May 2001

Just to clarify, I'm currently working as Producer on two specific initiatives. Stellerex has resumed his role as the Live Team Producer.

-Tajima

In the meantime, Evocare also posted to the official Discussion boards a bit more about himself:

I'll do my best to give you some quick background information. =]

Since having worked for Origin as a designer, I've worked on a fairly large number of systems. Among these are: leading the design and implementation of the Faction System, addition of new content (such as the glacial staff, dungeon re-regioning, and monster design for third dawn), and more bugfixes then you can shake a dirty stick at (dirty sticks can generally be shaken at more things then clean sticks).

In addition, I worked as one of the senior systems designers on UO-2 with the responsibility of refining and enhancing the combat and magic system designs. I believe one of the interesting things you'll find about me is that I have the privilege of being the first UO lead designer to have logged several thousand of hours of play time in UO, bringing to the position the perspective of both a veteran player and a developer. I can say without the slightest hesitation that I understand the frustrations that players often experience and as a result I certainly hope I won't let the players down. ;]

Well, there really are quite a few more people then you mentioned below. Among designers and programmers there are...

Designers:
Vex
Adrick
Oaks
Ignatz
Gromm
Augur
Designer X (undecided nickname)
Hanse
Calandryll
Evocare

Programmers: Ironbyghte
Stormwind
Prophet
FierYiCe
Greyburn
Indy
Bulldoz
Jalek
Alai

Really, that only scratches the surface since there are also artists, an ever-growing QA staff of around 20, community reps like the beloved Melantus and the merry Cynthe, and countless other people that play absolutely crucial roles in keeping everything running smoothly on all levels. =]

I am currently working on the faction system, guild system and player/player interactions. I have asked and been given the combat system. This does not mean I exclusively do all the changes to these systems - it means that I will be the primary person working on the system. When we make changes - we run them by the entire team. PvP is part of the combat system.

Right now I have a full plate with bug fixes for the faction and guild systems and I am also working on other system bug fixes as well.

Adrick

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Account Access Transfer Program
May 31 2001 9:44AM

In the interest of providing our customers with a safe procedural way in which to transfer UO account access from one individual to another, we would like to remind you of our Origin Account Access Transfer Program. This program allows you to carry out the transfer process officially through the OSI Billing Department, ensuring that in case of any dispute, we can verify the correct owner of a specific UO account. By simply arranging for signatures from both parties involved, completing a confirmation phone call with an OSI representative, and arranging a small transfer fee, your access transfer will be secure and final.

Additional details on the Account Access Transfer Program, and the appropriate form, can be found here.

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Ever wanted to know about a certain plotline? Ever wanted to know what it was like to be a Seer? Then come join the conversation!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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His polished armor shining brightly in the sunlight, the young paladin rode through his beloved city of Cove. Duncan had only returned to his city of birth a few days ago, after many years of questing. He knew it was time for some much-needed rest before once again traveling to the far reaches of Britannia in search of those in need. Duncan was proud of his city - a place of hardworking men and women, most of whom had left the larger cities for the excitement of a "frontier" town and the hope of a new life.

The paladin’s thoughts turned bleak as he considered that new life. Cove was not what it once had been. Granted, there had always been the threat of the orc fort nearby, making it difficult to maintain a steady sense of peace, but something had changed recently. Scattered reports of movement by the orc tribes continued to come in, yet there seemed to be no sense of purpose behind the orcs’ actions. ‘Twas easy to understand the mind of an orc. Battle, blood, the conquering of all, the taking of land... these were the things that made an orc. These reports, however, did not reflect a steady march of orcs sent to conquer new land. If Duncan did not know better, he would almost say it seemed as if the orcs were being scattered. They were not marching towards a goal, they were running away from some unknown menace - and it was towards Cove that they fled.

As he turned a corner, Duncan spied a boy, no more than fourteen, running towards him. The boy’s leather armor was in tatters and a long gash could be seen on his right arm. He stumbled a few times as he ran towards the paladin, obviously shaken and in pain. Duncan immediately dismounted as the boy reached him and began applying a bandage to the boy’s arm.

"M’lord, they’ve broken through the outer wall!" the boy cried, his speech interrupted by weak coughs.

The paladin’s crimson eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?"

"Orcs, m’lord! Dozens of them! They’ve already slaughtered most of those at the wall and are making their way into the city."

"What of the guards? Cove still holds a small regiment of the king's men, does it not?"

"I don’t know, m’lord. The guards seem pre-occupied with their patrols and regiments. And many have already left to defend Britain and Trinsic against possible attacks." The boy winced as Duncan tightened the bandage. "But the orcs are not attacking either of those cities, nor does it look as if they will."

"Blast! So it seems we of the smaller towns are left to fend for ourselves, then!" yelled the young paladin, his tired eyes turning cold with rage. "Rally the men and women at the square and see if you can send word to our friends in the larger cities. We’ll deal with the vermin ourselves."

The boy saluted as Duncan drew his longsword and reared his mount. Galloping directly towards the main gate, it only took him a few moments to reach the battle. Duncan quickly tried to surmise the situation - where the line was weakest, who fought for him and who was nowhere to be seen, and, perhaps worst of all, the visible desperation of the men who stood as the town’s only defense. The defenders were slowly being pushed back. Duncan knew he had to do something, anything, and with a reckless shout, he kicked his horse into a charge.

The young paladin’s mount crashed into the line, trampling one orc while Duncan slew another with a quick strike to its head. Duncan barked orders to those near him, trying to bring some order to the chaotic fighting. The arrival of the paladin and other veteran warriors gave the defenders hope, and they managed to gain the advantage, slowly pushing the orcs back. Finally, the remaining orcs fled as the townsfolk let out a roaring cheer.

Their cheer was cut short as a shout rang from the top of the wall.

"More orcs...hundreds of them!!"

Duncan readied his sword and tried to calm his nerves. He shouted orders to the men near him, trying to form a battle line. The front gate was still in ruins and the wooden walls would not stop the orcs. The people of Cove were used to dealing with orc raids, but never anything like this. Help had better arrive fast, he thought, or there would soon be two orc forts east of Britain!

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Grimoire Gladiator Fight Friday 06/01/2001

This weeks fight is a Gladiator Fight, Sponsored by MacMichael

Friday, June 1, 2001 at (9 PM PST, 10 PM MST, 11 PM Central, Midnight EST)

Registration will start at 8:30 PM PST, and end at 9:00 PM PST. No late entries. Tournament will start at 9:10 PM PST.

15K gold pieces goes to the last fighter standing, thanks to MacMichael this tourney has NO ENTRY FEE.

Rules:

• Contestants are not allowed to bring anything to this tourney other than a way home. (recall scroll, spell book, one or two sets of reagents, or a rune book with charges)
• The Grimoire staff will scatter weapons, armor, potions, and bandages on the arena floor. Contestants will start the battle naked and will arm themselves with what they can pick up.
• You are not allowed to use any of your items in this event, Grimoire will furnish all your supplies, so please come naked and leave your valuables at home or in the bank. Grimoire staff will not hold items for contestants so PLEASE leave your items at home or in the bank.
• Gates will be provided to town when the event is over.
• No Stealing.
• No Hiding.

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 that disrupts the flow of the event for any reason will be banned until after the event.
• Grimoire staff reserves the right to cancel an event for any reason at any time during the course of the event.
• Contestants who are perma-banned for any reason will forfeit their chance to fight.
• If a contestant loses connection during the event, he/she will forfeit.
• The Event Coordinator reserves the right to adjust these rules at any time without notice.

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. Contestant Battle Arena Rules

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. Spectator Rules

For calendar of events, rules, maps and community message board, please visit Grimoire

Hope to see you there!
LeeLu-Grimoire Staff

Your humble servant,
Raeven Aurora

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Greetings from Bumble the Bard.

After a period of absence I've started updating my site again. I've added two new animations and an illustrated poem. To those who think they don't like poetry, give it a try: it's very funny and easy to follow.

The link is: Bumble the Bard

-Bumble

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Fenny went on the Wednesday Night Hunt last night. For the uninitiated, every Wednesday night, a group of certifiably insane people are led to certain and frequent death by Krysma Doomspeak. The hunts take place in Trammel one week and Felucca the next, and anyone who doesn't mind eating a little dirt is welcome to attend.

Last night was a Trammel run, and the group met up at Empath Abbey and headed deep into the bowels of Ophidian Keep. It is very, very bad there. ßUnderstatement of the Millennium. The thing about Ophidian Keep is that it is full, and I mean FULL of Ophidians. Crabby Ophidians. Ophidians who feel they are quite cramped enough being stacked three-deep with other Ophidians, and who deeply resent any non-Ophidian trying to share their limited space.

Fenny died almost immediately due to a combination of lag (10%) and stupidity (90%). Then she stopped acting like she was re-enacting the Charge of Light Brigade and started acting like a bard, and survived for a good long time, right up until The Attack of the Mutant Invisible Avenger.

That's right, due to some sort of unspeakable bug, an Avenger who had apparently spent a lot of time macroing Hiding and Stealth came creeping over to Fenny, and suddenly her health plummeted, and yet there was no attacker on the screen. OOOooOOOO. In Black and White, the Avenger was perfectly visible as he smugly rooted through Fenny's pack and took a, and I quote, "*". Then he smugly killed Griswald the Ostard. Then he smugly did the happy dance on my corpse.  Then Lord Draven (another bard and a Wednesday night regular), came over, and The Avenger smugly died in agony, which pleased me no end.

Draven rezzed me, and we had the following conversation.

Fenny: I have to scoot off to a stable. I can't live without a mount.
Draven: Peaches, you can't live WITH a mount.

OH MY! I had been IMPUGNED!  That Smug Avenger had CLEARLY cheated! And here was Draven besmirching my honor! There was nothing to do but drop stone and head over to Felucca for a little (Warning: Irony Approaching) hard-hitting Bard v/s Bard PvP Slamma-jamma action. (End Irony.)

Now I am a Trammelite, born and bred, and I love Trammel and sunshine and little daisies and all things nice. But I am married to a Feluccan, some of my best friends are Feluccans (cough), and I spend enough time over there not to be skittish about it. And I am deeply committed to getting Trammies like myself comfy over there in the BadLands.  Now that the Moongates make the trip painless and free, there is no reason for Felucca to remain such a wasteland.

Yes, it is dangerous. Yes, it is not a land where you would want to hold some sort of Hippie Love-In and dance around unarmed and naked singing about Coca-Cola and World Peace while toting your entire collection of Server Birth rares. But I promise that you are not going to step through the Moongate and be immediately swarmed by a dozen disarm thieves and a gank-squad. Mostly because NO ONE IS THERE.

Let's change that because Felucca has a lot to offer that you just can't get in Trammel, much as I love Trammel. The YMCA. The Oasis Fighting Pits.  The Blessed Haunted Castle. The Opportunity to get slaughtered by a friend!  (Thanks, Draven!) Or to even slaughter the friend in the rematch. (You're Welcome, Draven!) The Dungeon Khaldun and its fun Puzzle Boxes. (Khaldun hint: Pay Off Bacci - You'll live longer and have more fun.) The ability to DO SOMETHING other than call a GM if someone griefs you. And the rules allow you to RP characters you just can't pull off in Trammel, like an Evil Murderer or the White Knight Bounty-Hunter who tracks the Murderer down and brings him (or his head anyway) to Justice.

So come on, head over to Fel! If you're nervous about going alone, come on next Wednesday's Hunt. What's the worst that could happen? You die and lose some stuff. Big Woo. Death is not permanent, stuff is replaceable.  Most respectable Murderers will even throw you a rez once they have your things. And you can always flee to a Moongate if it gets too spooky.  Trammel will always be there for you; homey, friendly, stinkin' of goodness.  Just don't dare hold the Trammel World Peace Coca-Cola Naked Dancing Love-In without inviting ME.

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Evocare is the Lead Designer. He is extremely talented and knows a lot about gaming and design. He is a great choice.

Melantus
Online Community Coordinator
Ultima Online

Also, for everyone interested, here is Evocare's latest Comments from the Team from a month ago:

Comments from Evocare

Greetings,

As you likely know from the team comments heading, I go by the name of Evocare and I am a designer for Ultima Online. In my time at Origin, I’ve had the pleasure of working on a variety of game systems for both Ultima Online and the game formerly known as Ultima Online 2, and as a result I’d like to take some time to bore you with some game system theory. ;]

One of my primary goals here at Origin is to take a holistic approach the design of game systems. In order to deliver the best possible play experience, it’s crucial that we have a keen understanding of how each game system relates to other game systems. The idea is to create and maintain a web of essentially symbiotic game system relationships so that the combination of systems becomes dramatically more interesting and compelling than the sum of the value of each individually. Beyond creating an interesting and deep game world, one of the greatest benefits of this approach is the ability to deliver the aforementioned experience with a minimum of complexity and clutter when compared to a game of equal depth that is comprised of largely unrelated game systems.

Now that you’ve been given a mouthful of buzzwords, I’ll attempt to turn it into some tangible and useful information. Currently, Ultima Online has a foundation of basic game systems that establish the groundwork for your play experience. Although these systems are reasonably interesting on their own, they become considerably more interesting when meaningful relationships between them are developed. You can see this kind of relationship between the guild and housing systems, in that a guildstone must be located within a house. A result of this interaction is that the value of the guild system is compounded by the interesting qualities of the housing system (and vice versa), since players must work with the elements of attempting to establish a guild while balancing those desires with their housing needs. An example of one of the housing system’s effects on the guild system hinges on the ability of the players to (among other things) declare houses as public or private buildings, since it creates a meaningful meta-game in which a guild can make use of the “public” feature in order to have an open gathering environment, or the “private” feature in order to use the guild house as a sort of retreat from the outside world (all the while balancing the needs of the guild against the challenges of obtaining the best possible house type).

At this point, you may be wondering what this has to do with the future of Ultima Online, how it is that we can expect to see this type of approach provide benefits to the existing game world, and why it isn’t like that already! Without giving away too much detail, we’d like to see Ultima Online evolve its current system design into a more cohesive whole, where the distinctions between systems blur as their interactions are built upon and encouraged to grow! Although this has been an elusive goal due in large part to the realities of live game maintenance and changing faces among the development team, I believe that as time goes on, you (the players) will see a gradual and noticeable refinement of the game systems within Ultima Online. Hopefully, this will translate into a more cohesive and fun game.

Take care!

Tom “Evocare” Chilton

Designer, Ultima Online

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This in from the city of Arx Draconis.

Starting this Thursday, and repeating every Thursday after that, The Syndicate will be hosting Craftsman Night on their island base of Arx Draconis. What is Craftsman Night? Starting at 6:30pm EST, Syndicate members (recognized by their blue robes and 4 digit LLTS guild abbreviation) will proceed to the major Trammel banks. They will offer gates to our Trammel Castle. At the castle will be located GM craftsman of all types. Smiths, alchemists, carpenters, poisoners and more.

If you show up you can:
A) Get free repairs to your items
B) Free item creates if you bring the raw materials (within reason, dont come with 5000 ingots and expect to leave with 25 suits of GM platemail)
C) Possibly win high value doorprizes given away throughout the night!

While there you can also see our Treasure Map Rune library, get a drink at the bar, look over the vendors present or look at some of the ancient rares on display.

So remember, Thursday, 6:30pm EST be at your favorite Trammel bank and look for the Syndicate member (blue robe with LLTS as their guild abbreviation) offering you a gate. Bring your supplies and your items that need repair!! Cya at Craftsman Night!

Thank ye, Dragons.

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Hail people of the Ultima-Realm!

This is a moment which makes us very proud. We managed to finish the work on our new Ultima-Portal. Many knew our Clan-Site (Merchants on Tour) in the past and we had many visits of nice people every day. This encouraged us to go a step further.

Our new Ultima-Portal is a subset of GateCentral and is located at http://ultima.gatecentral.com. What do we offer for Ultima-players? First of all are we going to help to lower the wall which has been built by several different languages. We support up to seven different languages (by the way: if you would like to help us and translate some of our articles from english into your favorite language on a regular base, feel free to contact me at [email protected]) Second innovation is a question & answer - database which is going to be maintained by ex-volunteers and which awaits your questions. There is also a FFA-Board (the first in the UO-Realm which I know of), a brandnew forum, a rares-guide (we work currently to transfer this guide from our old page to the new one), priceguides and several different essays and tables (the amount of data is increasing nearly every day :) ) and of course the comic-stories of Uncle Zifnab.

Well - just take a look at our new site and see for yourself.

Raknar
Ultima.GateCentral.com

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Last Days to Register for Disney Gathering

Just a quick reminder that there are only 2 days left to register to attend the Player Luncheon in Walt Disney World on June 23rd. Please be sure to visit the site today and sign up to join over 150 other UO players for a day of fun and fellowship.

See you all in a few weeks!

--Angel Storm

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Reminder about the June 23rd Indianapolis Player Meet - Please note the June 15th deadline for sign up!

Indianapolis Player Meet, June 23, 2001, Jillian's, Indianapolis, Indiana

The Specifics: Where: Jillian's Billiards Room, Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: Saturday, June 23, 2001
Time: 3pm - 5pm CST
Cost: $35 per person
Deadline: Friday, June 15th

Food and Drink:
Your cost covers the following food selections (buffet style):

• Jillian's Signature Tortilla Chips with Secret Salsa
• Fresh Vegetable Landscape with Dill Dip
• Chicken Tenders with Sauces
• Assorted Gourmet Pizza Slices

Your cost also covers 1 game card per person worth $10 of video games in Jillian's "Amazing Games Room" and our two hour rental of the Billiards Room.

Contacts:
Coordinator: Ari ni'Dalaigh/Mishca
Teresa Hamilton
[email protected]
ICQ #6557619

Links:
Kinship Village Player Meet Information
http://www.awnomads.com/kinship/player/jun2001.htm Jillian's
http://www.jillians.com/

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Another fine quest brought to you by the SPA group...

This is...

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Pluffina: How long have you owned the Oasis Fighting Pits now?
smitten w love: Just about a week. Barely getting an understanding of what I have. And what is going to be involved.
P: I have heard of the Oasis Fighting Pits, but I've never been here before. Can you tell us what they are and how they work?
s: Well, they consist of five areas. There are three small fighting pits, one Grand Arena, and the Pit House. You can only get into the pits via teleporters located inside the Pit House.
P: What exactly are the fighting pits? I mean are they holes in the ground or what?
s: No, they are not holes in the ground.  They are just areas of land surrounded by a wooden fence. It looks something like the fence around the orc forts.  
P: So people are able to just stand outside the fence and watch two people duke it out? s: Pretty much, though sometimes you might see pairs of people fighting as a team, depending on the event.
P: But if this is a scheduled fight for fun, how do you avoid taking murder counts if someone is a sore loser?
s: The fighters go into the pens with a judge. Then they both attack the judge, and this causes them to flag criminal. Then they can fight each other without fear of a murder count.
P: When do these events occur?
s: Well, right now the only event is a Fight Night that takes place on the third Sunday of every month. It is sponsored by the Knights of the Phoenix (KP).
P: And this is the only event scheduled right now at the Oasis?
s: Actually, that's one of the reasons I agreed to speak to you. I don't feel it is enough.  But you have no idea the amount of work that goes into holding an event like this. You need judges inside the pens with the fighters to ensure the rules are followed, and you need to have several people at the pit house guiding the fighters to the appropriate room. They also have to make sure only the fighters get allowed into the pit or you can end up with chaos on your hands. Then you also need a good strong team of Guards patrolling the area incase of trouble. Not to mention that the pits are in the desert and the local pests must be kept under control.
P: So how do you expect to be able to improve The Oasis by yourself?
s: I don't, Pluffy. I need the help of my fellow players. I need guilds of all types and also individuals that would like to help. I need people that can kick ideas around and figure out how to make them happen. We need people to participate as guards, we need people that can talk to other people about the fights. We need the fighters. You name it and there's room for participation.
P: What kind of people are you looking for? Who's welcome here?
s: Everybody is welcome to participate. Good, Evil, Blue, Red, Felluca, Trammel--you name it. The Oasis Fighting Pits are a haven, just like the YMCA. It's a place where all can come and have a fun time.
P: But wouldn't you expect that by mixing people up like that you would be looking for trouble?
s: There will always be trouble. The world is not perfect. But I feel that for the most part people will want to come to participate or watch. There will always be someone that wants to start trouble. That's why guards are needed.  
P: Are you looking for a Guild to help you run the events?
s: I want the Oasis Fighting Pits to stand apart from any single guild. I would like to see teams of guards and judges made up of members from several guilds and independents. A real mix of players from around our worlds, working together. The Oasis Fighting Pits are meant to be used for and by all the players of Sonoma. That is why they were originally created and that is what I intend to attempt to bring back. I will not be making a profit off this. That is not what the Pits were intended for.

If you or your guild are interested in volunteering to help organize events at The Oasis, you can contact smitten w love at ICQ# 60003378 or The Oasis' event Manager, Leo, Court Jester (KP), at ICQ# 52018576. The Pits now have their own website and message boards.

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Fellow Britannians

In what has become a yearly tradition, I am pleased to announce the 2nd annual wild turkey hunt, to be held at the Blind Gazer, Trammel on Sunday, June 3rd, 5PM PST.
For all those that have enjoyed our last hunt, expect this year to be even better, with bigger prizes, harder items and more time to run around in panic!
Please check out all the details and directions at http://thepoke.net/kaya/turkey.
We hope to see you there :)

Lady Kaya
72584954

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This news in from Gwendolyn.

As you may have heard, SitePowerUP will be shutting down June 1. Many
message boards will be moving to new homes, including the Atlantic
Roleplaying Forum. This forum is for anyone who resides on the Atlantic
shard to post stories, news, event announcements, guild recruiting
notices, etc. All alignments and races are welcome. Please try to keep
your posts In Character. No flames.

I found that the previous Atlantic Roleplaying Forum served a needed
function as being a place that was not connected to a guild, council,
service, or other organization where people could post freely, as their
roleplaying hearts desired. Enjoy! :)

-Gwendolyn

Atlantic Roleplaying Forum
http://www.message-realms.com/view.asp?boardid=141

Thank ye, Gwendolyn.

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In an ongoing effort to find the source and cure of a most.. unusual illness, I ask that anyone who has been experiencing the following symptoms attend a clinic to be held in the town of Ironwood on Saturday the 2nd day of June at 6:00pm pst.

The list of symptoms in question include:

• Fevers
• Chills
• Mild Hallucinations
• Tremors
• Fits of Paranoia

Anyone who may have any information regarding this illness is also encouraged to attend.

I would like to call on the aid of any healers whom would offer their wisdom and aid in finding an end to this most unfortunate malady. Tis by our joined efforts that we will succeed.

~Serius Deruk

(For additional information on this ongoing quest please visit: http://www.no-skill.net/mdv/oracle.htm)

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Bug fixing, Hanse-style

Howdy!

It’s been a year since I started with the design team for Ultima Online Live. As I sat pondering whether I should comment on any hot topics debated on our web boards, I realized that I am just one person on a large team and any changes/additions being considered could not really be commented on accurately. Those changes can be altered at any point in the development cycle and be very different at the time of release, thus any specific comment I make on upcoming changes could be misleading. I’d like to discuss instead bug fixing by the Ultima Online Live team, rather than new and upcoming changes to the game.

Over the last year, I’ve helped squash many bugs in the game. Most of my development time has been bug fixing. It’s not the most glorious of designer tasks, but seeing something fixed, and seeing players enjoying the game more as a result of the fix, is a sweet reward.

Bug fixing continues as one of our big challenges for this year. In fact, we have more resources to devote to bug fixing now than we did last year. The past approach of “find and squash” has also been revisited and altered. Along with the previous approach, we will start separating bugs into classifications of bugs and attempting system-wide approaches to the fixes. Time to devote to systematic fixing was not available in the past. You may think that this approach is a “no brainer”, but last year was a busy one, with development split up between many new systems (after I came on the team, not including UO: Renaissance and before) and one expansion product.

The developers here devote their time to many different tasks, which are split into different groups. This allows us to work efficiently on the specific areas of the game we are assigned (a few examples are bug fixing for server code, bug fixing for the client that runs on your computer, and new content). The whole team does not stop what it is doing to create an “orc mask”. One or two developers can make an “orc mask”. Quality Assurance maintains a database of bugs for us to review and their priorities. Many of the bugs in the database were submitted by players or brought to our attention through posts on the MyUO boards. Usually, there is not a workday that goes by without someone deliberating over some kind of fix for the game.

Now that we have a larger group of developers working on fixes, the publish process is taking longer to QA. The next two publishes will be large, with some noticeable fixes to standing bugs as well as new content (some items left out of previous publishes for Ilshenar), more localization, some optimization, and various other changes (of course, this list is subject to change as dictated by our Quality Assurance team).

In closing, we’re aware of many of the issues in the game and are making good progress on strengthening our foundation. This process continues while many other systems are developed. It is my privilege to get my feet dirty squashing all these bugs. In fact, it’s one of the most rewarding positions I’ve ever held within a company. If you have knowledge of a bug within the game, please feel free to stop by our developer board on MyUO and say hello with a description of the bug. :)

-Hanse
UO Live Designer

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Looting Rights Fixes

The following issues with looting rights have been modified:

• Getting the last hit on a monster will no longer be a determining factor for looting rights.
• Players will no longer get credit for damage done to a creature beyond the amount of hit points remaining when calculating looting rights. For example, if a creature has 5 hit points and a player casts a spell on it that does 40 hit points of damage, the player will now get credit for doing 5 points as opposed to the potential damage amount of 40 points.

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Exploiting in Ultima Online

Please remember that exploiting bugs or using unapproved third party programs in Ultima Online can result in the permanent suspension of your Ultima Online account. A list of approved third party applications can be found here. Using any exploit or third party application not on this list is a violation of the Rules of Conduct.

We are committed to removing those players that choose to exploit Ultima Online, and will continue to work towards maintaining an enjoyable and level playing experience for all of our players.

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Hear ye

Hear Ye,

 

After some delays and set backs, the event that you have all been waiting for, (well at least the more discerning of you), is at last upon us!

 

That’s a right friends, it is time once again for Europa’s most famous community to throw its doors wide open and welcome you all to join us in a grand celebration of the season, it is time once again for the annual-

Spiritwood Spring Festival!

 

The Spiritwood Spring Festival is a party for the whole of the realm of Europa and all who come in peace are welcome to join in this celebration of our shared community. The festivities shall take place in and around the player run town of Spiritwood, which is located in its ancient home just across the water from Skara Brae, in the lands of Felucca. Come one come all and share with us this grand tradition. Join us in the many events and tests of luck we have planned for this year, met old friends and make new ones or simply drink yourself silly on the best ale in the realm served by the ever willing staff of Britannia’s most famous watering hole, ye Old Spiritwood Tavern. This year’s celebrations promise something for everyone, so don’t miss out. Get yourself over to Skara Brae Felucca, pop over to Spiritwood and join us on this coming Sunday, the 3^rd of June starting at 6 pm BST/GMT, (that’s 19:00 CET for our continental friends).

 

Here is a programme of this year’s festival:

 

6 GMT/BST-19:00 CET

Festival Opening and first event, hosted by Beneviste and the Warriors of the Custodes Fati, come and try your luck at- The Russian-Roulette Rune Raffle!

A set of 20 mystery runes, sold to any willing participants for a mere 1000 gold pieces each on a first come, first serve basis. Some lead to paradise, others to places most foul, but one lucky rune leads to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow containing 100,000 gold pieces!

 

7:00 BST/GMT- 20:00 CET

The Rabbit Round-up and Race!

Brought to you by Khory Bannefiz, famed tamer of Spiritwood. See a dozen or so of the fastest blue-blooded Racing-Rabbits this side of creation jockeying for position as they strain in eager anticipation at the starting line. Place yer bets on the one you think has the best form and cheer them on as they hare round the course in a mad dash for the finish line! No ordinary flop ears, these rabbits are all thoroughbreds, raised for speed and agility round tight curves.  All bets accepted, gambling to be organised by Biggs D., the winning Racing-Rabbit to be given as a prize to the highest stakes winner. …….

 

7:30 BST/GMT-20:30 CET

The Great Horse Race. Seen how the rabbits do it, now it is your turn! In the grand tradition of the Spiritwood festivals, Gui Zarith and his men are proud to once again host a great horse races round the Destard Mountain range. Way-stations shall be positioned along the route to ensure all participants keep to the required path. First one to pull up to a skidding halt before the Spiritwood Tavern to get the first prize, a check for 50,000 gold!

 

8:00 GMT/BST- 21:00 CET

The Grand Costume Ball- this year’s special theme is “Come as a Famous Person!” Come and see if you can guess who is who in a star studded night of masquerade. Join in the special Ball Room Dancing session hosted by Aeribian the Bard, Impressario of Spiritwood.

Top prize is a check for 50,000 gold for best costume of the evening.

 

9:00 GMT/BST-22:00 CET

The Big Event!

At last, after a long gap, the famous Spiritwood Tavern Lottery is to once more offer all comers a chance to try their luck at the possibly of striking it rich! Crim, Mortimer, Gotobed and the entire staff of the Spiritwood Tavern are proud to announce that this grand tradition shall be re-launched at the Spring Festival, under a generous sponsorship deal brought to you by Mark Mannion and the Ultima Thule Traders. This once in a lifetime Jackpot will be for the whopping total of 500,000 Gold Pieces!!!

Do you feel lucky?

Well…

Do ya?

 

In and around these main events we shall have drinking contests, joke telling contests, songs, story telling and an open ended opportunity to renew old friendships, make new ones and share in the celebration of the community we all belong to. We shall also be unveiling a special memorial statue.

 

So, why not come along and join us?

 

To find the lovely town of Spiritwood, start at the Skara Brae docks right outside town. To get across to the main land, simply enter one of the small ferryboats there and say the word “Cross” to the ferryman. Once across on the mainland, go east on the road inland. Take the second road to your right (south, at a crossroads). Keep going south until the road turns eastwards. Keep following it and you will end up in Spiritwood. The walk is short and the neighbourhood pleasant.

That’s Sunday, the 3^rd of June starting at 6 pm BST/GMT, (that’s 18:00 CET

 

All welcome!

 

Shri, Proconsul Custodes Fati

Town of Spiritwood

 

Thanks fer that, sounds a lot of fun!

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Knights Of the Alliance (KoA) Are proud to report that the KoA Golden Quills Event is back Up and running. The Golden Quills is a event for the Lake Superior Comunity to show the Writing talents and other Artistic Talents. The First Golden Quills is underway as of now and submissions are open until later in the month of June. However, this is going to be an ongoing event monthly and bimonthly.

Golden Quills I

The first Golden Quills event will be a form of freestyle writing. Write about anything to do with the Ultima Online universe. Judging will be based on creativty, style, and originality. There will be a panel of three judges that will pick the winning submission approximatly one week after the deadline. When you submit your submission please use the name of the character that you wish to have recieve the prize, and icq if you have it.

Deadline: June 24th, 2001
Entry Fee: Free
Prize:

• 1st place 10,000 gp
• 2nd place 5,000 gp

Submissions should be sent in either Word, adobe or wordpad form to [email protected].

KoA Golden Quills Page
www.geocities.com/johnathanswifts

KoA Guild Page
www.allianceknights.com

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Britannian Archaeological Expedition
Date: Thursday, May 31st, 2001
Time: 9:00pm, CST
Starting Location: Lyceum of Moonglow, East Classroom, Trammel Facet
Coordinates: 59* 0' North, 149* 0' West

Dear Citizens of Britannia,

Once again, my thanks go out to those brave souls who joined the recently past archaeological expedition, in search of the artifact called the Wyrrkel's Gaze. The expedition fought to the depths of Shame, and upon reaching the lowest level, quickly became a rescue mission rather than a dig. The party escorted Myron Filch, a former member of Lysander Gathenwale's archaeological crew, out of Shame safely. Upon reaching the outside world, and facing the news of his master's demise in Khaldun, Myron handed the artifact over to the party and a portion of Lysander's expedition notebook to myself for further study.

Based on the information which has been given to me in these latest notes, I believe that another expedition can be staged, in search of a powerful artifact which Lysander himself had sought to obtain. The expedition will gather at the Lyceum in Moonglow, in the Eastern classroom, at 9pm Central time, Thursday, May 31st. The expedition will travel to one of the dungeons of Britannia in Trammel, so all joining be prepared for the dangers we will encounter.

All people are welcome to attend this event, regardless of guild, citizenship, or skill level. Any questions may be sent to me, at: [email protected]. Again, I look forward to seeing the faces of the many noble people of Britannia on Thursday. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Lady Aine Blackwood,
3rd Seat, Yew
High Council of Britannia (Lake Superior)

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To date, we've seen some highly unusual things from the orcs, particularly the scouts and Lords. Yet, the following report contains information of the most peculiar kind. Many scholars have suspected that the scouts are capable of stealth over extended distances. But the last paragraph of Morbias' report is most disturbing. Read on.

Hail, citizens.

By order of my Lord Shadow, I have been conducting studies involving this new breed of orc. The vicous breed know as the orc scout. He has been concerned about the orc encampments for sometime and believes something foul is afoot. Therefore, he instructed me to determine their strengths, weaknesses, tactics and ways to defeat them. Most of you are well aware that these beasts are quite skillful with the bow and there ability to hide in plain site. They also seem to have some limited magical ability. This is shown by there ability to teleport.

I have now discovered a not so obvious skill they posses. A skill that poses a grave threat to us all. They seem to be able to use the skill of stealth. I discovered this quite by accident. I had summoned a pet bear to see if it could detect the hidden scouts, much like I have witnessed dragons to do. To my suprise, it worked wonderfully. It went to the spot where the orc was hiding. Then I saw the most startling thing. The summoned creature followed the invisible scout as it dodged my exploding potions and fire fields. I immediately told my Lord Shadow. He is concerned that with this skill, the orc scouts could be well within all are cities and launch a sneak attack before anyone was aware of their presence. He has therefore instructed me to inform the public of this discovery.

On a side note, one of my personal guards has informed me that during a confrontation with an orc scout, it wrestled his weapon from his hand. I have yet to confirm this and will relay any information I learn. Just be mindful of your blade during battle.

In the service of his Lord Shadow,

Morbias
Advisor to His Lord Shadow

Cyn
Ace reporter and Patron Saint Legends of Taverns

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True to the latest BNN Article that mentioned Orc Lords and their Helms a new item has appeared. Orc Lords now have a chance at carrying An Evil Orc Helm. Here's what we know about them:

• An Evil Orc Helm has a chance of being found on an Orc Lord's corpse.
• They are hued a golden color.
• When you equip them you lose a lot of Karma.
• You also gain +10 Stregth. This raises even if it puts your total above 100 Strength. Exp 110 Strength on a 100 Stength player.
• You lose -10 points from either Dexterity or Intelligence. It decides this based on which statistic is higher. Someone with 100 Dex and 99 Int would lose 10 Dex.

An updated information on the Orc Bow:

• They appear to do double damage of normal bows on humanoids. This includes Brigands.

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Waiting under an oak tree Calador Lord of Mystics knew something was very wrong, ever since he had discovered the spiders webs to the east of Yew Vale along the Minoc road he had been suspicious. Attatching a message to his pigeon for the guard tower in the Vale he raised his hand and let the bird fly free to bring the news something was wrong..

Moving slowly forward with the stealth and caution that marked him as a woodsman of Yew he slowly approached the large webbed area east of the road and sat and waited. From within slken cocoons came movement and suddenly spiders, fully grown ones at that burst into sight. All were different, some black as night, some grey and some brown. Sighting Calador they spoke in chitterings and then rushed forward, raising his staff Calador spoke words of power and a field of latent energy sprung up in front of him stunning the spiders and rendering them paralysed.

Throwing a small piece of sulphur into the air Calador again spoke words of power and meteors erupted from his staff burning the spiders to ash in an instant. Sweating from the physical and mental effort required Calador allowed himself a brief smile before more chitterings made him look up, standing there was an army of spiders. Realising he had only destroyed the scouts for this evil force Calador prayed to Laraya the Guardian patron of GYE and prepared to fight.....

In the guard tower in the Vale, Tari, Beorn and Cyanide laughed and joked about Cyanide's choice of clothing for the day when a pigeon white as snow flew through the window and landed on the perch. Stepping forward Tari took the message from its leg case and read it. Gasping she immediately copied the message 4 times and sent her four pigeons to the roosts of NbN, OEH, E:A and HLR. Simply stating 'follow me' she rushed outside and the three members of GYE rode north through the Vale and the turned east along the Minoc road at full gallop....

Pausing for breath, Calador took stock of his situation, his fields of energy held back the vast swarm of spiders and his fingers were bloodied and aching from using the Harp of Laraya to turn the evil creatures upon themselves. He knew he could not last much longer and started to slowly speak words of power to summon an elemental being of fire to aid him fighting the evil creatures. Losing concentration his fields shimmered and faded and the spiders swarmed forward to end his resistance..

A female voice as clear as a whistle cut through the forest and Calador felt himself slip away from sight. Confused the spiders looked around and spotted three new figures, a women in white and blue, a man with a fierce beard and a figure dressed in bright green. All three spoke the same words in perfect harmony.....

Fires erupted from the ground, turning bodies to ash and turning the air thick with the smell of burning flesh, everywhere spiders caught on fire and chittered in agony as the magical fire took their lives and destroyed the webs built, all except the central web in their clearing which resisted the fire as if it was no more than the wind through the trees.....

Making sure the brave Lord of Mystics was cared for Tari strode to the central web and looked inside, waves of nausea hit her and she felt her very soul being poisoned. Throwing herself backwards she fumbled at her waist and pulled a potion bottle to her lips and drunk deeply amidst racking pains. Feeling the poison subside she stumbled back to the others and astride their horses they galloped back to the Vale to bring reinforcements.....

Meanwhile from within the central web four pairs of eyes watched and waited, soon its time would come....

Tari, Guildmistress of GYE
Calador, Avenger of GYE
Dain, Quartermaster of GYE
Barathorn, Initiate of GYE

Thanks

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War and Re-Location!

Andrew laughed and leaned against the table, listening to Hawkmoon retell the tail of being chased through the swamps by the silver serpent while carrying arm loads of Valorite armor. Sipping his ale again he brushed a few locks of hair out of his eyes and glanced around the brush. His eyes narrowed slightly, wondering if that sound had been imagined or not. Most likely imagined, he told himself. Many people around.. probably someone stumbling out in the woods drunk, he thought.

The night continued on as others recounted their tales of funny encounters within the box. Andrew was nearly ready to give his speech. He would announce to the patron’s of the closing the proud establishment that had served the lower swamp of Trinsic for so many fine years. Things just weren’t the same for Andrew anymore... The ale tasted different, the building more bland, everything to Andrew just seemed to be duller. Andrew also had stirrings of a different sort, drawing him away from the Box itself. Andrew had an idea it was the Black One himself. Only once before had Andrew felt such a feeling and that was at the time he originally joined the Cult itself. He knew that soon he’d have to re-dedicate himself to the Cult and it’s ways. There were things out there for him to discover and decipher. And that would mean little to no free time to run the Tavern.

read the entire scroll here.

It saddens my heart to hear that "the box" is closing...

~Barth VanDorn (with a tear in his eye)

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The Treasure Hunters of Britannia are at it again! If you have treasure maps lying around but no one to dig them up for you, here is your chance. THB will be gathering at the Trinsic Meeting Hall in Trammel on Saturday June 2^nd starting at 1:00 p.m. central. We will have treasure hunters capable of all levels waiting to dig up your maps.  Bring your maps, bring your friends, come ready to fight monsters and have a great time!

We look forward to meeting you!  

Blackheath THB  

http://uo.stratics.com/thb/

So grab them maps and head on out with 'em.

~Barth VanDorn

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Lady Aine Blackwood (3rd Seat, Justice), and Lord Buzz Aldridge are seeking applicants for adjutant positions. Adjutants function as assistants to a Councilor, and can fill in during meetings, and vote on issues brought before the council, if so directed.

If you are interested in applying for either of these positions, please send an message to either Lady Aine Blackwood, or Lord Buzz Aldridge, indicating your desire to serve, and outlying any qualifications you feel will serve you well in the position.

High Council of Britannia

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Hail my friends!

Episode 13: When Dragons Pig out

Ever send your friend out to pick up Pizza for everyone else, and when he gets back there are some pieces missing, and maybe a little Topping Theft?!, Your friend needs some help, kind of like the dragon in this strip who we will call "Lenny"

Thoth-Ammon's UO Comics

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The High Council of Britannia is now accepting applications from those who would wish to serve the Realm by occupying the First Seat on the Council. This is the traditional seat of the advocate of Sacrifice representing Minoc and it's environs.

We will be accepting applications until midnight on Thursday May 31st. We will then send you a questionnaire and hold a small get-together to meet with the candidates on Monday prior to our making a final decision. Please email us with your intentions of applying as well as why you feel you would be a good match for this seat. We are accepting applications from any and all who might be interested.

Please read the High Council FAQ for more information.

[email protected].

The High Council of Britannia

Lady Geneveve Orseau
High Council Archivist

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Hail Citizens of Britania

The Order of the White Robe invites you to the wedding of Sarina and Nighthawk of the OWR Wedesday May 30th at 8 pm central, 6 pm pacific and 9 pm eastern. It will be located at the tower in front of the Chaos Shrine in trammel.

The coordinates are: 102o49N 157o39W this picture will give more detail to the area we will be gating into from Britain's West Bank at 7:45 central, 8:45 eastern and 5:45 pacific for all those that don't play on server time. We hope you will all attend and enjoy us in the time for the celebration of two joyous heart joined forever in hold matrimony. There will be a reception afterwards for all which will run approximately 30 after if not more.

Fair thee well neighbors and citizens
Godspeed!
Kyara Lionheard
Guildmistress
The Order of the White Robe
Napa Valley
"Follow in the path of truth"

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The GrandMistress Scribe, Rowan Silverleaf, of Minoc, Trammel, and the Master Sorcerer, Duple, of Fire Island, Fellucia, will wed on the 3rd of June 2001, at 08:00 PM CDT.

Both Lady Silverleaf and Duple are veteran members of the Order of White Lions. All guild members, friends of the guild, allies of the guild, and all members in good standing of the Elven community are invited to attend the wedding and reception.

Please contact the guild or a guild member for details.

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Goodbye Monique | 05-28-2001, 6:58 PM

My sister, Monique Esther Chaya Tester, died last night of complications from her metastatic breast cancer. She was 35 years old. She had been battling cancer for the last six years. Over the years, the cancer took her breasts, her ability have children and 5 inches of her height. It never took her resolve, her strength or her spirit. Monique is the strongest person I've ever known and will ever know. She suffered on a daily basis in a way most of us couldn't imagine. I can never begin to express how proud of her I am or how much I admired her.

My sister was 29 when she first felt the lump. If you are a woman, I can't tell you how important self-examination is. Its never too early to begin checking. If you don't know how to, learn, learn now. If you find something or aren't sure, go get checked immediately. Don't be afraid and if, God forbid, it should be cancer, go for the most aggressive treatments you can. Your life is more important than anything the treatments could take away from you. It was something I wish I could have gotten my sister to understand earlier. If you need more information visit the American Cancer Society's breast cancer web resource.

I'm think I'm going to be taking some time off. There was some things my sister wanted to do that she never got to. I'm going to try to do some of those things for her. I only hope I can be worthy of her. Watts will be running things from now on. If you have something to send, send it to him.

Rest well my baby sister, rest well.

- Jinx

Donations to help fight Breast Cancer:
http://www2.cancer.org/donate/index.cfm

Last night, within the splendor of the Great Hall of Serpents Hold, King Aubrey elevated two very deserving individuals to the lofty status of Knighthood.

Before a small crowd of LRS dignitaries, Angel and Dreythos were Knighted into the Order of the Silver Serpents. Both Knights were required to take up a quest in order to prove a fitness for their newly appointed station and according to King Aubrey, acquitted themselves as true Champions of the Virtues. Both Knights will now assume the role of CO-Commanders of the Order of the Silver Serpents. During the ceremony, Angel was appointed Knight of Honesty and Dreythos, the Knight of Justice.

Among those in attendance, were: Epheseus CJ of Serpent's Hold, newly installed Squire of Honor Sethra Lavode Lady Kirsten, Duchess of Jhelom Martin Westbrook, Sultan of Nujel'm Joyous Darkness, of the Council of Compassion Plague, special emmissary from the Druids of Legends

Congratulations to both Knight Commander Angel and Knight Commander Dreythos. *Salute*

Cyn

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Grimoire 2 vs. 2 Results for 5/25/2001

Hi folks! There was a sweet turn-out for this Friday's 2 vs. 2 Fight Night, sponsored by Sir Black. Here are the results:

• 1st place: Quattro & Yosha
• 2nd place: Dracus & Flip
• 3rd place: Hollywood & Haart

Many thanks to the devoted Grimoire Staff! Thank you Fiona Pentell, Josh, Lost, and Sasami; also many thanks to our guest helper Sling. Thank you Adam Ant for operating the Adam Cam so the folks on other shards could watch the event without actually being at Grimoire.

We had many special visitors tonight as well! Cardinal Fear dropped in to check us out, also the founders of Grimoire, Aravae and Grendal came out of hibernation to see what was shaking. Last but not least, Adam Ant himself observed the entire event so his loyal followers could watch the event through the Adam Cam.

If you'd like to see pictures from the event head over to the Grimoire web site.

Thank you for supporting Grimoire and we'll cya next week!
Grimoire Staff

Your humble servant,
Raeven Aurora

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Hello again. Unfortunately due to certain circumstances, Lightbringer Academy will be shut down within two weeks unless I get some volunteers. With the recent Counselor firings, I beleive this could help not just youngs, but also somewhat older players who need assistance with the game. If you want to know more about the Academy, you can check out the page to your left. To contact me, you can e-mail me ([email protected]), or ICQ me (44940550).

I hope to see the Academy flourish and not fail,

--Zeromus Lightbringer

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This tale of recent orcish activity from Nevar.

Greetings fellow adventures, I am Nevar. I live near Minoc and have been
watching the orcs for quite some time now. In the past, the orcs have
seemed content to live within the confines of their forts, with an
occasional scouting party setting forth to probe the defenses of our
towns and the strengths of the people within. Now it appears that the
orcs are getting braver, stronger and more intelligent. They have set up
camps outside of two of our towns. We have seen the birth of a stronger
and cunning orc scout, who can literally run circles around a single
adventurer.

Now while some adventurers seem content will dealing with the present, I
for one am looking at the larger picture and have some unanswered
questions, along with some possible theories.

Why Minoc and Skara Brae? Everyone knows that Minoc has the richest ore
deposits anywhere in the lands and if this town were to fall into the
hands of the orcs, our resources for making weapons and armor would be
greatly reduced. Skara has it's rich farm lands, which supply most of
the food to our lands, it is also the 3rd largest port, behind Britain
and Vesper, with it's vast fishing fleet, also supplying food to our
peoples. If this town were to fall, our people would grow hungry and our
warriors weak, while the orcs would grow stronger.

Also, look at the location of the new forward camps, they are each
within a days march from the orc forts near Cove and Yew, where
reinforcements of fresh orc troops and ettins could be there to assist
in any invasion of these two cities.

If these two cities were to fall to the orcs, you can bet their next
objective will be the city of Vesper. With these three cities in the
hands of the orcs, there would be nothing to stop them from a total take
over of our lands. They would control two ports and their fleets of
ships, making even our island cities ripe for attack. With our commerce
greatly reduced, our citizens would grow weak and scared. Riots would
happen among our peoples, as they fight each other for food to feed
their families. Our weapons would become dull and our armor weak,
without the resources to repair them, making even our fortified cities
of Britain and Trinsic ripe for invasion.

In my adventures, I have fought almost every creature in and below our
lands. Yes there are many stronger than the orcs and many more
intelligent than them but I have never seen a race of creatures as well
organized as these orcs, which brings me to this question: Who is behind
this? Is there a new orc leader, who has managed to unite all the orcs
under one banner, to wreck havoc on humanity? Only time will tell.
This is not a problem for the citizens of Minoc and Skara Brae but
rather a call to arms to all citizens across the lands. Warriors and
mages, destroy their camps and forts. Rangers, patrol the woods for
advancing armies and send warnings to the our armies. Those who can not
fight, stock up on food and resources to aid the armies. It is time we
drive these orcs to extinction before they do it to us. I fear if we do
nothing, this will make the invasion of Trinsic look like a bar room
brawl.

Take heed to these warnings or learn to speak the orcish tongue.

Nevar, GM Hunter

Thank ye, Nevar.

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Wanted: Let's See Your Homes!

"All right, put the throne over there. No, over there - under the big fish. Wait... let's dye the rug. How about green? Or maybe fuschia."

Is your home a place of divine elegance? Or is it a shrine to tackiness? Whether you own a tower or a thatched roof cottage, we want to see and hear what you've done with the place! Owners and friends of the house are welcome to submit screenshots and stories of their homes and the styles they've chosen. The wilder, the better, we say!

Send your story as an e-mail, with a single screenshot attached, to [email protected] by Friday, June 1st. Please be sure your story falls between 500-1000 words, and include “Home Designs” in your subject line. The screenshot should be in bitmap format, and 600x480 resolution. Please provide a name and phone number for verification of the story. Submissions to “uo-profiles” become the property of OSI and may be used for special events, promotions, and/or advertising. All submissions must be made by the original author and are subject to verification.

NOTE: This is a call to see some of the residences of our citizens. Please do not submit shops or establishments for the spotlight - we are always happy to receive these submissions at http://town.uo.com/establishments.html.

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Recently, I asked the "Felucca Connection" to please send in news and events that pertain to the Factions Wars. Our new "Mystery Reporter" has done an outstanding job of compiling information, and that report can be found on the Stratics Legends Forum. In addition, a well known Factions warrior, has graced us with a thorough overview of factions life. Although I'm sure there are dissenting views, I think that perhaps, this Summary of the Factions Wars is a worthy read. Therefore, I submit the following Factions summary for your consideration. Opposing views are welcome.

Hail Lord Cyn and all citizens of Sosaria,

I bring forth news and updates of those dirty bloodstained men and women who most Trammell dwellers rarely come into contact with. Yes. that is correct. This is your AOL shard Faction news, notes and update.

Let me begin by explaining some terms here in tht may not be totally familiar to those not educated in the way's of factions.

There are 4 factions:

CoM = Council of Mages. Headquarters in Magincia

SL = Shadowlords. Headquarters in Yew Crypts

Minax. Heaquarters Papua

TB = True Britannians. Headquarters in Lord British's castle Britain

To control a town one of the four factions must steal a sigil. A sigil is a sphere that sits atop a town monolith, these can only be acquired by a member of a faction with a stealing skill above 80. Sounds simple right? Wrong! Upon capturing the sigil your faction then must defend it for 24 real life hours, and believe me that is the most difficult thing this game has to offer.

A "showscore" is a kill of an enemy faction player with a score higher than negative 6, so that is the number all of you see when a faction player types the word "showscore", they are his confirmed Faction kills.

One player is elected to be the Commanding Lord of his or her faction. You must have a rank higher than six. Rank is established by the amount of kill points you amass. Once you are running the entire faction may vote for who they see fit to act as a representative of themselves. Once you are elected you command that faction for 7 days therein a new election begins. Now it may sound glorius to be a Commanding Lord, but know this in a fight you are the first target. I have come to learn that lesson well.

There you go, the rest of faction imformation can be found in the faction section of Stratics.com. Now for your updates....

In the words of a passed-on genius, "Keep your friends close and your enemy closer".

The eight controllable cities of faction wars have been up for grabs for 5 days now and counting. The Council of Mages (CoM) has grown strong again, and in doing so swayed the dreadful Minax faction into a temporary alliance. Being that Minax is the smallest of the 4 groups there alliance was inevitable.

The Shadowlords (SL) remain a constant force in this power struggle. As I sit in the war room of Lord British's castle with my trusted brothers and sisters I express my shock as a group of mostly dark and evil mages and warriors were never expected to stay as a group this long. So in saying this I commend there Commanding Lord WOH Nefar. Nefar you have done an outstanding job as commander of Sl. You've managed to hold down a group that has lacked good leadership for months.

Now for the "good guys" faction True Britannians (TB). We are doing just fine. We too remain a constant threat to all three enemies, and we grow stronger everyday. This Holiday weekend which just has passed a sizable amount of TB were on leave. Taking a well deserved break on the beaches of N'julem. But as of early tuesday morning most of us returned to full combat duty. Now I have been TB since the first day of factions, and I have commanded TB for a large part of that time, and last night was a first for TB. We agreed to a non-agressive pact with the SL's. I know what you all must be thinking, "How could the defenders of the virtues ally with these Keeper's of Lies. To understand this answer one must be in the trenches fighting these on going battles. The truth is this alliance had to happen, it was a nessacary step in retrieving the sigils from CoM who were guarding there base with about 15 of there members. With the combined forces of TB and SL the sigils were removed from CoMs base. The sigils were returned to the SLs HQ in the Yew crypts. The TB thief we had at the large 15 on 15 or more battle fell and his stealing skill was weakened by stat loss. Now I was told that SL and TB could come to an arrangement on sharing the sigils. However as a precautionary measure our corp of thieves were messaged and dispatched to the SL's HQ and took to the corners of vast death Halls and hid waiting for word of betrayl so that we could claim what we thought was a fair split of the sigils and leave the rest to the SLs............

Large scale battles are happeneing at a fevered pitch. 20 men on each side both refusing to break, with every swing of there steel or thwap of a bow or chanting from a book all of these men and women have kept the heart of AOL Legends factions beating stronger than ever. To all faction players (those who actually fight in Felluca) I salute you all. If you are a non fighting faction player all of us fighters urge you to please resign from the faction you are in, your volunteering was appreciated but all 4 factions need their memebrs fighting and not sitting atop Britain's bank in Trammel wearing valorite and holding glacial staves. Yes, we fight more. Yes, we are neglected. And NO, we will never stop, for too many of us, Factions is the reason we exist in this world. I promise to keep all of you updated on the faction situation for our shard. I thank you for taking time to read this and hope in the future when you see one of us you might understand more why we do what we do.

Rockem Sockem
Commanding Lord of the True Britannians

Cyn

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• This is a player vs Player event: Please leave your pets at home.
  
• No Murder Counts: We Guardians love putting on these events, so please don’t count us!
  
• How to win: The first player to post the contents of the book on the GUL message board at www.game-master.net takes the house and all it contains.
  
  Why is the quest called “The Gauntlet”?: 'Cause it sounds cool, that’s why.
  
  ***************************
  The Tips:
  
  
• I will be live-casting via Adam's WebCam to help you locate me and the book.
  
• The chest is cursed, so it’s going to require more than brute strength to claim this prize.
  
• Um, boats are good.

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KoA is proud to announce the return of a literary event for the Lake Superior Shard. The Golden Quills is being brought back to the shard. This event is for those that like to express themselves though the pen. I know from personal experience that there are many talented writers in the land. So dust of the parchment and grab those pens and get writing and submitt those works of art.

Johnathan Swifts (KoA)

Official KoA Golden Quills Web Site
KoA Web Site
KoA Casino Web Site

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Things are now back on track, and you can expect a deluge of news posts shortly.

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This news in from Tarlak, Events Coordinator of Arc Draconis.

The Syndicate is continuing its weekly Vendor Lotteries. They take place at the island city of Arc Draconis in Felucca. You can visit the AD website for a map of the island and directions to it and a listing of vendors, prices etc.. The Vendor lottery is based out of the Treasure Map runes building and contains a number of prizes. You purchase a locked wooden chest and inside is a prize. Every chest is a winner but several contain the BIG prizes. This time around the big prizes inlude:

An Orcish Bow
and
100,000 gold (in check form so you can carry it)

Each week we start the lottery up again with new and exciting prizes. Orcish Masks, Daemon Bone, large gold payouts and more have come and gone from the vendor. Check back each weekend for your chance at the big prizes.

If you are unable to get to AD you can locate any Syndicate member (known by their blue robes and their 4 digit guild abbreviation, LLTS, over their heads) and they can let you recall from their rune.

More fun events are coming soon! Stay tuned to this news site for details!

Tarlak
AD Events Coordinator

Thank ye, Tarlak. Evil luck to all who play the lotteries.

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News from Slimmerd:

Greetings
The Guilds PvP tournament is soon to come to an end, and as I hope to
attract a lot of spectators to the final, I would like to ask you to post
the following note.
Also the next series of events is getting ready: The Formula Dragon. Can you
post the second text in a seperate item.
thanks in advance
Slimmerd


Guilds PvP Tournament FINAL
All things come to an end, and so does the Europa Guilds Champion PvP
Tournament. The Final will be played Saterday the second of June at 8pm
Britsh Time. Place to be will be RSi's Dargoth, North of Vesper, on the
Felluca shard.
Guilds to defend their Honour will be The Axeman of Shutton (AXE), Clan Bear
Hawk (CBH), Lords of Change (LC) and Pain Killers (P K).
In the Final all teams will fight each other twice. So assuming all team
will show up, there will be 12 fights.

The Guilds Champion PvP Tournament is an initative of the EET, for more
information, as well as a map of Dargoth, look at
http://members.ams.chello.nl/b.meijn/guildspvp.html

Slimmerd


Announcing the Formula Dragon

Choosing the perfect route, blocking the oponents, making the turn at the
perfect time. Its all in the game. Lets have those Dragon Boats growl at
each other.

The Formula Dragon comes to Europa. The FD is a series of 8 boat races on
different tracks in Britannia. Every race may be entered by all people
fighting for the price of the single race. From every race the thirst 4
boats to end will receive points counting in the FD championship. After all
races the boat with the most points will win the Grand Price of the Formula
Dragon.

For more information, look at:
http://members.ams.chello.nl/b.meijn/FD/fd.html
The FD is an initative of the EET.

Thanks

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A note from Videric:

Tales of a Traveller had an honour to interview the Europe shard
Interest Game Master Talos. The interview can be read at the Tales of a
Traveller website: http://traveller.lemming.org/.

I hope you enjoy it,
Videric

Thanks, interesting read indeed.

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Listen well, ye keeper of tomes.

There are those within the land that travel in darkness, those that fear the ever growing light. They watch and wait, they do battle with all that is good. A war which has for them, become increasingly difficult. Forces have risen up to oppose them. Alliances have been formed. Armies of like mind and virtue have combined their might to stem the spreading darkness.

I speak to ye now of The Purple Guardians of Honor & The Keepers of Justice. Two powerful forces aligned against evil.

Fear not, my mind does not wander, I mearly set for ye the stage. Those that oppose this goodness have sought our....assistance. We care not for your lands petty politics and struggles of good versus evil, for in truth they are two sides of the same coin. We do what will benefit The Shroud, we are the watchers of all things and we are masters of the ages.

So that you may understand, a contract has been placed on this Alliance. Those that could not defeat these forces of goodness on the open field, have opted to carry their battle to a different level. And to this end is where we enter this little dance.

We have abducted civilians from the ranks of both these organizations. Their lives will hang in the balance of what is decided. A choice will be made by those that profess goodness and defense of the weak and the innocent. Hark and listen ye chroniclers of History, for the outcome is not mine to decide. A choice will be made and for good or evil shall they seal their fate.

I leave you with what I have left them, a prophecy of what is to come:

"Afore the moon reaches its zenith, upon the eve that ends this week.
Two armies will be gathered, a choice for them to speak.
One will live, one will die, the truth is not mine to tell.
Steel thyself, and calm thy nerves, for their sake, choose ye well.
Honor & Justice, a powerful mix. As allies combined, you strive for what's right.
For those that fear such, the alliance must fall. For light in its fullest, will destroy the night.
So gather your wits and search your spirit,
For a choice will be made and all shall hear it."

Do what you will with the information I have provided ye. We have chosen to share the fate of those that happened to cross our paths. Fate will determine its ending.

One of Three - The Silent Shroud

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Ey yooz! Diz izza Jikkie de Ekirhz. Mez gut sum newz for yoo!

Yesturday, Sundayz, de Kingie Ekirh Glokkpod, Jiktak (datz me!), anna Stanrar got tugeddur anna built uh giant wall round de abbeyz. Wez did it cuzza der wuz urkiez and deadiez comin! Well, de deadiez anna urkz came an dey tore down dat back wall but wez wuz ready! I tink only bout 5 people fwum de militiaz died anna all de urkz anna deadiez went poof. Wellz, nuw der suppozed tu be uh town meetinz where wez gunna call down uh god anna ask 'im to make uh big stone wallz (wit gatez ub course) around de abbeyz, where de Ekirhz wall wuz! Datz it, buh bye.

-Jiktak de Pyreoc Ekirhz

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Sonoma Olympics: Help Wanted

I'm tossing around the idea of holding an Olympic competion. Events would be held in Yew with some events in each facet.

Right now I'm trying to come up with some fun events, that ANYONE could compete in (ie max skill level required should be such that you can buy it in any town) and would like help coming up with more. Also, if anyone wants to help coordinate or has prize donations, they should contact me!

Here are a few events I've come up with:

Sack Races
First team to get a sack full of logs to the destination wins! Maybe make the destination HARD like the bottom of a dungeon? No gating.

Pig in a Pen
Use the pens in Yew. Tamers have 10 minutes to fill them with as many creatures of a certain type as they can. Creature should be tamable with 30 taming so: cows, goats, pigs, sheep, rabbits, cats, dogs or chickens. Gating allowed. Animals identified by brand (rename). No retaming! No letting animals out, luring or otherwise killing other people's animals .

Easter Regs Hunt
Pick them up off the ground! 10 minutes, no magic, Go! Prizes for most total and most of a type.

Tinker Challenge
Be the first to move 125 heating stands from one backpack to another backpack! (Argh! Can you tell I'm ay 99.8 tinkering?)

Anything else you can come up with! Chicken fights? Alligator wrestling? Drinking contests? Pie eating contest?

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Horse Races, Season 3: Week 3

Sponsor: Drizzt (formerly run by ibn al'Asifa)
Facet: Felucca
Location: Race Track West of Britain, Felucca
Start Date: May 30 2001 7:00PM PST
End Date: May 30 2001 8:00PM PST
Recurrance: Bi-Weekly

Week 3 of the races will be held Wednesday, May 30, 2001 at 7pm PST. Anyone who hasn't won a week's event THIS SEASON is welcome to participate, and there is no fee to enter. This week's prize is 75,000 gold, plus entry into the finals at the end of the season.

Even if you don't come to race, come to watch the fun... you never know who may show up or what may happen, and a good time is had by all.

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Hail Citizens of Britannia,

There have been rumors of a greater evil brewing in the dungeon Hythloth. We are assembling a party of 40 brave souls to venture into the depths of that vile hole in the ground. We will be splitting into 5 teams to brave the abyss! Each team will have a team captain, which will be one of the citizens of Ravenshire. It will be your duty to protect your team captain, for if he or she falls, your team must leave the dungeon.

However..... If any one falls, they will be ressurected long enough for them to retrieve thier corpse and be gated out. Once we have hit the bottom floor, we will challenge that evil and once it is destroyed we shall return to Ravenshires RavensWing Tavern and have a celebration! At this time, Prizes will be given out to the most courages team, the most helpful and the one with the most members!

Please join us Saturday June 2nd at 9pm PST at Ravenshire Coordinates: 131'6°N 131'33°E - Trammel

We will also be providing gates from East and West Britain bank, Vesper Bank, Moonglow Bank, Delucia Bank, And Minoc Bank. Best of Luck to every one who braves the depths!

Cantharis

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Amalacon announces Heroes of the week Well.. In TB THE REAPERS out....but isLongshot back ? Unknown as I cannot get close to their stronghold to determine, they are currently holding 7 of the 8 sigils closely inside. Player of the Week in TB : have to vote for Rumples...fast with combos, very effective.

SL, Still holding all the towns, but seemed scarce otherwise. A pattern seems to be developing with M&D and the rest of the Shadowlords...once every few weeks they show up in force...then vanish back to the Yew woods.

Player of the Week in SL: Wingnut, my thieving nemesis. Dedicated speedy stealer of Sigils. Known for rushing into a mob grabbing and vanishing before he can ever be brought to combat.

Minax Drakon of LoD is taking his turn at heading the faction, they did put together an impressive sigil defense this week inside their stronghold...keeping all comers out for many hours but only to find defeat in the wee hours of the morning when a pair of CoM thieves slipped in to reset the sigils.

Minax Player of the Week: Hands down Drakon, a thief with strong magery and at least some taming skills, proved to be a very quick, and capable leader of Minax. I was impressed with his speed and aggressiveness in snatching sigils.

CoM, still plagued with inner conflict, CoM struggles to find the dedicated vets that helped raise it from obscurity. Several left to find glory in the order chaos wars, some left to go to other factions sensing perhaps that CoM had run its course. Whatever the reason, the core strength remains but the lack of co-operation seems to be driving CoM back to street fighting instead of empire building.

Player of the Week: Although I’d love to say myself, modesty forbids, Lupus, GM of UMA, easily the longest standing guild in CoM, also extremely dedicated, with multiple character facets, traps...stealing...taming...whatever you need...Lupus and his gang got.

Amalacon
Inquisitor of the Council
CoM factions reporter

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As interest in the Orc situation grows, several luminaries of Legends have taken it upon themselves to delve deeper into the mystery. As of this writing, reports are coming into the Legends News office as a tremendous rate. Some are merely personal accounts that reveal seemingly minor details of the massing orcs while others are far larger in content and scope.

Today, I've received another message from the Lady Kirsten, Duchess of Jhelom. The Duchess has enlisted the aid of that noted scholar, Lord Symma Dhowna, and embarked on a mission to gather as much information as possible, regarding the orcs. Here is that report, in it's entireity. Read on.

Lord Cyn!

I must confess that in recent days, I hath pondered whether the orcs are our true enemy or if this "unseen hand" we often speculate about poses our greatest threat. Whilst mine thirst for knowledge currently outweighs the desire to sully mine viking sword with orcish blood, I hath not ignored their recent advances nor their establishment of war camps outside of our cities. Whether they are being forced to do such things or merely following ageless instincts, I am certain many agree that they may pose an immediate threat to us. In search of this knowledge which will unlock these mysteries, I sought a meeting with one of Britannia's premier mages and a devoted researcher of the occult and arcane; Lord Symma Dhowna of Moonglow.

After waiting patiently at the Mage Tower of Moonglow, he finally appeared in a brief twinkle of the ether and invited me inside this tower which made mine very skin tingle from its magical energy. As we made our way to the top of the Tower, I observed various artifacts and miscellaneous items lain neatly arranged upon shelves of silvery wood, and the meticulously arranged laboratory on the second floor was quite a sight to behold, inspiring curiosity and instilling a bit of fear. After graciously presenting me with one of the unusual bows utilized by the orcish scouts and thanking him for this queer and crudely fashioned weapon, we immediately proceeded to discuss the matters at hand. When I spoke to him about the discoveries, theories and efforts of others, Lord Symma merely sneered and dismissed them as folly. Whilst it seemed rather arrogant of him to do so, perhaps the archmage knew more about these strange events than those whom I hath met and spoken to. I would soon realize he had valid reason for such brashness...

I learned that not only hast this man spent a considerable amount of time amongst the orcs, gleaning what he could from their behaviour and tactics, but hast also undertaken the deciphering the orcish language, a task which hast not been given a serious attempt since Yorick of Yew penned "A Grammar of Orcish." Greatly intrigued by his discoveries and endeavors, I made further inquiry about the activities of the orcs. He then proceeded to divulge rumours of a possible war camp in the vicinity of the secluded isle of Ocllo. "Good heavens," I thought, "could the orcs truly be forming a navy to gain access to the more isolated cities? Are the lands of Minax now under orcish threat?" With these thoughts raging in mine head, unnerving me with the possibilities our land of Britannia may face, I asked Lord Symma if we should investigate these rumours of an orcish encampment on this remote isle of bards, and he agreed without so much as a second thought.

We gingerly ventured to the inhospitable lands of Minax, exercising caution should vulgar brigands and murderous blackguards lie in ambush at the moongates, and equipped ourselves for the journey to Ocllo. Lord Symma patiently sifted through his reagents, ensuring he would not fall short of them in time of need, his calm and expressionless face belying any fear or unrest... Somewhat unnerved by what we may discover, I donned mine enchanted ringmail with trepidation, fastened a trustworthy buckler to mine arm, and unsheathed mine viking sword in anticipation of conflict. Wary of any prying eyes, I covertly retrieved a small trinket from the recesses of mine bank box which hast saved mine life countless times when faced with overwhelming odds... After placing mine rune to the bardic isle on the ground, Lord Symma uttered three words of power and summoned a moongate with a casual gesture of his finger. I quickly placed the rune back into mine backpack and rushed through the gate after him.

We appeared only moments later at Ocllo's bank and pondered how we would search the isle. Mine intuition had lead us to the Western part of the isle, and Lord Symma and I proceeded to scour the forests seeking any orcs that hath lurked about. Our search soon yielded fruition when we, much to mine horror, came upon one of the dreaded orcish scouts. As the scout targeted me, I slashed viciously at him from the top of mine mount whilst mine companion waved powerful magiks. With a rather violent explosion that discombobulated me, the orc fell to the ground with a soft moan, his primitive bow still clutched in his hand. Was it Lord Symma's spell, or the scout's powers turning against him? Because of what we discovered, I could pay little heed to this... I dreaded the possibility that the orcish shamans were indeed stealing the ships of adventurers to gain footholds in previously unreachable cities, and now we hath undeniable proof of this!

Wary of any other scouts which stealthily moved amongst the trees, Lord Symma and I proceeded with caution in search of their encampment. Moments later, he contacted me telepathically that he had discovered it and was forced to conceal himself. I rushed in the direction he ventured on and lo and behold, there was their war camp in alarmingly close proximity to the city! In horror, I witnessed the guards driving off a small band of orcish scouts and their captains which hath already advanced upon Ocllo! Spying the faint outlines of small tents crafted from hide in the distance, I rushed forward into their camp in the hopes Lord Symma was safe. After dispatching one of the lesser-ranking orcs which attacked me, and in a peculiar and deceptive silence throughout the camp, I foolishly began to sketch mine environs...

Only moments later, I was reunited with mine companion as he came galloping through the camp with orcs in pursuit of him, and as I turned to aid him, I felt the sharp sting of an arrow and yet another. Two of those accursed scouts ambushed me and fired their arrows with amazing speed whilst their kin rushed out of the forests and began to assail me with their fists and axes. Realizing I stood no chance of fending off this small horde, I proceeded to retreat at full gallop, arrows continuing to strike me and cause me grievous pain. Mortally wounded, and with mine consciousness wavering, I instinctively removed mine ringmail mittens and quickly, albeit clumsily placed the trinket upon mine finger. If mine reactions were but a tittle slower, that orcish war camp may very well hath been mine grave...

I implored Lord Symma to run for safety through our telepathic link, since I was near death and certainly of no aid to him, and proceeded to bandage mine wounds whilst concealed from the bewildered orcs. When the small horde dispersed, I again ran at full gallop to the safety of the city. Much to mine relief, he was unharmed and fended off his pursuers incurring only moderate wounds.

Just when we thought we were secure, an orcish scout revealed himself in front of him and nocked an arrow in the roughly hewn bow. I cried out for the guards before the accursed wretch released the bowstring, and the scout was no more. Regathering our nerve, and confident that we were again ready for battle, we ventured back into the camps so that I could once again sketch the environs. When all seemed safe, I completed a fairly detailed drawing complete with a map of its general location. The very moment I completed it, we rushed back into the city and returned to the safety of our homes. Thou wilt find this rendering included with this letter. Though I fear 'tis not as inclusive as I hath hoped, 'twas the best we could accomplish in such limited time.

I am most assuredly not a scholar, but I feel Lord Symma's efforts will provide much-needed insight into the mysterious advances and actions of the orcs, and shall aid him with mine analytical skills, fallible as they are, in his search for knowledge at every possible opportunity. Please present this news, our discoveries, and mine drawing to the peoples of Britannia post-haste, for I fear our lands may be in greater danger than we imagined!

Lady Kirsten Sondergaard
Duchess of Jhelom

Cyn

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Recently, a most heinous act of political assassination claimed the life of Mystic, Mayor of Britain. In that same week, other threats were delivered to other City and Clan leaders, demanding they all abdicate their positions. Thus far, the culprit (or culprits) have yet to claim responsibility for the assault on civic leaders of Sosaria. In response to this and other situations that face the land, particularly the threat of orc invasion, Lord Martin of Nujel'm has penned this response.

Greetings, Cyn.

These recent threats of assassinations and an orcish attack by sea upon Britannia's Island cities are most alarming. 'Tis almost too much to bear... I have begun to gather weaponry, armour, and foodstuffs for in the situation that the orcs do lay siege upon Nujel'm. I fear if mine town is attacked without proper supplies in our stores, we shall have to surrender quickly to these ruffians, as my isle lacks sufficient natural resources. An addition of several warships has also been added to our naval fleet.

I shall not be caught unprepared by these orcish aggressors.

Lord Martin Westmark
Sultan of Nujel'm

Recently, a most heinous act of political assassination claimed the life of Mystic, Mayor of Britain. In that same week, other threats were delivered to other City and Clan leaders, demanding they all abdicate their positions. Thus far, the culprit (or culprits) have yet to claim responsibility for the assault on civic leaders of Sosaria. In response to this and other situations that face the land, particularly the threat of orc invasion, Lord Martin of Nujel'm has penned this response.

Greetings, Cyn.

These recent threats of assassinations and an orcish attack by sea upon Britannia's Island cities are most alarming. 'Tis almost too much to bear... I have begun to gather weaponry, armour, and foodstuffs for in the situation that the orcs do lay siege upon Nujel'm. I fear if mine town is attacked without proper supplies in our stores, we shall have to surrender quickly to these ruffians, as my isle lacks sufficient natural resources. An addition of several warships has also been added to our naval fleet.

I shall not be caught unprepared by these orcish aggressors.

Lord Martin Westmark
Sultan of Nujel'm

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More news from the front. This time, Rage submits a report that warns of possible "monster alliances" that threaten the safety and well being of Sosaria. Read on.

Hail to all of my fellow orc slayers. My name is Rage. Whilst hunting in an isolated area, which is full of orcs mind you, I have encountered orc grunts, orc lords, and orc shamans, as well as ettins. But now it seems that the orcish hordes have recruited a variety of spiders, harpies and trolls.

My thoughts are, if they are to attack the town of Minoc, is that we must all be careful, and not all focus on Minoc alone...it is rumored they are attacking some other major towns. There will be many different orcs ranging from the grunts to the shamans to the scouts to the frightened ones who we must not break line and chase them, spiders, ettins, harpies, and trolls. This is no where near over so we may still see new orcs or other allied monsters as well as the King Orc himself (or queen).

Vikings Forever
-V- Rage -V-

Cyn

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A note from Nyte:

I just wanted to announce the opening of our online vendor site on
Doomworld. You can order Armor, Leather Armor, Kegs, Scrolls, and many other
items special order. Please go check it out as I hope it
will add a nice flavor to the merchandising on the Europa  Shard. My husband
Axl has also opened a new sub site today called Axl Doombringer-In the
Footstep of Lord British. Here we will cover his re-entering the gaming
world again.

http://linux.telnett.no/~doomworld/
Hope you enjoy the site and thanks.

Lady Nyte Doombringer

Thanks.

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Haruchai looked at the battered sheaf of parchments still  dark with blood and sighed. He read the close, neat handwriting over again, as if repeated scrutiny would reveal the secrets within.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your Grace,
Whereas we recognise your concerns, it must be clearly stated that the future well-being of the realm is at stake. The trading economy has suffered greatly recently and steps must be taken to rectify this. His Majesty's Government has merely set out proposals for addressing this issue. Methinks you are reading too much into these proposals or have been listening to rumour-mongers. Perhaps as Bishop of Vesper, you have not seen the incursions we speak of but the common people are worried. The Virtues are all well and good, but surely your grace does not consider these beasts as having rights?
Proctor Alberrin

My Lord,
Your forbearance is noted. Please rest assured that your careful accordance with our strategies will bear dividends in the near future. His Majesty's Government has projected a three-hundred-fold increase in revenues over the next year and these actions will ensure  that both birds, are so to speak, dispatched with the same rock. The people have not the intelligence to work out our plan, nor the moral fibre to object if they did. A few churchmen and adherents of those irritating Virtues have raised objection, but they will be dealt with. The signal will be given soon.
Proctor Alberrin

My dear Galliard
All non-Britannian races have been marked. The orcs are easy targets - no-one cares about them. Once we have tested our methods on them, we shall move on to the others. There may even be Britannians who reject the vision of a populace held in thrall by gold. These throwbacks will be dealt with in the same way, but quietly. It is imperative that you are not discovered until the time is right. However, I do find it amusing that you have based your organisation in the buildings dedicated to the exact reverse of that which we plan.
Proctor Alberrin
~~~~~~~~~~~~

He felt sure that these were the important tracts, marked as they were with the seal of the Provisional Government of this blighted and leaderless land. Yet the only sense they made was too terrible to contemplate. And why would a servant of that Government be found lifeless amongst the carnage of the orghs?

The shouts from outside the ger were beginning to get louder. His warriors were restless for adventure. Perhaps his burden was making him old before his time, reading instead of riding. He threw the parchments down and stepped outside.

The ayimag was arguing amongst itself. Haruchai barked an order for silence and nodded at Baga-Bars to explain. The others looked at their spokesman with eager eyes.

Baga-Bars explained quickly that the wounded orgh Bidagud had returned. It had spoken again of its tribe's fate and urged action upon the Monggol. It had spoken of its hate for them, but how its superior had ordered this approach.

Baga-Bars held out another parchment. This time it held only scattered words jotted on a torn canvas. Sand, Blind, Balance, Galli---.

The wise bugu Bourtai spoke up. "Dis orgh also say ded Han have sand on boots. Meh say Han come from desert."

Haruchai nodded his agreement. Rather than seek answers in the orgh fort, the ayimag would ride to the far desert surrounding the Compassion Shrine. He gave the order and they were off in a flurry of hooves.

The hans had encroached further into this arid wasteland with their stone gers than he had remembered. Still, it was a desolate place, filled only with the keening soulless shrieks of harpies. The warriors searched for the orghs, wary of a trap. After many hours, they regrouped at the Shrine. The desert was empty of orghs.

Haruchai allowed the heated discussions to continue as he scratched his head. The desert orghs were formerly common here. Where could they have gone?

Bourtai coughed. "Agha-Khan," she said softly. "Meh think we go wrong place. Luhk at words. Hans say dere justice beh blind. Dey have tom ger for dis justice."

"Dis in Yew!" shouted Shongxor Hara.

"Dat go to Light-Ger!" joined in Idugan Aigeran, adding excitedly, "And dere beh desert round Light-Ger!"

Haruchai and the other tsereg nodded, wide-eyed at the cleverness of the ayimag's bugus. The Agha-Khan ordered they immediately ride towards Yew.

The deserts north of Papua were thick with monsters; harpies and gargoyles of stone, cyclopean warriors and endless scorpions that took their poisonous toll on the younger unagas. Battle after battle tired the brave warriors yet still no orghs could be found. It began to be clear that there were none to be found.

Haruchai called a halt after several hours. Maybe Bidagud was the last desert orgh. Maybe the terrible possibility contained in those blood-soaked writings was the inescapable truth. Someone was trying to eradicate the orghs, and after them, the other non-Britannians. Clearly, the slaughter happening now amongst the bigger tribes of the forest orghs was the next stage. These empty, windswept deserts had been the testing place.

After considering his Khan's thoughts for some moments, Baga-Bars spoke. "Dis 'someone' makes ordinary Hans do dis killing. Him make things for orghs dat hans want bad. Hans care only for altan. Dese things sell for olon altan."

He drew breath. "Who den make dese things for orghs? Who hate orghs and Monggol and all things so much?"

"And who beh dese Hans called Galliard and Alberrin?" added Shongxor Hara.

There was a long silence punctuated by wild claims quickly withdrawn. Then a word was spoken that struck a chill into everyone's heart.

"Bong," said Bourtai in a half-whipser. "The not-dead. Dey not live, hate all things dat live. Dese bows dat orghs have - dey black, like Bong like things to beh. Dese masks on orgh bugus, dey beh made from ded orgh face. Dis beh work of bong, I beh sure."

Haruchai nodded. Breathing deeply, he looked each of his ayimag deep in the eyes, willing his courage into each of their young breasts. They looked back, expectant, no longer scared but urgent for glory.

"Dese beh my orders. All warriors go out and find one dese orgh bows and masks. Try kill few orghs, but get dese. Bring to Bourtai-bugu. She study, confirm made by bong. Den..." he paused, letting the expectation build.

"Den we go to bong stronghold and destroy dem till dey tell secrets."

"URAGSHAA! URAGSHAA! URAGSHAA!" The Monggol war-cry thundered endlessly around the empty, echoing desert. The haunting spirits of the dispossessed orghs could only weep to hear their ancient enemy announce the vengeance that they so longed for, but was no longer in their powers.



This is a report of the event held yesterday evening on Europa Trammel. The next event will be announced shortly.

More player run quests without the use of OSI! Good Work!

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IMPY’S ARTIC FAIRE…

Weekly auction will be held Wednesday evening at 9pm by the Eastern Sky.

With a whirlwind of activity this past week the staff at Impy’s took the weekend for a breath of fresh air.  With out a doubt this past week was the busiest ever at Impy’s.  Operating two auctions in one week on back to back nights, with both nights have a great turn out.  The staff would like to thank every one for coming on out that second night.

This week, Impy’s has one of the rarest items ever to grace the auction block.  A full scaffold.  For those who haven’t seen it yet, we suggest a quick visit before the auction on Wednesday night.  We also have up for auction this week a pile of Black and Green Striped Easter Eggs, Miscellaneous Coal Armor Pieces, and Various Vanquishing and Virtue Weapons.

For directions and a complete list of the items up for auction please take a peek at www.impys.net.  Runes to Riches and the Mystery Chest games will also be played this week following the auction, so please stick around and take a chance with lady luck.  There will also be a gate provided from West Brit Bank starting 30 minutes before the auction.  Impy has asked that you please stable your pets before the auction as he is allergic to wet fur.

~Impy’s Staff

A scaffold.  It's really there, I went to peek at it myself.  <ponders his bank account>

~Barth VanDorn

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Gorvan stormed into the remote Ocllo safe house where Gideanna was tending to their father Gideltic. Their father had been wounded earlier in the day as a result from a clash with the Army of Thieves that engulfed Gideanna's two-story home on Ocllo.

"The battle was great but it's not over yet" Gorvan explained as he tried to catch his breath. "We can take our two-sory home back! I have reinforcements coming from the Ocllo Liberation Organization now."

"Let it go Gorvan." Gideanna said as tears filled her eyes. "It's time to let it go."

"But Gideanna, What do you mean?" He paused for a moment. "We can win this war, we can retake the island from the thieves. The oLo guild is strong now. We can win!"

"It's over Gorvan. You have made our family proud but its over." Gideanna walked over to her brother and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You have done all you could but it is just a battle you cannot win. This world just doesn't contain the tools needed to destroy evil. It comes back again and again without losing any vigor. Standing up to the Army of Thieves was all I asked of you and you did it well." She paused and looked into his eyes. "Gorvan... It's time to let it go. It's time to move on to a new realm where your wife and son are waiting for you."

Gorvan paused and reflecting on what he just heard.

"You are right Gideanna. I have spent long enough in this land and it is time for all of us to go. The Ocllo Liberation Organization is finished and will live in my heart forever. My guild mates did as well as they could possibly do in these trying times." Gorvan exclaimed.

Gideanna walk over and rested on a nearby chair. "Leave the house to the thieves, I have already dismissed my vendors at the 'rares' shop. There is nothing left for us here on Ocllo or for all of Britannia for that matter. " She looked out the window at the beautiful Ocllo country side and watched as a wren with black and red feathers played in a nearby tree. A small little smirk came over her face as if she had seen an old friend.

"The ship is packed up and ready to go as we speak. Lets not keep the
tiller man waiting." Gideanna gathered up the rest of her belongings and they left Ocllo for the last time.

So ends the resistance to the Army of Thieves on Ocllo. It was a long, hard fought battle that could have never had a resolution. The Army of thieves will continue their propaganda of controlling Ocllo Island because they cannot be stopped. There just isn't a way to accomplish that task but I know in my heart that 'Good' will always prevail.

Farewell my friends and God bless you.

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In light of the current mobilization of the orc forces, many thoeries and much speculation is being bandied about. One of the most unusal aspects of this mobilization is the tendency of orc mages to steal unanchored ships. Lady Kirsten, Duchess of Jhelom, has submitted a very worthwhile theory on this peculiar practice and I now share that theory with you. Read on.

Hail and well met.

As ye may know, there hath been reports of orcish shamans boarding and stealing unguarded ships in their proximity. 'Tis commonly believed that they are using these vessels to blockade the docks South of their stronghold in Cove and thus prevent an attack where their defenses are weaker, but I bear urgent news that this is simply untrue.

Ye may think of me as daft when I say this, but the orcish forces are assembling a navy so that they may hath access to and be able to attack the more isolated cities of our realm. While no news hast surfaced of imminent raids on secluded towns, I strongly urge the leaders of Buccaneer's Den, Magincia, Nujel'm and Serpent's Hold to increase their defenses against seaborne attacks so that they are not vulnerable and taken completely by surprise. We must also keep a watchful eye on the cities of Moonglow and Skara Brae for possible orcish attacks by ship.

I shall do everything in mine power to increase Jhelom's defenses against such attacks and ask our fighters to patrol our docks and the city teleporters. I must also find volunteers for the same purpose and assemble an army of elite forces should the orcs lay siege to the isle of Valor. Please be wary, mine friends, for while the possibility of this happening is remote, 'tis not remote enough to ignore or scoff at.

Lady Kirsten Sondergaard,
Duchess of Jhelom

Cyn
Ace Reporter, Elder Druid, and Defender of Seaside Taverns Across the Land.

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I've taken the liberty of posting this excerpt, taken from a public invitation made by King Aubrey of Serpent's Hold. He plans to honor Knight Initiates tonight, as reward for fulfilling recent quests. Read on for further details.The Kingdom of Serpent's Hold and the Order of the Silver Serpent invites you all to attend:

My knights have completed their quests! Dreythos, the Knight of Justice has completed the clensing of the executioner's chamber in the dungeon Wrong, and Angel, Knight of Honesty has clensed the torture chamber in the dungeon Deceit! Both prospective knights have visited all the shrines to make their desires known to the virtues. Many footsore days went into this venture as they were not able to recall during their quests. A library will soon be set up displaying relics and journals of these quests.

As both knight candidates have completed all tasks set before them, and made their King proud, I am announcing their knighting cerimony to be held on Sunday the 27th at 9:pm eastern time at the great hall in Serpent's Hold! (councellor's guild hall)

Come along to attend a short ceremony where these new knights will cast off their old lives and begin new ones dedicated to the Virtues! After the cerimony there will be a feast for the spectators followed by two tourneys to honor the two new knights.

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

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Last Thursday night, I over heard a rumor, regarding a CoM assault on the Shadow Lord Stronghold. I proceeded to Felucca, but alas, it was late and only a few combatants were present. Unfortunately, none of them represented either Com or SL. If anyone has information regarding the assault...or any other Factions news for that matter, please pass it along, post haste!

My thanks,
Cyn

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In the wee hours of the morning, I received a most unusual message from the Exalted Sultan of Nujel'm, Martin Westmark. The message was in reference to a mysterious note which was delivered to the Sultan, via pigeon and the presence of an even more mysterious book left in the Nujel'm Library. Given the current political situation in the various City States, I found this note both intriguing and ominous. Read on.

Greetings, all.

I hath received a most disturbing pigeon from an anonymous sender a fortnight ago. 'Twas written on the small piece of parchment that the bird carried, that I was to enter mine palace library, and search for a red leather book.

I entered the housing of Nujel'm's sacred tomes and mine eyes noticed a thick manuscript laying on the marble table nearest to me, and I examined it. Dark, black words covered the front of the book - "Lord Martin, Mystic is dead....." I immediately turned over the cover and began to read. 'Tis an exact copy of the book's words here:

To the Pathetic Lord Martin of Nujel'm. Your stubbornness has sickened the people of Britannia. You have no right to rule this fair city. Because of the actions of the Joint Council meeting, I have stormed the City of Britain, and in the dead of the night, have killed Mystic. How would you feel if you were next? How about Lady Kirsten after? And then Angus, and Aubrey, and every town and clan ruler in Britannia? Are you prepared for that? Are you? You must all resign from power, or else the each and every one you will be sealing your death wish in cold blood......

No signature

Now, I ponder over the death of Britain's late governor. These threats of abdication and assassination shall not be tolerated by Nujel'm. My quill shall be set down now, as I need to address mine citizens concerning this -
"threat."

Lord Martin Westmark
Sultan of Nujel'm

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

Cyn

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This news in from the Vice-Mayor of Minoc.

'Ello there citizens and friends!

I bring ye good news. The Minoc Council of Sacrifice
dedicated to the prosperity of all Minoc citizens,
hath opened the gates to those seeking to be of
service to their community. Below is a list of
positions yet unfilled within the newly organized
council structure.

 

Historian-
Articulately compose stories of events that transpire
within our city and the happenings that occur to those
that live within it.

Trade Administrator-
Maintain a scrupulously gathered information base of
all Minoc area merchants, their wares and their rates.
Coordinate meetings for said merchants to ascertain
how the City of Minoc and its council can best serve
them.

Community Liaison
Seek out and unite, through diplomatic means, Minoc
area guilds that the council might best serve them as
a whole. Whilst all the while maintaining abundant
public records of all such guilds.

Secretary/Treasurer
Provide accurate logs and attendance records for all
council functions. Coordinate fruitful efforts to
gather necessary resources and maintain, in good
standing, the whereabouts of said resources.

Event Coordinator
Present well structured original event ideas that will
be beneficial to Minoc as a whole. Oversee the
organized and cooperative execution of certain said
ideas, both alone and by the side of volunteers.

 

Hath ye any desire to fulfill such positions, and hath
ye the spirit of Sacrifice to serve to thine fullest
extent for the good of Minoc, then send yer requests
for further information to Magnus oAliHart. Be forewarned!
Participation within such a council will undoubtably bring ye many a
tale, friend, good time, and lightened heart. HUZZAH!

Magnus o AliHart
Vice-Mayor of Minoc

Thank ye, Magnus.

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This afternoon I received this message concerning a new "player-run" community being established in Felucca. As those are far and few between, the message is indeed newsworthy. Read on for more details.

Greetings!

I am Sustugrel, Blood Apprentice and scribe to the Knights of Takhisis. It is with great honor that today, I announce the formation of a new clan of sin in the city of Neraka, located at coordinates 35o 25 south 50o 7 east, in Felucca.

We are led by Lord of Night Balin in a Militocracy. All are welcome in are city whether they be human, orc or other as long as you are a creature of her dark Majesty. Lord Balin has also given the go ahead to start a pub in the lower area of Storm keep where you can share tales of the evil you have spread across the land and of who you made cry today.

As well, we are setting up a display of confiscated virtue weapons and other things and a Felucca rune library, all of which should be set up with in the next week. If you would like more information on The Knights of Takhisis or the city of Neraka please contact Lord Balin at [email protected] or me at [email protected].

Until next we meet good travels and may the Dark Lady smile upon you.

Sustugrel,
Blood Apprentice in the order of the thorn of the Knights of Takhisis
http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/mud/272/index.htm

Cyn

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This week's installment of "In the Spotlight" features a true "old timer." In the early days of the shard, Casca was one of a handful of blacksmiths and was the second to GM the skill. The esteemed Tenja was the first.

I first met Casca at the West Bank of Britain. He was standing in his customary spot, with his back to the wall and was handing out some newly made armor. of course, at that time, a smith that could produce katanas, long spears and plate of any kind was in high demand.

I watched while Casca "held court," doling out weapons and armor, trading for ingots, gold and other commodities. I also watched as he gave away items to players who had nothing of value to trade.

As the shard slowly grew, so did the number of rare artifacts and magical weapons. Casca turned his attention toward "collecting" and soon had the largest collection of silver fencing weapons on the shard. At that time, silver weapons were highly sought after and considered the key to achieving grandmaster status in the warrior disciplines. For all their value, Casca was usually seen giving one to a friend as a "gift."

As other players took up the blacksmith skill, the older smiths could usually be found, giving advice on which weapons to make to facilitate skill advancement. Casca could often be found tutoring a "young player" in the fine art of smithing.

As with most of us, Casca eventually grew weary of his first trade and decided to venture forth in pursuit of taming skill. Thus, he shelved "Casca" and "Darth Casca" was born. I once asked him about his most memorable adventure. With a chuckle, he told me of a night when he and Sangria advanced in to the depths of Deceit, in search of Liche Lords. Apparently, the trip ended in an armoire full of death robes and a great deal of skill-gain. I also remember an occasion, when Lord Wolfgang and I adventured to the Demon Temple, in order for Casca to raise his taming skills. But that's a story for another time.

Not long after that adventure, Casca met the Lady Peg and the two have been inseparable, ever since. After a whirlwind courtship, the two were married in Lord British's own castle, by one of the late, great Game Masters. To this day, Peg and Casca can be found, sitting side by side in Britain, discussing "old times" and anticipating new adventures.

I suppose there were a couple of things about Casca that deserved and got my personal respect, not the least of which is the manner in which he treats other players. One of the most trustworthy citizens of Legends, his good-natured attitude is greatly appreciated by many.

After telling Casca that he was to be featured in the "in the Spotlight," I sent him a questionnaire, consisting of four simple questions. Below are the questions and his answers:

Q. If you had to give a new player one piece of advice, what would it be?
A. Love all people, trust very few.

Q. What's your favorite thing about UO?
A. The Lady Peg

Q. What's your least favorite thing about UO?
A. All the twinks who look down on new players. Nobody starts
this game as a 7X GM

Q. What's your personal motto?
A. Love ya, Peg! *kisses* (Do you get the feeling that he may sorta like Peg? *grins*)

Casca, it has been a pleasure and privilege to walk the Land of Legends with you. May your steed never fail, your sword never break, nor your armor ever rust. *Salute*

Casca invites all his friends, both new and old, to visit him at Peg's shop, Posiden's Paradise, just south of the ruins near the Trinsic swamps. 70o 33'S, 35o 38'E

Until next we meet, fare thee well, one and all.

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Thanks for this report:

Hail there,

 

Whilst out practising my musical skills I was a wandering from Yew to Vesper when I came upon a Dread Spider, at first I thought it was a stray from a treasure hunt but then saw another one, and a few Giant Spiders and not long after A Black Widow Spider which I have never seen before in these lands. Being the curious girl that I am I ran around the horrible creatures and came upon a giant Spider Nest where these fouls beasts were spawning from. It appeared to spew out at random a spider of the type I came across earlier and had been for quite a while as many were around. The location is on the path to Vesper just NE of the Chaos Shrine. There is a U shaped bend in the path and the nest is in the U itself. I have enquired about this but as yet have no answers. Also it seems only to be on our world and not others.

 

Seleena.

Good to be wary of these new monsters citizens! If we all pull together we can defeat em! *see some people hiding under their beds*

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My name is Richard Cypher and recently I have been granted a position on the realm as a reporter.
I just wanted to take time and let you know a little about me..

I have been a visitor to the realm for about two years now. During this time I have come to know quite a few people,
some of whom are no longer with us.

This position will allow me to meet more people, spread the word of activities and events,
allowing more people to attend them and have the same opportunity as I have to meet new people.

I hope to see you soon in the realm

Richard

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Player Owned Bartenders
May 25 2001 4:22PM CST

Players will now be able to purchase and own a Bartender, that can be placed in the player's house. The bartenders will serve as a method for players to support and announce their own events and quests. The bartenders will have the following properties:

• The Bartender can be "tipped" with amounts of gold. Depending on the amount of gold, the Bartender's reply will vary to possibly include a "rumor".
• Rumors on the Bartender can and will (depending on the size of the tip) be about current scenarios currently going on within UO (game-generated scenarios). For example, a rumor might be about the Orc events that have been happening recently. The game-generated rumors will be kept current by the event system automatically, shard-wide.
• The Bartender's owner/employer will be able to place one rumor on the bartender. This will allow for the bartender to function within player-created scenarios.
• Players will be able to decide whether to tip the bartender for a scenario rumor or a “local’ player generated rumor.
• The Bartender will also sell drinks.
• A contract of employment for a bartender can be purchased at an Innkeeper.

Bartenders will be in the various taverns throughout the cities, to support the scenarios as well, with the scenario rumors. However, players will not be able to add rumors to these bartenders.

The types of houses a bartender can go in are:

• Two Story Villa
• Large Marble Patio
• Large Brick House
• Large Patio
• Two Story Stone and Plaster
• Two Story Wood and Plaster
• Tower
• Stone Keep
• Castle
• Sandstone
• Log cabin

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An Ilshenar hunt and guild recruitment party is being sponsored today (Saturday, May 26th) by the Keepers of Blackmoor. Guildmistress Callista asks that everyone meet at the Moonglow moongate at 8 pm.

"We will explore areas of Ilshenar, tour interesting spots and hopefully gain some good fame and karma. We will be dividing into different groups, so any types of characters are welcome and at any stage of character developement!

After Ilshenar, we will be holding a guild recruitment party for anyone not in a guild that would like to join our new guild, Keepers of Blackmoor," Callista wrote.

Callista may be contacted through ICQ # 77751091 with additional questions.

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A couple of months ago, while sitting near the hearth and nursing a flagon of spiced wine, I looked out upon a blanket of fresh snow and contemplated the scope and magnitude of our world. An enigma to be sure. At once, both confining and vast. Dangerous and beautiful. Boring and benign. Yes, Ultima is all of these things, and more. And what is this world but a reflection of it's inhabitants? Truly, the citizens of Sosaria have done far more to shape this land than the mystical, and some say, mythical Dev Team. Upon our own shard, a tiny splinter in the multifaceted UO Universe, we've seen hundreds of faces, each with unique personalities.

Many come. Few stay. It is the way of Sosaria. While I am fond of many of the "newer" faces in the land, I have a special appreciation for those who pioneered this wondrous land. In the early days, a simple 5th circle scroll commanded 500 gold and a 8th circle spell was no where to be found. Armor recovered from the corpse of an overly ambitious orc lord was considered a small treasure and any sword above Ruin was worth a minor ransom.

So many faces....Sangria, Peltier, Tenja, Lithium, Thunderlips, Tipan, Trysbrother, Aubrey Gawain and Terra of Willowport, Thorvin, Jamicus, Drabba, Kirsten, Jade, Dengar (the first "red" on Legends) the Dragon Twins (Wilson TM and Wolfgang), Warlord Rod and those wacky World Domination, Inc. folks ..and many others. People who contributed to both the development and personality of what we now call Legends. Oh, and if your'e one of those early pioneers and didn't see your name listed, don't feel slighted. You can safely bet that your'e certainly not forgotten.

It was during that period of contemplation that I decided to pay homage to those folk of the "early days" with a feature called, "In the Spotlight." The first few installments met with favor and thus, now that I'm back at Stratics Legends, I intend to renew this series. The first of the new installments will feature one of Legends finest, Darth Casca. I'll have the installment posted for your reading pleasure by Saturday night, the 25th.

As time progresses, I'll begin doing profiles of our newer citizens for "In the Spotlight." Who knows? You might just find yourself profiled in the hallowed halls of Stratics News. Until next we meet, safe journeys to you, one and all.

Cyn
Ace Reporter and Civil Defense Director for the Cat's Lair. *Salute!*

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Hail!

I'm hoping you'll post this on Stratics. I am just a lone man with a dream, a vision if you will. I believe that orcs and humans can exist peacefully. We must stop this senseless slaughter. My name you ask?


My first stop was the camps just outside of Minoc. I know that with the orcs encroaching upon human soil panic was at an all time high. Groups of sword wielding men and women were running to and fro, orc blood upon their hands. I tried to talk some reason to them.


But they just laughed at me.




Or worse!




Apathy! Although considering humans, I should have known. Still it made me sad. I explained to them what was going on.




I reasoned with the humans to let me try and speak to the orcs. Hold off on the killing until I could try and communicate. Sort of an... exchange of needs. Maybe find out what was upsetting the orcs and how humans could be better neighbors.




Well, you can probably guess what happened next.



Yes, done in by the very species I was trying to protect. That's okay, I can understand that orcs and humies alike live in their own pitiful ignorance. I shall forgive them for it.

My crusade is far from over! You can bet whereever there is a squealing orc being chopped down in the prime of his life I'll be there. Mongbats being used as slave labor? I'll be hacking away at the chains! Dolphins caught in fisherpersons nets? I'll be setting them free.

I am the ambassador to all living things! One with nature! You should join my cause and save this poor pitiful planet.

Thanks for listening and bless you all. :)

--Ambassador Orkie (peace and love)

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The talk of war seems to dominate most conversations, these days. We're seeing some truly unusual developments, regarding the orc's muster to arms. And the most unusual of all, to date, may well be the information contained in this message from an anonymous contributor. read on.

Greetings.

I see it my duty to report the following. This morning I was on a shopping trip east of Skara Brae looking for a powerful silver axe. I had run into a few gaint spiders and had easily dispached them, when walking down the road I saw a Orchish Lord. He was in the middle of the road looking directly at me he paused until I attacked. I am not a GM, but a Master at Tactics, and Swords. I have bested many Orcish Lords two and three at a time, for much of my skill training took place at the Orc Fort South of Yew. Well back to the road, the Orcish Lord and I look at each other for 30 seconds or more and I charged.

The Orcish Lord got his first hit in and took half of my 80 hit points. Knowing when I am in trouble i turned to run. The Orcish Lord cast a paralize spell and I could not move and with two more hits I was dead. I see it my duty to report to everyone on the Legends Shard the a Orcish Lord with magic powers with a lot of strength is out there.

Cyn,
Ace Reporter, Bard of Olde and Exhalted Connoisuer of Mead and Other Fine Spirits

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*Puts pen to scroll*

The warriors had gathered at the castle at the appointed time, sharpening their weapons while their commanders marshaled their respective lances into place. In the corner, a ranger was calming down the dragon he had brought along for this eve's assault. We were taking no chances.

Reports had come in from last night's reconnaissance. The orcs were definitely making a move - camps had been sighted near a number of cities, and Cove was under direct threat. The time for action was upon us, and the clann's forces were summoned to the castle that eve to prepare for an expedition to repulse the orcish invaders. The plan was simple - Secure the town of cove, test the defenses and resolve of the orcish interlopers, then make an assault upon the fort itself. I would share with you now the journal entries of Serene Heart, written on the eve of our assault.

-Aedilwulf, Archduke of Marrach Faol (M^F)

*Attaches a handwritten journal*

"Tonight we went forth...And we came through flying.

I must admit to being a bit nervous as we arranged ourselves in the
guildhall... I knew where we were headed and had heard bad things.

Lord Aedilwulf bid me stay by the sides of Justice and Bal, and I took their side with my bow in hand and my lute, as ever, ready at my side.

A shimmering gate was open by one of our mages, and as I neared it my
nervousness increased. What would we find on the other side? Would the enemy come screaming in fury at us? Or would all be tranquil? Reports from our scouts said both were happening.

Though fearful I was, I let it show not. Let them come, I thought. If I die, I die with my brothers at my side, and I would not go down alone.

And so the shimmers cleared and I stepped forth into...

Bright sunshine, and the sound of a goat braying in the distance.

People milled about a little uncertainly at first, as, separating again into our respective Lances, we began to spread out and investigate. The village of Cove was cleared of the plague it had been under, and seemed to show no signs of being the worse for the wear.

Where were they? I had heard tell of swarms of the giant two headed ettins and those lapdogs of evil, the orcs, virtually swarming over the small village. Yet here we were with not a drop of blood glinting in the sun.

Still, we had come this far, and decided to be away from the gates to see what was what.

Justice and Bal went ahead of me as my eyes scanned the distance. It was soon after we stepped through the gates that I saw the yellow color of skin against the grass ahead of us; I raised my bow and took aim.

It flew true and I saw the spatter of blood where my arrow took hold in my enemy's body. But it did not fall; it began to run towards me.

I nocked another arrow and was just about to raise my bow once again when I heard the familiar sounds beside me from Justice's lips... "CORP POR" he screamed and the sound of searing air blew out from his body as, engulfed in shimmering magic, the orc fell, dead and smoking, to the grass.

I glanced over and smiled at Justice, and turned my ostard, CannonFodder, to scan the horizon once again.

There were a few more scattered here and there, but I could see the familiar form of Anvil N Forge as his weapon rose and fell, rose and fell, amidst the orcs, and knew he was fine. There was not even a sheen of sweat on his face.

Knowing about the fortress of evil that lay near, we decided to investigate there; it seemed our brothers had this area well in hand. So we went, Bal running ahead slightly as his horse seemed fresher, faster, than the Ostards that Justice and I were on, nearing the walls of death we knew were ahead.

I could see the Ettins first. Virtually non-existent were the orcs I knew should be there. What is happening here, I wondered to myself, as I concentrated on two of the giants I saw ahead. I plucked my lute-strings and saw anger on the face of one as the other kicked his fellow in the rear. I knew my song had done its magic when I saw them both beginning to tear each other apart.

I took aim at another and arrow after arrow flew from my bow; I heard somewhat unfamiliar words coming from Bal's form ahead of me, and was just beginning to wonder what it was that he was up to, when I saw a green wall appear around 3 more of these giant creatures. One stepped through it tentatively, and I at once saw a sight I had seen many times before... he bent over and began to retch as poison flew through his veins.

Justice was not lazy in that time either as I heard his magic words and saw one after another of these huge monsters fall into a spike of flames.

I kept taking shots almost at random into the army I saw before me; it was nearly impossible to do otherwise. There was just too much there. As soon as I felt my own magic come back to my head, I would choose two creatures in the mob and set them one against the other.

Eventually, they were all gone from before us, and I realized that there were other of my brothers around us. I smiled at them and began to think all would be well.

Then I saw the air shimmering again as, before our eyes, another army popped into existence around us. This time there were not only the giant two headed monstrosities; there were orcs among them as well!

Immediately sensing dangerous opponents, they began to hit, thrash, and cast spells at my magic using brethren. Knowing that they would not be able to take such abuse for long, I tossed my bow to my back and drew steel. It would be faster and easier to kill that way. I began to swing at one ahead of me; it decided to attack Justice, and I could see him trying to cast his magic at the creature, and each time he would get hit, a funny look would cross his face and he would have to start again.

It turned to me and sneered; my sword smashed into its skull and it fell immediately.

I glanced at Justice to see how he looked, and, not seeing much damage done, I looked for Bal.

I saw him a few yards away, a charred body lying at his feet. He was
bleeding in a few places on his face, so I ran to him and healed his wounds as best I could.

My other brethren had been busy as well; I could see bodies lying
everywhere, smoking, hacked to bits, and generally stomped upon.

Then I heard Justice saying, "We need to take that tower."

I looked to him and saw him pointing ahead. I saw what he was talking about immediately.

There were a few yellow orcs yelling from atop it, and, taking a bead on the nearest, I let fly an arrow. It missed, but then I saw that it had flown past him, to hit his comrade. A shocked look came over the face of the one I had aimed at, and I saw his lips move. Looking back on it I like to imagine him saying something like, "Oh Sh**!"

Justice lead the way to the tower, but, before I followed, I could not
resisting letting another arrow fly, and was pleased to see that it hit its mark this time. The orc did not fall, but I could see he was not happy.

Screaming a battle cry, I followed Justice and Bal to the tower, seeing around me multitudes of yellow and brown creatures. Almost at random I let my arrows and my songs go, and was pleased to see that though not all fell at once, great havoc was being caused.

I like to make messes, don't you know?

And so it was that Justice, Bal and I built almost a wall around ourselves, I at the forefront, using my bow when nothing else was near, and swinging with my Broadsword when something was.

There were so many bodies around us that it was hard to tell what was alive and what was dead. I would see here and there my other brethren around our tower; sometimes, if they had too much, they would run up into the tower we kept safe, until I, or one of the mages, had a chance to heal, or, if we could not spare it, at least give them a moment to be able to themselves.

It seemed to go on forever. Minutes became days.

Suddenly, and without warning, I felt my ostard kick out from under me, and she went wild. I picked myself up quickly, and once again began to work what I could, knowing that CannonFodder would be killed, yet also knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do for her.

She screamed once in a while as the orcs surrounded her, smelling her blood and fear. Tears came to my eyes at each bray, but I held fast. If I did not, I feared the tower would be lost. Finally I heard her no more, and knew her to be gone.

After I thought I could do no more, had just seen too much blood for one day, I heard horses pounding up to the tower and saw the familiar form of Aedilwulf mounted on the first. Into the tower he came, and ordered us to hold that tower for a short time more. Our forces were finally leaving and we were there to ensure their safety.

A sense of pride filled me as I thought that I might have had an important place here, and my efforts redoubled, keeping the orcs and Ettins at bay for a little while longer.

I imagine that of those who survived the onslaught, they would think twice before again attacking a screaming terror of a woman.

It was then that I saw it ahead of me... One of the biggest, meanest looking orcs I have ever had the displeasure of laying my eyes upon. It almost glowed as it approached and I could see, hanging from its` belt, the severed head of a young man, face locked in a scream of horror.

It came swiftly and I knew that I was in trouble.
Dropping my bow, I again drew my sword and thought that if my brothers did not go, and swiftly, we may not be able to make it.

I swung, and swung, and swung again, and each one struck true... yet it seemed to do nothing more than laugh and strike out at me with its magic. I could feel myself grow weak, then my fingers grew numb.

I kept hitting, but it seemed to do no good. I knew, as soon as I felt the shimmer of magic around me and felt the electricity of its Corp Por strike me, that I would not be able to stop it. There was nothing I could do.

My sword dropped from my hands and I fell... slowly... almost thankfully, to the ground.

Shouts rang in my ears, but I paid no attention to them. Let me sleep, damn your eyes, I thought to myself, but I did not have the strength to actually say it.

Magic enfolded me once again, and I thought, this is it. This is where I end... But I suddenly felt better. My eyes opened and I saw before me the orc mage, flames engulfing it, and a shimmer surrounded me as the healing magic coursed through my veins.

I lifted myself to my knees as it turned and began to run. I reached out with my hands and felt the all too familiar contours of my bow at my fingertips. I lifted it, and, pulling an arrow out of a body in front of me, I nocked it and let fly.

Now, to this moment, I debate on whether or not it was honorable of me to kill that creature of evil while its back was turned to me. Frankly, I care little.

Okay. Maybe a little.

But fall it did and, an almost feral grin on my face, I rose to my feet and turned. I saw Justice recovering from the spell of healing that he had saved my life with, and Bal recovering from the Flame Strike that had allowed me to kill the spawn with.

I don't know if they felt it or not, so deep they were in their meditations, but I kissed their cheeks thankfully just the same.

The gate stood open before us and I could see Aedilwulf, smiling at me. I tapped Bal and Justice on their shoulders and pointed for them to go.

They stepped through, almost reluctantly, and disappeared.

Aedilwulf did a slight bow towards me and said, "I go last."

I sped through, gratefully, and was once again within our castle, our home, our safeguard, and knew that all would be well.

Did we make out like bandits? Nay, I think not, though I grabbed what I could from the mass of bodies that had kept us surrounded. Yet, that was not the important thing to me. What mattered was that we held strong, we held like a true team... and we held like family when the going got tougher.

--Serene Heart, Archer, Bard, and grateful for the family. "

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News Flash! I just received another message from Avatar, regarding a strange book recovered from an orc. The book contained an ominous message concerning the future fate of Minoc. Continue on for further details.

Hail Cyn.

While I was battling orc war parties yesterday, I found a book on one of them. At first appearence, it seemed to be nothing more than a simple book, but when I opened it, I found out, otherwise. The messege inside was brief but clear. And I quote, "Gunkahi, we take Minoc soon!" The book was writen by an orc named Fugdgar and it's on display at Adventurer's Hall (wich opens tonight may 25) the sexton cordinates are 19o north 8o 55 west.

The Hall is northwest of Britain, in large "L" shaped building. The book is upstairs, locked down next to an orc scout bow.

If anyone has found any similar texts, please pass the information along to Ith'unk or myself. You can find me guarding the Cat's Lair Tavern, most anytime.

Cyn
Ace Reporter and Civil Defense Director of Taverns, Everywhere.

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Giacomo: Hail
Anistas: Lord Giacomo is truly unique character amongst the peoplescape of our fine lands.
Giacomo: Too kind M'Lady
Anistas: Lord Giacomo, in all his gloriousness is a true performer amongst our people. However his stage is not the theatre, nor by drum and lute does he entertain. His chosen profession is that of Tamer and Jester.
Giacomo: Ahh...Yes the life of the joker.
Anistas: Lord Giacomo, What made you choose such a profession?
Giacomo: Well..... it was a hard life when I was young, not much to do in moonglow other than collect reagents and learn magery skills.
Anistas: Ah yes and bop the noses of mongbats too.
Giacomo: Aye
Giacomo: I was tired of the same old routine so I started to jest for the nobles that were in abundance. Very cold they were, so I kept practing may magic till I could travel the lands.
Giacomo: I happened upon Britain where lots of People willing to leand an ear and some coin. I had much fun setting cloaks afire and goofing off.
Anistas: Oh my!
Giacomo: And I happened to get tips,  hence my hat was set. Support Your Local Jester! Please Tip! It was there, in Britain that I met my first dragon. I was enthralled so I decided to learn the ways of the tamer. But,  I could not leave my loyal following so every night I still came to Britain to jest as my taming got more proficient. I started to supply Brittans with fine horses.  Lots of them and at very reasonal prices. I would bring 40 of them to the bank...
Anistas: 40!
Giacomo: and line them up
Anistas: All at once?
Giacomo: Aye, and make them dance as I performed  and I would sell them along the way. It was a fine life.
Anistas: Tell me Lord Giacomo, how did you learn the ways of jester? Is it schooled? Or is it in thine soul?
Giacomo: Sadly no, it is not schooled - it is just a part of me that crept out. It was something I had to do. Too many serious Brittains. I had a loyal following of counsellors playing tag every night. Twas very much fun. It was sad to hear of their departure - nothing beats a good game of tag.
Anistas: The dark cloud still hangs overhead.
Giacomo: Aye tis true, I will miss them
Anistas: Tell me more of your jesting profession.
Giacomo: Well..
Anistas: Do you keep a stable of tricks?
Giacomo: Well I have some classics. One of my favorites was to polymorph into various creature and have fun with the guards and locals alike
Anistas: A Shakespeare quoting chicken perhaps?
Giacomo:Sometimes, or to become female and get a date - hit on the merchants.
Anistas: I have always found most merchants cold, and unreceptive more concerned with showing me their wares than anything else.
Giacomo: My favorite was to be a slime and hide under owners pets and remark that there is a law in Britain about cleaning up after your pets.  The classic *Plop*
Anistas: There is humour indeed in base...base things..
Giacomo: Aye.  Most of the audience could not handle the more complex routines so I did dancing, simple jokes. Most of my humor was visual play on word.  I also helped the player merchants sell their wares.
Anistas: How so?
Giacomo: Selling Small Marble House! No Spawn In Felucca! On Waters Edge
Giacomo: I helped them "spam" as you say.
Anistas: To some, that is a crimeworthy of the death penalty
Giacomo: Well, I do not offend - No more than one on the screen.
Giacomo: I still sell animals - Ostards and horses to this day.
Anistas: Tell me Lord Giacomo
Giacomo: Aye MiLady
Anistas: Your are a many of strong passions.
Giacomo: I am.
Anistas: Your second great passion being the life of a tamer,  an animalist.
Giacomo: Yes it is true - I love animals. Most are more loyal than people.
Anistas: I believe that many tamers are misunderstood and many people believe that the tamer is more powerful than any profession.
Giacomo: Some are it is true some others hurt our profession. Well I do not think that is true that tamers are more powerful - we are very powerful, but my bard abilities seem to surpass them at times. Taming is my passion.  Magery and bardic abilities help me become a fine tamer.
Anistas: Tamers, as I eluded to before, have somewhat of a bad reputation.  It would seem that a few scampi in the cocktail are foul.
Giacomo: Well there is always good and bad of every profession,  unfortunately tamers can cause more problems
Anistas: If you could summarize ethical taming in a few points, I am sure many in our audience would appreciate the insight into the tamers life.
Giacomo: I personally feel that any tamer should not take an animal it cannot control. I have seen many an animal go wild. I feel that taming only to gain enough skill to barely own any animal is wrong. It is those that cause the problems, they cannot keep their pets in line. Their pets wander and cause problems for others. And unfortunately those tamers do not care. Commanding them until they go wild, then they just leave and leave the poor confused beast to kill everything in its path.  It causes me much distress.
Anistas: The poor animal is frustrated, and all a rage.
Giacomo: I try to save them and return them to there proper habitat.  How many times have I gone to Shame to see them killing all the poor warriors who cannot defend themselves against such a tough creature. I feel bad for the animal, its not his fault, its the owners. They feel that the animal is a sword and is just thrown away when its usefullness is gone. It is also sad that some tamers keep selling there pets to these individuals their only concern is money.  I rarely sell any large beasts and then only to tamers whom I trust.
Giacomo: Its sad to see that people abuse their animals,  never feeding them.
Anistas: You can not blame the horse that throws a man for notfeeding him.
Anistas: Many a warrior is wise to all nuances of the blade but may truly be ignorant on matters of animal care.
Giacomo: But the blade does not bite back
Anistas: How often should a mount be fed...and what should they be fed to ensure their health?
Giacomo: Well I personally feed my mounts every half hour. Horses and smaller mount require fruit.  Larger more dangerous creatures require raw meat and lots of it. If you command an animal and it chooses not to listen  its loyality to you goes down and you should immediately feed and talk to it.   Be nice, they are working for you -helping YOU. I always keep extra food for others as well as myself -  you would not go hunting with out your weapon or reagent so why use an animal and not bring its food? Very sad - very sad.
Anistas: Indeed.
Giacomo: And worse yet -if an animal does go wild in any town, the folks seem to enjoy killing it. Very sad to see - even if the owner is trying to get it back.
Giacomo: I understand a mare going wild is a serious thing and guards need to be called.
Anistas: Lord Giacomo - there is mercy, and karma..I choose mercy
Giacomo: But to kill a wild horse - that is not mercy. You do not lose karma killing an ostard or mare - but to slaughter a horse and pack animals is very sad and is hurtful to the owner.
Anistas: I know not why people do it.
Giacomo: Where is the compassion for others and their pets? Tis a sad thing
Anistas: It seems to be an illness - coursing through our society.
Giacomo: Yes very true
Giacomo: I have stopped my jesting at Britain. I cannot stand to watch it. And since I have been a Lord -  not one person will tip my efforts, very sad as well, yet I keep my chin up and try.
Anistas: Yet the laughs are still the same though be ye pauper or Lord.
Giacomo: It is not that I need money,  its the idea that persons are actually paying attention. I hardly see the familiar  "LoL" anymore there - Britain has become so cold so I jest in Vesper.
Anistas: Ah Lord Giacomo what is see is those weird foreigners...
Giacomo: *nods* tis true, my most disliked.
Anistas: Who speak like this "ty" and "np" and "roxxor j00" I know not where they come from.
Giacomo: They cannot understand my humor and since localization *shudders* it has gotten worse. Localization has hurt the tamers more than anything.
Anistas: How so?
Giacomo: The ALL command and I really miss seeing the nice comments when taming I cannot stand it now - all you get is *starts taming a creature*..
*Nice....*
*Good...*
*BORING*
Giacomo: I miss *You see Lord Giacomo start to tame a dragon*  *I promise to take good care of you*, etc. Very sad to see it go and with it  no one releases now
Anistas: Aye!
Giacomo: Hurts the fellow tamers - no more rename...
Anistas: Poor animals unfed and in flux..
Giacomo: They tame and leave the poor animal all confused.
Giacomo: Other tamers are slowed down and cannot work their skill with nothing but already tamed animals.
Anistas: It is hardly a moment's effort to rename a creature dont you think?
Giacomo: It is, it is essential to the higher level tamers. They need animals that have already had owners they are harder to retame and will help your skill advance much quicker.
Giacomo: The tamers used to help each other - especially with bulls.  Now the trend is to kill them all no matter what - very sad - hard for tamers who get mad and then they react and curse others.
Anistas: This harms the tamers themelves if they kill bulls!
Giacomo: It certainly does especially the masters who need pretames badly - a twice tamed bull.

Anistas: Is there anything you could say to a young soul wishing to commence the taming life?
Giacomo: Well be prepaird to have a long road of taming ahead - dont give up you will hit times of no gain, its part of life, take a break - work other aspects and then come back to taming, its not an easy skill to GM. It takes many hours and lots of determination but it is worth it its satisfying to tame a great beast not have to kill it for its posessions - it will drop them for you -its a win/win situation.  They live and you care for them they will help you much more than you can do for them all they ask is some food, nice treatment and a good home don't leave your tames in your house - stable them. If you cannot stable them, then you don't need that many.
Giacomo: The important thing is to have fun - if its not fun they why are you doing it? If its just for money - why? Money is not everything
Anistas: It would seem, that many have lost purpose.
Giacomo: Most have, sorry to see it -and alot of the good players are leaving. Another sad thing, I have personally been to 6 house falls in 3 days.That's way too many. Ah, but I love taming - the most fun I have had. It is well worth the time - you can go to places no others can go.
Anistas: Thank you Lord Giacomo for your time.
Giacomo: Oh anytime, please call upon me if you need help - I help other tamers when there having pet problems,  I'm the new UO vet.

And with Lord Giacomo's final statement, the brilliant dawn of a new morn rose - we had talked through the night.  Although a wee bit sleepy,I greeted the new day with bright enthusiasm, for I knew that the blessed dawn had brought with it a new friend.

Lord Giacomo is Mystery Jester King of the Knights of Mystery [K*M] and can be found jesting in Vesper or wandering the lands taming.

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I just received this notice from Avatar of Legnds, regarding the newly finished Hall of Adventurers. Avatar is planning a grand opening event and has invited the public. Read on, for further details.

Greetings my friends.

My name is Avatar of AOL Legends. 'Tis my pleasure to announce the grand opening of Adventurers Hall located at 19o 46 north - 8o 55 West. Tavern is open for all.

This tavern has been dedicated to all of Adventurers of any status, any class. If it's an adventure for you to walk from Britain forge to Britain West Bank, we want to hear it! As if you just deafeated minax! The tavern will hold weekly events. I can be found there almost all time.

Upstairs is dedicated for a museum and library if thou has quest items that you would like to donate or a tale of anything...please do so.

Tonights Celebration will be free for all and drinks are on the house. You are welcome to come in any day and sit relax there all you want. Please feel free to write and submit adventure tales to us.

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The following announcement comes to us from Alenna:

Members of the Guardians of Light and Virtue Guild (GLV) will be offering our services to newer members of the community to help them as they begin their adventures. Our veteran adventurers and GM craftsmen will be on hand to help outfit those in need with weapons, armor, and supplies, and most importantly, to help answer questions.

This will take place in Trinsic this Saturday, May 26, starting at 1 pm by the Central skies. Look for our smiths at the armorer shop, and other members at the bank or throughout the city. Gates and runes will be available at other city banks to meet our crafters or to visit our guild tower.

GLV, one of the oldest guilds in UO, is also recruiting new members to add to its ranks. Come be a part of many exciting events such as our weekly RD/GLV auctions each Saturday at 8pm, dungeon crawls, training sessions, and more.

Hope to see you all Saturday!

Alenna of GLV
ICQ# 95594289

This is an excellent opportunity for newer citizens to meet some helpful folk. Our thanks to Alenna for this notice and to GLV for providing this service to our citizens.

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This evening, I received a bone weary messenger into my humble abode. The poor lad was hardly able to stand, but he would take neither food nor drink until he delievered a roll of vellum to my hand. The scroll bore the signet stamp of my old friend, the Lady Kirsten, Duchess of Jhelom. I now, share the contents of the message with you, gentle readers.

Greetings, Cyn.

I recall when many brave warriors and I bravely ventured forth to defend the hamlet of Cove from an orcish onslaught aeons ago... Though their forces vastly outnumbered ours, we fought valiantly and reduced their numbers considerably, thus saving the citizens of Cove from imminent destruction. Since the day after that battle took place, the village hast been relatively safe and the orcs hath remained dormant. Unfortunately, I fear they may now seek vengeance for that blow dealt to them so long ago...

When the Liberation of Cove was but a distant dream, a mere idea discussed at a large oaken table at the Trinsic Meeting Hall, I distinctly remember when an outspoken woman expressed her objections to an attack against the orcish stronghold South of Cove. In light of recent events, some of her words now ring truer than ever. I was warned that if such a battle was waged against the orcs, it would drive them to retaliate with more ferocity than we could possibly hope to stand against. I now realize the truth of this even more in light of the recent accounts of orcish activities...

Let it be said that I never regarded the orcs as vermin. They are a sentient race who are as indigenous to Britannia as we humans are, and they displayed a remarkable intelligence the day their forts were sieged. Their captains and lords proved these creatures are capable of using strategy to overcome their foes. Even now, reports of their shamans boarding ships and scouts who are undoubtedly gathering information to bring back to their commanders prove that they are not as unintelligent as is commonly believed. Such advances by this race are unheard of in the entire history of Sosaria.

It was rumored and believed that the orcs are now unified under a single great leader, perhaps a king with uncanny powers and abilities. While this is mere speculation, the thought of such a ruler leading the entire orcish race dost not seem improbable. The orcs now fight with more coordination and strategy, and with their recent advent of more specialized forces, they may prove to be a greater threat than we ever imagined.

I cannot help but wonder if I am responsible for these recent events, provoking the orcs to retaliate with more fury than ever before... Perhaps this woman was correct in predicting such things... One undeniable fact remains: Britannia may face an imminent insurrection by the orcish race. I doth not despise the orcs, but if given the choice between preserving the life of an orc or a human, I will always choose to preserve humanity. I shant stand idly by while they slaughter the innocent, and I fear I will be forced to draw orcish blood once again since negotiation with these creatures is nigh impossible. They seem intent on nothing less than the utter conquest of the entire land of Britannia as evident by their profileration and sightings of their forces near our cities.

If the battle of Cove was a spark which ignited these recent events, I must now complete what I hath started and take full responsibility for it. The isle of Jhelom and I will aid those who seek to combat this new orcish threat as best we can. If we ignore this gloom which hangs over the peoples of Britannia, and fail to prevent innocent blood from being shed, the orcs may very well turn their attentions to our city once they hath conquered the mainland...

For now, I shall remain wary with mine sword's pommel in hand.

Lady Kirsten Sondergaard
Duchess of Jhelom

Until next we meet, remain wary and carry a big mace/sword/spear/spellbook/dragon.

Cyn

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In addition the Stories and Secrets section also holds a large amount of UO Lore archived for you to reference.

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Kneeling down, Gebrek felt the body of a bloodied orc and stared in a moment of confused silence at the disarray before him. More than twenty of his comrades’ corpses lay around the campsite in patches of blood-soaked soil, some still clutching the long pole weapons that had slain them. The tents were undisturbed, as was the campfire. His hunting party had hardly been gone long enough for the day fire to move in the sky. He sat still, thinking, trying to comprehend what could slay so many warriors so quickly. It wasn’t until he heard his hunting party behind him mumbling to each other that he remembered his new position of leadership as a poweruser and began barking orders in his guttural tones.

As the party spread out over the camp, Gebrek breathed a grumbling sigh. Orcs always obeyed a user of the power, no matter what their age, but Gebrek was still nervous. Not many day fires had passed since he had been considered too young to use the power without guidance from an elder poweruser. And he had many seasons left before he would be powerful enough to be recognized as a mage himself. Or so he thought. Now he was a mage and in command of his own party. That is, what was left of it.

Why was this happening? More and more of the young were being named as mages and fighters. Did the clan need the young so badly? Had so many orcs been lost that children were needed to defend the clan? For the first time he could remember the mages had even resorted to bestowing the power on helmets for the warriors. Gebrek couldn’t remember the mages ever putting the power into something for a warrior. Nor could he ever think of a time when a warrior would ask for a way to use the power. Usually both were too proud. Usually one did not need the other.

Half of the orcs in his party were too young to be warriors, too young even to be away from the fort. No warrior would be named when he was still so inexperienced that he feared battle, much less run from it as many of the new warriors had. Of course it was hard to blame them. Many of the battle lords who had known great glory as warriors were using the new helmets for an extra advantage. Most of those that had remained with the camp wore them. Now they were dead. And whatever killed them did it quickly and easily, despite the new helmets.

He walked around the perimeter of the camp observing the others as they checked their dead comrades and rummaged for anything useful, hoping the sight of orc corpses would not escalate their fear. Slowly small piles of supplies started to form by the campfire and Gebrek began considering his options. Whatever had killed the battle lords would make short work of the younger warriors, with or without the helms. As much as he wanted success on his first outing, he knew that this weak, inexperienced group of fledgling warriors would not be able to make the first strike to find new homes.

One of the young orcs lumbered up to Gebrek and grunted, holding out before him what looked like an orc face. Gebrek turned and tilted his head in curiosity. None of the dead had been missing a face. Reluctantly he took it with a scaly hand and almost dropped it in the same instant. This was not flesh! And it held the power! A false face that contained the power... no orc would make such a thing.

Again he looked over the campsite. Their best warriors were all dead. No sign of a struggle. False faces that held the power. An unseen killer. Gebrek could feel his youthful fears creeping into him again. Something was destroying his kin. The orcs were running out of time.

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Impy’s Artic Faire…

BONUS AUCTION!!!

Yes, that’s right, a bonus auction.  Will be held Thursday Night, May 24, 9pm by the Eastern Sky.  Due to an exceptional turn out of sellers and buyers, Impy has authorized a second auction this week.

Still up for bid at the bonus auction:  a Zombie Statue and a Mask of Orcish Kin.  As well as more armor and weapons than the Brit armory.  And we still have that Scaffold on display for next week.

For directions and a complete list of the items up for auction please take a peek at www.impys.net.  Runes to Riches and the Mystery Chest games will also be played this week following the auction, so please stick around and take a chance with lady luck.  There will also be a gate provided from West Brit Bank starting 30 minutes before the auction.  Impy has asked that you please stable your pets before the auction as he is allergic to wet fur.

~Impy’s Staff

sounds like business is really booming out on Ice Isle.  Good Luck to the Staff.

~Barth VanDorn

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The orc situation seems to be escalating quickly as town criers report war camps springing up near every major city in Britannia. Here's the latest available intel.

Just this afternoon, I journeyed to the Skara Brae docks, in route to Thunderlip's most excellent rune library. As I reached the docks, I encountered a guildmate, Plague, who was busy chasing 3 different orc scouts in circles. Or maybe they were chasing him. With Plague, one never knows.

As I began an incantation to assist my guildmate, 2 orcs suddenly appeared on my left and began running away from the battle. These orcs bore the very appropriate title of "frightened orc." During the course of the battle, I observed 8 orcs, 3 orcish scouts and 4 "frightened orcs." I have no idea as to the role these cowardly orcs may play in events to come, but I assure you, there was nothing cowardly about the scouts. While not particularly powerful, they're very tenacious and have an irritating habit of teleporting away from a battle, only to return, healed and ready to reengage. They also seemed to have a moderate degree of archery skill.

Another note of interest was the frequency with which the orcs spawned. No sooner would one orc be dispatched to that Great Orc Fort in the Sky, another would appear and immediately attack. Finally, Silverleaf appeared with her pet dragon, Mai. Even the deft taming skill of Silverleaf and the deadly efficiency of Mai couldn't clear all the orcs from the surrounding area.

I had devised a plan to keep tabs on this situation, by asking my Stratics boss, the esteemed Ith'unk, to go undercover and send in reports, via messenger pigeons. Alas, Ith'unk has a fondness for pigeon burgers, pigeon souffle, pigeon pot pie, pigeon noodle soup and pigeon-kA-bobs," so perhaps it's best I find another method of infiltrating the orcish ranks. I just don't have that many pigeons to spare. I'll keep you posted on further developments. In the meantime, keep a wary eye on the forests surrounding the cities.

Cyn
Ace Reporter, Monarch of Bad-Con, King of Hi-Ping, Eternal Bachelor, GM Nice Guy, and Staunch Defender of Mead and other Fine Spirits.

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This event sent in by Tamer of AUR.

Hear ye! Hear ye! The AUR guild, know as the Atlantic United Rangers will be holding it's first pet fight night! Bring your most powerful pet and see whether it shall walk out of the ring victorious! An entry fee of 3k gold is required for participation on the tournament. Spectating will be free of charges. Only 1 pet can be brought into the fight. Remember, this is a 1 pet Vs 1 pet, wish means you CANNOT heal or cure your animal. If you value too much your pet you might shout 'I retreat my animal' in wish case both opponents will have 20 seconds to stop fighting and your animal's life might be sparred. The winning player will receive 60% of the total gold collected and also a random item, varying from a verite archer suit to a mask of orcish kin. Between fights pets may be healed and cured. At the end of the tournament, a banquet will also be held. Everyone is invited to spectate or participate to the event! Gates will be created at the Vesper bank on Felucca. If you wish to enter the tournament you will have to e-mail me at [email protected] . All requests must be received before May 30. The event will take place Friday June 1 at 6:00pm EST time. 20 Minutes before the event a player named Rog Fud will be at the bank and will open gates to the tourney location. I hope to see many animal tamers,

 

Yours,
Tamer, Guildmaster of AUR

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This from Fixxxer.

On behalf of #Atlantic, I would like to invite everyone to a live interview with Grathus, former Lead Ancient of the Atlantic Interest Team. The interview will be held Thursday, May 24th at 9:00pm EST in the IRC channel of #RPCI of the Stratics IRC network .

Aleph will be conducting the interview, while Priam will be hosting it. When the interview is finished, you will be allowed to go one on one with Grathus and ask him anything you wish.

If you wanted to know what happened behind the scenes with the Nostur'yl plot, or what was planned for the Adventurer's Guild, now is your chance.

Hope to see you there!
-Fixxxer

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Texas UO Players Lunch Updates
From Heather:

General:A few last minute details about this weekends UO Player Lunch at Scarborough Faire, Sunday, May 27th at 11:30AM in the Village Green. If you are attending, you should find your name on the guest list[email protected].

OSI has signed on! We are expecting at least 9 OSI representatives this year, you can check the guest list to see who is signed up.

Directions: For directions to the faire, please see the Scarborough Faire website, they have a map and driving directions, or you can find their address and punch it into mapquest.com for map and driving directions.

If you know anyone else that wants to come but hasn't got tickets, let them know that you DO NOT have to purchase tickets from me to attend the faire. I merely have offered tickets at a discount rate. Anyone can come to the lunch, they will need to purchase their admission tickets to the Faire at the front gate as they enter.

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I just received word, that a new shop will be opened soon, just north of
Vesper, the first marble shop! Coordinates are 90* 52N 111* 18E, Europa,
Trammel

Following, a few words from the Store Manager:


Dear customers,

Soon, the "Friends and Things" shoppe will open its doors to the public. Our
goal will be to provide quality wares by keeping the price at an affordable
level.

What can I expect to see here in the near future?
We will definitely have a Reagents vendor under contract, which will be
restocked multiple times per day!
Rares, High-Magic Weapons, Quality GM crafted armour and weapons, dyed
furniture, dyed leather armour and lots more will be part of our stock.

When is the big opening?
The opening will be on Saturday, 26th of May, 13:00 GMT, 14:00 CET.

I have a question or would like to join the "Friends and Things" Shoppe...
Please feel free to contact me via Pidgeon on 15437373, I will always be
happy to hear some feedback or provide you with information.

Yours sincerely,

Lara of Yew
Store manager of
"Friends and Things"

"Friends and Things" is a BPink (c) Association

Thanks.

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Hear Ye Hear Ye

Announcing the formation of the All Britannia BagBall Championship League!

Yes, you heard it right folks Bagball HAS come to Britannia, and now is your chance to get involved. 

For those you who are scratching your heads right now with one of those “what-the..” looks on your silly little gobs, bagball is the newest team sport to catch fire here in the lands of pixellated pleasures. Picture the scene, two teams lined up on the field of battle, eyeing one another with fear and loathing, each a carefully tuned machine of precision skill and supreme tactics, crowds pressing against the sidelines urging on their home side with eager cries and shouts, Money changing hands at a blinding speed as a hush settles over the mob. And then- the opening whistle blows! Players rush headlong at one another, feet churning up the pitch, elbows flailing, teeth gnashing, eyes rolling back in their heads like rabid dogs, all baring down on a small yellow bag containing….?

Containing….?

Gold you ask?

A lifetime’s supply of reagents mayhaps?

A rare item so scarce you’d sell your grandma’s teeth for it?

Nayyyyyyyy It holds 400 weight in logs and ye can hardly pick the damn thing up before the weight brings you and it crashing back down to earth with a damp thud!

Your mission? To get said bag into the other team’s goal by passing it to your teammates. Not your opponents mind you, your teammates. Only thing is, in the confusion, you could be passing it to anyone 'cause there is one strict rule in Bagball- No trade windows allowed! That’s right sports fans, you gotta put it on the ground! 

Interested? Thinking to yourself “hmmmm, that’s kind of different”? Wanna give it a go? Then go get yourself five like minded friends, some brightly coloured shorts and a fancy name and join the All Britannia Bagball League!!!

 

Here is the link: http://run.to/bagball

 

The Bagball events will be hosted by the town of Spiritwood On Monday nights. The play will be set on the large farm fields next to the road.

 

To find Spiritwood, start in Felucca, at the Skara Brae docks right outside town. To get across to the main land, simply enter one of the small ferryboats there and say the word “Cross” to the ferryman. Once across on the mainland, go east on the road inland. Take the second road to your right (south, at a crossroads). Keep going south until the road turns eastwards. Keep following it and you will end up in Spiritwood. The walk is short and the neighbourhood pleasant.

 Here is a report on the first Bagball Match held this past Monday:

http://europa.spiritwood.com/show.asp?id=255

Special thanks to Orangebeard for setting up the Bagball League Sky Pages.

Stay tuned for announcements of upcoming matches!

 

Shri,

Custodes Fati

Spiritwood

 

Sounds Great! Good luck with the competition!

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Saturday, 26 May 2001  UK Time: 17:00
                       CET: 18:00

Wedding of Devalia and Daragthra..
On Saturday 26th May (this week) the public wedding of Devalia and Daragtha
will take place in Serpents Hold Chapel, Trammel.
Everyone is welcome to come..
Gates will be provided from Brit East bank from 16:30..

Kind Regards,
Devalia

Ahh, the Mafia Leader gets Married....sweet.

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Haruchai wrinkled his nose at the smell and snarled at the orgh in
front of him. He was angry, and yet had no outlet for his wrath.

The young gruntee swayed in front of him, barely able to stand. Its
skin was burned black, crisping away in obscene curls from the red
gashes of appalling wounds. The typical ringmail of its people hung
like a ruined fishing net about its brutalised body. Yet something,
some courage beyond death kept it upright and had brought it to the
very steps of its enemy's home.

Haruchai felt no pity. These foul-smelling raiders had cut down too
many of his ayimag. Killed too many women and children in the name of
their rapacious Blood-God. "Bluud fer da Bluud-gud" rang in his
ancestral memory like the clanging doors of Hell. He had comforted too
many new-freed tsereg as their last breath drifted away, watched their
tortured bodies finally find succour in death. He had no pity left for
orghs.

Yet the orgh had no weapon. It held out its hands, bloody with its
ancient guilt and bloody too, with its own gore. Monggols did not,
could not kill an unarmed enemy. Even an unarmed orgh.

The Agha-Khan watched the creature carefully. His stance allowed it to
make no mistake - it was not welcome. It made no move to approach the
ger. Long moments passed.

The orgh hawked and spat a bloody gob accurately between Haruchai's
feet. Behind his mask of contempt, the Monggol grinned. This one was
brave.

"Me Bidagud." The orgh croaked its name in a guttural cough barely
understandable to the warrior standing before it. Haruchai suppressed
a laugh. Stupid by name as well as nature.

"Humies come." The effort of speech induced another coughing fit. When
he had regained control of his paroxysm, Bidagud continued. "Humies
kill. Take hedz."

Clearly the orgh's wounds had driven it to the edge of insanity. The
Hans had always attacked the orgh nations. Orghs had always attacked
Hans. Whereas the Monggol usually took the heads of their enemies to
dry and use in ritual, it was rare, but not unheard of in the Han
tribes. Why would this gruntee haul its dying body all the way to the
tosgon of its most implacable foe to speak of the way of things?

Bidagud stared at him as if understanding his thoughts and his
contempt. Haruchai saw doubt grow in its eyes, followed by
frustration. He knew that look immediately, the look of someone unable
to find the right words.

The frustration raged in the orgh's eyes for perhaps several
heartbeats. Then, decision cleared the black orbs. He thrust a hand
into his torn undershirt. Haruchai tensed his hand upon the haft of
his spear.

Bidagud tore forth a thick pile of parchments, rolled into a tight
package with a  leather thong. The parchment was bright with blood.
The orgh tossed the bundle at Haruchai, hitting his armoured chest
with some force. The Monggol grinned viciously.

"Dis on humie," spat the orgh. "Mojoka say give lat. Me give lat.
Gruk?"

The orgh's language was incomprehensible, made worse by the growling
and persistent cough of his wounds. It was clear to Haruchai however,
that he was meant to read the parchment. He squatted down to retrieve
the bundle.

Bidagud looked satisfied. Though the effort brought a grimace to his
face as if he had chewed a wasp, he lifted his broken arm in a painful
salute. Haruchai's brow knitted in astonishment. Before he could
react, the orgh turned and loped away, back in the direction of his
homeland.

The Agha-Khan ignored the fading wheezes of the dying orgh and pulled
off the leather thong that bound the parchment. As he suspected, the
pages were written with close Han penmanship. He snorted. This was a
puzzle to be understood by the bugus. He went inside the ger and
placed the parchments upon the ulu-bugu's seat.

What was required of the tsereg was that they find out more of what
was happening in the orgh lands. Rumours had been flying all week and
now this strange approach by an enemy. It was time the Horde
understood more.

Haruchai went up to the roof of the ger and picked up his silver edged
horn. He scanned the surrounding forests which lay quiet and peaceful
below him. He knew that soon they would ring with battle, and that
glory waited with hushed anticipation in the leafy quiet. He put the
horn to his lips and blew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the beginning of a series of events for the Golden Horde guild
(and friends) based around OSI's orc quest. The book spoken of is to
be found in the tsereg ger (log cabin) near Yew (Trammel).

The Horde is called to order on Saturday 26th May at 22.00 hrs BST
(GMT+1 or current UK time). Full details including any change to this
time are to be found on the web site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

--
Haruchai, Agha-Khan of the Golden Horde
http://www.ecomouse.u-net.com

Sounds good, after all we are "the actors on the stage"

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The Iron Vine is hosting a quest May 27th at 7pm pac time. We will meet at the entrance to Lord Brits Castle (Tram) where all contestants will be gated to the starting point. There, the first clue will be given. At each destination the contestant will retrieve a token and be given the next clue.

Entry fee: 2.5K

Prizes: entry fee will be divided as follows

1st place 25% of the total entry fees and a Holiday Bell
2nd Place 15% of the total entry fees and a hair restyle deed
3rd Place 10% of the total entry fees and a bottle of Jaanas hangover remedy

At the end of your quest you will be gated to a surprise location for a post quest party. A raffle will be held at the party with prizes to include:
a whispering rose
a hair restyle deed
a bottle of Jaanas hangover remedy
a holiday tree deed
a vanquishing weapon.
Tickets will be 250gp
Door (gate )prizes will also be given out.

This quest will be held in Tram and T2A. Runes to a rune library will be available if needed, as will recall scrolls. So, brush up on your Brit geography and history. See you there.

Damodred
Vine Herald

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We will be activating the new distributed backup system on the Great Lakes and Lake Superior shards on Thursday, May 24th following their regularly scheduled maintenance period. The system has been actively running on the AOL Legends and Atlantic shards since last month, and has reduced backup times considerably. We estimate that this change will bring shard backup times down to between 5-15 minutes per shard. As a result, the amount of time required for shard maintenance, restarts, and 'time warps' may be narrowed to between 5-15 minutes in most cases.

Please note: As this backup system decreases the amount of time required for a shard backup, it will also decrease the amount of 'warp time' available prior to a maintenance period. We urge that players keep this in mind when playing before a scheduled maintenance period.

We will be closely monitoring the Great Lakes and Lake Superior shards and, barring any unforeseen issues, will continue activating this system on the remaining shards in the near future. We will announce a release schedule for the remaining shards at least 24 hours in advance of their activation.

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Shoppers Rejoice! New Shop Reviews!

Shoppers Rejoice! At the UOMA web site, reviewing is our business - and business is good! If you're looking for some new shopping haunts, we've got just the thing for you - new shop reviews for Atlantic, Pacific, Chesapeake, Great Lakes, Sonoma, Lake Superior, Oceania, and Europa.

To read the full reviews, view screenshots and directions to the shops, 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 "Shop Reviews." While you're there, pop in to the UOMA Forum of your home shard and meet your fellow merchants and shoppers! You can also request a review of your own shop by filling out the "Review Request" form on the web site.

I'd also like to formally welcome a few people to the UOMA team: Versace has joined us as the Pacific Shard liaison, in place of Gyvalor (to whom we wish great luck out in the real world and a speedy return!). A hearty welcome also to Darklock and Ceridwen, who have come onboard as Representatives and are writing up a storm at a shop near you! As always, UOMA welcomes volunteers in many capacities, from shop reviewers to quality assurance agents! If you'd like to be involved in the UO Merchant Alliance, drop me an email to the address below.

Thanks!

Kitiara
Webmaster
UO Merchant Alliance

http://www.uomerchantalliance.com
[email protected]

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UO Player Luncheons

Have you ever wanted to meet other UO Players face to face? Nearly 1000 players attended the UO World Faire in November 2000 to meet one another, share experiences, and participate in discussions with OSI representatives in Austin, Texas. But did you know that UO players have been holding UO Fan Events in their local areas since 1998? Some annual events are already in their fourth year!

To find a player event in your local area, visit the newly updated Luncheons page of the Communities section of the uo.com website. To submit an event that you are hosting, please send an email with the details to [email protected].

If you don't see an event listed in your area this year, why not consider hosting one yourself? Heather of Great Lakes has been holding Player Luncheons in Texas since October 1998, and she shares her experience in "How to Organize a UO Player's Lunch". If you need advice or support for holding your own player event, you can also email Heather directly at [email protected] .

Several times a year, representatives from the UO Live Team are able to attend some of the larger player events around the country. During Q&A sessions at these events, players are able to voice their concerns and suggestions directly to OSI representatives, and have some of their questions answered. Even at smaller events, players often have the opportunity to win prizes, such as Ultima T-shirts and CDs, for answering UO related trivia questions or for winning costume contests.

If you have questions, tips, hints or suggestions, or would like to participate in discussions about Player Events or the World Faire, please visit the UO Fan Events and Luncheons board.

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Want to keep up-to-date on all the latest news in the world of Ultima Online? From spotlights to shard openings, to news about patches and new systems, the Ultima Online Newsletter is sent out once a month, and only to those who have subscribed. It's coming next week, so make sure you don't miss it - Click Here to sign up today!

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First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who attended our opening night celebration, with a special thanks going out to Companion Trafik who visited us during the celebration. The party was great fun, and I hope we can all do this again soon! The winning lottery ticket numbers are the following :

100k : 078
50k : 110 (Claimed)
30k : 067
20k : 090

If you have a winning ticket, ICQ me at 40878666 and if I can verify it, you will claim your prize! However, it must be done by June 19th, after which all lottery tickets will be void.

The OBK Crimson Rose Inn is in search of talented people to help make our tavern a renowned Pacific shopping center! 33 vendor spots are available for a 5k monthly rental fee, and all proceeds from the rental fees will be used to fund future Crimson Rose Inn events. All vendor operators are welcome to join our store, but there is limited space and vendors will be rented on a first come, first served basis. The vendor positions available are the following :

1st Floor : Furniture, Resources & Misc. (8 Available)
2nd Floor : Weapons and Armor (Magical and GM) (12)
3rd Floor : Reagents, Potions, Scrolls and Semi-Rares : (13)

To apply for vendor rental, ICQ me at 40878666, and we can arrange a time to meet in UO.

We're also in the process of building a tavern staff. If you have the desire to contribute to the Pacific community on the weekends, we want to hear from you! Currently, we are looking to fill the following position :

Position : Bartender

Time Required : 1 Hour Per Weekend

Requirements : Serving Patrons, Handing Out Runes to the Tavern, An Understanding of Tavern Operation, Language Skills, Likable Presence

If you are interested in becoming a CRI bartender, please e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll arrange an in-game interview with you. For more information about the vendors and for directions to the tavern, go to our website at www.geocities.com/dannouo/

Strength and Honor,

Danny, OBK Tavern Chairman

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Tuesday evening was a Glorious night for the infamous Army of Thieves (aka At). For some time now the army has been well aware of a mercenery named Sirus the Virus attacking and killing thier members one by one without doing much along the lines of countermeasures. Unfortunately for Sirus all of this waiting did reward At in the end as Sirus was struck down by one of At's most honored warriors. At celebrated this victory with a surprise raid of the peaceful town of Paxlair which was empty and defenseless. All the army's leader Augustus had to say was that "this is just the beginning, soon all of the realm will feel the clench of At's Iron Fist"

-Tracy[At]

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I have started to look for people to help out and participate in a large scale event for all of the towns and active guilds in the Chesapeake Realm. I have unveiled my plan for a large scale parade through Britian with a festival in Lord British's Castle afterwards. The intended date is July 14, 2001. For more information please see the website listed below. There is also a registration form on the page for all willing to participate and help in the festival so I know who is going to be involved in this Large Scale Event. The page is updated regularly with updates on information on the event and who is going to help and participate, and your order placement in the parade.
Details for the parade!

Thanks, Marlene (Chancellor of Nidaros)

Rattler of GLV sends out this invitation:

Greetings Fellow Britannians,

The RD/GLV Weekly Auction continues.

The Auction Staff would like to thank all the past submitters of items and the players that have come to our Auctions these past few months. Thank you all.

We have a Great many items for this coming Saturday night, but we need more items to be submitted to make it an even better night. We will be taking submissions on Thursday night at the RD/GLV Tower in Trammel, starting at 8 pm CST/9 pm EST.

I have heard that we will have a Rare Wig up for bid this Saturday, so if you wish to add this to your collection please come by and bid.

The coordinates to the tower are: 78o34S/16o56W. Come on by and have some fun.

GM Rattler, GLV

A wig? Tis very rare, indeed! Thank you for the invitation, Rattler.

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Hail,

I was taking a nice walk to fire dungeon from Papua and to my surprise I was attacked by a army of orcs. This army of orcs was well organised and had two new types of orcs in it's numbers. The infamous orc scout and the frightened orc that has a tensity to run.



Not only did they attack me in big numbers but when I tried to run from then I ran into their base. This was no normal orc camp, it was well organised with fencing and tents. I only hope they do not start attacking our cities!



Best of luck in helping to fight of the intruders

Rese

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Fight Night Event at Grimoire Arena,
2 vs. 2 Sponsored by sir black
We're taking the sponsors a little out of order this week to accomodate a special request from sir black. He's taking an extended break from UO, and wanted to see the event with the large gold prizes before he left. Enjoy the fights!

May 25th, 2001, at (9 PM PST, 10 PM MST, 11 PM Central, Midnight EST)
No Entry Fee

1st place 300K gps, 2nd place 200K gps, 3rd place 100K gps.

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!

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.

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. Contestant Battle Arena Rules

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. Spectator Rules

For calendar of events, rules, maps and community message board, please visit Grimoire

We hope you can make it,
LeeLu, Grimoire Staff

Your humble servant
Raeven Aurora

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From Alexander Wolf comes the following announcement:

Greetings!

I am Alexander Wolf, owner of a new vendor tower called The Abyss Auction House. Some of you may be familiar with my father Lord DarkWolf, and others not. Introductions aside, I would like to announce to my fellow Britannians that The Abyss Auction House is now open for business.

We will be holding our first auction on the 2nd day of June at 9pm under the central skies. Listed below are some of the events that will take place, as well as instructions for submitting items to be sold.

All item submissions must follow a few simple rules:

1) Each item must be in a bag
2) The bag must contain a book with your contact information, character name, a description of the item you wish to sell, and a minimum opening bid for the item.
3) The Abyss auction house requires a 5% fee from each item, but the rest is all yours.
4) Please ICQ myself (Alexander Wolf) at 106977662 to make submissions. If you stop by the tower to make a submission MAKE SURE you don't give it to anyone that doesn't have R*O in their guild title, as those are the only members of our staff that have access to the house.

GAMES

We will be playing a game called Lucky Runes. You may buy as many runes as you like from our vendor on the porch of the Abyss Auction House. The runes will be 5K each, and will be marked at random (not dangerous spots). ONE of the runes will have a Abyss Auction House staff member waiting at the end of it with a check for 200K just for you! (There will be 100 runes sold during the week before an auction)

We will have a drunken darts competition after the auction as well for those who wish to stick around for a little fun. All alcohol and daggers will be provided by the auction house, so you don't have to come prepared. Each contestant (only the first 10 people will be allowed to compete) will be given 5 throws, and they must be drunk while throwing. The contestant with the highest score will be given a check for 10K on the spot.

Runes will be passed out throughout the weeks until the auction at varying Trammel banks, as well as gates provided 1 hour before the start of the auction.

With that I bid you all farewell, and I hope to be hearing from you soon with some submissions. If you don't have anything to sell, we also have vendors of all types on the ground floor of the tower for your enjoyment. Feel free to make special requests if you don't see what you are looking for on one of our vendors, as we have all types of craftsmen and craftswomen working on the staff at The Abyss.

Best wishes with your new establishment, Mister Wolf!

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Some time ago, I had the bizarre and embarassing privilege of having my boat stolen by an orc mage. He just stepped aboard whilst I fought a pug-ugly ettin and began sailing south. Onlookers were hard pressed to decide which was funnier...seeing an orc at the helm of my boat or watching my jaw bounce off the turf while watching my boat being hijacked by the orcsih brigand.

Alas, more recent news indicates that my own experience was merely a prelude to far more serious matters. Read Lady Felicity's report and see for yourselves.

To Arms!

I was simply trying to gain some additional skill in taming, so I recalled into one of my favorite taming locations outside Papau. I was immediately beset by a large number of Orcs, a number of whom were frightened, and some of whom were green in color.

The frightened ones seemed to run from me, rather than immediately attacking. The green ones were called an "Orc Scout", and they were equipped with a bow! They seemed to be very capable archers, firing quickly and accurately. When I counter attacked with a flamestrike - the one I hit teleported away and disappeared! This was too much for me, so I ran to get the room to recall away, and went to Vesper.

The woods around Vesper are rife will all manner of creature to work on my taming skills. As per my usual habit, I started at the moongate, and started working my way east. To my surprise, I was beset once more by Orc scouts! They seem to be everywhere! What is a poor tamer to do?

I've enclosed several paintings that I made so that you may see the sheer brutal ugliness of both these new creatures. Please pass the word - Papau and Vesper seem to be targeted for attack!

Lady Felicity
Grandmaster Ranger - AOL Legends

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

Cyn

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In a recent "Comments from the Team" column, Gromm, credited as "Designer, Ongoing Content," makes some statements about how Ultima Online's storylines are going to be treated like backdrop to what he hopes will be an improvised story of sorts. I hope it works. I truly hope it does and, in fact, it may. However, odds are the results are going to be unsatisfying. Here's why.

I have been teaching improvisation for ten years and the central rule of all contemporary improvisation is "agree." Now, in its most clunky form, this literally means improvisers saying "Yes, and..." at the start of each of their lines. However, there is also a concept of macroagreement. According to this concept, performers can disagree on a moment-to-moment basis so long as they agree on some basic underlying concepts. For example, if my partner and I accept that we are playing a scene about a son sneaking home drunk late one night and being caught by his mother, we can argue all we want as long as we don't deny the underlying assumptions about the scene.

Here is where the biggest problem comes in for Gromm's plan. In order for this to be a successful improvised scene, the players involved need to work from shared assumptions and shared knowledge.

For example, let us assume three players are involved. If they all agree that they are going to play RP style and agree to accept all back-story they create, they are quite likely going to be able to at least justify and rationalize the strange offers being made by the Ongoing Content Team. Even if the OC team makes a new offer, our players can rationalize it into their improvised storyline.

Alas, there are complications. Let's say three more RP players enter this scenario. These three players have an entirely different back story which they developed based on the OC team's offers. When players A-C meet players D-F, our original group of players now will either need to reconcile their back stories, deny each others realities, or ignore each other. Never the less, these six players share an underlying assumption: they share a game play style and, as far as they are concerned, the information provided by the OC team is worthwhile.

What happens when players enter this scenario that don't share this underlying assumption?

Three more players enter. These three are here to collect rares, and get upset at player B of the original group. You see, the new players want to collect the rare green orc masks that only spawn on orc mages, and player B is RPing a guy who is trying to avenge his parents, who were killed by orc mages. They harass the RPers, and introduce information that denies the reality of the very fantasy world itself: "stop acting so stupid! This is just a game, lamer." Our three latest players share a different underlying assumption: UO is a game about collecting things. For these players, these quests only have a point in so much as they provide new collectable items.

By the way, today we're on Felucca and three more players enter. They want to get green orc masks (or any of the new items) by killing people who already have them. It so happens players D and E are RPing orcs and are wearing the green masks in order to live amongst the Cove Orcs, so they become immediate targets for the PK bunch, who "Rox ther Azz." D and E are killed and return to their corpses to find their orc masks looted. They are no longer able to RP amongst the orcs, unless they find or buy new masks.

Ultimately, the players who are most interested in actually follow Gromm's urge to improvise may be the ones who are the most frustrated by the improv-quests, as they face players who have radically different underlying assumptions. Frankly, this is the kind of improvising we have been doing for years already in UO.

I have also done a lot of work in scripted theatre. Some of the less experienced scripted theatre directors I have worked with in my life revert to the phrase "just improvise" when they can't figure out what they want to do. It is a phrase that strikes fear in the hearts of experienced performers, because they realize that there is nobody flying the metaphorical plane. My instincts suggest that this is the case in UO today.

I hope I'm wrong.

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NetOps has a Deathwish - and he speaks!

This update comes to you from Sean "Deathwish" McMains. I started at Origin about 8 months ago as a web application developer after having become dissatisfied with life as a dot-com drone, ironically at another company in the Origin building. After moving downstairs to Origin proper, I was quickly taught to swim by being tossed in the deep water of maintaining our customer management and billing system.

In spite of having been a long-time fan of Origin, I'd never actually played UO before coming to work here. Now that I've spent a good deal of time in the game and in the company, I'm convinced that for someone looking for deep gameplay in a Persistent State World there's nothing to compete with UO. (And with UO:3D, we're getting a bit of the eye candy too.) Since we've narrowed our focus solely to UO in the last couple months, we've been able to put even more effort into improving the game and its supporting systems. One recent improvement I'd like to bring to your attention involves the communication between the systems where you pay and the systems where you play.

As you know, to play Ultima Online, you have to pay a certain amount monthly. The server that's responsible for maintaining that billing information is completely separate from the server that decides whether or not you're able to log into the game. So, years ago, a system to transfer information from one server to the other was built. Though this system worked fine under normal loads, it would on occasion get a bit behind when there was an exceptional amount of data to move.

One instance of this occurred only last month, when we opened a new Japanese shard. The enthusiasm of the Japanese players was such that the shard filled to capacity within minutes of its opening, and stayed maxed out for days. We were thrilled to get such an enthusiastic response from our loyal fans, but unfortunately the database that serves the login servers began to show signs of strain. Though players were still able to log in to the game, our data transit system wasn't able to get its job done as efficiently as we hoped.

Our team immediately came together and started moving the data manually to ensure that players who had paid for the UO service would be able to play. This, however, was obviously a short term solution. After analyzing the situation, several of our database experts -- Mike "AviStetto" Howard and Doug Mellencamp most notably -- decided on a design for a new data transfer system that should be more efficient and robust than the one we had been using. After presenting their plans to our supervisors, they decided to go ahead and build the new system, estimating that it would take two days of a couple of our guys' time.

They set feverishly to work, and were ready to flip the switch right on schedule. We were all excited to see the results of the work, since the new system was simpler and would theoretically be much easier to maintain than the old one was. They made the switch, and were delighted to see the old system shuttling the data around as much as 30x as fast as was previously possible. Best of all, the very farthest behind it's ever gotten now in the couple of weeks that it's been operating is only about 8 minutes, and it averages much closer to 2 minutes -- far better than we'd ever seen with the old system.

This is just one example of the kind of improvements that are being made to UO daily. They're not all big, glamorous things that you notice right away when you log in. But we hope that, as we continue to improve UO's foundations, that you'll eventually notice even fewer interruptions, and will just be able to get down to the serious business of GMing that character you've been working on.

Sean "Deathwish" McCains
Network Operations
Origin Systems

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Lord British™ Unveils Game Development Studio

Legendary Game Designer Richard Garriott to Partner with Korean Game Company NCsoft™; Dream Team of Designers Already in Place to Create Next Generation Internet-Only Games

LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2001–Richard Garriott, the pioneering computer game designer and the creator of the popular Ultima™ series of computer games, is back in the business of making games after being out of the interactive entertainment industry news for the last year. Garriott today unveiled an online game development studio, Destination Games, located in Austin, Texas. Destination Games was founded in April of 2000 after Garriott’s departure from Origin Systems. Garriott also announced that Destination Games would immediately become a part of NCsoft, a Korean-based company that currently operates the largest subscription-based online game in the world, Lineage: The Blood Pledge™. Garriott, along with other Destination Games and NCsoft officials made the announcement at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Garriott, and his brother Robert, a co-founder of Destination Games and the company’s president and chief executive officer, have assembled the top talent in the online gaming industry. The team includes Starr Long, who along with Richard Garriott created Ultima™ Online, the first commercially successful subscription-based online game. Other members of the team previously worked on such titles as Asheron’s Call™, Air Warrior™ and the Command and Conquer™ series. Together they will join forces with Lineage creator and NCsoft Chief Creative Officer, Jake Song, to form the most prominent and experienced group of online game designers in the world.

"This is a match made in heaven," says Richard Garriott. "In just a few short years, Jake Song has established himself as one of the industry’s top online game designers. Lineage now has more subscribers than Ultima Online, Everquest™ and Asheron’s Call combined. It’s a dominant market leader in the Asian markets. We’re excited to leverage NCsoft and Jake’s experience to help us launch our games in Asia."

Also announced today was joint work with NC Interactive™, an online support organization that will provide the necessary resources to support Lineage as well as other NCsoft and Destination Games products. That group will play an important role as NCsoft and Destination Games improve support and visibility for Lineage to North America and Europe throughout this year.

Lineage is a massively multiplayer role-playing game in a medieval fantasy setting. It has the largest subscriber base of any online game in the world. In Korea alone there are more than two million active accounts. Simultaneous worldwide user numbers have been as much as 180,000.

"NCsoft is proud to be a part of this new venture," says Jake Song. "Richard and Robert Garriott have a long and successful track record in this business and they understand how to successfully launch a product in North America and Europe. Having that kind of experience now in the NCsoft family will provide even greater opportunities for us as we expand our products beyond the Asian territories."

The Garriotts along with their father and a family friend founded ORIGIN™ Systems in 1983 and grew the company into the top independently owned computer game studio in the United States. ORIGIN Systems is best known for the Ultima series of fantasy computer games including Ultima Online. In 1992 the Garriotts sold ORIGIN Systems to Electronic Arts™.

About Destination Games™
Destination Games, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is the Internet gaming venture of Richard Garriott aka Lord British™ and Robert Garriott, the co-founders of Origin Systems™. Destination Games makes cutting edge online entertainment experiences that are richly detailed, easily accessible and best of all, fun to play. Destination Games is partnered with NCsoft™, provider of the world’s number 1 online game, Lineage: The Blood Pledge™.

About NCsoft™
NCsoft, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is the world’s largest independent online game company. Established in 1997 as a systems integration company, NCsoft has leaped to become Korea’s and the world’s leading online game software company. In Korea, its blockbuster hit game Lineage: The Blood Pledge™ commands a 47% market share and attracts the greatest number of concurrent users in the world.

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As promised, BV (http://www.battlevortex.com) has released an interview with Pete “Adrick” Warner, Designer for Origin Systems. This interview includes all aspects of the Faction System. What the current plans are for several different areas of the system and information about what has changed since BV’s interview with Designer Evocare.

Topics include Election system changes, Blues in strongholds, falling sigils, kill point issues, quitting factions, point banking, joining factions and hiding in Trammel, Blue interference, bug reporting for faction issues, communication, point mules, guild changes, player interactions, reputation system, murderer reprieve, thieves in Factions, stronghold balance, faction armor, Warhorses, silver rewards for kills, Bards in factions, and more…

Running time is 46 Minutes.

To listen to the show, you must have an MP3 player or RealAudio to hear the streamed version. More information is available at http://www.battlevortex.com/bvra.php.

Enjoy the interview!

-Fear

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UO Volunteer / Player Luncheon

Where: Northern Virginia
Date: August 3 - 5th 2001

Friday: Dinner
Saturday: All day Barbecue
Sunday: Brunch

Who can attend? Anyone that has ever Volunteered for UO, players of UO and their families.

Currently we have people coming in from Italy and all over the United States! To find out how you can attend this event and get discount hotel rates go to: http://www.dreamwater.net/game/uofriends/

To add a twist to things we have also made arrangements with a camp ground for anyone interested in working on their camping skills. Please note that the anti-macro code is active in Virginia =)

Thank you,

Former: SRC DreamON and Training Lead Tigger

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"While hunting the area near Northwest of Papua, I encountered a larger spawn of orcs. Nothing interesting about an orcs spawn in t2a, but what was special about it was 2 special kind of orcs: An orc scout and a frightened orc.

The orcish scouts looked like normal orcs, except their skin had a greenish hue. They were armed with bows which hit fairly hard. They had the ability to teleport and hide, which they would do when they were badly wounded. I was able to reveal them, even though I have no skill in revealing hidden persons. What made them even more dangerous was their ability to heal using bandages. I had a hard time killing them, as they kept healing. What loot I found on them was things like gold (about 100 gp), bows, swords, apples, sometimes bone armor. They now and then drooped "an orcish bow" which had a grayish hue. A close inspection didn't reveal anything special about it.

The frightened orcs tried to flee every time I got close. When I hit them they didn't hit back and I was able to finish them of with ease. They carried around 30 gp.

On my way to Vesper, I encountered an Orcish scout just south of the Minoc Moongate. This hints that the spawn near Papua is not a local phenom.

So why are they here? Might be the scouts of an orcish invasion, but that doesn't explain the frightened orcs."

- Uzakar

Hail fellow Britannians!

Napa's very own Riders of the Wind is pleased to announce our second running of the "Where in Napa" contest! This will be a grand time to show off your vast knowledge of the surrounding countryside, both above and below... and possibly walk away with some cash and other goodies.

Each week, a screenshot is made available to all those participating, of a particular area in Britannia. These areas will are currently limited to Trammel and the Lost Lands. The rules for this contest are simple: be the first person at the designated spot within the time limit and with the proper password and you win!

It's that simple.

Although the premise is simple, finding the given location may not be. But fear not... we promise that all of the locations will be attainable by normal means within the time period. You won't see
areas such as the Star Room, Under the Sea, or any of the areas that Belan the Looter has special runes to. Below is all the information you need to enjoy this event:

Date: Friday, May 25, 2001
Time: 7:45PM Pacific time
Location: The main back room of the Vesper Bank

Interested participants should meet in the main back room of the
Vesper bank starting at 7:45PM for gates to the Riders of the Wind guild house. Gates will be made available up until 8:00PM.

At 8:00PM the guild house will be opened to the waiting
participants. When all of the participants are safely in the guild house, the door will be closed and the event will begin.

At this time a URL will be displayed giving a screenshot of the area to locate (hereafter referred to as the "designated location"). The password, time limit, and other tidbits of information, will also be on this page. At this time the participants are left to their own devices to reach the designated location.

At the designated location there will be a hidden affiliate of ROW
waiting for people to show and bark out the password. If the correct
password is given, the person will be gated back to the starting location to receive their prize. This week's first prize will be a cool 35,000gp!!!
There may also be some other trinkets thrown in there as well and possible runner-up prizes.

If the designated location is not reached within the time limit, the prizes will be rolled over into the next week's contest making for an even larger prize.
*** Special Notes ***

This installment of WIN has some additional things to note that may supercede the above rules. They pertain only to THIS running of the event:

There will be at least one person in the surrounding area to
resurrect the dead. The person hiding at the designated location will not resurrect people.

Recalling directly into the designated location is not permitted.

Don't bring along anything you aren't willing to loose.

When you reach the designated location, shout out the password. What happens next depends on the situation. If possible, the hidden event member will reveal and gate back to the event staging area. Otherwise, the hidden event member will either hand you a colored bag, or drop it for you on the floor. This is basically your indication that you found the right spot and its time to return to the event staging area.

If the hidden event member doesn't offer a gate back, head back to the event staging area designated at the start of the event in whatever means possible.Don't worry if any of the instructions are unclear. They will all be reiterated and clarified before the event starts.

As the locations get harder, so will the prizes get larger! If we find that the locations are too hard, we will offer smaller prizes for easier locations. The minimum will always be at least 10,000gp.

So, don your geography hat and join us in ROW's second installment of "Where in Napa"!

- Lord Wind Runner, Riders of the Wind - Napa

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Hail and well met!

I thought I present you some evidence on at least two new orc types and sightings of small orc camps.

The following pictures show an Orc Scout (woodland green in coloration), a very capable Archer type with some very unnerving stealth like abilities when it gets too closely involved in close combat (seems to teleport/vanish if received over 50%/hp damage, bandaging sounds can be heared in vicinity!), it is also quite capable of healing itself. It's general capabilities are close if not higher then a Master Archer with a very high dexterity.

The second new Orc type is called 'a frightened Orc', quite amusing...lets one wonder what could possibly frighten Orcs, well this Orc tends to run away as soon as it gets some "feedback", yet it seems to freeze in shock when it receives greater wounds and injuries(over 50%/hp).

These Orcs and other, more common types such as champions, lords and the general grunt were seen in and around a nice looking provisional orc camp around the fields and farmlands of Skara Brae on the Shard known as Napa Valley.

Strange as it may seems the local peasantry and closely associated rangers did not react to these occurances in any way.

Eldritch of Napa Loremaster of House Quaesitor

• They do not protect you from Ettins
• They are not 'newbied,' but like regular orc masks can be 'blessed' with a clothing bless deed.
• When wearing an Orc mask you may still attack another player wearing an Orc mask and not risk it exploding. While wearing an Orc Mask you may still attack another player wearing an Orc Mask in Felucca or under normal guild and war rules in Trammel.

Also we've heard that of the new camps on Pacific:

Strange goings on with green orcs and a camp of frightened orcs. Go to the minoc fell moongate and head east as though going to Vesper. Half way there head north and you will find the camp. Be careful of the "orc scouts" they seem to be similar to rat archers.

Lord Oddut of Pacific

I thought Sven had been hitting the ale too much, but to humor him I got Kitty (my favorite Red Dragon) and went down to the docks. As soon as I stepped off of the ferry one of those dirty creatures attacked me as well. Kitty didn't take too kindly to that. No sooner had Kitty dug into his hide than he runs off and hides just like Sven said. I heard him still, and Kitty smelled him, poor girl. I had a trick up my sleeve that Sven didn't (other than a pet Dragon), and managed to down this beast with Kitty's help. I look to his belongings and I see some specially crafted Orc bow! I killed two more but these did not have the special bow. I decided to get this scroll off right away, but now I'm going back to chase these foul beats from my beautiful Skara Brae!

Sortia Masuke

The morning of May 23 the city of Skara Brae was under attack at the docks by a group of Orcs, Orc Lords, two new monsters called an Orc scout and a frightened orc.

The frightned orc ran away and had minimum treasure. The orc scout, however, is very different. The orc scout can heal itself with bandages (you hear the sound), uses a bow, (and very well), and can use stealth when injured. Beware the scout he is very nasty!

New Orc Fort Outside Cove

The orcs scouts on occasion carry a new magic item called an orcish bow, that has a green gray appreance. I have no idea of its properties. Investigating, I went to cove and found that the orcs have broken our lines and have set up camp to the southeast of the city. It seems like the orcish mages have vanished! I've yet to see even one.

Katrina Skye

There are orc camps just north of Papua on Siege perilous that contain normal orcs and 2 new types of orcs.

One type is a green orc named "an orc scout" and he's an archery who tele hides and has healing skill.Also on his corpse which is very rare from what I have seen can be found a shadow colored "orcish bow", no idea what it does yet.

The 2nd type of orc is a normal looking orc called a "frightened orc" and all it does it run away even at full health.

Punisher of The Cabal
Siege Perilous Shard

• They appear to be dark greyish green in color, almost black.
• They do not explode when used on orcs.
• They are not newbied.
• They do not cause negative karma for using them.
• Orcs will attack as normal when you have the bow equiped.
• They do not appear to give any special bonuses at this time.

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I check Arcane's site regularly and it appears that he has posted another toon! Indeed, it looks as if he is getting back into the 'toons, with the 117th, and I'm sure we can all learn from this particular 'toon! ;-)

Lost in UO

Cheers ...

Geoffrey Hyde

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This message in from Dragons of the Syndicate.

UO's oldest and largest guild, The Syndicate, continues to expand the vendor network that has brought quality products at low prices to UO players for a long time! We have more than 100 vendors in houses all across Trammel and Felucca, linked together by a rune book in each one. We sell all products an adventurer could need from very rare items to potion kegs, to weapons to armor and anything else you might want. If its for sale, you will find it on one of our vendors. We continue to add more houses to the network and more vendors to our database so you can quickly look up what you wish to buy and head right to the correct vendor. No more searching around until you stumble across one selling what you need!

So come check out our Syndicate Vendor Network (SVN) web page for all the details and make your UO shopping experience easier and less expensive.

-Dragons-

Thank ye, Dragons.

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Yesterday, the venerable Uncle Dullblade, Elder of the Legends Druids, decided it was again time to foster some community spirit. In his infinite wisdom, "Unc" Dullblade has devised two contests. One of the events, a particularly nasty pvp tournament, will be announced in the next week or so. The other event shall commence today. The "Great Player-Made Item Contest" is designed to reward ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness.

The rules are simple. The item must be created by a player and must be placed in a shop, house or tower. The "item" must be constructed of at least three other components. Examples of such items are: fish aquariums, fireplaces, altars, ect...

Citizens of Legends have until June 13th to complete the item and notify myself or Uncle Dullblade. At that time, a member of the Druids Guild will come to the location of the item and make a rendering (screenshot). The rendering shall be presented to the Judges and a winner will be selected on June 14, at 9:00 pm Cst.

The prizes are:

News of this event sent in by Martin Willow, Vice-Mayor of Trinsic.

Hail and Well met!

The Trinsic Council of Honor is once again holding its monthly Bazaar! The Bazaar will be held in its usual location, just north of the Trinsic Royal Bank, right in front of the Shining Path Armory. Any merchants are free to come and sell their wares, in fact we encourage it, as the booths are all free! Also, members of the Trinsic Honor Guard will be present, interviewing recruits for the Honor Guard's ranks. Plus, you can come and mock the Mayor of Trinsic, Annunzio! So stop by, enjoy some ale, purchase or sell goods, all on Saturday, May 26, starting at 7:00 pm EST.

See you in Trinsic!
Martin Willow, Vice-Mayor of Trinsic

Thank ye Martin. We do hope everyone has a grand time mocking the Mayor. *chuckles*

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Faction Changes and Corrections May 22 2001 3:56PM CST

A problem with Faction Commander messaging abilities has been fixed. Faction Commanders should now be able to send faction messages properly to the rest of the Faction, four per hour.

A problem with killpoints/kill deficit becoming reset has been fixed.

The “I honor your leadership” function should now work properly.

Problems with Faction Robes not appearing on those that join a Faction, or appearing on those that do not join a Faction, has been fixed. Players that join a Faction should now get their Faction robe properly.

Players who are not in a Virtue Guild (Order or Chaos), but were receiving certain aspects or benefits of a Virtue Guild, will no longer receive those aspects or benefits.

Faction Guards will no longer be subject to healing by “blue” non-faction players.

A problem with Faction players being unable to wear certain Faction items has been fixed.

Sigils will no longer be stealable for an hour after a shard comes back up.

Additional Fixes and Changes To Factions May 22 2001 3:58PM CST

Blue players within the Minax stronghold will be able to become “unstuck” from that location. Some blue players may have possibly logged out inside that stronghold before certain recent changes were put in to restrict blue player entry. This has caused some blue players to become stuck within the location.

Containers within the Minax stronghold will now be able to be destroyed properly, without the improper “house” error message.

Players can now “push through” Faction merchants without stamina loss or “blocking” by the merchant.

Aggressors can no longer use moongates of any type while they are classified as an aggressor.

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The Silverthorn Kingdom Is Proud to present That they will be Hosting a Festival In Yew Trammel. It will be held at 5PM June Saturday the 2nd.

We will Be Hosting Events Such as:

• Archery Contest
• A Knights Melee (Plate and Chainmail Only with Melee wepons Excludes Magery and Archery)
• Team Battle(Break into teams and Last Team Standing Wins)
• Free For all(Any Type of Class Everyone For a big Free For all)
• The Joust(Pole Arms only Mounted Fighting both Combatants Get to run past Each other and take one swing miss or hit Best out of 3 Wins)
• Drunken Mage Competition (mages Get drunk and Fight)
• For non-Fighters There will be The Best Scribe Game and Various Mini Games and Gambling.

We Will Also Have Other People there selling their wares Such as smiths Scribes, Carpenters ect...

All Competitions Will have a 5k Entry Fee with the Exception of the Knights Melee and the Free for all the Knights Melee will be 10k Winner Takes Home an ammount decided by how many show up. and the Free for all will Cost 8k and anyone May participate Mages archers Melee... Last Person Standing Takes Prize!

And At the End of the Festival We will make way To Nu'jelm For an Auction Of Rares, Magical Wepons, And Even People to help with what ever Needs you have!

If You Are interested In Helping or Want more information on The Silverthorn Kingdom Please ICQ me at 109489679 Or E-mail me For details. We Highly Encourage Guilds to Come and bring everyone All are Invited to Join us as well!

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I could not believe what I was reading. Having decided weeks ago to take a sabbatical from my storywriting, here I was at home feeling anything but comfortable. Before me on the table lay a parchment demanding my presence before the Grand Inquisitor, a man whom I had never met before but had heard rumours about. His office, if ye could call it that, consisted of apprehending citizens whom he, or others higher up, deemed "threats to the realm," questioning them at length, and then judging their innocence or guilt to whatever charges had been laid against them. I was petrified. Knowing I could not resist the summons, and since he bade me arrive at our Lord's Castle within an hour of receiving the note, I elected to present myself before him early, in hopes that my conscientiousness might leave a more cheerful impression of me in his mind.

Alas, it did nothing of the sort.

I found the Inquistor's office, smiled, bowed and introduced myself. He was alone, save for a scribe standing beside him as he sat at a rather oversized table and for a single guard who stood beside the door, halberd at ready. I could barely see the Inquisitor's face as it was hidden by shadows formed by the expansive hood he wore.

"Ye are Erik Valstrom, Chronicler. Is this true?" he asked in a nasally and monotonous tone of voice, devoid even of the slightest wisp of cordiality.

"I am good sir. How may I assist thee?" I replied kindly enough.

"There are reports that ye have been involved in activities which, at one time, may have been deemed necessary and acceptable by standards that once existed in the realm, but which are now proscribed by law. Ye are here so that I may take thine oath that ye will cease and desist from these activities immediately."

I was dumbfounded. "What activities might these be, sire?" ...the question was invoked quite apart from mine own will.

He laid before me a parchment to sign which read:

"Thy services as an official chronicler for criminal activities within the realm of Sosaria are officially and hereby at an end. We no longer share the interest in these tales as the bulk of these miscreants of whom ye write have been arrested and some executed. We do not wish to make them the focus of public attention as that may make martyrs of them in the eyes of their ilk. Therefore, any official publication of their exploits is henceforth terminated. If ye continue to publish thy tales it shall be without the official sanctioning of the Crown and such tales will be subject to our scrutiny for content. If the content bears anything deemed harmful or detrimental to the welfare of the realms, or if ye choose to spread rumours, lies, and mischief of any kind, whether verbally or in printed form, ye shall reap the consequences reserved for such miscreants and criminals."

In a more positive vein, it did go on to say:

"Thy services have been appreciated in the past by the Crown, and a monument in tribute to thy efforts as well as that of others, has been erected for all to see. It is hoped ye will not see this dismissal as an offence, or any unfairness, but that ye will trust that certain policies within the realms have made this and other policy changes quite necessary. May the Virtues guide thee always."

What could one say to that? I nodded and signed the paper without a word. "Is that all, sire?" I asked pushing the paper in front of him.

The Inquistor nodded, took it, and rolled it up. "Pray that it is," he said, under his breath.

I looked at the scribe busily recording the conversation and then to the guard who stepped away from the door and opened it. I bowed slightly to them all and walked quickly out of the office and into forced retirement from an official and quite satisfying position within the government. I was greatly pained by it as were the many others who found themselves in my place, wondering what had happened and why it was so sudden. Perhaps that was a story in itself. Something worth looking in to.

I decided it would not be the end of my work, and went at once to seek an acquaintance who might still publish my stories.

Erik Valstrom
Former Chronicler for BNN

Coercion is something any writer must do at times to get his or her story. I am not above using a bribe even, if the story is good enough. This one was and is the result of such a ploy.

A high ranking official, hitherto unnamed, owed me a rather large favor. So after leaving the presence of the not-so-grand Grand Inquistor, I found the gentleman and explained to him what I needed. With some reluctance he gave me permission to interview a criminal I had long sought to talk with--Baron Malak Nocturnis, recently apprehended in a massive realm-wide roundup of major criminal types. A guard led me to the small cell wherein the Baron was confined, chained to a wall. The guard told me the Baron would be executed privately that very evening for his crimes. I felt certain he would be most agreeable and eager to tell me his side of things.

Nobility often brings out the best in folk, even sadistic wretches like the one who stood before me. What I knew about him came from what I had looked up in some very old books in the Britain library. Generations ago he was an official of Minoc, along with Scaramandine, and was suspected to have ties to the evil mage cult known as the Necromari. While Scaramandine escaped capture by court officials, the Baron holed up in his estate outside of Minoc and unleashed his trained hounds on those sent to arrest him. He was taken into custody eventually, confessed to heinous crimes, and was summarily and judiciously executed. However his body was stolen, presumably by Necromari and from there his history ends. It is my belief, though purely speculation I might add, that Scaramandine transformed him into a liche lord to serve him in some capacity. Clearly though, the person I now looked upon was no liche, even though his skin was quite pale. More necromantic magic, probably.

The Baron was hospitable enough at first. He spoke with a clear voice which never quivered in tone nor gave any hint of worry or fear of impending doom. I actually found him far more congenial than the Grand Inquistor and privately wondered if they were going to execute the right man.

"Come to gape and mock?" he inquired as I stood ready, quill and parchment in hand.

"Nay, sir, I come giving ye the chance to speak thy mind to the public, ere ye die. Surely ye have something meaningful to say--some tale to tell?"

He laughed. "Aye, that I do! Tell thy "public" and the Crown that I did not fail in my pursuit. The Elder shall avenge me! Ye are all dead men."

I was intrigued by his threat. "The 'Elder' ye say? Do ye mean Scaramandine?"

"Who else?"

I nodded, but added, "He is no more sir. He was banished to the netherworld, the abyss, along with his great-grandson Scaramandine II some months ago. There is no return from such a place. That is well known. Why tell such stories when thy demise is imminent--to frighten the children? I am no child sir."

Again he laughed, this time longer and harder. I could see the madness in his eyes, but also a certain disconcerting confidence. "Fool! All of ye--fools!!! Thy magicks pale in comparison to the forgotten necromantic arts in which the Elder tutored me! He foreknew his demise long ago and prepared for it. He filled fifty vials with his own blood, dispersing them in groups of seven, save the one stolen from him, in seven buried chests. Thirty-five of these were recovered and I performed the necessary ritual moments before my arrest."

"Ritual?"

"Aye. Even though I did not have them all and knew it would create difficulties for him in his return, I worked the enchantments to restore him to this realm."

"Then ye still maintain he lives?!"

"He does indeed! Though I have not seen him and now will not and though he is not as powerful as he used to be, he has been freed from his imprisonment in the abyss. That much my devoted followers have told me."

"That is impossible sir!"

"For such as ye perhaps, but the court mages know it is true and even now they scour the lands in search of him. They will fail. Ye shall all fail! And when he recovers the chests containing..." He suddenly fell silent.

"Say on, what do they contain?" I jotted his words down hastily.

He shook his head. "Ye will all know in time, but then it will be too late! This riddle he gave me to tell thee should he be restored to this land. Care to hear it?"

I looked up at him and he, not caring whether I wished it or not, said: "'Seven of one and seven other, seven more to build another. I took them once one by one--I'll have all at once ere I'm done.'" He then paused a moment to let me mull over it. "Know what it means, talebearer?"

I elected to taunt him, hoping he would reveal the meaning in his anger. "Tis the ravings of a lunatic like thyself--incomprehensible jibberish and rhyme of the worst sort. Had ye divulged the orcish word for latrine, I would have been better served."

It proved fortuitous for me that he was chained to the wall, for he lunged, glaring at me from bulging, murderous, hate-filled eyes. I took several steps backward and called out for the guard who came in immediately and knocked him backwards with the butt of his halberd.

"Ready to go are ye?" the guard asked, sensing my nervousness.

I nodded. I had no further desire to speak to the wretched lunatic whose malice-filled eyes glared at me just a few paces away. As I turned to leave, the Baron spoke once more. "Ye know that liches never truly die, don't ye?" he remarked, grinning like a fool. "Til ye destroy their phylacteries that is?"

"Aye, so I have heard," I replied. "Pity then ye are one no longer, eh Baron? Thy doom is near. Make peace with whatever gods ye own."

His hideous, mocking, laughter echoed down the hall behind me as I was escorted out of the prison.

Erik Valstrom
Chronicler

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A note from Thodin:

Hear yea! Hear yea!

The Judges have been around the houses entered in the Best Decorated
House in UO competition 2001, and we have finally reached a conclusion!
However, to find out who won, you'll have to wait untill the 23rd of May,
at 8pm, at the Palace in Nuljem (Trammel)! All are invited to the award
ceremony, where the grand prize total of over 600,000gp will be divided
between the winners

Finally, special thanks must go to:
Tior, for organising the event

Tiara, Lemo, Thodin (myself), FireBird, Blade Swinger, Tarox,
Carina, Conner, Claudia, who all judged the various catagories;

Lady Breigh, Tegarin, Blade Swinger, Gorthol, Pip, and Newquay (Aries), who,
with
additional large donations by some of the judges and Tior, managed to
amass a total prize fund of over 600,000gp

-------
Thodin, the ideas den moderator and UO-Europan player
[email protected]
ICQ# 46499380

Grand.

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Monday 14th May saw the latest weekly meeting of the Trinsic Council Of
 Honour (TCH).

 The council met in the Meeting Hall at Trinsic at 8pm (GMT). The following
 were in attendance: -

 Attendees: Sydark FFL, Lord Yoldran CMg, Mowahk II SIR, Douglas, Craig
 Alexander, robbos, Maria del Sythia, Mentazm, MOHA, Antimodes PH, Darkarna
 3LA, Kaine, Sinuhe, Lady Helena

 Apologies : Kaine apologised for Crowleys absense - twas due to tech
 difficulties in RL.

 The mainpoints discussed were: -

 1) A lengthly and stimulating debate on the nature of Chaos and Order, and
 councils (in general) part in this. This was mostly due to a rather
 enthusiastic Darkarna proclaiming "A council is not needed in Trinsic.
Rules
 lead to order, Order leads to Chaos, Chaos leads to Fear", etc.
 Unfortunately we had others matter to discuss, so we the attendees voted
and
 agreed that a Council will be benefical to the city. So that was setteld


 2) The posistions discussed at last weeks meeting were formalised. These
are
 to be Mayor, Deputy mayor, Town crier, Treasurer and Scribe. If further
 positions are needed, then these will disussed when the need arises.

 3) The attendees voted and passed those who would fill the above positions
 in the temporary council (remembering that these are only for the ad hoc
 council and may change when the voting actually takes place): Town crier -
 Craig Alexander, Treasurer - Kaine,
 Scribe - Sydark, Deputy mayor(ess) - Maria del Sythia, Mayor - Mentazm.

 4) A suggestion was made by Mentazm for setting up a seperate guild for
he
 council members (similar to Moonglow council's MgC) but this has yet to be
 discussed formally. Can you the temporary councikl please think about this
 and decide if you want to leave your present guild (if any) or if you want
 to start a new character solely for the council (again remembering this is
 for the temporary
 council).

 If you would like to attend future meetings to discuss these matters,
build
 some community spirit, and make some new friends then the next meeting
will
 be held in the Trinsic Meeting Hall in Trammel (x1895,y2719) on Monday 7th
 of May at 20:00 GMT.

 Sydark.

Im glad its going well

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News from Spiritwood:

Excitement grew as the eager crowd took their seats at the famed Spiritwood Field, their nervous pre-match chatter filling the air. On the pitch, the players limbered up, some running laps, other doing deep knee bends, others still gently chiding their opponents as tension grew for this first meeting in what promises to be a ringer of a season. Yes folks, last night we had the first match in the All Britannia Bagball season!

At last, the teams were fully assembled, the Mean Green Machine of Spiritwood facing off against the visiting team, the Blue Devils of Deepwater. Both teams lined up to hear the rules one last time and then the whistle blew and they were off! Like two berserk armies they charged down the field, all 20 players intent upon an innocent yellow bag of logs, far to heavy to carry and movable only through team work and precision passing. Back and forth the tide of frenzied green and blue swept, first this way then that. The crowd roared and shouted encouragement, advice and castigations at their respective teams. Too and fro the action went until at last, in a whirl of flailing bodies and flying elbows, the yellow bag appeared just inside the Spiritwood net. GOOOOAAAAALLLL yelled the Blue Devils as one, as they ran like headless chickens back towards the Deepwater side. Downcast, the home team quickly reformed and play began again, but it seems that the Blue Devils had superior tactics, as well as two Pumpa strikers on their side, and soon a second well executed Deepwater shot found its target in the home team net! Disheartened, the Spiritwood side quickly huddled to discuss strategy during the short midway break. Sadly, this didn’t seem to result in the hoped for turn around, and despite the best efforts of the Spiritwood goalie’s desperate attempts to seal the net with a hastily cast Wall of Stone, the momentum seemed to be going all Deepwater’s way. A penalty kick was arranged and the Deepwater striker lost no time in moving on the goal, but lo, a secret pass to a hidden Pumpa brought shouts of foul from both home team and spectators alike. Fearing for the safety of the Pumpa, the ref showed the red card, and after some disgruntled Orcish cursing, the penalty was retaken. This time some honour was restored to the home side when their courageous goalie successfully defended. Sadly this moment of glory was short lived and at the final whistle the visitors from Deepwater township were in firm possession of a 4 – 0 victory!

  A short riot then ensued as the two teams fell upon one another, but this was soon put a stop to with shouts of “Free drinks in the Tavern!!!” After the match, as the home team drowned its sorrows and the visitors toasted their fine victory, a rematch was hastily agreed and all went home with a smile on their inebriated faces.

  It seems that Bagball has come to Britannia!

What a novel idea.

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A note recived from Farmer Briar McMullen:

*a man runs into the tavern in Britain with a pale face*
H...hhh...Help!
H..h..help me please!
I just had something happen to me and i dont know what to make of it!!
*The people in the tavern tell the man to sit down and take a deep breath,
relax and ask him to tell them what has happened*

*After a few moments the man seems to be a little more at ease and starts to
talk*

T..tt..t..thank you everyone
*the man takes a sip from the ale that the tavernkeeper just brought him*
Let me first tell you who i am : I am Briar McMullen, a humble peasant and
farmer who works the fields just west of our fair town Britain.
Just like everyday , today i was working the fields when suddenly a vision
of some sort shot into my mind!
You must know that i am no important person, so why this vision came to me
is beyond my grasp...

Anyway...*the man takes another sip of the ale*...the vision was that of a
man at some sort of ruins , Ruins that i have not seen before , nor do i
know the wearabouts of them.
The man was standing in front of a pentagram with a book on it and a strange
book it was...it seemed to be in some sort of invisible though still visible
state.



Something in my mind told me this vision was of the past and had allready
happened, though i dont really know how i know, i just know.
After i saw this i slowly came back and i woke up lying on the ground on the
field
Scared to death as i was, i ran straight here into town, to see if anyone
could help me and ended up here with you all.
*Takes the last sip of his ale*

I feel a bit better now...i think i'll go to bed and see if i can get some
sleep after what i saw.
Maybe i feel better in the morning.

*Turns his head to the tavernkeeper and the tavernkeeper nods to him and
points upstairs*
*The man stands up , still looking pale and goes to a room upstairs to maybe
get some sleep*

*some whispering goes about the tavern about the man , but that slowly dies
out for noone can make heads nor tails about it*

Oooh, irry.

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Grimoire 1 vs. 1 Results for 5/18/2001

There was a healthy turnout at this Friday's Grimoire 1 vs. 1 event. This week's event was sponsored by the perpetually generous MacMichael and hosted by Josh. Here are the results:

• 1st place: Hollywood
• 2nd place: Sif
• 3rd place: Champagne

Huge thanks to the devoted Grimoire staff members! Thank you Josh, Tyrany, Sammy, Sasami, and Fiona Pentell! Also many thanks to Lucan for covering the event with the Adam Cam for the folks who couldn't make it to Grimoire in person.

Thanks everyone and cya next week where we're going to have unusually large prize amounts! Keep checking for more info on that!

Grimoire Staff

Your humble servant
Raeven Aurora

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We will be activating the new distributed backup system on the Great Lakes and Lake Superior shards on Thursday, May 24th following their regularly scheduled maintenance period. The system has been actively running on the AOL Legends and Atlantic shards since last month, and has reduced backup times considerably. We estimate that this change will bring shard backup times down to between 5-15 minutes per shard. As a result, the amount of time required for shard maintenance, restarts, and ‘time warps’ may be narrowed to between 5-15 minutes in most cases.

Please note: As this backup system decreases the amount of time required for a shard backup, it will also decrease the amount of ‘warp time’ available prior to a maintenance period. We urge that players keep this in mind when playing before a scheduled maintenance period.

We will be closely monitoring the Great Lakes and Lake Superior shards and, barring any unforeseen issues, will continue activating this system on the remaining shards in the near future. We will announce a release schedule for the remaining shards at least 24 hours in advance of their activation.

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As a game network, the Internet sucks.

Massively-multiplayer games (MMPs, for short) require a fairly lag-free and predictable environment to operate well, because hundreds or thousands of players are simultaneously reacting to each other and the game in real time. To have an enjoyable experience, that means all that data the player generates by clicking here or typing there has to move in a fairly consistent and speedy manner between the game servers, the home PC and back.

If the goal had been to create a high-speed, lag-tolerant network that would move data packets from here to there in a short, predictable time span, we sure as hell wouldn’t have built the Internet. We’d have looped the servers and routers together on a closed network, on which we could have easily predicted the time of transmission of a game command from one computer to another and back again. That would also mean you’d have ‘hard’ connections between remote server clusters, which means stringing dedicated copper or fiber lines between the server clusters.

That works pretty well on a small, local scale, say in one or two cities only a few miles from each other. When you have to start laying dedicated copper or fiber between server clusters in cities fifty or more miles apart, however, you better have pockets deeper than Bill Gates, because the phone company charges by the mile to lay those lines. This is the reason even the old proprietary national networks, such as GEnie and AOL, went with remote modem banks that used repeaters to connect to a small number of main server complexes. Not as fast and lag free as dedicated phone line connections to the Big Iron, but much more cost effective and still pretty fast and predictable, overall.

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Hi everyone! We’ve put together answers to these questions with input from Melantus, Sage, Cynthe, Calandryll, Leilo, Evocare, Adrick, and Hanse (and in some cases, you’ll see more than one answer to a question.) If we didn’t answer your question quite as in-depth as you wanted in this Virtual Question and Answer session, keep in mind it doesn’t mean we aren’t listening. We have a lot of great plans and ideas for the future of UO, and we don’t want to make any promises that we won’t be able to keep for you if something comes up in the future.

-- Have a great luncheon! The UO Team

On the Environment:

Is OSI working on another dungeon?

We cant say either way. We want to add new content in the future, but keeping that secret is part of the surprise. :) The Origin building has a basement. We think that is enough. No dungeon necessary. In the game? Maybe. ;)

Can we expect to see any of the Ultima Online: Origin material in Ultima Online: Third Dawn, such as motion capture, new monsters, spells, skills, etc?

We are still pondering that. We have some very talented people from the Ultima Online: Origin team now on the UO team. We have already begun to put their incredible talent to use (whether it be talent in art, quality assurance, programming, etc). You can see some of this in the new emotes and gestures available in Third Dawn, like yawning, dancing, and arguing, among others.

On the Player Community:

Siege is a unique shard, are there any plans to involve the players of Siege in a unique way with the development of the shard? For example, a voting system on changes to the PvP system (hint: re-vamping special hits)?

I haven't heard of any suggestions for a voting system. Our boards are better then a voting system, which cant really give additional feedback other then the vote itself. We've heard several suggestions for Siege Perilous and are of course open to considering good suggestions for it.

Is there any chance that you will make special titles for murderers with a lot of kills? (ie: mass murderer)

Haven't considered it really, as this is the first suggestion I've heard for that. No plans right now to do that.

Do you think that there will be an way that taverns will be able to allow their visitors to access locked down goblets, and games? (co-owner/ friend/ visitor options?)

This has been suggested several months' back and we initially started looking at it. I don't know what ever happened to it, but thank you for bringing it back to our attention.

When will the Vet rewards come back into UO?

The test server that they are on should be going external within a few days or so. (Note from Ivy: According to Stratics, Vet rewards went external as of today). We were going to make it external (for testing by players) already but there have been some delays in that. We will get it external as soon as we can.

On Combat:

How will the combat system evolve from its current UO:R system?

Right now, combat will stay as it is for awhile. Having said that, if we feel that combat would be able to be changed in a timely manner, and doing so would be of the best benefit to the game, we would change it. I think the whole team would like to see combat changed in a significant way. However, there are many systems we would like to change. It is just a matter of getting the order right with player needs and wants with a myriad of these other systems we wish to change. My personal preference for combat is that it derives more from player skill than random game chance. Combat should be a series of interesting choices that are simple to understand, but offer a wide range of tactics. Those choices must be something that is taught to players right from the beginning. There can be no hidden features or undocumented features, PvE or PvM must teach players how to best participate in PvP so they are not afraid of it. Right now, PvM does not prepare players for PvP. This is something we would like to change. So really, combat changes would mean having to change many things, spell system, monster AI, and of course ranged and melee combat.

What was the vision for Factions and how will OSI work to attain this goal?

I believe that factions should have derived from the guild system. I would have liked to see the players create their own factions through alliances. However, it may have been necessary to "bootstrap" the system originally and give the players a way to enter into factions easily. Still, the multiple systems now add levels of interaction complexities that I would like to see simplified. Perhaps allowing large guilds meeting certain requirements to participate in factions would be a really nice start. So really, blending the guild system with factions would be an interesting place to take the system. I also would like to see more goals in the system rather than taking towns. Interesting things such as taking the only castle in T2A or something along that line. Really, providing good objectives for more incentive to participate is the way to go.

What changes can we expect to see for Factions?

This is something we can’t answer at this time, but again, I suspect it will be more goals and incentives to be in factions.

When will the changes to character stats go in effect that have been listed in the "In Concept" section since November and is this still being worked on?

We don’t have any plans to put the system as it appears in place. The in concept section is just that. It is for ideas that are rattling around in our heads. The response to the system was that it wasn’t something people would like to see. So, if we were to do something along those lines, it would not be in the form as it appeared on In Concept. The very fact that this question exists, however, goes to show that In Concept is often misinterpreted. People still see that section as plans. It isn’t. It was designed to see if we could safely put our ideas up on the web site before we had really hashed things out.

Will a control similar to that for skills be put in for strength, dex, and int?

And I mean for the stats themselves, not the resulting HP, Mana and Stamina, since how those are derived may be changed. Stat locks. It seems to be something players want, and I agree with that. Again, it is a matter of what we have time to do. We may never have time to do stat locks, but it is an idea we like.

Are there any plans to make archery a viable PvP skill?

I believe archery is a completely valid PvP skill. Archery probably is not the best solo dueling skill though. That is normal, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

On Craft Skills:

Are there plans for a "Make Last Item" function on the other trade skills? (ex// Inscription, Tailoring, Cooking)?

It has been suggested, and it's a good suggestion. However, it is currently not one of our priorities.

Will GM Chefs ever be able to mark?

I’m not really sure I see the value in marking food, so it is not something we are planning right now. Of course, someone could convince me otherwise. I would like to making the skill more viable however. I know this is one of Runesabre’s big things.

Beggars used to get gold but items as well.Any thoughts on putting this back in and basing what items are given dependant on the begging skill (similar to weight and the stealing skill)?

No plans right now to change begging. There are other priority items that need attention as well as some things that have been on the player's minds for a while that is waiting for attention.

What plans are there to increase the number of spells? What plans are there to make spells seldom used, more useful?

Right now there are no plans to change the number of spells. We would like to make seldom-used spells more useful, or make lower level spells able to be used by higher-level mages with good effect. There should not be bad choices, otherwise they aren’t choices. There should be only choices, and those choices should be used in the right situation.

Will a smith ever be able to make magical enchanted armor?

This is a suggestion I got during the Cincinnati player lunch. The idea sounds interesting, and I forwarded it on to the Dev Team as part of the report on the notes taken at the lunch. Cool idea that we have tossed around the office. Not sure when we could get to it.

Are there plans to fix treasure maps such that

• Their level can be determined
  Good suggestion, that has been forwarded)
• Ilshenar maps work.
  Yes.

What plans are there to add new skills?

We have no plans to add new skills. There are skills right now that are underutilized because they aren’t interesting. Our time would be much better spent in making those skills interesting.

Can we expect any revamps or additions to any existing skills (esp. Cooking and Begging)?

We would like to revamp certain skills. Not sure when we will get to it, but it is scheduled for this year.

When are kimonos and other UO3D garments being implemented?

If we introduce these things, we would like to do so through crafting. Adding crafted items is more difficult than adding loot. Still, we would like to do this sometime in the near future.

What happened to Alchemy and Necromancy?

These systems will not be going in. They were merely ideas and not fully fleshed out systems. No work has been done on them in two years, and none is expected to be done at any time in the future.

Are you going to make it so that Tailors can make short pants as they currently can only make long pants?

Maybe. See above on craftables and skills.

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Every Saturday at 8 PST there will be a tournament at the CvB tower in Cove. To get there, travel north from the gates of Cove in Felucca and it will be the first tower you run into. It will be titlednamed CvB.

The rules of the Tourny are as followed:

1. No Magical Items of any kind.
2. Poisoned Weapons only allowed if poisoned during fight.
3. No Animals of any kind.
4. Most important, if you can't do it in a fight, you can't do it.

Each week there will be a prize offered to the winner of the tournaments, the prize will be announced at the beginning of each tournament. All are welcome to attend.

Anyone causing trouble, I.E. Stealing, non-consensual PKing, Looting, etc. will be banned from the tower and not permitted back.

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The last one from The New Yorker is an especially good read, though I would recommend checking all of them out. Tons of great information to be had! Enjoy!

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• Archery:
• Archery FAQ
• Skill Overview
• How to Gain
• What/Where/When to Gain
• Archery Tips
• Bowcraft:
• Bowcraft FAQ
• Skill Overview
• VDP
• How to Gain
• What/When to Gain
• Bowcraft Tips
• Stats: How to Quickly gain your desired Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence
• In the Field:
• Anatomy
• Tactics
• Rate of Fire Comarison(field test) - Bow types vs. Stamina comparison
• Damage Comparison(field test) - Bow types, skill bonuses, and target AR comparison
• Armor (full studded is the highest non-magical AR with 0 Dex loss)
• Archer Templates: - Suggestions from players on complimentary Archer skill ensembles.
• Player Essays: - These essays range from making a living, to tips on overcoming your enemy.
• The Archery Forum: - A thriving community of Archers and Bowyers from all Shards sharing knowledge.
• Professional List: - A shard by shard listing of archers and bowyers you can train, adventure, guild with, etc.
• Vendor Info: - Shard vendor advertisements in the UO Archer Forum

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From Daedalus of CMG comes this:

Here Ye! Here Ye!

OEK (Order of Ebony Knights) would like to announce the upcoming elections for the town of Jhelom. OEK are the protectors of the fair town of Jhelom since the Trinsic Invasion.

The current mayor is Lord Rastus. The upcoming elections will be for town mayor and town council. Four councilmen will be elected. The election date is Sunday, June 3rd, in the Jhelom Library from 1:00 to 2:00 under the central skies.

Also OEK would like to announce the recruitment of fun-loving adventurous types to become guild members and town protectors. Please visit our web page for more information or contact Rastus, Mayor of Jhelom, at ICQ# 60087608.

Anyone interested in running for election must be on ballot by Saturday, May 26th.

Good luck to all the candidates!

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Players from the UK and surrounding area, including europe, might be interested in knowing that over the past few months I have been planning a UO meeting myself. This meeting is not as structured as the London meet arranged by Puppie, Trix and Banedon, and is totally separate. Its not competing with it either, just for players who may not be able to make that event, or would prefer a different environment.

The Warwick meet will be held at an event run by the owners of warwick castle as part of their medieval festival season (they are not arranging the meet though, that's all my doing). The event will take place on the 23rd of June 2001, during the "Fighting Knights" event at warwick castle. Further details, prices and information can be found on the uo meeting page at www.myrex.co.uk.

Please feel free to drop by, read the page and then post on the forum as appropriate. Costume will be allowed within reason, see the page for details.

Deane Saunders, Myrex of Europa.
(contact for Warwick Meet: [email protected])

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IMPY’S ARTIC FAIRE…

Weekly auction will be held Wednesday evening at 9pm by the Eastern Sky. 

This week at Impy’s will be the most exciting to date!  And might only be eclipsed by next weeks (but we’ll get to that in a moment).  Dragon Statue, Snow Globes, Snow Globes, (and yes, more snow globes), Bells, a Lich Statue, and AN ETHERAL OZZY all sit waiting for bidders along with boxes of weapons and armor.

A note about next weeks auction:  WE HAVE A SCAFFOLD.  That’s right.  A scaffold, like you would find a painter or sculpture use in his/her work.  Yes it can be locked down, yes it has been looked at by a GM, and no it was not obtained with an exploit.  Stop by Impy’s this week and take a peek at it, it is on display in the lobby.  And will be sold in the May 30th auction!!!

For directions and a complete list of the items up for auction please take a peek at www.impys.net.  Runes to Riches and the Mystery Chest games will also be played this week following the auction, so please stick around and take a chance with lady luck.  There will also be a gate provided from West Brit Bank starting 30 minutes before the auction.  Impy has asked that you please stable your pets before the auction as he is allergic to wet fur.

~Impy’s Staff

hmm.  A scaffold.  I'm not too sure what to make of this new item yet, but I have seen it.  Quite odd to say the least.

~Barth VanDorn

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$7.95

$18.00

To purchase these, or several other UO-related items, make sure to head on over to the Official UO Shoppe and check it out.

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Gromm on the Stage May 21 2001 5:52PM

Evening everyone,

"All the world's a stage..."

One of my favorite quotes, growing up acting. I loved acting in plays. Later I got into improvisation and fell in love with it even more. I became addicted to going up on stage with another actor and being given something random by the MC to create a scene with. The whistle would blow. We had to react and start a scene and make people laugh. We never knew what was coming next and by comparison, acting in plays got dull for me. I still loved acting, but improv was and always will be my favorite. I'll get back to that in a moment.

So right now we're looking at our big stage, Britannia. We've had this stage for a long while now, and we've done some very interesting things on it. We've changed the set a few times. We added a few magnificent actors with brilliant scripts. Occasionally we tossed in a new prop. Like I said, we've done some interesting things on this stage. Now we want do to something *with* it.

We're going to take what resources we have and try out a new style of theater. Ladies and germs, it's time to improvise.

Think of us (Cal, Augur and myself) as the MC. We're going to call out a scene bit by bit, and we want to see how you react. We're going to make new sets, build new props, and do some new tricks with the stage. You are the actor. You are the star. How you react is up to your character. There is no script.

Now don't think that we've abandoned the idea of a plot! These sets and props aren't a random assembly of ideas. They all go together, forming a cohesive background story. But it's just that, the background. You are in the foreground.

This is not a quest engine. That would be handing you a script. We're presenting you with a situation. A change that makes the world itself the stage, a more interesting place for your character to live in and react to. We want to surprise you. We want to keep you on your toes. We want you to expect the unexpected. At the same time, we want you to be able to see what's going on in the background situation and see it react to you. Improvising as you go and living in the situation makes you a part of the plot.

This is our first run, so we're watching closely and we're going to be reacting as well.

As I’m sure some of you are aware, the first scenario has already begun. Many of you have been finding and unlocking the secrets of the new orc mask. A new situation has been placed on the stage. Actors, play your roles as you will; it's improv time. You are now creating the script as you go...

Enjoy,

Gromm
Designer, Ongoing Content
UO Live

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The Council of Skara Brae will hold a faire on Saturday the 26th May at 7pm BST (8pm CET, 2pm EDT).

Stalls will be erected on the road going south from Skara Brae, between the Volunteers' Shrine and Blackmores Inn. Anyone is welcome to create his own attraction, but should you want to make it a pre-set one, please contact Skara Brae councilmembers.

A big raffle and a summoning contest will be held during the faire as well as a possible surprises and sub-plots. I hope to see you all there !

Katrin Darkforge, Mayor
Council of Skara Brae

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Are you and your team the best when it comes to fighting your way through a dungeon from the bottom to the top? Can you face all there is in all dungeons through our fair Britannia? Here is your chance to prove yourself to the world!

We are looking for teams of four people each to prove their expertise in the art of Dungeon survival. Starting on Sunday the 27th May, the first team will enter Despise Dungeon and over the following weeks each and every other dungeon in the realm. The challenge is for all four team members to escape from the dungeon alive and to collect as much gold as you can along the way, which will also be added to your overall score. The teams with the highest score after completing all the dungeons, will get minimum prize money of :

1. 100'000 gold (plus a chest containing magic weapons, reagents, and rares worth at least another 100'000 gp)
2. 50'000 gp
3. 25'000 gp

These prizes are the MINIMUM that teams will receive, as the surplus gold that teams bring back will be added to the prize fund (We will only deduct enough gold to cover our costs).

All this is too easy you say? Not really. You will have a virtual 20.000 points from which you will "buy" your starting equipment. This equipment will be limited and expensive in terms of points cost. This will be ALL you are allowed to take with you.

Are you interested in this ? For more details (rules, a material/point listing, and the entry form), please head over to the Blackstar Challenge Page. Applications will close on June 3rd, so we have a limited timeframe! First Teams can start on May 27th (this Sunday), so start setting up the hunting schedules as soon as possible!

We hope to see you at the event and wish all teams the best of luck!

Rayar Blackstar and Sir Bedevere
Clan Blackstar [B*] of Drachenfels

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And now, for your reading enjoyment, the rest of the story scribed by Lady Mystery:

"The Secret of Zandramas"

Part III The loss of a toy

Her heart pounding with sheer exhilaration, Eowen made her way to his side undetected. Silently she placed the blade against his throat and whispered "Ahh! my dear, you are coming with me. Don’t make a sound or you die here." Zandramas has proven herself a worthy servant. The task was easy with the distraction she has created.

Safely in the keep with her new "toy" Eowen’s excitement could not be contained. " Raticker! Raticker! Come see what I have!!!" Closing the tome he was working on Raticker rolls his eyes and laughs to himself " What has that girl gone and done now." As he crested the top of the stairs Raticker’s mouth dropped open. He watched as Eowen finished chaining her new "toy" to the keep wall and playfully pinched his nose. She proudly turned and smiling at Raticker said "well Rat what do you think?" Standing before him and the beaming Eowen was none other than the Guildmaster of KoB, a Dragon Knight, Gil Shatterstone. "Eowen , you have done all too well, Kandalor will be proud."

Eowen approaches Gil playfully " So Gil we meet again, it’s been far too long since I laid eyes on you, Handsome!" Gil smiled and replied "yes Eowen , a long time, just not long enough so it would seem." Raticker laughed " If only you knew Gil, If only you knew." Eowen smiled at Gil and said " Let me explain what is happening, our mission as Jihad Crusaders is to rid our lands of the virtuous. You are given a choice either join us or I get to play." Without a thought Gil proudly replies "Well Eowen, I’ll never join you and the creatures you conspire with." . Eowen’s eyes lightup with excitement at the thought of "playing" with a Dragon Knight.

Working as a team, Eowen and Raticker begin the game. As Eowen inflicts pain, Raticker heals Gil just enough to prolong the agony and the game. Kandalor wonders in, and smiles as he watches his crusaders in action. He nods his approval as he leaves the room.

Suddenly the door bursts open and in rush Sirus and Furie of KoB. Eowen stops the game and demands that they leave now or Gil dies. Furie in her obstinate style refuses to leave without her guildmaster. As she and Eowen argue the finer points of Honor and justice, Sirus pushed past Eowen opened a gate and unlocked Gil shoving him through the gate to safety. Raticker attacked and injured Furie just as she made her way through the gate.

The energies of the gate discontinued its rhythmic hum, became unstable and dissipated quietly. Eowen, in shock took a moment to fathom the events that transpired only a moment ago. In what seemed like an instant, she was simply shoved aside, like a peasant, in her own temple. Her hard fought prey, the Guildmaster himself of KoB torn from her authority. And by none other than the same knight that taunted her two weeks prior and once again he got away undisciplined! Raticker stood there watching her sole reaction, her blade clattering upon the floor at her side. He thought it best not to say a word and made his way downstairs to the lab unnoticed.

Conclusion:

Dublin knew where to find Eowen. After the events of last eve she would be seeking a way to vent her frustration. As suspected Dublin found her "sister" Eowen in the Nujel’m jail, knee deep in torturing the male prisoners. Eowen spotted her "sister" as she dropped the lifeless male from her hand, "Hi Dub how’d you know where to find me?" "That, Eowen was simple." Dublin replied. " I came to check on you and see what your plans were."

Looking at Dublin with a slight smile Eowen replied " Having some fun here and then I’ll get the little witch, Metro, that KoB will be seeking for the cure for their precious Mystic Rose. Zandaramas hid her well in the tower on Ice Isle. I plan to hold her at the keep until KoB returns and then I’ll use Metro and her cure in exchange for a "toy"." Dublin looked at Eowen and said " Why bother with the witch? KoB will never find her and with Mystic Rose blind she will never use a mace again." " I have my reasons !" replied Eowen with a look of pleasure on her face.

Late in the evening as predicted, the warriors of KoB returned to the Temple of the Black Dragon seeking answers and vengeance for the attack on Mystic Rose. They could hear the screams of help coming from within the keep. Cautiously making their way into the bowels of the temple, the KoB warriors were surprised they met no resistance. Tentatively the Knights made their way to the second floor lead by their Guildmaster, Gil Shatterstone. As Gil crested the final few stairs and entered the room where the screams came from, he heard a door slam behind him. Quickly turning he found himself alone, the door locked, and his guild on the otherside with no way in.

From the corner of the room Gil hears a voice " Well we meet yet again, Handsome." Turning slowly he is not surprised to see Eowen emerging from the shadows. " I should have known you would be behind all this." Eowen doesn’t reply, but merely jestures to Gil to follow her. She stops to reveal with a lustful smile, the witch Metro chained to the wall of the keep. "I have here Gil, what you seek. This little witch is the secret that Zandramas took to her death. The witch holds the only cure for your sweet little Mystic Rose." Metro weakened by the torture she has had to endure speaks softly " Gil I beg you do as she says, save me. They have all been here having their "fun" as Eowen stood and watched."

"So Gil here is my offer, I give you the witch and her cure to save Rose in exchange for you. You will be my slave for one week and after that time if you still wish to return to your KoB then you will be free to go. If you refuse then the witch dies here and now." Eowen says with a smile.

"May I have a moment to talk to my guild? " Gil asks. "You have 2 minutes, or the death of the witch begins." Eowen replies matter of factly.

Within his allotted time Gil returned. Along side him stood Furie. Eowen raised an eyebrow " Why is she here?" "Furie will take the Metro and the cure to safety" replied Gil. Suddenly Furie tossed an explosion potion in an effort to break the chains that held Metro to the wall. With the swiftness of a Hellcat Metro was struck dead by Eowen. " I gave you a choice Gil, now Rose will suffer for your stupidity, I hope you can live with your choice!" With that Eowen vanished.

Staring in disbelief, Gil and Furie could not believe the plan had failed. " Now how do we save Rose?" Furie asked. With that the other warriors, as planned, stormed the temple. Shock took over the group as they saw the body of the witch laying in a pool of blood upon the floor. Before their eyes the corpse of the witch decayed. There laying on the on the floor in the middle of the witches robes was a vial of glowing orange liquid. Beowolf grabbed the vial "Could this be possible? Do you think this is the cure the witch spoke of?" he asked excitedly. Taking the vial Gil replied " There is only one way to find out. Lets head back to the Tower."

"Rose the choice is yours" said Sirus. " There really is no way of knowing if it is the cure or not." " Well I don’t want to stay this way forever. I’m no use to any of you without my sight." Rose said with a weary smile. Kissing his wife gently, Sirus handed Rose the potion recovered from Metro’s decayed corpse. Rose smiled at her husband and in one swift motion drank the potion. A terrifying scream was heard as Rose collapsed to the floor. "Rose....Rose, Love are you alright ?" Sirus asked as he cradled his wife in his arms. Slowly Rose’s eyes flutter open.

" Oh how I’ve prayed to see those beautiful brown eyes again!" Rose exclaimed with a smile.

And they lived happily ever after? Only Lady Mystery knows.

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Saturday..... a day of death and disaster for CoM. Today marked the Death knell of the CoM Empire. With most of the CoM regulars out . Stealing to reset the sigils was EXTREMELY hard but the Council managed to come up with Britain. Sadly however, the shard time warped as the server went down for a 2nd time and SL retained all the sigils again. OK 1st of all I want to lay a disclaimer, "The SL did only what was expected of them and I'd like to believe, was done honestly and fair."

OK that out of the way, let me tell you like it is....

1. In the SL stronghold, it is possible to cast EV on the top floor and it will kill you below without EVER GIVING you the chance to defend or dispel. The SL made good use of this. I personally feel this is another use of black magic (forbidden) at the SL HQ. (i.e.. It's an exploit)

2. At 9:53 shard time all of the CoM guards disappeared from the Britain monolith. WHY when they were only a few hours old ?, this reporter can only SPECULATE.....

3. Hats off to all those SL fighters who made their Claim on the world. A big part of me says a lot of its due to your unfair stronghold, but then again I may just be jealous.

Congrats
Amalacon
Ex Minister of Britain
Inquisitor ...or is it archon...of the Council

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Greetings, I'm writing to inform you of the work that is now in progress to rebuild the city of Lumaria on Fellucia. I have dug through contact after contact and have located a former member of the Lumaria Council knows as Oceanus.

I've been striving to find volunteers that will dedicate themselves and help us bring back the city. Oceanus and I have spoken about raising funds for those who wish to purchase a pre standing house in the area of the city as there are a number of them up for sale. The bridge that was constructed by OSI for the city still stands as well, which is inspiring in itself.

I'm writing you because I want to draw peoples attention to this, this city was one of the first to be built, especially on Baja. It lasted for a long time before falling. It would bring attention and possibly even adventure to an area that seems almost barren.

If you could do something, a small post even to let others know what we are doing it would be wonderful.

My name is Thalanos, Elven Ranger of Baja. I can be contacted at [email protected] or through ICQ at 60316679 for those that are interested.



Thank you, and god speed

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Fistol, Xavier and Sampson wants to welcome back all our old guests and all new ones to our Casino Night. We are opening our doors from 7pm to 9pm CST on Tuesday May 22nd. We will have a new game replacing the Lucky 7's game, it will be similar to roulette. We have a new vendor game also.

There is a vendor set up inside that has a key and a locked box in a pouch, and in these locked boxes are a host of prizes, Vanquishing weapons, Virtue weapons, and rares. And we will still have our raffle, we will give away a prize at 8pm with the raffle tickets of which you have to be present to win. At 9pm we have the grand prize money award given to the person with the lucky number and this cash prize depends on the total amount of tickets sold so buy as many as you can.

And as usual we will have a banker vendor setup so that you can buy checks and not have to go to the bank to get more money. And you do not have to be present to win either!. The Frenzied mongbat is Northeast of Yew at cooridinates 110o12'N 162o51W. You can ICQ Sampson at at 112455386 or Xavier at 85756751. We will try our best to get you a rune before the even begins.

We should be opening gates in Britain and possibly other towns around 7pm CST. We encouage you to read the blue rule book at the front before entering our establishment. We hope to see everyone there.

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This is a weekly event that will involve male and female characters to fight one another on Napa. There will be no same sex fighting and both sides must have an equal amount of fighters to participate in the tourney. It will be a first come first server basis i.e. if there is an uneven amount of males and females then the last entries on the majority sexes side will not be able to participate. This will even out the amount of males and females and will make the event much more enjoyable.

Here are the rules:

· No pre-casting other than magic trap, reactive armor and magic reflect.

· No magic weapons, armor, or items will be allowed .

· No pre-poisoned weapons will be allowed but weapons that are poisoned while fighting are acceptable.

· All spells are acceptable but be warned, there will be observers that may be hit by area-effect spells.

· Animals/Hirelings are not allowed to attend the fight we will ask you to stable your animals before you can enter the event.

Where:

Head out of the Cove gates and head north along the coast the first large tower you encounter will be the CvB tower which is where it will be held.

When: Wednesdays at 8 PM PST

Prizes: Prizes will vary

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Sponsor: The Frost Merchant Shoppe and D*T Guild
Facet: Trammel
Location: Star Chamber
Start Date: Jun 2 2001 10:00AM PST
End Date: Jun 2 2001 12:00AM PST
Recurrance: 1 Time Only

You are cordually invited to the wedding of Pandora and Sknird Dloc II (aka The Frost Merchant). It will be held in the Star Chamber in Trammel, Pacific.
If you need a rune to go there to mark you a rune for this ocasion, feel free to stop at the rune library at the Frost Merchant Shoppe.

These two have been friends for a long time and they would like to invite everyone to this joyous occasion. So if you wish to come, then set the date for these times. ICQ me at 11963580 for more information.

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Ever wondered just where that museum in Jhelom came from? Had a question about the Gelidum that nobody was able to answer? Well tonight is the night for those questions! The Lake Superior Role Playing community will be hosting an Ex-Interest Team Chat at 8pm Central Time, in the #lsrpc room of the Stratics IRC network. Come and listen to some of the favorite memories and experiences of our past Interest team as we unlock the as we unlock the doors of past and present Fiction from across our shard.

What: LS Ex-Interest Team Chat
When: Monday, May 21st, 8pm Central Time
Where: #lsrpc, Stratics IRC Network

Simple one touch IRC clients have been provided on both the Lake Superior Community News and Stratics Networks for those who do not have IRC clients.

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News from a the Kings Guard:

Hail and well met there citizens!

I have come across some news...well...ehmm...
actually the monks that dwell in his Lordships liberary came across it.

The monks found an ancient book that discribes a time before the lands
split, a time that was -before today- mostly unknown to all of us.
The book speaks of small towns and huge buildings inhabited by elven-kin ,
Gargoylick creatures, orcs and a lot more.
It also speaks of an elven-kin man with powerfull magical powers who had his
hold over a town called Rithymsil.
Rithymsil was an elven town which was mainly inhabited by good natured,
magic using wood elves who lived there peacefully untill the evil came to
thier parts.
From what i understood from the monks is that this town was where our fair
town of Spiritwood is now.

The book found by the monks also speaks vaguely of an ancient relic , only
described as a silver ring , which was in the possesion of the evil elven
mage.

After beeing notified of this news by the monks, i asked where the book was,
but alas it seems that the book fell apart due to very old age.

The last thing the monks said before they went back to thier hidden
liberaries below castle british , is that there is another book called
"Guide to Rithymsil",a book that has certain magical properties to it and
that it was kept by one of Rithymsils elders.
The very last thing the monks could get out of the book was that some of
Rithymsils inhabitants moved eastwards past the mountains that protect
Britain and even past where now britain and the castle i am in itself are.

The monks gathered a lot of other very interresting information about our
lands from this one book, but they have told me that this is still beeing
proccessed , i will keep you all posted if something new is passed on to me.

Maybe this all is of no importance, but I do suggest though that all
inhabitants of our land look around for a silver ring or maybe some book
with an ancient elven sounding title to it.

Be safe citizens of britania!
Signed,
Simon, Captain of the Royal guards.

*the royal silver serpent seal of Lord British's Royal guards is underneath
the letter*

Thanks, good luck with finding what you need. This is the way forward, now we have no seers we need to make quests among our selves as this bright gentleman has shown.

Greetings all those at UO Stratics.

I am just e-mailing you to tell you about my new site deidicated to
Ultima Online comics starring my hero, John the Pirate. You can find the website at John the Pirate!

Thanks for your time,

Kawaja

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Chicken scratch toons!!!

The newest uo toon site the webpage layout is very simple rate now but soon it will look alot better! If your bored & looking for something to laugh at go to Chicken Scratch Toons!

Did i mention that all toons are made in paint shop? Enjoy!

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This Saturday the 26th in honor of the establishment of the new English Speaking Guild "SUCKERS" I will be tossing 4 nets into the ocean at once. There will be 2 boats placed side by side which we will recall upon. We will all be partied up so that anyone will be able to loot with the chances of a MIB and/or T-Maps. I will happily do any T-Maps for whomever gets one. We will meet outside the East Britain Bank at 9pm(EST) in Trammel or when server comes up after that if not up yet. Each net will be cast to the far four corners.

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Greetings, all!

Well, the official re-opening of the inn was last night and we couldn't be more pleased with either the turnout or the fun we had! The only real snag we had was the supply of Trinsic ale that ran low about twenty minutes into the opening *grin*. However, due to the speedy actions of the inn's managers, Chamfort and Sabrina, we were restocked before we ran out. Lesson learned, when throwing a party, always overstock!

For those of you who were unable to attend, or couldn't stay the entire time, let me give you a recap.

We got the evening started with the "Drunken Darts" competition. There were a few near misses as throws occasionally missed the target and punched holes in the wall, but we'll have it spackled and fixed for the next time. It was a pretty heated competition, but was ultimately won by Venus who scored a total of 101 points in 10 tosses and won first prize. Her nearest competitor, Solitus, came in at 83 points winning second prize, and Don Dontos was right behind him with 76 points, effectively winning the third prize spot. Congrats to you all for a fine game!

We all indulged ourselves in several more rounds of spirits, and relaxed for a bit. A moment of sobriety came over us all as our bar manager Tyrone and Malis reminded us that we are still in a period of mourning our fallen friends in blue and green. So we took the time to celebrate the good times we shared with them, and toasted their memory. We've all called upon their services at one time or the other, and your deeds will not be forgotten.

As it grew later, the donated door prizes were given away, and we began the next contest. A summoning contest. Whoever could summon the most "pets" in a two minute time period, won a full set of valorite armor. The competition was close, but we ended in a draw with Nadia and Kayla Lyn Atross being tied for first at 12 pets apiece. A tie-breaker was needed, and it was decided that whoever could summon a chicken first, would ultimately win the prize. The first attempt by the mages was amusing as they both summoned a twin pair of black bears, however they soon began summoning in earnest. Nadia was ultimately successful in summoning a chicken, and won the valorite. Her chicken was not spared however, and was quickly cooked *grin*

We pretty much ended the night by hanging around for awhile and telling some fairly good "newb" stories and sharing some memories until the last call was announced. All good things have to come to an end sometime, eh??

The good news is, if you missed this event, it's not over. We are officially open and staffed 7 days a week. You can see our hours of operation as well as upcoming events, by checking our website.

We hope to see you there and while I simply can't remember everyone who stopped by last night, thank you all for helping us celebrate the occasion!

Fallon
Proprietor
The Stumbull Inn

Congratulations on a fun and successful reopening, Fallon. Can't wait to sail over and have a dram m'self.

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Callista extends the following invitation:

Hello,

I just wanted to let everyone who reads stratics that we will be having a hunt to Ilshenar and a guild recruitment party on Saturday, May 26, at 8 p.m. CST. Meet at the Moonglow public moongate or ICQ me and we can get you to the guild house.

We will explore areas of Ilshenar, tour interesting spots and hopefully gain some good fame and karma. We will be dividing into different groups, so any types of characters are welcome and at any stage of character developement!

After Ilshenar, we will be holding a guild recruitment party for anyone not in a guild that would like to join our new guild, Keepers of Blackmoor.

If you need further information, please ICQ me at 77751091, or email me.

Hope to see you there!

Callista
Guildmistress of KFB

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Former Support Volunteer Falken asks that we share with you the following:

Greetings, fellow travelers of Ultima Online,

I know most of you don't know me, but the ones that do know that I was once called SRC Falken of the Central Region of our counseling team.

I was with the volunteer program for almost 2 years and did enjoy every minute of it. All the way to the bitter end, I spent my time helping players. And you know what, I loved it! Not for money, power or the free account, no! It was because of the smiles I got, the thank you's for helping and the players that I would make feel good by talking to them.

Now the Volunteer Program is Dead as we know, yes, but that doesn't mean the counselors are dead.

WE ARE ALIVE!

I would like to take the first step and I know lots of my fellow counselors will follow. I don't have the powers any more that I had as counselor and no nice looking purple robe, but I have my spirit.

So, I would like to let all the players of the LS and GL community know that I will be counseling still. You can find me at my old shift hours ( Tues 11pm to 1am, Wed 11pm to 1am and Sat 11pm to 1am, CST) on GL and or LS. I will be inside the guild hall in Britannia on the Trammel side. My name will be Falken, wearing a blue robe.

I know there will be some imposters and it won't be easy at the beginning, but i think that over time it will work. If I can only help one person a night it will show that what we were here for had a meaning.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Farewell,

SRC Falken
Central
Ultima Online

It's nice to know that Black Wednesday has not killed the spirits of those who were affected by it. Thank you for your dedication, Falken, and all of the other volunteers who continue to provide community service to our realm. Your efforts are applauded and appreciated.

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It was a good turnout, with ex-volunteers from many shards attending, as well as notables from the Chesapeake shard, including Don Martin, Mayor of Paxlair, and Ian Stormbringer.

Korin passed around a guest book, which all of the ex-volunteers signed. This book will be a small monument to those who freely gave of their time to assist us all.

The book can be viewed in the Chesapeake Mage Tower, in the city of Haven. I am told that copies have been made, which will be made part of the permanent collection of several other player run towns as well.

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(From Destiny Events Committee) Test your mettle against other warriors in the realm. Feel the wind as you charge your opponent and barely dodge her spear. Let the cheers of the crowd pump your blood and force a victory! Take home masterful and magical rewards for your winning efforts.

What day? Wednesday, May 23
What time? 8:30 CST
Where? Roof of the mage tower in the town of Destiny (Felucca)

Entrant Rules:

• Registration begins at 8 o'clock CST, and ends at 8:30.
• There will be three categories: one for each weapon type (mace, sword, and fencing).
• Each warrior will get three passes against another opponent skilled with same weapon type.
• The joust will be on horse back with two-handed weapons.
• Four judges will watch to see who has dealt the most damage.
• In the event of tie, the warriors will heal up and duel on foot with one handed weapons and shields until one drops or concedes the battle.
• A warrior may have an assistant or squire to display his/her colors and hold extra equipment to be used for tiebreaker duels.
• There will no magic, potions, poison or healing for this is chivalrous fight and not necessarily to the death.
• There will be no looting.
• Judges will be on the look out for rule breakers and will deem them disqualified.

Prizes:

• Winner of each round gets 1,000gp
• Tournament winner in each category takes home a Grandmaster crafted, custom-made suit of Valorite armor and a power-level magic weapon to match the category.

Spectators:

• Spectators are welcome and encouraged to cheer!

Map to Destiny: http://www.calamity.net/destiny/map.htm
Arrange for a gate to Destiny here: http://pub54.ezboard.com/fknightsoftheforgottenwayfrm2

-Destiny Events

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The Ceremony will start at 8pm cst on May 21st 2001. (Gates will be provided at the Serpents Hold bank at 7:40-7:55pm cst.)

A reception will be held at Serpents Hold Hall (on the second floor) after the ceremony. The Reception will be held on the second floor of the the Hall, following the ceremony. There will be plenty of food and drinks so please come and celebrate this wonderful occasion with us!

(If you need further assistance with getting to Serpents Hold, please ICQ Wysteria at 5965283 or e-mail [email protected])

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Today, a most wounderful event has occured. The Abbott of Rivendell has given a great boon to the Lake Superior Library. The most Kind Abbott has given permission to add all of the books that may be found within his temple.

This has allowed the Lake Superior Libaray to complete its General History floor. We now have on display, the History of our lands. Within the next 2 weeks, we shall also be collecting even more titles for all to see.

The collection at the Library is now close to 150 titles. All are welcome to come and vist and read the books found within.

We may be found at 73o 12o N 55o 11 E in Trammel. The libarary is always open and within the week we shall have a on duty host.

Thomas, Librarian
Lake Superior Library
www.uo-lsl.org

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Hello there,

To those who have not yet heard of the remake of the classic RPG that began the greatest series of computer games and one of the top gaming industries of the 90's, Peroxide.DK. began last year the project Ultima 1: A legend is reborn. Working under no budgets and executive pressure, U1 will be released as a freeware by a team of artists and programmers doing this for fun, under the approval of Richard Garriot (aka Lord British), as a celebration to the games we love. Ultima will feature an exclusive 3d engine with potential to match the ones being sold commercially today, in performance and looks. We invite you to visit our website at www.peroxide.dk/ultima to see the screenshots and while you're there, drop at our message boards to input your suggestions.

Now, we are in need of one more animator to complete our team. As this is a non financed project with non profit interests, this person must not only be skilled and talented to work with 3d Studio Max, Character Studio, Photoshop and other art packages, but also should be willing to work within a schedule, be cooperative and commit to our efforts. A sample of the applicant's work in character animation and motion is required, along with a small resumee and profile should be sent to [email protected] and canditates will be contacted shortly. Do keep in mind to send stills or screen captures from the footage (At the limit of 150kb) to the email address, so to not cause overload in the server. Do not send the entire rendered movie. The animation file will be requested later if there's interest on our end. As only a few will be selected for further interview, we do not garantee a reply to all applicants, but we appreciate the interest from everybody. No previous experience in the gaming industry is required.

Thank you,

Ralph Damiani, 3d/2d artist
Peroxide.Dk

This bit of news was wrapped around a rock I found in my tower this morning. I got as much of the glass shards off of it as I could:

We are pleased to announce the wedding of Anvil N Forge and Sweety. It will take place Wednesday, 23rd of May at the Counselor's Guild in Skara Brae of the Trammel facet, at 6 PM PST.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

Well, I for one am looking forward to this, feel free to attend, There will be lots of fun to be had! And for now, farewell.

Snake of Moonglow

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Hail Citizens of Britannia!!
Stormhaven is proud to announce their weekly Warrior/Mage Scavenger Hunt.

The rules are simple. You will first be handed a special colored bag. In the bag will be a book telling you what items you must find. We will then gate you to the pre-designated area. The first one to complete the list, place the items in the bag, and then turn in the bag to the referees at the site wins. This will not be as easy as it seems since many will be after the same thing you are and will be attacking the same prey. Are you fast at looting?!

Special Rules:

• Registration is unlimited .
• Battle pets such as dragons, wyrms, drakes and nightmares are not allowed. Barding is permissible; however, this event is fast and others will be attacking your barded prey.
• Attacking the same prey while others have targeted it is permissible.
• You must not leave the pre-designated area.
• Please! No cheating. This is a fun event for all and if you cheat you are simply proving what an idiot you are and you will be barred from events of this nature in the future.

Prizes:
There will be four chests loaded with checks, magic weapons, semi-rares, mage supplies, home add-ons, filled kegs, and Grandmaster manufactured goods.

• First place may pick one item EACH from 3 of the 4 chests
• Second place may pick one item EACH from 2 of the 4 chests
• Third place may pick one item EACH from 1 of the 4 chests

Special Note: All magic weapons are Force or above. Therefore, no id wands will be allowed while choosing from the magic weapon chest.
This weeks hunt is rather challenging so come prepared.

Date: Monday, May 21st, 2001
Time: 7:00 Pacific, 9:00 Central
Location: StormWatch Tower/Tavern Stormhaven, Trammel
Coordinates: 62o 13’N, 53o 43’E
Above coords. linked to zoomable map
Hosts for this week's event: Tay’loren and members of the Gendarmes
Hope to see you there and remember,
*** DRINKS ON THE HOUSE! ***

Elsa
Stormhaven Sovereign

Your humble servant,
Raeven Aurora

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Hail fellow Britannians!

Well, it's official... ROW's first running of the "Where in Napa" contest was a well excepted success. In all we had about a dozen participants looking for the following spot:

The prize for finding this spot was 25,000gp, with an unannounced 10,000gp prize for second place. The time limit was one hour. About 45 minutes through the event, I made a discrete run by the location to see if anyone had passed upon it. Not a soul, not even an NPC, had passed by the spot. I was beginning to think that we chose a spot that was too difficult for the first time around. I made my way back to the guild house and waited for the event to end.

At 9:00pm we opened a gate to the location so that the contestants that had come back could see the spot we chose. Just as we gated
in, a panting Musical came running up out of the forest, teleported to the island and barked out the password "Smelly Sephron!". We felt hard pressed NOT to give this enterprising gentleman the prize for finding the spot since he was only a minute or two late:

As there was no 2nd place winner, the additional 10,000gp will be rolled over into next weeks 1st place prize, which, although is easier to recognize and find, will be more challenging to reach.

We would like to thank all those who chose to participate and to also extend a welcome to them, and all others interested, to join us this coming Friday for the next installment of "Where in Napa". Please look for the announcement this coming Wednesday.

Lord Wind Runner, Riders of the Wind - Napa

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I bring forth a message... a warning, and wisdom to be shared, it is by your own wills and minds that this threat will be defeated.
Share what it is you know, for it is in knowledge that ye shall be saved. Visit The Oracle Website for more info.

~The Oracle

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In a related story, Xan the Merc has painted a picture of the Orc Fort in a more three diminsional style. His picture can be found here.

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The brave Wolf, party leader, did not even have time to rosin up his bow before Migon casually announced that the questers need not look far and wide for the Gem of Honour as he himself possessed it in his wretched paws. Demands for the immediate turnover of the Gem were shouted at Migon, yet rather than buckle to the overwhelming influence of good - Migon just laughed and offered a deal. He would surrender the Gem should the party seek out an ice rose for him. An ice rose no doubt to woo a woman with a heart as black and frozen as his own.

Begrudgingly agreeing to Migon's terms, the questers made their way to the dungeon of ice…the only known source of an ice rose. As was to be expected, the welcome they received was not one of tea and biscuits but rather energy bolts and fireballs as ice elemental upon ice elemental and frozen troll upon ratman glow assaulted them. However the glazen ilk of the dungeon was no match for the brave questers. To blade and incantation the icy beasts fell the last of them being Riktiktak of the Ratman Nation. Upon checking his corpse, Wolf found the ice rose that the party had come and fought for. Quickly they made their egress and quickly they met the last defender of the icy, crystalline terror all around them- the White Wyrm. Wyrm and warrior alike fought bravely however the sheer number of fighters overwhelmed the Wyrm and in brilliant white passing he lay slain beneath hooven feet.

Ice rose secured, they returned once again to Paladin Isle to hold up their end of the bargain with Migon. The exchange was made and Migon made a quick departure wisely knowing that had he not escaped he too would face battle and just poisoned blade. He too..like the denizens of the ice dungeon would fall.

Gem of Honour and hand, the noble party went on to do that which they needed to honourably do - return the Gem of Honour to Elwood, The Turtle King with hopes that with their show of honour, he would return the gem to the guardianship of Wolf to take onward for cleansing. They arrived in the swamp only to fight Lizardman upon Lizardman and slime upon snake as they made their way towards the home of Elwood. Enroute they lay waste to several hundred alligators, bringing their hides as a tribute to the Turtleman. When they met finally with Elwood they discovered what they thought all along to be true. Elwood was a unique soul with a fetish for junipers and a penchant for insane ramblings.

Seeing that the party had slain so many alligators, enemy to the turtle, Elwood agreed to hand Wolf back the Gem of Honour so that it may be cleansed and returned to the Sword! Gem in hand and fatigued from heavy effort, the gentle questers made camp and retired for the evening knowing that tomorrow is a brand new day, and their work is not yet done.

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We received this most intriguing piece of news today..

The other day while scouting along the coast south of Vesper I happened upon a large dragon ship which had run aground near the shore. I immediately noticed the tattered sail and the rather poor condition of the ship itself. I could barely make out its title: the Pride of Westmark. Curious, as always, and noticing the ramp was down, I went aboard to investigate. Signs of either a great struggle or storm damage greeted me: torn clothing and equipment, rusted weapons, broken kegs and barrels lay scattered about the deck. Going below I found more of the same, but worse. Lying in a corner behind a few barrels lay a corpse in an advanced state of decay, nearly a skeleton. Assuming the body to be that of a sailor, I carefully wrapped it in what remained of the mainsail, weighted it, said a prayer to the goddess Concordia and pushed it gently over the side into the sea. Making one last sweep below I discovered a small trap door in the hull near where I had found the body--a compartment of some sort. Cautiously reaching in with gloved hand I retrieved a moldering book. It was quite worn but the print remained quite legible. Within it lay a dried rose bearing an unfamiliar crest, or seal. The title of the book was 'Journal' by Adrick Moonstar.

Perusing through the pages I learned of great events that transpired in Nujel'm some time ago concerning House Westmark and its new governess Shalina Westmark. I will speak more of this another time. I let the ship be for now but will return to it later with skilled workers to repair it and bring it into dry dock. I placed the journal and rose in a strong box at my home to await disposition of them to their owners. However, in returning home the other night, I found the journal and the rose missing. Since only a select few have access to my treasures I must assume they have been stolen by someone known to me. Yet I offer a reward of five thousand gold pieces to anyone with accurate information to their whereabouts and the identity of the thief or thieves. Ultimately it is my wish that if anyone has information concerning these things that they would please step forward with it. I would have the items returned to the rightful owners if by some chance they are still alive, or their next of kin, and to report to the proper authorities concerning the disturbing things I read in the the journal.

Itannar, Ranger

Saints of the True Covenant

Thank ye Itannar. We do advise caution however.. It would seem that people have a tendency to lose their head over this particular subject matter. *chuckles wryly*

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This event in from Maddie of the United Tamers of Britannia..

Event: United Tamers of Britannia 2nd Mount Giveaway!
Date: Wednesday, May 23rd, 8-10 p.m. EST
Location: Just Southwest of Brit Main Bank, Trammel, just out of lag zone

UTB is holding its second mount giveaway, after enriching 134 players with new mounts during its first giveaway in March! We hope to double the numbers of animals given away. Horses, Ridable Llamas, and Forest Ostards will be available, with Frenzied Ostards by Special Request (the recipient must have enough taming for the transfer, and accept whatever color frenzied is first found). There will be no fee or donation expected whatsoever!

UTB holds this event to improve good will between tamers and other character classes in Ultima Online, and to use our skills for the betterment of the UO community in general. Our guild believes in ethical taming and use of animals, and hope to make anyone’s day that takes a free mount a bit happier. We can be found just to the southeast of the main Brit Bank, just out of the lag zone, with a passel of beasts all waiting for a good owner.

For a better selection of animals, all are welcome to come to the public corral on the road southwest out of Britain on the way to Trinsic. UTB members will be "pet sitting" our backup stable, and if you are particular you can get to pick and choose more freely than from the comparatively limited number of animals we bring to the bank. Hope to see you all there - and ask for a rune to the UTB's New Rune Library, great just not for taming locations but almost any other point of interest in Sosaria.

Maddie,
UTB Atlantic

Thank ye Maddie. Now work on getting Nightmares, Skeletal Dragons and other foul beasts for us undead to ride and we'll be there. *chuckles*

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This in from our.. most despised.. friends.. the Heralds of the Awakening.

The Heralds of the Awakening announce a Census of all residents in good standing. This information will help us better understand the needs of the community and assist in the community-building endeavours there.

Signed this day by the hands of
Malicite- Sage of Sacrifice
Maryia Shadebane- Co-Sage
The Heralds of the Awakening

<OOC: If you belong to a roleplaying guild that is based out of Minoc, or roleplay and reside there, please contact one of us with the above e-mail addresses. In the e-mail, please give the name of the guild or character and a link to the guild's website if it exists>

Thank ye, Sages. We do so hope your Census is effective. *smiles darkly*

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This news in from Analeiza of the Hunter's Clan.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

H*C would like to invite all new citizens of Britannia to a banquet held in
your honor to welcome you to the lands. H*C members will be present at all
town banks and Inns to provide transportation to the banquet area.

Monday, May 21st we will be in Britain
Tuesday, May 22nd we will be in Minoc
Thursday, May 24th we will be in Moonglow
Friday, May 25th we will be in Trinsic

Events begin each night at 8:00 pm (EST) and gates will be provided
beginning at 7:45 pm (EST).

Food & drink will be provided as well as a Welcome Package which includes
all manner of essentials to daily life. After receiving your packages we
will host a tour of the city to acquaint you with the area and then continue
on to nearby hunting grounds for a night of adventure and fun. After the
hunt is completed, we will return to a local tavern where refreshments will
be provided and you will have an opportunity to ask any questions you may
have.

So look for H*C members wearing the bright yellow clothing and come join in
the fun, friendship, adventure and learning.

Analeiza
H*C (Hunter's Clan)

Thank ye Analeiza.

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As most of you now know the "gods" have canceled the Ultima Online Volunteer program. Having once been a member of this program myself I know the dedication and sacrifices these people have made over the years. All in the name of helping out their fellow players. The fact that their are now gone has angered many people within our realm. But what we should realize is that while this is most definitely a sad day in UO. We need to get past our anger and show these people the appreciation that they truly deserve.

So in honor of ALL the Volunteers that have served our community over the years we will be holding an "Honors Dinner". It will be held at the Britain Counselors Guildhall in Trammel on the Chesapeake Shard on Saturday the 19th at 9:00pm EST. This event is open to ALL volunteers from any shard. So if you were a volunteer, and can attend, please do so. We want to show you all how much you have meant to us. I hope every player out there willl join me in honoring the great people that have given so much to us over the years. See you then!

Korin the Scribe The Scribe of Haven www.haven.uoguilds.com

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As most of you now know the "gods" have canceled the Ultima Online Volunteer program. Having once been a member of this program myself I know the dedication and sacrifices these people have made over the years. All in the name of helping out their fellow players. The fact that their are now gone has angered many people within our realm. But what we should realize is that while this is most definitely a sad day in UO. We need to get past our anger and show these people the appreciation that they truly deserve.

So in honor of ALL the Volunteers that have served our community over the years we will be holding an "Honors Dinner". It will be held at the Britain Counselors Guildhall in Trammel on the Chesapeake Shard on Saturday the 19th at 9:00pm EST. This event is open to ALL volunteers from any shard. So if you were a volunteer, and can attend, please do so. We want to show you all how much you have meant to us. I hope every player out there willl join me in honoring the great people that have given so much to us over the years. See you then!

Korin the Scribe The Scribe of Haven www.haven.uoguilds.com

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After many days of resetting the Sigils and labor intensive battles with many factions that CoM took almost for granted things turned sour this week when Minax, Ever spearheaded by LoD suddenly got serious about defending their base against the predations of a suddenly depleted and exhausted CoM. Where did they all go? None Can Tell but the bodies of UMA and a few select agents littering the Minaxian compound.

The killing went on day and night, the army of CoM never quit reaching the proportions it once carried, refusing alliances with True Brits at least once that this reporter was aware of and I personally paid dearly, when after killing or running off TB by the Minax Stronghold the TB caught me when I returned to Magincia. I was caught alone in the streets of Magincia and fell prey to the same TB we had just turned on, Kan Tu, Oxygen several others. Results: Minax Took 5 Towns from CoM. Other News: THE REAPER now controls TB; a GI spokesperson assured me this was because Longshot forgot to run.

Amalacon
Minister of Britain
CoM

Thankye Amalacon

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The Township of Heaven's Forge and Darkmor Tavern invite you to our first Crafter's Faire and Grand Opening of Celestial Spirits, the newest pub in the land.

When: Sunday, May 20th, 11am-1pm PST Where: Darkmor Tavern, Heaven's Forge The tavern is located at 106o 47'N, 50o 16'E on the eastern edge of the valley south of Wrong Dungeon.

BYOR! There will be craftspeople of every sort represented to craft items for you at no charge when you provide the materials. Smiths, Tailors, Bowyers, Tinkerers, Carpenters, Scribes, Alchemists, Chefs and Poisoners, the entire crafting community of Heaven's Forge will be represented. Door prizes will be awarded throughout the event.

Following the Crafter's Faire, wander with us across the valley for the Grand Opening of the Celestial Spirits pub, a rooftop alehouse hosted by Darius, Mayor of Heaven's Forge. The pub sits atop the Ring of Steel guild tower, and there will be free drinks and food all afternoon.

Hope to see you there!
Thankye, Mirabel

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Hail my friends!

I have a new UO comic on the site, its something that most people I think can relate to :)

Episode 11 - What Kinghts Truly Fear

I thank you in advance!

Thoth-Ammon's UO Comics

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"Warriors have been talking about orc mages and the strange mask they carry."

I went off with a small group in search of these orc mages and masks and discovered that they are camped and hunted so fiercly by the warriors of the realm that I would endeavor to list them as endagered species.

We do however know a bit about how they work.

• They are found on the occasional Orc Mage in Britannia(Trammel and Felucca), T2A, and Ilshenar.
• They are green hued and when identified or examined state that they are a mask of orkish kin.
• If you still have an agressor flag on you from fighting Orcs, are targeted currently by an Orc, or are currently fighting/targetting and orc then when you put the mask on it will blow up causing 40-50 points of damage on you as it does so. You are damaged greatly and lose your mask.
• When you put it on it creates a sparkle effect on you tranforming you into Orc kin.
• While wearing the mask you are indeed kindred to the orc. The orcs of the realm will treat you as their own and not attack you, orc ignore, if you will. This allows for player orcs to finally co-exist in their Orc Fort homes and not be forced to fight the shardies or urks as they are often referred to.
• If you attempt to cause damage to any Orcs while whereing the mask you will be hit with the explosion damage and lose your mask.
• In becoming kin with the Orc, you lose a great amount of karma with every use(putting on and taking off) of the mask. Do not expect to remain an Honorable Orc while elbow-rubbing with your new found kin.

Here are two accounts from our readers on their experiences with the current quest and new items.

Hail! Some odd news I have to report this morning! As I was heading to the bank to check my funding situation, the Towncryer began ranting on about Orc Mages and some "strange" masks that warriors were reporting they were carrying. Being a "Questor" of sorts, I decided to investigate. I recall past battles with Orcs on their home turf and know them to be incredibly fierce when defending it. So, I headed to the nearest stable to retrieve my favorite dragon,"Wind", and headed to the fort near Yew. As usual, the Orcs were in full attendance and going about their usual humie munching. They attacked me on sight as I am sure I appeared tasty to them. Wind soon had them diverted from me and I went about rummaging through their corpses looking for anything unusual. I was soon rewarded.

On the glowing corpse of an Orc Mage I found an oddly colored mask. Much like the ones that are commonly skinned from the faces of fallen Orcs. I retrieved it from the corpse and called Wind to follow me through a magical portal back to the stables. Once he was fed and safely away in his pen I began to investigate the mask more thoroughly. When inspected, it was revealed to be "a mask of orcish kin". I decided to tempt fate and donned the mask. By jove! It was an act of evil! My karma suffered incredibly! I decided to try it on again after removing it in disgust. Same results! By now I was beginning to understand the meaning of its name. Still wearing the mask, I returned to the fort. Expecting an onslaught of orcs I began to run around as I had failed to bring my trusty dragon, Wind, with me.

Whats this?

The Orcs appeared to not even notice me! It suddenly dawned on me, the meaning of the mask! I was indeed KIN to them! They treated me as if I was brethren to them. I was utterly safe within the confines of the fort until an ettin appeared before me. It bore directly towards me and proceeded to flay me with its fists. Running in panic. I soon lost him amongst the woods and returned to retreive my dragon. Upon my return with Wind, my dragon started attacking the orcs with a fury I have rarely seen. And almost at once the Orcs bore down on me with uncontrolled rage! The mask had disappeared! The Orcs had seen through my disguise! Creating a portal to allow egress from the fort for myself and Wind, I noticed Wind had killed a few more Orc mages. I quickly searched their remains and found two more masks! I hid them in my pack and headed through the portal.

I know not the meaning of all this, but intend to find out. I shall return to you with more news as I learn more about these odd occurances. Please heed my warning! The Orcs are just as brutal as ever!

Yours respectfully, Conrad of the Knights of the Quest

Allright, I went to the trammel orc fort near cove, to try and get one of these masks, and after 4 orc mages I got one. It was a green orc mask called "mask of the orcish kin"(see picture), and you take karma loss when you put it on.

While wearing it, orcs do not consider you a threat, and do not attacks. Ettins still attack however, and I don't know about trolls. If you attack an orc while wearing the mask, it disapears and you take a LARGE amount of damage(I found this out the hard way, ack). They seem to spawn about 1 mask in every 100 mages, and I was able to get a 2nd mask in Felucca, so it applies to both shards.

Any orc mage has the chance to spawn a mask, think statues and staves, and I have tested the mask with a postive karma and negitive karma char, neither times it exploded. It only explodes, when you do damage in any way, shape or form to a type of orc, or if you put it on while an orc has you targeted(lost my 2nd mask this way), so it's better to put it on before you run into orcs.

Also, you can get them in trammel, felucca and ilshenar. I've gotten a mask in each of the lands.

-FatherGanja, UOStratics Forum Moderator

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Fallon sends this warm invitation to our readers:

We are pleased to announce the re-grand opening of the Stumbull Inn! The official opening will occur on Friday evening, May 18th, from 7pm - 9pm? Central time.

Items are still being donated for door prizes as we write this, however we have already received several generous donations to give away just for the lucky ones that show up! Some of the items are a hair style deed, empty fruit basket, a whip, bone containers, runebooks, etc etc.

Merely enter your name in the "sign in" book, if your name matches the prize in our book..you win that prize. An example, we write down ahead of time, that the 5th person who signs receives a hair style deed, we match it up in our book, and it's yours. No particular reason to be early or late; however. to win, you must be present at the time of the giveaway.

We will also hosting our "Drunken Darts" competition hosted by Chamfort, GM of DoC. Only 20 entries max will be accepted so register early or shout the loudest.

We will be giving away 7k for the 1st prize winner, 5k for the 2nd prize winner, and 3k for the 3rd place winner.

Not enough for you? No problem. We will also be holding a summoning contest for the mages among us. Whoever manages to summon the most "pets" in a two minute time frame, will win a brand new set of full valorite plate armor. Of course most mages have no use for plate, but it does look good.

Getting to the inn is simple. We are located just about a 2 minute run from the Yew moongate in Trammel. Just north east. Sextant coordinates are 89 by 17 N 30 by 52 W. A map is available on the website, as well as the latest news. Check it out at The Stumbull Inn.

So come on out and join us. As always the food and drinks are on the house. Come meet our new staff, bring your friends, and have some fun!

Fallon
Proprietor of the Stumbull Inn

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Ahoy, fellow Britannians!

Over the next few weeks, you will see some small changes here in the Great Lakes section. After a long and successful tenure as News Manager, Helper has moved on to other pursuits. At Xena’s invitation, I have docked my ship and will be stepping up to the wheel as the new captain of this zany, and capable, cast of characters.

You will continue to see the reporters you’ve come to know: Barth, Cheebatoke, Lisa, and Nadia, each a dedicated and talented writer. We’ll be bringing in some new faces, too, whom you will meet as they step aboard.

Of course, we will still welcome other submissions, as well, and those will be posted. We ask that invitations to events be submitted a week in advance, when possible. This gives us time to correspond with you if we have additional questions. We want to be sure that we give you the coverage you want and that the readers get the information they need.

We are always looking for new recruits, too. If you are interested in a position with us, please write to me. If you have comments or suggestions, I’d like to hear those, too. Never hesitate to send me a note or stop me in town if you see me ambling about, trying to get my land legs back.

Safe travels and smooth sailing,

Noel

Noel LeFevre, News Manager, GL Stratics

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According to Vidi, who has been camping the orc spawn since the town criers began to pass on the news of the mask's existence, there are two kinds of masks. One is called A mask of Orcish Kin, and the other is an Orcish Mask of Mist. It is uncertain whether or not these two types have different properties. Some have speculated that one of these types is a newbified version, or that one type does not negatively effect karma.

The mask will explode if the wearer has positive karma or if he attacks a fellow orc while masked. These explosions can cause up to 50 points of damage, so target carefully!

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Hail!

I represent the Order of Hospitallers, a guild that has been in existence before the demise of the honored Counselors on the Chesapeake Shard. Our Charter is to provide assistance and protect the new adventurers within the realm of Britannia. Our members have the guild abbreviation of "<+>" and we all wear a dark green sash. Any players who require assistance my seek us out and we will aid thee in any way we can.

Our Tower is located north of the swamps of Trinsic in Trammel. We provide vendors with wares at reduced costs to assist young players.

If thou are in need, seek out our order. Our members reside primarily in Moonglow and Minoc within Trammel. We will assist thee in any way possible.

Peace and Luck to you all in your quests.

In Honor and Duty, Tyvek

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Come meet the Pacific support volunteers (retired) at the Skara Brae Councilor's hall in Felucca. The event will be from 9-10PM PDT. These Robed Ones supported Pacific for many many years. We talked to Jyrra (Seer Retired) a week ago just on the eve of the hmm retirement, and he felt the Robed ones needed some time. So Jyrra plans to have as many of the Robed ones come to Pacific to meeting the Citizens as possble. For my part, I am inviting all the Citizens of Felicca and Trammel to come and meet the Volunteers. Talk about the old times, the Dragons, Skeletons, Quests, and the Help provided to each and every Citizen of the Land by the very dedicated Volunteers of Pacific.

Come thank those that worked to make Pacific a rather unique place. Hopefully Jyrra will be able to gather many of Volunteers that worked on Pacific. To those of the Volunteer Program unable to make the Gathering, we send along our thanks and appreciation.

For those unfamiliar with Skara Brae, the Councilors Hall is east of the bank, and south west of the Skara Brae Moongate.

Respectfully

Sam, Lady Chancelor, Skara Brae

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To all who seek adventure, The Keepers of Maddox are hosting a siege-style dungeon quest (read more on the background of the quest here). The date for the quest will be Saturday 26th of May. We will meet outside the east entrance to the dungeon of Khaldun at 2:00 pm pst (5:00 pm est.). From there we will break off into teams of 5 and proceed into the dungeon. The object will be to bring back the greatest amount gold as a team in 2 hours.

The prize will be 250,000 gold, to be split amongst the team evenly. Also, in addition to the gold, the first person who brings back a full suit of armor, crafted by a certain legendary smith whose name will remain concealed until the event, will receive a properly placed house to call your very own.

We will be in the dungeon for 2 hours, then afterwords we will be giving gates to Maddox's Mountain View Tavern in the City of Samelthe.

You may say this sounds easy but.... you can only go into the dungeon once. Once you are out or die you are done. Any and all types of adventurers are welcome. Be careful of what type of character you bring because anything is legal. Any thing you can think to better yourself is encouraged. Welcome all and have fun.

Also while at the Tavern, after the quest, feel free to test your luck and knowledge at our very own version of the age old guess the quantity game. The Barkeepers of the tavern have gathered their hard won resources together and are giving you a chance to win them out of the goodness of their hearts (or ale in their belly). The game is simple: Guess the quantity of the contents of the bag located on the chess table. You need not guess exactly, the closest guess will be awarded the entire contents. The final count of all guesses will be conducted on June 15th. Please leave your name and ICQ or email in the red book beside the bag to enter in the drawing and, yes, its FREE.

The contents of the bag are as follows:

1. a certain amount of all 8 reagents (all 8 are the same quantity).
2. 1 pile of gold.
3. 1 stack of ingots.

Good Luck and Happy guessing.

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A strange illness seems to be afflicting many members of AT (Army of Thieves). The members are extremely frightened and are looking for a cure. The first to catch this sickness was none other than Augustus, the esteemed leader of AT. Several other members, Jeff, Big Head, Jinx were also sickened to the point of death by this Virus. This sickness is spreading far and wide. Not a soul in the Army of thieves will be spared, for there is no cure.The Army of Thieves were seen running in fear, hiding in their homes hoping that they would not catch this Virus. Will someone please get them a doctor!!

We caught wind of this Virus and found out it was a man, not a sickness, and we approached him to see what is going on. His name is Sirus the Virus, and he stated that he was hired by a group of local merchants to protect their interests. It seems that AT is causing considerable loss and damage to the trade routes to Moonglow and other small towns. These merchants have hired Sirus the Virus to be a thorn in their sides. Along with oLo they hope to squash AT and put them back in the dark allies where they belong! Sirus had a few words for the members of AT, " You thieves have met your end, I will kill each and every one of you, I will select the time and the place. You may see me and I will not kill you, because its not your time. But your time will come. I am coming for you all!"

It seems like the towns are finally doing something to stop the rampant stealing and killing that has gone on unchecked for far to long. Please stay tuned for further updates!

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On Wednesday evening, the reknowned spiritualist known as Enya Mizuguchi, by request of Cove's City Council, conducted an investigation into the ghost haunting Cove's outer wall.

Assisted by Raven of Cove, Miss Mizuguchi eventually located the spirit, and was able to establish limited communication with it for almost forty minutes, during which time a vast amount of information regarding the mysterious haunting was uncovered.

A complete report on the encounter was later compiled by Miss Mizuguchi, and submitted to the City Council for review. In the interests of public safety, an expanded version of the document has been made available for review at the Cove City Library, two houses south of the city gates.

With the citizens of Cove demanding an immediate end to the haunting, the City Council is now offering a sum of 50,000 gold to any individual that succeeds in removing the spirit from the city. And while the City Council has scheduled an official inquiry into this matter for the upcoming Phoenix Festival, a solution to this mystery before the celebration would be preferred.

It should be noted that there is no apparent connection between this spirit, and Tesserac's Journal. In addition, the ghost does not appear every evening, so the City Council would like to remind citizens to not become discouraged if they fail to encounter the spirit the first night they stake out Cove's outer wall.

Regardless of your experience or profession, if you have an interest in this matter, and think you can contribute to the ongoing investigation, the Cove City Council would sincerely appreciate your help! Once again, the expanded report is available to the general public, in the Cove City Library, two houses south of the city gates...

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Next Monday (May 21st 2001) I (Rencall) am hosting an event which I hope to be fun and rewarding for anyone who wishes to come along.

We will rally together at 2 PM EST at the Ironwood Inn in Vesper (Trammel), from there - since I am an experienced traveller, will lead everyone across the mountains and treacherous roadways - we will slay all beasts in our way - until we reach the southern-end of Britannia, within the Jungles we will locate the mountain which is the ancient home of the Dragons, once inside we will attempt to clear the first floor of the Drakes and Dragons, then we will venture into the second layer and attempt to slay the Shadow Wyrm, finally in the deepest level we will conquer the fierce Ancient Wyrm, any characters of any skill level are invited to participate, and newer players are diffenently encouraged to come along.

For more information about this raid, or upcoming events, you can ICQ me at: 56755808

Safe Travels,
Rencall

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Cove (UOSS-AOL) - At this hour, a fierce battle rages on near the Cove Orc fort on Trammel. Scores of ettins, orc lords, orc mages and plain old orcs are attacking any and all who seek to approach the fort. Unarmed travelers are advised to avoid the area until further notice. This reporter barely escaped with his life. In fact, I died once and if it were not for the timely intervention of a good hummie, I would be taking a lengthy dirt nap even now.

More updates as they become available.

(filed 5-18-01, 12:15 AM EST)

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• Putting a "mask of orcish kin" on causes one to lose karma.
• While the mask is on, orcs will not attack the wearer.
• Attacking an orc while wearing the mask allegedly causes its destruction.

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What do we want? Orc Invasions! When do we want them? Now!

That has been the cry in my house for the last few months, and it seems like my prayers are finally being heard. Tamara of Legends sent me this very exciting notice:

Greetings Ithunk!

You should be dancing in anticipation if I am correctly reading the signs and portents. The town criers in Felluca actually have news this evening. They tell of warriors talking about the strange mask that orc mages are carrying. I believe that I will seek out some of these orc mages to relieve them of their burden.

I also wonder about the orcs that are now being seen in the lands - just this evening I was at the Cove Orc fort working on my meager provoking skills. I saw several of them curing themselves of magical poison cast by the orc mages. Have they always been able to do that? I've also seen strange gates appearing on the docks at there. They appear to be facet gates, as the second I saw was reddish in color (the first was blue). I don't know if they were created by a player in Trammel planting a stone, then not coming through, or if they are part of something more sinister.

Praise Minax!

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Lord British™ Unveils Game Development Studio

Legendary Game Designer Richard Garriott to Partner with Korean Game Company NCsoft™; Dream Team of Designers Already in Place to Create Next Generation Internet-Only Games

LOS ANGELES, May 17, 2001–Richard Garriott, the pioneering computer game designer and the creator of the popular Ultima™ series of computer games, is back in the business of making games after being out of the interactive entertainment industry news for the last year. Garriott today unveiled an online game development studio, Destination Games, located in Austin, Texas. Destination Games was founded in April of 2000 after Garriott’s departure from Origin Systems. Garriott also announced that Destination Games would immediately become a part of NCsoft, a Korean-based company that currently operates the largest subscription-based online game in the world, Lineage: The Blood Pledge™. Garriott, along with other Destination Games and NCsoft officials made the announcement at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Garriott, and his brother Robert, a co-founder of Destination Games and the company’s president and chief executive officer, have assembled the top talent in the online gaming industry. The team includes Starr Long, who along with Richard Garriott created Ultima™ Online, the first commercially successful subscription-based online game. Other members of the team previously worked on such titles as Asheron’s Call™, Air Warrior™ and the Command and Conquer™ series. Together they will join forces with Lineage creator and NCsoft Chief Creative Officer, Jake Song, to form the most prominent and experienced group of online game designers in the world.

"This is a match made in heaven," says Richard Garriott. "In just a few short years, Jake Song has established himself as one of the industry’s top online game designers. Lineage now has more subscribers than Ultima Online, Everquest™ and Asheron’s Call combined. It’s a dominant market leader in the Asian markets. We’re excited to leverage NCsoft and Jake’s experience to help us launch our games in Asia."

Also announced today was joint work with NC Interactive™, an online support organization that will provide the necessary resources to support Lineage as well as other NCsoft and Destination Games products. That group will play an important role as NCsoft and Destination Games improve support and visibility for Lineage to North America and Europe throughout this year.

Lineage is a massively multiplayer role-playing game in a medieval fantasy setting. It has the largest subscriber base of any online game in the world. In Korea alone there are more than two million active accounts. Simultaneous worldwide user numbers have been as much as 180,000.

"NCsoft is proud to be a part of this new venture," says Jake Song. "Richard and Robert Garriott have a long and successful track record in this business and they understand how to successfully launch a product in North America and Europe. Having that kind of experience now in the NCsoft family will provide even greater opportunities for us as we expand our products beyond the Asian territories."

The Garriotts along with their father and a family friend founded ORIGIN™ Systems in 1983 and grew the company into the top independently owned computer game studio in the United States. ORIGIN Systems is best known for the Ultima series of fantasy computer games including Ultima Online. In 1992 the Garriotts sold ORIGIN Systems to Electronic Arts™.

About Destination Games™
Destination Games, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is the Internet gaming venture of Richard Garriott aka Lord British™ and Robert Garriott, the co-founders of Origin Systems™. Destination Games makes cutting edge online entertainment experiences that are richly detailed, easily accessible and best of all, fun to play. Destination Games is partnered with NCsoft™, provider of the world’s number 1 online game, Lineage: The Blood Pledge™.

About NCsoft™
NCsoft, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is the world’s largest independent online game company. Established in 1997 as a systems integration company, NCsoft has leaped to become Korea’s and the world’s leading online game software company. In Korea, its blockbuster hit game Lineage: The Blood Pledge™ commands a 47% market share and attracts the greatest number of concurrent users in the world.

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It was just yesterday our guards had returned, barely escaping the blood-hungry grasps of the brigands south of Britain. With their informative scouting, and the helpful investigation of Kain Ashburner of Cove, we can finally amass our forces and apprehend, or slay, the foes that have plagued this land for the past few seasons with murder.

'Tis suspected the ones hiding in Relvinian's Maze have been the source of disturbance as of late. Besides the murder of Raziel, and the killing of Lord Rymus, fifteen more have turned up missing, or dead, in the last few months. Each one found of the missing were ritualistically murdered, as Raziel and Rymus were, and all baring marks of pentacles about their slain bodies. It is also believed that these brigands possess the missing evidence: Lord Rymus's research book as well as the bloody poison-coated dagger found in Moonglow.

Those of this realm, the Courts of Truth call upon ye; gather, and end these heinous slayings. Meet within the City of Wispwood upon the hour of seven (7pm pacific, this Friday the 18th) in the time of two eves, and ready thineself for battle, and blood. Let the justice of the lands ring clear, and the heads of our enemies slunk in metallic perversion. Let us end this mystery and investigation of murder, once and for all.

Sage Harold

Fight Night Event at Grimoire Arena,
1 vs. 1 Sponcered by MacMichael and hosted by Josh:

May 18th, 2001, at (9 PM PST, 10 PM MST, 11 PM Central, Midnight EST)
No Entry Fee

1st place 20K gps, 2nd place 10K gps, 3rd place 5K gps.

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.

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.

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. Contestant Battle Arena Rules

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. Spectator Rules

For calendar of events, rules, maps and community message board, please visit Grimoire

We hope you can make it,
LeeLu, Grimoire Staff

Your humble servant
Raeven Auror

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I've heard from a few sources that Paul "Sage" Sage and Kirk "Runesabre" Black are leaving UO. As always this is a rumor, but with Sage going to E3 "unofficially" to hang out with an "old friend who is not in the business", it stands to reason (in my deluded mind, anyway) that he is going to see about hooking up with Richard "My Alter Ego is a Registered Trademark" Garriot's new company or possibly to hook up with the Star Wars Galaxies team (either way he'll be with former friends from OSI - OSI has more or less supplied every MMORPG development team in existence with at least 2 or 3 warm bodies).

None of this can be confirmed at the moment and its all heresay and rumormongering, but, hey, this is the company formerly known as OSI, where heresay and rumormongering is a way of life. If it is true, we here at The Chosen wish them the best and hope Sage can come up with a better handle than his last name in his future endeavors.

- Jinx

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Early Morning at SL

Early Saturday, KoRn and a force of UMA and solo artists make their way to the SL strong hold. This isn’t like the normal morning ritual of resetting the sigils with only a few defenders, its Saturday morning and SL knows to expect a fight. They got one, which lasted 5 hours long.

SL superbly defended their turf lead by ArchAngel and several other murders and members of the Mean and Dirty (M&D) gang. They also had a lot of tamers with hordes of dragons and wyrms. The stench of Dragons and White Wyvern’s was very heavy. CoM slowly gained more and more people, LaW, a DJ or two, most of the Finance Ministers and Sheriffs, beating themselves against the dastardly SL stronghold only to find defeat.

SL had some enterprising people who cast chain lightning over and over from outside the walls of the yew ruins pummeling CoM spell casters and warriors alike. The murder of dragons went on wholesale for hours.

Finally, after 5 full scale assaults CoM won out with a loss of much life on both sides. Returning the sigils to Magi, KoRn and a Ray, Lupus and a few others spent a quiet hour prepping the feeble strong hold with barricades and prepared for an SL assault that never came. The early morning warriors took their well-deserved rest and within minutes LoD swept in and the battle for the sigils began anew.

Amalacon
Minister of Britain
CoM

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Lord Martin Westmark sent us a complete report on the recent Summit of Town Councils:

Greetings!

I would like to thank all that attended:

• Lady Thena and Lord DarkHorse - Represented the Enclave.
• Ahab and Gwythyr - Represented Silverthorne Dale.
• Angel and Dreythos - Represented Serpent's Hold.
• Fate Blacklace - Represented Buccaneer's Den.
• Lady Kirsten - Represented Jhelom.
• Mystic and The Slayer - Represented Britain.

My apologies for those that I missed. I remember there was Maximus, and he came with his wife. *Sighs* Or at least I think... Alas, I know I'm forgetting more people.

This is what we discussed:

• We all agreed upon a monthly meeting, similar to this one, that will be held in a different city by a different host/hostess each time.
• Lady Kirsten proposed a "Trade Agreement" between the towns and cities. The idea uses the export/import and supply-and-demand systems.
• Lady Thena addressed to all of us on how we need to try and help the "newer" players of UO, as our beloved 'smurfs' have left us. :-(
• Ahab proposed annual "Dungeon Crawls" with a roleplaying context to them. All towns would be invited to participate.

The basic 'theme' of the meeting was that player-cooperation is essential to all of our plans and events, and that our cities can only prosper if we help and cooperate with one another.

Praise Minax!

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Out of Jamell's recent loss (see "Another Tale of Loss" below) comes an interesting new contest:

Last night, I had a bad night. I ventured to Shame along and, by the end of my night, I had lost my power katana and my life more then 5 times. I will not ramble on, but it is this event that put this idea in my head.

Thus, I am holding a contest open to all and the prize shall be a power long sword as well as a check for 10k. I will also write your story in a book and ask Aubrey Gawen to place it in the Museum of Britannia.

Now, the judges will be myself (Jamell Caster) and The Beautiful Darklady.

What you have been wanting to know: "What do I gotta do to win?"

Write your saddest or worst expierence in UO and post it on the Startics Forum Topic titled "come one come all A CONTEST." That's all.

I would like to have real stories, but there is no way to tell for sure. Thus it is this simple the story that myself and Darklady like the best wins.

Deadline for entries is Sunday, May 20.

Praise Minax!

Golden Knight #69 - "Reach for the Stars"
Hosted by Rikus, Ancient Sage of KoA

Date: Friday, May 18, 2001 @ 8:00 PM CST

Time: Registration takes place from 7:30 - 8:00 PM CST. Gates will be leaving the Village @ 8:15 PM CST (Please try to be there on time, if not early). There will be NO late entries.

Where: The event takes place in a secret location but leaves from the Alliance Village. Seperate Gates will be provided in the Village for both participants and spectators. The coordinates are 136*24'S, 27*12'E . http://www.allianceknights.com/village.html

Entry Fee: 1200 per team. ONLY teams may enter. No individual pairings.

Prizes are: 20,000 gold pieces for the winner (10,000 per person). 10,000 for second place (5,000 per person)

Description:
This event will be a 2 person team Free-for-All in a pre-determined but undisclosed location.

Event Rules:
- Any and all Magic Items/Weapons are allowed EXCEPT any Magic Reflect Items or Armor
- Mounts WILL be allowed, but may not fight in any way, shape or form
- No tamed animals except mounts.
- No looting of any sort, in any way!
- All spells allowed EXCEPT: No Summoning spells (this includes Blade Spirits and Energy Vortexs, No recall/gating, No Invisibility.
- No Hiding due to the nature of the event.
- Precasting/Predrinking is allowed
- *There will be NO time limit. The event ends when there is one team left.
- Poisoned weapons ARE allowed.
- No help from outside the ring.
- When/if you die, we will try to come to rez you ASAP, please gather your things and stand next to the OUTSIDE of the arena with your death robe ON so the rest of the combatants can seperate those that are still in from those who are not.
- Once you die, you are out for the match and may not re-enter or help your teammate in any way shape or form. Doing so results in Disqualification for your entire team.
- If a situation arises where combatants are "blue" to one another they may be asked to stop and flag before continuing, but this is left solely to the discretion of the parties involved.

*(This rule may be subject to change if there is an excessive amount of running/avoidance of confrontation between teams)

As a reminder to all participants in this Golden Knight event: As we try thoroughly to protect and oversee everyone that enters our event, please remember that KoA or it's event helpers are not responsible for lost, stolen or ruined items in our event. We do this as a form of entertainment for the general community and do everything in our natural powers to protect the people that participate, spectate or help with our events. Remember, we are players just like you, we aren't gods and can not be at all places at all times to monitor everything. Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerly,
Knights of the Alliance (KoA)

Reminders For Spectators:
-- No faction fighting in the Village prior to the event or during the event while it is being held.
-- Please do not equip bows around the ring. Spells or potions may hit you that will cause you to attack fighters in the ring.
-- 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, please go to another location.
-- No spectators in the arena after the event begins.
-- The Golden Knights event is an OSI sponsored event for Lake Superior. Grief players may be removed and/or jailed, banned, etc. The consequences for disruption are solely the decision of the representatives of Origin Systems.
-- Have a great time! Cheering for your friends is encouraged!

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Hail fellow Britannians!

Napa's very own Riders of the Wind are pleased to announce our first, and hopefully weekly, "Where in Napa" contest! This will be a grand time to show off your vast knowledge of the surrounding countryside, both above and below... and possibly walk away with some cash and other goodies. Each week, a screenshot will be made available to all those participating, of a particular area in Britannia. These areas will be initially limited to Trammel and the Lost Lands. The rules for this contest are simple: be the first person at the designated spot within the time limit and with the proper password and you win! It's that simple. Although the premise is simple, finding the given location may not be. But fear not... we promise that all of the locations will be attainable by normal means within the time period. You won't see areas such as the Star Room, Under the Sea, or any of the areas that Belan the Looter has special runes to. Below is all the information you need to enjoy this event.

Date: Friday, May 18, 2001
Time: 7:45PM Pacific time
Location: The main back room of the Vesper Bank

1. Interested participants should meet in the main back room of the Vesper bank starting at 7:45PM for gates to the Riders of the Wind guild house. Gates will be made available up until 8:00PM.

2. At 8:00PM the guild house will be opened to the waiting participants. When all of the participants are safely in the guild house, the door will be closed and the event will begin.

3. At this time a URL will be displayed giving a screenshot of the area to locate, and the value of the prize for being the first to reach that spot with the correct password. The password and time limit will also be on this page. At this time the participants are left to their own devices to reach the designated area.

4. At the designated area there will be a hidden affiliate of ROW waiting for the first person to show and bark out the password. If the correct password is given, the person will be gated back to the starting location to receive their prize. This first week's prize will be a cool 25,000gp!!! There may also be some other trinkets thrown in there as well.

5. If the designated location is not reached within the time limit, the prize will be rolled over into the next week's contest making for an even larger prize.

As the locations get harder, so will the prize get larger! If we find that the locations are too hard, we will offer smaller prizes for easier locations. The minimum will always be at least 10,000gp.

So, put on your geography hat and join us in ROW's first "Where in Napa" event!

Lord Wind Runner,
Riders of the Wind - Napa Valley
You can contact the event coordinators at this email address

Your humble servant,
Raeven Aurora

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Paladin Isle is in the northeast part of town and is the only island within the walls of Trinsic.  The adventure starts at 7pm PST this Thursday!  Don't miss out on the opportunity to create tales to tell thy comrades as ye sip ale by a fireplace on some future random night.

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Greetings!

The Mystic Mead dart tournament just keeps getting better. Last week we had an incredible turnout, on friday night we ended with a pot of 7900gp and Tero leading with 86 points. On Saturday we were visited by a very generous man, Gudzenheit III. He entered the tavern, observed the event for a while, drank his ale and then departed. A few minutes later, he returned and handed me a check for 20,000GP. I told him the entrance fee was only 100GP and he smiled. "No Trekonn, this is a donation for your event." I was certainly surprised and thanked him for his generous donation! This brought the pot to over 35,000GP! The line to the dart board suddenly got alot longer real fast. Thug Girl approached the line and threw 100 points! Everyone was happy for her and upset in the same breath, they wanted to win the largest pot to date. Person after person tried and I barely had time to drink my ale.

Then Heijin threw 100 points as well! I was truly shocked, never had there been a tie in the dart tournament,but those two scores would stand and both would recieve a check fo 21,700GP! After the event I visited with Gudzenheit III and he donated some more really nice items that will be added as bonuses to the dart tournament in the future. A truly amazing night indeed!

On Sunday night we had the drawing for contestants and Fazban was the winner of the SOS bottle and fish net. This week we are giving away a full plate shadow suit and 10k to the OMK Marketplace. I would also like to remind everyone that Sunday nights you can buy a ticket for the small placed tower we are giving away. Tickets are 1,000GP each. I had stated previously that the drawing was going to be held on June 3rd, but due to circumstances, we will be moving it back one week to the 10th at 6pm PST. I would like to thank everyone for their support, and look forward to seeing everyone again this coming weekend.

Thank thee,
Trekonn
The Hierophant
Oracle of the Mystic Knight

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Hail Sonoma, we at CBD Village are holding our first event this Friday at 9:00 central(7:00 pacific).  The event will be naming the town, myself and other villagers will listen to people's suggestions on what the name of the town should be.  We will then choose what we think are the best two and then we will hold a ballot box vote in which everyone there may vote.  The winner will receive a cash prize.  Role-Playing environment highly welcomed.

Also keep in mind when creating a town name our guild's name is The Clan of the Blue Dragons.

Good luck, and may your village not be named Dlan of the Clue Bragons...  uhm...hmmm...

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I just received this missive from The Evil Lord Brian, regarding his upcoming social event. Read on for further details.

Greetings all. I, The Evil Lord Brian, guildmaster of LoS, will be holding a gathering at my home at the Skara Crossroads. All factions and guilds are welcome to attend, providing they do not fight im my home. Outside, you can do as you will. Please feel free to bring dates.

There will be a fighting tourney with 20k the prize for this winner-take-all event. No other prizes will be given.

As for rules, they are simple. No magic weapons, shields or armor of any kind. In other words, if it's magic, leave it at home. No poison weapons. No looting of the one you felled an NO SPEED HACK!!!!! I will have your arse banned so fast it will make your head spin!

We need at least 15 fighters and mages are also welcome to join in. So, come on down at 6:30 p.m., CST and join in the fun.

The Evil Lord Brian

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

Cyn
Grand Exhalted Defender of Mead and Other Fine Spirits

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" Mysterious Outbreak Reported by Local Healers..

Serius Deruk of the Trinsic Healers Association made the following announcement yesterday at the monthly gathering of healers and alchemists in Trinsic:

"Tis my unfortunate duty to warn all ye of a crises most serious. There seems to be an outbreak of sorts runnin' rampant through out our lands. Common folk and nobility a like appear to be coming down wit an illness like none I have seen in me old weary life. The infection itself can be recognized by the following symptoms: coughing, fever, chills, and slight delirium. More symptoms may come to light as we continue to study this most perplexing illness"

When asked what made this sickness any different than the common "cotton head" known well to most, Serius had the following to say:

"This.. disease is unlike any recorded illness yet seen by my healers, it seems to mutate when passed from person to person, making a cure almost impossible, even leeching seems to help for naught. Please be weary of the people you accompany, be safe the activities you choose. We still are nae sure of how this disease is spread. Our biggest concern currently is that this.. bug.. seems to aim directly at the very mind of its poor victim, causing delusions.. and possibly worse. Again I beg of ye, be weary, this is no common "cotton head"."

At that Serius left the gathering saying he and his healers would do what they could to continue study of said illness.

It leaves this writer to wonder, how bad can this illness and its symptoms get? What is it that suddenly caused such an unusual illness? Questions yet to be answered.

~Sonoma Daily Press"

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Comments from Cynthe May 16 2001 6:08PM

Hey there,

Many of you have seen my name since I pounced onto the boards in March, but some of you may not have any idea who I am. :) I’m Cynthe, otherwise known as Amy Sage in that other thing we call real life.

Like many of the recent Comments from the Team, I’ll start off this one with a bit of an introduction. I’m a native Texan, and attended the University of Texas, studying Music, English, and German. In 1998 I was hired on at Origin to help out the Ultima Ascension team with some database work (okay, so it’s a glorified way of saying data entry, but hey, you have to get your foot in the door somehow). After six months of doing some behind-the-scenes design work, I was hired on as a full designer, and stayed on until the game shipped. After that, I accepted the position of Community Coordinator for Ultima Ascension. The position was a good fit for me, because I knew the game well, and… well… I tend to talk a lot. :) In February of 2000 I moved on to the role of Community Coordinator for Ultima Online 2, later to be called Ultima Worlds Online: ORIGIN. This role included weekly website updates, as well as lots of posting on message boards and answering questions in the community when possible.

So now on to the present… after the decision in March of 2001 to concentrate on Ultima Online, I moved over to UO, filling the position of UO.com Content Editor/Writer. To say the pace has picked up would be an understatement. I used to think that weekly updates kept me pretty busy. The UO site is another beast altogether… the updates are daily, and at any given point in time there are twenty people waiting for information, updates, and changes done to different sections of the site. Talk about a lesson in scheduling!

I’ve had people ask exactly what the Content Editor/Writer does. Well, it's important to note the term "content" in there, since that's my domain. The actual design and appearance of the website, and the coding of the sections is not done by me - we have an extremely talented web team with an incredible knowledge of web design and code. And as for editing and writing, I actually seem to do a lot more of the former than the latter, but that’s mainly because the community’s more interested in hearing the developers talk than the editor. And that’s certainly fine with me! My tasks include things like soliciting/selecting/editing weekly spotlights, Comments from the Team, and the daily alerts (which involves deciphering the emails between the billing department, the network operations group, the development team, and the support group to figure out exactly what these things mean for the players and make sure that there’s something on the site to let people know what’s going on). I’m also now in charge of keeping the site updated, which is a gargantuan task, and one I have only begun. *side note - I’m well aware that there are many pages that could use an update. I’m always cool with getting emails about those pages… I file them into my “list of things to fix” folder. And since I, for some reason, always find it difficult to pull myself away from the community “front line”, I also try to help Melantus on the boards when I can… which in and of itself could be a full-time job. Since I’m much less experienced with UO than Melantus, I tend to focus more on board moderation and trying to keep things reasonable and civil, leaving him free to address more game-related issues.

So I’m always open to discussion, and I welcome thoughts on the website (keep in mind there’s no way I can actually take all the suggestions I receive, but there’s always the chance it’ll grab my attention and end up in that “list of things to fix” folder).

Till later,

Cynthe
Website Project Supervisor
Origin Systems

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Hey there everyone!

Just a quick note about the ongoing scenario fiction :

The stories we're posting are meant to give you a preview of things to come in about a week. Think of them as a sort of movie trailer giving you small details about what changes you'll start seeing throughout Britannia.

Didn't we hear from Dudagog about a week ago...? ;)

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On Sunday the 20th May 2001, UOChat will host our shard's biggest PvP tournament. It will take place at 7pm BST (8pm CET, 2pm EDT) in an undisclosed location.

Three contests will be held :

• Warriors - no magic items, weapons or armour, potions and poison allowed.
• Mages - No potions, Hybrid characters not welcome.
• Team Fighting - 3 characters, two mages and a warrior - Hybrids count as warriors - Potions allowed.

The referee will be Sion Verdox (Team Cow). More informations (as well as instructions to register) can be found on UOChat.

"I haven’t been able to write, we moved constantly until today. He even carried me one night when I was too exhausted to go on. I still feel unclean from that horrid contact. He’s gone to check the river, so I am writing this quickly in hopes that these words will be found soon. I hope my first pages were found, but if not, we have crossed one river and are about to cross another. We are still bearing east, although we headed south for a while and then wended our way back north. Larcalin killed a man that came across us one evening. Simple rent him limb from limb. All the while he explained the man’s anatomy to me as if I’d find the process interesting. It was all I could do to not loose the meager supper I’d just finished. If only it were…

Alas, he came back sooner than I thought and I was not able to drop this last letter. We have moved on into a swampy area and are now making our way north. Larcalin refers to me as Tefia almost half the time now, he gets violent when I correct him, so I have stopped doing so. I have not been able to get anything out of him that would be considered a weakness.

More days, it’s almost as if he knows I am trying to leave notes behind. I’ve a chance now, although I do not know when he will return. He’s set a guard of undead around me and gone off north a bit. I can hear the sea, or at least a great deal of water. I am guessing we may be near the town of… dear gods… he’s got the crystal!"

Hear ye! Hear ye!! The Inn of the Ninth Virtue will be open as of May 18th. To celebrate this grand occasion we will be holding festivities on Friday and Saturday evening. There will have door prizes, and of course good food, drink and company. We'll hold various competitions for prizes and for the length of the festivities we will be selling raffle tickets, at a cost of 1000gp each, for a drawing to be held at the close of Saturday night. The grand prize is a small stone tower, right next to Dragonhame Mountain(on the side towards Trinsic). There will also be 2nd and 3rd place prizes in this drawing. There will also be a vendor room where one may purchase all manner of craftable items as well as those of a magical persuasion.

We are located in Felucca near the trapper huts east of Vesper and south of the Shrine of Sacrifice. Sextant Coordinates: 90o 5'N 143o 38'E

For exact directions on how to reach the inn you may check our sky page at http://home.kc.rr.com/deadboywalking or send me a pigeon at coop#(ICQ#) 51337876. I would like to know if any large groups are coming, so if you are bringing a guild, drop me a line.

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Prying Eyes
May 16 2001 3:25PM

Sitting high on a tree branch, the orc scout Milug peered through the branches at the city in the distance. As he watched the humies milling about, completely unaware of his presence as they bought and sold their wares, he could not suppress a scowl. Already he missed his fort near the human city of Cove. He missed the comfort of his hut, the daily brawls, and the occasional forays into the woods looking for prey. Even more strongly, he missed the smell of charred meat in the cookpots and the hoots of laughter as yet another orc mage inevitably earned a beating from one of the lords after setting something ablaze while practicing his arcane arts.

His only instructions had been, "watch city, no bash humies, report back what humies do, no bash humies, wait ‘til we tell you what do next, no bash humies." Milug hated instructions, especially when they involved "no bashing". And his orc lord had said "no bashing" three times, which meant Milug could not pretend to have forgotten the commands. "Orc Lord too smart," Milug thought. Subconsciously rubbing the bump on his head, Milug remembered well the last time he had disobeyed his lord's orders. Orc lords could hit really hard when they were mad. Milug didn't like being hit. He much preferred doing the hitting. But it had been over a week now, with still no word from the fort with an explanation as to why he was here. Milug was becoming impatient, as were the others.

The sudden sound of a tree falling shook him from his orcish musings, and he looked down to see another orc, wielding a rather nasty looking ax, dragging a tree into the clearing. They had decided to risk building a small encampment near the town, but far enough into the woods to not be noticed by most. Of course, any humies who did venture too close were more than welcome... after all, the orcs did need something to put in their cookpots!

Reluctantly turning his attention to the city once again, he spied a small band of adventures exiting the city. He let out a long and low rasping sound to signal those around him to remain silent. The other orcs immediately ceased their chopping and hid behind the trees. Milug readied his long way killer, almost hoping the humies would spot him.

"Not Milug's fault if humies walk into camp," he thought with a grin. Milug considered making some "accidental" noise, but thought better of it as he again rubbed the bump on his head. The rest of the orcs gripped their axes tightly, only the strong threats from their lords keeping them from attacking the humies. Growing more impatient by the minute, the orcs waited quietly until the humies were gone before resuming their work.

As the orcish scout was about to continue his spying on the city, another orc called up to him in the guttural orcish language. Milug recognized it as the latest news from the fort, and grinned for the first time in days as he looked at the city again. The news was as he had hoped.

It would not be long.

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On Tuesday evening, while moving furniture in the mayor's residence, I inadvertantly discovered a tattered journal, hidden beneath a loose floorboard. Reading through the contents, I was amazed to find a reference to my grandfather, Robert Devanin, who inexplicably disappeared three decades ago. Apparently written by a citizen named "Tesserac", the journal contained the following entry:

"This ring that bears my name has led me to question my lineage. I had thought my blood noble, but the ring has no effect upon my finger, with the moons now in alignment. This being my third attempt, I know now that either the legend is false, and the spirit does not exist, or I do not belong to the family I had thought my own.

The curator in Vesper has offered quite a sum for the ring, and coin in my hand is better than a legend unfulfilled. Still, I wonder...

Does the spirit of Cresent Lake exist? And if so, what secrets does it hold? I know that it is nothing more than fabrication, in all probability, but Robert Devanin seemed convinced that it was true, and I tend to trust his word.

Regardless, I've spent too long chasing dreams. The curator can pursue the matter, if he wishes, as I am through with such fantasies. I was told he arrives each Friday at 8:00, so I must be off..."

It is implied by the wording of certain passages that the author of this journal knew my grandfather on a personal basis, indicating the contents are at least thirty years old.

And from what was written, it appears that my grandfather believed the author's ring could summon a spirit at Crescent Lake, located east of Cove, when the Britannian moons aligned in a specific way. Although the ring bore his name, it appears Tesserac was not of noble lineage, which prevented him from activating the ring's enchantment.

My personal interest in Tesserac's Ring is significant, derived from my desire to discover what caused my grandfather's disappearance thirty years ago; I care very little about the actual properties of the ring.

As the responsibilities of my position keep me well occupied, I am offering a sum of 100,000 gold coins, to anyone that can find this relic and deliver it to me.

"Tesserac's Journal" is currently available for public viewing in the Cove City Library, two houses south of the city gates. In addition, I will be available at the library on Friday evening, around 7:30pm EST, to speak with citizens interested in undertaking this endeavor on my behalf.

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Do you think you own the fastest pony in the land? Here's your chance to prove it! Or perhaps you have an ancient, plodding nag, but you've always cherished a hidden yen to RP a booky. Wait no longer! The Horse Races are back, and the second race of the year will take place tonight at 7 pm Pacific time at the Britain Racetrack. The Racetrack is located at co-ordinates 6o 14' S - 8o 51' W, within the guardzone on the west side of Britain in Felucca.

There is no entry fee. Last week's winner, Darkus, has rolled over his prize to this week, sweetening the usual 25K pot to 50,000 gold!

Join Drizzt, Master of Ceremonies, for an evening of equine entertainment and good clean fun. Can't make it tonight? Fear not! The Horse Races will run every second Wednesday.

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All skill levels and professions are welcome on these hunts, and plenty of people who can resurrect the fallen will be on hand. If you aren't a bard or a tamer, you may have never been to Destard. Well, now is your chance. 

Just meet Krysma and the rest of his crew at the YMCA, or if you can't get there, the party will swing by Yew Empath Abbey in Trammel before heading down into the darkness.

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"The Son of Blood," as told by Lord Geldmacher

Rain fell heavily as far as the eye could see. You could smell the moist soil, like the first spring showers. Lightning peeled across the sky. The kind of lightning you see during summer showers in the desert regions of Sosaria. Lady Sangria counted the seconds between flash and thunder. She couldn't even count to one. It was close this time. It was right above her castle.

The Yew snowglobe fell from the mantle and shattered on the floor. The air was strong with the acrid smell of electricity and magic. Her hair was standing. She had lived through a thousand storms. This one was odd somehow. She could feel it. She jerked at the loud clap of thunder that seemed to be in her head. She knew for sure something was not right. It was as clear to her as the sun on a warm spring day that something was terribly wrong.

She made her way through the castle securing all the window shutters. All of the castle help were gone. She gave the entire staff the day off to celebrate her recent victories in the Deceit Crusades. Her skin crawled with goose bumps as she recalled her slaying of the Black Lich Lord. Some long lost mage soul, from the time of Mondain, come to infest the lands like a plague of times past. The rotting corpse was tall, tall as a frenzied ostard. He carried a rotting gnarled staff. The stinking robes he wore were half decayed after centuries of being buried. Although rotting, with pieces of his flesh falling now and again, he was strong.

Sangria had only seen this kind of strength in Ogre Lords. Sometimes the Lich would raise a sore infested lip in a smile or snarl and she could see maggots or worms working through his teeth.

Light and thunder came together this time. Light so bright that she could still see the bolt with her eyes closed. The ringing in her ears was deafening. Lady Sangria was in a red fancy dress with a blood red cloak fastened with a golden broach. She had on her silver sandals. She never wore slippers. Her dark auburn hair was gently curled with a few wisps floating across her face. Her hair seemed to highlight her hazel eyes, almost making them aquamarine.

Making her way to the courtyard she could see smoldering pieces of wood where the stable once stood. Charred pieces of flesh with singed hair lay about the debris. Tears welled up as she remembered how well Trouble had served. The finest war steed ever, was Trouble. She had traveled all the way to Delucia to hand pick this mount. Everyone knows that the best war steeds are found in the Lost Lands. Only yesterday had Trouble saved her from the coiled strikes of a silver serpent while battling the Black Lich Lord. In battle she could not cry, only slay or be slain. Today she was not in battle. Today she was Lady Sangria, First Lady of Legends, and Lady of Love (KoV) Knights of Virtue. Lady of her estate. She lost her closest ally.

Tears ran down her cheeks as sure as gentle rivers flow into the ocean. Nothing she could do. All honor lost in such a death. No battle, no cause, no glory. The loud clacking of the front door knocker brought her attention back to reality. She made her way to the front door through the debris strewn courtyard. Sensing all that was wrong, she pulled a War Hammer from the wall and slowly opened the door. Lightning sparked across the door splintering the wooden frame, sending the door crashing against her. She was smashed between the iron door and the wall of stone. Pain no stronger than what she had felt in battle. The molten door burned her flesh as she pushed it off. As she peered through the opening that was once a door, she spied a small bundle of cloth on the steps. The sound of a whaling infant seemed to emanate from the bundle. She pulled back a fold in the cloth to find a tiny baby. The babes skin had been burned by the last volley of lightning. She used some bandages from her pack to heal the slight burns. The wind was picking up and she could hear a voice....an evil voice....reciting arcane incantations of spells she knew not. She knew that voice. Her skin did not pale. Rather her face grew hard and her eyes filled with a red haze. The red haze she has always endured during battle. Fearing for the infant she quickly summoned a gate and traveled to the Chamber of Virtue in East Britain. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly on the fair city.

No sooner had the gate vanished than the sky turned black. Lightning webbed itself across the sky as thunder rolled as if from a drum. Running quickly into the chamber she hastily recited the power words of blessing for all the Virtues. Light sprang from each of the Virtue Symbols. A flowing of pure white, bright yet safe, warm and comforting. Calling upon the Virtues the light flowed through the First Lady of Legends and settled into the crying infant. The infant’s eyes opened wide as if knowing...the cries subsided...calmness was upon the infant. The infant was blessed by the virtues. Ordained in the light.

The evil voice boomed from outside, “You cannot hide behind the walls of Virtue forever, Sangria!” An evil voice she knew. With a vile chuckle the voice went on, “I knew you would try to save that child. Think you I am a fool!?! You will have sealed your own fate protecting that child. In your death, I will grow even stronger. My powers are only beginning to show!” Having brought the infant to safety and succeeding in blessing the child by all the virtues she knew what she had to do. It had been told to her once when she was young. She did not know what it all meant then. But today it was clear. She would never forget her trip to the hidden valley southwest of Trinsic. The words of that old seer forever engraved upon the stone of her mind. “Your life for the life of a newborn. The newborn of Virtue, to be blessed by you, through your virtue, where all Virtue is known. You will never marry, nor will you ever conceive. But you will have a child. A son. A son not born of you, but born to you. A son that will never know you, but know of your virtue. You will never know your son, but will know to give him Virtue. He will be the Son of Blood. Your blood. And in your passing he will know all of you that is Virtue.” An ominous black vortex formed outside the Chamber pulling at Lady Sangria. An evil pulling...a taunting...of death and destruction to come. Standing up and wielding her War Hammer she marched to the door. She made her own cadence to march to. A cadence hummed to the beat of her life. A life of battle against evil.

It was not any War Hammer. It was Her War Hammer. A truly rare war hammer. Forged by Elric, Hammer of Virtue. An indestructible, silver, supremely accurate war hammer of vanquishing. Rare enough, but this hammer was also blessed. Blessed with all the Virtues. It had never been used. Only carried by Lady Sangria while she waited for her destiny to find her. The vortex dissipated and took shape as the owner of that vile and evil voice. It was the Black Lich Lord. Somehow, it survived yesterday’s defeat in Deceit. It seemed to be even stronger somehow because of yesterday. It started to smile as she approached. The amused Black Lich Lord started to recite more arcane words of power while making gestures with its rotted staff. Lady Sangria quickly chanted the most powerful words of Virtue she could put together. She knew not where the words came from, only that she knew them now and could feel the power of all the Virtues resonate through her body. The blessed war hammer began to glow and now She, Lady Sangria, First Lady of Legends, began to smile wryly at the walking mage corpse. Black Lich Lord or not, her destiny was stronger. In one fell swoop, her high arcing swing dealt a terrific blow. Striking through the left clavicle and continuing through diagonally as if slicing a piece of bread. As her blessed hammer hit center mass the hammer seemed to come alive. It stopped its movement and began to hum while the bright glow of the hammer began to oscillate through all the colors of the spectrum. The blackness of the Lich seemed to engulf the light as if trying to quell it, smother it, drive it from existence.

As she continued to chant words of power she did not know, the Black Lich Lord struck wildly at her delivering damage and pain she had never known. On the brink of consciousness she saw her life pass and knew that these images were now passing on to the infant. The hammer began to vibrate as she watched friends from her past walk through her mind. Sir HighTower, Lord Wolfgang, Lord Wilson, Twisted, Lord Casca and LadyPeg, Lady Cielo, Syann, Lord Cyn, Peltier, Lord Dutch, Lady Kirsten, LordRaist, Lord Hexeon, Lord Elof Dragonheart, Lord Judinny, Hell Spawn, Von Fanel, Khazid Devir, the faces now flying through her mind at an ever increasing speed. BOOOOOM!!! The hammer exploded sending shrapnel into every point of rotting flesh that the Lich Lord was. The blessed pieces of the hammer begin to sear and burn on the undead being. In a loud shriek the Black Lich Lord imploded. The well of negative energy was overwhelming. Lady Sangria was taken into the blackness. She was gone.

Only pieces of the blessed hammer remain. Town guards began to appear everywhere. They were stumped as to what had transpired. They did find the infant. And noticed the glowing symbols of Virtue as well. Never has anyone seen the symbols glow like this. A guard picked up a piece of the hammer noting it had been engraved. It was in the old tongue but he read aloud and translated as if hypnotized, “Lady Sangria, First Lady of Legends, Lady of Love, Guardian of the Blessed War Hammer of Virtue. War Hammer of exceptional quality, Crafted by Elric, Hammer of Virtue (KoV).

After word reached Lord British, runners were dispatched to Lady Sangria’s Castle as well as to bring the Blacksmith Elric before Lord British. After hearing of what the guards found, Elric repeated the tale of Sangria’s quest to the hidden valley near Trinsic and of the destiny foretold by the seer. Once it was clear as to what had happened, Lord British declared the name of the infant child to all. “From this day forth, the child found in the Chamber of Virtue will be known as Hijo de Sangria,” the court clerk bellowed from beside the throne of Lord British. And with that ending is only the beginning. Hijo de Sangria knows all of what happened that day. Only after years of learning was he able to understand why it happened. Although he conscripted me to tell you of this story, he keeps to himself why it had to be.

Glorious Lord Geldmacher, the Starving Bard

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

Are you interested in UO weddings on the European shards ? If so, you are invited to visit our website, where lots of informations are available : support, locations, scripts and whatever you may need.

There you can also apply for a wedding performed by a player instead of a counselor. Two facets of this website are available, the first one in german, and the second in english. We're looking forward to support everbody interested with informations, tools, suggestions and help for your wedding.

In addition, you can page me on ICQ #7760577 about this.

Best regards,
Kathleen
Telia's Rune Libraries

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Lord Breti looked worried. "It's late" he said. "The
caravan was supposed to arrive two hours ago."
"Perhaps one of the horses became lame?" Thomlinson
mused. Rubbing his chin Breti looked over at
Thomlinson, "Well lets ride out along the road and see
if we can meet up with the caravan; we're almost out
of ale and this I cannot abide any longer!" They
headed downstairs and rode off toward the distant
road. "We'll head north along the road and look for
any sign that the caravan passed by" Breti stated.

"Aye Sir" said Thomlinson.

The two knights bantered on the ride north, remarking
what a fine day it was. Twas not a cloud in the sky
and no monsters rose up to assail the pair. Indeed
all seemed to be well in the realm.........until the
reached they reached the bridge. "By Lord British!"
Breti shouted. "The caravan.....its been utterly
destroyed!"

There before the pair rose up a scene so horrific it
was as if it had been pulled from the deepest depths
of hell. All along the path were the remains of the
packhorses. Strewn about as if some great hand had
reached down and knocked them over as so many chess
pieces. The stench of death hung everywhere as horse
blood dripped from the surrounding trees. The nearby
river ran scarlet as the still warm blood trickled
down the riverbank and into the water.

"Sir, what could have done this?" "Or who?" inquired
Thomlinson. "This I do not know but there must have
been a large force involved" said Breti. "This must
have just happened...the blood of these horses has not
yet congealed. Take a look around and see if you can
find any tracks or clues. Two score of horses are not
slaughtered easily....there must be a clue as to the
person or party responsible."

Thus the two knights gingerly stepped thru the carnage
looking for any clue as to the parties responsible.
They were just about to give up when Thomlinson yelled
"Lord Breti! I think I found something!"

There upon a bush was a small scrap of plain black
cloth. Fingering the cloth gently between his fingers
Breti remarked "There is horse blood upon this indeed.
Did you see anything else....tracks, ale bottles, the
food meant for the tavern? For I did not see
anything." "No sir I did not" Thomlinson reported.

"Most strange....if a band of robbers did this there
should be tracks or some sign of their passing....yet
there is none. The shepard I hired to guide the
horses is missing too. Not a sign that he was even
here. We had best report this to Lord Wolf
immediately".

Then the two knights wheeled their horses around and
rode toward Elysium clutching their one clue.

Lord Breti

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This in from Dragons of the Syndicate.

The Syndicate has begun a new promotional game for our island city of Arx Draconis. Its a lottery type game based around locked boxes on a vendor. Every box is a winner but some boxes contain things of much higher value than others.

If you visit the Treasure Map Runes on Arx Draconis Felucca you can participate. Locate the vendor on the steps and on him you will find a
series of locked red boxes. Buy one of the. Break it inside your house or unlock it and reveal what is inside. You could win one of many
prizes including:

100K in Gold
A small statue
A Free Try Again Check
A Hair Restyle Deed
One of an assortment of Semi-Rare items

So come visit Arx Draconis and play the Lottery. You will also find 50+ vendors there, 3 regular rune libraries and a Treasure Map runes (decode
your map, look it up on our website linked above, and recall right to your map!). Also on Arx Draconis in Trammel visit the Castle there.
Trammel TMap runes are located there along with a rune library and more vendors!

Thank ye Dragons. Evil luck to all participants.

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Battle Royals All Night Long!

When: Saturday May 19th 7-9 PM PST
Where: Nujelm Chessboard in Trammel

A series of battle royals will be held all night long on the Nujelm Chessboard in Trammel. The last man standing at the end of each battle royal will win 25K. Here are the rules:

-No Looting
-No Hiding
-No Pets or Mounts
-No Poisoned Weapons
-Only GM Weapons and Armor
-Must Stay On the Chessboard at all times

Come and participate in the non-stop action of full scale battle royals! For more information please contact Lady Rebecca.

www.knightsofvalor.org

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Please join old friends and new this Wednesday at 6:30pm PST, at the Skara Brae Fairgrounds [in Trammel, located in the farmlands northeast of the Skara Brae docks, on the mainland. -Ed.]. There are many tales in this land, come tell yours! Or if you're feeling brave, try your hand at Story Roulette!

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IM PY’S ARTIC FAIRE

Weekly auction will be held Wednesday evening at 9pm by the Eastern Sky. 

This week Impy’s would like to first take a moment to thank all the hard work all of the Volunteers have done over the past years.  We can’t say enough about the impact they have had on many of the members of the Impy Staff and we wish luck and safe travels to each and every one of them.  Fare thee well Robed Ones!

This week’s auction is looking to be one of the hottest of the spring.  With literally tons of weapons and armor, each and every warrior in the realm would surely benefit from attending this week.  We also are featuring a pre-reward Gargoyle Statuette, and we even have a Potted Plant DEED (that’s right, it hasn’t even been used).

For directions and a complete list of the items up for auction please take a peek at www.impys.net.  Runes to Riches and the Mystery Chest games will also be played this week following the auction, so please stick around and take a chance with lady luck.  There will also be a gate provided from West Brit Bank starting 30 minutes before the auction.  Impy has asked that you please stable your pets before the auction as he is allergic to wet fur.

~Impy’s Staff

A Potted Plant Deed?  I didn't even think those were around any more at all.  <chuckles>

~Barth VanDorn

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The Secret of Zandramas: Part II

Blinded Knights

B-D stood off face to face with KOB. The Knights of Britianna were hard pressed and itching for a fight only held back by a command and the honor that this was Sirus’s crusade. A threat was made by Zandramas [B-D]. To get any information from her, for the cure for Mystic Rose’s blindness, the guild would either have to make an exorbitant donation to the Cult of the Black Dragon, or engage Zandramas in combat.

Before Sirus could answer Zandramas launched an attack to answer the question for him. Upon reflex both guilds exchanged magic and clashed swords. However the battle had little purpose and stopped as fiercely as the firefight began. After the battle, Buck-O [KOB] and Zandramas both lay dead. The cult members proudly picked up their dead and filed into the B-D keep as if the KOB Guild was never there.

It was as if B-D knew this was the type of action that would bring KOB retribution back time and time again. And waking up each morning to a siege was not what Kandalor [B-D] would look forward to each morning. Better to let KOB enter the keep to draw their own conclusions.

Meanwhile Sirus was pondering how the next chapter would play out. Zandramas was most likely acting alone to please her master, but with her dead where would he turn to next? It was at this moment he noticed he was looking at Furie [KOB], and something about that was definitely amiss.

“Furie, where is Gil?” The look of shock on her face was enough to give Sirus his answer. From the top quarter of the keep he looked up just in time to see a familiar face duck from behind the highest window. Sirus instinctively knew the face he saw was smiling in pleasure. “They took our guildmaster hostage.”

“No Sirus. Eowen [B-D] has taken a liking to Gil as a toy. It’s as simple as that.”

hmm, sounds like the KOB will be a bit busy this week.

~Barth VanDorn

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Stat loss. Those two words strike fear into the heart of every PK in the game. To understand why stat loss was put into the game, you need to analyze the past of Ultima Online in an objective manner.

Originally, the ability to kill an opponent in UO was a way for the players to police themselves. It was a survival of the fittest plan, where those people who bothered you could be killed by you. However, you could also be killed by people you weren't bothering, or kill people who weren't bothering you. The system did not try to divine intent, which is impossible for a game to do.

Those who did not wish to be killed could stay in towns, which were basically safe areas. The problem, of course, was that towns were not very interesting places. Other than buying things from the NPC vendors, the only thing to do in town was bank. Even the bank was a paranoia zone, because while murdering was outlawed in towns, sneaky thieves could steal with very little worry of being caught. Players were more wide-eyed and paranoid than a mob stool pigeon on crack in the Sopranos house. At that time, you had to yell "guards" for a thief to be caught, unless an NPC noticed it and yelled for you. Thus many people created the macro "Vendor, buy, bank, guards!" Even towns weren't safety zones, and UO was basically a PvP world.

So what did a PvP world really mean? Basically, it boiled down to might makes right. As most of you know, in UO, might is equal to time. The time you invest in your character usually means your character will become better (usually being the operative word, since some people don't spend their time on character growth). Thus those with more time to spend in the world could pretty much beat on (gank / r0xx0r) those who spent less time in the world, or those just entering the world. This, of course, created some pretty severe problems. As the game matured, you started to whittle down your playerbase because new players could not join the game without spending a majority of the time looking at a screen with more black and white than the first season of Gilligan's Island. Some new players were tenacious and willing to stick it out, but many weren't. Even older players got tired of getting beat on because they could not exact retribution.

Why could they not exact retribution? Kal Ort Por. The recall spell basically allowed any person intent on killing another to escape with less mana than it cost to begin the fight in the first place. By the time word that PKs were around reached the eyes of an anti (someone who enjoyed hunting PKs), the murderers would be gone, leaving only a pile of bodies and some "OoooO Oo Ooing" ghosts to mark that they had ever been in the area.

How bad was it really? Well, since I was a GM in the "old" days, I can tell you that one or two PKs could cause 200 calls in one night. Imagine that every call takes five minutes to answer on average. That is 16 man hours. Basically, one guy could cost you four headcount for the evening, and a lot of pissed off people. It didn't matter that killing was part of the game, and should not have necessitated a GM call; people called into the queue anyway. It didn't matter if most people were reasonable and wouldn't kill everyone in sight; it only took one dedicated sociopath to create havoc.

At the time, the dev team responded with the new reputation system. They were under constraints to use a small amount of memory when creating a system to stem the flow of murderers. The idea of innocents=blue / and murderers=red was the plan they came up with. Still, players learned to skirt this system and use the boundaries to exploit every possible loophole. Eventually the system had to be modified to plug the holes, and the complexity grew. If players did actually become Red, they could make another character, and simply use that character to bank and go to town for them. (Townie mules.) Really, being a murderer wasn't hard; it was quite easy. There were still no consequences that could not be avoided. Thus the idea of stat loss came up. Those who remember the early stages of UO may remember that stat loss was actually an original penalty for dying. Of course, realities of the internet changed the original design as people died due to lag, or at times, bugs. It was felt that loss of items and stats was too severe. However, the idea of stat loss was brought back up as a way to curb murder. People were voluntarily murdering other people, so it stood to reason that if they continued along that path, they would have to pay the penalty. What this really stopped were those people who went out and murdered, at will, any moving target. With the new system, if the PK died, they could not simply go back out and be at the top of their game. Basically, stat loss was effective at reducing the number of sociopaths from the game by costing them time. Still, even this did not really give those players who wanted nothing to do with murderers a place of reprieve. This is why Trammel was introduced. Trammel gave those people who did not like murdering a place to be safe. (Note: This is by no means a complete history and some motivations and facts have been left out in the name of brevity, which Cynthe would remind me is a good thing.)

Finally we get to the question that many have asked: why not remove stat loss on Felucca, since the introduction of Trammel allowed people to escape murderers? Right now, Felucca is still a place people can go to explore and socialize, and they can feel reasonably assured that they won't get ganked ten seconds after stepping through the Facet Gate, leaving them staring at a black and white screen. Many people still have their homes and towns in Felucca. Removing stat loss would change all of this. The same problems that existed in UO before the split exist now. If we removed stat loss, we would simply be subjecting Felucca to the old times where people were free to kill everyone in sight. That means that very few people would ever go to Felucca. Far fewer than go there now. Felucca would become a wasteland of no visitors and the space there would be wasted.

I am now going to express my personal opinion on the subject. This in no way implies that any of the things I mention are going to implemented in UO at any time. So if you quote me out of context, you suck.? The problem wasn't the game mechanics of the system, the issue is that player to player interactions are social and require social fixes, not mechanical ones. Murdering was allowed for at least these two reasons:

1. It served as a form of player justice, something Tyrant might call the punch in the nose factor. You are far less likely to be a taunting moron if someone can end your foul mouth with a sword in the head. Taunting is somewhat less annoying when it is only OOOOoooOOOO.
2. It gave people a reason to band together. When you have a threat to your existence in the form of a sociopath, the way to solve it is to group together to get rid of the sociopath.

#1 failed because the outlaws grew stronger faster than those who were devoted to justice. #2 failed because people could not band together to form a posse if outlaws could always get away. What is incumbent to be done in the future is to look at social methods for solving social problems.

What kind of social methods? For instance, if someone is bothering you, rather than killing them, you could "tag" them with an opinion. Of course, that opinion could be given in a positive light as well as a negative. People who are thought of highly would have a little bit more say in your reputation, just as those who are thought of negatively would have less say or none.

Your reputation should carry over with you across any character on that shard. Your actions impact the community, therefore you should be subject to all of your actions in that community. You can't escape your reputation. Of course, all of this would have to be tracked carefully, so a guild of griefers couldn't tag any one person they didn't like and make them suffer. And even more importantly, getting a good reputation should have rewards associated with it. Being Honorable is a really good thing.

Frankly, I feel combat should be moved into another place all together. Combat should be a badge of honor. Imagine a situation where you could only complete certain quests, gain items, etc. if you had Valor. Now imagine that Valor could only be gained if you agreed to participate in PvP. The more you win, the more Valor you receive. To gain more Valor, you would always have to take on people with greater or equal Valor. You could not take on someone with no Valor. The idea would be to encourage PvP without necessitating it, and to decouple it from one's social reputation.

Another possible solution would be to make PvP combat more similar to PvM in tactics, so when players do try out PvP, it won't be something they can't be competitive at because they don't understand undocumented tricks. An example of an undocumented trick is trapped pouches. No PvP player worth their salt leaves home without them, yet many players don't even know why they would have them. Some console games do a great job of this, educating people into tactics gradually. Of course, this means monsters would have to use the same tactics players use.

So there are some ideas as to what can be done in the future. As I said, before stat loss could ever be removed, it would be crucial to have a better system in place. Just removing stat loss would not make Felucca into the great land of yesteryear. It would turn it into a ghostland. The ideal I hold is that one day there would be no more split, per se. The Virtues would bind the people and would reward good behavior. But I'm definitely an old school virtue nut.

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The Cove City Chess League held the second round of May's tournament cycle, with thirteen players, representing a variety of organizations from around the globe, competing in an extremely challenging, and very lengthy, bracket of matches. With the Britannian Chess Association stepping down after their affiliation with the Cult of Juo'nar was questioned, Mayor Simon Devanin handled registration and officiating.

The competition was so heated that after four hours of play, the final match had not yet been played! Egnever of the Knights of Airasos returned after last week's near victory in glorious fashion, ascending the ranks to defeat Angelus Penilius, of the Byzantine Empire, in a final round that had to be postponed until Monday evening, due to the late hour.

Five players from the first round returned, with many new faces filling out the ranks of participants. Many have expressed their intention to return for the third round, and anyone wishing to participate is invited! As only four participants have gained ranking points to establish their standing, it's not too late to begin the ascent to the title of Britannian Chess Grandmaster! So be sure to come out as the Cove City Chess League continues down the road to the coveted title...

Reach City of Cove

Simon Devanin, Mayor

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April 27, the Valor Knights sponsored and held the Gladiator Games, a test for the best duelists of the land. Much talk and grumbling filled the air over the entry fee of 25,000 gp, only half of which went to the victor. However, in the end, 19 fearless warriors made the trek to Valor Castle to partake of this duel and test themselves against the best of the kingdom.

The duelists were well prepared and battle filled the air. In the end, it was ARKON, former leader of the Minax faction, who was declared winner and received the prize money of 217,000 gp. Congratulations to ARKON!

However, the Games were not without controversy. Several different scrolls were posted at Stratics detailing the rules for the event. Yet, during the Games, some confusions existed.

Immediately after the event, I received complaints concerning the Gladiator Games. These complaints centered upon "cheating" by the Valor Knights. It was stated that the Valor Knights wished to win their own tournament and not pay out the entry fees. Also, it was stated that there were two "winners" standing when the prize money was awarded. An additional complaint was that the Valor Knights "kicked out" non-VK members while permitting VK members who had been killed to resurrect and re-enter the tournament. Other complaints centered on the contention that the Valor Knights did not post specific rules concerning the games and then tried to implement them on the run. Yet another complaint stated that the Valor Knights permitted the use of SpeedHack by the winner. SpeedHack refers to utilization of an unauthorized third party program enabling characters to run at greater than normal speeds. It is considered an exploit by OSI and there have been several bannings relating to its use.

With this quantity of complaints, I was interested in finding out exactly what happened with these games. I immediately contacted the organizers. I told them that I had received complaints and that I would like to have both sides of the story. Mallock provided this information to me along with a list of names of competitors. Additionally, Arthil, Guild Master of the Valor Knights, provided information concerning the Valor Knights past and future position on refunds of fees. I spoke directly to several of the competitors. Also, I spoke personally with Sharessa, a visiting reporter from Markee Dragon, who witnessed the entire event.

Sharessa's account of the Gladiator Games is at this link:
http://www.shatteredcrystal.com/ubb/Forum53/HTML/000023.html

The Gladiator Games were a success and could have been a huge success if not marred by those who did not read the rules or who could not follow the rules. Several resurrected which was totally against the published rules of the Games. This action led to Mallock opening the barred fighting area which permitted a thief to enter and try and loot the goods of some of the competitors. Several contestants were banned from the castle as part of the attempted resurrections. One competitor was allowed to return when it was determined that he had been banned without cause. There appears to be no reason to believe that SpeedHack was used by any of the competitors. All asked said that noone appeared to be moving faster than anyone else. Both Mallock and Arthil have offered to return the entry fee to any of the competitors. Competitors with whom I spoke stated emphatically that the Games had been great fun and they would take part in further contests.

It appears that the complaints against the Valor Knights and Gladiator Games are unfounded. Rules were specific and public prior to the event. When competitors broke the rules, they were removed from the games as stated in the rules. When it was discovered that they had made a mistake in enforcing the rules, the Valor Knights corrected the mistake. These rule-breakers created a near choas situation, which, by all reported accounts, was handled diplomatically and correctly by the Valor Knights. A winner was decided, Arkon, and awarded the prize money. The report that there were "two winners" standing when Arkon was awarded the prize is in fact false. The second figure remaining with Arkon had been resurrected and thus, disqualified due to a rules infraction. Additionally, anyone who felt they had been wronged was offered their entry fee returned. It appears that no cheating occured by the Valor Knights who seem to have handled a very difficult situation very well. Mallock commented that he felt more security was needed to help prevent these problems and admitted that they were a bit unprepared for what happened. Both he and Arthil vow to rectify these mistakes in the next Gladiator Games and promise that the next Games will be even better than these inaugural Games.

I have omitted the names of those spoken to in order to ensure their privacy. A list of those names has been forwarded the management, however, if some concern exists.

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Alone I sit, atop my tower, surrounded by the remnants of who I once was. All about me lay scattered trinkets and baubles, each in itself a chapter of my life, with memories and pains of their own. This music stand, that tambourine, and the scrolls of the exploits of past heroes and dastardly villains. The single rose, preserved in magic’s of its own, stands in its fine crystal vase. It weeps; almost whispering it’s sorrow at the loss of its benefactress.

Milady wife, Melorna. A more beautiful woman was never seen; eyes that flash brighter than the purest sapphire, her hair softer then the crestfallen snow of early winter. But alas, her smile, her radiant, the light of my heart, has departed. One eve, only a moon ago, she awakened, padding softly from our bed, towards her armoire. Yet still I sleep, dreaming of things gone by, past moments of bliss in our shared lives together. Unknown to me, she dons her cloak and plain gray dress and withdraws herself from our marriage.

Upon dawn’s first light, I traverse the stairs down to the study, only to find there, written upon a golden sheaf in a hand not known to me. I read, and it read…..

‘Come with us, ye darlin' lass,
Dance with us, 'ere another moment pass,
We, a debonair roguish band,
Come to take thee by thy hand,
Feel the pulse of life, and love, again,
Among our band of charming men.

Come with us, oh gorgeous maiden,
Dance with us, on grass dew-laden,
We, a band of grinning fools,
Come again to take thy jewels,
Though fear us not, oh stalwart wife,
We have also come to give ye new life.

A life away from rules and lawyers,
A life away from unjust employers,
Dance with us, this roguish band,
Near and far, across the land,
We'll show ye what ye long to see,
A life where those who live it, live it free.’

The only clue as to whose hand scribed this debacle is the non-de plume of ‘The Handsome Man.’ A name which I had heard a time or two before, from friends and drunken buffoons. At the time, I thought it mere fantasy, but I suppose far fetched reality is perceived as fantasy, until it strikes at ones dearest possessions.

Please, I beg of you, any whom this missive finds, please search for my darling wife, and the wives and daughters of all decent hardworking folk.

Signed,

Daryln Windsong

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Hail!

I have started a player run counselor's guild on Chesapeake to try and do what we can to help new players in the absence of the real counselors.

Our guild is called Counselor's of Chesapeake, and we are established and dedicated to helping young ones in the game.

Anyone who wants to help can contact me

and if you need any additional info just let me know.

Psiserrat

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The Town of Nidaros is holding a Personal Servant Auction this Sunday, May 20th, starting at 4pm EST. Is an auction to help raise funds for the town of Nidaros for future events.

We will be auctioning off people for one night, either as a date or as a service for goods.

The auction will be held at the Dew Drop Inn, located at coordinates are 44°S 27°W, in Trammel. There will also be an open bar.

So please all attend and have a good time. Maybe you will even come home with somebody.

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Announcing the launch the sublime shopping experience in europa we have vendors located at 2 stores in this fair land

For more Details check out

http://members.tripod.com/garackswares/

 

The Lady Smith Jazimine and her Brother the GM Tailor will be available Wednesday the 16th may starting at 1900 With Jazmine till 2000 and then 2000 with garack till 2100

they will be available at the Britain Store and Jazmine will be doing free repairs 

 

Hope to see you then

 

Garack

Thanks

A note from Sagonari:

Oh no... Shipwrecked!

Want to try a real adventure? Read on!

The idea is to put 20 characters on a secret, deserted island. To make sure
it is a real challenge, only brand new characters can enter. So you will
need a free character slot to enter. These 20 characters will be divided in
2 teams, 10 people on each team. Each team will have one ship each, for
storage. The team leader(an experienced player) will recieve the only key to
the ship, which among other things include a dye tub, dyed the colour of the
team. This is the teams "flag". He's free to make copies of the boatkey if
he wants to. And if he has the necessarry resources, of course! The two
teams are in a guild each. Two organisers will be GM of these guilds so they
can declare wars etc. The event will last one full week, from June the 1st
to June the 8th.

This isn't a dedicated roleplaying event, but roleplaying is encouraged.

When the teams has been put on the island they have 6 days to gain skills,
craft equipment, score points and most important: to learn to work together.
During the week there will be several sub-quests to keep it interesting. On
the 7th day the guilds will declare war on eachother. The winner of this war
will recieve a good amount of points, but the winner of the war won't
necessarrily be the winner of the event. The team with most points wins the
event. However, there is no prize. This is an experience for a UO lifetime!

How do I join?

Simple, answer a few questions and email them to
[email protected].

What's your name? (or nickname which you use in UO).
How many months have you played UO? (to see (roughly) how experienced you
are)
How long time do you play UO each day? (hours)
When do you play? (time of day)
What timezone do you live in?
What task would you like to have in the team? (bowyer, tailor, archer, pure
fighter etc.)
Would you like to lead a team?
What languages do you speak?
Which country are you from, and what type of connection do you have?
Why would you like to participate?

When you recieve the confirmation that you're on the team, then you will
recieve a link to a website which explains the rules etc. in details.

We won't tell where you will be shipwrecked, but here is a short description
of the area:

"The location is a wooded area where you can lumberjack to get wood for bows
and furniture. Some animals walk around on the spot, excellent to get hides
and meat, so the teams can make some leather armour and eat something else
than fish, which can be caught from rivers and pools. The landshape is
rather rough. Always watch where you are going, it isn't a holiday island.
Altough the location isn't very large, it's big enough for both teams and
big enough to get lost.

There are no ridable animals on the island but we will import some from time
to time and release them so if a team has a tamer, they can tame the ridable
animals."

And many thanks to Interest Game Master Talos who helped us making it more
enjoyable for the shipwrecked, and Caretaker of Drachenfels for the original
idea which we have expanded.

Are you ready to be shipwrecked? It's an adventure for a lifetime! We hope
you'll join us.

Best regards, Aelf and Sagonari.

What a novel idea, i hope it turns out well

It is with a heavy heart that I post the following scroll, received from Fantasia:

The ex-volunteers for the European Shards would like to say "Thank you" to the players on Drachenfels and Europa. It's just amazing and fully appreciated what you are doing fur us and forour guilds USD/USE (United Smurfs Drachenfels / Europa). Without your help it would have been nearly impossible to build our guilds up and get organized that fast. You deserve our full gratitude and respect!

If you see members of the USD/USE guilds around at banks or guilds, please be welcome to accept our help. Like before, as when we were an official support team, we will try to help you wherever we can.

Again, Thank you.

Go with the Virtues!

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Grimoire Gladiator Bar Fight Results for 5/11/2001

There was a great turn-out for the Grimoire Gladiator Bar Fight on Friday! This event was hosted by Josh and sponsored by Jade .

Fighters entered the arena naked and armed themselves with items scattered on the ground. The last two fighters, ANC and Nerezza, fought for sometime! Eventually the one fighter left standing was ANC !!! Many thanks to the devoted Grimoire staff! Thank you LeeLu, Jade, Josh, and Isabella! Also many thanks to the guest-staff snoopers, Sasami and Rapture!

I hope everyone had a good time and we'll cya next week =)
Baby-Grimoire Staff

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Rune Libraries are one of the most useful sorts of establishments. The worth Maranna of Vesper is starting a new rune library and sent me a very juicy pigeon with the following message:

I have long thought how I could best be of service to my fellow citizens of Legends. My skills are few, a bit of lumberjacking, a pinch of magery, a little healing. Alas, what could I offer?

Then it came to me! I have one true talent - SHOPPING! Therefore, I have decided to put together a rune library in Trammel, and possibly one in Felucca if enough interest is generated, complete with runes to as many Legends player owned vendors as I can possibly gather together. I beg of you to help me spread the word to my fellow citizens, if someone wishes to have their establishment in my library, they can send me pigeon. I will arrange then to meet with the entrepreneurs and tour their shop.

I feel this will be a great service to all in our beloved land.

Praise Minax!

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Channel Duvois sent us this account of a recent rise to power in Magincia:

Upon my arrival to the docks, the many fishers and clansmen of Maginicia greeted me. They spoke of a dread assassination of the entire parliament. As a crowd began to gather, I wondered what had happened here?

Thus, I turned to the townsfolk and asked them why had this happened? They replied with rumors of a legion of darkness pressuring the parliament to join them and ally their forces, and switch from their peaceful neutrality, or perish.

From out of the crowd a small boy stepped forth, he told of how a figure no larger than himself, fled the Prime Minister's home earlier that evening, while the lad was hidden in the shadows. Then, as he watched, this horrible and vile creature returned underground through a mystical portal, no doubt returning to its lair. "Who - or what - could have done such a horrible thing," I thought to myself. At that moment, the lad handed me a piece of parchment that had been left behind by the thing.

On the parchment was a symbol, a definite mark, a signature of sorts although not written. I looked to the town's people then back to the parchment, a chill ran through my body. The distraught look upon the town's folk's faces told me that this symbol was a sign of pure evil.

A clearing in the crowd suddenly opened, as a man made his way near. As he walked closer, I recognized his face. It was the late Prime Minister, Sir Yorkshire the II. As he addressed me, I fell speechless.

"Channel, I knew your father, and he served me well. I am an old man now, and we are now without guidance and a proper authority. There is no one to fill the seats now. My child, there is a reason we have called you here. Our island is under a great threat now.

"The grand gatherings that you hold here have brought capital in numbers and new business, to an otherwise once small fishing community. No one knows the seas surrounding this area better than your father had, and this knowledge has been passed on to you for a reason Channel. The naval academy that you have established is just the thing Maginicia needs to overcome its fear."

He spoke of me as if I were heir to this land! My deference to his nobility, kept me from speaking and telling him otherwise. How could I thoughtlessly destroy a town's hope?

The ghostly figure lit a fine cigar, and I recognized the smell from years before. The sweet stench of his cigar, brought back memories of my perished father, as he would smell of this sweet stench late night regularly. The clergy invited me to come to the town hall.

As they gathered inside of the large building, a knot grew inside my stomach and throat enthralling a silence over me I could not overcome. The nets in my pack grew heavier with each minute passed, so I set them aside, wiping the sweat from my hands. The late Prime Minister began to address the clergy. A formal election was held this day I speak of, proclaiming Channel DuVois the new Prime Minister of Maginicia.

Praise Minax!

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Aladrian Harper has alerted us to the existence of Everwood Cove, a new player town near the Shrine of Justice on Trammel. They intend to establish the Council of Justice in this area. More details as they become available!

Praise Minax

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I recently received notice that Aubrey Gawen has been proclaimed king of Serpent's Hold! More on this story as develops.

Praise Minax!

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I am very pleased to share another tale of human loss, this one by Jamell Caster:

'Tis in sadness, and with a tear in mine ale, that I tell thee the story of my adventure today, and of how I lost two of my best friends and long time companions. As I sit here and remember, through the fog of my mind, today had started out as a fine day. Indeed, for I had risen early and was full of vigor to fight my way to the new title of Lord - it had been about 40 or so successful battles against daemons since I had made the grand title of Illustrious and had high hopes of making my new rank this very day.

To this end, I pulled out my best armor and my 2 favorite swords. Since I am a grandmaster warrior, my weapons are my best friends. Out of all I own, the ones I selected for this fine day were Samathia, my power scimitar, and Vivian, my broadsword of Vanquishing. Both very fine weapons and friends that have served me well. After gathering a few other supplies, I headed out to the hell I like to call my hunting grounds, Fire Island.

At first, the hunt was one of the best I've ever had. Within 30 minutes of arriving, I had slaughtered a drake and 4 daemons and was well on my way to my goal. At this point, for some reason I became very careless. As I was circling the outside of the daemon temple looking for my next kill, I noticed a small stone shop. To my amazement a dragon had chosen this house and had somehow ascended the stairs to take a rest.

Well, as I said, I had let my "soon to be" new title go to my head and decided to rid the world of this vile evil lizard. Heck, I needed some new boots anyway and I always prefer dragon skin.

As I climbed up the ladder to the second story, I must have been too loud. The dragon seemed to hear me and the very moment I cracked the door open he hit me with a paralyze spell and proceeded to tear me up in about 3 seconds flat. "Hey no biggie," I thought. After all, it happens to all of us, right?

Alas, I was unable to locate a healer, so I concentrate and summon a good friend to come and help me. When he arrives he restores my life and health and we head out to retrieve my weapons and other belongings. I honestly believe this beast had a personal grudge for he sat at the top of the ladder right on my decaying body.

To make a long story short after a long hard battle and 3 more personal deaths (my friend and healer died 3 times himself), my body totally decayed taking along with it a ton of memories and 2 of the best weapons - nay, friends - a warrior could every ask for. So in closing I just want to ask each of you, when you read this, to lift a glass and take a drink in memory of my 2 best friends, Samathia and Vivian. May you both rest in peace.

Praise Minax!

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In a show of overwhelming appreciation for Sosaria's former volunteers, the City of Cove proudly dedicated a permanent memorial within the city's library this past Sunday, with over thirty citizens from all walks of life in attendance. A statue generously donated by Lady Famke was used in the ceremony, where the city's mayor, Simon Devanin, challenged the crowd to continue the legacy of the volunteers, with creativity and kindness, as a true honor to their memory.

The United Pirates of Britannia turned out in such numbers, they deserve specific mention. Our congratulations go out to Benjamin Redeye, of their ranks, for taking home the door prize of 20,000 gold, provided by Cove's City Council!

Special thanks to all who came out and made the event such a success, and the memorial is available for all to view in Cove's city library, two houses south of the city's gates.

Simon Devanin
Mayor of Cove

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Last Call for Texas UO Player Lunch Tickets
from Heather:

Are you going to Scarborough Faire?

The deadline for purchasing discounted tickets for the UO Players Lunch at Scarborough Faire, Waxahachie Texas, at 11:30am on Sunday, May 27th is fast approaching. Please pay $30 by paypal or snail mail by this Friday, May 18th. If you have already signed up for the lunch, be sure to check for your name on the Guest List. If you have not signed up yet, please see the Luncheons section of the UO Lunch webpage for instructions. Note: You do not have to purchase tickets to attend this event, but you will have to pay admission to enter the Faire. UO Lunch discount packages include faire admission and a catered lunch. If, after reading the webpage, you still have questions, please email me [email protected].

Don't forget to purchase your Scarborough Faire UO Lunch 2001 t-shirts, mugs and mouse pads from the UO Lunch Custom Shoppe as soon as possible in order to receive them before the event. Arakasi of the 'Out of Character' comics, who did last year's logo, has created a fresh new design for this year's event.

Can't make it to Texas this month? Check out other UO Player events on the Luncheons page on uo.com to find an event closer to you!

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Disney Gathering Reminder

3rd Annual Florida Event
June 22 and 23, 2001
Clementine's Beach at River Country
Walt Disney World
Orlando, Florida

Open to all players from all shards, the annual Florida event is a popular excursion for players from around the world.

This year we expect nearly 150 players in attendance and have already confirmed that Runesabre will be joining us as well.

Friday night (June 22) we will all be gathering for a dinner/happy hour gathering within City Walk at Universal Studios. This event is not included in the price of the main event tickets. This is a pay-your-own-way gathering.

Tickets for the Saturday main event (June 23) will be $50 per person (sorry no discounts for children). Tickets will include the luncheon and entrance into River Country. There will be ongoing door prize drawings throughout the day, as well.

You can find all the details on the official Florida Player Event site.

Hurry and register today as all fees must be paid by June 1st! And don't forget to purchase your official t-shirt to wear at the event!

See you all in June!

--Angel Storm