Volume Nine Issue Thirty-Seven

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VOLUME NINE, NUMBER THIRTY-SEVEN                         September 22, 2002
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                           TABLE OF CONTENTS
                           The Editor's Note

                         NEWS, REPORTS, UPDATES
                           Calendar of Events
                             Recent Updates
                           Recent Q&A Topics

                              LEGENDITES
                    Sometimes It's Better Not To Ask...

                               Clan News
                             The PK Front
                          Appeal for Assistance
                          
      A Sign of Things to Come, Part III: The Darkness Before Dawn
                           The Peasant Hero
                           An Accepted Offer
                             Meat or Tofu?
                             Quiet Musings


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/__|                      The Editor's Note                          |__\
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Really, I'm not trying to make a habit of publishing on Sundays instead of
Saturdays. Things have been crazy around here on the weekends lately, but
I'm hoping to get back on track next week. Part of the delay is I don't
have as much time on Fridays to get the bulk of the job done and leave
more of it to do on Saturday morning.

As we get more settled into our fall routines, the Events Calendar and the
Recent Updates sections should become more informational again. But I also
wanted to remind everyone that they can get clan/rp events added to the
calendar also. Just drop me a note online, or through the LT submission
page (well in advance of your event) and we'll get it on the calendar!

-Kaige
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/__|                   LegendMUD Calendar of Events                  |__\
   '-----------------------------------------------------------------'
          [All times are system time unless otherwise specified]

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

Thursday,  September 26th   7:00 pm           Q & A in the OOC Auditorium

                              --- October ---

Thursday,  October    3rd   7:00 pm           Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
Thursday,  October   10th   7:00 pm           Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
Thursday,  October   17th   7:00 pm           Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
Thursday,  October   24th   7:00 pm           Q & A in the OOC Auditorium
Thursday,  October   31st   7:00 pm           Halloween

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/__|                          Recent Updates                         |__\
   '-----------------------------------------------------------------'

    /\                         CODE UPDATES
   /  \     
  /    \          There were no code changes this week.
 /_    _\   
   |  |     
   |  |                      HELP FILE UPDATES      
   |  |     
   |__|     GENERAL INFO:
    /\            DEATH, GM
   /  \     
  /    \    Thanks to all the immorts and players who made this possible.
 /_    _\   
   |  |     
   |  |                         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 (use AREAINFO to find out!)
 /_    _\   
   |  |     Doppelgangers no longer try to social on nonhumans or on self.
   |  |     Titans won't restun a victim that is already stunned. Rent
   |  |     changed on the +HP rings. Some new compact fight messages.
   |__|     
    /\      1802 ALASKA
   /  \          Taking a bath now removes affects like it should. Various 
  /    \         typos fixed.
 /_    _\   
   |  |     ANASAZI AMERICA
   |  |          Spider Grandmother appears correctly again and has new
   |  |          tactics!
   |__|     
    /\      ANCIENT INDIA
   /  \          Tweaks leaves, modifies dolphin description/acts to be
  /    \         more accurate for the animal.
 /_    _\   
   |  |     ARABIAN NIGHTS
   |  |          Some changes in how the steam room works.
   |  |     
   |__|     CELTIC IRELAND
    /\           Some changes to the temple of Dana. Various bugs and
   /  \          typos fixed.
  /    \    
 /_    _\   FRENCH & INDIAN WAR
   |  |          Deerskin bags now have alternating descriptions. Various
   |  |          bugs and typos fixed.
   |  |     
   |__|     HOSPITALLER MALTA
    /\           Kneeling should be working properly in the proper places.
   /  \          Various bugs and typos fixed.
  /    \    
 /_    _\   
   |  |                    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 updates every week.
   /  \     Players badgering builders about progress or a perceived lack
  /    \    thereof will be flogged. Remember, the longer spent answering
 /_    _\   questions, the longer the project takes to complete.
   |  |     
   |  |             Cheyla        Zanzibar Expansion
   |  |             Kae           Larderello (Dante's Hell)
   |__|             Kheldar       Medieval Sea Trade

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  _______   ____    _______
 /  ___  \ / __ \  /  ___  \  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 Game Prizes & DTs?                o PKOK and Healers
 o Alt Finishing PK is Multiplaying  o Accept/Reject List Changes?
 o Fixes for Moods/Actions?          o How do I join PKOK?
 o Create/Cause Charmies Equal?      o Where are the Imms Lately?
 o Desc Change Process?              o Charms for Both Sexes?
 o General Questions 

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/__|      LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World   |__\
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               Emrysia has reached 400 million experience!

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                    Sometimes It's Better Not To Ask...

Wandering, just walking the world... all I used to do before I met her. 
That was probably the best time of my life, until I hinted at the big
question... to which she said that she will forever be alone. Quite a
harsh way to get rid of an admirer... Guess there must be something wrong
with me... *looks about for a rope*...

From this day on... I shall no longer be known as a 'ghetto soldier'
instead, I shall go about the world as a 'melancholy mage'.

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     /__|                      Clan News                         |__\
        '--------------------------------------------------------'

There are currently 14 RP clans and 8 PK clans. This leaves open slots for
ten (10) more clans to form. For more information, read HELP CLAN and see
the clan information list via the CLANS command while logged into the
game. For a basic handbook and reference guide for players interested in
founding and running a clan, we recommend that before you even type FORM,
you visit: http://www.legendmud.org/Reference/gm.html.

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     /__|                    The PK Front                        |__\
        '--------------------------------------------------------'

                          Appeal for Assistance

*puff**pant* The ssscum of Carian Trag have found me out, and
they hunt me like a dog. I have no choice but to take the money
and run, asss it were. I will forsake my campground and lie low
for a while, and try to plan what to do next. I may be able to
account for one or two of them if I am lucky before they drag me down.
I appeal to the rest of you for thisss - grant me asylum, help me
in my hour of need! Hide me! No more time to write now, I must flee...

Preacher Kaine.

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The Secretives had over 80% of their operatives out and involved in at
least one skirmish this past week. The Infernals and Grendels both had
over 60% of their members out on the PK front this week. A handful of
members from The Knights of Legend and the IRA were also involved in
skirmishes. The Hermetics and the Syndicate had single representatives
out on the fields of battle and the Grand Coven remained aloof.

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There were 115 pkill related deaths involving 66 different characters in
the last week. Of those 66 characters, 39 of them were accept all at the
time. So come on, let's get YOUR name up in lights! We can't report on it
if you don't tell us about it!

If you have you witnessed or committed any glorious or nefarious deeds,
send a short report to us at the LT. If you are looking for a fight,
recruiting, or anything else related to PK (not necessarily PK Clan
related), advertise here with us! It's free AND you'll get a token! Be a
celebrity, the envy of all your friends! Tick off your enemies or just
tell your side of the story! The possibilities are endless -- act today!!
 
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             /                       \
        o O | Wonder what folks are   |
  `\|||/    | doing over at LegendMUD?|
   (o o)     \_______________________/
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                    A Sign of Things to Come, Part III:
                        The Darkness Before Dawn

Her face, once full of color and life, had gone quite pale. Her almond
eyes, once sparkling and kind, were now dull, unblinking. She breathed in
long rasps, each breath taking in less air than the one before. The figure
standing over her licked its lips and smiled, though she no longer saw it.
She was looking to times, to places...

Lawrence Windstrom had not aged a day since she had first met him. It had
been a clear evening in the springtime, as she searched for refreshment
amid the bustling streets and myriad vendors of Boston. Thor had known
right away... his floppy ears perking up as much as they could, his nose
tilted just so as he sniffed the air.

The quiet, silver haired hunter was resting in the marketplace, smiling
pleasantly and enjoying the weather. And though she did not yet know the
secrets of her soon to be friend, she did sense that which her hound did
not. What Sister Trinity d'Arpajon understood the moment she saw Lawrence
that night, as he rest quietly on the dusty ground before a large wooden
crate of apples, was this: The heart of a child, innocent and good, still
beat somewhere within him. And so, she had pat her grumbling and growling
hound on the head and kneeled down to whisper in his ear, 'We are in the
business of saving, mon chere.'

There was little blood left in her, some pooled around her -- the muck and
the mud soaking it up quick as it could. Some still dripped from the lips
of the creature she had, in what some might say proved to be her ultimate
act of naivety, sought out for help. Her heart beat slowly, her pulse
weak...dying. But still she looked to places, to times...

There was young Alan, squire to the Temple, whom she (being French) and
Lawrence (being mute) were attempting to teach the written English
language. Perhaps she had been wrong when she told him...

...dull eyes now fill with tears...

...there is no reason to fear. 'Our Lord will protect you, mon ami.'

Had she been preaching falsehood? When her dear friend Judah was in the
midst times far darker than one as pure as he should ever have to endure,
had she consoled him with fiction?

She suddenly sat up straight, her eyes filled with tears, her cloak soaked
in blood, her heart now surging with anger -- 'WHERE IS THE LIGHT!' she
screamed. The creature took a step back... then grinned as she fell back,
gasping and crying. It grinned as it approached her, its tongue already
tasting her death. It grinned as it leaned forward to finish the job it
had begun so long ago. It grinned as it reveled in the pain it had caused,
the lives it had destroyed...

It grinned, not noticing the smile that overwhelmed her face as she lay
dying. Dull eyes watched as clouds broke above her, as light broke the
darkness. And as the moon and the stars smiled down to her, she spoke, a
breathless whisper, 'Forgive me, Lord. I can see You.'

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                           The Peasant Hero
                
                 In great retreats, in rivers deep
                 In mountains grand, in lands of sand
                 In forests fair, in fields of care
                 Evil dwells and comes to bare
                 
                 Teeth and fangs, no garlic hang
                 Dragons soar, no archers score
                 The dead come back, no Knights attack
                 No heroes to swear a holy pact
                
                 One man alone, no army no throne
                 Denied by man, no helping hand
                 A warrior's rage, a war to wage
                 Knowledge is the warrior's cage
                
                 To seek the source, the better course
                 But where to find evil's mind
                 Destroy them all, not all shall fall
                 Better to follow to evil's call
                 
                 Destroy them there, in evil's lair
                 But first to find, evil's mind
                 Cleave the way, save the day
                 No Knights came to join the fray
                
                 By
                 Edric of the Wulf

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                           An Accepted Offer

The young man meditated calmly. At last he said 'I am ready.'

A voice responded. ARE YOU SURE?

'Yes, I am.'

DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS WILL MEAN? PEOPLE WILL SCOFF AT YOU. THEY WILL
LAUGH AT YOU.

'I know this.'

ARE YOU PREPARED TO SUFFER FOR MY SAKE? FOR MY NAME? FOR YOU WILL SUFFER
AT TIMES.

The young man nodded.

THEN I ACCEPT YOUR OFFER. I WILL BE YOUR MASTER. THERE WILL BE NO OTHERS.
YOU WILL COME TO REALIZE THAT THERE ARE OTHERS WHO CLAIM TO FOLLOW ME.
SOME DO, BUT SOME USE MY NAME TO FURTHER ONLY THEIR OWN AMBITIONS. DO NOT
BECOME ONE OF THOSE.

Again, the young man nodded.

YOUR FIRST SACRIFICE TO ME WILL BE YOUR NAME. NO LONGER WILL YOU BE KNOWN
AS YOU HAVE BEEN. I NAME YOU, ABADDON. STAND. AS YOUR FIRST TASK, GO AND
LEARN MORE OF THE WORLD. WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT, I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR NEXT
TASK.

Abaddon stood, bowed, and stepped out into the streets to follow the
command that his new master, the Dark Lord, had given him.

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                             Meat or Tofu?

Smiling as he watched her straightening the already tidy cabin up, he
counted as she moved the simple furniture and chuckled when, after the
fourth move, the wooden rocking chair he had built was back where it
started. He got a mock reproving glare as she tried to appear stern with
him, and the a quick hug and kiss before she went back to redecorating the
log cabin

She loved the large birch tree the cabin was built in the shade of. She
often commented on the age of the tree, and the friendliness of the native
people who lived nearby. The only thing that it seemed the woman did not
like about the cabin was the deer hanging, skinned, from the eaves of the
cabin to be used the next day.

He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze each time she told him that he
should not eat meat, he also noticed that Nikos was almost always
conveniently gone when she would. The solemn ranger loved the hippy woman
with all his heart and would therefore allow her to lecture him on the
evils of being 'carnivorous' as she called it. He would even forgive her
for trying to pass tofu off as real food. He decided that he might even
have to build another building to store furs and the excess meat that he
gave to his native neighbors so that she could then be there with him,
without cringing each time she came to his door, or looked out the
window... but he would NEVER eat tofu.

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                             Quiet Musings

Emrysia raised her face toward the sun, letting it send it's warmth
through her. She could hear MoiraGwyn and Rillifane playing nosily around
the maypole in the far corner of the garden. She smiled at the sounds; it
was good to hear her friend laugh. And Rillifane, what a sweet child he
was. He did seem to have problems with other children, being jealous when
they got more attention then he did, but then, all children were like that
she supposed. Still, she hoped he wouldn't feel that way about the child
that would become part of their lives soon.

Emrysia felt something brush past her skirts, and looked down to see the
white Bengal tiger coming to rest at her feet. It was amazing how she had
almost come to like the beast. Still, she wouldn't want it sleeping on the
end of HER bed.

Continuing with her quiet musings, she wondered about the future. Things
had been rather tense at the castle lately. MoiraGwyn hadn't been herself,
shutting herself in her room for long periods of time, a thief had stolen
a large sum of money, long absent husbands, a pregnant woman with odd
cravings, and Emrysia had noticed a strange man seemed to be hovering
about the castle gates - perhaps he was the thief? But no... evidence
pointed elsewhere to the thief. This was a man she had never met, yet
still he seemed to be near the gates often enough for her to have noticed
him. Perhaps he was just some local who lived nearby. Yes, that must be
it.

Wincing in pain, Emrysia struggled to her feet, she should have known
better than to sit on such a low bench in her condition. Looking down to
avoid the tiger, she realised she could no longer see her feet. Oh well,
such was to be expected and would only get worse before it got better.

Casting a final glance over at MoiraGwyn and Rillifane, Emrysia shrugged
off the sense of foreboding, went back inside to speak with the cook about
what she wanted for dinner.

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The Legendary Times is published by the immortals of LegendMUD. Please send
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