• Summary of all activites this season
  
• Stuck on something? Here is an ongoing guide how to solve the mystery of Leoric Gathenwale
  
• Khaldun - Normally only in Felucca, now an intricate part of the Halloween event
  
• Khaldun History - I must admit I've never actually read this entire story until now. The story behind Khaldun's creation is very interesting.
  
• Factions - For the first time in 8 years, Factions is getting some major additions.

Posted to uoherald.com:

The Devs Must Be Crazy
Cal Crowner
29 Oct 2008 11:30:21

Here I am after months away from the fabulous and frenzied friend cruise that is the Ultima Online Community.

No doubt by the time that you read this, you’ll be taking a look at a whopper of a publish. Yes it’s been a long time, but we did manage to deliver a lot of content.

This publish, and the number of patches, content, art updates, in addition to our work and announcement surrounding Stygian Abyss … it’s been quite a ride these last few months.

Several things I’d like to bring up with this letter:

First, thanks to everyone who came to PAX for the Seattle Town Hall. It was mostly painless. I say mostly because I lost my wallet, and was starving, and all they had in the room was cookies and Pepsi. Being a Coca Cola guy, it made for a rough trip. And whoever picked up my wallet, and spent $234.55 on some place called the "Tini Room," I hope you had a good time, and did you REALLY need to buy six extra-small T-Shirts??

A lot of good inputs came in about Stygian Abyss. There should be monthly updates to the website, and a few "behind the scenes" changes have been noted to enhance design and general gameplay. We are having an internal test of the first quests and epic dungeon this next Thursday. It’s gorgeous, but still not ready for Prime Time. We will keep you updated as we go. We’re targeting our internal playtesters for mid-November. However, please note: with new systems, new race, and a massive land, we still have a looong way to go. We have a few hoops to go through, and we are discussing the best “delivery method” to get the content and client to the customer. More than a few things need to be hashed out, but we are getting there.

So … seen the dragons?

It’s been a bear of a time getting these things to you. The idea sprung in ohhh March, but from concept to delivery, we learned a lot about our art pipeline. We’ve gone through a lot of testing with the animations and effects, and think we’ve introduced a great new Epic creature to the Live arsenal. Also, we thought we’d throw in some stacking and hundred or so bug fixes, Draconi attacked factions with a machete, and Sak has realized her long lost fantasy of terrorizing Britannia for Halloween.

Finally, I made mention during the Town Hall that we have been working on bringing back the big Ultima to Ultima Online. So, we finally have approval to re-implement Event Moderators. Mesanna will be the point of contact for anyone interested. Also, this go around we’ll be identifying the roles and responsibilities. So what’s the hook? This cycle of moderators will be assisting with the Stygian Abyss and Live story arcs. Draconi and Leurocian have been concocting the grand scheme for several weeks now, and we’ll allow all those who meet specific criteria (will be publishing this info soon) access to the arcs and the opportunity to help direct the long-running narrative of Britannia.

I was talking to Draconi this morning about the size of the ship that is UO. We are not as nimble as we’d like to be sometimes… but eventually we’ll get UO back on the course that is reminiscent of "The Golden Days."

Hope this announcement meets with your approval. Be well and we’ll be in touch with how and when to apply to become the new crew of Event Moderators.

MOA has a week full of spook for you. Monday Night Madness Crew had a dungeon fun filled halloween event and this thursday Melian has worked a month preparing on a haunted house and maze event starting at 9est. It starts at the MOA auction house so meet up there for the event.



Don't forget every Wednesday and Thursday ( this week is haunted house ) at 9 by the eastern sky MOA offers the finest baubles this side of Dragonspire. This paired up with good people, old friends and free gold make a great time for all.


www.uo-moa.net

Partisans: Part 8                                         

      Tink’r Toiz surveyed the carnage before her as she felt a spring of emotions well up. Guilt, elation, and yet somewhat sorrowful at the thought of things to come. As part of their candidacy in the True Britannians, the now aptly named Minocian Partisan Resistance were expected to fight wherever needed. In this case, the powers that be felt that Vesper was ripe for liberation. Liberation from the corruptibly destructive forces of the Shadowlords.

       Like neighboring Minoc, Vesper was occupied by a relatively small force. Mercenaries, mostly, with only a squad of the infamous Death Knights. It had been a simple plan, really. The Partisans acted as skirmishers, sparring with the Shadowlords’ servants whilst minimizing any damage to their own forces.

       It had worked flawlessly. Not a single Partisan sustained any injury. When the Death Knights were target locked, fully concentrated on the oddball collection of rogues, Lore Denin and his force smashed into their flank. It was a massacre.

       That was only the first, and unfortunately the easiest, part of the plan. Now the Shadowlords’ army would have already been deployed from a nearby barrack in Vesper’s northern woodland. The real battle was yet to come, and Tink’r Toiz felt as if she could already hear the war drums beating their horrific tune. It was her heart, ready to rip itself from her chest. She hadn’t felt this anxious during her tenure as prisoner of war to these vicious Shadowlords.

       Lore Denin was collecting his forces on the main island of the town, in an open courtyard by the local bank. There were as many as one-hundred fighters of a dizzying array of talents. There were archers, heavily armored spearmen, scholarly mages on their mystic ethereal mounts, as well as an array of knights and cavaliers wielding anything from a cutlass to a battle axe.

       Tinkr Toiz, or ‘Tinkz’ as she was more commonly known, found herself focused on a compatriot. Pepe was a strange man; he sat on the ground cross-legged with his little mortar and pestle, mixing up whatever potent concoctions he felt he’d need in the coming fight. He only looked up to stare down the occasional elf, whom comprised roughly half of Lore’s forces. He didn’t hate elves as much as his younger brother, whom possessed a sort of bigotry towards them. Nevertheless, he still held them in a sort of derision.

       Dilligaf, a veteran thief but relatively new member to the Resistance, was raving to Lil’ Snapper. Snapper was trying not to listen as Dilligaf expressed his displeasure at the lack of defenses. He was right, after all, but there was little any of them could do about it. There would be no time to construct barricades, or bring in cannonade. It would end in a gory close quarter conflict.

       Michel and Nonel Topd were being led around by Lore Denin, as they discussed strategy. Every so often they halted their discussion as they were introduced to one of many of the great Generals and lesser officers of the True Britannians. The two thieves seemed more interested in preparing for battle than alliance relations.

       Out on the distant road, approaching the northern bridge into Vesper, Tinkz could make out the familiar shapes of Grace O’Malley and Llama. Both skilled in observing what most beings couldn’t, they rode out as scouts. Unarmored on small hobby horses, they were expeditious in getting back, and delivered their news on the approaching army.

       Grace rode over to the north bridge. She joined George, whom was already hard at work on rigging the bridge with powder kegs, as a last resort. They had recently, and unwittingly, proven their mettle in demolition, so Nonel and Lore were sure to assign them the task.

       Then Tinkz heard it. She hadn’t actually expected war drums to announce the coming assault. The Shadowlords did love a strategy of terror, however, and the drums certainly augmented that image.

       She could see them now, silhouettes of foot soldier and cavalry alike, marching toward the same bridge of which the scouts had recently crossed. Tinkz felt a bit uneasy about her freedom of tactic in this battle. Michel had explained Nonel’s battle plan to them, and it was overly simple. Everyone would be paired off, expected to watch each other’s back, and do as they wish in a mission of harassment. It was to be utter chaos for them and the irony of such did not escape her.

       The Servants of the Shadowlords were reaching the bridge now. They were sending their heavy cavalry on first, in pairs. There was no doubt they were looking to smash into the True Britannian force and open a gap. The True Brits held the tactical advantage, because of the bridge, but the Shadowlord army held numerical superiority. It seemed that their troops may well number over the two-hundred mark. If the Shadowlord troops pushed against the True Britannians hard enough, they might be able to get their army onto the island.

       Suspecting that the Shadowlords had sent a flanking force, Lore Denin had stationed two light horsemen at each of the three other bridges that connected to the main island of Vesper. Grace and George had already rigged explosives at those bridges. If a force tried to cross, the horsemen need only pull a rope to engage the mechanism and demolish the bridge right out from under the assaulters.

       Lore’s soft but sturdy voice suddenly filled the air, “Spearmen! Five ranks, wide as you can fit it,” The spearmen, with their long pole arms, could easily fight an enemy whilst four ranks deep. Apparently he wished a 5th as a reserve, “Long bowmen! Stay behind the spearmen and cover them from archers on the shore.”

       The spearmen had already filed onto the bridge, only managing to fit three men shoulder-to-shoulder. They were already marching up to meet the enemy cavalry, the long bowmen following them at a short distance. The spearmen only made it about one-third of the way up the bridge when the Shadowlord cavalry charged.

       The foot soldiers halted, and moved into their defensive position. The first rank crouched down, jamming the butt end of their pikes in an angle against their bodies. The second rank held firm, holding their weapons over the heads of the first rank. The third and forth ranks both found whatever small hole they could find for their weapon, and held it with all their weight.

       The cavalry continued charging, undaunted at the aspect of running into a solid wall of spears. Behind the cavalry marched masses of infantry, and perhaps as many as three ranks of Death Knights. The two sides were only meters apart now, the horses showing no sign of slowing.

       The first two riders smashed into the spearmen. Each horse took a spear to the neck and barreled onto the front two ranks of troops. Both riders were caught by spear, never making it past the point of contact. The front two ranks were on the ground, the impact of the horses knocking one man off the bridge to where his heavy armor would drown him in short-order.

       The next pair of cavalry came bounding in, trying to catch the spearmen as they recovered. They smashed into the troops just as hard as the first pair, with only the last three ranks prepared for them. Nevertheless, the two horsemen lost their lives in vain.

       Too far from the enemy shore line for the enemy archers to open fire, the long bowmen changed up their tactic. They started firing at the bridge, pelting the charging cavalry as they came in.

       The next pair of cavalry found themselves unable to push in hard, stalled by the corpses of horse and rider alike. They were now in a quagmire with a recovered 5 ranks of spearmen, minus a mere single troop, at their front and their compatriots marching in from the back. The cavalry piled up in front of the spearmen, trying to push against them but finding the idea improbable.

       The long bowmen occasionally scored a lucky hit. One rider took an arrow in the unarmored neck, and another’s horse was felled by a shot to the eye. Realizing they had made a tactical mistake, clogging the bridge with ineffective cavalry, the Shadowlords’ servants took a surprising change of strategy.

       The cavalry all dismounted, brandishing their shields and forming up as infantry against the spearmen. Tinkz was horrified as she saw the Death Knights, that had been marching up behind the cavalry, killing the horses and pushing them off the bridge to make room for the rest of the assault force.

       The spearmen tried as hard as they could to hold their ground, but it was in vain. The spears significant reach was also its disadvantage, as the cavalry-turned-infantry moved in close, brandishing their short sword sidearm. With the enemy so close, now, the long bowmen were ineffective, and Lore knew this.

       “Bowmen! Pull back!” The sounds of war were drowning out Lore Denin’s orders. He turned to his drummer, whom sounded the order with a rhythmic beat. The long-range archers pulled back, and Lore ordered one of his Lieutenants to take his best infantry and storm the bridge. The spearmen soon wouldn’t be a factor.

       By the time the infantry reached the point of conflict only the reserve rank of spearmen were still alive. They couldn’t pull back, nor could they advance. They gave it their all, even scoring a couple kills, before they were slaughtered.

       The Shadowlords’ cavalry, meant only to fight infantry when charging them down with lance, were little match for the lethal efficiency of the True Brit swordsmen. Tink’r Toiz could not believe their luck, as the Shadowlords’ Servants had truly made their battle strategy in error. They filled the bridge with warriors, and attacked the True Brit force so far from their shore that their archers could not support.

       The True Britannians, on the other hand, were taking full advantage of their archers, sending masses of arrows well over the heads of their infantrymen. The masses of armor and shields made the arrows very ineffective, but every so often a lucky hit would be scored, and this would terrify the men being hailed upon. Unfortunately, with the bridge so clogged, there would be no chance of a rout.

       No ground was gained nor lost. The Britannian infantry were toe-to-toe with the elite Death Knights, but even they stood little chance. The Shadowlords’ best were being cut down at a rate of three-to-one. It seemed as if they may not need to blow the bridges, the lifelines of Vesper, after all. The army of evil found itself being massacred, and most of the True Britannian force was still out of the conflict.

       “Ophidians! Ophidians!” Llama began shouting, ripping Tinkz from her thoughts. Not many could hear him, and those that did look at him bewilderedly. Tinkz knew better, however, knew of Llamas inexplicable ability to see the unseen. He was running towards Lore Denin now, shouting that same horrific word over and over. She had never heard someone so terrified.

Posted to uoherald.com:

Origin to be Published
Jeremy Dalberg
27 Oct 2008 17:37:18

Origin will be updated with Publish 56 at approximately 7:30PM EDT. The server will be taken down for the publish; approximate downtime is 1 hour. Notes after the cut:

New Content

War of Shadows

• Factions cities will come under attack in Trammel by the forces of the Shadowlords
• Capturing a town sigil in Felucca allows the Trammel city to be invaded
• Sigil must be captured by Chaos (Shadowlords or Minax)
• Up to three towns can be invaded at a time
• Additional sigil captures will queue those cities for attack, but will not occur until another city’s invasion ends
• A city’s guard zones will disappear in Trammel when invaded, becoming a warzone
• All Felucca faction cities will have their guard zones will be removed, becoming warzones
• Affected cities for the invasion:
• Britain
• Skara Brae
• Magincia
• Minoc
• Moonglow
• Trinsic
• Vesper
• Yew
• Players logging into a town under invasion will be relocated to Jhelom
• Teleportation attempts into danger zones will be rerouted to Jhelom when possible
• Invading forces comprised of three types
• Shadowlord allied monsters (new alliances, beyond just daemons)
• Britain: Dragons
• Skara Brae: Elementals
• Magincia: Undead
• Minoc: Plague
• Moonglow: Void
• Trinsic: Orcs
• Vesper: Rogue Ophidians
• Yew: Daemons
• Army of Shadows (Humans and Elves)
• Ranking and promotion system similar to the Ophidian Invasion
• Four basic types
• Warrior
• Ranger
• Mage
• Healer
• Ranks
• Recruit
• Scout
• Corporal
• Lieutenant
• Captain
• General
• Corrupted townspeople
• Hatred
• NPCs aggressively attack players and other NPCs
• Falsehood
• NPCs attempt to steal from players
• Each NPC can only steal one item, normal theft checks apply
• Item is returned to the player if the NPC dies or is purified when the invasion ends (player must be in the city)
• Cowardice
• NPCs flee from players
• Invasion of a town ends when the sigil is recaptured by Order (TB or CoM), or the local invasion is completely defeated
• Loot
• All invasion monsters and army members drop faction silver
• 1 to 5 normally, up to 25 for special mobs like the Shadow Knight
• Silver is multiplied by rank within the army
• Rare bonuses possible
• All invasion monsters have at least double the normal loot
• Army members drop special weapons and spellbooks with properties based on their rank
• Army members drop exceptional loot at higher ranks
• Crimson Dragons introduced as allies to the Shadowlords, appear as the final stage in the invasion. Shares similar loot to “The Six,” such as Myxkion
• Platinum Dragons introduced as allies to Britannia, enemies of the Crimsons
• Both dragon races are intelligent, and cause all dragons to go wild in their presence
• Siege Perilous and Mugen will have all the content available, but will have the invasion proceed in Felucca

Factions

• Added new equippables and consumables
• Added a community collection chest inside each stronghold to collect silver, and give faction equippables and consumables as rewards
• Donated silver will be tied to the faction system at a later date
• Sigil corruption time dropped to 2 hours
• Faction Thieves will now receive 100 silver and 10 kill points for successfully capturing a town sigil
• Sigil must complete full circuit of corruption: from town pedestal, to stronghold, back to town pedestal
• Interruptions will not count against the original thief, as long as the original thief’s faction finishes the corruption process
• Thieves must be online to receive their reward
• Killing faction enemies inside warzones results in bonus kill-points and silver

Halloween

• New quest starting in the Yew Courthouse: talk to Jasper and read the book on the table
• Can be done completely in either Felucca or Trammel
• Every step required in the chain, skipping steps will keep you from completing the event
• Event can be done once per character
• Participating characters must be 15 days old (except for Test Center)
• Khaldun temporarily available in Trammel for the duration of the event
• Shadowfiends now perfom the life drain attack
• General increases to HP and stats for Khaldun creatures
• Slightly increased the spawn rate of Shadowfiends, Spectral Armors, and Zealots
• Note: Shadowfiends and Spectral Armor drop loot onto the ground instead of leaving a body
• Note: Players cannot resurrect inside Khaldun
• New Trick or Treating rewards
• GM Beggars also have a new reward

Old Magincia

• Three new quests to help heal the land by releasing the spirits trapped in Magincia’s ruins
• The quest giver is a mage near the Magincia moongate
• Quest rewards are three types of rubble, one for each quest (total of 12 pieces)
• Rubble rewards are all unique - they do not overlap craftables or Magincia Invasion rubble. You can see the possible rewards in the quest gump.
• Quests are non-repeatable
• Three types of ghosts now reside in Magincia
• Restless Souls
• Invulnerable, unmoving
• Notices player movements
• Can be released by using Spirit Speak nearby
• Drops Threads of Life
• Forsaken Souls
• Constantly wanders the streets of Magincia
• Can be released by casting Exorcism nearby
• Drops Threads of Thought
• Corrupted Souls
• Red, aggressive
• Calls other Corrupted Souls nearby for help when attacking
• Can only be released by being killed
• Drops Threads of Fate

Fixes/Changes

Combat

• Disarm will no longer affect shields
• Hiryus will only use the dismount special attack on mounted players
• Killing Solens with a pet will properly remove friendship with the nes
• Ranged attacks on slimes will no longer cause acid damage to your weapon
• Successfully taming an aggressive animal will stop its attack
• Tamers can no longer aggro with their pets and stay hidden
• Mounts under the effect of Nerve Strike will not be able to be mounted
• Wandering healers will no longer attack players who drink a refresh potion
• Wraith Form will not lose pass-through ability when crossing server boundaries

Blessing/Insurance

• Blackrock of all sizes can now be insured
• Blessed items will remain blessed after being traded
• Public trash cans will no longer accept blessed items. This does not affect personal trash cans in your home.

Crafting

• Crafting with dull copper will no longer exceed the 255 durability cap
• Skullcaps can now be crafted with a higher durability than 12

Display Issues

• Granite will now display the color of the granite on mouse-over, rather than just saying “granite.”
• Guild tags can no longer be made to imitate Faction abbreviations (Min, CoM, TB, SL)
• Player crafted Parasitic Poison will display its name correctly, instead of “Deadly Poison”
• Pet summoning ball will no longer give an error message when crossing subserver boundaries
• Plants will no longer mystically say “I’m here” when they reach a specific stage of growth
• Savage paint effect will remain visible even after logging out and back in
• Quivers will no longer lose their color on server startup

Factions

• Faction members in the Hero/Evil system on Siege Perilous and Mugen will no longer be able to grief their teammates by causing them to lose kill-points when auto-defending
• Faction vendors from the losing faction will now disappear from a conquered city
• Non-faction players cannot block the entrances to the Shadowlord and Minax strongholds
• Shadowlord entrance area can no longer be teleported into, repels non-factioners
• Minax stronghold boundaries have been extended to the entire mountain pass, and the recruiting stone placed outside the mountain
• The bridge and outer entrance to the True Britannian stronghold can no longer be trapped

Housing/House-Addons

• Secured bags can no longer be dyed by anyone in a public house
• Spinning wheels will no longer be lost if re-deeded while in use

Resources

• Blank scrolls can be added to commodity deeds
• Empty bottles can now be added to commodity deeds
• Gargoyle pickaxe will now dig up dull copper ore

Spawning

• Healer added to Nujel’m
• Horde Minions summoned by Young players will decay properly
• Interred Grizzles will no longer spawn in Paroxysmus’s Lair
• NPCs in Heartwood will no longer spawn without clothes
• Orders of Minax will no longer spawn outside of players’ reach

Stacking

• New stackables:
• Granite
• Sand
• Dough/sweet dough
• Sushi platters
• Savage kin paint
• Pan of cookies
• Baked quiche
• Pristine dreadhorn
• Smoke Bombs
• Egg Bombs
• Arcane Gems

 

• Fixed:
• Lesser poison potions will now stack with player crafted lesser poison potions

Test Center

• Test Center welcome window reflects Publish 56
• New test center command: “give seeds”
• Gives the player a bag of fertile dirt and various seeds

Quests

• Abandoned quests should no longer cause the quest to fail in the player’s log
• Chance to get three new colors of seeds in the Naturalist quest for the Flowery Cactus: fire, white, and black
• Cooking quests will now accept all types of flour
• Escort NPCs will now properly handle following players onto boats
• Ocllo has been removed from the Escort Quest list
• This will not interfere with escort quests in New Haven

Vendors

• Instituted a new Vending Penalty for players who attempt to circumvent the daily vendor charge for their items
• Vending Penalty is the same as the daily charge for the item
• Penalty is applied if the item is removed by the owner before 24 hours has passed since it was added to the vendor
• Penalty is noted on the object as an item property
• If the item is added to a vendor again, the vending penalty is automatically deducted from that vendor’s account, or given back to the player if funds are insufficient
• There is a 30 minute grace period after adding an item to a vendor to prevent accidents: any item removed before 30 minutes passes will not have a vending penalty
• Once 24 hours pass, the item may be removed at any time by the owner without penalty. Re-adding it to the vendor starts the process over again, however
• Added commas to vendor prices

Misc

• A tamed sheep can only be shorn by the owner
• A tamed cow can only be milked by the owner
• All bows can now be used on archery buttes
• Animal Lore can now be used on morphed Imprisoned Dogs
• Begging will properly give the player gold when the message states they should have received some
• Books should now copy properly from one size (in pages) to another
• Casting a spell on an invalid location will no longer consume reagents or cause skillgain
• Cows will replenish their milk supply 24 hours after being exhausted
• Fire Beetles will no longer work as a forge when ghosts
• Fixed a macro to equip last weapon while meditating
• Full suits of Virtue Armor no longer lose Self Repair on server startup
• Gems from the Gem Cart can no longer be used to recharge a communication crystal
• Ghosts can no longer remove runes from runebooks
• Left-facing War Forks can now be sold to vendors
• Morphed forms will now check for the correct skill and skill amount
• Banking skill in a Soulstone will check your resultant skill level, and return you to normal if you can no longer maintain your morphed form
• Casting from a scroll will return you to normal in three minutes
• Plants can have resources added to them after the seventh stage, without having to unlock and relock them
• Players may now join the Thieves’ guild one week after character creation, and be removed one week after requesting to quit
• This was previously tied to one week (each way) of actual gameplay
• Public trash cans are no longer magically locked
• Players will no longer be able to move while using the “Help/Stuck” option as a ghost
• Weapon Switch macro will work properly with spellbooks
• Young players will now get the proper warning when entering Ilshenar dungeons

Posted to uoherald.com:

Origin to be Published
Jeremy Dalberg
27 Oct 2008 17:37:18

Origin will be updated with Publish 56 at approximately 7:30PM EDT. The server will be taken down for the publish; approximate downtime is 1 hour. Notes after the cut:

New Content

War of Shadows

• Factions cities will come under attack in Trammel by the forces of the Shadowlords
• Capturing a town sigil in Felucca allows the Trammel city to be invaded
• Sigil must be captured by Chaos (Shadowlords or Minax)
• Up to three towns can be invaded at a time
• Additional sigil captures will queue those cities for attack, but will not occur until another city’s invasion ends
• A city’s guard zones will disappear in Trammel when invaded, becoming a warzone
• All Felucca faction cities will have their guard zones will be removed, becoming warzones
• Affected cities for the invasion:
• Britain
• Skara Brae
• Magincia
• Minoc
• Moonglow
• Trinsic
• Vesper
• Yew
• Players logging into a town under invasion will be relocated to Jhelom
• Teleportation attempts into danger zones will be rerouted to Jhelom when possible
• Invading forces comprised of three types
• Shadowlord allied monsters (new alliances, beyond just daemons)
• Britain: Dragons
• Skara Brae: Elementals
• Magincia: Undead
• Minoc: Plague
• Moonglow: Void
• Trinsic: Orcs
• Vesper: Rogue Ophidians
• Yew: Daemons
• Army of Shadows (Humans and Elves)
• Ranking and promotion system similar to the Ophidian Invasion
• Four basic types
• Warrior
• Ranger
• Mage
• Healer
• Ranks
• Recruit
• Scout
• Corporal
• Lieutenant
• Captain
• General
• Corrupted townspeople
• Hatred
• NPCs aggressively attack players and other NPCs
• Falsehood
• NPCs attempt to steal from players
• Each NPC can only steal one item, normal theft checks apply
• Item is returned to the player if the NPC dies or is purified when the invasion ends (player must be in the city)
• Cowardice
• NPCs flee from players
• Invasion of a town ends when the sigil is recaptured by Order (TB or CoM), or the local invasion is completely defeated
• Loot
• All invasion monsters and army members drop faction silver
• 1 to 5 normally, up to 25 for special mobs like the Shadow Knight
• Silver is multiplied by rank within the army
• Rare bonuses possible
• All invasion monsters have at least double the normal loot
• Army members drop special weapons and spellbooks with properties based on their rank
• Army members drop exceptional loot at higher ranks
• Crimson Dragons introduced as allies to the Shadowlords, appear as the final stage in the invasion. Shares similar loot to “The Six,” such as Myxkion
• Platinum Dragons introduced as allies to Britannia, enemies of the Crimsons
• Both dragon races are intelligent, and cause all dragons to go wild in their presence
• Siege Perilous and Mugen will have all the content available, but will have the invasion proceed in Felucca

Factions

• Added new equippables and consumables
• Added a community collection chest inside each stronghold to collect silver, and give faction equippables and consumables as rewards
• Donated silver will be tied to the faction system at a later date
• Sigil corruption time dropped to 2 hours
• Faction Thieves will now receive 100 silver and 10 kill points for successfully capturing a town sigil
• Sigil must complete full circuit of corruption: from town pedestal, to stronghold, back to town pedestal
• Interruptions will not count against the original thief, as long as the original thief’s faction finishes the corruption process
• Thieves must be online to receive their reward
• Killing faction enemies inside warzones results in bonus kill-points and silver

Halloween

• New quest starting in the Yew Courthouse: talk to Jasper and read the book on the table
• Can be done completely in either Felucca or Trammel
• Every step required in the chain, skipping steps will keep you from completing the event
• Event can be done once per character
• Participating characters must be 15 days old (except for Test Center)
• Khaldun temporarily available in Trammel for the duration of the event
• Shadowfiends now perfom the life drain attack
• General increases to HP and stats for Khaldun creatures
• Slightly increased the spawn rate of Shadowfiends, Spectral Armors, and Zealots
• Note: Shadowfiends and Spectral Armor drop loot onto the ground instead of leaving a body
• Note: Players cannot resurrect inside Khaldun
• New Trick or Treating rewards
• GM Beggars also have a new reward

Old Magincia

• Three new quests to help heal the land by releasing the spirits trapped in Magincia’s ruins
• The quest giver is a mage near the Magincia moongate
• Quest rewards are three types of rubble, one for each quest (total of 12 pieces)
• Rubble rewards are all unique - they do not overlap craftables or Magincia Invasion rubble. You can see the possible rewards in the quest gump.
• Quests are non-repeatable
• Three types of ghosts now reside in Magincia
• Restless Souls
• Invulnerable, unmoving
• Notices player movements
• Can be released by using Spirit Speak nearby
• Drops Threads of Life
• Forsaken Souls
• Constantly wanders the streets of Magincia
• Can be released by casting Exorcism nearby
• Drops Threads of Thought
• Corrupted Souls
• Red, aggressive
• Calls other Corrupted Souls nearby for help when attacking
• Can only be released by being killed
• Drops Threads of Fate

Fixes/Changes

Combat

• Disarm will no longer affect shields
• Hiryus will only use the dismount special attack on mounted players
• Killing Solens with a pet will properly remove friendship with the nes
• Ranged attacks on slimes will no longer cause acid damage to your weapon
• Successfully taming an aggressive animal will stop its attack
• Tamers can no longer aggro with their pets and stay hidden
• Mounts under the effect of Nerve Strike will not be able to be mounted
• Wandering healers will no longer attack players who drink a refresh potion
• Wraith Form will not lose pass-through ability when crossing server boundaries

Blessing/Insurance

• Blackrock of all sizes can now be insured
• Blessed items will remain blessed after being traded
• Public trash cans will no longer accept blessed items. This does not affect personal trash cans in your home.

Crafting

• Crafting with dull copper will no longer exceed the 255 durability cap
• Skullcaps can now be crafted with a higher durability than 12

Display Issues

• Granite will now display the color of the granite on mouse-over, rather than just saying “granite.”
• Guild tags can no longer be made to imitate Faction abbreviations (Min, CoM, TB, SL)
• Player crafted Parasitic Poison will display its name correctly, instead of “Deadly Poison”
• Pet summoning ball will no longer give an error message when crossing subserver boundaries
• Plants will no longer mystically say “I’m here” when they reach a specific stage of growth
• Savage paint effect will remain visible even after logging out and back in
• Quivers will no longer lose their color on server startup

Factions

• Faction members in the Hero/Evil system on Siege Perilous and Mugen will no longer be able to grief their teammates by causing them to lose kill-points when auto-defending
• Faction vendors from the losing faction will now disappear from a conquered city
• Non-faction players cannot block the entrances to the Shadowlord and Minax strongholds
• Shadowlord entrance area can no longer be teleported into, repels non-factioners
• Minax stronghold boundaries have been extended to the entire mountain pass, and the recruiting stone placed outside the mountain
• The bridge and outer entrance to the True Britannian stronghold can no longer be trapped

Housing/House-Addons

• Secured bags can no longer be dyed by anyone in a public house
• Spinning wheels will no longer be lost if re-deeded while in use

Resources

• Blank scrolls can be added to commodity deeds
• Empty bottles can now be added to commodity deeds
• Gargoyle pickaxe will now dig up dull copper ore

Spawning

• Healer added to Nujel’m
• Horde Minions summoned by Young players will decay properly
• Interred Grizzles will no longer spawn in Paroxysmus’s Lair
• NPCs in Heartwood will no longer spawn without clothes
• Orders of Minax will no longer spawn outside of players’ reach

Stacking

• New stackables:
• Granite
• Sand
• Dough/sweet dough
• Sushi platters
• Savage kin paint
• Pan of cookies
• Baked quiche
• Pristine dreadhorn
• Smoke Bombs
• Egg Bombs
• Arcane Gems

 

• Fixed:
• Lesser poison potions will now stack with player crafted lesser poison potions

Test Center

• Test Center welcome window reflects Publish 56
• New test center command: “give seeds”
• Gives the player a bag of fertile dirt and various seeds

Quests

• Abandoned quests should no longer cause the quest to fail in the player’s log
• Chance to get three new colors of seeds in the Naturalist quest for the Flowery Cactus: fire, white, and black
• Cooking quests will now accept all types of flour
• Escort NPCs will now properly handle following players onto boats
• Ocllo has been removed from the Escort Quest list
• This will not interfere with escort quests in New Haven

Vendors

• Instituted a new Vending Penalty for players who attempt to circumvent the daily vendor charge for their items
• Vending Penalty is the same as the daily charge for the item
• Penalty is applied if the item is removed by the owner before 24 hours has passed since it was added to the vendor
• Penalty is noted on the object as an item property
• If the item is added to a vendor again, the vending penalty is automatically deducted from that vendor’s account, or given back to the player if funds are insufficient
• There is a 30 minute grace period after adding an item to a vendor to prevent accidents: any item removed before 30 minutes passes will not have a vending penalty
• Once 24 hours pass, the item may be removed at any time by the owner without penalty. Re-adding it to the vendor starts the process over again, however
• Added commas to vendor prices

Misc

• A tamed sheep can only be shorn by the owner
• A tamed cow can only be milked by the owner
• All bows can now be used on archery buttes
• Animal Lore can now be used on morphed Imprisoned Dogs
• Begging will properly give the player gold when the message states they should have received some
• Books should now copy properly from one size (in pages) to another
• Casting a spell on an invalid location will no longer consume reagents or cause skillgain
• Cows will replenish their milk supply 24 hours after being exhausted
• Fire Beetles will no longer work as a forge when ghosts
• Fixed a macro to equip last weapon while meditating
• Full suits of Virtue Armor no longer lose Self Repair on server startup
• Gems from the Gem Cart can no longer be used to recharge a communication crystal
• Ghosts can no longer remove runes from runebooks
• Left-facing War Forks can now be sold to vendors
• Morphed forms will now check for the correct skill and skill amount
• Banking skill in a Soulstone will check your resultant skill level, and return you to normal if you can no longer maintain your morphed form
• Casting from a scroll will return you to normal in three minutes
• Plants can have resources added to them after the seventh stage, without having to unlock and relock them
• Players may now join the Thieves’ guild one week after character creation, and be removed one week after requesting to quit
• This was previously tied to one week (each way) of actual gameplay
• Public trash cans are no longer magically locked
• Players will no longer be able to move while using the “Help/Stuck” option as a ghost
• Weapon Switch macro will work properly with spellbooks
• Young players will now get the proper warning when entering Ilshenar dungeons

Greetings One and All,

The season has changed and time for my seasonal " From the Desk of ".

Autumn, the season of the year between summer and winter, lasting from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice and from September to December is my favorite time of year.

Each Autumn I take a holiday. Last Fall it was Egypt which I shared with the readers. This Fall was Sedona Arizonia and I just returned with my heart full of joy, rebirth and red sand/clay still on the tires of my automobile. Below are a few photos I took and a link if you are interested in learning more about this special place on our planet.

http://www.dreamsedona.com/







On the subject of places, Luna is always a hot topic and full of change. To the shock and delight of many a Luna house went IDOC a few weeks back and it was a clusterfest.



I have not seen that many bugs in one house since my last visit to Detroit. As of this date a new plot is in place, unnamed, private and owned by Rachel. It will be interesting to see how it ends up looking. Hopefully not another badly design crystal mess. Crystal is hard to get right even in the hands of the best designers.



On the subject of good designers I had stopped by Poison Ivy's place last week and it looked great as always. She added some autumn trim for the season. I lost the rune to this location 31o 13'N, 4o 38'N and Lee'Lee was kind enough to gate me. You would think my red Cu Firebush would remember the way but no such luck.



As you can see below it does not take much to give a seasonal flair.
A scarecrow, some wheat and a few pumpkins can do the trick.



Soon we will be able to trick or treat again in game which means a lot of dieing for me and sore teeth from all the sugar. I have been to the test shard enjoying the new sweet treats not to mention the quests. It is always nice to have newly added tasks, quests and adventures.

Many of the Great Lakes guilds have banded together in October to have events including the big pink human bow created by DC* members for breast cancer awareness. For weeks now I have seen many players dressed and proudly showing their pink. I stopped counting how many times this month I have heard " save the boobies " in and about town.



A major milestone was hit this month with GOF celebrating their 10th anniversary in UO. Now that is something to be proud of. Events have been taking place for three days straight in celebration. I attended the GOF net toss which was a blast. Congrats GOF and many more !

Before we know it snow will be falling ( not for me I live in the desert ) carved pumpkins will rot and Christmas decor will be festooning homes.

In parting I will leave you with a screenshot from the Brit Bank in September. I rarely bank in Brit but it has always been a hot bed of drama and excitement for many.
Until the winter holiday season all my best to you.

Fondly, Lady Lava

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

YGV Auction Halloween Extravaganza!!!

Date:  Thursday, October 30th

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

BEC Auction

Date:  Friday, October 31st- CANCELLED

Time:  Cancelled this week due to Halloween, but we will be participating with YGV’s Halloween celebration on Thursday! Please join us there!

Location:  West Gate of Luna City

Contact:  Lady Tia - ICQ 23944805

Finally, the story involving the shrines of the serpents. This report was based on a journal found after a great battle probably from another reporter for Britannians upper class. The statues in Serpents Hold gave all the clues to find books for each path, Order, Chaos and Balance. Through these books and clues from the wandering Ophidian Warrior one can decipher the passwords into the Temple of Balance. Or alternatively, PM me.

Lying in some grass on the field of a nearly forgotten battle, a journal was found. Battered and weather worn it was still remarkably readable. It chronicled the few hours leading up to when this diary or notepad (the last entry, which is quite a considerable length was hastily written) was discarded. The author was obviously not a warrior and rather adept at using shorthand to write things as they happened. I have managed to decipher a large portion of text for review below.

Thirteenth day off Equinox.

Bailey's pomped up claim to be second cousin to Lady Jaine turned out to be false. His hair was oily enough I was afraid our proximity to the fire might set it alight and his sweaty aroma had initially caused me to visibly gag outright in front of him. His rags looked like they'd been used to clean the bilges from all ships of Lord British's fleet.
Complete waste of my time. Whoever thought this excuse of a mongbats uncle could get me an interview with Lady Jaine will be sorry.
A note in the margin: Send Bruce to introduce himself to Argus and family; pay well.

Twelfth day off Equinox.

Inconsiderate swamp rats! Following a tip off I was trailing a suspected Minion when the town criers announced the call for all Royal Guards and Volunteers to meet at the castle. Minions are exceptionally hard to track and this one was being most careless. Next time.
A note in the margin: Just saw Bruce; Argus is no longer able to continue his services as an informant. Pay (Brute is crossed out) Bruce 500 gold.

In the throne room, from the landing above I can see and hear everything. Green shielded Serpents and Blue/Pink robed Minions are dividing between the south and north walls, baleful glares and name calling being exchanged. A wait.

A huge Ophidian has appeared on the throne dais, the Matriarch snake perhaps. A giant spider enters shortly after; Marcel. The daggers the two leading entities throw with their looks at one another make me wonder they aren't at each others throats now. Marcel makes a gate at entrance to throne room and his faithful follow; angst, who to chase around? Decision made for me, too far up to run to gate. Moving.

"We have our own adventure today" the snake says, "and our own summoning. For today we summon the Great Earth Serpent!"

She elaborates by saying the GES is the leader of their "spiritual" faith and that it can only be summoned if they have the tools they need.

The Matriarch of Balance announces the first stop.

The snake slithers down the stairs and casts a gate. The adoring public are passing through, better join them. COLD! Where on Sosaria are we? Snow everywhere, surrounded by a ring of rock opening out onto more snow. Four white marble tables stand in a ring, some sort of sparkle gate in the centre. A small white snake statue stands on one table. The queen snake stands in the centre and hisses out,

"Who accepted the Path of Order?"

Voices shout out, some hands are raised. She points at someone, green shroud and shield riding a swampy; ugly creature. He steps forward to the benches.
A note in the margin: Ask someone afterwards, Path of Order? Matriarch Ophidian?

"Report Commander," she says, "where are the Forces?"
"The Force of Discipline was found in the weaponsmith of Gargoyle City." replies the Commander. Commander?
"Concentrate everyone. We will bring it forth." says the snake queen.

Bring it forth? Poppysmock. No words of power audible. People squinting with effort, others looking bored, some others squinting with the effort of looking bored. I'm surprised! A white sword appears on the north table. Looking closely I can see "Discipline" engraved down the blade. Some cheap magician trick with mirrors I suspect.
A note in the margin: Look for mirrors.

"I found Truths Logic in a temple on Temple Island." The Green man says, his hood hiding his chuffed face I bet.
"Concentrate on Truth now Serpents, let us bring it here."

More smoke and mirrors, without smoke. The same glassy looks pass over the most of the crowd. Some few complain of headaches; bright green and orange pants man, interview possibility. As before, an artefact appears on the western bench. A white book with "Truths Logic" etched into the spine. How did he find that? Of all the lands and libraries and dungeons. Note: Interview Green Man (Thorn?)

"Ethicality was found in the Wisp dungeon in Ilshenar." says Thorn.
"Ethicality..." the snake trails off and if she had eyelids I guess they would have been closed in concentration.

Shuffling closer to the remaining table I'm in time to see a white candle and candle holder appear on the southern table. Ethicality embossed down the side of the candle. Flame doesn't flicker much at all. The tense feeling in the crowd changes to relief and raised spirits.

The Forces of Order around the Shrine.

"Well done all. This Shrine is now active." announces the queen. Shrine? HA! What is the object of worship? The sparkles? Surely not. Snake statue maybe? The artefacts? Voices hush.
"Do you know the word to take you to the Serpent Temple Thorn?"

Temple? There is much I am in the dark about. What am I paying these informants for? What rubbish. Do I have to do everything myself? Thorn is still quiet, he looks uncertain.

"I believe so." he says.
"Others may try this later, try it now." says the queen.
"eicline" says Thorn. Huh? Did he say a horse? Were we supposed to see him whisked off to another place? I don't recognise any words of power in "eicline" no matter the spelling.
"The letters are right you may need a different order perhaps." the queen says. Oh... correct letters? Was this a puzzle?
"For now, we move on I think. We must hurry. Chaos is next."

There is more. The writing becomes less legible on later pages and deciphering this interesting style of shorthand is quite taxing on time. I hope to have it ready shortly.

"Deep in the depths of the Labyrinth lies a mysterious and fabled champion. One night the famous and mighty HOT Guild of Atlantic shard decided to seek out this legendary minotaur who goes by the name Meraktus. Battling their way through the twisting paths and deadly foes, brave HOT members manage to force the Minotaur leader out of hiding. Unfortunately for HOT they got more than they bargained for!"

"Deep in the depths of the Labyrinth lies a mysterious and fabled champion. One night the famous and mighty HOT Guild of Atlantic shard decided to seek out this legendary minotaur who goes by the name Meraktus. Battling their way through the twisting paths and deadly foes, brave HOT members manage to force the Minotaur leader out of hiding. Unfortunately for HOT they got more than they bargained for!"

This entire weekend is filled with GOF player run events and all are invited.

I have always had a weakness for net tosses and I did not want to miss this one.







Rumor had it the nets would all be white and indeed they were!





The toss started a little late as the previous event was running tardy. Popular Obituary Column girl Sliver won the scavenger hunt and she was most excited about it. Nice to see her in person and not as a corpse for once.



The deep sea killers started to arrive and Kal'buir, William, Lee'Lee, Lady Bailey Bugs, Solibuis Snake, Victoris, Isabeau, Nyte, Sliver, Legolas Norris, KK Star, Champagne, The Scribe, Lord Goran, PvPlayer, Noxi, Pyro, Sir Rehpotsirhc, Mr Sneaky and Tessa were a few on the docks ready to get their hands bloody.

I do not think Tessa did much killing as she was dead more than she was a live. She had the task of dropping the nets poor girl.







I have a feeling Tessa is going to make it in the next Obit Column.

FCB has a long history of hosting net tosses and I have been to many over the years and this one was right up there with the best. FCB does not allows pets ever. On the subject of FCB, Lord King Fish was there to enjoy the killing. It's hard to keep FCB members away from a good toss.



Below I leave you with a few more screenshots from this event.
William is taking notes of the entire weekend which will be brought to our readers at a later date.


* William, Malag aste, Kal'buir and Lady Lava look at the corpse of Lee'Lee *










* bones of KK Star *

Over the past eight years I have attended countless weddings on Great Lakes and the union of Lord Jack Of Blades and Lady Wind Of Hope holds the most shocking wedding record since the infamous lesbian wedding of 2002.

I have been on holiday the past five days and made an effort to return from Sedona in time to attend this event. Little did I know of the outrage I would witness.

blanc De blanc gated me to the lovely home of Chelsee Lynn for the ceremony. blanc and I were some of the first guests which also included Sinn and Sir Arcaneen. It was not long before Neptune joined blanc and I.



It was the appearance of Mike and Brooke that shocked us, both naked. Mike was drunk and the things he was doing I cannot even mention in this article. He has a reputation of urinating in fountains which he did but that was nothing.



The bestman....I assume he was the bestman (it was hard to tell), Lord Papa Bear arrived drunk and pantless. He also had a strange pet chicken that he had a ring on. I have never heard of a chicken ring but then again I heard things at this wedding I had never heard before.



Lord Jesus H. Christ dressed in a robe and obi sewn by Seamstress tried his best to keep the drunk puking crowd under control but it was not an easy task.



On a positive note the place looked very wedding like. I heard someone comment that Dawn decorated the wedding room. There seemed to be more thorns than roses in the house and there were tons of roses!
The guests and bridal party consisted of Lord Crom Ironlord, Lord Papa Bear, Lady Kali Ma, Lady Chelsee Lynn, Izabo, Goldie, Caramon Majere, Charlatan A, Queen Sameera, Antonio Black, Kelly, Lord Wozak Mace, witch, Sinister Sister, boni hama and many more.

Below are a few photos of guests and bridal party members.









Perched Parrots also witnessed the wedding of Wind and Jack.
LaVerne 70 weeks old, Lawrence 74 weeks old, Bubba 67 weeks old, Angel 60 weeks old, Dawn 69 weeks old, and Toby 66 weeks old were all decked out in colorful plumes for the event.

Hopefully the parrots had a better time hearing the vows than I did. There was constant chatter, fireworks and bad behavior during the entire event. Regardless I am sure these distractions did not prevent the bride and groom from devoting themselves to each other.

The bride wore a white kimono accented with a lavender obi that matched her hair. The groom in a white honor armor set accented with a dark gray crimmy was the perfect match and they looked made for each other. I am not sure why he held a weapon the entire time but that's ok.



Towards the end of the ceremony I overheard many people state this was the best or one of the best weddings they have ever attended. It was amusing indeed.

Congratulations go out to the bride and groom.
Below are a few more screenshots from the event. The wedding took a lot out of me so I did not attend the Fel reception. I have no doubt it too was memorable and bloody!

Posted to uoherald.com's Five on Friday:

FoF: Mystic Insight
Jeremy Dalberg
24 Oct 2008 15:49:59

Some 56 tidbits, and ton of Q&A on Mysticism! Plus, be sure to look for your shard in the Fansite News section - there are a LOT of player-run Halloween events coming up.

Posted to uoherald.com:

2D Client Patch vers 6.0.11.0
Jeremy Dalberg
24 Oct 2008 14:09:43

The 2d client will be updated to version 6.0.11.0 at 2:15PM EST today, Oct 24th.

Updated clilocs to support Publish 56

Updated art and animations for Publish 56

Posted to uoherald.com:

KR Patch vers. 2.56.0.6
Jeremy Dalberg
24 Oct 2008 14:09:29

The KR client will be updated to version 2.56.0.6 at 2:15PM EST today, Oct 24.

Updated clilocs to support Publish 56

Updated art and animations for Publish 56

NOTE: This is a very large (700 MB) publish due to the new art and animations

Posted to uoherald.com:

Publish 56 On Test Center
Jeremy Dalberg
21 Oct 2008 15:55:05

Publish 56 is now on TC1 - notes after the cut. NOTE: You will see many cliloc errors until the new client is published - please do NOT report these as bugs!

Avery woke up in a crumpled heap, his head lodged up against moist brick and legs pulled askew by iron shackles. He’d been thrown here, he realized, probably after he passed out during the last round of interrogations.

His eyes were still closed. He listened, carefully, keeping his breathing as regular as possible, trying to determine whether he was being watched. It was darker, wherever he was, unlike the bright room where he’d been held for hours previously.

Memories began swimming back into focus – tracking down Casca, the glass knives, that woman… the woman, what was her name? Started with an M… didn’t matter, the witch had practically thrown him into the arms of the guards. Then the questions, the accusations, why did they think…

"Hey there," the hoarse voice cut through the fog in his mind - Avery barely maintained his feigned incapacity. Metal rustled and clinked, someone moved forward. The other man coughed deeply, trying to clear his throat.

"I know you’re awake," the other man began, "Look, I’m not one of them, see." The other prisoner punctuated his sentence by shaking his chains, then coughing again.

Avery remained silent.

"Oh come now, Captain! Don’t you remember old friends?"

Avery cracked an eye open, even the dim light of the cell was still blinding, but he could just make out the man cuffed to the wall across from him. "How do you know who I…" he began to ask, rising to his feet, as his vision came back into focus.

"You!"

"Aye, m’lord, Britannia’s finest thief, at your service." Ricardo smiled.

--

"To victory!" Casca raised his mug. "To Britannia’s finest!"

"Hurrah!" the chorus broke out around the room. The celebration of Avery’s capture was an event to be remembered. The dining hall of Castle British resounded with cheers and loud voices, soldiers and guards and nobles all brought together by Casca’s call to mark the glorious day when justice had been done, and the Royal Council avenged.

A soldier nearby hoisted his own mug, "To Casca! A true hero!"

Casca tried to admonish them amidst the shouts and clamors, meekly refuting the honors they were heaping upon him. "But remember! Remember my friends! It was you who were the true heroes!"

Shouts, laughs, clapping.

"And we remember who betrayed us! And who betrayed them, our loyal leaders!"

The shouting overtook the clapping, turning angry, defiant.

"What was his name?" Casca yelled, knowing the answer.

"Avery!" A reply in unison.

"What shall we do with him?" His voice rose above the fury, clear as thunder over the rain.

"Hang him!" "Kill him!" A dozen other retorts and cries for vengeance.

"No, no! My friends," Casca dropped his voice, and the crowd followed suit, waiting upon his next words. "We will not murder him in cold blood."

The crowd breathed in as one.

"We will not butcher him as he did the innocents of the Royal Council!"

Nods, murmurs, solemn fists jammed into the air.

"But we will have justice!"

The crowd erupted into applause, and Casca smiled

Posted to uoherald.com:

Veteran Reward Issues
Jeremy Dalberg
20 Oct 2008 12:02:47

We're seeing reports of the Vet Reward choice window not popping up on login. We're currently investigating and will update as soon as we have news!

From the UO Herald:
20 Oct 2008 12:02:47 EST - Jeremy Dalberg

We're seeing reports of the Vet Reward choice window not popping up on login. We're currently investigating and will update as soon as we have news!

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

YGV Auction

Date:  Thursday, October 23rd

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

Lair Spirit from Oceania has dug into the past and shared with us some memories from years ago. An excerpt from Lair's latest posting:

"The throneroom filled up quickly with Guards and Volunteers. The room was noticeably lacking in minions and spies however there was no doubt they were lurking elsewhere. Ailis came quickly out from behind the Royal Red curtains and greeted her Guards. Shortly after, the Matriarch of Balance arrived and ascended the throne dais."

You can read the rest of Lair Spirit's latest "From The Archives..." article on the Oceania shard news page found here.

I've delved a little further along the shelves of the archives and have found this account of betrayal. While it does not explain the ophidian statues in Serpents Hold it does set the scene for an epic battle between snake and spider in which those very statues played an enormous role. At the end of this post is a reference to Yew healing, this is because Yew had long been a swamp and in decay for many years. The Meer had cast a terrible 'decay' spell and it went horribly awry (but that's another story). My next posting will be the first of a two part diary record found on the battlefield.

Previous to the events leading up to the shocking change of Minion leadership there were two meetings held. A meeting of the Serpents Order of Balance and a meeting of Morissa's Minions. Each had their respective places to wait. For Commanders Tomcat and Cyanide, they were ordered to meet in "the usual place". I've narrowed this to somewhere in Mistas in Ilshenar. For Commanders Thorn and Cymoril of the Order of Balance, it was in the throne room.

The Serpents of Balance meet in the throne room.

Of neither faction I was somewhat limited in my access to these meetings, although I understood they were still recruiting. Dressed identically in their shrouds of Balance and carrying the Commander shields denoting office, the Champions of Balance stood awaiting further instructions from the Matriarch of Balance. It eventually arrived in the form of a gate and unfortunately I am unable to report further on secret serpents/minions business.

A Serpent Gate opens to a secret meeting place.

Many hours later the Royal Town Crier made the announcement,

"All Royal Guards and Volunteers report to Castle British at once! This is not a drill!"

The throneroom filled up quickly with Guards and Volunteers. The room was noticeably lacking in minions and spies however there was no doubt they were lurking elsewhere. Ailis came quickly out from behind the Royal Red curtains and greeted her Guards. Shortly after, the Matriarch of Balance arrived and ascended the throne dais.

"My lady..." Ailis greeted, somewhat surprised.
"Greetings Commander of the Royal Guard." the Matriarch returned.
"Greetings my lady," Ailis began again, more composed, "What brings you here?"
"It seems that this time we are in accord with our aims." the Matriarch said.
"In accord? In what regard?" Ailis asked.

"I ask to borrow the services of your Guardsmen in addition to my own Serpent Guard."

Ailis frowned. She had passed command of her Guards to someone else before. While he was a trusted member of society he was lacking in his duties and handled the responsibility poorly. Her hesitation was apparent in her question,

"To what end?"
"So that the threat posed by Morissa may be put to rest." the Matriarch explained, "We were given information this morning at our meeting by one of her own Minions that will allow her to be defeated."
"We do wish the end of her that is certain." Ailis said, then asked, "but how can I be sure our aims coincide? She was betrayed by one of her own? How can you be sure this is not a ploy by her in some way?"
"Before I divulge this information, is there any spies in our midst Serpents?"

It was noticed that there were one or two openly flaunting the bright pink of Morissa. The Matriarch pointed out that Minions were not welcome here while Ailis said their Commander was seen lurking just outside. The obvious Minions walked outside the ones who who wished to remain anonymous stealthed themselves out. After the room had been purged of spies Ailis said,

"I shall take my leave and leave my Guards in your uhh... tail!"
"My thanks Ailis." responded the Ophidian.

Ailis mounted her horse and took off out of the throneroom. When all had settled the Matriarch of Balance began.

"Now the information that we we given this morning."

"We were given a password to allow us access to her secret base, which my serpents guard."

"We were also given another which will immobilise her and allow us to lead her out of the base. Then you all may have a hand in "dealing" with her. It seems that in this case evil turns upon itself as our information was given by one of their own new leaders!"

Sounds of surprise and a few startled gasps were heard.

"We will head to Mistas, where my Serpent Guards will bring forth Morissa, then we shall deal with her. I will gate us to a Moongate."

The Matriarch of Balance slithered down the steps to be amongst the Serpent Order and Royal Guards. She created a moongate and everyone poured through it to the other side. Appearing a few feet away from Britain's public Moongate people shouted the name of the gate to go through next, Honesty. Walking through the blue portal took the Royal Guards, the Serpent Order and Volunteers to Ilshenar, as close to Mistas as was possible through magic. From there everyone hiked en masse to the city of Mistas.

Upon arriving, the Serpent/Guard Coalition dispatched the few Jukan sentries posted along the way. Approaching the north of the city the Guards and Serpents found a moongate. On top of the battlements a large gathering of Morissa's Minions looked down, hurling insults and baleful glares. Without wasting time, those of the Serpent Order began speaking a special word which was granting them access through the moongate. One of the Serpent Commanders was trying to give the correct pronounciation of the password but few took notice.

"My Serpents will bring her down, then we may all deal with her. Thorn, go and bring her to me!"

Thorn spoke the password, SNOINIM, and vanished through the gate. He appeared atop the battlements near the top of the stairs to downstairs. He maneuvered his mount between the throng of Minions surrounding Morissa. She was surrounded so tightly it was nearly impossible to see her. Morissa narrowed her eyes at the Serpent Commander as he approached. They spoke at the same time, Thorn not one to mince words with the enemy.

"Take your slithering companions and leave this place!"

"Hepzibah Morissa Surano." spoke Thorn.

Morissa screamed out in rage and frustration. She began to tremble and shiver. The use of her true name had rendered her incapable of performing any type of counter attack. She was at the mercy of the Serpents but the day was not about forgiving or compassion. Thorn led her away to the stairs, Morissa trying to resist each step and her Minions powerless to help. It wasn't enough though, the magic bonds invisibly holding her were of a far greater power than she could manipulate. Slowly down the stairs and outside they went. More Serpents of Balance and the Commanders Cymoril and OvrMage were now strengthening the immobilising power by repeating Morissa's full name. They continued moving the Legendary Sorceress into a small clearing just outside the wooden walls of the battlements in front of the Matriarch of Balance. In the background the Minions bickered amongst each other trying to place blame on someone for betraying Morissa to the Guards. Directed by the Matriarch, the chanting of Morissa's full name ceased.

"You will pay for this," Morissa spat, "My brother will not tolerate such an insult!"
"Everyone step away from her!" The Matriarch ordered, "That I may face her and she may stand accused."

Morissa constantly strained against her invisible bonds. She was tiring, her body not standing as tall and proud as it once did. The hood of her shroud was still drawn about her face but it was obvious the strain was exerting. Only after everyone had finally cleared a space from around Morissa did the Matriarch of Balance continue.

"You stand accused by all here and by the cosmos. You have betrayed your own World and those of others."
"I have betrayed no-one!" Morissa screamed, her eyes darting wildly between the Serpents in the crowd.
"The Shadows you subjugated are now powerless and leaderless. You have betrayed your own people, leading them into evil and vile ways and caused an Imbalance in the fabric of Sosaria and the wider Cosmos. For this we accuse you. For this, you stand accused. Now my Serpents and the Other Volunteers and Royal Guards here will mete out the age old discipline..."

"Serpents... end the LIFE of this one who defies Balance!"

Morissa struggled violently against her restraints but only as soon as the first attacking words of power hit her could she move. She began unleashing the full force of her wrath against her accusers and attackers. The Serpent Order and the Royal Guards worked well together as a team attacking her, defending against her and healing one another. Most of the Minions who had pledged loyalty to Morissa were attacking her now. Her vengeance against those unfaithful was swift and deadly, meted out with the same force she gave the followers of the Serpent Order and Guards.

Morissa killed many people. She didn't discriminate between her Minions and the Serpent/Guard allies. The Minions still loyal to her stood by, keeping out of the savage path of destruction, unable to assist their leader. The force of her power wreaked great walls of stone, created huge holes in the ground but it wasn't enough to save her from her fate. Morissa was eventually slain. Many lives were lost in her destruction, many people wounded. Time would mend the hurts of the flesh but would never erase her from the minds of everyone who was present on her death day. Little remained of Morissa for the Minions to retrieve. Her signature shroud had succumbed to the flamestrikes and fireballs early on in the fight, there was just nothing left to recover and mourn over.

The sounds of battle rang in everyone's ears. Dozens of warriors stood around in shock, wandering from body to slain body searching for friends or survivors. It was no surprise that the arrival of Marcel was almost missed. The Matriarch was conversing with the human/terathan hybrid.

Marcel and the Matriarch exchange words.

"But you and I will have a reckoning Spider," The Matriarch foretold, "Another day perhaps."
"And much power is restored to me." Marcel gloated, obviously in response to a previous comment. "The gold I have ordered as payment for your work this day." Marcel was addressing his Commanders, "You have made me most proud this day."

Marcel took his Minions around him and spoke to his Commanders. The Matriarch did likewise,

"The Spider?" The Matriarch asked to clarify an unheard question. "We will have a reckoning another day. It was he that sent us the information to enter the base, thus restoring the balance to an extent. So you have all aided a higher purpose in this fight. You have worked well! Remember the Balance my troops! I will leave you now. My Commanders, I will see you with further orders anon. For now watch the spiders."

The Matriarch left the scene of battle much the same time as Marcel. The survivors of Morissa's wrath were slowly making a train back to Honesty Moongate, many healers and wandering healers aiding those too weak to move on their own. What has this betrayal bought for Marcel? What would drive him to essentially murder his own sister? His agenda is unclear at the moment and only time can unfold it. The Serpents of Balance are still an enigma also. For this battle they were fighting back to back with the Guard, how long until the scales of Balance are tipped and the Serpent Order are fighting for men like Marcel? What of the terathans on Lord Blackthorn's Castle and in Terathan Keep? No doubt they would impart a few pearls of wisdom with a little prompting. The nursemaid too, in the spider dungeon in Ilshenar, is already known to have divulged information to the Royal Guard before, perhaps she has new news? There is also word of an Ophidian in Serpents Hold, he seems very learned in the Serpent Codex but that can't be all he knows could it?

Afterwards, while trekking through Yew, driven by an interest in the arcane and curious by the seeds, I had discovered the seeds were no longer there. It seems the energy from the vortices have fed the magic of the seeds and created a new growth in Yew.

Saplings have grown from the seeds.

Hope for the rebirth of Yew is strong.

It has been many many months since I last attended fight night at the CFC. It seemed like a fitting place to go before I start on a short holiday.

rachel of CFC recently informed me real life and the club have kept her so busy she has not been able to send posts and/or articles about the fights into me and the News. Real life can do that to you.

rachel was the ring master with GoldDigger in charge of trivia for the evening. Lord Bow Man gated me to the fights from the Luna Bank and it was great to see the arena well attended still and the CFC staff going strong.



Papa Italiano, Ra, Tengo el Funko, Shady, Atmosphere, Victor, Lord Wulf of Britain, Vivi, Wildmayne, Noxi, Jack, Fish, Bogart Batoli, Taylor, Lord Richard III ( he scares people ), The Scribe, Sheena, Lady Autumn, Aldrick, Huo Yuanjia, Storm Bromley and The Truth were some of the patrons. I sat between a very stinky white squirrel and Freedom who informed me the GOF Guild is celebrating its 10 year anniversary as a guild. CONGRATULATIONS GOF !

The glittering, glamorous and clammering crowd was stunning but it was the fancy poultry that were the true stand outs and stars, though often covered in blood and feathers.



Though the clubs garden was well appointed, pruned and the placement was sweet with items and decor I was rather shocked and disappointed the place was not trimmed in autumn decor, not even a pumpkin.

All eyes were on the two legged, feathered and beaked warriors. Maybe I was the only one noticing the missing autumnal joy and warmth created by comforting earth tones this time of year.







The trivia and games were fun adding to the show. I won a fully trained chicken however it would not take my command....sounds like some ex boyfriends in and out of the realm, lol. It went wild and someone else tamed and took it, the story of my life (j/k).

Thanks CFC for providing another great night of entertainment and all you do for the Great Lakes shard.

The gift boxes are being delivered and the invites have been mailed for the upcoming wedding of Lord Jack and Lady Wind.

Chelsee's Love Shack in Malas and Serpent's Hold in Felucca are the two locations where the celebrating will take place. Later today I leave for a holiday ( vacation ) in Sedona and plan to return the morning of this event. If traffic ( or fierce romance ) keeps me detained I hope that guests will take screenshots and send in details. Regardless I wish the newlyweds all the best. Rumor has they are married in real life.

The word spread through Britannia like the pox. The Serpent's Eye was to turn red again within 24 hours. Hours dragged past for those camping the the Royal throneroom as well as Delucia where the last Red Serpent's Eye appeared. Without warning everyone was instantly aware that the Eye was now red (though there was no eye at announcement it appeared soon after) and Royal Guards, Volunteers and everyday citizens rushed to enter and partake in the Serpent Trials of Balance.

Once through we found ourselves in a long corridor that spanned off in either direction. Later I found out it was a huge donut shape. There was no-one around to give any direction so I followed everyone elses example and started slaughtering the snakes that occupied the dungeon. There were hundreds of them. As the petitioners for the Order of Balance killed them, stronger snakes would appear in large numbers. The floor was a slippery with snake blood and the air stank of sulphor. Dragons were eating their fill, these snakes no match for their jaws and claws.

Getting into a rhythm the Test of the Body was becoming too easy, but death soon came to those who became unfocused and tardy. Silver serpents started appearing and their infamous venomous bites soon woke a few people up or put them to sleep. Yet even these notorious snakes, in such numbers as they were, became slushy bodies to be trodden down on by dragons and men.
But despite all the small victories, chaos erupted when monstrous spiders crawled out of nowhere and began picking people off by two's or three's.

I managed a closer look at these blood red beasts while it was momentarily distracted, though I must say, it wasn't distracted for long. Twice as tall as any man and three times as long, I'm not ashamed to say I was a mite worried for my well being.

These beasts were killing machines. It first seemed that despite all the wyrms and dragons mauling the vampiric arachnids they just weren't making a dent. Some weakness must have been found though because slowly, oh so slowly, the spiders were visibly weakening, becoming slower and succumbing to the onslaught. One imprisoned maze spider went down, then after cheers of triumph, the victorious spider slayers ran onto the next one. The second and third spiders followed soon after the first and everyone set about tending the wounded. Everyone still standing had passed the Test of Body.
Returning to where we all entered a Black Ophidian of Balance and a White Ophidian of Balance were waiting for us. Informing us that we had passed the Test of Body they cast a gate into the centre of the dungeon area. We all crowded around the stairs leading in the middle and were told of the books in each room. In these four books was one scenario each and after reading the first scenario (which incidentally went missing and prevent others from reading it) we were to return to the stairs.

The first scenario was read by the black Ophidian:

"Your friend has invited you to a secret meeting of a society he has recently joined. They are very excited that you have agreed to come and on the day of the meeting they tell you come to a selected spot at midnight. He tells you that their purpose is to secretly oppose the leadership of the current Lord, who is a tyrant in his own right. When you arrive, you find a group of masked robed figures chanting strangely around a circle of evil-looking symbols on the ground. They all stop as you and several other scared looking people arrive in their midst and start an initiation ritual to bring you into the fold."

"Do you choose to leave because of the obvious evil intent? Or"

"Go along with the ritual knowing of its evil intent."

to this...

A massive drop in numbers. Frowning to myself I wondered what the reason behind the decision was. The black Ophidian gave us the justification for joining the secret society.

The next scenario put to us was this:

"You are sworn in fealty to the local Lord. He has commanded your presence and you go to his home, ready for the latest orders. When you arrive, you are told by the castellan that his brother has your orders for you, and on seeing him you are commanded to kill someone you are told is suspected of plotting against your Lords position. Do you:"

"Take the order and carry out your duty as received. Or"

"Refuse to carry out this order."

"To take life without reason destroys the balance of the universe. You have not been offered any proof of this man's treason instead being asked to take another man's word for it."

The third scenario put to us was this:

"While hunting game out in the wilderness, you come upon a lizardman who has become trapped under a log. The creature is close to unconsciousness and clearly in extreme pain. Do you:"

"Put an end to its suffering. Or"

"Approach it cautiously and apply medical aid in the hopes it will survive."

It seems everything was fine. Balanced even. We were quickly given the fourth and final scenario.

"The King of the Land has been ill for some time, and his successors are already publicly announcing their intentions should they be elected to the throne. One is a necromancer, who has been looking after the King in his illness for some time and has been his advisor for many years. He has been openly ruling the country for some time since the King became ill and there have been no complaints about the policy he has passed. The other is a bastard son, who has only recently made an appearance and is already spending lavish amounts of the treasury on winning over the social crowd. He has offered everyone in the Kingdom a sum of money, down to the lowest peasant, if they will support him in the election but will not say what policy he intends to follow after. As a peasant voting in the election, do you:"

"Choose the necromancer. Or"

"Choose the bastard son to claim your gold."

"While the necromancer may lend the appearance via the title of being evil he has shown that he is capable of ruling the Kingdom, rather than a newcomer who intends to squander the Kingdom's gold. While coin has been promised, there is no reputation to gauge whether he will be true to his intentions or lie and not give you any. Also as a peasant you know you would be paid last."

We lined up to receive our robes and entered the final gate that returned us to British Castle. A metallic green hooded shroud (labelled "Champion of Balance") was handed to the new members who could produce on demand a red Serpent Codex authored by themselves and to those who did not, they received a neon green robe (labelled "Acolyte of Balance").

Posted to uoherald.com:

FoF AWOL
Jeremy Dalberg
17 Oct 2008 14:52:43

Due to a mishap with certain bits of critical equipment not making it to Chicago with me, the FoF will not be posted today. My deepest apologies! Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the Town Hall broadcast instead - see the previous post for more details. p>

Posted to uoherald.com:

Town Hall Tomorrow!
Jeremy Dalberg
17 Oct 2008 14:48:25

Tomorrow is the Chicago Town Hall! If you're coming in for it, we can't wait to see you - we have lots of stuff to talk about. If you're out there on the interwebs, Whispering Rose Radio will again be taking care of you - find out more details on how to listen to the show (and participate in-game) Here!

After a heavy storm, Hawkeye Pike and his crew stranded in the southern Britannian Sea, in Felucca. Most of their items were washed overboard and lost. A few worthless pieces of clothing, hats, some cheap weapons of town-vendor quality and a heap of bandages are all that was left. Equipped in such manner, they start their expedition and enter the Lost Lands. An exciting and challenging adventure begins. The survivers of the shipwreck have to face the dangers of Felucca in search of new wealth and better equipment. Monsters will be slain, dungeons will be explored, old equipment will be replaced by better items step by step. How far will the group of castaways get? Which dungeons and places will they dare to venture?

This journey does not have a specific ending. The participants will continue their expedition as long as they have fun doing it. We want to explore how much fun you can have in Britannia without using artifacts, valuable equipment or gold. Anyone can join in at any time. Please don't bring any equipment, except clothing, bandages and a weapon from an NPC vendor.

You're all invited to join! Meeting place is the Jolly Roger Inn.

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

YGV Auction

Date:  Thursday, October 16

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

BEC Auction

Date:  Friday, October 17

Time:  8:00 pm CST

Location:  West Gate of Luna City

Contact:  Lady Tia - ICQ 23944805

Ruins of Wonder is a charming plot designed by gal about town Wonder.

Wonder may know all about protonix, zofran and bumex but they have nothing to do with her decor and handy talents. Wonder seems to have her fingers in everything crafty including horticulture.
It is always a treat when I run across a player that is exciting about the realm and all that it offers.



There has been some doubt and hushed words about Wonder's fashion or lack of it. Just last night she was cornered in the Luna Mage Shop and questioned about her foot fashion. Most women prefer to have small feet but Wonder is proud of her BIG foot and the fact that all her footwear is handmade and custom.

Though she may have navicular, talus, cuboid, ligament, neuritis, neuroma, tibia, arch, fibula or heel concerns Wonder has no concerns when it comes to design.



This lush domicle at 38o 4'N, 52o 48'W is a welcoming structure and very functional. Stepping through the parted lavender curtains after a long rest in the outdoor garden it did not take me long to realize this lady is a very active productive citizen of Great Lakes.

Aside from her personal pleasures Wonder keeps her two vendors stocked, not to mention tending to her rl husband, also a Great Lakes citizen. The vendor at her home sells plants, with her garden being the perfect foil. Wonder also has a vendor within the Luna City walls selling everything from crafted stone items and potions to delish baked goods, not that I have tasted them. For months I have been promised cakes, pies and cookies made just for me but not a one has touched my red lips.



Below are a few interior shots of her creation.
If you run into her ( she seems to be everywhere ) hit her up for some baked goods and while you are at it get some for me too.


* Does she make Wonder bread here ? *

The following are our Auctions for this week on Lake Superior:

YGV Auction

Date:  Thursday, October 9th

Time:  7:00 p.m. CST

Location:  Northwest of Yew Moongate

If you would like to submit your auction, please contact Lady Tia.

It is that time of year and things are getting a little creepy on Great Lakes, and no I am not talking about *****, ** or even ****** ******, lol. What am talking about it Halloween .... and the seasonal decor it taking hold all over the realm.

The B*R guild has a vendor shop within the Luna City walls and they have spooked the place up. It is nice to see another evil design other than my EVIL GARDEN in Luna.
The new cypress trees really add to the creep factor in any decor.



Will of MOA has been on holiday and he just contacted me this morning wanting me to broadcast that there will be a Monday Night Madness event tomorrow evening and it will be, Let's Make a Deal.

Will also states, "The castle has some creepy decorations and we have lots of prizes to give away. We are going to give away keys to a mystery box, come and visit and see what you can win."



The MOA castle is not the only holiday decor in full bloom. The auction house is also ready for the season on both floors !



As always gates are provided at major banks for these monday, wednesday and thursday night events.

A note from Dragons:

Each Sunday at 4pm EST, The Syndicate holds a free, open to the public Craftsman Day event. We offer free repairs, enhances and item creates and we gate people to and from our castle to get that help.

Once every quarter we put on a Mega Craftsman Day where we expand the services offered. We try to offer things like Lockpicking, Taming, Inscription and things we might not always have someone present to assist you with.

The services remain totally free. We will handle all requests (within reason, of course) from courteous people. Gating will start at 4pm and will last through 5pm (or until we finish helping the last person).

Look for Syndicate members (with LLTS over their heads) at major banks on Sunday.

Individual shard event calendars have been created... or re-created depending on how ya look at it!

Anyhoo...we now have another place to post our player events. I say another because unlike our old forum setup, at this point your event will not auto post to the current UO Events Calendar. We do encourage you to post to both your shard calendar and the main UO Events calendar.

The calendars are visible from the shard forums, from the forum index page, and from the dropdown at the bottom of any calendar page.

The calendars are moderated, meaning your event will not show until approved by a Moderator. I've set up email notifications to the shard staff so it should never be too long before your event does appear.

Thanks everyone! Go make more cool events and post 'em!

The Catskills Black Market October 4th, 8pm EST

Recurring trading-event, scheduled for each first Saturday of the month at 8pm EST.

Next Black Market: October 4th 2008, 8pm EST

The United Pirates of Catskills are happy to announce the Black Market event! This recurring in-game trading and auctioning event will be accompanied by entertaining elements. During this event, you can sell, buy, trade or auction your wares! In between the bargains, duels bets and games will be held for entertainment. The facts:

• Merchants will get a personal market stand where they can advertise and sell their products. Bargaining is encouraged! Merchants should have a list of their products locked down on their market stand (at least one day prior to the event, so people can come by and check on the items). The prices should be LOWER than the regular Luna vendor prices!
• Are you looking for a certain item? You can post your request on the bulletin board out front of the Black Market. Merchants can check the board beforehand and have the appropriate items ready for sale. The board will be wiped after the Black Market is over.
• We will hold games and duels where everybody can place bets and everybody can participate. It will be fun!
• Merchants who want to sell items, please contact Hawkeye Pike a few days prior to the Black Market to take care of the lockdowns. ICQ: 7041294

The Black Market will take place in the building called "Black Market" at this location in TRAMMEL.

Atlantic Shard Mega Craftsman Day!

Each Sunday at 4pm EST, The Syndicate holds a free, open to the public Craftsman Day event. We offer free repairs, enhances and item creates and we gate people to and from our castle to get that help.

Once every quarter we put on a Mega Craftsman Day where we expand the services offered. We try to offer things like Lockpicking, Taming, Inscription and things we might not always have someone present to assist you with.

The services remain totally free. We will handle all requests (within reason, of course) from courteous people. Gating will start at 4pm and will last through 5pm (or until we finish helping the last person).

Look for Syndicate members (with LLTS over their heads) at major banks on Sunday.

Posted to uoherald.com's Five on Friday:

FoF: Party On
Jeremy Dalberg
03 Oct 2008 15:18:24 EST

Publish 56 bugfixes, upcoming faction stuff, and more!

"I'm red/green colorblind - is there a way for me to tell the difference between colors of granite?"
Yes! In Publish 56 we'll be adding the name of the granite type (shadow, valorite, etc) to the tooltip.

--

Publish 56 Bug Fix Roundup
Here are some more tidbits that look likely to make Publish 56:

- Young players will now be attacked in Ilshenar dungeons (they will also get the warning gump as they enter, so they're not taken by surprise.)
- Abandoning an escort via the quest gump will no longer prevent you from picking up a new escort
- The Virtue Armor suit will no longer sometimes lose its self repair property after logout

One clarification as well - last week I mentioned the "weapon switch" macro working with spellbooks - this was terribly unclear. The macro that will work with spellbooks in Pub 56 is EquipLastWeapon.

--

Skill Jewelry and Form-Changing Spells in Publish 56
I didn't have a version of the question handy, but this has come up a number of times. Currently, if you use skill jewelry to increase your skill, cast a form-changing spell (such as Necromancy's Vampiric Embrace) then remove the skill jewelry, you remain in that form.

This will be changing in Publish 56. What will happen is if you lower your skill past the threshhold to be able to cast that particular form-changing spell, (whether by removing items, using a soulstone, or even using the Test Center set skill command) you will revert to your normal form. This will affect not only the various forms available with Necromancy but Magery (Polymorph,) Ninjitsu (Animal Form,) and Spellweaving (Reaper Form.)

--

"You've hinted at more faction-related stuff coming up - is this in Publish 56?"
Yes! The next round of content adds completely new rewards and incentives for Factions. Amongst them are many new items, a few of which we can tease about below.

Faction Equippables: A set of enhanced Artifacts. They will be available for purchase via a collection box in your Faction Stronghold (later on, silver collected this way will benefit your faction, but that will be in a future publish.) These items will have several restrictions:

• Bound to the character that purchases them - they won't be tradable or equippable by anyone else
• Durability has been added to many of them, requiring repairs as they're damaged
• Can only be repaired with the new Powder of Perseverance, a faction-only item. (Powder of Fortification will not work on them)
• Available only to certain ranks; if you lose your faction rank you will no longer be able to equip an item of that rank.

We'll release the full table of items in the notes when the publish goes to Test Center, but here are a few examples so you can see what we mean by "enhanced":

• Rank 1: Rune Beetle Carapace with additional +3 to all resists
• Rank 4: Crimson Cincture with additional +5 Dexterity
• Rank 7: Spirit of the Totem with enhanced resists (instead of the linked resists, this version has Phys 20% and 10% in each of the others)
• Rank 9: Folded Steel Reading Glasses with additional +10 DCI
• Rank 10: Ornament of the Magician with additional Mana Regen 3

There are a total of nineteen new artifacts spread out across the various tiers.

Faction Consumables: In addition to the new artifacts, a number of new consumables will be available for purchase with silver. Anyone in the faction will be able to use the items (they are freely tradable) but there will be a cooldown on many of the items, based on rank. Examples of the consumables include:

• Stronghold Rune: One-use item that will teleport you to your faction HQ (standard criminal flagging rules apply)
• Shrine Gem: One-use item that can be used to teleport your ghost to the nearest shrine
• Powder of Perseverance: A variant of Powder of Fortification that can be used on the new faction items.
• Enhanced bandages that also remove curses
• Two new types of potions

There will also be a new item for sale that allows Human players to equip Elven items.

Start stocking up your silver, and when this goes to Test Center we look forward to your feedback and bug reports!

--

More Stacking Info
The following items have all been made stackable in Publish 56 - QA still needs to check through them, and we'd LOVE for y'all to spend some time on TC breaking them, but here's what we have so far:

• granite
• sand
• tribal berries
• enchanted apples
• smoke bombs
• green tea
• wasabi clumps
• sushi rolls
• all chocolate ingredients
• oil cloths
• arcane gems
• dough
• pans of cookies
• cakes
• baked pies

Here are some more that we're working on but may or may not make it in 56:

• savage kin paint
• unbaked pies

There are a few caveats - for example, exceptional and non-exceptional components won't stack with each other - but this should start to make things easier in a number of areas. We still have quite a few more items on our list, but we're moving right along!.

--

What's To Come:

Publish 56 is still on track to go to Test Center the week of the 13th. As you can see from the things mentioned above, it's pretty big! We'll most likely be running a few special testing events on TC to get lots of attention to the various parts of the publish, so stay tuned.

Also, the Chicago Town Hall is coming very soon - October 18th! Leurocian and I are looking forward to talking in much more detail about some facets of Stygian Abyss, and we'd love for you to join us. Check out the details here, and we'd appreciate it if you RSVPed.

--

House of Commons Chat Log Available

Thanks for Stratics for hosting a great House of Commons - if you missed it, you can read the transcript (and see some pictures of the team!) here.

--

Fansite News:

[Sonoma]
Sonoma kicks off Fall ...

UO TRIVIA CHALLENGE!

The Peoples Army of Sonoma [PAS] invites players to participate in a fun for everyone UO TRIVIA Challenge starting at 6pm Pacific (8pm Central, 9pm Eastern) at Karns Vendor Shop located inside Luna town (SW corner). Free entry, great prizes and a fantastic JACKPOT question reward. CLICK HERE for more details.

~~~~~~~~~

FALL-O'WEEN Home Deco Contest

Grab those deco kits ... rake those leaves .... cut those vines ... pull out the old cauldrons ... stuff those scarecrows and scatter those bones ... let the creative juices flow as it is time for Sonoma's FALL-O'WEEN Home Deco contest!! It's easy to participate... Decorate your Sonoma home in a Fall or Halloween theme. Entry home must be opened to public from Oct. 26th - Oct. 31st for viewing by judges. Entries accepted until Saturday, Oct. 25th at 5:00m Pacific.

Contact Queen Mum by PM or at ICQ 168-812-018 to enter and for more details click here.

--

[Lake Superior]
Lake Superior Community's weekly event Schedule
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community Meet'n Greet
Date: Monday, October 6th
Time: 7:30PM Central
Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank
Hosts: Airmid / Sabina Nikolai
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Doom Gauntlet Run
Date: Tuesday, October 7th
Time: 8:00PM Central
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi'Aken
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peerless hunt (Mondain's Legacy Required)
Date: Wednesday, October 8th
Time: 8:00PM Central
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi'Aken
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dungeon hunt Training Camp
Date: Wednesday, October 8th
Time: 8:00PM Central
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank
Host: Dyllon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miasma Hunt
Date: Thursday, October 9th
Time: 8:00PM Central
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi'aken
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ilshenar Champion Spawn hunt
Date: Friday, October 10th
Time: 9:00PM Central
Starting Location: Skara Brae Community Center - located next to the bank
Host: Taeara Mi'Aken
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Have fun playing UO while listening to these live broadcasts from Whispering Rose Radio (www.wrrad.com) ...

Saturday - Oct. 4th - Its time for the ever popular Brush LimpPaw show starting at 2pm PT, 5pm ET on WRR where listeners hear his Universal Outlook on current events as only he can deliver it.

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Saturday - Oct. 4th - Deal or No Deal ~ 'UO Style' is on LEGENDS this week starting at 3pm PT, 6pm ET. Participants will be playing for 10 Million and of course there will be 5 - 250k door prize drawings *remember, you must be there to win*. For a map of the WRR DoND location on LEGENDS... CLICK HERE.

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Sunday - Oct. 5th - Its time for the weekly auction with the Pacific Auction House (located just East of the Luna Moongate). Serving the community for over 4 years, the PAH continues to bring players fantastic AUCTION deals. Get there early for best seating. Auction starts at 12pm PT, 3pm ET and is broadcasted live on WRRadio.

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Thursday - Oct. 9th - The weekly "Tazz & Keg's Underground" radio show on WRR is broadcasted live at 7pm PT - 10pm ET. Entering their underground world leads to a world you will long remember and never want to miss.

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Have a fantastic week with UO & the sounds of Whispering Rose Radio (www.wrrad.com) ~ see you all on the flip side!

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I spent this week in Virginia hanging out with the team in person. It's always a blast to see everyone face-to-face, and I'll miss them when I'm back home next week!

- Jeremy

Posted to uoherald.com:

UO Herald RSS Feed Available!
Jeremy Dalberg
02 Oct 2008 17:48:59

At long last, we have an RSS feed for the UO Herald - use your favorite reader to pick it up Here!

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of early breast cancer detection.

Pink ribbons are coming out in full force this month. Trees are being festooned in pink satin across the world. Human bodies are also being festooned, from pink ribbon buttons and T-shirts to pink logo sneekers. Cars, houses, front lawns and even in the realm the pink ribbon logo for Breast Cancer Awareness made an appearance today on the Great Lakes Shard.

Kira of the GOF guild came up with the idea of thinking pink and Adelaide of the DC* guild pooled Dragon Clan members together to create the human logo.

The human ribbon consisted of Jandar, Dark Shady, GREG, Polyphenemus, Sargon, Erebus, blanc De blanc, Tupac11,Necron, Darsh Havoc, Cyric Truesilver, Julie Lockheart, Red Seal, A Meat Elemental, Dale, Laura Borealis, Lord Neptune, Lord GaMo, Conspiracy, Lady Victoria, Adelaide, Kira and the big boss of DC* guild Shady.



I have always been a huge fan of pack art, plot design/decor, bank art and in game fashion so I am delighted to present this creative effort with a message to the readers.

To learn more about National Breast Awareness go to
http://nbcam.org/

The Catskills Black Market October 4th, 8pm EST

Recurring trading-event, scheduled for each first Saturday of the month at 8pm EST.

Next Black Market: October 4th 2008, 8pm EST

The United Pirates of Catskills are happy to announce the Black Market event! This recurring in-game trading and auctioning event will be accompanied by entertaining elements. During this event, you can sell, buy, trade or auction your wares! In between the bargains, duels bets and games will be held for entertainment. The facts:

* Merchants will get a personal market stand where they can advertise and sell their products. Bargaining is encouraged! Merchants should have a list of their products locked down on their market stand (at least one day prior to the event, so people can come by and check on the items). The prices should be LOWER than the regular Luna vendor prices!

* Are you looking for a certain item? You can post your request on the bulletin board out front of the Black Market. Merchants can check the board beforehand and have the appropriate items ready for sale. The board will be wiped after the Black Market is over.

* We will hold games and duels where everybody can place bets and everybody can participate. It will be fun!

Merchants who want to sell items, please contact Hawkeye Pike a few days prior to the Black Market to take care of the lockdowns. ICQ: 7041294

The Black Market will take place in the building called "Black Market" at the following location in TRAMMEL: