September 15, 2014 Issue

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                             TABLE OF CONTENTS

                          A Note from the Editor

                          UPDATES FROM THE STAFF:
                          Building & Code Updates
                            Immortal Promotions
                              Housing Update!
                         October Calendar of Events

                               PLAYER NEWS:
                             XP Achievements
                                Clan News

                            Player Submissions:
                    Skeletor Gets a Taste of the "Power"
                            Untitled by Benaiah
                               Relic Hunters

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                          A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

I know this issue has been a long time coming, so I apologize for the wait!
There's just been a slight issue with collecting enough player submissions to
make an issue big enough! 

We've several updates, but be sure to check out the Housing Update that's 
talked about below, as well as checking the Welcome Board in game in case of
additional information concerning said Housing Update. 

-Lamia


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/__|                       Updates from the Staff                      |__\
   '-------------------------------------------------------------------'
                        
                           Code & Builder Updates
                       
Code Updates:
+ We'd like to introduce you to three new +stat amulets! What are they? Why, 
Strength, Spirit, and Perception! Have fun, guys, and gals.

+ Our current crashing-work-around for DTs should take DT Avoidance in to 
consideration, so if you have that, maybe you can be a bit less cautious. 
But only a bit.

Builder Update:
+ Mertjai added in something... special. Something that's almost like a pet,
but not quite. Maybe a bit more. Who knows? Be sure to check it out.

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                             Full PR:  Amducious!

For his hard work in the background (lots of it there, and you'll see why 
relatively soon enough!) as well as being ever helpful in the foreground, 
we're promoting Amducious to Full PR. Be sure to congratulate him!

- Lamia & Lorenzo

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                             Implementor: Mertjai

I would like to take this time to announce the appointment of Mertjai as our 
third Imp. He's put in a ton of hard work (this is the understatement of the
decade) and is always there to help not only myself, but any imm or mortal who
needs it. I know he has great plans for the Mud, and I cannot wait to see them
come to fruition.

With that, be sure to congratulate Mertjai the next time you see him.

-Lamia & Lorenzo

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               ***** Important Notice About Housing Rent *****

Have your bank accounts ready, as housing rent will be turned back on during 
our next update.

There will be no reimbursement for lost houses or items stored within after
this announcement.

Please address any comments or questions via mudmail to me.

Thanks,
Mertjai


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                        LegendMUD Calendar of Events
       
           [All times are System Time unless otherwise specified]

                                  October 
                            Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 
                                      1  2  3  4
                             5  6  7  8  9 10 11
                            12 13 14 15 16 17 18
                            19 20 21 22 23 24 25
                            26 27 28 29 30 31

Thursday, Ocotber 30 - TBA - Super Spooky Werewolf in the Mansion's Graveyard
Friday, October 31 - All Day - Hell Gnome Hunting
Friday, October 31 - TBA - Spooky Complete the Sentence

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/__|                            Player News                             |__\
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                              XP ACHIEVEMENTS

Cecil has reached 600 million experience!
Dairos has reached 600 million experience!

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                                  CLAN NEWS
Dragons Clan formed.

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__|_____|_____|_____|_____|__PLAYER SUBMISSIONS___|_____|_____|_____|_____|

Skeletor Gets a Taste of the "Power"

He-Man had spent the day fighting beasts in ancient Greece, and while
'resting' to regenerate his health, Skeletor snuck up on him.

Casting the 'sleep' spell on He-Man, he was able to slice a small cut
on his wrist.

From that cut he drained several ounces of He-Man's blood into a small
flask.

As he slipped away, Skeletor thought of the great power he would gain
from drinking the blood, which he believed to be full of the Power of 
Grayskull.

The End

                             =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Untitled

The scent of lilacs and roses still lingered in his memory.  It was such a
difference from the smells he was used to.  The others around him did not seem
to think that there was a need to bathe more than once or twice a decade.  This
young woman was, in every sense, a breath of fresh air.  

He smiled at his own wit.  But it was true, nonetheless.  She was the first
person in quite some time to treat him as a human being.  Most people do one
of two things 1. They speak very loudly and slow, because they think that this
helps a blind man or 2. They avoid him like the plague was upon him.  This
young woman did neither of those things.  She had asked him questions, and
seemed interested in the answers.  Her voice had a quality that he had not
heard before he could not explain it, other than to say that he could not wait
to hear it again.  And her laugh. It was genuine, and infectious.  He found
himself thinking that, if he could only listen to it a while longer, the world
of darkness that he lived in might actually show him a little light.

He did not know if he would ever speak with her again, though he would pray
that his God would smile upon him and allow it to happen.  He smiled again, as
he made his way along the path, his simple walking stick of cherry wood,
tapping in front of him.

                             =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Relic Hunters

He hadn't meant to get separated from Addyson. He really, really hadn't, but 
when she decided to take off down some side street in some forgotten corner of
Dis, Eitri wasn't sure how he would have been able to know what she was up to,
let alone where she was going. With each trip in to Hell, the more Eitri came 
to realize how Addyson preferred to keep any possible plans to herself until 
the very last moment. Eitri had called her out on it during their last trip, 
when she had insisted they recover something else from the walls of Dis. He 
couldn't remember what it'd been that time -- A blade, a golden key, a shirt 
of dark mail, they'd recovered all of those items so far and more -- but he 
would always remember the way she had pouted and told him that she liked 
surprising people. Since then he let her play her games, plan her 'surprises',
and he went along with it as best as he could.

Collecting the items hadn't been so bad, truth be told. She had quite the 
collection hidden throughout the city, all acquired through sneaking about and
manipulating during her formative years. Eitri had heard her mention the name 
'Amducious' every so often, but whenever he asked about the strange name, she 
would just smile and change the subject. It wasn't important, he supposed, 
after all, there were plenty of odd sorts of names out there. There were 
plenty of odd sorts of... everything, everywhere.

Dis was exceptionally odd for Eitri this trip. He wandered through the maze of
rust colored streets, searching for Addyson for what he was certain bordered 
on 'hours', and had yet to encounter anyone or anything. Normally he would 
have had to duck behind some rubble or other debris to avoid being seen by any
number of Hellish creatures (often times pulling Addyson with him because he 
was certain she had a deathwish at times) but today the streets were empty and
Eitri found it unsettling, at the very least. But then suddenly there was 
something, the sound of metal against metal. It was faint, but not impossible 
to follow.

He followed the sound to an alleyway that he didn't remember being there 
twenty minutes before. Cautious, he crept down it to a large building. He 
pushed against the iron gate that covered the door and it moved with ease. 
Assuming - with good reason - that this was a trap, he withdrew his sword from
its scabbard as he entered the building. Inside he found a number of hallways,
so many he was sure Hellish magic was in play, since there was no possible way
this many could actually fit in the building he had looked at closely before 
entering. With a quick shake of his head he followed the harsh sound.

The sound was almost deafening as Eitri rounded a corner, finding himself at a
dead-end hall lined with cells. He moved quietly - not that it mattered with 
all the sound that was being made - and looked in to each cell, zig-zagging 
down the hallway. They were all empty, until he reached the fourth on the 
left. He was taken a bit by surprise, as inside this cell was a pale, 
red-headed woman, tugging fervently at a heavy iron chain that was attached to
the wall. What surprised him the most, though, were the wings he saw 
protruding from her back. He called out once and she didn't seem to hear him. 
So he called again, this time a bit louder, and still nothing. He didn't 
bother calling out a third time, instead choosing to kick in the cell door. It
broke easily, the iron hinges rusted beyond use.

The silence that followed was worse than the noise. "A trick?" she asked in a 
quiet voice, finally breaking the pause. The woman - angel, maybe - dropped 
the chain, wincing as the weight pulled at the shackles around her wrists. She
looked tired, and as Eitri took a step towards her, she collapsed, her wings 
folding awkwardly under her as she landed on the ground. Against better 
judgment Eitri rushed forward, sheathing his sword as he moved.

"Miss?" he said quietly, kneeling next to her. He reached a hand out, gently 
brushing a few strands of hair from her face. She didn't respond to his touch,
nor his gentle verbal prodding that continued over the next several moments. 
Frowning, he sat on the ground next to her, a hand reaching out to grip the 
chain that bound her. "I wish you would wake," he said softly. When he didn't 
get a response - not that he had expected one - Eitri gave the chain an 
experimental pull. He followed its length with his blue gaze, staring at where
it connected to the wall. It didn't make the same sound it had when the angel 
had struggled with it, he noticed as he gave an experimental tug. Nothing. Not
that he had expected it to budge, but it was worth a try.

He sat with her for a long while, his mind wandering to Addyson, wondering 
where she was, what she was doing, whether or not she'd be able to find him...
At the very least, he knew how to leave the Infernal realm. Addyson had made 
sure that he knew of all the portals and weak spots between realms, but he 
wouldn't leave her. He'd told her that and in what he had learned to be 
typical Addyson fashion, she had merely smiled at him. He wished she were 
there to just smile at him, now. Sighing, he looked around the cell once more,
absently pulling on the chain.

"You can't break it." The voice is soft, quiet, utterly broken, but it still 
startled Eitri. He released the chain and turned his gaze to the woman. 
"I tried," she said. "So hard. You heard it. I put so much power behind it and
it did nothing other than... well, you saw." With a soft groan, she sat up, 
her hands gripping the chain to keep the weight from tugging at her wrists.

Eitri swallowed, feeling a bit irritated that she didn't believe he could 
help. There was always a way. Arianne had taught him that. Sure, he knew that 
this wasn't the sort of situation she had been talking about when she had told
him that there was always a graspable solution, but he knew she wouldn't balk 
at him using her words in a situation like this. She would understand, she 
would encourage him. "I'm Eitri Kirvel," he said after a few moments. The 
woman tilted her head slightly to the right, her blue eyes locked with 
Eitri's. A blush colored his cheeks but he didn't look away.

"I am Sanguine." She smiled and reached her hands out towards his. He moved 
his hands to meet hers, allowing the contact. In that instant he was 
surprised. How warm and soft her touch was, even looking as exhausted, as 
beaten down as she did, he didn't understand. Nor could he understand how the 
chains she bore were as heavy as they felt. When he had pulled at the chain 
before, it felt so normal, but now, no. It was far too heavy and he shifted a 
bit, trying to move some of the length of chain around his own arms. She 
chuckled. "It won't make a difference, though I thank you." He blushed again 
but offered her a smile. "What brings a mortal to the Infernal City?"

Eitri opened his mouth to reply, though it was snapped shut a mere second 
later. His brow furrowed, he pondered the question. Addyson was the answer, 
though he wouldn't tell this stranger such a thing, no matter how kind and 
gentle she appeared to be. He wouldn't tell her of Addyson's relics, either. 
"I...th-there a-are...." No, that wouldn't do. He closed his eyes for the 
briefest of moments and took a deep breath. "What is an angel doing in the 
same city?" He looked at Sanguine with the sternest expression he could 
muster, but he was fairly certain she could see the curiosity in his eyes.

She smiled again, her fingers squeezing Eitri's. "I should reprimand you. I 
could be a trick of Hell, toying with you." She bowed her head slightly and 
shook it, a fiery curl falling to her face. "But I will answer you truthfully,
as long as you will do the same for me." Sanguine raised an eyebrow and after 
a moment, Eitri nodded. He loved Addyson dearly, but if his mother found out 
he had considered deceiving someone so Divine, he was certain she would kill 
him. Or worse, he thought. She'd be disappointed in him. Eitri closed his 
eyes, if only to keep them from widening at such a terrible thought.

Sanguine's soft laugh brought him out of his thoughts and he chanced a peek at
her. "I was searching," she said to him. "Many things that were thought lost 
have been reappearing on the mortal plane and I thought perhaps somebody I 
knew was recovering them." She frowned suddenly, her gaze having drifted to 
Eitri's right shoulder. "I was captured through my sheer lack of foresight. 
That is how I came to be as you found me." Freeing one hand from Eitri's, she 
reached for his pauldron, fingers brushing over one of the ruby buckles. "I 
now know I was incorrect in my assumption concerning the relics, though," she 
said, lowering her hand back to his. "Now, why are you here, Eitri Kirvel?"

He swallowed. She knew the answer to that, knew the instant she had spotted 
Addyson's gift to him. "Helping a friend," he said quietly. "I got separated 
from her, which is normal, and found you."

"Is this friend how you came to be in the possession of a Stone of Babylon?"

Eitri looked at her questioningly. "Stone of Babylon?" He looked down at his 
pauldron. Addyson's ruby was more than just a magic ruby? He mentally rolled 
his eyes at himself. 'More than just a magic ruby', it was still a magic ruby,
just a named magic ruby. "She gave it to me, yes."

"Are you the ones who have removed the other items? The other Stones, 
Solomon's dagger, Richard's mail?" Eitri frowned at her questions.

"We didn't know they had names," he said quietly. She squeezed his hands 
again.

"Of course you didn't." It wasn't said condescendingly, but instead gently, 
sincerity lacing her words. "Was that scabbard something found here as well?" 
Eitri blinked, quickly looking at his side, where the aforementioned scabbard 
sat, ruby runes glittering.

He shook his head. "My sister gave that to me. I don't know where she got it 
from."

"It's very special," she said to him, releasing both his hands as she moved to
stand. He followed her, absently dusting himself off as he stood. "I bear the 
same runes, though yours seem a bit more... active. Powerful, even. And the 
sword within the scabbard?"

"From my time in Asgard," he said. He didn't want to get in to the details of 
it, not when he was trying to understand exactly what she had told him. All of
those items he and Addyson had gotten had names? What was their purpose? He 
couldn't understand, yet he knew Addyson would have to tell him. Her love of 
surprises or no, he couldn't keep going this much in the dark. Sanguine 
started to say something to him but she was cut off by a loud shriek echoing 
off the walls. "We have to find a way to free you."

She shook her head. "There isn't one. I told you, I tried." The shriek sounded
again, this time much louder. He glanced out of the cell then back to 
Sanguine.

"Give the chain a bit of slack," he said to her, withdrawing his sword. She 
complied, though not without telling him whatever he was planning wouldn't 
work. He didn't pay her words any mind as he raised the sword and struck the 
chain. An awkward silence settled over the pair of them as the chain split in 
two. Eitri straightened, his sword still held tightly, and stared at Sanguine.

"Gudsvrede," she said quietly, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

His brow furrowed. "Wrath of God?" She nodded, motioning to his sword. "Why?"

"You said it was from Asgard," she answered, her tone still quiet. "I am not 
ignorant to other realms, though they certainly are not gods. Here isn't the 
place to discuss such a sword, however." Another bout of silence settled over 
the pair, both staring at his sword.

A moment later a loud crash startled the pair out of their silence and both 
quickly turned to look at the source: Addyson was leaning against the doorway,
panting, something golden clutched in her right hand. "Sorry about that," she 
said, nodding at the cell door on the ground. "I was in a bit of a hurry and 
tripped over it. Eitri, my love, I think it's time we left Dis." She looked at
Sanguine just as a third shriek sounded, this one the loudest yet. "And you 
are welcome to join us, angel. Gather your.... chain... and come along." She 
held out her free hand to Eitri, who, having sheathed his sword, closed the 
distance between the two of them.

"Where were yo--" Addyson grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway, 
casting a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Sanguine was with them.

"Not the time," she said shortly. Stopping abruptly, she slashed at the air 
with her right hand, the golden object tearing a hole in the space before 
them. "Now, come on, both of you. Go through the rift. We should find 
ourselves outside the city if I've done this correctly." Neither Eitri nor 
Sanguine budged and Addyson sighed. "There is a wraith chasing after me, as I 
know you both have heard. Now, through the portal before I force you through."
She pecked Eitri's cheek and gave him a shove, causing the man to topple 
through the rift and out of sight. Addyson turned, grabbing Sanguine's arm, 
and gave her a sharp pull. The angel disappeared just as Eitri had and Addyson
stepped through the rift, sealing it behind her with a wave of her hand.

"Close enough," she said with a smile. Eitri stood, helping Sanguine to her 
feet as well. "I see you've made a new friend, Eitri," she said, looking at 
Sanguine. He nodded and the angel gave Addyson a long, hard look. Addyson 
merely raised an eyebrow. "Let's continue. There should be a smaller Hellgate 
around here." Eitri and Sanguine shared a look as Addyson set off.

With a nod, Eitri followed, Sanguine at his side. "Which do you have now?" 
Sanguine asked. Addyson stopped walking and the angel and Eitri easily caught 
up to her. "Do not think to lie, either. I know of the other items you have 
already taken back to Earth."

A coy smile spread across Addyson's lips. "Atropos' shears," she said. "I know
how angels can be, by the way. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't hinder 
what I'm doing." Sanguine frowned, glaring at Addyson.

"I wish now more than ever that I could hinder your actions, Miss Ravenswick."
Sanguine made sure to put emphasis on 'Ravenswick', hoping that this girl had 
some respect for her own father. When Addyson just shrugged and took Eitri's 
hand in her own, Sanguine knew that she was in for a fight. A very tedious one
that would more than likely involve more paperwork than even she cared to deal 
with.

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The Legendary Times is published by the immortals of LegendMUD. Please send
replies, additions, or corrections to our address at [email protected] for
inclusion in the next edition. All subscription options are now handled at
this url: http://www.legendmud.org/lists/listinfo/legendarytimes For RP
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