Volume Eight Issue Twenty-Two

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VOLUME EIGHT, NUMBER TWENTY-TWO                            October 20, 2001
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


                           TABLE OF CONTENTS

                          NEWS, REPORTS, UPDATES 
                         Meet the New Imm: Hrath!
                        September Connection Analysis
                             Recent Updates
                              Q & A Topics

                              LEGENDITES
                             Announcements
                               Clan News
                         The Agony of an Apology
                     Things Change but People Stay the Same
                      The Search for Atlantis Continues
                      The Mythos and Its Many Mysteries


___                                                                        ___
\  |----------------------------------------------------------------------|  /
/__|  News, Reports, and Updates!                                         |__\
   '----------------------------------------------------------------------'

Meet the newest addition to our immortal staff -- Hrath! 

Hrath has joined the coding department, and is already hard at work stomping
bugs and adding new features. Welcome, Hrath!

Here's how he introduces himself:

I started my mud "career" back in 95 playing around with a CircleMUD with the
other local Linux geek, but lost interest trying to find a non-commercial one
online (mudding with two people over ethernet is *THAT* fun). In June 2000 I
was introduced to LegendMUD, and mudding was again worth spending time on.

I'm 23 years of age and male.

I'm probably what would be referred to as a nerd, in computer terms.  I tend
to use humor alot, so if you don't understand me, or worse don't understand
me and feel offended, I am *probably* joking.

I'm not english native, so bear with my English skills.  I treasure my
privacy, and hopefully I respect others', at least I tend to think so.  In
addition to using humor alot, I tend to be quite silly, ironic and the like.
I'm not a wiz with C, but hopefully I will be, I guess time will tell...

Besides that, well, talking with people usually gives you a hint of who they
are, do you have questions? Feel free to ask me, I do however reserve the
right not to answer if it is a little too close to home.

When not on Legend or a new work project, I usually spend my time trying out
new types of software, spend countless hours setting up config files for my
favourite programmes, help friends with technical problems, visiting my
family or the like.

Yours Legend'ish,
Hrath and his Player 

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

                     LegendMUD Connection Analysis
                            September 2001

                       Peak Mortal Players 59
                         Average Peak was 48
                    Peak PKOK Enabled Players 34
             Pkokenabled Characters represent approximately
                       50% of active players.

                   Peak Accept All Characters 10
             Accept All Characters represent approximately
   7% of all active characters and 14% of active pkok enabled characters.

The first two tables below show the Average Mortal Players,  Average PKOK
Enabled Players, and the number that were "Accept All" connected to Legend by
hour of the day as polled approximately on the hour system time during the
period noted above.

The third table shows the same averages calculated by the day of week.

              hour  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11
              ------------------------------------------
              avg  33 28 23 21 17 15 14 15 17 21 23 26
              pke  16 14 12 11  9  7  7  7  7  8 10 12
              aas   2  2  2  1  1  1  0  0  0  1  1  1


              hour 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
              ------------------------------------------
              avg  27 29 31 34 36 32 34 35 36 39 37 37
              pke  13 14 16 17 19 16 17 17 19 20 19 18
              aas   1  1  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2  2


              day   MON  TUE  WED  THU  FRI  SAT  SUN
              ------------------------------------------
              avg    28   27   25   25   26   29   31
              pke    13   14   12   12   13   15   15
              aas     2    2    1    1    2    2    1

This table shows the breakdown by each hour for each day of the week.

      MON       TUE       WED       THU       FRI       SAT       SUN
   AVG PK AA|AVG PK AA|AVG PK AA|AVG PK AA|AVG PK AA|AVG PK AA|AVG PK AA
------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
 0: 35 17  2| 29 15  0| 32 15  2| 26 11  1| 29 16  2| 36 18  2| 38 18  3
 1: 25 14  1| 22 12  2| 27 13  2| 25 11  2| 26 13  2| 33 15  2| 34 17  2
 2: 23 13  2| 20 11  2| 23 12  2| 17  7  1| 21 11  3| 29 14  2| 29 17  2
 3: 20 10  1| 19 11  1| 18  9  1| 15  8  1| 18  9  2| 26 14  2| 27 15  2
 4: 17  8  1| 15  8  1| 16  8  1| 12  6  0| 15  7  1| 21 12  1| 23 12  2
 5: 15  7  1| 13  7  0| 15  7  0| 13  6  0| 14  7  1| 16  9  1| 18  9  1
 6: 14  6  0| 13  6  0| 15  6  0| 12  5  0| 14  7  1| 16  8  1| 16  8  0
 7: 15  6  1| 16  6  0| 16  7  0| 14  5  0| 14  7  0| 16  8  0| 16  8  0
 8: 18  7  1| 17  6  0| 17  7  1| 18  7  0| 17  6  0| 18  8  0| 17  6  0
 9: 21  9  1| 20  8  1| 15  7  0| 19  6  0| 20  7  1| 24 10  0| 23  8  0
10: 23 10  1| 24 12  2| 20 10  1| 19  8  1| 23  8  2| 28 12  0| 27 10  0
11: 26 12  2| 26 13  2| 20  9  1| 21  9  2| 25  9  2| 28 14  1| 31 13  0
12: 27 13  2| 28 14  2| 19  9  1| 25 12  1| 22 10  2| 30 16  1| 32 16  1
13: 30 16  3| 29 13  3| 22 10  1| 29 16  1| 24 12  2| 32 16  1| 33 17  0
14: 31 16  3| 29 15  3| 27 14  2| 31 18  3| 27 13  1| 32 17  2| 38 20  1
15: 38 19  3| 34 18  3| 31 15  2| 32 16  3| 35 18  2| 31 17  2| 35 17  0
16: 37 20  2| 37 23  4| 34 18  3| 35 17  1| 38 18  2| 32 18  3| 37 19  2
17: 35 16  3| 30 16  2| 31 14  2| 33 17  1| 29 15  2| 32 18  3| 35 17  1
18: 32 14  1| 38 21  2| 30 12  2| 33 16  1| 27 14  1| 35 19  3| 38 18  2
19: 36 16  2| 37 19  2| 30 14  2| 36 18  1| 32 18  2| 36 18  3| 36 17  2
20: 36 18  2| 39 20  2| 33 17  2| 36 19  2| 35 19  3| 36 19  3| 40 20  3
21: 37 19  3| 38 20  1| 41 22  3| 38 20  2| 36 20  2| 39 19  1| 41 22  3
22: 34 17  2| 35 17  2| 35 17  2| 36 19  2| 41 22  2| 40 19  2| 38 20  3
23: 33 17  1| 36 17  3| 31 14  1| 35 18  2| 40 22  3| 41 21  2| 38 20  3


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

    /\                          RECENT UPDATES
   /  \   
  /    \                         CODE UPDATES
 /_    _\   
   |  |     Bug Fixes
   |  |      o wall of thorns now stops you from moving when it says you
   |  |        can't move
   |__|      o casting dispel magic on yourself no longer checks pkok rules
    /\       o mobs that block exits will no longer do so when stunned,
   /  \        paralyzed, etc.
  /    \     o If you sent a tell to someone who was writing it told them
 /_    _\      that you were writing instead of telling you that they were
   |  |        writing. This has been fixed.
   |  |      o use balm without an argument will now default to self
   |  |      o Messages when applying healing balm to oneself no longer
   |__|        refer to the user in the third person
    /\       o When you can't heal someone with balm due to pk
   /  \        restrictions, it now gives you a message
  /    \     o gagchannel now checks socials on channels
 /_    _\    o you can no longer do a social on channels to someone you've
   |  |        gag channeled
   |  |      o you can no longer send tells to people you've gagged
   |  |      o You can no longer archive with a reject timer
   |__|      o Aura site now gives a message to the caster if they cast it
    /\         on someone else
   /  \      o No longer possible to pick locks while riding a horse
  /    \     o Use wand self now refers to the user in the first person
 /_    _\      instead of the third.
   |  |      o view m|s without a second argument now gives an error
   |  |        message
   |  |      o poke 20003.self or 2322.<yourname> now gives an error
   |__|        message
    /\       o when you kick a sleeping mob you'll now see them stand up
   /  \      o it's no longer possible to group yourself
  /    \     o showallslots now shows up in options
 /_    _\    o Players with capital letters in their names subsequent to
   |  |        the first letter can now see their warnings
   |  |      o Create <fiery|instant|watery> death now gives a message to
   |  |        the caster
   |__|      o You can now look at the extra description of the second item
    /\         of a pair of items with the same keyword (look 2.map will no
   /  \        longer say "you see nothing special")
  /    \    
 /_    _\   Misc Changes
   |  |      o create healing spell now creates a healing balm instead of
   |  |        magic roots
   |  |      o You can no longer cast major illusion on corpses
   |__|      o stewing fish makes fish stew. Stewing meat makes meat stew.
    /\       o @! <command> now works in the message editor to run in-game
   /  \        commands (eg. @! tell ea! this is a test message)
  /    \     o Healing balm now has a warning when it wears off and a tick
 /_    _\      before it does
   |  |      o Healing balm formulas rewritten
   |  |      o Mobs can now be effected by healing balm
   |  |      o limn now defaults to whoever you're fighting
   |__|      o if the last shot is fired out of a gun, it now says that
    /\         it's empty
   /  \     
  /    \    Typo Fixes
 /_    _\    o dispelling an illusion capitalizes the "an" when appropriate
   |  |      o defensive mood now "says defensively" instead of "says
   |  |        defensive"
   |  |      o typo in bloodloss (affect vs. effect)
   |__|      o oldscore no longer says "1 practices"
    /\       o cosmetic fixes to meat stew
   /  \      o break doors has a better worded message for double doors
  /    \    
 /_    _\   
   |  |                       HELP FILE UPDATES
   |  |     
   |  |     The following helpfiles were recently added or updated!
   |__|     
    /\      General Info
   /  \     ------------
  /    \      afkinfo, afkroom, afktells, age, alert, alphabetize,
 /_    _\     anndeath, annlevel, auras, autorent, autorush, autoskip, aux,
   |  |       banners, blinded, brackets, bug, burned, clone, condition,
   |  |       conference, conferences, connection, container, cursed,
   |  |       deafness, description, disoriented, drunkenness, echocommand,
   |__|       feedback, flee, food, healing, hidewhois, immortal pets,
    /\        invisible, material, netlag, nomaxreport, paralyzed, pets,
   /  \       portion, pray, priority, prize machine, profession,
  /    \      proficiency, put, quality, race, receivetells, rejectgives,
 /_    _\     retired, roster, seeafkinfo, seedeaths, seelevels, sex,
   |  |       showallslots, skill lag, snowball, steal, stunned, suicide,
   |  |       summary, summon, summon elemental, tank, telnet, tempmood,
   |  |       tform, timed items, update, usecprompt, wary, weapon, weight
   |__|     
    /\      Spells Info
   /  \     ------------
  /    \      create healing
 /_    _\   
   |  |     Thank you to all the players & imms who assisted in this update!
   |  |     
   |  |     
   |__|                          AREA UPDATES
    /\      
   /  \     If you want to suggest specific improvements or new additions
  /    \    to existing areas please don't hesitate to submit them with
 /_    _\   the idea/bug/typo commands or drop mudmail to the builder
   |  |     currently responsible for the area (check areainfo to find
   |  |     out!) And don't limit ideas to just these three months!
   |  |     
   |__|     1802 ALASKA
    /\           Polar bear should fight a bit better. A couple of issues
   /  \          resolved with the Baranov quest. Minor bug and typo fixes.
  /    \    ABORIGINAL DREAMTIME
 /_    _\        Fixes the giant quest.
   |  |     AFRICAN SAVANNA
   |  |          Pest control. Various minor bugs and typos fixed.
   |  |     ANASAZI AMERICA
   |__|          Twin war gods can no longer be instant death'd. Various
    /\           minor bugs and typos fixed.
   /  \     ARABIAN NIGHTS
  /    \         The chickens shouldn't flee quite as much.The goats should
 /_    _\        now stay with the goat herder boy. Various minor bugs and
   |  |          typos fixed.
   |  |     BEOWULF
   |  |          Hrothgar should be more consistent on his saying the beast
   |__|          will or will not come. Getting a hammer shouldn't cause
    /\           problems if someone else is there and can get one too.
   /  \          Various minor bugs and typos fixed.
  /    \    CELTIC IRELAND
 /_    _\        Fixed problem with Gawain's teaching acts and he won't
   |  |          backstab normal Dun mobs any more. Also some minor
   |  |          tweaking of some hp and damages of various mobs around the
   |  |          area, so be cautious. Pookahs shouldn't attack new
   |__|          targets if they're already fighting. Various minor bugs
    /\           and typos fixed.
   /  \     LAND OF SHADOWS
  /    \         Midir a bit more killable but xp not so outrageous.
 /_    _\   MEDIEVAL SEAS
   |  |          More and more effectively placed warnings when the Serpent
   |  |          is out. Various minor bugs and typos fixed.
   |  |     PORT OF LONDON
   |__|          Fixes the kitchen knife not having the keyword "knife."
    /\           Samuel Norton will return home instead of offering rooms
   /  \          in the street. The captains shouldn't be carrying so many
  /    \         lamps.
 /_    _\   SAN FRANCISCO
   |  |          Fixes a problem with Josiah Armstrong & his ferry acts.
   |  |          Fixes the sailor's boat giving loops, found a mob missing
   |  |          in resets.
   |__|     VICEROYAL PERU
    /\           Pest control. Various minor bugs and typos fixed.
   /  \     1930s PITTSBURGH, ANCIENT NAZCA, AZTECS, THE CRUSADES, FRENCH
  /    \    INDIAN WAR, GYPSY CARNIVAL, ROMAN BRITAIN, SHERWOOD, and
 /_    _\   SOUTHSEAS
   |  |          Various minor bugs and typos fixed.
   |  |     
   |  |     THE OOC LOUNGE
   |__|          Immortal office renovations. Restocked the prize machine
    /\           with new prizes.
   /  \     
  /    \    HERBLORE ENTRIES and GENERIC ANIMAL FILES
 /_    _\        Various bugs and typos fixed.
   |  |     
   |  |     If you find any bugs/typos or have ideas for new items, mob
   |  |     interactions, quest hints or anything else for any of the
   |__|     areas, please make use of the bug/idea/typo channels.
    /\      
   /  \                      In Progress Area Updates
  /    \    
 /_    _\   This section is intended to let everyone know what builders
   |  |     are working on behind the scenes. It is not a perfect record
   |  |     of progress as all builders will not make an update every
   |  |     week. Players who badger builders about progress or a
   |__|     perceived lack thereof will be flogged. Remember, the longer
    /\      spent on questions, the longer the project takes to complete.
   /  \     
  /    \            Kae          Larderello (Dante's Hell)
 /_    _\           Chocorua      Prohibition New Hampshire
   |  |             Croaker      Hades
   |  |             Ea!          Uruk (Gilgamesh)
   |  |             Straussy     R.M.S. Titanic
   |__|     

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
  _______   ____    _______
 /  ___  \ / __ \  /  ___  \  Logs of Q&A sessions are available on the
 | /   \ | \ \/ /  | /   \ |  web pages for those who are unable to attend
 | |   | |  \  /   | \___/ |  or had to leave early. The most recent ones
 | |   | |  /  \/\ |  ___  |  are listed on the sitemap page or you can
 | | /\| | / /\  / | /   \ |  get a complete list on the Q&A index page
 | \_\ \ | \ \/  \ | \   / |  at the url below.
  \___\/_/  \__/\/ \_/   \_|
 
       http://www.legendmud.org/Community/lectures/QandA/QA_index.html
  
                               RECENT TOPICS
 
 o Frenchy's Lottery                 o Color without a Pipe(|)?
 o Charms while You're OOC?          o New Healing Balm
 o Hell Ideas & Progress             o Any More Create Changes?
 o Progress on New Areas?            o Players with Ports Blocked
 o Any More Create Changes?          o Why Put in Something Buggy?
 o Why Use a Hittable?               o More Info on Balms?
 o Imms Doing Anything to Help PK?   o Perks for PK Clanhalls?
 o More on Alternate Ports           o Greater Create Healing?
 o Possibility of House Guards?      o Goldmine Quest Fixed?
 o Even More on Ports                o Doors, Locks & Picking Them
 o New Areas/Area Updates?           o Augment Overpowered?
 o Socials & Gagchannel              o Greek Oil/Dip Buggy?
 o 100 Mind Balm Changing?           o Mail Editor Change
 o Missing Stats?                    o Oil/Ammo for Tourney?
 o Helpfile Improvements             o Too Easy in Crusades?
 o When's Next Austin LegendMEET?    o Next Imm Proposal Round?
 o Create Healing/Augment/Pkill      o Prize Machine Contents?
 o Perm Affects in Status?           o Another Create Heal Spell?
 o Hell Progress?                    o Luckstone Changes?
 o Quest Problems                    o Blind then Dip
 o Anything Upcoming?                o Doppels & Reload?
 o Homunculi Drop Stuff?             o Charms Refusing to Attack?
 o Stunned & Backstab?               o ETA on New Areas?
 o Can you Explain Priority?         o Seeing Who Accepts You?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
           ________________________
          /                        \
      o O | Wonder what folks are   |
 `\|||/   | doing over at LegendMUD?|
 (o o)    \________________________/
ooO_(_)_Ooo________________________________________________________________
_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|___
__|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|

  ___                                                                  ___
  \ |------------------------------------------------------------------| /
  /__|  LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World     |__\
   '------------------------------------------------------------------'

 =============
|Announcements|
 =============

Maloth has reached 100 million experience!

Riven has reached 100 million experience!

Emrysia has reached 100 million experience!


 =========
|Clan News|
 =========


Congratulations to the Knights of Legend, who celebrated their 2nd year
anniversary last week! Sammael's Minions Clan was formed on October 08,
2001.  The Antipaladins Clan disbanded for low membership.  The Dark Mages of
AmonRa were disbanded by Serk, who then formed the Councils of Mages Clan.

There are currently 20 RP clans and 10 PK clans in the
game, leaving 2 slots for new clans to form. For more information about
clans, check the clans helpfile.


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


                          The Agony of an Apology

I'm just a humble shepherd, sister, but I do know trouble when I see it.
Trouble is definitely afoot when I come across lords of high and below, and
their servants. Their faces may be familiar, but their world of eternal
conflict is so alien to the life that we lead out here on the moors. Yet when
their world is torn by conflict, it is our meadows, our fields, our stock,
and our farmsteads that take the brunt of the impact. I studied them well
from a distance, cautious, and eager to know what war might now be wrecked on
our existence.

As I drew closer, concealed by the shadows of the bushes, I saw an annoyed
frown on the smoothly handsome face of a man I know well to be one of the
powers of Hell. Casual elegance disguises this demon prince, but no sweet
demeanor can disguise the coldness of his ice blue eyes. He was scowling at a
smaller man, crouched in the dust at his feet, groveling. "Think you can
refrain from throwing yourself at people for a moment?" Lord Marcel Alexander
inquired.

Soze's pitiful form made no impression of infernal grandeur, yet we know,
sister, that his evil usually takes a direct, vicious form. There is an
eternity of malice hidden behind that mask of spineless servility. He made no
reply to his master, but apparently his silence sufficed. "Good," the demon
prince nodded. "Now apologize."

The third man present, cloaked in serene compassion and sober intent, said,
"He should not." His face too was well known to me, sister -- he was Judah
Eliezer, a rare champion of mankind, and an unlikely companion of the
infernal denizens. Surprised, I crept closer.

"That'll be for me to decide," Lord Marcel snapped, annoyed. "It was my
conversation he interrupted." Judah shrugged. "He was doing what he thought
you would want him to do. I would not accept it at this time anyway."

Soze paced back and forth, overturning twigs and grasses on the path with his
feet. His master glared at him, tapping his foot, which caused the servant to
proclaim, "No! Not to a Juhdite!" in a high-pitched voice. Lord Marcel
blinked in surprise, whereas Judah dismissed Soze with a wave of a hand and
turned his back on him. "Anything but that!" the servant whined.  Lord Marcel
shook his head, dark curls dancing. "I'm waiting."

At that moment a young woman with curly brown hair arrived, smiling happily
as she approached. I knew her, sister, she is of the Orkney isles, and I do
believe she is knowledgeable in the old arts. Judah Eliezer nodded a polite
greeting to her. Lord Marcel passed her a smooth smile and said, "Good day,
Miss McFie."

Devi McFie smiled brightly. "Hello!" The demon prince chuckled. "How goes,
dear?" Out of his master's eye momentarily, Soze quickly made a face at Judah
Eliezer, then spat in his face. Such hatred shone in his eyes, sister, it
made the hair stand up at the nape of my neck!

"Eh, just running to visit Auntie, I hear she got new sheep," Devi McFie
replied warmly, then stared as Lord Marcel backhanded Soze across the face
without even looking. "Please forgive Soze's lack of manners," he said
politely. "I haven't beaten him up today."

"You shouldn't!" Devi gasped. "I will not," Judah said sternly. Soze stared
at his feet momentarily, then rubbed his jaw and appeared to re-evaluate his
situation. Finally he said, "I apologize. There!" He promptly turned his back
on the man he hated so. Lord Marcel nodded and said, "I guess that'll do for
starters."

Judah smirked. "That was quite sincere, wouldn't you say, Marcel." Lord
Marcel shrugged. "For Soze it wasn't half bad. At least he didn't choke to
death on the words."

"Might have been interesting to see," Judah said dryly. Lord Marcel threw him
a crooked smile. "Oh dear, a mean streak, and in you of all people."

Soze's lip curled up in a snarl. I tell you, sister, I heard the tiny snap as
Judah's self control failed, and he threw himself at Soze. As he smashed his
head into Soze's jaw, he staggered from the impact. As I held my breath and
prayed that I was not discovered, I was surprised to that neither of them
pushed their luck by pursuing.

Getting back on his feet, Judah chuckled politely while Lord Marcel rubbed
one finger against his brow wearily and said, "This is getting - one sided."
Next to him Soze excitedly pointed fingers. "See! He attacked me!"

 "Yes, he hates you, what's new?" Lord Marcel said with a remarkable lack of
interest. "But I'm not allowed to," his servant whined. The demon prince
replied, "You're not allowed to interrupt my conversations. People fighting
all over the place puts such a damper on social activities."

Devi wrinkled her nose at his lack of compassion and twiddled her hair around
her fingers. "What do you want from me?" Soze whined. His master said, "That
you don't attempt to beat people while I'm talking to them, unless I tell you
to?"

Soze scowled, then eventually nodded his consent. "The grit seems to have
worn off his tongue, Marcel," Judah said with a smile. "He needs reminding
every once in a while, like any other soul damned to Hell," the demon prince
replied fluently. I shivered to myself.

Devi nudged Judah. "Explain the war for me?" Judah asked her, "What war?"
Devi explained, "The war between Bahan Sopeh and the Seven Circles." "The
demonspawn and I have always been feuding in some way or another," Judah said
patiently. "I am not demonspawn," Lord Marcel inserted, annoyed. At the sound
of his master's voice, Soze assumed a servile look and position to match.

"So it's not really Bahan Sopeh's fight, just yours?" Devi asked. "I am not
in the Bahan Sopeh," Judah replied. "You would have to ask your master if he
knows." Then he turned to his dark-haired companion and said, "I was not
referring to you, Marcel. That one." He pointed at Soze.

Lord Marcel nodded and said smoothly, "Well, technically he's not demonspawn
either, he's just - dead." Still speaking to Devi, Judah added, "Marcel and I
have always been cordial, for the most part." Devi nodded. "Okay. No fight
with Bahan Sopeh. I think I'll go visit Auntie and then swing by Orkney to
visit Grandma and Grandpa," she said warmly and waved her hand in farewell.
How she managed such calm I swear, sister, I will never understand.

Judah looked after her as she walked away. "Bahan Sopeh was founded to stand
against the evils of the world, but she would never understand that." Lord
Marcel shook his head. "Young people rarely do."

"Of course, their master is no better," Judah said sadly. Lord Marcel shook
his head again. "Cirus. Betrothed to a vampire, isn't he?" Soze laughed at
Judah with avarice. "Luckily you are the only remains of your once 'glorious'
empire." Lord Marcel shrugged. "All things come to an end."

"I do miss our talks around the table in the old hall," Judah said
thoughtfully to him. "Without the demonspawn, and of course, the deaths." He
chuckled. "Yes, I do as well," Lord Marcel agreed. "They were amusing in a
way. I finally won my chess game with Ryan, by the way." He fished a white
queen piece out of his pocket and flipped it nonchalantly. "Didn't even have
to cheat much."

"Of course, I do have a problem with that outcome," Judah shrugged. "In any
case, we will talk again." He glared at Soze. "And we will be ready for you
next time."

"Unless you see me first?" Lord Marcel asked sweetly. Judah smiled at him but
did not reply as he turned and walked away. A few moments later, the two
infernal residents also left, in the opposite direction.

As the forest fell silent again I crawled out of my bush and ran as fast as I
could, sister, to tell you. You must warn the abbot to lock the doors and
barricade the barns. I fear a great battle is about to be fought in our land,
and as always when great men fight, it is us small people who suffer the
most.

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Things change but people stay the same - by Doctor Herbert West.
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The more I travel the world and the more I experience this life of mine which
never seems to end for terribly long, the more I notice the cycles of life,
the same things which happened thousands of years ago happening again.  Some
of which I read about in history books, some of which I have seen first hand
more than once, it amazes me constantly that with all our blunderings and our
mistakes we never seem to learn from that the human race can ever achieve
anything even remotely of use to the world.

I have seen wars waged over minerals in the earth, blood shed for the
righteous and the holy and the occasional natural disaster wipe out a city
that was otherwise a modern utopia.

And yet we never learn...

Well I think it's time that we started taking note when these things happen
and perhaps even discuss things in a rational manner no matter how hard they
may seem to take at the time, everyone is too busy playing the victim to
really learn from their past.

My past has been rather too colourful and I have made many a mistake, some of
which have led to my death and some which have simply offended or upset all
the people I used to admire and respect.

Times change and people stay the same, I have no doubts in my mind that I
will make many more mistakes before I tire of this place and retire myself
to the earth but I am attempting to make amends when and where I can in some
vain hope that others might forgive and forget or even start learning
themselves.

What good is an intelligent world when we all resort to primitive caveman
psychology and ogreish tactics of brutality?

I hope that in time some of you people who I have so grievously harmed can
look at me without that loathing and disregard you all seem to keep for so
very long.

With kind regards,
Dr. Herbert West.


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                   The Search for Atlantis Continues
      by Elisa, guildmistress of the Lost Children of Atlantis

     Yesterday I nearly made it to Atlantis. My grandfather Nereus had
finally decided that I was worthy to return to the home I had never seen, but
only if I went with him that very day. I quickly packed up everything I could
not bear to leave behind, and was gathering people to come with me. My little
Nemoy was, I think, ready to come and see our homeland, but I could not find
Toricelli and Switch anywhere. I decided that surely my grandfather would
return for them, for their faithful dedication to the clan. But my daughter
Cymo refused to come at all, for she is in love with a human woman whose
place is here on land. I could not bear the prospect of leaving my children
-- not again, and not after all those dreadful accusations of being a bad
mother.

     I was left drifting with neither sail nor oar; I could not leave my
children, yet I feared that if I did not go to Atlantis then, when my
grandfather had given me the opportunity, I would never get to see my true
home.

     I sent a nereid messenger to find a seer who could determine if we would 
ever be able to return to Atlantis. A young lady with a delightful fishiness 
(we determined she is a cousin of mine, for our mothers were kin) soon came 
to our hall with a pack of tarot cards, and agreed to do a reading.

     Enkai's tarot cards foretold the death of a leader of men. Could this 
mean my grandfather, who is King under the sea? But as a god, how could he 
die? The reading left us only with more questions, but we are not ready to 
give up our search for our lost city. Contact me if you wish to join our clan 
and our quest.

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                    The Mythos and Its Many Mysteries
                            By Whateley

I have had a lot of people ask me about my involvement with a cult of demonic
worshippers of some great being known simply as Cthulhu, who or what is this
Cthulhu they ask, why are you so deranged they ask, why are you eating that
leg they implore!  Well this is why..

A long time ago there was a struggling author by the name of HP Lovecraft, he
wrote largely in the realm of serial spook stories and was mostly unheard of
until a few of his tales became a little more than fiction, he wrote of the
Great Old Ones and the coming of Cthulhu and described in accurate detail the
Shoggoths of aeons past.

Most considered this just better than average fiction writing, but where oh
where might he have come up with these idea's? for surely no normal man could
even begin to think of these things without going slightly mad.  Mr. Lovecraft
wrote of a man known as Abdul Alhazred who was supposedly a simple arab who
came into contact with a tome of great power (the necronomicon) and who
described a good portion of the structure and rituals relating to these Great
Old ones.

Again most people considered this just a figment of Lovecraft's imagination,
well it came to pass that Mr. Lovecraft wrote of a rather ill-famed surgeon
Dr.  West of the Miskatonic University, now as some of you may know Dr. West
is in fact alive and well and is just the man described by Lovecraft right
down to the ichorous gore splattered experiments.

And on Lovecraft went to write a rather interesting tale about my life, again
in very accurate terms... much to my displeasure.

So did Mr. Lovecraft ever meet myself, the mad arab, or Dr. West?

Certainly not but through several occult experiments and rituals he was able
to contact a being who had some link with the Old Ones, and who told Mr.
Lovecraft of the Necronomicon and its previous owners, yes in fact we had all
been keepers of the book.

And so not realising that he was writing nonfiction he wrote several tales of
intrigue regarding myself and my co-conspirators in the mythos.  So what is
Cthulhu? And why would anyone worship him?

Cthulhu is the oldest of the old ones, he resides in a place in time and
space that few mortals have ever seen, in fact I can only recall one at this
present time, he is said to be planning for the return of the Old Ones to
this world.

I worship him not only for fear that I may be slain in this invasion of our
world, but because he is all powerful and to fight with the other cattle to
attempt to stop him would be fool hardy at best.  The time is coming, and you
had better be prepared.


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