of Ravenmoor is opening its doors, we will hold a banquet, with a book collecting and a scavenger hunt. If you are interested, then join us !!

If you don't know where to find Ravenmoor, check the site : http://ravenmoor.ng22.com/
if you don't know where to find the University in Ravenmoor : http://ravenmoor.ng22.com/player/university.html

I hope to see you all !!!

For those that do visit the site, we at Stratics want you to know that we are in no way affiliated with their site despite the fact that they are using our good name to make themselves look legitimate.

NOTE: There is also a fansite called UO Resources that can be found at http://www.uoresources.com. While extremely close in name, this is a totally different site and is 100% legitimate. The difference is the "s" on the end of the name.

Hail!

LOK has been holding pvp tournaments at our tower. The next tournament will be Saturday, Janurary 27th, 2001.

The rules are as follows:

• No charged magic items, clothing, or jewelry. No magic armor and weapons allowed.
• No poisoned weapons, or poisoning weapons during battle.
• No use of summoning spells, offensive field spells, blade spirits, energy vortex, recall nor gate.
• No Stealing is allowed during battle.
• The only pre-casting allowed (casting done before the match countdown) is Magic Trap, Reactive Armor, and Magic Reflection.

The prizes are as follows:

• 1st Place 30k
• 2nd Place 15 k
• 3rd Place 5k

There is a 1k nonrefundable entry fee.

Gates will be provided from Britains west bank and Moonglow 30 mins before registration begins.
Registration begins at 8pm CST and the fights begin at 9pm CST.
The Tower is located north of Minoc near the farthest north cave.
This being inTrammel you will need to guild to our Dueling Stone.

Friday *Second Fiddle of LOK*

Your humble servant, Raeven Aurora

A pact between the Order of Mercaerdin and the PLO has been reached.

After hearing word the Priestess of Lolth Organization's ally, the Orcs of Kor , and a potential ally, the City of the Damned , reached a non-aggressive pact with the Order of the Mercaerdin. Johnny the Boy dispatched Hawk Silverleaf to Skara Brae with orders to watch and learn, and if possible, seek the same agreement as their allies had with the Order.

Upon reaching Skara Brae, Hawk spent many days observing the Order actions. He watched as the Order waged large battles with forces that were organized to defend Skara. Last evening, as the forces of the Order and Skara's defenders waged battle again, Hawk spotted Zar'el Darkan among the chaos and moved to where he hoped to get a chance to speak with him. After watching Zar'el and his minions dispatch a few elves and humans with ease, Hawk approached him and asked for an audience. Zar'el told Hawk to meet him shortly in the city where the dead meet. Hawk looked around at the carnage and all the dead bodies of Skara's defenders and chuckled to himself. He thought soon Skara will be the city of the dead as spirits will fill the streets wailing for somone to bring them life.

Hawk knew where he meant, and quickly left Skara and travelled to the hedge maze and the City of the Damned lying within. After finally clearing the hedge maze and entering the city, Zar'el appeared and greetings were shared. After a brief discussion in which Hawk shared some of PLO's intentions and asked a few questions in which he received few answers, Hawk proposed a non-aggressive pact with the Order as had been done with ORK and the CtD. Not an alliance but simply a pact in which the PLO would not attack the Order, and the Order would not attack the PLO.

Zar'el agreed with but with a condition in which the PLO, when it was possible, was to keep Skara's theives and vultures from desecrating the bodies of the dead men and women who fought and died against the Order. After a brief discussion on this condition in which Hawk shared his concerns, he finally agreed to the condition. Hawk then sought to gain some sort of an advantage he could give the PLO by again asking of the Order's intentions and reasons for their presence. But these questions were met with few answers and silence.

Soon after the Order departed and Hawk proceeded to leave the City of the Damned and head back to the PLO clearing with the news.

I had the chance to follow M'Lord the other day, and I followed along to aid him. His day was most strange, and he saw many a thing out of sorts. His adventures took him through old Skara Brea, the town he has sworn to protect.

His brother, Fenrir, met August in the Ranger Hall. The two were stunned to see the hall was in disarray! The Tables were broken, the Ranger Manual was out of sorts, and a strange message was found on the general board. August checked the book shelves, and found many a strange tomb. He asked his brother to fetch a locksmith, and continued to investigate.

While in the process of reading, he was attacked savagely by a Zebediah. He did naut know if this fiend was a product of the turmoil, or a simple lowly scoundrel needing punishment. He went off to revive his spirit, finding that Fenrir had been called away on business.

Hereafter, M'Lord went to his office, and gathered the Elven for battle. Today's battle was fought much better then those past, and they fell two of the Order! Though M'Lord pleaded with Zar'el to end this slaughter, the Order rode off without a word.

After the battle, August kept an Honor Guard to escort him once again to the Hall. It seemed all had been put right, and the message was gone from sight. He met with his old friend, Calhoun of the Rangers of Skara Brae to discuss the matter. Before the Ranger came, however, M'Lord was once again graced with an old friend, Antonio! They exchanged greetings, but his friend rushes August to the office, there is much to be said!

It seems the previous night, one of the Order challenged him to a Duel. This was but a ruse, in order that the two might speak in private. Antonio followed the fiend to a field, and spoke plainly with him. It was found the man was taken by Paladins, and trained as a boy. As the man grew, he began to take many a foolish fight, for the mere thrill of it.

When the Order came about, they recruited this man easily, as the quest for power was insatiable. He rode with the fiend, and his need for power grew. For some reason, the Paladin has become disenchanted, and has considered removing himself from the Order. Antonio offered sanctuary to this Paladin, though he will think on it. M'Lord would naut tell me his name, as he is protecting the would be informant. Mayhap the Federation has found the break it needs.

This information was relayed to Calhoun, and all left to have a drink at the Shattered Skull. There was an enjoyable encounter with The Mockers, which left both sides with a bit of understanding. Make no mistake, they are no allies, nor friends, but each other saw a bit of Honor. M'Lord ended the eve at his office, reflecting on the days past. He bid me Aluve', and promised to return on Monday to take to the problem anew.

In Service to August West,
The Elven Scribe

Our guests this week are:

• Serafina, Atriarch
  
• Jeff Friedman, Dawn
  
• Paul Hutson, Adellion
  
• Swamp Thing, Origin Stratics Forums
  
• Thundolfe, Thundolfe's Barnyard
  
• JLBesser, Stratics Dawn

While the debates rage on, hang out in #devdebates to discuss what the industry guests are saying, weighing in with your own opinions. (Please Note: Due to an engagement at a Computer Game Developer conference, Raph Koster will not be appearing at this Dev Debate as previously announced.)

To join the chat, boot your favorite IRC client, connect to one of the following Stratics IRC servers, and type /join #permadeath. Type /join #devdebates to join the unmoderated channel to discuss the debates as they occur. Or, use our Stratics Java IRC Client.

• irc.stratics.com
  
• compu.stratics.com
  
• dhp.stratics.com
  
• frws.stratics.com
  
• intworks.stratics.com

It has been quiet in the UOSS Legends Office. My days, of late, have primarily consisted of lonely hours of making bandages and hunting down the brigands and elementals that spawn regularly around my home, making the region unsafe for pigeon and orc alike. Pondering the unsafe nature of my domicile, it occurred to me that there are those who live in houses that are even less secure. I refer, of course, to the brave men, women, and semi-human beings currently fighting in the faction wars on Felucca.

Knowing virtually nothing about the faction system, I set out to learn more. Recalling to the East Bank of Britain, I had a chance meeting with Lord Skeletor, a handsome, skull headed young man whom I had recently met when he and a charming local vampire, Drasilla. Though Lord Skeletor did not have any first hand knowledge of factions, he sent a pigeon to summon Johnny Knoxville, who proved to be a fountain of faction knowledge. We were later joined by other wise individuals, such as William Wallace and Counsel of Mage member Clark W Grizwold who provided further insight.

LEGENDS FACTIONS: AN INTRODUCTION

As most of you know, there are four factions competing for control of the cities in Felucca, the Counsel of Mages, the Shadowlord Faction, the Minax faction, and the True Brittanians. My candid group of adventurers gave me some rather strong opinions about how the strengths and weaknesses of each faction.

Counsel of Mages (CoM): "The Counsel of Mages have skilled members," stated Johnny Knoxville, "they just lack coordination." Current CoM members Clark W Grizwold stressed the importance of strong leadership. When the leader of a faction, a position that is elected weekly, is strong and popular, the faction tends to do well. Despite this supposed weakness of leadership, at the moment of the interview the CoM controlled Skara Brae and Britain. As we shall see shortly, the stronghold of the CoM is probably their biggest obstacle. However, according to Devlin Black (Minax), "they're winning the war."

True Britannians (TB): As a member of the True Britannians poisoned himself over and over again in front of the Trammel bank, I asked "is it safe to assume that the True Britannians don't get very much respect?" "That," stated Grizwold, "would be an accurate statement." When I asked other members of other factions about TB, I was generally met with laughter. When I later visited their stronghold, I was surprised to see that this was the only faction that didn't have any guards posted at their sigil. I tried to find a member of TB to comment on this situation, but the only ones I found were on Trammel, and they were too busy with other things to talk to me. I would be interested in learning their opinion of the other factions!

Shadowlords (SL): "The Shadowlords," said Knoxville, "currently control over half the towns. They have an army of players and generally win by force of numbers." My other new friends seconded this opinion. Grizwold stressed that SL's large number of tamers was a factor in their success, but smiled as he pointed out that "the tamed animals do them little good after they are dead." The Shadowlords' stronghold is easily the best of the factions, as we shall see.

Minax Faction: High praise awaited the Minax faction (as everyone who reads my articles knows, Minax holds a special place in my heart, so this was good news to me). Knoxville stressed that the best strategists were currently fighting for Minax. Knoxville elaborated: "they don't seem to care about winning towns, or they would be more of a factor." Devlin Black was the first member of the Minax forces that I met, and hardly the last. He stated that the faction was somewhat disorganized at the moment, for reasons I would learn later.

JOURNEY TO THE STRONGHOLDS

As I had never had the opportunity to visit the strongholds, Clark W Grizwold and William Wallace offered to take me on a tour. Clark broke out a runebook and a Felucca moonstone and we were off!

First stop was the CoM stronghold, located at the Magincia Parliament building. This seems to be the least defensible sigil of the four factions. It strikes me that the number of guards needed to protect the sigil is prohibitive and that any decent sized force from another faction could storm the stronghold with ease. This is one of the easier strongholds to reach, rivaled only by the TB stronghold. In this orc's opinion, if there is a built in imbalance in the faction system, this stronghold is it.

Next was the SL stronghold, located in the middle of the Yew woods in the underground crypts. This is, without a doubt, the best strategic position. It is difficult to reach, and there are a number of traps leading up to the sigil, which is deep in the bowels of the site. Grizwold was met by a number of Deadly Poison traps on his way in and barely escaped with his life. However, the Shadowlords were good hosts, and allowed Grizwold free passage while he was giving me a tour.

I was looking forward to seeing how the True Britannians would treat us, but, alas, the only people we saw at their stronghold were from other factions. The TB stronghold is Lord British's palace, and is also a very strong and safe site. A few well-placed guards and this stronghold would be difficult to breech indeed!

Our last stop was the stronghold of the Minax faction. Alas, here Minax faction member Yiggity, demonstrating poor hosting skills, slew my guide, despite repeated pleas (from myself, Wallace, and even some of the other Minax faction members) to spare his life. Yiggity did offer Grizwold his belongings back (which were declined), but this was a sour beginning to what would turn out to be a splendid visit.

The main problem with the Minax Stronghold, which is located near Papua, is that the dreaded lag beast stalks the land. Minax faction member slow (he spells his name with all lowercase letters) pointed out that the sigil is also poorly placed and difficult to defend. Though I'm sure the CoM would disagree, the Minax faction member claimed their stronghold was the hardest to defend.

I had the great pleasure of conversing with Dengar, current Commanding Lord of the Minax Faction, and faction members Pablo Escabar, Eve, Kain, Mr. Balls, and Raist. Knowing of my love for Minax, they asked me to join the faction, a kind offer that I, alas, had to decline. Here, I learned the value of strong leadership. The group explained to me that, for a time, Minax's forces controlled all of the cities under Dengar. Alas, for reasons I don't quite understand, Dengar lost power and, in a short amount of time, the faction lost their thief, and Minax lost her cities. Dengar has recently returned to power, and it is their hope (as it is the hope of each faction) to be the dominant faction again soon.

Our tour finished, Clark W Grizwold, William Wallace and I said farewell to our friends from the Minax faction (and, frankly, escaped by the skin of our teeth, as an invasion was starting) and recalled to Trammel Britannia, where a TB member was still poisoning himself over and over again. I bid farewell to my loyal companions, and headed back to my little shack in Willowport, feeling suddenly very secure in spite of the air element casting spells at my front door.

My thanks to Lord Skeletor, Johnny Knoxville, William Wallace, Clark W Grizwold, Death Addict, Devlin Black, Dengar, and all the member of the Minax faction who made us feel welcome in their blood stained stronghold.

If you are participating in the faction system and have a story or an update on the faction wars, please send them to the UOSS Stratics Home Office and we will do our best to keep Legends shard up to date on the current rankings.

Praise Minax!

The blood of the land boils as the indecisive intentions of heathenry plague and plunder our lands abroad. Join the battle against ignorance and indulge yourself in the contest of scholars. Attend the opening ceremonies January 30th, Tuesday, at 6 p.m. pacific standard time within the city of Safe Haven and enjoy the festivities sponsored by fellow renaissance men of this weary and withering age of innocence. All who wish to enter, be equipped with pen and book, peace of mind, and ideals of revolution. Scribe thy thoughts, write thine fears, and entomb endless pits of knowledge into the newly arisen Dark Tower of the east. A library is to be erected, and with it, a new age of the realm they call Siege Perilous. Come, I beseech thee.

The 1st Siege Olympics will start next week. There will be an opening ceremony on Tuesday Jan 30th, at 6pm PST/8pmCST/9pm EST. All guilds will march in a parade, followed by sign ups for the different events.

We have the following events planned:

1. Raziel (KRT) - Jousting
2. Hallas (SMC) - Chess
3. Sarai (HH) - Tailor
4. Luxor (NEW) - Archery
5. Serlesh(CWS) - Lumberjack
6. Ysane (UBB) - Blacksmith
7. Wulfen (SNN) - Story Telling
8. Shaar (SHR) - PvP Tourney
9. Mighty Joe (*M*) - Mining.

If you would like to run another event (or see the rules for existing events) please go to Siege Event Forum

Na-Krul

Do You Have the Courage: Hythloth Crawl

In an effort to drive back the evil that plagues our land, the Order of the Silver Serpent has committed themself to the task of creating an offensive on each of the foulest of places. This is actually a rite of passage that each member must endure once a year. We would like to extend this to anyone that feels brave enough. No corner will go unnoticed. No evil will leave unescaped. Come join the OSS as they explore the very depths of Hythloth in the first in the series of dungeon adventures. We shall meet at the bank in Serpent's Hold on Sunday 28.01.01 at 9 PM CST sharp and leave to the entrance of Hythloth from there.

Marshall Grey Wolfe

Destiny Dungeon Run

Test your dungeon savvy, your survival skills, and your people skills!

When:  Monday, January 29, 8pm central
Where:  Knights' Pub, in Destiny
What:  Groups of 3-5 will be formed, with varying professions.  Each person will be stripped of his/her belongings (pack lightly) and given essential survival supplies.  The teams will be gated to an undisclosed location in an undisclosed dungeon.  All the teams that make it out together, whole, and alive get prizes!

Remember, we will hold all your belongings, including runebooks, so please pack lightly.  To arrange a gate from your favorite Felucca bank, post at our Town Hall http://www.calamity.net/destiny/TownHall/ Destiny is located on the Minoc-Yew road between the Compassion and Chaos shrines in Felucca.

-Destiny Events Committee

It was time.

King Desmond's army stood before him, clad in jet black, a strange assortment of knights and warriors of Dawn, citizens of the Village of Fairhaven, and members of the dreaded Dark Tower. Many nervous and hateful glances were exchanged between the Dawnites and those of the Tower...for they had long been enemies...but dire times called for dire measures, and despite the involvement of the Dark Tower, still these soldiers of Dawn stood by their King.

Of course, Desmond was scantly recognizeable as their ruler, for his hair had gone from light brown to jet black in the hours before the battle. And his eyes...his eyes were like 2 blazing pits from hell, red and piercing.

Desmond smiled. He had received word scant hours earlier that a message had been dispatched to the Royal Guard from the Lord General urging them to join forces with the Royal Court. Apparently some of the guards, including the ringleaders who were organizing the military takeover of Dawn, had fled during the night. So, they think their chances will be better if they join forces against me, Desmond thought.

Fools.

Mistress Ivy of the Dark Tower approached Desmond. "I take my leave of you now...I leave my children in your care," Ivy said, gesturing to the Dark Tower soldiers.

"Aye, they will serve the Tow...er, they will serve Dawn well," Desmond replied.

Ivy laughed. "Correct on both counts," she said as she walked away.

Desmond turned back to his soldiers, looking his forces over. "Patriots of Dawn, today shall be a glorious day," he said, "for today we free our kingdom from the traitors and usurpers who have siezed out homeland! DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!"

"DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!", the soldiers cried out in reply.

"Mystics, practice your art...open the moongates!"

***

Multiple blue moongates shimmered deep in Southern Dawn, and Desmond's army flooded out of them into the forest. Silently, Desmond led the soldiers northward.

The first skirmish occured scant minutes later, as Desmond's forces stumbled upon an enemy patrol. Desmond recognized their guild insignia...they were from the fabled Savage Truth guild. So, the Royal Court had turned to their old friends and allies for support...as much good as it would do them, Desmond thought.

In moments, his forces were upon them.

The paladins of the Savage Truth were taken by suprise, and overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Desmond's forces...but still, they battled on, their swords slashing, seemingly everywhere at once. The bodies of dozens of men lay strewn about them. But then, after what seemed an eternity, the legendary Lord Falwyn fell, lost in a swarm of black...and the hero Tibereous was lost not long after.

Desmond's army moved on.

Approaching the center of the Kingdom and Dawn Tower, Desmond found his forces set upon by wave upon wave of Royal Court soldiers, including more Savage Truth members. The Royal Court, rather than facing Desmond's army en masse, decided to split into several smaller groups. However, the strategy worked against them, as it allowed Desmond's numerically inferior force to beat down the smaller individual groups. Still, the Royal Court's numbers seemed to be unending...until finally, the last of them fell to the blood-stained ground.

Desmond gazed about himself. They, too, had taken heavy casualties...but the battle was done. Once again was he Dawn's one true leige and lord!

Suddenly, a lone soldier rode towards Desmond through the mist. As he drew closer, King Desmond recognized him. It was none other than Sir Malchar, Grand Magistry of the Blue Rose, Dawn's Knighted order. However, Malchar wore niether the black uniform of Desmond's army, nor the blue of the Royal Court, or the red of the guards. Malchar took no sides in the battle, refusing to fight against his countrymen.

"Like a true coward," Desmond smirked.

One of the Dark Tower soldiers unsheathed his sword. "Sire, should I..."

"No," Desmond replied. "Let him come. He is harmless."

Malchar approached. "Desmond, you must stop this madness," he pleaded. "The bracelet is controlling you...please, my liege, come with me that we may find a way to cure you of this evil!"

Desmond only laughed. "You poor fool," he said. "What makes you think I want your cure?" He turned to one of his soldiers to give the order to have Malchar killed.

Suddenly, the defeated ladies Wildstar and Vixen of the Royal Court cried out, almost in unison, "Now!"

With a loud whine, a moongate appeared out of nowhere next to Desmond and Malchar. Malchar grabbed Desmond, and they both fell into the gate. A few of Desmond's soldiers lunged after him, but it was too late; the gate had vanished.

"The King has been abducted!" someone cried out.

"Aye, just as we planned," Lady Wildstar said. Vixen nodded in agreement.

Puzzled, Desmond's army slowly began the task of gathering the prisoners and tending to the dead and wounded. They now controlled Dawn...but still was Dawn without a king.

Using a bit of magic, I traveled to view the improvements on the Pacific Shard to the CoM Stronghold. Eager to see these improvements, I ran from Vesper to the Moongate. Arriving in Magincia, I raced up to the Stronghold. The first thing I did was check out the farthest bridge. I ran down right into a brick wall closing off the entrance. I said "this is great!" I explored around the corner to the south and found the windows. I wondered to myself if one could teleport inside. I then ran around to the other bridge and was stopped right on the entrance to the northern bridge. I could not enter the Stronghold. Being "Young", I figured I could not join, but being the curious type I tried. I was able to join as a "Young" person.

I went inside. As I approached the entrance, I noticed new railing blocking off the little breach area. I went inside and found things pretty normal.

Meeting a CoM member, I introduced myself and asked if could test the new Stronghold. He agreed so we went around to the south bridge and around the corner to the south side by the ocean. I then asked him if he could teleport thought the window into the rear of the Stronghold. He sadly was able to do this on the first try. I was very disheartened by this revelation, it seems there are still two ways to enter the Stronghold. What are the High Wizards and Guardians thinking?

Recently there have been rumors that anyone with the product ID code of a UO account could have the account information changed. Obviously, this wouldn't bode well for people who were given or sold someone else's account before OSI instituted the Account Transfer Program. I emailed OSI about this, and they gave me this clarification:

Greetings,

Here in UO account support, we only release information pertaining to an account if the player can verify the account with the last 8 digits of the credit card number. If there is no credit card on the account, then we use the registration code to verify the account. At that time, the player must also verify the address, phone number, and email address on the account. We use these means for the protection of the account. At times, we use the registration code to look up an account if the customer has forgotten the user name and password. But once we pull up the account with that code, the player still must verify additional information.

Thanks,

Nadia
EA.com

I hope this sets some worries to rest. I'd also like to applaud OSI and EA customer support for the fast response, I received this personal and detailed answer less than 48 hours after I emailed the inquiry. Well met!

Hear ya! Hear ya!

It has finally come to your part of Sosaria! The waiting was long, but now it is here, Hawkfield.com presents it's Baja corner! All sorts of auctions are viewable at http://www.hawkfield.com.

Hear ya! Hear ya!

It has finally come to your part of Sosaria. The waiting was long, but now it is here, Hawkfield.com presents it's Atlantic corner.
All sorts of auctions all viawable at http://www.hawkfield.com

Thank you.

Tom Van Wesemael

Thank ye for this announcement.

YNA Patrols have been accosting fisherman and tradesmen using sea routes to inquire as to the whereabouts of our missing Ensign. A tradesman named Tink recounted this series of events, forwarded to Admiral Lyna and submitted here to assist in the search and rescue.

"Damnedest thing I ever saw it was. I was sailing towards Bucaneer's Den to sell these fine lockpicks to some.. uh..travelers, when I saw another boat approaching in the distance. Fearing Pirates, I snuggled behind some crates on my deck and ordered my tillerman Percy to stop the boat. As the ship came closer, the sounds of smashing boards and deafening roars and crackling tentacles drew me out of hiding to get a better look. I saw a man barking orders at his tillerman as he dodged the wildly flailing arms of 4 vicious red krakens which were attempting to swat him like a bug. The tentacles were barely missing him, and were greatly damaging his ship. He was trying to bandage his wounds and order his tillerman to steer so I gathered my wits and drew the mana to assist him with his wounds. Then, and I would not believe this if I didn't see it with my own eyes, a large golden sea serpent rose from under the waters and approached my boat at speeds ye would not believe, I feared it would capsize us but it stopped short of my ship and spoke these words in a hissing growl:

"Plunder my seas and pay the price"

With that he submerged and I presume rejoined the pursuit. They continued south by south west from my position until they disappeared behind the morning fog. As I sailed away I found an empty bottle of ale with a message scrawled inside "Send Help - O'Keefe". I would have helped more but I, to be quite honest, feared for my own skin."

YNA sumbits this sworn statement of Tink who was interviewed at the docks of Buccaneer's Den. Last reported Position South by Southwest of Bucaneers Den. The YNA ship "Judicator" is giving pursuit, and we estimate we are 14 hours behind Ensign O'Keefe.

Lord Quentin, Captain YNA - forwarded via pigeon to Admiral Lyna

Thank ye for this news.

While doing some banking, the town criers yelled that Hadley the Guard was in need of assistance in Yew. Upon arrival, it seems another raid had broken out. This time elementals, reapers, and undead came in droves. Shortly there after a murderous mage by the name of Aasin showed up and gloated over the chaos he caused. He was apparently a necromancer and alchemist. Hadley had requested that we capture Aasin alive to interrogate him on the whereabouts of some stolen books. However, we could not take Aasin alive and we were forced to slay him. We are all awaiting more leads to the location of these books....

-The Scoundrel of Terror-

Hi, just a friendly reminder that the Dark Warden's Faire is tomorrow (Jan. 27th) at the Skara Brae Faire Grounds (Trammel). All are invited to come and enjoy the entertainment and games. So come one, come all!

The time for the event is:

6PM-8PM PST
7PM-9PM MST
8PM-10PM CST
9PM-11PM EST
10AM Singapore Time

Below is a map showing the location of the Faire Grounds:

For the first time in weeks, a faction controls more than a couple of towns. Minax fought off several small forces over the last 24 hours with a large, well organized, and well disciplined defensive force to control 5 cities. The Shadowlords were holed up protecting several sigils. That left it to TB to take the sigils away from the other factions. TB "had" a huge amount of visible members a week and half ago, but in the last week only small groups have been seen. TB was unable to muster enough members to build a force capable of overcoming the other two factions.

Great Lakes East Coast Move We are currently targeting to move the Great Lakes shard to our East Coast server location on Monday, January 29th. We will be opening a GL Test shard over the weekend to allow Great Lakes players to test connectivity. The GL Test Shard will be restored with a recent backup of the Great Lakes shard, updated with Test Center code to allow players to set their own stats and skills.

Trace routes and feedback should be posted directly to the Connectivity topic on the Ultima Online Message Boards.

Barring any unforeseen issues, we will bring the Test Great Lakes shard and the current Great Lakes shard down at 8:00 AM CST on Monday, January 29th to complete the final move process. We expect this transition will require approximately 6 hours of shard downtime. In light of this extended maintenance, the Great Lakes shard will skip regularly scheduled maintenance on Monday morning.

Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta Test

It's almost time! We are currently targeting to launch the Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta Test signup during the week of January 29th (CST). During that week, we'll open the Third Dawn Beta CD website where a limited amount of 30,000 beta CDs will be available for order.

We will be opening beta ordering at three different start times throughout a 24-hour period to allow UO customers from around the world the opportunity to order a beta CD at a convenient local time. For each start time, there will be a limit of 10,000 CDs available.

During the ordering period, players with active Ultima Online accounts (in good standing) will be able to order an Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD for the price of shipping and handling. Players participating in the Beta test will be required to sign a Beta Tester Confidentiality agreement. This is a closed beta test limited to 30,000 participants. However, there will be additional open beta opportunities at a later date.

We will release specific availability times and dates approximately 24 hours in advance.

Great Lakes East Coast Move

We are currently targeting to move the Great Lakes shard to our East Coast server location on Monday, January 29th. We will be opening a GL Test shard over the weekend to allow Great Lakes players to test connectivity. The GL Test Shard will be restored with a recent backup of the Great Lakes shard, updated with Test Center code to allow players to set their own stats and skills.

Trace routes and feedback should be posted directly to the Connectivity topic on the Ultima Online Message Boards.

Barring any unforeseen issues, we will bring the Test Great Lakes shard and the current Great Lakes shard down at 8:00 AM CST on Monday, January 29th to complete the final move process. We expect this transition will require approximately 6 hours of shard downtime. In light of this extended maintenance, the Great Lakes shard will skip regularly scheduled maintenance on Monday morning.

I just received this missive from Sir Aubrey, Curator of the Museum of Britain. Read on!

Just a reminder!

Museum of Britannia 1000th visitor celebration is this weekend! Saturday the 27th of January, at 10pm eastern! Though several people have stated they wanted to participate in the Willowport Regatta, so far, no one has met me to pre-register.

I'm only doing this to cut down on the last minute rush and to try to make things run smoothly on the day of the event so there is a bare minimum of standing around waiting. I will be online as Aubrey after 10:00pm eastern most nights this week finishing final arrangements for the events. Feel free to add my AOL s/n to your buddy list to see when I'm online. If you wish to pre-register via e-mail, reply to [email protected] with the following:

Boat name:

Captain's name:

Team name: (Guild or town you are representing)

Remember the entry fee is 5k, so please bring that in check form. (Too hard to lug around all that gold)

I am also looking for checkpoint judges. I have two and I need 5. These characters need to be able to defend themselves since a couple of the checkpoints may have monsters. (nothing serious though) Please respond to my e-mail if you want to volunteer so I can arrange a time to meet with you and let you know what I need. Also check the Museum of Britannia link below for a full set of rules.

Remember, the race preregistration starts at 9:30 eastern and closes at 9:55! Race starts at 10:00. Come early! Avoid the rush! I expect the boat race to last 20 to thirty minutes, during which time the race will be announced by Master of ceremonies, Marcus St James! Betting is encouraged!

The horse race will be immediately after the boat race, so boat captains; bring your steeds!

I am really looking forward to seeing what you people do with this event! I can put it on and organize it, but it will take all of you to make it a success! (hint) I'd suggest using UO Automap unless you are really good with a sextant! All checkpoint locations are given as sextant co-ordinates.

Aubrey Gawen
Willowport Minister of Culture, MoB
Willowport on the web
Curator, Museum of Britannia
Museum of Britannia

And as always, safe journeys to you, one and all.

Cyn the Bad Sailor (pun intended *grins*)

First off I would like to compliment all of the contestants of the Liberalis Beauty Pageant. It was so hard to chose!

All of the most beautiful and talented women of Britannia turned out for our little pageant!

Every one of the Ladies displayed real talent and creativity. I was proud to be considered a Britannian upon viewing the women and girls gathered in the fair city of Liberalis. They all deserved to be rewarded for their hard work and the imagination required to make such an event a success!

After giving it serious thought our panel of hand picked judges came to the conclusion that the most lovely lady in all of Britannia had to be none other than the spifferific: TemptressDiana!

The runner up was Lasondra, who I must compliment on her extremely
imaginative and hilarious talent skit!

Lady Mercedes receives honorable mention for her niftorific attire!

Your Lady,
CopperZerO

Thank ye Kain fer sharing this story with us:

Greetings Friends,

We did it, we rescued Amoura from the clutches of evil, but I am getting ahead of myself. It began earlier that day we all gathered around in Rilla's villa in Maginica. She was looking into he crystal ball and telling us what she seen. Out of that she got that it was east of cove, and some letters of the name, and an image of a horde of serpents. Now we sat around trying to figute out where it ment to go. So 3 groups headed off One to the dungeon of Covetous, one to the Fire dungeon, using the Serpent Isle Entrance, and one group talking about Hythloth. Well most of us ended up in the Fire dungeon but we could nat find a trace of her and pigions from the others had shown equal luck. 

Finally a small band headed to explore the islands of serpent hold themselves. Oh the horror they met with as they reached the southern tower, for there she was, guarded by horrid red beasts identified as pets of some kind. I came in late and had to clear my own way while the people in the tower fought for their life. I ran up amd talked to Annoura to dicuss her escape. Magical travel was ruled out for the monsters could follow easily, so we were left to my small boat dry docked near by, The CFS Explorer. 

I had her put down near the tower, and we all scrabled to get on the boat bulling the injured on as well to tend their wounds on the sea. Then we set sail for the sunny shores of Maginica and to Rilla's villa, as we figured it as secure a spot as any, and there we brought her on an uneventful voyage. After we all disembarked she promised to talk with us later and fell asleep on Rilla's bear rug.

Regards
Kain Stormraven
Sagitarii Princeps, Custodes Fati

Another Auction in Deepwater. Thank ye Elv'eng fer this announcement:

This Sunday, the 28th, at 9pm CET (8pm gmt), Deepwater will host a Auction, at the towers of Magiks. Witch is located just east of the Owls eyes, just follow the row of houses till you locate the tower, it cant be missed.. *smiles* Ill place a rune in the tavern for those who wish to use magic instead.. *grins* 

You don't need gold with you, a vendor will be placed where you buy the items you bid on from. Sort of Secure trading, and a rune to the town will be found too, so you dont need to walk with your newly bought item. What will be sold? Most things, from armour to weapons, from just small pillows to paintings. And hopefully if i can get in touch with the seller, some semi rares.

So remember on Sunday, the 28th's, Deepwater will host a auction, at Deepwater tower. Around 9pm cet (8pm cet). 

Elv'eng - Andune 
http://deepwater.lemming.org
http://andune.lemming.org

Ps. Truly sorry about the Timewarp at the last auction, hopefully this wont happen again..*eyes the skygods*

Thank ye Mithran of Stonekeep fer the invitation:

Are ye a merchant, craftsman or a man who wishes to sell his items to others? Come to the Stonekeep Market and advertise yer goods to others to buy. Ye could make a tidy profit out out of it. Prehaps ye craft fine weapons and armor, or tailor items, or fish up items such as paintings from the depths of the sea, which no one can buy, but ye can come to Stonekeep and try to sell them there.

Please send a pidgeon to the Head Barkeeper of Stonekeep Tavern to reserve a table for your goods beforehand. The market is held outdoors, and a table is provided upon request. To secure a good spot for your table, book well in advance.

It will be held outside the Stonekeep Tavern on Saturday, 27th of January, at 5:00PM GMT.

Stonekeep can be found at the Yew crossroads, trammel facet, sextant co-ordinates (38o 50'N, 35o 9'W)

Mithran - Event Organiser of Stonekeep

Thanky ye Lady Eternia, mayoress of Minoc fer this information:

Hail!

I'm the Mayoress of Minoc, Eternia. I'm now to begin the search for people who lives in Minoc and who wants to help me start over the
Minoc Town Council. The positions available are as follows:

• Vice Mayor/ess
• Treasurer
• Town Crier
• Advisor
• Guards Captain

So if you think you will fit for any of the above positions please come to the Town Hall of Minoc (Trammel) at 8.00pm GMT (9.00CET) every Wednesday and sign up.

We need people who really care about the future of our wonderful town and not just to get a nice title.

Some of the positions will be selected trough elections and votes from the townspeople.

So I speak to all villagers of Minoc when I say that you should come and visit those meetings and speak your mind of our beautiful town Minoc.

Every Wednesday at the Townhall of Minoc (Trammel) the Minoc Miners Militia will recruit new members. The MMM is a guild for people who lives in Minoc and its not just for miners, all skills are welcome. You just have to like events and hunts. For more info check our site:
http://hem.spray.se/ultimaonline/minoc.html

So if you are interested to join a fun and friendly guild please come by at Wednesdays at 7.00pm GMT (8.00pm CET)
to the Townhall of Minoc (trammel).

We will serve food and drinks and we hope to see you there...

Sincerly...
your mayoress Eternia.

Due to financial problems, UOTC is down until further notice. Check this page for details in the future.

Greetings...

Three days ago my Brother Rasputin encountered a few monks in Trinsic who announced that in three days come they would come and wipe the evil of this world. We checked Trinsic from that day on. It was in the early night, on Wednesday, when an errend of one of my sons arrived. I gathered those of mine around me to follow and send other errands on their way to get as many pepole to Trinsic as they could. When we arrived people had already gathered around the monks who were spreading the word of Zalindera, trying to motivate new followers of the "Weaver", as they called her.

According to Joshua Masters, a respected former Merchent of Trinsic, she is the one who weaves our lives in a greater pattern. He himself lost his wife and the Virtues did not help him, or so he said. So when he learned about Zalindera, his eyes opened and he finally saw... Soon they had quite a few followers who had given up all thier worldly posessions and wore a humble white robe and an apron. When the one leading the monks Simon the Wanderer said it was time to go rid the world of evil the warriors and mages gathered with their followers, and stepped into a gate that the Wanderer opened. We arrived in a swampy region facing lizardmen and giant serpents. Quickly they moved in and attacked us, but thanks to the mages and warriors that had followed along that few where send to the netherworld. Soon more warriors and mages arrived, and we proceded onwards...

Many of those who disbelived Masters and the wanderer (like myself I must admit) were glad they had not followed thier wish to leave all our worldy possesons behind. We followed them as they led us into a cave, and battled a few drakes guarding their treasures. Even more mosters seemed to come out of nowhere... We gathered, fighing in closer formation, compassionate mages bringing over the fallen warriors, warriors fighting close to watch each other's back, many battling to come help another needing warrior... and then... it was over. We stood in the cave, looked around and the Monks gave praise to the weaver.

They returned us to Trinsic and told us that our being there was the weavers will and purose that night... Many of the warriors who fought according to the virtues disagreed and I must admit that their words had hurt me deeply as they insulted all I and my Family believed in. I hope they were just too happy about the defeat of those creatures as that they noticed how deeply they had hurt and insulted the warriors around them. Simon said that they would return to us soon... we shall see.

Rayar Blackstar,
Khaness, Clan Blackstar [B*]

Dark Alliance Tavern Grand Opening

Come help us celebrate!
Location: Cove, between the crossroads and the guard tower. Next door to the New Undead Keep (Trammel)
Coordinates: 63° 6' North, 63° 8' East
Date: January 26

All 'dark' races welcome! Drow, Vampire, Undead, Daemons, Orcs, and anything in between! You will not find any humans here!

This tavern has been established for the sole purpose of giving the non-human races a place to scheme, plot, or just relax without being under the ever-watchful eye of the 'good citizens of Britannia'. This is the place to be for your enjoyment! Get to know your fellow 'evil' allies in a better environment.

If you would like to help with the daily operations, please contact me via Ztalin (ICQ 30245727). Cooks and Wenches needed!

Private invitations will be sent out for the Pre-Grand opening party.

And guild that wishes to have a rune placed in the "Dark Places" rune book, contact me at the above number. The rune book will be a permanent fixture in the tavern.

The Private Party and Grand Opening will be held soon! The tavern will include a 'gaming' area and 'lounging' area.

Hello all, and thanks for all the responses I have had on these two subjects. Many icq's have been coming my way, so I thought I would give you an update. The grand opening of the Tavern will be Friday the 26th, 8 to 10 p.m. central. It will feature a brand new name also in accordance with unifying with the evil city we are establishing in Cove. *chortles*

The caravan will follow probably a week after the taverns official opening. So all of you that wish to participate in marching please start stocking up on your goods that you will be selling. I have had offers for guards and that is under consideration. Remember we need a big turnout because I am sure there will be plenty of humans that will try to stop us! More on the caravan coming soon!

Riknueth Tagnik
Qu'el Saruk
Veldrin Shyline DRX

The wind howled through the empty streets of Dawn. The citizenry huddled behind their barred doors, fearful to step outside in violation of the mad "curfew" established by the Royal Guard. One such citizen had already done so, and his head was placed upon a pike in the center of town as a warning to any others who dared to challenge their will.

The streets, the shops, even Merchant Square and the vendor mall, were
empty...only the Royal Guards could be seen, riding back and forth
throughout the kingdom on their endless patrols. It seemed they never
rested. St. Michael and War Child rode toward Dawn Tower together,
canvassed in steel and weapons at the ready. The doors were barred. War Child moved as to bash the door in, but St. Michael bade him to hold. "It will be ours soon enough," he said, a grim smile crossing his face. "At this time tomorrow, Dawn will be ours...!"

***

Inside the Tower, the Royal Court and their soldiers drafted their strategy against the dual threat of the guards and the King's Army by candlelight. Lady Wildstar's face, normally bright and happy, was sullen and grim. How would she be able to abduct the king, that he could be returned to normal and assume the crown once more? Surely he would be well guarded; and the streets promised to be rife with war and chaos. She knew not the answers; but she knew that if they did not succeed in their task, if the Royal Court fell to either the Guard or the King's army, that Dawn was surely doomed. Tomorrow would tell the tale...

***

King Desmond sat at the fire, sharpening his spear over and over again, as Hayloh watched in concern and fear. Were his eyes truly red? Nay, how could such a thing be possible, it had to be an optical illusion caused by the fireplace nearby...

...and yet, there were other changes as well...a dark aura surrounded
Desmond, something that could not be seen, or smelt, or touched, but it was there. And although this was her husband, the man she had married, yet in some way she could not describe, it was not...it was as if something else had been overlaid on top of him, something transparent and evil...

Outside, Lord HellRazor continued his grave task of gathering the King's soldiers and going over the battle plans. And as the hours ticked by, a strangely eerie smile began to cross Desmond's face.

Tomorrow it would be at an end, Desmond thought.

Tomorrow, the traitors and conspirators will stain the fields of Dawn red with their blood.

Tomorrow, Dawn will once again belong to I, Na-Kru...

Desmond paused, momentarily confused. Did he almost say Na-Krul? All this preparation for battle must have had him momentarily distracted.

He returned to sharpening his sword, and the smile once again danced over his lips.

Hayloh wept.

Date : January 26, 2001
Time : 8:00 Est, 7:00 CST
Facet : Believe it or not, Trammel
Sextant Coordinates : 124° 6'N, 58° 0'E

Grand Opening of "THE HALL"

On Friday we will be holding a GRAND tournament of champions!!!! 5K to enter and 100K to the winner!!! Come and fight or just enjoy are deep discount merchandise, from weapons to armor to scrolls.......We also plan on having Daily or Bi-Daily Events such as hunts & Crawls.

Rules for the =X=(Fc)=X= Tournament

1. All Fighters must resign from their respective guilds for the tournament.
2. After the tornament is over all MUST resign from FC, and re-join your former guild
3. All Fights are to the death, resurrections will be provided free of cost.
4. NO looting & NO stealing
5. NO tames allowed unless specified by the High Council
6. NO casting before or during the match (one on one, no magery this time)
7. 5 potions per fighter per match, EXCLUDING explosions, unless given
8. A max of 25 Bandeges per match
9. Archers are at a limit of 100 bolts or Arrows.
10. WIN! You gave us 5K, now walk out with 100,000 Gp (if the outcome is from 100K)

Thank you and i hope to see you there!

All love
Ð.ManDrake

It has recently been brought to my attention that there is something of a presidential election occuring on our shard. I would very much like to hear from the candidates and the body that is running the election.

Send a pigeon to Ith'unk's Mailbox, and I will try and have a story on within the next few days.

Praise Minax!

What a night! First, I take multiple dirt naps at the hand of an air elemental, then, when I return to my office, I learn that Cyn needs me to file the following story on his behalf. Read this while I go to slice up some bandages:

Greetings, good folk of Sosaria.

A few days ago, while visiting the First Bank of Britain, I chanced to meet Jolly Roger. As many of you may know, Jolly is one of the older characters in the land. Jolly informed me that other concerns were forcing him to leave UO. Then much to my surprise, he handed me a check for 400,000 gold pieces. He then explained why he was giving me the gold and started to leave. I appreciated his reasons and kind words but the jest of the matter is that I can't accept it. Not personally.

Therefore, in memory of Jolly Roger, I will serve as administrator for his estate. The gold will be used to sponsor a variety of small contests, designed to help new citizens.

In the weeks ahead, stay tuned for announcements regarding these events. Furthermore, should anyone have an idea for an event to benefit our newer folk, send me word by pigeon and I'll be happy to discuss it with you. And no, I won't be handing out gold to upgrade your two-story house to a tower or buy that suit of valorite plate *grins*. The need must be well articulated and genuine.

And to Jolly Roger, I extend my sincere thanks for this generous and selfless act. Safe journeys to you. *Salute*

Praise Minax!

I would like to invite everyone to a special Necromancy Ceremony this weekend in the City of the Damned...

I have recently taken Rhylla Branwen as my apprentice in the Art of Necromancy, and I am quite proud to say that she holds much promise...

Saturday evening, I shall be testing Rhylla's true power in a specially designed ceremony...

I invite everyone to come witness this event...

The time of the ceremony shall be at 9:00pm PST...

I ask that ye arrive a few minutes early, so that we may not waste time...

Timing is important in all magics, and this is especially true of Necromancy...

I look forward to seeing ye all Saturday evening...
Fare thee well...

Rest In Peace...
Thanatos, Lich Lord

Client Patch 2.0.6c

We are targeting to release client patch 2.0.6c this evening. This patch contains additional localization files and resolves some compatability issues with the Third Dawn client. Please note: Once you have received this patch, you must completely shut down and restart your Ultima Online client before you will be able to reconnect to the game.

If you have any difficulty receiving this patch, please check the following:

• 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/tech_6.html. Run a virus scan on your computer. If after trying the above, you are still experiencing difficulty patching the Ultima Online client, please contact Technical Support at [email protected]

.

Disturbing news this day. The mage child Sarielle, also now known as Havalah, has disappeared. She was last seen leaving her home at the Lycaeum after an evening full of epiphanies. Sources indicate that the child was very distressed over some fighting that was going on in and around the area of her home. If readers remember correctly, the child is vehemently opposed to people fighting unless it is against monsters that wish them ill.

This sad news comes hot on the heels of surprising news about who Sarielle is and her relationship to Shabti. It was learned, after taking the mage child to the Light of Reason, that Sarielle’s father was a teacher of some sorts and was possessed of long black hair. Her mother passed on after childbirth. It is interesting to note that while holding the lantern, the child spoke as an adult, not in her typical broken childish manner...

The way creatures spawn within UO has been changed to a more dynamic and reactionary system. The new spawning system will allow for better system control over how creatures spawn within UO, and will allow for better defined and detailed dynamic spawn changes. As a result of better control over the spawn system in UO, spawn behavior may alter. We will continue to watch the spawn rate, and make changes as necessary.

Hail and well met,
My friends I have a tail of high adventure, of pirates and treasure and more...

Last night Wednessday January 24th, 2001 Blood Stone the owner and operator of Liquid Pleasures in the Village of Virtue gathered a group of citizens of the land for a quest. As we gathered in the tavern waiting for the clocktower to toll nine times you could feel the excitment build in the room. On the ninth chime Blood Stone stepped forward with a tale to tell of the quest masters of old and a challenge for those in the room.

First Blood Stone asked those in the room to choose a quest leader, after a few moments of silence I offered my self to serve the group. Following a few minutes of debate I was selected and Blood Stone gave me ten books containing a riddle. I quickly passed out the books so those gathered could read them and we could begin to decypher the riddle. This is what was contained in the books:

Tonights pleasure is one of adventure and wits, if ye be interested in such things. I bring ye a tale of a man, sound in heart, strange in needs. He be Grim Ironforge, a man of little deeds. His requests are often rarely met, but for those of wit can surely get. He has a map of wonderful treasure, but finding him will not be pleasure. Do ye know a place of slithery thinkgs, or is it just the name that rings? Perhaps I should tell more, so this riddle can be further explored. Or perhaps I told too much, as snakes may have this bunch for lunch. But to find the man that dwells, is in a place that food and ale is swell. I do believe in that town, he sits in a place the smane name as a hound. Or was I lying, as it might have been a lion? Or both? But there he be a sitting, a fine place to be getting. Although I wish this was the end, th the adventures it will depend! Because it is not your ability, and a test of agility, that will make ye rich. It will be the matching of withs to this man named Ironforge, that ye will be tested. And once again this is not the end, for after ye obtain the map, it will be a journey to make the strongest bend! A trip to sea ye shall be, and a fisherman and a pole you will need. but be wary to the sea,... monsters and pirates there may be! The adventure is yours to take,... but be sure it is not a mistake!

From the riddle we gathered clues that told us we needed to meet a man named Grim Ironforge in the Dog and Lion Pub in Serpents Hold. This fine gentleman had been sampling the pubs best for when we arrived he began by asking for six million gold pieces for the map, but in making a deal with Grim Ironforge he told of the desire to write his memoires and gave us a short list of items to fetch in return for the map. A purple book and a pen with ink, some liquor with lemon and a chicken to feed upon, and his last request was for a comfortable seat for his arse. Immediatly from among the twenty or so gathered people began to run off and gather the items requested. A chicken was found well roasted in town, liquor from the bar wench and a lemon from the farmers market. A book with pen and ink gathered from a scribe of the land and a magicians throne to make Grim's arse comfortable. Once all the items were in Grim's possession he handed me a salt water stained piece of parchment bearing the coordinates: 120*40'S 145*32'E.

Our group quickly assembled outside and four captians were selected from the group, Lord Deimos, Draco, Scotia and my ward Petri. Each ship was to be crewed from those gathered the coordinates were given to each captain and with hurried goodbyes we set off to meet at the coordinates. It was an undersight on my part to not suggest each captain gather a sextant for the journey but with a little scavenging each ship prepared for sea. It was at sea that LeeLu remarked about seeing pirates in the Village of Virtue and someone else mentioned the reference to pirates in the riddle then as we pondered these things the first death warings came by carrier pigeon. PIRATES were at our coordinates armed with arrows and cannons, attacking our ships as they reached their goal. Snarl Everwind, One Eyed Willy and others seeking our treasure. Our adventurers stood their ground as long as they could but alas most lost their lives. Thank goodness we brought mages along for after the battle those of us who paid for adventure with our lives were quickly ressurected. The adventuers ships encircled the ship Petri was on to protect her as she fished for the chest of treasure mentioned in the SOS and in a few short moments the chest was aboard her ship and the fleet headed back to the Village of Virtue to divide the spoils of the night.

It was a grand adventure and a night this reporter shant forget soon. I look forward to the next adventure from the quest masters of the Village of Virtue.

Your humble servant,
Raeven Aurora.

Ah, February. The month for bow-toting cherubs, candy kisses and sweethearts. In recent months, Legends has enjoyed a good many marriages and unions. To commemorate upcoming Valentine's Day, we are soliciting tales of "true love." We're looking for stories of "love at first sight," "unrequited love," and just plain old "heart's aflame, traffic-stopping, once-in-a-life time" kind of love. If you have such a tale and would care to share it, send it in.

Until next we meet, safe journeys.

Cyn the Eternal Bachelor

Tonight, Baja’s Freeborn Press enjoyed the rare opportunity to interview the royal family of the Kingdom of Dawn. King Desmond, Queen Hayloh, and their son, Prince Riain are three of our Shard’s most prominant citizens, a fact especially true currently thanks to the recent events & role-playing which Dawn has been promoting.

Dawn, located East of the Dungeon Wrong on Felucca, is one of the oldest player-cities on Baja. The Kingdom of Dawn is host to several guildstones for its members—including one for guards and another for merchants—and their citizens’ guildstone boasts Baja’s highest number of veteran members at 137, with a total membership at 167.

Dawn’s most recent activities—involving dissent in the kingdom and threats against the royal family—promise to come to a violent head this Friday, and two of our staff met with the royals to find out the facts on these latest happenings. A last-minute interview began tonight at 7:45pm PST in the current Freeborn Pressroom, near the Shrine of Justice. Although the interview was conducted in secret, to maintain the safety of the royal family, communication crystals were set-up to broadcast the conversation across Sosaria, into the Dawn Mage Tower, the Avalon Town Hall, the Baja Mage Tower, the Dark Tower, and the Golden Brew.

The complete transcript of the interview session, along with several
paintings of the session, can be found on the Freeborn Press message board, here. The Freeborn Press hopes to conduct similar interviews with various prominant members of the Baja community in the near future, each one broadcast across the Shard in a similar manner to tonight.

Legends enjoys a fair number of courageous explorers, and from time to time, I'm fortunate enough to receive news of hazardous dungeon crawls and other adventures. Not long ago, Sir William Wallace sponsored such an adventure, inviting one and all to explore the depths of Deceit. I asked William to chronicle his adventure and he was kind enough to do so. I now present to you, William's own account of that event.

We gathered at the east gate of Moonglow and without hesitation, proceeded straight to the first level of Deceit.

Upon entering the first level of the dungeon, we were set upon by a host of monsters. We battled valiantly and appeared to be gaining the upper hand, when a dragon suddenly appeared! We attacked in mass, but the dragon was too powerful. One of our comrades, Octavian, fell in that battle so we retreated to safer ground and resurrected him. Another of our party, I remember not who, ran into to lure the dragon away, from our place of safety. The dragon wandered away and we were left alone to continue our exploration. After a moment, we made ready for the decent into the lower levels.

On the next level, our party tried to reach the 'bone prison,' but several of our party lagged behind. Morpheous and I teamed to do battle with evil Bone Knights, for a while then continued on. At this point, Richard Rahl had to leave our group, but another warrior named Bullet was added. We continued on to level three.

Immediately, we were stopped dead in our tracks by a poison elemental. After a brief but furious battle, Johny III opened a magical portal and we headed for the crypts. There were now only four of our original party, left; Morpheous, Johny III, Britney Spreaz and myself. We devised a plan to lure the silver serpents away, then proceed to the Liche Lords, but the plan went terribly awry and we lost Johny and Morpheous to the deadly poisonous snakes. We again retreated to a place of relative safety and resurrected our comrades. Then, Johny devised another plan, he rushed headlong into the room and provoked the Liche Lord upon a silver serpent. Success! I was then able to finish off the Liche Lord and we made our way back to the City of Britain. There, we bid our farewells until the next 'dungeon crawl.'

Cyn the Cynical

Vendui' To All!

This eve, I had the distinct pleasure of leading yet another probe force of the Federation. Our new allies accompanied us, SWG, which also showed in force. I gathered us all at the stated time, and we moved into position to defend the besieged city of Skara Brea.

As we took our positions, we were followed by a small group of bandits, who sought to gain from a fallen elf. We huddled close, and used our blades to keep them at bay. In moments, the legions of the undead poured into us, sending our units in to battle. We slew everything in our paths, though for each one that fell, another rose to take it's place. They fought with honor, they fought with pride, and they fought like Elven!

When the last of the Hell Spawn fell, the Order arrived. Our numbers regrouped, and began to let fly at the Daemons. Alas, our superior numbers were sliced through like warm bread, and our bodies picked clean by the wharf rats. All had seemed lost.

In a desperate attempt to free mine Elven from this plague, I spoke to the Lady riding in the Order. I beseeched her to have audience, but she would not hear of it. I closed mine eyes, and began to cling to me death shroud for protection. I felt only the air rush by, as she rode past.

Recovering from the experience, I chased down another of their numbers. Fearing for my life, I held my hands up in a sign of peace. He batted them down, and prepared to strike. I begged again for audience, he stopped. Shaken in body, though not in spirit, I begged for audience. He muttered only "Speak to Zar'el Darak". Though I tried to question him further, he disappeared on the winds. All again seemed lost.

I prepared the elves for departure, when the winds whispered to me. "I shall meet thee, Leader of the Elven. Come to the Ranger Hall, and come alone; I quickly commanded my forces back to our homes, though they begged to stay by my side. I knew I could not say why I was staying, only that I must make sure they were safe.

Escorting the last elf through the gates, I proceeded to the Ranger Hall. The leader himself, Zar'el Darak, met me then! Though every bone in mine Elven body said flee, my resolve again took hold. I questioned him directly as to the reason for the attacks. His answers were most interesting indeed.

He spoke of the Order being wronged in some fashion, though no mention of how or why. He continued to say that the town must be "cleansed of filth", and that only then would peace be realized.

I could not seem to get an answer to my question, as Zar'el was as elusive as in battle. He spoke to me about the manner of fighting, and issued me a warning. He told me that the thieves and the wharf rats, feasting on our possessions, would be destroyed first. This was by no means a treaty, but simply the way of things.

On the subject of combat, he asked we adhere to the Honor Code of old, in that we naut fight while hidden in death's robe. Again, this might mean that our fallen may recover their possession, but there was no such promise made. I agreed to this point, as a representative of the Elven Federation, for it was the proper way. Fallen warriors must first dress and shed deaths token before continuing to battle.

The conversation lead into the night, and a few of mine Elven had returned looking for me. I was started at the arrival of Calhoun (RSB), one of the few humans protecting the city, but Zar'el simply laughed. Calhoun is an old friend, and readied his bow, fearing I was to be attacked. The daemon snickered, and bid his final fare well. Before I left, I gave him a promise from the elves.

"We will end this, M'Lord, one way or the others. Should thee seek peace, we shall be thy emissaries. Should thee seek death, we shall be thy escorts into Hades. We shall see the end, fates be damned, either way. That is the word from the Elven, and our word is honor."

Zar'el again snickered, and promised to see us in battle again. He promised that all would end, when he would ride through the city, restoring his order. Calhoun and myself, left alone, pondered this though, and shuddered at the vision. We bid each other Aluve', know we would be back again on the morrow.

We will be publishing the design changes and bug fixes listed in Testing For Next Update to the Pacific Shard. This publish will be active on Pacific following its Friday, January 26th (local server time) maintenance period, barring any unforeseen downtimes. We will monitor the Pacific shard over the weekend for any problems that might occur. The schedule for publish of these items to the remaining shards will be announced at a later time.

All changes will be added to Latest Game Updates once the publish is active on all shards. Some of the major things being added are Karma Locking, Fixes to the Faction System, and Town Moongate Travel Changes.

The men lined up straight and tall behind their Lord and master, Elmdor, awaiting the arrival of the one called Scarecrow, this in their mind would be the Death Corps finest hour if the Knights did not deliver the one item that would stop all the blood shed.

From the northeast, footsteps of man and beast could be heard approaching the party. The footsteps grew closer and I watched as seven men approached, following their leader.

Scarecrow stopped before the Dark Lord and after the exchange of many words, threats, and accusations, a great battle ensued.

As each man took to their blade or their magicks, one on the outside as I was could see that the two leaders had trained their men well. Standing in awe for there was nothing I could do, I watched as one of the Yew knights fell, only to be followed by the ghastly death cry of an evil knight.

The battle took for what seemed to me, an eternity, watching the bloodshed and the anguished death cries from both parties. I was about to turn away, unable to watch this massacre any longer, when a messenger of some importance came before the dark lord. Obviously oblivious to the battle that was happening all around him, his message to the Dark one was broken but sounded of great importance. Only hearing a few of the spoken words, I could make out that he was saying something to the effect of "My Lord, the gate has opened, the prophecy has begun!"

After hearing this message the Dark Lord Elmdor called his men to a halt and in a voice deep and urgent he told them to meet him at their stronghold.

Puzzled as to what urgency this message had, or what meaning for that matter I simply stood watching as each of the dark forces withdrew their blade, stopped their magicks, and disappeared in the mists with the battle that had broken out quickly becoming a foul memory that befell the great walls of the Abbey.

We have just gone over the issue of rewards here and I have some new information for you:

• We are not going to delete all of the veteran rewards.
• The number of players that got any extra rewards is just a few hundred.

We are planning to set up a series of tests, using the fixes we have applied to the system. These fixes are based upon our lengthy investigation of the situation and the system itself. As more becomes available, I will let you know.

Melantus
Online Community Coordinator
Ultima Online

Impy built a castle with his bare hands from the rocks of the mountain that spans Ice Isle. He was always left to his own devices until recently. Once the auction hit big, Lord British stepped in demanding gold. Now before you all hurl unjustly insults at our leader, Lord Brit, please remember that everyone else who owns a home has had to buy a deed from one of LB's vendors and hire his carpenters to construct it. In this instance, LB felt slighted out of his gold and demanded payment in full of what he calls "back taxes".

Well, being the stubborn little dwarf that he is, Impy declined to even acknowledge the claims of Lord Brit. Instead, he ignored them. Almost 2 weeks ago, the Brittanian Town Council was ordered to send a militia to the castle to claim it as the property of the state in Lord British's name. This should bring everyone up to date on our current situation.

Mayhap, Impy would have been better off to have paid the "back taxes", but his pride wouldn't let him. Instead, he's asked that we go in search of a castle to purchase in lieu of his now missing property. It must be in Trammel and preferably on the Isle he has called home for 107 years. He insists that the event house will be reinstated to it's former glory and will pay better attention in the future. He's got a bone to pick with Lord British and wants to show him that you can't keep a good dwarf down. :)

If anyone has a place for sale or knows of one for sale, please send us an E-mail.

Thx for your time and cya at a future auction soon.

Impys' Staff

Late at night on Sunday the town criers warned of a mass of elementals storming the North woods of Occlo. Upon arrival, hordes of Air, Fire, and Water elementals were infesting the woods. People came from all over to help fight what seemed like an endless stream of elementals. There was a Poison elemental who seemed to be rather powerful leading the swarm. After much fighting, we concentrated our efforts on the Poison elemental and eventually defeated him, but not before a few lost their lives. After the chaos had settled, Parker from the town of Occlo showed up to thank us and spoke of a mage that had been banished from Occlo. He was unclear whether or not the mage was responsible for this nor was he clear about the mage's whereabouts. Be forewarned should you venture into Occlo's woods again until this is resolved.

The Scoundrel of Terror

Thank ye Scoundrel

The night proved to be magical. Caina bedecked itself for a host of revelers to attend the inaugural ball of the Mayor. Newly fallen snow covered most, if not all, of the blood-drenched lands of Caina, giving it, for this one night, an ethereal glow of excruciating beauty and wildness. The evening’s events began atop the Tower of Skulls with a brief speech by the Mayor. As he dismissed the celebrants to their sport, a hush fell over those nearest the stairs. From below, darkness preceded the Master of Golgotha as he slowly climbed to the roof. Mainlanders stood agape at a rare vision of Azalin, the lich lord – one that did not include their deaths or madness. With a voice that coldly sliced through the chatter of his unwanted guests, Azalin bid them to silence and stood before the Mayor.

“We wish to make a gift to the Mayor of Caina, for his exceptional work in governing our lands,” Azalin began as mainlanders edged further away from his menacing gaze. He held a key aloft. “This is the Key to Caina which we present to the Mayor, and this…”

The macabre grin perpetually frozen to the lich’s face grew in grotesque proportions. The violet lights that formed his eyes, transfixing in their horrific beauty, stared at the Mayor as he spoke. In his right hand, he held a large golden ring, encrusted with sigils and gems.

“This is the Ring of Caina. For your service, we give you this ring.”

Treadeau stepped before Azalin and gratefully accepted the key and the ring. The latter he slipped over his finger. The audience breathed a collective sigh, as the Mayor remained apparently healthy before them.

“Now we shall allow you to return to your revelry,” Azalin breathed towards the audience. His voice held a note of loathing as his gaze rested on several known Lightbearers and sages. The crowd again held their breath as he glided noiselessly down the steps of Caina and in to his chambers. On the roof of the tower, the night seemed slightly less dark and foreboding. Stars peeped out from the clouds and the twin moons bathed the snow-covered landscape in an unholy glow.

Kelila Kali first penetrated the vacuum caused by the lich’s departure. She turned to Jared, Paladin of the Lost Order of Akalabeth and resumed their conversation.

“As I was saying earlier, our fair city is positively beset these days with those foul vermin. You cannot step but three feet without coming face to face with a wolf. I do not know from where they come, but they must be exterminated.”

The Magistrate, congratulating the Mayor, froze in mid sentence and stared at the Vice-Mayor.

“In fact, I offer a reward of gold for each wolf pelt brought before me.”

From all directions, simultaneous shrieks of indignation were heard. Velika, ashen faced, glared at Kelila. Callisto Gabriel, Zappa and Kryste, their trained wolves ever at their feet, snarled in hatred of the witch.
“You cannot do this thing, crone!”
“These wolves are more than our pets!”
“They have more of a right to this land than you, hag!”
“Threaten my family like this, and you find yourself before my court and dead, no?”
“I’ll kill you myself…”

A clamour of threats, indignant retorts and outraged exhortations flurried around Kelila who smiled at the cacophony. Among the spectators, an old Vistana seer watched Velika closely. Silently, Cerenje Wolkoff absorbed the proceedings, staring quietly at her mistress’ wrath and nodding to herself. The celebrants began drifting out of Golgotha and towards the Casino where the promises of wine and ale beckoned. Velika followed Kelila and confronted her before the wasted remains of the Hospice.

“Vice-Mayor, you cannot do this thing. You cannot threaten the wolves this way, no?”

“I can, and I do. These wolves are a nuisance, and they have increased in number of late. If they were not so useful in certain of my experiments, I would say they should all just be slaughtered. As it is, I have need of their pelts. My offer of gold stands. For every pelt skinned off the dead corpse of a wolf in Caina, I will give a reward of several crowns.”

Horror and disgust etched Velika’s face with every word uttered by Kelila.

“You will find yourself in my court, if you do this. I will try you, condemn you and kill you myself."

Alucard, Emissary of Caina walked towards the arguing women in time to hear the last of Velika’s claims. He frowned as both women turned on their heels and stalked in opposite directions. Following Velika, Alucard considered the possible outcomes of this outburst. None of them were good. Catching the Magistrate near the varda of the Vistani, Alucard bade her stop.

“M’lady Magistrate, what are you doing?”

“What is it that you want, Emissary?”

“You cannot threaten the Vice-Mayor this way, Velika. It would not be healthy for your career,” Alucard suggested, frowning over the Magistrate’s rash actions.

“She threatens my family, Alucard. I will not tolerate this.”

As he was considering her words, Callisto Gabriel stormed through the clearing fuming. Zappa followed close at her heels, requesting that she stop.

“Whatever is the matter?” He began.

“That…. that…. that hag killed my wolf!” The Sage of Humility sputtered in her utter outrage. As a tamer of beasts, Callisto had a special affinity for her pets, knowledge of their intelligence and loyalty far beyond that of most humans. Dark clouds formed on Zappa’s brow. He also held a great love and respect for the animals he tamed.

“She did what?!”

“She killed him! I was riding with my wolves near the shore, and that witch came out and killed him!”

“Where is she?! I will kill her myself!” Zappa thundered as he tore from the clearing towards the shore, Callisto following closely on his heels. Velika and Alucard stopped their conversation and watched the couple race for the ocean. They returned shortly, frustration marking their faces as Kelila had alluded their grasp. Zappa continued muttering vile threats and premonition’s of the witch’s death while Callisto consoled herself with her remaining wolf.

In subdued tones, Alucard claimed, “You must be more careful, Magistrate, you cannot be caught committing such a crime.”

Velika smiled instantly.

“Of course I would not be caught, Alucard.”

“Then do what you must”

He turned and walked purposefully towards the Well of Souls to watch the dragon fighting. Velika smiled at his back and retreated into the Casino, seeking some Bloodwine to cool her temper. Just as she discovered that none existed among the merchants, an announcement was made that Nexus Graveheart would soon fight a dragon in single combat. Velika rose with many of the other patrons and walked through the snow to the Well of Souls. A dragon fight was never something to miss, and Nexus was renowned for his prowess in battle.

Spectators filled the Well of Souls, waiting for the commander of the militia to begin the battle. Chained to the ice was a large red dragon; his claws had scarred the floor of the Well in his attempts to break free and eat any of the people standing too close. Sal Veya had already fled from the Wells as he had wandered too close to the beast in an attempt to inspect him. Wagers crossed hands as many declared Nexus a fool to attempt such a battle. Many more, knowing his skill, smiled in smug satisfaction that they would soon relieve the Lightbearers of some hard-earned gold. Nexus nodded slowly to Geist to release the dragon and the enormous beast lunged towards his amoured opponent. From the corner of her eye, Velika saw someone in the crowd trace a sigil in the air and a faint, almost imperceptible glow covered Nexus. Suddenly, his movements slowed and the dragon, sensing an advantage, mercilessly buffeted him with his wings and claws. Another motion from the crowd, and Nexus stopped entirely, transfixed to the ice as if made of stone. The dragon sank his teeth through his midsection and tore the commander apart. Blood poured across the floor of the Well of Souls as chaos broke free among the spectators. The dragon seemed to attack in all directions at once until it was finally led away from the guests and killed. Velika and Rune Artisem collected the warrior’s things and awaited his return from the ethereal plane. Remembering suddenly that she had left some vitally important documents unfinished on her desk, Velika left the Well and returned to the Tribunal to finish her work while listening to the cheers of the spectators of the gladiator tournament.

Some time later, she smiled as she made her finishing flourish on another request for the arrest of William, Paladin of the Lost Order of Akalabeth. This one permitted her militia to arrest him at any time, and in any land. She knew that the mainlanders cared little for her word or her law, but she would not ask Nexus to arrest this man until she had protected him as much as she could. She stood from her desk and stretched. The balcony invited her and as she stepped into the bracing air, she mused sadly that she had missed half of the festivities writing this document. A cheer from the crowd outside told her that the gladiator tournament was still underway, and if she hurried, she could watch a few of the bouts. She turned to leave when she heard the voices of Alucard and GreyPawn below her. They spoke in hushed voices and Velika could make little sense of their words. Grinning to herself, she decided to test the old sage’s heart and whispered the words of power that transported her mere inches behind where he stood. The Emissary frowned, annoyed at the intrusion, while GreyPawn jumped in alarm. Laughing, Velika apologized for interrupting their conversation and moved past Alucard, mouthing “Save some for me” as she walked by. She heard his chuckle as she mounted the Well of Souls to watch the gladiators.

As she stood watching the fights, Rune Artisem strode solemnly into the cleared area.

“The Vice-Mayor has been murdered.”

Startled looks met his announcement as the fighters ceased their struggle.

“I said, the Vice-Mayor has been murdered! Come, see, her corpse lies near the shore.”

Frozen to the ground in shock, most didn’t move, but Velika followed to see the scene. Alucard and GreyPawn arrived at Kelila’s corpse shortly afterwards to see Velika bent over the body.

“Velika, what have you done?”

The Magistrate stood, holding a ring in her hand in which several short, coarse, grey hairs were stuck, matted with blood. She looked at the corpse dispassionately and inspected several large gashes in the torso and legs.

“I have done nothing, Emissary. But look, see this ring? It is covered with strange hairs, no? I think this is not the ring of the Vice-Mayor. And these wounds….she was mauled by a wolf. I am certain of this.”

GreyPawn stared at Velika in doubt. “I think she was murdered, not attacked by wild animals…and where were you when this happened?”

“You tell me when it happened, m’lord, I tell you where I was, no?”

GreyPawn looked at the corpse and the snow melting slightly still beneath it.

“It has happened just recently, I would guess shortly before we saw you near the Tribunal Hall.”

“Ah, then I was inside the Tribunal working on some papers, no?”

At this both GreyPawn and Alucard frowned. They had been in front of the Tribunal hall and saw her recall there. Confusion followed the frowns as GreyPawn spoke their thoughts.

“No, Velika, you could not have been in the Tribunal. We were there…we saw you recall to the spot just behind me, remember?” The Sage of Honesty continued to frown at the young woman. How could she possibly expect a lie like this to protect her? And why would she tell it to the two people who could easily refute her words?

“The Magistrate was with me at the time,” Alucard said firmly, staring at Velika.

Both GreyPawn and the Magistrate turned to look at the Emissary.

“But you were with me, Alucard, not her…”
“I was not with you, Alucard, you were speaking with the Sage. I was in the Tribunal Hall.”

Alucard stared firmly at GreyPawn and then Velika. “Velika was with me at the time of this murder.”

As others began trickling in Velika said stubbornly, “I was not with you Alucard, I was in the Tribunal Hall, working on my papers.”

Alucard scowled as he realized that everyone had heard her protestation. He asked Velika for the ring and began inspecting it. As the crowd realized what had happen, they all began clamouring at once. Some thought that the Magistrate had killed the Vice-Mayor, others swore it was one of the Sages of Humility. The citizens of Caina fixated that it was obviously a wolf attack, clearing Velika’s name, until the Magistrate proved that most mages, she included, could turn in to wolves, and did so before the entire assembly. One of the Handmaidens of Lilith, Ssin’urn swore revenge on any who could have done it and suggested that they all be put to death. Cerenje Wolkoff appeared and, after speaking with the spirits, declared that “Lum was to blame.” GreyPawn suggested that Cerenje committed the murder and was placing blame on the Sages. Again the Sages of Humility protested their innocence. Ssin’urn noticed that Cerenje wore a ring similar to that found on Kelila’s body and in her locket was a lock of very coarse, short grey hair. Convinced that she was the murderer, Ssin’urn threatened to kill the old woman and the Magistrate in retaliation. Velika scoffed at the threats and the suggestion, pointing out that Cerenje was no fewer than one hundred winters old, and as a mortal human, far to frail to have caused such wounds on the Vice-Mayor.

As the others argued these points she turned to Cerenje, recognition and concern marking her face.

“Sta jed vlkodlak, Cerenje?”

“Da.”

Fear gripped Velika’s heart as she nodded.

“Ne’Sveti vlkodlak?”

“Nyet, Vistani vlkodlak.”

Apparently relieved, Velika remained quiet for the remainder of the argument, interjecting only to keep the drow from slaying her servant.

Treadeau and Rune Artisem returned from their conference as Ssin’urn made her final discovery. On Cerenje’s arm was a long gash, similar to those found on Kelila’s body. She insisted that a Necromancer look at the marks, and Rune complied. He inspected them for a long time, fascinated by what he found.

“These are certainly marks of a magical kind. I believe they were made in a ceremony of binding.”

Cerenje spat on the ground, “Bah, you necromancers know nothing of true magicks!”

“Then what is this, old woman?” Rune asked, while the drow spat her derision at both the man asking and the old crone answering the questions.

“Answer him, Cerenje,” Velika prompted. She could no longer protect her servant.

“This is a ritual of binding, da. I call forth a vlkodlak…a werewolf and bind him to my wishes. Then he comes here and kills this psovati blaznivy.”

Ssin’urn hissed as she readied her katana. Blood would pour from this old crone’s corpse if she had her way.

Velika stepped in front of her and addressed the crowd.

“Very well, I will take this woman in to custody and she will be tried for her crimes. Cerenje, follow me.”

Ssin’urn growled her disapproval. “You will be lenient with this wael elg’caress. You will pardon her.”

Velika looked calmly into the irate face of the drow. “She will be tried for breaking our laws. And I will not be lenient…because she was caught.”

Several of the spectators followed Velika and her prisoner into the courthouse where the trial began immediately, despite the late hour and Velika’s protest. She swore in her court and sat with the Mayor on her right and the Emissary on her left. After charging her former nursemaid with the crime of murder, Velika listened as Cerenje claimed innocence based on self-defense. Ssin’urn had little to testify other than the known facts which Velika repeated for the record. Turning to her servant, Velika asked for her testimony.

“I murdered this woman, da, but I had to. She threatens the wolves in Caina. The wolves come with the Ne’Sveti family. They represent their strength, their ancient bloodline. They protect them; they share their blood. Some of them are Ne’Sveti. To kill these wolves is to kill my family. I protect my family; I kill the witch before she kills the wolves.”

With that Cerenje bowed her head before her mistress and awaited her sentencing. Velika sighed. Cerenje was quite right. Kelila had called for a death warrant on a large number of the Ne’Sveti family with her ban on wolves. But the Vice-Mayor did not know that the Ne’Sveti family, and therefore Cainan citizens, counted many lycanthropes among their number. She addressed the court as Ssin’urn opened her mouth to protest.

“While it is true that you were only protecting my family with this act, Cerenje, the Vice-Mayor knew not that she threatened us.”

Ssin’urn nodded her agreement.

“Because of this, I sentence you to immediate death at the hands of the drow elf.”

Velika turned to Ssin’urn and frowned. “Make it a quick death.”

Cerenje stood and faced the drow, never wavering from her mistress’s orders. Within seconds, the old woman lie crumpled on the floor and a look of satisfaction graced the drow woman’s face. She nodded briefly to the Magistrate who remained staring at her hands, folded in her lap. A chuckle could be heard from the back of the courthouse, as GreyPawn found irony in the trial and the sentence. With a glower, Velika slammed her hand on the table, bringing the court to a close, and stalked to her office.

Velika Ne'Sveti
Magistrate of Caina

On February 10th the grandest event to hit the Lost Lands since its founding shall take Place! The Delucia Carnivale! Come one! Come all! There’ll be drunken combat, mystical beasts and even a bit o’ gambling! *winks* If’n ye be brave, curious or if ye just want ta do a bit o’ shoppin’ ye best be there! Elsewise ye’ll be sittin’ around at home while all yer friends are away to Delucia. So come all to the Delucia Carnivale, taking place in Delucia on the Field of the Spider and the Serpent due south of the bank.

All times by the Moonglow Clock (Eastern)

• Sylvester the Stablekeeper's Challenge: 2:00 p.m.
• Tippler's Tilt: 3:00 p.m.
• Sylvester the Stablekeeper's Challenge ends: 4:15 p.m.
• Auction: 4:15 p.m.
• Explosive Encounter: 5:00 p.m.

Hiring for positions in the Carnivale! We shall be needing a highly skilled Tamer for Sylvester the Stablekeeper's Challenge. Pay shall be 2,000 gold coins. We shall also be needing two people to run the Tavern and Gambling booths. Pay shall be 1,000 gold coins. Also, we shall need referees for the Explosive Encounter. Pay shall be 1,000 gold coins. (All those interested please contact me at ICQ #10289672)

Other people interested in running their own booths are very welcome as well. There shall be a Delucian representative at the Carnivale grounds from noon eastern onwards to direct and aid you in setting up your booth locations. Also entertainers are invited, such as Bards and juggling mongbats.

This is a Trammel event so all those wishing to participate in combat should have or be available to initiate highlighting.

Sylvester the Stablekeeper's Challenge

Tamers interested in participating will meet at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. No new submissions will be taken after 4:15 p.m. Eastern. Tamers should tame as many animals as quickly as possible. They shall be given points for each animal depending upon how rare the animal is and how difficult the animal is to tame. These will be the animals which will score points:

• Phoenix: 10,000,000
• White Wyrm: 25
• Nightmare: 23
• Dragon: 20
• Drake: 15
• Frenzied Ostard: 6
• Forest Ostard: 4
• Desert Ostard: 3
• Rideable Llama: 2
• Horse: 1

If you bring in an Ostard the color of which no one else has brought in you receive a 5 point bonus. The color must be uniquely different. So it can't just be a slightly lighter shade of green. All judgments are final.

At any point during the competition tamers can bring their animals back to Delucia and transfer them to the caretaker. (Animals should be named after the ones who tamed them for easy point counting. Otherwise some of your points may be lost.) Tamers are allowed to have a single teammate to aid them in taming difficult creatures, such as Dragons. These team mates are to help them tame not to go off on their own and tame separately. If the tamers do not have their animals back in Delucia by 4:15 p.m. eastern then the animals they have with them when or if they finally do show will not be counted. After the competition the animals shall be auctioned. The first place winner shall get 50 percent of the proceeds, second shall receive 30 percent and third shall receive 15 percent. The last 5 percent shall go to the Delucia treasury.

Tippler's Tilt

The drunken combat shall begin at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. The general rules are as follows. When a signal is given each competitor shall swill five bottles of ale as quickly as they can, run out onto the field, grab a weapon, and begin attack other competitors. No armor is allowed. No weapons which are not on the field may be used. You may not pick up more than one weapon from the field. No potions, no magic and no bandages. If, in your inebriated state, you run off the field you are assumed to have yielded the battle to the other competitors. The last man standing wins and will receive a crate full of beverages and a bottle of Janna’s Hangover Remedy.

The weapons on the field will be one of each single handed weapon. Except for kryss, dagger and war fork, there will be two of each of those.

Explosive Encounter

At the end of the day there will be a war game within the town of Delucia. Participants shall be randomly divided into two teams. On the mark of "go" at precisely 5:15 p.m., each team will try to eradicate the other. At the end of the time allotted (at precisely 5:45 p.m.), the team with the greatest number still standing shall be declared the winner. The rules of combat are as follows.

• Only explosion potions (provided by participants) may be used against the other team. Any member seen using a weapon or fists will be disqualified.
• Members may only wear clothing and footwear. Any members seen wearing armor will be disqualified.

The game takes place within city limits. Any member seen going outside the gates will be disqualified.

Riders of Virtue and The Cavaliers 4th Dungeon Exploration a SMASHING Success

The Fourth Dungeon, Deceit, in our Exploration of all the Trammel Catskills' dungeons was a SMASHING success as witnessed by all the Silver Serpents and Lich Lords we smashed to the ground. Our group explored all the creepy hallways and rooms of Deceit encountering all types of Undead along the way. After completely touring the dungeon, we stood over our success in the Lich Lord room and decided it was a fine time to explore Destard as well. Working as a supportive team with all our experience these last few weeks, we went to the opening of Destard. Inside Destard we toured the entire upper level encountering Giant Serpents, Water Elementals, Wyverns, Drakes and Dragons. But we quickly subdued these creatures and went for stronger prey deeper in the cavern. On the Second Level we encountered Evil Mage Lords and Shadow Wyrms and continued down to eventually fight the Ancient Wyrm. Everyone had a great time and many adventurers got to experience places that they had never visited before.

This upcoming Saturday Afternoon (January 27th at 8 p.m. Eastern) Riders of Virtue and The Cavaliers will host part Five of the dungeon exploration as we adventure into HYTHLOTH. This should be the one of the most exciting dungeon yet in the exploration series. If you plan on coming to the more challenging adventures such at Khaldun and Terathon, plan to come to one of the earlier adventures to learn how we explore first. Everyone is invited no matter what your experience level. Bring your whole guild for a great adventure. More information is located here including the calendar for future dungeon explorations.

Guild Commander Thorin Oakshield, General of the Crimson Knights, hereby declares the village of Cove is the property of the Crimson Knights.

• No unauthorized assault or theft.
• Overly use of curse words is a crime.
• Drinking which breaks the virtue of Sobriety is illegal.
• Excessive rudeness to any citizen of guest to Cove…is illegal.

In response to the development in Cove, Lord Rakknarr of the Phantom Menace has issued a call to arms among the evil groups to attempt a world takeover:

Ah, I see nao. Mayhaps ‘tis time the uprising. These foolish humans cannae hold any city f’long and the Crimsons will surely hold whate’er they choose. Th’Orc Horde can easilty take anything they seek as well if they would just ban t’gether long enough tae march, the unrulyness of the Pirates and Brigands of these lands could also hold anything they seek as well. The Drow could assassinate any uprising leader of good and some otherworldly creatures devoted tae th’darkness would serve well as stealthy killers.

I shall call upon these leaders and I shall organize a full world takeover.

Darkness hast taken Felucca, we can be just as successful if nae more in Trammel, as we donnae hae that self-serving creature Minax plotting for her own benefit.

I urge all of the lands Evil and Vile tae contact me. A strike is eminent and ‘tis time the humans of this world know who really is control.

8086817 is the path.

Lord Rakknarr
Phantom Menace

On the Yew Council itself, there is growing discontent with the ruling body. Nightbringer has issued a letter to his fellow citizens. He says that the Council has cheated its citizens out of their basic freedoms, including freedom of religion. He calls upon his fellow citizens to rise up and take back power.

In reply to this letter, General Rahl of the Black Rose Society has pleaded with the Yew citizenry to not take arms against the Council. Instead,

If you have complaints about Yew’s governing body, take those complaints to the Great Council, stage peaceful protests, or confront the Council about their actions directly and petition change.

In other news in Yew, the Justices have ruled that they will not pursue further investigations on the various allegations of treason on the part of mayor Humphrey de Levant and the Yew Council, stating that there is not enough evidence to indicate any treasonous act. Likewise, the justices do not find any breach of their oath of offices. This ends the matter for all intents and purposes.

In Trinsic, the newly-elected council has dealt with growing public concern over the presence of drow in the community as well as recent acts of violence, one attack resulting in the loss of Councilor Whillok, of the Sons of the Sea. The Council amended the law concerning the permanent ban of various groups from the city. The Covenant of Blood and the house Qu’ellar Vlos’Ilhar of the drow have been declared persona non grata within Trinsic. The council further reminded the citizenry that while these groups may be freely attacked within the city without repercussion, the Council would not tolerate unruly mobs and would prefer that this matter be left to the professional army and militia first. Additionally, these groups should not be pursued outside of the city except by the self-same army and militia. In other words, they don’t desire to become like that tree-ridden city of the North.

In Delucia, a Carnivale is planned for the 10th of February. The Carnivale will involve drunken combat, a taming contest and gambling. They are also hiring for positions in the Carnivale for those interested in earning extra coin. Full details will be forthcoming.

In Moonglow, the mages have decided to hold reagent prices at their present level. There was some talk of raising the prices to account for some of the financial trouble the city has run into of late. The budget has been trimmed, diverting funding from research, sponsoring a new academy in Trinsic, and an additional wing to the zoo. In related news, Kimberly of Moonglow has stepped down from being Moonglow’s representative the Great Council. The new representative shall be the Mage Senestra.

On Sunday, January the 28th at 8 pm GMT we will have another chance for big prizes for all those who do not fear to participate in an All-Over-Britannia-Event. The participants will be given a surcoat with a unique color. All other clothings will be stored in the tavern. The only things the participants are allowed to carry are 10 recall scrolls.The participants will then travel all cities in Britannia and have to find event-staff who will give them a simple task or ask a question about Ultima Online for them to earn a piece of exceptional clothing.

The first player arriving at Blackmores Inn fully dressed in the clothes of his color wins 15 k gold. The second will get 7500 gp and the third winner gets 3000 gp. All participants may also keep the clothes they receive within the contest.

The event is limited to 15 participants who have to register on Sunday, January the 28th from 7 to 8 pm GMT.

An Interview with Scaramandine II
Erik Valstrom
Jan 24 2001 4:59PM

I am seriously considering placing a sign up outside my front door saying, "All Necromancers Please Knock Three Times." That should give me warning enough so I may vacate the premises via the back door. I had no such warning when Scaramandine II, nicknamed 'Scar' by his "friends," shall I say, came calling recently. His knock was much like any other and thus I had no time to prepare my questions nor steel my nerves to meet one such as he. I am sure my utterly mortified expression amused him.

"Ye are not so hard to find, Chronicler," he said, smiling. "Worry not. May I come in?"

I, of course, would not dare deny him admittance, knowing he could find other far less pleasant means of entry, and would have no scruples in doing so, should he so desire. Besides that, there is a rather warped thrill of danger that I admit I relish when talking with notorious personalities. Therefore, but not without some reserve, I welcomed him into my small home with all due courtesies.

He surveyed the furnishings and offered a simple, "Quaint, yet tasteful" comment. I smiled and offered him a seat and a drink. He accepted both. I asked him what brought him to my home as I poured him a glass of the best wine I had.

"I am aware that once ye spoke with my rival, Armande deSade. Ye gave him a fair hearing, allowing Britannians to judge him by his own words. I thought ye might do the same for me."

I nodded agreement, handed him the glass of wine, and took a seat. "Say on, sir, ye have a captive audience," I replied, with a smile of my own.

He returned the smiled and leaned forward slightly. "We should be judged by our actions, more so than words. Ye may now have opportunity to judge me by mine."

I nodded agreement and asked him to continue.

"Armande de Sade, a villain and an enemy to all, has been destroyed. I used the power of the Orb and the Spell of Focusing to rid the world of him forever. I was about to rid the world of yet another villain when my plans were foiled by those who are guided by a warped sense of 'justice.'"

I had heard Armande was gone--his shade had been seen, bearing all the marks of one who had been made a victim of the Orb of Soul Seeking. No one mourned his passing, just the hideous way it had been affected. I had also heard reports that the Orb was no more, shattered recently as it lay on the ground in Cove by an enchanted war hammer wielded by a simple farmer named Beechel Kire. Yet I was curious to know who would have been his next target, had it not been destroyed, and posed the question to him. He scowled as he spoke and his words spilled out like venom.

"A murdering thief whom the so-called Justice Alliance have had in their fellowship and employ for a long time--Spyte the Knife. Armande and I disagreed over many things. Ridding ourselves of that treacherous assassin was not one of them. I hope those who saved him are pleased with themselves. They will pay the high price of their folly soon enough, though not from me. They will see--they fought the starving serpent to free the ravening panther."

I had to interject at this point and did so knowing it could cost me. Nevertheless, I proceeded to tell Scaramandine that his using the Orb presented a threat to all of us, that it was best destroyed, and even the entity within the Orb itself, Io, was consenting to its destruction.

"There was no threat to anyone undeserving of death. I had complete power over the Orb and the Necromari as well. I went recently to the Mage Tower in Moonglow, where I had performed rituals on the war hammer fashioned by Telos Agralia from the enchanted armor of the fallen paladin Martel Nevarre. But at the Mage Tower I was confronted by its castellan and he refused sale of it to me. I had no choice but to reward his disrespect with a display of violence--yet I did not use the Spell against those who opposed me there, nor did I persist in forcing my way into the tower."

Once again he made reference to an event I did not witness, being ill of late, though my special contacts did bring me word. What he said was true to some extent--the Spell of Focusing was not used against anyone in Moonglow. I noted he used the past tense in describing his "complete power" over the Necromari, his multitudinous, nefarious, and thoroughly fanatical following. I asked him about that.

"The Orb was the focus of my authority over the Necromari. Their fear of it, from me using it to destroy those who opposed me, kept them in line and completely loyal to me. With the Orb gone, after a brief unity we gained after the death of Armande, we have again factionalized. I have spent many days chasing down the ringleaders of the various factions destroying them mercilessly. The acts of wanton destruction at the hands of these renegade factions are not my responsibility--those who opposed me in Cove, who aided in the shattering of the Orb, must bear full and total culpability."

I had heard reports of his plans to seek out and destroy the descendants of those who fought his forbear and namesake, the elder Scaramandine, using the Orb. I wondered if he would tell the truth concerning that.

"Aye, I had considered finding and destroying that pathetic progeny who had fled to the deceptive security of Trammel - but it was not something I was bent on doing. Even if I had, it would be no less than what anyone would do in retaliation for harm to one's own flesh and kin. Why should they not pay for the sins of their fathers? I am paying for mine constantly."

I did not bother mentioning that it was his forbear who had tried traitorously to undermine the authority of the king and subjugate the decent citizens of Minoc, and then, when his duplicity was discovered and he cast down, sought a thoroughly devilish means to wreak his vengeance on the innocent citizens. If he were paying for the "sins" of his forbear, I must conclude that it is deserved, unlike those of his intended victims on Trammel. I decided to change the subject and asked him of Io, the Orb entity, the souls released when the Orb was finally smashed, and the subsequent attack upon Cove.

"Io disappeared at the moment the Orb was shattered, or rather exploded. Long lost souls were released, some clearly wishing to strike back at the living. Whether or not they can possess anyone or assume fleshly form is anyone's guess. I have no idea what became of Io, nor do I have the slightest care."

The attack on Cove was justly deserved. I sent my armies against those who trifled with me and will do so again if I deem it necessary. But listen to me, Chronicler, I do not wish to destroy mindlessly! My only real concern is that all know I will not be held responsible for the chaos that has been unleashed as a result of the Orb's destruction. Ye will report this I trust--word for word?"

I agreed to do so. After little more than small talk, the Necromancer left. He gave me a crystal ball, telling me I could use it to communicate with him if there was a need, and he mentioned he may wish to speak to me, and through me to the citizens of Britannia, once again. I took the object and thanked him, relieved the interview was over.

Ye have heard the words of the Necromancer. Judge for yourself his testimony. I, for one, will continue to rest uneasy as long as he and his kind ply the byways of our beloved Britannia.

I just wanted to thank all of our loyal customers that turned out for last nights auction! We had a great auction even with the Unicode fiasco that took place.....hehehe....and on that note I especially would like to thank my auction crew, Fred, Mobius, Wanda, Arcanius and Maleck and of course Sheena and her wonderful RDG that keep us safe!! I am honored to be on the same staff as these great folks and HARD workers!

It has also come to my attention that another hard working auction is in need of a temporary place to hold their auctions. Impy's Auctions is in the process of finding a new establishment....well Impy, we at Red Devil Storefront and Auction House would like to extend our facility to you and your staff should you need them. Please contact me at ICQ #6629481 should you be interested in the offer.

We all wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. See what is coming in the next auction at http://www.rdauctionhouse.com/frameset2.html

See all of you next Tuesday night!

Aphrodite/itaP

If I’d known then what I know now...”

Now there’s a phrase that gets plenty of use. If I’d known in high school what I know now, I’d have gotten away with a lot more. If I’d known in college what I know now, I’d have Tyrant’s job. And to be quite honest, if I’d know then what I know now, I wouldn’t have been beaten senseless by a rabbit the first time I played Ultima Online.

But that’s the thing about UO. Once you’ve been around the block a few times, you know all the tricks. You know better than to take on a rabbit with your ‘practice’ sword. You know that the minute you head off to the Lost Lands, your armor will break and you’ll have to trudge all the way back if you haven’t brought a spare. You know never to try to run past the Britain bank in a hurry. You know how, when, and where to best raise your skills and stats.

Unfortunately, most new players in Britannia don’t know these things unless they’ve got a veteran player sitting next to them. And seating a veteran player next to every new UO player just isn’t in my budget. (Not to mention it might be a bit disconcerting to open the front door and see “Veteran Bob” appearing to help you play UO.) So the question is, what can we do about it? What can we do to help new players get through those first few days in Britannia without hurting, maiming, or embarrassing themselves?

One of the projects I’m working on right now will focus on all those things that we should have known when we first set foot in Britannia, but didn’t. And that’s where I need your help. If you’re interested, drop me an email and tell me the one, single thing you wish you’d known the first time you played UO. Be honest. Be brutal if you want. I won’t hold it against you.

After all, I’m the one who was whomped by a rabbit.

Leilo
UO Web Project Supervisor

Ultima Online was really the pioneering game that jump started the genre. Games like Meridian 59 and the original Neverwinter Nights preceded it, but it was Ultima Online that demonstrated the genre's potential to gamers…and potential commercial success. I was tremendously disappointed with Ultima Online when it was initially released, both because of the game's technical problems and because of some of the design decisions. But I thought the interactivity of the gaming world was unsurpassed (and still is), and UO remains the online RPG that I've logged the most hours playing, although I haven't played it regularly for some time.

Realm of Jousting
Hosted by Vanguards of Virtue (VoV)

Hail all! Welcome to a new fresh but old realm of Jousting!

You are all invited to try your mounts of grand speed and your strength as a joustor.

When: February 16th at 7:30 pm central
Where: At the town of Harmony, just north east of Brit, near swamps (follow north east path out of Britain). Sextant locations are 44 49 North 42 11 East. Trammel

Rules:

• Only GM armor and weapons.
• No magic items at all!
• No heals or potions or magic.
• Each contestant stands at seperate ends of arena and when judges say Joust you run in war mode towards opponent and hit as passing to other side (or hopes to hit).
• Each match will have 5 passes.
• The one with the least amount of damage wins.
• The winners of each round will compete until there are only two left.

Many prizes will be awarded!!!!!!

*note: this is held in Trammel and there will be a temporary Jousting stone right next to man made arena. Contestants will be first come first serve.

Witchfinder Gen - Lord of Valor, VoV

Weekly Tourney of Champions
Sponsored by Moonglows Council of Honesty

Where: Rivendell Town Tavern (Felucca)
When: Every Sunday afternoon - Registration begins at 12:45pm CST. Event begins at 1:15pm CST.
Entry Fee: 2000 gp
Prizes: Weekly prizes will be based on number of participants, but first place will be at least 7500 gps, 2nd place 5000 and 3rd place 2500.

Rules of the Event

1. NO LOOTING
2. No magical weapons/armor/clothing (if it says "a magic------" don't use it)
3. Poisoned weapons are allowed, but the user must poison them in the presence of the judges before the match.
4. No use of the hiding skill or the Invisibility spell.
5. All potions are legal EXCEPT any type of explosion potion. Limit of 10 greater heals per match.
6. No pets, including mounts.
7. The following spells are illegal- ANY field spell. Any summoning spell. Energy Vortex, Earthquake, Bladespirits, Invisibility, Wall of Stone. Other area effect spells ARE legal.
8. Precasting/Predrinking IS allowed.
9. Once the Event begins, contestants CAN NOT leave the arena to repair armor/replace weapons/get more reagents, etc. Be sure to bring enough equipment to see you through multiple battles. Leaving the arena will result in your disqualification.
10. Matches are 1 on 1 and have a time limit of 5 minutes. Matches that are called on account of time will be decided by a vote of the judges, and in the result of a tie vote will be decided by a sudden death match in which no healing of any sort is allowed.
11. Once the Event begins, only contestants and event staff are allowed inside the Arena, but there is plenty of room around it to view the action, so invite your friends to come cheer you on!
12. Any attempt to exploit the event or the rules to win will result in immediate disqualification.

Monthly Grand Championship Event

Each month, the top two finishers from each of the previous 4 tourneys will compete in a Grand Championship. This Championship will occur directly after the end of the weekly tourney and will be subject to all of the same rules with one exception. This will NOT be a 1 on 1 event. Instead, it will pit all 8 of the contestants against each other simultaneously in a fight to the death. The Prize for the grand Championship will vary from month to month, but will have an approximate value of 25K.

Reminders to Spectators:

• No faction fighting in the village during the Golden Knights event.
• Please do not equip bows around the ring. Spells or potions may hit you that will cause you to attack back.
• Please try to stable or feed your mount prior to the event. Wild mounts are a problem.
• No casting, sparring, or fighting right around the ring. If you wish to do this go to another location in the village.
• No spectators in the arena after the event begins.

Have fun, and I hope to see you all there!
Edmund Greyfox, Moonglow Council of Honesty.

Please contrat Paddycat For Febuarys tournements which will be held on Sunday the 4th, [email protected]

Clan of the Twilight Knights and the Clan Red Dragons presents:

Ladies in Waiting auction! That's right; Clan Red Dragon will be hosting a fun-for-all evening event. You can bid on your favorite lady. She is obligated to serve you for 1 hour. The bidding on many beautiful ladies of the land will begin on January 24th at 8pm CST (9pm EST) at the Red Dragon City Grand Pavilion. Half of each bid goes to the Lady of your choice so it's a fun way for her to make some gold while working for you. Whatever proceeds are left will go to help build up the CTK Twilight Township (www.twilight-knights.com) and to help fund upcoming events.

Directions to the City can be found at:

http://www.networkautos.com/uo/rdcity.html

The rules are:

• Bidding begins at 8pm CST sharp
• Each bidder goes to the bank with an auction representative and all bids are paid immediately after the bidding on that particular lady is over.
• There are no limits to the bidding.
• The Lady must serve her Lord in any way he wishes for 1 full hour or parts thereof on separate days.
• Nothing lewd or unchivalrous can be asked of the Lady. She will do anything within the confines of our UO world such as cutting bandages, doing provisioner runs, sparring with you, healing you in a dungeon.
• Players who win the bid must protect their Lady-in-Waiting for the duration of her service. If she dies while healing you in a dungeon or anything of this sort, she is free of her obligation. You must protect her!!

So have fun and we are hearing rumors of a "Bachelors Auction" following this one!!

The Academy of Destiny is excited to present a virtues lecture from Brother Selwyn, Abbot of Virtue (OoV). The lecture will be Wednesday,
January 24, at 7pm central, at the Academy, just west of the town square in Destiny. Hope to see you there!

Stormhaven presents their first Tamer's Roundup. Moonglow has engaged the City of Stormhaven to help supply the much-needed animals for their zoo. It seems that the nearby cemetery has a vast number of ghosts, ghouls, and liches. They inhabit not only the cemetery, but also the zoo as well thus killing or scaring off the animals. The undead have been expelled to the cemetery recently, but the zoo is nearly void of its original occupants. Therefore, Stormhaven is requesting that tamers of the lands assist with the endeavor to restock the zoo.

Time: 7:00 pacific, 9:00 central
Date: Friday, January 26
Coordinates: 66N x 54E (Trammel)
Place: Stormhaven Watch Tavern, City of Stormhaven, located north of the Britain Swamp and south of the Desert
Object of the event: To fulfill a list of 50 animals and gate them to their appointed holding corral. First team to complete the list and have them in their corral is the winner.

RULES and REGULATIONS:

1. This event will be limited to the first 10 teams of 2 to sign up. One member of the team will do the taming and searching and the other member of the team will be the pen manager. He/she will have the animals transferred to them where they will stay with the animals until the list is completed. A Zoo Officer will be assigned to each pen to make sure the list is checked off as the gated animals are issued in.

2. Each team will be given 10 gate scrolls to gate the animals and 50 apples to retain loyalty. You are allowed only 10 gates and no more. Therefore, you must round up and lead some of your pets before gating. (After all, it is a round up). The Zoo Officer will also be counting gates.

3. Minimum taming skill required is 65. No animals of death ability will be tamed (dires, giant spiders, snakes, mongbats, etc.) only woodland and farm animals. The main thing in the event is the hunt. Have you ever tried to find a red chickadee?

4. Team members are required to be in party with the Zoo Officer. Animals are checked off of the list ONLY if the animal is in the corral. Meaning that if the animal is in the tamer's control but has not reached the corral it will not be checked off.

5. You may use any land to do your search, including the Old Lands or the Lost Lands.

6. The event will begin after all 10 teams are signed up and waiting in their assigned corrals at which time their Zoo Officer will say go.

PRIZES:

• First Place 50K in gold, 500 raw steaks and 500 apples
• Second Place 30K in gold, 250 raw steaks and 250 apples
• Third Place 20K in gold, 100 raw steaks and 100 apples

In addition to the three main prizes, there will be a bonus of 10K in gold to the team that uses the least amount of gates in getting their animals to their corrals.

This will be the first of many events that single out certain skills. Those of you that wish to register as a team, but do not make the first event team limit, will be put on a list for future events of this nature. Thank you for your help and good luck in the hunt.

Elsa, Sovereign of Stormhaven

Your humble servant
Raeven Aurora

This Thursday, January 25th at 8pm Pacific Time, Liberalis will host the Miss Britannia Beauty Pageant!

Miss Britannia will be awarded 20,000 gold pieces!

Runner up will receive 5,000 gold pieces!

The Pageant contests include:

• Best Dressed
  
• Talent
  
• Swim Suit
  
• And a quick summary of what you would do with the prize money if you are the one chosen.

For more information on how you can enter the contest or be a judge you can contact Angalina at ICQ # 96228776.

Thank you,
CopperZerO and Angalina, Liberalis Staff

Greetings,

At this time your account with Orgin Systems is in suspicion of being hacked by one or more unknown persons. Although we regret the delay of one's gaming experience, we feel that a password change of your account is in the best interest of the game service as a whole and the parties involved. The hacking suspicion aroused by the following conditions:

Multiple users at different IPs
Multiple logins at one time

Service accessed by separate individuals at multiple times Under Section 3: Subsection C is states:

(c) Multiple access. Members whose Accounts have been accessed by multiple persons at one time must follow security instructions given by Orgin Administration to ensure the safety of the account involved. Orgin Systems may not access the Service in any manner or for any reason without the express written permission of Account Administration. Active Members may not knowingly allow former Members whose Accounts have been terminated to use the active Members' Accounts or User IDs.

To remedy this we here at Orgin Account Security request an immediate email response with a password change and proof of account ownership. Please reply to this mail with your current account name, registration number, names of all owned accounts, current password and new password that we will change to. Do not contact the Official website as the supposed hacking may be of an HTML nature. Please respond to this email within 32 hours or we must suspend the account due to security protection. Your account is now being currently monitored so we ask that you not log on until we give you written permission so as to record the doings of the hacker or hackers.

If you feel this matter has been handled inappropriately, you have the Right to reply to this email. However, our Account/Billing, Tech Support, and In-game Support departments have no interaction in this process, and do not have access to your account record in this matter. Calling these support personnel will have no impact on the future of your account in any way, and will only hinder the support process for other customers in need of assistance.

We are sorry that this action has been deemed necessary, but feel that it Is appropriate in this instance. We feel that all appropriate investigations have been made regarding this matter, and this decision is not subject to appeal at this point. Account Administration and Security considers this letter sufficient notification of your account warning, and considers any relationship with you suspended at this point.

Sincerely,

Orgin Administration Account Security

Hello, my friend has asked me to help promote his upgraded Ultima Online Utility UOtrace. For those of you who don't know this has been the premier way of testing server connections for ages, and now with the new version feedback on its performance is necessary. Please click the following link to go to the UOtrace homepage, and email with any feedback or bug reports you may have. http://www.geocities.com/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As a reminder, do not ever accept a download from an untrusted source. If you need to download a program for UO, make sure to only do so from a trusted source such as from OSI or from Stratics.

We received this from Aiela Topura of the Twisters of Fate:

Twister Lottery - the finest lottery in Britannia!

The Twisters Of Fate justice guild is currently searching the lands high and low for the Christmas Superdraw Lottery winner. 

Pinne if you are reading this please contact us to claim your prizes which consist of 118000 gold, a Message in Bottle, an Ostard and 5 tickets for the next draw.

The prizes will be held for you until 14th of February, after which date if they are still unclaimed will be added to the lottery draw on 17th of February as additional prizes.


Players who are interested in buying lottery tickets or would like more information please find us at the Twister Keep or check our website (details below)

You are all invited to take part and win!

This week is a Special Draw week with additional prizes on offer and additional chances of winning.

our website address is: www.twister-lottery.co.uk 

remember.... it could be you!....

Sextant Co-ordinates: 91°8'N 63°8'E 'over the water from Minoc'

Best of Luck
Aiela Topura

Thank ye Kurt of the Green Gargoyle fer the invitation:

Greetings!

This message is to let everyone know that the Green Gargoyle will be holding a special Valentine's day Dinner Dance, on February 14th, at 7:30pm GMT. Guests have to pay 100gps to enter. There will be a full, varied buffet for visitors to help themselves to, and the bar will be serving drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic).

The buffet will be followed by romantic songs performed by the bard Niklas for everyone to dance and drink to. We suggest that customers bring their Christmas bells to make music with!

There is no need to book in advance, unless you want a reserved table (although there are plenty of tables we cannot guarantee that they will not all be used, so reserving a table will guarantee you somewhere to sit. Extra tables will be placed outside the building.

Runes will be handed out at Britain bank on the 13th of February and Gates will be opened at the bank as the event begins.

Hope to see many of you there, friends and lovers.
For more information on the restaurant, check our website at www.greengargoyle.cjb.net or ICQ to Kurt at 22789326

Regards,
Kurt

PS: The Green Gargoyle has re-opened applications for anyone who wishes to be a waiter/waitress or chef in the restaurant. If you wish to apply for the job, ICQ Kurt at 22789326 or e-mail to [email protected]
Many thanks.

Thank ye Tara fer sending us this report:

I was walking through Deepwater the other day when I heard some loud people talking in the Guard House. Being inquisitive I wondered in. Imagine my surprise when I saw the good Captain of the Deepwater Guards talking to a Gobo about how a guard should behave! I was most surprised. I think Gobos are sort of funny and cute, but I wondered what sort of guard it would make.... Later on that day I saw the Captain tearing his hair out....*giggles* The Gobo has now gone home, but I also heard he helped the guards repel some of Photek's Brigands. My how things have changed, not so long ago the Gobo would have been helping the Brigands, and now he is helping us! And all of this is due to that Orc Diplomat Fragabor..... I wonder what he is up to.....

We received this rather interesting interview of Alexandra the Bard with the infamous Long John Silver regarding the recent events concerning Rilla, Sardisha, Jacob and Annoura, the vile Daregard and Frabagor the Orc:

*dribbles* All I wanted was a drink! But no no, some gypsy wench turned up and started going on about some druid folk. And then the Elf started going on about Cove and some graveyard. And next think ye know old Long John is being chased by a group of angry pensioners at this Graveyard. Luckilly some landlubbers came and helped them on their way. And then we found a grave.... And everyone went very quiet.... And then the Gypsy wench started to go into some sort of trance...

Long John you are making no sense! Speak clearly man!

Bah! *grumbles* Well as I were saying lad, I came to the Tavern to buy some seaman's liquor, which I did acquire. When I came out, the Gypsy Wench called Rilla were standing around. Some landlubber's were telling her about a bunch of beasts that had been killed, that had collars on them identifying them as Darkhen's pets. Rilla seemed quite interested in this. And then Dianora (who makes fine ale) said "Well, there are rumors, that Darkhen was the one, who held Frabagor prisoner". Rilla was surprised by this and said that Fragabor she thought worked for Daregard. She then said that if we could give her the right questions then maybe her crystal ball might shed some light on this. And then people call me crazy for just wanting a drink and this wench is going around talking to her friggin crystal ball and they're all standing around like mesmerized sea serpents!

Please Long John stick to the story, you can tell me about the crazy land lubbers later on.

*grumbles and dribbles some more* Bah! So anyway I think the Elf then started speaking to her....

What Elf?

What Elf?!? What elf do ye think, that pesky green do gooder elf, pesky Elv'eng! So anyway this elf is telling her about Cove and some books and a graveyard. Now the gypsy wench Rilla is quite interested in all this and she suggests we go to the graveyard so she can see what her crystal ball tells her. Crazy I know, but all the land lubbers started following her to Cove... So we then get to this graveyard and there are loads of beasts and some pensioners (Long John has yet to understand the concept of a Lich, they are pensioners to him). Now all these *brave* landlubbers hang outside the fence throwing sticks at these beasts. It takes a brave seaman to lead the charge through the gates into the graveyard and then some of them finally followed me through. While all of this is going on, that gypsy wench calls upon one of her healer mateys to turn up and help the injured. I wanted her to bring an innkeeper, but no she brought a healer. Typical. So the landlubbers finally clear this graveyard and then we found the grave we were looking for. The grave read "In Loving Memory Of Joseph. The Joy He Gave Me Shall Remain In My Heart Forever. -Annoura-". Now the gypsy lass put her hands on the grave and looked like she were in a bit of pain and then she got up and said "The body that lies here.... has no kin..." she shivered a bit and then continued "or.. or does he? Something here is not right. This body.. has no spirit attached. But its spirit.. has been.. taken." Now I got rather excited when I heard her talking about Spirit, but one of the land lubber said she was talking about a soul's spirit or something and not liquor *grumbles*. So anyway the gypsy wench went on about the body's spirit "It is gone. It cannot tell me.. .who the body is of. The body that lies here.. I can tell you nothing of.. for its spirit is ..bound to another..and will not leave that other.. to return here.. or cannot.." Mythardin some old chap like myself with a beard longer than a sea serpent asked "Bound to whom? or what?" And she said "Only the spirit may tell me that." After a pause she continued "I hear only a whisper...It says.. where the rocks.. meet the sky...What .. does that mean I wonder?" So anyway then all the land lubbers started yammering about this place and that place and Rilla said the place they were looking for was east of the graveyards location and it is where the rocks meet the sky. She then said we should come to her house on Wednesday at 9pm GMT to continue the search.

Well that's quite a story there old sailor, thank you for telling it!

Thanks is all fine and dandy landlubber, but a bottle of ale would be even better!

I apologise for the windy nature of this report, but as ye might understand getting information out of a retired senile pirate like Long John Silver is tricky.

Now, those that know me, understand I'm not exactly faint of heart. Nor am I antisocial. I do enjoy entertaining visitors in my humble homes as much as I enjoy playing tag with Ice Fiends. However, I do not particularly enjoy being awakened by unusual folk, standing over my bed, as I sleep. So startled was I by such a recent encounter, I jumped from bed, shouted "Corp por!" and promptly barbecued an innocent armoire. When I finally calmed down, I found myself staring at one of the Clones. This is the ensuing conversation.

"Greetings, Cyn. I am the Second. I speak for the Firstborn.

"It is my understanding that you speak to the people from time to time, and that you hear of many things as a result of their trust. I come to you tonight with information that the people must know of, and I entrust you to deliver it.

"The Firstborn has begun construction of the Temple of the Stranger. It will shine as a beacon of light and hope for the people.

"With the completion of the Temple, please inform the people that some of my brethren will make themselves available to heal the people. On occasion, they may visit the town squares in Britain and Moonglow to offer their services. Please forgive their novice technique at times, as they are still learning the finer nuances of the healing arts. They will improve over time, with the people's support.

"On no condition will we accept gold or valuables for such services, but those who feel compelled to aid us or return a favor given may donate some cloth, to be used as bandages by our brothers.

"We have a concern though. There are those who seek to undermine our cause. Already we have tracked and eliminated two unscrupulous mages who would dare masquerade as one of my brethren in order to attempt to murder the Firstborn.

"Another has attempted to control the mind of one of my brethren, in order to accomplish the same task, no doubt. That mage will soon learn the consequences of his actions.

"Yet a third has attempted to cloud the minds of the people by impersonating us and displaying our old banner of TCL. Do not listen to these false believers. It is through their misguided actions that we have since abandoned that banner and adopted new ones. Seek out those who wear the T*S and F^F banners proudly, for these peoples walk proudly in the light, and follow the Firstborn.

"We humbly ask thee to let the people know of such happenings. We seek aid and support, in both accomplishing our objectives, and in protecting our own. The people trust you, Cyn, and therefore, so shall my brethren and I trust you to disperse this information.

I bid you farewell. My humble apologies for disturbing you at this hour."

Now, I don't know much about having "the people's trust." But I do know this; I'll not cloud this issue with my own suspicions and thus, will remain silent... for the time being. May the Virtues guide our paths.

We will be holding an in person auction at the Blackcomb Felucca Tower selling some much desired rares. We wish to thank the individuals who donated rares we are very gratefull for all their generosity.

Items for Auction

• Pre-Patch Full Plate Verite Suit
• Basket
  
• Three Hair Restyle Deeds
• Clothing Bless Deed
  
• Bardiche of Vanquishing
• Barrel Set (open, closed, unfinished)
  the open is the container type not the water barrel type
  
• Rock (t2a) & Rocks (Buc's Den)
  
• 300th Aniversery Set Bag
  
• 2 Tall Candles
  
• 1 Set of 4 Wires, Horse Shoes, Reversed Ingot
  
• 2 Square Tool Kits 1 facing each way
  
• Ranger Armour
  
• Set of all 9 Bone Containers 1 each kind
  
• Glacial Staff
  

Bidding will begin on Saturday January 27th, 2000 at 8pm PDT.
All bids must be placed in person and paid promptly at the close of bidding.
No bids will be accepted via ICQ or email.
The location is Blackcomb which is south of yew past the cemetary down the road on the tower roof.
Any questions should be directed to Epoch @ ICQ# 4749528.

Epoch
-B-

Your humble servant
Raeven Aurora

An Interesting Happening at Britian Bank

Evidently someone was quitting UO and decided to let the fair people of Britian have her money. She walked around the bank sporadically dropping checks of 10k. It was lots of fun! I also have some pictures of the Check Craziness.

--Newton of Sonoma

Hello again, friends (and enemies :P). I wanted to post a messsage letting everyone know what to expect on Wednesday night at the Finals, regarding the new anti-backwards rule change, the prizes, and the order of events.

1) The good: In a perfect world, we'd have 6 heats of 6 racers each, based on the winners of our 36 weeks of racing. In practicality, I expect we'll be lucky to get a turnout of 20 contestants. Some folks who won before don't play UO anymore, some may have forgotten, and some may not be available to race that night (though I've given weeks and weeks of notice). The plan is to fill the heats in order, starting with the most recent winners first. The event is planned to begin at 7PM sharp, but if the past 6 weeks' winners are not present at that time we will delay the first heat for up to 15 minutes to wait for them. After that, each heat will be run in succession without any further delays. The first heat, then, will consist of Chelsea, Twylia Paris, Satin-N-Lace, Sabrina Locke, Maximus, and Asmoor. The second heat, if all are present, will immediately follow the first, and will consist of Gorgglum, Silver Rose, Polix-Matrix, Cleshan, Dragon's Slave, and Alec Talon. The final four heats will follow, with each consisting of the 6 most recent winners avaiable, until all winners present have raced. When heat 5 is reached, if it is clear that there won't be more than 2 racers in heat six, racers from heats 5 and 6 may be divided up based on the age of their win to bolster heat 6... or the two heats may be combined, depending on circumstance. (If I'm right and 20 or fewer are present, this redistribution could happen as early as heat 3, depending on what time it is at that point.)
Winners of each heat will then race in the final event, for the Grand Prize, and Grand Champion Standing. In addition, the Runner Up will receive a prize of 100,000 gold coins. The Runner Up position will be determined based on how many races are won by whom in the Final Heat, and/or placement in those races. I reserve the right to make that decision arbitrarily based on judgement, but hopefully it won't be a tough call. If we can't get a close race from the 6 fastest and most skillful racers in Britannia, then we should all be ashamed of ourselves. :)

2. The Bad: By popular demand, a new rule was added to the races before Week 36 took place. Any racer intentionally running the course backwards, even for a portion, with the intention of blocking any other racer(s) will be automatically disqualified and ejected from the races, and that race will be rerun with NO racer receiving credit for a win. BLOCKING IS STILL LEGAL AND STRONGLY ENCOURAGED, it's the running backwards OR INENTIONALLY STOPPING IN THE TRACK without even trying to win part that will draw an ejection.

3. The Ugly?: I've decided to offer some tempting choices for the Grand Champion to choose from as the Grand Prize. If I were put in this position, it wouldn't be a hard decision, but my belief is that for some folks it may prove to be difficult. Prizes available to choose from will include (possibly among other things):

---A RARE symbollic dagger marking the bearer as an honorary member of the al'Suq tribe, given to Solar Maid by ibn al'Asifa himself, and EVER so generously donated to the races by Lady Solar Maid.

--The winner's choice of EITHER an ethereal horse OR an ethereal ostard. (Bear in mind that your account must be 3 years old in order to RIDE the pet, but if it isn't yet, it might make a nice statuette in the meantime).

--A chest filled with goodies including 250 of each reagent, level 4 treasure maps, useful items and perhaps some surprises. (This will be too heavy to move and secure; if the winner chooses this prize it will be awarded at my castle Cair Paravel in Trammel).

--A check for 250,000 gold so you can buy your own damn prize. :P

IN ADDITION TO THE PRIZES FOR THE WINNERS, I AM HOPING TO AWARD AT LEAST ONE DOOR PRIZE IN A RANDOM DRAWING. THE DOOR PRIZE(S) MAY INCLUDE 50,000 GOLD AND/OR A GUARANTEED SPOT AS THE FIRST CONTESTANT ON THE UPCOMING "Who Wants To Win Some Gold" GAME SHOW.

And that's not even all yet....

So COME ONE, COME ALL, HURRY, HURRY, HURRY to the 5TH or 6TH GREATEST SHOW ON FELUCCA, SONOMA, AT LEAST ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN JANUARY!!! Bring your spouse! Bring your friends! Bring your spouse's friends!

The event begins at 7PM PACIFIC TIME, at the Race Track west of Britain, Felucca.

--Drizzt

This looks to be a very exciting evening and everyone is invited to come and cheer on the competitors. Thanks Drizzt!
--Sage Arthur

Come one, Come all to the gathering of a lifetime. Come and meet your
favorite counselors, or your favorite companion, and if your lucky your favorite seer. Meet our new faces, as well as the old faces. Converse, eat and be merry, tis a time for rejoicing!

To be held at the Skara Brae Counselors Guild 6pm PST, January 27th, Trammel facet.

-Tika

As I was in Trinsic on Sunday, I had the pleasure to meet four monks, who were were distributing bread, wine, and books outlining the eight Commandments of "Zalindera the Weaver", which you can find with this letter. After being asked, they explained Zalindera is a Goddess, supposed to be the being who weaves our fates into the tapestry of life.

Michael, Maria Hendleson, and William Sinderton were led by Simon the Wanderer. After being asked, they explained that the only monk who had actually spoken to and seen Zalindera is named Kormin Windsong. They added that he, too, is wandering around Britain spreading the word of Zalindera.

They stood and talked to us for an hour or so. They also said that in 3 days (making it tomorrow, Wednesday the 24th January), they would return and their plan was to destroy the evil in the world. They seem not to have aggressive intentions against their fellow humans, and to consider some monsters as the Evil that needs to be fought.

Rasputin Blackstar

We received this announcement from Tyrghen of Ravenmoor:

On Saturday 27 at 8:00 PM GMT, the University of Ravenmoor will open its doors. We will hold a great banquet for all visitors. At first the visitors will be able to tour the University for a while. Then, we will collect the book from writer of all Britannia. During the Collecting, for those who wants it, there will be a scavenger hunt.

If you write stories, poems, songs or essays, you are welcome to bring a book to the University, it will be added to the Library and your name will be in the donator's book at the entrance of the University. Players from all shards are welcome.

Gates will be provided from Britain in bank area and from the Sweet Dream Inn, so players from other shards can join us easily.

I hope to see many of you at the opening !

Tyrghen [UT] of Ravenmoor.

Hello fellow gaming citizens!

Just wanted to pass along word that The Corporation's very own Mr. Subversive and Ms. Tweety had the strangely weird experience of interviewing popular (but recently retired) online ranter, gamer, and suspected cult leader, Lum the Mad. That lovely ditty of a scoop can be read right here:

http://www.corpnews.com/features/200101/22/01-LUM/

The Corporation is a gaming news and feature online mag that aims to sacrifice anything and everything in the name of world domination and cookies. Check us out at http://www.corpnews.com

Thanks,
--------------------------------------------
Mr. Rankinfile
Writer, Photoshopper,
& Faceless Hack
[[email protected]]
:: www.corpnews.com ::
--------------------------------------------

And here the latest news from BNN by Bethsainda Ariaachas:

Well, dear readers, here is one for the books! In honor of her own mate, Al’Cedra has chosen to make the February 1st competition for couples only! It is open to all citizens of Britannia, and it will certainly try your wits, your wiles, and your patience. Al’Cedra will tell the story of her own love and in it will be the path that you need to follow to arrive at the lair. It will be full of twists and turns and puzzles, you may be sure. You must compete as a couple, and consult with each other each step of the way. 

For new readers, the Trammel Dragon appears at the first of every month, and poses riddles to all citizens of Britannia who have proved themselves worthy through prior tests and trials. Any couple can compete this month, but they must register for the competition at the Court in Yew at the appropriate time. At the end of the quest, the couple that wins will be awarded engraved rings that read “Master of the Word and of my Heart” and “Mistress of the Word and of my Heart”. 

The story that Al’Cedra told to me begins: 

“And upon the earth came the winds of fate, and they took me over the land. Many were the dragons, many were the sons of man who had come to seek their dreams. In them I could see, as I reached the city of stone, whose fall was to be twice, that the humans were many, and that they bonded to each other, one to one, and that in their hearts was something special. Yet my heart was empty as the stone of the city…" 

The rest of the story, dear reader, you will have to find out for yourself! Good luck! 

If you would like to take part in Al'Cedra's Challenge, please come to Official Sign Up at the Court in Yew on Sunday, January 28th between the hours of 8:00 and 11:00. Good luck!

KoA Golden Knights #55 -Hosted by Shabaz, Sage of the Crystal Consortium Order of the KoA

"Old Skool"

DATE: Friday, January 26, 2001 @ 8 PM CST
TIME: Registration takes place from 7:30 - 8:00 PM CST. The event begins @ 8:10 PM CST.
WHERE: The event takes place in the Alliance Village. The coordinates are 136*24'S 27*12'E
(http://www.allianceknights.com/village.html)  

ENTRY FEE: 600gp per person

1st place: 10,000 gp to the winner

DESCRIPTION: Ok were going old skool on this one. What that means is that it's going to be an old fashion 1 vs 1 tournament for mages and warriors alike.

RULES:

• No magic items, no magic weapons, no magic armor. If anything is seen on you saying "a magic ..." you may be disqualified.
• No pets or mounts are allowed.
• Hiding IS NOT allowed.
• No Barding, No taming
• No summoning spells of any kind.
• Pre-casting and Pre-drinking is allowed.
• No poisoned weapons. The Poison spell is allowed.
• All potions are allowed
• No looting of any kind!
• No Dispelling
• Any attempt to exploit the event or the rules to win will result in immediate disqualification.  

Reminders to Spectators:

• No faction fighting in the village during the Golden Knights event.
• Please do not equip bows around the ring. Spells or potions may hit you that will cause you to attack back.
• Please try to stable or feed your mount prior to the event. Wild mounts are a problem.
• No casting, sparring, or fighting right around the ring. If you wish to do this go to another location in the village.
• No spectators in the arena after the event begins.
• The Golden Knights event is a seer sponsored event for Lake Superior. Grief players may be removed and/or jailed, banned, etc. The consequences for severe disruption are solely the decision of the representatives for Origin Systems.
• Have a great time! Cheering for your friends is encouraged

RECRUITING MERCENARIES FOR ALLIANCE VILLAGE DEFENSE

Hail my fellow Men and Women at arms!  We, the Knights of the Alliance, have been at war with the Lizard armies for many months now.  The fighting has intensified greatly on both sides.  The Lizard armies are attacking in waves of unprecedented numbers.  With them they bring monstrosities of unimaginable destruction such as the sickly green Swamp Dragon that attempted to wipe out our Village during the last assault late last week. 

To combat this great Evil, the Knights have put the Village on a State of Alert.  Several squads of non-guilded mercenaries have been conscripted to fill out our ranks and yet we still require more.

If you are a brave soldier of Good on the Lake Superior Shard, willing to join the movement which will finally put a stop to the advancing Lizard Hordes, leave a message on the Alliance Village boards at www.allianceknights.com/entrance.html.

To view the latest events and pictures taken during recent battles, browse the "Eye of the Lizard" link on the KoA site at the above link.

Sincerest Regards,
Ramsonne KoA
Guildmaster

Drawing Contest - Would you like to win a free Gladstone portrait?

Hail All ! I wish to take this oportunity to inform you that Gladstone from Castle Blackthorn's Sinister Arts Forum, is holding a drawing contest, open to all participants. The prize for the winner, will be an original portrait made by Gladstone himself! This will not only be scanned and sent over to the winner, but the original artwork wil be mailed to him as well. In addition to this, the winner will be given the opportunity to chose a custom avatar for his CastleBlackthorn Forum account. This will be exclusive to that person alone.

As for the rules and topic for all entires, head on over to the Drawing Contest's thread at our Sinister Works of Art Forum.

If you aren't familiar with Gladstone's art, head on over to www.gladstoneart.com, and have a look through his portrait archive. I assure you'll be amazed by his incredible work.

Jugulator (Dragon)
Head-Administrator of CastleBlackthorn www.CastleBlackthorn.com
Member of The Shattered Crystal OMRPG Network www.ShatteredCrystal.com

Various Changes and Fixes

The issue of mongbats spawning improperly in the tutorial has been corrected.

A problem with armoires moving from their location improperly has been fixed.

Fixes to the Faction System

Players not in factions will no longer be able to enter faction strongholds. This includes pets and hirelings of non-faction members. A bulletin board will be placed outside of the faction strongholds, to allow players to sign up to join the faction.

A problem with faction stones losing accurate records of the faction's town guards and shopkeepers has been fixed.

A problem with faction hued items appearing on players who are not carrying a town sigil has been fixed.

A problem with faction voting has been corrected, so that faction members may only vote once per voting session."

Karma Locking

Players will be able to lock their karma. By locking karma, players will be able to control their character's status titles better. Players who wish to appear as "evil" will be able to kill monsters without gaining both fame and karma. Players will still gain or lose fame, regardless of karma lock status. The important thing to remember about karma locking is that you can only prevent yourself from gaining karma, not losing it.

The karma lock will function in the following manners:

• The first time a player goes "negative" in their karma rating, their karma will no longer be able to raise until they visit a shrine to be "cleansed". New characters start at just above the zero karma setting, within the positive range. If players "cleanse themselves," therefore "unlocking" their karma, and then do an action that generates any more negative karma, the karma will lock again and will not be able to raise karma until the player visits a shrine to be cleansed again.
• If a player with positive karma chooses to lock their karma from raising any higher, they may go to the Chaos Shrine and speak the word "bal". Doing so will lock their karma, and they will receive the message "You once again control your destiny".
• Players wishing to remove their karma lock may visit the virtue shrines and speak the following words of power for that shrine:
  • Compassion - mu
  • Honesty - ahm
  • Honor - summ
  • Humility - lum
  • Justice - beh
  • Sacrifice - cah
  • Spirituality - om
  • Valor - ra

Players who are having trouble raising karma may wish to visit a virtue shrine and speak the appropriate word of power to make sure their karma is not locked. If a player has their karma locked, the action of "I honor thee" from other players will not cause the locked karma to raise. The karma must be unlocked for "I honor thee" to have an effect

Vile heathens of Britannia,
A warning to you!

I, Adamodious Anthias, do hereby declare that Saturday, January 27, 2001 is a day when none but the Undead and their Guardians may roam the halls of Shame.

You are hereby forbidden to enter this sacred place, as this will be a day of prayer and meditation for all that worship the Undead Lords.

It is well known that The Book of The Undead contains magical phrases and incantations. In the wrong hands, this book could us used to conjure up great wealth.

I will be carrying such a book and will be guarding it with my very life. For any human that can recite the phrases contained in this book, will take away wondrous gifts, including a small tower in the providence of Napa.

http://www.game-master.net/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001197.html

--Adam Ant

Taxidermy Kits will allow players to use corpses of certain creatures to create trophy deeds, which can be used in houses to generate a wall-mounted trophy.

Taxidermy Kits will be found on NPC Tanners, usually found within "leather and hide" shops in towns. Only master and above carpenters can use the kit itself, as those without master or grandmaster status in carpentry will be unable to figure out the kit's workings.

A master carpenter is defined by UO as a player with 90.1 or above base carpentry skill (base skill, visible by clicking "show real" in the skill window).

The player will need the following items to create a trophy:

• Taxidermy Kit
• 10 boards
• corpse of either:
  • Orc
  • Gorilla
  • Troll
  • Brown Bear
  • Polar Bear
  • Great Hart
  • Big Fish (note that "big fish" that have been stacked with other fish will not be useable by the taxidermy kit)

When the player with enough carpentry skill and materials listed above uses the taxidermy kit, they will get a targeting cursor. This cursor is targeted on the corpse of the creature (or big fish) intended to be the trophy. Thus, the player will need to be at the corpse of one of these creatures to successfully use the taxidermy kit. The taxidermy kit will disappear upon successful use and a deed for a trophy will be placed in the player's pack.

The player attempting to place the trophy will need to be a owner or co-owner of the house. The trophy will need to be locked down to prevent decay or other players taking it. Double clicking the trophy if it is not locked down will cause it to return to deed form in the player's backpack.

As I arrived, the Castle was full, and the simple act of walking around in the city was difficult, due to the amount of people there. after following the treck of hay, Julieanne McFinnan and myself arrived to the Hall of Virtues, where we found both an honor guard, led by the Captain of the Royal Guard, and the full order of Counselors, led by Lead Counselor Windwalker.

A little later, both groups proceeded to Castle British through the Capital, and a speech was held by Lead Counselor Windwalker. I sadly could not attend it, but someone kindly submitted its text and some pictures to us :

First of all, please have my warmest welcome. When events such as this one take place, our biggest concern is being able to do something that can please the attendance For this reason, I am very happy to see, that the European players once again grant their participation.

*smiles*

This is a special day for us, as we celebrate the second year of Counselor support on the European Shards. A few of the original Counselors are still here, most of them are gone, but many more have joined our ranks. And what was at the beginning a small group of people who could be counted on the fingers of two hands is now an organized group of volunteers who offer their daily support for everyone.

I've been working with these Counselors for the last two years, sharing their experiences on the shards, their moments of happiness and sadness. Most people believe that we fulfill our duties for no reward, but believe me, it's not true. Whenever a Counselor is able to help a citizen, and he gets a smile in exchange for this, that's the best reward he may ever receive. So, if you happen to meet a Counselor in Britannia, and perhaps one of us was once able to help you with a problem, give him the gift of a smile, and be sure that he'll be happy.

I don't want to take too much of your time, so please welcome Counselor Brethil, our next honored guest.

Beechel Kire raises Nevarre's Revenge against the Orb of Soul Seeking, destroying it
[Picture Credit: XMackenzie of the Defenders of Justice]

Cove was raided by a legion of undead and daemons. When I finally reached Cove after a long walk the battle had just started and there were at least 16 men fighting daemons and liches. There were two (I hear there was a couple others) undead known as "A Released Spirit" which many were fighting, while they were next to harmless, they took at least 1000 blows to finally send them back to where they came.

After everything had died down and after the others and I thought the fight was over, we saw something up north. I walked up to see at least 6 ice fiends and 5 daemons slaughtering everyone who came near. Beyond these creatures I saw a man named Scaramandine the Second, speaking with a young girl. She kept pleading "Why Scar why?" His response was that this was only the beginning of his rage and that the people here had no right to destroy "The orb." I had heard someone speaking of destroying some green orb in the middle of Cove, but didn't think much of it. Eventually, the girl was taken by Scaramandine after he disappeared. After that all was quiet. Only a horde of undead corpses lay on the ground.

Emonious
Guildmaster
Knights of the Golden Heart

A composite of the attacks in the city of Cove led by Scaramandine II
[Picture Credit: Emonious of the Knights of the Golden Heart]

Yesterday the Mage Tower of Catskills (located west of downtown Moonglow, Felucca) had been attacked by massive waves of monsters. Stone gargoyles and harpies, gazers, evil mages, fire elementals, orcs, ettins, gargoyles and harpies .. all of those made their visit to the Tower, causing panic and deaths. When we finally managed to defeat the first wave of enemies, a man named Scaramandine II appeared, and claimed that he was taking possess of the Tower. At our laughs, he replied offering to buy the building. We replied that the Mage Tower is not just a building; you can't buy an ideal that has been built on the work and blood of many mages through the years. The spirit who did lead us to built that is not dead nor gone. Sad is that even him, as everybody, would have been welcomed in the tower, if coming in peace.

Scaramandine II then summoned other waves of monsters, promising that this is just the beginning, and that he will conquer the tower by any means, to carry on his not specified experiments; the prompt arrival of a dragon on our side helped defending from his attacks. A member of Crimsom Alliance where there as observer, and at a point offered the help of his dragon .. but was unclear to which side.

Only one thing is sure: the Tower won't fall if not in a bath of blood, and even in that case, our spirit will never be defeated. Be warned Scaramandine II, and watch out; you are welcomed in peace, you will be destroyed as an enemy .

Raistlin
Keeper of the Tower

Map to Mage Tower from Moonglow, Felucca

We're keeping a close eye on how things will progress from here. Should the need arise then we may consider splitting the forum into regions or perhaps shards, or we may split it up in various types of trades that will occur. Time will tell in which direction this will go. For now, I wish you all happy trading !

As one who has been searching for his own past, the quest for Sarielle has been one I take to heart. However after todays escorting of the brothers, first to the Crossroads and then to the Abbey...I must make you and your reader aware of the number of Gypsies as of late out near my own home. Mayhaps these are connected to the recent goings on?

We were told at the Abbey to let the paper know or the town crier know of gypsy sightings.....As for the theory that Sarielle is a gypsy orphan....I have personally searched the gypsy camp near Minoc and found their chests to be ransacked and looted.... As for the Gypsies I have seen near my house...I live on a small pennisula near Dungeon Wrong....and in my walks to the dungeon I stumble across no less than 7 different camps of Gypsies...

Aldrick - brother to Karek-

When the dust settled, Lord Hawkfield looked away from the horror that was revealed. Piece of human flesh and corpses of fallen horses were lying around. Evil has struck.

From the dust he came, wearing a black cloak, walking easily across the field that once was a town, a town with people, industry, houses. All gone. His face was covered, so none could see his eyes, his hands were covered by leather gloves. His horse, a black stallion, about the same size as the man who rode it.

From a distance, you could see the dust nearing the edges of the once so great town, came the forces of the light. Hundreds of man, fighting for what they know is right. The man saw it too, and as if he was never there, he disappeared into th shadows.

Lord Hawkfield looked around, ... And saw, ... He saw the total destruction, and thought to himself: 'We need to rebuild this'.

As the forces drove in the town, more survivors showed there face. Afraid of the dark, but not when the forces were around. All started the hard work to a new town. They started gathering things they could find.

Lord Hawkfield organized a market, were everyone could sell things, or buy things, whatever was needed. That market grew to be one of the biggest in the country, and now has its own place, right in that town, forever, till the end of time.

Don't hesitate to visit it once for yourself. http://www.hawkfield.com and you cannot get lost.

The place is known, from the lands of Drachenfels through Europa and now into Great Lakes ....

At the second Great Lakes FCB Sea Serpent slaughter, fishers and fighters enjoyed a solid hour of fighting serpents, elementals, and the deadly kraken. Nets were donated by Keebs, Pitot, Flagg, Floyd, Gem, and others. Several non-FCB folk brought nets as well. Most notably, Douglas Seaborne provided seven nets and a chest of magic weapons and armor.

At the start, FCB members placed magic items and weapons and armor on the docks for the crowd to take as they wished. Many were of very high quality!

The hour was then spent in intense battle, as three, four and even five nets were cast into the Magincia dock's deep waters and the monsters of the seas emerged. There were many deaths treated by the healers at the end of the dock.

Many Britannias were fortunate enough to walk away from the fray with sos bottles and treasure maps---the loot from these monsters. The fair Ahrim donated 2000 gold to FCB for the fun provided.

Heretic worked frantically with paints and brush to make this picture for us.

More on FCB and the life of the fisher can be found at http://fcb.xrgaming.net.

Gem, FCB Fleet Capt.

Stratics is proud to host the first ever Dev Debates this Saturday, January 27th, at 4pm CST in #permadeath on the Stratics IRC server. Special guests from the player community as well as the game industry will be onhand to discuss specific issues relevent to the MMOG industry. This week, our topic is Permanent Death in MMOGs. Gamers are invited to join in and watch as our guests interact with one another as they debate this issue.

Our guests this week are:

• Raph Koster, Star Wars Galaxies
• Jeff Friedman, Dawn
• Paul Hutson, Adellion
• Swamp Thing, Origin Stratics Forums
• Thundolfe, Thundolfe's Barnyard
• JLBesser, Stratics Dawn
• And other guests yet to be confirmed

To join the chat, boot your favorite IRC client, connect to one of the following Stratics IRC servers, and type /join #permadeath. Or, use our Stratics Java IRC Client.

• irc.stratics.com
• compu.stratics.com
• dhp.stratics.com
• frws.stratics.com
• intworks.stratics.com

• Events This Week - This Saturday, join us in #permadeath at 4pm CST for our first ever Dev Debates. Join Raph Koster of Star Wars Galaxies, Jeff Friedman of Dawn, and Paul Hutson of Adellion in a discussion on the topic of permanent death in MMOGs.
• New Stratics Site! - Visit Entropia Stratics, our newest Stratics site based upon the game Project Entropia, quite possibly the only game you can make money while playing!
• Stratics Central - Have you met the Cow yet? Check out Thundolfe's Barnyard for witty commentary on the MMOG industry today.
• Stage 1 Stratics - Visit our newest Stage 1 site, Entropia Stratics today! Be sure to check out our brand new Gallery.
• Anarchy Online Stratics - Be sure to check out Anarchy Online Stratics, as the AOS team works hard on the new design and the community moves closer to the launch of Beta phase 3.
• Asheron's Call Stratics - On Wednesday, the regular monthly Developer Chat took place. Casper recorded a log of it all.
• Atriarch Stratics - Interested in faction affairs and relations? You can read the log of our recent Atriarch IRC Faction Summit here!
• Camelot Stratics - Camelot Stratics presents two brand new stories to read, told by our Camelot storytellers. Futhermore, a new search option was added to find what you want on the Camelot Stratics site.
• Everquest Stratics - New Guides now on EverQuest Stratics! The Freeport Human Monk, The Young Dwarven Warrior, and Dwarven Myths Debunked. Come and see!
• Jumpgate Stratics - Check out the logs of last week's Jumpgate HOC.
• Neocron Stratics - Get in on the beta testing. Stop by Neocron Stratics and make sure you fill you your application for one of the hottest Sci-Fi MMORPGS in production.
• Neverwinter Stratics - The addition of our IRC Dungeons and Dragons sessions have made for some fun and nail biting adventures! To find out more about these sessions and how you can take part, join us in #neverwinter.
• Origin Stratics - Ubiq, the Lead Designer for Origin, recently stopped by #origin in Stratics IRC and visited with several fans. Make sure to check out our Chat Log as well as several other chats we have in our HoC/Chat Log Section!
• Shadowbane Stratics - Today is the long awaited day of the InfoDump! Stop by Shadowbane Stratics to find out everything released by Wolfpack Studios! You don't want to miss this!
• Ultima Online Stratics - Astonishing 3D renders of an Ultima Online house by Deane Saunders have been added to Better Homes and Castles. Also, besides pictures, descriptions and detailed information on monsters in the Hunters Guide, we now also have some monster sounds available for you to listen to.

• Ch.7 in the Pact of Zeranon
• An essay on the interaction of GM, setting, and player
• Winter prophesies
• A Horizons crossword puzzle
• A review of the third year of the MMOG industry
• and more!

Citizens and closest allies of Phoenix Rising. As you are well aware, our beloved White Lotus has been taken prisoner by the wicked and vile Red Wizards. They have promised that as long as we defend their treasure at the guard post, Lotus will be kept alive.

Friends, I am at a loss. I cringe at the thought of providing any aid to these creatures. However, I know that until we think of a means to liberate Lotus, we must do as they wish. Unfortunately, news of the hidden treasure has spread like wildfire through the lands of Britannia. Many groups even now await a chance to take control of the guard post so that they may search for the treasure of the Red Wizards. So now is the time to prepare, for very soon we will be under siege…

TPR will defend the Guard Post in their town against any guild that wishes to take it from them. The treasure of the Red Wizards lies somewhere under the Post and our Town has been challenged to protect it and prove ourselves worthy. Thus we issue this challenge to any who wish to try to take the Guard Post from us. This will be done by penetrating the Guard Post’s defenses and capturing a “flag”. Each defending team will get to choose a location inside the Guard Post to keep the flag, but once the location is chosen it may not be moved. Once captured, this item must then be carried back outside the Post to win the event. The item will be made known to the assaulting team prior the contest, so there won’t be any surprises.

This challenge is open to any and all guilds or towns*. Our Rangers and citizens will defend the Guard Post against the first guild or town that accepts the challenge. We also reserve the right to receive aid from our allies should an opposing guild drastically outnumber our forces. (C’mon folks, we want them to be exciting fights. :)

The winner gets control of the Guard Post and has 3 days to answer the challenge of the next guild or town in line. The loser goes back into the rotation and tries again to capture the Guard Post, if they wish to try again. Challenges will be taken in the order they are issued. First come...first served.

The opposing guilds shall only war each other for the duration of the battle and then peace each other. This way there isn't an ongoing war and life can go on as usual. It is also up to the two opposing guilds to set up a time for the battles. The rules for war are posted on our website and will be agreed to beforehand and followed at all times. Breaking any of these “rules of engagement” is grounds for immediate and permanent removal from the activities.

*Factions associated guilds are asked not to issue challenges.

Any questions or comments contact : Aricia DeLong – Event coordinator – 30624507 or Gamaliel Gaiblin - 82202346

Due to issues with the veteran rewards system, we have deactivated the system on all shards. At this time, we do not have an updated schedule for when they will be reactivated.

We strongly advise players not to participate in selling, trading, or buying existing rewards until further notice.

We will update you again once we have additional information.

Pausing outside the Black Smith’s Guild of Britain you notice the approach of a page trotting doggedly up the road. You recognize immediately the familiar colors of crimson and white as those of the Town of Stormhaven and the Knightly Order of the Stormguards. The rolled parchments stuffed in the page’s backpack don’t escape your eye and you hail the lad. He pauses with a respectful bow before you inquire if he is once again off to post on the Britain’s town billboard. In answer he withdraws one of the parchments and hands it to you with a grin. With a respectful bow he then continues his journey to Britain. You unroll the post and begin to read:

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
THE TOWNSHIP OF STORMHAVEN & THE STORMGUARDS ANNOUNCES
"THE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS"

A Monthly Tournament held in Stormhaven, Trammel on the Atlantic Shard.

This month’s tournament will be "3 vs. 3 TEAM BATTLES" to the death with a PRIZE PURSE of $100,000 to the Champion team.

LOCATION: Stormhaven Town Hall, Trammel. Coordinates: 26.11’S, 4.25’W.

WHEN: Saturday, January 27th, 8pm Eastern

ENTRY REGISTRATION: Contestants may sign up at the Stormhaven Town Hall on the day of the Tournament from 6pm to 8pm Eastern prior to the Tournament. An entry fee of $10,000 per team is due at the time of registration.

REQUIREMENTS & RULES:

Each team must consist of 3 members or less and be any profession combination. They can be individuals or members representing a guild. Contestants will be required to join the Tournament guild stone for the duration of the tournament only in order to participate within Trammel borders and prevent any outside interference.
No magic weapons, armor or items will be permitted.
All potions and scrolls are permitted.
No poisoned weapons are permitted.
No mounts are permitted.
No looting.
Contestants must stay within the battle arena area during battle.

For more tournament information & maps to Stormhaven please read the Stormhaven Sky Page.

The Tournament of Champions is sponsored by the township of Stormhaven & The Stormguards.

Battle on!

Lady Lipstick
Lady Stormguard of Stormhaven

Thank ye Lady Lipstick. Evil luck to the fighters. We just love more blood being spilt. *smiles darkly*

Greetings All,

It is with a heavy heart that I proclaim the following.

William Smit IV, Co-Sage of Justice, died in the city of Yew on the Felucca facet quite recently.

William was usually described by his peers as a madman with a kind heart. He is survived by his father, William Smit III, his son (whom is currently missing), William Smit V, and his colleague Sage of Justice Windlord.

It is unsure as to where William's spirit is lurking or if it can be brought back to the realm of the living. No funeral has been planned or shall take place until there is all certainty that William Smit IV cannot be resurrected. Listed below is an autopsy report concerning his untimely demise:

Subject: William Smit IV
Race: Hybrid of dwarf and orc
Age: 26
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 179lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Appearance: Long Hair. Short beard with mustache. Outfitted in a dark blue colored jester's outfit.
Found: Stormreaver Orc Tower, First Floor
Time of Death: Unknown
Discovered by: Grishnak and several other anonymous orcs.
Autopsy conducted by: Thrawn, Mayor of Yew
Cause of Death: Several axe and mace blows to the chest, left and right flank of torso, and back of head.
Also: Subject's heart appears to be missing from body. Unknown if any attempts to revive the subject were made by the Stormreaver Clan.

Corpse was escorted from the orc lands to Trammel by the Yew Militia. From there it was stored in the Court of Truth in Yew where the autopsy was conducted. Afterwards the remains were handed over to the care of William Smit III and laid to rest in the House of Smit.

Thank you, and our heartfelt grief goes out to William's family and friends.

-Thrawn, Mayor of Yew

It is always so sad when a clown of the virtues dies, is it not? *cackles*

After last weeks hunt to find his boat, the Vindicator, that was lost at sea, Steward O'Keefe returned to the sextant coordinates where his boat was found and began sailing it back towards Yew, his home waters. Steward was set upon by a great Golden Sea Serpent and 4 red kraken and had enough time to toss overboard the following message, which was retrieved by YNA patrols Sunday:

"S.O.S. The Golden Serpent plagues me and 'as given pursuit to me vessel, the Vindicator. I can nae outsail this beast and 'is 'enchmen fer long. I've stopped charting me course to improve me speed, but the wicked and foul beast still gains ground every minute. 'E and 'is kraken 'enchmen are right behind me. If this message is found, please deliver to Yew Naval Academy, south east of the Yew Moongate, at me tavern, Ye Ole Golden Serpent. S.O.S."

Admiral Lyna of the YFG immediately announced a rescue mission this Saturday, January 27, to search the high seas and find Steward and return him to safety, if he still breathes or If his ghost be found, a reward for its safe return is as well offered, so Yew's finest healers can attempt to resurrect this fine and valuable man. Admiral Lyna has put a bounty of 50,000 gold coins on the rescue of this man and has announced that the rescue shall take place beginning at 7 p.m. est.

Quentin
Captain, Yew Naval Academy

Ye Ole Golden Serpent wishes to convey its congratulations to Thorin of the Greater Yew Militia for competing in and winning the Lost Boat Challenge held Saturday January 20th. For his efforts in finding the lost boat, the Vindicator, and returning with the ships log, Thorin received a check for 50,000gp. I, the Tavern proprietor, Steward O'Keefe have set about returning the boat to the greater Yew waters, and anticipate my return within the week.

Steward O'Keefe
Ensign, Yew Naval Academy

Congratulations to Thorin.

As promised, Ronkar has sent me an update on his quest for Truth. I share that update with you, now. Read on.

Dear Cyn,

While in the market gathering supplies today for my quest, I heard about Corposant. That terrified me indeed, for there is no land of complete peace, because there shall always be evil, for one can not live without the other. And to purify the land, means to kill all evil, am I right? To kill is evil, it is a sin in your christain ways if i'm not mistaken. To kill is to commit a sin, to sin is to commit a crime against your religon, to commit a crime is to follow the path of evil. I do not fear much, but these 'clones' freighten me much. I myself until I learn the truth will prepare for the worst. I hope that all of you do that same.

Another thing that bothers me, if these clones want to bring everlasting peace to the land...when they first were seen...how come they all commited another sin, stealing?

And I must thank you Cyn for your care for a fellow friend, but fear not, I shall remain safe, for I am Guardian of Midgard.

Lord of Valhalla,
Ronkar

Cyn the Cynical

The generosity of the good folk of Legends never ceases to amaze me. Once again, a citizen of our fair land has come forth with intentions to help someone in need. Read on, pilgrims.

Hail,

I am Jasmine Skye and I have been given both an onerous and joyous task. It seems fair Solmain has finally passed beyond this life leaving behind his legacy. It was I who held him in his last moments when darkness veiled his vision and his old bones seemed to melt into nothingness.

Oft we had met and he asked of me to do but one thing for him. He asked I find the "one" to whom his home should go. For those of you who knew him not, (I indeed suspect few, if any) Solmain was old long before my mother's mother was just a small child. He was a hermit and a sage who lived a meager life. His Cottage was built long ago and is filled with all the simple things in life.

So, this coming Friday at 8pm EST those interested in a small but lovely cottage need only find me at the Britain Bank. 'Tis here I will tell of the Cities of Where a Key has been placed. Each key will be named after a virtue, you have only to find the key and return to Britain. When the last key is found I will bring all key finders to Solmain's Cottage and he with the winning key will assume ownership of the house.

*Please note if you own a house this quest isn't for you. Please consult the Sage Diaries for reasons (or http://www.uo.com/cgi-bin/newstools.pl?Article=2920)

With Kind Regards,

Lore Keeper of Sosaria
Jasmine Skye

Until next we meet, may Mushin be thy unfailing companion.

As I staggered, ermmm...walked along a deserted street in Yew, a rather stern looking fellow approached me. Wordlessly, he held forth a sheet of parchment, nodded his head, then strode away. As I read the message scrawled upon the parchment, I fair choked. This was news indeed! Read on, pilgrims.

Hail!

I'm new to this shard and have seen that there is no court of law. Well, I'm here to change all of that. My name is Judge. I'm here as a public servant for all who need me. Anyone who has a case and wants to bring to my attention can contact me at [email protected]. I will make sure that my ruling is carried out, for all who enter my court of law must sign my contract saying they must abide by my ruling or shall be punished.

Judge of Yew

Until next we meet, safe journeys to you, one and all.

Keep an eye out on UO.com for more information regarding this important transition.

And please remember that I am not a member of the OSI team and cannot respond to any emails regarding the ins and outs of the server move. Please contact [email protected] with any questions or concerns you may have.

The other gestures available are Walk, Walkstaff, Run, Runstaff, Idle1, Idle2, Fidget, Combatidle1h, Combatidle2h, AttackSlash1h, AttackBash1h, AttackPierce1h, AttackSlash2h, AttackBash2h, AttackPierce2h, Combatadvance, spell1, spell2, attackbow, attackcrossbow, gethit, die1, die2, block, punch, bow, salute, applaud, argue, argue2, argue3, blowkiss, formalbow (much fancier than normal bow), casual bow, cover ears, curtsey (another very fancy bow), folkdance (River Dancing), folkdance2, dance, tribaldance, foldarms, impatient, lecture, nod, point, armed salute, greet salute, unarmed salute, shakes head, enemy salute (*grins*), victory, victory2, wave, two hand wave, longdistance wave, and what.

Out of all of them, I have to say that the dancing ones are by far the coolest. But several others are very nice too, especially the Formal Bow and the Enemy Salute (visible method of flipping someone off by using both arms).

Here are a couple shots to give you an idea of what will be offered. Keep in mind that these static shots do not even come close to showing off the full movement that is involved.

Doing a Jig:

Telling Someone Off:

Several guilds have stepped forward to sponsor events for the day:

• 2pm CST Archery competition, will be held on the Roof top of the Warrior’s Guild hall. Sponsored by OSS. It promises to be exciting! There is a 2000 gold entry fee. The rules: The only shots that will count will be 'bulls-eye' or 'robin-hood' shots. Each Bulls-eye will count for 1 point, and robin-hood shots will count for 2 points. The one with the most points at the end of 10 shots per contestant wins. We will provide the bows for the contestants, but they must provide their own arrows. No other bows may be used in the competition. Prizes: 1st prize is a heavy xbow of power, 2nd prize is 5000 gold, 3rd prize is 2000 gold Contact Nero @ ICQ # 38949994 to register.

• 3pm CST Fishing competition, will be held at the western docks, located near the Fire cave. Sponsored by SB, Bring your best bait and a rod and join the fun! Rules: Contestants will cast for 2 minutes. After the signal is given to stop place all items retrieved from the sea into a pack along with a book containing your name and ICQ# . Points will be tallied and the winner contacted. In case of a tie there will be a fish off. Prize 3 SOS bottles to the winner. Contact Ashram @ ICQ # 33415804 .

• 4pm CST Master the Elemental Magery contest, to be held on the roof top of the Counselor’s Guild Hall. Sponsored By TPR is surely to be full of surprises and fizzles! Bring your regs and be ready to summon the elementals in a bracketed, single elimination contest. Each wizard will be matched with another, and they will both try to summon all four elementals. Whoever has the shortest time will advance to the next round. Main rules are #1 No pre-casting and #2 No scrolls. Prize 1st place 200 of each reg, 2nd place a full set of city and dungeon rune books. Contact Gamaliel Gaiblin @ ICQ # 82202346 or Jon von Darkmoor @ ICQ # 57050690 to register.

• 5pm CST: Join The Serpent Council in the Counselor’s Guild hall for dinner and conversation! Please leave all animosities and weapons at the door!

• 6pm CST Poetry Contest, to be held at the Fisherman’s Brew Tavern, located on the south docks. Sponsored by SC. Come all you tender poetic souls let us here your tales of pain, love and adventure! Prizes 1st place.. Glacier Staff, 2nd place... GM armor set, 3rd place... 6k Contact Jacen @ ICQ # 63464070 to register.

• 7pm CST: Beast Storytelling Contest to be held at the Fisherman’s Brew Tavern located on the southern docks. Sponsored by SMD. So dust off those quills and spin a fascinating tale. There is a 1k entry fee., with the winner taking the pot. Judges will be SMD staff. Contact Duran @ ICQ # 61241984 To register.

• 8pm CST: Mr. and Miss Serpents Hold Beauty Contest. will be held in the Counselor’s Guild hall. Sponsored by S*E So come on all you muscular guys and beautiful babes, the rules are simple: Dress up in yer best outfit, because there will be judging based on the outfit and a "talent" part....the talent part is anything as long as it doesn’t involve open fighting. Prizes full sets of colored leather in the winners choice and dates with a Sister or two (hopefully they’ll have a guy on hand for a date with the female winner!) Contact Leshyani Rianne @ Icq 978667 or [email protected] to register.

• 9pm CST: A Boat race around Serpent’s Hold. Sponsored by SC. The race will consist of sailing around the island of Serpent's Hold three times (no going through the middle & under the bridge), starting and finishing at the tiny peninsula jutting at the southeast end (gates will be provided). Entry Fee per boat is 500 gp. Prizes 1st prize: 25k 2nd prize: 10k Contact Ku Kullin @ ICQ # 25901262 to register.

• 10pm CST Rune Rewards. Sponsored by SC. There are 50 marked runes at 1k each, placed on a vendor at the Serpent Tomb Library just south of the Temple Of Balance. At 10pm holders of the runes will be asked to recall to safe locations throughout Britannia. The holder of the winning rune will recall to their prize of 5k, they will then be asked to roll the dice and will receive an additional 1000 x the number rolled. Contact Trin @ ICQ # 40604444 for more information.

Please Contact Cattie Brie of The Serpent Council @ ICQ # 97908451

We look Forward to seeing one and all for a day of fun!

New information has come about from Anwar the sage of the Lycaeum that lead to a terrifying discovery. It seems that this little summoning trick that was done had been attempted before, with the exact same results! However, people from all over the land started to side with one of the two spirits, resulting in a conflict that led to a brutal war that lasted for a long time, until the spirits of Shabti were reunited.

Other books have been found indicating that several artifacts are found around Sosaria now that can help in reuniting the spirits. The first is three sticks said to be the fragments of Shabti’s magical staff, the Staff of Balance. One was found at the Balron’s ground in Hyloth and now resides in the Temple of Balance in Moonglow. Two other pieces are yet to be accounted for. The Book also holds the secret locations of the pieces, but is encrypted by riddles.

The other relics are two magic lanterns, the lantern of Reason, and the lantern of Emotion, also hidden somewhere in the lands around Sosaria. It is said that with these relics, the conduit (Sarielle) and the Summoners (Kandalor and Sparticus) that Sashabti and Ashabti can be reunited into Shabti once again. Members of the Serpent council purposely hid this information from the rest of Sosaria, due to the fact that such information could lead to more conflicts, and those of evil intent to seek the relics.

Ku Kullin, Hierophant of Balance and keeper of the Temple of Balance in Moonglow sent the following information to me:

Last night, Brigands once again ravaged the peaceful lands of Sosaria, attacking several guard houses and killing good hearted people. Not only did they die, but instead, they came back after us, stronger then ever as liches, bone knights and zombies! Had it not been for the brave heroes of Sosaria that came, the day would have surely been lost.

The battle raged for hours before whatever was left of the Brigands couldn’t come back to fight anymore. It was then we met Lady Shannon, an elegant yet sturdy lass with a rather stunning figure and a smirk on her face. She seemed to be in charge of investigating the brigand attacks and sought us on information about it. We all decided to hit the Silver stag in Trinsic, where after a round of drinks started comparing notes on the brigand attacks and the Sarielle quest. Shannon mentioned that the Brigands were under some bizarre curse that made them berserkers, but even in death, they could not rest, and were forced to fight again, until their bodies could not come back in any condition to fight on.

It was perplexing to lady Shannon, who wondered, “why curse brigands to be unstoppable?” She was right of course. The curse was supposed to punish the brigands, but instead, seemed to only make them tougher…nearly invincible. Why then would the Gypsies want to make the Brigands more powerful?

Then Shannon gave us a possible clue. What if the Brigands, who seemed to have been looting graves and searching crossroads in Britannia, were in actuality looking for the pieces of the staff and the two lanterns? It would make sense that Brigands would want something as valuable and as powerful as these relics, but why? The answer came to us like adding two and two: The Gypsies cursed the Brigands, and in exchange of money or a lifting of the curse, made them search for the relics. Perhaps Shabti was involved with the Gypsies at one time or another? Perhaps the author of these books we read all this time was a gypsy? No one knew for sure, but it was a good bet that it was happening for this reason.

Another theory was given by Karek about Sarielle…what if Sarielle was indeed a Gyspy? Think about it…Gypsies possess magical powers such as divining the future, casting curses, and other spells we never heard of. And since Sarielle possesses unique powers of her own, what if that means she was a Gyspy? That could mean that Gypsies possess some magical gift that make them the perfect Conduit for summoning Shabti from this world. It could also tie in Shabti to the gypsies. The mind swims with possibilities.

This however makes our quest tougher. How do you fight against a foe that is near invincible? And if the Gypsies are involved, why? Are they on our side, or the other side, or neither?

It seems plausible, but that means that the brigands have been going on a wild goose chase all this time! And what of Sashabti and Ashabti? Won’t they be looking for these pieces too? It’s turning into a full out race now, folks. Who is going to get the pieces together and do what they want?

Until next time, this is Roving reporter, Thierwyn the mage signing off!

Thanks Deane!

It looks like we have found out what Big Fish are used for. On the Volunteer shard, Tanner NPCs are now selling Taxidermy Kits. These kits are used to make mounted wall trophies.

You must have at least 90.1 Carpentry to buy and use the kits. The one I purchased was around 83K, but I saw one in Britain that cost over 100K, so the price obviously fluctuates.

To make a Trophy, you need the Taxidermy Kit, 10 boards or logs, and the corpse of what you wish to mount must be nearby. You double click the Kit, target the corpse and a deed for the trophy is placed in your backpack. The Kit is one use only, and is destroyed after you use it.

I didnt have enough money to buy a house on the Volunteer Shard to actually try placing the trophy. However, I heard from Iome, who tells me that once you place a trophy, you can "re-deed" it by double clicking on it, so you can move it to another location.

I made a "stag trophy" deed from a dead Great Heart. I dont know what other animals are available, but Pug of Crydee posted the following photo of the available trophies in the curent UO artwork:

My thanks go out to Carpent, SugarRush and Rush for their help in obtaining the funds on the Volunteer Shard to purchase the kit. Also thanks to all the posters on the UOSS Carpentry and Fishing boards for their information.

Sturm told us that Robyn had been studying a strange group of Sand People called the Kanur for quite some time. These Kanur had apparently once lived in the area north of Papau, and that this area had once been covered with lush forests. The Kanur had lived in peace until their lands were one day destroyed by a group of wyrms. The wyrms had apparently enslaved the Kanur. Recently in an expedition Robyn had uncovered an ancient tome that would allow a spell to be cast to restore the desert to it's past beauty. Unfortunatly all were not on the Kanur's side. A group of warriors lead by Lord Tregar were loyal to the Wyrms and were stopping at no ends to prevent the spell from being cast. As such, they had abducted Robyn and hidden here away.

It was at this point that the man at the Lyceum spoke up. He told us about the warrior caste which had abducted Robyn from her Britain home. He mentioned that, because they were warriors, the Paladin's Library in Trinsic might have information on these people. So we headed off to the library in eastern Trinsic.

Upon arriving at the library we were met by the resident librarian. He was a bit shocked to see so many people there, but was more than willing to listen. We told him who we were looking for and he scavanged his books for what we sought. Eventually he found the book, but was not about to give it away to just anybody. He wanted us to prove our Valor. The task he gave us was to head to the dungeon Wrong and to kill a rogue Paladin.

Wrong was crawling with rapscallions and evil magi. All who were there fought valiantly and pressed on until the evil paladin had been destroyed. After this we returned to Trinsic triumphant in our quest. Pleased, the librarian shared with us the information he had. Apparently, Robyn was being hidden within the Bucaneer's Den tunnels. The assembled group soon made it way to this most perilous of towns.

The information from the librarian was well worth the price; the tunnels were crawling with brigand's and other evil doers. At first the large number simply overwhelmed those present; however, soon we had the upper hand. Like a wave, the adventures pushd forth through the narrow tunnels. One after another, the evil fell. After travelling almost the full length of the tunnels Robyn was spotted. She was bound inside a tiny room and was greatly relieved to see us.

She told us how she had been taken from her home and tossed into a large sack. She was more than happy to leave the tunnels. The group returned to Robyn's home where she thanked them for their efforts. She also mentioned that she would be continuing her quest to get the reagents for her spell this week. She has invited everyone to assist her. Simply meet her this Sunday (Jan. 21st) at 6pm PST at her house in Britain (Felucca). To reach her house, simply head north of the East Bank her house is the northernmost on that half of town.

Next week is sure to be another great adventure!

--Sage Arthur

Note: I originally had the name of the 'Sand People' as the Kumir. This was an error. Their name is actually the Kanur. My apologies.

Additionally, a riddle contest will be held. Simply show up to participate!

There is a rune at the YMCA to the library or simply head due West from Wrong, out onto a large peninsula. The large tower located at the top of the peninsula is the library!

Special thanks to Enfapan for informing me of this event.

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!  Bachelors of the Land Come Forth!!!
There is much excitement in the air about Bachelor Night, so we need to get started.
Bachelors Auction

All bachelors need to register by February 8th, so their talents can be posted. Registration must include:

• STR:
• DEX:
• Communication skill: (high, medium, low)
• Role playing desire: (high, medium, low)
• Top two highest skill levels:

Optional – bachelors can include a BRIEF statement about why they would be the “Bachelor of choice”

A reminder to the bachelors – the ladies of our land will be looking for a “talented” bachelor that will be able to help them or entertain them. Are you the one that can fill that void in their life? Send information to [email protected] subject line: Bachelor Stats

Kent Darkthrall
CTK Event Coordinator

Are you seeking adventure???  Maybe a little excitement???  Then the Clan of the Twilight Knights would like to welcome you to Treasure Hunt Tuesday. A fast paced Treasure hunt over the realm.  Emerald, our GM golddigger and chief treasure hunter, can also teach (after the T-hunt) you about treasure hunts, how to decode those maps, or any of your Treasure Hunting Questions.

What: Treasure Hunt Tuesday #3
When: January 23rd at 7:00 pm CST
Where: Twilight Market & Hall (Clan House) of the Twilight Township at Coordinates 116o6'N 104o37'E in Fellucca.

You can find more information about this and many other events at twilight-knights.com.

Come out for a night of fun and adventure.

Kent Darkthrall
CTK Event Coordinator

46th Assembly of the 5th High Council

Date: Monday, January 22nd, 2001
Time: 10 PM EST/9 PM CST
Location: Magincia Parliament Building

Agenda:

• Status Report on the War in Felucca
• Other items of interest to be announced at the meeting

Lady Geneveve Orseau, 8th Seat,
The High Council of Britannia

While returning from adventuring today I stumbled upon what can only be called an odd event. Britian, and I believe other cities, were invaded by large quantities of rats. The rats caused no serious problems and most were dispatched with glee by all who were present. Just thought you might like to see this.

Rasp Hudson
Master Miner

Rd Storefront has revamped its vendors and now have fully stocked vendors for GM Made Iron and Leather Armor, GM Weapons, DP’d Weapons, Regs, Arrows and Bolts, Potions and Bandages and a whole lot more!!! Our rune library is also one of the biggest in the land so getting to your next battle is easy!!! You can come in, stock up and recall to a battle in less than 5 minutes!!! Also, on Tuesday nights for 1 hour before the Auction Goldmaker the GM Smith will be on hand to do free repairs and make special orders.

Don’t forget the Auction also!!! Tuesday nights at 9:00 EST. Submissions for the Auction are taken on Mondays from 8:00 to 10:00 EST. Pay outs for items sold are on Wednesdays from 8:00 to 10:00 EST.

Runes to the Auction are located at the Museum of Memories, Krista’s Ranger Station and Kazola’s Tavern.

See what is coming in the next auction at http://www.rdauctionhouse.com/frameset2.html

Hope to see you there!!!

The RD Staff

Oh, how I do love a good contest! And there are so many types. Contests of "skill at arms," of sailing and seamanship, and of taming. And now, my brethren, the Druids of Legends propose a new contest. A contest of begging! Read on for details of this 'first of a kind' test of 'mooching' skill.

Greetings, Ith'unk. Hail Cyn.

The shard of Legends is now an open and accessible land. Folk from numerous alternate dimensions are finding their way here, in droves. It is my contention that this can only be good for our world. New blood means new ideas. With every new influx of citizens, we see folk eager to make their mark through hard work and intelligent decisions. And we also see those who prefer to beg gold, goods and other items from the more industrious folk. Now, it is oft said that begging is an art form. Granted, it's usually the beggars who say this. Given that this saying may well contain some element of truth, I hereby announce the following:

I, Uncle Dullblade, Elder of the Druids of Legends do hereby announce the first annual "Beg for Thine Supper Contest." The contest shall be held on the 3rd day of February, in the King's Men Theater of Britain. The event shall commence promptly at 8 p.m., Central.

The rules are simple. Contestants shall have 3 minutes to tell the saddest tale in all of Sosaria and persuade a panel of judges why they should win the prize money. The prize money shall be awarded for the top three "Whiners."

All contestants must pre-register by midnight, Friday, the 2nd. Registration may be accomplished by contacting me by pigeon or by contacting any other D*L member.

The prize for our First Place Beggar shall be a small fieldstone house deed and the title of "Most Pathetic Beggar in All Sosaria."

The second place Beggar will be awarded 30 thousand of the King's gold pieces.

Third place Beggar shall receive 20 thousand of the King's own gold pieces.

I bid thee, mind the time limit. Failure to abandon the stage at the end of the three minute whining period will result in immediate disqualification. The decision of the judges is final and may not be appealed to a higher authority. And remember this; The more pathetic the tale, the better your chances of winning.

Come one, come all and cheer for thine favorite beggar. May the Virtues forever light the path of Truth.

Uncle Dullblade
Druids of Legends

Cyn

Prior to the speech, many of Winfield's friends and admirers gathered on top of the old Order tower to roast the Mayor. Person after person gave testimony to the good deeds that Mayor Winfield has performed over the last three years.

The following is the text of the mayor's speech:

Good evening my friends and welcome to the 3rd Anniversary of PaxLair.

It is customary I summarize a few things about PaxLair in my speech. PaxLair was founded on January 19th in the gods' year 1998. Tonight, I wish to offer three points to my speech. First, to reflect upon the past year. Second, to envision the next year. Third, to state my personal plans from this day forward.

The past year has been a volatile one for PaxLair and the shard. We saw the opening of Trammel and the start of the Faction Wars. It would be shortsighted to state these two events had little impact on us. They did and do have significant impact on our City.

First, the opening of Trammel gave many people opportunities for new housing and opportunities to develop their own communities. I am very pleased to see veterans of PaxLair moving to new locations and applying community-building concepts.

We learned some of these concepts here in PaxLair by working together for a variety of goals. Other concepts have formed based upon the creativity and leadership of people in their roles to lead new communities.

I am very impressed by all the communities over the past months. The opening of Trammel did have a reducing effect on participation in PaxLair Yet, this only means that PaxLair over time must adapt and reshape its objectives. PaxLair never dies. It is permanent. As long as there are people, buildings, and a foundation of history and vision, PaxLair will exist.

During this past year we adapted to changing situations. One is a more combat oriented endeavor through the PaxLair Wars. This is not an attempt to stimulate activity in PaxLair. It is an attempt to offer full war campaign strategies from intelligence to tactical engagements in a realistic manner. These Wars will take months to reach an end-state objective. That objective is to prevent the enemies from attacking PaxLair as they do frequently nearly each day now.

For the future, I foresee PaxLair continuing as a central focal point for this s shard It will continue to offer a very open policy to involving people with different goals. It will continue to attempt to balance good and evil, order and chaos.

I do not see a goal of increasing numbers of people. The primary goal is to be consistent in the foundations we have laid over the past three years and build upon them; we will not tear old concepts down. We will simply adapt and try new things.

Finally, I must tell you about my personal plans for the future. As of tonight, I resign as Mayor of PaxLair and turn the leadership of this City over to the 3rd Council.

The Council has not recommended my successor for me to appoint, so I will leave it to them from this point forward to select a new Mayor or modify the government structure in some other way. I caution, though, that a high council approach to decide daily things by consensus is a very difficult approach. I strongly urge that Chancellors still be appointed to operate PaxLair each day. The long-term visions may be set by a council as well as medium-term implementations of new ideas. But please keep the decision-making simple and consistent in the future.

As for my personal plans, many things are uncertain. Two things are certain though. One is that I am not leaving the Realm completely. Chesapeake is my home and will be hopefully for a long time.

Secondly, I will no longer have a primary presence in PaxLair. I will no longer represent PaxLair in diplomacy or activities. For the time being, though, I wish to remain on the PaxLair stone as a citizen if the Council accepts me.

What I plan to do with my limited time within the Realm is to take up fishing once more, wander the lands a bit to see some sights I have never seen, and perhaps consult a bit with various towns and groups. But I cannot take on any official capacity within the Community.

I wish to say in closing that being the Mayor of PaxLair has been the best experience of my life. I look across the top of this tower and remember many things. The paintball matches, the weddings, the meetings, the attacks upon us, the chess tournaments, and the celebrations. These and more I will remember forever.

I have met people of many different backgrounds, philosophies, and ambitions. I have tried to cater to all these people as best I could. I could list the people I am indebted to for helping me and PaxLair over the years, but the list would go into the hundreds. Therefore, I will only list three people who have been with me for nearly the entire existence of PaxLair.

One is Soulweaver. SW is one of the founders and caretakers of PaxLair. It is he who bought these towers and many other buildings. Without him, and others of The Band, PaxLair would not exist today.

A second is Winmere, once my student of magic. Winmere has kept me organized and sane through so many dealings in PaxLair. I treasure her devotion to me and to her many friends.

Finally, Sir Emmeril, Knight of PaxLair. Sir Emmeril filled the role of Deputy Mayor and was my chief counsel in so many matters. Without Sir Emmeril, I would not have been successful.

As I said, I could go on for hours thanking all who helped me in PaxLair-- The towns, the groups, the evil, the good, the craftspeople, the questers, the adventurers, the reporters, the gods, the seers and the counselors. I appreciate your attention and patience. You, yes you, are what make this community. Each of you fill a very special role in this community and do not forget that. The community is the sum of all its parts.

I wish you all well in the future and thank all of you for being my friend and allowing me this opportunity to be the Mayor of PaxLair.

I hereby resign from my position as the Mayor of PaxLair.

Dragonspeed to you all!

Early this morning, I encountered a curious looking courier who handed me a message scroll, then fled into the forest outside of Moonglow. Although nondescript in appearance, he wore a most unusual expression upon an otherwise unremarkable face. He seemed, for lack of a better word, "enthralled." Upon reading the message, I thought it best I pass it along to the citizens of Sosaria, at once. Read on, pilgrims.

To the fair people of Britannia,

I, Corposant, have been summoned by the Firstborn onto this land.

He has chosen me to gather the believers and stand beside him during the Ritual, when the time of cleansing comes. I am charged with gathering only the purest of heart and character.

I was summoned from a land of peace, where evil was extinguished long ago, and only good survived. The Firstborn's plan is to bring the same peace and prosperity to this land. Soon, he shall begin the Ritual, which shall bring an everlasting peace to all of us who have earned it through their deeds in life.

The Second's coming was foretold, as was mine. The Second speaks for the Firstborn, and foretells the future, of events to come. He is very wise and deserves the respect of the people. I shall lead those who believe in the Firstborn's intentions, and will gather only those who share our interest in purifying the land.

Only the pure of heart will be allowed to join me, and those who do must be willing to fight and die for their steadfast belief in our cause, and in defense of the Firstborn. We shall aid the Firstborn and his fellow Clones, and in return, we shall be allowed to aid with the sacred Ritual. All those who see the truth in the Second's words must band together and join me, where we will help turn this land into one of good and peace.

Even though I am weak from my summoning, I will be traveling the land in search for the believers. I keep my home in Moonglow, where I stay by the local Bank and preach the word of the future. If you wish to seek me out, then you may find me there. I will train all who are new to this world, as well as give advice and help to those who are not. Before you are admitted, you must prove your loyalty and trust. Only the most faithful of those who seek to follow our path will be admitted.

Beware of those who speak against us, and do not heed their word, for they speak evil against us and wish to see our attempts to bring peace to this land fail. You must take a stand against these lost souls and warn them of the impending doom they are facing by turning from the light.

We must gather together and form an alliance, my fellow believers. Once united, we will bring harmony to this land!

All hail the Firstborn!
--Corposant

Cyn

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Veteran Rewards Release Schedule

In an effort to provide optimal support for all shards as we release Veteran Rewards, we have tentatively rescheduled their release. We are currently targeting to release 12+ and 24+ month veteran rewards to all remaining shards following their Wednesday, January 24th maintenance period. Veteran rewards for these accounts will be activated on the Siege Perilous shard following its Friday, January 26th maintenance period.

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Seeking Stories of the Shadowlords Faction

Darkness hangs at the ancient crypt in the woods east a Yew. Strange figures merge with the darkness, and the air is thick with the stench of evil. Those who follow the Shadowlords are gaining numbers and spreading across Britannia, brought together by a power dreadful and dangerous, brought from beyond the familiar lands.

Are you a follower of the Shadowlords? Whether you dabble in black magics, raise sword or mace, or aid in battle from the sidelines, we want to hear your tale. Send us a story about your time spent in the Shadowlord faction.

Send your story as e-mail to [email protected] by Friday, January 26th. Please be sure your story falls between 500-1000 words, and include "Shadowlords Faction" in your subject line. Please provide a name and phone number for verification of the story. Submissions to "uo-profiles" become the property of OSI and may be used for special events, promotions, and/or advertising. All submissions must be made by the original author and are subject to verification."

Drachenfels and Europa Veteran Rewards

Due to issues with the veteran rewards system, we will be disabling the system on Drachenfels and Europa. The other shards have not been affected by this issue and therefore, the veteran rewards system will remain active on other shards.

We will update you again once the system is activated.

*A black crow perches upon your window sill clasping a piece of bloody parchment between its beak*

Ugh der humiez! Meeb amb Gund'lug ub da Stormreaver Clan!

Da Chief ob da Clan haz azked me tu send aubtopzy repwort tu ju humiez. Me nub culd argue wid dat!

While agu der wuz a fubby humie drezzed ub lik a jeztah. He kum tu fort. He smell juzt lik orc but he hab fubby black hairz un hiz chin! He kum in da shak lik he own da plaze und blahin' wid Grishnak lik he mojo chummah.

Metinkz da Chief lik dat humie mojo. Me nub gnu whi.

Da humie blah tu da Chief dat he wuld spend da night at da furt. Da next mornun he wuz ded! Eberywun wulked all ober hiz budy, luukin' at it. Da Chief luuked at dat humie mojo lung time und blah dat sumtin' wuz wrung wid hiz heart. Nub wun culd make him fleshee.

Meeb foget hiz name. Dat awll me gnu!

Gar!

Gund'lug

Thank ye, Gund'lug, for this report.

The Syndicate has just launched its newest and most ambitious vendor project to date. We call it, SVN (Syndicate Vendor Network). It is composed of nearly 100 vendors located in both Trammel and Felucca. Various vendor houses, located all over the world, are linked together by a web page and rune books inside each one with runes to all of the others.

Using our Arx Draconis web page you can see a complete listing of all the vendors and what they sell. You can see what stores hold which vendors and what our minimum prices are. And you can get directions with small maps to each of the SVN houses.

From each SVN house you can use a rune book there to get to any other house. All SVN vendors are stocked regularly and sell only the highest quality goods at very reasonable prices. We have vendors of ALL types from rares to reagents to armor to potions. You name it, and we sell it.

So come on by the SVN web page and check out what 100 linked vendors can do for your UO shopping experience! Let us be your one stop shop for all your UO character needs.

-Dragons-

Friends, historians, lend me your ears!

Our history shalt not be forgotten! Where do we keep the great records of our battles? Where are the libraries of knowledge and historical tomes of our past! Tales are told around the campfire every night about the dreadful mage Mondain and the battles of Trinsic! Tales are told of the split of the land, of the lost lands recovered, of the finding of a new hell Khaldun! But surely lost are some of our greatest tales.

So I call to all historians to search the history of Great Lakes, help us establish a great collection of losses and triumphs!

Send entries to be considered for the complete history of the shard Almanac to ICQ 41556475 or mail [email protected]. Same addresses if you have any questions. Ask for the good Abbot.

~Abbot Lucas Rei Eventide~
Keeper of the Library of the Phoenix- TPR

Lord HellRazor, escorted by two Loyalists, arrived at Dawn Tower earlier today, delivering a message to the Royal Court and the Royal Guard from King Desmond. Duchess Wildstar accepted the parchment, which read:

Traitors of Dawn:

Thrice have I attempted to reason with thee, and thrice have you sought my life. Therefore the time for talk is over.

Thou and thy ilk have seven days hence to leave Dawn in peace, never to return. After that time, my army shall march upon Dawn, and all those who remain will swear fealty to the crown or die. This I swear.

Death to all conspirators and traitors of Dawn!

Desmond Cross
(Affixed with the Royal Seal)

From the Journal of Brother Antos, Arch Bishop of Dawn:

The realm is in an awful state. King Desmond, Queen Hayloh, and young Prince Riain live in exile, unable to return to Dawn for fear for their very lives. Those who remain in Dawn have split into three factions...those still loyal to the King (mostly made up of the Knights of the Order of the Blue Rose); those who follow the Royal Court (currently led by Duchess Wildstar and Countess Vixen), who believe that King Desmond is under some spell of the Dark Tower; and the Royal Guard, who appear to be preparing a military takeover of the kingdom. Yet none of them know the truth, nor will they listen!

I am one of the last of the original citizens of Dawn. These ancient eyes saw the building of Dawn and its sister city Wind, and the rise and fall of Exodus, over 300 years ago. Time moved differently in the Ethereal Void; some say it moved not at all. So when Dawn's magical experiments saw our realm trapped in the Void, time stood still for us for 3 centuries.

But we were not immortal. For once Desmond Cross of the Guardians of Virtue found the Blackrock Orb and freed us from our timeless prison, the years began to catch up with us at an accelerated rate. The Dawn Council of Elders, one by one, passed from this life, and now only I retain their secrets.

The Council of Elders, in their wisdom, knew that Desmond Cross was the Warrior Poet of ancient prophecy, he who was destined to one day lead Dawn to victory during its darkest hour. And so, they chose Desmond, a humble bard, to be the first King of Dawn. But they chose him for another task as well, one not even known to Desmond himself.

For you see, Dawn was a city of magic, magic that permated its very soil; magic fueled by the undying love of its citizens, and brought to razor-sharp focus within its rulers, the Council of Elders. But when Dawn was freed, and the Council began to wither and fade, it was feared that the magic that was Dawn might be lost forever.

And so, when Desmond was made king, the Dawn Council of Elders passed their portion of the Ether to him, and a mystical bond was formed between he, his land, and his people...an unending circle, a whole stronger than the sum of its parts.

I was tasked by the Council to one day reveal this sacred bond to King Desmond, that he might in turn one day pass the magic to young Prince Riain. But now it seems as if that day may never be.

Dawn has suffered too many blows as of late. When Lord British and his mages cast the spell that tore Trammel from Felucca, and handed Felucca to Minax, the land itself screamed in aguish; Desmond grew terribly ill, forced to rest in seclusion for months. And yet, Dawn remained, its magic weakened but restrengthened by the love of its people. But now...now...

Whatever evil that infects King Desmond is now beginning to affect, to a lesser degree, the citizenry. The hatred, the bloodlust, the thirst for power grows like a cancer, and is reaching a fever pitch. Chaos reigns in Dawn this day, and those who would murder their king in their madness don't even realize that doing so would be to kill themselves as well...for if the Bond is severed at any link, the kingdom itself shall surely die.

I have delivered this news to both Lady Wildstar and the Dawn Royal Guard, but both factions ready for war. Even now, King Desmond masses an army to march on Dawn, and I fear the three factions are about to collide in a war that may very well rip the kingdom apart.

I must continue in my efforts. I must make them see!

Brother Antos
Arch Bishop of Dawn

It was a quiet night for the Ranger meeting in Phoenix Rising and the meeting started out well. I, the new Ranger Captain, Jon von Darkmoor, took an inventory of all the Rangers strengths and weakness' to get a better feel of what the town had to work with for a defensive force. War was in the air and having been through it before it was a feeling I didn't particularly care for, but knew it was necessary to preserve the town and ensure the safe return of White Lotus.

After getting a feel for the experience of all the Rangers they adjourned to the crossroads guard post to survey it for a plan of defense. Many strategies were discussed but being a small force in such a large building it was difficult to decide on one. I finally gathered all the Rangers on the roof for a final look. There they noticed the sky had a eerie cast to it and the air felt thick enough to slow their movements. Wondering what horror now awaited them they all peered off the fort on different sides.

The sky lit with a flash for a moment and then a structure appeared near the guard post.It was the Ankh of Sacrifice with four Red Wizards in attendance and a poor soul slaughtered on the alter. Skeletons in chains lay bound near a mysterious red curtain. While we stared in shock at the scene the Red Wizards quickly noticed us and sprang to eliminate their witnesses. The battle raged on the roof with Erwin and Bladestorm taking one side of the roof entrance and Gamaliel and I taking the other. All the while Ari was firing arrows as fast as she could draw them.

The battle was over quickly with the mages being unprepared for such a force of opposition but we knew this was just another test .

Later that evening after a training session we again felt the change in the air and noticed the sky changing color. We once again hurried to the Guard post only to notice The Lady White Lotus alone on horseback. We ran to her side to bring her safely back into town when in between us a Red Wizard appeared with two Demons flanking Lotus. She told us the Demons would kill her if we moved any closer so we waited to hear the Wizard Aphrodite out.

She said "Rangers and citizens of Phoenix Rising. I have come here this night to let you know that we the Red Wizards are pleased with your progress and your spirit at working together for Lotus's safety. For that I will show you your beloved White Lotus but I fear that your task is far from complete. She will remain safe as long as our treasure is protected. Unearthing them and moving them to a safe place shall begin soon, but I fear that there will be more attacks then. Train hard and be loyal towards Lotus and Phoenix Rising for her life depends on your outcome of the task at hand." With that a gate appeared and White Lotus vanished followed shortly thereafter by the demons and then the Wizard Aphrodite.

The appearance of White Lotus firmed our resolve not to fail so be warned any of those seeking the treasure of the Red Wizards; you do so over our dead bodies and many of your own. This I promise!

Jon von Darkmoor, Ranger Captain of Phoenix Rising

Gem eyed her scurvy crew. "Well, Pitot, it seems it is time to once again entertain the land-crawlers with yer fine idea….We will hold another fishing net event at the Magincia Trammel docks this Sunday at 4:00 p.m. EST. As she eyed Sir Henry, Callista, Ellywick Oneshoe and the other new recruits, she continued, "Let me explain. The fishers of the Fishing Council of Britannia bring their spare green nets to the Magincia docks. Because the Magincia docks are "deep sea," when we cast them, we are attacked by sea serpents and deadly Kraken and such. And as all fishers know, there is sometimes an SOS bottle as treasure after the fight. It is our way of sharing the glory and hardships of the sea with the poor ignorant landlubbers of the world. Many die but 'tis great sport."

Flagg added "And for this one, as a special treat for the landlubbers, we will bring spare magic weapons and armor to give to the masses. The newer and poorer residents of Britannia may find good use for them."

For a rousing good fight, come to the Trammel Magincia docks at 4:00 p.m. EST Sunday. We will offer gates from the East Britain bank beginning at 3:30.

Gem,
Fleet Captain Great Lakes

Greetings, Citizens of the City of the Damned... I have an announcement...

Last eve, whilst we were trying to get the meeting underway, I was informed that the Order of Mercaerin was seen at Joh's Creb Sheck, near Skara Brae...

With Ty'orthor providing a gate, I immediately went there to speak with them...

I spoke with Lord Zar'el Darkan of the Order...

After conversing for a while, we agreed on a non-aggression pact between the Order of Mercaerin, and the City of the Damned...

The Order is allowed to visit the City, and is to be treated as citizens of the City...

This does not, at this time, mean we are allied with them...

It simply means we shall not attack them, and they shall not attack us...

That is all for now... Until next time...

Rest In Peace...
Thanatos, Lich Lord

The scribe looks down on his Lord, August West, lying in the bed. His mood is grim, seeing his lord twitch with every movement of his body. Sarah Iczerio, the Cleric, is changing his bandages and cleaning the holes, which were dug into his shoulder and back from arrows. The scribe runs his own bruised shoulder, cursing the beast that inflicted the damage.

Sarah turns to him, and allows him to speak with August. She warns that he can only stay a short time, as the Keeper needs time to recover. The scribe nods, and begins to speak with his brother. Sarah moves to the next bed, attending to Lord Fox, who also was injured that evening.

The two speak of the battle the night before. August lead a group of elves, joined by his cousin Sarlock, into old Skara Brea, to hopefully defend the town. The mission was only supposed to be a scouting mission, but it turned into a small hunting party. The elves moved to the docks, and began to cross when the winds sang out!

The Humans calling themselves the Order had taken position on the mainland docks. They were casting poison fields on the landing point, afflicting all whom tried to enter the battle. If the poison were not bad enough, the fiends began to destroy the elves and defenders who tried to aid the dying.

It was at this point that August gave the battle cry. The fiends had slain one of his elves attempting to heal a brother. West was enraged at this, and charged from the ferry. He cast his most powerful magic, and used his bardic powers to use the wildlife to aid him. All four beasts fired on him, and on slung the arrow, which resided in his shoulder most of the evening. August was thrown back, and passed out.

He awoke to the fight escalating. Worf had found his leader, and had attempted some field surgery. West shrugs him off, and commands him to rejoin and aid the elves. He steadied himself against the corpse of a fallen horse, and rose to fight anew. The Order took little to no damage from the defenders, and hope seemed lost. August attempted to speak to the supposed leader, but only word of two in when the second arrow struck him in the chest. Once again, August fell back, and blacked out.

He awoke to a strange sensation of movement. He found he was bound to a steed, which was walking through New Glow. West found he could not move, and he was somewhat bandaged. His eyes could not open, as they were swelled from battle, by what he says a blue light.

He slipped out of reality, only to return to see a golden light was surrounding him.

This light was caused by the sun reflecting off something, a wall mayhap... he knew he was in Trinsic. His eyes, still seeping vital fluid, opened a bit to see his rescuer, his brother Erin and friend Judas. He gave both a slight smile, and tried to mutter thanks, but the two asked him to conserve his strength. August felt himself being lifted into a stretcher, and he awoke to find himself in the Great Trinsic Meeting Hall (now converted to a make shift MASH unit).

The scribe and August spoke for a bit, but Sarah came back to usher him out. She told him West needed his strength to recover, and that the scribe could return in a few days. August asked for one moment more, and Sarah allowed it (though she did wish he would rest).

He told the scribe to seek out brother Banzai, whom the order seemed to trust enough to speak with. The scribe was to bring his brother to the Hall, and he was to be debriefed. This lone elf could hold the key to finding out why the Order was attacking, and how to defeat them. The scribe nodded, and was nudged out by Sarah. West lay back, and found he was a prisoner of sleep again, though something about the rest was wrong...

Your News report regarding the Knights of Yew was quite erroneous. The Knights have led raiding parties in attempts to recover Jarlazle every night since his capture. I have personally led two raids on the Keep of the DC. We even briefly captured Elmdor's wife Ariel Joy, who we offered to exchange for Jarlazle. We have refused to meet Elmdor's price of the Mace of St. Gideon for Jarlazle. We have grave concerns about Elmdor's possession of such a powerful artifact.

Allow me to stress that the Knights of Yew have not and will never abandon own of its own.

Kind regards,

Morpheus von Strelitz
Knights-Champion
Knights of Yew

I have sent you these messages in an attempt to clarify the recent slanders on the Honor of the Knights of Yew. This is the message we received from Elmdor, leader of the Death Corps, after Knight-Champion Jarlazle had exchanged himself for the Heart of another of our Knights:

Dear good Sir Knights,
You have forced me to take an action which I am most displeased with. I have tried to bargain with you and that led to blood shed. I have tried to tell you how to stop this blood shed and yet you persist in denying me. Your Knight Jarlazle has even come to you and pleaded to you to give me the mace to stop the blood shed and yet even then you turned away from him. You would rather let innocent men and women die then give me a mace. So now I have reached my task; I have your knight with me but not in material form. I have taken his soul and encased it within the soul gem. You have now a choice, hand me the mace where I shall free your Knight or turn your back on this and walk away from the virtues which you say you serve. The choice is yours and yours alone. Choose wisely.

-Lord Elmdor

Elmdor has been after a certain Relic for quite some time, this is his latest attempt to get it from those who rightfully possess it, for what evil purposes, no one knows, though it has been rumored that it can break an ancient seal, holding a terrible evil at bay. Elmdor himself has told me that he desires this thing merely as a gift for an old friend. A gift! There are many maces in the land, Elmdor, is a gift for a friend worth all the pain and bloodshed you have caused? Perhaps you could get your friend a nice bottle of wine instead, Yew's winery makes the finest vintages in all of Sosaria. This is Knight-Marshall Harabec's reply to Elmdor's message:

Elmdor...
Perhaps this has not been stated clearly so I will attempt to do so here. The Knights of Yew will never give in to threats or make deals with the undead, no matter what. Understand this, a holy relic such as the mace of St. Giddeon will never be tainted by your Evil. It is unfortunate that Jarlazle was imprisoned in the Soul stone, but as a Knight of Yew these are the risks we take.

Enjoy your hollow threats as we will come for our friend and when we do your empty little skull will be used to smash open the very stone you speak of.

Oh, but I am curious as to why you even want the mace, that I have never been told of. No doubt for something vile and evil.

Knight-Marshall Harabec

The Knights have a long standing policy of not parlaying with those who would attempt to blackmail us through kidnapping or other means, this all Knights know, and it is true no matter the captive, from the newly sworn squire to the Knight-Elder himself. Elmdor knows this as well. This is my reply to Elmdor:

Listen well to my words, fiend. Like all evil creatures you find a way to divest yourself of all blame for your actions. The Mace is not yours and never was, nor do you have any right to it. Any consequences are on your head alone. Try as you might to twist words and meanings, your actions are evil and wrong. I say this now as a Knight of Yew.

I hold you responsible for any harm that may befall Jarlazle, and for the debt you owe for the wrong done to Scarecrow, and I hold your gang of hellspawn responsible as well. Not one of you will be safe while you persist in your actions, ask your lickspittle Kain what that means. Run and hide in the deepest hole you can find, for if I find you I will kill you, and any that rally to your cause.

Lowgun

The lines are drawn, the battle is joined. The Knights of Yew simply did not wish to give up something that we rightfully possessed, and we were attacked for it. Our cause is just, and our resolve is firm. We will never give in to threats or intimidation, from the Death Corps or anyone. I leave it to the people of Sosaria to make up their own minds who is acting Honorably.

Lowgun
Knight
Knights of Yew

Hail! This week there's a new 'toon and a major announcement. First off the latest ImaNewbie 'toon. This episode ImaNewbie is strolling down a path in Felucca when he spies a coin on the ground. Finding a coin is supposed to bring good luck, right?

Next is a major announcement of something brand new in ImaTown on Pacific. The formation of the ImaTown Citizens guild. So many people have asked to join in with ImaNewbie and the L.O.S.E.R.S. that we have created a special citizens guildstone. Now anyone who wants to join can get their "Ima" character added to the stone. All the details are over at my site.

Added Jan. 19th. 2001

Episode #133 - Find a Penny, Pick it Up...

ImaNewbie does Britannia
http://www.imanewbie.com/

later...Tryon

Thankfully, while Ith'unk was away from the Stratics News Office today, a small pigeon managed to safely deliver a message and return from whence it came. As everyone knows, my orcish News Team Leader has a legendary appetite for pigeons. The message contained a generous offer from Terra Roscommon, Mayor of Willowport. Read on, pilgrims.

Hail to all the citizens of Sosaria.

Recently the Alchemist Guild has perfected many different dye tubs, and has begun to make these tubs available to a privileged few. As the current Mayor of Willowport, I have been entrusted with a Leather dye tub and a Black dye tub. I wish to make these tubs available for use to the general public, and to that end shall be providing my services FREE OF CHARGE on January 19, 20 and 21 from 9:30 PM to 10:30 PM eastern Moonglow time, at the west Britain bank in Trammel.

I shall also be happy to provide these services in the future, for free, to any that feel the need to use these priceless dye tubs.

From the desk of Terra Roscommon,
Mayor of Willowport.

Until next we meet, safe journeys to you, one and all.

Cyn

This afternoon, I received another message from Ronkar, Lord of Valhalla. It seems the most eloquent Ronkar has decided to learn for himself, the meaning of the mysterious Clones and their intentions. To this, I can only wish him safe journeys on his quest. To date, I can still offer no conclusive evidence that the Clones represent a threat to the land. And perhaps they do not. It's possible that many of us have indeed come to be unduly suspicious of things we don't understand. I sincerely hope this is the case. Here is the message from Ronkar, in its' entirety.

Dear Cyn,

It has been awhile, and not much news here on the field. Our armies are gathering up, we are now as I write this to you are planning our assault. But enough of this little talk, I write to you in concern of the 'clones'

Myself and my fellow Valhalla Vikings know nothing of this, and were shocked as everyone else to hear about it. For the time, we are not afraid, but if something bad were to occur in Midgard then we will take action. I talked to a few people about this while in the town of Skara Brae getting supplies. It seems that every one is preparing for when this ritual is going to happen, men are calling themselves to arms.

It seems, from what I have observed in the past, weather this life or my past, that man is afraid of what they don't understand. And because of that, we conquer, destroy, and murder. Man has done it for thousands of years and shall continue to do it, until we live in a utopia. Now it is clear to me that man lives in a world of damnation.

Although, this does concern me, maybe there was something Odin missed when he was looking into the future, maybe he needed more then one eye to see this, maybe the old man didn't show Odin this terrible event but, only part of what will happen during Ragnarok. I will find out personally, so I'm to embark on a journey, alone, tomorrow at dawn, when the first beam of light is to be seen from the mighty sun. I will travel far and wide in search of the old man. I must know what is going to happen! Before I go, I must leave with a passage, or words of wisdom if you will, for I fear I might not return in good health or at all.

"We are not waiting, with hope or with fear, for some future evolution, of humanity or progress of history, for we know without doubt that the essential completeness, or freedom, longed for by all conscious beings, always exists here and now. Regardless of perceived suffering, there is spiritual plenitude right before our eyes, not only for some elite but for the people as a whole, for conscious life as a whole."

Ronkar
Lord of Valhalla

Cyn the Cynical

The following was posted to FYI on the Ultima Online Homepage:

"Due to issues with the veteran rewards system, we will be disabling the system on Drachenfels and Europa. The other shards have not been affected by this issue and therefore, the veteran rewards system will remain active on other shards.

"We will update you again once the system is activated"

Go with the Virtues!

Yesterday evening, as promised, Sardisha Li'Sant, the gypsie we rescued from the grasp of the Severed Head Orcs, came to the Spiritwood Tavern to tell a story. In fear of the orcs she came in disguise although she was easily identified by her speech and the gypsish  look of hers. After the Tavern had filled she stepped forth and started her story:

"This here story I heared from a nice lady in white.. When I were jist a young'un. Once they was two brothers.. who loved each other more'n any other. One were named Jacob, 'n one were named Joshua. They was ne'er wi'out each other.. so when one decided ta' become a priest. A druid.. the other followed'im though his heart were not in it. One were consumed by his studies, but the other one... his thoughts was elsewhere. They was two brothers, Jacob and Joshua what went to be druids together Jacob.. his mind were on his studies.. but Joshua.. found his mind on a serving girl in the tavern. Her name were Annoura. Leastways I thinks so.. they called her annie. Well.. Joshua were doin' right well with the lass til she saw Jacob. They done fell in love like two lead ingots bein' smelted. Eventually the brother found out.. 'n they was a fight. Joshua cursed god.. 'n all things good.. 'n of the forest 'n said that he'd ha'e his revenge. From that day for'ard, they dinnae see himi for many years. Then one night.. Joshua come to his brother 'n asked his aid. it were for some secret project. One that were for the ears 'o none, Joshua said. 'N because Jacob felt guilty bout Annoura 'n all.. he went with him. When he returned, he swore he would Ne'er have anything to do again with his brother. The next day his love, Annie, had disappeared. He ne'er found that out. Years later, they was another story, but she would na' tell that part. It were about a magic stick.. or somethin. But then... Joshua came agin.'N said he would gi'e back Annoura... but fer a price. Jacob would ha' to aid him in his work. Jacob agreed, and went from the small town he lived in with Annoura Ever day he went.. for weeks.. 'n then one day he come home.. 'n he were as if his heart was broke. Annie tried 'n tried, but she could na'e find out what happened.'N here be the sad part. He could na'e choose between losin' his love 'n what was right So's he chose the only path he could.. he choose death.

They is a rumor that his grave be somewheres in Britannia.. near her home. But I has ne'er found it. He took whate'er secret was.. ta the grave with 'im."

Quite touched by her story Elv'eng of Deepwater and myself related to Sardisha what we know of Jacob and Annoura, and about what happened about a year ago when they first where seen in our lands. Apparently Sardisha did nay know this to be a true story and realizing the real tragic of this story tears started to appear in her eyes. Before she vanished into a gate she said: "Ye take care.. 'n tell Rilla I be safe. Oh.. 'n somethin' is interferin' with Maia's powers. Now there be a mystery too."

Knowing Sardisha's story to be true a few people set out to find some clues about Jacob, Annoura and Joshua. First we travelled to the Yew area, as this was the place where Annoura was seen last, and knowing of a ruined building there we thought this might be the right approach. We searched the countryside around the heart shaped clearing south of Yew without finding anything though. Recalling what Sardisha had told us, about the small town where they lived, we thought to start searching the towns of Britannia, starting with the smallest ... Cove.

Upon arriving in Cove we spread in order to search the town fer clues. Inside a small hut, under a bed we found an old book, called Words of which contained the following: He was the hour, and I was but his moment lost in the simple joy of living. We had little time to share great love. He was the star that did not know how to be dull, the flower that closed before it's night. For me, the flower lost. For the, the dagger fall. For me, the tempest tossed. For me, the end of all. And the answer is still a question... Does one have the courage of life, or the courage of death? Can I live without joy in place where tears fall from heaven upon only his bones? I shall journey far to the east...and see some comfort in a place where rock meets sky, and the birds gather. And if there is no comfort in the morning's light, I will seek my love... for the last time. - A.

While we still thought about what we found, Martin apparently had stumbled across something interesting at the northern watchtower of Cove. Under a blood stained chainmail tunic we discovered a scroll, a very old piece of parchment: "And in the mists, Darkhen he cayme, to rule the laynd and mayke his fame" it read. In one corned of the upper room we discovered another book, a book nearly rotten and hard to read as most of the pages had been torn away and blood stained. Only the last pages could be read: "...and the chemical formulae was s.. sful... None of the ... say that I .......... and Jacob must be ........... or I will have to ....... and that will be dangerous. No man should ... He says I have changed, but per ..... true self .... at last. Even my name is ... and I will change .... what ... and it ..... D...... Even Ann.....". The rest of the book seems to be clawed away with only a few letter remaining readable: "t...........r.............de.............moun........ re....". Of course these new findings arose new questions and new riddles to be solved, but we set aside our thoughts fer then to set off fer the Cove graveyard where we hoped to find Jacob's grave.

Upon arriving at the graveyard we got attacked by all kinds of undead creatures, which stumbled from the undergrowth or dug themselves out of their graves. In the midst though, there was I creature I've never seen before. A red colored tentacle beast, lashing and whipping at us with a fury never seen before. It took a many warriors and mighty spells to take it down, but in the end it lay slain before us, revealing a tattered treasure map.

We then started to clean the olden tombstones, seeking for a clue to Jacob's last resting place, until we finally found it. An old grave with an inscription, reading: "In loving memory of Jacob. The joy he gave me shall remain in my heart forever."

What did really happen to Jacob and Annoura, or rather when?
Is Jacob really dead?
Where did Annoura go? A place to the east, where the rock meets the sky and the birds gather?
What happened to Joshua? How is he connected to Darkhen? Is he Darkhen? What are his goals?

Questions over questions, mysteries to be solved and without doubt evil to be vanquished. Hold open yer eyes and watch out for Annoura or mayhaps Jacob. Ye might cross their path.

The Virtues with ye all,

Pad O'Lion
Imperator Superior
Custodes Fati
Town of Spiritwood

As I was out hunting south of Skara Brae farmlands, I came upon a sight I rarely see unless bards are involved. Two sizeable groups of lizardmen were engaged in combat with each other. I would not have paid any more attention to it if it were not for the fact that a young man stood in the back, holding a large package under his arm. He did not act as if he was a prisoner - indeed, he looked as if he was the leader of one of the groups! I had to investigate further.

Last week Frabagor and the Severed Head Orc leaders apparently had a secret meeting. Unfortunately we did nay receive this information in time to send a spy to Nohkmahr and thus the information about what has been discussed there is unknown yet. It seems though, that after Frabagor was freed by the Severed Heads they forged an alliance. To what end is nay known yet, but knowing the vile Orc Lord Frabagor we fear the worst and will continue to watch that unholy alliance, that was forged that day. 

And we did right to be careful, as some days later, while a horde of giant rats swarmed over Spiritwood and the citizens were busy to fend off that plague, Frabagor and the Severed Heads appeared at the scene and started to aid the town of Spiritwood to fight off the rats. Quite astonished the people of Spiritwood gathered around the Orc Diplomat after the battle was over. He announced a new era of Orc-Human relations, an era of peace and time of learning from each other, while the Severed Head Orcs seemed to enjoy some blah with the local residents.

Personally we do nay trust neither Frabagor nor the Severed Heads, that be fer sure, but to find out more about their plans I guess we'll have to play our part in this new Era, while keeping a close watch on 'em and their doings.

Keep the Faith

Pad O'Lion
Imperator Superior
Custodes Fati
Town of Spiritwood

House Decoration Tool

Players will be able to use a House Decoration Tool to assist them with the decoration of their houses within UO. The tool has the following abilities:

• The tool will be sold on Architect NPC's
• Has the ability to turn certain objects to face south-to-east, or east-to-south. An example of an object that is able to be turned would be a wall clock. Not all objects can be turned.
• Has the ability to raise or lower certain objects, thus allowing for items such as the wall clock to be "hung" on a wall. Not all objects can be raised or lowered.

The tool itself operates in the following manner:

• The player using the tool must be the owner or a co-owner of the house where the tool will be used.
• The player must actually be in the house to use the tool.
• When the player double clicks the tool, targeting the tool with the target cursor will bring up a menu. The menu choices are "turn", "up", and "down".
• Upon selecting turn, up, or down, the player will be able to target an item in the house to apply that effect.
• The player can either double click the tool again and then the house object to apply the last movement style chosen on the tool, or the player can use the target cursor on the tool itself to choose another movement style (such as selecting down instead of up).

The house objects being moved must be locked down, and will remain locked down during the Decoration Tool movement process.

Thank ye Mithran fer this information:

Come to Stonekeep Tavern, this Saturday for fun, games, and riddles. Know a good riddle? Want to share it, then this maybe the right place for ye. Guess other peoples riddles right, and ye can win gold. Win prizes and gamble yer money on a game o' sevens, or just come to sit around and drink ale with the guardsmen and others. Or a game of X's and O's, the colored version.

It will be held at the Stonekeep Tavern on Saturday, 20th of January, at 8:00PM GMT.

Stonekeep can be found at the Yew crossroads, trammel facet, sextant co-ordinates (38o 50'N, 35o 9'W)

Mithran - Event Organiser of Stonekeep

We received this announcement from the manager of the Green Gargoyle Restaurant:

The Green Gargoyle restaurant has now moved to new, larger premises just off the Skara Brae/Britain/Yew crossroad [Trammel]. Now situated in a large marble building, the Green Gargoyle boasts seating for up to 30 people, including a few small private tables on the roof and balcony and a larger conference table. Our new addition is a swimming pool, for use by people who have booked a private table on the roof.

We have been completely refurbished with beautiful displays of flowers, lights, bells and snow globes throughout the restaurant.

For further information, including a map of how to get to the restaurant, check our website at http://www.greengargoyle.cjb.net or ICQ to Kurt at 22789326.

As always the Green Gargoyle follows its pricing policy: you only pay as much as you want to. We are serving food from 7:30-9:30 GMT, although the bar is always open.

Don't hesitate to ask if you need any more information!

Kurt, Manager of the Green Gargoyle Restaurant

New courses at the Moonglow Lycaneum

(Monday - January 22nd:) Modern Magery II:
On 8pm GMT (21:00 CET) Kabach Cryonax will present the second part of his course "Modern Magery".
This lecture informs about advanced issues in magery. The course held in the Lycaeum on Moonglow island in Trammel. 

(Thursday- January 25th) Conversational Britannian:
On 7pm GMT (20:00 CET) Zinethi Arylliea will present her course "Conversational Britannian". This lecture informs about how to speak and converse in the Brtiannian (Elizabethan) language. So if you always have a problem to figure about the "thees" and "those" ... this is the place to go! This course is held in the Lycaeum on Moonglow island in Trammel. 

More information about the Academy and up to date information on a class schedule calendar can be found on http://learn.at/lycaeumacademy

Hope to see ye there!
Yoldran

We received this disturbing note from the Mayor of Moonglow:

It all began some weeks ago ... with a book that laid on the table of the Counsellor's Guild. Someone warned mayor Yoldran 
of an assassination that would happen soon and wanted to contact him for more details. Though the attempt was thwarted 
by the Moonglow Guards, it evolved a mysterious plot that seemed to have woven to take over our town.

Read all about the details on the Moonglow city skypage: http://stop.at/thecouncil

...... Maybe you can find out who the mysterious woman is?

Best wishes,
Yoldran.

Our scouts had told us recently that it appeared the lizardman army would be on the move soon, but we failed to truly heed the warning that was being given to us. We had become so used to the army encamped in the swamps doing nothing that we almost didnt expect them to ever attack. We almost paid the price for our mistake, and would have if not for the help of our strange friend Slyph....

Earlier tonight I received a urgent message from Worf of the KoA that Slyph was in the Alliance Village with important news. I raced to the village as fast as I could and was immediately told that the village was going to be under attack soon. I was stunned and asked what I had missed. Worf explained to me that the lizard-friend Slyph came into the village exhausted, claiming the lizardman armies were already on the move and they were going to try to launch a surprise sneak attack on us to destroy us once and for all.

After hearing the news I ordered defenses to be set up as fast as possible and sent out a call to all citizens and available allies to prepare for war. It was not long before a solid group of defenders were entrenched in the village awaiting the inevitable attack, but many of the defenders seemed to think the battle would not be difficult for us due to our destruction of the last lizardman army that sieged the village many months ago. I put a stop that all of that nonsense and told everyone to prepare for the unexpected and for nothing that we had seen in the past. Then it was time to watch and wait.

Friends and allies continued to stream into the village for the next few hours to take their places at the front lines. There was a silence in the air that almost seemed to foretell the coming battle. Suddenly the silence was shattered by the screams of scouts returning from the west giving us advance warning that the enemy was in sight. Soon after we observed a army unlike any seen by us before. Lizardmen as far as the eye could see all with one purpose, the destruction of our community. Once the lizards realized we were waiting for them they made a screaming charge at our defenses led by a massive lizardman chieftain. Our defenses held through it all, but somehow the lizardmen managed to break through our eastern defenses with a well planned attack using fearsome allies known as swamp dragons. We were barely holding our own on the west side of the village when we turned around to see a massive green skinned dragon coming at us from behind with a large contingent of lizardmen. I ordered the dragon tamers, who we were holding as a reserve, back to face this new threat and suddenly we were facing battles in front and behind us. The defenders could not stand up to this new threat and the northwestern side of the defenses began to falter. The dragon tamers behind us on the east side watched their beloved pets be destroyed by the fearsome swamp dragon and it seemed nothing would be able to stop it or the rest of the lizardman forces.

The defenses were near collapse and it looked like we would finally lose everything when a new contingent of allies arrived to bolster the faltering defenses. The tide slowly began to turn back in our favor as the lizardman army on the west side was slowly driven back into retreat. We then focused on the destruction of the swamp dragon that nothing was able to kill. After a long time and the loss of many defenders the massive dragon fell. We all cheered and rallied together to chase the now retreating army, and a group of defenders was even able to locate the lizardman chieftain. After a fierce battle he was also slain. The defenders were once again victorious, but this time victory came with a serious price.

As I walked the village there were bodies as far as the eye can see in every possible direction. Most were of lizardmen, but mixed in were the bodies of defenders, mounts, and cherished pets that would never live to see another day. Something bothered me very much, but I couldnt quite place what it was. I began to go over the events of many months ago when the first lizardmen army attacked and noticed something very disturbing. The army we faced tonight was a much more chaotic and bloodthirsty group than the one we faced long ago. These lizardmen attack for the sole purpose of ending all human life. They dont care about anything else and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals even if it destroys them totally. There have been many rumors and stories in recent months concerning the new leader of the lizardmen and his evil ways, but we did not truly understand what we were dealing with until we saw the army that this leader commanded and what he had done to them. We learned a hard lesson tonight and almost paid for our complacency with our lives and future. It will never happen again. We must always stand true and be prepared to defend our freedom from all who would take that away from us. We can also be sure that we have not yet seen the worst this new leader has to offer...

For more information visit the following link:
http://www.allianceknights.com/lizard.html

Galahad
Lord Mayor
Alliance Village
Lake Superior

Greetings Citizens! The Council of Compassion is proud to bring you our first Bachelor and Bachelorette Auction! Lords and Ladies of the realm, save your gold, because on Friday, February 9th you'll be able to bid for a date with some of the finest men and women Britannia has to offer. But first! We need to find the finest men and women! That's where you come in. If you would like to earn a little extra money, or even perhaps find true love, put yourself up for auction! Or if you know a friend that might want in,tell us about it! Please send to [email protected] the following:

Your name, or the name of your friend:
Occupation:
Any interesting information about yourself,
and what you would do on your date:

Please note: If you're submitting a friend, please include their e-mail address.

Look for more information coming soon!

*Signed*
Benito Gundar,
6th Seat Britain, and advisor to the Council of Compassion

Changing of the Books III

Date: Saturday, January 20th Time: 5:00 p.m. CST
Location: The Temple of Virtue in Rivendell (Felucca) 33o 29’S  35o 5’W Rivendell lies north of Skara Brae. If thou dost follow the shore northwards from Skara Brae thou canst not miss the temple. It is the building with the two large ankhs outside.

Greetings and well met all,

This Saturday the 20th of January the third changing of the books will be held in the Temple of Virtue in Rivendell. Many new titles will be put on display featuring known authors as well as brand new names such as: Tanis, Elawyn, Landicine, Seraphim and even the great Gweno FitzOwen! (wife of Iolo FitzOwen, who once journeyed together with the Avatar). Older material from earlier changings of the books is as always on display in our library on the second floor. People are as always more than welcome to search through it’s tomes of knowledge.

But since this is the third time we are able to host the Changing of the Books and since the number: “three” is the number of the sacred triad of Truth, Love and Courage we have an extra secret to reveal. Through the help of many generous souls we are able to put a fine collection of library (NPC) books on display. Mainly brought back from the libraries of wicked magi and other dark places these tomes have at times demanded sacrifice to bring forth. Now they shall be put on display in the library of The Temple of Virtue for all to read in peace. Many are those, who have donated such (NPC) books to us over time and we in the Order of Virtue are grateful indeed. Without ye this (NPC) library would not have been possible.

As a special treat we offer a fine set of (NPC) books to the first person who, after the event begins, manages to name, to the Abbot of Virtue, the title and author of the only (NPC) book on ornithology.

-Brother Selwyn, Abbot of Virtue (OoV)

We are currently releasing client patch 2.0.5a. This patch contains localization files.

If you have any difficulty receiving this patch, please check the following:

• 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/tech_6.html.
• Run a virus scan on your computer. If after trying the above, you are still experiencing difficulty patching the Ultima Online client, please contact Technical Support at [email protected].

Update

Apologies for not posting sooner, been helping track this down, as well as working on other issues.

First, thank you to everyone who posted here and e-mailed me with information regarding the Vet Reward System issues. That information allowed us to isolate what was happening and we believe we have a fix in place. If anyone does get an option for more rewards than they should be eligible for, please e-mail me. All of the information will reviewed and explored, just as the information you posted below was.

As to the requests for server reverts. After investigating the logs for veteran rewards, we've concluded that less than 1% of all accounts got more rewards than they should have. Given that, we do not feel reverting the shards is a viable option. To revert the shards over 1% of accounts, thus possibly hurting the other 99% of accounts who gained skill, placed houses, made transactions, and gained in any way from their play, would not be a good or fair solution. Likewise, deleting all of the current rewards and starting over would also not be viable since many players may have already sold or traded rewards for other items.

Will the extra rewards lower the gold value of these items? Perhaps, but in truth, the veteran rewards system was not meant to boost the rares market. The system was designed to give items to the players that have been with UO for long periods of time. Do a few extra rewards devalue the rewards themselves? Not in our estimation. My ethereal horse is just as valuable to me, regardless of how many rewards are on the shard.

Again, I want to thank everyone for their information during all of this, the information you presented was critical to our ability to track down and resolve the issues.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

1) What has OSI learned so far?

--We've learned the cause of the problem and believe we have a fix for it in place. I said this in my update.

2) What are the possible scenarios to fix this problem that OSI is considering?

--At this time, there are no plans to remove the rewards. The fix to keep it from happening again is in place and being monitored.

3) If wishes were horses, would beggars get etheral steeds?

--I haven't a clue how to answer that one. :)

4) If we were to revert on all shards, excluding Sonoma in this scenario, how far would be have to go back at this point to get a "clean slate"?

--Too long. I don't have the exact time, but it would be more than a few hours.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

No. The bug didnt create gold in the economy. If someone sold an extra award to someone else, all that is is an exchange of gold from one player to another.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

Yes, we'll be monitoring and looing for reports. If it does crop up again, we'll need to make another decision.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

That's the other thing I spent time looking into today. Unfortunately, we still have not found the cause. I am going to continue asking questions and compiling data though and will post as soon as I have some news.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

It was more than just Sonoma. I don't have the exact information on which shards were and which were not affected. However, the reports I got were varied enough to lead me to beleive it is something that happened on at least a few of them.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

We very rarely publish on a Thursday or a Friday (which means it would be active on Sat.). Given this system can lead to GM calls and other questions with accounts, it is best to publish it during the week.

-Calandryll

Manager of Community Services

Hail from the UO Merchant Alliance! I've had the pleasure of visiting Goodman's Rune Library, and have posted a new review at the UOMA web site! Here's a snippet of the review: "Overall, Goodman's is an excellent place to visit again and again. The rune library is extensive and well organized. I'm a huge fan of this shop, and am glad to have the opportunity to share its joys with all of you!"

You can find the full review at the UOMA web site - http://www.uomerchantalliance.com . Click "Merchant Reviews" in the left navigation column. You'll find Goodman's listed under the Atlantic category, along with 27 other reviews across 9 different shards! Try out our new Merchant Product Search feature and find a shop that sells whatever it is you're looking for! While you're there, stop in to the UOMA forums and chat with fellow merchants and shoppers, or submit your own request for a UOMA review of your shop!

Thanks!

Kitiara

Atlantic Shard Liaison

Webmaster

Its funny how you can get attached to something in a virtual world. But I get ahead of myself.

I am Piper, Bard of Sosaria, Beast Master of the North, and wandering mage. Some of you Urban Knights know me quite well, others not at all. I was one of you for a time and can still be found in your company quite often. This is my tale, one day I will put it to verse but as I sit in the hellhole that is Shame with pen and ink my only possesions their is no song in my heart, only sorrow.

I recieved Ember as a gift, when she was a mere hatchling from my good friend Solitaire. The value of a gift such as this is beyond value. You see Ember was a red dragon. Tho small for her size, Ember made up for it with raw courage. She had no fear and as we traveled together her heart grew as quickly as her body. She would never hesitate to engage any foe that threatened me, and many Titan and Wyvern fell beneath her claws. She was my pet..she was also my friend. We grew more confident, Ember and I. And we started visiting foul places where no man should walk. I almost lost her in Oasis when I was setupon by a pack of Trolls. Ember couldnt reach me then, as she was fighting her own battle with a clan of Ettins. We were lucky and managed to walk into the desert in one piece.

Then we decided to explore that fiendish place known as Shame. I should have been more prepared. Almost as soon as we arrived the elementals were upon us. Ember immediately sprand into action, casting spell and breathing fire. Unfortunately I am at a great disadvantage if not given ample space to move. You see, taking up the mystic arts left me with no time for sword or bow. And I was quickly boxed in. Mage I may be, but I am also a bard, and a Grandmaster at that. I smiled as I readied my lute, preparing to bend the elementals will and make them slaughter eachother. And then it happened, so subtle... yet with horrifying consequences. I broke a string. The look of horror on my face turned to terror as I was taken down by their onslaught. The last thing I saw was Ember fighting deperately to reach me. And a person approaching with another dragon! and a large one at that! As I lay on the cold stone, rapidly losing consciousness, I thought we were saved. The man and his pet were dipatching the elementals as Ember also defeated her foes.

The last thing I saw was this man, my supposed saviour, commanding his mighty dragon to attack. And pointing at my wounded Ember. The darkness enveloped me then. And here I sit in Shame in utter darkness. I have no food or water, no spell or torch. You see the man and his dragon took all. I did manage to find a lute string and my instrument holds the elementals at bay as I write this by the light of two fire elementals tearing eachother apart. Embers head is in my lap, and I stop my writing now and again to stroke it, my tears mingling with the blood on her once mighty brow. Her body has already started to decay and it seems that all of Shame has come to claim it. I will not move, the scavengers will not have it. I will sit here and mourn and I will not be disturbed.

I mourn for my pet. I mourn for my friend. I mourn for Ember.

Piper

Bard of Sosaria

Greetings all,

The Yew Town Council of Justice has been in existence on the Atlantic shard for over two years. And we are continually looking for ways to improve our relationship and to better serve those people who consider themselves Citizens of Yew. In an effort to get to know people better, to encourage more people to become involved in the Council's activities, and to better server the Yew Community, the Town Council will be conducting an Official Census within the area over the next few weeks. We feel that putting together a solid list of those Guilds and People who make Yew their home will allow us to better communicate and work with those who have an active interest in the activities and happenings around Yew.

In an effort to make this Census as easy as possible for both the Council and the Citizens of Yew, we will be conducting the Census both in Britannia and via email. Members of the Yew Militia will be going around to popular Landmarks and Guild Houses to take notice of those who wish to register through the Census. Or, if it is more convenient, you may send a short email to us at [email protected] just letting us know you wish to be counted. Please include your character name, any Guild affiliation, and how long you have lived in Yew in the email. You may also give a description of where your house is located if you wish. Guildmasters may also register their entire Guild with us, which makes all its members Citizens.

So please, take a quick moment to be counted in the Census, and be officially registered as a Citizen of Yew. It will help us greatly in planning future events and activities, and bring the Community closer together. :) If you have any further questions, feel free to submit those to the same email address, and we'll try to answer them for you.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from many of you out there. :)

-Thrawn, Mayor of Yew

http://www.yewcouncil.com

The expedition lead by the Riders of Virtue and the Cavaliers into the third dungeon was once again a success, as many a lich in Covetous may attest.

The throneroom of the Covetous Dungeon
[Picture Credit: Draycon of Glencairn, Paladin of Wayrest]

This upcoming Saturday afternoon (January 20th at 2 p.m. Eastern) Riders of Virtue and The Cavaliers will host part four of the dungeon exploration as we adventure into DECEIT. Everyone is invited no matter what your experience level. Bring your whole guild for a great adventure. More information is located here including the calendar for future dungeon explorations and where we shall assemble.

A Conversion Crystal outside of Winterfell Keep. Similar crystals can be found in Aegis, Shadowmoor and Olympus Castle
[Picture Credit: Davaenor of the Brotherhood of Wayrest]

Addendum:

We received an additional report from Okami of Shadowmoor:

It seems that the rings of star sapphires and night
shade that have appeared in several locations have
changed into odd glowing crystals. Upon noticing this
change, I assumed that the 5th ring we had been told
about had been placed, and decided to take a party to
Ventryn's former lair on Felucca.

The rangers Crokneru, Kaladen, and I, along with
Shadowmoor Villager Rei Hino, and Gorion, crossed over
to the felucca facet, and while discussing our next
plan of action, were attacked by Artarion. He mocked
us repeatedly during the fight, and seemed to still be
quite powerful, summoning an ice fiend and a daemon to
his aid. With no apparent end to the battle in sight,
Artarion merely waved his hand and killed the two
creatures he had summoned, stating the word "Die." He
then mocked us for not finding the 5th "marker" yet,
and left the area.

We then proceeded to his lair, where nothing had
changed since our last visit. After a few minutes we
left, but before we did, Rei managed to scribble two
spells on the "ice" and "fire" scrolls located in the
lair and take them with her. We aren't sure what they
are for, but they are now out of everyone's reach, as
the ink ruined their unique traits. Seeing nothing
else unusual we returned to Shadowmoor, and will start
looking for the 5th marker soon.

Okami
Guard Captain
Shadowmoor

Hail and Well Met:

A matter of grave concern has come to my attention. The Knights of Yew, a self-proclaimed virtuous guild, who's motto is "To Uphold The Virtues" has turned their backs on one of their own!

Several nights ago, a raid party of the Death Corps led by Lord Elmdor, captured the Knight Champion Jarlazle. He was detained for a short time at the fortress of the Undead Minions of the Well, and then transferred to the keep of the Death Corps.

There, Jarlazle met with a terrible end and had his soul sealed into a soulstone! The virtuous Knight of Yew did not attempt to come to his aid, thus tarnishing the Compassion, Honor and Valor Virtues! This guild's acts (or inactivity) has led to the death of many innocents, yet they continue to claim their virtuous beliefs! Should not something be done?

A concerned citizen of Sosaria

Gentle Ladies and Lords of the Realm,

There is a plot afoot within the Royal Court to overthrow the Crown. One of the ringleaders, Lady Arrianna, has been taken into custody. The other ringleader, Countess Vixen, is yet at large. At this time, it is unknown who the other conspirators are, although it is known that members of the knighthood and the mystic order are among them.

Vixen continues to attempt to gain supporters under the pretense of some "mental instability" which is supposedly affecting me as a result of a bracelet given to me by the late Na Krul of the Dark Tower. And yet here I stand, having broken no laws of Dawn, but having been attacked by Vixen and her cronies without provocation on three separate occasions this eve. And if this so-called "madness" is truly the reason for her treasonous acts, why then does she turn against her queen as well? This business with the
bracelet is but a smokescreen to hide her true purpose...to overthrow the crown and seize control of the kingdom.

A state of martial law is hereby declared in Dawn. Countess Vixen is to be considered "kill on sight" as an enemy of the realm until further notice. Citizens are to remain indoors and obey any curfews set by the Royal Guard. Until the conspirators are identified and this rebellion brought low, take caution.

The Queen and I continue to rule the realm from an hidden location. In the coming days I shall gather those who remain loyal to their king and queen that we may root out these mutineers and reclaim the palace.

Desmond Cross, King of Dawn

Greetings and Salutations to all!

I am Hamed Sharrazad of the Great Desert of Britain, Nuj’elm and any place tha’ is filled with glorious sands. It was recently tha’ I decided to set forth and adventure beyond me normal desert homes. And so I came to the great Moongate not far from Britain and in I stepped. Tha mysterious powers of tha’ gate took me ta what I now know ta be Yew. Though I found many interesting people and sites thar, most of it, besides the endless tree’s were very normal ta me. As I did prepare to live ‘owever, I saw the strangest yet most glorious thing I had seen in all me days!

It was a strange lizard like creature, blackish in color, yet with tinges of iron, copper, bronze and even agapite colored scales lining its body and tail. Near it were others similar too it, some mostly green others paler skinned and some brown. They were the oddest things I had ever seen, yet I was very pleased to see something new. I thought perhaps I should start a conversation with one but feared they would not speak to me, for they knew me not. I was very wrong! Before I could even say Greetings to them, I was surrounded by happy jumping smiling lizards!

After speaking with them, trying my best to grasp their use of our human language, found out they are called Ekirhs, and from what I am told are from a land known as Pagan. Something told me I heard that name before, but simply brushed it aside.

These creatures are most amazing, and I have spent the past several days working hard to learn more about them. And so I have. The little lizards workship a Titan of Fire, whom they call Pyros. It seems this titan is the being that created them, in the image of his other children the great fire dragons and drakes. This amazing me even more because of my facination with dragons, I continued to search for more about them.

The more I learned the more I realized how tremendously unique they are. A few people whom I spoke to thought them to be a new orc, but my research has shown that to be very false, and though they seem to get along well with orcs, I have noticed they get along well with anything and anyone they encounter!

Meeting these great creatures has been a pleasure, and I shall continue my research. I highly urge all people and the reporters of this land to seek them out, from what I can tell they mainly inhabit the city and forests of Yew as of late.

Also, according to them, their god Pyros somehow placed them in Trammel, before Nystul even made it possible for us to reach this place, that aswell is most curious, and I as a priest am urged to look deeper into this. Again I encourage all to learn about these, for I have discovered not only do they amaze me but they have amazed the people of Yew enough, that their king has been elected to the Yew council! So, please fear not these lizards, they are some of the most kind beings I have yet to encounter and may be just what our porr lands need in this time of hatred, war and sorrow. Whoever brought them here, Pyros or not, Thank you and may the Virtues bless those Ekirhs!

Hamed Sharrazad
High Priest of the Sun
Scholar of the Phoenix

• Sea Serpent. Same creature, new graphics.
• Centaur. A new creature. Looks just like you would expect it to look.
• Exodus. Yet another type of Daemon.
• Pixie. A cute fairy.
• Kirin. The oriental mythical horse.
• Succubus. The seducer (and slayer) of men.

• Asian Dragon
• Insect Race
• Mimic
• Mushroom Men
• Sea Horse
• Shadowlord
• Shadows
• Skeletal Dragon
• Unicorn

Enjoy!

The fine trolls at Ultima Online News recently posted the following report:

"Are you an America Online user connecting to AOL via the Internet by using another Internet Service Provider, a cable modem, or a LAN connection from work or school? If so, we’d like to invite you to explore the AOL Legends shard with Bring Your Own Account, access!

"Previously, AOL Legends was available exclusively to customers using a direct AOL dial-up connection. However, by registering with us as an AOL user, you can now enjoy the community of the newest Ultima Online shard.

"Just sign on to the Internet, log on to AOL, and visit our Bring Your Own Account page. Register your account name and password through our secure website, and you’ll be able to begin enjoying AOL Legends. Don’t forget: you must be logged in to American Online to both register your account and to access the shard."

Praise Minax!

Moongate Travel

The following changes will be implemented to inter-facet travel, and travel to new Third Dawn areas:

Existing game-created moongates (the moongates encircled by large rocks, near towns) will be altered to allow for more selective destinations, including that of facets. Players who are murderers will not be able to go to Trammel facet using this selection feature. The choices of selections will also include Ilshenar for those players who have the Third Dawn Client.

• A menu will be presented when entering the gate.
• Each page within the menu will represent a facet within UO. For example, page one of the menu will represent Trammel. An option will be available to switch pages easily.
• Town areas to choose will appear on each page as possible destinations on that facet.
• Note that the town closest to the gate will be it's representing town, as the gates themselves are not actually within the town limits in many cases.

Moonstone functionality will not change. No new kinds of moonstones will be added.

Hair Stylist NPC

A new type of NPC will become available throughout Britannia, which will offer restyling of hair/beards and dying for hair. Options for dying beards and hair range from both at the same time to separate selections for either hair or beards. The choices on this vendor will allow for selections of:

• Adding a new hair style (including "bald" style)
• Adding a new beard style (including no beard)
• Regular hair dye selection
• Regular beard dye selection
• Special hair dye selection ("neon" or bright colors, including 2 shades of "ice white")
• Special beard dye selection ("neon" or bright colors, including 2 shades of "ice white")

The curly hair and "bun" hair styles will not be available from this menu. These vendors will be in the major towns, within the alchemy shops. They will be distinguishable from regular vendors by their appearance."

Citizens of Britannia, it is time to celebrate our heroes! And what best example of Heroes can be found in Britannia then the Order of the Counselors, The Order was established in a distant past to help the Citizens of Britannia. To achieve that, the Order of the Counselors recruits expert Citizens who are ready to help other Citizens with sharing the immense knowledge of the Order about our World. With their knowledge they help Britannia without asking any type of reward.
For this reason this noble Order of Citizens has become so famous and respected all over Britannia. And now it is time to honour these heroes. This will be done with a Public Ceremony. All the citizens of Britannia are invited to participate to this Public Ceremony.

All participants pay a fee to enter to competition. Price depends on how many participants there are. The winner of the competition will get half of all fees collected! Once fees are paid, the participants will be transported by magical gate to a small treasure island, free from monsters and generally quiet. All players will wait outside the tower until one of the 2 judges, Xaerion or KeS, says start. All loot from the dead fighters can be picked up by whoever felled them so dont bring your best armour *g*. Once you have been killed, wait on the top floor of the tower where KeS and Xaerion are standing and wait for the competition to end. At the end of the competition the prize money will go to the winner and all souls will be transported back to the mainland where they can be resurrected. Do not resurrect anyone on the island. We will meet at the Moonglow bank on Felucca at 20:00 GMT on Saturday 20th January. We will be waiting by the bounty board. Please refrain from killing the 2 judges as you will be disqualified from the competition. The judges will be easily noticable as they will be sitting watching the fun on top of the tower.

The meeting point was Blackmores Inn, and I arrived to find a number of miners already prepared and ready to race. Melkor cast his magic gate and all stepped through to the venue, the mountains near wind. All miners were given a coloured cloak to match that of packs I kept on a horse, as well as a good supply of shovels. The miners were given 45 minutes in which to bring me as many ingots as they possibly could of any colour, which I then stored in their pack. The racing was frantic, and I never realised there would be tactics involved in race mining. Some dashed back and forth as often as possible to save weight, others went as long as possible before bringing me a large stack. Sadly, Herr Hammersmith used the latter tactics and managed to lose his first pile of ingots, or had them stolen, so had to start again with half the race gone. I also managed to lose control of the horse carrying all the ingots collected so far. Fortunately Melkor owned the beast and happened to come past and get things under control again as the horse was making off with its load.

The counting took me some time, so many ingots of every colour possible, so we all headed back to Blackmores Inn while I finished. Blackmore Inoxi, as usual, was on hand to serve refreshment while I announced the result and handed out prizes (listed below). My thanks to Melkor for inviting me along to referee, and well done to all the miners on what was some great racing and show of skill.

1. Melkor - 931 ingots - 16k gold
2. Rick Cromwell - 751 ingots - 8k gold
3. venal - 642 ingots - 4k gold

TB attacks SL 3 hours later
A long battle for two Town Sigils (Britain and Trinsic) at the SLStronghold lasted about three hours Wednesday night. TB attacked, Minax attacked, TB attacked again. TB finally got in the door after bringing in several dragons. TB then had to wait for the thief who died to regain his spirit. Just two minutes before his spirit recovered Minax attacked the SH again. Luckily they attacked the SL's outside first just enough time for the CoM to sneak off into the dungeons and hide. After waiting nearly an hour the TB's were able to bring out one the Town Sigils and return them to the TB Stronghold just in time. The other one was taken by LoD during the game of hide and seek in the Yew crypts.

Sincerely,

Durham Stargazer
Mage, Baja, Executive Editor UO Journal
www.uojournal.com
[email protected]

I'll keep this one short. Effective today, lumthemad.net is no longer run by Lum the Mad. I haven't decided yet whether I'll continue to write for the site - and for reasons that will become obvious, it's not really my decision to make.

You see, in the past month or so my real life job (you know, the one I do for a living) has taken a nose-dive from "Dilbert" straight into "Office Space". People who hang out in #lummies and hear my occasional profanity-laden diatribe have probably already figured out that I'm looking for a new job.

Well, I am. And for a few weeks now I've been in contact with a few of the gaming companies that we cover, trying to find out what my options are.

While no firm offer has been made by anyone at this point, I don't feel that ethically, I can continue to seek employment from the same people that we cover. In short, I have to choose what I want to do when I grow up.

This site has always been a hobby - a labor of love, and no one who "works" here has any pretention of it ever becoming a career. Recent events in the exciting world of gaming networks certainly prove this, if nothing else. Since I'm going to get another job anyway, it might as well be something besides making spam go faster.

Yet I've also tried, believe it or not, to hold to a basic ethical standard of conduct in what we write. I don't feel comfortable deciding what stories to follow up on at the same time as I seek employment from the same people.

So it's time to step back and let other voices be heard. I hope you allow them to challenge, infuriate, and occasionally amuse you in the same manner as you did I.

It's been a blast.

Lum, we're going to miss your bashing, that's for sure. Take care.

DeathRage's NUBs

A UO cartoon series that is hand drawn. No print screen, no UO emulator, no cut and paste. If you haven't seen the NUBs you are missing something truely unique within the UO community.

Are there any surviving traditional UO cartoon sites? I haven't seen any ... someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I have just completed another 4 pages of my latest story The Castaway. If you haven't seen the cartoon before, this is a good reason to check it out. In the latest issue, DeathRage (that's me) is stranded on a remote island and is visited by a mysterious blue robbed person. Will this stranger help DeathRage get off the island?

Click on the image below or this link to visit my site and find out for yourself. While there, check out the character illustrations that I have done or say "hi" on the NUB message board.

I thank thee most humbly
DeathRage of Sonoma, guildmaster of the NUBs


DeathRage meets a Smurf

There is a bit of a "lag" occurring with the veteran rewards, as many players log in and send the request automatically to get the veteran reward window. Basically it's a bit of a traffic jam, but after a few moments you should get the reward window. If you are waiting for specifically that, I recommend logging in and waiting a while to see if it comes up without logging back out.

Melantus
Online Community Coordinator
Ultima Online

For a map and to see what kind of establishment draws 1000 customers, please pay a visit to the Blackmores Inn review in the UOSS DF Establishment List.

For further information please visit Dragon Clan or for a map and more about the Dragon Tavern, see the review on the UOSS DF Establishment list.

I would like to address some of the faction issues, and let everyone know where we stand on the issues currently. We are fully committed to making the faction system a strong system players can enjoy for the length of their careers. The following issues are currently being researched and fixed by the development team.

• There was a problem where the system could possibly lose all of the data. The faction member might notice a title of “unknown”. This problem has had several safeguards put in to prevent it, and should it happen, a clean system is automatically put into place. A clean system means all the players will remain and keep their silver. However, the players would lose kill points, no towns would be occupied, no sigils would be corrupted or taken, no improvements would remain, and no officials would be elected. This should now happen very rarely, if ever.
• Townstones on Catskills were not usable after having been cleaned under a faction wipe. This problem will no longer happen in the rare case that a faction would ever need to be wiped.
• Townstones are losing track of hirelings. This will no longer happen.
• The COM stronghold will be altered so that it has only one entrance.
• Blue Players will no longer be able to enter strongholds, and a small area around the entrance.
• Blue Players will no longer be able to cast spells into these same areas.
• We are still researching the issue with elections in factions. Some factions are not able to hold elections, as the system is in a holding pattern.

Q: How are blues gonna join factions if they can't enter a stronghold?
A: There will be a recruitment stone outside of the faction stronghold now.

Q: Are you gonna just close off one side of the bridge of the CoM stronghold, or you gonna narrow the other remaining side also?
A: Basically, there will now be a chokepoint like all other faction strongholds.

That is our update so far. This by no means addresses everything we hope to improve with factions, but should give everyone an idea of our immediate concerns. We are still gathering your feedback on further improvements and I would like to thank you for all the good feedback so far.

Hi there, we're currently considering extending the guaranteed time (aka "grace period") a faction controls a town to six days (rather then the current 3 days). I'd like to know what your thoughts on this issue are, thanks!

KoA Golden Knights #54 -Hosted by Rikus, Elder Sage of the Crystal Consortium Order of the KoA

"The Elements"

DATE: Friday, January 19, 2001 @ 8 PM CST
TIME: Registration takes place from 7:30 - 8:00 PM CST. The event begins @ 8:10 PM CST.
WHERE: The event takes place in the Alliance Village. The coordinates are 136*24'S 27*12'E
(http://www.allianceknights.com/village.html)

ENTRY FEE: 600gp per person

1st place: 10,000 gp to the winner

DESCRIPTION: This will be a fight of you against the elements. 4 mages in opposite corners summoning one of each of the 4 elementals for you to do battle till the death or till time is called. Each match will have a time limit of 5 mintues or when the 1st summoned elemental disappears. Top 2 finishers will go on to the final to face 2 daemons each and each other also. This GK will feature a slightly smaller ring.

RULES:

• No magic items, no magic weapons, no magic armor. If anything is seen on you saying "a magic ..." you may be disqualified.
• No pets or mounts are allowed.
• Hiding IS NOT allowed.
• No Barding, No taming
• o summoning spells of any kind.
• Pre-casting and Pre-drinking is allowed.
• No poisoned weapons. The Poison spell is allowed.
• All potions are allowed
• No looting of any kind!
• No Dispelling
• No attacking the summoning mages
• Any attempt to exploit the event or the rules to win will result in immediate disqualification.

Reminders to Spectators:

• No faction fighting in the village during the Golden Knights event.
• Please do not equip bows around the ring. Spells or potions may hit you that will cause you to attack back.
• Please try to stable or feed your mount prior to the event. Wild mounts are a problem.
• No casting, sparring, or fighting right around the ring. If you wish to do this go to another location in the village.
• No spectators in the arena after the event begins.
• The Golden Knights event is a seer sponsored event for Lake Superior. Grief players may be removed and/or jailed, banned, etc. The consequences for severe disruption are solely the decision of the representatives for Origin Systems.
• Have a great time! Cheering for your friends is encouraged!

Galahad
Knights of the Alliance
www.allianceknights.com/entrance.html

Come one! Come all! The Council of Honesty is hosting a weekly PvP tournament at the city of Rivendell’s famed arena every Sunday at 1:00pm Central Moonglow time.

Where:  Rivendell Arena (Felucca)
When:  Sunday, January 21 at 1pm CST  

** Shameless Plug Alert **
A rune to Rivendell has been locked down on the floor of Runeland [tm] in Felucca. The shop is located just outside the west gate of Moonglow.
** End of Plug **  

The cost of entering is 2000 gold which is added to a pot from which the prize money is drawn. First place earns 50% of the pot; 2nd place earns 50% of what’s left; and 3rd place earns 50% of the pot that’s left after that. The total purse is determined by how many enter the tournament so tell your friends!

In addition, the winners of the first three weekly tournaments (along with one runner up as determined by the judges’ vote) are eligible to participate in the monthly final on the fourth week. Please note: weekly winners are not eligible to participate again until the monthly final.

The rules are STRICTLY enforced and are listed at this link:   www.geocities.com/mdfguard/CoH.html

Participants are strongly encouraged to contact Paddycat, the CoH chair, at [email protected] as the number of contestants is limited to the first 16.

Be well and hope to see you there!

There will be a Council of Towns meeting at 7 PM on Sunday. This is Sunday the twenty first, next Sunday. It will be held at the Trinsic Meeting Hall in the large table room. The invitation is extended to all towns, and all may come though an official representer for each town would be preferred as well. The topics will be, "How can we help towns in Felucca?" and how "Multi-Town events"..as well as other RP issues. It is an open meeting, and I will "guide it" giving each a chance to speak awhile if there is that many people there.

Publish Update - Veteran Rewards

We have revised the target date to release Veteran Rewards to accounts 12+ and 24+ months or older on all non-Japanese shards. Veteran Rewards for these accounts will be activated on the shards on Monday, January 22nd (local server time). The Siege Perilous shard will be activated with the rewards following its regularly scheduled maintenance period on Friday, January 26th, barring any unforeseen downtime.

We are continuing to work to resolve the localization issue with the Japanese shards and will release a schedule for these shards once one has been determined.

Important! Veteran rewards are distributed by account, not character. You are granted a total number of rewards to be divided among characters on your account. If you do not normally play on a shard, you should not choose to accept rewards on that shard. Veteran rewards mistakenly chosen on the wrong shard will not, under any circumstances, be replaced or transferred.

For more information on the various types or rewards and qualifications for receiving those rewards, visit Testing for Next Update.

If you get a flaming head, LOCK it down. This is not clear in the latest updates info. I just spoke to a GM about it. Apparently, according to the GM unlocked flaming heads will decay "rather quickly." One thing is for sure: Flaming heads don't spout flame unless locked down. So if you dont' want to chance losing it, lock it down until further notice.

I assume the same holds true for banners.

Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta - Coming Soon!

Be the first on your block to experience the world of Ultima Online: Third Dawn - your opportunity to join the UO: Third Dawn Beta Test is coming soon!

We'll be launching the official UO: Third Dawn Beta Test in the next several weeks, and will provide at least 48 hour advance notice prior to the opening of the Beta CD website. Once the website is open, a limited amount of 30,000 beta CDs will be available for order.

During the ordering period, players with active Ultima Online accounts (in good standing), will be able to order an Ultima Online: Third Dawn Beta CD for the price of shipping and handling. Players participating in the Beta test will be required to sign a Beta Tester Confidentiality agreement.

Additional details on the Beta signup process will be posted in the near future.

Now approximately two decades old, the Ultima universe has been and continues to be one of the richest RPG environments ever created. The online counterpart to the single player series debuted in 1997 with overwhelming success among its fans, perhaps too overwhelming. Although it wasn’t the first graphical online multiplayer RPG, Ultima Online founded and populated a new genre, laying out the basis for future persistent worlds. Origin’s creation has earned its place among the most influential games ever made in the same line with Westwood’s Command and Conquer (real-time strategy) and id’s Doom (first-person shooter). Essentially, Ultima Online has paved the path for what is now one of the most competitive branches of the gaming industry – the Massively Multiplayer Online RPG genre. However, due to its exclusively multiplayer nature, Ultima Online had to assume a much greater risk than its genre counterparts did.

I have the unique opportunity, afforded me by virtue of my profession, to encounter many kinds of people. In an average month, I'll have the chance to visit with scoundrels and scions alike. I'll exchange casual banter with nobles and paupers, villains and heroes. But in all my time in this fabled land, I doubt I have ever met a being, or beings, as strange as these Clone folk. And I must confess that these newcomers give me an uneasy feeling. Just this morning, I awoke to find one of their red garbed number standing at my door with a scroll. Silently, he passed the vellum to me and disappeared among the trees. I now pass the contents of that scroll onto you. Read on.

Greetings. I am the Second. I serve the Firstborn. I speak for the Firstborn. My coming was foretold.

A new age shall dawn upon the people soon. The Firstborn shall return soon from his sacred quest, and it will be time for the Ritual to begin. You will know when it is time.

Many signs have already come to pass, as the Firstborn has foreseen: * The Firstborn and the Firsts have awakened to wander this land. * They shall witness first-hand the corruption that hath befallen our realm. * The Firstborn shall depart on a sacred journey, and the Seconds shall awaken.

Soon the Believers shall arise from among the people. The mage Corposant has sworn allegiance to the Firstborn, and shall assist us with the Ritual. The true believers shall seek him out to stand beside us as we prepare.

The signs are coming to pass. The Ritual shall come soon.

In the name of the Virtues, I bid you safe journeys, one and all.

Cyn

This is the last part of our three part exclusive interview with Shreds.

Durham Stargazer: What do you think of the new governments i.e. factions
Shreds: They are great but LoD controlled them too fast, CoM has huge numbers, but they are not good at group fighting. It is much different than 30 solo's.
Durham Stargazer: Yes we mages are all too independent, also the stronghold has most everyone down.
Shreds: 2 bridge's hurts.
Durham Stargazer: Really there are three you can boat in from the rear. I know from experance.
Shreds: True
Shreds: Shadowlords Stronghold is tough for the record.
Durham Stargazer: Why?
Shreds: To hard with poison traps, you could hold 100 peoples, add in some mercenaries (blues) and you triple that number. I like the True Britannia and Minax Strongholds.
Durham Stargazer: Whom do you view as your main competition.
Shreds: hmm True Britannia’s, as of right now.
Durham Stargazer: Why?
Shreds: CoM was strong but TB is coming up fast. CoM is so broken up right now, as is the Shadowlords.
Durham Stargazer: nods
Shreds: I know Minax resorted to letting other factions take the sigils, Just so we could see other factions attack us.
Cebrious Arcane: (Purveyor of Darkness, Shadowlords)
Cebrious Arcane: [Murderer, InC]
You see: Cebrious Arcane
lecutas : [Murderer, InC]
lecutas : (Bringer of Sorrow, Shadowlords)
You see: lecutas
At this point two Shadowlords arrived.
Shreds: One sec
Mariah: Peace brothers!
Shreds: No worries
Cebrious Arcane: peace
Cebrious Arcane: What’s going on?
Shreds: I know them
Durham Stargazer: k
Mariah: Hey Ceb
Cebrious Arcane: Not in the fighting mood?
Mariah: Shreds is getting interviewed by the uojournal
Shreds: I know most everyone I kill, Even the Thief’s
Mariah: But I'm sure he'd be happy to own you later
Mariah laughs
Shreds: They don't live
Durham Stargazer: I have heard other Minax say how they respect you and some have a degree of awe of you.
Shreds: I show respect, I try to be humble.
Durham Stargazer: Your enemies they do fear you!
Shreds: Yes, I can't 1v1 much they run away. I have resorted to winning 1v2 and 1v3 even 1v5 versus M&D.
Shreds: *laughs*
Mariah: Sometimes more, but he's too humble to say so
Mariah: *checks in with two cents*
Durham Stargazer: What is the most
Shreds: You seen me in Magincia. Doing 1v20.
Durham Stargazer: Yes I have, when CoM was hanging out in Magincia you would run up and down the streets just annihilating people. People would just run into the Stronghold and say Shreds… No more was needed to be said we all knew what that meant.
Shreds: The best was a battle with Dog of War 2 v 9. That was hella fun this morning. A GM was watching us. Shreds: I do die, however.
Durham Stargazer: Really how often?
Shreds: I die about once a week sometimes 2 times, Fritzy and Don Carlo where last to kill me, always a 2v1. I have bad luck with 2v1's. 3v1 I'm fine.
Shreds: None the less, I win some, I lose some oh, and one more thing that most people don’t know about is the kill points are forever decreasing, 1 a day
Durham Stargazer: Who in LoD do you dual with that is closest to your equal? Or do you have one?
Shreds: Merc
Mariah: Merc is nasty
Durham Stargazer: You best him most of the time?
Shreds: oh we haven't dueled in forever we have won 2 v 12 before so I know I always want to be on his side. I've known him for over a year.
Durham Stargazer: Merc seems to have honor among some of the CoM members.
Shreds: Oh yes, Same as me
Durham Stargazer: Nods agreeing.
Durham Stargazer: Is there any advice that you that you would like to impart to your fans?
Shreds: Remember the golden rule, if you respect me, I'll do the same, like res killing, usually I never kill a new res
unless he tries to loot, or steal
Mariah: Or is a tamer w/pets
Shreds: yes tamers too.
Durham Stargazer: Is there anything you fear?
Shreds: um
Shreds: no
Shreds: running through a group of 20 people is normal now.
Durham Stargazer: laughs
Mariah: He fears a Britannia-Wide Nightshade shortage.
Shreds: true that
Durham Stargazer: nods
Durham Stargazer: It has been a pleasure
Shreds: yes
Shreds: Hey Rolo, do you have a rune?
Mariah: To where?
Shreds: Tower
Shreds: So he can visit now and then.
Mariah: Yeah
Durham Stargazer: LoD's Keep?
Shreds: no no
Shreds: my private
Mariah: Vas Rel Por - Gate Travel
Shreds: come come
Durham Stargazer: okay..
Shreds: (Avenger of Mondain, Minax)
Shreds: [Disciple, LoD]
Durham Stargazer: nice
Shreds: we own both of these towers, along with others.
Durham Stargazer: Do you have a room that I can take your picture in.
Shreds: hmm, let me check the other tower
Durham Stargazer: k
Shreds: come on over
Durham Stargazer: nice place.
Shreds: yes
Shreds: Aren't tramilites wonderful
Durham Stargazer: *smile for the camera*
Durham Stargazer: got it
Shreds: Alright
Durham Stargazer: Thanks very much for the interview, it has been a great honor sir.
Shreds: See you soon on the field of combat.

Sincerely

Durham Stargazer
Mage, Baja, Executive Editor UO Journal
www.uojournal.com
[email protected]

Finally, thanks to the generous help of EA UK (and namely Cordicat), European UO players will get a chance to participate in the UO:3D alpha test.
We here at UoWitch are giving away 10 official UO:3D alpha CD's. The only thing you have to do is go over to our site and enter our competition. Please take notice that only players located in Europe are eligable in entering the competition.

We here at UoWitch will continue to report on the MMORPG scene but from a European perspective. We do hope that those players not having had the ressource to attend the UO World Faire in Austin, get a chance to participate in the UO:3D alpha tests as well. We try to continue our effort in providing American-based Online games to have a potential market here in Europe as well, and I think EA just made a major step in providing that.

Good luck in the competition!

In obscurem vivemus

Lady Shana
UO Witch(http://www.uowitch.com)

Hail Britannians! We of the Icelandic Floating Community call all brave souls to join us for a night of feasting and merriment! Long we have been away in our wintry homes, rebuilding our lands after the strange death of our Drighten, Earnst. Now we wish to once again open our doors. In the spirit of my predecessor, we plan a night of events to test bravery, endurance, and perhaps foolishness.

The itinerary is as follows:

Where: The IFC (Lost Lands near the entrance to the Ice Dungeon, Trammel side)
When: Saturday, Jan 20th
7pm The Ships open and feasting begins!
8pm The Snow Elemental One on One Tournament!
9pm Naked Drunken Race through the Ice Dungeon! (time dependant on the length of the Elemental Tournament)

If there is enough interest following the race we shall attempt to delve to the depths of the Ice Dungeon, battling wyrms, fiends and perhaps the recently discovered Frost Ogre Lords.

The rules for the Snow Elemental Tournament can be found on the IFC scrolls.

The rules for the Drunken Naked Race are simple. You must be drunk. You must be naked. You must race along a predetermined path to a check point, retrieve an item from a chest at that point, and return to the IFC. The course can be viewed on our website.

The minimum pot for each event will be 10,000 gold, or 3/4s of all entry fees -- the larger of the two.

For more information, visit us at our website. Our forum is open to the public for comments or questions. Or pigeon me at 34830913.

Eiryn, Drighten.

Publish Update - Veteran Rewards

We are currently targeting to release the Veteran Rewards to accounts aged 36 months or older on all non-Japanese shards on Wednesday, January 17th. The rewards will be activated on these shards following their return from regularly scheduled maintenance. We are working to resolve a localization issue on the Japanese shards and will activate rewards to these shards on a separate schedule if necessary.

We will monitor the activated shards for any issues that may arise. We are tentatively scheduling to release Veteran Rewards to accounts 12+ and 24+ months of age or older (in addition to the 36+ month accounts) following regularly scheduled maintenance on Thursday, January 18th (local shard time). Shards which do not have scheduled Thursday morning maintenance will receive their rewards following maintenance on Friday, January 19th. As with the 36+ month activation, this schedule includes only non-Japanese shards.

Important! Veteran rewards are distributed by account, not character. You are granted a total number of rewards to be divided among any characters on your account. If you do not normally play on a shard, you SHOULD NOT choose to take rewards on that shard. Veteran rewards will not be transferred between shards.

More information regarding specific details of the various types of rewards, and qualifications for getting those rewards, can be found in Testing for Next Update.

Lake Superior Move Update

We will not be completing the Lake Superior East Coast shard move today as we are currently working to resolve login server issues with the shard. Once these issues are resolved, we will open the shard as a test shard for at least 24 hours of public testing before completing the shard move process. We will provide an updated shard move schedule once the shard is available for public testing.

Hail all,

I've seen a lot of people asking how they can get into help testing Third Dawn. Well, whether you have a Third Dawn CD or not you can help out with some very critical testing on the Alpha Third Shard.

Not only do we have to test the new Third Dawn client, even more importantly at this phase of the development cycle we have to know that the 2D client will work 100% without issues alongside 3D players and with the new 3D content like new monsters, new items, etc.

So if you wish to really help out, please visit the Alpha Third Dawn shard and test thru all the basic game systems in UO to make sure everything is working as expected. Keep an eye for weird anomolies ( like being attacked by something invisible, abnormal amount of client crashing especially around people casting spells, etc ).

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Runesabre

Lead Programmer

UO Third Dawn

That's exactly the type of testing I need.

What were the error messages and what was going on around you?

Runesabre

Lead Programmer

UO Third Dawn

The difference with Third Dawn and 3D models is we can actually patch new items and monsters in the future without requiring a CD. That was pretty much unfeasible with the original 2D bitmaps because of the size of the download. So its not just an attempt to make UO look pretty and up-to-date with 3D but a very fundamental architecture change that allows UO to be a lot more flexible.

Runesabre

Lead Programmer

UO Third Dawn

Have you ever wished for a romantic night of music, ball-room dancing and
candle-light in Britannia? Wish no more!

The Town of Golden is hosting it's First Annual Golden Winter Ball!

Date: Saturday, January 20, 2000
Location: The Golden Globe Theatre - Roof; Town of Golden,Tammel Facet, Baja Shard (North of the Justice Shrine)
Ball Start Time: 7:30 pm, PST
Ballroom Dancing Lessons Avail: 7:00 pm, PST
Attire: Formal (No armor, unless female plate as part of a gown, please).

For a map go to http://come.to/goldenbrew

Bring your loved ones and your friends! Enjoy the magical atmosphere of our specially decorated dance floor on the roof with our orchestra playing softly as you dance beneath the stars...

See you then!

Kita Talith ([email protected])

Zeminar asked Opalescense to step outside the Dawn Mage Tower with him. Once they were out of earshot, he opened a gate and shoved her through. The Dark Tower loomed over them. He forced her inside and chained her to the malevolent stone housed in the back room.

Ivy entered the Tower, and saw her new prize sleeping in the darkness. She smiled to herself. This would work out well. She would keep Opalescense alive, and Mrrshan would remain in the Tower.

As the night progressed Ivy grew irritable. Zeminar appeared and challenged her authority. In a fit of rage, Ivy took out her dagger and beheaded the sleeping Opalescense, tossing her head at the feet of those gathered there. She then went to the roof and stood upon the pentagram to await what she knew was coming.

And death came to her upon the roof. While in the nether realm, Ivy bound Opalescense's spirit there. She would have her revenge upon the Quest Knight.

Ivy was brought back to the living realm and the Tower was there to comfort her, always offering it's promise of forgetfulness. And as she watched, her pin morphed on her shirt. The Tower itself had proclaimed her it's new Mistress.

An attached announcement from Lady Ivy:

"The deed is done. The Quest Knight, Opalescense, the thief who disturbed Na-Krul's rest, is dead. Her debt to this world has been paid. She got only what she deserved for the trouble she has brought upon this land. Because of this accursed "Knight of Compassion" an undead plague has been unleashed. Those she brought torment to now have her soul to keep them company.

Lady Ivy
"Mistress of the Dark Tower"

I write to you to announce that a new Review has been posted at the UO Merchant Alliance web site! This time, we visited Lanus' House of Flowers on the shard of Baja! Welcome Relena as our newest UOMA Representative! Here's a snippet of her review: "This is a great house for mages to replenish there regents and feast there eyes on some truly rare items! However not a place for the newer less experienced citizens for as I was leaving a camp of reds descended upon me...." Does Relena survive her first UOMA review? Read the review and find out!

To read the full review, complete with screenshots and directions to the shop, visit the UOMA web site at http://www.uomerchantalliance.com . You'll find all of our reviews for various shards listed in the left-hand navigation column under "Merchant Reviews." While you're there, pop in to the UOMA Forum of your home shard and meet your fellow merchants and shoppers!

If you have any questions about this review, feel free to email Relena at [email protected] .

Thanks!

Kitiara
UO Merchant Alliance
Atlantic Shard Liaison
Webmaster

http://www.uomerchantalliance.com
[email protected]

Artarion has carried out his threats on Shadowmoor and the Aegis of Yew.

While guarding the village earlier this week, we were witness to a surprise visit by Artarion. He arrived, and without a word said, started to arrange nightshade and star sapphires in an arcane circle on the ground. He then mentioned that this was the first part of his plan, and with that, a gate appeared from the circle. He then stated that some "guards" would appear from the gate, and surely enough, 2 daemons arrived from it. They were quickly dispatched by the gathered crowd, and Artarion soon left, saying that the gate would draw in energy and soon permanently manifest.

A circle of Nightshade and Star-Sapphires near Shadowmoor

A quick trip was made to the former lair of Ventryn, and there was a new addition to the fire and ice present. There are now 4 star sapphires present there as well, in a rectangular formation on the floor.

While I wasn't present for Artarion's attack on Aegis, there is now a circle of nightshade and Star Sapphires in the Aegis as well. He also used this instance to restate that he was helping Xenthyl, who felt Yew failed to stop Ventryn before he gained power.

I find this statement odd, as Xenthyl made it a point to warn the rangers of the coming events.

There seems to be little we can do with the circle, though our druids are currently investigating it.

Okami
Shadowmoor
Guard Captain

The blue circles are the approximate location of the circles of Nightshade and Star Sapphires attributed to Artarion

I'd like to thank Gorion for contributing to this report.

LIBERALIS FIGHT NIGHT THIS THURSDAY! Don't miss it!

The drakes, dragons, and wyrms have returned to challenge the best
warriors of Britannia! The rules vary from fight to fight, but one rule is universal! No magery is to be used in the fights! Please remember this!

Prizes include magic weapons of all sorts, gold, and surprise bags!

Aside from the fight we will be having our regular Liberalis Thursday
night PARTY!

Free food and drinks!
Dancing and door prizes!
And of course, chess for those who wish to play!

The festivities begin at 7pm Pacific Time, that's 9pm Central!

Hope to see you there!

Your Lady,
CopperZerO

Kinship Tavern's Guest Bard Night

Where: Kinship Tavern in Kinship Village - on the mainland just east of Skara Brae in Felucca.
When: Sunday, January 21st
Time: 9pm - 11pm Eastern

Mishca, bard and barmaid at the Kinship Village Tavern would like to invite everyone to come and share a song, poem, or short story during her shift this Sunday. Everyone who shares will be rewarded with a semi-rare green ale mug from which to enjoy free ale for the rest of the evening (one per person while supplies last).

On behalf of all of the tavern staff, we'd like to thank everyone for their continued patronage in these rough times in the land known as Felucca. And for those thinking of making the trip over from Trammel, we'd like to encourage it! The roads of Felucca are safer than ever and while the death of the trees may have diminished the aesthetic appeal of most of the land, you will find Kinship Village to be a lovely oasis in the midst of the desolation! It's definitely worth the trip.

As the dust settles on Rome, two Viking warriors emerge, barely cut by the warriors of the now crumbling Empire. They speak the words of power and return to Magincia, Trammel; their steeds gallop to the beach eager to return home to Shadar Logoth.

"Aye a grand ole fight was it, no?" Grinnok smirks.

Pitr just laughs. "Aye, brother. They lasted all of an hour at best?" The two warriors chuckle, spilling ale and drop a Felucca stone to return to their homeland and Lord.

Minutes later they arrive in the throneroom of Lord Rakknarr himself.

"Status report, Vikings. What of the Empire? Did ye give my message?" The Dark Lord demands in his usual thunderous tone. The two just look at each other. Pitr nudges Grinnok to speak.

"Nay exa'ly m'Lord," Grinnok says with a tremble in his voice. Lord Rakknarr turns his head, a frown twists upon his skullish face.

"What doest thou mean, nae exactly??"

Pitr interrupts before anything can be said or done. "Wha' my brother means, M'Lord is that we TRIED, but when they got sight of us ridin' in, they attacked us. Musta' been 6 or so. I was a bit drunk to remember." Grinnok laughs. "Laddy yer ALWAYS a bit drunk ta' ramemba!!! HAW!!!"

Rakknarr shifts in his seat, awaiting the result. Grinnok steps forward, swallowing his heart as it beats in his throat. "Theh declared peace, M'lord. Theh surrender teh yuh and theh rest o theh family. They said something about neh bein able teh withstand nor compete against us. So weh won, M'Lord." Grinnok holds out the olive branch the Romans sent, and some remains of their fallen as proof of the Viking win.

Pitr chimes in, "They only lasted mebe and hour m'Lord. They fell fast and easy, Pure Evil makes some mighty good weapons for a demon smith."

Lord Rakknarr smirks and takes the olive branch and remains of the slaughtered Romans and throws them into the WarChest with the rest of the fallen 'opposers' they have collected. The Human would-be conquerors fall to Evil once again.

"Well done my Vikings. In these lands...this......Britannia......Darkness and Evil such as ours can indeed be victorious. Even in Trammel, where Minax's reach is supposedly halted. Send word tae th'Crimsons of the Romans weakened state and summon my officers.........And tae think what would hae happened if I hae sent a WAR party."

The laughs echo out of the throne room and into Shadar Logoth, into Magincia, across facets, and into the now destroyed Roman Palace. The humans simply shiver and thank their Gods they don't have to face such evil creatures anymore.

Lord Rakknarr
Guildmaster
Phantom Menace

*A letter from Grimworm to the Town of Nidaros was found in the Town Hall yesterday Eve.. It had the following message to tell:*

Fellow citizens of Nidaros, I have been called to Britain for an urgent situation. After i received word of what I was needed for, I felt it important to let the truth out, as it has some bearing on our town as well. Yesterday eve as I sat at my desk experiementing with various herbs and reagents, a messenger from the crown arrived. He looked rather frightened and was quite out of breath. I offered him a seat and a drink and begged him to tell what had put him into such a state and what his business was in Nidaros. After he had calmed himself and rested a bit he explained the events that were unfolding north of Vesper and why he was sent to fetch me...

"The kingdom of Lord British has had multiple reports of an area north of Vesper with a king and court... He of course saw this as a threat to his throne and sent a small army up to investigate.. What they found when they arrived was most unbelievable... The people that they were sent to restrain were all raving mad! They did such strange things, one knew they were not in their right mind. They witnessed the poor inhabitants of this area foaming at the mouth and occasionally yelling at common objects like they were other people. They were quite out of their minds"

*A tear forms in the messengers eyes as he continues with his tale*

"When word came to the kingdom of Lord British about this situation, he sent some of his best forensic experts up to investigate. But alas they were too late, by the time they found the cause of the problem, half of Lord British's guards were lost to the lunacy. My bride to be was one of the less unfortunate who was infected with this madness..."

I respectfully give my apologizes to the man for his loss and inquire as to why he was here in Nidaros, what can we do to help him and Lord British?

"Well sir, we have heard tales from over the land of your potions and magic. You are quite skilled in the alchemist arts. And we also know that another citizen of Nidaros, Rebecca Dawn, has quite a way with herbs as well. I beg... The kingdom asks you to come assist his other herbalists to find a cure for this ailment. Our guards try to keep the area contained, but occasionally a few of the people slip by and go out to cause havoc and do strange things to frighten people all over the land. And we do believe that this ailment can be spread, so we shall protect you in your investigations, but we cannot protect those who come in contact with a inflicted person outside of our quarantined area."

*The messenger gets a very deep look in his eyes and says very quietly to me:*

"And my bride to be is lost to me, unless a cure can be found..."

I have one final question to ask of this man, and that is what is the root of this problem.

"Mushrooms... the mushrooms growing in the area do this to them... "

I thank the man for his and my leige's confidence in me and promise to pack up my supplies, contact Rebecca Dawn and we should come straight away to the castle to be escorted to this strange place with the mushrooms...

My friends, I do believe we have seen some of the escapees in Nidaros.. claiming we are doing the most imposterous things.. now we know the truth.. it is them we should pity, not be upset with. But I beg of you please, do not approach them or go near them as we think this inflication could spread with body fluids, and the foaming at the mouth disturbs me. So I beg of you, my friends, stay far away and have nothing more to do with these people, I and Rebecca Dawn shall work our hardest to save them from this plight.. but until then we must isolate them so the problem does not spread. They are dillusional my friends, they know not what they say or see....

Farewell for now, I shall send word of our progress.

Grimworm, Town Chemist

I would like to address some of the faction issues, and let everyone know where we stand on the issues currently. We are fully committed to making the faction system a strong system players can enjoy for the length of their careers. The following issues are currently being researched and fixed by the development team.

· There was a problem where the system could possibly lose all of the data. The faction member might notice a title of “unknown”. This problem has had several safeguards put in to prevent it, and should it happen, a clean system is automatically put into place. A clean system means all the players will remain and keep their silver. However, the players would lose kill points, no towns would be occupied, no sigils would be corrupted or taken, no improvements would remain, and no officials would be elected. This should now happen very rarely, if ever.

· Townstones on Catskills were not usable after having been cleaned under a faction wipe. This problem will no longer happen in the rare case that a faction would ever need to be wiped.

· Townstones are losing track of hirelings. This will no longer happen.

· The COM stronghold will be altered so that it has only one entrance.

· Blue Players will no longer be able to enter strongholds, and a small area around the entrance.

· Blue Players will no longer be able to cast spells into these same areas.

· We are still researching the issue with elections in factions. Some factions are not able to hold elections, as the system is in a holding pattern.

That is our update so far. This by no means addresses everything we hope to improve with factions, but should give everyone an idea of our immediate concerns. We are still gathering your feedback on further improvements and I would like to thank you for all the good feedback so far.

RayAlton_LS said:

1) How are blues gonna join factions if they can't enter a stronghold?

**There will be a recruitment stone outside of the faction stronghold now.

2) Are you gonna just close off one side of the bridge of the CoM stronghold, or you gonna narrow the other remaining side also?

**Basically, there will now be a chokepoint like all other faction strongholds.

The PaxLair Player-City will host its 3rd Anniversary Celebration starting at 9PM Eastern Time on Friday, January 19, 2001. Events may encompass two days.

PaxLair was founded on January 19, 1998 when the Realm was young. Since that time, the village grew to the size of a city involving hundreds if not thousands of people in one way or another. Come celebrate with PaxLair as they continue to strive for community involvement and opportunities for all.

The 3rd PaxLair Council is organizing some events for the Anniversary celebration to be conducted probably over the course of two to three days. More information will be published on the PaxLair City Site.

At 9PM Eastern Time on Friday, atop the Mage Tower, Mayor Winfield will retire from his public work in the City. He will offer a speech in person which will also be simul-cast on irc.stratics.com in #PaxLair.

PaxLair City Site: www.chessienet.com/paxlair/

Sincerely,
Winfield, Mayor of PaxLair

I'd like to take a moment and thank Mayor Winfield for all that he has done. Both for PaxLair and Chesapeake at large. It is not difficult at all to say that, without Mayor Winfield, the place we all know as PaxLair would not be the same. For all of your work, time, and selfless effort this reporter salutes you! You've made this realm a better place.

"One last time I arrive at the Chamber of Virtues..." I thought. "One last time. I shall never come here again - ever." I said to myself.

The others were setting up communications crystals. We were there, waiting, waiting for the spirit to appear. Waiting for the Relinquary. I took a slug of liquor. "Did I miss him again?" I asked.

"No." Someone said. "He's yet to appear."

"Ah." I fidgeted. "So... this is the last of the relics?" I asked.

"Perhaps..." said William Smit IV, Sage of Justice. I grumbled and took another shot of liquor. "Well I hope it is..." Smit shrugged.

Then, he appeared. and the ghastly wailing picked up, dimming the candlabras. "A clue you seekers need!" His ghostly wail was torn from the ether by the magic of the communications crystal and emmited around the room by the three linked crystals.

"Love's burning flame grows blissful with light." he wailed. "Locked deep in it's chest behind iron ribs tight. Follow the path to the vintage fair, go where criminals do not dare, sinners repent where the candle resides, fearful of the light on the other side."

A moment of contemplation. A few dreadful moments of silence. "Yew's jail!" Smit suggested. "Makes sense..." someone said.

Malacite was not so easily swayed. "We have to get this right!" he said. "Aleph's life depends on it!" We all nodded. "What evidence do we have that it IS the Yew prison?" We all looked at each other for a moment.

"Well, the oracle said '...behind iron ribs tight.'" I said, looking down at my notebook. "...and what criminal would dare?" Cogniac offered.

Malacite seemed appeased. "Then we go to the Yew prison!" he said. That we did, gates opened, the blue light flooding us all, and then we were in front of the Empath Abbey. "Follow the path to the vintage fair." Smit said. "We must pass the winemaker's." We nodded, the lot of us dashing up the road to the prison. When we reached the cells, a lone man, an unkept madman at that, sat chuckling in his cell.

"Who are you?" the group demanded.

"I am Kerudge." the man said. "I see things..."

"What do you see?" "Who do you see?" the group demanded.

"I sees dem." Kerudge muttered. "I sees dem, dey bring somethin' 'ere."

"What did they bring?" Malacite asked. I thought he was being a bit rough with the old man, who no doubt could not take much mental strain...

In the back, someone summoned up a cooked bird and a loaf of bread.

"Are you hungry, Kerudge?" He asked. I took another slug of liquor, letting the alchohol drown out more harmful spirits. "Would ye like a drink, Kerudge?" I asked, hiccuping as the warm liquid hit my gut.

Kerudge eyed us both warily. "Aye... I've been in 'ere a long time. I'll make a trade w' ye." he cackled, before talking to himself for a bit. William Smit sniffed the pillow on the bed.

"Dere's a monkey sniffing me bed..." Kerudge smirked. William was only slightly taken aback. "What did you want to trade, old man?" He asked.

"Ahh, de trade.. yes.. you get me outta here, I take ye to de house wit de big lizards..." he chuckled. "De bad men dey went tru dere.. Dey carried somethin'" he said, rubbing his hands together.

We outfitted Kerudge in a new, fancy shirt, and went off down the secret passageways of the Yew jail. The desert of the Lost Lands was hot indeed, and at every step Wyverns and giant scorpions accosted us. However, none were lost. We walked further and further, into the hot scorching sands. All of us were hot. I had to have another drink...

"Let me see that dagger!" Malacite demanded of Kerudge. The man showed him. "This dagger.. it bears a maker's mark! The mark of Entropy's Fist!"

"I got it frem de bad men..." Kerudge replied. "Dey drop dis.. dey drop dis." he mummered. I though to myself "Entropy's Fist... why does that sound... familiar.." I wondered, my mind flashing back to a long ago trip to the frozen city of Caina. I remembered a vendor....

"Where did you get that shield?" Kitarra demanded. I looked around.

"Who, me?" I said, the alcohol taking a bit of my faculties.

"Yes, you." Where did you get it?" She asked again.

I looked at the maker's mark on the shield. "...by Entropy's fist." "Zounds!" I said aloud, wishing I had kept it to myself. "In Caina! That is who gave Kerudge that dagger. We are indeed near the flunkies of the Ebon Skull." I said, hoping the remark against the skull would call away the suspicions that had no doubt arisen from my shield bearing.

"Why.. we're heading towards the Ophidian Lair..." I said, glancing at my map. Suspicion was indeed deferred.

"Hrm.. indeed we are." Malacite replied. Somewhere ahead of me Kerudge cackled madly. "Dey went trew here.. dey did, dey did. De bad men.. We close now." He said.

"I smell a trap." Cogniac said. Many agreed with him. I took another slug of the liquor. "I hope we can trust this man..." I said, feeling myself relax.

Then, the ophidians attacked, many of them, masses of them. We held our ranks for a while as they slid by, cackling their native tongue, which is so similar to orcish. Then, we broke, dashing about, melees and magic sprinkling the landscape. The screams of death began to arise from both sides... "I knew I smelled a trap..." Cogniac said.

We dashed about. I fought alongside William Smit, I clashed swords alongside Rosco Eventide, I stepped in front of an avenger's blade so that Azrielle Aeris could get away. Finally, as the battle began to slow, undead sprung up from the sands, and a small group cut away and headed for the Lair. Smit was with them, I ran to join them in the Lair but a Ophidian Vicar's axe thrust in my path was most discouraging. As the vicar and I struggled in the hot sands, Kerudge was slain by a warrior that tore the fancy shirt from his limp body. Smit screamed at the loss and dispensed justice with his blade - placed neatly into the beast's chest. Energy bolts, pilliars of fire, explosions, bolts and arrows flew across the battlefield like flies on a hot summer day. The relentless heat dessicated the fallen bodies, and the smell of poison filled the air as the Ophidians were able to sink their teeth into more than a few victims.

Suddenly, the small party that had ventured into the Lair sprung out, chased by many ophidians. "The relics are gone! Retreat, retreat!" They cried. Callisto Gabrielle opened a gate, and Smit, Cogniac, myself and a few others dove through. The evacuation was a failure...

We stood in Paupa. "W-where is everyone?" "Damn! They didn't make it!" "Bloodbath!" "Massacre!" "Did we get the items?" The questions began blurring together, nonsense...chaos.... Another gate opened, and no one came through, none of the fleeing survivors we had expected. So we did something rather foolish. We went through the gate, back into the scalding desert heat.

Ophidians were all around, it was all Callisto could do to manage keeping them off her, and all we could do to hold back the ones surrounding the gate. Azrielle and some of the others fled to a more southernly location, atop a hill, to rain magic down on the ophidians. However, as the fled, Callisto opened another gate, and we retreated quickly to Papau.

"The book said that the relics are being cast into the pit in the Chamber of Horrors!" Smit said. The only thing that would come to my mind was the awful trip to the Star Chamber deep beneath Kos Heb, guarded by Tethrans and Balrons.... but Smit had another idea.

"Azalin would think the Chamber of the Virtues to be most horrific indeed!" he said. I shrugged. "...I need a drink..." I thought, and found one in my hip flask. We agreed as much as we could, and as the others waited on Callisto, Smit and I recalled into Britian. We were met at the Chamber of Virtues, not by Azalin and his undead, but by a man with a much more frigtening headdress. It was GreyPawn, and with him was Dayel Stormcrow.

"Oracles!" Smit cried. "We will need your help..." I shrugged. We did need all the help we could get. Gates were cast, people appeared from nowhere, and finally most of the group was assembled at the chamber.

"Where are the others?" Dayel asked.

"I could nae get them to leave." I said. "Seeking personal glory no doubt."

"I couldn't persuade them either." Callisto said.

Enyao began to speak...

"Do ye really think ye are in control of the situation? Do ye really believe that ye can save your precious Oracle of Truth with these silly relics? Even now these baubles of the Principles are in a realm of utter darkness, where even shadows take life of their own. This place is a realm of evil power that almost matches that of oblivion. Abadon all hope, for this dreaded place ye have no chance in conquering."

William Smit and Cogniac spoke up. "What has taken control of Enyao?" "Azalin has taken control of Enyao!" "What are we to do?"

"What is your problem, Enyao!" I shouted.

Someone chuckled at us. "He's reading from the book we found in the Ophidian Lair, fools.."

I slapped my forehead. Smit chuckled. Cogniac blushed. "Very well...."

Enyao chuckled and continued on.

"Ye have been lead astray by your beliefs in the Virtues and the nonsensical drivel of your defunct reliquary. Even now our five brethren in the Chamber of Horrors are casting these relics you seek into the pit of Nothingness, nothing can save them or your oracle! Your virtue quest has gained nothing but pain and death. Seek the principles, and ye shall suffer more of the same. Walk in Darkness, quaint little children, for nothing remains of the light.

-Azalin, Lich Lord."

"Where could he be talking about?" everyone asked.

"Is there a chamber in the City of the Dead?" I asked. "Wouldn't undeath be realm of utter darkness?" Other batted around the name of dungeon Khaldun, but we did not want to listen...

Our trip to the City of the Dead was futile. We had three remaining options - the first, Caina, was disregarded, since it's power WAS that of oblivion. The second, the Star Chamber, reachable from the depths of the Tethran keep, was disregarded as not evil enough. The final option, the one no one was wanting to hear, was Dungeon Khaldun in Feluccia. The Reliquary arose, giving incouragement - and clues. "It is a place where explorers dared to tread..." he said. And then our minds were made up, we would waltz into the deadly dungeon Khaldun, dancing with death, and find our quest's end there. Or our end. Whichever came first.

Greypawn laughed. "Well, not to be a Pessimist." He said. "But we're going to die."

Most were in similar moods. "It is a good day to die." Smit said. "Well I'm glad it is..." someone echoed. Enyao gave a rousing speech, but for the most part we were too much in dread of what awaited to care much. I myself polished off my last bottle of liquor.

GreyPawn, William Smit, Cogniac, Ian Fallenhope, Kitiara and myself was the second party to arrive on the scene. Dayel and many of the members of Sic Semper Tyrannis were coming through a second moongate. Cogniac blocked the entrance to the dungeon. "We will not go in until all have arrived!" Everyone was glad to hear it. Every moment spent outside Khaldun was a good moment. A moment alive.

Everyone arrived. I drank heavily, finishing off a bottle of wine. Smit drew his sword. GreyPawn laughed. Cogniac went into his fighting stance, and we all rushed the door, but could only enter single file. "It is time to die." Smit said. "There is a line to die..." Malacite chuckled as we filed into the dungeon.

We stood in the entryway, allowing our eyes to adjust, then we headed in, our party in the middle as some intrepid adventurers rushing ahead, while most of Sic Semper Tyrannis adjusted from front to rear as the situation demanded. We were rushed by.. by an undead murderer, but she did not fall easily. She took forever to slay! And then, as she fell, her armor rose up and assaulted me! The magic flew, the blades and maces crashed into the armor. "We... we're killing ARMOR!" I thought. Then the armor fell into a million pieces, shattered on the ground.

Then, true to Azalin's word, the shadows rose up and assualted us. The Shadow fiends came hard, but were quickly knocked back. The undead minions were charmed into battling each other as Trinity the bard weaved a richly chaotic, inciteful song with her lute. Magic seared the air as Rosco Eventide charged ahead, falling quickly to the blade of the undead warrior. She too arose as a set of spectral armor when slain, and some fell to the blade weilded by the set of armor.

Deeper we went, always heeding GreyPawn's words, to avoid the wrath of the Harvester. Deeper we went, past shadowy fiends, past mummies, liches, skeletons, the undead around us... Strange soldiers that, when dead, turned into skeletal knights which in turn attacked us. But none fell. Healing magics, shields and bandages kept us warriors alive, and in turn we prevented much harm from reaching the mages. Arrows flew as we closed in on the pit of blood. "Don't get too close!" GreyPawn warned. "The Harvester will arise." I heard a battle cry in the darkness, it was Smit. "Who are you?!" he demanded.

It is said that thought flies and words travel by foot. I never believed that, but I know now what that author meant. I could be as technical or as allegorical as possible, I could write beautiful prose or poetry, I could think of new ways to use words and sound, I could write songs for the greatest of bards, but none of that would convey the darkness, the terror, and the exhilaration of what happened next.

"The Lord of Nothingness!" Came back the awful, echoing reply, and the ancient lich figure attacked. It's speed was outrageous, it's strength the thing of legend, and it's magic was fierce. Once I threw myself in it's path as it charged after Callisto Gabrielle, screaming "Soulssss for oblivion! Soulsss for oblivion!" It swatted me aside as if I were a fly, and dashed towards William Smit. Malacite and Cogniac closed in on it, there was only one way for the fiend to escape now. My heart beat. It turned, as GreyPawn poisoned it magically, it turned to break free.... and I shoved myself into his stinking face, watching as the shreds of rotting flesh were hacked off or incinerated. "Soulssssss for oblivion! Soulsssss for oblivion!" The fiend cackled... Then, finally a dried barely coherent scream... simply "NooooooOOoooO!" ...and then it fell to the floor. A ghost wailed near the sarcophogus... It called itself Cor Amo Ver, and we led it out of the dungeon, to the light, to freedom, and to the Chamber of the Virtues in Trammel.

Then we brought it back, and the Relinquary tore it apart, the one became three in a circle of candles placed in the Chamber. Lightning struck the roof, raining plaster down upon our heads. The three spirits that arose from Cor Amo Ver were those of Courage, Love and Truth.... They spoke beautiful words to us before departing.

Then we went to the Shrine of Sacrafice to speak with Enyao. He told us of the relics and the wisdom of the book of the primaries.

"The first is the bell of courage." He said. "In great straits when hope is small, the boldest councils are safest."

Then I found another bottle of wine in the bottom of my pouch. "Drunkard..." Cogniac quipped. "Bah." I said, as Enyao continued.

"The next is the Candle of Love. Amo Amo Amo." He chanted. "Love is life but love without hope and faith is agonizing death." he read.

"The last is the book of truth - truth is not only violated by falsehood, it may be equally outraged by silence." he finished, and we departed. I would not be silent for long, but the next day the spell would have to be cast, have to be cast in Caina, amidst the Order of the Ebon Skull. The horrors of Khaldun, nothing... Nothing compared to what we would face. We would need all the help we could get. I would tell all who would listen... or would I? Azalin's words echoed in the back of my mind. "Walk in darkness, quaint little children, for nothing remains of the light..." I shuddered. Caina, the frozen wastes.... Golgotha, tower of skulls. And there lies Aleph Aeris, there lies the oracle... There lies the truth.

Today we had retrieved the bell, the candle and the book. Tomorrow we would recieve the sword.

Garrett Granth

Greetings All,

Over a dozen people came to watch or participate in Caina's first official joust. Many marvelous feats of combat were witnessed, as well as some very close matches. In the end though, Tarin of the Lost Order of Akalabeth proved victorious over Kordil in the championship bout, walking away with the 10,000 gold prize and a few powerful magic items. For the record, Tarin and Kordil, the top fighters both used halberds, not war hammers, and Kordil wore merely leather armor for a period that I found quite astounding.

Because of this joust's success, I shall be hosting another similar in nature this coming week, I urge all to attend, for prizes and more, look for an announcement regarding it this coming week. My thanks and congratulations to all who participated and came, I look forward to seeing you and many new faces next time.

Walk in Darkness,

Lord Nath Maezoroth,

Master of Ceremonies

Dear citizens of Britannia,

I bring ye news of the Gargoyle Armadas epic defeat from the view point of a warrior on the front line of battle. It began when I and many friends were having a drink in the Hungry Halfling tavern. Twas a short time after the petrification of the daemon Nostur'yl that we were startled by a group of gargoyles advancing upon the tavern. We quickly took up arms and battled the gargish foes till I noticed there were two very peculiar navy blue skined gargoyles accompanying them. We later found out these to be gargoyle apprentice-mages. Shortly after we dispatched the small force the anchient wyrm Lady Liane arrived to find out what was going on and gave us as much information as she could on these gargoyles. After that there were multiple gargish attack on Rivendell, Evermoore, and the LOA Village. Then we discovered their origin by following them through the gates they poured out of. They came through an odd swirling gate south of Trinsic.

After many many more battles there came one which completely overwhelmed our forces. The bodies were stacking high and all seemed lost till the apearance of a great red wyrm. After Liane killed enough gargoyles to allow for the fallen to be healed she took us to her den in Destard to talk more of this threat. She explained that the magic used to keep the gate closed had been severly weakened and that at the nineth hour on the next eve it would no longer work against the gate allowing the entire armada to enter the realm. After much planning and work to inform the masses of the danger that lurked over the horizon we finally headed off to meet death head on. Soon we were joined by what had to be the largest gathering of warriors and mages I've ever witnessed, though not all were there to help, but to hinder. As I moved up to the front line the swirling gate opened and to my horror three gigantic balrons arose and the biggest chased me for a short while till it joined its brethren in slaughtering my friend Fred, and thus making him the first casualty. After countless casualties on each side I noticed we held the upper hand as we seemed to out number them three to one. As more and more gargoyles fell I began to wonder when their leader, the gargoyle inquisitor, would show his ugly face, when speak of the devil there he was! Many a warrior ran in to meet the foe, including myself. As we hacked and hacked at the gargoyle making what seemed little progress, I noticed he hadn't made a move to even defend itself against any sort of attack. Just then I saw an energy bolt fly from the hands of Lady Molly sleighing the beast where he stood. The rest of the battle seemed very anti-climatic, even when Lady Liane apeared to congratulate us, and warn us this victory wasn't permenent. I have the oddest feeling that we will see more of this gargoyle armada.

-Cesspool of Trinsic,

Guildmaster of the Orc Hunters of Britannia

One day, not so long ago, I was just a simple orc with a scholary interest in the hummie language. I was a target (for ridicule and thrown objects) to hummies and orcs alike. Now, mere months later, I am a high profile editor for this very shard! What happened, you ask?

Simple! I took my knack for writing and parlayed it into an exciting career as a reporter for UOSS stratics. Well, perhaps "career" is a strong choice of words for a volunteer position, but it sure beats mining in terms of keeping the mind alive.

Perhaps writing for UOSS AOL Legends can help you achieve a new life! I am currently looking for active, talented citizens of our shard to supplement our outstanding two-humanoid team of top-notch Ultima Online reporters. As a volunteer you are required to:

• Be a talented writer
• Be an active, knowledgeable member of the Oceania community
• Be willing to attend events and quests, interview VIPs, report news of interest to the community
• Be able to dedicate a minimum of six hours per week to writing and/or posting news items
• Have a familiarity with basic HTML
• Be pro-active

1.Real name
2.Contact email address
3.ICQ number (if applicable)
4.Character name (this must be the name of the character you will be using as your potential shard reporter)
5.Rate your HTML knowledge from 1-10, where 1 is poor and 10 is phenomenal
6.Answer this: Why do you wish to be a shard reporter for UOSS? 7.Include a brief writing sample, no more than 500 words (pictures are not welcomed and no attachments)
8.Any questions???

Good luck to all applicants and Praise Minax!

Among the merchant and provisioner class, talk often turns to the matter of our local economy. Even though prices of goods are usually determined by supply and demand, the cost of most goods on Legends seem to fluctuate a great deal. A stout sword of Vanquish may sell for 75 thousand gold today and 35 thousand, tomorrow. And both will find buyers. The same can be said for more mundane items such as arrows, armor and cloth. Of course, the hardships of an unstable economy usually falls hardest upon the warrior classes. It seems that there may now be a movement afoot, to help stabilize the cost of one of the most critical items of any land...ingots! The grizzled old veteran of the ore mines, Master Sho, sends this message, via the esteemed Aubrey Gawen.

Greetin's y'all!

I be Sho, the crotchety old miner who works out o' th Willaport Merchant Association in quiet downtown Willaport. I be noticin' talk o' late tha' th' smiths o' Britanya be thinkin' us miners be a'chargin too much fer ar inguts! Well, me pers'nal opinyun be they c'n all shove their hammers where the sun don... ahem. Nev'r mind. Me frend, Aubrey tells me ther be better ways ta deal wit dis. He say we need ta get tagether an talk dis out befor all prices go thru da roof! He tels me there will be inflashun an a buncha other words I canna spell.

Well, I nae be no good a' talkin. Not much use in't. Them mountains don listen anyways! Dey only unerstan' da shovel and da pick! If'n Aubrey say I should sit down an talk, den I respec' his opinion an try ta talk. If you other miners and smiths be intrested in dis idea den contact me thru Aubrey. I tell'd 'im most o' you people won't wanna bother wid it, but he tell me ta try anyways. So if you want ta have a miner/smith summit conference, contact me an I will set it up.

Sho
Master miner/crotchety old man

So, miners and smiths, I have talked Sho into a summit. Is there anyone else out there interested in a miner/smith summit conference to discuss ingot prices? If so please get in contact with me to discuss details.

Aubrey Gawen
Willowport Minister of Culture, MoB
Willowport on the web at http://www.geocities.com/willowport
Curator, Museum of Britannia
Museum of Britannia at http://members.aol.com/museumofbritania/mob/home.htm

Cyn

He told us how happy he was that there was so many people gathered there that night, and he then told us that had some bad news to speak of.

The Wizard then informed us that Lady Suzonne was about to unleash a great evil. She was using the Moonglow Cemetery in Trammel for a summoning point for great hordes of undead. Lorack then told us that the source of her power was coming from the body parts of her slain lover. She still remained in Felucca in hiding though, so he couldn't tell us where to find her specifically, and instead he advised us to go and defend the graveyard. While we were preparing for the adventure, he mentioned that he would return Tuesday night, tomorrow, hopefully with specific information on the Dark Lady and where to find her.

We all rushed off to the Moonglow Cemetery, however, once I arrived I saw no more then the normal amount of undead there, and so I assume the horde had already been slain. However, I did notice one odd thing about the cemetery that hadn't been there before, and that was there was a desecrated grave in the cemetery. Perhaps this was the grave of the slain lover, whom the Lady unburied to attain his body parts? Perhaps, or perhaps a few grave diggers had happened through there a few nights before. It's all possible. I suppose we will have to wait till tomorrow night, when Lorack will return to us at the Great Horns in Magnicia with more information.

This morning, as I awoke from well deserved slumber, I was met, eyeball to eyeball by a rather stern looking pigeon. The creature bore a message that I now pass along to you. Read on.

Hello. My name is Nicholas and I'm a newcomer to this proud land. I would like to inform thee of what I saw one very weird day, this last week.

I was standing in front of the Bank of Britannia in Britain one morning, studying the intelligence of the nearby populace when I seen these strange people walk up and line up by the bank wall. They then proceeded to chant, "I am Clone, I am Clone, I am Clone," etc............continuously until they gathered up enough onlookers to proceed with a troubling sight.

These "clones," under the supervision of the one named Firstborn, proceeded to do hidden but obviously illegal acts because with a swiftness, the town guards (with their all-prying eyes) showed up and relinquished each and every single one of the clones, including the one named Firstborn of their unlawful souls. In an act even more unsettling to me, I shortly thereafter witnessed our own healers bring them all back from the underworld.

After being resurrected, the clones and the Firstborn again lined up against the wall and stood there very quiet, almost as if awaiting something. A good five minutes passed and then Firstborn spoke. He said something along the lines of "Clones, I am very appreciative of what has been done but we lack the numbers we need." He then said something about the clones and him trying to bring back or resurrect a mighty being.

I myself, do not know which being Firstborn was talking about but it frightens me that our town healers can bring back many of the dead with but a flick of the wrist but that these clones are having to sacrifice themselves in a very large number to even accomplish one resurrection. They had in their numbers at that time, at least 10 clones. I do not know if there are more but surely if there is, more we could be expecting a very powerful friend or enemy in Trammel shortly.

I honestly suspect that it will be the latter for the mere fact that they must sacrifice themselves to get this being here. I hope for the best but if you should fined out any more information I ask you to please relay it to me.

In Concern,
Nicholas

Until next we meet, safe journeys to you, one and all.

Cyn the Cynical

This last eve (Saturday night) was nothing new. As usual, the Order of Mercaerin wrecked havoc on our, for what was once, pleasant city.

Lately, the Order hath been bringing smaller troops with them. They are weak, and mountless. Who are these new commers to the Order? Are they meer apprentices? Or perhaps New Recruits? We do not yet know, but we do know that they have all died when they came to our Freehold. Perhaps this will show the Mercaerins that we mean business.

Now, later that eve, after most of the citizens were dead or dying and Spiritwood was in flames, a man came walking across the docks. A first we thought he was a Mercaerin, but the color of his skin was that of a man. We soon realized that he meant us no harm. Lord Stefan Korax was his name, standing six foot tall, carrying a huge battle axe.

He introduced himself, and then later met I and a few others at the Great Horns Tavern for supper. He told us about his many adventures, such as the tale of the vile wench, Suzonne, and her minions.

After cider and warm legs of lamb, we started talking about the Order, and what he knows of them. He says that rumor has it, that they definately have a home IN a dungeon. He is not sure which, but he definately knows the rumors of Shame are false.

Some time later, we realized something. One of the more recent members to the Order of Mercaerin, Selrac (Last name is not know, since he was only there for a short time) If any of you have noticed, he is NOT a murderer like the rest. And when I saw him, he seemed to be refraining from fighting. Perhaps he is the Key, to learning more about the Order. We must lure him away from the others, and get some answers. Selrac is the key! We all had agreed, even Stefan.

Thus, perhaps.. we finally get some answers. Let us pray these next nights do not bring too much destruction. As always, Luck from everyone from the Skara Brae Chimera.(By Kristine Marduke (Kristy))

www.ultima-worlds.de is proud to present an exclusiv Interview with Tiberius Moongazer and the rest of the Ultima 5:Lazarus Team about their projekt of a remake of U:V with the Dungeon Siege engine.

Check out this exclusive interview in english or in german. See the latest renders not yet displayed on their hompage, read what Tiberius has to say about grafics, and check what the brilliant musicians have to say about the whole soundtrack.

[email protected]

http://www.uod.de
http://www.ultima-worlds.de
http://www.uo-deutschland.de

• Events This Week - On Thursday, January 18th at 7pm CST in #jghoc, a Jumpgate House of Commons will occur.
• New Stratics Site! - Visit Entropia Stratics, our newest Stratics site based upon the game Project Entropia, quite possibly the only game you can make money while playing!
• Stratics Central - Check out our debut issue of the Massively Multiplayer Journal, featuring player articles on issues in MMOG design. This month, the topic is Death and Time.
• Stage 1 Stratics - Visit our newest Stage 1 site, Entropia Stratics today! And just in case you missed it, almost 800 people showed up for the Dawn HOC chat. You can read the logs here.
• Anarchy Online Stratics - Darrent Scott of Funcom has provided AOS with an Exclusive NPC character model screenshot!
• Asheron's Call Stratics - It's been a long time coming, but we've finally got a full guide on how to get the Sword of Lost Light as Casper has completed part three of the quest.
• Atriarch Stratics - As always, lately Serafina and friends have been very active in #atriarch, our Atriarch Stratics IRC channel. She's been around for several great Q&A sessions (which can happily be found on our news page). Everyone's invited to stop by and join in!
• Camelot Stratics - Camelot Stratics has finished it's art contest, come see who won those grand prizes. Also this week a brand new editorial about DAoC, which can be found here.
• Everquest Stratics - New Guides now on EverQuest Stratics! The Freeport Human Monk, The Young Dwarven Warrior, and Dwarven Myths Debunked. Come and see!
• Jumpgate Stratics - Check out our Jumpgate HOC developer chat this Thursday at 7pm CST in #jghoc.
• Neocron Stratics - NCS introduces SoundTERM! Create and submit your own soundtrack listings for everyday life in the cyberpunk world of Neocron.
• Neverwinter Stratics - Neverwinter Stratics is pleased to present the next chapter in the Glendenmoor Chronicles. Chapter 3 - Secrets continues the story of a small band of adventurers as they unwittingly are drawn into the intrigues and secrets of the city of Glendenmoor.
• Origin Stratics - Sosarian Wallpaper Contest Results. Looking for a new wallpaper for your computer? We recently had a terrific contest, resulting in over a dozen new pieces of art for the fans to enjoy. Make sure to check out our Wallpaper Section to see what we mean.
• Shadowbane Stratics - Shadowbane Stratics is pleased to announce the final stage of its Color Me Bad contest. Be sure to visit the gallery and cast your vote for the best rendition!
• Ultima Online Stratics - This week we added all 3D pictures we could find inside UO: Third Dawn to the Hunter's Guide. Almost every animal and monster now has a nice new picture available, including several never seen before, go have a look.

One that was long overdue, a Detectives forum. For ages thieves have been able to discuss all their thieves tricks on the Thieves forum, now it's time for the Detectives to strike back with a vengeance. All sleuths and mystery unravelers are welcome. Forensic evaluation is an underrated skill :)

The second one should not really come as a surprise. With more and more people showing up on the Third Dawn Alpha shard every day, and the first glimps of Beta on the horizon (no, we do not know when it will start) the time has come to open the UO Third Dawn forum. As always, feel free to participate in the discussions, but please be aware of the Rules of Conduct.

Enjoy!

Hail dark friends,

The Wizards of old have asked we Guardians protect and insure their safe return to Sosaria. My duties as Guardian is to prevent those that would destroy these magnificent elders for a handful of gold and fame.

If you wish to hunt the beasts of Wind and Shame, be sure to don the blood-drenched scarf, or thee shall meet with a most harsh reprimand.

These are not some tales of fancy, but the true Adventures of Adam Ant
http://www.game-master.net/

Some players do not know this, as I did not know this until it happened to me, that while Haven does a decent job of blocking your ship should you bump into it, some areas, if you sail into it, will cause you to be teleported off the ship into some other city.

I was sailing West to the docks at Magincia, and in the vicinity of 37o 15'N, 172o 37'E, there was no ship barrier causing me to get teleported off my boat and, of all places, being depositied into Nujel'm. There is a dialog box asking you which city you want to go to, and if you don't respond to it, it will teleport you to a random city.

Haven is a nasty ship trap and should be avoided like the Bermuda Triangle.

When the message appears, and a person becomes aware that they have entered the "Bermuda Triangle", if you give the tillerman the command to sail in the opposite direction the boat will sail back out of the triangle on it's own accord. For example if going forward left, the command backwards right will move back on the exact course. The player will still be teleported, however when returning via recall to the boat they should not be teleported again since the boat will have left the area.

Last eve we bid a *coughs* sad farewell to our *coughs again* beloved Na-Krul.

Through the use of a more powerful resurrection spell, discovered in some of the most ancient of the Dark Tower Library's tomes, Dipree, Sauron, and myself summoned forth and raised the spirit of our now former *ahem* Master. Our original intent in these actions was to have him close the accursed Well of Souls he and the former Master Xander had created and quiet the unrestful dead that keep pouring forth from it.

Our request met with his ridicule. Tis of little matter, I shall find a way to rid us all of that monstrosity. Instead, Na-Krul revealed that he is travelling on to another realm at the beckoning of... the Guardian.

For all who missed this event, I have had some painters put their paintings on display on the following sky page:

www.geocities.com/miriam_baja/resurrection.htm

Lady Ivy, Keeper of the Dark Tower