Volume Thirteen Issue Five
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= .............._______ ............./ / THE LEGENDARY TIMES ............/ / http://www.legendmud.org/ .........../ /.....______.._____.....______.._____.......____ ........../ /...../ /./ \.../ /./ \...../ \ ........./ /...../ ___/./ ____/../ ___/./ __ \.../ /\ \ ......../ /...../ /_.../ /....../ /_.../ /..\ >./ /./ / ......./ /...../ __/../ /____../ __/../ /.../ /./ /./ / ....../ /_____/__/__../ \_\ /./ /__../ /.../ /./ /_/ / ...../ Celebrating / /./ /./ /./ /.../ /./ / ..../ our 12th year /_/..\______/./_____/./__/.../__/./_______/ MUD .../________________/ running on mud.legendmud.org 9999 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= VOLUME THIRTEEN, ISSUE FIVE March 17, 2005 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= TABLE OF CONTENTS The Editor's Note LegendMUD Calendar of Events RECENT UPDATES New Area: Silk Road! Imm App: Deadline Cucina di Milano Part V Merry Moments and Dark Corners Knights of Legend- Instilling fear in our youth? An Interview ___ ___ \ |-------------------------------------------------------------| / /__| The Editor's Note |__\ '-------------------------------------------------------------' Hey folks, so many new things have been going on in the game recently so many new code changes and new areas added that I have been forced to push the stories of our fine playerbase off the page. No longer I say! So with a couple minor exceptions, I present to you the fine works of our playerbase. Enjoy! -Huma ___ ___ \ |-------------------------------------------------------------| / /__| LegendMUD Calendar of Events |__\ '-------------------------------------------------------------' March 2006 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 Wednesday, March 22nd, 7:30 pm Q&A in the OOC Auditorium Saturday, March 25th, 1:00 pm PK Tourney(Traditional 1 on 1) Wednesday, March 29th, 7:30 pm Q&A in the OOC Auditorium ___ ___ \ |-------------------------------------------------------------| / /__| Recent Updates |__\ '-------------------------------------------------------------' (Editors Note: The traditional Area and Code updates have been omitted from this edition of the Legendary Times to make more room for the works of the people. You can always check it out on the welcome board. These two items seemed hard to ignore however.) New Area: Silk Road -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Sandra and LadyAce have worked hard to present to you a new area: the Silk Road. Many others on the imm staff have helped us with testing -- Chaykin, Lenore, and Nestor served on our formal testing board, and we got lots of additional playthrough and readthrough testing from Huma, Haley, Lorenzo,and Somar. Thanks to everyone! Today, you are all invited to take the first steps on a long journey -- following along the Great Wall, on the Silk Road. Here you will find both danger and safety, riches and poverty. The area itself is safe for anyone, with opportunities to explore and advance your characters, but the quests and run zones are pitched at higher-level characters. A few notes about this area's development process, which make it a little unusual. It's a co-developed area, so it won't play like a Sandra area, and it won't play like a LadyAce area. It's something in between! This installation is one in a series of 4 (or so) areas -- but the only sane way to install 400+ rooms is in smaller chunks. Since this is a work in progress, your feedback is appreciated! Imm App: Deadline -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The deadline for Immortal applications this round is April 1. If you are interested in immorting, please speak with the appropriate Department Head. You can get to the applications online through our website. Look under the 'websites' command for more info. Thanks and good luck! ___ ___ \ |-------------------------------------------------------------| / /__| LEGENDITES: Information Regarding the People of Our World |__\ '-------------------------------------------------------------' AmeriKa has reached 100 million experience! Colquhoun has reached 100 million experience! Val has reached 100 million experience! -*-*-*-*- The Syndicate Clan disbanded on March 17, 2006 _______________________ / \ o O | Wonder what folks are | `\|||/ | doing over at LegendMUD?| (o o) \_______________________/ ooO_(_)_Ooo__________________________________________________________ _____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|___ __|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Cucina di Milano Part V -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [I knew I was in for a REAL treat when the offer to fly to Paris landed on my desk. I had a desk. It was covered in papers that listed the day's sales. We weren't doin' so hot this month. Nobody wants a cannoli. Rosetti Spaghetti suggested we expand to cold cuts like panchetta, perscuitto and..] "Bologni, Tony Bologni. Open the door!" KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! [Tony was a long-time friend of the kitchen. When supplies were low, Tony was there with the stuff. You need chocolate chips? BAM! Tony. You need Ricotta? Badda BOOM! Tony was ya cheeseman. But I had all my supplies. I had no idea what he wanted.] "Look, Straussy, I know you don't have no order dis time, butta, I need to talk.. to talk to you, Straussy!" [I opened the door.] "Hey, open the door." [Tony looked like hell. Somebody got to 'em and did 'em ugly. He was ugly to begin, and this didn't help none.] "They took everyting I had, Straussy! Dose bastads took eveything!" "Straussy I NEED next monts payment. I gots some guys sayin bad tings.. bad tings. They're gonna do me in if I don't pay 'em, Straussy!" "Business is tight, you know that" "Cut the crap, Straussy! I know you have the money--" "BOLOGNI!--get yourself together!" "If I don't do sometin soon, I'm finished." "Tony, I'll see what I can do for yas." [Tony left. I gathered the fellas round the table in da back room. Things were going to change, either we found a new supplyman or Tony will be payin with interest.] "I'm goin ta Paris, boys. Just got word Johnny DeCantiniellioniasosi'o is there on a Creme Brulee retreat. He's puttin a touch a France in his "traditional Italian" pastries, fellas. We take out DeCantiniellioniasosi'o, we have less competition, more business, and Tony Bologni will have his money. I smell a profit, boys." "Yea, da'thats sssounds GOOD boss! Ehhuh." "Who are you?" [I was off to Paris and to off some competition. And like they say in France, "Vous avez de la ciboulette sur votre dent" No, wait..] And the neon sign outside the Milano's flickered as the rain came down. Merry Moments and Dark Corners by Terrance ------------------------- While at Oxford as a young man, myself and several peers banded together a few hours each weekend at a local pub near the university. Curse me if I remember the name of the place. There, over pints of finely-brewed ale (Me! Drinking ale! What a laugh!) we would have drinking song "sing-offs," if you will, with fellow students and neighbourhood folk. I am reminded of a particularly ill-mannered man, the sort that blackens even the merriest of moments. He was elderly, perhaps over fifty -- that was ancient to me as a young man. I noticed him enter, and thought nothing of it when he ordered a pint and seated himself in the corner. Three pints later, face reddened and bumbling, he came over to our table. Martin had just finished an Irish-sounding tune about blunders with women and month-old bread -- it sounds trite, but it was wonderful, I assure you! And then the ancient beast bellowed: I take yer girl And take her hand Graciously kissing 'er arm--- 'Cuz yer a daft young lad With the face of a cad And a flop in the way of song! Don't look so glum Ye loathesome fool Why do you glare at me still?--- I have a knife right here Which I've sharpened most dear For you, whom I have come to kill. Pleased with himself, the man pulled back his jacket, and sure enough, I saw the glint of a blade. With a smirk he resumed his seat in the corner, and glared at us until we left shortly thereafter. Needless to say, with one resentful song -- and making quite an awkward scene -- he completely killed our merry moment. We young students enjoying week's end over pints of ale, singing and laughing and making merry. We did not think to dissuade him from participating -- who would have? Who should not be merry? I remember wanting to retaliate. I had whispered to my other friend, William, "Let us sing a song against him!" But he stilled my adolescent anger with these words: "One such as he is not deserving of our company. May he rot in solitude until the end of his days." Strong words from such a mild-mannered young man, but potent even to this day. Even in the brightest rooms, there are dark corners. I, for one, elected not to take part in his destructive ways by crafting a retaliatory song. He resumed his bitter position, and we left. Yes, he drove us from the pub, but Martin, William, and I came and went as a group of friends. I suppose my point is that confounders like the bitter man in my story deserve only to be ignored, since they are not constructive. For other young men, this man could have had a much different impact. However, I could never profit from engaging in such foolishness, so I refrained. And that has made all the difference. Knights of Legend- Instilling fear in our youth? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- One night, I'm minding my own business, talking with my (incredibly sexy) Guild Master, when suddenly the perky Knights of Legend start saluting one another. Yes, yes, I know, "They do this all the time, Nadia, what's your point?" Well... friends (foes, lovers, etc), the reason for this salute-fest was for a new minion- erm, member. Ryad, who had been sponsored by 'Sir' Dak (the "Assistant GM" for the Knights), is the newest Knight of Legend. But wait one happy-go-gummy-lucky minute. Wasn't Kayin clanned just over a month ago? (All right, maybe two... or three...) And Terrance, the ever flamboyant one? He's semi-sorta-maybe-not really-new as well, isn't he? Hmm... oh, let's not forget Jashobeam, the Clan's newest it-child. Squire. Whatever. The difference from the last one- Jashobeam is being sponsored by Terrance. So why are so many people suddenly entering the ranks of the Knights of Legend? Fun? Excitement? Passion and romance?! I think not, considering that the Knights know none of those... (However, in the Seven Circles, every day we're creating chaos and plotting to overtake the world- think you're up for that much fun? Come join 7C then, just contact Joel, our positively evil Guild Master) I honestly believe that the Knights of Legend are gaining so many recruits by brainwashing people. Yes, I suggested that they brainwash. Lets pretend you're the person in this situation: You're on your first AT run, and your group consists of 'nature lovers' (I love you, 420, you're a bunch of fun people. Especially you, Xuvenia. Rawr.) a couple random healers, a green-eyed lass, and that mage that's absolutely breath taking. (Thank you, thank you. You're all too kind.) You need one hitter and your group can leave, and you can score some major experience. (Something you can't-...never mind.) Suddenly, a fanfare comes from only God knows where and Ta-Da! 'A something or other warrior that.s doing this or that' appears to be a meat shield for your group! Yes, yes, I'm talking about a Knight. Now, remember, in this situation, you're still an impressionable "young" mind. Maybe. If that's the way you're rolling, that is. Anyway, he's all like 'an unbeatably strong warrior tells the group, "We.ll take down these evil assassins. For the King!"' (Or whatever it is they fight for. I doubt it's the Queen.) So, like, everyone is of course going to agree with this poor soul that doesn't know what he's 'fighting for' because, well, we just want the experience. We could care less about the King because either: A) "We belong to the 'Mother Nature's Best' clan, so we don't need no stinkin' King." or B) "He [the King] is a pig that is going to be overthrown by the people because of his oppressive ways, and I think that those kind of men just suck." But the poor impressionable mind that you're pretending to be just takes notice to how everyone agrees with the ever usable bashing-machine, and suddenly they think "Hey! I want people to agree with me too!" Talk about using the extremely high influential level of the poor lowbie to your advantage! -Situation ends- Situation number two! The nifty salute thing. Well, yeah, it's not really nifty, but still. It's conformity at it's best. (At least in the Circles we have Ftoomsh who shinkicks, and I bite people. We have *some* variety. All they do is salute this, or salute that, or salute each other.) Some poor, unfortunate, uninformed person watches as they do that damnable thing over our fantastic 'gossip' channel, and they decide right then that they want to be able to do that some day. (Not salute, necessarily, but more like... do something and have a boat load of people respond to them.) Come on now, that's... subliminal messaging or something? "Oooh, watch us as we salute one another, showing, not only that we have no creativity what so ever, but that we are all one and the same and we like to 'set trends' and stuff like that. .... Ok, maybe not, but still, the salute thing draws people in. It has to. Even I want to salute something when they start. It's like someone spiking the punch at a party... Finally, to the Knights, EVERYTHING is evil. "Oh, Nadia, you poor misguided girl! Why would you chose Hell?" or "Silly Grendels, you're so evil. And you smell bad" ..... First off, they LINGER like a bad smell. They don't all smell bad. At least that one in Panama City didn't. But yeah! That's one way to not only brainwash (Remember: "Join the Knights of Legend. Not only do we serve and protect, we offer...we...erm...we have a code of conduct!") but frighten! They make everything seem absolutely horrible. "Watch out for that butterfly, it's harboring evil ways and it's fighting against you. Join the Knights, we can help make the world good. And stuff." Hell, I was basically RAISED by a Knight, and yeah, I was scared to travel across the land because of what he said to me. (I still am. No telling what Death Trap I might fall into, or what scary foe I might come across while traveling the lands. One that might try to kill me because I refuse to join it's "evil" ways. Gasp! *eyeroll*) Hrm, well, I suppose that all I was really trying to say is that the Knights of Legend frighten and brainwash people. So you should all really watch yourself. Do we want to support/join this cult? There's no telling when they're going to try to take over Legend. The first thing they'll get rid of? All the mobs. Permanently. Why? They're evil and dangerous and go against 'The Code.' Especially those damnable butterflies. An Interview by Tojek Anselm -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I am Tojek Anselm of the New Player Helpers. This is the first of several interviews with players from around the realms. Lieutenant Henslin was kind enough to accept my invitation for an interview, which was conducted at an undisclosed location near Acres. Below is the transcript of the interview. TOJEK: 'Greetings, Lieutenant! And thanks for taking part in this interview!' Lt. HENSLIN: (Nods) 'Thank you.' T: 'What is your first memory?' LtH: 'My first memory of arriving here?' T: (Nods) LtH: (Ponders a moment) 'I arrived here by way of a strange trans-dimensional worm hole, don't know how I got stuck in it, but I was wandering Medieval London until I met a Huntress named Krista. She gave me the ropes on how to survive here.' (Nods to himself) T: 'Krista? You are referring to none other than The Mysterious Krista?' LtH: (Nods) 'The very same one.' (Grins) T: 'Tell us how Krista introduced you to the realms.' LtH: 'She showed me around the Medieval world, and killed some creatures that had attacked me on the way. I lost my weapons when I passed through the wormhole. Needless to say, I had the most exercise I've had for years.' (Chuckles) T: (Snickers) 'When was this?' LtH: (Ponders a moment) 'That was 10 years ago...' T: 'Wow! It must have been quite a shock for you, traversing the wormhole. What life did you leave behind when you came here?' LtH: 'It's the same life, being a Marine. Just a month or so ago my unit, the First Reconnaissance Battalion, was deployed here to Acres, otherwise known as "Crusades." The 1st Marine Division has been busy keeping the peace between the Muslims and the Christians. But when a few of our patrols were attacked by assassins, we retaliated and wiped out everyone at their base. Luckily we suffered few casualties in the process.' (Nods) T: (Sighs in relief) 'What do you enjoy doing while off duty?' LtH: 'Off duty, I like to go to the inns and talk to various people. Otherwise I visit Krista and her husband Blackmojo. But you never know when you'll be called to go for an operation.' T: (Nods) 'Tell us about your tattoo -- the one of an angry looking bulldog with a red collar.' LtH: 'Oh, that is the Devil Dog. Our Corps gained that nickname when fighting the Germans... in the... ah... future. Year 1918.' (Chuckles) T: (Snickers) 'A remnant of a life left behind?' LtH: (Nods hesitantly) 'I wouldn't say it's been left behind, really.' T: 'How so?' LtH: 'Just been transported to this dimension. Our guys keep pouring in through those strange wormholes. We keep linking up with them, and we're doing all sorts of missions all over these realms. Peacekeeping, war fighting, being a police force, etc.' (Nods) T: 'Tell us about these wormholes?' LtH: 'Can't really describe them. They are like... blue vortexes that just swirl around.' T: 'Could you tell us about your encounter with them? What made you... touch it or whatever?' LtH: 'It moves around and pops in at certain times. For me, I was unlucky and got sucked into one... it's kinda like a black hole in that respect. But when you are inside, you are flying at speed faster than light, then its like a roller coaster, and when you reach the light at the end of the tunnel, you pop into this dimension, throw up a little, and get on your merry way.' (Nods) (We both chuckle as Lieutenant Henslin imitates someone vomiting and then getting up as though nothing happened.) T: 'What advice do you have for people new to the realms, Lieutenant?' LtH: 'I would suggest going in the inns and simply asking for help. It seems some of residents here are very friendly and have dealt with dimension/time travelers before, and they can show you around. It is safer to travel in groups as well, rather than going in alone, because there are death traps out there...' (We both chuckle, and then the Lieutenant nods solemnly.) T: 'Thanks for taking time out to talk to me, Lieutenant Henslin.' LtH: (Nods) 'My pleasure.' (The Lieutenant then takes my hand and gives me a firm shake. I had to bite my lip to keep from yelping -- his grip was that of a vice.) Tojek Anselm is a special correspondent for the New Player Helpers. If you wish to contact Mr Anselm, feel free to send him a mudmail. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The Legendary Times is published by the immortals of LegendMUD. Please send replies, additions, or corrections to [email protected] for inclusion in the next issue. All subscription options are handled at: www.legendmud.org/lists/listinfo/legendarytimes and submissions at: www.legendmud.org/Community/ltsubmission.php. For RP submissions, copyright ownership remains with the author. We do reserve the right to moderate the forum and edit or reject any submission. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=