Volume Twelve Issue Four

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 .../________________/      running on         mud.legendmud.org 9999
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 VOLUME TWELVE, NUMBER FOUR                         February 18, 2005
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Editor's Note:
This week, we return you to our usual content. Thank you to everyone
who made the birthday week such a success! 


                     TABLE OF CONTENTS

                    Updates from the Staff:
                       - Recent Updates
                       - New Department Heads
                       - Immortal Applications Due!
                       
                The LegendMUD Calendar of Events

                    Player News & Achievements
                       - Intempesta Nox Scavenger Hunt
                       - Milestones
                       - Truffle Hunt Winners

                      Tales & Trevails
                       - Dino's Autobiography: 
                              Chapter Seven: The End
                       - A Message to Break the Silence
                     
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/__|                   Updates from the Staff                    |__\
   '-------------------------------------------------------------'

                          Recent 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!).

Thanks to everyone for those bug/typo/idea reports. Keep 'em coming!

    /\                         CODE UPDATES
   /  \   
  /    \  GENERAL
 /_    _\ o Tiered skills (e.g. bowman/archer/deadeye) will not function if
   |  |     you no longer have the prerequisite skills.
   |  |   o Weapons are now taintable (including the type you can throw).  
   |  |     Doing so will remove the weapon's permenant special.
   |__|   o Weapon mastery qualification has been changed to be based off  
            your primary weapon stat.
    /\    o Disarm trap will be slightly easier to learn. 
   /  \   
  /    \  TYPO
 /_    _\ o Drinking from a flavored beverage while effected by the same 
   |  |     spell will no longer give you mana.
   |  |   o Mob names that start with numbers (e.g. 2nd lt) will now display 
   |  |     properly when the mob is speaking.
   |__|
          BUG
    /\     o Trap tweaking.
   /  \   
  /    \                  HELP FILE UPDATES
 /_    _\
   |  |   o Helpfiles added: mana charge, set trap
   |  |   o Helpfiles updated: create object, disarm trap, pretitles
   |  | 
   |__|                  AREA FILE UPDATES

    /\     St Dennis Abbey
   /  \    Adjusts the repop rate some because of the tick changes.
  /    \  
 /_    _\  The rest of these were updated during the week with the wonderful
   |  |    reload areas command:
   |  | 
   |  |    the OOC, Ancient Seas, Carthage, Crusades, Kleinstadt, FI War,
   |__|    Tortuga, Sherwood all had various typo fixes done.


                            -=-=-=-

                      New Department Heads

Rufus and I have focused our initial energies on filling the vacant
department head positions. We have achieved a workable conclusion and
have picked the people we think are currently able to carry out the
duties of the department head positions. We have discussed with each
of the heads their direction and ideas, and we encourage you to welcome
them to their new positions.

Huginn will remain in the position of Head Coder.

Haley will once again step into the shoes of Head Admin.

LadyAce will be moving over to take up the Head Builder position.

Huma will be stepping into the Head of PR position left empty by
the above switch.

We hope that you will give the newly appointed department heads
some time as they get used to their new roles. We will be sitting
down with them over the next month to discuss the short-term
goals of each department, so you may very well see some changes
as a result.

Sandra and Rufus

                            -=-=-=-

                     Immortal Applications Due!

Yup, it's that time again! Applications are due March 1st -- if you're 
interested in a position on the staff, check out the application forms at:

http://www.legendmud.org/Reference/documents.html


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

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


  
Sunday,     February  20th,   2pm-10pm    PK BattleZone
                               4:00 pm    Trivia Challenge w/LadyAce (9 of 10)
Thursday,   February  24th,    7:30 pm    Q&A in the OOC Auditorium
Sunday,     February  27th,   2pm-10pm    PK BattleZone
                               4:00 pm    Trivia Challenge w/LadyAce (10 of 10)

Tuesday,    March      1st,   11:59 pm    Immortal Applications due!
Thursday,   March      3rd,    7:30 pm    Q&A in the OOC Auditorium
Sunday,     March      6th,   2pm-10pm    PK BattleZone
                               4:00 pm    Trivia Challenge FINAL SHOWDOWN!
Thursday,   March     10th,    7:30 pm    Q&A in the OOC Auditorium
Sunday,     March     13th,   2pm-10pm    PK BattleZone
Thursday,   March     17th,      Happy St. Patrick's Day!
                               7:30 pm    Q&A in the OOC Auditorium
Sunday,     March     20th,   2pm-10pm    PK BattleZone
Thursday,   March     24th,    7:30 pm    Q&A in the OOC Auditorium
Sunday,     March     27th,   2pm-10pm    PK BattleZone
Thursday,   March     31st,    7:30 pm    Q&A in the OOC Auditorium
 
Coming In April:
April Fools' Day!


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/__|                   News & Achievements                       |__\
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                 The Intempesta Nox Scavenger Hunt

Intempesta Nox needed help acquiring items for their seance and enlisted the
everyone's help by means of scavenger hunt.  Nefarious indeed.

The list included:
1 altar (3 pts)
3 candles, not tallow! they burn out too quickly! (5 pts each)
4 items to make an effigy, 2 set of limbs, torso/stuffing, head
 (3 pts each)
2 black robes (3 pts each)
3 goblets (3 pts each)
1 dagger (2 pts)
3 sacrifices/offerings (2 pts each)
3 containers of blood, not your own! (5 pts each)
1 skull (5 pts)
3 dead things (5 pts each)
2 body parts, human or animal (3 pts each)
1 question to ask the other side, written on a note (3 pts)
Bonus!: 1 purple item (3 pts)

Congratulations to Autumn who came in first with 52 points and won a non-color
coupon!  Merlock and Krista tied for second with 17 points and won a
half-string coupon each.  Keionkithis came in third with 8 points and won a
token.

The raising the death ceremony was postponed due to lack of cooperative spirits
but everyone got cupcakes!

Thanks everyone who played and special thanks to LadyAce for helping with the
set up!

                           -+- -+- -+- -+-

                              Milestones

Congratulations to Sigurd on his achievement of 100 million experience!
Congratulations to Dam on his achievement of 100 million experience!
Congratulations to DoC on his achievement of 200 million experience!

                           -+- -+- -+- -+-

.....And the winner of the Valentine's Day Truffle Hunt is:

Shai'hulud, with 73 truffles found!
Lenore found 41 to take 2nd place!
Maeldun and Spanish-flea tied with 40 each to take third!

Other successful hunters were....:
Joyceln: 34
Amatine: 30
Valerie: 26
Jupiter: 20
Xuvenia: 11
Majestix: 6
Saja & Hazard 5
Fatality 4
Yvette, Ransom, Ghengis 2
Adamar, Aemilia, Alejandro, DoC, Elemental, Quagmire, Raist, Rena, Zhi: 1




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    /__|                    Tales and Trevails                       |__\
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           Dino's Autobiography - Chapter Seven - The End

Several years have passed since the loss of my parents and not a word from or
of them. Over a course of time, the town I resided in has fallen to the 
ground and not a single person still occupies it. Of course there were nomads 
who stopped by the ruins of the town time from time to learn the history of 
its residents. I continued living in a small cottage outside of town and that 
was the only building still standing in that area. Surprisingly, the message 
board still stood near the old well in the center of the town. Many posts 
still survived on it and a new one has been added recently. And I wrote it. 
        
To those who wander and pause to read message boards in the ruins of this 
deserted town,

My name is Dino and I declare myself no longer part of this town. I lived in a
small cottage just west of the village and it's the only building still
standing. If you try, you might still find it standing. My parents have been
missing for some years now and I resided alone. Living alone, as some of you
may know, is not the greatest thing. As of late August, I am leaving my home
with this post. With a knapsack in my arms, I will travel the lands to find my
parents and discover a new life. Who knows what I can find out there. Maybe
someday I'll be back.
                                      Farewell,
                                          D.

That was my post. And I considered it my final word in this place I call home. 
Farewell and take care.  

                           -+- -+- -+- -+-

                   A Message to Break the Silence

*THUMP*  A few rocks went tumbling. He jumped up, his blade in his hand,
ready to slay anyone around him. Seeing it was safe he wiped
the cold sweat from his forehead and set his weapon down. This was the
third time this night that he had been awakened in a hurry. Not that he was 
having a good sleep anyway, his dreams were plagued by nightmares. Nothing 
out of the ordinary however, after every kill his mind struggled in the 
sleep. The hashish was hardly helpful anymore, he had built up incredible 
immunity to it over the years. An unfortunate side-effect of this immunity 
was having nothing to escape all of the things that haunted him after his 
missions. He struggled with falling asleep but eventually dozed off...

It was late into the next day when he returned to the Assassin's dwelling. 
There were celebrations in all the tunnels, fresh food sitting at every 
table.  It seemed his mission last night succeeded in suppressing the 
attack on their defenses. He proceeded to see his Master and tell him of 
his venture into the enemy camp.  A few hours later he stormed out of the 
main chambers, grabbed his cloak and the fastest horse he could find. 
Within minutes he was almost a mile away from the Tower, heading hard west 
with the sun. No one knew what had possesed one of the best assassin's of 
the land to leave the tower so abruptly and more surprisingly in what 
seemed to be a rage.

A horseman rode into the stable of an empty inn, completely covered in
dust. He quickly dismounted and tied up his Arabian steed, which was hardly
standing up.  The rider gave the hand some money to feed and clean his horse 
while he took out a sheet of paper and a very expensive-looking quill. He 
began scribbling frantically.

'Dear Madam,

 It simply has been too long since our last communique. I am afraid
 this is not a social contact, although I must say I wish it was. You
 might have heard, or will soon hear, that our struggle with the
 Sultan's army has come to an end. My absence has been because of that
 conflict. However, what comes next is the most grave news. My Master
 has become growingly paranoid of foreign influences and he has asked
 me to deal with your kingdom's involvement in the affairs of our
 land. Of course you know that my job does not include ambassadorial
 skills, and the only negotiations I settle end with someone's death.
 For sometime now I have been questioning my leader's orders and today
 was the final straw. I have disobeyed the order and vowed to strike
 down anyone who comes near your castle. I must say I am not sure how
 much weight my word has anymore but I believe that it will be some
 time before your castle might be visited by unwanted guests. However,
 there has been an order issued on my life and my presence anywhere
 would simply bring fear and imminent danger to all those around me.
 I will once again be absent for some time but I assure you a time
 will come when I shall stand before you, perhaps even without the
 disguises I usually must wear.'

He signed the letter, 'Your humble servant', and called the stable boy
over.
 
'Take this over to the Carian Trag castle and make sure no one but the
Queen receives this note,' he ordered the boy. He then handed the boy a gold
coin, at the sight of which the boy's eyes lit up. He finished cleaning the 
horse and quickly ran off on this most important of errands.
 
The boy slowed down for a second to take one more look at the rider but
all he saw was a cloud of dust and heard the sound of a galloping horse. He 
was the last person to have contact with that mysterious man.

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